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He was doggedly resistant while he couldn’t find his touch, and devastatingly effective as it returned to him

Danyal Rasool in Centurion28-Dec-2018The drawback to being in form all the time is no one quite knows what it looks like when you’re out of it. And for Hashim Amla, who had, with an average of 23.36 over 10 Tests in the past 12 months, this was a particularly nagging problem, the gravest dip in form in over a decade.The luxuriant cover drives, the deft wristwork, the natural elegance of South Africa’s “rock at number three”, as Faf du Plessis called him before the Centurion Test, is cricket’s answer to the Bolshoi Ballet, as much artistic as it has proved substantial. The technique is so perfect, the movements so unfailingly graceful, when they fail to produce the results they seem naturally predisposed to, the dissonance is disconcerting.There was talk of the dip being more of a decline; Amla has, after all, been playing international cricket for over 14 years, and at 35, is the oldest player in the current South African side. The scratchy, ungainly time he had spent in the first innings against Pakistan did little to dispel the impression this was a man with his best behind him.In the years Amla has been in the side, one of the more successful marketing campaigns surrounding cricket teams has been the #ProteaFire slogan created to represent the fierce combativeness of a team that would refuse to give up. It appears to have caught the imagination of the public, both at home and abroad, a symbol of how this side plays its cricket, with its heart on its sleeve and passion on full display.And yet Amla, one of the faces of the modern, inclusive South African cricket team, is as far removed from the “fire” this side purports to showcase as a sportsman could be. One would be reduced to poring through hours of archival footage to see so much as a significant change in facial expression from the man. Even so, playing international cricket at a high level for such a long time must surely only be possible if unbridled passion courses through the veins; many a cricketer will tell you once that motivation is lost, the game is over.Coming out to bat with his side 0 for 1 in an awkward chase, Amla was out to demonstrate how he interpreted ProteaFire. He survived a magnificent opening hour from Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi – not without luck; he was dropped in the slips on 8 – doggedly resistant while he couldn’t find his touch, and devastatingly effective as it returned to him. A pair of fours through the onside in the early overs might just have given him back his confidence, but there was hours’ worth of work left to be done. Under an overcast sky with the ball rearing and one of the world’s best pace attacks at his throat, Amla, along with Dean Elgar, kept surviving. And, if Elgar is to be believed, cricket was the last topic of discussion as they met in the middle during the change of overs.”There’s a lot of jokes going on when Hash and I bat together,” Elgar said. “There’s not a lot of cricket talk when we bat. We try to see the lighter side of life. That’s maybe your five or ten seconds that you can actually switch off a little bit and crack a joke or throw a little one liner out. Hash and I, we get each other with our humour. Definitely there was time for seriousness, when we knew we were getting closer to our final point. But in the beginning it was quite humorous.”Hashim Amla raises his bat after reaching fifty while Dean Elgar applauds•AFPWith Amla not naturally the most extroverted person, anecdotes like these are what help explain why he enjoys an almost unique reverence and affection among cricketers and fans around the world. He might be out there fighting for a scrappy Test win for his side, but the sense Amla manages to retain perspective better than almost anyone else makes him more relatable to fans, even in this uber-professional modern world. Du Plessis, who had so backed Amla ahead of the Test, said there was nothing about his game he had changed in a bid to regain form.”He’s done absolutely nothing different. That’s been the trademark of, looking behind the scenes, what Hashim has always done. He sticks to exactly the same things. Whether he scores runs or doesn’t, his mental application and attitude away from the game remains the same. He’s a very level-headed, calm guy. You don’t see him get frantic when he doesn’t score runs. He just believes it will turn. And in cricket, that’s how it works. You need a dropped catch, and then all of a sudden the lucks gone your way.”As the target began to whittle down and the ball lost its shine and venom, it was Pakistan who blinked. With Amla back to his unflappable self, the bowlers went searching for his wicket, in the process feeding him the shots out of which he has made such a glittering career. After the first 15 overs, Amla found himself getting greater width, allowing him to brandish that glorious cut, and whenever he found a delivery on his pads, the snappy flick inevitably dispatched it to midwicket.As Elgar got out and South Africa began to lose wickets by the time the result was a foregone conclusion, Amla was still standing at the other end. He may have scored just three runs of the last 25 on the path to victory, but, as ever, when a South African batsman came to the crease, he found that rock standing at the other end. It wasn’t the innings of a man looking for a swansong, but one who embodies the ProteaFire motto in his own, truly inimitable way.

First, cricketers had plain nosh. Now they have nutritionists

Crispin Andrews31-May-2017In the good old days, cricketers could drink a couple of pints before a game, and scoff down a plate of sandwiches, pork pies and cakes at lunchtime (make that plates, if you happened to be a certain bearded former Middlesex and England captain). It would be the same again at tea, and then in the evening it was off to a local restaurant for a blowout.Garry Sobers’ surname indicated anything other than his physical state when he returned to the match day hotel, in the middle of the night, after a bottle of whiskey and a game of cards.Cricket, after all, was a sport made popular by the English establishment. A day’s play was structured in the same way as a day at the manor house in the late-19th century. Breakfast, luncheon, tea, dinner, and in the evening, maybe a few rounds on the table or at the bar. For players and spectators ever since, food and drink has been part of cricket’s culture.One cake or four made little difference to a portly batsman’s ability to stretch out a cursory foot at mid-off as the ball sped towards the boundary. He could soon make that up, willow in hand, with a few sublime cover drives of his own. And so what, if a fast bowler was a bit dehydrated after a night on the tiles. He could hang around at fine leg in between spells with nothing much to do except wait for the crowd to throw the ball back from the square leg boundary.These days, cricket is big business. Diving over the ball and grazing in the outfield is no longer acceptable. Players have to be athletes, not just batsmen and bowlers. And if anyone puts in a below-par performance that might have been influenced by something they ate or drank, the healthy-eating mafia are all over them before you can say Jesse Ryder or Samit Patel.Alec Stewart with processed and packaged food – cheese, crisps, baked beans, chocolates, cookies, croutons and more – on England’s tour to the subcontinent for the 1996 World Cup•PA Photos/Getty ImagesToday’s international teams employ nutritional experts to give players advice on what to eat and drink. According to England’s performance nutritionist, Chris Rosimus, that means making nutritional choices, not wolfing down sausage rolls and cakes. “That sort of food has no performance value whatsoever,” he says.Rosimus explains that without expert nutritional advice, players could easily get confused by all the information that’s out there about what to eat, why and when.Believe the sales pitches and medical endorsements, and there’s compelling evidence for high-carb diets, low-fat choices, or even the need to eat what’s good for your blood type. Some experts say no sugar because it makes us anxious and hyper. Others say that too much wheat or dairy is hard to digest. These days, fish caught in the sea are full of plastic, whereas fish bred in farms are full of toxins.A few years back, Australian team doctor Peter Brukner had the Australians on a high-fat, low-carb diet that he believed would reduce hunger cravings and enable players to maintain more consistent energy levels. Today, according to Cricket Australia’s Lead Sports Performance Dietician, Michelle Cort, players’ diets change according to their training or match-day needs. “This means adjusting all nutrients to help achieve optimal performance and recovery,” she says.Rosimus, too, thinks elite cricketers are better off with a varied and balanced diet. So the lunchtime menu at England’s international venues would contain carbohydrates from low to moderate glycaemic index sources – quinoa, cous cous, basmati rice and sweet potatoes – to provide players with sustainable fuel over a period of time. Also, lean, easily digestible proteins, like chicken and fish to deal with muscle breakdown. There will be good-quality fats, like avocados, nuts or full-fat yoghurt and antioxidants from berries, vegetables and salads to help the immune system and prevent fatigue.Then and now: Fred Trueman enjoys a beer; David Warner drinks an energy drink•PA Photos, Getty ImagesThis sort of food will be found in the lunch room at an Australian ground, during a Test or one-dayer too. But Cort adds that there should also be lighter options available – smoothies or sandwiches – for players with heavy workloads, or who are performing at a higher intensity on a particular day.Both Rosimus and Cort oversee nutrition requirements for their respective boards’ men’s and women’s teams and also the performance and development squads. But these are not full-time roles. Rosimus also works for Premier League football team, Leicester City. Cort has also advised Australia Sailing and the Geelong Cats AFL team during her time with Cricket Australia.Neither nutritionist travels with the teams, although Rosimus did travel with England and the England Lions when he first got the job, six years ago.”Nutrition wasn’t a high priority and we were trying to raise standards,” Rosimus says. “Now I don’t need to be there all the time because we’ve got such a good system in place both in the England setup and around the counties.”A lot of the day-to-day dietary work is carried out by strength and conditioning coaches, who do travel with the team.It’s not always easy to find healthy food when touring since players often have to rely on the organisers for meals at the ground•AFP/Getty ImagesNew Zealand’s strength and conditioning coach, Chris Donaldson, a former Olympic sprinter, monitors what the Black Caps eat and drink on the road.When Donaldson started with the side six years ago, the team had no expert nutritional advice.”It was down to myself and others to try and educate the guys with what we knew,” he says. Today, New Zealand’s nutritionist works with the players, mainly in training camps, with a few subsequent catch-ups with each player during the year, maybe over Skype, email or phone.Donaldson thinks that today’s elite players don’t need too much micromanaging. “Most of them accept that they need to be careful with what they eat and drink. They aren’t craving stupid food all the time.”But even with players being well-informed and willing to stick to prescribed diets, a cricket nutritionist has the challenge of juggling several different plans.A player with lower energy requirements, a spin bowler perhaps, may need less carbohydrate and more quality protein, vegetables and salads. Fast bowlers might need to take additional low-calorie sports drinks to provide the energy that they need to keep bowling at high intensity for long periods.Cort says that all the elite Australian players have individual diet plans. Roismus says some England players need that level of prescription, others just a bit of education.Marcus Trescothick looks at a display of fried food in a market in Karachi•Getty ImagesWhen it comes to nutrition, there are almost as many variables as there are players. Donaldson gives the example of one New Zealander whose performance suffers not just if he gains weight, but also if he loses weight too quickly. “If the player drops weight too fast, he also loses muscle mass and, as a result, strength, so when he needs to lose some weight, we gradually reduce the portion size or the type of food.”. Another Black Cap who Donaldson has worked with actually needs to gain weight at times. “He’s a bit too lean and sometimes gets sick when the environment is different, or there’s lots of flying, training, playing different formats. He needs more recovery drinks and post-training meals so he doesn’t burn too much fuel and get muscle breakdown. Then he’s better able to keep clear of viruses.”Sometimes players don’t want any food at all. When Brendon McCullum scored 302 against India in 2014, he didn’t eat for two days, he was so focussed and in the zone, his strength and conditioning coach recalls.Players also need to adjust their nutritional routines depending on the format of the game and the overhead conditions. In hot weather, this means more fluids and electrolytes. It can be difficult to get a quality meal, late at night after a T20 game, so the nutritionist might have to arrange a buffet in the players’ area, containing the proteins and antioxidants they need to trigger recovery.Rosimus, Cort and Donaldson all admit that it can be a challenge to make sure players eat right on overseas tours, or when they are playing in T20 leagues around the world. Nutritionists can liaise with local chefs, even send over their own menus, but they don’t have any control over what ends up on the lunch table in matches outside the home board’s jurisdiction.Virat Kohli tucks into some Nando’s takeaway, 2014•Getty ImagesKeeping track of the supplements players are offered away from home isn’t easy either.”Supplements are not that well-regulated,” Donaldson says. He explains that the problem isn’t always the actual supplement, but that it could have been made with a banned substance in the factory. As this wouldn’t necessarily appear on the list of ingredients, a trainer or coach might not be aware of it.Donaldson says that before giving players supplements, New Zealand’s performance nutritionist will visit the companies that made the supplements, find out what they were being made with, check that they were clean.”Supplements should be evidence-based, not gimmick, and specific to the players’ needs,” Rosimus says. He uses protein bars and shakes to help players increase protein intake and muscle mass. Also, concentrated cherry juice, which is full of antioxidants for recovery after activity and high in melatonin, which helps you sleep.Most modern players are aware of what to do and not to do when it comes to supplements and nutrition. Some, however, know more than others. England and Middlesex batsman Fran Wilson has a Master’s in Sports and Exercise nutrition.”Regularly eat the wrong food and over time and it will have an adverse effect on your body composition,” Wilson says. But she is not all about abstinence and denial. “The social side of the sport is part of what makes cricket a great game,” Wilson says. “People enjoy food and drink. It’s about developing good habits over a prolonged period of time. Working out what’s good for you in general, not just for your sport.”Bananas are a natural source of sugar, potassium and vitamin C•AFP/Getty ImagesBut there’s an additional dilemma in all of this. Cricket is actually one of the few sports in which a player can still be very successful without being in the greatest shape – Shane Warne, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, to name a recent few. Before that, every international team had its share of Billy Bunters. Former Australian batsman Gary Cosier played in the same Australian Test team as Gary Gilmour, in the mid-’70s. Gilmour was never the slimmest and was once told by Don Bradman that he ate too many potatoes to play for Australia.Cosier says that players back then didn’t give much thought to what they were eating. “Adelaide Oval had the best sausage rolls ever, served by Bob the room attendant, and at the Gabba, it was fish and chips for lunch. Greg Chappell was always careful with his diet and Dennis Lillee got into a routine when he was recovering from his back injury, but apart from that we never had any input about what to eat and drink. Most players had whatever they wanted. Maybe there would be some salad with the fish and chips.”It’s not like modern players can’t indulge their cravings at all. “They’ve still got to enjoy themselves and modern players know what they should and shouldn’t do in regards to eating and drinking. As long as they work hard in training, play the game as hard as they can and are actually capable of performing at their best. A beer after dinner isn’t going to affect these guys. It needs to be an enjoyable and sustainable lifestyle,” Donaldson says.In a letter to his 16-year-old self in 2015, tennis champion Pete Sampras wrote: “Don’t forget to take care of your most important weapon: your body. Be aware of what you’re eating. There will be times when you wake up in the middle of the night before a match, craving crazy things like hamburgers and pizza. It’s because your body is missing something. If you ignore those cravings and don’t figure out what your body needs (and it’s definitely not burgers or pizza), you’ll get on the court the next day and fall flat.”During the 2014 England tour, some of the Indian team were seen tucking into takeaway McDonald’s and Nando’s during their net session before the Headingley one-dayer. India were 3-0 up against England, with one game to play. They had previously thrashed the hosts by six wickets, nine wickets and 133 runs. But in this last game, Shikhar Dhawan, Raina and Virat Kohli (who has transformed into a fitness role model over the last two years and advises sports enthusiasts to avoid junk food) managed just 62 runs from 88 balls as India struggled to chase down England’s 294 for 7.Was it dead-rubber syndrome or a fast-food craving gone wrong?Either way, England, their players munching on pine nut salads, quinoa bajis and swigging protein shakes and cherry juice, won the match by 41 runs.

Cricket has come a long way since the days of Lord’s preventing women from entering its pavilion, but the events of Monday night are a reminder that it has a long way to go

Daniel Brettig04-Jan-2016Last night I went to dinner near the SCG, and spoke to the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland. We talked about women’s cricket, about how the WBBL was growing, how ‘s television coverage was a breakthrough, about how we’d been to far too many dinners, drinks and functions where the women’s game was dismissed as a sideshow. “The biggest thing that needs to change in women’s cricket,” he said, “is how men think about it.”Last night, after we settled into our tables, I sat down alongside the WACA chief executive, Christina Matthews. We spoke about writing, and about how her partner had picked up a new book, The Keepers, in recognition of Matthews’ years wearing the gloves for the Australian women’s team. There was a Matthews listed in the index, her partner said, but a sense of anticipation was let down when this turned out to be a man.Last night I heard the new CA chairman David Peever say a few words as the centrepiece of the dinner, put on by the LBW Trust chairman Darshak Mehta. Peever mentioned how his mum and dad had cricket in the house on television and radio throughout his childhood. He also mentioned how his mother knew little of cricket, but when the coverage began, she could be heard to say “there’s Richie”. Peever closed by saying he hoped to see a day when close to half of Australia’s cricket participants were women.Last night after dinner, I noticed a missed call from the West Indies media manager. It was about Chris Gayle, and his words with the broadcaster Mel McLaughlin. I found a video of the exchange – to call it an interview would be to wrongly suggest that Gayle actually answered questions – and watched how McLaughlin grinned and bore the first intimation of something outside work, then closed her eyes and put on a mask of indifference at the second.Last night I logged onto Twitter and saw the responses to these words. There was outrage and frustration, but also indignation that anyone should be expected to talk about cricket, and not spew rubbish pick-up lines, when being interviewed about it. I saw ‘s own account initially respond to Gayle’s words with the hashtag #smooth, and I saw the Australian footballer Tim Cahill tell Gayle he had been “on fire tonight brother”. I also saw Taylor Walker, the Adelaide Crows captain, say this: “A bit of fun by @henrygayle everybody relax – no one hurt, injured or dead!” He was right on two counts.Last night I called a female journalism colleague, a skillful and tireless operator, and listened to her speak of the episode not with shock or anger, but with weariness. I heard her say that she hated what was happening, but also that she hated the inevitable backlash when speaking up about it. I heard her say that nobody wants to be “that girl”, like the one who called out harassment by the former David Jones chief executive Mark McInnes, or the DFAT official who raised concerns about the behaviour of the now former Government Minister Jamie Briggs. I heard her exasperation.Last night I spoke to other female friends working in media, who offered up strikingly similar thoughts. One offered this: “I honestly left sports journalism because I thought it’d never be satisfying. No matter what females in sport achieve, it’s all undermined by d*ckheads at the pub who don’t listen to what women say because they’re too busy marking them out of 10 for their looks. Mel shouldn’t have had to cop that. It was humiliating and he didn’t stop when she was clearly uncomfortable. I just hate that now this will be what people talk about, because she’s a pro and better than that.”Last night I called the CA head of public affairs, who had just been on the phone to Anthony Everard, the head of the BBL. Everard said this: “I heard Chris’ comments and they’re disrespectful and simply inappropriate. We’ll certainly be talking to him and the Renegades about it. This league is all about its appeal to kids, families and females. There’s just no place in the BBL – or, for that matter, cricket anywhere – for that sort of behaviour.”Last night I wondered how cricket, and sport, could so alienate half the population. Cricket has long struggled to attract a female audience, as befits a game where the home pavilion at Lord’s did not permit women to enter until 1999. It has come a long way since that most basic of reforms, but still has so far to go. As Sutherland told the ABC, “I think the support we are seeing through television ratings is really important, but I think more important is the psyche around the fact that cricket is a sport for girls too, and I really sense that people are starting to understand that.” Starting to.Last night, I concluded, is not tomorrow.

An explainer of the procedure followed in the charge against James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja, the hearings and the appeals

Bishen Jeswant01-Aug-2014What is the procedure for James Anderson’s hearing?
The procedure is at the discretion of the Judicial Commissioner, as long as the hearing is conducted in a manner that offers the player a fair opportunity to present evidence and examine witnesses. The accused, the person who lodged the complaint, and a representative of ICC’s legal department must be at the hearing, and they will be allowed to have their lawyers present. The Judicial Commissioner should announce his decision in writing – along with his reasons, details of the incident and sanction, and any right of appeal – in 48 hours from the conclusion of the hearing.What sort of proof is necessary to find Anderson guilty?
Under Article 6.1 of the Code of Conduct, the standard of proof shall be whether the Judicial Commissioner is ‘comfortably satisfied’ that the alleged offence has been committed. Depending on the seriousness of the allegation, the standard will vary from a mere balance of probability to proof beyond reasonable doubt.’Balance of probabilities’ is a standard of proof usually used in civil cases. It can be met if the proposition is more likely to be true than not true. ‘Proof beyond reasonable doubt’ is the highest standard of proof usually applied in criminal proceedings and can be said to have been met if there is no plausible reason to believe otherwise.Because Anderson is facing a Level 3 charge, and the Code of Conduct says the standard of proof shall be determined on a scale between a ‘balance of probability’ and ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt’, the Judicial Commissioner could be ‘comfortably satisfied’ by a standard of proof that is somewhere between the two.What if there is no video evidence, making it a person’s word against another?
In the absence of video evidence, the Judicial Commissioner may be comfortably satisfied about Anderson’s innocence – or guilt – based on oral testimony, legal submissions and cross examinations. Criminal courts routinely satisfy the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard without the luxury of video evidence.The situation will be similar to the incident at the SCG in January 2008, where there was no audio or video evidence when Harbhajan Singh was accused of directing racist remarks at Andrew Symonds. The match referee Mike Procter relied on the oral evidence of three Australian players to find Harbhajan guilty. The sentence, however, was suspended following an appeal.Another possibility is that Anderson may admit to having committed a lesser offence. In Harbhajan’s case Justice Hansen, who oversaw the appeal, was unconvinced of his guilt based on the evidence submitted before him, but charged Harbhajan with a lesser offence – abuse and insult not amounting to racism – to which he pleaded guilty. In the absence of video evidence at Anderson’s hearing, the scenario could possibly play out in such a manner.What is the maximum punishment Anderson can get, if found guilty?
Sanctions are of three types – a fine, suspension for a period of time, and imposition of suspension points. For Level 3 offences, four to eight suspension points are imposed on the player. Two suspension points equates to a ban of one Test or two ODIs, depending on the format the player is scheduled to play next. If found guilty of a Level 3 offence, Anderson will be banned from at least the remaining two Tests of the current series.If found guilty, will Anderson be allowed to appeal?
Decisions made by a Judicial Commissioner under a Level 3 charge may be challenged either by the player or the ICC chief executive. An appeal must be lodged with the ICC’s Head of Legal within seven days of the receipt of the written verdict.The appeal process will not be very different from the initial procedure. An appeal panel, comprising three members of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission, will hear the matter from the beginning. The panel has the power to increase or decrease, amend or substitute the previous sentence/decision.Why is Ravindra Jadeja’s appeal being conducted alongside Anderson’s hearing?
Jadeja was charged under Level 2 but found guilty of a Level 1 offence by match referee David Boon. According to the Code of Conduct, the match referee’s decisions in relation to a Level 1 Offence shall be non-appealable.Though Jadeja had been denied an appeal on this basis, he has now been allowed to appeal after the BCCI’s lawyers got involved. One possible legal submission might have been that the appeal was against the original Level 2 charge and not the Level 1 sentence. The Judicial Commissioner for Anderson’s case will also oversee Jadeja’s appeal via videoconference.Could a decision in Jadeja’s appeal, if heard first, have bearing on Anderson’s hearing?
Conducting Jadeja’s appeal first is unlikely to have any direct bearing on Anderson case. If the Judicial Commissioner clears Jadeja of any wrong doing, however, it may become a bit more difficult for Anderson to claim his reaction was in self-defence and a response to Jadeja’s alleged provocation. Should Jadeja’s appeal fail, it will not necessarily strengthen Anderson’s defence, because it will only maintain the status quo.

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.

In the late 1800s, one man was synonymous with cricket, and enchanted all who came to see him bat. Truly was he nearly as big as the game

David Frith01-Aug-2010Today’s iconic image of William Gilbert Grace is a little misleading. The waistline was not always so protuberant and, equally obviously, the beard was not always streaked with grey. One of England’s finest amateur athletes in the 1870s, “WG” became a truly legendary figure not only on the strength of his phenomenal performances on the cricket field over several decades but through his extraordinarily dominant – sometimes bumptious – character.In a cricket environment that few moderns would comprehend, having played his first first-class match in 1865, when just short of 17, and failed to score, WG began totting up first-class centuries the following year with a huge 224 not out for an England XI against Surrey at The Oval. By the time of his final first-class appearance, just over 40 years later, he had laid down statistics that seemed likely to be forever unmatchable.And in one sense they have been just that. While he was not to be the only batsman ever to reach 100 centuries, in his day a run truly was a run. It was one of cricket’s all-time sensations when he registered 10 centuries in 1871. Few pitches in the 1870s and 1880s were batsman-friendly, and WG drew gasps of amazement and admiration as he clamped down on fast shooters on imperfect pitches – even at Lord’s – and whipped the ball to the boundary. His performances amazed and enchanted all who saw him play and read about him in the newspapers, especially in 1874, when he became the first to pass not only a thousand runs but a hundred wickets. Two years later he set yet another breathtaking mark, with the 1000-200 double.Although he was no lofty intellectual, from his rural boyhood he had devised a technique that took batting from its middle ages of development into something that moderns will instantly recognise. In the only brief film clip of WG Grace batting, in which he makes a few hits in the nets for the newly invented movie camera, what catches the eye is that large waistline and grizzled beard as he plays with a slightly angled bat, showing disdain for the ball. But here was the man who, when young, worked out a way of responding to all the bowling that came his way, pioneering the combination of forward play and back, cleverly using his feet, and venting that extraordinary confidence first perceived by his mother as she played with her little lad in the Gloucestershire apple orchard.His reputation for gamesmanship and as a bully was emphasised with each passing summer, and was facilitated by timid umpires and opponents and sycophants who, overwhelmed by his force of character, allowed him to prevail. In 1876, one of his greatest summers, in a non-first-class match for the travelling United South XI against Twenty-Two of Grimsby he was excused a plumb lbw when 6 because, conceded the umpire, the crowd had indeed come to see him play. He went on to 400 not out. In reality, as the players left the field, the scorer made it 399, but WG urged him to round it up to 400, and that was exactly what he did.It was a warm-up for one of the most purple of patches, as shortly afterwards the cricket world marvelled at the first triple-century, 344 for his beloved Gloucestershire in the follow-on against Kent at Canterbury in 1876. He then went straight back to Clifton and made 177 for his county against Notts. And with the visiting Yorkshire players now expecting him to be exhausted, he followed it all with 318 not out against them at Cheltenham.

There could now be no doubt that his was the most famous face in Britain, apart from Queen Victoria’s and possibly Gladstone’s, and his popularity was enormous

Came 1895 and all of England was poised to celebrate his 100th first-class century. He made sure with 288 against Somerset at Bristol, and the banquets and testimonials began. WG demonstrated how he could drink anyone under the table, coupling his love of companionship with an aversion to long speeches. Three years later the event of the summer, the Gentlemen (amateurs) v Players (professionals) match at Lord’s, was dedicated to his 50th birthday. There he and all the other players were filmed as they walked by the pavilion. Grace’s amateurs lost in a thrilling finish, but there could now be no doubt that his was the most famous face in Britain, apart from Queen Victoria’s and possibly Gladstone’s, and his popularity was enormous.Although revered by the nation, Grace sometimes aired an abrasive nature that naturally caused upset. Charles Kortright, the fastest bowler of the age, once knocked his castle over and said, as WG reluctantly departed: “Surely you’re not going, Doc? There’s still one stump standing!”Nor did his two trips to Australia – in 1873-74 and 1891-92 – do much to enhance his reputation. There was no diplomacy about him when he perceived local umpires as inept or biased. So local spectators let him know what they thought of him. That first tour had been his and Agnes’ honeymoon, while on the second tour, financed by the Earl of Sheffield, Grace again took his wife, now with their two youngest children as well, and all for a very fat fee. Alas, if it was thought that the great cricketer’s presence in Australia would counter republican sentiments, His Lordship had picked the wrong man.The great George Lohmann found Grace too much during that tour and stated he would never tour with him again, “not for a thousand a week”. The skipper simply could not help himself. It was the same back in 1878, when Billy Midwinter of Gloucestershire defected to the touring Australians. Grace took a hansom cab from The Oval to Lord’s and kidnapped the player just as he was preparing to bat for the touring team against Middlesex, escorting him to the county match over the river.WG’s other overseas tour had been to North America in 1872, where his celebrity status was confirmed as the collection of carefree amateurs roughed their way through often difficult territory and capitalised on an enthusiastic social life.A pioneer in many ways, Grace was among the first cricketers to endorse products•ESPNcricinfo LtdTest cricket in the 19th century was a narrow avenue by comparison to the cluttered highway of today. Grace played no more than 22 times for England, fittingly scoring his country’s maiden Test hundred, 152, on his debut against Australia at The Oval in 1880 (when two of his brothers, EM and GF – Fred – also played). Six years later he made 170 against the visiting colonials, also at The Oval, though it was not until 1888, for his 10th Test, that he was appointed captain. He was pre-eminent and he was an amateur, but the tall and often brusque West Country doctor was not actually an establishment figure and was not quite of the social standing of Lord Harris, AG Steel and AN Hornby.It is less likely that any of those three would have run out young Australian batsman Sammy Jones as he was tapping down a divot, as WG Grace did in the famous 1882 Oval match, which saw the birth of the Ashes legend. This so fired up “Demon” Spofforth that he bowled with an irresistible fury that brought him a further seven petrified English wickets – though not WG’s: he made 32 out of the sickly 77, leaving the mother country eight runs short of victory.His last Test was at Trent Bridge in 1899, soon after the death of his daughter Bessie. (A son, Bertie, died in 1905). At 51 he knew he had had enough at the highest level: “I can still bat,” he lamented, “but I can’t bend!” A painful breach with his beloved Gloucestershire after 30 years led to a spell as manager and match organiser for the new London County club at Crystal Palace from 1900 to 1904, when he took the opportunity to invite old friends like WL Murdoch and promising young players to enjoy a few matches each summer.He so loved the game that he played as long as he possibly could, his last first-class appearance coming in 1908, at The Oval, where his major cricket had begun 43 years earlier. His final innings in any match was 69 not out for Eltham in July 1914, when he was 66. It was estimated that he had scored over 101,000 runs in all kinds of cricket (with at least 220 centuries), in addition to taking over 7500 wickets with his cunning round-armers.His bowling was accompanied by chatter that would be appreciated by modern chirpers in the field, though it was frowned upon in an age when courtesy and good manners were cherished. Naïve batsmen were sometimes invited to look at a flock of birds (sometimes imaginary) flying over a corner of the field – always directly across a dazzling sun of course. At his favourite position of point, he liked to air his views on batsmen and the state of the game, a practice even more annoying in view of his surprisingly high-pitched voice.With that failing voice he cursed the sinister German zeppelins circling over London with their bombs at the ready. The stress brought on the stroke which killed him in October 1915.Where did the “Doctor” come from? It can seem as if WG Grace spent all his time either playing cricket or raising a family or playing golf, lawn bowls or curling, or out with the beagle hounds or fishing. But he qualified as a medical practitioner in 1879 and was a conscientious GP for some years. But cricket was his life. Some have written of his “emotional immaturity”, his limited reading, his rather off-hand attitude towards wife Agnes. Perhaps one of his recorded utterances best sums it up: he believed that there was no such thing as a crisis, only the next ball.

What the numbers tell about Dambulla, and about the key performers there

Cricinfo staff29-Jul-2005

“I’ve talked to the selectors about this, but I haven’t got a response yet”

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Mar-2023Dimuth Karunaratne wants to step down as Test captain after the Ireland Tests next month. It is an ongoing conversation with the Sri Lanka selectors, who have not accepted his resignation yet. But after four years in the job, and with a fresh World Test Championship (WTC) cycle looming, Karunaratne – who turns 35 in April – wants to hand over to a new captain for the next cycle, with the Ireland Tests not a part of the current WTC.”I’ve talked with the selectors about stepping down as captain after the Ireland series. In the next WTC cycle, you’ve got to do two years,” Karunaratne said. “I think it’s best if a new captain does that whole cycle than for me to do half and hand over. I’ve talked to the selectors about this, but I haven’t got a response yet. My preference is to hand over to a new leader after the next series.”Karunaratne has led Sri Lanka to some stability after the turbulent period that had gone before. His greatest achievement as captain remains the 2-0 win in South Africa in 2019 – his first series in the role. No team outside of England and Australia have ever beaten South Africa at home.All up, his record as captain so far is ten wins and losses each, and six draws. Only Sanath Jayasuriya, Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews have won more Tests as Sri Lanka captain, and they had all captained in at least 34 Tests. Part of his desire to step down as captain may be to focus on his batting, and perhaps to explore opportunities overseas, with Sri Lanka playing only two-Test series in the next WTC cycle.Karunaratne had played grade cricket in Australia since his most-recent Test before the New Zealand series which ended earlier in the day after Sri Lanka were trumped by an innings and 58 runs in the second Test in Wellington. It had been a long Test hiatus, but he still managed three fifties in four innings in this series. Sri Lanka are scheduled to play six Tests in 2023, and only four of those count towards the next WTC.”I played Tests after eight months. I only got to play one innings in a four-day match in between,” Karunaratne said. “I’m someone who gets a big one after getting a start, so I think I don’t have that patience at the moment, and I need to go back to domestic cricket and develop that again.”After eight months, although I made some runs here, I could have done more, I think. Twice, I think I could have turned half-centuries into hundreds, and I wasted them.”

Real Madrid’s latest young star Franco Mastantuono has arrived with a glowing reputation, but not everyone is convinced about his readiness.

Journalist labels Mastantuono "very green"Pereyra claims the teenager's move was rushedMastantuono joins the first team and could make a quick debutFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Argentinian journalist Hernan Pereyra has criticised Mastantuono's transfer to Real Madrid, claiming the teenager is "very green" and rushed his move to Europe. According to a report from Football Espana, Pereyra voiced his concerns on Spanish radio, suggesting Mastantuono’s decision was influenced by playing video games. Mastantuono recently completed his transfer from River Plate after turning 18 on August 14, following a blockbuster move agreed earlier in the summer.

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The move for Mastantuono, which included a €43 million (£37m/$50m) fee, has been met with high expectations from Real Madrid fans. He remained at River Plate for the FIFA Club World Cup before his official switch to the Bernabeu after a transfer war between the Spanish club and PSG. Mastantuono's arrival comes at a time of key midfield injuries for Los Blancos, with Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga sidelined. This could open an immediate path for the young Argentine to be involved in the first team under manager Xabi Alonso.

Mastantuono became River Plate's youngest-ever goalscorer when he found the net in a Copa Argentina match in February 2024, at just 16 years old. He also scored a memorable free-kick against arch-rivals Boca Juniors.

WHAT PEREYRA SAID

Hernan Pereyra told Cadena SER: "He rushed his departure, he wasn’t ready, he’s still very green. He scored a great goal against Boca Juniors from a free-kick and suddenly he’s worth $50m. There’s no sense of identity among these young players anymore. He probably plays PlayStation with Real Madrid and fell in love with the team. I hope he has a great career, but don’t let his feelings betray him, as he loves Real Madrid."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR FRANCO MASTANTUONO?

Mastantuono has joined up with Alonso's first-team and is expected to be included in the matchday squad for Real Madrid's opening La Liga fixture at home against Osasuna on August 19. With Bellingham and Camavinga unavailable, and other midfielders like Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Dani Ceballos likely to start, Mastantuono is a strong candidate for a place on the bench and a potential quick-fire debut.

A star-studded audience watched the MLS side secure a dramatic penalty shootout victory over their Liga MX opposition

Celebrities fill stands at LAFC Leagues Cup match vs. PachucaLove Island USA' Kendall and Garcia among notable attendeesLAFC won 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulationGet the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowGetty Images EntertainmentWHAT HAPPENED

Los Angeles Football Club defeated Liga MX side Club Pachuca 4-2 in a penalty shootout at BMO Stadium Friday evening, with numerous celebrities in attendance for their Leagues Cup match. Notable attendees included Tanzanian music star Diamond Platnumz, Olympic surfer Kanoa Igarashi, and "Love Island USA" contestants Iris Kendall and Jose Garcia. Hollywood personalities included actress Kaitlyn Dever, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, Korean actor Yuri Park, and both Natasha Rothwell and Jordan L. Jones were also spotted in the stands.

AdvertisementWHAT LAFC POSTEDTHE BIGGER PICTURE

LAFC's ability to attract diverse celebrity attendance highlights the club's continued cultural relevance within the greater Los Angeles area. Since their 2018 debut, the club has consciously cultivated relationships with entertainment industry figures, creating one of Major League Soccer's most celebrity-rich supporter bases.

Hollywood A-list celebrity Will Ferrell is a co-owner of the club, while NBA icon Magic Johnson and global footballing legends Mia Hamm and Giorgio Chiellini are also part of the ownership group.

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Following their penalty shootout victory, LAFC will face Tigres UANL on Aug. 5 in their final game of the Leagues Cup group stage as they look to advance to the knockout round portion of the competition. They will then travel to face the Chicago Fire in MLS regular season action on Aug. 9.