Stats preview of the second Test between South Africa and Australia to be played in Durban

Siddhartha Talya05-Mar-2009South Africa failed to repeat their Perth heroics in Johannesburg and were beaten comprehensively, but Australia will be aware that the home team has had the experience, quite recently, of bouncing back from being 1-0 down to win a three-Test series. India beat them for the first time in South Africa at the Wanderers in 2006-07 but lost the next two Tests in Durban and Capetown. West Indies caused a massive upset the following year in Port Elizabeth, but the hosts again recovered to take the rubber 2-1 with convincing wins in the subsequent games. South Africa will bank on their excellent record in Durban – since readmission, they’ve won eight Tests and lost two – but they’ll know that their only defeat at the venue in the last nine years came at the hands of Australia in March 2006.

Tests in Durban

PlayedWonLostDrawnW/L ratioSouth Africa (overall)35139131.44Australia (overall)94321.33South Africa (since readmission)168264Australia (since 1991)31111Jacques Kallis has been the most successful among South Africa’s batsmen in the current squad at Kingsmead – he’s 69 shy of reaching 1000 runs at the venue – with four centuries, all consecutive, in five Tests since 2002. In six Tests before that, he had only managed two fifties. The others, though, have mixed records. Graeme Smith averages a modest 31.81 in seven Tests but struck form at the ground with a half-century against India in 2006, and followed that up with an aggressive 147 against West Indies the next year, setting up an innings win. Mark Boucher is next in the list with 30.38 in 10 Tests, but AB de Villiers has impressive figures, averaging 64.20 with a century and two fifties in four Tests. Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla have struggled in Durban, managing just one half-century between them in 11 innings.

SA batsmen in Durban (minimum of three Tests)

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage50/100AB de Villiers432164.202/1Jacques Kallis1193158.183/4Graeme Smith735031.811/1Mark Boucher1039530.384/1Neil McKenzie410717.830/0Hashim Amla37114.201/0Among the Australians in the squad, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey are the only two to have played a Test at Kingsmead. Ponting has performed splendidly at the venue, averaging 85.50 in two Tests, including a century in each innings in his team’s 112-run win in 2006. In the same Test, and in his only innings in Durban, Hussey made 75.Makhaya Ntini has done well in Durban, averaging 24.62 – his career average is 28.17 – in eight Tests, and taking a wicket in each of his 16 innings. He took eight in the win over India in 2006 to turn the tide in favour of South Africa in the series after they had lost the first Test. On the other hand, Kallis has managed just 15 wickets in 11 Tests at an average of 37.80; he concedes 30.97 runs per wicket overall. Dale Steyn has played just two Tests at the venue, capturing ten wickets – including 6 for 72 against West Indies last year – at 23.80 apiece.Though pace bowlers have taken far more wickets at Kingsmead since 2000, spinners have a better average. South Africa, however, did not play a specialist spinner in their last two Tests in Durban and have relied primarily on pace throughout, but with Paul Harris bowling well, their approach this time might be different.Since 2000, spinners have done well in the first and the fourth innings, averaging 29.37 and 28.72 respectively. For South Africa, they have been relatively disappointing with 17 wickets in over eight years at 39.41 apiece as opposed to the fast bowlers’ 26.50. Overseas spinners have done considerably better, capturing 39 wickets at 26.48, including a matchwinning effort from Shane Warne in early 2006. For Australia, Michael Clarke could be given extended spells.

Pace and Spin in Durban

OversRunsWicketsAverageRuns-per-over5W/10WPace since 20001991.2658019433.913.306/0Spin since 2000565.117035630.413.013/1Pace for SA since 20001090333912626.503.064/0Spin for SA since 2000212.46701739.413.150/0Teams have preferred to field first – they’ve done so in five out of eight occasions – in Durban since 2000, and have won each time. The three times teams have opted to bat first, they’ve won twice and drawn once. Over the last nine years, the pitch has tended to favour the bowlers in the first innings and ease significantly in the second, third and fourth innings.

Runs-per-wicket in each innings since 2000

FirstSecondThirdFourth29.2735.5736.3633.33

A speculative look at what cricket’s next decade has in store – from floodlit Tests to international teams in the IPL

Simon Wilde06-Feb-2009

Teams like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could conceivably play more one-off Tests against each other in future as longer series become unviable for them © PA Photos

Just how radical cricket’s future might be is clear from looking at the past. Imagine we are back in early 1999 and ask who would have thought then that an as-yet uncapped 20-year-old batsman from Delhi, Virender Sehwag, would over the next 10 years maintain as an opener a scoring-rate in Tests of almost 80 runs per 100 balls while averaging more than 50 per innings. Who would have imagined, either, that an England batsman (having already gained fame for winning the Ashes while wearing a skunk on his head) would have introduced switch-hitting into five-day cricket? And who on earth would have said that 20-over matches would take the world by storm? Logically we are in for one hell of a ride between now and 2019.The advent of Twenty20 will prove one of the seminal moments in cricket history. Its major effect will be the end of internationals as the primary goal of every professional player. Instead many players will essentially be free agents, more independent and wealthy than they have ever been. They will be granted seats, and an influential voice, on national boards and the ICC.There will be several Twenty20 leagues around the world – in India, England, Australia and possibly South Africa – plus more exhibition events, like the Stanford Super Series, sponsored by super-rich patrons. These will enable 100 players a year to earn million-dollar salaries from this format alone. All major international cricket is suspended when these events take place.The Champions League, however, may take several years to take root and, given the exorbitant prices for TV rights paid at the outset, may even be junked as a victim of the credit crunch.The popularity and wealth of these events will force Test and traditional 50-overs internationals into change. Test matches will be condensed to four days because five days will seem too long, the tempo of the games will inevitably get faster due to Twenty20, and everyone will regard the chance to save a day and open up valuable space in a crowded calendar as too good an opportunity to miss.In every country outside England most Test matches will be played under floodlights once manufacturers provide a coloured ball that does not misbehave too much. At a stroke this will revitalise spectator interest in Australia and South Africa, but problems with dew will influence which venues stage Tests and when these matches are played.In England day-time attendances will remain strong but this means England will find it harder to win Tests overseas because they will have less experience of Test cricket at night. Generally Test matches will see faster scoring, with the best batsmen achieving strike-rates in excess of 100, and teams will not blanch at being asked to chase down 450 in the fourth innings.Another seminal event is the decision taken by ICC members that from 2012 they will play the World Twenty20 and 50-overs World Cup every three years. These tournaments make up two of international cricket’s three “majors”, the other being the world Test Championship.The Test Championship is basically run on the existing rankings system but with a playoffs season every third year, the main attraction being two semi-finals and a final. These are “special” Test matches, played as two-innings limited-overs matches of 180 overs per side so that draws are eliminated. These games originally take place in London as this is regarded as the most cosmopolitan centre, though the security bill eats up most of the revenue.In defiance of predictions Tests will continue to provide some of the most enthralling matches and remain much loved by television companies anxious to fill their airtime. Test cricket is exciting because, thanks to the influence of Twenty20, batting sides think almost no task impossible and are prepared to risk losing in the quest for victory.The speed at which batsmen score will help keep a balance between bat and ball, with runs per wicket staying at around 30-35, as it has for many years. Those appearing for the main Test-playing nations will continue to record striking personal aggregates. Among those to reach 10,000 runs in Tests will be Australia’s Michael Clarke and AB de Villiers of South Africa, while Kevin Pietersen will be followed to this milestone for England by Alastair Cook.

	Many players will essentially be free agents, more independent and wealthy than they have ever been. They will be granted seats, and an influential voice, on national boards and the ICC

But less Test cricket will be played. Outside the big five who play each other regularly – England, Australia, India, South Africa and West Indies (the latter’s cricket rejuvenated by the disciplines and money brought in through the annual Stanford matches, once Allen Stanford gets the modernised West Indies board he wants) – priorities will lie elsewhere.Under the new Future Tours Programme, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh are permitted to play one-off Tests rather than the existing minimum of two.After the disastrous example of Zimbabwe no new countries apply for Test status but several new countries start
playing official Twenty20s, including the United States and a well-funded Chinese team.Sri Lanka and New Zealand among others will be relieved not to play so many Tests because TV companies and
sponsors there had less interest in covering matches and the national boards found the games expensive to stage. Most
of their leading players, in any case, will be happy concentrating on Twenty20s and ODIs. These countries will rarely
deny players a No-Objection Certificate for domestic Twenty20s for fear of losing them altogether.The way for the Pakistani players was led by Sohail Tanvir’s decision in December 2008 to sign to play Twenty20 for South Australia. Pakistan will stage what few home Tests they host in Abu Dhabi or London (security permitting),
as Pakistan itself continues to suffer from a boycott on security grounds. The Pakistan board will fulfill foreign tours, but results are poor as they struggle to put out a full-strength XI.Pakistan also have what are effectively national teams in the ICL and IPL, as do Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This means that their players can make up for their smaller earnings from Test cricket. Even without so many opportunities against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Ajantha Mendis, the Sri Lankan spinner, will have little trouble passing 500 Test wickets.The experience of playing so much Twenty20 will help the Asian nations, Bangladesh included, dominate the World Twenty20 and World Cup, thanks to their strength in unorthodox spin, inventive fast bowlers, and greater use of the
muscle-building supplements like Creatin.All round, India, their talent base enlarged through the inspirational effect of the short formats, become indisputably the
best team in the world. They have one of the strongest packs of fast bowlers, several of whom are left-armers. The best of them is Ishant Sharma. India’s new breed of batsmen includes Murali Vijay, who blends a solid technique with the strength to smite big sixes.Australia will win fewer trophies. Their Test cricket will suffer from their board allowing so many leading players time to play in the Twenty20 leagues and their sloth in integrating ethnic minorities, who may follow the example of Moises Henriques, a former Under-19 captain born in Madeira, who signed for the IPL in 2008.

Switch-hitting is set to become as big as reverse-sweeping is now, and the likes of David Warner will see their value rise © Getty Images

South Africa remain strong in fast bowling – led by the world’s best new-ball pair, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel – but pay the price for being unable to produce world-class spinners and lacking imagination when it comes to limited-overs cricket. Their team is bolstered by expatriate Zimbabweans with nowhere else to go.West Indies produce several dazzling strokemakers but their most reliable batsman is likely to be Adrian Barath, a low-wicket player from Trinidad in the style of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. England become a strong Test side thanks to a rich seam of Asian-extraction slow bowlers – led by legspinning allrounder Adil Rashid – who can win them day-time matches at home. These spinners will not be as one-dimensional as Monty Panesar, as multi-faceted cricketers
are strictly de rigueur. Because they continue to play more Tests than anyone else, England lag behind in the shorter forms of the game.Spin bowling will generally have a big part to play as it is seen as the best way of slowing down the scoring. In turn the challenge for batsmen will be to find ways to break the shackles. Switch-hitting will become as common as reverse-sweeping is today. The United States team, in particular, is keen on switch-hitters. In the Twenty20 leagues every team will have at least one switch-hitter, a pattern begun by David Warner of New South Wales, who can bat with almost equal facility left-handed or right-handed. To this end it is common for players to use double-sided bats, which are
currently being developed by Gray-Nicolls in Australia.Wristy batsmen will prosper but what will underpin the games of the vast majority of batsmen will be raw muscle. The open-chested stance will be more common, as batsmen look to free their arms for baseball-style swings. The number of six hits will rise to record levels; in Twenty20s more sixes will be hit than fours, as batsmen go aerial to ensure they elude fielding that is more athletic than ever.Yellow and red cards will belatedly be introduced for slow play, indiscipline and physical contact, all of which will rise in response to the greater financial rewards on offer. The ICC will also consent to on-field umpires acting in unison with the third official.

Stats highlights from the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

S Rajesh03-Aug-2009In his 17 previous ODI innings Mahela Jayawardene had scored one half-century, four ducks, and averaged 15.11•AFP The 202-run partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga is the third-highest for the first wicket for Sri Lanka in ODIs, and their highest at home. Their highest overall is 286, against England at Leeds in 2006. Of the five 200-plus opening stands for Sri Lanka, Tharanga has been involved in three. It’s also Sri Lanka’s first double-century opening stand without the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayawardene’s glorious 123 ended a barren run in ODIs: in his 17 previous ODI innings he had an average of 15.11, with one half-century and four ducks. This was also only his second ODI innings as an opener. In his previous effort – against Zimbabwe in Harare in November 2008 – he had failed to get off the mark. Dambulla has traditionally been a difficult venue for batting, but in this game both Pakistan and Sri Lanka scored totals that hadn’t been scored at this ground. In 28 previous ODIs in Dambulla, the highest score had been 282, by Sri Lanka against India in 2004. India chased it bravely, but fell short by 12 runs. Those were the two highest ODI totals here before today. The win also ended a poor run for Sri Lanka in ODI series at home – they had lost their last three, against England and twice against India. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s results in home ODI series.) The pitch was so good for batting that even Muttiah Muralitharan leaked plenty of runs – in ten overs he conceded 64, which is the second-highest number of runs he has conceded in a home ODI. The highest is 66, against India earlier this year. In terms of economy rates, this comes in at third place among his most expensive spells at home. Click here for the full list. It was also a bad game for Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s most consistent spinner. He leaked 7.50 runs per over, his most expensive spell in almost two years. Against India in Kanpur in November 2007, he had conceded 57 in seven, a rate of 8.14 per over. Since then, in 30 ODIs before this one, only twice did he concede more than six runs per over.

The out-of-favour former South African spearhead looks forward to cycling with Lance Armstrong, while still hoping to return to the side

Telford Vice14-Feb-2010Makhaya Ntini won’t forget the past few weeks in a hurry. Nor is next month likely to leave his memory anytime soon.”I’ll be riding with Lance Armstrong, and you wouldn’t believe how much I’m looking forward to it,” Ntini said.Ntini, an inveterate fitness freak, came out of the cycling closet years ago. If he can’t be contacted outside of the hours of play, he’s probably on his bike somewhere. So the news that Armstrong, a veritable Don Bradman on wheels, would take part in the Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour – billed as “the world’s largest individually timed cycle race” – in Cape Town this year hit Ntini like a runaway bus. And not only because he would breathe the same air as another elite sportsman.Armstrong’s career seemed over when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that spread to his brain and lungs in 1996. Three years later, he began his record run of seven victories in the Tour de France.”I’ve always followed his career, especially in the Tour de France,” Ntini said. “He’s such an inspiration. If he can come back from cancer, who’s to say what can be achieved by people in other sports?” Who says, in other words, that Ntini’s international career is over?”Why can’t we let someone decide for himself what he wants to do, and not decide for him,” Ntini said. “It’s one of the most irritating things – that people want to make up other people’s minds for them.”Ntini came like a comet in 1998. Eleven years later he has played 101 Tests, taken 390 wickets, and earned a place in history as South Africa’s first – and greatest – black African player. But, at 32, his powers are waning. Ntini was a poor imitation of his former self in the first two Tests against England this southern summer, and consequently left out of the last two. He is also missing from the South African squad in India, and watched from a distance their innings victory in the first Test.”I saw Dale Steyn take those seven wickets in the first innings, I saw Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla batting together. And it hurts. You feel like you should have been there. You would have loved to be there to experience it and to celebrate with the guys. There’s no other place where winning feels as good as it does in India, except Australia.”For a bowler who doesn’t have the gift of express pace, nor the ability to move the ball off the seam consistently, and less yet to swing it through air, relentlessness and control are all-important. So it figures that there should be a note of panic in Ntini’s tone now that his destiny is no longer in his hands.”I still want to play for South Africa, and I still want to achieve so much for the country. Each and every one of the people behind me knows I can still offer a lot. But we can all say that. If the people who are running cricket don’t agree, there’s nothing we can do. I can’t control what the selectors do and what the captain thinks.”The c-word comes up again when he is asked whether he feels it is important that a team representing South Africa should include at least one black African player: “That’s none of my business. It’s out of my control.”But let’s not paint Ntini as a sad, spent player. He remains in love with the game, and never more so than this season, when he was part of the Warriors team that won a trophy, the MTN40, for the first time in the franchise’s history.”Immediately after we won the final, the rain came down. We were waiting to receive the trophy in the rain, and I knew then that we were really blessed.”Ntini is a man of unplumbed depth of character and a heart at least as big as the grounds he has graced. Whether or not he makes it back to the big time, blessed is how we should feel to have known him.

Anything less than 20 wickets won’t suffice if the No. 1 side in the world is to go back home with their faces saved

Sidharth Monga at the P Sara Oval02-Aug-2010The P Sara Oval is a quiet old-world ground built on what used to be marshy land in Borella, beyond which, it seems, lies nothing. Somewhere around is Sri Lanka’s largest prison, the maximum security Welikada, spread over 48 acres of land. India are playing the series-decider in fitting surroundings. For they are themselves in jail. The batsmen put them there through their show in Galle, and the bowlers now need to become escape artists. Anything less than 20 wickets won’t suffice if the No. 1 side in the world is to go back home with their faces saved.It has been a tour full of woe for India. They lost Zaheer Khan even before boarding the flight, Sreesanth was gone on the first day of training, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh have been battling flu, and Gautam Gambhir’s series lasted only five deliveries before a knee injury came calling. Ask MS Dhoni about team news, and he says, “Injury list, you mean?”That they would have been resting at home, nursing tired bodies, had the BCCI not agreed to this out-of-FTP tour is likely to have crossed their minds. Especially since India haven’t fielded a full-strength team in any form of the game since Sri Lanka’s tour of India last year.Injuries are just the start of the story though. India’s bowling, Harbhajan included, has scarcely looked like troubling batsmen, even in the tour game. Take away one session on an overcast day on a pitch under covers and rain for a day, and the bowlers have only endurance and fitness to show for their efforts so far. The fast bowlers don’t seem to have the skill for these pitches – swing, both conventional and reverse. They both hit the deck, and need seam movement, which is all but absent in Sri Lanka. That India stuck with the same attack for the first two Tests shows the kind of confidence the team management has in Munaf Patel and Amit Mishra.All this made the role of the batsmen even more important, and they crumbled in Galle against an inspired out-going Muttiah Muralitharan and a dangerous in-coming Lasith Malinga. Still, they had no business losing that match in three-and-a-half days of cricket. Virender Sehwag refused to leave wide deliveries when India were batting to save the Test; Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar made different kinds of errors in the first innings, and under immense pressure when following on, India could just not hang in.On a tour such as this, it isn’t surprising that the team is holding on to little crumbs of comfort, like the updating of the ICC tables that secured their No. 1 ranking. “Of course, being the captain, I have reason to feel proud, but all credit to the team… To the players… After all, it’s a team effort,” Dhoni told the Kolkata-based after he came to know India can’t lose their top spot in Sri Lanka.Before the ICC updated their tables, the batsmen upgraded their application and made sure they didn’t break under the pressure of 642 runs on the SSC scoreboard. After their bowling show, the best the batsmen could have done was keeping the series alive, and despite the odd nervy moment they managed it.Now India need something that has looked out of their reach. They haven’t taken 20 wickets in the series so far, and they need them – fairly cheaply too – in one Test. To make things more difficult, Harbhajan is unlikely to play thanks to a calf niggle. However ineffective he might have proved so far, Harbhajan will be missed.The P Sara Oval gives touring sides, and also sides that lose the toss, the best chance to do well. That said, these are still some of the toughest conditions for visitors. Obviously there won’t be too much assistance from the pitch since Sri Lanka know that India desperately need it, and also since Sri Lankan bowlers are better suited to bowling in unhelpful conditions. Fair enough too. Away Test wins shouldn’t come easy.This one won’t be easy either. In fact it will be a grand achievement, a great show of character, if India can win this Test to level the series with such a depleted line-up. They will need every trick they can muster: early movement (almost none so far), reverse-swing (ditto), fresh ideas, fresh menace in the attack (not quite visible on the surface), flawless fielding (can’t be accused of that so far). And then some special batting. India’s predicament is such that all of those put together would amount to just an escape. The inmates of Welikada would approve.

To those in his native Trinidad, who always regarded Adrian Barath’s advance into the West Indies Test team as a matter of when, rather than if, the opener’s delightful debut hundred would not have been surprising

Tony Cozier29-Nov-2009To those in his native Trinidad — Brian Lara most prominent among them — who always regarded Adrian Barath’s advance into the West Indies Test team as a matter of when, rather than if, the opener’s delightful debut hundred in Brisbane on Saturday would not have been surprising.Bryan Davis, the one-time Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies opener, and currently the cricket manager at the famous Queen’s Park Cricket Club in Port of Spain, tells the story of this tiny boy brought to the indoor nets by his father and friends who proceeded to pepper him to such an extent that he feared for his safety.Barath senior assured him that his son, even smaller than he is now at 19, could handle himself. It didn’t take long for Davis to agree. That 11-year-old’s progress since has been measured and true to expectations.At 16, he was into the Trinidad and Tobago first-class team and scoring hundreds in successive matches, against the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands in his first year.Last season, there was 192 against the Leewards and 132 for West Indies A against the touring England party, who had James Anderson, Steve Harmison, Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann in their bowling arsenal.It might have been enough to gain him selection for the home and away Test series that followed but he had to wait for Bangladesh in the Caribbean, and wait some more again when, like the others chosen, he lost he chance of an earlier and less demanding initiation because of the West Indies Players Association’s (WIPA’s) contracts dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).He came to wider international attention during Trinidad and Tobago’s stirring showing in the Champions League Twenty20 in India in October when, in his second match, he thumped four sixes in 63 off 41 balls off the Eagles, the South African team.The next step in the progression was the Test hundred, although it was a bit much to expect it on debut at an age even younger than the 20-year-old George Headley’s second-innings 176 against England at the Kensington Oval in 1930, a Test hundred and, at that, in a land down under where they are scarce for visiting batsmen.Fair enough but what would have strengthened Lara’s comparison with a young Sachin Tendulkar, publicly, boldly and honestly expressed when he took Barath to England to expose him to the culture of the game at Lord’s and other famous cricket venues in 2007, were the circumstances in which his Brisbane feat was fashioned.Even by recent West Indian standards, they could not have been more dire. The team had lived up to all the denigration heaped on it by the Australian media since its arrival.The captain, Chris Gayle, had jetted back to Jamaica to be with his ill mother and no one quite knew when he would be back, if at all. He did return, only to wrongly predict the toss of the coin, giving Australia the advantage of batting first. By then, it was known that Ramnaresh Sarwan, the key No.3 batsman with a double-hundred, three singles and an average of 76.2 in his seven Tests for the year, was enduring back spasms and would not be in the playing XI.By the time the first day was half through, Jerome Taylor, the only fast bowler with genuine Test experience and depended on to spearhead the attack, had done something to his hip that would restrict him to nine overs. It placed more responsibility on the untested rest and, dutifully as they tried, their efforts were blunted by determined Australian batting and typically faulty West Indies catching.When Ricky Ponting thankfully declared the innings at 480 for 8 just before tea on a second day of blazing 30 degrees heat, it left Barath and his teammates to initially aim for a total of 280 to avoid the follow-on.Four wickets in the space of three-quarters of an hour in the second session, Barath’s among them, rendered it mission impossible. Dogged resistance for more than four hours from Travis Dowlin, a 32-year-old journeyman provided with a belated, utterly unexpected chance at the highest level through the withdrawal four months earlier of disgruntled others, and a little flurry from the lower order couldn’t stave off the inevitable.Barath found himself returning to start the second innings in his first Test with the beleaguered Gayle after lunch yesterday, a deficit of 252 to be cleared to make the opposition bat again. A revival seemed to depend on Gayle and the reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a pair of contrasting left-handers with 204 Tests, 14,000 runs and 31 hundreds between them.Instead, Gayle, whose general method is shot-a-ball, offered none at all and was soon lbw for the second time. Chanderpaul, for most of the past two years an immovable object, paddled a catch high off the bat to the fielder alongside the square-leg umpire. The No.10 would be out later to a similar shot but it was excusable for Kemar Roach. For Chanderpaul, it was completely out of character.Dowlin was sandwiched between them so that, by the end of the 17th over, the mismatch predicted by the Australian press was confirmed.At his age, Barath might well have been frozen into inactivity or else become careless and extravagant by the turn of events. Brendan Nash fell into the former category, Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor, who hooked medium-paced long-hops precisely into long-leg’s lap, into the latter.

What would have strengthened Brian Lara’s comparison with a young Sachin Tendulkar, publicly, boldly and honestly expressed when he took Barath to England to expose him to the culture of the game at Lord’s and other famous cricket venues in 2007, were the circumstances in which his Brisbane feat was fashioned.

In contrast, Barath stoutly defended the good balls on a pitch behaving itself in spite of its mosaic of cracks and indulged his offside penchant whenever a boundary presented itself. The balance was clear in the 19 fours he stroked and the 102 balls of his 138 faced that he blocked.The innings was a gem and acknowledged as such by wise observers in the television commentary box, all of whom know the euphoria of a Test hundred, by his teammates in the West Indies, including those who managed to overcome their individual shame to rise in applause, and the 12,000 or so spectators who saw Barath off to a clearly heartfelt ovation.As was mentioned more than once, it was a performance that should be an inspiration to other young cricketers in the Caribbean.In this match, the bowling of Roach, 21, and in his third Test, caught the attention. Denesh Ramdin’s wicketkeeping and aggressive batting moved Ian Healy, a kindred spirit, into a prophecy that the vice-captain, still only 24, will be among the best in the game by the time he is through.Others wait in the wings, not least another Darren Bravo, the 20-year-old left-handed batsman, and the Nevisian Kieron Powell, another left-hander, aged 19. There is, however, a warning light for those responsible for such matters.The last West Indian to score a hundred on his debut Test was Dwayne Smith, against South Africa in Cape Town four years ago and every bit as spectacular as Barath’s. Significantly, he is now a Twenty20 gem for Sussex but no longer in the West Indies team.Given his background and the organisation of the game in Trinidad and Tobago that now produces batsmen as Barbados and Guyana once did, it is unlikely that Barath will suffer the same fate. But the WICB need to ensure that the structures are in place to harness the best of all the budding Baraths. Perhaps it could consult its affiliates in Port of Spain and Couva for guidance.

Plays of the day from second day of the second Test between India and Australia in Bangalore

Sidharth Monga at the Chinnaswamy Stadium10-Oct-2010The cruelty
Sreesanth must have done something really awful to Ian Gould some time in the past. The revenge act was one of the worst possible. When finally Sreesanth put a good spell together, he thought he had been rewarded when Tim Paine chased a wide delivery and edged. Sreesanth was done thanking the heavens, the relief was writ large on his face, when Gould asked Paine to wait. For the second time in two Tests, an umpire was not sure about the legitimacy of the ball he had not called immediately. The replays showed the suspicion was well founded, and that Sreesanth had overstepped. Just to rub it in further, Paine drove Sreesanth through the covers and midwicket later in the over.The inexplicable field
A man trying to save his career had just moved from 95 to 99 with a streaky boundary past slip. He would obviously be anxious about that hundred. The Indian field settings suggested otherwise. Three men waited on the on-side boundary, and singles were there to be taken everywhere. Sure enough North did that, spending no time on 99.The turnaround
The Bangalore crowd came in for a fair share of criticism on day one after their random booing of all Australians. Today, though, they were going to make up for it. Paine’s fifty, the partnership’s fifty and hundred, and North’s hundred were cheered heartily. When a disappointed North was walking off after holing out to deep midwicket, he acknowledged the full house’s appreciation. All was well again.The message
Sachin Tendulkar may have become the first man to reach 14,000 runs today, but that doesn’t quite make today his day. However, there are other reasons that do. As pointed out by a spectator, and displayed on the big screen, it is October 10, 2010 today, which is conveniently written as 10-10-10: 10dulkar will want to score big and make tomorrow his day too, never mind the date.The repeat offence
Rahul Dravid has, for no explicable reason, developed a weakness against left-arm seamers of late. And it’s not the ones that swing the ball in, and create doubt. It’s the ones that angle it across, and get him chasing. Chanaka Welegedara has had his share of success against Dravid, and so had Doug Bollinger in the first Test of the series. Australia were ready to exploit that chink. As soon as Dravid came to bat, Ponting called back Mitchell Johnson, put in three slips, and asked his main fast man to bowl full and wide. Six balls later, the edge was induced, and the catch taken at third slip.

The Warriors are just one rung away from the top of the ladder they set out to climb, but South Australia’s trophy cupboard stays barren

Firdose Moonda in Centurion25-Sep-2010Remember that rasping Creed song, Those scratchy, distressed words could well have been the ballad the South Australian Redbacks and the Warriors waltzed to in Centurion. – a world where hunger knows no bounds.The Redbacks have not won a trophy in 15 years and the parched trophy cupboard is getting anxious. Michael Klinger, their captain, always maintained that the team had high hopes coming into the tournament, and he couldn’t hide his disappointment that they couldn’t fulfil those aims. “It’s definitely frustrating, once we got to the semi-finals, we thought we could go all the way,” Klinger said. “A lot of people didn’t expect us to make it to the semi-finals, but we did. We applied ourselves really well, but we were outplayed in all three aspects today.”The Warriors have an appetite of a different sort. After capturing their first two trophies since the franchise system started last season, they have become addicted to the thrill of victory. Davy Jacobs, the Warriors captain, said before the game that the Eastern Cape side had a vision of becoming the best franchise in the world by next year, but hinted that perhaps their time had come a little earlier.They were ready to ask themselves, With eyes wide open, the Warriors appeared to see everything. The only moment of blur was when Ashwell Prince hung his bat out to dry against the second-fastest ball bowled in the competition. “It’s Shaun Tait’s job to take wickets, you can’t stop that. When Ashwell got out, it was important for the next guy who came in, Colin Ingram, to do the job, and he did,” Jacobs said.Ingram and the captain combined for a second-wicket stand of 104, with Jacobs the dominant partner. His 61 saw him soar to the top of the run charts. Despite his scintillating highs, Jacobs didn’t want to say much about himself. “This is basically the way I have been playing for the last couple of years. But, I don’t like to talk about myself; I’d rather talk about the team.”For the Redbacks, visibility wasn’t always that clear. Strangely, they sometimes saw with the precision of a bird of prey, like when Daniel Harris ran from his follow-through to square leg to dismiss Jacobs. At other times, their eyesight, along with a few other factors, let them down. The Redbacks put down Ingram twice and Mark Boucher once. “Most of the catches were pretty tough and some of them just didn’t stick today. We’ve prided ourselves on good fielding for most of the tournament,” Klinger said.The Warriors were seeing the ball like a pumpkin in the field. Boucher watched it climb a stairway to heaven and spiral down into his gloves to send Harris on his way for eight. Johan Botha almost swallowed the ball, when, three deliveries later, it was hit to him on the midwicket rope. Klinger was gone for 13, and the Redbacks had lost their two kingpins.The one man who may have appeared to have weak visibility was the ultimate Warrior himself, Makhaya Ntini. He laboured in the field and bowled two expensive overs. With the Wanderers pitch expected to be bouncy, will Ntini have fitted his pair of lenses, to be back to his best? “I wouldn’t say he is in bad form, he had a good game in the last match. Perhaps the pitch just didn’t suit him,” Jacobs said, adding that Ntini’s experience can never be underestimated. “He has been playing for South Africa for more than decade and he knows the Wanderers very well.”The Warriors are just one rung away from the top of the ladder they set out to climb. Klinger had some words of praise for his opponents, hinting that he thought the scale was ever-so-slightly tipped in their favour. “They have quite a predictable game, so we knew exactly who was going to bowl which over, but it didn’t matter, because they are so difficult to beat. They probably already had their bad game against Chennai,” he said.So, the Warriors go higher. To Johannesburg. To the final.

ESPNcricinfo presents the pivotal clashes to watch out for during the Sri Lanka-England Test series, which kicks off in Galle on Monday

Andrew McGlashan in Galle25-Mar-2012Andrew Strauss v Chanaka Welegedara
The England captain needs a strong series with the bat. He has not scored a Test hundred since Brisbane in November 2010, but if he is to get one on this trip the challenge will not just come from the spinners. Chanaka Welegedara removed Strauss in three innings out of four during the series in England last year, restarting the debate on whether technical issues existed against left-arm quicks. Zaheer Khan’s injury during the India series that followed removed an enticing battle. Opening batsmen falling to opening bowlers should not come as a surprise, but Sri Lanka will see it as an opportunity to make an early opening in conditions where new-ball wickets are so crucial.Kevin Pietersen v Graham Ford
This is a pairing between one person who will be in the middle and another who will be in the dressing room. Graham Ford is now the Sri Lanka coach but has been a huge figure in Pietersen’s career, a mentor he has sought out during times of struggle. Following a poor 2010 season, Pietersen went to South Africa and worked with Ford prior to the 2011 Ashes, during which he proceeded to score a double-hundred in Adelaide. Now Ford is in charge of the opposition and will have the inside track. Pietersen, for his part, is brimming with confidence. Will the pupil or the teacher come out on top?Graeme Swann v Mahela Jayawardene
To call Graeme Swann’s current situation a slump in form shows what high expectations there are of him – even being below his best, he took 13 wickets at 25.07 against Pakistan. He remains England’s No. 1 spinner, though, his hold on that title is now a little more tenuous. It hasn’t been a particularly easy start in Sri Lanka for him, either, firstly with the strong comments about an opposition batsman not walking, then match-figures of 1 for 132 against the Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI. Things will not get any easier. Swann is about to bowl against one of the finest players of spin around. Mahela Jayawardene put huge dents in Monty Panesar’s confidence four years ago, and his nimble footwork allied to deft touch will pose Swann a huge challenge.England v the heat
It may be clichéd to talk about England cricketers coping in hot conditions – as much as commenting on an overseas player wearing a few sweaters in May at Lord’s – but the temperature will play a key role for them in this series. It is why there is such debate about four bowlers verses five. Do such stifling conditions demand an extra option? And the heat does not just take a physical toll … England’s players have already lost their cool once in the middle when they were not impressed by an umpiring decision and it’s easy to crack.

If Temba Bavuma is ruled out of the Cape Town Test, Elgar might be asked to lead South Africa. And that may be the toughest goodbye of all

Firdose Moonda27-Dec-2023Goodbyes are difficult, especially when they come earlier than they should. Dean Elgar’s innings of 140* on the second day of the Centurion Test against India has given us reason to wonder if he falls into that category.His 14th Test century will rank among his best. It came under pressure, in challenging conditions, and against one of the most dangerous new-ball pairs in the game. It amounts to more than half of South Africa’s total so far, underlined the value of an experience – especially in an opening batter – and revealed a desire that has not dimmed.It also showed some aspects of Elgar that have not been seen before: the classy cover driver, the relatively quick scorer, and the ultra-emotionally charged celebrator. And it came from a place of freedom, the kind that a player who is done but not quite done yet has.Related

• Injured Bavuma ruled out of Cape Town Test

• Elgar's hundred gives South Africa the lead

• Hamstring strain puts Bavuma's participation in Centurion Test in doubt

“I don’t think I have a point to prove. I just want to still contribute,” Elgar said at the post-match press conference. “I want to go out with a bang, and try and win a Test match and the series. I don’t have anything to lose. Whether I fail or not, it is still coming to an end.”But there was a lot to lose when Elgar and Aiden Markram walked out to bat an hour into the day’s play – with a heavy cloud overhead, a surface with a good deal of bounce in it, and two of the best seamers in the world to face. It’s no surprise that the opening exchanges were tense, that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj looked threatening with every ball, beat the bat at least once an over and got an early wicket. Markram eventually had to play at a Siraj ball that took the outside edge.With captain Temba Bavuma unavailable through injury, Markram’s dismissal left Elgar with the least experienced top six line-up for South Africa since 1997 against Pakistan; and things could have gone badly wrong.That it didn’t and Elgar shared in a steadying 93-run with Tony de Zorzi, and a controlling 131-run partnership with the debutant David Bedingham is symbolic of Elgar potentially leaving at the right time: there are others, and they are capable. His time in the middle with de Zorzi was particularly significant because de Zorzi is likely to bat in Elgar’s opening spot in New Zealand, where South Africa will have a makeshift side, and he could end up in the role more permanently in the near future. De Zorzi also has Elgar’s blessing.Dean Elgar had a controlling 131-run partnership with debutant David Bedingham•AFP/Getty Images”That partnership with myself and Tony was pretty important. The ball was going around, Bumrah was swinging it both ways and Tony did bloody well to get through it,” Elgar said. “That period of seeing off that new ball – and getting it old – allowed David to come in and play his natural game – maybe something that won’t be spoken about, but I will speak about it.”Never one to not say what he thinks, Elgar also let his batting do the talking, and in an unexpected way, which he confirmed came from a “mindset of looking to score,” given the difficulty of the conditions. He has never appeared to drive with this much authority in a Test innings before, especially not through the covers. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, Elgar played 24 drives in this innings against the Indian pace bowlers, and was in control for 87.5% of them, at a strike rate of 179.2.Before today, Elgar had played 20 or more drives off fast bowlers in a Test innings only ten times, and in none of those had he scored at a faster clip with better control. He scored 58 runs off the Indian quicks through the off side – the most he has scored in a Test innings – and though they put the ball there for him, he still had to time and place his shots.”When you look to score, you get into a better position as well,” Elgar said. “After lunch, I came out with more of a positive mindset, got into really good positions, and capitalised.””I didn’t have a Test hundred at Centurion – that’s the one that got away throughout my career” – Dean Elgar•AFP/Getty ImagesAt some point, he would also have realised that a piece of history was waiting because he had yet to score a hundred at SuperSport Park. “We spoke about it the other day, and guys were like ‘I thought you’d got a few [hundreds] here’, and I said ‘No, I’ve been rubbish here’. Maybe not too rubbish,” he said.Before this Test, Elgar had played nine others at SuperSport Park, his adopted home ground after his professional career had begun in Bloemfontein, and with four fifties. The closest he came to a hundred was with a 95 against Sri Lanka two years ago. That was a fixture played under the strictest Covid-19 regulations, with not a spectator in sight. But on Tuesday, there were several thousand, and they all urged him on. As he entered the mid-80s, they upped their encouragement.Elgar got to 87 with a whip through mid-on off R Ashwin, to 91 with an outside edge off Prasidh Krishna – and kept the strike at the end of that over – and then to 96 with an on-drive. By the time the pull-off Shardul Thakur that took him to three figures landed on the other side of the boundary, the enormity of this achievement hit him, and he celebrated in wild, David Warner-esque fashion.Elgar got air time on the leap and saluted the crowd several times, and confirmed it was as much a recognition of the people as of the place. “It’s a special game for me. I didn’t have a Test hundred at Centurion – that’s the one that got away throughout my career,” he said. “My family was here, my friends were here watching, all knowing this is the last international fixture I will play here. I’m happy to be on the SuperSport Park [honours] board. I am now on the board at all the Test venues in South Africa, which is pretty cool.”

“By the time Cape Town [the second Test] is finished, maybe it will sink in for me. I want to do things like I have done today, and carry the mantle forward so the young guys know what it’s all about”Dean Elgar is desperate to help South Africa beat India in this series

That sounds like as good a position as there can be to decide to sign off. Everyone finds it easier to laud a player who leaves on a high, and voluntarily, instead of one who hangs on until he is forced out. And there are also other reasons for Elgar’s decision. At 36 years old, with a dearth of Test fixtures in the near future and a coach who has made it clear he is looking for opportunities to blood new players, it seems the time is right. But there may yet be one big statement for Elgar to make in a series he seems desperate to help South Africa win.”At the moment, it’s about contributing, putting the team in a good position, and influencing where I can,” he said. “By the time Cape Town [the second Test] is finished, maybe it will sink in for me. I think I will be on a wine farm somewhere, drinking copious amounts of wine, and I will maybe sit back and enjoy what’s happened in the past. For now, it’s all about business. I want to do things like I have done today, and carry the mantle forward so the young guys know what it’s all about.”The business could also be bigger than he expected it to be. There’s still no word on Bavuma’s availability to bat in this match, though he did not come out when he could have at No. 7, and given the quick turnaround, whether he will be fit to play in the New Year’s Test. If he is ruled out, there’s a good chance Elgar will be asked to lead South Africa one last time in a bid to deny India a chance to conquer what they have called the final frontier. And that may be the toughest goodbye of all.