Plays of the day from the IPL game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad

Abhishek Purohit19-May-2013The prophecy
This had been set up as a contest between two South African greats by the men themselves. Before the match, Dale Steyn attached a picture of Jacques Kallis to this tweet – “My enemy tonight!” Kallis replied with “What you mean tonight. Ain’t I always?” Steyn signed off with “Haha, at the bar yes! Tonight u my Frenemy! #tightenurgrid”. And true to his word Steyn would pick up his opposite number, off the first ball he bowled to him itself. Steyn unleashed a quick ball onto Kallis’ pads. Kallis looked to flick it leg side over deep square-leg, but instead went to the fielder in the deep.The set-up
South Africa v South Africa was not over yet. In came Ryan ten Doeschate at the fall of Kallis, and Steyn gave him a torrid time. After leaking four leg-byes, Steyn beat the batsman on the cut with a pacy delivery. The third was banged in short of a length, and all ten Doeschate could do was get behind the line and bring it down. The fourth was a brutal lifter which came screaming at the throat. Ten Doeschate jumped, fended blindly and managed a fortunate single to square leg.The sucker blow
After the workout Steyn gave him, ten Doeschate faced up to Amit Mishra next. Mishra and fellow legspinner Karan Sharma, had been all over the visiting batsmen, tying them down with legbreaks, googlies and topspinners. Mishra tossed one up generously wide outside off. Ten Doeschate, sensing an opportunity after the Steyn barrage, prepared to cut it. To his surprise, it was the googly and spun in sharply to strike him in front. Gone.The celebration
There was no guessing the length Steyn was going to bowl at Yusuf Pathan. A 147 kph bouncer arrived on target in the 19th over and had Yusuf ducking for cover. Yusuf knew what the next one would be. He was in position when a short one arrived outside off, and pulled it for a flat six over deep midwicket. He then put down his bat, raised his arms straight over his head, and clapped his gloves together, seemingly applauding his own stroke. Before starting his run-up for the next ball, Steyn clapped softly, smiling at Yusuf. The battle was on.The run-out
Who else but Gautam Gambhir again? He cut Mishra in the point region and sprinted for a single. He hadn’t accounted for backward point’s dive, though. Kallis did. Kallis took a few steps, saw the fielder had stopped the ball, and shouted “no”. But Gambhir was more than half way down the pitch by then, and had no chance of getting back.

The Australian batsmen, with another lacklustre show in Delhi, seem to not have learned their lessons on playing spin

Brydon Coverdale in Delhi22-Mar-2013Another day on this Indian tour, another top-order collapse, another tail-end recovery. To quote the great Major League Baseball player and manager Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again. On a cracking pitch that looked more like a surface from day five than day one, Australia finished at an almost respectable 231 for 8. Peter Siddle was unbeaten on 47 and was the highest scorer. It was the third time in seven innings in this series that the top score has come from outside the top six. That is a damning statistic.Just as the debutant Moises Henriques outshone the specialist batsmen in the second innings in Chennai and Mitchell Starc upstaged everyone else with his 99 in Mohali, Siddle has shown that despite the challenges of this Delhi pitch it can be handled. Not that many of the Australian top order can blame the conditions for their exits at the Feroz Shah Kotla. In fact, what must have displeased Mickey Arthur and his staff the most was the familiarity of the dismissals, the lessons that haven’t been learnt. It was like a clip show from the previous three Tests.Playing straight and showing patience have been mantras the coaches have tried to instil in the batsmen in this series. Arthur was livid when Warner was bowled around his legs trying to sweep R Ashwin early in his second innings in Hyderabad. In the second innings in Mohali, he flashed at a wide ball with no footwork and was caught behind in the first over. Here he did exactly the same for exactly the same result. At least he waited until the second over.Warner’s sweep in Hyderabad followed a similarly poor attempt from Phillip Hughes that yielded Ashwin another bowled around the legs. It must have been especially frustrating, then, for the Australians to see Cowan get out the same way on day one in Delhi. And just like Warner’s ill-fated sweep, Cowan chose to play from the first ball after a change of angle from Ashwin. Over the wicket, sweep, bowled. Cowan had shown such patience in his 99-ball innings of 38 but it was another start squandered.Michael Clarke spoke before the tour of the importance of batsmen going on with their starts, turning twenties, thirties, forties, fifties into big triple-figure scores. The tally is now up to 26 times that Australian batsmen have passed 20 in this series. But Clarke’s 130 in the first innings of the tour remains their only hundred. Clarke is not part of this Test due to his sore back, but one of his dismissals was recreated by his captaincy successor Shane Watson.In the first innings in Mohali, Clarke advanced to Ravindra Jadeja and was beaten by the flight and the turn, stumped because he failed to get to the pitch of the ball. Watson’s dismissal in Delhi might have been a carbon copy, except for the lack of grace in his footwork. It would have been easier for the heavy roller to make a quick u-turn on this pitch than Watson. He cannot be criticised for using his feet, for reluctance to do so has been a failing of the batsmen all tour. But better judgment of length is key.Here another Yogi Berra-ism comes to mind: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” It is all well and good to talk about footwork and ways to counter the spinners, but against quality, in-form bowlers like Jadeja and Ashwin, no amount of theorising or net batting against Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell can truly prepare a batsman for the battle in the middle.

The politician Stephen Smith has served as Australia’s minister for defence and minister for foreign affairs; here, his namesake was Australian cricket’s minister for defence and handling foreign conditions

Hughes looked in wonderful touch until he was roughed up by an Ishant Sharma bouncer and tentatively played on three balls later. It was fine bowling and the unexpectedly sharp bounce put down into Hughes’ mind. In that way, he could perhaps claim to be the only one of the top-order men whose dismissal was a result of the surface. Matthew Wade can also be forgiven; he was given out bat-pad to a ball that touched only his leg.Apart from Warner, the No.7 Maxwell has the most to regret about the way he departed. When he had faced only 15 balls he tried to force Jadeja through the leg side and tamely chipped a catch to wide midwicket. It was a Twenty20 shot, not the stroke to be played at 129 for 5, regardless of Maxwell’s natural aggression. Perhaps he could have watched the way Smith batted.Like Maxwell, Smith struck a six early in his innings. But he reined in some of naturally attacking urges and by the time he had faced 100 balls – the only batsman to reach that milestone until Siddle – he had only 24 runs. The politician Stephen Smith has served as Australia’s minister for defence and minister for foreign affairs; here, his namesake was Australian cricket’s minister for defence and handling foreign conditions.Smith is a natural at using his feet and it was notable that he was often prepared to advance and then block. Most Australian batsman, Clarke aside, seem to think if they are down the wicket they must slog. But the Smith-Clarke approach is an important method of defence in these conditions. Alas, Smith couldn’t push on and nudged a catch to short leg. At least he had helped Siddle with the recovery in a 53-run stand.But the list of starts continued Australia’s stuttering trend: Cowan 38, Hughes 45, Watson 17, Smith 46, Maxwell 10. Siddle showed outstanding patience and if he goes on to become the only man in this innings to score a half-century it will be an indictment on the rest. In truth, it already is. Eleven of Australia’s 19 best partnerships in this series have involved a batsman outside the top six. What have the top order been doing?Down 3-0 and five days from heading home you could understand if their minds are elsewhere. But this was an opportunity to show what they had learnt in their six-week tour. These men all want to be part of this year’s Ashes tour. They are doing their cases little good. To borrow from Berra once more: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else”.

By accident more than design, Australia’s selectors eventually stumbled on a top five but there remain question marks heading into the return Ashes and an early decision needs to be made

Brydon Coverdale26-Aug-2013It was fitting that Australia’s series finished this way. Not so much the result, although the umpires playing the final role was especially apt, but the guessing game. Each time a wicket fell in Australia’s second innings, the batting-order bingo barrel was cranked around and a name plucked out. Shane Watson promoted to open with David Warner, James Faulkner at No.3. Brad Haddin at No.4. Then Michael Clarke and Steven Smith. Then Ryan Harris and Mitchell Starc. No Chris Rogers. It was Australia’s Ashes summed up in 20 overs.Of course, this time there were discernible reasons. Quick runs were needed to allow Clarke to make the declaration he desired. But the overall effect was a reminder of the lack of clarity in Australia’s batting line-up, a theme that began before Mickey Arthur was sacked and has not disappeared. It was notable that England, good enough and consistent enough to win 3-0, retained the same top six through every Test until The Oval; Australia’s top six changed personnel and/or order every match.When asked after the final match what had gone wrong for the Australians over the course of the series, Clarke singled out the batting and added that Australia’s first-innings performances especially had been sub-standard. “In these conditions when the wickets deteriorate and the ball spins more, second innings are always difficult,” he said. “But our first-innings batting needs to improve.”But the Australians actually held first-innings leads in four of the five Tests. Lord’s aside, they were in every other match deep into its second half. More runs in the first innings would have strengthened their positions, certainly, but grabbing opportunities later in Tests is arguably more important. Australia passed 300 only twice in the series; England failed to reach it only twice in completed innings, yet 377 was their best. They were consistent and that was enough.That they entered the series with a settled batting line-up certainly helped. By accident more than design, Australia’s selectors eventually stumbled on a top five. It is not the top five they expected when they chose the squad, nor when the teams lined up at Trent Bridge. There is no Ed Cowan, no Phillip Hughes, no Usman Khawaja. Not every batsman has made an irresistible case but there seems little doubt that Rogers, Warner, Watson Clarke and Smith will line up at the Gabba in November.But what of No.6? It is not a pivotal position in most Test teams, but Michael Hussey made himself invaluable there until his retirement in January. In a malfunctioning batting line-up with its best player at No.5, Hussey was the back-up, the preventer of top-order collapses flowing further. Since Hussey’s departure, Australia have been uncertain how to fill the role. Is it the place for a batsman who can’t fit elsewhere or for a wicketkeeper-batsman, which allows an extra bowler?That Faulkner was picked at The Oval, where the intention was for Brad Haddin to bat at No.6, should not be taken as an indication of the balance Australia will choose at home. The coach, Darren Lehmann, said as much after the series when he declared that six batsmen would be needed in Australia, with Adelaide Oval perhaps the only venue where an extra bowler might be considered. Faulkner took six wickets on debut but he cannot squeeze ahead of any of the frontline fast men.Certainly Faulkner was impressive on debut, in his attitude and his ability. He made 23 and 22, but in both innings was asked to throw the bat. His wickets largely came when England were batting with similar aggression. It’s unlikely Faulkner will feature at the start of the home Ashes, but his entry to Test cricket has at least shown that he has the nerve, he can hold his own. But if Watson is fit to bowl, the balance of the team requires another batsman.

There are two ways the selectors could go: an older, wiser batsman who could add to the side’s experience and toughness, as Rogers has; or a younger player, a man who could be groomed in the less stressful No.6 position before potentially moving up the order in future

Problematically for the selectors, they might need to decide on their preference before the Sheffield Shield season begins. The one-day tour of India that runs from early October until the first week of November causes an issue not only in the preparation of the Test batsmen, but in others pressing their case. Should men like Clarke, Watson, Smith and Warner stay at home for some Shield-based Ashes preparation and a second-string side be sent to India, a Test batsman in waiting might be in that ODI group.Unless that man is identified before the tour. There are two ways the selectors could go: an older, wiser batsman who could add to the side’s experience and toughness, as Rogers has; or a younger player, a man who could be groomed in the less stressful No.6 position before potentially moving up the order in future. In neither case is it clear who would be chosen. Lehmann was handed a squad that had already been picked; at home, he will have a greater say in who he wants.That Khawaja and Hughes were used and discarded during the Ashes does not augur well for them, but an extended run at No.6 would be preferable to the way either man has been treated so far in international cricket. Nic Maddinson is another option after his productive Australia A winter tours – he made centuries against Ireland and Gloucestershire and 88 and 90 against South Africa A – but his patience is a question mark.’We’ll be more settled in Australia’

Darren Lehmann was unapologetic about the constant top order shuffling that had characterised Australia’s batting during the Ashes, but forecast a more settled combination for the return matches at home. Not once in the series did the tourists employ the same batting order for two matches in a row, and only in Durham for consecutive innings.

“Catch-22. We probably weren’t settled because we weren’t performing as a batting unit to be perfectly honest,” Lehmann said. “There were a couple of times where we had opportunities and didn’t take them. The top seven take responsibility for that, and we didn’t do that at certain times in this series. But they all know that, and as long as they learn that’s the main thing.

“When we get our side for the first Test match, the batting seven will be the side for the first couple I would think at least. We’ll be pretty settled in Australia knowing the conditions really well. Different conditions here and how we wanted to play, but Australia won’t be an issue for that.”

Maddinson is also a left-hander and there seems a push in Australia’s batting line-up for right-handers. Graeme Swann should be less of a threat in Australia than in England, but turning the ball away from left-handers he will still create problems. Arguments could be made for Alex Doolan or Joe Burns to slot in at No.6 but the pressure in a home Ashes would be intense. The selectors may opt for more experience.Adam Voges, George Bailey, Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson might all be candidates. Voges and Bailey especially appear favourites of this selection panel. A left-field selection could be Andrew McDonald, who captained Australia A last year and may well have toured India had he not needed hamstring surgery. As a batting allrounder, McDonald is good enough to be a Test No.6, offers a canny bowling option and the desired experience. He has more first-class hundreds than Marsh or Ferguson.The rest of the line-up seems more or less settled. Haddin was disappointing with the bat in England but provided the off-field experience and support to Clarke that was a key reason for his selection as vice-captain. His performance behind the stumps was mixed – at times his feet moved like Fred Astaire, at others like Andre the Giant – but he did enough to claim a world-record 29 dismissals for the series. It is likely he will be retained.Ryan Harris was outstanding, as anticipated, and lasted four Tests, as nobody expected. He left the field late at The Oval with hamstring soreness but his injury was not believed to be serious. Together with any combination of Peter Siddle, Starc and James Pattinson, Harris forms a pace attack that constantly challenges and in Australia could be even better. Nathan Lyon, wrongly left out for Ashton Agar early in the series, should play at the Gabba but will face pressure from Fawad Ahmed.It took until the fourth and fifth Tests, but eventually the Australians found centurions who weren’t Clarke. Rogers at Chester-le-Street showed how to fight on a tough pitch, Watson and Smith both secured their positions with bold hundreds at The Oval, albeit in a dead rubber against a weakened attack. Both will be judged more on their work at home, but both have earned the right to be there. Warner made starts without going on.There were enough signs from Australia to suggest that at home they will challenge England again. Whether they can win is another matter, for more pace in the pitches will suit James Anderson and Stuart Broad as much as it will Australia’s bowlers. Countering them will require batting solidity and consistency, easier said than done. Choosing a settled batting line-up would be a good start, and a pleasant change. No more batting-order bingo.

The story of how one man found the courage to motivate a bunch of young refugees to aspire for the stars

Srinath Sripath, India31-Aug-2013Over the past decade literature on Afghanistan, starting with Khaled Hosseini’s , has spawned a whole sub-genre by itself. The struggles of a nation setting itself free from the shackles of several invasions warrant a minute-by-minute recording. Fortunately, a slew of writers, journalists and documentary makers have been around to do just that.When I first read reputed columnists raving about , I longed to watch it. This piece is not just meant to talk about the documentary, but to look at Afghan cricket from a broader lens. My first brush with cricket in Afghanistan was Timeri Murari’s . As Rukhsana, the Delhi University-educated protagonist, teaches her cousins to play cricket and break free from the Taliban, I wondered if the novel was based on real-life inspiration. Though I do not yet know the answer to that question, I found the parallel in .The story of Afghanistan’s rise to International cricket is, for all practical purposes, the story of how one man found the courage to motivate a bunch of young men to aspire for the stars. Taj Malik’s tale is a narrative that deserves to be told, not as an aside or a subplot, but the plot itself. As this piece would tell you, in a country taking baby steps to stand on its own feet, resources were scarce and International status was but a pipedream. As happens so often in the novel, the protagonist of this real-life story uses a crackling telephone line to communicate with the outside world, calling out aloud for help. Small-time cricketer, right-hand batsman and legbreak bowler, Taj’s story could have been just another, forgotten one, buried in the eventful, history-rich sands of cricketing time. Akin to how Kerry Packer would be looked up to, by someone looking to revolutionise and re-package cricket for the Test-playing world, Taj should be the inspiration to anyone seeking to bring smiles to a ravaged nation.As the movie unfolds you see how change and professionalism take root in the Afghan side. Discipline slowly infects these young men who were once reckless sloggers who would not put a price on their wickets. When the Afghan Cricket Federation decides that development would be at the cost of replacing Taj with a foreign coach, you can’t help but well up, just like Taj does after Afghanistan win their first ever tournament in Jersey. Stories like these in sport are hard to find, and hardly ever told to the world.The novel provides a fictionalised account of how Afghans were sent to Pakistan to learn cricket. For these men cricket took shape in refugee camps during the Russian invasion. As Taj makes his way to the dugout for Afghanistan’s inaugural ICC World T20 game against India at St. Lucia, it is almost like a happily-ever-after movie ending. Taj’s story deserves to be told many times over, for it would inspire not just Afghans, but anyone looking to overcome odds in life.As an Afghani poem repeated in the movie goes ,
Touchwood, not so rare anymore. With annual contracts through ICC funding, matches against Test-playing nations, foreign coaching assistance, things are looking up for Afghanistan. It would be easier to rush into a campaign for Test status. But if lessons from Bangladesh are anything to go by, Afghanistan must be nurtured with patience and made masters of the shorter format first. Hopefully rosier times await, and the pull-up-sleeves-and-dance routine would become a regular feature in the life of Taj Malik and his countrymen.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line

Mominul Haque does not wish to bask in the glory of his Man-of-the-Series performances against New Zealand when there are mistakes to learn from

Mohammad Isam26-Oct-2013Mominul Haque sounds like a young man in touch with reality. It is easy for a 22-year-old in a largely young and impatient dressing room to be like his team-mates. Mominul likes to go about things his own way, and life has taught him to be pragmatic and grounded.His mother has been ill for a few years and was paralysed last year. He misses her a lot when travelling, so when he got his century in the Dhaka Test, he thought of her and how happy she must be while watching him on television. Perhaps it’s also why he doesn’t celebrate much.When he used to return home to Cox’s Bazar on school breaks, Mominul said, his mother would be standing at the door waiting to hug him. This time, when he went home after the Chittagong Test to celebrate Eid with his family, she was sitting in a chair. The moment they hugged, Mominul knew how happy she was.She isn’t the only one. Mominul’s 376 runs in the two home Tests against New Zealand earned him the Man-of-the-Series award, to go along with his Man of the Match for his unbeaten 126 in the second Test. Both his hundreds in this series were scored when the team was in trouble – in Dhaka, Bangladesh were 55 for 2 after conceding a first-innings lead of 155, and in Chittagong, he made his maiden Test hundred after walking in with the score at 8 for 2.The two centuries follow an up-and-down start to his Test career this year. After making two fifties in Sri Lanka, Mominul struggled to convert good starts in Zimbabwe and was even dropped from the ODI team.”I wouldn’t have scored these two centuries if I hadn’t played badly in Zimbabwe,” he said. “I scored 23 and 29 there. It is a big crime to get out when you’re set at the crease. If I hadn’t made those mistakes, I wouldn’t have come this far. There are a lot of big lessons from these small mistakes. I have learned this since my childhood.”You have to remember that you are scoring the runs, but you have to make it a big one. If you score four or five ducks in a row, that’s definitely bad. But scoring 20s and 30s doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the world. I wasn’t playing badly at that time in Zimbabwe. I thought a lot about it and worked on things.”He eliminated a blind spot to do with deliveries that knocked him in the ribcage and on his pads. Mominul couldn’t contain the bounce in Zimbabwe, where even medium- pacers frustrated him. After a couple of months of intense training during the off season, he made the most of the run-scoring opportunities against New Zealand.”I scored quickly in Chittagong to get to the hundred and then slowed down. They had plans in place for me in Dhaka. They put a deliberate leg-side field, with four and sometimes five fielders, and bowled to me there. Tamim and Tamim bhai told me that it is a crime to get out in the 20s. They said, ‘You have to make sure the starts are converted into big knocks'”

Talking to Salahuddin sir helped me. Shakib bhai and Tamim bhai also had a talk with me after I hadn’t done well in Zimbabwe. They told me that it is a crime to get out in the 20s. It means that you’re not settled in the team. They said, ‘You have to make sure the starts are converted into big knocks.'”Salahuddin was also an influential figure in Mominul’s growth, particularly when he made it into the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Prothisthan academy. His parents weren’t sure if it would be a good idea for the youngster to move from Cox’s Bazar to the Savar-based sports institute, but Mominul’s love for the game won them over.”My parents said no at first, but when sir talked to them, they agreed. I was a decent student, not great. If I was a good student, they wouldn’t have let me go to BKSP.”I used to play in the neighbourhood in Cox’s Bazar. There used to be a BKSP camp there, which I joined. A coach told me to try my luck getting admitted to BKSP, and I did.”But Mominul is not optimistic about the chances of other cricketers like him emerging from the picturesque beach town on the southern shores of Bangladesh. “It will be very difficult for them to come this far. There are no facilities there, no league happening for two years. If I had stayed in Cox’s Bazar, I would have struggled. I was lucky to have gone to BKSP and made it this far,” he said.The distance he has travelled is impressive. Mominul is known to be one of the fittest players in the team, he fields well, and improves his batting every innings.He had a fever before the start of the Dhaka Test and played while running a high temperature. By the time he had rescued Bangladesh on the fourth day, he looked exhausted. “It was a tough innings in that sense. There is pleasure in playing well when you’re not 100% well. I didn’t understand how difficult it would be, so there was something to learn from it. In the future if I have to play in such a situation, I can adapt quickly. I missed a few singles for Shakib bhai. It was hard for me to breathe at times,” Mominul said.Tamim Iqbal said that Mominul reminded him of Shakib Al Hasan, a man whose will power gets him past plenty of barriers on and off the field.Bangladeshi batsmen don’t often do well when asked to bat for survival, but Mominul has certainly defied the sceptics. His attitude is also praiseworthy. Two centuries in two Tests, and instead of waiting to embrace the impending stardom, Mominul is clearer than ever before that he has a very long way to go.

It is impossible to say how this series would have panned out had Mickey Arthur still been in charge, but Darren Lehmann’s approach has paid off handsomely

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA17-Dec-20130:00

Ian Chappell: 5-0 would be devastating for England

Push Alastair Cook’s men close in England, develop intelligence on their players, return to Australia to win the urn on home soil. That was the plan formulated by Mickey Arthur and Michael Clarke earlier this year. It is now coming to fruition, just with one slight change of personnel. Instead of being in the dressing room as Australia tightened their grip on England the WACA, Arthur was in a radio commentary box, watching Clarke and Darren Lehmann from afar.So much has happened with this Australian team that it is hard to believe it was less than six months ago that Arthur was summoned to a meeting in Bristol with Pat Howard and James Sutherland and summarily terminated as coach. It was a swift and decisive move from Cricket Australia’s bosses, who believed the atmosphere in the camp had deteriorated to such an extent that change had to be made, even if the Ashes in England was less than three weeks away.That series was lost 3-0, but now Australia are reaping the benefits of change. It is impossible to say how the results would have panned out had Arthur remained. What can be said without doubt is that Lehmann has instilled in the squad a sense of calm, and a sense of fun. It is intangible, but visible in the way the players interact in the nets, their relaxed smiles while dealing with the media, and the way they have played.Of course, it’s easy to be relaxed when you’re winning. The question, perhaps impossible to answer, is whether the Australians are relaxed because they’re winning, or winning because they’re relaxed. Michael Vaughan, who played under captain Lehmann at Yorkshire, said Lehmann was capable of delivering a verbal rollicking when required, but his most important trait was the capacity to calm the nerves of his players.”His ability to make people view cricket as just a game is his strength,” Vaughan wrote in the last week. “He makes a player, even during pressurised situations, feel as if he is playing for his club side on a Saturday afternoon.”It is a common theme amongst those who have played under Lehmann. Adam Gilchrist, a player in coach Lehmann’s Deccan Chargers side, was in Perth ahead of the third Test. He said that while Mitchell Johnson’s bowling was clearly the difference between the two sides on the field so far in this series, he sensed an off-field change in the Australian camp as well.”I continue to go back to Darren Lehmann and the seeds that he would have planted as soon as he assumed that role,” Gilchrist said. “His fingerprints are all over the atmosphere around that team. I know from personal experience he’s a guy who creates the right atmosphere for people to feel like they can then do their best.”We have got a lot of trust,” Mitchell Johnson says of Darren Lehmann•Getty Images”I think Michael Clarke is one of the great beneficiaries of having Darren Lehmann around. I can’t put words in his mouth but I would imagine if you ask him at the end he would speak along similar lines. He just de-stresses situations and players and leaders, so I think Pup has really relished working with him, and that’s allowed a lot more of his inner personality to come out.”Another of the great beneficiaries of Lehmann’s approach is Johnson, whose previous incarnations in Test cricket have combined on-field ups and downs with off-field anxieties. Johnson is now a husband and father and has gained a sense of perspective about what is important in life. That cricket-life balance is a key part of the Lehmann mantra, and while any number of factors have contributed to Johnson’s resurgence, the new coach was one of them.”He’s been a big part,” Johnson said of Lehmann’s ability to keep him grounded. “He understands the players. He’s been in the situation before as a player. He knows what’s going on and he has got a calming influence. But he’ll also tell you if you’re being an idiot or doing something that you shouldn’t be doing.”He is a straight shooter, which is what you want, but he understands the players and gets to know each player, which is pretty important as a coach. He knows how people tick and he’s definitely found that with me. We have got a lot of trust, and trust is another big part of it.”There appeared to be a breakdown of trust during Australia’s tour of India earlier in the year, when Johnson and three other members of the squad were suspended for a Test for failing to complete an off-field task Arthur had asked of them. Chris Rogers, who was not part of that touring party, said the players always knew where they stood under Lehmann.

“His fingerprints are all over the atmosphere around that team.”Adam Gilchrist on Darren Lehmann

“He’s been exceptional,” Rogers said. “I think it’s the real calmness he’s brought; he’s given us a great direction in how he wants us to play but also how he wants us to act on and off the field. I think as a player if you can relax and express yourself and not be worried about what’s going on in the change room, it’s the best feeling in cricket. I’ve no doubt he’s brought unbelievable attributes to this side.”One is the aggressive approach he encourages against spin. “There are no fielders in the car park,” Lehmann likes to say, a mantra based on the way he batted himself. Australia’s batsmen have tested that theory, hitting 26 sixes off England’s spinners so far in the series – 20 of which have come against Graeme Swann’s offspin. Swann’s economy rate of 3.94 in the first three Tests is comfortably his worst in any Test series, and in turn heaped pressure on England’s seamers. Several players, George Bailey among them, gained confidence in this method by taking down R Ashwin in the ODIs in India that preceded the Ashes.International coaching has been a learning process for Lehmann, who was fined by the ICC during the tour of England for calling Stuart Broad a cheat during an interview for an Australian radio station. And as a selector, he was one of the men responsible for the constantly changing team during that series. The net effect, though, was settling on a preferred line-up for the return series in Australia.Regaining the Ashes will mean the 3-0 loss in England will be largely forgotten. It was, after all, a learning experience, an intelligence-gathering mission. That was how Clarke and Arthur viewed it. They had very different views of proceedings at the WACA, where the ultra-aggressive approach of Shane Watson and Bailey on the fourth morning was indicative of the Lehmann style.”Our destiny as a captain-coach relationship was going to be defined by the Ashes in Australia,” Arthur said in a radio interview on day four in Perth.Instead, it is the Clarke-Lehmann legacy that has been ensured. Arthur may wonder if he could have delivered the same results. Nobody can answer that question. In any case, he has moved on. And under Lehmann, Australian cricket has moved onwards and upwards.

A slow Adelaide Oval pitch eventually set up a hectic chase and fascinating conclusion, with England’s capitulation reminiscent of the Champions Trophy final

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Adelaide Oval26-Jan-2014Like the generous guests they have been over what seems to have been the worst part of an eternity, England’s own manners got the better of them. On Australia Day, at the South Australia house that’s yet to be rebuilt, they reacted to scuttling out their hosts on the cheap with an all too familiar apology of a defeat.No sooner had Australia lifted the Carlton Mid Trophy, England made their excuses and left. Some of them will head home, including Alastair Cook, who must have lost a foot or so in height over the last three months. Others will head on to Hobart, where the Twenty20 slap and tickle begins. Today was all slap.The Adelaide Oval has still managed to maintain its beauty, despite parts of its inside and surround areas resembling a neglected building site. The meeting of old and new world is uneasy, like teaching your grandma how to use the internet, only to receive a friend request on Facebook from her a week later. The intentions are admirable but at what cost?The use of drop-in pitches here is a major part of the ground’s redevelopment and many feel they rob the place of its charm. The MCG has shown that drop-ins are a must for a stadium organisation looking to flourish by hosting a greater variety of events but the Adelaide regulars who have spent the last month passing the same set of diggers shifting the same rubble are not so sure.A footbridge offering a third path across the River Torrens is yet to be fully opened, despite the fact it was supposed to be ready before the Ashes Test at the beginning of December. The Eastern Stand, undergoing a facelift to increase the ground’s capacity by 10,000, was vacant but for a couple of security guards and an array of orange cones on the middle deck. While the atmosphere was lopsided, the absence of anyone with uncontrollable flapping arms on one whole side of the ground meant that Mexican waves were given the little enthusiasm or encouragement they deserve.At the halfway stage, the pitch was the main point of contention. Historically, those cultivated within the boundary offered something for all concerned, particularly across five days of a Test match. But since reverting to drop-ins, curators Les Burdett and Damian Hough have struggled to impart their old touch on the outer earth.Western Australia head coach, Justin Langer, felt the preparation of Adelaide’s pitches needed to be readdressed after his side were involved in a Sheffield Shield encounter where 1,237 runs were scored across the four days. The ODI track was far from November’s “batting paradise” but turned out to be a sluggish surface that, while absent of demons, had enough in it to prey on indecision. At halfway, it was dreary.

Watching Bopara, usually an excellent player of spin, play Doherty out for a maiden in the batting Powerplay as Australia’s ring fielders sniffed blood was excruciating

All bar one of Australia’s wickets fell through batsmen trying to force shots; James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter- Nile could be excused, while the one anomaly, Aaron Finch (bowled by a ball that ducked back in), gave two catching chances that were both put down.A target of 218 always looked short but, after seeing how even patience wasn’t rewarded – evidenced by George Bailey’s vain attempt at turning nearly two hours of crease time into more than his 56 (the top score of the match) – you felt a hectic chase in the offing. Ten of the England XI were also present at Edgbaston last year in the Champions Trophy Final against India. The similarities between the two capitulations are far too great to brush off as coincidence.Both times, set batsmen put on a partnership – Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara then; Morgan and Joe Root now – that had seemingly broken the back of the chase, before both falling to miscalculations. The lower order then dithered and allowed a required run rate to climb to ultimately insurmountable heights. Both ended in five-run defeats and the ignominy of having to stand there as the coloured confetti of their rivals showered them like spittle.It’s hard not to think that, were Australia chasing, they would have tried to get the lion’s share of the work done with their top order. Of course, much of that is down to the composition of their side but it is a side that knows how to pace a chase. When to stick, when to twist; how to spread the fielders, how to exploit that gap.Watching Bopara, usually an excellent player of spin, play Xavier Doherty out for a maiden, in the penultimate over of the batting Powerplay as Australia’s ring fielders sniffed blood, was excruciating. It reeked of a “as long as we have balls in hand” approach that is now far too conservative for modern ODI cricket. If you were given a dollar for every English dab behind point you would have enough to pay the $560 fine for taking to the field to plead with the batsmen to try something else.It was a fascinating conclusion and one to add to the “low chase – big finish” scrapbook, one that would not have happened without the dreary first half. If we have learned anything objective in this ODI series it is that, while Perth may not be as quick, Sydney might not turn as much and Adelaide is still working itself out, Australia still has its variety – an important factor a year out from the World Cup. It could be a cracker.

R Ashwin has always looked a better bowler when he has tried to take wickets, as was showcased in the Asia Cup

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Mirpur05-Mar-2014All through his career, advice has followed R Ashwin wherever he has gone. Most of it has gone like this: don’t try too many things; focus on your stock ball; stop bowling that carrom ball so much.After nightmare tours of South Africa and New Zealand, in which he lost the lead spinner’s place in the Test eleven and took just two wickets in eight ODIs at an average approaching 200, Ashwin seems to have taken all that advice and thrown it in the bin.On Wednesday, he took three wickets against Afghanistan, two of them – the lbws of Mohammad Shahzad and Shapoor Zadran – with the carrom ball. He ended the Asia Cup with nine wickets; he took five of them with the carrom ball.It’s hard to remember Ashwin using the carrom ball this often in recent times. During the ODIs in New Zealand, he slipped it in every now and then, but apart from one spell to Ross Taylor in Hamilton, he didn’t really use it in a sustained manner. And that, contrary to popular opinion, is exactly how he has used it for most of his career.A look through his list of wickets reveals it is likely that only 19 out of Ashwin’s 106 ODI wickets have come via the means of the carrom ball. He used it quite a lot in his early matches, but as batsmen around the world grew more comfortable with it, he began deploying it far less frequently. This was a completely natural cycle of evolution.Along with this, however, he frequently bowled with less than optimal control. Against England at home, he provided a steady diet of leg-side singles to the right-hand batsmen and fed Alastair Cook’s cut with a regular supply of short balls.He seemed to work this out when Australia came visiting, with his then coach Sunil Subramaniam helping him correct his set-up at the bowling crease, aligning the heel of his landing front-foot with the toe of his back-foot. This change allowed Ashwin to bowl with more of a pivot, put more of his body into his action, and extract more help, as a consequence, out of the pitch.He seemed to have forgotten all of this, however, by the time the South Africa tour came around. He not only wasn’t turning the ball off the pitch, he didn’t seem to be spinning it out of his hand either. In Johannesburg, he seemed to merely put the ball in a general area, on a fifth-day pitch, and wait for an error. In the ODIs before that and on the New Zealand tour, he bowled in much the same way.All of that changed at the Asia Cup, if in a bizarrely circuitous manner. In India’s first match, Ashwin seemed to be bowling one set of deliveries to Bangladesh’s batsmen and tossing another bunch the spectators’ way. In place of the hand-twisting motions that usually accompanies his run up, Ashwin was raising a pair of full-sleeved arms above his head, à la Sunil Narine.All manner of outrage erupted, and it was perhaps out of proportion to the changes Ashwin had made. His approach to the crease hadn’t changed significantly, and the things a spinner does with his hands during his run-up are often purely ornamental. If you compare videos of his spell against Bangladesh to any of his earlier spells, his set-up at the crease and his release weren’t markedly different either.It still made no sense why Ashwin had gone through all that, though, and he was back to bowling with his usual action a few deliveries into his first spell against Sri Lanka. Since then, he has looked better than he has for a long time.He has still been patchy, but he has not been the Ashwin of South Africa and New Zealand, who seemed content to let batsmen milk him for three or four singles every over. He has been willing to ask the batsman to come after him, whether by dangling a full and wide carrom ball at Sharjeel Khan or by forcing Sohaib Maqsood out of his comfort zone with his field changes. The increased frequency of the carrom ball has been one sign of this.At some level, this change has been forced on Ashwin. India have twice had to defend middling totals, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The pitches, moreover, have helped the spinners. Virat Kohli’s captaincy may have also contributed; the fact that he picked Amit Mishra as a third spinner, in a crunch game against Pakistan, showed that he might be inclined to view spin as an attacking weapon.Whatever the case, Ashwin has always looked a better bowler when he has tried to take wickets. There is no way to tell if he will continue bowling this way, even in less helpful conditions, but you can still hope.

Plays of the day for the qualifying match between Netherlands and UAE in Sylhet

Devashish Fuloria17-Mar-2014Only butter, no fingersUAE’s bowling was failing to make an impression on the Netherlands batsmen, so it was important for the fielders to hold on to whatever came their way. They did have a defendable total. After breaking the threatening opening stand in his first over, Kamran Shazad beat Stephen Myburgh with pace in his second, but the fielder at mid-on didn’t back-pedal enough to get under the skier and spilled an easy chance. In the next over – the tenth – it was Khurram Khan’s turn. He stretched out his left hand at cover, but the ball didn’t stick. A few overs later, the easiest of chances was missed at long on. But the worst of all was probably the wicketkeeper’s: he had enough time to get under a top-edge but when the ball hit the ground, he was at least a metre away from it.Mother of all dolliesBroadcasters often make highlight reels of the best catches in long-winded tournaments like these. However, if someone ever thought of choosing the easiest of catches, Ahsan Malik’s effort in the 20th over of the UAE innings would surely have made it to the top. Malik had beaten the batsman with two scrupulously masked slower deliveries, so when Vikrant Shetty was getting ready for the third one, he should have known what to expect. Instead, he was foxed by it again but managed to get a top edge that neither travelled high nor far. It lobbed gently a couple of meters and dropped softly like a fresh new chick out of the egg. The bowler, unlike the order of the day, thankfully saved it from crashing on to the pitch.The knee stingerNetherlands were solid in the field. The only chance – if one is pedantic – they can be blamed for not taking came in the 15th over when Shaiman Anwar bludgeoned a full delivery back at Pieter Seelar, the bowler. Seelar had only enough time to get his right hand out, but the ball burst through his hands and struck him flush on his knee, ricocheting all the way to midwicket. The bowler didn’t show any anguish.The late cutsKhurram and Swapnil Patil had revived the UAE innings with a 67-run stand for the third wicket but both were dismissed in a matter of four deliveries, to the same bowler playing the same shot. Patil was the first to go, attempting a cheeky cut off a Tom Cooper delivery, that had no room, only to chop it on. Khurram, who had been judicious with his shot selection, was bitten by the late-cut bug, too. Two deliveries later, he made the same mistake – playing a late cut to one which was neither short not wide – and lost his middle stump.

ESPNcricinfo charts Andy Flower’s tenure as England team director

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2014May 2007: Injury and the chance to become assistant England coach under Peter Moores pushes Flower into ending his playing career at Essex.January 2009: Flower takes over overall responsibility for England cricket after Moores is sacked following a furore involving Kevin Pietersen, who is removed as captain and replaced by Andrew Strauss.Febeurary 2009: Flower’s first Test match ends in a calamitous innings defeat as England are bowled out for just 51 in Jamaica. England miss chances to turn the series around and the Wisden trophy is lost.May 2009: England exact swift revenge on West Indies and later in the summer the Ashes are regained. In between England are humiliated in their own World T20 with an opening match defeat to Netherlands as they fail to make the semi-finals.December 2009: Flower oversees a maiden ODI series victory in South Africa before a very credible 1-1 draw in the Test series.May 2010: Delivers the holy grail as England finally win their first global tournament with World T20 victory in the West Indies. Back in England, a spot-fixing scandal overshadows the Pakistan Test series.January 2011: Flower brings in more gold as England win their first Ashes series in Australia for the first time in 24 years but are brought back to earth by a poor World Cup campaign in India where England lose to Ireland and Bangladesh and are swept aside by 10 wickets against Sri Lanka in the quarter-final.April 2011 Flower begins new partnerships as Strauss resigns the one-day captaincy following the Word Cup with Alastair Cook taking over. Shortly after, Stuart Broad is appointed T20 captain leaving England with three different skippers.July 2011: But there’s no stopping Flower’s England in Test cricket as they rise to No. 1 in the world with a 4-0 hammering of India.Andy Flower had some difficult questions to answer following the Ashes whitewash•Getty ImagesFebruary 2012: Heavy hangs the head who wears the crown – England are destroyed 3-0 against Pakistan in the UAE, as major deficiencies of their batsman against spin bowling are exposed. England are also spun out in their next Test in Galle but they recover to draw the series 1-1.May 2012: Kevin Pietersen causes headaches for Flower as he retires from limited-overs cricket having demanded more time to play in the IPL. England win eight of their 10 completed ODIs that summer.August 2012: Flower forced into action to keep his dressing room together after Pietersen is exposed criticising captain Strauss in text messages to the South African opposition who beat England 2-0 and take over as the world’s No. 1 Test team. Strauss resigns at the end of the series ending a hugely successful partnership with Flower. Cook takes over.October 2012: England’s defence of their World T20 title ends in the Super Eights phase; Flower steps down as one-day coach with Ashley Giles replacing him – a move anticipated to extend Flower’s time with the England Test team.December 2012: Flower chalks up another major achievement as England defy the odds to win a Test series in India for the first time in two decades with Pietersen successfully reintegrated into the dressing room.August 2013: The Ashes are retained but cracks begin to emerge in several areas of the team, cracks that are horribly exposed four months later as England produce horrendous cricket to surrender the Ashes 5-0. Flower insists he is the right man to take England into a new era and is publicly backed by the ECB.January 2014: Flower steps down as England team director after five years in charge.