You are likely to find special reports in newspapers and sports shows on TV on the way a certain Sachin Tendulkar has been getting dismissed

Aamod Desai25-Feb-2013Along with the statistics for India’s win in Bangalore, you are likely to find special reports in newspapers and sports shows on TV on the way a certain Sachin Tendulkar has been getting dismissed, and quantification on his lack of three-figure scores for a year and a half now. Some will go a step ahead and suggest the man needs to hang up his boots. Valid facts and obvious consequent emotions, but where is the cricketing logic among all this, to rationalise the observations?Ex-players like Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar have suggested that age appears to be catching up with Tendulkar and that fast bowlers are trying to get him bowled or leg-before by bowling full, and his once above-the-rest hand-eye co-ordination is now at the level of most others. There is a certain basis to why these ex-players are suggesting reasons for Tendulkar’s form and manner of dismissals, but unintentionally that has got almost every Tom, Dick and Harry discussing his technique, skill and ability, including those whose knowledge of Test cricket does not go beyond the numbers on the scorecards.The expectations from Tendulkar are so high that every dry innings becomes a disappointment, a 50 or a 70 doesn’t get elicit much of a reaction, a ton missed is equated to nervous nineties and a longish period of no hundreds (like the one currently) is correlated to age, impending retirement and lack of ability; and mostly this hasn’t changed for the last couple of decades.Before I start listing reasons for his lack of form and manner of dismissals, a disclaimer: these are just observations and I have no intention of making this go beyond that. Let us try and delineate the discussion around him getting bowled/leg before too often first. The year 2010 was probably the most productive year for Sachin in recent times; he was dismissed on 20 occasions in Tests during that period, which included 8 (40%) bowled (3) or leg-before (5) dismissals. The year 2011 had Sachin dismissed as bowled (2) or leg-before (5) on 7 occasions out of 16 (43.75%). His career stats read 110 bowled (51) or leg-before (59) dismissals out of 282 times he has had to walk back (39%). These numbers are indicative that the sudden series of ‘bowled’ dismissals shouldn’t be more than an aberration.Harsha Bhogle and Aakash Chopra have suggested that Tendulkar’s recent dismissals have got to do with him looking to hit straight balls through midwicket. It’s a fair point, which would indicate that his balance is falling over to the off side. Normally Sachin’s on drives have a certain direction based on the balls’ delivery points. His flick from off stump towards midwicket off a left-arm seamer is rarely fallible, while on-drives off right-arm quicks go along the virtual V-line or behind square if he times it late; but his dismissals in this series have been exactly the opposite. His balance in executing certain shots is looking as good as ever, the feet appear to move in sync with the weight transfer and hence the trying-to-hit-through-midwicket inference isn’t complete.Last year you saw him getting trapped lbw a bit too often; a possible reason to see him getting bowled so often this year, could be due to an alteration in his stance to keep the pad from getting in the way of straight deliveries. When you look at his recent knocks you will realise that he is struggling with form in terms of scoring the runs rather than touch, for certain patches in his innings are trademark stuff, if not better. The system appears to work smoothly and then suddenly it encounters a glitch.It’s said that batting hours in the nets is completely different from spending time in the middle and probably that is what is happening with Tendulkar. When you are in form the confidence that goes along with it takes care of certain unintentional movements, but when you aren’t, a single glitch can keep recurring.Tendulkar is too good to not notice the shortcomings in his movements, and there are plenty of wise men to suggest the desired corrections. For a young boy who loved the challenge of defending against a one rupee coin to improve his skills, it would be unreal to suggest that Tendulkar isn’t concerned about the way he is getting dismissed; his reaction in Bangalore is pretty much self-explanatory. In a way the vocal criticism about Tendulkar is good – it will provide him with a fresh challenge and a few extra hours in the nets to iron out a rare flaw; just like any other challenge that he has loved to face all through his career.

From Venkataraghavan Srinivasan, India

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
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Dale Steyn crippled India in Nagpur•AFPNo. 10
13/5 in 32 balls
West Indies v South Africa
209/5 in 42.1 overs to 222/10 in 47.3 overs (batting first)
Result: Lost
This was the first real ‘big name’ match of the World Cup. For 42 overs, it was shaping up into a cracker. With Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the crease and Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy still to come, 300 looked possible. However, Imran Tahir, on his debut, and Dale Steyn dismantled the lower order with tight, precise bowling. South Africa cantered home with a century from AB de Villiers.No. 9
27/5 in 51 balls
Ireland v Bangladesh
151/5 in 36.3 overs to 178/10 in 45 overs (chasing 206)
Result: Lost
Bangladesh had lost to Ireland in the 2007 World Cup. They needed to win this one at home for pride and to keep their quarter-final hopes alive. Instead, they struggled against a disciplined Irish bowling attack and an unflappable batting line-up. Shafiul Islam, who had World Cup figures of 9-0-80-1, came back for a fiery second spell of 6-1-10-4. The Irish lower order was mopped up and Bangladesh were on their way.No. 8
7/5 in 30 balls
Bangladesh v West Indies
51/5 in 13.5 overs to 58/10 in 18.5 overs (batting first)
Result: Lost
Bangladesh were ranked higher than West Indies coming into the World Cup, and it seemed to rankle the latter. Electing to bat, Bangladesh were already in a heap of trouble at 51 for 5 in the fourteenth over, and were looking to rebuild. West Indies, however, went for the kill. Kemar Roach, Sammy and Sulieman Benn, who had shared the first five wickets, shared the last five as well, and West Indies had proven a point.No. 7
11/5 in 40 balls
West Indies v India
154/2 in 30.2 overs to 165/7 in 37 overs (chasing 269)
Result: Lost
Zaheer Khan started the slide by castling the well-set Devon Smith. The next over, Harbhajan Singh had the dangerous Pollard caught at long-on. The keeper Devon Thomas was stumped and the captain Sammy was run out. Yuvraj Singh then had Russell caught at point off an uppish cut. West Indies had collapsed against India, South Africa and England.No. 6
3/4 in 21 balls
West Indies v England
222/6 in 41.1 overs to 225/10 in 44.4 overs (chasing 244)
Result: Lost
England and Bangladesh’s place in the quarter-finals hung on the result of this match. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Andre Russell had taken West Indies to within 22 runs of victory. And then, Man of the Match James Tredwell trapped Russell in front and Graeme Swann took Sarwan and Roach. A Benn run-out later, England had lived to see another day.
No. 5
11/5 in 11 balls
India v England
327/5 in 48 overs to 338/10 in 49.5 overs (batting first)
Result: Tied
Tim Bresnan bowled a terrific 49th over. He started with a slower ball that Yusuf Pathan skied to mid-off. Next ball, he yorked and bowled Virat Kohli, who had given himself too much room. Two balls later, he yorked Harbhajan and had him adjudged leg before. The next over, two run-outs followed five no-balls and India had lost half their team in less than two overs.No. 4
8/4 in 17 balls
England v India
281/2 in 42.3 overs to 289/6 in 45.2 overs (chasing 339)
Result: Tied
If Bresnan did it for England, Zaheer did it for India. England were coasting to victory when they took the batting Powerplay in the 43rd over. In the fourth ball, Ian Bell skied Zaheer to mid-off. Next ball, Zaheer bowled an inswinging yorker to Andrew Strauss, batting on 158, and had him leg-before. Two overs later, he knocked back Paul Collingwood’s off-stump. The following over, Harbhajan had Matt Prior holing out to midwicket.No. 3
3/4 in 31 balls
South Africa v England
124/3 in 31.5 overs to 127/7 in 37 overs (chasing 172)
Result: Lost
A lucky wicket started this one. AB de Villiers left a James Anderson delivery outside off alone, but the keeper noticed belatedly that the bails had fallen. Replays showed that the ball had nicked off-stump. Two balls later, the other set batsman, Faf du Plessis was run out. The following over, Anderson returned to bowl JP Duminy and South Africa had lost three wickets on the same score. Three overs and runs later, Michael Yardy had Robin Peterson caught behind.No. 2
14/5 in 53 balls
Bangladesh v England
155/3 in 30.5 overs to 169/8 in 39.4 overs (chasing 226)
Result: Won
The only team on this list to collapse and still win. Bangladesh were cruising to victory until Imrul Kayes ran an impossible second and was found short. Five overs and seven runs later, Shakib Al Hasan played Swann onto his stumps. Two balls later, Ajmal Shahzad had Mushfiqur Rahim caught behind. In his next over, he bowled Naeem Islam. The following over, Bresnan took a diving catch off a high ball at long onto dismiss Abdur Razzak.No. 1
29/9 in 55 balls
India v South Africa
267/1 in 39.3 overs to 296/10 in 48.4 overs (batting first)
Result: Lost
The single largest collapse in the World Cup belongs to the most vaunted batting line-up. After dominating 80% of their innings, India let it go in the last 20%, and it all began with the batting Powerplay. Sachin Tendulkar, after a terrific century, sliced Morne Morkel to point. The next over, Steyn had Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan playing mistimed lofted shots to men in the circle. Yuvraj lifted the last ball of the Powerplay to long-on. Then, Kohli pushed the ball back to Peterson. Steyn crashed Harbhajan’s stumps. Peterson had Zaheer caught at long-on. Steyn returned to get rid of Nos. 10 and 11 off consecutive deliveries.

The selectors are likely to be pilloried whoever they pick for the upcoming Tests and ODIs and with their best players regularly unavailable, their job remains complicated

Tony Cozier03-Mar-2013By its very nature, there are few more thankless jobs than that of the West Indies cricket selectors.
In times of decline, as over the past two decades, when their options are limited and defeat is habitual, their judgment, even their motives, are questioned by a disgruntled public driven by insularity, by the media, by the players and their association, by prominent politicians and, yes, by board members who appoint them.They are often subjected to virulent, open abuse, as Sir Wes Hall once noted when accosted by a young boy and his father in an airport lounge during his stint on the panel.So, without getting overly sympathetic, spare a thought for Clyde Butts, Courtney Browne and Robert Haynes who have to deal with the further complications caused by the addition of Twenty20 to the international schedule and of the regular unavailability of their best players, either on West Indies duty, lured by the five and six figure contracts of domestic Twenty20 leagues or, at their request, given time off to “rest”.The present situation typifies their confusion. In the space of a couple of months, they have had to pick squads for all three formats – the 50-overs-an-innings ODIs and one-off Twenty20 in Australia and the three ODIs, two Twenty20s and two Tests against Zimbabwe; their next assignment is to choose 15 for the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June.The regional tournament preceding the Australian trip was the Twenty20, hardly the proper preparation for players or guide for selectors for an ODI series. The 15 were chosen even before that started.Paradoxically, while the top players were in Australia, the regional equivalent, the so-called Super50, was in progress. Back in the Caribbean, the squad was required to prepare for the Zimbabwean series that eliminated them from the simultaneous regional four-day tournament. Others were engaged in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).Clearly, standards were compromised. Trinidad & Tobago were without the Bravo brothers, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine; Barbados had to reconstitute their fast attack in the absence of Kemar Roach, Tino Best and Jason Holder (in Australia) and Fidel Edwards (in Bangladesh); Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Marlon Samuels (injured in the preceding Big Bash tournament) were missing for Jamaica.Given the first-class status accorded the matches, much of it was counterfeit cricket. It left the selectors to assess the true value of performances.What credibility would they attach, for instance, to Devon Smith’s prolific returns in another low-scoring season (139 and 106 not out for Windwards against CCC, 99 against Trinidad & Tobago in the four-day tournament, 110 not out against Guyana in the Super50). Aged 31 and with 33 Tests (average 24.71) and 42 ODIs (average 26.68) behind him, does such form press for his return to the West Indies team?Or are Kirk Edwards’ 120 against Guyana and 109 against CCC enough for his reinstatement to the team from which he was dropped in England last year, following two centuries, five half-centuries and an average of 39.11 in his nine Tests?And what about Nikita Miller’s 10 wickets for Jamaica against Barbados that, following his 42 wickets in 2012, reinforced his status as the leading left-arm spinner at regional level? Or the advance of Chris Jordan, 24, a bowler of lively pace and good control with 15 wickets in Barbados’ first three matches, and an outstanding fielder? And so on and so forth.The same questions could be asked of returns in the current series against Zimbabwe, an inexperienced team at the bottom of the ICC rankings further diminished by lack of competition (next week’s Test is their first since one in New Zealand more than a year ago).Ramnaresh Sarwan is the most obvious case in point. A classy batsman with the background of a dozen years in international cricket and an average over 40 in both Tests and ODIs, he had been out of the West Indies team for 18 months for a variety of complicated reasons, most involving his relationship with coach Ottis Gibson and former West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Ernest Hilaire.He was fast-tracked back for the ODIs in Australia when it was apparent from his travails in the regional Twenty20 that he was not yet ready. He predictably struggled (scores of zero, zero and 12 before he was dropped) but, given another opportunity on his return home, he opened the batting and stroked 120 unbeaten against Zimbabwe in the second ODI.He might not have been in the 11 hadn’t Chris Gayle been given time off and Johnson Charles tweaked a hamstring in compiling his 130 in the first match.So the selectors find themselves in a quandary over whether this was enough to merit Sarwan’s return to the 11 for the two Tests against Zimbabwe and then for the Champions Trophy.Gayle will be back for both, Charles, the most improved batsman in West Indies cricket, at least for the latter. Room has to be made in the Tests and the Champions Trophy for Marlon Samuels, who has given the assurance that the eye injury he sustained in the Big Bash in Australia in January is fully healed, and in the Tests for Shivnarine Chanderpaul.That would settle five of the first six in the order for the Tests (Gayle, Kieron Powell, Darren Bravo, Samuels and Chanderpaul) with one batting place to be filled. The choice seems to lie between Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine and Kieron Pollard. Given his ability to destroy bowling such as Zimbabwe have on offer and the maturity he has brought to his batting over the past year (with two hundreds against Australia and one against India), Pollard deserves the chance to show what he can achieve in unrestricted, red ball cricket. If he doesn’t get it now, after 75 ODIs and 33 Twenty20 Internationals, he never will.It is up to the selectors and they know they are likely to be pilloried whoever they pick.

Weird banners to go with entertainment from Mr. Cricket and Mrs. Dhoni on a scorching Chennai afternoon

Sreekesh Krishnan29-Apr-2013Choice of game
I am an ardent Chennai Super Kings fan, and have been attending all CSK games this season. The KKR game, billed as the revenge match following the IPL 2012 final, was on top on my list. Who would want to miss a mouth-watering clash between two IPL champions?Team supported
I support CSK, not only because I grew up in the city, but also for (‘leader’ in Tamil) MS Dhoni, and Ravindra Jadeja, who has been in the thick of things for a while now.Key performer
Even though Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey stole the show, for me Chris Morris was the key performer. He bowled a splendid last over, literally yorking KKR’s chances.Two things I’d have changed about the match
I’d have liked to change the on-field umpires and the Chennai cheerleaders. The Manvinder Bisla run-out that was not given, was greeted by boos from the ‘knowledgeable’ Chennai crowd. The Chennai cheerleaders seemed quite lazy; they need to practice more, to keep the spirits high.Accessories
Unfortunately, the security at Chepauk is always very high, and thus, one cannot carry a lot of accessories to the stands. So CSK flags without sticks, and an empty water bottle without the cap were the only things I could get into the ground.Wow moment
The Hussey direct-hit that got Bisla out. It knocked the wind out of KKR’s chase and changed the complexion of the game.Close encounter
Before the game, the CSK squad practiced near the terrace stands. We were fortunate to witness a miscued Suresh Raina pull shot sail into our stand. We were allowed to bring the ball home.Shot of the day
The most memorable shot was played by Eoin Morgan. It was a cheeky stroke: he reverse-paddled a delivery that was outside leg stump, and bisected the gap between the wicketkeeper and short third man beautifully.Crowd meter
Despite the 4 pm start, the stadium was jam-packed before the match, with noise levels on the higher side. A single wave from Dhoni was enough to make the fans go crazy. We also witnessed half a Mexican wave, where the wave didn’t complete a full revolution. Instead this one stopped and went in the reverse direction.Twenty20 v ODIs v Test cricket
As a cricket lover, I have always preferred Test cricket. But T20 is food for entertainment. Like it or not, you just can’t ignore it.Star-spotting
As always, we were joined by Mrs. Sakshi Dhoni, who the city seems to have adopted as its own. During each game, her reactions to the on-field action drive the crowd crazy.Banner of the day
One banner got my eye before the start of the match. It said “Sir Jaddu, you are my ” – weird, but attention-grabbing. ( is an Indian sweet.)Marks out of 10
The Chepauk faithfuls were blessed to witness yet another close encounter, even though CSK weren’t chasing this time. I would rate the match 9/10.

Rohit Sharma has always been acknowledged as a man with enormous potential. Can his success as a leader give him confidence as a batsman?

Abhishek Purohit28-May-2013It is hard to believe that Rohit Sharma made his international debut as many as six years ago. When he flies with India’s Champions Trophy squad to England on May 29, he’ll still be doing so as a batsman with enormous potential, the best of which the world is supposedly yet to see. When Rohit made his India debut, there was no IPL. There is one now, and Rohit led his franchise Mumbai Indians to their maiden title on May 26.When Gautam Gambhir captained Kolkata Knight Riders to their first IPL trophy in 2012, there were suggestions he was a possible replacement for the struggling MS Dhoni, under whom India had suffered eight successive defeats in overseas Tests. No such outlandish claim can conceivably be made about Rohit’s India captaincy abilities at the moment, given that even his place in the side is constantly under scrutiny. What one can talk about however, is the effect of Rohit, the successful IPL captain, on Rohit, the underachieving India batsman.Talent often does not realise its own worth until it is too late. Virat Kohli, after a few hiccups, has started coaxing consistent performances out of his gifts. Some realisation has dawned on Rohit, too. It was missing a spot in the 2011 World Cup squad that stirred him into a punishing fitness regime. He was so gutted he did not go to the Wankhede Stadium in his hometown Mumbai to watch India play the final. Series-winning performances followed against West Indies, but he slipped into a rut again on tours to Australia and Sri Lanka. Every failure weighed him down further and further, till he seemed to stop enjoying even a casual game of football during practice.As special as a player might be, he cannot excel until he accepts and starts believing how good he actually is, to the point that the rest of the world, and self-doubt, cease to matter. Virender Sehwag became Virender Sehwag because he batted like only Virender Sehwag could, the world be damned. With Kohli, you can see he’s developed a staunch faith in batting like only he can. For all the elegance, you sense Rohit is still too vulnerable to doubt at the international level. He may bat like a dream, but a few failures and the shoulders will slouch even more, and the hangdog expression will reappear.This IPL, he was in charge of a side comprising almost entirely of internationals, and men such as Sachin Tendulkar. Admittedly, he had an army of legends for a think-tank. While that means he would have never been short of ideas and suggestions, it could also have been detrimental, if he were overawed and hesitant to take his own decisions. Rohit is understood to have listened to everyone, and then gone by his gut feeling.”I like to keep things simple and trust my instinct,” Rohit has said. “We have so many guys who have led their teams in international cricket and they’re always there for me with advice and support. I get inputs from all of them but the final decisions are left to me.”‘I batted as Rohit Sharma can. I heard Ponting and Tendulkar and Kumble and Wright, and I, Rohit Sharma, took the calls on the field,’ he may have thought. Holding your own among such institutions, and having a trophy to show for it, has to be a significant confidence booster for a young man.He was the face of the team, in the middle and in media interactions. This wasn’t just him and his batting he had to talk about, he was responsible for an entire squad. And while doing all that, he also had his best IPL season with the bat. Ideally, Rohit should be full of confidence going into the Champions Trophy. He’s succeeded as leader of some of the best men to ever play international cricket.”His preparation is of a different level,” Rohit said of Ponting. “He told me once that until he faces 100-200 balls in the nets and takes 100-200 catches, he doesn’t get proper sleep in the night. Though I’m inspired, I can never be a Ponting.” Hopefully, while understanding he can never be someone else, he’s also developed enough belief in being Rohit Sharma, and can finally start batting like Rohit Sharma can, without the fear of failure. It took six seasons for Mumbai Indians to drop the tag of underachievers. Maybe Rohit can do the same in his sixth year in international cricket.

As Lord’s basked in a heatwave and spectators sought shade, the ground became a foreign country

Rob Smyth at Lord's19-Jul-2013This was the kind of day Lord’s rarely experiences: the sort of day when spectators, never mind players, needed to be weighed before and after play; when clothes transmogrified into wetsuits by midday. By the close of play, hotspots were visible on flame-grilled spectators all around the ground. There are even unconfirmed reports that for the first time in his life Alastair Cook produced a bead of sweat.”I’ve been coming here since god knows when and it’s the hottest I can remember,” one member exclusively told ESPNcricinfo. “Bloody insufferable,” barked another. The MCC Library does not keep a record of the hottest Lord’s Tests – and it’s one of the few things you cannot search on Statsguru – but 2013 must be right up there. On Friday, temperatures again pushed 30 degrees. The ground needed a Nivea Tent.The demand for sunscreen was such that Lord’s could probably have operated a reverse honesty box, choosing the particular price each customer paid. They settled for a blanket fee of £9, the same price as a large glass of Pimm’s. Alcohol, even more than usual, was the Gatorade of the fans. It is often lamented that beer at sporting events tastes a little watery; here that would have been a virtue, such was the threat of dehydration. A lonely pasty salesperson – or, rather, a lonely person who was selling pasties – reinforced the shift in spectator priorities.It was certainly not the day to get stuck in a tiny lift for over half an hour, as happened to a group that included Michael Vaughan just after tea. For those working at the ground – if not, surprisingly, for the bowlers on both sides – this was a day of seriously hard yakka.Catering staff had reason to lament that their uniform shirt is black rather than white. Police officers were permitted to remove their body armour “because of the nature of the sport” but stewards had to sweat under heavy bibs all day. Some were not so unhappy. “I was born in Kenya, so I’m used to the heat,” said one. “I’m loving it. I’m getting paid and I’m getting the sun as well.”The heat was such that, even more than usual, Lord’s felt as much a social gathering as a cricket match: not so much the Lord’s Test as the Lord’s Festival. Even with 16 wickets falling, the on-field action sometimes felt an ambient backdrop to a huge picnic. Even Australia’s pitiful collapse could not shift many spectators who preferred shade to schadenfreude. Lord’s was a foreign country for the day, and the attitude of many mirrored the attitude sometimes expressed after a holiday in unfamiliar country: I loved it, but I never want to do it again.Cricket’s peculiar demographic meant that back-to-front baseball caps sat alongside panamas and flip-flops alongside blindingly shiny brogues. Not that they always coexisted contentedly: when one member caught sight of a topless man whose Levi’s pants were showing above pink-and-white pinstriped shorts, he attempted to discern once and for all whether looks could kill.The Pavilion was the usual extreme-fashion contest, with egg-and-bacon blazers and lurid trousers taking pride of place on this septuagenarian catwalk. The usual Pavilion dress code was relaxed slightly: whenever temperatures reach 85 degrees, a series of notices inform members that they are allowed to remove their jackets. Many members kept their jackets on even when they left the pavilion, as if to do otherwise would invite eternal damnation. There is less flexibility on top buttons and ties – at least officially – so many members went back to their schooldays by using their tie to hide an undone top button.”If I hadn’t got so fat I’d be able to loosen my top button,” said a steward with a similar dilemma. “But it’s fine; we have lots of water and we get regular breaks. It’s just another day really. I’m a sunaholic, so I like it. Mind you, the supervisors get a bit funny about wearing sunglasses – we have to look prim and proper. It’s like the Henley Regatta. It’s Lord’s, isn’t it?”

Lancashire bet their house on a redevelopment that would return Test cricket to Old Trafford; with the arrival of Australia, that dream has been realised

Paul Edwards29-Jul-2013In sport, as in life, some events are freighted with so much significance that the moments in which they occur seem barely capable of holding the weight.For Lancashire’s officials and supporters, just such an event will take place at 11am on Thursday when, Manchester’s weather permitting, the first ball will be bowled in the Third Investec Test between England and Australia.An Ashes Test is always something to be savoured, of course, but this contest will be uniquely special for Mancunians because in the eight years since the last such game, Old Trafford has been redeveloped – some might say reborn – to the extent that spectators at the 2005 match might initially struggle to recognise the new stadium if they had seen no cricket at the ground in the intervening period.Gone are the broadcasting boxes at the Stretford End; gone is the massive stand opposite the pavilion; gone are the seated areas to the right of that twin-towered pavilion, which itself has been virtually gutted and rebuilt with only the façade and the towers remaining. Lancashire have even realigned the square on a north-south rather than east-west axis. If some have problems getting their bearings on Thursday, that is partly because those bearings have changed.In place of the old structures, which were, truth be told, a rather ramshackle collection of buildings badly in need of refurbishment, Lancashire have built a stadium with all the shock and awe that size often evokes.There are new player dressing rooms and a media centre at the Statham End, both of which seem to have the “wow” factor; there is a huge temporary stand of 9,500 tiered seats at the old Stretford End, all of them in the distinctive scarlet livery used elsewhere in the new arena; and there is a massive hospitality and function suite, The Point, which overhangs the ground like a symbol of the modernity its architecture exemplifies. If the familiar intimacy of the old ground has been lost, the new Old Trafford possesses a confident swagger befitting a stadium in Manchester, a world city to which many businesses and organisations, not least major departments of the BBC, are relocating. The new place may have only a third of the capacity of the other Old Trafford across the way, but it no longer looks like its poor relation.Yet the moment when the first ball is bowled on Thursday will be charged with even more emotional power because of what Lancashire risked in order to create their new home. The £44m redevelopment was financed, in part, by a four-way agreement between Lancashire, Ask Developments, Tesco and Trafford Council. As part of this agreement Tesco were given the go ahead to build a huge new superstore in Trafford. A rival developer, Albert Gubay of Derwent Holdings, objected to this permission being granted and took his case to the courts.Indeed, Gubay took his legal proceedings so far that he imperilled not only Old Trafford’s redevelopment but also the very future of the county club. Reviewing what he agrees was the most fraught time of his entire professional life, Lancashire’s chief executive at the time, Jim Cumbes, makes no attempt to hide the stakes for which Lancashire were playing. Given legal costs and the possibility of losing vital grants, Old Trafford officials had bet their beloved house on winning the case.

“If we’d lost, there was really no Plan B. The club might have just disappeared or we would have downsized and become a county ground”Former Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes on the legal battle to redevelop Old Trafford

“In that two- or three-year period there were times when you’d wake up at 3.30 in the morning and argue with yourself,” Cumbes says. “Outwardly I was confident and optimistic and I always thought we’d win, but I didn’t know when or how much it would cost.”It was hard because we were getting into financial difficulties. We were spending money on legal cases and as soon as we got over one hurdle, another appeared before us. All the staff were nervous but we ploughed on. Nobody got a rise in salary for three years but we told them there’d be no redundancies. We kept that promise and the curious thing was that we won the Championship in the year in which we’d had to clip the financial wings of Mike Watkinson and Peter Moores, as regards player recruitment.”And all the time that Cumbes was being reassured by the club’s QC Robert Griffiths that he was very confident of winning in court, he was also mindful of the barrister’s “but”: you never know what happens on the day.”If we’d lost, there was really no Plan B,” Cumbes says. “The club might have just disappeared or we would have downsized and become a county ground like Taunton, Northampton or Leicester. We wondered about the wisdom of going ahead with our plans but ultimately we thought we owed it to our members, to Manchester and to the people of the northwest to try to build a ground fit to stage an Ashes Test.”That Old Trafford was no longer fit to stage an Australia Test had been made abundantly clear by the ECB in 2006 when Cardiff, well-funded and soon to be well-presented, had got the nod in preference to Manchester for a game in the 2009 series.”We were going ahead with redevelopment before we heard the bad news in 2006,” Cumbes points out. “But we were all former sportsmen and being told that we had lost the Ashes made us all that much sharper and competitive. That was in our nature and when it went to court we were all saying, ‘We’ve got to win this bloody case.'”All the same, being reminded that hosting a Test was a granted privilege, not an inalienable right, was good for Lancashire officials who quietly accept that they had become a little complacent. So whatever emotions are felt by Old Trafford’s present hierarchy on Thursday morning, complacency is unlikely to be among them. On the contrary, Lancashire are now keen to present the best case they can for their new ground staging as many Test and one-day international matches as possible. Thus, there was manifest concern and urgency when a brief but embarrassing power cut occurred in part of the ground during last week’s FLt20 game against Yorkshire.The ground has changed significantly, more than half a century on from Jim Laker’s famous Old Trafford Test•PA PhotosDoes the new stadium have as much character as the old ground? Of course not. Or, at least, not yet. This is partly because experience often endows a place with character and only when spectators associate the new Old Trafford with games to cherish in the memory will they really think fondly of the place. What’s more, massive banks of tiered seats can be found in most Test venues now and not everywhere can be Trent Bridge. That said, while the old ground was an eccentric and endearing collection of bits and pieces, it was also a pain if you were queuing for almost anything.Ultimately, though, the story of Old Trafford’s rebirth illustrates the granite truth that heritage counts for diddly-squat in the brutal business of international cricket. When the Old Trafford hierarchy were fighting for Lancashire’s very future three or four years ago, they knew that little consideration would be given to black-and-white footage of Jim Laker modestly hitching up his flannels after taking 19 wickets against Australia in the 1956 Manchester Test, and even less to the epic battles of 1896 and 1902, both won by Australia.More recent memories of comparable richness – Benaud bowling May behind his legs in 1961; Botham’s hundred in 1981; Warne to Gatting and Gooch being given out handled ball in 1993, both watched by this journalist, who wondered if it was too late to make an honest woman of cricket writing – helped to make Old Trafford a much-loved home. If the match beginning on Thursday can produce one innings, one spell, or even one moment of comparable stature, Jim Cumbes may permit himself a quiet inward smile of satisfaction. The epic battle will have been worth it, after all.

Alex Tudor, the former England fast bowler, talks about his foray into coaching, 99 not out, and why he jumped at the chance to visit India

Kanishkaa Balachandran24-Dec-2013The opening day of the Saurashtra-Baroda match in Khandheri, on the outskirts of Rajkot, had an unlikely visitor. At the foot of the pavilion steps, several kids wearing identical uniforms clustered around the distinctive 6ft 4in figure of Alex Tudor, the former England fast bowler. A few other trigger-happy spectators, who had braved the cold Sunday morning, took out their camera phones, scrambling to get the best shot. Tudor is in the country for ten days on a coaching assignment with G Force, a cricket academy based in Dubai, and the 29 teenagers under his tutelage are in Saurashtra to play against local teams and experience Indian conditions.Tudor, who played ten Tests for England between 1998 and 2002, went off the radar in the late 2000s, when he was released by Surrey. He has since then taken up coaching full time and admits he finds the experience of being around youngsters stimulating.”I just seem to have a good relationship with kids, wherever I go,” Tudor says with a laugh. “Maybe it’s because I’m tall. I suppose I behave like them at times, I’m quite young at heart. I just enjoy seeing them with smiles on their faces, playing the game I love. If they go away learning something new from something I’ve taught, that gives me more fulfilment than a five-wicket haul or any runs I’ve got.”Tudor’s international career was only restricted to games in England and Australia. On pitches with bounce, he was a handful. When the opportunity came to tick off a box and visit India, albeit as a coach, Tudor wasn’t going to pass it up. A mutual friend introduced Tudor to Gopal Jasapara, who runs the academy and Tudor was on board.”As soon as he spoke of the opportunity to work in India I was sold,” Tudor says. “I had never been to India before. I told my wife about it and she was very accommodating.”I’ve always wanted to sample India, to see the kids looking happy, though not having the facilities that some of our kids have back at home and still enjoying the game, not moaning about the state of the outfields etc. I’m just really happy to be here and hopefully it won’t be my last visit.”‘Thorpey, what the hell have you done?’

Though a fast bowler, Alex Tudor is probably best remembered for an incredible Test innings – a freakish unbeaten 99 to help England win a Test against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1999, on a pitch that had earlier seen 21 wickets falling in a single day. Tudor’s run riot as a nightwatchman took him within inches of a century, but Graham Thorpe was jeered for not giving him enough of the strike. What do the two men feel about that moment 14 years on?
“When Thorpey talks about it now he still says it’s one of his regrets. But he was in a single-minded mentality from the pressure of not qualifying for the World Cup. He wanted to come out and score some runs. There wasn’t a lot of runs left for me to score a century. But if I look back 15 years, it’s just one run! I was over the moon initially because I had just won a game for England. I remember Phil Tuffnell looking at Thorpe and saying, “Thorpey, what the hell have you done?”
As you would imagine, it all was a bit crazy for me and everyone wanted a piece of me. It was only a few weeks later when I realised that my dad and his friends were just not happy at all. Even now. I tell them, ‘look, it was 15 years ago. Leave it!’ I say to Thorpey that he shouldn’t drive at Wandsworth, because there will be people looking for him!

In the short time he has been here, Tudor has already noted a few aspects his students can learn from, particularly on the fitness side. “Our guys played a game yesterday and I was very impressed with the locals, with their fielding and attitude. I told my guys to take a cue from these kids. Twenty years ago, the fitness levels would have been different. The guys now are fit and I think the intervention of the IPL has helped because you can’t hide in the field any more.”Saurashtra has traditionally been a graveyard for fast bowlers, with pitches in Rajkot producing stale draws. Bowlers have had to go the extra mile, beyond their levels of patience, to fetch wickets. Tudor says that on flat tracks, a defensive line and length tactic will not work. The key, he says, is to induce mistakes by getting the batsmen to drive.”You need to bowl fuller, mix your pace up because it skids on. Keep close catchers and set straighter fields. You shouldn’t be cut and pulled on these wickets. Sometimes set silly fields, like my captain Adam Hollioake used to do at Surrey. He wasn’t a tactical genius but he would never let the game dwindle and be boring,” he says.”I find bowlers nowadays want to do too much. The art of bowling six balls on the same place is also a skill. But I think bowlers should look to bowl top of off stump repeatedly and bowl maidens. I don’t see too much of that.”While passing by the Baroda dressing room, Tudor had a quick chat with Irfan Pathan, who is playing only his second Ranji game of the season after returning from a rib injury. Irfan’s return is being monitored, and he is playing purely as a batsman for the time being. When asked about the injury-management tips he would pass on youngsters, Tudor says that fitness training should be non-negotiable. Tudor’s career was ravaged by injuries at various points and he said there were lessons learnt from his own experiences.”Prevention is paramount. Some people don’t like doing fitness training but if you want a long career, it has to be done. It’s not about looking like Hercules. You have to be supple, have good tummy muscles so that will help the back. You don’t have to go a gym for everything. Just do some running. Dennis Lillee would say that if you had 15 minutes in a day, just do sit-ups.”As for those who aspire to be allrounders, particularly of the seam-bowling kind, Tudor says players have to give every part of their skill the same amount of respect. Tudor was not a genuine allrounder but was still a handy lower-order batsman, scoring an unbeaten 99 in a Test and two first-class centuries.”For me, an allrounder is someone who is good enough to play as a batsman if he can’t bowl and vice-versa,” he says. “He isn’t someone who can just score 30. That doesn’t pay the bills.”

The best performances in the Champions League came from teenagers, from established Indian stars, and from forty-somethings

Siddarth Ravindran07-Oct-2013

MS Dhoni

63* off 19 v Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Dhoni rampage that included an over Thisara Perera will be desperately trying to forget. At the start, a typically brutal Dhoni hit over long-on was sandwiched by two wides. The over ended with four consecutive sixes – over square leg, over point, over long-on and over third man and ended up costing 34 runs. Perera will be ruing Ishant Sharma’s misfield off the second legitimate ball of the over, which allowed Dhoni to hurry back for the second and regain the strike. Dhoni went on to his half-century in 16 balls, the quickest in the Champions League – and eighth fastest in all T20 – as Chennai Super Kings accelerated past 200 and out of Sunrisers’ reach.

Sunil Narine

4 for 9 v Sunrisers Hyderabad

Narine is a dead cert to be a millionaire at next year’s IPL auction. He’s had two outstanding IPL seasons and his mystery hasn’t faded in the CLT20 either. The success over the past two years means his reputation now precedes him, and teams are happy to play out his four overs and target the other bowlers. His teams turn to him at every crucial juncture. Defending 160 against Sunrisers, T&T brought him on in the 5th over to rein in a strong start and he delivered with a first-ball wicket. There was another in a two-over spell in the middle of the innings, before he signed off with wickets off his final two deliveries in the 18th over. The only runs he conceded were nine singles.

Sanju Samson

60 off 33 v Mumbai Indians
Once Mumbai ran up a total in excess of 200 in the final, most people thought the game was as good as over. Not 18-year-old Sanju Samson though. Walking in after the first wicket fell in the first over, a fearless array of strokes kept Royals in the chase as the asking-rate of 10 was matched for more than half the innings. It began with an effortless straight hit for six off Harbhajan Singh and he peppered the arc between long-on and midwicket as Royals reached 117 for 1 in the 12th over, but even with heavy-hitters like Shane Watson to follow, they couldn’t complete the victory.

Harbhajan Singh

4 for 32 v Rajasthan Royals

Harbhajan Singh may no longer be among India’s first-choice spinners but he reminded the selectors once more of his big-match temperament, in the final. After Samson’s onslaught had helped Royals keep pace, Watson had begun with a monstrous hit for six. Harbhajan removed the dangerman though with a straighter one that Watson top-edged towards wide long-on. Then came the over that completely transformed the game: the well-set Ajinkya Rahane and two big hitters in Stuart Binny and Kevon Cooper were all packed off and for the second time in three years a single Harbhajan over had put the title within Mumbai’s grasp.

Neil Broom

117* off 56 v Perth Scorchers
Before the match against Perth Scorchers, Broom’s Twenty20 career stats were middling: 65 matches, average 21.23, strike-rate 112.08. So when Hamish Rutherford (career strike-rate 143.89) and star batsman Brendon McCullum were dismissed cheaply, Perth were a satisfied lot. No way could they have expected what came next. Broom played the T20 innings of his life with nine fours and eight sixes flowing as he ran up 117 off a mere 56 deliveries. Hard to pick a highlight from that smash-a-thon but the three successive sixes in the 19th over to bring up his century and reach the highest score over five seasons of the CLT20 will be up there. No wonder he has such a devoted fan club back home.

Pravin Tambe

3 for 10 v Chennai Super Kings

Pravin Tambe’s rise provided one of the most heart-warming cricketing stories in recent years. For a retirement-age cricketer to get his chance to play alongside the all-time greats is a dream, leave alone ending up as the bowler of the tournament. With his skiddy legbreaks and accuracy, Tambe proved difficult for most batsmen. Thoughts that his bowling would fall apart under the pressure of a big match were brushed aside as he turned in 3 for 10 against the mighty Super Kings in the semi-final. It included the prized wicket of Suresh Raina and two other vial cogs, S Badrinath and Dwayne Bravo. He was Man of the Match as Royals pulled off a giant-killing act and marched into the final.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second ODI

David Hopps02-Mar-2014Blow of the day
The days of lightning-fast Caribbean pitches appear to be behind us but, although a fairly docile surface in Antigua, there was still some encouragement for a bowler prepared to bend his back. Stuart Broad did just that at the start of Dwayne Bravo’s innings with a sharp bumper which Bravo turned his head from and received a nasty smack in the back of the neck, the helmet only partially taking the impact. It shook Bravo up and he was down for a while and needed treatment from the physio.Error of the day
There was general agreement that Jos Buttler’s attempting stumping of Dwayne Bravo was inconclusive. Even Buttler’s sheepish expression seemed to give the game away. The decision by TV umpire Marais Erasmus took the wind out of West Indies’ sails as they entered the Powerplay with a new batsman at the crease. There again, you could wonder what Bravo was doing charging down the pitch to James Tredwell in the first place.Catch of the day
James Tredwell does not immediately strike the onlooker as a slick fielder, but his slip catching has long been held in respect by those most au fait with his game. His quick catch to remove Kirk Edwards was further evidence of his ability: a lightning-fast dart with the right hand to hold a thick edge that came to him very quicklyBefuddlement of the day
Luke Wright’s understated gesture to Michael Lumb at the non-striker’s end told it all: he cannot pick Sunil Narine. Narine bowled him three legspinners in an over, he did not connect with any of them and the third smacked into his offstump. Narine is a special talent, but it all encouraged the belief that, whatever Wright’s qualities in T20, he does not warrant a place in England’s ODI side.Walk of the day
Ben Stokes walked when he tickled Nikita Miller down the legside, oblivious to the fact that the umpire, Joel Wilson, was shaking his head to reject the appeal. It was not immediately apparent whether he would have been given out on review. If it is unfair to castigate the likes of Stuart Broad for following the majority attitude by not walking, it would be shameful if Stokes was lectured within the dressing room for his honesty.