Seven years back, 22-year-old Manzarul Islam was heading towards a roadside shop on a motorbike to try some . Fate, though, had a cruel plan in store

Devashish Fuloria in Khulna02-Nov-2014, a spicy meat curry is a must in Khulna, I am told. It’s a preparation local to the western part of Bangladesh with the principal ingredient being a fragrant and fibrous plant stem that renders a uniquely piquant flavour to the mutton or beef that it is cooked with. Like in most parts of Bangladesh and West Bengal, it is accompanied with , or rice, that also helps in soaking the heat. I am warned the dish is not meant for weak tummies, but after not being disappointed even once with the food in Bangladesh, I am happy to ignore the warning.Like with most good things, finding the right place to eat means you have to trust the locals’ sense of taste and follow their directions. Such places do not hit you just with a dash of flavour on your tastebuds, they create a story. One needs to follow the trail, take the narrow gullies, walk through the crowds, drive through the empty streets and smell the world’s smells to prepare the senses for the climax. The appetite gets worked with the body wanting the food as much as your brain. It’s all part of the recipe. maintains that allure for the locals, including the numerous cricketers that have come from Khulna. Some say it is food worth dying for. Mashrafe Mortaza, who started playing his first-class cricket in the town, is quite a fan and ensures he makes the trip to the roadside shops when he is in town. On the night of March 16, 2007, one of his closest friends, Manzarul Islam, made a similar trip too, a trip that happened to be his last.Along with his friend Sajjadul Hasan, Manzarul was headed for on a motorbike but lost control and collided with a minibus. At 22, Manzarul was the youngest Test cricketer to die. Sajjadul, also a cricketer from Khulna, died too.Manzarul Islam’s forest green Test cap has been encased in a glass box in his room•Devashish FuloriaThe Bangladesh team received the news of the accident just before their World Cup tie against India, in Trinidad. The team was distraught but Mashrafe picked up four wickets in the match to cause one of the major upsets. He had wanted to win that match for his friend. On March 16, 2012, Bangladesh defeated India again in their Asia Cup tie. Mashrafe was the leader of the bowling there too, with 2 for 44.A promising left-handed batsman who bowled left-arm spin, Manzarul played first-class cricket for Khulna Division along with Mashrafe. After three seasons, he graduated to the international level, making his debut in an ODI against England in 2003.”He was a hard-working cricketer, someone who could bat and bowl,” Dav Whatmore, who was the coach of the Bangladesh side then, said. Manzarul went on to play six Test matches along with the 25 ODIs but could not make a comeback after being dropped in 2006. He came close to playing an international at his home ground that year but could not find a place in the XI. He spent the evening broken and upset at his house near the north-western corner of the ground.Manzarul was the youngest of three brothers but his mother now lives alone in their family home, a short walk from the Sheikh Abu Naser stadium. A narrow concrete road with small, simple houses on either side, all belonging to the extended family, leads to Manzarul’s two-storey house, the last one on the road. Manzarul’s mother receives us at the door and walks us through the house. Right after the verandah entrance is a glassed cabinet with numerous trophies. “Some of them have been burgled,” Manzarul’s mother says before leading us to the first floor, to his son’s bedroom.

Along with his friend Sajjadul Hasan, Manzarul was headed for Chui Jhal on a motorbike but lost control and collided with a minibus. At 22, Manzarul was the youngest Test cricketer to die. Sajjadul, also a cricketer from Khulna, died too

The room with pink walls, two large windows and a double bed is basic but it has been maintained in the state Manzarul left it. There is an autographed bat by the wooden mirror, and there are the parrot green Bangladesh pads with their paint chipping standing on one corner on top of a BCB logo-encrusted cricket kit. There is a Vampire bat next to it followed by a wooden rack that has a row of shoes, all wrapped up in transparent plastic. To the other side is a big chest on top of which are probably Manzarul’s most prized possessions. His two Bangladesh helmets and encased in a glass box, his forest green Test cap. Behind them is a picture of him taken at Lord’s.His mother also brings us an envelope with some old pictures. “I don’t know why I live,” she says. “Two years after my son, his father, too, passed away due to cancer.” The sadness can be felt in her voice but she maintains her composure as she talks. “Mashrafe pays me a visit from time to time. He considers me like his own mother,” she says. One of the regrets that Manzarul had was that he never got to play an international here, she says, before adding that part of the ground was built on their ancestral land.In 2012, the BCB president paid her a visit before the ground’s inaugural Test and asked if she needed anything. “I asked for a stand to be named after my son,” she says. The BCB obliged within two days, naming the stand closest to their house as Manzarul Islam Rana stand. After spending half an hour, we leave quietly. The family’s local friend then takes us to the grave, made on a family plot next to one of their houses. It’s an unassuming mound in an unkempt garden of a deserted house the gate to which is locked. There is no tombstone. Unlike the brightly-painted banner under the double-arched roof of the north-western stand in the stadium, the only marker to the grave is a marble plaque with fading lettering on the outside of the boundary wall. In Bangla, it says –

Stats highlights from the 7th ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Wellington

Bishen Jeswant29-Jan-2015474 Dismissals effected by Kumar Sangakkara in ODIs, the most by any wicketkeeper. Sangakkara was already the joint highest with Adam Gilchrist before this game, but now holds the record solo after his two catches in this ODI.4 Number of times that Nuwan Kulasekara has taken a wicket with the first ball of the innings. He dismissed Martin Guptill off the first ball of the innings in this ODI, as well as during the fifth ODI of this series. Chaminda Vaas, who has taken eight wickets off the first ball of an ODI innings, is the only bowler to take more such wickets than Kulasekara.21 ODI hundreds scored by Sangakkara, the second-most by a Sri Lankan, going past Tillakaratne Dilshan (20). Sanath Jayasuriya (28) is the only Sri Lankan batsman to score more ODI tons. Sangakkara is fifth on the overall list, after Sachin Tendulkar (49), Ricky Ponting (30), Jayasuriya and Saurav Ganguly (22).7 New Zealand used seven bowlers during the first innings, with each of them conceding more than five runs an over. Corey Anderson was the most expensive, going at 6.55 runs per over in his nine overs, but he did pick up three wickets.6 Number of ODI series that New Zealand have won against Sri Lanka at home. There have been nine series in all, with Sri Lanka winning one and the other two being drawn.1 Instances of Nos. 5 to 9 all making 20-plus scores in the same ODI innings for New Zealand; this is the first time. This has happened five times in all ODIs. The New Zealand batsmen who did this today are Grant Elliott (24), Anderson (29), Luke Ronchi (47), Daniel Vettori (35) and Kyle Mills (30).

Bangladesh will play the role of the underdogs in their World Cup quarter-final against India, but would it stop them from plotting to turn over the applecart? ESPNcricinfo looks at five things they must do to beat India

Mohammad Isam18-Mar-2015Play with underdog freedomBangladesh have very little to lose in their first appearance in a World Cup knockout match. Not many had expected them to qualify for the quarter-finals ahead of the tournament. Beating Afghanistan and Scotland were considered more important than looking further ahead, especially after a dismal 2014. Bangladesh’s goal posts moved as soon as they beat England in Adelaide.Pressure, though, isn’t much on the Bangladesh players. Sure, there is a large media contingent following the team and the madness back home is at an all-time high. But India have it a lot harder, in every sense of the word. Simply put, no team riding a wave as high as India’s would want to lose to a lower-ranked team.Take early India wicketsBangladesh rely heavily on a good start with the ball whether bowling first or second. They have taken at least one wicket in the first ten overs in four out of five group matches. The only time an opening partnership went beyond the first 10 and 20 overs was Sri Lanka’s after Anamul Haque dropped a sitter in the first over at the MCG.Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have had only one substantial partnership, when they added 174 against Ireland. Bangladesh can take heart from the fact that this pair has not batted together for more than 7.3 overs in the other five group matches.Bowl better at the deathIndia’s run rates in different stages of the innings in this World Cup read: 4.65 in the first 10 overs, 5.88 from the 11th to the 40th over and 8.86 in the last 10 overs.Bowling first or second, Bangladesh have to break these scoring trends if they are to have any chance to remain at the same level of contest. They have generally kept the lid on the opposition’s batsmen in the first 10 (4.42) and the next 30 (5.09) overs. But the main danger is the last 10 overs when Bangladesh have conceded at 9.38 runs per over, so anything lesser would be seen as an advantage, particularly if they are bowling first.Handle the short ballIf Bangladesh have been looking at India’s bowling footage, they must have seen Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma take wickets with bouncers. Shami has used it best, taking the wickets of Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Hashim Amla and Chris Gayle, among others. Umesh and Mohit have bowled at sharp pace, particularly when pitching it short.Playing the short ball was one of Bangladesh’s primary concerns before they arrived in Australia in January. Two weeks in Brisbane were not considered sufficient enough to get the batsmen tuned to lengths there but so far only two of their dismissals have been caused by bouncers: Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar dismissed by Lasith Malinga and Chris Jordan respectively.Remember who they are playingBangladesh players have mentioned it a few times in the past that they find extra motivation when playing against India. Nobody has been able to put a finger on the exact reasons but this has emerged mostly after they won in the 2007 World Cup in Port-of-Spain. They have only won once more, in the 2012 Asia Cup, but the players never stop talking about the excitement of playing against India. Who doesn’t like beating their neighbours?

Plays of the day from the game between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney

Andrew Fidel Fernando, Daniel Brettig and Jarrod Kimber08-Mar-2015The stumping
Aaron Finch has spent an awful lot of time thinking about how to combat the swinging ball lately, given that he was bowled by it in Auckland off the inside edge and was then pouched in the slips in Perth off the outside edge. Sydney presented a rather different challenge: not offering much to the pacemen and causing him to face up to spin early in his innings – the second over even. Having seen off Sachithra Senanayake’s off breaks, the leg breaks of Seekkuge Prasanna posed another question, and Finch presumed a little too hastily to know the answer when he hurtled down to a delivery that the bowler speared down the leg side for a snappy stumping from Kumar Sangakkara. Hobart will no doubt bring Finch another challenge again.The leg-bye
Sitting on 99, Glenn Maxwell had the chance to equal Kevin O’Brien’s record for the fastest World Cup hundred. Virtually the whole of the SCG, including umpire Ian Gould, thought he had done it, when Maxwell appeared to glance a ball behind square leg for the single he required. Spectators roared and rose to applaud, Gould’s leg and arm remained stationary, and Maxwell trotted through. But when he reached the far end without celebrating, he quietly advised the umpire that he had not hit it, and a leg-bye was signalled. This was a level of sportsmanship many a club cricketer would consider too generous by half, and certainly caught out the crowd. Among them was Brian Lara, who could remember not giving Terry Prue the chance to signal the same when he ran through for the runs that gave him 200 on this ground in the first week of 1993. Lara had celebrated before completing the run, but Maxwell did not have long to wait, finding his hundred the next over.The height
So much height. It was like Steven Smith was trying to see how high he could hit Tillakaratne Dilshan. At mid-off there was a dot under the ball. It went back, forward, left, right and pretty much every direction it was possible to move in. As if it wasn’t a fielder, but a kid with a laser pointer. It really was a pretty straight forward catch, that was made better by the 19 changes in direction the ball seemed to make in the air, and Thisara Perera actually did on the ground. When he finally took the ball, his balance was so poor he just fell over. His hands were the real stars.The three pairs of fours
Scoring 24 four runs in an over is no longer particularly remarkable, but unusually, Tillakaratne Dilshan made all 24 runs off boundaries, in Mitchell Johnson’s third over. Even more unusually, the boundaries were all hit in pairs. The first two came down the ground as Johnson overpitched. Then when the bowler tried to bounce Dilshan, he was smashed behind backward square leg twice. Finally, Johnson delivered length outside off, but Dilshan was on to that, too. The fifth ball, slightly overpitched, was creamed through cover. Then, when the bowler pulled the length back slightly Dilshan pushed the ball through the gap, timing it just well enough to beat the fielder giving chase.The headgear
Ireland’s John Mooney has already invented a “gorget” addition to his helmet, which is designed to protect the back of a batsman’s head and neck. On Sunday, at the site of Phillip Hughes’ accident, two Sri Lanka players wore a new factory-made “Stemguard”, made from foam and rubber, which is said to absorb the force of any hits received to that area. Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews wore the Masuri attachment, and if Sangakkara’s 104 is anything to go by, their movement was seemingly unaffected by the addition.

Rajasthan Royals have extracted the best out of James Faulkner with a well-set role for the allrounder and will continue to hope he can have a bigger impact on the 2015 season

Amol Karhadkar in Pune11-Apr-2015Shane Watson had been ruled out due to a niggle. The stand-in captain, Steven Smith, dazzled for a short while. Mitchell Johnson was at his menacing best, until he went for runs in his last over. The man who tormented Johnson in that one over – 20 runs in the 19th over of the match – and dismissed Glenn Maxwell in his first over was the clear winner of the battle of the world champions at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s stadium on Friday night.James Faulkner has delivered with the bat and the ball against some of the best teams in the international arena. His Australia team-mates suffered from his onslaught on Friday as he almost single-handedly helped Rajasthan Royals start their IPL 2015 campaign with a comfortable victory against last year’s finalists, Kings XI Punjab.Faulkner appeared to be at his aggressive best. Perhaps because it was the first game he was playing after being adjudged Man of the Match of the World Cup final. Perhaps, it was also the opposition – a team that hadn’t really made the best use of his skills.Even the most hardcore IPL fans tend to forget that before joining Rajasthan Royals in 2013, Faulkner had a stint with Kings XI Punjab and Pune Warriors as a replacement player. He made a solitary appearance for Pune Warriors, bowling two overs against Delhi Daredevils. In 2012, he was roped in by Kings XI but was ignored for most of the season except for two games.Since 2013, however, Royals have extracted the best out of him. His role with the bat and the ball seems to be well-defined and it has shown in the improving results with every passing seasonWith an allrounder, the confidence gained from success in one aspect of play lifts his other strength, too. That happened on Friday with Faulkner as he rescued Royals with the bat. Tottering at 75 for 5, the Royals were in danger of being wrapped up for mediocre total, but Faulkner’s assault on Johnson and co, pulled them out of the hole.That gave him an extra zip to his key strength – death- bowling. After managing to see the back of Maxwell early on in the innings, Faulkner came back at the back end to seal the win for his team with the wickets of George Bailey and Johnson.”When I get some wickets, I don’t worry but I will definitely cop some stick from time to time,” Faulkner said. “Look, that’s the role I have been given, bowling in one-day cricket in Powerplays and in T20 cricket at the back end of the innings.”The game’s funny. There’s going to be times when you get hit out of the attack. There’s going to be times when things go to plan. One might fold the hands like one did tonight. But that’s the game. That’s what we play for. It’s a roller-coaster ride. Hopefully, more often than not, there’s going to be a winning feeling as a team.”Royals would be hoping Faulkner can continue having the same impact over the next six weeks.

Jimmy Adams reflects on West Indies v Australia in the 1990s. Featuring star turns from Lara, Pidge, Ambi, Tugga… and Michael Bevan

Interview by Scott Oliver03-Jun-20151992-93: Australia 1, West Indies 2
We started the tour with some good performances in the state games. Batsmen got runs, bowlers got wickets, so we were in a good place. There was an immense amount of self-belief in our senior players: people like Dessie, Richie , Curtly , Courtney. I can’t remember feeling any self-doubt from them when we sat and discussed the opposition and what we were hoping to get out of the series. I’d been around the West Indies dressing room in Jamaica in 1990, when they lost to England, and I remember thinking all hell was going to break loose after the game. But Viv and Greenidge and all of them weren’t like that: they just spoke about the next Test match and getting it right.By the end of the first Test we were very well aware that it was going to be a tough series. It ended in a draw, but you’d probably say more points to them than to us. The key factor for us was the strength of our bowling attack, and we had enough performances from the bowlers to suggest that we were in a pretty good place.Warne got wickets, but at the time he wasn’t the focal point of our discussions. We had a lot of respect for the pairing of Merv Hughes and Billy McDermott. I mean, McDermott was an excellent bowler, swinging the ball at his pace, and with consistency.We can look back now at Sydney and just say “typical Lara”: lots of drives and cuts and sweeps, things that we’ve seen a lot of times since then. It was the first time the rest of the world was beginning to see not only someone who scored hundreds but who scored big hundreds.Perth 1993 was the last time West Indies won a series against Australia•Getty ImagesThe senior players weren’t panicking and that had a big influence on everything else. Ambrose and Walsh, Richie and Dessie, they were sort of, “We’re okay, there’s two Tests to go, even though we’re one-nil down.”I guess the team was also on a bit of a high, having won the WSC, and you could argue that that self-belief helped in the last few overs in Adelaide. Ambi and Courtney were just going to bowl until we either win or lose. It gets to the point where there’s no more planning. It’s just two bowlers versus two batsmen and we’ll see where we end up in ten minutes, ‘cos it’ll be over by then.They were 90-odd for 2 at lunch, and the decision was taken to pitch it up a little more and see what happens. It worked in the end, but it was very much a case of not only having the ability to plan but also to carry it out. Take nothing away from Ambi, it was a great spell. From that point we may still have been the No. 1 team in the world but it was very apparent that there was nothing between the two teams. Nothing. As much as you’re going to enjoy a result like that at Adelaide, if Tim May’s clip hadn’t hit Desmond in the shins at forward short leg, those three runs would have won the Test match. Then Australia would have won the series. But going to Perth, we knew we were going to win that Test. Don’t ask me how. We just knew. And it happened.I don’t know if there was any particular animosity in this team towards the Australia team. There could have been. I’ve heard players in my team over the years identify players from the opposition and say, quite plain, “I don’t like that person.” The reverse is true as well, of course. But Merv Hughes and David Boon were in our dressing room almost every day. They came in with two six-packs and they’d just drink them with anybody. Sure, guys would be warring. So you’d have maybe Healy and Brian, or Healy and Dessie, warring. Nobody didn’t pay it any mind. Merv and Boonie – they couldn’t care less.Exit Billy, enter Pidge: In 1995, Glenn McGrath finished with 17 wickets in four Tests•Shaun Botterill/Getty Images1994-95: West Indies 1, Australia 2
I think there were a lot of distracting things happening in and around the team at the time. Maybe that’s just me, but we’d changed the management team before the tour. We’d been travelling with Rohan Kanhai as coach and David Halford as manager for three years, and just before the series started they brought in a new manager and a new coach [Andy Roberts]. They did things differently. And I don’t think the squad was as focused as we could have been. At that level, you’re off by one per cent and sometimes that’s enough. To me it just seems silly. You’re coming into a “world championship” and the management team that has built strong relationships for three years – to sort of disband them just before that series I thought was a bit counterproductive.Also, the whole captaincy thing was going back and forth because Richie had been suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. He’d missed touring India and New Zealand. Courtney had stepped in, filled the gap, and we’d sort of gotten through. Richie comes back, which… every right he should be back as captain. He’d scored runs in regional cricket. But it’s still a different dynamic.I might be wrong, but I don’t think Brian and Carl had many big partnerships. Brian’s big partnerships came with the sort of batsmen who were happy to give him strike and let him dominate. You give him what he wants because if he ends up still there tonight, we’re in a hell of a position. Whereas there might be times – just like Greenidge and Richards, back in the day – when he might have been competing with Carl to get at a particular bowler.Allan Border’s team, when playing well, epitomised what he was like as an individual: very tough, very uncompromising – even more so than your standard stereotype of an Australian. Taylor was probably a more attacking captain. That was the personality he brought to it, I think, but maybe he had more at his disposal. Eras create leaders, and I’m not sure if a Mark Taylor-type captain would have worked in the late 1980s, in the same way that a coach like John Buchanan rather than a Bob Simpson wouldn’t have been what was needed for the team to start making strides forward.By the time that series had finished, we knew that were potentially looking at the next very good Australian bowler. He became great, but at the time we wouldn’t have known how good he would go on to be. But we certainly had an idea. He’d definitely taken over from Billy McDermott as Australia’s No. 1, which was an achievement in itself.It had grass on it. The wicket was such that if it didn’t have that kind of grass, it would have crumbled. I think Shane Warne would have been in his element. But it was a very sporty wicket. I remember batting with Lara and we ended up discussing and agreeing on what for us would have been a pretty unorthodox approach to try and score runs. Maybe in normal circumstances some of the deliveries we looked to score off we wouldn’t have done. I remember Paul Reiffel bowled some impossible deliveries, but your bog-standard delivery was probably one that would get you out on a surface like that, because it was seaming about so much. You had to find a way to cash in before that happened.I don’t think we batted very well in that Test match. And as with most good teams, if you open the door part way, they’ll kick it down. We did that when we beat them in Adelaide. That was like a foot in the door for us, and when we went to Perth and saw that pitch, we kicked the door down. It happens, you know. The key is not to open that door, even halfway.There was a lot that came out in that particular game, even before the game started. It was a very emotional time. We knew we were up against it. There was a stark contrast between the West Indies team in 1995 going into the final Test at one-all at Sabina Park, versus the West Indies team in 1993, going into the Test at Perth one-all. There was a stark contrast in the whole outlook, in the vibe in the team, probably the self-belief. That was a fact. In hindsight, I would venture to say that the senior players for Australia would have seen and felt that difference. I was still a grasshopper in international cricket, but when I’d just gotten old enough to understand these things, there’s no doubt in my mind that the hierarchy of the Australian team would have been pumping it into them: this is not the same West Indies team that went to Perth one-all two years ago.I don’t think we had a team by the end of that series. Issues which had been floating around started to impact mindsets on and off the field, which, for two closely matched teams, could be a dealbreaker. And this is not to take anything away from Australia. You lose a series after four Test matches, you are not the best team. But collectively there wasn’t the same level of focus. There were contributing factors, but good teams can create that focus if they have to, which we had done in previous competitions, but we couldn’t do it then.Curtly Ambrose’s nine wickets at the MCG was one of the few highlights for West Indies during their series loss in 1996-97•Getty Images1996-97: Australia 3 West Indies 2
Australia at that point were a better team than us. They were getting into the Warne-McGrath-Gillespie era. We had Walsh and Ambrose, but Kenny Benjamin got injured early in that series and Bish had had two stress fractures and was trying to work on a new action, but it wasn’t happening. Our back-up were honest triers but not of the same quality. Australia worked on the premise that they’ll keep Walsh and Ambrose out – which most teams were starting to do.You talk about Test match cricket – it’s about how much ammunition you have. We didn’t have the ammunition we once had, and it was putting pressure on everybody. When I started, Ambrose and Walsh, and then Benjamin and Bishop, would say, “Listen, give us 300 runs and we’ll win you the Test match.” Now 300 runs was sometimes only getting you past the follow-on. And it was .I can’t remember his level of consistency, but there was an acceptance that if Bevan pitches it, you had to play properly, because he bowled pretty quick. If he got it wrong, then he would serve up a bit of hitting material. If he got it right, you’d have to mind your p’s and q’s.If Usain Bolt wins the 100m and slows down at the line to win by a few hundredths of a second, he still has the gold medal and everybody else has silver, bronze and also-rans. The fact is that we were playing with a level of inconsistency that wouldn’t rank you as the top team in the world.You have to be careful not to get into a bowler-versus-batsmen situation, but over the course of a series, if you want to win, you’re going to have to score some runs.By then, no matter how you want to colour it, you’re beginning to see a gap in both teams. Certainly in terms of the ability to play consistent cricket over three sessions times five.The 1999 series was a Brian Lara masterclass times three•Getty Images1998-99: West Indies 2, Australia 2
Coming back from a whitewash in South Africa, Brian was put on probation as captain by the board. They were trying to force his hand. There was a clash of personalities between him and the President of the WICB, Pat Rousseau. There had been a big stand off before we went to South Africa. Big egos rubbing together. But we tended to think they should put a few more scenarios together like that if you’re going to get batting like he gave us as the result, you know!As a player, it was embarrassing. You’d think that even on a bad day you’d be better than 51. But in context, it was a hell of an achievement to have gone from there, to heading to Antigua, where we were 2-1 up against the No. 1 team in the world. But after Trinidad, they literally stripped Brian of selectorial power. They basically told him: “We give you the team, and if you don’t like it, we’ll just find another captain.”We thought anything would be possible while Brian was there. I think that was in the back of everybody’s mind, and we all knew he was in good form. You think, if the great man bats through the day and builds a couple of partnerships, then if we’re not there, we’re going to be close.I can remember Brian heaving a couple of sixes off Warne and Stuart MacGill, and cashing in on whoever would have opened the bowling with McGrath. Brian would log stuff like that and he would be planning his innings half an hour in advance. “Well, if we can get 30, 40 off the next 10 overs, by the time he comes back we’ll be here.” That’s how he works.Everybody was sitting on the verandah outside the old dressing rooms. There was just complete silence for the whole over that Courtney survived. Everybody held their breath. We all knew that if Brian got back on strike, the game would be over. Fingernails, fingernails, fingernails stuff.For all the Test matches that I played in, the strength of the Australians, the relative skill of the West Indies team, the batting line-up that we had, the pressure Lara was under from different quarters within West Indies cricket, I’d have to say that was some of the best Test batsmanship that I’ve seen. There was a double-hundred in Jamaica, the 153, a hundred off 80-odd balls in Antigua.The situation with the board got ridiculous, to the point where they were blaming Lara for us not winning the series because he scored too quickly in Antigua. That’s when you know you’re great: when you score a hundred at a run a ball and they’re blaming you for everyone else’s problems.We were so disappointed. It would have been sneaking a win against the world champions. Truth is, we probably didn’t deserve it if you look at the teams we put out. The standouts were the two old warhorses, and then the genius of Lara over four Test matches really. The series was like a sub-story of those three.The series was huge. When you do get two or three great players playing well – very well, out of their skins – with a little bit of support from the rest, you can compete. For the cricket that Australia were playing at the time, and coming off a whitewash two months before in South Africa, to have held them to a 2-2 draw, and been in a position where we could have won the series, it was a massive, massive performance.2000-01: Australia 5, West Indies 0
For me, personally, I never felt the pressure from the great West Indian players of the past. It was a tough trip for everybody, myself included. Still enjoyed it, though. I’ll always love the challenge of competing against the best in the world in anything. By then, lines were clearly demarcated in terms of where both teams were in the rankings. It was bloody hard work. The result reflected the difference between the teams at the time. West Indies had in times past put whitewashes on different teams, and it happens. It’s part and parcel.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from an action-packed one-day international

Alan Gardner at Kia Oval12-Jun-2015The lost ball
Brendon McCullum was not quite as frenetic in the early exchanges as we have come to expect, even defending a delivery in Chris Jordan’s first over. He soon settled in to his work, however, launching a succession of boundaries in the sixth; the first was pulled off a length over mid-on, the second smeared flat to third man for six. The third disappeared off the bat like a baseball home run – and disappeared was the word, as the ball bounced on the concrete of the Peter May stand, out of the ground and away down Clayton Street. A souvenir for a lucky passerby.The helmet half-chance
That barrage came from the first three balls of Jordan’s third over and McCullum made it four consecutive boundaries – though there was a touch of fortune about the last one. Or, perhaps more accurately, a clunk of fortune, as a top-edged pull flew off the helmet and cleared slip. Ben Stokes, standing at second slip, made a move forward, thinking the ball would balloon up, only for it to keep going at a rate of knots and leaving him grasping thin air.The not no-ball
Kane Williamson was moving serenely towards what would have been his seventh ODI hundred – and first against England – when he was rudely interrupted by a Stokes full toss. Williamson swatted at it and the ball came high off the bat and looped to mid-on but, while Stokes celebrated, umpire Tim Robinson was signalling for a no-ball. England had to use a review to get the decision looked at and Bruce Oxenford did not dwell long on his decision, deciding that the delivery was not above waist height and Williamson would have to go.The doffed cap
Late in the innings, with New Zealand closing on 400, Ross Taylor drove the ball firmly but not unstoppably towards Eoin Morgan at mid-off, where a fumble allowed the batsmen to get back for a second. The next delivery was hit in exactly the same direction and this time Morgan got his long barrier working to stop it cleanly. A boozy cheer went up around the ground and Morgan responded by raising his cap in polite acknowledgement.The drop
England had made an encouraging start through Jason Roy and Alex Hales but it should have been stalled from the last ball of the third over. Tim Southee got a delivery to straighten on Roy as he played with an angled bat and an outside edge flew towards Nathan McCullum at second slip. The ball burst through his upturned hands, however, and despite a flailing hand juggling the ball once, he was unable to grab it at the third opportunity as he fell on to his back and contorted his arm around in vain.The closest call
Roy was almost out again shortly after the Powerplay finished but this time it was his own athleticism that saved him. Having squeezed the ball out towards deep midwicket off Nathan McCullum, he took on Mitchell Santner’s arm and looked to be about to lose as a pinpoint throw came in to the keeper. In the fractions of a second it took Luke Ronchi to pouch the ball and break the bails, though, Roy leapt in an arc to bring his bat down over the line to safety by the frame.

Stats highlights from the second day of the Pallekele Test

Bishen Jeswant04-Jul-20151:09

By the Numbers – Azhar surpasses Younis, Yasir joins Warne

3388 Runs scored by Azhar Ali in Tests in the last five years, the most for any Pakistan batsman. He has scored more runs than Misbah-ul-Haq (2933) and Younis Khan (3383).1001 Runs scored by Younis Khan in Sri Lanka, making him the first Pakistan batsman to hit 1000 runs in Sri Lanka. The only other overseas batsman to have scored 1000 Test runs in Sri Lanka is Sachin Tendulkar (1155).9 Years since Younis Khan was last run out in a Test – versus West Indies in Karachi in 2006. He was run out after scoring three runs in the first innings of this Test.6 Times Younis has been run out in Tests, the third most for any Pakistan batsman. The only Pakistan players to be run out more often are Javed Miandad (8) and Wasim Akram (7).7 Consecutive 300-plus first innings scores for Sri Lanka against Pakistan at home before failing to do so today. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 278 in the first innings of this Test.2 Visiting bowlers who have taken three or more five-wicket hauls during a Test series in Sri Lanka – Shane Warne and Yasir Shah. Yasir has taken a five-wicket haul in each of the three Tests this series – 7 for 76 in the first, 6 for 96 in the second and 5 for 78 in the third.10 50-plus scores for Sarfraz Ahmed in Tests, making him the fourth Pakistan keeper to post 10 or more 50-plus scores. The other keepers to do this are Kamran Akmal (18), Moin Khan (18) and Imtiaz Ahmed (14). Sarfraz’s batting average is by far the best among these four.

Charlotte Edwards has seen a transformation in England women’s cricket and remains at the helm at the start of the multi-format Ashes series which begins with three Royal London ODIs – the first in Taunton on Tuesday

Tim Wigmore20-Jul-2015″My first Test Match was in a skirt and now I’m a professional cricketer. And that probably says everything.”Charlotte Edwards’ career embodies the transformation in women’s cricket. She made her international debut in 1996, at the time becoming the youngest ever woman to play for England. In 19 years since she has become one of the most significant women in the history of the game, being named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, winning an MBE and, perhaps most significantly of all, being included in the first batch of England female cricketers to be awarded a central contract last year.”Now there is a career in cricket for any young girl,” she says. “It’s unrecognisable to the game I first started playing. “You just see so many girls now interested which you couldn’t have said before. I didn’t even know a women’s team existed when I was 11 – I thought I’d have to play for the England men’s team!”It’s been a wonderful journey and I’m so pleased I’ve been on that journey. I’m so lucky I can tell young girls about that journey and make them realise how lucky they are.”Edwards’ achievements are worth recounting. She has played more women’s internationals than anyone else in history. She has captained England in over 200 internationals, including Ashes wins at home and away and World Cup and World T20 triumphs. And, after over nine years as full-time skipper – a longer time span than Andrew Strauss’ entire international career – her zeal for the job has not diminished.”There is so much more I want to achieve in the game – more World Cup wins, more Ashes wins. I wish I had a pound for every time I’m asked about retirement. That is not on my mind at all. You can play for longer these days. Every older player tells me to keep on. As long as I can do the training that’s the hard part.”You’ve got to have the passion and desire to get up and do the training, and I’ve got that in abundance. I never thought I’d play for this long and now I’m just enjoying every year as if it’s my last.”Now Edwards again has the Australians in her sights. “It’s going to be a great series. You’ve got the two best teams in the world – we’re desperate to keep hold of the Ashes, and they’re desperate to win them, so it’s going to be set up for a great contest. We’re on home soil so I’m confident – we’ve done well against them here in previous Ashes series and I’m confident we can do it again.”2015 marks a landmark in women’s Ashes cricket: the first time that every England-Australia clash will be played at a regular county ground. “There’s going to be a lot of extra media scrutiny for us around our Ashes which is obviously fantastic.”After winning the last women’s Ashes Down Under in 2013/14, Edwards had to endure some unwelcome extra scrutiny when she was criticised for her intention “to get absolutely smashed tonight.” She laughs when she is reminded of these comments. “I probably shouldn’t have said what I said. It reflects where profile of women game has got to, people were listening to what was being said. I took it as a compliment really.”The latest manifestation of the improvement in the women’s game is the success enjoyed by one of Edwards’ teammates, Kate Cross, in the Central Lancashire League this season, including taking 8 for 47 in one game.”I’ve told her it’s great but she needs to save some wickets for the Ashes.” Edwards herself is testament to the virtues of the best female cricketing talent playing extensively with men.”Without a shadow of a doubt me playing boys’ and men’s cricket until the age of 17 has enabled me to go on and play for England. You have to play some women’s cricket, but I’ll tell any young girl to play boys’ and men’s cricket for as long as you want – it only helps you, more mentally than anything, and the step to women’s international cricket is quite an easy one once you’ve had loads of stick playing men’s cricket.”It is a different game – as a batter I wouldn’t want to go and play league cricket six weeks before the Ashes,” she says, envisaging a battery of deliveries coming through at shoulder height, which she would seldom face in the women’s game.While Edwards welcomes the profile of the women’s Ashes, and the format whereby every game across the three forms of cricket counts towards the series result, she would like the format used in all bilateral series.Yet few other series involve any Tests at all: over 19 years Edwards has managed just 22 Tests, barely more than one a year. She has only played ten Tests against teams other than Australia.”We have to play more of it. It just teaches you more about the game. There is too much emphasis on T20 for women. You can learn so much from the longer format.”Edwards, who will play for Perth Scorchers this winter, also thinks that domestic cricket in England, which will include a six-team Women’s Super League from next year, could learn from Down Under. “Hopefully we will get more England players in that competition. It’s the best in the world at the moment and that is where we should be aiming. I learned a lot out there in terms of my leadership as well as improving as a player and learning a lot about the Aussies.”Australia might not feel inclined to give Edwards any assistance, giving her outstanding record in Ashes cricket: she averages 52.36 in 12 Tests, and needs just 30 more runs to become England’s highest ever Test runscorer against Australia. The records change, but Edwards’ determination to break them remains undimmed.

Zaheer Khan was opening bowler, reverse-swing bowler, strike bowler, containing bowler, bowling captain, and bowling coach, all rolled into one; he made India’s bowling units complete

Sidharth Monga15-Oct-2015MS Dhoni hardly ever comments publicly about a cricketer outside of their bowling, batting or fielding skills. He talks about their ability to play shots, or to move the ball, but he does not easily call any cricketer “clever”.So when Dhoni, your captain in 31 Tests and 63 ODIs, says you are the “most clever fast bowler” he knows, there can be no better praise. It is praise that goes beyond stats, which sadly do not do Zaheer Khan justice. It goes beyond calling him the Tendulkar of Indian bowling, which Dhoni did once. This is despite all the frustration Zaheer’s fitness battles have caused Dhoni over the years.In England, in 2011, Zaheer walked off on the first day to herald India’s depressing sequence of eight straight away defeats. On his comeback, he was even less fit, and operated with zero responsibility with the bat. His fielding had become abysmal and he had to be dropped. Despite all that, when Dhoni – not given to effusive praise – says Zaheer is the cleverest fast bowler he has known, you know the captain’s earlier gratitude exceeds his recent frustration.Dhoni will never contest that Zaheer made him. A major part of Dhoni’s captaincy was devoted to fighting Indian curators who kept rolling out slow and low tracks, when sides stopped fearing travelling to India. This was also the time that Harbhajan Singh was on the decline and Anil Kumble had retired. Zaheer’s Trent Bridge 2007 revenge for jelly beans might be his finest moment in Test cricket, but as a complete bowler, he gave his best to Dhoni the captain.In fact, Dhoni remarks that he hardly had to captain when Zaheer was at his best. Imagine Wasim Akram’s mind in a slightly unfit, brittle body. That was Zaheer at his best. He was opening bowler, reverse-swing bowler, strike bowler, containing bowler, bowling captain, and bowling coach, all rolled into one. You could enjoy Zaheer’s spells in isolation from the matches in which they occurred. India could be losing, but they way Zaheer delightfully set batsmen up was an essay in itself.Trent Bridge 2007 remains the high point of Zaheer’s career•Getty ImagesEvery body movement, every mental move, was deliberate. Like the finest of predators, he did not move a finger in vain; towards the end he hardly had a follow-through. There was always something up, some purpose to what Zaheer at his best did. Even at press conferences, he did not waste his breath. Once, when asked about new plans for Graeme Smith, Zaheer, smiling, said, “I just have to turn up.” It was a measured smile. Not a wide, self-congratulatory smile, but a menacing, narrow one.Zaheer remembered batsmen’s weaknesses for years. He once played Smith three years after he had last played him, but it was as if he had never stopped working at Smith. Or Kumar Sangakkara. Unlike Akram, Zaheer could not swing the ball back into right-hand batsman consistently, but he somehow would manage to get one to move back in, and that was enough for him in a spell. He would sometimes bowl a legcutter to create the illusion of swing, and then prey with the ball going straight on. Smith always had both his edges vulnerable to Zaheer.Then came the old ball. Once it got heavier on one side Zaheer became lethal. That is how he gave Dhoni control. That is how he won India Tests at home, making up for the lack of a match-winning spinner or desired pitches. It is one thing to be able to look after the ball and get it to reverse but another to know what to do with the reversing ball. Zaheer did the latter with precision.Zaheer did what not many modern bowlers can claim to have done: master all three balls – SG, Dukes and Kookaburra. Only Dale Steyn has outdone him on that count. James Anderson is perhaps an equal. Mitchell Johnson has struggled with the SG, as did even Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. Zaheer did it with the SG in India, with the Kookaburra in South Africa and Sri Lanka, and with the Dukes in England.Still, his biggest contribution perhaps was invisible. He made India’s bowling units complete. He set fields for other bowlers. Sreesanth had that lovely seam position, but his seam and swing without Zaheer counted for little. This aspect of Zaheer’s contribution made itself apparent in South Africa in 2010-11, when he missed the first Test and India got walloped, looking toothless with the ball after having been bowled out for 136. In the second Test, which India won, Zaheer took just six wickets out of 20, but Harbhajan, who had earlier insisted losing Zaheer in that first Test was not a big loss, said Zaheer had proved him wrong. He helps others take wickets, he said. He is the man.Zaheer’s knuckled slower balls during the 2011 World Cup fooled many a batsman•AFPAsk Shoaib Akhtar where he learnt to take wickets, and he will tell you it was from Akram or Waqar Younis at mid-off or mid-on. Ask Akram and Younis and they will point to Imran. You look at India’s fast bowlers today, and you see the bowling coach showing them the techniques, but there is nobody at mid-off showing them how to take wickets. Zaheer bowled off 13 paces when at his best, had zero follow-through, stayed around 130kmph, but knew how to take wickets. There was a Pakistani bowler somewhere inside him.That he did not play the first Test of a series was a regular theme in Zaheer’s career. He was crippled by injuries. It was frustrating. Not least for him. Shoulder, hamstring, back, mysterious injuries whose root cause took a long time finding, Zaheer had to counter all. It did not help that his work ethic was questioned in the first half of his career. Indeed, in 2012, when he went to France to become fitter, he did so only after he was sacked, not during an off season. He is now ending on 92 Tests after having mounted yet another comeback that ended in his being dropped.The final memories – although not the enduring ones – will be his inability to lead the attack to what seemed like inevitable wins, in Johannesburg and in Wellington. It may not be a perfect ending, but only Zaheer knows what his body went through when it could not match his ambition. He never openly talked about his skill, which was immense. We would have loved to hear, for instance, how he developed the knuckle-ball slower ball that was unleashed on England tied match in the 2011 World Cup. Between Trent Bridge and that World Cup, Zaheer was arguably India’s biggest match-winner, but to not talk about how he developed his various skills was un-Pakistani of a very Pakistani Indian bowler.For an Indian fast bowler to be compared to his Pakistan counterparts is a big compliment. Not even Kapil Dev drew such comparisons. That Zaheer has outdone and outlasted all his Pakistani contemporaries, even Akhtar, should bring ultimate respect.