Plays of the Day from the Afghanistan v Pakistan Asia Cup clash

Mohammad Isam in Fatullah27-Feb-2014The drop
Umar Akmal was taking his chances even with Pakistan in some trouble having lost six wickets much too soon. Off Shapoor Zadran, he swung across the line and skied the ball; it went to point where Samiullah Shenwari grassed the chance and gave Akmal the lifeline that Pakistan badly needed. He was batting on 28, and ended up making an unbeaten 102.The catch
With Akmal and Anwar Ali adding 60 runs for the seventh wicket, one would have thought that Afghanistan’s energy would fade away. But Nawroz Mangal showed the way, running hard from mid-off to take a superb catch near the boundary as Anwar Ali tried to clear him. The best part about the catch was Mangal’s poise.The misfortune
Mohammad Shahzad would be thinking what he did to be at the receiving end of two questionable decisions. The first came when Sharjeel Khan edged Dawlat Zadran and was well caught down the leg side by Shahzad, only for umpire Johan Cloete to dismiss the appeal. TV replays showed it tickled the gloves and also a bit of the hip before reaching the wicketkeeper. When it was his turn to bat, Shahzad had given Afghanistan a typically fast start but was then given out caught behind; the ball hadn’t taken the edge but Billy Bowden thought it had, Umar Gul’s extra bounce duping him.The shot
Shahzad played what was perhaps the shot of the day, a clip off the toes which would have pleased any international batsman. It was all wrist, though he also generated a lot of power. Moreover the shot, which went for four through square-leg, was hit off the first ball of the Afghanistan innings.The painful rebound
Hamza Hotak had been bowling his left-arm spin with accuracy but he wasn’t as effective as a fielder. After Ahmed Shehzad swept fine, he chased and dived to save the ball, but it ricocheted off his palms and onto his face, before heading to the boundary rope.The mix-up
Misbah-ul-Haq was sold down the river by Sohaib Maqsood in the 24th over. Maqsood drove to cover and set off only to have second thoughts about the run and slip. He turned back and reached his crease in time, but had Misbah for company at the striker’s end. Wicketkeeper Shahzad collected the throw and ran all the way to the non-striker’s end to complete the run-out, meaning Pakistan’s most reliable batsman was run out without facing a ball.

South Africa’s captain supports Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn’s decision to play it safe, in the face of criticism from the crowd and former players

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg22-Dec-20130:00

‘India didn’t show enough desire to win’ – Smith

The Wanderers crowd are an unforgiving lot. Even though they did not fill the stadium once – with work commitments, holiday season and threatening weather keeping them away – they made their voices heard when Dale Steyn sent Vernon Philander back in the third-last over of the day and when Philander returned the favour in the next one.Loud boos echoed around the ground for every refused run. South Africa had 16 to get off the last three overs and had shut shop. The fans were asking why.South Africa kept going for the target till Faf du Plessis’ dismissal with three overs remaining•AFPGraeme Smith explained the decision was made by the two batsmen at the crease and was not a team order. They considered who South Africa had left to bat and made their decision based on that.”Ultimately the guys out in the middle, what they thought was in the best interest of the team,” Smith explained. “Morne [Morkel] struggling to stand really. And Immy [Imran Tahir] – he would probably say himself that you are not too sure what you are going to get from Immy. I think we as a team have to support the decision Dale and Vernon made in the middle.”Smith said, at that stage, no messages went out to Philander or Steyn. “You can’t send out messages between overs. That is not allowed,” he said, but confirmed Steyn had gone out with some instructions. “The message was to set it up for the last over. Then there were a couple of maidens bowled, which made it difficult. I think ultimately we needed to give Vernon an opportunity to win us the game. I think he was the guy that probably would have done that. It never happened,” Smith said.”Ultimately the strength of this team is that there are good decision makers. Each guy is mature. They’ve made great decisions over a period of time which have won cricket games for South Africa. I think that’s how we have got to No. 1 – by trusting each other and trusting each others’ decision making. Dale and Vernon have 100% support from me.”When asked if being eight runs away from history left Smith gutted, he held his line. “Guys, if you want me to say that I disagree with what Dale and Vernon did, I am not going to say that,” he said. “I think I have answered that question enough today. I think I have covered that.”South Africa’s decision not to chase victory came under scrutiny from more than just the few thousand people in the stadium. Herschelle Gibbs, who tweeted that it would be a “bigger victory than the 438 game” during the last hour thinking South Africa had won, corrected himself when he realised they were still batting. “I’d rather go down going for a win than a draw,” he posed, following it up with “As in life, no point going down wondering.”Johan Botha also thought South Africa were in with a chance, although his approach was more measured. He tweeted. “Game on!! Watching from Hobart. Get it down to around 50 only four or five down, then a big chance.” South Africa needed 56 to win when AB de Villiers chopped Ishant Sharma on to leave them five down.By that stage, du Plessis confirmed he was looking at survival first and if he was there in the last five overs, he would have gone for it. He was there until there were three overs left and that was when South Africa shut shop. Smith explained it as being partly due to so much being at stake in the first Test, because the series was so short. “In a two-Test series, with one match to go, there is an opportunity to go and win the series in Durban. We have to believe in the decision that Dale and Vernon made,” he said.It was also, he said, a fitting response to a game in which South Africa had been playing catch-up for most part and didn’t think they would win. “Even at lunch today I don’t think we believed we will get as close as we did. We were just playing. That was our chat this morning. To make sure we build a partnership. We knew, to save the game we would have to have a session without losing wickets. We got that after lunch. We played it beautifully,” he said.”From day two we have been behind the game. I don’t think many people gave us a chance to be in this position. As a team, we showed the mental strength and the ability to handle pressure and the ability to understand what needs to be done.”We saw two of the greatest innings played in recent history. I think we need to appreciate the effort. I hope people through the emotion of wanting more always can see and respect the efforts that the team has certainly put in. We fought hard, and were able to show enough skill to get something out of this game. The fact that everyone is talking about Test cricket, the fact that everyone is talking about this game, is wonderful for the game of cricket. It will certainly go down as one of the great games.”With that in mind and the knowledge that South Africa’s fighting draw in Adelaide eventually led to them winning the next Test in Perth and Smith alluded to them doing the same here. Durban is somewhat of a hoodoo venue of them – they have lost their last four Tests at Kingsmead – so to go there with a chance of still winning, rather than drawing the series, was important.One person who recognised that was Iain O’Brien, the former New Zealand fast bowler, who believed South Africa took the right approach. “For me, SA did the right thing,” he tweeted. “They were amazing to NOT lose that Test. Special draw for SA. Demoralising one for India. Epic cricket.”

Two former South Africa convener of selectors have their say on who should be the team’s next captain

Firdose Moonda28-May-2014South African need a leader who can unite the team as it heads towards its biggest transition in more than a decade, according to two former conveners of selectors.If Mike Procter, who headed the committee from 2008 to 2010, was still in charge, AB de Villiers would get the job. But if it was up to Rushdie Magiet, who was at the helm from 1999 to 2002, Hashim Amla would be the man. What both men agree on, though, is that Faf du Plessis has faded from contention ahead of next week’s announcement.”AB is such a good team guy and people look up to him. If you are the captain, you need to be able to lead from the front and he will do that,” Procter told ESPNcricinfo.But Magiet had a different opinion. “Apart from a very sound knowledge of the game, Hashim is very well liked and he will bring the team together which is what they need at this time,” he countered.Neither Procter nor Magiet have overseen a new captain during their tenures because they were both in office during Smith’s reign. However, both men recognise that Smith’s retirement, coupled with the exit of men who formed the core of his squad in Mark Boucher andJacques Kallis, means that South African cricket is set for a change in ideology regarding the selection of the next captain. De Villiers’ brand is likely to be brave and creative, while Amla’s is more measured and polished.Magiet believes the latter is what South Africa will need to overcome the challenges they will face in the near future. Wresting back the No.1 Test ranking from Australia by taking on the only team they have lost to away from home in the last eight years, Sri Lanka, is the first of those. Maintaining their ruthlessness in a year where the only fixtures are against West Indies and Bangladesh in order to prepare for an incoming tour from England next season, is the other.”AB will probably also make a good captain, but I would keep him behind the stumps. Character would be the main reason I would go with Hashim,” Magiet said.Procter, though, is not convinced by the personality of Amla, who only made himself available for consideration as the next Test captain recently after months of shying away from leadership. “It is surprising that Hashim changed his mind because he didn’t want the job initially. Captaincy is either something you really want or something you don’t want,” Procter said.For most of his career, Amla had made it clear he felt the latter. He stepped down as captain of his franchise, the Dolphins, after a season and gave up the vice-captaincy of South Africa’s limited-overs sides last year. Amla credited his change of heart to feeling a responsibility to “add value,” at a time of need, now that Kallis and Smith are gone. But sources close to CSA have indicated Amla was persuaded to put his name in the hat, particularly as pressure mounts to pick a captain of colour.Magiet said it did not matter why Amla had made a U-turn, simply because people should be allowed to change their minds. “I don’t know what happened or why Hashim changed his mind but I don’t think that’s a problem. If he is available, I would give him the job,” Magiet said. “And the recent reports have said Hashim wants to do it which I think is a good thing.”Equally keen on the role is de Villiers who in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, declared himself “ready” to take over and even indicated that he would be willing to give up the wicket-keeping job if appointed. Procter was heartened by those comments because he thinks that is the best way for de Villiers to lead without being overburdened.”If AB is captain, he should not keep wicket,” ” Procter said. “His fielding is superb and he seems to enjoy fielding more. If he is in the field, he will also be able to manage bowlers better.”De Villiers has already handed over the gloves in both Twenty20s and ODIs to concentrate on batting and leading in the fifty-over game. Although de Villiers no longer captains in the shortest format, which is du Plessis’ domain, Procter believes if he takes over in the Test arena, he should also be given back the T20 captaincy so that South Africa have some consistency.”AB should captain in all formats. There is no need to split responsibility,” he said. “He is a special player and arguably the best batsmen in the world in all formats. What really makes a good captain is experience so that’s what AB needs. He will learn, just like Graeme Smith did.”

As Sri Lanka sought a famous victory, Joe Root’s words to Angelo Mathews were a pin prick that triggered an explosion

Andrew Fidel Fernando at Headingley24-Jun-2014It all began with Joe Root on the final day. He had been the overnight batsman. Moeen Ali was lacing silk with stone at the other end, and Root was blocking for his life. Sri Lanka’s seamers began by bowling full. Rangana Herath went over the wicket, then around. Nothing worked. After a shower, and lunch, Sri Lanka asked to change a wet, misshapen ball.With all that was to follow on day five, Root may not even remember what he said to Angelo Mathews, as Sri Lanka’s captain oversaw the umpires’ choosing of a new ball. But he did say something. Root spoke for no longer than three seconds, and suddenly Mathews was alive and aggressive, throwing something much longer, and nastier, in his face.Sri Lanka had spoken since day one about how their attack might rip through England if they could take the match five days, but on the final morning, all the gunpowder they felt they had could not break England down. They needed a spark. A reason to run in harder, and stay keen in the field.Joe Root and Angelo Mathews had plenty to say to each other•Getty ImagesWithin minutes Root was being harangued before each delivery, at the end of the over, and whenever a Sri Lanka player could get within earshot. For about 20 minutes, Root was a walking dartboard. Sri Lanka players who do not give more than two-word responses to journalists’ questions were unleashing wordy tirades. The press box watched on with jealousy as Root collected the best quotes Mathews has ever given in his life.Perhaps not even Root will know whether the edge he would send to gully was induced in part by the verbal assault. But before his jibe at Mathews, Sri Lanka were like a balloon, slowly deflating in the sun. Root’s brief words were a pin prick, but they brought an explosion.Sri Lanka would not have a smooth ride to the finish, but the intensity they mustered then did not dip until the penultimate ball took James Anderson’s splice and floated into Rangana Herath’s hands. As Mathews made 10 bowling changes in the final hour, like a man searching through his many pockets for some money, Sri Lanka’s desperation was immense.On a pitch that seemed to have died since the third day, after already having delivered more than 104 overs in the series, Shaminda Eranga found a magic ball formed of nothing but burning desire, and sealed Sri Lanka’s first series win in England. Outside Asia, they last defeated top-eight opposition in a series way back in 1995.Root was Sri Lanka’s spark on Tuesday, but the past few months of Sri Lanka’s cricket has been defined by the will to flourish in adversity. The players do not blame Paul Farbrace for switching sides in the weeks approaching the tour, but the team understood the strategic significance. They knew their own board was partly to blame for the clipping of one Test in this series, yet seeing that Test handed to India still felt like a slight.Mathews praise for seamers

On bowling Eranga in the final over: “I tried my best to rotate the bowlers, and when Anderson was on strike, I actually thought he faced Rangana Herath pretty well. He faced about six or seven overs of spin. We couldn’t get him out. I thought one last burst – one over left – and I gave it to Eranga, thinking he could bowl some fast, short ones at his body. That’s the way we got him out in the first innings as well. Fortunately for us Eranga bowled that brilliant ball to dismiss Anderson.”
On Prasad’s inclusion: “In England we needed someone who could bowl 85mph, because when the wickets get flat the seamers can’t do much, except for the guys who have a bit of extra pace. That’s why we played Prasad in this Test match and he responded brilliantly.”
On the series win: “It is a boost for the whole team and for Sri Lanka cricket. Winning the first series in England is great motivation for all of us. It’s due to all of our hard work. Preparation was fantastic starting from the Ireland tour and leading up to the practice games. Everyone wanted to make it a special series for Sri Lanka cricket, and we did exactly that.”

On tour, the officials’ reporting of Sachithra Senanayake’s action, and the Mankad controversy to follow developed into what the team felt was a siege. Then in the days preceding the Tests, Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, labelled the visiting bowlers just “a glorified county attack”. Mathews could not help but smirk, when it had all whirled to its extraordinary end.”I hope my attack is better than a county attack,” he said. “There was a little bit of a debate saying that my attack is not quite good enough for county cricket. That motivated us. We don’t have Chaminda Vaas or Muttiah Muralitharan in our team, but we have some guys who are willing to do the job, are working really hard, and they’re excited about playing Test cricket.”On paper Sri Lanka were outgunned, but on the final day at Lord’s and the last four days at Headingley, they also transposed the fight that has shaped their limited-overs cricket for some time. England seemed headed for a straightforward victory with Sam Robson and Ian Bell at the crease on the second day, but Eranga’s epic toil of line and length brought the quick wickets that gave Sri Lanka their first surge in the game. Mathews’ 160, and his 149-run stand with Herath came in an even direr situation. Dhammika Prasad’s fourth-day burst defies belief, given he had not taken more than one wicket for less than 100 runs in his past 10 Tests.Sri Lanka have played without a break since early December, save for the few weeks of early IPL, to which none of the 16 men in the Sri Lanka squad had a ticket. With preparation having been so crucial to the trophy-sweep in England, the players will perhaps be glad for that. Since the painful end to the Sharjah Test in January, they have won 22 out of 27 matches, across all formats. Of all their plaudits, a Test series win in England seemed by far the least likely.

A stats review of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at Hambantota

Bishen Jeswant26-Aug-20140 Number of times that that a 300-plus total has been successfully chased down in an ODI in Sri Lanka. The highest total that has been chased down successfully in Sri Lanka is the 288 that Pakistan had set Sri Lanka at Dambulla in 2009. There have been two instances of teams, India and Sri Lanka, scoring 300-plus runs during an ODI chase in Sri Lanka, but both came in close losses.6 Number of Pakistan wicketkeepers to have effected 50 ODI dismissals. Umar Akmal became the latest addition on the list when he took a catch to dismiss Upul Tharanga off the bowling of Wahab Riaz. Moin Khan leads the list with 287 ODI dismissals.22 Number of fifties that Angelo Mathews has now scored in ODI cricket. This is the most fifties scored by a Sri Lankan batsman who does not have an ODI hundred. Chamara Kapugedera with eight fifties is a distant second. Across countries, Misbah-ul-Haq holds the record, with 37 fifties and no hundred. Mathews is also one of only five batsmen to have made 3000-plus ODI runs without scoring a century.90 Number of 50-plus scores that Mahela Jayawardene has made in ODI cricket. There are only nine players who have made 90 or more such scores, an elite list led by Sachin Tendulkar (145) and Ricky Ponting (112). The only others with 100 or more 50-plus scores are Kumar Sangakkara (105) and Jacques Kallis (103).2 Number of times that Seekkuge Prasanna has got to double digits in his 11 ODI innings. Prasanna batted at No. 6 today and was dismissed lbw for 1 by Mohammad Hafeez. Apart from his scores of 42 and 22, both versus Pakistan, Prasanna’s highest ODI score is 8*.19 Number of balls that Sri Lanka needed to go from 250 to 300. The breakup of Sri Lanka’s 50s throughout the innings was erratic and makes for interesting reading – the first fifty came off 46 balls, the next off 70, the third off 42, the fourth off 75 and the penultimate fifty came off only 40 balls.30 Number of times that Hafeez has taken two or more wickets in an ODI innings, without ever taking a four-for. He returned figures of 3-39 in this game. The only player to have two or more wickets on more occasions, without ever taking four wickets, is R Ashwin, who has done this 37 times in ODIs.75 Number of balls (or 12.3 overs) in which Pakistan got their first 100 runs. This is Pakistan’s fourth fastest 100 since 2001. Their fastest 100 in this period was in 10.4 overs against India at Kanpur in 2005. Earlier in the innings, Pakistan had got to 50 off 40 balls – their fastest in the last seven years, since another game against India at Kanpur in 2007.45 Hafeez’s ODI average in the 33 innings when he has batted at No. 3 for Pakistan. He batted at No. 3 today and scored a brisk 62 off 49 balls. In the 110 innings that he has opened the innings, his average is only 28.2. Only four of Hafeez’s nine ODI hundreds have come when he has opened the innings, with the remaining five coming at No. 3.15 Number of times that a Sri Lankan player has made a 50-plus score and taken three wickets in the same ODI, Thisara Perera becoming the latest. Sanath Jayasurya has done this on six occasions, with no other Sri Lankan having done it more than thrice. In all ODI cricket, this has been done 174 times.

With their one-day plans in a familiar mess six months out from the World Cup, questions abound on England’s priorities and strategy

David Hopps at Headingley04-Sep-2014A largely fallacious debate has done the rounds in the media, old and new, in the past few days, in response to the question whether England would rather win the Ashes than the World Cup. There is no reason why England should put one above the other. They should be seeking to win both.Only by doing something ineffably stupid – entirely scrapping domestic one-day cricket perhaps, or banning the reverse sweep in case it created bad habits in Test cricket – would English cricket make the question relevant. It is a false dichotomy, a convenient excuse reminiscent of the football chant beloved by supporters of failing sides: “We know we’re rubbish but we don’t care.”There may be an underlying point to this and, as ever this summer, it concerns Alastair Cook. The implication is that for England to gamble by removing Cook from the one-day captaincy, and in essence call time on his limited-overs career, ahead of the World Cup would cause such disruption that it would destroy England’s chances of winning the Ashes next summer.If that really was so, it would say little about England’s structure or about Cook’s character. It is not as if the structure could not cope or that Cook’s standing in Test cricket would be undermined at a time when split captaincy in English cricket has become the norm.Neither would Cook, a man of high integrity, go into a prolonged sulk and feel so betrayed that he retired from cricket forthwith and opened a music shop. This, after all, as Moeen Ali became the latest player to emphasis, is a man possessed of immense mental strength.The fact is that England’s hierarchy has wedded itself too inflexibly to Cook ever since they presented him as a paragon of virtue to justify their decision to dispense with the Black Prince, Kevin Pietersen. In everything they have said, they have raised Cook’s sense of entitlement to dangerous proportions. Just because the debate fuelled beyond these pages by the likes of Graeme Swann and Michael Vaughan is regarded as essentially pointless does not mean that it should not be taking place.To check this debate it would need England to win spectacularly in the final ODI at Headingley on Friday, to avoid a 4-0 India clean sweep and to pronounce that they had proved an ability to learn quickly, that India’s trouncings had inspired them to new heights and that their World Cup challenge was back on traagain.Then they will travel 12,000 miles much in the mood of the England football team, claiming that because expectations were so low they actually had a better chance of winning because they would play without fear. You don’t have to be an expert on the World Cup in Brazil to know how that one worked out.Moeen was unfortunate enough to be put on to the England coconut shy, two days after they had been walloped by India by nine wickets at Edgbaston. Do England care as much about one-day cricket, he was asked. “Definitely,” he said.That was where the discussion should rightly end. It would better to ask it of the media and the supporters. Reduced media interest in limited-overs cricket is one reason why England’s domestic T20 has struggled to take root in the past decade and, as for England’s supporters, India fans snapped up the tickets for this series so quickly that England could have claimed at Edgbaston to be playing in front of an away crowd.At Headingley there will just be relief that the ground is full and the weather forecast is dry. After three ODI abandonments in the last five, added to the loss of another full house when the T20 fixture against Lancashire was rained off, Yorkshire, £22m in debt, would happily fill the ground with plastic dummies as long as somebody paid the entrance fee.”Fear” was instead on Moeen’s mind. He registered England’s first half-century of the series at Edgbaston, an innings of impressive verve considering England’s predicament. His return to Headingley, where he batted throughout the final day against Sri Lanka and came within two balls of saving the Test, was a reminder that he has proved himself not just a successful cricketer in his first season for England, but an adaptable one too.”We can learn a lot from India,” Moeen said. “Me sitting on the sidelines for the first two games, watching the way Indians bat, you can learn a lot from the way they approach it, with no fear and just back themselves. If there is a risk, they just take it. Sometimes it doesn’t come off but as a team if we can all do that and execute the plan then we will be fine.”Watching someone like Suresh Raina in the first game, they were in trouble and he came out and played the way he played. He took a few risks and they came off. He backed himself. I tried to copy it a little bit. I was just trying to get a score for the team, play how I play and not fear anything or anyone, just enjoy batting, put bat to ball, try and be different.”The message – a message England’s hierarchy will approve – was that the plans are fine, it is just the execution of those plans has been so poor; that “the guys are definitely out of form and maybe lack a bit of confidence”. Exactly what causes this lack of form and confidence is a question worth posing.

Former Australia allrounder Alan Davidson was a devastating fast bowler and a generous batsman, who has spent his life serving Australian sport in various capacities

Ashley Mallett26-Nov-2014A left-arm fast bowler with a classical side-on, rhythmic action Alan Davidson usually bowled fast-medium, but when riled he was as swift as anyone.Garry Sobers told me that Davo was “lightning fast when the mood took him”. Keith Miller described Davo’s bowling as “deadly and devastating”, and said he “went after the wickets, but he was never run-hungry as a batsman. He merely batted according to the tempo of the game.”Davidson the cricketer was a big man with broad shoulders, and he needed them, because for years he carried the Australian pace attack. With his baggy green pulled down at a rakish angle over his curly hair, Davidson moved fast in the field. A superb catcher in almost any position, he held on to some breathtaking catches. No wonder they called him the “Claw”.Some have compared his bowling to the great Pakistani left-arm bowler Wasim Akram. Davo was just as good, and he made greater use of his lead arm than Wasim, and also got the ball to swing late to the right-handers.Davidson played 44 Tests, scoring 1328 runs at 24.59 with five fifties, and took 186 wickets at 20.53 with 14 bags of five wickets in an innings and two match hauls of ten or more wickets.He bowled against some of the greatest batsmen to play the game: men of the calibre of England’s Len Hutton, Denis Compton and Peter May; and West Indians Sobers, Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. That is why Davidson must be rated as being among the greatest fast bowlers – of any era.He was born in the small country town of Lisagow near Gosford, New South Wales on June 14, 1929. He learned to bowl on a pitch he burrowed out of the side of a hill on the family property. “Although it proved to be a good, flat surface, when I missed the stumps I had to chase the ball down the hill,” he said of it, laughing.The young Davidson began his cricket as a hard-hitting down-the-list batsman and a left-arm orthodox spinner, but when his uncle wanted a pace bowler for the Gosford team, he volunteered to do the job. Davo rarely bowled spin again.Also a fine rugby league player, he turned out for the Gosford High School cricket and football teams. Then he progressed to the NSW Combined High Schools teams.In 1947, he found work as a teller with the Commonwealth Bank and moved to Sydney to give himself a better chance of winning state selection.Cracking the NSW team was made easier with the side’s two leading fast bowlers, Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, away touring South Africa, and old hand Ernie Toshack injured and out of contention.Davo grabbed his chance, getting Bob McLean with his second ball on his Sheffield Shield debut against South Australia, finishing with 4 for 32. At the season’s end, Davo’s form was rewarded with selection in the Australian Second Xl tour of New Zealand, under the leadership of Bill Brown. Against Wairarapa in Masterton, Davidson gave notice of his all-round power by taking 10 for 29 and hitting an unconquered 157.Davidson hooks Wes Hall during the 1960-61 Melbourne Test•PA Photos/Getty ImagesIn the only international fixture, Davo took 4 for 24 in New Zealand’s second dig, including the wicket of Test great Bert Sutcliffe. New Zealand were tottering at 76 for 9, just eight runs ahead when time ran out for a result.His Test debut came against England in 1953. That Trent Bridge Test was drawn, but Davo could never forget his first victim: Hutton (43), caught by Benaud in the gully. In 15 overs Davidson took 2 for 22.Davo married Betty McKinley in 1952 and their first-born, Neil, arrived on the first day of the Leeds Test of the following year. “Early that day an envelope was pushed under my door and it read: ‘Betty and baby well.’ But I didn’t know whether it was a boy or a girl. Later that day I saw one of those grainy radio photographs and that’s the first time I saw Neil, named after his godfather, Neil Harvey.” Their second child, Ian, arrived while Davo was on tour in the West Indies.Early on each day before a Shield or Test match in Adelaide, Davidson helped Colin Hayes, a champion trainer, with his racehorses. Even on Test match days there was Davo at the crack of dawn, helping wash and groom the racehorses after their dawn run along Semaphore Beach.”I loved working with Colin’s horses,” Davo recalled. “It was in the days before he moved to Lindsay Park in the Barossa Valley, and no, I didn’t let Sir Donald [Bradman] know… because he was then chairman of selectors. Imagine if I got kicked by a horse one morning and as a result I couldn’t bowl for the last two days of a Test match.”Davo’s love of horses stemmed from his work on the family’s rural property at Lisagow. He was naturally fit through hard work, chopping wood and carting hay. When he wasn’t working on the farm he was playing football or cricket.He admires cricketers before and during his era, men such as Bradman, Harvey, Benaud, Hutton, Compton, Frank Tyson, Sobers, Wes Hall and a host of others. He also loves the modern players. “You know, I reckon, to watch half an hour of Mark Waugh at his best was the best batting you could see in terms of grace and style.”Davidson batted against Tyson, who he described as “mighty quick”. “But I’ve seen all the fast bowlers since the war,” he added, “and Jeff Thomson, before he injured his shoulder, was 5 to 10kph faster than anyone.”I saw Thommo as a 17-year-old bowling for Bankstown against Billy Watson and Warren Saunders. Watson was a great hooker. He belted Tyson all over the place when he scored a century against MCC in 1954-55, but this day against Thommo he struggled to get the bat up in time to fend off the ball. It was embarrassing to watch these blokes trying to survive.”Davo didn’t aim to hit batsmen in the upper body with short-pitched deliveries; he knew if he could land a blow on the inner thigh it would count: “There’s not much padding in that area and if I could hit the fast bowlers there, they really did struggle to get into good rhythm when their time came to bowl.”He reached his all-round peak during the 1960-61 home series against West Indies and was regarded as the key player in Australia’s victory. In the first Test, in Brisbane, despite a broken finger in his bowling hand, he became the first player to take ten wickets and accumulate more than a hundred runs in a match.He took 5 for 135 and 6 for 87, and, after scoring 44 in the first innings, made 80 in a counter-attacking seventh-wicket partnership of 134 with captain Richie Benaud as Australia sought victory in the chase. Davidson was run out and Australia lost their way with Lindsay Kline and Ian Meckiff failing to complete the winning run, causing the first tied Test in history.Davidson has a laugh with Michael Hussey in Sydney, 2013•Getty ImagesFrom 1970 to 2003, he was president of the NSW Cricket Association, during which time he delighted guests with his luncheon addresses. Soon after his talk he would pick up a bread roll and demonstrate to whoever was sitting beside him how he swung the ball in and took it away.A national selector for five years, Davidson has held numerous positions on a variety of boards, including Surf Life Saving Australia, ANZAC Health and Research Foundation, the Rothmans National Sports Foundation, and the NSW Olympic Council. He also has had a number of suburban sporting grounds named after him in Wyoming and on the central coast in NSW.He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1988, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2004, and the ICC Hall of Fame in 2011.A likeable bloke with sparking eyes, Davo won the hearts of all cricket lovers when he appeared recently in a TV commercial for the Commonwealth Bank. In the ad, a young boy bowls at a set of stumps in a park when along comes Davo walking a little dog. On the third attempt the boy hits the stumps and Davo says, “Well done, well done.” Knowing him, you just knew he wanted to say more, but he had to stick to the script.A great cricketer, family man and loyal friend, Alan Davidson is a national treasure.

The rise of Papua New Guinea batsman Lega Siaka has shown fellow young players in his country that they can dream big

Tim Wigmore24-Dec-2014With a push to long-off, Lega Siaka made history. On November 9, he became the first Papua New Guinea batsman to score a one-day international century. Within a few weeks he had been signed by the Melbourne Renegades.Siaka is the “pocket rocket” who has fuelled PNG’s cricketing surge. Baby-faced and 5ft 6in, he looks even younger than his 22 years. But his slight physique is no indication of a lack of six-hitting clout. “Power is one thing that for a short guy he’s got an incredible amount of. He’s hit some of the biggest sixes I’ve seen, off the front foot and back foot,” says his PNG team-mate and former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones. “They think, ‘He’s a little guy, let’s bounce him’, and he’s put them out of the park more often than not.”Perhaps the most heartwarming cricketing tale all year has been that of Papua New Guinea. PNG gained ODI status in 2014, and celebrated by becoming the first country ever to win their first two ODIs, when they defeated Hong Kong 2-0 in Australia.It would not have happened without Siaka. In January, he hit centuries against Kenya and Namibia in the World Cup Qualifiers. And in the second ODI against Hong Kong, his 109, fusing classy late cuts with ferocious pull shots, underpinned PNG’s successful chase of 262.”When I crossed the white line I was feeling a bit nervous. From the start I felt pressure,” reflects Siaka. “When the bowlers started running in, I said to myself: ‘It’s me, I’m going to do the job for PNG.'” That he did, and his team made history in the process.Siaka embodies PNG’s rise. He grew up in Hanuabada, the hub of PNG cricket, where he still lives. It is a fishing village of 20,000 on the north-western outskirts of Port Moresby. Houses here tend to be made from corrugated iron, and lifted above the sea on stilts. The place has produced over half of all the players who have represented PNG.”My family life is a bit tough,” Siaka reflects. His mother could not find work so his father had to support the family. Siaka and his four siblings grew up playing cricket with a tennis ball. He did not face a hard ball until he was 16.The career he is making from cricket holds out the promise of a better life for Siaka and his family, which includes his young daughter. “I give something to my family to buy food or something like that. I send the money back home and they can survive from that,” he says. “My mum and dad are proud of me and they’re happy.”While he might not get a chance to play for Melbourne Renegades, Siaka’s game will benefit from training alongside Aaron Finch, Tom Cooper, Jesse Ryder and Dwayne Bravo. “I will learn a lot from them.”Siaka’s self-belief and range of shots make him one of the most electrifying batting talents beyond the Test world. In nine innings in 50-over cricket for PNG, all in 2014, he has scored three centuries, amassed at a strike rate of 109. “He can play really well off the front and back foot – off side and leg side,” Jones says. “Out of a lot of young batsmen I’ve seen recently – and I’m talking about county cricket as well – he’s impressed me the most with his all-round ability.”

“He’s hit some of the biggest sixes I’ve seen, off the front foot and back foot. They think, ‘He’s a little guy, let’s bounce him’, and he’s put them out of the park more often than not”Geraint Jones on Lega Siaka

But Siaka has his eyes set on more than dominating on Associate level 50-over and T20 cricket. He admits that he needs to improve against spin. “One shot I have to improve is the sweep shot”, he says. He is also aiming to transfer his form in white-ball cricket to the longest format. “I’ve never played four-day cricket before but I think it’s going to push me forward to become a better player. When you start playing four-day cricket you have to work hard and do the right things,” he says. “It teaches you to be strong on the mental side and to keep batting and batting.”PNG have never played a first-class match before. But by dint of their ODI status, they will be included in the Intercontinental Cup from next year – and, in theory, could qualify for the Test Challenge. While that may be unlikely, PNG thrashed Hong Kong in a three-day warm-up match last month, with Siaka scoring a measured 51 in the first innings. The victory suggested that their experience of two-day cricket in the South Australian Premier League has hardened the players. PNG finished bottom of the two-day league last year and are bottom again this season. “We didn’t do much,” Siaka admits, but the tournament has been critical in giving players their first experience of multi-day cricket.In T20 cricket, PNG are far more formidable. They won the South Australian Premier League T20 competition last year and, with a one-wicket win in the final, retained their title this month.For Siaka, T20 is his “favourite format”. His penchant for thumping the ball over midwicket, and his improving auxiliary legspin and electric fielding (he scored a spectacular direct hit from mid-off against Hong Kong) make him ideally suited to the format.Siaka could soon show as much at a global event. While PNG narrowly missed out on qualification for the World Cup, the squad is eyeing the 2016 World T20 as the next step in their development. “I want to play in a World Cup,” Siaka says. “When I travel with the boys they’ve been planning for the World Cup. We have to work harder from here.”In September, the squad became full-time cricketers. For Siaka this means he no longer has to juggle opening the batting for his country with working for Cricket PNG as a groundsman.Cricket is already established as the second most popular sport in PNG, behind rugby league. “More and more people are playing cricket. Cricket is getting bigger back home,” Siaka reflects. The game now has the opportunity to kick on, thanks to PNG’s success on the field and an enlightened approach by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket, who have both pledged some of their World Cup proceeds to build over 100 synthetic wickets in the country.A Papuan forging a successful career with an Australian state would be another landmark moment. As Greg Campbell, the chief executive of Cricket PNG, recently put it: “We just need a boy to crack a KFC Big Bash game, or even a [Sheffield] Shield game, and then it’s like everything – once you see someone playing on the telly, you keep saying, ‘Well, I want to play that game.'”The latest product of Hanuabada looks like the most realistic candidate to realise that tantalising prospect and prove that there is no glass ceiling to what a Papuan cricketer can achieve. Siaka offers the promise of being a flagbearer for PNG and the wider Associate world.

Both Pakistan and West Indies have a chance to improve their recent ODI record

Shiva Jayaraman20-Feb-20156 World Cup games West Indies have won against Pakistan out of the nine played between them so far. In the last ten games between the sides, however, the contest has been more even with Pakistan winning five and West Indies four, and one match ending in a tie.8 Matches Pakistan have won out of the last ten ODIs against West Indies while chasing a total. In the last 10 ODIs against top eight sides in which they have batted second, Pakistan have been most successful against West Indies.5-13 Pakistan’s win-loss record against the top ODI teams since 2014. Their win-loss ratio of 0.38 is only better than Zimbabwe’s, who have lost 12 of their 13 games since 2014. West Indies have done slightly better against the Test teams, having won seven of their 17 matches.

Team records – ODIs since 2014

Team Mat Won Lost Tied NR W/LAustralia 24 18 5 0 1 3.6South Africa 25 17 7 0 1 2.42New Zealand 27 16 7 1 2 2.28India 28 14 11 1 2 1.27Sri Lanka 38 20 17 0 1 1.17West Indies 17 7 10 0 0 0.7England 31 10 20 0 0 0.5Bangladesh 17 5 11 0 1 0.45Pakistan 18 5 13 0 0 0.38Zimbabwe 13 1 12 0 0 0.08-12.81 The difference between Pakistan’s batting and bowling averages in ODIs since 2014 – the second highest among teams. Only Zimbabwe have let their batting and bowling averages drift apart in the wrong directions by a greater extent. Pakistan are the only team in this World Cup with a bowling average of greater than 40 and a batting average that has stayed below 30. West Indies are not far behind, with a negative difference of 5.83.

Highest average differences – batting minus bowling

Team bat runs wkts lost bat ave runs conc wkts taken bow_ave ave diffZimbabwe 3698 155 23.85 4639 125 37.11 -13.25Pakistan 4638 167 27.77 4870 120 40.58 -12.81West Indies 4520 146 30.95 4746 129 36.79 -5.83Afghanistan 4158 151 27.53 4370 135 32.37 -4.83England 6972 244 28.57 7473 226 33.06 -4.49Ireland 1864 69 27.01 2006 70 28.65 -1.64 UAE 1981 57 34.75 2062 58 35.55 -0.79Bangladesh 4012 146 27.47 4042 145 27.87 -0.39Sri Lanka 9453 298 31.72 9638 301 32.01 -0.29Scotland 2464 86 28.65 2150 80 26.87 1.77India 7030 194 36.23 6534 218 29.97 6.26Australia 6133 170 36.07 5577 194 28.74 7.32New Zealand 6799 174 39.07 6329 204 31.02 8.05South Africa 6538 153 42.73 5650 217 26.03 16.697 Number of wickets West Indies’ bowlers have taken during the batting Powerplay in 14 innings – the least among the top teams in ODIs since 2014. They have conceded an average of 65 runs per wicket during these overs. Their economy of 6.59 in the Powerplay is also among the worst. In comparison, Pakistan are the most economical bowling unit in these overs with an economy of 5.35 and 18 wickets at an average of 26.11.61 Runs Chris Gayle has scored against Pakistan in his last five innings against them. He has hit only eight boundaries in the 105 deliveries he faced in these five games. Gayle is going through a lean patch with 18 ODI innings since his last hundred – against Sri Lanka in 2013. Since then, he has scored 270 runs at an average of 15, including a solitary fifty against Bangladesh.

Top West Indies batsmen v Pakistan

Batsman Inns Runs Ave SR 100s 50s CH Gayle 33 940 28.48 85.84 3 3 MN Samuels 15 565 47.08 59.59 2 1 LMP Simmons 14 536 41.23 78.36 0 6 DM Bravo 11 241 21.9 58.07 0 2 DJG Sammy 10 146 20.85 87.95 0 09 Fifties Misbah-ul-Haq has hit against West Indies in 15 ODI innings. Misbah has scored 684 runs at an average of 76.00 against them. Umar Akmal, too, has done well against West Indies with 287 runs in nine innings at an average of 57.40 and a strike rate of 105.12.

Top Pakistan batsmen v West Indies

Batsman Inns Runs Ave SR 100s 50s Misbah-ul-Haq 15 684 76 68.46 0 9 Shahid Afridi 36 625 18.38 93.42 0 4 Younis Khan 15 432 28.8 65.75 1 1 Umar Akmal 9 287 57.4 105.12 0 1 Ahmed Shehzad 10 258 25.8 59.31 1 1 Nasir Jamshed 6 175 29.16 59.72 0 29 Number of fifty-plus scores by West Indies top-order batsmen (No. 1 to No. 3) – equals the least by any of the top teams in ODIs since 2014. Zimbabwe also have nine fifty-plus scores from their top-three batsmen but have played one match less.8.18 Pakistan’s economy in the last ten overs in ODIs since 2014. Among teams in this World Cup, only Zimbabwe leak runs at a faster rate, at an economy of 8.75 runs an over. Even in their last game in which Pakistan bowled excellently in the last five overs, they had conceded 56 runs between overs 41 to 45 for an overall economy of 8.3 in the last ten overs. Pakistan will be up against a team with the second-best scoring rate in the last ten overs: West Indies’ scoring rate of 8.51 in these overs is second only to New Zealand’s 8.84 in ODIs since 2014.

Endless chanting and seas of blue and green at the World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Adelaide

Shreya Paranjape16-Feb-2015Choice of game:
Back in 2014 when the fixtures were released, my sister and I decided we would be heading to this massive clash in Adelaide. Within the first 15 minutes of the tickets going on sale, we grabbed ours. There was no way we were going to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness an India-Pakistan match at the World Cup. Being an avid India fan, I was dressed in my official Team India jersey, and carried a large India flag.Key peformer:
Virat Kohli was definitely the stand-out performer for this match, with his century, his superb fielding and his interaction with the crowd.One thing I’d have changed about this match:
If I had a magic wand, I would’ve given Ajinkya Rahane an extra life or even moved him up the order a bit. He came in with a few balls to spare, which obviously meant he needed to hit the ball to the boundary straightaway and that just isn’t how he plays his game.Wow moment:

There were many in this match, beginning with the first six of the innings hit by Shikhar Dhawan straight into the crowd. The highlight was Kohli and Suresh Raina’s 110-run partnership that kept dealing in boundaries. It got the crowd on their feet dancing.Crowd meter:
India vs Pakistan in a World Cup. Need I say more?
Not only were the stands packed but the main streets of Adelaide were buzzing with supporters chanting, blowing trumpets and dancing at least three hours before the game started. At the ground, there was a huge sea of blue, with a large green patch in the Pakistan supporters zone. We were chanting all throughout the game, either about a particular player, or the usual [India will win]. MS Dhoni got the loudest cheer when he won the toss and it was so noisy we couldn’t hear whether he decided to bat or bowl first.Entertainment:
There was the occasional song being played between overs, but our chants were our music. The songs were largely unheard when the stadium erupted with cheering.Accessories:
We had our essentials – flags, face-paint, sunscreen, water and food, in that order of preference.Marks out of 10:
This was the best game of cricket I have been to with the atmosphere, the quality of cricket and the result. A definite 10/10!