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Muttiah Muralitharan, pointed out two things about Ajantha Mendis – one that Mendis is far more talented than he was when he debuted and two, that Mendis will take the pressure off him and perhaps extend Murali’s Test career

Jamie Alter in Colombo26-Jul-2008

Not since Michael Clarke’s first match has a Test debut been so anticipated and turned out to be so spectacular. Like Clarke against India in Bangalore in 2004, Ajantha Mendis has burst onto the five-day scene in style, becoming the first Sri Lankan to take eight wickets on Test debut. Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 11 wickets at the SSC, pointed out two things after Sri Lanka handed India their third largest defeat; one, that Mendis is far more talented than he was when he debuted and two, that Mendis will take the pressure off him and perhaps extend Murali’s Test career.There is plenty of evidence supporting his first claim. Offspinners (Mendis falls under that category, believe it or not) don’t usually bowl googlies. Yet there was Mendis, slipping it in silently between top spinners and various cutters. Mendis’s googly is rather unconventional, when you analyse it through the slow-motion replays. He releases the ball from the back of his wrist with the seam up, and he flicks the middle finger to spin the ball.Nothing summarised the impact Mendis has had on this Test more than the over in which he brought India’s first innings to a sad close. The whole over was magnificent as Mendis set up VVS Laxman with two legcutters and then finished him off with a googly.Laxman, who had batted supremely for a stand-alone half-century, pushed the first ball to cover but waved back the single. The second ball cut away and beat Laxman, who pushed the bat forward hoping to defend. He was beaten yet again off the third as he played down middle stump. The fourth was an orthodox offbreak and Laxman turned it to forward short leg. And the fifth was just absurd.It was Mendis’s googly, two-fingered and bowled with the wrist-spinner’s action. The ball looped up outside off stump and dragged Laxman forward on the defensive. It then spun in sharply past bat and pad and crashed into the stumps. Laxman held his shot in bewilderment for a few seconds and then tucked his bat and walked off. Later the googly also accounted for Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.Watching highlights of Mendis run rings around India during the final of the Asia Cup recently was stunning, but to see him live, in cream, on a Test field, explains a few things. He is a rare breed, like Jack Iverson and John Gleeson, and should thrive in Test cricket. His ‘flicker’ ball – let’s settle on that, because that’s precisely what it is – could be to cricket what the knuckleball is to baseball: the erratic, unpredictable delivery that stymies big bats with its killer efficiency. It bamboozled Dravid yesterday, and that wicket set into motion a most stunning surrender to a lethal spin duo.

Murali’s second remark could also be true for Mendis compliments his senior partner well. With all the attention focused on Mendis’s every move, Murali quietly chipped away from either wide of the stumps in his 23rd Test at the SSC. Never in Murali’s career has he had a spin partner who bowls so well in tandem with him. Murali and Mendis are different because of their range of variation. Mendis is quick and wicket-to-wicket while Murali is slow through the air, relying on flight and turn to flummox the batsmen.Sample the differences in the dismissals of Laxman and Gautam Gambhir in the second innings. This time it was the length that got Laxman. Two deliveries in to his post-lunch spell, Mendis skidded one in – as opposed to turning it loopily – and Laxman was struck flush on the back pad. It was a quick delivery. Murali later dismissed Gambhir with lovely flight, drifting it in, luring him out of his crease, only to be deftly stumped.Murali reinvented spin bowling and created a new genre. Last year he started bowling more around the stumps and that new tactic has worked for him. Here he towered over India’s batsmen, bounding in and taunting them with offbreaks and doosras that were near unplayable. Dinesh Karthik perished to a doosra; quick offbreaks took care of Sourav Ganguly and Kumble. His slowness and guile meshed easily with Mendis’s line and assortment.India had a tough time picking Mendis’s doosra because they didn’t have much time to decide what to play. This is something Gary Kirsten, India’s coach, identified yesterday. Like for his googly, Mendis uses a flick of the middle finger for his doosra. But instead of placing his finger behind the ball, as he does for the googly, Mendis positions it at the lower edge of the seam on the right side. If he develops his offbreaks with the same action, he will be tougher to handle. Another feature of his bowling is his wicket-to-wicket method; if the ball misses the bat, chances are you’re lbw or stumped. On television, Mendis’s cluster of deliveries is stunning, making you wonder how he can be so accurate with that bag of tricks and varying hand and wrist movements.

Previously when teams played Murali in Sri Lanka they had the option of playing him out and making runs at the other end. That is not possible any more. In tandem, Murali and Mendis gave India’s batsmen no room to breathe. It was like a pressure cooker, Murali bounding in, wide-eyed, and Mendis harrying in, arm flailing. India simply choked.But the two spinners are undoubtedly aided by intelligent field placing. Mahela Jayawardene is in a different league as captain compared to Kumble, and there was something almost uncanny in his decisions. All through the first innings he had the placements spot on – there was one waiting for the hook from Virender Sehwag, while short cover, deep square leg watched for mistimed sweeps. Today he employed a forward short leg and leg slip when Murali bowled to Sachin Tendulkar and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s excellent timing worked a charm.World-class spinners have always had a hold on certain batsmen and teams – just ask the English how much they worry about getting dominated by blonde wrist spinners and unorthodox doosras, especially those pitched on leg stump. Ask India about Mendis after this series and see what they have to say.

Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor have become stronger and fitter over the past couple of years under the tough conditioning regime of a succession of Australian trainers

Tony Cozier17-Feb-2009

The embodiment of the fearsome fast bowling on which the reputation of West Indies cricket is largely founded has been all around the Antigua Recreation Ground over the first two days of the shifted Test.On the outfield during the lunch break, Andy Roberts and Michael Holding were officially inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame. The still massively imposing figures of Ian Bishop and Colin Croft dominated the respective commentary boxes. Curtly Ambrose, still as tall, upright and pencil-slim as he was when he and Courtney Walsh swept aside the game’s finest batsmen, strolled around the ground he called home.On the field, two of their present-day successors, unfairly carrying the long, unfulfilled burden of expectation, showed that reports of the disappearance of Caribbean pace have been somewhat exaggerated.Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor do not fit the stereotype of West Indies fast bowlers. The former is just six feet tall, the latter two inches shorter. They lack the physiques of heavyweight champions that added a further intimidatory factor to Roberts, Bishop, Croft and company. And they are only two of them, not the packs of four as there used to be.Their statistics are unflattering. Each averages in the mid-30s runs per wicket. Yet they have become stronger and fitter over the past couple of years under the tough conditioning regime of a succession of Australian trainers.Taylor’s potential was obvious in his demolition of England at Sabina Park. Edwards has become the spearhead of the attack, passing 100 Test wickets (a landmark already passed by his elder half-brother, Pedro Collins) with his personal best 7 for 87 against New Zealand in Napier in December.After a difficult opening day, during which their captain, Chris Gayle, was not inclined to subject them to overwork on a typically lifeless Antigua Recreation Ground pitch, they each produced a spell that drew appreciative nods from their famed compatriots beyond the boundary.
Edwards operated throughout the first hour, never flagging through six hostile overs, consistently generating speeds of 90 miles an hour and above, he unsettled England’s premier batsman, Kevin Pietersen, and the dogged Paul Collingwood.Lifters were fended off bodies, hooks were mistimed, deliveries flashed past probing bats. His length, neither too full nor too short, set problems for the front-foot inclined Pietersen. Collingwood stabbed his first ball just over gully and spent an anxious half-hour settling into customary groove.Yet, when the first drinks break ended Edwards’ exertions, the only reward he had was that of the nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson’s wicket to add to Andrew Strauss the previous evening. He deserved more. Ironically, his one chance of success was a stiff return catch from a rare full toss that surprised Pietersen.By then, Taylor was patrolling the outfield, awaiting treatment during lunch on a niggle in his side. When Gayle summoned him again, to operate from the Factory Road end, Pietersen and Collingwood were well established in a partnership of 95 and, at 406 for four with Andrew Flintoff in next, England were headed for an overwhelming total.Even as Taylor sprinted in for his first ball, it was evident that the rhythm of Sabina Park, clearly missing on the opening day, was back. It was just under 90 miles an hour and trapped Pietersen in no-man’s land, skidding through to rake the inside edge on its way into the stumps. Pietersen’s 51 was an untypical struggle yet his removal, as always, was significant.Flintoff arrived to the type of reception from the thousands of England fans in the stands that Russell Crowe received from the Romans on his entry to the coliseum in . Two balls later, he was making the return journey, undone by another low, spot-on delivery that he might have kept out had he been further forward.In three balls, Taylor had changed the course of the innings, not with anything like the impact of Sabina but with a boost to sagging West Indian morale all the same.His five overs brought the two wickets for two runs. At Sabina, a similar burst yielded five for 11. But that doesn’t happen every day, certainly not at the ARG.

Now that he has stayed on as captain, Gayle has the chance to break the mould.

Tony Cozier05-Jul-2009For Chris Gayle to have been retained as West Indies captain for the forthcoming two Tests against Bangladesh, as he is expected to be, the selectors and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) needed to be convinced of his commitment to the role for at least another year.Had he remained as downbeat as he was in an interview in a British newspaper last May someone else would surely have taken over by now. He revealed then that his enthusiasm for Test cricket was being diminished by schedule overload (he wouldn’t be “sad” if it died out was the way he clumsily and misleadingly put it) and that he intended to give up the captaincy “shortly”.Even though Gayle protested that he had been misinterpreted, it was the negative attitude of a reluctant leader. His delayed arrival in London two days before the first Test so that he could turn out in one last Twenty20 match for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa seemed to confirm his priorities. Had they remained the same, he needed to step aside, or be removed, to allow a new skipper the ideal preparation of a home series against Bangladesh.In spite of their shocking record of a solitary victory (over Zimbabwe) in their 59 Tests, they cannot be underestimated by opponents who are only one rung above them on the ICC’s rankings. But they are flyweights compared to the heavyweights next on the Test card for the West Indies-Australia in Australia later this year and South Africa at home in the second half of next season.In between are various, significant one-day tournaments – the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September and, next year, ODI series in Australia and the third World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. Surely Gayle, even as jaded as he claims to be, wouldn’t be so uncaring as to take his leave once Bangladesh are gone and leave yet another captain-the seventh in a dozen years-to handle the daunting challenges just ahead. Even if that was so, the options are limited.Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan have already drunk from what has become a poisoned chalice and publicly stated they won’t touch it again.Denesh Ramdin, pitch-forked into the vice-captaincy when Sarwan curiously quit prior to the New Zealand tour last December, and Dwayne Bravo, Gayle’s deputy in South Africa two years ago, remain in the frame. Their time will come but, right now, they lack experience and, as keeper and key allrounder, already have plenty on their plate.In other words, for all his cool-dude approach, his tactical deficiencies, his stand-offs with the board and his confusing comments, Gayle was the man once genuinely prepared to take on the later, more pressing engagements that follow Bangladesh. His role as opening batsman is as critical to the team’s strength. His flat-footed method does not stand up to technical scrutiny but it is counter-balanced by his awesome power and aggressive intent. Only the Indian, Virender Sewag, among his contemporaries, is as capable of dismantling an attack – and not in the shorter formats alone.It is ironic that he should have moaned about the burdens of Test cricket and leadership in his much discussed newspaper revelations. Jimmy Adams, who himself has experienced the pressures of West Indies captaincy in a year at the helm, stated that Gayle was “looking forward to the day he can be himself again, bat in his own style, enjoy his game in his own way”. Yet, since he came to the captaincy by default two years ago, following injuries to Sarwan, the originally chosen successor to Brian Lara, Gayle’s batting has flourished.In his 14 Tests in that time (against South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and England), he has averaged 46.55 against an overall 39.58. His 197 against New Zealand in Napier last December, occupying eight and a half hours yet still including seven sixes, typified a new maturity. To me, it was his finest innings. His limited-overs returns have also been impressive-an ODI average of 45.17 in 25 matches and some unforgettable hitting in the Twenty20s.Adams noted the many West Indies captains, including himself, who have succumbed to the burdens of leadership. “I only did the job for a year, and that was enough for me,” he said. “It is hard to describe what it is like to lead a losing team, with the expectation that exists in the Caribbean, until you have experienced it for yourself.”Richie Richardson came down with acute fatigue syndrome, Brian Lara initially quit to take a break from the game, Chanderpaul gave it up to concentrate on his batting. Gayle has shown signs of similar disenchantment. Now that he has stayed on, he has the chance to break the mould.

That Vijay managed to make an impression through the mayhem created by Sewhag at Brabourne Stadium testifies to his innings – and also to his ability to stay calm

Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2009It must have been the Sehwag effect; nothing else could have prompted M Vijay, playing his second Test, to bring up his maiden Test fifty with a six off Muttiah Muralitharan. For the record, Vijay issued a disclaimer – “I can’t get influenced by Sehwag because I can’t bat like he bats” – but with that one shot he announced his arrival. More than the daring, it was the youngster’s composure, confidence and body language on the day that have probably vaulted him ahead of other contenders for the vacant batting slots when the Big Three retire.That Vijay managed to make an impression through the mayhem created by Sewhag at Brabourne Stadium testifies to his innings – and also to his ability to stay calm. To an extent, Sehwag’s assault on the Sri Lankan bowlers took the pressure off Vijay and gave him the freedom to express himself. It also helps that Vijay is no stranger to the Indian dressing-room – this may be his first Test since his debut last October against Australia but he’s been an understudy ever since and this is his fourth series in the Indian squad.So when he walked in as Sehwag’s opening partner he knew his job was to be the sidekick. On a day like Thursday it becomes the easiest role to perform, and also offers the best seat in the house to witness Sehwag’s innings. He could have been tempted to also go for the big shots but, barring the occasional rush of blood and slice of luck, he kept his head down, rotated the strike and allowed Sehwag to take centrestage. He was disappointed to lose out on a deserving century but admitted he fell to a “wrong shot”.It was a rare error for this technically adept batsman. Upright at the crease, he has a classical side-on stance with a high left elbow that precedes the marvellous batswing unravelled as he leans into his shots. There were a few beautiful strokes today, the best of which was a leaning cover drive against Murali; he picked the bowler quickly, moved into the stroke early and then leaned forward to punch the ball past the ropes.He also displayed an ability to leave the short ball. Generally tall batsmen don’t cut an impressive figure while fending off the short stuff but whenever he was bounced he assumed the correct position without losing his footing.All of that was largely within his control – off his own bat, forgive the pun. His other main contribution was building an opening partnership with Sehwag by playing to his partner’s strengths. Rotation of strike is one of the pillars of success of the Sehwag-Gautam Gambhir combine and Vijay happily moved to the non-striker’s end at every opportunity.He understands his current role is to warm the seat for Gambhir and doesn’t mind it at all. “This is just a learning curve,” he said. That accommodating nature could be to his advantage – the opening slots are booked for the long term but there will be slots lower down opening up over the next couple of years and Vijay could do worse than move to the middle order with Tamil Nadu.He’d have to contend with the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Subramaniam Badrinath (not in any order) but he’s stolen a head start with this innings.

India’s bowlers badly need their batsmen to deliver to get some respite on a tough tour

Sidharth Monga in Colombo25-Jul-2010There has to be something about Sri Lanka. Over the last 11 years, neither of Rahul Dravid (on his third tour here in that duration), Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman (on their second trips), or Sourav Ganguly (who toured twice) has scored a Test century.They have scored centuries – big ones too – in seaming conditions, on turning pitches, against the SG ball, against the Kookaburra, against the Duke. But not in Sri Lanka – not for more than a decade. Virender Sehwag is the only man to have avoided what seems a big aberration for one of the best batting line-ups of our time. It’s a simple equation for the bowlers who are not India’s biggest strength: they need runs on board to apply pressure, and if they are bowling first they need a solid response from the famed batting line-up.The team knows that’s where it messed up in the Galle Test, which it had no business losing after close to one-and-a-half days were lost to rain, despite Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan. India’s bowling attack was so weak on paper, especially with Harbhajan Singh recovering from flu, that whatever India managed from them was a bonus. It was the batsmen who were supposed to keep India afloat, especially after they lost the toss and the Sri Lankans, with characteristic ruthlessness, ground the attack down.Batting in Sri Lanka comes with unique challenges. Not least the humid conditions, which demand fitness and strength to bat long enough for centuries, and then some more to convert them into big ones, like the Sri Lankans do. Still, all among the frontline Indian batsmen have played enough long innings to suggest that losing concentration in physically demanding conditions should not be that big an issue.The pitches, too, are different from other subcontinental surfaces. “The pitches here are probably difficult to score than in India,” Kumar Sangakkara said. “If the track gets flat there, it stays flat for a very long time.” MS Dhoni tends to agree. He says spin and wear and tear invariably become factors third day onwards, and the evening session usually brings some assistance for the pace bowlers.Also India have managed to catch Murali and Chaminda Vaas, and then Murali and Ajantha Mendis, at their best on their last two tours. “We have, as a group of bowlers, attacked Indian batsmen really well,” Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain on one of those tours, said. “Viru [Sehwag] is exceptional, but there are other batsmen who bat really well, but haven’t got hundreds. You look at this line-up, and it is remarkable that we have given hundreds only to one batsman. Overall we have had some gameplans, and executed those gameplans really well.”Going into the first Test of this tour, the batsmen were expected to set that record straight, given there was no Mendis and that Murali had been in lean form leading up to the series. That was not to be.”The general thinking is we could have batted a lot better than what we did in Galle,” Dhoni said. “We are trying to rectify the problems. We have shaped up well. We had a day off, then two really good practice sessions. We got centre-wicket practice today, so most of the batsmen and the bowlers got the best out of it. The preparation level has been good. The dressing-room atmosphere is back to normal.”Mendis will be coming back for the second Test, but there will be neither Murali nor Malinga. Mendis, too, doesn’t hold the same threat as he did two years ago. Or that seems to be the feeling right now. “From an unknown quantity, from a player who you didn’t know much about, he [Mendis] is more of a player now as an individual. [You know] what are his strengths, what his weaknesses are,” Dhoni said. “I think it will be an interesting face-off between the batsmen and the bowler because our batting line-up is one of the best, so definitely they will try to do well against him, especially because the last time we were here, most of our batsmen couldn’t read all his deliveries or couldn’t do as well as expected.”Also the SSC track, which many a batsman enjoys, gives the Indian batting line-up an opportunity to set that record straight. It is about much more than personal records right now; their bowlers need those runs badly to get some respite on a tough tour.

At the end of another painful day in the field Australia looked close to breaking point as England’s opener notched up another host of records

Andrew Miller at Adelaide04-Dec-2010You know that something tumultuous is afoot when Kevin Pietersen’s long-awaited return to form comes as a footnote on a day of batting conquests. You know that the world is in the process of turning on its head when England’s most charismatic batsman produces his most fluent innings for the best part of two years – at a pivotal juncture of an Ashes series, no less – and yet he hardly merits a mention in a wider tale of sporting dominance.That was the extraordinary situation at the close of the second day in Adelaide – a day that ended, as has been the case on each of the last five days of Ashes combat, with Alastair Cook marching back to the pavilion with his wicket intact and his focus unyielding. The opener whom Australia assumed was their window of opportunity has not offered a crack of an opening for 17 unbeaten hours, and in that time their prospects of regaining the Ashes have melted almost to vanishing point.Last week at the Gabba, Cook surpassed one of Don Bradman’s innumerable records when he posted 235 not out, the highest Test score by any batsman at the ground. Today he drew level with the Don on another front, by racking up his 15th Test century before the age of 26, a tally that only Sachin Tendulkar (with 19) has surpassed. His back-to-back Ashes hundreds mean he’s emulated Ken Barrington in 1965, while his tally of 371 runs without dismissal surpasses Wally Hammond. With every new minute that he endures, Australia’s spirit sags exponentially.As he paused for his latest intake of breath at the close of play, Cook’s eyes looked exhausted but his body and mind were alert. He had arrived back in the dressing-room still wearing the same pair of batting gloves with which he had set out in the morning, and as Hot Spot’s thermal-imaging camera confirmed in a split-screen that showed Pietersen’s shirt drenched in sweat but Cook’s still as crisp as a iceberg lettuce, had barely broken sweat despite the heat of an Ashes battle that had been exacerbated by 37-degree temperatures.”It was physically quite hard after what happened last week, but it’s better mentally than when you’re not scoring runs,” he said. “At tea I was quite tired, because 37 degrees is up there with one of the hottest days I’ve played in, but as Goochie said, you’ve got to cash in when you’re in this sort of form. He said don’t give it away, and so there was no chance of doing that.”I’m quite lucky,” he added, by way of explanation. “I’m kind of built in a way that I don’t get too hot, I don’t really sweat, so that was alright.” It wasn’t intended as a metaphor for England’s dominance, but it might as well have been, for Australia’s perspiration dripped from every facet of their game – the sweaty palms that dropped their eighth and ninth catches of the series, the beaten brows that telegraphed a troupe of cricketers whom Brad Haddin later described as “not at our perky best”. Nothing and no-one could stand in England’s way, certainly not once the threat of the new ball had been negated, and the energy levels of three of the most enthusiastic but least subtle pacemen ever to play in the same team had been drained.

Aside from a chaotic first day, during which England’s passions were running too high even for their unparalleled preparation to temper, the inner sanctum of their batting has barely been breached

Doug Bollinger, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris deserved better, and should have had it when Jonathan Trott offered up two early lives in addition to Andrew Strauss’s latest first-over aberration. But passion was the only weapon they could offer on a pitch as flat and true as anything that England have encountered in 12 months, and as soon as their morale wavered so much as a notch, Cook and Trott were ready to punish by stealth. Brutal, merciless, uncompromising accumulation was the upshot. Trott lifted his average up past 60, and briefly became No.2 to Bradman in terms of batsmen who’ve made more than 1000 Test runs, but even his formidable powers of concentration have been put in the shade by his colleague.Cook has now been at the crease for more than 1000 minutes without being removed – Shivnarine Chanderpaul has managed the feat on four occasions and Nasser Hussain did it once on England’s tour of South Africa in 1999-2000 – which is an extraordinary feat not only for Australians to digest, seeing as he had only twice passed fifty in his first ten Ashes contests, but also for anyone who watched his trials and tribulations in the English summer just gone, when he made 100 runs in seven innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan, and was ripe for the chop until a supremely gutsy hundred at The Oval.”I can’t put my finger on it,” was Cook’s first reaction when asked to explain his transformation, although by the time he’d finished speaking he’d summarised the reasons for the change. In short, England’s batsmen have not had it this good for months. The combination of perfect flat pitches and uncomplicated opponents is a world away from the scything swing and seam that the 2010 batch of Dukes balls offered up to Pakistan’s seamers in the summer, and even during the preceding tour of Bangladesh, on which Cook’s iron will delivered him twin centuries in his one-off series as captain, the exhaustingly sluggish decks made run-scoring a chore rather than the pleasure it has evidently been since Brisbane.Australia thought they had the measure of Alastair Cook, but no longer•Getty ImagesAnd in Cook’s estimation, nothing he’s had to do in the past 22 hours has been anything like the personal challenge he was forced to surmount at The Oval back in August, when his second-innings 110 rescued his immediate career. “If you ever need a reminder of how quickly cricket changes, you only need to look at me last summer,” he said. “It’s always disappointing when you get criticised, but to be fair I deserved it, I scored 100 runs in seven knocks.”That’s part and parcel of playing professional sport, but how I dealt with it, by responding at The Oval has given me a lot of confidence,” he added. “That when I really needed it most, I could deliver it, and coming to Australia when the side needed it most, I’ve managed to deliver so far. The art of batting is concentrating for long periods of time and not making a mistake, and you’ve got to constantly keep reminding yourself of that, and you do that almost every ball. But that knock at The Oval has given me a lot of confidence when the situation gets tough.”I don’t think I’m doing things differently, but sometimes you get your rewards when you put in the hard yards,” he added. “You do have dark thoughts sometimes, but having Goochie on side, he knows what happens. The opening bowler is paid to get you out and some days he does get you out, and you have to stay very level to appreciate that. There are some excellent bowlers around the world and they are quite right to get you out. But when you get the conditions in your favour, it’s important to cash in.”The net result has been extraordinary to behold. Aside from a chaotic first day, during which England’s passions were running too high even for their unparalleled preparation to temper, the inner sanctum of their batting has barely been breached. Pietersen’s desperation to get stuck in manifested itself in his ill-advised outburst at the groundstaff, but today translated into a pitch-perfect acceleration in the final session, while Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell – the pre-series dark horse for leading run-scorer – haven’t since been required to reach for their pads in anger.There are caveats aplenty – the Cardiff escape and last week’s Brisbane turnaround to name but two – but right at this moment, no Australian team has looked as vulnerable in a quarter of a century of Ashes cricket. Nor has there been a day as jaw-droppingly one-sided as this since Allan Border’s Aussies began stretching out their legs in the summer of 1989. There have been greater humiliations in the interim, of course – from the Warne-inflicted pandemonium of 1993 to his whitewash swansong on the last trip four years ago – but in each of those campaigns Australian dominance was pre-ordained, and even when England won in 2005 and 2009, they were rarely in less than a scrap. This, on the other hand, feels like an epoch on the turn.Never mind what happened on this ground four years ago. If Australia regroup from here, it really will be a miracle.

Plays of the day from the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2011Move of the Day
Sri Lanka were wise to send Nuwan Kulasekara to bat ahead of a recognised allrounder like Thisara Perera. It was a critical moment in the match when Chamara Kapugedera disappointed by failing to read a slower ball from Zaheer Khan. At 182 for 6 with ten overs to go Sri Lanka needed another partnership before they could utilise the batting Powerplay to their advantage. Kulasekara might not be a specialist batsman but is a gritty character and he managed to rotate the strike with his senior partner Mahela Jayawardene and put the pressure back on the Indian bowlers. Eventually, their 66-run partnership allowed Sri Lanka to assume a commanding position, which was further strengthened by Jayawardene and Perera in final five overs, that fetched 63 runs.Theatrics of the Day
There were plenty of Sreesanth moments on the field today. His first ball itself was full of theatrics. It pitched outside leg and straightened to catch Tillakaratne Dilshan on the pads, prompting an appeal so primal and so prolonged that it earned him a prompt rebuke from Aleem Dar. But it was in the 13th over when it all boiled over for Sreesanth. On the second ball, Kumar Sangakkara shimmed down the wicket and lofted over mid-off; the next one was driven straight back him and he splayed his legs to make room for the ball to pass through; on the fifth, he was warned for running on to the danger area; the sixth was a no-ball, and the free-hit was edged past the wicketkeeper for four. From 39 for 1 in 12 overs, Sri Lanka jumped to 54 in the course of these six balls, and Sreesanth walked off looked heavenwards, pondering divine injustice.Mahela’s Moment
The passage that captured how Jayawardene had gone about his stunning century involved not so much a shot but what he did after it. He smacked Zaheer over mid-off for a boundary and ran down the pitch pumping his fist and waving his bat everywhere he could see his country’s flags. Then came the moment. He put down his bat, took off his gloves and helmet, and placed them on the ground. There were 13 balls to go but it was as if this was a Test match where he needed to take a breather to re-mark his guard and start again. He re-adjusted the bandana he wears before picking the helmet up again and strapping it all up. Zaheer was at the top of his run, arms on his hips, wondering waiting to bowl the next ball. The whole stadium, somewhat numbed by the Sri Lankan Powerplay acceleration, was waiting. Having controlled the entire innings, Mahela would not be rushed and more than anything else, who else could have taken their own time.Catch of the Day
The third-wicket partnership between the two Indian Turks was beginning to build and had gone past 50 when Dilshan found his one chance. The Sri Lankan fielding had begun to flatline and then it happened. Virat Kohli tried to drive one over Dilshan but found neither direction and all that Dilshan saw was the ball coming to his right. He flung himself towards the non-striker Gautam Gambhir, and as it flew past, snatched it just in time. It was secure in his hand by the time he hit the ground and when he got up, he let out a shout of joy as his teammates crowded around him. The partnership had been broken and Sri Lanka then lifted themselves in the field.Rearrangement of the Day
Zaheer and World Cup finals have an interesting relationship. In the ill-fated 2003 edition, he went for 15 runs in a wayward nervous first over after India had put Australia in. Today seemed set for perfect redemption when he started with three consecutive maidens and took Upul Tharanga’s wicket, too, in his first spell. Cricket, though, can be cruel, and in his last spell, Zaheer realised just that. Mahela and Perera took 35 off his last two overs to send his figures from 5-3-6-1 at one point to 10-3-60-1. A lot can change in two hours.Drop of the Day
Gautam Gambhir was on 30, looking ominous. Along with Kohli he had begun rebuilding the Indian innings after the early loss of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Suraj Randiv was bowling only his third ball of the World Cup. It was a well-flighted delivery, but Gambhir danced out of his crease to loft Randiv wide of Kulasekara at long-off. But the fielder failed to take a start, then charged abruptly and dived forward as the ball was falling down but could not pouch it. It proved to be a costly error as Gambhir eventually played a match-winning knock.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL match between Kochi Tuskers and Deccan Chargers

Firdose Moonda27-Apr-2011The dream spoiled

Sreesanth, the Kerala home boy, seemed to have found his rhythm in exceptional fashion and was about to put the cherry on the top when he made a huge mistake. He bowled a peach of an inswinger, not as short as some of the others he had served up, that snuck through Kumar Sangakkara’s drive, taking the inside edge onto the stumps. Just as Sreesanth was about to hit the roof in celebration, the umpires checked for the no-ball and he was found to be on the line. The free-hit rubbed salt in his wound and he responded with a waist high no-ball and later, a wide outside off.The only six
Cameron White has been struggling for form and was in strife again today, as he kept mis-hitting and mis-timing his strokes. Out of the blue, he managed to get willow to leather in meaty fashion on one occasion. He picked one of Ravindra Jadeja’s shorter balls and sent it sailing over square leg. It was a glorious, clean hit and offered a small glimpse into the form White once had. It was the only six in a game where bowlers had more say in the proceedings than usual.The incomplete hat-tricks

Three bowlers were on a hat-trick today, and none of them managed the third wicket. Vinay Kumar took the wickets of Deccan’s two top-scorers with successive deliveries. First, White swatted him straight to Daniel Christian at deep midwicket, and then Kumar Sangakkara edged one behind. Ishant Sharma then began his magic with the second ball of his spell, getting one to kick and swerve away from Parthiv Patel, who meekly nicked it. Raiphi Gomez came and went next ball, unable to stop a vicious inducker that clattered into the stumps. Dale Steyn ended the Kochi innings in similar fashion. He bowled Vinay with a with a full, straight ball that castled off stump and then dished up a yorker that RP Singh backed away to and sent onto his stumps. Neither Vinay nor Steyn got the chance to complete their hat-tricks. Ishant’s hat-trick ball was safely negotiated by Brad Hodge, though he perished for a duck in the same over.The Ishant Sharma special
The pitch was seamer-friendly but it seemed to be best friends with Sharma. In this first over, he dismissed Pathiv Patel with seam and bounce, Raiphi Gomez with one that kept a touch low, and Brad Hodge with a fuller ball. That made it three wickets in five balls, separated by a dot ball and a wide. He followed that up by removing Kedar Jadhav and Mahela Jayawardene in his next over. Sharma didn’t bowl all four of his overs but the match may have been over sooner if he had. The lanky quick thanked Zaheer Khan for helping him work on his fitness and keeping him motivated.

Our correspondent spends the final leg of India’s tour of England guzzling wine, ogling the fashion-crazy, musing in parks, and relishing the countryside

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Sep-2011September 2
Pity Me is the name of a place in Durham county. The cabbie is not surprised. “A mate of mine comes from No Place. Now he has been caught a few times for speed driving. Each time the cop asks him, ‘Where you from?’ this guy says, ‘No Place’. The cop repeats the question. ‘No Place’ is the answer,” the cabbie, who is from Sunderland, says in his north-east England accent.September 4
You know London is getting ready for the 2012 Olympics when you see big train stations like Waterloo, St Pancras International, and Euston adorned with Olympic rings. You can take a trip to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford on a bicycle along the canal for about a couple of miles. The main stadium does not turn heads in its unfinished state, so comparisons with the other European cities which have hosted the global event will have to wait. The Olympic mascot is Wenlock, inspired by Much Wenlock, a tiny place in Shropshire, where Baron Pierre de Coubertin got the idea of the modern Olympics after watching the Much Wenlock Games, which were inspired by the Olympic Games of ancient Greece.September 7
, a magnificent quarterly magazine (a bi-monthly going forward) on culture and food, has an engaging cover story on which city is the global capital of the world. For the moment let’s stick to London. Food is an important yardstick if you are aspiring for the crown of “global capital”, and London has an amazing palette of foods from all over the world. But it still is difficult for regular folk to find a good place to drink wine in a city where there is virtually a pub for every 10 people. So to find an exclusive wine bar in this sea of ale is a revelation. Gordon’s Wine Bar – at the foot of Embankment bridge – is said to be one of the oldest of its kind in the city. If you like your red, ask for the St Emilion, 2005.September 6
In England the counties take pride in decorating their legends. Statues, murals, stands, paintings and benches honour those who brought fame to the team. But Hampshire takes the cake, literally. At tea during the second ODI there is a cake decorated with the image of an all-time Hampshire dressing room. To the right sit Andy Roberts and Gordon Greenidge, looking at Malcolm Marshall and Shane Warne in conversation. In the background, to the left, are Robin Smith and Barry Richards. But who is the gent in whites at the extreme left?Mannequins or people with too much time on their hands?•ESPNcricinfo LtdSeptember 8
Vogue Fashion Week’s final evening is an annual pilgrimage for fashionistas and the hordes of people who queue up for hours outside the famous fashion labels on the lane that connects Green Park to Bond Street. They enjoy free flutes of champagne and wine, but the reason they flock in their thousands is the large discounts on offer on the clothes and accessories. An enduring image is that of real-life men and women posing as mannequins in the window of DAKS.September 9
Kapil Dev is commentating on , India’s oldest and biggest national radio broadcaster. Till the 1990s, when cable television invaded households, Indians followed cricket in India and around the globe via AIR. Like they did their house keys, millions carried transistor radios around with them to listen to cricket commentary. Sadly, despite having the widest reach, AIR has lost its appeal. But Kapil has a solution. “Get important voices from every state as guests on the radio channel. That is one good way to attract more audience.”September 10
Londoners like to spend time in parks, museums and galleries. So to the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, in Hyde Park, where Peter Zumthor, a famous Swiss architect has constructed a “garden within a garden”, otherwise known as “hortus conclusus”, also the name of the exhibit. It’s bewildering at first but once you sit inside, in front of the rectangular enclosed garden of wild flowers, and observe people around you lost in their conversations, you begin to understand why Zumthor says the garden is a sanctuary. The roof is left open yet you are cut off from the outside.September 12
Alan Davidson is inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Mark Nicholas asks if it is an honour. The fact that the ICC has inducted quite a few players who are no more is not lost on Davidson. “Better than getting it posthumously.”September 14
The final day of the inaugural World Cricket Business Forum, hosted by the ICC, designed for “providing strategies for growing the global game”. An insightful comment comes from one of the top businessmen who avidly followed the two-day event. “Let us get this clear – most of the people are not here for development. They are all here for money.The picturesque Ross-on-Wye•ESPNcricinfo LtdSeptember 15
Lancashire are celebrating their County Championship triumph. For a county famous for its tough industrial background, it’s something of a surprise to see pictures of players in tearful joy. Have you ever seen Sir Viv Richards cry? No way, you may shout. But he did. Exactly 18 summers ago, after leading Glamorgan to Sunday League victory against Kent.September 16
A strange cricket tour has come to an end. The mind is numb with all that has happened in the last two months. What a relief, then, to travel by road through Wales into the English countryside. It is a beautiful time of year too, with autumn in full bloom. Trees of all colours – burgundy, purple, golden, red, yellow – offer stark contrast to the greener plains they stand upon. In the distance is a rainbow. It feels surreal. The countryside is a delight on a good day, and today is definitely one as we pass Ross-on-Wye. Goodbye, then.

Australia’s last four wickets outscored India’s by 79 runs over both innings at the MCG. In a series that could be decided by lower-order contributions, MS Dhoni may need to change his defensive tactics

Sidharth Monga31-Dec-2011India began and ended the year similarly. At Newlands, it was Mark Boucher and an injured Jacques Kallis who were allowed to get away when India were on top. At the MCG, it was the Australian lower order. At Newlands the India batsmen were in better form, and came out with a draw when they could have won. At the MCG the batsmen struggled, and India lost when they could have won.At the heart of both those disappointments was how India spread the field as soon as they saw the lower order. Not a gradual phasing out of attack, no. Not reacting to a boundary or two. MS Dhoni has been going on the defensive as soon as the lower-order players come out to bat. At Newlands, Kallis, batting at No. 5 and battling the pain of a side strain, walked out to a long-on in place, and there was a deep point the moment he reverse-swept a four. On the first day in Melbourne, Brad Haddin came out to face a hat-trick ball at 5 for 205. That soon become 6 for 214, when Ed Cowan was dismissed, but in the next over Dhoni had long-on, deep midwicket and fine leg for Haddin.Dhoni’s defence for the welcome given to Haddin says all you need to know. “You have to see who was bowling,” he said [it was R Ashwin who was bowling]. “Haddin is a good player of spin. We were bowling first, which meant there were no rough patches to play with. It could have been easy pickings. What we wanted to do was see if he is good enough and takes a single every delivery. [In that case] we look to put pressure on the other batsmen or from the other end from which the fast bowlers were bowling. It’s a strategy that goes your way or doesn’t go your way. You have to back yourself.”But Ashwin had been looking to get wickets when it was 3 for 205, and Michael Clarke and Cowan were at the crease. Why suddenly stop trying to get one of the batsmen out? Ashwin was not easy pickings for Clarke, how did he suddenly become easy pickings for Haddin? The result is no surprise. Australia’s last four wickets added a total of 211 runs over the two innings. India’s managed 132, 88 of those coming in the second innings when the match was already lost and the tail could swing the bat without any pressure.This is – at least it seemed to be for the first three days – a series between evenly matched sides. Runs scored by lower orders could decide the outcome. The last two series that India have won against Australia both featured contributions from the lower order. In 2008-09, it was Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh’s 80-run partnership that helped India draw the first Test, which proved to be a massive turning point in the series. In 2010-11, Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha hung around with VVS Laxman to win India the Mohali Test. It is no coincidence that when the Australian lower order beats India’s by 79 runs, India wind up losing the Test by 122.At the end of the game, Dhoni said his side needed to come up with a “formula” to get tailenders out. To lose the existing formula might be a start. The current formula might have worked for Dhoni on slower tracks, on smaller fields where singles are easy to defend, but such passivity against the tail is bound to hurt you at some time.Ian Chappell said the captain, more than the bowlers, had to be blamed for this. There is merit to what Chappell says. The same bowlers who have been trying to get a wicket every ball are now expected to change their game-plan to restricting boundaries for one batsman and then desperately trying to take a wicket with the last one or two deliveries of the over. Dhoni is a captain who usually knows what moments to seize; in Melbourne he looked two of them in the eye and let them pass.On the other hand, Clarke, fresher to the job, was a little more intuitive when it came to the Indian tail. After the match he defended Dhoni’s tactics, and said that he would have done the same; but actually he did not. He did not fight his own team’s momentum, and ran through the Indian Nos. 7, 8 and 9. Dhoni, unlike Haddin, was attacked in the first innings. It was only when Ashwin got into a partnership with the No. 11 that the fields went back, and that too after the partnership had begun developing.Clarke’s empathising with Dhoni says a lot about modern cricket: fearless tails, heavy bats and thick edges put the fear of a counterattack in the fielding captain’s mind. “I did the same for Ashwin in the first innings,” Clarke said. “I did the same for Dhoni on the fourth day [after Dhoni had hit a six and a couple] because the runs from the tail are important for any team, especially when the pitch is a bit bowler-friendly. As a team, every single run you get is crucial. I can see why Dhoni did it. Probably for the same reasons I did it; because you want to protect every single run.”Be that as it may, Dhoni realises the runs scored by the Australian lower order hurt India. He knows if he had knocked over the tail quickly India could have been chasing something around 230, and not 292. But he fears that had he tried to run through the tail, one or more of the batsmen could have taken advantage of close fields and scored more than they eventually did. Having put it down as one of the reasons for the defeat, Dhoni will at least revisit the strategy against lower orders. We all know it can do with a rethink.