Muttiah Muralitharan and Andrew Flintoff turned around a game which seemed headed emphatically in Australia’s direction

On the ball with S Rajesh and Arun Gopalakrishnan16-Oct-2005Muttiah Muralitharan and Andrew Flintoff turned around a game which seemed headed emphatically in Australia’s direction, and gave the World XI an opportunity to make a match of it on the fourth day. Though Steve Harmison provided the breakthroughs just before lunch, Flintoff and Murali were undoubtedly the two outstanding bowlers, and the stats bear this out: more than 35% of the deliveries they bowled were potentially wicket-taking ones – that is, they beat the bat, took the edge, or rapped the batsmen on the pads. Harmison was only a notch below the two, though, achieving a PWT percentage of 29.The dramatic shift in momentum came in the second session, and the numbers indicate just how many opportunities the bowlers created after lunch: pre lunch, the PWT percentage was only 24; after the break it shot up to an astonishing 53.Sydney’s track record isn’t encouraging for the World XI – only six times has a team scored more than 300 in the fourth innings, and the highest target successfully chased down batting last in a Test here is 275, by Australia against England way back in 1898.Since 1995, though, teams average 33.28 runs per wicket in the fourth innings at the SCG, only marginally less than the rate needed by the World XI to clinch this one.

Neil Foster was one of the unlikely heroes when England last won a Test series in India in 1984-85

Andrew Miller27-Feb-2006

“I thought at the time the India tour was going to be the turning point of my career, having had success out there, but it didn’t really work out like that. It took several years for me to establish myself in the team after that, and so looking back, it was very much the highlight.As a tour it was both fascinating and problematical. I’d never been to a place like it. Admittedly, I’d been to Pakistan the winter before, but that seemed like just a brief stopover. This was a full five-Test tour, and I really got to see a lot of the country.Cricket-wise it was an interesting time to be out there. India were the world one-day champions and tended to be quite aggressive in the way they played their cricket, which helped us get results, as opposed to the long-drawn-out draws that historically tended to happen.And off the field, of course, a lot was happening as well. It was quite surreal to arrive in the country and hear that Indira Gandhi had just been assassinated that morning. Obviously we didn’t know what had happened to start with, but then, as the penny dropped, it became apparent that it would have a big effect on the early part of the tour.Initially we were shunted off to Sri Lanka, which was again a new experience. It was much hotter over there, so for acclimatisation purposes, it was a good thing. But then, when the British Deputy High Commissioner, Percy Norris, was gunned down in Bombay, India seemed quite a dangerous place to be. For a while, we didn’t know why he had been assassinated, and whether it was a specifically anti-British thing. So for a while, we felt vulnerable.For a while there was some discussion between the players and the management as to whether the tour should be called off, but to be honest, it was the management’s liaison with the British High Commission and the Foreign Office that made the final call to carry on. At various times, certain groups of players might have felt uncomfortable, but in truth, that was as much to do with homesickness as fear.We went on to lose the first Test, but that had less to do with low morale and more to do with the umpiring! Swaroop Kishan did not have a good match, and we very definitely came second-best in his decision-making. He only did that one Test and he didn’t get a chance to do another one, and yes we did complain because it was not acceptable. From the second Test onwards, it was more of a level playing field.Before the arrival of neutral umpires, you felt as though your hands were tied behind your back. No matter how well you played, you couldn’t get a win. Their legspinner, Laxman Sivaramakrishan, did bowl well, and because he was new on the scene we hadn’t seen much of him before, but to their credit, in the later games, our batsmen played him much better and his influence really waned. We weren’t a side full of star names, so some of the guys had to step up to the plate and did really well.

My chance came at Madras in the fourth Test. Up until then, I hadn’t been considered strong enough for the first XI, but Paul Allott had already gone home injured so that made me first reserve, and Richard Ellison bowled a heap of overs in the Calcutta Test and went in the back. So the choice became either me or Jon Agnew.I hate to say it but they very nearly plumbed for Agnew, even though he had only been on the tour a couple of weeks. Had that happened, I would have been distraught, but fortunately it didn’t, and history says what it says. I did bowl well, the ball did swing which helped, but it was a pretty good wicket as shown by two of our guys getting double-centuries. I’m immensely proud of my achievement, and that is the highlight of my career, without a doubt.I think given my tender years [22 at the time], it was the best I’ve ever bowled. In other games, I might have bowled better technically – I took eight wickets in an innings against Pakistan at Headingley, for instance – but given the whole mixture of things; my age, the country we were in, the strength of their batting, it’s got to be the highlight. And perhaps most importantly, we went on to win the series, and my 11 wickets had a big bearing on that. To take wickets in a game you don’t win is pretty inconsequential.The match was set up for us because we bowled them out quickly and cheaply in the first innings. That gave us a lot of time to accrue the runs, and Mike Gatting and Graeme Fowler did brilliantly. As a touring side, when you have two guys batting for as long as they did without losing a wicket, you get to the point where you can relax a little bit, and you don’t generally get that in Test cricket. It was fantastic, particularly in such high temperatures, and to concentrate for that long is an amazing thing.One Test later, Foxy Fowler’s Test career was over. It was harsh, but that decision was always there in the making, with Graham Gooch waiting in the wings to come back from his ban for touring South Africa. Goochy was a fine player and quite rightly reselected, but it was harsh on Foxy, who was a good lively team man, and a great contributor on tour with his sense of humour. You always think that a big game is going to set you up for a few more, but in those days that wasn’t always the case. Now, fortunately, it is.Even though we had a huge first-innings lead, we still had to get past Mohammad Azharuddin, who was in a phenomenal run of form. Usually you’d get to see a player beforehand and bowl with a general theory to him to explore his weaknesses. But Azhar didn’t seem to have any weaknesses. He’d got runs against us in a friendly match before the series, and followed up with hundreds in his first three Tests, a feat that hasn’t been equalled. We couldn’t find any answers for him. He was a fantastic player, but as his career unfolded he tended to play far more aggressively than when we first came across him, and so gave more chances. But at that time, we simply didn’t know where to bowl at him.We went into the final Test needing a draw to take the series, and mentally that does affect your strategy. Ideally you would say you are going out to win a game, and play the best cricket you can. But in crucial matches, you get a lot of talk beforehand about what the wicket may be like. We didn’t expect them to produce a flat wicket, but our preparation was a bit uncertain. As it happened the wicket looked like crazy paving and we thought it would spin, but it didn’t, it just stayed flat. Without playing astonishingly good cricket, and without being entertaining, we managed to grind out a draw pretty comfortably.Historically, India are always a tough side to beat at home, but especially in that era before neutral umpires. People should never underestimate the effect that the umpiring had in assisting India at winning games of cricket. You only have to look at the statistics to see that we would have a lot of lbws given against us, but there would be pretty much none given against them.Nowadays, the umpiring is more even, but India are still very very strong at home. They are used to the conditions and the weather, and a long tour can obviously be trying for visiting sides. There’s the acclimatisation process in general, plus the sights you might see and the illness that sometimes pervades. All of which makes it very difficult. And so, for our side to have come back from 1-0 down, it’s almost unheard of really.

Pietersen’s showmanship hides a liking for the battle and a rare talent for winning matches

Sambit Bal at Lord's22-Jul-2007

Give Pietersen a stage and a challenge and he’ll be up to it © Getty Images
It is said that bowlers win matches but to watch Kevin Pietersen bat at the top of his game is to watch a match-winning batsman of rare pedigree. He has been accused, and one suspects always will be, of showmanship and a singular devotion to himself, but as long as he can produce match-turning innings as he did at Lord’s on the fourth day, his team-mates will be mad to complain.Pietersen could turn out to be the most unaesthetic of great batsmen. His game is not about balance, poise, economy of movement or grace. Though his movements are exaggerated, the word flourish cannot be applied to his batting in the manner it can be to Brian Lara. He crouches in his stance, bends his knees when the bowler begins his run and shuffles to off and middle at the point of delivery. Only Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among the current batsmen are as hyperactive and as ungainly at the crease. But from that position he can manoeuvre the ball powerfully in all directions. Though the leg-side shovel remains his signature stroke, he has developed his batting sufficiently to hit boundaries all around the wicket.Not that he is a slouch between the wickets, but singles and twos are merely tactical options for Pietersen, whose game revolves around hitting boundaries. To state the obvious, boundaries keep the runs coming faster but Pietersen’s motives are far darker: he aims for subjugation. In depositing a good-length ball outside off behind midwicket, the message to the bowler is unambiguous: no length or line is safe. When Pietersen gets going, momentum shifts, the rhythm of the match changes; when he is at it for a long enough period, the match often turns in his team’s favour.England were in danger of being bowled out for under 200 today. The Indian bowlers did themselves credit in the morning session. The sun was shining and the conditions were not helpful to swing bowling as they were on the first three days but the Indian medium pacers stuck to a run-denying line, and RP Singh combined some sharp balls with the knack of picking up wickets to reduce England to 132 for five a few minutes before lunch. Considering that England had lost six for 26 in the first innings, India were in with a chance.As it happened, England lost their last five for 31. In between, though, Matt Prior stayed with Pietersen long enough after lunch for England to add 120 runs in 25 overs. Prior wasn’t a spectator, but the session after lunch bore Pietersen’s stamp. His game is based far more on calculation than on instinct and he picked his spots surgically. RP Singh was hit to cover and flicked to fine leg, Sreesanth was wristily despatched to midwicket and the hundred came with three emphatic hits in one over from Anil Kumble. The second, a straight six, took him from 93 to 99, and it spoke of a man with the confidence to live on the edge. It’s that ability to live on the edge and bring his best game to play when the match is on the line that has come to define Pietersen It’s that ability to live on the edge and bring his best game to play when the match is on the line that has come to define Pietersen. His first century came when a series – not just any series but the Ashes – was on the line. England had to bat out of their skins on the last day of the series to save the Oval Test and win back the Ashes and were five down at lunch. Pietersen ended up with 158 off 187 balls, which featured breathtaking strokes against Shane Warne and Brett Lee, Australia’s best bowlers in the match and in the series.His second hundred, 100 off 137 balls, came when England were in trouble in Faisalabad chasing Pakistan’s 462, and his fourth, 142 against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston came in a team score of 295. Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed him four times in the series, the last occasion precipitating a collapse that cost England the Test, but Pietersen dominated him otherwise, taking 134 runs off 158 balls he faced from him.In an age where batsmen resort to pretensions of playing a stroke while defending against spinners, Pietersen does it the old fashioned way, the bat distinctly in front of the pad. This makes for an interesting contest between him and Kumble. Pietersen is forever looking to come down the pitch against spinners but Kumble is not an easy bowler to come down to. And where Kumble is forever seeking to trap tentative batsmen lbw, Pietersen is unlikely to present his pad to him.At the end of the fourth day, the irony was hard to miss. Sachin Tendulkar, the slayer of spinners in his pomp and who famously, even if in jest, inscribed “Once in a blue moon, mate, never again” on the ball with which Monty Panesar had got him lbw the first time, fell the same way once again, his bat tucked behind his pad. It was only a couple of hours after Pietersen had dealt with Kumble, India’s greatest matchwinner, with a swagger.It’s early still to draw comparisons but this much can be said about Pietersen: give him a stage and give him a challenge and he’ll be up to it. Make no mistake about it, here’s greatness in the making.

Stats highlights of the third Test between South Africa and India at Cape Town

Kanishkaa Balachandran01-Jan-2007

After two weeks of action and entertainment in the ICC World Twenty20, the staff at Cricinfo nominate their Twenty20 XI

Andrew McGlashan25-Sep-2007

Matthew Hayden showed no signs of rustiness as he finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer © Getty Images
Matthew Hayden
At the ICC Awards prior to the World Twenty20, Hayden collected theOne-Day Player of the Year award and, despite a five-month break from the game,continued his form in South Africa. He didn’t have to adapt his normalapproach too much and thumped the ball as hard as anyone in the game.He appeared to be sending Australia into another final with 62 off 47balls in the semi-final against India, but his dismissal was theturning point. However, he still finished as the tournament’s leadingscorer with 265 runs at an average of 88.Gautam Gambhir
A quiet achiever throughout and his superbly crafted 75 in the finalleft him in second spot overall among batsmen. Often overshadowed byhis more illustrious colleagues, Gambhir went about his task in workmanlike fashion. He played second fiddle to Virender Sehwag inblazing starts against England and New Zealand, but his most importantinnings was saved for the final. On the most sluggish Wandererssurface of the event, Gambhir held India’s innings together andensured they reached a target that proved defendable. Just.Yuvraj Singh
Produced two of the most destructive innings of the tournament and,unlike Chris Gayle’s century, both were match-winning ones. He will beremembered for hitting six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad on hisway to a 12-ball half-century in a match India had to win to keeptheir tournament alive. The shots weren’t slogs, and each maximum almost wentto a different part of the ground. Following that would be hard, butYuvraj managed it with a 30-ball 70 against Australia in thesemi-final and his celebrations in that match – and latterly the final- showed what team success meant to him.Shoaib Malik
A captain who led by example, though ultimately he couldn’t carry hisside to the title, Malik is slowly building an exciting team inpartnership with Geoff Lawson. He showed great maturity with the bat,particularly in the run chase against Australia, and rarely reverted tougly strokes. Considering he took over the captain’s job in theaftermath of the World Cup, his early performances have spoken volumesfor his character. His offspin provides a useful option and he is astrong fielder.

Misbah-ul-Haq was the surprise package, finishing as the third-highest run scorer © Getty Images
Misbah-ul-Haq
Came into the tournament under huge pressure after controversiallybeing selected ahead of Mohammad Yousuf. But, at 33, he made the mostof his recall to end as the third-highest run scorer. He struck amatch-winning, unbeaten 66 against Australia, spurring Pakistan to avictory that made them believe they could go all the way. Although histournament will be clouded by twice falling short in chases againstIndia, his team wouldn’t have got close in either the group game orthe final without him. How he must wish he could undo that lap shot.MS Dhoni
In his first significant appointment as Indian captain, one oftoughest jobs in the game, Dhoni showed himself to be an astute andcharismatic leader who instilled a self-belief in his team to playwithout fear. He finished as India’s second-highest run scorer despite atop score of 45 and played the correct innings for each, except for awild mow during the final. But we all knew what Dhoni could do withthe bat, his leadership skills were less obvious. He broughta relaxed air to the team which responded to his flair and also showedacute tactical awareness, particularly towards his death bowlers inthe crunch games against Australia and Pakistan.Shahid Afridi
It was meant to be a tournament made for Afridi’s batting, but it waswith the ball that he made the biggest impression. He bowled in anattacking vein, but was rarely taken to pieces. Tellingly, his two mostexpensive performances came against India, but his spell of 3 for 18against Sri Lanka was one of the best spells of spin bowling duringthe two weeks. However, despite earning the Man of the Tournament prize, Afridinearly lost his place in this XI after his careless batting in thesemi-final and final, which completed a disappointing time with thewillow as he made 91 runs at 15 (although the strike-rate was 197,topping that list) and Pakistan needs Afridi to contribute with batand ball.Daniel Vettori
Although Vettori said he hoped Twenty20 wouldn’t detract from thetraditional forms of the game, he was New Zealand’s stand-outperformer with the ball in his first major tournament as captain. Henever conceded more than 25 runs – finishing as the most miserlybowler – and consistently picked up wickets, using subtle changes ofpace and flight to show that guile has a place even in the shortestformat. His 4 for 20 against India, at Johannesburg, was amatch-winning spell, while he out-thought Kevin Pietersen.Umar Gul
Without Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan needed someone to stand up and becounted. Gul proved to be a revelation, performing a new role as aspecialist death bowler in the latter half of the innings to finish asthe leading wicket taker. Despite bowling when the ball was meantto be flying to all corners, Gul finished with an economy rate of 5.60to go alongside his 13 wickets. In the semi-finals and final heproduced outstanding spells of controlled swing and didn’t deserve tofinish on the losing side.Stuart Clark
After a World Cup where he was a late inclusion and played one match, Clark showed that line and length has a place in Twenty20. Hebenefited from playing four matches in Cape Town, a wicket that suitshis back-of-length bowling, and ended Sri Lanka’s hopes with 4 for 20in the Super Eights clash. But he also showed added variety, includinga clever slower ball and a useful yorker. Clark appears ready to fillGlenn McGrath’s boots in all forms of the game.RP Singh
Followed up his impressive performances in England with an outstandingtournament, Singh’s displays in the semi-final and final proveddecisive. He didn’t go for more than 33 in any spell and showed nervesof steel against Australia in the semi-final. Then came the final,with India defending a middle-of-the-road 157 and Singh struck early withthe new ball. His 4 for 13 against South Africa, at Durban, was hismost lethal spell of left-arm swing and sent the hosts crashing out.12th man – Morne Morkel
Narrowly missed out on one of the fast-bowling slots, but Morkel’stournament confirmed his potential to be a key figure in SouthAfrica’s attack as he collected nine wickets including four againstNew Zealand.

Statistical highlights from the first Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Johannesburg

Mathew Varghese and HR Gopalakrishna11-Nov-2007

Ireland’s crushing innings-and-146-run victory in the Intercontinental Cup against Bermuda brought the curtain on an eventful season for Irish cricket

Andrew McGlashan01-Sep-2007

Ireland’s crushing innings-and-146-run victory in the Intercontinental Cup against Bermuda last week brought the curtain down on an eventful season for Irish cricket. Under new coach Phil Simmons, who replaced Adrian Birrell after the World Cup, they have consolidated their position as the leading Associate nation. It hasn’t, though, quite been the triumphal march that had been hoped for after their heroics in the Caribbean.Many of the players will find it hard to remember the last time they had a significant break. Before the World Cup they spent time in South Africa, at a high-performance camp. They then found themselves in various far-flung destinations such as Mombasa, Nairobi and Abu Dhabi. Welcome to the world of international cricket.A matter of days after returning from the Super Eights, they were back in action, in the Friends Provident Trophy. But after the giant-killing against Pakistan and Bangladesh, they couldn’t manage a single win against the counties. However, there were mitigating circumstances.Key players already had county contracts: Boyd Rankin, Eoin Morgan and Niall O’Brien quickly disappeared after the post-World Cup back-slapping and celebrations had been completed, although Morgan and O’Brien did turn up for Ireland later in the season. Trying to hold on to their top players would become the defining theme of Ireland’s summer.”It was always going to be tough to maintain the momentum from the World Cup,” Simmons told Cricinfo. “Considering we lost three or four of the players who led the team to their glory, it’s been a very good season. We lost the two matches against India and South Africa, but didn’t lose a game against the other Associates.”It’s going to be difficult to keep hold of players with county contracts. But it’s not something I can do anything about, and it has given me a chance to work with new players who have come in this year.”For a few weeks Irish cricket was the centre of the universe, but it wasn’t going to last, especially after the team started losing matches and unfamiliar faces began showing up in the side. To add to the problems there was growing discontent in the ranks when players didn’t see immediate rewards for their success in West Indies.

While some players decided they had to return to a normal life, others voiced their disapproval about how the Irish Cricket Union was conducting affairs. Loudest among them was Jeremy Bray, the left-hand opener, who scored a century against Zimbabwe and another in the Intercontinental Cup final against Canada. He made himself unavailable for the ODIs against South Africa and India, plus subsequent fixtures against fellow Associates.But he wasn’t the only person unhappy. During the quadrangular tournament staged in Belfast and Dublin during July, the players refused to undertake post-match media commitments following the match against Netherlands, in protest over non-payment of World Cup fees.In many ways Ireland’s progress to the Super Eights created problems for the ICU. Despite the additional prize money, and the boost it provided to the game, there were increased outgoings in terms of costs of the team’s stay in the Caribbean and wages for the players. There was hopeful talk of central contracts being introduced to give players some security and encourage them to stay with Ireland, but reality quickly began to sink in.To try and generate some much-needed income, and make the most of the team’s new-found marketability, the ICU dipped its toe into the offshore ODI market, only to experience its first taste of the volatile world of international TV rights when the matches involving South Africa and India nearly fell through. However, although Sachin Tendulkar and Co. did make it to Belfast, the weather was poor and the crowds even more so. In the end the ICU only broke even.”Partly it was down to the crowds,” said the chief executive, Warren Deutrom. “But that, in turn, came because of the fact that Zee TV pulled out three weeks before the event and there was very little time for advertising. Nimbus came on board, but we only had one hand and weren’t able to negotiate. Advertisers wanted to know what channel they would be on and we weren’t able to tell them until a couple of days before the match.”The weather didn’t help, either, with people not enticed to the matches in the cold and damp. We didn’t get any walk-up sales, compared to 2000 when Ireland played England [in 2006].”

When faced with international opposition on the field, Ireland continued to perform admirably without managing a scalp to match Pakistan or Bangladesh. At least the absence of some key players allowed Simmons to explore the depth available to him. Greg Thompson, a legspinner, was handed more opportunities, as was left-arm spinner Gary Kidd. Gary Wilson, who plays for Surrey 2nd XI, covered for O’Brien and Alex Cusack’s Man of the Match display against South Africa was a good-news story.”In many ways it was a good thing that we were without some of the top players,” said Simmons. “It gave other guys a chance and they have done well. There are some good cricketers coming through the Under-19 system and in two or three years I can see a very strong Ireland team.”The side’s Intercontinental Cup form remained impressive when they retained the title against Canada at Grace Road in May. The bowling attack, led by David Langford-Smith and Trent Johnston, was well clear of the next best. William Porterfield remained brilliant in the field and helped form a strong top order. Andre Botha, whose medium pace was key at the World Cup, suddenly found a new lease of life with the bat with back-to-back centuries to end the season. At youth level, too, there was no match for the Irish as they enjoyed success at Under-19, -17 and -15 level. The next major challenge comes for the new generation at the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia next February and March.”Porterfield was excellent throughout the season, right from before the World Cup to the final game [his career-best 166 against Bermuda],” said Simmons. “But many others have done well, and hopefully young players will look at what they’ve achieved and think that it could be them in a few years.”The ICU hopes to organise a pre-season tour in February or March next year, but for most of the players it will be a winter of day jobs and indoor nets. It is a far cry from the year they have experienced and there are many challenges for Irish cricket to face if the success of 2007 is not to be a false dawn.

Giles Clarke is wealthy, outspoken and multilingual – not your everyday cricket administrator

John Stern22-Dec-2007

‘We’re heading towards player rotation with more specialists’ © Getty Images
“Don’t play backgammon or bridge against me,” says the new ECB chairman,Giles Clarke, with a smirk, a reference to his gambling his way through Oxford.”My father taught me backgammon early on and my grandfather was an internationalbridge player,” he continues. “Both games tend to be played by people with money and, as someone who believes in standing on your own feet, that was my way of so doing. It improves your nerve, teaches you about risk, and both are very mathematical.”Clarke, 54, is what the tabloids like to call a colourful character. “I don’t really doone thing,” he says with the air of a man unencumbered by the burden of self-doubt.A serial entrepreneur, his business interests have been varied and include Majestic Wine, which he acquired for £100,000 in the early 1980s and sold in 1989 for £15m, Pet City, and the Safestore self-storage company. He is currently chairman of Amerisur Resources, a company involved in oil and gas exploration in Paraguay and Colombia. He is also on the committee of The Society of Merchant Venturers, an invitation-only collection of Bristol’s movers and shakers that dates back 450 years. This interview was conducted in his own restaurant in Bristol’s redeveloped docklands.He studied Arabic and Persian at Oxford and speaks a handful of Asian languages. “Itcaused a bit of excitement at an ICC meeting recently when I was speaking to NaseemAshraf [the Pakistan board chairman] in Urdu and no one else knew what we weresaying,” he laughs, straying slightly into showing-off territory.Clarke’s election as ECB chairman in September had a degree of inevitabilityabout it. As chairman of Somerset he had been one of the higher-profile “suits” roundthe counties. But his claim to fame (or notoriety, depending on your point of view)was as chairman of the ECB’s marketing committee, in 2004, at a time when the board had no commercial director. He delivered the infamous £220m broadcasting deal that sold all live TV rights to Sky. His opponent for the chairmanship Mike Soper, who was favourite to win the ballot, had plenty of supporters around the counties but Clarke cuts a persuasive figure and also one who seems highly skilled at making lots of cash, which goes down well in the hard-pressed shires. “No one questions the commercial competence of the ECB anymore,” he says.In less than a year the ECB will expect to be dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’son the next four-year broadcasting deal. It is currently involved in what Clarke calls”market testing”. He expects the deal to be very different but does not accept there is afundamental problem in no live cricket on free-to-air television, which does not suggest a return to the BBC or Channel 4. However, the broadcasting landscape has changed so much that it seems unlikely Sky will clean up as they did in 2004. The emergence of video on demand, video on mobile phones and the advance of broadband technology mean that what the ECB has to sell is a wholly differentpackage from the last deal.”Everything’s changed,” Clarke says. “Twenty20 is a fascination forbroadcasters because the time-frame is almost equivalent to that of afootball match. I would expect a different approach to highlights anda different approach to Pro40.” In August Clarke helped the ECB brokera five-year deal with ESPN-Star for rights to show English cricket inAsia. “We are now in negotiations with two broadcasters in other partsof the world just for the Twenty20 Cup and the Pro40,” he says. “Ihope to build a supporter base for county cricket in the subcontinentlike football has done.”There is no doubting Clarke’s passion for cricket. He still turns outfor his local village, Wrington in north Somerset, and talksknowledgeably and excitedly about it. But there is also no escapingthat his primary focus when talking about cricket as a whole is money.For him money-making is about safeguarding the future of the game, improving facilities, investing in grass roots. Which is fine in theory, except that the more money that comes into the game, the more players expect to be paid, the more the counties expect to receive (including their players) and so on.Clarke accepts “the dichotomy between how much cricket our international side playsand the funds required for the recreational game and ground improvements”. But hissolution makes depressing reading for any of the 58% of TWC readers who think England play too much cricket. “We’re heading towards rotation, more specialists and different sides put out in different forms of the game and against different types of opposition.” I put it to him that only Australia has the strength in depth to carry this off and squad rotation would simply play further into their hands. “That’s a perfectly legitimate comment but all I can say is we’re going to have to. It’s not unreasonable to consider that England could field some highly effective XIs against some of the Test sides.”So those who want less cricket are likely to be disappointed. If anything, there is likely to be more. In essence the market will decide. “Everyone recognises we have tofund the game,” says Clarke. “And funding is increasingly about academies and bigger grounds [Lord’s, The Oval and Edgbaston have plans to increase capacity]. And if we are going to have bigger grounds, then we have to give them games to stage.”Bigger grounds, he says, will allow tickets to be graded more affordably, which giventhe exorbitant prices being charged at Lord’s and The Oval next summer (up to £103), is something to be cheered if it comes to pass.The F-word – Fletcher – comes up almost by accident and he is in mid-flow when he checks himself with a classic entrepreneurial mantra: “I’m not very interested in the past” – interested enough, though, to say “there was a disconnect between Duncan Fletcher and the whole of the ECB management. That won’t happen again, at least not on my watch”Clarke wants to “improve the spectator experience” by having better drainedgrounds and better pitches at all levels of the game. “We need really good cricket wickets. Groundsmen shouldn’t be rewarded for producing 700-plus wickets,” he says, well aware that his own county, Somerset, have been guilty of exactly that. “After making 315, Justin Langer said to the Somerset committee, ‘Gentlemen, you are going to kill cricket with wickets like that’.” He is keen on four-day Test matches and wants umpires to have sole responsibility for judging bad light.Another of Clarke’s bugbears is the “fantastic amount of ludicrous paperwork”that “enmeshes the recreational game”. “I’ve been to see James Purnell [Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport] and told him this is wasting money and time, upsetting volunteers, and they won’t put up with it. It’s their free time and they don’t want to fill out damn forms for ever and a day.”This seems to be Clarke’s true self emerging – decisive and domineering- which could make for interesting ICC meetings. “One board member said at theend of my first ICC meeting: ‘We were wondering what you’d be like and you’redefinitely not an old fart,'” says Clarke laughing, before realising the comment couldbe construed as a slight on his predecessor, the 70-year-old David Morgan, which was not intended but perhaps an indication of the perception of the English in certain parts. So what is Clarke like on the international stage: the mollifying Morgan(now ICC president) or his predecessor, the strident Lord MacLaurin? “I wouldn’t belike Ian to people from the subcontinent.”I’ll say what I think but I’ll know how to say it. There are ways of getting your own way in international cricket without bowling bouncers. You start by trying to understand the other man’s point of view.”The F-word – Fletcher – comes up almost by accident and he is in mid-flowwhen he checks himself with a classic entrepreneurial mantra: “I’m not veryinterested in the past” – interested enough, though, to say “there was a disconnectbetween Duncan Fletcher and the whole of the ECB management. That won’thappen again, at least not on my watch”. The problems arose, he says, becauseFletcher refused to report to Tim Lamb, the ECB chief executive when the coachwas appointed. Hence the Schofield Report which has resulted in Hugh Morris, as thefirst managing director of England cricket, becoming Peter Moores’ boss.Clarke will launch the ECB’s five-year plan for English cricket in January. It isexpected to contain substantial increases in grass-roots funding but he knows those are not the issues that make people notice the chairman of the board. It takes controversy or bad on-field results for people to seek out the boss. “It’s true, there are no bouquets for my job. but at least I don’t get paid for it.” Not that he needs the money. But I still paid for lunch.

The first trophy of the county season was decided in July, while the Championship continued to take shape. Cricinfo looks back at the last month of action.

Andrew McGlashan04-Aug-2008

Team of the month – Middlesex
It’s been a long wait for the suffering Middlesex fans. But 15 years since their last silverware the club celebrated a trophy, and along with their Twenty20 crown comes the chance of unprecedented riches. Given Middlesex’s dire Twenty20 form since the tournament began in 2003, their success this year has seemingly come from nowhere. Under the shrewd leadership of Ed Joyce (standing in for the injured Ed Smith and suggesting he is a viable long-term option) a team has developed with belief and skill. The bowling attack is packed with match-winners, none more so than Shaun Udal at 38-years-young, while Tim Murtagh is one of the most underrated cricketers around. And there’s a batch of exciting youngsters, led by the hugely talented Dawid Malan and the bowling duo of Steven Finn and Danny Evans. Middlesex are certainly pretty in pink.Innings of the month – Dawid Malan, 103 v Lancashire
Yet Middlesex’s Twenty20 dreams would have come to nothing without one innings of outrageous class by 20-year-old Malan. He walked to the crease at The Oval against Lancashire (Middlesex’s home-away-from-home for the quarter-final) with his team on 21 for 4. Andrew Flintoff was charged up and Middlesex appeared to be sinking without a trace. However, Malan responded with one of best displays of clean-hitting you could wish to see. He tore into Lancashire’s spinners and the game changed in the blink of an eye. His century came off 51 balls and Flintoff was one of the first to congratulate him on a breathtaking display. It’s a good time show you can play Twenty20 and Malan’s display has put him in line for some big money.Batsman of the month – Robert Key
It’s easy to forget that just prior to England’s 2005 Ashes success, Robert Key was the No. 3 batsman. In fact, in his penultimate Test he struck a vital 83 at Johannesburg. Since that tour of South Africa, though, he hasn’t had a look-in, but his next chance may not be far away. He is having an impressive season as a batsman and captain for Kent. His highest innings last month was 157 against Yorkshire, a central part to Kent’s three-wicket victory, but the stand-out performance was his Twenty20 final knock. Ultimately, Kent came up agonisingly short in their chase, but while Key was compiling an elegant, forceful half-century his team were well-placed in a tough pursuit. His all-round game has developed in the three years away from England. They may come calling again soon.Bowling performance of the month – Mark Ealham, 7 for 59 v Yorkshire
There have been some very fine performances by county cricket’s elder-statesmen of late and Ealham has shown he’s still a canny operator. He bowled Nottinghamshire to victory against Yorkshire – keeping them top of the table – with his best figures for 12 years. He has always stuck to the basics; bowling wicket-to-wicket and frustrating the batsmen. He once claimed a five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe which were all lbw and he continues to strike the pad with regularity – four of his seven wickets against Yorkshire were trapped in front.Bowler of the month – Kabir Ali
Worcestershire have moved top of the second division with three victories in July and much of their success is due to Ali’s form. He has been tearing through sides over the past month, with three five-wicket hauls and a best of 6 for 58 against Glamorgan. He’s one of England’s one-Test wonders, so will have had some sympathy for Darren Pattinson’s plight when he too was jettisoned after a debut at Headingley. Ali’s figures over the years have consistently been some of the best around, but he hasn’t had an England look-in under the Peter Moores regime. Some say he isn’t quick enough, but when the speed-gun is on him he hits the mid-80s, which is good enough for Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad.Youngster of the month – Ian Saxelby
Gloucestershire have had a pretty miserable month in July, losing two Championship matches heavily, but it could have been even worse without the efforts of 19-year-old Ian Saxelby. Picked for his bowled, he strode out at No. 11 with more than an hour to survive on the final day against Middlesex. No one would have blamed him if he’d succumbed to the pressure, but 67 balls later – and with a little help from the fading light – he walked off having secured an unlikely tie alongside Anthony Ireland. He didn’t make the side for the next match, instead being whipped away for England Under-19 duty where he took 4 for 47 to help his side to victory in the first Test.

England have a habit of raising, then dashing, everybody’s hopes that they have finally cracked the formula for one-day cricket

Will Luke at Lord's28-Jun-2008
It was a tough first outing as captain for Kevin Pietersen, but he doesn’t believe it’s all doom and gloom © Getty Images
England have a habit of raising, then dashing, everybody’s hopes that they have finally cracked the formula for one-day cricket. In falling to New Zealand by 51 runs, they lost the series 3-1 – a generous result, some might say, had fortune not been on England’s side at Edgbaston. Today, chasing a gettable 267, they were rolled over for 215 in 47.5 overs – a batting performance that Kevin Pietersen, in his, first match as England captain, was at a loss to explain.”I really don’t know. I can’t answer that question, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a very difficult question for me to answer for how the batting has gone. When you get to 20s, 30s and 40s…the key to it is to go on. I don’t mind if a guy gets nought or whatever, but when you get in, it’s definitely the key to take the responsibility. The onus on the individuals is there for the taking – to become a hero at the end of the day. That’s what we’re after.”There were no heroes today, and apart from Pietersen himself – whose scorching 110 led to their Chester-le-Street win – there have been precious few in the series. Owais Shah again proved his aptitude for a fight with a courageous 69, combing the deft with the explosive in pleasing measure, but his was very much the dying embers of an innings that never truly caught alight. And how often have we had cause to say that in this series?The situation was far more promising earlier, however. Alastair Cook returned from injury, replacing the banned Paul Collingwood, and together with Ian Bell staged a solid opening stand of 53 in 11 overs. That this was England’s highest opening stand of the series tells a sorry tale, though not one that should necessarily cut short the career of Luke Wright, Ian Bell’s partner at No.2 for the first four matches. Wright is impetuously youthful and needs a run in the side, but it is Bell, a man of such obvious gifts, who most frustrates. Scores of 46, 0, 20, 46 and 27 may indicate a batsman who has struggled to time the ball, or at the very least found conditions at the top of the order difficult. Yet with the exception of his duck at Edgbaston, in each of his stylish innings he has batted with the poise of a demi-god.Today, he was off the mark with the creamiest of fours through midwicket. Another gift on his legs was happily accepted before he played the day’s most orthodox stroke off the back foot through extra cover. He, and England, were cruising very nicely until he walked across his stumps. However, Bell is not alone: England’s woes with the bat was a collective failure all series, and one Pietersen insists needs addressing.”It’s very easy to say you need to get hundreds because the wickets are flat. In England, it nibbles,” he said. “New Zealand didn’t get a hundred. I’d like to see the stats from the New Zealand top six and compare [to England’s]. It’s hard because in England you don’t see many hundreds, so it’s hard to say you’ve got to get hundreds to win a series.”But I have said you need to get 70s, 80s, 90s…those are big scores in the UK. It’s an area we can improve but I don’t think it’s a catastrophe by any stretch of the imagination.”It wasn’t just with the bat that England struggled. Without their captain and allrounder, Collingwood, England also lacked a fifth bowler. And Pietersen’s decision to opt for Owais Shah’s part-time off-breaks ahead of Ravi Bopara’s neat seamers cost them dearly. Jacob Oram – who gives such balance to New Zealand’s side – had eased himself to a breezy 36, and welcomed the introduction of Shah like a cold beer on a roasting hot day. Oram heaved him into the Mound Stand over midwicket and over long-on before depositing a third into the Edrich Stand. Shah’s three overs had cost 30 and England had again let New Zealand escape.”I think Owais’ job today was good,” Pietersen said, forthrightly. “He had a dart in New Zealand. I’ve bowled in Tests but not much in one-dayers, so I thought the option of Shah bowling was good. You realise your options and, unfortunately, Colly was banned and we don’t have Andrew Flintoff. So you’ve got to look at your options and say ‘right. This is the England team I’m captaining. And this is what I have to do to make a good go of it.’ And that’s what I tried to do.”England’s defeat casts a shadow over their preparations for South Africa, who they face at Lord’s on July 10. Pietersen, however, remained confident that their feeble one-day effort will have no impact on the outcome of the forthcoming tough Test series.”It’s not a case of drawing a line under what’s happened. In the Tests we played fantastic, fantastic, amazing cricket against New Zealand,” he said. “We really cleaned them up, and that [a Test match] is what we have got against South Africa in two weeks. When we come to play in that week, we can have our heads held up really high. The captaincy of our big man, Michael, and everything will be great.”