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.”

On his 150th birth anniversary, we remember the man who found cricket a country pastime and left it a national institution

EW Swanton29-Oct-2008Dr Henry Mills Grace had a country practice outside Bristol. In 1831 he married Martha Pocock and they had eight children, four of each. A busy man, he loved cricket, taught his boys to play and had the chiefhand in founding the Gloucestershire County Club. The last but one child was William Gilbert, known to the family as Gilbert and to the world to this day, though he has been dead 80 years and more, as WG.Born on July 18, 1848, W G’s early adulthood coincided with a country-wide explosion of interest in games. The railways had arrived to bring to the cities the pastime which had been popular for centuries in the villages of southern England. In London the Marylebone Cricket Club had had their headquarters at Thomas Lord’s ground in St John’s Wood since the year of Waterloo. What was needed was a focal figure, and if ever the hour produced the man it did so in this tall, strapping young Gloucestershireman.His preponderance as a batsman came astonishingly quickly. Gentlemen v Players, Amateurs v Professionals, were the great matches of the year. He played first against the Players at 17, and the Gents won for the first time in 19 years. Thereafter, for many summers, they scarcely lost. When he was 23, on those still rough pitches, W G scored 2,739 runs, a figure unapproached for 25 years. His batting average, 78, was twice that of the next man.I must content myself with the two high peaks of his career, each testimony to his amazing stamina.In 1876 he made, in 10 days, 839 runs: 344 v Kent at Canterbury (then the highest score), 177 at Clifton against Notts, and finally, what he rated as his best innings, 318 not out at Cheltenham against Yorkshire. Don’t forget all the travel, by train and horse-drawn cab and maybe pony and trap.Then, a veteran coming up to his 47th birthday, he scored 1,000 runs in May 1895, never done before and only twice since, including his 100th hundred. No one else had made as many as 50. Seizing the publicmood, the raised £5,000 in shillings, MCC over £2,000. There never was such a hero: not even, I think, Don Bradman. Physically so unalike, these two men at the peak of cricket fame had two qualities in common: great determination and great strength of character.I have perhaps one credential for celebrating this 150th anniversary, for my father was treasurer of Forest Hill Cricket Club, where WG made one of the last of his hundreds, 140 to be exact, in July 1907 for London County. My mother helped to preside over the tea pavilion, and I’m sure she would have had me, her six-month-old baby, with her.The Old Man managed and led London County for a decade or so into the new century, living in Lawrie Park Road, Sydenham, just round the corner from my parent’s house some years later.Fifty-nine in July 1907, W G carried a lot of weight, but his energy and appetite for cricket and other games were undiminished – he made a thousand runs and took a hundred wickets in club cricket that year. Hewas a founder of the Bowls Association, and in 1903 at Crystal Palace had captained England against Scotland in the first of all international bowls matches. He had also, when over 50, taken up golfwith enthusiasm, as recorded by Bernard Darwin, who played with him in foursomes at Walton Heath. Ever a keen competitor, Darwin records his playing at Rye with his old Australian crony, Billy Murdoch. They hadboth been in some trouble when Murdoch called out: “I’ve played five”. WG: “I’ve played two less than you.”In his charming memoir Darwin wrote: “He must always be doing something, preferably out of doors, and in the nature of a game or a sport.” From youth, he had embraced all the country pastimes. He was agood shot and a skilful fisherman. Though he became too heavy to ride a horse he followed the beagles until he could no longer run. In a London ice-rink, when about 60, he took up curling. His stamina and energy and combative spirit were extraordinary from youth to old age.It happened that as a young man I played cricket with quite a few who had played with him. Young cricketers of his latter years – and he always encouraged the young – were in the late 1920s only in their40s. Cricketers went on playing a lot longer then than now, and I can see some of them still, their trousers held up by the red-and-yellow sashes of MCC: Bell, Slater, Grierson, Beaton, Colman, Bridger: nameslong forgotten. They all talked to me about W G, and they all spoke of him with great affection. So did CB Fry when he and I wrote for the in the 1930s. WG came across as a spontaneous,cheerful and wonderfully modest companion. Indeed there seems not to be anyone who knew him who was not devoted.

From youth, he had embraced all the country pastimes. He was a good shot and a skilful fisherman. Though he became too heavy to ride a horse he followed the beagles until he could no longer run. In a London ice-rink, when about 60, he took up curling

I underline this fondness and esteem because some of the writing leading up to this anniversary has been curiously ambivalent and in the case of an article in the current , in his obituary notice in the 1916 edition, painted a rather different picture: “Personally, WG struck me as the most natural and unspoilt of men. Whenever and wherever one met him he was always the same. There was not the smallest trace of affectation about him. If anything annoyed him he was quick to show anger, but his little outbursts were soon over. One word I will add. No man who ever won such worldwide fame could have been more modest in speaking of his own doings.” That is surely a fair assessment from Pardon, the prince of critics. Note the quick temper and its equally quick recovery. “Won’t have it, can’t have it, shan’t have it,” he once exploded. He and his hot-headed brother EM, the coroner, were no paragons, but the stories of WG stretching the conventions of the game, indeed at times the laws, concerned the exhibition matches, the benefit games for professionals, wherein he was the star attraction, the one all had come to see. He was a way apart from the public school amateur trained to curb his emotions. The crowds loved his robust spirit.They also loved the full beard he wore from his youth. Beards, it seems, had become popular in the Crimean War, to keep out the cold. Bax wrote: “There is no more renowned beard in all humanity”. It helped to make him the best-known man in England after another bearded figure, the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. At the recent opening of the WG Grace Exhibition at Lord’s one of the eight Grace descendants, his 93-year-old granddaughter, Mrs Primrose Worthington, told us how as little girls she and her sister were allowed to plait the famous beard, sitting on his knee.Was he truly an amateur? In that he was openly paid for playing, the answer is a clear no. The fact is he had a status of his own, accepted by all and in particular by the MCC, who shrewdly elected him a memberwhen he was 20 and indeed raised their first testimonial for him before he was 30. At the time MCC’s authority in the game was under threat from the professionals. If he had joined them, who knows? Therehe was, on the one hand studying to be a doctor at the Bristol Medical School, intending to follow his father and three elder brothers in the profession. On the other hand, the game was poised to spread rapidlyfar and wide. It was about to be lifted on his broad shoulders to unimagined heights of public popularity.WG Grace with the Prince of Wales around 1908•PA PhotosFor a decade, medicine took second place to cricket. However, in 1879, following an intense period at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the wretched exams were passed. And when, the following year, the first home Testwas staged at the Oval, the first English hundred (152 to be precise) was scored by Dr WG Grace MRCS, LRCP.A word about his doctoring: he became the parish doctor of a mostly poor district of Bristol, and for 20 years devoted himself wholly to his practice in autumn and winter. To help him out in the cricket season he employed not one locum but two. He sat up all night with a woman he had promised to see through her confinement – and made 221 not out at Clifton against Middlesex next day. At Christmas, up to 100of his patients brought two pudding basins to be filled with roast beef and plum pudding. He was kindness itself to the poor and the young, the well-loved father of the parish. This busiest phase of his life ended when some official re-arrangement of the boundaries led to his improving his financial security by accepting the managership of the new London County Cricket Club.In that June of 1899, aged 51, he played his last Test against Australia. He now gave all his energies to the London County experiment and actually, 41 years after his first encounter with the Players, played just once more – it was the 85th time – for the Gentlemen against them. In an atmosphere of such euphoria as may beimagined and on his 58th birthday he made 74. Until he tired, they said, his batting was like old times.The last the public heard from WG was a letter to the press in August 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of war, appealing to all cricketers to come to the aid of their country in its hour of need. With two sons serving – Edgar was to become an admiral – he found the slaughter of youth on the Western Front agonising. In October the following year came the stroke from which he quickly died. His epitaph can be written in the well-worn phrase: he found cricket a country pastime and left it a national institution.

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

Nishi Narayanan03-Mar-2009

I can tell you it can be unnerving to sit across from the world’s No. 1 batsman and bowler. Halfway through the interview an errant ball from the nearby nets smacks our bowler full on the leg. A wince and a glare later the conversation is back on. Rattled at the thought that a few inches this way would have meant my leg, I lose my train of thought. But Isa Guha is unflustered; bruised but not shaken.England’s Claire Taylor and Guha lead the ICC women’s rankings for batting and bowling respectively and with the World Cup round the corner, other teams must wish they’d be as gentle with the ball as they are with questions in an interview.But that is not likely to happen. England are a team that Guha says has turned “just a little bit more ruthless” since their third-place finish in the Quadrangular Series in Chennai in 2007. Guha and Taylor have strong back-up in the side, and today, apart from the hosts Australia, England are the strongest contenders to the world title, which they last won in 1993. No one would have bet on that as recently as two years ago.England returned from India – having lost six out of seven games – only to lose 3-2 to New Zealand. They were clearly uninspired as they headed to Australia for the Ashes. However, after an initial hiccup they transformed it into their most successful tour Down Under and haven’t looked back since.At just what point did they begin to peel away the rot that had set in? Guha agrees the Quadrangular was a turning point. “We went in to the tournament thinking we’d beat every team but we didn’t, so we reassessed,” she said. “We were getting into situations where it’s the last five overs and we were losing the game. We realised we had to be mentally tougher.”Taylor pinpoints the final game in Chennai, where England beat India to take the third place, as the first time in a long time that they had played competitively for 100 overs. “Before that we were competitive for around 50 to 60 overs which is not enough,” Taylor said. “I think we’re getting better at touring abroad in the winter. This winter [2008-09] we got off to a very slow start in Australia. We lost the warm-up game but we got better through the tour and played really well in New Zealand on the fast tracks.”Since the Quadrangular, England have won six out of eight games in which Taylor has scored 40 or more. In the same period, of the 30 batsmen Guha has dismissed, 14 fell between 1 and 9 runs and nine were out for ducks.

Enjoying the form of their lives, the two say they feel a sense of invincibility when they are in the zone. “It’s as if the bowlers are bowling where you want them to,” Taylor said. “You reach a certain stage where the field is set just as you’d like it, the run-rate is where you need it and the ball pitches where you want it to.”Taylor’s own performance turned for the better after her personal coach, Mark Lane, (now England’s coach) returned from an assignment in Kenya in 2005 shortly before the Ashes. “I had a few sessions just before our series against Australia – I had a really good one-day series and then we won the Ashes. He is someone who concentrates on creating effective cricketers. I also went back to work and the balance in my life has been so much better since that time.”Guha thinks she arrived as a bowler in the Bowral Test in 2008, where she took nine wickets in England’s six-wicket win. “From 2003 I have been working on changing my action. Toby Radford, the current Middlesex coach, helped me through that winter and summer. My action was mixed, which was making me inconsistent. So I had to learn how to transfer the consistency I picked up from the nets to matches, while also making it an unconscious one. Since that Test it’s been about adding to my armoury, working on the slower ball – things that will be effective in an ODI.”What helped both do better was the decision to split the squad during the off season and get some of the players to play in Australia and New Zealand, thereby stretching the months of competitive outdoor cricket. This will be England’s USP at the World Cup and their performance there could prompt other teams to try the experiment as well. “The effect of splitting the squad means some people can stay at home and work indoors with the coaches on their technique and it’s up to the guys who go away to ensure they get the right coaching and play some good cricket,” Taylor said. By the time the World Cup comes around, Guha, who left for Australia in November, would have had four months, along with other squad members, to adjust and familiarise herself with the conditions.However, the longer they choose to play in a year, the less money they can earn – a paradoxical situation when seen through the lens of men’s cricket. The England women have Chance to Shine contracts, where they get paid to coach 25 hours a week for a period of eight months. If they have other jobs, they can cut down on the coaching time, which means they get paid less. However, Taylor and Guha, who hold down jobs and don’t avail of the Chance to Shine contracts, feel it is the next best thing to having central contracts like the men. “It’s the most secure part-time job you can get, with a salary coming in every month,” Taylor said. “So the girls can think about renting a house and have plenty of time over the weekend to train. The four months remaining are when we are supposed to be out touring, so there’s plenty of time off as well.

“I work part-time and Isa works in laboratories. It’s really tough for those who are just leaving university to make the choice between playing or [whether to] get a job and get on the career ladder or the housing ladder. Or someone like Beth Morgan who stood first in university but chose to make a commitment to cricket.” Guha said she worked in labs because it was the career she wanted to pursue. “But a lot of the girls playing in Australia are doing a bit of coaching work.”Taylor was faced with the dilemma of whether to pick cricket over a regular job when she left university. “I joined a big multinational company and was working there for four years when I was told I had to cut back on the cricket and spend more time on work and think about being a better manager. In the end I took redundancy after four years and did what Isa is doing now – I went to New Zealand in the winter and played as a semi-pro cricketer. People do have to make tough choices, and when you sacrifice something you respect the game more.”Sticking it out has certainly helped. Today the merger with the ECB, working contracts, and sponsors have given the game in England a much-needed boost.”All the teams are much fitter than they used to be, which will prove important when we play three weeks of intensive cricket during the World Cup,” Guha said. “We got good coverage when we played a Twenty20 ahead of the men at the MCG.” Point out that it was the game where Australia’s Ellyse Perry hit her for a six into the stands – a feat not many had expected to see in the women’s game – and she sighs. “Everyone keeps reminding me of that! But you know, it’s good for the game.””A couple of years ago we played most of the 1993 World Cup-winning side at Lord’s for a charity event, and they were all commenting on how much harder we hit the ball these days,” Taylor said.As senior players, Taylor and Guha must take charge of England’s campaign. Australia may be favourites for the tournament they will host, but England will make them uneasy. And leading the list of those they’d like to see the least are the world’s best batsman and bowler.

On the eve of the final, Cricinfo takes a look at how Bangalore got there

Kanishkaa Balachandran23-May-2009Bangalore’s turnaround came about when Anil Kumble took over the captaincy•AFPMatch 1 v Rajasthan Royals in Cape Town

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The result shocked everybody. Last year’s champions, Rajasthan Royals, were humbled in the most embarrassing manner by Bangalore, who finished second from last the previous year. They scratched out 133 and in reply, Rajasthan crashed to 58. It was a day for the old folks – Shane Warne was at his mesmeric best, Rahul Dravid scored 66 and Anil Kumble returned astonishing figures of 5 for 5, cleaning up the lower order.Match 2 v Chennai Super Kings in Port Elizabeth

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Bangalore saw the other side of the coin in the following match, collapsing to 87. Matthew Hayden rolled back the years with a brisk 65 as Chennai Super Kings piled on an imposing 179. Bangalore were out of the contest when they lost five wickets for 26 runs before the 11th over.Match 3 v Deccan Chargers in Cape Town

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For the second game in succession, Bangalore were batted out of the contest. Adam Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma slammed half-centuries, scored 123 between them off 75 deliveries, with 88 of them coming in boundary hits. Bangalore lost a wicket without having scored a run for the third time in a row and struggled to keep with the asking rate. Virat Kohli managed a fifty but the rescue effort came too late.Match 4 v Kings XI Punjab in Durban

Kings XI Punjab 173 for 3 (Bopara 84) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 168 for 9 (Kallis 62, Abdulla 4-31, Pathan 3-35) by seven wickets
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The euphoria of their opening win was followed by three successive defeats as Bangalore went down comprehensively to Kings XI Punjab. The match was best remembered for Ravi Bopara’s ice-cool and risk-free 84, helping Punjab overhaul the target with ease. Bangalore were set for a much higher total but lost their way towards the end of the innings.Match 5 v Delhi Daredevils in Port Elizabeth
Delhi Daredevils 150 for 4 (Dilshan 67*) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 149 for 7 (Pietersen 37, Nehra 2-34) by six wickets
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Bangalore had a chance to upset the tournament favourites when their weak bowling attack kept them in the game longer than most people expected. However, their fielding went to pieces towards the end, which allowed Delhi to get away. The image of Pietersen bowled through the gate after attempting a switch-hit symbolised Bangalore’s shambolic state of affairs at this stage.Match 6 v Kolkata Knight Riders in Durban

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Down and out, Bangalore turned the corner against an equally insecure team, but they huffed and puffed to victory. Bangalore’s spinners restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to a below-par total and their batsmen put them on track to an easy win before a sudden collapse gave Kolkata hope. Ten were needed off the last over and Bangalore emerged the deserved winners thanks to Mark Boucher’s heroics.Match 7 v Kings XI Punjab in Durban
Royal Challengers Bangalore 145 for 9 (van der Merwe 35, Abdulla 4-36, Yuvraj 3-22) beat Kings XI Punjab 137 for 7 (Yuvraj 50, Praveen 2-27, Kumble 2-25) by eight runs
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Yuvraj Singh stole the show with a hat-trick to keep Bangalore to 145 and he seemed to make the match his own when he strolled to a fifty. But at the stroke of the time-out, Bangalore scripted one of the most amazing turnarounds thanks to Kumble and Roelof van der Merwe. Fortunes oscillated towards the end and Bangalore prevailed under pressure when Praveen Kumar bowled an amazing final over to seal the game.Match 8 v Mumbai Indians in Johannesburg
Royal Challengers Bangalore 150 for 1 (Kallis 69*, Uthappa 66*) beat Mumbai Indians 149 for 4 (Jayasuriya 52, Bravo 50*, du Preez 3-32) by nine wickets
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The once-whipping boys of the tournament meant business against the strong Mumbai bowling attack, strolling to one of the easiest chases in the tournament. The little-known Dillon du Preez set the tone with a double-wicket maiden and that kept Mumbai under check for most part. Robin Uthappa and Jacques Kallis led the chase with brisk sixties and Bangalore, all of a sudden, were in the top four.Match 9 v Rajasthan Royals in Centurion

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Rajasthan had their revenge following a spineless effort by Bangalore’s batsmen. Rajasthan’s bowlers got the measure of the pitch better, keeping the ball short and restricting the opposition to 105. Their counterparts failed to exploit the bounce and overall it was a no-contest simply because there was no cushion of runs to work with.Match 10 v Mumbai Indians in Port Elizabeth

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Bangalore cracked again, this time against a team desperate for a win after being pushed into a corner. Chasing 158, the Bangalore top order failed to click and felt the heat at 58 for 4 at the strategy break. The loss of wickets only piled the pressure on Boucher who made an unbeaten 48 with little support from the other end. It wasn’t a great day for Bangalore’s bowlers either, who managed to pick up only two wickets.Match 11 v Kolkata Knight Riders in Centurion
by six wickets
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Ross Taylor’s blinder of an unbeaten 81 off 33 balls symbolised Bangalore’s late resurgence, one which made them contenders for the semi-final line-up. They looked out of depth in the chase of 174 but later feasted on some shoddy death bowling. Taylor’s brutal assault overshadowed Kolkata’s admirable batting display and gave Bangalore much-needed self belief following some inconsistent results.The misfit from the previous edition, Jacques Kallis, was a valuable asset with both bat and ball in familiar conditions•Associated PressMatch 12 v Chennai Super Kings in Durban

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It was a tale of batting collapses from both sides. Bangalore survived a Hayden-assault to keep Chennai down to 129 and were coasting at 86 for 3 in the 15th over before hell broke loose. The calm Taylor held firm in the nervy moments of the chase and helped Bangalore across the finish line. It was Praveen Kumar’s six in the penultimate over which swing the game in Bangalore’s favour.Match 13 v Delhi Daredevils in Johannesburg

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There were no such anxious moments against a strong Delhi outfit. Jacques Kallis played an important role in keeping Delhi to a chaseable score with a restrictive spell, before shepherding the chase with an assured half-century. Praveen did the damage with 3 for 30 and the below-par target of 135 was approached intelligently by the top order.Match 14 v Deccan Chargers in Centurion

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Bangalore unearthed a talent in Manish Pandey who became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL. Sent up to open, Pandey single-handedly led Bangalore’s charge with some fierce hits to push his team to 170. It was game on when Herschelle Gibbs waded into the attack but the script turned Bangalore’s way once the spinners came on and make Deccan’s task tougher by plugging at the wickets. The win sealed Bangalore’s semi-final berth.Semi-final v Chennai Super Kings in Johannesburg

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Bangalore were one step away from the summit clash and batted with the intent of avenging the embarrassment of the last season. They overcame a strong start from Chennai’s openers to restrict them to 146 before unleashing Pandey again. His stylish strokes demoralised Chennai and Rahul Dravid at the other end was just as imposing. After suffering a minor hiccup, Bangalore made it through and set up the final clash with last year’s no-hopers Deccan Chargers.

Chandika Hathurusingha has changed the outlook of three cricketers and made them permanent fixtures in the one-day team

Sa'adi Thawfeeq04-Oct-2009In the past two months or so if the once vulnerable Sri Lanka middle-order batting has shown some form of consistency in one-day internationals it is due to the presence of batsmen like Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby and Angelo Mathews. What is common with all three players is that they have at some point of their career come up against Chandika Hathurusingha, the former A team coach and presently shadow coach of the national team. What Hathurusingha has done to change the outlook of these players and make them permanent fixtures in the one-day team is simply amazing.Take the case of Samaraweera, who was initially an overly defensive player and rated as a batsman good enough only to play Test cricket. A poor tour of England in 2006 saw him dropped from the Test side. In order to regain his form he was made captain of the Sri Lanka A team that toured England in 2007 and it was then that he met Hathurusingha, who was the coach. What Hathurusingha did to Samaraweera is now history.He transformed Samaraweera from an introvert into an extrovert and opened up new avenues in his batting that had been unexplored for so many years. When he returned to the Sri Lankan team 17 months later against Australia at Brisbane in 2007, everyone saw a new-look Samaraweera who was prepared to score runs from ball one. His new approach not only saw Samaraweera accumulate a mountain of runs – he is only the second batsman for 2009 to score 1000 runs in Tests in a calendar year – but has eventually led to him finding a place in the one-day side. It is something that was unimaginable three years ago.Samaraweera soon established himself in the one-day side by scoring his maiden century in this format of the game last month. It is not so much his personal contributions that mattered but his ability to build partnerships which has brought about a great degree of solidity to the Sri Lanka one-day middle order. He bats at no. 5.The case of Kandamby is different. He was a batsman who didn’t believe in his own batting ability. He would go about using up 30 balls to score 15 runs and after four ODI appearances for his country in 2004 he was virtually lost to international cricket. Even in domestic cricket Kandamby would make a good 90 and then throw his wicket away. The change about him came after he left Bloomfield and joined SSC in 2007.Kandamby scored heavily that season and helped SSC win the Premier League championship. His own personal contribution to that victory was 822 runs at 68.5, with three centuries, including a career best 202. Kandamby then came under Hathurusingha when he was picked to lead Sri Lanka A in the 2007 tour of South Africa.One of the first things that Hathurusingha did was to get Kandamby to lose weight and change his style of living. “The lifestyle that Kandamby was enjoying at that time was not suitable for cricket,” said Hathurusingha. “We gave him a fitness guide to make sure he lost weight and was light on his feet.”Kandamby never believed in himself. He never believed how good he was. I knew he had the potential to make it. The few changes I made to him are that I got him thinking about cricket and his lifestyle. He’s got a good cricket brain and he could one day captain his country.”Since his return to the Sri Lanka team against Zimbabwe in 2008, Kandamby has been in outstanding form; he now enjoys a one-day career batting average of 37 and a strike rate of 70. In his last 17 ODIs since his return, Kandamby has scored five half-centuries, which include two unbeaten knocks in the nineties against India where he ran out of partners before he could complete his century. Some international scribes have started comparing him with Arjuna Ranatunga, whose rotund physique he resembles. He is also a left-hand batsman like Ranatunga and bats at No.6.”Thilina Kandamby’s got a good cricket brain and he could one day captain his country.”•AFP”The advantage I have with these players is I have played with them and know them very well,” said Hathurusingha . “Each of the players has to be tackled differently. Some respond fast and grasp the points quickly others are slow and need to be told several times while there are others where you have to give it to them in writing.”It’s all about asking questions. When you explore options only you find out how much more you can learn and expand your game. You need to push them to the limit to find out what they have. There is always room for improvement.”When I was A team coach it was all about continuous improvement. If it doesn’t work out you can always come back to what you have. What I have given them is the confidence and the freedom to improve their game. That way they have grown in confidence. I can only give them options the rest is up to them.”Mathews is one of three players who Hathurusingha predicted as possessing the potential to make it to the national side after the A tour to South Africa in 2007. The other two were Tharanga Paranavitana and Suranga Lakmal. Two months later Mathews was making his ODI debut in Zimbabwe where he quickly displayed his potential as a brilliant allrounder. Mathews has not looked back since scoring a fifty in this third ODI, and has fulfilled the role of allrounder in all three formats in a matter of ten months. So much so that he has managed to keep Farveez Maharoof out of the reckoning.”Mathews is an intelligent cricketer who knows how to adapt to certain situations without being told. He is a self-learner and doesn’t rely on anyone. You don’t have to push him. He is very good at building on whatever information he is given and improving on it,” said Hathurusingha. “I found about Mathews’ potential during the tour to South Africa where he scored an undefeated 99 when we were chasing 250 to win. He showed a lot of maturity with that knock. I made it a point to make that innings a good example for every player to learn from.”Hathurusingha recalled an incident involving a selector on tour in South Africa where he was questioned why he batted Mathews at No.4 when he was being groomed as an allrounder. Hathurusingha’s reply was Mathews had to first get selected to the national team and to do that he must have enough runs behind him; that is why he batted him at No.4. Now Mathews bats at No.7 for his country.According to Hathurusingha, wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva is waiting on the sidelines to make it to the national team along with fast bowlers Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal and Chanaka Welagedara. “It is only the presence of the best wicketkeeper in the world today, Prasanna Jayawardene, that is keeping Kaushal from making it to the Test side. But he is a cricketer who can adapt to any format of the game if the opportunity arises.”

Reactions to South Africa’s defeat in yet another ICC event

Telford Vice and Firdose Moonda13-May-2010South Africa were woefully short of runs and ideas at the ICC World Twenty20, but they aren’t lacking for compatriots offering harsh criticism, explanations for what went wrong, and remedies for the future.The Proteas crashed out of the tournament after losing three of their five matches. That continues a trend of South Africa entering ICC tournaments among the favourites, only to fail to live up to their billing. South Africa’s only success in ICC events was achieved at the Wills International Cup, also known as the ICC Knockout, in Dhaka in 1998. They have since faltered in two World Cup semi-finals and a quarter-final, three Champions Trophy (or ICC Knockout) semi-finals, and one World Twenty20 semi-final. In five other ICC tournaments, including all three they have played on home soil, South Africa have been eliminated before the sudden-death stages.All of which has earned them a reputation as chokers. But that’s not what happened in the Caribbean, according to Craig Matthews, who was on the selection panel that was sacked wholesale in January. “I don’t think we choked this time,” Matthews said. “We never played well enough to choke. South Africa should be able to pick half a team against Afghanistan and still win, and we didn’t beat them that comfortably. We were horrendous against India and ordinary against New Zealand, and comprehensively beaten by Pakistan.”Matthews laid some of the blame for South Africa’s poor showing at the door of the IPL. “The IPL doesn’t help other teams. The only South African who benefitted from playing in the IPL was Jacques Kallis. The rest of them all sat on the sidelines.”South Africa’s batting mindset was also part of the problem, Matthews said. “We were very tactically unaware. The Powerplay overs are absolutely vital, and we never made proper use of them.”South African batting legend Graeme Pollock was scathing in his criticism of the current crop. “The two run-chases, against England and Pakistan, were two of the most amateurish I’ve ever seen,” he said. “We were slow in getting off the mark, and consequently later in the innings we needed too many runs to stay in the game.”Pollock was alarmed at how far below their abilities South Africa had performed. “The days of carrying young players must be over; there is huge experience in that side now, and there are too many good players in the team for them to play this poorly.”The proof of the pudding that South Africa made of their challenge to win their first ICC silverware in 12 years, Pollock said, was in the preparation. “[Graeme] Smith was coming back from injury, and a lot of the guys who were playing in the IPL didn’t get many games.” He urged soul searching and change at the highest levels: “They’re going to have to take a good, long, hard look at the system after this.”Former selector Hugh Page also took a swipe at South Africa’s batsmen. “There seemed to be no urgency in the batting,” Page said. “You can’t not score a boundary in nine overs, as they did against Pakistan, and expect to win.”Page said South Africa’s batting tactics negated the edge they had in terms of talent, skill and experience. “We seem to have a conservative approach to Twenty20 cricket. I’d rather see us having a go, even if we end up losing. I hear a lot of talk from our guys about playing risk-free cricket. If you’re not going to take a few risks in a Twenty20 match, you’re going to lose.”

South Africa should be able to pick half a team against Afghanistan and still win, and we didn’t beat them that comfortably. We were horrendous against India and ordinary against New Zealand, and comprehensively beaten by PakistanFormer selector Craig Matthews

Other teams could teach South Africa important lessons about succeeding in the shortest format of the game. “In every other side, there’s a young player – sometimes two – who will go after the bowling early in the innings,” Page said. “South Africa put Loots Bosman up there in the first two matches, but he seemed to be batting to instructions. He wasn’t himself.”I’d like to more young players to be given an opportunity,” Page added, “players like [Dolphins batsman] David Miller. He might not have the experience, but in a place like Australia he’d probably be given a go.”For HD Ackerman, who played four Tests for South Africa, one of two things could have gone wrong: “Either we were woefully unprepared or we just didn’t know what we were doing.” He strengthened his argument for the latter, given that South Africa “changed their combinations with both bat and ball to the extent that it didn’t look as though every player knew what his specific role was”.Ackerman was critical of the batting, saying South Africa should have decided on a line-up before the World Twenty20 started. “If you win the tournament, you play a maximum of eight matches. So why did they take four opening batsmen? They should have settled on the opening pair before leaving, and taken one extra in case that didn’t work. “If the personnel are going to remain the same, Smith and Kallis should continue opening and de Villiers should come in at three.”The bowling didn’t escape Ackerman’s notice, particularly the omission of the in-form Rusty Theron. “Theron has done all he needs to do to get a game. He has won matches at provincial level, not just by getting people out but by defending runs in the final overs. Perhaps they didn’t use him because he has only ever played provincial cricket, but he deserved a chance.”Ackerman said South Africa should build a specialist Twenty20 squad, in the same way that teams like England and Australia have done. “We need to find a squad of about 14 guys, some of them straight out of provincial sides – such as David Miller from the Dolphins – and play them in every 20-over game until the next World Cup. Even if they lose games to Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies, that’s the only way to build a side. We need players who can play without fear, like David Warner and Suresh Raina, and at the moment we don’t seem to have that.”Two such bravehearts who missed out on the selection for the World Twenty20 squad because of injury, Justin Kemp and Wayne Parnell, thought some of their team-mates were lacking in match practice, particularly because of limited opportunities during the IPL. “The main batters hardly got any game time,” said Parnell.”AB de Villiers only played at the beginning stages for the Delhi Daredevils and JP Duminy only played towards the end for Mumbai, while a lot of the rest didn’t play at all,” Kemp said. “Then take someone like Albie Morkel, who was a regular for the Chennai Super Kings. When he needed to perform with the bat, he did.”Both Parnell and Kemp singled out batting as the problem area, but Parnell said South Africa didn’t bowl as well they could have. However, he stopped short of saying he could have made a significant difference: “From a personal perspective, I was very disappointed that I wasn’t given opportunity to repeat the way I performed at last year’s World Twenty20.”Former South Africa batsman Boeta Dippenaar said the problems were largely mental. “They are one of the hardest working and practising teams,” Dippenaar said. “I have not seen a team train as hard as they do, but other teams spend a fair amount of time preparing in other ways. “Cricket is only 30% physical and 70% mental. South Africans train 120% physically but they neglect the psychological side of things.”South Africa roped in Henning Gericke, a respected sports psychologist, before the World Twenty20, but Dippenaar thought too much was expected of him in too short a time. He added that psychological training needed to be implemented from franchise level, so by the time players reached the international stage, they already had the right attitude. For that to happen, he thinks a mindset shift needs to occur in South African cricket.Jonty Rhodes has warned against making short-term personnel changes•Getty Images”Traditionally, South African coaches are quite rigid and are reluctant to appoint someone to take care of the mental side,” Dippenaar said. “Usually, psychologists are only appointed for crisis management and by then it’s too late.” Dippenaar said that without a real effort being made to change that attitude, personnel switches would have no effect. “We can, say, drop Jacques Kallis or drop Mark Boucher but that won’t solve the problem of the team’s non-performance at major tournaments time and time again.”Omar Henry, a former convenor of selectors, also said the problem lay between the players’ ears. “Everyone who wants to play for South Africa needs to take ownership of the responsibility that comes with that,” Henry told eNews, a television channel. “That responsibility involves mental toughness just as much as it does technique and the ability to score runs and take wickets.”Former batsman Jonty Rhodes cautioned against chopping and changing. “For us to sit back and say we need new faces to start up fresh is not the way to go,” Rhodes told eNews. “That’s the panic route.”

In a league of inconsistent teams, Kolkata were punished because their troughs tended to be so much deeper than everyone else’s

Cricinfo staff20-Apr-2010MS Dhoni’s massive six-hitting half a country away may have all but ended Kolkata Knight Riders’ chances of making the semi-finals, but the spectators still turned up in their thousands at the Eden Gardens on Monday evening, braving searing summer heat and oppressive humidity. Some came wearing the old black shirt, others were in the new purple one; some had the team logo painted on their faces, while others walked along bemoaning the loss to Kings XI Punjab that had dealt such a crippling blow to their hopes of progress.After what had transpired outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, getting inside the ground was no stroll either. Even those with media credentials had their bags checked four or five times, and there were nervous whinnying police horses to get past before the gates could be glimpsed. Inside, with two of the bigger stands yet to be rebuilt before the World Cup next year, there were a few empty spaces.A season that had begun so promisingly had been pretty much ended by a man who first caught the eye with his big-hitting in Kolkata’s club cricket. The sense of anticlimax intensified with the announcement of the Mumbai Indians team. No Sachin Tendulkar, no Kieron Pollard, no Lasith Malinga, no Harbhajan Singh, no Zaheer Khan. Dwayne Bravo was captain.For Kolkata to have made the last four, they would have needed to bat first and win by close to 175 runs. When they lost the toss, even that possibility, slim though it was, was extinguished. It didn’t lessen the noise though, and a couple of the more inexperienced Mumbai players seemed quite unnerved by the atmosphere.Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu , who had started the season so well, were unfazed but the makeshift XI lost too many wickets at crucial times. Each wicket was cheered, but the biggest applause of the night was reserved for Sourav Ganguly, who had made something of a habit of taking stunning catches this season. The latest grab at midwicket left him winded, but it epitomised a committed effort that belied their position in the lower reaches of the table.With the bat, Ganguly was no less a factor, smacking Ali Murtaza for a six in the opening over. This was a chase devoid of drama and after a while even the crowd lost its fizz. It would rouse itself each time Ganguly or Brendon McCullum found the rope, but most had probably slipped into what-might-have-been mode.Their first victory in six attempts against Mumbai was clinched with 15 balls to spare but by then Ganguly had departed, miscuing one to backward point. Over the past few days, there have been some media reports suggesting he could be a target for the new Sahara-owned Pune franchise and a fresh auction is scheduled for September or October. If this was Ganguly’s last act in a Kolkata jersey, it was a winning one.Once the parties are over and reflection takes hold, Kolkata will reflect on a season that was a massive improvement on last year’s joke, but still left them as the only franchise not to make a semi-final. Ganguly finished with 493 runs, Murali Kartik was easily the pick of the Indian spinners, and Ashok Dinda appeared to regain the spark that had pushed him to the fringes of national selection in 2008.Shane Bond didn’t take as many wickets as some might have hoped, and the injury to Charl Langeveldt was a real blow, but Kolkata were let down by underwhelming displays from Chris Gayle and McCullum when the stakes were most high. Ishant Sharma’s descent from pace-bowling hope to buffet bowler was just as damaging, and the franchise will hope Jaidev Unadkat’s career follows a different trajectory.In the end, Kolkata finished as one of six teams with at least seven wins to their name. The net run-rate though was beyond redemption, stuck in the minuses as a result of some crushing defeats. Afterwards, Ganguly spoke of the failure to defend 200 against Kings XI and the poor batting in the second half of an innings in Bangalore. In a league of inconsistent teams, Kolkata were punished because their troughs tended to be so much deeper than everyone else’s.With the clock moving towards midnight, they streamed out quietly, seeking the buses, trains and cabs that would take them home. Up above Gate 1, a billboard had the team’s motto: Miles to Go, Promises to Keep. The first part was depressingly true. The second, despite Ganguly’s sterling efforts and the improvements supervised by Dav Whatmore, wasn’t.

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.”

The side is not inexperienced, just the development of many has been stunted from a lack of Tests

Osman Samiuddin at the MCG30-Dec-2009Over the course of five days at the MCG, one truth about Pakistan gradually emerged from the strange haze of timidity and gloom and the starburst of youth: the fallout of 2008, their Year of No Tests, is not to be underestimated. By the end of the Sydney Test next week, Pakistan willhave played 18 Tests in three years. Australia will have played 32 in the same period by then. And only one Pakistani – Kamran Akmal – has actually played in every one of those 18 Tests.Test cricket requires strange ways of men. It has its own disciplines and rhythms and it isn’t for everyone. Patience is needed, but not at the expense of alertness; lethargy is loathed but not always punished, where sometimes rushing things is. Sensing and riding the flow of a Test, of asession, of a period or situation is critical and it comes only over time. But if, like Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Asif and to an extent even Mohammad Yousuf, you have not been playing Tests regularly, these things are missed. And it hurts. The side is not inexperienced, just the development of many has been stunted from a lack of Test cricket.Pakistan had good periods in Melbourne, good passages, mostly on the third and fourth day. But as happened in Sri Lanka and New Zealand earlier this year, those passages cannot be sustained. Good sessions are followed by flat ones, other crucial sessions they start off too slowly, concentration levels are poor at the start of sessions.Catches are dropped at stages when they can be least afforded, runs are given away cheaply just after wickets are picked up, wickets are thrown away just when batsmen are set: recognising the importance of what is happening when you are doing well and why it is happening is as critical to sustaining it as anything else. Not being able to do it is Pakistan’smisery.Batsmen have been hit particularly hard by this intermittency of Tests. Numbers are not needed, only memory: how many batsmen were set in this Test, and in Tests against New Zealand and Sri Lanka when dismissed? The batting gods do not forgive that sin readily. In their last 14 Testinnings now, Pakistan have crossed 350 – a basic minimum Test score – only twice. Younis Khan is no magic wand either for he was present on six of those occasions.Admittedly Pakistan teams – even winning sides – have always reacted to their own, inconsistent rhythms and moods, session to session, day to day, but usually they have had men who can defy everything and win a Test from nothing. No such blessing is at hand just currently. The lack of Tests is hurting; coupled with the many basic issues Pakistan have always had -catching, slack running, fielding in general – it hurts doubly hard.But if you’re an optimist – and there are more of them per square mile than there ought to be in Pakistan – then the way to look at a tenth successive defeat against Australia would be to suggest that despite all this they managed to push Australia on some days. Depending on how you rate a nine-wicket defeat, a 170-run loss is the closest in terms of result between the two sides for five Tests and some years probably. At a stretch, they were still in with a shout as the final day dawned and certainly the captain thought so.There was no humiliation here – though avoiding that is hardly an ambition – even if Australia declared twice. And it took, Ricky Ponting said later, the best bowling performance from an Australian side since the days of McGrath and Warne to win it.There remains hope for Sydney. Something needs to be done about the fielding and batting, though little can be done on a tour. They will hope that the young can maintain their verve. Every day that the Test developed it became clearer too the folly of Umar Gul’s omission and DanishKaneria’s absence was felt. That is the smaller picture and similar stuff could probably be said for just about every loss Pakistan have had for a while, maybe ever. The bigger picture is that they go to Sydney with at least one more Test’s experience than they came into Melbourne with.