Plays of the day from the fifth day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at P Sara Oval

Andrew Fernando at the P Sara Oval29-Nov-2012The mix-up
Sri Lanka’s overnight pair had negotiated the early overs without much worry, but they concocted trouble of their own to see the downfall of one of their most experienced batsman. Thilan Samaraweera pushed a Doug Bracewell delivery to cover and set off immediately for a quick single. Perhaps not expecting to scamper runs at this stage in the game, Angelo Mathews was slow to respond at the other end, and as he saw Jeetan Patel swooping in on the ball, he decided to send Samaraweera back. By that stage though, his partner was too far down the track, and his cause was not helped by an extremely slow stop-and-turn that resembled the Titanic trying to avoid the iceberg. Samaraweera was run out by a good two metres.The eager cricketers
Knowing conditions were unlikely to allow them to bowl all the scheduled overs in the day, New Zealand’s cricketers were extra eager to resume their hunt for wickets after lunch, and took the field minutes before the scheduled restart. They had even assumed their fielding positions before the umpires arrived. Sri Lanka’s batsmen were predictably last to come to the middle, two minutes late.The delivery
When Mathews was batting alongside Prasanna Jayawardene, it seemed as though only the new ball would be able to part them. New Zealand’s seamers struggled to get much out of the aging ball on a wearing pitch, and the spinners didn’t get much help from the surface either. But almost out of the blue, debutant Todd Astle produced the ball of the day to dismiss Jayawardene, when he drifted one in then got it to leap off the pitch, turning away. Jayawardene presented a firm defence, but as the ball had bounced more than he had anticipated, it took the edge, high up on the bat, and broke the partnership.The double dive
So keyed up were New Zealand to complete the win that when no. 11 Rangana Herath gloved a short ball from Trent Boult into the off side, two fielders came in and leapt forward, despite the fact that neither of them had a hope of getting there. Brendon McCullum ran forward from third slip and Tim Southee from backward point and the pair performed a futile synchronised dive almost side-by-side, before getting up and smiling it off.

Now that we’ve all calmed down a bit, I have another statistic for you

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013A series that has seen England plumb some extremely murky depths ended with a second joyous and outstanding triumph. Broad’s meteoric spell on Friday was supported by superb batting on Saturday, leaving Australia with an unrealistically Himalayan mountain to climb.Ponting and his men had been bafflingly, unAustralianly passive and negative in the field as England piled potentially crucial extra rocks on top of what turned out to be a 546-run Everest. They set off confidently enough, but Hussey and Flintoff then combined to steal Ponting’s crampons and send him tumbling off the mountain, and then Clarke was unluckily bullocked off it by a passing African rhino in a hang glider (if I may attempt to convey quite how unfortunate he was when run out). It remains a mystery why North and Haddin then chose to hurl themselves down a ravine when there were still technically enough rations to at least attempt to reach the summit. It was a strange way of proving that Australians never give up.Yesterday was a great day for English cricket, and in particular for Strauss, whose batting and coin-tossing were of the highest calibre, sparking celebrations that, rightly, did not touch the wild exultation of four years ago. For my part, I celebrated with a romantic evening in with Statsguru, and, well, without wishing to go into too much indelicate detail, things got a bit frisky between us, and a statistic emerged. A beautiful, bouncing new-born statistic. And its first words were these:England averaged 6.49 runs per wicket less than Australia in this series, but still won. This is the biggest runs-per-wicket deficit ever overcome to win a Test series. In the entire history of cricket, the human race and the universe put together. Here endeth the stat.Let’s all take a couple of minutes to think about that.

Come on, concentrate.

Good. This was the 35th time in 539 Test series that a team has won with an inferior average (and only the second Ashes contest in which the statistically weaker side has triumphed since 1902). Never has that inferiority been greater than 6.49 runs per wicket. The previous record margin was 6.03, when England hoodwinked South Africa in 1998 after narrowly escaping with a last-wicket-remaining draw at Old Trafford. Coincidentally, that was Flintoff’s first series – his career has been bookended by two of cricket’s greatest statistical heists.So, did England deserve to win the series? Taking the five matches as a whole, perhaps they didn’t. Taking the two sides’ performances in the final, winner-takes-all shootout at The Oval, they probably did. Taking Australia’s first innings failures at Lord’s, Edgbaston and The Oval, they certainly deserved to lose it.This statistic certainly confirms that this has been one of the oddest Ashes series of all time – two teams equally capable of both very good and genuinely atrocious cricket produced a series that was close overall without containing a single close game. Four of the Tests were massively one-sided (first innings leads of 239 at Cardiff, 210 at Lord’s, 343 at Leeds and 172 at The Oval). Only very briefly at Lord’s was there a match in which both sides had a realistic chance of winning, and this was rapidly snuffed out on the final morning.All in all, it was a bit like watching a boxing match in which the fighters were punching their own faces as often as their opponent’s, or a two-horse steeplechase in which the horses alternately sail majestically over one fence before ploughing face-first straight into the next without even attempting to get off the ground. Australia ended snout-down in the last, leaving England to prance past them and trot down the final furlong punching the air in delight that there were no more fences left to crash into.The destination of the urn was ultimately decided by England’s belated competence and resistance in Cardiff, and by Broad’s magnificence at the Oval on a pitch where no other fast bowler made a significant impression.From the crucial day-four rain in Cardiff to the toss and Michael Clarke’s supernaturally unfortunate run out at The Oval, England had better and more influential luck than Australia, and were certainly holding the right end of the umpires’ collective white stick. But, when the summer was reduced to a single winner-takes-all shoot-out, England produced the series’ best bowling (by Broad) and batting (by Strauss and Trott). And I stand by my previous assertion that the real man of the series, in terms of the player whose contribution proved most influential, was Monty Panesar.I should also apologise for my assertion in the last blog that The Oval pitch was “an embarrassment”. It was not ideal – could a so-called ‘result’ pitch not be fast and bouncy, rather than crumbly and random? However, on Saturday, almost 400 runs were scored for six wickets (including three slogs and a run out), and four of the first seven Australian second-innings wickets were due to silly, silly batting, and one to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune picking mercilessly on Michael Clarke.I will post The Official Confectionery Stall Review Of The Series later in the week.For those who enjoy tables, here is a list of the Top Ten Biggest Runs Per Wicket (RPW) Deficits Overcome To Win A Test Series. Commit it to memory, then destroy it.A more accurate measure of the extent of cricketing superiority overcoming may be The Heist Percentage – the difference between the sides’ averages as a percentage of the losing team’s average. By this measure, England’s 2009 Ashes win is the 7th greatest heist in Test history – a 15.9% heist, some way off Australia’s burglary of the 1891-92 Ashes, when they filched the urn despite averaging 21.6% less than England. The injustice still rankles today, and clearly motivated Strauss and his men at the Oval. In fact, as Graeme Swann celebrated the final wicket, lip-readers would have seen him screaming the words, “This one’s for WG Grace and his boys.”There you go. Now I must spend some quality time with the wife. If she sees me looking anything else up on Statsguru in the next month, she’ll start telling me she can’t go on with three of us in the relationship.

It’s hard not to admire the story and spirit of a club spinner who believed he would one day make it to the big leagues – and briefly did

Jarrod Kimber16-Jan-2013I grew up in the People’s Democratic Republic of Victoria. I was indoctrinated early. Dean Jones was better than Viv Richards in Victoria, and had a bigger ego as well. Darren Berry kept wicket with the softest hands and hardest mouth of any keeper I have ever seen. Ian Harvey had alien cricket. Matthew Elliott could score runs with his eyes shut. The first time I saw Dirk Nannes bowl, I felt like Victoria had thawed a smiley caveman. And even though I never saw Slug Jordan play, I enjoyed his sledging for years on the radio.So my favourite player has to be a Victorian. But my other love is cricket’s dark art, legspin. I wish I knew whether it was being a legspinner that made me love legspin, or seeing a legspinner that made me want to bowl it. Everything in cricket seemed easy to understand when I was a kid, but not legspin. And that’s where I ended up. I’m not a good legspinner, far from it, but I think that any legspinner, even the useless club ones that bowl moon balls, have something special about them.The first legspinner I ever fell for was Abdul Qadir. I’m not sure how I saw him, or what tour it was, but even before I understood actual legspin, I could see something special about him. His action was theatrical madness and I loved it.Then the 1992 World Cup came. I was 12, it was in Melbourne (read Australia), and this little pudgy-faced kid was embarrassing the world’s best. I was already a legspinner by then, but Mushie made it cool. This was the age where we were told spinners had no place; it was pace or nothing. Limited-overs cricket was going to take over from Tests, and spinners had no role in it. Mushie made that all look ridiculous as he did his double-arm twirl to propel his killer wrong’uns at groping moustached legends.By worshipping Mushie I was ahead of the curve, because from then on, in Melbourne, Australia, and eventually England, Shane Warne changed the world. Mushie and Qadir had made legspinning look like it was beyond the realms of understanding, but Warne made it look like something humans could do, even if he wasn’t human himself.It was through Warne I got to Anil Kumble. He bowled legspin in such an understated way. It was completely different to Warne. His wrist wasn’t his weapon, so he had to use everything else he had. Warne was the Batmobile, Kumble an Audi A4. Anyone could love Warne, his appeal was obvious. But to love Kumble you needed to really get legspin. The legspinner’s leggie.When I was young, my second favourite was a guy called Craig Howard, who virtually doesn’t exist. Howard was the Victorian legspinner who Warne thought was better than him. To my 13- and 14-year-old eyes, Howard was a demon. His legspin was fast and vicious, but it was his wrong’un that was something special. Mushie and Qadir had obvious wrong’uns, subtle wrong’uns, and invisible wrong’uns. Howard had a throat-punching wrong’un. It didn’t just beat you or make you look silly; it attacked you off a length and flew up at you violently. I’ve never seen another leggie who can do that, but neither could Howard. Through bad management and injury he ended up as an office-working offspinner in Bendigo.But good things can come from office work. It gave me my favourite cricketer of all time. A person who for much of his 20s was a struggling club cricketer no one believed in. But he believed. Even as he played 2nds cricket, moved clubs, worked in IT for a bank, something about this man made him continue. A broken marriage and shared custody of his son. His day job had him moving his way up the chain. The fact that no one wanted him for higher honours. His age. Cameron White’s legspin flirtation. And eventually the Victorian selectors, who didn’t believe that picking a man over 30 was a good policy.Through all that, Bryce McGain continued to believe he was good enough. Through most of it, he probably wasn’t. He was a club spinner.Bryce refused to believe that, and using the TV slow-mo and super-long-lens close-ups for teachers, he stayed sober, learnt from every spinner he could and forced himself to be better. He refused to just be mediocre, because Bryce had a dream. It’s a dream that every one one of us has had. The difference is, we don’t believe, we don’t hang in, we don’t improve, and we end up just moving on.Bryce refused.

The world would be a better place if more people saw McGain as a hero and not a failure. He just wanted to fulfil his dream, and that he did against all odds is perhaps one of the great cricket stories of all time

At 32 he was given a brief chance before Victoria put him back in club cricket. Surely that was his last chance. But Bryce refused to believe that. And at the age of 35 he began his first full season as Victoria’s spinner. It was an amazing year for Australian spin. It was the first summer without Warne.Almost as a joke, and because I loved his story, I started writing on my newly formed blog that McGain should be playing for Australia. He made it easy by continually getting wickets, and then even Terry Jenner paid attention. To us legspinners, Jenner is Angelo Dundee, and his word, McGain’s form and the circumstances meant that Bryce suddenly became the person most likely.Stuart MacGill was finished, Brad Hogg wanted out, and Beau Casson was too gentle. Bryce was ready at the age of 36 to be his country’s first-choice spinner. Then something happened. It was reported in the least possibly dramatic way ever. McGain had a bad shoulder, the reports said. He may miss a warm-up game.No, he missed more than that. He missed months. As White, Jason Krezja, Nathan Hauritz and even Marcus North played before him as Australia’s spinners. This shoulder problem wouldn’t go away. And although Bryce’s body hadn’t had the workload of the professional spinners, bowling so much at his advanced age had perhaps been too much for him. He had only one match to prove he was fit enough for a tour to South Africa. He took a messy five-for against South Australia and was picked for South Africa. He didn’t fly with the rest of the players, though, as he missed his flight. Nothing was ever easy for Bryce.His second first-class match in six months was a tour match where the South African A team attacked Bryce mercilessly. Perhaps it was a plan sent down by the main management, or perhaps they just sensed he wasn’t right, but it wasn’t pretty. North played as the spinner in the first two Tests. For the third Test, North got sick, and it would have seemed like the first bit of good fortune to come to Bryce since he hurt his shoulder.At the age of 36, Bryce made his debut for Australia. It was a dream come true for a man who never stopped believing. It was one of us playing Test cricket for his country. It was seen as a joke by many, but even the cynics had to marvel at how this office worker made it to the baggy green.I missed the Test live as I was on holidays and proposing to my now-wife. I’m glad I missed it. Sure, I’d wanted Bryce to fulfill his dream as much as I’d wanted to fulfill most of mine, but I wouldn’t have liked to see what happened to him live. South Africa clearly saw a damaged player thrown their way and feasted on him. His figures were heartbreaking: 0 for 149. Some called it the worst debut in history.I contacted him after it, and Bryce was amazingly upbeat. He’d make it back, according to him. He was talking nonsense. There was no way back for him. Australia wouldn’t care that his shoulder wasn’t right; he couldn’t handle the pressure. His body, mind and confidence had cracked under pressure. He was roadkill.But Bryce wouldn’t see it that way, and that’s why he’s my favourite cricketer. I wasn’t there for all the times no one believed in him, for all those times his dream was so far away and life was in his way. But I was there now, at what was obviously the end. Bryce McGain saw the darkness but refused to enter it. That’s special. That is how you achieve your dreams when everything is against you.Before I moved to London to embark on my cricket-writing career, I met Bryce for a lunch interview. It was my first interview with a cricketer. We were just two former office workers who had escaped. At this stage Casson had been preferred over him for the tour to the West Indies. In the Shield final, Bryce’s spinning finger had opened up after a swim in the ocean. He was outbowled by Casson and the selectors didn’t take him. Surely this was it. Why would anyone pick a 36-year-old who had been below his best in his most important game?Bryce knew he may have blown it. But he still believed, of course. We were just two former office workers with dreams. Two guys talking about legspin. Two guys just talking shit and hoping things would work out.At the time it was just cool to have lunch with this guy I admired, but now I look back and know I had lunch with the player who would become my favourite cricketer of all time.The world would be a better place if more people saw McGain as a hero and not a failure. Shane Warne was dropped on this planet to be a god. Bryce McGain just wanted to fulfil his dream, and that he did against all odds is perhaps one of the great cricket stories of all time.Bryce is one of us, the one who couldn’t give up.

A few thoughts and observations on Pakistan’s much elongated Hour of Need

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Hello Confectionery Stallers. I have been tied up for the last few weeks attempting to entertain the masses at the Edinburgh Fringe festival (if you will excuse a numerically inappropriate use of the word “masses”), and latterly with unexpected family commitments, and to be honest I could not have chosen a better time in which to be almost fully distracted from cricket.Cricket has itself been fully distracted from cricket, buffeted about in an inevitable typhoon of outrage and sanctimony, as the latest unfolding gambling farrago batters the sport like a cheap sausage, all amidst the queasily sinking suspicion that this particular has not quite finished ramming into what may be a distressingly large iceberg.Here are the official Confectionery Stall thoughts on the most cricketingly depressing story of recent years.1. It was slightly odd to see ECB chairman Giles Clarke being so affronted by Mohammad Amir that he simply could not bring himself to look at the bowler when presenting him with the Man Of The Series Award after the Lord’s Test-match-cum-debacle. Whilst all cricket fans are, without doubt, disgusted by the alleged spot-fixing, and saddened that it should have involved the most exciting young player in the game, it should be remembered that Clarke himself has not proved immune to the allure of taking easy money from dubious sources.Just two years ago Clarke and the ECB prostituted the England cricket team to Texan billionaire and current resident of the Federal Detention Centre, Houston, USA, Allen Stanford, who pitched up at Lord’s in a fake helicopter with 20 fake million dollars in mostly fake dollars bills.Merely hearing the words “Texan tycoon” and “cricket” in the same sentence should have set alarm bells twanging. The helicopter and Perspex-coated wodge of cash should have made them go off like a hungry-monkey enclosure at a slightly delayed feeding time. But the ECB willingly bent over and pimped out the national cricket team to such an extent that they might as well have made them all go out to bat up in fishnet stockings and push-up bras, whilst a threatening-looking gangster stood by the scorebox taking 90% of their runs away and counting them for himself.Months later, after one toe-curlingly awkward and flirtatious cricket match, Stanford was accused by no less an authority than the United States Securities and Exchange Commission of one of the biggest frauds in human history, and the ECB emerged from the whole humiliating episode with egg not just on its face but stuck in its hair, caked all over its once-woolly jumper, and dribbling apologetically down its cash-stained trousers, a walking omelette of a sporting organisation.For Clarke, the man who sold his nation’s cricket team to be a tycoon’s plaything, to refuse to shake hands with someone accused of accepting cash from someone dodgy for doing something he patently should not be doing, perhaps shows the lack of self-awareness required to be a successful businessman and sports administrator.Clarke is not alone. One cursory glance at the ICC international schedule reveals that organisation’s pathological inability to say “No, thanks” to money, its steadfast refusal to protect the soul of cricket from commercial interference.None of this is intended to justify the alleged actions of the accused players, but to highlight the fact that few at the highest level in cricket have shown much ability, willingness or effort to spurn the attractions of money and place the integrity and welfare of the game ahead of financial acquisitiveness.2. Nevertheless Clarke deserves credit for calling for a proper, communal effort to aid Pakistani cricket in its seemingly endless Hour Of Need, an hour which has now stretched some way beyond the standard 60 minutes, and which, for various reasons, shows no signs of being interested in taking a breather and being at least temporarily replaced with an Hour Of Stability, or a Few Minutes Of Hope, or even a Quick Tea-And-Biscuit Break of Normality.As they have proved again this summer, Pakistan’s cricket team is generally the most fascinating, irritating, compelling and frustrating in world cricket. Their bowlers, in particular Amir and Mohammad Asif, have regularly made budget porcelain mugs of both England and Australia’s batting line-ups, whilst their batsmen have made a strong, prolonged and resolutely determined statistical case for being the most inept to have visited England in more than 50 years.Cricket needs Pakistan, and whilst it is true that Pakistan cricket has not traditionally been the most reliable friend to itself, the world of cricket must set aside its various vested interests and strive to ensure that Pakistan cricket remains alive in the international arena.3. Human history shows that, in general:

• many humans throughout history have found easy money far more attractive than hard money (for examples, see, for example, the recent history and current state of the global economy, the MPs’ expenses scandal in Britain, the existence of the Cayman Islands, the IPL);
• financial inequality leads to wrongdoing (it must be much easier to spurn the offer of a few thousand pounds if you are already earning a few hundred thousand);
• where gambling is legal, legal gambling thrives; where gambling is illegal, illegal gambling thrives; where illegal gambling thrives, people become aggressively naughty; people like gambling (witness the popularity of religion – what greater punt can there be in life than betting for or against an afterlife?);
• teenagers thrust rapidly into the public spotlight frequently balls things up; and
• when a British tabloid newspaper starts taking the moral high ground, you know things have gone very, very badly wrong.

4. The ICC has, evidently, not adequately decapitated the particularly snakey Medusa of cricket corruption. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, has, however, stated unequivocally: “We will not tolerate corruption in this great game.”It is reassuring to know that there is at least one thing in the universe that the ICC will not tolerate. Amongst the things it will tolerate are:

• the potentially terminal decline of cricket in some once-great Test playing nations;
• the premature elevation to Test status of nations due to political and commercial vested interests;
• large amounts of money from TV companies in return for artificially and soullessly elongating one-day tournaments;
• shamelessly pricing local cricket fans out of attending said tournaments, leading to embarrassingly sparse attendance at showpiece events;
• international schedules, pitches and regulations designed to break bowlers;
• infantilically draconian restrictions on what paying spectators are allowed to wear or consume inside cricket grounds;
• being held to ransom by various other organisations with three- or four-letter acronyms;
• needlessly snoozy over-rates;
• umpires leading players off for bad light whenever they get a bit peckish;
• idiotic implementation of an untested and patently-unready TV umpiring system;
• Daryl Harper being allowed control of said system;
• sundry other bloopers.

Still, it is nice to know that the ICC will draw the line somewhere. And that line is at corruption (of the on-the-field variety, at least).5. Amir, if found guilty, deserves another chance. Who knows what pressures he was under and from whom? If he was being urged by some or all of his captain, team-mates, his agent, gambling gangsters, the Pope, and/or the FBI to bowl no-balls and he caved in to those demands, with minimal impact on the game, whilst simultaneously obliterating England’s batting in one of the finest displays of bowling seen at Lord’s in years, is that surprising? His brilliance with the ball and determination with the bat were not indicative of a man unconcerned by the performance of his team.If and when the full story emerges, it may be that Amir is seen to be a naive pawn in a game beyond his control. It may emerge that he was a fully willing participant. Either way he deserves both an appropriate period of punishment and a second opportunity. And it will help, if and when he is afforded that second chance, if the PCB does more to prevent the tentacles of temptation winding their way into the dressing room. Its tactic of sticking its fingers in its ears and singing 1980s rock ballads at the top of its voice does not seem to have worked.6. Spot-fixing is a curious beast. The fraud of the kind and scale that seems to have taken place at Lord’s has far less influence on the game than, for example, the widening gulf in finance and facilities between different Test-playing nations, batsmen not walking, incompetent umpiring, or poor pitches. As Amir’s performances have shown, it is possible to be fully committed to helping your team win and to break cardinal rules of sporting fairness and honesty at the same time.If spot-fixing ever migrates into stand-up comedy, I and my fellow comedians will be permanently under the spotlight. Was that joke about the International Monetary Fund simply not funny or did I deliberately flunk the punchline? It would be almost impossible to tell. I have had gigs during my career in which audiences seemed to think I had purposefully tanked every single joke in my set.7. Until scientists stop piddling around trying to find out why dogs bark at cats, and what happens if you feed nothing but pastrami and gherkin bagels to a laboratory orangutan, and instead focus on developing a cure for people with an unquenchable urge to bet on when no-balls are bowled in cricket matches, these controversies will continue to occur.Meanwhile, in the cricket, England are playing well in a series of training matches.

The amount of mistakes committed by both sides is indicative of the continued struggles of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Test cricket

Firdose Moonda25-Apr-2013Tamim Iqbal should have been run out before either he or the team had scored a run. He tapped the second ball of the morning to mid-on and took off before seeing that it had been stopped. A quick throw, taken off balance, missed the stumps. Had it hit, Tamim would have been well short.He also should have been run out in the over after lunch. After clipping a ball to midwicket, he insisted on the third run and, while making his way back, there was a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. He made his ground, albeit in needless, squeaky bum fashion.Tamim actually run out two overs later. He pushed the ball to mid-off and thoughtlessly charging down the track in search of his 50th run. Shingi Masakadza had watched the earlier attempt with interest, made a mental note of Tamim’s penchant for desperate scrambles and took great pleasure in knocking over the stumps and seeing the opener off.The collective sigh suggested only one thought: does he never learn? As the day went on, that applied to almost every player on both sides.Do Bangladesh batsmen never learn that there are enough aid agencies in the world and they do not have to donate wickets? Has Kyle Jarvis not learnt, especially after the first Test, that overpitching is not a good idea? Has Graeme Cremer not learnt to catch?Remember when Bruce Springsteen sang about glory days? This is not what he was talking about. This was the opposite of two old friends meeting up years later to talk about the good times of the past, regretful that they could not summon the will to return to that. Neither Zimbabwe nor Bangladesh have ever enjoyed golden ages and today they showed why.As far as quality goes, this was as close to unbranded as cricket can get. There was no urgency and no obvious intent. Everything happened behind a sepia film of lethargy, something that was no good for a time where the most vibrant colours are expected.Zimbabwe decided long before they arrived at the ground this morning that they would bowl first if they won the toss. It was probably the right call, with grass covering the pitch, but it was made so far in advance that it backfired on them. The bowlers arrived with the belief that they were pre-programmed to take wickets and when they didn’t pick up early, they became frantic.Jarvis was as ordinary as Tamim joked he was. His length betrayed him and his lines followed soon after. He bowled too full and strayed on to the pads too often. Keegan Meth had more control and moved the ball both ways but Bangladesh’s openers countered the swing well.Having done that, it was needless for Jahurul Islam to try a lofted drive as the first hour drew to a close. He skied it and Malcolm Waller hung on. The next four wickets to fell were all in similar fashion. They were not the result of testing deliveries but of loose shots from batsmen who should know better.Mohammad Ashraful was out on the pull again, Mominul Haque presented extra-cover with catching practice – which we know Zimbabwe need – and even Shakib Al Hasan engineered his own demise. Having just cut Elton Chigumbura for four, he chose to charge him and edged through to Richmond Mutumbami.But Bangladesh’s lack of staying power was not solely to blame for the way the day drifted. Zimbabwe were as responsible. They had four run-out chances in the morning session and two later on. Bangladesh should never have been running between the wickets so frantically and Zimbabwe should have hit more than once.

Matches are not won by waiting for the opposition to put a foot wrong as Zimbabwe’s attack did, or by making small progress and then tossing it away as Bangladesh’s batsmen did, but by taking the initiative

They should also have caught better. On three occasions, ball went to hand and was spilled. On one other, it could have gone to hand. Between them, Cremer and Brendan Taylor were responsible for all four. Zimbabwe did not even need to take all their chances, just half of them would have ensured Bangladesh were all out by the close.Strokeplay was risky throughout the innings. Shakib threw his bat at some, sending them between slips and gully. That he had no third man in place for a significant part of his innings helped too. Shakib was always too good a player not to come back from his two low scores in the first Test and although he rode his luck, he also showed some of his prowess.When he was batting, it was obvious Zimbabwe’s attack were just waiting for a mistake rather than attacking. Shingi Masakadza and Chigumbura bowled well in small patches but even they could not string together as many as four decent deliveries.They allowed Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim to thrive and the captain did so most convincingly. He cut out the gambles and his boundaries were classy: a cut shot when offered width, a delicate steer to third man and his best, a six off the legspinner lofted cleanly over long-off.But he also flirted with danger. He was very nearly stumped after struggling to get his foot back in time. Had Mutumbami been a touch quicker, he may have been out. He was dropped after top-edging a pull but when he was out, it was the first genuine wicket of the day, Jarvis getting one to nip back in and strike Mushfiqur on the pads as he played a fraction too late. For a moment, there was a flashback to how Test matches are won.Not by waiting for the opposition to put a foot wrong as Zimbabwe’s attack did, not by making small progress and then tossing it away as Bangladesh’s batsmen did, but by taking the initiative.Both teams are desperate to prove themselves worthy. Bangladesh edged ahead in that department by crossing the 300-run mark. If they are to continue to clamber in that direction, they will have to bat more sensibly in the morning and urge their bowlers not to emulate Zimbabwe when they take the field.

The home side showed commendable resolve to almost reach 400, but they started poorly with the ball and their hard work could easily unravel

Firdose Moonda in Harare18-Apr-2013Only once since February 2004, when they piled up 441 against their current opponents, have Zimbabwe managed a greater total than their effort in Harare over the last two days. In 2011 they made 412 on a docile Bulawayo surface against Pakistan (although still lost) and other than that had not past 370 in almost a decade.This rare substantial total was achieved through patience, application and largely, the determination of one man. Brendan Taylor’s 171 was the highest by a Zimbabwean captain and the most runs any individual has scored since 2001. It was an innings that tested his natural style as a strokemaker and required him to put into practice the things he has been discussing with batting coach Grant Flower over the last few weeks. Things like reading situations, knowing when to hold back and fostering partnerships.On seeing Taylor act those out, Flower rated the innings as one of the best he had seen by one of his countrymen. “It’s right up there. He showed amazing application and he changed his game, particularly yesterday, to the type of wicket he was playing on,” Flower said. “He left the ball really well and bided his time. That was great to see. He struggled in the West Indies but he came back got fitter and worked on a few things and it’s paid off.”While receiving more throwdowns than the number of zeroes on an old Zimbabwean banknote to get himself technically ready, Taylor also had to gain an understanding of his role. Being the captain, he shoulders a lot. Being the side’s key batsmen, too, requires him to take on even more. Being expected to lead and bat well, puts the weight on him close to tipping point.Flower can see some of his brother, Andy, in Taylor and has tried to pass on some of his sibling’s values into him. “Brendan as always been under pressure as one of the best players like Andy was,” he said. “We’ve spoken about just batting and the runs will come and sometimes just being selfish, play for yourself and you will end up playing for the team. Sometimes, especially in ODIs, Brendan ends up trying to make up for the other players like Andy used to and this time he didn’t have to that.”The latter part of Flower’s analysis is the perhaps the most important. Because Taylor shared in two century stands, with Malcolm Waller and Graeme Cremer, and had Shingi Masakadza and Keegan Meth to fight on without him, Zimbabwe benefited from more than just a solo effort.That is also because of behind the scenes work, as Zimbabwe sought to change their reputation of their batting ending at No.6. “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the lower-order batsmen about how important their position is and how we have got a reputation of having a long tail. I made them aware of it and put a bit more emphasis on it so we can work on it,” Flower said. “We did more work in the nets, we had specialised sessions with the so-called all-rounders so we could get them ready.”The most obvious change in Zimbabwe’s lower-order was their willingness to dig in. They frustrated the Bangladesh attack with stubbornness and took Zimbabwe to 11 runs shy of their goal – a total of 400. “We got to where we wanted to,” Flower said.Bangladesh may feel the same. Their coach, Shane Jurgensen, admitted he would have been satisfied with bowling Zimbabwe out for under 300 and although his team conceded an extra 89 runs, they wiped out the excess quickly scoring with far more ease than the hosts. So much so, that it took Bangladesh 73 balls to achieve what Zimbabwe had in 174 – 50 runs on the board.While the pitch was still a testing one, Bangladesh were helped by poor bowling from Zimbabwe’s opening attack. Kyle Jarvis created chances in every over but he also gave away boundaries. Meth did the same, Masakadza was the best bowler, he beat the bat regularly, he hit good lengths but even he veered on the side of too short.Against batsmen who enjoy attacking, that was a mistake. Jahurul Islam and Shahriar Nafees both drove strongly, sending boundaries down the ground at will. The inexperience of the bowlers may have been to blame, and their eagerness to prove themselves as the batsmen did, but Flower was far from impressed.”We bowled way too full and sometimes too short and wide. Of course, it doesn’t help if you drop an early catch but our bowling was far from good enough,” he said. “There’s definitely a bit in the surface for the bowlers and it will still be there as the game goes on. We can definitely bowl a lot better than that.”Zimbabwe’s bowlers will have to emulate their batsmen and employ discipline and patience, rather than look for glory immediately. The batsmen have waited the better part of a decade to see the rewards of that kind of calculated approach. The bowlers have tasted success more recently – in 2011 against Bangladesh – when they took the side to victory on a similar surface.Bangladesh also remember that Test, when their batsmen could not do enough and their attack was at times impotent. That’s why they have come out with such a different approach this time. “We think we can win this match. We are playing positively with the bat and we think we can get them out again,” Enamul Haque Jr said. Whoever can learn from history better will ensure their words match their actions.

Plays of the Day from the match between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in Delhl

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Apr-2013The drop
With a reputation for being a fast mover and fine catcher, David Warner often traverses the straight boundary for Delhi Daredevils. But in the 13th over he dropped a straightforward chance from Rahul Dravid, and ended up conceding a six. Warner climbed into the air about a metre from the long-on rope to intercept Dravid’s mis-hit off Andre Russell, and having got two hands to it, palmed it over the ropes. Warner benefited from some reciprocal generosity in his own innings though, when Dravid dropped him.The welcome
Mahela Jayawardene strangely held Johan Botha back until the 15th over, but when he did come into the attack, he was savaged so severely, he didn’t bowl again. With Royals at 108 for 2 in 14 overs, Stuart Binny decided it was time to surge, and though his first boundary – an edge to third man – was somewhat fortuitous, a slog sweep into the stands next ball, and an advancing bludgeon over long off straight after, ignited Royals’ death-over dash.The ball
Unmukt Chand, the hero of last year’s Under-19 World Cup, had a rough introduction to the IPL when a fantastic Brett Lee away-seamer uprooted his off stump with the first ball of the tournament. He was in danger of collecting another golden duck when Samuel Badree rapped him on the pads first ball in Delhi, but he survived, only to be bowled by another terrific delivery in the sixth over. Sreesanth pitched one on off stump in the sixth over, and moved it in off the seam just a fraction, and Chand could not get near the ball as it passed between bat and pad and took middle stump out of the ground.The catch
Jayawardene had set himself up to be there at the close with a measured 19 from 15 deliveries, but as soon as he made a mistake, a little magic in the infield ensured he would not play the kind of innings that had given Delhi hope in the tournament opener. Spotting a full, straight delivery from Rahul Shukla, Jayawardene aimed a big drive, but ended up getting a thick outside edge that flew square. The ball’s trajectory would have taken it several metres to the right of Ajinkya Rahane at backward point, but he moved quickly and launched himself horizontally, heels kicked in the air, to complete a stunning two-handed take at full stretch.The throw
Despite a miserly 18th over of Daredevils’ innings, and a quiet start to the 19th, the hosts would have felt in control as long as Warner remained at the crease. A fine piece of fielding from acting captain Brad Hodge, however, dislodged Royals’ chief tormentor and yielded the floor to Kevon Cooper’s last-over heroics. Warner bunted one into the off side and took off, but as quick as he is between the wickets, he had hit the ball too close to Hodge at cover, who swooped on it instantly. Hodge then let rip with a fast, flat off-balance throw, and despite having no more than one-and-a-half stumps to aim at, and hit middle to find Warner metres short.

Not as much as they look at the moment, is the answer, children. Ten irrefutable splodges of statistical truth-telling to get you through the night

Andy Zaltzman19-Mar-2013″The unstoppable clock of an Ashes megayear is already ticking towards April. The cuckoo will soon bark for the beginning of the English summer, and one of the founding superpowers of international cricket is struggling. Mired in the murky gloom of a run of just two victories in their last ten Tests, and with five wins set against seven defeats since Christmas 2011, they must be casting envious looks across the hemispheres at their ancient foes.

“The team against which they will be scrabbling for ownership of the urn – the kind of battered old trinket that could fetch upwards of £1.25 on eBay – have won twice as many of their last ten Tests, and are roosting on a proud record of nine wins and just four losses in 16 five-day matches since Santa Claus plopped down their chimneys 15 months ago, waiting for an Ashes triumph to hatch into life.

With two back-to-badly-scheduled-back series in the offing, His Excellency Judge Form-Guide has surely cast his verdict. Only one of the two combatants has the taste of habitual victory fresh in their gullets. Only one of the two teams can, when the Test averages of both teams since Christmas 2011 are set against each other, boast five of the six best bowlers, and six of the eight best batsman. There can be only one winner. Australia.”

This is an excerpt from a joint press release that fell into my in-tray this morning, issued by the Australian Institute of National Optimism, the English Society For Fearing the Sporting Worst, and the International Foundation for the Selective Use of Potentially Misleading Statistics.Admittedly there are a number of caveats that need to be added. England might have scored only two victories in their last ten Tests, and flunked their major challenges of 2012, but five of those games have been drawn (four rain-affected, one on a mummified corpse of a pitch in Nagpur), and the two wins were strikingly good ones. Australia, by contrast, had, until their Indian jaunt, won nine and lost one of their last 13 Tests, but they had faced some of the most inept opposition in recent cricketing history, and the one loss had been a soul-sapping one at the end of a series with South Africa that they should have been leading. Since when, they have been chomped in Chennai, hosed in Hyderabad, and marmalised in Mohali.Of those five Australian bowlers with better averages since Christmas 2011 than any of their English counterparts (other than Graham Onions, who has played only one Test in that time), only one played in the Mohali Test, none has much of a record against England, and all have benefited from some less-than-competent visiting batsmanship in Australian conditions. Of the six Aussies in the top eight Anglo-Baggy-Green batsmen in that time, two have retired, two are bowlers, one is Steve Smith (on the basis of one match), and the other might be comfortably the best batsman on either team, but is also battling with an uncooperative back. And averages, as the old saying goes, are like miniskirts – they only really work with the appropriate figures. And should not be used on their own.What can we read into all this? Not much. This Australian team is not as bad as a regenerating Indian side is making it look. Nor as good as the 2011-12 disintegrating Indian side made it look. And they have concocted a formidable strategic masterplan. The last time they lost the first three Tests of a series was against West Indies in 1988-89. Their next series was the Ashes in England. They won 4-0, and kickstarted a decade and a half of England-pulverising dominance.India, for their part, look a far better side than they were three months ago. In fact, they do not just look a far better side, they are a far better side. It helps that they are playing against a less good side than they were three months ago, but the changes at the top of the order, which were more overdue than a forgetful agoraphobic’s library books, have been spectacularly successful. Shikhar Dhawan’s staggering debut innings, at the age of 27, suggests that India’s selectors have shown an unnecessary lack of trust in their own first-class system, akin to Neil Armstrong turning up for the Apollo 11 launch with a homemade rocket he and his wife cobbled together out of an old Renault, some lawnmowers, and a tumble-dryer.Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling has been perhaps unexpectedly successful, and, with the influx of new, younger players, India have inevitably become a more vigorous side in the field. That said, scientifically they could not have become less vigorous in the field than they were against England, when at times it seemed that several of the team were about to hibernate. Greater challenges lie ahead overseas, but the process has at least begun.A Mohali stat blast to help you get to sleep tonight. Adults: take up to three stats with a litre of cask-strength whisky to ensure an uninterrupted night of top-quality snooze. Children aged 6-12: take one stat with water, under strict supervision. Children under six should not take cricket stats other than in an emergency, or where no other treatment is available. Avoid contact with the eyes. If you take more than the recommended number of stats, seek immediate psychological assistance. Do not share stats with other users. If symptoms persist, watch some snooker.

Children under six should not take cricket stats other than in an emergency, or where no other treatment is available. Avoid contact with the eyes. If you take more than the recommended number of stats, seek immediate psychological assistance

1. India’s batsmen have posted five scores of 150 or more in the first three Tests, the joint-third-most ever in a Test series. Only Pakistan (seven 150-plus innings, v India in 1982-83), and England (six, in the 1985 Ashes), have scored more. Eight teams have previously scored five 150s in a series. The last side to do so: Australia. Against India, in the 2011-12 series. Which must seem a long time ago to the current side, as they counter-debacle India’s pitiful efforts in that 4-0 whitewash. India have also become the 11th team to have had four different players reach 150 in a series. Only the 1938 England team have had five century-and-a-half-mongers.2. Ishant Sharma bowled out Brad Haddin and Moises Henriques in three balls in his 18th over in the first innings. He thus tinkered the timbers more often in three balls than he had in his previous 496 overs in Tests, since bowling Trott at Lord’s in July 2011. In the 14 Tests (plus the end of the Lord’s game and the beginning of the Mohali match) he had played since then, just one of his 23 victims had been bowled – Michael Clarke at the MCG, in the Boxing Day Test of 2011-12.3. The Mohali Test was the third ever in which all four openers have scored 70 or more in the first innings. This was the first of those three not to end in a draw.4. Dhawan and M Vijay were the 14th pair of openers to both score 150 in the same innings, and the second Indian partnership to do so. The previous occasion was when Vinoo Mankad (231) and Pankaj Roy (173) added 413 for the first wicket against New Zealand in Chennai in 1955-56. It was the first time both openers have passed 150 against Australia (a) anywhere other than the MCG, and (b) without one of them being Jack Hobbs. The Surrey Statisticosaurus did so in partnership with Wilfred Rhodes in 1911-12, and with Herbert Sutcliffe in 1924-25.5. Australia’s first innings was the ninth occasion on which four players have scored 70 or more in the same innings, without any going on to score a hundred (and the fifth involving Australia),
and the seventh time three batsmen have reached 85 without any of them reaching the cricketing nirvana of a century.6. Mitchell Starc became the first No. 9 ever to be out for 99 in Test cricket. By way of consolation, he also became the 11th man batting 9 or lower to score 35 or more in both innings of a Test, and the first Australian to do so since 1924-25. Starc also gave Test cricket its first recorded instance of a No. 9, 10 or 11 surviving 100 balls in both innings. He became the first Baggy Green paceman to both bowl and face 200 balls in a Test since Tony Dodemaide, against New Zealand, at the MCG in 1987-88.7. Jadeja became only the fifth bowler ever to take three wickets in five separate innings in a series, after Ian Botham (1985 Ashes), Malcolm Marshall (v Australia, 1990-91), Stuart Clark (2006-07 Ashes) and Peter Siddle (v India 2011-12). The Saurashtra Southpaw has taken 17 wickets in the series, without taking four in any innings. If he takes three and two, or two and three, in Delhi, he will become the top wicket-taker in any series who has not taken four in an innings.8. Dhawan’s 187 off 174, at a strike rate of 107, was the fourth-fastest 150-plus score by an opener in Test history, after Roy Fredericks’ legendary assault on Lillee, Thomson, Walker and Gilmour in Perth in 1975-76 (169 off 145), Virender Sehwag’s 293 off 254 against Sri Lanka in 2009-10, and David Warner’s laceration of India (180 off 159), also at the WACA, 14 months ago.9. And a couple from Wellington: England’s first-innings 465 was the second-highest total by a team that has lost all ten wickets to catches, behind West Indies’ 486 v India in Barbados in 1983. Something for the Wellington duck to ponder on.10. For the second time in three Tests, Monty Panesar bowled exactly 52 overs in the match, conceded less than two runs per over, and only took one wicket: 1 for 81 in Nagpur, 1 for 91 in Wellington.And, relax.

Lahiru Thirimanne’s innings in the fifth ODI was not very different from some of the other innings he has played before, but his calculated approach to run-making left an impression

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Aug-2013As Lahiru Thirimanne ambled to 17 from 33 balls in the first ODI of the series, his idol bestrode the other crease. Thirimanne had watched Kumar Sangakkara so closely in his teenage years, there is little to pick between the pair’s cover drives, save for the disdainful air Sangakkara has acquired over a decade of mastery. Not even as ardent a disciple as Thirimanne, though, might have guessed at Sangakkara’s capacity for such relentless evisceration as he unleashed that day. At the time, some remarked on how far Thirimanne had to travel before he lost his braid, but later, Sangakkara would call that innings the best in his one-day career. It is a daunting yardstick for any player to be measured by.Since Angelo Mathews was handed the reins in February, Sri Lanka’s quest for regeneration has grown from earnest to rabid, and no one has felt its intensity more than Thirimanne. Dinesh Chandimal has, at least, played the kind of Test innings that have seen him become earmarked as a special talent, and a string of low ODI scores were considered with relative kindness. Meanwhile, calls to leave Thirimanne out for a batsman with a bigger appetite for attack mounted at home, growing to a din after that 17.It is unlikely Thirimanne has muzzled his doubters with his 68 in the fifth ODI, because it is the kind of innings he has played before. There was little pressure perhaps, aside from the personal burden to justify his place in the team. The series had been won and Tillakaratne Dilshan was batting at the other end, fresh from his Pallekele ton. Relative to Sri Lanka’s total, Thirimanne’s runs also seem to have come at a plodding pace – at a strike rate of just over 73. The 53 dot balls he saw out did not suggest an abundance of fluency.Yet it was an innings founded on composure and spurred by calculation. The early demise of a Sri Lankan opener has been the norm in this series, but embracing a new team philosophy of care early in the innings – an approach adopted even by as militant a batsman as Tillakaratne Dilshan – Thirimanne blunted probing first spells from South Africa’s quicks and set about at a considered pace of accumulation. The match situation required little more. South Africa had already wilted once in the Colombo sun during the series, and Sri Lanka’s innings have rarely failed to climax at the close.A sharp straight drive to welcome Ryan McLaren to the attack and a breezy blow through the covers off Morne Morkel provided glimpses of a visceral batting talent, but Thirimanne’s remaining boundaries were borne of contrivance. The slog-swept six off JP Duminy came after two watchful dot balls, and a glance to the leg side with which he reckoned on his chances of success. The lofted four off Aaron Phangiso was no less planned, neither was the chipped shot off McLaren in the 30th over. Thought wedded to execution should be the hallmark of any good No. 3 batsman and, having moved to his favourite position for the first time in the series, Thirimanne underscored his long-term potential there. This year, he has already hit a one-day hundred at first drop, where he averages 53.6.Thirimanne and Chandimal face the dual challenge of making the considerable leap from Sri Lanka’s domestic standard to the demands of international cricket, while also batting at unfamiliar positions to which their games are ill suited. Part of the reason why no Sri Lanka batsman has ever retired with an ODI average exceeding 40 is due to the fact that they have had to routinely launch their international careers in the lower order, as seniors have risen to acclaim in the places above them. Sangakkara averaged almost seven fewer runs than Thirimanne after the same number of innings.”I think as a 24 -year-old, Lahiru is batting a lot better than I did when I was 24,” Sangakkara said. “He’s got a lot of time and he’s a guy who understands situations very well. He also has a lot of shots that he’s unafraid to execute. Lahiru is going to be one of those batsmen who is going to be one of those fantastic, run-scoring batsmen who you can rely upon in any situation to score runs for the side.”I’ve watched him with a lot of pleasure. His work ethic is fantastic and his ability is there for everyone to see. He has batted in some difficult situations and never shirks his responsibility. He just needs a lot of confidence and a strong dressing room to support him when he does make sacrifices for the side.”Sri Lanka’s approaching batting crisis has been billed as imminent for a year now, yet the seniors continue their plunder as freely as ever. Sangakkara and Dilshan were last year’s top run-scorers in ODIs, and they are first and third respectively so far in 2013. Mahela Jayawardene has been less consistent but, as he showed in June’s Champions Trophy, he continues to be Sri Lanka’s best bet on big occasions.Sri Lanka’s ODI focus is now firmly on the 2015 World Cup, and though twenty months may dull the splendor of the old guard, it may give enough time for the young players to rise. Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan did not tear attacks apart in utero, and perhaps for players like Thirimanne, the promise of innings like his 68 is good enough for now.

ESPNcricinfo looks at five reasons for England’s failure to compete in Australia

George Dobell17-Dec-2013Selection and coaching
When the England squad was announced, there was excitement over the inclusion of three unusually tall fast bowlers – Boyd Rankin, Chris Tremlett and Steven Finn – and the expectation that one or all could play a key role on Australian pitches offering pace and bounce.But anyone who had watched county cricket in 2013 could have confirmed this was always unlikely. There was a mountain of evidence to suggest that Tremlett was not the force he once was and that Finn was enduring something of a crisis of confidence as he weighed up conflicting advice from county and international coaches. It was naive to think that an England set-up with little track-record of improving bowlers – James Anderson and Stuart Broad were international players before the current management took charge – could revitalise such players. It might well have proved helpful to have Graham Onions, the best bowler in county cricket over the last two seasons, on the tour to provide cover and balance.Rankin may still prove a valuable player but he failed to shine in his few opportunities and, under the guidance of England bowling coach, David Saker, has regressed during the tour. Indeed, Saker’s influence requires some reflection: to have failed to capitalise on the substantial talents of Finn is a major stain on his record.Questions might be asked about Graham Gooch, too. There is little doubt that England have brought, give or take a name or two, their best batting line-up on this trip: the records of Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell will stand the test of time. They have proved they are fine players. But England are failing to maximise their talent. While the primary responsibility must always lie with the individuals, it is fair and sensible to raise questions of a batting coach who seems so unable to coax the best from talented players.One man who could feel unfortunate not to make the tour is Nick Compton. He was dropped after two poor games at the start of the 2013 English summer – a decision that suggests cliques – but has continued to churn out runs in the county game. The last time England scored 400 in a Test, Compton and Jonathan Trott contributed centuries. His solidity and restraint would have been valuable.The inclusion of Jonny Bairstow is also questionable. He appears, through no fault of his own, not to be trusted with bat or gloves by the management. So why bring him?Losing Trott
The departure of Trott disturbed England. It was not just the absence of a top-order batsman, a vital buffer despite his drop in form, but the sight of a friend and colleague in obvious distress shocked the dressing room and disrupted the equilibrium of those left behind. All the planning, all the attempts to create a calm environment were dashed in that moment. England have never recovered.Jonathan Trott’s absence left a huge hole•Getty ImagesMental and physical overload
Trott’s descent into exhaustion may be extreme, but it is not unique. Several other members of this squad have progressed further down the same road than should have been allowed. A combination of a reliance upon a few key players in all formats and the ECB’s schedule – a schedule that prioritises income above a duty of care to their most important assets – has asked too much of too few.Since December 2011, no one has faced more deliveries in international cricket than Cook, with Bell and Trott also featuring in the top five. In the same period, no seamer has bowled more deliveries than Anderson or Broad and only R Ashwin has bowled more deliveries than Graeme Swann as a spinner. That is despite Swann undergoing surgery and missing games with a variety of injuries.But it is not just the quantity of cricket that England have been playing. It is also the environment in which they travel and train. The intensity of the England set-up has done nothing to dispel the pressure that can build up over time with the many virtues of Andy Flower – the attention to detail, the drive – slowly becoming vices as they are repeated over a long period of time without levity. It may be no coincidence that three of those who have fared best in this series are the three that have most recently come into the side: Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Michael Carberry.Somewhere, somehow, England forgot to enjoy the journey.Batting and fielding failures
It may seem odd to lump these two aspects of the game together, but the failures in both may well have the same root: weariness and a lack of belief.Fielding is often the barometer of a team’s morale and England’s in this series has been poor. By the time Australia declared in Perth, it had sunk to the level of appalling. England’s inability to take their chances in the field reached its nadir in Adelaide when an opportunity to dismiss Australia for around 350 was punished ruthlessly and fatally.The batsmen have failed to score 400 in an innings since March, 22 innings ago, with Stokes the only centurion in the series so far. The failure in England’s top order simply exposed a soft middle to lower order before the tail were blown away.The domestic system
It is no coincidence that, when the England side enjoyed its best years, it was on the back of a sharp improvement in the standard of county cricket. The move to two divisions, the introduction of promotion and relegation, the appearance of strong overseas and non-England-qualified players heralded a particularly competitive era in the county game, with the likes of Justin Langer remarking that it was as tough domestic cricket as he had experienced.But the ECB could not resist tinkering. It brought in young player incentives, tightened work-permit criteria, took the best players out of the county game for reasons as diverse as Lions matches, rest and gym sessions and created a schedule that squeezed the County Championship into the margins of the season. Furthermore, it allowed games to be staged on homogenised slabs of mud which bear little resemblance to those on which international cricket is played. Many of the initiatives were well intentioned but nearly all of them have backfired.Brydon Coverdale on why Australia were the better side