All posts by n8rngtd.top

A graphical analysis of Virender Sehwag’s unbeaten 309

28-Mar-2008

More than half of Sehwag’s runs came on the off side, perhaps an indication that the South African bowlers generally stuck to a line around the off stump. They did stray in their length though – 83 of Sehwag’s 185 runs on the off side came behind square.

Sehwag was at ease against all the bowlers, with only Morne Morkel and Paul Harris conceding less than a run-a-ball against him. He was particularly harsh on Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis. He scored exactly an 100 against the left-arm spin of Paul Harris, against whom he pulled off quite a few reverse-sweeps.

Sehwag dominated India’s batting, outscoring his partners by a 2:1 ratio in the two double-century stands. Opening with Jaffer, Sehwag made 134 out of 213, while Jaffer managed 73. Rahul Dravid and Sehwag were surely in different gears; Dravid could only score 65 off 181 deliveries while Sehwag plundered 175 off 140. The only measure in which Dravid matched Sehwag was in terms of dot balls – Dravid didn’t score off 145 deliveries, the same for Sehwag was 152. Jaffer wasn’t far behind, with 127 dot balls.

Sehwag’s strike-rate, shown here in 25-run slots, had ups and downs. His first hundred came off 116 deliveries, and his innings took off after the 125-run mark, and he rushed from 175 to 200 in just eight balls, a strike-rate of over 300. He motored at a strike-rate of 150 from 200 to 250, and even at the end, after a full day in the Chennai heat, he managed nearly a run a ball.

Sriram Veera watches the Ranji Trophy final come to end, from up close

Sriram Veera17-Jan-2009

In the stands a lady in a glided towards the far end to sit in the shade. In the tier above the sightscreen, where final touches were still being done to the structure, a labourer walked across alone with a cement bag. The rest of the crowd, sparse but very vocal, were chanting the Indian fan’s mantra – “Sachin … Sachin!”. In the middle, the game, with Uttar Pradesh struggling at nine wickets down, was wobbling towards its death.Tendulkar turned around towards the crowd and moved his arm as if bowling a leg break. The crowd roared. They have wanted him to bowl for a while now. Tendulkar pointed to Wasim Jaffer, Mumbai’s captain standing next to him in the slips, and suggested in jest that it was up to him. The crowd roared again. The next over, Tendulkar bowled.In the UP dressing room Mohammad Kaif led the laughter. The third delivery whirred in the air invitingly and Amir Khan edged his drive to first slip where Sahil Kukreja spilled it. The crowd sighed. It was pure theatre. More laughter broke out in both the dressing rooms.The tea break intervened. In the UP area, Parvinder Singh, one of the semi-final heroes, turned philosophical, sipping his tea. , ‘luck doesn’t play a part in cricket’, Parvinder started his cricket seven years back and was in and out of the side before getting his first full season this year and hopefully has sealed his spot with a big ton in the semi-final. He was also referring to the dropped chances given to the centurion Rohit Sharma in the first innings and the numerous times the ball went past the edge, but it was sort of a statement on his own career as well. “I will make sure I play for UP at this level as long as possible,” he said.Outside, a member of the UP contingent promised reporters he would bring more of the special made-only-in Allahabad “Dohra”, an indigenous preparation of tobacco. Sudeep Tyagi, the highest wicket-taker last year but out of the playing XI now, struggling to come to terms with his changed action, spoke about his intended visit to the National Cricket Academy this week and about his hope for a better new year.In the Mumbai area, everyone eagerly waited for the game to end. The celebration had started last evening in the hotel. , a popular Hindi film number, blared as players, Tendulkar included, danced around. And today Mumbai’s 38th Ranji triumph came at 3.22 pm when Praveen Gupta, who hit the winning runs in the semi-final, edged to Kukreja, who didn’t make any mistake this time. And the usual melee ensued.Stumps were uprooted from the earth for souvenirs and the Mumbai dressing room emptied on to the playing field. Kaif rushed out of the dressing room and led his team to shake hands with Mumbai’s players.And then, more of the same. Camera ‘no 7’ broke down just before the prize ceremony. Another camera was hurriedly brought in and the show continued. UP retreated and Mumbai continued with their Kodak moment. More laughter and camera flashes. The frenzy continued in the dressing room where champagne bubbled and Sula wine and beer drenched the floor. But there was a flight to catch and the players filed out one by one to the team bus. More Tendulkar moments. Some happy, some well …A Mumbai player was talking to a reporter when Tendulkar emerged from the room. A security guard tried to clear the way but unknowingly shoved the player out of the way. The player stumbled, held his balance some how, shrugged his shoulder, smiled and stepped aside. It comes with the territory of playing with a legend. A crowd had gathered outside waiting to catch a glimpse of their Tendulkar. And they erupted at the sight of their beloved. Tendulkar waved. The crowd grew delirious. All was well with the world.

The cricket’s been prosaic rather than nail-biting, and some of the leading actors appear to have forgotten where the stage is

Cricinfo staff19-Oct-2008

Eight days into the series, and the script has already been blown off course. The cricket’s been prosaic rather than nail-biting, and some of the leading actors appear to have forgotten where the stage is. If you’d told Australia Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh would have figures of 5 for 399 after three innings, there would have been a smile as wide as the Nullarbor Plain on Ricky Ponting’s face. If you’d told the Indians Brett Lee would take only three wickets at a cost of 66, there would have been few complaints.Matthew Hayden, the run machine of 2001 and the scorer of three centuries in Australia last year, has 13 runs and two blobs to his name so far, while VVS Laxman, scourge of Australian attacks this decade, has just 54. Michael Clarke, he of the dazzling footwork and 400 runs from 2004, has struggled to 40 runs in three knocks and his inability to pick Amit Mishra’s wonderful googly from round the wicket late on the second day told you quite a bit about the anxiety that seems to have gripped his game.Mishra will hog the limelight on Sunday evening after showcasing almost all the qualities you need to be a fine practitioner of cricket’s most demanding art, but Australia’s debutant, Peter Siddle, too impressed with tidy spells on a surface that was a world apart from what he usually finds at the MCG. Mitchell Johnson, seen as Australia’s third pace option behind Lee and the now-crocked Stuart Clark, has easily been the most impressive of the visiting bowlers, and there have been encouraging signs too from Cameron White, expected to be a barely legspinning lamb to Indian slaughter.Perhaps both teams have focused so much attention and energy on the marquee names that the guard has slipped when faced with the allegedly lesser lights. Australia have tried restrictive fields for Virender Sehwag, and then been surprised by the fact that Gautam Gambhir has picked off runs with almost as much fluency. India’s bowlers have kept Hayden and Clarke quiet, but met stiffer-than-expected resistance from the likes of Lee.For India, the emergence of a bowling attack that can pretty much take the surface out of the equation is a hugely encouraging sign. Both Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan have been potent with new ball and old, and their ability to get the reverse-swing going much earlier than the Australians could yet prove to be a pivotal difference in this series. Australia have Troy Cooley, acknowledged as the architect of England’s reverse-swing triumph in 2005, but thus far there has only been isolated evidence of a plan being in place. Used to the Kookaburra ball in Australia, the Australian quicks, Johnson apart, have been comprehensively outbowled with the SG by India’s duo.

Mishra too worked wonders on a pitch that was still almost without blemish at the end of the third day. Being vertically challenged, he has little option but to flight the ball, and he showed real character to stick to his strengths despite the odd loose delivery disappearing to the boundary. He spoke later of the selector who has also been a big influence on his career, but unlike Narendra Hirwani, who took 16 on debut against the West Indies in Chennai, Mishra wasn’t bowling on a minefield.Watson admitted that it was a beautiful batting pitch and that Australia had a lot of catching up to do with both bat and ball. The way he batted for his 78 – and remember that he probably wouldn’t even be playing if not for Andrew Symonds going fishing – was a lesson for his team-mates, borrowing heavily from the Damien Martyn school of back-foot batsmanship that was so successful back in 2004.Over the next two days, Australia need the big names to justify the pre-series hype, else they’ll face the unedifying prospect of journeying to Fortress Feroz Shah Kotla – seven Indian wins on the trot – with their grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as loose as a drunken handshake. Lee may have blown a kiss at Ishant today as the friendly banter in the middle intensified, but what his team really needs from him is a spell that blows the Indian top order away. And a little reverse would go a long way.

Between the foreword, written by pets, and the afterword, written by a two-year-old, lies an honest, funny and fascinating account of life as England cricketer

Andrew Miller20-Jun-2009

Mark my words, Matthew Hoggard will never play for England again. He will no doubt be mentioned in dispatches when the Ashes injuries begin to stack up this summer, and the Barmy Army will sing hymns of praise if his gurning mug appears on the giant screen midway through the Headingley Test. But England’s sixth most successful wicket-taker of all time is already ancient history, thanks in no small part to this wonderful, honest and characteristically unhinged autobiography.”A suicide note to rank alongside Labour’s 1983 manifesto” was how Mike Atherton described , which is some achievement for a book that opens with a foreword (actually a paw-word) from Hoggard’s dogs, Billy and Mollie, and closes with a postscript from his two-year- old son, Ernie. But in between the doodles and digressions, and cutting through an (at times contrived) air of silliness, this is a painful but laugh-out-loud sign-off from one of the most popular England cricketers of recent times.The book’s style is utterly puerile at times, littered with block capitals, quadruple exclamation marks and all manner of devices to make his detractors harrumph, and by referring to the press pack as a “cunch of bunts” he has probably diddled himself out of several favourable reviews. But Hoggard has come up with an autobiography in the fullest and frankest sense. It is often felt that he cultivated an air of mild lunacy to mask his insecurities, but he clearly missed nothing in his near-decade as an England player. To the delight of his fans but the chagrin of his former employers he has collected a massive pile of dirty laundry and is happy to parade it just as his Yorkshire team-mates used to do with the Y-fronts of the second-team coach.The grubbiest underpants on show are those belonging to the England and Wales Cricket Board, whose methods and man-management are held up for ridicule in almost every chapter. In many ways Hoggard’s gripes are ungracious, considering he was one of the earliest beneficiaries of the central contract system that transformed the livelihoods of England’s players. Then again, the brutality of his axing in Wellington and subsequent banishment from the national set-up, coming at a time of intense personal stress, makes his indignation entirely righteous.No doubt emboldened by Marcus Trescothick’s candour in his own book last summer, Hoggard is not afraid to tackle the dark side of England life. The chapters co-written with his wife Sarah, addressing their struggles to conceive and the descent into post-natal depression that turned that last tour of New Zealand into a living nightmare, are poignant and brave. But whereas Trescothick’s tale was groundbreaking yet bleak, humour remains Hoggard’s default setting. His book is the more readable thanks to that essential levity.At any rate those newsworthy chapters come late in the proceedings, by which stage the tale has all but written itself thanks to a single relationship that creates enough friction to carry the entire narrative. Perhaps uniquely among those players who thrived in the England “bubble” Hoggard’s relationship with Duncan Fletcher was never better than suspicious: he felt, with some justification, that the coach never rated him, and as he dryly notes in his chapter on the 2005 Ashes, it could so easily have been James Kirtley making up the famous “Awesome Foursome”.Without such a powerful figure in his corner it is little wonder that Hoggard could not be persuaded to buy into the wider team ethic. But conformity’s loss is literature’s gain. From first chapter to last he goes triumphantly off message, not least on the subject of diet and fitness, in which he sounds like the reincarnation of Fred Trueman as he concludes a rollicking diatribe with the declaration: “Fast bowlers do not eat salad!” (although even Trueman might have stopped short of advocating Roast Chicken Monster Munch as the ideal energy food).If at times it feels as if he is playing to the gallery, clowning around for the Barmy Army on a tedious final day in Galle, then the only response is “Hoggy is a monkey, tra-la-la-la!” This book will surely prove to be the vehicle that has whisked him into the sporting afterlife, but at least he has chosen to travel in style.Hoggy: Welcome to My World
by Matthew Hoggard
HarperSport, hb, 352pp,
£18.99

Two Test wins, 14 in ODIs, an inspiring captain, and a promising newcomer made Bangladesh’s 2009 their most successful 12 months ever

Abu Choudhury29-Dec-2009If 2008 was a year to forget for Bangladesh cricket, 2009 has been a rare treat: one to savour.At first glance, heading into the year, it seemed that cricket’s youngest Test nation was destined to have a tumultuous 12 months. Having lost arguably some of their best players to the ICL, Bangladesh also had to contend with injuries to their most reliable bowler and the change of captaincy that ensued. Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan have all skippered the side at one time or another in 2009. Shakib, who signed for Worcestershire late in 2009, proved to be an inspirational captain, and largely under his leadership, Bangladesh have had their most successful year since they gained Test status.Bangladesh played three Tests in 2009. Having lost the first against Sri Lanka in January in a predictably nonchalant style, they went on to surprise the world and possibly themselves by notching up their first Test series victory against West Indies, who fielded a depleted side. But the victory was no less sweet for success-starved Bangladesh supporters.Bangladesh’s year in Test cricket was notable for other reasons too. They made a top score of 345 in St Vincent, where Tamim Iqbal scored his maiden Test century, and on all but one occasion they were able to post at least 200 runs in an innings. For a side that is accustomed to the ignominy of innings defeats, this was no mean feat.It was in ODI cricket, however, that Bangladesh made the most impressive strides in 2009. Of the 19 ODIs they played, they won 14 and lost five. This compares favourably to 2008, when they only won five of their 26 ODIs. A success rate of 74% is impressive by itself, but they also twice scored over 300 against Zimbabwe in Bulwayo – a remarkable statistic for a side that frequently struggles to score above 250 in 50-over cricket.It will be argued that Bangladesh hardly faced the better-ranked sides in 2009, and while this is of course true, it is also worth noting that one of those ODI victories came against a full-strength Sri Lanka side and that Zimbabwe fielded one of their strongest teams in recent years.High point
There is no doubt that the team’s tour to the West Indies in July was the highlight of Bangladesh’s year. Bangladesh had tasted Test success just once previously, against Zimbabwe in 2005. Since then, they have come close but ultimately failed to cross the finish line. In 2009 they not only swept the Test series but also the ODIs.A cursory glance at the scorecards for those Tests will reflect that West Indies fielded an inexperienced side and that both matches were closely fought. However, statistics alone cannot paint an accurate picture. Although lacking big-name players, Reifer’s side contained some cricketers who were an injury or two away from selection to a full-strength side (for example, Kemar Roach, Travis Dowlin and Darren Sammy are all currently touring Australia). Moreover, while West Indies were undercooked before the first Test, they were certainly better prepared for the second. It was the nature of those wins that gives Bangladesh supporters cause for optimism.

Bangladesh continue to be overly reliant on their army of spinners and will be acutely aware that matches are rarely won through left-arm spin alone. The lack of seam-bowling support will need to be addressed

Amid all the uncertainty and controversy on that tour, Bangladesh could easily have succumbed to yet another loss. Followers of Bangladesh cricket will know only too well the team’s habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But this proved not to be Multan in 2003 or Fatullah in 2006. Ultimately Bangladesh triumphed.There were other high points too. In Zimbabwe, Charles Coventry posted the highest individual ODI score, but this could not prevent Shakib’s men taking the series 4-1, and then repeating the feat with an identical scoreline at home in November. Bangladesh supporters only dare to whisper it right now, but there is an increasing suspicion that their side has finally discovered the art of winning.Low point

It was not all success and accolades for Bangladesh this year. In Twenty20s, which would appear in theory to be tailormade for the trigger-happy Bangladesh batsmen, the team have had a year to forget, losing every match they played. The most embarrassing of these was against Ireland at Trent Bridge, where the Bangladesh batting reverted to type and the O’Brien brothers enhanced their reputations.In this review last year Utpal Shuvro nominated Mohammad Ashraful as Bangladesh’s “fading star”. This year he averaged just under 13 in Tests and under 25 in ODIs. Ashraful’s career has descended into cliché; an apparently gifted young batsman unable to assert himself on the international stage is a story heard before, as the careers of Mark Ramprakash and Mohammad Kaif will attest. Ashraful did make some valuable contributions in 2009, but these were with the ball rather than the bat.The loss of the captaincy means Ashraful is no longer guaranteed a place in the side. He may be only 25 but he has also played 50 Tests, and more ODIs than Andrew Flintoff. His future must now surely be in doubt.Rubel Hossain: Bangladesh’s answer to Mohammad Aamer•AFPNew kid on the block
Just one cricketer made debuts in all three formats for Bangladesh in 2009, and what a debut it was. Rubel Hossain is young, energetic and capable of regularly hitting 85mph. He returned figures of 4 for 33 from just 5.3 overs in his maiden ODI, against Sri Lanka in January. The 19-year-old from Bagerhat is Bangladesh’s answer to Mohammad Aamer, and while he has much to learn, he is certainly an exciting prospect.What 2010 holds
Bangladesh have a surprisingly busy schedule in 2010, when they will face some of the bigger beasts in world cricket. Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand and England will all provide much sterner tests.Although they have performed admirably in 2009, there are still unanswered questions. It is not yet clear whether the injury-prone Mortaza will reclaim the captaincy or whether the selectors will keep faith with Shakib. The selectors must also decide whether to recall any former ICL players, who become eligible for selection in the New Year.Bangladesh continue to be overly reliant on their army of spinners and will be acutely aware that matches are rarely won through left-arm spin alone. The lack of seam bowling support will need to be addressed.A relatively successful year has come to an end, but Bangladesh’s performances in 2010 will provide a truer reflection of how much they have evolved. Greater challenges lie ahead, but a side that constantly has to battle for respectability can venture into the New Year full of hope and optimism, and it is not very often that one can say that.

Somehow Australia have either hung in or come back for the last four days to now be favourites

Sidharth Monga in Mohali04-Oct-2010Whatever happens on the final day of this great Test, Australia can be proud of themselves. Don’t count on them feeling content with this, though.This has been an un-Australian display in many ways, but in the refusal to give up, in the fight they have put up despite limitations, this has been so very Australian. And that is the beauty of playing Australia, that only rarely – like in Nagpur two years ago – do they make it easy for the other side to win.In foreign conditions, with two bowlers who had never played Tests here and one who had played one, with a wobbly middle order that has allowed the Indian spinners to dictate terms, somehow Australia have either hung in or come back for the last four days to now be favourites.Earlier Australian sides wouldn’t have batted the way Shane Watson and Tim Paine did in the first innings. Even as recently as in 2008-09, Matthew Hayden was trying to hit his way out of trouble, feeling out of place as one of the pack. The difference, perhaps, was that that team was not used to struggling. This team has not only been introduced to the struggles, it seems to be enjoying the fight. And India, down to three bowlers and five batsmen in the first innings, have given them some fight, only for Australia to absorb, absorb, absorb, and then strike back at a weak moment.On the start of the fourth morning, with all three results possible, Australia showed safety was the last thing on their minds. Watson went from monk to marauder, identifying the moment to seize and coming hard at India. All the shots he had avoided earlier, he played now: the upper-cut, the slog-sweep, the adventurous drive against the turn. A collapse followed, but two left-hand batsmen who were denied by the golden generation before them stuck around to push Australia to a defendable total.Simon Katich and Michael Hussey began their careers almost simultaneously as kids in Perth, and started this game with the same number of caps and runs. Hussey followed Katich into the 4000-run club today, and you couldn’t help but wonder how many more they would have got had they been born in some other country. Both of them have been part of – fleetingly, albeit – the days of domination too, but as scratchy accumulators. The 42 runs that came from their scratchy accumulation today will not be talked about often, but just ask India what they won’t give for a 42-run stand right now?The pièce de résistance, though, came when Australia came out to defend 215. If Virender Sehwag got off to a flier, this would have been one last Australian effort in this match. And if this was going to be the one last effort, they were going to make it grand.The Australian bowlers might not have the skill of Zaheer Khan, but they made up for it through aggression and persistence. The wickets didn’t come through a cracking pitch or a mischievous spinner, but through three pace bowlers finding energy they didn’t seem to have in the first innings. Ben Hilfenhaus’ pace went up dramatically, Doug Bollinger found accuracy, and Mitchell Johnson just had to do the back-up job.”We had a bit over an hour to bowl,” Hilfenhaus said later. “We knew we could come out hard. We knew we didn’t have the runs on the board, and this could be the defining moment in the match.”There have been teams that have tried the short ball against Sehwag in the last two years and failed, but the Australian trio remained quick and accurate. With only two men in front of square, Bollinger kept pounding in the bouncers at around 140kmph, and hit Rahul Dravid once before getting his wicket.Hilfenhaus was prepared to play what is not his natural game. He bowled as many bouncers and cutters as he did outswingers. He had been much better in the first innings than figures of 0 for 100 suggest. For somebody playing his first Test in the country, he has shown remarkable knowledge of Indian conditions. He has been bowling off a shorter run, preserving energy for longer spells, and has done well with the old ball that hasn’t quite swung.Against Sehwag today, two of his bouncers sailed over the keeper’s head, giving away close to 4% of what Australia were defending. With a change of ends, he kept searching for the correct bouncer. It wasn’t quite an unplayable delivery, and Sehwag has managed these before too, but the right amount of pressure had been created.Similarly Hilfenhaus has promised to put Sachin Tendulkar, who has terrorised generations of Australian bowlers before him for 20 years, under the pump on the final day. Who can blame him for feeling confident? Staying consistent with the Australian way, expect Hilfenhaus and friends to make India fight for every single run.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day as Sri Lanka begin their tournament by hosting Canada

Osman Samiuddin in Hambantota20-Feb-2011Start of the day
Having overcome so many hurdles to get ready for the country’s opening match of the World Cup – venue being a jungle just a couple of years back, unexpectedly heavy rains hampering work, unhappy inspection teams to name just three – it was somehow fitting that the start of the game would be further delayed. Upul Tharanga had to wait an extra ten minutes to face the game’s first ball from Khurram Chohan: of all the things that could go wrong, the culprit was a minor sightscreen malfunction. The devil clearly is in the detail.Memo of the day
To boards, ICC and broadcasters: The UDRS without HotSpot is like, well, a World Cup without the world. Twice in successive overs from Jimmy Hansra, Canada was convinced Mahela Jayawardene had edged behind. HotSpot comes into its own particularly for edges. Slo-mo replays suggested the first one might’ve been a good shout; HotSpot would’ve confirmed it.Appearance of the day
The district of Hambantota, to the tourist, can appear a quiet, isolated one. Sixty kilometers to and from the stadium can pass with few souls spotted; at night, you can go without seeing anyone. SLC had announced in advance 35,000 people would be turning up and for a couple of days, it didn’t look like there were that many in the region. Yet on match day, in they came, in huge numbers, some from 50-60km away. By midway through Sri Lanka’s innings, the general stands and grass embankments were packed with life.Appearance of the day II
The elephant that ambled up outside the stadium near the southern entrance. Really. Clearly he didn’t seem much that interested him and he was soon off, ambling away.Drop of the day
Canada dropped a couple of chances in the field but as the minnows are being given such a tough time on and off the field, we thought of picking on Thilan Samaraweera for the sake of balance. And the chance, waist-high at second slip from the first ball Zubin Surkari faced, was simple enough that, dare we say it, a Canadian would’ve held it.Run of the day
Tyson Gordon’s international debut wasn’t a particularly memorable one. In attempting a run-out from point he injured his ankle and had to go off. He came out to bat later with a runner and off his first ball clipped the ball elegantly to deep square-leg. And set off for a run, getting halfway down before remembering someone was there to do that for him.Run of the day II
Henry Osinde, Canada’s big, burly fast bowler, pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring strain early in his spell when Sri Lanka batted. After a break for treatment, he tried to run in again, stopped and slowly trudged off the field not to reappear again. He wasn’t expected to bat, but he gamely came out as last man … without a runner; and duly jogged a comfortable single from the very first ball he faced.Shot of the day
Whenever Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene score runs you can be guaranteed a fine, vast array of strokes. But for sheer chutzpah the shot of the day came from Canada’s own Boom Boom, Rizwan Cheema. He’d already clubbed a couple of boundaries when Muttiah Muralitharan came on. The very first ball he faced from him, he lofted him over extra cover for six. As you do.

His bag of tricks was immense, but Shane Warne often saved his best for the biggest occasions

S Rajesh19-Dec-2010Quite simply he made legspin bowling sexy again. Admittedly, some of his legend revolves around his other exploits, but first and foremost Shane Warne became the superstar he did because of the manner in which he spun the cricket ball and the way he rose to the big occasions almost every time – be it in Ashes series or in World Cups. In an era when spin bowling was dwindling, Warne, more than any other bowler, revived the art.The way he started his international career, though, not many would have anticipated such a glittering future. On his Test debut, against India in Sydney in 1992, Warne returned figures of 1 for 150, his only victim being double-centurion Ravi Shastri, who himself returned figures of 4 for 45 in Australia’s second innings. Warne finished that series with an average of 228, and in his next Test, in Sri Lanka, he had figures of none for 107 in the first innings.In the second innings Warne, with Test match stats of 1 for 335 till that point, showed the world the first glimpses of his special talent. Sri Lanka, requiring just 181 for victory in the fourth innings, were 150 for 7 when Warne came in and wrapped up the tail for the addition of only 14 more runs. The win gave Australia the series, and Warne was on his way. Later that year, in his first Boxing Day Test at his home ground, Melbourne, West Indies got their first taste of Warne magic, when his 7 for 52 fetched him the first of 17 Man-of-the-Match awards. (Incidentally, his last such award was at the same venue, exactly 14 years later.)Warne didn’t do a whole lot more in that series, but from 1993 onwards he was a factor in pretty much every series he played for the next five years. ball to Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes started his legend, and it grew with almost every over he bowled. Apart from the sheer number of wickets he took, the other key of his bowling during this period was the stranglehold he maintained over opposition batsmen. Legspin is supposed to be difficult to control, but Warne gave nothing away: in five series between 1993 and 1995, his economy rate was less than two runs per over; in three of those series he averaged less than 20 as well.He averaged nearly five wickets per Test for about five years beginning 1993, but then came a slump between 1998 and 2001, as a combination of a shoulder injury and plenty of matches against India led to a drastic fall in returns. Nine of the 14 Tests he played against India in his entire career came during this period, and in each of those three series he averaged more than 40. Overall, India was the one team he could never conquer – he averaged 47.18 against them, and under 30 against all other teams.He got his mojo back in 2001 against England – who else? – and did very well in his last five and a half years, averaging almost six wickets per Test and winning nine Man-of-the-Match awards. In fact, Warne’s 2005 remains the best year any bowler has had in terms of wickets taken: he nailed 96 victims in 15 matches at an average of 22.02. No other bowler has taken more than 90 in a calendar year.

As mentioned earlier, Warne loved the big stage, and it hardly got bigger than when Australia were playing England for the Ashes. In 36 Tests against the old enemy, Warne took 195 wickets at an outstanding average of 23.25. He played in seven series against them (excluding the home one in 1998-99, when he played one Test), and averaged less than 21 in three of them. The only instance it touched 30 was in his last series, at home in 2006-07, when he took 23 wickets at 30.34. His 195 wickets is comfortably the highest by any bowler in Ashes contests, well clear of Dennis Lillee’s 167.In the 2005 Ashes in England, Warne took 40 wickets, which is one of only eight instances of a bowler taking 40 or more wickets in a series. Not surprisingly, six of the eight batsmen he dismissed most often were from England.

Apart from the period between 1998 and 2001, when Warne struggled a bit, he was amazingly consistent through the rest of his career. In the 38 series he played of three or more Tests, he averaged less than 30 in 27 of them. His best in terms of series average was against Pakistan at home in 1995-96, when he took 19 wickets in three Tests despite not bowling at all in a match. His average for the series was 10.42. In fact, Pakistan’s batsmen were the most clueless against him – though they would’ve played more spin bowling than batsmen from South Africa and England. In the series against Pakistan in 2002-03, Warne averaged 12.66, taking 27 wickets in three matches. Overall he took 90 wickets from 15 Tests against Pakistan at an average of 20.17. Only Kapil Dev took more wickets against Pakistan than him, but Kapil needed many more matches, and his average was much higher.

Unlike most other spinners, who usually come into play as attacking options in the third and fourth innings of Tests, Warne’s bag of tricks was so vast that he was a force even in the first innings, when pitches are generally at their least conducive to turn. In the first innings of a match, Warne took 156 wickets at an average of less than 28. He averaged only about 2.5 wickets per innings, but that was because the Australian fast bowlers were generally so effective at getting wickets on a fresh pitch. Muttiah Muralitharan took more first-innings wickets but averaged almost the same, while Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have conceded far more runs per wicket.Warne took six five-fors in the first innings, the best of which was 7 for 56 in Sydney against South Africa in a match Australia ended up losing by five runs.

In the third and fourth innings of Tests, Warne turned lethal, conceding less than 23 runs per wicket. Nineteen of his 37 five-fors came in these innings, including his best figures in Test cricket: against England at the Gabba in 1994, where his 8 for 71 in the fourth innings consigned the visitors to a 184-run defeat.Thanks to Australia’s powerful line-ups during the period in which Warne played, most of his great efforts were in match-winning causes: he is the only bowler to take more than 500 wickets in wins, and is likely to remain the only one for quite a bit longer.

Warne didn’t play as many ODIs as many others of his era – he finished with only 194, compared to 352 for Ricky Ponting, 325 for Steve Waugh and 287 for Adam Gilchrist. In fact, Warne is only tenth on the list of Australians who’ve played most ODIs, but in the 194 games he played he was more than a handful for batsmen. Even in a format that places a premium on economy, Warne was fantastic with his ability to take wickets – he grabbed 293 of them, and at a more-than-acceptable economy rate of 4.25 runs per over.His accuracy and his ability to hunt down wickets was especially crucial for Australia in the big games. He played only two World Cups – missing out on the 2003 edition in unfortunate circumstances – but made a huge impact in both, winning Man-of-the-Match awards in two semi-finals and a final.His semi-final performances were especially memorable: on both occasions Australia were defending below-par scores, and both times Warne’s four-fors made the difference. In 1996, Australia had scored only 207 and West Indies seemed to be coasting towards victory when Glenn McGrath started the slide, and Warne completed it by wrapping up the tail. He finished with 4 for 36 as Australia squeezed out a five-run win.Three years later he was arguably even more immense. With Australia defending only 213, Warne dismissed four of South Africa’s best batsmen – Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Hansie Cronje and Jacques Kallis – as Australia ended up tying the game and making it to the final on the basis of a higher finish in the Super Sixes. Warne took 4 for 29 off 10 overs in a match in which both McGrath (1 for 51 off 10) and Damien Fleming (1 for 40 off 8.4) weren’t at their best. In the final, Warne took four more as Pakistan were bundled out for a meagre 132 in the most one-sided of all title contests. Overall, his average in World Cup games was 19.50, at an excellent economy rate of 3.83, numbers that are remarkably similar to those of Muralitharan.

Warne ticked most boxes in his 15-year international career, but the one mark that eluded him was a Test century. He was always a handy batsman, but the nearest he came to a hundred was against New Zealand in Perth in 2001, when he fell to Daniel Vettori for 99. That, perhaps, only adds to his legend.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore

Abhishek Purohit14-May-2011The contest
Jacques Kallis and Zaheer Khan started the game for their respective sides, and the first over provided a fascinating duel between two practitioners in complete control of their craft. The first ball from Zaheer was full and swerved in to strike a surprised Kallis on the pads, but it would have just gone down leg. Zaheer shifted the line towards middle and bowled the next ball still fuller, but Kallis jammed down the bat to prevent it from crashing into the stumps. It was now Kallis’ turn to showcase his class. He walked towards the fourth ball outside off and caressed it through cover. Seeing that, Zaheer bowled the fifth ball closer to off, so Kallis just pushed the front foot out and split the gap between mid-off and extra cover.The glare and the sledge
National team-mates are pitted against each other often in the IPL but rarely do they have a go at each other. Zaheer started it today, making Gautam Gambhir duck hurriedly against a sharp bouncer. He then walked closer to Gambhir and gave him a cold stare. Kallis stepped it up against AB de Villiers later. He welcomed him with a snorter that took off from outside off stump, and de Villiers just got his head out of the way as it spat up at him. Kallis had a lot to say to de Villiers after the delivery, and the batsman gave it back with a few choice words of his own.The edges
Kolkata were first hit by the rain that cut their innings short, and then ran into a red-hot Chris Gayle. Gayle struck eight boundaries in 12 deliveries, and three of them were off big edges. Brett Lee produced the outside edge off the first ball of the chase, but the ball evaded the slip fielder on its way to the third man boundary. Lee tried the bouncer in the same over, and Gayle’s top-edged pull eluded Mark Boucher who ran all the way to the fine leg boundary in chase. In the next over, Gayle targeted Jaidev Unadkat and swung hard at a length ball outside off. This time the outside edge was so healthy that it carried all the way over third man for six.The hobbling batsman
When Virat Kohli walked out to run for Saurabh Tiwary, he was refused permission by the umpires. Apparently, Tiwary’s side strain had been picked up before the game, and Kohli had to sheepishly go back. Tiwary was left to deal with his running alone, and was clearly finding it difficult. He walked, hobbled, lurched, and really stretched to get in to the crease each time he had to take a run. In the last over, he pushed a ball towards cover and had no choice but to go for the single. His only chance was if the throw missed but he watched in dismay as Gambhir hit the stumps.The eager firecrackers
Bangalore needed six to win when Arun Karthik launched into a big slog-sweep that seemed to be heading over the deep midwicket boundary. In an eagerness to provide a fitting backdrop, the firecrackers were set off even before the ball came down. But when it did, it settled into the hands of the fielder on the boundary. It made for an interesting sight as the visitors celebrated the wicket with the fireworks going off in the background.

The world’s top-rated umpire talks about the challenges of officiating at the highest level

Interview by Daniel Brettig09-Sep-2011In the current climate of inconsistent use of technology, what should the umpires’ attitude be?
We just have to keep working at our skills and working on what we have got, to be able to do the best we can and support our match officials in a way that keeps the support and focus on the players. If we can get as many decisions right [as possible], if we can understand what we are using, and work within those parameters, and remain unobtrusive through our decision-making, our match management, our communication, our team work, the rest will take care of itself. We always look for ways to get better, and through the accreditation process that we’re developing at the moment we hope to benchmark and standardise those things, while acknowledging and accepting we do have inconsistencies with the inputs.When considering the television pictures and other aids, must an umpire be completely sure or can he make a judgement call based on the circumstantial evidence before him? On day one here in Galle, Usman Khawaja might have been out but the clearest evidence was lacking.
From a third umpire’s perspective, you’re looking for a high degree of confidence, you’re looking for conclusive evidence to suggest that the original decision was incorrect. So for edges you’ve really only got three main areas to assess. You’ve either got Hot Spot, clear deviation, or audio. In that case with Khawaja, you’ve only got clear deviation and audio. So as a third umpire you’re looking for both of those things to be present to suggest the original decision was incorrect. That’s the fundamental premise we have to work with: the original decision is correct unless we have a high degree of confidence and conclusive evidence to tell us that is not the case. It’s not necessarily about benefit of the doubt to the batsman, but that the benefit of doubt goes with the original decision, and that’s sometimes hard for people, and sometimes umpires, to get their head around.Cameras, technical aids, frame rates – what chance is there of standardisation?
The ICC has gone through that process where it has had a technology conference with the major suppliers of technology. Obviously it is a funding issue, and you’re asking the broadcasters to provide their resources, their equipment, their intellectual property, and have third-party suppliers of ball-tracking and thermal technology without the game necessarily giving them a financial return on it. So I can understand there’s a commercial aspect there to address. But from a game perspective we want the best. If you look at what the teams work with today and the amount of support staff they use to get their players prepared, it’s incredibly professional. From a match-officiating perspective, we’re using very inconsistent supply of those tools [and there are grey areas over how accurate they are], but still come up with high performance. There’s not a lot of rocket science in this – if you’re inconsistent with your inputs, and they differ all the time from series to series, of course there is a higher [likelihood] that your outputs will be inconsistent.Cricket is a game of variables, and everything is different. [We] have two umpires on the field who may have a different standard about an lbw, or a bat-pad or a caught-behind. We are trying to look for consistency, so if we want to be consistent we need to make sure that we provide technology in a consistent way across all series to be able to deliver the players that level playing field.Daryl Harper’s tenure as an umpire ended unhappily in the West Indies. Do you feel umpires receive enough respect on the field?
My view is, with the role of technology and the amount of scrutiny we’re under these days, I think people have a greater appreciation for the challenge of being a match official. Personally, though, I’m not sure that has transposed to respect for an umpire’s decision. I think we’re creating an environment where it is okay for a player to question an umpire’s decision, and that doesn’t sit comfortably with me. As a player I was always taught to accept the umpire’s decision and get on with the game. I think we’re breaking that down a little bit.[For instance, when] I judge bad light to be the case, I’m seeing a lot more questioning of that. I’m seeing a lot more questioning of following instructions on over rates or changing gloves or bringing drinks out. [Players and coaches and team management] are getting used to being able to question decisions or go to a higher authority. People see that on TV and it goes down to the lower levels of the game, and I see in my son’s Under-10s game a player who does the sign of the “T” when he’s not happy with a decision. As a parent and spectator I’m not comfortable. I appreciate the game is different at the international level and it’s a professional occupation, but it is a game and it has to uphold certain values.

“I think we’re creating an environment where it is okay for a player to question an umpire’s decision, and that doesn’t sit comfortably with me. As a player I was always taught to accept the umpire’s decision and get on with the game. I think we’re breaking that down a little bit”

The Ian Bell incident at Trent Bridge caused numerous conversations about the spirit of the game and the laws. How did you see it?
We talked about that at our conference in Dubai, and [about] some of our techniques as match officials with those types of scenarios. There is no doubt in my mind as an umpire that Ian Bell was run out for the right reasons, according to the laws, the playing conditions… and I think if Ian had his time again he’d do things differently. You can do a lot of things in the game of cricket out there on the field with the agreement of both captains. You can change playing times, change intervals, replace players… From a technical point of view, once the batsman left the field, he was out, gone, and could not be called back. But it just goes to show what can be achieved in the game with the agreement of the two captains. It took a lot of heat out of the issue and certainly made the third and fourth Test matches a lot easier to umpire, than [if there had] been this underlying undercurrent of unfairness.We also discussed the incident in New Zealand where Murali was run out going down the pitch to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara, and the ball hadn’t even come in at that stage, so it was still live. The view we took was in those circumstances was, we will go across to the fielding captain and say, “Look, is this the way you want to play the game? Do you want this appeal to stand?” If he says “Yes, I do,” then you have to apply the laws as written.It is often said of Australian umpires that they have traditionally had a great understanding of the laws but can lack an appreciation for cultural subtleties. Do umpires from each country have different cultural traits that inform their umpiring?
They do, but […] the difference between a good umpire and a great umpire really comes down to people skills and life skills. We can all know laws, we can all know playing conditions, we can all enforce them like a policeman. But the difference lies in being a good person and being able to communicate, to be able to resolve conflict and deal with issues as they come up. That means you’ve got to listen and show empathy. So if there’s a blow-up on the field, the best thing you can do is listen to what the player’s saying, let him get it off his chest, understand his problem, and then decide on a course of action. If you step in too quickly, you’ll have a problem. If you take too long to step in, you’ll have another problem.When I look at all of the good umpires of my time, and I take key attributes from them, it is the ability to build relationships, to have professional dealings with the people that matter within the game, to be able to manage a game of cricket, and manage a professional entertainment package, realising it is not just bat and ball.When I look at the feedback from coaches on the cricket committee, the words of Mickey Arthur still ring true in my ear. He didn’t talk about bat-pads, lbws or caught-behinds, he talked about communication, about umpires being approachable, umpires being consistent in their application of playing conditions in relation to ground, weather and light. He talked about being able to have a conversation with a match official and understanding that they’ve got a job to play. To me that’s what umpiring is all about.There was heavy criticism of your decision to go off for bad light during the England v India series. Will we always be gnashing our teeth over that issue?
It’s a judgement call on the day, with specific circumstances, and what I’d like people to appreciate is, sometimes the view you might get from a grandstand is not the view the umpire is getting out on the field. Yes, we do use light meters to support those decisions, so we get a benchmark in consistency of light meter readings for when we turn lights on, and there are lots of aspects to that. But all I’d ask people to do in terms of this issue is realise we will try to maximise play where we can, but our first and foremost responsibility is to the safety of the players and to our safety, and to be able to see the ball. When we feel we get to a stage where we can’t see the ball, then it isn’t a safe and reasonable environment to work within. We have the 12 best umpires in the world officiating at the ICC elite panel level, and there are times we don’t get everything right, but on this particular issue I think our experience, our judgement and the wisdom we apply to that type of topic is pretty good.In that case it was more a question of fielders querying the light than batsmen. How do you weigh up risk to fielders versus risk to batsmen?
Equally the same, and when you look at the fact we have two umpires out there, an umpire at square leg… when we can’t see the ball from side-on, and you’ve got men around the bat, even with a spinner operating, you know that you’ve got a safety issue about hitting the ball into a player. I’d rather be criticised for coming off a fraction too early than have someone get hurt and come off too late.What do you do to stay on top of your own skills?
I’ve certainly adopted the Ric Charlesworth methodology, that getting to the top is hard and staying there is even harder. So every time I see a new guy come onto the elite panel – for example Richard Kettleborough or Kumar Dharamasena – I have a chat to talk about the fact that the hard work has only just begun. Yes, you’ve broken into this level, but consistency of hard work is now the main issue, and what are you going to do every game, every day, every year, to become a better match official than you were?It is very easy to sit back and criticise people or criticise organisations. The real key for me is, well, what leadership role can I play within that to be able to move the game forward and make it better for the next generation? There’s a bit of legacy leadership. How can I leave it in a better state than when I found it?My message to all the people considering umpiring as a career is: use every opportunity you’ve got to improve, don’t take things for granted, take personal responsibility for what you do, for your own performance. Try not to look at yourself as a victim. Look for ways to say, “What’s my role in this, what part can I play to make it better?”And even with conditions out here that are very difficult for the umpires – I think they had 25 appeals on day one of the Test match, and three spinners within the first 30 overs… that means the match is very challenging, every ball of every over. If you can get through that, you can get through anything. Rather than look at it negatively and say, “Gee, I’ve got a lot of decisions to make”, say “What a great opportunity to show everyone how good I am.””We will try to maximise play where we can, but our first and foremost responsibility is to the safety of the players and to our safety”•Getty ImagesHow do you best train umpires for international cricket?
Making the connection, engaging people from different continents and different cultures, is incredibly different. How I would engage an Australian and how I would engage an Indian or a Sri Lankan or someone from the UK is incredibly different. How do I get the best out of them, how do I know they’ve actually understood what we’re talking about and what the learning opportunity is?Looking at accreditation, and how we’re trying to simulate game activities rather than just have them sit in a box, we’re trying to get them to make their mistakes off the field, away from having an impact on the game, and that’s the future of match officials’ education and performance development, getting them to make mistakes away from the field, and then assessing what they know and don’t know. [You can] say, “Yes, I understand.” I can’t believe that. Show me, apply your knowledge in a way that makes me confident you have that skill and can apply it, before you put your ICC shirt on and go out there. None of us want to see an umpire fall over or get burnt too quickly before he’s had an opportunity to get his career moving.It’s been a while since the Lahore terror attack. Do you share a look of recognition when you see the Sri Lankan team?
On the day, one of my concerns after we got back into the umpires room at Lahore, after we all gave each other a bit of a hug and made sure we were okay, was go to the Sri Lankan dressing room and see how they were. I talked to a lot of their senior players about were they okay, who was injured, who needed attention. That’s not an umpiring issue, not a performance topic, but you’ve got to want to personally connect with a few of these players and show a genuine interest in their welfare.What it has meant for me is, I’ve got a higher degree of awareness about the importance of security in umpiring. Our game has changed as a result of that, in the same way it’s changed in the way it has around match-fixing or betting. You can’t eliminate those issues, but you can manage them in a way that minimises the risk and the damage.Your words when you returned to Australia were strong, but you also looked like you were still in some shock.
Like a lot of us, we felt angry, we felt frustrated, we felt isolated. There are three teams in this game, the two competing teams, and the third, of match officials, scorers, people who manage and conduct the game, who for all intents and purposes were forgotten about. We were left behind, physically left behind, and weren’t provided for in a way that was consistent with the threat that existed. If you look at how it was reported, a lot of the focus was on the players, quite correctly, but there was another team that day, and that team was left behind, isolated, and put in a situation where the ultimate sacrifice could have been made. People died in our vehicle, and that’s nothing to take lightly. On the day those human emotions and reactions came through. Everywhere we go now there is a greater focus on how is our third team going to be provided for. All we want is to be treated, not as the main focus, but as an integral part of the sport.Did you think of giving up the job, or at least spending less time away from home after Lahore?
Probably the biggest disadvantage in our side of the sport is the amount of time you spend away from home. If you look at the average profile of the new elite panel umpire coming through and you look at the average profile of the panel members in 2011, they’re in their 40s, they’ve got two or three kids, and they’ve got a reasonable, good job with their home board or in private enterprise. We have to look at ways to support those guys and keep them in the game.I think the days of a Steve Bucknor umpiring 20 years at international level is probably gone. You’re looking more now at a shift where to have a 7-10 year career at the elite level, you’re doing very well.