The recent rule changes in ODIs may not have been introduced with bowlers in mind but, in English conditions, two new balls mean runs must be earned

Jarrod Kimber at Lord's31-May-2013On May 26 at Grace Road, Josh Cobb and Greg Smith put on an opening partnership of 235 in 24.5 overs for Leicestershire against Somerset. That is the sort of run rate you can only just get to in your best daydream. In the 40-over game, Somerset’s 323 was chased down with seven wickets and 10 balls to spare.In the YB40 competition they use one ball.Listening to science podcasts about conspiracy theories has taught me a lot about how I know nothing about causality. So it’s obviously not just because they don’t use two new balls that Cobb and Smith smashed it everywhere. Two new balls that stayed hard could have gone further for longer. The pitch could have been such a powder puff that whether you used a football or a golf ball, the scoreline was going to be messy.In UK limited-overs cricket, especially at the highest level, the fast men are often favoured. Quality international batting line-ups often end up as mashed as the white ball. With two new balls, more men inside the circle and often favourable bowling conditions, the fast men can dictate a game.At Lord’s it started with Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan. Their role was not to kill the opposition, despite Mills and McClenaghan sounding like two killers from a Cockney gangster film. What they did was slow England down with the odd play and miss.It was Tim Southee, who can now have Lord’s specialist added to his LinkedIn page, who took the wickets. Perhaps anywhere else other than England, and in any game without two new balls, Southee would bowl the first overs. Here, New Zealand have the opportunity to get the most out of their top three seamers. Southee started England’s downfall.The second new ball wasn’t needed for New Zealand to feel the pain of seam bowling. Third ball of their innings, Luke Ronchi was out. Fifth ball, Kane Williamson was out. Even after the initial spell, which was followed by a match-winning partnership, James Anderson and even Jade Dernbach, made things difficult for the Kiwis. Not enough to win the game but, when Brendon McCullum was dismissed, I bet there were nervous Kiwis around.When the new changes were brought in, it was also supposed to be the end of spin bowling (which has now officially died more times than the spirit of cricket and Test cricket). Spin bowlers wouldn’t be needed with two new balls, and with less players allowed out in the field, they would be more susceptible.Today we saw how the opposite could also be true.The new balls helped with the breakthroughs, which helped keep the pressure on, which meant that it was harder to hit out against the spinners when they came on. More fielders in the circle made singles harder to come by. It means spinners can build pressure and choke batsmen. As Nathan McCullum and Graeme Swann did.It’s always hard to tell why one-day cricket is tampered with. A second new ball in Asia might mean higher scoring rates. Extra fielders inside the circle often mean more wickets, except on truly flat wickets where they mean carnage. I doubt that anyone in cricket was actually trying to help bowlers, so I can only assume that the idea of two balls was because someone assumed the harder balls would go further and the fielders brought up for more boundaries.Instead what has been set up is a potential summer of ODIs where batsmen actually have to earn their runs, and bowlers are not just there to take the pace off the ball and help batsmen look good.If that does happen, the rules might be changed back, because who wants an ODI where batsmen have to fight for their runs, when you could have them scoring opening partnerships of over 200 at nine-and-a-half runs an over.

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam08-May-2013Mirage of the day
In the third over, Tamim Iqbal jumped out of his crease and smacked Kyle Jarvis high over his head for a six. That was his last attacking shot, though, as he looked to grind the Zimbabwe attack over the next 57 deliveries he faced. It didn’t resemble any of his earlier innings as he hardly went after the bowlers. The next forceful shot was a wild slog, which went horribly wrong for him as he edged it to wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor off Tendai Chatara.Dud of the day
Jahurul Islam was drafted into the line-up in place of Mominul Haque, who had batted at No.3 in the last two matches. But Jahurul made no impression on the game and was out clean bowled by a beauty from Brian Vitori, who was Zimbabwe’s only change in the line-up from the last game. Jahurul couldn’t bring his bat down in time and the inswinging ball rattled his stumps. The sight would not have pleased those who had pushed for his selection.Clanger of the day
Both sides have dropped many catches in this series but Elton Chigumbura’s drop at mid-on will be remembered. Tamim went after Jarvis and got a soft top-edge on an attempted pull shot. Chigumbura, fielding at mid-on, tried to take the catch side-on to his left, but his eyes were not focused on the high ball. It got worse for the allrounder when he came on to bowl, as he sent down only five balls before pulling up with a groin injury.Lifeline of the day
While Chigumbura’s dropped catch didn’t cost Zimbabwe too much – Tamim made only 32 – Mahmudullah’s dropped catch off Vusi Sibanda proved costly. A reflex chance at slip in the eighth over off Abdur Razzak’s bowling, Mahmudullah couldn’t hold on in spite of Sibanda getting a thick edge. The Zimbabwe opener got another reprieve when he was on 91, but the home side had almost secured the win.Shot of the day
As Hamilton Masakadza brought out the big shots after a slow start, Sibanda too got on a roll. In the 11th over, he whipped a six down legside off Ziaur Rahman, into the woods outside the deep backward square leg boundary. Sibanda’s timing, and the manner in which the ball climbed off his bat and out of the ground, made a statement of sorts for the two openers as they looked to take on the bowlers instead of being cowed down.Trigger of the day
Brendan Taylor’s miscued reverse sweep, that resulted in him being caught by the wicketkeeper, came at a crucial time when Zimbabwe were 106 runs adrift of the target in the 33rd over. It was expected to be the dismissal that would spur the Bangladesh bowlers to take a few more wickets. Instead, it motivated Sibanda and new batsman Sean Williams, who took Zimbabwe to the victory.

Plays of the day from the second match of the Champions Trophy between Pakistan and West Indies

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Jarrod Kimber07-Jun-2013The ruse


Wicketkeepers don’t often carry a reputation for exemplary honesty, and Denesh Ramdin didn’t do glovemen any favours in the ninth over when he claimed a ‘catch’ that had seen more grass than a teenage rock band. Misbah-ul-Haq bottom-edged a chest-high delivery from Kemar Roach, and the ball just carried to Ramdin, who appeared to take it cleanly on first attempt, but allowed the ball to bobble out of his gloves and onto the turf. His team-mates all went up in appeal, and did not spot the blunder, but Ramdin did not acknowledge it himself and joined in the celebratory huddle. Fortunately, the square-leg umpire had sensed something was amiss and replays confirmed the misdeed.The fake flying finger
When the ball hits the stumps at the bowler’s end, there is almost always an appeal, whether the bowler has got close to it or not.  Often it’s almost impossible to work out if the bowler has touched it.  Endless replays and rewind in super-slow motion follow hoping to see if there is any movement off the fingers or deviation of the ball. Dwayne Bravo made it far easier for the umpires when a drive from Misbah hit his hand, and the protective guard from his fingers came flying off. For a moment it looked like he’d lost an actual finger. Instead, the only thing Pakistan lost was their last chance to post a total of over 200 as Wahab Riaz had to walk off.The mango picker


Between the two sides, there were plenty of giants at The Oval, but Chris Gayle made the best use of his height, when he climbed high in the 41st over to dismiss Junaid Khan. A slower ball from Bravo took the top edge of the blade and seemed to be looping over Gayle, but he timed his jump brilliantly and intercepted the ball at the top of his leap. Standing next to the much shorter Ramdin, it was almost like Gayle was reaching up into the branches of a mango tree to get his little brother some fruit.The release


Seventeen balls of torture from the quicks and the spinners, preceded Kieron Pollard’s first run of the match, and even when it eventually came, both he and his partner Marlon Samuels did their best to contrive a wicket from it. Pollard didn’t pick the Saeed Ajmal doosra to begin with, but pushed hard enough with an angled bat to get the ball away on the off side. Understandably eager to get himself a run, he set off straight away, only to realise halfway down the wicket that Samuels had not yet begun. A stutter from Pollard induced a start from Samuels, who scampered quickly enough to the other end to prevent a run-out.The battle


Riaz had been Pollard’s chief tormentor early on and he was quick to remind the batsman of his troubles in between deliveries, with a volley of words. Riaz had the best of the first melee, bowling 14 dot balls out of 16 deliveries to Pollard, but when he returned for his next spell, Pollard blasted his first ball through the covers for four. Riaz emerged the victor though, two balls later, when he swung one slightly away from Pollard to take an edge, and the wicket briefly brought Pakistan back into the match.

Niall O’Brien on sledging batsmen out, the biggest six he’s seen, and his two first-class wickets

Interview by Jack Wilson15-Jul-2013Tell us about the night after you beat England back in 2011 – can you remember it?
I can remember a fair bit of it actually. We got back fairly late after having a few beers in the dressing room in Bangalore. There was plenty of food and drink and we partied up until 4am in the captain’s suite in the hotel. We mustn’t have finished until 9am!Would that win be your career highlight, then?
One of them, yes, but there were plenty of good days in the green jersey. Any of the wins against the Test-playing nations you remember. Beating Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup was great, and of course, the win over Pakistan on Paddy’s Day.How much would getting Test status push Irish cricket on?
That’s the goal and that’s what Cricket Ireland have set out to do. We’re on the right course, doing all the right things and producing plenty of cricketers – but I’m not sure if we’ll be playing Tests in my playing days.Let’s go back to the garden cricket days. Who was better: you or your brother?
I was always the opening batter and he was always the opening bowler. He used to bowl all day in the garden, and on the rare occasion he got me out, he’d have a bat! We were like polar opposites – it’s hard to compare one against the other. I was very lucky in that there were six of us kids playing together when we were young.Who’s the greatest batsman to have ever lived?
People will say Don Bradman as far as average and stats go. Sir Viv Richards was a great with the way he played the game, but my favourite is Brian Lara. As a fellow left-hander he was amazing. I was lucky enough to play against him a few times.And bowler?
Shane Warne. The things he could do with a ball were incredible.You’re a wicketkeeper – who better to ask for some advice about chirping.
[] You’ve got to be clever with it, you’ve got to choose the right people to chirp at. Paul Nixon was brilliant at it. There are some players you can go at and some you can’t.Give us some examples.
I’ve said a few things to Kevin Pietersen and I’d like to think I’ve chirped him out a couple of times.Who wouldn’t you chirp?
Someone like MS Dhoni. I wouldn’t say anything to him. He’s the kind of character where it’s best to say nothing. Marcus Trescothick, too. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I’d say nothing to him.One piece of advice you’d give to a young wicketkeeper.
Just to focus on every ball. You’re going to miss chances and drop catches but you have to concentrate on the next one.Who has hit the biggest six you’ve ever seen?
Chris Gayle hit Brett Lee out of The Oval in the 2009 T20 World Cup. It went into the secondary school – it was a monstrous blow.

“I’m not sure if Ireland will be playing Tests in my playing days”

What’s the strangest bit of kit you’ve seen in someone’s bag?
My old team-mate Kyle Coetzer – the Scotland international – used to carry a fluffy toy meergoose around with him. When I was playing for Northants we’d find strange places to hide it. It once ended up on the top of a flagpole.Who’s the worst room-mate you’ve shared with?
George Dockrell – but he was very young. I shared with him at the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in 2010 and he didn’t have much bant. I’m sure he’s better now.Do you have any superstitions?
I have some pre-ball routines but I’m not overly superstitious. I don’t eat duck the night before a game, that’s one.Are you one of those wicketkeepers who fancies themselves as a bowler in the nets?
I never bowl in the nets. I’ve got my two first-class wickets and that’s it!Tell us about them.
I got Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, out caught by Andrew White. I did him with a slower one. I got a Cambridge Uni lad out too but I can’t remember his name.If you weren’t a cricketer what would you be?
I’d be playing on the right-hand side of midfield for my beloved Everton.Give us your Ashes prediction.
England are definitely going to win, home and away, comfortably. This summer, England will win three Tests, one will be drawn because of rain, and Australia will win one. I’m going 3-1.

Craig McDermott looks forward to working with Australia’s bowlers after being appointed by CA, and says his close relationships with the bowlers will help them get in gear for the upcoming Ashes series

Daniel Brettig17-Oct-2013Ten days ago, Craig McDermott returned to Australia feeling a little downbeat. After mentoring Australia’s Under-19 bowlers in a quadrangular tournament in India, he had wanted to stay on to work with the senior team for their ODI series against the hosts, an earlier offer knocked back by Cricket Australia. As far as McDermott was aware, he remained at arm’s length from the national team, offering only occasional help via the Centre of Excellence. The flight home seemed a journey away from where he wanted to be.But a few hours after his arrival in Brisbane, McDermott’s phone buzzed with a message from Darren Lehmann, asking him to meet with the national coach and the team performance manager Pat Howard. Soon enough, he was handed the role to coach Australia’s Test match bowlers, with preparations for the Ashes in his immediate sights. Recalling the earlier conversations about India, McDermott chuckled. “Those things are always planned well and truly ahead of schedule, so maybe they were already talking about things behind closed doors,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t really know…”Whatever their sense of timing, Howard and Lehmann had not forgotten the way McDermott worked tellingly with fast bowlers young and old in 2011 and 2012, a phase in which Australia’s pacemen had been the most incisive in the world. Nor had the bowlers themselves, who within minutes of McDermott’s appointment being announced, flooded their former coach’s phone with messages. The strength of those relationships will be as useful to Australia’s bid for the Ashes as the clear and fruitful advice that had won their trust in the first place.”I’m really looking forward to getting back with the boys. I’ve had Sidds, Patto, John Hastings and a few other guys contact me already, so it’s great that they’re happy I’m back and that I’ve been appointed and they’re contacting me,” he said. “So that’s a positive start from my point of view. I’ve kept track of the Ashes and some of their one-day and T20 cricket, so I’m up to speed with where everybody’s up to.”It’ll just be good to get around the states in a week or so’s time when I start to see some Sheffield Shield matches and some practice sessions prior to Shield matches. I’ll make sure that guys are up to speed and talking through any technical things we might want to look at as well and make sure we’re back on track from where I left it 15 months ago, the mantra and all that sort of stuff I set out for the lads. On their side of it as well they accepted where we wanted to head on certain ideas, and also Michael Clarke embraced that very well as well.”All that good feeling and mutual understanding does not disguise the fact that McDermott’s task is a hefty one. While Australia’s bowlers fared better than their batsmen in England, heavy workloads during the series and repeated defeats across two series overseas, have sapped the pace battery of strength. James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Jackson Bird are unavailable, while Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris are creaking rustily back into gear. Ben Hilfenhaus remains sturdy, and Mitchell Johnson has been swerving the white ball at speed. But much remains to be done to return the attack to the heights they scaled against India two summers ago while avoiding the pitfalls of the 2010-11 Ashes series at home.”We certainly want to make sure we get to what we were doing 18 months ago,” McDermott said. “That’s my focus. I’m not too bothered about the previous Ashes series in Australia. We improved on that and we’ve shown we can do it, so we just need to have four, six, eight guys knocking the door down and bowling well to give the selectors some variation and some things to think about when it comes to what wickets we’re dealt with.”In Brisbane do we play four quicks if the wicket’s good enough, or do we play three and a spinner and Shane Watson or whatever it happens to be. They’re things the selectors have to sort out, but my job is to get our blokes bowling well with the red ball … and that doesn’t stop somebody else in Shield cricket knocking the door down by getting a lot of wickets in those early Shield games because you need guys who are in form.”McDermott’s pace bowling tenets have always been simple. When he was first appointed in mid-2011 he advocated accuracy, a fuller length and the rediscovery of swing. When consulting in Brisbane on the pre-Ashes camp, he told the squad members “be prepared to be boring” in sending down ball after ball in the right spot. Now he will be working with the states to ensure the selectors’ nominated eight fit fast men are thinking simply and clearly, while also helping to plan that none are unnecessarily blown out by a domestic schedule featuring six Shield matches in as many weeks.”It’s always good to have plans, but injuries always upset plans don’t they?” McDermott said. “We’ve got to make sure we’ve got those guys fit as well as the next echelon below that, so if we do get two or three injuries like we do have with Pattinson, Cummins and Starc, that we’ve got other guys who can take over from them and bowl well in Test cricket. That’s part of my role as well, to make sure the next lot down are preparing for possibly injuries and coming to the fore in Test cricket. I’ve had a fair bit to do with most of those bowlers, whether it be through Australia A, the CoE and the Australian set-up.”At the same time, McDermott will work in concert with Ali de Winter, the man who replaced him last year. Howard has indicated their split roles may be the first of several across formats, allowing support staff to spend a little less time on the road as the composition of the teams also diverge. Both McDermott and de Winter are contracted until the end of the World T20 in Bangladesh next year, before a break that will allow the former to work on a few of the projects he built up between national team stints.”It’ll be interesting to see where it unfolds,” McDermott said. “I’m through until after the World T20 and so is he, and then we’ll just see where it all leads after that. But they look like they’re heading towards that track and then next year it there’s four months off in the FTP, so that allows me to run my Billy’s Cricket Academies as well and do some work with Australia A and also the CoE. It’s a pretty good mixture I can see for the next 9-12 months.”

After their unexpected success in South Africa, India’s batsmen start the Test series in New Zealand with reputations to maintain

Abhishek Purohit in Auckland05-Feb-20140:00

Dravid asks for consistency from Dhawan, Rohit and Rahane

India’s Test totals from their trip to South Africa are 280, 421, 334, 223. There is nothing earth-shattering about these numbers. There is only one score over 350. These are not totals that will easily win you Test matches. But these are not totals that will send you hurtling to innings defeats either. These are totals that show you can compete. They show you won’t be easily brushed aside. And when you consider the inexperience of the line-up that put them together, against the No 1 Test side, you appreciate the true significance of these scores.M Vijay, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara had played a handful of Tests outside India before the South Africa tour. Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were playing their first Tests away from home. Kohli and Pujara came out of the tour with bigger reputations. Vijay and Rahane took important steps towards building theirs. Only Dhawan and Rohit faltered.Not that it hasn’t already been recognised, but in time to come, the magnitude of what this bunch of young men achieved in South Africa will be appreciated even more – especially if they continue to build on that unexpectedly impressive start on their several upcoming tours, starting with New Zealand.Shikhar Dhawan has the swagger, the power and the talent, but he might need to rein in his instincts in seamer-friendly conditions•AFPAgain, the challenge is daunting. There is plenty of grass on the Eden Park pitch for the first Test. The ball might swing more in New Zealand than it did in South Africa. The overcast skies expected in Auckland for the first Test will further assist Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Corey Anderson. Like some of the Indian batsmen, Southee is still a young man but with an already established reputation. The other three are left-hand bowlers of different types. Boult swings it like a banana into the right-handers when the conditions are favourable. The tireless Wagner is at you all day. Anderson is more than a handy fourth seamer, and can get it to dart around and kick off the seam. New Zealand have developed a potent pace attack in home conditions.How will the Indians tackle them? Vijay went into the South Africa series termed a walking wicket outside off by many. The discipline and patience he showed in leaving deliveries was refreshing. The angles from the three left-armers will be harder to judge and leave. It was only one innings in a practice match against a fringe side in Whangarei, but Vijay fell playing loosely from the crease, and that is a tendency he will have to resist against the swinging ball.The honeymoon is well and truly over for Dhawan. He was dropped for the decisive fourth ODI in Hamilton. He has the swagger, he has the power, he has the talent. But can he adapt? Can he rein himself in and see out the new, swinging ball? Can he resist having a go at the bouncer? New Zealand might tell us if Dhawan can be a long-term prospect as Test opener.Pujara and Kohli are men with quite some standing in the game now. Both made hundreds in South Africa. Kohli did it in his first Test innings in the country, and nearly got two in Johannesburg alone. Pujara made one of his big hundreds in the second innings. These two are the drivers of the Indian line-up now, both home and away. That is a huge responsibility to have. Both know how crucial their wickets are, how dearly the opposition wants to send them back early.”I know now that the opposition wants to get me out,” Kohli had said after making an ODI hundred in Napier in his first international innings in New Zealand. “That’s why they are going to try to rattle me and try to get me into a fight but that gives me one more reason not to get out.”These words show how much Kohli has matured. Pujara has appeared mature since the time he debuted. It is upto them to make this tour another notable chapter on their journey in international cricket.Few thought Rahane would punch tall South African fast bowlers for four off the back foot. Rahane was probably the most delightful batting surprise for India in South Africa. No one has held that No 6 position for India for any decent period for years now. A couple of solid knocks on this tour might just seal the slot for Rahane for some time to come.Rohit’s is probably the most interesting case. He was brought down to earth in South Africa after the home highs against Australia and West Indies. Irrational aggression, irrational caution, both led to his downfall. He can be iffy against the moving ball, especially early, and will have to tighten up that aspect, especially if there is cloud cover and Boult is steaming in. In his favour, the longest format does seem to be the one his game appears more suited to.On the whole, not many teams in cricket are blessed with such an exciting crop of young batsmen. They were expected to fold over on their first collective tour, but surprised the world. The second one is here now, and this time, there are some expectations and reputations to live up to.

Sri Lanka’s captain insisted his team had not lost because they had been negative. He would be hard pressed to find many who agree with him

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Sharjah21-Jan-2014On the fourth evening of the third Test, Sri Lanka spurned the chance to press their advantage and crawled, bat in hand, slighting spectators, opponents, and in turn, the game itself. Before the last day’s play was done, cricket had bit back, bloodied Sri Lanka to mindlessness, then left them for dead in the gloom. The team did not just lose a Test match in Sharjah, when they slowed play deliberately in the final overs, Sri Lanka lost the cricket world’s respect.Only Test cricket can take two-and-a-half hours of seeming idleness – a session where nothing appeared to happen – then retrospectively assign it haunting, definitive meaning. Among Sri Lanka’s greatest successes had been their ability to subdue Saeed Ajmal, but on a surface that by Sri Lanka’s own admission had not begun to take menacing turn, they lay voluntarily immobile as Ajmal put men around the bat and worked himself into one of his best spells in the series.He dismissed Mahela Jayawardene that evening with one that ripped more than the batsman expected, and the following morning claimed the key wicket of Prasanna Jayawardene – Sri Lanka’s top scorer in the innings (who, strangely enough, had also been their most positive batsman). Abdur Rehman had wheeled himself into a rhythm in the fourth day’s evening session, when Sri Lanka had been only marginally less conservative. Together, the pair wiped out Sri Lanka’s final four wickets on day five, leaving the door to victory ajar.After Pakistan had run their opponents down, Sri Lanka’s captain presented a weapons-grade denial that negativity did not cause their demise, suggesting instead that his batsmen should have been even more patient in their second innings. How Sri Lanka arrived at that conclusion is unclear, because six of their batsmen fell playing defensive strokes in the innings, and they had in fact lost two wickets in the session they had almost brought to a standstill, by scoring only 45.If they truly believe they were not cautious enough, Sri Lanka are like a man who attempts to capture a castle by charging head first into its walls, then when he regains consciousness, determines he should have sprinted at the granite a little harder. The directive to revert to ultra-defence had actually come despite each of Sri Lanka’s top eight batsmen having crossed fifty in the four innings prior to their second dig in Sharjah. The great peril in playing conservative cricket is that in two good sessions, Pakistan could lurch forward to obliterate four days of slow work from Sri Lanka.If they required any evidence supporting the merits of positive cricket, they can look to their own meltdown in the field on day five. Boundaries early in Pakistan’s innings prompted immediate deployments at the fence, and as Pakistan pressed harder and harder Sri Lanka prepared a feast of risk-free runs into the outfield. Almost three-quarters of Pakistan’s 302 had come in singles, twos or threes.As the final ten overs of the match approached, Sri Lanka spread the field even further, expecting a man nearing a scintillating ton and a captain who has only missed getting 50 in one innings in the series to slog one brainlessly to their outfielders. They needed less than a run-a-ball. Pakistan were having one of their superhuman days, but Sri Lanka felt they would suddenly begin batting like children. All nine fielders were routinely placed on the fence for Misbah-ul-Haq, and possessed of sound mind, Misbah did not take the ludicrous bait. He hit out hard, attempting to pierce the gaps, but he never put the ball long enough in the air to risk his wicket, because every time he got bat to ball, he was guaranteed at least one run.”We wanted to get a wicket in that period,” the Sri Lanka captain said after the match. “The ball was a bit old and also reversing a little bit. We actually knew in the last ten overs that they would go for the big shots. Even when we had our nine fielders down at the boundary, they still went for it. We wanted to get a wicket and when the newcomer comes in, to sort of bring in the field and put pressure on. They were going to go for it and it was getting dark. That’s why we had the fielders out.”No neutral fan of cricket could have barracked for Sri Lanka on the fifth evening. On social media, the reactions of Sri Lanka’s own supporters turned from disappointment to anger to disgust, before reaching the consensus that this was Sri Lanka’s most craven showing in the professional era. If their captain’s comments after the match can be taken at face value, the team remains staggeringly out of touch not only with the spirit of their sport, but the with will of the fans who sustain it.After the scheduled finish time of 5:30 pm had passed and it became clear that only bad light could halt Pakistan, Sri Lanka’s fielders began complaining they could not pick up the red ball under lights. When the winning run was hit, a pair of senior players went first to gripe to the umpire instead of shaking hands with the deserved victors, and then, Sri Lanka’s cowardice was complete.

ESPNcricinfo revisits the best spells of the World T20 2014

Kanishkaa Balachandran08-Apr-2014Dale Steyn – 4 for 17
South Africa v New Zealand, Group 1With seven required off six balls and five wickets in hand, most teams would back themselves to achieve it. Dale Steyn not only stretched New Zealand but bowled one of the finest final overs in a Twenty20 match to snatch the game from New Zealand’s grasp. Steyn had parsimonious figures of 3-0-13-2 when he ran in for that final over. Luke Ronchi backed away to launch the first ball over the off side but only got a thick outside edge, taken by the diving wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. With seven required off five, it would have been more than acceptable had Nathan McCullum settled for a single to give the well-set Ross Taylor the strike. But McCullum too looked to clear the rope and was beaten. He failed to get bat on ball yet again as Steyn fired a 148 kph thunderbolt. Following three scoreless deliveries, a desperate McCullum finally connected the fourth and sent it to the extra cover boundary. That boundary proved to be the only aberration in the over for Steyn as he nailed McCullum the following ball, getting him caught at extra cover. Taylor darted across to take the strike off the final ball, with three needed. With Steyn breathing fire, there was little the batsman could do. The final ball was fast and full and Taylor could only squirt it back to the bowler, who jogged towards the stumps and knocked off the bails as the batsmen looked for a desperate single. Steyn punched the air towards the ground in characteristic fashion, having bowled five dot balls. That one over gave South Africa the match.Rangana Herath – 5 for 3
Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Group 1A total of 119 looked woefully inadequate for Sri Lanka to defend, but Herath , who was benched until this match, had other ideas. An underrated bowler at T20 level, Herath foxed New Zealand’s top order with his mastery over flight, dip and spin. Brought on in the fourth over, Herath ran out Martin Guptill off his first ball and the pressure began to tell on New Zealand and Brendon McCullum, who played out four dot balls. McCullum succumbed to impatience off the final ball when he danced down the track, only to be beaten by flight and lack of pace. Ross Taylor too was kept on a leash for four straight dot balls in Herath’s following over, surviving a close shout for lbw. However, he wasn’t so lucky the following ball as Herath got one to skid and strike his pad in front of the stump. The next ball, Jimmy Neesham was beaten for turn as he played down the wrong line and was bowled. Incredibly, Herath had picked up three wickets and not conceded a single run. Though he failed to get a hat-trick, he managed a wicket each in his next two overs – Luke Ronchi was trapped lbw by one that turned and in what turned out to be the final over, Trent Boult edged to slip. As he ran through the top order, the target of 120 was made to look distant. New Zealand were sent crashing to 60 and Herath walked back with astonishing figures of 5 for 3.R Ashwin – 3 for 22
India v South Africa, semi-finalIndia’s unbeaten run until the final was made possible thanks to their spinners Amit Mishra and R Ashwin. In the semi-final, South Africa’s chances of posting a competitive total hinged on their ability to take runs off the spinners. Ashwin’s variations, though, were a handful. It began with what Adam Gilchrist had tweeted as the “T20 ball of the century”. Bowling round the wicket to Hashim Amla, he pitched the carrom ball well outside leg stump and Amla went back at the crease, presumably playing for the off break, but the ball spun away sharply and took the off stump. Despite conceding just a run off the over, to go with the wicket, he was surprisingly taken off the attack. He was brought back in the 14th over when the other two spinners were taken apart by JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis. Two balls after du Plessis struck him for a six, Ashwin hit back by bowling the batsman off a freak dismissal which also involved the carrom ball. He then claimed the important wicket of AB de Villiers in his following over, but it wasn’t his best ball – a long hop went down fine leg’s throat. He finished with impressive figures of 3 for 22 and crucially, he stopped de Villiers and du Plessis in their tracks when South Africa were looking dangerous.3.3-2-3-5 and an economy rate of 0.85. That was Rangana Herath v New Zealand•Getty ImagesImran Tahir – 4 for 21
South Africa v Netherlands, Group 1One of the biggest takeaways from the 2014 World T20 was the revival of legspin bowling. Imran Tahir finished as the joint leading wicket-taker with 12 and his spell of 4 for 21 saved South Africa from embarrassment against Netherlands. The batsmen had earlier stuttered to 145 and the game was slipping away from South Africa after Stephan Myburgh fell with the score at a healthy 80 for 2 after eight overs. Then the slide began. Bowling his second over, Tahir removed Wesley Barresi and Peter Borren lbw off successive overs, although he was lucky to get Barresi, with replays suggesting the ball may have missed the stumps. When Tahir returned for a new spell, Netherlands still held the edge, only needing 30 off 42 balls with five wickets. He struck off his first ball, bowling the dangerous Tom Cooper between his legs and four balls later he had Pieter Seelaar caught at long-on. The pressure had got to Netherlands as they looked to hit out and it was Tahir who stood in their way as they looked to upset a major side.Samuel Badree – 3 for 10
West Indies v Pakistan, Group 2Legspin again. This time it was Samuel Badree, who sent Pakistan limping out of the tournament. After West Indies had rocketed to 166, a shocked Pakistan batted like they had never recovered from the scars of the late onslaught. Badree bowled the second over and struck off his third ball as Kamran Akmal flat-batted one straight to extra cover. The loss of early wickets and a series of dot balls began to tell on Pakistan, who looked to hit their way out of trouble. It reflected in the pattern of their dismissals. Umar Akmal charged Badree, missed a googly and was stumped. Shoaib Malik tried the same, but made the mistake of giving himself too much room and nearly lost his balance as the legbreak spun past him. At 13 for 4, it was West Indies’ game. Badree finished with 3 for 10 off four overs and his spell set it up for Sunil Narine to cut through the middle order.

There had been some encouraging signs in the their first three World T20 matches that things were on the up after a hideous winter but England positives were taken away from them by a hot blast of Dutch courage

Alan Gardner in Chittagong31-Mar-2014After a winter of lows, England have reached their Netherland. Handed a generational thrashing in Australia, little was expected of the players selected to contest the World T20. Little is just what they delivered. The day after Ashley Giles had put forward his manifesto to become England’s new head coach, the players he has coaxed and chivvied around the Caribbean and Bangladesh for the last six weeks put in a performance to suggest their bags had already been packed.The mental baggage is likely to test the flight allowance. England have lost to Netherlands before, at the game’s spiritual home, in the opening match of a major tournament. But defeat at the 2009 World T20 at least came down to the final ball. Here, the green shoots of a campaign that suggested tentative promise were mown down by a performance that resurrected and amplified the post-Ashes #pomnishambles jeers. Giles’ chances of being ushered into power by the ECB as England’s new head coach may have been damaged irrevocably.Deprived of Joe Root and Ben Stokes by injury, not to mention the self-inflicted wound that is Kevin Pietersen’s exclusion, England’s batting during the tournament had provided surprising encouragement. They went into their final group game with an average and scoring rate higher than at any previous World T20; the lowest-ranked team left in the tournament exposed the lie to the damned statistics.Alex Hales’ century against Sri Lanka in a record run chase; Moeen Ali’s delicate promise at No. 3; the return of Eoin Morgan to something like his best; Ravi Bopara’s composure in the finishing role – England positives were taken away from them by a hot blast of Dutch courage. No one in the top seven managed to score at a run a ball, let alone stay at the crease for long, as Netherlands produced another diligent display and finally claimed the scalp they have craved ever since Peter Borren berated his team’s poor form on the eve of the World T20.England managed just four boundaries in their innings, one more than Netherlands amassed when dismissed for 39 – the lowest ever score in T20 internationals – little more than a week ago. There was no question about whose embarrassment should be more acute.The pain for England’s captain, Stuart Broad, must have been agonising. With his injured knee in need of lengthy rehabilitation, he elected to marshal his troops for one last time, perhaps hopeful of gleaning first-hand some more pointers as to England’s way forward. There has been talk of learning more from defeat from victory; England can publish volumes after this. Broad hinted afterwards that the captaincy may not be in his possession for much longer.”I’m not sure,” he said of his future in the role. “We’ve got a few months and I’ve got an eight week rehab period with my knee to get right for Test cricket this summer. There are going to be decisions made right at the top over the next month or so and discussions will go on from there. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing the role over the past couple of years but today is extremely disappointing. It is a game we should have won.”

England have now won just three from their last 13 T20s, to go alongside other grim readouts from recent months. Their record chase against Sri Lanka looks like a sudden, final spike on the heart-rate monitor.

Poor fielding was the most obvious of England’s deficiencies in their previous World T20 games, the nadir being when they dropped four catches against Sri Lanka. Here, a couple more went down, to go with Jos Buttler’s amateurish dislodging of the bails before he had the ball in his gloves, which butchered another run-out opportunity. There were also preventable byes conceded standing up to James Tredwell and, after a dreadful missed stumping in the South Africa game, it is clear Buttler’s glovework still needs a fair bit of polish.When holding forth about the future for England on Sunday, Giles talked about working hard on catching and ground fielding, citing AB de Villiers as the standard for his players to reach. Here their level of athleticism has been more on a par with Abe Simpson.Netherlands scored 47 for 1 in the Powerplay and it could have been worse but for Broad’s spell – he bowled at the beginning and end of the innings for his 3 for 24, showing himself to be a class above the rest of England’s largely worthy attack. Jade Dernbach may already have bowled himself out of international orbit for some time, while Tim Bresnan has been worryingly inconsistent. Tredwell was tidy once again but his lack of wicket-taking threat is backed up by a T20 average of 57.83 after 15 games.Somewhat embarrassingly, Ravi Bopara was the bowler to offer most control but England did tighten up, limiting the total to 133. That became the lowest score successfully defended at the tournament so far and such was the margin of Netherlands’ victory, England were only kept off the bottom of the group by a net run rate margin of 0.09.England have now won just three from their last 13 T20s, to go alongside other grim readouts from recent months. Their record chase against Sri Lanka looks like a sudden, final spike on the heart-rate monitor. Broad referred to “complacency” afterwards and the spectre of the Ashes that clings to England like evening dew.”It sums up our winter as an England side. It was pretty similar to the batting displays we put in after we lost the Ashes in Australia,” Broad said “A lack of commitment in the shots and a very disorganised chase.”Before we knew it was a World Cup game with World Cup points. The bowling and the fielding was okay but we lacked hunger with the bat. No one got going, no one took responsibility and fair play to the Netherlands, they took their chance.”It was always going to be a danger with us not being able to go through, but we said all the right things before the game and it was up to the players to deliver it. We have to take responsibility for that and it is hugely disappointing. There are no excuses from our side. We should have won with what was a relatively simple run chase but a shocking chase in the end.”England shoulders visibly slumped as each wicket fell, their tentative shot-making increasing the pressure with each passing over. The Netherlands strained every sinew for victory, while England hoped that someone might save them. Over the PA system, “London Calling” reverberated around the stadium, though the welcome waiting for England’s players might be on the chilly side. After their experiences in Australia, perhaps this was a fitting end. Down and out in Alice and Chittagong.

In spite of its many inconveniences, cricket brought a brief calm to political turmoil in Bangladesh and left its people basking in the shared pride of having successfully hosted a global event

Mohammad Isam07-Apr-2014Sonia and her cousins will remember those nights for a long time. They would wander out in the illuminated street two blocks down from their apartment, meet a few more friends and cousins, and laze around the pavement lit up from the floodlights of the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Amid all the security barricades and protocol, there was gossiping, eating, singing and star-spotting.Sonia is a resident of Mirpur-6, a neighbourhood to the west of the Shere Bangla Stadium. Their alley leads up to the main entrance. The Milk Vita Road, as it is known locally, was barricaded from the moment the teams arrived at the venue. However, despite all its trappings, the World T20 has been a refreshing change for residents in the vicinity of the stadium.Just after the sun goes down, the neighborhood comes alive. Kids play cricket with a taped-tennis ball, the and the (street-food vendors) sneak in. Some are flying kites while others merely sit and talk, taking in the atmosphere.During match days, when the team buses moved in and out of the stadium, they would sometimes spot the stars. A crowd favourite is, of course, Shakib Al Hasan, while Mashrafe Mortaza and Mominul Haque, both Mirpur residents, are also not too far behind.Watching their stars has brought residents relief from the short shrift they get in the daily grind: lack of electricity, water and gas. Shakib, Mominul and Mashrafe don’t bring them utilities but seeing the Bangladesh players has given them a reason to believe and hope.Life isn’t easy for Dhakaites in any part of the city, but with so much cricket happening in the area, the focus has naturally shifted to the plight of locals. The economic level here is middle-class, which means they hardly get what is required; they have to manage within their means, and manage well.Within Mirpur, west of the No 10 intersection right up to Mirpur-2 and several areas within Mirpur-6, a 3-km radius was locked up for security. It was a major nuisance for residents of the area, but security was the ticket that allowed Bangladesh to host the World T20.It was not until January 20 that the ICC confirmed the tournament’s hosting rights would remain in Bangladesh, after political violence almost derailed the country’s biggest sporting event. Between November and mid-January, a week after the January 5 national elections, the situation had deteriorated so much that even those closely associated with the tournament privately expressed doubt.In spite of the inconveniences, fans were eager to be a part of the event•BCBThe girls sitting outside the street close to the Mirpur stadium, during one of the World T20 games, recalled an incident from December when a bus was burnt down near their house. Tuhin, one of Sonia’s cousins, was trapped when police started chasing protesters in Taltola. He escaped by climbing up a tree for a few minutes, and then scaling the wall of a nearby office.The protestors, meanwhile, hit back with bricks and stones, fanning a level of panic that added to the turmoil. But, with a major global event coming up so close, it was imperative for both sides of the national spectrum to come to some sort of agreement.Whether cricket is solely responsible for momentarily stopping political trouble is debatable, but it has played a major part. The BCB had gone to both leading political leaders before an ICC meeting in January, and that assurance probably won the day for Bangladesh.The event has been a time of celebration for the ordinary people. For them, attending the matches was not a necessity, but the pride over playing hosts is a shared, cherished feeling. Cricket’s popularity in Bangladesh has been described and discussed a number of times, but to feel the intensity of it, one had to experience it at the time of the tournament. There were road shows in all districts and screens were put up at intersections, parks and meeting areas.The good folks of Sylhet welcomed world cricket with open arms and filled their beloved stadium every day of the competition. Chittagong dwellers, too, reveled in the spirit, despite the continuous traffic problems due to the teams moving from their hotels in the city to the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on the outskirts.

The material legacy may just be a refurbished stadium in the northeast but the event has turned cricket from being merely a sport to something woven more deeply into the public consciousness.

Conversations across the country were dominated by Darren Sammy’s West Indies, the Netherlands and the abject failure of the home side. Their performance was a contrast to what the public saw in the last two years. Bangladesh played well in 2012 and had a poor series against Zimbabwe last year. Off the field, however, there have been far too many controversies. Mohammad Ashraful’s admission of involvement in match-fixing has been the biggest of these issues.The tribunal investigating the matter recently reached a verdict and while most of the nine accused went scot-free, the Bangladesh Premier League brand suffered irreversible damage. The BCB now has to find a new T20 tournament.As the World T20 finishes with fanfare, Bangladesh has shown the ability to host a global tournament on its own. There has been whole-hearted praise from all quarters, and the sports minister recently informed parliament that the government has spent close to Tk 10 crore to ensure every aspect of the competition moved smoothly.From April 7, life will go back to what it was. There will be no extra security and no traffic jams to add to the busy roads, but given how violent Bangladesh can get (and could probably return to those bleak days), people may also miss this brief peace of mind the tournament brought. The material legacy may just be a refurbished stadium in the northeast but the event has turned cricket from being merely a sport to something woven more deeply into the public consciousness.As for Sonia and the gang, the relief from political violence and the daily trouble of dodging it is over. The fun of simply sitting in front of a giant stadium, talking to best friends and cousins, will now be just a memory. There haven’t been many in their lifetimes, so this may be the sweetest yet.