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The alleged proposal to create a parallel IPL in England has attracted plenty of attention and criticism but experts feel it is inevitable for the league to thrive and grow

Tariq Engineer11-May-2010The alleged proposal to create a parallel IPL in England has attracted plenty of attention and led to a second show cause notice for suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi. But what of the proposal itself? Setting aside the procedural and administrative concerns, does expanding into England actually make good business sense for the league, the franchises and other participants? The views of the various potential stakeholders that Cricinfo spoke to – most spoke only on condition of anonymity – indicate taking the IPL brand beyond India’s border is more a question of when than why.”It is about scaling your brand,” said one franchise official.The opportunity to build the brand is the primary motivation for taking the IPL abroad. It is clear the addition of the two new teams in this year’s auction is the end of any expansion within the country for the time being – even the minutes of the March 31 New Delhi meeting specifically mention this. Further growth, if and when it comes, must be from outside the country.The proposal for a parallel IPL in England outlined in ECB Chairman Giles Clarke’s email to the BCCI would give the existing Indian franchises the first right to bid for a UK franchise, along with a local partner. The tournament would feature the same restrictions on foreign players as the IPL does, to give the tournament a local flavour, but be broadcast in India at prime time.A hypothetical second league would give teams an added opportunity to engage with their fans. Despite the IPL’s initial success, the franchises feel they need a longer, sustained period of time to build a truly loyal following, The English Premier League season, for example, lasts nine months. The IPL, by contrast, leaves fans with a ten-month off season, which makes it difficult for the franchises to retain their attention and affection. A second tournament would also allow teams to better leverage the use of their players, whose cumulative salaries rise to $7 million per team next year. Players in the English Premier League, to use the same example, only sporadically miss league games for international commitments. Furthermore, the Indian diaspora is used to connecting emotionally with its local sports teams, so building a fan base abroad would be relatively easy.

A hypothetical second league would give teams an added opportunity to engage with their fans. Despite the IPL’s initial success, the franchises feel they need a longer, sustained period of time to build a truly loyal following, The English Premier League season, for example, lasts nine months. The IPL, by contrast, leaves fans with a ten-month off season, which makes it difficult for the franchises to retain their attention and affection. A second tournament would also allow teams to better leverage the use of their players, whose cumulative salaries rise to $7 million per team next year

For the advertisers affiliated with the league, it would be a chance to spread their wings in a new market. “It would be a great thing for brands with a global presence,” said Ramanujam Sridhar, the CEO of Brand-Comm, a leading brand consultancy and public relations firm. For instance, the UB Group, owners of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, sells Kingfisher beer in the UK. According to Sridhar, owning a second team in England would provide the UB Group with the prospect of promoting its beer to a potentially large English audience.The IPL could do worse than take its cue from Bollywood, which has already been very successful in exporting its product to Indians abroad. With Bollywood firmly entwined with the league in the shape of Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan, Kings XI Punjab owner Preity Zinta and Rajasthan Royal’s brand ambassador Shilpa Shetty, who won the UK reality show Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, even the smaller franchises, which don’t have the backing of a major conglomerate, can benefit from going to a foreign market. Khan’s latest film , for example, took in almost a million pounds in its opening weekend in the UK earlier this year and over $2 million in the US.Meanwhile, for broadcasters in India, the key issue is which Indian cricketers would be involved. A Sachin Tendulkar or an MS Dhoni draws viewers, say industry sources. A Pragyan Ojha or Amit Mishra does not, even if they did top the IPL’s list of wicket-takers. So long as India’s “stars” are involved, there will be an Indian audience. Cricket’s finances are shaped around big TV deal s and the appeal of cricket in India is clear from the massive sums a number of television companies have already shelled out for tournament and country rights to the IPL ($1.6 billion), the Champions League Twenty20 ($975 million), the ICC ($1.1 billion) and the BCCI ($436 million). The only question is whether there is anything left in the kitty to spend on a new property.To be sure, the IPL has plenty of other issues to deal with, from allegations of financial impropriety to concerns about management styles. But in effect, the process of reverse colonisation has already begun. Earlier this year the Rajasthan Royals’ announced a tie-up with Hampshire in England, the Cape Cobras in South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago in the West Indies and the Victorian Bushrangers in Australia. The agreement between the teams calls for them to play under the same name, wear the same uniforms and share players and profits, changes Hampshire have already begun to implement. Their limited-overs side has been renamed the Royals and they have a team uniform similar to Rajasthan’s. There is also a proposal to play a three-day tournament in England at the end of July, part of an annual series of Royals Festivals to be played around the world.However, not everyone agrees with a move to foreign shores. Santosh Desai, the CEO of Future Brands, another well-known brand consultancy firm, says it is too early to be thinking of global expansion, even if it is simply to play exhibition matches. “After [fans] start following it, then exhibition matches make sense,” he said. Dedicated fan bases “take decades to build”.”Let the format take root [in India],” he said. “Let viewership equalise. International ambitions are getting ahead of the curve. In the fullness of time, certainly. Right now it is one plan too many.”

Salman Butt looks back at four crazy days at Headingley and ahead to the England series

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Jul-2010It is a good sign that you are not getting carried away despite a good win in Headingley?
We all know it is a very young side and nobody expected us to do what we did [level the series]. It is very important to stay calm, relaxed and focused because there is a much more important series coming up against the home team who know the conditions much better than anyone else. So we need to work very hard, work on every opportunity we get and make use of the conditions as far as possible. That way we can try to give England a tough time.Watching the games it seems the players have done well to stay calm and devoted despite the rumblings in the aftermath of the Lord’s defeat. Has that played a role in you slipping into the captaincy role easily?
It is wonderful to see the boys stick together as a unit in the second Test and they all fought really well. They need to do the same now in every game they play. We as humans can only make efforts and that is all I require of them.Did this camaraderie among the team strike you as surprising?
It is not something that just came to me during or after the Headingley Test. I have always had faith in this unit right through this tour. I’ve played with most of these guys from my Under-19 days and quite a few of them play with me at National Bank and Lahore in the domestic cricket. So I know they all have the capability to become match-winners. Yes, it will take some time to really make a name in international cricket but the quicker they can adapt, the quicker they start playing to their potential, the greater the chances of Pakistan winning more and more games.One youngster who has shown that potential is Azhar Ali. He stood strong at a crucial stage in Leeds’ chase and played his natural game. How hopeful are you of him?
He is a wonderful prospect. The best thing about him is he is never seen off target. He is never seen playing shots which he wouldn’t do normally. He plays his cricket in his limits. He knows his shots, his scoring areas. In the four innings so far, three times he got out a very good ball which any good batsman might have found hard to negotiate as well. Azhar is a very good talent and if he can carry on this way he has the ability to stabilise the Pakistan batting. He proved that during the fourth innings at Headingley where he showed great temperament and resolve against the Aussies as well as a good technique in tough conditions. But you should not forget Imran Farhat’s contribution. He kept the scoring rate high and kept hitting the boundaries at the other end, which helped Azhar to not take pressure. So, full credit to Imran, who built the crucial partnership with Azhar in the run chase.Farhat is a peculiar case. He has been under pressure in every match he has played after his comeback in New Zealand last year. Yet without scoring massively, or prettily, he has helped form a decent opening partnership with you. How important a cog is he in your wheel?
He has been playing really well from the time of his comeback in the New Zealand last year. It is really fun to bat with him as we help each a lot and share a lot of ideas while we bat. Imran did the same with Azhar. I don’t have enough words to praise them because the situation they built the partnership came under lot of pressure and had a greater importance.Imran is a senior to me, having started to play for Pakistan three to four years before me. So he has a few things to add to my knowledge and vice versa. Each time the one of us makes a mistake we are honest to point it out to the other. Both being left-handers, we understand each other, which is an added advantage. The best thing about our partnership is we are both approachable. That is the only way forward for us and this applies to every other player in the team.Salman Butt was full of praise for the efforts of his opening partner, Imran Farhat, who made crucial runs at Headingley•Getty ImagesBut there still remains this lingering doubt about his temperament. Do you agree?
In the last few years he has strengthened his defence. In the past he used to pounce on the short ball straightaway. He has cut down on that now which is very essential in international cricket and I think him having a control over his shots has helped him score a bit more regularly. It is one of the strengths of any great batsman: if you know what you need to do on a particular wicket it only makes you more confident. I just hope Imran goes playing the same way. He has got the ability, the temperament and the shots. So if he keeps on playing the same way he will be a big asset for Pakistan.How big a factor was getting advice from seniors like Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal?
I was very lucky in this regard. Not only those two, but every single player including the first-timers had something to say to me all the time. The way they ran around the ground, cheering the fast bowlers, picking their sweaters before passing on to the umpires, chatting all the time and motivating the bowlers created a positive bubble and lifted the team. I asked [Umar] Amin to bowl and he did not hesitate, so the players were ready and willing to do anything.Was it an instinctive decision or planned out to bowl Amin?
I had told him two days before the Test that he might be asked to bowl if need be. I told the part-timers like Farhat and Azhar to be ready because I know as a batsman it is really distracting to face somebody who is not a regular bowler at a crucial time on a difficult pitch. Yes, the Marcus North example at Lord’s where he got me out at the stroke of lunch did play at the back of my mind. But captains, if they have options, are always are willing to take a chance.So you are not afraid to dare?
If there are doubts then take the most aggressive decision because God helps the brave. My team-mates never say no to anything so I am lucky to have these guys around me.But Pakistan’s fate was scripted by the fast bowlers on the first day when you demolished Australia for 88.
Of course, I cannot deny the importance of the first innings and that was the key to the result. The way Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul bowled was brilliant. Without any doubt I can say that Aamer and Asif are the best pair in the world at the moment. Gul with the old ball is the most dangerous because he bowls the best reverse swing that I’ve played in recent times. I am a lucky person to have such an armoury and they are Pakistan’s trump card in Pakistan’s successes in the recent past and for a long time in the future.But it is a challenge now to preserve these fast bowlers with four back-to-back Tests in the next month?
We will be talking to the bowlers. We have to look after each other. But if somebody is feeling tired, disheartened, or if he feels there is any injury scare he can always come out and speak to me and the seniors. It is not only me, but the seniors and the team management who will sit and decide. It is not only this series but with the World Cup fast approaching we definitely have that, too, at the back of our minds so we will preserve key people but at the same time in the big games – Tests – we need to play our best team and plan accordingly.Pakistan’s batting is still fragile and the batsmen haven’t show their real promise. What is the message on the eve of the England series?
Batting is the most difficult job. Let it be a Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam ul Haq or Javed Miandad it only takes one good ball, one bad shot, one bad mistake to get out and sit and watch others. Batsmen do not become great overnight – you have to give them time, you have to back them and keep on backing them and telling them how good they are and how good they possibly can be. We have to be mentally ready for that. We have a good opening partnerships and Azhar and Amin are bright prospects. Then there is Umar Akmal – even if he hasn’t yet shown his true potential during the Test series, I have a lot of time for him. If he can bat for two hours he can change the game on his own. The same is the case with his brother Kamran, who has not shown his full potential but hopefully I see them clicking in the England series.Rising star: Mohammad Aamer’s form is key to Pakistan’s chances against England•Getty ImagesIn the past a bad result has led to repercussions for a captain. He gets the blame straightaway. Do you think the positive comeback against Australia might change that?
I don’t know what to say. My job is to play the team at hand, and the team they have given me I see ability in them. At the same I keep saying, and insisting, that we need to back the players. It is alright that we have achieved a good victory but there will be tough times ahead and they will make mistakes so me as a captain, we as a unit and nation need to back the players and only then we will see a change.You have tirelessly said that you are open to the inclusion of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan if the selectors pick them. But are you open to their comeback?
It is not in my domain. It is up to the PCB and the selectors to decide. I have to play the team given to me. As far as I’m concerned nobody has spoken to me as yet about this subject so I can’t comment further on this.Are you going to ask the board on your own?
It totally depends on when they start talking to me. I am not the one who is going to start this conversation because at the moment I am playing with the team given to me.It is still early to talk about your captaincy. But what are the lessons you learnt from Ricky Ponting?
Firstly, people might think he made a bad decision batting first at Headingley, but it is very rare he has lost a Test match in this fashion. I still praise his confidence. It is a very positive statement he passes on to the other side that whenever he wins the toss he puts himself in to bat. Not often do Australia fold for 88. And it is never easy in the fourth innings for others teams to chase. He is a very bold character and a very productive captain. The way he placed his field on the last day when 40 runs were needed, and the way he mixed attack and defence, it was definitely a good lesson for me. He is a person to learn from and I always admire his skills. He has one of the best units in the world which helps any captain – if you have a good team and people with the ability to win you games you are lucky as a captain. I am lucky, too, with a very good bowling line-up and very promising young batsmen and I hope every player in my unit will rise to the occasion.Did you get a pat on your back for the Leeds victory?
Justin Langer remarked the youngsters have a good technique and showed very good match temperament. That was very heartening for the youngsters that a great player like him praised them. But then again if they keep on doing well people praise them. There are no born heroes in this world. You have to do something to make a name for yourself. The more they do well, the more people will recognise them as heroes, and the better role model they will become.Finally about this series. England will be tough opponents playing in their home conditions. What is the key now?
You can make it as complicated as you can and this includes myself too. I can use words to make it as complicated as I can or I can just say we have to put in the hard work which is more simple and straight. If we play to our potential England will not have an easy ride. So we need to put in 100 percent.

High-quality batting, real fast bowling, clever legspin, collapses and recoveries plus a few howlers for good measure made for an enthralling encounter

Osman Samiuddin in Colombo26-Feb-2011At last, a big game to match the occasion. The World Cup has needed this and the 50-overs game has needed it as well. This was ODI cricket at its most infectious, when you feel it inside you, when you can’t help but respond to its many rhythms and nuances, shift around as it shifts it gears, when each one of the 100 overs of the day is of meaning and consequence.There was atmosphere at the R Premadasa from the off, music and noise for once. Pakistan’s openers came out at Sri Lanka’s bowlers and a game was on our hands. Soon there was comedy, in Mohammad Hafeez’s run-out, when men lose their wits utterly to the occasion itself.There was then intelligence and wisdom in the partnership of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. For those who lack an appreciation of subtlety, the middle overs are hell. But how beautifully the pair manipulated angles and found space, a dink here, a deflection there, and how hard they ran. With barely any boundaries, the pair put on a 108-run stand at near enough a run a ball and the pace never felt as if it was slacking. In all they ran 65 singles and ten twos, true descendants of Asif Iqbal and Javed Miandad. Simultaneously there was the very physical appreciation of Sri Lankans in the field. Inside the circle they zipped around, like flying fish, hungry.There was individual genius. In the build-up to this game, Pakistan spoke of Muttiah Muralitharan as if he wasn’t Muttiah Muralitharan. He’s too old, we play him well enough, he doesn’t take wickets against us as he used to. All of this is essentially correct. Pakistan have learnt to play Muralitharan well but he still turned the entire nature of their innings, with his bowling at the death. It was mesmerising stuff, a reminder of his quite immense brain, against a bright young talent, and a batsman set and in real form. Basically it was defence, but beautiful and actually a form of attack.The evening was lit up by those skills that, in the hands of limited overs, these days can often feel like the cricket equivalent of Didier Deschamps, football’s most (in)famous water-carrier: called on for the dirty, unglamorous chores. Two passages of action were outstanding. The first was Shoaib Akhtar, who even at this stage in his career, is capable of recreating the heat every now and again of his early years. As a spectacle, pinging back Mahela Jayawardene’s middle stump was difficult to better and it probably turned the game.In the next over, Shahid Afridi’s delicious undoing of Thilan Samaraweera effectively sealed matters. Pace at one end and leg-spin at the other: it is not an unusual combination any more but the richness of its choreography and the vast possibilities it contains has always been brought out best by Pakistan.Later, we saw how men and collectives can fall apart. Pakistan do it often but there’s always a strange calmness about how it happens. To the eye, it doesn’t feel like anything is breaking down. No one is running about shouting or screaming, there are smiles and expressionless faces and bemused smiles. Yet easy catches are dropped, run-outs missed, misfields, wides and no-balls bowled, poor decisions made and so on.Chamara Silva came close to pulling off the most cunning heist so that there was always punch and counter punch, so that for every wicket that fell late on, a boundary was the response, cricket in perfect balance as it should be. Of course the result sets the rest of the tournament up just right. Co-hosts and favourites beaten by dark horses is a story that sells and sells.Suddenly you look at the schedule and repercussions are discussed. The tournament has meaning. Pakistan will pop up on to a lot of people’s radars and they will be talked about because this is a serious result, achieved with an unbalanced side that finds it difficult to finish off games.

Plays of the day from the 4th ODI between England and Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge

Andrew McGlashan at Trent Bridge06-Jul-2011Call of the dayAlastair Cook’s day finished superbly, but it started even better when he won a crucial toss. The Trent Bridge pitch was very green and he had no hesitation in putting Sri Lanka into bat. This was no Headingley, it was made for the fast bowlers. And in James Anderson they have one of the best around for exploiting the swinging ball. As soon as he removed Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over the feeling was that this would be England’s day. Yes, the conditions were in the home side’s favour but that’s how it should be. To their credit, England were good enough to make it count.Relief of the dayWhen you’ve waited 39 overs (spread over five matches) to take your next wicket it doesn’t really matter how it comes. The pressure has been growing on Stuart Broad and the signs weren’t great in his first over when an edge flew wide of second slip then another boundary flew over cover. So the relief on Broad’s face was unsurprising when Suraj Randiv gloved down the leg side and even though Richard Illingworth’s finger didn’t take long to come up it would have felt an age for Broad.Catch of the dayEngland pride themselves on taking half chances, something that hasn’t always happened in this series, and Tim Bresnan showed the way with a superb caught-and-bowled to remove the dangerous Angelo Mathews. The batsman had been squared up by a touch of extra bounce but the leading edge appeared to be looping into no-man’s land on the off side. However, Bresnan continued from his follow through then stretched full length to grab the ball with his finger tips and, crucially, didn’t let it slip out as he rolled on the ground. Mathews wasn’t sure, but all the TV replay did was prove what a fine take it had been.Quiet achievement of the dayEngland have the best one-day bowler in the world. Take a bow Graeme Swann. The rankings tables on various websites won’t show it because they are only updated after a series finishes, but Swann has moved into top spot to replace Daniel Vettori. Although he went wicketless today on his home ground – even though replays showed he should have had an lbw with his final ball – the seven wickets in the first three matches, and an impressive economy rate of 3.51, were enough to push him to the head of the pack.Chris Gayle impression of the dayThis was Alastair Cook as we’ve rarely seen him and it was an impressive sight. His hundred at Lord’s was incredible worthy but this was, hands down, his best one-day innings for England as a 37-ball fifty set the team well on their way to beating the threatening weather to level the series. The bowling was friendly and 12 off the first over kick-started the innings but, like Mahela Jayawardene, it was authentic, positive batting. How bothered was he to reach a hundred? After what he said about Dinesh Chandimal at Lord’s it was probably a mix of feelings but he was able to prove a point.

ESPNcricinfo picks a team of the best performers in the tournament

Abhishek Purohit10-Oct-2011David Warner, 328 runs at a strike-rate of 172.63

Becoming the first man to score consecutive Twenty20 hundreds, Warner showed that sustained power-hitting could be achieved without resorting to slogging. Both his centuries came in must-win games on pitches as different as those in Bangalore and Chennai. Many marauding batsmen – including Chris Gayle – have been tamed by R Ashwin in crunch situations in this format but Warner targeted him with three switch-hit boundaries, the last of which sailed over the extra cover boundary. Hitting as straight as possible, Warner peppered the arc from wide long-off to deep midwicket with sixes and even displayed new-found patience by giving himself time to settle in. No wonder he was gutted when his second century proved to be insufficient in the first semi-final.Chris Gayle, 257 runs at a strike-rate of 178.47

The Royal Challengers Bangalore team management may deny it but it was clear in IPL 2011 that their fortunes rose and dipped with Gayle’s performances. That trend generally continued in the Champions League. They lost three of the four games in which Gayle did not last long, including the final. Twice Gayle fired, and twice, the opposition might as well have not turned up. Somerset were silenced with eight sixes, and even Warner dejectedly slumped on the ground after another eight put NSW out of the tournament. Gayle got a marginal leg-before decision early in the final, and that was the end of the Royal Challengers’ campaign.Craig Kieswetter, 144 runs at a strike-rate of 123.07

He joined the Somerset squad late but Kieswetter almost took his side to the final with consecutive half-centuries that were as effective as they were patient. Kieswetter’s batting reputation has been built on assaults at the top of the order for England in limited-overs cricket. He showed that his game was flexible enough to accommodate different pitches and conditions and still make a decisive impact. His 62 was the highest individual score in the second semi-final, and had he not got hit on the forearm by Jos Buttler’s shot in the penultimate over, he could have ended up on the winning side. His wicketkeeping, safe and assured, was a bonus.Virat Kohli, 232 runs at a strike-rate of 145.91

If Warner differentiated relentless hitting from slogging, Kohli made it look beautiful as well. No total was safe when he was in flow on the true Bangalore pitch. In his short career, he has shown sharp awareness of the angles on the field, and his trademark whip-drives and swat-flicks almost always found the gaps. Twice the Royal Challengers chased more than 200, and Kohli was Man of the Match on both occasions. The inside-out loft over extra cover may well define him in the years to come. He played it almost at will when a boundary was needed, against pace and spin both. The slow Chennai pitch didn’t suit him though in the all-important final.Callum Ferguson, 147 runs at a strike-rate of 159.78
Closer to Kohli on the hitting scale than Warner, Ferguson backed his words when he promised of a “braver” batting approach after South Australia’s insipid opening defeat against Warriors. Two days later against the Knight Riders, he exploded after a watchful start, taking 21 off a Yusuf Pathan over. Featuring mostly straight hitting, his unbeaten 70 off 40 balls gave South Australia their only win of the tournament. A similar effort against Royal Challengers followed, but Kohli was better on the night.Roelof van der Merwe, 179 runs at a strike-rate of 164.22, six wickets @ 7.04 runs an over
van der Merwe was the unlikely hero for Somerset, with the feisty combination of frenetic hitting at No. 3 and the aggression of a fast bowler while bowling left-arm darts. He did the early running for Somerset before Kieswetter arrived, twice getting them past Kolkata Knight Riders’ army of slow bowlers with furious yet clean hitting. He impressed so much that he retained the No. 3 spot even after Kieswetter and Buttler arrived. His flat left-arm spin was difficult to get away and whole-hearted fielding in the deep made him the complete package.Kevon Cooper, five wickets @ 5.29 runs an over, 65 runs at a strike-rate of 191.17

Kieron Pollard’s act in the inaugural Champions League was tough to follow, but Cooper at least revived the memories, twice proving the difference between victory and defeat for Trinidad & Tobago with the bat. His twenties low down the order at strike-rates of 280 and 227.27 were decisive in low-scoring games. His slow-medium loopy deliveries appeared even more innocuous than Pollard’s but along with the T&T spinners, he proved virtually impossible to hit throughout, even likening the slow pitches to those back home.Harbhajan Singh’s spell changed the course of the final•Associated PressHarbhajan Singh, seven wickets @ 6.27 runs an over

Samuel Badree had a much better economy rate, but Harbhajan’s impact on Mumbai Indians went far beyond his bowling, coming good as it did on the big occasion of the final. He was stand-in leader of a side that needed to get the tournament rules changed in order to be able to put an XI on the field. His partnership with Lasith Malinga brought MI back from the dead against Chennai Super Kings and his three wickets played their part in the last-ball win over T&T. But it was the way he somehow managed to get the best out of a ragged outfit at crucial junctures that was his biggest contribution. And when the biggest moment came, he stepped up with the ball too, getting Gayle and Kohli in the final.Lasith Malinga, 10 wickets @ 5.85 runs an over, 68 runs at a strike-rate of 183.78

Malinga’s impact on MI’s fortunes was bigger than Gayle’s on the Royal Challengers’. And that tells everything. Twice he bailed MI out of a hole, with the bat, during the group stage. Somerset knew what was coming, yet had no answer to his yorkers and dipping full tosses in the second semi-final. His two sixes in a low-scoring final gave him a bit more to defend. Harbhajan persisted with him after his first two overs had gone for 15, and Malinga responded by bowling Tillakaratne Dilshan with the first ball of the third. There could not have been an easier choice for the Man of the Series.Ravi Rampaul, 12 wickets @ 6.25 runs an over

It has been a remarkable year for Rampaul. He has finally got it together, running in with gusto, bowling with pace and control, and hurrying batsmen with zip and bounce. Even the slow Indian wickets could not stop him from troubling batsmen with the short ball. In an attack which thrived on taking pace off the ball, Rampaul turned out to be too much of a contrast for the opposition, except at the death against NSW and Moises Henriques.Sunil Narine, 10 wickets @ 4.37 runs an over

No one could make any sense of Narine’s assortment of offbreaks, legbreaks and “knuckle balls.” He didn’t turn the ball much, but that does not help when batsmen are clueless about which direction the ball is going after Narine’s fast release. The most he went for in any game was 26 against NSW and in the next match against the Super Kings, he took an astounding 3 for 8, accounting for Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and M Vijay. Narine, Badree and Cooper has got to be one of the most miserly combinations going around.

A one-time Australia team manager, who travelled with the side to Sri Lanka, India and South Africa, looks back at the days when board members were in charge of teams on tour

Cam Battersby06-Oct-2011 This is an extract from an article first published in the Queensland Cricket newsletter in 2006Cam “The Ger” Battersby•Getty ImagesOne morning in 1990, with a roomful of waiting patients, I was surprised by a phone call from David Richards, the chief executive of the Australian Cricket Board, offering me the managership of the team going to New Zealand. In those days all teams were managed by a board member, which was very good for relationships with the players, provided that the manager was competent.The manager liaised with the local authorities, spoke at luncheons, handled the press when captain or coach were unavailable or unwilling, arranged player interviews, chaired most team meetings, looked after the finances, paid the players via the local association, organised the transport, and made and handled complaints where necessary – the whole bit. I told David I’d ring him back next day, but 10 minutes later I accepted.At first I was a bit overawed, but I was forced to learn quickly. The team, and especially the captain, Allan Border, had a quirky sense of humour, especially at the expense of a new “Ger”, a bit wet behind the ears. I asked AB what was team dress for internal flights, and was told “jeans and team shirt”. When I arrived at the airport, they were all in blazers and ties! For years afterwards, Peter Taylor would ask me when we met how the crease in my jeans was.It rained torrentially for three days before the Wellington Test, but fined up on the day. The wicket seemed underprepared, but AB won the toss and batted. We were all out in a couple of sessions, and after stumps we were all sitting disconsolately in the room when there was a noise outside the door, something like the baying of wolves. Clearly the press was hungry for comment.Bob Simpson was back in Sydney, as his mother had died, and the captain did not speak to the press during the match. I knew exactly what they would ask, and asked the V-C, next to me, why we had batted. He replied in biological terms that he had no idea, but that I would be most unwise to inquire. So out I went, to mutter some inconsequential comment about batting if you weren’t sure what to do, and tomorrow being another day. I was saved from further embarrassment by Don Cameron, the doyen of Kiwi cricket writers, who was chairing the conference.Simpson transformed Australian cricket in the mid-1980s. He was the power broker in the team. He did a late-night round of the likely spots, so he knew exactly what was happening and who might have had a big night. Such an indiscretion would mean 50 up-and-under catches next morning, all just out of reach. He was tough but usually he was right. Simmo was a great believer in getting the basics right, especially in the field.In 1991, I took an Academy side to Sri Lanka. This included Michael Slater, Stuart MacGill, Greg Blewett and Justin Langer. Damien Martyn had already begun his career with WA, and Shane Warne was in disgrace after an indiscretion on a tour of the Northern Territories. Justin’s work ethic was obvious. He was a crickaholic, but in those days not a good captain because he regarded a team failure as his personal responsibility.Richards told me that I could inform the Sri Lankan authorities that we would support their full membership of the ICC, and would tour there next year – which we did, and I was again manager. I was on radio when we got our first look at Muttiah Muralitharan in Kandy. AB just could not pick him, but his action looked unusual. At the end of the over, my Sri Lankan co-commentator asked me what I thought of their new spinner. I knew exactly where he was coming from, so all I said was, “He turns the ball a lot.” Back in the dressing room Simmo remarked, “You should have said he has a very unusual action”.That was the tour when Dean Jones informed me of the offer of money for comment about the pitch, weather and team. I advised him to have nothing to do with it, though it may be totally innocent, as he would not look good if it came out and he had failed with the bat.I told the coach and the captain of the incident, and later when I returned, Graham Halbish (CEO of the board), but I did not put it in my formal report. For this I was castigated by Rob O’Regan, who led an inquiry into match-fixing and illegal betting activity; he felt revealing details may have nipped matters in the bud. It is easy to be wise after an event, but the bald fact was that we had no inkling of the magnitude the problem would attain.Sri Lanka could have won this series, but seemed initially to lack belief. We were outplayed for four and a half days in the first Test, in Colombo. Sri Lanka had about 180 to get in about 60 overs to win, and were 127 for 2 when Aravinda De Silva played an injudicious shot and was caught by a sprawling Border in the deep. Wickets then fell steadily, but they only had about 30-odd to get, with three wickets in hand, when the skipper brought back Shane Warne, who had been expensive earlier.The dressing room was electric. Nobody moved. Out of the corner of my mouth I said to Simmo: “Courageous”. He did not reply. In 10 balls or so, Warnie took 3 for 0, and the match was ours. In retrospect, Aravinda was probably just impatient. The hosts made some unusual decisions, like dropping their best opener to the tail, and then not trying to give him the strike.In 1994 we went to South Africa, which was a pivotal moment for me because I had worked in Cape Town in 1972 and had returned frequently. It was a tough tour, and nothing was tougher than the first Test, in Johannesburg. I still think the ACB was wrong in coming in over the top of the referee and team management in inflicting further penalties on Warne and Merv Hughes, but I have to admit that our on-field behaviour improved for a while as a result.

I asked AB what was team dress for internal flights, and was told “jeans and team shirt”. When I arrived at the airport, they were all in blazers and ties!

Big Merv was particularly unfortunate. You had to be there to understand the circumstances. South African crowds are particularly partisan, as our rugby players had found a couple of years earlier. The players’ path to the field was through an open hill, known aptly as the “Bull Pit”. Late in the afternoon this hill became particularly restless and unruly as the alcohol began to take effect. A thunderstorm was brewing and Merv was trying to save the match, as Fanie de Villiers and Alan Donald thundered in with a new ball. During a temporary break in play, he was coming up the hill when a drunken spectator made a derogatory comment about his mother. He hit the siding near the spectator with his bat, and a Channel 7 cameraman got it on tape. It was played ad nauseam back in Oz, though it attracted little attention in SA. The ACB felt forced to act.I outlined what had happened at a subsequent team meeting. Dean Jones best summed up their reaction. “The Ger and Simmo have done their best. We’ve just got to forget it now and get on with the rest of the tour”. It didn’t quite happen that way, but we did come from well behind to draw both series. Ali Bacher offered to make a public apology for the crowd behaviour but I declined. That would only have exacerbated matters.We asked the groundsman at Kingsmead, in Durban, how he thought the wicket would play. He replied, “I haven’t asked Kepler what he wants yet.” Ask a stupid question…South Africa could have won this Test series, but they seemed disinclined to take any risks at all.In 1996 I went to Sri Lanka again, and there were a few problems because not long before that we had pulled out of the Sri Lanka leg of the World Cup on very specific security advice. I tried to handle the first press conference in Colombo by declining questions on the World Cup, preferring to concentrate on our new captain and coach – Ian Healy and Geoff Marsh. To the credit of the press corps, they accepted this graciously. In fact, they were probably as tired of the topic as we were.On playing days, two buses would wait outside the Oberoi Hotel with shutters drawn. The players would go in one and the gear in the other. Each had a different route to the ground and the routes were changed daily. The security was intense. As Steve Waugh remarked, it was not a good way to start a day at the cricket.We came home for a few weeks, and then returned to India under the captaincy of Mark Taylor. We were underprepared, and failed to win a game on tour. I stood behind Mark at numerous press conferences, trying to give him moral support as he struggled to explain why we were playing so poorly and what we needed to do to improve. There is only so much you can do from a position of weakness.In 1997, Malcolm Speed decided there was a good case for a full-time manager year-round. I argued hard at a board meeting in Hobart that this would sever for all time the close relationship board members could build up with players from states other than their own. Denis Rogers told me later that this was the hardest meeting he ever had to chair. But the deed was done, and Steve Bernard got the job.He did an outstanding and largely unnoticed job, which says something in itself. But my initial reservations remain. The strength of the board-player relationships in that era revolved around the fact that we had been there, done that, and experienced it together. I was sent to India in 1998 as a board “observer”, as Steve had never been to India before. It soon became apparent that he was fully in control of the situation, and I stopped observing.

On a day filled with drama, 16 wickets fell for 161 as Pakistan’s spinners conjured up an incredible triumph. Stats highlights from the Test

S Rajesh28-Jan-2012

• This is only the fifth time that England have lost chasing a fourth-innings target of less than 150. It’s only their second such defeat in the last 110 years – their last loss was in 1978 against New Zealand in Wellington, when they were bundled out for 64 chasing 137. The margin of defeat was exactly the same in both Tests – 72 runs.
• Pakistan have defended a target of less than 150 for only the second time in Test cricket. Their only previous such instance was in Hamilton in 1993, when New Zealand, needing 127 for victory, were bowled out for 93. On that occasion Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis took five wickets each; here, all ten wickets fell to spin. In all, only 18 times has a team failed to chase a target of less than 150. Australia have been at the receiving end seven times in these low chases.
• England’s total of 72 is their lowest against Pakistan; their previous lowest was 130. It also equals the lowest in Tests between these two teams: Pakistan had been dismissed for exactly the same score at Edgbaston in 2010.
• Exactly 125 years ago, England had been bundled out for 45 against Australia in Sydney, which remains their lowest score in Test cricket. However, they’d ended up winning that Test by 13 runs. This score is their 12th-lowest in Tests.
• Pakistan’s spinners returned figures of 19 for 287, which is their third-best match figures. Only twice have their spinners taken all 20 wickets – against England in 1987, when Abdul Qadir, Tauseef Ahmed and Iqbal Qasim were the protagonists, and against West Indies in 1980, when Qadir, Qasim and Mohammad Nazir were the stars. In all, 31 wickets fell to spin in the Test – only five times have spinners taken more wickets in a Test.
• Abdur Rehman had match figures of 8 for 92, which are his best in a Test. His second-innings haul of 6 for 25 are also his best figures in an innings, and his maiden five-for in Tests.
• Twenty-nine out of 40 dismissals in this match were bowled or lbw, which is a record in Test cricket. The previous record was also in a Test involving Pakistan, against West Indies in Providence last year, when 26 wickets fell in this manner.
• Seven batsmen scored less than 2 in England’s second innings, the second-most in Test history.

Former England and current South Africa bowling coach Allan Donald runs the rule over the bowling line-ups of both sides

Interview by George Dobell13-Jul-2012I’ve been on lots of tours and seen lots of cricket. But this series is special: I honestly feel that those of us fortunate enough to be able to watch it can consider ourselves privileged. We are seeing two excellent teams with the two best attacks in world cricket go head to head in a series that could confirm which is the best. It really doesn’t get any better.How do I see it going? It’s too tight to call. It could come down to one session, one dropped catch, one moment of inspiration. I know this is a big claim, but it could be as good a series as the 2005 Ashes.South Africa have a daunting bowling attack, a formidable batting line-up and the desire and experience. But so do England. And, in all my cricket experience, I’ve never seen a country with a better crop of young quick bowlers than England have at present. Every tour to England is a joy, but this one could be the stuff of legend. I can’t wait.

South Africa

Dale Steyn We all know what Steyn brings to the game: he bowls at good pace, swings the ball and has superb control. He is also a wonderful competitor and a fantastic leader of the attack. His fitness is so good that he is just as quick at the end of the day as at the start, and he is able to bowl long, fast spells. One of the factors that might be unappreciated is his experience of county cricket; it’s something that he talks about at length. His experience of bowling on different pitches will count for a lot. His Test record – 272 wickets in 54 Tests – is simply amazing and I truly consider it a privilege to watch him operate at close quarters. What makes him special is his ability to pounce when small threats are imminent, and his five-wicket haul stats – he has taken 17 – prove why he is the world’s No.1 strike bowler.Vernon Philander He will share the new ball with Steyn. He is not the quickest, but he swings the ball both ways and asks question after question of the batsman. Facing him is an intense business: every delivery threatens and he wears teams down with his relentlessness. His Test record is ridiculous – he’s really riding the crest of a wave at the moment – and with his experience and in English conditions, there is no reason why he should not be able to sustain it. He wasn’t a bowler I knew a lot about when he was first picked – it was 2007 and I was out of the country – but I can now understand what Gary Kirsten saw in him: Philander is a tough nut and a clever bowler and he just keeps getting better.Morne Morkel He has taken another step forward in the last six months. Maybe there were times, in the past, when he was not aggressive enough, but now he has found a way to harness his inner hostility and has become a truly formidable bowler. He is very tall, very strong and bowls in really ugly areas for a batsman. He is a silent assassin, and sometimes doesn’t get enough credit for his hard work in partnership with Dale Steyn. The bounce he gets from just back of a length is horrible. He is a rhythm bowler, and the longer he bowls the better he bowls and, if the Oval pitch is as hard as it used to be, he could be a real handful there. He also complements Steyn in a very effective way: one of them pushes the batsman back, one of them drags him forward. Both of them gain movement. They make a hostile, skilful partnership on any pitch.

“In all my cricket experience, I’ve never seen a country with a better crop of young quick bowlers than England have at present”

Marchant de Lange What a man to have waiting in the wings. He reminds me of Patrick Patterson: he is a big man, very strong, has a similar action, and he relies on brute force to propel a heavy ball. He really excites me, but he is a player we have to look after. He bowled a lot of overs in the nets during the IPL and he is at an age when he is still developing. He showed on his Test debut – when he took 7 for 81 against Sri Lanka – that he can make an impact at this level, and in a couple of years he could be a really special bowler. I think there is a good chance he will play in the first two-day game on the tour, and even if he doesn’t play a Test on this trip, the experience will be beneficial. He will be back.Jacques Kallis He is relishing this series. Despite his phenomenal record, he is still under-appreciated as a cricketer and as a bowler in particular. Yes, we all know he is a great batsman, but he has nearly 300 Test wickets too. That’s incredible. He is a very placid man but, if angry and when required, he can still get the ball into the high 80s easily. He has kept himself wonderfully fit and even if there are times when his body aches a bit, he will never – never – shirk his responsibility for the team. His versatility makes him so useful: he can swing the ball; he can keep it tight with his excellent control and he can bowl with pace and attack the batsmen. He is the ideal third or fourth seamer. How long will he continue? Well, he wants to win the World Cup badly. Very badly.Imran Tahir He is going to have a huge role to play in this series. He has only played a few Tests, but his first-class career record – with over 500 wickets at an unbelievably good strike rate – underlines the fact that he is a man who can take wickets on any surface. Such is his desire to attack that there are times when he can be a bit costly, but there is nothing better than taking wickets, and he has now learned when to attack and when to remain patient. At some stage in the series, he will find a pitch that helps him, and then watch out England. He has such variation and so many tricks that I think he is going to have a massive series. He is a quality man as well as a quality bowler, so he is an asset off the pitch too, and I think what you’ll see on this tour is a man who not only has all the tricks but now knows when to use them. He went to Pakistan recently to work with his hero, Abdul Qadir, and that can only have helped. I can’t wait to see him celebrating the wickets: his joy is infectious.Lonwabo Tsotsobe Lonwabo is waiting in the wings if any of the top three fast bowlers are injured. He has worked very hard on his fitness and his bowling and, while he is not the quickest, he is very accurate and relentless in his areas and can swing the ball with good control. It’s fantastic to know that he and Marchant de Lange are in the wings as back-up if we do have injuries.

England

James Anderson His stats talk for themselves these days. He used to be in and out of the side but now he knows his body and his game. Ever since he became the leader of the England attack, pretty much in 2008, he has been brilliant. He swings the ball both ways, he has incredible control and, while he is not quick, he is quick enough. He asks a lot of questions with the new ball, so South Africa will have to watch him closely. He is going to be one of the keys of the series.Stuart Broad He has come into his own over the last couple of years and has formed a strong partnership with Anderson; a partnership very similar to Morkel and Steyn. He is tall and has genuine pace and hits areas very heavily. He is similar to Morkel as these two are of similar height and pace. I look forward to the tussle between these two.”I like Bresnan as a bowler and a man: he just gets on with it”•AFPTim Bresnan Bresnan was tipped for big things from a young age but, for a while, it didn’t look as if he was going to fulfil all that talent. He has now. He is a hell of a cricketer. I recall him coming through at U19 level. He was talented, but maybe a bit chubby. Now he is solid; a really strong man who is in great shape. I like him as a bowler and a man: he just gets on with it. He is happy to bowl the hard overs and can fulfil several different roles when required. He rushes batsmen a bit more than they are expecting, he can swing the ball and move it off the seam. The England management deserve some credit for the way they have backed him and invested in him. He is paying them back now that he has become the finished product.Steven Finn I remember the first time I saw him. It was at Uxbridge in 2008 and I was really impressed. He is very tall, very quick – seriously quick – but, even more importantly, his attitude is ideal. He really gets stuck in these days, and it says a great deal for England’s strength that he might need someone else to suffer an injury to win a place in the team.Graham Onions
It’s crazy how many good bowlers England have. Both sides do, actually. Onions attacks the stumps, gives the batsmen little and constantly asks questions of them. From England’s point of view it’s good to see him back after the injury problems he has had, and he will be banging at the door to win another opportunity.Graeme Swann I remember him from the tour to South Africa in 2000. He hardly played and it seemed for a few years as if he would be lost to international cricket. But he has seized his second chance and developed into a fantastic cricketer. The key with Swann is his control: he hardly bowls a bad ball. His record to left-handers is superb, and having taking 13 five-wicket hauls in 44 Tests, he is a player for whom the South Africa team has the upmost respect. He is a genuinely funny man too, but he is no joker on the pitch. He keeps it tight for England and, given any help, can attack very effectively. He really is the man that makes the attack work.Allan Donald is speaking alongside Mike Atherton and Jeremy Snape at the inaugural Wisden 150 Club Lunch at the Kennington Oval on 16 July. For more information, and to apply for a place at the lunch, click here

There are signs of a fragile recovery in West Indies cricket and a place in the World Twenty20 final – the prospect of silverware – would give long-suffering fans something to cling to

David Hopps in Colombo04-Oct-2012When you can boast the two fastest men on the planet, it has to do a lot for your sense of sporting well-being. West Indies meet Australia with the exploits of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake at the London Olympics still fresh in the mind. They won gold and silver over 100m and 200m for Jamaica, but throughout the Caribbean the millions looking on with pride felt able to take ownership of a magnificent spectacle.For decades, West Indies cricket has been the unifying force for the Caribbean. At times it has seen an unwelcome task as the individual islands increasingly seek out an independent identity. But Bolt and Blake proved that the Caribbean can still think as one and, if West Indies follow up Olympic glory with victory in World Twenty20, they can ensure the sense of belonging deepens.There was a time during the Olympics, for a few hours or more, when Blake – perhaps with the exclusion of Chris Gayle – was arguably the Caribbean’s most famous cricketer. He suggested ambitiously that he was a better cricketer than a sprinter, ceremoniously rang the bell at the start of a day in the Lord’s Test and claimed that he was seriously eyeing an opportunity in the Big Bash League. Bolt followed suit, although unlike Blake he could not claim to have a bowling machine at home cranked up to 90mph. Whatever, it was great theatre; a marketeer’s dream.In Colombo we have reached the second semi-final of World Twenty20 and the bona fide cricketers of West Indies now hope to capitalise on such uplifting memories. Their coach, Ottis Gibson, would have missed a trick if he had not extolled the achievements of Bolt and Blake at the start of the tournament and West Indies are contesting World Twenty20 under the slogan: “One team, one people, one goal.”It has to be said that 24 hours before the match unity in West Indies cricket was not 100% apparent. In Port-of-Spain, the entire Trinidad and Tobago squad had threatened not to travel to the Champions League in South Africa because of issues of the share of the payments received by the board for the involvement of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine in IPL. The Trinidad contingent in Colombo with the West Indies were said to be closely involved.At such times, an old inspirational speech by Gibson might be recalled with a raised eyebrow or two, but Darren Sammy, West Indies’ captain, referred to it with pride intact.”That was definitely remembered in our preparation,” he said. “What happened in the Olympics has given the Caribbean people a lot of inspiration. I remember being in Jamaica watching the men and women’s 100 and 200 metre finals. Even though it was Jamaica winning, it felt like the entire Carribean.”Cricket is a game that unites the Carribean people so I know everyone at home is rooting for us. With all that’s happened at the Olympics, it’s another step for us to put a smile on the face of our fans’ faces. We dedicate this tournament for all the die-hard fans supporting us through thick and thin. Now it’s a golden opportunity to go out and win this for them.”If Jamaica, a country of 2.7 million people, can take a clean sweep of the men’s Olympic sprinting gold, then it can also produce, in Gayle, a cricketer worthy of a winner’s medal in the World Twenty20. The charisma of both is undeniable. They keep in contact quite regularly. Gayle once batted against Bolt in a charity match and is happy to suggest that Bolt made him hurry with a “competitive bouncer.”Sammy even uses imagery from athletics to describe West Indies’ progress to the semi-finals. “Since the coach came on board, we’ve instilled a positive, can-do attitude in the team,” he said. “In any organisation, any team, any group – the more you work together, the more you achieve. We have a lot of belief, and that’s been the biggest factor for us. We saw it as a 100-metre hurdle. We’ve got two more hurdles to jump to reach the finish line. Tomorrow is about jumping that hurdle.”It has to be said that West Indies have struck a few hurdles along the way. They were well beaten by Sri Lanka in the Super Eights at Pallakele, hammered by nine wickets after making only 129 for 5 against an unorthodox Sri Lankan attack, bamboozled by Ajantha Mendis’ spin assortment, Nuwan Kulasekara’s mix of inswingers and huge slower balls and Jeevan Mendis’ skiddy legrollers.They also lost to Australia in the qualifying group, but it was a game wrecked by rain and Australia’s 17-run winning margin on Duckworth Lewis was largely an irrelevance in which batsmen flayed bowlers out of sight all night. Pitches have deteriorated at Premadasa in the intervening days.”We believe we can go onto win matches. We’ve not had the best tournament, but we’re still in the semi finals,” Sammy said. “We’ve always had good games against Australia. We’ve always scored heavily against them. We back our guys and their pace attack seems to favour us. Our game against Australia was shaping up to be a very exciting one. Hopefully we have another exciting game and we come out on top.”They have a lot of experience at the top of the order, but as we saw against Pakistan, you can get into that middle order. We back ourselves and we think we have the bowlers in there to get wickets against them.”It’s a different stage of the tournament. It’s the semi finals and there’s a lot at stake. We just have to bring our A game.”

Michael Hussey’s latest century was another example of the hardworking, fluent and busy innings that have typified his style of play over his career

Daniel Brettig in Hobart15-Dec-2012Almost without exception, every man to enter the Australian team has described the sight of Ricky Ponting at training as close to their greatest education about what was required of an international cricketer. His intensity was unwavering, his spark ever-present, his attention to detail minute.Seldom would a session conclude without one brilliant moment of Ponting fielding, like a staggering slip catch or a precision throw to knock back one stump. Similarly, never would Ponting finish in the nets without a sense of progress around his batting, even if in latter days that was not reflected in the middle.On days one and two in Hobart, in the first match since Ponting exited the training and playing grounds for life beyond the dressing room, Michael Hussey gave a similarly comprehensive education in the ways of mature batsmanship. At 37, having watched Ponting’s decline into retirement, Hussey appears remarkably undimmed by advancing years, and remains the foremost Australian batting technician of his time.Every piece of Hussey’s game, which has so confounded Sri Lanka across six Tests dating back to 2007, was fitted into the considered and accomplished whole after careful consideration and often painful experience. Starting life as an opening batsman, he gilded his technique and mental approach with additional knowledge when dropping down the order during county matches in England. When Hussey belatedly debuted for Australia in late 2005, he was 30 years old, and had learned even to temper his customary intensity, the better to profit on the journey.”When I got to 30 and I was in the Western Australia team I had almost given up hope of playing for Australia,” Hussey said. “I was always someone who put a lot of pressure on myself and tried very hard. Almost when I took the pressure off myself and said ‘I’m not going to worry about playing for Australia, just relax’, that’s when I started performing more consistently and got my opportunity.”Once I got into the team, that was the challenge for me, to keep that mindset, try to stay relaxed, just keep enjoying my game, keep playing my way, and hopefully the same consistency would come. It’s a challenge because it’s something you want so badly and you want to do so well, it’s hard to stay relaxed, but I think that’s where I’ve been able to play my best cricket, when I’m calm.”

‘I just want to enjoy it while it lasts’

Michael Hussey knows he cannot elude the march of time forever. Having scored a century and taken a catch at gully, Hussey earned the plaudits of Sri Lanka’s coach Graham Ford, who reckoned the 37-year-old could keep going for at least another two years. But Hussey himself was careful not to laugh in the face of his advancing years, noting Ricky Ponting’s final series.

“I thought watching Ricky he’d been batting really well, his Sheffield Shield scores were fantastic, and watching him bat in the nets, and this game sometimes it just can really sort you out,” Hussey said. “I’m under no illusions that I’m sure that’s going to happen to me as well. It just takes a couple of good balls, a couple of bad shots, or a couple of things not to go your way, and you can feel under pressure as well. At the moment it seems to have been going my way, but understanding how the game goes it can turn very quickly, and I just want to try to enjoy it while it lasts.”

Possessing a startling record against Sri Lanka, Hussey said he had learned to enjoy series that began well but also rebound in those that began badly. “You get confidence from good scores if you can start a series well it does help you to relax,” he said. “I’ve been through the different sorts of challenges along the way where you haven’t started well and you can feel the pressure building. To be able to keep coming back to what you know has worked for you in the past and just believing in that, and eventually it comes back around your way.”

That delayed entry to international company filled Hussey with desire and resourcefulness to expand on his undoubted natural talent, and knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses that allowed him to grow remarkably quickly into something approaching the complete player. This is perhaps best illustrated by his still critical role for Australia in all three formats of the game – as valuable in the helter skelter of Twenty20 as he is in the extended cut and thrust of a Test.The latter was very much on display at Bellerive Oval, as Sri Lanka’s bowlers did their best to corral Australia on a pitch that was presentable on the first day but has grown subtly more difficult with each hour, and will continue to deteriorate. In recent times Hussey has shown his ability to guide Australia out of one top order crisis after another in the company of the captain Michael Clarke, and this time his commission was eased slightly by a tally of 4 for 198 when he walked to the middle.”It was sort of a pitch where you never really felt in on,” Hussey said. “There was definitely quite a bit of variable bounce, and if you get enough balls in the right area there’s a little bit of seam movement as well. It didn’t really swing as much as what I was expecting, but there’s certainly enough variable bounce there, and a couple that took off from nowhere, and that made it hard to feel really in. It’s difficult to score freely.”One of Hussey’s greatest attributes as a batsman is to score unobtrusively at times, but always regularly enough to keep himself from becoming inert. This was very evident here, as his innings contained no fewer than 49 singles. On a second morning of careful batting following Clarke’s early departure to a lively Shaminda Eranga, Hussey sustained himself at one point with 14 runs in succession collected the hard way. This had the dual benefits of keeping Hussey’s tally ticking but also rotating the strike, posing different challenges for Sri Lanka’s attack, which remained diligent throughout the period up to lunch. Apart from everything else, Hussey is an outstanding runner between the wickets.After rain lengthened the interval significantly, Australia’s priorities were changed. The time sucked out of the match, and the prospect of more delays over the next three days, lifted the emphasis on runs collected quickly, and the attack to be taken to the bowlers. Hussey and Matthew Wade lifted their rating, and after notching only two boundaries in going to his 50, he cuffed six balls to the fence and heaved another over it on his way to 115 not out.The only moment in the entire innings when Hussey lost noticeable poise was on 96, when he pulled at Shaminda Eranga’s short ball and offered a chance to Angelo Mathews on the boundary. It was the sort of chance that might have been taken this summer if offered by Ponting, but like Clarke, Hussey’s luck appears to be in. Some good fortune for Hussey was altogether fitting anyway, given the quality of the innings, and the quality of the player. Right now there is no better man in the world for an aspiring young batsman to watch.