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From Neeraj Narayanan, India

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
The 90s were something else•Associated PressI do not know why I don’t like the IPL. Maybe it is the sheer obscene display of money, maybe it is the cheerleaders. Maybe I like to believe that even in 2011, cricket does not come under the purview of entertainment, instead it still should be treated like a gentleman’s game. Just like how I feel sad seeing empty parks and blame it on Facebook. Maybe I am just not ready to accept change.And so, when Set Max’s live telecast of the player auction began, I switched off the box and sat down beside my bookshelf, cross-legged and, might I add, adorable. At the end of my endeavours, a rather disheveled scrap book found its way into my callused palms. A shoddily cut picture of Tendulkar, with a few yellow stains on his cheek formed the cover of the dog eared book titled, ‘Nero – the summer of ‘96’.Nineteen-ninety six was indeed a memorable year. It was the year I evolved into a teenager, and the year I first fell in love. Seated two rows across, I would look at her and wonder if even the Taj Mahal could be so pretty, and if it was necessary that we hug or kiss (blech!) when we got married. It was also the year my voice broke and I croaked like a frog and why we never eventually got married. It was the year when Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid first played for India.The 90s was the decade when cable television tiptoed stealthily into Indian households. The sudden plethora of channels amazed us, and we were shocked to know that news channels were allowed to hire pretty women, a fact that Doordarshan, our national channel, always hid from us. When electricity failed on us, which it did with clockwork regularity, we would run to the neighbourhood shop. You see we did not have Cricinfo then. Once there, we would stand hunched along with fifteen others, with perky ears, submerging as one big family into agony or ecstasy with the lows and the highs of the team’s fortunes.Back then, none of the Indian players had fancy hair styles. All of Azhar’s ‘boys’ as he repeatedly called them at every match conference, were absolute mama’s boys – be it Sachin, Rahul, Kumble or Srinath. It almost seemed like flamboyance was not allowed to be part of that Indian team character. There was no dude at all in the team, no Kohli, no Yuvraj. No one sledged, no one stared, it appeared as if they were standing in a temple, instead of a ground. Even Sourav was a quiet little fellow till he became captain in 2000. Unlike 2010, when we have been tagged No.1 in Test cricket, we were archaic in those days, even medieval, in our play. Our batting rose and fell with Sachin, our fast bowlers ticked and as their favourite daily diet, and our best fielder was a 35-year old man called Robin Singh. It was inexplicable – the team totally refused to dive on the ground, and Anil and Sri became models for a ad every time they had to bend their knees to stop a ball. I would scream at them and call them ‘women’ and my sister would glare at me malevolently.In that entire decade, we never won a Test outside the subcontinent. But isn’t that why we became obsessed with the team. There is a feeling that comes with being part of an underdog, that impassioned aggressive desire to punch and knock out a better opponent, that one can never understand being part of a champion side. It is heady, it is intoxicating. Ask Hayden or Gilchrist if they feel as bad about a loss as a young Bangladesh side would feel about a win. Watch how players react when they beat Roger Federer and you will have an idea. It is only because David beat Goliath, did the story become romantic. And it was the same with India. With our team, we felt crushed a million times, and ecstatic a few other times, but with that grew our loyalty and misplaced patriotism. It was also why we made Sachin into a demi-god.But now, everything has changed. Twenty20, IPL , businessmen, cheerleaders, Mandira Bedis have now become an integral part of modern day cricket lexicon. The Indian team is at its best. Today, Afghanistan have done all but enter the cricket fold, Zimbabwe are all but extinct. England are thrashing Australia in the Ashes, in ways they were themselves slapped around for over a century. There is no Wasim and no Waqar, thank heavens for Steyn. Everything has changed, except maybe Sachin Tendulkar. As always, he remains our hero across all ages, across all time, across all hairstyles. Our one constant.P.S – That scrap book, it had its first page dedicated to a code of conduct. As captain, my first rule did not allow any members of the Sector 55 Noida team to use any expletives while playing. I guess, once upon a time, I was a relatively better person. As I flipped through the pages, an assorted mix of match scores and statistics appeared scribbled in pencil, that most innocent of communication facilitators. My laptop lay across the room, proud and superior.

He may not be the quickest or the most dangerous bowler in world cricket but James Anderson has mastered the skill of fast bowling and England would be lost without him

George Dobell at Lord's17-May-2013If any reminder was required of James Anderson’s value to the England team, it was provided in empathic fashion on the second afternoon at Lord’s.It was not just that Anderson joined an illustrious group of players to have claimed 300 Test wickets – he was the 26th man to do so and just the fourth England player – but that he produced a performance so palpably superior to his colleagues that it was painfully clear once more how much his team continue to rely upon him. Without his contribution, England would be in desperate trouble in this match.When Fred Trueman became the first man to take 300 Test wickets, in 1964, he remarked that anyone else who reached the landmark would be “bloody tired”. So it was probably not surprising to see Anderson appearing weary at the close of play. But it was not just the emotion of reaching a landmark that has been looming in the road ahead for some months, at this famous old ground and in front of his proud parents, but that he continues to shoulder more than his share of the bowling duties of this England side. Only when Graeme Swann, gaining turn and bounce, was in support did England maintain control at both ends.The difference between the sides to date – and New Zealand have looked the stronger so far – has largely been in the performance of the support seam bowlers. While New Zealand’s were wonderfully disciplined and tight, England’s have been profligate and expensive.Stuart Broad, in particular, endured a wretched day. After a duck with the bat underlined the doubts about his suitability to bat as high as No. 8 – he has reached 30 just once in his last 20 Test innings – he then conceded 10 boundaries in his first 13 overs. On a truculent pitch on which England had struggled to score at more than two-an-over, every long-hop he delivered – and there were several – was another body blow for his team. He generated neither great pace nor great swing and, in conditions in which seam bowlers should dream, was close to a liability.Steven Finn, cut to ribbons by the impressive Ross Taylor as punishment for over doing the short ball, was even more expensive. But while Finn was selected for this game in the knowledge that he was a fast bowler in the developmental stage of his career, Broad is playing his 56th Test. Such seniority comes with expectation. England require more from Broad.Besides, Finn was hostile and sharp. He has conceded more runs in 11 overs than Bruce Martin did in 26, but he compensated with a wicket that kept his side clinging on to the coattails of New Zealand. Taylor later commented that they would be looking for a first innings lead of 50 or 60 but at one stage it looked as if it could be far more than that. “I wasn’t looking to score at a run-a-ball,” he said. “They just bowled a few loose balls.”Both Finn and Broad could learn much from Anderson. He is, in most ways, a far superior bowler to the young man who, a decade ago to the month, burst upon the Test scene here with a five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe. Most crucially, he has learned how to bowl an inswinger to complement the outswinger with which he claimed his first Test wicket; Mark Vermeulen beaten by a beauty that pitched leg and hit the top of off.

“I’m happy I got the landmark out of the way, really. It was nice that Graeme Swann took the catch to reach it. It was just nice to see him hold on to one.”James Anderson on his 300th Test wicket

Anderson has developed a consistency, too, that led Andrew Strauss to name him the most reliable bowler he ever captained, MS Dhoni to remark that he was the “difference between the sides” in the Test series in India and earned him an excellent opportunity to overhaul Sir Ian Botham’s England record of 383 Test wickets. He might not be the most dangerous, the quickest or even the best fast bowler in Test cricket – those accolades surely belong to Dale Steyn – but it is very hard to think of one more skilful.But it’s perhaps Anderson’s attitude that marks him apart. While some bowlers bemoan their workloads and their aches and pains, Anderson simply gets on with it. His quiet, modest demeanour conceals a strength that used to be considered a pre-requisite of a fast bowler. He makes neither excuse nor complaint and prepares with the professionalism and diligence required to go into every Test in condition to give of his best. It is a long, long time since Anderson bowled poorly with a red ball. Taylor later compared him to “a mixture of Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn”, to which Anderson responded: “I’ll take that”.Maybe time – and all those overs – have taken a toll, though. Until a couple of years ago, Anderson was still capable of bowling spells at least approaching 90mph. Now he operates closer to 80mph and, on pitches or conditions offering no assistance, can appear tidy but unthreatening. He experienced a disappointing tour of New Zealand and a disappointing series against South Africa, though whether he has chosen to bowl within himself in the knowledge of spells ahead or whether the miles on the clock are starting to show is unclear. It is quite true that speed is not everything, but it is not nothing, either.”I don’t see why not,” 30-year-old Anderson replied when asked if he could beat Botham’s record. “I’m not too old. I’ve a few more left yet. But I don’t want to think about it. I’ll just try and stay fit.”I’m happy I got the landmark out of the way, really. It was nice that Graeme Swann took the catch to reach it. It was just nice to see him hold on to one,” he said with a smile. “It meant a lot to me and I could see how much it meant to him too.”Anderson’s relief was tempered by the knowledge that New Zealand remain in the stronger position in this game and that his side’s bowling had contributed to the situation. While he modestly attempted to share the blame, his description of events owed far more to his colleagues than himself.”I bowled too many short and wide and I’m sure the other guys would say the same,” Anderson said. “That’s one of Taylor’s strengths and we knew that. We weren’t trying to bowl there. We just didn’t bowl very well for that period of time.”England will have to bowl far better on the third day if they are to claw their way back into the game. But the knowledge that Anderson remains fit and willing to lead the revival will remain as reassuring to England’s supporters as it has been to a succession of England captains.

Stats highlights from an incredible Twenty20 game in Southampton, where 457 runs were scored in 40 overs and seven bowlers conceded 40 or more

S Rajesh30-Aug-2013 The match aggregate of 457 is the highest in a Twenty20 international, 29 runs more than the previous record, a tied match between New Zealand and Australia in Christchurch in 2010 that produced 428 runs. This is the ninth instance of a 400-plus aggregate in a Twenty20 international. For the first time in a Twenty20 international, there were two century partnerships in an innings: Aaron Finch added 114 for the second wicket with Shaun Marsh (in which Marsh’s contribution was 28), and 101 for the third wicket with Shane Watson, who scored 37. The 101-run stand between Finch and Watson came at a rate of 14.78 runs per over, the second-fastest 100-plus stand in this format. The fastest was by Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, who struck 108 off 6.5 overs (which was also the duration of the Finch-Watson stand) against New Zealand in Lauderhill last year. The Finch-Marsh stand of 114 came at a rate of 12.43, the sixth-fastest. Finch’s 156 is 33 more than the previous highest in Twenty20 internationals: Brendon McCullum’s 123 was the previous best, against Bangladesh in Pallekele in the 2012 World Twenty20. Finch also created a record for the most sixes in an innings (14), going one better than Richard Levi’s previous record. The only bowler who managed to restrict Finch to a strike rate of less than 200 was Jade Dernbach, who conceded 13 runs from seven balls. Against all the other bowlers, Finch scored at a strike rate of more than 200, with Joe Root suffering the most, going for 26 off five balls (strike rate of 520). Dernbach also finished as the only bowler to go at less than 9.50 runs per over, conceding only 34 in his four overs, and taking three wickets as well. Eighteen sixes in an innings, which Australia managed at the Rose Bowl, is also the highest in an innings, one more than what South Africa had managed against England in Centurion in 2009. Joe Root’s unbeaten 90 is the joint second highest in a losing cause in a T20I; the only higher score is Gayle’s 117 against South Africa in the first match of the 2007 World Twenty20 in Johannesburg. David Warner had also scored 90 not out in a defeat against Sri Lanka in Sydney earlier this year. It’s also the fifth-highest score in a run-chase in this format. With 457 runs being scored in 40 overs, this clearly wasn’t a game for the bowlers: seven of them – Steven Finn, Stuart Broad and Danny Briggs for England; Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood, Fawad Ahmed and Shane Watson for Australia – conceded 40 or more runs, the first such instance in a T20I. It could have been eight, but James Faulkner stopped one run short of that mark. There had been one previous instance of six bowlers going for 40 or more, in that tied game between New Zealand and Australia in Christchurch in 2010 which produced 428 runs.

Plays of the Day from the match between Chennai Super Kings and Trinidad & Tobago in Delhi

Siddarth Ravindran02-Oct-2013Crazy running of the day
Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling was taken apart in the first two matches of the tournament, and he has hardly had a chance to perform with the bat. Today, he had the opportunity to help his team recover from a middle-order wooble, but he threw his wicket away with some awful running. Jadeja sprinted for a quick single after MS Dhoni tapped the ball towards midwicket but, as he was completing the run, instead of continuing straight on, he ran diagonally across, which meant he ran about a couple of yards more than he needed to. Perhaps it was to avoid being struck by the throw, but the extra time permitted to the fielder meant that an under-arm direct hit caught Jadeja short.Comic running of the day
In the final over of Chennai Super Kings’ innings, the last pair were in the middle when Mohit Sharma drove the ball back at the bowler, Rayad Emrit. It struck the non-striker R Ashwin’s bat and flew over the stumps at the bowler’s end. While trying to stop the ball, Emrit and Ashwin collided and Ashwin lost his bat. Mohit seeing the ball elude the bowler had already set off for the single, but Ashwin, who was a few yards down the track before the contact with Emrit, hadn’t spotted that and sprinted back towards the bowler’s end. Both batsmen were nearly at the same end, forcing Ashwin to gallop for the single; he nearly made it, dipping his head like a sprinter as he neared the crease, but without his bat he had to run extra and ended up just short.Ball of the day
One of Ravi Rampaul’s prized assets is his ability to summon up the unplayable delivery – for example, the peach to get rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan in the World Twenty20 final last year. This time he got rid of the rock of Super Kings, Michael Hussey, with a beauty. In the second over, the ball darted back in at Hussey, far too much for him to cover, and the offstump was left reclining yards away from its customary position. It was Hussey’s first failure in the tournament.Walk of the day
Plenty was made of the clash between Dwayne Bravo and his home team. Bravo got a rare chance to bat plenty of time today as he was sent in at No. 5. He didn’t last long, though, after nicking Emrit through to the keeper when on 2. T&T were convinced they had the wicket of Bravo but the umpire was not, and despite the confident appeal the finger wasn’t raised. Bravo, though, knew he had edged it and walked off, to the jubilation of the T&T team.

Many Indian players from small towns with little to no cricket facilities have made it big recently. One of them is India’s Under-19 captain, Vijay Zol

Kanishkaa Balachandran13-Feb-20140:00

‘Familiarity with conditions gives us an advantage’

When Vijay Zol was in class nine, he had had enough. The promising left-hand batsman was busy playing matches in his district, but at the expense of his school attendance, which had fallen well below the minimum 75%.”My school timings were from 8am to 5pm. I would be up at 5, practise in the morning, head to school, practise again in the evening for a couple of hours, head to tuitions, and then return home only at 9,” Zol says. “It was difficult and I did that routine for a year. But despite that, I wasn’t allowed to sit for the exams. I was quite pissed”.Juggling cricket with studies was clearly proving to be unmanageable, so Zol decided he had to quit one. He hasn’t been back at school since.It was a decision driven by his passion for the game and a determination to succeed. His parents supported his move, which, in academics-obsessed India, is unimaginable. The most common reason for cases of students dropping out of school is a cash-crunch at home, but in Zol’s case, money was not the issue.Zol’s father, a criminal lawyer in Jalna, Maharashtra, where the family lives, had the resources to prepare a cement wicket in their backyard so his son could practise. The small town, hardly a nerve centre of sport, had barely any cricket facilities to speak of. The only ground was used for football and there were no turf wickets.

“I remember Sachin [Tendulkar] telling us that come what may, when the chips are down, you need to deal with it as a team. We really back each other when someone fails or is feeling down”

Zol may not yet have transformed his town’s reputation as a cricketing backwater, but he has certainly put Jalna on the map while still in his teens. An aggressive batsman who initially shot to fame with a monumental 451 in a Cooch Behar Under-19 game in 2011, he is now India’s U-19 captain, hoping to defend their World Cup title in the UAE. He was part of the previous World Cup as a player, and is now in charge of the most successful U-19 team in the world, on current form. India have won all four series they have played in the lead-up, defeating Australia and South Africa in two finals. Zol’s century in the Asia Cup final, against Pakistan, showed his big-match temperament.Aside from junior cricket, his impressive CV includes a century on first-class debut – against an international attack – and a double-century on Ranji Trophy debut for Maharashtra. His rise coincided with Maharashtra’s in this year’s Ranji Trophy, in which they finished runners-up. His unbeaten 91 helped beat defending champions Mumbai in the quarter-final, and though the U-19 camp was gathering steam ahead of the World Cup at the time, he was asked to play in the final. Though he wasn’t as successful in Maharashtra’s last two knockout matches, he remained a player to watch.On paper, Zol’s transition from U-19 cricket to first-class may appear seamless – with an average pushing 50 after 11 games – but he says it has been a humbling experience. “I learnt how to react if things don’t go your way. In U-19 cricket you sometimes dominate, but the Ranji Trophy is a different league in which you have to be very patient. I have played well in patches.”Zol was fast-tracked into the India A side before his Maharashtra debut. Against a New Zealand A attack that included Mark Gillespie and Doug Bracewell, he smashed 19 fours in his 110. Recounting the innings, he says he told himself not be overwhelmed by the occasion or the bowlers. “When I went in, the ball wasn’t doing much, but I was still nervous. I just focused on facing the ball, not the bowler. I attacked their legspinners.”Zol’s father can take some credit for his son’s achievements. It was when Zol was recovering from a knee surgery a few years ago that his father had the cement wicket made. There are shades here of the Yuvraj Singh story, but unlike Yograj Singh, Zol’s father only mentors his son, leaving the technical aspects to Zol’s childhood coach.”He [my father] is a big follower of the game and understands the game really well. We never discuss technique much, he mostly advises me on the mental side of the game, boosts me when I lose confidence, tells me to stay balanced and not let success get to my head. Even when I achieve something, I don’t feel as happy. I would rather see my father happy, and that’s not always easy, I know,” Zol says with a chuckle.”So long as I work hard and smart, the facilities don’t really matter. The hunger was always there to play for India. My dedication and motivation always made up for it”•ICC/GettyWhen he scored his quadruple-century against Assam in December 2011, his father refrained from gushing about the innings. Zol understood then that while it’s good to toast a headline-grabbing innings, you’re only as good as your last knock. “On day one I was on 261. I got a call from my dad and he told me to chill and play [according] to the merit of the ball. When I passed 400 my coach called my dad. He was happy but he didn’t show it. He just told me to concentrate on the next game. [That innings] has a special place in my heart.”That knock, and his latest exploits, have underlined the fact that small-town players have taken Indian cricket by storm of late. Zol insists there was no temptation for him to move to a bigger centre like Mumbai or Pune for the sake of his cricket. In fact, he says the lack of facilities in his town fuelled his determination to grab every opportunity.”So long as I work hard and smart, the facilities don’t really matter. The hunger was always there to play for India. My dedication and motivation always made up for it [lack of facilities]. But cricketers have to face certain difficulties or you don’t get there very easily. There are so many players from the bigger cities who have the best of facilities and still don’t make the cut.”The squad Zol will lead has a blend of players from cities and towns of varying sizes and cricketing pedigree. He says the sense of “togetherness” has been carried forward in every series and that has made his job easier.”I remember Sachin [Tendulkar] telling us that come what may, when the chips are down, you need to deal with it as a team,” he says. “We really back each other when someone fails or is feeling down. We enjoy each other’s success. I don’t feel any pressure, because we understand each other’s roles.”While Zol will look to take his cricket forward after the World Cup, he insists that he hasn’t abandoned his books for good. His brother is also a lawyer and his sisters are teachers. “I come from that environment, so I have to study,” he says with a smile, shrugging his shoulders.

Plays of the day from the fifth ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi

Abhishek Purohit27-Dec-2013The brain-fade
You’ve been denied pace from one end on a slow pitch. You see a quicker bowler at the other, and try to take some runs off him. You hit him for four over extra cover. Next ball, you cart him high over the wide long-on boundary. If you are an opener, you think that it’s enough for one over, there are plenty more to come. But Ahmed Shehzad went for glory off the third ball too, against Suranga Lakmal, and his wild mis-hit only found mid-on in the sixth over.The blinder
Sohaib Maqsood was looking in fine touch, having got off the mark with an elegant extra-cover drive for four. First ball of the 17th over, he got a short and wide offering from Lasith Malinga, and slapped it in the air behind backward point. He hadn’t timed it too well, but it was still travelling. Tillakaratne Dilshan, all of 37 years, threw himself to his left, got both hands to the ball and came down on the ground with it safely lodged in his palms.The return to convention
Misbah-ul-Haq was finding it difficult to score at the start of his innings. He turned to the reverse-sweep to release the pressure, but missed a couple of times against Sachithra Senanayake. Undaunted, he tried the stroke once more, against Dilshan this time, and almost got himself out, the ball hitting the glove and falling just short of the wicketkeeper. Realising innovation wasn’t working, Misbah turned to the regular sweep next ball, and grinned as it scurried away fine for the first boundary in 56 deliveries.The change
Having dismissed Kumar Sangakkara in his previous over, Junaid Khan pulled up after the first ball of the 31st. He had a chat with Misbah, who handed the ball to Umar Gul to complete the over as Junaid walked off the field. A fast bowler coming back after a long injury layoff and replacing a sore fast bowler. Should have been cause for concern. It was, for Sri Lanka. Gul bounded in, got the first ball to kick from back of a length and produced an edge from Ashan Priyanjan to the keeper.

Cricket below the international top tier is well structured, with incentives for teams that do well. It’s a pity the Test-playing world doesn’t take a leaf out of their book

Firdose Moonda18-Apr-2014Ever wish international cricket’s schedule was set up like a league? That every team played every other over a set period of time, and at the end a deserving winner emerged? That’s exactly how it works, just not at the level you think.The World Cricket League (WCL), which all ICC member countries apart from the ten Test-playing nations are eligible to participate in, is a well-structured and organised competition and has been for the last seven years. The WCL is designed so that there are “no games without context”, Tim Anderson, the ICC’s global development manager, explained. All matches are part of a qualification system that includes promotion and relegation.The competition was first organised in 2007, with six divisions, and played over a two-year period. In 2009 it was expanded to eight divisions and the cycle increased to four years.Each division, apart from Division Eight, contains six teams that play each other once over the course of a week, followed by playoffs for positions, including a final. In Division Eight, the teams are divided into two groups of four. The top teams from each division are promoted to the one above and the bottom two in each relegated, apart from Division Eight, where five teams drop out and are replaced by the next best five, chosen from regional events (Africa Divisions, Europe Divisions and so on).At the end of each four-year cycle, 12 teams (all six Division One teams, four from Division Two and two from Division Three) compete in a World Cup qualifier to determine who will participate in the 50-over showpiece. This is how Afghanistan rose through the ranks from Division Five in 2008 to secure a spot in the 2015 World Cup. After each qualifier the two lowest-ranked sides from Division One are relegated.You’d be forgiven for wondering why cricket can be run in this sensible fashion at lower levels but at the top have a haphazard FTP, under which sometimes one team does not tour another for almost a decade (South Africa last visited Sri Lanka eight years ago, for example), or one team does not host another at all (India haven’t invited Bangladesh to tour in 14 years). The answer is because the Full Members, who have decision-making powers at the ICC, have mandated it that way.The management of Associate cricket is not something Full Members want to spend time on, so they are happy to leave it to the ICC to handle. Their own calendar, on the other hand, Full Members want total control over, because Test-playing countries, particularly India, England and Australia, generate substantial revenue, especially when they play each other. Associate cricket does not.Many Associates, including Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and Papua New Guinea, bring in more money than the ICC gives them, either through sponsorships or government grants, but they do not deal in big bucks. As a result their schedules do not have to be dictated to by the bottom line, and so they have no qualms accepting the ICC’s structure.

“Good administration often underpins good performance. Afghanistan are a beacon for good administration. Ireland are another example”ICC’s global development manager

Make no mistake, though: it is money that keeps Associate cricket alive and running the way it currently is. When the ICC renegotiated its television rights in 2008, the increase in revenue gave them the ability to inject a dose of cash into the WCL, and also set up the high-performance funding scheme to reward teams that did well.In that light, Afghanistan’s story is less a fairy tale and more a case of securing funding through proper planning and sound domestic structures. “Often it is the countries with good domestic governance that end up being successful in the long run,” Anderson said. “Good administration often underpins good performance. A lot of successful performances are achieved because of excellent structures. Afghanistan are a beacon for good administration. Ireland are another example. They have one of the top administrations in the cricketing world.”The ICC sees no reason why more fledgling cricket countries cannot emulate those examples. There is enough cricket activity taking place across the board – with the number of participants in Associate and Affiliate countries having doubled in the last four years to a million people – and enough guidance and support on offer from the game’s governing body if it is wanted. “We offer advice in terms of managing organisations and generally improving cricket. Members that alert us to their needs are more likely to get assistance,” Anderson said.The ICC’s development arm believes it can declare the work it has done so far a success because of the performances the Associate teams have produced. Currently there are more competitive Associate teams against Full Members than ever before. “The gap between the leading Associates and lower Test teams is becoming minimal,” Anderson said. “The feeling among cricket fans when an Associate beats a Full Member is that it is no longer a flash in the pan.”As proof of that, Anderson referenced the five-week period between February and March in which four different Associate members between them recorded five victories against Full Members. Ireland beat West Indies in the opening match of a two-game T20 series in the Caribbean, Afghanistan beat Bangladesh at the Asia Cup, Ireland then defeated Zimbabwe in the World T20 qualifiers, Hong Kong shocked Bangladesh in the qualifiers, and Netherlands humbled England in the main draw.The Associates are making an ever-greater impact on the world cricket stage, and to build on that they want more fixtures against Full Members. It was their hope that in the ICC’s restructuring there would emerge a system to include Associates in more ODIs, and that that could form an element of World Cup qualification.That is unlikely to happen. Instead, what the Associates got from the latest ICC board meeting was the opportunity to play Test cricket in some form: the winners of the 2015-17 and 2019-21 Intercontinental Cup will play the bottom-ranked Test team in home-and-away two-match series. As things stand now, that Associate will not qualify to become an 11th Test team; they will simply get a taste of Test cricket, in what will be called the ICC Test Challenge. The qualification for the 2016 World T20 will be the same as it was for 2014, while the criteria for playing in the 50-over World Cup are yet to be decided on.”Some of these changes are exciting for Associates, particularly as it will afford one or more of them the opportunity to break into Test cricket. Although much of the detail around the resolutions is still to be worked out, we believe the developing world will be well looked after,” Anderson said.As well taken care of as the Full Members will allow them to be.

Plays of the day from the qualifying game between Southern Express and Lahore Lions

Rachna Shetty16-Sep-2014The shot
Tillakaratne Sampath was a last-minute addition to the Southern Express squad, replacing his brother Tillakaratne Dilshan. Some of the familial similarities were on display during his innings of 18 in his first game of the tournament, especially a sweep in the fourth over that was reminiscent of Dilshan.The hat-trick
In the fourth over of the Express innings, Aizaz Cheema found himself in a familiar position – he had dismissed Kusal Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka off successive balls. It was the third time in the tournament that Cheema was on a hat-trick but there was no luck for him in this game, too, as Jehan Mubarak let the ball pass safely to the keeper.The surge
Three quick strikes in the middle of the innings had curbed the Lions scoring rate, but with the last five overs looming they needed a quick push. It came from their captain Mohammad Hafeez, who smacked 22 runs off the first four balls of the 16th over bowled by Seekkuge Prasanna. First, he hit a four through deep midwicket before dancing out of the crease to smack three sixes down the ground. By the end of the over, Hafeez had moved from 15 off 24 balls to 38 off 29.The dismissal
Ahmed Shehzad had hit some powerful shots in his brief innings of 29 but he would want to forget the shot that got him out. Ferveez Maharoof’s delivery was almost a wide outside off stump but Shehzad walked across and manoeuvred it to the fielder at short fine leg, ending what seemed to be a promising knock.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the third one-day international as England register a win

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Alan Gardner in Colombo03-Dec-2014The dash to first baseRangana Herath played two characteristic baseball shots in his three-ball innings, then took the gag a little further on the final ball of the innings. Spotting a short one from Chris Jordan, he aimed a swipe over a straight midwicket, and took off for the run. Having top-edged the ball just past the 30-yard circle, Herath had a chance to run two, only, he had somehow dropped his bat at the striker’s end, and was compelled to turn down a risky second.The swindleEver the opportunist behind the stumps, Kumar Sangakkara’s anticipatory shuffle-and-take to dismiss Ravi Bopara was tantamount to stealing his wicket, rather than earning it fairly. Rangana Herath had been walloped over his head for six the previous ball, but when Bopara shaped to play a paddle sweep, Sangakkara smelt blood and began slinking to the leg side. Bopara’s shot came virtually off the face, and a, ended up in Sangakkara’s gloves instead.The lifeJoe Root had held the latter part of England’s chase together, and when Dhammika Prasad had him caught at cover for 40, Sri Lanka believed their chances of defending their score had risen substantially. But their joy was to be erased by technology. Unsure of whether Prasad had overstepped, the on-field umpires requested the third umpire’s assistance, and Prasad was found to have bowled a no-ball, by perhaps no more than an inch. Root survived and went on to hit the winning run. That Prasad over ended up lurching England 21 runs closer to victory.The calamity callWith Moeen Ali skipping along at a strike rate of nearly 150, England just needed a couple of batsmen to stay with him. Alastair Cook did a capable job but Alex Hales, back in the side and asked to bat at No. 3, proved less reliable. He almost got himself in bother backing up off the fourth ball of the 15th over, falling over and having to scramble for the crease, but worse was to come. The next delivery was driven firmly by Moeen wide of Herath, never the most nimble of fielders, at mid-off and he had to dive to stop it. However, with Moeen charging down the pitch, Hales had turned to watch the ball and then decided to return to his crease – leaving Moeen to sprint desperately back in the direction whence he came. It was a futile effort, as Sangakkara took a smart catch and whipped off the bails, Moeen having run almost two by himself. He was left to continue his trot back to the dressing room.The gotcha momentSangakkara, playing probably his last ODI in this part of the country and having cruised past 13,000 career runs, looked in the mood to toy with England for most of the innings. In the second over of the batting Powerplay, Sangakkara decided to cut himself a generous slice of Chris Jordan’s bowling: first he clubbed a fullish ball over midwicket; then, when a fielder was moved to plug that area, he leaned back and ramped a short delivery down to vacant third man. Next he went leg side again, thrashing a couple more to wide long-on. Then he was out, mistiming a pull to mid-on as Jordan cut his fingers over a slower ball. Sangakkara looked as shocked as anyone – it may have cost him a few but Jordan had got his man.

Attendance and TV viewership soared this BBL, and Cricket Australia deserves plenty of credit, but will the new fans stay on?

Freddie Wilde02-Feb-2015Seasons one and two of the Big Bash League were defined by the looming spectre of a new broadcasting deal for the competition. Having signed a seven-year deal for the old KFC Big Bash in 2005, pay-per-view channel Fox Sports owned the rights to the first two seasons of the new incarnation. This gave Cricket Australia and the tournament itself two seasons to create fresh interest among broadcasters. Given the size and depth of CA’s financial investment in the BBL, the new deal would have to be significant for it to justify their commitment to the concept.There was, therefore, something unashamedly and understandably brash about the early years of the BBL. In his talks with the Australian Cricket Board before World Series Cricket in 1977, Kerry Packer told the administrators: “There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen, don’t you think?” Thirty-five years on, CA was similarly brazen in its pursuit of popularity. This was, to a sport and a nation historically defined by high-level performance, something of a culture shock. This shameless and arguably cheapening self-promotion was, however, in the eyes of CA, necessary for cricket’s audiences to be expanded, and in this regard they were right.Fundamentally there was very little difference between the old KFC Big Bash and the new BBL, but they looked different, they were marketed differently, and the first season’s results were better than even CA imagined possible. In BBL01, TV viewership rose 83.5% on the old Big Bash (71% higher than was budgeted for), and attendances rose 30% (10% higher than was budgeted for). That the BBL was hidden behind a pay-per-view wall was not an obstacle to its popularity. The 31 matches in the first season were comfortably the 31 highest rated shows on pay-per-view television in Australia through the season’s duration. The highest-rated match of the season was the fourth-most watched programme in Australian pay television history. The revolution had well and truly been televised.Average viewership and attendances fell slightly in season two, with CA making the mistake of scheduling too much of the season before Christmas. CA operations manager Mike McKenna defended the figures claiming that “at the beginning [of the first season] we set our targets for three years and blew them out of the water in year one. So we are still doing better than we originally projected.”Despite the popularity of the BBL, just one team, Melbourne Stars, turned a profit in the first season, and the combined team losses amounted to $1.85 million, with CA itself losing $10 million. McKenna was unperturbed by the financial troubles, however, saying that “based on results from the opening season, we’re confident this investment is a worthwhile one. Any loss needs to be viewed in the context of the significant investment needed to launch a new league and contains a proportion of expenses that relate to establishment costs.”In the second season, despite projections that five teams would make a profit, only two actually did. But these figures, CA maintained, were to be expected. It was the nature of the long-term investment. CA pointed to the imminent broadcasting deal as the endgame for the league’s start-up costs.

It was not until this fourth season that the rest of the world really took notice of the BBL. Average TV viewership rose again, this time from 910,000 to 930,000, but more tangible was the staggering climb in average attendances from 18,778 to 23,548

The sale of not only the BBL broadcasting rights but the international rights – on the market for the first time in 34 years – dominated CA’s thoughts in early 2013. The board hired investment bank Credit Suisse to help guide it through the sale of the rights, and their own negotiating party was headed by Stephanie Beltrame, CA’s general manager of media rights, and Dean Kino, general manager of business and legal affairs. Selling two sets of rights, CA played Nine and Ten off each other, driving the price up. When Nine invoked their right to match any offer made by Ten for international cricket, that left Ten with the BBL. Ten boss Hamish McLennan hailed the five-year, $20-million agreement as “the deal of the century for Cricket Australia and Ten”.The introduction of the BBL on free-to-air television was a watershed moment for the league’s popularity. The league’s official website, bigbash.com.au, claimed research had found that season three was the BBL’s most successful season in “all three key attendance metrics”.Average television viewership rose from 235,000 to a staggering 910,000, meaning close to one million people were watching domestic cricket matches almost every night in December and January. The average attendance also rose massively on the disappointing season two, to 18,778, which was also over 1000 per match more than the excellent first season. The headline statistic for CA, however, was that 42% of attendees were coming to their first BBL game, which was 14% more than in season two, and that 22% of attendees were coming to an elite cricket match for the first time.”BBL attracting new cricket fans” ran the headline on the official website. Closer research found that 50% of attendees were with family, 24% were children (compared to 9% in Tests), and that 51% of women attended their first BBL game. The third season was also a breakthrough one for the finances of individual teams, with seven of the eight sides turning a profit; and the only reason the Hobart Hurricanes failed to do so was because of stadium development”We have unashamedly designed a competition and marketed a competition to attract new people to the game,” CA’s CEO James Sutherland said. “It’s definitely paying off for both us and Channel Ten,” McKenna said during the season. “They put a lot on the line in order to get the rights off Fox Sports for the Big Bash… and we also had a lot at stake.”Yet despite the enormous success of the third season, McKenna revealed in October 2014 that CA was still not making a profit from the BBL. “But that’s a deliberate growth strategy,” he said. “The Big Bash League is about bringing new audiences to the game and about reinvesting money in grassroots cricket.” In a year in which CA’s willingness to not invest in the future of the international game was made evident by its part in the takeover of the ICC, by contrast its confidence in investing and nurturing long-term growth in Australia’s own domestic game provides a poignant and pertinent realisation.It was not until this fourth season that the rest of the world really took notice of the BBL. Average TV viewership rose again, this time from 910,000 to 930,000, but more tangible was the staggering climb in average attendances from 18,778 to 23,548. One semi-final drew over 50,000 spectators. While the first two seasons were defined by the necessity of a new broadcasting deal, the third, and particularly the fourth, have been defined by the match attendances.About 52,633 people watching a domestic cricket match played outside the subcontinent could come to be seen as a seminal moment in the history of the domestic game. Indeed, another mind-warping statistic is that Adelaide Oval saw larger attendances for its first three BBL matches than it did for the entire Australia-India Test match, while it took the Gabba just two BBL matches to do the same. Domestic cricket in Australia is outselling international cricket.Audience participation: a spectator joins in a Perth Scorchers celebration•Getty ImagesThere is little doubt that the BBL being on free-to-air television has boosted the league’s popularity. Dan Migala, who has been sports marketing company PCG’s man on the ground in Australia working with CA has said he sees Network Ten’s role in the BBL’s popularity as “incredibly important”, and that he believes Ten’s viewers are “future attendees of not only the BBL but also other forms of the game”.It is expected that for the first time all eight teams will turn a profit after this year’s fourth season. “Clubs are rapidly becoming more commercially successful,” BBL general manager Anthony Everard claims. “One club generated $1.5 million in sponsorship revenue this year, and another club had gate receipts for one match of $450,000.” While it is planned that the level of central funding of teams by CA will decrease over time as the clubs become more self-sufficient, Everard believes that it is “likely” CA will continue to provide “tagged funding towards specific initiatives such as community engagement, event presentation etc.” Which he believes are “critical to the objective of engaging new fans – families, kids.”Crucial to the popularity of the BBL has been CA’s realisation that it needs to offer more than just cricket to draw young fans to matches, and that has seen a myriad of in-game, extra entertainment provided. “We had to look at the match through the lens of the child,” recalls Migala. “You quickly realise that they have many options for entertainment. Video games. Movies. Soccer. The list can go on and on. This is why the BBL is very much communicated as an entertainment product first that has cricket. The entertainment value will draw in the children but the cricket will keep them there.”However, there are those who doubt this, because for the sport itself popularity and success are not mutually inclusive, and the BBL’s detractors worry that the cricket itself is only an element of the BBL package, and not necessarily a defining one. While there would be no product without the cricket, growing the sport’s popularity necessitates that the cricket is the centrepiece of the event.Migala, something of a new-age sports marketer, who was instrumental in designing the broader entertainment package on offer at the BBL, is not worried about excessive entertainment superseding the sport. “The on-pitch product has to be there, but I’d argue that the fan engagements aren’t ‘extras’ but part of a symphony-like experience for attendees.”Bill Veeck, legendary MLB marketer and team owner, famously said, ‘You can control everything about the fan experience except what happens on the field’, and that’s the foundation of the BBL’s approach to making sure they over-deliver on the experience for every fan each and every time they pay to attend a match.”It is hard to quibble with what Migala says. In an age in which people are seen to have shorter attention spans and more distractions than ever, getting them through the gates of cricket stadiums, by whatever means deserves credit. Whether the thousands of new fans who have been to the BBL then become fans of longer formats is the next great question that will shape the future of cricket in Australia.