21-Feb-2015Darren Bravo, although slow, added stability to the innings and lifted his team•Getty ImagesHe was well supported by Marlon Samuels before Denesh Ramdin took over•AFPHowever, Bravo was forced to retire hurt one short of fifty, after injuring his hamstring, and was carried off the field•Getty ImagesBravo’s injury pegged West Indies back as they managed only 16 runs in the Powerplay•Getty ImagesRamdin and Lendl Simmons then kicked on to bring up fifties. They also benefited from Pakistan’s sloppiness in the field•AFPThe innings ended in revelry with Andre Russell bludgeoning 42 off 13 balls as West Indies posted 310 for 6•AFPThe revelry continued for West Indies, as Jerome Taylor removed Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan and Haris Sohail for ducks•Getty ImagesNot to be left behind, Jason Holder accounted for Ahmed Shehzad for 1, leaving Pakistan at 1 for 4, the lowest score for a team in ODIs with the top four dismissed•AFPFurther embarrassment loomed large when Russell dismissed Misbah-ul-Haq for 7 and the scorecard read 25 for 5•AFPUmar Akmal joined Sohaib Maqsood and put on 80 for the sixth wicket to add a semblance of respectability to the chase•Getty ImagesUmar top-scored, making 59 off 71 balls before he became the second of Russell’s three victims•ICCOnce Umar departed, the last three wickets fell for a paltry five runs, as Pakistan folded for 160•Getty ImagesWest Indies soared to a 150-run victory, their largest in an ODI against Pakistan•Associated Press

Born in New Zealand but raised in Australia, Luke Ronchi returned to forge an international career in the country of his birth, after his attempt to do so in green and gold was short lived

Brydon Coverdale in Auckland27-Feb-2015Twenty-three years ago, almost to the day, Australia were done over in a World Cup match by a man who used to be one of their own. When Australia took on South Africa at the SCG on February 26, 1992, it was ex-Australia player Kepler Wessels who led South Africa to victory and was Man of the Match for his unbeaten 81.The Australians hope history does not repeat at this World Cup, for on Saturday they will again face a potential match-winner who used to be part of their own camp: wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi. Born in New Zealand but raised in Australia, Ronchi debuted for Australia in 2008 and played four ODIs and three T20s for them as back-up to Brad Haddin.Michael Clarke was captain of Australia’s ODI side on the 2008 tour of the West Indies, and in the fifth ODI in Basseterre he moved Ronchi up to No.3 after Shane Watson fell. Ronchi proceeded to smash a 22-ball half-century, at the time the equal second fastest in Australia’s ODI history. His future in green and gold seemed bright.But a form slump led to him slipping down the queue, and in 2012 he moved back to the country of his birth with no guarantees, but a desire to play international cricket again. There is no question the move has been a success and Ronchi, now 33, is one of the men Australia will need to keep quiet if they are to leave Auckland with a win.”I remember the game at St Kitts when he got 50 off 20 balls or something like that and he kept very well throughout that series as well,” Watson said in Auckland this week. “He’s a very dynamic player if he gets going, so we’ll be doing everything we can to try and limit that.”Watson is one of four members of Australia’s XI for the match against New Zealand who has played international cricket with Ronchi; Clarke, David Warner and Mitchell Johnson are the others. He also roomed with Aaron Finch at the academy and has played with or against all of Australia’s World Cup squad members but Pat Cummins.”We used him in terms of information a lot in terms of our scouting and obviously he’s faced them a lot, so in our discussions he was able to add some good insights,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “Luke’s a pretty calm character, he’s pretty meticulous with how he plans but nothing really ruffles him … For him it’s just business as usual.”It is not the first time Ronchi has played against his former country – he made 14 against them in the Champions Trophy washout in Birmingham in 2013. But a clash between his two countries, the two host nations of this World Cup, in front of a massive crowd at Eden Park – that is an entirely different matter.”It’s fantastic to see him get a guernsey, he’s a good fella,” Warner said of Ronchi this week. “At the end of the day he’s playing against us. There’ll be no friends on the field but off the field we’ll probably have a beer with him.”It is to be expected that after switching allegiances, Ronchi might be subject of the odd barb from Warner and the rest of the Australians during Saturday’s game. He knows that. But such is the global way of cricket now that playing against former team-mates is par for the course, albeit not usually in international matches.”Everyone’s actually been really good about the whole situation,” Ronchi told ESPNcricinfo late last year. “I’ve followed a dream, taken a chance and it’s worked out. Nobody is really going to give you too much grief. You might play games and people might give you a little bit of chat and stuff, but in the end that’s all it is, just a bit of chat on the field. It doesn’t mean too much.”It’s different, the way it’s all worked out. But I can’t complain with the chance I’ve been given in both countries.”

It’s a World Cup, for crying out loud

Andy Zaltzman10-Mar-20151. There is a substitute for experience
Or at least, there is a substitute for experience when that experience is functioning as productively as a picnic hamper in a lava flow. England’s experienced Core Four – Bell, Morgan, Broad and Anderson – not only failed in various different and costly ways, but their struggles seemed to exacerbate the uncertainties of a team that had its suspected vulnerability confirmed on day one in Melbourne, and its hopes of recovery shattered by Southee and McCullum in match two.Bell’s cautious, stifled half-century against Scotland in Christchurch conveyed concern as much as determination. In Adelaide, when he restrained his early calm fluency in an effort to avert a potential wobble, he succeeded only in incompleting another major innings, fired out by a spitting lifter from the sizzling Rubel, thus perhaps creating exactly the misgivings he was seeking to dispel.Few bowlers enduring droughts as pronounced and untimely as Broad and Anderson could succeed in maintaining outward positivity as they seek to rediscover their former vibrant cricketing selves. Broad and Anderson were not amongst those few.If Morgan was not weighed down by captaincy, his batting appeared to be weighed down by something. Whether it was or not, only he knows.They all tried hard, patently but without discernible belief, they all failed. “Greatness is contagious,” proudly announce the banners at the World Cup venues (which possibly explains why the authorities seem to view it as a disease that must in future be quarantined within a shrunken ten-team tournament). So too is doubt, and insecurity, and apprehension, although the ICC perhaps understandably elected not to parade these facts in large letters on brightly coloured hoardings.England have long misplaced the alchemy that creates, entrenches and spreads form, fluency and confidence. With their four most seasoned components out of kilter, England had no clear-headed reconstructor of innings, no anchor of reassurance around which to construct their campaign and their matches, no Sangakkara or Mathews, no Mushfiqur or Mortaza, no Joyce or Cusack. The under-employed brilliance of Buttler, whose natural power gives his strokeplay the authority England otherwise lacked, nearly bailed his team out, but England needed at least two of their four relative veterans to have major tournaments. Like so many England linchpins in World Cups before them, none of them did.2. The World Cup makes players do unexpected things
On October 9, 2006, North Korea claimed to have conducted its first ever nuclear test. Four days later, Ban Keith Moon, the pin-up boy of South Korean diplomacy and son of a rock-drumming-hating father, was elected as the new Secretary General of the United Nations. In between those two events, amidst rather less international attention, Tawanda Mupariwa hit two fours in a 67-ball 20 in a seldom-discussed one-day international against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad.Fast forward more than eight years, to March 6, 2015. North Korea had been constantly in and around the international news agenda, through various acts of provocative crank-headed nuttiness by the Krazy Kims. Ban has spent almost a decade slamming his head against his UN desk, internally screaming “Why is my species such an idiot?”, and coming to the conclusion that his job as chief leak-plugger in the colander of global politics is arguably more onerous and possibly more thankless even than that of head coach of the England cricket team.Mupariwa, on the other hand, had hit the grand total of zero more ODI boundaries. In fact, in his 17 ODIs in that period, all but one played before 2010, his 12 innings had harvested 16 runs, seven ducks, and no awards for Batsman Most Likely To Hit 4, 4 And 6 In Successive Balls Of The Penultimate Over Of A Nerve-Shredding World Cup Match.On March 7, 2015, as the tumult of Williams’ dismissal reverberated, Mupariwa broke his eight-years-and-five-months ODI boundary famine. He overtook his tally from his previous 12 innings in just six balls – 18 runs, including four, four and six off three Kevin O’Brien deliveries to prove that awards committees know nothing, and took his nation to the precipice of a startling victory.In the final over, however, Cusack bowled Regis Chakabva, and Mupariwa perhaps remembered that he was a batsman who gets out more or less instantaneously, not one who hits match-winning flurries of boundaries under intense pressure. He skied his next attempted blast of unexpected tail-end heroism to long-on, and Zimbabwe were out.Of the many feats described as “unbelievable” in this fascinating tournament, most of which have been believable but nonetheless impressive (or, in most English cases, numbingly believable but nonetheless depressing), this was perhaps the most genuinely incredible, an adrenaline-fuelled smashing of personal precedent and cricketing probability, when his country needed and almost received a near-miracle.3. Don’t walk
Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams taught the world a very valuable lesson – when you have either (a) been caught on the boundary, or (b) brought up your century with a six, and taken your team half a dozen runs closer to a victory, do not walk. Even if it looks like the fielder caught the ball fairly within the field of play. Even if the fielder thinks he has caught the ball fairly within the field of play. Even if the umpires ought to have been smart and swift enough to hold you back to check whether the fielder had caught the ball fairly, before you completed your own dismissal.In many ways, it was an admirable display of trust within the context of cricket. But still… a World Cup match on a knife edge… your maiden international century… your team facing elimination if you lose… Make sure. Don’t walk.4. It is a batsman’s game
Not only are the regulations dice loaded in favour of today’s batsmen (as they have been for most of the last 120 years), but the Man-of-the-Match adjudicators are nakedly pro-bat as well.Ed Joyce scored an excellent match-shaping hundred for Ireland against Zimbabwe; it was one of four scores of 90 or more in the match, and was scored at slightly below the overall match run rate. Alex Cusack took 4 for 32 off 9.3 overs, including the critical wicket of Brendan Taylor, and the two conclusive strikes in the final over. His economy rate was 3.3 – no other bowler on either side in the 657-run match went for less than 5.6 per over. Short of hiring a light-aircraft to buzz the stadium whilst trailing a banner reading “I have obviously been the greatest influence on the result of this game. Yours sincerely, A Cusack (Ireland)”, there was little else the medium-pacer could have done to win the Man-of-the-Match award.Joyce was duly named Man of the Match. Granted, such trinkets are essentially meaningless, but they need not be quite as meaningless as the appointed sages make them.5. Fast bowling is good. It works. For spectators and teams.
Above all, it makes Pakistan a different team when they unleash it.

Stats highlights from the Group A match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney

Shiva Jayaraman08-Mar-20153:26

Insights: Best World Cup for No. 5 batsmen

51 Balls taken by Glenn Maxwell for his hundred – the second-fastest in World Cups after Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball hundred against England in 2011. Maxwell took one ball less than AB de Villiers, who hit a 52-ball hundred against West Indies earlier in this World Cup. This is the fastest ODI hundred by an Australia batsman beating James Faulkner’s 57-ball century against India in 2013.2 Number of hundreds by Australia’s No. 5 in World Cups before Maxwell’s. Brad Hodge was the last one to hit a century at that position for Australia, against Netherlands in 2007. The first such hundred was the famous Steve Waugh century against South Africa in 1999.5 Centuries by No. 5 batsmen in this World Cup – the most, by far in any World Cup. Along with Maxwell , there have been centuries by David Miller, Mahela Jayawardene, AB de Villiers and Brendan Taylor batting at No. 5. The 1996 World Cup saw two such hundreds – by Vinod Kambli and Chris Harris. The other World Cups have had only one such hundred each at most.195.12 Strike rate of the partnership between Maxwell and Shane Watson – the second highest in a century partnership by an Australian pair in ODIs. Mitchell Marsh and Maxwell had added 109 runs at a strike rate of 201.85 against Zimbabwe last year, which is the highest. Overall, this is the third-highest strike rate in a stand of 150 or more in ODIs. De Villiers and Hashim Amla had added 192 runs at a strike rate of 286.56 against West Indies in this World Cup which is the highest.1 Batsmen to complete 14000 ODI runs before Kumar Sangakkara; Sangakkara has taken 378 innings to Sachin Tendulkar’s 350 to pass the landmark. Like Sangakkar, Tendulkar had also passed the milestone with a century, against Pakistan in 2006.0 Number of batsmen to have scored three consecutive centuries in a World Cup. Kumar Sangakkara is the first batsman to do so. Only three other batsmen have scored three hundreds in a World Cup before him – Mark Waugh in 1996, Sourav Ganguly in 2003 and Matthew Hayden in 2007. Overall, six other batsmen have hit three consecutive centuries in ODIs.24 Runs plundered off Mitchell Johnson’s third over by Tillakaratne Dilshan. This was just two runs short of the most conceded by an Australia bowler in an ODI. Three Australian bowlers – Simon Davis, Craig McDermott and Xavier Doherty have each conceded 26 runs off one over.0 Number of hundreds Sangakkara had in his first-25 innings in the World Cup. He had scored 778 runs at an average of 40.94 with six fifties. His last-eight World Cup innings have produced four centuries and one fifty and he has scored 585 runs at 97.50.160 Runs added by Maxwell and Watson – the second-highest fifth-wicket partnership in World Cups. The highest had also come in this World Cup – an unbeaten 256-run stand between JP Duminy and Miller against Zimbabwe. This was also Australia’s third-highest fifth-wicket partnership in ODIs.92.30 Maxwell’s strike rate against Lasith Malinga, who took 2 for 59 from his 10 overs. Malinga bowled 13 deliveries to Maxwell and conceded only 12 runs, while the other Sri Lanka bowlers collectively conceded 90 off 40 balls. While Maxwell hit only one four off Malinga, the other bowlers were hit for nine fours and four sixes in 40 balls.

22 Balls taken by Dinesh Chandimal to hit his fifty in this match – Sri Lanka’s second fastest in ODIs. Sanath Jayasuriya’s 17-ball fifty against Pakistan in 1996 is their fastest. The fastest Chandimal had completed his fifty before this match in international cricket was off 40 balls, against Pakistan in a T20 international.1 Number of times a team had scored 300 chasing in a losing cause in the World Cup before Sri Lanka in this match. Zimbabwe had scored 326 all out against Ireland just two matches earlier.376 Total conceded by Sri Lanka in this match – the highest conceded by them in World Cups, beating the 373 for 6 scored by India in Taunton in 1999. This was also the third-highest total scored against Sri Lanka in ODIs. This was also Australia’s fourth-highest total in ODIs, but only their third highest in World Cups.* An erroneous stat on Mitchell Starc’s economy was removed from the piece

The facts show he was terribly ineffective in the six Tests of their last 12 that England ought to have won

Andy Zaltzman14-May-2015The latest twist in the unedifying Kevin Pietersen saga has been amply covered in these virtual pages and elsewhere, so the Confectionery Stall will limit itself to a few brief additions to the Vesuvius of befuddlement, opprobrium, cryptic accusations and rancour that has spewed over the Pompeii of English cricket.Firstly, it is hard to envisage how the ECB could have handled the Pietersen re-sacking more incompetently, other than by imagining them handling the original Pietersen sacking and turning the volume up slightly. Perhaps they could have drawn the saga out a little longer, picked Pietersen for the first Test, and then, just as he walked onto the Lord’s outfield to resume his engrossing, undulating international career, released a trapdoor in the outfield to send the opinion-splitting batsman plummeting into a secret tiger pit deep underneath St John’s Wood. Although even that would at least have had clarity and finality. As it is, he has had career doors firmly slammed and very slightly opened in his face this week.Secondly, it is a fact universally acknowledged that when you are being slagged off by Kumar Sangakkara, you are doing something wrong.Thirdly, everything about this unedifying, elongated shemozzle – and its various related sub-shemozzles; in particular the rankly incompetent defenestration of Peter Moores – has become ridiculously exaggerated. The hyperbole culminated in Pietersen’s absurdly large innings of 355 not out for Surrey against Leicestershire, which began as a partially relevant success against county cricket’s rubbishest team and ended as a monumental granite middle finger aimed firmly and directly towards the ECB and its serial failures of management, message and manners.Fourthly, Colin Graves’ apparent olive branch was an administrative blooper of remarkable bloopiness. It seems that the ECB would not have had to move the goalposts had Graves not unilaterally put up those goalposts. Andrew Strauss was last seen dismantling the goalposts, taking them to a disused quarry, dousing them in kerosene, and fumbling in his pockets for a lighter.

It is not inconceivable that, by late July, Strauss will once again be describing KP as a Cricketer of Unbelievable Natural Talent, as he did last summer in the commentary box, albeit in the form of an acronym

As any good botanist will tell you, however, goalposts have a tendency to grow back. If England lose to New Zealand, and Ian Bell in particular fails to score runs, or Cook’s long-standing weakness against the swinging ball is exposed again, something that looks suspiciously like two vertical posts and a crossbar will begin to appear again.It is not entirely inconceivable that, by late July, Strauss will once again be describing Pietersen as a Cricketer of Unbelievable Natural Talent, as he did last summer in the commentary box, albeit in the form of an acronym.It is almost inconceivable, but not entirely inconceivable. It will help if Pietersen does not publish any more autobiographies. As it would have helped previously.Fifthly, quota systems are a recipe for disagreement. English cricket’s new quotas are clearly causing ructions: no players with a long record of what might be called “dressing-room malfunctions”; no players who have scored more than 350 in a Championship match (there goes Neil Fairbrother’s lingering hopes of a recall); no Kevin Pietersens; and no more than two batsmen in the team at any one time who have over 100 Tests’ experience but have been averaging in the low 30s over a prolonged period (Bell and Alastair Cook are the men in possession of these two slots, so Pietersen will have to wait his turn).Sixthly, beware “throwing around statistics”. Pietersen averaged 33.3 in 14 Tests after his Mumbai masterpiece in late 2012. Cook also averages 33.3, in 20 matches since the start of the 2013 Ashes. Bell averages 32.9 in 15 Tests since the beginning of the 2013-14 series in Australia. Some statistics are boomerangs.Seventhly, we still do not know the full story (one of the ECB’s many mistakes, as they have handled the whole process as delicately as a plate at a very enthusiastic Greek wedding). Perhaps relationships were so irreparably damaged that wilfully jettisoning a potentially series-shaping player was the only viable course of action. Perhaps they had to weigh Pietersen on one end of the seesaw against Cook, Anderson and Broad on the other.There seemed to be a far neater solution – recall Pietersen initially to the limited-overs teams, enabling him to “rebuild trust” (a) under a different captain, and (b) playing alongside few if any of those with whom he has clashed. He could have taken his “advisory role” in the 50-overs team (as was weirdly offered like a complimentary ice-cream with a £500 punch in the face), while also proving whether or not he can still perform in international cricket and function as part of an England team without everything falling to pieces or the world ending. He could have helped to develop and educate the young, aggressive batsmen eager to learn from his unorthodox, calculating brilliance, and shape a hopefully brighter ODI and T20I future. This was an opportunity missed, in a long and sorry tale of errors, obfuscations and discourtesies of which no one can be even slightly proud. England do not absolutely need him in the Test team now, with Gary Ballance and Joe Root scoring heavily and Bell still just in credit. But they might need him, or want him, soon.”… And in my next move to disrupt the team while not even in it, I’ll let the sun reflect off my beer bottle and blind them just as Ishant runs in”•Getty Images● The last player to score a triple-century in a first-class match in England was Sam Agarwal, the Indian student who made 313 not out for Oxford University against Cambridge in the 2013 Varsity match at Fenner’s. He is, unquestionably, not quite as well-known as Pietersen, nor is he likely ever to outdo the former England player in terms of international runs, career earnings, or stroppiness of autobiography, but they may be statistically joined together eternally in the cricketing history books.Agarwal has never played first-class cricket again since the match in which he scored his triple-hundred. Pietersen, now injured and angry after his staggering innings at The Oval, may well follow suit, without the golden carrot of Test cricket as motivation.That said, a scenario in which England lose to New Zealand, fall behind in the Ashes, and have to reassess the situation is far from outlandish. Pietersen had appeared a faded force in Tests, but such appearances can deceive with the fluctuations of form and fitness. Brian Lara, a player with whom Pietersen shares a similar blend of eye-melting virtuosity and periods of technical vulnerability, emerged from a slump to play some of his finest cricket in his mid-30s.● What is “trust” in a team sport? If it is partly concerned with being able to rely on your team-mates to produce their best when matches and series are at their decisive moments, then England do not seem to be swimming around in an excess of it at the moment.As I wrote last week, in their last 12 Tests, England have not won on six occasions when they had a “winning position”, or at least dominance, in the match.1. v Australia, Melbourne, December 2013, lost by eight wickets
England have Australia 164 for 9 in the first innings, 91 behind. A last-wicket stand of 40 reduces England’s first-innings lead to 51. When Cook and Michael Carberry add 65, the score is, effectively, 116 for 0, which becomes 137 for 1. Then normal mayhem resumes. Nine wickets fall for 93, and Australia cruise to the 231-run victory target with eight wickets in hand and almost embarrassing ease.2. v Sri Lanka, Lord’s, June 2014, match drawn with Sri Lanka’s last-wicket pair at the crease
England take a first-innings lead of 122, then wobble in the second innings, before Ballance, Chris Jordan and Stuart Broad take England to impregnability and beyond. They declare to set Sri Lanka a stupidly out-of-reach target of 390 on the final day. England almost force a result on a flat pitch, but Sri Lanka finish nine wickets down (and only 189 runs short) amid scenes of borderline chaos. England are left ruing a cautious declaration, and their own inanely slow over rate earlier in the match, which needlessly cost them several potentially match-winning overs.

Some players might have been thinking about Pietersen when they spooned short balls from Ishant straight up in the air at Lord’s, but impossible to tell without access to Hawk-Eye’s non-existent Mind Reader facility

3. v Sri Lanka, Leeds, June 2014, lost by 100 runs with one ball remaining
England lead by 108 after the first innings, then have Sri Lanka 277 for 7 – effectively 169 for 7. Rangana Herath (batting average 5.2 in his previous 18 Tests) scores 48, adding 149 with the majestic Angelo Mathews, as England go collectively wonky in the field. Chasing 350 to win, they collapse, then recover doggedly, leaving Moeen Ali and James Anderson 122 balls to survive to snatch a draw: 120 of those balls go well; the 121st goes badly.4. v India, Lord’s, July 2014, lost by 95 runs
Another first-innings lead (albeit a slender one of 24 runs), despite allowing the opposition tail off the hook yet again – India’s last three wickets add 150. In the second innings, India are struggling again at 235 for 7 when Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shatter England’s control with a rapid stand of 99. Victory is still possible for England at 173 for 4, chasing 319. They lose five (five) wickets to short balls by Ishant Sharma (Ishant Sharma) (five wickets to short balls by Ishant Sharma) (just to clarify).5. v West Indies, Antigua, April 2015, match drawn
When Shivnarine Chanderpaul falls on the fifth morning, England have 62 overs to take the last five West Indian wickets; then 51 overs to take the last four after Jermaine Blackwood goes momentarily berserk. In the face of some high-quality rearguard, they take just under 26% of those four wickets.6. v West Indies, Barbados, April 2015, lost by five wickets
England take a lead of 68, then lose 5 for 39 (to go with a collapse of 5 for 24 at the end of their first innings). A victory target of 192 still looks tricky for West Indies, especially when Chanderpaul falls limply to make it 80 for 4. England take only one more token wicket, and lose with two days to spare.

There have been comparisons drawn between Hazlewood and McGrath almost from the moment the younger man first played, but it is fair to say they must now leave the realm of hyperbole

Daniel Brettig in Roseau03-Jun-2015Twenty years ago, Australia’s drought-busting defeat of the West Indies at home was rivalled in significance by the emergence of the man who would do as much as anyone to ensure that victory was far from the last. Glenn McGrath arrived in the Caribbean as an auxiliary paceman and left it as Mark Taylor’s spearhead, his combination of accuracy and bounce transcending the vagaries of overhead conditions and pitch type.Now it must be said that Australia in 2015 are a lot more sure of Josh Hazlewood than their 1995 forebears were of McGrath. It must also be acknowledged that the West Indies are nothing like the talented and cocky if not quite united ensemble they were back then. Nevertheless, Hazlewood’s performance on day one of the series in Dominica was the centrepiece of the visitors’ dominance and a bold pointer to the future.By setting the tone for Australia’s attack with a pair of exacting and incisive spells either side of lunch, Hazlewood demonstrated the problems he will pose for batsmen over the next decade and also the many benefits he will provide for other bowlers around him. He did so by utilising bounce and discipline in a manner that will give many a retired batsman flashbacks to the many indignities they suffered at the hands of McGrath.Of course there have been comparisons drawn between Hazlewood and McGrath almost from the moment the younger man first played for New South Wales, in a tour match against New Zealand as far back as 2008. But it is fair to say they must now leave the realm of hyperbole and enter that of considered judgment, for the trends are long-running and the evidence solid.No one had been quite sure what to make of the pitch, as reflected by the fact that a week of talk about spinning decks and tandem tweakers gave way to team selections that included only one slow bowler in each XI. Subtle furrows of green on an otherwise dry square did not suggest seam movement, swing or spin so much as variation in bounce, and it was for this reason Michael Clarke opened up with Mitchell Johnson and Hazlewood after Denesh Ramdin had won what appeared a handy toss.Early on, Hazlewood was exploratory, figuring out his optimum lengths on this surface. The delivery that found Kraigg Brathwaite’s outside edge for a simple catch to Brad Haddin was perfect, on a tight line while neither too short to pull nor too full to drive, but others varied on that theme. An initial joust with Darren Bravo was fascinating, the batsman struck on the helmet by a short one, the bowler relieved from the attack after a pair of boundaries zoomed through mid off and midwicket.Elsewhere, the Australians were being taken for too many runs as Johnson and Starc offered latitude outside the off stump. Without the slowness of the outfield, the hosts might easily have run up their hundred inside the day’s first 90 minutes. As it was, the West Indies were rolling along at four an over when Clarke summoned Hazlewood back to work at the Botanic Gardens End. Wickets had fallen but not in a manner suggesting Australian dictation of the game’s tempo.

‘Happy with the bounce I could get’

Josh Hazlewood said Australia’s bowlers started their first Test match day in the West Indies thinking they would have to attack the stumps subcontinent-style, but were happy to be able to exploit a modicum of bounce in the Windsor Park pitch to rumble the hosts for 148.
“Probably a little bit of a sluggish start but expect that with the two Mitches haven’t had as much bowling with the red ball but I thought we came out after lunch and really turned it on,” Hazlewood said. “Everyone bowled very well after lunch and we saw the results. The bounce surprised me but I haven’t played in the West Indies before this tour. I was happy with the bounce I could get so you could still bowl that fourth stump line that we do in Australia, get those edges and have the left-armers as well bowling the same line.We probably bowled straight early, attacked the pegs, but you’ve just got to be patient, bowl that fourth stump line which we did after lunch and picked up wickets.”
Hazlewood expressed most satisfaction with his over to Jermaine Blackwood, as pressure was built up ball upon ball before the final delivery found an edge into the slips. “Very happy with that,” he said. “I felt really good after lunch, had really good rhythm up. I was happy to catch him and get a couple of wickets.”

What followed were three overs for two runs that scotched local momentum and gave Clarke more licence to attack at the other end. Neither Marlon Samuels nor Shane Dowrich could make anything of Hazlewood’s jamming length and Spartan line, the merest variation in pace and bounce adding further difficulty to their task. Nathan Lyon was given an over before the break and Hazlewood finished the morning with only one wicket, but he was rewarded immediately in the afternoon when Dowrich aimed a frustrated forcing stroke and dragged on.Hazlewood’s next over rivalled McGrath’s famed six-ball examination of Nasser Hussain at the Gabba in 2002. Jermaine Blackwood faced five balls in the off stump channel, lengths varying subtly, bounce steepling or skidding a little. The accumulation of pressure told on ball six, as Blackwood prodded at another ball asking pertinent questions and skewered to Clarke in the slips – 87 had struck.As often happened for McGrath, Hazlewood’s work opened up avenues for others, and when Starc induced a haywire hook from Samuels, it was the tall Tamworth native who plucked it at fine leg. Samuels’ stay of 39 balls for seven runs had been largely becalmed by Hazlewood, something doubtless acknowledged by Starc and the rest as they huddled in celebration of West Indian wicket No. 6. Hazlewood’s agile movement to claim the catch also spoke another truth of the day, for Clarke’s men showed brilliantly safe hands all innings to correct a fault that had emerged against India at home.Both Starc and Johnson were liberated by the tightness Hazlewood provided. Where earlier they had looked unsure of exactly how to attack the batsmen, they were by now “going hard at” the West Indians in a manner somewhat reminiscent of the 2013-14 Ashes. On a pitch offering up variable bounce, this was wretchedly difficult to counter, and a ratio of two helmet strikes to one ball creeping under the bat to splay Ramdin’s stumps rather vindicated the decision to choose pace ahead of spin.Bounce was something else that Hazlewood provided, of the kind that has long been known to confound the very best of batsmen. To watch him here was to wonder whether Australia might have fared better in the UAE last year had it been Hazlewood rather than Peter Siddle who served as the right-arm counterpoint to Johnson and Starc, causing balls to zip through at varying heights as well as speeds. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, both old enough to have faced McGrath in his pomp, will be glad to have avoided his heir.Australia would not have been able to round up the West Indies for so meagre a total as 148 without Hazlewood’s precision, in a display that merited a wicket or two more than the eminently bankable figures of 3 for 33 from 15 overs. The value of his efforts would be put into context when Australia’s batsmen stumbled in the evening, as might be expected from a group with precious few first-class innings between them since January.That of course was another McGrath trait worth following – saving the batsmen’s blushes.

Also: highest scores by captains and keepers in the Ashes, and making the most runs in the fourth innings

Steven Lynch14-Jul-2015I spotted from Curtly Ambrose’s recent autobiography that he dismissed Graeme Hick in six successive Test innings in 1991. Was this a record? asked Graham Matthews from England
That spell against the irresistible Sir Curtly came in Graeme Hick’s maiden Test series in 1991 – he fell to Ambrose six successive times from the second innings of his debut at Headingley. No one has ever been out more times in a row to the same bowler, but there are six other cases of six. The first was suffered by England’s Walter Read, dismissed six times out of six by Charlie “The Terror” Turner of Australia during 1888. It didn’t occur again for nearly a century till, in 1982-83, the Indian batsman Dilip Vengsarkar fell to Imran Khan six times running against Pakistan. And then it happened to Greg Matthews in 1985-86, out to Richard Hadlee in all six innings of Australia’s home series against New Zealand; to Kris Srikkanth for India in Pakistan in 1989-90 (bowler Wasim Akram); to Daren Ganga for West Indies in South Africa in 1998-99 (Shaun Pollock) and Matthew Hayden for Australia in all six innings in South Africa in 2005-06 (Makhaya Ntini).What’s the highest score by a captain in an Ashes Test? And a wicketkeeper? asked Matthew Gentleman from the USA
The only triple-century by a captain in an Ashes Test remains Bob Simpson’s 311 for Australia in a bore-draw at Old Trafford in 1964. Next comes Don Bradman’s match-turning 270 in Melbourne in 1936-37, and then Wally Hammond’s 240 for England at Lord’s in 1938. Bradman made two more double-centuries as captain (212 in Adelaide in 1936-37, and 234 in Sydney in 1946-47) and Simpson one (225 in Adelaide in 1965-66), and they are joined by David Gower (215 for England at Edgbaston in 1985), Billy Murdoch (211 for Australia at The Oval in 1884, the first Test double-century of all), and Allan Border (200 not out for Australia at Headingley in 1993). The highest score by a wicketkeeper is Adam Gilchrist’s 152 at Edgbaston in 2001; another Australian, Brad Haddin, comes next with 136 in Brisbane in 2010-11. That’s one better than England’s best, Alan Knott’s 135 at Trent Bridge in 1977. Just in case you meant the highest score by a wicketkeeper-captain, that remains Jack Blackham’s 74 for Australia in Sydney in 1894-95; next – with the only other half-century – comes Alec Stewart, with 63 not out for England in Adelaide in 1998-99.At Pallekele, Pakistan made the highest total of the match in the fourth innings to win. How often has this been done? asked Ranil Abeysekera from Sri Lanka
Pakistan’s achievement to win the third Test in Pallekele last week – they made 382 for 3 to pinch the series – was actually the 43rd time that the highest total of a Test has been made in the fourth innings. It was only the second time Pakistan had managed it; they also did it against Australia in Melbourne in 1989-90, scoring 336 but still losing. The first time it happened was in the third Ashes Test of 1884-85 in Sydney, when England made 207, the highest score of the match… but still lost by six runs. The highest score involved remains England’s 654 for 5 against South Africa in the famous drawn timeless Test in Durban in 1938-39.Taslim Arif: one of only two players to ever be padded up all Test long•Getty ImagesThe TV recently showed some highlights of Jim Laker’s 19 wickets in a Test in 1956. Ken Mackay of Australia was caught off him by Alan Oakman for 0 in both innings – has anyone else suffered an identical pair in a Test? asked John Canning from England
There have now been ten instances of an unfortunate batsman being out to the same fielder/bowler combination for 0 in both innings of a Test; Ken “Slasher” Mackay of Australia – c Oakman b Laker twice – was the fifth, at Old Trafford in 1956. The first to complete this dismal double was Bobby Peel of England – stumped Affie Jarvis bowled Charlie Turner for 0 in both innings in Sydney in 1894-95. The others were, in chronological order: Australia’s captain Joe Darling, c Len Braund b Sydney Barnes 0 twice in Sheffield’s only Test, in 1902; Percy “Plum” Lewis of South Africa, c Frank Woolley b Barnes 0 in both innings of his only Test, in Durban in 1913-14; Padmanabh “Nana” Joshi of India, c Frank Worrell b Alf Valentine 0 in both innings against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1952-53; Maninder Singh of India, c Richie Richardson b Courtney Walsh 0 twice against West Indies in Mumbai in 1987-88; England’s Gavin Hamilton, c Shaun Pollock b Allan Donald 0 in both innings of his only Test, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1999-2000; Zaheer Khan, c Mark Boucher b Pollock 0 twice for India against South Africa in Bloemfontein in 2001-02; Christopher Mpofu of Zimbabwe, st Brendon McCullum b Daniel Vettori for 0 twice on the same day against New Zealand in Harare in 2005; and Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera, c Quinton de Kock b Dale Steyn 0 in both innings against South Africa in Galle in 2014.I noticed that when Brendon Kuruppu made his Test debut, he was on the field throughout the match. Since he also kept wicket, he had his pads on throughout. Has anyone else done this? asked Praboth Wijeratne from England
Brendon Kuruppu’s remarkable Test debut came for Sri Lanka against New Zealand at the Colombo Cricket Club in April 1987. He scored a very restrained 201 not out – he batted for nearly 13 hours – and then kept wicket for 163 overs as New Zealand amassed 406 for 5. There is one other instance of a player keeping his pads on throughout a Test: in an equally boring draw in Faisalabad in 1979-80, Taslim Arif kept wicket as Australia piled up 617 in 211 overs after the loss of the first day to rain. Taslim then made 210 not out of Pakistan’s 382 for 2, latterly against some undemanding bowling, including ten overs from the other wicketkeeper, Rod Marsh, as all 11 Aussies had a trundle.Following on from last week’s question about the visiting captain who skippered most Tests in England, which tourist kept wicket in the most Tests there? Was it Ian Healy? asked Luis Campbell from Argentina
Ian Healy is a good guess, as he kept wicket throughout three six-Test series in England, in 1989, 1993 and 1997. But another Australian stumper featured in more matches: Rod Marsh kept in 21 Tests in England between 1972 and 1981. An earlier Australian, James Kelly, also kept in 18 Tests in England (between 1896 and 1905), as did the West Indian Deryck Murray between 1963 and 1980. An even earlier Australian wicketkeeper, Jack Blackham, took part in no fewer than seven different Test-playing tours of England between 1880 and 1893, playing in all the internationals – but there were only 16 matches during those visits.

At one-drop in the former Australia captain’s Ashes XI: a gritty left-hand batsman who was a handy opener

Ricky Ponting08-Jul-20151:36

Justin Langer

“He typifies the baggy green cap and what it means to play for Australia. He is a winner and he always tried to help his team-mates out on the field. Not one ball went by without him encouraging the bowlers”

Stats

OVERALL: Matches 105 Innings 182 Runs 7696 Average 45.27 100s/50s 23/30
ASHES: Matches 21 Innings 38 Runs 1658 Average 50.24 100s/50s 5/5

Best performance

250 in Melbourne, 2002
Australia had already sealed the 2002-03 Ashes at home, and Justin Langer set them up for a potential third consecutive innings win in the fourth Test in Melbourne with a career-best 250. Langer put on 195 for the first wicket with Matthew Hayden, and ended up unbeaten on 146 as Australia closed the first day on 356 for 3. The next day it was more runs for Langer: he eventually got 250 before Australia declared on 551 for 6. Langer’s innings included 30 fours and one six which he hit off offspinner Richard Dawson – who finally got him out – to bring up his century.

Trivia

Justin Langer’s 250 is the second-highest score by a left-hand batsman in the Ashes, after Bob Cowper’s 307, which was also scored at the MCG.

Waqar Younis talks about his kinder, gentler second stint, managing talent in the Pakistan set-up, his coaching philosophy, and forgiving Mohammad Amir

Interview by Umar Farooq30-Oct-2015What did you set out to achieve as coach and how have you done so far?

I want Pakistan to become the top team in the world. In the ’90s we tried to raise the bar and I want to do that again. I know there are so many problems in Pakistan – international cricket isn’t being played there, the players aren’t the same as they used to be… The passion is missing, so I want to recreate that passion. Mistakes are allowed, but blunders are not allowed.What’s your philosophy as coach?

We always talk about being a talented cricket-playing country with a lot of skills, but what I am trying to do is get the best out of them. I am trying to bring in a sense of teamwork. In the ’90s it was different, as we had individual match-winners and teamwork wasn’t really required.We knew Wasim [Akram], or anyone, or me could deliver and wrap up things single-handedly. Now, though we have the talent, we need to perform as a team to win. If Wahab Riaz is bowling well from one end then we need the other bowlers to do well. In batting, put up partnerships, bowl well in partnership, and the fielders need to show energy.Basically at this level it should be about fine-tuning youngsters coming from the domestic level. But it doesn’t work like this here. We don’t have a system like this. It’s a harder job and I am up for it.We have seen a clear difference with Grant Flower as batting coach, so hats off to him. We recently calculated how many runs we have scored during this span.What’s the difference between the ’90s and the current pool of players?
Individual performance was the one factor then, and teamwork wasn’t that important. We had players like Wasim Akram, myself, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Moin Khan, Rashid Latif – there was sheer talent. We have talented players now as well, like Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, and we have a very settled line-up, but the bowlers are quite inexperienced at this level. Yasir Shah is young. Zulfiqar Babar might not be, but he is young at Test level. So we have to put some more effort in our bowling to get the combination right.Are you satisfied with Wahab Riaz’s development as a fast bowler?

There is always room for improvement. He is hitting the zone well and I am very proud of him. His spell in Abu Dhabi might not have been very effective, but in Dubai he learnt from his mistakes. The important thing is that he got his rhythm. I am sure he is going to get better and better, as he is a very fine cricketer. Sometimes as a fast bowler you waver, but we are here to control. I think he is on the right path and will make a longer run ahead in future.”I would like to see Mohammad Amir playing at least two seasons before integrating him into the system”•AFPDo you think bowlers like him could struggle adjusting in limited-overs cricket? Because he doesn’t seem to care about the runs he gives away.
I do care about how many runs he is giving away, but we have to give him some leverage because he is our strike bowler. He bowls at around 147-150kph and when you bowl at that speed, you can bowl the odd bad ball. That is why he takes time to adjust. It’s difficult to adjust to different formats. Especially since his action is not that compact and it’s not repeatable, so he’s got to develop the right rhythm. Otherwise he struggles. But we all know how much potential he has. If he keeps his head straight, which is key for a fast bowler, and stays hungry for international success, he will be a great bowler.You once said that calmness is as important as being aggressive.

It applies to fast bowlers and spinners. You can’t be hyper all the time. There are certain times when you have to be very aggressive. He did really well in the Dubai Test on day five, though he didn’t take many wickets. But he meant business. Yasir is a bit hyper at times and tries to get a wicket off every single ball. When he gets a wicket he loses his mind and wants to try every single thing. We try to calm him down, but importantly, they understand [it themselves] and are working on it.What’s happening with Junaid Khan? Have you lost confidence in him?

No, that’s not really the case, otherwise he wouldn’t have been selected for this tour. He has not been in good form, but in the meantime we have Imran Khan and Rahat Ali doing well, and over here we go with four bowlers and play two spinners in the XI, so some players will have to miss out. It won’t be permanent.How difficult is it to deal with Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad?
Both are very talented and this why they are still around. There are good, bad and difficult characters and you have to take them all along with you. As long as you are putting in 100%, I don’t mind, we can handle all of them.You are professionals and get paid for it, but at the same time it’s not just about being professional; you have take huge pride in wearing the star on your chest. And if someone abuse that pride, they don’t stand a chance, and we can’t afford that.”I do care about how many runs Wahab Riaz is giving away. But we have to give him some leverage”•AFPHow has fast bowling changed after Phillip Hughes’ death?

It’s a one-off incident and you can’t change the game. You are out there to compete and you are not intending to hit someone. But bowling a bouncer is part of the game. A fast bowler has to have a bouncer, rather than thinking about what happened with Phil and saying he will be careful. I don’t think it works this way, and if you are thinking that way, I feel you are not competing.From Imran Khan down to Shoaib Akhtar, the secrets of reverse swing had been passed on, but now it appears that the string is broken. Do we blame Waqar and Wasim for not ensuring it carries on for good?
The names you just recalled had one thing in common – they bowled at over 150kph and so they were effective with reverse swing. People, not only in Pakistan but around the world, do not realise that reverse swing is all about pace. You need a certain amount of pace to deceive a batsman. If you still want to blame Wasim and Waqar, you can do it but there are many things involved that need to be considered.Now Wahab bowls at that pace and he is successfully achieving reverse swing, and I think he is the one who can connect the broken string. He is presently more effective than anyone else, but if you give the same ball to Imran Khan at the other end, he may not be as effective. So it’s about pace. You can write a book on how to achieve reverse swing, what sort of action suits it. There are many things people know about it but still there are things the world doesn’t know about it.You are not a selector but obviously you have some role to play. How do you judge a player’s chances of playing for Pakistan?

I always look at a player’s temperament. How much does he want to learn, how much energy can he give to the team. We are very lucky to have players like Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. That’s why the Test team looks settled.I am happy that there are so many youngsters coming up and I love to have many around fighting for their place. We have Zia-ul-Haq, and in fact, we have a lot of left-armers coming up, but at the moment we have the best team. I don’t mind having a lot of youngsters around because I think this is an experimental time and we can evaluate as many as players as possible.It’s believed that you are strict with the players while Mushtaq Ahmed is softer with them.
You have fatherly and motherly figures. We complement each other. There is a lot of talking involved in all this coaching, to keep the system moving in the right direction. I am not going to tell you what happens in the dressing room, but I think the atmosphere is very good. We have a role and a responsibility, we all have our parts to play and we try to get the best and give our best.”People around the world do not realise that reverse swing is all about pace”•Associated PressMost of Pakistan’s recent success has been in Asia. With the lack of Tests outside Asia, how does that affect development?

I completely agree that the success is within Asia, but what can we do? If we are doing really well, people should be given credit for that. You can’t judge us if we are not playing outside Asia. I hope we can manage in all conditions. We are already missing out on playing at home and we get only few Tests abroad but we have raised the issue with the board and they have promised that they will look into it.How comfortable are you with the idea of bringing Mohammad Amir back into the side?
I don’t have any problem with anyone but I would like to see him playing at least two seasons before integrating him into the system. He was already punished, and as a Muslim we have a belief that anyone who serves his punishment should be forgiven. But let him play and don’t push him. Let him perform in domestic cricket, then thrive, and then you can consider him.He also has to win trust and faith at the domestic level. These are small things but very important and people should understand that. People are talking about bringing him back instantly. That isn’t a good thing to do as we have to respect domestic cricket and the system.Have you forgiven him? You were the head coach in 2010 and he cheated you as well.

The world has. He dodged all of us but he was punished for that. He was sent to jail and I think we all have to move forward.When you resigned in your previous stint, there were different accounts. Was it to do with health or conflict with the captain?
I had health issues – not too threatening. My family was away and there were a lot more things that led me to take that decision. But now in my second stint I am calmer. I was hyper previously and wanted to rush many things at the same time, which probably didn’t work, but now I am much more settled. I am doing the same things but in a different way, with mutual understanding, and letting people get on with the job. Probably I was a bit more aggressive but I have changed myself and people like that change.

He wasn’t expected to be a main man of South Africa’s bowling attack but Dean Elgar reaped rewards for paying attention to flight and drift on the first day in Mohali

Firdose Moonda in Mohali05-Nov-20152:25

‘We didn’t think wicket would crumble as much’ – Elgar

They said the pitch would turn from day one and they were right. Before lunch, Dean Elgar got a few to jag almost square. Yes, Dean Elgar. They did not say who would turn it.South Africa’s self-confessed ‘pie-chucker’ produced a performance matched in impact only by his century in Galle last July. In his secondary discipline, Elgar proved the value of an added skill and asked questions of conditions, which made day one appear closer to day four.This not Test cricket as South Africa know it: the ball turned substantially from the first session. By the end of the day, puffs of dust smoked out of the surface at every footfall and the match is unlikely to last five days. But it is the kind of Test cricket they were preparing for: “the worst,” as Faf du Plessis put it pre-match. Part of that preparation was having as many slower bowling options as possible without compromising on the length of the batting line-up or the pace pack, although South Africa did go into the match with six instead of their usual seven specialist batsmen to make room for an extra spinner.Hardest day of Test cricket I’ve had – Elgar

Taking four wickets was an added bonus for Dean Elgar, who now has to get down to doing his primary job of scoring runs. Elgar admitted it’s going to be an uphill battle on a surface that seems tired after just one day of Test cricket.
“Although the outfield is quite fast, It’s difficult to generate pace on the ball when you’re batting. It’s going to be hard graft from here in but we knew that. We’re going to have to knuckle down and sweat it out against them,” Elgar said.
“It wasn’t easy. We sort of expected it to play like that, but we didn’t expect it to crumble as much as what it has already. It was hard graft. It was right up there with the hardest day of test cricket I’ve had.”
Despite the conditions, Elgar has promised as much aggression as he can manage.
“The way forward is always to be positive. Tonight we had to go into our shells and fight. It’s not normally the way we play our cricket.”

That was the reason Elgar formed part of the attack, although he was not expected to be a big part of it. His job was to act as the pause button, to get rid of some overs while the main men thought of their next move. He was not going to be tasked with being a main man himself.Hashim Amla brought Elgar when he switched bowling ends for Kagiso Rabada to ensure there was always some discomfort from one side for the opposition. On debut, Rabada showed the potential to perform in the longest format and hurried the batsmen with pace. Elgar was the exact opposite. He delivered in slow-motion, allowing flight and drift to take the ball to the batsmen, almost at the speed of a carrier pigeon and maybe veering off course along the way too. The waiting and the wondering caused uncertainty. Cheteshwar Pujara played down the wrong line as a result.That dismissal, a fluke perhaps, brought out a caricature celebration from Elgar, complete with chest-bashing. But he saw soon the value of behaving like a serious bowler. He paid attention to the drift and flight and saw that he could draw the batsmen forward and then surprise them with his lack of pace. Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha both went that way to turn Elgar’s throwaway overs into trophies that will hold more pride of place than some his previous scalps.Among Elgar’s Tests scalps are Misbah-ul-Haq and Steven Smith but both were snaffled because of their own slackness. Misbah slogged and edged, Smith bottom-edged a long-hop onto his stumps. The only batsmen Elgar dismissed in fortuitous fashion was Amit Mishra; Rahane and Saha were outskilled, not just by the bowler but South Africa’s tactics too.Amla’s captaincy deserves some of the credit for the squeeze South Africa applied because of the way he rotated the bowlers and manipulated the field. Amla almost always had at least one close catcher to constantly cramp India. The short-leg was mandatory, the short cover was a constant annoyance and the short mid-wicket was there for a mistake from Vernon Philander’s nagging line. It was only fitting that the only close-ish catcher who was called into the action was Elgar himself, who took a good low catch at a cover position that was a little closer than usual to dismiss Virat Kohli.Kohli was one of only three batsmen dismissed from the Pavilion End. The rest, including three of Elgar’s scalps all fell at the City End, where there is substantial rough already.Doubtless Elgar would have been thinking about the batting consequences of that area, even as he was trying to hit it as a bowler. His real job is to open the batting and he would have known that was going to be tough.He seemed to have gotten a close enough look at things to have an idea of how to deal with them, though. For the hour Elgar was at the crease, he batted patiently, not the Faf du Plessis-blockathon patience that South Africa have occasionally been known to employ, but the wait-for-the-ball-until-it-comes-to-you kind of patience that Rahane and Saha had not shown.At first, Elgar seemed to be as anxious as they were. He went forward to R Ashwin, saw a leading edge pop up off one ball and an inside edge off another. Then he remembered to hang back. He could do it against Varun Aaron and continued to stay in his crease most of the time when Ravindra Jadeja was brought on. He did not look comfortable all the time and later called it “the hardest day of Test cricket I’ve had” but he survived. Today, that was enough. Tomorrow it will turn again. That much we know. We don’t yet know for whom.