Cricinfo’s readers pick their Ashes XI

Cricinfo staff19-Sep-2005

Andrew Flintoff: celebrating his inclusion in the team you picked? © Getty Images
It reflects, perhaps, the closeness of the 2005 Ashes that the Ashes XI that Cricinfo’s readers have picked contains six Englishmen and five Australians. The difference comes bang in the middle of the side, perhaps, where Andrew Flintoff bats at No. 6. Of the 4590 readers who voted to pick the Cricinfo Readers Ashes XI, 4524 voted for Flintoff. And yet, he wasn’t the most popular choice. Fittingly, Shane Warne, one of the greatest players of any era, walked away with 4526 votes.Ten of the 11 players in the side faced no competition. The only contest was for the last bowling place, for which Steve Harmison, with 2710 votes, beat Brett Lee, with 2509. Andrew Strauss, with his century at the Oval, made a late surge, but his 2043 votes weren’t enough to keep out Marcus Trescothick (3826) or Justin Langer (2885). Ricky Ponting, with 3809 votes, got the most votes among the other batsmen, but was barely in the running for the captaincy: Michael Vaughan got 2705 votes to Ponting’s 937, with Shane Warne gathering 540.Cricinfo’s staffers carried out a similar internal poll among themselves, and came up with exactly the same team. Our readers, it would seem, get the writers they deserve. Vaughan was our captain as well, and, interestingly, more of us voted for Warne as captain than for Ponting. But in the imaginary match in which our notional Ashes XI will play, both men will have to listen to Vaughan.Your team is below. And if you have strong views about the shape of Test cricket and its future, do take part in our survey, “Shaking up Test cricket”.

1Justin Langer28852

Marcus Trescothick 38463Ricky Ponting
38094

Michael Vaughan (c)35845Kevin Pietersen33356

Andrew Flintoff45247Adam Gilchrist (wk)33178

Shane Warne45269Simon Jones377210

Steve Harmison271011Glenn McGrath3283

England name Udal and Loudon in squad for Pakistan tour

Andrew Miller19-Sep-2005

England have taken so many leaves out of Australia’s book in recent years that they have plagiarised the entire volume, but the latest copycat act in their bid for world domination is one that will raise a few eyebrows. The stand-out member of the 17-man squad to tour Pakistan, which was unveiled at Lord’s this morning, is a 36-year-old spinner and Hampshire captain whose zenith arguably came in the mid-1990s.Shane Warne has spent the best part of the summer demonstrating that age should be no barrier when you are unequivocally the best man for the job, but as David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, tacitly suggested, Shaun Udal’s recall to the England squad, owes more to the shortcomings of others than to his own irresistible form. Eleven long years after he sunk without trace on England’s Ashes campaign of 1994-95, Udal’s figures of 36 wickets in ten first-class matches this season is worthy, but hardly world-beating.To be damned with such faint praise has long been the lot of the English spinner. Nasser Hussain’s favourite moan, in the latter years of his tenure, was that his attack suffered from a lack of “mystery” when compared with the wiles of Warne and his contemporaries from the subcontinent. And following the Ashes defeat at Lord’s in July, Ashley Giles hit back at his innumerable critics after being singled out as the scapegoat by an exasperated media. Giles has “done a job” for England ever since his breakthrough tour in Pakistan five years ago. Now the search is on for his support act.Having used just 12 players during the most gruelling two months of their professional lives, England will now be taking 17 players (not to mention the coaching and support staff) on a three-Test tour that spans little more than five weeks. If that smacks of overkill, then perhaps that is precisely the point. For the first time in a generation, England know what their first-choice XI should be. The next task is to identify a pool of reserves that can cement England’s position at the top of the Test tree. And for that purpose, the selectors are willing to cast their net as wide as possible.Aside from the 12 who played this summer (plus England’s perpetual understudy, James Anderson) the squad is completed by four debutants – Udal, Chris Tremlett, Matt Prior and Alex Loudon – which tells its own story. Tremlett was a shoo-in, having been named as 12th man for the first four Ashes Tests, while Prior has been waiting in the wings as Geraint Jones’s understudy since the start of the season, when he overhauled Chris Read as the best of the rest. Loudon’s emergence, on the other hand, has been rather more meteoric.Until last season, Loudon was plying his trade as a decent batsman and part-time offspinner for Kent, but one quick transfer to Warwickshire later, and he has emerged at the forefront of the next generation of English spinners. His pedigree as an England cricketer-in-waiting is impressive – in his time he has been captain of both England Under-15s and Under-19s – but like Udal, he could never have imagined that such a modest county haul (26 wickets at 41.00) would land him such a plum reward. The fact that he has a fledgling doosra in his armoury is probably sufficient reason in itself to send him on the trip.It is unlikely to be a glamorous winter, however, for the lot of the English reserve spinner is often an unrewarding one. Never mind Udal’s own experiences in 1994-95, the list of near-misses for this winter’s trip reads like a Who’s Who of the county treadmill. Graeme Swann (South Africa 1999-2000), Richard Dawson (India and Australia 2001-03) and Gareth Batty (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa 2003-05) were all considered but cast aside, with Graveney unusually frank about their shortcomings: “Regrettably their performances during the summer have probably been disappointing for them,” he told reporters at Lord’s.The lot of the spare-part seamer is hardly any better. Liam Plunkett’s inclusion in the one-day squad is a tacit admission that both Kabir Ali and Jon Lewis have fallen short of the required standards, destined to join a pile of rejects that includes Richard Johnson, James Kirtley, Martin Saggers and Alex Wharf. As Australia have shown this summer, it is one thing to have a world-beating first eleven, but it is quite another to have a squad sufficiently flexible to cover all eventualities.

Stats preview for the first Test between South Africa and India in Johannesburg

Kanishkaa Balachandran14-Dec-2006

Sidharth Monga on the possible effects overseas players will have on the Indian domestic circuit

Sidharth Monga04-Oct-2006

Could Jermaine Lawson be Munaf Patel’s new-ball partner soon? © Getty Images
Munaf Patel and Jermaine Lawson may not quite be the Messi-Ronaldinho-Eto’o dream combination but such exotic pairings have a certain resonance. Currently it’s only in England that overseas players add spice and value to talented local teams on a regular and widespread basis. Just last month, while Mushtaq Ahmed was spinning Sussex to county glory, Shane Warne was bowling bouncers from a standing start at the Rose Bowl, frustrated as he was with the opposition’s safety-first attitude. Elsewhere in the county circuit, there was Darren Lehman, Stuart Law, Brad Hodge, and other international stars livening up things in their own inimitable ways.At around the same time, in another continent, in another setting, Ajay Shirke, an entrepreneur from Maharashtra was busy striking a deal with Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler capable of flustering the likes of Australia. In India, Maharashtra has taken the lead in this regard having got Darren Holder as their director of cricket last year, and ‘importing’ Munaf, Sairaj Bahutule, Sridharan Sriram, Chandrakant Pandit by getting them to shift allegiance from their original states.The Rajasthan Cricket Association soon followed suit. They roped in Kabir Ali and Vikram Solanki from England to play for Rajasthan, who have always languished in the Plate Division since the Ranji championships was divided into Elite and Plate in 1999. Any obstacle, if there ever was, to foreign players coming and playing in India, was recently cleared by Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, who qualified foreigners as out-station players and said three such players were allowed to represent a Ranji side.Earlier inter-state transfers used to serve either of the two purposes: provide a veteran a chance to add two to three years to his career by moving to a weaker side, or for a young man a chance to get noticed by moving to a strong side. But now, as Munaf’s switch from Mumbai to Maharashtra shows, the associations are actually buying players to win. Munaf, Bahutule, and coach Pandit moved from Mumbai to Maharashtra in a move that was one of its kind. “I have a sort of set-up in my mind, where we have two to three professionals in the side guiding the raw young players,” says Shirke, an advocate of free movement as in a perfectly competitive market. In fact, why just three out-station players, he queried. And nor is he holding back money when it comes to hiring professionals.”Some 15 years ago, the Indian national players used to participate in the domestic league, so the standard was quite good. But now that they are hardly available, we had to bring in somebody,” says Pandit. “Foreign players will serve the dual purpose. They will make us more competitive and also help our budding players. They will bring with them new ideas which we can benefit from.”Maharashtra’s inclination has been towards roping in fast bowlers, what with Lawson, Darren Gough, and Tino Best’s names doing the newspaper rounds. “We are looking at really good fast bowlers, or allrounders. Australia and New Zealand players may not be available because their season clashes with ours. Still, we are not going to bring just about anybody to just make a statement,” says Shirke. Any obstacle, if there ever was, to foreign players coming and playing in India, was recently cleared by Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, who qualified foreigners as out-station players and said three such players were allowed to represent a Ranji side No name has been finalised as yet, but Pandit thinks good pace bowlers can combine well and also help develop the already available talent. This, again, shows a basic shift in strategy: rather than woo a foreign batsman to come and get better exposure to spin bowling, now state teams are looking to get fast bowlers to help them win matches. However, Anshuman Gaekwad, former Indian coach, has a word of caution. “If they can help Indian cricketers, it is very good. But if the sole purpose is to win matches, this is a nuisance,” he says.A substantial increase in the state associations’ budgets is another factor that has motivated domestic teams to look out for foreign cricketers. A state association that hosts Tests and ODIs used to get Rs 7 crore per year earlier; that has been increased to Rs 12 crore. An association that hosts only ODIs used to get Rs 6 crore; now they will be getting Rs 8 crore per year. The corresponding figures for an association that doesn’t host an international are Rs 4 crore and Rs 6 crore. “This money had to be utilised. It just happens that we are the first ones. Someone had to take the lead,” says Pandit. “When the board [BCCI] is taking the initiative, we also should put the money to proper use.”Is the England County set up the model? “If more and more teams think like us, why not?” says Pandit. The move has the potential to become a revolution. An exceptional performance from Maharashtra will certainly help. “Our results will set the tone. But right now, the attitude is typified by a senior board official who told me I won’t be elected the next time if I bring in foreign players. I said, sorry my aim is to improve the standard of competition, not get elected,” Shirke says.Even last year, they were the most impressive team, apart from UP. They even beat big-brother Mumbai, only for the second time in Ranji history. If they can continue with their present form, the Shirke structure of two to three professionals working in tandem with homegrown talent could become an ideal mix for the other Ranji teams as well.But with the kind of money around, this could provoke a race among the state teams to grab the best overseas talent. Transfer window, a term more popular in the football leagues, may become relevant to Indian cricket, not only for overseas transfers but also inter-state. In that scenario what will be critical will be the choice of the player for it will be unfortunate if the teams get caught up in upstaging each other and sign up spent forces or unsuccessful players.But all that is well into the future. Right now, to see Munaf and Lawson operate in tandem will be a local Maharashta fan’s dream and something that should, overall, bode well for the prospects of Indian domestic cricket.

No runs in the 50th over, and the castle that is Australia

Steven Lynch06-Nov-2007The regular Tuesday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Andrew Hall bowled a maiden when Sri Lanka needed 11 runs off the final over in Adelaide © AFP
How many times has a maiden been bowled in the last over of a one-day international? asked Shikhar from India
This has happened a few times in ODIs – we can’t be sure quite how many as we don’t have complete ball-by-ball stats for many early matches. The most recent occurrence was in Adelaide in January 2006, when Sri Lanka began the last over, bowled by Andrew Hall, needing 11 to beat South Africa, but didn’t manage anything off the bat. The only run was a leg-bye (Muttiah Muralitharan faced the first three balls, and Tillakaratne Dilshan the last three). The most famous instance was probably in 1990-91, when Australia started the last over in Hobart needing two runs to beat New Zealand, but with their last pair at the crease. No. 11 Bruce Reid was facing Chris Pringle, needing just a single to tie the match and give his senior partner, Greg Matthews, the strike. But Reid didn’t manage a run, hitting the first five balls straight to fielders or missing them completely: he was then run out trying a suicidal single off the final ball of the match, so New Zealand squeaked home by one run.Who has the most number of sixes under his belt in ODIs and Tests? asked Sai Pogaru from Singapore
Leading the way in Test cricket is Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, who needs three more hits to reach 100 sixes in Tests. He’s a few clear of Brian Lara, who managed 88 sixes in his Test career – and a record 1559 fours. For a full list, click here. In ODIs, there’s a battle at the top between Sanath Jayasuriya, who currently has 245 sixes, and Shahid Afridi, with 235. A long way back in third place, with 188, is Sourav Ganguly. For the full one-day six list, click here.When was the last time Australia lost a Test series at home? asked Surinder Kaushal from Canada
Remarkably, it’s 15 seasons now since Australia lost a Test series at home – and that one in 1992-93, like their earlier home defeat (1988-89), was inflicted by West Indies. In 1992-93 West Indies won 2-1, but only after drawing level with a famous one-run victory in Adelaide and then clinching the series with a more comprehensive win in Perth. Between the 1932-33 Bodyline series and the 1970-71 Ashes encounter, Australia lost only one home series – the Ashes in 1954-55.With England about to tour Sri Lanka, who has been their most successful batsman and bowler in Tests there? asked James Wilson from Brighton
England have only played eight Tests in Sri Lanka, between 1981-82 and 2003-04, so the records aren’t terribly impressive ones. Their leading run-scorer is Graham Thorpe, with 452 in six Tests at an average of 45.20, ahead of Marcus Trescothick, with 415 in six. Apart from those two, the only other Englishmen to score a Test century in Sri Lanka are Nasser Hussain, Robin Smith and Michael Vaughan. The leading wicket-taker for England in Tests in Sri Lanka is Ashley Giles, with 25, well ahead of Darren Gough, with 14.

Michael Hussey receives his Baggy Green from Bill Brown, Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer © Getty Images
Who is the oldest surviving Australian Test player? asked Brad Johnson from Brisbane
If you’re lucky, you might spot him during this week’s Test at the Gabba: it’s the Queenslander Bill Brown, who is now 95. He first wore the baggy green in England in 1934, which makes him the senior surviving Test cricketer in terms of debut, although two players who started later are actually older than he is. Brown won the last of his 22 Test caps as one of Don Bradman’s Invincibles in England in 1948. For a full list of the oldest surviving Test players, click here.Sourav Ganguly currently has 96 Test caps. If he plays all three Tests against Pakistan in the coming home series, he will finish with 99, and could play his 100th Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day. Has anyone else played his 100th Test at the MCG? asked Prasanth Naik from India
As I write 43 people have played in 100 or more Tests – but only one of them reached that landmark at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. That was Australia’s Allan Border, who won his 100th cap against West Indies at the MCG in 1988-89 – in a Test that began on Christmas Eve, rather than the traditional Boxing Day.And here’s an afterthought to last week’s question about the Test cricketers born in Goa, from Mohammad Kaushik
“I believe that the parents of Wallis Mathias, the first non-Muslim to play for Pakistan, came from Goa – although he himself was born in Karachi.”

Jenny Thompson considers the impact if the women’s game gets its own World Twenty20 alongside the men

Jenny Thompson20-Dec-2007

Women are great innovators in cricket. They played the first Twenty20, ahead of the men. They thought of the first World Cup, in 1972. Some say a woman, Christina Willes, even thought up overarm bowling. In some ways it’s a surprise, then, that they didn’t beat the men to the World Twenty20.But now they have their well-deserved chance to shine in the limelight as the ICC has confirmed to Cricinfo that, subject to budget approval, the women will have a World Twenty20 scheduled around the men’s at the next tournament in England in 2009. The championship could do even more for the women than what it has for the men: much, much more, as the game could be on television every day throughout the tournament, meaning increased exposure and sponsorship.Women cricketers’ achievements have gone largely unnoticed over the years, bar the occasional televised match, and precious few are still household names. This, though, is the game’s chance to burst into the awareness of the general public, and comes on the back of the largely excellent work of the ICC in bringing together the men’s and women’s boards around the world, while working towards making the game more professional. Some boards had already merged before the ICC took over the women’s game. The ECB, for example, had already instigated funding, unified the administrations, and had the same kit for women and men, but with the world merger the game has had many more opportunities, of which this is the biggest yet.While some may question whether the women’s version is attractive enough to be on television, the game has improved immeasurably, with power-hitting, playing over the top – as demonstrated by New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and England’s Sarah Taylor – and 70mph-plus fast bowling from such players as Jhulan Goswami of India and Australia’s Emma Sampson.The women’s game has always been big on technical accuracy, but has often been a comparatively dull affair, with 200 a winning score in 50-over games. These days it has the attractive, fast-paced element to match, although it cannot hope to match men’s cricket, and it is better than it is often given credit for. Nevertheless, exposure had remained a challenge. Until now.The game will have to wait until early 2008 to hear if budget approval has been given, but if and when it is, it would be welcome news for a sport that is often overlooked despite abundant talent. The story is the same from women’s cricket colonies around the world: whenever spectators attend their first match, they are surprised and impressed.
It’s one of the sport’s best-kept secrets.Twenty20 in particular lends itself to the new women’s game. As with the men’s version, it’s a short enough injection while still providing a chance for the display of manifest skills. The women’s game is also a family-friendly arena, and the players are highly accessible, making it an attractive proposition for young autograph hunters.One challenge at the World Twenty20 would be for the second tier of women’s teams – including South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies – to put on a show worth watching. The experiment to have the Afro-Asia women’s tournament as a curtain raiser to the men’s last June was hardly a great advertisement – the teams made 105 and 45. But other domestic experiments in England and Australia, where women’s teams played ahead of domestic and state men’s matches, succeeded in showing off the skills in exciting games.And, thankfully, the competition offered by the second level on the world stage should at least be more than that on offer at the Afro-Asia tournament. South Africa’s captain Cri-zelda Brits believes her side would put on a good show. She watched England and New Zealand entertain during a Twenty20 over summer and told Cricinfo in August: “Just watching these two teams and how they’ve excelled in that form really is proof that we could all participate in such an event, and I’m sure you’ll see the gap closing between nations participating in these sort of games.”The ICC, along with the boards, must be applauded for their thinking. They have the clout, the money and the exposure, and most crucially, they are putting their mouth where their money is and making great strides.
At a time when they face criticism for scheduling too many matches in the men’s game, they have hardly burdened the women’s game the same way. Women’s cricket offers them a largely untapped market, one with much potential for growth among women and young fans, and this latest plan could hopefully help reach out to those audiences.The ICC showed they could put on an excellent show in the first World Twenty20, and the format breathed new life into the game. Now with the women’s game they are on the cusp of turning the lick of flame into a burning fire that could at last set the public’s imaginations alight.

A great knock is one that can be seen independent of the situation, irrespective of the result, yet one that contributes to the team cause. Some times a great knock looks effortless compared to batsmen. Jayasuirya, today, satisfied all the above criteria

Sidharth Monga in Karachi06-Jul-2008

The subcontinent has generally had the problem, almost impossible to prove but privately acknowledged, of over-aged players in age-group cricket. Conversely, it allows players to stay on beyond their sell-by date. On Sunday, at the National Stadium in Karachi, Sanath Jayasuriya – 39 years and six days old – turned both concepts on their head as he plundered 125 off 114 balls.How is it that Jayasuriya can play the young man’s game at 39? Especially since his game relies on instinct and hand-eye co-ordination? How is it that he is still, on his day, the most dangerous batsman in the word?A great knock is one that can be seen independent of the situation, irrespective of the result, yet is inextricably linked to the team cause. Sometimes the greatness of an innings lies in how effortless it looks alongside others in the same contest. Today, Jayasuriya satisfied all these criteria.Today he was cold-blooded rather than audacious, his innings built more on mental strength than the usual brute force. India, with Ishant Sharma in particular bowling superbly, had reason to congratulate themselves as they held Sri Lanka down to 67 for 4. They would have expected Sri Lanka to go through a quiet period of rebuilding, and hoped to get through the overs with their part-time bowlers. That is when Jayasuriya, then on 42, transcended the situation to launch a planned assault.Just before Ishant took two wickets in an over, Jayasuriya welcomed Irfan Pathan with three boundaries in four balls. In Irfan’s next, he showed some restraint, suggesting he may even take the conventional approach. In the following over, Ishant bowled him a short, rising delivery that had got him three wickets so far. This was an effort ball, quicker than he had bowled earlier, but Jayasuriya pulled it way over the square-leg boundary as if to say that’s how it’s done fashion.Ishant was replaced by RP Singh, who had managed a maiden over in his first spell, and his effort wasn’t a bad one. He was simply caught in the headlights and didn’t know what to do. Fielders were moved helter-skelter, conferences were held, RP tried different things, and yet the ball was repeatedly hit where the fielders weren’t present. Twenty-six breathtaking runs were taken, and the initiative had been wrested. At one point in the fifth-wicket partnership, Tillakaratne Dilshan had contributed only four out of the 50 runs added. In their 131-run partnership, Jayasuriya contributed 83.

Flat wicket or not, to attack in that fashion, in that situation, in a big final, needs a lot of mental strength. To slow down then would have meant a below-par total on a batsman’s paradise, given especially the absence of big hitters in the Sri Lanka lower order. To get out trying to hit was not an option at all. The way he assessed the situation, decided to do what few others could, and went about executing it, stemmed from, and pointed to, his genius.”I wasn’t really surprised with the way he played,” Mahela Jayawardene said. . “We have given him the freedom to go out there and play his way. That’s the way he takes games away from oppositions. And on his day it will come off, if it doesn’t it doesn’t.”He is in terrific form and we didn’t try to stop him from what he was doing. But I think he made a conscious effort of picking his bowlers, his areas; he didn’t go after everybody. That comes with experience. He was disappointed the way he got out; he wanted to bat till the end. It was a brilliant innings, and the turning point for us. I know Ajantha [Mendis] created so much, but we needed runs in the first place, and that’s what Sanath did.”The innings was quite reminiscent of the final in Sharjah in 2000-01, where he scored 189. With wickets falling around him, Jayasuriya kept attacking – by the time Sri Lanka were 98 for 3, the other batsmen had contributed 27. What was missing, today, though, was the brutal assault he had unleashed eight years ago. It was something he had been setting himself up for today as well. His last 89 runs, then, had come off 43 balls, and taken Sri Lanka from 116 for 4 to 299 for 5.India were humiliated then, bowled out for 54. Today they managed just a little better, because of the start Virender Sehwag gave them. When Sehwag went marauding the Sri Lankan opening attack, scoring 60 off 34, out of India’s 68 then, it seemed Jayasuriya’s effort would be overshadowed. When Mendis, the finger freak, was running through the Indian batsmen, who seemed to be groping in the dark, Jayasuriya’s innings took a comfortable backseat in the mind. But Mendis, who was four when Jayasuriya made his debut, might want to thank him for the target he set.

“You take Don Bradman away and he’s next up, I reckon.” The verdict of Steve Waugh on Sachin Tendulkar sits alongside many other tributes at the tail end of “Sachin Tendulkar: Masterful” by Peter Murray and Ashish Shukla.

Review by Stephen Lamb13-May-2008
Sachin Tendulkar: Masterful

“You take Don Bradman away and he’s next up, I reckon.” The verdict of Steve Waugh on Sachin Tendulkar sits alongside many other tributes at the tail end of “Sachin Tendulkar: Masterful” by Peter Murray and Ashish Shukla.Punctuated by an array of full-page photographs of the little maestro in action, the book covers Tendulkar’s Test and one-day international career to date, and the difficulties he had in two spells as India’s captain. It also provides glimpses of his lifestyle away from the game, and of the relationship with the late Mark Mascarenhas that helped make him the richest cricketer in the world.If practice makes perfect, Tendulkar’s early years in cricket provide as clear an indication as any of the dedication the boy had to the game at which the man would become peerless. In Shivaji Park, Mumbai, the young Sachin would play in as many as 13 matches in a day. His coach, Ramakant Acherkar, would place a rupee on top of Tendulkar’s stumps and say: “Anyone who gets him out will take this coin. If no one gets him out, Sachin is going to take it.”Although he lost a couple of times, Tendulkar still has 13 of the coins. “At the age of 12 or 13 I was practising 12 hours a day,” he said. “Seven till nine in the morning, then playing the game from 9.30 to 4.30 and then practising again from 5.30 to 7.00 in the evening. Once I played 54 matches in a row!”When Tendulkar was picked to play his first Test for India against Pakistan at 16, his father had to sign his contract with the Indian cricket board because Sachin was not old enough to do so. In the next Test, faced with a barrage of sledging from Wasim Akram, Tendulkar is said to have asked Akram why he felt the need to sledge when his bowling was in a class of its own.Tendulkar is a religious man, for whom fame has made it hard to practice his faith. “A couple of times I tried going out for the evening in disguise but it didn’t work too well,” he said. “Now when I go to pray I go late at night to the temples which are empty and quiet.”Most followers of the game will tell you, if asked, that Tendulkar is the finest batsman in the world. Others bear the mantle of greatness – Steve Waugh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and the man with whom Tendulkar is perhaps most often compared, Brian Lara. But the Trinidadian’s verdict is succinct: “Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal.”

England have the top-ranked batsman and bowler in their ranks, and they are set to make a mark on the World Cup

Nishi Narayanan03-Mar-2009
Guha, a chemistry grad, works in a laboratory © Christopher Lee
I can tell you it can be unnerving to sit across from the world’s No. 1 batsman and bowler. Halfway through the interview an errant ball from the nearby nets smacks our bowler full on the leg. A wince and a glare later the conversation is back on. Rattled at the thought that a few inches this way would have meant my leg, I lose my train of thought. But Isa Guha is unflustered; bruised but not shaken.England’s Claire Taylor and Guha lead the ICC women’s rankings for batting and bowling respectively and with the World Cup round the corner, other teams must wish they’d be as gentle with the ball as they are with questions in an interview.But that is not likely to happen. England are a team that Guha says has turned “just a little bit more ruthless” since their third-place finish in the Quadrangular Series in Chennai in 2007. Guha and Taylor have strong back-up in the side, and today, apart from the hosts Australia, England are the strongest contenders to the world title, which they last won in 1993. No one would have bet on that as recently as two years ago.England returned from India – having lost six out of seven games – only to lose 3-2 to New Zealand. They were clearly uninspired as they headed to Australia for the Ashes. However, after an initial hiccup they transformed it into their most successful tour Down Under and haven’t looked back since.At just what point did they begin to peel away the rot that had set in? Guha agrees the Quadrangular was a turning point. “We went in to the tournament thinking we’d beat every team but we didn’t, so we reassessed,” she said. “We were getting into situations where it’s the last five overs and we were losing the game. We realised we had to be mentally tougher.”Taylor pinpoints the final game in Chennai, where England beat India to take the third place, as the first time in a long time that they had played competitively for 100 overs. “Before that we were competitive for around 50 to 60 overs which is not enough,” Taylor said. “I think we’re getting better at touring abroad in the winter. This winter [2008-09] we got off to a very slow start in Australia. We lost the warm-up game but we got better through the tour and played really well in New Zealand on the fast tracks.”Since the Quadrangular, England have won six out of eight games in which Taylor has scored 40 or more. In the same period, of the 30 batsmen Guha has dismissed, 14 fell between 1 and 9 runs and nine were out for ducks. “I joined a big multinational company and was working there for four years when I was told I had to cut back on the cricket and spend more time on work and think about being a better manager. In the end I took redundancy” Claire TaylorEnjoying the form of their lives, the two say they feel a sense of invincibility when they are in the zone. “It’s as if the bowlers are bowling where you want them to,” Taylor said. “You reach a certain stage where the field is set just as you’d like it, the run-rate is where you need it and the ball pitches where you want it to.”Taylor’s own performance turned for the better after her personal coach, Mark Lane, (now England’s coach) returned from an assignment in Kenya in 2005 shortly before the Ashes. “I had a few sessions just before our series against Australia – I had a really good one-day series and then we won the Ashes. He is someone who concentrates on creating effective cricketers. I also went back to work and the balance in my life has been so much better since that time.”Guha thinks she arrived as a bowler in the Bowral Test in 2008, where she took nine wickets in England’s six-wicket win. “From 2003 I have been working on changing my action. Toby Radford, the current Middlesex coach, helped me through that winter and summer. My action was mixed, which was making me inconsistent. So I had to learn how to transfer the consistency I picked up from the nets to matches, while also making it an unconscious one. Since that Test it’s been about adding to my armoury, working on the slower ball – things that will be effective in an ODI.”What helped both do better was the decision to split the squad during the off season and get some of the players to play in Australia and New Zealand, thereby stretching the months of competitive outdoor cricket. This will be England’s USP at the World Cup and their performance there could prompt other teams to try the experiment as well. “The effect of splitting the squad means some people can stay at home and work indoors with the coaches on their technique and it’s up to the guys who go away to ensure they get the right coaching and play some good cricket,” Taylor said. By the time the World Cup comes around, Guha, who left for Australia in November, would have had four months, along with other squad members, to adjust and familiarise herself with the conditions.However, the longer they choose to play in a year, the less money they can earn – a paradoxical situation when seen through the lens of men’s cricket. The England women have Chance to Shine contracts, where they get paid to coach 25 hours a week for a period of eight months. If they have other jobs, they can cut down on the coaching time, which means they get paid less. However, Taylor and Guha, who hold down jobs and don’t avail of the Chance to Shine contracts, feel it is the next best thing to having central contracts like the men. “It’s the most secure part-time job you can get, with a salary coming in every month,” Taylor said. “So the girls can think about renting a house and have plenty of time over the weekend to train. The four months remaining are when we are supposed to be out touring, so there’s plenty of time off as well.
Taylor’s game took an upturn after some work with her coach Mark Lane in 2005 © Getty Images
“I work part-time and Isa works in laboratories. It’s really tough for those who are just leaving university to make the choice between playing or [whether to] get a job and get on the career ladder or the housing ladder. Or someone like Beth Morgan who stood first in university but chose to make a commitment to cricket.” Guha said she worked in labs because it was the career she wanted to pursue. “But a lot of the girls playing in Australia are doing a bit of coaching work.”Taylor was faced with the dilemma of whether to pick cricket over a regular job when she left university. “I joined a big multinational company and was working there for four years when I was told I had to cut back on the cricket and spend more time on work and think about being a better manager. In the end I took redundancy after four years and did what Isa is doing now – I went to New Zealand in the winter and played as a semi-pro cricketer. People do have to make tough choices, and when you sacrifice something you respect the game more.”Sticking it out has certainly helped. Today the merger with the ECB, working contracts, and sponsors have given the game in England a much-needed boost.”All the teams are much fitter than they used to be, which will prove important when we play three weeks of intensive cricket during the World Cup,” Guha said. “We got good coverage when we played a Twenty20 ahead of the men at the MCG.” Point out that it was the game where Australia’s Ellyse Perry hit her for a six into the stands – a feat not many had expected to see in the women’s game – and she sighs. “Everyone keeps reminding me of that! But you know, it’s good for the game.””A couple of years ago we played most of the 1993 World Cup-winning side at Lord’s for a charity event, and they were all commenting on how much harder we hit the ball these days,” Taylor said.As senior players, Taylor and Guha must take charge of England’s campaign. Australia may be favourites for the tournament they will host, but England will make them uneasy. And leading the list of those they’d like to see the least are the world’s best batsman and bowler.

Highlights of the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy’s Super League and Plate matches

Cricinfo staff16-Dec-2008

Beware of Delhi
They were halfway through the tournament, failing to bowl teams out, and not batting too well either. Result: six points from four matches, their grip on the Ranji Trophy loosened. Two matches later, Delhi came back hard. Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma and Gautam Gambhir returned in their win against Orissa, and even without the Test stars they beat Saurashtra by an innings in Rajkot. Now they start the last round just one point behind third-placed Saurashtra. Delhi play Rajasthan, and Saurashtra play Hyderabad. There is more than just an outside chance that Delhi might just sneak into the knockouts. But a word of caution for other teams: by the time the quarter-finals arrive, all Delhi’s Test players will be available to play.Brilliance is boring
Somebody please stop Mumbai. Every two years they come back and crush all around them. They might have been lacklustre last season, but this time Mumbai have been Australia-esque in their domination of the Group A. They have won four of their six games outright, they lead the group, both the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker in the Ranji season are in their ranks, and a familiar sense of predictability is setting in.Mumbai calling
You can take Dilip Vengsarkar out of the selection committee, but not the selector out of Dilip Vengsarkar. Staying with two Mumbai players dominating the charts, Vengsarkar has expressed his annoyance that neither has merited a central contract from the BCCI. Ajinkya Rahane has scored 762 runs in six matches at 76.2, with four centuries, and Dhawal Kulkarni has taken 32 wickets at 14.5 in his debut season.”It’s quite absurd that these two names are not in the list as they are the leading run-getter and wicket-taker in the national championship this year. Ajinkya Rahane has scored more than 750 runs in Ranji this year and more than 1,100 runs last year in first-class cricket,” Vengsarkar was quoted as saying by . “Everyone would like to know the criteria of selecting the players, as it smacks of regionalism. I hope the BCCI takes up this issue at its next working committee meeting and add these two names to the list.”Look who’s back
Sourav Ganguly. To help Bengal go through to the Super League. The former India captain will be playing in his state’s Plate League semi-final match against Goa, where a win would earn them promotion. What’s weird is that that they will try to win the semi-final in order make it to the quarter-final. Of the Super League, that is. Ganguly will not captain Bengal as he feels it’s better if Laxmi Ratan Shukla continues with the job. A Test series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has ruined the grand plan: with Ganguly and Muttiah Muralitharan in the side, Bengal would have become serious contenders for the title, after having played in the Plate League.Look who’s back, too
Sreesanth. Proving his fitness. With match figures of 7 for 140 against Jharkhand in Ranchi. This was his first first-class match of the season after a side strain and a back injury had laid him low. He last played for India in the Kanpur Test against South Africa, in April.”I am quite satisfied with the performance, and feel 110 per cent fit,” Sreesanth said. “This match was very important for me as I have taken to the field after six months following the injury I suffered. I have really enjoyed the match against Jharkhand. I will continue to perform to my best and deliver result. It is up to the selector to decide.”Shane Warne’s boys’ corner
Ravindra Jadeja continues with his good form: but for his 56 and 143, Saurashtra’s 10-wicket loss to Delhi would have been much worse. Siddharth Trivedi played his role in Gujarat’s victory over Rajasthan, taking 3 for 26 and 2 for 63. Swapnil Asnodkar scored a crucial 84 in Goa’s successful chase of 193 against group leaders Himachal Pradesh. The outright victory proved crucial as they scraped through to the semi-finals by a one-point margin over Haryana.Quotehanger
“No, I have no plan to get married in next two years.”
Sreesanth may have said this, but why was he even asked such a question?