South Africa’s easy series win over New Zealand was proof of their strength in depth and a relentless commitment to maintaining focus

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth14-Jan-2013Less than ten minutes after South Africa had completed back-to-back Test wins at home for the first time since beating Bangladesh 2-0 in 2008, they were already thinking of the next challenge. It was not that remarkable that Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who was not part of the Test squad, was bowling on the St George’s Park practice pitch in the immediate aftermath of the victory, but it was surprising that all the members of the coaching staff were with him.Gary Kirsten, Allan Donald and Russell Domingo along with Paddy Upton and fitness man Rob Walter were all out with Tsotsobe. That left perhaps only the logistics officer Riaan Muller in the change-room to welcome back the successful unit. Maybe there is nothing to that, but it perhaps explained a word that became commonplace during South Africa’s quest for the No. 1 ranking: “processes”.Over the last few series, celebrations have become less exuberant because every achievement is being contextualised as being part of something bigger. After their victory in Perth, which clinched successive series wins in Australia, some of the players flew home immediately. Those who stayed behind had a fairly measured time at a local pub. After the Newlands win, they dispersed immediately, and the same will happen after Port Elizabeth.Family time is prioritised, especially for coach Gary Kirsten, whose youngest child is just over a year old. He has transferred that philosophy to the rest of the squad. In doing that, he has also given them perspective, which will be much needed because of the overwhelming fashion in which they dealt with New Zealand.South Africa would always have expected to win this series. They may not, however, have thought victory would come as easily as it did. In both matches, New Zealand followed the same pattern of rolling over and being heavily defeated. South Africa had to change almost nothing. Even when they made a forced change to their starting XI, it virtually had no effect on the final result.What the captains said

Graeme Smith: “If you play two Tests and win both by an innings, you’ve outplayed the opposition considerably. Every headline talks about complacency but we didn’t do that. We operated as a really good professional outfit. It would have been really easy to idle along in this series but the bowlers bowled at good pace and intensity and batsman have got runs. The bowlers are just relentless and people are backing each other up. It’s nice to know that we are in that space where we want to keep pushing on and doing well. And it was also good to play our own grounds after a long time away.”
Brendon McCullum: “I’ve never been challenged like that consistently from a group of bowlers. They give away no scoring opportunities. South Africa have got a lot better from when we played against them in March. They’ve managed to keep consistent team and game plan. I really think we came up against a team at the absolute top of the cycle of performance. They never let us get into the game.”

For many, that was proof of South Africa’s depth, and even for others, for whom it wasn’t, it did reveal some positives. Fringe players notching up results against a struggling New Zealand may not be an ideal shop window for what lies in South Africa’s cupboard. But it allowed the likes of Rory Kleinveldt and Dean Elgar to settle on the international stage without the pressures that come with playing in a more competitive outing. Even if neither go on to record streams of success, they have been given the best opportunity to do so because of this experience.Blooding talent was one of the aims of this series; applying themselves ruthlessly was another. South Africa managed both. In the past, they have been known to play to the standard of the opposition, even when it required slumping to it, rather than to their own potential. In this series they did not allow that haze of mediocrity to descend, except for a few overs after tea on the second day of the first Test when New Zealand were given some freebies.The brutality was evident most in the bowling. New-ball spells that were accurate and hostile continually asked questions of the New Zealanders’ technique outside the off stump, and revealed that they had not worked out the art of leaving. Dale Steyn found more swing than he had in the last year and with him moving the ball at pace, New Zealand had a dual challenge.Steyn’s return to his best took the spotlight off Morne Morkel, who caused problems of his own by creating pressure. He was the most economical bowler among the seamers, conceding marginally fewer runs than Steyn. Since the last time Morkel played New Zealand in March 2011, where he took the only six wickets to fall in the second innings of the Wellington Test, he has been more consistent and more destructive. Previously Morkel could be erratic, now he is as miserly as he is mean and that will be key to South Africa’s future success.While the bowlers caused frenetic action, the batsmen were able to restore calm immediately afterwards, showing South Africa’s ability to divorce one part of a match from the other. Alviro Petersen was the first to do that, with his serene century after the madness of the first session in Cape Town, and Hashim Amla delivered one of his typically calm knocks in Port Elizabeth.South Africa’s top four did what New Zealand’s could not. They created situations for their middle order to play with freedom rather than rescue them from impending disaster. Presenting the opportunity is different from taking it, and AB de Villiers led in the creativity stakes along with Faf du Plessis, and then Dean Elgar followed suit.When South Africa review the series, they will conclude that everybody had a good run. If this was a final school examination, everyone would have passed and obtained the necessary points to reach the next level, but obviously not every series will be this easy.South Africa host Pakistan in two weeks for three Tests, and then play them in the United Arab Emirates later in the year, before the home series against India and Australia. What they can take into those challenges besides reputation is form and confidence.The win over New Zealand gave South Africa their fifth consecutive series victory. In that period, they have only lost one match (to Sri Lanka in Durban) and won eight. They are dominating, but will only continue to do so if they are able to maintain the same standards they did against New Zealand and the same refusal to slacken.

Stats highlights from South Africa’s emphatic victory in Perth

S Rajesh03-Dec-2012Mitchell Starc became the 14th Australian to score at least a half-century and take eight or more wickets in a Test•AFP

• The margin of victory in Perth – 309 runs – is eighth in the list of most comprehensive wins for South Africa, and most comprehensive defeats for Australia (in terms of runs). It’s the second-largest margin of victory for South Africa against Australia, after their 323-run win in Port Elizabeth in 1970.
• The 309-run margin was also the second most comprehensive defeat of Ricky Ponting’s Test career (in terms of runs), next only to the 320-run loss to India in 2008. Of the 31 Test defeats in his career, four were by an innings and only three by a margin of more than 200 runs.
• South Africa have become the first team to win successive Test series in Australia since West Indies won there in 1988-89 and then again in 1992-93. In 40 series that Australia have played at home since the 1988-89 series against West Indies (excluding one-off Tests), they’ve won 31, drawn four, and lost five – twice each to West Indies and South Africa, and once to England in 2010-11.
• Not only did Ponting finish with one of the worst defeats of his career, his last series was also a personal low: he scored 32 runs at 6.40; the only series in which he had a poorer average was in India in 2001, when he scored 17 in five innings.
• Australia’s second innings was redeemed only by a spirited half-century from Mitchell Starc, their No. 10 batsman. His unbeaten 68 is the seventh-highest score by an Australian No.10 batsman, and the best since Geoff Lawson’s 74 at Lord’s in 1989. It’s the highest by a No.10 batsman at the WACA. Starc’s 68 not out is also the highest by any No.10 batsman against South Africa.
• Starc is only the 14th Australian player to score at least a half-century and take eight or more wickets in a Test. The two previous such instances were by Mitchell Johnson.
• Dale Steyn’s match haul of 7 for 112 means he has taken 57 wickets in 11 Tests against Australia, his biggest haul against any team. Overall, he has 299 wickets in 60 Tests, and is in line to become the third-fastest to 300 Test wickets (in terms of Tests played).
• Robin Peterson’s match haul of 6 for 171 is only the ninth instance of a spinner taking six or more wickets in a Perth Test.

It might be too much to hope that the South Africa-New Zealand Test series is hard fought, but both teams have little and big goals to pursue

Firdose Moonda01-Jan-2013Both and the blog list the Ashes among their top ten international sporting rivalries. Other inclusions are India-Pakistan clashes on the cricket field and the Bledisloe Cup rugby between New Zealand and Australia. South Africa does not feature at all.They will not be happy about that.South Africa consider themselves some of the fiercest, toughest competitors around even when they finish second best. They reserve specials spots for their southern hemisphere opponents, against whom two of the most hotly contested battles are fought. South Africa and Australia’s cricket teams have produced the gems that are the 438 ODI and the 47-all out Test, while the All Black and Springbok rugby teams made history on numerous occasions, most notably at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.When the All Blacks play in Cape Town they have a healthy local support base. Mixed-race communities who have seemingly never felt represented by the Springboks have chosen to vocally support New Zealand rugby. You see them at Newlands rugby stadium, dressed in the New Zealand kit, waving the New Zealand flag and cheering on the visiting them as if it were their own.Unfortunately for the New Zealand cricket team, they can expect none of the same support probably because, unlike their rugby side, they do not have the reputation to match the big talk. In fact, the current tour was considered such a non-event that the administrators were willing to cancel the Boxing Day Test and schedule three Twenty20s instead, in the hope of coaxing interest out of the locals.They did better than that. All the matches were sell-outs; the South Africans now want to watch their own team. With the Test mace housed on Corlett Drive in Johannesburg and a proud unbeaten run on the road, there is belief that the South African team will now produce the same at home. Locals want to be there to see it.That could be the saving grace ahead of what is expected to be a one-sided Test series. The facts make that statement realistic rather than disrespectful: New Zealand have only won three of the 21 Tests they’ve played in South Africa, two of those before readmission. The last time they won a Test series was the one-off against Zimbabwe in January 2011. Before that, they had success in a series against Bangladesh in 2010 (also one match) and twice in 2008, home and away.If you’re looking for a team they earned a series win over that is not Bangladesh, you have to go back to 2006, when they beat West Indies. They have never won a series against South Africa, with their best result a draw at home in 2004.With that in mind, this series could have very little to do with actual competition between the two sides. It will rather be a case of two teams running their own races. For South Africa, it will be about justifying their ranking and securing it. For New Zealand, it will be about surviving.South Africa want to extend their lead at the top of the Test rankings and beating New Zealand will go a very small way to ensuring that. Even if they win the series 2-0, they will only gain one point on the table but it will open up their gap over England to six points and to 10 over Australia.The series was also seen as a platform for South Africa to introduce new players, specifically a specialist wicketkeeper. The selectors, though, U-turned on giving Thami Tsolekile a tryout because AB de Villiers has changed his mind about taking the gloves permanently. Whether it exacerbates his chronic back conditions or not, de Villiers will keep in the series.

New Zealand will want some of their top six batsmen to reach three figures. They will want the bowlers to take 20 wickets, even if it’s in a losing cause. They may even just want to take both matches to day five, given that even their own expert, Simon Doull, suggested tickets would not be needed after day four. Hopefully that will have raised the New Zealanders’ ire enough for them to prove that wrong.

The only new player is batsman Dean Elgar, who made a pair on debut in Perth. He will replace Jacques Rudolph at No. 6 and be given an opportunity to see if his domestic form can translate on the international stage. Robin Peterson could also be considered in the new category as he only made a Test comeback less than a month ago. He will also have an extended run as the sole spinner in the XI. Rory Kleinveldt will play only if there is an injury to one of the premier seamers, although that looks likely at the moment with Vernon Philander nursing a hamstring strain.New Zealand’s goals will probably be smaller and more individual-specific. They will want some of their top six batsmen to reach three figures, especially since the lack of big scores from them has been identified as one of the main reasons the team does not win more. They will want the bowlers to take 20 wickets, even if it’s in a losing cause. They may even just want to take both matches to day five, given that even their own expert, Simon Doull, suggested tickets would not be needed after day four.Hopefully that will have raised the New Zealanders’ ire enough for them to prove that wrong. Brendon McCullum has the enormous task of being the only real senior batsman as well as leading the side. Martin Guptill is the other big hope, having had a good run of form last summer, and much will rest on the young shoulders of Kane Williamson. He will have to prop up the middle-order and resist South Africa even better than he did in Wellington in March.New Zealand’s bowlers, like any quicks around the world, may look forward to playing on pitches with more bounce and carry than normal. They will not be getting the spicy surfaces of SuperSport Park or the Wanderers though, and will have to adjust to the more traditional cricket track at Newlands and the usually slow strip in Port Elizabeth.Chris Martin has always done well against South Africa and he won’t want that to change. Doug Bracewell and Trent Boult have real opportunities to make a statement and if Mitchell McClenaghan is picked, he will want to show he belongs.But may not come into it for New Zealand. They will have to focus on what they to do to show that they have more character than was suggested in the lead-up to the tour. Although the Ross Taylor debacle was not the fault of any of the players, it reflected poorly on the state of New Zealand cricket as a whole. Perhaps unfairly, it is up to the team to change that.It might be too much to hope that this series puts southern-hemisphere contests in the spotlight or gives South Africa a reason to appear on respected lists of sporting rivalries. That job is left to cricket against Australia and rugby against New Zealand. What could happen through this series though is, just as rugby against Australia is looked forward to, so could cricket against New Zealand.

The glitzy T20 league will provide pressure but also the temptation for Ayub to change his game – he should resist in order to further his international chances

Mohammad Isam15-Jan-2013Marshall Ayub will go into this season’s Bangladesh Premier League with added reputation after he made a mammoth 289 in his last innings. He has seen plenty of ebb and flow the last seven years but for him to take the next step, which could see him promoted to international cricket as early as March, the next four weeks will bring precisely the pressure he needs to handle. The glitzy, televised stage provided by the BPL for every uncapped and discarded international cricketer from Bangladesh is one of its positives.The 2012-13 season has been easily Ayub’s most productive since making his first-class debut in 2005-06. He has averaged 67.11 in the National Cricket League for Dhaka Metropolis and 113.50 for Central Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League. In total, he has scored 1,058 runs in these two first-class competitions, including two double-centuries, respectively the highest individual scores in those tournaments, and he has done all this by January.Although it may seem notching up big scores has taken him time and he is a player more suited to the longer version, he has batted at a fair strike rate. He might still want to improve on the pace of his batting, as well as add a few more angles to his strokes, which are at the moment quite pragmatic and typical of a middle-order batsman from the subcontinent.Ayub, however, will be wary of changing too much of his batting method for a tournament like the BPL, which is essentially nothing more than three hours of work every evening. He will be asked to bat in a certain way, one that is followed by every other cricketer trying to make it big on the Twenty20 circuit but, for Ayub, it will be imperative to continue batting the way he has done for the last four months, and the last few seasons, to win a place in the Bangladesh squad for the Sri Lanka tour in March.Last season’s experience in the BPL should also serve as a warning for Ayub not to expect too much from Twenty20 cricket. He made 12 runs in three games and even though he took 4 for 20 against Chittagong Kings, he wasn’t given another game thereafter.The case of Enamul Haque jnr is also cautionary for players like Ayub, who are quite close to national selection or hoping to make a name for themselves in the Twenty20 market. Left-arm spinner Enamul hasn’t come close to the Bangladesh squad despite taking more than 100 wickets in all competitions for the last two years. He was a star performer in the first season of BPL as well, but didn’t get further than the Bangladesh A team.Ayub, however, has seen what bad times are like and has survived to tell the tale. Marked out as one of the talented youngsters in the age-group structure, he was impressive in first-class cricket and in the run-up to the Under-19 World Cup in 2008, before a debilitating knee injury ended his hopes and put his career back some way. He also suffered the ignominy of getting hit for six consecutive sixes in an over three years ago, but Ayub has fought through and the 2012-13 season has seen him scoring more runs than at any point in his career.In the grander scheme of things, the BPL is a hindrance for domestic cricketers, especially the younger ones. It takes up too much time in the already short cricket season, and moreover and more importantly, it takes up a lot of attention. Add to that the unpredictable payment schedule and it becomes a tournament of too much trouble.For many experienced domestic players, however, it is a stage that is very important, especially for those who have given up on Bangladesh selection. Essentially, they won’t be household names in the near future, so for players like Jubair Ahmed, Imtiaz Hossain and Nazmul Hossain Milon, it is the biggest stage in their cricket careers. Ayub however has far to go, so should be using the BPL as a stepping stone and not treat it as a medal around the neck.

Plays of the Day from the first day of the third Test in Centurion

Firdose Moonda in Centurion22-Feb-2013Catch of the day
Pakistan have had some inspirational moments in the field on this tour, and another one came when Younis Khan gave the debutant Ehsan Adil his first Test wicket. With his third ball, Adil forced Graeme Smith to play at one on a good length and drew an outside edge that popped up towards the slips. Misbah-ul-Haq was lining up to take it at first slip, and the ball would have carried to him, but Younis dived to his right from second and got to it. Had he not held it, Misbah may have been angrier, but the result only left him smiling.Shot of the day
South Africa scored at almost four runs to the over for much of the first two sessions and even though they lost wickets, the day was punctuated with glorious shots. Faf du Plesiss played one of the best, a straight drive past Adil that the debutant should have taken a photograph of, because if you’re going to get hit, that’s the way to experience it. Du Plessis elbow position was perfect as he pounced on an overpitched ball and sent it to the boundary with a caress.Beamer of the day
Mohammed Irfan was expected to be a danger on a pitch that offered some assistance to the quicks. His most threatening delivery, however, didn’t touch the surface. Midway through his 11th over, Irfan bowled a high full toss at AB de Villiers, who went down on all fours as he tried to avoid it. The bowler was the first to apologise and Younis even gave the batsman a hug to make sure he was okay.Save of the day
As the day grew long, Pakistan could be forgiven for losing their enthusiasm but one man who did not was Irfan. Vernon Philander has his eye in and drove sweetly against Azhar Ali. The ball beat Irfan at mid-on but he chased it to edge of the boundary and back-heeled the ball further infield. It was a move a footballer would be proud of. However, unable to stop his momentum, Irfan went tumbling into the boards, taking one almost of its base and getting himself tangled up in it. Irfan laughed the clumsiness off and he had reason to: he had saved the boundary. It wasn’t elegant but it was effective.Guests of the day
SuperSport Park’s most well known function is the annual Ladies’ Day, held on the first day of a Test. It’s an affair of pomp and ceremony in which the women are encouraged to dress in their best and stand to win an array of prizes. The biggest one is perhaps the chance to have a photograph taken with one of the players. This year, they had double the fun. Instead of only a player from the South African team, they were paid a visit by one from each side. Morne Morkel was joined by Umar Gul for tea-time entertainment.

The recent success of Moises Henriques and other cricketers from minority communities bodes well for the game Down Under

Adam Cooper27-Feb-2013From Hobart to India via Alice Springs, Australians might one day recall a remarkable week in mid-February 2013 as the moment the nation’s top cricket teams took a major step towards truly representing the many faces who play the game.Moises Henriques, Fawad Ahmed, Ashton Agar and Gurinder Sandhu are not quite household names in Australian cricket, but they have all made significant strides to becoming so in the past seven days. Together they personify a cultural diversity long absent from the national team.While Michael Clarke’s brilliant strokeplay and Australian allergies to spin bowling remained a constant, milestones notched by Henriques, Ahmed, Agar and Sandhu – complemented by Australia’s women, who in the same week won the World Cup, and indigenous teams at the Imparja Cup – made it a heady period for cricket’s minority groups in a game that still counts white males as its most ardent participants and followers.The achievements of Henriques in gaining a Test cap and showing he deserved it; Ahmed, who staked his claim with Victoria; and Agar and Sandhu, who earned places in national sides, were noted with significance by Cricket Australia, which is conscious of the need to have its sides better reflect the composition of the country.”The single greatest opportunity for us is to have a team that represents multicultural Australia,” says Matt Dwyer, Cricket Australia’s national game- development manager, “and the quicker we have that team to give kids that aspiration, the snowball effect from that will be significant.”Grouped together, the four players could form a handy bowling attack. Equally rich are the quartet’s personal stories, bound to be replayed over coming years.In Chennai, Henriques became the first Portuguese-born player to represent Australia in Tests. Born on Madeira, the island that Cristiano Ronaldo calls home, and the son of a professional footballer, Henriques could easily have sought sporting glory outside of cricket, had his family not moved to Sydney.It might have taken him longer to get to Test level than many thought, but Henriques immediately showed he belonged with a fine 68 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, an innings that helped Clarke turn a day that was headed out of Australia’s grasp.That same day in Hobart, Henriques’ fellow New South Wales quick Sandhu also looked assured at international level, admittedly in a match for Australia A against England Lions that carried just a skerrick of the focus on Clarke’s side. But at 19, Sandhu, who was born in Sydney but is of Indian heritage, has impressed those who matter: he was also selected for the Prime Minister’s XI last month to play West Indies.Agar, also 19, must shake his head at his remarkable past two months, which have comprised a debut for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, a spot in the Perth Scorchers squad in the Big Bash League, and a passage to India, where he was instructed to soak up as much knowledge as he could.The left-arm spinner did so by playing both warm-up matches, proving his inclusion on tour was no token gesture. Clarke himself is Australia’s most effective left-arm orthodox spinner of recent times, so Agar’s progress is likely to be monitored very closely. The youngster, who is of Sri Lankan descent, will this year head to England to further his development at Hampshire’s international academy. Whether that posting is designed to coincide with the Ashes remains to be seen.Another spinner surely being considered for England is Fawad, following his most mature of first-class debuts for Victoria. The legspinner had played a handful of first-class matches in his native Pakistan before he fled to Australia in 2010, and continues to add chapters to his already wondrous story.Selected as a net bowler to help prepare Australia’s batsmen to face South Africa’s Imran Tahir, Ahmed earned a Big Bash contract with the Melbourne Renegades and turned out for the Bushrangers in domestic limited-overs matches before playing in the top-of-the-table Sheffield Shield match against Queensland at the MCG.Ahmed’s 5 for 83 in the Bulls’ second innings, with bounce, spin and variation, steered Victoria to a win and earned him plaudits from opposing captains James Hopes and Cameron White, who both rated him good enough to represent his new country. White himself was one of the eight frontline spinners Australia tried in Test matches between Shane Warne’s retirement from Tests and before the selectors settled on Nathan Lyon – until he came up against MS Dhoni.Ahmed’s arrival now has Cricket Australia lobbying authorities in Canberra to grant him citizenship in the sort of pursuit traditionally reserved for Armenian weightlifters the year before an Olympiad. Under ICC rules Ahmed could play for Australia in August, but a passport would expedite the qualification period. Really, the key date is July 10, the first day of the first Test against England, at Trent Bridge.England, of course, are no strangers to accommodating overseas players. In their last Test, in India in December, four in the line-up were born in South Africa, while Monty Panesar is of Indian heritage. But England teams have long reflected British society, as have South African sides (regardless of the quota system).

“Four in ten Australian households have got a parent who was born overseas. If we don’t become more diverse and welcoming to people of diverse backgrounds, we’ll be arcane in 100 years’ time”Matt Dwyer, Cricket Australia’s national game-development manager

But in Australia, the national side has been slow to truly represent its multiculturalism. Six members of the first Australian side to play a Test were born overseas, while in 1885, Sam Morris – born in Tasmania to West Indian parents – became the first black man to play Test cricket.But from there, the national side remained firmly Anglo-Celtic in origin, save for exceptions such as Len Pascoe (of Yugoslavian descent), Dav Whatmore (born in Sri Lanka), Kepler Wessels (born in South Africa) and Andrew Symonds, who has a Caribbean heritage. This week 20 years ago, for example, Australia fielded a Test team whose first names could be those of regulars: Mark, David, Justin, Mark, Steve, Allan, Ian, Paul, Shane, Merv and Craig.While cultural diversity has been reflected much better in sports such as Australian Rules football, rugby league and soccer, Australian cricket is trying to close the gap. CA figures show that of the 160,000 children who took part in entry-level programmes last year, about one-sixth were from non-traditional cricketing backgrounds. Initiatives such as Mosaic Programs, run in NSW, and Harmony in Cricket, its Victorian equivalent (in which Ahmed is a mentor), are designed to take the sport to newer communities, through schools and clubs.”If you’ve got a multicultural background and you walk into a traditional cricket club, it could be the last bastion of the stale, pale and male environment,” Dwyer says. “But now clubs are being encouraged to diversify and be more welcoming, to open their doors to the sort of opportunity this brings. The stats are clear: four in ten Australian households have got a parent who was born overseas. If we don’t become more diverse and welcoming to people of diverse backgrounds, we’ll be arcane in 100 years’ time.”But Dwyer acknowledges the most effective way of attracting attention is through those who light the fire for others. It’s why Usman Khawaja was celebrated when in 2011 he became the first Muslim to play a Test for Australia; why national selector John Inverarity highlighted the selections of Ahmed, Sandhu and Khawaja for the Prime Minister’s XI; and why Henriques’ Test call-up brought further encouragement.Sunshine Heights Cricket Club, in Melbourne’s western suburbs, is a remarkably progressive club, having welcomed people from South Sudan, Uganda, Vietnam, India, the Philippines and Afghanistan – many of them refugees – into the fold. Since adopting an open policy of encouraging diversity, dating back to the 1960s, the club has been recognised for the measures it has taken in making the club more inclusive.Club president Chris Hatzoglou says it represents 20 ethnicities across 15 sides (senior and junior), and that breakthroughs at higher levels give players from non-traditional cricketing backgrounds something to aspire to.”These sort of stories are really important. We’ve invested a lot of effort into cultural diversity at our club, and when it starts to penetrate at the elite level, when people from diverse backgrounds start to make it at the Australian level, that for us is an inspiration,” he says.Just as Henriques and his ilk encourage new Australians, the Southern Stars do their part for the women’s game. Their success in India, which followed winning the Twenty20 world title last year, is expected to increase female participation. CA’s records say 150,000 girls and women played in 2011-12, a 27 % jump from the previous season. While the Southern Stars boast a young outlook, they have one of their greatest advocates in Lisa Sthalekar, who retired last week in triumph in the country of her birth.Participation among indigenous Australians is also on the rise. The Imparja Cup, played in Alice Springs this month, had more than 500 participants, and research is underway to determine exactly how many indigenous Australians play the sport. Aboriginal players also have recent national selections to aspire to: Dan Christian made clear his pride when three years ago he joined Jason Gillespie as only the second acknowledged player of indigenous heritage to earn a national cap.When Khawaja was selected for his first tour with the Australian side in 2010, Waleed Aly, an academic and commentator on Muslim affairs, noted cricket still had obstacles at grassroots level among migrant communities, given cricket’s perception of as an establishment sport, its costs and complexities, and instances of racial vilification. The way the game is broadcast, he said, showed the sport is still directed at the white male.But, in an interview with the Wisden Cricketer, he hoped young players could eventually see a national team that reflected society. “You need to look at the field and feel ‘That could be me’, even if it couldn’t be,” he said. “I don’t have the talent but it’s nice to know that’s the only thing standing in the way.”Over the past week, Henriques, Ahmed, Agar and Sandhu have provided encouraging proof of that.

People who praise the BBL, how exactly are they quantifying their eulogy? Is it fun? Yes. Is it exciting? Debatable. Is the cricket of a high standard? Perhaps. Is it benefitting Australian cricket? Certainly not

Freddie Wilde25-Feb-2013The second season of the Big Bash League is nearing its conclusion. After a successful first edition, the BBL has reaffirmed its place in the Australian cricketing calendar and has, according to many, established itself as the second best T20 league in the world. That is of course behind the IPL, which despite the questionable standard of cricket seems to have earned itself an undisputed spot as the premier domestic league.But these people who praise the BBL, lauding its vibrancy, colour and excitement, how exactly are they quantifying their eulogy? Is it fun? Yes. Is it exciting? Debatable. Is the cricket of a high standard? Perhaps. Is it benefitting Australian cricket? Certainly not. Now that the season is drawing to a close, perhaps it is time to take stock and, away from the sixes the noise and the razzmatazz, reassess the league’s standing and its worth.While critiques of an over-crowded schedule, skewed player priorities and corrupted techniques are damaging, they aren’t necessarily going to turn the average fan away. The most ringing indictment against the BBL, is its artificiality. It is, for want of a kinder word, fake. The league begins and continues amid wave after wave of hyperbole and a manufactured sense of theatre. The official Twitter and Facebook pages for each of the eight franchises go into overdrive. The Brisbane Heat remind us every hour that things are ‘#HeatingUp’, while the Sydney Thunder warn their followers they are to be ‘#ThunderStruck.’ A competition among the eight teams for the most Facebook ‘likes’ and a higher place on the ‘BBL Like Ladder’ only heightens the synthetic sense surrounding the league.The lengths each team goes to establish a fan following is staggering. Each team website, presumably on instruction of Cricket Australia, is identical in its categories and layout; all contain a ‘team profile’ page and the Melbourne Renegades’ profile says: “The Melbourne Renegades represent modern Melbourne – vibrant, diverse and progressive. We have a healthy streak of anti-establishment and we play out of a non-traditional cricket venue, Etihad Stadium.” “Anti-establishment”? That’s not a sporting emotion, that’s a political and economic view point.The Renegades’ local ‘rivals’, the Melbourne Stars, unsurprisingly brand themselves as “traditional” and harp back to the history of its home ground, the MCG. This isn’t a rivalry driven by emotion or history. It’s a pantomime rivalry for the crowds and for the men who sign the TV deals.The sense of self-importance does not just appear off the cricket field. On the pitch the facade continues. Rumour has it that the speed guns have all been cranked up a notch or two for the League; Brett Lee’s and your own puzzlement at his 150kph readings could possibly be explained thus.Perhaps the most shocking revelation though came from James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, who after the Warne v Samuels fracas said: “Players are entertainers, they’re putting on a show… I think while we can stand here and say we don’t condone anything that happened last night, this sort of thing is probably something that only inspires a greater rivalry between the Renegades and the Stars and creates greater interest for the Big Bash League.”Hold on. Who said that? The CEO of Cricket Australia? The most powerful man in the sport in Australia? Yep. It was him. Having invested so much in the league there is nothing wrong with Cricket Australia encouraging the growth of a fan-base, but this headlong pursuit of a tribal-style support is ugly and embarrassing.So what of the cricket itself? That the fielding is perhaps the most notable highlight says a lot. Furthermore, with the number of retired or discarded Australian cricketers floating around, there’s a strong sense of dead wood about the league.Granted, some of it is great. Watching Ricky Ponting bat again is awesome, seeing Brett Lee bowl is cool, the powerful hitting of the likes of Aaron Finch is always fun to watch … It’s fairly easy to enjoy the BBL. A few hours of vibrant cricket and colourful entertainment is many people’s ideal way to spend an evening. But if you’re a fan of the league it is worth considering the fragile premises upon which the whole tournament is built.As Australia plummeted to a 3-1 Ashes defeat at home in 2010-11 and the public riled in the aftermath of the then unpopular Michael Clarke being appointed captain, it appeared that support for cricket in Australia was dwindling. Cricket’s more attractive rival, Aussie Rules, was stealing the countries sporting talent. One newspaper even blamed the teenage-distraction of Facebook for the declining results on the field and plummeting ticket sales – cricket was being left to rot they claimed.Then, the revamped Big Bash League was unveiled. While the cricket, obviously, remained the same, a mass of energy had been thrown into a total overhaul of the league’s appearance. New teams, new players, new kits, new gadgets, new gizmos, more fireworks, more dancers, more music, and more adverts than ever before. And so the entertainment was increased… Fans flocked to matches in greater numbers. More families sat in front of their TV’s watching the action and coverage of the league reached new heights.So did Cricket Australia succeed in lifting cricket’s profile? They have and may well continue to increase the number of people following cricket. That said, the BBL has so far been distanced from the more traditional ODI and Test formats insomuch that as opposed to expanding the fan base for the sport generally, Cricket Australia have simply created a fan-base for a whole new side of the sport. A side totally detached from 50-overs and five-day cricket. A side that ultimately doesn’t benefit the Australian cricket team in any shape or form. Moreover, as scheduling demands are increased and the traditional domestic cricket calendar is thrown off kilter by the BBL, you’d be forgiven for thinking the league is in fact doing more harm than good.Yes, for many people the BBL provides short, sharp bursts of colourful, fun and exciting cricket and entertainment, and for many that is all they desire. But for the life-long follower of the sport and, more specifically, the Australian cricket fan, the positives thrown up by the BBL are few and far between. The improving standing of the country’s international T20 team may well prove to be a positive outcome, but that’s hardly an earth shattering result is it?What the BBL is really about is pure, plain and simple: it’s about money. Other ideas can of course be argued, but at the end of the day that is what this boils down to. Cricket Australia is yet to bag the huge TV deal it so desperately craves and, until it gets it, the crass hyperbolic advertising and manufactured sense of worth looks set to continue.

Mahela Jayawardene will become the second Sri Lankan to appear in 400 ODIs when he plays the tri-series final against India

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2013

• The tri-series final against India in Trinidad will be Mahela Jayawardene’s 400th ODI. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya have played more games.
• Jayawardene is the only player to have played 100 consecutive ODIs in two separate streaks. He played 119 successive games between May 1999 and March 2003, and 122 matches without missing one between November 2005 and December 2009. Russell Arnold is the only other Sri Lankan to have appeared in 100 consecutive ODIs.
• Jayawardene has played 57% of Sri Lanka’s ODIs – 394 out of 692 matches. Since 1999, he has played 387 out of 409 ODIs for Sri Lanka – 95% over a 14-and-a-half-year period.
• Jayawardene’s 2436 runs against India is the seventh highest aggregate for a batsman against a particular country. Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara have scored more runs against India.
• Jayawardene has a century at every position from No. 1 to No. 5 in ODIs. Neither Jayasuriya nor Sangakkara, who are ahead of Jayawardene’s 11237 on the run charts, have that.
• The 5312 partnership runs Jayawardene has with Sangakkara is the most for any non-opening pair, and the fourth highest overall.
• Jayawardene’s catch of Shikhar Dhawan in the previous game at Queen’s Park Oval was his 200th in ODIs. He is the only person to reach that landmark. The next active player with the most ODI catches is Younis Khan with 126.
• Jayawardene has only 19 Man-of-the-Match awards despite playing 399 ODIs, the sixth highest for a Sri Lankan.

Commentator Munir Hussain devoted his life to the game, celebrating its magic and beauty

Saad Shafqat06-Aug-2013Pakistan may have won their ODI and T20 rubbers against West Indies last week, but the upbeat mood was quickly tempered by a major loss suffered by the country’s cricketing fraternity and fans.Munir Hussain, a pioneering commentator, groundbreaking publisher, Karachi City Cricket Association mandarin, and sagacious elder presence in the nation’s cricket circles, died of natural causes at his home in Karachi on Monday, July 29. There was a sense of heartfelt loss, especially for those who he delighted in his witty commentary, and had been regaled by his wildly popular Urdu cricket magazine .Hussain was 83 and, but for arthritic knees that were beginning to limit his mobility, had been in reasonably good health. Just hours earlier, he had watched the second T20 international between West Indies and Pakistan on television, lauding the commentary of Ramiz Raja as well as bemoaning – in characteristic style – what he viewed as unforgivably declining standards in the Pakistan team.Hussain’s life is an inspiration to people everywhere who dream big dreams and aspire to create an impact. Born in Amritsar in November 1929, he moved to Delhi while still very young and grew up in the Karol Bagh neighbourhood. In 1947 he migrated to Pakistan, taking a train from Amritsar, the details of which harrowing journey are part of his family lore.Movies and cricket quickly emerged as his favourite pastimes, but it was journalism that became his singular passion. This found expression through magazine publishing, column writing and, later, broadcasting.His earliest success was a magazine titled , devoted to the film industry in both India and Pakistan. During his Karol Bagh days, he had become friends with Mir Khalilur Rahman, who became a leading media baron and went on to found the Urdu newspaper , Pakistan’s largest-circulation daily in any language. In it, Hussain wrote an influential weekly cricket column that ran for four decades and commanded a huge readership.A diehard lover of the game, Hussain could not get enough of cricket and immersed himself in playing as well as administering it. As an administrator, he served the Karachi City Cricket Association over many years in various capacities, formal and otherwise, including two terms as president, and was regarded for most of his life as one of a handful of key figures in Karachi’s cricket affairs.As a player, Hussain was a club cricket regular and took pride in his ability get the ball to seam at pace. In 1969 he even appeared in a first-class game, representing Quetta (at the time called Kalat Division) and taking 2 for 64. According to a widely passed anecdote, during the rest day of a Test match sometime in the mid-1980s, Hussain once bowled to Imran Khan in the nets and was complimented by the great allrounder on his nip and direction.A pioneer of Urdu commentary•Munir family archiveHussain’s landmark contribution undoubtedly was the initiation of cricket commentary in Urdu. Even until the late 1960s, commentary on Radio Pakistan and Pakistan television was exclusively in English, unintelligible to the vast majority of the country’s cricket followers. When Hussain first proposed the idea of Urdu commentary, traditionalists were aghast. There was a strong feeling that English was the rightful medium for properly conveying the nuances of the game.Yet Hussain remained undeterred. He had no patience for pedants and felt certain he was on to something. In 1969, he convinced the organisers of a local tournament, the Jang Gold Cup – whose matches were to be broadcast on radio and television – to give him a chance. He proved an instant hit, and a new art form was born.The Urdu magazine , the other major source of Hussain’s cricketing fame, appeared in its cricket identity in late 1976. He had been producing it as a social-interest-and-current-affairs magazine for a while before his distribution agent suggested the idea of giving it a cricket flavour. New Zealand were touring Pakistan at the time, and Hussain published a cricket supplement on the occasion under the masthead. In keeping with his Midas touch, this proved an instant hit as well. Bubbling with clever opinion, sharp interviews, catchy images, and comprehensive reportage, it acquired iconic status among players and fans alike.Hussain is fondly remembered as a backer of unpopular causes, a supporter of the disenfranchised, and a nurturing humanist. He has left a remarkable legacy that lives on through his multiple endeavours. His son Iqbal Munir, an accomplished photojournalist who has attained his own rank and status as a cricket media figure, says his father was always keen to pass on his passion for advancement and innovation in the game, mentoring a new generation of commentators and journalists.Hussain’s enthusiasm for the game never dimmed until, literally, his dying day. He devoted his life to cricket, breaking some of its barriers and always celebrating its magic and beauty. The game is richer for it.

Plays of the Day from the second day of the Harare Test

Firdose Moonda in Harare04-Sep-2013Body blows of the day
Rahat Ali, last seen on a disappointing tour of South Africa, seemed a different person as he opened the bowling with precision, getting the ball to swerve in and test the batsmen’s ability to leave. Vusi Sibanda misread twice and he paid the price. The first time Sibanda decided to play and was struck on the right forearm. He grimaced while being magic sprayed but soldiered on. Two overs later, he was presented with one he just did not know how to handle, he and turned his back on the ball as he attempted to leave. He was hit on the back of the ribcage and masked the pain with a wry smile.Down-to-earth moment of the day
Sikandar Raza was told he would bat in one of the most important positions – No.4 – on debut and appeared rightfully chuffed with the responsibility. He was walking back from the nets when a group of fans asked him where he would bat. He held up four fingers proudly and started to twirl his bat in the air and catch it. It all looked quite cool until, on the third attempt, gravity brought him down to earth and the bat fell to the floor. The supporters giggled and a slightly embarrassed Raza walked away. Luckily for him, he managed to hold on to the bat better when at the crease and made a half-century.Sledge of the day
Chris Mpofu reported for training again today as he makes a steady recovery from injury and chose to watch some cricket after completing his drills. He was seated at the newly-named Centurion Pub and had just seen two of his team-mates, Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza, dismissed off successive balls. Masakadza was bowled by Saeed Ajmal; he had played for the offbreak but was beaten by the straighter one. When Ajmal returned to field on the boundary, Mpofu had a message for him. “You’re lucky it’s not me batting out there,” he said. ‘I’m the only one who can pick you.” Ajmal grinned and had a quick reply. “You’re lucky you weren’t bowling when I was batting,” he said, after having made 49. Touche.Father-son moment of the day
Malcolm Waller knew he was playing for his place. With Raza succeeding on debut and Brendan Taylor set to comeback after paternity leave, Waller knew without runs his would be the first name off the team sheet. He built his innings through picking spin and scored quickly. Off his 63rd delivery, he brought up his fifty with a push behind point and Andy Waller, the coach but also his father, chose to be the latter first. His arms were raised, he clapped in delight, he high-fived Grant Flower and beamed at the change-room. “That’s my son, that’s the kid I coach,” he seemed to say.Cheer of the day
Even Zimbabwe’s most enthusiastic fans know not to get too excited when it looks like their team is establishing a decent position because things can change so quickly. They were only 14 runs behind when the sixth wicket fell and the chances of a lead looked good. However, runs were cheered with trepidation rather than gusto until the misfield that gave Zimbabwe an advantage many would not have dreamed possible against this Pakistan attack. Prosper Utseya pulled Ajmal to short square leg and it seemed like only a single was on. But a fumble allowed the ball to scuttle through for four and take Zimbabwe one ahead of Pakistan. The wooden stand where the supporters’ club sits could not have had more than 25 people but they made the noise of at least ten times that number as they celebrated.