All posts by h716a5.icu

Plus: longest team innings, and lowest victorious totals

Steven Lynch23-Feb-2016 I noticed that Australia were bowled out for 199 in their very first Test against New Zealand, but went on to win without having to bat again. Is this the lowest total that resulted in an innings victory? asked Shrihram Moharil from the United States
Actually Australia declared in that match, in Wellington in 1945-46 – they closed at 199 for 8 – but won by an innings after skittling New Zealand for 42 and 54. Rather surprisingly, though, there have been two even lower totals that led to innings victories in Tests. At Old Trafford in 1888, WG Grace top-scored as England made 172; Australia were then bowled out for 81 and 70. And in Melbourne in 1931-32, Australia’s 153 on a sticky wicket proved more than enough to defeat South Africa (36 and 45) with the bother of batting again. There was a near-miss at The Oval in 1912, when England (176 and 14 for 0) beat South Africa (95 and 93) by ten wickets. There have been four other Tests in which the winning side scored fewer than 199 runs in the match.AB de Villiers scored a hundred in his 200th ODI during the recently series against England. Is he the first batsman to do this? asked Aniruddha Das from India
AB de Villiers’ unbeaten 101 against England in Cape Town last week did indeed make him the first man to score a century in his 200th one-day international; the previous-highest was Brendon McCullum’s 85 for New Zealand against South Africa in Napier in 2011-12. However, Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 101 in his 300th ODI, against England in Colombo in 2014-15, while his compatriot Kumar Sangakkara made 105 not out in his 400th, against Bangladesh in Melbourne during the 2015 World Cup. Sangakkara is also one of seven batsmen to have marked their 100th one-day international with a century: he made 101 against Australia in Colombo in 2003-04. The others to achieve this are Gordon Greenidge (1988-89), Chris Cairns (1998-99), Mohammad Yousuf (2001-02), Chris Gayle (2004), Marcus Trescothick (2005) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2006).England’s innings of 903 for 7 at The Oval in 1938 lasted 335.2 overs•Getty ImagesWhich cricketer played the most successive one-day internationals without missing one? asked Tirumala Reddy from India
The most successive one-day internationals for a team is 185, by Sachin Tendulkar between 1990 and 1997-98 when, after scoring 134 against Australia in Sharjah on his 25th birthday, he missed the first two matches of India’s tri-series the following month, against Bangladesh and Kenya. Second on the list is Andy Flower, who played 172 successive one-day internationals for Zimbabwe from his debut against Sri Lanka in New Plymouth during the 1992 World Cup, when he started by scoring 115 not out. Twelve other players have appeared in 100 or more consecutive one-day internationals during their careers.What is the longest team innings in Test history, by the number of overs bowled? asked George Carter from England
The longest innings in Test history remains England’s 903 for 7 declared against Australia at The Oval in 1938, which lasted 335.2 overs (2012 balls). In a match with no limits on time, Wally Hammond declared at tea on the third day – apparently only after he had been assured that his opposite number Don Bradman would not be able to bat; he had broken his ankle while having a rare bowl during the marathon innings. Without Bradman, Australia subsided for 201 and 123, and lost inside four days, by a record margin. Next comes Pakistan’s remarkable rearguard against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58 when, with Hanif Mohammad scoring 337 in 970 minutes – the longest individual innings in Tests – they survived 319 overs, and forced a draw after following on 473 behind. The most balls bowled in any match is 5447 – 680.7 eight-ball overs – in the ten-day Timeless Test between South Africa and England in Durban in 1938-39. The most in a time-limited Test is 3652 deliveries (456.4 eight-ball overs) in the six-day final Test between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne in 1952-53, while the record for a five-day Test is 3645 (607.3 six-ball overs) by England and West Indies at Lord’s in 1950.Sachin Tendulkar’s 152 off 151 balls against Namibia at the 2003 World Cup contained 18 fours and no sixes•Getty ImagesGarry Sobers’ 365 not out in 1957-58 got a mention in last week’s column. In that innings Conrad Hunte made 260 – is that the biggest score that was not the highest of the innings? asked Jeremy Gilling from Australia
The West Indian opener Conrad Hunte’s 260 in that famous match against Pakistan in Kingston in 1957-58 did set that particular record at the time. However, it was surpassed in 2006, when Kumar Sangakkara scored 287 against South Africa at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo … but was outscored by his friend and team-mate Mahela Jayawardene, who amassed 374. Their third-wicket partnership of 624 (after coming together with Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 14 for 2) was a record for any wicket in Test or first-class cricket.Is Sachin Tendulkar’s 152 in the 2003 World Cup the highest ODI innings without a single six? asked Piyush Kumar Mishra from India
Sachin Tendulkar’s 152 against Namibia in Pietermaritzburg during the 2003 World Cup is actually the fourth-highest innings in one-day internationals without a six. Hashim Amla made a sixless 153 not out for South Africa against West Indies in Johannesburg in 2014-15, while Brian Lara’s 153 for West Indies against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1993-94 also contained no hits over the rope. But the highest ODI innings of all without a six is Tillakaratne Dilshan’s undefeated 161 for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in Melbourne during the 2015 World Cup. Andrew Strauss also made 152 without a six, for England against Bangladesh in 2005; Amla (another instance, in 2012), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (1998-99) and Gautam Gambhir (not out, in 2009-10) all scored 150 in ODIs without the aid of a six. The highest score without a boundary of any sort is Adam Parore’s 96 for New Zealand against India in Vadodara in 1994-95.Send in your questions using our feedback form.

The highest individual scores in the IPL without a six

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2016Suresh Raina (Gujarat Lions)
75 v Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajkot, 2016
Strike rate: 147.05 Fours: 9•BCCIDavid Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
74* v Gujarat Lions, Rajkot, 2016
Strike rate: 154.16 Fours: 9•BCCIAaron Finch (Gujarat Lions)
74 v Kings XI Punjab, Mohali, 2016
Strike rate: 157.44 Fours: 12•BCCIMorne van Wyk (Kolkata Knight Riders)
74 v Delhi Daredevils, Durban, 2009
Strike rate: 154.16 Fours: 11•Associated Press

As the Carnival brings life to the Antigua Recreation Ground, nostalgia for its cricketing legacy envelopes you

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Jul-2016At 11.43am Eastern Caribbean Time on April 11, 2004, Brian Lara swept Gareth Batty towards fine leg, towards the Antigua Recreation Ground’s scoreboard, and caused the number next to his name to change from 399 to 400.At 11.43pm, or thereabouts, on July 25, 2016, there are no names on the scoreboard, only vacant rectangular slots next to the batting positions, through which shines the feeble yellow-green light of streetlamps filtered through leaves. The scoreboard looms over the unlit side of the ground. The other side, separated by barricades covered with sponsor logos, is all light and noise and teenage hopes and aspirations.It’s Carnival time in Antigua and Barbuda, and tonight’s main event is Teen Splash, a talent pageant for boys and girls from schools all around the country.The turf that Lara bent to kiss is somewhere under a platform flanked by video screens. On the platform, and near-simultaneously on the screen, contestants have been singing, dancing and performing spoken-word poetry for about two hours.Not long before he got to 400, Lara had danced down the pitch and launched Batty into the Sir Vivian Richards pavilion to go from 374 to 380, going past 375 along the way. The numbers need no explanation. Now, just below the pavilion – flanked to the right by a packed Andy Roberts Stand – is a carousel, its riders rotating and revolving simultaneously around a central pole with rows of unlit bulbs on it, planets orbiting a heatless, lightless sun.Teen Splash, on the hallowed turf once graced by Lara, Viv•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdThe words “cricket fan” are enough to convince a security guard to allow us into the visitors’ dressing room (the home one is shut). It should feel like a sacred place, a sanctum sanctorum, but it doesn’t. Lockers, a few worse-for-wear chairs; this could be a gymnasium locker room from a sitcom set in a high school. Of all the bits and pieces of this old, great ground, this place exerts the feeblest psycho-geographic pull. This away dressing room contains no ghosts of cricket past: no traces of blood from Anil Kumble’s jaw, no teardrops shed by all the bowlers ground into the dust by Lara, pummeled by Viv, defeated by the world’s flattest pitch.The strongest echoes of the past, strangely, though perhaps not, are to be found in the parts of the ground that have fallen into disuse, in the faded lettering of the scoreboard, the rusted, falling-apart staircase at the back of the double-decker stand, its entrance boarded up.This is no longer Antigua’s premier cricket venue. The new, modern stadium, clearly a stadium and not a ground, occupies, like so many new, modern stadiums around the world do, a patch of land that is, between matches, nowhere in particular. An in-between place that residents of Seatons or Willikies might drive past on their way into town. A place that isn’t far from anywhere – Antigua is a tiny, tiny island – but feels like it; a place that makes you wonder if it’s worth going all the way to watch a weak, meek West Indies side crumble without complaint against a good but by no means world-beating India.The dressing room: a ghost of the ground’s cricket past•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdThe Antigua Recreation Ground, the ARG, or the “Rec”, is different. It is packed now mostly by teenagers who make you feel old, and who may or may not be into cricket. It feels like a Test match here might draw healthy crowds as well, though perhaps not as large or as young. You can imagine fans debating a player’s merits at the concession stalls behind the double-decker stand, leaving wet circles on the tables with the bases of their Wadadli bottles. You step out of the gates and you’re in the heart of town, right next to an arch welcoming you to St John’s.There are food stalls all around you, and lanes pulsing with life lead in all directions. It may not look like this on non-Carnival nights, but unlike at the new stadium, you will never step into desolation two hours after close of play, wondering how you’ll ever find a cab home, with a spectacular purple sunset unfolding uselessly around you.The festivities continue well past midnight, and as the Rec becomes a speck behind you, the pageant continues on the radio. It is time for the question-answer round, and the contestants, most of them only 16 or 17, are asked their views about everything from global warming to abortion. Some questions are more innocuous, such as the one posed to delegate number 17: “Do texting applications like WhatsApp ruin the ability of teens to construct proper sentences?”You pass the new stadium just as he begins his answer. The Test match is over. Nothing to see here, gents. The Wadadli inside you, the English Harbour, the hot dogs and the sticks of satay, begin to take effect and you drowse in the passenger seat. Good night, Antigua, and sweet dreams. Of prancing left-handed magicians launching sixes into dancing double-decker stands.

With the BCCI allowing their players in List-A tournaments abroad, the DPL could once again become a profitable destination for Indian players

Mohammad Isam and Shashank Kishore26-Jun-2016Overseas interest in the Dhaka Premier League began to rise in 2013-14, when the tournament was granted List A status. That season attracted 82 players from outside Bangladesh, including Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Jacob Oram and Ryan ten Doeschate. The BCB had allowed two overseas players per team then. That limit was set at one in 2014-15 and still there were plenty of players from Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, England and Afghanistan participating.Indian players in DPL 2016

Rajat Bhatia (Abahani) 105 runs and 2 wickets in 2 matches

Dinesh Karthik (Abahani) 179 runs in 4 matches

Uday Kaul (Abahani) 169 runs in 4 matches

Manoj Tiwary (Abahani) 40 runs in 1 match

Yusuf Pathan (Abahani) 68 runs in 2 matches

Manvinder Bisla (Abahani) 50 runs in 2 matches

Yashpal Singh (Abahani) 9 runs in 1 match

Milind Kumar (Brothers Union) 49 runs and 4 wickets in 4 matches

Puneet Bisht (Gazi Group) 86 runs in 1 match

Gurkeerat Singh (Gazi Group) 22 runs and 2 wickets in 2 matches

Jatin Saxena (KCA) 279 runs and 7 wickets in 7 matches

Paras Dogra (Kalabagan) 23 runs in 2 matches

Rohan Prem (Kalabagan) 34 runs in 2 matches

Pawan Negi (Rupganj) 184 runs and 6 wickets in 5 matches

Jalaj Saxena (Rupganj) 52 runs in 2 matches

Ishank Jaggi (Rupganj) 39 runs in 3 matches

Bipul Sharma (MSC) 134 runs and 4 wickets in 2 matches

Mithun Manhas (MSC) 37 runs in 2 matches

Sachin Rana (Prime Bank) 75 runs and 4 wickets in 2 matches

Unmukt Chand (Prime Bank) 197 runs and 3 wickets in 6 matches

Sachin Baby (Doleshwar) 127 runs and 1 wicket in 5 matches

Ashok Menaria (Doleshwar) 75 runs and 4 wickets in 4 matches

Over the years, DPL teams have preferred to have Pakistani players. But that changed in 2013 when the PCB stopped issuing No-objection certificates to play in Bangladesh. The ban was lifted last year.This season Indians were the hot property. There were 22 of them in a total of 36 overseas players. Next in terms of number were the Sri Lankans (10). BCB director Jalal Yunus believed this was because the best available players were from those two countries.”The BCCI allowed them to play overseas, only in List-A format, after a number of years,” he said. “So, most of the clubs went for Indian and Sri Lankan players this season. Pakistani players were not called up this year because many of their top names were busy in various competitions.”Uday Kaul was the first Indian signed up this DPL; he appeared in Abahani Limited’s opening game on April 22. Abahani recruited six more of his countrymen, including Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and Rajat Bhatia, who has played in previous seasons.Legends of Rupganj picked up three Indians – Jalaj Saxena, Ishank Jaggi and Pawan Negi, who stayed with them the longest.Jalaj’s elder brother, Jatin Saxena was the highest run-getter and wicket-taker among the 22 Indian players. He finished with 279 runs and seven wickets from the seven matches he played for Kalabagan Cricket Academy.His team was one of two to be demoted from the premier to the first division, but Jatin made the most of his opportunity and strengthened his chances of playing for a new team in the forthcoming Indian domestic season after obtaining an NOC from his current side Madhya Pradesh.Jatin made his debut for MP in 2008, but managed to play just 50 matches across formats in eight years. “Lack of opportunities at Madhya Pradesh was a little tough, so I wanted to look for avenues,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I was in touch with clubs in UAE, but given the proximity and the standard of cricket, I thought Bangladesh was my best option.”Jalaj helped Jatin get in touch with Kalabagan. But the level of performance required from an overseas player to consistently feature in the XI had originally made him nervous.”It was a challenge playing there, especially because I was going there on the back of just training sessions here, and not matches,” Jatin said. “Given the competitive nature of the tournament, there is onus on you to perform, because two bad games, and there are chances that you would be replaced by another professional. So that way, there was pressure.”Jatin’s gains weren’t restricted to the field either. “As a professional, I learned about managing myself, going out of my way to interact with your team-mates. Language was a barrier, but we did just fine. The local players there were as eager to welcome me as much as I was looking forward to it. I made a lot of friends there. They were very inquisitive about club culture in India, our leagues, our domestic format. So, apart from cricket, there was healthy exchange of ideas.”While Jatin came, performed and left quietly, there was much frenzy in the media about the arrival of Tiwary. Ironically, he could only play one match in Dhaka and had to return to Kolkata to play the Super League, a club tournament – the final of which was the first match played in India with the pink ball.Tiwary said his interest in the DPL came via Shakib Al Hasan, his former team-mate at Kolkata Knight Riders. “Shakib and I forged a good friendship during my time with KKR, and he’s been talking about the DPL for a while now, and kept asking me if I was interested for the last two-three years. But because I was playing in the IPL, I wanted to use the little time we get after that to recover and gear up for our own season.”But this time, my summer was free since I wasn’t part of the IPL. So I thought it was good to get some match time in Bangladesh. But because this time the CAB [Cricket Association of Bengal] organised two more local tournaments, including the Super League, I could just play one game.”Tiwary didn’t get to play with Shakib, though both of them were in the same team but felt it had been a good experience to play with the other top Bangladeshi players in Abahani.”I played with Tamim [Iqbal], Taskin [Ahmed], Liton Das, so in a way it was the cream of the crop,” he said. “Net sessions were good, I thought it was extremely competitive. Bangladesh has improved in the limited-overs format, and that improvement, I feel, is a result of having competitive tournaments like these.”There was a time when players such as Raman Lamba, Ashok Malhotra and Arun Lal regularly played the DPL but the availability of Pakistani and Sri Lankan talent slowly took Indians out of the equation. Now, with the BCCI allowing their players in List A tournaments abroad, the DPL could once again become a profitable destination for Indian players.

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2016Babar Azam played second fiddle to Khalid Latif in a second-wicket stand of 54•AFPLatif added 27 more for the third wicket with Shoaib Malik before sloppy running caught him short when he was on 40•Getty ImagesMalik struck three fours and a six on his way to a 28-ball 37•Getty ImagesHe fell with four deliveries remaining in the innings, but Sarfraz Ahmed’s unbeaten 32-ball 46 took them to 160 for 4•AFPWest Indies’ bowlers shared the spoils equally, with captain Carlos Brathwaite and Badree returning identical figures of 1 for 24 in four overs•AFPJohnson Charles was handed an early reprieve, but he couldn’t capitalise as he was caught at long-on off Imad Wasim•Getty ImagesSohail Tanvir snuffed out Evin Lewis in the next over, having him caught at slip for his 50th T20 international wicket•Getty ImagesTanvir struck again to remove Marlon Samuels, before Mohammad Nawaz cleaned up Dwayne Bravo with an arm ball; Pakistan were reduced to 45 for 4 in 10 overs•Getty ImagesAll the while, Andre Fletcher had quietly moved on to 29, before he was knocked over by Hasan Ali after failing to connect with a leg side swipe•Getty ImagesSunil Narine chipped in with a late cameo of 30 off 17 balls, but with wickets tumbling regularly, West Indies were kept to 144 for 9•Getty Images

Stats from the seventh round of the Ranji Trophy, with landmarks for Pankaj Singh and S Badrinath, and an insight into the domination of bowlers in Lahli

Bharath Seervi25-Nov-2016146.2 Total overs played in the match between Baroda and Bengal in Lahli – the third shortest Ranji Trophy match since 2005-06 where all 40 wickets fell. The Delhi-Orissa match at Feroz Shah Kotla in 2008-09 finished in 128.5 overs while the Tamil Nadu-Punjab match in Dindigul last season lasted only 145.3 overs. The match in Lahli ended within two days, the first two-day finish of the 2016-17 season. Last season, nine matches ended within two days.11 Instances of a team being dismissed for under 100 runs in first-class matches in Lahli in the last five years – the most at any Indian venue. Baroda and Bengal were dismissed for 97 and 76 respectively in their first innings in Lahli in this round. No other Indian venue has had more than three such instances. Around the world, only the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium matches Lahli, with a similar number of totals under 100.20.94 Average runs per wicket in first-class matches in Lahli in the last five years – the lowest among 101 venues that have hosted 15 or more matches. The next among low-scoring venues is the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi. There have been 46 five-wicket hauls in 27 matches in Lahli in the last five years, more than any other Indian venue. No other venue in India has seen 30 such hauls, with 28 in Indore and Chennai. Only 22 centuries have been scored in Lahli, of which three have been in excess of 150.26 Wickets taken by Anupam Sanklecha in his last two games for Maharashtra. He took 14 for 94 against Vidarbha to register the best figures for Maharashtra, and followed it up with 12 for 144 against Assam in this round. In the first four matches of this season, Sanklecha had taken only nine wickets at an average of 31.55. His recent form has propelled him to second on the wicket charts with 35 dismissals, behind Pankaj Singh’s 36. His 8 for 73 is the best innings haul of the season so far.2 Consecutive innings wins for Maharashtra, against Vidarbha and Assam. They were winless after the first four outings, with three draws and one loss. With the two wins, they gained 14 points to move to third in the Group B points table . Sanklecha was Man of the Match in both wins.6/71 Jasprit Bumrah’s figures against Mumbai – his first-class best. This was his fourth five-for in 22 matches and first six-for. In the first two matches of this Ranji season, he had picked only four wickets for 134 runs. His five-for helped Gujarat take a marginal first-innings lead of 15 runs.10056 Runs for S Badrinath in his first-class career. He reached the milestone of 10000 runs with his 32nd century against Chhattisgarh in this round. He became the 47th Indian player to score more than 10000 first-class runs.402 Wickets in first-class matches for Pankaj Singh, the first Rajasthan bowler to complete 400 wickets in the format. He dismissed Delhi’s Sumit Narwal to reach the landmark. The next highest wicket-taker for Rajasthan is Kailash Gattani with 396 first-class wickets. Incidentally, Pankaj got to 400 wickets in his 100th first-class match.

All pace and fire, Brett Schultz was a sight to behold, and South Africa’s fiercest fast man – for all-too-short a while

Luke Alfred20-Jan-2017At the end of a career haunted by injury, Brett Schultz was invited up to Zimbabwe by his old mate Neil Johnson. The two had been to school together at Kingswood College in Grahamstown and “Johnno” had Schultz fly up for an end-of-season holiday with some cricket-watching on the side.”Neil was playing for Zimbabwe at the time and at the end of an ODI against England he invited me into the dressing room,” Schultz says. “Those Zimbabwe guys could always party. The beer was flowing and there was banter and shit-talking and great camaraderie. I remember sitting there and just thinking: ‘This is what I really miss: the fun and the brotherhood.’ I missed that – there was just such a strong sense of déjà vu.”Schultz is a physically imposing man – he weighed 100kg in his pomp and played good rugby as a loose forward at school – but he’s big in other ways too. He’s a bit of an extrovert and you’re liable to experience booming laughter echoing down the telephone line as readily as you will occasional grace notes of a different shade: wistfulness and regret, some suffering, some pain.

The story is one of many beginnings but no discernible end. Finally, Schultz could only shuffle away, his knees creaking as he walked. No send-off, no fanfare, no cheque

“It took me a long time to get over the fact that, when it boils down to it, I never really had a career. I feel I missed out because of the injuries. Perhaps I didn’t always listen carefully enough; perhaps, you know, I was just too busy being Brett. Maybe it was just the circumstances and the time in which we played, the fact that we went balls-to-the-wall on everything because we were just so determined to prove ourselves and didn’t have anyone to hold us back.”A left-arm over-the-wicket fast bowler who thundered to the crease with grand, loping strides, Schultz could deliver his slinging catapults quickly and with menace. People tend to think he played for longer than he did, but a quick roll of the statistical bones tells us that he played only nine Tests across six seasons, one ODI and 60 first-class matches for three provinces. That isn’t bad when you consider that Schultz was the archetypal late developer, starting out his cricket life as a wicketkeeper and only discovering he could bowl fast as a 15-year-old.Then again, the career is meagre relative to what it once threatened to be. He played one Test each in series against Zimbabwe, England, Australia and Pakistan, and played in only the first two Tests of South Africa’s first full post-readmission series, at home against India. The story is one of many beginnings but no discernible end. Finally, Schultz could only shuffle away, his knees creaking as he walked. No send-off, no fanfare, no cheque.”I remember getting the call from Kepler [Wessels]. He was his usual brisk self: ‘I’ve put myself on the line here and I need you step up.’ That was pretty much all there was to the conversation”•PA PhotosHis golden hour was undoubtedly the tour to Sri Lanka in 1993, in which he played in all three Tests. “I remember getting the call from Kepler [Wessels]. He was his usual brisk self, you know: ‘I’ve put myself on the line here and I need you step up.’ That was pretty much all there was to the conversation. Then he rang off.”More than anyone else, Wessels helped Schultz along. He was wise, he was firm, and he was always on hand to help the youngster over hurdles. Schultz thinks that Wessels’ disciplinarian tendencies were appropriate to the time and place in which the South Africans found themselves, and looking back on it, has no quibbles.”You just needed a solid, experienced guy there at the helm at the beginning,” he says. “I always felt with Kepler that I was like one of those dogs with a choker around my neck. I was like any young tearaway fast bowler and if I was pulling too hard I’d get throttled. Maybe he felt that I was a few smarties short of a box but I was already fit ahead of the tour to Sri Lanka, and in the months leading up to the tour I got fitter, so I was really in the best shape of my career.”

“Maybe it was just the circumstances and the time in which we played, the fact that we went balls-to-the-wall on everything because we were just so determined to prove ourselves and didn’t have anyone to hold us back”

Wessels also had technical savvy. In the weeks preceding the Sri Lanka tour, Schultz was struggling with accuracy, feeling unbalanced. Kepler sought out Mike McAuley, himself a left-arm seamer, and he helped Schultz shorten his delivery stride substantially, encouraging him to jump upwards instead of simply throwing himself forwards through the crease. With the tweak, Schultz added a yard of pace and substantial swing.”We camped in Durban ahead of the tour and experimented with reverse swing. The idea was that we were going to push them back and give them a hard time once we got there. Not so much in terms of the verbal stuff but in our demeanour. Everyone was on their case. I remember in one of the practice sessions that the two nets were back to back. I was instructed to bowl my bouncers into their net behind us. We always used to say: ‘It’s important to be ‘Flat-out’ Schultz and not ‘Brakes’ Bezuidenhout.'”Fit and strong, Schultz woke each morning in Sri Lanka feeling that it was going to be “a bowling day”. He and Allan Donald, with whom he sometimes roomed, shared 12 wickets between them in the first Test, in Moratuwa. South Africa gambled slightly in picking two spinners – Pat Symcox, on debut, and Clive Eksteen. Chasing 365 to win, they salvaged a fortunate draw, seven wickets down at the close, with Jonty Rhodes hanging on with an unbeaten 101. Eksteen, his partner, took to his bunker, batting just over an hour and a half for 4.Big men can flex too: Schultz gets down to field one against Australia in Centurion in 1997•Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesThe second Test was at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, Schultz helping to limit the hosts to 168 batting first, taking 5 for 48. South Africa replied with a watchful 495, Hansie Cronje scoring a century, while Wessels, Andrew Hudson, Daryll Cullinan and Symcox chipped in with fifties. In their second dig the Sri Lankans stumbled to 119. For Schultz, it was a moment of exquisite frustration: “I just couldn’t get the ten. It’s such a big number for us bowlers, like a double-hundred for batsmen. I got four in the second innings but I just didn’t have it in me to take that last wicket.”Although Schultz took five wickets in the third Test, to make it 20 for the series, the Sri Lankans only batted once as the fifth day was lost to rain, and the match spluttered to a draw. He returned to an immediate operation on his right knee; cuts to his left duly followed.”In the end I made more comebacks than George Foreman. Perhaps I could have done it differently and not come back so quickly, but those were different days and I was eager. I got lost in it and just wanted so desperately to do well and not disappoint Kepler after he’d shown such faith in me on that tour of Sri Lanka.”

“I remember in one of the practice sessions [against Sri Lanka] I was instructed to bowl my bouncers into their net behind us. We always used to say: ‘It’s important to be ‘Flat-out’ Schultz and not ‘Brakes’ Bezuidenhout'”

Four Tests spread across four seasons followed. Schultz played his last Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in October 1997, when he took one wicket in the Pakistan first innings and didn’t bowl in the second. The almost-mandatory period of hectic partying and wild living followed, before one final return, a Schultz tragicomedy with all the trimmings.”It took me a couple of years and then I made a comeback, bowling off eight paces,” he says. “I’d been playing a bit of social cricket and a Transvaal selector spotted me and invited me down to nets. I was picked and came back and decided to go off my full run. After a few balls I realised that was it – I just couldn’t do it.”Looking back on it all, he is adamant that he was his action, the catapult gunslinger who wanted nothing more than to be the quickest kid in town. He might have lost some weight, he might have protected his numbers, but that wasn’t Brett. You had to let him go, hoping to hell that he came back for more in the morning, having woken up feeling that it was going to be that most precious of things: a bowling day.

From “The Demon” Spofforth to Lord Beginner’s two pals and the teenage Ben Hollioake, we offer some inspiration for Ireland

Alan Gardner06-May-2017MCC v Australians, May 27, 1878
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the first major Lord’s upset coincided with the first Australian tour of England. Frederick “The Demon” Spofforth is probably most famous for his 14-wicket haul in the Oval Test of 1882, which gave birth to the legend of the Ashes, but his performance against MCC four years earlier was just as incendiary. He claimed a match haul of 10 for 20, which included a hat-trick, as a side led by WG Grace were dismissed for 33 and 19 to be beaten inside a day. As John Lazenby wrote in his book : “A cannon shell, had it landed on the square, could not have rocked the foundations of the home of English cricket with any more force.”England v West Indies, June 24-29, 1950
Although not technically on debut, Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine had only played one Test apiece before turning out at Lord’s in the second match of West Indies’ 1950 tour. The spin pair proceeded to claim 18 wickets between them as England were crushed by 326 runs to give West Indies their maiden Test victory at Lord’s – and set the team on their way to a first series win in England. Not only was it a defining moment for Caribbean cricket, it inspired Lord Beginner to pen the “Victory Calypso” about “those two little pals of mine”, Ramadhin and Valentine. Sing it now: “Cricket lovely cricket, at Lord’s where I saw it…”Sid Wettimuny on his way to 190 in Sri Lanka’s first appearance at Lord’s•Wisden Cricket MonthlyEngland v Sri Lanka, August 23-28, 1984
Several visiting players have risen to the occasion on their first appearance at Lord’s – from Bob Massie’s 16-wicket haul in 1972 to Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid bossing the show 24 years later – but perhaps none was as surprising as the efforts of a couple of Sri Lankans. Having lost eight out of their first 11 Tests, Sri Lanka were expected to be easy meat but Sidath Wettimuny, who scored a first-innings 190, and Duleep Mendis, with 111 and 94 in the match, scotched that thought. Mendis took on England’s short-ball plan by hooking six sixes and Ian Botham was reduced to bowling offspin.England v Australia, May 25, 1997
One for England fans, since we are approaching the 20th anniversary of a day that still burns brightly in the memory. Ben Hollioake was just 19 when he stepped out in whites (this was before England had adopted coloured clothing for home ODIs) for his international debut at Lord’s. Batting up the order at No. 3, he proceeded to caress 63 off 48 balls, treating Glenn McGrath (also making his first appearance at the ground) with disdain and putting Shane Warne into the stands to help seal victory and a rare 3-0 series win over Australia. Although Hollioake won another 21 caps before his untimely death at 24, his talent was largely unfulfilled and that innings remained his highest score for England.Orange crush: Netherlands celebrate their victory over England•PA PhotosEngland v Netherlands, June 5, 2009
The second World T20 featured an opening fixture of England, the hosts, against Netherlands, one of three Associates at the tournament. Lord’s, previously above such frivolity, was also making its T20 debut but the Dutch were in no mood to be intimidated by their illustrious surroundings. After the opening ceremony was cancelled due to persistent drizzle, Netherlands set about raining on England’s parade as they chased a target of 163. Needing seven off the final over and two off the last ball, Ryan ten Doeschate and Ed Schiferli gleefully scampered through after Stuart Broad’s wayward shy at the stumps to spark a Netherlands pitch invasion and leave England with egg-and-bacon on their faces.

Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Lasith Malinga make up the overseas roster, while MS Dhoni captains the side

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2017After six weeks of voting by our readers, 31 nominees were selected for ESPNcricinfo’s all-time IPL XI. Over the past week our 17-member panel, comprising five former Test cricketers and a selection of our staff, got a flavour of life as an IPL team owner, making decisions to ensure their sides achieved the perfect balance. Our panel did not have a budget cap or bidding from competitors to worry about, but despite the lack of those constraints, there were hard choices to be made.ESPNcricinfo’s all-time IPL XI
1. Chris Gayle, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Lasith MalingaThe panel unanimously decided that AB de Villiers would be the 12th man.The no-restrictions XI, featuring seven overseas players

Chris Gayle

David Warner

Virat Kohli

Suresh Raina

AB de Villiers

Shane Watson

MS Dhoni

Dwayne Bravo

Sunil Narine

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Lasith Malinga

Team composition
Our all-time XI is a reflection of how some of the best sides in the tournament have lined up – six batsmen, one allrounder, and four specialist bowlers. Some of these batsmen have had success rolling their arm over in the past, and while there was temptation to extend the batting order with an extra man, the final XI has five proven bowlers who will rarely fail as a collective, in any conditions.The overseas players
Our list of 31 nominees featured 14 overseas players, from which our panel had to choose four, keeping in mind the balance of the side. There were clear trends, starting with a split down the middle while picking the openers. There was, by all accounts and logic, only place for one overseas opener, and Gayle received one more vote than David Warner.1:47

ESPNcricinfo’s all-time IPL XI (Player stats as on May 18, 2017)

AB de Villiers’s omission was partly due to the strength of the all-Indian middle-order, and is likely to spur a few debates below the line. The choice between Bravo and Shane Watson for the lone allrounder’s slot was decided based on the lack of room in Watson’s favoured batting positions at the top of the order, and Bravo’s marginally superior numbers and consistent wicket-taking ability while bowling at the death. The bowlers picked themselves, with Malinga, the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, and Narine, its most economical bowler, rounding off the overseas roster.The captain
MS Dhoni was the overwhelming favourite to lead the side. Apart from being statistically the most successful captain over nine seasons, he has led most of the players who make up this squad in his role as India’s captain over the best part of the past decade. It is a decision that is hard to argue with, considering his trophy cabinet and prolonged success as the leader of one of the most consistent sides in the IPL.The rest
Record-holders of all manner make up the rest of the XI: the three highest run-getters in the IPL – Raina, Kohli and Rohit – the batsman with the most runs during the tournament’s knockout phases – Raina – three of its five most successful captains – Dhoni, Rohit, Kohli – and the format’s most prolific run machine at the top of the order – Gayle.

The final at Lord’s was a fitting end to a memorable World Cup. Here is a look at five moments where the game changed direction

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2017Yadav’s twin strikes scupper England’s progressMithali Raj’s decision to turn to Poonam Yadav after 14 overs bore instant results, through a combination of good fortune and some good old legspinner’s drift. A full toss off her third ball had Tammy Beaumont miscuing into the leg side, after which she pinged Heather Knight’s pads with one that went straight on. A successful DRS review later, India had two of England’s best batsmen in the hut, just like that.Goswami’s middle-overs magicEngland were cruising at 144 for 3 in the 33rd over when Jhulan Goswami returned for her second – and final – spell. Her opening burst of 6-2-16-0 had stemmed the run flow early on, but was in no way portentous of what she would dish out in her final four overs. A faint tickle down the leg side got rid of Sarah Taylor first up, before a cracking yorker-length delivery undid Fran Wilson first ball. Four overs and 18 runs later, another ripper trapped Nat Sciver in front. England’s batting core had been dismantled single-handedly, leaving them at a precarious 164 for 6 after 38 overs.Raj’s bizarre run outFor a chase that needed a steady hand more than fireworks with the bat, Raj’s wicket was the one England would have wanted the most. They got it far more easily than they would have imagined, as she ran herself out in a bizarre fashion. Punam Raut’s nudge to short midwicket was met with a clear affirmative from her captain at the other end, before she gave up halfway through the run, leaving her well short of the crease – there was not even a desperate dive for the line. It was as if she did not expect the throw to come to her end, and it left India without an anchor for their chase.England’s reaction after Mithali Raj’s run out tells a story•Getty ImagesEngland’s senior pros miss simple chancesSarah Taylor’s probably the best keeper going around in women’s cricket, as she showed towards the end of India’s innings with quick glovework to get rid of Shikha Pandey. Earlier on, though, she missed a stumping that would have been a regulation chance by her standards. With India needing 84 off 92 balls, Raut was beaten by a Laura Marsh turner. But Taylor failed to pick the path of the delivery too, and the missed stumping seemed like it would prove costly for England.Two overs later, Heather Knight had a “dropped the cup” moment at extra cover, grassing a crunchy Veda Krishnamurthy cover drive which went straight into her hands and out. In a matter of balls, England seemed to be losing the plot, as India looked set to cruise home on their lucky day.Krishnamurthy’s swipe ends India’s hopesDespite those missed chances, India were wobbling and, with 29 needed off 33 balls, Krishnamurthy’s ball-striking abilities were critical to their chances. She had flirted with danger throughout her short stay, and each one of her risks seemed to be paying off till that point. She eventually perished by the sword, as her cross-batted slog settled into Sciver’s palms this time. It was the third of Anya Shrubsole’s six wickets, as lady luck finally deserted Krishnamurthy and India.