All posts by n8rngtd.top

Teams with good fast-bowling attacks have tended to do well in South Africa

Shiva Jayaraman16-Dec-2013The last time India played in South Africa, they started the tour with a batting line-up that boasted 18,162 runs and 41 centuries in Tests outside the subcontinent. From the current Indian squad, only Virat Kohli has a century outside the subcontinent. VVS Laxman on his own, with 3329 runs outside the subcontinent before that tour, had 509 runs more than all the players in the current team aggregate outside the subcontinent.Given the experience that India had in their batting line-up on their last tour to South Africa, and the fact that they didn’t lose a series there for the first time, one would assume that India’s batsmen had made telling contributions in that Test series. However, India’s top order averaged an ordinary 32.56 in the 2010-11 South Africa tour, which is not even the highest they’ve averaged on a tour to South Africa.Overall, India have won two Tests in South Africa – one in 2010-11, and one on the tour before that, in 2006-07. In those two winning Tests, their batsmen averaged 21.07 runs per dismissal – not the numbers one would expect in a Test from the winning team.Overseas teams have generally struggled with the bat in Tests in South Africa, with none of the top-orders averaging 40 in Tests here. Since 1990, among teams visiting South Africa,only England’s batsmen have managed to average 40-plus as a team in wins. Including India, five teams have averaged under 30 with the bat in wins here.That teams have won in South Africa despite relatively low batting averages implies that bowlers play a greater role in earning wins. Bowling units that have managed to skittle out wickets cheaply have been able to win. India’s bowlers have averaged a miserly 18.78 for the 37 wickets they have taken in wins here, which is the least they have averaged against any team in away wins. Among teams that have won Tests in South Africa, only England’s bowlers have averaged lower in wins here. India’s fast bowlers have enjoyed the pace-friendly conditions – they have taken seven five-wicket hauls in South Africa, which is the most they have taken in any country outside home. Their 148 wickets here have come at 34.40 runs apiece, which is the least they have averaged in any country excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

However, India’s bowlers will be bowling to batsmen who have done well since 2011. In the last couple of years at home, South Africa batsmen have hit 13 hundreds in 11 Tests. AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis all average 50-plus in home Tests since 2011. That their openers – Graeme Smith and Alviro Peterson – have averaged less than 40 in this period hasn’t hurt them much given that the top order of the oppositions have averaged only 25.65 in the same period in South Africa.

South Africa’s batsmen have had mixed fortunes at the two venues for this Test series – the Wanderers, Johannesburg and Kingsmead, Durban. Jacques Kallis is the leading run-scorer at both the venues. At the Wanderers he’s scored 1114 runs at 41.25 in 17 matches, while in Durban, he’s scored 1151 runs at 47.95 from 15 matches, including four centuries. However, the last time Kallis played at Kingsmead, against Sri Lanka in 2011, he bagged a pair – his first in Tests. While Hashim Amla has done well in Johannesburg, having scored 657 runs at 59.72 from seven matches, he’s averaging only 21.23 from seven matches at his home venue in Durban. Though de Villiers’ record at Johannesburg seems nothing out of the ordinary, he’s scored plenty of runs at the venue in the recent past; he’s hit 436 runs in his last four matches here at 87.20, with all of his two hundreds and three fifties at his venue coming in these four matches.

But these batsmen have struggled against India’s fast bowlers in previous series at home. Fortunately for South Africa, though, India are missing their most successful bowler in their last couple of tours to South Africa – S Sreesanth. In pace-friendly condition he’s outshone India’s premier fast bowler, Zaheer Khan. Sreesanth’s 27 wickets against South Africa in away matches have come at 28.55 apiece and at a strike rate of 47.5, while Zaheer’s 23 wickets at have come at 32.52 apiece. However, on this tour, other than Zaheer, Ishant Sharma is the only bowler to have bowled in Tests in South Africa. Thus far, Ishant’s performances in South Africa have been ordinary – his seven wickets have come at 48.14.

South Africa’s success with the bat in Tests at home in the last couple of years has coincided with an exceptionally productive period for their fast-bowling unit. In Tests since 2011, their fast bowlers have taken 180 wickets at 20.25 and at a strike rate of 42 balls per wicket. Both the average and strike rate are the best among fast bowlers for Test teams playing at home in this period. Among them, the South Africa fast bowlers have taken 13 five-wicket hauls in only 11 Tests – the highest for any team in this period. Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn have led their bowling attack superbly in the last couple of years. In eight Tests at home since his debut against Australia in November 2011, Philander has taken 52 wickets at a phenomenal average of 13.78 and a strike rate of 29.6. Steyn’s 64 wickets in Tests at home since 2011 have come at an average of 16.68 and a strike rate of 37.5.South Africa’s all-round performance at home in the last couple of years have yielded results for them. In this period, they’ve won eight out of 11 Tests. Their two losses came against Australia in Johannesburg and against Sri Lanka in Durban, both in 2011. Since 2012 though, they have won six consecutive home Tests.India, however, open the series at a venue where they have not lost a Test – they’ve won one and drawn two in Johannesburg. The win came in 2006, when their fast bowlers dismissed the hosts for just 84 runs in the first innings – South Africa’s lowest total in an innings against India in Tests. At Kingsmead, South Africa have done much better against India, having won two of the four Tests between the teams. A positive for India, though, is the fact that their last Test win in South Africa came in Durban, while South Africa have lost their last four Tests at this venue.

R Ashwin has always looked a better bowler when he has tried to take wickets, as was showcased in the Asia Cup

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Mirpur05-Mar-2014All through his career, advice has followed R Ashwin wherever he has gone. Most of it has gone like this: don’t try too many things; focus on your stock ball; stop bowling that carrom ball so much.After nightmare tours of South Africa and New Zealand, in which he lost the lead spinner’s place in the Test eleven and took just two wickets in eight ODIs at an average approaching 200, Ashwin seems to have taken all that advice and thrown it in the bin.On Wednesday, he took three wickets against Afghanistan, two of them – the lbws of Mohammad Shahzad and Shapoor Zadran – with the carrom ball. He ended the Asia Cup with nine wickets; he took five of them with the carrom ball.It’s hard to remember Ashwin using the carrom ball this often in recent times. During the ODIs in New Zealand, he slipped it in every now and then, but apart from one spell to Ross Taylor in Hamilton, he didn’t really use it in a sustained manner. And that, contrary to popular opinion, is exactly how he has used it for most of his career.A look through his list of wickets reveals it is likely that only 19 out of Ashwin’s 106 ODI wickets have come via the means of the carrom ball. He used it quite a lot in his early matches, but as batsmen around the world grew more comfortable with it, he began deploying it far less frequently. This was a completely natural cycle of evolution.Along with this, however, he frequently bowled with less than optimal control. Against England at home, he provided a steady diet of leg-side singles to the right-hand batsmen and fed Alastair Cook’s cut with a regular supply of short balls.He seemed to work this out when Australia came visiting, with his then coach Sunil Subramaniam helping him correct his set-up at the bowling crease, aligning the heel of his landing front-foot with the toe of his back-foot. This change allowed Ashwin to bowl with more of a pivot, put more of his body into his action, and extract more help, as a consequence, out of the pitch.He seemed to have forgotten all of this, however, by the time the South Africa tour came around. He not only wasn’t turning the ball off the pitch, he didn’t seem to be spinning it out of his hand either. In Johannesburg, he seemed to merely put the ball in a general area, on a fifth-day pitch, and wait for an error. In the ODIs before that and on the New Zealand tour, he bowled in much the same way.All of that changed at the Asia Cup, if in a bizarrely circuitous manner. In India’s first match, Ashwin seemed to be bowling one set of deliveries to Bangladesh’s batsmen and tossing another bunch the spectators’ way. In place of the hand-twisting motions that usually accompanies his run up, Ashwin was raising a pair of full-sleeved arms above his head, à la Sunil Narine.All manner of outrage erupted, and it was perhaps out of proportion to the changes Ashwin had made. His approach to the crease hadn’t changed significantly, and the things a spinner does with his hands during his run-up are often purely ornamental. If you compare videos of his spell against Bangladesh to any of his earlier spells, his set-up at the crease and his release weren’t markedly different either.It still made no sense why Ashwin had gone through all that, though, and he was back to bowling with his usual action a few deliveries into his first spell against Sri Lanka. Since then, he has looked better than he has for a long time.He has still been patchy, but he has not been the Ashwin of South Africa and New Zealand, who seemed content to let batsmen milk him for three or four singles every over. He has been willing to ask the batsman to come after him, whether by dangling a full and wide carrom ball at Sharjeel Khan or by forcing Sohaib Maqsood out of his comfort zone with his field changes. The increased frequency of the carrom ball has been one sign of this.At some level, this change has been forced on Ashwin. India have twice had to defend middling totals, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The pitches, moreover, have helped the spinners. Virat Kohli’s captaincy may have also contributed; the fact that he picked Amit Mishra as a third spinner, in a crunch game against Pakistan, showed that he might be inclined to view spin as an attacking weapon.Whatever the case, Ashwin has always looked a better bowler when he has tried to take wickets. There is no way to tell if he will continue bowling this way, even in less helpful conditions, but you can still hope.

Plays of the day from the fifth ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi

Abhishek Purohit27-Dec-2013The brain-fade
You’ve been denied pace from one end on a slow pitch. You see a quicker bowler at the other, and try to take some runs off him. You hit him for four over extra cover. Next ball, you cart him high over the wide long-on boundary. If you are an opener, you think that it’s enough for one over, there are plenty more to come. But Ahmed Shehzad went for glory off the third ball too, against Suranga Lakmal, and his wild mis-hit only found mid-on in the sixth over.The blinder
Sohaib Maqsood was looking in fine touch, having got off the mark with an elegant extra-cover drive for four. First ball of the 17th over, he got a short and wide offering from Lasith Malinga, and slapped it in the air behind backward point. He hadn’t timed it too well, but it was still travelling. Tillakaratne Dilshan, all of 37 years, threw himself to his left, got both hands to the ball and came down on the ground with it safely lodged in his palms.The return to convention
Misbah-ul-Haq was finding it difficult to score at the start of his innings. He turned to the reverse-sweep to release the pressure, but missed a couple of times against Sachithra Senanayake. Undaunted, he tried the stroke once more, against Dilshan this time, and almost got himself out, the ball hitting the glove and falling just short of the wicketkeeper. Realising innovation wasn’t working, Misbah turned to the regular sweep next ball, and grinned as it scurried away fine for the first boundary in 56 deliveries.The change
Having dismissed Kumar Sangakkara in his previous over, Junaid Khan pulled up after the first ball of the 31st. He had a chat with Misbah, who handed the ball to Umar Gul to complete the over as Junaid walked off the field. A fast bowler coming back after a long injury layoff and replacing a sore fast bowler. Should have been cause for concern. It was, for Sri Lanka. Gul bounded in, got the first ball to kick from back of a length and produced an edge from Ashan Priyanjan to the keeper.

Ian Butler talks about his highs and lows, the thrill of playing at Otago, and the biggest dressing-room joker he’s seen

Interview by Jack Wilson30-Mar-2014You were told ten years ago you would never bowl again. It looks like they got that one wrong, doesn’t it?
It just shows that what is the medically “normal” diagnosis of an injury can be worked through. Maybe my back wasn’t in a great shape but over the last few years it hasn’t got any worse – and I know how to manage it.When you came into the New Zealand side you were replacing Shane Bond, one of the country’s greatest bowlers. How difficult was it to fill his shoes at such a young age?
In no way did I ever fill them. He was a superb bowler and was one of the players I aspired to emulate. The biggest issue was learning for my first few years of cricket at the international level. I had played two List A games and three first-class games when I was picked. I had no idea about how to play any form of cricket. I didn’t know my game and to say I was very fresh was an understatement.In a way, I’m glad NZC has built such depth as the youngsters now hopefully will get two or three years to learn how to bowl through playing. Only by learning from different experiences at first-class level can you build a game that will withstand international cricket.How close were you – or are you – to walking away from New Zealand to play county cricket over in England?
That’s something I have to consider. We have such depth now that maybe it’s an option, a fresh challenge that can sometimes stimulate that never-ending search to be the best you can be. In the early days it wasn’t even something that crossed my mind as you always dream of representing your country against the best in the world.What would be the toughest thing about doing that?
Leaving the culture we have got at Otago cricket. They are great people throughout, from the players to the staff.Your New Zealand debut came in 2002 – and your last game was last year. Were there times during that 11-year period when you wondered if you’d ever play again?
Lots. The doubts are part of any sport. My way through that is to focus on the steps. You must prove your worth to get picked at provincial level, and with the wickets we play on in New Zealand and the boundary sizes, it’s a tough game as a bowler. In a way, now you can relax. If you do the job and contribute to a successful team on and off the field then you give yourself a chance of higher honours.How do you see your international future now?
No one ever gives up. Before the hiccup this summer I was in the ODI and T20 side, but with the emergence of so many quality allrounders and seamers, I’m probably behind the eight ball. I can’t control the players in front of me so I just focus on what I can do to help Otago win games.Pick the highlight of your career so far.
The Test series win in West Indies with Bondy and [Daryl] Tuffey was pretty special. Also, the Volts’ 16-game T20 winning streak through our domestic competition and into the Champions League was amazing to be a part of. They are a great bunch of guys with so much talent and belief. We managed to win games from positions we shouldn’t have.You have played Tests, ODIs, T20s and four-day cricket. What form of the game do you enjoy most?
I would say Tests. Sadly I played too early to have a good record, and got injured just as I started to understand my game – but it’s the pinnacle and what the best are remembered by.Who is the best coach you have ever worked under?
Mike Hesson and John Bracewell were two that stood out to me. Sadly Braces had me as a young tearaway and probably tore his hair out! The strength of both of them was man-management. Coaching at the elite level isn’t so much technical, it’s about working out how 15 different players need to be treated to maximise performance. Hess outlined my roles well and gave me confidence to play them without fear. Bowling at the death and batting in clutch situations in limited-overs games requires that.And who is the best captain you have played under?
Baz [Brendon McCullum] is awesome for his aggression and no fear. He always wants you to take the foot-forward option and if you back your plan he will too. I also enjoyed Dan’s [Daniel Vettori] captaincy. He has a great cricket brain and didn’t say much. When he did it was always spot on.Who has been the biggest dressing-room joker you’ve played with?
Chris Harris. What a legend. There was never a boring second with him around. He’d always be trying to kick some object a metre above eye level. One moment of hilarity that sticks was him in India throwing biscuits up into the circulating fan blades. The changing room was covered in biscuit particles. Harry thought this was great fun until he was told to clean it all up.And who has had the worst banter in any dressing room you’ve been in?
Scott Styris. He’s a constant chatterer about cricket trivia questions that he is the answer to.What would you rather do: be hit by six Brett Lee bouncers or to be dump-tackled by Richie McCaw?
Neither appeal, really. I’ll go with the tackle and hope the ground is soft.Which of your team-mates past or present is the best fun on a night out?
Daryl Tuffey. He’s the world’s best player of the coin-game Spoof. Aaron Redmond has an obsession with anyone owning a snapback cap. Maybe it’s to cover the hint of a comb-over.Who would be the last at the bar to get a round in?
Scott Styris. He’s the clear winner.

Former Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq talks about his biggest six, his best coach, and the toughest bowlers he faced

Interview by Scott Oliver09-Aug-2014It’s your first year playing league cricket. What have you found most difficult?
You have to perform. Every match, you have to perform.You played for five counties – which was the best experience?
This is a good question. My intention always was wanting to do well for my team; doesn’t matter whether it’s in the league, county or whatever. I had sympathy with my counties, but they didn’t treat me as well. At Leicestershire and Hampshire we won the T20 and they didn’t give me another contract, which is very painful. I wanted to do well, and I did. We were successful. But they didn’t give me respect for that. They released me.What was your happiest day on a cricket field?
The happiest day is whenever you perform, when you get the Man of the Match. Everybody is praising you. Your name is in the newspaper. I had a Man of the Match against India in Hobart in 2000. They had a good team at that time. It was my lucky day, and that really kick-started my career.And your worst day?
I belong to a very poor family. Our bread and butter is cricket, you know. We take it very seriously. So any day you don’t perform, or it’s not your day, that’s very painful. So you have to be committed. You have to say, “Razzaq, come on. Show your talent.”Who was the best catcher of a cricket ball you played with?
I played for Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t have good catchers! But I suppose you can say Younis Khan was a good catcher.Who was the best coach you played under?

I’d say Bob Woolmer. He was a good motivator. He was very friendly with the players. When you coach, you should give confidence to the players. If you’re friendly with the players, they will tell you everything, they will never come under pressure, and they will perform.The best captain you played under?
Wasim Akram.Why, given the amount of talented cricketers Pakistan has had during your career, has the team regularly underperformed?

I will blame the PCB, all the chairmen who have come. They don’t understand the feelings of the players. They don’t know how to respect the players. That’s where we’re lacking. That’s why we’re not creating many good players nowadays.What was the biggest six you hit?
It was in Karachi, against Balaji, in a series against India in 2004. It went out of the park – over the stands – and it’s a huge ground.Were you more a batsman or a bowler?
I started as a bowler, but I’m a good observer. I watch very closely when the match is on. As time went on, batting gave me more enjoyment.Who was your room-mate when you were with Pakistan?

Shahid Afridi, most of the time.

“The PCB don’t understand the feelings of the players. They don’t know how to respect the players”

Who was the joker in the Pakistan team?
Mohammad Yousuf was very funny. Also, Shoaib Malik.Do you play other sports?
I like badminton, but I don’t have time to play other sports. Cricket is my passion.Who was the toughest bowler to face?
Shane Warne and Muralitharan. Of the fast bowlers, I was really impressed by Damien Fleming. Australia had world-class bowlers – McGrath, Brett Lee – but I felt comfortable against them. Fleming swung the ball. Very good bowler.And the quickest?
Shoaib Akhtar, in first-class cricket in Pakistan.If you had to survive the final over of a Test, who would you rather face: Wasim or Waqar?
Waqar Younis.Who was the fittest player in the Pakistan squads with which you were involved?
Younis Khan.Which individual statistic gives you the most pride?
I have 279 wickets and over 5000 runs in ODIs, but I missed 70, 80 one-day matches because of problems with the PCB chairman from 2007. So if I could have played those games, I might have been able to break a lot of records.If you were picking a Test World XI, which would be the first three names on the team sheet?
Dale Steyn, Saeed Ajmal, and AB de Villiers.And for T20?
Dilshan, Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Jos Buttler, Aaron Finch, de Villiers…Where’s your perfect holiday destination?
England. I like the cold weather, rain, everything. England has discipline, law and order. It’s a perfect lifestyle for me.What advice would you give to youngsters?

If you’ve got talent, don’t spoil it, don’t waste it. Talk to the right people. I’m doing Level 2 coaching and want to teach players to become hard hitters. I hope I will make more Abdul Razzaqs.Who practised the hardest in the Pakistan team?

You cannot say one person. What matters is quality practice that you enjoy. With Pakistan we had an eight-hour session when Javed Miandad was coach, and that was ridiculous. Eight-hour session!The Lahore terror attacks, the spot-fixing by Butt, Asif and Amir – it’s been a tough few years. What’s the way forward for Pakistani cricket?
You know, you need a good man as PCB chairman. If you’re not bringing them on merit, these kind of problems will come out. Everybody is out to become famous, not to help Pakistan cricket. They don’t have good intentions for cricket. They want to help themselves.

Neil Burns assesses the Kevin Pietersen saga in the shoes of the man who tried to facilitate his talent in the England dressing room

Neil Burns14-Oct-2014Brilliant teams need an understated leader who watches the process unfold moment-to-moment and nurtures the process whilst simultaneously being able to look ahead into the distance and see the danger to ensure the ship can be steered to calmer waters whenever it is needed.Part of this is challenging the team and its individuals from getting too cosy and thus allowing a level of complacency to enter a team’s consciousness. The slippage can be subtle, but it is so destructive to the winning culture if not attended to day by day. You are effectively the team’s conscience and have to regularly hold up the mirror to show the less appealing elements of the team’s activity and responses.Demanding leader that he is, Andy Flower must have annoyed even his greatest supporters in the team at times. Leading an elite sporting environment is not a role for anyone who wants to win a popularity contest.The sadness for me is in the clarity of the black-and-white thinking KP appears to prefer. Whilst it may help his performance it would appear to hinder his ability to engage fully with people he appears to have little regard for. Being able to co-exist with all types is an important quality to have, especially with the group’s leader, whatever one’s differences.For those who wear their preferences so openly, having a disregard for others can have a detrimental effect on people feeling comfortable around them. When this happens in a team environment, long-term performance suffers.If it is ‘the main man’ (from a performance perspective) then it can intimidate others and thus become a block to an individual feeling central to the team and producing the level of performance which comes with that genuine sense of inclusion. People want to, and need to feel valued.With young players, such personalities can have an inspirational effect on performance if ‘the main man’ rates them. Unfortunately, the polar opposite is also true. That’s where great coaches and great captains step in, and work on the environment to ensure strong personalities do not overpower the team culture and its need for shared ownership.It must be a place where all voices are heard and all feelings respected for a team to grow over time into a high-performing unit, and be a caring family system.Egotistical behaviour and immaturity in many players can make elite sport a difficult environment for coaches. As a head coach, achieving all-round success within a team sport is limited by the quality of thinking held by one’s charges.With a joined up long-term development plan, players can be inculcated with a respectful culture whereby each person supports each other’s growth. This leads to a healthy learning culture that enhances a team’s chances of enjoying sustained success.Is the highly-respected Andy Flower a demanding leader who managed to extract high-level performances from his charges through skilful management of a complex group of people? Or, is Andy Flower the big problem for English cricket and the reason for its downturn as Kevin Pietersen would like people to believe?The data supports the view that the intense, passionate and determined Flower led a group of good cricketers into a world of dedication that enabled them to become very good cricketers over time. The results were aided by the outstanding contributions by some brilliant performers like Kevin, Graeme Swann, Matt Prior, and James Anderson. But could they have done it without him? History suggests not, but we will never know.Maybe the answer to the above questions would have been clearer if Andy Flower had stood down from his role after the Ashes success in 2013? If so, he would have been feted as a truly remarkable coach who transformed an international sporting team from also-rans into the world’s best team over time.Andy is a man whose precision, both in terms of planning and choice of words, created a new level of professionalism for professional cricketers in Zimbabwe (when captain) and with England (as head coach). Apparently, there was no cosying up to star players and no soft-soaping of what success in top sport required in terms of attitude and commitment. But clearly the intensity of the environment became too much for some players the longer his reign continued with England.Andy Flower coached England to the most successful period in their history•Getty ImagesShould he, as the England coach have lightened up more? Or, should the selectors have realised that players reach a stage in their careers when they can no longer commit the same energy to a role that they were prepared to when they were busy establishing themselves in the team?But, the problem is that if there are insufficient players of quality pushing to get into the team, it is a massive risk to de-select any player whose attitude and approach is on the wane, albeit subtly, in favour of an untried newcomer.Thus, what happens, is the coach remains demanding, the players get tired of his/her approach, and resentment builds in a team which they don’t reveal other than to fellow players with a similar axe to grind. Thus, the team culture gets polluted with a silent mutiny about the coach and his/her methods.Performance then suffers, and the coach gets frustrated, sometimes angry and increasingly demanding and the cycle of resentment gets worse and worse, until eventually the whole thing explodes in people’s faces. The coach feels let down because they have continued to give all they can in the best way they knew possible, and the players feel relieved that disaster may bring about a new regime.Then, because of the fall-out, any individual who is believed to have been central to the undermining of the culture then gets the blame, and takes the hit.In 2013, the signs were there that Andy Flower’s team was decaying: specific players falling out with each other; a coterie of senior players forming an unhealthy tight bond that seemed to make life difficult for outsiders; the influential captain (Andrew Strauss) retiring a year beforehand; players urinating on the pitch at The Oval after winning a third successive Ashes series as part of a victory celebration; the indifferent quality of players moving through a revolving door to replace established senior players; egotistical players wanting to receive greater recognition for being greats (in their minds) and publicly talking about team and personal legacies.If he were really smart (and also selfish) Andy Flower would have walked away from English cricket’s top job in September 2013, and protected his record.Andy Flower is a smart guy who is less concerned with image and reputation than he is doing the best job he can for his employer, and serving his family’s needs. In this way he is very similar to Gary Kirsten. They love and respect the game of cricket, and they want to help others experience a similar experience and depth of connection. They are evangelists for their sport.However, there is no doubt in my mind that spending too long a period of time as a performance manager with an international sporting team can have a detrimental effect on one’s humour, perspective and ability to relax. It can become all-consuming for those at the coalface.The more times a person sees the same thing, the less they see. Historical perspectives of individuals can become entrenched views and where the eyes were once fresh, they become tired and stop exploring the detail with a child-like curiosity. Most significantly, the team can get bored of you and your voice.Nurturing effective relationships with star players is vital for a coach in professional sport. Without the support of the senior player group, a coach is dead in the water. But sometimes, over-indulgence of a star can also become a major problem because the rest of the senior player group can feel resentful about such treatment. Perhaps that is their problem, and they need to manage their own jealousies better, but it is a difficult dynamic to manage once it develops in a team. People rarely admit to having it, but it is there.Andy Flower would seem to be the recipient of much of Kevin Pietersen’s ire in his new book, though Matt Prior seems to be reviled for positioning himself as the ultimate team man. I have always believed that unless one is in the space it is impossible to know the exact nature of the relationship between two people but clearly Kevin has had little regard for Andy’s ability as a coach from way back.The role Kevin has played in the England team has been the one of a brilliant individual. His performances have been sensational at times. In fact, without his 158 at The Oval in 2005, England would have lost the match and with it, been unable to regain the Ashes. Who knows how long that sequence would have gone on without the belief of winning them back in 2005?Kevin Pietersen made some serious allegations in his autobiography•Getty ImagesDisappointingly, Kevin seems unable to recognize the role played by Andy Flower (and some others) in the management of the group process that culminated in some exceptional team results being achieved on a consistent basis between 2009 and 2013. By Kevin suggesting his own five-year-old son could have done what Andy accomplished, reveals to me a lack of understanding on Kevin’s part about what goes into facilitating top performance in others. I find it a disrespectful comment too.Trust is a vital element in enjoying successful relationships and maybe his opinions were as a result of losing trust in key people and some of his comments were an emotional release emanating from deep scars. I certainly felt it was unfair to portray him as the bad guy because I have first-hand knowledge of some very good things he has done behind the scenes to support English cricketers.It has been the most horrible 12 months in the ECB’s history. There have been no winners.The reality is elite sport is a messy place. Individuals are driven by a desire for the spotlight, recognition, feeling valued, wanting a sense of belonging and needing some financial and emotional security because it could all end in a split second through loss of form, confidence, or fitness.Insecurity dominates most people but they are too afraid to acknowledge their human frailty in the team context and thus have to wear – to quote Dr Ken Jennings – ‘the mask of competency’, which means the reality of the issues get buried quite deep until a demanding moment brings them to the surface. When it does, they can explode like a boil being lanced and pollute the environment for longer than it takes to clean up the mess.Every team faces the need for renewal. Doing so ahead of bad times is vital if the horrors experienced by the England cricket team last year are to be avoided by others in future.The fascinating aspect of renewal for me is the unknown. How will it play out as consequence of change?
When space is created in a system, it can be fascinating to observe who has the desire to fill it. Who, despite having all the credentials to fill it ,decides to remain in their previous role? Some very good players seem unable to, or choose not to, influence the culture of the team in a more dominant manner once their more senior teammates move on.Often it is an ambitious young person who has the chutzpah to seize the moment and make a big impact on the new culture which then inspires other more established members of the group to follow their lead. For example, it was Kevin Pietersen who filled the space in 2005, despite being a debutant.In my experience, sport is not a hierarchy where people shift up one notch in an orderly fashion as a consequence of those at the top of the tree moving on. The coach’s challenge is to create an environment in which people can become exceptional.The skill for every coach is in creating a learning context that people want to be part of because they see the value in their own personal growth as well as being part of others’ development too. Ultimately, when a person/player understands that their life is about being in service to others it all becomes so much easier.Being more loving towards all is what makes the difference in life.

A new book uses the context around the retirement of India’s biggest cricketer as grounds for further exploration

Samir Chopra31-Jan-2015Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell, in November 2013, was quite easily Indian cricket’s event of the year. It was also, quite possibly, a rather distinctive event in cricket’s history. A special Test series – against West Indies – was arranged by the BCCI, and the 200th and final Test of Tendulkar’s career was scheduled for the Wankhede in Mumbai. For most Indian cricket fans, the country’s favourite cricketing son deserved no less than this deliberate and elaborate goodbye, in the company of his family and at the ground that was his de-facto cricketing home.Tendulkar did not score a century in his last innings, but neither did he score a duck. He delivered a moving farewell speech, bringing tears to the eyes of many who saw it, and then, after the obligatory lap of the stadium, surrounded by a small army of photographers, board officials, security men and various hangers-on, he rode off into the sunset, leaving behind him the memories of a 25-year career. For some – including this writer – his retirement had come two years too late, but there was no doubt that when it did happen, the man at the centre of it all handled it with as much dignity as could be mustered in the midst of the spectacle that it was destined to be.Tendulkar’s last Test, and the context surrounding it, is the subject of Dilip D’Souza’s entertaining little book, . In it, D’Souza uses a close look at action on the pitch as a foundation and scaffolding for brief but wide-ranging looks at a host of topics: the financial power of Indian cricket, the BCCI’s domination of world cricket administration, the political resonances of cricket in Mumbai, including its relationship with the notorious (political party) the Shiv Sena, the decline of West Indies cricket, the obsession with statistics that is the hallmark of the cricket tragic, the peculiar and particular fascination Indian cricket fans have had with Tendulkar over the course of his long and distinguished career.The cricket is, of course, centre stage in D’Souza’s writing – perhaps a little too much even – but our understanding of the cricket action he describes is considerably enhanced by its being embedded in the issues he raises. It lends meaning to what could be a meaningless activity – the knocking around of ball by bat. The action we see on a ground is but the bare tip of an iceberg. There is finance, there is politics, there is economics, there are interpersonal relationships, there are cultural conventions; the sporting action reflects these myriad influences to those who play close attention.D’Souza is an experienced journalist who has often cast a critical glance at many aspects of modern Indian life in his writings over the years, and he brings the descriptive and analytical skills he has acquired over the course of his career to this foray into writing on cricket. The result is a book that will entertain the fan who wants to read about cricket action but also educate those who want to know more about what makes Indian cricket – and its fans and players – the distinctive cultural phenomena that they most certainly are.Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar
By Dilip D’Souza
Random House India, 254 pages
Rs 194 (paperback)

Pakistan have never beaten India in a World Cup match, and while they are not at their strongest, their opponents have been in dire form. Can Misbah-ul-Haq’s side overcome jitters to triumph at a packed Adelaide Oval?

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide13-Feb-20154:29

Dravid: Mohammad Irfan will challenge India’s batsmen

Pakistan are nervous. Real nervous.So nervous that a group of players who missed the team’s evening curfew by 45 minutes earlier in the tour are on their last warning for misbehaviour on this trip.So nervous that a usually gregarious team has been clammed up from talking formally to the media until the captain Misbah-ul-Haq speaks as obligated on Saturday.So nervous that at their main nets session on Friday morning only a handful of towering blows were aimed at the bowlers, as the batsmen worked fastidiously on their techniques lest anyone be made to look silly against India on Sunday.In all this there are signs that Pakistan may be too keyed up for this match, a contest no less an authority than Wasim Akram believes will dictate which of his homeland or India will find the confidence and resolution to make a genuine bid for the World Cup over the next six weeks. But it may also speak of an earnest attempt to find the sort of focus and purpose that only occasionally settles on a Pakistan line-up, as it so memorably did in 1992.Through the team can be sensed a familiar refrain: let’s just get through Sunday, then things will get easier. Given the shape of their draw, it is a sensible conclusion.In 2011, the meeting with India was saved for the semi-finals. In 1999 it was the Super Sixes, in 1996 the quarter-finals. The two times they met in the group stages were in 2003 and back in 1992, the last time the tournament took place down under. Then it was at an SCG more sparsely populated than Adelaide will be. Javed Miandad made the newspapers for his theatrical imitation of Kiran More’s appealing, but India won. The result had no bearing on the outcome of what would become Pakistan’s Cup.There are other reasons for Pakistani optimism. India have been operating on what feels like one cylinder for most of their lengthy Australian tour. Only this week against Afghanistan did they finally manage to win a match. As MS Dhoni has freely admitted, his team have a longer tail than he would like, while their bowling has never suggested it will scale any sort of heights down under. The onus is on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and company to score anything and everything.It should not be forgotten either that Pakistan were victorious when last these two sides met in an ODI, at the Asia Cup in Dhaka a little less than a year ago. India were Dhoni-less if not quite rudderless, and Shahid Afridi grasped his moment to turn an equation of nine to win from four balls into three runs in credit with two deliveries to spare. That result was celebrated as an example of the sort of crazed beauty inherent in Pakistan cricket, but there are some steadier hands who may play a role in Adelaide.While many have commented at the relative weakness of Pakistan’s bowling attack when lined up against those assembled for previous World Cups, they have in Yasir Shah the best legspinner in the tournament – unless Imran Tahir lands everything in its right place. Shane Warne was impressed by Yasir’s work against Australia in Test matches last October, and his combination of bounce, spin and accuracy should find sympathetic responses from antipodean pitches, much as Mushtaq Ahmed did 23 years ago.In the batting order, Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal form the sort of middle-order hinge likely to swing plenty of matches towards their side, allowing Afridi the license to play without any thoughts beyond where he can deposit the next ball. What is needed primarily is a little more solidity at the top of the order, a task not beyond the capability of Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad and certainly well within the repertoire of Younis Khan. Shehzad was struck on the forearm during nets on Friday, but scans have cleared him of anything more than bruising.Of course the size of the occasion will be daunting. Just to make sure Adelaide Oval will be full to bursting, World Cup organisers released an extra 3000 tickets to those on a lengthy waiting list for the match on Friday, and watched them disappear in minutes. Nary a hotel room nor flight into Adelaide is available at anything less than the most exorbitant rate imaginable, while the television audience for the game will doubtless set new records.So Pakistan had good reason to be nervous as they prepared, but no more so than India. All they need now is Sunday.

Deivarayan Muthu27-Mar-2015Attack-first approach: New Zealand’s strategy to contain runs? Get wickets. The field shown in the picture was not at the start of the innings nor was it with the opposition in shambles – it was in the 14th over of the semi-final as New Zealand relentlessly attacked, even when the option was there to spread the field.•ICCTrent Boult: Need a wicket right now? Call Boult. His mastery of swing and his consistency have played a pivotal part in New Zealand’s progress. On his way to toppling Geoff Allott’s New Zealand World Cup record of 20 wickets, Boult took 5 for 27, studded by a spell of 5-3-3-5, in the trans-Tasman tussle in Auckland. Boult has bowled out six times in eight matches compared to Tim Southee’s three and Daniel Vettori’s four and has six wickets more than Southee and Vettori, who are level with 15.•Getty ImagesIntensity in the field: … And the bowlers have been backed up by some sharp fielding. McCullum has led by example there as well, often leaping, sliding, diving, flinging and prowling at the covers. Vettori also stepped up and matched McCullum’s reflexes when he backpedalled, leapt and pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Marlon Samuels in the quarter-final against West Indies.•Getty ImagesBowling depth and readiness: Adam Milne picked up only five wickets in six matches, but his extra pace and lift meant he was preferred over the experienced Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan, New Zealand’s most successful ODI bowler in the last three years. Even when Milne sustained a heel injury ahead of the semi-final, New Zealand went for the rookie Matt Henry, who wasn’t even in the World Cup squad a couple of days before the big game. McCullum explained the selection: “We have just gone for the aggressive option. A wicket-taking option. Best first-change option. When in doubt, go for the aggressive option.”•Getty Images

Our correspondent heads to the city of his childhood, via MS Dhoni’s home town

Arun Venugopal28-May-2015May 20
Early-morning flight. Panic attack. With my system having tuned itself to ignoring alarm clocks for years now, I make a mental note not to sleep the night before. Despite every effort, nod off at around 4am. Thankfully the cab driver’s persistent phone calls wake me up.Exit Ranchi airport to sound of trumpets and drums. Like to believe the welcome is meant for me, but discover it is a group of people shouting political party slogans and waving flags. Reach the hotel. Head out to the JSCA International Stadium in a bit. Or so I think.The autorickshaw driver is halfway into ferrying me to the hockey stadium before we hurriedly discuss what a cricket stadium means. I am told I should ask for “Dhurva Stadium”. Look for the West Gate to exchange my e-ticket for the real deal. The walk proves long and the search seems endless. I finally set my eyes on an unfinished building with a hole-in-the-wall counter. It bears the sign “Box Office”.The stadium is a charming, modern structure with grass embankments mimicking the ones in South African stadiums. Take in the expansive dressing rooms. Meet MS Dhoni’s coach, Chanchal Bhattacharya. Am now armed with a few Dhoni anecdotes.No transport in sight. More walking to do. Trudge along for about five kilometres on a road lit only by the stadium’s floodlights. Finally a gentleman responds to my request for a lift. “You only need to wave your hand to get a lift in Ranchi,” he says. He asks me what I do.”I am a journalist here for the cricket.””Where do you work?””ESPNcricinfo.””Is that a news channel?”The hole-in-the-wall ticket counter at the JSCA Stadium•ESPNcricinfo LtdMay 21
Make another visit to the stadium. Chennai Super Kings have arrived to train. There are only about 50 policemen and a few journalists gathered to watch. A pre-game press conference is scheduled as well. No surprises seeing Stephen Fleming walk in. He has over the years become the de facto team representative at media interactions.Get back to the hotel squeezed in the front seat of an auto along with three other men, driver included. Listen to a couple of drunks jabber away incoherently behind me.May 22
Game day. Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore. Expectedly more fans in yellow than red. Auto driver points to a road that apparently leads to Dhoni’s house, and says: “He must be sleeping at home now.”Roads leading to the stadium are clogged with humanity and automobiles. No signposts telling us where to enter or exit. Finally, upon reaching the South Gate, I am, along with a few hundred people, shoved in like cement into a mixer.Meet a couple of Americans, Sam and Bob, who are curious to watch a game of cricket after spending hours on the internet reading up on it. We swap notes on the parallels between cricket and baseball. They seem particularly fascinated by fast bowlers knocking stumps out of the ground, and wonder how they might fare as baseball pitchers.They are amused by the dancing cheerleaders, firecrackers going off after wickets, and the DJ prompting crowds to scream their lungs out. “Gee, it’s just like what happens back home. People in stadiums are always told when to cheer,” Sam says.May 23
My last day in Ranchi. Try out some local street food. The grows on you; it’s a dry ball of wheat served with tomato paste, tamarind water and onions. Wash it down with a porridge of , perhaps the best comfort drink I have had in some time.Dread the seven-hour flight to Kolkata via to New Delhi. Meet Mandeep Singh of Royal Challengers at the airport. He calls Daniel Vettori a “class [chap]. [He is always calm].” Admits to having been worried initially about Virat Kohli’s infamous temper. “But he was fine actually. He shows his passion on the field, but was generally pretty calm.”May 24
In Kolkata. The city where I spent the first eight years of my life. The city I haven’t visited once since I left in 1996. Flush with memories, many of which are connected with the sights and smells of the city. Filled with regret at having forgotten all the Bengali I knew.Go back to the house I once lived in. On Palm Avenue. Ballygunge. Astonished that things haven’t changed one bit. Not the small bylanes. Or the even smaller pathway where I would embarrass myself attempting to play cricket. Can’t meet my childhood friends, who are out of town.Focus back on cricket. The big final, or is it really? Mumbai Indians dismantle Super Kings in a hopelessly dull game. The sticky, hot mess that is the Kolkata weather makes things seem worse than they are. The full house at Eden Gardens, clearly bored and tired, only makes sporadic noises. Have to contend with incessant chatter between two siblings seated behind me about the Big Bang theory, matter and no matter. Nightmares of my miserable time with physics at school return.Street Hawk: Dhoni hits the road in Ranchi•PTI May 25
Try to get an appointment for an interview with Jagmohan Dalmiya. Call his number and mistake his voice for someone else’s. He patiently explains that it is indeed him. There have been reports about him being unwell. Assures me he is okay now. The interview, though, will have to wait.May 26
Visit the Victoria Memorial. Simply blown away by its sheer magnificence and the coming together of architectural styles. Not much of a shopper, but platform purchases at the Esplanade are fulfilling, as are long walks along the Rabindra Sarobar.May 27
Go to Dakshineshwar, in the North 24 Parganas District. Another fond childhood memory. The ferry ride on the Hooghly River to Belur Math reignites a long-forgotten thrill.Off to Gariahat to visit my alma mater. Again, hasn’t changed one bit. The same box-like structure with a liberal spray of red and yellow paint.Go back to the Palm Avenue house. Second time lucky as my friends are in town, and a long evening is spent nursing Cartoon Network-filled memories of two decades ago. Walk past the house of a distinguished erstwhile neighbour, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the former chief minister of West Bengal.Happy that most things on my list are ticked, but no clue about my first crush at school. Next time.