A dramatic slide handed Sri Lanka a match Pakistan had no business losing, and it’s likely the visitors lost the game in the mind rather than on the pitch

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Colombo17-Jun-2012Misbah-ul-Haq couldn’t offer any explanation as to why Pakistan combusted, converting what appeared to be a walkover into an embarrassing defeat. It must have been hard enough digesting the numbers – seven wickets fell for 13 runs inside four overs – and worse would have been the realisation that the collapse actually began with his wicket. Pakistan weren’t supposed to lose this game. With 81 needed off 78, two set batsmen at the crease and eight more to come – including their most experienced at No.6 – it would have taken a lot to bet against them winning. The pressure created by one sharp catch in the infield followed by a bouncer barrage, though, resulted in Pakistan’s crumble.What is more glaring in Pakistan’s defeat is the fact that they cannot hide behind the excuse of being a batsman short. A heavy defeat in the second ODI at Pallekele exposed an imbalance in their line-up, so they sought to rectify that by dropping a seamer and bringing in another batsman. With at least two batsmen struggling for form, including Misbah, it was imperative they played seven batsmen apart from the keeper.Spare a thought for Azhar Ali. A half-century in a format he wasn’t associated with at the start of his career invariably ends up in a losing cause, due to no apparent fault of his own. True, he may never find himself in the league of swashbuckling openers, but that wasn’t the role intended for him in the first place, as his captain reiterated on this tour. As a grafter, he was meant to be the pivot around which others would bat. For the second time in three games, he was ditched by his more experienced colleagues. For the second time, a hard-fought fifty was drowned in defeat.Misbah didn’t extend any excuses. “Having played so many batsmen, each of them realise their responsibilities. We needed a run-a-ball and the batsmen should have taken more responsibility but they didn’t,” Misbah said. “We took it for granted that we had the match in our hands.”While together, Azhar and Misbah had adopted a conservative approach towards the target of 244, grafting the singles and dispatching the odd bad delivery to the boundary. The pair had added 99 – the bulk of it during the non-Powerplay overs – but as it happened, the period in which the field restrictions became mandatory also coincided with Pakistan’s slide.Predictably, the Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene had saved his best bowler, Lasith Malinga, for the batting Powerplay. Pakistan took six off his first over in that spell, but in the following over – the 37th – an incident hampered Azhar’s chances of batting through. Turning back at the crease to avoid a run out, he pulled a calf muscle, and with no runners allowed, the pair had to look for boundaries.Misbah tried exactly that but fell to a sharp catch at mid-off by Kulasekara. Malinga then softened Umar Akmal up with three consecutive bouncers, and the batsman appeared jolted by that barrage. Kulasekara cleverly pitched it up the following over and had Akmal chasing and edging to the keeper. Suffice to say though that Akmal botched yet another opportunity to guide his team home.A wobbly Younis Khan, dropped to No.6 owing to his poor form, also fell edging in a freakish over from Thisara Perera that included a hat-trick and a run-out. Shahid Afridi fell to the poorest shot in that maniacal period, before the pressure got to Sarfraz Ahmed, who steered the hat-trick ball to slip. Sri Lanka were within touching distance of avenging two famous collapses in Sharjah, in 1999 and 2011.It wouldn’t be fair to blame the Pakistan captain for the collapse as there was enough competency in the batting to follow. Misbah admitted his players lost the game in the mind. “It was a simple equation. We should have achieved it easily, without taking risks,” Misbah said. “In my view the batsmen need to have a compact technique in conditions in Sri Lanka, where the ball swings and seams a bit. We need to be mentally strong.”Misbah also defended demoting Younis to No.6, given his average of 44 in 28 innings in that position. “He was struggling at the top. My form too was poor so I promoted myself to No. 4. Asad Shafiq is playing well. Even in Sri Lankan conditions, you need experience even at the bottom. He [Younis] has played at No.6 before, so we pushed him down.”Not for the first time on tour, Misbah admitted that the fielding was a let-down. He refrained from singling out individuals, saying he hoped none of those mistakes will be repeated. Besides the collapse, the other sore point was that this was Pakistan’s 15th defeat in 18 chases of 240-plus in the last three years.Now 1-2 down in the series with a must-win final game on Monday, Pakistan would hope this collapse was just an aberration in their recent impressive head-to-head record against Sri Lanka. Public memory is short, and Pakistan would hope it remains that way.

After 10 years as captain, Graeme Smith has another chance to take South Africa to the top of the world

Firdose Moonda18-Jul-2012It looks as though Graeme Smith can barely believe it. Years of being second best could end in five weeks’ time in England. It will present other problems, like figuring out how to stay on top, but that’s something Smith can worry about another day. For now, the reality that the top is within touching distance has sunk in and the dream of actually touching the top is three Tests away from coming true.South Africa have walked this road so many times before it has become a circle. They could have become the No.1 team twice in the last two years – if they had beaten India at home in 2010-11 or whitewashed New Zealand away in the three-Test series in March – and both times they fell short. They have been at the top for brief periods, sometimes after big series wins such as in 2008 against England, and other times not of their own doing but because a convolution of other results conspired to put them there.They would have us believe it does not matter. Gary Kirsten has taught every member of the squad to repeat that rankings don’t actually matter to them, but it is a thinly disguised statement. Having always come short, in World Cups and on standings for as long as either have existed, being the best is something that matters dearly to those involved in South African cricket. It will be represent a final coming of age and a completion of something they have heard said about them but have no proof of: that they have it in them to be called the world’s top team.Smith knows that South Africa have done all the hard work in all the right places to put themselves in a position where they can rightfully claim to the best. “We’ve been really consistent,” he said. “In all conditions, it’s fair to say, we’ve been the most consistent team over the last period of time.” He’s not wrong. South Africa have gone six years and nine series without losing away from home. In that time, they have won in Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, Australia, West Indies and New Zealand and drawn in India, twice, and the United Arab Emirates.The core of the squad from those trips have remained. Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were all part of teams that have conquered every corner. The remaining five spots in the starting XI have rotated between opening partners for Smith, different No. 6 batsmen, a third seamer, and Paul Harris, who was in the spinner’s position as recently as a season ago.Some of those have settled now, particularly in the bowling department. Vernon Philander arrived moulded into the third seamer’s role as though he was born to do it and Harris has permanently discarded for Imran Tahir. As a unit, Smith rates this bowling attack as the most dynamic he has captained in nine years in the job.”Morne and Dale are further along with their skills and development from the last time we played England but they still have the same pace,” he said. “On a number of those tours, our third seamer was new, whereas Vernon has come in and established himself quite well. With Imran developing really well, there is a lot to look forward to and a lot to work with.”
The secret to South Africa’s bowling success is that those four front-liners do not represent their entire bowling reserves. Jacques Kallis is used in short bursts as an additional, fifth bowler. Smith called it a “massive blessing to have a batsman at No.4 who can bowl the way he does.” Andrew Strauss weighed in by saying England have only needed four bowlers to take 20 wickets, Kallis’ role is something that could prove the difference between the attacks.Cruel as it is, Mark Boucher, who was the core of the core until last week, is no longer part of the squad. His exclusion gives South Africa more options for now. With AB de Villiers set to keep wicket until the management have found the right time (read: an easier series) to blood Thami Tsolekile, South Africa can play an extra batsman or an extra bowler or someone who is both. JP Duminy is that someone. With his improved technique in longer forms of the game and his offspin, he becomes the person who could “offer something different” as Smith put it.South Africa have spent years searching for the “something different” that will set them apart from other teams. They have been criticised for being too predictable, lacking in variety and being a team that can dominate until the big occasion. Now that one of the biggest occasions is upon them, Smith believes they are ready to deliver.England is no longer the unchartered territory it was four years ago. South Africa have been here and won here. Although the England team they will come up against is, according to Smith, “a better team than they have had for a long time,” they face their own demons, which include holding on to that No.1 ranking, “being chased by a pack comes with its own pressure and this being the first major defence of their title,” Smith said.Whether that pressure will make England a more difficult prospect or an easier target is yet to be seen. Either way, South Africa may not even notice. They have prepared for this series with the focus solely on themselves and their processes because they know that what is at stake is bigger than anything they have had to tussle over before.

Plays of the Day from the fourth day of the third Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Pallekele

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Pallekele11-Jul-2012Poor shot of the day
The sun was out and the fourth day pitch resembled the one at the SSC, with barely any movement on offer. On the third day, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana survived a testing morning session without being dislodged, and today, Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali had all but emulated them. The pair had added a fairly chanceless 83, until Hafeez lost his concentration. With another ten minutes till lunch, Dilhara Fernando slipped in an innocuous full delivery outside the off stump, probably wide enough to be penalised, but Hafeez couldn’t resist chasing it. The ball took the outside edge and went chest-high to Paranavitana at first slip. Nearly two hours of hard work was undone by an uncharacteristic shot by Hafeez, and the hosts finally had a breather.Bowling change of the day
Ironically, the most experienced of the Sri Lanka seamers, Fernando, was sparingly used by Mahela Jayawardene. When Sri Lanka took the second new ball, Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera were the preferred options. Fernando was brought back in the 90th over, with the hope of breaking the stand between Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali. The partnership had just reached 100, when Fernando tempted Azhar into a slash outside off. It didn’t bounce as much, and Azhar played a tired shot without moving his feet. Like with Hafeez, it was a rare lapse in concentration. Fernando struck again in his following over, trapping Mohammad Sami lbw with a Yorker.Shot of the day
Jayawardene had attacked for most part, packing the slip cordon and keeping most of his fielders in. With the Hafeez-Azhar stand building, he went defensive on the on side, placing a deep square leg for Hafeez. Kulasekara bowled it short and but Hafeez not only controlled the pull, he placed it perfectly in the gap between deep square leg and fine leg for a boundary and made a mockery of the field set.

After a back surgery that kept him out of the game for over two years, VRV Singh is on a comeback trail and determined to work through every challenge

Abhishek Purohit31-Mar-2012His deliveries still bounce as steeply as they used to when he first played for India as a chubby 21-year old in 2006. That toothy grin, broad and childlike, has not changed. He still runs in like a locomotive struggling to control its momentum as it rumbles downhill. It is hard to believe that last week’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Assam was VRV Singh’s first game for Punjab in more than four years. The Indian Test middle order had all of its four big batsmen intact four years ago. Anil Kumble was India’s Test captain. The IPL had not yet come to town. And the veteran Pankaj Dharmani was leading Punjab. India’s cricket map has been altered in four years. And VRV Singh has seen the best and worst of the life of a professional sportsman in these four years.All he had wanted to do was to bowl as fast as he could. It was said that he needed his coach to console him if he came back from a game without hitting an opposition batsman on the head. No less an authority on fast bowling than Ian Bishop, the former West Indies quick, was impressed after watching VRV Singh in his debut Test in Antigua in June 2006.And then the injuries arrived. Foot, ankle, back. VRV Singh still tried to keep going through the pain. His pace dropped, lack of match practice ruined his rhythm. He had ankle surgery in 2008, but got injured during a practice match before the Ranji Trophy in 2009, limiting him to playing for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL that year.He almost disappeared after that, playing just one match in IPL 2010. Forget India, making the Punjab team was appearing to be improbable. It was then that he made the big decision to go in for back surgery in Australia in late 2010. “Initially, the injury was not that bad. But it did not improve much and went on deteriorating,” VRV Singh said. “After IPL 2010, I played some local games to see how it went but it was not good.”A whole year would pass after the surgery, before VRV Singh would be able to resume bowling. “You cannot play around with your body in rehab,” he said. “I slowly started with exercise for my lower back and hip muscles, then started working out in the gym, then running and eventually began to bowl from two-three steps.” He resumed bowling with his normal run-up around December 2011.It was way back in March 2008 that he had last played for Punjab. That meant he was starting all over again. So the man who has played five Tests for India turned out like any other probable at the trials for the Chandigarh district team. Did he have any ego issues? He smiles at the question. “I never felt like I was an India player who now had to turn out for district-level teams. When you want to play cricket, you don’t have the option to think about such things. After I played some 15-20 games like that they picked me for the Punjab side [for the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament].” You sense he is glad – to just be back on his feet, able to do what he is good at.But the comeback process was a grind he can never forget. For nearly 18 months VRV Singh had barely touched a ball. The question did come up, but not once did he feel that he should quit the game. “Giving up on cricket was never an option. If I had wanted to do that, I would have never gone in for this surgery. After surgery, I never thought that I won’t play cricket. I always had it at the back of my mind that I want to make a comeback. The good thing is, I gave myself time to recover and didn’t hurry back.”Though the ultimate objective was quite clear, there were obviously days when the enormity of the task would get to him. And that is where the encouragement from his parents proved to be crucial. “I think family support was the main thing. My parents had the biggest role to play in my comeback. You cannot go around paying attention to negative things said about you. What matters is that you should have the support of people close to you.”There were days when I used to get frustrated with not playing or not being able to bowl. That is the time when they supported me. They told me to give myself some time, and wait till I was 100% fit and not jump in when I was, say, 90%. Little things matter, like when you are not able to bend to pick up something from the ground and they would do it for you.”

“If a player has not played for more than two years then no [IPL] franchise is going to pick him. I wasn’t depressed. I would have been depressed if I hadn’t had the surgery. I am happy that I am back to normal. After the surgery I have become mentally tougher.”

There were others who helped as well. “I have a good friend in Sydney, Surjit Singh, who supported me a lot. Also, Patrick Farhart [the Kings XI physiotherapist].”He says he has also tweaked his action to lighten the load on his body. “I have changed it a bit and worked on my back-foot landing. Earlier I used to not think much [about my action], but after the surgery I thought that if I slightly modify it to front-on from side-on then it might help make my follow-through easier and it might not [put too much pressure] on the lower body. I tried it in Chandigarh and it was getting better. I am still working on it and hopefully by the middle of this year I will get there.”For now, a haul of eight wickets in four games at an economy-rate of 6.37 was quite satisfactory as Punjab made the Syed Mushtaq Ali final. The bounce he extracted in the competition was steep, the pace decent. “The more I play, the more pace and bounce I will get. I don’t think my pace has reduced much after the surgery, it’s still the same.”Someone asked him if he was depressed at not having an IPL contract. His reply said it all. “If a player has not played for more than two years then no franchise is going to pick him. I wasn’t depressed. I would have been depressed if I hadn’t had the surgery. I am happy that I am back to normal. After the surgery I have become mentally tougher. As a fast bowler, when you undergo surgeries, it is tough.”His major concern right now is the lack of match-practice options with the domestic season having ended. “You cannot improve much in local cricket. There will be a few Punjab off-season camps before the next Ranji Trophy. I’ll keep working in the gym. But at the moment, matches [are not there].”VRV Singh is still not giving up though; he is being pro-active in dealing with this challenge. Immediately after the Syed Mushtaq Ali final he went up to his captain Harbhajan Singh and senior India fast bowler Munaf Patel to seek counsel about the best way to not only stay match fit but also mentally strong. Clearly VRV 2.0 is hungry. He does not want to lose his focus.Sometimes, you can never win. For two-and-a-half years, he could hardly play. Now when he can, there are no avenues available. But for the moment, VRV Singh is happy about just being able to bowl again. Remind him of his early days, when it was all about pace for him, and he smiles knowingly again.”I am more mature now. You are obviously wiser at 27 than when you are 21-22. I have understood my body much better now. That fire is still there [though]. It will always be there.”

With his selection uncertain and his role in the side fluctuating, New Zealand selectors are failing to lure the best out of James Franklin

Andrew Fernando in Pallekele29-Sep-2012James Franklin is one of the most enigmatic figures in New Zealand cricket. When he first made it into the national side 11 years ago, he was a bowler who could bat a bit. Strangely, he was mediocre with the ball and surprisingly talented with the bat.The selectors may have been tempted to drop him for failing to perform in the role he was picked for, but given he became a bona-fide member of New Zealand’s lower-order bailout squad in the mid 2000s, alongside Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram, they often couldn’t afford to leave him out. Innings like his brilliant unbeaten 45 in Queenstown, where he brought home a difficult chase against Sri Lanka from No. 8 with only the tail for company, prevented him from slipping back down into the domestic circuit completely.Franklin is a polarising figure at home. To some, he epitomises everything that is wrong with New Zealand’s selection policy; another jack-of-all-trades whose lack of consistency continues to scuttle New Zealand’s efforts to become a major cricketing power. The detractors need only to look at Franklin’s numbers to find fuel for their fire. His ODI bowling average is over 40, and his Test and Twenty20 figures don’t inspire a lot of confidence either. With the bat, he averages in the low twenties in all three formats. A few years ago, Franklin was told by the national selectors to put his bowling on the backburner, and focus on his batting, which they believed had potential but was not getting the attention it deserved. He is now picked in the side primarily as a batsman – but his scores have not shot up dramatically enough to justify his selection on that discipline alone.That he was left out of the New Zealand tour of West Indies, so he could focus on his Twenty20 cricket for Essex with the World Twenty20 approaching, then called up for the India Tests after 18 months away, sums up the muddled thinking.But occasionally, Franklin comes off. And to cloud the issue even more, he has lately performed as a bowler. In the Super Eights opener, his 2 for 34 was the catalyst in Sri Lanka’s slowdown. The hosts seemed destined to reel in New Zealand’s score at a canter, but Franklin proved difficult to get away and counted the explosive Thisara Perera among his scalps when it was crucial New Zealand didn’t allow Perera the room to explode. In the recent T20 against India in Chennai too, Franklin failed with the bat, but his 2 for 26 was instrumental in New Zealand’s victory and their taking momentum into the World T20. But with good bowling form behind him, he was not required until the 12th over against England in a crucial match.Franklin’s batting, though, clicked against England, and he played the kind of innings that first marked him out as a batting talent. With New Zealand threatening to collapse at 67 for 4 in the 12th over, Franklin rebuilt alongside Ross Taylor, before letting rip with a spate of boundaries at the death. His 50 off 33 balls will justify his selection on batting grounds, but perhaps it should not gloss over a failure to consistently produce results since being asked to play as a batsman. In his last 30 innings across all formats, Franklin has made fifty only three timesPerhaps this inconsistency is not entirely Franklin’s fault. Eleven years after making his debut, New Zealand’s team management have failed to stick to a clear plan for him. If he is to play as a batsman, is he a finisher, as he was against England, or an opener, as he was against Bangladesh early in the tournament. At other times in his career, he has been given extended runs in the middle order and even higher up.The Franklin detractors will be quietened for a while after a decent all-round showing at this tournament, but they are sure to make themselves known as soon as failures return. The New Zealand selectors have shown they will have Franklin do almost anything to bring him into the team. If they are going to be so persistent with picking him, perhaps they would do well to define what they want from him. If they play him as a batsman, or as a bowler or as an allrounder, rather than all three when it suits, perhaps consistency in their demands will help Franklin build dependability into his own game. As he has proved repeatedly, he has the talent to be successful; it just needs to be pushed in one very specific direction.

As Australia look to defend their title, their former captain Ricky Ponting remembers highlights from the previous editions

19-Oct-2012How important is the ICC Champions Trophy for players?
It’s a very important tournament for the player when you consider that the 50-over game has been a bit maligned over the last few years, with how big T20 cricket has become so quickly. The big tournaments you play in are the ICC World Cup and the Champions Trophy, so it’s a very big and important event for the players.And the fans?
I think the fans place it in the same regard as the players, especially the way the Champions Trophy is formatted now, with fewer teams than originally. I remember when I started playing Champions Trophy, almost all of the Associate nations were playing. In the UK in 2004, we played USA in the group stage – the game was over six overs, [us] chasing just 65. It was a pretty ordinary advertisement for the game, but the last tournament in South Africa in 2009 was the best run, and the most well-organised ODI tournament that I’ve been a part of.Fans appreciate the shorter and compressed format as there are no real wasted games – the best eight teams are playing each other, the tournament’s done in two weeks or so, and they get to see high-quality cricket in every game.How important is the one-day game to the future of cricket?
ODI cricket is in a really interesting phase right now. I love 50-over cricket and I love Test cricket – they are my two favourite forms of the game. But you can see how just how big and how important the T20 game has become for world cricket in only a short period of time.One-day cricket is certainly important in Australia’s eyes, with us hosting the next World Cup. The one-day game is vitally important to this country. But I think it’ll be really interesting to see what does happen to the 50-over game. I think the roles between T20 and 50-over cricket will probably be reversed – eventually we’ll be playing more T20 and less 50-over cricket.You captained Australia to victory in the previous two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments. How do the titles rank in terms of your career achievements?
They rank very highly, probably just behind World Cups and Ashes Test wins. The Champions Trophy eluded us for quite a while – the first few I played in were knockout tournaments and we got knocked out early on. When we were in India, beating West Indies in the final in 2006 was very special to us. Then we beat New Zealand in South Africa in 2009, which was a very good tournament for the team – we snuck through the whole tournament undefeated, despite a bit of a scare versus Pakistan in the last group game.What is your best memory of playing in the tournament?
I have lots of fond memories of the Champions Trophy. My favourite was probably the 2009 final – it was a bit of a nail-biting final, although we got across the line four wickets down. Callum Ferguson injured his knee in the final, so we were a batsman down, chasing runs, and we lost a couple of early wickets. Shane Watson scored another hundred [after his hundred in the semis] and saw us home.We went through that tournament undefeated, so that’s very memorable. Thankfully, for me, we did that on a few occasions in World Cups and the Champions Trophy – and that’s a pretty hard thing to do in one-day cricket.You are the fifth leading run scorer in the history of the tournament, with 593 in 18 innings. What was your favourite innings in the ICC Champions Trophy?
My hundred in 2009 against England in the semis. We had to chase a reasonable total [257] at Centurion. Watto and I put on 252, and we chased it one wicket down. Watto ended up with 136 not out and I made 111 not out. The enormity of the situation – chasing a big total, being the captain, making a hundred and winning one down – that was one of my biggest highlights.You’ve played, and won, the most matches as captain and have a win ratio of 80%. Are you proud of that achievement?
Yes, I’m very proud of that record. The last couple of tournaments we played some very good one-day cricket. Captain’s records are only a reflection of how good their team and how good their players are – so I’ve got to be thankful for that.Who were the toughest five bowlers you have ever faced in one-day international cricket?
Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose, Shaun Pollock, Murali and Malinga. The generation I’ve played in has some of the all-time great bowlers.That list obviously doesn’t include your formidable Australian bowling attack, which was crucial to your success, wasn’t it?
I was pretty lucky in my captaincy to have [Jason] Gillespie, [Glenn] McGrath and [Shane] Warne – and, of course, Brett Lee, who will go down as one of the great one-day bowlers. We always had decent part-timers as well – [Andrew] Symonds, [Darren] Lehmann – those sorts of guys, who could do a job for you and were very handy. That was the one thing about our team – we always had great balance because we had guys batting in our top six who were always able to bowl a few overs, which is very important for any one-day team.See the best eight teams in one-day international cricket take part in the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2013 – tickets for The Oval, Cardiff and Edgbaston are on sale on 5 November at icc-cricket.com (pre-registration open now)

Monty Panesar may not be a new man but his familiar methods are perfect for this pitch

George Dobell in Mumbai23-Nov-2012Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as attempting the same action over and over again but expecting a different result. But whatever his excellence in the field of quantum physics, Albert Einstein was surely not much of a bowler.Certainly Monty Panesar has made a career out of repeating the same action over and over and hoping for a different result. While you suspect he might not be much of a physicist – though he would put all his theories in good areas – he has, for more than a decade, made a virtue of his remarkable consistency. He runs in, puts the ball in more or less the same area, and hopes that, this time, it will either spin sharply enough to take a wicket or that the batsman will make a mistake. Some days the ball spin; some days it does not, but Panesar changes very little on any surface and against any opposition. It means that he can, on unsympathetic surfaces, be rendered somewhat lacking in subtlety. But, on pitches such as this one, he is a fine bowler.There were rumours heading into this match that Panesar was a new man; that he had learned a few tricks from net sessions with Shane Warne and that, during the last part of the season at Sussex, he had experimented with a little more variation.It is not so. Perhaps Panesar used the crease a little more than he has in the past but, aged 30, he is not going to learn too many new tricks. He is, by and large, the same bowler who came into the England side in 2006. It is surely time to stop expecting him to change.Panesar’s four wickets on the opening day maintain a fine run of form for England. Indeed, he went into this match having claimed five-wicket hauls in two of his three previous Tests.With such a record, Panesar could be forgiven for questioning why he is not in the side more often. But it is his misfortune to be considered a one-dimensional cricketer in an era where all-round skills are highly valued. With a Test batting average of 5.47 he cannot claim to be anything but a specialist bowler. It is also relevant that, in his last Test, he dropped two chances including one painfully simple effort at mid-on that reprieved, of all people, Mahela Jayawardene. England, understandably, are reluctant to risk him.It is also Panesar’s misfortune to be a contemporary of Graeme Swann. While some will insist that Panesar’s left-arm spin is the more potent weapon, Swann’s record with the ball – 199 Test wickets at 29.79 apiece – remains slightly better than Panesar’s (146 at 32.99). While Panesar took two five-wicket hauls to Swann’s none when they played together in the UAE, Swann actually took only one fewer wickets in 36 fewer overs and had the better strike-rate of the pair. He is also a far better fielder and batsman.It is hard not to warm to Panesar, though. His unabashed delight at taking a wicket is as simple and unaffected as a Labrador puppy taken for a walk. He may be one dimensional but he remains a potent weapon in the right circumstances. And this pitch, worn and tailor-made for India’s spinners, really does offer the right circumstances.It seems unlikely this will be a high-scoring game. This pitch, used three weeks ago for a four-day game, is already providing assistance to the spinners and will surely only help them more as it wears further. A couple of balls have already exploded from the pitch and batting fourth could prove desperately difficult.For all that, though, perhaps only Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni were the victims of almost unplayable deliveries. The rest of the Indian wickets owed more to either pressure – Virat Kohli, tied down for 55 balls for his 19, drove impatiently and Virender Sehwag played across the line – or technical errors: Gautam Gambhir lost balance as he played across one and a tentative Yuvraj Singh missed a straight delivery. England, on the whole, could feel satisfied with a much tighter performance. The substitution of Panesar for Tim Bresnan was a clear success.Yet England will be concerned at India’s fightback. Having reduced India to 119 for 5 and then 169 for 6, they saw Cheteshwar Pujara and R Ashwin take the game away from them with a seventh-wicket stand of 97.Stuart Broad, despite a decent first spell, was disappointing. Conceding five an over in these conditions is damagingly wasteful.

Michael Clarke and Shane Watson have had vastly different years but Australia’s captain and vice-captain must both stand up in 2013

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne27-Dec-2012So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun. John Lennon had weighty issues on his mind when he wrote those lyrics in a Vietnam War protest song in 1971. Australia’s cricketers are involved in nothing so momentous but they can still ask themselves the same question as 2012 draws to a close. What have you done? The captain Michael Clarke and vice-captain Shane Watson would give vastly different answers.From a personal point of view, Clarke could hardly have achieved more in Tests in 2012. No Australian batsman has scored more runs in a year than the 1595 Clarke has so far accumulated. That included three double-centuries and a triple-hundred. While Clarke hasn’t missed a Test in 2012, Watson has sat out of five through injury. In the six he has played, he has averaged 31.45 with the bat and 49.16 with the ball. He hasn’t made a century or taken more than one wicket in an innings, though he has contributed to wins, like his final-day 52 in Barbados.On the second day at the MCG, Clarke and Watson combined for a 194-run partnership that batted Australia into a position from which they should win again. It was an important stand and it ensured that Australia’s strong bowling performance on Boxing Day was not wasted. But both men had multiple lives against a struggling Sri Lankan attack further weakened by the loss of the lead fast bowler, Chanaka Welegedara, to injury. No Test runs are soft, but most are scored at a higher intensity than was required here.Clarke used the opportunity to score his fifth century of 2012 and for the first time this year didn’t turn his hundred into at least a double. He was out for 106. For nearly every other batsman in history, that would be significantly above average. For Clarke this year, 106 was precisely his average. Watson made 83 before he was caught at deep midwicket, obligingly hooking straight down the throat of a fieldsman. He had done a job, but didn’t cash in like Clarke so often has.For nearly a decade, Watson has been viewed as a player of immense Test potential. At 31, he still is. But will he ever truly fulfill that promise? He has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball, but could have achieved so much more. Of course, it is hard to gain momentum when a player is injured as often as Watson. Clarke has missed nine Tests since his 2004 debut, including those for which he was dropped. Watson, who debuted three months later, has missed 50.Watson remains one of Australia’s most important players. Who else can bat in the top six and act as a genuine fifth bowler? But Australia need more from him with the bat if he is to settle into the No.4 role vacated by Ricky Ponting. Centuries are not everything in Test cricket but his conversion rate – two tons from 21 scores above fifty – must improve. He cannot afford to lose concentration, not with difficult tours of India and England coming up next year.Perhaps his 83 at the MCG will be a stepping stone. He occupied the crease for 265 minutes and with the exception of his two centuries, it was his longest Test innings in terms of duration. Against Rangana Herath, Watson’s play-from-the-crease approach was noticeable compared to Clarke’s light-footed style, and more than next year’s Ashes tour Watson’s big challenge in 2013 will be to handle the spin-friendly conditions in four Tests in India.Australia need a big year from Watson, just as they require more of the same from Clarke. The chances of Clarke batting again in this match are slim, and his 106 would be a fine way to cap off a remarkable 2012. It was a year that began with an unbeaten 329 against India at the SCG followed by 210 in Adelaide, and also included 259 not out against South Africa in Brisbane and 230 in the next Test in Adelaide. They are Bradman-like figures and in all of Test history only Bradman averaged more as a Test captain than Clarke has, of players who have led their country at least 10 times.His Melbourne hundred was good, not great, but as his first Test century at the MCG it was important to Clarke. He celebrated with a hug from his batting partner, Watson, and at the drinks break that immediately followed, one from the team physio Alex Kountouris, whose work had helped Clarke recover from his hamstring injury in time to play this match. But for all that he has achieved this year, Clarke will be judged on how he performs in 2013. He knows it, so he is not getting ahead of himself.”Not much, and I mean that in the right way,” Clarke said when asked what his immense 2012 figures meant to him. “Numbers have never really bothered me too much. It’s nice to be making runs and leading by example as one of the leaders in the team. I think it’s really important that the captain is doing that. But to me it is about winning games … as long as we keep winning, that’s my priority.”After next week’s Sydney match against Sri Lanka, that means four Tests in India and 10 Ashes Tests. The major blot of Ponting’s captaincy career was his inability to lead Australia to an Ashes triumph away from home. In 2012, Clarke bettered Ponting’s best calendar year. If his 2013 is anything like it, he might achieve something else Ponting never did.A productive vice-captain Watson at No.4 – and a Watson who can string together a full year of cricket – would be an enormous help.

Plays of the Day from the third day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan in Johannesburg

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers03-Feb-2013What they were waiting for moment of the day
With South Africa’s lead steadily growing, questions over the how they would time the declaration began. AB de Villiers had obviously been sent out to score as quickly as possible, and he and Hashim Amla added 68 runs in nine overs. The last four of those came with de Villiers reaching for a short, wide ball and sending it through the covers to reach his 15th Test century. While the Wanderers and the change-room applauded, Graeme Smith indicated it was the milestone he was waiting for and called the batsmen in. Amla was unbeaten on 74 at the time.Tribute of the day
For the first time, the Wanderers Stadium hosted a players’ day. The Long Room was filled with former cricketers from both establishment and board eras. The highlight for most of them was the opening speech given by Yusuf Garda, who played for Transvaal in 1956. Garda gave a telling oration about the history of cricket in the province across all racial divides and reminded the crowd that they were all in the same room now.Golden arm of the day
Dale Steyn may be the go-to man for Smith, but Jacques Kallis must be his magician. The 37-year-old was brought on for a second spell after bowling just two overs before lunch and struck almost immediately. With the fourth ball of his third over, Kallis hit Azhar Ali with a length ball that struck him on the knee roll. It looked plumb but Azhar reviewed anyway and the replays confirmed it. That scalp leaves Kallis needing 12 more to get to 300 Test wickets.Bowler of the day
For 29.1 overs in the Pakistan first innings, Robin Peterson was merely a fielder. He had not scored any runs either, so his total participation in the match was just about nothing at that point. After 34 overs of the Pakistan second innings, Peterson’s only contribution was a catch at mid-on when Nasir Jamshed threw his wicket away. But then, at the start of the 35th over, Peterson was finally called on to bowl for the first time in the match. He started with two maiden overs to prove just as miserly as the rest of the attack but didn’t have as good a day as some others – Peterson dropped Misbah-ul-Haq on 31 before the close.Premature celebration of the day
Smith brought Vernon Philander back for a burst close to the end of the day and it looked a masterstroke. With his fourth ball, that held its line as it went through, Philander induced an edge from Asad Shafiq and had him caught behind on 40. Philander was mid-leap through the air and Shafiq was walking off when he was called back by the umpires as a message was relayed that the bowler had overstepped. Very little had gone Pakistan’s way as far as third umpire decisions go but this time they were beneficiaries.

Graham Onions’ lack of form has larger implications for England’s fast-bowling reserves

Andrew McGlashan in Queenstown02-Mar-2013Few people leave Queenstown with bad memories – unless you are involved in the England rugby squad – but Graham Onions has not had a time to remember in the shadow of the Remarkables mountain range.It was a chastening outing for him against the New Zealand XI as he ended with match figures of 1 for 213 from 38 overs. That included a two-over period in the first innings which cost 33, and another two-over spell that went for 23 in the second.As the game wore on, during the final day, his shoulders slumped further and it was not nice viewing to see a bowler, who had worked so hard to give himself another England opportunity, visibly lose confidence. A significant part of his problem came from his delivery stride as he sent down 11 no-balls.While it would be foolish, and premature, to write off the possibility of Onions having a sustained second chance at the international level, it is by no means certain that he will add to his nine caps – the most recent of which came against West Indies, at Edgbaston, last year. He had earned every right to be regarded as the next in line after a 2012 domestic season where he took 72 wickets at 14.73. Figures like those demanded attention.It is not Onions’ fault that there is only the one warm-up match in New Zealand, but he certainly did not grasp his opportunity to put pressure on Stuart Broad for the final bowling place. It was a similar tale for him in India, where his warm-up form was disappointing: if you add together his last two appearances in an England shirt (Queenstown and Ahmedabad against Haryana), his combined figures are 2 for 313.It has been suggested on the domestic circuit in England that Onions has lost some pace since his serious back injury. That would be no disgrace at all – it was career-threatening, and to see him just back on the field was a terrific story. Yet, at some stage, it may have to be acknowledged that a decline has occurred.There was a good chance that if Onions had performed well against the New Zealand XI, he would have kept Broad out of the Test side for longer. He could, of course, just be out of form but watching his bowling first hand, it did appear a little more than that. This is an occasion where the England backroom staff will have to come into their own. Right now, if there was a late injury before Dunedin, it would be very difficult to pick Onions.Which raises the question: there is an accepted stance at the moment that England’s pace bowling stocks are well resourced, but does the evidence really support that? James Anderson and Steven Finn lead the line, but the latter has had some injury concerns. Broad is trying to resume a stalled Test career with no guarantee he will be able to string matches together with his troublesome heel and then what comes next is a little more uncertain, especially if Onions’ problems are a sign of something more than just a dip in form.Tim Bresnan is currently recuperating from a second elbow operation with an aim to being fit for the Champions Trophy. A continuation of his one-day career does not seem in too much doubt, but that cannot be said for Test cricket.

England have made a big play of the fact that there are a number of immediately interchangeable options for the full side. That does not necessarily ring true. Those names are ranked high on promise and low on experience, which is another reason Onions’ faltering is an issue.

Chris Woakes was steady against the New Zealand XI, but does not yet appear a Test bowler and none of the quicks on the Lions tour of Australia (albeit on a trip consisting of solely 50-over cricket) have enjoyed a standout trip. Stuart Meaker and Toby Roland-Jones have plenty of time to forge international careers, while Reece Topley, Tymal Mills and the Overtons – Craig and Jamie – are worth watching this year. James Harris has been around the one-day squad, but England have made a big play of the fact that there are a number of immediately interchangeable options for the full side. That does not necessarily ring true. Those names are ranked high on promise, low on experience which is another reason Onions’ faltering is an issue.Much interest is being given to the recovery of Chris Tremlett from the knee and back injuries which restricted him to one Championship match last season. He has recently returned from a training camp in Potchefstroom and is on course to be ready for the start of the English summer. If all goes well, and he can play the majority of the season, then England would dearly like to have him for the Ashes in Australia. That, however, does not scream strength and depth.It is the one area Australia are edging ahead. Their rotation policy is causing much angst, but they are creating a collection of fast bowlers to call on. Injuries notwithstanding, it can read: Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus and, perhaps still, Ryan Harris.Before the tour to India, the main concern for England was in the batting. Kevin Pietersen’s return and Joe Root’s emergence mean that someone as talented as Jonny Bairstow is on the sidelines, while James Taylor, who was in the middle order against South Africa, is back with the Lions. Now, in a year where fast-bowling resources, the experience of them and the durability, will play a key role there is just a sense that England’s options are not quite as fulsome as 12 months ago.