Plays of the day from the game between India and South Africa in Melbourne

Firdose Moonda in Melbourne22-Feb-2015 The wake-up call
If the chants of 86,876 people and the sense of expectation in the humid Melbourne air were not enough to have Shikhar Dhawan wide-eyed, Morne Morkel’s chin music would have done it. After three overs of trying to pitch it up, the bowler decided to go for the short ball. It rose sharply to meet Dhawan while he was deciding whether to duck, dive or pull and had to settle for being wrapped on the knuckles. When Morkel presented the same delivery with his next ball, Dhawan pulled with power to deep square leg to prove the he could handle the pressure and the bouncer.The missed chance
Unlike some of his team-mates, Hashim Amla is not known for superhuman efforts in the field but he had the chance to change that when Dhawan, on 53, cut one his way at backward point. The ball was at catchable height but needed Amla to fling himself forward and to his right in a coordinated effort. Though he got there and grabbed the ball, it bobbed out as he fell to the ground. Not quite AB de Villiers yet.The other missed chance
South Africa had an uncharacteristically lazy day in the field but when they had the opportunity to hit the stumps, they did. Twice. India did not. When Amla drove to Ajinkya Rahane at cover, he was quick to swoop in, pick up and release with Amla still a long way out. But the throw missed its mark. Suresh Raina was backing up and close enough to underarm the ball onto the stumps, which would have still seen Amla dismissed, but he missed as well.Beating him at his own game
If there is a batsman that is considered un-run-out-able, it would be AB de Villiers. In fact, he is more likely to be the one effecting run-outs, like he did, but then also found himself caught short of his own ground. De Villiers was pushing for a second run after driving the ball to the sweeper. Mohit Sharma’s throw came in low and accurate so all MS Dhoni had to do was break the stumps. The Indian fielders were convinced they had beaten de Villiers at his own game and replays confirmed they had.

Domnic Joseph Muthuswami, who till four years ago was primarily a tennis-ball cricketer, impressed on his IPL debut not only with two decent overs up front but also with the 17th over he bowled against Chennai Super Kings last week

Amol Karhadkar16-Apr-2015Bowling to MS Dhoni in the 17th over of an IPL match is nothing but asking for trouble. That too for an IPL debutant. But when you concede just a single off three balls bowled to a fearsome batsman like Dhoni, and end up conceding just one run in the over along with a wicket, you have got to be elated.Welcome to the world of Domnic Joseph Muthuswami. The 34-year-old from Pune, who till four years ago was primarily a tennis-ball cricketer and made bullets for a living, impressed on his debut not only with two decent overs up front but also with the 17th over he bowled in Chennai Super Kings’ innings of Delhi Daredevils’ tournament opener last week.The bowling effort ended up earning accolades from not only his team-mates but also from India’s World Cup-winning captain. No wonder then that it was the most cherished moment of his short career at the top level. “When a player like Dhoni tells you ‘well bowled’, it has to be the biggest compliment in your career. It was definitely the most memorable moment for me when he told me so after the match when I met him briefly,” Joseph told ESPNcricinfo.Since then, his WhatsApp display picture is of him posing with Dhoni after the game in Chennai.Apart from the pressure he was feeling of bowling to “top-class international batsmen,” Joseph was also bogged down by a packed house at the MA Chidambaram Stadium – despite three locked stands at the home of Super Kings. All through his tennis ball and first-class career, Joseph hadn’t played a match with a turnout that was bigger than a thousand spectators or so.”I did have pangs in the stomach but all the seniors in the Daredevils team helped me calm down and deliver my best,” Joseph said. “It is one thing bowling in big stadiums in front of near-empty stands like we do in domestic cricket but it becomes a completely different ball game when you have to do so in front of thousands of spectators cheering from the stands.”A week since making his IPL debut, Joseph returned to the Daredevils team and bowled in front of an even bigger turnout when they faced Kings XI Punjab on Wednesday night. But this time around, Joseph wasn’t really bothered about performing in the middle of more than 40,000 spectators.His family and friends had turned up in big numbers to see their own “Dom,” as he is fondly called, doing them proud at his home ground. “It’s a different feeling altogether when all your family members and some of the closest friends watch you from the stands. You know they will always back you, irrespective of how you fare.”Joseph didn’t have an impressive outing against Kings XI but that has not halted his dream ride. Daredevils may have had a reason to celebrate on Wednesday night after winning their first game of the season and breaking an 11-match losing streak. But one of their players has been having the time of his life for the last fortnight or so.First it was the turn of Gary Kirsten. So impressed was the former India and South Africa coach with Joseph’s performance in the practice games that he not only praised him, but also included him in the XI for Daredevils’ opening game of the season against Super Kings, ahead of Test bowler Jaydev Unadkat.”Just before the match in Chennai, Gary told me to keep bowling the same way like I had been in our practice games. I am glad I could live up to his faith,” Joseph said.Despite being in the thirties, Joseph was recommended to the Daredevils management by Pravin Amre. The Daredevils assistant coach saw Joseph extract appreciable bounce with his immaculate line and length during the West Zone one-dayers, and shortlisted him for the auction.For a player with as humble a background as Joseph’s, an IPL contract could well give a sense of fulfilment. Not for Joseph. “I feel it’s just the beginning. Got to learn a lot about the game by bowling to a different class of batsmen and then keep on improving my game.”

Plays of the Day from the second ODI between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur19-Apr-2015The calmer celebration
All eyes were on Tamim Iqbal when he reached the 90s, to see how he would celebrate this hundred. The moment he clipped Junaid Khan through fine leg, he went running towards the dressing room. This time there was no anger, just joy. He swung his arm around five times and punched the air. Sixth ODI hundred in the bag, he just soaked up the applause.The chant
Mashrafe Mortaza threw the ball towards Rubel Hossain at the end of the seventh over, which brought a loud cheer from a half-filled Shere Bangla National Stadium. The in-house DJ didn’t need to announce Rubel’s name, but he did, and the crowd cheered again. A few seconds later the uncovered eastern gallery started a chant. It was the name of the actress with whom Rubel was embroiled in a controversy before the World Cup.The cry rolled around the whole ground until Rubel got to the top of his mark after a couple of swings of the arm. He bowled slightly outside off stump, Sarfraz Ahmed edged it and Soumya Sarkar at slip obliged. Curiously but thankfully, the chant didn’t start again.The connection
Haris Sohail was at the crease for 30 overs but hardly connected a ball with full satisfaction. Both his boundary hits, however, were drilled past and over the bowler. The first was through mid-off off his 12th delivery, but he crawled back into his shell. Finally off his 56th ball, Sohail bludgeoned Shakib Al Hasan over his head for a six. The hit was clean, went high and higher, hitting the sightscreen.The relief
Saeed Ajmal hadn’t played international cricket for more than seven months. He made his comeback in the first ODI but went wicketless and was carted for 74 in ten overs.The attack kept going after Tamim hit him for three successive fours in his first over of this game. In his fourth over, Ajmal finally got his first wicket when Mahmudullah missed a slog sweep. There wasn’t much of a celebration but there was relief written on Ajmal’s face.The trademark
Mushfiqur Rahim going down on one knee to a spinner and slogging towards midwicket has become his trademark. He has hit through that region plenty of times in the last four years, most famously against West Indies on his captaincy debut in 2011 when it brought Bangladesh a victory off the penultimate ball.In the last game he struck two sixes and three fours with the shot and the moment he middled one off Saeed Ajmal in the 19th over, there was only going to be one result: a six.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2015There was no respite for the hosts as Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson reduced them to 33 for 5 by the 18th over•AFPShai Hope had his off stump pegged back by Johnson as West Indies slipped further•Getty ImagesWhen Shane Watson dismissed Jason Holder, West Indies’ best batsman in the match, the home team was nearing a humiliating loss•Associated PressNathan Lyon picked the final two wickets off the last two balls of his seventh over to help Australia sweep the series 2-0•Getty Images

When Trevor Bayliss returned home from Sri Lanka and found himself overlooked for the New South Wales job he had to find work away from cricket, but it was brief hiatus before he was reaffirming his talents as a calm, astute coach

Daniel Brettig26-May-2015In July 2011, I took the 45-minute drive west from Sydney to Penrith for a chat with Trevor Bayliss. We were to meet at the real estate agent where he had found some work on his return home from Sri Lanka, a world away from the hubbub of the World Cup final he had helped guide the team into only a few months before, and even further from the hail of bullets that shredded their bus in Lahore in 2009.When Bayliss decided it was time to come back to Australia after four years based at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo, he did so in the expectation that the New South Wales coaching job he had left for an international appointment would be there for him – his successor Matthew Mott having quit to take up a role as coach of Glamorgan. Instead, the NSW hierarchy opted against choosing Bayliss, opting for the younger Anthony Stuart.This left Bayliss with little to do, compelling him to try to forge a new career in real estate at the age of 48. Speaking over lunch, ostensibly about Australia’s forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka, it was evident that Bayliss was less than enchanted with the way he had been overlooked by the Blues, and that he felt he had plenty more to give as a coach. While Bayliss did not intend to make a fuss – it is not his way – he was forming resolve to re-emerge.His mightily sound cricket judgment was made plain that day by a few of his predictions for the 2011 tour, which at the time few thought Australia capable of winning. Bayliss reckoned the new captain Michael Clarke would flourish as both a player of spin and a captain of it, while the Australian bowler he expected to shine was Ryan Harris. Clarke went on to lead the team to an away win in his first tour as captain, while it was Harris who claimed the vital wickets to close out victory in the first Test in Galle.By that time the national coach Tim Nielsen’s job had been spilled by the Argus review, and while Bayliss’ record should have been impressive enough to make him a candidate, he was overlooked for that too. Instead, it was the general manager of the Sydney Sixers, Stuart Clark, who recognised the qualities of his former state mentor and appointed him inaugural coach of the “magenta” Twenty20 side.”Trevor is a high quality coach with a huge amount of success domestically and internationally,” Clark said at the time. “His ability and respect amongst the playing group provides the foundation to have a successful winning culture.”What followed was a season in which Bayliss did go about proving NSW wrong for underestimating him. The Sixers recovered from a slow start to lift the inaugural BBL trophy, and their success contrasted sharply with the results gleaned by the Sydney Thunder and the Sheffield Shield team over a largely barren season for Australia’s biggest cricket state. Working closely with Brad Haddin and a young Steven Smith, Bayliss created a winning environment that prompted the Kolkata Knight Riders to come calling ahead of the 2012 IPL. More trophies would follow.A year later, after Stuart had been sacked and the NSW executive and board overturned as a result of broadening discontent over performance and culture, Bayliss was returned to his former role as coach of the Blues. It was little surprise to those who had seen him work closely with players across the world that they went on to claim the Shield in his first season back in charge, again collaborating with the rapidly evolving Smith among others.Bayliss’ deep knowledge of Australian players will be a decided advantage for England, even if he will only have a few weeks to get himself settled into the role before the Ashes. In addition to his work with Smith and Haddin, Bayliss was the NSW Under-19s coach when Clarke was their captain, helping to forge the flamboyant tactical style that has won him plenty of admirers over the past four years. And this is before mentioning the likes of David Warner, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon – all coached by Bayliss in recent times.He was rated highly enough by Cricket Australia to be employed as an interim coach last year for a winning Twenty20 series against South Africa, where he used the experience gained at the Sixers and KKR to bring the short form team together. After a first up loss in Adelaide, they would finish the stronger, and close out the series 2-1.Philosophically, Bayliss believes in calmness above all else. He is admired in NSW for remaining level at all times, and more than one player has observed that it is impossible to know the match scenario by looking at his face. While firm in his directives and clear in his ideas on how the game is best played, he has little use for histrionics. He is also adept at managing players who may not see eye to eye, as evidenced by how NSW remained successful during a period when Haddin and Simon Katich both coveted the captaincy.The lengthy queue for places in the NSW XI has long made it the most pressured environment among all the world’s domestic teams, something Bayliss understood inherently from his own playing days. He will bring that desire to maintain an even strain to the England rooms, thereby corresponding neatly with the following observation of the team director Andrew Strauss in his autobiography:”International cricket differs from county cricket in the sense that players need far less pushing and prodding in order to get themselves up for a game of cricket. Every time they go out there to play, they are playing for their careers. They are bound to be up for it. What is required at the highest level is a coach who is able to calm players down, allowing them to play to their strengths and instilling confidence in their methods.”Most of all, Bayliss will keep things simple. He is an uncomplicated character, who kept living in the quieter surrounds of Penrith well after he could easily have moved into Sydney’s leafier districts. When queried about the commute that day in Penrith, he observed that he was generally travelling against the traffic, and had little interest in the faster living to be had to the east. Those who have decried some of the data-driven excesses of modern coaching will delight in the fact that when Bayliss interviewed for the NSW job in 2013 he was the only candidate not to make a PowerPoint presentation.England have paid a high price to lure Bayliss away from Penrith for at least the next two years, but the value of their choice will be measured in how far England can progress. As Bayliss might have said to a skeptical buyer during his few months trying to close out property deals rather than cricket tournaments, this looks a very sound investment.

Despite the stark differences between the teams, Jersey scrapped and fought their way to a memorable victory over Hong Kong, underlining a passion and desperation to succeed

Peter Della Penna in Bready11-Jul-20151:52

Della Penna: Jersey’s win highlights unpredictability of T20s

The differences between the two teams that took the field at the Bready Cricket Club’s debut match at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier are stark.Hong Kong has a population of seven million in a thriving metropolis that is the gateway to another billion people in China. Its gross domestic product is touching $400 billion and its airport is one of Asia’s busiest transit hubs with more than 1000 flights daily.Jersey has a population of 100,000 on a Channel Island just off the northwest coast of France. Their GDP is $5 billion and their airport takes in 50 flight arrivals a day from the UK and a handful more from Germany.In cricket terms, Hong Kong are a top-six ranked ODI Associate alongside Ireland and Afghanistan with more than a million in ICC funding in the last year and seven players on central contracts. Just over a year ago, they toppled host nation Bangladesh for a famous win at the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.Jersey are ranked in Division Five of the World Cricket League alongside Oman, Nigeria and Tanzania and receive less than half of what Hong Kong gets from the ICC for being outside the top six Associates. They have one player, Under-19 captain Jonty Jenner, on an English county contract. Just over a year ago, they lost to host nation Singapore – not to mention Malaysia, Oman and Denmark – and were relegated from Division Four.But the two teams took the field as equals on Saturday. Three hours later, it was Jersey who looked like an Associate titan rather than the lowest seeded team on their ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier debut that was a prime candidate for the qualifier’s wooden spoon.

As the game took on the shape of a dogfight, Jersey were willing to scratch and claw to save every run while Hong Kong never seemed hungry enough to bite back.

Performances such as this are what make this tournament such an entertaining spectacle for those lucky enough to witness it firsthand. In the last few years more efforts have been made to get higher level Associate cricket on TV – 14 of the 42 group stage matches at this tournament will be televised – but the majority of Associate cricket is played in the shadows. However, the passion and intensity is no less than Full Member contests that are beamed across television worldwide on a regular basis.In fact, the desperation to perform is arguably even greater at Associate level. The opportunities to play are scarce and increased funding from the ICC is dependent upon positive on-field results for the few tournaments that are staged. Netherlands are a prime example of the unforgiving nature of the ICC’s merit-based funding structures as one bad tournament can see your players go from professional status back to the ranks of amateurs in a single second-innings chase.With the World Twenty20 going to a four-year cycle, several members of Jersey’s youthful squad will have started and finished university by the time the next chance to reach a major ICC tournament comes around. The urgency to make the most of their time in Ireland was evident throughout their performance against Hong Kong.Jersey were intense and unrelenting on the field against Hong Kong, wrapping up a memorable nine-wicket win•Peter Della PennaTheir bowlers were solid if unspectacular, but each one approached the crease with pinpoint focus on keeping things tight. The fielders hared around the outfield throwing their bodies to save boundaries with back-up fielders never far behind to relay the ball in. As the game took on the shape of a dogfight, Jersey were willing to scratch and claw to save every run while Hong Kong never seemed hungry enough to bite back.Many Jersey players have come up through U-15 and U-19 ranks together over the last 10 years. The chemistry they have is obvious and it will be the envy of quite a few teams at this tournament.While Nepal and Afghanistan may have the biggest group of traveling supporters at this tournament, Jersey won’t be left out of the conversation either. The fans, mostly family members and a few others, have the tight knit bond that is expected of a small island posse. When Jim Perchard, groundsman at Jersey’s Farmers Cricket Club and father of national team player Charles, was asked which player on the field was his son, he responded emphatically, “They’re all my sons, every single one on the team. Let’s go you boys in red!”As Jersey was halfway to the target of 154 with captain Peter Gough and Edward Farley bullying the Hong Kong attack, the confidence grew not just to the players on the bench, whose cheers kept growing louder, but to the traveling fans as well. When it was remarked that this journalist had never seen Jersey play in person before, Perchard shot back, “Well you won’t really have watched the whole team either today. We’re only going to have two guys bat.” He was nearly right.It was fitting that Gough and Jenner were together at the end for the winning runs. The oldest player in the squad, a 30-year-old amateur with grey sprouting through his short, crew cut, in tandem with Jersey’s youngest player – a 17-year-old professional with a thick, flowing mane – showed what the present and future of Jersey is capable of achieving.Tim Anderson, ICC’s head of global development, told ESPNcricinfo just prior to the ICC’s confirmation of a 10-team World Cup for 2019 that, “I think there’s a lot of respect in the Full Member world, at least at our board table, of the merit-based systems that happen in the Associate world.” Given a chance to play on merit, the Jersey Boys showed Hong Kong what they’re made of.

They had Pakistan by the collar, but at the end of the Test, it was somehow the hosts who ended up pants-less

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle21-Jun-2015Late on day five, Angelo Mathews stands at slip, glum faced, chin resting on knuckles as the ball skids towards the straight boundary off Ahmed Shehzad’s bat. Rangana Herath turns around grimacing in his follow through and puts hands on hips. Having watched Sri Lanka’s young batsmen throw the game away again in the afternoon, old man Kumar Sangakkara wears a resigned look in the infield. At this late stage of his career, he looks more and more like a dad fed up with telling his kids not to pee into the public pool. Dilruwan Perera is going at 10 an over. Kithuruwan Vithanage is averting gazes.How did it come to this? Sri Lanka had had Pakistan by the collar, but somehow it is they who have ended up pants-less.After the match, Mathews said he was disappointed in his batsmen, but asked for patience to allow them to mature. What else could he say? The team Sri Lanka fielded was genuinely very close to the best top order they currently have. Only the No. 7 position is contentious.Mathews has said that he has virtually been on his knees pleading for Sangakkara to stay another year. Who could blame him? Begging is almost not enough. On today’s evidence, Mathews would be justified in holding Sangakkara’s family for ransom in exchange for a few more Tests. Surely there is more the Sri Lanka team can do to keep the man from retiring? Keep sabotaging planes so he can never leave to Surrey? Dress like Mahela Jayawardene and stand next to him at slip? Sangakkara is quite clearly ready to begin the next phase of his life, but Sri Lanka need him as their No.3. Perhaps in perpetuity.The third-innings collapse in Galle would be dispiriting if it was not so bizarre. All but three Sri Lanka batsmen fell playing aggressive shots. There were some that were justified: Lahiru Thirimanne’s attempted punch-drive off Wahab Riaz made sense, given it is one of his better strokes, and the ball was roughly in the right place for it.Vithanage’s slog-sweep on one, however, is a little more difficult to decipher. Was he launching a campaign for a T20 place? Usually a handy lower-order batsman, Herath was seemingly intent to show Vithanage how strange a shot that was, by performing a pantomime mimicry of it. Almost as if he had planned it, Herath’s shot finished in the deep fielder’s hands as well. Yasir Shah was in the midst of one of the best spells of his life, but Sri Lanka were barely even making him work for his wickets.

On today’s evidence, Mathews would be justified in holding Sangakkara’s family for ransom in exchange for a few more Tests. Surely there is more the Sri Lanka team can do to keep the man from retiring?

Some batsmen almost literally played as if they had a train to catch. Three took off in the general direction of Galle station, sprinting clean past Yasir deliveries in the process. Sunday was the first occasion more than two Sri Lanka batsmen were out stumped in the same innings.Maybe they had last year’s Galle Test with Pakistan on their minds. On that occasion, the opposition had been too defensive, and Herath had hurled them into the sea. But in attempting to avoid this fate, Sri Lanka’s afternoon played out like a B-grade horror film: panicked characters stumbling to escape the snake in the woods, only to run directly towards the maniac with a chainsaw.After the match, Mathews conceded Sri Lanka made plenty of mistakes, but suggested his team be given the time to learn from them. “I’m very happy with the way that Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva batted,” he said. “Dinesh Chandimal fought pretty hard as well. Unfortunately, the rest couldn’t hold on. It might take a little bit of time and the batsmen need matches to mature, but that’s not an excuse. This is Test cricket – we have to try and find a way to win. Sanga’s going to retire soon so it’s up to us to stand up and do what’s possible. It’s going to be tough, but most of the boys have played up to 15 Test matches. In time they’ll learn.”Things change quickly in Sri Lankan cricket. They rise and fall in a space of few weeks, though Pakistan’s cricket is even more dramatic. There is plenty of time for tides to turn in this series yet, whether Sangakkara stays for its entirety or not. Sri Lanka’s cricket has also rarely languished for long. When greats have retired, unlikely others have risen to replace them. But in this match, at least, Sri Lanka’s young batsmen have failed to dispel fans’ fears that the team is heading toward a lull.

What do you think of the 15-member India squads chosen for the T20Is and first three ODIs against South Africa? Do you agree with these picks?

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2015 T20I squad Karnataka seamer S Aravind was the surprise pick in the squad, in which medium-pace was preferred, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Aravind, and Stuart Binny chosen and Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma left out – Mohammad Shami is yet to recover from injury. Axar Patel got the spin allrounder’s slot, ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and Karn Sharma.ODI squad The uncapped allrounder Gurkeerat Singh was included, taking Jadeja’s place from the squad that toured Bangladesh, and Amit Mishra replaced seamer Dhawal Kulkarni.

Plays of the day from the second T20 between Zimbabwe and Pakistan in Harare

Liam Brickhill in Harare29-Sep-2015The sixHamilton Masakadza hasn’t scored as many runs as Zimbabwe need from him this year, but there’s power in those mountainous shoulders yet and Masakadza unfurled the most brutal stroke of the day to clear the longest boundary at Harare Sports Club. Masakadza predicted Mohammad Irfan’s splice-jarring length to club a massive six into the Tobacco Stand beyond midwicket. The shot also took Masakadza past 1000 runs in T20I cricket – the first Zimbabwean to reach the mark.The miscommunication Wicketkeepers are traditionally chatter-boxes, but Zimbabwe gloveman Richmond Mutumbami doesn’t seem an overly loquacious type. It’s possible that his calling while batting is also a little too muted, and confused communication with Craig Ervine led directly to the left-hander’s run-out in the fifth over. Shortly afterwards Sean Williams animatedly remonstrated with Mutumbami when more miscommunication almost resulted in another run-out.The dropImad Wasim was exemplary with the ball once again today, conceding just 14 runs in his four overs, but his fielding didn’t reap quite the same results. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but in the 13th over he dropped a tough chance off Imran Khan. Sikandar Raza hacked a short ball out to deep midwicket, where Wasim sprinted, dived full length and got one hand around the ball, only for it to bobble out when he hit the ground. But Raza couldn’t make the chance count, and Zimbabwe still fell well short.The yorkerWhat was thought to be an increasingly rare and endangered creature in this country has apparently been rediscovered by Zimbabwe’s bowlers. The home side have often been hamstrung by their death bowling, allowing the opposition to get ahead of them when the charge is on. But the penultimate over, bowled by Tinashe Panyangara, contained no less than five yorker-length deliveries, as well as the wicket of Shahid Afridi. His final two deliveries, pinpoint and wide of the crease, were the best of the lot.

Simon Katich shares his opinions on Steven Smith’s leadership style, the ways in which cricket coaching can improve and why Australia must find new ways to perform overseas

Daniel Brettig04-Nov-2015Last time Simon Katich’s opinions on Australian cricket were widely broadcast it was quite the momentous event. His press conference in response to being culled from the list of Cricket Australia contracts in 2011 was a fierce repudiation of much in the game at the time, and foreshadowed the upheaval to follow from the Argus review.Four years on and Katich is set to be a voice of influence once again, this time as part of the remodelled ABC Grandstand radio team to cover this summer’s international cricket. Save for his Big Bash League duties, Katich has been away from game, carving out a career in football operations for the Greater Western Sydney AFL club while raising a young family with his wife Georgie.His return to the Test match realm also coincides with a new job as assistant coach for the Kolkata Knight Riders, and it is clear Katich is putting his toes back in the water of the game that had been his life for more than a decade up to 2011. He is chuffed to see Steven Smith turning out as Australia’s captain, having batted alongside him on the younger man’s state debut in January 2008. Katich was then in the midst of a prolific season that vaulted him back into the Test team; Smith a precocious teenager also dabbling in leg spin and emerging at the same time as a host of others.”In that crop of 2007-08 he debuted, Usman [Khawaja] debuted, [Phillip] Hughesy debuted and had an outstanding start,” Katich recalled. “Starcy was just coming on the scene as well, Hazlewood was around the fringes of the squad and not long after that Warner was emerging as well. A lot of them started at that point. Steve batted at No. 7 on debut and got 30-odd and looked really good, then bowled well too.”We knew he was a top-order batsman because he batted there for Sutherland, but with the balance of our squad he had to come in the middle order. He’s the sort of guy who has been prepared to listen and learn and take things in, he’s a very good student of the game, so it’s no surprise to see him playing the way he has and making the most of really nailing it second time around once he got back in the team.”He’ll be a student of the game for himself and everyone around him. That’s what’ll make him a very successful captain because he does put that time and effort into analysing stuff without over-thinking it, because he’s got a great temperament, he’s very relaxed and calm and laid-back away from the game, but at the same time when he needs to be he’ll be intense and focused. Everyone’s excited to see him lead Australia through this next era of cricket.”One area Katich can advise Smith more adeptly than most is in the subtleties of a pre-movement across the crease. When reminded of his own pace from leg to off before the bowler delivered, Katich was eager to note that he was not alone, before outlining how and why such a move can prove successful. It certainly was for Katich – his Test record still stands out among Australian batsmen of the post-Warne/McGrath years.”Chanderpaul probably did and so did Boof but I’ll take that!” he laughed. “I was doing it from a young age in Perth because back then the WACA was quick and bouncy, so if you didn’t get in line with the ball as much as possible you were nicking to the slips cordon. That was part of trying to develop in state cricket, and then it became part of my game.”Part of my strength as a player was off my pads particularly early on in my career. I felt if you’re going out there with a mindset that you’re going to miss it then you’re probably not in the best mental state to try to make runs. So I was backing myself that I wasn’t going to miss them even though it’s dangerous, you get caught in front of your stumps a lot, but at the same time if it gets you to 20 or 30 safely and then you’re away, as a batsman that helps you to get big scores.”The key to it, when I was doing it well my movement was early and my head was still so at the point of delivery I was in good position to make the secondary movement. When I wasn’t playing so well through confidence or particularly lack of timing, my foot movement was a little bit late and then I found myself being in a position where I couldn’t make a secondary movement and I was just having to play with my hands, which was always fraught with danger as a batsman.”Simon Katich on Steven Smith: “He’ll be a student of the game for himself and everyone around him.”•Getty ImagesA legacy of Katich’s time in football is that he feels cricket coaching still has some distance to travel in terms of the amount of nuance and detail that can be delved into to help players find their best. However he acknowledged that in cricket a player’s capacity to be self-reliant had to be prominent in a game played so much between the ears.”It’s very difficult to compare the physical preparation and what the AFL boys go through week to week … the one big thing I noticed is the amount of time and energy that’s put in by the coaches to develop the players is outstanding. The attention to detail is outstanding and that’s something that definitely could be taken across to cricket.”I’m not saying that cricket doesn’t do it, it’s done in a different fashion, a lot more informally over a chat or a beer or whatever it is, it’s done in the nets, whereas with footy there were structured sessions, education sessions and a lot of video analysis. I’m sure cricket does that but probably not to the same level of detail I’ve seen at the Giants. That was very impressive to me, but like any sport you’ve got to find a balance when it comes to young athletes.”I know when I was younger there were times when you’ve got to figure things out for yourself as well so you can’t just have someone spoon-feeding you all the time with what you need to do. You’ve got to become self-sufficient, and I think cricket does that pretty well, finding that balance between coaches stepping in and players learning for themselves, because ultimately no-one else can play for you.”Heading into this summer, Katich is confident in his expectation of strong Australian performances at home. He reasons that the conditions are favourable enough for Smith’s team that they will be able to overcome their inexperience and the unsettling effect of so many retirements. However he is adamant that the team must find new ways to perform overseas, where home comforts of bounce and pace are seldom present.”There’s a couple opportunities in the batting line-up, some guys are playing for their spots, and we’ve got an exciting pace attack, which will be a big advantage,” he said. “I expect us to do well in Australia, our big test is going to be how we start to go overseas. That’s what the boys will look forward to the most, that challenge. I’ve witnessed that first-hand, winning in India in 2004 when we hadn’t done it for more than thirty years. Conversely in England where we got outplayed in 2005 and 2009 we didn’t play the style of cricket you have to in those conditions.”In India, playing three quicks and Warney rather than two spinners when they play spin so well, that worked for us, but in England you’ve got to drop sweepers out at times and play that game where you’re attacking the stumps sometimes. We have a big advantage in Australia where we know the conditions, our batsmen like batting here and our bowlers like bowling here, but overseas you’ve got to be flexible and adapt.”As for the righteous anger of 2011, Katich has not been close enough to events to know for sure whether all of his grievances have been adequately addressed. But he admitted the identities of the men choosing the Australian Test team these days – notably the coach Darren Lehmann – left Katich reasonably confident that the lines of communication are what they should be.”Knowing Boof well I’d be surprised if that’s not all well sorted out,” Katich said. “Also with selection it always comes down to communication and whether people are kept in the loop or not. That’s one of the biggest challenges of that role. Knowing the guys who are there – Rod, Mark Waugh, Boof and Trevor Hohns – I’m sure that would be the case because they’re all highly experienced and it is a huge part of the role, to let blokes know where they stand.”If they don’t, it will now be Katich’s job to call it as he sees it. History says he’s more than capable of doing so.