To know Murali was to love him (and occasionally to wish he would be quiet)

Charlie Austin22-Jul-2010It says much about Murali that you’ll never hear a bad word spoken about him. Forget for a moment his prolific on-field record, Murali the man is deeply loved and enormously respected by team-mates and opponents alike. Kumar Sangakkara, his captain and close friend, summed it up most eloquently a few years ago: “The greatest tribute I can pay him is that I have met no finer man. He’s great as a cricketer and even better as a human being.”Yet, somehow, Murali is still a little misunderstood. An Indian journalist asked me last week if it was true that Murali was a loner in the dressing room? I laughed out loud.I guess I understand the question because his shyness can sometimes make him come across as reserved. But the real Murali, the relaxed Murali, relishes a group environment, is hyperactive, talkative, opinionated and fun-loving.One thing is for sure: the Sri Lanka dressing room will be a far quieter place without him. Just as his bowling has dominated on the field, his effervescent personality fills any room he occupies. He’s such a chatterbox, in fact, that his exhausted team-mates once challenged him to be completely silent for the duration of a three-hour coach trip to Kandy. He lasted about three minutes.Mahela Jayawardene summed it up well in the last week: “He is the sort of guy you want in the dressing room, but sometimes you think: ‘Why is he in the dressing room – he won’t stop talking!’ When he exhausts us, he goes to see the opposition. He is the only player I have ever known who spends more time in the opponents’ dressing room than his own. You never sit next to him on an aeroplane because you won’t get any sleep. Lal, the masseur, has that job. But ask him to make a speech and you will be lucky to get 10 words.”He’s irrepressibly cheeky, too, one of his favourite pastimes being admonishing his top-order batsmen. While others are afraid to voice their opinions after a team-mate loses his wicket, Murali sometimes can’t resist. Once, while playing for Lancashire, a towering Andrew Flintoff stormed into the dressing room, ashen-faced, having failed to end a lean trot. Murali sauntered over casually. “What happened – another shit shot?”The wonderful thing, though, is that despite his huge success he remains so humble and down to earth. Sport is full of inflated egos. Sometimes arrogance even seems a necessary evil when competing at the highest level, but somehow Murali has managed to stay normal. The only time he can be accused of immodesty is after one of his cameo performances with the bat.His polite and humble persona has much to do with his father, Muttiah, a man of few words and the polar opposite to Murali’s effervescent and emotional mother, Lakshmi. Despite being significantly wealthy, having run a company called Luckyland Biscuits tirelessly since 1956, he carries himself with a Gandhi-like air of simplicity. He’s easy to spot at Murali felicitations: the quiet, unassuming gentleman dressed in a simple, traditional white sarong, surrounded by flashy suits.Murali, a naughty child, rarely spoke to his father during his childhood, but they enjoyed a relationship of great respect. Muttiah, a man with the strictest of working routines, taught his son the virtues of hard work and provided the never-say-die backbone that has epitomised Murali all these years. When the biscuit factory burned down during the terrible island-wide riots in 1977, Muttiah might easily have fled the country to join his family in India. Instead, refusing to turn his back on Sri Lanka, he went to the pawn shop the week after and negotiated a loan to rebuild the uninsured factory from scratch. That unbreakable spirit has always been evident in Murali.Chandika Hathurasinghe, Murali’s team-mate during the early years at Tamil Union and the current Sri Lanka assistant coach, recounted a story. He and Murali had stopped for a snack at a small café close to the Parliament grounds in Colombo. A young boy working in the shop asked for a signed photograph. Murali promised him one and left. The boy would probably not have not expected him to remember, but Murali did. After cricket practice the following day, he got Chandika to take a detour to the shop and duly handed over the signed photograph. The kid was gobsmacked. It was typical of a man who truly cares.

One time while playing for Lancashire, a towering Andrew Flintoff stormed into the dressing room, ashen-faced, having failed to end a lean trot. Murali sauntered over casually. “What happened – another shit shot?”

Murali’s caring personality is reflected, too, in how committed he has been over the years in ensuring young players are looked after. On his first international tour, fresh out of school, when Sri Lanka toured England in 1991, he was among those entrusted with going to the launderette each evening. In those days the team was hierarchical and clique-y, and the senior players ruled like boarding-school prefects, but thankfully, since then Murali has been at the forefront of a transformation in team culture – it is now one in which everyone is treated equally. He invariably takes younger players under his wing when they come into the squad, taking them out for dinner and making sure they feel welcome.I saw first-hand how down-to-earth he was in 2005, when I travelled with him to the tsunami-hit town of Batticaloa on Sri Lanka’s east coast. Murali had single-handedly organised about 10 lorries of emergency supplies for distribution in the relief camps. In the evening we stopped at the Polonnaruwa Rest House to catch some sleep. They only had three bedrooms available for about 10 of us. Murali not only insisted on paying, he steadfastly refused to take a bed, spread a sheet on the floor, grabbed a pillow and slept happily.Murali, like his father, who is famously charitable, is one of the most generous people I know. He can’t say no to people – sadly a trait that has been exploited at times – and, always quietly, he has financially helped an enormous number of cricketers over the years. He has also contributed greatly to his charity, the Foundation of Goodness, founded by his like-minded manager, Kushil Gunasekera, often donating the entire proceeds of his endorsement contracts.”When Murali takes on something, he does it properly,” says Gunasekera. “When the tsunami struck, he told me we were going to build 1000 houses. I said that 1000 Test wickets would be easier. However, while he didn’t get the 1000 wickets, he built the houses – 1024 of them, spread over 24 villages so far.” The duo’s next project has already begun, a Learning and Empowerment Institute in northern Sri Lanka based on their holistic rural development model in Seenigama in southern Sri Lanka.Murali’s charity work will undoubtedly now dominate his future life – after the World Cup, which he is committed to playing if selected – but it is hard to see him leaving cricket completely. He loves the game too deeply. He was obsessed from an early age, playing with his cousins for hours. They played softball cricket in the factory car park, “veranda” cricket in the house when his father was at work and even “book” cricket in the library at St Anthony’s, when he was supposed to be studying.Cricket left little time for studies. Murali spent hours and hours practising. School friends recount how he regularly skipped study time and dragged them to the nets, forcing them to keep wicket while he bowled endlessly at a single stump. For him cricket was the big priority then, and getting into the team was his No. 1 goal. When he was trying to break into the Under-17 team, he actually decided to take up bowling legbreaks for an entire season because there were two senior boys to bowl offbreaks already.It is not a great surprise that he has decided to call time on his Test career. Being determined to leave at the right time and not stand in the way of young talent, he had been talking about it for some time. In fact, he considered quitting Test cricket in 2009 before being persuaded to stay on. He now feels, aged 38, that the unique physical challenge of Test cricket is too much for his body. As we have seen in this Test, he could easily play on with continued success, although probably not with the same potency and consistency for much longer. And if he did risk playing Test cricket too long, it would jeopardise his desire to continue playing the less-demanding Twenty20 and ODI formats. For Murali, a true pragmatist, the decision was simple in the end.Unfortunately it won’t be so easy for his team-mates and all his fans. Today will be the most emotional of days. Saying a final farewell to a legend will undoubtedly leave many teary-eyed. Hundreds of friends and colleagues are coming from all corners of Sri Lanka – and indeed some from different parts of the world. If you judge the calibre of the man by the love and loyalty of his friends, Murali is a very special person indeed. He will be sorely missed.

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.

Plays of the Day from the Group B match between West Indies and South Africa in Delhi

Sharda Ugra and Firdose Moonda at the Feroz Shah Kotla24-Feb-2011The anthem
Halfway through the South African national anthem, one line before it was about to change from Sotho to Afrikaans, instead of the name of the country being belted out in high-pitched melody, it stopped. Instead of that throwing the team off, they carried on singing, helped by a section of touring fans. The group had walked in with South African flags draped over their clothes and had no problems helping the fifteen men on the field sing the anthem to completion. The ICC apologised to the team and said it will use a better quality version of the anthem in future matches.The optical illusion
It was the only one in the West Indian innings, early on in the contest, just after it had been proved that the Kotla was back to its low, somnolent, unban-able business. Morne Morkel, in his second over, bowling round the wicket made full use of his height to find wherever shred of bounce there may have been in the wicket. The ball leapt off the ground and at Darren Bravo’s nose like a drone in a bad mood. Bravo got his wrists out of the way, turned his body convex and lived to see many moments more. For the next three hours, it was normal service again.The alarm-clock moment
After more than 11 overs of West Indies batsmen scratching around and being (pardon the word) choked mid-innings by the South African spin trio of Botha, Tahir and Peterson, Dwayne Bravo decided enough was enough. Botha tossed one up, Bravo Sr leapt at it, swinging angry, clean and over midwicket for six. A journalist in the press box spontaneously hollered, “Jamnapaar!”, which translates into ‘Across the Jamna!” . The Jamuna/Jamna/ Yamuna being the river that splits Delhi’s posh southwest from its eastern edges. In baseball they would call that a lusty home run. The Bravo ‘fireworks’ promised by Gayle had been lit.The celebrations
Imran Tahir dispelled any doubts about his patriotism to South Africa when he emphatically kissed the Protea badge on his jersey after taking his first wicket in international cricket. Tahir’s joy knew no bounds, and with each of the subsequent wickets he claimed, his victory dance gained another step. From a mad dash into a circle of fielders to pumping his arms as though in a gym and screaming his lungs out, Tahir was enjoying every moment on the international stage.Kemar Roach competed with Tahir for the most animated celebration when he dismissed Hashim Amla in the second over he bowled. After Amla was caught at slip, Roach ran wildly away from his team-mates, an excited pack of fielders in pursuit, and charged at the dressing room. He pulled on his shirt and thumped the logo so hard his heart must have jumped in his rib cage.The aggravation
The West Indies have a way of getting under South Africa’s skin and they did it again today. When Graeme Smith gestured for spectators to move away from the sight screen and refused to take his guard until they did so, Chris Gayle was impatient for play to resume. He kept mockingly approaching the crease, as though he was about to bowl, and then lobbed the ball over to Devon Thomas behind the stumps. Thomas removed the bails and, for a laugh, appealed. Smith was, predictably, unimpressed.

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 fourth day of the Trent Bridge Test between England and India

Andrew McGlashan at Trent Bridge01-Aug-2011Filth of the day
Even taking into account the workload of India’s quicks and the absence of their frontline spinner, some of the bowling on the fourth morning was dreadful. As Stuart Broad clubbed consecutive sixes off Suresh Raina it prompted Michael Holding in the commentary box to say “this isn’t Test cricket.” He was right, but it was also a shame because for so much of these first two matches the action has been of the highest quality. India, though, were a broken team.Ball of the day
There were plenty of candidates from England’s attack – many by Tim Bresnan – but for sheer skill and control of his craft it goes to James Anderson and the inswinger to remove VVS Laxman. Anderson has the ball on a string these days and exploited Laxman’s tendency to hang back in his crease. The ball started comfortably outside off then began to shape back at Laxman. Perhaps he thought it would come back even further than it did because he played the wrong line and the ball beat his outside edge to take off stump.Correct drop of the day
England should have had Abhinav Mukund with the first ball of India’s second innings but Bresnan, in about the only moment that didn’t go his way all day, couldn’t hold on as he dived across one-handed in front of Andrew Strauss. However, if you’d offered them that drop and the wicket they did take before lunch they’d have happily accepted it. Stuart Broad, again finding the perfect length for this pitch, made one nip away from Rahul Dravid who was drawn forward and got an edge to Matt Prior. Abhinav survived until lunch, but England won’t have minded too much.Set-up of the day
Raina is being picked apart by the England bowlers. Troubled by the short ball in the first innings he was bounced again, but didn’t exactly make Bresnan work too hard for the success. Five balls into his innings he went for hook and obligingly placed it straight down to long leg. The catcher was Scott Elstone, the Nottinghamshire player, who joined the list of county players to have their moment in the spotlight as a substitute. In 2005 on this ground Gary Pratt became a national hero for running out Ricky Ponting and while not in the same league, Elstone, who took a second catch to remove Harbhajan Singh after dropping a tough one, should be getting a few free drinks.Fielding change of the day
Some days things just go your way. Having seen Yuvraj Singh flap against the short ball Strauss brought Alastair Cook into an odd position. It wasn’t really a silly point, more a silly slip. Whatever it will be called it worked. Next ball Yuvraj lobbed a catch off his glove and Cook ran back a few steps to hold the chance before being mobbed by his captain and team-mates.Stat of the day
James Anderson became the most successful pace bowler against Sachin Tendulkar – he’s now dismissed him seven times – when he trapped him lbw for 56 to hasten India’s defeat. At Lord’s he’d also trapped him in front to move equal with Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespite as the most successful quick against Tendulkar but now he stands alone. Only Muttiah Muralitharan – with eight dismissals – is ahead of Anderson and there are two more Tests to go in this series yet.

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.

His first one-day century as captain but another defeat for his team left Alastair Cook with a day of mixed emotions and plenty of questions

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's03-Jul-2011One step forward, two steps back sums up England’s current situation. Alastair Cook’s first one-day hundred as captain will be dissected both for its personal significance but also for its impact on the team. However, England didn’t lose at Lord’s because Cook spent most of the innings at the crease, but rather because no-one could complement his methodical accumulation with a more brisk pace.For Cook it was a day with the ultimate mixture of emotions, although not quite on the extreme level felt by Nasser Hussain in 2002 against India, because this match never got as close as that epic. However, Cook still had to weigh personal success against team failure. His 119 off 143 balls was nowhere near the slowest one-day hundred by an England opener (and swifter than either of Michael Atherton’s, who as Sky’s compere, oversaw a rather terse toss and presentation with Cook), while many of the others have come in victory. If an opening batsman scores a century, the rest of the order should have the ability to play off his presence to push the total somewhere near 300, especially where the team has been told to play ‘fearless’ cricket.Cook will not be leaving the one-day job any time soon. He probably has at least two years before the management consider a change of tact if things don’t go to plan, so the team as a whole needs to formulate the best way to make the most of his talent. And that talent is building an innings to offer a foundation. Clearly he needs to develop his game, both from a strokeplay point of view and in terms of pacing an innings, but even Cook admits he’s a work in progress. He needs some help along the way.”It’s nice for a bit of confidence to score runs but never nice in a losing cause,” Cook admitted. “You want to score runs when you win, it’s far more satisfying. We had a bit of a slow start then we kept losing wickets which meant you are always playing rebuilding cricket and that’s not the way to get a big total.”The problem for England is that they have two other batsmen in the side – Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell – who play a very similar way to Cook. When Cook and Trott come together inside Powerplay overs, as they have at Headingley and at Lord’s, the bowling side is not worried. Trott’s one-day record is formidable, his average is 53, but he needs to know when to operate outside the ‘bubble’ that is rarely an issue in Test cricket. Finding the fielders for two overs isn’t an issue in the longer format, but brings an innings to standstill in this version. One-day cricket is a game of risk-taking.Today’s opening ten-over Powerplay sums up clearly the difficultly facing England. Cook was 25 off 30 balls after ten overs, but England were only 32 for 2. Later, England took the batting Powerplay from overs 34-39, but Bell and Cook only managed 24 runs. In comparison Sri Lanka motored to 61 for 1 after ten and from there were always well ahead of the game. That, too, was with Sri Lanka losing their renowned trail-blazer in Tillakaratne Dilshan, but Mahela Jayawardene has shown that orthodox batting, with intent, still works.One theory is that England should have a more flexible batting line-up which changes depending on who falls first. If Craig Kieswetter, who has a lot of pressure on him to score quickly, departs early then Kevin Pietersen could be promoted to No. 3. The idea has merits, but the issue is that if Trott doesn’t bat in the top three he can’t be in the team.That, though, might be the tough decision England need to make. Selecting Cook as captain was going to create this problem. “Trotty has had a quiet couple of games but he averages 50 and strikes at 80 which are pretty good stats to me,” Cook said. “We all take collective responsibility for not scoring enough runs.”In the current line-up Bell also looks lost at No. 6. His 30 off 46 balls was painful viewing from someone normally so free with his strokeplay. It was his 100th ODI but that experience didn’t come across. There is a worrying similarity with Matt Prior: free-scoring at Test level, but unable to find the tempo for the one-day game. The boundary-clearing shots are in the locker – unlike with Trott – but he doesn’t seem to back himself as much as in the longer format.Pietersen, meanwhile, has fallen to the ‘big’ shot in all three innings of the series. The first, at The Oval, was understandable in a game reduced to 32 overs but his dismissals at Headingley and Lord’s were wasteful. He’s too good to be falling to Jeevan Mendis three times in a row, especially now he looks back in fine form. Does he feel it has to be him to find the boundary? If so he is right to back himself, but should consider that it’s better him still being there after the 40th over.England have played some good one-day cricket when Pietersen has been absent – the Champions Trophy in 2009 and then Pakistan last summer – but, currently, they are clearly not good enough to do without his power. His record shows that No. 4 and 5 in the order are his most productive positions and when he was at his best around 2007 he had a sixth-sense of when to cut loose. However, he has scored just two one-day international half-centuries since November 2008 which is a horrid waste.After victory at The Oval, England will have hoped to avoid any tough questions for this series at least. Yet, to save the contest something has to change. They will be desperate not to show signs of uncertainty so early in Cook’s tenure by altering tactics, but that can quickly verge towards stubbornness.

IPL chief executive Sundar Raman speaks about the future of the league, the hit it took this year, giving the franchises more power, and more

Interview by Tariq Engineer06-Aug-2011″For us, the larger goal is how we can be the most well-organised, well-run, successful sporting league in the world”•Getty ImagesThis is the first season without Lalit Modi. Were there any differences in how things have been handled? It did feel a little toned down…
I don’t know what your definition of “toned down” is but clearly the view of the management is very different and the view of the board is very different, and as a management team we go out and deliver what we believe is good for the tournament and something that helps us build the tournament within the governance that has been laid down by the board.I think a lot of things were decentralised. There was a view taken that specific areas need to be handled by the franchisees, and those are things that were tried and experimented last season. I don’t think it was anyone’s intention to take control of all of that. It was done in a manner that [said], “Okay, here is how you could do it, now you go out and do it.” That’s the kind of difference I am talking about.I am presuming these are things like ticketing…
Ticketing, entertainment. Pre-match, post-match. Their own licensing arrangements, etc.Most leagues around the world are run by teams. The sporting body sits on top as an umbrella organisation and makes rules for the sport, while the teams run the league. The English Premier League is run by the 20 EPL teams. But in the IPL, it seems the franchises are kept at arm’s length. Is that something that is going to change?
That is untrue because, firstly, when EPL was formed, the governing body was formed by the teams. Here the teams were formed by the governing body. And clearly, as I said, we are a nascent league and the focus of the governing body is to govern the sport, regulations and fair practices and stuff like that. I think that’s exactly what it is. At a nascent stage, we will do whatever is in the interest of the sport and the interest of the franchise. We are working together with the franchises very closely. Franchises are working closely amongst themselves, and I think it is a league growing from within.There have been some comments made by franchises at certain points. Vijay Mallya has made some comments that they would like more say, they would like to have someone on the board. Do you see that happening?
Sure, I think that has always been the case. There have been consultations that have happened in the past. There will be consultations that will happen in the future, but the decisions need to be taken in the interest of the sport.

“Considering [we had] 74 matches, you started to feel that 94 matches would have been a little too much. If we have to have 94, clearly the window needs to be longer. We will not be able to do it in 50 days”

Is there a time table for that?
I don’t think there is a time table. As I said, it is an evolutionary process. We will continue to evolve as a league.The IPL has generally had some innovation every year. What is the next step in the evolution?
Some of it is part of the strategic plan. Some is opportunistic because of technological development or innovation in various stages. Who knows what’s in store for us in the next 10 years or next 15 years? For us, the larger goal is how we can be the most well-organised, well-run, successful sporting league in the world. And that’s what we are working towards. You have to understand, it is an exclusive club of 10 [franchises] as of now.Do you see it growing?
The view of the board currently is not to add any more teams, and I think that’s possibly the sanest view. I think any more teams are not going to add to the sport. Maybe [it could be] different 15 years from now.Is the auction going to remain the only way teams get assigned players or will we have a draft?
We need to go through the years to see. But the auction has worked. It is proven that every team has a fair opportunity for a player and that’s the way we will continue.How does the IPL measure success?
From a cricketing standpoint, from an administration standpoint, it is about, “Is it building the sport and giving an opportunity to players?” If you see our trophy, it says “where talent meets opportunity”, and that’s what the league stands for.Two, is it helping the board bring in new fans, new spectators, new audiences?Three, is there some influx of funds that can be deployed for the sport?I think those are the three measures that one looks at. Whereas the third part is a smaller measure, the other two are significant for us.On those three measures, how would you evaluate the IPL?
I think it is not a goalpost that here and now we have achieved that goalpost. I think directionally we are excellent, we are very much there. You see the Indian bench strength and significant contributions will be because of our ability to put the best of talent available, to give them the opportunity. That’s for everyone to see.More people are watching IPL. More consumers are seeing IPL. More women, more children. I think all that is adding to the sport.Why do you think the IPL has been able to do that?
The format and the exciting talent. I think those are the two things. They get to see the best of talent compete against each other in a format that makes it nail-biting, and the bit about unpredictability is always there.Going back to Modi – how do you think he should be remembered? Could this have happened without him?
I think Lalit brought in the vision, and had the bold thinking and created this entire piece. And I think there is no [other] way that you would speak – as a person who is not connected to the IPL – about the fact that he did put this together as the chairman of the governing council.”Retention has not had much of an impact”•Associated PressRetention means that there is a stated figure that is taken away from the salary cap, but the players could be paid anything. How does that affect the idea of the salary cap?
It allows you to do that for the four players who you could have potentially retained. If you look at it, across the eight teams, a maximum of 12 players were retained. That’s an average of [less than] two per team. There were only two teams that retained all four players.So you don’t think it has that much of an impact?
It has not, from the results that you see. It was intended [to solve the problem of maintaining] continuity while bringing in fresh blood and that’s what it is. Punjab was a brand new team and they were almost there.Two of those teams, Mumbai and Chennai, are still in the last three.
That’s fine. Two of those teams are in the last three but then they were in the last three last years also.Yes, but this year they had the advantage of having largely the same team.
One team [Kolkata] which did not retain anybody was in the top four. [Also, Bangalore, who retained only Virat Kohli, made the final].What is the league’s view of transparency? Why keep the players’ salaries a secret?
The franchisees know. The players know and there is a certain contract which has terms and conditions, which has been signed by all the players, so I don’t think there is any secrecy in this.Will we see a return to the home-and-away format? How do you think the format worked this year?
I think this format worked very well. Considering [we had] 74 matches, you started to feel that 94 matches would have been a little too much. If we have to have 94, clearly the window needs to be longer. We will not be able to do it in 50 days.What is the best thing about the IPL?
The exhibition of talent. The opportunity that it provides for people. It breaks barriers in the dressing room.What is the worst thing about the IPL?
The summer. Just the heat.Nothing that needs to be refined?
As I said, we are a continually evolving process and I don’t think it is about today, here, now. It could be on a daily basis, it could be on a weekly basis. It could be on a venue basis. It could be on a regulatory basis. It could be across the board.We are obviously looking at what we could do with the schedules. Clearly, what we got right was the cricketing aspect in terms of more matches in less heat. I think that part of it is effectively addressed. I think we will evolve about how much more we can do in brand building. Teams will evolve. More licensing, merchandising will start. All of that will come.Is there a concern that merchandising hasn’t really taken off yet?
It hasn’t set the world on fire for sure, but I guess it is taking its time. It is building slowly and steadily.I am not going to buy a Dwayne Bravo jersey if I think next year he is not going to be with Mumbai Indians…
I don’t think that’s a point. I think you will still buy a David Beckham jersey when he was with Manchester United and when he decided not to be with them. I think that helps more merchandising.

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.