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Saving the game is going to be a mental battle as well as a technical one for England’s nine remaining wickets

Andrew McGlashan at Centurion19-Dec-2009As England left Centurion on Saturday evening they will have taken a glance skywards and seen the mother of all thunderstorms brewing. In the back of their minds is the thought that maybe nature can help them escape the opening Test with a draw, but in these parts the weather is so unpredictable that England can’t rely on any favours – and nor should they.They have been hanging on by their fingertips in this match, but now their grip on any chance of victory has been wrenched free. From the moment Andrew Strauss’s decision to bowl first backfired they would probably have settled for a draw. Now they will welcome that result with open arms, by whatever means it comes, and the chance to head to Durban all-square.However, the captain can have no further influence on the match after he fell to a superb delivery from Morne Morkel in the second over of England’s uncomfortable six-over stint. All Strauss can do is sit, watch and ponder. If his team-mates can’t bail the side out and save the game, he is going to have some explaining to do. Hindsight is an evil thing, but putting South Africa in has looked a dodgy decision for at least four days.”Andrew Strauss is a quality player and getting him out early on certainly knocks the team back,” Hashim Amla said. “We were hoping for one wicket and fortunately we got Strauss out.”There is a memory, though, that England can cling to during their battle for survival. Five months ago they pulled off a miraculous escape at Cardiff in the opening Ashes Test as the final-wicket pair of Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar survived 69 balls. They began the final day in a similar position – 20 for 2 – and looked dead and buried before tea.Anderson struck with the new ball, but wasn’t best pleased about it•Getty Images”It’s going to be a big day for us – very similar to Cardiff in the Ashes,” Anderson said. “We pulled through that and we saw what happened after that. That’s the sort of momentum we can get to put us in a good position for the rest of the series, if we get through tomorrow, win or draw.”The manner in which South Africa built their lead may have lulled England into a false of security about batting out time to save the game, but the shooter from Anderson that removed Amla will have set alarm bells ringing. The ball doesn’t have to roll along the deck all the time; the simple knowledge that it might happen is enough to put doubt in the batsman’s mind. Saving the game is going to be a mental battle as well as a technical one for the nine remaining wickets.”You’ve got to put the wicket out of your mind, don’t think about what could happen with the balls that go underground,” Anderson said. “We’re going to have to be reasonably positive when we bat and hope we can manage to get through.”Whatever gains England have made during this match they have come when playing catch-up. Graeme Swann’s first-innings five wickets were a manful effort, but only served to keep South Africa’s total from going out of sight. And while Swann starred again with the bat, shifting the momentum with his thrilling 81-ball 85, South Africa still emerged with a valuable lead.When the home side slipped to 46 for 4 in the 22nd over, England had their best opportunity to turn the tables but again they couldn’t take the final stride into a commanding position. The bowlers tired in the heat and the pitch grew more unresponsive as the ball became older and older.”We came out reasonably fired-up, and at four-down we thought ‘we’re in with a sniff here’,” Anderson said. “But they really dug in and played well and saw off the seamers’ first couple of spells. Then obviously when you come back for the third or fourth spell you don’t have the same energy.”Having watched conditions become easier for batting during the day, Anderson knows the opening exchanges in the morning will be crucial. Of equal importance is the fact that South Africa will be able to call on a second new ball with about an hour remaining, should they need it.”It’s going to be a really difficult first hour for us,” Anderson said. “That harder ball does do some unusual things, but nothing of the sort happened with the old ball. If we can get through that first hour, we obviously have a good chance of batting the whole day.”

South Australia’s win over Mumbai Indians was so full of errors, it provided endless amusement to the kids watching

Sriram Veera in Durban14-Sep-2010There are days when you hope little boys and girls aren’t watching the game. You feel that if they see the poor show that the professional players have put up, the kids won’t fall in love with the sport. This wasn’t one of those days, though. You hoped that the kids watched tonight because there was an element of fun, albeit of a different kind.Yes, the game was low-quality; the fielding was appalling and the bowling at the pressure points was terrible. Yes, the highlights packages will feature boundaries from full tosses, dropped catches and catches off full tosses. But it was actually funny to watch. The kids would have loved it. Like how it’s funny to watch slap-stick. To watch grown-up men tumble, fumble and mess-up has been a fun pastime since time immemorial. It was that kind of a funny night in Durban. Admission: 40 rand for the grass banks and 100 for the grandstand. And it was Paisa-vasool (value for money) as they say in India.The end would have had the kids, as this internet generation would say, (rolling on the floor laughing). For an older generation, it was like watching Sunday-park cricket. The equation read 41 from 18 when Dwayne Bravo was thrown the ball. His captain Sachin Tendulkar would later say that he thought his team had things under control then. Mumbai lost control like alcoholics tempted with free drinks.Bravo’s first delivery was almost a full toss and was smashed back so hard that it nearly decapitated him. The crowd laughed. He went on to bowl three more full-tosses in the next five deliveries. There was some dew. Tendulkar didn’t want it to sound as an excuse but stated in the voice of a man under oath who has to put facts on record: “There was some dew. The bowlers were finding it difficult to hold the ball.”Only Malinga had the pace and the confidence to try bowling couple of bouncers in that scenario. When the yorker’s aren’t coming because the ball is wet, you try to hold the ball cross-seam or try to hit the deck. Malinga did that. The rest probably feared that the short stuff at their pace could disappear. Wonder why they didn’t try any slower ones. They continued to try bowling yorkers; they kept serving full tosses. Whack. Boom. Biff. Blast.Tendulkar called upon Zaheer Khan to bowl the penultimate over. The equation was 25 from 12. Tendulkar still thought his team was under control. Zaheer was coming off a long injury lay-off; he has been recently sweating it out at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, India. And the effort showed in his spell with the new ball: The ball bounced, seamed and dangerously flirted with the outside edge. The NCA stint had prepared him for that. What it couldn’t provide him with was match practice; real match situations where you can test yourself. Today, he slipped. It can happen. He bowled four full tosses in that over to reduce the equation to 11 from 6. And it was fitting that the winning runs came from a full toss from Harbhajan Singh. The game deserved nothing else. It had to be a full toss. And it was.The most fun though came from the fielding. There was a contest running in the pressbox about how many catches were dropped. ‘Four? That Harbhajan one was a missed chance right? Ok five. What about the one Ambati Rayudu clanged? But hey, he is not a regular keeper. So? Ok, Six. Happy? May be we missed something. Let’s ask Tendulkar.'”It was the fielding that let us down,” Tendulkar said. “Some balls came harder than you thought it would, some swung away from you – like mine did- and you had to adjust. We didn’t today.”When all the mayhem was unfolding on the field, it wasn’t readily apparent whether Tendulkar was upset, whether he was sad or whether he was angry with all this full tosses and catches.
As a captain, how did he deal with this entire low-quality cricket? “You tend to get upset. Nobody wants to lose. There are days when you try your best but nothing works out. This was one of those days. Every day, you can’t bowl four brilliant overs or score a brilliant fifty. Sometimes, lapses do happen. It was just one of those days.”It was. But what morbid fun was had.

Most of the South African team have good records in Cape Town, and it has also been a favourable venue for Sachin Tendulkar

S Rajesh01-Jan-2011Despite the 87-run defeat in Durban which has swung the momentum away from them, South Africa will be reasonably upbeat about their chances for the third Test, as the match will be played in Cape Town, a venue where South Africa have lost to no team other than Australia since their readmission to international cricket. In 21 Tests at Newlands during this period, South Africa won 14 and lost three, all of them to Australia – in 1994, 2002 and 2006. Their win-loss ratio of 4.66 is second-best among all their home venues. South Africa’s recent record here is equally impressive – in the last nine Tests, since the beginning of 2005, they have won six and lost only one.India’s record isn’t as good: they drew the first time they played here, in 1993, but lost the next two matches, in 1997 and 2007.

In Durban a couple of South African batsmen had poor records, but in Cape Town, almost everyone has done well. Apart from AB de Villiers, all their batsmen, including Mark Boucher, average more than 40.Jacques Kallis leads the way with six centuries in 17 Tests, including hundreds in each of his last two matches. Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince have also impressed, with averages in the late 50s. Smith will have pleasant memories of his last innings at this ground, a splendid 183 against England in the first week of 2010. Prince failed in that match, scoring 0 and 15, but he made 150 against Australia in 2009, which is one of his two centuries here. de Villiers is the one batsman with a below-par record here, but his only century at this venue came recently, when he scored 163 against Australia in 2009.

After twin failures in Durban, which remains one of his worst Test venues, Sachin Tendulkar returns to a ground where he has done much better – in each of his three Tests in Cape Town, Tendulkar has scored at least a half-century, and averages almost 69. His best innings here, which is also among his best Test hundreds, came in 1997, when he scored a sparkling 169 off 254 balls and added 222 for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Azharuddin after India had slumped to 58 for 5.There hasn’t been much cheer for the other batsmen, though: Rahul Dravid has a highest of 47 in four innings, while VVS Laxman’s best in as many attempts is an unbeaten 35.

Most of South Africa’s current bowling attack has enjoyed the conditions at Newlands too. Dale Steyn has consistently been among the wickets here, averaging six per game in his last five matches. He hasn’t taken a single five-for here, but has taken four in an innings on five occasions, including once against India in 2007. Morne Morkel took a five-for in his only Test here, and even Pul Harris has done well here, taking six in an innings against Australia in 2009.

Harris’ stats are particularly creditable since spinners haven’t generally done well at Newlands. In Tests since 2000, they’ve conceded more than 40 runs for each of their 105 wickets, with only two five-wicket hauls. (Apart from Harris, Shane Warne is the only one to have achieved it in the last ten years.) Fast bowlers have been more successful, averaging less than 33 per wicket. (For a detailed look at the performances of fast bowlers at this ground, click here.)

MS Dhoni has lost the toss 13 times in his last 14 Tests, but if past stats are any indication, he might not mind losing the toss this time: of the last 11 Tests which have produced a decisive result since 2000, eight have been won by the team which lost the toss. Captains have chosen to bat first in 11 out of 14 Tests during this period, but more recently the stats are even: in the last six Tests, three times the captain winning the toss has fielded.In terms of average runs per wicket in each innings, the second and fourth innings have been more productive than the first and third. The last four first innings have yielded scores of 157, 243, 209 and 291. The second innings scores have been higher, with South Africa managing 651 against Australia in 2009. The fourth innings has been pretty productive too, though that’s partly because of teams achieving smallish fourth-innings targets with a fair number of wickets in hand. In the early 2000s, though, teams managed quite big scores in the fourth innings: Australia chased down a target of 331 in 2002, while West Indies made 354 for 5 in 2004 to save the game. In the most recent Test here, England hung on for a draw after being nine down for 296, after South Africa had set them a target of 466.

South Africa’s failure to adapt their approach to the unexpected threat posed by India’s bowlers led to their collapse in the first innings

Firdose Moonda at Kingsmead27-Dec-2010When South Africa took to the field for the second time in two days, there was something markedly different about them. For the first nine overs, they walked around like the zombies out of the movie. They appeared shell-shocked, well and truly bewildered that on day two they found themselves bowling again.Even though South Africa had been saying all the right things about expecting India to put up a fight, the knockout punch that the Indian attack dealt them came as a complete surprise. Although South Africa insisted that they respected India and understood the quality of their opposition, they didn’t expect that quality to unleash itself in the way it did – through the Indian bowlers.Graeme Smith, after the first Test in Centurion, stopped just short of saying that he thought India would not be able to take 20 wickets against South Africa. He was asked if he thought the Indian attack was capable of bowling South Africa out twice. This was his answer: “I’d love to say no, but no one wants to touch the money.”Everything about Smith’s expression and body language as he spoke showed he didn’t believe that India’s bowlers could be much of a threat. Today, they didn’t even have to take 20 wickets, it was the ten they skittled for 131 runs that shook South Africa’s usually solid line-up to its core and exposed one of the team’s biggest weaknesses: the inability to regroup once their plans have been bent out of shape by something that is not in their control.Matters became tense when Smith dutifully put on his bunny ears and fell to Zaheer Khan and the anxiety levels rose when Alviro Petersen was dismissed. But it was when bad luck struck and Jacques Kallis was run out at the non-strikers end by Ishant Sharma that plans started disintegrating. Eight balls later de Villiers fell victim to a peach of a delivery from Sreesanth, a ball he could do nothing about, but it was a sign to South Africa to start taking the Indian threat more seriously.They didn’t seem to do that and when Harbhajan Singh came on to bowl, any strategy South Africa may have had rolled away from them like a Turkish carpet. South Africa targeted Singh successfully in the first Test. Smith even had a little dig at him in the post-match press conference. The South Africa captain was smug in his statement that Paul Harris had had more of an impact than Harbhajan, and performed better throughout the game. His statement may have been accurate, but the manner in which he delivered his observation suggested disdain for Harbhajan.South Africa may have thought that the Turbanator would be ineffective on this tour but he proved them wrong in emphatic fashion. Hashim Amla, who is traditionally strong on the leg side, and had faced Harbhajan many times before, played the sweep shot to a delivery that held its line and went straight on. He was given out lbw and initially it looked as though he was unlucky but replays showed that the ball would have gone on to hit middle and leg stump.Harbhajan’s next two wickets came from outrageous catches. First, Rahul Dravid took his 200th catch with an impeccably timed dive to his left at slip to dismiss Dale Steyn and then Cheteshwar Pujara anticipated well at short leg to send Harris on his way. Harbhajan’s wizardry had not been completely exhausted and he took a stunner of a catch himself on the fine-leg boundary to hand Ishant Sharma a wicket. It was those improbable chances that India latched onto that would have stunned South Africa, who were not expecting such a committed display from the visitors.It may be easier for South Africa to blame it on their Durban jinx. Kingsmead has been a particularly problematic venue, where South Africa have been bowled out in the 130s in three consecutive seasons. In the 2009-10 edition, they were bundled out for 133 in the second innings against England to lose by an innings and 98 runs. Graeme Swann was the chief destroyer then, taking 5 for 54 in that innings and nine wickets in the match. The season before, South Africa were all out for 138 against Australia. Mitchell Johnson did the bulk of the damage as he quite literally punctured South Africa’s plans by breaking Smith’s hand and smacking Kallis on the jaw, sending them both to hospital in the space of 16 overs.Durban is becoming the hoodoo venue for the hosts but they can’t blame it for the tailspin they find themselves in after their clinical approach failed. In Kolkata earlier this year, South Africa went from 218 for 2 to 296 all out after an attack from Khan and Harbhajan. It’s not just in Durban where the batting struggles to adjust when the need arises. What Kolkata tells us is that South Africa need to have a more dynamic approach so that they can improvise when things aren’t going according to plan.

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad

Abhishek Purohit24-Apr-2011The stumping
Davy Jacobs has already stood up to Lasith Malinga, of all bowlers. So it was no surprise when he decided to stand up to Munaf Patel. But Munaf would not have expected a stumping to be added to his modes of dismissing a batsman, which is what Jacobs did to Daniel Christian. As the asking rate mounted, Christian decided to have a swipe at a length ball from Munaf, who normally gets extra bounce. He did, and Christian missed. Jacobs didn’t. He collected the ball nonchalantly even as it climbed, saw Christian had stuttered out, and had the bails off before the batsman’s foot was grounded back.The inevitable – I
Sachin Tendulkar held back Malinga, opening the bowling with Munaf and Harbhajan Singh. He even went to Abu Nechim before finally unleashing Malinga in the sixth over. Tendulkar had made him wait but Malinga gave his captain an early birthday present. Three balls into the over, the screaming yorker arrived. Shikhar Dhawan was in the firing line. He backed away to save his toes, but the bat came down too late, and the leg stump took a walk.The inevitable – II
Cameron White can’t buy a run at the moment. He can’t even steal a run at the moment. After pottering around for six balls to get off the mark with an edged single to third man, White managed to push a Kieron Pollard delivery to mid-off and eagerly set off for the single. But to his horror, Malinga was lurking close by. Even as White lumbered across, Malinga fired in a throw that clattered into the stumps, catching White short and putting him out of his misery.The inevitable – III
Pollard just has to turn up, roll over his arm, and he promptly gets a wicket with his slow-mediums. The longer the hop, the sooner the wicket comes. He had MS Dhoni caught at third man with a delivery that was a foot outside leg stump against Chennai. Today he got Bharat Chipli with a short delivery that was miles outside off. It even came excruciatingly slowly off the wicket, begging Chipli to hammer it to the point boundary. Probably tired of waiting for the ball to arrive, Chipli launched into a cut that flew straight to point.The vintage show
Andrew Symonds is slowly cranking it up this season. He showed glimpses of his brute power against Chennai, and today, he displayed another vintage dimension of his batting. While Symonds has always been ruthless in slogging deliveries over long-on, at this best, he also used to back away outside leg and drill deliveries anywhere in the arc from square third man to long-off. He tried that on numerous occasions today, and towards the end, was pulling it off at will against Deccan’s fastest bowlers, Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma. First he made room and dismissed Ishant to the sweeper cover boundary. Then he hammered Steyn over extra cover, and as if to prove that it wasn’t all power, played a pleasing punch from outside leg that split sweeper cover and long-off.

After 14 nomadic years with countless teams, South Africa’s exciting new leggie finds himself on the cusp of his Test debut

Firdose Moonda07-Nov-2011If there’s something everyone in the world knows how to speak, it’s the language of food. Tasty treats can bridge the gap between cultures, races, religions and nationalities. So when South Africa’s Pakistan-born legspinner, Imran Tahir, who still has reservations about his English, was first picked for the national team, he introduced himself by making smoothies.Tahir’s concoctions of yoghurt, fruit and the odd sweet surprise have become the most talked-about delicacies in the South African change room. His team-mates rave about the drinks and have posted pictures on Twitter of Tahir with a blender, plying his popular part-time trade. For Tahir it was a way of becoming part of a team for which he is likely to make his Test debut this week.”I am very famous in the team for eating,” Tahir said. “I have a lot of a hunger because it took me 14 years of first-class cricket to become an international cricketer,” he adds with a glint of mischief in his eye.Those years included stints with 10 teams in his native Pakistan – five in his home city of Lahore alone – four English counties and two South African franchises. He finally settled in South Africa in 2006, marrying Durban-born Sumayya Dildar, whom he first met when touring the country with the Pakistan Under-19 side in 1998. But despite his history as a nomadic cricketer, the local conditions made him question his abilities as a sportsman.”I had to bowl on such hard wickets, completely different to Pakistan. When I first started I wanted to bowl slowly, like I have been doing all my life. I got hit everywhere, and I thought I am not good enough to play in South Africa because it’s so easy for them to play against me. Then I started working with Richard Pybus and learnt how to bowl in South Africa. I worked on my pace. You have to be faste in the air, but not flatter.”Once Tahir made the adjustment, his output was impossible to ignore. With an average that never went above 23.80, Tahir took 186 wickets in four seasons. He was picked for South Africa in the third of those, to play in a Test against England in January 2010, but was ineligible to represent the country at the time. When he did qualify, the team was not scheduled to play a Test for the next 11 months, but had a World Cup campaign looming. On subcontinental pitches that would favour his bowling, Tahir was an automatic pick.In January this year he was included in the one-day squad to play India but spent the five matches carrying drinks, as he was held back as a secret weapon for the World Cup. “I hear things from people about why I wasn’t playing but I am actually grateful to Graeme Smith and the team for the way they welcomed me in the team and made me feel comfortable,” Tahir said. “Even though I didn’t play a game against India I felt part of the team. So when I went to the World Cup, I didn’t feel any pressure at all.”He made his international debut in South Africa’s World Cup opener against West Indies in Delhi. “I was told I was playing the day before, and I didn’t sleep the whole night. Once I bowled my first ball, I was very confident because I landed it on the right spot.”He conceded 11 runs in his second over and was taken out of the attack but brought back nine overs later. In that over, Tahir took his first international wicket, catching Devon Smith off his own bowling, with a delivery that was flighted generously. His celebration was explosive: he took off, running around the field and clutching the Proteas badge. It was a routine he repeated 13 times in the tournament. “That celebration is just in me somewhere,” he said. “I didn’t decide to make it up. I want to enjoy every wicket I take, even in club cricket. I just want to celebrate and play the game with passion.”While the tournament was a success for Tahir, it ended in familiar gloom for South Africa, after their quarter-final exit at the hands of New Zealand. Tahir said the defeat was a “big shock” to him and the most emotional loss he had ever experienced. “We left the ground very late. We sat there for two hours after the game. Everybody cried. Everyone was very down. I just sat in the corner for one hour.”

“Playing with Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, I am a very lucky guy. Not many people are going to attack those two, which means the batsmen will attack me. And if they attack me, there is always a chance I can get a wicket”

He was pleasantly surprised on returning home to see South African fans rally around the team and pledge their support. “Just before we landed, I heard there are people outside, and I was scared. I was getting ready to catch some tomatoes and onions,” he said. “But it went the other way, and it was very nice to see people standing for us and saying we are still behind you and we will always support you. That’s what makes us a complete South African nation, to see so much love from people, even when we lost a big game.”South Africa had nearly a seven-month break and while many of Tahir’s team-mates used the time to go on holiday, he did not. He returned to Hampshire, where he had another successful season, with 28 first-class wickets at 24.46 and 17 in the Twenty20 competition at 16.88. “I wanted to have a little bit of practice.”Well, that is not a little in county cricket, it is a lot,” he laughed. “I wanted to do well and show the selectors that I am capable.”That may well be his last county stint, though, as he looks to focus on international cricket and his family, having bought his first house recently. He is pleased to have left on a positive note, and said county cricket taught him much of what he knows about playing the game now, because he was able to bowl to so many top-class batsmen and learn from bowlers of the calibre of Shane Warne. It also gave him his insatiable desire for wickets. “I don’t like to go back to the hotel and see my family and friends and when they ask how I did and I say I got one wicket, I don’t like that. I’d rather take four or five and be happy so I can face everyone.”Tahir’s aggression has found him a place in the Test squad to play Australia. A wicket-taking spinner has not been part of South Africa’s attack since Paul Adams in the mid-1990s, and Tahir is being talked up as the missing piece. However, on South African tracks, which have traditionally been prepared to suit seamers, spinners have largely had to play a containing role.It is still unclear who among Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Vernon Philander and Paul Harris will be the donkey bowler, but Tahir said he’d be willing to share the burden. “I am an attacking bowler but I can change my plan and go however the team wants me to go. It might be a bit hard for me because I like to see me take wickets and running around the field, but if not, I’d rather not run around and save energy for the next spell.”His elevation to Test level has also meant that Tahir has had to work on other aspects of his game. While playing in the domestic leagues, he has looked a typical No. 11, comical with the bat and in the field, while being a wizard with the ball. Tahir understands that those weaknesses will hinder him on the big stage, and has made big strides in his fielding.”I have heard from people that I have improved a lot from last year,” he said, and there is proof of it too. “In the last county season, I took a catch which became an advert on television. It is a very famous catch.”I was at short fine leg and Robert Key tried to sweep the medium-pacer Dimitri Mascarenhas. It went over my head, far up – miles, in fact. I just had to run and in the end I just caught the ball. I couldn’t believe it. For one moment even Robert couldn’t believe it and he stood there and thought, ‘You can’t take this catch.’ But since then I have taken four or five catches in the same position. So fielding has been really good.””I want to enjoy every wicket I take, even in club cricket. I just want to celebrate and play the game with passion”•Getty ImagesTahir recalls the story with boyish joy. At 32, he is fitter than many younger players and has avoided major injuries through most of his career. He broke his left thumb during the World Cup and missed two group-stage matches, but had surgery on returning to South Africa and has now recovered fully. “If I am going to play international cricket I need to be fitter and stronger.” And so he adheres strictly to his fitness regime. “Whenever I have time, I do my fitness,” he said. “I go running on my own on Sundays or on Eid. I’d rather gym every day than go watch movies.”Tahir has already thought of getting into coaching when he hangs up his boots. “I love to help kids, especially spinners, in South Africa. You won’t see many guys bowling legspin, so I want to try to see if I can develop another Imran Tahir.”For now he has his sights set on Australia. He has not seen much of them, save for a warm-up match before the World Cup in February, but he said he watched their series in Sri Lanka with interest. He expects them to be tough to bowl to but thinks the South African attack will be capable of challenging them.”Playing with Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, I am a very lucky guy,” he grinned. “Not many people are going to attack those two, which means the batsmen will attack me. And if they attack me there is always a chance I can get a wicket.”

After the events of 2010 Pakistan cricket could have withered away, but due to a combination of determination and desire they are now flourishing

George Dobell06-Feb-2012Perhaps the darkest hour really is just before the dawn. By the end of Pakistan’s tour to England in 2010, the team’s reputation was in shreds. Beaten on the field and discredited off it, it was surely the lowest ebb in the history of Pakistan cricket.From the rubble of that episode, however, a new Pakistan has emerged. A Pakistan that is no longer hindered by infighting or individual agendas. A Pakistan that, in the tough times, pulls together rather than splitting apart. A Pakistan team rather than a collection of talented individuals.If the events of 2010 had not occurred, it is quite possible that either or both Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal, the undisputed stars of this series, would have been unable to force their way into this team.It is quite possible that Misbah-ul-Haq, a man who had been left out of a preliminary 35-man squad that year, would not be in this team, let alone the captain. It is quite possible that younger players such as Azhar Ali, Adnan Akmal and Asad Shafiq would have been unable to enjoy a prolonged opportunity to establish themselves in this team. It is quite possible that Younis Khan, a batsman whose class shone out in this third Test, would have drifted out of the international game having been banned by the PCB after allegations that he had been partially responsible for infighting within the team. It is quite possible that Umar Gul, whose four-wicket burst on the last afternoon was overdue reward for his outstanding work throughout the series, would have been squeezed out of the side. And it is quite possible that Ijaz Butt might still be chairman of the PCB.Pakistan cricket could have imploded. They could have bemoaned their ill-fortune and become embroiled in regrets and recriminations.Instead they rebuilt. They took a long, hard look at themselves and decided that change was necessary. They appointed an experienced captain, they kept faith with a few youngsters who they believe can enjoy a long future in international cricket and they identified a group of players who showed the skill and character to combine as a team when times grew tough.The appointment of Misbah as captain, in particular, was wise. He is not a flamboyant man, nor a great orator or particularly charismatic. And he is a worthy rather than great batsman.But Pakistan have had plenty of charismatic captains. Plenty who have been blessed with more natural ability. Plenty who have looked good in front of the camera. It did not always serve them well.Misbah is not that sort. He is not much interested in the limelight or the glamour. Or soundbites or flash innings. He is interested in developing a winning culture and nurturing a team spirit that can bring pride back to Pakistan cricket. He is interested in winning, not the trappings of success.

Pakistan have the foundations of something quite special at the moment. Whatever happens, they need to retain faith in the people and policies that have brought them so far, so fast

His calm leadership has served Pakistan well. They started with a drawn series against South Africa – no mean feat – before Misbah lead them to wins over New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, with just the aberration of a drawn series against West Indies as the only setback. Now they have completed the fifth series (in three-match series or more) clean sweep in their history. Not only that, but they have done it against the No. 1 Test ranked side. In this game they also illustrated their unity and tenacious spirit by becoming just the sixth side in history to win a Test having been bowled out for under 100 in the first innings of a match and the first to do so since 1907.And remember: all these matches are away from home. Due to security concerns, Pakistan remain unable to play in their own country. It remains remarkable that the PCB are thinking of appointing a new coach, Dav Whatmore, in replace of the interim, Mohsin Khan. What more could they have asked of Mohsin?It will not always be like this for Pakistan. They will face sterner tests in less helpful conditions and results may not always go their way. But they have the foundations of something quite special at the moment. Whatever happens, they need to retain faith in the people and policies that have brought them so far, so fast.Now let us reflect for a moment on what might have been from an England perspective. Let us imagine that, instead of just suffering a bruise, Ian Bell’s arm had been broken when he was struck by a throw-down from Graham Gooch just prior to this series. He would have been sent home and missed the mauling that he and his team have just received. Bell’s series record – just 51 runs at an average of 8.5 – just might prove career threatening.England’s batsmen had no answers to any of Pakistan’s bowling•Getty ImagesBut had he been absent, you can bet that, right now, he would be lauded as the potential saviour of English cricket. In his absence, his reputation as a great player of spin would have risen sharply. It would, we now know, have been nonsense.Bell’s experience has been a microcosm of England’s in this series. Approaching it with a glowing reputation, he and his team have received the rudest of awakenings. They may remain, according to the rankings, the No. 1 Test side in the world, but the title has a hollow sound now. Besides, if South Africa defeat New Zealand by a 3-0 margin, they will have usurped them.England’s travails against spin are clear to see. Ajmal’s doosra remained a mystery to them; Rehman’s control complete. Together the pair claimed 43 wickets in the series at an average of 15.6 apiece. They bowled beautifully.But it is the self harm that will smart most from an England perspective. Even on the last day of the series several England batsmen played a large role in their own downfall: Alastair Cook, playing across the line; Jonathan Trott, top edging a desperate sweep; Kevin Pietersen, punished for a fault in his technique and, most frustratingly, Stuart Broad, who picked out the fielder at long off with an obliging drive.Batting against opposition of this quality is difficult enough without such self-inflicted damage. Yet perhaps self-inflicted is the wrong phrase. It does not adequately convey the pressure applied by Pakistan, or the skill of their bowlers to maintain that pressure, or the ability of their captain to ensure his team remained disciplined and patient.But England could have made Pakistan fight harder for their wickets. They showed some improvement from the first Test to the third, but their much-vaunted middle-order – Bell, Pietersen (who averaged 11.16) and Eoin Morgan (who averaged 13.66) – must take much of the responsibility for this, the seventh series whitewash in England’s Test history. It is inevitable that there will be calls for players to be dropped.England can learn from Pakistan’s approach. They can learn from the technique and temperament shown here by Azhar, who resisted for almost nine hours to set up this victory. They can learn from the determination and patience shown by Misbah in Abu Dhabi and the footwork and skill of Younis in this Test. They can learn, most of all, the balance between attack and defence and the need for calm and confidence. But if the tourists blame the DRS, unusual bowling actions, or simply ill fortune, they will, in the long term, delay their progress.Pakistan rebuilt from a severe setback in 2010. Now it is England’s turn.

Victory in the Twenty20, led by Alex Hales, capped a fine start to the season by England who continue to find new matchwinners

George Dobell at Trent Bridge24-Jun-2012It is true that sterner tests await, but the first portion of England’s summer could hardly have gone better. Victorious in Tests, ODIs and their only Twenty20 international, they have once again made decent opposition look deceptively poor. Whatever their issues in Asian conditions, England remain desperately tough to beat in their own backyard.Their Test success was not, perhaps, surprising. West Indies were lacking several senior players and, in these conditions, England were always likely to prove too strong. Still, it is worth remembering how England struggled in the winter. No victory should be taken for granted.But the limited-overs success is particularly impressive. West Indies, blessed with the return of most of their leading payers, looked strong and confident and England were forced to confront a series of unforeseen challenges. The sudden retirement of Kevin Pietersen, for example, could have unsettled both the ODI and the T20I teams.Instead England adapted with admirable aplomb. Indeed, such was the way that Ian Bell embraced opening in ODIs and Alex Hales flourished in this T20I that Pietersen’s departure left barely a ripple. There will, no doubt, be times in the months ahead when he is sorely missed – talents like Pietersen are rare and precious – but it is testament to the strength of the entire England set-up – the county game, the Lions, the England team management, the success of the three-captain experiment et al. – that such a blow can be born so lightly.”It is an inexperienced batting line-up,” Stuart Broad, England’s Twenty20 captain admitted afterwards, “but with inexperience you also get fearlessness. Guys just go out and hit the ball. Chasing 170 is quite daunting, but I don’t think we ever had any negative thoughts in our mind. We just expected to get it; 170, on that wicket, was very gettable, and we had guys left in the changing room who could have won that game.”On paper we would all have looked at their line-up, with Gayle and Smith and Samuels and Bravo and Narine all successful in the IPL, and thought of them as favourites. So to have won in the manner we did was hugely pleasing.”We have guys who are consistently performing on the county circuit and it is good to see them step-up and do it on the international stage as well. It’s great to see young players come into the team and perform. It’s a sign of the team developing that you give guys responsibility and they really grab their opportunities.”There were some areas of concern for England. Jade Dernbach’s last two overs cost 33 runs; Craig Kieswetter has passed 18 only twice in 11 innings and his strike-rate is an underwhelming 113.85; Jos Buttler was unable, through no fault of his own, to provide any further clues of his readiness to prosper at this level. Generally, however, this was an impressive performance with Steven Finn, with the ball, Jonny Bairstow, in the field, and Hales and Ravi Bopara, with the bat, providing the match-winning contributions.Hales needed this innings. Under some pressure for his place from Alastair Cook – Broad admitted that a recall for Cook had been discussed – he has not made a century in Championship, T20 or one-day cricket for Nottinghamshire this season. Here, however, he showed a welcome ability to play on both sides of the wickets – his reputation as a predominantly off-side player looked silly as he pulled and hooked and worked to leg – and, as his innings progressed, some unusually deft touches which hinted at real class. Aged just 23, too, he has time on his side.Ravi Bopara played a mature innings to suggest he is finally settling at the top level•Getty ImagesBut if is Hales who will win the headlines, Bopara was just as impressive. He timed his innings perfectly, played selflessly and looked a player of some composure and maturity. For a man whose temperament has been question in the past, it was another demonstration that he may well be on the cusp of finally fulfilling his talent in all forms of international cricket.It was, perhaps, fitting that the moment of defeat should be secured by a West Indies’ misfield. For all the hints of improvement West Indies have shown during this tour, the fact is they have lost all five international games in which there was meaningful play. On each occasion, they have promised for a while only to let themselves down with a poor passage of play.Darren Sammy, looking exhausted, admitted his side had been out played and offered warm praise to England.”We have just been dominated by the number-one team in the world in all formats of the game,” he said. “On paper we had a really strong team, but you need to go out and string together consistently good performances and that’s what England have done throughout the series and we haven’t.”We have got to be consistently good in all three departments, batting, bowling and fielding. We are doing some good stuff but we are not doing it consistently for long enough. We have to string together performances that will get the team to win.”Nor will Sammy and his team enjoy any respite. They fly out of England on Monday and start another T20 series against New Zealand, in Florida, on Saturday. “We don’t get a break until the August 7,” Sammy said with the air of a man who had circled the date in his diary with some anticipation.Sammy also defended the performance of Sunil Narine, who has been disappointingly innocuous in all formats in England. There was just a suggestion that the mystery of Narine, like Ajantha Mendis before him, had quickly been dispelled.”To be fair to Sunil, the wickets he’s played on haven’t always suited his play,” Sammy said. “The more he plays out there on the international scene, there is more footage, so batsman find ways to score off you. It happened to Mendis: when he first came out he was very difficult to pick but after a while people got used to him. But I know once Sunil gets the type of wickets that really suit him he will be very difficult to play. Swann has not been so effective in this series and he has been playing here throughout his career. It is Sunil’s first away tour, so he will learn from this experience.”Perhaps the most important lesson on this tour from a West Indies perspective was that there will be no quick-fixes to their problems. It will take more than the return of a big-hitting opening batsman or the emergence of a mystery spinner to paper over the cracks of a Caribbean cricket system that is fatally flawed. Sammy has been asked to put out a forest fire with a mug of water. He has an almost impossible task.

With only five specialist batsmen in the line-up, Pakistan are overly dependent on their bowlers to deliver in every game

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Colombo12-Jun-2012Pakistan came in to the ODI series with the recent head-to-head record overwhelmingly in their favour. A big reason for their consistency, not only against Sri Lanka, is their penetrative and balanced bowling attack. The presence of two spin-bowling allrounders has given them the option of playing more specialists, depending on the conditions and opposition.For all their strengths as a unit, Pakistan now find themselves in a predicament similar to Sri Lanka’s after the first ODI at Pallekele. Their bowlers may have conceded 280 against an inconsistent batting line-up, but as the captain Misbah-ul-Haq conceded, the batsmen had to shoulder the blame for a heavy defeat.Both teams have gambled in the two matches so far. In the first game, Sri Lanka invested their senior-most batsmen at the top, but in the process exposed a relatively inexperienced middle order. It prompted a reshuffle and helped them double their score in considerably better batting conditions two days later. For the hosts, it was a matter of identifying the ideal batting positions for their line-up, which has a mixture of youth and experience. Pakistan gambled by playing just five specialist batsmen in both games. It didn’t matter in the first game, where they were chasing 136, but in the second, they were caught short in their big chase of 281.It has put Pakistan in a scenario where they’re made to rethink their composition. Unlike Sri Lanka, it isn’t merely a case of playing around with the batting order. It’s about bringing in the extra specialist, at the cost of a bowler, to give themselves more security.Misbah, however, didn’t drop any hints. “We will have a look at the conditions, see the wicket and decide,” was his straightforward response on the eve of the third ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.The pitch at Pallekele was seamer-friendly for the opening ODI, aided by the recent rain and moisture. It prompted a three-man seam attack, which shut Sri Lanka out of the game before the Pakistan batsmen could pad up. Pakistan retained the composition for the second game – albeit weakened by Mohammad Sami’s absence – but later had to digest the truth that if the bowlers have a forgettable day, the pressure piles up on a batting line-up low on resources.It compounds when the seniors fail. On the one hand, it can be seen an ideal opportunity for someone like Umar Akmal to show he has the temperament to occupy the crease, knock the singles and marshal the middle-and lower-order. It could also boost his chances of a Test recall. After Younis Khan and Misbah failed to make an impact, it left the lower middle order much to do, increasing the responsibilities on Azhar Ali, who worked hard for his 96. He dispelled the tag of being a stodgy Test player by breezing to his fifty, off the same number of balls. If only support was more forthcoming at the other end.Akmal got a poor decision, and it left Shahid Afridi a lot to do. Afridi has shown in the past that he can play responsibly after a top-order collapse, like in Sharjah against the same opposition last year. However, inconsistency has been his biggest enemy, which explains why, by his own admittance, he’s a bowling allrounder.Misbah was honest in his assessment of the team’s failure. “I have always felt that a strong middle-and lower-order is important if we have to win games. From the position we were in, we should have at least scored 250-260 runs. It should have been a closer game.”The bright spot was the ease with which Azhar settled into his new role as opener. “He’s got a fine temperament and technically one of the better batsmen in our side,” Misbah said. “With the two new balls at either end it’s important we have a batsman who has the technique to face the new ball and especially in Sri Lanka where the ball does a bit early on. I think he can be a consistent performer for Pakistan in the opening slot.”The defeat has sent signals to the seniors, including Misbah, to step up. But picking another specialist, like Asad Shafiq, wouldn’t hurt either.

The match was underwhelming but the atmosphere was anything but

Mohsin Gheewala01-Oct-2012Choice of game
When planning a weekend in Colombo to watch cricket, we chose D1 and D2 matches hoping Pakistan would qualify as D1. What we didn’t realise was that the format was planned in such a way that if Pakistan and India qualified, they would meet in this game irrespective of their positions in their groups. When it hit us that we had tickets for this match, it was like we had died and gone to heaven!Given Pakistan’s track record against India in World Cups and their woeful batting performance against South Africa, we were expecting India to win. But watching India bowl half-trackers against the Aussies gave us hope that Pakistan would make a big score here.Team supported
As a Pakistani, I am supporting Pakistan. My second-choice team are Sri Lanka. I’d like to see Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene win a World Cup before their career ends.Key performer
I wanted to see how India’s part-time bowlers would do against the likes of Umar Akmal, Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal. MS Dhoni had got a lot of flak in the press for playing three spinners against Australia so when he went in with four bowlers here it was a case of how well the bit bowlers would do. In the end, it was Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli’s bowling, along with R Ashwin’s, that restricted Pakistan.One thing I’d have changed about the match
Unfortunately for us, the only obstruction in the stand blocking the view of the field was placed right opposite our seats. However, these were the light poles beaming out colourful flashy lights as the cheerleaders danced in between overs. That made up for us not being able to really watch the bowlers complete their delivery strides.Face-offs I relished
I wanted to watch Kohli bat live against a quality spin attack and wanted to see his bat speed, his placement of the ball, and, especially, his timing. He did not disappoint at all. His footwork and confidence against the Pakistani spinners was a joy to watch and confirmed to me that he will be one of the best (if not the best) batsmen of the next decade.Wow moment
The goose-bump moment for me was when two massive flags of India and Pakistan were brought out by little kids. The national anthems of the two countries were played and the crowds joined in, which reaffirmed my belief that whatever may be happening in one’s country and however much may we criticise the governments and the “systems”, national pride runs deep in all of us. At the end of the day, we are all the same, and that’s an ideal starting point for peaceful living.Shot of the day
Two shots stood out. Umar Akmal smacked Irfan Pathan for a huge six out of nowhere, and then Kohli timed a sweet cover drive to the boundary against a decent length ball from Saeed Ajmal. Fans are lucky to have such talented young batsmen to enjoy for years to come.Crowd meter
The most amazing thing about the match was the build-up. Playing on a neutral ground doesn’t matter when it comes to India-Pakistan matches. The stands were packed and the frenzy was unbelievable. The flags, horns and other noise-making instruments were played at ear-shattering decibels. All that could be seen in the stands were the waving flags and thousands of loud supporters. Superb atmosphere!From the last eight overs of the Australia-South Africa match that preceded this match all the way to the end of this game, the fans were either on their feet or shouting and chanting at the top of their voices. There was the occasional Mexican wave and shouts of “Jeetay ga bhai jeetay ga…” depending on which team’s wicket fell and who got a boundary. Yuvraj, Shahid Afridi, Kohli and Umar Gul got the biggest cheers.Pakistan-India matches are all about colour. It was the Pakistani sea of green versus the Indian tri-colour. Some people were wearing the 1999 World Cup shirts. The drums and painted faces added to the buzz.Entertainment
The DJ was the star of the show. He played a lot of Bollywood music before the match started, which had the crowd dancing and singing along. Then he played some choice Sinhalese hits. At one point I nearly forgot I was at a cricket match and not a music concert. The Indian fans went crazy when “We Will Rock You” was played as the eight Pakistan wicket fell. The Premadasa was a sight to behold as fireworks kept going off from time to time. It was well worth the money to be present here for this event.Neutral venue? Never•Associated PressODI v Twenty20?
Although I consider myself a purist (and probably old) and still find the batting team trying to hold on for a draw by blocking every single delivery fascinating, I do feel that for spectator entertainment and promotion of the game, there is nothing better than a Twenty20. But T20s are producing batsmen with poor techniques and spinners who are boring and interested only in run-saving. Still, whatever fills the coffers, I suppose.Marks out of 10
7. The cricket was pretty disappointing since it was a one-sided game lacking the thrills we usually expect from these two teams. However, the brilliant atmosphere, packed stands, music and entertainment went a long way in making up for the lack of a thrilling match. Credit goes to the organisers for hosting a superb show and handling also some of the over-zealous supporters well. When an Australia-South Africa Super Eights game is seen as an opening act, it shows that as a spectacle there is nothing better than an India-Pakistan match. Well done, Colombo!