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The uncertainty that prevailed before this Test threatened to drag Zimbabwe down. But Hamilton Masakadza’s shrewd moves played no small part in ensuring they were capable of stretching Pakistan

Firdose Moonda in Harare03-Sep-2013Brendan Taylor only had three hours of sleep last night after spending the day in hospital waiting for his new-born son, Mason, to arrive. He may have had a bit more rest today but the time he would finally have woken up and turned on his television, he could easily have thought he was still dreaming.The same Zimbabwe who have not managed to bowl a team out in their last ten matches, came closer to doing that than they have in months. The nine wickets they claimed is the most they have taken in a day’s play in the last two series and Taylor need not have rubbed his eyes in wonder. It had really happened: there was discipline, determination and drive and the first day of a Test series that was in danger of not even happening went Zimbabwe’s way.As far as troubling build-ups go, this has been one of the most concerning. The week before the Test was filled with uncertainty. Would payments come through? Would the strike really happen? Would the captain be able to take the field to lead his men? With so many unanswered questions, Zimbabwe would have been forgiven if their performance was as scattered as their minds.But, after Hamilton Masakadza – who found out he was captaining only when he arrived at the ground – took a gamble and decided to bowl first on a pitch that is known to flatten out as the day grows longer, the bowlers responded with clear plans and tight lines, while the fielders showed commitment that has been lacking. They heeded Taylor’s call for character.Tendai Chatara and Tinashe Panyangara opened the bowling with real threat – they swung the ball and beat the bat to show Zimbabwe would not be pushed over. They made up for the absence of the retired Kyle Jarvis with aplomb. They both found extra bounce, which they used to good effect, as the ball reared up for a length. Chatara got the ball to move away even though it often looked as though he would be bringing it in. He got Mohammad Hafeez to edge in that fashion and almost had Misbah-ul-Haq doing the same. With first Panyangara and then Shingi Masakadza keeping a consistent line outside off, Zimbabwe were able to limit run-scoring for much of the first session.They conceded some control when an uncharacteristically hurried Misbah partnered Azhar Ali with some urgency and Elton Chigumbura bowled two loose overs but the break came soon after to allow for a regroup. What was most impressive about Zimbabwe today was that they actually managed to do that.Second-session pressure was always going to be their biggest challenge. An older ball, a surface which became easier for batting and arguably Pakistan’s best pair at the crease. Hamilton Masakadza gave his strike bowlers ten overs to make something happen and when he could see they were having difficulties, overpitching and allowing Azhar to demonstrate some of his shots, he brought on the spinner, Prosper Utseya and the workhorse, his younger brother.They allowed only 16 runs in eight overs and the pressure they built paid off. Misbah tried to lash out and was caught at short midwicket and Asad Shafiq fell shortly after. With an opening created, Hamilton Masakadza brought back his strike bowlers at timely intervals when he thought they could have an impact.Having never captained in a Test match before and having last led four years ago, in 2009, Hamilton Masakadza proved a shrewd leader. His field placings were aggressive, with men close to the bat and in positions where they could stop singles, as he encouraged his team to create pressure through presence. He could not do that all day.Luckily, he had others to call on. There is a joke that Zimbabwe often captain by committee and there were examples today of how they did. Vusi Sibanda was outstanding in the slips and the outfield. He took three catches and acted as a sounding board for his opening partner. Utseya led the strangle from around the wicket and motivated in the field. And Shingi Masakadza led by example.He barely erred from his line and was eventually rewarded with two wickets. The only blip on a satisfying day was the way it ended. Desperation and drift set in as the second new ball was called for. Chatara tried the short ball but Saeed Ajmal was quick to read the length.”If we had been given 250 for 9 at the start of the day, we would have taken it,” Hamilton Masakadza said. “I suppose the ninth-wicket partnership went on for a little longer than we would have wanted. I wouldn’t say much went wrong at the end: we were a little bit unlucky, a couple of balls went past the edge and we did give one or two balls to Saeed Ajmal to hit, but nothing really went wrong.”He believed he had used his bowlers as best he could and singled out strike bowler Chatara’s efforts. “I wanted to make sure they didn’t bowl spells that were too long and I was happy to change them around,” he said. “Tendai has just come on in leaps and bounds from where he really started for us in the West Indies. He is a good asset for us and promised a lot for our future.”The captain remains confident, as he was at the toss, that the spin threat will be negated by the conditions. “The wicket won’t deteriorate that much so hopefully spin won’t be too much of a factor.”Zimbabwe will hope, with fresh legs, they can end things quickly in the morning and then will have to demonstrate the same temperament with bat in hand.

Till 1992 there was no thought about South Africa playing in the World Cup, but Mandela’s words changed that immediately. Such was the power of Mandela

Ali Bacher06-Dec-2013In August of 1991 I brought Clive Lloyd to South Africa for the first time to inspire the black kids, to tell them about his story and what he had achieved as a black cricketer. I wanted Lloyd to assist us with our development programme. Lloyd told me he wanted to meet Nelson Mandela. I phoned the late Steve Tshwete (a senior member of African National Congress and Minister of Sport in Mandela’s government) and we saw Mandela the next day. That was the first time I had met him.At that point we had been re-admitted into international cricket, but we were not going to the 1992 World Cup. There were a lot of journalists present during our meeting and one of them asked Mandela his views about South Africa playing in the World Cup. Mandela said: “Of course, we must play.” That was it. The message went around the world of cricket and we went to Australia. Till then there was no thought within South African cricket as well as at the ICC about South Africa playing in the World Cup, but Mandela’s words changed that immediately. Such was the power of Mandela.He will go down in history as South Africa’s greatest son and in all probability 20th century’s greatest leader. I will never forget his first speech from Cape Town after he was released from prison in 1990. He said clearly that this is a country for all South Africans – not for white domination and not for black domination. He imbued that viewpoint throughout the ’90s and the 21st century. And because of that his presidency between 1994 and 1999 will always be remembered for his greatness in reconciliation between whites and blacks.During my interactions in person with Mandela, I was never nervous. He made the other person at ease. One reason probably was because his communication with people was amazing. During the 1999 World Cup we played Pakistan in one of the qualifying matches, a close encounter which South Africa won in the penultimate over of chase. It was a Saturday. Lance Klusener won that match batting brilliantly. I was in Johannesburg and I got a call from Mandela’s personal assistant requesting Mandela wanted to call Klusener and congratulate him. I told the PA to inform Mandela that Klusener spoke fluent Zulu.When I met Klusener recently, he reminded me Mandela had indeed called him and congratulated him in Zulu. That was Mandela’s initiative, to get on the phone, find Klusener and convey his congratulations. This was the president of South Africa.Mandela did not watch much cricket. In February 1993 we hosted a triangular series involving South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies. South Africa did not get to the final but Mandela came to watch Pakistan play West Indies. He told me that was the first time he had watched cricket match.Mandela was a man who could be spontaneous. In a 1995-96 home series, South Africa were playing England at St George’s Park. Mandela came in cricketing attire: long whites, cream shirt and a Proteas cricket blazer. It was absolutely extraordinary of him to come and give support to our cricket team. While we were watching from the president’s box, my daughter called me and Mandela enquired who I was speaking to. He took the phone and spoke to my daughter. He was a people’s man. And that is why people loved him. He could communicate with anyone from state presidents to little kids to groundstaff. At tea time I was admonished, quite rightly, by his secretarial staff, but I did not mind that.Mandela was a man of immense stature and presence. Early on when he was released from prison he had the vision that the medium to bring white and rest of South Africans together was through sport. So for the very first time he came to the Wanderers cricket ground and Ellis Park rugby stadium in the early 1990s. He did that precisely because those two sports and grounds were dominated by whites. He wanted those sports to be truly represented by all the different people in the country.His vision of using sport to bring whites and black together was firmly realised during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa when the togetherness, the unity, the camaraderie amongst all South Africans during and after our victory was unique and unprecedented for this country.Nelson Mandela gave us inspiration. He created a future for South African cricket – for all its people.

Which cricket fan wouldn’t want to see MS Dhoni and Shahid Afridi hitting the world’s best bowlers out of the park together?

Uzair Hasan Rizvi24-Feb-2014Last year, When Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting played in the IPL for the same team, Mumbai Indians, the infamous memories from Sydneygate were partially buried. It proved that the IPL was capable of burying the hatchet and moving on. However, not a single Pakistani name figured in the IPL auctions held in Bangalore recently.That came as a setback to Pakistan cricket – a point that their T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez stressed. “It is strange that for years now Pakistani players have not been allowed to play in the IPL. I played In the first season and it was great learning experience,” he had said. Even the PCB head Najam Sethi has been in touch with BCCI in an attempt to resolve the situation.In the inaugural edition of the IPL back in 2008, seven Pakistani players were sold to different franchises, with Shahid Afridi being the costliest Pakistani bought by the Deccan Chargers. Despite having a quiet tournament, Afridi was a crowd puller. Umar Gul was the highest wicket-taker for Kolkata Knight Riders and Sohail Tanvir was the bowler of the tournament.In the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks later that year, tension between the two countries mounted, and Pakistan has since been shut out of the IPL. In 2010, despite being included in the auction, no Pakistani players were sold. In 2012 former Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood played for Kings XI Punjab, but perhaps only because he had by then acquired British citizenship.Amidst all this, Pakistan won the World T20 in 2009, and made the semi-finals in 2010 and 2012. Currently Pakistan have got one of the strongest squads in the format, with players like Saeed Ajmal, Hafeez, Gul and Afridi all occupying high rankings in the ICC list.At this year’s auction an IPL official said: “The presence of Pakistani players creates security concerns for the team and there is no guarantee that franchises would be willing to buy them even if they are in the auction.”
Recent developments around the timing of elections in India mean that the IPL might have to be shifted out of India this year. It’s highly likely that a bulk of the tournament will be held at a neutral venue, probably South Africa. This could provide an opening for Pakistan’s players since it will make the security fears over hosting them in India irrelevant.Here’s hoping Pakistan players make it to the IPL. After all, which cricket fan wouldn’t want to see MS Dhoni and Afridi hitting the world’s best bowlers out of the park together?If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line

Ian Bell’s fifty against Scotland, and the match as a whole, will not linger long in the memory but calmness and maturity were just what England needed

George Dobell10-May-2014Ian Bell’s breakthrough innings did not come against South Africa. It did not come against Australia. It did not even come against Sussex. It came against Shropshire.It was May 2004. Bell was 22 years old and, though his talent was undoubted, his lack of progress was beginning to frustrate the management at Edgbaston. John Inverarity, at the time the Warwickshire director of cricket, even considered dropping Bell from a strong battling unit that was struggling to find room for the abundance of talent the club possessed at the time. “It’s all very well having talent,” Inverarity said in exasperation at the time, “at some stage you have to shape games.”As it was, the team that contested that second round game of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy did not contain either Michael Powell or Jim Troughton and Bell was given another chance to prove himself.He responded with a Man-of-the-Match winning performance. On a damp, two-paced wicket which reduced every other batsman to ugly swipes and ineffective heaves – Nick Knight, at the time arguably the most successful ODI batsman England had ever had, battled his way to an unbeaten 22 from 57 balls – Bell timed the ball with a grace granted to very few and made an elegant, unbeaten 58 from 37 balls. While he caressed 12 boundaries, his team-mates contributed just six between them. He looked a class apart.With confidence – and position – restored, he went on to score an unbeaten 262 against a strong Sussex attack a couple of weeks later. It was an innings that gained the attention of the selectors and the media and, by the end of the summer, Bell was playing Test cricket. Sometimes, what seems trivial at the time can have far grander consequences.There were echoes of that innings against Shropshire in Bell’s half-century against Scotland. While the bowling was not especially demanding, the pitch conditions were. No-one else in the match made a half-century; no-one else timed the ball as sweetly. This was a situation that had all the ingredients for an upset – the shortened match, the damp pitch and sodden outfield, the tension of a team beaten more often than a snare drum finding their way under a new coach – but thanks to Bell’s class and calm head, the accident was averted.It says much for Bell’s limited-overs career that he became, during his innings in Aberdeen, the second highest run-scorer in England’s ODI history but that for most of that career, his place in the limited-overs teams has been questioned. Perhaps because of the apparent ease with which the runs have flowed, more is often expected of him. But since his return to the ODI side in the summer of 2012 his record – 1,451 runs at an average of 46.80 – is excellent.We should not have been surprised by Bell’s contribution in Aberdeen. The days when he might be considered a luxury player – pretty but inconsequential – are long gone. If he had not proved his backbone with defiant contributions in South Africa, he surely did so with his Man-of-the-Series winning efforts in the Ashes of 2013.Bell would be the first to admit that his reputation was forged, in part, on the back of some pretty runs on flat tracks. As he put it following his Championship century against Sussex a few weeks ago: “In my early days, maybe I scored a lot of nice runs that looked good on the eye but really didn’t change the course of the game. But in the last two, three or four years, I’ve started to score those [important] runs a lot more often. The way last summer went against Australia really gave me a lot of confidence – I came in at 20 for 3 a lot.”Now with most of the senior figures of the England dressing room gone – Andy Flower, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen – Bell will assume more responsibility. He will be expected to lead, on and off the pitch. He will be the man England turn to in trouble; the man who will shape games.He is batting better than ever. It is not that he is timing the ball anymore sweetly or has discovered a new range of strokes; he had most of them anyway. And it is not that he is any more likely to make ugly runs; he is hardly capable of an ugly stroke. It is that he has fully embraced his role and responsibilities. He is prepared to graft and wait and work and fight.It was a message he reiterated following Friday’s victory in Aberdeen. Asked about the upheaval in the England camp over recent months, Bell responded with comments that showed much of the talk of coaches and team environment to be, to him at least, largely irrelevant.”The players have to stand up and score runs and take wickets no matter who’s coaching,” Bell said. “That’s the important thing.”Giving responsibility to the players is going to be important. It’s about the players standing up and winning games for England.”In any sport the management can only do so much. They can get you ready but they can’t do anything once you’ve crossed the line and responsibility comes down to the players. It’s a big challenge for the senior players now helping the young guys come through and getting this team gelled. We saw with Australia how quickly a team can turn things around and we’ve got to believe we can do it, too.”It was the talk of a man who will not hide behind excuses, who will not hide behind potential and hope in the future. It was the talk of a man who knows that his own future and that of the England team is now entwined. If England are to prosper, Bell will have to shape a lot more game over the next few years. And he is revelling in the responsibility. Aged 32 and with a fine career behind him, it may well be that the best is yet to come.

Underground caves, surfing, skydiving, hot pools, beaches – you’re sure to find them all in and around this North Island city

Will Macpherson08-Jan-2015Chances are you’ve heard the jokes about Hamilton. “Not even the river stops for a look,” sneering Aucklanders will tell you. “The airport can get away with charging a departure fee because everyone’s so keen to get out,” say Wellingtonians. To some, it’s just a “cow town” (unlike most of the country, Waikato is known for animals that moo not baa). That’s all pretty unfair. Landlocked it may be, but Hamilton is the closest cricketing port of call to many of the North Island’s gems, both rugged and beautiful, thrill-seeking and tranquil. If you have a day or two to spare, or perhaps are travelling to or from Hamilton, check out some of these wonderful spots: Waitomo Caves (1 hour by car)
These caves are quite extraordinary. Millions of stalactites, delicate glowing strands – the glowworm Arachnocampa luminosa – decorate every inch of the roof. Some 30 million years old, the caves were first explored by Maoris in 1887 and today all the guides are local Waitomo folk. They’ll take you round on a raft, past the Tomo – a 16m vertical shaft where an ancient waterfall plunged – and the Cathedral, where you’ll alight to enter a vast limestone cavern that looks like Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia upside down. On my visit, a group of American tourists insisted on singing a rendition of “Amazing Grace”. I rolled my eyes, but so perfect were the acoustics in the grotto that, far from ruining the moment, it was the day’s highlight.A glowworm cave in Waitomo•Getty ImagesIf you’re the adventurous type, try black-water rafting through the caves. There are three packages of varying degrees of daring: Abyss, Labyrinth and Odyssey. I did Abyss, the toughest (I’m told). On goes a drysuit (that’s thicker than a wetsuit, you know) and minutes later, you’re abseiling 35m down a tiny shaft. Hours on, you emerge into Waitomo woodland having tubed along a subterranean river, squeezed through holes, climbed up and sped down waterfalls and flown on a zipwire in pitch darkness. Upon return to terra firma, you’re greeted by a warm shower, hot soup and crusty bread. Marvellous.Hobbiton (40 mins by car)

Here’s a magical little spot. It’s still a working sheep farm and the drive in (it’s worth stopping in Cambridge en route from Hamilton, by the way), with views across the Kaimai Ranges, is spectacular. Indulge your inner geek on a tour through the Shire: You’ll take in Bag End, 43 other hobbit holes, the Party Tree and the Mill before ending up in the Green Dragon for a tankard of Hobbiton’s own beer, cider or wine. You can also arrange a feast at the pub. So spectacular is the food – every meat imaginable and rich puddings – you’re left wondering how the hobbits gobbled up six meals every day and remained so minute. The guides are full of wonderful, nerdy anecdotes, the best of which involves director Peter Jackson approaching the farmer, one Mr Alexander, about using his land for a film, only to be told to “bugger off and come back in an hour”. Turns out he was watching rugby on the TV and didn’t want to be disturbed! Fifteen years and six flicks later, that’s all history.Boast to your friends about catching some waves in Raglan•Getty ImagesRaglan (40 mins by car)
My visit came in midwinter but Raglan is one of those rare, wonderful places where summer never seems to end. Appropriately, the beaches here featured in the iconic ’60s surfing doc . Raglan’s a little like Byron Bay, but better. Like Byron, turquoise water, silky sandy beaches and wild bush walks are to skydive: more than 30,000 are done there every year. I jumped out of a pink plane at 15,000ft with Skydive Taupo (who pick you up in a limo, oddly) and, on the clearest of days, it was spectacular: both east and west coasts were visible on the descent.

The tone for Kolkata Knight Riders’ confident chase was set by Gautam Gambhir, whose domineering mindset negated Mumbai’s spinners and forced the opposition to rethink its plans

Nagraj Gollapudi in Kolkata08-Apr-20153:32

‘Attacking Mumbai spinners paid off well’ – Gambhir

By the time the Powerplay was over Kolkata Knight Riders were 38 for the loss of Robin Uthappa. Gautam Gambhir was quietly sitting on seven runs, having broken his bat in the second over, and after having been dropped on 1 by Aditya Tare off the last ball of the same over from Vinay Kumar.But even on the ball where his bat went kaput, Gambhir showed intent: he stepped out with the aim of playing on the rise, hoping to the hit the ball between cover and mid-off. And that attacking mindset eventually came to fruition when Mumbai Indians’ captain Rohit Sharma introduced spin.In the first over after the Powerplay, Mumbai’s left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha tossed up the third delivery, inviting Gambhir to take him on. The Knight Riders captain did not shy away, and he jumped out of his crease to loft the ball for a straight six.But it was in the next over that Gambhir shifted the momentum towards Knight Riders as he completely toyed with Harbhajan Singh. There was also a score to settle – in the eight matches both have played across all IPLs, Harbhajan had dismissed Gambhir four times before today. Gambhir had managed to score just 27 runs off 35 deliveries he faced in that time.Harbhajan’s first ball was pitched fuller and outside off stump. Gambhir lunged forward to pick an easy four past cover. Next ball, Gambhir quickly moved on to his back foot to steer the ball for two runs behind point. He followed that with another double, this time through a mis-timed push. When Harbhajan went short on the off stump the next ball, Gambhir, having once again stepped back, cut fiercely for the second four of the over.In two overs, Knight Riders had picked 24 runs and Gambhir had contributed 23. When Harbhajan returned in his next over, Gambhir hit consecutive fours: the first, an inside-out drive high over the cover fielder, and then another powerful cut on the back foot which helped the Knight Riders total climb to 85 at the halfway stage.A few overs later, Harbhajan was brought to his knees as he attempted to catch a powerfully hit straight drive from Gambhir. The ball was so hit so hard that even the deflection could not slow it down as it went past the straight boundary. In the end, Gambhir scored 30 runs off 15 balls from Harbhajan, and 14 runs off eight balls from Ojha. Effectively he had cancelled out two of the most important bowlers of Mumbai’s attack, thus putting pressure on his counterpart Rohit Sharma to change his plans.Incidentally Harbhajan pitched 15 of his 24 deliveries on the stumps or outside off, and only four balls were short. Yet Gambhir managed to find the gaps and the runs. One reason Gambhir has always been one of the best players of spin is his footwork – he can jump out easily and step back effortlessly to manoeuvre the ball.It was not just Gambhir who entered the chase with a domineering mindset. Even before the Knight Riders captain began targeting the spinners, Manish Pandey had provided the impetus by flicking his fourth delivery – a fuller one from Corey Anderson – for a six. The next ball, trying to flick again, the leading edge flew over Kieron Pollard at short point for a four. When Lasith Malinga came back for his second spell in the 11th over, his second ball soared high into the stands on the leg side, courtesy another powerful flick from Pandey.Suryakumar Yadav, who replaced Pandey at the crease, opened his account with flicked six, as Vinay attempted a full-swinging yorker. Yadav continued attacking bowlers effortlessly and disdainfully as he lived up to the finisher’s role once Gambhir had departed with Knight Riders still a distance away from victory.In contrast to the attacking mode adopted by Knight Riders, Mumbai had played the waiting game. This was a consequence of their top order faltering in the face of a furious spell of fast bowling from Morne Morkel. Coming into the tournament on the back of a good World Cup, Morkel bowled fuller lengths at extreme pace and found movement and bounce off the surface. The two balls he bowled to Ambati Rayudu were pure menace and the batsman had no answer.The cautious approach did seem to pay off once Rohit and Anderson eventually broke the shackles in the final five overs, but had they adopted the same gung-ho attitude displayed by Gambhir and co. they might have finished with a much more formidable total.

With bat and ball, Mumbai Indians found players to raise their games in the final stretch of both innings, giving the crowd of around 32,000 an enjoyable start to the long weekend

Amol Karhadkar in Mumbai02-May-20153:47

Insights: Mumbai continue to dominate Royals

South Mumbai, the business hub that’s buzzing through the week, is usually peaceful over the weekends and public holidays. With Mumbai Indians playing a night game, however, May 1 was an exception.The local trains, considered the lifeline of the city, were fairly empty because of the long weekend beginning with the Foundation Day of the state of Maharashtra. But with the Wankhede Stadium so close to Churchgate station, one of two major train stations in south Mumbai, there was hectic activity on its sidelines.Three of the seven spectator entry points into the stadium are through bridges that cross railway tracks. Those entering the North Stand and Divecha Pavilion recreated the morning rush for trains by thronging the security points, creating chaos. The seats at the Wankhede – with inadequate arm and leg room – ensured their occupants might have felt like being in a crowded train too.After facing such trials to reach a seat, the last thing the home crowd – one of the few in the IPL with a strong connect with their team, besides Chennai and Kolkata – wanted was to see Mumbai Indians lose one more time. They were not disappointed. Mumbai delivered in crunch moments to stay in the race for a top-four spot and prolong Rajasthan Royals’ winless run.Apart from the last five overs with the bat and final three overs with the ball, Royals had the better of it, but Mumbai rose when it mattered most to let their fans return home with a smile. Had it not been for Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard’s power-hitting followed by Mitchell McClenaghan and Lasith Malinga’s accurate death-over bowling, Mumbai might have been all but knocked out of the tournament.At 120 for 4, despite the captain Rohit Sharma having fallen, the stage was set for Rayudu and Pollard to finish on a high. The made the most of every loose delivery – and there were plenty from Tim Southee and Rusty Theron – to help Mumbai score 67 runs in the last five overs. It converted a moderate total into a formidable one.The Royals chase was well on course, though, with Sanju Samson leading the charge. The wicketkeeper-batsman was in such scintillating touch that he had taken 10 runs off Malinga’s last two balls of the 17th over to reduce the equation to 34 off 18. With seven wickets in hand and Samson batting on 70, Royals were close to their first victory in five games.But for the second time in five days McClenaghan, who has outperformed even Malinga since replacing the injured Corey Anderson in Mumbai’s XI, changed the course of the finish with one over. His dismissals of Samson and Karun Nair with successive balls meant two new men at the crease had to see Royals home.As capable as Stuart Binny and Deepak Hooda are, attacking Malinga from the start was too much of an ask. The challenge intensified by about 32,000 people roaring unprompted “Ma-lin-ga, Ma-lin-ga”.Malinga’s boundary-less over, which included Hooda’s wicket, meant Vinay Kumar had the cushion of 20 runs to defend in the last over, which he did despite bowling a high full-toss that was called a no-ball.Hardly anyone had left until the final ball was delivered to seal an eight-run victory for Mumbai, and immediately there was a rush to exit the stadium. The over-rate had been poor and the times for the last trains of the day were drawing near. But for most of the spectators, Mumbai’s third win in eight games had made their night.

Playing with an extra batsman meant that Bangladesh got a little too complacent, triggering a collapse that may prove to be very costly

Mohammad Isam in Khulna29-Apr-2015Nothing suggested a batting collapse between the dismissals of Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim. Those seven deliveries were as routine as any had been in Bangladesh’s first innings till that stage. Apart from Asad Shafiq’s two brilliant catches of Shakib Al Hasan at leg slip and Sarkar at wide mid-off running from cover, Pakistan, too, had merely been disciplined. Nothing more. Nothing less.Mushfiqur’s dismissal, though, was against the run of play. He had been batting comfortably for more than an hour and now with No. 8 Shuvagata Hom, the circumstances got a little tighter but who else would Bangladesh want in a tight spot these days?Collapses, however, don’t come with warnings. Bangladesh lost their last five wickets in 8.4 overs, adding just 27 runs. The debutant skied an attempted drive over mid-off, the captain couldn’t hold himself back from playing a needless cut, and the tail simply threw their wickets away. The first two wickets were the crux of the collapse, but the gist of it was inevitable.On day one, Bangladesh’s innings resembled batsmen trying to run down an upwards escalator. On day two, it resembled batsmen trying to run up a downward escalator. The players had come off a great time in the ODI series and the one-off T20, scoring hundreds and fifties freely. The run-rate was never a problem even though they used to previously struggle chasing 250-plus totals.But Bangladesh slowed down on the first day in Khulna because they felt the wicket wasn’t conducive to scoring freely, and on the second day, they tried to increase their scoring pace when conservation should have been attempted.Sarkar, who added 62 for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur and had moved to 33 off 55 balls in his debut innings, admitted he played the wrong shot to get out, but he didn’t think his dismissal caused the collapse.”I shouldn’t have played that shot at that time,” Sarkar said. “I thought it was a bad shot after I had played it, maybe I shouldn’t have played the shot. I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes from before. I didn’t think about whether my dismissal caused Mushfiq bhai’s dismissal.”It is hard to find fault in Sarkar beyond his attempted shot that fell to Shafiq’s hand in the 112th over. Before his debut, Bangladesh had lost their last five wickets in less than nine overs on 20 previous occasions. The last of those was against New Zealand in 2013.From an acute angle, a connection can be made between the collapse and the fact that Bangladesh included eight batsman in their line-up. Two batsmen got past 50 while Mahmudullah made 49. Two got out in the thirties, two in the twenties and Shuvagata Hom, the No 8 batsman, faced only 11 balls to be unbeaten on 12. Not converting a fifty into a hundred is a broader problem, but a sense of comfort at having a long batting line-up can put batsmen at ease. Getting out after settling down has been common whenever Bangladesh have played with eight batsmen before.Sarkar agreed that there was a sense of comfort in the knowledge that the extra batsman was waiting in the dressing room, but he said he was also confident batting with the tail.”Yes of course. When I went to bat, there was another batsman behind me. My plan is to play a long innings if the opportunity presents itself. I played a few innings in the past with the bowlers so that belief was always within me.”Soumya’s confidence is not misplaced. The challenge for the No. 7 or No. 8 batsman usually includes negotiating the second new ball, farming the strike with tail-enders, and ensuring a higher run-rate in the first innings.But a look at Mahmudullah’s career as a No 8 batsman suggests it is not just a waste of a batsman, but an unnecessary luxury for the seven players above him. On the second day of the Khulna Test, it resulted in a collapse that could haunt Bangladesh in this game.

A South Africa and Nottinghamshire colossus, now beset by illness, looks back at his career

Luke Alfred30-Jun-2015″We’re in the departure lounge,” says Clive Rice about himself and his old mate Graeme Pollock, who recently had a pin put into his fractured hip because he fell getting out of the bath.At first you think he might be exaggerating, but as he goes on to detail his physical trials, you sense that he might not be that far from the truth. First came the malaria, nasty at the best of times, but in Rice’s case it caused him four fits because it had become cerebral. Combine this with a cancerous growth cut out of his leg and lesions in each lung – two in the right, three in the left – and Rice has been in the wars.”To deal with the lesions they cut you open down your ribs, pull the ribs apart and collapse the lungs,” he says matter-of-factly. “I was in unbelievable pain. I’d rather play rugby against the All Blacks. Then there were four treatments of chemo. That was in November. I’ve slowly been trying to regain my strength and fitness. It’s not easy, I can tell you.”Fortunately Rice had something to look forward to. He has always been involved in racing modified cars and Porsches and he was about to take possession of a Chevy Cobra in stunning magnetic blue when the malaria struck. It’s a beautiful machine, down to the low growl of its V8 engine, with Rice’s name being stencilled in white paint down the side and the team’s name – Team Grumpy – appearing on the bonnet. “I wasn’t dying before I could race that thing,” he says, as he tells the story of his son and son-in-law driving it up from the KwaZulu-Natal South coast for him because he was too weak to do so.It’s moot as to whether Rice was the sleek Corvette, the sturdy family saloon or the low-riding muscle car. He was probably a bit of all three. Rather than his lines, however, it was his engine that powered him into the memory and the imagination – not bad for a cricketer whose pomp coincided almost too neatly with the period of South Africa’s isolation.

“They cut you open down your ribs, pull the ribs apart and collapse the lungs. I was in unbelievable pain. I’d rather play rugby against the All Blacks”

After making his debut for Transvaal in 1969 as a 20-year-old, he was chosen to go to Australia on the cancelled tour of 1971-72. Twenty years later, just as South Africa were readmitted to the international game, he became the subject of a fevered debate about the composition of South Africa’s first ever World Cup side. He had led the team in India four months previously and was so certain of the World Cup captaincy in ’92 that he made detailed plans about the composition of the side and how they were going to approach the competition. In the end he was left behind, told he was past it at 42. He compensated for his hollowness by working as a television commentator for his old mate Kerry Packer, a job he found unfulfilling and repetitive.”My respect for Peter van der Merwe [the convenor of selectors in 1992] was zero from 1985, when Kim Hughes brought his rebel Australians out,” said Rice. “I was summoned to a selection meeting before the one-dayers. We argued for two hours and at the end of it I told van der Merwe that he could tell Peter Kirsten and Kenny McEwan and Alan Kourie that they weren’t playing because they wanted some guy from Natal.”Anyway, so we were playing down in Durban and had just won the Test series and the champagne is flowing and the Aussies are in our dressing room. Carl Rackemann sees this piece of paper and grabs it out of van der Merwe’s hand and sees Kirsten’s name isn’t in the one-day squad. Well, pretty quickly the chairs are thrown around and van der Merwe is heading out in disgrace. We lost the first two and then the selectors allowed me the side I wanted. Van der Merwe was so gutless that he wouldn’t tell the guys to their faces that they’d been dropped. He said they could hear it on the radio.”With his merry band back in the fold, Rice’s team went on to win the one-day series 4-2. As a captain he probably lacked, say, Mike Brearley’s thoughtful, easy finesse but Rice was tough, generally loathed administrators and stood his ground on matters of principle to the point of being stubborn. When he was sacked as a player and professional from Nottinghamshire in 1978 for signing Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket deal, he took the county to the Old Bailey and, backed by no fewer than seven Queen’s Counsels funded by Packer himself, won the case.”In the interim the board had signed Richard Hadlee, so now they had four overseas professionals and only two could play,” said Rice. “When I was sacked as captain they reappointed a guy called Mike Smedley; he was worse than useless. The only thing he worried about was whether we finished one point above Derbyshire and if he scored 1000 runs in the summer. Halfway through the following season Smedley was sacked again and I was the captain.”Summer of ’79: Rice gets Ian Redpath out in the WSC Supertests final against WSC Australia•Adrian Murrell/Getty ImagesThe decision to hand the captaincy to Rice again ushered in a golden age for the county. He formed a formidable combination with Hadlee, wonderfully supported by the evergreen Eddie Hemmings, and helped by the emergence, in later years, of players like Tim Robinson, Bruce French and Chris Broad.The pitch at Trent Bridge always had a covering of grass, and in 1981, their first Championship-winning season since 1929, Rice won the toss on all but one occasion and asked the opposition to bat; in the game where he lost the toss, Leicestershire decided to bat anyway, and they were beaten by eight wickets, Rice and Hadlee sharing eight wickets between them.After a sluggish start, with draws away to Kent and Middlesex, and the abandonment of the game in Derby against Derbyshire, the season was funnelled to a dramatic end. Notts needed to win their final match, against Glamorgan at home to take the title. As usual there was a good lick of green on the wicket, the pitch having carry and bounce.”To this day I remember their overseas professional, Norman Featherstone [a fellow South African], looking at the pitch and saying: ‘Jesus, how are we going to face Rice and Hadlee on this?’ They were 60 all out and we won inside two days by ten wickets. That was a huge moment. I remember Reg Simpson [the former England opener from the 1950s] coming into the dressing room. He shook Richard’s and my hands. He couldn’t say a word. There were just tears rolling down his cheeks. It was the moment where you suddenly realise what you’ve achieved.”The season is worth looking at more closely, so large were the deeds. Nottinghamshire were regularly winning at home by eight and nine wickets, with Hadlee finishing top of the bowling averages (105 wickets at 14.89) and Rice in seventh place (65 wickets at 19.20). Rice was fifth in the batting averages, sandwiched between Viv Richards and Peter Kirsten, having scored 1462 runs at 56.23. Hadlee scored his 745 runs at 32.39, including a priceless big hundred against Yorkshire in Bradford. They frequently took the new ball together and presumably bossed their fellow players like teenage brothers herding a group of snotty younger urchins. It must have been demanding to play in the glow of their radiant egos.

“Reg Simpson came into the dressing room and shook Richard’s and my hands. There were tears rolling down his cheeks. It was the moment where you suddenly realise what you’ve achieved”

“We dragged them up from their bootlaces,” says Rice with his customary growl. “We made them all believe they could play a bit better.”Such were the bellicose boys from Trent Bridge that they took on all incoming tourists as well, beating Australia (by an innings), Sri Lanka and India in the time Rice was there, and only losing to West Indies after giving them an early fright. Rice remembers an “embarrassed” West Indies cranking up the heat after being bowled out cheaply, Michael Holding bowling to six slips and a forward short-leg. “I thought if I could just get into line and hit it in front of the wicket, I’d be okay, there were runs on offer – not that it turned out that way.”Without doubt the most punishing cricket Rice ever played was against those self-same West Indians in World Series Cricket. It was hard, unforgiving, and always played under Packer’s harshly appraising eye.”I remember one game at VFL Park in Melbourne – it was one of those drop-in pitches,” said Rice. “We won the toss and batted. It was the quickest pitch I’ve ever played on. They had [Wayne] Daniel, [Joel] Garner and Andy Roberts. We had [Garth] Le Roux, Proccie [Mike Procter], Imran [Khan] and myself. Majid Khan suffered a depressed cheekbone after being hit by Andy Roberts and the ambulance didn’t even have time to get a look at him before Greigy ordered us back on again after we were out for just over a hundred. ‘We’re going to get them back for that,’ says Greig, and before you can look, they’re 30 for 5. In no time at all, Garner is batting, and we just want to ping the living shit out of him.”Derek Underwood, who is on for Majid, says to Greig that we don’t need two guys out after Majid has been hurt, but no one is listening and I just bounce him. He’s like a wounded bear. Not even Collis King, who is the non-striker, is comfortable to ask how he’s feeling, and he’s the last man ‘retired hurt’ as they get to about 70 for 9, and we win by 30-odd runs. As we’re walking off, I think to myself, ‘Now you’ve done it, Packer’s going to be waiting for you in the dressing room, you’re out, on the next plane home.’ He’s there all right but it’s to congratulate us: ‘That’s the best game in the World Series so far,’ he says. ‘You’ve put us on the map.'”Rice (second from bottom), with Hadlee, Kapil, Botham and Marshall at an allrounders’ competition in Taunton, 1984•PA PhotosRice found himself on the map in every way but the most important one, never playing a Test for South Africa. He won three out of four World Allrounder competitions, only losing against Imran Khan in Kowloon, while winning in Arundel, Taunton and Hong Kong. His old mate Hadlee could never beat him, despite giving it a good bash. “I know it bugs him,” says Rice with a smile.Such is the curse of his generation that Rice, along with many others, is being touted as the possible recipient of a Heritage Blazer, Cricket South Africa’s latest public relations initiative. The very thought of it makes him incandescent. “They give me one of those and I’d just hand it to the waiter at the function,” he says, and you have no reason to disbelieve him.Rice has more important things to think about, after all. He is bald because of the chemotherapy, and on the balance of probabilities it’s fair to suggest that his struggles with cancer aren’t yet over. Indeed, it recurred again recently, necessitating a dash to Bangalore to receive a cutting edge form of radiation treatment called CyberKnife. All indications are that the treatment in India for Rice’s brain tumour was a success, but he will need all his courage and legendary belligerence to fight off a foe easily the equal of anything he ever experienced on the field, whether at Trent Bridge or the Wanderers.For the time being, there are compensations, whether they come in the form of his wife’s love, his cars, or golf. As it happens, his bottom garden abets onto a fairway at his local golf club. “I hate it when they hit a Pinnacle [golf ball] into the garden or the pool by mistake and not a Pro V1x,” he smirks. “A Pro V1x is just so much better for my game.”

Pakistan felt Yasir Shah’s absence on a lifeless pitch but they stuck to their task gamely, conceding only 234 runs in the day

Umar Farooq15-Oct-20151:16

‘Very hard to deceive batsmen through the pitch’ – Mushtaq

The scorecard after the third day’s play in Abu Dhabi would suggest that Pakistan’s bowlers were toothless. But conditions remained unforgiving and it was another day of unremitting toil. Sixty wicketless overs, so far, in the innings for the spinners and three scalps for the quicks.Two of those went to Wahab Riaz, late on the third day as he removed Ian Bell and nightwatchman Mark Wood. He also had the highest economy rate, but sometimes figures are not a true reflection on the effort.What a bare bowling analysis does not reflect is the emotion and passion Wahab put into flogging himself on a barren 22 yards. The Pakistan bowlers did well on a sluggish pitch, which has taken the life out of the game, trying to make up for the absence of the injured legspinner Yasir Shah, conceding just 234 runs in the day.Yasir’s late withdrawal was always going to bring the sides closer together, and then the pitch has done the rest. Still, there is a feeling Pakistan did not have a Plan B – always assuming Yasir would be their trump card. Before Yasir, Misbah had Saeed Ajmal who took 33% of Pakistan’s wickets between 2010 and 2014. Now since his debut, Yasir has taken 35% of the scalps.The surface in Abu Dhabi had been expected to provide more assistance for the spin bowlers, while allowing the seamers to play a supporting role. The plan was for Yasir and Zulfiqar Babar to work their chemistry on England the way Ajmal and Abdur Rehman did in 2012; both left-arm spinners allowed their team-mates to attack. But now it was Shoaib Malik with Zulfiqar and three quicks: Wahab, Imran Khan and Rahat Ali.But today Zulfiqar looked slightly ineffective and was over-burdened leading the spin attack, a role that is not natural to him. He is a great supporting actor but he has yet to lead the show although he did not bowl badly. He created enough chances on an unresponsive track, troubling Bell and he should have had Alastair Cook for 147 but the substitute fielder Fawad Alam couldn’t hold on at deep square-leg. He bowled 15 maidens out of 38 overs, giving away an economy of just 1.76.Wahab, meanwhile, has been carrying a reputation since that fiery exchange with Shane Watson at Adelaide during the World Cup. Here, on a pitch aimed to make fast bowlers (and spinners) question their profession, he was regularly above 90mph. Though his line sometimes wavered and he leaked runs, it eventually paid off when he chipped out those two wickets in the dying moments of the day.Wahab’s pitch map shows he mixed up his lengths – 61 good-length balls and 21 bouncers – which might be seen as too much variation, but it was a batting paradise. It was worth trying to make something happen.Mushtaq Ahmed, the bowling coach, said the day was “quite satisfying” for the attack, especially as they kept England’s scoring rate at under three an over and he was pleased with the way they tried to make up for Yasir’s absence.”There was some need to create chances and Wahab did well and though he gave too many runs we needed an attacking bowler all the time in such a pitch,” he said.”Obviously when the settled combination [Yasir and Zulfiqar] broke down it created a problem and we had to go with whatever we had for a replacement. Malik scored a double hundred which is good but we were slightly deprived from his bowling advantage as after his innings he got dehydrated and unfortunately we weren’t able to utilise his offspin accordingly.

‘The pitch didn’t behave according to our expectation as in last two matches it wasn’t playing as slow’Mushtaq Ahmed bemoans a wearisome surface

“Yasir in the last three series has played a key role and with Zulfiqar and they had great chemistry. But without him Zulfiqar definitely got affected as the condition of the pitch required a bowler like Yasir who can spin the ball from the side [of the hand]. But this is what it is and we can’t do anything about it.”The pitch has been a talking point throughout the three days and now there is evidence that it has little for either side. Mushtaq conceded it was not an ideal surface for Test cricket and can make the game “dull”.”The pitch didn’t behave according to our expectation as in last two matches it wasn’t playing as slow,” he said. “In previous Tests against Australia and New Zealand the ball was travelling but it’s not working this time.””The wicket is too slow so even if you manage to deceive a batsman it still isn’t making any difference. I clearly saw batsmen deceived by spinners but there was no zip in the pitch and on the pitch so once you settled in it’s easy for you to go long. We did create chances, nearly had Bell caught at silly point and later Cook could have been caught sweeping. It could have been a difference game together and we would have in a much better position.”To be honest with you [pitches like this] make cricket dull. But the last two or three Test matches here the pitches were brilliant. I don’t know what happened this time, maybe different weather as there is more heat this time. They might have protected the pitch with grass on it so that the cracks do not open up but I am not an expert.”Which makes the fact that Wahab kept on steaming in all the more admirable.