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Australia have had golden ages of spin, but the greats have been few and far between, and the decision-makers haven’t helped the cause any with their lack of faith

Peter English06-Jul-2009Spin bowling in Australia is currently worse than the economy, stuck in a depression with no immediate signs of recovery. The situation is so grim that for the third time in four Tests Australia may not pick a specialist slow bowler on Wednesday and instead will rely on three batsmen who double as part-time twirlers to quicken up the over-rate and burgle a breakthrough.For the previous four Ashes tours spin was Australia’s major weapon, with Shane Warne removing 129 home batsmen with his mystifying variations. He retired after the 5-0 triumph in 2006-07, a series England supporters don’t seem to remember, and since then Australia’s selection panel – and opposition batsmen – have demolished more contenders than Mike Tyson in his prime.High expectations from supporters, selectors and team leaders are ruining a generation of moderate talent that would have been well suited to most eras of Australian cricket. The problem is the country has had two golden ages of spin bowling and everyone is measured against the most recent glory days. Stuart MacGill kept Warne company in the 1990s and 2000s, while Bill O’Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett were even more frightening for batsmen in the lead-up to World War II. Two pairs of the greatest leggies in history arrived at the same time.Apart from Richie Benaud, the country’s second-most successful spinner with 248 wickets in the 1950s and 60s, and the offie Hugh Trumble, who toiled from 1890 to 1904, no other Australian tweaker has more than 140 Test victims. This is not the sort of standard that qualifies the country as a perennial spin-bowling force.Instead of where have the good spinners gone, the question should be how did a pace nursery produce so many slow-bowling greats? Grimmett came from New Zealand and practised for a decade before debuting aged 33 and O’Reilly was a tough man from the New South Wales bush who pushed the ball through like a medium-pacer. Until Warne sped into the side – arriving, appropriately, in a Porsche – O’Reilly was unchallenged as the country’s best spinner. MacGill ripped the ball more than Warne but with less control, crossing the country from Western Australia to more friendly surfaces in New South Wales, and prised 208 Test wickets, usually during his high-profile partner’s absence. Had he been born 10 years later there would be no talk of downturns and no-turns.After Warne exited the Test scene in the first week of 2007, MacGill was the initial replacement before knee and wrist problems allowed Brad Hogg to come in for the India series. By the end of that summer Hogg had retired and MacGill joined him two Tests into the West Indies tour. Beau Casson, a chinaman bowler like Hogg, was the back-up on that trip and played the final match, returning an encouraging 3 for 86 in the second innings. Only the selectors weren’t impressed: he was overlooked for the India tour, was dropped briefly by New South Wales and is trying not to go troppo this winter in Northern Territory club cricket.The legspinner Bryce McGain, then 36, was called for the India trip before returning home for shoulder surgery and a surprisingly quick recovery. His moment of glee arrived in the final Test in South Africa, but it soon became wretchedly unforgettable as he gave up 0 for 149 off 18 overs. Back in the subcontinent the rookie Jason Krejza was left to jostle for a starting place with Cameron White, who considers himself a batsman who bowls occasional legspin. White played all four Tests with little success and Krejza balanced 12 wickets on debut with 358 runs to become the next hope. After an ankle injury and another Test in Perth, he was sent back to Tasmania and gathered 11 wickets at 50.72 in four Sheffield Shield appearances, figures that were similar to those earning him a spot in the top team.Nathan Hauritz was used three times and did enough not to be considered for the XI in South Africa, but following some useful one-day performances was the only specialist given one of 25 national contracts. A berth on the Ashes tour followed along with some heavy punishment in both the tour games, although he was able to deliver a dozen economical overs as the game against the England Lions wound down. However, his lack of conviction leaves Marcus North, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich expecting greater roles in Cardiff and throughout the series.

In the lead-up to the squad announcement Allan Border, a former selector, pushed for Jon Holland, a left-arm orthodox from Victoria with only five first-class games on his resume. Domestically, the spin situation is so bad that after Warne retired he was asked to speak to the state captains about how to use slow bowlers. The leaders expected all their spinners to have the control, turn and bluff of Warne. If anybody had told them that was impossible, they were ignored. When fours arrived in flurries the twirlers were replaced by the faster, more economical operators, then saved for an over before the interval or to give the main men a rest.Three years ago Queensland’s Daniel Doran took five wickets in their Sheffield Shield final victory and appeared on track to develop into the state’s first national legspinning representative since Trevor Hohns, who retired after the 1989 Ashes victory. Jimmy Maher had more idea about haute cuisine than how to employ Doran, who scraped 10 wickets at 70.50 in a full campaign. He has been a worried fringe player ever since, appearing in four games last season for five breakthroughs and more pain.Last month Cricket Australia hosted a spin summit at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, where Warne told the attendees that slow bowlers must not be an afterthought. Once again, educating the captains was another key theme. “[Spinners] don’t bowl after all the quicks have finished, and then [are told]: you have a bowl because no one can get a wicket,” Warne said. “You can bring them on early.”One thing Australia don’t miss is well-qualified coaches. Terry Jenner, who played nine Tests in the 1970s, was Warne’s mentor and monitors the bumpy progress of Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey in South Australia. Greg Matthews (61 wickets in 33 Tests) and Kerry O’Keeffe (53 in 24) offer advice in New South Wales; Ashley Mallett (132 in 38) has been a travelling consultant and Murray Bennett (6 in 3) is one of Hauritz’s confidants. At the Centre of Excellence the spin coach is John Davison, a former state offspinner and Canada representative, and Warne and MacGill pop in to talk wrists and dip. But on tour Troy Cooley, the fast bowling mentor and swing expert, is in charge of the spinners as well.Despite all of this knowledge, the lectures and the talk of giving slow men a proper go, the decision-makers start to shiver after a couple of bad days. Without long-term faith in spinners at all levels, the quality of options will not become high enough for a sustained Test career. And that’s not five wickets a Test, like Warne, but a couple in each innings and some venom on the final day.It’s a brutally tough discipline, which no longer seems understood in Australia, and one that has been mastered by only a handful of greats. There were 46 years between O’Reilly’s last Test and Warne’s first, leaving Australia to pray for a Benaud or Trumble to fill the gap sometime soon.

Perhaps one collapse in a Test had become boring, so Sri Lanka and Pakistan produced two here

Sidharth Monga in Colombo13-Jul-2009Something changes in the air when these two friendly teams come up against each other. Pakistan and Sri Lanka may not have a historical rivalry going, but for dramatic turns and collapses look no further. There have been three already in this series, Sri Lanka’s losing seven wickets for 63 today being the latest, but those who follow these contests regularly will point to a long history of collapses, against the run of play – across formats.Remember Singapore? Sanath Jayasuriya scored the fastest half-century in a chase of 216. By the time Jayasuriya fell for a 28-ball 76, the contest was all but over – only for them to lose the next nine wickets for 76 runs. What happened in Kandy three years ago? Sri Lanka sat pretty with a lead of 131 and then lost the whole team for a matter of 51. Pakistan provided their own version twice in this series, losing 18 wickets for 137 in less than two-and-a-half sessions.Those who follow these contests will also tell us that Pakistan have often had the better of these collapses: Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis taking all ten to dismiss Sri Lanka for 71 in Kandy in 1994, Wasim going berserk at the SSC
in 2000, reducing Sri Lanka in their second innings to 123 from 67 for 2, or the Sharjah tie in which Abdul Razzaq went berserk with his reverse-swing as Sri Lanka lost their last eight wickets for 23 in a chase of 197. Muttiah Muralitharan pulled one back for Sri Lanka in Peshawar in 1999-2000, sending Pakistan from 137 for 2 to 199.Knowing the history Sri Lanka and Pakistan share it is likely a few more instances may have slipped under the radar, but the number of Test collapses alone is sizeable for the last 20 years or so. For some reason, batsmen find the momentum swings irresistible. For some reason, everything comes together for bowling sides at the same time. It could be a freak coincidence too, but the presence of good bowlers against tails could suggest a trend. The likes of Wasim and Waqar could run through tails in a hurry, and so can Murali and now Ajantha Mendis. Mendis is accurate, doesn’t spin the ball much, and his fast legbreak has proven to be too good for lesser batsmen.Pakistan, who were on their way to losing this series via those two cave-ins, needed to get back at Sri Lanka. And against all trends today, Umar Gul, still struggling for rhythm and bowling regular no-balls, suddenly started reversing the ball. Gul had had an ordinary series thus far, coming off that special World Twenty20.Younis Khan had earlier told Cricinfo that Gul just needed time. “He hasn’t had any time to rest. For four days we kept doing the victory march in Pakistan, and came here directly. He is a match-winner, he might just take some time but he will recover.”Recover Gul did, and just in time. And a comeback of Pakistani proportions started. In a sudden flow of momentum, just to facilitate Sri Lanka’s collapse, smaller errors like dropped catches seemed to stop mattering – they just didn’t cost much. Kumar Sangakkara, looking to accumulate, got a ripper that nipped in late to take the slight gap between bat and pad. Gul’s accuracy returned and when Nuwan Kulasekara got a widish delivery, he threw his bat at it without getting in position. Ranganna Herath got a swinging yorker first up, which he managed to get under.Saeed Ajmal, for his part, got into Test mode, slowing down his deliveries, flighting them as opposed to darting them in as in Galle, and creating doubt with his doosras. And when Pakistan start a day off with a direct-hit run-out, drama must be in the air. These are the same teams who were playing sleepathons in Pakistan earlier this year.Perhaps one collapse in a Test had become boring, so they gave us two here. Who knows if a third one is around the corner? An even match, a pitch that will start to crumble, so yes, why not? We won’t be surprised.

Cricinfo looks at some of the best performances of perhaps Sri Lanka’s most influential performer

Jamie Alter26-Dec-2009Sanath Jayasuriya walks off after dusting England off in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals•Getty Images

6 for 29 v England, Moratuwa, 1993

A couple years before he would begin tormenting bowlers the world over with his ballistic approach up the order, Jayasuriya gave England a torrid time in Moratuwa – with the ball. Hardly a front-line slow left-arm spinner, a young Jayasuriya nabbed six wickets. He snapped two partnerships and ran down the rest of the order for 6 for 29, the star performer out of a very weak attack. England were bowled out for a paltry 180 and thrashed by eight wickets. It was Jayasuriya’s first Man-of-the-Match performance.

82 from 44 balls v England, Faisalabad, 1996

Jayasuriya took the world by storm in the 1996 World Cup, through his fearless and destructive approach at the top of the order, with his team-mate Romesh Kaluwitharana, which was one of the highlights of the tournament. Jayasuriya’s memorable run reached its apogee during the quarter-final against England, when he bludgeoned 82 from 44 balls, including the then fastest tournament half-century, from 30 balls.His manic innings contained three sixes and 13 fours and he was most savage on the left-arm spin of Ray Illingworth, whom he hit for four successive fours, and the seam of Phil DeFreitas, whose second over went for 22. Earlier in the day Jayasuriya had dismissed DeFreitas and Dermot Reeve and nailed a direct hit to run out Robin Smith. Sri Lanka continued their glorious ascent, while England sank ignominiously; they had never been knocked out before the semi-finals in the five previous World Cups.

76 off 28 balls v Pakistan, Singapore, 1996

Jayasuriya continued to blossom amid greater expectations after the World Cup. Within months he cracked the fastest fifty in one-day cricket, from 17 balls, against Pakistan. He reached the landmark with a six over mid-wicket to beat Simon O’Donnell’s ODI record of 18 balls, against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 1989-90. When Kaluwitharana was bowled in the sixth over, for 0, Jayasuriya had 66. He eventually holed out for 76 from 28 balls, having hit eight fours and five sixes.

151* v India, Mumbai, 1997

Jayasuriya has often tormented India during his one-day career, and his unbeaten 151 at the Wankhede Stadium was a bruising effort. A moderate target of 226 soon shrank as Jayasuriya blazed his way to the highest score by a Sri Lankan in one-day internationals – 151 off 121 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, beating Aravinda de Silva’s 145 against Kenya in the 1996 World Cup. Sri Lanka won with nine overs to spare.Jayasuriya rates his 340, during a record stand of 576 with Roshan Mahanama, as his best Test innings•Wisden Cricket Monthly

340 v India, Colombo, 1997

The following year Jayasuriya was a significant part of a Test-record 952 for 6, against India in Colombo. He entered the final day 326 not out, 50 short of beating Brian Lara’s then record individual score of 375. Over 30,000 crowded in, but many were still trying to find a perch when Jayasuriya, two balls after losing his partner for 225, was surprised by one that bounced from offspinner Rajesh Chauhan and popped a simple catch to Sourav Ganguly at silly point. The Indian fielders all ran to congratulate the batsman, and clapped him off the field. Jayasuriya had made 340, from 578 balls in 799 minutes, with 36 fours and two sixes. He banished once and for all any notion that he was only a one-day hitter. “I was out for 340 and people asked me whether I was disappointed,” he once said. It is, in fact, his favourite Test innings, just ahead of his 213 against England at The Oval in 1998.

213 off 278 balls v England, The Oval, 1998

This one-off Test at The Oval is best remembered for Muttiah Muralitharan’s 16 wickets, but it was really Jayasuriya’s 213 off 278 balls in the first innings that set up Sri Lanka’s first Test victory in England. England batted themselves to 445, with centuries from Graeme Hick and John Crawley, and sat pretty going into the third day. Few could have foreseen what would unfold. Sri Lanka, 79 for 1 overnight, sped to 446 for 3 with Jayasuriya shrugging off a lean Test year with a splendid double-century. Cutting, hooking and driving on dancing feet, he tore into the English attack and with Aravinda de Silva added 243, breaking their own record for Sri Lanka’s third wicket. Even though England fought back staunchly on Sunday, when six wickets fell for 86, the momentum had been grabbed. Murali brought England back down to earth in the final Test of the summer, and then, with a target of 36, Jayasuriya signed off in blazing manner. He smote Angus Fraser for two fours and six on one over and a stunning six over cover-point and boundary off Ben Hollioake send the normally stoic English crowd into motion.

148 v South Africa, Galle, 2000

Sri Lanka’s win in four days against South Africa owed plenty to Jayasuriya’s genius. Having won the toss, he stunned the visitors into submission, hitting 96 in the first session. It was an innings of such ferocity that Shaun Pollock, in his first Test as captain, had little clue as to what field to set. Jayasuriya began by uppercutting Pollock over gully for four and then repeated the shot, setting the tone for a clinical win. Jayasuriya kept hitting over the field, and Pollock kept the field up. Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini were also meted out harsh treatment, forcing Pollock to turn to spin after 80 minutes. Paul Adams’ first three deliveries were driven, flicked and crashed over the top for four. At lunch, Sri Lanka were 145 without loss; Jayasuriya had missed, by four runs, becoming the fifth player to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test. When he fell, for 148 from 156 balls, Sri Lanka were 211 for 2. He and Marvan Atapattu had put on 193 in 44 overs for the first wicket, then Sri Lanka’s highest partnership against South Africa.

189 v India, Sharjah, 2000

The final of the Coca Cola Champions Trophy in Sharjah could not have been more one-sided. Nor could Jayasuriya have been any better in the one-day arena. He was the architect for this win, rescuing an innings that was dipping into the doldrums with a breathtaking 189 from just 161 balls, then the second equal highest score in the history of ODI cricket.Sri Lanka were 116 for 4 in the 28th over, but the main man was still there. Together with Russel Arnold, who appeared to exert a calming influence on his captain, Jayasuriya rescued the innings. Arnold nudged an nurdled the ball around to get Jayasuriya on strike, and he timed his shorts skillfully. His iron wrists and bulging forearms created immense power in his shots and he hit four sixes and 21 boundaries in total. When he reached his century he ran amok, scoring 89 runs from 43 balls and took the game away from India.

253 v Pakistan, Faisalabad, 2004

Jayasuriya’s 253 in the second innings of the first Test against Pakistan set up a 201-run win. It was a seminal knock that made amends for Sri Lanka’s first-innings collapse and gave them complete command of the game on the third day. Jayasuriya grafted his way and strung together crucial stands along the way as Sri Lanka took a 264-run lead. It wasn’t a swashbuckling innings, which is why it gave the man so much pleasure after Sri Lanka won. After being out to a Shoaib Akhtar no-ball on 9, Jayasuriya survived a few jittery edges and slashes to buckle down. He was at ease against the spinners, sweeping Danish Kaneria with power and precision. His 13th century came up with a big six off Kaneria over long-on and cued a period of vintage Jayasuriya. His next 29 runs came in 23 balls with some peachy off-drives, and on the fourth day he continued to tear the bowling apart on his way to his third double-hundred. He almost single-handedly boosted the lead to a daunting 418, back to his devastative best. Of the 154 runs that Sri Lanka added that morning, Jayasuriya made 123, despite losing partners at regular intervals.A brilliant Jayasuriya sealed England’s whitewash in the summer of 2006•Getty Images

152 off 99 balls v England, Headingley, 2006

England by this time been walloped 4-0, with Jayasuriya reeling off a century in the second game, but his assault at Headingley, when he and Upul Tharanga put on 286 in 31.5 overs, has become a reference point for England’s one-day woes. Kabir Ali, who took the new ball, has not played since. “I am sorry about that,” Jayasuriya once recalled. “But I did want to prove a point. The method and destruction with which Sri Lanka chased down 322 was a spectacle of remarkable audacity, self-belief and skill. Jayasuriya had been doing this for years but even he, the wise old man of Sri Lanka’s side, looked over the moon after his 72-ball hundred and celebrated with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a young whippersnapper.

125 v India, Karachi 2008

Jayasuriya, had just turned 39 – an age at which some men have been known to contemplate grandfather-hood – and was very nearly upstaged by the magic of Ajantha Mendis during the Asia Cup final of 2008. He had just found a way back into the ODI side – his natural home – and paved the way for another title triumph for his side. His 27th ODI century included nine fours and five sixes and rescued Sri Lanka from the perils of 66 for four. Jayasuriya’s entire innings was built on extraordinary coordination between hand and eye, and was a remarkable effort. The best period was when RP Singh returned for a second spell: Jayasuriya tore into him with sixes on either side of the sightscreen followed by two big shots over cover and a trademark six over midwicket.

Herschelle Gibbs on his reasons for writing a tell-all book, his friends in the side, South Africa’s captains, and why he has no regrets about not having played 100 Tests

Interview by Firdose Moonda04-Nov-2010″Whenever I would make a suggestion in team meetings or in the field, I wouldn’t get taken seriously, so I stopped making them”•AFPWhy did you decide to bring out an autobiography now?
I had a period of real self-reflection when I was in rehab. It was a really enlightening and self-satisfying experience. I was booked in there for a month and I decided that I may as well make every day count and be completely truthful about my life. After everything I had been through, I wanted to focus on what I’d done wrong and where I was going. Going to rehab was the most beneficial thing I did in 20 years. When the suggestion of the book came up, I thought, what better way to be completely open? I’ve often been asked questions about these things, so I wanted to give my opinion.Former coach Mickey Arthur and team manager Dr Moosajee gave you an ultimatum: go to alcohol rehabilitation or you’ll never play for South Africa again. Did you find it hard to believe you had a problem with alcohol?

For sure. There was a period when I did drink excessively but it wasn’t like I couldn’t live without it. I drank and went balls to the wall very often. But even my close mates will tell you, I’ve never kept alcohol in my house. The counsellors that we had at rehab said, even if you go big twice a year, you have a problem. I found that quite bizarre: if somebody drinks twice a year, they’re regarded an alcoholic. If that was the case, there’d be a lot more alcoholics out there. I’ve cut down on my drinking a lot. I don’t enjoy it anymore, and it’s really quite nice to remember the things that happened the night before.A lot of people may be turned off by chapter three, which in your words is about “women and booze”. Why did you want to write about your own sexual exploits, particularly the 1997-98 tour of Australia and team orgies?
That was 12 years ago. I was in my twenties. Many people do that in their twenties. Being a cricketer doesn’t make me different. I had a fantastic time in my twenties. I didn’t mention any names or intend to get fellow players’ names blackened. I’m not that sort of person. I put it in because it’s something different readers can get from an autobiography. A lot of people said they enjoyed Andre Agassi because he talked openly about all his escapades in life. I did the same.Besides the off-field controversies, you also revealed information about a so-called “clique” that runs the national team, consisting of Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers.
It was very obvious there was a clique and it was an issue I was asked about a lot. People could see it on television – those four guys are always together. Boucher, Kallis and de Villiers were senior players and they were outspoken, so they assisted Graeme. Graeme was powerful enough to overrule Mickey [Arthur] a lot of the time.It sounds like you didn’t get on with Mickey?
I always respected my coach, at any level that I played, and I never back-chatted him. It was understandable that Mickey would react in the way that he did to the senior players. I think it’s important for a coach to have good player-management skills. Whenever I would make a suggestion in team meetings or in the field, I wouldn’t get taken seriously, so I stopped making them. Now, at the Cobras and the Deccan Chargers, I am a bit more outspoken.

“[Gary Kirsten] is just a beautiful man. During his last match I cried for hours and he kept looking at me and smiling and I just couldn’t stop crying”

Did you make any close friends in the national team?
Vincent Barnes [who initially started as the bowling coach] has been my closest friend over the last 20 years. Because I didn’t get close to any players, I took time to know the assistant coach.The one coach you didn’t mention in the book was Ray Jennings. How did you feel about his tenure?
He wasn’t coach for very long, which is why I didn’t mention it. Everybody who knows Jennings knows that he is stern, and they’ll have an idea of what a strong person he can be. He didn’t step back for anybody and he still doesn’t.Speaking of coaches, you must be pleased to see Gary Kirsten doing so well in India. Tell us about your friendship with him.

He is doing remarkably well. A lot of people don’t know that Gary can be outgoing as well. Our friendship was not only very good on the field but off it as well. We worked together so often and so strongly. Mentally we went through a lot together.An opening partnership is a tough thing to ask people to do consistently well. There are so many factors working against you. When you go out for the first session of a Test match, you don’t know what the wicket is going to do, so you have to adjust together. Our personalities complimented each other well. He is just a beautiful man. During his last match I cried for hours and he kept looking at me and smiling, and I just couldn’t stop crying.A lot of your time spent with Gary was under Hansie Cronje’s captaincy. You spoke of Hansie with great fondness, even saying you forgave him for the match-fixing scandal.
I think he couldn’t live with himself anymore after all the wrongdoings. He was still a great captain and a good person. He had his faults but everybody has their faults. Some are bigger than others.You and Gary also played under Shaun Pollock. What was the atmosphere like then?
It was an unfortunate time for Polly to take over, when everything broke. He wasn’t the kind of guy who socialised with the rest of us, so although it was good that he didn’t get too close to any players, he also kept to himself a lot of the time.What do you think of the captaincy now, both Smith and Johan Botha?
Graeme has been captain for a long time. When he took over, nobody wanted to be captain, and he put his hand up and said “I’ll do it.” To ask anyone to mature beyond their years is unfair. He has matured over the years and now he is very astute and more together. There is still a difference between him and Hansie. Graeme has got too close to a lot of the players. Johan is more like Hansie – very professional, very abrupt, but still friendly. You know where you stand with him.”I think that they should cut down on the amount of 20-over cricket played worldwide so that the interest levels are even higher when the IPL comes around”•Indian Premier LeagueWhich national batsman has most impressed you recently?
I’m very glad to see Hashim [Amla] develop into more of an all-round player. He’s tried to up his tempo in the one-day game. He’s worked on the short ball and pulling and hooking, which he needed to do to be a successful opener.Who do you think is the most promising bowler in the South African side?
Wayne Parnell. Being a left-armer definitely helps because we have needed one for so long. I think he’s got good skills, good pace and good swing. He’s also adjusted well on the international scene. It’s different for bowlers because they don’t have a bat in their hands – they are born with the tools they need, which makes it a lot easier to adapt. The important thing will be to look after his longevity.Why has South Africa not been able to win a World Cup, and can the current squad can change that?
Fear of failure. It is something I’ve seen, having played three World Cups. In 1999 we missed out because Australia had a better net run rate than ours. The team was so together and gelled at that stage that I felt if we had gone through to the final we would have been home, Jerome.In 2007 how we planned and how we executed was different. The way we lost out to Australia was completely unexpected. I was batting at No. 4 and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We had a meeting the night before and we decided we’d go about our business calmly, and no one was calm. When Mickey was around he’d always say we must play brave cricket, but we couldn’t do it when it came to the World Cup because guys sort of froze.The current squad has all the credentials to go the World Cup with the confidence and flair they have been missing.During the 2007 World Cup, some of the players were accused of being overweight and unfit. Did you feel the accusations were justified?
Any professional sportsmen, besides golfers, shouldn’t be overweight. I was guilty of it in 2003, although I was probably playing my most consistent cricket then, so I really couldn’t say too much about the weight issue. Weight and fitness can’t always be linked. For example, we had a round of golf once and had a few beers after that and still went to do the bleep test and we all passed. I think the guys have a good fitness coach now and they are all doing better. Look at Bouchie – he has never been this fit in his life. I think it’s sad that people don’t enjoy exercise; it’s good for their own health.You mention money, and how much you earned, many times in the book. Are South African cricketers underpaid?
Not underpaid but we don’t earn as much as other cricketers. Australia, who for years were always the dominant force, deserve to get paid more. But even English cricketers get huge money compared to us.Do you think young cricketers these days shy away from playing Test cricket because there is more money to be made in shorter versions of the game?
Over the last five or six years, cricket has changed. When I was starting out everyone always wanted to play Test cricket. Take someone like Kieron Pollard, for example, if I was in his shoes, I would want to test myself for five years, play Test cricket and see how good I really am, rather than just playing Twenty20 all around the world. Because of the money that he gets paid, he won’t do that.

“People sometimes ask me if I wish I could have played 100 Tests and I say no. I am happy to have played 90 Tests and not five Tests”

Do you still want to play in the Indian Premier League?
I would like to be part of the IPL, and I don’t mind which franchise I play for. We had three really good years at the Deccan Chargers but I wouldn’t mind playing anywhere else. The concept came up at a good time for people on the verge of finishing, like myself. I’ll be 37 next year, so I still have a good four years left. I think that they should cut down on the amount of 20-over cricket played worldwide so that the interest levels are even higher when the IPL comes around.Are you surprised that match-fixing scandals still exist?
Very much so, I think the game is clean. Fixing a match is not easy at all. As I wrote in the book, you need at least 90% of the team to be in on it. Also, the ICC have made many awareness programmes to prevent match-fixing and the anti-corruption unit is very strong. It’s unbelievable that’s it’s resurfaced after 10 years. In 1996 in India, Hansie offered the whole team money to throw the game. It came about again at the end of 1999. Hansie also had this power over us, so we couldn’t say no. Now it’s just stupid to try and do it. There is a lot more money to be made from cricket [legitimately] than there was then.How scared were you when you were caught out?
I was pretty scared and it’s not something I’m very proud of. I was actually quite relieved I didn’t go through with the offer to throw my wicket away. When the King Commission happened and the findings were made, I thought that maybe if I had gone through with it, that would have been tickets for me.Would you still like to play Test cricket?

I would like to, but I don’t think I will. I don’t even play four-day cricket anymore, because I think the Test team is settled. People sometimes ask me if I wish I could have played 100 Tests and I say no. I am happy to have played 90 Tests and not five Tests. I’m not a person for records.Except on the day of the 438 game?

Well, that was different. We broke the record for chasing down the highest score in an ODI, but I didn’t care about a record personally. I thought about getting 200 for about 20 seconds and I thought, “To hell with it.” There were 19 overs to get those extra 25 runs, and I thought, if I get to 200 I can give it a smack after that. I would have been the first guy to get 200 there, but it didn’t really interest me.

England had hitherto known only a docile and inaccurate Mitchell Johnson. After the second day at Perth, they realise just how destructive he can be

Peter English at the WACA17-Dec-2010England, we’d like to introduce you to the other Mitchell Johnson. Not the meek, erratic bowler your batsmen have enjoyed so much over the past year and a half, but the version who on his day is the most destructive in the world.Those days have been increasingly rare lately, but during a week of intensive training in the WACA nets he rid himself of his inferior alter-ego and rediscovered his action. Today he found a way back into the series for Australia. Last week in Adelaide he was unplayable, and dropped for the first time in his Test career; this time it was England who had no idea where the ball was going.Finally he was the bowler who could gain swing at high speed, instead of being the fragile guy England’s batsmen didn’t rate. They had no reason to – until today. Six wickets for 38 runs, including 4 for 7 in 27 balls before lunch, changed minds and momentum.Johnson had made it easy for people to give up on him. No bowler has been as frustrating after promising so much against South Africa over two series in 2008-09. Having shown he could be a wrecker, he became a wreck, spraying balls, dropping his arm and doubting his method. He was so bad even the Australian selectors gave up on him. Dropping him has reignited his career, a common theme among exceptional athletes.Sent to Perth a week ago, Johnson worked with Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, and remodelled his action successfully. He started to run in like a medium pacer instead of a sprinter, with all his energy focused on the crescendo through the crease during a huge delivery stride. It helped make his body taller, his left arm higher, and put his wrist behind the ball.Partway through the unexpected renovation something familiar started to happen – he began to swing the ball. Like snowflakes at Christmas, everyone got really excited. The Australians became delirious when it occurred in a match and Johnson’s spirit swept through a team that started to believe again.Before the series Johnson said he wouldn’t bother about swing and a match later he was out of the side. Plenty of illogical things have been said by the Australians during their extended slump, but this was among the craziest comments. When Johnson shapes the ball in he becomes a monster because the batsmen can’t leave with confidence. The South Africans found that out here two years ago, when he started his summer of devastation with a spell of 5 for 2 in 21 balls that turned into 8 for 61.This performance didn’t do as much numerical damage, but it will be priceless if it turns into a victory for Australia. The morning started like the past eight of the series, with England in control and Australia fumbling. Johnson, who delivered two controlled overs late yesterday, was saved until after Ryan Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus had failed to breakthrough.Alastair Cook has been an immoveable object for most of the series, but Johnson forced him to slice to gully, where Michael Hussey collected a smart catch. For the next four wickets Johnson didn’t bother enlisting his team-mates as he delivered a series of brutal inswingers around 140kph. Jonathan Trott attempted a drive from a full ball and was caught in front when surprised by the swerve. Three balls later Kevin Pietersen, fresh from a double-century, erred in similar fashion.Suddenly Johnson had 3 for 4 in two overs and he pumped his fist in a mixture of relief at himself and anger at his critics. No matter how high he flies, he must not forget how awful he has been over the past year and half – and how to rectify the problems when they reappear. He had to wait until the middle of a major series to do remedial work that could have been completed in the off-season or between series. It is the most stunning turnaround.Paul Collingwood somehow survived a fierce bouncer that narrowly missed his gloves and helmet, but couldn’t escape the follow-up full ball. Another late inswinger resulted in another lbw shout that was initially given not out. The Australians challenged and the replays showed Collingwood’s bat stuck in its downswing about 30cm from the ball when it crashed into his pad. England were now the ones in crisis at 5 for 98 and after a nine-over spell Johnson was given a rest.He returned almost an hour after lunch and finished off the innings when he sent Chris Tremlett’s off stump cart-wheeling and watched James Anderson glide to first slip. Anderson and Johnson have been trading verbals over the past month, but during the last two days Johnson has backed up his talk. England now know all about him – and don’t like him.

England have stood by their man, but Kevin Pietersen is yet to find a solution to his struggles against left-arm spin or chart a route back to form

Andrew Miller in Cardiff29-May-2011New beginning, same old ending. England’s cricketers may have embarked on a new four-year cycle of international commitments, but on the batting front at least, certain facets of their play have scarcely changed since the end of 2010. Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott still bat with the rigidity of guardsmen at the Royal Wedding; Ian Bell still exudes the air of a man whose repertoire is wasted at No. 5. And Kevin Pietersen still succumbs to left-arm spinners with a regularity that no-one can write off as a coincidence.In print if not in deed, Pietersen launched the 2011 summer with an onslaught of ambition, as he sought to draw a line under the events of an eventful winter, and reassert his credentials as one of the greatest England batsmen of his age. A solitary failure in a featureless contest hardly counts as evidence that his world is collapsing around him, but nevertheless, he knows, as we know, that already sceptical tongues are now wagging ten-fold.Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Rangana Herath had bowled 122 balls without reward when, in the 102nd over of the innings and his second since the arrival of Pietersen, he skidded one through from round the wicket, and pinned his man dead in front of middle. The ball, in mitigation, kept a fraction low and required a review to send him on his way, but such was the tangle of limbs with which KP had repelled his previous four deliveries, such a scenario had never seemed far from the surface.It was typical of Pietersen that, even on a day when he contributed less than 1% of England’s total, he nevertheless deflected attention from a man whose second Test double-century, and fourth 150-plus score of the past 12 months, showcased none of the jitters that are so visible in his colleague’s performances. Cold-blooded accumulation is Trott’s watchword, and for 409 deliveries spanning eight-and-a-half hours, he drained his performance of all emotion, and set about Sri Lanka with the precision and patience of a brain surgeon.Pietersen would not, could not, seek to emulate such a method – and nor would anyone wish him to try. The only sort of brain surgery he’d ever seek to carry out is a frontal lobotomy, preferably on the spinner who dares to toss one up in his slot. That is his way, and he’s never seen fit to change throughout his career. From his berserk introduction to Shane Warne in 2005, to arguably the apotheosis of his confrontational strokeplay on Sri Lanka’s last tour a year later, when he first unfurled the switch hit against an incredulous Muttiah Muralitharan, he’s attempted to impose his will on slow bowling of all shapes, sizes and reputation.It just so happens, however, that right now the reverse is true. These days the hunter has become the hunted, by one breed of spinner above all others, and the nervous energy that used to translate into slash-and-burn performances has given way to nerves, pure and simple. Even at Adelaide, during his Ashes 227, the appearance of the long-since-lampooned Xavier Doherty brought him out in an instant rash. It might not have changed the game, but how different would Pietersen’s reputation look had he succumbed to his nervy first-ball charge against Doherty, or holed out to cover when the third delivery skewed off a leading edge?Pietersen’s desire to dominate in that innings was so intense, in fact, that when, in the aftermath of that match, Nasser Hussain asked if he had now answered all doubts about his ability to play left-arm spin, he peevishly denied there was an issue in the first place. That assertion was at odds with the statistics that state he has now been dismissed by left-arm spin in 19 of his last 61 Test innings (having never fallen to the format in any of his previous 63), and on 43 occasions in international cricket all told.What is more, it also goes against the very heartfelt admission that Pietersen himself made on the tour of Bangladesh in March 2010, when he had worked tirelessly on his leaky technique against bowlers of the calibre of Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak, and ground his way to scores of 99,32,45 and 74 not out in four innings. Such a visible Achilles heel need not be a long-term issue – as Graham Gooch famously demonstrated after his struggles against Terry Alderman in 1989 – but any attempt at denial seems set to compound the problem.”With Kev it’s a case of things just not going his way in the last couple of months,” said Trott. “We saw how he can play in Adelaide, when I was quite happy to get out the way and watch him bat and score a double-hundred the way he did. Everyone in the dressing room backs Kev to the hilt, the way he has played for the last couple of years. With a tough couple of months he’s still averaging over 48 in Test cricket, so the guy’s a special talent to have in our dressing room. With Kevin Pietersen on song we’re definitely a better team.”For Trott to be talking averages was ironic on a day when his own mark briefly exceeded 70, and as players like Jimmy Adams and even Mike Hussey have demonstrated in the past, such astronomical figures may not be sustainable in the long term. Nevertheless, there was a time when it seemed that Pietersen would never settle for anything less than an average of 50. But then, in 2008, he fell to Daniel Vettori on four occasions in eight innings, and that little nugget of unease was planted in his mind.It was later that year, during his captaincy stint in India, when the first shoots of doubt started to emerge, most notably in Mohali, when the part-timer Yuvraj Singh was tossed the ball with the score on 2 for 2, and all but lured Pietersen into a fatal drive to mid-off. Since that day, every cack-hander in the industry has fancied his chances of a breakthrough, including last month the Cambridge University student Zafar Ansari. A batsman nicknamed “Ego” by the Australians has yet to find a convincing means of combating the taunting.”Everyone probably gets out to right-arm seam a third of the time as well,” said Trott, a man who could hardly be more oblivious to mindgames right now. “It’s one of those things. The best thing is not to worry about it, just go out and play. A lot of the factors…left-arm spin, left-arm this and left-arm that …I just try and go out and do the best I can and keep it as simple as I can. As cricketers you can make the game more difficult for yourself and overhype things. It’s a simple thing, a bat and a ball and you just see it and hit it.”That, in a nutshell, is the problem for Pietersen. He used to be able to do just that to such a high standard, with such an impenetrable mindset, that in the summer of 2006 it was seriously being suggested that he did not have a single weakness in his armoury. Contrast that mental fortitude with the paranoia he displayed on the eve of the series, when the assembled press corps, this writer included, found themselves reassuring England’s highest-profile cricketer that they bore him no malice, but simply wished to understand what makes him tick.”For Kev, whenever he is hitting the ball well, you know he’s in for a good day and hopefully at Lord’s he will be alright,” concluded Trott, and it’s hard to argue with that assertion. For all the excellence of the batting on display in Cardiff, there’s an aspect of the accumulation which has left many observers non-plussed. Even Trott and Cook would happily concede that there is no sight in English cricket quite like Kevin Pietersen in full flight. Sadly those flights seem as rare as Concorde these days.

On his final day in the game, Warne did not seek the limelight for himself, and enjoyed his side’s comprehensive win even as he produced a couple of moments of his trademark brilliance

Jamie Alter20-May-2011″Does it really matter?” asked Shane Warne, his orange-tinged face scrunched up and his shoulders arched, in reply to a question from a journalist whether he would have loved to bow out of competitive cricket with the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. “Why should I be remembered, at the end a 20-year career, for dismissing one batsman?”Nine minutes later, Warne replied firmly to a question about what his memories of four years captaining Rajasthan Royals were: “Personally, none. From an individual perspective, absolutely nothing. It was always been about the team, about friendship, never about me.”Thus ended the final press conference of Warne’s career. Before arriving – in a Rajasthan tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, to speak to the Indian media one last time – Warne had led his side to a thumping win over the fancied Mumbai Indians. It was the kind of underdog win which gave Warne immense pride, and he was only too eager to deflect all the attention of his retirement to the team victory. The way he knew this team could perform, and should have, more often than they did this season.Provided he doesn’t do a Martin Crowe, Warne has played his last match. He didn’t hog the limelight- four overs for 30 runs, one wicket, a catch dropped off his bowling, and a full toss to finish off – but his team absolutely smashed Mumbai to give their leader a memorable send-off. It was, thus, a fitting finale for one of the greatest cricketers of this generation, and one who defined spin bowling for his generation. The team’s success was more important than his.After all the controversies of the past week, and considering this game was against the team which had lodged a complaint over the nature of the pitch in Jaipur, the actual build-up to this match was unspectacular. Warne emerged about 40 minutes after most of his team-mates did. At 7:22, he descended the steps from the dressing room. The fans seemed to be aware of the occasion, for a roar emanated. That didn’t mean they were going to cheer him on when he came to bowl, because this was Tendulkar territory after all.Warne shook hands with a couple players and commentators, and then joined Tendulkar for the toss. The two shared a laugh or two, and then got down to business. No frills.In a sense, the scene was right for Warne. He always thrived on the pulse of a packed house, with spectators cheering and booing in equal dollops. The only time he would have bowled in front of more spectators in India in Test cricket would have been in Chennai, on the final day of the epic series of 2001. In one-dayers, it would have had to be the World Cup match of 1996 at this very venue when it, and he, carried a different look.But this wasn’t the stage for one final exhibition of a duel that, at the international level, came loaded with expectancy and intrigue. Warne knew it, maybe Tendulkar did too. The Tendulkar v Warne battle was hyped by the media. As Warne said afterwards, he was only too pleased that he didn’t get Tendulkar out because that would have detracted from the bigger picture: Rajasthan’s victory.There was nothing out of place with Warne’s movements on the field. As the music blared and the cheer-leaders swayed and the crowd roared, Warne led his team onto the field. He opened the attack with Ankeet Chavan, a left-arm spinner, with a clear plan of getting Tendulkar out. It should have worked first ball, except fellow Victorian Paul Reiffel was convinced the ball had pitched outside leg, Replays showed otherwise, and for a fleeting moment there was a feeling that the scene had been contrived.

Immediately after the match, a refreshed Warne, dressed in grey shorts and windcheater, shook hands with all of his team-mates and raised his hands to the crowd as the players made a guard of honour. He looked a bit sheepish, as if he wanted to shun the attention.

Warne, standing at short cover, put his hands to his mouth in disbelief, an act played out countless times during his career. After Tendulkar slog-swept Chavan for four, Warne had a word with his bowler. Square leg went back, mid-on came in. At the same time, wired up to speak to the on-air commentators, Warne told a story of Tendulkar inviting him for dinner during a Test series and keeping him awake until 2am. Only Warne could do that.The moment of anticipation arrived when Warne brought himself on for the ninth over. There was a suitable noise as he handed his cap to the umpire and rubbed the dirt before bowling. The over was an average one, with Warne conceding 11 including a boundary to Rohit Sharma. There was no fizz in the deliveries, and it was a rather flat over, physically and metaphorically. Warne’s second over was also unspectacular, bar one delivery when he induced a leading edge off Tendulkar’s bat which flew down the ground for a couple. In the end, there was to be no classic duel between Warne and Tendulkar – fittingly, many would say.A tidy third over was responsible for slowing down Mumbai briefly, and when Ashok Menaria spilled a catch off the first ball of Warne’s final over, the 20th of the innings, there was that familiar fingers-to-furrowed-brow reaction. But Warne wasn’t finished, and produced a sharp legbreak to fox Rohit and have him stumped.After a quick exchange with Rudi Koertzen – maybe a word about one of the lbws turned down – Warne put on his cap, shook hands with Johan Botha, Siddharth Trivedi and Shane Watson as he left the field, and spoke a few words for the TV audience. After a few blasé words on the match situation, he finished by saying: “I’m 42 this year, I’m in a great place in life, both personally and the business point of view, I just want to thank everyone who supported me.”It is that sense of support and unity that best summarises Warne’s term as captain of Rajasthan.Immediately after the match, a refreshed Warne, dressed in grey shorts and windcheater, shook hands with all of his team-mates and raised his hands to the crowd as the players made a guard of honour. He looked a bit sheepish, as if he wanted to shun the attention. He then led his team up the stairs to the dressing room, where no doubt the atmosphere would have been nostalgic.And so the curtains came down on an IPL career – it seems almost blasphemous to term it that, considering the heights Warne scaled for Australia – in which he bowled 1194 deliveries and picked up 57 wickets – joint fifth overall – at an average of 25.38. Warne’s contribution to the IPL, however, went beyond statistics. He captained a team written off as hopeless at the start of the inaugural edition to the title, and though their success tapered off in the next three seasons he has been an ever-present personality for Rajasthan, investing in youth and trying his best to get the best out of them.That, at the end of the day, was how Warne wanted to be remembered.

How does a bowler who hasn’t played for India for two years, and has had no first-class cricket since January, get in the side ahead of someone who was a big part of India’s World Cup-winning campaign?

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval18-Aug-2011If any proof was needed that this England series is turning out to be a tragicomic one for India, it came when RP Singh was told at the very last minute to strip off his training gear, tie his bootlaces and rush onto the field at The Oval to deliver the first over of the final Test. Now remember, this is RP Singh, a man who played his last Test on a flat track at Motera in 2008. The last time he bowled in a first-class match was in the Duleep Trophy for Central Zone versus South Zone, between January 26-29, where he got just three wickets in the 522-run defeat. This was a bowler who India had pulled out of cold storage, once the full extent of Zaheer Khan’s injury was revealed, a bowler who was re-entering the Test arena on the back of delivering 50 overs in 14 IPL matches.As RP Singh sprayed five out of his first six deliveries onto, or sometimes behind, England’s openers’ pads, at a pace that made it inappropriate to term him a fast bowler, people began to wonder if this was joke. On match-day eve, MS Dhoni said India were not desperate, or thinking about winning or avoiding defeat at any cost. The way they started today, it seemed they were desperate to avoid playing at any cost.At the end of the day, RP Singh revealed that Praveen Kumar had pulled out of the Test at the last possible minute. There was nothing in the morning warm-up sessions that suggested RP Singh would play; he was seen striding in delicately, delivering harmless punches at VVS Laxman in the nets. In fact, on the scorecards printed by the ECB, P Kumar was listed as No. 9 under the India column.”This morning after the warm-up when PK [Praveen] said he was not fit for the match, that is when the coach [Duncan Fletcher] came to me and told me I was playing,” RP Singh said.He did not deny that he was “nervous”. Fair enough. But then he also said that “gradually I got my line and length back”. The two spells he bowled in the little play possible today read: 7-2-19-0 from the Vauxhall End and then 3-1-5-0 from the Pavilion End. Economical, yes, but in conditions that were overcast and with a new ball in hand, he failed to beat the outside edge even once. At the media conference, he said that between his last trip to England in 2007, a series where he kept the England batsmen on their toes in the company of Zaheer Khan, and now he had equipped himself with an additional weapon – swinging the ball in to the left-handers. But today there was not one ball that he could bend in past the defence of Andrew Strauss or Alistair Cook.Despite his lack of first-class outings in recent times, and looking clearly rust at The Oval, RP Singh said he was match-fit. “I played the IPL and a few club matches. In India, the domestic four-day season is between September and March but I played a few one-day games and the IPL so I am fit for these matches.”RP Singh may come in for some criticism for his insipid performance on the first day, but can you really blame a bowler who has been struggling with form and fitness issues in the last few years for being ineffective? The big question is why and how did he become Zaheer’s replacement. Was it more out of hope than belief that the selectors picked him. Were they simply thinking about the fact that RP Singh had done so well during the victorious 2007 series and not about his recent performances? Importantly, why does Munaf Patel, a more permanent member of the India squad in the recent past, and a smart bowler who was a critical part of the World Cup-winning team, continue to warm the bench? What sort of inference does he derive when a bowler who has not featured for India in two years is played ahead of him?These and many other burning questions will continue to be asked in the coming days and weeks.

New Zealand appeared to be well placed at 133 for 2 but Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander combined brilliantly to rip out the heart of the home side

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton15-Mar-2012To change the complexion of an innings in four overs takes a bowling effort that is ruthless, relentless and is able to, as Iain O’Brien put it his tweet, get “one sniff of blood in the water and it’s feasting time.” Over the space of 20 deliveries, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander fit that description perfectly. The pair comprehensively derailed a New Zealand train that was chugging along at a comfortable pace and created a passage of play that could end up being one of the most significant in the context of the series.When Steyn and Philander are both at their best, they create a cauldron of pressure that can suffocate the batsmen with the best technique and temperament in the game. Those that do not have the best of either, have very little chance.Steyn had started within himself, bowling in the mid 130s and although he got swing from the outset, his bowling lacked venom. Some thought it was due to his ragged toe that became a television celebrity while others blamed his usual need to find his rhythm first. Steyn insists it was neither.He appeared visibly annoyed that his toe has been the recipient of such fame. “There’s actually nothing wrong with it. It’s a fast bowler’s toe,” he said. “If you go and look at Morne Morkel’s toe, they probably look worse than mine. This was one was just a little bit of a blood.” True to his word, when he displayed his toe to the media who could see it, there weren’t any signs that something was wrong.As far as his rhythm was concerned, Steyn said he felt he had hit the right notes as far back as the one-day series. “I just haven’t found the edge,” he said. “I bowled nicely in the one-day games, and thought I bowled okay in the [first] Test match on a wicket that probably didn’t suit the quickies.”Despite Steyn’s protestations, the question was still being asked: why isn’t he at his best? He felt that he always was but hinted that something extra clicked in this innings. “I know that I am bowling really well when I am bowling really quickly.” And that is the difference. For the first time on this tour, Steyn cranked up the pace to the mid 140s and stayed there. He got the ball to move into as well as away from the right-hander – the away movement accounting for the scalp of Martin Guptill, who hung his bat out to the second ball of Steyn’s second spell.By his third one, Steyn’s pace was back be and the snorter he presented to McCullum was a sign of things to come. It was a short ball that McCullum had to arch his back to watch as it zipped past his helmet. In the fourth one, the trap had been laid. McCullum had got to 50 and was pulling with confidence so a deep square was sent to the boundary and Steyn peppered him with short balls. It took just five of them for McCullum to take the bait and start a dramatic collapse.Only three times in Test cricket has a team lost five wickets without adding to the score and all three times that team has been New Zealand. Steyn prised open the defences and Philander reached in and pulled the guts right out. His stuck to his usual line in the channel outside off and had Ross Taylor caught at slip. Steyn stuck with a brutish short ball at the other end to account for Kane Williamson before Philander’s seam movement completed the carnage. Together, they left New Zealand in shreds.What was different about their destruction in this match was that they did it with the old ball as Philander found reverse swing. He complemented Steyn’s out-and-out pace, adding a new shade to their already colourful palette. “Bowling with Vernon is probably the same as bowling with any other guy but probably a little more exciting because he brings the ball back in,” Steyn said. “With Morne [Morkel] or Marchant [de Lange], it’s probably a bit more one-dimensional. But with Vernon, there’s always something happening.”Philander’s consistency has pushed Steyn into the shadows in recent times and has forced him to play a different role, which involves doing a containing job when needed. “I have to go through phases where on these pitches where the ball is not going to be pinging through and [Mark] Boucher is not going to be catching every ball above shoulder height from a length. There’s spells when you really have to dry things up and you’ve got to work with who is bowling on the other side and think, ‘Who’s more dangerous right now?’ On most days, it seems like Vernon is the guy that’s most dangerous.”Philander will not always be the chief assassin but on the slower tracks of New Zealand the threat he poses is more pronounced. The secret to making the most of that threat is to have Steyn on the other side, offering a different challenge to batsmen. Graeme Smith, in bringing Philander back on once Steyn had “put my foot down a bit and opened the door,” showed that he knows how to make sure that door gets shut as well.

Harsha Bhogle, Sharda Ugra and Osman Samiuddin discuss the slow progress in the effort to resume bilateral cricketing ties

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2012 about where the talks stand and whether a bilateral series is possible in the near future.Extracts from the discussion below. The numbers in brackets are the duration of each segment.Is the inclusion of a Pakistan team in the Champions League a starting point for a resumption of ties or a one-off? (2.00 – 7.23)
Osman Samiuddin: Sialkot Stallions have been on this run, winning seven out of nine domestic tournaments. People in Pakistan have always wanted to know how good Sialkot actually are on a world club stage. I don’t know if they’ve actively followed the Champions League as much as the IPL, but they’ve wanted to see a Pakistan side in there. Nearly every country in the world has had a club side in there and Pakistanis feel rightly angry that they haven’t been allowed a team in there. I think there will be interest this year and if it moves on to maybe having Pakistani players in the IPL next year that will be another big step as far as India-Pakistan generally are concerned.Sharda Ugra: My instinct is telling me that it is a standalone at the moment. I don’t expect corporates to be pretty courageous when it comes to something like this. They’ve shown that they didn’t want to be courageous when it came to actually making a decision.Harsha Bhogle: For all practical purposes, Azhar Mahmood is Pakistani. I know he carries a passport of a different colour, and that allowed him to come to India and play the IPL. He played for a franchise that made him feel more at home. There were young kids going up and chatting with him, using his experience and it didn’t seem to rub anyone the wrong way. To me that was one of the highlights of this year’s IPL.OS: The experience that a lot of Pakistanis had in the first year of the IPL – they spoke pretty highly of it. They spoke as other players speak of it, that it’s a great place to break down barriers and learn stuff from other players. They’ll certainly benefit from it. More than anything, it’s very important that Pakistani players should feel part of this cricketing fraternity of players from around the world. One of the biggest losses that you felt covering Pakistan over the last few years is that they have kind of felt a little disenfranchised from the rest of the world through no fault of their own. They felt a little away from the other players around the world who’ve had this great gathering point at the IPL. Even Indians and Australians are friends these days. The biggest advantage now is that at least Pakistan will be coming back into this international community of players.What about the bigger issue – bilateral series? Also, how much is cricket subordinate to political relations between the countries? (7.25 – 12.26)
HB: People are making the right noises but the right noises are not translating into the right amount of cricket. I know there’s no slot in the calendar for the next 12 months, certainly from an Indian point of view. But these slots can materialise if the need exists.SU: It could work on two fronts. Primarily, they’re going to check if the governments are okay with it and so far the governments seem like they’re okay. That can change very quickly. Secondly, what benefit will be there for the Indian and Pakistani boards to be friends with each other – mostly to the Indian board? Do you want the chairman to be with your country when you need votes, then yes, you do need the Pakistanis to be your friends. And then you say, “Okay, let’s have some bilateral cricket.” If it benefits the Indian board to be able to host the Pakistanis, they will do so.OS: In Pakistan and India, at least in these matters, it is impossible to take this kind of politics out of sport. In Pakistan and India, bilateral series always come about as a result of some political or diplomatic initiative. All that’s been happening recently – there are talks happening between the two sides, there seems to be a relative thaw after the cold days just after the Mumbai attacks. Cricket has always been one of the first beneficiaries of this kind of thaw – it happened during Musharraf’s time, Zia’s time, throughout the history of the two countries.I don’t think it’s a bad thing that it’s going a bit slowly. Rather than rush into these things and play, as Sharda well knows, some seven series in three years as they did last time, it’s okay it’s going slowly. These are two boards and two sides that are not entirely comfortable with each other. We need to take one step at a time, sit back, think, and try and be a bit more mature about how these matters play out.HB: Much as you want to wish it away, it has to be a political decision. Sharda, was it a political decision to not allow Pakistan players in the IPL? Franchises were quite happy to tell the real story. Was it cricketing or governmental?SU: It was governmental in that there was grumbling from the government. It was translated and followed on by the people of the IPL. They may not have needed to precisely do so. If you get a handful of Pakistanis to come and play, I don’t see there being a big problem. It was governmental grumbling that was turned into a political decision eventually.

“The one thing that has happened with Pakistan over the last couple of years – very slowly, they’ve somehow managed to find a way to exist and be financially… not profitable but sustainable and feasible without playing India regularly”Osman Samiuddin

How much is Pakistan’s desire to play India driven by commercial considerations? (12.27 – 14.06)
OS: I think any country that is keen to play India is very aware of the financial benefits it brings. The one thing that has happened with Pakistan over the last couple of years – very slowly, they’ve somehow managed to find a way to exist and be financially… not profitable but sustainable without playing India regularly. England, for example, has been a series that has always been a profitable one for Pakistan anywhere. The importance of that has come home to Pakistan – that you can maybe make a living outside of this because it is your reality.What difference has the new PCB chief, Zaka Ashraf, made, and can the PCB completely democratise as the ICC wants some boards to? (14.07 – 16.18)
OS: I’m not sure what kind of an administrator he is. There is enough said about him at the political level because he is close to Zardari [the Pakistan president]. One good thing that seems to have emerged about Ashraf is that he listens to his lieutenants carefully; he doesn’t interfere.[Democratisation] is going to be impossible. If you speak to senior officials in the board, for them it’s a matter of trying to push and push the ICC and keep this governance clause away. Ultimately, no president of any country wants to reduce his sphere of influence willingly.The road ahead for India-Pakistan cricket (17.35 – 20.49)
HB: My feeling is that when it comes to India-Pakistan relations, whether it is music or cricket, which are the two things that seem to bring countries together, I see a lot of polite talk, party talk, social talk, but I don’t see movement.OS: There is a bit of a thaw but you have local compulsions. You have elections coming up soonish in India and elections coming up probably next year in Pakistan as well. That will factor into anything that happens here. The talks are there, so the carrot is dangling permanently that Pakistan-India will happen. I dare say that it will happen; maybe in the next two years we might see a full series, maybe even next year given how these things work. It’s going slowly, but I think that’s okay. Have measures on the side, have Pakistanis play in the IPL and Champions League, instead of rushing headlong into it.SU: I will hope the IPL and Champions League open their doors a little bit more to have the Pakistanis in. We keep forgetting that this is a sport played at the top level by only ten countries. So you can’t make it nine and say you’re doing the right thing. Let’s at least keep it at ten to start with. It’s a great contest and it’ll give you enough money in the bank.HB: My own gut feeling is that it’s not the politicians that will eventually play a role but the businessmen. As trade opens and everyone realises the need to be together to improve trade on both sides, maybe cricket, which in the eyes of some is bending towards trade, might actually be the clinching factor.