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Born into perhaps the most famous of cricketing families, Fabian Cowdrey is taking on the weight of expectation and is determined to forge his own career

Alastair Mavor13-Sep-2013″If I retired now, statistically I’d be the best Cowdrey. I was joking about that with my Mum the other day.”There’s no such thing as a cricketing gene. At least, no scientist of note has ever bothered to search for it. Yet, if cricket were a gene, Fabian Cowdrey would almost certainly have it carved into every chromosome in his body. Born into cricketing blue blood, the Tonbridge-educated youngster with the puppy dog face and cheeky grin is the grandson of the late, great, Lord Colin Cowdrey, son of former England allrounder Chris Cowdrey, and as if that wasn’t pedigree enough, nephew of Kent legend Graham Cowdrey.The 20-year-old Cowdrey has burst onto the scene this year making an exciting half-century in a T20 against Surrey in front of the television cameras in July, before crushing a 30-ball 52 in a Yorkshire Bank 40 against Worcestershire a few weeks later. A quick glance of his batting quickly reveals his apparent appetite for a cover drive. Perhaps that is no surprise. It was his grandfather’s favourite shot.If not inevitable, there was always a fighting chance that there would be a third generation of the Cowdrey clan playing first-class cricket. The chances increased when two Cowdreys arrived in one go on January 30, 1993. Twins. Both boys. Luck could not have dealt a better hand – the two boys grew up fiercely competitive. Garden cricket became so much more than a game. Predictably there were fights, as with any siblings.”It was a case of always trying to do better than the other brother,” Fabian explained. “I used to wind Julius up, telling him I was a better singer (he is now a musician), and he used to tell me he was the better cricketer. We’re still competitive, but I think it’s eased off as the years have gone by.”Interestingly their parents have never told them which of the pair is older. Despite an undoubted similarity in look, the pair’s characters are like chalk and cheese. Julius more relaxed, carefree from an early age about both life and his cricket; Fabian more intense, focussed and with one goal, from the start: to play professional cricket.”My mum told me at the age of three that I whispered the words ‘I want to play for England’ to her, but I’m not sure I knew that many words to be honest,” Fabian said. “But I do remember it was all I ever really wanted to do.”What influence did his grandfather have on that? “I remember playing in an Under-9s game at six years old. I was far too young, had no technique and was completely out of my depth. But I somehow managed to hit the winning runs. My grandfather was watching on, encouraging me. It’s still one of my fondest cricketing memories.”Lord Cowdrey passed away the following year. “It was the only game he got to see me play in. It’s quite surreal to think of it.” He sounds moved at the thought.Grandfather and grandson’s careers share some remarkable similarities to this point. Both played for Kent’s age group sides throughout their youth. Both also played a high standard of rackets. Indeed Colin used to head over to the rackets courts at Tonbridge before he batted to get his eye in. He used to find it prepared him far better than throw downs ever could. It is something which seems to have been passed on through the generations.”The hand eye element is great,” Fabian points out. “But most usefully it is probably the closest thing to fast bowling you can get. The reaction time is miniscule. I still try to play a bit now, when time allows.”

Aside from both attending Tonbridge School both Fabian and Colin captained the first team. In Fabian’s final year, he broke the great man’s record for most runs in a school year, notching up more than 1,200 runs

The similarities do not stop there. Aside from both attending Tonbridge School, which has produced a plethora of professional cricketers throughout its prestigious history, both Cowdreys captained the first team. In Fabian’s final year, he broke the great man’s record for most runs in a school year, notching up more than 1,200 runs. They also both went on to university with the primary intention of playing cricket, neither being awarded a degree; Colin at Oxford, Fabian at Cardiff.Originally it was never the young Cowdrey’s plan to go to university. Upon being offered a contract after finishing at Tonbridge, he spent a year knuckling down, and doing his best to get into the first team. Yet no opportunity came. He scored runs in league cricket, but admitted struggling to make the transition from schoolboy cricket to the professional game.”I didn’t have the best year really. I think the addition of the family name brought a lot of pressure with it, and it’s easy to forget the adjustment you have to make from school to facing bowling in the mid-80s. It’s one thing being able to play a cover drive off a 70mph half volley, but can you play a pull shot off a bouncer at 85mph? That’s a different ball game entirely.”With a few doubts in his mind about whether he would be able to progress at Kent, and feeling the need to take a break from the intensity of the county set up, Cowdrey headed to Cardiff under the tutelage of their MCCU head coach Mark O’Leary. He thrived.”It has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made” Cowdrey said. “I had the opportunity to live out the university lifestyle as well as really focussing on my cricket. It cleared my head.”It took me out of my comfort zone in that I didn’t have home just round the corner, and I was fending for myself a little bit. We had team practices three times a week, but a lot of the practice was down to us. Whereas some people focussed on their work, I was down in the nets at every spare opportunity. I also really enjoyed myself and met a lot of new people.”The results were apparent pretty quickly. A more content Cowdrey hit an impressive 62 for Cardiff against Glamorgan on his first-class debut in April. He was frustrated by two days of rain playing for his university against his home county a few weeks later, but not before he’d made 23 against opening bowlers Charlie Shreck and Mark Davies. He was not out before the rain came.He returned from Cardiff in June, having decided to focus solely on cricket once again, and discontinue his studies. Yet he had to wait for the club’s top order to consistently fail before getting his opportunity mid-way through Twenty20 season.”If you go away and perform, and your opportunities are coming, then you can’t complain,” Cowdrey said. “It’s when you’re getting those runs and no opportunities come, that it is difficult.”But Jimmy Adams always has your best interests at heart, it’s one of his great strengths as a coach. He was a young player once too, so has been through it all. Besides, when the chances did start to come, I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Fabian’s plummy obsession with calling everyone “old boy” caused Rob Key to ban the phrase. When Cowdrey slipped, his punishment was two rounds of grievous bodily harm in the boxing ring with Ben Harmison.

One cannot help but think that his long wait for an opportunity has perhaps made him hungrier, especially after lugging drinks onto the field for several days in June. As in any dressing room, his time on twelfth man duties drew its fair share of gentle, and not so gentle, chiding from his teammates. The youngster’s plummy obsession with calling everyone “old boy” caused Rob Key to ban the phrase. When Cowdrey slipped, his punishment was two rounds of grievous bodily harm in the boxing ring with Ben Harmison.”Oh God,” Cowdrey chuckles as I mention it. “Time doesn’t really fly when you’re in a ring with six foot five lad from Durham. He’s obviously been in for some severe bullying from his brother over the years, and I think he rather enjoyed getting his own back on me. It was probably the scariest experience of the year. Far worse than any fast bowler I’ve faced.”Apart from taking evasive action from his team-mates, Cowdrey is starting to relish his time at Kent. “Seeing my grandfather’s name on the stand, and practically every honours board put a lot of pressure on at first. Now I’m accustomed to it. At the moment I can’t see myself anywhere but Kent, and it’s a lovely place to be with all the history.” As if to reinforce his words, Cowdrey signed a new two-year deal at the start of September.Yet when pushed, he admits that the importance of getting opportunities in the longer form of the game – he is yet to break into Kent’s Championship side – or perhaps playing Division One cricket might be the make-or-break as to whether he stays a one-county man like his grandfather, or follows his father’s path, who moved to Glamorgan at the end of his career.”It’s an interesting dilemma,” he muses. “I’m very happy at the moment, but I’ll go where my career takes me. If I have to move, then I’ll move.”But for now, he’s intent on continuing to work hard and is determined to represent the county in all formats. “I want to get into the Championship team and try to make a name for myself in that. I’m also heading out to Brisbane for a few months this winter to play some club cricket, and work on the short ball. I might try and catch a few Tests out there too.”He may have only played 12 professional games, but the next Cowdrey off the rank has already made quite an impression. Arriving at Tonbridge aged 13, he overcame the enormous expectations of him. There was a house, and even a sports scholarship named after Cowdrey! At Canterbury there is a stand named after Cowdrey. That is quite some pressure. Pressure can burst a pipe or make a diamond. If the latter applies to Fabian, and he can live up to these great expectations, perhaps scientists should start searching for that cricket chromosome after all.

England’s first Test collapse has has become a recurring failure and one that should be keeping Andy Flower and company awake at night

George Dobell in Brisbane22-Nov-20130:00

‘England weren’t good enough today’ – Carberry

When does a string of aberrations become a pattern? When does a blip become the norm and when does continuity of selection become rigidity of selection?These are the questions England need to answer after a painfully weak display of batting left them requiring something approaching a miracle to avoid defeat in the first Test of the Ashes series.On a pitch that remains sound and true, England collapsed from 82 for 2 to 91 for 8 in a session that brought back memories of the dark days of England cricket in the late 1980s and 1990s.There are, as ever, some excuses. First and foremost, they came up against a fast and unpredictable left-arm bowler who rattled them in a hostile spell of sustained fast bowling. Mitchell Johnson deserves great credit for this.England might also point out that rain has robbed them of time in the warm-up games and training sessions and that both Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior’s preparations were somewhat disrupted by injury. It is true, too, that this pitch was some way quicker than anything they experienced in the recent series in England.But most of those excuses are pretty thin. It’s not as if they could not have been predicted. It’s not as if England have not faced Johnson before or as if they have no experience of these conditions. They knew what was coming and, by the evidence to date, had either not prepared adequately or failed to execute those plans.Nor is it the first time they have started series with a poor batting display. They have failed to reach 400 in the first innings of their last nine Test series – a run that stretches back to the start of 2012 – and on five of those occasions have failed to reach even 200. If an event keeps occurring it cannot be described as a one-off. It has become a recurring failure and one that should be keeping Andy Flower and company awake at night. This has been, for several reasons, an accident waiting to happen.On paper, this is England’s strongest batting line-up for many years. Pietersen and Alastair Cook have scored more Test centuries than any men who have previously represented England and may both be remembered as greats of the game; Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott have averages in excess of 45; Prior averages in excess of 40. Each one of them have played top-class innings under pressure in the not too distant past. If there are better batsmen in England they have not made themselves obvious.England first-innings totals in the first Test of series since January 2012

192 v Pakistan, Dubai, January 2012

193 v Sri Lanka, Galle, March 2012

398 v West Indies, Lord’s May 2012

385 v South Africa, The Oval, July 2012

191 v India in Ahmedabad, November 2012

167 v New Zealand in Dunedin, March 2013

232 v New Zealand at Lord’s, May 2013

215 v Australia at Trent Bridge, July 2013

136 v Australia, Brisbane, November 2013

Yet England have failed to reach 400 for 17 Test innings – a run that extends back to Wellington in March – and several of their leading players – Cook, Trott and Prior in particular – are enduring runs of poor form too long for comfort and too long to be easily excused. It is no good living off past glories; Hobbs and Hammond have fine records, too. No-one would pick them now.No expense has been spared in preparing this side. They have three batting coaches – Andy Flower, Mark Ramprakash and Graham Gooch – to work with here, they have brought in a couple of left-arm fast bowlers to face in the nets – Harry Gurney and Tymal Mills, who may well be the fastest bowler in England – to replicate Johnson’s line of attack and they arrived in Australia four weeks before the Test series began. Some sides complete whole tours in that time.The most galling aspect of this collapse was how easily England succumbed to Australia’s plans. It took only two balls well angled across Joe Root to lure him into a horribly loose drive; it took only one spell of short bowling to have Trott, jumping around and playing almost exclusively to the on-side, caught behind. Pietersen flicked to the man placed for the stroke at midwicket and Cook, reaching outside off stump, soon nicked one angled across him. Wickets came far too easily for Australia.But it would be simplistic to state that England were simply blown away by pace and bounce. Another nemesis also came back to haunt them: their weakness against spin bowling. On a day two pitch that remains utterly blameless, they made Nathan Lyon appear like Muralitharan on a dustbowl, with Bell and Prior departing to successive deliveries playing across balls that bounced and turned a little as if they had never seen an offspinner before.Carberry confident of England response

Michael Carberry admitted the bowling of Mitchell Johnson was as fast as any he had experienced, but insisted England could fit their way back into the first Test of the Ashes series in Brisbane.
Carberry, playing his first Test since March 2010, top-scored with 40 but could not prevent England being routed for 136.
“In terms of pace he’s up there with some of the quickest I’ve faced,” Carberry said. “More importantly, he put the ball in the right areas. That’s tough for anyone.
“It’s always hard starting out against a bowling unit that has its tail up, which was the case for some of the guys who came in before tea. Australia had good plans. Early on you can be vulnerable, and we weren’t quite good enough.
“I wouldn’t say shell-shocked. These guys are proven world-class performers. You don’t become bad players overnight. It was just a bad session, which can happen to any team.
“We weren’t up to it today but I’m confident we can prove ourselves tomorrow. Any batsmen, whether it’s in first-class cricket or Test cricket, the first couple of balls are the toughest phase of an innings. If there are some good balls flying around, unfortunately sometimes if it’s not your day, your name’s on it.

Indeed, it might provoke England to reflect on the homogenised strips of lifeless sludge on which too much cricket is played in England. Rarely do developing players experience pitches that aid spin or pace in England, with far too much emphasis given to nagging seam and swing. It is a systemic failure that continues to hold back the international side. The pitch in Perth may be even quicker.Equally, the ECB may reflect on the work permit regulations that they fought for and the central contract situation which has robbed the county game of many of the fastest bowlers. Even the absence of relatively obscure seamers – the likes of Johan van der Vath and Garnett Kruger – has limited the exposure of England players to the pace and aggression they can expect in international cricket. The gap between county and international cricket has grown considerably over the last couple of years.Pace and bounce did not actually account for many of the top-order wickets. But it had left England rattled and it may well have resulted in their footwork being slower and their bats being less straight than they should have been. They looked, just as they had at Perth in 2010-11, more than a little shell-shocked.History tells us that England can rescue themselves from this position. You only have to look at the Brisbane Test of 2010-11 or the Auckland Test of this year to see that. They are unbeaten for a year. But they have given themselves a mountain to climb here and, even if they do somehow salvage a draw – and with so much time left in the game, they may well need some help from the weather to do so – they will know that they have squandered a wonderful chance to take control of this series.

Probably as much as Yuvraj wanted to succeed, India also dearly wanted him to. His captain’s faith in him was vindicated against Australia after a string of failures

Abhishek Purohit in Mirpur30-Mar-2014’Matter of one innings’. ‘Matter of one innings’. They kept saying it, and we kept hearing it. Didn’t come against Pakistan. Didn’t come against West Indies. Didn’t get a chance to come against Bangladesh.Australia was the last chance. This had to be that one innings. And Yuvraj Singh made it count. Their senior batsman finding some form has to be the biggest takeaway for the Indians from this game, although they would have also been delighted with how their spinners confounded a batting line-up for the fourth successive time in the tournament.Probably as much as Yuvraj wanted to succeed, India also dearly wanted him to. They did what they could in training, giving him several short, sharp stints of batting practice one day, a solo, longer one the other. During their training session before the Australia match, Yuvraj had an extended batting workout, fielding coach Trevor Penny’s sidearm device giving him plenty of throwdowns. MS Dhoni usually watches his players practise from a distance, and does not get too involved, but this time, he stood right behind the single stump at the bowlers’ end, watching Yuvraj closely.After a nervy start and two run-out chances, Yuvraj Singh opened up•Getty ImagesAustralia was to be the final opportunity before the knockouts, and Dhoni wanted to make sure his premier player was getting the most attention. After seeing him time a few drives and defend solidly, Dhoni even bowled a few offbreaks to Yuvraj.India had also thrown their weight behind Yuvraj publicly. ‘We all know what he can do once he gets going,’ was the refrain. But even the best batsmen can stutter and stumble when they are out of touch, and when they are under pressure. That Yuvraj was feeling the pressure was evident. You did not need to see the way he had batted, particularly against West Indies, to realise that. It came across even in the way he was carrying himself on the field – brooding and seemingly occupied with himself. It came across when he reflected in disappointment at his struggle against West Indies even as his team-mates nearby celebrated India’s second win of the tournament.Till the time he whipped Brad Hodge to the deep midwicket boundary, Yuvraj was quite nervy. There were two close run-out calls where he slipped on the pitch, there were plays-and-misses against both spin and pace. Yuvraj was on 13 off 21 when he came down the track to Hodge. He then realised he was nowhere near the pitch. He stopped, adjusted his bat-swing and whipped it, against the turn. There was a fielder at long-on, but it was timed too well and had too much power – the combination that is the hallmark of Yuvraj when he is in flow.Now he needed some fortune. James Muirhead provided him successive short balls that sat up and were smacked for sixes over deep midwicket. Early in his innings, Yuvraj had tried to do hit a Glenn Maxwell short ball but had missed it completely. That phase was over now, the nerves had been put away, and the confidence had been restored considerably.Dhoni said with a smile that it was one question less that he would have to answer in press conferences now that Yuvraj had rediscovered his touch. “Yuvi’s innings was brilliant,” Dhoni said. “The way he paced his innings, and the best part was that an innings like this was needed for him, where he can be expressive and just be himself. It was an ideal opportunity today. He went and played a few deliveries and then he expressed himself. We all know the kind of batsman he is. He can clear any ground in the world and it does not matter whether it is a fast bowler or a spinner bowling. Initially he may struggle for the first five or seven deliveries. It is your good luck if you get him out, if not, he will take you out of the game.”It was also India’s good luck that Yuvraj came good in time for the semi-finals. Dhoni probably might not be bowling offbreaks to him in the nets again anytime soon.

Reputation and regeneration will again be key themes for Sri Lanka as they seek to build towards the 2015 World Cup

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-May-2014On the eve of the first tour of the English summer, it would seem as if their opponents are from some far off cricketing galaxy.Sri Lanka are so much that England are not, and vice versa. There are the contrasting philosophies to coaching: creativity subverts tradition in Sri Lanka but England’s men are the better drilled, stronger, more organised. The visitors’ team consists of one coach for each discipline, a strength and conditioning man and a temporary consultant – a bare bones unit by international standards and a backroom staff outsized by top counties.In 2014, the teams could hardly have tracked more wildly disparate trajectories. Since one abysmal day in Sharjah in January, Sri Lanka have boomed almost irresistibly, taking one regional title and a global one, despite shambolic exchanges between the players and the administration. In 17 limited-overs outings this year, they have failed only once – incidentally at England’s hands, on a soggy Chittagong night. England’s form, has been firmly at the other end of the spectrum.Having worked up to their first England international with a pair of bruising victories over county teams, Sri Lanka’s challenge will be to stay on their high, while depriving England of clear air and endorphins. Maintain the mood in both camps; crush England in the limited-overs leg and they may gain enough ground to head into their less-favoured Test format with an unfamiliar mental edge.That the traditional tour schedule has been upended to play Tests in June clearly suits Sri Lanka. Though the ODIs may feature the kind of swing and seam that has undone them in the past, Sri Lanka will feel they are objectively the better limited-overs side and more than capable of victory even in uncomfortable conditions.To that end, they have the services of one of the finest proponents of white-ball swing in the world, in Nuwan Kulasekara, as well as Lasith Malinga in ominous form. Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews provide capable support, and though the spin ranks want for Rangana Herath’s experience, Sachithra Senanayake has excelled in his role as a middle-over strangler in the past six months.The visitors are on shakier ground with the bat. There is experience at the top of the order in ODIs but around this core, younger men are still making their names. Kusal Perera will likely open alongside Tillakaratne Dilshan, but he will have bad memories of the Champions Trophy in England last year, when he produced a poor run that led to his exclusion in the next series. Dinesh Chandimal has a fine record in England but has just been relieved of his leadership roles following a year of mediocrity. Lahiru Thirimanne is a vastly improved batsman but he may not have the chance to come in as high up the order as he wishes.The tour is an audition for Sri Lanka, not least for the interim head coach, Marvan Atapattu, who would move to the brink of locking down the permanent job if the team is successful. There is little doubt he is technically astute but to be Sri Lanka’s head coach requires so much more than knowledge.Beyond the man-management skills and tactical nous such a role requires, Atapattu will also have to form part of the buffer between the players and the whirling cesspool of administrative jockeying at home. Foreign coaches have long been preferred in Sri Lanka, in some part on the theory they are less susceptible to political pressures, and as the brother-in-law of a senior SLC official, Atapattu may have to work particularly hard to remain objective and effective.On the field, fringe players will seek to prove they are viable choices for next year’s World Cup campaign. This series is Sri Lanka’s last ODI expedition outside Asia for the year and, way back in January, the coaching staff marked it out for a World Cup proving ground. Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya recently spoke of the importance of preparing fast-bowling allrounders for that tournament and Thisara, who had also had a mediocre Champions Trophy in England, would appear to be under most scrutiny.In this collision of cricketing worlds, both teams do have one thing in common: it is a fresh start for England, and a season of change for Sri Lanka as well, both among the coaching staff and because the seniors have begun to bid their farewells to the game. They had been indifferent to upheaval during their Asian run and, if they can transpose that success to their England summer, Sri Lanka will have confirmed their place as a rising side, spurred by regeneration.

Stats highlights from the second day of the third Investec Test at Ageas Bowl

Bishen Jeswant28-Jul-20141 Number of centuries by Ian Bell in his last 20 Test innings. However, he has scored four fifties during this period, leaving his average at an acceptable 33.84.2.59 England’s partnership run-rate for the fifth wicket in 2014, before this Test. This was their slowest for any wicket this year. However, Moeen Ali and Bell posted 42 runs for the fifth wicket today at an impressive run-rate of 4.94. Only Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes scored at a faster rate when they added 43 for the seventh wicket at a manic 8.32.3 Number of times Shikhar Dhawan has been dismissed by James Anderson in three Tests, with an innings to go. He has scored only 30 runs off 58 balls against Anderson. However, Dhawan has scored 43 runs off 54 balls against Anderson’s new ball partner Stuart Broad, without being dismissed even once.4 Number of times that England’s No.3 and No.4 batsmen have made 150-plus scores in the same Test innings. The last instance of England doing this was also against India, in 2011. India have been at the receiving end of such a display on seven occasions.5.02 Ravindra Jadeja’s economy rate on the second day. He conceded 119 runs off 23.4 overs. On the first day, he bowled 22 overs and conceded only 34 runs at a miserly economy rate of 1.54.8 Number of English wicket keepers to make a 50-plus score on debut, with Buttler being the latest. Matt Prior is the only keeper to have gone on to score a century.10 Number players who have made their debut for England in the last 12 months. The team with the second most debutants in this period is New Zealand, who have had only five.11 Number of English batsmen who have scored more than 7000 Test runs, with Ian Bell being the latest to reach that landmark. Bell went past Andrew Strauss and is now tenth on the all-time list of most Test runs scored by an English batsman.21 Number of times that four Indian bowlers have conceded 100-plus runs in an innings. Only the part-timers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, conceded lesser. Fourteen of these 21 instances have come in the last 13 years, with there not being a single such instance in the 11 years before that.24 Number of Indian bowlers who have taken one wicket in their Test career. Rohit Sharma became the 24th addition on this list after M Vijay in the previous Test. The only other bowler on that list who may have the opportunity of improving his career tally is Vinay Kumar.25 Number of 50-plus scores that Ian Bell has made post 2010. This is the most by an English batsman during this period. In all Test cricket, Kumar Sangakkara with 28 50-plus scores is the only player to have made more such scores than Bell in this phase.28 Number of times, in 51 previous attempts, that England have not won the match after scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings of a Test. However, England have lost a Test on only two of these 28 instances, with the rest being draws. The only time that India has won a Test after conceded 500-plus runs in the first innings of a match was against Australia at Adelaide in 2003.35 Number of innings since England last reached 300 before the fall of their third wicket. This was against New Zealand at Dunedin in 2013.65 Number of innings since an English No. 3 batsman made a 150-plus score in Tests. The last man to do it before Gary Ballance today was Ian Bell. He scored 235 at the Oval in 2011, also versus India.146 Number of runs that Pankaj Singh conceded in England’s first innings. This is the second highest number of runs conceded by a bowler on debut without taking a single wicket. Only Bryce McGain, who gave away 149 runs on debut, has given away more. Pankaj is one of four Indian bowlers to have conceded 100-plus runs on debut without taking a wicket, with the other three being Jaydev Unadkat, Subrata Guha and Bapu Nadkarni.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the second ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan in Napier

Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Feb-2015A bit of shuteyeBrendon McCullum had given New Zealand a typically brutal start, and Pakistan responded by bringing on Shahid Afridi in the sixth over of the innings. Third ball of the over, Afridi saw McCullum stepping out of his crease and bowled it quicker and a touch shorter. McCullum swung and missed. The ball cleared the top of middle stump by an inch and bounced off Sarfraz Ahmed’s gloves. Sarfraz, unhelmeted, had closed his eyes as the ball passed the batsman, flinching to avoid the possibility of flying bails.The sitting seven-foot duckFourth ball of the 48th over, Ross Taylor pushed Mohammad Irfan into the off side and took off for the single. The bowler, sprinting across from his follow-through, dived but could not intercept the ball, which rolled through to the mid-off fielder. Irfan was just about to get up when he realised that he was right between the fielder and the stumps at the keeper’s end, the target of the impending low, flat throw. Trying to make himself as small a target as is possible for someone who is 7’1″ tall, Irfan ducked into an uncomfortable crouch, just in time to evade the throw.The carveAhmed Shehzad began Pakistan’s chase with a series of rousing boundaries, clearing his front leg and hitting where the line dictated. In the 10th over, Trent Boult went around the wicket and followed him with a bouncer. Shehzad leaned his head out of the way and sliced hard, under the ball, to ramp it over the keeper for four.Shehzad sees the lightFor most part of his innings, Shehzad was batting on a pitch striped by the lengthening shadows of the floodlight towers. In the 20th over of Pakistan’s innings, Shehzad was a touch late on a defensive shot off Daniel Vettori’s bowling. The reason became quickly apparent – Shehzad walked up to the umpire, indicating that he was having trouble seeing the ball in the glare of the sun, which was setting right behind Vettori’s arm. Brendon McCullum walked up to Shehzad and offered him his sunglasses, but the batsman declined and returned to take strike again.

Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim have been the rocks in the middle order, but it was the top-order partnership, the kind Tamim Iqbal and Mamudullah stitched together, that has been missing from Bangladesh’s chases

Devashish Fuloria in Nelson05-Mar-2015Bangladesh are playing their fifth World Cup and, unlike Scotland for whom Kyle Coetzer hit a hundred today, they are still waiting for one of their batsmen to score a century. Today, Tamim Iqbal came within a shot of ending that wait but in scoring 95 without ever getting impatient, he laid a template for the rest as Bangladesh successfully completed their highest ODI chase, which was also the second-highest in World Cups.It’s not everyday that you sense a calm Bangladesh batting performance. Imagine a similar target on a jam-packed Shere Bangla Stadium and it won’t be too much of a stretch to expect Tamim to give the bowler a charge in the first over. A gifted batsman, Tamim only averages 30.03 after 137 innings, 130 of them facing the first ball, and there’s probably a hint there.Today, after ducking out of the way off the first ball, pushing the second to mid-off and defending the third one, Tamim punched, not smashed, a fuller delivery straight down the ground for a couple. The next two balls were left alone as Bangladesh picked up just three from the first over. A wicket in the next over meant Bangladesh were effectively 5 for 2, with Anamul Haque injured, sending a cloud of quiet over the two small groups of easily excitable Bangladesh fans in the grass banks.Bangladesh players accept feeding off the energy from the stands back home. In Nelson, the few fans who had flown from Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington were restricted to two corners. In Dhaka, you know Tamim or Shakib Al Hasan is batting from the echoes you hear from the stands. Here, it was limited to “Bangladesh, Bangladesh” subdued from time to time by a 12-year-old playing bagpipes on the ground PA system.In Bangladesh, you have grounds bulging with masses. Here, the numbers were just small enough for the players to break the game down into a simple mathematical equation that did not require someone to play the part of Superman. A target of 319 is daunting at most times, but not so much considering a flat pitch, short boundaries, and an attack without any real threat.And so, Tamim and Mahmudullah focused over after over, feasting on easy deliveries that were available in plenty. The two batsmen did not have to go out of their way looking for runs – the Scotland bowlers offered enough short stuff at friendly pace and adequate width to go along – and Bangladesh coasted to 78 for 1 in 12 overs, both Tamim and Mahmudullah matching each other shot for shot.Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim have been the rocks in the middle order, although one could say both bat a position too low to make a telling impact on the game, but it was the top-order partnership, the kind Tamim and Mamudullah stitched together, that has been missing from Bangladesh’s chases. The two added 139 at the rate of 6.41 without playing a shot that spelt panic.”Actually, we had a team meeting before we came out to bat,” Tamim said. “The coach said that we should bat like we’re batting first and not to think about the total. We chased down a similar kind of score two or three years [five] back against Zimbabwe and we batted in a similar way. The wicket was fantastic and the outfield was really quick. So we didn’t have to do too much because if we were timing the ball, then the ball was flying. So that made it easy for us. So we just batted ball by ball.”The batsmen to follow waited patiently in sunlit dressing rooms unlike the dim, dark corners most player areas turn to, amplifying fear that no doubt exists in any player, during the day-nighters in big grounds in chases like these.When Mushfiqur walked out at No. 4, a position he probably should be batting in anyway, he would have seen the outlines of hills in the western horizon, the sea beneath, maybe a propeller plane landing, and a scoreboard saying 175 needed in 26.3 overs. He would have surely felt distant from the pressures that forced him out of the ODI captaincy. A full toss first ball certainly helped. A calm partner in control of the situation, definitely so.Majid Haq had been troubling batsmen with his slow pace. Today he clocked 66.8 kph at his slowest. In his first five overs, he did not concede a single boundary. In his sixth, Tamim then used the extra time, and whatever pace was available, to play a late cut that barely reached the boundary. It was no mad slog, just another example of careful shot selection.Tamim was finally dismissed in the 32nd over, not caught at the boundary, but playing a straight drive only to miss the line. Where Tamim left, Shakib continued, opting to quietly dab a couple of consecutive yorkers later in the innings before smashing the half-volley that followed over long-on. As they hunted down the chase clinically, it hardly seemed they had been stretched.The chase bypassed 313 that Bangladesh had successfully overhauled against Zimbabwe in 2009, at the serene Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. Would Bangladesh have been able to do it at Shere Bangla? “At Shere Bangla, Scotland won’t have got 300, for sure,” Tamim responded.

They got the job done – and ultimately that is what matters – but West Indies need to address the fact that they were switched off for large parts of the game, and lacked the ruthlessness they will badly need in the quarter-finals

Firdose Moonda in Napier15-Mar-2015Produce what is needed. Control what you can control. Cover the bases. No point rushing. Don’t force a result. None of those things suggest any urgency. All of them are simply what Jason Holder asked of his men before their must-win match against UAE.That may explain why West Indies were only switched on for some parts of the contest, dimmed through others, and seemed to disappear entirely for the rest. Because that was all that was required of them.Part of their job was done at the toss when Holder asked UAE to bat. He had only one goal in mind: “Restrict them to a small total so we can get the runs quickly.” An even more significant part of the job was done an hour later, when Holder almost single-handedly sliced through UAE with an incisive, and marathon spell of short-ball bowling aided by extra bounce and heavy air. Almost because Jerome Taylor chipped in as well, but single-handedly because Holder was the one who seemed to be pushing through a barrier.He bowled his 10-over allotment in one spell because he could see he was getting results. He was generating lift off the surface and movement off the seam. UAE’s top-order did not know how to deal with the combination of targeted aggression and good pace. Holder just knew how to keep the pressure on them. “I did it for the team,” he said.But his change bowler at the other end did not. Kemar Roach, who came into this game needing one wicket to reach 100 ODI scalps and left it still needing that, could not slam the door at this end the way Holder had done. Roach does not have the extra foot of height of his captain. This should have seen him go fuller insist of persisting with back-of-a-length deliveries but he did not make the adjustment.Holder hopes Gayle will be fit

Chris Gayle, who missed the match against UAE with a long-standing back injury, may have to play through the pain when West Indies face New Zealand in next week’s World Cup quarter-final, as he is crucial to their chances of advancing further in the competition.
“Chris has the same back problem. He has good days, he has bad days,” Jason Holder said. “We know that going into the quarter-finals, his fitness is key. I’m sure he will be up for it, even if he is not 100%. It’s an important game and he is a big player and we know what big players can do in big games.”
Should Gayle return, West Indies would have to leave out one of Dwayne Smith or Johnson Charles, who opened the batting against UAE. Holder suggested it may be the Smith, since Charles marked his return to the side after an absence of more than a year with an aggressive half-century. “We will pick the best team but right now, I think Johnson has secured his spot for the next game.”

Over the next 26 overs, energy drained from the field as West Indies appeared to lose interest. They had UAE six down and it seemed that was enough for them. They were willing to wait for the other four to fall instead of forcing them over, even though Holder insisted that was not the case. “We were always pushing to get them out,” he said. “During those phases, you have to keep energy up and try not to try too hard but build pressure. It’s all about building pressure.”That was what Andre Russell and Marlon Samuels, in particular, did when they dried up the runs against a line-up which does not mind being in a dessert because they were in it to show they could stand the heat, not find water. UAE could take their time. The outcome would make no difference to their travel plans so all they were after was making sure they could leave with heads held high and gutsing it out for a bit, would do that.When they got to the last 10 overs and could see there was room for some acceleration, they tried to play a few shots. Occasionally it worked for them but largely it backfired. They did not even manage to get to 200.Most teams would be happy to restrict their opposition to less than that. But what if the opposition could have been kept to half that score? Well, that is the question West Indies will have to ask themselves when they address the issue of ruthlessness in the run-up to their quarter-final.West Indies’ batting showed more intent, especially with Johnson Charles trying to secure both the result and his place in the team. His aim to do both quickly was apparent when he charged Nasir Aziz twice in the first over and took 10 runs off him in the process. He struck the ball cleanly and picked the gaps well to set the tone for what should have been a rapid chase.As New Zealand have discovered more than once in the competition, when a team wants to motor to a total, they run the risk of implosion. West Indies would not have been too worried when Dwayne Smith and Samuels were dismissed, but they may have been unhappy with the manner of their dismissals.Smith has had an indifferent World Cup so far, with three starts but no signs of converting those and this was his chance to change that. Instead, his lack of footwork contributed to him being caught behind off a ball that went across him. He had squandered yet another opportunity. Still, West Indies will likely be more annoyed by Samuels throwing his wicket away, as he often does, by gifting a fielder a catch.Charles guided the chase and has given West Indies an option for the knockouts. If Chris Gayle returns and Charles joins him, it would make for a powerful opening pair to set a platform for the middle-order to build on. But they will need to build with more of a blueprint than they did today, when they meandered to the target simply because they could.West Indies would have known they had to win in 36.2 overs to secure their spot and they almost used up all of that time to get there. That does not make them a poor team with a poor approach – in hindsight it may even make sense because they would not have run their batteries down before they really need them – but it will make some wonder why they did not want to make a bigger statement. The answer, is simply because they didn’t have to and for Holder, that suits him just fine.”I couldn’t ask anything more. We had to win by a big margin and we did that, so I really can’t ask for much more,” Holder said. If you think about it, he’s probably right.

Chennai Super Kings have made the knockout stages of every IPL season, and have won the tournament twice. Ahead of their sixth final, ESPNcricinfo looks at why Super Kings are a formidable knockout opponent

Arun Venugopal24-May-2015Loyalty in selection
It is hard to get into the Chennai Super Kings side, but if you are in it it’s harder to get out, is how the joke goes. Just ask R Ashwin. It wasn’t until his third season with the team that he got a decent run after playing only two matches in the first two years.Even during the player auctions, Super Kings try hard to keep their core intact. They are the only side to have had the same captain since the IPL began. Suresh Raina has been a Super King from the start and has played all their games, while Stephen Fleming – first as player and now as head coach – has also been associated with the team from its inception.Fleming and the team management have spoken about giving players a fair run before judging them. Such a philosophy has made them loath to making changes even when somebody isn’t doing well. Super Kings have been criticised for not using their bench strength enough but they have reaped the benefits of their methods.The consistency in selection has fostered a cohesiveness that has given Super Kings intangible advantages – M Vijay calls it being in a comfort zone – especially amid the pressure of a knockout game. Importantly, they have achieved the balance between sticking with a player and benching him when required.In 2012 for instance, Vijay had a patchy run, and after dropping him for a few games, Super Kings brought him back for the knockouts. He scored a match-winning century against Delhi Daredevils in the second qualifying match.Unemotional decision-making
In Fleming and Dhoni, there is the perfect coming together of method and instinct, and both of them are secure in their respective spaces. It helps that communication within the team is simple and direct: Dhoni is apparently not one for lengthy pre-game meetings.Be it Dhoni’s post-match address or Fleming’s press conferences, they are heavy on detail with little hyperbole. Fleming has always spoken about taking emotions out of decisions, and with people like him and Dhoni in the leadership group such a mindset percolates into the rest of the team.Familiarity with roles
Dhoni has some quirks when it comes to his field-placements, but otherwise Super Kings don’t surprise much in terms of tactics. If you watch a few games, you will know who bowls in the Powerplay, who is used exclusively in the middle, and who bats in which position.Fleming acknowledges his team has a conservative approach and that they are often called boring. There is a danger to being too predictable but Super Kings have always been averse to freakish changes, and their solid style has brought results.No fear of failure
Super Kings have largely been successful in removing the fear of failure from the group. Their assessment of players has been based on what they did or did not do, rather than the outcome of those actions.Sample Fleming’s comments on his misfiring batsmen ahead of the second Qualifier against Royal Challengers Bangalore: “If they play shots that aren’t in their repertoire then we have got an issue, and if they get out trying do something that they have done well over the season and then I am fine with that.”The absence of over-reliance
Speak of Super Kings’ match-winners and a few names immediately pop up: Raina, Dhoni, Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum. But none of their key players seem overburdened in a must-win game because the others have often shared the pressure in critical games.In the semifinal in 2010, it was Doug Bollinger who claimed four wickets to pin down Deccan Chargers, and players like Mohit Sharma – even when he was new – have taken responsibility in knockout matches in the past.

With Michael Clarke set to retire from international cricket after the fifth Test at The Oval, we look at seven of his best performances over an 11-year-long career

Brydon Coverdale18-Aug-2015151 v India, Bangalore, 2004
This was where it all began when, at 23, Clarke made his Test debut. He was presented with his baggy green by the man who would become his greatest ally: Shane Warne. His first partnership was with the man who would be at the centre of one of the most talked-about incidents of Clarke’s career: Simon Katich. He walked to the crease at 149 for 4 to replace the man who would become coach to captain Clarke: Darren Lehmann. Most importantly, Clarke showed that he belonged. His 151 made him the 17th Australian to score a century on Test debut, and he remains the only one to do so in India. He displayed his deft footwork against spin, and the innings defined the early part of his career. “He lived and died with every ball,” Peter Roebuck wrote, “and took with him on his journey his partners, team, parents, grandparents, an entire ground and doubtless a sporting nation.”151 v South Africa, Cape Town, 2011
A further 13 Test hundreds punctuated Clarke’s career between his debut and his accession to the captaincy. But for the most part they were good, not great. Then, in his first series as leader, Clarke delivered a captain’s hundred, an innings of 112 in Colombo to ensure a series win over Sri Lanka. In the next series came another century, against South Africa in Cape Town. Dale Steyn was in the midst of a masterclass in fast swing bowling when Clarke walked to the crease at 40 for 3. Seven of his team-mates made single-figure scores but Clarke steered the team with a brilliant 151 in their total of 284. The match is mostly remembered for Australia’s disastrous second innings of 47 all out, but Clarke’s century deserves to be recalled fondly.329* v India, Sydney, 2012
To set the scene: it is late on the first day at the SCG. India have been bowled out for 191, but Australia are wobbling at 37 for 3. In walks captain Clarke to join his predecessor Ricky Ponting. They bat, and bat, and bat. Ponting falls for 134. Clarke continues to bat, and bat, and bat. For more than 10 hours he compiled runs, with India unable to dislodge him. On and on it went, until Clarke declared on 659 for 4, enough runs to set up an innings victory. His 329 not out remains the highest Test score at the SCG, and the second highest anywhere by an Australian captain. The post-script was an innings of 210 at Adelaide Oval two Tests later, which made Clarke the third man after Don Bradman and Wally Hammond to score a triple-century and a double-hundred in the same Test series.A fearsome barrage of bouncers from Morne Morkel could not stop Clarke from scoring a series-defining 161 in Cape Town in March 2014•Getty Images259* v South Africa, Brisbane, 2012
Another season, another crisis scoreline, another rescue mission from Clarke with a mammoth hundred. This time Australia were 40 for 3 at the Gabba when Clarke joined Ed Cowan. Their partnership ended 259 runs later when Cowan was run out, but Clarke batted on to finish unbeaten on 259 when he declared the innings closed. Rain had washed out the second day, so Clarke was unable to push Australia towards victory, but equally he ensured South Africa did not have any chance of a win. He followed up with 230 in the next Test in Adelaide, which added up to four Test scores of 200-plus in the 2012 calendar year.187 v England, Manchester, 2013
Half a year on from his double double-hundreds against South Africa, Clarke was struggling with his back problem. He had missed a Test through injury for the first time in his career, in Delhi, and by the Ashes tour was battling to regain his sublime touch of the previous year. For the first 20 or so runs at Old Trafford, he continued to struggle. But somehow, Clarke got himself going. He used his feet to Graeme Swann and went after the short balls, and looked a different batsman. He went on to score 187 and set up a big first innings of 527 for 7 declared. A rainy final day hurt Australia’s otherwise considerable victory chances, and the draw secured England the Ashes. But it had been another fine captain’s innings from Clarke.161* v South Africa, Cape Town, 2014
This was Clarke at his gutsiest. A fearsome peppering of bouncers from Morne Morkel including one that, it was later revealed, had broken his shoulder, could not prevent Clarke from scoring an unbeaten 161 in the deciding Test of the series. He went to stumps on day one unbeaten on 92 and the pain prevented him from sleeping, but he completed the innings on day two and set up what became a defining victory in his captaincy career as Australia won the match, the series and reclaimed the No.1 Test ranking from South Africa.128 v India, Adelaide, 2014
If Cape Town proved that Clarke could fight through a physical assault, Adelaide showed his remarkable mental resilience. The death of Phillip Hughes had left the cricket world in a state of shock, nobody more so than his good friend Clarke. In the days of mourning, Clarke’s statesmanship made him the captain not only of the Australian cricket team, but of the country itself. No one knew quite what to expect from the rescheduled first Test at Adelaide Oval. What was delivered was truly special: an emotion-filled Australian victory that featured a string of memorable hundreds. Clarke’s was remarkable – he retired hurt on 60 as his back continued to cause problems on the first day, but returned to complete a century on day two. In the aftermath, he conceded that it could have been the end of his career due to his back and hamstring troubles. But he had no regrets, and afterwards declared it “the most important Test match of my career”.