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CricketNews

• Shewag 219 world record highlights 9 December, 2011, 2:23 am
  1 inShare Share on Tumblr New Delhi: Virender Sehwag's awe-inspiring double hundred, only the second in ODI history, continued to fetch him effusive praise with cricketers, athletes from other sports and international media bowing in admiration to his epic knock.Sehwag smashed 219 off 149 deliveries in the fourth one-dayer against the West Indies on Thursday in Indore, overtaking his idol Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 to become the highest individual scorer in an ODI.Leading the praise was Tendulkar himself, who said he was happy that a fellow countryman had broken the record created by him."I am very happy for Viru and also happy about the fact that someone who has broken my record is my team-mate and an Indian. Well done Viru," the veteran right-hander, who is in Melbourne right now, said in an SMS.The knock also created ripples far away in Australia, a country which India tours next for a Test series. Staying up to catch Sehwag's brutality was Aussie swashbuckler David Warner and he claimed the 33-year-old left him amazed."Wow, Test match tomorrow but am still up watching Virender Sehwag score, hopefully, 200. Unreal, and he does (get the) highest ever. Well done mate," Warner tweeted referring to the second Test against New Zealand on Friday.Sehwag's Indian colleagues were expectedly in awe with players such as Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay congratulating the marauding opener."It's a great effort. Once he got a triple hundred (in Tests), it was just a matter of time for him to bring up this one. I am a big fan of him. The fact that he can even dispatch good balls to boundaries makes him so different," Karthik said.Vijay said, "I was just watching it. I am so happy for him. It's unbelievable. He is such a great batsman. He batted like himself."Former chief selector Kiran More described Sehwag as one of the greatest cricketers India had ever produced."One of the greatest cricketers India ever had. He is one of the biggest destroyers of spin bowling. Be it Test, one-day or T20, he bats with equal flair. If you see the records, Indian Test cricket has improved tremendously in last 10 years and Viru is a key factor."The results are showing. He will be a vital cog in the Indian wheel in their upcoming tour Down Under. He has done well in difficult conditions and on various types of pitches. We can't compare Sachin with Sehwag. When he came, he tried to copy Sachin. But Sehwag has played very freely since then," More said.Sehwag had athletes from other sports also glued to the TV sets and among them were Indian tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza who were effusive in congratulating Sehwag."Holy cow is all I am gonna say about that innings. Amazing stuff by Viru. As Johnny Mac would say, "You can't be serious," said Bhupathi."What an achievement. What a player. Hats off to Sehwag," added Mirza.Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar said, "Congrats Viru for that incredible 219 which was an epic innings! What timing and energy, indeed SehWhacked. Respect."Not to be left out, Indian Premier League CEO Sundar Raman said, "If one did not see Viru's innings, could easily mistake the scorecard for a game of book cricket!"Former India captain Ajit Wadekar said Sehwag's phenomenal knock of 219 was "out of the world" stuff."No batsman in the modern game destroys attacks quite like Sehwag when he is in the right mood, and when presented like he was with an easy paced batting pitch and short boundaries, there was always going to be problems for the West Indies. When he raced to his 100 off only 69 deliveries, Sehwag was unstoppable," said The Daily Telegraph.The Guardian said Sehwag's understanding of the game is quite different from his contemporaries."Virender Sehwag's technique is not revolutionary, just thrillingly heightened. The way he sees the game is so different," it said."What is different about Sehwag is his mind, the way he sees the game. Essentially, he is free. Where tradition insists that the new ball and fresh bowlers and aggressive fields are threats, he sees wide open spaces, a hard ball that will fly off the bat," it added.The newspaper likened Sehwag to Brian Lara, saying he simplifies the game."Viru doesn't have Gayle's shoulders or Jayasuriya's forearms or Haydo's pecs. He has none of the nervous intensity of Slater or the cross-eyed desire of Hayden. He doesn't really have the insouciance of Gayle or Barry Richards," it said."He is instead an almost implacable little Buddha, soft-edged, calmly accepting of the fates, whether they swing for him or against. If there is one player he is most like, it is Lara, in that he can hit unstoppably not just for hours but for days. It is they who have built monolithic scores most regularly."Yet Lara didn't open, and he often gave the first hour or so of his innings to the bowler. That has not been Sehwag's way," The Guardian added."I think the knock was out of the world. I have never seen anyone hitting so hard and so aggressively. His cuts, pulls were ferocious. We talk about Vivian Richards, the Aussies but in Sehwag we have someone who can play breathtakingly," Wadekar said."He has got so many 200s. He has such confidence. He knows that he can do it and it was just a matter of time. This knock is one of the best. People will remember his knock for a long time," he added.Wadekar said the knock would give Sehwag a confidence boost ahead of the Australia series later this month."The record-breaking knock will give him a lot of confidence. Having played such a knock, helping the team to 418 is not a joke. I'm sure the Aussies would be very worried now," he Wadekar said."It gives us a thrill. We have all the record-breakers in our team - Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid. This is the best Indian team ever," he said.Former Test player Lalchand Rajput said that it was only Sehwag who could have broken Tendulkar's record."This was one of the best knocks I have ever seen. People were casting aspersions on him. Many were writing that he had not scored for the past five innings. But he answered them in the right way," Rajput said."If there was anyone who could have broken Sachin Tendulkar's record, it was Sehwag. Had he stayed there till the end, who knows he could have scored even a 250. A innings such as this before the Australia tour will give him a lot of confidence."The international media too gave a round of applause to the rustic Najafgarh-lad, whose simplicity with words and high-risk batting has bowled over many.
• Eden pitch ugly wicket says MS Dhoni 11 November, 2011, 10:26 am
  Kolkata: Less than a fortnight after it was criticised by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an 'ugly' wicket, the Eden Gardens strip is back in focus again. Staging the second India, West Indies Test from November 14, the much-criticised Eden wicket will hold the cetrestage with milestone man Sachin Tendulkar eyeing his 100th ton in international cricket. Understandably, Eden curator Prabir Mukherjee who has been in the business since 1989 is under some pressure. Even as the 80-year-old maintains that there's no added pressure on him, his recent hush-hush meeting with CAB boss Jagmohan Dalmiya tells a different story. The CAB refuses to confirm but sources claim the Board has sent instructions to the curator for a specific tailor-made wicket, especially after India's Twenty20 loss to England on October 29. Incidentally, there was an air of displeasure among the Bengal and Gujarat cricketers during their Ranji Trophy Super League opener earlier this week. But the Eden curator asserted that an ideal Test wicket had been laid out for the second Test. "People love to make concocted stories. They see me meeting with (Jagmohan) Dalmiya and write stories that he has issued me a warning, likewise," Mukherjee said.
• IND VS WI 2nd test live streaming 11 November, 2011, 10:23 am
  New Delhi: Itching to attain peak fitness ahead of the tough tour of Australia later this year, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan reckons the emergence of youngsters like Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron augers well for Indian cricket. Yadav caught the eye of many during India's one-day series against England and the subsequent first Test against the West Indies here and Aaron was equally impressive in the ODIs, and their efforts did not escape Zaheer's attention. "It is a positive sign for Indian cricket. I was watching the morning session (of day 2 of the first Test against West Indies) and it was heartening to see Umesh bowl in that channel. They have the pace," Zaheer told PTI. Training with his Mumbai Ranji Trophy teammates for the past few couple of weeks, Zaheer said his immediate aim was to regain 100 per cent fitness, following which he will take a call on which match he would play in the top domestic tournament. "I have not yet decided but I will take a call on that very soon. I am trying to regain 100 per cent fitness. I have been doing full session and will take a call in consultation with the physio at the National Cricket Academy," he said. Mumbai are scheduled to play Karnataka from November 17, followed by matches against Orissa from November 29 and Saurashtra from December 6, and Zaheer is likely to play in at least one of the three matches to prove his fitness ahead of the Indian team's departure for Australia on December 13. Troubled by various injuries for a major part of his career, the left-arm seamer said that he wants to be part of the Indian team in Australia from start to finish. "I have never been part of a full tour of Australia, so I want to play the full tour this time around," Zaheer said. Zaheer broke down after bowling only 13.3 overs, during which he picked up two wickets, in the Lord's Test against England in July. Troubled by a recurrent hamstring strain, Zaheer also underwent a surgery in England for an ankle impingement on his right foot. He was on crutches for some time following the surgery, but later improved to be able to bowl at the nets. "The emphasis is on bowling. I have been bowling for about two weeks. I am feeling good, and I am only building up (towards match fitness)," the 33-year-old said. Asked about the hype around Sachin Tendulkar's impending hundredth international century, Zaheer said the fans expect nothing less than a century whenever the champion batsman walks out to bat. "You always expect a century from Sachin. He will score, but the question is when," he said. Tendulkar seemed on course to achieve the much-awaited landmark before a Devendra Bishoo googly foxed him when on 76 during India's victory in the first Test.
• INDIA VS WESTINDIES 2nd TEST:India, West Indies teams arrive in Kolkata 11 November, 2011, 10:22 am
  Kolkata: The Indian cricket team sans Sachin Tendulkar and Ravichandran Ashwin along with their West Indian counterparts arrived in Kolkata for the second Test beginning on Monday. Eyeing his impending 100th international century, Tendulkar is expected to join the team on Saturday, while offspinner Ashwin, who is getting married, will join the squad on the eve of the match, team sources said. The Chennai spinner is tying the knot with Preethi Narayanan on Sunday and is expected to fly straight to Kolkata after taking the wedding vows. Ashwin scalped nine wickets, including six in the second innings in the opening Test to earn the Man-of-the-Match award in his debut match in New Delhi. Both the teams opted to rest on Friday and according to the local manager India will practice at 1 pm on Saturday. Leading 1-0 by virtue of their five-wicket win in the first Test, India will aim to seal the three-match series with a victory here.
• Australia vs south africa 1st test highlights:SA beat Aus by 8 wickets inside three days 11 November, 2011, 10:19 am
  Cape Town: Captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla blasted centuries to send South Africa racing to a crazy eight-wicket win over an embarrassed Australia in the first Test on Friday. South Africa won inside two-and-a-half days at Newlands after trailing by a hefty 188 runs on the first innings, completing a staggering turnaround in an amazing match to lead the two-Test series. Smith made 101 not out - the fourth time he's made a century in a successful fourth-innings run chase - and Amla 112 as South Africa hurried to their victory target of 236 for just two wickets before lunch on Day Three. The pair shared a dominating 195-run partnership and Australia's bowlers took just one wicket on the third day in Cape Town. This, after Australia were skittled for 47 in a game-changing collapse in their second innings on Thursday, their lowest score since the 19th century. After that chaotic second day when 23 wickets fell and the game swung wildly in the space of four frantic hours in the afternoon, Smith and Amla restored sanity. The Proteas' pair played fluently to take South Africa to an absurd victory after they trailed by a big margin in the first innings just a day ago. "It's quite incredible. Yesterday was a bit of a mind boggle for all of us," Smith said. "I think it's probably a win I have to give to the bowlers, the way they fought back after a bad batting display and got us back in the game and being able to close it off was terrific." "Hopefully the next match is less stressful than this one." Led by 151 from captain Michael Clarke, Australia made 284 batting first and blasted out South Africa for 96 for their 188-run lead, seizing complete control of the match. But Australia suddenly slumped to their worst batting score in Tests since 1896 - and their fourth lowest total ever - to see their dominant position disintegrate in a heap of wickets on the second afternoon. "We were in a good position but we let that slide very quickly," Clarke said. "We have no excuses for that, we played disgraceful shots. Our shot selection was horrendous, our execution with the ball today wasn't great and we let the Test match slide. Like I say, we have no excuses. We have a lot of work to do before the second Test match." Australia also missed two crucial chances off Amla in the final stages of a traumatic Test for the Baggy Greens, dropping the right-hander off the last ball of the second day and again early on Friday when he was on 30, when Shane Watson spilled a regulation catch at first slip. Amla sent flashing drives through the covers for his 13th Test century and first against the Aussies, powering the Proteas to victory with 21 fours in a 134-ball innings. Amla made the most of his two lives to go on the attack. He carved three straight boundaries off Ryan Harris - the bowler who produced the two missed chances from Amla - to cruise to three figures before edging a catch to Clarke in the gully off Mitchell Johnson with South Africa 14 short of victory. But Smith saw South Africa home with his unbeaten hundred, and first Test ton in a year, nudging a single through midwicket to complete a dramatic turnaround in a hectic Test that lasted barely two days but is set to be remembered for years. The 195-run partnership between Amla and Smith set a record for the second wicket for South Africa in games against Australia, beating another mark that had stood for over 100 years - another milestone in a match that produced a string of records amid the madness, mainly down to the inexplicable failure of the batters, on Thursday. All four innings featured on Day Two, 17 consecutive batsmen were dismissed without reaching double figures, and the most wickets fell on a day of a Test in more than 100 years. Australia's dramatic second-innings slump, where they were bowled out in just 18 overs and were in danger of recording the lowest Test score ever, sent the tourists crashing to defeat in stunning and unexpected fashion. "We got rolled for 47 and the sun was shining," Clarke said. "It's cricket, there's plenty of tough times throughout your career and I guarantee this is one tough time for our team." "Our goal is to fight hard in the second Test and get a win and try to level the series before we get on a plane back home." Organizers announced they allowed spectators who had tickets for Days Four and Five to use those passes instead on Friday, because of what they called "the freakish course of this exciting Test match." The second Test starts next Thursday in Johannesburg.
• Australia vs south africa 1st test highlights 96 allout 11 November, 2011, 10:16 am
  
• Australia vs south africa 1st test highlights 47 allout 11 November, 2011, 10:13 am
  
• IND VS ENG 5th ODI highlights 25 October, 2011, 9:15 am
  Kolkata: Indian spinners sparked an England collapse after skipper MS Dhoni's fireworks with the bat to hand the visitors a 5-0 bashing by winning the fifth ODI by 95 runs here at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. After Varun Aaron broke the 129-run opening stand between Craig Kieswetter (63) and skipper Alastair Cook (60), India's spin attack of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary took nine wickets between them to dismiss the visitors for 176. Of these, Jadeja was the most successful bowler with a spell of 4/33. Earlier, Indian skipper Dhoni's not out effort of 75 off 69 balls carried India to a formidable total of 271/8. Indian openers Ajinkya Rahaje and Gautam Gambhir gave their team a solid start of 80 but India were jolted by losing three wickets at the same score. But Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar gave their skipper the support he needed to take India to a challenging total.
• IND VS ENG 2nd ODI live 16 October, 2011, 10:21 am
  New Delhi: By ending their 10-match win-less streak against England in the first one-dayer at Hyderabad, Team India once again exhibited their invincibility at home, to the dismay of the opposition. The depleted Team India, which is without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan, will go head to head in the second encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi hoping to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. India won the first match on a slow wicket thanks to some brilliant batting by skipper MS Dhoni who led from front and Suresh Raina. Dhoni scored a match-wining knock of 87 off just 70 deliveries as the hosts piled on an imposing total of 300/7 in their quota of fifty overs. Another bright spot in Indian team is the rise of Ravindra Jadeja who has improved vastly since the 2009 T20 World Cup. The left-hander scored a fighting 27 and took three important wickets and would once again be the one to look out for on the slow Kotla wicket. Delhi lads Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli also got off to a decent start and the duo could be a real handful for the English if they keep on going their merry way. The two have enough experience to enthrall their home crowd if they find their feet in the middle. Gambhir and Kohli have been in great form in the Champions League T20 and will be hoping to set off some Diwali fireworks for all the fans worldwide. The team management will surely be going with Parthiv Patel and young Ajinkya Rahane who failed to make their mark in the first ODI, but possess enough quality in them to make a comeback. The Indian batting order looks formidable, and it will be a near impossible task for the England bowlers to dominate them in their own backyard. The Indian spin bowling was brilliant in the first ODI, R Ashwin once again proved that he is the best man for the job after Harbhajan Singh. He, along with Jadeja, spun a web around the batsmen and forced them into errors which cost the English team dearly. The Delhi pitch will offer the same assistance to the spinners and the duo will once again hold the key on sluggish Kotla turf. Pacers Praveen Kumar and Umesh Yadav were right on the money and took three wickets between them and built the pressure early on in the innings. With the talented Varun Aaron and Rahul Sharma waiting in the wings, competition for places will be the order of the day, but the team's think tank is likely to go with the winning combination for the second ODI. On the other hand England's bowling and batting was dismal in the first ODI. Apart from Grame Swann, the English bowlers were easily tackled by the strong Indian batting. Bresnan and co. were toothless in the death overs and were unable to make most of the early wickets. It was the same story in the batting department for England, as they were bundled out for just 174 inside fifty overs. Craig Keiswetter, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen failed to make any impact for the visitors. Skipper Alaistair Cook was the only key contributor with a well-made fifty but he also eventually perished trying to up the ante. The visitors will need something special from KP and Cook if they are to seriously pose a challenge for India in the second ODI. The English batsmen will have to pull up their socks if they want to take the fight to the opposition, or else the five-match series might fizzle out into a one-sided affair in favour of the hosts.
• Sachin Returns 16 October, 2011, 10:20 am
  Mumbai: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has started training after a month he was ruled out of action due to a toe injury during the One-Day International series in England. Tendulkar visited the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Friday, where he was seen joggling lightly on the sidelines of a C. K. Nayudu Under-22 game between Mumbai and Gujarat, Hindustan Times reported. The Little Master suffered recurrence of an inflammation to the bone in his big toe on the right foot, ahead of the first ODI against England at Cardiff, due to which he had to return to India. The same injury kept him out of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which was won by his team Mumbai Indians. Tendulkar could be aiming to get fit before the home series against the West Indies in November, which would help him prepare better for the Australia tour starting on December 26. The report also said Tendulkar might comeback for the fourth ODI against England, which will be played in Mumbai.

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OneIndia

• BCCI Chief denies home dominance comment 16 January, 2012, 5:31 am
  Chennai: BCCI President N Srinivasan denied having made any statement about top cricket teams not being able to beat India on home soil."This is with reference to some comments attributed to me ("They cannot beat us here and we will feel
• Team India on way to claiming worst record ever 16 January, 2012, 5:11 am
  Perth, Jan 16: If Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men continue their losing streak in the fourth Test against Australia at Adelaide, it would prove to be the worst phase in the annals of Indian cricket. Since Dhoni led his team
• Team India set to lose No 2 Test ranking 16 January, 2012, 3:57 am
  Dubai, Jan 16: Team India is all set to lose its No 2 spot in the ICC Test ranking to South Africa after a humiliating 0-3 loss to Australia in the four match series.Indian batsmen have also lost their ground after
• Lyon likely to play Adelaide Test 16 January, 2012, 3:25 am
  Adelaide, Jan 16: Skipper Michael Clarke backs the Australian spinner Nathan Lyon, as he is all set to play in the last Test of the four match series against India at Adelaide starting on January 24, 2012.Aiming for a whitewash, Aussie
• Chance for England to win US$1,75,000 jackpot 16 January, 2012, 2:33 am
  Dubai, Jan 16: England will have a chance to the win the US$175,000 jackpot for topping the ICC Test Championship table when they play against Pakistan in a three-Test series starting in Dubai on Tuesday. The award is presented on
• Test ban, a blessing in disguise for Dhoni 16 January, 2012, 1:42 am
  Bangalore, Jan 16: International Cricket Council's (ICC) one-Test ban on Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have come as a welcome relief for the beleagured Indian skipper.Dhoni was suspended from Adelaide Test on Sunday for slow over-rate during the Perth match. This being
• Oz can 'hammer down' India in ODIs as well: Arthur 16 January, 2012, 1:17 am
  Perth, Jan 16: After his side`s humiliation of India in the Test series, Australia coach Mickey Arthur said that his men will "hammer down" the visitors in next month`s ODI tri-series as well once all-rounder Shane Watson comes back into the
• Oz media terms Indian batting as 'useless rubble' 16 January, 2012, 12:19 am
  Perth, Jan 16: The Australian media described the star-studded Indian batting line-up as "useless rubble" and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a "passive captain" as it taunts the visiting team for its abject surrender in the ongoing Test series.India meekly surrendered
• Warner hails Chanderpaul's approach for success 15 January, 2012, 11:49 pm
  Perth, Jan 16: Their individual approach towards batting is radically opposite but David Warner feels that playing county cricket alongside senior West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul had helped him a lot.Incidentally, Warner had equalled Chanderpaul`s record of fourth fastest century in
• Will Team India head for go-karting again? 15 January, 2012, 11:40 pm
  Adelaide, Jan 16: After their loss to Australia in the second Test in Sydney, Indian team chose to take time off from cricket practice and headed for go-karting in Perth. Now that the team has lost again in Perth on Sunday inside three

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Cricinfo

• Kayes ton seals series 16 January, 2012, 11:41 am
  Imrul Kayes scored an unbeaten century as Bangladesh A took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the one-day series against England Lions. Kayes' innings helped his side to a six-wicket win in Sylhet.
• Whatmore meetings with PCB positive 16 January, 2012, 11:37 am
  Dav Whatmore has said he had positive meetings with members of the Pakistan board in Lahore but there has been no definite decision taken yet on whether or not he will be the new Pakistan coach
• South Africa end Pakistan's winning streak 16 January, 2012, 9:12 am
  South Africa U-19 halted Pakistan U-19's three-match winning streak with a 42-run victory in Cape Town
• Sri Lanka looking to touch 250 16 January, 2012, 8:22 am
  Sri Lanka have one important target in their minds ahead of what could be a series-decider in Bloemfontein: to put at least 250 runs on the board
• Series opener an appealing prospect 16 January, 2012, 7:50 am
  ESPNcricinfo previews the first Test between England and Pakistan, in Dubai
• South Africa's brave new world of experimentation 16 January, 2012, 7:03 am
  'Cautious over curious' has usually been the approach of the South African selectors. Instead of being dynamic and open-minded they have traditionally acted in a risk averse manner, until now
• Kallis, Amla absence gives Sri Lanka an opening 16 January, 2012, 5:53 am
  ESPNcricinfo previews the third ODI between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Bloemfontein
• Time to do what's right for the game - Strauss 16 January, 2012, 4:58 am
  Andrew Strauss has called upon any player with information about corruption in English cricket to come forward and talk to the ECB.
• 'Ashes the ultimate goal' - Arthur 16 January, 2012, 1:39 am
  Mickey Arthur, the Australia coach, believes his side have progressed further than he expected them to at the moment
• Arthur backs struggling Shaun Marsh 16 January, 2012, 1:00 am
  Mickey Arthur, the Australia coach, believes Shaun Marsh can arrest his slump in the fourth Test in Adelaide after he saw signs of improvement in Marsh's batting at the WACA

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Cricketblips

55

The Corridor

• The sands of time 12 January, 2012, 3:35 pm
  It’s been fun, this blog. It even got me a job, nearly six years ago, but I’ve barely been able to maintain it the last two or three years. This will be the last post here, and most of the words will flitter into the ether at some point. Thanks for the entertaining vitriol and comments over the years. It was a right giggle.
• Alastair Cook as a choirboy 12 January, 2012, 12:38 pm
  Take a look at the video below at around 1:11. Yes, it’s Alastair Cook in his days as a chorister at St Paul’s. One point of correction: whoever posted the video to Youtube believes it comes from a 1997 Christmas concert at the cathedral. In fact, it comes from a national service of supplication I organised there to pray for the Lord’s help in ending our dreadful run of results against the Australians. It worked, though perhaps not quite as I expected. Like Muralitharan, God moves in a mysterious way. Jonathan Calder blogs at Liberal England.
• Who shot Ashley Harvey-Walker? 10 January, 2012, 3:08 pm
  In the 1970s summer Sunday afternoons meant live cricket on BBC2 and the rheumy pairing of John Arlott and Jim Laker visiting a county ground. Somehow it always seemed to be Ashley Harvey-Walker who was batting. Until the other day I remembered him for two things beside this apparent ubiquity. Batting against Peter Lever and Peter Lee on a snow-affected wicket at Buxton in 1975, he handed Dickie Bird his false teeth in a handkerchief to look after because, he reasoned, he would not be out there long. And Peter Tinniswood’s Brigadier once referred to the celebrated Ashley Harvey Wallbanger cocktail. Then I came across Peakfan’s appreciation of Harvey Walker on his Derbyshire cricket blog. I was shocked by its ending: On his retirement, he went into the Leagues as a professional, then went out to South Africa … where he became a highly regarded groundsman. It was very sad to hear of his shocking death in 1997, shot dead in a Johannesburg bar in which he had a business interest. Wikipedia has a list of a dozen cricketers who were murdered (with another seven possibles beyond that). The best known of them is the West Indies captain Jeff Stollmeyer, who was shot by intruders to his Port of Spain home in 1989. And a word too for Claude Tozer of New South Wales, who was “shot and killed by his deranged mistress”. It could happen to anybody. Jonathan Calder blogs at Liberal England.
• Peter Roebuck and Basil D’Oliveira 8 January, 2012, 11:25 am
  Thank you for asking: Christmas was suprisingly enjoyable. I listened to the Queen’s Speech, read my 1973 Wisden and the mother of the boy who used to come in to help with the scoreboard brought me a hot meal. So I think I’ll be here a while yet. I have calculated that, with my rifle, I could pin down a whole company from the Last Man window if it came to that. In the mean time, here are some links paying tribute to two players we lost towards the end of last year. Peter Roebuck Vic Marks, Roebuck’s old Somerset team mate, wrote in the Guardian: Peter Roebuck’s suicide in Cape Town was a terrible shock. Of course it was. But it was not a complete shock. One of the most gifted writers about the game was a complex man with a brilliant mind. He was also far more troubled and insecure than he liked to let on. He would bare his soul on anything to do with cricket – or politics – fearlessly, with wit and brutal honesty and often at great length. About himself he would reveal practically nothing … Worse players represented England in the 80s. In 1989, with the national side in chaos, the coach and captain at Somerset were asked to suggest a replacement for the Edgbaston Test against Australia. We recommended Roebuck, who was in superb form; the selectors opted to recall Chris Tavaré. Roebuck might not have been the comfortable choice. At the time he would have been the right one. In his speech to a memorial event for Roebuck held in the Sydney Cricket Ground members’ stand, Jim Maxwell quoted one of the many letters he had received about him: “As a schoolboy rower and rugby player I have never had the slightest idea about what is going on during a cricket match. This probably never changed but I became a committed Roebuck reader in the 1990s when I came across one of his columns. It was a revelation to me; beautiful writing and that it was about cricket held no consequence. Roebuck wrote about life, personal choices, character, moral positions. That he could do so hiding it in the sports section was his exquisite skill.” And Down at Third Man emailed me about his own tribute: “Peter was a friend over 45 years. He was a great Liberal. If you think it valuable for non cricketers and cricketers alike to see him through this perspective…” I did and still do, so here is the link to that tribute. Basil D’Oliveira Peter Oborne, author of a biography of D’Oliveira, wrote in the Daily Telegraph: Back in the 1960s, the majority of the British sporting public had never given so much as a passing thought to the terrible injustice of South African apartheid. But when they saw this quiet, unassuming man banned from playing the sport he loved just because of the colour of his skin, the British people gave their hearts to Basil D’Oliveira because they sensed that something was badly wrong. Christopher Martin-Jenkins (in the Cricketer) describes his batting and bowling for younger fan who never saw him play: Those who did not see him hit the ball, classically straight from a relaxed sideways-on stance, should imagine a latter day Mahendra Singh Dhoni. D’Oliveira had the same calm assurance and similar compact power from a short backlift. Like Dhoni, he was murderously dismissive of anything pitched short and he would hit sixes off the back foot. With a modern bat in his hand he would have been the perfect Twenty20 cricketer. His bowling was rather more than might be suggested by his reputation as a partnership breaker. Again his action was classical and he swung the ball at medium pace. It was he who paved the way for England’s unlikely victory after rain against Australia at the Oval in 1968, when he took the seventh wicket with only 35 minutes of the match left and paved the way for Derek Underwood. Happy memories of a strong, strong man. One mystery that was not solved by D’Oliveira’s death was his true age. Most of the obituaries said 80, but he was almost certainly several years older than that, having knocked them off his age when he came over to England to increase his chances of getting a professional contract. It seems that mystery may never be solved. Damain D’Oliveira gave an interview to the BBC, and the text accompanying the video says: “You could never get anything out of him – like his age,” said D’Oliveira, who added that his father did not have a birth certificate. To end on a note of trivia – I have plenty of time to read here – did you know that D’Oliveira (Basil’s brother) played one first-class match for Leicestershire? Jonathan Calder blogs at Liberal England.
• Down at Third Man on the corruption of cricket 2 November, 2011, 12:32 pm
  Hello? Coughs. It ain’t half dusty in here. The heavy roller is festooned with cobwebs and mice are nesting in the second XI captain’s box. But the scoreboard seems to be working and there is still that lovely smell of linseed oil. I have dropped by because I wanted to share a post with you. Down at Third Man has written one today entitled Dirty Dollars – The Utter and Unchecked Corruption at the Heart of Cricket. I get the impression he feels strongly about it: Let’s face it, the ex-cricketers who are part of the multimillion dollar entertainment industry which cricket has become and who these days have a virtual monopoly on reportage of cricket have a feeble record on the exposure of this endemic corruption.  They have failed the paying public, the supporters and the game itself. It took ‘real’ journalists to catch the crooks while credulous commentators endeavoured to explain away the inexplicable happenings – including the giant no-balls – that they witnessed at Lord’s and in previous matches. After yesterday’s guilty verdicts, cricket has a choice. Either it closes the door on these events of the recent past, locking the ‘mad relation’ in the attic far from sight if not from sound, and conspires to move on. Or it roots out what has happened, investigates all the otherwise incomprehensible dropped catches, the imprudent bowling changes, the rash run charges, the reckless dismissals, the careless collapses and admits that the results, the stats, the accomplishments are worthless and should be struck from the records. Anyway, do read the whole thing for yourself. Now I shall feed the groundsman’s horse and then see if any of these cakes are still edible. Jonathan Calder blogs at Liberal England.
• One chance 8 September, 2011, 2:22 pm
  Of all the pressures cricketers have to contend with – big matches, loss of form, playing for place in the side, tricky pitches, girlfriend watching in the crowd - knowing a particular match is a once-in-a-career opportunity is surely the rarest and the greatest. Form, big matches and girlfriends come and go - once-in-a-lifetime moments, by definition, tend not to. Fringe England players of the past will know this. Gavin Hamilton and Darren Pattinson will know this. Alex Loudon will know this – though probably care less than the others due to other areas of his life being pretty tip-top at the moment. The feeling that your first foray to the crease as an England player will most probably be your last if it lasts less that 30 balls (I think that’s about the cut-off. Sub 30 and you haven’t the stomach for the fight. 30-40 may afford you another game. 40+, in the nineties at least, could guarantee a 50-cap Test career) is foreign to an England debutant under Andy Flower’s charge. If Andy Flower deems you ready for international cricket, then you are. You can waltz nonchalantly out of the dressing room, break dance through the Long Room and take guard with your box dangling from your nose and you’ll still get another go. Maybe not straight away – the example cited may constitute a year or so in the international pseudo-wilderness – but no need to eBay your three lions gear in a hurry. Or indeed sit at the end of your front garden offering it to passers-by at knock down prices, as Nathan Hauritz reportedly did on being snubbed yet again by Australia last year. No, you’ll be back under the leadership of Andrew, Alastair or Stuart soon enough. Because you’re good enough. Andy Flower says so and he’s literally never wrong. Alex Hales making his T20I bow So Alex Hales needn’t worry. His international career may only be two balls long so far, but it’s far from over. He will have been nervous last Wednesday as he strode out to open with Craig Kieswetter, but ill-treatment by the England management will not have been a concern. He will be given a proper chance to prove he’s good enough. Which he is. I saw a breath-taking innings from a man with far fewer assurances at the weekend. Like Hales, 17-year-old Nick Doyle was opening the batting for his Lancashire village side, Woodhouses, on Sunday. The match was the Village Cup final, the venue was Lord’s. None of the 22 players on show had ever played at Lord’s before, very few had even watched a match there. It doesn’t get any bigger than a Lord’s final for cricketers of that – or, frankly, any – standard, and every player took to the famous turf knowing they’d probably never do so again. One chance, then. It’s fair to say Doyle took his. Rain reduced the final to a ten overs a side game. Doyle tested the theory that such an affair can never be truly satisfying by blasting 63 from 31 balls, helping his side to a total of 112-1 which Rottingdean CC never got close to chasing down. Some players froze, some thrived at the Home of Cricket. Woodhouses’ Ashley Prescott took a hat-trick – the flip-side of which meant a first-baller for one Rottingdean batsmen. Doyle’s hitting was ferocious, but the most impressive thing about his performance was the way he took his chance. His one chance. Having said that, it wasn’t impossible to believe that Nick Doyle will play at Lord’s again.
• Ravi Bopara 18 August, 2011, 9:55 am
  A warm welcome to Vithushan Ehantharajah, a freelance sports journalist, new to The Corridor… Unfortunately I was unable to see England (unofficially) make it to the top of the ICC Test rankings; a combination of work and chalking up a gritty 30 from 17 overs (more on that never) meant I only caught up with the events of Edgbaston this morning.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t proud of the achievement; as any other England fan born in the ‘80s, it was almost inevitable that we would be rewarded for putting up with loss, after disappointing loss, after loss of hope at the call up of Aftab Habib, Mark Ealham or Min Patel (yeah, me neither). But even as I watched Kevin Pietersen run over to Stuart Broad, ball in hand, letting him know that his decision to jog past a tame MS Dhoni drive was vindicated, it all felt a bit hollow not watchingit live and thus, doing my bit. One person who seemed to echo my sentiments was Ravi Bopara. And he was there, in amongst it. Well, more around the outside, holding onto the shirt of the nearest players as the rest of the England side jumped around in an all too familiar celebratory cuddle (and yes, it is a cuddle because they’re all really good mates and that). He barely got off the ground. Coming in with the score at 596/4, he was on a hiding to nothing – a quick fire 50 would have been greeted with as much apathy as if he had been yorked first ball. Heck, even if he decided to turn his bat the other way around & use it like a pool cue to chip the ball over the infield, it would not have distracted the press from chastising Alastair Cook for scoring 294. In the end, he took a catch and so ended his part in the 3rd Test. Bopara’s talent has never been in doubt; he is one of the few people in the country that I’d pay to watch net. His drives are sumptuous – his on-drive is one of the best around – and even his aggressive strokes seem more out of calculation than desperation. But for all his skill, it’s his application and mental strength that are constantly called into question. And for good reason; even at county level he is prone to throwing away good starts through careless shot-selection. Possessing all the shots is one thing, but it’s how and when you use them, if even at all, that makes you a good batsman. Talent is nothing without application. I remember being at a loose end one Tuesday afternoon in my University flat (during a scheduled Heat Mass & Momentum Transfer lecture) and picked up my flatmate’s copy of Steve Waugh’s autobiography to casually flick through it – in the way that one would casually flick through The Odyssey.  I turned to a page where the former Australia captain was talking about the issues he had with the pull-shot and how he tried tirelessly to master it; attempting to get on top of the ball and roll his wrists when playing it. I must admit, I did find the idea of Steve Waugh practicing any kind of wrist-based stroke-play quite entertaining. “Soon,” admits Waugh, “I realised God had only given me wrists to support my iron fists.” (**quote requires citation**) He eventually decided to remove the shot from his armoury and duck under the short ball – maybe even risk injury – to ensure he would never fall victim to it again. In the end, he didn’t do too badly. The 2009 Ashes tour did not do much for Bopara’s Test career (with 105 runs in 7 innings) but it fast-tracked that of his replacement , I.J.L. Trott, who didn’t look back after his debut hundred in the final test at The Oval. His almost super-human temperament has made his step-up up to the next level seamless, and it is this characteristic that will serve Bopara well, above anything else. Luckily, it looks like it is something he is working on. At the end of July, in bowler friendly conditions in Southend-on-Sea, Ravi carved 178 – lasting more than seven hours and taking 374 balls. A dogged, determined knock highlighted by Leicestershire’s 4th innings 34 all out capitulation, and recognised by the man himself: I got into a zone where I honestly felt I couldn’t get out. Leicestershire bowled to sort of different tactics and it worked in my favour as well. I’m very glad that that innings happened; I learnt a lot from that innings alone. The emergence of the Alex Hales, Ben Stokes and James Taylors of this world make the likes of Ravi Bopara expendable, unless he can show all concerned that he is a more complete player. Chances are even then it won’t be enough to seal a starting berth, but at least it would keep him within injury’s distance from the side. One of the main features of Steve Waugh’s great Australian side – as he mentions in his other part of the book I happened to flick to – is the players they possessed in reserve. In Justin Langer, Brad Hodge, Andy Bichel & Stuart MacGill they had more than capable replacements, focussed and ready to slot in at a moment’s notice – driven by the knowledge that their moment had arrived. As England look to emulate the era of domination of their canary-yellow counterparts, players like Bopara, Tim Bresnan and others on the periphery of the squad will be vital in sustaining it. I do hope Ravi gets his chance at The Oval; ideally, with England 200-odd when he comes in with the innings in that transitional stage where he can construct an innings in a way that is more suited to his game, that at one down. This is his chance to get involved.  Hopefully he’ll soon be a valued part of that cuddle. Who knows, maybe he’ll even be allowed to administer an arse slap or two? By Vithushan Ehantharajah Vithushan is a freelance sports writer for The Cricketer, Spin Cricket, Cricinfo & FourFourTwo. Follow him on Twitter.
• Broad worth his place, Ashes still king and Strauss finds form 18 July, 2011, 10:49 am
  So Stuart Broad keeps his Test squad place and, of course, he’ll play on Thursday. As well he should. Broad has lacked rhythm since returning from injury, that’s all. Reports of any longer-term malaise are short sighted and exaggerated. We expect a lot of our young cricketers these days, and Broad’s been given a rough deal. Speaking on Sky Sports at the weekend Bob Willis – whose transformation into my grandmother appears now to have incorporated memory loss – lamented that the last time Broad did anything meaningful with the ball in Tests was the Oval ’09. It’s a fashionable line, but a little harsh on his second innings performance in Durban in late 2009, a solid summer 2010 against Pakistan and a curtailed but misunderstood Ashes tour. Broad only took two wickets Down Under, but his economy rate was crucially low, demonstrating an increased maturity and allowing for Steven Finn’s prolific but expensive bursts. Until injury in Adelaide ruled him out for the rest of the series, Broad’s economy rate was barely less phenomenal (though understandably less written-about) than Finn’s strikerate. Broad conceeded exaxctly two runs an over less than Finn, gifting England a control they would otherwise have lacked. Indeed, England managed one Test post-Broad’s injury before deciding to drop Finn, their top wicket-taker, for a man with more control.   Broad has played three Tests since, feeling his way back into top class action. Reports from Trent Bridge last week suggest he’s nearly there, but whether or not you believe he’s worthy of a start on Thursday: it’s one thing suggesting he should be rested for a game or two, and quite another rewriting recent history. ******* Oliver Brett’s article about the upcoming series against India on the Indian site, Firstpost, is a worthwhile read, but I don’t agree with the gist of his arguament: that the upcoming series can “explode the myth of the Ashes”. “Even in the 1990s, when England were perennially rubbish, the excitement surrounding the Ashes continued to linger,” writes Brett, before going on to list the multiple factors that make the latest edition of England v India box office stuff. But that’s exactly the point: England v Australia is – and will always be – incredibly special, irrespective of context. That’s the ‘myth’ of the Ashes. Even when one side is in the doledrums, the series - or at least the thought of it - excites. Imagination defeats logic. This summer’s four-Test match-up is spine-tingling, but largely because India are the best side in the world, England have the chance to dethrone them, India boast the greatest living cricketer in the world and are coached by a key figure from England’s recent past. If they were languishing fifth in the world rankings, levels of anticipation would be normal. That will never be true of the Ashes.  ******* Does anyone strongly – or even mildly – object to Andrew Strauss’ one-match defection to Somerset now? Two fine innings (one unbeaten) and 187 runs later and the England captain is in a much better state of mind and form to begin a crucial Test series than he was this time last week. And all at the expense of Marcus Trescothick, whom Somerset were happy to rest. Young English players were still given a chance to face the tourists and, better still, share a dressing-room with an in-form England captain. ******* If you’re reading this: thanks for still visiting the site. My writing has been far too sporadic recently and I hope to be able to change that over the upcoming Test series. It should be a cracker – enjoy!
• KP lifts Rose Bowl gloom 20 June, 2011, 6:13 am
  Kevin Pietersen skips forward two paces and mauls the left arm spinner through extra cover first ball. Confident, brutal and genuine; he’s not bluffing this time. That shot – one ball before lunch on day three at the Rose Bowl – was one of several indications that Pietersen’s best home Test innings since August 2008 carried a deeper significance. Significant knock: KP on his way to a majestic 85 Pietersen’s demeanour is always compelling. Unlike with some players, nothing is hidden. Every walk to and from the crease, every nervous twitch and prod of the pitch betrays his state of mind. We can read him wrong, of course, but we have plenty to go on. He can be cool, but not Steve Waugh ice cool. The blood is pumping too fast, the heart beating too quickly. Expressionless? Never. It has taken him to the top of the game; and equally left him open to criticism. Watching Pietersen on Saturday was to watch the old Pietersen but through the prism of the last two years; a time in which injury, fatigue and technical issues have dented his aura and belief. On Saturday, as at Adelaide and the 2010 World T20, the forceful front-foot movements and straight bat eroded the prism. By the end it had banished it, seemingly for good. The performance suggested permanence rather than quick fix. His technique was rooted in self-belief, as it always used to be. The spinner was attacked with genuine confidence. What left-arm spin problem? Forget the sub-world class bowling attack. Pietersen at his best faces bowling, rather that bowlers. Herath or Warne, Welegedara or Lee; KP on fire doesn’t care. That the cricketing narrative has prevailed at the Rose Bowl this week (and it has: Is Chris Tremlett becoming the most fearsome fast bowler in the world? Is Ian Bell the most complete batsman in world cricket? Should Zaheer Khan bowl blindfolded to Andrew Strauss next month to give him a chance?) is a victory for Rod Bransgrove’s vision and Hampshire’s Ashes aspirations. Dark clouds have been an overbearing and unwelcome presence over the last five days, the shuttle bus service I used to get from the train station to the ground on Saturday morning showed teething troubles and rain has scuppered any chance of a result, but test cricket works at the Rose Bowl. With an Australian feel, keen locals and an increased capacity due to temporary stands, in the future it will flourish. England like the Rose Bowl. Ask any Hampshire folk when England began to claw back the Ashes in 2005 and you can bet they won’t point to the first morning of the Edgbaston Test. They’ll highlight the 100-run T20 victory at the Rose Bowl at the start of that glorious summer. Then-Hampshire man Pietersen got man of the match that day, before launching himself into the cricketing stratosphere two months later. His 85 on Saturday reaquainted himself with such heights.
• An English Garner 17 June, 2011, 3:43 pm
  Some praise, this (from Scyld Berry): Nobody so tall has been as fast and formidable as Chris Tremlett on the quickest pitch of this series, save perhaps Joel Garner in the mood As it stands this evening, Tremlett has 44 Test wickets at 24.13 and has yet to play his tenth match. Not a bad return for someone we all once wrote off as being too nice.