The cricket world reacts to Michael Hussey announcing his retirement

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2012″Mr Cricket = efficiency, excellence, adaptability, modesty, passion, team man, Aussie + singer of Southern Cross. Well Played.”
“Mike’s career was all the more remarkable because he was forced to wait until he was 30 and had scored over 10,000 first-class runs before he had the opportunity to wear the baggy green. If anyone ever earned the right to play for Australia it was Mike Hussey, and given the chance he made the most of it. Now he goes out on top, leaving the game on his own terms.”
“Huss, all the best pal! You deserve a strong send off at the SCG. Finish with a win!”
“Congrats Michael Hussey, an outstanding career, a true winner that worked as hard as anyone I’ve had the pleasure to play with or coach.”
“Was shocked when Huss told me of his decision. He will retire a champion.”
“Privileged to have played with Huss back in 2005. Changed Durham as a club! Professional, determined and a huge run-scorer. PS: a nightmare to play against.”
“I can’t believe Mike Hussey has retired from International cricket. A seriously tough competitor with an amazing record. Congratulations.”

Plays of the Day from the second day of the third Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney

Andrew Fernando at the SCG04-Jan-2013The welcome
Few cricketers inspire the kind of universal admiration Michael Hussey has enjoyed in his career, and the spectators and his opponents at the SCG put on a fitting ovation as he arrived at the crease in the second session. The 26,420-strong audience, some of whom had adorned their nose and lips in Hussey’s signature zinc, rose to applaud him onto the arena, while Sri Lanka formed a guard of honour often reserved for the greats of the game. Hussey’s international career was too short perhaps for him to be considered among cricket’s finest, it is difficult to begrudge him the honour his opponents bestowed on him in his last match.The dismay
Clarke has barely put a foot wrong both with the bat and as captain in the past 12 months, but if Hussey does not bat again in the game, Clarke will have committed a blunder he will have a hard time forgiving himself for. Clarke pushed Dhammika Prasad to the left of the point fielder and called Hussey through for a tight single, but Dimuth Karunaratne rounded the ball and threw down the stumps to find even the sprightly, diving Hussey short of his ground. Clarke’s head dropped as he turned around to see the Sri Lankans celebrate at the other end, and he sank to his haunches on the pitch when the third umpire confirmed the visitors’ delight.The blows
Lahiru Thirimanne had spilt two catches at short leg in the third session, but when he finally caught one that Sri Lanka and umpire Dar thought had hit Matthew Wade’s bat, the decision was overturned on review. Almost as a punishment, Wade swept powerfully two balls later to collect Thirimanne painfully in the thigh, before the batsman’s aim improved and he got the fielder in the box with a similar stroke next ball.The trend
When Ed Cowan was caught short for 4 attempting to take a second, Australia had lost a top-three batsman to a run out in each Test this series. The dismissal was largely of Cowan’s own making as he sauntered a first, then stuttered when he saw Warner charging back for two, while Nuwan Pradeep had hauled the ball in and released it with speed, accuracy and power. Not since the Ashes series of 1977 had one of Australia’s top three been run-out in three consecutive matches.The missed chance
Sri Lanka had given Michael Clarke two reprieves in Melbourne, and their largesse continued in Sydney, albeit with the help of umpire Aleem Dar. Rangana Herath struck Clarke on the pad first with one that pitched outside off stump and straightened, but Dar turned down Sri Lanka’s voracious appeal as he had been doing for much of the day. Mahela Jayawardene considered asking for a review, but with only one remaining to them, the uncertainty writ on Herath’s face was enough to deter him. Replays showed however, that the ball had hit Clarke in line with off stump and would go on to hit middle.

Plays of the Day from the second day of the Newlands Test between South Africa and Pakistan

Firdose Moonda at Newlands15-Feb-2013Catch of the day
Pakistan’s batsmen were struggling against the new ball and probably didn’t want too much else to think about but that was not all they had to contend with. Alviro Petersen added to their woes at the start of the day with a piece of superb fielding that will go down as one of the moments of the series. Sarfraz Ahmed was the last recognised batsman but even he was uncertain against Vernon Philander, pushing at one and getting an outside edge. Petersen moved to his right, stuck a hand out and caught the ball inches off the ground to leave Sarfraz in disbelief that he had been dismissed.Novelty sighting of the day
South Africans have been waiting for a few weeks to see Mohammed Irfan in action, out of curiosity at what someone taller than Morne Morkel would look like. He did not play in the Wanderers Test and when Graeme Smith chose to field first, it meant at least another day of waiting. Irfan finally had his moment, with bat in hand, seven minutes before the scheduled lunch and delivered on all the novelty value he promised. He looked almost twice as tall as Saeed Ajmal and AB de Villiers and stood head, shoulders and waist above the rest. His first shot was as aggressive as expected as he looked to swipe over mid-on but missed completely.Team-mates tussle of the day
With a second collapse against the new ball in full swing, it was understandable that Pakistan’s batsmen were getting tetchy. Tanvir Ahmed appeared the most irritable. When Umar Gul was given out lbw against Philander, he wanted to consult with Tanvir but the No. 8 wanted no part in it. He turned his back on Gul and walked away from the non-striker’s end. He only turned to address to his colleague once Gul had asked for the referral. Tanvir did not seem happy with that at all and the two held a heated discussion in the middle while the third umpire reviewed the decision and upheld the on-field call.Body blow of the day
Saeed Ajmal was brought on in the 12th over of the South Africa innings but the damage was not immediately sustained by the batsman. Alviro Petersen swept his third delivery straight on to short leg Azhar Ali’s knee and the fielder went down as concerned team-mates converged. Petersen joined the group to check on Azhar but Graeme Smith was not overly concerned. Azhar was treated on-field and a drinks break was taken but he has back under the helmet immediately aftewards.Catch of the day II
If there was any pain lingering in Azhar’s knee to hamper his movement, he didn’t show it and gave Petersen some of his own treatment. When Petersen played Ajmal on to his pad, in an attempt to glance the ball down to fine leg, Azhar responded as quickly as Petersen had earlier. He moved forward quickly to pouch the ball one-handed in front of him and Petersen did not hesitate a moment in walking off.

From Benjamin Matthews, United Kingdom

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Getty ImagesThis Test is possibly the fulcrum of the series and so momentum will no doubt be the buzz word around the England dressing-room at present. Come Thursday as two patched up teams move to Edgbaston, both sides will be looking to try to exploit weaknesses apparent within each camp.For Australia, concerns about Phillip Hughes and Mitchell Johnson will need to be addressed, while the loss of Kevin Pietersen has posed the English team noticeable issues in the middle order. If Australia are to seize the initiative in this series, a win is pivotal at a ground where of the 43 Tests staged, England have won 22.England have handed a Test lifeline to Ian Bell, brought in to replace Pietersen. Bell is a batsman of undisputed talent; a classical stroke-maker with a honed technique, solid enough to slot in at No. 3, possibly the most difficult of Test batting positions. Many expect Bell to be inserted at first-wicket down to allow a visibly less-than-comfortable Ravi Bopara to drop down a place or two to repair his fractured confidence by way of facing the older ball.Bopara has looked unsettled in the first two Tests; batting at an irregular tempo without his usual verve and swagger at the crease. Bell, with his tighter technique and impressive county form, appears a sound choice to replace a player who is showing signs of mental and technical fatigue at first drop. While such an order change seems to be the consensus, England must resist the temptation to do so as this would be to the detriment of both men.Bopara possesses the character to recover his form and succeed at No. 3 where an ability to exert one’s personality on an innings is crucial. Bopara has the potential to dictate the pace and rhythm of an innings, in a manner that no other English batsman currently does. The selectors strive for continuity and so must persevere with Bopara at three.Bell is a batsman who tends to bat successfully in the slipstream of more dominant batsmen. Add to that, a moderate Test record at No. 3 (averaging 31) and a tendency to compound an innings in the middle order show why Bell will fit better at No. 5 (where he has unfinished business, averaging 54.4).Getty ImagesA steely Paul Collingwood, having scored a double-century against the Australians batting at No. 4 in 2006, should not have too many qualms about being asked to bat one position higher.So is Bell the correct choice? He has responded to the request from the England hierarchy to show “more hunger” this season, scoring runs at an average of 64.70 across 13 innings, but have the selectors shown a lack of trust in the county game, or is there simply a dearth of talent to choose from?Bell, with the experience of two Ashes series behind him is pragmatically perhaps the best option, but poor records in both of these series (502 runs at 25.10) have prompted a number of different names to be put forward for consideration, if only to provide batting cover for the Edgbaston Test.Bell’s Warwickshire team-mate Jonathan Trott has lodged a firm case for selection, having scored 101 more runs than Bell over the same number of innings this season, and what with batting at No. 4, would have represented a straight swap for Pietersen.The Kent pair Rob Key and Joe Denly are names often bandied about but both, alongside Worcestershire’s Stephen Moore, would be forced to bat out of position if selected. As with Trott and Moore, the selectors would be loathe to hand out a Test debut in the middle of an Ashes series, and Denly’s time should come. Key’s time may have passed in the longer format of the game, as may the oft-overlooked Owais Shah and the popular choice of Mark Ramprakash. If the selectors want to look towards the future, then James Hildreth and Eoin Morgan are two emerging names who could produce a big impact in the middle order and who would benefit from being part of an Ashes squad as spare batting options.All of these opinions are heresy due to Bell’s inclusion, but Adil Rashid is a final name worth a mention. To include Rashid would require Andrew Flintoff to be shunted up the order to No. 6, and so would result in an even loftier weight of responsibility on the Lancastrian’s broad shoulders. England’s bowling attack would be strengthened, but the batting unit would suffer and the attack regained a ruthlessness at Lord’s that was absent in Cardiff.Of the unit, Flintoff, Graeme Swann and James Anderson are certainties for the third Test but one of Graham Onions and Stuart Broad could yet make way for an apparently rejuvenated Steve Harmison. England may try to replicate the performance from Harmison and Onions when they bowled Durham to victory at Edgbaston earlier in the season. The plan to forge home the advantage may leave Broad on the sidelines as he is yet to find his true character as a bowler, sometimes appearing indecisive about how to bowl in certain situations.Having said that, England are unlikely to tamper with an attack that produced 20 wickets at Lord’s, and with a traditionally partisan Edgbaston crowd acting as a 12th man, England remain in a strong position despite the loss of Pietersen.

The fascination of seeing him finally crack the nut that is Test cricket

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013In the absence of any play on the first day at Edgbaston, here are some thoughts, as promised, on Marlon Samuels, whose long-overdue success has illuminated a series which has thus far proceeded largely according to pundits’ predictions, form-lines, statistical likelihood, Nostradamus, and the secret diktats of the shadowy Bilderberg Group who allegedly run the global economy and probably have a few fingers in cricket’s various pies as well.Samuels, hitherto an unfulfilled talent, has proved that spending a few weeks attempting to clonk a white ball around in the high-octane frenzy of the IPL is, contrary to what most cricketicians have always believed, ideal preparation for playing old-school Test innings of patience and classical technique in English conditions. We live and learn.In accordance with modern West Indian tradition, Samuels has come to the crease with his team in deep trouble in all four innings this series (100 for 4, 65 for 4, 63 for 4 and 31 for 3), and, since a studious 31 in his first knock at Lord’s was spoiled by a careless sploot to cover, he has played three innings of startling, career-average-defying quality.It has been the kind of batting you would have expected of a man who, in his second Test, at the MCG in December 2000, against an Australian pace attack of McGrath, Gillespie and Bichel, scored 60 not out and 46 after coming to the crease at 28 for 4 (soon 28 for 5) and 17 for 5 (soon 23 for 6); but not the kind of batting you would have expected of a batsman who had scored two Test centuries and averaged 29 in 37 Tests, splattered over 11-and-a-half years as if Jackson Pollock had been chairman of West Indies’ selectors. Which he might as well have been.Samuels’ on- and off-pitch travails in his interminable apprenticeship since that seemingly portentous teenage performance (in which he was only dismissed when last man out in the second innings, caught on the boundary off Colin Miller, perhaps unwilling to trust the batsmanship of Courtney Walsh to score the 363 runs West Indies still needed for victory) are eloquently examined by Rob Steen in this recent ESPNCricinfo article.There is a fascination in seeing a player who has long disappointed finally crack the curious nut that is Test cricket, and particularly in seeing a player with an average of below 30 suddenly break out and bat like a timeless legend of the game. Steen draws comparisons between Samuels and Carl Hooper, who in his first 38 Tests, averaged 26, a frankly laughable figure for a man who could (and occasionally did) play like a computer-generated simulation of The Perfect Batsman, and who, like Samuels, had excelled in his second Test, scoring an unbeaten 100 in Calcutta as a 21-year-old (although this being still the 1980s, Hooper came in with the West Indies at 288 for 4, rather than 28 for 4).In his 39th Test, the final match of the 1993 series against Pakistan, Hooper, moseying to the wicket with that average of 26 peeking mournfully out of the record books, and with an eyebrow-furrowing 75 runs in his previous eight Test innings, played what described as “an innings of stirring virtuosity”. In an innings of 178 not out off 247 balls, he “overwhelmed the bowling with strokes both majestically orthodox and cutely improvised”, against an attack featuring Wasim and Waqar. Over his next 58 Tests, up to an including his final Test hundred in 2002, he averaged 45, not earth-shattering, but a figure far more befitting the supernatural ease of his strokeplay, and, over that period, alongside Saeed Anwar, Ponting, Azharrudin, Mark Waugh, and Aravinda de Silva.In the early phase of his career, his average placed him in the company of Kiran More, Jack Russell and Saleem Yousuf, suggesting that Hooper was in fact a wicketkeeper trapped in a batsman’s body.Before the Kolkata Test of March 2001 ‒ a game most Indian readers will probably remember rather fondly, although Australians may have marked it down as “the game in which Glenn McGrath scored a then-career-second-best 33 runs, and Michael Slater bowled a couple of tidy overs, conceding only four runs” ‒ VVS Laxman had scored one century and averaged 27 in 20 Tests over half a decade.VVS hit a rapid 59 in India’s disastrous and seemingly series-losing first innings, and then unleashed what is unarguably the Finest Innings Ever Played By A Batsman With A Career Average Below 30 ‒ partly because it is arguably The Finest Innings Ever Played By Any Batsman With A Career Average Of Anything. If he has never quite matched the staggering splendour of his 281 in that miraculous victory, it nevertheless proved his watershed as a cricketer – he averaged 52 in 100 Tests over the next 10 years.In the previous Test in that series, at the Wankhede in Mumbai, a player who bounced vigorously on the opposite end of the stylistic see-saw to Hooper and Laxman, Matthew Hayden, had finally played his breakthrough innings. At the age of 29, after 13 Tests dotted over seven frustrating years in which he averaged 24 during an era of potent Australian batsmanship, Hayden was not only drinking in Last-Chance Saloon, he had been asked to leave by several punters and was receiving some filthy looks from the barman. Hayden called for a lock-in, scored 119 under pressure to set up a baggy-green victory, and unleashed a three-year bombardment of biff in which he thunder-clouted 19 centuries in 42 Tests, and averaged 70.Who knows how Samuels’ career will pan out. Perhaps he will revert to the level he has occupied for most of his decade-and-a-bit in Test cricket. Perhaps he will be the lynchpin of a newly emergent West Indies. Or the lynchpin of a still-quite-rubbish West Indies. Not all breakthrough innings herald the fulfilment of a talent. Mark Ramprakash, grotesquely mishandled by selectors after showing technique and temperament in his 1991 debut series, in which he batted for 17 hours in nine innings against Marshall, Walsh, Ambrose and Patterson (and was rewarded by being dropped on England’s tour of New Zealand in favour of Dermot Reeve’s only ever Tests), had averaged 19 before his maiden Test hundred, a textbook 154 in 1998 in Barbados that rescued England from 53 for 4. Ramprakash seemed to have solved the impermeable riddle of his own batting. However, after a decent 12 months of medium-weight run-scoring, he slumped again, and ended his Test career (assuming England’s selectors do not get wildly carried away with their new hobby of resting players from Tests) averaging just 27), still awaiting the true Laxman moment his talents could so easily have sparked.● The first-day Edgbaston washout which means that James Anderson is now only being rested from four days of Test cricket, rather than the intended five, meaning that he has in effect lost 20% of the resting time he was supposed to be resting himself in. Does this mean he will now have to rest from an ODI as well, or merely try to rest 25% harder over the next four days?The fact that Anderson was resting at home rather than in the Edgbaston dressing room is a curious situation, in which cricket appears finally to have alchemically concocted a formula whereby two wrongs do probably make a right. Test matches should be the pinnacle of the game, and the idea of resting players from them undermines their status (albeit that one cursory glance at the West Indian batting line-up suggests that that status was already nervously clutching a receipt for one undermining (plus VAT)). The international schedule should, for the sake of its own validity and integrity, ensure that the top players are physically and logistically able to play in all their country’s fixtures. It does not do that. It does not even contemplate that. Thus, resting players has become at least desirable, and possibly essential. England may be right to rest Anderson, but it should never have come to this.It is also a tad befuddling that the ECB is resting Anderson from a Test match against his will in order to prolong and maximise his utility, but would not accept Pietersen ‒ a cricketer who has the same effect on opinion that Ernest Rutherford had on the atom ‒ resting from ODIs in order (possibly) to prolong and maximise his utility in Tests and T20Is. Conclusion (again): cricket’s schedule needs urgent psychiatric help.● Carl Hooper’s belated flowering as a Test batsman roughly coincided with the start of the seemingly irretrievable slump in West Indian fortunes – 1994 was the last year in which they won more Tests than they lost, which illustrates the extent of the trough from which the current side are attempting to extricate themselves. As anyone who has ever attempted to extricate themselves from any form of trough will no doubt testify, it is harder to do so when you have various conflicting forces that ought to be giving you a helping hand out of the trough, instead clinging limpet-like to your trouser-leg trying to rugby tackle you back down into the trough, whilst shouting: “We’ve paid for this trough, we want to use it.”

T20s are great, especially when your home team wins, but can it compare to the experience of watching an ODI or a Test?

Vivek Dadu18-May-2013Choice of game
I chose this game mainly to watch Rahul Dravid bat, though the prospect of watching Dale Steyn bowl against the marauding Shane Watson was tempting too. I predicted a Rajasthan Royals victory, because I thought they had the batsmen capable of thwarting the threat posed by a strong Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack.Team supported
I want Dravid to lift the trophy for Royals, but I also want my home team Sunrisers to go all the way. As for this match, I was supporting Sunrisers since Royals were already through to the playoffs while Sunrisers were still competing with Royal Challengers for the last playoff spot.Key performer
To everybody’s surprise the key performer turned out to be one of the lesser-known players, Biplab Samantray. In a game where one bowler managed a five-wicket haul, another one completed his quota of four overs at an economy rate of two and no other batsman scored more than 26 runs, the key performer has to be the man who made 55 at a strike rate of around 120.One thing I’d have changed about the match
If the organisers had allowed mobile phones inside the stadium I could have taken some pictures of the match.Face-off I relished
I loved the way Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane kept Steyn at bay at the start of Royals’ innings, loved it when I saw Dravid applaud Rahane for leaving a Steyn delivery safely outside the off stump, and enjoyed watching Karan Sharma out-fox Rahane and James Faulkner after getting hit for sixes.Accessories
I was not carrying anything with me but was happily surprised when the organisers handed over a Sunrisers T-Shirt and a flag for free. But the most interesting accessories were the pacifiers a group of guys had put in their mouths to imitate Darren Sammy’s antics.Wow moments
Royals were cruising when Cameron White ran out Dravid. The dismissal changed the complexion of the match.Brad Hogg didn’t get a game today but his pre-match practice drill was as intense as any other player’s performance. He’s 42, but kept on jogging around the ground for about 45 minutes continuously at a very good pace. Some of team-mates tried to go along with him, but none of them were able to keep pace for a considerable length of time.Close encounter
We had Siddharth Trivedi and Sachin Baby fielding near us during the early part of Sunrisers’ innings. Later it was Ajinkya Rahane who generously responded to us by waving back whenever we chanted his name. During the Royals innings, Steyn fielded near us but was unresponsive except for one instance where he appealed to us to raise our volume. During the closing stages of the game Sammy waved and chanted “Sunrisers” along with us.Shot of the day
Rahane’s slog sweep off Karan Sharma looked like it would clear the in-field but ended up well past the midwicket boundary.Crowd meter
The crowd took some time building up but by the time match was underway, the stadium was packed with just a handful of empty seats here and there. There was huge support for the home team but no hostility towards the visiting team. Dravid, Rahane and Watson were cheered as much as Steyn, Sammy and Shikhar Dhawan. A six was cheered irrespective of the team it was coming from. Naughty chants of “Sachin Sachin” followed Sachin Baby, constantly reminding him of his more celebrated namesake. There were multiple failed attempts at a Mexican wave before it came out beautifully towards the end of match.Feel-good factor
The general problems associated with Indian stadiums like parking and unclean toilets were present at Uppal as well, but I was relieved to see that things have improved a lot since I last attended an IPL game here in 2008. The security checks were smooth and hassle-free and eatables were served hot even towards the end of the match. There were some very informative instructions on display, educating fans to refrain from “ambush marketing” and “spectator racism”.T20s v ODIs
I can’t really compare the two formats. If it’s a matter of a day’s entertainment I would prefer Twenty20 over ODIs. But if it’s a matter of living, absorbing and appreciating cricket for a day, I would prefer ODIs and Tests. I have watched four IPL games and enjoyed each thoroughly, but when I close my eyes and think of a stadium, the first image that comes to my mind is that of the India-Australia ODI match in 2009 when Sachin Tendulkar scored 175 in a losing cause. That day I didn’t just enjoy cricket, I lived it.TV v stadium
I prefer watching in a stadium, because you can see what you want to see and not what the broadcaster chooses to show you. The atmosphere of a stadium is impossible to experience when watching a match on TV.Marks by ten
8.

Shingi Masakadza was not a certain starter for the first Test against Bangladesh, but his extra height brought an added dimension to the Zimbabwe attack

Firdose Moonda in Harare22-Apr-2013Shingi Masakadza’s job was to defend. But that was when he was a professional footballer. Now, as an international fast bowler, his role is to attack.”It’s all about being aggressive and showing your presence,” he said. “So it was definitely part of the plan not to give the Bangladesh batsmen width, and try to get them with the short ball.”Masakadza finished the first Test with five wickets, including 4 for 32 in the first innings, in a performance that showed the progress Zimbabwe have made in developing seamers. On a surface with a healthy grass covering that required patience and careful application from batsmen, quicks who bowled challenging lengths were rewarded.For the opening pair of Kyle Jarvis and Keegan Meth, it meant not overpitching, and getting their deliveries to swing from a length. For Masakadza it meant extracting extra bounce from just back of it. With his height, his ability to do that was evident from the second evening, when he beat the bat regularly as the batsmen were unsure whether to drive off front or back foot.As pressure was created and runs dried up, Masakadza struck. His first victim was the “big man”, Shakib-Al-Hasan, who was done by a delivery that lifted on him. Two of his other three scalps, Mohammad Ashraful and Sohag Gazi, were caught on the pull.The three quicks shared all ten Bangladesh wickets in the first innings, an indication that they blend well together. “I thought we made a really good team. That was probably our first time playing together, because we play for different franchises, and it seemed to go very well,” Masakadza said.Few would have predicted that outcome because, from the outset, they seemed an unlikely trio. While Jarvis is an automatic pick for the Test team now and Meth fought his way in with his progression in the nets, Masakadza was the odd man out. Tendai Chatara, who had a good tour of West Indies, was thought to be ahead of him but Masakadza’s batting prowess sent him up the pecking order.Before the series, he was asked to try to fulfil his potential as an allrounder. With a first-class century and two fifties to his name, the coaching staff believed he could play a dual role. “When we got together in the training camp, the coach came to me and said what he wanted me to do was to chip in with a few runs in the lower order. So I’ve been working on the mental and the technical side of things.”Masakadza spent longer than any other player in the nets on Monday, three days before the second Test, as he hoped to put in a repeat of his showing in the first. In the opening match he batted for more than an hour for 21 runs and put on 37 for the ninth wicket with Meth in a show of temperament that not even some in the top-order could muster. “I told myself if I give myself a couple of overs to settle, things would get easier,” he said. “I just had to look at Brendan Taylor, he gave himself time and soon it was coming out of the middle.”That performance could go some way to help Masakadza establish himself as a genuine lower-order allrounder. It could even create some distance between himself and the other quick-bowling candidates: Chatara, Brian Vitori and Michael Chinouya. “I hope I get to play in all our games,” he said. “Especially Test cricket. We could have more Test cricket – it will be good for the nation and it would help us get used to different conditions.”Masakadza made his debut in New Zealand, in Zimbabwe’s first overseas Test after their comeback from an almost six-year self-imposed exile from the longest format. They lost by an innings and 301 runs and he managed only a single wicket. “It was quite hard to adjust to the wind there, especially bowling into it,” he remembered. “But if we played more matches on different tours, we would get better.”Talk like that is very different from the discussions Masakadza had when he first crafted his sporting career on the soccer field. He spent two years playing football, which included a stint at one of Zimbabwe’s most popular clubs, Dynamos. The highlight was playing in a derby against their arch-rivals Highlanders but he drifted back to cricket after completing his schooling.”When I was 14, I went to a school where there was no cricket so I used to return to the sport at our club, Takashinga, during the holidays. There were good structures at the club so it was easy for me to go back and play,” he said.In that time, his older brother, Hamilton, made his Test debut and by the time Shingi finished at school, he wanted to do the same. “I wanted to do as well as he was doing. We used to play backyard cricket together all the time. I guess I went back to cricket because I wanted to be around family.”Although, like anyone, he had to work his way into international contention, he had an advantage from the outset. “My fitness levels because of soccer helped a lot. I could bowl for long spells,” he said. He had Allan Donald, a childhood hero, as his coach at the Mountaineers franchise, and that helped him hone his wicket-taking skills and develop his aggression.Masakadza was first picked for Zimbabwe in 2010 and remembers a three-match ODI tour of South Africa as the most important phase of his development. “I was coming up as a young bowler and even though we didn’t do well on that visit, it was more about the experience than anything else. I learnt a lot about bowling to good batsmen when I was there,” he said.With seasons of consistent performances under his belt, Masakadza was included in the Test squad to New Zealand but left out of the group that toured West Indies. He was then included in the current squad after an impressive 2012-13 season where he was the joint second-leading wicket-taker in the Logan Cup, with 37 scalps at 24.00.Although he is not one of the ten centrally contracted players, he is on a winter contract and a strong performance in the second Test could see him cement his spot in the side for the matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan later in the year. Masakadza exudes the confidence to do that. He speaks authoritatively, much like Hamilton, and his self-belief is obvious.He showed no anxiety in the first Test, even when bowling to openers who were willing to take him on. Luckily for him, Hamilton was stressed enough for both of them. “I am more nervous when Shingi is bowling than when I am batting,” he admitted.The family have one more cricketer, left-arm spinner Wellington played for Zimbabwe’s Under-19 side and he is hopeful of playing for the senior side in years to come. Their three other brothers and one sister do not play the game, but Masakadza hopes they will one day be able to sit in the stadium to watch the three siblings represent the country.

Several records fell by the wayside as Pune Warriors were the hapless victims of a Chris Gayle mega-special. Here are the stats highlights of an exceptional innings

Shiva Jayaraman and S Rajesh23-Apr-2013 Gayle’s 175 not out is the highest individual score in all Twenty20 matches, while Royal Challengers’ total of 263 is the highest by any team. This is only the third occasion a batsman has scored 150 or more in an innings – the previous ones were by Brendon McCullum (158 not out in IPL’s opening game in 2008) and Graham Napier’s 152 not out for Essex against Sussex in June 2008. (Click here for the full list of highest individual scores in Twenty20 cricket.) Gayle’s century took all of 30 balls, which is four balls quicker than the previous record – Andrew Symonds’ 34-ball effort for Kent against Middlesex in 2004. The previous-quickest in the IPL had been Yusuf Pathan’s 37-ball effort for Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai indians in 2010. (Click here for the fastest Twenty20 hundreds.) His half-century came off 17 balls, which equals the fastest in the IPL – Adam Gilchrist had scored one off 17 balls against Delhi Daredevils in 2009. Over the course of his innings, Gayle struck 17 sixes, the most in an innings in Twenty20 matches; the previous record was 16, by Graham Napier when he scored that unbeaten 152. That also makes him the only player to score 100 runs in sixes alone in a Twenty20 innings. The previous-highest in the IPL was McCullum’s 13 during his unbeaten 158. He also struck 13 fours, which means 154 runs were scored in fours and sixes, the most in a Twenty20 innings. The previous-best was Napier’s 136 (16 sixes and 10 fours). Gayle’s also the only batsman to twice score a century of runs in fours and sixes in Twenty20 matches. Gayle’s 11 centuries in this format is more than twice that of the next-highest: David Warner and McCullum have five each. In the IPL alone he has four hundreds, twice as many as the next-best. His entire innings was played at a frenetic pace, but even within that his best phase was the 27 balls he faced between the start of the second over and the fifth ball of the ninth, when he hit his 11th six to reach his hundred. Of the 49 balls bowled during that period (including no-balls), Gayle scored 101 off 27 – a strike rate of 22.44 runs per over – including eight fours and 11 sixes. During the same period, Tillakaratne Dilshan, his opening partner, scored 15 from 22. After his century, though, Gayle’s strike rate dropped (though only compared to his own earlier levels). His last 73 runs came off 36 balls, a rate of 12.16 runs per over. The maximum number of balls between a four or a six for Gayle was nine, between overs 8.6 and 11.2 (immediately after he reached his century), during which period he scored five singles and four dot balls. The most successive dot balls he played was two. Among the seven bowlers who bowled to Gayle, Luke Wright was the most economical, going for only 13 off 16 balls, and bowling six dots. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was next, with 11 off seven balls. The worst was Aaron Finch, who conceded 28 off five, while Ali Murtaza went for 43 off ten.

BowlerBallsRunsStrike rate4s/ 6sDotsLuke Wright1316123.071/ 16Bhuvneshwar Kumar711157.142/ 02Ashok Dinda1018180.000/ 22Ishwar Pandey922244.445/ 02Mitchell Marsh1237308.331/ 54Ali Murtaza1043430.003/ 52Aaron Finch528560.001/ 40 Overall, the difference between the runs scored and balls played in Chris Gayle’s innings was 109, which is the first instance of the difference being more than 100 in a Twenty20 innings. The previous-highest difference between the runs scored and balls played was 95, by Namibia’s Louis van der Westhuizen against Kenya. Gayle scored 142 more than the second-highest in the innings, Dilshan’s 33. This is the highest difference in runs between the top scorer and the next-best in an innings. Dilshan was completely overshadowed, but his partnership of 167 with Gayle is the highest for the first wicket in the IPL, going past Dwayne Smith and Sachin Tendulkar’s 163 against Royals in 2012, and the joint fourth-highest for all wickets in the IPL. Despite all the hitting, one record which this innings didn’t break is the one for the highest strike-rate for a 100-plus score. Gayle’s strike-rate at the end of the innings was 265.15, which is fourth-best for a 100-plus score. The best is 290 (145 off 50 balls) by van der Westhuizen against Kenya. The next-best innings are both 100s off 37 balls, by Yusuf Pathan and Scott Styris (strike rate 270.27). The margin of victory, 130 runs, is the joint seventh-highest in all Twenty20 matches, and the second-best in IPL history.

Team-mate, rival and friend, Mike Denness was a gentleman cricketer, a man with a happy disposition and a caring soul

Ashley Mallett21-Apr-2013The cricketing gods chose Mike Denness to become the first Scottish-born cricketer to captain the England Test team. (Douglas Jardine, who presided over Bodyline was born of Scottish parents, but he was born in India.) It was a wise choice, for Denness was a man of purpose and resolve, a man with a happy disposition and a caring soul.I first heard of him when I played a season for Ayr Cricket Club in the Scottish Western Union in 1967. There were three things a budding young cricketer whom the club had employed as a professional-cum-groundsman needed to do: learn all about the poet Robert Burns, buy a kilt, and take care not to do anything to upset the club’s ground convenor, Bill Denness, Mike’s dad.Learning about Burns was fine; after all, there was, and is, the Burns Cottage in Alloway, a Mike Denness on-drive from the club ground in Cambusdoon. I settled for a Farquharson clan kilt after getting one on the strength of my mother’s maiden name (West). But for all that, I couldn’t get one past Bill Denness, who like his son presented the broadest of straight bats to the most curly delivery. Bill Denness’ bedroom overlooked the square at Cambusdoon. I succeeded in getting what Bill wanted, a “light and dark” effect: you know, the sort we see at every Wimbledon Championship. Alas, I couldn’t get the cuts with the grain and against the grain straight. My light and dark meandered all over the place, and never did I get it right. Bill Denness hired and fired them, so I might have been dismissed early that summer had it not been for Mike, who was then playing for Kent.I discovered later that Mike intervened, explaining to his dad that wickets taken by the young colonial for the Ayr Cricket Club were of more value than his grass-cutting abilities. So I stayed, and eventually improved enough to get to play for Australia against Mike when he captained England.When I heard that Mike was to lead England’s 1974-75 tour of Australia, I set about organising with an Adelaide car yard a sports car bearing the England colours for his exclusive use whenever he was in Adelaide that summer. I got a photo in a kilt on the Brig-O-Doon and Mike got the use of a stunning car in Adelaide a few summers later.In the Test series Mike and his fellow batsmen copped a battering from Jeff Thomson, who was bowling faster than anyone I’ve seen before or since, and a rejuvenated Dennis Lillee, who returned to the Test arena after more than a year out with a near-crippling back injury.The pair formed a fearsome attack and the England batting was put to the sword; so much so that the captain, Denness, dropped himself from the fourth Test. He need not have bothered because England lost that game and with it the Ashes fell to Australia.Mike returned for the fifth Test, in Adelaide, scoring a gallant 51, then 14, but again the side lost. In the final Test of the series, at the MCG, he hit a magnificent 188 and England scored a massive 529, paving the way for the visitors to win by an innings.Then came the first Test against Australia at Edgbaston in 1975. Mike put us in after winning the toss and we scored a creditable 359. Then it rained, big time. In those days only the ends were covered and the main part of the pitch was laid bare to the elements. On that sodden track, Australia won easily, by an innings, and Denness was blamed. The last address I had for Mike was Hanging Tree Lane, near Hutton in Sussex. It was as if Denness was accused of high treason for putting Australia in after winning the toss. And so, metaphorically he was hanged, drawn and quartered: he was sacked and never again played Test cricket for England.Thankfully he continued to play county cricket and we played alongside one another on the 1976 International Wanderers tour of South Africa. His former Kent team-mate John Shepherd also toured with us, and there was pandemonium one night in Durban when Shep was told to leave a licensed club on the pretext of him not having worn a tie. Mike was one of those to show the way. We didn’t condescend to question the order but left the premises en masse, for we all knew the racist motive behind it: after all, here we were trying to bring cricket to all of the people in a South Africa that was being hamstrung by apartheid. Denness did well in a side that included the Chappell brothers, Glenn Turner, John Morrison, Martin Kent, Bob Taylor, Derek Underwood and yours truly.He hit 81 and 35 in our win against a South African Xl in Cape Town and fielded as enthusiastically and as well at cover point as he had ever done.He also undertook some managerial work during the World Series years in Australia, and while he loved the traditional game, he wanted to further the development of a better deal for professional cricketers worldwide.Mike continued to turn out for Essex until 1980. In all, he played 501 first-class matches. Those back at Ayr Cricket Club will never forgot their favourite son. Blokes like the Simpson clan, Ian “Hank” Johnstone, Derek Thursby and Co will raise a toast in Mike’s memory.Mike played for Ayr and was educated at the Ayr Academy. No doubt he studied the writings of Burns, who wrote a line in his immortal “The Prayer”, which really does apply to this gentleman cricketer: “But thou art good and goodness still.”

The Kochi Tuskers Kerala played in just one IPL. But their short stint was controversial and was a catalyst to Lalit Modi’s dramatic exit from the BCCI

Amol Karhadkar07-Sep-2013Kochi Tuskers Kerala’s controversial stint in the Indian Premier League lasted barely a year. But during their one-season appearance in the IPL, the owners of the franchise indirectly ended up playing catalyst to the dramatic exit of Lalit Modi. It was a saga that involved allegations of threats and intimidation, a curious case of a reprimand that wasn’t, and led to the downfall of the former IPL chairman and the resignation of a federal minister.In its inquiry report, the BCCI’s special disciplinary committee, which was appointed to probe charges against Modi, details the alleged irregularities that he committed from the time the IPL’s governing council approved the draft of the Invitiation to Tender (ITT) in December 2009 – for adding two more teams to the league – to Modi’s eventual suspension in April 2010. The case of Kochi’s entry into the IPL constitutes three of the eleven charges pressed against Modi – rigging bids, arm-twisting franchises and bringing the BCCI into disrepute through his comments on Twitter.The most intriguing events in the five-month period took place over a span of six days, beginning on April 11, 2010. On that day, hours after signing the franchise agreement with the owners of the Kochi franchise, Modi revealed the franchise’s shareholding patterns on Twitter. Among the shareholders, 4.75% of the sweat equity was owned by Sunanda Pushkar – identified by the Kochi franchise as a “businesswoman who had interests in the Gulf” – who was, at the time a partner of the then junior federal minister Shashi Tharoor. The two subsequently married, but the controversy forced Tharoor to resign his post in the government, following allegations of holding a hidden stake in a franchise based in his home state.While explaining Modi’s defence in the 134-page report, the three-member disciplinary committee observes: “He (Modi) stated that he had informed the President (then BCCI president Shashank Manohar) of there being sweat equity in Kochi franchise. On the instructions of the President, the Agreement was signed. Mr Modi enquired from the representatives about the identity of the person to whom the said equity was received. Mr Modi was informed that the owner of the said equity was a lady called Ms Sunanda Pushkar. When pressed for further details of her identity, Mr Modi received evasive replies one of which was that she was a businesswoman with interests in Gulf. At that Mr Modi’s concern at the lack of clear identity of the sweat equity holder were heightened. When Mr Modi insisted on getting a clear answer, he received a call from Mr Tharoor telling him not to enquire into the identity of the sweat equity holder. However, as instructed by the President the Agreement with the Kochi franchise was signed on 11.4.2010. Later, on 11.4.2010 itself, Mr Modi tweeted the ownership details of the Kochi franchise on social media.”Hours after the tweet, Vivek Venugopal, one of the members of the Kochi consortium, filed a written complaint to Manohar against Modi, requesting him to: “immediately 1) instruct Mr Modi to retract the statements made in the media as well on Twitter, 2) reveal/ disclose similar information for all participating teams on his Twitter account, 3) apologise for the communications given in the media.”Matters came to a head on April 16. The Kochi franchise alleged to the BCCI that, at a meeting at the Four Seasons hotel in Mumbai (a meeting Modi has denied), Modi had threatened the representatives of Kochi franchise to “give up the franchise failing which: a) he would remove the players’ spending cap which would send the players’ cost spiraling; b) intentionally delay the construction of the Kochi stadium by taking in PIL and environmental litigation; c) identify stadiums in remote and infeasible locations like Guwahati and Bhiwani till the Kochi stadium was ready; and d) introduce a player retention policy that would allow the existing franchise to retain up to six existing players thus reducing the options of hiring top players.”Based on the facts that were established, the committee concluded: “In view of the aforesaid, we hold that despite being the successful bidder, the act of Mr Modi in arm twisting the Kochi franchise to leave the franchise was an act likely to be detrimental of the interest of the BCCI and endangered the harmony and affected the reputation of the BCCI.”However, the report suggests that the seeds of the controversy were sown in the preceding months. On December 17, 2009, the governing council approved the draft ITT documents for inducting two additional teams; however, the final ITT had two clauses inserted by Modi. These “onerous conditions”, as the report called them, were: the bidder should have a net worth of US$1bn and must provide a bank guarantee of Rs 460 crores [$100 million].Modi contended that he added the clauses to “protect BCCI’s interest”. But the board contended he was “rigging bids” in order to suit the Videocon Group and Adani Group, both of whom had made their intentions to bid for new teams for a group. The two new clauses ruled out most of the other prospective bidders, and some of them, including the Sahara Group and the Jagran Group, complained to Manohar, an eminent lawyer who advises the BCCI’s legal arm along with Arun Jaitley, immediately after the ITT was floated on February 22.

The report suggests that the seeds of the controversy were sown in the preceding months. On December 17, 2009, the governing council approved the draft ITT documents for inducting two additional teams; however, the final ITT had two clauses inserted by Modi. These “onerous conditions”, as the report called them, were: the bidder should have a net worth of US$1bn and must provide a bank guarantee of Rs 460 crores [$100 million].

As a result, instead of the bid documents being submitted and opened – as announced earlier – on March 7, the BCCI issued fresh tenders, quashing the earlier process. In fact, according to the minutes of the governing council meeting on March 7, “The president further explained that he had further received complaints from GC members in regard to these conditions and Sahara, who are the sponsors of the Indian Cricket team and pay the BCCI Rs 500 crore per annum, have deliberately been kept out of the tendering process due to some of the above conditions and they have written to him saying if they were good enough to pay 500 crores to BCCI how can they not be worth to pay 150 crores a year (US$30 million) even if they were to have bid US$300 million. Similarly, other companies like Jagran group have also expressed the same concern that it is a deliberate attempt to keep most companies out.”In his defence, Modi said he had cleared these conditions with Manohar on the phone and only after that did he put out the tender. Manohar, according to minutes of the BCCI, conceded Modi had sought his approval in general but he [Manohar] had not read the document. “On the reading of the document and receiving the complaints, he is of the firm view that the said ITT should be cancelled under clause 11.4 of the ITT.”There’s an aside here: at that March 7 meeting, according to its minutes, Manohar reprimanded Modi “for incorporating such onerous and unreasonable conditions in the ITT.” However, Sunil Gavaskar, a member of the governing council, later requested that the word “reprimand” should not be recorded as Modi had already accepted his censure in public. The word was deleted but the charge against Modi, of adding two clauses without permission, stuck. He used the deletion of “reprimand” in his defence, as vindication of his action, but the committee preferred to see it as “an act of courtesy at the behest of a colleague.”As a result, while finding Modi guilty of rigging bids, the committee concluded: “The object of such unreasonable conditions was to exclude healthy competition and favour two bidders which is evident from the fact that only two bids were received pursuant to the ITT.”It was clear that Kochi entered the IPL on the back of a controversy and a relationship with Modi gone wrong. The former IPL chairman, on the other hand, staunchly defended his actions. “The fact that Kochi franchisee defaulted in paying even the bank guarantee to the BCCI and was terminated and even Sahara has said no to further participation in IPL shows that only cash-rich entities could have had the stomach to sustain the initial losses and could have continued in long run. The termination/ pulling out of these two franchises has taken a toll on the brand value of IPL,” Modi said