People may typecast him as a T20 specialist, but Kieron Pollard’s ambition is to play five-day cricket. He talks about his plans, his early struggles, and his success in the IPL

Interview by Jack Wilson22-Jan-2014Tell us about your early days in cricket. At first, it was pretty tough, wasn’t it?
It really was. I grew up in a single-parent home with just my mum. It was always going to be hard. We weren’t wealthy, and cricket was an expensive sport. We had to make a lot of sacrifices in order for me to play cricket.Did you miss out on facilities and luxuries that others had?
Equipment-wise, yes. It was pretty difficult for us as a family. I didn’t have full kit until I was 15 or 16. My mum bought me a second-hat bat when I was 13 and I had to use all the school’s gear when I was there. I wasn’t as fortunate as others.What was it like growing up playing cricket in Trinidad?
Despite a lot of things being against me, it was exciting. What we all had as youngsters was Brian Lara to look up to. At that point, playing cricket, watching cricket and watching him was motivating enough. The West Indies had a great team. Carl Hooper, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were all big heroes.You came over to Haxey in Lincolnshire in 2006. What was it like as a 19-year-old being so far away from home?
I had been on tour with the West Indies Under-19s, but this was my first real experience of leaving home for a long period of time. It was a challenge and I was living by myself for the first week. I didn’t like it and I told the club that it was pretty difficult for me. I moved in with the club captain and it was much better. I was supposed to be there five months but ended up leaving after five games to play in the Stanford 20/20.It must have been a big lifestyle change in England and a big change in cricketing conditions too.
The cold, mainly. It was something new to me. I was wearing a lot of sweaters! I learned a lot in a small space of time there, about myself and about my cricket.When you went back you made 83 off 38 balls to put Trinidad in the Stanford 20/20 final. Do you consider that your big break?
It was a huge day for me, certainly. I was lucky I got the opportunity I did. Some of the other guys were away on a West Indies A tour in England, which meant I got my chance, and I took it.It led to international honours and making your West Indies debut in the 2007 World Cup under Brian Lara. At the time questions were being raised about Lara’s captaincy. What are your experiences of him?
I was just coming out of first-class cricket, so getting an opportunity in a World Cup on television was just incredible. I didn’t have the greatest debut against South Africa, making just 10, and we lost. But Brian Lara was a great figure, and we still see each other and have conversations now.And his captaincy?
I think it would be unfair for me to judge. I was more in awe of him than anything else.Thinking back to the $20million winner-takes-all match against England – the boy who had nothing growing up suddenly had everything. What are your recollections of that?
Elation, pure elation. It was absolutely amazing, brilliant. It didn’t just happen, though. As a group we worked so hard before that game. We had an intense training camp and everyone put in such a big effort. There was a lot of hard graft and England were a very, very strong team then. Beating a side with Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff is never easy.What did you spend the money on?
My family. I have a lovely wife and two children, a boy and a girl.So could we have another Pollard to watch out for?
I don’t know. He’s picked up a bat and is already swinging to leg!In 2009, no one wanted you at the IPL auction. A year on, you were the most sought-after player and ended up going for $750,000. Did you watch the bids come in?
I was practising with South Australia in the Big Bash at the time, but it turned out well. Cricket in India and the IPL have personally been massive for me. I’ve had some great days with Mumbai.Were there any greater than last year’s Man-of-the-Match performance in the final?
It hurt when we lost in 2010, so to put that right last year was special.

“I want to help take talented young Trinidadian cricketers to the next level. The game of cricket has already given me so much. I feel it only right that I give something back”

And you are back with Mumbai this year too.
That also was very special. It shows I’m doing something good for them. I know I need to be more consistent but I’m working on that.It is hard enough winning the IPL but is it even harder to retain it?
It’s another big challenge but I’m looking forward it. There’s a buzz around any tournament, especially when you’re going back into it as champions. I don’t know what sort of team we’re going to have and it’ll be exciting to see how that pans out. My focus is on retaining the title.But you will have to do it without Sachin, won’t you?
He won’t be playing and it’s a big disadvantage for us. When Sachin is there, we know everywhere we go we will have support. He will be a big miss for us – a massive miss. But at the end of the day, Sachin is a Mumbai boy. He was born there and has Mumbai blood running through him. He loves cricket and will be somewhere around our camp, I’m sure.There is huge money in the IPL and there was huge money in the Stanford game. How do you deal with that?
It’s not something I’m used to, but I’m still the same individual that started playing cricket so many years back. I keep my feet on the ground and haven’t changed. I want to give my children what I didn’t have growing up.Talk us through the World Twenty20 win.
The people of West Indies needed that and we as players needed that. Things hadn’t been going the way we wanted. T20 cricket, with the power-hitting and athletic fielding, was built for us. We had players who had played in the IPL with a lot of experience, and it all came together at the right time. It was not down to one individual, it was down to us as a team. People can say it was Marlon Samuels’ knock in the final that won it, but we still had to hold Sri Lanka to less than 137. Each and every game someone different put their hand up.Do you see yourself as a T20 specialist?
Of course not. Everybody says I’m big and strong and suited to it, but when you look at cricket, the game is changing so much. A few years ago they said David Warner was a T20 specialist but look what he has achieved in Test cricket. Think back to why I was called up in the first place to the West Indies side too. It was because I made centuries in four-day cricket. I’m not a specialist.You are 26 and have years ahead of you. What goals do you have?
I don’t want to let everyone know what I want to achieve. I like to tick the boxes quietly and keep myself to myself. But I’ll give you one – to play Test cricket for West Indies.Was that always the dream growing up?
Mine was to play international cricket, but Test cricket was huge as a child. It’s what you got up at 6 o’clock in the morning to watch. My ambitions are still the same – to pull on the whites for my nation. Yes, I’ve played a lot of one-day and T20 cricket, but the ambition to play in the Test team is there. I’m not an old guy just yet.Do you think you are close to a Test call-up?
I don’t know how close I am. I might be a way off – I don’t know. I’m highly unlikely to play a full season of first-class cricket, so my only way of playing is by performing well in the ODIs. I could be wrong but that’s the way I think I can do it. The way the fixtures are made up make it hard. I played two games last season and the year before, I played one.How do you need to adapt your game?
I’m the first one to admit I’m inconsistent and I need that to change. It’s like in business. There you have to be consistent and it’s the same in cricket.What would you rather do: get West Indies to No. 1 in the Test rankings or win another World Twenty20?
(Laughs) Both. At the moment I’m not playing Test cricket, but I can help us win the World T20.Tell us a bit about the Atlantic Pollard Scholarship, which you have helped set up back home.
I want to help take talented young Trinidadian cricketers to the next level. The game of cricket has already given me so much. I feel it only right that I give something back. It gives some of the best young guys a chance to come over to play club cricket in England and learn more about themselves and their game. They get opportunities that they might not have had before.And there is a Lara involved, too?
Yes, we’ve had Akeal Hosein and Savion Lara – Brian’s cousin – playing at Barnes and Purley respectively last season. They get opportunities that they might not have had before. We will shortly announce our two new scholars to play at Purley CC and Barnes CC in 2014.You are over in England recovering from your knee injury. How is it going?
It’s getting there. I’m doing a lot of work in London to sort it but I don’t want to rush back. It’s six hours a day at the moment. I’m a sportsman and I want to be playing, I want to be on the park.Allrounders have a big strain on their bodies, but you have been lucky with injuries, haven’t you?
I have, thank god. This is my first major injury in cricket, and I wasn’t even playing at the time. It happened in a charity football match and I made a bad turn while I was dribbling. Playing football is what we do and everything happens for a reason. I love my football. I’m a big Manchester United fan and went to watch them play Chelsea on Sunday. Unfortunately we lost, but it was a great experience going to the game.

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

Kanishkaa Balachandran13-Feb-20140:00

‘Familiarity with conditions gives us an advantage’

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

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

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

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

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

With uncapped Indian players entering the IPL auction pool for the first time, franchises have begun inviting talented domestic players for trials to assess their value

Nagraj Gollapudi and Amol Karhadkar11-Feb-20140:00

Rishi Dhawan, Manish Pandey could attract big bids

It became evident how much franchises value uncapped players when Rajasthan Royals retained Sanju Samson•BCCITwo days after Karnataka won the Ranji Trophy, KL Rahul, the second highest run-scorer in the tournament, flew to Mumbai. He was scheduled to squeeze in a trip to Kolkata as well, but that didn’t happen.The reason behind Rahul’s whistle-stop tour was to audition for two IPL franchises (Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders), who had booked his flight tickets. Unlike in the past, the franchises were not fighting hard to lure Rahul into their fold. This time, Rahul was part of a bunch of players they had called for trials in which they could assess their talent by putting them through various match-like situations.At 21, Rahul is one of the 300-odd uncapped Indian players who for the first time will be part of the player auction, which will be held in Bangalore on Wednesday and Thursday. Uncapped players form an integral part of an IPL squad. The size of a squad, from this season, has been restricted to 27, and with a maximum of nine overseas players permitted, franchises point out the advantages of having an uncapped player whom they feel can be procured at a reasonable price and give them more value-for-money returns.It became evident how much franchises value uncapped players when Rajasthan Royals retained Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson and Kings XI Punjab retained Manan Vohra. Uncapped players who prospered during the last IPL season include Rajat Bhatia, Manvinder Bisla, Hanuma Vihari, Ashok Menaria and Pravin Tambe.”It [having uncapped players in the auction pool] makes it very clean and transparent and gives every franchise an equal opportunity,” says Venky Mysore, the Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive. According to Mysore, the big difference between the previous seasons, when franchises would call uncapped players for trials, and now is there is no longer any need to negotiate.”You had a situation where different type of influences came into the picture and that would determine who the player would sign with eventually,” Mysore says. “Our intention was to call some of the boys whom we did not know much about.”According to Mysore, the overall approach and the composition of the squad with regards uncapped players will not change. “On an average, each franchise will have 8-12 uncapped players in the squad,” he says. “The difference this time will be you will have equal opportunity to buy the player provided you are willing to pay the price.”Barring Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings, the rest of the franchises conducted trials, which generally ranged from one to two days. Even if they cannot offer shortlisted players a contract without buying them in the auction, most franchises say they wanted to see which players suited their needs. One franchise coach says he was looking at “players on the fringe of playing Ranji Trophy” for his franchise.”You are trying to put a face to the name,” the coach says. “Although we cannot assess too much in two days, coaches can get a glimpse of the players’ mindset. These players are very important keeping the future in the mind. Most of the players, both Indian capped players and overseas, are not getting younger. So if somebody has the potential, and even if he does not play this year, you can always hang on to that guy and build on him for the future.”The trials themselves involved net sessions, simulating match scenarios and, in some cases, practice matches. “We are not looking to teach the player anything,” the coach says. “You just want to see whether he fits into your strategy and for the player it is to get an idea about the franchise.”From a player’s perspective, he gets a peek into the how a franchise operates. First impressions work in life and they can work even in the IPL. “It is speed dating in the IPL,” is how a franchise head sums up the concept.Most of those who are being invited have bloomed in the domestic circuit over the last couple of seasons. One promising batsman, who had a consistent Ranji Trophy season, was invited for a trial by a former IPL champion team. “I was given three sets of 20 balls each to show my prowess,” he says. “First I was told to bat assuming they were Powerplay overs, then they told me to treat the ball and field placements like those in the middle overs and the last set was to bat the way I would in the death overs. It may not sound so innovative but the field placements were constantly revolving and it was challenging to score under such pressure. It was a perfect dress rehearsal to bat in the IPL.”Even the bowlers were told to show their skills by bowling either one over or two at a stretch at different intervals in an innings. “I was given the confidence first that I am being considered only because of my accuracy and variations and was told to use as many variations as I had,” a medium-pacer says. “It was a wonderful experience.”

Stats highlights from yet another Virat Kohli special, India v South Africa, World T20, semi-final, Mirpur.

Shiva Jayaraman04-Apr-2014

• India’s chase was the highest successful one against South Africa in T20Is and only the second time a target of 165-plus has been chased successfully against them. The previous best against them was by New Zealand in East London in 2012, when they overhauled a target of 169.
• South Africa have now lost ten of the 12 knockout matches (semi-finals and finals) they have played in major (involving five or more teams) limited-overs tournaments. The last time they won a knockout was in the finals of the Champions Trophy in 1998-99, when they beat West Indies.
• Virat Kohli’s 44-ball 72 is his seventh fifty in T20Is and his fifth in chases. Kohli has scored 496 runs at an average of 82.66 in chases in T20Is. Batting first, he averages 25.61 and has scored 333 runs in 13 innings with two fifties. Kohli’s average is the highest among batsmen with a minimum of 400 runs in chases. The second-best batsman in this list, Michael Hussey, averages 30 runs fewer than Kohli.
• Kohli went past Netherlands’ Tom Cooper as the top run scorer in this World T20 – he has scored 242 runs at an average of 121.00 and a strike rate of 128. Kohli also went past Gautam Gambhir as the India batsman to have scored the most runs in a World T20 series. Gambhir had scored 227 runs at 37.83 in the 2007 World T20.
• Kohli played only three dots in the 44 balls he faced in his innings. This is the least number of dot-balls faced by a batsman in an innings of 40 or more balls. JP Duminy’s five dot-balls in a T20I against Australia at the Gabba in 2009 was the previous lowest.
• R Ashwin’s bowling figures of 3 for 22 are his second best in T20Is and only the second instance of him taking more than three in a T20I. His best figures came in India’s previous game against Australia when he took 4 for 11. Ashwin has taken ten wickets at an average of 9.5 and has economy of 4.91 at Mirpur. Only Samuel Badree – who has 11 wickets at 10.27 – has more wickets at this venue.
• Amit Mishra’s second over in the match went for 17 runs, which is the most he has gone for in an over in T20Is. Mishra’s figures of 0 for 36 are also his worst of his T20I career. Mishra has taken ten wickets at 13.60 and has an economy of 6.18 in six T20Is.
• Dale Steyn’s economy of 11.36 is his second worst in T20Is. His worst economy in a T20I came against England in a league match of the 2010 World Cup, when he went for 50 runs in four overs.
• Faf du Plessis’ fifty in this match was his fifth in T20Is and his second against India. Du Plessis has scored 123 runs in two games against India at a strike rate of 155.7. His four fifty-plus scores now equal the most by a South Africa captain, same as Graeme Smith.

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

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

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

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

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

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

James Anderson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been the leading bowlers in the series so far with similar stats, but in their head-to-head battles Bhuvneshwar is ahead

S Rajesh05-Aug-2014Over the last few days, all the talk has been about the off-the-pitch battle between James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja. In this series, though, the more relevant on-the-pitch battle has been between Anderson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The new-ball bowlers from each team have been the two top wicket-takers in the series, and have led the attacks for their teams admirably.The overall numbers for the two are remarkably similar so far: Anderson has bowled 26 more overs and has 16 wickets to Bhuvneshwar’s 15, while their series averages are separated by a run. Against the top six batsmen, though, Anderson has done significantly better: when bowling to India’s top six (Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane and Rohit), Anderson has achieved figures of 10 for 221, compared to figures of 6 for 163 when bowling to the rest of the Indian batsmen.Bhuvneshwar, on the other hand, has been more successful against England’s lower order than their top six. Against Cook, Robson, Ballance, Bell, Root and Moeen, he has only managed eight wickets at 33.12; against the other England batsmen, Bhuvneshwar has been outstanding, with figures of 7 for 76.

Among India’s top order, only two batsmen – Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay – have averaged more than 40 against Anderson in this series. Rahane has been the best among them, scoring 51 off 100 balls and getting out just once – a superb caught-and-bowled effort when Rahane was batting with the tail and looking for quick runs at Lord’s. Vijay has been extremely patient against Anderson, scoring 94 off 259 balls. Both Vijay and Rahane have similar control percentages against him.Shikhar Dhawan has been Anderson’s bunny in the series, getting out to him three times in 78 balls, but surprisingly, his control percentage isn’t very different from those for Rahane and Vijay – in fact it’s marginally higher. Jadeja has scored runs at a fair clip against Anderson, but his control factor is poor – only 62%. Cheteshwar Pujara has a much higher control factor, but has been kept scoreless for long periods.However, the biggest non-contest of the series so far has been between Anderson and Virat Kohli. Coming into the series, they were the leading bowler and batsman for their respective teams, but while Anderson has lived up to that tag, Kohli has struggled. In their head-to-head battles, Kohli has scored two runs from Anderson, and been dismissed twice – in the first innings at Lord’s and Southampton. Before this series, Kohli had 23 runs off 81 balls from Anderson in Tests, and had been dismissed once; now the numbers read 3 for 25 from 102 balls – average 8.33, runs per over 1.47.In fact, the only batsman who has faced more than ten balls from Anderson without being dismissed by him in this series is Bhuvneshwar, whose numbers against England’s leading bowler are excellent – 32 runs from 61 balls, and a control factor which is the best so far by any Indian batsman.

Among England’s batsmen, Gary Ballance, Joe Root and Alastair Cook have all done pretty well against Bhuvneshwar so far, being dismissed only once each and achieving a pretty high control factor. Ian Bell and Sam Robson have been dismissed twice each, which is the highest number of times Bhuvneshwar has dismissed any England batsman in this series so far. Moeen Ali has a reasonable control factor against Bhuvneshwar, but has struggled to get him away for runs, scoring 10 off 63 balls.Anderson has done well to be dismissed only once from 42 balls against him, but Bhuvneshwar can point to the control factor to show that he has been edging their head-to-head contest. (It’s also pertinent to point out here that Bhuveshwar has a first-class batting average of 30.59, compared to Anderson’s 10.40.) The overall control factors for batsmen against Bhuvneshwar and Anderson are also very similar, indicating there’s been little to separate the two bowlers so far.

Where the runs have been scored v Anderson and BhuvneshwarWhere the runs have been scored against James Anderson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar•ESPNcricinfo LtdMuch has been said and written about the number of runs scored through the third man region in this Test series, and the wagon-wheel of runs scored against Anderson bears this out. Out of the 55 fours that have come off his bowling, 23 have been behind the wicket, either through third man or backward point; in all, 126 out of the 384 runs he has conceded have come in that region. Against Bhuvneshwar the runs scored in that region are considerably lesser, possibly because of his lesser pace. On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar has been hit through the covers more often, conceding 13 fours, and 88 runs, in that region.

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

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

ESPNcricinfo writers look back at their worst moments in English cricket in 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-20141. The moment the ECB lawyers agreed to the gagging clause with KPIt meant the rest of the year would be dominated by whispers. Then the story blew up again with his book in October. It should all have been dealt with when the sacking happened, whatever the short-term pain – 2. The day of Kevin Pietersen’s book launch The miserable handling of the Pietersen affair was hauled into the public eye with the claims and counterclaims merely damaging the image of cricket in the UK – 3. The booing of Moeen Ali A reminder that, for all the progress we think we have made in Britain as a multicultural society, there is a long way to go. The ECB’s silence on the subject remains shameful – 4. The Test pitch at Trent BridgeWhether it’s the type of clay, artificial sunlight or, hell, even astroturf, something needs to be done about the standard of pitches in England, which seem to be on a continual decline. Kudos to Horsham who, with the help of Hove groundsman Andy Mackay, produced one of the best wickets of the summer for the Sussex-Warwickshire Championship match – 5. The ECB’s role in the Big Three’s power grab In prioritising self-enrichment in the short-term, the ECB has shown contempt for expanding the sport. Supporting a 10-team World Cup, with a 45-game group stage, and effectively vetoing cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics showed a depressing lack of vision – or sensitivity, indeed, towards maximising profit in the long-term – 6. The slow-motion car crash of Alastair Cook’s final ODI seriesDesperately seeking the runs that would prop up his World Cup ambition, Cook bore the pressure with dignity before being sacked, but the ECB should have acted months ago 7. Decline in recreational cricketConfirmation by the ECB that participation in recreational cricket was down by 7% with a growing number of matches conceded underlined that recreational cricket is facing a crisis. The desire for instant gratification, changing social norms and lessening of community ties has put the game in England under enormous strain –