Two thousand eminent cricketers, long-standing colleagues and mere devotees of came together to honour the career of lengendary broadcaster and journalist

Ivo Tennant16-Apr-2013It was rather more than a warm-up act for Lady Thatcher’s funeral. The service to celebrate Christopher Martin-Jenkins’ long and distinguished career as a broadcaster and writer, but all too short a life, was held on what, for a change, could be termed a spring day. Some 2,000 eminent cricketers, long-standing colleagues and mere devotees of went to St Paul’s and then, some of them, on to a reception at Lord’s. Who else can have been honoured at two such cathedrals on one day?The Dean, David Ison, conducted the hour-long service, supported by – among other clergy – Canon Andrew Wingfield Digby, aggressive fast bowler turned England chaplain. Sir Tim Rice spoke of Martin-Jenkins’ MCC presidency and his love of the game; Jonathan Agnew of his outstanding ability as a broadcaster and Peter Nott, the former Bishop of Norwich, of the faith of the young Cambridge under-graduate. CMJ, who died on New Year’s Day at the age of 67, never lost that faith.Everywhere you looked, there was a famous face. Rice, indeed, will be returning for Lady Thatcher’s service, which will most certainly not feature clips in which the featured commentator is impersonating a Dalek. John Snow lopped in to the great cathedral, still looking fit enough to take the new ball. Derek Underwood was his vivacious self in the Long Room Bar later when told of a sighting of Alan Knott in troubled Cyprus. J.S.E. Price, he of the curving long run, similarly looked untouched by the passing years. Richard Hutton, whose link with CMJ was through as well as having played for England, held court in the Long Room. Any number of MCC administrators and officials swirled around.CMJ’s family, of course, took a proper part in the order of service. James Martin-Jenkins, not so tall as his father or brother Robin but instantly recognisable when he began to speak, delivered John Betjeman’s ‘Seaside Golf’ in tribute to CMJ’s second passion, culminating in that great line “And splendour, splendour everywhere.” This might as well have been a poem written from the deckchairs at Hove. Robin recited ‘Forefathers’ by Edmund Blunden:It was not hard to conjure up the image of CMJ, sitting on a bench on some rustic ground in Sussex, keeping a paternal eye on his sons’ progress at the wicket while gloaming descended. Lucy, his daughter, whose marriage last year her father was able to attend, was present. Daughters-in-law and grandchildren abounded. Judy, Christopher’s widow, looked characteristically serene and elegant in a deep blue suit and black hat.The music – Dvorak, Mozart and Elgar beforehand – and the choir were, it need hardly be said, commensurate with the traditions of Christian worship that has been offered to God for more than 1,400 years on this very site. All to honour “a true Christian gentleman” as Nott called him. CMJ’s faith survived the fact that he was, apparently, “not the most outwardly pious of students after years of school chapel.”Graeme Walker, one of CMJ’s old teachers at Marlborough College, arrived early and recalled how his pupil had overcome dyslexia as a boy – doubtless through the determination he displayed throughout his career. Agnew, in his tribute, reckoned that no-one else had gained a more extensive experience of cricket commentary nor written more words on the game. “His words created a beautifully detailed and perfectly framed snapshot.”CMJ, Agnew said, was described perfectly by his friend Mike Selvey as having been “cricket’s greatest friend.” There is a tendency in such tributes to state that the coverage of cricket will never quite be the same again – Colin Cowdrey said as much of CMJ’s mentor, E.W. Swanton – but somehow, in this setting, and having listened to CMJ’s descriptions of Geoff Boycott and Sachin Tendulkar reaching centuries, this rang true.There was the odd solemn note and not quite so many tales of hapless use of mobiles and television zappers as appeared in the many obituaries. Rice, a trustee of MCC at the time of CMJ’s presidency, felt that the role, honorary but increasingly arduous amid the quicker pace of life that is to be observed even in the pavilion at Lord’s, had taken too much out of him towards the end of his life when the club’s redevelopment plans were becoming de-railed. “Christopher was a gentle, considerate man of charm, impeccable manners and shambolic in terms of anything electronic.”It was telling, Rice believed, that the favourite player of CMJ’s youth was not some heavy run-scorer in the 1950s but Tom Graveney, who, before he returned triumphantly to the England side in 1966 was not an established Test cricketer. “Tom’s grace, elegance and art were what Christopher wished to emulate.”As a broadcaster, which was the talent for which he will be primarily remembered, CMJ, according to Rice, “represented a brilliant balance between tradition and the inevitability of change. He was always honest.” And Rice finished his address with an alliteration which he felt his distant cousin would have enjoyed: “Countless cricketers cherish Christopher.”Test, club and village players felt that very way as they filed out into the sunshine on what, it should be noted, was not a day that would have kept anyone from attending a fixture in the county championship which CMJ did so much to promote.

On the field, Chennai Super Kings produced one of their best seasons yet; off the filed, the franchise was squarely in the spotlight cast by the alleged corruption in the tournament

Nikita Bastian27-May-2013Where they finished

Runner’s up. Chennai Super Kings, in another remarkable showing, reiterated that they are consistently the team to beat in the IPL. For the fifth time in six IPLs, Super Kings made the final. For the second time in two years, however, they failed to clear the final hurdle.In the group stage, they had their most dominant season yet. In contrast to previous editions – 2010 and 2012, in particular – when they had to make a late scramble to make the playoffs, this year there was hardly ever a doubt that Super Kings would progress. They finished at the top of the points table, despite a big loss in their last group game. At one point, they equalled the IPL record for the most number of consecutive wins: seven. A standout feature of their success was the away victories: in a year when several teams were dominant at home, Super Kings were the only side to win more than they lost in away games.What went right

As has been the case across IPL seasons, Super Kings’ biggest strength was that everyone contributed. Michael Hussey might have finished as the tournament’s top run-scorer, with 733 runs (equalling Chris Gayle’s record for the highest aggregate in a single season) at 52.35, but Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni averaged over 40, too. Dwayne Bravo might have led the wickets chart with 32 at 15.53 (the record tally for a season), but Mohit Sharma, R Ashwin and Chris Morris totalled 15 wickets or more as well. Hussey, Raina, Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Bravo, Morris … they all produced match-winning contributions at different stages.In the lead-up to this season, both in the auction and while signing uncapped players, Super Kings’ obvious strategy was to strengthen their pace bowling. This noticeably worked for them, with Mohit and Morris becoming regulars in the line-up and adding some sting to what was previously Super Kings’ weakest department.Also, Super Kings seemed to have worked out a solid formula for their batting, and it worked more often than not – begin solidly instead of flamboyantly, build steadily in the first half of the innings, and let the big-hitters loose in the second half. In the final five overs this season, Super Kings scored at 11.29, the best among all the teams. That meant when they batted first, they eased to imposing totals on several occasions; when they chased, they came back to win several times when the match seemed to have got beyond them.What went wrong
In the final, most of the aspects that made Super Kings a force this season were missing, but there’s no denying 2013 was a good year for the team. On the field, that is. Off the field, Super Kings were at the heart of the biggest IPL controversy in six seasons. With top franchise official Gurunath Meiyappan being arrested for alleged betting in the final week of the tournament, the long-standing issue of N Srinivasan’s conflict of interest was raked up. Srinivasan is the managing director of India Cements, the franchise owners, and the president of the BCCI. Meiyappan is his son-in-law, and till now was projected as the “team principal”. Suddenly, Meiyappan is no longer a bigwig in Super Kings, Srinivasan is under pressure for holding on to his post in the BCCI, and the franchise faces the possibility of being disbanded. Will Super Kings, team in the IPL, still exist when the Champions League comes around in October?Best player
Super Kings most often structure wins around their batting, and this year their batting was most often built around Michael Hussey. His 17 innings included knocks of 95, 88, 86*, 86*, 67 and 65* – six of the top ten scores by a Super Kings batsman this year. He was one of only two batsmen in the IPL to aggregate over 700 runs, one of only three to average over 50 (400 runs min.), and scored his runs at a very acceptable rate of 130. While he was as solid as ever, he showed that he could also improvise to up the scoring rate when needed: one of the shots of the season was the ramp he played off a yorker-length delivery from Lasith Malinga, over fine leg, for six, in the first Qualifier. At 38, and without the pressures of international cricket to deal with anymore, Hussey should have at least another good year left in him. If he is not retained by Super Kings, he’ll be one of the buys of the 2014 auction.Poor performer
M Vijay looked the weakest link in the Super Kings line-up this year. His stats were not the worst – he scored 312 at 22.28 – but he inspired very little confidence with the manner in which he batted. There were several swings and misses, and he hardly ever dominated the bowling; his strike rate was just 109.09. And this when so much was expected of him, after his excellent showing in the home Test series against Australia in February-March.Surprise package
Mohit Sharma came into the IPL on the back of a solid Ranji Trophy season, in which he claimed 37 wickets at 23.24. He was one of four Indian quicks signed by Super Kings this year, and had to wait a couple of games before he got his chance. When he did get into the eleven, he bowled an economical spell against Royal Challengers Bangalore and then led Super Kings’ rout of Delhi Daredevils with figures of 3-0-10-3 (including the wickets of Warner and Sehwag). He played every match after that, and finished as Super Kings’ second-highest wicket-taker (20) and most economical bowler (6.43). Apart from his accuracy in keeping the ball on offstump, he impressed with his back-of-the-hand slower ball.Recommended for retention
MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Michael Hussey

Plays of the day from the third day of the Delhi Test between India and Australia

Brydon Coverdale24-Mar-2013The surprise opener
Australia’s experiment of sending Glenn Maxwell in as an opener failed•BCCIWhen the Australians began their second innings, David Warner walked to the wicket but he didn’t have Ed Cowan at his side. Instead, Glenn Maxwell was promoted to open the innings, presumably in an attempt to score quick runs and build their lead as fast as possible. In his previous 16 first-class matches the highest Maxwell had ever batted was No.5. The experiment didn’t work for Australia on this occasion as Maxwell was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja for 8.The surprise opener again
It was not surprising that Nathan Lyon took the new ball in India’s chase, given the success he had in the first innings. But instead of pace from the other end, Shane Watson asked Maxwell to share the new ball, only the third time that Australia had ever opened with spin from both ends in a Test match. Maxwell also became the first Australian in 84 years to open the batting and bowling in the same Test match, since Percy Hornibrook did so in 1929.The hat-trick balls
Twice on the third day spinners found themselves on a hat-trick but both times they were denied. Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson from consecutive deliveries and had his chance for a hat-trick against Peter Siddle. There were three slips, a short-leg and a silly point, but Siddle safely pushed the ball through the off side for two runs. Nathan Lyon also had a chance at a hat-trick after finishing India’s first innings with the wickets of Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha. Lyon bowled the first ball of the chase and it spun sharply down the leg side. M Vijay had come down the wicket and could have been stumped but it was a very difficult chance for Matthew Wade.The drop
India seemed well and truly coasting towards victory at 123 for 1, but then they lost three wickets for five runs and if the Australians could get another couple, it could have been a tight finish. Unfortunately for Australia, that chance went begging when MS Dhoni, who was yet to score, edged behind off Nathan Lyon and was dropped by Matthew Wade. It was a regulation opportunity for Wade, whose glovework cost Lyon a few wickets over the home summer as well. This missed chance also denied Lyon the chance to take ten wickets for the match.The tension
After a few terse words were traded on day two, there was the odd exchange between the two teams on the third day as well. As the players walked off for lunch, Virat Kohli and the Australian batsman Wade were caught up in a heated discussion and the umpire Aleem Dar quickly jogged across and put himself between the two men to ease the tension. After the break, Ishant Sharma gave James Pattinson quite a send-off when he bowled him. As the day wore on and an Indian victory became a formality, things calmed down considerably.

The most memorable quotes from the sixth edition of the IPL

Compiled by Vishal Dikshit27-May-2013″He would go [for the matches]… he was enthusiastic.”
“I was pointing out I have got children too.”
“MS Dhoni didn’t put the towel in his trousers.”
“So the crowd can watch Chris Gayle bat earlier.”
“I don’t want to sound politically incorrect but what will they do if I enter? Shoot me?”
“Maybe they must reconsider 4pm games in Chennai. My word someone will die soon!”
“We’re not going to let him in. We’re going to keep my brother in for the whole 20.”
“In eight games if you haven’t made a significant contribution you’re a bit of a passenger.”
“Life is all about taking the right decision, seeing Gayle bat today I think I took the right decision of being a wicketkeeper.”
“When you give Sir Ravindra Jadeja one ball to get 2 runs he will win it with one ball to spare!”
“Once we start playing proper cricket, we’ll be a side to beat.”
“Batsmen are scoring easy runs in IPL in the absence of Pakistani bowlers.”
“If it is in the V, it goes in the tree; if it is in the arc, it goes out of the park.”
“It is these dirty cricketers that have done it. These people who have indulged in these kinds of activities.”
“We then dropped a couple of chances and they’re not playing run outs anymore so that makes it tough.”
“I’ll personally call Gautam tomorrow morning and ask him to go out and win the game for us.”

It may be the first of many England versus Australia clashes over the next few months but both teams have their eyes on the initial prize at Edgbaston

George Dobell07-Jun-2013And so it begins. Not just the Champions Trophy campaigns of England and Australia, but a saga that will see these two sides play up to 66 days of cricket against one another across 26 matches within the next 34 weeks. It may well prove, in time, that such exploitation of this fixture damages “the brand” but, for now, Edgbaston is a 25,000 capacity sell-out and this event has the high profile it required to capture the public imagination.This will be the 100th international match – including women’s games – at Edgbaston. If it lives up to some of the previous encounters involving Australia – the World Cup semi-final of 1999 and the Ashes Test of 2005, for example – then it will prove to be quite an occasion.It says much for how the balance of power has changed between these two nations that England go into Saturday’s game as favourites. Despite Australia having won both the two previous Champions Trophies and despite England having just lost an ODI series against New Zealand, England are still expected to prevail. It was no doubt a slip of the tongue when Alastair Cook delivered the faint praise that his side would have to play “close to their potential” to win, but there may also be some truth in that.While Australia make-do without their captain and finest batsman, Michael Clarke, all 15 of England’s squad are fit for selection. And while there is a doubt over Tim Bresnan’s availability due to his wife’s impending labour – she was due last Monday – both Steven Finn and Stuart Broad have returned to something like full fitness and are highly likely to play. The final selection decision will almost certainly come down to a choice between Ravi Bopara and Bresnan.Bearing in mind the fine weather and excellent batting surface expected for this match, then Bopara has a decent chance of playing. England have based many of their plans around the idea that two new balls in English conditions will aid the seamers and require technically correct top-order batsmen. That may still prove to be true but in an attempt to cover their options, Bopara may well come into the side in order to not just strengthen the batting, but provide a little more freedom to Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler. Besides, Bopara is a much-improved bowler over the last 18 months and has an ability to work on the ball and help his colleagues gain reverse swing.Certainly Cook admitted that the white ball might not provide as much help to bowlers in such fine conditions and agreed that England may alter the balance of the side to reflect that.

KP’s comeback

Kevin Pietersen may take the next step on his return to cricket in a second XI county game where he would be allowed to bat but not have to field.
He trained with England at Edgbaston on Thursday and could still play for Surrey against Sussex at Arundel on June 12.
Pietersen is reluctant to hurry back too soon and may well wait for Surrey’s trip to Headingley on June 21. That would leave him with only one further first-class match, for England against Essex, before the first Ashes Test on July 10.

“Last year we played some one-day cricket when there was some rain around and the ball did a lot for a long time,” he said. “But thankfully we’ve got some good weather and in England that normally determines what the ball does.”We are thinking about the balance of the team. I think it’s a good position to be in. It’s nice that the option of having three seamers and one spinner, with the fifth bowler being Ravi and Joe Root, has worked well. So it gives us the option. We can change the way we play, which we probably haven’t been able to do in the past. It gives us a selection headache in one way, but a good one.”It will not be helpful for either side to look too far ahead. While there may be some truth in the suggestion that previous limited-overs encounters – the Champions Trophy semi-final encounter at this ground in 2004, for example, or the T20 match at the Ageas Bowl in 2005 – have proved important blows in establishing dominance in subsequent Ashes series, this event deserves to be treated as important in its own right.England are the only side in this tournament who have never won a global 50-over event. They know that the habit of defining success by the results against just one other side has led to underperformance in limited-overs competitions for decades. The Ashes may have tradition and a marketing industry all of its own, but in terms of global appeal, the Champions Trophy could arguably be defined as more important. Indeed, you could argue that England’s obsession with the Ashes was unhealthy for a long time.”The Champions Trophy is such an important event in itself,” Cook agreed. “Clearly everyone is going to talk about us playing Australia with the Ashes coming up. But I think both sides will be seeing it just as a game they need to win to get the tournament off to a good start rather than anything else.”We’ve spoken about trying to win a 50-over tournament. This is an opportunity to do that. Alongside the World Cup in 2015, it’s a very important tournament. We know what we can do. It’s about us delivering it in these two weeks.”Cook also dismissed the relevance of the warm-up match against India in which Australia were bowled out for just 65.”Those warm-up games are irrelevant,” he said. “You’re not going to be remembered for what happened in the warm up games. You’re going to be remembered for what happened in the actual tournament. Just like what happened to us against New Zealand. In the ideal world, we’d have beaten New Zealand in that series. We didn’t play as well as we could have done, but that will count for nothing when we start this game.”

At 35, a lifetime of learning is propelling Kumar Sangakkara’s cricket far further than his innate ability ever could. He is now churning out match-winning innings that have frustratingly eluded him

Andrew Fidel Fernando at the R Premadasa Stadium20-Jul-2013Cricketers are sometimes labeled ‘great students of the game’. Often these students are men who distinguish themselves from the peloton of cricket’s sporty jocks by a yearning to learn more about the history and the nuances of the pursuit that consumes their lives.When he first began playing for Lancashire, Muttiah Muralitharan was said to have had a more thorough knowledge of the team’s previous season than many of the cricketers who had played in those matches. Part of why Michael Hussey’s ‘Mr. Cricket’ moniker endured was because he would speak for hours on end about the game, in what seemed like laborious detail to his teammates. In his years as Australia captain, Ricky Ponting was found perusing grade cricket scorecards from around the country. All men, whose livelihoods had happily aligned with their life’s most ardent passion.At 35, a lifetime of learning is propelling Kumar Sangakkara’s cricket far further than his innate ability ever could, and into the reaches of greatness. Against South Africa, he hit the highest ODI score ever made in Sri Lanka at a breathless pace that would have done Sanath Jayasuriya or Aravinda de Silva proud. Unlike either of those men, Sangakkara is not a natural strokemaker, nor are ODIs his format of choice. Yet the records continue to tumble over and again to a man who was never the precocious teenage talent that every other great Sri Lankan batsman was, before coming of age. By the end of his career, Sangakkara will probably top more lists than the rest of them combined.A year ago, when Sangakkara became the ICC’s Cricketer, and Test Cricketer of the Year, he refused to put himself in the company of the greats, both from Sri Lanka and worldwide. “They dominated attacks,” he said, “and they were great to watch. I’m more of a worker, and I graft for my runs.” Yet 13 years into his career, he is tearing international attacks apart for the first time, and playing the match-winning innings that have frustratingly eluded him in the last decade. Having accumulated 66 from his first 91 deliveries, Sangakkara snapped in the batting Powerplay, and unfurled an array of finishing blows even a 30-year old version of himself would never have attempted – 103 came from his next 46 balls.AB de Villiers later reflected on Sangakkara’s ability to manipulate the field, but the batsman had set such panic upon the South Africa bowlers they seemed incapable of containing him regardless. Even in a Test career that gleams far brighter than his limited-overs returns, he has rarely known such uncompromising dominance. The attack left the field not just emphatically beaten, but roundly humiliated.His unbeaten 134 at The Oval last month, to lead a difficult chase against a strong England, was another innings that showcased a new dimension to his one-day game. There are 77 half-centuries to the 16 hundreds in Sangakkara’s career, and many of those fifties meant little to the team, failing, as they did, to launch Sri Lanka to victory. He has learnt now, what it takes to carry the side over the line, and his ODI average is the best it has been since the honeymoon of his career.The 46th over of the Sri Lanka innings produced a moment that exposed the core of Sangakkara’s success. Going down to one knee, he attempted an over-the-shoulder scoop off a Ryan McLaren full toss, and had his stumps splayed. In an instant he was on his feet, looking from umpire to umpire and pointing at the men on the fence with agitation. De Villiers had stationed too many outside the circle and Sangakkara had counted them mentally before taking guard. He knew the ball would not count, so the risky stroke was no risk at all. The most unique facet of his greatness is that it is foremost a triumph of the mind.Before the series, Angelo Mathews had said Lahiru Thirimanne was capable of becoming the next Sangakkara, and as the young batsmen floundered while the great frolicked at the other end, plenty remarked on the vast gulf in class. Thirimanne’s critics might be surprised to learn that at the same age, and number of ODI innings, Sangakkara averaged six runs less than Thirimanne does now. He may have only made 17 from 33 in a 123-run partnership, but Thirimanne has already hit an ODI ton against a high-class attack. Batting in a similar position to Thirimanne at the start of his career, Sangakkara did not manage that until his 86th game.”There are a lot of things to learn from Sangakkara,” Thirimanne said after the match. “As young batsmen we take a lot out of what he says and the way he plays. He’s a special player and we’re lucky he’s from our country. In matches, I use a lot of what he says.”Thirimanne will do well to adopt Sangakkara’s obsession with improvement. Unfortunately for the young man, his beautiful, bent-kneed cover-drive has already drawn parallels with Sangakkara, and his future will likely be measured on the Sangakkara scale. It is a career that is almost impossible to emulate, because his mentor is himself one of cricket’s greatest students.

Dale Steyn doesn’t aim to just hit the “right areas” in one-day cricket, he goes out there to attack the batsmen, and the results are there for all to see

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg09-Dec-2013A day before the start of this ODI series, South Africa had a long training session. Towards the end of it, Dale Steyn went in to bat, and struggled. The metal stumps were rattled at least once, the attempted big hits didn’t go far, and the timing just wasn’t there. Steyn’s cursing of himself reverberated through the empty practice facility at the Wanderers. As he was leaving, clearly frustrated with his batting, he absolutely demolished a set of stumps in one of the nets with his bat. His coach and other support staff were there, and his captain was there. Nobody spoke a word. They all just quickly stepped aside.Steyn was angry, no one wanted to bother him, but they must have known it was a good space for Steyn to be in before a big series. It works with Steyn. He once said, jokingly, if somebody ever manages to make his friend and team-mate Morne Morkel angry, he will become the best bowler in the world.Steyn has let out all that anger on the white Kookaburra in this series, which has conveyed the message to the India batsman. In 15 high-quality overs, he has conceded just 42 runs, and taken six wickets. More importantly, by the time he finished his first spells, the matches were over as a contest. For a young batting unit with little experience of these conditions – an A tour on flat pitches cannot count – it is quite possible Steyn has left a few intimidated. And Steyn says that he has seen that in the batsmen’s eyes.Alternatively, in Steyn’s eyes you can see that he knows he has the batsmen at his mercy. That he can continue to play with them. Wickets are important, but he is not desperate to get them immediately. Going past the bat, or bowling bouncers that the batsman can do nothing to, is giving him as much joy. “I’ve got you now. You’re mine,” Steyn once said of the helplessness he sometimes spots in the batsmen’s eyes. Sometimes torturing the batsman for a period in the public eye can leave a deeper scar than actually getting him out first ball.Steyn did that to Rohit Sharma in the first match with his searing quick outswingers. For 15 deliveries Rohit couldn’t touch the ball. He knew he couldn’t chase them. When he tried, he was beaten. The pace had been set. India were now chasing the game. For a shorter period in the second game, Steyn did the same to Ajinkya Rahane. This time with bouncers. They were quick, they were high, but not higher than the shoulder. Steyn was telling him, “Go ahead, try to hook them. If you don’t, I will keep bouncing you, and you won’t even get a no-ball.” What do you do to such bowling if you haven’t been facing such pace and skill all your life?Hard as it is to believe, this is a new start for Steyn. He has played just 79 ODIs. In the past, Steyn has been used sparingly in ODI cricket by South Africa. They usually keep him for big events such as the World Cup. Which is why this year, with 27 wickets at 15.85 and an economy rate of 3.65, has been his most successful in 50-overs cricket. There is a clear shift in the philosophy. South Africa want Steyn in ODIs, even bilateral series. They might rest him in dead rubbers, but they want him to be part of the core group as they approach the World Cup.It is going to be a refreshing change in the world of right areas that ODI cricket is. Steyn doesn’t just run up and put the ball in the “right areas”, he goes out there to attack the batsmen. There can be days when he gets too full or too straight. There can be days when the pitch might be a little flat and slow, which makes his natural, aggressive length hittable. Like it happened in Gwalior when Sachin Tendulkar hit the first ODI double-hundred. Steyn went for 89 in his 10 overs that day. The theory that Steyn might not make that good a limited-overs bowler was perpetuated by his first two or three years in the IPL.However, when South Africa’s ODI ranking began to fall – even as they became the best Test side in the world – they began to preserve their best bowler a little less. Not that they might need to: Steyn is one of the fittest athletes in cricket today, and his action is so pure and smooth he is the least likeliest of the fast bowlers around to get injured. His inclusion back into the ODI side has given South Africa something other teams lack: a genuine strike bowler you absolutely need to play out for little returns if you want to keep wickets in hand.The results are there for all to see. South Africa can now afford to rest him for the inconsequential third ODI, but Steyn’s importance to the ODI side, and ODI cricket in general, has been established. It might help South Africa further if every now and then their bowlers in the nets keep pinging Steyn’s stumps.

Is there any silver lining in the 3-0 loss? Likely not, but a valiant attempt will be made nevertheless

Andy Zaltzman18-Dec-2013″If you are going to do something, do it well”

– Falvence Escloffiette, , 1845 (translated by Prof. EH Snutterbuck, published by The British Society For Controversial Food)If anyone was wondering what is the most effective way to go 3-0 down in a Test series, despite needing to overcome the traditional obstacles of having a team consisting largely of proven high-class five-day run scorers and wicket-takers, then wonder no more. England have given the world an object lesson in this rare craft, which may never have been surpassed and may never be matched again. The solitary crumb of comfort from a rapidly evaporated cake – an auspiciously magnificent maiden Test hundred by Ben Stokes – served only to emphasise the flailing disintegration of his more experienced team-mates, as they slalomed incoherently between caution and risk.And if anyone had been pondering over how a team that had lost seven of its previous nine Tests, had one batsman averaging over 37 in Tests (compared to six in the opposition ranks), and was gambling on the recall of a strike bowler who had taken 30 wickets at 42 in his previous 11 matches over three years, could rampantly cauterise an opponent against whom it had won two Tests out of the previous 15, then ponder no longer.Michael Clarke’s Australians have given a three-match masterclass in cricketing positivity that would have been impressive coming from their all-conquering predecessors of a decade ago, but has almost defied belief given the state they were in just five months ago, surrendering by 347 runs in a cack-handed cavalcade of incompetence at Lord’s. They have played high-risk, high-reward cricket, but with the ability to tighten their game when appropriate. They have played with steel and panache, marrying a passionate fervour with technical brilliance.In its context, it has been, I think, one of the greatest cricketing achievements of recent years. And, on the downcast English flip side, one of the most striking cricketing failures.On day three and the first session of day four, the wheels did not merely come off for England. The entire rear axle sheared off from their car, their bonnet flew open, obstructing the view of the driver, who had passed out at the wheel in any case. The wheel-less car then skidded into a lamp post, rebounded via a stray rhinoceros into an extremely spiky field of cactuses, before the crumbling remnants of a once-snazzy vehicle juddered to a halt, teetering on the edge of a cliff. Before, just as it looked like the worst was over, toppling off that cliff, bumping downwards, bursting into flames and splatting into a swamp. Before the escaping occupants of the vehicle swam gingerly to the swampshore, and addressed a press conference with the words: “Yes, that nice afternoon drive through the countryside could definitely have gone better.”Given the number of centuries, wickets and caps in the side, belonging to players who have given English cricket some of its most joyous moments, it instantly rocketed into the A list of Most Crushing Passages Of Play In English Cricket History. A mercifully aggressive second-innings declaration by Clarke curtailed down the cricketing slaughter (and, for the third match in a row, prevented the margins of victory being even greater than they might have been). But the sight of England’s two leading wicket-takers of the past 30 years looking over their shoulders and upwards at a rapidly disappearing cricket ball, to the backdrop of thousands of jubilant Australians, could take some time to erase from England’s national cricketing conscience.* One of England’s almost innumerable problems has been their failure to find a balance between attack and defence, in the field and, especially, with the bat. Asphyxiated by the constant pressure applied by Australia’s miserly five-prong attack, England have managed to score slowly whilst also losing vast stockpiles of wickets with poorly conceived and/or rubbishly executed attacking strokes. In cricketing terms, their batting has been akin to an overweight man going on a strict diet, dedicatedly cutting out all carbohydrates but drinking ten butter-and-pig-fat smoothies a day.It is not a new phenomenon. They scored 160 for 4 in 80 overs on the first day of the Lord’s Test against New Zealand, their slowest start to a Test innings in at least 12 years; 172 for 4 in the first 80 overs of their second innings at Lord’s against Australia, when in a position of total and all but irreversible dominance.A major factor in their inability to break the baggy green shackles has been their striking lack of singles. Australia have averaged a single every 6.9 balls this series; England have taken one run on average every 11.5 balls. (Last summer the figures were: Australia 7.1, England 9.6.) Overall in 2013, in 13 Tests, England have scored a single every 10.4 balls. From 2009 to 2012, the first four years of the Flower Era, they hit a single every 6.4 balls. From 2004 to 2008, it was one every 7.5 balls – so Flower had presided over an increase in English singles, until this year.I have no idea why England have become so stuck. Perhaps they have just faced teams who bowl with discipline, field with verve, and do not stick fielders on the boundary as soon as a boundary is hit. Perhaps they have become infected with an excess of caution, visible even in some of their enormous recent victories (both with the bat and in their bizarrely scattered fields), and now detrimental in defeat. Who knows. But when a batsman with the craft and touch of Ian Bell is scoring 9 off 62 balls on a good batting pitch, regardless of the match situation, it is an issue that needs to be addressed as a matter of strategic necessity.* For all their disappointing cricket, England were grievously let down by statistics in Perth. Alastair Cook, after hitting his highest score of the Double-Ashes series, then deliberately bagged a first-ball duck to commence England’s fourth-innings chase of 504 – for he knew that no team whose opening batsman has been dismissed with the first ball of a Test innings at the WACA had ever previously lost (from an admittedly small statistical sample of four previous occasions), and that, on the only previous time England had triumphed in Perth, their captain had bagged a second-innings golden duck (Mike Brearley, in 1978-79) – in fact, England had not lost a Test in which their skipper went first ball in the second innings since 1938.* In the six Tests since their Lord’s drubbing, Australia have declared in eight of their 12 innings. They had been bowled out for under 310 in their previous 12 innings against England, and not declared in the Ashes in 11 Tests, since Cardiff 2009.* Nathan Lyon has the competent but unspectacular figures of 10 for 314 from three Tests. The tenth of those wickets was Graeme Swann, in the endgame at the WACA. The previous nine had all been top-seven batsmen. In the two series combined, 16 of his 19 wickets have been top-six batsmen or Matt Prior; 18 of the 19 have been caught.* Graeme Swann has had 20 sixes clonked off his bowling in the series so far, breaking Shane Warne’s series record of 16, set in 2005 (counting only series since 2001, when ESPNcricinfo started recording such priceless nuggets of ball-by-ball information).* England have often talked about the importance of “daddy hundreds”. Not the obscure 1920s American footballer who played for such distinguished franchises as the San Francisco Sadists, the Boston Bacon Baps, the Cincinnati Archivists, the Nantucket Nincompoops, Miami Strange, and the New York Kidney Stones, but large, match-defining centuries of 150 or more. They have therefore received insufficient praise for ruthlessly preventing Australia turning their hundreds into “daddies”. Only Clarke’s Adelaide 148 was in excess of 125, and the overall average score of Australia’s seven centuries is 118.4 – the second-worst such figure of any of the 32 Ashes sides that have scored six or more centuries. England, by contrast, have averaged a relatively elephantine 120 from their one single, solitary, lonely, singular hundred. A small victory in an ocean of pain.

Stats highlights from the third day’s play between South Africa and Australia at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

Shiva Jayaraman22-Feb-2014 South Africa lead Australia by 369 runs with six wickets in hand. They are comfortably placed in this Test, considering that teams have averaged 29 runs for every wicket in the fourth of innings of the last ten chases on this ground. The highest a team has scored in the fourth innings at St George’s Park is 273, by the hosts against New Zealand in 1962 and the highest a team has scored in the fourth innings to win a Test here is 271 for 8, by Australia in 1997. Brad Haddin reached a personal landmark with AB de Villiers’ dismissal in South Africa’s second innings. De Villiers was Haddin’s 600th first-class dismissal as a wicketkeeper. Haddin has taken 563 catches and effected 37 stumpings in 170 first-class matches. Click here for a list of wicketkeepers with most dismissals in first-class cricket. Mitchell Johnson scored a quick-fire 27 before he was bowled by JP Duminy. During his innings, he completed 200 runs in the 2013-14 season. He is only the sixth allrounder in Tests to take 50 or more wickets and score 200 or more runs in a season. There have been only nine such instances in Tests. The last such instance was also by Johnson, in 2008-09. Johnson is also only the third player, after Imran Khan and Malcolm Marshall, to do this twice in his career. Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon was bowled by Morne Morkel in the first session after he hung around for 42 deliveries, in Australia’s first innings. This was the first time he was dismissed in his last nine innings. The last time he got out in Tests was against England in Chester-le-Street in August last year. Since then, he had totally scored 64 runs without getting out in eight Test innings. West Indies’ Alf Valentine and New Zealand’s Ewen Chatfield had similar such run of eight unbeaten innings. The longest any team has batted at this venue in the fourth innings of a Test is 144 overs – the hosts against New Zealand in 1962. In recent times, the longest a team has survived in the fourth innings of a Test on this ground is 96.2 overs – when Deep Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid batted for over five hours to see India to a draw against the hosts in 2001. The 177-run lead that Australia conceded in their first innings is their fourth-highest first-innings deficit ever when fielding first against South Africa. The last time they conceded a higher such lead came back in 1970 at Kingsmead when they trailed South Africa by 465 runs at the end of their first innings. Hashim Amla made use of the improved batting conditions at St George’s Park and batted himself into form with his first fifty-plus score in eight innings. In his last seven Test innings, Amla had scored 105 runs at 15.00. Should he complete his century in this innings, he will be the fifth South Africa batsman with five Test hundreds against Australia and the second batsman to achieve that in this Test after AB de Villiers. Unlike South Africa in the first innings, who got to bat in sluggish conditions and could score only at a run rate of 2.8 an over, Australia scored rapidly in their first innings: their scoring rate of 4.31 runs an over was the highest in the first innings of a team in Tests at St George’s Park. South Africa also found conditions easier to bat in and scored fairly quickly during most of their innings today. Their third- and fourth-wicket partnerships scored at 5.06 and 4.92 runs an over respectively – South Africa’s second-fastest and third-fastest fifty-plus partnerships at this venue in Tests. Johnson dismissed Graeme Smith for the eighth time in Tests, in South Africa’s second innings. Johnson joins Chris Martin as the bowlers to have dismissed the South Africa captain most often in Test cricket. Johnson has dismissed Smith on nine occasions in international cricket. Only Zaheer Khan and James Anderson have dismissed Smith more often. Smith, who averages nearly 49 in Tests, scores almost ten runs less when facing up to left-arm fast bowlers.

This version of Ishant, when he appears, you wonder why the bad one even exists. You wonder why the good one appears so sporadically over so many Tests

Abhishek Purohit in Wellington14-Feb-20140:00

Crowe: ‘Ishant, India’s superstar of the Test series’

Someone who watched Ishant Sharma bowl for the first time in this Test series would wonder why he gets the criticism he does. A gangling fast bowler runs in and takes 15 wickets in three innings. What does the world expect him to do? Walk on water? And after all those wickets in Auckland and Wellington, who knows, he might pull that off too.This version of Ishant, that is. The good Ishant. When he appears, you wonder why the bad one even exists. You wonder why the good one appears so sporadically over so many Tests. You know he lurks there, somewhere, hidden behind the bad one and all that hair. And when he does sneak through, he is a sight to watch.The good version can be brought on early after the opening pair of fast bowlers has not been successful, and can deliver wickets with the new ball. He can then keep charging in for as long as the captain wants, rarely wavering from a tight line and length. He did the first bit both in Auckland and in Wellington – and at the latter he did the second too.At Eden Park Ishant, and India, ceded the advantage after having New Zealand three down. They repeatedly bowled short, and short and wide, to Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson after lunch while the pitch was easing out, and paid for it. Ishant said after the day’s play that India had got carried away looking at a fresh pitch in the first innings in Auckland, and accordingly tightened up in the next two innings.Will we see more of the good Ishant Sharma from now on?•Getty ImagesThere was no McCullum to deal with after lunch this time; he had gone to Mohammed Shami just before the break. The first ball of his spell in the second session, though, Ishant was swung for six over long-on by Corey Anderson. Three balls later, he was hit for four through mid-off. Both those balls were pitched up. The fuller length could go for runs on this pitch, as Shami had found earlier.It is hard to say when it is easier to correct your length – when it is too short or too full. But Ishant corrected that length, and went back to what had worked for him in the morning to snare three batsmen. Short or short of a good length, the length that is his normal landing spot. He did show a sign or two of wavering, spraying a couple wide, but soon reverted to making Anderson play, and the wicket followed. The ball that fetched him his fifth wicket showed what Ishant could do on a helpful pitch. Not too full, not short, batsman going forward and Ishant’s extra bounce, and some movement, defeating him.It has to be said that this pitch was a very reliable ally, especially in the morning. There was bounce, zip and seam. But it is one thing to have help on offer, it is another to avail it. West Indies had allowed New Zealand to make 441 on the same ground on a slightly less spiteful surface after choosing to bowl a couple of months ago. Their fast bowlers had little control and little patience. Ishant had both.Even his bowling colleagues trailed Ishant. Shami bowled some lovely deliveries and took four wickets, but he was often either too full or too short and conceded plenty of boundaries. Zaheer Khan had Kane Williamson caught at the stroke of lunch off a no-ball, but he did not make the batsmen play enough and generally lacked the bite, and consequently the threat, Ishant carried.You would expect your senior bowler to step up in case the senior-most does not. It seemed to be happening in Auckland, but India and Ishant let it slip away. It happened in Wellington. Will we see more of the good Ishant from now on? That is for another day. For now, it was refreshing to see him bowl better than the rest, from both sides.