All posts by h716a5.icu

Just how much can conceivably be riding on an Under-19 tournament – even if it is the biggest in the world? More than you think perhaps

Sidharth Monga14-Jan-2010With a stump in his hand Virat Kohli, clean-shaven then, gesticulated unsubtly and swore at the South Africans, who had just lost. That famous sight from the Under-19 World Cup final in 2008 didn’t endear Kohli to observers, who thought him ungracious in victory, and that such a reaction was pretty rich from someone who was yet to achieve much in cricket.In a recent interview on , a stubbled Kohli relived the moment: “The whole South African team was sitting there, and I purposely showed it to them,” he said. “Because during the break they were playing football and were relaxed as if they had come for a picnic. [India had been bowled out for 159]. The wicketkeeper said that they had sent India packing. That was one thing that really disturbed us in the mind, and everyone was massively aggressive.” Moral of the story: grace or no grace, the U-19 World Cup is no picnic.Not even after you have bowled the opposition out for 159 in the final. Not in a country such as India, where U-19 years ago overtook first-class competitions as a source of international players. Not in this day and age, when a 20-ball 50 in the semi-final of the tournament could be worth a big-money contract in the IPL.Kohli won’t be in New Zealand over the next fortnight, nor will Bradley Barnes, the keeper who thought India had been sent packing. Instead it will be a fresh bunch of kids – barely out of school. Sons of legends, sons of nobodies, sons of Afghanistan, sons of the Caribbean will all find something for themselves, and will all be by themselves.Last year Umar Akmal, in his first series in international cricket, in Sri Lanka, tried to steal an overthrow off a ricochet off his body. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, almost more experienced in cricket than Akmal was in life, pounced on the boy to teach him a lesson in cricket gamesmanship. To the rescue came Akmal’s batting partner, Shahid Afridi. There won’t be any babies in the 16 teams in New Zealand. There will be no pre-assigned bullies, no pre-assigned rescuers. All will be babies, all will be men.It won’t be an end in itself, just the start of a journey, an education. They will, for instance, learn what doping is, and which pills given by momma can end their careers. They’ll learn the art of mindlessly saying politically correct things in press conferences, an integral part of a modern sportsman’s life. Many of them will be travelling out of their countries for the first time. Most still live with their parents. A few will come back and soon find themselves with enough money to buy their houses for their parents, without yet having gone to college.Quick facts

The format Sixteen teams play round-robin in groups of four each. Two teams from each group make it to quarterfinals. After that it’s all knockout.

Internationals on view Five players involved have already played senior ODIs: Ruvindu Gunasekara for Canada, James Atkinson and Irfan Ahmed for Hong Kong, Paul Stirling for Ireland, and Ahmed Shehzad for Pakistan. A total of 50 players have prior first-class experience. Pakistan have the most such players, eight.

Formbook There isn’t really a formbook, but India and Pakistan have sort of monopolised the tournament lately, having won four of the last five titles. Both will be aiming to become the first three-time winners. Australia are the other team to have won it twice; England have won once.

The youngest and the oldest Pakistan’s Babar Azam – at 15 years and 91 days – is the youngest player in the fray, and Naseer Jamali of USA – at 20 years and 126 days – is the oldest. (Associate nations get a year’s grace on the age norm.)

Dark horse Keep an eye out for Bangladesh. They have a settled, experienced team (seven players with first-class experience), and have thrashed Australia and New Zealand in the warm-ups.

Almost everything in cricket manages historical resonance. More than 22 years ago, months before the first Youth World Cup was played, Abdul Qadir was trying to pull off an improbable chase against Australia in the 1987 senior World Cup semi-final. Craig McDermott was there to make sure no such heist was successful, leaving Qadir stranded on 20 off 16 balls and running through the rest. There’s every chance Alister McDermott and Usman Qadir, their sons, might come face to face here in a knockout match.There is every chance the two boys may not know of the space in history their fathers shared, but Manan Sharma has grown up with history. His father, Ajay Sharma, is not remembered as the Ranji Trophy giant he was, but as someone who was banned for life for match-fixing. Manan said that when he was growing up, his father used to watch him play from a far corner of the ground and leave quietly. In a fortnight he could give his father better memories to remember the game by. Not a picnic.This World Cup will belong as much to the Sharmas, the Qadirs, the McDermotts, the Bracewells, the Marshes, the Buchanans, as it will to Noor-ul-Haq and his Afghan team-mates. At 17, he has already fled war, been a refugee in Pakistan, and somewhere along the way picked up cricket. Afghanistan’s mere qualification for a big world event is a matter of fascination. The tournament will belong as much to West Indies and Zimbabwe, two teams whose success could give hope to those who feel heartbroken at the downfall of their senior teams.In two weeks’ time, after having gone through a maze of the fixtures, having witnessed play-offs for ninth place, 12th place, 15th place, we will see new champions crowned at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, a quaint university ground about a 50-minute bus ride from Christchurch. Don’t go by the stunning green all around, the picket fence, the grass bank, the college kids. It’ll be no picnic.

Wayamba’s followed their flaccid bowling with batting that could most kindly be described as having a nice personality – bedfellows as strange as this do not a strong marriage make

Telford Vice in Centurion15-Sep-2010The back of the Wayamba Elevens’ playing shirts reveal that they are sponsored by “Musli Power Extra”, a company advertising itself as a purveyor of the “complete solution for sexual problems”. Its products will, ahem, “show you the healthy way to heavenly moments”.Suffice to say, on a family website, the Elevens could have done with a dose of their own medicine in their match against the Chennai Super Kings. They followed their flaccid bowling with batting that could most kindly be described as having a nice personality – bedfellows as strange as this do not a strong marriage make.The bare bones of it was that the Sri Lankan bowlers were smashed for 200 runs. Then their batsmen sank without trace for 103 in 17.1 overs. To his credit, their captain Jehan Mubarak didn’t try to hide the truth. “When we were bowling, four overs went for more than 20 runs each,” he said. “That’s more than 80 runs, and that really took the game away from us. When you’re starting off having to chase runs so quickly, it’s really difficult.”Mubarak also wasn’t buying the excuse that his team were always going to struggle against the bigger guns wielded by an IPL outfit. “The IPL teams will have a little bit more depth in their batting, but we’ve won games without myself or (Mahela) Jayawardene doing well,” he said. “We simply self-destructed with the bat today.”The match was essentially decided in a second-wicket stand of 137 between Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina. By the time they were done, in the 18th over, Wayamba pretty much were, too.”I wanted to make sure we rotated the strike, and that we hit the loose ball for four,” said Raina, who scored a commanding 87. “When you bat at number three it gives you time to build an innings. When you bat at number seven for India, it’s very difficult to score a 50 or a century.”Did the fact that the Super Kings were IPL champions, and thus seen as the standard bearers of much that is good about Twenty20 cricket, spur them on to greater heights? Raina nodded readily: “It’s exciting to play against good teams, and it’s important to play like champions.”In times like this, it may help Sri Lankans to be able to turn to the old and the faithful. They should be pleased to know that Muttiah Muralitharan, for it was he, was greeted with wild enthusiasm beyond every boundary he visited, the cheers continuing long after he presented his back – with the number 800 bulging incongruously – to the crowd.For a while there, as Wayamba’s wickets refused to stay upright, it looked like the legend was going to be denied a bowl. But, in the 10th over with the scoreboard blushing on 53 for six, Muralitharan wobbled into his familiar waddle. With the last ball of his first over, he dropped a difficult catch that would have accounted for Isuru Udana. But he made up for that in the 13th, when he launched himself to his right at backward point to remove Rangana Herath. Well done, young man!As long as the twinkle remains in Murali’s eye, cricket will not be short of admirers.But on Wednesday night it was all over too quickly and too clinically. The earth remained unmoved.

Ray Illingworth looks back on leading England to a hard-fought Ashes win in 1970-71, and dealing with Aussie crowds and umpires

Interview by Richard Gibson18-Dec-2010″All I ever said to the lads was: ‘Have a pint or two if you feel like it but just make sure you’ve had enough sleep and are fit for play in the morning'”•Getty ImagesHow big an achievement was winning the Ashes in Australia in 1970-71?
People don’t realise how hard it is to win in Australia. A lot of sides have beaten Australia at home but not a lot beat them over there. I am talking about full sides, not without the Packer players and the South African situation. When Mike Brearley went back to Australia against a full side they lost 3-0. I think in living memory there has only been Douglas Jardine, apart from me, who has won the Ashes out there. People have defended them, like Len Hutton did in 1954-55, but not won them back and I am quite proud of that. They were pretty long tours as well, you know. Four and a half months, including New Zealand afterwards, is a really hard slog. So when it all comes to a climax in the last match, as it did in Australia, it’s a wonderful feeling. We didn’t take any inviting for a drink that night, I must say.You were 1-0 up with one Test to play. Australia were chasing 223 to win the final match. That last day must have been special…
They only wanted around 100 with five wickets left on that final day of the series. With Greg Chappell and Rodney Marsh in, it only needed one of them to get a quick 30 or 40 and the game was gone. But we won it quite comfortably in the finish. I don’t think I ever had another feeling like that.Would you say you were a tight unit as a touring group?
It was a really good set of blokes. I never had any problems at all that way. All I ever said to the lads was: “Have a pint or two if you feel like it but just make sure you’ve had enough sleep and are fit for play in the morning.” They were all responsible people, and when I see the trick cyclists and psychologists and everything they’ve got these days, I always feel that, if they are all required, you’ve picked the wrong people in the first place. John Snow would have sent them round the twist, wouldn’t he? We were a good side and we all got on well together. That was the secret. We tended to switch room-mates so you didn’t get too cliquey. Swapping about every couple of matches ensured we got the northerners and southerners mixing together. All I ever had to say to them was, “Come on, lads, here we go again, so let’s go.” No more than that.The only time I spoke to them any differently was in the dressing room during the first of the Sydney Tests. At tea on the fourth day I felt the game was there for winning, so I went into the back room and said to them: “I can’t quite put my finger on what is missing, I can’t say that no one is trying because that isn’t the case, but there is a difference between trying and giving that little bit more. I would like you to all imagine you are playing in a one-day Lord’s final. Imagine they need eight runs to win and the last over is being bowled.” We went back out and in 40 minutes the game was as good as over.That 1970-71 series has a reputation as one of the most heated in history. Is that fair?
It was never like that between the actual teams. The teams always got on all right. We had a system whereby, if we had been in the field, then as soon as we were back in the dressing room, the Aussies would come in and have a drink with us and vice versa. I can remember once in Sydney the dressing-room attendant coming in to complain: “Aren’t you buggers going? I want to shut up shop. I’ve got a home to go to even if you haven’t.”But there was a lot of hostility, wasn’t there? How much of it was down to the umpire Lou Rowan?

“When I see the trick cyclists and psychologists and everything they’ve got these days, I always feel that, if they are all required, you’ve picked the wrong people in the first place”

Without doubt he was the main culprit. It was the only time I ever felt that an umpire wasn’t beingcompletely honest. The fact that we didn’t get a single lbw in six matches proves the point. Lou Rowan was a very officious sort of character. It was a really silly thing that he did. He got it completely wrong. The game could have got out of hand. For example, we played the first Test in Brisbane and there was one young kid sat with his legs dangling over the wooden boundary fence. Rowan stopped the game and walked 70 yards to tell the lad to get his legs the other side. Yet this was the same guy who told me the ground was fit to continue when 30 or 40 bottles had been thrown on the field. It didn’t just happen once, it happened a couple of times. I called the players to the middle and we sat down while they cleared the bottles and cans off. We agreed to start again and then it all began again and that is when I took them off. People forget that I stayed on the field the first time. Rowan was making it appear as if it was nothing, but the bloke who moved the sightscreen was hit on the back of the head by a bottle and was taken to hospital. That could have been Snowy or another of our players. I told them to make an announcement over the loudspeaker that when the ground was cleared, we would go back. “If it starts again we shall come off again,” I said. “If we have to forfeit the game, we have to forfeit the game. But there is a principle at stake here.” Rowan laid it down that we would have to forfeit unless we went back but I was adamant that we would only go back when it was ready for us to go back.The inaugural ODI occurred during that tour…
Yes. We had a rained-off Test at Melbourne and we could have started halfway through the fourth day. But the feeling was that there was no point in beginning a Test with a day and a bit to go. So we cancelled that day and arranged a one-dayer for the day after. It was all arranged overnight and we got 45,000 people there. A Test match was then added to the series, which we weren’t happy about because it meant we played five Tests in six weeks in the hot part of the summer. The other grumble for us was that the Aussies were promised a full match-fee and we weren’t promised anything, so that nearly caused a strike. You can imagine that David Clark, the tour manager, went out with a flea in his ear. He had just spoken with Don Bradman, Sir Cyril Hawker [president of MCC] and Gubby Allen, who were out there watching. They went ahead and did it without speaking to me as captain. When I was told, I warned them that if someone got injured, there would be no one to call up from England. I also warned them that unless we got something for our trouble, they would have a strike on their hands, so they rang Donald Carr and he agreed we should get something. We finished up with 25 quid for the extra match. That’s great, isn’t it? Even the Aussies were on £200-£250 as a fee. Our amount was a pittance.How much did the adrenaline of the Ashes help your team?
The crowd are very much on your backs out there. Some of it is quite funny, you know. Certain things like, “I wish you was a statue and I was a bloody pigeon.” If you laugh with them, it can help. The old Sydney hill was very much about taking it rather than getting the pin. If you did, they would just give you more stick. Have some fun, give them a wave and you’d have no trouble.Snow had a wonderful series. How crucial is a genuine fast bowler in any England team’s bid to win an Ashes in Australia?
Wonderful was the right word. My biggest disappointment was Alan Ward breaking down more or less before we had played, because he was quick and got bounce. Unfortunately we never had the advantage of having him. I used to talk to John Edrich and Geoff Boycott quite a bit about things and I asked them: “Where do we go from here? Because we have got to get somebody.” John told me to go for this young lad [Bob Willis], 6ft 6in, sharp and able to bowl it in the right areas. I remember asking him: “Are you sure, John?” And the reply was: “I don’t think he will let you down.” So I went on John’s say-so.Do you see similarities between Willis and Steven Finn?
Very much so. Funnily enough, the first time I saw Finn bowl on TV I turned to the wife and told her he should go to Australia because he could do what Bob did for us.”I think in living memory there has only been Douglas Jardine, apart from me, who has won the Ashes out there… I’m quite proud of that”•Getty ImagesShort balls can cause problems in Australia as John Snow proved.
When he famously hit Terry Jenner, that wasn’t even a bouncer. If he had stood straight up it would have hit him on the chest. What he did was get you playing back to a length and under your armpit and then he made it change direction off the seam, so he would get people turned around, knocking it into the slips. That was his great strength. That was why there was such an argument when he hit Jenner. I was at short leg and picked him up, and as he was helped off, Lou Rowan marched over to Snowy and warned him for bowling a bouncer. I told him that even if he considered it a bouncer – which I didn’t – he had only bowled one. He went over to Tom Brooks, the other umpire, who wouldn’t support him on it. But what worried me most was Snowy – because of his temperament and the fact I knew he was upset by the whole bloody thing – who was mouthing off: “That’s not a bouncer”. I feared he was going to start letting fly, so I tried to calm him down. The next ball was inevitably a bouncer and was followed by Snow’s confirmation: “That’s a bloody bouncer.”Geoff Boycott was incredible for you on that tour, wasn’t he?
He will tell you that he played better on that tour than at any time in his life. He played magnificently. It was a shame he couldn’t play in that last Test. Not that he would have scored many on that pitch. It had been covered for two days, we had non-stop rain and it went all over the place. If I had won the toss, we would’ve bowled them out for 50. In fact, I was on the verge of declaring at around 170 for 7 or 8 on the first day, for the simple reason that I knew we had to get some wickets that night. I knew with sun on the pitch the next morning it would change, and just as I had my head in my hands, thinking about whether to do it or not, we were all out. We got the two openers out that night for less than 20 and it made all the difference in the match. If they had been there the next morning, it was a different game.Was one of the sweetest things about 1970-71 the sense of overcoming the odds?
Absolutely. I still have a piece at home, written by Richie Benaud. He said something about Ray Illingworth going home victorious when nearly all the breaks have gone against him, what with injuries, the itinerary, one thing or another.

When good sides have bad days, they find a way to muddle through

Andrew Miller at Lord's03-Jun-2011When good sides have bad days, they find a way to muddle through. “Just find a way”, in fact, was the motto that Shane Warne – the best player in the greatest side of modern times – passed down to Chris Tremlett during his days as Hampshire’s captain. Although Tremlett will have to wait until the weekend to reacquaint himself with Sri Lanka’s batsmen, that message was not lost on his England team-mates, who endured their worst day of Test batting since the Perth Test in December, but somehow emerged with a scoreline that did them credit.In many ways it was wasteful; in many more it was admirable. The shock of losing three early wickets to a Sri Lankan seam attack that had been anaemic down in Cardiff was offset by four half-centuries of vastly contrasting style. Alastair Cook’s intense focus wavered fatally – and surprisingly – on 96, but up until that point he had been patience personified once again. He was joined in the attrition stakes by a gutsy Ian Bell, whose recent fluency was kept under wraps by good bowling and a precarious scoreline of 22 for 3. And then, after tea, the stage was turned over to Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior, who doubled the scoreline with a clatter of free-wheeling boundaries.”I think it’s quite even,” said Morgan, whose 79 from 128 balls was his first significant Test innings since his Trent Bridge century ten months ago. “We were quite pleased with the way we performed after having our backs to the wall this morning. It just did enough, and they bowled a fuller length, which was noticeable, then there were periods after lunch when we had to sit in and leave well and try to set it up for later in the day.”It was a day when all’s well that ends well for England. In their constant quest for self-improvement, the management will have reason to dissect at least five of the day’s six dismissals – from the flaccid flap to gully that prolonged Kevin Pietersen’s run of absent form, to the open-faced poke with which Bell brought about his downfall for 52. And yet, even in those moments of strife, there was a clarity of purpose and a closing of ranks that has long been the hallmark of all the best sides. They may at times have contributed to their own dismissals, but because they were instilled with the confidence of regular victories, at no stage did England threaten a Cardiff-style capitulation.”Because of the performances we’ve had recently, the communication was quite good,” explained Morgan. “Guys accept when they’re out and feed information back, so it was quite chilled. There were certain stages when me and Cookie were in and they bowled a channel at us to bowl maidens. We said ‘fair enough, they can bowl quite wide, let them come to us’. It was quite slow, so it was hard to go after the ball.”In many respects, this was a performance reminiscent of Australia in their early-2000s heyday, not so much because England came out on top in the end, but because of the weapons they used to get to that point. At first there was dour accumulation while the going was tough at the top, with Cook and Justin Langer having more than just their left-handedness in common. Then there was a blistering counterattack in the final third of the day, with Prior and Morgan clattering along at a Gilchristian tempo as they flailed a tiring attack and somehow persuaded the ball to be served up right in their slots.”Giving up 170 runs at 4.9 [an over] is not good enough having won the toss,” said Sri Lanka’s batting coach, Marvan Atapattu, who admitted that his team had set their sights on a sub-300 total once Cook’s dismissal had reduced England to 201 for 5. And yet, how often were such sentiments expressed in the days when Waugh and Gilchrist comprised Australia’s sixth-wicket pairing? Like a break of serve against Rafael Nadal, the challenge against the best opponents is not so much knocking them down, but knocking them out.It’s early days for England in that respect, and they have no single player who comes close to matching Gilchrist, but they’ve made no secret of their ambition, and amid the misgivings, this has the look of another vastly significant day in their development. “If we want to be a champion side, when our backs are to the wall we want to come out fighting,” said Morgan. “We recognise that as a crucial part of our game – we can’t just fall over and fold like a deck of cards.”Right at this moment, there even seems to be room in England’s line-up for a luxury item. Pietersen has now contributed five runs out of 838 in the series to date, and is more likely to be included on a wishlist for a Desert Island Discs plaything, rather than a list of players to whom you would turn to bat for your life. His latest aberration spoke volumes for his scrambled mindset, as he attempted once again to slap his way out of trouble, rather than subject himself to the sort of painstaking grind that brought him his last consistent run of Test form, in Bangladesh 14 months ago.Like Matthew Hayden at The Oval in 2005, Pietersen looks as though he needs a score by whatever means it takes, even if it means enduring an afternoon of pointing and laughing from onlookers who remember the dominant personality of old, and cannot equate it with the shell of a batsman now in their midst. Or alternatively, for as long as England keep the faith, he can just carry on trying to batter his way out of a corner, in the knowledge that he might not pull it off every day, but like his Australian counterparts Mark Waugh and Damien Martyn of old, when he clicks he will do so with a flamboyance that none of his team-mates can match.”He works twice as hard as anybody – and he’s looking good in the nets,” said Morgan, with only a hint of annoyance at the raising of a familiar issue. “He’s the type of character who could go out easily tomorrow and score 170. He plays match-winning innings, and has done since he’s come into the side.”The wait for KP’s homecoming may now have to be dragged on for at least another Test, but just as England found a way to force victory in Cardiff despite the absence of their attack leader, James Anderson, so they have found a way to cover for his and other shortcomings at Lord’s. So effectively, in fact, that you wouldn’t spot the mend unless you knew where the hole in the innings had been made.

The Zimbabwe left-armer talks about starting out as a fast bowler, and keeping the attitude when he moved over to spin

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi11-Aug-2011You were once pigeonholed as a Test specialist early in your career and you are now No. 3 in the world in ODIs.
I had a goal from when I was about 24 or 25 to be in the top 10. Heath [Streak] did it, and it was my one of my goals to beat him because he has always been a kind of hero of mine.It is quite a difficult job trying to catch up with Daniel Vettori because he is way up there on the points table. He is a fantastic left-arm spinner who has been playing from when he was really young, and that helps a lot. He has nice and easy action. I have learned a lot from just watching him.You started as a fast bowler, didn’t you?
I tried to be a Mitchell Johnson till I was 14. At that age everybody wants to be fast. I still want to be Mitchell Johnson. I would love to be that quick. Perhaps I should get some muscle and some tattoos.Basically I got into cricket because my dad, Tim, worked at the Royal Harare Golf Club, which is about 100 metres from the Harare Sports Club. I would go with him in the June holidays to work with him and also play a bit of golf. In the afternoon I would practise with the third team at the Sports Club. I met John Traicos, one of the first cricketers I saw. He would finish in the office at about half past 12, take his suit off and bowl for an hour by himself and then go and have a shower, put his suit back on and head back to office. He would be back later in the evening to practise again. That made a huge statement for me, just about how much work I would have to put in to become an international spinner. I made sure that I tried to spend more time bowling by myself, not just in normal practice but outside of practice. Those are the things that make you a cricketer, that time you buy yourself and do a little bit of extra work [in].I read in [one of] Sachin Tendulkar’s biographies about getting on buses to go for training at strange hours and coming home late at night. It is all those little things like that that make you into a cricketer at the end. You appreciate your practice more when you put in that much effort to get there. So you make it purposeful.Did that aggressive mindset help in your spin bowling?
Being aggressive works for me; it gets me into the zone quite quickly. Also, playing for your country, it is a very proud thing, and you should give it 100% each time you play. My dad always told me to make sure you finish the game knowing you tried everything you could. You can then relax in the change room and enjoy after that.You once said you like to have some sort of interaction with the batsman because you felt it helps.
I enjoy just having a nice chat with the guy. It is between you and him only, and it is lots of fun. I remember when I first started playing, I actually hated when guys used to chirp and make noise and get stuck into me. But after playing with the Flowers – Andy and Grant – they never really sought after it, but if someone came after them they were not afraid to have a word. I don’t try and get nasty. I don’t swear at people. I don’t believe in that.My dad had a wonderful sense of humour. He died last year. He told the worst jokes ever – they were terrible but you would have to laugh at them. He was the worst pun-maker. But he was very good at public-speaking, and a golf professional.Give us an example of a funny sledge you remember.
Jacques Kallis has lost a lot of weight in the last few years. When we played in South Africa two years ago, we were playing on the far left-hand square at Centurion Park, and one of the boundaries was just 45-50 metres away. Kallis went for a slog-sweep and got a four against me. I said: “In your older days when you were a little bigger you would have hit the ball out of the ground. But now that you are skinny, you can’t reach.” Both of us had a nice laugh.Have you ever tried to get into a duel with a batsman?
I tried against Brian Lara in the fifth ODI of the 2003 series, in Harare. He was just knocking the ball around and making it look easy. He got 41 off 42 balls, but he was going too slowly in the beginning and we had not set much of a target, so he was just nudging it around. After my first ball, which he blocked back to me, I said to him, “Come on, you are supposed to be the world’s best batsman. Let’s see if you can take me on.” Jeepers, he just tore me to shreds – he hit me over extra cover, hit me over cow, swept me, backed away and cut me past point. He lambasted me. My figures read 29 in three overs.I learned that you have to pick your batsman before chatting them up. Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting definitely are batsmen I would never chat to. There are few guys people are afraid to bowl to – like, Virender Sehwag is an absolute nightmare. He was one of the few guys I was afraid to bowl at. Sourav Ganguly was the other one.Why did you choose finger-spin?
I used to bowl out of the back of my hand, like Brad Hogg, until I was 17. I could spin the ball long way but I was not accurate. And once the batsmen work out you are going to spin the ball only one way, it becomes easy for them. My coach Simon Elliott suggested I bowl finger-spin. I was very accurate. In about the fifth game after I started bowling finger-spin, I got a hat-trick. That ball is in my cupboard. I keep all the balls that have earned me a name. I got Sachin to sign a couple. The first time I got him out he had made 176. He said he was going to make it difficult for me the next time.Claude Henderson, the former South African spinner, helped me a lot. He showed me how to let the seam go, how to use the crease cleverly and the variations.During the World Cup, Pat Symcox backed your brand of spin.
He is exactly the same as me. He told me about the things he had learned from Bishan Bedi, about different kinds of batsmen, how they use their feet, how some guys like to hit the ball on the up, so let the ball bounce, while others like to hit the ball right at their feet. Little things like that always are handy.

“Steve Waugh wrote me a little note: ‘To Pricey: love the attitude.’ You have to have the right attitude when you are playing”

Were you a good student?
Elliott was a very strange man but he taught us discipline. Two of my mates were late for the start of a match once, so Elliott plucked out two stumps and caned them. I have been caned often for doing silly things. I went to Watershed College, a boarding school 60 kilometres outside of Harare, where when the lights went out you were not supposed to talk. I would, and I’d get the stick. It kept us in line.Do you want to get a wicket every ball?
I don’t really think about wickets. Wickets, I believe, are something you cannot control. I like to work out the best delivery to bowl to a certain batsman and stick to that.There are few spinners like Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne who could say, “If I can get him to push forward I can get him caught at slip.” I am not that kind of a spinner, unless the wicket is really spinning. All I try to do, especially in the one-dayers, I pick a slight weakness, or something he does not like in my bowling, and [work on] that.Are you obsessive about your bowling?
A little bit, especially when I decide which line and length I want to bowl. I am hyper-critical of myself, especially in the middle, because I believe I have done enough work off the field to know where I’m supposed to be bowling. That helps me to keep my focus and helps me to be in the zone.Once, in a Test in Bulawayo, I was bowling to Herschelle Gibbs, who is a very good sweeper and hits very well through extra cover. He ran down the wicket at me and I pushed the ball wide. I’d normally never do that. He went for it, tried to slash at the ball and was caught at point. I was actually going to push the ball down the leg. That is why I say some days you can bowl badly and get wickets and other days not get a wicket at all, even off good balls.Who is the most difficult batsman you have bowled to?
Lara was such a difficult player to work out because he had so many different options of scoring. He was so good off the back foot as well as the front foot.Matthew Hayden was a destructive batsman, too.Then there was Adam Gilchrist. Like when Hayden made 380, Gilchrist made 100 off 84 balls. We had the problem dealing with Hayden, and Gilchrist was on fire as well. It was a nightmare.Did I sledge them? No. I did not have time to as I was trying to fetch the ball off the roof. I remember Heath getting out Gilchrist in Sydney. I remember running up and hugging him, feeling so happy. Gilchrist ran down against me in one over, and he was beaten in the flight, but he still hit me into the stands with just one hand. So when he was out I was completely happy.Have you ever got any compliments from batsmen?
I got six wickets in Sydney in 2003 and took a stump as a souvenir. We later went into the Australian dressing room. Steve Waugh was sitting next to me. I did not know what to say because he was a hero: a hard, gritty man who had made most of his opportunities, and the way he led Australia, how he changed the whole team into tough cricketers and all that. He took the stump and said, “Do you mind if I write something on it?” I was delighted and said it would be my pleasure. He wrote a little note: “To Pricey: love the attitude.” It just made me realise that you have to have the right attitude when you are playing.”I was so inspired and was dying to get ‘Price’ on the back of my bright red shirt. I was dying to play for my country – did not matter as a bowler or a batsman”•AFPWe were playing West Indies next. Waugh told me to make sure to put the mid-on back when Lara walked in. I was reluctant, but he said Lara would take me on and would love to dominate me from ball one. In that first Test, in Harare, I asked Heath to push the mid-on back. He was surprised but was fine. Off my eighth delivery, Lara ran down and was caught brilliantly at deep mid-on. I did thank Waugh later.It is so important to talk to people who have played so much because they have got a certain gut feeling and instinct for the game and they also look at other players and work out not just the way they play cricket but also the kind of people they are.You played your first World Cup this year. What did it feel like?
I was so excited to get to play. I missed 2003 because I wasn’t really a one-day player. Then I started to do well in the B League and forced my way back into the side. Brian Murphy, a good legspinner, good fielder, good friend of mine, got injured and I came back and have never looked back.I remember as a 16-year-old listening to matches from the 1992 World Cup on radio, and then watching it on the big screen at the Harare Sports Club over the weekends. I was so inspired and was dying to get “Price” on the back of my bright red shirt. I was dying to play for my country – did not matter as a bowler or a batsman. Those are the kinds of things that make you into the cricketer you are. I am happy I finally got an opportunity to live my dream. I don’t think I will play another one, but I could come in as a spin coach.What is your best cricketing memory?
One of my best memories was during one of my first games. I was playing for Zimbabwe A at SuperSport Park against the Northerns. It was my first day-and-night match. It was the first time my name was on the back of the shirt. I was given two. One I gave to my mother and the other is in my cupboard. It was a green-coloured one.I was standing at fine leg. I had never signed an autograph in my life. There were a group of 20 or 30-odd kids, waiting with stuff to be signed. I was really excited. I grabbed the first bat and signed and kept grabbing and signing. I remember I was being arrogant and thinking in my head that I had made it finally in cricket. “I am now a world player.” At the end of the day there were these kids, one about six and the other about 10 or 11. They had these big bats, probably their dad’s or grandfather’s. They were looking quite shy. It was the 48th over or something. The Zimbabwe batting line-up was on the scoreboard. I called the two and asked them to bring their bats and I would sign them. I started signing. Suddenly another kid walked past and said in the direction of the two shy kids: “Eh, you guys, what do you want his autograph for? Check his batting – No. 11!” I was completely deflated. It taught me to be humble. Don’t get too big-headed. Even kids can teach you lessons.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the day from the final of the Champions League T20

Nitin Sundar at the Chidambaram Stadium09-Oct-2011The somnolent start
The final was the MA Chidambaram Stadium’s only chance to see Chris Gayle in action, and the stands were abuzz with anticipation in the lead-up to the game. Gayle’s first sighting wasn’t the most flattering though. Aiden Blizzard pushed the first ball of the game firmly to the right of extra-cover, and it should have been cut off by Gayle who only had to move a few paces to his right. Gayle, however, lunged languidly without intent and let the ball dribble past him for the opening runs of the match.The nonchalant take
In the 16th over, Kieron Pollard tried to launch Daniel Vettori down the ground, but ended up lofting feebly off the outside half of the blade towards wide long-off. The miscue provided the Royal Challengers with an opportunity to get the most dangerous batsman in the Mumbai line-up cheaply. Virat Kohli, however, reacted without betraying any signs of pressure. He trotted to his left, settled under the ball and stuck his hands out to pouch it smoothly. He then turned to the stands behind him and put his finger to the lips, but the crowd had already been silenced by Pollard’s exit.The late call
Lasith Malinga sliced Raju Bhatkal in the 19th over high into the off side, and it seemed inevitable that the ball would settle in the hands of one of the fielders inside the circle. Initially, neither Chris Gayle at backward point, nor S Aravind at short third-man reacted, though. The ball was on its downward trajectory when transmission commenced between the two. Aravind hurriedly scrambled into position and had to tumble forward to complete the catch, and he looked suitably relieved after holding on.The contest within the contest
Gayle v Malinga was expected to be the contest that would decide the final, but it was Tillakaratne Dilshan who took the fight to his Sri Lankan colleague. He smashed Malinga’s first ball through the covers with typical flair, but the needle in the battle came through in Malinga’s next over. A length ball from Malinga stayed low and crept under Dilshan’s shot, but Ambati Rayudu let the ball roll in between his legs for four byes. Dilshan pumped his fists and roared at Malinga, who smiled embarrassedly as he made his way back to the bowling crease.The jaw-dropper
Local boy R Sathish produced the most awe-inducing moment of the day. Mayank Agarwal scooped Harbhajan Singh with the turn over towards long-on, but he hadn’t timed the ball as well as he could have wanted. Sathish bounded to his left from a very wide long-on, and then leapt across with the left arm stretched out to intercept. The ball landed in his palm, but slipped out when he was fully horizontal, and went over the boundary even as he landed with disappointment writ large over his face.The third-time-lucky moment
Pollard is normally the safest fielder in the Mumbai side, but he endured a couple of anxious moments before clinging on to Mayank Agarwal’s mis-hit. Pollard sprinted in as the shot spiralled down towards long-off. Pollard got his hands under it, but the ball slipped out of his grasp. Fortunately, it bounced right out and in front of him as he continued to run in. Pollard struck out one hand and held it gingerly, but the ball somehow managed to jump out again, this time towards his body. Pollard quickly moved both hands to his left and managed to complete the catch, finally.The Harmison moment
Mumbai were well on course to their first tournament win when Pollard reprised Steve Harmison’s horror start to the 2006 Ashes. He delivered a ball from round the stumps and it slipped out to land around five yards wide of the batsman and well behind the stumps. Astonishingly, Ambati Rayudu, who had endured a wretched tournament as a wicketkeeper, actually managed to collect the shocker.

Stats highlights from Sri Lanka’s comprehensive win in the second final in Adelaide

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan06-Mar-2012The 179-run opening stand between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene is the second-highest for Sri Lanka against Australia after the 237-run partnership between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in Sydney in 2003. It is also the eighth-highest opening stand for Sri Lanka in the second innings in ODIs and the third-highest partnership in this tournament. The 179-run stand is also the highest ever for Sri Lanka in a tournament final surpassing the 160-run partnership between Dilshan and Upul Tharanga against Zimbabwe in 2010. In their 12 opening partnerships, Dilshan and Jayawardene have put on six fifty-plus stands including two centuries. Dilshan also became only the second player after Neil Johnson (v Pakistan in 1998) to open both the batting and bowling, bowl ten overs and score a century. Dilshan went past David Warner’s run tally to become the highest run-getter in the tri-series.The target achieved is the second-highest for Sri Lanka in ODIs against Australia after the 281-run chase earlier in the tournament in Hobart. It is also the third-highest team score in a winning chase in Adelaide. The number of balls remaining after the win (34) is the highest ever for a team scoring over 270 in a chase to beat Australia.Sri Lanka have now won four out of six matches against Australia in the tournament so far. This is only the fourth time since 1990 that the tri-series has required a third final to be played. On the three previous occasions, Australia went on to win the series 2-1 against South Africa (1994 and 1998) and Sri Lanka (2006).Warner followed up his century in the first final in Brisbane with yet another hundred. He became the first batsman to score two centuries in the finals of the tri-series in Australia. However, Warner’s century came off 140 balls and is the seventh slowest by an Australian batsman. It is also the slowest century by an Australian batsman since David Boon’s effort against West Indies in 1992 (completed innings only). The 184-run stand between Michael Clarke and Warner is the third-highest in the finals of the tri-series. The top three partnerships have all come for Australia in matches against Sri Lanka. However, it is the only 150-plus stand in a final to come in a defeat. Clarke’s century is his seventh in ODIs and first against Sri Lanka. His strike rate of 128.57 is the highest among his seven centuries. Clarke has had an excellent run of form against Sri Lanka scoring a century and five fifties in his last 11 innings at an average of 95.83.

The league came of age on the field, but was well short of its crease as a TV spectacle

Sharda Ugra28-May-2012On a steamy Chennai night, IPL 5 had a finish that it could not have dreamed of or prayed for, with all the good bits of an entire season coming together in symbolic representation.Major finals tend to be flat and forgettable because the occasion ends up too big, the teams too tense. The 2010 World Cup football final will be remembered for a boot in the ribs, the 2011 World Cup rugby final was a dour, defensive struggle that the All Blacks endured. The World Cup cricket final a year ago ended splendidly for India but left its audience so emotionally exhausted that IPL 4 was played to vast tracts of empty stands and dipping TV ratings.After 2012, however, the IPL lives again, breathes again and makes some good news again. On Sunday, there was a full stadium at Chepauk for the first time since the World Cup, a new champion, a successful chase of 191, nine needed off the last over, players sweating buckets, spectators sweating anxiety.If anything has rescued the IPL from its turkey of a 2011, and lifted it, regardless of a frequency of allied scandals, it is its cricket and its crowds.Over seven weeks, the IPL’s presence spread through its audience like the heat of a genuine Indian summer. An annual league that takes far longer than the football, cricket and rugby world cups actually produced memories that may just survive the season. Dale Steyn bowling pure poison in four-over bursts, the pure bafflement caused by Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rajane’s clean strokeplay and Chris Gayle’s fiercest statements of independence – this even before Bisla and Kallis snatched the trophy eastwards.There was enough of the Twenty20 format’s madness in there too. Even before the final week, as many as 22 – or 30% – of the total 72 matches ended in the last over. Not including the final, there were 18 last-over victories to batting teams, seven chases ending on the last ball – all, it must be said, in the batting side’s favour.The IPL’s popularity in the global cricket village, due to its enormous financial rewards for two months’ work, is well known. Its cricketing advantages are much advertised. Yet what underscored the league’s sustainability after a dry run in 2011 was the crowds who turned up at every venue. Every franchise can now have ticket sales as a genuine source of income beyond the BCCI’s media rights handouts – which will begin to shrink in size as the league gets older – and shirt sponsorships.The idea of an evening’s entertainment through cricket – eight matches over two months in a city near you – was bought into by a very wide Indian demographic. A media industry executive finds the IPL “more inclusive than going to a Test match”. The league, she says, is Indian cricket’s “baby pool” and its “shallow end” where “you can paddle around and be happy”. The sight of casually dressed stars, with Nita Ambani “sitting in the stadium with the guy who has bought the cheapest ticket … that has something that connects with India”.The IPL has been given the healthiest signs of relevance and, with it, profitability by the cricketer and his fan. Now there is an opportunity for payback, for Indian cricket to give to its spectators what has been owed to them for decades: gratitude and appreciation at their presence, and the chance to make a trip to a high-profile match in India worth the trouble.What remains to be calculated, though, is the earnings from television. The IPL’s TV coverage matters, not because it is central to the IPL’s cricket but because it is central to the IPL’s financial success. In two of three parameters – ad rates and TV ratings – there have been dips, which the experts are calling “course correction”. The ratings fell from 4.81 in 2008 to 3.27, when a count was done at 68 matches, in 2012. The surge in crowd figures at venues did not translate on to the TV screen, the 3.27 being down even from the 3.39 of 2011.According to the , the ad rate that began at Rs 5 lakh (US$9000 approx) for a 10-second advert dropped by 25%, though Rohit Gupta of Set Max told the paper it had only dropped “5-10%”. The parameter being most widely circulated is that of the cumulative reach of viewership – from around 102 million in 2008 to just under 160 million in 2012. It means more people are watching the IPL, but for shorter periods of time.It could have something to do with the coverage. Unlike the standard of cricket, which may have risen over five seasons thanks to better-prepared players and smarter backroom moves, the quality of the pre-game show Extraaa Innings and the live match coverage has continued to nosedive.Extraaa Innings is handled by the TV producers Set Max, a Sony network channel in India that normally airs Hindi movies. The match coverage is directly under the control of the organisers IMG, who in turn are watched by the BCCI, which controls the panel of presenters and commentators for the IPL. So if there are fingers to be pointed, they must point at both the parties involved. Sadly, the commentary and studio chatter undermined the high-quality camerawork – with Ultra Motion, Spider Cam and HD-TV, the game can come much closer to its audience.

In the IPL’s fifth year, the wriggling between an old-fashioned, opaque, patriarchal organisation and its new 21st century revenue-generating ‘property’ remains evident and constant

Every game had commentary in English but the pre-game show lapsed frequently into Hindi – a new push that is believed to be the result of a massive survey conducted by Set Max, but most of it, it appears, in the part of India called “the Hindi heartland”, which speaks the language of the soaps televised on Sony. Yet of the nine franchises, six come from outside that Hindi-speaking belt. Go figure.The studio experts approved by the BCCI included Ajay Jadeja, whom it had banned for five years (overturned by the Delhi High Court in 2003) following the Madhavan Committee report on match-fixing, and perhaps the two loudest people on cricket television: Navjot Sidhu and Danny Morrison. It was as if Twenty20 in itself was declared not “entertaining” enough unless the commentariat started shouting.In the league’s fifth season, this strategy ends up preaching to the converted: India loves Twenty20, breakaway leagues have flourished at state level blessed or cursed by regional cricket associations, the audience loves the party, can generate its own noise and will wave any flag given free. Ramping it up with stand-up comedy, film and TV promos, and cake-consuming crassness is overdoing it. The IPL’s audience in India was given a great gift in some very tawdry packaging.The IPL’s defence has always been its money talk. So, if it is ready to buy into one set of figures, it is only fair that those figures hold over time. Brand Finance India, whose UK arm had valued the IPL at$4.13 billion in 2010, has now said the league is now worth $2.92b. Whatever the numbers may be, the consulting firm’s conclusions tell another story: when judged on cricketing excellence, corporate governance, and marketing and commercial strategies, it was the second element that was considered the league’s weakest link.The very idea of the BCCI and “corporate governance” in the same sentence is ambitious. In the IPL’s fifth year, the wriggling between an old-fashioned, opaque, patriarchal organisation and its new 21st century revenue-generating ‘property’ with nine high-profile investors/participants remains evident and constant. The scandals are the least of it.An industry insider says the public response has been rather blasé because the general positioning of the IPL was of a . So the sting operation, Shah Rukh Khan’s bust-up, the Pomersbach saga, “all of this kind of stuff just adds to the . People see it, they accept it. The scandal is going on in society, not in the IPL. I don’t think people are shocked, for them it’s another .” translates as ‘a grand show, performance, representation, entertainment’.On Sunday, Anil Kumble was heard saying on television that the credibility of the IPL would rest on “more discussion about off-field issues”. In his mind, young domestic cricketers needed tending in how to cope with two months in the blinding spotlight. Given that the IPL’s sporting quotient is expected to be authentic, the could become par for the course. Of the entire set of scandals that erupted in the space of a week, the sting operation that was centred around spot-fixing and black-money transactions required the most attention; the rest – SRK v MCA, Pomersbach and the rave party raid – were reflective of a culture of high-earning, high-spending celebrity entitlement now commonly found in Indian public life.In its fifth season, the IPL is a creature of multiple personalities: to start with, the Indian board’s own definition of it as a “BCCI sub-committee”. Which to the public eye is actually a cricket event. Which to its lucrative media vehicles means a summer entertainment show on TV. In 2012, the cricket event showed itself off in the glittering lights. The other two need some personal reinvention – much like the Kolkata Knight Riders required before they eventually won the IPL.

New Zealand’s batsmen failed to convert starts into substantial scores in Jamaica, they failed to do it in Antigua too

Subash Jayaraman at Sabina Park03-Aug-2012It is a sin for Test batsmen to get in, make 40 or 50, and then get out, especially on pitches that do not aid bowlers much. New Zealand committed this sin once again on the first day at Sabina Park to be dismissed for a middling total. They will find that Test matches cannot be won regularly without hundreds on their score sheet.Coming in to the second Test, Ross Taylor and his team were of the belief that they were not too far away from where they wanted to be in terms of consistent batting performances at the top of the order. A total of 260, which included several contributions from tailenders, in an innings that ended in 82.5 overs indicated they were wrong.New Zealand’s batsmen have scored only nine centuries in 14 Tests over the last two years. Three of those centuries were against Zimbabwe. They have 34 half-centuries in that period, so the conversion rate is poor. This latest failing in Kingston is not a one-off but another example of the consistent underperformance of New Zealand’s top order.The scarcity of hundreds could be due to a number of reasons: a lack of discipline, the inability to concentrate for long periods, or poor preparation for the tour. In the West Indies, only Martin Guptill has batted consistently for New Zealand, scoring 235 runs in three innings. He came closest to a hundred, before he inexplicably lost his composure on 97 in Antigua.Before this tour, Guptill had spent time playing county cricket for Derbyshire, and said he found the experience “massively helpful”. It shows. The last time any of the others played long-form cricket was the home series against South Africa in March. Guptill does not think his team-mates not preparing in similar fashion is affecting their performances because, “the guys have played a lot of cricket and know what they need to do to prepare for a tour.”None of the New Zealand batsman, however, were able switch seamlessly between formats like Chris Gayle did. And despite Gayle scoring a century after an 18-month absence from Test cricket, he too said he found it challenging.In the absence of the injured Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and the captain Ross Taylor were the two most experienced players in a young team. McCullum received a tough delivery from Tino Best, which he edged behind before he had scored. Taylor scored 60 but he needed to do more and show the way forward for the rest of the batting line-up. He played one attacking shot too many during a battle with Best and lost.Kane Williamson’s rearguard that saved the Wellington Test against South Africa now seems rather long ago. Playing his 13th Test, Williamson was let of by the part-time spinner Narsingh Deonarine – a sharp caught-and-bowled chance on the stroke of tea.Soon after play resumed, though, Williamson chased a wide one from the same bowler and edged to first slip. His dismissal betrayed a lack of awareness of the situation New Zealand were in at 161 for 3. The Dean Brownlie who made hard-fought fifties against Australia in December 2011, in conditions more challenging than these in the Caribbean, poked tamely and was caught behind.Shortly after Brownlie’s dismissal, Guptill seemed to be cramping up and did some stretches a ball before responding to Kruger van Wyk’s call for a sharp single. Given the situation New Zealand were in, he should have just said no, but didn’t and was run out. He offered no excuses for that mishap and said he just didn’t get off the blocks fast enough.The odd half-century helps individual averages but, to pull weight as a team, New Zealand’s batsmen have to push themselves harder and score big hundreds. Much harder than they have done in the West Indies. The solitary fighting century stand, like the one between Taylor and Guptill today, simply won’t cut it.

With the tour of Australia looming, it’s time for Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers to match their spinners

Andrew Fernando16-Nov-2012Heading into the two-Test series with New Zealand, Sri Lanka have the visitors beaten on paper in most aspects. A man-for-man comparison of the two top sixes might show that only Sri Lanka’s opener, Tharanga Paranavitana, fails to command better numbers than his opposite. The chasm in quality is almost as wide among the spinners. Rangana Herath has bowled several match-turning spells for Sri Lanka in the last 12 months, both home and away, but Jeetan Patel’s only five-wicket haul came in 2008. For all Kruger van Wyk’s fight, Prasanna Jayawardene is more assured behind the stumps and with the bat, and Mahela Jayawardene remains at least as good as Ross Taylor in the slips.Where Sri Lanka are soundly bested though, is in the pace bowling department. Since Chaminda Vaas retired in 2009, several bowlers have been tried, retried and jettisoned, without anyone making a sustained claim for the position of fast-bowling spearhead. Left-armer Thilan Thushara was Sri Lanka’s great hope for a while, before his form and confidence fell away rapidly in 2010. Dilhara Fernando has appeared intermittently, but has done little to prove he is fit for Tests, or international cricket at all, and Suranga Lakmal was largely underwhelming before getting injured.The fast bowlers currently in the squad do not inspire much more confidence. Chanaka Welegedara came closest to donning the spearhead’s mantle when he had a number of encouraging outings in 2011, but he has also been listless in other spells, and is coming back from injury to boot. Nuwan Kulasekara is a fine limited-overs bowler, but in Tests, when the ball loses its shine and there is little swing on offer, he becomes very hittable at 130 kph. Dhammika Prasad suffers from the opposite ailment; he has pace, but not much else. And as promising as Shaminda Eranga has been, he has played too little international cricket to prove he can be Sri Lanka’s pace panacea.The problem for Sri Lanka is at domestic and school level, where pitches conducive to movement are scarce, and tracks with pace and bounce even rarer. To bowl fast in Sri Lanka is to toil while the spinners reap, and though some international cricket venues have suddenly become havens of swing and seam, first-class pitches remain tiresome for the quick men.The fast bowlers in the national side however, cannot use poor pitches as an excuse for mediocrity, particularly with the challenges that loom in Australia. After the New Zealand series, Sri Lanka depart for their most high profile tour in years. Their first Test assignment is at Hobart, which was a greentop the last time a Test was played there, and has barely settled down since the square was relaid earlier this year. Sri Lanka’s seam bowlers may get away with allowing the spinners to paper over their failures at home, but unless they take major strides in the Tests against New Zealand, they will be exposed by Australian pitches and a batting unit that has recently quelled the threat of even the most potent pace attack – South Africa.Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers may have a difficult beginning to the series in Galle, where spinners often rule, but if the November rains have livened up the surface, they may enjoy some assistance. A better measure of their worth, and a more accurate gauge of their prospects down under, will come in the second Test at the P Sara Oval, which has long been the most seam friendly Test venue in the country – though perhaps now, it has been pipped by Pallekele. Sri Lanka have only one warm up match in Australia, and the pace and bounce in the P Sara pitch might go some way to deciding which of Sri Lanka’s fast men will take the field in Hobart.New Zealand’s more obvious batting weakness may be against spin, but as they proved in Hamilton earlier this year – again, against South Africa – they can be just as susceptible to fast bowling of high quality. If Sri Lanka’s pace battery can emerge from this series having made significant contributions to a series win, they will have given themselves form and momentum, and some hope of taking their side to a first ever Test victory in Australia. If they cannot, Sri Lanka’s campaign in Australia could well be stillborn.