ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the second day of the third Test between Australia and India in Perth

Sidharth Monga at the WACA14-Jan-2012The achievement
When Zaheer Khan went for just two runs in the 29th over of the Australian innings, India had finally brought the run-rate down to under six an over. Australia were 0 for 170 after 29 overs. David Warner’s response: he smashed the next ball, from Ishant Sharma, well over long-off for a six.The drop
Chances were at an obvious premium for India. Zaheer, though, produced one. He bowled well in the morning session, in the channel outside off, getting little movement either way. Just before he produced the edge, though, Sachin Tendulkar had been sent into the deep, and Rahul Dravid had gone off the field. That left Virat Kohli at first slip. On cue Zaheer brought about an edge.MS Dhoni didn’t go for it, but he shouted “catch” immediately, and it was all Kohli’s at first slip. The ball dipped a little but not alarmingly. For a second it seemed to stick in his right hand but popped out eventually. Dazed looks from captain and slipper. Warner was 126 then.The move
That edge was produced in Zaheer’s sixth over of the morning. He had gone for only 18, and had troubled the batsmen a bit. Warner was on strike again, and you would have expected Zaheer to get another over in. He didn’t. However, Umesh Yadav, his replacement, soon produced two breakthroughs.The reaction
When he was struck on the head on day one, Warner upper-cut the next delivery for four. Today, one ball hit a crack, nipped back in, and got him in the left elbow. Warner got some attention, and punched the next ball past point for three. The only sign of discomfort that appeared was his holding the bat only in the right hand even when turning around both for the second and the third.The Zaheer moment
“Brad Haddin should focus on his keeping. That looks really fragile to me. He needs to start moving.” That’s what Zaheer had to say of Haddin, who had said India were fragile and were turning on each other. On day one, the two didn’t come face to face. Today, though, Zaheer dismissed Michael Clarke to bring out Haddin. However bad the series might have been for India so far, in such times Zaheer usually comes out the winner. It helped that Haddin was much more subdued out in the middle.First ball, short of a length, from round the stumps, Haddin took his eyes off and got one in the elbow. Zaheer was not shy of a word. A hello, maybe. The next ball, short of a length again, moved in, thudded into the thigh pad. Over break. Next ball, short of a length, held its line outside off, took the edge. Zaheer blew kisses benevolently as Haddin walked back.

Zimbabwe need to give the tour of New Zealand context and look at the little things, which are overshadowed by the magnitude of defeat

Firdose Moonda14-Feb-2012There is no direct flight between Auckland and Harare. The Zimbabwe team probably wishes there was, for they will now have to spend hours in Perth and more hours in Johannesburg. Ample time to reflect on the tour of New Zealand, where they were not only whitewashed in every format but also stripped bare.Only four months ago Zimbabwe had successfully chased 329 in an ODI against New Zealand, and came within 34 runs of winning a Test against them. Those heartening performances, however, were in Bulawayo. Their six-week, seven-match tour of New Zealand could not have been worse.Zimbabwe were bowled out twice in a day in the Test, losing by an innings and 301 runs in Napier. They conceded more than 370 in two out of three ODIs, losing each by an increasing margin, and scored more than 200 only once. They were also blanked out in the two Twenty20s, even though they showed some fight in the shortest format. Zimbabwe’s senior players did not perform and the pressure that created caused the juniors to buckle. Their unit was dismantled piece by piece so much so that all the workhorses and all the trying men couldn’t put Brendan Taylor’s side together again.There are good reasons for Zimbabwe’s blowout. They don’t tour often, especially not down under. Zimbabwe were last in New Zealand ten years ago. This was a maiden tour for most of the current players and to visit a place that is significantly different to anywhere else in the cricketing world was a shock.The weather in New Zealand is colder and more temperamental than in other place, even in summer, and adjusting to it can be a challenge. Besides the discomfort it causes, it also affects playing conditions. On some days batsmen have more seam and swing to contend with, on others bowlers have to fight a stiff breeze.The elements alone did not make Zimbabwe’s stay unpleasant. The hosts’ onslaught was ruthless and they did not relent even after series were won and their dominance left undisputed. Martin Guptill did not stop scoring runs even after suffering a groin injury, and New Zealand’s bowling attack, whatever the combination, did not stop taking wickets. Having made their Test return and begun the 2011-12 season with promise, Zimbabwe ended it annihilated.”Ah, it wasn’t great,” Alistair Campbell, the chairman of the cricket committee and former Zimbabwe captain, said. It is a statement that will be in contention for understatement of the year, especially for its tone, one of casualness despite the serious subject.Campbell, however, is not taking Zimbabwe’s struggles lightly, having experienced the same as a player. “We have to be honest, even when I was playing, we always battled with consistency,” he said. “We haven’t found a formula to be consistent, home or away, yet. Yes, those margins of defeat were too big and when you have results like that, questions have to be asked. But we have to be asking them with the intention to make sure our cricket is on the right path.”That means giving the tour of New Zealand context and looking at the little things, which are overshadowed by the magnitude of defeat. “We have to review the season as a whole, and as a whole we haven’t had a bad series,” Campbell said. Zimbabwe started the summer by beating Bangladesh in a one-off Test and an ODI series, before losing to Pakistan and New Zealand despite a strong showing in the Tests. All those results were at home.

Their unit was dismantled piece by piece so much so that all the workhorses and all the trying men couldn’t put Brendan Taylor’s side together again.

Away from home, Zimbabwe could not compete but Campbell said that was no different to the current trend in world cricket. “We have to put this in perspective, a lot of teams have struggled away from home. India have also lost Tests by an innings and plenty. Add England [in UAE] and Sri Lanka [in South Africa] to that list and Campbell’s argument does not appear too flimsy.Zimbabwe also have some positives from the New Zealand experience. Shingi Masakadza was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the ODIs, with five scalps, followed by Kyle Jarvis and Prosper Utseya on four. Hamilton Masakadza scored half-centuries in both the Twenty20s and Jarvis shared the top-bowler ranking in that series, earning himself a temporary contract with the Central Stags, a New Zealand domestic team. “We finished quite well,” Campbell said. “It would have been easy to give up at that point.”Those few positives do not mask the problems, though. “On tour, you need your senior players to front up and that did not happen,” Campbell said. Zimbabwe were also without two of their most experienced players: Chris Mpofu had a lower-back injury and Vusi Sibanda was ineligible after a grade-cricket stint in Australia. Mpofu has recovered, and Sibanda has returned and recommitted to Zimbabwe and will be available for the next series.Even without them, Zimbabwe had a fair amount of experience but nothing to show for it. “The batsmen were found wanting technically. They were not able to cope with seam and swing,” Campbell said. “And the bowlers could not find the right lengths.” The fielding was awful as well.One of the most disappointing players was left-arm fast bowler Brian Vitori, who struggled to build on his positive start in international cricket. “There were a lot of expectations on Brian,” Campbell said. “He probably got a wake-up call about what is needed to play international cricket.”The experience of players like Vitori is what Campbell hopes will give Zimbabwe motivation to improve. “It’s going to hurt. When they come home, they’ll walk into a pub and they’ll overhear people saying, ‘Zimbabwe were rubbish’,” he said. “And they won’t want to hear that. They will say to themselves, ‘I don’t want to be called rubbish’, and they will go out next time to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”The opportunity to do that will only come later in the year. Zimbabwe host South Africa for five Twenty20 matches in June, an exercise that seems nothing more than big brother trying to beat up a little one. They also have some A tours planned, before Bangladesh visit in August.

New Zealand’s hot new pick is a South African who moved continents twice to realise his cricket dream

Firdose Moonda04-May-2012Don’t be surprised if in the days ahead Neil Wagner is talked about in the same way as wine from a Franschhoek estate or diamonds from Kimberley are. He will not be alone in being regarded as a prized South African export; the names of other cricketers with his journeyman characteristics will come up for discussion again. Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Kruger van Wyk and Grant Elliot will be mentioned. The stale joke about cricketers being among South Africa’s most traded commodities will be told again and a few will laugh. Wagner, a Pretoria-born and bred lad, will make his international debut in July, for New Zealand.His story is not too different from that of any person who moves countries in pursuit of work. After he didn’t achieve the success he hoped for in the country of his birth, Wagner tried another, England. There the market was competitive and he felt little inclination to stay, so he moved on to a third. New Zealand was the final stop and it stuck.Unlike Elliot and van Wyk, who moved to New Zealand almost unnoticed, Wagner went with the words “quota system” on his lips as one of his reasons for leaving South Africa, and it will shadow him throughout his career, as much as he wishes it would disappear.”There’s a lot been said about the quota system and some of it has been taken out of hand,” Wagner told ESPNcricinfo during a visit home to Pretoria. “When you are young and a bit arrogant and you don’t really know a lot, you get very emotionally involved. You are not educated around it [the quota system] because no one told you why, and even though I said it then, it’s been made bigger than it is.”Wagner was part of an Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool (Affies) team that also included AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, and dominated schools cricket. Many of the boys who played in that team thought they were going to make it at provincial level, and Wagner was no different.He hoped the national Under-19 week in 2002 would be his launch pad. “I had a really good year that year and a couple of people told me I might make the SA Under-19 side after the week,” he says, “but I didn’t.”That snub set the tone for others. The Titans franchise, an amalgamation of two amateur unions, Northerns, for whom Wagner played, and Easterns, was simply too strong for him to break into. They had Andre Nel, then at the height of powers, Albie and Morne Morkel, and Dale Steyn. There was no room for another quick and Wagner was the one who missed out. In pure selection terms, he was not considered good enough.”Neil was sometimes misread. I don’t think people saw his full potential,” Grant Morgan, the current Gauteng coach, who has worked extensively in club and provincial cricket, says. Morgan took a particular interest in Wagner, who he saw as a little different to his peers.”He always took care of his kit, he was immaculate, and sometimes the guys used to rag him and say he was a pretty boy. But the couple of things he got in his life, he took care of. He was very professional.”Morgan sensed that expectation would follow Wagner after his school success and that he would not be able to live up to it. “Not everyone makes it at the same time. The same thing happened with Faf and AB, for example,” Morgan says. “One climbs quickly and the other one doesn’t. That happened to Neil.”He wasn’t like Dale [Steyn], who had blinding pace. He didn’t always know when to bowl his bouncers. When the ball stopped swinging in, he didn’t quite know what to do, but he always had something. He was always naturally fit and committed, and he always took wickets.”Wagner was given a few isolated chances at franchise level but never enjoyed a sustained run. “Maybe I didn’t play as well as I should have or could have, but also opportunities were just not there,” he says. There was some talk of a deal with Western Province if the Titans did not come through, but it remained only talk.When real life came knocking and Wagner had to start looking at ways to earn an income, he decided to give himself a last chance at making it in South Africa. He went on a national academy tour to Bangladesh, and it was there that Morgan saw his progress. “He had started learning how to bowl when the ball stopped swinging,” he says. “On those flat wickets, when the ball stopped swinging, he still hit those areas, working with the angle to the right-hander.”Morgan may have been the only believer, though. Wagner did not get a franchise deal, and in 2008 he left for England. Morgan saw it coming but there was little he could do. “I was disappointed in the Titans. He was always a performer. If you are producing the goods and people aren’t looking at you, it becomes disappointing,” he says.In England, Wagner had a little more luck. After a stint in the Lancashire League, he was invited to play for the Sussex 2nd XI and they even considered a Kolpak deal for him.The big door, though, opened when Otago coach Mike Hesson called. Hesson had been watching video footage of left-armers to add to his squad and was impressed with Wagner. “I really liked his attitude,” he says. “He ran in hard, no matter what the team situation was, so I offered him a deal.”For Wagner, it was just what he was looking for. “Growing up, I always watched New Zealand sport with a close eye. The way they compete, their love for their sport, passion and pride, those are values I grew up with at Affies, so it drew my attention. I never really had the desire to play for England, so I thought it was a good opportunity. Any cricketer in the world would be dumb to pass it up, especially in the position that I was.”Like with every big move, at first everything in Dunedin, Wagner’s new hometown, came as a surprise. “I moved into a house with people I had never seen before, and rented a room, which was a massive shock to the system,” he says. “And the freezing cold weather. I had never experienced that in my life before. Winter in Pretoria is not that bad.”Wagner did not have a car in his first year and had to rely on lifts from fellow players. He remembers Otago wicketkeeper Derek de Boorder picking him up to go grocery shopping and to training.

“Growing up, I always watched New Zealand sport with a close eye. The way they compete, their love for their sport, passion and pride, those are values I grew up with”Neil Wagner

While he adjusted to New Zealand, New Zealand also had to adjust to Wagner, and on the cricket field that was not always easy.”The first year was all about Neil,” Hesson says. “Players don’t always respond that well to that.”
Wagner was Otago’s top-wicket taker in his first season, 2008-09, and tenth overall, and the early success may have clouded his judgement. In his second season, he took more wickets, 28 compared to 21, but at a bloated average. “After the first year, he may have been a bit complacent,” Hesson says. “Then he realised it’s not just going to happen for him and he started to work really hard.”With humility and experience came more success, and in the next two seasons Wagner topped the Plunket Shield wicket-taking charts.Despite offers to move to other teams, Wagner stayed in Dunedin. Recently he bought a house there and he now regards the student town as his home. It is a special place for him, given that it was through spending months there that he became eligible to play for New Zealand, after being given special dispensation by the ICC, considering he did not spend the requisite 183 days a year for four years in the country.Although some see him as an opportunist, Wagner said the overwhelming sentiment from locals has been that of encouragement, and he hopes to repay their faith in the West Indies in July. “I’ve been getting so many messages from random New Zealand cricket supporters,” he says. “It makes me proud, it gives me a bit of fire in the belly, and it makes me think I want to make these people proud. I’ve never felt like I’ve just used the system.”He even has support in some quarters of South Africa. “Through sheer will power, of having to work so hard to get there and not getting a free ticket, he will do well, like Kruger [van Wyk] did,” Morgan says. “It’s like waiting for the right girl. You won’t stuff it up, because you’ve had to wait. I just hope whoever the coach is does not make him feel like it’s his one and only chance.”It was largely being made to feel he had only one shot, rather than the much-hyped quota system reason, that resulted in Wagner leaving South Africa. Wagner acknowledges that he made some mistakes with the way he branded the idea of transformation as an excuse.”If I look at the players of colour that are in the South African side, they are there on merit,” he says now. “They are top-class players and they deserve to be in the team.”Maybe I did things the wrong way when I was younger. Look at a guy like Marchant [de Lange]. It just shows that when you get that half-chance, you’ve got to make the most of it. Maybe if I had made the most of the chance I got in South Africa, things would have worked out differently. But in the end, I never looked back.”

Sportspersons and politicians react to Sachin Tendulkar being nominated to India’s upper house of Parliament

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2012″It’s good for the entire sport fraternity. It’s undoubtedly a great honour for Tendulkar and he deserves it. He is a great ambassador of the game. I hope Sachin does a great job. There have been a lot of issues in sport, with cricket being given the top priority. His valuable inputs would definitely help the Indian sport. He may not devote a lot of time to attend Rajya Sabha, but he can convey his ideas.”
“It’s an honour to be a Rajya Sabha member. Having known Sachin from really close quarters, I don’t think he will be able to do justice to the position. He is a straightforward person. I know his attitude and approach. He will not change his ideology or bend himself to do some favour. You know what politics is. We sportspersons tend to hit the ball straight but politicians hit the ball indirectly. I think Sachin deserves much more than that.”
“Many congratulations to him. But it’s up to him how he goes about it. It’s difficult to say whether this move will give us results. It’s like you cannot say a great cricketer [will] be a great coach. It’s entirely up to him to manage this. I wish him all the best.”
“I don’t know whether he has time to do that, because I think he is playing international cricket, he is playing in all formats of the game … [Will] he have time to attend the Parliament [sessions]?”
“Frankly, I am at a loss for words. I never realised these sort of things interested him. He is not one to express his views publicly and this would be a real test for him. I hope he can make a difference in parliament.”

My first ipl game against a rajya sabha member 😉 Hope the weather holds n we get a full game today. #tweementary

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 27, 2012

“Sachin is a great player and we are proud of him. If Sachin is being nominated, surely he would devote some time to Parliament.”
“I think it’s a completely personal decision, if Sachin [Tendulkar] thinks he should join politics and he can make a difference, it’s most welcome. For a sportsperson, I think, people like Sachin coming in is always good, because it’s going to benefit sports. I think Sachin is one person everybody looks up to, and I am sure he will do a great job. We need good politicians, good, honest people in the Parliament.”
“Delighted to hear on the news that Sachin has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Befitting an extraordinarily accomplished Indian.”

Shane Watson’s opening partnership with David Warner has removed the opportunity for questions to be asked of the Australia middle order

David Hopps28-Sep-2012Shane Watson, whose three successive Man of the Match awards have confirmed him as the star of the World Twenty20, expressed the hope after Australia’s mauling of India that his destructive opening partnership with David Warner will survive long enough to turn his side from tournament laughing stocks to world champions.Watson grabbed 3 for 34 and struck 72 off 42 balls in a first-wicket stand of 133 with Warner as Australia strode past India’s 140 for 7 to win by nine wickets and with more than five overs to spare. A career that has never entirely delivered, partly through a series of disruptive injuries, is promising to come to fruition at the World Twenty20.”We know how important the part between me and Dave is on top of the order to set the platform,” Watson said. “So far it has worked and we hope to be able to do that for the rest of the tournament. We want to set the scoring rate up higher enough early on so guys lower down don’t have to take risks lower and don’t need to score at 10 an over.”Watson’s match-winning display followed his star turns in the qualifying stage: 51 and 3 for 26 against Ireland and 41 not out and 2 for 29 against the West Indies.Australia were ranked lower than Ireland in T20 a few weeks before the tournament, an occurrence so incredible that ridicule was the only option. That inconsistency could return at any time. Their unexpressed fear is that one night soon Watson and Warner will fail and a middle order that was held to be vulnerable even before it became short of opportunity will prove unequal to the task.Shane Watson and David Warner have formed an aggressive, successful opening partnership•ICC/Getty”We were No. 9, very poorly ranked,” Watson said, “and the reason was that our T20 cricket was very inconsistent. We played some very good games and we played some poor games as well. Things have fallen my way over the last few games. It is a very fine line. You have to make the most of those times because there are always times when things won’t go your way.”Watson has been asked after every Man of the Match award why he is in such good form. In a time of cricketing overkill, his answer is revealing: he puts it down to rest. “I came off a five-week break and I was able to get some physical strength under my belt and have a mental break as well and hit this Twenty20 running,” he said. “We came up once short against England last time and we have to play some very good cricket to get into the semi-finals and hope we then combine as a team in those two knockout games, but there is still a long way to go.”George Bailey is an Australia T20 captain who is clearly capable of building an excellent team spirit. One day soon he might have to go out to bat to win a cricket match.Watson chuckled quietly at a suggestion that India’s reliance on a battery of spinners had been affected by a brief rain stoppage early in Australia’s innings. “In the end you have to make do with what conditions were given to you,” he said. “India went in with three frontline spinners and in the end there is likely to be some rain around, like there always has been in Colombo, so you just have to make the best of the conditions and play as well as you possibly can.””We knew that India were going to hit us with quite a bit of spin. That is their competitive advantage over us. I have been lucky in a way that I have been able to play all those spinners in IPL over the past few years so I knew how they were going to bowl to me and how they were going to try to get me out.”

Having reached two finals and a semi-final in the opening three editions of World T20, Pakistan will hope to continue their success in the shortest format’s marquee tournament

Umar Farooq22-Sep-2012OverviewUnpredictability is the defining feature of the Pakistan team, but you still can’t shun the thought that they are one of the compelling sides in the format. Their notoriety for inconsistent performances was on show during their warm-up games: they botched a mild chase of 111 against England right after succeeding in chasing down 186 – a rare sparkling chase against India.Pakistan are always surrounded by off-the-field issues but presently things are relatively stable, which bodes well for the creation of a positive team atmosphere under a new captain, Mohamamd Hafeez, who has succeeded Misbah-ul-Haq. Although Hafeez’s Twenty20 form doesn’t warrant him an automatic place in the side, the PCB has taken a decision largely in the best interests of the team, deeming the allrounder a sensible leader in the longer-run. He has so far led Pakistan in five matches, losing two and winning three, including a Super Over victory against Australia in Dubai earlier this month.Pakistan enter the event as the world’s most experienced side in the format, having played most number of matches – 58 – winning 34 and losing 22 with two tied matches. They were the explosive starters in T20 cricket but have lost momentum since 2010, playing 22 matches and losing 11. In a bid to pick up momentum, the selectors have picked the country’s potent and hugely experienced Twenty20 specialists for the job.The squad is flexible enough to accommodate three explosive specialist openers in the top order, namely Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal, followed by a mixture of skilful youngsters in Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq and experienced men in Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi, to guard the middle-order. And they have an agile bowling line-up, strengthened by the return of Umar Gul – he is back at the World T20 after missing the previous event in the West Indies.Pakistan enter the tournament with the entire squad having accumulated ample practice in Sri Lanka. Pakistan had a full series against the hosts earlier this year and, later, players from the T20 squad featured in the Sri Lanka Premier League.Key PlayerThe Pakistan bowlers have been dominating the T20 format, occupying the first three spots in the list of leading wicket-takers, with Saeed Ajmal leading the chart with 60 wickets followed by Shahid Afridi, 59, and Umar Gul with 58. The linchpin will be Ajmal, who has an exceptional economy rate of 6.03 in the format. He will be out to further stamp his authority as the world’s best bowler. His control over his spin and clever variations of his doosra certainly make him dangerous. Pakistan, expectedly, will look to capitalise on more spin options with Ajmal having a significant role to play in the coming days.Surprise packagePakistan have recently unleashed a 20-year-old rookie left-arm spinner: Raza Hasan, largely known as a death bowler, averaging 13.65 in 22 matches with 40 wickets. He is not a big turner of the ball but his fearless approach and decent variation contain the run rate and made him a prominent bowler on the Pakistan domestic circuit. He was first noticed in 2010 when Pakistan called him up for the tour of England, but he didn’t get a game. His wares were finally on show earlier this month in the three-match T20 series against Australia in Dubai. He is perhaps unlikely to play in every game but he has a definite future with the team.Weakness If the script runs correctly, you will barely find any flaws within the Pakistan set-up, but if not, the fragile batting could be rattled. Ensuring a blistering start through the openers is a problem, as Mohamamd Hafeez takes his time to settle in, while Imran Nazir is cautions at the crease these days. The lost form of Afridi is another definite blow for Pakistan and there is obviously a concern over the allrounder.World T20 historyPakistan have an impressive record in the World Twenty20 and their pedigree has been remarkable in the three editions so far. They have been the best side in tournament’s brief history. Had Misbah-ul-Haq not skied the paddle-scope to fine-leg in the 2007 final against India, Pakistan could have won the inaugural tournament. In 2009, Pakistan, led by Younis Khan thrashed Sri Lanka to lift the title. Pakistan were once again on course for another title in the Caribbean in 2010 but were undone by Australia’s Michael Hussey’s heroics in the semi-final in Saeed Ajmal’s final over. Their win-loss tally in World Twenty20 is 12 victories to eight defeats, including the bowl-out loss against India.Recent formPakistan landed in Sri Lanka after intense preparation in a three-match ODI and three-match T20I series in the Dubai against Australia in the exhausting heat of the desert. Pakistan lost the ODI series but went on to win the T20I series 2-1.

An intense tournament has produced two deserving title-contenders who promise a gripping finale

David Hopps in Colombo06-Oct-2012Sri Lanka are desperate to reward a decade of quality by winning their first major tournament since they surprised the cricketing world by claiming the World Cup 16 years ago; a West Indies win would bring hope in the Caribbean that Twenty20 can be the catalyst for their revival, just as the 50-over game inspired Sri Lanka to greater glories all those years ago.For the neutral, yearning for a victory that will be good for cricket, there has rarely been a more difficult choice. Mahela Jayawardene, captain of Sri Lanka, deserves his intelligent and empathetic leadership of Sri Lanka to be recognised with a trophy after three near misses; Darren Sammy, a big-hearted captain whose affability has re-educated West Indies about the value of unity, equally deserves some reward for that.Whatever the unpredictability of T20, few of those who have watched this tournament unfold doubt that Sri Lanka and West Indies are the appropriate teams to contest the final at Premadasa on Sunday. Sri Lanka, some seven-over nonsense against South Africa apart (10 overs, not five, should be the minimum length of a match) have been consistent, buzzy and well-drilled. West Indies, more strongly fancied in this tournament than they have been for a generation, have to no-one’s great surprise provided a roller-coaster ride, domineering one minute, all at sea the next.It has all been enormous fun. The malcontents who have seen their side crash out of World Twenty20, and who have lost interest as a consequence, need to recognise the narrowness of their thinking. What is there not to like about World Twenty20? For a few weeks, the best players in the world have been on show in an intense, tightly-scheduled tournament and, for all the unpredictability of the format, it has provided two deserving finalists.The final promises many appealing match-ups but none will be more mouthwatering than Chris Gayle v Lasith Malinga. Gayle’s commitment to batting long against Australia (how quickly our perceptions change that we can talk about “batting long” in T20) contributed to one the matures innings of his career and Australia, who had hoped that Mitchell Starc could expose him early, saw their plans frustrated. Sri Lanka will aim to keep Gayle on strike against Malinga as much as possible, but will want to save two of his overs for the death. It will be a key period.This West Indies side is vulnerable. In their semi-final thumping of Australia, both Denesh Ramdin, at No.6, and Andre Russell, a place lower at No.7, look a place too high. Sammy, at No.8, has little form of note in the tournament. The pace attack amounts to the craft of Ravi Rampaul and little else, about as far away from the heyday of West Indies fast bowling as it is possible to be. But somehow they are in the final, their ability to muscle the ball many a mile leaving them brimful of confidence.Sri Lanka’s side covers more bases. They were not convincing champions at the start of the tournament, not to this observer at any rate. That was partly because no-one was certain that their less-celebrated players would perform as reliably as they have. But it was also because of the way that their achievement in reaching three finals in ICC tournaments in recent years was being represented not as a worthy reward for a side punching above its weight – which is how it should properly be viewed – but as a fatal flaw worthy of criticism. They have not allowed the high expectations to consume them.Now Jayawardene is in his fourth ICC final for Sri Lanka. No current cricketer has graced the game more, nobody is more deserving of leading his side to victory. He has led Sri Lanka through difficult times, countering both the defeatism that could arise in a country that was bedevilled by a long war and the lack of an extensive infrastructure, and the small-minded political struggles that drained them further.Throughout the hard years, Jayawardene and his close confidant, Kumar Sangakkara, have provided a stable environment in which young players could flourish, and have also shown Sri Lankan cricket the value of trust, integrity and sound planning. Jayawardene stood down from the captaincy and then dutifully took it up again when his work was in danger of being wasted.Sri Lanka, because they have been more consistent, deserve to start slight favourites in front of their own fans. But all that could fly out of the window if Gayle and co. begin to launch the ball into orbit. Gayle has told the world that West Indies will win this tournament, and end years of suffering for Caribbean supporters, and it would be a foolish person who dares to tell him in advance that he is misguided.We could be in for a treat. If the October monsoon stays away for just one more day, a successful tournament can have a memorable finale.

There’s a subtext to the de Kock-Bowes opening partnership. Bowes replaced de Kock as captain for the World Cup, leaving the latter to focus on his roles of key batsman and wicketkeeper

George Binoy in Townsville18-Aug-2012Quinton de Kock and Chad Bowes, South Africa’s opening batsmen, are among the highest run-scorers of the group stage of the Under-19 World Cup. De Kock is first, with 226 runs, while Bowes is third, with 179. In each of South Africa’s three matches, at least one of them has made a significant score. Against Namibia, both made hundreds in a total of 359. Not bad for batsmen who are touring Australia for the first time.They haven’t even been opening together for very long. De Kock is from Johannesburg and Bowes is from Durban, so while they’ve played a lot against each other, they only began opening for South Africa in the one-day tri-series involving Pakistan and Zimbabwe in January. They’ve forged a partnership since.Their contrasting styles complement each other. De Kock, a powerfully built left-hand wicketkeeper-batsman, is more aggressive, while Bowes, a more slender right-hander, prefers to start slowly and then catch up.”You could say I’m a pretty orthodox opening batter,” Bowes says. “I like to play straight and as I get my time in the middle I like to expand my shot selection. Rotate the strike with Quinton and let him do the damage up front.”De Kock says he “connects really well” with Bowes. “He starts a little bit slow but he always seems to give me the strike, which I enjoy,” de Kock says. “Once he’s in then he plays his game. We always try to look for a single off a good ball instead of just blocking and getting no run.”On the eve of their quarterfinal against England, de Kock knows he’ll be targeted. He toured England in the summer of 2011 and was the highest run-scorer in the seven-match one-day series. England fast bowler Reece Topley and captain Adam Ball have said they have plans for de Kock. “In England they didn’t like me at all,” de Kock says. “So I know they’ll come hard at me tomorrow. I shouldn’t have a problem, I’m going to just do my thing, keep my own focus. Not going to be bothered with what they do.”There’s a subtext to the de Kock-Bowes partnership. Bowes wasn’t on that Under-19 tour to England. He only broke into the team during the tri-series in January involving Pakistan and Zimbabwe. De Kock was already established by then and was the captain. Bowes, however, was named captain for the World Cup, leaving de Kock to focus on his roles of key batsman and wicketkeeper. Both batsmen say the change in leadership has improved performance.”They decided they didn’t want to put too much pressure on me, which I accept fully,” de Kock said. “I think it’s been a good decision, Chad’s doing an awesome job as captain. Everything is going to plan.”The Under-19 World Cup is effectively Bowes’ first assignment as captain and he’s had good results so far, winning both warm-up matches and all three Group D games. “I knew it would be a challenge but I was up for it. I have captained a few provincial or state teams back in South Africa, so I do have an idea of what to do,” Bowes says. “I have a lot of respect for all the guys in the team and they respect me so I’m able to communicate with everyone well. I have a good relationship with the coach, we communicate well with each other, it’s been good so far.”Being a left-hand, aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman, de Kock looked up to Adam Gilchrist as he was growing up. His strike-rate far at the World Cup is 108 and in three-day matches for Gauteng he averages more than 60 and strikes at 90. He’s played a few limited-overs games for Lions too, but without much success, and hopes to get more opportunities with them next season.Bowes’ idol is not someone who is remembered for his batting – Jonty Rhodes. “All I wanted to do was field like him,” he says. “He got me passionate for the game. Guys have referred to me as the Jonty of the team so I’m pretty pleased with that. I do pride myself in my fielding and winning games from that position like Jonty did.” Bowes says he usually fields at point and cover too, like Rhodes, but isn’t at the moment because of a broken finger and will be at mid-off at the start.South Africa prepared for this World Cup in their own way, preferring an intensive camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria over overseas tours as a method of building the team. It meant that on coming to Australia, the openers had to adjust quickly to an environment they’d never been in before. De Kock said it was only his third time out of the country for cricket but adapting had been no problem. They’d even prepared for the spin they’d face against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and later on in the tournament during their camp.”I just needed to get used to one or two of the conditions, the extra bounce,” de Kock said. “We do have one or two such pitches in South Africa but not as much as in Australia. Takes one or two innings, a couple of net sessions, and then I’m on my way.”Their coach Ray Jennings is renowned for running a tight ship and Bowes said that they had developed a strong work ethic during their time at the High Performance Centre. “We got a saying that we learnt at the camp, ‘Looking after the pennies will look after the pound.’ So do the small things right and the bigger things will come later.”That attitude is perhaps best captured by de Kock’s response when asked whether he was happy with his performance in the World Cup so far. “Fairly satisfied but not quite where I want to be,” he said. “I feel like I could do a lot better, got lots more to prove. I did miss out on one game, a bad run out, not great decision-making from me.”De Kock and Bowes will walk out on Sunday in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville to face perhaps the quickest new-ball attack in the World Cup – Topley and Jamie Overton. It will be their toughest task in Australia yet.

Geoff Boycott on Tendulkar’s ODI retirement, the highs and lows of 2012, and Eoin Morgan’s technique

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2012Siddhartha Talya: Hello and welcome to another show of Bowl at Boycs. I’m Siddhartha Talya and speaking to me today from back home in Jersey is Geoffrey Boycott. A satisfactory tour of India for you, Geoffrey, would you say?Geoffrey Boycott: More than satisfactory. I thought India would actually do a lot better than they did because history shows they are pretty tough to beat in their own country. And with England’s past performances in the UAE against Pakistan, I thought it looked like – even with a moderate Indian side – an Indian win but we’re all surprised. Very pleasantly as Englishmen.ST: The big news here in India is that Sachin Tendulkar has announced his retirement from ODI cricket. Related to that is our first question of the day. It comes from Jatin in India. He wants to know: Was Tendulkar’s retirement from ODIs the right call in your opinion? It’ll help him focus on one format, which is Test cricket, and is that where you think India needs him more?GB: I’m not sure it’s about what India needs most, I think it’s about what’s best for Sachin. At this stage of his career, he’s done well for himself and he’s done well for his country. I think he has to do what’s best for him because if he plays better, whatever format of cricket, it’s going to help the team he plays for, which is India. That’s the most important thing.He hasn’t played in the T20s for India for a while. ODI cricket, today, in the modern game, has become so physically demanding on the player’s body, even 50 overs. As much as we all love Sachin, me included, he’s never been an outstanding athlete in the field. He’s never let anybody down, he’s been competent, but nobody could ever call him a top outfielder. So, as he gets older, like all of us, me included, he just can’t run as fast as a youngster, he can’t dive around. Not that he was a great diver but when you do dive around in the modern day – as you are expected to; it’s a modern phenomenon – he’s going to hurt himself a bit more. As you get older, you’re going to fall the wrong way, your body hurts more, it bruises easier – it’s nature taking over.It’s very sad, it’s a fact of life, that more of us, as we get older, we have to accept we just can’t do what we used to do. There’s no fun in accepting that, there’s no fun in believing it. There’s no fun in having to say it gets easier, because it doesn’t get easier. It can’t. So for him, it’s tough, is one-day [cricket]. As wonderful as he’s been, we can’t live on the memories. He’s 39, and so I think giving up is very responsible and sensible.He can now focus on staying fit, playing as much zonal cricket as he can – and that’s important, trying to get some runs in that, which shouldn’t be too difficult. You know [in domestic cricket] they’re not as good as him. Even now, when he’s past his zenith, he’s still better than them. And he needs form. Form means runs, runs means confidence, and then he can play against Australia in March. He desperately needs some runs against Australia in the Test matches in March, because I don’t think any of us want to see him embarrass himself with more failures after failure. If he doesn’t get runs against Australia, I’m reasonably confident that he’ll see the light and call his own retirement. But you cross your fingers and hope he can get some.He obviously still loves the game. I played county cricket till I was 46 and Test cricket till I was 41 and a half. So it is possible. But in the end, your past performances only count for so much. In the end, we all have to get runs or wickets. It’s a runs and wickets-orientated game. You can only go so far living on past performances.ST: Do you think he had a transformative role to play in ODI cricket? He has played more than 400 matches, has a very impressive average, has broken all kinds of records. What’s Tendulkar’s greatest legacy with relation to ODIs?GB: Longevity more than anything. There have been other outstanding one-day cricketers, like there have been outstanding Test players. But it’s the longevity, and playing in all countries and playing well. That’s it. It’s easy to get sucked into believing, when he’s playing in the current day and doing well, that they’re the best player ever. Hang on. That’s being disrespectful to all the eras of cricket and all the players who’ve gone before. Sachin will be up there with the greatest in Test cricket and one-day cricket, but let’s not forget there have been other players. So it’s his longevity and playing exceptionally well all over the world.ST: England managed to square the T20 series here, with Eoin Morgan, their stand-in captain, playing a very significant role in that game at the Wankhede, where he hit the last ball for a six. We have a question from Edwin in the UK about him. He asks: Would you say Eoin Morgan is a gifted limited-overs batsman for the innovativeness and audacity he brings to his batting? And is there a technical reason why he hasn’t really made it yet in Test matches?GB: I would agree with you. He is innovative, audacious, an exceptionally good one-day cricketer. But, look, let’s get real and let’s be honest. T20 cricket is exciting, it’s fun, it’s all the action packed into three hours. It’s wonderful, quickfire entertainment, but really, it’s not cricket’s best form. And because the batsmen have to try and hit every ball for a boundary, all the players deep down know they have a good excuse for getting out. So there’s a psychological thing there where you know nobody’s going to blame you that much if you’re trying to hit the ball out of the park, there are only 20 overs and you’ve all got a hit. So there’s that excuse at the back of your mind.In Test cricket, there are no excuses. There’s a lot of time to play yourself in, go at your own pace, play your own style, do your own thing. Bouncers can be bowled at you in Test match cricket, so courage and technique are involved in playing the short-pitched ball. It comes into it more and more. Bouncers in one-day cricket, they give you a wide for. There’s more technique, there’s more concentration, more patience required to put together a big innings in Test cricket as opposed to a few big hits in one-day cricket. Now I’m not saying T20 cricket doesn’t have some skill involved, but not as much as Test matches. And it doesn’t have the same amount of character involved to do well in Test matches.T20 is a batsman’s game. The bowlers, a lot of the time, are cannon fodder, they just run up and people are going to smack it out of the park. Morgan is one of those players, and there are a few around the world, who are exceptional against many bowlers in T20. And he is very good in ODIs. But in Test matches he’s been dodgy around off stump, that’s the problem. He appears to open the face. It’s not convincing that he knows where his off stump is. And that’s the most vulnerable area in Test match cricket.They bowl on off stump, you have to know what to leave and what to play. When they are bowling it really quick in Test match cricket, you’ve actually got to make six decisions in about a third of a second. You’ve got to decide, “Shall I play it, shall I leave it, shall I play forward, shall I play back, shall I block it, or shall I hit it for runs.” So there are six things you have to do in a third of a second, and you have to get it right technically and you better be matched with the mental toughness to do that.He’s failed at times at pressure moments when he’s had chances in Test cricket. He particularly looks vulnerable around off stump – it’s just a fact of life. I see it, I’ve called it. He’s had chances and he’s not come up with the goods when it matters. Sadly for him, and he won’t like it, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have got slightly ahead of him and they’ll continue to move away from him in Test matches. That’s my opinion. I believe they will because they’ve got more mental toughness about them; they’ve got better technique.He will be better than them in T20. I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind that he is the better of the three in T20. He is a terrific player in T20. When there is less pressure to fail, technique around off stump and against quick bowlers is not exposed.ST: Coming now to Geoffrey’s favourite question for this show. It’s from Alan in the UK. Alan wants to know: Geoffrey, if you had to recap 2012 and pick out two highs and lows, what would they be?GB: I can only tell you what I’ve seen in 12 months. I see all the England players, all the England matches. I don’t see every single Test match in the world. I can only tell you of what I’ve seen.Michael Clarke’s performance, two [three] double-hundreds, is unbelievably fantastic.

“I had a great sadness and disappointment watching one of the greatest players of the world of cricket struggle and be a shadow of the iconic batsman he was”

But I have to tell you, because I watch England, the worst low this year was in Abu Dhabi, the fourth innings, England v Pakistan in a Test match. We finally played Monty Panesar with Swann and they bowled beautifully to get us into a position where we needed 144 to win. The ball was turning but it wasn’t jumping or anything and it wasn’t turning alarmingly, but it was turning. And we were all out for 72. The left-arm spinner took 6 for 25, we couldn’t even play a left-arm spinner just bowling normal, turning, spin balls.And when it came to Ajmal, 3 for 22, they couldn’t pick him, they hadn’t a clue, they had more a chance of picking a nose than picking Ajmal. And he was the one who terrified them, because they didn’t know what the hell he was bowling. And when they played the left-arm spinner, they made a pathetic mess of it. They were playing with the pads, playing across the line to the leg side, against the spin, they were sweeping off the stumps because they couldn’t pick the ball. They didn’t know which way to hit Ajmal and they were trying all sorts against the left-arm spinner.ST: Abdur Rehman was the left-arm spinner.GB: Abdur Rehman, that’s him. He was unbelievable. Watching it, it was like in slow motion, like watching a terror movie. You thought, “Somebody’s going to get a 30 or 40 and we’re going to get home.”That was the low point because, remember, they were the best side in the world, supposedly No. 1 in the world. They lost all three Test matches and they deserved to lose all three. But the spinners didn’t. The spinners did well. And the England batsmen let England down in all three Tests so badly that, when we think of that, us English people, we think [about] coming to India, we think, “It’s going to turn, we’re going to struggle here with the bat and it’s not Monty and Swann we’re worried about, and Jimmy Anderson, and we know they’ll do well. But the batting…” And so we were surprised in India and we were surprised in Abu Dhabi when they played so awful.One of the highs, I’d have to say Kevin Pietersen scored a brilliant 149 at Leeds in the first innings this year against South Africa. And the reason for that was the way he constructed his innings. He started the innings in a steady, compact, common-sense, sensible way, and he was playing against the best seam bowling attack in the world, with Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, and Kallis to back them up. No question, Steyn is the No. 1 bowler in the world.You could tell it was going to be spicy and tasty because there was always going to be something, there’s going to be an edge when KP plays South Africa. Remember, South Africa let him go. They said he couldn’t bat and he couldn’t bowl. That’s going to stick with you all your life. That’s going to rankle deep down, isn’t it? So you knew there was going to be a bit of a spiciness there, a keen edge to the contest between him and the South African bowlers. So in the second Test at Leeds, he played with a real mental carefulness. But then suddenly, when he got into about the 80s, he suddenly went berserk. He just decided to attack them, and he just went after them to dominate them and played a fantastic innings, just put them in their place as if they were medium-pacers. I have seen a lot of his innings and the only sadness is that we weren’t able to win the match. It’s always more special if you get a hundred and you win, or when you even save the match rather than you just get a hundred. But it was pretty good, it was a real high.The second most-important high for me… I am a great believer in skill and character at cricket, all ball games. I think character is so important. There is a young man called Jonny Bairstow who I’ve been close to. His father was a good friend of mine and he went and took his own life when the kids were young. He has a sister, does Jonny. So I’ve helped with his mother, my wife has, we’ve been very close to the family as they’ve grown up. We’ve seen him grow and he’s a wonderful cricketer. And he played the summer in the Test matches against West Indies. Through the summer he had a torrid time against Kemar Roach. Roach gave him a real working over, very much so in the Test matches before we get to the one I’m going to talk about.He had a tough time with the bouncers. Roach hit him on the arm. He wasn’t looking at the ball, he was getting himself in a little bit of a mess, and he knew he had to do something about it. He lost his Test place when South Africa came. England picked Bopara. And then at Leeds, they picked James Taylor in place of him, in the Test match where Kevin got this wonderful 149. But at Leeds, you remember, there was all the fuss about Kevin’s texts and so forth, so Kevin was dropped for Lord’s and just luckily, the Pietersen affair gave Bairstow another chance.But there was going to be a huge personal battle for him. You had the best bowlers in the world, with Steyn, Morkel and Philander coming at him. You were going to get the short stuff, and rightly so. Everybody knew you’re going to get more of it – the crowd knew, he knew. There’s never a place to hide against fast bowlers when they’ve seen a chink in your armoury. And they came at him strong, and the time when he went in to bat, England were 54 for 4. They were chasing 309, they were in big trouble, they had two young kids playing, Taylor and Bairstow, no KP, and playing the best seam-bowling side in the world (and Lord’s is a great place to bowl seam). He was up against it personally, and the team was in trouble. And he played out of his skin. He played unbelievable.Jonny Bairstow: Overcoming adversity•Getty ImagesRoach had got him for 16 and 4 and 18 and made a mess of his technique, but that day, he ducked, weaved, looked at the ball, looked a different quality player. And he went on to make 95 and he batted even better in the second innings: he got 54, when England tried to chase down a total and didn’t make it – they actually lost the game by 51 runs.I have a personal interest, I admit that, from seeing the young man grow up in adversity, with his father doing an unfortunate, silly thing. But the kid can play. He’s got a lot to learn about playing in India on slow, turning pitches, but he’s not the only one that has to learn playing in India. But he played fantastic that day [at Lord’s], and that, for me, was a great high, to see a young player in real difficulty against the quicks, and I mean real difficulty… to have the character, skill, the temperament, against the best seamers in the world, your team’s in trouble and you personally are in trouble. And you’ve got to get out of it, and he did. That, for me, was the second high moment of the year.And just to finish with, I have to say this because you asked me about two lows. My second low I haven’t given you and I have saved it till last. It’s about Sachin Tendulkar. I had a great sadness and disappointment watching one of the greatest players of the world of cricket struggle and be a shadow of the iconic batsman he was. To me, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, two very different styles and two very special talents, have strolled the world of cricket in the last 20 years. They’ve been very special, they’ve achieved many things and been way above other batsmen. Way above many of us other batsmen could even dream about. And he was making mistakes against England that he didn’t make before.Now we the public, that’s you, me, those that love him, we haven’t been used to seeing him fail time after time. We’ve occasionally seen a slight dip in form, everybody’s career has that, but then we’ve seen him return with gorgeous, crafted centuries.He is a lovely man. We’ve known him since he was a lovely boy. He’s always had time for me. I don’t bother him much but if I ever see him, he’ll chat to me. He’ll always come and say hello and we’ll chat about things a little, as if I’ve never been away. If I ask him for anything, he always obliges. I care about him very deeply, like many of you. And his legacy to cricket will be very special. When you care about someone and you can see them struggling, you worry, you hurt for them. Not unlike many other people. I don’t want to see him embarrassed, I don’t want him to embarrass himself. So my New Year’s resolution is: Sachin will play zonal cricket, he’ll make some runs, he’ll get into form, get some confidence and come back and make runs against Australia. I hope so.ST: Let’s hope for the best. That brings us to the end of the last Bowl at Boycs show for 2012. Grand plans for the holidays coming up, Geoffrey?GB: No, just to be home and rest after being in India. Then, on the 8th of January I’ve got a special due in Sheffield, Yorkshire, as President of Yorkshire. We are going to celebrate our 150th anniversary. On the 8th of January, 150 years ago, in 1863, Yorkshire cricket was formed by some Sheffield people – not Leeds – at the Adelphi Hotel. That was knocked down some years ago and a snooker hall was built. So we’re having a function in the snooker place to celebrate that great event 150 years ago. As the president, I shall be there, I should be there, I am going to be there and it’s right I should be there to celebrate this occasion. Then I’m going to South Africa for a month’s holiday.ST: Wish you and all Yorkshiremen many congratulations for that special occasion. Thanks to our listeners for tuning in. Please don’t forget to send us your questions using our feedback form and we’ll join Geoffrey Boycott in the New Year. So, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, happy holidays. Goodbye Geoffrey.GB: Cheers.

From Daniel Keane, Australia
Sometime on the final morning at Lord’s, the thought must have crossed or re-crossed Ricky Ponting’s mind – more than the Ashes are at stake this series

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Sometime on the final morning at Lord’s, the thought must have crossed or re-crossed Ricky Ponting’s mind – more than the Ashes are at stake this series. As if the tiny urn is not enough – is not, indeed, all – circumstances have conspired to add a little extra spice.Flintoff’s impending retirement and Ponting’s desire to avoid losing a second series in England will no doubt spur on their respective sides. More importantly, however, the outcome of this series will retrospectively determine how we regard the previous two. After two tests, the legacies of 2005 and 2006/07 already appear locked in battle. Both series have been invoked, the former rather more than the latter. Flintoff’s bowling at Lord’s was, as Stuart MacGill put it, “straight from the 2005 highlights reel.” The only question about next week’s Edgbaston Test will be whether the memories of ‘last time’ linger quietly or are broadcast loudly.By contrast, viewers of Australia’s first (and only) innings at Cardiff could be forgiven for thinking they were watching the sixth test of 2007, rather than the first of 2009. After two years, it seemed that Australia had merely resumed its winning run against its old foe. Hundreds from Katich, Ponting, North and Haddin helped raise Australia’s highest Ashes total since 1934. Sometimes, the roles were even reversed. Panesar and Anderson’s unbroken last wicket stand was likened to Lee and McGrath’s at Old Trafford four years ago. Collingwood’s match-saving 74 was every bit as important as Ponting’s 156.Despite (or perhaps because of) their contrasting scorelines, the 2005 and 2006/07 series shared several important features. Reputations were tarnished. Ponting’s captaincy – already questioned by some – lost further legitimacy. In Australia, Flintoff proved himself an unsatisfactory leader. Australia’s narrow defeat was every bit as devastating as England’s humiliating loss. Even now, the memories of both must cause the minds of many to darken. For Australians, 2005 upset the natural order. To restore that order, no simple retaliation would suffice. Nothing short of an annihilation would begin to sooth the wounds. And in being thumped five nil, England did not only lose the Ashes – it lost a little of 2005. As Gideon Haigh rightly pointed out, while England can forever claim the Edgbaston Test, Adelaide 2006 belongs to Australia.English aspirations (to the status of an equal and the title of number one Test nation) were revealed as mere pretensions. After its 2007 triumph, another Australian win would further reduce 2005 to a vivid but regrettable stain on Australia’s otherwise unblemished recent Ashes record. An English victory would not only silence Australian talk of an ‘aberration’, but elevate England into a frontier unconquered by Ponting’s men.For the time being at least, the current series has the air of a decider, of a final set following a first set tie break and a second set bagel. Its significance has been inflated by its remarkable predecessors. Perhaps it will help to settle the score of which of the two was the greater victory. And while some of the principle players have gone from the scene, both captains will fight bitterly for the last word.