10 February 2010. They have long been among cricket’s most compelling teams, and though the current turmoil in the country bodes ill for the game, there is hope yet. Pakistan is a team struggling for direction, from a nation batting for identity. Ever since the tragic death of its founding father soon after independence had […]
2 February 2010. Cricket Australia ought to consider banning alcohol at matches. It has gone well beyond a joke. Australia needs to start addressing the real issues. Indian students killed in Melbourne, Pakistanis assaulted on the field in Perth, blazing headlines around the world, a nation’s reputation dragged into the mud, and never mind that […]
27 January 2010. It’s back from the dead courtesy of Swann, Hauritz, Benn and others, relying on good old accuracy and slight disguise. Long ago consigned to a cricketing graveyard, finger spin has rallied in the most unexpected and impressive manner. Any student of the rankings will rapidly discover that numerous members of the orthodox […]
13 January 2010. Kohli, Roach, Parnell and 10 other youngsters to look forward to in the years ahead. If cricket changes half as much in the next decade as it did in the last, followers of the game had better fasten their seatbelts. Of course the game itself has not actually changed all that much. […]
16 December 2009. No mere smash-and-grab artist, Sanath Jayasuriya has revolutionised opening and done it with a shy exuberance and no hint of swagger. Sanath Jayasuriya has been at once a devastating hitter and amongst the foremost opening batsmen of his period. It is no mean combination. His career, his very life, has told of […]
2 December 2009. With his matter-of-fact approach, Andrew Strauss is better placed than his predecessors to develop the winning culture his side so needs. Among England captains of the last 20 years Andrew Strauss sits nearer the top than the bottom. Although he lacks the predatory instincts that characterised Michael Vaughan’s best work or the […]
14 November 2009. Tendulkar has gone two decades being a blend of the sublime and the precise, incapable of ugliness or of being dull; and those are among the least of his achievements. Sachin Tendulkar has been playing top-class cricket for 20 years and he’s still producing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, […]
24 June 2011. Rahul Dravid has struck a mighty blow for the old-timers. His hundred in the Caribbean served two purposes, putting his team in a powerful position and reminding all and sundry that batsmen are better judged from their performances than from their birth certificates. Apparently his place had been in jeopardy. All sorts […]
25 November 2009. Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the most astonishing batsmen around, and among the finest. From his first outing for the West Indies in Georgetown in 1994 to his forthcoming 389th appearance, at the Gabba, he has batted by his own lights and been effective and entertaining. Remove his wicket cheaply and the job is […]
5 November 2009. Cricket needs to move beyond its cosy cartel of countries, bring in more teams, and have two or more divisions. Ireland’s current application for Test status ought to be taken seriously. Indeed, it ought to be accepted, and that means convincing at least seven of the 10 established nations to give it […]
21 October 2009. The tenacity of the South Africans, the efficiency of the Australians, and the flair of the Caribbean players have made the event an unqualified success. Although sated locals seem to regard it as a flop, from further afield the Champions League Twenty20 has been thoroughly enjoyable. Indeed it has been the most […]
7 October 2009. Bowler, batsman, fielder, captain – none of Vettori’s roles fails to lift a side that badly needs inspiration. Daniel Vettori deserved better. Cricket has a wicked sense of humour. That a long-serving cricketer of high distinction and considerable merit, a player universally admired, a captain whose team has been recognised as the […]
23 September 2009. Our sport hardly has the concept of majors. It can start by making the Champions Trophy a destination, not a journey. Hard-pressed hosts have been trying to present the Champions Trophy as an eagerly awaited tournament and part of a great tradition. By rights it ought to be an easy sell. After […]
29 November 2009. Over the past three days Chris Gayle, Travis Dowlin and Adrian Barath, the hare, the tortoise and the colt, displayed the best and worst of West Indian cricket. Gayle once again betrayed his position and his talent with a craven and idle performance ill-befitting any Test batsman, let alone an opener and […]
10 September 2009. No version of the game that has produced so many outstanding feats ought lightly to be tossed away in favour of a format that does not offer the possibility of greatness. For an endangered species 50-over cricket appears to be in remarkably good health. Cast as the saviour of a supposedly moribund […]
26 August 2009. England have displayed fortitude, pride, skill and unity, but they need to confront some hard truths still. Andrew Strauss’s team deserved to win the Ashes. Only a churl could argue otherwise. Five matches lasting five days give every player and both sides an opportunity to prove their worth. Thanks to three stupendous […]
10 June 2011. Kieron Pollard is at once a struggling cricketer and hot property. It is a curious dichotomy born of T20. Suddenly money can be made not from the most demanding part of the game but from an amusing sideshow. In golfing terms the imposing West Indian is making his living not from the […]
15 May 2011. India and Australia have been especially lucky in their senior players. Never has the importance of senior players been more apparent. Teams can be undermined as much by jealousy and laziness as by incompetence. Captains are responsible for the performance of cricket teams but without proper backing from influential players, they walk […]
12 August 2009. This article first appeared on the eve of Flintoff’s final match, against Australia at The Oval in 2009. England’s totemic allrounder has been more about competence, stout-hearted service and some irresistible performances, rather than out-and-out greatness. Somewhat to the amusement of observers, England seems to dwell upon and to equate The Battle […]
29 July 2009. Often the game becomes a curse, as two Australians struggling in the Ashes can testify. Every cricketer knows the feeling. The game has become impossible, a curse, a blight, a torment, a tease, a provocation, a creation of the devil; goodness only knows why it was ever invented, or why poets write […]
1st July 2009. The characters may lack in stature as compared to some of their predecessors, but the script promises to be tight. Suddenly hearts are thumping. After an eternity of speculation and enough opinions to impress an army of lawyers, the cricketing outfits representing England and Australia are busy putting the finishing touches to […]
17 June 2009. The purists may sneer at it, but Twenty20’s most vital role will be in making cricket popular in places where it isn’t. Twenty-over cricket is working wonders for the game. Forget about the greasy palms displayed by a handful of top players (the world is full of such types, and some of […]
