A look at how the stats stack up for Pakistan and South Africa ahead of their ICC World Twenty20 semi-final

S Rajesh17-Jun-2009The overall numbersAs you’d expect with a team which has won five games on the trot in the tournament, South Africa have excellent numbers with both bat and ball – they are marginally ahead of Pakistan in both aspects. Neither of the two teams are at the top of the tree in terms of batting stats – West Indies takes that honour – but with the ball South Africa and Pakistan are easily the two best sides in the competition. They have taken the most number of wickets in the tournament so far with 42 and 41, and are the only sides who have conceded less than seven runs per over.

The Powerplay oversBoth South Africa and Pakistan have been among the more conservative teams with the bat during the first six overs, scoring at less than eight runs per over. South Africa, though, have been excellent at keeping wickets in hand, losing just three during the Powerplay overs all tournament, and averaging 77 per wicket. Their opening partnership of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis has been among the best in the competition. Pakistan, on the other hand, have lost nine wickets during the first six overs.

As bowling teams, South Africa have been far superior in the first six, taking 11 wickets – the second-highest, after England’s 13 – at an excellent average and economy rate.

Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn have been exceptional in the first six. Mohammad Aamer is the most successful for Pakistan, but he has been relatively expensive, going at seven-and-a-half per over.

The middle overs – 7 to 14Pakistan have been the slightly stronger team overall in the middle overs, scoring at a better rate and taking four more wickets than the South African bowlers.

The star bowler in the middle overs has been Shahid Afridi who has done a remarkable job of taking wickets and keeping the runs in check. In 114 deliveries he has taking eight wickets, an average of less than 15 balls per wicket, at an economy rate of only slightly more than five per over.

The last six oversSouth Africa have been the slightly better batting team in the last six overs, but both have been outstanding with the ball, conceding less than ten runs per wicket, and less than seven per over. That’s ensured that the batting teams have had little momentum towards the end of their innings.

Umar Gul has taken the most number of wickets in the last six overs, but there have been several other star performers from both teams. Saeed Ajmal has been outstanding, both in terms of taking wickets and keeping runs in check, and the same applies to Steyn, Parnell and van der Merwe as well.

How the runs have been scoredThere’s little to choose in the manner in which the two teams have scored the runs in this tournament: the dot-ball percentages are almost equal, but Pakistan have, surprisingly, scored a higher percentage of their runs in singles, twos and threes.

The extras factorSouth Africa are clearly ahead in his area: they’ve bowled one no-ball and 17 wides, to Pakistan’s eight no-balls and 23 wides.

Sachin Tendulkar on the highest points in his extraordinary career

Interview by Clayton Murzello15-Nov-20091. The first time I put on my India cap
It was a great moment for me. If I am not mistaken, Chandu Borde, our team manager, handed me my cap. But there was no presentation ceremony like they have today.2. My first Test hundred
It came at Old Trafford in 1990. Manoj Prabhakar helped me with some determined batting at the other end. I was not at all surprised by what he did that day because I had played with him earlier and I knew that he was a terrific competitor. We prevented England from winning.3. The counter-attacking 114 at Perth
This ton is a favourite of mine. Australia had four quick bowlers (Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel) but I thought McDermott was the most challenging to face in Perth. Throughout the series he was their main bowler.4. Bowling the last over against SA in the 1993 Hero Cup
South Africa needed six runs to win in the last over. There was no plan for me to bowl that over but I said I was very confident of bowling it successfully. I conceded just three and we won.5. 82 (off 49 balls) against NZ as opener in 1994
I was the vice-captain then and our regular opener Navjot Singh Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck. I requested Azhar (Mohammad Azharuddin) and Ajit Wadekar (coach) to “just give me one opportunity and I am very confident of playing some big shots. And if I fail, I’ll never ever cometo you again”.6. Winning the Titan Cup in 1996
South Africa were playing terrific cricket right through the tournament. We adopted a different strategy. As captain I chose to have five fielders on the on side. I told Robin Singh not to bowl seam but cutters into the body and make them score everything on the on side. Maybe thatcame as a surprise for them.. This was one low-scoring game that I can never forget.7. 1997 Sahara Cup win over Pakistan
We were without our top three bowlers for this tournament, which I led India in. We were without Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble, but we had Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Debasish Mohanty and Nilesh Kulkarni as newcomers. It was a fantastic effort and we beat Pakistan 4-1. Incredible!8. Scoring 155 against Australia in the 1998 Chennai Test
I thought getting used to that angle from Shane Warne was important. Before the Test I not only practiced with Laxman Sivaramakrishnan but Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule in Mumbai too. They gave me a lot of practice. I clearly remember saying to my friends after I scored a double hundred for Mumbai against Australia that Warne has not bowled a single ball round the wicket and I know that he will do it in the Test series.9. 1998’s sandstorm hundred in Sharjah against Australia
The first of the two back-to-back hundreds in Sharjah, 1998. Tendulkar highlighted the similarities between his Sharjah efforts and the two special knocks in the 2008 tri-series finals in Australia in terms of how small a gap there was between the two matches of each of these series, which made it so difficult on the body.Shane Warne greets Tendulkar after India’s victory in the Sharjah final•AFP10. Meeting Don Bradman in Adelaide
Without doubt, the most riveting moment in my off-field career. The trip to Adelaide in 1998 with Shane Warne was truly special and to meet him on his 90th birthday made it even more memorable. It was great to spend 45 minutes to an hour talking cricket with him.11. Beating England at Leeds, 2002
Sanjay Bangar played beautifully for his 68 and he put on a good partnership with Rahul Dravid, who played superbly. I remember going to bat after tea and Andrew Flintoff was bowling a lot of short-pitched stuff round the wicket. I moved pretty well the next day and I remember leaving deliveries off Matthew Hoggard, who bowled a few overs outside the off stump. I paced my innings well (193) and went past Sir Don’s tally of 29 Test hundreds.12. Match-winning 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup
There was that six off Shoaib (Akhtar) but there were other shots which I felt good about in that match. I was playing with a finger injury and the finger wouldn’t straighten. I avoided fielding practice through the tournament because I was experiencing a lot of pain while catching. Igave fielding practice though.13. First series win in Pakistan, 2003-04
Undoubtedly one of the top series wins in my career. Remember, Pakistan had a good side and we went there and won convincingly.14. 35th Test hundred, v Sri Lanka in Delhi, 2005
There was this pressure which was building up to go past Sunil Gavaskar in the Test century tally. The room service and housekeeping people in my hotel only spoke about me getting century No 35. I was glad and relieved when it happened because I could then start enjoying the game again.15. Beating England in Nottingham in 2007
We have always managed to come back well after a defeat or saving a match. This is a classic example. We escaped defeat in the opening Test at Lord’s but came back to win in Trent Bridge.16. Beating Australia in Perth in 2008
We were determined to win this Test after what happened in Sydney. We shouldn’t have lost in Sydney considering we were in a good position on the first day, but then the world has seen what happened (referring to the umpiring).17. The CB Series triumph in Australia in 2008
Not only India, but all other sides found Australia too hard to beat. My hundred in the first final at Sydney was satisfying but the second match in Brisbane was tough. We went to bed at 3 am in Sydney after a day-night game. I just could not sleep and woke up at 8 am to catch a morning flight. I was trying every possible thing to be fresh for the next day’s match. The next day we won the toss and batted. It was quite humid so the conditions were tough. We knew that the first half hour was crucial. I thought even if I don’t get runs quickly, it’s fine because if we don’t lose early wickets, the big strokeplayers can always capitalise on the start and that’s what happened.Tendulkar picks up a souvenir after steering India to victory in Chennai, 2008•AFP18. Going past Brian Lara’s Test run tally in Mohali, 2008
Becoming the highest run-getter in world cricket doesn’t happen overnight. Lara is a special player and a guy who is a good friend. We respect each other immensely. To go past his tally meant that I have contributed something to cricket.19. Second-innings Test hundred against England in Chennai, 2008
Awesome feeling to get that hundred, which I dedicated to the people of Mumbai. It was a very emotional time. It was important to stay there till the end and I remember telling my batting partner, Yuvraj Singh, that it’s still not over so don’t relax. I recalled that close game againstPakistan in 1999 when we lost by 12 runs.20. 175 against Australia in Hyderabad, 2009
I know my body well and I know how much I can push so I was not surprised to score a 175 at the age of 36. Even if I had to complete those 20 runs by running them, I was absolutely fine. I was a few runs short of completing 17,000 ODI runs before the match, but that wasn’t playing on my mind. However, every now and again it appeared on the scoreboard. That’s not important to me. The important thing was to go out and win.

India’s IPL stars have been exposed at the World Twenty20 again. Apart from technical shortcomings, it suggests a shocking lack of respect for the international game and its challenges

Sidharth Monga12-May-2010It was almost farcical. A group of nervous West Indies players was actually hoping an underprepared, lethargic Indian side would keep them alive in the tournament by beating Sri Lanka. As India went about conceding 33 runs in the last two overs – admittedly they didn’t have any interest left in the tournament – the IPL final came to mind.Kieron Pollard seemed like he was pulling off a heist against Chennai Super Kings when MS Dhoni came up with the move of a genius. He placed a mid-off almost behind the umpire, and a long-off almost behind him. The bowler was asked to bowl full and straight, and err, if he had to, on the fuller side. Lo, Pollard was out, caught at the very straight mid-off. Later Dhoni explained how he had not pulled a rabbit out of the hat, and how it had been a rehearsed move, which had worked against such big hitters as Matthew Hayden in the . Yes, Indian cricketers have time to prepare and play warm-up games for the IPL, but not for major international events like the World Twenty20.How impotent India’s batsmen must feel. They knew exactly where they would be hit, they had enough time – about a year – to prepare for it, yet they reacted to balls headed for the ribcage and upwards almost as if it was a hitherto unknown underhand tactic. And there was no devil in the Kensington Oval track either: it just offered pace and true bounce. No sideways movement, no unplayable swing.Unlike Dhoni with his genius move in the IPL final, not many in the batting line-up can be said to have worked endlessly in the nets, at camps, during warm-up matches, to try and eliminate the weakness that was pointed out to them a year ago, by the likes of Luke Wright among others. Between the really important cricket, a number of needless ODI series and tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, (both outside their FTP commitments and both involving the BCCI’s unconditional allies in cricket politics), the IPL (demanding schedule, travel, inane media work, mandatory late-night parties), and the false confidence that the flat pitches and hyperbole during the IPL tend to create, who has the time to think about bouncers? If they had had the time, at least some improvement would have shown. They actually seemed more clueless this time around.For two editions of the World Twenty20 running, India haven’t won a Super Eights game. But it is the manner of the defeats, almost identical to the ones produced any time this line-up bats on a bouncy track, that will hurt them more. To be fair to them, there is hardly any time in Twenty20s to duck under a few bouncers and try to wear the bowlers down. There is a reason, though, why such tactics are not tried against the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen, et al. The bowlers know those men can hook them for sixes; the Indians’ only scoring shot to well-directed bouncers has been the top edge over the keeper’s head. Their team-mate Virender Sehwag is a perfect man to learn from; bowlers have tried bowling short at him but don’t quite like being upper-cut for six or getting whipped away for four.Suresh Raina has reiterated that if he’s not allowed to plonk the front foot down, all those heaved sixes and slog-sweeps become top edges that go nowhere: against Australia he nearly played on with an edge that could have hit a low-flying aircraft. On a slow and low St Lucia pitch against Sri Lanka, he was back in form, crackling away to a good-looking 63. M Vijay, who had come across as a more solid batsman, doesn’t attack the short ball. Although Gautam Gambhir did most things right, his wrists didn’t drop in time, something he will now have to contend with in the longest version of the game too. Yuvraj Singh managed to keep the pull shots down, but his head kept falling away. After a couple of short ones – not nasty ones mind you – Rohit Sharma stopped moving his feet completely and kept edging slower deliveries floated outside off.India’s fielding standards were below average, and of the quality on display during the IPL•AFPNeither does Yusuf Pathan enjoy the captain’s confidence to bat before the game is almost over, nor has he shown the aptitude to translate his daredevilry from the IPL (“greatest innings” and all that) to the international level. Dhoni felt he needed to pick an extra batsman in back-to-back Twenty20 internationals, going with just three bowlers, much like he invariably did in the IPL, where he picked one of Manpreet Gony, Joginder Sharma, L Balaji or Sudeep Tyagi as a specialist bowler.The bouncers actually did the team a favour. They hid that the captain seemed to have no confidence in the specialist bowlers picked by the selectors (R Vinay Kumar was finally played after Praveen Kumar had returned home, Umesh Yadav was found to have travelled with the wrong visa, and Zaheer Khan had a niggle). That the captain was not only defensive, he was stubborn too. That Gambhir ran between the wickets in a manner that Ravi Shastri called pathetic – and it takes a lot to get Shastri to utter a negative word on air. (Nor does Gambhir usually convert threes into twos.) It hid that India’s fielding continued to match IPL standards – minus the crazy catches pulled off by the likes of David Hussey.It turns out there is a far wider gap between the quality of cricket in IPL and internationals than the Indian team lets on. Their coach is slightly old-fashioned and saner. For last year’s embarrassment, Gary Kirsten blamed IPL fatigue and the sudden shift from that substandard cricket to top-quality international stuff, without sugar-coating his words. He also spoke about how his team had handed Australia their worst Test-series defeat in recent times, and that it followed a gruelling camp was not a coincidence. Only a board as deafened by the sound of money as India’s could have not listened to the man. This time he may as well ask for subtitles.The IPL tragics often cite India’s No. 1 ranking in Tests to make themselves believe the cricket can’t be so bad. Therein lies the major flaw: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are too established and too good to let a hit-and-giggle league effect their techniques or work ethic. And it’s because of them, not the IPL stars, that India are No. 1 in Tests.Dhoni admits his side is tired. He says that’s the reality of being an India cricketer. He admits most of his line-up can’t attack the well-directed bouncer. He says his spinners bowled flat and his seamers kept bowling the same pace. He says his side didn’t play to its potential, but he finds nothing wrong in either the IPL or the scheduling. Yet clearer signs of either a tired or unprepared side could not have been cited.While defending the IPL and the scheduling, Dhoni said, “Players need to be smart because IPL is not only about cricket. You have to respect your body, and if you don’t do that, the IPL is draining.” The team and the board will do well to add international cricket to the to-respect list.

Cricinfo presents the Plays of the day from the match between Bangalore and Kolkata at the Chinnaswamy

George Binoy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore10-Apr-2010Mis-matched pads
In the eighth over of Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings, Sourav Ganguly became unhappy with one of his pads – the left one – and wanted a change. The umpires weren’t pleased with the mid-over interruption but Ganguly seemed to insist, and beckoned towards the dugout. He had been wearing lustreless pads but one of the reserves ran in with gold replacements. Perhaps to save time, Ganguly decided to replace only the offending pad and continued with a dull one on his right leg and a shiny one of his left. By the time he was dismissed, Ganguly had a shiny one on his right leg too.Hot one day, cold the next
Ganguly’s fielding had been inspirational in Kolkata’s victory against Delhi. He ran out Gautam Gambhir with a direct hit, made several diving saves, and held a sharp catch at cover. He had the opportunity to lift his team once again in the first over of Bangalore’s chase. The tournament’s highest run-scorer, Jacques Kallis, drove powerfully towards mid-off, the ball sped towards Ganguly at head height but he let it burst through his hands. The lapse cost Kolkata only eight runs but it began the defense on a low note. Uthappa
They were clamouring for him to hit it into the stands and Robin Uthappa obliged spectacularly. He switched stances, lifted his bat high as a left-hander and reverse-swept Ajantha Mendis over Ishant Sharma’s head on the boundary. And to prove it wasn’t a one-off, he played another reverse sweep into delirious fans beyond the point boundary. The second shot was an improvement on the first and it brought up Uthappa’s half-century off 22 balls. Sitting in the dug out Kevin Pietersen, who famously reverse-swept Muttiah Muralitharan for six, would have been proud.Bustling Baz
Brendon McCullum was on the move today. He walked down the pitch to his first ball, had to evade a Kallis bouncer, and continued the approach against other deliveries. It wasn’t long before he attempted the ramp shot that proved so damaging against Australia. He tried it against Kallis and Vinay Kumar but wasn’t successful. McCullum eventually found rhythm through more conventional means and was desperate for the strike. When Manoj Tiwary skied a catch, he gave up hope and didn’t attempt to cross. McCullum, however, was haring towards the striker’s end and managed to cross before the catch was taken.If at first you don’t succeed …
In S Sriram’s first over, McCullum rocked back and pulled the ball hard and flat towards the square-leg boundary. His New Zealand team-mate Ross Taylor was patrolling the region and he saved five runs by sprinting to his right, leaping high in the air at full length and slamming the ball back inside the rope. In Sriram’s next over, however, McCullum pulled harder and higher, and Taylor’s leap on the midwicket line was ceremonial.

David Warner is a batsman made for Twenty20 but tonight’s century, the second of the 2010 IPL, was not just about free-spirited hitting

Jamie Alter at the Feroz Shah Kotla29-Mar-2010It wasn’t unusual, not at first: David Warner on 26 off 12 balls while Delhi Daredevils were shaky at 38 for 3. After all, that’s how he plays. This was the man who had scored 29 before Virender Sehwag faced a ball against Deccan Chargers. Over the next 17 overs, though, Warner busted out a few new moves, playing with control, proving there was more to him that what is immediately apparent.Warner is a batsman made for Twenty20 but tonight’s century, the second of the 2010 IPL, was not just about free-spirited hitting. It was a determined performance that rescued Delhi from early losses and led them to 177 for 4. It wasn’t a massive total but a sufficient one that showcased Warner’s ability to bat out an innings under pressure. Two features in particular stood out: the manner in which he paced the innings while Paul Collingwood settled, and the way he fed off Collingwood’s success.”I enjoyed that,” Warner said after collecting the Man-of-the-Match award. “I assessed the conditions and backed myself. I played my game, made sure I buckled down through the middle period, and was there at the end.” Warner and Collingwood ended the innings by ransacking 28 runs off the last two overs, both reaching individual milestones.Their hard work, however, was in the first 15 overs. Though Delhi had lost early wickets, Warner didn’t take time to play himself in, smashing four fours and a six to ease the pressure. By the end of the Powerplay, Delhi had reached 62 for 3, with Warner contributing 44 off 26 balls. There was a cleanness to his striking that was wonderful to watch, the crunch of the ball off the middle of his heavy bat resonating around the Feroz Shah Kotla. Gautam Gambhir said it was the best innings he’d seen on this ground.In previous matches, Warner had failed to cash in on starts and had only one significant partnership with AB de Villiers against Deccan. Today the responsibility was his for he was the senior player – this was Collingwood’s first game- and Warner not only provided momentum, but also gave Collingwood time to graft his innings. His half-century came off 29 deliveries but he slowed down after that, his next 55 taking 40 balls. Still, out of a 128-run stand with Collingwood in 16.2 overs, Warner scored 74 off 54 but was lavish in praise of his partner. “He [Collingwood] was perfect. It was his first game, his debut, and he played perfectly. He assessed the situation perfectly and took the pressure off me.”The Kotla isn’t a massive ground and the boundaries were brought in further, but regardless of those factors it was a stunning effort from Warner. His methods were the same against pace or spin: clear the front leg, size up the length, and hit it hard. Five balls went over the boundary, others bounced just short and a few flew past outstretched hands in the circle. He caused damage with the short-arm jab, both over square leg and midwicket, and scored a majority of his runs past mid-off: 41 down the ground on the offside.The pitch, however, was slow and not suited to Warner’s across-the-line hitting, and spin played a role in curbing the scoring. Warner has had issues with slow bowling for Australia, but not today. The tidy lines forced Warner to check his aggression but when Sourav Ganguly placed a slip and packed the offside for David Hussey’s offspin, Warner manipulated the ball into gaps on the leg side. “It was a 150 wicket, but David played a blinder,” Ganguly said. “He kept clearing the ground. We tried. It was a slow pitch, it gripped, the seamers were going for runs, spin was the only option.”Delhi needed momentum going in to a crucial match, and Warner provided it. The win catapulted them into the top four and more such contributions from him will keep them there.

You’ll lol, maybe even rofl, as you peruse this superbly illustrated parody cricket annual

Andrew Miller07-Nov-2010″Spoof Victorian cricket annuals were funnier when I were playing,” states (Sir) Geoffrey Boycott in one of the (potentially fabricated) tributes on the rear cover of WG Grace Ate My Pedalo. But even if the great man had indeed been persuaded to pass comment on the latest primrose-yellow tome to emanate from the stable of John Wisden and Co, it is hard to believe that he could possibly have reached such a conclusion.There are two reasons for this. Firstly, Alan Tyers and the cartoonist Beach have come up with one of the wittiest and most original sporting books of this or any other year. Secondly, their timing has been spot-on as well. As Tyers himself noted while researching his “curious cricket compendium”, the same issues that vexed cricket’s opinion leaders at the turn of the 19th century – match-fixing, mercenaries and a fundamental loss of innocence chief among them – are back with a vengeance at the start of the 21st. Cue an onslaught of trans-generational lampoonery that would doubtless cause the good Doctor’s great-great-great-grandchildren to LOL, and maybe even once in a while ROFL.Between them Tyers and Beach, whose illustrations are superb, capture every nuance of the publications they are mocking. I should know, because in the spring of 2001, it was my enviable duty to photocopy each and every page of each and every from 1864 onwards (before shipping the amassed sheets of A4 to India, from whence they were loaded into the database of the soon-to-be-launched Wisden.com). It was therefore my privilege to linger at great length over the preposterous, pompous and innately comical prose of the late Victorian era, and to marvel at the range of often absurd topics (and cricket matches) deemed suitable for inclusion.For instance, it was reported in the actual almanack section of an early edition that, on one otherwise nondescript Wednesday in November, “Ripe strawberries had been found in North Wales”, while the very first includes this gem of a digression into the tea-drinking habits of the Victorian household:

The graces of the modern tea-table were quite unknown to the country folk, although that favourite beverage, brought by the Dutch to Europe, was introduced into England by Lords Arlington and Ossory in 1666. It was not till nearly a century later that the middle classes of London and Edinburgh began to use tea daily. In the latter city, in the reigns of the Georges, tea was taken at four o’clock, and the meal was thence called “four hours”.

Apart from affirming that the taking of tea was indeed a deadly serious business during the days of Empire, such a passage lends splendid gravitas to Tyers’ imagined contest between Lord West’s XI and an Afrikander XI at “Potchefstroom Yachting Club in January 1896”, a match that, he reports, was abandoned due to “tea-time beastliness” and other related issues – namely the suicide (via service revolver, naturally) of the English opener, BP “Kipper” Mantelpiece, who upholds his country’s honour after being forced, by local custom, to wait until a quarter past four for his cuppa.Two other such matches are particularly chortle-worthy – a contest against the Cape Colony in 1896, in which the England XI are bowled out for 31 and 43 in reply to 895 for 4 declared, only for the game to be awarded to England after five of the South Africans (including the outrageously monikered Bakkies Baastaard) are “discovered to be English”; and a subsequent game against a Convicts of Tasmania XI, in which every member of the opposition is run out on account of batting in a ball and chain.

Throughout the book, Beach’s grainy pen-and-ink sketches perfectly complement Tyers’ satirical whimsy, and the net result often proves indistinguishable from the adverts that began to find their way into the towards the end of the 19th century

If such accounts strike you as “silly” in the Monty Python sense, then it’s worth remembering that truth can be at least as strange as fiction. Take the match between 2nd Royal Surrey Militia and Shillinglee in 1855, referred to in the original , in which the Militia was bowled out for exactly 0. And then there’s WG Grace’s soul-baring admission that he was “disgracefully well-refreshed” when he piloted his pedal-propelled vessel into the Gulf of Aden… where would such parodies be without the exploits of the modern-day quintessential Englishman, Andrew Flintoff?The discovery of the “Cricketing Irishman”, E.I.E.I.O Morgan, by the “adventurer, botanist and cricket enthusiast, Dr Henry Rutherford” is another laugh-out-loud passage – (“I knew immediately I had found a cricketer of rare talent, so I hit him over the head and shipped him back to England”) – while Dr Aubrey Fotheringhay’s studies in Faciodeductiology (well quite) are brought to life, as with so many other aspects of the book, by Beach’s effortless aping of Punch-style illustrations.Throughout the book, Beach’s grainy pen-and-ink sketches perfectly complement Tyers’ satirical whimsy, and they are particularly fine at lampooning the adverts that began to find their way into the towards the end of the 19th century. The most renowned of these was for John Wisden’s “Newly Invented Catapulta” – the original bowling machine and the furthest cry possible from the Pro-Batter gizmo with which England warmed up for the Ashes.”The great number of unsolicited but gratifying Testimonials received testify the effective manner the above invention substitutes the professional bowler,” states modestly, a turn of phrase that has clear echoes in the blurb accompanying “Pontius Ponting’s Mental Disintegrator – For efficacious removal of unwanted batsmen from the crease; leaves no trace or stain of character.”There are delights aplenty on each and every page of this book, which is destined to become an essential addition to every cricket-lover’s bog-time library. In fact, thanks to the wizard advances in portable wireless stenograph machines, I’m even writing this review while perched upon the Thomas Crapper. It really is that good.WG Grace Ate My Pedalo: A Curious Cricket Compendium
by Alan Tyers and Beach
John Wisden and Co. Ltd
£9.99

In his few Test appearances before Bangalore, M Vijay had largely been restricted to playing Virender Sehwag’s sidekick, but today he carved a bigger role to remember him by

Sidharth Monga at the Chinnaswamy Stadium11-Oct-2010M Vijay opening with Virender Sehwag is a bit like Rajnikanth – a regional-language superstar, unequalled in his domain for his style and swagger – making a guest appearance in a Hollywood film featuring the industry’s undisputed superstar. It is mostly a walk-on part but Vijay leaves us something to remember the role by – one line, one shot.Vijay doesn’t often get to work with Sehwag, but as usually happens with important sidekicks, he gets an important enough introduction. He tries to create impossible run-outs from forward short-leg, takes a few good catches without bothering to run too hard, and Sehwag even trusts him enough to let him take first strike.Vijay hasn’t been completely forgotten eiither, which sometimes can happen with the best of batsmen when batting with Sehwag. To manage to make an impact of your own when Sehwag is batting with you is not easy. The 87 Vijay scored off 121 balls against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium was superb, but in comparison with Sehwag’s ultra-cool 293 it was but a footnote. We don’t remember much of the Brabourne innings, but we do remember that Vijay brought up his fifty off 79 balls by hitting Muttiah Muralitharan over his head for a six. Sehwag was obviously proud, and hugged him. We don’t remember much of what Vijay did when Sehwag was attacking yesterday, but we remember the drive he played between the bowler and the umpire.In a way, the things Sehwag is known for can be said of Vijay in domestic cricket, the IPL and the Champions League. He may not be as cool as Sehwag – well, not many can be – but there is a clear emphasis on style. When it comes to Test cricket, though, Vijay is in a new place, in front of audience that doesn’t necessarily know him. And his opening partner is obviously the big draw. At times the big stage overwhelms Vijay, and when he does put in a performance, it is in a scene dominated by Sehwag.Some time after Sehwag’s dismissal yesterday, though, Vijay must have realised that all these guest appearances full of swagger are fine, but they are not transforming into roles in future films. He made compromises with style, but he also got himself a bigger role. When the last 20 minutes yesterday were played in dodgy light, Vijay shut shop and let Tendulkar take most of the strike. This morning he didn’t even try to compete with Tendulkar, who hooked, pulled, lofted and cut his way to hundred. Slowly, unnoticed almost, Vijay added runs, scoring just 31 off 88 in the first session. Most of the time was spent getting out of the way of bouncers, with wrists dropping early. Ducking was not the smart option because of the low bounce.Vijay swaggered out in the second session, flicking Ben Hilfenhaus for four, and charging down to Nathan Hauritz for four and six. That just drew the bad guys’ attention towards him, and they went after him. Bouncer after bouncer followed. Now he was saving his ribs, now he was getting his gloves out of the way. Slips, gully, short leg and leg gully waited for the lame poke. Vijay refused to budge.It took him 54 balls to get from 87 to a maiden hundred. In going from 98 to 100, Vijay negotiated 13 back-to-back short balls from Peter George. Before that, Hilfenhaus gave him a working over, and came close to getting him out.Vijay, though, was not getting anxious to get it done with. He waited and waited before the single presented itself. Then he jumped in jubilation. Then an equally overjoyed Tendulkar came to hug him. This was something entirely different. Not some golden cap at the Champions League. Not a hundred in first-class cricket. This was a hundred in front of a packed and loud crowd, in a Test that could have gone wrong for his side had he not buckled down.There was grudging respect from the opposition. “We saw that he didn’t really like playing on the back foot,” Mitchell Johnson said. “We tried to do something about it by bowling short. And getting close fielders behind the wicket. He played extremely well and he was very patient. It was a good hundred by him, what more can I say?”That wait when Australia peppered him with the bouncers was the most impressive part of Vijay’s innings. It said a lot about his temperament. Of course a few stylish shots followed after his progression to hundred had left the bowlers exhausted. The wait said a lot about his temperament. He will need to use that patience some more, for he might have to relinquish his place to Gautam Gambhir when the latter is fit. At least a determined hundred, as opposed to a stylish 40, will make the selectors give it a thought before leaving Vijay out.

India failed where they were expected to succeed, and impressed where they’d struggled in the past. In the end, that failure cost them

Sharda Ugra in Nagpur12-Mar-2011Imagine that India’s World Cup campaign is an upside-down cake. What else could you say about their cricket in Nagpur on Saturday, other than it overturned?All that had seemed to work so far in their previous four group games – solidity in the middle order, the ability to calculate risks and plan innings – fell apart.All that had regularly fallen apart or just imploded – the threat of the bowlers, the zest of the fielders – was suddenly looking the real deal.Any respectable baker knows that if the recipe of the upside-down cake is not followed to utter precision, if the temperature is not absolutely spot on, that cake will not respond like normal ones and become stodgy, or just not rise and turn into porridge. That cake and its best parts will end up burnt and bitter. In Nagpur on Saturday, India failed to be precise, they heated themselves at the wrong time and were well and truly burnt. Defeat at the hands of South Africa by three wickets in Nagpur. Their dinner will taste of ashes.The match was what it was meant to be: a contest between the World Cup’s two strongest contenders who had just spent the better part of the southern hemisphere summer banging heads. When they met again in Nagpur, in India’s biggest game of this World Cup so far, the head-banging continued. It was a riveting contest, filled with incident, individuals falling and rising within the space of a few overs, teams rising and falling and rising within hours.Beaten by England when they should have won, triumphant in Nagpur when they could have lost, South Africa have risen. India, who have talked about raising their tempo, finding their rhythm, gaining momentum, have fallen. They were tripped not by the familiar frailties that had come up against the weaker teams, but against a newer, more threatening anxiety. That when India are up against one of the best and most varied bowling attacks in the World Cup, their strongest suit could suddenly go shabby.Nine for 29 are not numbers that the Indians will be allowed to forget for the rest of this campaign. Captain MS Dhoni, frozen and furious on the other end for more than half an hour of his 12 not out, will never want to remember it. Nine for 29 is a coded message sent out by the Indian batsmen to all other frontline teams in the World Cup to take a close look at India’s flaws. That the fortress could be breached.The real irony is that India’s batsmen were not bombed out by the short ball; Morne Morkel had to be taken off after seven overs, Dale Steyn’s first spell went for 24 off three. After his seventh over he had conceded 46. Yet it is how he finished his overs – 5 for 50 that counted. His wicket-taking spell – 16 balls, four runs, five wickets – reads so implausible that the only time Steyn could possibly repeat it is if he was asked to bowl to Canada Under-19s. Steyn on the scent can in any case be a menace on two legs. Steyn in that mood, bowling to batsmen whose calculation and planning has melted into mush, becomes what Nagpur was. The theatre of the absurd. Those lovely idioms about well begun being half done have never been more untrue at the hands of the Indian batting, which began exceptionally well but ended up in a heap.The aftershock of the nine for 29 will erase the memory of few aspects of India’s game that were actually good today. The impact of one repeatedly annihilated the memory of the other. The two century stands between Tendulkar (whose 99th international 100 is already buried under the rubble) and Sehwag and then Tendulkar and Gambhir had the audience and the team dreaming of 370. After being indistinct in the first few games, the top three had batted like top three must and did what they were meant to do. They had gobbled up the overs and sent the run-rate into orbit. What they had done, unintentionally of course, was make those that followed them assume that the rest was going to be easy.The South African bowlers, led in the middle overs by the parsimonious Johan Botha, started to take the pace off the ball, the pitch began to slow down further and the batsmen who followed the top three were struggling with timing.Both Gambhir and Tendulkar were out when trying to push the pace, the batsmen who followed them believed that in the Power Plays demanded mayhem. They wanted to inflict it on the bowlers but ended up dispensing it on their team. A methodical response to the situation rather than flailing at full tosses or trying to hit the ball out of the ground would at least have seen India through the 50 overs. Eight more balls, maybe eight more runs. Small steps, significant meanings.Dhoni’s shuffling of the batting order – Yusuf Pathan before Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli at No. 7 – had been greeted with many a raised eyebrow, but the captain was backed by evidence from previous games, that his batsmen could independently work out the calculations of setting a total. The nine for 29 that will sting Indians even harder in the week before their last group match, because when South Africa came in to bat, the Indian bowlers and fielders laid siege to the target of 297 with an energy and a spirit not found in previous games. When up against qualify opposition, Harbhajan lifted his game. Zaheer Khan conceded four off the penultimate over. Off the last over, the South Africans were left with 13 to get. India in the field had pushed as hard as they could. India with the bat tried to push too much. Everything turned upside down.

The two opening batsmen have more in common than just their placid demeanours and astronomical strike rates

Aakash Chopra17-May-2011A poll on a social-networking site recently declared Chris Gayle a far more destructive batsman than Virender Sehwag. When Gayle arrived in the Royal Challengers Bangalore camp last month, their two-year purple patch in the IPL had been crushed and the team were preparing for a premature exit. When Sehwag joined a depleted Delhi Daredevils, little did he know that he would have to single-handedly steer his team through his time in this IPL.But while Gayle’s first-game heroics battered the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sehwag’s ferocious intent couldn’t do much to change Delhi’s kismet. Unlike Gayle, who had Virat Kohli and AB de Villers to back his explosive style, Sehwag didn’t have a strong batting line-up supporting him. Delhi won each time Sehwag clicked but it didn’t happen often enough.Though Gayle and Sehwag are both big-hitters, match-winners, and brutal on all bowling attacks, you wouldn’t quite think their batting styles are comparable. Let’s give it a shot, though.Footwork
Most batsmen have a trigger movement before the bowler delivers the ball. It could be a slight shuffle across, a small press or something else that helps you get moving before the ball is delivered, which in turn helps you get into position quickly. But both Gayle and Sehwag stay completely still till as late as possible before a delivery.The quicker the bowler, the more crucial these movements, for you don’t want to be late for the ball. But these movements can also give away a batsman’s preferences in terms of strokes and scoring areas. For instance, if he goes back and across, chances are he’s looking for a full ball and transferring his weight on to the back leg. The only movement from that position will be a forward press. Likewise, if he plants his foot in front, he prefers short-pitched deliveries.But these apply only to lesser mortals; great batsmen can do without. Both Gayle and Sehwag move only when the ball leaves the hand of the bowler, and hence give nothing away. In fact, even when they do move, their movements are restricted to the minimum.The lack of foot movement may have its pitfalls but their quick hands make up. When you can’t reach the delivery with your feet, the chances of missing it increase, but both these batsmen have mastered the art of throwing their arms at the ball. And the minimal movement ensures they rarely find themselves in awkward positions that might lead to their playing off-position shots.Sharp eyes
Gayle’s and Sehwag’s batting seems to be based on the simple technique of see ball, hit ball. This approach can only be effective if you do the first part right. While most good players pick the line and length quickly, what separates these two from the rest is their ability to pick slower balls and other variations with ease. Love Ablish, the Kings XI Punjab medium-pacer, changes his pace and disguises his deliveries well, but he couldn’t fox Gayle who delayed his downswing a fraction to send the ball over the ropes.Ashish Nehra once told me that there are only two batsmen in the Indian team, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who, when countering sudden changes in pace, don’t turn their aggressive stroke into a defensive prod. Instead they wait a fraction longer and at times even convert a defensive prod into a lofted drive. Most batsmen would be too early on the shot while facing a well-disguised slower one, but not these two.

What makes Gayle and Sehwag even more dangerous is that they don’t need to go down the track or generate momentum to send a spinner for six

Hitting from the crease
What makes Gayle and Sehwag even more dangerous is that they don’t need to go down the track or generate bbody momentum to send a spinner for six. While Gayle prefers to give the fast bowlers the charge every now and then, like Sehwag he stays put in the crease when facing spinners. Both trust the downswing in their back-lifts to generate enough power, and it rarely ever fails them.Astute brains
Since their batting looks simple and uncomplicated, most people discount the tactical shrewdness of these two. If the ball moves prodigiously at the start, they are happy to bide time. Even in Twenty20 games, like they did against Punjab and Deccan Chargers respectively, where they allowed the early swing to fade away before exploding.Gayle and Sehwag always target certain bowlers in the opposition and play strokes that may look ambitious but are percentage shots. They also trick bowlers by wildly heaving at and missing deliveries intentionally. Once, in a domestic game on a poor surface, Sehwag stepped down the track and played a rather ambitious shot, only to miss the ball by a mile. It looked suicidal but he had a plan in mind. He charged the bowler because he wanted to force him to shorten his length, which he did the following ball, to be dispatched to the fence. Gayle does the same against many quick bowlers only to sit deep inside the crease on the following ball. There are astute cricket brains working behind those rather calm facades.Both Gayle and Sehwag may have two Test triple-centuries to their names, but their recent performances in Twenty20 have been just as pleasurable to watch. Unless, of course, you are the hapless prey in their sights.

Nathan Lyon’s emergence from the Adelaide Oval groundstaff to join the ranks of young Australian spin bowlers is a tale drawn from another age

Daniel Brettig03-Jun-2011Les Burdett’s retirement as the Adelaide Oval ground manager had a most unexpected benefit. The man who filled his place on the groundstaff was Nathan Lyon.Plucked from the ranks of those who tend the turf by South Australia’s Twenty20 and now state coach Darren Berry, Lyon made an immediate impression as a classical offspin bowler, in a Redbacks team that hoisted aloft the state’s first domestic trophy since 1996. By the end of the summer he was in the Sheffield Shield team, and he is soon to travel to Zimbabwe with Australia A.Lyon’s is a tale drawn from an earlier age, when first-class cricketers held jobs and were chosen from far more varied stock than the conveyor belt of under-age and “high performance” cricket that typifies the experience of most aspiring players in 2011.As Lyon sees it, his twin careers in bowling and curating gave him the best chance to make something of himself in either discipline. A rapid elevation to the Cricket Australia stable has left him excited but also somewhat breathless. And he has quickly discovered that bowling spin on Australian pitches can be a more thankless task than preparing them.Told in Lyon’s simple words, his journey from Canberra to Adelaide and now the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane is extraordinary. This sort of thing does not happen too often anymore, though the man himself makes sure to preface his story with plenty of self-deprecation.”Oh, it’s nothing exciting,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I moved to Canberra [from country New South Wales] when I was 18 and took up an apprenticeship at Manuka Oval. I did four years there and just went over there to give cricket a crack with the under-age competition, the Under-17s and -19s for the ACT. I did that and then played a couple of years in the Comets.”Then about 10 months ago a job came up. With Les retiring, they were looking for someone to curate [working under the new oval manager Damian Hough]. I applied for it and had the opportunity with the cricket to train with the Redbacks. I was pretty stoked to be working down there, getting the opportunity to train now and again, just basically be a net bowler and still play for ACT Comets.”But Darren Berry looked at me in the Baby Bash when I was playing it, the Under-23 competition in Melbourne, and he said ‘You’ve been picked in the Redbacks Big Bash squad. Turn up expecting to play, and train hard and see where you get to.'”Where Lyon got to was a key place in the team that won the Big Bash, teaming up with the English legspinner Adil Rashid and the left-arm spinner Aaron O’Brien to spin South Australia to success. The spin trio was Berry’s brainchild, and it reaped handsome results to prove Shane Warne’s theory about the role of slow bowlers in Twenty20 – provided the conditions suit.”Having three spinners, we all got along quite well – that was quite enjoyable, going away with those lads, rooming with ‘the Rash’ was quite a good experience, and we get along quite well, so it was good fun,” Lyon said.”I learned a lot listening to the Rash talk about all the different ways of bowling. But we’re both attacking spin bowlers in our own right, which was a good sign for the Redbacks and really paid off. Darren Berry’s quite intelligent too, the way he kept to a lot of the best spinners in the world, especially Warne, so Darren’s got a lot to offer and I’m really looking forward to working with him for the next few years down in Adelaide.”Lyon’s influences include Warne, whom he “idolised” in his youth, but also the enigmatic figure of Mark Higgs. Flirted with briefly by the Australian selectors a decade ago as a hard-spinning left-arm orthodox and free-wheeling batsman, Higgs had moved from the ACT to New South Wales to South Australia. He eventually found his way back to Canberra, where a young Lyon hung on his advice.”Back in Canberra, working with Mark Higgs was a big thing for myself, working on spin bowling,” Lyon said. “Higgsy’s really tried to help me become an offspinner who hopefully bowls similarly to himself and learns that way. He took me under his wing and really showed me the ropes, especially in the Futures League with the ACT Comets, the whole mental side of spin bowling, but also at training with the technical side and all the different types of balls that a spinner usually has in their equipment bag.”Thus equipped, Lyon caught the eye of most who saw him bowling once he arrived in Adelaide, where he also had the chance to meet and bowl alongside the England offspinner Graeme Swann when the tourists played a pre-Ashes tour match in Adelaide. There are elements of Swann in Lyon, his loop and spin, plus the subtle variation in pace that can cause a batsman to err.”I’m definitely trying to entice the batsman to drive and toss the ball up and give the ball a chance to spin,” Lyon said.Promoted to the SA first-class side, Lyon returned a very promising 4-81 and 2-119 against Western Australia at the WACA in his first match, but he found the going harder in a final trio of three Sheffield Shield fixtures. Having become used to the constraints of the Futures League (the Australian under-age/second XI competition, in which the first innings is capped at 96 overs and the second at 48), Lyon’s arms, legs and fingers were not used to the strain, and his form dipped towards the end.

When Lyon returns to Adelaide Oval after Zimbabwe, it will not be merely as a groundsman but as an SA contract-holder, an Australia A representative and an international traveller. But he retains his place on the groundstaff, and the sense that spin bowling is fickle enough to mean that later in the summer he could just as easily be rolling a fourth day Sheffield Shield pitch as bowling on it.

“First-class cricket’s a lot harder than the Futures League – just the intensity and the sheer talent of all the players you play against,” Lyon said. “It was a big ask and I really enjoyed every moment of it, but it was quite tiring in the end there, playing so much cricket. Not having played and trained at that intensity or that level of standard before is quite interesting and a massive learning curve for myself.”I’ve never done a full pre-season in my life, so I’m working pretty hard in the gym at the moment and getting a few more kilometres in the legs to help me out throughout next season. My main goal is to hopefully play all the Shield games for South Australia, do well and hopefully learn about this first-class cricket environment.”When Lyon returns to Adelaide Oval after Zimbabwe, it will not be merely as a groundsman but as an SA contract-holder, an Australia A representative and an international traveller – he has never ventured further afield than New Zealand, and is inquisitive about Africa. But he retains his place on the groundstaff, and the sense that spin bowling is fickle enough to mean that later in the summer he could just as easily be rolling a fourth-day Sheffield Shield pitch as bowling on it.”That’s the beauty of my job,” Lyon said. “The cricket comes along with the work, so in that respect I’m pretty lucky. ACT cricket were really good to me, gave me enough time off work to concentrate on my cricket, and so have the SACA. My whole goal’s been to play first-class cricket.”