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England’s bowlers need to be more aware of the lines they bowl at different stages of an innings in India

Aakash Chopra22-Nov-2012As the Indian batsmen put the English fast bowlers to the sword at Motera, one couldn’t help feel sorry for the visitors. They made for a rather depressing sight: when the outcome is inversely proportional to the input, you tend to feel for the player.The ball (especially the new ball on day one) did not swing in the air or move off the surface. The faster they bowled, the quicker it went off the bat. Whenever they bowled a bouncer, it either didn’t bounce above chest height or bounced twice before reaching Matt Prior.While the odds were stacked heavily against them because of the conditions, their predicament was also a result of a few technical slip-ups. Here’s a look at a few things England may want to consider while preparing for the second Test match. If the pitch in Mumbai is remotely similar to the one in Ahmedabad, they’ll need every bit of help they can get.Vary lengths, stick to one line
Every fast bowler with a new red ball in his hand is tuned to look for early swing or lateral movement off the surface. But in India the new SG Test ball doesn’t move much in the air, and so the tried-and-tested formula of keeping it in the air for as long as possible doesn’t quite work. If you pitch the ball full, hoping for swing, you will most likely see the batsman safely play through the line.I’m not suggesting bowlers avoid bowling full, but in India, full balls should mostly be outside the off stump. An outside-off-stump line forces the batsman to play square of the wicket, and that could possibly provide a window of opportunity for the bowler if the batsman is a shade late on the ball.On the dry but not very abrasive pitches of India, the ball doesn’t dart around after pitching either. So it’s important to change your length while keeping the line of operation about six inches outside off stump. If there’s no deception in the air or off the surface, you need to ensure the batsman is kept guessing about the length at least.The odd bouncer – dug in really short to ensure that it rises above shoulder height – can also be a handy tool. There’s nothing wrong with being defensive
However tempting it may be to bowl straight at the batsman (hoping he’ll miss and you’ll hit), it’s worth remembering that quality players aren’t likely to miss straight balls, unless they’re bowled at extremely high speeds.

In India the new SG Test ball doesn’t move much in the air, and so the tried-and-tested formula of keeping it in the air for as long as possible doesn’t quite work

Since there’s little movement in the air in India, and hardly any off the surface, straight lines will not only give the opposition easy runs, they will also make it more difficult for the fielding side to create chances.While the ball is new – that is, till it hasn’t started to reverse – it’s better to pack the off-side field and bowl an outside-off-stump line consistently. Many would consider this defensive, but in India defence is interpreted as patience and is often the biggest weapon. With the new ball, it’s almost impossible to contain, and so it’s better to make sure that you’re hit only on one side of the pitch.The art of the old ball
This is the real deal, more so for the faster bowlers. It’s no surprise that Zaheer Khan regularly bowls with a scrambled seam to scuff up one half of the ball, for that’s when the SG Test ball starts moving a little in the air. The earlier you can reach that stage, the fresher your fast bowlers will be to bowl quicker in the air, and hence more effectively.Once the ball starts reversing, you must start targeting the stumps. Now you can pack the on-side field, and have at least one man catching in the midwicket region for an uppish stroke off the legs.But these tactics are effective only if every ball you bowl finishes within the stumps and does not drift too far down the leg side – which would result in easy singles for batsmen with supple wrists. And if you err towards the off side, be prepared to fetch the ball from the fence. You simply can’t (like the English bowlers were regularly in Ahmedabad) get square-cut and flicked off the legs in the same over.Don’t let them score easily
While fast bowlers are likely to have a bigger say when the ball starts reversing, spinners, at times, find it tough going once the ball has lost its hardness (which means there is less bite off the surface).Once that happens, it’s important to find other ways to bring the batsmen out of their comfort zone. Drying up the flow of runs works wonders in India. Not that it’s easy to stop uninhibited Indian batsmen from scoring, but going around the wicket to bowl into the rough for a while could work as an attacking option.In-out fields work best on slow Indian pitches, where there isn’t enough pace off the surface for the batsmen to work the ball into the gaps for easy singles. Mostly it’s either attacking shots, in search of the boundary, or defensive prods to keep the bowler at bay. If you sit back and wait for things to happen, you’re doomed.

Alastair Cook has had a difficult first two days as England’s Test captain as life in India has proved as challenging as ever

Alan Gardner16-Nov-2012Alastair Cook lives on a farm, so you would expect him to be used to spending long days in the field. Perhaps that was why he was still there at the close of the second day, scanning the Gujarat horizon for the merest hint of a red sky.It would not have taken a shepherd to warn Cook that life as an England captain abroad is seldom easy but his first official Test in charge has provided him with exceptionally little to smile about.After shuffling his bowling options for 160 overs until his Indian counterpart, MS Dhoni, called them in early – one could almost imagine it was as much out of boredom as attacking impulse – Cook then watched on as three of his colleagues were rendered helpless by the dizzying sensation of facing a subcontinental spinner.If Cook had spent the last few weeks fretting about his team’s chances in India, then he has done well not to show it. He has been groomed for this job, more obviously than any England captain of recent years. Famously, he never sweats – but a rare bead must have broken out as he batted through to the close to the sound of clustered close fielders whooping and jigging again and again.Although there is plenty of familiar green to catch the eye at Motera (deliberately so to limit the potential from a scrubby outfield or used pitches for reverse swing) it has been a far from pleasant land for England thus far. The reconstituted pitch of sand and red clay need not develop the spin and bounce more commonly seen at Roland Garros to undo the batting line-up twice over, as evinced by the final passage of play.The positive view – and it is never difficult to find a Pangloss in the England camp – is that their best two batsmen are at the crease with a job to be done. That one is the captain is all the more reason to set an example. He made a hundred in India on his Test debut; another in his first Test as captain must have been on his mind at the end of the day.Cook even found himself following England’s shoddy example in the field as he became the latest player to muff a regulation chance. Samit Patel didn’t deserve the wicket of Yuvraj Singh – caught of what might be described as a “fool toss”, in that neither bowler nor batsman came out of it well – and he did not do much to earn the chance off R Ashwin shortly before tea but he had a right to expect better as Cook clawed wearily at the ball as it flew past him. Had it been a chicken in the yard, he might have done better.This is what comes of toiling and grafting as captain in what seems like the cricketing equivalent of a desert, agonising for so long over little details that you miss the big possibility. Was it a mirage or did he sometimes have a vision of Monty Panesar gambolling around in a wicket-taking ecstasy before the sweat ran into you eye?By the time the catch flew past him, Cook’s mind had perhaps already turned towards seeking a route that would lead England out of trouble. In India, it is an overgrown pathway and although Graeme Swann marched ahead unstintingly, the rest of England’s attack floundered. Should they have played a second spinner? Could their fields have been more attacking? And what it going on with the catching? Cook knows as much as anyone about scoring runs in India but, as Test captain, he is still learning how to read a compass.With Stuart Broad nursing an injury disturbingly close to the start of the match, England were never likely to make him share the fast-bowling burden solely with James Anderson. Did Cook hesitate, even momentarily, when pencilling in the name of his vice-captain? Could he have contemplated cutting England’s leading Test bowler in 2012 and going into the match with a better-balanced side, a side including Panesar? Did he even dare to float this with his fellow selectors? These are questions that Cook must learn to wrestle with on a regular basis from now on.The immediate challenge is to dispense with concerns about the lack of reverse swing or how best to induce a mistake from Cheteshwar Pujara and focus instead on his own batting. Some captains scheme Brearley-like from the slips but others lead in deed.Cook has already shown an ability to inspire through hard work (if not perspiration, that would be expecting too much) by guiding the ODI side to No. 1 in the world rankings, an achievement that would once have seemed as outlandish as the idea of Kevin Pietersen being welcomed back into the team huddle or England winning a Test series in India.Cook can be occasionally robotic at the crease and in press conferences. His first two days in the job have been every bit as tough as he could reasonably have expected and this tour may well end up giving him a headache to go with the obligatory stomach rumbles for England tourists. Now comes the time for him to get his hands dirty, just like down on the farm. Good job, it’s what he does best.

I have spent the last 48 hours locked inside a darkened scorebox in my garden attempting to envisage scenarios in which England win the Champions Trophy

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013
If England win the Champions Trophy, and it is an ‘if’ so big that it can be seen with the naked eye from space, it will be one of the biggest surprises in world history.© Associated Press
The short-awaited Champions Trophy is underway, and, ominously for the other seven teams involved, South Africa have started as if they mean business. The Proteas have suffered serial disappointments in recent tournaments, often pulling defeat from the jaws of victory like an enthusiastically sadistic medieval dentist (sometimes even having to stretch beyond the jaws, and wrench defeat from victory’s duodenum with special forceps).Graeme Smith and his men have therefore unleashed a new tactic which is almost guaranteed to win them the tournament – getting their traditional choke out of the way early enough that it doesn’t matter. South Africa’s performance in being hammered by the excellent Sri Lankans suggests that they are hell-bent on ultimate glory, and are rightly unwilling to risk starting the tournament looking like potential winners. They even went so far as to enter the event underprepared and rusty, to minimise their chances of peaking fatally early.I am mildly excited about the tournament. It is of a size and length that should preclude the possibility of losing interest in all cricket, as often happens during World Cups, and features the six strongest teams in ODI cricket, plus West Indies and England representing the world’s up-and-coming limited-overs nations, and hoping to spring a surprise or two as Ireland did in the last World Cup.England’s 2009-10 season begins on Friday against Sri Lanka, a pathetic five days after their end of their 2009 season (which in turn had begun just over a month after their 2008-09 ended – it would seem fairer and more honest if the relevant cricketing authorities simply lined up the world’s bowlers on a bench and then walked along it, smacking each one in the kneecaps with a baseball bat).If England win the Champions Trophy, and it is an ‘if’ so big that it can be seen with the naked eye from space, it will be one of the biggest surprises in world history. I have spent the last 48 hours locked inside a darkened scorebox in my garden attempting to envisage scenarios in which England win the Champions Trophy. I have failed. The closest I came was imagining the earth being destroyed by an asteroid strike on Thursday, leading to the tournament winner being decided by a series of coin tosses by the astronauts on the International Space Station. England lost to India in the semi-final.After the recently-completed one-day series with Australia, I think most England fans would willingly accept such an eventuality. It should also be pointed out that, contrary to press reports, England actually won the series − their victory in game seven on Sunday gave them the whatever-it’s-called trophy under the ICC’s new ‘Winner Stays On’ rule. This was harsh on Australia, who had played well enough and put on a heroically good show of looking like they found the process stimulating and challenging.England’s preparation for the Champions Trophy seems to have been based on engendering dangerous levels of complacency in their opponents. I know that professional sportsmen these days are repeatedly indoctrinated with the mantra that you must never underestimate your opposition, but England − entering the tournament with their two most important players absent through injury, and with many of the rest mentally and/or physically knackered after a summer that seemed destined never to end − will surely test the underestimation-avoidance capacity of the other teams in their group like it has never been tested before.Arguably, slowly building up deep-lying complacency through 15 years of almost unbroken limited-over mediocrity might have been taking this modern-day Trojan Horse tactic a little too far, but such plans need to be adhered to with tenacity and persistence. It is clear that, in the aftermath of England’s excellent but ultimately unsuccessful World Cup campaign in 1992, those in charge of English cricket clandestinely decided that never again would the national team suffer the heartache of failing so close to World Cup glory. To date, they have been spectacularly successful in achieving that goal.A few final thoughts on the England v Australia one-day series recently consigned to the dustbin of history like the half-eaten rat pastie that it was:First, and most overwhelmingly: Thank goodness that’s over.Second: The people running cricket are either idiots, or deliberately concocting the schedules of idiots. In England, not content with scarring this summer’s final weeks with a tortuously anticlimactic monotony masquerading as international cricket, they have penned in similarly uninteresting one-day series for next summer around a ludicrously compressed four-Test series with Pakistan.I have no doubt that scheduling an international cricket season is tricky – I have trouble enough timetabling occasional showers into my weekly routine. However, if you were served the unappetising mess that passes for an English cricketing summer in a restaurant, you would send (or more likely throw) it straight back to the kitchen with a message advising the chef to look for another job better suited to his skill set.Third: England should not be judged too harshly on this series, missing as they were key players such as Pietersen, Flintoff, Gough, Tendulkar, Warne and Henry VIII. With the first two fit and firing, they could easily have escaped with a 5-2 mauling instead of a 6-1 annihilation.Fourth: International cricket is seldom seen at its best when it is a contractual obligation rather than the summit of the game.Fifth: Some stats…In one-day internationals between the eight major Test playing nations this decade, England’s batsmen:• have the lowest batting average;• have the fifth best batting strike rate;• have blasted the equal fewest centuries;• have nurdled the second fewest innings of fifty or more;• have smote the second fewest fours; and• have thwacked the second fewest sixes.England’s bowlers cannot lay claim to such a broad smorgasbord of ineptitude, but can boast the third highest bowling average and third worst economy rate over the same period.England’s batsmen have now racked up three centuries in the 41 ODIs they have attempted to play in the last two years. Among the current Test playing nations, the next least prolific century makers in that time span are New Zealand and Bangladesh with seven tons each. England have also nudged their way to only 37 half-centuries in those 41 games, giving them an average of less than one 50-plus score per match. Oh dear!All in all, these numbers suggest that England (a) are not very good at one-day cricket, (b) haven’t been very good at it for a very long time, and (c) are unlikely to get much better at it in the foreseeable future. Never mind. It’s only a game. And we won the Ashes. And Australia lost the Ashes. Those are two beacons of hope to cling to in the dark winter months ahead.

From Brad Hinds, Australia

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Among the many players who have drifted in and out of the Australian side over the past few years, Shane Watson is one of the few who have solidly remained•AFPShane Watson may best be described today as the product of a ‘long-term investment plan’ by Cricket Australia. It’s been an interesting development for Cricket Australia, whose managerial and administrative decisions over the past few years have become increasingly dubious and contentious. Very few have paid off. In Watson’s case, the returns have been exceptional.Watson always had respectable first-class batting and bowling figures, but the first few years of his professional career on the international stage playing for Australia were plagued with a seemingly insurmountable array of problems. Primarily, there was little confidence in Watson’s longevity. He was continuously hampered by injuries between 2005 and mid 2009 (ranging from stress fractures and hamstring problems). Even more problematic, there was little confidence in his ability to make valuable contributions in the batting order despite his useful medium-pace bowling. In his first 13 Test Innings – spread sparsely between 2005 and the middle of 2009 when he alternated between sixth and seventh in the batting order – Watson scored 257 runs at only an average of 19.7 with a solitary half-century.He had a solid but noticeably exploitable technique, and Watson had a tendency in the early stages of his career for being trapped lbw. Of course, these forgettable performances (and subsequent injuries, evidently) were easily overlooked when Australia’s normal line-up consisted of great players performing at their prime; Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn. Watson was only ever a substitute. He was never called in as a permanent replacement.But since the retirement of those players (with the exception of Lee in ODI’s), Watson was a key figure that Australia seriously needed to consider in trying to rebuild the team. Watson had Test experience, and this was an advantage when mulling over the many players available who had no international experience at all. When Matthew Hayden retired in 2009, someone had to take his place. The decision, therefore, to give Watson the opportunity to open the batting with Simon Katich – with his apparent fragility and flawed technique – was understandably met with harsh criticism and deep apprehension. It was a precarious gamble; one whose result could be decided only by Watson.The result? Years of hesitation and apprehension has given way to profound respect and admiration. Despite the myriad of reasonable concerns since that decision, Watson has developed into an enviable cricketer, and one that Australia simply couldn’t be without. Through the tribulations – physical, mental, social – he has emerged perhaps as one of the world’s most complete international allrounders. The board’s faith in him and the guidance of Ricky Ponting, who Watson credits as being a large contributing factor in his development as a professional cricketer, has paid off.Indeed, when you consider how far he’s come and the extent of his current achievements, his story is almost a romantic one. He is a fighter – a typical Australian quality. Whereas other cricketers in his position may have buckled under the pressure, Watson did not. Rather, the criticism seems to have propelled him to perform above and beyond even the highest of public expectations. Among the many players who have drifted in and out of the Australian side over the past few years, Watson is one of the few who has remained. He has never been in any danger of losing his spot since receiving it. He has embraced the new role that he plays, despite it having been foreign.As vice-captain, a promotion he only just recently acquired since Ponting stood down and Michael Clarke took over, he is already a leader in every facet of the game. As a batsman, he is the very embodiment of the modern cricketer; an obvious product of the increasing importance placed on the shorter formats of the game. He is powerfully built, relies more on brute strength as opposed to delicate timing, and is very versatile. He is shaping to be an outstanding fielder despite his bulky physique, and he is exceptionally handy as a medium-pace bowler who frequently takes wickets.He has shown the capacity to adapt well to changing conditions around the world and especially with regards to the differences between cricket formats. On the field he can be a force to be reckoned with. He is both very aggressive and completely dominating. Watson has rarely been bogged down by bowlers. That said he is also a very humble player. When off the field he maintains a calm and collected disposition, and he appears to be both quiet and oddly gentle.Since he gained the opening position in Tests, he has scored 1696 runs at an average of 50 with 14 half-centuries, two centuries, and a top score of 126. On the ODI scene especially, Watson has even more impressive figures and is becoming an increasingly feared individual across the world with his ability to dominate the scoring from the get-go on almost any pitch and against any opposition. Between 2002 and April 2009 Watson scored a total of 1263 runs across 36 innings at an average of 35 with a top score of 126. In 2009, he scored 1013 runs across 20 innings at an average of 50.6 with a top score of 136 not out. From 2010 to today he has hit 1589 runs at an average of 48 with a top score of 185 not out. (Click for Watson’s career summary in Tests and ODIs.)The frequency at which he scores fifty or more has increased over the years. In Tests he scored only one half-century between 2005 and 2009. In 2009, he scored six half-centuries and one century. In 2010 he scored eight half-centuries and one century. In ODIs he scored seven half-centuries and a century between 2002 and 2009, an average of one per year. In 2009, he scored three half-centuries and as many centuries. In 2010 he scored seven half-centuries. In 2011 he has already scored five half-centuries and two centuries, including knock against Bangladesh.Despite his accomplishments, Watson isn’t free of criticism or ridicule. His tendency to fall after getting himself in, persistently plagues his batting. His particular tendency to get out in the 90s has been the source of much humor in the cricket community. That is a phase that he will probably grow out of as he settles even more comfortably into his role as opening batsman. The run won’t last forever – the runs won’t always keep coming. But if Watson maintains his positive approach to his game, there’s no doubt he’ll continue to be a defining symbol of Australian cricket for many years to come.

In the face of so much expectation, Joe Root delivered when his side needed him and when his home crowd were so willing him to

David Hopps at Headingley25-May-2013Yorkshire was on its best behaviour for Joe Root. “Put tha’ best bib and ticker on, lad’s mekking his debut.” The crowd was expectant but never over-demanding, the pitch was bountiful and the skies were so sharp and blue that from the top floor of the pavilion you could even see the Emley Moor transmitter on the horizon. Tallest structure in Yorkshire, the locals will tell you. But there is no doubt after the magic of a maiden Test hundred on his first outing on his home ground that Root is standing taller today.It was a chance to make good, and Root had the ability to take it. His celebration upon reaching three figures will stick in the memory, a sort of ungainly jiggle which suggested that, although he hails from Sheffield, the Arctic Monkeys will never have him in mind when they sing I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor. “I lost it a bit, but you only get your first one once,” he said before confirming that it was not actually meant to be a dance move. “I suppose emotions took over and that was the result of it.”His disgust with himself when he got out weakly, chasing the first delivery with the second new ball, had even more to commend it.Kevin Pietersen was one of the first England players to tweet his congratulations, calling him the first England nine-year-old to score a ton. Root grinned at the ribbing and admitted that even at 22 he can still be asked for ID to get served in pubs. He must be the first England batsman to be more afraid of a pub landlord than a Test bowling attack. “I’m not too fussed,” he said. “I can’t help it.”Not since Darren Gough bowled out South Africa 15 years ago has there been such an outpouring of Yorkshire pride at a Headingley Test. Not since Geoffrey Boycott inched towards his 100th first-class hundred here in 1977 has a Yorkshire batsman in a Headingley Test borne so much faith. In both cases, it was as if the outcome was pre-ordained. Boycott was 36, his best days beyond him; Root was 22, many fine days surely still to come, but in the sort of prolific form that could not be ignored. Neither let their supporters down.The most striking thing about Root is that, for all his mild-mannered exterior, when it comes to cricket, he “gets it”. It is not just about his technique, or his range of shots, it is the fact that his mind is so attuned to it. It is rare to see a young player repeatedly make such sensible cricketing decisions.He must have realised as a youngster that he had an aptitude for cricket like discovering that he was gifted in computer code or foreign languages. In Root’s case, natural ability came hand in hand with a fierce desire for improvement. All that obsessive practice is worth it now.He has expanded his runs tally this season to 861 at an average of 123. Just think, some of us imagined after his heroic stonewalling in India and New Zealand, it might inhibit his game so much that he would not be able to play another shot until the end of June. How wrong we were.

Few England players of recent vintage have taken to the Test arena with such a lack of nerves and with so much obvious pleasure.

Boycott, now Yorkshire’s president, was bristling with pride that the county’s line of England batsmen had been affirmed so gloriously. They may be connected by county affiliation, perhaps even cricketing philosophy, but in style they are all very different. With Boycott, you could always sense the intense concentration, the unyielding desire to succeed. When Michael Vaughan, a Root mentor and the last Yorkshire batsman to make a Test hundred at Headingley, against West Indies in 2007, was on song, you were overcome by the elegance.Root is different again. He soothes the onlooker, never over-striving or over-hitting, a boy-man proceeding with immense repose, finessing the ball to areas where logic insisted he should send it. The biggest cheer came for a reverse sweep against the offspin of Kane Williamson. It was not random, it suited the delivery and the moment, but it communicated that he has batting cheek, too.Boycott was full of emphatic, brook-no-argument praise. “Joe Root’s played beautifully, but ever since he was about 15, we at Yorkshire felt we had a good player here and that he had what it takes to be pretty special,” he said.He could have suggested it was never as easy at Headingley in his day – and it would have been justifiable. Keith Boyce’s Test pitches were crabbier affairs, ever eager to betray a batsman in golden touch with a grubber or two, as if to say: “Play that one, let’s see you.” Boycott learned mistrust. Andy Fogarty’s creations are fairer surfaces. There was a bit in it for the bowlers as England lost 3 for 67, but as Root settled in, he was increasingly blessed by kindly batting conditions.Ultimately, though, how he made the Yorkshire crowd sweat. Twice in the 90s, he was spared only after TV replays. On 92, Jonny Bairstow’s firm straight drive deflected into the stumps off the hands of the bowler, Neil Wagner. How galling it would have been for Root to be run out by his Yorkshire team mate, a batsman who stood alongside him for much of the day. But Root’s back foot and bat were firmly entrenched.A run later, Root’s smile did not seem quite so scampish as Brendon McCullum appealed for a leg-side catch off Doug Bracewell and, when turned down, took the issue to a review. The replay showed pad. The crowd cheered, but they wanted it over. Root’s runs had dried, for the first time, and it was Bairstow, the stronger puncher, who looked the stronger, twice driving Wagner imperiously through mid-on as he passed his third England half-century.”I tried to get out twice in the two worst ways,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I was nervous in the 90s, more excited really. I was confident I was not out, but you just never know.”If Root departed angrily, Bairstow left with dejection, a second Yorkshire batsman to fall in successive overs, another victim of the Boult-McCullum combination. Two Yorkshire hundreds in one innings might have been too much to hope for.All that was galling for Yorkshire was that the ground was not at capacity. A crowd of 12,000 left the ground three-quarters full. What Bank Holiday attraction could possibly beat this? The Harewood Medieval banquet, the Swaledale Festival in the Dales or perhaps the Photography Bubble Exhibition in Malton?One thing that can be said confidently about Joe Root, or at least as confidently as anything can ever be predicted about any young cricketer: this does not look like a bubble which is about to burst. Few England players of recent vintage have taken to the Test arena with such a lack of nerves and with so much obvious pleasure about the challenge that lies before them.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the opening day at Chester-le-Street

George Dobell, Jarrod Kimber and Brydon Coverdale09-Aug-2013Contrast of the dayAlastair Cook had already been batting for close to three hours when he was joined by Kevin Pietersen. Whereas Cook’s innings had been a study of resistance and reserve, Pietersen signalled his intentions by charging down the pitch to the first delivery he faced, a ball bowled by offspinner Nathan Lyon, and attempting to hit it back over the bowler’s head. Instead Pietersen was only able to gain a thick inside-edge on the ball and was fortune to see it pass just over midwicket. While Pietersen could claim, with some justification, that he is best to play his natural, positive game, this shot had an air of recklessness about it and came in sharp contrast to Cook’s grim determination.Dismissal of the dayEngland appeared to have weathered the storm and finally found calm waters when, from nowhere, Jonathan Trott was out. After a poor Test at Old Trafford, Trott looked back to something approaching his best and batted with fluency that none of his colleagues could match. But, not for the first time, he played more than a small part in his own downfall when, facing a tidy but hardly vicious delivery from Lyon, he attempted to flick it into the leg side to register his half-century, but could only edge the ball on to his pad and then see it carry to short leg. While it would be an exaggeration to state it precipitated a collapse, Trott’s demise did see the England innings subside from a high point of 107 for 1 to 155 for 5 barely an hour later.Non-selection of the dayIn the first Test, Mitchell Starc took five wickets. He bowled everywhere, including past second slip. He was Mitchell Starc. Australia dropped him. Then for the third Test, they brought him back. He took three wickets in one innings, made 66 not out from one bat. He bowled everywhere, he hit the ball very well. He was Mitchell Starc. Australia dropped him again. Starc has never played back to back Tests in a series. It would seem that Starc’s career is currently being governed by someone throwing polyhedral dice.Contest of the dayAfter four overs and one wicket, Michael Clarke removed Lyon from the crease. It was because Pietersen was trying to end his bowling career. In one and a half overs Clarke had seen enough. The same happened at Old Trafford, and Lyon was barely seen again. This time Lyon was only out of the attack for seven overs and then brought back. This time Clarke resisted the urge to hide him forever, and few overs later Lyon was up against Pietersen again. Pietersen lasted five balls before being sucked in to arm ball from Lyon that he nicked behind.Hot Spot of the dayAfter all the talk of Hot Spot and silicone-tape over the past few days, the Australians were pleased on the first morning that the technology had not been dumped. When Joe Root was given not out by umpire Tony Hill off the bowling of Shane Watson, the Australians were quick to ask for a review and Hot Spot confirmed a small tickle on Root’s outside edge. It was a rare DRS victory for Australia; until then, they had not successfully challenged an umpire’s decision since Chris Rogers had his caught-behind dismissal overturned in the second innings of the first Test at Trent Bridge.

Plays of the day from the Champions League match between Rajasthan Royals and Lions in Jaipur

Devashish Fuloria25-Sep-2013The bat
Off the last ball of the 12th over, Shane Watson attempted his trademark hoick over long-on off a length delivery, but the low bounce meant that the ball hit the inside half of the bat. Watson immediately looked at his blade to check if there was any damage. But all doubts on the state of the bat were dispensed with as he muscled two sixes and a four in his next four deliveries.The luck
Sanju Samson had scored a half-century in Royals’ win against Mumbai Indians, an innings that was replete with unconvincing shots and numerous edges. That was a good day. Samson brought the same form to this match but only brought half the luck. In his brief stay, he edged one through gully, then edged one to first slip to be dropped by Alviro Petersen, and ultimately ran out of luck, edging an angled delivery from Lonwabo Tsotsobe to the wicketkeeper.The comeback
Sohail Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker in the first season of the IPL when he was part of the title-winning Rajasthan Royals squad and the way he bowled his first three overs today, it felt like he had never left Jaipur. He mixed up the lengths, varied pace, changed angles and kept the Royals batsmen guessing. His last over though undid his good work. Brad Hodge slogged the second and third deliveries to the boundary, then went one better as he smashed two sixes in the remaining three balls, ruining Tanvir’s figures to 4-0-36-1.The drop
Rahul Dravid may have taken more catches than anyone in his Test career, but in his last season of active cricket, that is one area in which he has struggled to maintain standards. He took a simple chance at mid-on when Rassie van der Dussen mistimed a slog, but made a mess of the second that came his way. He had stationed himself at long-on and when Hardus Viljoen chipped one to his right, he ran a few paces to his right, settled into a good position, but dropped the dolly.

Characteristically so cool and clear of mind, Jonathan Trott is now clouded with doubt and thought as he tries to deal with an issue that could define his career

George Dobell in Brisbane23-Nov-2013During England’s brief first innings at the Gabba, Jonathan Trott tucked a ball from Mitchell Johnson off his legs and, rather than settling for the comfortable single on offer, made a point of pushing for a sharp second run to ensure he stayed on strike.It was a moment that revealed much about Trott. It was a moment that told the world he was not afraid and that he was not going to avoid the challenge that may well define his career.But perhaps he protested a little too much. Perhaps that fortitude to ensure he did not duck that challenge went to the heart of Trott’s problem: he is so determined to show he is not afraid of the short ball, that he is getting himself into impossible positions from which to play it.Consider his approach to facing Johnson. Determined not to be seen to back away or in any way appear tentative, Trott is walking across his stumps and towards the bowler. It is leaving him unbalanced and rendering it more difficult for him to leave the ball or play straight.Indeed, Trott may well be more nervous of appearing scared than he is by the ball. Like all top batsmen, he would gladly trade some thumping blows to the body rather than losing his wicket.Certainly the suggestion from David Warner that Trott is “backing away” from the ball will hurt him greatly. “Pretty weak” was Warner’s description of Trott’s second-innings dismissal. “It looks like England have got scared eyes,” he said.Such words will sting Trott. They will sting far longer and far harsher than any bruise or cut from the ball. For such an allegation goes to the heart of how Trott sees himself. It raises questions not just about his technique, but about his character, his courage and even, in the world of alpha male sportsmen, his masculinity.It is a misunderstanding, too. Trott’s issue is more technical than it is a fear of the short ball. His technique – his down to up pull stroke, his movement at the moment the ball is released leaving him unbalanced at the crease and his trigger movement that takes him forward – is rendering it hard for him to leave the ball or keep it down.Jonathan Trott succumbed to the short ball for the second time in the match•Getty ImagesThat is not to say there is not a mental side to this. Trott knows he has an issue and he knows the world is aware of it. In his anxiety, he is becoming ever more frenetic at the crease and failing to follow his own golden rule not to overthink the game. He head, so clear when he batted England to victory on debut at The Oval in 2009 against Johnson et al. or against a brilliant Pakistan attack at Lord’s in 2010 or in Melbourne later the same year, is now clouded by doubt and thought. Trott’s apparent imperturbability has always masked some mental torment. Now it is spilling over.It is a serious problem. He is struggling to deal with Johnson’s short ball and, unless he can resolve the issue soon, he could be dropped from the Test side for the first time in his career. In both innings of this Test he has fallen to such deliveries, with the dismissal on day three – pulling straight to the man positioned for the stroke at deep-backward square leg – underlining his confusion and unease.It is a simplification to state that Trott is simply unsettled by the short ball. From the moment he entered Test cricket with that century against Australia, bowlers have tested him that way. The pitches have rarely been this quick but he has prospered on them before and against bowlers of pace. He showed the folly of those who dismissed him after one poor Test in Johannesburg in January 2010.But Johnson represents a perfect storm of issues for him. Not only is he fast – though no faster than the likes of Tino Best – but he is unpredictable, slingy and left-arm. Trott, unable to anticipate even a rough area in which the ball is directed, is struggling to judge the length or how high the ball will bounce and is unsure whether to defend or attack. At present he is doing a bit of both and a lot of neither.He could do worse than look how Michael Clarke has risen to the challenge. Clarke, who has also struggled to deal with the short ball from Stuart Broad, responded to his first innings failure with a textbook innings on day three. While he may well have looked to use the pull short earlier in his innings than he might have done on other occasions, he generally went back to basics: he watched the ball carefully, he remained calm and he played straight. Trott, his mind scrambled, is maybe trying to watch the ball, but he is not playing straight and he does not look calm.He will not suffer for a lack of hard work. After suffering similar problems in the limited-overs series against Australia that ended the English summer (he was only dismissed by Johnson once, with a perfect bouncer, but it stuck in the mind of both men), Trott prepared for this challenge thoroughly. After a brief holiday, he went into the nets and faced a bowling machine cranked up to its maximum setting and aimed at his head and neck for hour after hour. Clearly it was not quite enough to prepare him for the almost unique problems presented by Johnson.He now stands at a crossroads. How he copes with this challenge will define the rest of his career. But a man good enough to average in excess of 50, as Trott has done in both ODI and Test cricket for much of his career, and a man good enough to win the 2011 ICC Player of the Year award – arguably the highest award in cricket – should not be written off prematurely.

The Asia Cup final will be the first time the two teams will be playing each other for the title in a tournament involving five or more teams

Shiva Jayaraman07-Mar-2014Pakistan and Sri Lanka have never played each other in the finals of a major ODI tournament (involving five or more teams). Of the 25 such tournaments they have played in together, this Asia Cup is the first time that both the teams are in the final.It has been nearly 15 years since Pakistan have progressed to the final of an ODI tournament involving five or more teams. The last such game for Pakistan was the title match of the 1999 World Cup when they lost to Australia. They have played in seven such finals and have emerged as the winners in five of these.Sri Lanka have played six such matches and have won three of them, not including the 2002 Champions Trophy, which was shared between them and India after the finals were rained-off. Unlike Pakistan, they have had a more recent experience of playing in the finals of a major tournament, having played India in the 2011 World Cup.Including the last Asia Cup, in the last five years, Pakistan have made it to the finals of any ODI tournament only twice, both these instance having come in Mirpur. They have however, made the best of these two opportunities by winning on both occasions. The fact that Pakistan haven’t made it too often to the finals of an ODI series in the recent past has meant that half their current squad hasn’t played in such matches before. Shahid Afridi – who has won them their last two games – has appeared in 31 ODI finals for Pakistan and is their most experienced batsman. Afridi – whose ODI career average is 23.44 – is their top scorer in such matches, having scored 621 runs at 20.70. Mohammad Hafeez is the only other Pakistan batsman to have played in at least five finals. His batting average in these matches, however, can do with some improvement: he has scored 61 runs at 12.20.

Pakistan batsmen, finals v career averages

ODI FinalsODI CareerBatsmanInnsRunsAveSRInnsRunsAveSRShahid Afridi3162120.70101.1344758223.69115.5Mohammad Hafeez56112.2037.2145425131.2572.65Misbah-ul-haq39632.0081.4132446244.1774.09Umar Akmal13030.0066.782256438.2686.32Afridi leads the bowling list too, with 29 wickets at 31.55 in the 31 finals that he has bowled in. Umar Gul’s six wickets are the next highest in the list. Pakistan’s leading bowler Saeed Ajmal has played in only one final – in the last Asia Cup against Bangladesh – in which his returns were 2 for 40 from ten overs.

Pakistan bowlers, finals v career averages

ODI FinalsODI CareerBowlerInnsWktsAveEcoInnsWktsAveEcoShahid Afridi312931.554.937237633.824.6Mohammad Hafeez5346.663.413711835.254.1Umar Gul3624.335.412117328.455.1Saeed Ajmal1220.004.010817922.474.2Fawad Alam1124.004.011486.005.51Sri Lanka have two seasoned campaigners, in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who have scored 1000-plus runs in such games. Jayawardene has made 1028 runs including one century and nine fifties in 31 innings. He scores at an average of 36.71 in finals, which is better than his career average of 33.15. Sangakkara too, has performed well in these crunch games. In 26 innings Sangakkara has scored 11 fifties and his 1023 runs in these matches have come at 40.92, a fraction more than his career average of 40.71.

Sri Lanka batsmen, finals v career averages

ODI FinalsODI CareerBatsmanInnsRunsAveSRInnsRunsAveSRMahela Jayawardene30102836.7182.63841143733.0578.4Kumar Sangakkara26102340.9274.33451250040.5877.3Dinesh Chandimal55719.0077.072187531.2574.1Angelo Mathews4256.2561.098254936.9483.5Lahiru Thirimanne39030.0056.646122129.0768.4Thisara Perera33434.00147.85578218.18104.5Among bowlers from the current Sri Lanka squad, Lasith Malinga, with 14 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in finals. However, Malinga averages almost ten runs more per wicket and gives away a run and a fraction more when bowling in such matches. Ajantha Mendis, who has taken 26 wickets at 10.42 in the Asia Cup, tends to improve his performance in the finals: his 12 wickets in these games have come at 12.58 and at an economy of 4.0.

Sri Lanka bowlers, finals v career averages

ODI FinalsODI CareerBowlerInnsWktsAveEcoInnsWktsAveEcoLasith Malinga91437.076.215925127.185.2Angelo Mathews5265.504.4977335.324.5Ajantha Mendis41212.584.06712120.504.4Dhammika Prasad1225.507.3132126.005.5Suranga Lakmal1133.003.3233529.715.6In recent times Pakistan’s batting line-up has been the more consistent one, with three of their batsmen – Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad – scoring 1000-plus runs at an average of 40-plus in ODIs since 2013. For Sri Lanka, Sangakkara is the only batsman to average above 40 in this period – he has scored 1585 runs at an average of 63.40.As bowling units, the teams are more or less evenly matched with both sides boasting spinners and fast bowlers who have done well recently. The overall numbers for the teams look similar in matches since 2013. While Sri Lanka’s bowlers have taken 245 wickets at 29.21 and have had an economy of 4.85, Pakistan have taken 272 wickets at 30.42 and have given away 4.70 runs an over.The teams have met each other in the finals of the Asia Cup twice before this one, with Pakistan winning the 2000 edition and Sri Lanka winning in 1986. The last time these two teams met in any ODI final was the Paktel Cup in 2004, with Sri Lanka coming out on top on that occasion. Overall, the teams have played each other in 12 finals and have shared the honours, with each team winning on six occasions. Although Sri Lanka have had the upper hand in the Asia Cup, winning nine of the 13 matches they have played against Pakistan, the teams’ recent head-to-head record points to an even match-up. Including the league game in this Asia Cup, the teams have played 12 ODIs against each other since 2012, of which six have been won by Sri Lanka and five by Pakistan.

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, head-to-head

MatSL winsPak winsNo ResultODI Series finals1266-Asia Cup finals211-Asia Cup1394-Since 201212651

The one-time master of a vast arsenal of strokes has smelted down his technique as age catches up with him. How he and his side have benefited

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-May-2014Eventually we all get old, and time erodes the faculties that quickened us in youth. For athletes, the slide is more acute. By 35, age has begun to diminish most batsmen; the reflexes slacken, the power fades, the feet grow heavy.For so long, TIllakaratne Dilshan had defied this inevitability of life. He was the man who refused to grow up – an impetuous whirr of wrists and blade, coiled menacingly at the crease, slashing outside off and hooking on the front foot. He has been the oldest man in the Sri Lanka team for some years, but as he smirked on behind his designer beard, it had been an odd truth to comprehend. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were elder statesmen. Dilshan was always a rogue.But there is no escape. Age gives no quarter. Over the past 18 months, fans watched as Dilshan’s feet became less sure. The whips through midwicket used to send the ball clattering into the advertising hoardings, but now the stumps were rattled instead. The bouncers he once bludgeoned to the fence, left bruises on his chest.It can’t have been an easy truth for Dilshan to accept. At 37, he is still said to make the most mischief in the dressing room. When he takes a fine catch, or claims a tough wicket, no one celebrates with more vigour. Yet, for all his on-field arrogance, he has come to terms with a kind of defeat. Finally dimmed by time, the one-time master of a vast arsenal of strokes, smelted down his technique. Now only a few sharp weapons of torment remain.On Sunday, Dilshan hit 28 of his 88 runs in boundaries. Not one of the seven fours was from his rasping cover drive. There were no wristy flicks to the legside fence. He pulled twice for four, but of those, one was off Ravi Bopara’s ambling pace, and he had waited on the back foot for the other, off Chris Jordan. Even the scoop he played off Bopara, was the garden-variety over-the-shoulder variant, not the overhead deflection he had ridden to acclaim several years ago. Once a peddler of ravishing early-innings impetus, Dilshan has become a prolific purveyor of the mundane.

A street fighter through and through, Dilshan knows only to roll with the punches, even those as bruising as his own waning talents.

And how he and his team has gained from it. Since his breakthrough 2009, Dilshan’s strike rate has dipped gradually every year, but his innings have grown in substance. In 2013, he had his richest 12 months yet, piling on 1160 runs at 61.05, though he had not scored so slowly since 2006. He had been the slow-burn that helped sink South Africa in a home series, while Sangakkara lay waste to that attack around him. He had ground New Zealand down late in the year, and defied Australia at home at its beginning.Dilshan has only played four ODIs in 2014, thanks to a hand-injury, but the 88 off 101 balls at Chester-le-Street was formed of the new measure and forethought a younger Dilshan might have scoffed at. He came down the track five times to James Tredwell, who went slowly through the air and pitched mouth-wateringly full, but until the bowler dropped one short and wide, Dilshan had no greater ambition than to push him away for a single. Even Sangakkara would not be so patient, sinking to his knees as he tried to heave Tredwell over the infield, against the turn. That stroke brought Sangakkara’s end.The smart running between wickets that had once been a sidelight of his cricket has now become its bedrock. When he strikes the ball well, he tears out of the crease, almost in reflex, before reason kicks in and he looks up to see where the fielders are.”That was an exceptional performance from Dilshan,” captain Angelo Mathews said after the match. “The character he showed – he was in doubt before the game, he was carrying a niggle – but the physio worked on him and his character paid off.”For all his new prudence with the bat, Dilshan still does the work of young men in the field. In the Powerplays, he stalks at backward point, where the sharpest earn their keep. In the middle overs, he ranges the deep, square of the wicket, where only the quick survive. At the death, he guards the straight boundaries that batsmen seek to clear. There are no cushy positions at short fine leg or mid-on. Here is the last bastion of his defiance.An 18th ODI hundred beckoned when Dilshan let an indipper from Jordan pass between bat and pad. It had been a fine delivery, but a batsman with tighter technique might have kept it out. Dilshan is no technician. A street fighter through and through, Dilshan knows only to roll with the punches, even those as bruising as his own waning talents.