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ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the third day at the Gabba

Brydon Coverdale and Firdose Moonda11-Nov-2012Hit of the day
Peters Siddle has given up meat but that hasn’t stopped his blood-lust. With complete disregard for the unwritten warning about what will happen if you bounce a fellow quicky, he banged one in short from around the wicket to Dale Steyn. It was aimed at the body but Steyn couldn’t get away in time and had to duck awkwardly. He was caught on the glove and then struck high on the arm as the ball looped high over Matthew Wade. No doubt Steyn would have noted that for future use.Reviews of the day
Hashim Amla was thinking about reviewing his lbw decision and even chatted to Jacques Kallis about it before walking off. Had he asked for it, he would have batted on because Peter Siddle’s delivery hit him too high, as replays later showed. When Dale Steyn was given out lbw to Ben Hilfenhaus off Asad Rauf, he did not make the same mistake. Steyn asked for the review immediately and was correct in doing so. Again, it was too high and Steyn batted on.Ball skills of the day
One of the most interesting side-shows in Australian cricket are the beach-ball games that take place in the stands. A blue-and-white ball made its appearance at the Stanley Street end and helped entertain the crowd while South Africa crept along. Michael Hussey, who was fielding at third man, got involved too and kicked the ball over the boundary twice. He wasn’t in place on the third occasion and the ball was taken away by security amid a chorus of boos.Drop of the day
It was hard not to feel for Nathan Lyon late in the South African innings, when in his 25th consecutive over – a spell from the Stanley Street End that started before lunch and finished after tea – he should have claimed his third wicket of the innings. Rory Kleinveldt skied a miscued slog and Ed Cowan at midwicket tried to position himself under the ball, but whether it was a swirling breeze or the glare of the sun, he started staggering around like a drunk as he struggled to judge the catch. Cowan never really looked like taking the ball and it bounced out of his hands and denied Lyon further reward for his monumental spell.Poignant moment of the day
After the umpires called for drinks in the first session, the players and officials came together and lined up for a minute’s silence. It was 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month – Remembrance Day, recognising the end of World War I on this day in 1918. An Australian Army bugler played The Last Post and for a short period, players and fans from both sides were united. It was a reminder that cricket might be a contest, but it is not a war.Real Morne Morkel of the day
Two days ago, Siddle did his Morne Morkel impression and had Kallis caught at mid-off off a no-ball. Today, the real Morne Morkel showed up. With Australia scoring at close to six runs an over towards the end of the day. South Africa were searching to stem the flow and make one more break before the end of play. Graeme Smith seemed to ask his three frontliners to throw their all at it at the end. Morkel followed instructions and in his last over, thought he had Cowan caught behind. Asad Rauf didn’t budge and Smith reviewed. Replays showed Morkel’s foot a fraction over the line and that Cowan had gloved the ball. What should have been a wicket was just another reason to ask why Morkel doesn’t take a step back before he runs up.

New Zealand did not put up much resistance against South Africa, but there was still a job to do and Dale Steyn performed it in some style

Firdose Moonda15-Jan-2013That Dale Steyn still deserves to be called the best bowler in the world was evident during New Zealand’s first innings in the Port Elizabeth Test. That he is still Graeme Smith’s go-to man was obvious as well.Steyn has been a priceless performer for many years, but with Test matches and series often rolling into each other there has not always been time to reflect on his achievements.In this series, Steyn claimed his 300th wicket in his 61st Test. At his current rate of five wickets a Test, he could become the joint-fastest seamer to 400 and 500 scalps and second fastest on the overall list, behind Muttiah Muralitharan.At St George’s Park, the same place that he made his debut, Steyn his took his 19th Test five-for to put him second on the list of South African five-wicket haulers, one behind Allan Donald. It speaks of his consistency to make breakthroughs and increase his intent when it is needed but also of his individual quest for success.Steyn clearly wants more, regarding this as just another milestone on the road of the “many more Tests,” he hopes to play. Ask him what the 19th haul means and he has a prudent way of comparing himself to another player in the South Africa XI whose hunger for achievement appears to know no bounds. “It means I am on level terms with Hashim Amla’s hundreds,” Steyn said.Amla and Steyn’s 19th both came in the same match and while Steyn continues to sit atop the bowling charts, Amla is not far behind in batting stakes. The latest ICC rankings have him in second position and he has the opportunity overtake Michael Clarke in the upcoming series against Pakistan.That would give South Africa the world’s best batsman and bowler to add to their status as the No.1 ranked Test side and it is that sort of unit Steyn is savouring being part of. “Everybody just plays their part in this team,” he said. Steyn’s part contributes heavily to South African success and he was willing to indulge in a few moments of self-reflection as he looked back on his proudest moments so far.Steyn could point out two five-fors which meant the most to him in his nine-year career. Interestingly, neither were at home or in helpful conditions.”There was one in the West Indies in 2010 in the first Test,” he remembered. “I was coming around the wicket and the ball was reversing. They had a couple of left handers and guys were leaving the ball and I got a few wickets. I thought to myself then I don’t think I couldn’t have bowled any better and everything just worked out perfectly.”Steyn’s 5 for 29 included four left handers: Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Suliemen Benn and Ravi Rampaul. He made the crucial breakthrough when Chanderpaul was going about a repair job and then nipped out the tail with three wickets in two overs.

Sometimes you’re up for it, sometimes the body doesn’t quite agree. I’ve been fortunate that in this match the body has said yes. I was also able to make the ball swing and Vernon wasn’t so there was more for the takingDale Steyn on knowing when to push himself

“And then there was Nagpur where I got seven. Just getting somebody like Sachin Tendulkar… but also I got the ball to swing both ways that day on a really flat deck,” he said. That performance won Steyn ESPNcricinfo’s award for the best Test bowling performance of 2010. Again, he was hostile to the lower order and plucked five wickets in four overs to finish with 7 for 61.Even against New Zealand, Steyn went hard at their tail and seems to have made a habit of returning to sweep lower orders away quickly although he said it has not been intentional. “I try to run in and bowl quick every time and I don’t really pick and choose who to run in and bowl quick to, it just sort of happens.”Sometimes you’re up for it, sometimes the body doesn’t quite agree. I’ve been fortunate that in this match the body has said yes. I was also able to make the ball swing and Vernon wasn’t so there was more for the taking,” he joked. “But the back end batters; you’re not expecting them to go out there and score heaps of runs so it’s good to get over with fast.”Steyn also has the advantage of being able to bowl in short bursts with maximum effort while his team-mates do the donkey work. Over the years Graeme Smith has learnt how to read Steyn better and to bring him on when the angry eyes start flashing.”It’s about understanding him tactically,” Smith said. “Once the batsman shows him something and gives him a little opening, he has a wonderful ability to drive it home. When he is steaming in at 145kph and swinging it, it’s great to be in the slips and be a part of that. It’s not so great when we have to face him in the nets.”His aggression is what Smith said “lifts the whole team,” but what motivates Steyn himself? Knowing that he can meet the challenge of performing where it will be tough.”Those two five-fors that stand out most for me even though there have been big games like against Australia in Melbourne in 2008 when I picked up ten because those two were completely different,” he said. “Melbourne was always going to offer something like a little bit of bounce. But when you are playing in places like West Indies where there is not a lot of bounce and in India and subcontinent; it’s more memorable.”Those who appreciate the combination of swing and pace will hope there are many more memories to be made.

A young team will have to put the contracts crisis behind it and look to secure Sri Lanka’s future

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle07-Mar-2013When Angelo Mathews accepted the Test and ODI captaincy three weeks ago, he spoke of the joy he felt at his appointment and the exciting possibilities he envisioned for a team attempting regeneration. If there was any naivety in Mathews’ reckoning of what it would be like to captain Sri Lanka then, it will have been slammed out of him by what transpired in the past week. Before he has even had one Test at the helm, he has been put through the fire of a board lock-out, and had his tact and loyalties examined thoroughly.It would be a difficult episode for even the most seasoned leader to see his side through, but for Mathews it is a monumental task. Less than a week after essentially having their status as national cricketers stripped from them and being cornered into signing away a chunk of their earnings, his men now must to gird themselves and begin a full tour.Among several compounding factors for Mathews is the inexperience of his team. A new selection panel has brought a fervent focus on youth, and as a result, Sri Lanka’s top seven will have to field at least four batsmen who have played fewer than ten Tests. Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan may have developed the ability to empty their heads of events even as disruptive as the contracts crisis when they are at the crease, but the younger crop is more likely to be psychologically susceptible. Sri Lanka are lucky it is not one of the more verbal teams in cricket who are touring, because as far as sledging goes, there is plenty of powder to pack into cannons at present. Mathews will miss the wisdom of Mahela Jayawardene too, who is not with the squad, as he navigates his first assignment.There is also less room for error now in this series. For months forces within SLC had worked to portray the players as pampered and indisciplined, and last weekend’s events have only helped to advance those sentiments among many in the public. Lasith Malinga’s impolite interactions with media have not helped endear players to fans either. Mathews must know now that his side is only one loss to Bangladesh away from the scathing criticism from some turning into widespread vitriol. It is not difficult to see that what once shaped as a straightforward series for the hosts has now become a minefield with consequences both in and away from the cricket itself.It is a pity that the pay dispute has overshadowed the build-up to the tour, because in many ways, this series is a new dawn for Sri Lanka. Not only has a new leadership group been identified and appointed, for first time in years the hype does not revolve around the senior players in the side. In the team’s last Test in Sydney, the three batsmen under 25 played excellent innings, and as a result, Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne are all set for long stints in the top Test XI, as long as they can score heavily enough to justify their places.More talent waits beyond the youngsters who have already tasted international cricket. Kithuruwan Vithanage has given himself a chance of being picked for the Tests with his 168 not out from 165 balls against a full-strength Bangladesh attack in the Matara tour match. Tharindu Kaushal is the latest outrageous spin talent in the country, having reaped six five-wicket hauls in five first-class matches in his debut season so far. The selectors have already suggested that others like middle-order batsman Angelo Perera, who has scored quickly and heavily for several seasons now, may be in line to earn a place during the limited-overs leg.Though uncertainty might define the approach to the series for Mathews, he still has potential trump cards in hand as well. Sangakkara is returning from injury, but after a dismal series against New Zealand and a frustratingly brief one against Australia, he is unlikely to want anything less than thorough success, and if his monstrous home record against Bangladesh is anything to go by, the visitors may be in for wearisome stints in the field. Bangladesh batsmen may have been weaned on left-arm spin at home, but playing Rangana Herath in Galle has been a test few batsmen have convincingly passed in recent years, and even in their current state, Sri Lanka will be distraught if they do not walk out of their favourite venue with a handy win.Before the contracts crisis broke open, Mathews had reiterated in the press that Bangladesh is not an opponent his team can take lightly. There is suddenly much more on the line now, and for a bold, new Sri Lanka, it is a series through which they must assure themselves, and the public, that all is well, and the future is secure.

From Apoorv Tiwari, India

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
The growing number of Twenty20 matches means a Dravid masterclass becomes less frequent•AFPCricket has been endearing to me for a variety of reasons, its successful accommodation of two different formats for over 42 years now not being the least of them. But the introduction and subsequent success of the latest, brashest, most precipitate form of cricket, particularly the IPL, has thrown up a unique conundrum for the cricket enthusiast. We have always been comfortable with our favourite cricketers, based on our own interpretation of the game and who makes it the most watchable for us. Let’s face it, our likes and dislikes are almost invariably based on what we see, rather than statistics and numbers thrown at us every day. But when the consistency in what we watch continues to diminish in the name of variety, would we still be able to able to sustain an unwavering allegiance to players we like and dislike?Consider for example, a Rahul Dravid fan. Someone who admires the temperament, tenacity, and doggedness that Dravid brings to the crease. If suddenly, the same fan watches his favourite player batting as though he were trying to cement his place in a Twenty20 team, while the Pollards and Pathans make merry around him, would that not force the fan to think? There will, of course, be people talking about how the Pollards are mere flashes in the pan, and that consistency of performance counts for more than anything else in sport. But the fan is, at the end of the day, a cricket watcher. What he sees over four IPL seasons and a million matches is his favourite player coming to terms with a format that certain other players seem inherently comfortable with. And with more Twenty20 being dished up at the expense of the other formats, a Yusuf Pathan cameo would definitely be more frequent than a Dravid masterclass.The resilience of a cricket fan is unquestionable, and therefore no amount of T20 cricket at the expense of Tests can permanently disillusion him from following the game. But a very important component of fans’ loyalties comes from admiring individual players within their teams, and in case of the IPL, team loyalties often follow player loyalties, instead of it being the other way round. For example, someone would want Rajasthan Royals to win, because Dravid plays for them. But how long can he or she remain an exclusive Dravid fan, when seeing him being outscored by obscure young men like Paul Valthaty season after season in the IPL?They say the greatness of true greats would always transcend trifling variables such as pitch, conditions, match situation and the like, and we’ve come to believe this. But now, game format is a variable that evidently seems to contradict this assertion. Dravid would undoubtedly be remembered as one of India’s greatest cricketers, and the purpose of the IPL is apparently being best served if lesser known cricketers make their presence felt. But for someone like me, who is a fan of Dravid among other Indian greats, it is painful to see these stars clear the sky for lesser mortals to shine.

Plays from the first day of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Harare

Firdose Moonda in Harare17-Apr-2013Drop of the day
Timycen Maruma must have been nervous. Not only was he making his Test debut, he was required to do it out of position. Usually a middle-order man, he was asked to front up first. After defending the first five balls of the opening over, he fished for a short, wide one and got a thick edge to first slip. Luckily for him, Shahriar Nafees was more anxious and spilled a simple chance. Zimbabwe did not have a run on the board then and the dropped catch would have come as a relief.Ball of the day
Robiul Islam got good movement in the first hour and troubled the openers regularly. At the start of his fifth over, he hit yorker length perfectly and Sibanda was a fraction of a second late in getting his bat down to defend. It was good enough for the ball to sneak through and uproot middle stump, which cartwheeled behind him in perfect sync with Robiul’s round-arm action.Chance of the day
Bangladesh had plenty of opportunities to dismiss the Zimbabwe batsmen, but the one they would have rued the most was Brendan Taylor’s chance. As frustration built in the afternoon session, the Zimbabwe captain lashed out. In the 50th over, Taylor stepped out against Enamul Haque jnr and lofted him over long-off. Nafees did well to cover ground and stretch out but he could not hold on. Taylor was on 35 at the time and Zimbabwe did not even have 100 on the board.Crawl of the day
For the most part, it was the scoring rate but there was a literal instance too. When Malcom Waller drove the ball off Robiul Islam and called for a run, he didn’t get as much on it as he expected. Taylor responded from the non-striker’s end but Waller could soon see the risk was too great. He sent Taylor back and as the captain turned, he fell over his own feet and landed on all fours. With the Bangladesh fielders closing in, Taylor had to make quick ground and crawled his way back into the crease to ensure there was no chance of a run-out.Guest of the day
Despite it being school holidays, very few people turned up to watch the first day’s play but there was someone notable in attendance. Zimbabwe’s new coach Andy Waller, who has yet to be unveiled by Zimbabwe Cricket, was at the Maiden pub to see his future team and his son, Malcolm, battle their way through a testing day.Celebration of the day
At the start of the series, it looked as though Zimbabwe had little to celebrate. But, they had an occasion to do so by the end of the first day. Taylor reached his third Test century and the Harare Sports Club erupted. While he punched the air, the spectators rose to their feet. Everyone from the players in the dressing room to the officials in the president’s suite, often at loggerheads with each other, and the regulars in the Maiden pub applauded. Taylor soaked it in for as long as he could with raised arms and, finally, a smile.

Things didn’t go to plan for the English today. Including for this writer, who forgot to bring sunscreen and burnt his nose

Nick Robbins03-Aug-2013Choice of game
When the Ashes tickets were put on sale, I leapt at the chance to pay an inaugural visit to Old Trafford. With the millions spent on the extensive new development, and the lack of opportunity to sample an Ashes Test at my nearest venue, Edgbaston – and I’ll echo Andy Bloxham’s view that it is shocking that Birmingham was overlooked for this Ashes – I decided to head north. I had hoped the game would be nicely poised for my arrival on the second day, but instead England were up against it. I optimistically predicted that England could skittle out Australia for under 450 and begin their reply from the afternoon session.Team supported
England all the way. However the purist in me had to admire Michael Clarke’s batting. I realised I wouldn’t have been too disappointed if I was able to applaud his double ton.Key performer
Graeme Swann. There are perfectly valid reasons for picking Clarke, Mitchell Starc or even Peter Siddle, but Swann edges it for me. His five scalps on a wicket that is unusually conducive to spin in the first innings kept most of the Australian batsmen honest. But the real reason is that when Alastair Cook seemed content to let the game drift and wait for Clarke to wave his batsmen in, Swann was the only bowler who voiced the crowd’s frustration – gesturing to his captain that the fields he was bowling to were wholly ineffectual.One thing I’d have changed about the dayEngland’s plan in the afternoon session. It was like watching a team go through the motions. Joe Root wasn’t utilised well, the fields were uninspired and the atmosphere reflected this. If England had shown up after lunch with slightly more intensity, things might have gone differently. I also forgot to take any sunscreen and burnt my nose, so I’d probably change that given the choice.The interplay you enjoyed
Though David Gower might not agree with it, David Warner’s reception as he came to the crease was fantastic. This wasn’t England fans disrespectfully booing Ricky Ponting, this was a pantomime villain being given his antihero’s welcome. His wry smile said it all as he bounded down the steps of the new pavilion.Wow moment
Starc hit some gorgeous shots, and Clarke’s three consecutive boundaries off Tim Bresnan stick in the mind, but it was the standing ovation Clarke received after his dismissal that made me go ‘wow’. The entire stadium stood to appreciate one of the best innings by an Australian captain in England, and easily one of the most important innings of that man’s career.Player watch
Credit must go to Jonny Bairstow today. With the crowd nervous, restless and quiet for the first hour or so, they suddently erupted when Bairstow steadied himself under Steve Smith’s mistimed sweep. With the ball lodged firmly in his hand, he turned round to the huge temporary stand and pumped his fists. Suddenly the crowd was in the game, if only briefly, before England’s soporific performance did its best to silence even the most vociferous of fans.Shot of the day
When Alastair Cook turned a ball off his pads from Nathan Lyon it broke a drought that had spanned nearly five overs. After watching Australia’s lower order look like they were batting on a bit of the M6, watching England labour away in the evening took a fair amount of patience. That one run was rewarded with one of the loudest cheers of the day.Crowd meter
As expected after the first day’s proceedings, the crowd was initially quiet, though everyone assumed it needed one spark to bring them to life. Though Smith’s dismissal and Warner’s cameo provided this, the fire didn’t catch, and the flame whimpered out until the afternoon session, when an Aussie touring party and a gaggle of well-lubricated England fans began to engage in a back-and-forth sing-along session. It petered out as the security guards arrived to make sure it was all in good spirit, and quickly started again as soon as they turned their backs.Overall
Old Trafford was, in every way, fit for test match cricket, though accusations of a ‘corporate’ pitch may not be so easy to ignore if the pitch refuses to deteriorate as it did today. The atmosphere, however, was disappointing, though this can only reflect what is happening on the field. It didn’t go quite right for England today, and whether it’s England’s job to lift the crowd, or the crowd’s job to lift England, neither party can claim to have had a good day at the office.Marks out of 10
Six out of ten today. Must try harder tomorrow.

With Morne Morkel out of action and Imran Tahir misfiring, South Africa’s captain endured a difficult juggle with limited resources

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg20-Dec-20130:00

Match Point: ‘Can’t understand Smith’s tactics’

It took a few seconds and some eye-rubbing to realise which South African was assigned to bowl the over before tea. AB de Villiers. As if that wasn’t astounding enough, there was the sight of Hashim Amla strapping on the wicketkeepers’ pads and gloves to take in. It really happened.Such sights are not all that unusual. When things are trundling along and not much is happening, a captain has to try something different to catch the opposition off-guard. Graeme Smith did it in Dubai when he brought Dean Elgar on to bowl to a Pakistan partnership that had racked up 197. Misbah-ul-Haq tried to slog him into the next Emirate and was caught at slip. Concentration can lapse, mistakes can happen.The difference between that day and this one was in the message, as Daryll Cullinan explained on the tea-time Match Point show on this website. Elgar is a part-time spinner with 33 first-class wickets and does turn his arm over on occasion. De Villiers, before this one, had only bowled 38 overs in his decade-long first-class career, and last bowled in a Test match seven years ago. And it’s not as though Smith didn’t have other options.Apart from JP Duminy, who had not bowled a ball at that stage, there was Faf du Plessis, who bowls occasionally, or Smith himself. In hindsight, he probably turned to de Villiers for a little bit of fun but with India 140 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand, it may not have been the ideal time for a laugh. By stumps, it turned out South Africa would have little reason for giggles of any description, as they appeared bereft of ideas.AB de Villiers bowled in a Test for the first time in seven years•AFPTheir day had already threatened to be difficult in the over before lunch when Morne Morkel was helped off the field after hurting his ankle. He had only bowled two overs before that but the signs were obvious that he would have an important role to play. In the 12 balls he bowled, he generated steep bounce, which could have helped keep India quiet. With him out of the equation, someone else had to do that job.The person should have been Imran Tahir. Although he is a naturally attacking bowler, Tahir had to contain as well. His first ball today was evidence he could not.Tahir offered a full toss first up and leaked runs in a manner somewhat reminiscent of his performance in Adelaide in November 2012, particularly when he dropped Cheteshwar Pujara on 51 off his own bowling. His confidence seemed to dip after that, and his bouquet of overpitched deliveries and full tosses became rosier. Selection-wise, South Africa may be wondering if they erred by picking Tahir, considering the opposition.The Indian line-up is confident and comfortable against legspin and with Tahir’s history of over-enthusiasm leading to lack of control, they may ask themselves if a conservative option would have worked better. Robin Peterson was in the squad and could have played the holding role or they could have opted for another seamer, with Duminy operating as the spinner, although today’s evidence may contradict that.Besides offering little threat, which is not Duminy’s primary role, he also could not keep his end quiet. Smith had no choice but to use him for parts of the day as a stop-gap to avoid over-bowling the three seamers he had left.Already, Jacques Kallis’ workload was more than ideal. His usual quota had previously been described as 10-12 overs a day but he had to bowl 14. He used the short ball well and attacked the stumps to produce two lbw shouts, but he seemed to lose bite later on.The same could be said of Dale Steyn, who had a rare wicketless day. As Vernon Philander pointed out, “he did not bowl badly”; he just didn’t find any swing. Steyn cannot be expected to produce in every innings and Philander said he could easily “rock up and take five tomorrow,” but it was obvious what a misfiring Steyn and an injured Morkel can do to South Africa’s morale.Philander did his part in leading the attack. He was South Africa’s best bowler on the day and in his first two spells looked as though he would take a wicket every other ball. He got good bounce, he beat the bat, he moved the ball just enough to create tension. Most importantly, he zoned in consistently on an off-stump target.That was the main difference between the South African and Indian bowlers and Philander recognised it. “They attacked the stumps all the time. We didn’t do that well, even in the first innings,” he said. Despite Philander being the person who was doing that, he was used less than he could have been.After spells of five, two and five overs in the first 33 overs of India’s innings, he returned for two spells of three overs each, with long breaks in between. He was nursing a toothache and is still in some discomfort, which may have prompted Smith to use him sparingly, although he indicated he was ready for a bigger workload. “We knew when Morne went down, we would have to bowl a bit more,” he said. “Luckily I am not in Graeme’s shoes at the moment.”South Africa fought back after a middling first day and Philander believed they can do it again. But they will need a sharper plan this time, against batsmen who have adjusted and thrived in these conditions. “They left very well when they came in and the spinners were whom they attacked,” he said. “Then they made the seamers come back on when they were tired.”That means it will be up to Tahir to find a way to contain so the quicks can attack and South Africa can embark on some form of damage limitation. “There is not a lot of turn on offer but hopefully he [Tahir] will get a plan together sometime soon,” Philander said.Playing an 11-a-side game with ten men is tough. Trying to do it with nine is tougher. That is essentially what Smith was left to work with. If South Africa are to salvage something from this bowling performance and give their batsmen a chance to save the game, he either cannot be left in that position again or has to learn to manage it better.

Lydia Greenway on the challenges of playing Australia in Australia, the fielders she admires, and her favourite beer

Interview by Jack Wilson21-Jan-2014You were instrumental in the 2013 Ashes win. What was it like to win that series?
Brilliant, especially against a team who are No. 1 in all formats of the game. To win so convincingly put the icing on the cake.Would that have been the highlight of your career so far?
It’s definitely up there, alongside winning the two World Cups.You have got off to the perfect start in the hunt to retain the Ashes. Will doing so in Australia exceed that?
I think so. Playing Australia in Australia is one of the biggest challenges in any sport. They are naturally a very competitive sporting nation and the home advantage means that they are playing in an environment that they are comfortable with.Many consider you the best fielder in women’s cricket. How do you feel when people say that?
It’s obviously a nice compliment to hear but there are a lot of great fielders in the women’s game now. For me, it’s just a part of the game I love.If you are the best fielder in women’s cricket, who do you think is the best in the men’s?
I used to enjoy watching Ricky Ponting field, and more recently, as much as I hate to say, another Aussie, David Warner, is brilliant to watch too.Who is the greatest women’s cricketer to have played the game?
I’m probably going to sound a bit biased but Charlotte Edwards.How much has women’s cricket benefited from playing alongside the men, often at the same venues?
Loads. It’s an opportunity for us to put our game on show and hopefully get more support along to watch. I think that’s the effect it has had so far and hopefully it can keep getting better.What is your favourite shot?
I know I’m labelled as a sweeper but you can’t beat a good old-fashioned straight drive down the ground.Tell us about the switch hit, a shot you love. What are the keys to playing it well?
Balance, base and a still head.Your England team are lined up for a 100-metre race. Who would win?
Danielle Wyatt.You are going on a girls’ night out. Who takes the longest to get ready?
Katherine Brunt, biggest faffer ever.If you had to perform a party trick, what would you do?
I’d love to be able to breakdance!In your Twitter bio you describe yourself as a wannabe beer connoisseur. What is your favourite?
I love trying beers from around the world. My most recent favourite is a pale ale called Blue Moon with a slice of lemon.What’s your favourite meat in a roast dinner?
Lamb.Which of your team-mates has the most annoying habit?
A lot of the girls crack their necks and backs a lot. Heather Knight and Jenny Gunn are the biggest culprits.Do you play any other sports?
I used to play hockey for my local club. It was a great release away from cricket and also helped my fitness. I still go and watch my sister play there too.You are stuck on a desert island. Which three things would you take?
My family, friends and food.

He was Maharashtra’s captain when they last reached the Ranji Trophy final 21 years ago. As coach, Surendra Bhave has made them dream again

Amol Karhadkar15-Jan-2014Just before lunch on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Mumbai, as Maharashtra readied themselves to take the field after conceding a 122-run first-innings lead, coach Surendra Bhave delivered one of his numerous pep talks, hoping it wouldn’t be his last one of the season.Bhave, a former Maharashtra captain who had led them to their last Ranji Trophy final appearance in 1992-93, gave his players two choices. “One was to go on to the field, complete the formalities, pack our bags and head straight to Pune from the Wankhede. The other was to go out, play with our heads held high, give it our best shot and change the opinion of the people.”Even when Maharashtra captain Rohit Motwani recalls the words four days later, he seems just as charged up as he was after hearing them at the Wankhede. “That speech inspired us a lot,” says Motwani. “We chose the second option and it worked for us.”

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Just over 12 months ago, Bhave, the then chief selector, was given the additional responsibility of being the interim coach with two games remaining in the group stage. Maharashtra were then at the bottom of Group B and required a miracle to avoid relegation.It wasn’t to be. Maharashtra were blown aside by Karnataka in their last league game. “[Abhimanyu] Mithun and Stuart [Binny] just ran through us and poured water over all our ambitions to continue the good work of the previous game against Baroda and avoid relegation. At that time itself, all of us knew we had to start afresh.”It was a fitting end to an erratic season. Maharashtra had started it by appointing Dermot Reeve as coach, and had replaced him with Bhave midway through the season. Reeve, the former England allrounder, had raised eyebrows during his brief tenure, playing the guitar just outside the boundary ropes during Maharashtra’s matches and even missing a couple of games to work as a TV analyst on the India-England series.Without a father figure, the team was in disarray. “Due to the prevailing circumstances, the team wasn’t that together,” Motwani says. “Everyone was kind of coming into the field and playing his own game. Even though all of us had been playing together for a while, the cohesiveness was somehow missing last season.”Maharashtra didn’t do any better in the second half of the season, and failed to progress beyond the zonal stages of the domestic one-day and Twenty20 competitions, which were considered their strengths.

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If Maharashtra were to turn the tide this season, they needed a pitch-perfect build-up. But with the Maharashtra Cricket Association in financial disarray, the team only had their first official training session on August 19. The mess also deprived the team of any competitive warm-up games. The association hadn’t been able to participate in preparatory tournaments or conduct a reciprocal tour with another state team, which had been a trend during recent off-seasons.But this gave Bhave ample time to evaluate what had gone wrong and to come up with a solution. “If you see the numbers, most of the batsmen had averaged 45-plus and still the team was not doing well,” he says. “We had to imbibe among the players that if your aim is to play for yourself, you’re not contributing to the team. Once we got everyone to work for the cause of the team, most of it was taken care of.”Bhave’s next task was to get the bowling act together. Barring Samad Fallah, the attack didn’t have a consistent performer in its ranks. And the lack of match practice may have affected the bowlers’ rhythm going into the season. Bhave’s solution benefited not only the bowlers but the batsmen as well.

It’s not just when the chips are down that he [Bhave] speaks. He makes it a point to compliment us for our good work. A pat on the back from someone you have idolised means a lot and he knows it. His words of wisdom – sometimes one-on-one, sometimes to the whole group – are cherished by all of us.Rohit Motwani, Maharashtra captain

“We couldn’t go to any of the warm-up tournaments, so the moment the monsoon receded, we formed four teams amongst our probables and played a handful of practice matches on lively tracks at Gahunje,” Bhave says. “The atmosphere was no different to a first-class match and you couldn’t even sense it was a practice match. It helped the bowlers get used to running in and bowling more than 20 overs per day and the batsmen were tested against tough bowling in tougher conditions.”The decision to prepare lively pitches for the warm-up games was based on the assumption that “every Plate team has three decent pace bowlers”. With the bowlers made to work hard outdoors rather than in the confines of the gym and the batsmen made to bat in adverse conditions, the team was ready by the time the season began.

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“We may not be that old but we are not a young team,” Motwani says. “For the last four to five years, more or less the same bunch has been playing together. And we were all confident at the start of the season that we could deliver this time around.”For the captain’s words to come true, Maharashtra needed to get their campaign off to a strong start. Harshad Khadiwale and Kedar Jadhav gave them just that, in their contrasting styles. At the end of Maharashtra’s fourth game of the season, they had scored three centuries each and were occupying the top two positions in the list of the Ranji Trophy’s highest run-getters.”Every time Khadi or KJ reached a milestone, the dressing room revelled with them,” says Akshay Darekar, the team’s leading spinner. “They gave us bowlers the much-needed cushion to bowl oppositions out.”While they piled on the runs, not many gave Khadiwale and Jadhav their due, reckoning that a hundred in a Plate (Group C) match wasn’t a big deal. “I can’t help such perceptions,” Jadhav says. “Those who say this don’t understand that many Plate teams play with such a defensive mindset that they bowl with seven or eight fielders on the boundary once a batsman is set. Scoring runs becomes really difficult at such times. When a batsman still scores big in such circumstances, you should give him his due. Be it myself or Khadi or anyone else from any other team.”The impact that Khadiwale and Jadhav had on their team can be gauged by the fact that Maharashtra didn’t once concede a first-innings deficit during the group stage. But the bowlers were coming to the party too; Maharashtra won an unprecedented four games outright, and ended Group C seven points ahead of second-placed Jammu & Kashmir. The team’s primary objective, of regaining their place in the top flight of the tournament, had been achieved. But the group was far from satisfied.

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Two days before the quarterfinal, Maharashtra’s players asked the driver of their team bus, going from Pune to Mumbai, to take them straight to the Wankhede Stadium rather than their hotel. They were playing Mumbai, their big brother, away from home, in a televised match. They were ready.On the second evening, with the Maharashtra batsmen struggling in the face of a ferocious spell from Shardul Thakur, on a wicket tilted in favour of pace bowlers, it looked like the heckling of Maharashtra as flat-track bullies would continue. Mumbai captain Zaheer Khan, in what might have been a mocking gesture, placed all nine fielders behind the wicket early in Maharashtra’s innings.”We didn’t even take it as an insult. We took it as yet another challenge – a first of its kind, and Ankit (Bawne) and Kedar counterattacked to show we could take them on,” pace bowler Anupam Sanklecha says. “Even then, it wasn’t as if we had played bad cricket. All of us know that Mumbai crossed 400 only because of some stupendous batting by Vinit (Indulkar) and Surya (Yadav).”The next afternoon, Sanklecha led the Maharashtra fightback as a three-pronged pace attack dismantled the Mumbai batting in 38 overs to get Maharashtra back into the game. “The 60-70 runs that we were helped with when Mumbai over-attacked in the first innings helped us reduce the innings deficit,” Bhave says. “When we talked to the bowlers, my impression was, if there are more play balls, there are more chances of us getting wickets on such a track. Another thing that worked for us was, since we didn’t have a bowler who could rely on sheer pace in our attack, it was ultimately going to be a case of pitch it up to the bat and catch it whenever it comes your way.”But the manner in which the three seamers and the slip cordon executed that basic plan left the Wankhede spellbound. Often, seamers in India tend to get carried away when they see a green surface. It happened with the Maharashtra bowlers in the first innings and they sprayed the ball around. But to learn the lessons and reverse the trend so quickly stunned even Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating on his first Ranji game.It isn’t a surprise that beating Mumbai meant so much to the players, since only one of them had experienced the feeling before. Sanklecha, in fact, had become the first Maharashtra player to feature in two outright wins over Mumbai. “Back then (in 2005-06), I had contributed with the bat, ending as the highest scorer in the second innings,” says Sanklecha, who hails from Ahmednagar, 120 km to the west of Pune. “This time around, my bowling came good. For the last four days, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now.”

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Bhave’s pep talks have been a constant feature over the season. “Each time one of us drifts slightly, a pep talk is waiting, and it invariably sets things right,” says left-arm spinner Darekar, who, with 31 scalps, is Maharashtra’s leading wicket-taker this season. “His technical expertise is well known but he has also been a great motivator.”Motwani adds: “It’s not just when the chips are down that he speaks. He makes it a point to compliment us for our good work. A pat on the back from someone you have idolised means a lot and he knows it. His words of wisdom – sometimes one-on-one, sometimes to the whole group – are cherished by all of us.”When it began its journey back to Pune on the evening of January 11, the team bus was juddering down the same expressway it had taken to Mumbai. Bhave, however, knew everyone in it was floating in the air. Naturally, just before the team got off the bus, he had another pep talk waiting for them. “I said: ‘We have to play two more matches in the same way. Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves. Don’t think that you cannot be conquered. Be guarded against complacency. Enjoy the hard work and the rest will be taken care of’.”

ESPNcricinfo presents plays from the India-Pakistan World T20 game

Mohammad Isam and Abhishek Purohit21-Mar-2014The run-out
Pakistan were involved in some comical running early on. In the second over, Kamran Akmal tried to rush a leg-bye as the ball rolled away close to the pitch. Ahmed Shehzad responded eagerly, and in an instant, the two were within hand-shaking distance, Akmal having covered some more ground. Suddenly, Shehzad decided he was running to the danger end, and abandoned the run. An astonished Akmal stopped in his tracks, turned around and tried to regain his ground but to his misfortune again, Bhuvneshwar Kumar found the stumps with a direct hit.The near run-out
Shehzad decided to make amends the very next ball by enthusiastically charging up the pitch as this one rolled fine down the leg side. Mohammad Hafeez was having none of it. This time it was Shehzad’s turn to apply the brakes and double back. He scrambled and dived, and MS Dhoni’s throw missed the stumps.The late reaction
Mohammad Shami had sent down a superb over and had taken his position at the long-leg boundary when Shahid Afridi had one of his almighty swings at Bhuvneshwar. Shami possibly did not think it would travel behind square, or he just did not pick it, or he was plainly caught napping. Whatever be the case, by the time he did and set off to his left, there was no way he was stopping the boundary.The half-attemptShoaib Malik was timing the ball inconsistently and at the end of the 15th over, his swipe caught a top edge and swirled towards Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But the fielder was in two minds, first rushing forward and, when the ball started to die towards him, pulling out only slightly. It was enough for the ball to drop short, and slip into the boundary.