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Pat Howard, Australia’s team performance manager, talks about the challenges of shaking things up over five years of mixed results for the national side

Daniel Brettig24-Aug-2016Walking behind the scoreboard on day three of the Pallekele Test, Pat Howard crossed paths with a pair of Australian cricket followers. The tale on the other side of the board was looking increasingly sickly for Australia. One spectator said loudly to the other, “A lot of high-performance work needed here…” Without breaking stride, Howard retorted, “very funny”, and continued on his way.If the result at Pallekele was instructive as to where the Test team must improve, then the above exchange was as telling about the way Howard is still perceived by many in and around Australian cricket. October will make five years for him in the job as Cricket Australia’s executive general manager – team performance, a role sculpted specifically through the review chaired in 2011 by Don Argus.This has been a most turbulent period, and Howard’s tenure has been marked by conflict and change. He has needed plenty of resilience in seeking to implement many of Argus’ recommendations. Through that time, Howard’s instinct has been to do much as he did in response to the “high performance” jibe – keep striving forward, if offering the occasional backhander along the way.

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In August 2011, at the time the Argus review findings were announced, Howard was chief of operations for Cromwell Property Group in Brisbane, having left a high-performance role with the Australian Rugby Union in 2008.”I was assistant coach of a rugby team at Queensland University helping out a mate, and by chance John Buchanan’s son was in that team,” Howard tells ESPNcricinfo. “I was chatting to him and away it went. Five years is a long time ago, my kids were a lot younger then, I can say that.”

“I’m very much a link between the playing group and CA, between the strategy and the team. I’m well aware I want to win as much as anyone”

Through rugby, Howard had experience in just about every role around the game, from representing the Wallabies and coaching Leicester, to serving on the board of the players’ association. Being based in Brisbane meant he could work out of CA’s Centre of Excellence – later expanded and renamed the National Cricket Centre – and in being the first post-Argus appointment, he had a say in the choices of John Inverarity as selection chairman and Mickey Arthur as coach. Quickly it became apparent that while Howard was willing to learn about the game, he was an equally hawkish advocate of change.”I have to really justify every decision, and that was the really hard bit about it,” Howard says. “I got a reputation as a bit of a data guy there for a while, but that was all about trying to justify decisions and justify points. The first couple of years you have to deal with differences if you want to make change, and that can upset people at times.”Without question at times I probably went too hard for change, but to a certain extent you’re always going to have positive and negative views on things. Hindsight is brilliant, you never have it beforehand, but we’ve made some good decisions, we’ve made some decisions where you think, could I have handled it better, could I have given people more time to digest it, sometimes less time to digest it and just go through with it. That’s aiming for perfection. Overall I think we’re pretty happy but not satisfied.”Howard’s level of energy is hard to match. One colleague remarks that it is difficult to work out when he sleeps, given the varied hours of the day and night that Howard emails tend to buzz their way into CA inboxes. Customarily visible in the early days of any cricket tour, he will help out in drills occasionally, and one morning at Pallekele could be seen juggling cricket balls in a nod to a childhood job, working sideshow alley.”We’ve got the highest regard for Mickey Arthur as a person, but at the same time we felt it was the right time of change and we needed to make a change”•Getty ImagesThe juggling balls have not always gone to hand, in private or public. The years of 2012-13 were marked by numerous spot fires, whether getting into shouting matches with Channel Nine commentators over the decision to rest David Warner from ODI matches following the home Tests, or in alienating Shane Watson by declaring he was prohibited from using the external physio Victor Popov. Howard also found himself negotiating the players payment MOU with the Australian Cricketers’ Association, an arrangement that irked many, as Howard had been styled as the national team’s man in the executive rather than the bad cop at the collective bargaining table.”It was really challenging, but a role I’d done before,” Howard says. “In many roles your manager has to decide where your remuneration is but also be really positive about where you’re going to grow. I’m very much a link between the playing group and CA, between the strategy and the team. I’m well aware I want to win as much as anyone and make sure the team has the resources to win. How do we give ourselves the best chance of winning?”

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The first half of 2013 placed Howard squarely in the spotlight as what Argus had defined as “the single point of accountability for the performance of the Australian team”. When the team management on that year’s India tour, primarily the coach Arthur, the manager Gavin Dovey, and the captain Michael Clarke chose to summarily suspend Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson in response to mounting disciplinary problems on tour, Howard found himself having to defend a decision of which he had not been initially part.At a press conference in Brisbane on March 12, Howard’s bluntness got the better of him. Responding to a question about Watson, the vice-captain, he replied: “I know Shane reasonably well, I think he acts in the best interests of the team sometimes.” That comment drew a furious response from Watson and many in Australian cricket, including the following missive from Alan Jones on radio show 2GB: “You’ve got this other nobody Pat Howard, who knows nothing, saying he’s not a team man.”

Howard’s level of energy is hard to match. One colleague remarks that it is difficult to work out when he sleeps, given the varied hours of the day and night that his emails tend to buzz their way into CA inboxes

In keeping with his reputation for endless energy, Howard had been a hard-driving manager for Arthur, pressuring the coach for success and heightening his already prevalent outsider’s anxiety. Arthur felt compelled from several directions to act in India, and was then advised when Howard arrived for the final Test of the series in Delhi that “this better work”. The reason, of course, was that Howard’s own job would be placed at risk should further issues arise. When they did during the Champions Trophy in England, Howard and the chief executive James Sutherland began secret deliberations around replacing Arthur with Darren Lehmann. It was the tensest of times.”These decisions don’t come lightly. There was a fair bit of work done there and we understood this,” Howard says. “Mickey’s with Pakistan now and he’s obviously a very good coach, but that environment wasn’t working well. We made a change. We knew how good Darren was [with Queensland], we put him in the Australia A tour, he was with Rod [Marsh], so we knew that combination was going to be there and ready to go. I think we’d all admit that worked well and it’s credit to Darren in terms of how he’s come along.”Sutherland made rare appearances around the team either side of Arthur’s firing and Lehmann’s appointment. “That was a really difficult time for everyone,” he says. “It wasn’t personal; we’ve got the highest regard for Mickey Arthur as a person and we wanted to be as sensitive about it as we possibly could, but at the same time we felt it was the right time of change and we needed to make a change. It was a difficult time and history will ultimately be the judge as to whether that decision was vindicated, but you have to make decisions from time to time and we did.”Less edifying than the sacking itself was its aftermath. Howard handed Arthur only three months’ worth of severance pay, a decision the affable South African disputed after speaking to friends back home in Perth. That led to a statement of claim being lodged with Australia’s industrial arbiter, and the airing of dirty laundry in the days before the Lord’s Test match, namely the allegation that Clarke had referred to Watson as a “cancer” on the team. Arthur finished up with a fair settlement, and has rebounded admirably to mentor Pakistan. The terms of CA contracts and their internal oversight were understandably reviewed and changed to avoid a repeat.Nevertheless, Lehmann’s appointment proved to be a circuit breaker, not only in terms of the team’s fortunes but also the definition of Howard’s role. Having chosen a coach with very strong opinions, Howard was content to take a backward step from the team, and to support whatever Lehmann and the captain, Michael Clarke, needed. That changed dynamic helped in an improving display across the Ashes tour, and ultimately the raucous 5-0 sweep of England at home. Where Howard had started 2013 highly visible, he ended it much more in the background, working on the underpinnings of national teams rather than dictating as much at what he calls “the front end”.Having appointed Darren Lehmann as coach, Howard was content to take a backward step, and to support Lehmann and Clarke•Getty ImagesVarious measures at lower levels have included an overhaul of the Sheffield Shield points system, the addition of a CA XI to the Matador Cup, and moving that tournament into a carnival-style event at the start of the season. There has also been the increasingly strategic use of substitute players in the Shield to allow CA to manage the workloads of fast bowlers in particular, and injury incidences have declined steadily.Earlier this year a Shield fixture was played in New Zealand for the first time, in the absence of a tour match before Australia’s Test series win. Howard was also an advocate for the reduction in the number of grassy strips being prepared for first-class matches in order to help batsmen build bigger innings. That diktat, and the installing of spin-friendly wickets at the NCC, are yet to reap Asian dividends.”For everything you implement, three go well and two go poorly,” Howard says. “I am happy to change things that haven’t gone well. I’m absolutely free to admit there are things we’ve tried that haven’t worked. But at the same stage there are things we’ve tried where we’re not quite sure of the end product yet. The Sheffield Shield points change, I wasn’t sure it was going to deliver what we were after, but we’ve seen a lot more spin bowling played, seen a lot of young players score centuries, and the balance between bat and ball, both anecdotally and by the stats, has been better.”There are things you try and say, ‘Gee, I hope this works well’, and for all the planning you do sometimes once you’ve had enough information you have to try it, and then adjust. That’s what we’ve done with the Shield points – we’ve put it in, it’s worked pretty well, then we’ll just tinker around the edges to get it even better.”

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The sense that Lehmann was now running the show took something of a hit in 2015, when the Ashes were given up with a pair of horrendous batting displays in Birmingham and Nottingham. Subsequent to that result, it is said that Howard took back a measure of control over proceedings, as reflected by how the support staff around Lehmann has been turned over in large measure. Howard is adamant he doesn’t mind working with others of strong opinions, highlighted by the hiring of David Saker as Lehmann’s new assistant.”We’re not after yes-men,” Howard says. “I remind Darren we had some challenges in this period [before hiring him], and David’s the same. A challenging environment helps cricket grow. So we want to stay ahead in Test cricket, and that means people challenging you. David with England won in India, he’s come in for a year of Shield and has been a head coach, so we know he can step up into that role when required and he will.”We thought Justin Langer went very, very well in the West Indies [for the triangular ODI series] with a new group. We want to keep investing in coaching and coaching depth to strengthen the whole system. Rod and I have fantastic conversations and challenges. “You can imagine how different our views are sometimes. The same with Darren, the same with David Saker, and I’d have to say the state coaches. We have them up in May all around the table. I was in the room, so was Rod, so was Darren, and we want that challenging environment where we’re all trying to improve.

“For everything you implement, three go well and two go poorly. I am happy to change things that haven’t gone well. I’m absolutely free to admit there are things we’ve tried that haven’t worked”

“Introducing people like Saker, people like Darren, that stream of professional conflict is a way of challenging how we do things. Sometimes you come out of those meetings thinking, ‘You know what, we’re doing the right thing, let’s keep going’, or ‘Why don’t we try this.’ That to me is a really good way to do things. Not throw the baby out with the bath water all the time, but continue to grow and try things as you progress.”

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Howard is presently under contract until 2017, but is yet to receive the same two-year extension granted to Lehmann. Whether it is healthy to keep Howard on for any longer than his current term is a matter for conjecture, as is the question of whether, having had a change agent in place for half a decade, it is now time for CA to choose someone else with greater cricket pedigree to re-examine the fundamentals that have gone so badly awry in Sri Lanka, the UAE and India.”[We’ve been] No. 1 in two of the three formats, there’s been a World Cup, Ashes at home was comprehensive but the two Ashes away weren’t good enough,” Howard says. “What’s most disappointing for some people is, most of us believe we had the capability to win there. Playing well in the subcontinent and improving in those conditions is obviously a huge thing for us.”As we’ve seen, playing in different countries is hard, and we’ve got to adjust and adapt, and just because you see something on a video doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to translate that on the ground straight away. But over time, with as much lead-in as you can, multiple Tests as well, how people learn. We’ve got that India tour again coming up and we’re seeing we’ve got to continue to improve. It’s hard, and we know we’ve got to continue to grow.”While Australian cricket is much better aligned in 2016 than it was in 2011, Howard’s presence will always be a source of scepticism so long as results divert from the strongest possible. No matter how long he stays, he will always be seen by some in the disparaging terms Jones offered a little more than three years ago. How justified they are remains a matter for debate; more certain is the fact that Howard will keep arguing his corner.

The schedule for Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa should work in the tourists’ favour, with the Port Elizabeth pitch likely to serve up an even contest

Firdose Moonda22-Dec-2016If there’s one thing South Africans know how to do properly, it is host. This country has staged everything from the world’s biggest single sport event – the football World Cup – to the world’s largest individually timed cycle race (the Argus), the world’s largest open water swim (the Midmar Mile), and the world’s biggest ultra-marathon (the Comrades). And those are just the big deals.Many more come here for the natural beauty, the wildlife and the winelands. So many that the tourism authority recently revealed that there have been a million more visitors to the country this year than last, with ten days of 2016 still to go. Among them are the Sri Lanka team, who will have just as much red-carpet treatment as anyone else.Their three-Test series begins in Port Elizabeth – the place known for being slow and low (or at least slower and lower than anywhere else in the country) – then moves to Cape Town, where spinners have often have had some say, before concluding in Johannesburg. A more cynical host may have wanted to flip those venues around and make the visitors uncomfortable at altitude, where they would also have had pace and bounce to deal with.That’s how the South Africa of the last few years used to do it. India’s 2010-11 tour began in Centurion; so did Sri Lanka’s the following summer, and both ended in innings victories for the home side. In 2012-13, Pakistan started at the Wanderers and ended at SuperSport Park. They lost both matches by big margins – 211 runs and an innings and 18 runs – as well as the one in between at Newlands, albeit by just four wickets.It’s a formula that works, especially against sides from the subcontinent, so South Africa would have been forgiven for simply copying this time it but they couldn’t. They have already played this season’s Centurion Test – against New Zealand in August – and they are determined to host the Boxing Day match on the coast, even as holiday-makers continue to prefer the beach to the bleachers. With Kingsmead’s match for this summer also done and the New Year’s Test the preserve of Newlands, Port Elizabeth was the only possibility – but that’s no bad thing.Instead of following the trend, indulged the world over, of preparing pitches that are stacked in the hosts’ favour, South Africa are favouring a more even bat-ball contest. That may not always sit well with the team camp but at least it levels the playing field.”We’ve been frustrated sometimes when we’ve felt that some of our wickets suit the opposition more than it suits us,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said. “We’ve played on some wickets in Durban that have spun square against subcontinent sides and we’re thinking, ‘Jees, that’s not what we are looking for’. This time of year in South Africa, with the heat and the wind, it’s a dry time, wickets don’t always offer what we are really looking for, which brings the opposition into the game a lot more. In that context, wickets in South Africa are probably fairer to the contest than most venues around the world.”The last year has been particularly hot and dry as the country continues to recover from its worst drought on record and that has had an effect on cricket too. There are water restrictions in place in Port Elizabeth and, even though the ground uses a borehole for irrigation, the water table remains low. Groundsman Adrian Carter has been doing what he can to keep moisture in but he can’t control the drying wind, which is set to breeze in at speeds of 80kph on Saturday. The westerly tends to make the surface flatter and Carter hopes that will be offset by Monday’s easterly, which aids swing. He remains “pretty happy with how it looks at the moment”.A fairly thick grass covering will stay on even though, as Domingo explained, “that doesn’t often mean much” because “it’s more the cloud cover and the direction of the wind that does assist the bowlers”.Keeping the grass on, according to Domingo, helps provide an extra bit of pace and bounce but he is also expecting some turn, although Carter explained it won’t be emphatic: “We don’t get that sharp, fizzing turn here, it’s more likely to be slow turn. There will be something with the new ball, it will go around a bit but if it gets to day four and five, the spinners will come into it.”Dale Steyn’s reverse swing carried the day against Australia when South Africa last won at St George’s park•Associated PressSounds like the perfect conditions for a Test, which may be why South Africa’s record at the ground is almost as even as it comes. Overall, they have played 26 Tests at St George’s Park, won 10, lost 11 and drawn five. Since readmission, success has shifted slightly in their favour: post-1991, they have won six, lost four and drawn four, including their most recent one against West Indies in 2014. That match did not even get into a second innings for either side, a full day was lost to rain and there were several other interruptions. The forecast does not indicate anything similar this time.Interestingly, West Indies got the better of South Africa at the same venue in 2007, a nightmare year for St George’s Park. In January, South Africa lost to Pakistan there; in December, to West Indies. The ground did not host a Test for five years after that. Carter said he didn’t think the results had anything to do with that but the coincidence still raises the question.During that break, Carter and his team imported bully grass from SuperSport Park, to see if they could inject some life into their surfaces, but found it didn’t make much difference. Carter has accepted that Port Elizabeth is what it is and he is proud of it. “Every ground must have its own unique characteristics,” he said. “Of course, teams have to have home ground advantage and ours is a little different.”Instead of pace and bounce, the home side can benefit from reverse swing. You need only think back to Dale Steyn’s performance against Australia in 2014 for a reminder of what Domingo is looking forward to. “The ball tends to reverse here because of the abrasiveness of the wicket, which helps our seamers,” he said.Of course, there is no Steyn this time but South Africa have other options. Kyle Abbott and local lad Wayne Parnell – who may not make the XI – will be relishing the chance to play here. The batsmen, perhaps a little less so. They will have to display temperament and technique but Domingo is confident they are up for that. “It’s a wicket where you have got to be patient. You’ve got to grind out runs and that’s the strength of our side: we are able to withstand those periods,” he said.So the series is set to start with a test of will and a fairly warm welcome to Sri Lanka. They have never played a Test at St George’s Park and even if they don’t like the surface so much, they will definitely like the atmosphere. The brass band makes it as lively as the papare ones do back home and the strong support, although partisan, enjoy making new friends. All in all, it’s the gentlest start Sri Lanka could have wanted and the most hospitable one South Africa could have given.

Delray Rawlins had already been capped by Bermuda at 15 but has now set his sights on a career with England – and he made an immediate impression

Nikhil Kalro in Mumbai31-Jan-2017England’s cricket system has long benefited from an influx of overseas talent, players with roots in South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland, Zimbabwe and even West Indies. Few, however, have emerged from Britain’s Overseas Territories.Bermuda, 3400 miles from the UK, was colonised in 1610, but had not produced a cricketer to make a mark with England (although David Hemp, who had a long county career with Glamorgan, was born on the island). Delray Rawlins, a lanky, sinewy 19-year-old allrounder, may be about to change that. “I had a dream that I wanted to play for England,” Rawlins said.Two months ago, Rawlins was turning out for Bermuda in World Cricket League Division Four. On Monday, he struck a match-winning hundred on his Under-19 debut for England.His journey began, aged nine, with Warwick Workmen’s junior program in Bermuda. Not long after, Rawlins was part of the Under-11 squad, a level at which cricket was played with plastic balls. “It was immediately noticed at training that Delray was special and he never played one match in the Under-11 age group,” Bermuda assistant coach and performance analyst Lorenzo Tucker said of Rawlins’ early progress. “He was moved to the Under-14 group, which played structured cricket. He played against boys five years older than he was. He hasn’t looked back since.”Rawlins continued to play at a level higher than his age. At 15, he had been capped for Bermuda, as well as claiming figures of 5 for 51 on his Under-19 debut. Initially selected as a bowler, he developed into a genuine allrounder, capable of batting in the top six in limited-overs cricket.Such was his reputation as a youngster that he was offered a scholarship at St Bede’s School in Eastbourne, East Sussex. After two years with Sussex’s 2nd XI while completing his education, Rawlins was recently offered his first contract.”At the age of 14, I came over and managed to get through the academy ranks and get a contract,” Rawlins said. “It was quite daunting, I wanted to further myself and see how far I can go.”Rawlins’ residency in England – St Bede’s is a boarding school – meant that he was able to complete the four-year qualification period that made him eligible for selection (the relationship between Bermuda and the UK meant he was already a British passport holder). Bermuda’s status as an ICC Associate Member allowed him to continue to play for his home country before switching allegiance to England.For now, Rawlins retains his eligibility to continue representing Bermuda – although that will change if he plays for England’s U-19s at an ICC event, or wins his first full cap.Rawlins was 15 when he took 5 for 51 on debut for Bermuda U-19s in 2013•Peter Della PennaDespite the incredible success in his early years, Rawlins was left staring at a fork in the road – continue playing for Bermuda, plausibly the best in the land but with scarce opportunity, or try his luck in a country with an abundance of resources, as well as a highly competitive first-class structure. If he hadn’t decided to make himself available for England, he would have likely have been part of the ICC Americas squad for the West Indies’ Regional Super 50 competition, rather than with the Under-19s in Mumbai.What for some may have been a gamble, for Rawlins was an investment in himself. “I want to commit my future to England, I want to be an England cricketer, hopefully play in the senior team. It wasn’t a tough decision. My parents were supportive and that was massive for me,” Rawlins said.A discernible factor in Rawlins’ belligerent debut hundred was his power. He clubbed five sixes at the Wankhede Stadium, with one even clearing the second tier, and was the only player from either side to come close to displaying the brute force that modern-day limited-overs cricket necessitates. “With youth players, we’re not going to be at the [modern hitting] level yet,” England captain Matthew Fisher said during the pre-series press conference. “We’re not as strong, we’re not going to hit it as far. We can’t think we can do that straight away, that’s playing with your ego.” It wasn’t ego that Rawlins exhibited, just talent.The arrival of several Kolpak signings in county cricket has caused a great stir in recent weeks but there have always been various routes into the English game for those born overseas. In Rawlins’ case, Bermuda’s loss looks like being England’s gain.

An increased allocation of resources in a short format allows teams to invest heavily in impact, albeit inconsistent, players that can break T20s open

Sidharth Monga20-Apr-2017Between the CPL last year and his 38-ball 77 against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot, Chris Gayle had an extended run of ordinary T20 form. Over three different franchise tournaments, in 17 innings, he scored just 329 runs at an average of 19.35 and a strike rate of 116.25. He went through a similar phase in the last World T20 in India, leading into the previous IPL. He scored 32 runs in eight matches in that period, never once reaching double figures, and still played in 13 out of 16 matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore.Murmurs outside the franchise gained momentum with every Gayle failure. People wondered if Gayle was done, but there was no chance Royal Challengers weren’t retaining him despite the year he had had. It was unlikely they were going to bench him for too long this IPL either. It says something about the impact Gayle can have when he comes off – 70s in three innings in under 40 balls – but it says much more about the T20 format. With six to seven batsmen available over 20 overs, teams can simply afford a misfiring batsman who can have the kind of impact Gayle has when he comes off.It is not limited to batsmen. Bipul Sharma is a tall left-arm spinner. He was born in 1983 in Amritsar, played some cricket for Punjab, then moved to Himachal Pradesh, and is an IPL champions medal holder. Since April 18 last year, he has played 10 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad, including the last year’s final, but chances are, you would not have noticed him because he has bowled just 21 overs and batted only 39 balls.However, Bipul got the wicket of AB de Villiers in last year’s final, and was taken off immediately. He has got Brendon McCullum out twice. His batting, at No. 8, is a bonus. Out of his 10 matches, two have been against Royal Challengers, three against Gujarat Lions, and two against Kolkata Knight Riders. He has been the ultimate tactical pick. Sunrisers select him for specific match-ups against certain batsmen. They are also satisfied if those batsman get out early and Bipul ends up doing nothing. Only thrice has he bowled more than two overs in an innings despite an acceptable economy rate of 8.04 over this period.Sunrisers can afford Bipul for the same reason Royal Challengers can afford a misfiring Gayle. While you still need 11 fielders in the format, the duration of a 20-over match allows teams the luxury of carrying a player or two. It is usually batsmen, but the presence of Moises Henriques – a proper allrounder – in the Sunrisers XI opens up a bowling slot too.The IPL is filled with Gayle-like sporadic match-winners. Knight Riders invest in Yusuf Pathan and Suryakumar Yadav even though they hardly bowl and get only a few chances to bat. Even when their first-choice opener Chris Lynn is injured, they don’t all move up one spot; Knight Riders want them to be the fail-safe that provides the top order the freedom. They can afford to do so because they rarely need all their batsmen to contribute.Kieron Pollard had been struggling for form, but Mumbai’s persistence paid off when he struck a 47-ball 77 against Royal Challengers Bangalore•BCCIAt arguably the most successful IPL franchise, under the watch of arguably the most successful IPL captain, S Anirudha managed to get in 25 matches to face 153 balls and not bowl a single delivery. Chennai Super Kings won 18 of those 25 matches and lost six, a much better win-loss ratio than their overall 1.593. Unlike Bipul, Anirudha wasn’t even a tactical pick. Knowing MS Dhoni, he was probably just pushing the limits of the format. And The format allowed them to.Johnson Charles is an unadulterated slogger in T20s, who has had about nine special innings in his 98 T20s. One of those was in the semi-final of the World T20 last year, in a tournament that he didn’t do much outside that innings, apart from superb ground fielding. Yet such is the nature of the format that his selection was considered a success. Consistency is not as important in this format as impact. A team of six batsmen who come off once every six innings but score at a strike rate of 175-plus is likelier to do better than a team of six consistent batsmen, who score well every second innings but at a strike rate of close to 135. Gayle has already had more impact on this tournament than, say, Shikhar Dhawan, who has had a start in five of his six innings but has a strike rate of 120.58.Especially in a long league like the IPL, expect franchises – they can be ruthless when making selections – to give players like Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Yusuf more leeway than they would get in any other format. They are not paid big bucks for consistency but for impact. For example, a higher rate of Gayle’s half-centuries results in wins than, even, Virat Kohli’s: 68% to 62%. Three out of four Pollard fifties end up in wins. The big hitters might not succeed as often, but that doesn’t bother franchises because they don’t need to succeed as often. Their failures can be accommodated because there are only 20 overs to bat and only so many batsmen can fail in a given match.Even conservatively speaking, four batsmen, four bowlers and two allrounders are plenty for a 20-over match. If an innings comprised 40 three-ball overs or 30 four-ball overs, there would be merit in playing more bowlers, but not in this format. Currently, there is at least one surplus player in every team. For some teams that player is a batting fail-safe, for some he is a big hitter, and for others he is the floating bowler. It has resulted in longer ropes for T20 superstars such as Gayle, and careers for tactical picks such as Bipul.

Three promising newcomers in the USA side are hoping to help their team break its Division Three jinx

Peter Della Penna22-May-20173:21

USA cricket welcomes three new faces

Camilus Alexander
Perhaps the coolest cat prowling around the USA squad, 35-year-old legspin allrounder Alexander oozes confidence on and off the field.The Grenada native was a strong prospect for West Indies in his youth, having been part of the squad that went to the 2000 U-19 World Cup. His team-mates then included future Test players Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Lawson, Narsingh Deonarine and Brenton Parchment. However, Alexander struggled to find a regular place in the Windward Islands side once he graduated to senior level. His mentor Rawle Lewis was entrenched as the first choice legspinner, and offspinner Shane Shillingford was a frequent pick.”After a while I decided I wanted to try something new and have a different avenue,” Alexander said. He got a call one day from Clayton Lambert, the former West Indies opener who had migrated to the USA in the late 1990s and wound up playing for the country at the 2004 Champions Trophy, before later going on to coach the US team. Lambert, based in Atlanta, said one of the club teams in the strong local competition was interested in a bowler who could bat. At age 30, Alexander packed up and came to Atlanta, where Lambert, who works as a truck driver, helped him get a job in the same field. As if that wasn’t enough of a helping hand, Alexander also became roommates with Lambert for the first year he lived in Atlanta.”I came over and gave it a shot and it’s just gone on from there,” Alexander said. “I knew him from first-class cricket back in the Caribbean, so it wasn’t too hard to get along, and he helped me a lot. Coaching-wise, he gave me a lot of inspirational advice and how to go about playing different situations. He helped me in a lot of ways.”

“I’m looking to make a name for myself. Try to perform in the best way that I can, try to get at least two or three fifties and get at least 10 to 12 wickets”Camilus Alexander on his goals for the season

Alexander has been piling up runs after shifting to more of an emphasis on his batting than his bowling, which helped put him on the selection radar. He was the top scorer at the most recent selection camps in Houston. Along with Lambert, Alexander says Lewis and Darren Sammy, who captained him at Windwards for a brief period, were also helpful in developing his game.”[Sammy] was always an inspirational guy in the Windwards team so we learned a lot from him,” Alexander said. “He always told me, ‘Nothing comes easy. If you need to achieve something, you need to work hard at it’, and he really worked hard at his game and just moved from one level to the next really quick.”Alexander’s role in the USA squad is to shore up the middle order – a problem area for USA in the recent past – while also offering spin in the middle overs.”I’m looking to make a name for myself,” he said of the Division Three challenge. “Try to perform in the best way that I can, try to get at least two or three fifties and get at least 10 to 12 wickets. Doing that, the team will benefit and it will help the team to go on and win the cup, which is our ultimate goal.”Camilus Alexander credits his erstwhile captain Darren Sammy as a major inspiration•Peter Della PennaIbrahim Khaleel
Though he is new to the USA squad, Khaleel has a distinguished resumé built up over the course of a decade with Hyderabad in Indian first-class cricket. He played for the state, beginning at Under-13 level, working his way up through each junior squad before making his Ranji Trophy debut in 2002, under the captaincy of Venkatapathy Raju.Khaleel was arguably in his prime around 2008, when he took a chance on the rebel Indian Cricket League. He was named Player of the Series playing for ICL’s India XI against a World XI.”ICL changed me as a batsman, as a keeper, the way I approached the game, it just made me better,” he said. “The confidence that Steve Rixon [as coach] gave me was just unbelievable. The work ethic, the way he shows you the drills for wicketkeeping, the way he tells you how to bat, how to approach batting and keeping, it was just unbelievable. He took me to a different level. The confidence level I had was great but he made me a better keeper and a better batsman.”After the ICL folded, Khaleel took the BCCI up on its amnesty offer and came back to the Hyderabad fold, while also trying to find a place in the IPL. He signed a squad contract with Mumbai Indians but never made it into the starting XI, and by 2010 they had cut ties with him.

“ICL changed me as a batsman, as a keeper, the way I approached the game, it just made me better”Ibrahim Khaleel, who played domestic cricket in India, before moving to the US in his 30s

He was still a regular with Hyderabad over the next few years, though, and one of his biggest career highlights came in November 2011, when he set a world record with 14 dismissals (11 catches and three stumpings) in a first-class match against Assam.”I didn’t know it was a world record,” Khaleel said. “We just finished the game and I went back to my room. That’s when my phone starts ringing. ‘What’s going on? I know we won the game but why is everybody calling me?’ You just created a record. ‘What record?’ There was a guy who got 13 [dismissals] and you have 14 now.”In 2013, he married an American doctor, and the couple agreed he would continue to play in Hyderabad, spending the season in India before coming back to Beloit, Wisconsin, where she had established their home near her hospital job. After the 2014-15 season, though, the “commute” was wearing, and Khaleel says he made the decision to stop playing Ranji Trophy cricket for good at age 32.In the USA full-time, he initially played sporadic league cricket casually in Chicago, a two-hour drive from Beloit, a town of 36,000, just over the Wisconsin border from Illinois. But in 2016, ICC Americas organised a regional combine tryout in Chicago, and a fire that had been barely flickering grew strong once again with the prospect of representing USA. Khaleel already had a green card, thanks to his wife, and the Milwaukee, Wisconsin US Customs and Immigrations Services office fast-tracked his citizenship application. He got his passport a week out from the squad submission deadline to be eligible to play for USA at Division Three.Khaleel: “Everybody is a fantastic player in our team. When I look at them as a player, as a team-mate, to me the only thing I look at is how confident they are in their approach”•Peter Della Penna”My wife was like, ‘You know what, we decided that you don’t want to play cricket and you’re gonna chill. Now you’re gonna travel?'” Khaleel laughs. “I told her I’d do that but I always wanted to play for the country.”She’s one of the biggest reasons that I’m here, because she supported me a lot. She knew that I always wanted to play for the country, and when I had this opportunity, she helped me with all my stuff, getting the paperwork done for the citizenship and stuff, and then when I got selected, she was just very happy for me.”Even with worn knees and a sore back from 20 years’ worth of wicketkeeping through the Hyderabad system, Khaleel’s skills with bat and gloves are still undeniable. He was USA’s second-leading scorer – behind USA’s Jamaica Tallawahs allrounder Timroy Allen – on their warm-up tour in Potchefstroom ahead of landing in Uganda, and hopes some of his experience will rub off on his new team-mates.”My experience is all about confidence,” Khaleel said. “Everybody is a fantastic player in our team. When I look at them as a player, as a team-mate, to me the only thing I look at is how confident they are in their approach. The only thing I go and tell them is just back yourself.”

“My wife was like, ‘You know what, we decided that you don’t want to play cricket and you’re gonna chill. Now you’re gonna travel?'”Khaleel on his wife’s reaction to his decision to play for USA

Nosthush Kenjige
The two other USA debutants have more than two decades of first-class cricket between them. Kenjige on the other hand is neon green by comparison, in terms of his high-level cricket experience. But the 26-year-old left-arm spinner’s work ethic goes a long way towards helping bridge that gap.Born in Alabama, where his father worked as an agricultural researcher at Tuskegee University, he and his family moved back to India before he had turned one, to Chikmaglur, outside Bengaluru, where his father runs a coffee farm. Kenjige played university cricket in Bengaluru, as well as for Jawans Cricket Club in the city’s Sir Mirza Ismail Shield competition.The only one in his family with American citizenship (since he was born there), he decided to move back to the US in 2015, first to Virginia and then to New York, where he found work as a biomedical technician. He applied and was granted an invite to the New York Combine organised by ICC Americas in June 2016, where he impressed enough with his left-arm spin to be named in USA’s 30-man training squad ahead of Division Four at the end of July.Kenjige: “To just have stars and stripes on the chest, it’s a dream for anybody”•Peter Della PennaThough he holds a USA passport, a quirk in the ICC’s eligibility criteria for Associate teams below the WCL Championship meant that Kenjige had to fulfill 100 days of “community service” to become eligible. This can consist of playing in matches, coaching players, or undertaking other development activities. So desperate was Kenjige to play for USA that he would commute one to two hours – depending on traffic – from Manhattan to New Jersey after work, three days a week, and again on the weekends, to the CricMax complex in Old Bridge, the nearest indoor facility where he could train and coach.Officially, eight hours equals a day of credit for the ICC 100-day stipulation so if he made it by 6pm and stayed until 10pm, he could log a half-day on weeknights, and then put in two full days on the weekend. The owners gave him a set of keys to lock up if he was the last to leave. After starting his mission in August, Kenjige met the threshold in February, in plenty of time to be eligible for Division Three.”It’s just that I enjoyed cricket and I didn’t necessarily count it as commitments or service of any kind,” Kenjige says. “The fact that I was just enjoying the work that I was putting in every day, even though the commute was bad. I could have given a thousand reasons [to stop] but it was just the passion in me. I just loved to go to the place and get myself working at it and just get better every day. I think everybody in my position would have done it if they loved cricket.”

So desperate was Kenjige to play for USA that he would commute one to two hours from Manhattan to New Jersey after work, three days a week, and again on the weekends, to the CricMax complex in Old Bridge, the nearest indoor facility where he could train and coach

Kenjige took a brief period off work in January to train in South Africa with the Knights franchise before returning to New York. At the team’s selection camps in Houston this March and April, he finished as the leading wicket-taker. That achievement, and his phenomenal fielding – he is often stationed at backward point – made him a shoo-in for the tour to Uganda. He said it was “the happiest day of my life” when he got the selection call.Kenjige’s fanatical quest to give himself the best chance of being selected came at a price, though. Just before leaving for Uganda, he was fired from his job. He says he saw it coming, considering the amount of time he had taken off from work and to go to selection camps, but says without hesitation that he would do it all again.”It was always my dream to play for the US. It was a no-brainer. If they hadn’t asked me to leave, I would have left at some point, because this is where I’ve always wanted to be. Looking back at it 20-30 years from now, I don’t think I’m gonna regret it.”Any sportsperson for that matter, when we start playing cricket, you always dream of playing for the country. To just have stars and stripes on the chest, it’s a dream for anybody. You know that you’re playing for your country, you represent your country. It’s been a dream so I can’t ask for anything more.”

He coughed and spluttered, but then Kevin Pietersen was riding the wave as a capacity crowd at The Oval lapped up the start of his valedictory tour of England in the NatWest Blast

Tim Wigmore20-Jul-2017Behold, the power and the glory of Kevin Pietersen. At The Oval on Wednesday night, a sell-out crowd did just that.Here was a sight most had presumed they would never see again: Pietersen captivating an English audience, and at the venue where he had played his most celebrated innings of all.The boisterous cheers that greeted Pietersen when he arrived at the crease 12 years after the innings that secured the 2005 Ashes in a sea of cricketing fervour were exactly as he would have wished.His Surrey return, which he says will be his final season of county cricket, is doubling as a valedictory tour to the English cricket public – a chance for the crowds to prove how much they still love him, even if Andrew Strauss and co do not.The early stages of Pietersen’s innings against Essex in the NatWest Blast gave off the air of a boxer who had unwisely returned to the ring for one bout too many. He took 17 balls over his first 14 runs and was reprieved twice – a regulation catch at midwicket, and a stumping. It all seemed to betray a man who had not played professional cricket for almost six months.As Living On A Prayer bellowed out at The Oval, the same could be said of Pietersen’s innings.But it is never wise to reprieve Pietersen, much less so at this ground. Like a surfer waiting to ride the perfect wave, Pietersen chose his ideal target – an offspinner, the type of bowler he scores quickest against in T20. Not just any old offspinner either, but Simon Harmer, also South African-born and the leading County Championship wicket-taker of 2017.The first ball was struck off the front foot over midwicket for six. The next, pitched short, was pulled over the same region. A single followed; then Harmer went wider outside off stump and endured another heave over midwicket. Harmer’s final ball, a rank full toss, was dispatched to the same heaving throngs in the OCS Stand,It attested to one of the enduring traits of Pietersen’s greatness: how he can intimidate fine bowlers off their game. With four sixes in five balls, each hit with more ferocity than the last, and cheered more raucously, Pietersen was back. And so was the love.The initial rust was hardly surprising. Pietersen had not batted in a T20 game in England for 1061 days, and not played a T20 at all for almost six months. He chose not even to put himself up for this year’s Indian Premier League auction, with IPL insiders suggesting that he was unlikely to have been picked up.The lack of cricket has provided ample time for other pursuits, which were not even curtailed by the start of this year’s Blast. Instead, he arrived fashionably late.Filling time, KP style

(i) Saving the rhinos – impassioned advocate for the campaign, persuading Melbourne Stars, and now Surrey, to stage fund-raising matches for the cause.

(ii) Playing golf – and lots of it.

(iii) Flirting with an international comeback – mischievously suggesting that he could play for South Africa in the 2019 World Cup.

(iv) Hanging out with Piers Morgan – still his loyalist fan.

(v) Developing the KP Cricket Academy in Dubai – offering “a completely unique and bespoke coaching experience”.

He has become an impassioned advocate for the Save the Rhino campaign, using stickers on his bat to draw attention to the cause and even persuading Surrey to stage a double-header at the Oval next month to raise funds.In keeping with this love of nature, he is having a lodge built on the edge of a nature reserve in South Africa; time spent there will preclude him from returning to play in county cricket again. And he spent last week on a game reserve in South Africa, breaking up his time on the safari and golf course to berate the third day of the Trent Bridge Test – marked by Hashim Amla’s disciplined plotting of a route to victory – as tedious.Only on Monday did he resume training with Surrey, two days before trying to make light of a six-month absence and invigorate his career at 37.On the day of his return, he played golf in the morning, and then went on TalkSport to declare that Gary Ballance and Keaton Jennings were not Test batsmen. He even speculated that he might play for South Africa in the 2019 World Cup: all rather bewildering, not just because the timing jarred with his return to the English game but also because he has not played a List A game for four years and seems in no hurry to change the fact. But, in another sense, the timing of his bizarre claim was perfect: for Pietersen, like John McEnroe, the only thing worse than being criticised is being ignored.Here, once again, he was impossible to ignore with the bat. A straight six off Ryan ten Doeschate was the finest shot of the evening – a fusion of quick hands and peerless timing, the sort of stroke that purist members and post-work revellers can take equal delight in. When Pietersen brought up his 50 soon after, it was, remarkably, his first ever in a T20 match for Surrey and, even more absurdly, his first half-century in the T20 Blast (or Twenty20 Cup, as it was back then) since 2004.It is a stark illustration of how Pietersen has struggled with the bitty nature of English domestic T20 – he had played 24 innings without a fifty in the tournament since. He will hope that this year’s more condensed schedule proves altogether more amenable.Pietersen’s innings was the major factor in Surrey’s 10-run win. But, for all the majesty of those five sixes, it was a curious innings, one of biff or block with nothing in between. It contained not a single two and the sense of a batsman feeling his way back into the game never entirely dissipated. Haring between the wickets, once a Pietersen trademark, was absent; instead his singles were ambled with the pace of someone double his 37 years. He pleaded a mild calf strain, another complication to surmount.Yet his achievement was a remarkable one, suggesting that, even in an age of uber-professional T20, Pietersen can still lead a remarkable double life, moving seamlessly between a life of effective retirement from the sport to being a leading player on the T20 circuit.He differs from most other T20 specialists in being much more selective about when he plays. He had a seven-month break in 2016, before this year’s six months off – making his challenge more onerous. Yet he continues to rise to it. In the last year, Pietersen has averaged 38.28 in the Big Bash League, 39.60 in the Ram Slam in South Africa, and 34.42 in the Pakistan Super League.Pietersen revels in the attention again at Kia Oval•Getty ImagesHis innings at The Oval – not quite vintage Pietersen, yet still almost twice what anyone else managed in the match – suggested that, like Roger Federer, he can pick and choose his matches as he enters sporting middle age, and that gaping gaps between games need not dilute his effectiveness.He does not train as much as he used to but he trains smarter. Across sport, a combination of science and assiduous management is helping elite athletes thrive later in their careers. Pietersen could yet maintain his double life for several more years, if he is so inclined.When he skied a ball to midwicket, he removed his helmet, walked off slowly and acknowledged the crowd’s applause. His night’s work was done; that calf strain, perhaps not inconveniently, rendered Pietersen unable to field, though he still reckons he will be able to play against Middlesex in the London derby on Friday.A little older and a little stiffer, Pietersen is back – and with his sense of theatre undimmed. Enjoy him while you can.

A new autobiography tells of the self-doubt and fears that beset the man probably best known for his wayward Ashes-opening delivery 11 years ago

Alan Gardner25-Nov-2017Of all the demons that Steve Harmison has faced, his infamous opening delivery in Brisbane to kick off the 2006-07 Ashes – which ended up in the hands of his captain and best mate, Andrew Flintoff, at second slip almost exactly 11 years ago – is one he seems most at peace with. It was, he admits, “the worst opening ball in the history of Ashes cricket” and one he knows he will always be remembered for. But, he adds, one bad ball does not an Ashes whitewash make. “When people say that set the tone for the series, that’s bollocks.”Such is the uncompromising tone taken by Harmison through his revealingly frank autobiography, , published four years after his retirement in 2013. It is a raw retelling of a career that touched heights few Englishmen have achieved but ended with him battling a dependency on sleeping pills and antidepressants, uncertain as to what his post-playing days held in store.”I never set out to be a cricketer,” he writes early on, and it seems the game was both bane and cure. It provided a way for a school-averse teenager with few qualifications to go from being an apprentice bricklayer to representing his country in short order, as well as giving him the means to support a young family; but it was also responsible for taking him far away from home and hearth, where he felt most comfortable, and triggering the psychological issues that remain with him today.The “homesick” label was attached to Harmison almost from the outset. On an Under-19s tour of Pakistan, he ended up repeatedly waking Flintoff in the middle of the night to confide his feelings of anxiety. There began a mateship that undoubtedly played a key role in Harmison eventually going on to take 300-plus wickets for England: “[Flintoff] always jokes now that he spent a week trying to convince me to stay – and then a week trying to convince the management to send me home because he wanted some sleep!”Harmison’s natural attributes, as well as his own determination and the support of friends such as Flintoff, Rob Key and England physio Kirk Russell, would ensure many more sleepless nights to come. Full international recognition meant having to overcome his aversion to travelling, but taking part in the 2002-03 Ashes and the subsequent World Cup led to him seeing his daughter Abbie for just five days in the first six months of her life.The following winter, Harmison exaggerated shin soreness to avoid going to Sri Lanka, though he had begun to realise he was actually dealing with a serious illness. “I wanted to tour. I didn’t want to finish my career with 50 caps when it could have been 85. I just had a mental health problem.” During the summer of 2004, which he began as the world’s No. 1-ranked bowler, Harmison was diagnosed with clinical depression.It is testament to his grim-faced ambition to battle on through that one of his career peaks came while on tour. After getting into shape training at his beloved Newcastle United, Harmison lived up to his youthful billing as the “white West Indian” when he blew away the hosts with a spell of 7 for 12 at Sabina Park. England, with their 6ft 5in, 90mph spearhead, went on to win ten Tests out of 11 against West Indies and New Zealand.Yet the clouds were already gathering again and his lowest moment came before setting off to the airport for the 2004-05 tour of South Africa:”At night, I lie there and stare into the dark. I am alone with my thoughts, and for me that’s a dangerous place to be. Now, alone in my car, those thoughts are with me again. ‘There are plenty of roundabouts on the short drive to Newcastle airport. What if pull out on somebody at one? If I do it right, I’ll buy myself another few days at home.'”Harmison did not deliberately crash his car to get out of touring, but that it even crossed his mind illustrates how debilitating his supposed “homesickness” had become. Still, throughout his playing career, he preferred to hang his issues on that peg – at least publically – in the belief that admitting to suffering from depression would have led to being dropped. Even when contemporaries such as Marcus Trescothick and Mike Yardy opened up about similar conditions, Harmison kept the hatches battened down. “I’d spent so long telling myself that my head was not going to beat me that when other people began going under, it gave me even more determination.”For obvious reasons, it is therefore troubling that Harmison uses his book to question the reasons given by Jonathan Trott for leaving the 2013-14 Ashes tour. Having described how Trescothick was among those team-mates who questioned his commitment, only to re-evaluate in light of their own experiences, Harmison commits a similar error. The chapter entitled “Cricket’s Problem”, five pages that seem to exist purely to comment on Trott, who is labelled “not poorly” but “weak”, could surely have been done without.But then, it is a reminder that Harmison is also still finding his way. He remains, as most humans do, a collection of contradictions and impulses: a giant fast bowler who flinches from the memory of drawing Ricky Ponting’s blood during the 2005 Ashes; a straight-talking Geordie who doesn’t bear grudges, but nevertheless lists numerous fallings out that remain unresolved; a man who conquered his sphere but must now fill the “void” of retirement.Life has slowed down but Harmison’s demons abide with him. It’s to be hoped that setting down his story has been a cathartic experience. He should be remembered for a lot more than one ball in Brisbane.Speed Demons
By Steve Harmison
Trinity Mirror Sports Media
383 pages, £20

Sourav Ganguly talks about making the decision to retire in this extract from his new book

Sourav Ganguly27-Feb-20185:31

Thirty-eight questions for Sourav Ganguly

It was Durga Puja. As with all Bengalis, it’s my favourite festival.Our Puja pandal is just a stone’s throw from my house. Every year, I would not just visit it and offer my prayers but also play the occasional , distribute prasad to the public and even do a bit of dancing during evening .I knew that I was being watched as I celebrated. That there were people taking photos as I danced and played the drum. But I couldn’t care less. During the Puja I was just like everyone else – the local boy enjoying his favourite festival with all the glee of boyhood.I am so hooked to the Pujas that I make it a point to always accompany the deity on her final ride. In Bengali there is a semi-tragic word for it – . This is when the deity is immersed in the Ganga. The scene is amazing – the energy is sky-high, the crowds full of joy and sorrow at seeing Durga Ma going away, it’s truly memorable. The area around the river is so crowded that once, during my Indian captaincy days, I decided to go disguised as one of Harbhajan’s tribe. Yes, disguised as a sardarji.Now I could have been mobbed big time. The situation could have gone out of control. But the thrill of accompanying the boys and family members on the truck carrying the deity was just too irresistible.

Me dropped? The Asian batsman and player of the year left out from a Rest of India team, I asked myself. After having scored consistently for the last three and a half years for India? But why?

My wife, Dona, had arranged for a make-up artist to come home to turn me from a hardcore Bengali into a convincing-looking Sikh. My cousins all mocked me, saying I would be recognized. I gave as good as I got and took up the challenge.They turned out to be right. I was not allowed on the truck by the police and had to follow it in our car with my daughter, Sana. As the car reached the Babughat area the police inspector peered in through the window, looked closely at me and smiled gently in recognition. I was embarrassed but asked him to keep my secret. The escapade was worth it. The immersion scene around the river is just indescribable. You have to see it to understand it. Durga Ma after all comes only once a year.Little did I know that the toughest decision of my life was to be announced on a Puja day in 2008. On Mahastami, when celebrations are usually at their peak, two days before the Bengaluru Test, I took part in a press conference. There I announced that I would retire from international cricket at the end of the series, after the last Test match in Nagpur. The was still two days away but I had decided to bring an end to my cricketing career. It was ‘The End’ as they say in the movies. I was so emotionally drained that the Pujas that year passed me by in a blur. I don’t remember a thing.Almost a decade has gone by. Yet journalists and the Kolkata press still gossip about the events leading to my decision, and what I felt at the time. Surely I couldn’t have felt as decisive and calm as I appeared that Mahastami day. Even this week as I write this, a close journalist friend asked me with a raised eyebrow, ‘Come on, you don’t expect me to believe that after so much trauma you did not cry after playing the last innings in Nagpur?’I replied, no. I don’t shed tears. I did not cry even at my father’s death. Most of you, like my friend, won’t believe me. Sourav is not telling the truth, you’ll be saying to yourself. But some of you will be nodding your head in agreement. You know my type. We are a minority who tend to think tears are the easy way out of sadness. But don’t let our masks fool you. Maybe it’s because we hold our emotions in check that they remain within us even more. We look tough on the outside, but inside we bleed.One last time: Ganguly waves to the crowds from the pavilion after the 2008 Nagpur Test•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCIThe events of that summer afternoon in 2008 still remain a raw wound for me. I was going for practice at Eden Gardens and had almost reached Fort William, which was just two minutes away. Suddenly my mobile rang. The caller happened to be a journalist. He had heard the news that I had been left out of the Rest of India squad, which is a clear indicator of how the selectors feel about you.Me dropped? The Asian batsman and player of the year left out from a Rest of India team, I asked myself. After having scored consistently for the last three and a half years for India? But why? It can’t have been my skill as I had only failed in one series in Sri Lanka where, apart from one batsman, none of my colleagues had done well. Yet they had all got picked.I was angry. Disillusioned.Hanging up, I told the driver to turn back and go home. I was in no mood to practise. This action made it clear to me that my chances of playing for India were now pretty low. My driver was unsure. He hesitantly looked at me, as if to get a final confirmation. My face must have said it all – he turned the car around quietly. I reached home and sat in front of the television, wondering to myself, so what’s next?People talk about the plusses of being a successful sportsman. The fame, the money and the high that it brings. Not many understand the tough side of the lives of sportsmen. Not only does age catch up with you but even after a glittering career you continue to be judged by others. This scrutiny decides your fate.

We are a minority who tend to think tears are the easy way out of sadness. But don’t let our masks fool you. Maybe it’s because we hold our emotions in check that they remain within us even more

Never forget that through their career sportsmen often have only a single option for work. Rejection from national selectors or the cricket team closes all doors. Most of you can switch jobs. If you are not happy with the Ambanis, you can apply to the Tatas. If the Tatas reject you, you can try Infosys. The paths are many. For us cricketers, we have only one job. India placement. There is no other job. It is simple – India or nothing.I have rarely missed a practice session. But that day I wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle. I wanted a peaceful mind to chart out my future. I decided to call up the captain of my team and try to get to the bottom of the mess. Anil Kumble had been a friend and dear colleague for a long time.I asked him point-blank, did he think I was no longer an automatic choice in his eleven? Kumble – the gentleman that he has always been – seemed embarrassed with my call. He told me he hadn’t been consulted before the selection committee chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar took this decision.I believed him. I believed he had the courage to tell me honestly if he had been consulted. I had one more question for him. Did he still believe that his team wanted my services? I had been a captain for a long time and knew such a clarification was the best way forward.Kumble’s reply consoled me. He said if it came to him taking the call, he would pick me again for the upcoming Test match selection. I heaved a great sigh of relief. There was hope after all. I had two choices then. One, do nothing – sit back at home, watch TV and wait for the team selection. That would have been nerve-racking.MS Dhoni unofficially handed the captaincy to Sourav Ganguly, who was playing his last Test•AFPChoice number two. Go and play domestic cricket and convey a strong message to the selectors. Attitude is important. It is what separates the men from the boys. I was confident of my ability and knew if I was selected on the basis of my batting, no one could stop me. Around that time I could only think of one cricket tournament that was coming up, the JP Atrya Memorial Trophy in Chandigarh.I called M.P. Pandove, the lifeblood of the Punjab Cricket Association, to tell him I desperately needed a team to play. He was of immense help and quietly obliged me even though my request had come in at the last minute.I mean no disrespect to the tournament but most of you outside the northern cricketing belt have probably never heard of the JP Atrya Memorial Trophy. Even I knew of it only vaguely. But now things were different. In cricketing terminology the asking rate was climbing up and I urgently needed to respond. Look, no one has and no one will stay at the top forever. The more you condition your mind to the worst, the more you will feel ease at the top. I felt I needed to go and play. So I did. No ego. No negative thoughts. I just reacted to the situation.It was the seven toughest days of my cricketing career. After having played in more than 400 international games, I had to play a tournament where I did not even know any of the players. Although I had scored more than 18,000 international runs, the runs I had to score here felt as urgent to me as in any international Test match. These runs were talking to me from the inside. Telling me, you are still good enough, still capable of scoring runs anywhere. Your love has not deserted you. The love for the game.Alone in my Chandigarh hotel room, I thought to myself that this was truly surreal. Just three months ago at a glittering function in Karachi I was awarded a prize for being Asia’s best batsman. Due to my commitments I couldn’t make it to the ceremony. Dona had flown down to Karachi and accepted the award on my behalf. And here I was in this mess. It was like driving a Rolls-Royce one day and sleeping on the pavement the next.

In Mohali a journalist asked, ‘Did the hundred give you special pleasure because Greg Chappell was watching it from the Australian camp?’ I said, I had got past all that. For me he didn’t exist any more

I have had rejections, disappointments, tragedies all my cricketing life. I have been at the receiving end of truly vicious gossip. I have lost count of how often I have come back from the jaws of getting rejected. At times I felt my life resembled a roller coaster. As they say in Hindi, . It could have broken the spine of someone who was talented but emotionally weak. But I have always been a fighter. I have handled the bad news head-on, and embraced pressure as part of the package.I told myself that this too was an investment. My experience had taught me that I played best when I worked the hardest. So I continued to believe that my time would come. I knew I was a winner. Being a winner is about what happens in your head. And I had never lost the belief in myself. I looked at a cricket ground and believed it was mine. Looked at the pitch and believed we would win. Looked at the bat and told myself I would score runs. I woke up every morning to succeed.The Indian team for the first two Test matches of the Australian series was soon announced. I found my name in it. Simultaneously a Board President’s team was also announced. This was the secondary team that would take on the Australians in Chennai. The Board President’s XI is traditionally used to vet the potential of promising youngsters or assess veterans whose Test future is uncertain.I was included in it as well. These teams got picked by the new selection committee under Krishnamachari Srikkanth. But its mindset seemed to be no different from the previous committee’s. The message was crystal clear – that a veteran of 100-plus Test matches, a certain Sourav Ganguly, was again on trial.I felt extremely agitated. That is when I told my father that I needed to call it a day. Enough was enough. My father was a bit surprised. In the past when Greg Chappell had kept me out of the team and I was desperately fighting to claw my way back, he had wanted me to retire, unable to bear his son’s struggle.The bubbly is out and the celebrations begin•AFPThen I had resisted. I had told him, Bapi, you wait. I will be back. I still have cricket left in me. When I grow older I don’t want to sit on my sofa and tell myself, Sourav, you gave up when the going was tough. You should have tried harder. I wanted to catch the bull by its horns and win.So three years later when he heard the same person was throwing in the towel, he was surprised. I also told my wife and my mother but no one else. None of my friends had a clue. The story didn’t leak. Not even in the Kolkata media, which I was often accused of favouring.I of course had a chat with Anil before I reached Chennai. He told me, don’t decide anything in a hurry. Give it some time. I assured him I would. But deep down I knew my time was up. I made up my mind that I would give everything I had to be successful in this series.But I wouldn’t let anyone else decide my future any more. I wouldn’t go through the ordeal again. I had had enough! Yes, I was angry. After reaching Bengaluru I informed Kumble that my mind was made up and I would announce shortly.Cricketing history has recorded that I had an outstanding final series. Got a hundred in Mohali and narrowly missed the second in Nagpur. I was surprised at how good I was feeling. I saw the same attitude in Sachin when he played his last Test match at the Wankhede. His innings was one of the best I had seen him play towards the later stages of his career. I felt that no one could do me any harm any more. I could fly freely.In Mohali a journalist came and asked, ‘Did the hundred give you special pleasure because Greg Chappell was watching it from the Australian camp?’ I said, at this stage of my cricketing career it didn’t matter at all. I had got past all that. For me he didn’t exist any more.

The man the Indian selectors had kept on an indefinite trial did stand up to the Australian attack and walked away with a solid 85. I missed the coveted three-figure mark only by 15 runs but my friend Sachin lent an additional flavour to the party by getting a rock-solid hundred

I still remember the walk out to the pitch in my last Test. As I went out to bat, the Australian team under Ricky Ponting gave me a guard of honour as a sign of respect. It was very moving, and I felt very honoured by their gesture. But I knew, irrespective of the respect shown, the moment Brett Lee went back to his bowling mark, his first delivery would be aimed at my nose.That is always the reality in top-class sport. In the end all that matters is to win. The man the Indian selectors had kept on an indefinite trial did stand up to the Australian attack and walked away with a solid 85. I missed the coveted three-figure mark only by 15 runs but my friend Sachin lent an additional flavour to the party by getting a rock-solid hundred. What made the occasion happier was that we won the Test.I ended my final innings in Test cricket in a first-ball duck. Looking back I still feel it was a loose shot as I tried to play Jason Krejza against the turn. The bat had closed early and Krejza easily accepted a low return catch. I have no regrets. It was a bad shot and I paid the price. But I still regret missing the hundred. It was mine for the taking.As the match came to a close, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a surprise gesture asked me to lead. I had rejected his offer earlier in the day, but could not refuse a second time. Ironically, my captaincy career had begun exactly eight years ago on this very day. I handled the bowling changes and field placements while the last Australian wicket batted. But I must admit, at that stage, I found it difficult to focus. So after three overs I handed it back to Dhoni saying, it is your job, MS. We both smiled.I was filled with mixed emotions. I felt extremely sad that the biggest love of my life was going away. On the other hand, I felt deeply satisfied that I had held my head high right till the end. I had competed with the best cricket team in the world in my final series and performed admirably. It proved that a certain Sourav Ganguly was still good enough.Juggernaut BooksAnil had retired a week before at the Kotla. The Vidarbha Cricket Association had organized a joint farewell reception for both of us. The entire board was present to hand over mementos to us. I asked Anil, are you ready to finish? He said he was.His answer consoled me. I felt if the captain of the team didn’t want to continue, my decision was right. Notwithstanding selectorial whims and fancies, I could not see anyone taking our places in the side. Yet he thought this was the right time to go.Once the felicitations finished, the party began. Members of the team had organized a night for us at the hotel. All of us really let our hair down. Some of us even went berserk. I have been around in Indian cricket for more than fifteen years and I have never experienced anything as warm, as wild and as fun as this party was.It was a night neither Anil nor I will forget. One’s fellow cricketers’ admiration counts a lot for a pro, however big he may be. I received a shirt from my teammates which was signed by all of them. It said, we will miss you. I was truly moved.And so it was all over. From 11 November 2008 Sourav Ganguly was a retired Test cricketer. I was also not part of the one-day team.I always knew that this day would arrive and I was extremely happy at what I had achieved. It was time to march on. Think of the magical moments I had experienced along the way and remind myself that it had been an extraordinary run. There really was nothing more I could have asked from life.A Century is Not Enough

The best of the stats from the second one-day international at the Gabba as Aaron Finch continues his fine form

Bharath Seervi19-Jan-20183 Instances of Australia losing the first two matches of a series at home. The previous instances were against New Zealand in 2008-09 and against Sri Lanka in 2010-11. Australia did not win either of those series.1-9 Australia’s win-loss record in their last 10 completed ODIs. Their only win in that period came against India in Bengaluru.1 Number of bigger successful chases against Australia at the Gabba than the 271 by England in this game. West Indies chased 282 in 1997, which is the highest. Australia had lost only once in their previous ten ODIs at the Gabba before this loss.83 Number of innings taken by Aaron Finch to score 10 centuries in ODIs – the least among Australia batsmen. He is the sixth Australia batsman to score 10 or more hundreds and the fastest among them. He edged past David Warner, who had reached the milestone in his 85th innings. Mark Waugh took 125 innings, Matthew Hayden 138, Ricky Ponting 149 and Adam Gilchrist 174.ESPNcricinfo Ltd4 Batsmen to have completed 10 hundreds in fewer innings than Finch’s 83. The fastest is Quinton de Kock in just 55 innings followed by Hashim Amla in 57, Shikhar Dhawan 77 and Virat Kohli 80. Overall, Finch is the 50th batsman to score 10 or more centuries in ODIs.2 Players to have scored 10 ODI hundreds without playing Tests. Apart from Finch, who has played 87 ODIs and 33 T20Is, Ireland’s William Porterfield is the only other to have those many ODI centuries without playing in Tests. However, Ireland haven’t played any Test cricket yet and are set to make their debut this year.38.26 Finch’s career ODI average, which is by far the lowest among all players who have scored 10 or more centuries since his debut. Apart from him, 11 others have scored as many centuries and the lowest average among them is 45.85 by de Kock. In the last 10 years, among 16 batsmen with 10 or more centuries, only Mohammad Hafeez (37.64) has a poorer average than Finch.5 Centuries for Finch against England, in just 18 innings. He has only five hundreds against all other teams in 65 innings. He’s now alongside Ponting and Mahela Jayawardene on the list of most ODI hundreds against England.62-6 Australia’s score in the last 11 overs of the innings, after being 208 for 3 in 39 overs. They could score more than six runs in only in three of the last 11 overs and finished on 270 for 9.100 Wickets for Liam Plunkett in ODIs. He’s taken 64 ODIs to get there – the third-quickest among England bowlers after Darren Gough and Stuart Broad, both taking 62 matches each. Also, he’s taken just over 12 years to reach the milestone having made his debut December 2005. He has taken 55 wickets in 30 matches since June 2016, the most among England bowlers and third-most after Hasan Ali and Rashid Khan.5- Wickets by England spinners in the first innings – the joint-most by spinners in an ODI innings at the Gabba. The last time spinners did this at Gabba was back in 2006 by Sri Lanka’s and the only previous time spinners took five wickets in first innings was by South Africa in 1993-94.

With 22 wins as India Test captain, Kohli only has MS Dhoni ahead of him

Bharath Seervi22-Aug-201822 – Tests won by Virat Kohli as captain – the second-most among India captains. He has edged past Sourav Ganguly’s 21 Test wins. Now only MS Dhoni has more wins for India – 27 in 60 Tests. Kohli’s win-loss ratio of 3.14 is the third-best among all captains who have led in a minimum of 35 matches.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2- Bigger Test wins for India against England by a runs margin than the 203-run victory at Trent Bridge. The 279-run win at Headingley in 1986 and the 246-run victory in Visakhapatnam in November 2016 are the only two bigger wins.5- Instances of teams winning by a margin of 200 or more runs in the third Test of a series (four or more matches),after being 0-2 down in the series. India have achieved this twice and both times outside home; the other instance came in Australia in 1977-78. The other three instances were for teams at home.

Largest wins by runs in the third Test after being 2-0 down in the series (series of 4+ matches)

Team Win margin by runs Series Final result Home/AwayAustrala 382 Eng in Aus, 1894-95 England 3-2 HomeAustrala 365 Eng in Aus, 1936-37 Australia 3-2 HomeIndia 222 Ind in Aus, 1977-78 Australia 3-2 AwayAustralia 216 Eng in Aus, 1903-1904 England 3-2 HomeIndia 203 Ind in Eng, 2018 – Away4- Number of times India have won the third Test after losing the first two Tests in a series of four or more matches. The first three three instances were: against West Indies in 1974-75 at home, and in Australia in 1977-78 and 2007-08.80.21- Control percentage of India’s batsmen in this Test in comparison to England’s 73.34. England had better control percentages than India in the first two Tests. The team with better control percentages have won all three Tests in this series so far.

Control percentages in this series

Batting team Test #1 control % Test #2 control % Test #3 control%England 77.75 78.26 73.34India 75.03 69.83 80.2119- Wickets by India’s fast bowlers – their second-most in any Test. They have only taken all 20 wickets once, at the Wanderers earlier this year. The previous most wickets by India’s fast bowlers in a Test in England was 17 – at Lord’s in 2007 and at Trent Bridge in 2011.2- Successive defeats for England at Trent Bridge, both by large margins. In the Test against South Africa last year they lost by 340 runs. They were undefeated in seven Tests prior to these two matches – won six and drawn one. Five of those victories were by either by an innings or by margins of 300 or more runs or nine or more wickets. Thus, seven of the last eight results at Trent Bridge have been decided by big margins.5- India captains to win Player of the Match in Tests outside Asia, excluding Zimbabwe. Virat Kohli joined the list, which includes Kapil Dev, twice, in Adelaide in 1985-86 and at Lord’s in 1986, Sachin Tendulkar at the MCG in 1999-00, Sourav Ganguly at the Gabba in 2003-04 and Rahul Dravid in Kingston in 2006.