England were by far the superior team till the 1970s, but in the last three decades India have had the edge

S Rajesh20-Jul-2011Only four pairs of teams have played 100 Test matches against each other, which means the England-India combination will become the fifth when they take the field at Lord’s on Thursday. For England, this won’t be a new experience – they’ve already topped the 100 mark against three other teams – but this will be India’s first instance of 100 Tests against an opposition. They’ll thus join four other teams – England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa – to play 100 or more Tests against at least one opponent. Next in the list is New Zealand, who have played 94 Tests against England.The overall numbers show that England have been the dominant team, but India have closed the gap over the last three decades: since 1980, India have a 12-8 advantage in 42 Tests. However, before 1980 England were clearly on top with a 26-7 record in 57 matches, which means India still have some catching up to do.The other number that stands out in England-India matches is the high percentage of drawn games – the overall draw percentage in Tests between these two teams is more than 46%, which is more than twice the percentage when Australia play West Indies.India have always boasted a strong batting line-up and a relatively weak bowling attack, which explains the draw percentage. In the early years England were clearly superior and hence India were unable to put up much of a fight – in the first 24 Tests they won one, lost 15 and drew eight – but since then the draw percentage has increased significantly: in the 1980s, ten out of 18 Tests between these teams was drawn, while it was four out of nine in the 1990s and eight out of 15 in the 2000s.

Most Tests played between two sides

Team 1Team 2TestsWon-lost*DrawnDraw %AustraliaEngland326133-1029127.91West IndiesEngland14553-434933.79EnglandSouth Africa13856-295338.40AustraliaWest Indies10852-322321.29EnglandIndia9934-194646.46EnglandNew Zealand9445-84143.61

England v India Tests over the years

PeriodTestsEng wonInd wonDrawn1930s, 1940s and 1950s2415181960s and 1970s33116161980 onwards4281222Overall99341946The home and away details further show how much India have improved over the last few decades. Out of the first 29 Tests they played in England, India lost 19 and won just one; in 19 Tests since 1980 they’ve won and lost four each. At the same time, their home record against England has also improved, with eight wins and four defeats in the last three decades.

Tests in each country

PeriodIn Eng – TestsEng wonInd wonDrawnIn Ind – TestsEng wonInd wonDrawn1930s, 1940s and 1950s16120483141960s and 1970s137152045111980 onwards194411234811Overall482352051111426The batting and bowling numbers obviously show that England were dominant till the 1970s, but what’s surprising is the fact that till the 1950s, Indian batsmen scored almost as many hundreds as their England counterparts. That’s also partly because India batted their two full innings far more often than England did, but even so their rate of converting fifties into hundreds was impressive, and much better than England’s in that period. Since 1980 there’s little to choose between the two teams, though India sneak ahead in terms of averages.

England’s batting and bowling v India

PeriodTestsBat ave100s/ 50sWicketsBowl ave1930s, 1940s and 1950s2436.1916/ 6140123.161960s and 1970s3334.5430/ 7053827.84Jan 1980 onwards4234.5747/ 10356038.51Overall9934.9193/ 234149930.57

India’s batting and bowling v England

PeriodTestsBat ave100s/ 50sWicketsBowl ave1930s, 1940s and 1950s2422.4315/ 3228336.711960s and 1970s3326.7919/ 8441736.12Jan 1980 onwards4236.4244/ 10360736.16Overall9929.2378/ 219130736.26The batting and bowling starsThe three leading run-scorers in England-India Tests are all Indians, as are five of the top six, but in terms of averages England take the honours: with a cut-off of 1000 runs, the top three are all from England. The amazingly consistent Ken Barrington had 12 fifty-plus scores in 21 innings, while Michael Vaughan had an outstanding series in 2002. More surprising, though, are Ian Botham’s numbers: his overall batting average was 33.54, but against India he more than doubled it, averaging 70.64 and scoring five hundreds in 14 Tests; against no other side did he average more than 41.Botham played three full series and the Golden Jubilee Test against India in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and was a star each time. In the home series in 1979, he averaged almost 49 with the bat and less than 24 with ball; in the Jubilee Test he singlehandedly won England the game, scoring 114 and taking 13 wickets in the match. In the six-Test series in India in 1981-82, Botham the batsman was immense, scoring 440 runs, and in the return series in 1982, he was even more unstoppable, scoring 403 in just three Tests at an average of 134.33, his best batting performance in a series.The best average among the Indians is Sachin Tendulkar’s 61.42. In 24 Tests, Tendulkar has scored seven centuries, which is the most by a batsman in England-India Tests. With four more Tests coming up against England, Tendulkar has opportunities to further swell that number.Tendulkar is also one of the three leading scorers in these Tests, but the two others – Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath – both played plenty of matches to achieve those numbers. Gavaskar needed 38 Tests to score 2483 runs – compared to Tendulkar’s 24 for 2150 – and averaged only 38.20, which is well below his career average. Viswanath’s average was similar – 37.60 in 30 Tests. In nine series against them (excluding the Jubilee Test), only twice did Gavaskar average more than 50, while five times he averaged less than 30.

Highest averages for batsmen in Eng-Ind Tests (Qual: 1000 runs)

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sKen Barrington14135575.273/ 9Michael Vaughan9101672.574/ 3Ian Botham14120170.645/ 5Sachin Tendulkar24215061.427/ 10Mohammad Azharuddin15127858.096/ 3Rahul Dravid17148957.264/ 8Geoff Boycott13108457.054/ 2Graham Gooch19172555.645/ 8Mike Gatting16115555.003/ 3David Gower24139144.872/ 6The numbers for bowling show a similar trend: the top four wicket-takers are all Indians, but the best averages belong to England’s bowlers. The two Indian legspinners, BS Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble, are the only ones with more than 90 wickets, with Chandrasekhar having the slightly better average. Bishan Singh Bedi had a sub-30 average too for his 85 wickets, but Kapil Dev averaged 37.34.Kapil’s battles with Botham in the 1980s are well documented, and while Kapil the batsman had strong numbers against England, averaging 41.06, his bowling stats were less impressive: in the seven series he played against them, four times he conceded more than 35 runs per wicket. Botham, on the other hand, had a bowling average of 26.40 against India and put in a couple of particularly memorable performances, none of which bettered his 13 for 106 in that Jubilee Test.With a cut-off of 40 wickets, though, the best averages belong to England bowlers who had opportunities to bowl at Indian batsmen in the 1940s and ’50, when the Indians were largely clueless in overseas conditions. Alec Bedser and Fred Trueman devastated the Indian batting line-ups in three series in 1946, 1952 and 1959, taking a bagful of wickets at sub-15 averages. India’s finest from that era was undoubtedly Vinoo Mankad, who averaged a very creditable 23.12 for his 54 wickets. In the Lord’s Test of 1952, he delivered what remains one of the finest all-round performances in Test cricket, scoring 72 and 184, and taking 5 for 231 off 97 overs.

Best bowling averages in Eng-Ind Tests (Qual: 40 wickets)

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMAlec Bedser74413.1142.04/ 2Fred Trueman95314.8433.62/ 0Chris Old114319.0943.61/ 0John Lever104522.1147.03/ 1Vinoo Mankad115423.1275.93/ 1Bob Willis176223.2447.43/ 0Ian Botham145926.4057.16/ 1BS Chandrasekhar239527.2765.28/ 0Derek Underwood206227.4080.51/ 0Bishan Singh Bedi228529.8784.34/ 0A break-up for pace and spin illustrates the tradition strengths of the two teams. India may boast a fairly strong pace attack now, but for most of their time in Test cricket spin has been their strong suit, and it shows in the numbers below. Similarly, pace bowling has always been England’s strength, which is illustrated by the number of wickets taken by their fast bowlers. (Click here for more England v India stats.)

Pace and spin for England and India

TeamPace – wktsAverage5WI/ 10WMSpin – wktsAverage5WI/ 10WMEngland97028.6836/ 646534.2513/ 1India50837.6424/ 177234.7734/ 4

It was Munaf Patel who had given the bowling unit reassurance with both an awareness of his own skills and his ability to adapt, according to bowling coach Eric Simons

Sharda Ugra06-Apr-2011Bowling coach Eric Simons has called Munaf Patel the unsung hero of India’s World Cup victory, saying the high degree of technical skills that India’s bowling attack possessed made up for its lack of express pace all through the tournament.After the World Cup win, as the Indian team made their euphoric victory lap around the Wankhede, Munaf and Simons, who had missed the lap, were found outside the group, talking and laughing. Munaf, Simons said, had been one of the most inspirational stories he had encountered.Munaf would not have been an automatic choice for the playing XI, had injury not ruled out Praveen Kumar from the squad before the start of the World Cup. Praveen had until then formed, along with Ashish Nehra, the back-up unit for Zaheer Khan. “We had singled out the bowlers for the last 3-4 series and Praveen’s injury had been a setback for us as he was part of our plans,” Simons said.It was Munaf, Simons said, who had given the bowling unit reassurance when he arrived, with both an awareness of his own skills and his ability to adapt. “Munaf is one of the unsung heroes of the World Cup for us – he stepped in and played a vital part for us, after we lost Praveen and Ashish suffered from injuries during the tournament. Munaf has learnt to understand his bowling and stuck to his game plan taking some crucial wickets.” Munaf was India’s third-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup behind Zaheer and Yuvraj Singh with 11 victims.Munaf’s wicket-to-wicket line and ability to generate bounce off the Indian tracks made him hard to get away by opposition batsman. Despite the pounding received by the bowlers in the early half of the tournament, “Munaf never once doubted himself or what he could offer the team,” Simons said. “His work ethic is enormous; he has a very strong and steady head on his shoulders and calmness in any situation. He gave Zaheer the freedom to bowl very freely and aggressively.” Simons said in his 15 months with the team, Munaf had become a “close friend.”When he came into the Indian set-up from South Africa, Simons said that it had been his job to “bring a different outlook to the bowling unit, not to tell them how to bowl, but just offer ideas about what options they could take.” The main areas of focus during the World Cup, the bowlers understood, would be the advantage of familiar conditions and bowling to their strengths. “There was a great deal of talent in the bowling line-up and we knew that our plans had to be based around their skills. What happens is that a lot of time people make plans for bowlers that really don’t suit them.”The bowlers understood that building pressure through containment could be made to play as important a role as taking wickets, particularly if they could give the batsmen a 100 runs less to chase when batting second. Simons said, “We spoke a lot about bowling partnerships, that if you weren’t getting wickets, building pressure on one side could get wickets at the other.” India’s plans were flexible but the bowlers had talked about the different venues and batsmen they would be bowling to, working out possibilities of “lines, angles and variations of pace” that could come into play. “We talked about the fields that could be set to their bowling, who had to stay slightly deeper for the singles, who had to field where.”My admiration for the guys grew and I have been very impressed by what they can do in conditions that do not suit them at all. It is what Indian bowlers have to do to succeed here. We had a high degree of technical skills in our side, which showed that you didn’t need a bowler of express pace to make a difference.” It is why, he said, that when overseas pace bowlers travelled to India, they looked what he described as “less daunting.”Zaheer had become one of the best practitioners of his art in the world according to Simons. In the months leading up to the World Cup, he had developed the slower slow ball that wobbles, and works particularly well against left-handers. In ESPNcricinfo commentary during the World Cup, it was first described as the ‘bare knuckle ball’, as it comes off the knuckle and rather than spin on its axis, wobbles over a couple of times. It has got the better of a few batsmen in the World Cup. Simons said that the team calls it the ‘knuckle ball.’ “Zaheer began working on it during the World Twenty20 in the West Indies and was ready to use it during the World Cup.” The knuckle ball, Simons explained, could not be spotted by the batsmen through the grip and the bowler could even use arm-rotation at his normal speed to be able to bowl it.About Harbhajan Singh’s role in the tournament, in which he took nine wickets, but bowled at an economy rate of 4.48 Simons said, that the off-spinner, who “wears his heart on his sleeve and wants to perform” was affected at not taking wickets, in the first half of the tournament but hit his stride in the knock outs. “Early on he was frustrated at not getting more wickets and that is natural but we realised as a strike bowler for our team all opposition batsmen would see him as a threat and try to block out, which is what happened. But he got more aggressive in the second half of the tournament, and found when batsmen were forced to try and go after him, he took important wickets.”Given the future calendar for Indian cricket which involves tours to West Indies, England and Australia, Simons said he believed India would have to both rotate their best bowlers to keep them ready for the big events and also refresh their bench strength to get bowlers like Jaidev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav, for example, playing enough at the highest level to do the job when they had to be suddenly called in.

Great to watch but equally frustrating to watch get out, M Vijay needs to get rid of the notion that he is a loose batsman before other openers displace him

Sriram Veera in Barbados26-Jun-2011M Vijay can be a good batsman to watch. At times his skill even makes you gasp. There is this shot he plays, when he just pushes at a length delivery, on the up, and the ball speeds past the bowler to the boundary. You think that mid-off, if not the bowler himself, will cut it off for it was just a mere waft. The ball, however, keeps accelerating. There is a classy elegance about that shot. That class is there in Vijay’s flicks as well.Yet, after 10 Tests and average of 34.06, there is a feeling that Vijay is not doing justice to his talent. Since his style is so easy on the eye, his dismissals look tame; a bit soft, like they were brought about by a lack of focus. He resembles a young Mahela Jayawardene when he gets out. He grips the bat near its top and just hangs it out to deliveries straightening outside off. It’s not a stab, it’s not a defensive prod inside the line; it’s a limp push. Jayawardene used to do it. Sometimes, the ball cuts in past this weak prod to trap him in front. Most times, he has been out caught or lbw. Occasionally, as he did in a Test in Bangladesh, he throws it away, going for a big shot.Vijay’s batting appears loose at the moment. Yet, in his impressive debut innings, he was anything but loose. He, in fact, looked quite secure. There were no lapses in concentration, there was a determination in how he guarded his off stump and there was a sense of an ambitious young man knowing how crucial it was to grab his opportunity. You can still see some of that resolve. When he enters the ground for pre-match training, he cajoles a few more players to join him on laps around the ground. He seems to have gelled well with the team; he seems to be one of the boys.It is evident that Vijay has worked hard on his batting. He used to be a defensive player in his early days. His captain at club level, Diwakar Vasu, the former Tamil Nadu bowler, recalls him being strong on the back foot, and keen to improve his attacking game. Then came a stage where, for a while, Vijay was either defensive or too attacking. He is now trying to find a middle ground and perhaps in doing so the shot selection is going awry.MS Dhoni, the India captain, didn’t have a straight answer when asked about Vijay’s form but there were sufficient hints to make Vijay take notice. “You may be a very good opener, but till you are tested at the international level it’s very difficult to say whether you can adapt from playing domestic cricket to Test conditions,” Dhoni said. “So it’s very important to have a pool of openers and they should be given games. [Abhinav] Mukund looked positive.”This isn’t a call for Vijay’s head. It’s merely a look at a situation that is slowly becoming a worry for him. He is 27, and the third-choice opener after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The competition is catching up. In the West Indies, he has his friend Abhinav, and the gutsy Parthiv Patel with him.Vijay took up cricket at the late age of 17, moved quickly up the ranks, surprised a few when he got his Test cap, silenced a few by doing an admirable job, and then allowed them to wag their tongues about some of his subsequent knocks. Ian Bishop, the former West Indies bowler, put it succinctly. “Vijay is a problem. I saw the Indian journalists getting into a huff every time he gets out. It’s because he has the propensity to look good before he fritters it away.” Vijay will do well to correct that perception quickly.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and South Australia in Hyderabad

Abhishek Purohit in Hyderabad27-Sep-2011The birthday blooper
It was not a birthday to remember for L Balaji. Aside from Kolkata Knight Riders losing their second consecutive game, he was at long-off during the first Powerplay when Daniel Harris skied one off Iqbal Abdulla. Balaji dashed forward but too eagerly. He found that he had over-run the ball and it looped over him and went for four. He was immediately sent to mid-on.The no-man’s land
It is tough being in the deep in a Twenty20 game. There is a chance of conceding a second run if you are too deep and letting the ball fly past you if you are not deep enough. The Kolkata fielder at deep midwicket thought he had it right when he stood well inside the boundary in the tenth over. The third ball was pulled hard to his left but being so far inside the rope, he had no chance to cut off the boundary. The fifth delivery was tucked to his right softly and even though he ran hard, he could not stop the second run.The audacious stroke
Sweeping a fast bowler takes some doing. If the bowler is Brett Lee and the delivery is outside off stump, there is the added element of danger. In the 18th over, Daniel Christian calmly bent his knee, picked up a full delivery and eased it past short fine leg to the boundary. Just like that. Lee stared in disbelief, Christian looked unperturbed.The thin line between success and failure
Nathan Lyon beat Manvinder Bisla thrice in the opening over of Kolkata’s chase. And he went for 12 runs. Such is the lot of the spinner in this format. There was an appeal for lbw first ball and Bisla was beaten in the flight as he charged out to the last. Bisla still managed to get under three deliveries in between to score three boundaries and Lyon’s figures at the end of the over read 1-0-12-0.

Insiders think they could. And their recent showings, in Twenty20 especially, seem to bear out the hype

Firdose Moonda26-Jul-2011Sixty years ago, Uganda played their first cricket match. The details of that game have not been archived and records are unclear on whether their opponents were Kenya or Tanganyika. How the country has performed in international cricket since then is also not well documented.What is known is that in future, Uganda are likely to be more carefully noted and watched. They will participate in the World Twenty20 qualifiers next year, and are considered one of the most prominent rising Associates. They have caught the eyes of many, including world cricket’s longest-serving chief executive, Gerald Majola of South Africa, who believes that in five years’ time Uganda could become the second-best team in Africa.It’s a big statement, but not so extravagant if you go by recent performances. Uganda won the Africa Region Division One T20 tournament in Kampala this month, beating Namibia by six wickets in the final and dominating the event, with only two losses in eight matches.It was a culmination of years of hard work, which began in 2007 during a quadrangular series in Kenya that also included Bangladesh and Pakistan, where Uganda pulled off an upset win over the hosts.”This has lifted the spirits of the team,” Frank Nsubuga, Uganda’s senior allrounder, told ESPNcricinfo about the win in Kampala. “It’s been good both for the new guys in the team and for us who have been here for a long time. We have finally won something for our country in front of our own fans. It was fantastic.”Nsubuga has been playing international cricket for 14 years; he made his debut for East and Central Africa in the ICC Trophy in 1997. His brothers, opening batsman Roger Mukasa, and wicketkeeper Lawrence Sematimba, also play for the national team. The family lived next to a cricket ground, so the boys had access to the game from a young age and it soon grew on them. All three have played starring roles in Uganda’s recent performances, with Nsubuga the man responsible for steering Uganda to victory in the World Cricket League (WCL) Division 3 tournament in Darwin in 2007. He remembers it as “the best place I have ever played cricket.”That victory saw Uganda ranked among the top 10 Associate nations and so become eligible for funding from the ICC High Performance Programme (HPP). The financial support they received from that was instrumental in growing the game in the country, where once there were only concrete pitches. “Facilities improved and we now have three grass wickets which are international standards,” Nsubuga said. The money was also used to hire South African coach Shukri Conrad, who had won titles with both the Lions and Cobras franchises.Conrad was immediately impressed with what he saw. “Uganda are the best fielding side I have ever been involved with,” he said. “They are very athletic and they know how to use what they have.
“For example, the wickets are very flat there, so you’d have to be a dimwit to run in and bowl from 25 yards out, and they have developed good spinners.”His task was to take Uganda to the WCL Division Two tournament in Dubai in April. The journey was a disaster for Uganda, who won only one match in five. Their losses included a crucial one-run defeat to Papua New Guinea, which condemned them to last place. “The problem was batting. We really struggled to build an innings,” Conrad said.As a result, Uganda dropped out of the top 10 Associate nations and so lost their funding from the HPP. They still receive support from the governing body’s development funding policy, and regional funding from the ICC’s Africa office, but their exclusion from the HPP meant they could longer afford to keep Conrad.
Losing a professional coach set them back, but not so much that they couldn’t pull off a series of stunners in the T20 competition. Their success doesn’t surprise Conrad at all.”I always thought 20-over cricket would be their thing, the batsmen,” he said. “The batsmen are very aggressive and on their day they can beat anyone.”Conrad is still in touch with many of the players and believes that they are committed to success in all formats of the game. His concern is that the growth they have achieved up to now will be stunted because of the depletion of funds. “The infrastructure is not what it should be,” he said. “In a proper structure these guys will do really well.Nsubuga said that any semblance of that sort of organisation will only materialise when cricket becomes a viable career choice. “Our weakness is the unprofessional part of the game in our country, which hurts continuity of the team,” he said. “Most of the young guys are school-going or have full-time jobs. For them to give that up for cricket is hard, but going forward we hope someone can earn decently from cricket. We need professionalism in everything, from the league to the national team”

“Uganda are the best fielding side I have ever been involved with. They are very athletic and they know how to use what they have”Former Uganda coach Shukri Conrad

Some players have found employment in the game in an unlikely place. Lenasia Cricket Club in Johannesburg has had a long involvement with Ugandan cricket and has brought some players from the country into the club to coach in their youth structures and play in the local leagues. The relationship stemmed from the friendship of Hoosain Ayob, ICC Development Officer for Africa, with the late Ahmed Gabru, who was involved with Lenasia. The pair facilitated the passage for Ugandan cricketers to work with their club, and saw to it that the visitors were provided with accommodation and a small stipend during their stay. They also helped Ugandan players collect equipment, either buying it at a sizeable discount or through donations from club players, to take back home.Both Nsubuga’s brothers have played at Lenasia and impressed the locals with their cricketing skills and pleasant demeanours. “They were humble, down to earth and disciplined,” Mohsin Ahmed, chairman of Lenasia said. “Roger is a technically sound batsman who has glued our batting together in a few games, and Lawrence is a fantastic keeper. If Uganda can look after them, they will do well.”There is no promise of money for cricket in Uganda yet, with football still the country’s most popular sport, but Nsubuga is upbeat that their performances on the field will help grow the structures off it. “Success brings more success, so we have to keep winning,” he said. “That will mean we can improve all aspects of the game, from facilities to playing staff, and we will be able to expose our players to top-level cricket.”The World T20 qualifiers could open the door for that to happen. It will be the team’s most important tournament, after the 2009 World Cup qualifiers, in which they placed last. They will come up against 15 other teams, all of whom are fighting for just two places in the global event. Among them will be fellow East Africans Kenya, who Uganda appear to be surpassing as Africa’s next hopefuls, and Associate heavyweights Afghanistan, Ireland and Scotland.Whatever the results, they are sure to be recorded better than they were in that match in 1951, and could well prove to be the way Uganda announces itself to the cricketing world.

He’s watched plenty of Boxing Day Tests; now he’ll be looking to make history in one with a good hometown mate

Brydon Coverdale22-Dec-2011Next week, James Pattinson and Peter Siddle could create a slice of Victorian history. It has been nearly 75 years since a pair of the state’s fast bowlers shared the new ball in a Test at the MCG. Last time it happened, in 1937, Ernie McCormick and Laurie Nash helped bowl Australia to an innings victory over Gubby Allen’s England side.If Pattinson and Siddle can manage something similar against India, it will be an achievement neither will ever forget. Simply walking out on to the MCG together in the baggy green will be a big enough thrill, for the two have known each other since their teenage days playing at the Dandenong Cricket Club in Melbourne’s outer east.Back when Pattinson was 13, his older brother Darren, later a one-Test wonder for England, would bowl in tandem with Siddle for Dandenong. They were the young stars in the firsts. James was a constant presence around the club, where he used to hassle Siddle, the man who nearly a decade later would help calm his nerves during Pattinson’s Test debut against New Zealand at the Gabba last month.”I remember him when I first came down to the club and I was the little annoying kid. I used to annoy them all,” Pattinson told ESPNcricinfo. “I used to come over from junior cricket and tell him how many runs I got and all that. Pete was always there to listen to me, even then when I was a little shit. He’s been a great help for me.”I’ve always been a confident sort of bloke without being arrogant. In the first innings [on debut] I was a bit nervous. There were times in that first over that I thought, ‘Geez, this is harder than I thought it was going to be,’ but I just tried to stay as relaxed as I could, just run in and bowl fast.”It’s pretty easy to stay relaxed when you’ve got a close mate there who can talk you through things. He’s been around now for quite a while, he’s played nearly 30 Tests. He’s bowling probably better than he’s ever bowled. He’s swinging the ball at good pace. If we can take that into the Boxing Day Test I think we’ll be a good show of getting a lot of wickets.”Darren Pattinson will be in the crowd during the Test, probably with a group of mates from the Dandenong club. He used to sit in the stands with James and the family; the Boxing Day Test is a tradition for the Pattinsons as it has been for countless Melbourne families over the decades. The younger Pattinson, 21, cannot wait to be part of the action with Siddle, 27.”It’s the best day of cricket in the year,” he said. “It’s the ritual. It’s what everyone does on Boxing Day. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s the closest you’re going to get to an AFL grand final. It will be an amazing feeling. Being a hometown crowd I’m sure they’ll be behind me and Pete 100%.”I’ve been to the Boxing Day Test quite a number of times, especially early on when I was a bit younger. I remember I went there three or four years ago when Pete was playing and it was an amazing moment for me just to watch him out there playing in a Boxing Day Test. It will be even more special when I get to run out there with him.”Pattinson has been one of the success stories of Australia’s past few Tests. His fast, accurate outswing has made him the go-to man for the captain Michael Clarke, despite his career being only two Tests old. In each of the matches against New Zealand he managed five-wicket hauls. The challenge against India will be vastly different.For one, he will struggle during this series to find conditions as helpful as those Australia encountered at the Gabba and Bellerive Oval. And a line-up including Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman is daunting for even the most experienced bowlers in world cricket, let alone a rookie. Pattinson wasn’t born when Tendulkar played his first Test. And despite being from Melbourne, he has played only two first-class games at the MCG – fewer than Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman, and the same number as Sehwag. Pattinson has an IPL deal and went on Australia’s Test tour of India last year, but he has never bowled to the likes of Tendulkar.”Tendulkar is the pinnacle of batsmen,” he said. “He’s done it for so long and he’s the best. Just to have a duel with him will be quite amazing. You grow up and you watch those people and they’re just like heroes to you. To be able to play against them and hopefully get the wood over them and compete well against them, that’s all you’re looking for. You’ve just got to back your ability.”As a bowling group I think we can take a lot out of the way England bowled to them over in England this year. They got up them and bowled some bouncers to the right people, bowled in good areas. I think the batsmen did struggle over in England. If we can get on top of them and bowl in the right areas and intimidate them a little bit then we’re well on our way. We’ve got a young bowling group and we’re enthusiastic, I think everyone is going to be up for a challenge.”

Despite being from Melbourne, Pattinson has played only two first-class games at the MCG – fewer than Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman, and the same number as Sehwag

Perhaps the most fascinating battle will be between Pattinson and Sehwag. Against New Zealand, Pattinson proved he can curl the ball away viciously from the right-handers. His delivery that got rid of Brendon McCullum in the second innings in Hobart was almost perfect: angled into off stump and swinging away, forcing the batsman to play. It was edged to slip.McCullum had taken to Pattinson in the tour match at Allan Border Field a fortnight earlier. The bowler’s revenge was sweet. Sehwag is the same kind of player as McCullum, albeit in a different league, and Pattinson knows that he faces a major challenge to keep India’s most destructive batsman quiet.”You’re going to bowl good balls to him and they’re going to go for four every now and again,” he said. “He’s going to try and score fast. But I think if you put the ball in the right area against him over and over again, you’re going to get the reward eventually. He’ll give you a chance.”Australia’s attack for Boxing Day has not yet been settled, although Pattinson and Siddle are certain starters. The swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus might win a spot ahead of the young left-armer Mitchell Starc, who showed some promise against New Zealand but struggled to build the pressure for long enough to be as threatening as Pattinson and Siddle.The man the Australians would love to have in the side is Pat Cummins, the 18-year-old fast bowler who was Man of the Match on his Test debut – just as Pattinson was – in Johannesburg last month. The prospect of building an attack around Cummins and Pattinson is exciting for Australian supporters, but a heel injury means they won’t play a Test together until at least the tour of the West Indies in April.”He’s a great talent,” Pattinson said. “It’s unbelievable. At 18 years old, he’s bowling 150kph and swings the ball both ways. He knows what he’s doing with the ball. He’s going to be an absolute phenomenal talent for Australia. It’s definitely exciting. We’ve got some great bowling stocks around. If we can build a great friendship, all of us, and work together, I think it’s going to be great for Australian cricket.”At 21, Pattinson has much to learn, but a fine base on which to build his Test career. The next step for him comes on Boxing Day. And just like all those years ago in Dandenong, he’ll be yapping in Siddle’s ear as he goes.

Stats highlights from an extraordinary day’s play in Dubai during which 16 wickets fell for 203 runs

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan03-Feb-2012Pakistan were bowled out for the 14th time for a score under 100. It is also their sixth such score against England overall and the fourth since the beginning of 2010. Since 2000, Pakistan’s batting has collapsed most often resulting in eight sub-100 scores including two in one match against Australia in Sharjah in 2002. Of the previous 12 matches (13 sub-100 scores), Pakistan have lost 11 and drawn two. The score of 99, however, is Pakistan’s first sub-100 total outside England in Tests against England.The total of 99 is also Pakistan’s fourth-lowest after they have batted first on winning the toss. Their lowest such total is 59 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002. It is also the tenth time in Tests overall and the fifth time since 1990 that a team has been dismissed with the total on 99. South Africa and England are the only teams to be dismissed on more than one occasion for 99.Since 2000, England have succeeded in bowling out opposition teams for sub-100 totals on 13 occasions. Six of those have come since the beginning of 2010. The last time England lost a Test after bowling the opposition out for less than 100 was way back in 1906 against South Africa. In their quest for a whitewash, Pakistan will have to achieve a rare feat. Teams have managed to come back and win Tests after being bowled out under 100 in the first innings on only nine occasions. Seven of these occasions came between 1877 and 1950. The last time a team managed to achieve this was in Cape Town in 2011 when South Africa beat Australia by eight wickets after being dismissed for 96 in their first innings. So far in the series, England’s top six batsmen average 17.93, Since 1888, this is the second-lowest average for the top six for England in series of three or more matches.Since the beginning of the India series, Stuart Broad has picked up 37 wickets in seven Tests (13 innings) at an average of 15.05. Prior to that, he picked up 107 wickets in 37 matches at an average of 36.25. There have been 35 leg-before dismissals in the series so far which is the highest for a three-match series. The previous highest was 33 lbw dismissals in the West Indies-Pakistan series in 1992-93. By the end of the series, there is a distinct possibility that this series might hold the record for the most lbw decisions which currently stands at 43.Kevin Pietersen fell for the 22nd time to a left-arm spinner. He now averages 35.83 against left-arm spinners as compared to 60.57 against right-arm spinners.

Darren Sammy is a proud and talented cricketer who has made something of himself, his job and his team. No one on earth could begrudge him a maiden Test hundred and 21 minutes at Trent Bridge that he will never forget.

Mark Nicholas at Trent Bridge26-May-2012The greatest cricketer of all time played here at Trent Bridge. They reckon he arrived the afternoon before Nottinghamshire’s first match of the summer and strolled across the lush outfield in a thick sheepskin coat to watch his new team-mates at net practice. The next day, in one of the Gillette Cup 60 over matches that used to start the season, Garry Sobers took four wickets and made 60 not out on a damp pitch to see his adopted county over the line. “Well played you fellas” he said in the dressing-room after receipt of the man of the match award, “now who we got in the next round?!”Darren Sammy will not have seen Sobers play, not live, but he will know the legend and identify with the joie de vivre. Sammy would agree that he is lucky to have played the Test matches he has and is under no illusion about the present position of West Indian cricket. There is no Sobers, no Richards or Roberts nor a Greenidge or Garner. Nothing close. But there is spirit and hope, best illustrated by the man who wears the captain’s armband once worn by the incomparable Sir Garry.At 11 o’clock this morning, beneath a sapphire sky that would have done justice to St. Lucia, Sammy walked the walk that Sobers first took all those years ago and requested a fresh guard. A blistering array of counter-attacking strokes the previous evening had left the West Indies captain 88 not out, just two clean hits from a first Test match hundred. Marlon Samuels had the strike and worked a single from the third ball of the day; Sammy played the fourth from the middle of his bat. The fifth hammered into his thigh pad, the sixth was left well alone. A few spectators still searching for their seats barely noticed these nervous moments, the rest of a sun-kissed full house were bent forward squinting through the bright light at the tense early exchange some 70 metres away.James Anderson offered mainly a full length, examining footwork and mind. Stuart Broad bowled a few bouncers to test courage and patience. Twice Anderson passed the Sammy outside edge and threw back his head in frustration. Rarely can a cricket ground have so ached for both friend and foe. Then Sammy scorched the turf with an off drive to move to 92, which brought hardcore appreciation from the crowd.The batsmen exchanged singles twice before the start of the 6th over of the day. Time: 11.19am, Sammy 94. The first ball was punched with feeling to mid-off, no run. Hearts beat faster, hands clammed up. Anderson jogged from gully to talk with Broad on the walk back to his mark. Feet shuffled. God knows what Anderson said. Probably nothing. Make him wait.11.20am. Broad pitched fuller and wider, Sammy threw his life at it and the ball flew fast and safe over Anderson’s head for four. Sammy 98. The hum of anticipation hummed louder, more urgent. Please, let it be. Let this good man have his moment in the Nottingham sun.11.21am. Broad bowled a beauty, a good length and straight that moved away off the seam. Sammy, the tall, slim, smiling St Lucian – the first from his island to represent West Indies – launched himself into a contortion hitherto unseen; attempting it appeared to strike this crucial ball, the ball of his batting life, over the leg-side stands and into space.He failed in this mission, failed utterly. But someone was with him, someone important said: “Okay Darren, you’ve put a bit in, taken up some slack, this is one is for you” and the ball flew from the back of the bat, passed the diving fielder at point and sped to the boundary.Hooray! Bravo! He’s done it! The crowd stood as one, roaring approval. The West Indian dressing-room the same. The batsman raised his arms to the heavenly sky and kissed the famous badge on the maroon helmet. And he smiled that wonderful smile. He is not Sir Garfield Sobers and he knows it. But he is a proud and talented cricketer who has made something of himself, his job and his team. No one on earth could begrudge Darren Sammy the Trent Bridge 21 minutes that he will never forget.

The major requirement of Craig McDermott’s successor will be to ensure that his predecessor’s basic tenets are kept close to the minds of Australia’s bowlers

Daniel Brettig17-May-2012Among the more succinct lines uttered by John Buchanan in his time as Australia’s head coach was a stated desire to ultimately make himself redundant. Buchanan argued that if he was doing his job successfully, then the players under him would soon learn to make their own decisions, leaving the coach to concentrate on more strategic matters.In less than 12 months as Australia’s bowling coach, Craig McDermott has gone close to achieving this goal. He adopted a mantra simple enough to be quickly taken in by the bowlers in Australia’s pace battery. It read a little something like this: be as fit as you can possibly be, pitch the ball up to allow it to swing, tempt batsmen into driving, and so open up the possibility of catches in the slips, or bowled and LBW dismissals. At the same time McDermott counselled the captain Michael Clarke to not be afraid of a few cover drives whizzing through the field, for in those runs came the promise of wickets should a batsman miscalculate.Now that McDermott has left the job, far more quickly than many in Cricket Australia would have liked though they understand his family-oriented reasoning, his message is simple enough for it to be carried on by those same bowlers in his absence. Likewise Clarke should not need too many reminders that the drive is far from a dirty word in the field.McDermott’s exit is unfortunately timed in some respects. Most of the other outstanding candidates for such a role are now safely locked away by other national teams, England’s David Saker and New Zealand’s Damien Wright among them. Allan Donald is at home with South Africa, and another past applicant, Andy Bichel, is happily employed part-time as a selector with little inclination to take on the punishing schedule dictated by the job of bowling mentor.Of the next tier, Jason Gillespie is in his first season as the coach of Yorkshire, Shane Jurgensen is coaching Bangladesh, and Joe Dawes has gone from Queensland to India via South Australia. Allister de Winter, Tasmania’s bowling coach and a rival candidate to McDermott last time, has been promoted in his state to coach the Hurricanes Big Bash League team. Damien Fleming, another with the right kind of experience and approach, has carved out a career juggling media, coaching and all-round joviality that would be somewhat curtailed by full-time touring duty.Australian newspapers will today carry an advertisement for the position of bowling coach, emphasising the role’s importance and the characteristics required by anyone wishing to apply. If there is anything the new man can add to the mix it is a more varied approach to the challenges of bowling in limited-overs matches: McDermott’s methods proved to be just the thing Australia needed in Test matches, but in ODIs and Twenty20s a certain inconsistency remains. That task will likely be handled by staff rotated through the Centre of Excellence on Australia’s next tour, to Ireland and England for six one-day matches.The major requirement of McDermott’s successor will be to ensure that his predecessor’s basic tenets are kept close to the minds and training patterns of the bowlers. Peter Siddle and James Pattinson must be reminded of the success they enjoyed by bowling full and swinging it, Ben Hilfenhaus kept committed to the strong body action and subtle variations at the crease that make his outswinger doubly dangerous, Ryan Harris reminded that it is just fine to be pushed down the ground every now and then. Younger bucks like Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will need a mentor to take them through the butterflies and doubts of their early steps in the international game, and in this area another coach with a Test match past would help.McDermott, of course, will not be lost entirely to the Australian set-up. He will still work as a consultant at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, giving him the chance to influence the development of Australia’s younger quicks, much as he did before assuming the more senior role. In this he will be able to continue imbuing the young with the same simple lessons he brought with refreshing directness to the national team. Even though McDermott will no longer be able to perch himself watchfully at the long on fence, as he commonly did during the past year, his influence will remain.

He found overwhelming success in his first seven Tests but is now struggling in England. It’s all to do with the nuts and bolts of how he bowls

Aakash Chopra19-Aug-2012Fifty one wickets at 14.15 runs per wicket in seven Test matches, against three different opponents. Ten wickets in a match twice, five wickets in an innings six times, and four-fors twice. Vernon Philander has been a phenomenon that has taken Test cricket by storm.Philander is the second-fastest in Test history to 50 wickets, and those 50 came at the speed at which Usain Bolt runs. It was as if every time Philander bowled an away-going delivery, it found the outside edge of the batsman’s bat and then the safe hands of the wicketkeeper or slips. And every time the ball nipped back after pitching, it eluded the bat and either trapped the batsman in front or disturbed the stumps behind him.So it is surprising that there is nothing really extraordinary about Philander’s bowling. He has simply relied on the basics of maintaining a disciplined line and length – a strategy he believes “works anywhere in the world”. Surely, though, there must be something that made him so much more successful than most have managed to be at the start of a career? And why isn’t the magic working in England at the moment?This is an attempt to decode the Philander puzzle.Movement off the surface without any visible hints
Philander looks quite innocuous when compared to his fast bowling colleagues, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn. He doesn’t have the disconcerting bounce that Morkel can achieve, nor does he get the ball to swing prodigiously in the air at high speeds like Steyn does. He’s not as tall as Morkel nor does he run in as fast as Steyn.But Philander compensates for the lack of these natural gifts by getting the ball to dart around after pitching, without giving clues about where it will go.Thousands of hours of practice hardwire a batsman to look for certain clues in a bowler’s action – like the wrist position at the time of release, the position of the seam, and which way the shiny side faces in the air – to predict the ball’s behaviour in the air and off the surface. If the ball starts swinging in one direction the moment it leaves the bowler’s hand, you can assume with a reasonable degree of confidence that it is unlikely to dart the other way after pitching.For example, if a bowler bowls a good outswinger, the chances of the delivery coming in to the right-hander after pitching are minimal. Batsmen comfortable against the moving ball have mastered the art of playing in that imaginary second line.Unfortunately, this theory isn’t going to help batsmen facing Philander, because his deliveries rarely move in the air before pitching, especially when the ball is a few overs old. He delivers it with a completely upright seam, and nothing in his wrist position or action betrays his intentions with regard to movement off the surface.As a batsman, you can only prepare for what you can see, and if the ball hasn’t moved an inch before it lands, it’s fair to assume it won’t do so after pitching. But that isn’t always the case with Philander’s deliveries, most of which change direction after hitting the surface. This forces the batsman to read him off the pitch. Most batsmen struggle even when reading a spinner off the surface because there is so little time to adjust, so you can imagine their plight against a quicker bowler like Philander.

Would you rather face Steyn, Morkel or Philander? Ten out of ten batsmen will choose Philander over the other two, seven days a week

Teasing and testing line and length
For all the movement he gets off the surface, Philander would be only half the bowler he is if he bowled a few inches left or right of the line he bowls currently. He bowls from fairly close to the stumps and maintains a line consistently on the fourth or fifth stump – a few inches outside off. His length is also a bit fuller than Steyn’s and Morkel’s, so it not only forces the batsman to get on the front foot, it also ensures that the ball can’t be left on bounce – since it is always around knee high. Since the batsman is forced to get on the front foot, there isn’t enough time to adjust for lateral movement off the surface.Lowering the guard
Would you rather face Steyn, Morkel or Philander? Ten out of ten batsmen will choose Philander over the other two, seven days a week. The fact that he has been taking wickets with alarming regularity is unlikely to influence their decision – an irrational one – because batsmen are conditioned to believe that a lot of swing, disconcerting bounce and genuinely fast bowling are more difficult to tackle than subtle movement off the pitch. However, the level of difficulty a bowler poses isn’t always directly proportional to the number of wickets he takes. There are lots of bowlers who look very dangerous but don’t bowl enough wicket-taking deliveries. It doesn’t come as a surprise that most batsmen automatically concentrate harder when facing the likes of Steyn and Morkel, and are happy to switch ends to face Philander instead. If you are happy to face a certain bowler, the odds of lowering your guard against him increase. While Philander’s line and length force a batsman to play at almost everything, his pace – or the lack of it, when compared to his bowling partners – makes him the more desirable bowler to face.For these reasons, he could be a very potent partnership breaker in slightly seamer-friendly conditions. But the first two Test matches in England have exposed him to the thorny side of international cricket. Philander is at his best when the ball zips off the surface, because it reduces the time the batsman has to adjust to the lateral movement. The moist and soft English pitches may have offered him movement, but because they are also slow, England’s batsmen have had the much-needed extra time to make the right adjustments.Unless he makes some adjustments of his own, Philander is likely to struggle in dry subcontinental conditions as well, because those placid tracks won’t provide the substantial sideways movement he relies on, and the lack of pace will give the batsman a fraction extra time.Philander has impressed us with his speed in the 100-metre dash. Now he needs to brace himself for the marathon that is international cricket.