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Plays of the Day from the Asia Cup final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Mirpur

Karthik Krishnaswamy and Mohammad Isam in Mirpur08-Mar-2014The altercation
Lahiru Thirimanne had opened the face of his bat and guided his previous delivery cheekily past the keeper for four. Minimum effort, maximum reward. Umar Gul wasn’t pleased. When Thirimanne defended his next ball back to Gul, he picked it up and shaped to throw at the stumps. He didn’t let go, but held his pose. Thirimanne said something, and bowler and batsmen came nose-to-nose before Mahela Jayawardene put a hand on Gul’s shoulder and eased them apart.The false dawn

Sharjeel Khan started off the Pakistan innings with two sweetly-timed boundaries, almost brushing aside any doubt about him replacing Sohaib Maqsood. But off the last ball, he clipped a catch to mid-on, very well held by Thisara Perera. Whether Sharjeel felt the pressure of proving himself can be argued, but it was a wasted dismissal after showing his touch.The shot

Fawad Alam batted like a man possessed towards the end of the Pakistan innings, culminating in the completion of his first ODI century. He reached the mark with a superb shot, clipped over midwicket off Perera. He had jumped back inside his crease like he often does in the last few overs, and that threw off Perera’s length. And like many shots in this tournament, Alam knew the result even before the ball had landed in the Mirpur grandstand, and took off his helmet to start celebrations.The mis-step

Kusal Perera was giving Pakistan a fright at the start of Sri Lanka’s chase, smashing their bowlers to all parts with his fierce short-arm punches and jabs. He had moved to 35 when he pulled Junaid Khan high to deep midwicket, where a backtracking Sharjeel took an overhead catch. His foot, however, trod clumsily on the boundary rope. In an era when fielders are hyper-aware of the boundary line and pull off all sorts of acrobatics to complete clean catches at the rope, Sharjeel’s effort looked a touch comical.

Sri Lanka have the batting raw materials to launch a fine World Cup campaign but a little polishing may make a considerable difference in eight months’ time

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Jun-201420 wins from 23 limited-overs matches. When Sri Lanka lost the ODI series to Pakistan in December last year, few may have envisioned such a rich start to 2014.The win percentage of 87 may be somewhat blown out by results against a misfiring Bangladesh and two more victories against Associate sides, but Sri Lanka have wrestled through the tougher challenges as well. The spoils of the series win against England – significant because it came in early summer – will now join the regional and global titles already on display at Maitland Place.There can only be minor complaints about Sri Lanka’s ODI side, but in the months approaching a World Cup, even the grains of sand that can set entire limited-overs machine out of kilter, deserve thorough examination. Sri Lanka owe it to their soon-to-be-departing seniors to have the best possible combination figured out, and their strategy fine-tuned, before heading into the event. Their fire has carried them through global tournaments before, but too often it has not been enough to topple surging, collected opponents near the tournament’s climax.Sri Lanka’s most conspicuous area of concern is the second openers’ position. Tillakaratne Dilshan finished comfortably atop the run-scorers’ list for the series, yet no Sri Lanka opening stand lasted longer than nine overs. Between them, Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera managed only 55 when opening, across the five matches.Thirimanne and Kusal remain the frontrunners to partner Dilshan in Australia and New Zealand, but each of them present significant weaknesses. Thirimanne had been a revelation during the Asia Cup, but has yet to open convincingly outside Asia. James Anderson exposed a weakness outside off stump that plagues many young Sri Lanka batsmen, and though drop-in pitches in the Antipodes will offer less movement than the pitches he has played on in England, a left-handed opener who is shaky against away-swing does not provide much confidence in the age of two new balls.Kusal’s battles have been more universal. Explosive opening blows often suggest he has already come to terms with conditions and the bowling, but too often, he plays an aggressive stroke too many, to hand his wicket away. The power and panache in his cricket may resemble the virtues of Sanath Jayasuriya, but Kusal is yet to develop the judgement and self-awareness that sustained Jayasuriya’s barrages. Kusal’s rate of scoring means Sri Lanka take a significant leap in the match, every time he bats more than 12 overs, but he has not done so consistently against top opposition.Sri Lanka have a third potential opener in their ranks, and on the surface, he may appear their best bet. Mahela Jayawardene averages 44.76 when he opens the innings, and he strikes at better than 90 per hundred balls. Not only is that an excellent opening average, it is 10 runs higher than he manages at his usual haunt at No. 4. Those figures worsen only slightly, when his 11 opening innings in Australia are considered. Sometimes shackled by responsibility in the middle order, the Jayawardene at the top of the innings is free, fluent and often effective. As Dilshan slows down year-by-year, Jayawardene may be an ideal opening foil. The two have batted profitably together before.It would seem straightforward to open with the experienced men, and move Thirimanne and Kusal to Nos. 4 and 5, where they have batted before, but Sri Lanka are wary of top-loading their experience. If Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara depart early on a rough pitch, it is left to the relatively green middle order to stabilise the innings. Thirimanne has showed himself capable of playing long innings, but the remaining middle order men have not yet mastered the art of reassessing targets and shepherding chases. Angelo Mathews is an increasingly canny finisher, but has rarely been effective when he arrives at the crease early in the innings.Other options include balancing the top order by moving Kumar Sangakkara to No. 4, and having Thirimanne bat at No. 3 – his favoured spot. But the selectors’ hesitation to make that move is understandable. Sangakkara has been Sri Lanka’s best batsman in the past 18 months, so why have him change? The same forces that compel Jayawardene to restrict his game at No. 4 may end up applying to Sangakkara as well.Sri Lanka have plenty to ponder lower down too. Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya has spoken of the value a fast-bowling allrounder like Thisara Perera can add in Australia, but in England, he was omitted in favour of batsman Ashan Priyanjan. The attack remained potent. Priyanjan has been promising so far, and if he plays at No. 7, Sri Lanka have more scope to make aggressive changes in the top order. Experimentation in upcoming home series against South Africa and Pakistan may help illustrate both players’ strengths and weaknesses more clearly.During their 2014 run, Sri Lanka have been bailed out by their attack on numerous occasions. They can be confident they have the batting raw materials to launch a fine World Cup campaign, but a little polishing and repositioning in the coming series may make a considerable difference in eight months’ time.

The heroes of 2001 recount how they overrode the burden of history. The similarities to 2014 are striking

Alan Gardner23-Sep-2014The emotion that surrounded Yorkshire’s first Championship win in 13 years, leaving aside the rancour springing from Andrew Gale’s suspension, has been understandable. One of the grandest old counties had not won anything since the 2002 C&G Trophy – a barren run during which every other county had claimed silverware of some form or another.A 31st outright Championship gives Yorkshire a haul not far off double the next most successful, which is a statistic all the more remarkable for the gaps between the last two. The wait just ended was a mere baker’s dozen, compared to what called “33 years of anguish” prior to Yorkshire’s 2001 triumph.That was a Baddiel and Skinner-worthy period of hurt but things quickly deteriorated again. When Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s chairman, became involved in 2002, the club was on the brink of bankruptcy. “There have been a lot of low points but today makes it all worthwhile,” Graves said after the pennant was clinched at Trent Bridge two weeks ago.Two cathartic triumphs, twin peaks preceded by deep troughs – and there are other similarities. Wayne Clark, appointed coach shortly before the start of the 2001 season, brought an outsider’s sense of perspective to the role, just as another Australian, Jason Gillespie, has with the current side. (Coincidentally, Gillespie was one of ‘s Five Cricketers of the Year for 2001.) Both victories came as a result of strength in depth. The modern game is more squad-based, and this year Yorkshire used 19 different players; in 2001, that number stood at 25.Dealing with England call-ups was a common feature, from Michael Vaughan, Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard then to Joe Root, Gary Ballance and Liam Plunkett now. There is also the sense of expectation that weighs on the shoulders as soon as a Yorkshire player pulls on a White Rose sweater. In 2012, with Yorkshire in Division Two, Geoffrey Boycott declared the club had to be promoted so they could win the Championship the following year, to coincide with their 150th anniversary. Better late than never.At the start of the 2000s, the weight of history was becoming a problem. David Byas had been Yorkshire captain for several years and felt the 2001 side was capable of breaking the run of failure. “To be part of the team that won it after such a length of time was very special,” he says. “It doesn’t get any better than that really.” But it was a long journey.”As that period got longer, the more pressure was heaped on,” Byas says. “Especially when we had a good side and players were playing for England on a frequent basis. We had such depth, such a good squad, we could afford two or three players playing for England, as you find now. What they’ve done this year pretty much mirrors what we did in 2001.”Their most important international recruit was one who usually couldn’t get in his country’s Test side. Darren Lehmann helped cement his status as an “honorary Yorkshireman” by scoring 1416 runs, including an innings of 252 against Lancashire at Headingley. That is still the record for a Roses match, though Adam Lyth fell one run short of equalling that at Old Trafford last month.Alongside the impetus provided by England players such as Vaughan, Hoggard and Craig White, who made important contributions, Yorkshire were buoyed by a clutch of less-heralded names. Matthew Wood was the only Englishman to pass 1000 runs, while Steve Kirby, signed a third of the way through the campaign, finished as their leading wicket-taker; the offspinner Richard Dawson also made an immediate impact.”Many people contributed to it,” Byas says. “The likes of Matthew Wood, he had a wonderful season; Craig White got an injury with England, he came back and played for us as a batter. He and Matthew formed a fabulous opening partnership. Steve Kirby came on to the scene when we were really struggling with injuries… He was such a breath of fresh air, when we needed an opening bowler. Richard Dawson bowled particularly well in the second half of the season, which got him on an England tour. Darren was a wonderful overseas pro and he served us so consistently for such a length of time. But a number of other players played a significant part and contributed so well that it ultimately brought the trophy to us.”

“Sign every autograph, speak to every person that you can, look at those members outside now, those people who love Yorkshire cricket, because these days don’t come around very often. Treasure it”Michael Vaughan after the 2001 win

For Kirby, who retired this year, his involvement in Yorkshire’s 2001 title was a Cinderella story wrapped up in the wider fairy tale. Born in Lancashire, released by Leicestershire, Kirby had been working as a flooring salesman and playing for Yorkshire 2nds when he was given his first-class debut at the age of 23 as a replacement for Hoggard, who was called up by England halfway through a Championship match against Kent. He took 7 for 50 in the second innings and ended the season as their leading wicket-taker.”I’ve no idea how I did it, I still pinch myself now and wonder how it all happened,” he says. The fondness of his recollection is audible, even though he “took some stick” for being from the wrong side of the Pennines, and he remains in awe of his colleagues in the Yorkshire attack. Of the six bowlers to take 20 wickets or more – Kirby, Dawson, Hoggard, Ryan Sidebottom, Chris Silverwood and Gavin Hamilton – he was the only one not to play for England.”What was most important to me about that environment was, there were a lot of superstars but no one had an ego that was bigger than the team,” Kirby says. “It was the Yorkshire way at that time, they wouldn’t allow that to happen, they wouldn’t allow one person to be bigger. It was all about you as a character, an individual, rather than your cricketing ability, and enjoying other people’s successes. That’s what we did a hell of a lot of. It was the best team I’ve ever been involved with.”Kirby remembers seeing grown men cry at Scarborough on the day the title was clinched, as well as Vaughan’s words in the dressing room: “Sign every autograph, speak to every person that you can, look at those members outside now, those people who love Yorkshire cricket, because these days don’t come around very often. Treasure it, because before you know where you are these days will be a distant memory, so really make the most of every moment right now.”The outpouring was part joy and part relief, like a dam bursting. Had that build-up of collective frustration been an inhibiting factor? Gough, who only played two Championship games that season but knows the Yorkshire psyche well, having been brought back by Graves as captain in 2007, felt that the success of previous generations cast a long shadow. “The history is kind of shoved down your throat by the older players,” he says. “It very much was your Boycotts, your Illingworths, your Closes – they were always around and reminding you of the successful years of Yorkshire CCC. It’s never easy.”The thing with Yorkshire is always the history, like Liverpool Football Club. There’s a high expectancy because they want you to compete year in, year out. It was hard for a time but in 2001 we got a good squad together, a lot of different players, and they all had their moments during the season. That expectancy in Yorkshire will always be there. Everybody expects us to win, when you’re part of it, and it’s sometimes difficult.”One of Clark’s major achievements was in helping the side to shut out external pressure. “He wouldn’t have any talk about winning the Championship, none at all,” Kirby says. “If anything, he would stop people talking about it. It’s a cliché but it was, take one game at a time, you’re going to go out there and express yourself, enjoy yourself. If you do fail, don’t die wondering. Do what you do and do it with complete confidence, and he allowed that to flourish. The fear of failure was taken away.”Byas, in what turned out to be his final year as captain, was seen as a hard man and admits he could be “a bit brusque” with people but he struck up an immediate relationship with Clark. Together, the farmer from Kilham and the coach from Western Australia managed to shut out the noise surrounding Yorkshire’s longed-for title challenge. Byas didn’t even bother to look at the table.”Wayne brought an understanding that if we just looked after what we could control, per session, we’ll find out where we’re going to be at the end of the season,” Byas says. “He had a wonderful philosophy: ‘Let’s just look at what we can do tomorrow’. First session, second session, third session and we’ll pick up from there. And if we do that, what we end up with in September will look after itself. I don’t think for one second, leading up to the last month of the season, I’d have known where we were in the Championship. We just took each game as it came and broke it down into 12 parts – if we win more sessions than they do in 12 then we win the game.”Steve Kirby: “It was all about you as a character, an individual, rather than your cricketing ability, and enjoying other people’s successes. It was the best team I’ve ever been involved with”•Getty ImagesThe triumph was crowned, on a personal note, when Byas took the catch that sealed the Championship with two matches to spare. He was “the only person you would have trusted under that ball”, according to Kirby, who still bears the scar from where White’s spikes dug into his shin while the two jumped madly up and down in celebration.Byas’ moment of glory stands in contrast to Gale, who was suspended for Yorkshire’s decisive match against Nottinghamshire this year and was not allowed to receive the trophy. But Byas, who ended up playing for Lancashire while Yorkshire were relegated in 2002, is hopeful that Gale will be able to lead a stronger defence this time around. While they may not win again next year, or for 13 years, or perhaps 33 years, it as much about putting in the effort – something Gale, Yorkshire’s youngest post-war captain, doubtless knows.”Yorkshire teams have to go out and commit,” Byas says. “It’s a well-supported club and the members are thrilled when they see guys go out there and play the game in a positive manner. Win or lose, they won’t suffer teams going out and not really trying. When you pull a Yorkshire shirt on, you’ve got to commit to the game. The result is important, there’s no question about that, but it’s more about a commitment to wanting to play the game properly, and the rest will look after itself.”To play for Yorkshire is a huge honour but with that honour there’s something that’s a little bit more special than playing for one or two other counties. But they need to keep that intensity into next year because if members see the same side not putting in the same level of commitment, that’s when the Yorkshire players will find themselves under pressure.”Gough and Kirby both believe that Gillespie’s influence will mean success is not quickly outflanked by expectation this time; and even if the likes of Adil Rashid, Alex Lees and Jonny Bairstow are required to strengthen England, in addition to Root and Ballance, a flourishing crop of young players should insure against a weakened Yorkshire.Then there is the accumulated knowledge of the one player who provides a link between Yorkshire’s 30th and 31st titles: Sidebottom. Kirby still recalls the sensations of 13 years ago and one imagines Sidebottom has not forgotten the moment they shared. Maybe he said something similar before going out to take four of the last five wickets on the final morning at Trent Bridge.”Sitting down before the end in Scarborough, Clark said, ‘I want you to look round the dressing room, lads, and look at who’s sat next to you.’ And I’ll always remember who was sat next to me: Ryan Sidebottom and Craig White. He said, ‘I want you to look them both in the eye and think what it will be like when you’re 55 or 60 and you’ve won something special with that guy sat next to you.’ And I remember that so vividly because, now I’m not playing any more, those are the days that you remember.”And there were tears in their eyes again.

The numbers confirm that this is Australia’s worst bowling performance in their 137-year Test history. By a huge margin.

Brydon Coverdale in Abu Dhabi02-Nov-2014There is no delicate way to put this. Australia’s bowling in the UAE has been the team’s worst ever in a series. That is not subjective hyperbole but measurable fact. And here are the numbers that confirm it.Before this tour, Australia had played 210 Test series. Their worst collective bowling average for any one of those series came when India toured in 1985-86 and drew all three Tests. Allan Border’s men claimed 26 victims at an average of 62.46 per wicket.Pretty bad, huh? Well, get this.In the UAE, the Australian bowlers have collectively picked up 20 wickets across the series at an average of 80.15 per wicket. Never in their 137-year Test history have Australia leaked so many runs per wicket in a series, including one-off Tests. Never have they even come close.It is nearly twice as bad as when they were crushed 4-0 last year in India, where each breakthrough cost them 43.80 runs. It is worse than India’s worst, than Pakistan’s worst, than England’s worst, than West Indies’ worst, and much worse than South Africa’s worst. They have been so toothless it is hard to imagine they ever had teeth at all.Perhaps a caveat is required here, for the bowlers did create more than 20 chances. Australia’s fielding throughout the two Tests has been poor. Half-chances have gone down and so have easy ones. On the fourth day in Abu Dhabi, Misbah-ul-Haq equalled the record for the fastest hundred in Test history, having been reprieved on 4 when Peter Siddle grassed a straightforward chance at cover.Phillip Hughes fumbled another simple one at gully later on, to give Azhar Ali a life on 68. By then, such errors hardly mattered, other than to allow Azhar to register a century in each innings of a Test. But it was the continuation of a trend. Chances went down in Dubai, chances went down in Abu Dhabi.Chris Rogers, Alex Doolan, Brad Haddin, David Warner, Steven Smith, Siddle, Hughes – they all missed catches, some easy, some hard. Warner also missed a stumping when filling in for Haddin behind the stumps. It would not quite be accurate to say Australia missed more chances than they took, but they weren’t far off. It was quite an initiation for fielding coach Greg Blewett.But so many runs were conceded that even five more wickets wouldn’t have stopped this being Australia’s worst bowling in a series. Siddle took two at 108.50. Nathan Lyon got three at 140.66. Mitchell Starc had two at 71.00. Steve O’Keefe claimed four at 54.75. Steven Smith winkled out three at 48.33. The only bowler who could boast figures considered acceptable was Mitchell Johnson, whose six wickets came at 29.50.A sore left hip stopped him taking the field after lunch on the fourth day in Abu Dhabi. The team doctor and physio didn’t seem too worried about Johnson, and you’d hardly have blamed him if he just gave up and said he wasn’t going out there again. It was his birthday, after all. The series has been hard work on surfaces that offered little pace and bounce, but Johnson’s speed meant he could still threaten.Robbed of any appreciable swing or seam, Siddle’s wicket column became as barren as the Arabian Desert. Starc has not played first-class cricket for 14 months, and looked like it. Mitchell Marsh went wicketless and failed to find the reverse swing that would likely have been a feature of Shane Watson’s bowling, had he been fit. Who’d have thought Australia would miss Watson’s bowling this much?Pakistan’s bowlers got the ball to reverse, and their spinners were also far more effective than Australia’s slow bowlers. Part of that was down to Australia’s woeful batting, and it is hard to separate the two aspects of Australia’s game because of that. But Pakistan’s two frontline spinners, Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah, together took more wickets in the series than Australia’s entire attack.Lyon, turning the ball into Pakistan’s exclusively right-handed batting line-up, needed to tempt the batsmen wide of off stump more often instead of using a straighter line. In Dubai, he went for 60 runs through the off side and 163 through leg. In Abu Dhabi it was 64 through off and 138 through leg. It has been a difficult 2014 for Lyon, but there has been no tougher month than this.Of course, the bowlers are not the only ones at fault. David Warner is the only batsman certain to finish the series with a pass mark. The Argus report after the 2010-11 Ashes nadir found, more or less, that Australia couldn’t bat, bowl or field. The same could be said of their efforts in the UAE. But taking their wickets at an average of 80 is not just bad, it is history-making bad.”I want to take 20 wickets,” Michael Clarke said before this series began. He meant in a Test, not a series.

Daniel Brettig15-Jan-2015You’ve been away from the Australian team but are now back in time for the World Cup.It’s great to be back. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I got the call. I’ve been up in the north woods and actually the day I left it was 20 below zero Fahrenheit and there was 15 inches of snow following me as I drove to the airport six hours back to Chicago. Then I got out here and it’s 90 degrees out here – that was a wake-up call.When did you get the call to come back to the team?It’s been about a month I knew. Darren (Lehmann) called me and said get involved with the tri-series and the World Cup, so very pumped up about that.This will be your fourth World Cup campaign with Australia. Winning the trophy in 2003 and 2007, and knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2011, which was not so good. What do you take out of those campaigns?First of all let me comment on the not so good. Playing in India we made it to the knockout round and we played pretty well and almost beat India. What I take out of them is experience. Every World Cup game is important. I can pass on a few little things here and there from those World Cups but these guys know what they’re doing.In 2013-14 you worked with the team through the home summer and in South Africa and fielding standards were very good but then you didn’t continue. Why was that?Darren was just moving the staff around, making some changes. I’d been with the team and I’m back for now. Greg Blewett I know very well, he’s doing a great job, he and I talk every day. It’s good to inject new people – the coaching projection, to be quite frank, is if you’re doing a good job you want to make yourself redundant. It sounds crazy and people don’t like to hear that about most of their work, but there comes a time when they need to have another injection of a different personality to keep players sharp. I think what Boof’s done here is a really good job.

“Nobody on this planet in cricket respects how hard it is to catch a cricket ball more than me, because I didn’t play. When I got into the game I was amazed. These guys are the best in the world – you’re going to drop some balls, you’re going to catch some.”Mike Young

What have you made of their fielding performances this summer?I was in America, I followed it and read some things and I take offence to some of those things because there’s a lot of facts, and nobody on this planet in cricket respects how hard it is to catch a cricket ball more than me, because I didn’t play. When I got into the game I was amazed. For years in America on they’ve got the top 10 plays of the day. I called up New York City and said ‘that was a nice play baseball-wise, but I see two of those every match in cricket that are better than that’. All of a sudden I’m watching , they’ve got top 10 plays and there’s a cricketer on it. I was happy about that because they have no idea how hard it is. These guys are the best in the world – you’re going to drop some balls, you’re going to catch some.Catches win matches in any sport, but in a World Cup it’s even more important to hold those?The worst thing to do is to say it’s more important, honestly. Because why put the excess pressure on somebody when it’s already hard enough. You’re going to have good games and bad games – what I consider a drop and what other people consider a drop can be different – I see guys diving for a ball, it hits them one-handed and it’s labelled they put it down. Come on, it’s not that easy. I think that [the fielding problems] has been overplayed a bit.Darren has spoken about how it’s not an issue of training volume but more confidence dropping after a couple chances have been missed.Confidence is everything. But to their credit they’re so resilient, they’ve been through so much, they bounce right back. You’re going to drop a catch, no big deal. I’m going to go public on one thing – I’ve been around coaching for 30 years, I read something the other day and it doesn’t matter who wrote it, but I have a problem with people calling me a lucky charm. I have a problem with that as a professional. I’m not a lucky charm, I’m not a horseshoe. They don’t need a lucky charm, they’re good enough. I’m here to impart anything I can to help. My job is to help Blewey.Ricky Ponting wrote a column recently in which he said one of your qualities is that when later in a season guys are getting tired or have sore hands, they will still want to train with you because of how you operate.Ricky was the best thing for me because he loved fielding training. Being Ricky Ponting the superstar and the captain, if he’s going to do it people will follow. That made my job so much easier, and let’s not forget the talent. I just take a different approach, I come from a different background. This is my coaching style. Some guys might not like it, I don’t know, but I’m just there to help.Do you know what you’ll be doing after the World Cup?I have no idea. If they wish for me to continue I’ll happily do it – I’m an Australian, don’t let the accent fool you – I’d love to continue on but that’s not my decision and whatever it is I’ll support it.

Something about a World Cup final brings out the A-game gene in the Australian team’s DNA

Sharda Ugra at the MCG29-Mar-2015There is an aphorism in football that holds true across regions, decades, events, big-game nights: 22 men go out to play and the Germans win. Here’s the cricket version: 22 men go to out to play a World Cup final and the Australians win.On a resplendent night in the biggest ground in world cricket, 93,013 people and a flock of curious seagulls, under a black-inked sky, watched Australia win their Penta, their fifth World Cup. They have made seven finals in 11 World Cups. Never mind football, which has had a far longer World Cup history, not even field hockey – whose World Cup started in 1971 – has one country that has been a part of their event’s grandest night so often across three decades.The 2015 World Cup final game ended at 9:02pm, more than an hour before the scheduled close, New Zealand done and dusted in 33.1 overs on the back of a total that would have been hard to defend in Twenty20. Indian fans had a sentimental laugh over 183 but that was about it. Yes, New Zealand’s bowling had been formidable and yes, a month ago, they had got Australia out at Eden Park for way less.Australia at a World Cup final, however, are completely different beasts. Once they get there – and this is a post-1999 brand of Australian ODI cricketer – some A-game gene springs to life in their DNA. In their last four World Cup finals – 1999, 2003, 2007 and now this – Australia enter the game and shut the door on their opposition. No matter how they get to the big game – whether by the skin of their teeth or knocking the rivals out – on finals day, they reach into their kit bags and pull on their you-can’t-mess-with-us game face. It overrides conditions, weather, wickets, opposition: they have won World Cups in Asia, England, South Africa and the West Indies. And now at home.Tonight, New Zealand were the misty-eyed favourites for this final – an amenable, much-liked team whose cricket contained steel, discipline, daring without any ugly edges. They had a bowling attack of venom and discipline, a quality spinner and a clutch of watchable batsmen. So what, said Australia. Ours have venom, discipline and pace and our spinner takes wickets, we bat down to eight and our No. 9 is not half-bad. Think you can do an Eden Park again? Think you can handle us in a World Cup final? At our home? Dream on.The last final was also won by the home team but in very different circumstances; Wankhede 2011 was a wall of sound, building, building and then erupting in a paroxysm of what could only be called overjoy. There was more than one lap of honour, including one featuring Tendulkar on his team-mates’ shoulders, as fireworks went off for what seemed like forever. The incessant racket of cars tooting horns on the road around the Wankhede Stadium could be heard inside the stadium. The police tried, unsuccessfully, to chase spectators who were climbing over the barricades and into the ground, running wildly around the field, only to climb over the barricades onto the other side and escape. Others were happy to leap over barriers and dive onto the field in ecstasy like celebrating footballers. It was chaotic, rambunctious, disorderly. Like the Indian campaign had been.MCG 2015 had twice the number of people and an ebb and flow of volume and emotion. As Steven Smith and Shane Watson wolfed down the remaining runs required, rock music began to play over the speaker system and the crowd began singing the chorus of Jimmy Barnes’ at top volume. The totally admirable Smith pirouetted about with joy, after producing a pull that would have made VVS Laxman proud, and leapt into Watson’s arms to a waving, clapping mass of Australian supporters. The sight screen threw out regular flames, the players were drowned in a profusion of golden glitter (had New Zealand won, would the glitter have been black? Or beige?). The crowd listened to the speeches and the ceremonies in respectful silence, cheering at appropriate moments, close to 70,000 waiting to partake in the lap of honour.When it was over, the crowd went home walking towards the car parks or the tram and train stops, happy, chatty, satisfied. Within an hour of the celebrations ending, the drop-in pitch was being rolled up and readied to be taken away. Footy season is due to begin in four days. The ground was being put back to what it was – minus the pitch of course – before the first ball was bowled. Like Australia at a World Cup final. Who arrived with a sense of purpose and mission, cleaned up the opposition and performed like they always knew what they were meant to be: world champions.

Despite the nervousness caused by the weather, Australia’s professional victory secured their preferred route for the knockouts

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart14-Mar-2015At 6.02pm, the rain blew in over Bellerive Oval, the sky darkened and so did the faces of Australia’s cricketers. Washed out against Bangladesh in Brisbane, surely it would not happen against Scotland too? The consequences would have been severe: finish third in their group, face South Africa in a quarter-final, take on New Zealand in Auckland in a semi-final. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but that one would be prone to avalanche.A nervous hour-and-a-half ensued, Australia still needing 39 runs to overhaul Scotland’s total of 130. The rain eased up, the covers were removed, and then the weather turned once more. Only 13.2 overs had been bowled, 40 balls short of what is required to constitute a match and bring Duckworth-Lewis into play. When play resumed at 7.35pm, 12 balls was all David Warner and James Faulkner needed.The overwhelming feeling amongst the Australians was relief. In their quarter-final in Adelaide they will now face the winner of Sunday’s game between Pakistan and Ireland, and should they reach a semi-final it will be at home, at the SCG, against India or Bangladesh. It must certainly be their preferred side of the draw, given their success against Asian teams at home.Australia’s desperation for a fourth victory was apparent from Michael Clarke’s decision to send Scotland in. Pragmatism is not always a strength of the bullish Australians, but Clarke read the forecast and sniffed the breeze. The Hobart crowd jeered his choice to bowl first, but this was not a day for a 400-plus score. This was a day to get the job done, and get it done quickly.The first ball of the match was a bouncer from Mitchell Starc, keen to immediately put Scotland’s top order on the back foot. The slip cordon stayed in place for the fast men through the whole innings. Wickets fell, the Australians moved quickly back to their positions. The drinks break was an obstacle; with time of the essence, they waited in their places for Scotland’s batsmen to have a sip and return.Eyes constantly glanced above the new Ricky Ponting Stand on the west side of the ground, nervously waiting for the rain. When it came it was light, but Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth were taking no chances. Play was suspended with Scotland eight down. The Australians dawdled, miffed by the decision. They could have played on, and probably should have. But there is no DRS for rain interruptions.When play was set to resume, the Australians were all in their fielding positions before the umpires or the Scotland batsmen made it onto the field. They wanted a quick kill, and through Starc they got it, the last two wickets falling in four balls. Part one of their job was done, Scotland were skittled for 130 in the 26th over. Part two required beating the rain again.But still there was a chance to ensure their second priority could be achieved as well, getting some batting time into Clarke, Shane Watson and James Faulkner. Criticised for not batting against Afghanistan in Perth, Clarke here took the opposite route: for the first time since 2009, he walked out to open in an ODI innings.There were scratchy moments. He copped one in the groin and another in the shoulder when he missed his pulls and hooks. Watson came out at No. 3 and struck a few boundaries but was notably grumpy, bickering with Scotland bowler Rob Taylor. Clarke too had been terse at his pre-match press conference: Australia wanted this pool stage over, and over on their terms.Their Brisbane match had seemed more like the swimming pool stage, not a ball bowled due to a deluge. In Hobart the rain was just frustrating. After Australia went off with 39 runs needed, Duckworth-Lewis calculations began. They already had the runs required for the 20-over mark, they just didn’t have the 20 overs.It was not out of the question that they could have lost overs, had the target reduced and have play nominally start but with their new target already reached. In the end, no overs were lost, just a few fingernails. After the win, Clarke was a relieved man.”There was obviously doubt about getting a result,” Clarke said. “There was rain forecast and it didn’t look great. There was always a fair bit of wind so we had confidence that would continue and blow the rain away – but it could also blow rain in.”The fact we already knew we’d qualified for a World Cup quarter-final was positive. It’s just that we wanted to win this game to finish second, rather than third or fourth. That was our main focus, on making sure we did everything we could to win this game.”I think we did whatever we could. We made the most of our opportunity. Most importantly, everyone in the squad mentally is ready to go. I still felt a little bit rusty there with the bat. I don’t think Watto would’ve played that shot if he wasn’t putting the team first, and Jimmy Faulkner came in and tried to smack it at the end there. We made the most of it. All three of us got a bat, so it’s better than it could have been.”The whole day was much better than it could have been, despite the nervous moments. Australia won as comfortably as they could have under the circumstances, in only 41 overs of cricket. It was pragmatic and professional, a quick kill, if an interrupted one. Crisis averted.

Flashing advertisements on the sightscreen behind the batsman causes bowlers and umpires to be unsighted leading to dropped catches and possibly even injuries

Sidharth Monga in Ahmedabad24-Apr-2015In the 10th over of the Rajasthan Royals innings, Karun Nair offered legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal a return catch. It was not a powerful blow. More of a push that popped back to the bowler at an easy pace. Chahal stuck a hand out, but couldn’t hold on. His impatient captain Virat Kolhi let his disappointment known, but Chahal had other things on his mind. He had hurt the little finger on his spinning hand, and immediately gestured to show he didn’t pick the ball.How could he have? On the sightscreen behind the batsman was an advertisement. Not just a static advertisement, but a glowing, electronic one. Trying to pick a white ball in the white advertising is worse than trying to pick a red ball in a static-but coloured background. On air, two former India bowlers who have played in the IPL, called it immediately. Left-arm quick RP Singh was the first to point out Chahal seemed to have lost the ball in the lit sightscreen. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik responded, “I don’t know about you, RP, but I often had trouble picking balls hit back at me in the IPL.”Two of the refreshingly sharp young commentators spoke from experience, and made an important observation. A catch had been dropped, and Chahal had to go off the field with only one ball bowled in the over, which meant he would miss out on bowling 21% of his quota even if he was to come back after repairs. If you went by Chahal’s reaction, and by the instinctive comments of two Test cricketers who have played in the IPL, the advertising on the sightscreen played its part.Which should raise the question: if the batsman gets the right to a clear background when facing the ball, why shouldn’t the bowler enjoy similar privileges? Of course not every ball is hit back at the bowler, but the ones that are have a lot riding on them. The reaction time for a bowler when the ball is struck at him is little. And while the other fielders don’t get a sightscreen to catch the ball against, they don’t have to contend with a glowing advertising in white font either.More than the return catch, though, the safety of the bowler and the umpire should be important to the authorities. Neither of them wears a helmet although the day is not far when an umpire might. With modern bats and freed minds, batsmen are hitting balls harder than ever before. An umpire died last year of a ricochet off the stumps at the non-striker’s end. A sudden freakish spate of on-field injuries has made us suddenly realise that ours is a dangerous sport, and safety – apart from the batsman’s – has not been given the attention it deserves.Those who have played cricket consider it a miracle there hasn’t been an accident yet. “Sooner or later a bowler or an umpire is going to getting seriously hurt,” Ian Chappell said at ESPNcricinfo’s recently. “Because the ball is getting back so quickly they have got no time to react. They have got a similar problem in baseball, another game that I follow. It has got to a point where last season they were offering pitchers padded caps. Even if we don’t believe that the balance [between bat and ball] is out of whack because of the depth of the bat – and if they don’t believe that they are out of whack – there is this danger aspect, and they [authorities] have got to seriously look into that.”It will take time and deliberations to regulate the thickness of the bat, but in the mean time do we really want to impede return catches in the already full-of-dropped-catches league and also put the bowlers and umpires at more risk ? And for what? The extra buck after about 240 degrees of the boundary is already sold to the advertiser? Not worth the cost, be it a dropped catch or an injury.

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2015… before Mark Wood claimed the dangerous David Warner with his second ball•Getty ImagesMichael Clarke’s dismissal deepened his personal sense of gloom•Getty ImagesBen Stokes pulled off the moment of the day to grab a one-handed catch off Adam Voges•Getty ImagesBroad was incredulous at the quality of Stokes’ catch•Getty ImagesIt was grim viewing on the Australian balcony•Getty ImagesEngland’s slip cordon accounted for nine of Australia’s ten wickets•Getty ImagesClarke watches the capitulation from the dressing room•Getty ImagesBroad saluted the crowd as he left the field with his best Test figures of 8 for 15•PA PhotosThe scoreboard was as disbelieving as the crowd•Getty ImagesJoe Root’s second century of the series cemented England’s command•Getty Images

The Plays of the Day from the first ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Mirpur

Mohammad Isam07-Nov-2015The appearanceAleem Dar was umpiring in a Bangladesh match for the first time since he was embroiled in controversy in the team’s World Cup quarter-final against India on March 19. Effigies were burned of the umpire while the ICC president at the time, AHM Mustafa Kamal, made some humiliating comments about Dar. But this game, his 53rd involving Bangladesh, went off without a hitch and there was no visible animosity towards him from the crowd.The slog-sweep liteMushfiqur Rahim usually plays the slog-sweep by bending down on one knee and flat-batting it over the midwicket boundary. He is not known to play it squarer but today he added a new angle to his slog-sweep: he came down the wicket to Sikandar Raza and spun his wrist over the ball, to have it skim past the long-on fielder for his first four in 12 overs. The shot stood out from his usual approach due to its slickness and how it reduced the risk in what is still, basically, a slog.The pull-outMushfiqur was on 39 when he tried to blast Graeme Cremer over extra cover. But the legspinner did well to deceive him in the flight, catching the outside half of the bat as it fountained towards the cover sweeper. Taurai Muzarabani initially ran in hard to take the catch but inexplicably pulled out at the very last moment.
He signalled that the sun was in his eyes but the bowler didn’t really think it was a good enough reason to stop. The crowd behind him, it seemed, was also slightly disappointed with his efforts.The reverse starterLuke Jongwe was sent in to open the batting for the first time in his international career, after Richmond Mutumbami injured his right ankle in the 31st over while keeping wicket. The replacement opener took until the fourth over to open up when he unleashed a reverse-hit on Arafat Sunny, who had actually tried to nail him on middle stump. The shot came out of nowhere, as it sped over the point fielder for his first boundary of the Zimbabwe innings.The brush with injuryLiton Das and Nasir Hossain nearly came to collision while trying to take the skier offered by Chamu Chibhabha in the tenth over. The batsman charged Shakib Al Hasan but the ball looped up towards long-off from where Liton charged in, and Nasir ran back from deep mid-on. The two came close as the ball fell to Liton but they still brushed against each other. The collision wasn’t hard enough to knock the ball out of Liton’s grasp but he did take a bit of time to get up from the ground. There was hardly much celebration from him or Nasir.