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South Australia have willingly lost Ryan Harris after he refused to accept their two-year deal

Jenny Roesler16-Apr-2008
Ryan Harris, South Australia’s No. 1 player, is off to Queensland © Getty Images
It seems a touch crazy that struggling South Australia are happy to sit back and let their No. 1 player from last season head off to another struggling state. Ryan Harris, who was the Redbacks’ best bowler with 37 first-class wickets at 29.86 and a batting aggregate of 363, has slipped the leash and will head to Queensland once he’s played out the English county season with Sussex.But the Redbacks have a strategy – of “performance-based pay” – and their coach Mark Sorell is sticking to it. He freely admits there was enough cash in the pot to match Queensland’s bid, but to do so would not have been part of the state’s policy.”We’re very mindful of what we’re doing with the rest of our squad,” Sorell said. “Moving forward we’re looking at performance-based pay with our group. Ryan was our No. 1-ranked player. Given where he came from last year we believe it to be a very fair offer that we made.”South Australia refused to offer him anything more than a two-year deal that could be extended to three based on his output in the first year. Queensland, who finished last and already have a clutch of allrounders, offered three years straight up.Harris has not been a star in the past, and he has had his injuries too, so he had previously been on a string of 12-month deals, which wouldn’t necessarily have done his confidence much good and led him to offer his services elsewhere.However, South Australia, which has been stung previously by giving long-term deals to some of their local and imported stars such as Matthew Elliott and Greg Blewett, would consider their two-year offer very generous particularly as they stuck by him during his leaner years.Harris’ loss will clearly disappoint Redbacks fans and leave South Australia’s talent cupboard even barer following the retirements of Jason Gillespie and Darren Lehmann. The Victoria batsman Michael Klinger has joined the ship, plugging one batting hole, and they want the others filled by four fringe players from New South Wales, who they hope will sign by Monday. Quantity, it seems, has replaced quality in Adelaide.

Cricinfo runs the rule over the eight sides in the second season of the IPL

Mathew Varghese06-Feb-2009
Kevin Pietersen provides the much-needed X-factor to the Bangalore Royal Challengers © Getty Images
Bangalore Royal ChallengersWhen the team rosters were fixed last season, many commented on how the Bangalore squad was in stark contrast to the flamboyant image of its owner Vijay Mallya. A ‘Test batting line-up’ comprising Rahul Dravid, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jacques Kallis and Wasim Jaffer now has a limited-overs sheen with the induction of Kevin Pietersen, New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder and local boy Robin Uthappa. Although Bangalore sold Zaheer Khan, they are boosted by the availability of Nathan Bracken, injured through the first season. However, like Pietersen, he might be available only for a limited period. Though the attack will be led by Dale Steyn, there are a few doubts over Bangalore’s ability with the ball. Anil Kumble is unlikely to play and Praveen Kumar is their only current India international on the flat tracks of the subcontinent.Probable XI: 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Kevin Pietersen/ Ross Taylor, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Jacques Kallis/ Cameron White/ B Akhil, 7 Mark Boucher/ Shreevats Goswami (wk), 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Sunil Joshi/ KP Appanna, 10 Nathan Bracken/Vinay Kumar, 11 Dale Steyn.Kolkata Knight RidersThe big boost for Kolkata is the availability of explosive New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum – who scored the most famous Twenty20 century in last year’s tournament opener – for the whole season. Chris Gayle was unfit last time around and Kolkata will bank on his all-round abilities to help them build early momentum before he leaves for national duty. Mashrafe Mortaza, a popular signing at the auction, could find it hard to fill Umar Gul’s shoes but Ajantha Mendis could be their ace. Ishant Sharma flopped last season but he has vastly improved his skills for the limited-overs game in the past year. Also in the mix are local lad Ashok Dinda, who impressed last season, and former India internationals Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik, one of the key bowlers in Middlesex’s successful Twenty20 campaign.While Ricky Ponting and allrounder David Hussey may be called on for national duty, fellow Australians Brad Hodge and Moises Henriques, the young New South Wales allrounder, will fill the breach. Cheteshwar Pujara, considered by many to be an India prospect, could well be a value addition.Probable XI: 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Chris Gayle/Brad Hodge, 3 Sourav Ganguly, 4 David Hussey/ Moises Henriques, 5 Cheteshwar Pujara, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Shukla, 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Ajantha Mendis.Deccan ChargersThey finished bottom last season but their moves this time don’t inspire much optimism. Deccan’s batting woes were well documented – Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris failed to make an impact – but their bowling was the weakest in the competition. RP Singh was unable to repeat his ICC World Twenty20 heroics, while Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa posed little threat. This time, Deccan brought Fidel Edwards and another West Indian, the allrounder Dwayne Smith, having signed Australian allrounder Ryan Harris before the auction. Edwards is quick but he can be an expensive gamble in the Twenty20 format. Good news for Deccan will be left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha’s impressive tour of Sri Lanka with India.In the batting department, only Adam Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao performed well last season. Deccan will be keeping close tabs on Andrew Symonds. If his exclusion from the Australian side is prolonged, Symonds could be available for the entire season, a much-needed boost for the side. Whether VVS Laxman, who was replaced as captain, will be a regular in the team this year remains to be seen.Probable XI: Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 D Ravi Teja, 3 Andrew Symonds/Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Venugopal Rao 6 Dwayne Smith/ Scott Styris, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Chaminda Vaas/Nuwan Zoysa/Fidel Edwards, 10 RP Singh, 11 DP Vijaykumar.Kings XI PunjabPunjab, semi-finalists last season, are largely sticking to the line-up that helped them succeed last year. Their only signings this season are West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor and England allrounder Ravi Bopara. Opener Shaun Marsh could be away on duty for Australia and that would be a concern for Punjab, with Brett Lee and James Hopes also set to miss out. They bid frantically for Mortaza, perhaps to ensure having a bowler available for the entire season. A surprising fact that emerged at the auction was that Ramnaresh Sarwan was not on a three-year contract with Punjab – he remained unsold at this auction. What could be worrying, though, is the form of Sreesanth, whose fortunes too have been on the wane since he picked up an injury during the tournament last season. Punjab’s Indian bowlers had done the trick last season, and their team could suffer if that is not the case this time.Probable XI: 1 Shaun Marsh/ Luke Pomersbach 2 James Hopes/ Sunny Sohal, 3 Kumar Sangakkara/ Uday Kaul (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Ravi Bopara/ Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava/ Sohal 7 Karan Goel 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh/ Brett Lee.Chennai Super KingsImposing is the word that best describes Chennai’s squad after the second auction. A team modelled around Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has the inspirational Andrew Flintoff – commanding a higher salary than Dhoni – and Matthew Hayden is also available for the full tournament. Hard-hitting allrounder Albie Morkel, Man of the Series in Australia recently, is another of the team’s key players, and the embarrassing wealth of talent shows in the fact that Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacob Oram have been overshadowed. Flintoff bolsters the bowling while Sri Lankan left-armer Thilan Thushara could be the dark horse among the foreign recruits. Chennai’s third signing at the auction was Tasmanian batsman George Bailey, but he is unlikely to feature given the team has consistent performers in Suresh Raina and S Badrinath. Another big plus is that barring Flintoff and Hussey, all their foreign recruits are available for most of the season.Probable XI: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey/ S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 5 S Badrinath 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Andrew Flintoff/ Jacob Oram/ Joginder Sharma, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini/ P Amarnath.Delhi DaredevilsDelhi no longer have Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif, but their line-up is even more dangerous this season because of David Warner and the England duo of Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood. Delhi have reason to be pleased with their homework before the Goa auction; their scouts had been lurking around Australia and they have brought in potential impact players. Warner’s sensational Twenty20 international debut against South Africa whet the appetite and there are other hopefuls from Australia in allrounder Andrew McDonald, who too debuted for Australia after joining Delhi, and left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes, an out-and-out Twenty20 specialist.
Dirk Nannes is a handy addition to a formidable Delhi Daredevils pace attack © Getty Images
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are undoubtedly the most potent opening combination in the tournament, while Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori bring the experience to the bowling. The likes of Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik have been in good touch so far this year. With most of their foreign players free for tournament, the only headache for Delhi could be getting their XI right.Probable XI: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan/ Owais Shah, 4 Manoj Tiwary/ David Warner, 5 AB de Villiers/ Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Rajat Bhatia/ Paul Collingwood, 7 Daniel Vettori 8 Amit Mishra/ Ashish Nehra, 9 Farveez Maharoof/ Yo Mahesh, 10 Dirk Nannes/ Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Glenn McGrath.Rajasthan RoyalsThe inaugural champions managed to work out a winning formula under the guidance of Shane Warne, and expect more of the same this year too. Their Indian players were not the best of the lot, but Warne turned them into a formidable unit, and found two highly successful foreign recruits in Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. Tanvir is unavailable and Watson doubtful due to Australia’s schedule and fitness worries, but Rajasthan have found adequate replacements at the auction. Shaun Tait is tailor-made for Twenty20, capable of short bursts of quick bowling, and Tyron Henderson, one of the surprise picks at US$650,000, has been highly successful for Middlesex. It will be a tall order to match Watson’s heroics from last season, but Henderson is an impact player in this format. The team will also be boosted by the availability of Morne Morkel and Justin Langer. Both missed the inaugural edition due to their commitments with English counties.Dimitri Mascarenhas could also fill in as an allrounder but Rajasthan’s main worry would be Graeme Smith. His might undergo surgery on his elbow after Australia’s visit to South Africa, which could put his IPL participation in doubt. Nonetheless, the champions have proven themselves with lesser-known names.Probable XI: 1 Graeme Smith/Niraj Patel/ Justin Langer 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Mohammad Kaif,, 4 Shane Watson/ Tyron Henderson/ Dimitri Mascarenhas 5, Yusuf Pathan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Shaun Tait/ Morne Morkel, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.Mumbai IndiansMumbai made three buys in the auction. JP Duminy was snapped up for a whopping $950,000, while Mohammad Ashraful could be a steal for the Twenty20 format at $75,000; in between, fast bowler Kyle Mills, who will help compensate for the missing Shaun Pollock. Zaheer Khan, on current form, is a vital addition to cover up for the South African’s bowling skills. In another swap, Mumbai sold Ashish Nehra and brought in Delhi’s Shikhar Dhawan, a move to compensate for Uthappa’s departure. Dwayne Bravo, a successful replacement player for the team last year, was given a permanent deal. Two other key signings also came before the auction. They are limited-over specialists from the English county circuit, allrounders Graham Napier and Ryan McLaren – a Kolpak player South Africa wanted to get back after their ODI losses in England last year.The team has three Sri Lankans in Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, all of whom are available for the entire tournament. Mumbai were unlucky last time to miss Sachin Tendulkar, who was injured, and Harbhajan Singh – banned for his infamous slap – for the bulk of the tournament. If they manage to get it right, they would perhaps be able to do justice to Mumbai’s tag of domestic giants.Probable XI: 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 & 5 Dwayne Bravo/ Ryan McLaren/ JP Duminy/ Graham Napier, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Lasith Malinga/ Dilhara Fernando/ Kyle Mills.

Twenty-eight players made their international debuts the same years as Sachin Tendulkar. We look at what 20 of the better-known ones went on to do

Sidharth Monga14-Nov-2009Trevor Hohns
Played his last Test the same year, and retired from first-class cricket two years later. Went on to be Australia’s national selector – for 10 years the chairman of the committee – during which time Mark Waugh and Ian Healy were shown the door, and Steve Waugh’s ODI captaincy was taken away. Runs a sporting-goods business now.Mark Taylor
Retired aged 35, with 104 Tests and 7525 runs to his name. Is a commentator now. Tendulkar had played the same number of Tests by the time he was 29, and scored 8770 runs in them.Greg Campbell
Uncle to Ricky Ponting, Tendulkar’s only rival left standing, Campbell made his international debut the same year as Tendulkar.Angus Fraser
Played three Tests and three ODIs against Tendulkar, getting him out bowled once in a losing cause in an ODI at Trent Bridge. Now gets a chance to watch him bat and write on it and get paid for it by the .Mike Atherton
Retired having played 115 Tests. Is many things Tendulkar isn’t: broadcaster, author, journalist. Wrote one of the better pieces on Tendulkar when the latter overtook Brian Lara as the highest run-getter in the world.Devon Malcolm
Last played a Test in 1997 and a first-class match in 2003; has written , and has also appeared on television show .Alan IgglesdenWas diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 1999, a year after he retired from first-class cricket. Has survived the tumour through medication, and works as sports master at Sutton Valence school in Kent.John StephensonPlayed just one Test, but ended his 21-year first-class career in 2006. Is now MCC’s head of cricket, and is involved with a futuristic move – the use of the pink ball in cricket.Salil Ankola
Played one Test and 20 ODIs before moving to greener pastures, such as Bollywood, music videos and TV. Has acted in five films, and one horror show on TV.Waqar YounisBloodied Tendulkar on his debut, and had many a duel with him, but retired after the 2003 World Cup. Waqar has been a bowling coach, has now moved to Australia and is a TV commentator.Vivek RazdanSomething of a prodigy like Tendulkar, Razdan was brought into the Test side based on just two first-class matches. Played only two Tests and three ODIs, retired from first-class cricket in 1993-94, and now commentates on Indian domestic cricket.Chris CairnsRegular injuries meant he couldn’t play the same volume of cricket as Tendulkar, but his international career did span close to 17 years. Lives in Dubai now, and makes sporadic appearances in promotional or charity matches.Akram Raza
Played nine Tests and 49 ODIs over a period of six years and was one of six players fined by the PCB after the match-fixing episode.Dammika Ranatunga
Oldest of the Ranatunga brothers, he quit first-class cricket in 1995-96; Tendulkar was 22 then. Dammika has spent time as chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket.Saeed Anwar
After quitting all cricket in 2002-03, became a , and is far removed from life as a cricketer.Alec Stewart: quit four years ago•Will LukeRobin Singh
After a rather gutsy career, worked with Tendulkar as the team’s fielding coach. There, too, has been outlasted by Tendulkar: the BCCI recently sacked Robin. The association, though, continues in the Mumbai Indians IPL team.Mushtaq Ahmed
After Test retirement, spent years as a cult hero with Sussex, then jeopardised his county career by signing up with ICL. Is now England’s full-time spin-bowling coach.Steve Rhodes
Played only 20 international matches, but his 440-match first-class career ended only in 2003. Is now Worcestershire’s director of cricket.Alec Stewart
Is the seventh most-capped player in Tests. Quit playing in 2003. Is on Surrey’s coaching staff now.Robert Haynes
Had an eight-ODI career, and has finished an eight-year coaching stint with Jamaica. Is one of West Indies’ current selectors.Nasser Hussain
The man responsible for the left-arm over-the-wicket theory that worked temporarily against Tendulkar. Has been retired for five years now, and is a respected broadcaster and writer.Sanath Jayasuriya
Tendulkar’s lone co-survivor from 1989 – but he started out in Tests only in 1991, and gave them up in 2007 to prolong his limited-overs career. Is Tendulkar’s team-mate at Mumbai Indians, and the oldest centurion in ODI cricket.

The unsafe pitch for the fifth India-Sri Lanka ODI, at the Kotla, had the players, the press and officials in a tizzy

28-Dec-2009″It’s a hair transplant pitch with bald patches …”
“Luckily, most of our batsmen were left-handers, so the ball was actually going away from them. If there were right-handers batting, they would’ve probably got hit on the chest or head.”

“I took blows on my helmet, shoulder, knuckles… Batting was tough, but I had to stay put.”

“Our failure, including mine, was not to insist on having trial games on the pitch before allowing an international match to take place.”

“What happened today at the Feroz Shah Kotla was a national embarrassment.”

“It should not have happened. I watched the match a bit on TV and it was terrible to see such an incident taking place.”

“We tested the two pitches using net bowlers and the bounce on this one seemed better. We didn’t expect this.”

“Instead of cutting the grass, they rolled it down with a heavy roller. And the blades of the rolled grass rose back when the ball landed on them, causing sharp bounce.”

“If the DDCA does not take any step then I will force them to.”

“What is particularly troubling about the entire affair is that the world’s richest cricket board cannot ensure the basic playing conditions needed to stage international matches. This raises the question as to what the BCCI does with the enormous sums of money that it makes from the game.”
“The DDCA [Delhi & Districts Cricket Association] needs to be put in the dog house.”
“We have sought BCCI’s comment and given them 14 days time to respond. Thereafter, Ranjan Madugalle and Dave Richardson will determine the issue to decide what is an appropriate sanction.”

“This pitch did not allow players to play with any confidence and was totally unsuitable for international cricket.”
“Sri Lanka were at 83 for 5 and that’s why they backed out… it was the Sri Lankans who chickened out.”

With his international retirement confirmed, Makhaya Ntini is already busy building his legacy in South African cricket

Liam Brickhill02-Nov-2010Makhaya Ntini’s international career is now officially at an end, but his sights are set firmly on the future. In September he took the decisive step towards launching a cricket academy under his own name in the Eastern Cape, and a man who has become a sporting icon and symbol for hope in his homeland will leave an indelible mark on the community that nurtured his earliest humble beginnings as a cricketer.The sod has been turned at the site that will eventually become the Makhaya Ntini Cricket Academy at Willows Cricket Club in Mdantsane, a township just outside East London. Fittingly, it is not far from Ntini’s home village of Mdingi, where he spent his early boyhood herding cattle before his talent was discovered. The region, which continues to bear the burden of decades of neglect under apartheid, has also been home to some of the most influential figures in South African history – Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Steve Biko, and Nelson Mandela were born here – and if Ntini’s vision is fully realised, the academy could well change the landscape of South African cricket.”Without a doubt my own roots have had a massive influence on what I’m doing,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “It is part of my duty as this is where I came from as well. I want to make sure that even if I’m not there anymore, not playing for South Africa, that there’s something that I can give back to the people of South Africa and try to go out there and look for the best cricketers for the future. I owe that to the people. I cannot just disappear and not use my experience to guide the youngsters and give them a taste of what life is all about when you become a cricket star.”A state-of-the-art facility is planned, and will provide aspiring cricketers from the surrounding region with all the necessary opportunities to develop their skills. As well as an indoor grass wicket and three artificial turf nets, which could also be used to accommodate indoor cricket, soccer and netball, the facilities will include a fully-equipped gym, computer centre, conferencing facilities, accommodation for visiting coaches and some of the best cricket coaching facilities in the country.”A friend of mine at Old Mutual asked me what I would like to leave behind as a legacy, so I said to her it would be very nice if I could build an academy for the kids. It’s all getting started now. We’ve drawn up the plans and done lots of investigation to get the land and get the plans right. That’s all on track, which is good. We’re going to start building next year. It might take about eight months so before next Christmas we should be done.”Talent will be drawn from the surrounding regions of the Eastern Cape, and Ntini envisions cricketers coming to the academy from as far away as Umtata in the East, Aliwal North near the border with the Free State and Port Elizabeth in the West and a fully-integrated programme that involves local schools. An elite squad of 20, aged 19 to 24, will train full-time at the academy and will also help professional coaches in the training of younger cricketers of school-going age.”We’ve looked around the scenario of the Eastern Cape being one of the biggest black communities that, with regard to cricket, does not have any great facilities,” he explained. “The youngsters only play cricket at school, and then after that there’s nothing. So whatever we do we’re going to combine it with the local schools, so the schools have an opportunity to use the facilities, to bring their teams in and come and enjoy and be coached by people who’ve done it before and can help the cricketers in the Eastern Cape.”The Eastern Cape was created out of the former Xhosa homelands of the Transkei and Ciskei in 1994, and though it has benefited from significant development since then, poverty levels remain some of the highest in South Africa, with children bearing the brunt of the hardship. With few opportunities and little hope for the future in the many sprawling ‘locations’ – another hangover from the old regime – social problems such as teenage pregnancies, substance abuse and crime are rife. These ills have not escaped Ntini’s attention, and his academy will aim to cater for those who would otherwise never have the opportunity to make the most of their sporting talent.An artist’s impression of the academy’s main building•Old Mutual”The whole thing I’m trying to build here is that I want the kids to come in and enjoy the facilities for free. I never paid when I started my cricket career, so why would I want to do that to others? This academy is not about your dad paying a lot of money to get you in, no. It’s about anyone, even the poorest, getting the opportunity to achieve something if they are talented. It’s about making sure that those that never had a chance to show others how talented they are get that chance. Now is the time to make that happen.”The South Africa in which Ntini grew up has been replaced by a multi-racial democracy with every reason to hope for a better future. But that is not to say that every inequality has been erased, and he has been outspoken on the issue of the transformation of South African cricket to more accurately reflect the make-up of the country. The existing structure to identify black cricketers in the country’s rural areas is not yielding the desired results, argues Ntini, and that is another problem he is hoping the academy might help to rectify.”For me, this is just what I believe in and it’s just a way to move forward and get it right,” he said. “Now there won’t be an issue of saying ‘where are we going to find young black cricketers?’ We don’t want to hear about that anymore, that transformation is very slow. Now it’s time that all of that gets put aside and we start working on a different point of view.”Ntini has a dream, and he certainly isn’t afraid paint that dream on the largest possible canvas even as he fights to turn it into a reality. Having been part of the Proteas set-up for over a decade, and having turned out more recently for Chennai Super Kings in the internationally-flavoured Indian Premier League, he has established friendships with cricketers around the world and hopes that a few of the big names will add some glitter and world-class quality to his project.”I’ve spoken to Murali, I’ve spoken to Tendulkar, to Dhoni,” he said, the excitement clearly audible in his voice. “Those are the people that I think will bring the whole international understanding of what I’m trying to achieve in South Africa. They’ve all said to me that they’re only a call away. I’ve spoken to Courtney Walsh, to Ian Bishop. Those guys understand all about fast bowling. If you’re talking about spin, who better to help than Murali, who has taken 800 Test wickets? It’s something that I looked at when the academy was getting started, just to get any of them – Brian Lara or whoever is not busy at the time – to come and help out. It’s amazing, because nothing like this has ever happened in South Africa. It’s really, really exciting.”I want the academy to be recognised world-wide. Exchange students could come here and experience the South African soil, and some of my students might love to go and experience Ireland, or England, or even Zimbabwe. I want to have as much communication and friendship with other countries around the world as possible. We’d love to have people coming over here from India to show our kids how to bowl spin, and someone from India might also want to come to South Africa and learn how to play fast bowling on bouncy wickets. The friendship that we can create between countries will be unbelievable.”But while Ntini’s enthusiasm for the project is seemingly boundless, there remains a lingering fear that his grand ambition might never be realised, that the academy might never be built. It had initially been launched in 2008, but a lack of funding and players’ busy schedules meant it never got off the ground. This time, he has stronger financial backing but is still some distance off the R15 million needed to complete the project.”I’m excited but at the same time worried. The worry that I have is that this is something that we all talk about but the time to get to the point where we actually start doing something is very, very slow. That’s why I’m so worried, wondering if this thing will actually take off. I’m just waiting and crossing my fingers. We just need to get the sponsorship and keep this happening. I can’t wait to see this project up and running.”There was something that really broke my heart the other day when I went to do some coaching with the Warriors, actually in one of the townships that is going to benefit from this academy. When I got there I was so depressed to see the facilities that were being used. The poor communities are so far behind the stage of being equal with the schools that surround them in East London.”So that’s why I’m pleading to each and every person, whoever could say with a sincere heart ‘let’s build this thing and show what we can do for the black people’. This academy is not for me, it’s for the black people, the poor people, and even more so, honestly, for the whole of South Africa. We need to bind together and make this thing happen.”Ntini’s final appearance for his country came against England in Durban last December, but he had long since been established as a hero in his homeland. If his vision is fully realised his name may well be mentioned one day in the same breath as Sisulu, Tambo and Mandela as one of the most beloved sons of the Eastern Cape soil.For more information on the Makhaya Ntini Cricket Academy, or if you would like to contribute to the fundraising campaign, please contact Rojie Kisten at [email protected]

Team-mates and opponents alike applaud Tendulkar’s incredible achievement

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2010″For him, a Test match begins two days earlier, preparing for it. He wants to face the maximum number of balls at the nets. You will not see him play a loose shot at the nets.”
“When we used to play, we thought no one can break Sunil Gavaskar’s record. No one could think about 50 Test centuries at that time. This is certainly a big knock under the circumstances, better than the 200s and 300s.”
“There wouldn’t be one side in the world that wouldn’t want Sachin as their first wicket, pointing their ship toward victory.”
“I try to watch the matches in which he is playing because I have not seen anyone gifted with such natural technical batting excellence, which he has combined with his hard work and commitment. He is indeed a phenomena and a role model for every young batsman.”
“I’ve never imagined that someone can go this level and play for more than 20 years. It’s an incredible feat.”
“I’d like to ask him just how he has managed to work so hard to stay at the top for so long and what advice he’d give other sportsmen.”
“If I’m a cricketer, it’s because of Sachin Tendulkar. Else, I would have never picked up a bat. He’s the reason behind me playing cricket.”
“It was clear to us even when he walked out to bat in that Test as a teenager that he had talent. The fact that he has been around for 21 years and done justice to that god-gifted talent in both forms of the game is an achievement any cricketer would be proud of.”
“When I first bowled to Sachin Tendulkar, I almost felt sorry for this small-built 16-year-old, who looked 14.”
“How do you describe such a man? Ninety-six international centuries, fifty of them in Tests all over the world, it’s fantastic.”
Tendulkar’s feats do the impossible: leave Bishan Bedi at a loss for words

England fear nothing about the challenge that awaits them on this tour. The only way they’ll be beaten is on the field, not in the head

Andrew Miller at the Gabba29-Nov-2010Australia’s formidable unbeaten run at the Gabba remains intact for another year, but that was one of just a handful of records that withstood England’s flood of runs on the final day of the Brisbane Test. With Alastair Cook eclipsing Bradman as the highest individual scorer on the ground, and Australia’s own triple-century stand being knocked off its perch by Cook’s 329-run partnership with Jonathan Trott, England secured themselves a moral victory as invaluable, if not more so, than their last-ditch escape at Cardiff in 2009.Cardiff was uplifting for England, without a shadow of a doubt, but the game still finished with questions in almost every department. The spinners had been ineffective, Andrew Flintoff’s knee was a cause for concern, and while the elation of their last-ditch let-off was real, it could not disguise the fact that England’s tenth-wicket pairing had been forced to save the day at a venue where Australia had themselves racked up 674 for 6, the highest total in post-war Ashes history.Sixteen months later, and the scenario is very different. After conceding a scarcely credible 517 for 1 in the third innings of the match, Australia’s immediate reaction to a day of deep humiliation was to call not one, but two fast bowlers into their squad for Adelaide. It was an instant admission that, for all the jubilation that surrounded Peter Siddle’s hat-trick on an emotionally charged first afternoon, there was only one team in this match that ever looked capable of claiming 20 wickets.”One for 500 is a pretty demanding scorecard,” admitted Ricky Ponting at the close. “I felt I exhausted all options in terms of trying different things with the field, but we couldn’t break their top three or four players. I thought they played exceptionally well against the new ball, and it was hard work for our boys. If we get another flat wicket in Adelaide, we’ve got to make sure we’re a whole lot better than we were in this game.”Had this match been taking place in Ahmedabad or Lahore, the focus at the end would surely have been on the pitch – a dreadful slab of tarmac that got flatter as the match wore on, and later caused Ponting to remark that he’d never known it slower. And while inquests are to be encouraged, because such benign surfaces are a blight on Test cricket as a whole, the immense scale of England’s achievement cannot be overlooked. This is the Ashes, the longest and most storied Test series in the game, and right at this moment, they’re writing a major chapter.England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, was his usual cautious self after the match, as he sidestepped leading questions about “all this momentum chat”, and settled for reiterating the deep well of confidence within the squad. But the contrast between the frazzled emotions of day one and the insolent contentment of their batting on the final day could scarcely have been more stark.”At the end of day three it wasn’t looking good, so to come back and draw [gives us] a lot of belief we can go on and win the series from here,” said Strauss. “We’ll have a spring in our step going to Adelaide, but we have to transfer that to the pitch. It’s all very well strutting about in the hotel lobby feeling good about yourself. You need to make sure that turns into runs and wickets.”There’s no doubt, however, that the Gabba experience will have emboldened the squad far more than he was letting on. Ashes openers are contests in which England have habitually been slaughtered. In 11 series spanning the past 21 years, they’ve succumbed to eight thumping defeats and two losing draws, and only once in that time, at home in 1997, did they manage to buck the trend with an astonishingly unlikely win. The team in those days was too fragmented to capitalise, however, and Australia roared back with three wins in the next four games.Do the Australians of 2010 possess the necessary bouncebackability? It’s hard to see how they can cultivate a winning feeling overnight, especially against an England side who’ve settled into their Australia tour with such ease that they were able to treat the last day of the Test match as an extension of their warm-up itinerary. After two wins and an impressive draw at Perth, Adelaide and Hobart, they were able to batter their Test opponents against an echoingly empty backdrop, before electing to have a two-hour bowling work-out, just to see what they could do. Not a whole lot, as it happens, but at such a late stage of a previously tumultuous game, that wasn’t really the issue anymore.What was far more relevant was the quashing of preconceptions, particularly those that abounded about the Gabba, a venue whose reputation had been built up so ferociously before a ball had been bowled, England might have been forgiven for thinking they were playing the Test in a mediaeval dungeon, with buckets of burning oil being poured down from the stands for good measure.For the first day in particular, that really did seem the case, and the wall of sound that greeted Strauss’s duck was incredible. But the final day echoed only to the chants of the Barmy Army, with English fans making up more than 80% of a paltry 7088 crowd. “I forgot where I was at one stage today, it was like being back at The Oval,” said Ponting. He said it with a smile, but the grimace was hard to suppress. With the Melbourne and Sydney Tests sure to be similarly colonised, regardless of the weakness of the pound, this was Australia’s banker venue, as it always has been. And between the performance and the support, they blew it.Whatever happens in the remainder of the series, England will not be as racked with anxiety as they were in the opening stages of this match, a fact that Cook – whose first-innings 67 was arguably the most crucial of his twin contributions – was keen to point out. “The night before I was probably the most nervous I’ve been,” he said. “The drive into the ground, the hype, the national anthems… it’s a very nerve-racking time. I was very disappointed after getting out for 67, and I was ultra-determined to make it count if I got in again. But getting through the first couple of hours gave me a lot of confidence because I hadn’t done it in an Ashes series.”On Tuesday the team relocate to Adelaide, a ground that harbours arguably the most painful Ashes memories of England’s recent past, following the nature of their final-day capitulation back in 2006. As it happens, the fifth day at the Gabba had dawned with one or two references to that match, seeing as the lead at the start of play had been 88 with nine wickets standing, compared to the 97 and nine that ebbed away four years ago.But the comparisons were shelved almost before they were raised. England fear nothing about the challenge that awaits them on this tour. The only way they’ll be beaten is on the field, not in the head.

Australian cricket may be under review for its problems, but its umpiring system still serves as a blueprint for the rest of the world

Adam Wakefield03-Jul-2011As the game has become more professional, and richer, the pressure on umpires to get it right has risen at a steady pace. Imagine the demands on Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar when umpiring this year’s World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai, with thousands in the stadium and over a billion outside it willing the home side on to victory. How does one go about preparing an umpire for a day like the one Taufel and Dar faced? For an answer, Australia would be a good place to look.Of the 18 officials who did duty at the 2011 World Cup, five were from Australia – the largest representation by any nation on the tournament panel. On the ICC’s Elite Umpire panel, four out of 12 are Australian. Clearly they are doing something right, with Taufel having won the ICC Umpire of the Year award five times in succession.How does the Australian system work, and why is it so successful at producing a relatively high number of top-quality officials? For answers to those questions, I spoke to Denis Burns and Sean Cary, Cricket Australia’s Umpire Educator and Umpire Manager respectively.Cary, a former Western Australia fast bowler with 102 first-class wickets, describes the typical path of an Australian umpire: starting from community cricket, then feeding into the state association programmes and umpire courses on offer. The elite from there are selected for state panels that supply officials for the national CA men’s competitions, such as the Under-17 and Under-19 tournaments.The umpires who progress from there move to CA’s emerging umpires’ programme, where each umpire is worked with individually. Apart from detailed assessment of their on-field abilities, off-field factors such mental health, nutrition and fitness are all monitored. For example, weight and fluid loss are recorded from game to game, as is the amount an umpire moves. All this data is used to craft a holistic picture of an umpire’s performance.”The game is taken very seriously from community level onwards,” says Burns, who worked in umpire education for many years before joining Cricket Australia after the 2008 season. “Umpires who evolve from that system, who also have history of playing in that competitive environment, bring that work ethic with them.”What we do at Cricket Australia is pick up those guys who are emerging at state level and put sufficient training and support in place to make sure they hit the ground running if the call comes at national or international level.”An advantage Australian umpires have over those from other countries is that their domestic travel schedules are nearly as demanding as international itineraries, as Burns points out. You pass through several time zones when flying from Perth to Adelaide or Melbourne. “We make heavy physical demands in terms of travelling, and if they were not physically fit it would be difficult to cover the lifestyle we impose on them,” he says.Burns believes the approach towards self-assessment that the Australian umpiring system encourages allows officials to reflect on and improve their performances. Self-evaluation is seen as the first step to overcoming barriers. “It’s not a non-mistake culture,” he says. “They know that if there are mistakes, they are stepping stones in terms of their own learning and they’re very open in sharing that.”An important element within the support structure is the five-member Umpire High Performance Panel, which has two key roles at domestic matches – acting as the match referee, and more importantly, assessing the umpires’ performance. “They’re the mentoring team to our umpires,” Cary explains. These are the men who are sounding boards when the umpires need to critique themselves, discuss their issues or problems.

An advantage Australian umpires have over those from other countries is that their domestic travel schedules are nearly as demanding as international itineraries. You pass through several time zones when flying from Perth to Adelaide or Melbourne

And they don’t all come from cricketing backgrounds. One member has previous and current experience working with the Australian Football League in referee training and development; another is a former referee from the Australian Rugby Union. This brings a mix of umpiring skills and techniques from different sports to the table.What makes the process effective is, it is two-way: the umpires also assess the effectiveness of the panel. Burns says the concepts of critiquing and being open to learning something new make have an important role, since “everyone wants to improve their game, but they also know the game changes and people change”.This approach can be seen after every inter-state game, when a member of the panel meets the umpires and captains to discuss issues and concerns from the match. Such an open conversation between umpires and players right after a game, when the emotions are still unchecked, seeks to bring the two parties closer, unlike in the days when the captains and umpires sat in different rooms.Burns and Cary supervise the Umpire Project Panel, the aim of which is to assist former first-class players who are interested in becoming umpires. Of the project’s previous three candidates, Rod Tucker is now a member of the ICC Elite Panel, and Paul Reiffel and Paul Wilson are on Australia’s 12-strong national panel. Shawn Craig, currently part of the programme, went from having never umpired before to standing in a second-grade final in his first season.Keeping former first-class players involved is an important part of Cricket Australia’s umpire-retention strategy. Burns explains why former players make good umpires: they are able to go and “meet their mates who are still playing state cricket or even international cricket and say, ‘Hey, I might have well given these guys some stick when I was playing but now, on the other side of the fence, I can tell you it is a bloody hard job.'”Former cricketers bring a level of credibility to umpiring roles based on their history as players, which Burns and Cary believe helps bridge the gap in communication between players and umpires. Ex-players have the advantage of being able to offer a player’s point of view on a variety of issues.Three years ago Cricket Australia introduced a Level 1 umpiring course that focuses not so much on the laws and the fine print of the game as on ensuring that once a person completes the course, he is able to go back to his community to administer a game of cricket such that everyone on the field has fun and enjoys the match. CA hopes that the wider provision of a focused Level 1 course will lead to a higher retention rate, since often the challenge is as much keeping an umpire in the system as it is getting them involved. The board is also looking to offer the course in schools as a supplement, in the hope that it will lead to a new generation of younger umpires, who will pursue the craft seriously later in life.While the Level 1 programme may still be relatively new, CA values it to the extent that those involved in teaching it are often on the national panel, or former Test umpires, or current members of the ICC Elite Panel. It is not uncommon to hear about Taufel doing a seminar on self-assessment, or former Test umpires Darrell Hair or Dave Orchard speak about the role of the umpire to a group of novices.In Burns and Cary’s view, using such high-level presenters shows CA is serious about attracting new umpires to the game, and about offering an environment where those good enough move through a system designed for the ultimate benefit of officials, players and spectators.Australian cricket has acknowledged the importance of the continued development of umpires, and through these projects and programmes has evolved its approach to suit the modern game. These programmes, combined with the culture of cricket in the country, have allowed Australian umpires at the international level to have self-belief and to know that they deserve to be there, and belong there.I took the Level 1 course before meeting Burns and Cary, and now, after hearing their point of view, Australia’s continued and evolving success from an officiating standpoint doesn’t surprise me at all. It isn’t surprising because it is expected.

The 2009 Champions League Twenty20 launched in front of a full Chinnaswamy; two years on the same stadium was only 60% full for the tournament opener

Siddarth Ravindran at the Chinnaswamy Stadium 23-Sep-2011Two years ago, the Champions League Twenty20 launched with a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and South Africa’s Cape Cobras. Walking into the Chinnaswamy Stadium an hour before that game, you were greeted by a packed and partying crowd. A nifty laser show followed by an on-field opening ceremony headlined by Shaggy left the fans pumped for the match.This time, though, walking in an hour early you were greeted by rows of empty seats. There was the incongruous sight of rapper Jay Sean belting out his hits from a stage near the North Stand when the actual stars, the players of the two teams, went through their fielding drills and warm-up sessions in the middle. Some of the cheerleaders were gyrating in front of barely populated stands. Just outside the stadium, you met touts trying to dispose of complimentary tickets for below the marked price.Was this all that could be mustered despite arguably Bollywood’s biggest name, Shah Rukh Khan, spearheading a massive marketing campaign, despite the full-page newspapers ads pitting “Bengaluru v the world”?Still, there were mitigating factors. The Bangalore turn-out in 2009 was because the IPL got rolling at the Chinnaswamy in 2008 with a crowd-pleasing opening ceremony and Brendon McCullum’s barely believable 158 not out. After that audiences tapered at matches across venues. Also, during this year’s opening match, the crowd slowly built-up through the evening, and by the start of the chase at least 60% of the stadium was occupied, a very decent turn-out by CLT20 standards.Many turned up though they were barely aware of the opposition. One twenty-something admitted he couldn’t name anyone from the Warriors squad, while his friend didn’t even know any of the Royal Challengers’ players. “I don’t follow much cricket,” she said, though she seemed excited about going to the game with a gang of her friends. Whether this is good for the tournament or not is a conundrum for the organisers.Those who came were determined to have a good time. Face-painters did brisk business outside the stadium, plenty of people turned up in the distinctive red-and-gold jerseys, there were loads of Royal Challengers’ flags being waved and even before the game began, chants of “RCB, RCB” rang round the stadium.The bugle, that old favourite, continued to bring loud cheers even when trumpeted at the oddest of times, such as after Chris Gayle harmlessly left the first ball of the match. A newer gimmick, fireworks after every wicket or six, also entertained initially – someone seemed to have hit the mute button at the Chinnaswamy when local boy Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for a duck in the first over, but the noise was back as the crowd took in the pyrotechnic display to mark the dismissal. By the time the chase began, the Mexican wave made its appearance as the fans rejoiced the big-hitting cameos from several of the home side’s stars.The opening match had several things to please the cricket fan. The boundary ropes were not pulled in to allow cheap sixes, a common practice during the IPL. It might have been a different result if the organisers had given in to the temptation to shorten the boundary. Would Mohammad Kaif have got to the ball quicker from long-on on the final delivery, which could have resulted in a game-tying run-out? Nine of the wickets in the match were catches in the deep – how many would have sailed over for six? Another plus is that there are only five sponsor logos on the outfield, about half the IPL norm.The tournament has evolved in the two years since it began, but Friday’s game had some uncanny resemblances to the 2009 season-starter. Even then the Royal Challengers thought they had put enough runs on the board against a South African franchise. Even then it came down to more than a run-a-ball in the final over of the chase. Even then the fancied Royal Challengers lost, and the celebratory atmosphere enveloping the stadium for much of the match vanished.

Plays of the Day for the fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and South Africa

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers22-Jan-2012Celebration of the day
Graeme Smith has not had a moment like this since 2009. After mistiming, slamming with power but no placement and eventually settling into his usual rhythm of muscular blows and meaty punches, Smith nudged one around the corner to bring his first ODI century in 28 months. The joy overflowed as he ran to the edge of the circle, took his helmet off and pointed his bat at the South African changeroom for what seemed like the entire length of his cricketing career. On realising that Smith was not moving, AB de Villiers made to his way to his former captain to give him a congratulatory hug. When de Villiers released him, Smith stayed with his arms in the air and rotated around the whole stadium, saluting the fans who, at the start of the season, booed him at this very venue.The AB scoop
Unlike the Sri Lankan captain, AB de Villiers does not have a shot named after him, yet. After this innings he should. With a view to accelerating South Africa’s score when Albie Morkel was dismissed, de Villiers tested one of his more audacious strokes in the penultimate over. Thisara Perera tried to bowl full outside off but de Villiers had walked so far away from his stumps, he was almost on the grass. He swivelled, angled his bat and scooped the ball over fine leg for six. The next ball, just for good measure, he did it again. The AB scoop had arrived.Drop of the day
Morne Morkel has put down a few this series but one of his more difficult chances was the opportunity Upul Tharanga presented him with in his second over. He slammed a length ball straight back at Morkel. Although it was at catchable height, the force behind it was too much and the ball struck Morkel’s left hand hard. He couldn’t hold on it and immediately called for the physiotherapist. Not only did Morkel concede three runs but he had to leave the field to have the strapping put on. JP Duminy completed the over and Morkel returned for the next one, with his ring finger wrapped up.Mop up of the day
While neither bowling side could dry up the runs, the Wanderers groundstaff once again proved to be the most efficient mops. With Highveld thunderstorms expected at this time of year, when the skies darkened and the heavens opened, most of the locals nodded sagely, expecting a short, sharp shower. When the rain came down at 3pm, with no wind in the air, it seemed it would be much longer. Fortunately, a breeze soon arrived and conditions lightened. As soon as they did, the staff were in their positions, commandeering the super sopper and sweeping water off the covers. Within 55 minutes, the rain had stopped, the ground was dry and play resumed.Air snatch of the day
South Africa’s series has been characterised by superb catching and there was yet another during this match. Lonwabo Tsotsobe relied on variation to try and take wickets and tried the slower ball against Tharanga. The Sri Lankan opener slashed and found an outside edge that looped towards cover. Duminy had to turn around and run away from the pitch but had gone a little too far and eventually had to snatch the ball out of the air over his shoulder. He did to complete a picture-perfect dismissal.Deft touch of the day
With Kumar Sangakkara holding things together on his end, it was up to the rest of the Sri Lankan batsmen to whittle down the chase. None of them appeared overly panicked by the task and Lahiru Thirimanne’s shot at that start of the 36th over captured the relative calm. Tsotsobe bowled a slightly wide, length ball and the Sri Lankan No. 5 guided it off the face to third man. It was delicate and elegant, the way Sri Lankan greats like Mahela Jayawardene play the game.Game-change of the day
Robin Peterson threatened to perform the ultimate anti-choke when he took two wickets in three balls in the final over. But the match took its final twist in the tail when Sachitra Senananyake flat batted him for six. The youngster only made his debut one match ago and faced a loud Bull Ring crowd but kept his cool to win the match for Sri Lanka and take their margin of defeat in the series to just one.