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What do you do if you’re an Indian expat in China? You get yourself to an Indian-owned bar that’s showing the game on a big screen

Avtar Singh17-Jun-2019″What is going on?”The young women behind us are genuinely mystified. One is Italian, the other Hungarian, communicating as expats abroad tend to do, in English. We hear the question and turn to answer. The bar we’re in is convivial and people talk to each other across tables. But there is no easy reply when you’re watching cricket with newbies. Not any old game, either: India against Pakistan in the World Cup.That we’re sitting in Beijing just makes it that much harder to process. For the young women held hostage by the large screen across the room; and for us.

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There are about a dozen of us watching the cricket pretty seriously. We all belong to the Beijing Ducks Cricket Club, or know someone in it. The members enjoy playing the game, but the camaraderie around it is just as important. There are Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, South Africans, a fair sprinkling of subcontinentals; a Zimbabwean in the recent past, a Malaysian, a few American converts.The bar we’re in, Side Street in central Beijing, is owned by an Indian who belongs to the group. I walk in through the intermittent drizzle that has cooled Beijing down this summer day. There are drinks deals laid on for the Ducks and the mood is festive when I arrive. Rohit and Rahul are making hay.”How’s the pitch,” I ask.”Flatlining.””What’s the word?””Pakistan are playing for D-L.””Bit early, surely? Has it rained yet?””Nope. But they’re getting hammered. And Manchester is going to do what Manchester does.”Our local Liverpudlian is prescient. (He grudgingly admits that Old Trafford is a super ground to watch cricket in. You can see the effort it takes.) The bar is still full of non-cricketing patrons and there is no commentary from the screen. The driving music serves as a bizarrely fitting counterpoint to what already feels like a procession, even though India’s innings isn’t half-done. Even the green-clad fans the feed regularly cuts to in Manchester seem disconnected, looking intently at their devices. The Indian fans in their hideous store-bought turbans leap about in silence. is how you enjoy a vuvuzela, I suddenly realise.ALSO READ: India-Pakistan match produces an atmosphere that exceeds the hype“Where are the Pakistani boys,” I ask.I had been hoping for a more bipartisan turnout. is better enjoyed as a cocktail, after all, and not straight up. But the others shake their heads. A few places are mooted and dismissed. I turn to my phone. WeChat rules in China. I reach out in a few groups.It turns out a few Pakistanis were watching the game at a place in the suburbs, but their team’s limp fielding and turgid bowling has served to send them all home already. “This bloody team puts you through the emotional wringer like no other,” one WeChat acquaintance says ruefully. The gulf is too vast, notes another later, in a different chat.The resignation is telling. But in Side Street, a couple of fellows in front of us cheer every breakthrough Pakistan make, and later, every blow they strike to the fence. One is English, the other American, but they’re redressing the balance on behalf of a Pakistani friend who can’t be there. Even though they’re not all that busy, it is still a nice gesture.

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Behind us, the young women fretfully enquire how a team accumulates points. You run, we tell them. Unless you hit it to the fence. Or fly it over.”Like that?” Our necks snap around to the screen, where Rohit has just flayed someone over cover.A number of expat fans from all over the cricket-playing world, and some from further afield, congregated at the Side Street bar in Beijing•Huizhong Wu”Just like that.””And they’re called runs?””Yes.””But you don’t always run them?”

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The rain arrives, as advertised. Some of the other patrons in the bar are getting energetically drunk. One man in tattoos and a sleeveless vest comes up to me.”Three hundred, mate,” he bellows in my ear. He’s clearly Antipodean. With his voice, he doesn’t need a phone to speak with his family at home. “Your lads don’t even have to come out and finish up. Pakistan’s not getting that many. Not with this line-up.”He’s loud, but he’s not wrong. Once the Indian innings has meandered to its conclusion, Pakistan’s openers come out and play as if they’re in quicksand. When Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulls up lame, Vijay Shankar, whom you might politely label a makeweight seamer, has Imam-ul-Haq miss a ball by the proverbial mile to have him plumb in front. Not reviewing is the one good decision Imam makes.”Pakistan haven’t turned up,” is the verdict. One by one, the cricket-watchers leave. Behind us, the young women are still googling the game and its rules.”Stupid game,” says one with finality. “Who started playing it anyway?””The English.””Ah.”Babar Azam falls to an otherworldly delivery from Kuldeep Yadav. The green army on the screen silently check their phones. I’m the last Duck left in the bar.I waddle off as well, the rain gentle on this quiet night in Beijing.Necropolis

In both Ranchi and Dharamsala, Australia fell short of posting truly daunting first-innings totals despite hundreds from Steven Smith. It was the lack of big scores from their openers that made it tougher for the middle and lower order

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Dharamsala28-Mar-2017In his press conference on day three of the Dharamsala Test, Ravindra Jadeja said something that’s rare to hear from an international cricketer – an admission that luck had played some part in his team getting on top of the opposition.Australia had just slumped to 137 all out in their second innings, and India’s fast bowlers, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, had played key roles in causing that to happen, combining to take four for 56 in 17 overs.Someone asked Jadeja what the difference had been between their bowling and that of Australia’s quicks on the same surface.”There wasn’t much of a difference,” Jadeja said. “Their fast bowlers, like us, were bowling in good areas, but sometimes good deliveries miss the edge of the bat and at times straight deliveries get you the edge. Today with [David] Warner it was a straight ball that got his edge. That was the breakthrough.”India’s quicks, Umesh in particular, had bowled brilliantly with the new ball, but there was some substance to Jadeja’s statement. Sometimes, it takes a bit of luck to find the edge. Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins had bowled splendidly in India’s first innings, and had taken four wickets too, but had to bowl 55 backbreaking – and often heartbreaking, given how much they tested India’s batsmen – overs between them.Had Cummins and Hazlewood heard and understood Jadeja’s statement – he spoke in Hindi – they might have hugged him and wept in gratitude.But you need more than luck to keep finding the edges. You need a bit of help from batsmen. Both of Australia’s openers gave Umesh that help. Warner jabbed at him with hard hands while not moving his feet. Matt Renshaw, squared up by a short ball, followed it with his hands, away from his body, uncertainly, playing neither an attacking nor defensive stroke.Those are the kind of mistakes Australia’s openers kept making through the series. Warner had a torrid time through the tour, his defence shaky against both seam and spin. In all, he made 193 runs in four Tests at an average of 24.12. Even when he did make runs, he did not look secure at the crease; in the first innings in Dharamsala, for instance, he kept trying to cut Kuldeep Yadav when given neither the length nor the width to play the shot safely and was eventually dismissed playing that shot.Renshaw, meanwhile, began his first tour of India with scores of 68, 31 and 60, on two of the most challenging pitches he must have encountered in his young career. After that, his scores tailed away, his last five innings bringing him only 73 runs at an average of 14.60.Before the tour, Australia’s selectors and team management may have feared such a turn of events for their young opener – a bright start, followed by India’s spinners working him out and working him over. Except it wasn’t the spinners who worked Renshaw out; it was the seamers. Renshaw was out to spin in each of his first three innings of the tour, and out to either Umesh or Ishant Sharma in his last five innings.On all five occasions, he was out either playing indecisively in the corridor, away from his body, or stuck in the crease when he should have been on the front foot.David Warner ended the series with 193 runs•AFPIn both innings in Dharamsala, Umesh peppered him with short balls. In the first innings, he followed a series of short balls with a full one that swung in through the gate as Renshaw played a leaden-footed drive. In the second, the short ball itself proved the wicket-taker.There was a pattern to these dismissals, a sense that India had worked out a way to induce uncertainty in Renshaw’s mind and feet. In that process, he ended up being far less of a force on the two best batting pitches of the series, in Ranchi and Dharamsala, than in the two heavily bowler-friendly pitches in Pune and Bengaluru.In contrast, when they came across conditions where bowlers would need to work a little harder to take their wickets, India’s openers – and top order, in general – ensured they made the bowlers work that little bit harder. M Vijay got himself out in Ranchi, but only after 183 balls of intense focus and tight defensive technique against an Australian attack that never let up in intensity. KL Rahul got himself out in the first innings in Dharamsala, finally succumbing to Cummins’ relentlessly fast and accurate short bowling, but only after he had been at the crease for more than 40 overs.At no point in either Test did either Vijay or Rahul play the kind of hard-hands jab, away from the body, that cost Warner and Renshaw their wickets in the second innings in Dharamsala. Hazlewood and Cummins beat them on numerous occasions, but they kept their hands close to their body and didn’t follow the ball as it seamed or swung away from them.When they edged the ball, they were still usually playing close to their body, with soft hands. Not long before Hazlewood dismissed him in the first innings in Dharamsala, Vijay had edged another one but had ensured the ball fell well short of the keeper. In the same Test, Warner was dropped in the slips in both innings, both times playing away from his body, but continued to play in the same vein regardless.KL Rahul stayed unbeaten in the second innings in Dharamsala to hit the winning runs•Associated PressMoreover, Vijay and Rahul, unlike Renshaw in particular, did not lose their composure when peppered with short balls. They may have been discomfited by Cummins and Hazlewood’s bouncers, but if the next ball was full, they generally got on the front foot, playing it with no aftereffects of what had come before.In all, it took India a combined 94.4 overs to dismiss both Renshaw and Warner in the four Australian innings in Ranchi and Dharamsala. It took Australia a combined 111 overs to dismiss both Vijay and Rahul in India’s two first innings in those two Tests – they did not play a second innings in Ranchi – and a further 23.5 overs in India’s second innings in Dharamsala to dismiss Vijay but not Rahul.Getting opening batsmen out early can have all kinds of knock-on effects on the rest of the innings. It exposes the middle order to a newer ball, allows first- and second-change bowlers to begin their spells against newer, less certain batsmen, and increases the possibility of exposing the batting side’s lower order to the second new ball.A big opening partnership, or even one opener staying in the middle for a long time, changes everything. It ensures an easier introduction to the crease for the batsmen to follow, with a healthier-looking scoreboard, against bowlers who have expended more energy, and against more defensive fields. As has been the case right through the season for India, the ripple effect of the top order’s crease occupation can be felt far later, with the lower order facing tiring bowlers in situations where they can bat with freedom.Both teams’ No. 3s made more than 400 runs in the season and were among the runs in the last two Tests. In both Ranchi and Dharamsala, Australia fell short of posting truly daunting first-innings totals despite brilliant hundreds from Steven Smith. In both Tests, India gained the first-innings advantage thanks not only to Cheteshwar Pujara, but also to the work of the batsmen around him, particularly the two above him in the batting order.

ESPNcricinfo marks the New Zealand players out of 10 after they completed a 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Dec-20159Kane Williamson (268 runs at 89.33)
Top-scored and played the innings of the series, finished with five hundreds in 2015 (with at least one ton in each of the series he played), broke the New Zealand record for most runs in a calendar year, and fielded virtually flawlessly again. At this point, it would not be surprising if he began levitating at the crease. He is the top Test batsman in the world at the age of 25, so he has time to work on that.8Tim Southee (13 wickets at 16.30)
Last year, when Sri Lanka visited, Southee swung the ball viciously in both directions – and judging by the reactions of the batsmen – through undiscovered spatial planes as well. He wasn’t quite as brutal with the new ball in this series, yet was the most consistently menacing bowler of the series. Got a little reverse swing in Dunedin, and his bouncer wasn’t too shabby in Hamilton either.Martin Guptill (253 runs at 63.25)
An encouraging series for Guptill to follow a torrid one in Australia. His ton in Dunedin set New Zealand up perfectly in that Test, and his somewhat fortuitous fifty in the first innings in Hamilton won his team some important ground, before Dushmantha Chameera began bouncing people out. Took a terrific catch at leg gully to dismiss Dinesh Chandimal in the second innings of the second Test, though he had also dropped one in the slips in the previous game.7Neil Wagner (nine wickets at 26)
In a way, Wagner helped define the series, because he had been the first bowler to employ that short ball into the ribs, which later became a weapon for so many. He broke open Angelo Mathews’ considerable defence in Dunedin, and continued to trouble Sri Lanka’s middle and lower orders in Hamilton. Was called a “workhorse” by his captain prior to the first Test, but ended up having plenty of impact.Doug Bracewell (five wickets at 40, 82 runs at 82)
So many team-mates and New Zealand support staff spoke about Bracewell being unlucky this series, that you wondered if he had contracted some sort of rare disease. He bowled a terrific line throughout the series, but didn’t do a lot with the ball – which may explain his comparatively lighter hauls. Also had two catches dropped in Dunedin. In any case, he was brought on to bowl to tail-enders in Hamilton, seemingly as part of a “Get Doug A Wicket” initiative. Was effective at No. 8 when he was required as well.Tom Latham (163 runs at 54.33)
Scored a heartening first century on home soil in Dunedin, setting New Zealand up for their day-four declaration. Was the recipient of some good fortune in that innings, but batted sagely otherwise, riding out probing spells from Rangana Herath in particular. Was dismissed twice in the twenties, but as he appears to be developing series to series, New Zealand will not mind that much.Brendon McCullum (128 runs at 42.66)
Spoke about respecting the opposition before the series, then came out the next day and slammed 75 from 57 deliveries against them. In Dunedin, the visitors never quite recovered from that salvo. McCullum was less effective with the bat for the remainder of the series, but his captaincy always seems sharp at home. Had his bowlers switch plans when the usual edges to slip did not materialise in Hamilton. Is poised to retire from Tests now, but typically for the man, his tenure at the helm has been brief but dynamic.6BJ Watling (46 runs at 23, 15 catches)
Mousy, soft-spoken and expressionless, Watling took several outstanding catches in the series, and made them look almost mundane. His tally of nine dismissals in the Dunedin Test equals a New Zealand record. He was almost flawless with the gloves throughout the series. Not much was required of his other discipline, though he has now had two modest series in a row as a batsman.After a supreme performance in Australia, Ross Taylor managed just 58 runs in the two Tests•Getty Images5Mitchell Santner (54 runs at 18, four wickets at 31)
Much has been made of his T-Rex front arm in his bowling stride, but still managed to occasionally trouble batsmen on a flat surface in Dunedin. His batting did not impress in this series, but his fielding was excellent – the catch at the fine leg rope to dismiss Kusal Mendis in the second innings at Hamilton was a particular highlight.4Trent Boult (six wickets at 31.83)
Had back trouble in Australia, and didn’t appear totally recovered from that in this series. His pace was significantly lower than it had been on Sri Lanka’s previous visit, though he did bowl the occasional beauty.2Ross Taylor (58 runs at 14.50)
Has had a lean year apart from that 290 in Perth, but perhaps had some poor luck in this series. Got a terrific ball early in his innings in the first dig in Hamilton, and was also out to an excellent boundary catch in the second. He dropped two slip catches as well – one of them a sitter.

The Nepal board’s financial state and investigations against a few members has hampered its ability to extend Dassanayake’s contract, putting the administration “under turmoil”, though there is progress on certain fronts

Bishen Jeswant24-Jul-201410:39

‘Players should understand our problems’ – Tarini Bikram Shah

Tarini Bikram Shah, the acting president of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), has admitted that things within the board are “in a state of turmoil”. The financial state of the board and investigations against a few members has hampered its ability to extend Pubudu Dassanayake’s contract as coach of the national side, without a delay, Shah told ESPNcricinfo.After the World T20, CAN’s executive committee had said that Dassanayake would be given a year’s extension. After the tournament, however, the board came under investigation by the country’s Commission for Investigation into Abuse of Authority and could not endorse the executive committee’s decision. According to Shah, Dassanayake had asked for an increase in his salary from $5,000 to $12,000 per month. With the board unable to endorse the changes, due to the ongoing CIAA investigation, CAN extended his contract for three months, with enhanced perks and a bump in salary from $5,000 to $8,000 per month.The Dassanayake controversy took a new twist on July 22, when a press release announcing Nepal’s team for the 17th Asian Games was published, with Arun Aryal and not Dassanayake being named as coach. The Nepal government had itself granted Dassanayake a one-year extension at its own expense on July 1, with CAN not being informed officially about this appointment. CAN’s acting general secretary Uttam Karmacharya clarified that a significant reason for Dassanayake being passed over as coach could have been because certain ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) funds are yet to be released. Aryal on the other hand, is already on the Nepal Government’s rolls, and CAN’s expenses in this regard would therefore be minimal. According to Karmacharya, “Dassanayake can join the team for the Asian Games in South Korea if the Nepal government is able to fly him down in time. However, he cannot be designated as the official coach, and may be part of the team in the capacity of a ‘senior coach’ or the like”.Nepal’s cricket captain, Paras Khadka, however remains unconvinced by the board’s claims. Khadka, who had threatened to quit soon after Dassanayake left Nepal said, “If we cannot hold on to a person who has brought us so much success, it means that we cannot hold onto anything that is good. Mr. Pubudu Dassanayake is the reason that we were able to make it to a World Cup and have T20 international status right now. Not only me but most of the team will agree that it was his vision and way of working that allowed us to reach a certain level. There are talks about issues around his payment and other such things, but I don’t think any of that was really a problem. People who are running cricket in this country have got to be more serious. Personal grudges cannot be allowed to impact a team.”Dassanayake left the country in early June with unresolved issues, with his extended contract expiring at the end of the month. Shah is unimpressed with the pressure being imposed by players like Khadka. He said: “Nobody needs to talk on behalf of Pubudu. He is capable of speaking for himself”. He further added: “Dassanayake was anyway due for a holiday back home in June. Everything is in turmoil right now, so once we are free from other commitments, especially those around the investigation, we will have a board meeting and decide on Dassanayake’s contract.”Tarini Bikram Shah, the acting president of CAN, will be hoping to repair some of the damage done to the image of the cricket association.•Travis Pittman/HKCA/Travis PittmanShah welcomed reports of the Nepalese government extending financial help to the board to bring Dassanayake back at the helm, but refused to commit to a time frame for the appointment. “He will definitely be considered a favourite due to his contributions in the past,” Shah said. “No one is in a position to guarantee anything until the investigation is completed and the court passes a verdict. We cannot commit a timeframe for the renewal of his contract because this depends on how the investigation progresses and what the court decides. We welcome the gesture from the government and need this kind of support, which was not forthcoming in the past. We hope this will encourage future commitments.”The Dassanayake tenure is only one part, to use Shah’s words, of CAN’s “turmoil.” CAN has fallen foul of ICC’s administration statute 2.1, which relates to having a full-time paid administrator on board. After being given a warning by the ICC at its Melbourne meeting, there appears to be progress on this front as the board has advertised for a chief executive and a finance manager. The board had received about 70 applications for the post of the finance manager and 30 for the position of CEO by June 20.”As requested by the ICC, these positions were advertised on their official website as well,” Shah said. Karmacharya said five candidates have been shortlisted for the post of chief executive and six for finance manager. “We will be checking in detail about their professional experience and qualification and carrying out an elaborate background check. Once their credentials are verified, members of the ICC and ACC have been requested to help CAN with the final selection. This will help avoid any future allegations of favouritism or bias”, said Shah.CAN has also had to deal with the general discontentment of its national team, which reached its peak when the players boycotted a national one-day championship over a dispute. Shah acknowledged there were delays in player payments, but said that CAN was always willing to honour its commitments to the players. He also said that when issues arose, players ought not to go the media.”Sometimes we are not economically sound,” Shah said. “There are times when the money that is supposed to come in, does not flow as it is expected to. We know the players’ problems, but they should also try to understand our problems. Whatever the issues, they can come and bang on our tables, but going to the media is not a healthy trend. I request the players to come and talk to us and not wash their dirty linen in public.”Shah, who attended the ACC meeting recently, said he was hopeful of support from the Asian body and the ICC, along with the BCCI. CAN had earlier asked BCCI for permission to use training facilities but the Indian board had still not taken a decision on the same. “We will remind the BCCI of their commitment made during the ACC meeting and I’m sure they will look at it very positively.”Shah also revealed that the new ICC chairman N Srinivasan had spoken strongly about promoting the cause of Asian Associate and Affiliate nations during the ACC meet, disclosing that out of the $90 million being disbursed by the ICC to Associate and Affiliate countries, $45 million would go to Asian nations.

The evolution of England from the second innings in Ahmedabad

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013One-all after two is the ideal beginning to any series. Apart, perhaps, in a distinctly non-cricketing sphere, from the Rest of the World v Germany and Friends series that scarred the early 20th century. When a 2-0 scoreline was applauded by most neutrals. Particularly after the Rest of the World had gone one-nil up.Yesterday morning, India seemed to want to take no chances of leaving the rubber unappetisingly almost secure by snatching a miraculous victory, and comfortably avoided setting England an awkward target of 130 or 140 that might have prompted some jitters and some flashbacks to their 72-all-out debacle at the start of the year in Abu Dhabi. When, to make the parallels even more pertinent, an inexplicably-left-out-of-the-first-Test Monty Panesar had taken six second wickets to put his side in a winning position.Another 70 runs could have made the match a tense affair, although England would have still been strong favourites not to repeat their disastrous freeze against Ajmal and Rehman. However, after the top order had been cauterised by some excellent deliveries and one horrific mishit, Ashwin, Harbhajan and Zaheer perished with injudicious strokes when a calmer, more patient approach might have helped Gambhir set England at least a nerve-inducing target. Might have, or might not have. They probably would still been bowled out for not very much.But they maximised their chances of failure, before Gambhir entrusted Ojha with the task of smashing a quickfire 40 whilst he kept one end safe and let Ojha, the notoriously flamboyant Indian Garry Sobers, farm the strike. (I may have misread that situation, but that is how it appeared. It was hot, though, and I have pale skin and a very English body-thermostat.)India did not exactly go down fighting. Although England had been fully whooped in the first Test, at least Cook and Prior’s second-innings rearguard had given them a foothold against the Indian spinners, which the captain and Pietersen then transformed into a chokehold on the Indian spinners in Mumbai, and a full body slam as KP cut loose with awesome power and control on the third day.England were duly able to wrap up one of their finest Test victories of recent years under negative pressure, a superb performance driven by four players ‒ their two best batsmen of the last 25 years, and their two best spinners since Derek Underwood’s 1970s peak.When you see Pietersen bat as he did in Ahmedabad, you think: “How on earth does this guy have a Test average of just under 50?” Then, when you see him bat as he did in Mumbai, you think: “How on earth does this guy only have a Test average of just under 50?” This year has been an extraordinary one for England’s flawed, brilliant superstar.India have major problems. Their batting looks frail, Pujara aside, and their bowling appears confused and worryingly blunt. Dhoni seems to lack faith in his two most experienced bowlers, the mystifyingly underused Zaheer, who extracted an edge from Cook late on day two and was economical throughout, and the returning Harbhajan. Between them, they bowled fewer overs than either Ojha or the decreasingly effective Ashwin.● Panesar restarted the trend of bearded Englishmen taking ten or more wickets in Wankhede Tests. Admittedly this was a trend that lasted for only one Test, in 1980, when Ian Botham gave the cricketing world what is far and away the greatest single all-round Test match performance in the history of humanity – 13 for 106 (ten of them top-seven batsmen), and 114 runs off 144 balls, after coming in with England struggling at 57 for 4 (soon 58 for 5), in a match in which no other batsman reached 50.Monty, not entirely unexpectedly, contributed rather less with the bat – although the abject failure of India’s tail to even contemplate wagging denied him the opportunity to smash a match-winning day five century (stranger things have happened) (let me correct that, stranger things have not happened). And, to be fair to the would-be-allrounder Monty did score at a faster strike rate even than the mighty Botham in his two-ball innings of 4.● The Test matches in Mumbai and Adelaide have generated statistics like an out-of-control helicopter in a jelly factory generates mess. For example, India’s less-than-flawless second innings in Mumbai was the first time in Test history that seven batsmen have been out in single figures but for more than 5. Only once before in 7290 Test innings have more than five players been out for between 6 and 9, and the previous Indian record for “unconverted microstarts” is four. There you go. That’s one for you to use as a conversation-starter at a party.Furthermore, in Adelaide, South Africa lasted 762 balls after losing their fourth wicket, obliterating the previous record fourth-innings middle-and-lower-order rearguard length, a barely noticeable 586 balls by Pakistan as they subsided in slow motion to defeat in Galle earlier this year. That nugget of information might be more appropriate in breaking the awkward silence at a wedding after the bride has sprinted out screaming, “No, no, I can’t do it, I know a bet is a bet, but this is the worst mistake I’ve ever made.”These are just two of the deluge of stats emerging from the last few days of cricket. I will share more of them with you in the World Cricket Podcast later this week, when I attempt to set a new world record for Most Cricket Stats Delivered in 90 Seconds. Strap in. It will be like Usain Bolt in the Beijing Olympics, but more exciting.

Even a missed century can’t spoil one’s mood on a day like this

Oliver Reid04-Jun-2011Choice of game
Some people talk of making a pilgrimage to the holy turf of the home of cricket. For me it was about seeing the victorious England from a winter of triumph against Australia return to Lord’s as holders of the urn, welcomed by a bursting crowd and glorious English sunshine.Team supported
I spent one part of the winter watching England from the confines of the couch, with an extra blanket for warmth, and another being in Australia, witnessing the demise of my home country as it handed the Ashes to England. It would surprise most people to know that I wished for a good England side; with all that it had achieved, a strong showing for its home fans is what they deserved.Accessories
A radio is the only companion required for a Test match at Lord’s. Henry Blofield’s outrageous descriptions on of the game in front of you may annoy in any other format or place but his pomp and pronunciation provide the perfect backing track to all things English in a day at Lord’s.Key performer
Alastair Cook stood head and shoulders above his team-mates; a century on the opening day of Lord’s would have been perfect but his nearly-100 nonetheless made the best impact. He was the only swimming rat when the ship seemed to be sinking in the opening session, and Cook carried his team and worked with Ian Bell to restore the English order.Interplay I enjoyed
Eoin Morgan brought the Lord’s crowd to life after Bell’s fall for 52 runs. Prior to this Bell and Cook had shown caution in their pursuit of mending the English innings. It was Morgan who lit the fire, first against Rangana Herath: punishing him down the ground into the waiting laps of the MCC members, and then pushing the run-rate to a one-day level that had the crowd applauding.Filling in the gaps
There is much to do at Lord’s to pass the time. Some of this is always spent perusing the shop looking at souvenir after souvenir, thinking whether buying a paper weight with a bit of the turf hidden within it is a justifiable purchase, and how to explain this to the wife. Or there are the people, celebrities and eccentric Englishmen in full colour. Blazers are the choice garment at the pavilion but elsewhere you see the first signs of the end of winter as spectators wander the ground in shorts, revealing pale pairs of legs.Player watch
While making his way towards the practice nets during the second session, Steve Finn stopped in front of a large throng of school kids and signed every miniature bat, cap, ticket or poster, not leaving one kid without his scribble. On completion of this mammoth task he was loudly cheered by the crowd.Shots of the day
Cook reached and went past his fifty with three fours off Dilhara Fernando who tried in vain to pepper the Ashes hero with short balls.Crowd meter
A full house greeted the sunshine that bathed Lords’ to create an almost heavenly place to watch cricket. The sun warmed the spectators’ necks as much as it warmed the playing field.Marks out of 10
10. An almost-century, great bowling, attacking batting, a full house and the sun made this the best day of all the days I have attended at this sacred place of cricket.

A statistical review of the two-Test series between South Africa and New Zealand

Mathew Varghese19-Nov-2007South Africa’s domination over New Zealand in Tests continued, as they completed a clean sweep of the two-Test series. For New Zealand, it was an entirely forgettable series – they are yet to win a Test series against South Africa.

South Africa-New Zealand head-to-head

Matches SA won NZ won Drawn

35 20 4 11Daniel Vettori’s side never scored more than 200 in any of the four innings. The lack of a fight in the contest is reflected in the figures for average runs per wicket, with New Zealand not even managing half of what South Africa did.

Average runs per wicket during the series

Team Average runs per wicket

South Africa 44.82 New Zealand 16.59New Zealand’s top order failed to score enough runs on the board in contrast to South Africa’s batsmen, who averaged over 60 in their partnerships.

Average partnership per dismissal

For wicket South Africa New Zealand

1-6 60.6021.04 7-10 15.258.38The South African fast bowlers outperformed their New Zealand counterparts on the bouncy wickets. New Zealand, though, did suffer due to the injuries to Shane Bond and allrounder Jacob Oram midway through the first Test.

Performance of pace bowlers

Team Wickets Average Strike-rate

South Africa 3516.0829.9 New Zealand 2039.3065.9The standout bowler in the series was Dale Steyn, who took 20 wickets – ten-wicket hauls in both matches – at a remarkable average of 9.20. In fact, it’s the best average for a bowler having taken 20 wickets in a series since 1970.

Best bowling averages in a series since 1970 (Min 20 wickets)

Player Series Matches Wickets Average

Dale Steyn New Zealand in South Africa, 2007-082209.20 Muttiah Muralitharan Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka, 2001-02 3309.80 Richard Hadlee New Zealand in Sri Lanka, 1983-84 32310.00Steyn also didn’t take too much time in taking those 20 wickets, striking every 16.8 deliveries. For bowlers with 20 or more scalps in a series, Steyn’s strike-rate is only second to England’s George Lohmann, who had a strike-rate of 14.8 against South Africa in 1895-96.

Best strike-rates in a Test series (Min 20 wickets)

Player Series Matches Wickets Average Strike-rate

George Lohmann England in South Africa, 1895-96 3355.8014.8 Dale Steyn New Zealand in South Africa, 2007-082209.2016.8 Bobby Peel Australia in England, 1888 3247.5418.4Jacques Kallis extended his run-scoring spree from the series in Pakistan, and became the first South African batsman to score 9000 Test runs. With his two centuries in the series, Kallis now has 29 in his career, and is in sixth place in the all-time list of highest centurions along with Don Bradman.In four Tests after the World Twenty20, from which Kallis was dropped, he has scored five hundreds in seven innings. It’s the second time he’s scored hundreds in four consecutive Tests. His consistency is also shown by the fact that he’s made fifties in five consecutive innings on three occasions. Kallis has been on a great run-spree this year, with over 1000 runs at an average of over 90. He’s scored a fifty in every Test he’s played this year.Hashim Amla also scored two hundreds during the series, with the unbeaten 176 in the first Test at the Wanderers his highest so far. He clearly enjoys playing New Zealand, averaging over 100 against them, and has scored all his three Test hundreds against them.Kallis and Amla scored 550 runs in two innings while batting together in the series, which is not far from the 614 New Zealand managed in their four innings. The next best pair – of Amla and Ashwell Prince – added 103 runs.With stands of 330 and 220, the two have now put on more than 1000 runs, and are one of the better South African pairings in Tests. Once set, the two have made it count, with five century stands and none between 50-99.

Best partnership averages for South Africa (Min 1000 runs)

Players Innings Runs Average 100 50

Gary Kirsten, Graeme Smith 11 1104100.3651 Bruce Mitchell, Dudley Nourse 20150583.6157 Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis 18 126574.4150

Ireland show improved batting performance led by Adair, McBrine and Tector

Valkerie Baynes03-Jun-2023Four balls was all it took… four balls and more than two sessions as Ireland’s batters put on a dogged display to take their Test against England into a third evening – just – when making it to tea had looked like a sturdy ambition.Josh Tongue’s five-wicket haul on Test debut put his name on the Lord’s honours board and the hosts on the brink of victory and Zak Crawley struck three fours off the first four balls of the innings to overhaul the 11-run target.Droll predictions abounded overnight about how long England’s golf-loving players would need before booking their tee times and the fact that England were forced to bat again was down a 163-run partnership between Mark Adair and Andy McBrine after Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker had laid the foundation with a fifty stand that signalled an improved Ireland batting performance compared to the first innings.McBrine kicked on after Adair’s dismissal but was stranded on 86 when Stuart Broad bowled Graham Hume with the eighth ball after tea to end Ireland’s second innings, 10 runs in front.England claimed three wickets in the morning session, including one for Tongue, which left him just one shy of the five-for to neatly cap a great week for the Worcestershire seamer. He was drafted into the squad for this match as injury cover for James Anderson and Ollie Robinson and retained his place alongside them in a 16-man squad for the first two Ashes Tests, unveiled on the stroke of lunch.It wasn’t until shortly before the scheduled tea break and with a ball that was 79 overs old that he sealed a spot on the joint honours board, as Tongue had fellow debutant Fionn Hand out edging a length ball just outside off stump to Crawley at slip.England took the second new ball after 81 overs and handed it straight to Tongue, but McBrine and Hume stood firm to go to tea unbeaten on 85 and 9 respectively with Ireland four runs ahead.With opener James McCollum playing no further part in the match after retiring hurt with a badly twisted ankle he sustained while batting on Friday evening, Ireland were effectively effectively 162 for 7 during the morning session. Scans showed no fracture, but McCollum suffered suspected ligament damage and was resigned to watching from the sidelines in a moon boot.Tector and Tucker had batted well the previous evening and comfortably navigated the first half hour on Saturday, adding 29 runs to Ireland’s overnight 97 for 3. But then Jack Leach entered the attack and struck second ball as Tucker attempted to sweep and succeeded only dragging the ball back onto the stumps with his glove to end an assured innings on 44 and a fifth-wicket stand worth 63.Joe Root came on and saw his fifth delivery muscled for six by Curtis Campher. Then Tongue, who had taken all three of Ireland’s second-innings wickets the previous day, returned to action and went for back-to-back fours by Campher, the first a well-drilled cover drive and the second a complete miscue through mid-on.Tector brought up a deserved half-century driving through mid-off and running two but Tongue had him out with his next ball, a short, wide delivery which Tector sent straight to backward point where Harry Brook juggled momentarily before holding on.In the next over, Root invited Campher to sweep and the ball sailed through to Ben Stokes at short fine leg, a dismissal notable for Stokes’ wince as he clutched his troublesome left knee and hobbled after completing the catch.Adair took 15 off one Root over as lunch approached, including a six over deep midwicket to take Ireland past the 200-mark and an authoritative sweep through backward square leg for four. By the time Adair reached his fifty by guiding a short ball from Broad over the keeper’s head for four, he had scored just one run to the off side. He tucked the next neatly to the rope through fine leg before threading a third boundary in a row behind gully.McBrine brought up his fifty with a reverse-sweep off Leach for four and the duo reached their 150 partnership off just 155 balls. Matthew Potts removed Adair, caught behind for 88 off just 76 balls after failing to put more than a light touch on an attempted upper cut. Potts’ relief was palpable as he collapsed into Stokes’ arms to celebrate, perhaps not so much because England had broken Ireland’s record partnership in Tests given the hosts’ still-dominant position, but that he had finally added to his two wickets from Ireland’s first innings after toiling hard through 17 overs of their second.Stokes still appears to be in a race against time to fulfil his ambitions of playing as an allrounder against Australia, although he said after the match that he felt fine. In any case, Tongue stepped in to claim his fifth after going wicketless in Ireland’s first innings, when Broad took a five-wicket haul.When Hume struck a second four on the trot off Root to put Ireland in front by one run, the crowd let out a huge cheer. Even when Broad claimed the final wicket, they couldn’t say they hadn’t been treated to a much fuller day than anticipated and witnessed a batting display Ireland will surely have wished they’d produced on the first day.

England have been dealt a blow ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers after Manchester City defender John Stones was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury. The 31-year-old, who was back in the national setup for the first time under new head coach Thomas Tuchel, will now miss both fixtures against Andorra and Serbia. His absence continues a difficult run of fitness concerns.

• Stones withdraws from England squad with muscular injury
• Tuchel confirms defender will miss Andorra & Serbia games
• Man City face growing defensive concerns amid fitness issues

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Stones arrived at St George’s Park carrying minor muscular issues and was monitored closely by England’s medical staff. Despite initial optimism, he failed to show the necessary progress and Tuchel made the decision not to risk him further. The Manchester City defender has not featured for England since October and this setback delays his return to international football. Tuchel has now revealed that the defender has withdrawn from the squad.

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  WHAT TUCHEL SAID

  Confirming the news, England head coach Thomas Tuchel explained: "Unfortunately, John Stones just left. He came with minor issues, muscular issues, to camp and didn’t progress as we thought and hoped he would.

  "So, he left camp this morning (Friday) because we will not take the risk. Everyone else is available."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Stones’ withdrawal comes at a difficult time for Manchester City, who are already managing several fitness issues across the squad. His recurring injuries have disrupted Pep Guardiola’s defensive plans, with Ruben Dias often left carrying the burden at the back. For England, Tuchel has confirmed that Harry Maguire will lead the squad against Andorra and Serbia.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR STONES?

  The 31-year-old will return to Manchester City for further assessment and treatment at the City Football Academy. Guardiola will be cautious about rushing him back given his importance in the defensive-midfield hybrid role. However, injuries to Abdukodir Khusanov and Ruben Dias may force the Catalan tactician to make tough choices.

Robert Lewandowski could miss the first month of the new La Liga season as updates regarding an injury issue for the 36-year-old have emerged.

• Lewandowski could miss 2-3 weeks of action
• Barcelona confirm muscle injury
• May not be back in action until September

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Reported by Football Espana, Lewandowski has suffered a 'fresh injury setback' just days before the beginning of the new La Liga season for the Blaugrana. The Poland striker will miss their final pre-season game against Como and their domestic opener against Mallorca on August 16, with Diario AS suggesting he will be out for two to three weeks after Barcelona confirmed a hamstring injury. This could mean he does not return to action until September.

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  Defending La Liga champions Barca are set to head into the new season without their star striker, who struck a massive 42 goals in all competitions last term, his best return at the club so far, and earned a Ballon d'Or nomination. The Catalan giants may be short of striking options for the season opener as Ferran Torres is also struggling with injury, while Marcus Rashford has not yet been registered to play in La Liga.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Lewandowski may be 37 by the time he returns to action, with his birthday fast approaching on August 21. With 643 career goals in 894 appearances, the Poland international is one of the best strikers of his generation and is expected to continue playing at the top for some time to come – though a fellow Poland legend recently urged him to move to Saudi Arabia.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR LEWANDOWSKI AND BARCELONA?

  Lewandowski will aim to be back as soon as possible to help ensure Barca make a strong start to their La Liga defence. Registering Rashford may make it easier for the champions to cope in the meantime, amidst controversy surrounding Marc-Andre Ter Stegen's injury absence and La Liga's rules regarding the filling of salary space taken up by players subject to long-term injuries. Following last season's issues which impacted signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, Barca will hope to avoid any similar problems dragging into the new season.