All posts by n8rngtd.top

Gary Kirsten has joined the Hobart Hurricanes as coach of Tasmania’s Big Bash League team for the next two seasons

Daniel Brettig03-Apr-2017Gary Kirsten has joined the Hobart Hurricanes as coach of Tasmania’s Big Bash League team for the next two seasons. Kirsten was chosen for the role by a panel including Ricky Ponting and David Boon.Having previously coached India and South Africa, Kirsten has recently taken on a range of consultancy roles after he resigned as coach of Delhi Daredevils in the IPL by mutual agreement in late 2015.Kirsten, 49, was replaced there by Paddy Upton, who, via his concurrent job as coach of the Sydney Thunder, provided an insight into the workings of a South African coach to former Thunder general manager Nick Cummins, who in January was named the new chief executive of Tasmania Cricket.”I am committed to developing the young T20 talent within the club and the region – at the same time creating the best environment for our leaders and experienced players to perform their best,” Kirsten said. “To have the opportunity to work within Australian cricket is a huge privilege.”I have thoroughly enjoyed watching BBL over the past few years and I’m really looking forward to this coaching opportunity with the Hurricanes and Tasmanian cricket. My vision is to help the Hurricanes become the club of choice for all aspiring BBL players. I would also like to help create an environment which enables a positive and entertaining brand of T20 cricket and to help deliver consistent success to the club.”Cummins joined Ponting and Boon on the coaching selection panel alongside Cricket Tasmania’s general manager Andrew Dykes and Hurricanes general manager Bill Avery.”Gary has a contemporary approach to T20 coaching and is looking forward to creating a vibrant and strong environment for players to succeed,” Avery said. “We are striving for the Hurricanes to be a BBL club of choice for local and international T20 players, and Gary shares this vision.”Kirsten is expected to visit Hobart in mid-year to get acquainted with the team before taking up the role at the outset of the BBL. Tasmania, meanwhile, have to also find a state coach, after deciding to remove Dan Marsh from the role while this year’s Sheffield Shield was still in progress.

Lancashire chased down a revised 18-over target of 161 to beat Derbyshire in a thriller at Blackpool and significantly boost their hopes of qualification for the knockout stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup

ECB Reporters Network12-May-2017
ScorecardStephen Parry helped Lancashire sneak victory [file picture]•Getty Images

Lancashire chased down a revised 18-over target of 161 to beat Derbyshire in a thriller at Blackpool and significantly boost their hopes of qualification for the knockout stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup.Rain affected this North Group clash between two mid-table sides both hoping to seal a top-three berth.Derbyshire, invited to bat, initially posted 132 for 2 from 21.3 overs before their innings was ended by the weather shortly before 3pm.When play resumed at 5.30pm, the Lightning’s task was a stiff one. But Stephen Parry was their hero with 22 not out off nine balls as he helped take 27 off the last two overs, winning by three wickets with a delivery to spare.The Lightning have now won three on the bounce, and two more wins will see them qualify.Alex Davies and Karl Brown got Lancashire’s chase off to a flyer with an opening stand of 42 in 5.1 overs. Davies hit two boundaries in the first over from Ben Cotton before Brown hoisted the same bowler over long-on for six as 39 came off the first four overs.But Shiv Thakor, who had earlier hit a powerful 38 off 33 balls, then made the breakthrough when he had Davies caught at deep midwicket for 21.Liam Livingstone hammered a four and a six, over wide long-on, off the leg-spin of Jeevan Mendis early in the eighth over, but the Sri Lankan got his man as he miscued a catch to the same area.The hosts, who needed 96 off the last 10 overs, lost their third and fourth wickets in the 10th and 11th as the score fell to 81 for four, handing the hosts the definite advantage. Dane Vilas hammered a return catch to Thakor and leg-spinner Matt Critchley bowled Brown for 39.Mendis, who later left the field with a nasty looking hand injury, claimed his second, Jordan Clark stumped, as the score fell to 95 for 5 in the 13th. The target then became 60 off the last five: Derbyshire looked slight favouritesRyan McLaren hit a couple of sixes to take that to 32 off the last three before being bowled by Thakor.Haseeb Hameed was run out two balls later as Lancashire fell to 135 for 7. But Parry and captain Steven Croft, unbeaten on 26, dramatically turned the tide, with Parry hitting three boundaries in three balls off Hardus Viljoen in the penultimate over.Earlier, opener Ben Slater, fresh from scores of 30, 72, 43 and 82 in his last four innings in this competition, added a run-a-ball unbeaten 60 for the Falcons.Lancashire’s bowlers were put under pressure either side of two rain delays before the third came midway through the afternoon.Slater reached 50 in as many balls, but only after he had lost opening partner and captain Billy Godleman caught at long-leg off a short ball from Clark, leaving the score at 59 for 1 in the 12th.Clark later left the field with a suspected side injury, something which did not prevent him from batting.Thakor hit Clark and James Anderson for two huge leg-side sixes out of Stanley Park to really boost the visitors. But he was stumped off the off-spin of Croft in the 22nd over as the score fell to 128 for 2.Only two more balls were bowled in the innings. Derbyshire are now unlikely to qualify with two games remaining, although they are not mathematically out.

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur stressed on the need for a team’s captain and coach to be on the same page and said he enjoyed working with captain Sarfraz Ahmed

George Dobell at Edgbaston03-Jun-2017It was the contrast that was most striking.While India’s pre-match media conference – attended only by the captain, Virat Kohli – was dominated by talk of the division between him and his team’s coach, Anil Kumble, the Pakistan captain and coach turned up together and talked of the relationship as akin to a marriage.It is possible that such a move was planned to highlight their opponents’ apparent divide. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but it is possible. And it is very possible that when Mickey Arthur and Sarfraz Ahmed were listening to each other speak in their respective languages and nodding vigorously in agreement, they had not the slightest idea of what was being said.But the general impression remained: while much is expected of a tense and possibly divided India, Pakistan are united, relaxed and quietly confident. No one is claiming they are favourites. But they are certainly dangerous.”The captain-coach relationship is almost like a marriage,” Arthur said. “You’ve got to be on the same page all the time. And if you’re on the same page, you get correct decisions and you give clarity to your team. And that’s certainly where Saf and myself find ourselves; very much on the same page. I’m really going to enjoy working with him.””The pressure is on India only,” Sarfraz said. “There is no pressure on us. We are standing at No. 8 in the rankings. We cannot fall below this.”They can, of course. They need only look at the example of West Indies to know that. And with context and merit likely to play an ever greater role in all formats of the game, there can be no room for complacency. Qualifying for such competitions – and that includes the World Cup – cannot be taken for granted.But the first step to progress is accepting that change is required. And after a period of denial, Pakistan are now well aware of that. They know they need to undergo the same sort of evolution in their ODI cricket as England have in the last couple of years. They need to score more heavily, be more potent with the ball and improve their fielding. They need, in every way, to attack more.They know all that. And with several promising young players beginning to settle into international cricket – notably Babar Azam, Shahdab Khan and Hasan Ali – they have the raw materials to make progress. This tournament may come a little too early in their development cycle, though, with Arthur accepting his team are “a work in progress.”Despite Pakistan’s claims of being well-prepared, some of their players will enter the Champions Trophy without significant international experience•ICC

“We knew that we needed to play a different brand of cricket,” he said. “And it’s changing. Certainly in terms of the brand of cricket we play. We’re working on it. It’s a work in progress. I’m comfortable where we’re at.”We’ve worked massively on our ball rotation and our strike rates. It was very interesting to read the other day – I go through the stats quite regularly – that in the last year we’ve scored the third-most amount of 300s. England are way, way ahead, but Pakistan is number three on that list. And I think that’s testimony to the brand of cricket that we are starting to play.”The team that’s going to win this competition is the team that can strike. Gone are the days of just containing through the middle overs. Gone are the days of going at five-and-a-half an over, thinking you’re doing a good job.”You’ve got to be able to take wickets. We always pick an attack to take wickets. Every one of our attack is going to be able to do something different. We have a left-arm swinger, we could have left-arm pace, we have the swing and hustle of Hassan, we’ve a left-arm spinner, an off-spinner and we could have a leg-spinner. We’ve got everything at our disposal tomorrow to allow Saf to pull the strings to make sure we can try to bowl India out, because that’s got to be priority number one. We can’t just sit back and let them score. We’ve got to attack them and we’ve got to look to bowl them out.”Sarfraz agreed. And, intriguingly, offered “new things” on Sunday. “We have made a plan,” he said. “On Sunday, you will see us doing some new things, which we have not done against India previously. We will try doing some out-of-the-box things. You will see this team playing differently.”Quite how ‘out of the box’ they can be remains to be seen. But it is not a phrase that might have been expected from Misbah-ul-Haq, and with a couple of new faces in the team – faces that India will not have seen – it may be that they have some element of surprise on their side.For all the talk of being “extremely well-prepared and ready to go” (as Arthur put it), for all the talk of “players having role clarity” and “everybody knowing where they fit in,” there are some pretty obvious holes in Pakistan’s preparations. If a team is really well-prepared, won’t it have ensured its players have gained experience at this level before going into a global event against an arch rival? And if a team is really well-prepared, won’t it have ensured its players know what to expect from full-house crowds, media attention and this level of competition?That is patently not the case with this Pakistan side. Shahdab Khan, the 18-year-old leg-spinner, has played only three ODIs, while Faheem Ashraf, the seam-bowling all-rounder who made a wonderful impression in the warm-up victory over Bangladesh, could make his international debut. Whatever their inherent class, this will represent a huge step up in quality. Plunging such players into one of the most high-profile games in the sport is hugely demanding and not especially reflective of good planning.”If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” Arthur said. “That’s what I always say. And I think Shadab Khan is certainly good enough. He’s ready. If he gets the opportunity, I’m particularly confident in his ability to produce for us. And he’s a match-winner. He really is. It’s so exciting. It’s another young Pakistan cricketer on the big stage and that’s really great. It’s really good for the country and it’s really good for cricket.”It may well be. But while you suspect this game comes a bit too early for Shadab et al. history has taught us never to discount Pakistan. And while the Arthur-Sarfraz partnership can survive defeat against India, perhaps the same cannot be said for the Kohli-Kumble partnership if the result goes the other way. All the expectation, all the pressure, all the consequences are weighing down India. You suspect Pakistan wouldn’t mind adding to their woes.

Hampshire beat the rain by skittling Warwickshire out for 167 to go top of the Specsavers County Championship Division One table

ECB Reporters Network05-Jun-2017
ScorecardHampshire beat the rain by skittling Warwickshire out for 167 to go top of the Specsavers County Championship Division One table.Kyle Abbott and spin twins Mason Crane and Sean Ervine whipped through the struggling visitors to pull off an innings and 94 runs victory – with dark clouds circling at the Ageas Bowl.Ian Bell reached his 99th first class fifty, as he looked the only player at home on a tricky wicket, before he was bowled by Abbott.Jonathan Trott, who had batted all but 13 balls on day three, departed soon after as Mason Crane found turn and bounce to find his outside edge – a simple catch for Sean Ervine at first slip.Abbott’s golden arm then saw him pin Sam Hain lbw, the umpire noticing the ball had just struck pad before bat, before the South African had Rikki Clarke leg before to a ball which failed to get up.Gareth Berg replaced Abbott at the Pavilion End and had his own success in his second over when he had Tim Ambrose lbw – leaving Warwickshire in dire straits at 131 for 7.The only blip on an otherwise perfect morning for Hampshire was Jimmy Adams’ drop at second slip – which saw Keith Barker earn an extra life.After the interval, Crane pulled off a sensational googly, which kept very low, to baffle Grant Thornton and rap him on the pads.Kyle Abbott took the key wicket of Ian Bell•PA Photos

Then the rain arrived and frustrated the hosts by forcing the players off for 20 minutes, but when Hampshire came back onto the pitch they took little time in rolling through the tail.Boyd Rankin was bowled leaving a Sean Ervine straight ball, before the Zimbabwean finished things off by pinning Sunny Singh lbw.
Hampshire move 14 points clear of Essex at the top of the table, having played a game more.The win was their third of the season, with Warwickshire taking three bonus points from the match to stay second from bottom.

SLC will launch an inquiry into the decision to strip Hambantota Stadium groundstaff of their branded SLC trousers – which they had been wearing – following the fifth ODI against Zimbabwe

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Jul-2017Sri Lanka Cricket has taken a harsh view of the decision to strip Hambantota Stadium groundstaff of their branded SLC trousers – which they had been wearing – following the fifth ODI against Zimbabwe.The groundstaff had been given SLC uniforms to wear while performing their duties at the venue, but had largely not expected to have to hand the clothing back. Many, however, reported only being paid after handing over their trousers, leaving them in only their underwear. The groundstaff were casual workers hired from the venue’s locality.”They only paid us for our three days worth of work after taking our clothes,” one groundsman told after being stripped of his trousers. Another said: “They hadn’t told us to come prepared with another set of clothes. They asked us to hand over the trousers, so we had no choice but to do that.”Sri Lanka Cricket has since officially apologised to “those subjected to this ignominy” and said that “stern action will be taken against those responsible”, following the conclusion of an inquiry. On Wednesday, SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala condemned the decision to take the trousers back from the groundstaff, in strong terms.*”That was a very low thing that happened,” Sumathipala said. “These people come to the ground because of their love of cricket, and to do a service while watching the match. They aren’t just there for the money. If rains come, they close up the whole ground within minutes, and then take the covers off again. They are our colleagues, not our slaves. The board didn’t know anything about this. We had sent that clothing out to our provincial associations, but hadn’t taken a decision to get that clothing back.”As Sri Lanka Cricket has adopted the practice of covering the entire ground in the event of rain, the board usually hires dozens of local workers on a day-wage basis whenever a match is to be played at a nearby venue. Only recently have they required these workers to wear a full uniform.*This story was updated with Sumathipala’s reaction

Essex rediscovered the grit that has taken them to the top of Division One under cheerless Chelmsford skies

Tim Wigmore at Chelmsford29-Aug-2017
Nick Browne produced an innings of fortitude•Getty Images

County Championship titles are not merely won by performances in glorious sunshine. Just as much, they are won by grit under sepulchral skies, fortitude under pressure and resilience after yielding a first innings lead.Or, at least, Essex will hope so after the end of a second day played against the backdrop of clouds so gloomy they necessitated the use of floodlights, which could still only hold off the onset of bad-light for so long.Their position, 112 ahead with seven second innings wickets in hand, remains far from impregnable. But a few hours before the players were taken off, Essex fans had dark thoughts of a two-day defeat to the second-bottom team in Division One.At 36-3 in the second innings, a lead of only 31, and fresh from their first innings collapse to 159, the crowd recognised that here was a test of Essex’s fundamental resolve.Then, Nick Browne and Adam Wheater combined for the longest stand in this frenetic game – and, at an unbeaten 78, the equal highest of the game so far. They were some pleasing shots to enjoy – Browne’s square-driving and cutting, and Wheater’s cover drive – but, over 32.3 overs, this was an alliance defined by grit and cautious accumulation. There was a little fortune, too: Wheater was dropped on 14 at second slip off the admirable Paul van Meekeren.Browne, though, was chanceless; and there are some here who consider that he, rather than Tom Westley, is the Essex batsman whose technique is best-suited to joining Alastair Cook in England’s top three. His 66* has taken him to 36 runs shy of reaching 1,000 runs for the third consecutive summer. Over the last two of those, he now has 2226 runs at 51.76 apiece. “Every year that’s my target to score 1,000 – Championship runs mainly and hopefully I’m not too far away from that now,” he said.The backdrop to Browne’s austere innings was a ground brimming with tension. Not the high-octane sort that marks Chelmsford’s rambunctious T20 evenings, but the quiet of 2,500 spectators very intensely watching the cricket, sensing a passage of play whose significance could extend far beyond the day itself.By the time Browne and Wheater fled off to escape the gloom, which later gave way to showers, they had gone a long way towards maintaining Essex’s grip on the County Championship. While the Chelmsford wicket is far better than the scores so far in the match suggest, Essex’s bowling potency – and the conspicuous vulnerability of Somerset’s batting – is such that they would expect to defend anything over 200 in the fourth innings. Manage that, and Essex would probably need just one win and two draws from their final four matches to secure the prized pennant.”You’re going to think about it, it’s natural,” Browne admitted. “It’s an amazing achievement what we’ve done so far. There’s no pressure on us whatsoever – we’re just coming out and having fun.”Not that it looked like it when confronting Craig Overton. The primal scream Overton let out when celebrating snaring Varun Chopra, leaving a delivery that moved back to trap him indecisively on the crease, was in keeping with the intensity of his opening spell. The short ball was used as a weapon of shock rather than stock, recognising how seam movement, was Overton’s great threat under murky skies: the over after snaring Chopra, a full length jagged past Dan Lawrence’s crooked bat.When Ravi Bopara used his feet to Jack Leach, and succeeded only in being being in the flight, at least Essex’s one, three and four had been consistent, mustering a combined ten across both innings of the match. That is not solidity befitting Championship leaders. Just as well, then, that Alastair Cook will return for two more fixtures, as Essex hope, and that Tom Westley might well be back even sooner.And Essex confirmed today that they will also be fortified by return of Neil Wagner for the final three Championship games, once he has overcome a slight hamstring strain. In the meantime, they are hopeful of having Mohammad Amir available for the crunch trip to Old Trafford next week.His mark on this day was small but indelible, sealed in a coruscating opening over of play. Amir’s second ball, from over the wicket, swung away from the left-hander Jack Leach and kissed his edge; his fifth, from round the wicket, was a sublime yorker that eviscerated Overton’s middle stump. Amir then promptly went off, feeling his back, returned for another over, and then went off again. He didn’t reappear thereafter, although Essex do not anticipate that his back spasm will prevent him bowling later in the match.The upshot was that Somerset continued a dispiriting trend this season: of bowling the opposition out cheaply, only getting a modest lead – in this case just five runs – when they should have gained a decisive one, and then struggling later on in the game. To remedy this weakness, they are still considering signing an overseas batsman, but time – the registration deadline is September 8 – and the packed international calendar is working against them.

Leicestershire reached the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast this season but are currently bottom of Division Two in the County Championship

George Dobell03-Sep-2017Pierre de Bruyn has left his role as Leicestershire’s head coach with immediate effect after tensions in the dressing became too much to resolve.He had been named in the role a year ago and began last October as Andrew McDonald’s replacement. Leicestershire reached the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast this season but are currently bottom of Division Two in the County Championship without a victory and did not make it out of the group stage of the Royal London Cup.Graeme Welch and John Sadler will take charge of the first team until the end of the season. Welch might also be in the frame for the role of England’s new bowling coach.De Bruyn first joined the club at the start of the 2016 season to work with 2nd XI before moving up to assistant coach. The promotion to head coach was his first high-profile position in cricket.The news is not a complete surprise, though. De Bruyn had not endeared himself with senior players when he provided an unflattering appraisal of their recent performances ahead of the season and there were rumours of serious clashes key figures in the dressing room.Notably, Angus Robson – the club’s highest Championship run-scorer in 2014 and second highest in 2015 – who left the club earlier in the season saying his relationship with the club had “broken down.”And while de Bruyn insisted he was committed to bringing through young players, the Leicestershire teams remained uncomfortably reliant on imports – many of them not especially young – from far and wide.”Sometimes things can’t wait until the end of a season and an issue has to be dealt with,” Wasim Khan, the Leicestershire CEO who appointed de Bruyn less than a year ago, told BBC Leicester. “At the end of the season we’ll do a thorough search and no doubt there’ll be interest from all over the world, but we want to make sure we get it right.”People’s characters are very different – characters either gel or not with individuals in any dressing room in any sport. Sometimes there’s disconnection, and if it becomes too much of a gap and too much of an issue, action has to be taken. Pierre is a good man and we’ve tried to make it work as long as possible, but unfortunately it just hasn’t worked out.”Most of all, though, it seems de Bruyn was simply unable to keep the squad on-side as he attempted to rebuild.Matters appear to have come to a head on the final day of the Championship match against Kent at Canterbury last week. With the third day lost to rain, promotion-seeking Kent indicated they would be prepared to set-up a chase but de Bruyn declined to take part. For a club rooted to the bottom of the table, it seemed an oddly conservative response and one that appears to have infuriated both Kent and the Leicestershire captain, Mark Cosgrove. Rumours persisted that several more players were threatening to leave the club if de Bruyn remained.”I would like to thank the board of directors for the great opportunity to become head coach of Leicestershire County Cricket Club, it has been a fantastic experience,” de Bruyn said in a statement. “I have enjoyed my time here and thank everybody at Leicestershire CCC for their support. I wish the club the best for the future and am now looking forward to the next challenge in my career.”While Wasim’s suggestion that there will be interest in the coaching job from “all over the world” there might be a concern that Leicestershire has been a troubled club for some time now. Turing it around is clearly not at all straightforward.

Walking into the Hyderabad team of the 70s meant rubbingshoulders with some of the most glamorous cricketers of the time.I do not remember anything musical about the stylish Abbas AliBaig, a man made famous by a scorcher of a kiss a young femalefan

V Ramnarayan31-Oct-2017It was wonderful to watch a recent interview of Bhagwat
Chandrasekhar on a popular television programme. Harsha Bhogle,
who anchored the show, handled his subject with great
sensitivity and an obvious admiration for the great leg-spinner,
whose saga of courage was an integral part of the romance of
Indian cricket in the 60s and 70s.Walking into the Hyderabad team of the 70s meant rubbing
shoulders with some of the most glamorous cricketers of the time.
I do not remember anything musical about the stylish Abbas Ali
Baig, a man made famous by a scorcher of a kiss a young female
fan planted on him when he reached fifty against Australia at the
Brabourne Stadium.Inevitably, after a conducted tour of the Karnataka bowler’s
greatest and lowest moments in cricket, the conversation veered
around to his obsession with the film songs of Mukesh, evoking
nostalgic memories of a whole generation of young cricketers who,
inspired by Chandra, carried Mukesh cassettes and their two-inones everywhere. On a personal level, I experienced a lump in the
throat as I recalled some rare moments of bonding with my peers
and seniors on and off the field.Walking into the Hyderabad team of the 70s meant rubbing
shoulders with some of the most glamorous cricketers of the time.
I do not remember anything musical about the stylish Abbas Ali
Baig, a man made famous by a scorcher of a kiss a young female
fan planted on him when he reached fifty against Australia at the
Brabourne Stadium. The incident, in fact, led commentator Vijay
Merchant to exclaim, “I wonder where all these enterprising young
ladies were when I was scoring my hundreds and two hundreds.”But the former Nawab of Pataudi had a keen ear for music. His
preferences included Hindustani classical, but also music of a
lighter variety, as his frequent and stentorian rendering of
Mehdi Hassan’s popular ghazal “Gulshan, gulshan” in the dressing
room suggested. Abid Ali was no Harry Belafonte, but he belted
out calypsos in the most uninhibited manner, especially one that
started, “The great India bowler, Abid A-a-li.”The skipper, ML Jaisimha, had a superbly masculine voice, and he
could do an impressive imitation of Frank Sinatra. On two
occasions, I was to witness bravura performances by this most
elegant of cricketers – once taking over nonchalantly from a live
band in a fashionable Bangkok restaurant and, years later, at the
V Sivaramakrishnan testimonial dinner at the Connemara, when he
struck up an improbable duet with Sunil Gavaskar.An accomplished singer in the Hyderabad team of the 70s was
opener Maheshwar Singh, who specialised in the songs of Jagmohan,
a crooner of KL Saigal’s vintage. Maheshwar was a regular
performer at cricketers’ get-togethers, where many otherwise timid bathroom singers opened up because the spirit of the
singer, rather than his virtuosity, mattered in these gatherings,
and everyone was assured of hearty applause. Bombay left-arm
spinner Padmakar Shivalkar was a first-rate singer of Hindi film
songs; so was Vijay Manjrekar in an earlier era, son Sanjay
carrying on the tradition most admirably.In Tamil Nadu – Chennai in particular – there has been a fairly
close affinity between musicians and cricket, especially in the
form of a fanatical following of the game among Carnatic
musicians. Quite a few of the top young musicians of today have
either played the game fairly competitively or have parents or
close relatives who have done so. The best known among these is
vocalist Unnikrishnan, who was a promising young batsman at the
college and league level before he decided to concentrate on his
singing.Among the cricketers too, there has been the occasional talented
singer or instrumentalist. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Mehta, who
took 14 wickets in a Rohinton Baria final against Bombay
University, was an accomplished vocalist on the college circuit.
SJ Kedarnath, a former State Bank of India opening batsman of
considerable merit, is a trained “mridangam” player, but of much
greater entertainment value is his wonderful talent for mimicry.
Not only can he do some rip-roaring takeoffs on Tamil Nadu
celebrities like VV Kumar or Srinivas Venkataraghavan, but he can
also render perfectly acceptable imitations of past masters of
Carnatic music like MD Ramanathan or even the mellifluous female
voice of DK Pattammal.Thank you Harsha, and thank you Chandra, for bringing back
memories of a cricketing way of life that belonged to an era
altogether more leisurely than is possible today.

The fast bowler has made no secret that he is looking at his future, but South Africa’s coach Ottis Gibson said he has not been in a position to guarantee Morkel’s one-day place

Firdose Moonda09-Oct-20173:03

What is a Kolpak deal?

Ottis Gibson, South Africa’s new coach, has not given Morne Morkel any assurances about the 2019 World Cup even though the fast bowler has indicated he could consider a Kolpak-deal if he is not part of South Africa’s plans. Gibson has only had brief interactions with Morkel, who left the team camp after being injured in the first Test against Bangladesh in Potchefstoom, but said his 50-over future was not discussed in detail.”I absolutely didn’t tell him anything about the World Cup because it’s still so far away,” Gibson said after the second Test in Bloemfontein. “I’d encourage him to keep enjoying his cricket, which he’s been doing before he got injured.”Gibson said that it was “not my understanding” that Morkel could look at other options if he is not part of the World Cup plans, though Morkel has publicly indicated as much.During the opening round of the season’s first-class matches, at which Gibson was present, last month, Morkel said “as a cricketer you need to look at options because you have a life span.” He was specifically speaking about one-day cricket.”I am 32 and it is one of the conversations I am going to have with Ottis to find out where I fit in with white-ball cricket‚ and if there are any plans for me in 2019‚” Morkel said. “Are they going to look to rebuild for the World Cup? I need to see what is going to happen. Am I going to miss out? I don’t know when they are going to make the shift of bringing in younger players‚ those are all the things that must be communicated.”While Morkel did not mention Kolpak in that conversation, he has been previously linked to a move to the UK. South Africa may be able to hang on to him if Gibson is able to clarify where Morkel stands.”I can’t afford to sit on the sidelines for the next two years and not play cricket. It is all about timing and communication,” Morkel said. “At the end of the day as a cricketer you need to look at the options because we have a life span. But if there is communication and you know where you stand‚ then it is easier for everyone.”Morkel was part of South Africa’s most recent 50-over campaign, the Champions Trophy in England, where he played in all three group matches. Prior to that tournament, Morkel had not played an ODI for over a year while he recovered from a potentially career-threatening back problem. He made his comeback in Test cricket first and opted out of this year’s IPL in a bid to stay fit for international cricket, but is now injured again.Morne Morkel is weighing up his options for the next two years•Getty Images

Morkel suffered a grade two tear in his side and will spend between four and six weeks on the sidelines. While that has ruled him out of the ongoing Bangladesh series, Morkel expected to come back for the inaugural Global T20 and the rest of the South Africa’s home summer, including Tests against India and Australia.South Africa also have six ODIs against India, which will be an important part of their World Cup plan, but it remains to be seen if Morkel is part of that series. Gibson has indicated they will use ODIs this year to give exposure to as many players as possible before choosing candidates for the World Cup.”We’re looking at 34 or 35 games between now and 2019 and the idea between Faf, the selectors and I is to have a look at players who might be on the fringes. We have to give players opportunities so that in a year’s time we narrow that pool down,” Gibson said. “At the moment we need a wide pool of players to look at. We also need to determine the type of players – bearing in mind the conditions in England – that we’re going to need. They need opportunities for the next year so that we can make better judgements going forward. Then we finally need to narrow down to 15 or 16 players we feel can play at the World Cup. It’s still a long way but that’s the plan.”Similarly, Gibson has yet to engage with former captain AB de Villiers, who will make himself available for all formats from Sunday. De Villiers will play in a practice match against Bangladesh on Thursday, then be part of the ODIs, and is aiming for a Test comeback by early 2018. But Gibson has not yet worked out how much cricket de Villiers will play or how he will slot back into the team, especially the Test side, which he has not played for since January last year.”We’re all looking forward to seeing AB. I’ve had a few conversations with him,” Gibson said. “We haven’t really had a face-to-face yet but that will happen.”

In the other camp, Sri Lanka bowling coach Ratnayake praised Lakmal, saying his spell was among the best he has seen “in a long time”, but was also wary that batting would be equally difficult for his team on this surface

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata16-Nov-2017Rumesh Ratnayake, Sri Lanka’s bowling coach, has termed Suranga Lakmal’s spell of 6-6-0-3 as among the best he has seen “in a long time”. Lakmal’s relentless probing on a green Eden Gardens pitch and under overcast skies left India struggling at 17 for 3 at the end of a first day during which only 11.5 overs were bowled.”I would say it is one of the finest I have seen in a long time,” Ratnayake said. “I am not sure if it’s the best spell I have seen but one of the finest I have seen for a long, long time. Saying that, the wicket was very receptive, it was very helpful, and it’s going to be a big challenge [for Sri Lanka’s batsmen later on].”We were sort of expecting, looking at the wicket, we knew that it was going to seam. By saying that, the job isn’t finished. It’s only started, it’s just started.”Ratnayake admitted it was a good toss for Sri Lanka to have won, but he expected conditions to remain helpful to fast bowlers for a while longer.”Yeah, certainly a good toss to win, but I personally feel that it may last about one-and-a-half days or so, maybe more. We can’t play God here and say it will last for two-three days but I would say it will last at least for two days. But since it’s a new wicket, I believe it might be an extra day or two because there is a certain amount of grass. The surface is grassy.”Before they went out to bowl, Ratnayake said he stressed that the fast bowlers pitch the ball up.”As much as we push the batsmen back, it is very important that we keep it up because, as you may have seen, the movement or the vulnerability was more as the bowler pitched it up and also within the wicket. Our tactics on a normal wicket would be different, our tactics in this game are different. So it’s just keeping the ball up.”It was also important for the fast bowlers to make the batsmen play as much as possible; while Lakmal did this, his new-ball partner Lahiru Gamage struggled with his line, bowling too far outside off stump, though Ratnayake suggested he got better as his spell wore on.”Did you see the difference after the [stoppage due to bad light]?,” he said. “It was a matter of him getting his rhythm right and more importantly the timing also right.”So he was not having that right and when you get your rhythm and timing right, you get the place where you want to hit it in a much easier way for the body. As much as you need timing in batting, you need timing in bowling as well. If you rush through the delivery, the chances of you hitting the right place is not as great as when your timing is right.”India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar, meanwhile, said his batsmen were tested not just by the conditions but also by the fact that there were so many interruptions in play. With the floodlights turned on right through, he felt it resembled a day-night Test.”The conditions were pretty tough for batting, and what didn’t really help us was that we didn’t get an extended passage of play, wherein you had 15-20 overs bowled at a batsman in a particular fashion,” Bangar said. “So that didn’t allow the batsmen to get into any sort of a rhythm.”It didn’t seem to be a day Test match. It was more like a day-night Test match and at times when you play in such circumstances, playing with the red ball becomes pretty tough because it’s more difficult to pick the red ball.”Given how much help there was for the quicks, there was a case for India to pick three fast bowlers and just the one spinner to enable them to play an extra batsman. India, however, picked three fast bowlers and two spinners.”This team management has believed in going in with five batsmen and the quality of the allrounders that we have – Ashwin, Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and also Wriddhiman Saha – we think that that gives a lot of depth in the lower order and it gives us a lot of bowling options as well to pick up 20 wickets in a Test match. That has really worked well for us,” Bangar said. “If you look at the last two-and-a-half seasons, we’ve won nearly 20 Test matches. So that’s mainly due to the team composition that we have opted to play.”The spinners, Bangar felt, would come into the game as it progressed, particularly if the pitch dried out and the dents caused by the ball’s impact on a damp surface hardened.”I think we’ve got all bases covered,” he said. “As the game progresses into the fourth and fifth days, you’ll also find that because of the dampness, there would be dents on the wickets. As the game progresses, there will be variable bounce which might come into play. So both the spinners are really vital to us and we’ve got all bases covered – we’ve got the swing and seam and the pace we require. We’ve got a variety of bowlers and we’ve got all bases covered.”Before that, however, India’s batsmen will need to put up some sort of total on the board.”Yes, you’ll have to grind out quite a bit because there are going to be a lot of balls which are going to beat the outside edge as well as the inside edge of the bat,” Bangar said. “We need to respect the conditions as a batsman and think about the next ball. If you start thinking or worrying about the amount of times you’re getting beaten, it plays on your mind.”The best mindset is to forget the previous ball and accept that you’re going to get beaten on a number of occasions. Probably, on such a wicket, you might not play really, really beautiful shots, but you’ll have to grind it out and take runs. So most of the runs might not be beautiful or elegant but those are equally important runs.”