Glamorgan’s Mark Wallace’s run of 230 consecutive county championship matches started back in 2001 and ended this week. These big-name players’ entire Test careers was within this streak

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2015Michael Clarke (2004 – 2015) Tests: 115, Runs: 8643•Getty Images Andrew Strauss (2004 – 2012) Tests: 100, Runs: 7037•Getty Images MS Dhoni (2005 – 2014) Tests: 90, Runs: 4876•Getty Images Michael Hussey (2005 – 2013) Tests:79, Runs: 6235•Getty Images

We look back at six encounters between Pakistan and England that became iconic (sometimes for the wrong reasons)

Andrew McGlashan10-Oct-2015The Oval 1954An historic moment in Pakistan’s Test history as they overturned England for the first time in a low-scoring encounter. There were just two half-centuries in the match – by Denis Compton and Peter May – but it was Fazal Mahmood, Pakistan’s first great fast bowler, with 12 wickets, who provided the defining performance. It was his second 12-wicket haul in Tests, following the 12 for 94 he claimed against India in Lucknow, which gave Pakistan their maiden Test victory in 1952. Those two hauls remain Pakistan’s best overseas. In this match he earned Pakistan a three-run lead with 6 for 53 in the first innings and then, defending 168 with England seemingly cruising on 109 for 2, claimed 6 for 46 in the second. Pakistan’s lower-order batting was also key: over the two innings the last two wickets added 138 runs. Speaking of the match, Mahmood said: “Even though we were bowled out for 133, I did not think for a second we would lose.”Faisalabad 1987Mike Gatting, Shakoor Rana and Peter Lush, the England manager, after the uneasy truce•Getty ImagesThe scorecard records Match Drawn – that does not even tell the half of it. Mike Gatting’s infamous confrontation with umpire Shakoor Rana led to the third day’s play being lost and almost caused the abandonment of the tour. England, and especially Gatting, were already peeved by the standard of the umpiring and the tension came to a head when Rana claimed that Gatting had been moving a fielder – David Capel – without the knowledge of batsman Saleem Malik. It began one of the most heated exchanges on a cricket pitch – and produced the iconic photo, taken by Graham Morris, of Gatting with his finger jabbing at Rana, who refused to stand again until an official apology was made. “It was not his job at square leg to inform the batsman what I was doing. I did nothing for which I need to apologise,” Gatting said. His hand was eventually forced, but England did not have time to press home a strong position, which had been based on Chris Broad’s hundred and then bowling out Pakistan for 191. “Mike Gatting was packed off to the headmaster’s study without so much as a to stick down the back of his trousers,” wrote Martin Johnson in the . However, in the , Ted Dexter wrote: “Regardless of the provocation, Gatting has made a mess of it and should be disciplined.”Lord’s 1992Wasim Akram celebrates Pakistan’s two-wicket win at Lord’s•Getty ImagesThe two “Ws” won many matches for Pakistan, but this one was with bat in hand – although they did share the small matter of 13 wickets. Chasing 138 against a depleted England attack down to three fit bowlers, after the loss of Phil DeFreitas and Ian Botham (in what proved his last Test), Pakistan slipped to 95 for 8 as debutant Ian Salisbury and Chris Lewis took six wickets between them. However, Lewis and Devon Malcolm ran out of gas and Salisbury could not quite cap a memorable debut as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis held their nerve deep into the Sunday evening.”What England’s captain needed was an over from Wasim or Waqar,” said. “But they were batting for the other side and, slowly but surely, they took Pakistan to victory. Rarely can a Test crowd have been through so many emotions in a single day’s play.” Earlier in the match, Waqar had been central to sparking a trademark collapse as England fell away from 123 without loss, but in reply, Malcolm went through Pakistan’s middle order. A combination of Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed dismantled England’s second innings, although Alec Stewart carried his bat for an unbeaten 69. Lewis removed Pakistan’s Nos. 2, 3 and 4 for ducks and Salisbury hinted at a legspinning future for England, but both proved false dawns.Karachi 2000Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe celebrate victory in the dark•Getty ImagesA series that had crept along on dead pitches with slow scoring came to life on the final day as England somehow conjured a remarkable victory moments before Karachi would have been enveloped in complete darkness. Even before Graham Thorpe edged past his stumps for the winning runs, Pakistan’s fielders had remonstrated that they could not see the ball, but the protests fell on deaf ears against Steve Bucknor after their previous attempts to slow the game down. England’s astonishing victory push actually started the previous evening when Thorpe took an outstanding catch on the long leg boundary to remove Saeed Anwar, and Ashley Giles ripped a delivery across Inzamam-ul-Haq to clip his off stump. It opened the door a fraction, and on the final morning Giles, Darren Gough and Craig White chipped through the rest of the Pakistan order to leave a tantalising target of 176 in 44 overs and a race against the light. Thorpe led the way, while Michael Atherton – who, the first innings, had made what would become his final Test hundred – Marcus Trescothick and Graeme Hick all chipped in before the denouement in the gloom.Multan 2005Shoaib Akhtar demolishes Ashley Giles’ stumps during Pakistan’s final-day victory push in 2005•AFPFresh from their heady 2005 Ashes glory, England appeared set to continue their surge with victory in the opening Test of this series. They had stayed ahead of Pakistan throughout the first four days, restricting them to 274 on a flat pitch then building a lead of 144 on the back of Trescothick’s 193. Pakistan fought hard in their second innings, led by Salman Butt’s 122, but England’s pace attack – the powerful trio of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff – chipped away with stamina and skill to leave a target of 198. At the close of the fourth day England were 24 for 1, losing Trescothick but still strongly placed. When they moved to 64 for 1 on the final morning all seemed in order, but then Danish Kaneria removed Ian Bell and Andrew Strauss in the same over and Pakistan sensed their moment. Paul Collingwood fell next over to make it three wickets in seven balls, and when Kaneria snared Flintoff and Mohammad Sami removed Kevin Pietersen it was all Pakistan at 101 for 6. A Shoaib Akhtar thunderbolt left just one of Giles’ stumps standing, but Geraint Jones and Shaun Udal eked out a stand of 49 to pull England within 32 of victory. However, Kaneria removed Udal and then Shoaib finished the job with another searing yorker to Jones before Harmison fended to gully. England’s 2005 bubble was burst.Lord’s 2010There was only one thing people were talking about on the fourth day at Lord’s•Getty ImagesAs the players left the field after the third day’s play, all the talk was of a world-record eighth-wicket stand of 332 between Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad, and the implosion of the Pakistan batting, which left them 41 for 4 following on. Yet, a few hours later, the focus dramatically, and permanently, shifted. Shortly after 10pm, the broke the spot-fixing story of no-balls to order involving Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who had etched his name on the honours broad with 6 for 84 earlier in the match. Overnight few people slept and next morning there were doubts as to whether the Test would resume. It did, but amid a torpid atmosphere where England could barely bring themselves to celebrate wickets as they secured a massive, but forever hollow, innings victory to take the series. The match was over; the real story had only just begun. The three players were found guilty and each handed prison sentences of varying lengths. Five years on, there remains a possibility that England could face Amir at some point in this tour.

In his new role, at No.4, he wants to shape an innings, rather than finish it. Those intentions cannot be faulted, but the knock on effect is that Ajinkya Rahane is left in the cold

Alagappan Muthu in Kanpur10-Oct-2015People have looked up to MS Dhoni the finisher for a long time. Commentators marvel at how calm he can be, and fans feel secure of India’s chances so long as their captain is in the middle. Since 2004, which amounts to 226 out of 265 matches, they have seen Dhoni walk out at No. 5 or lower, absorb the pressure and deliver the best he could for the team. That’s 121 victories, wherein he has three centuries and an average of 63.54Those figures are admirable considering there are enough times a lower-middle order batsman has to either contend with his team at 50 for 3 and wanting stable ground, or 150 for 3 and wanting lift-off. Two drastically different roles, no letup in responsibility, and you don’t even play a part in picking the straw you end up with.Dhoni has managed quite well in the face of this uncertainty, but doing so has taken a toll. His form has dipped to such an extent that there is fear he might become a liability. His power game has waned. So has his range because he does not play those unorthodox swipes as much anymore. A yorker to Dhoni now has become a dot ball.The fear that he could launch the next one into orbit remains, but lately the frequency has dipped. Dhoni has only seven sixes in 2015 – his lowest in a year that he has played at least 10 ODIs. Perhaps that is a choice. He has spoken a lot about how India lacking a solid No. 7 has shaped the way he plays recently. It is noticeable that he delays his charge a lot more than usual. But when the time comes, switching gears has been difficult. Then the pressure on him gets a lot sharper. He feels the team will suffer without him at the crease, so he grits his teeth and bats on, striking at 80 rather than 180.Now Dhoni does not want so much on his plate. He does not want to come in the middle of a floundering innings and pick up the pieces. He wants to bat at No. 4 shape it. Those intentions cannot be faulted but a knock on effect is that Ajinkya Rahane, arguably one of the first players who would make an Indian Test XI, cannot find space because he is not a smasher of the ball.But with a batting order that has a reasonably optimal spread of power players – Rohit at the top, almost seamlessly Virat Kohli at one drop, then Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself down the order – can’t India persist with a player with Rahane’s ability at No. 4?”Even to some extent four is quite low for him,” Dhoni said. “I’ve always felt he is somebody who should bat up the order. Opening is the slot that fits him really well. Also, it’s slightly different for us. If you see first-class cricket for example, Rohit [Sharma] bats at No. 4 or No. 3 or No. 5, but over here he opens for us. Also if you see [India’s] history, there have been a lot of individuals who have done that. Our openers, more often than not, bat in the middle order in first-class cricket.”Its slightly difficult for him as of now. Especially if I am looking for somebody to bat at [Nos.] 5, 6 or 7. I don’t think he is the person to bat at that number. If given the chance, we will feature him in the top three, but if not it might be difficult to have him feature.”

“It’s slightly difficult for Rahane as of now. Especially if I am looking for somebody to bat at [Nos.] 5, 6 or 7. I don’t think he is the person to bat at that number”MS Dhoni

Dhoni’s game has changed, as it often does towards the end of one’s career. He is 35 years old. It is unlikely he will be part of the next 50-over World Cup and, considering his preference to have players well aware of their roles well before an ICC tournament, he must want someone else to take over as the new finisher while he is around to groom them.Peering two overs into the future and managing the present accordingly. Which of the opposition bowlers are the most threatening? Who has the overs left? And most importantly, who is the weak link? Right now, India believe Rahane needs to build a head of steam before getting into this mode.”Batting down, especially at [Nos.] 5, 6 and 7, he faces more difficulty,” Dhoni said. “We have seen that he is more flamboyant or more free when he bats up the order with a bit of field restrictions. Once he gets a good start he can capitalise in the middle overs.”So the likely choice for this role will be Raina. Oddly enough, Raina was among those talked about as a potential No. 4 too. But with over 200 ODIs’ experience, a good range of strokes and the knack for wedging the ball into gaps, he leads the candidate list for the next Indian finisher.It seems Dhoni is set on this course and if he believes it is the right one, as much as he has had to believe a scoreline of 50 for 3 can be rectified, it’ll take a pretty tough curveball to strike him out of it.

Plus: golfing with chavs, the burning to desire to deliver punches to the groin, and other delightful stuff

Alex Bowden04-Sep-2015Beyond the cricket field, few players are held in such high regard as Kumar Sangakkara. People seem incapable of writing about what his future might hold without using the word “statesmanlike”. It was therefore something of a surprise when his post Test career Twitter output followed the lead of that famously dignified ex-cricketer, Ian Botham.Sangakkara says his account was hacked. How many hackings featuring genital photographs do we need before we can start referring to it as a “spate”?Perhaps it’s a lesson that even the greatest among us can be diminished by events beyond our control. Or, as Saqlain Mushtaq cheerily puts it:

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Thanks for the uplifting message, Saqlain.Things have been either squalid or dark thus far. Maybe it’s time to embrace innocence. Sometimes a simple gesture can really make someone’s day.

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You’d think after countless summers in England, Shane Wane would have got to grips with the climate like now.

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Summer in England is no drier than any other time of year. It’s just less cold.Shane should try and be more like Nasir Jamshed and just try and enjoy it.

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What do you mean, sarcasm?Rain or shine, you can always play golf. Alex Hales and Ben Stokes took on Sam Billings and Jason Roy this week in what Hales branded a “chavs v toffs” match.So who won?

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But in this writer’s eyes, Hales was the true winner for this tetchy retort.

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Yorkshire have got a major win under their belt as well.

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Meanwhile, it was Tino Best’s birthday.

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Don’t encourage him. He doesn’t need compliments from other people. He’s perfectly capable of supplying them himself.

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Nor has age mellowed Tino.

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Best’s sometime team-mate, Kemar Roach, learnt that every action has a consequence.

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It may sound pretty self-indulgent, but soon enough that bed becomes a prison cell.

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Get up. Walk to the fridge.Finally, somewhere in the world, there is always a cricketer complaining about some aspect of air travel.

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South Africa went nine years without tasting a Test series defeat on the road, but all the fighting traits which defined them during that run have been missing in India

Firdose Moonda in Delhi04-Dec-20151:59

Manjrekar: Disappointed with Faf and Amla

.Dropping catches at slip The bucket hands of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis left more than a year ago, but Dean Elgar, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis have been adequate replacements. Hashim Amla, though, who may see it as his duty as captain to station himself at slips, has not. Amla put down three catches in the India innings and South Africa were made to pay for two of them. When Kyle Abbott induced a thick edge off Rohit Sharma with a reverse-swinging ball, Amla should have taken it with both hands, but he spilled it. Dane Piedt later drew the edge from Ajinkya Rahane with a slider when was on 78, and Amla had to get low down to his left but again, with both hands to grasp the ball, he let it go. Rahane added 49 more runs to his score. Then, Abbott was left down again when Ashwin hung his bat outside offstump and the edged ball died on Amla. Ashwin was on 14 at the time, and went on to make 56. Playing a paddle scoop of the second ball when you’re not AB de Villiers Du Plessis had scored just 11 runs in the series before he spent three hours at the crease in the second innings in Nagpur. He obviously thought he had played himself back into form. He came in at No.5 in Delhi – two lower than usual – with the team in trouble at 56 for 3, and tried to scoop the second ball he faced over fine leg. Ajinkya Rahane saw him coming and moved from slip to leg slip to take the catch. The resultant duck made du Plessis only the second South Africa batsman since Charlie Llewellyn in 1912 to record three ducks in six innings.Losing three of the top seven to quicks in a series dominated by spin South Africa have been so busy concentrating on turn, they seemed to forget that India also have quicks who they should be careful against. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma got the ball to move, induced an edge from Dean Elgar, and broke through JP Duminy and Dane Vilas’ defenses to leave South Africa looking vulnerable against anyone with a red cherry in hand.Running out of ideas and answers when they need them most Amla has been a creative captain for most of his tenure, but on the second morning, with India still not entirely comfortable with their score, he seemed spent. He took the second new ball but spread the field, allowing Rahane and Ashwin to collect runs fairly freely. He used his best bowler from the first day, Dane Piedt, sparingly when instead he should have been applying pressure. He used Imran Tahir liberally even as he leaked runs. Later, the coach Russell Domingo had no real reasons for South Africa’s struggles other than that things had not gone their way, and that they had been outplayed. That is the decent thing to say, but fans back home will demand more of an explanation.

The late Cricket Australia board director was passionate about politics and history, and his contribution to Australian sport extended beyond cricket

Daniel Brettig16-Dec-2015A friend tells a story about a conversation with John Bannon, in which the topic turned to running. This friend had endured a few Sydney “City2Surf” fun runs and was relating his struggles to cover the 14km distance. After listening patiently to these lamentations, Bannon said simply, “Yes, I used to do a bit of running myself.”Try 28 Adelaide Marathons, 11 in which he completed the journey in less than three hours, most of these while he was also occupied by the all-consuming job as premier treasurer of South Australia. In building a new and meaningful life after politics, Bannon would often surprise and delight with self-deprecating references to his former career. As Mark Kenny has written: “Bannon was actually a giant in Australian politics… It’s just he never said so.”Cricket had always been a major passion of Bannon’s, and his legbreaks are remembered fondly by fellow members of the St Peter’s Old Collegians cricket club in the Adelaide Turf Competition. But it was in his later years – even after a cancer diagnosis in 2007 – that Bannon made his greatest mark on the game.All those years in politics, and the traumatic experiences of his final term as premier amid the collapse of the State Bank, were brought to the service of Australian cricket via the boards of Cricket Australia and the South Australian Cricket Association. Bannon knew a thing or two, and while he would never impose his opinions, he added greatly to the knowledge and expertise of other administrators around him.

Bannon also served as Master of St Mark’s residential college, where young students and older dinner guests alike discovered his gifts as an orator, comedian and mimic

One such lesson was about the importance of personal relationships in making and keeping deals for major events. Bannon was the man who brought the Formula One Grand Prix to Australia when he reacted most favourably to the entreaties of the F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone in the early 1980s. Labor premiers John Cain in Victoria and Nevill Wran in New South Wales had hesitated, and it was the young first-termer Bannon who built a rapport with Ecclestone that intertwined the race’s status with his premiership.Ecclestone met Bannon at the Star Pub in Chessington, Surrey, where they mapped out a deal. Back then, Adelaide was a major beneficiary, being opened up to the world without paying anything like the race fees F1 now demands of host cities. Ecclestone, at the time recently installed as F1 chief after having worked as the team principal for Brabham, was grateful to form the alliance in a part of the world new to the sport.”John Bannon saw the advantage of advertising Adelaide to the rest of the world and took advantage of it,” Ron Walker, the former Australian Grand Prix chairman told Fairfax Media earlier this year. “They had it for ten good years. But Bernie had always said to him, ‘You can have this race for as long as you stay in office. The moment you lose an election or you retire, the race goes somewhere else.'”So it was that a change in government brought a change in the race venue, from Adelaide to Melbourne. Ecclestone tried to have Bannon sign a new contract for the race to extend its South Australian tenure, but by then Bannon was occupied by the weightier and messier business of the State Bank.This throws up another Bannon learning that SACA and CA board directors benefited from – the importance of personal responsibility and accountability.Bannon (far right) with former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke (far left) and fellow state premiers in 1989•Getty ImagesBannon paid a heavy price, taking the blame for the failure of the bank upon himself at a time when many others in positions of more direct import to the bank’s fortunes chose to sidestep the brickbats. In a heated moment on ABC radio in Adelaide during the worst of the fallout, Bannon’s former university colleague Keith Conlon exclaimed, “Some bastard’s got to wear this.” Bannon replied, “I am the bastard… and I am wearing it!” His departure from politics was unhappy but also honourable.Later, in an interview with the Adelaide University magazine , a publication he had once edited himself, he thought aloud about what was next: “Just how I fit in. I don’t know at this stage. I’ve just got to let that work through.” During his period of reflection, Bannon took in the 1994 Australian Test tour of South Africa, the first visit of the national team to that part of the world since the end of apartheid. In addition to never missing the Adelaide Test, he was a frequent attendee at overseas matches.Bannon chose to pivot into academia, penning a biography of former South Australia premier Sir John Downer, called , and devoting much of his time to the service of history. He also served as Master of St Mark’s residential college in North Adelaide, where young students and older dinner guests alike discovered his gifts as an orator, comedian and even a mimic: Churchill and Hitler were two particularly memorable turns.Wooed by the patrician Ian McLachlan to join the SACA board in 2001, Bannon was soon adding his intellect to cricket board discussion. Perhaps because he found himself playing a central role in so much of it, he was enduringly committed to ensuring the lessons of history were not allowed to fade away. During the CA governance debate, Bannon’s position was staunchly federalist but not without room to manoeuvre. He related later that he had always been in favour of the board’s reduction from 14 directors to nine, and that SA’s “undue” representation was fair game to be cut back.

Cricket had always been a major passion of Bannon’s, and his legbreaks are remembered fondly by fellow members of the St Peter’s Old Collegians cricket club in the Adelaide Turf Competition

But he baulked at the total separation of board members from states, out of the well-founded fear that it would cause the interests of the largest centres to be heard most frequently to the exclusion of others, and out of scepticism that the board would become a tool of CA management, not the other way around. He was gratified when a compromise was brokered to ensure the board had to include at least one director from each state: proudly, he was South Australia’s.The former chairman Wally Edwards said of Bannon: “He was a great contributor to the board. He had a sense of history and a great love of cricket. He kept us fellow board directors honest to the traditions of the game and the administration of the game.”I first met Bannon at the ITC Gardenia Hotel in Bangalore during Australia’s 2010 Test tour. His expression broadened into a grin when I mentioned my South Australian heritage, though it became a little wrier when I added that I had started my journalism career at the . We crossed paths regularly over the next few years; it was a happy coincidence that a first invitation to the LBW Trust chairman Darshak Mehta’s SCG Test dinner coincided with his delivery of its keynote address. His passion that night was palpable.Partly due to his words about the importance of history at that gathering, I contacted him directly with a problem I had heard about, to do with CA’s archives. Following the publication in 2007 of the board history , written by Gideon Haigh and David Frith, requests by others to peruse certain records had been declined on the basis they could not be located. Further investigations suggested that, after the book’s publication, many had been marked “D” for destroyed.Bannon was instrumental in bringing the Formula One Grand Prix to Australia. It kicked off in the 1980s in Adelaide, before moving to Melbourne•Getty ImagesTo Bannon, such a loss of history was anathema, and after we discussed it over coffee at the Art Gallery of South Australia in January last year, he promised to do all he could. The result was a board paper put together by Bannon and the former head of public affairs Peter Young that raised the issue and suggested means by which the collective memory of CA and the states might be organised and preserved.Later in the year he travelled to Scotland as a constitutional historian to observe and write about the independence referendum. At the same time he was also working on the SACA’s collection of artefacts and plans for a museum.”The aim is for the creation of a dedicated building or space for the SACA museum, perhaps combined with a cricket library or clubroom,” he said earlier this year. “It’s a big project and involves a lot of work, but it is very important it is done correctly. It must be located where members and the public can have easy access to it, and have enough space to do justice to our ever-growing collection. It is something I want to devote more time and energy to in my remaining term on the board.”We stayed in touch, and when I had the misfortune of being mugged in Dominica, he was prompt in writing an email to convey his hope that I was on the mend, adding: “There IS action on the archives matters we discussed – I haven’t stopped prodding…” As a result of the said prodding, a search of Melbourne located the CA archival material at several off-site locations dotted around the city, and they are now the subject of work by Young and Haigh that will ensure they are not allowed to fall into obscurity, disrepair and destruction.At that stage Bannon was still hopeful of making the trip to England for an Ashes Test or two. When I asked a few weeks later about his movements, I got a typically understated indication of the health issues that had been his near constant companions since 2007: he would be unable to make the trip. He did, however, offer a prescient observation ahead of Edgbaston. “Third Test will be the indicator of what are the strengths of the teams; forget about ‘doctored’ wickets, each side plays on the same strip and should be able to adapt.”That would turn out to be the story of the 2015 Ashes in a nutshell.Without fanfare, Bannon had offered his wisdom freely and well in advance of events, an experience shared by many whose lives he enriched.Australian cricket is immeasurably poorer for his loss, and it is up to those who knew him to ensure his many learnings about history, cricket and life are not forgotten.

The Big Bash League has established its niche in Australia’s summer through careful planning and aggressive marketing

Will Macpherson21-Jan-2016″Are you coming to the Big Bash tonight?” asked the kid, who could have been no older than seven, of the family friend being picked up at Adelaide Airport on the morning of New Year’s Eve. “You have to come, it’s New Year’s. It’s traditional.”In many ways, he was right. It did feel, on New Year’s Eve in Adelaide, like you did at the Big Bash: 46,389 people – a strikingly diverse bunch – were at Adelaide Oval, and what a spectacle they were party to. “What did we do on New Year’s Eve before the Big Bash?” one Adelaidian joked the following day.How can anything pertaining to the BBL possibly be traditional? Sure, sporting traditions exist all over the place – football is played on Boxing Day across the UK and Australian Rules is played on Anzac Day and the Queen’s Birthday public holidays, for example. But the BBL? You likely own a pair of shoes or a household appliance with a more storied history. Tradition is carved over time, and passed from generation to generation, not created in an instant.Except, in the BBL, tradition has been created both quickly and with success. Many things have stood out about the fifth edition, but more notable than the bumper TV ratings, the youthful, next-gen make-up of the competition’s devotees, and the dramatic, dynamic cricket, has been the sheer volume of people flooding through the gates.New Year in Adelaide felt like a “moment”, but two days later 80,883 turned up at the MCG for the Melbourne derby. Every game has had some sort of record: small, seemingly insignificant ones, such as Etihad Stadium attracting its highest derby and non-derby crowds, or significant ones, like the whoppers at the MCG and Adelaide Oval, or Hobart’s first (and second, and third) BBL sellouts, and the Sydney derby coming close to 40,000. Almost every game has attracted a bigger crowd than last season, and the group-stage average attendance sat at 28,248, almost 5000 up on last year’s average.

In the BBL, tradition has been created both quickly and with success. More notable than the bumper TV ratings, the youthful, next-gen make-up of the competition’s devotees, and the dramatic, dynamic cricket, has been the sheer volume of people flooding through the gates

Listen to a golfer’s post-round press interaction and you’ll hear a regular refrain: “I’ve just got to control the controllables,” they’ll say. The same goes for Cricket Australia’s dealings with the BBL; the only thing that cannot be scripted is what happens on the field. Everything else is planned meticulously. There is no better example of this than the fixture list, and the rewards are reaped in those extraordinary crowds.”We work hard to optimise the schedule for our 32 pool games,” says Anthony Everard, the competition’s boss. It’s a pretty unique competition in this country; for the football codes that run through winter – it doesn’t really matter which Saturday afternoon you play on in May, July or August, it’s still a Saturday afternoon. “But we play in a really concentrated period and within that, what we identified early is that there’s a huge difference between a Saturday afternoon the week before Christmas and the same time slot the week after.”Our focus is very much on families, and the weeks leading into Christmas are very busy times. It’s the end of the school year, and people have loads on, with Christmas shopping and the like. What we have to try to do is make the BBL as accessible as possible, and a big part of that is making the schedule predictable, so families know year on year when the fixtures are going to take place and can plan their other activities around that time.”Thus, a series of flagship games, and dates, were identified, and “icon fixtures” born. The two Sydney derbies were placed on the opening night and the last Saturday of the pool stages, and the two Melbourne derbies on the first two Saturdays of January. Perth Scorchers, due to their favourable time zone in relation to the Boxing Day Test, expressed interest in playing that evening; Adelaide Strikers did the same with New Year’s Eve.All part of the BBL entertainment package: Andrew Flintoff gets involved with the fans at the Spotless Stadium in Sydney•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesThere is more to come; Sydney Sixers are looking at playing on Christmas Eve 2016 (with accompanying carol service, which saw 3000 on the SCG outfield on December 20 this season), and Sydney Thunder are even considering Christmas Day. Hobart Hurricanes got a (since surpassed) record crowd on New Year’s Day this year, and are looking at the possibilities of locking that in, although they are slightly put off by the financial hit of playing on a public holiday, when they have to pay all event staff double time.Of the timings of the Melbourne derbies, Everard explains, “you have Christmas behind you, the most family time you have all year, but people are still on holiday. It makes sense to have our biggest match up in the market where we have the biggest capacity, at the MCG.” There’s a knock-on effect that feeds into the rivalry; Etihad Stadium had its own record crowd a week later, too. “Families now know that the first two Saturdays after New Year, there’s going to be a Melbourne derby.”New Year’s Eve cricket was introduced in 2013, when – following much deliberation – Everard invited expressions of interest from teams. “It was a date we had not traditionally played cricket in Australia,” he says. “There are so many other entertainment options that night. Sydney could never work, there are one million people at the harbour. Melbourne’s proximity to the Boxing Day Test made it tricky.” Enter Adelaide.Bronwyn Klei, Strikers’ general manager, says she could “hear a pin drop,” when she told her staff the team were in the market for a New Year’s game. “I thought it was great!” she says, “but I’m married with two kids and have nothing to do on NYE! The rest were like, ‘What? We have to work?'”CA backed Adelaide’s case for the fixture. There were hurdles; the town’s Lord Mayor does his own fireworks very close by – some Sydney Sixers players confided this was a frustration and distraction during this year’s game – and there were fears the two events would cannibalise one another.

New Year’s Eve cricket was introduced in 2013. “There are so many other entertainment options that night,” Everard says. “Sydney could never work, there are one million people at the harbour. Melbourne’s proximity to the Boxing Day Test made it tricky.” Enter Adelaide

There were far more positives, though. Adelaide Oval is bang in the centre of town and has a famously sociable crowd. The game starts early enough – 6.40 local time – to kick off a night out, with a brief concert afterwards, or provide its entire entertainment for young families. Klei admits she has been “totally blown away” by the event’s success and growth and believes “it is already an Adelaide institution”, while Everard says “that it has shown us that if you get the formula right, it doesn’t take long for something to become an institution.”Everard believes the same is possible in the Christmas period, although he is wary of overkill. “Whether or not there’s an opportunity for the BBL to become part of the Christmas tradition and actually enhance that experience, that would be the aspiration,” he says. “We certainly wouldn’t want to interfere with those traditions that already exist.”The BBL’s traditions do not end at the fixtures. There is a desire for in-stadium experience to be consistent, and Everard cites Melbourne Renegades’ use of the “Crusty Demons” motorbike troupe and Brisbane Heat’s “Rocket Man”, who flies around the Gabba on a jetpack, as successful innovations.The attempts to create in-city rivalries – which saw the BBL look at Manchester and Los Angeles as examples of two-team towns – also appear to be working, as the teams attempt to brand themselves distinctly and appeal to different parts of their city’s make-up. The numbers suggest it is working, with merchandise flying off the shelves (at the MCG on January 2, A$160,000 worth was sold) and impressive crowds, but anecdotally Thunder and Sixers home games feel distinct from each other, as does the experience at the MCG or Etihad Stadium.As the league matures, Everard’s plans seem to be slipping into place. This season’s total attendees will top 1,000,000 during Friday’s semi-final at the MCG, while Adelaide Oval’s semi-final sold out in an hour. Every fixture feels like it has broken some record or another and, amazingly given its brief history, the BBL seems to be cementing its place as an institution in Australia’s sporting calendar. None of this has happened by accident.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2016Alex Hales and Jason Roy got England going, putting on 38 in 3.4 overs•Getty ImagesKagiso Rabada separated them, having Roy caught at midwicket•Getty ImagesDavid Wiese struck with his first ball to remove Joe Root•Getty ImagesImran Tahir got rid of Alex Hales and Ben Stokes in consecutive overs•Getty ImagesEoin Morgan fell to Tahir for 10 off 12 balls…•Getty Images…and Faf du Plessis’ blinder got Moeen Ali first ball and gave Tahir his fourth•Getty ImagesEngland needed wickets in order to defend 134 and Chris Jordan removed AB de Villiers in the fifth over•Getty ImagesDu Plessis guided his team’s chase from No. 3•Getty ImagesStokes’ four-over spell kept the pressure on, as well as accounting for Hashim Amla•AFPMoeen and Adil Rashid made vital breakthrough and Jordan then took two wickets in the penultimate over to swing the match England’s way•Getty ImagesWiese’s dismissal meant that South Africa were again left to rely on Chris Morris•Getty ImagesWith 15 needed off the last over, Morris hit consecutive boundaries off Reece Topley…•AFP…who was then unable to gather the final ball and run out Kyle Abbott to ensure a tie•Getty ImagesMorris was the hero again but Topley was distraught as South Africa won by three wickets•Getty Images

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2016…and Bairstow was quickly into his stride, overtaking Hales in the first hour•Getty ImagesHales got to within 14 runs of a maiden Test hundred before losing patience and holing out off Rangana Herath•Getty ImagesDushmantha Chameera then picked up two wickets in an over, leaving England 233 for 8•Getty ImagesBairstow progressed to his second Test hundred, and first on home soil•AFPSteven Finn played a few shots as he and Bairstow added 56 for the ninth wicket•Getty ImagesBairstow took his score on to 140 as England made 298•Getty ImagesThey were quickly among the wickets as Sri Lanka started their reply, Stuart Broad making the breakthrough…•Getty Images…followed by James Anderson, who drew level with Kapil Dev on 434 Test wickets…•Getty Images…and Broad again, his second in three balls, to leave Sri Lanka 12 for 3•AFPBen Stokes had some pain in his knee but carried on bowling•Getty ImagesBairstow bagged five catches to follow his hundred•AFPBroad picked up two more as Sri Lanka crumbled•PA PhotosAnderson finished with his first five-wicket haul at Headingley and Alastair Cook enforced the follow-on•Getty Images

Stats highlights from England’s comfortable semi-final win against New Zealand

S Rajesh30-Mar-201620 Runs conceded by England in the last four overs, the fewest they have ever conceded in the last four (when they’ve bowled all 24 balls). The previous lowest was 23, against Netherlands in the 2014 World T20. New Zealand have twice scored fewer runs in the last four, with their lowest being 13, against South Africa in 2012.2 Runs by which New Zealand were ahead of England at the end of the 16th over: New Zealand were 133 for 3 after 16, while England were 131 for 3. From there, New Zealand made 20 for 5 in their last four, while England smashed 28 runs off seven balls at that stage to seal the game with 17 balls to spare.7.74 New Zealand’s run rate in the last ten in this World T20; since the start of the Super 10, the only team with a lower run rate in the last ten is Bangladesh – they scored at 7.40 per over.7/64 New Zealand’s score in the last ten overs – they managed only four fours and a six during this period. After the first ten they were 89 for 1, with 12 fours and two sixes.78 Jason Roy’s score, his first 50-plus score in T20Is; his previous best in 12 innings was 43, against South Africa earlier in this tournament. It also equals the second-highest score in a knockout game in World T20s: the highest is 96 not out, by Tillakaratne Dilshan in the 2009 semi-final against West Indies, while Marlon Samuels also scored 78 in the 2012 final.26 Balls taken by Roy for his half-century, which equals the fifth fastest for England in T20Is, and the second fastest in WT20 matches. The fastest for England in all T20Is is 23 balls, by Ravi Bopara against Australia in 2014, while their quickest in WT20s is 25 balls, by Eoin Morgan.17 Successive innings without a 50-plus opening stand for England, before this game. During this period they topped 40 only twice, with a highest of 48 off just 2.3 overs in that magnificent run-chase against South Africa earlier in this tournament. Their previous 50-plus stand in this format came two years ago, when Alex Hales and Michael Lumb added 98 against West Indies in Barbados in March 2014.9.77 The combined economy rate for Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi in this game – they went for 70 in 7.1 overs. In the previous games in this tournament, they had a combined economy rate of 5.35, conceding only 164 runs in 30.4 overs.