It’s been a long time coming, so I guess being a West Indian, I share the joy of people of my region. It’s a series triumph which nobody had foreseen, certainly not by a 4-1 margin.It adds to the zing if you remember that in the last nine or 10 matches West Indies have won, Brian Lara has contributed only one half-century. For long, people have held that this team cannot do without Lara’s hand. Now others too are beginning to make a difference.I would not rush to say this team is a world-beater yet, but certainly they have men who can perform more than just one role. There are a growing number of allrounders in the side and senior batsmen are putting up their hands more often. The string of wins is beginning to bring the best out of these guys.I have watched this Indian team from close quarters in the last few months and I can sense the disappointment of millions of their fans. There is now a pointed concern if they have gone about preparing for the World Cup in not the most ideal way.I personally feel that looking at the World Cup at this stage could complicate things. India needs to worry about the forthcoming Tests and not lose sleep over a tournament which is still nine months away.India needs to look at the balance of its Test side. I worry if they have the right blend of youth and experience and whether they could pull it off. It would be a major cause to cherish if Rahul Dravid’s men emerge victorious in Tests. It still is the booty which is closest to cricketers’ hearts.The win in Tests could also restore the sense of well-being in this side. This is the one-day side which has been the toast of the nation in the past few months and there is no reason why they cannot still be the darling of the masses. But they need to do a few things differently than they have been doing at home.It is not a major ask. If you are a good cricketer, you should be able to make that sort of adjustment. Otherwise, perhaps you were not good enough in the first place.I can understand if the bowlers’ find themselves at their wits’ end in these games because you cannot overnight find an alternative to seam and swing which these conditions do not support. But there is no excuse for the batsmen. These are still slow wickets and they ought to find a way of manoeuvring the ball rather than attack it all the time.This, I think, has been the most disappointing aspect of the Indian team on this tour. It might be unfair to pick on somebody like Suresh Raina who is young and undeniably talented but, for the second game running, he perished trying to play that stupid shot. He came in in a situation when, just by pushing the singles in the gaps, India could have come closer to victory.In that sense, even Harbhajan Singh cannot escape the blame. He had brought India into a situation where, if the eighth-wicket pair had continued to pick its singles and brought the matter to a head in the final two overs, India would have been deemed favourites. Instead, he tried a mighty loft when a long off fielder was perfectly positioned for such indiscretion.Still, I would say that India has missed the experience of someone like VVS Laxman on this trip. India needed men who could play long innings and experience is the key in such issues. Laxman is the kind of batsman who can work the ball around and consolidate the score without having to take recourse to big, indiscreet hitting. He is like Rahul Dravid in this regard.If India wants to be positive in this defeat, they can look at it as part of the learning curve. Defeats are only terminal if you do not have the mettle and I do not think that is the case with these young Indian boys.Men with less talent and weak minds can be shattered by setbacks but in the Dhonis and Rainas, the Sreesanths and Pathans, hopefully, that is not a worry.
Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent ensured that Rahul Dravid’s first day as Test captain was an utterly forgettable one. They piled on 231 runs for the first wicket, apart from the misery for the Indians, and took New Zealand to a commanding position at the end of the first day. India’s bowlers worked hard on a wicket that kept them interested, but Richardson and Vincent were unimpeachable. From 247 for 1, New Zealand would be hard pressed to lose.The tale of two centuries was a study in contrast. Vincent was the belligerent aggressor, the often scraggly batsman who gave the bowlers a whiff of hope without relenting. Despite the two chances he gave, Richardson was composed to begin with, and blunted the bowling with patience that would have done a trappist monk proud. Vincent planted his foot down the wicket, smiled like a pirate and swept Kumble to the square-leg fence to reach his hundred. Richardson, hobbling around with acute cramps flashed Anil Kumble between the wicketkeeper and first slip to notch up his century.You can forgive Dravid for not appreciating the difference in styles of the two batsmen. The day began quite brightly after he lost the toss and was sent out to field. Zaheer Khan and L Balaji relished bowling on a wicket that aided seam bowling. There was good bounce and carry to the keeper and the ball moved laterally both in the air and off the wicket. Balaji in particular looked a different proposition altogether from the bowler he was at Ahmedabad. His propensity for slipping deliveries down the leg side was shelved and the ball moved both ways, beating the bat repeatedly.The ball doing a bit on the first morning of a Test match is nothing to get excited about though – unless you’re coming from a Test match at Ahmedabad, of course. Vincent and Richardson, used to conditions where patience is a necessity rather than a virtue, saw off the new ball with quiet confidence. Balaji will feel he had Vincent trapped plumb in front in just the second over of the day and most people, other than David Shepherd, would agree with him. Dravid will feel he has a lot to make up for when he bats, for he dropped a relatively straightforward offering from Richardson at slip in the third over. At the end of the day though, the only feeling that translated into performance was the relief Richardson and Vincent would have felt at having survived the first hour.From there on, it was a numbing experience of blunting the bowling. Richardson used his high left-elbow and soft hands, Vincent the sweep and quick shuffle of the feet. Kumble toiled manfully, sending down over after over of brisk spin. His control was excellent and the solitary wicket of Vincent was a poor return considering his 28 overs went for a mere 57 runs.It is always dangerous to sweep a spinner who sends the ball down as fast and flat as Kumble does. When you are attempting the shot to a ball on the stumps, off balance, it is lethal, as Vincent (106, 227 balls, 14 fours, 2 sixes) discovered. By then, though, India had gone wicket-less for more than two and a half sessions. The fall of Vincent’s wicket (231 for 1) ended New Zealand’s best Test partnership against India. The 231 that Vincent and Richardson added bettered the 222 that Bert Sutcliffe and John Reid put on for the third wicket at Delhi in 1955-56.Soon after, Richardson provided a moment of hilarity when he overbalanced and fell in the process of pulling a delivery. Flat on the wicket and in some pain with cramps, Richardson grimaced, but waved off the stretcher that the authorities at the Punjab Cricket Association so optimistically sent out. This man was going nowhere. Even a swarm of bees flying low into the ground did not distract him. When stumps were drawn, Richardson was unbeaten on 102 (284 balls, 14 fours) and will be back to fight another day.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo in India.
The psychological war of words ahead of Thursday’s first Test at Sabina Park cranked up a gear yesterday when Brian Lara told reporters that he feels he is a better player than when he broke Sir Garry Sobers’s world-record score of 365 not out in Antigua a decade ago.”I am mentally stronger, far more mature and less of a flash in the pan, which is what some people thought then,” he warned. And Lara’s Test form over the last 12 months – he has scored 1595 runs at an average of 69.35 – backs up his boast. “I am looking forward to surpassing what I did ten years ago – not perhaps in terms of runs, but in terms of worth.”I think Hayden’s 380 has been tremendous for me,” Lara continued. “I was woken up at three o’clock in the morning and told the news, and then I lay in bed thinking. I think this may have given me the impetus to go on and achieve even greater things. By this I don’t necessarily mean breaking records,but by leaving a greater impact on the game than just one or two innings.”Lara is a more polished act than he was in 1994. Two stints as West Indies captain have left him less self-centred and more at ease with the burden on him. His batting, which went through phases where he looked out of sorts, even disinterested, is now relaxed and appears to come more easily to him.And the responsibility of being his side’s elder statesman sits comfortably on his shoulders. “A high-profile player has to toe the line and I try to lead by example. A lot of guys appreciate that, and it is an advantage to have somebody as captain whom the players feel they can look up to; somebody whose door they can knock on to talk about anything on cricket or life.”This is a special series for me because it may be my last series against England at home,” he added. “But most importantly it is because the Wisden Trophy is not in our hands. It hurt to lose it to England in 2000, having held it for such a long period of time. England are our biggest rivals, and this was a bitter moment, not only for myself, but also for all the other members of the team.”I realised England were our No. 1 foe in world sport on my first tour of England in 1991. Viv Richards was captain of the West Indies and I immediately got a feeling of the competition that existed between the two teams. The trophy is currently in England’s hands and we will be fighting to get it back.”And as for his reported disagreements with Richards during the recent South Africa tour? “Me and Sir Vivian have always got on quite well, but that is something that is in the past now,” Lara said. “We’re two big men who can go out for a beer and talk about cricket and I hope that will continue.”There was little Michael Vaughan could do other than agree with Lara’s self-assessment. “With his record, Brian is the world’s No. 1 batsman at the moment,” he admitted. “He’s a tremendous player, but their top seven is probably as good as any around the world at the minute.”
Captain Sanath Jayasuriya admitted that the lack of match exposure for SriLanka’s middle order was a concern after they strolled to their thirdconsecutive World Cup win against Canada.However, he argued that it was imperative for Sri Lanka to boost their NetRun Rate (NRR), which has now spiraled to a healthy 3.17, to increase theirchances of qualifying for the second round of the competition.”We are aware that by finishing off matches so quickly we are depriving themiddle-order of batting but the situation is such that we need to keep theNRR up and have to use all options open to us,” said Jayasuriya afterwards.”It was a very good pitch to bat on and I never expected Canada to get outfor 36. What we wanted to do was to put them in and get them out quickly andscore runs as quickly as possible,” he added.He praised the efforts of his fast bowlers, especially rookie quick bowlerPrabath Nissanka, who played in place of the injured Pulasthi Gunaratne.”There was nothing wrong with the wicket, both (Chaminda) Vaas and (Prabath)Nissanka bowled really well. They pitched the ball in the right areas andbowled straight. We had so many lbw decisions in our favour because theybowled straight,” he said.”Prabath bowled very well and I am very happy for him. He has been a fastbowler whom we had faith on although he has been struggling in the last fewgames. He bowled wicket to wicket and was rewarded. He has a lot ofpotential and you will see him more of him in the future.”This performance was what we wanted from him because after Pulasthi(Gunaratne) got injured we were lacking an experienced bowler. If Prabathcan do the job, it is the best thing that can happen,” he said.Nissanka, who hails from Matara, the same southern fishing town thatproduced Jayasuriya, was delighted with his Man of the Match award.”I love bowling on this type of wickets. The captain and coach helped me alot to get my rhythm back at practices. I did a lot of hard work at the netsand it has paid off today,” said Nissanka.Canada captain Joe Harris said that he was disappointed the way his sideplayed and that they were capable of better performances.”We prepared for this tournament from six months ago and we knew it wasgoing to be tough against established nations. But we set our minds onplaying as competitive as possible against these countries. Today was a bigdisappointment,” said Harris.
David Graveney, Chief Executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), in full support of Alec Stewart’s comments regarding the pitch invasion at the One Day International v Pakistan at Edgbaston last night, reiterates that the security measures were totally inadequate.Whilst attempting to leave the pitch, Nick Knight was struck which is of massive concern to both the PCA and the International players Association, FICA (Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations). PCA will be urgently seeking information from the England and Wales Cricket Board following their meeting on Friday morning with Warwickshire CCC and the police over how security can be vastly improved for the remaining matches within this triangular tournament.Player and Umpire safety must be paramount.For further information please contact:The PCA office Phone: 01939 200202 or email [email protected]
Leeds United will be without Leo Hjelde against Southampton this afternoon, despite the defender returning to training.
The Lowdown: Hjelde’s surgery
Hjelde, labelled as a ‘superb player’ by Paddy Kenny following his move from Celtic last summer, has been out of action in recent weeks after breaking into Marcelo Bielsa’s first-team squad.
The 18-year-old was last seen for the Whites against Everton back in February, missing the last seven games due to a knee problem he sustained at Goodison Park.
He underwent surgery on the issue earlier this month and appears to be making good progress, however, Hjelde won’t be in the squad for the clash with Ralph Hasenuttl’s side.
The Latest: Marsch’s comments
As relayed by LeedsLive, Jesse Marsch confirmed that Hjelde has returned to training at Thorp Arch in the week but will be ‘unavailable’ for selection this afternoon.
Marsch admitted the defender was ‘close’ to making a return but will once again have to watch on from the sidelines.
The Verdict: Watford return?
It seems as if Hjelde will be able to return to the squad before the end of the season, as Marsch hoped earlier this month.
Should that prove to be the case, it will come as a welcome boost, with Hjelde showing he can cope with the Premier League’s high standards following an impressive league debut against West Ham in January.
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He’ll soon give Marsch another option at left-back, which is key due to Junior Firpo’s absence, also due to injury, and who knows, he could be ready for the trip to Watford next weekend.
In other news: Orta and Marsch now keen on signing ‘wonderful talent’ who shares agent with 6 Leeds players.
ScorecardFile photo: Stephan Myburgh blasted six fours and four sixes for his 67•IDI/Getty
Netherlands opener Stephan Myburgh’s first fifty of the tournament ensured his team cruised to a six-wicket victory against Canada in Edinburgh. Set a challenging 173 for the win, Myburgh and his opening partner Wesley Barresi began rapidly, blazing 65 inside five overs. Both players wasted no time in getting going, with Myburgh starting the innings with a six, and Barresi finishing the over with three consecutive fours, off Jeremy Gordon.Barresi was eventually dismissed for a 15-ball 33 after slamming seven fours, but Myburgh carried on to make 67 off 30 balls with six fours and four sixes, including 21 runs off an over from Rizwan Cheema. Nitish Kumar ended the carnage by trapping Myburgh lbw in the ninth over, but by then, most of the damage had been done as Netherlands needed just 64 runs from 70 deliveries. Cecil Pervez offered Canada a glimmer by picking up two wickets in consecutive overs, but Michael Swart’s unbeaten 34 took Netherlands home with 15 balls to spare.Earlier, Canada, having been inserted, rode on a half-century from Ruvindu Gunasekera (51) and late blitzes from Cheema and Hamza Tariq to post 172 for 8. Gunasekera and Hiral Patel began brightly with a 56-run opening stand, but Netherlands fought back with key top-order wickets in quick succession. Canada were precariously placed at 98 for 4 in the 14th over, but Cheema’s 12-ball 28, and Tariq’s 20-ball 40 powered the team past the 170-run mark. Swart was Netherlands’ best bowler, collecting 2 for 24 from four overs.
Chandu Borde, the former Indian batsman, has been appointed as the manager for India’s tour to Ireland and England, which starts in a week’s time. Borde’s appointment comes after Graham Ford, the former South African coach who’s currently the director of cricket at Kent, rejected the Indian board’s offer to coach the national side.Borde said that he was “happy to get this responsibility”. Now 72, he was the manager way back in 1989-90, when India undertook a tough trip to Pakistan. He had also been entrusted with the responsibility between 1984 to 1986. He was twice chief national selector, first from 1982-84 and then again from 1999 to 2002.”This has come as a very pleasant surprise,” said Borde. “I am very happy to accept it. I take it as a challenge. I was the manager in 1989 in Pakistan which was a very tough tour. Our team did very well. That was also the debut series for Sachin [Tendulkar]. Coming to the present assignment I know all the boys and I look forward to the challenge.”Kiran More, who played in that series against Pakistan, recalled that Borde had done a wonderful job but felt it was not fair to ask him to take up a short-term role. “We had lots of youngsters on the tour,” More told Cricinfo. “He managed all of us really well. His reading of the game was outstanding.”But this is going to be a short-term job. I don’t know what wonders he can do. It’s not going to be easy for him. It’s not fair to Mr Borde. Also, there is going to be a lot of pressure on Dravid. I hope he does well with the bat and with leading the team. At the end of the day the blame [if India don’t do well] will fall on the captain. I don’t think it will be fair on Dravid.”More also believed that the BCCI should have approached the coach-recruitment process more professionally. “They should have gone in more systematic way. They should have advertised for the post, canvassed for candidates from round the world and in fact, should have appointed the coach before the Bangladesh tour.”Borde played 55 Tests for India between 1958 and 1969 and captained in one Test, the opening game of the 1967-68 series against Australia at Adelaide.
In what is turning into a battle of the wicketkeepers, Adam Gilchrist has edged ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to recapture the top batsman’s spot in the ICC one-day rankings. Gilchrist leapfrogged his captain, Ricky Ponting, as well as Dhoni thanks to his performances in the recently-concluded three-match series in Bangladesh.Gilchrist now holds a slender advantage of just three rating points over Dhoni, who himself assumed the top position from Ponting for the first time less than two weeks ago. Ponting’s modest series in Bangladesh saw him slip to third. Australia now has four players in the top five of the ODI batsmen’s rankings with Gilchrist and Ponting joined by Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey in fourth and fifth spots respectively.
ICC ratings for batsmen
Rank
Batsman
Points
1
Adam Gilchrist
809
2
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
806
3
Ricky Ponting
785
4
Andrew Symonds
774
5
Graeme Smith
759
6
Michael Hussey
762
7
Kevin Pietersen
745
8
Kumar Sangakkara
736
9
Rahul Dravid
729
10
Yuvraj Singh
722
Shaun Pollock retained his spot at the top of the ODI bowler’s list with Irfan Pathan close on his heels in second. Australia’s highest-ranked player was Glenn McGrath – who was absent from the Bangladesh series for personal reasons – in fourth position.
ICC ratings for bowlers
Rank
Bowler
Points
1
Shaun Pollock
858
2
Irfan Pathan
765
3
Shane Bond
762
4
Glenn McGrath
756
5
Daniel Vettori
750
Australia’s 3-0 success in the series means it held its 13 point lead over South Africa at the top of the ODI table, with India a further three points back in third spot. There will also be a basement battle unfolding in the Caribbean as West Indies and Zimbabawe begin their seven-match one-day series on April 29. The two sides are currently in eighth and ninth places respectively in the table. If the West Indies achieve a clean-sweep of the series they will improve their rating by two points, going 12 behind seventh-placed England. But if Zimbabwe can win the series, it will close the gap considerably on the home side.Brian Lara, recently re-appointed as the West Indies captain, will be making his first ODI appearance for the side since May last year, although he did play three matches for the World XI in the Super Series against Australia in October. Lara will also be anxious to improve on his current position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen as he begins the series in 33rd spot, one place below Chanderpaul.
Surrey, and Rikki Clarke in particular, ended Gloucestershire’s domination of the C&G Trophy by defeating the defending champions for the first time in the competition since July 2002. And it is not since 1998, when the same teams met on the same ground in the then NatWest Trophy, that Gloucestershire have suffered such an early exit.Clarke and the Surrey lower-order kept cool heads as they edged towards their target, but Gloucestershire threw away the game with three crucial errors towards the death. First, Mark Ramprakash – who batted with outstanding authority in a stand of 82 with Clarke – was missed on 74 in the 39th over. The aptly-named offspinner Martyn Ball, whose figure and action both get rounder as the seasons tick by, dived to field his own bowling when Clarke drove towards mid-on. He failed to hit the stumps from five yards out, with Ramprakash, Surrey’s captain, stranded.By then Ramprakash and Clarke had dragged Surrey back into the game. They came together at 110 for 4 after Ali Brown and Graham Thorpe had fallen; the latter to a horrendous scooped drive to cover. Though they had to endure the tight bowling of Mark Hardinges, Ramprakash and Clarke kept the scorers busy through hard running and clever placement.It was the Sri Lankan legspinner, Upul Chandana, who eventually ended the stand by clean-bowling Ramprakash but, sadly for Gloucestershire, this preceded the next vital error. The wicketkeeper Stephen Adshead, standing up to Jon Lewis, dropped a fine tickle from Clarke on 36. Clarke went on to add another 26 runs to that total, and wrapped up the match by hitting the winning boundary.The final error was the most glaring. Surrey still required seven runs from the last over when Lewis, fielding at short fine-leg, let a sweep from Clarke clean through his legs. The batsmen ran four as Lewis floundered to the boundary to make amends, but the game was up. An outfit that has been so slick and ruthless over the past six seasons in the one-day format showed some severe cracks.The game was played in front of a lively local crowd, proud of its team’s recent success in this competition. The day was bright, if cool, throughout and both teams nudged into the ascendancy for certain periods, only to relinquish the advantage with the loss of wickets or expensive overs as the game swung, twisted and turned.Gloucestershire’s captain Chris Taylor first rescued, then established, their innings with a composed 74 from 87 balls, using soft hands in defence to drop the ball in the gaps for singles and punishing any wayward deliveries with uncomplicated strokeplay. He enjoyed partnerships of 59 with Philip Weston (35) and 72 with the impressive Alex Gidman, who ended unbeaten on 58.A tight opening spell from Martin Bicknell and Tim Murtagh, extracting extra bounce and seam movement from an unusually pacy Bristol track, had put Surrey in charge. Murtagh claimed the key wicket of Craig Spearman, caught at second slip by Thorpe, and Matt Windows followed three balls later, playing on to one that bounced more than he expected as he tried to leave, and Gloucestershire had slumped to 24 for 2.Taylor’s calm head saved the Gloucestershire innings and thanks to Weston and then Gidman, they closed in on a competitive total. Nayan Doshi had Taylor stumped off a leg-side wide, and then dropped a caught-and-bowled chance from Lewis first ball, who had gone in early to boost the scoring rate. Gidman held firm, reverse-sweeping and nurdling as the lower order batsmen, Hardinges and Ball, struck cleanly and powerfully.But Murtagh and Bicknell returned to tighten the attack at the death, setting a total that was well within Surrey’s reach. Clarke’s innings and figures of 2 for 41 from 10 overs earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, but Gloucestershire’s unexpected fallibility at the sharp end of the match will haunt them.