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Australia claimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by beating India 2-0. Here’s a rating of the performances of players who made those results

Brydon Coverdale11-Jan-20155:14

Hits and misses of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

9.5Steven Smith

Scored 769 runs at 128.16, breaking Don Bradman’s record for most runs in an Australia-India series. Was also the first Australian since Bradman to score four hundreds in consecutive Tests in a series, and all of Smith’s came in the first innings when the Tests were there to be set up. Most notably, he took over the captaincy from the injured Michael Clarke after the Adelaide win, and led from the front in the best possible way. Deservedly the Player of the Series.8.5David Warner
Made three hundreds in the series and lifted when the side needed a morale boost in both Adelaide and Sydney. Warner’s 145 in the first innings in Adelaide was full of raw emotion as the Australians returned to cricket following the death of Phillip Hughes, and his second innings hundred there helped set up the victory. His 101 on their return to the SCG, where Hughes was struck, was again poignant.Nathan Lyon
The major question surrounding Lyon as a Test bowler was his ability to bowl Australia to victory on the fifth day of a match. He answered emphatically at Adelaide Oval, where he claimed 7 for 152 in the second innings, when India were threatening to pull off their chase, and 12 for the match. Finished as the leading wicket taker from either side with 23 at 34.82, and 17 of those came in the two victories.8Michael Clarke
The way Smith led from the front it is easy to forget that Clarke captained Australia to the first win, in Adelaide. His 128 in the first innings set Australia’s series up and was masterful for his management of his emotions, so soon after delivering a eulogy at Hughes’ funeral, and for the way he completed it after retiring hurt with a hamstring injury. Clarke missed the rest of the series, but declared Adelaide the most important Test match of his career.7.5Chris Rogers
An average of 52.12 in a four-Test series in which he didn’t score a century is proof of Rogers’ consistency throughout the campaign. He finished with six consecutive half-centuries, including 95 in the first innings in Sydney, and although he would be disappointed not to have scored his fifth Test century, Rogers provided important solidity at the top of the order.Josh Hazlewood began the series as a debutant and ended it as the only bowler with an average below 30•Getty ImagesJosh Hazlewood
Began the series uncapped, finished it as the only bowler from either side averaging under 30. Hazlewood’s 12 wickets at 29.33 included a five-for on debut in Australia’s second victory at the Gabba, and his consistent lines, sharp bounce and subtle swing made him a handful for India’s batsmen even on docile pitches. An exciting prospect for the future.7Ryan Harris
Ten wickets in three Tests was not quite the return Harris might have liked but he was consistently at the India batsmen and built pressure. He was also Man of the Match in the draw at the MCG, where his six wickets for the match were complemented by 74 and 21 with the bat.Mitchell Johnson
Generally lacked the brute impact of last summer’s Ashes and was a little down on pace, but 13 wickets in three Tests was still an adequate outcome. Most notably, Johnson fired up in the victory in Brisbane, where his 4 for 61 in the second innings followed 88 with the bat, and was key to Australia taking a 2-0 lead.5Shaun Marsh
Made 254 runs at 42.33 in his return to the side after being dropped in South Africa. His steadying second innings in Melbourne was important to Australia getting firmly on top; getting run out for 99 was far from the perfect ending, though. Also contributed 73 at the SCG, but his catching was poor throughout the series.Brad Haddin
Struggled with the bat, especially against the short ball, but made 55 in the first innings in Melbourne. With the gloves, Haddin’s work varied from the sublime – a number of diving catches that would be athletic for a 27-year-old, let alone a 37-year-old – to the ridiculous, like not going for a much simpler take at the MCG that flew between Haddin and first slip. Fortunately it was mostly the former.Ten years later, Australia are still not getting the best out of Shane Watson•AFPJoe Burns
A pair of fifties in Sydney confirmed that Burns belongs at this level, after a nervy start at the MCG. His 33-ball half-century in the second innings at the SCG was as entertaining as it was selfless as Australia pushed for quick runs late on the fourth day. Needs to work on his short-leg fielding.Mitchell Marsh
Scored 41 and 40 in Adelaide and claimed his first Test wicket in Brisbane, but then sustained a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the rest of the series. His second innings in Adelaide was especially impressive for its selflessness – 40 off 26 balls as Australia set a target.4.5Shane Watson
Scored 238 runs at 29.75 and took five wickets at 48.80. His best came in the last Test of the series; in Sydney he scored 81 and claimed three victims. For most of the series he continued his trend of making starts but failing to capitalise, not what Australia needs from their No.3. As he has for ten years, Watson contributed bits and pieces here and there, but Australia still have not worked out how best to use him.Mitchell Starc
Disappointing with the ball in Brisbane, though contributed 52 with the bat. Returned much better in Sydney, where he found swing and pace and claimed five wickets in the Test.2Peter Siddle
Two wickets at 54.50 in Adelaide, and then was dropped.

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-2015Ballance and Joe Root, England’s Yorkshire pair, resumed their partnership in the morning and took it in to three figures•Getty ImagesRoot passed fifty for the second time in the match… before playing the ball on to his stumps for the second time in the match•Getty ImagesJason Holder’s wicket was worth celebrating – but not much else was for West Indies, as England added 108 in the morning session•Associated PressSulieman Benn toiled without much success, although he did pick up Ben Stokes advancing down the pitch•Associated PressBallance pressed on, however, reaching his century from 233 balls with a thump down the ground. It was the fourth time he has celebrated the landmark in just nine Tests•Getty ImagesEngland eventually declared on 333 for 7, setting West Indies a target of 438. In a 20-minute spell before tea, they managed to dislodge Kraigg Brathwaite•Getty ImagesStuart Broad was the bowler, Joe Root at short leg the catcher. Broad’s celebration involved a signal to the dressing room, confirmation of a plan well laid•Getty ImagesJames Anderson was looking for the two wickets he needs to pass Ian Botham’s England mark but he was left frustrated on day four•Associated PressWest Indies battled hard through the evening session, led by Devon Smith, who made an unbeaten fifty•Getty ImagesBut England finished the day on a high note as Root removed Darren Bravo, thanks to a stunning catch at slip from Chris Jordan•Getty Images

England’s defeat in Barbados, and their failure to win the series in the West Indies, is another black mark on Peter Moores’ report card as coach. However, the team is moving in the right direction

George Dobell in Barbados04-May-20155:27

Butcher: England’s big wake-up call

It is only just over 12 months since Peter Moores was appointed England coach, but already it seems his time may be running out.Defeat in Barbados and a drawn series against West Indies might provide just the ammunition required to sack a man who was appointed by a regime that has now passed and seems never to have won the support of its replacement.While there is precious little time to make changes ahead of the next instalment in England’s endless schedule – Moores flies to Ireland overnight on Wednesday in order to take charge of the ODI on Friday and New Zealand arrive for their tour on Monday – the ECB showed a ruthlessness in dealing with ex-managing director Paul Downton that will not have instilled security elsewhere.News that the ECB has been talking to former captain Michael Vaughan – a man who has gone on record as saying Moores should be “removed” as England coach – is hardly a ringing endorsement, while news that Jason Gillespie has turned down the offer of coaching South Australia to remain in Yorkshire will only increase speculation that the ECB is grooming him as Moores’ replacement.Such speculation is, for now, premature. The ECB will leave a decision about the coaching role to Downton’s successor as director of the team. It may be relevant, however, that two of the front-runners for that role – Vaughan and former captain Andrew Strauss – were far from effusive in praise for Moores during his first period in the England job.It is not hard to make a case against Moores. His year in office has been dominated by England’s poor ODI form and their wretched performance in the World Cup. A Test series loss against Sri Lanka was followed by victory against India, but their notorious reputation as poor travellers mitigated – at least in some eyes – against the value of such a success. If you are looking for evidence to damn Moores – and it seems some are – it can be found without too much of a search.Moores did not enjoy a golden inheritance. Not only did he take over the team at a low ebb – England had just been whitewashed in the Ashes and defeated by Netherlands in a lame World T20 campaign – but it was also a side in the process of losing several senior players.More than that, he was tainted by association with the management that appointed him. While Moores had nothing to do with the carve-up of the ICC – which occurred every bit of six months before his appointment – nothing to do with the “outside cricket” press release – ten weeks before his appointment – and nothing to do with the unnecessarily harsh treatment – scapegoating, even – of Kevin Pietersen, the fall out of each has stuck to him.A combination of those factors – and the fact that he had been sacked in the job once before – meant he was never likely to enjoy a honeymoon period. Many people had no patience or belief in him before he began.But equally, a case can easily be mounted for his retention. The emergence of several young players – the likes of Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan and Gary Ballance – could be used as evidence that Moores is on the right track, in Test cricket, at least. The progress of Joe Root, a batsman who had been dropped by the end of Andy Flower’s period in charge, might also be used as an example of a new-look England side in a developmental phase.The failure of England’s batsmen to post a large total when conditions were at their best in the first innings proved damaging•AFPThe problem with young players is that they often lack consistency. So it should have been no huge surprise that Buttler – a hugely talented but raw cricketer whose glovework standing back is good but standing up requires work – missed a stumping chance that might have turned this Test. With Jermaine Blackwood on just 4, Buttler was unable to gather cleanly and the batsman went on to feature in a match-clinching century partnership with Darren Bravo.Much the same could be said of Moeen. He bowled poorly in Barbados, dropping short frequently, and was understandably not trusted to deliver more than a dozen overs in the fourth innings in circumstances in which his side required him to provide an attacking edge. It does not mean he – or Buttler or Stokes – are poor players or that it is time to drop them. It means they are works in progress.England lost this match primarily due to their poor batting. In scoring only 257 in the first innings, they squandered the opportunity to register a match-defining total with the pitch at its best. Then, in registering only 123 in their second innings, they displayed a lack of composure in conditions that were testing, certainly, but far from impossible. Had they salvaged victory on the final day, it should not have obscured the frailties in their batting.Peter Moores has laid the groundwork for England’s future Test players, but will he be around to see them grow?•Getty ImagesBut nor should their failure condemn them all to the axe. With the exception of Jonathan Trott, whose international career is surely over, the batting line-up that represented England here is – a late break from Pietersen apart – probably the best line-up for the Ashes. When Alastair Cook said, after the match, that Root and Ballance would “break all kind of records” it was no idle talk.Perhaps selection errors were made here. The inclusion of a second spinner would have helped on a surface on which Stokes delivered just seven overs in the game, while Adam Lyth might also consider himself unfortunate.But there was logic in those decisions. The team management felt that Jordan and Stokes, in particular, required prolonged selection to help them gain more comfort at this level and feared that dropping either of them might result in them playing fearful cricket upon their return. Meanwhile Adil Rashid – who provides a reminder of the old adage that reputations often improve disproportionately when out of the spotlight – continues to work on improvements that are designed to make him a more effective bowler in the long-term.And there’s the rub. For while Moores continues to take a long-term view, his future may only be measured in the short term.Certainly the pre-series words of Colin Graves did him few favours. Not only did ‘mediocregate’ – as it may become known – motivate West Indies, it also provided a completely unnecessary slogan with which to beat England whenever they faltered. West Indies were never as bad as Graves implied and, at times, played some excellent cricket. Graves might also reflect that, the last time England played a Test series in the Caribbean, at the start of 2009, they lost.On that occasion, they went on to win the Ashes a few months later. While that seems unlikely right now, to see England at close quarters on this tour was to see a fragile recovery in its early stages. The results do not show it, but there is something good developing here. There is a unity of purpose, a spirit of enjoyment and determination, a level of raw talent that bodes well. It felt as if they were on the right track.What these players – and their coach – requires is time. But with the ECB in impatient mood, there is no guarantee they will be given it.

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2015Ricky Ponting rings the five-minute bell•Getty ImagesDavid Warner started aggressively before falling in the 30s…•AFP… he holed out in Moeen Ali’s first over•Getty ImagesChris Rogers made watchful progress on his Middlesex home ground•Associated Press… while Steven Smith produced his usual flamboyant strokeplay•Getty ImagesRogers brought up his eighth fifty-plus score in nine Test innings…•Getty Images…as Smith also ticked to a fifty after twice falling having done the hard work in Cardiff•Getty ImagesBen Stokes saw a chance go down when Ian Bell could not cling onto an edge off Smith at slip…•Getty Images…a blemish in the field for England after their impressive work in the first Test•Getty ImagesSmith was first to reach three figures – his 10th hundred in Tests•AFPRogers was not far behind when he punched down the ground•Getty Images

At 35 and in the form of his life with Gloucestershire, Michael Klinger hasn’t given up on the hope of playing for Australia

David Hopps18-Sep-2015Rarely has a player gone into a English domestic cup final bearing such a heavy responsibility as Michael Klinger, when he takes Gloucestershire to Lord’s on Saturday. Success brings with it high expectations and Klinger’s success in the Royal London One-Day Cup this season has been extraordinary: all-comers despatched with the broadest bat in the kingdom.In the West Country, many talk optimistically of a Gloucestershire revival, recalling the time around the turn of the century when they dominated English one-day cricket, sensing that Surrey can be conquered to bring their first limited-overs trophy since 2004.But it remains largely unproven whether Gloucestershire’s revival runs deep or whether they have been sustained largely by the exploits of one Australian batsman flowering late. A Lord’s final would not be the best time to have to answer it. Far better that Klinger, with 531 runs in the tournament to his credit – average 132.75, strike rate 92.50 – delivers one more time. Debate it later, preferably while holding a trophy, dripping with champagne.It was a gorgeous late summer afternoon at Nevil Road, where Klinger has been clunking the ball into the new flats behind the arm at regular intervals for much of the summer. To an Australian used to long boundaries, they must seem to have been built on the outfield. Gloucestershire’s players were in attendance for the pre-media day, grouped quietly as if they expected their marginal role. Most interviewers, this one included, predictably awaited a chat with an unassuming Australian whose reputation has never been higher.Michael Klinger has scored three centuries from seven games in the Royal London Cup•Getty ImagesKlinger has additional reasons to succeed, reasons that go beyond his captaincy of Gloucestershire, a county where his reputation has grown steadily in the past years, not just as a batsman but as a skilful, undemonstrative captain. No longer is he one of the least known overseas players on the circuit.He has never represented Australia, but his target is a place in their World T20 squad in India in March. He is 35. Australia do not make a habit of giving 35-year-olds debuts in the modern age. Especially 35-year-olds they have occasionally dismissed without a second thought.But he will not abandon hope while he is scoring so freely: the Sheffield Shield, the Big Bash League (where he was the leading run-maker last season), the Natwest t20 Blast and now the Royal London Cup. The runs keep coming and the statistics are beginning to overpower his date of birth.And Adam Voges, Australia’s third-oldest Test debutant since the war, made a hundred on Test debut in Dominica earlier this year, so even these days there are precedents for a late opportunity beyond the age of 35.Klinger (fourth from right): “There is no doubt that if I was scoring the runs at 25 that I have over the past four or five years then I would have played for Australia already”•Simon Cooper/PA Photos/Getty Images”There is no doubt that if I was scoring the runs at 25 that I have over the past four or five years then I would have played for Australia already,” Klinger said. “That’s my challenge now. In the past 18 months I have gone above and beyond that measure, so I have to keep doing that.”I think the last 18 months where I scored over 1000 runs in Shield cricket in Australia and did well in the Big Bash and then followed it up here in England has been my best prolonged period. It’s important to keep it going for one more game here and then the season back home in Australia. The next step is to hopefully play in the T20 World Cup.”It is tempting to propose that England has belatedly been the making of Klinger. After all, in his first seven seasons with Victoria, he made only two hundreds. He would have made his maiden hundred earlier, but Paul Reiffel, Victoria’s captain, declared when he was on 99 and asserted that it was a team game. It was another four years before he ticked that one off.This was rough justice, if justice at all, for a player who, at 15, had become the youngest to make a century in Victorian district cricket. He was preferred to Michael Clarke as captain of Australia Under-19, but Clarke has just retired from international cricket, a sated, feted Australian captain, whilst for Klinger the call has never come. The call that another Australia captain, Allan Border, said was virtually certain when he made a match-winning 80 on his one-day debut for Victoria, more years ago than he cares to remember.Leading South Australia to the 2010 Champions League semi-finals helped him develop his short-form batting•Getty ImagesHe prefers to remember two breakthroughs. The first came when he moved from Victoria to South Australia at 27, was given the chance to bat at No. 3 and open in one-dayers, and made three first-class centuries, one a double, in his first six weeks. Adelaide, a sociable country town where a side could stick together, also suited him.Easy runs on flat pitches, his detractors suggested, but one of them was at the Gabba, and it was more about him growing in maturity in response to the recognition that he was finally a senior player, assured of his place in the side, expected to deliver, not always giving way to those returning to the fold – be it David Hussey, Brad Hodge, Cameron White, Matthew Elliott.The second breakthrough – his short-form breakthrough – came when he took South Australia to the Champions League semi-final in South Africa in 2010. It is surely an indictment of cricket beyond the international game – or those who promoted it, or perhaps those who sought to undermine it – that this world club tournament failed to gain appeal, but it did good by Klinger. His assessment gives succour to the view that the abandonment of the Champions League is bad for cricket.”When I started to be successful in T20 cricket I captained Redbacks in the Champions League, we reached the semi, and ever since then I’ve been able to develop more of a short-form game and more of a 360-degree game,” Klinger said. “We made the semi-final as underdogs, which for us was excellent. That made me really want to get better and better. You could see how T20 was going.Klinger blossomed as a batsman once he moved from Victoria to South Australia in 2008•Getty Images”I think my late development is just taking experiences in all conditions and learning from them. I have played in India a bit and I have played pressure games in domestic finals in Australia as well. Experiencing those pressure situations helped my cricket. Over the last six or seven years in Australia I have been able to be consistent in all three formats, which is something I’m proud of.”Even with his run-scoring at its height, there have been disappointments on the way. Last year, he moved to Western Australia after South Australia intimated his Shield place could no longer be guaranteed: two months previously he had scored a double-hundred.He left hoping to gain a place in Australia’s World Cup side. They won it without him. He was never thought to be in the running. The call, at 35, may never come – a likelihood that with the World T20 on the horizon he refuses to accept.He came closest to an Australia call perhaps in 2009 when Marcus North was selected instead for a tour of South Africa because of his additional spin-bowling option and made a hundred on Test debut.But back to Lord’s – and the Royal London final against a Surrey side awash with the confidence of youth. What if Klinger fails? Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire’s coach, fields such a provocative question with good grace. He asserts that they would be capable of taking it in their stride – and he has examples too, such as the time when they chased down Worcestershire’s 264 for 8 in early August, Klinger an absentee, but the top four all making runs, to reach the quarter-finals.Team-mate Adam Voges’ (left) Australian debut at the age of 35 should serve as an inspiration to Klinger•Getty Images”We are good enough,” Dawson said. “That Worcestershire match was an interesting one. Michael gets the headlines as he should do, but people have also played around him and in the semi-final Hamish Marshall also took a lot of pressure off Michael by playing the innings he did.Klinger also had the equanimity to consider the possibility of failure. “I failed once along the way in this cup run, so it can happen that you fail, but I will be doing everything I can as an experienced player to perform. The stats will show I have had a good series but I missed three games when I hurt my hamstring and we won two of those.”The most notable of those performances – if not necessarily against the best attack he faced – was his unbeaten 137 in Gloucestershire’s semi-final win against Yorkshire at Headingley. It was a Yorkshire attack far removed from the one that has won the Championship for the second successive season, but Klinger’s 137 not out from 145 balls possessed a certainty that stilled home expectations from an early hour. It was made all the more remarkable because his long-haul flight from Australia after a brief flight home to Perth did not land until Friday night, 36 hours before the game.So what is the secret of getting over jetlag? “A lot of coffee on game day – it got me through,” he said. “That and staring at the ceiling.”As he stared into the dead of night, he would have wondered about the possibility of a Lord’s final, no doubt, as well as that elusive international cap. His brilliance made sure of the first, and, 20 years after he was first dubbed a star in waiting, he will not yet let go of the second. Surrey’s young side will face an old pro still full of drive and ambition.

The pre-series hype for the Cricket All-Stars has been delivered with missionary zeal, though most who will be in attendance are already Tendulkar worshippers

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in New York 07-Nov-20151:51

Citi Field prepared for All-Stars clash

Shaun Pollock fires a short ball to Sachin Tendulkar. Muttiah Muralithran tosses one up to Ricky Ponting. Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram watch from the sidelines. Matthew Hayden waits his turn to bat. Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose share a laugh. Fans are chanting “Saaachin, Saaaachin.” All this in a baseball stadium. In New York.Fifteen years ago, this was schoolboy fantasy: teams full of dazzling cricketers taking each other on. Tendulkar and Lara batting against Shane Warne and Akram; the batsmen cautious one moment, bubbling the next, the bowlers tempting, teasing, vicious. Back in 2000, such battles would have been glorious.Plenty of time has passed. Murali is still smiling, Hayden is still walking down the track to fast bowlers, Ponting is still pulverising pulls off the front foot and Tendulkar still has to be careful while he extends his arms in public lest he punches some rabid selfie-monger in the face. But the players are all retired, their bodies less toned, ample waistlines apparent.Some of the best fielders of their time – and all time – are finding that their palms are sore after fielding drills. Run-ups have shortened. Nobody is diving. The raging intensity of the past has given way to a more avuncular outlook. Don’t think this is a lark, they seem to be saying, but of course it’s all going to be fun.Thankfully for the players the stadium is on the smaller side. Warne has said it reminds him of Eden Park in Auckland. Area-wise it is probably smaller. A straight six from one end will be a catch in most grounds – even in this age of shortened boundaries – and a slashed edge will soar into the terraces at the other end. The baseball mound will pose challenges for long-off and fine leg. Infielders are likely to be as close to the batsmen as slips are on many grounds – which Tendulkar said, will give them “a chance to crack a joke or two”.One big concern before the series: the weather in November. The gods seem pleased: the chill (and snow) has mostly stayed away. The Saturday afternoon temperature at Citi Field is forecast to be 62F (16C).There is talk of fans flying in, and driving, from various parts of the country for this match. The pitch has had a long journey too, on a truck from Indianapolis, around 700 miles away. The 57,000 pounds of turf arrived at 9:30 pm on Thursday. Four-and-a-half hours later, it was laid to rest in a ditch seven inches deep. The groundstaff, most of whom have never seen a cricket match before, finished with work at 2 am. For Ray McNeil, a 40-year-old New Yorker, it was “one of the most exciting things I have worked on”.Many junior cricketers from the New York tri-state area got the chance to interact with Sachin Tendulkar and other Cricket All-Stars on Friday at Citi Field during a free clinic•Siddhartha VaidyanathanThis series was apparently conceived during the MCC versus Rest of the World match at Lord’s last year during the MCC’s bicentenary celebrations. Warne and Tendulkar thought it would be a great idea for frequent reunions. Tendulkar then dialled his friends around the world to ask if they would be interested in this venture. The common response he got: “What took you so long to call?”For the organisers, the US was an obvious choice as a venue. The expatriate population has been starved of star cricketers for decades and there was a good chance that cities with a large south Asian population would embrace the idea: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see their heroes in the flesh.The pre-series hype has been delivered with missionary zeal. And like all hype, it needs a grain of salt. Tendulkar has said he picked up a bat again with the purpose of spreading cricket around the world. Warne intends to take the game to various parts of the globe thanks to the new form of the game – T20 – which he calls a marriage of baseball and rock ‘n’ roll. Singapore and Hong Kong are on his radar, Dubai too. Knowing Warne, he might want to take cricket to Antarctica. Or to the moon. And if Tendulkar joins him, hordes of spectators will follow anyway.There may have been greater cricketers – though saying so may amount to blasphemy in some parts – but it is difficult to think of anyone in the game’s history who has commanded this level of adoration. Put Tendulkar in the heart of Wall Street on a weekday morning – surrounded by suited bankers rushing to work, one hand clasping a coffee cup, another hand tap-tapping on their smart phones, weaving past bodies while stepping on boots and elbowing their fellow-walkers who are also doing the same – and you will still find 50 people dropping everything and rushing to him like iron filings seeking a magnet. And chanting “Saaachin, Saaaachin”.The scenes in Citi Field on Friday, when the cricketers conducted a clinic for 150 junior cricketers, told a story. Most of these boys, and some girls, were 15 or younger. Sure they were excited to be there – and to listen to these players hand out advice – but there was a palpable absence of awe and hero-worship. Not many appeared overwhelmed, not many were open-mouthed.Those emotions were reserved for those in the stands – the parents – who would have given an arm and a leg to swap places with their kids. The moment Tendulkar finished with the clinic and walked towards the boundary, all hell broke loose. Middle-aged men and women – some executives in their day jobs, others technical whizzes, their hairlines receding, their brows furrowed – were clambering on railings to take a photo. Some pushed and shoved; some tried to take selfies from impossible angles. Through it all they kept shouting his name, as if the louder they uttered it the higher the chances of getting closer.About five minutes into the chaos, one bespectacled lady, probably in her mid 30s, fed up of trying to jostle her way through the crowd, walked up a few rows in the stands, stood on a bucket chair, put her hands to her chest and – as if her whole life was flashing in front of her in that one instant – looked up to the sky and softly exclaimed, .Blessings received, she packed her handbag and prepared to make her way out.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2016… but he was frustrated at falling when well set on 48•Getty ImagesAlex Hales took up the cudgels with 57 from 47 balls•Getty ImagesHe became Marchant de Lange’s first international wicket since January 2015•Getty ImagesJoe Root anchored England’s innings with a typically lively 52•Getty ImagesJos Buttler was promoted to No.4 with devastating effect•Getty ImagesHis last ODI innings was an England record 46-ball hundred in Dubai …•Getty Images… and he duly brought up his fourth England hundred, from 73 balls•Getty ImagesBen Stokes carried over his Test form with a hard-hitting 57 from 38•Getty ImagesChasing 400, South Africa lost Hashim Amla early in their innings•Getty ImagesFaf du Plessis found his form with 55 from 44 balls•Getty Images… while Quinton de Kock continued where he had left off with another brilliant display•Getty ImagesHis ninth ODI hundred came from 67 balls to keep South Africa firmly on track•Getty ImagesHowever, a blinding one-handed catch from Stokes extracted the dangerous AB de Villiers•Getty ImagesMoeen Ali picked up key wickets to keep South Africa behind the Duckworth-Lewis par score•Getty Images

With Sunrisers Hyderabad successfully defending 162 and only an AB de Villiers special preventing Gujarat Lions from defending 158, the playoffs have bucked the early-season pattern of near-invincible chasing teams

Sidharth Monga26-May-2016After Sunrisers Hyderabad successfully defended 162 in the Eliminator – a total they thought was below par, a total their opponents Kolkata Knight Riders felt they should have chased without much trouble – captain David Warner revealed he had contemplated what no other captain will admit to. He was actually torn between batting and bowling first had he won the toss. This in an evening game, when pitches usually get better to bat on during the chase, with dew playing a part too. In the league stage, the team batting first only won 11 of 44 evening games.This has been a chasing tournament: before the final day of league matches – a day of high-pressure games – totals were defended only 16 times in 54 matches. Yet, starting with that final day of league matches, things have been different. Sunrisers themselves failed to chase 172 against Knight Riders, a result that forced them to play the Eliminator. It took an innings “a million times better than any hundred” AB de Villiers to prevent Gujarat Lions from defending 158 in Qualifier 1. That too in Bangalore where you might as well not bother with the ball if you’ve only scored 158. Then, on Wednesday, Sunrisers went ahead and inflicted a 22-run defeat – the same margin as their previous meeting – on Knight Riders while defending 162.What has changed? Have the pitches finally become tired or is it the pressure of the big matches? The latter shouldn’t be an issue – four of the six World T20 finals have been won by sides chasing – but Warner is a bit of a traditionalist. “I am a believer of runs on the board,” he said. “In these kind of games. In these pressure situations runs are a lot handier. When you see a total of 160, you can be in two minds as a batting unit. You can either get off to a good start and have positive intent or you can try to get through the first six and set a platform to the end.”There is always going to be pressure in every situation but with runs on the board you can always feel a little bit ahead of the game. Always chasing on a wicket like this, it is hard to start. You saw when they lost wickets in clumps and we didn’t let them have a partnership going, it was hard for the new batter to come in and play shots. The pressure was on the other guy at the other end. That’s what happens in this format. If you get two new batters in, it is very hard when you are chasing.”The Delhi pitch, where Warner played a lot as a Delhi Daredevil, played a big part in his assessment, never mind that England won the World T20 semi-final here at a canter while chasing. “I have played here in the past where it has been pretty low and slow where there is no grass on the square,” Warner said. “I feel they have done a very good job. It’s a wicket that suits – you look at Jason Holder and Morne Morkel – the length they bowled was very hard to hit. You know, tall bounce, hitting the wicket, sort of skidding on bail-high. Very hard to get going and trying to hit and have release shots.”Early on in the tournament, when winning the toss and electing to field was almost half the job done, quite a few players said they expected the trend to change in the later stages. It seems to have happened, listening to Warner talk, seeing how they have defended, seeing how Lions made a game of a paltry total. Earlier if sides were batting first and lost early wickets, the instructions during the timeouts were to keep on swinging. Better to lose in 15 overs when going for a challenging total than to lose in 18 after rebuilding towards a middling total. While chasing still retains the advantage, especially with the final in Bangalore, you are likelier to see sides rebuild and make a match out of similar situations. Who knows, Warner might even bat first if he wins the toss against Lions in Qualifier 2.

As the tri-series moves on from Guyana and St Kitts to its final destination of Barbados, ESPNcricinfo looks at five things we have learnt from the series so far

Brydon Coverdale and Firdose Moonda17-Jun-2016South Africa’s attack is changing
It was only last year that Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir almost bowled South Africa into a World Cup final. What a difference a year makes. Steyn is in playing T20 cricket for Glamorgan, Philander is on his way back from a long injury lay-off and Morkel, though part of the ODI squad, has yet to be called on in the series. Even Kyle Abbott has been used only twice. Instead, the attack has based itself around Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aaron Phangiso and the dangerous Tahir. And their results have been encouraging. The times, for South Africa’s bowling unit, are a-changing.Adam Zampa has poise to burn
He started this year aged 23 and with no international caps to his name, but Adam Zampa has quickly shown that not only does he have the skills for international cricket, but also the poise. Bowling legspin in limited-overs cricket can be fraught, for the margin of error is so slim. But Zampa has belied his youthful looks to bring a mature outlook to the side, and is Australia’s leading wicket taker in the series with nine victims at 19.33. It follows on from similarly encouraging displays in ODIs against New Zealand in February and the World T20 in India in March. Zampa has variety, intelligence and confidence – the next step is for him to gain more traction in first-class cricket, and show he is not just a short-form player.West Indies need more from their top order
Since last year’s World Cup, West Indies have done without Chris Gayle in the ODI format and have stuck with Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher as their opening pair. Their first few stands against Sri Lanka in November were worth just 2, 1 and 4, but their numbers have lifted in this series and their last two partnerships have been worth 74 and 69. It is an encouraging rise. All the same, West Indies still need more from their top order. The No.3, Darren Bravo, is averaging 24.75 this series. Fletcher is averaging 15.75. The team’s top four partnerships are averaging 31.68 this series, compared to Australia’s 37.56 and South Africa’s 48.50. It is hard to win a series with numbers like that.Anyone can beat anyone
World champions Australia entered this series ranked No.1 in the world, South Africa No.3 and West Indies No.8. And yet the teams find themselves, after the Guyana and St Kitts legs of the tournament, locked on two wins and two losses each, only a couple of bonus points separating them. Everyone has beaten everyone once. In Guyana, West Indies beat South Africa, South Africa beat Australia and Australia beat West Indies. In St Kitts, West Indies beat Australia, Australia beat South Africa and South Africa beat West Indies. For the viewer it is the best-case scenario, a genuine contest. Now what will happen in Barbados?South Africa’s percentages matter
This series is South Africa’s first since the country’s sports minister, Fikile Mbalula, banned four national sporting federations, including cricket, from bidding for or hosting international tournaments as a punishment for their slow rate of transformation. Mbalula made it public that the target the federations had agreed to meet in an MOU signed with the sports ministry was 60%. Cricket was not falling too far short, having achieved 55%, but needed to include one more player of colour to meet the minister’s criteria. That meant fielding seven players of colour in an XI and in this series, they have stuck to that on average. South Africa took the field with six players of colour in their first match against West Indies but made up for that with a record eight players of colour in their second game against Australia. They have included seven players of colour in their other two matches. Sticking to this number should ensure the ban is overturned when the transformation numbers are reviewed next year which means if a World T20 is played in 2018, and there is talk South Africa would be the preferred host, they can stage the event. It has been interesting to note the impact this strategy has had on team balance. It has given South Africa’s attack variety and dynamism but has kept their batting line-up a little too short, with the tail emerging from No.7 in some cases.

Laid low by illness and with his team deep in trouble, Sean Williams produced the innings to silence his doubters

Firdose Moonda in Bulawayo31-Jul-2016The last thing Sean Williams needed on Wednesday was to get the flu. It was the day before his Test comeback, if you can call it that given his career had only featured two Tests before this one. Perhaps it’s better to say it was the day before his restart, because that’s how Williams saw this series.It was another chance for him to prove himself after years of yo-yoing into and out of the selectors’ minds, especially for the longer format. They knew he was talented and tough enough – his performances in limited-overs cricket proved that – but they weren’t sure he was level-headed enough, mature enough, or even committed enough to don the whites.Such was their uncertainty that Williams was not under serious consideration for this series after being left out of the Zimbabwe A side to play South Africa A earlier this month. Despite being summoned to Bulawayo from a training camp in Harare specifically for the second fixture of the A series, Williams was excluded from the XI and told to work on his mindset instead if he wanted to be considered for the Tests. Then, he was left off the squad list anyway. Rumour has it that it was only on captain Graeme Cremer’s insistence that Williams was eventually included. Then the flu struck.So although Williams was coughing heavily, feverish and weak, he owed it to his captain, if no one else, to fight through it on the first day. He was needed just after an hour’s play, his team already in a precarious situation. Zimbabwe were 35 for 3 and had been stunned by a barrage of short balls from Neil Wagner, who greeted Williams with his most hostile one. It struck him on the helmet and broke the grille.Williams had barely had time to recover from that moment when Wagner did it again and hit him again. With the same result. Except that the second time, Williams had played a pull and umpire Paul Reiffel thought his bat, not his helmet, had sent the ball to midwicket. Williams was given out. He did not move. He pointed to his helmet as though to offer an explanation but only saw a raised index finger. As he walked off, Williams continued to look at and gesture to the helmet, blaming it and himself and knowing he had made the wrong impression on the powers that be, though not entirely through his own fault.If they were uncertain about his desire to play Test cricket before, what happened next would have strengthened that assumption. Williams could not be at the ground the next day. Or for most of the one after that. Racked by chills and injected with antibiotics, Williams’ best option was to stay in bed to avoid passing it on to his team-mates, some of whom had already started to show symptoms. Regis Chakabva also could not take the field for New Zealand’s innings, although he was diagnosed with tonsillitis, which is not contagious.Both men were summoned from their sick beds towards the end of day three. Even though both would only be able to bat after five wickets had fallen because of the time spent off the field, at 17 for 4 that was imminent. Not only would they have to bat, they would have to save the team from major embarrassment.

For a minute short of three-and-a-half hours, Williams repaid his captain’s faith in him and he proved to his doubters that he is capable and confident player

When the fifth wicket fell, Zimbabwe had stabilised and Cremer opted to take one for the team instead of send his ailing team-mates out. He saw the day to the close and, for the second time, he batted for Williams.That night, Williams’ wife Chantelle, who had also had the illness passed on to her, became worse. She almost fainted from the symptoms and even thought she may have had a small fit. With that on his mind, Williams travelled to Queens on Sunday morning. Chantelle, her voice rasping from coughing, her throat hoarse, was there with her sisters. The family had come to rally around their man and their team. And they were not disappointed.Williams entertained from the get-go, with shots that the rest of the line-up, barring Sikandar Raza’s carefree cameo, seemed too hesitant to play. He drove and swept and used his feet. He found gaps in the field and went both through and over it.The only moments that gave away that he may not have been feeling up to scratch came when he called for water five minutes before lunch because he simply couldn’t wait that long and when, in the drinks break in the second session, he went down on all fours in a part-stretch, part-retch with the look of a knackered man plastered across his face. For the rest of his innings, Williams was in complete control.With Cremer playing the perfect foil at the other end, Williams gave Zimbabwe hope they could make New Zealand bat again. He gave them the belief Makhaya Ntini has been trying to drill into them; the kind of belief that only comes with performance. “What they should realise is that they are better than what they think they are,” Ntini said. “They can do anything like any other team. They need to be given the space to understand that they can compete. Zimbabwe is going somewhere.”For a minute short of three-and-a-half hours, Williams was in the space where he understood that. He repaid his captain’s faith in him and he proved to his doubters within the administration that he is capable and confident player, a scrapper that they should savour having around and a talent they should not take for granted in a country where the player pool remains shallow. So even though the last thing Williams needed was to get the flu, it will be the first thing he thinks of when he looks back on how he broke through and proved that he belongs.