A stats analysis of Chaminda Vaas’ Test career

S Rajesh24-Jul-2009When Sri Lanka took the field at McLean Park in Napier for the first match of the two Test series against New Zealand in March 1995, they went in as clear underdogs – in 58 previous Tests spanning 13 years they had only won four; in 31 overseas games during this period they hadn’t won a single one, losing 17 and drawing the rest.That was when Chaminda Vaas decided to announce himself on the world stage for the first time. In helpful conditions, he scythed through the New Zealand batting line-up, not once, but twice in the match. So effective was he that Muttiah Muralitharan wasn’t required to bowl in the first innings, as Vaas returned figures of 5 for 47. He improved on that marginally in the second, taking 5 for 43, and Sri Lanka had won their first match abroad, which soon became their first series win abroad when they drew the second Test.In 106 more matches, Vaas, who played the last Test of his career today, bettered that performance only once, but throughout his 15-year career, but his consistency and perseverance has stood out through the entire period.The table below illustrates the fact – he started his Test career superbly, then fell away slightly, but through his last 81 Tests, he averaged 29.19 and was the perfect foil to Muralitharan.

Break-up of Chaminda Vaas’ bowling career

PeriodWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMFirst 15 Tests5824.7059.24/ 1Next 15 Tests3235.0274.920/ 0Last 81 Tests26529.1964.748/ 1Career (111 Tests)35529.5866.012/ 2Bowling was obviously his main suit, but Vaas was much more than a new-ball bowler, especially towards the latter part of his career. In his first 72 Tests he averaged less than 20, but that number rose spectacularly to nearly 34 in his last 39 Tests. That was also the period when he notched up his first, and only, Test match century, an unbeaten 100 against Bangladesh at the SSC a couple of years ago. Apart from that, he also had seven fifties, one more than the tally in his first 72 games.

Break-up of Chaminda Vaas’ batting career

PeriodInningsRunsAverage100s/ 50sFirst 72 Tests102166919.630/ 6Next 39 Tests60142033.801/ 7Career (111 Tests)162308924.321/ 13Subcontinent starThe bulk of Vaas’ career was spent bowling on subcontinental pitches, and he obviously relished that challenge, finishing with 236 wickets in 74 games in Asia. Only one bowler – Kapil Dev – has taken more wickets in Asia. Vaas’ 236 came at an excellent average of 27.88, which was better than his overall average of 29.58. Like many fast bowlers from the subcontinent, he preferred bowling in these conditions, and his best performance came at home too – innings hauls of 7 for 120 and 7 for 71, and match returns of 14 for 191 at the SSC against West Indies in 2001.

Highest wicket-takers among Asian fast bowlers in Asia (Ind, Pak, SL, Bangladesh and UAE)

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMKapil Dev8627929.0159.814/ 2Chaminda Vaas7423627.8863.06/ 1Wasim Akram5921622.5352.411/ 1Waqar Younis4721520.6438.214/ 4Imran Khan5120520.2848.812/ 3Shoaib Akhtar3112524.2444.57/ 1Javagal Srinath3611926.3155.36/ 1Zaheer Khan3810637.3167.32/ 0Fearsome in the fourth inningsVaas’ clever variations and his ability to generate reverse swing came in handy in subcontinental conditions, and the same skills brought him plenty of success on wearing pitches in the fourth innings of Tests. He took 58 wickets in the last innings, at an outstanding average of 20.43; in the first three innings, he averaged 32.09, 29.73 and 32.70.In fact, his aggregate of 58 wickets in the last innings is among the highest among fast bowlers – only Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh and Wasim Akram have more – while his average ranks among the best as well.

Fast bowlers with best fourth-innings records (Qual: 50 wickets in fourth innings)

BowlerWicketsAverageStrike rate5WICurtly Ambrose5816.1343.43Courtney Walsh6619.0749.71Glenn McGrath10319.4949.85Chaminda Vaas5820.4346.03Bob Willis5721.2847.23Wasim Akram5921.6650.15Waqar Younis5522.0342.53Jason Gillespie5022.2446.11Shaun Pollock5327.9467.71The matchwinnerMuralitharan has obviously been Sri Lanka’s greatest matchwinning, but Vaas is a clear second, with 166 wickets at 22.63. In matches that Sri Lanka lost his average went up to 33.88, while in draws it was 37.91. Both his ten-wicket hauls – against New Zealand in Napier and against West Indies at the SSC – fetched his team victories.

Sri Lankan bowlers in wins

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMMuttiah Muralitharan5141715.7742.240/ 18Chaminda Vaas4316622.6351.77/ 2Sanath Jayasuriya405424.3864.02/ 0Dilhara Fernando155321.9242.72/ 0Lasith Malinga165230.7846.91/ 0The allrounderVaas’ contributions with the bat since 2004 were so significant that he had genuine claims to being an allrounder – over the last five years he averaged more than 33 with the bat and less than 29 with the ball, and the difference between his batting and bowling average was 4.67. Among allrounders who scored 750 runs and took 75 wickets, only four have better numbers.

Allrounders in Tests since 2004 (Qual: 750 runs and 75 wickets)

PlayerTestsRunsAverageWicketsBowl aveDiff in aveJacques Kallis58512459.5810333.4026.18Andrew Flintoff48253335.6717328.157.52Daniel Vettori42197137.1814331.205.98Mitchell Johnson2376134.5910229.055.54Chaminda Vaas40143033.2512628.584.67Irfan Pathan28110432.479930.961.51Shaun Pollock3092326.3710330.16-3.79Shane Warne3891618.6921724.75-6.06With and without MuraliVaas and Murali played 95 Tests together, during which they had a combined tally of 895 wickets. In the 16 matches that Vaas played without Murali, though, his stats decreased significantly, with his average going up to 40, and his strike rate dropping to more than 86 balls per wicket. He did have a couple of memorable performances, though, taking 6 for 29 in the fourth innings against South Africa at the SSC in 2004 to ensure that Murali’s absence wasn’t felt at all, and grabbing 5 for 31 against Australia in Darwin earlier that year.

Murali and Vaas, with and without each other

TestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMMurali, with Vaas9558622.0555.648/ 18Vaas, with Murali9530928.0162.99/ 2Murali, without Vaas3218422.5951.018/ 4Vaas, without Murali164640.1086.63/ 0The overseas blotThe one disappointment in an otherwise glittering career was Vaas’ performances in Australia, South Africa and England. His overall overseas average was 32.34, but in these three countries it ballooned to 52.16, with a strike rate of a wicket every 17 overs. In 17 Tests in these countries Vaas took 37 wickets, and only twice managed three or more wickets in an innings.

Sriram Veera explains some Twenty20 tactics, lifts the veil on some common misconceptions, raises some questions – and sticks his neck out answering them

Sriram Veera18-Apr-2009Sriram Veera explains some Twenty20 tactics, lifts the veil on some common misconceptions, raises some questions – and sticks his neck out answering themShane Watson took an off-stump guard and repeatedly hit to the on side, which proved very effective•Getty ImagesThe toss-upLast year, 28 out of 58 games (one was washed out) were won by the team calling correctly at the toss. The captains realised that chasing a target was the better option, with teams often unsure of what a competitive target could be when batting first. This could be a key factor this year – Stephen Fleming has already gone on record saying that in South Africa batting first in the night games could be the way to go.The runaroundThe two finalists, Rajasthan and Chennai, ran the most singles, twos, and threes (750 and 748 runs respectively) in the tournament and their boundary percentage (as a factor of total runs) was almost identical – 59.28 and 59.23. Interestingly, they had a lower boundary percentage compared to the other teams – showing that Twenty20 is not about slogging.The brain in the brawnThe successful batsmen had a different technique – and it wasn’t slogging. Instead, there was some sound scientific rationale – and lots of practice – behind it. Shane Watson’s was perhaps the most obvious technical change: he took an off-stump guard and repeatedly hit to the on side. Others like Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma chose to stay beside the line and drive through or over the covers. Shaun Marsh stayed very still with a leg stump guard and drove hard in the V. The successful batsmen weren’t too keen to get behind the line. Martin Crowe famously said, “In Twenty20, you have to forget the stumps.” What innovations will this edition on South African pitches throw up? It’s not all runfestsThere were seven 200-plus totals in April but only one in May in the first year. There were several reasons: the pitches slowed down, the bowlers adapted, a few of the big-hitting batsmen left midway and, interestingly, the pressure increased on the batsmen as the tournament moved closer to the semi-final stage.Will the pitches have more zip under lights in South Africa, as Fleming predicted? This could affect the totals. Even during the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, the totals steadily decreased as the tournament progressed.Powerplays and end gameLogic suggests that teams have to make the Powerplays count in this format. But, if the first year was any indication, that wasn’t the case across the board. Mumbai Indians revelled here, taking 26 wickets while losing just 16 and scoring more runs than they conceded. The winners, Rajasthan, were steady in the Powerplays but really controlled the game in the middle and end overs. Rajasthan scored at 8.7 runs per over during the middle phase (6-14 overs) and really tightened the noose in the last six overs – they took 48 wickets. You might see the trend continue in South Africa. The team that controls the middle and end overs might be the ones going all the way.A Cricinfo study at the end of 36 games last season showed that yorkers constituted approximately a little over 2% of the total balls bowled•AFPPace vs spinBoth performed superbly in the first edition. Fast bowlers averaged 28.54 per wicket while the spinners averaged 30.38 for theirs and the economy-rate was pretty much the same; a little over 8. Under lights, in South Africa, logic dictates that the pace bowlers might hold the key but one has to wait and watch how the pitches play. During the recent Australia-South Africa ODI series, the pitches were a tad slow and offered turn.York ’em out?Not really. A Cricinfo study at the end of 36 games last season showed that yorkers constituted approximately a little over 2% of the total balls bowled while a majority – around 61% – were on a good length and nearly 18% of the deliveries were short of length. The trick was the change of pace. Not the really obvious slower ones but there were the cutters, little changes of pace, the slower bouncers and the ball held across the seam. Those were perfectly suited to the slower pitches in India – South Africa could be a whole new ball game.The new starsFinally, it’s down to the players. Who will be this year’s Shane Watson? Tyron Henderson, Jesse Ryder and Albie Morkel are all in the running. Which Indian local cricketer will take the leap from the unknown to stardom? Will it be the fast bowlers Kamran Khan, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Amit Singh? All should thrive on South African conditions. There’s been much talk that Indian domestic cricketers would struggle in South African conditions but the fact is that those in contention for their team’s playing XI are mainly seamers and they should revel.

Dale Steyn has taken 13 five-fors in 37 Tests, a rate matches by very few bowlers over the last 40 years

S Rajesh08-Feb-2010After the series against England, there were fears that South Africa’s pace-dominated attack would struggle to make an impact on the Indian pitches. That assessment turned out to be completely off the mark on the third day in Nagpur, as Dale Steyn tore the Indian batting apart in a stunning display of fast bowling, taking his first seven-wicket haul in Tests. It was only the tenth instance of an overseas fast bowler taking seven or more wickets in an innings in India. His display is also the second-best by a South African fast bowler in India – Lance Klusener had taken 8 for 64 in a matchwinning performance in Kolkata in 1996.As the pitch map indicates, Steyn’s line and length were immaculate. He hardly ever strayed onto the pads of the Indian batsmen, constantly testing them in the corridor just outside off. Knowing that the Indians prefer to come onto the front foot and drive, he didn’t give them too many full deliveries either, pitching it on a good length or slightly short. The line where he pitched it was just outside off, but with the ball moving both ways, none of the batsmen could let the ball go with any degree of confidence, as Murali Vijay and debutant Wriddhiman Saha found out. Virender Sehwag, the one bright spark in the Indian batting line-up, still managed to get Steyn away for 34 from 38 balls, but none of the others had much success.In only his 37th Test, Steyn has already taken 13 five-fors, an excellent rate of one every 2.85 Tests. Among bowlers who started their careers after 1970 and have taken at least ten five-fors, only two have a higher rate of grabbing five in an innings. Muttiah Muralitharan and Richard Hadlee both averaged less than 2.5 Tests, but both had the advantage of playing in teams whose bowling attacks were otherwise quite ordinary.

Best rate of taking five-fors (Qual: 10 five-fors; careers which started since 1970)

BowlerTestsWicketsAverage5WI/ 10WMTests per 5-forMuttiah Muralitharan13279222.7166/ 222.00Richard Hadlee8643122.2936/ 92.39Dale Steyn3719323.0613/ 32.85Terry Alderman4117027.1514/ 12.93Dennis Lillee7035523.9223/ 73.04Steyn’s strike rate of 38.9 is the fourth-best in Test history (with a cut-off of 2000 balls bowled), while his record against India is quite staggering too – an average of 16.62, with 29 wickets in less than six Tests.For India, their jinx in home Tests against South Africa continued. They wilted for 233 in their first innings, which gave South Africa a first-innings lead of 325, the fourth-highest by any team against India in India in the last 25 years, and the highest in a match in which India has batted second. South Africa’s 418-run lead in Ahmedabad in 2008 is the highest, followed by England’s 380-run lead in Chennai in 1985, and Sri Lanka’s 334-run lead in Ahmedabad last year. India ended up saving that Test against Ahmedabad, but that line-up had included Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, and the conditions and the opposition bowling attack were far less hostile.Besides, India’s batting has traditionally struggled against South Africa at home, a fact best illustrated by Sachin Tendulkar’s stats against them – in 15 home innings before the current one, he hasn’t scored a century, and averages half his career average. On Tuesday he has an opportunity to correct that anomaly, but if he and the rest of the batsmen don’t turn it on, India are in danger of slumping to only their third innings defeat at home in the last 25 years. South Africa are the only team to have experienced that joy during this period, and with the number one ranking up for grabs, another such win will suit the visitors perfectly.

A selection of tributes on Sachin Tendulkar’s double-century

Cricinfo staff24-Feb-2010″Better than Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting, the other two great players of my era. Better than Sir Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. And I would even say better than Sir Don Bradman himself.”
“Nobody else does deserve to get there. It’s only Sachin who deserves to scale that peak. 200 is a big score in one-day cricket. It’s not easy to get there. It took him 20 long years to get there. He has come a long way. It’s Sachin’s greatness. Records are meant to be broken. I heard somebody [Charles Coventry] equalled my record sometime ago. But I did not know him. It’s great that my friend from Mumbai Sachin broke it. I am very happy for him.”
“He should aim for more. Maybe a Test innings of 450 or an ODI knock of 250. And then he himself wants to win next year’s World Cup. There is a little boy in Tendulkar who wants to keep playing. That spirit keeps him going. It’s absolutely incredible how he keeps going.”
“Come on Sachin my friend get your 200. World record to please! You deserve it… Nervous for my good friend Sachin everything crossed for you mate… Glad I’m not bowling to him today ha ha ha.”

“I thought the way he celebrated when he reached his 200 epitomised the man’s persona. There was no running laps around the field, no aggressive gestures, nothing over-the-top. He did what he always does, raised both his arms, closed his eyes for a moment and quietly acknowledged that it had been done.”
I was very proud to have held the record for a little while but there could be no better man in the history of the game to break through the 200 barrier. Zimbabwe versus Bangladesh … India versus South Africa. Not quite in the same bracket, are they?”
“The unbeaten 200 that Sachin made at Gwalior is a benchmark for others to follow. Now, there will be lot of players who believe that they can also make 200 in an one-day international. We will wait and see.”
that it was a path breaking innings“He has always respected the game and is dedicated to it. But I think this is not enough for him. He is hungry and I am sure he will keep creating new records. He is a dedicated student of the game and is still keen to learn things.”
“I think if you ask Saeed Anwar, he would say he’s happy that Tendulkar broke his record. The reason for his success is that he has a great respect for the game.”
“He has got so much class. His greatest strength is the longevity, to be able to be so successful at a young age and to still be doing the same thing 20 years on. We’re blessed to still have such a great player playing this game.”
“If any person deserved to do better than me it was Tendulkar. I am happy for him, there are no real regrets.”
.”It shows his mental and physical toughness. He’s a player who does not throw away his wicket once he’s set. He always places a huge price on his wicket.”

“Sachin – the greatest ever player ever – without any doubt… I salute Sachin… World’s greatest sportsman. We can see him only rise. (He is an) inspiration to us all. He is the best.”

“What an innings it was. He had come close to achieving it twice. I always felt that Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya are capable of doing that.”
“He is my favourite player. I had said that one day he would go on to break all batting records and now you see him scoring runs and runs.”

“Whatever record is seen to be impossible to achieve, he makes it possible. That’s all I can say. It seems as he’s getting older, he is becoming more and more mature. No wonder Sir Donald Bradman saw himself in the way Sachin bats.”

This innings was Gayle at his destructive best, but it was also Gayle at his most mature and composed as he batted for all bar two balls of the innings

Andrew McGlashan in Bridgetown09-May-2010If Chris Gayle leads, West Indies tend to follow. All teams can be inspired by the performance of their captain, yet rarely has the impact been so clear as with Gayle’s role within his side. As with Mahela Jayawardene he came within a brace of becoming the first batsman to make two Twenty20 international hundreds, but of far greater significance is that the hosts remain very much alive in this tournament.This innings was Gayle at his destructive best, but it was also Gayle at his most mature and composed as he batted for all bar two balls of the innings when his bat bounced up when he tried to make his ground. He scored at better than a run-a-ball in the first six, but only just as he assessed conditions were tougher after overnight rain. At the start of the eighth over he was on 26 – Gayle has often had that many to his name before anyone can blink.He picked his moments and targeted certain bowlers. Harbhajan Singh was allowed to escape with four overs for 16 (much as Johan Botha had been treated with respect by England) and teams are often allowing the opposition’s main threat to be played out. Batsmen are confident of being able to make the ground up elsewhere. This time it was Ravindra Jadeja – who has had a tournament to forget – and Suresh Raina who were picked off for 50 in four overs. India again packed their batting, but they were desperate for another bowler.This effort can rank alongside the 117 Gayle made against South Africa in the opening match of the inaugural tournament and the stunning 88 off 50 balls against Australia last year as his finest Twenty20 innings. “The South Africa one will always stand out more but if you look at the situation here it was a must-win for us,” Gayle said. “So to come out and deliver is what we asked for. It was suitable for my style of batting and the ball came on nicely.”The atmosphere inside the Kensington Oval was electric which confirmed how important West Indies presence is to this tournament. Each Gayle boundary was greeted by cacophonous noise as the West Indian fans made sure they out-cheered their Indian counterparts. For sponsors and broadcasters this would have been the perfect final.Staging the match at 9.30 on a Sunday morning (or 10am after the delayed start) was hardly ideal timing for the local audience, but the needs of the Indian television market are being serviced first. The irony now is that India are looking increasingly unlikely to make the knockout stages. However, despite the early start the crowd turned up in numbers with only a few vacant seats.”The support has been tremendous,” Gayle said. “We had to come out and give the crowd something to cheer about otherwise I’m sure stones would have been thrown. This victory eases the pressure a bit but we can’t relax.”Gayle’s strokeplay warmed the crowd and one blow – a back-foot drive off Yusuf Pathan – bounced on the top of the 3Ws stand. Locals say they have never see such a blow. It was a monstrous strike. But there was one moment later in the match that was true Caribbean and all too rare these days. Kemar Roach produced a wicked bouncer which followed Gautam Gambhir as he tried to sway out of the line. The ball kissed the glove and Denesh Ramdin leapt off the ground to take the catch. The stands went wild.The reaction was the same, and perhaps even louder given the match was heading for its denouement, when Dwayne Bravo produced a direct hit from long-on to run out MS Dhoni who was India’s last hope. Bravo ended up at midwicket in celebration then had the task of bowling the final over after a nervous Roach bowled four wides and a no-ball to make West Indies sweat. Even on a day when Bravo hadn’t been at his best with the ball he wasn’t going give up 19 runs.The local fans are desperate for success – victory still brings huge passion – but they are so used to defeats that it has become the norm. The scenes when West Indies do conjure victory remind of how much they are savoured. As they exited the stands the trumpets were blaring and smiles beamed. It was much the same when Jerome Taylor skittled England for 51 in Jamaica last year. Now West Indies need to repeat this against Australia and Gayle will set benchmark. Once again captain, it’s over to you.

Thrilling on the field, glamorous off it, and a do-gooder to boot. After all these years, Beefy is still a great choice as a childhood hero

George Dobell26-Dec-2009They say it’s a mistake to meet your childhood heroes; that reality can never compete with the image built up in an impressionable mind.No doubt there’s much truth in such a view. Just as Gandhi would surely have suffered road rage had he been forced to negotiate the M6 every morning, Audrey Hepburn would probably have had shocking breath from all those cigarettes. Perfection really isn’t a human quality. So it was with some trepidation I accepted an invitation to talk to Sir Ian Botham when he visited Sri Lanka last week.Botham was my childhood hero, you see. As a fearless, swashbuckling batsman and fast bowler capable of swinging the ball both ways, he remains the most thrilling cricketer I’ve seen. It wasn’t just that he was at his best when his side needed him most, it was that he was impossibly entertaining. His off-field life seemed glamorous too, and as a boy I had a vision of him wrestling crocodiles and boxing kangaroos in his spare time. Just for fun.But then he became a commentator. And though I’ve tried to like him, I concluded some time ago that he could speak for a thousand years and I’d never agree with a word he said. Not just that, but he has a reputation of being somewhat abrasive with journalists. The day before our chat, a colleague’s attempt to interview him had ended in tears. While Sir Ian may spend much of his life in press boxes, he’s never struck me as the sort of fellow to welcome an introduction and chat about the old days. He has, in many ways, remained as aloof as that distant figure on a TV screen that I grew up idolising.And yet, despite the mixed messages, Botham remains deeply impressive. It’s not the record as a cricketer – staggering though that is – but his record as a fund-raiser for charity that is most inspiring. For over the last 25 years, Botham has personally raised over £12 million for leukaemia research, and lent his support to various other good causes. If he’d never picked up a bat or ball, he’d still have earned that knighthood 10 times over.Now it’s easy to be cynical about celebrities involving themselves in charitable work. It’s easy to suggest it has more to do with publicity and sycophancy than any genuine desire to help others. But Botham has gone some way beyond paying lip service to good causes. He’s gone the extra mile. Literally. Not only will he be undertaking yet another charity walk next April – his 13th such venture – but it’s charity that brings him to Sri Lanka. For Botham has travelled from South Africa for a couple of days to mark the fifth anniversary of the tsunami (on Boxing Day 2004) and draw attention to Laureus’ Sport for Good Foundation, which has done sterling work in rebuilding shattered communities in the region.The statistics of the tsunami are chilling. So great was the earthquake that caused the giant waves that it is said to have unleashed energy equivalent to 550 million – yes, 550 million – nuclear devices of the type that were unleashed upon Hiroshima. The planet is said to have vibrated by half an inch and around 230,000 people were killed. Thousands more were left homeless, orphaned, jobless and grieving.

“The thing was, the villages here are sometimes are only 100 yards apart, but they weren’t communicating with one another. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own grief – which is completely understandable – that they weren’t talking or working together in any way. It wasn’t just money that they needed. It was sport”Ian Botham

Botham first returned to Sri Lanka in early 2005. “Nothing could have prepared me for the shock of what I saw,” he recalls. “The level of devastation was unbelievable. There were trains in trees and train lines scattered around like twigs. Places I knew were unrecognisable. The houses had gone. Vanished. And many of the people who lived in them had vanished too.”I heard terrible stories. Parents told me they’d had to choose whether to cling on to their sons or daughters as the water tore them away. It’s hard for us to imagine that level of suffering, isn’t it? It was terrible and everyone had a similar horror story.”I know we all like to watch these disaster films, but when you think of a 30-foot wave hitting you at 170mph, it’s scary stuff.”Electricity, plumbing, roads and buildings: everything we take for granted was gone in a second. And you don’t put them back in five minutes.”Relief work began almost immediately. But for all the new infrastructure, something was lacking. Botham returned to Sri Lanka in 2007 and soon concluded that sport was the missing ingredient in the recovery process.”There was a lot of improvement in terms of facilities, but it was as if it hadn’t kicked in,” he says. “The thing was, the villages here are sometimes are only 100 yards apart, but they weren’t communicating with one another. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own grief – which is completely understandable – that they weren’t talking or working together in any way. It wasn’t just money that they needed. It was sport.”So the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was set up in 2000 to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change, helped build new sports facilities and bring in sports coordinators to encourage people to take up sport again.”They’ve done a magnificent job. I’m delighted by what I can see. It’s brought people together. I see communities working and playing together. I see the smiles back on the faces of the kids, and I see people who have rediscovered their hope.”So what is it that inspires Botham to get up, time and time again, and lend his support to such causes?”That’s just me,” he says. “Yes, I could sit in front of a TV camera and film an appeal, but it’s my nature to get involved.”You ask me why: look, when we started the walks, 25 years ago, the survival rate of children with leukaemia was around 20%. Now it’s around 90%.”And then look around here. Children who I thought might never smile again are flourishing in sports teams. They’re enjoying life again. The whole place is blossoming. Does that tell you why?”Before the charity work, there was the swashbuckling allrounder•Getty ImagesIndeed it does. And it tells us a lot about Botham, too. He’s not perfect. He’s not a superman and he’s not a saint. Just a normal guy, with great intentions, muddling through like the rest of us. He wasn’t such a bad choice as a childhood hero, after all, was he?But you can’t talk to Botham and not mention cricket, can you? And the other Botham, the less charitable sort, is quickly in evidence when he’s asked to pinpoint the challenges the game currently faces.”Lifeless pitches are the biggest threat to Test cricket,” he says with feeling. “We need to stop directing groundsmen to prepare pitches that last for five days just to keep the corporate boxes full.”Actually we need to ban people who make decisions like that from the grounds completely. It shouldn’t be just about ensuring we have five days of cricket; it should be about preparing pitches that give the bowlers a chance and give us a chance of an entertaining game. Let’s just get rid of all these people who make decisions just based on money and trust the groundsmen to prepare the pitches the way they want. They know best.”We need to wake up and realise that Test cricket is the flagship of the game. We need it. I’d like to see batsmen ducking and diving a bit more.”

Shane Watson overcame India’s bowling and barracking and the nervous 90s to score a fighting century

Sidharth Monga in Mohali01-Oct-2010The way a man is perceived – by his peers, by the public, by the world at large – can change greatly in a day of Test cricket. The Indian fielders gave Shane Watson a few verbals in the morning session because they saw him as the most vulnerable among the Australians, a bit of a softie in that department. Watson, though, didn’t allow that, or other tactics, to get to him and was around to block the last ball of the day having scored 101 off 279.Watson stretched way forward to that ball from Pragyan Ojha, defended, tucked the bat under his arm and walked back. Rahul Dravid at slip was the first man to congratulate him. Then came Suresh Raina, all the way from midwicket, followed by Harbhajan Singh, who had played cat-and-mouse with Watson all day long. Zaheer Khan, who’d had a spat with Ricky Ponting earlier before bowling a superb spell of reverse-swing to bring India back, called out to Watson from the other end of the ground. Watson was perhaps too spent after more than six hours of fierce concentration and had to be nudged by Tim Paine to look Zaheer’s way; he acknowledged the generous applause with a raise of the hand.This was the same Watson with whom, two years ago, an Indian cricketer had had a physical altercation on the field. The same Watson whose antics often detract from his stature. The prat. The way a man is perceived can change greatly in a day of Test cricket.Perhaps India didn’t expect such an effort from Watson. For more than six hours – this was the first time he’d batted through a day in Tests – he didn’t hit one shot over the infield. He spent 110 deliveries without hitting a boundary and was run-less for spells of 14 balls, 14 balls, 11 balls, 12 balls, and 12 balls, separated by the odd single or two. That might be business as usual for somebody like Dravid but Watson was defending out of his skin.There seemed to be an exercise for the muscle memory too. As he took stance, Watson kept his right hand on his right knee until very late, holding the bat in just his top hand until the bowler was about to deliver. Perhaps it was a way of reminding himself to go soft on the bottom hand, perhaps it was a conscious exercise to ensure the bottom hand was not too stiff. Whatever its purpose, it worked.The clear shift in his approach came when Watson was involved in Ricky Ponting’s run-out, calling for a single after a ricochet off forward short leg. After that, he scored just 37 off 146 deliveries. Scoring slowly wasn’t an indulgence, it was a necessity. After that Ponting run-out, India operated smartly. The bowlers responded to the captain’s field sets and made sure boundaries would not come without risky shots.Watson later apologised for the slow going. “Unfortunately 45 runs [in a session] isn’t great entertainment, is it?” he said. “We are here to provide entertainment, but the Indians did bowl really well. Their fields were excellent, it did make it really hard to score and rotate the strike. I suppose that’s what Test cricket is all about. They were tough sessions to get through. Hopefully those 45 runs become very valuable later on in the game.”The areas to score against the offspin of Harbhajan Singh were over midwicket and square on the off side. Ojha operated similarly, only with a slightly more protected off side, because against him Watson would be playing with the turn if trying to hit into the off side. All day long the spinners kept tossing it up, inviting the famous Watson slog-sweep. Harbhajan generously mixed in topspinners for the top edge. All day long Watson kept resisting, waiting for the ones down the wrong line to work away for runs. He had seen Michael Clarke perish while trying to manufacture a cut. That route was not taken by him unless the ball was really short. He faced 159 dot balls from the two spinners and hit just one boundary. Even the infamous Watson 90s couldn’t draw a nervous response.In scoring his third century in three innings on this tour, Watson cleared many tests today. He played a game that doesn’t come naturally to him, he concentrated hard, and he kept a check on his emotions. Even after a supremely uncharacteristic effort, Watson knows his work is only half done because of the falling wickets at the other end, and partly because of the slow run-rate. He knows a day of such hard work can easily come to nought. Then again, who said Test cricket was easy?

Plays of the day for the final of the tri-series between Sri Lanka and India

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla28-Aug-2010Watch out for that car
It’s usually only in neighbourhood cricket that you have to worry about breaking car windows. In the 12th over of the day, when Tillakaratne Dilshan hammered Ishant Sharma over long-on for one of the biggest sixes of the tournament, the sponsors would have had an anxious moment as it flew perilously close to the car to be presented to the Man of the Series. Or perhaps they wouldn’t have minded the extra publicity caused by a smashed windscreen.Silva loses his grip
In the 48th over, Sri Lanka needed some big hits to get close to 300. Chamara Silva looked to slog a slower ball from Ashish Nehra towards midwicket, but the bat slipped out of his hand and flew over his head towards the keeper. Just before the bat took off, the ball hit the edge and sailed towards fine leg for four, increasing India’s frustration.Praveen loses his cool
With the ball in hand, Praveen Kumar is usually an intense man, looking angry even when he gets a wicket. With Sri Lanka already set for the highest total of the tournament, Silva tucked Praveen to long-on and scampered two in the 49th over. The throw was wide from the fielder, Dinesh Karthik, and Praveen showed how annoyed he and India were, hurling the ball to the ground in disgust.Malinga’s birthday gift
At regular intervals, the giant screen flashed a picture of Laith Malinga in a white suit and a black bow tie wishing him a happy birthday. He was gifted a wicket in his first over when the umpire, Asad Rauf, deemed Karthik caught-behind though the ball flew off his pad. Karthik was stunned by the decision, leaning on his bat and lingering in the middle in disbelief. On the walk to the pavilion, he looked at the heavens cursing his luck, his helmet falling to the ground as he absent-mindedly tried to put it back on. When he reached the dressing-room, the first thing he did was point to his team-mates where the ball struck him.Sehwag on caffeine
Faced with a huge target, Virender Sehwag seemed determined to get India off to a flier. He put in an all-action 22-ball effort containing everything from delightful offside boundaries, leading edges, manic running, two botched free-hits, before finally ending in a manner befitting the frenzied knock – he was a run-out by a direct hit by Chamara Kapugedera from backward point when attempting a single after a typically vociferous Sri Lankan appeal for lbw was turned down.Benefit for batsmen
It wasn’t the greatest of days for the umpires. On most occasions, it was the batsman who gained from the poor calls: Mahela Jayawardene survived a close lbw call in the first over of the day, Yuvraj Singh nicked his first ball to the keeper but escaped, MS Dhoni was deemed to have an inside-edge on a confident lbw shout on 12. Perhaps the umpires were sympathetic given how difficult it has been to score in Dambulla right through the tournament.Another Rohit no-show
Rohit Sharma has had a wretched run over the past three weeks, and if he was looking for a slice of luck to turn things around, he didn’t get it on Saturday. India picked him as an extra specialist batsman in place of the allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, but Rohit wasn’t able to contribute the runs expected. He fell for 5 after being drawn forward and beaten by the spin of Suraj Randiv; the keeper didn’t collect the ball but, to Rohit’s dismay, it ricocheted off Sangakkara’s boot onto the stumps with the batsman just out of the crease.

Both teams have been guilty of taking a backward step in what has otherwise been an enthralling series, but India’s tactics on the fourth day could prove decisive in the outcome

Sidharth Monga at Newlands05-Jan-2011This series will be remembered for many high-quality passages of play both with the bat and the ball – moments, spells, hours, days of individual brilliance – but for every such passage you will find uninspiring spells of defensive captaincy from both camps. The template was set on the first day of the series when Sachin Tendulkar – with the score 40 for 3 on a damp pitch – pulled Lonwabo Tsotsobe for a four. It was a calculated risk, a shot that avoided midwicket not by much, but Graeme Smith responded by sending the fielder back to the boundary.By the time the teams came to the decider, the captains were trying to outdo each other. In the first innings of this game, MS Dhoni refused to try and get Jacques Kallis out after a Sreesanth burst in the middle of the innings. In the second, with batting even more difficult, and with Tendulkar having to struggle for longer than Kallis did, it took just one six from Harbhajan Singh for Smith to spread the field out. And this when Dale Steyn was bowling one of the spells of our times.Dhoni might just end up with the last word here, though, with what could be a decisive show of defensive captaincy on the fourth day. It was quite extraordinary that an injured Kallis walked out in the second innings, with the score effectively reading 51 for 3, soon to become 62 for 4, with a long-on in place. Harbhajan, at that moment, was exploiting the rough outside off appreciably. His bowling figures were 4 for 10, and Kallis was starting out on a fresh innings. Soon Kallis reverse-swept him, a brilliant, calculated shot all right, but one that involved risk. The man that went from short third man to collect the ball from the boundary was asked to stay back there. After just one boundary. In a remarkable show of following the ball, that deep fielder kept moving to wherever the previous shot went, and Kallis had established the psychological upper hand already.This is to take nothing away from a superb century under pressure and in pain, but Kallis couldn’t have asked for anything better at that point of time than the easy singles down to long-on. It was quite similar to what India did to Thilan Samaraweera in the deciding Test of their Sri Lanka tour earlier this year. On the fourth day at the P Sara Oval, India had taken five second-innings wickets for 24 runs, reducing Sri Lanka to effectively 76 for 7, and Samaraweera was 4 when Lasith Malinga came out to join him. It took one boundary from him to open up the easy-single route to sweeper-cover, and another hit over mid-off to spread the field for good. The last three wickets then added 180 runs, and it took special innings from VVS Laxman and Tendulkar to level the series.Not learning a lesson, India perhaps took it a step further here. Kallis was not even batting with the tail; he started off with Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher. Of the four, de Villiers, too, was shown remarkable respect when he was welcomed with a long-on in place already. Why not ask a batsman to clear mid-on on a pitch that is offering you turn and variable bounce? Sadly, as Smith and other modern captains have shown over the years, this is not a problem with India and Dhoni alone. The moment they see a lesser batsman, they choose to attack only one of the two men batting, and invariably they get only two balls an over where they are actually trying to take wickets.Boucher, one of the beneficiaries of India’s defensive field-sets, gave an insight into modern captains’ mindsets. “Not really [not surprised at those fields],” he said. “We have been in that situation as well before. I came out looking to play aggressively, I had an aggressive mindset. I think in the back of a captain’s mind, you don’t want to give away many boundaries. If there’s stuff happening out there, you’d rather have catchers and in-and-out fields. Like I said, to protect the boundaries, and make the guys work the singles.”They are all worried about tailenders – admittedly better batsmen than the breed used to be in the era before heavy bats and protective cushioning on their bodies – adding quick runs, and the recognised batsman counterattacking. In the process they tell the opposition, they are worried and nervous. The bowlers start responding accordingly; it can’t be easy from bowling defensively to one batsman and aggressively to the other. That’s what happened with India today: they spent the last two sessions confused, conceding 220 runs for five wickets.Four years ago, when India came to Cape Town, they went in to lunch on fourth day with two second-innings wickets down and a lead of 114 in the bag. The next two sessions featured confused cricket, and India lost the series there. Here, too, going into lunch India had South Africa effectively at 119 for 5, soon to be 130 for 6. But the rest of the day almost played India out of the Test. Now it’s up to the Indian batsmen to put in yet another special show to prevent a repeat.

ESPNcricinfo picks the highlights of the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy 2010-11

Abhishek Purohit07-Dec-2010The match of the seasonTwo Plate teams were in a desperate situation in Nagpur. Services, for whom a win meant a greater chance of qualifying for the Super League, were a bit more desperate than Vidarbha. A draw wouldn’t have done. So despite pocketing three points after taking the first-innings lead, Services did what 9 out of 10 domestic sides would usually not have done – made a sporting declaration on the third evening. Vidarbha needed 353 in 93 overs. They had made 289, 61, 138 and 139 for 8 in their previous four outings. “It was a good target to set. Anything more and Vidarbha might not have gone for the chase,” Bhaskar, the Services coach, told ESPNcricinfo. And go for the chase Vidarbha did. The middle order made vital contributions, and the lower order refused to give up. The ninth wicket fell with 23 required from three overs, but Vidarbha wicketkeeper Amol Ubarhande took the game to the wire. With three needed off two deliveries, Ubarhande was stumped for 39. Services went into second position behind Maharashtra who they now face in their last game. “Our gamble worked, we wouldn’t have achieved much by targeting three points,” Bhaskar said. “Though such close games get too tense for the players, the team gels well when you win them.”The watery comebackThis has been a topsy-turvy season for Bengal. They took the first-innings lead against Delhi and Gujarat at away venues, while Eden Gardens brought them down to earth with single-point returns in two home games. In between, almost half the squad succumbed to assorted illnesses during the match against Gujarat in Ahmedabad, and one of the replacements flown in had just recovered from viral fever. Amidst all this, that prince among Kolkata’s men, Sourav Ganguly, announced that he was ready for yet another go at the Ranji Trophy, “to keep myself in form for the IPL.” As Sourav proposes, so Bengal accepts, and the former India captain was included in the XI against Tamil Nadu in Chennai. “Our batting will receive a huge boost with the presence of Sourav… Also I can get his tips regarding the captaincy,” Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal captain, told the . Four days later, Tiwary must have received some tips, but Bengal were still awaiting the batting boost, and Sourav was still to find out how his form was. The Chennai monsoon allowed only 43 overs in the match, in which Tamil Nadu reached 132 for 4.’Homing’ in on the advantageMadhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the top two teams in Group A of the Plate League, have been using home advantage to the hilt, dishing out seaming tracks against the weaker batting line-ups in their group. Both teams have had two big wins, and all but one of the 80 opposition wickets in those games have fallen to seamers. Rajasthan’s game against Tripura lasted 134.1 overs. On either side of being bowled out for 150, Rajasthan’s seamers led by Pankaj Singh finished off Tripura for 95 and 55. Hyderabad had fared even worse, getting shot out for 21 and 126. MP thrashed both Tripura and Jharkhand by an innings inside three days. The theme gets clear when one looks at the 942 runs Rajasthan and MP scored for the loss of 15 wickets in their drawn game in Jaipur. It becomes clearer when both sides drew their games with third-placed Goa, who are the only other team in the group to remain undefeated.Leaders of the packInstrumental in Rajasthan’s charge on helpful wickets has been their lead fast bowler Pankaj, who heads the wicket-taking list in the Plate League with 27 victims in four games at 12.62. Fourteen of those came in the huge victory against Tripura, 8 for 32 followed by 6 for 20. Not far behind is Deepak Chahar, the seamer who had a memorable debut against Hyderabad, with 20 wickets at 19.90.Delhi’s second homecomingThe Feroz Shah Kotla has been anything but a happy hunting ground for hosts Delhi this season. After Bengal surprised them to the first-innings lead in the opening encounter, Rohit Dahiya blocked for 2 runs off 109 balls to help Gujarat cling on to a draw by one wicket. Having had enough of the unresponsive Kotla, Delhi shifted base to the Roshanara Club Ground, and the change brought instant and pleasing results against Assam. On a wicket that offered considerable help for the fast bowlers, captain Mithun Manhas led the way with his 18th first-class hundred, and young left-arm seamer Pawan Suyal took a career-best ten wickets to go second on the Super League wicket-takers list with 21 victims. Delhi eased to a comfortable victory, their first outright win in five games. Er, could they replay Bengal and Gujarat at the Roshanara?