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Cricinfo looks at the significant numbers from the ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan at Mohali

S Rajesh25-Oct-2006

A match to remember for Stephen Fleming © AFP
89 – The number of runs New Zealand scored in the last eight overs of their innings216 – The score for both teams at the end of the 45th over. New Zealand, though, had only lost four wickets to Pakistan’s eight43.50 – Scott Styris’s average in 14 ODIs against Pakistan, as against a career average of 31.23500 – The number of ODIs New Zealand have played. They have won 212 and lost 26186 – The number of matches New Zealand have won in the 194 ODIs Stephen Fleming has captained. They have lost 95.42.36 – Fleming’s average in ODIs won by New Zealand. In matches lost, he only averages 26.469.80 – Shahid Afridi’s batting average in his last 24 ODIs. His highest score during this period is 34

A day of attrition was followed by a round of verbal volleys with both camps criticising the other for not pushing for victory

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at the Adelaide Oval26-Jan-2008
“This is not his natural game. Maybe because he has not got runs in the last three games. I don’t know what is on his mind.” – Virender Sehwag on Ricky Ponting © Getty Images
A day of attrition was followed by a round of verbal volleys with both camps criticising the other for not pushing for victory. While Virender Sehwag criticised Australia for their defensive approach Matthew Hayden felt India’s bowlers had been too negative with their lines. Sehwag said Australia were “scared of defeat” but Hayden countered that by referring to “India’s wide tactics”.”They’re not going to win, they’re scared,” Sehwag said on a day when Australia managed 260 runs for the loss of three wickets. “They are playing so defensively. They just got 260 in a day on a flat track; that’s not like Australia. Last time they scored more than 400 in a day at Adelaide. I think they’re scared of defeat.”Were India surprised by Australia’s approach? “Yes, it was a surprise,” he said without hesitation. “There is something wrong in their batting line-up or thinking. It didn’t matter whether we set a field for attacking or defensive cricket, they were not playing too many shots. It was very frustrating with the wicket being so flat. We were waiting for the bad shot.”Despite Ricky Ponting rediscovering some sort of form during his half-century, Sehwag felt he wasn’t playing his natural game. “He has not got runs against India in the last three games. And every batsman faces that. Even I was trying to play like that [when out of form]. This is not his natural game. Maybe because he has not got runs in the last three games. I don’t know what is in his mind.”A few minutes later, Hayden, who picked up his third hundred of the series and in his 94th Test became the quickest to 30 centuries, responded with blunt thoughts. “I think it’s in response to the way India has decided to bowl,” he said after becoming the sixth batsman to reach the 30-century mark. “Unless I took guard four stumps outside off there was no chance I was going to get to the ball. It was wide bowling and we didn’t feel threatened by the way they bowled.”They wanted us to be attacking. It was indicated by the way they didn’t take the new ball. It was perfect for us to bat time in the game. The way they’ve bowled has been perfect for us not to lose. If it’s wide outside off, we don’t have to play. Australia are 2-1 up in the series and that’s the way we definitely want it to stay. There were very few times India challenged the stumps, till I got out. It was a perfect way to occupy the crease.”Strong through point, and powerful straight – a straight six off Kumble was the highlight – Hayden directed the opening stand of 159 with Phil Jaques that saved Australia any fears about falling well short of India’s 526.He also attributed the slow scoring to a abrasive pitch, one that removed the hardness from the ball too soon. “The ball got very, very soft,” he said, “and it made it hard to score. The wicket was hard and abrasive. The ball is new now but won’t be in 15 overs. It generally holds up in Australia but this wicket is so baked the ball gets soft.”Predictably both had contrasting thoughts on the state of the match. “The wicket is still good for batting,” said Sehwag, “and hopefully when we come here tomorrow, some cracks will open up.”The first session, according to Hayden, would decide the course of the game. “I don’t reckon we’re going to declare behind. We have to look to play out the first hour, or even the first session. If we do play well in that period, things will get better as the day goes on. We need to inch to India’s first-innings total. And we will be eking out time too.”

While old failings continue to haunt West Indies, they have begun of late to make a much better fist of contests

Vaneisa Baksh19-Jun-2008

Benn has made a decent start. Will he get enough of a run in the side? © AFP
Two differences heralded this series for West Indies: one, they did not approach it with acrimonious contract disputes overhead, and the other was that they were not coming straight to it from yet another string of defeats. These might seem trivial, but not when one considers how long and faithfully those two conditions have served to pull the team down.West Indies were not able to shed everything negative in one go, though; the series was also marked by a furore over pitch preparation, and the permanent transience of spinners. The previous tour by Sri Lanka had revealed that the pitches had indeed gone to sleep, and the quirkiness of selectors regarding bowling choices summoned up pervasive theories of the hegemony of fast bowlers.The series got off at Sabina Park with confirmation that the pitch was flatly unaccommodating to pace, and by Antigua it was back to the “days of sticky molasses”, as Garth Wattley wrote. Worse, the Sir Viv Richards Stadium was a waterlogged nightmare, losing two sessions to a soaked outfield and transforming a match that might have had a decisive end into a draw.Australia predictably won the first Test, but not as easily as had been expected. A remarkable innings from Shivnarine Chanderpaul – as indeed this entire series turned out to be for him – poured more than vital runs onto the scoreboard. A sickening head blow felled him, but he rose and, perhaps too stunned to realise that he’d really been knocked out, continued batting to his 18th Test century to the delight of onlookers. It served as a call to arms, and West Indies’ fast bowlers answered ferociously, piercing the Australian batting and its veneer of invincibility. It set the tone for the series. There was competitive cricket to be seen after all, and even if it went in Australia’s favour, it added hitherto lost flavour to the matches.The West Indies team may have shown some progress in the right direction, but the inability to hold to a standard continues to haunt them. The fast bowlers performed well but were overworked without the respite the presence of spinners in the line-up would have offered. Fidel Edwards was marvellous, and Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell worked hard, though Powell as an opening bowler seems too flat.The pitches demanded extra from the quick bowlers, and with all the games lasting five days, it seemed unfairly too much. Sulieman Benn had a good outing in the final match. His height makes him such a curious sight as he delivers looking like a windmill, but it obviously gives him an edge, and one hopes that he, like the other spinners on the periphery, will be given more opportunities on the team. Realistically, this is not a team of excellence. At best, it is a learning team, and there is no reason why the composition cannot be adjusted. The bowling attack is too one-sided and not flexible enough to meet diverse challenges.The batting was again erratic. The top order never settled, never posted a decent bag of runs, and too often it demanded heroics of a lower order that is now beginning to realise they have to bat hard and bowl hard. Wickets fell too carelessly, and perhaps the most dismal aspect of the series was the spectacle of the batsmen in full flow, lifting spirits then dropping them casually with foolishly earned dismissals.

Who’s the captain? West Indies’ selectors have seesawed between Gayle and Sarwan over the last year © AFP
None revealed consistency or depth save for Chanderpaul, who presented such formidable resistance that he seemed unstoppable. Dwayne Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan (despite his century in Antigua), Chris Gayle – the senior players – reminded that they can bat but not protect their wickets. Xavier Marshall, the newcomer, was lovely to watch, but his inexperience was evident, and a little reminiscent of the stylish sloppiness of his seniors. Yet he seems to be one of the finds of the series.The batsmen were not helped by some of the shoddy umpiring decisions that haunt the game. Several batsmen, at critical moments, were given out unreasonably, and that provoked more calls for increased use of technology. It even raised questions about impartiality, and for the first time, one heard speculation about match-fixing even at the umpiring level. Given the number of things that have come to pass that were once thought unthinkable, anything is possible and worth examination. Certainly umpires cannot be held to be infallible, and performance standards and measures must be timely and stringent for them given the nature of their authority and influence on games.The series featured two captains at the helm for West Indies, and there was something a little curious in that switch. When Sarwan had been captain in England last year, it was an injury that brought Gayle in in his place. When Gayle was injured, Sarwan returned, and one assumed it was to his place as captain. But in switching them again during the series, one got the impression that it is Gayle who is the captain and Sarwan was simply standing in. It means that Sarwan was not an injured captain, but had lost the captaincy to Gayle, and had lost it so emphatically that the WICB opted to return Gayle even while they declared him to be less than perfectly fit. In any case, neither captain seemed to bring anything particularly useful or inspiring to the matches.Much has been made of the fighting spirit that the West Indies showed. It may be an improvement on the obvious way they have retreated in the middle of matches in the past, but the fight always seems to come at the wrong end of the game. They lose it when they have it to win, throw themselves into hopeless deficits, and then transform the whole thing into a scramble. It would be much better cricket if they learn how to get good starts and not rely so heavily on their old reputation of being miracle finishers.Overall, it was a better series to watch than expected. Excitement was often a genuine spectator, and there were times when the competition was as keen as one could want from a cricket match.

Cricinfo staffers pick the highs and lows from the year gone by

26-Dec-2008Jayaditya Gupta

I bid $20 million for this old pile: Stanford arrives at Lord’s © Getty Images
Best: Underdogs winning big money
The delicious irony: The world’s richest cricket tournament, contested by a clutch of multi-million-dollar “franchises” coached by some of the biggest names in the game and starring players on million-dollar wages, was eventually won by Rajasthan Royals. They had no “icon” player, nor any Bollywood star as owner or fan, but they had Shane Warne, who, showing an amazing instinct for leadership, captained and coached – and clearly inspired – his team to win the first IPL tournament. Several months later, the sport’s biggest ever prize (yes, the title changed hands in the space of months) was won by another team similarly fused together by self-belief; Chris Gayle’s Stanford Superstars defied all the odds to beat England and go home millionaires.Worst: Big money everywhere
Even those moments of pure cricketing joy couldn’t fully block out the most sordid image: a crate full of dollar bills, $20 million in all, at Lord’s. Allen Stanford’s invasion, however brief, of the game’s spiritual home, summed up a year in which cricket moved farther away from its roots – a subtle, nuanced narrative spread over three, four or five days – and increasingly was held hostage to the demands of time and money. Stanford’s trunkload was only the crassest symbol; the motif running through the year was the all-consuming Indian Premier League and its offshoots, steamrolling everything in their path, selling million-dollar dreams that Test cricket couldn’t hope to match. We saw the future and it was scary.Brydon CoverdaleBest: South Africa chase 414 in Perth
If anyone thought Test cricket was dying, the matches in Chennai and Perth in December were the ultimate defibrillators. South Africa’s successful chase was significant not just for its enormity but for its wider implications. South Africa could no longer be considered chokers; Australia’s claim to being the world’s best team had never been less convincing. A new era had begun.Worst: New Zealand’s decline
“It’s breakin’ me in two, watchin’ you slippin’ away.” Those lines were made famous by the New Zealand-born singer Max Merritt and this year the nation’s cricket fans must have been feeling the same. Their team struggled so much in the Test format that even beating Bangladesh in Chittagong was a battle. They slipped to eighth on the ICC rankings, below West Indies, after losing to Australia in Adelaide, and Martin Crowe called it arguably their worst moment in Test cricket. A new coach at least gave hope of change.Jamie AlterBest: Kumble in Sydney
India’s win in Perth in January was eye-moistening but it was Anil Kumble in the preceding SCG Test who set the tone for that unforgettable win. For 111 deliveries in the second innings, with India battling forsurvival, Kumble defied Australia and the odds. It wasn’t take-it-on-the-body, Steve Waugh stuff; his fingers didn’t bulge and turn velvet from ferocious bouncers, but he showed what it meant to fight. Kumble epitomised every last iota of what it meant to be a fighter and play for your country. The sight of him unbeaten at one end, seeing his dreams of winning in Australia go down the drain, was something. After the match, faced with the mundanely mandatory task of facing the cameras for Sunil Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle and Michael Slater, Kumble quelledthe anger inside admirably. His eyes burnt fierce, he bit his lips, but itwould have been so unlike him to say anything controversial. He refrainedfrom taking the “I’m a martyr” route. He would go on to rally his troops tothe WACA, and captain them to “the best win” of his career, but that inningson the last day in Sydney was where the turnaround began, thanks to Kumble.Worst: Sydneygate
For nearly the whole of January, world news took a back seat in India as television channels and newspapers debated the controversial racism row that emanated from the Sydney Test. Effigies were burnt, the BCCI threatened to call off India’s tour of Australia, Steve Bucknor was dropped for the Perth Test. No matter what side your loyalties lay on, the whole affair was sickening. Forget the despicable umpiring atthe SCG, the entire premise for handing Harbhajan Singh a three-match ban -which was then incredibly overturned – was based on one man’s word againstanother. Then the BCCI set an unwelcome precedent by threatening to pull outof the CB Series. How can teams protest against an umpire? How can thatumpire be changed? How could the BCCI be allowed to think it can get awaywith anything? Why did the ICC bend backwards to accommodate the BCCI? Theanswers are, sadly, out there.Andrew McGlashan

Mendis: It’s all in the fingers © AFP
Best: Durham’s title
County cricket is often criticised – mostly by those who don’t watch the game – but for the second season running the Championship produced a cracking finish, in glorious late-summer sunshine. Three teams were in the race at the start of the final round – Hampshire, Somerset and Durham – and the title wasn’t decided until the final day. In the end it went to Durham, who gained their first Championship title with an innings victory over Kent. When Steve Harmison claimed the final wicket, broken wrist and all, he ended up at the bottom of a heap of team-mates. The party started on the long journey home and it was no less than the side deserved. They showed what can be achieved with a blend of youth and experience, homegrown and foreign talent. They are breeding England quick bowlers at a regular pace and will be a force on the domestic scene for years to come.Worst: Michael Vaughan’s resignation
England’s most successful captain deserved better than a tearful resignation in a bland room at the National Academy in Loughborough. Graeme Smith’s match-winning century at Edgbaston was the final nail in Vaughan’s captaincy reign, but in truth, doubts had started to set in during the tour of New Zealand. Vaughan appeared more detached from his team and his form was slipping away, to the point where he was almost a walking wicket against Dale Steyn. As he walked off the field in Birmingham there was a sense his time was up, and less than 24 hours later the press conference was called via an ECB text message and press release. Vaughan could barely hold back the tears as he spoke about his family and team-mates. After answering questions honestly, as he had always done, he left and drove home. A day later the new era began under Kevin Pietersen, but what Vaughan achieved won’t be forgotten.Sidharth MongaBest: Ajantha Mendis
What a finger freak. Free-flowing originality, all pristine talent. Speaks only Sinhala, and his bowling is just as incomprehensible to the rest of the world. Wears a devilish grin in celebration, letting batsmen know they have been had. The left hand in the bowling action takes the cake: It comes down with the index finger stuck out, ruling the batsman out even before he has bowled. Took his first Test wicket with the ball of the 21st century, a fast legbreak that dipped in, making Rahul Dravid play, then left him, squaring him up, and took the top of off stump. (Mike Gatting finally has someone to share horror stories with.) Took 25 more wickets in three Tests. Most importantly, proved the game, the art, can be rediscovered, even after all these centuries of existence. Welcome, grinning assassin.Worst: day four in Nagpur, India v AustraliaAustralia in India was not the usual thrill-a-minute slogathon. The puffed-out chests and flaring noses were missing. Instead the teams went to ground, each waiting for the other to make a mistake; still an engaging contest. But the middle season on the penultimate day of the series featured quick Indian wickets, and finally things looked like transforming into a full-blown war, where nobody would hide and strike. There was anticipation and tension, accentuated by the tea break – only for disappointment to follow after. To see Cameron White and Michael Hussey bowl at that stage (with Ricky Ponting and cronies spending seven minutes between balls, discussing field placings) was plain disgusting. Their coach later spoke of how they upheld the spirit of the game by not going for the win – after having stomped, spat and puked all over it.

A hotchpotch collection of articles on West Indies through the years that tends to play and miss

Darcus Howe28-Mar-2009

spills forth a range of short pieces on West Indian cricket. The editors’ choices appear to be governed by a stick-of-the-pin principle – a random selection of poets and peasants alike.This anthology boasts two Nobel Prize winners: Vidia Naipaul and Derek Walcott. The essay by the former can and will be dismissed as simplistic babble. The latter attempts an appreciation of the best book on cricket, by CLR James, but drifts into romantic space – his eyes well off the ball, like any pedestrian who speaks or writes about cricket.The editors of , Mervyn Morris, a Professor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies, and Jimmy Carnegie, an archivist par excellence, who died in 2007, choose Eddie Baugh, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, and Neville Cardus to open the innings. Baugh offers us a toast to a New Zealand cricket team on a visit to the West Indies, but his front and back feet are rooted in the crease as he slashes at every ball that comes his way. A deserved duck.At the other end Cardus approaches the spirit of the life and times of Learie Constantine, whom he describes as a primitive force with animalistic instincts: “He played like a sort of elemental instinctive force.” And he ends with words encompassing a colonial statement about the black savage on his way to civilisation.Cardus describes an innings of Constantine’s for West Indies against Middlesex at Lord’s: “From the press box I looked down on this fury of primitive onslaught, beautiful if savage and violently destructive.” This was not the black savage in the game of cricket but an advanced citizen on his way to challenging the racial configuration of the Empire.James had his work cut out to transcend such racial platitudes. An essay or two from him in this book are but a sop to placate our expected hostility to Cardus, one of the great cricket writers of the day.I invite readers to page 154 to discover a direct and hostile opposite, an article by Tim Hector, a fine Antiguan writer, who holds forth on Viv Richards. Hector links Viv with Bob Marley, a duet wailing in their different disciplines, a revolutionary presence among Caribbean people, and quotes Bob in song, a heaving and articulate expression of Richards at his best in and for West Indian cricket: “Bars could not hold me/Force could not control me/Now they try to put me down/But Jah want I around.”In spite of my sharp criticisms is useful, a point from which West Indian peoples can ascend, or like Haitians move on in a descent into barbarism. Haitians do not play cricket. Lunchtime Medley – Writings on West Indian Cricket
edited by Mervyn Morris and Jimmy Carnegie
Ian Randle Publishers £13.95

He has been marked for big things since he was 15; days short of 20th birthday he has announced himself for all to see

Firdose Moonda18-Jun-2009The first bowler Wayne Parnell saw bowl live was Ashish Nehra. The young Eastern Cape hopeful was mesmerised by the man from Delhi. Apart from also being a fellow left-armer, Nehra had the ability to move the ball off the wicket, which caught Parnell’s eye. The new nut swung as though it was dancing to a tune only it could hear, being played by Nehra himself. He changed his line and length ever so slightly, was accurate and pacy, and had an inswinger to behold. Parnell just may have seen a little bit of himself in Nehra.Although Parnell has been in England recently, playing for Kent, he hasn’t lost sight of the first international bowler he watched. In fact, Parnell must have been watching Nehra extra closely during the IPL: he looks just as devastating in the World Twenty20 as Nehra was for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Such has been Parnell’s rise to prominence that it’s difficult to believe that as little as 18 months ago he was captaining his school team.Parnell wasn’t just any other schoolboy. At 15 he was selected for the South African Under-19 team to play in the World Cup in Sri Lanka. South Africa had a mediocre tournament, losing to Nepal in the plate semi-final. Two years later he returned to captain the team. This time it was different. He led his team to the final (which they lost to India by 12 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method) and his individual performances helped him make a name for himself.His voice changes when he speaks of his most special memory of that World Cup. The serious Parnell becomes reminiscent, like a young child recalling his favourite ice-cream. “The standout performance for me was the quarter-final against Bangladesh. I scored 57 and took six wickets for eight runs and we won that match by a huge margin [201 runs]. That is a very special memory for me.”That match-winning performance and his leadership skills throughout the competition all but guaranteed Parnell a career in cricket. By then his life had already significantly changed because of the sport. Parnell discovered he could bowl when he was just seven. He was playing in a game of mini-cricket and hit a batsman with a bouncer, leaving the poor child with a bloodied nose. Parnell continued playing cricket and a host of other sports while in primary school.Christo Esau, the Youth Coach of Eastern Province Cricket, was instrumental in Parnell being awarded a scholarship to Grey College, a respected sporting school, where his cricket could develop the most. That’s exactly what happened. “There were a few matches where I took all 10 wickets,” Parnell says. After a string of good performances Parnell decided cricket was where his future firmly lay. The only hurdle in his path was a logistical one. Parnell was unable to attend some of the practices for the Eastern Province team because his parents’ house was too far away from St George’s Park. A solution was not far away, though. “My English teacher, Lyn Sjoberg, suggested I move in with her, since her children were not living at home anymore, and she only lived about three minutes from the stadium,” Parnell says. “So that’s what I did.”The move was fruitful, and soon Parnell earned a first-class call-up to the Eastern Province side. From there his U-19 success followed and he was selected to play for the South African Emerging side in Australia late last year. Parnell’s record in first-class cricket is not very glamorous: he has taken 37 wickets at an average of 31.29 and has a batting average of 20.23. The longer version of the game is not Parnell’s focus at the moment, and he’s made no secret of his enjoyment for limited-overs cricket. “I prefer the shorter version of the game,” he says, “especially since I haven’t played that many first-class games.”

His voice changes when he speaks of his most special memory of the 2008 Under-19 World Cup. The serious Parnell becomes reminiscent, like a young child recalling his favourite ice-cream

Parnell and his Warriors team mate Lonwabo Tsotsobe, another left-arm seamer, were called up to South Africa’s ODI side to face Australia in January this year. Both had mediocre performances Down Under, but an injury to Tsotsobe paved the way for Parnell to establish himself as the first-choice left-arm pacer in the South African line-up. He shared the new ball with Dale Steyn in the home ODI series against Australia, and that’s where he announced his arrival. In the second ODI, in Centurion, Parnell ripped through the Australian attack, taking four for 25, including the wicket he regards as his most prized. “Michael Hussey’s wicket is the best I have taken so far. All my team-mates tell me it should be Ricky Ponting, but I’ve always thought of Hussey as a really good batsman, so that’s my most valuable wicket.”Parnell finished the series having earned himself a place in South Africa’s World Twenty20 squad. He had played in England before, on a school tour, and went into the competition confident of his ability. “The wickets are softer in England, so the ball swings more, and I can use that to my advantage.” Yusuf Abdulla’s success for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL may have given the selectors a pleasant dilemma in deciding which left-arm seam bowler to opt for, and going by the results so far, they will be pleased with their decision.Just like Nehra, Parnell is starting to make the ball dance to his own tune. His bowling at the death has been deadly. He whipped out the big guns against England and West Indies, taking 3 for 14 and 4 for 13. In the six matches Parnell has played in the World Twenty20, he has taken 10 wickets, at an average of 16.60. More importantly, he has achieved his goal of cementing his place in South Africa’s limited-overs side. Perhaps it’s Nehra who will start watching Parnell from now on.

Plays of the day for the second day of the third Test between Sri Lanka and India at the P Sara Oval

Sidharth Monga at the P Sara Oval04-Aug-2010Luckless Mithun
All through this tour, Abhimanyu Mithun had worked hard but with little reward. He has induced edges, but they have managed to avoid the fielders. And the edges that do go towards the fielders have found ways of being spilt. Rahul Dravid dropped Thilan Samaraweera in Galle, Suresh Raina lunged in front of VVS Laxman and grassed an offering from Kumar Sangakkara on the first day of this Test, and Virender Sehwag was slow in reacting today. The beneficiary again was Samaraweera, when he looked to cut Mithun; the ball wasn’t far from Sehwag at gully, just that the hands went up a second too late. The law of averages suggests there might be a soft dismissal to a long hop coming Mithun’s way soon.Sehwag needn’t bother
No such troubles for Sehwag, though. When he saw Suraj Randiv top-edge a slog-sweep, he coolly turned back and asked the umpire for his hat. Dravid lived up to the expectations, and settled under the skier at first slip. It helped that he had to take two baby steps to come under the falling ball.The six
Stop the press. Thilan Samaraweera today hit the sixth six of his career in his 60th Test. And a beautiful shot it was too. He made room, charged down the pitch, and chipped Pragyan Ojha over extra cover. To put that statistic in perspective: Sunil Gavaskar hit 26 sixes in his Test career, Geoffrey Boycott hit eight, and Chris Tavaré none.The four
When Sehwag smacked Angelo Mathews past point in the 24th over of the innings, he brought up his 1000th four in Test cricket. In the 26th over, when he scrambled through for the 70th run of his innings, he reached 7000 career runs. Out of those, 4478 have come in fours and sixes. No wonder he is the most exciting batsman of the modern era.

Tracking the spot-fixing controversy from the sting leading up to the independent tribunal in Doha

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2011August 28, 2010 The fourth Test between Pakistan and England at Lord’s comes under the police scanner for spot-fixing following a sting alleging that Mazhar Majeed, a player agent, offered money to Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif to bowl no-balls on demand. In the video recording Majeed is clearly heard predicting that Amir would bowl the first over of the England innings, and that he would deliver a no-ball from the first ball of the third over – which as ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary noted: “was an enormous no-ball, good half a metre over the line.” He also appeared to correctly predict a no-ball from the sixth ball of the tenth over, bowled this time by Asif. Majeed is arrested on suspicion of a controversy to defraud bookmakers.August 29, 2010 Police investigations centre around the currency notes handed by to Majeed, and whether they match with those found in the named players’ hotel rooms. Majeed is revealed to be close to many players in the Pakistan team. The ICC reveals that Majeed and “several” Pakistan players had been on their anti-corruption watchlist for some time. Meanwhile, Pakistan insist that the limited-overs leg of the tour will go on.August 30, 2010 ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat assures thorough investigation and appropriate punishment if anyone is found guilty of wrongdoing. Scotland Yard releases Majeed on bail without charge. Ricky Ponting expresses concerns that the allegations could taint his side’s come-back win against Pakistan in Sydney earlier in the year.August 31, 2010 Australia’s Shane Watson reports two approaches by an illegal bookmaker in 2009 in England. UK’s anti-corruption chief says there may be insufficient evidence for police to press charges against Majeed.September 2, 2010 The ICC suspends Butt, Amir and Asif after charging them with “various offences under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel relating to alleged irregular behavior during, and in relation to, the Lord’s Test”. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, claims that the three players may have been the victims of a “set-up”.September 3, 2010 Lorgat reacts to Hasan’s claims that ICC was “playing to the public gallery”, saying the players had been made aware of their suspensions in advance, and that the body had sufficient evidence to charge the players. The ICC also removes Amir from its list of nominees for the 2009 awards.September 5, 2010 Australia coach Tim Nielsen, and members of the Sri Lankan team report suspicious approaches over the past year.September 8, 2010 In his first statement following the suspension, Ijaz Butt says the PCB wrote to the ICC on behalf of the players, but they wanted individual replies from the players.September 9, 2010 Ijaz Butt reveals that the ICC had sent notices to Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal seeking information, following the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.September 10, 2010 The PCB instructs its players that all their agents will have to be approved by the board, failing which the player would be ineligible for selection. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket reveals another ‘suspicious approach’ reported by the seamer Dilhara Fernando.September 11, 2010 Butt, Amir and Asif return from England and land at Lahore airport, and leave through a back exit to avoid the crowds.September 14, 2010 Butt, Amir and Asif file their formal replies to the ICC, through their London-based lawyer. Pakistan seamer Wahab Riaz becomes the fourth player to be questioned over the sting. The ICC begins a review of its existing anti-corruption measures.Ijaz Butt added to the controversy by questioning England’s performance in the Oval ODI•AFPSeptember 18, 2010 After receiving information from a newspaper before the game began, alleging that bookies were aware of certain scoring patterns that occurred during the match, the ICC investigates the Oval ODI which Pakistan won. The ECB confirms that the tour will continue despite the latest investigation.September 19, 2010 Ijaz Butt points a finger at England’s cricketers for their batting collapse in the ODI under investigation, and said his board was investigating a conspiracy involving “august cricket bodies”, to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket.September 29, 2010 Salman Butt becomes the first of the three players to appeal against the suspension. Ijaz Butt issues an apology and withdraws his comments accusing England of fixing the Oval ODI.October 6, 2010 The ICC fixes the hearings against the appeals to be held in end-October, in Doha, Qatar.October 13, 2010 The ICC gives the PCB a hard rap on the knuckles and asks them to clean up their act, while confirming that there was no wrongdoing in the Oval ODI.October 18, 2010 Anti-corruption measures are the emphasis in a revised code of conduct for Pakistan ahead of tour of the UAE.October 22, 2010 Asif, who is barred from entering UAE – where Pakistan’s next tour, and the appeal process are to be held – on a drug-related offence, withdraws his appeal against the provisional suspension.October 31, 2010 Butt and Amir remain provisionally suspended after their appeals are rejected during a two-day hearing in Dubai.November 4, 2010 The PCB suspends the central contracts of Butt, Amir and Asif, following the rejection of the appeals of the first two by the ICC.November 12, 2010 The ICC sets the hearing into the spot-fixing allegations for January 6-11 in Doha, and appoints a three-man tribunal to look into the charges.Mohammad Asif withdrew his appeal against the provisional suspension; Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir filed appeals which were dismissed•AFPNovember 14, 2010 In an unprecedented move, the PCB decides to send a list of potential World Cup probables to the ICC’s Anti-corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) for clearance before selecting their final World Cup squad.November 30, 2010 A Pakistani TV channel broadcasts previously unseen video footage of Majeed, in which he takes the names of four more Pakistani players – Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Imran Farhat – who, he claims, work with him.December 11, 2010 Wasim Bari, former wicketkeeper and former chief operating officer of the PCB, is appointed Director of Education and Training, a post created within the PCB as part of their revised anti-corruption measures.December 22, 2010 Michael Beloff QC, ICC’s code of conduct commissioner and member of the three-man tribunal, rejects Butt’s request to postpone the hearing to a date after the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has dealt with the case at its end.January 1, 2011 The PCB announces that Afridi and Younis will participate in the Doha tribunal, either in person or through teleconference.January 6, 2011 Doha hearing begins.January 11, 2011 Tribunal defers delivering judgement till February 5, says players will remain suspended till then.February 5, 2011 The ICC tribunal announces a sanction of ten years’ ineligibility for Salman Butt (with five years of a suspended sentence); seven years for Mohammad Asif (with two years suspended) and five years’ ineligibility for Mohammad Amir. Amir’s lawyer says the seamer will file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS) against his ban.February 26, 2011 Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir file appeals against their bans from the game with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.March 1, 2011 Mohammad Asif, too, registers a case with the CAS, contesting the ICC ban.March 17, 2011 A British judge at the City of Westminister Magistrates’ Court orders Butt, Asif, Amir and Mazhar Majeed will stand trial from May 20 charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments All three players are granted unconditional bail but Majeed is asked to surrender his passport.May 20, 2011 Southwark Crown court fixes October 4, 2011 as the date of trial in to the corruption charges filed by the Crown Prosecution Service against Butt, Asif, Amir and Majeed.

Canada weren’t exactly threatening Australia’s unbeaten World Cup streak so there was plenty of time to watch… er, pariah kites

Darshini Ravishankar17-Mar-2011Choice of game
I picked the Australia-Canada game mainly because tickets were easily available, but we were also hoping for an Ireland-style World Cup upset, however slim the chances were of that happening. Since it was a weekday and a non-India game the stadium was 70% empty, so my father and I had lots of seats to ourselves, and could stretch out and watch the game in total peace.Team supported
Canada, as they needed all the support they could get. It also helped that nearly all the players were of subcontinental origin, almost like a second Indian team. Whenever Balaji Rao came on to bowl, the few thousand in the stadium roared like they were present in full strength. Shame I couldn’t buy any Canada flags, though.World Cup prediction
South Africa are my bet, as they have the most fearsome bowlers (they’re the only team so far to take all 10 wickets in each match!) and most of their batsmen are in great form, like Australia’s. There isn’t any superficial hype surrounding them, unlike India, and they seem like such a happy, united team. Australia seem stronger at the moment but I think it’s someone else’s cup this year.Key performer
Hiral Patel, for the way he surprised everyone with his 54 off 45 balls. No one expected Canada to make as much as they did in 10 overs. In fact, when we entered the stadium, the man at the ticket counter told us that he hoped Canada would bat first so that he could go home by 5pm.Shane Watson and Brad Haddin played really well, too, even though they bored everybody in the ground for the first 10 overs of the Australian innings. They played responsibly, and showed no impatience, and when they finally started smashing sixes to all parts of the ground, they looked like there was no dismissing them. When they did get out, their wickets looked like gifts to the Canadians.One thing I’d have changed
There was no parking around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, so we had to park our vehicle close to the nearby Kanteerva stadium and walk back. Then we had to walk 1.5 kms to collect our tickets, and walk all around the ground again to enter it. By the time we finally got past security, who repeatedly asked us whether we had photography equipment, and into our stand, we were quite irritated. I don’t understand the no-photography rule. It seems to rob cricket fans of an important part of the experience of watching a game – preserving memories of it.Face-off I relished
Shaun Tait versus Ashish Bagai, the Canadian captain, was interesting. Bagai’s straight, lofted four against Tait, and then a similar shot off the next ball (which was stopped at the boundary) were treats to watch. Tait got Bagai in the 28th over, caught behind off a short, wide ball that he needn’t have tried to slash.Wow moment
There were several pariah kites swooping around the stadium, chasing what looked to me like pigeons. The floodlights were on, and one dived incredibly quickly down to the ground, blocking the light for a second, and veered back up in a flash.Close encounter
Cameron White fielded close to the west boundary, where we were, occasionally scowling up at our seats. There were a few who heckled him, calling him “Blackie”- which wasn’t tasteful or funny.John Davison and Harvir Baidwan patrolled our boundary during Australia’s innings. The latter gave us small waves and a sheepish sort of grin, and John Davison smiled at the crowd often. The same characters who heckled White kept saying, “Davey, Davey, bowling !” (“Go bowl some!”)Accessories
A pair of binoculars came in handy for watching the batsmen’s grips, the expression of the captain when catches were dropped, and the pariah kites.Shot of the day
Shane Watson’s huge slog-swept six, which went at least 10 rows back into the stand next to the pavilion. From where I was sitting I could see the arc of the ball’s path perfectly as it flew from Watson’s bat to the ground many, many metres away.Crowd meter
The stands were nearly empty, but the east section filled up steadily as Canada’s innings came to a close. But the way the crowd yelled when the big screen announced the “city scream contest” belied the numbers the stadium held – it was as loud as anything I’ve ever heard in a cricket stadium. It would have been nice to see more people. From the outside one could hardly tell a match was going on, let alone a World Cup match.Entertainment
The music got better as the sky darkened, but the PA system wasn’t very good. A mixture of Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, and English songs were played, and as a rule they were all hits, with throbbing beats and somewhat random lyrics. There was one extremely enthusiastic man a few rows in front of me who would dance even when no music was played, and kept up the energy until the very last ball. The drummers along the boundary did a great job building up the atmosphere.There was some rather contrived entertainment during the break between the innings – an overly happy emcee supervised some catching, fielding, and batting contests, while the World Cup’s neglected mascot, Stumpy the elephant, lumbered around the ground waving his bat and looking very cuddly.ODIs v Twenty20
Each has its charm. An ODI is like a day-long picnic, and it requires more skill than a Twenty20. In my opinion, even weightlifters can play a Twenty20 – all they need to do is touch ball with bat and it will fly for a six. But yes, Twenty20s are more entertaining.Marks out of 10
6, for the difficulty we had getting to the match, and for the certainty about the result. It was a fun experience, and I hope that I can go to more World Cup matches the next time around.Overall
The first half of the Canada innings was splendid, but their mild collapse was disappointing, though not unexpected. Their fielding was just bad, what with the dropped catch, missed run-outs and lack of diving. The Australian bowling reined Canada in very well and very quickly, and their batting never looked like it was going to fail.The food provided at the stadium was good – drinks, sandwiches, samosas, (fried snacks), fruit salad, and chips were available – and the placards and inflatable clappers were a nice touch. The new plasma screen was well-positioned and gave us all the information we needed. The stadium also looked cleaner than before.Every player was cheered, every wicket and boundary was greeted, and the stadium staff was polite and helpful. The Australians and Canadians seemed like they were having a great deal of fun and spoke to each other often. At the end of the match, John Davison was congratulated by nearly all the players on the field, and everyone was smiling.

A spate of records fell by the wayside as Shane Watson unleashed his fury on the hapless bowlers. A look at some of the major landmarks from Watson’s 96-ball unbeaten 185

S Rajesh11-Apr-2011 Fifteen sixes in an innings is easily a new ODI record; the previous best was Xavier Marshall’s 12 against Canada during an unbeaten knock of 157. Marshall needed 118 balls for his 12 sixes; Watson’s 15 came off only 96, which means he averaged nearly one six per over. Apart from 15 sixes, Watson struck as many fours, which means 150 of his 185 runs came in boundaries. That’s a record too, bettering Herschelle Gibbs 126 runs in boundaries during the course of his 175 in against Australia in Johannesburg. Watson’s score surpassed Matthew Hayden’s unbeaten 181 to become the highest in ODIs by an Australian. It’s also the highest by any batsman in a run-chase, edging ahead of MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in 2005.In fact, of the top 21 ODI scores by Australian batsmen, only three have come when batting second, and all of them belong to Watson – he also scored an unbeaten 161 out of a team total of 297 against England less than three months ago, and 136 not out against the same opposition in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in 2009. The highest in a run-chase by an Australian other than Shane Watson is 133 not out by Mark Waugh.Not surprisingly, Watson averages 32.81 in the first innings in ODIs, and 64.30 in the second. Five of his six hundreds have come in run-chases. Watson’s century came off 69 balls, which the third-fastest by an Australian, after Matthew Hayden’s 66-ball effort against South Africa, and Adam Gilchrist’s hundred off 67 against Sri Lanka. Watson finished with a strike rate of 192.70, which is the highest for an ODI innings of at least 70 deliveries. A total of 6791 innings make the 70-ball cut, but only five of them have strike-rates of more than 160. His average of 3.2 balls per four or six is also the best among these innings – Virender Sehwag is next for his 70-ball 100 against New Zealand in Colombo, when he averaged 3.5 deliveries per boundary. Of Watson’s 185 runs, only 38 were scored on the off side, while 148 came on the leg side. All 15 of his sixes were scored in the arc between square leg and long-on, while only six of his 15 fours were struck through the off side. A break-up of Watson’s stats against each bowler further illustrates how helpless Bangladesh’s bowlers were: Watson’s lowest strike rate was against Shakib Al Hasan, and he conceded 26 off 20. Against Suhrawadi Shuvo, Watson slammed 39 off 11, including four sixes in an over. Shuvo went for 46 off three overs, which is among the most expensive for a bowler who’s bowled at least three overs in an ODI: only Dolar Mahmud and Sreesanth have done worse.

Watson against Bangladesh bowlers

BowlerRunsBallsStrike rate4s/ 6sAbdul Razzak5128182.144/ 5Suhrawadi Shuvo3911354.541/ 5Rubel Hossain3724154.165/ 1Shakib Al Hasan2620130.000/ 3Shafiul Islam2511227.275/ 0Mahmudullah72350.000/ 1The table clearly shows that Watson was brutal against left-arm spin, but there was perhaps one trick that Shakib could have tried, if only out of sheer desperation. Watson was continuously slog-sweeping and pulling the spinners to leg, but the left-armers continued to bowl from round the wicket, instead of switching to over the wicket and forcing Watson to hit against the angle of the delivery. From the four deliveries that the left-arm spinners bowled over the stumps – all by Shakib, in the 17th over of the innings – Watson scored only a single; off the 55 deliveries bowled from round the stumps, he scored a staggering 115 runs, including 13 sixes.

Watson v left-arm spin, over and round the wicket

Delivery angleRunsBallsRun rate4s/ 6sOver the wicket141.500/ 0Round the wicket1155512.545/ 13 Thanks to Watson’s blitz, Australia won with 144 balls to spare, which is the second-quickest chase for a 200-plus score.