A special Christmas version of our regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of
cricket

Steven Lynch26-Dec-2005A special Christmas version of our regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of
cricket:

Who is the most famous cricketer to have been born on Christmas
Day? asked Jenny Sturridge from Liverpool
The most famous Christmas Day baby in cricket terms is Clarrie Grimmett, the
great Australian legspinner, who was actually born in New Zealand on December 25 in 1891. Although Grimmett was 33 before he made his Test debut, against England in 1924-25, he nonetheless became the first bowler ever to take 200 Test wickets, and by the time he retired he had 216 at 24.21, in only 37 matches. Someone who might one day knock
Grimmett off this perch is Marcus
Trescothick, the current England opener, who was born on Christmas Day 1975. Coincidentally Trescothick’s England team-mate Simon Jones was also
born on Christmas Day, in 1978, while Alastair Cook, the exciting Essex batsman who was part of the recent England tour of Pakistan, was born on Christmas Day in 1984. Other prominent Test players born on the big day include Hedley Howarth of New Zealand and Pakistan’s Mansoor Akhtar. (For a full list see the All Today’s
Yesterdays of Dec 25.)Has Test cricket ever been played on Christmas Day? asked John Canning from London
The first time it happened was in 1951, when the third Test between Australia and West Indies at Adelaide finished on Christmas Day (the third day of the match). Actually West Indies completed their six-wicket win midway through the day, so the players might have been able to scoff some turkey after all. Sixteen years later, in 1967-68, it happened at Adelaide again – the second day of the first Australia-India Test. Farokh Engineer narrowly failed to score a
festive century: he was out for 89. Two years later India met Australia on Christmas Day again, this time at Madras (Chennai). At Delhi in 1972 England completed a six-wicket win over India shortly after lunch on Dec 25. And in 1979, the fourth Test between India and Pakistan started on Christmas Day at Kanpur. Actually it was supposed to happen this year (2004) too – the original itinerary for India’s tour of Bangladesh included a Test match from Dec 23-27, but the dates were changed.Did Colin Cowdrey really make his highest Test score on his birthday? asked Dave Jackson
It wasn’t his highest Test score, but it was his highest score in first-class cricket, and it came during England’s 1962-63 tour of Australia. Colin Cowdrey scored 307 against South Australia at Adelaide, the last 63 of them on Christmas Eve (Dec 24, 1962), which was his 30th birthday. For many years after that Cowdrey drove round in a car sporting the number-plate MCC 307, representing his initials (his little-used first name was Michael) and that highest score.My favourite batsman when I was growing up was Rohan Kanhai, who I think was born on Boxing Day. Did he ever score a Test century on his birthday? asked Evander Sargent from Jamaica
Yes, Rohan Kanhai was a lovely batsman to watch, and he was indeed born on Boxing Day (in 1935). He never quite managed a Test hundred on his birthday, though – he did play in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at Melbourne in 1968-69, but only managed scores of 5 and 4. The nearest he came was actually in the course of his first Test century, against India at Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1958-59. That match started on December 31, 1958 – and by the end of the first day Kanhai had made 203 of his eventual 256, which remained his highest Test score.How long has there been a Boxing Day Test at Melbourne? asked Andy Simpson from Australia
As far as I can see the first one to start on Boxing Day at the MCG was
in 1968-69, when Australia beat West Indies by an innings in the match referred to above. Bill Lawry, a local man, enjoyed the idea so much he scored 205. The next one was in 1974-75, when England drew a close match, but it wasn’t until 1981-82 that the tradition really took off, after a thrilling Test between Australia and West Indies – one in which a rampaging Dennis Lillee reduced the Windies to 10 for 4 by the close on Boxing Day after Australia had been bowled out for 198. Since then, with a few exceptions, there has usually been a Test starting on Boxing Day
at Melbourne. In 1995-96 the traditional huge crowd saw Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan no-balled for throwing by the Australian umpire Darrell Hair.Why is it called Boxing Day anyway? asked Vishal from Mumbai
This one’s a bit out of my specialist area, but I’ll have a go anyway! Apparently it is so named after the custom of putting money in church boxes during the Christmas period, to be distributed on December 26 to the poor and needy. The “Did You Know” website adds: “It is thought that Boxing Day was first observed in the Middle Ages. It found renewed
popularity in the 19th Century, when the lords and ladies of England presented gifts in boxes to their servants on December 26 in appreciation of the work they had done over the Christmas celebrations.”

Nick Hoult reviews Test of Time by John Lazenby

Nick Hoult26-Sep-2005

It is every would-be writer’s dream; to find a bundle of curled-up, yellowing letters which lead you on a journey across the world tracing a long-forgotten story. Add in the fact that the subject is your grandfather and you have another component of a great tale – the personal touch.For John Lazenby the dream became a reality with his book Test of Time, which is part travelogue, part chronicle of cricket’s Golden Age and also a reconstruction of a key period in his grandfather’s life.As a child Lazenby found a kitbag belonging to his grandfather, the Kent and England cricketer Jack Mason. Years later he found a box of letters written by Mason while sailing to Australia to play in the 1897-98 Ashes tour.What follows is a reconstruction of that tour, interwoven with Lazenby’s reflections on modern Australia. One moment you are reading about Ranji or Johnny Briggs, the next you are on a dusty train journey with Lazenby, or revisiting one of the back-country towns the team visited at a time before Australia’s independence.Lazenby’s writing grows in confidence as the book progresses and the realisation dawns that he has a cracking story on his hands. His research is extensive but this is not a book for cricket purists. If you want a detailed description of every Ranji leg glance then look elsewhere.Jack Mason until his death carried a faded photograph of himself and Norman Druce sprawled on the outfield at the MCG. His grandson has made an impressive attempt at bringing that photograph back to life by evoking the characters of the tour.England started out full of confidence but were comprehensively beaten by a better side. Defeat led to divisions along class lines, and the sheer bad luck that dogged the captain AE Stoddart was remarkable. He cuts a melancholic figure throughout, from the theft of his watch at a Queensland train station to the death of his mother on the eve of the first Test.Even Ranji’s presence could not lift the dark mood. When he was not ill, Ranji was upsetting the locals with his newspaper articles and his perceived class arrogance. Stuck in the middle of all this was Mason, a young England cricketer given little guidance by senior players and left to fend for himself when things went wrong on an Ashes tour. Now that sounds a little familiar.

Dhoni and Karthik played sensible cricket, avoiding the big shots and toughing it out in relentless weather and against physical pain

Sidharth Monga in Mirpur10-May-2007

Mahendra Singh Dhoni may just have played the innings of his career, on one leg and, given the way Yuvraj Singh, his runner, and the non-striker Dinesh Karthik coordinated, on a prayer. Yet together they summoned up enough grit to give India a much-needed win; Dhoni playing with cramps, Yuvraj risking his dodgy knee as he dived for the crease and Karthik adjusting his natural game to the needs of the situation.When he hit the winning runs, appropriately enough, Dhoni had spent the entire day – barring the 26 minutes that Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir batted together – on the field, in temperatures hovering around the 35 degrees Celsius mark and with matching humidity. By the end it was almost a case of ‘last man standing’ as he dealt with the cramps, somehow hit the balls into the gaps and hoped for the best amid the bad calls. “I had confidence in Yuvraj and Dinesh”, he later said. “Normally you don’t see runners; it happens once in a while. Confusion is bound to happen but I had confidence.”Sent in at No. 3, Dhoni called for a runner when he was on 39 and India at 126 for 4 after 25 overs. That was around two overs after he’d started cramping and every subsequent shot he played forced him to almost double up in agony. The Bangladeshi bowlers sought to capitalise on this, bowling slow and away from him, forcing him to reach out for the ball. On one occasion he had to pull out of a shot after stepping out to Abdur Razzak.He couldn’t play his trademark out-of-the-block-hole forehand shots; instead he played percentage cricket. Three of his later boundaries came through widish long-off and extra-cover, shots that were hit along the ground and only made it all the way because of Dhoni’s extra power.That he hit only seven boundaries, avoiding the temptation offered by the weather to play big and fast and end the match early, speaks a lot about the maturity of his innings. Rahul Dravid, his captain, later testified, “He does not play in just one fashion. He has got the ability to change gears, to change the tempo of the game, play according to the situation and that’s a fantastic gift to have at such a young age.”The plan after Dravid was out at 112 couldn’t have been much more than just taking the game to the end. The asking rate hadn’t really climbed, thanks to the quick start from Sehwag and Gambhir, so Dhoni knew if he stayed till the end – even if on one leg – and someone else stood with him, India would end up close.

That someone else was Karthik, who would never win a synchronized swimming event with Yuvraj but who, running apart, did little wrong. He came up with couples and the odd boundary – though even he reined in his penchant for big hits – every time the run-rate as much as reached the finger-tips. Once competitors for the wicketkeeping slot, they combined well to put Bangladesh out of the game. This one would be especially fulfilling for them, considering they had almost won one for India against Sri Lanka at Rajkot this February.That the two keepers are doing well with the bat, Dhoni said, with a hint of a smile, was a “worrying sign for batsmen in India”. Dravid clarified that the two were no longer in competition. “Part of his [Karthik’s] role is of a wicketkeeper but he is picked in this team as a batsman,” Dravid said. “He has shown enough promise and ability with the bat.”Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain, acknowledged the role played by the two. “250 was a good total on this wicket but Dhoni made all the difference and Karthik supported him really well,” he said. “We were in the match for most of the time. We were waiting for one wicket when Dhoni and Karthik were batting and we felt that we had a chance right till the end if we got that wicket.”This was an escape act – similar to, though not quite matching, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s century against Bangladesh at Multan
in 2003-04 – by two players who chose to show some spunk even as their teammates went for the easier route. Only Gambhir could say at the end of the day that his wicket was earned; the others just gifted them away. Sehwag had just hit Syed Rasel for four fours in one over; it was sure the bowler would be taken off, but he lobbed the last one to extra cover. Yuvraj got one that stopped, but also managed to hit it straight to the short cover especially planned for him. Dravid cut straight to point, and Dinesh Mongia lobbed lamely to short midwicket.Ravi Shastri, India’s cricket manager, was emphatic at the post-match press conference; much of the win was owed to two men who ‘guts’ed it out and an opposition that sort of let up pressure in the end. Dhoni and Karthik won’t be able to do it every game, and others need to do a lot better than what they did today. If today’s game and India’s decision to not practice tomorrow is any indication, this series is going to be a good old-fashioned scrap. They need more than two people to stand up.

Four batsmen on the art of facing Muralitharan

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Aug-2007

Watch out Warnie: Murali celebrates No. 700 earlier this year © AFP

The challenge

Daryll Cullinan He was the only bowler I faced where you felt he could get you out every single ball, so you couldn’t trust yourself in front of him for too long. On any given day he is the most difficult guy to face, with his variations and ability to bowl long spells. Often with him, you don’t know what’s going to happen next.Darren Lehmann He spins it high and he spins it both ways, and he spins it as much as someone like Shane Warne, so you’ve got the watch the ball hard and watch it closely. It’s tough work facing him.Mohammad Ashraful To play against Sri Lanka is a big challenge by itself since they are a good team and they have Muralitharan and Malinga, both of whom have different actions. I find it better facing Murali because he is the No. 1 spinner in the world and I try to learn every time I face him.His strong point is, he hates to give any runs away and sets his field accordingly. If, say, I’ve hit him over mid-on or midwicket, he will send the fielders back to stop you from dominating him. He never gives easy runs unlike many other world-class spinners.

Picking the action

Cullinan My first reaction when I saw him, back in 1993-94 during the one-day series in Kandy, was that he was a legspinner – just because of how unusual his action, especially his wrist action, was.Lehmann It takes a while when you first face him just because it’s so unusual. Also, because he is such big turner of the ball, something you don’t see with the finger spinners.Graham Thorpe I would just try to pick him out the hand by getting used to the first 15 minutes of facing him. His arm action is so difficult, and in the end when his hand comes from back of his head it seems a bit like a cobra. So the first few minutes are the hardest to get used to.

The psychological element

Thorpe The most important thing when you go out first against him is to play the ball rather than the man. Having said that, he is obviously a special bowler, so against lots of batsmen he’ll sort of have them out even before they go out there.Lehmann Yes, with his sheer record and weight of wickets he is always going to have a headstart on batsmen in terms of what to do and how to get them out.

Reading the doosra

Ashraful He is a bowler who puts a lot of pressure on the batsman with his turners and the doosra, but if you can pick them, then batting becomes much easier. Now I can read his doosra from his hand: when he bowls offspin, his fingers are closed around the ball. With the doosra, his wrist is more open. It is very difficult to pick up but with close attention to his hand the batsman might pick it up.Thorpe Since about 2003 the doosra has gradually grown harder to play. Before 2003 I was absolutely fine but later on I had to watch him harder. I used to cut him because I didn’t pick the doosra out of his hand, I picked it off the pitch. And when you start picking the ball off the pitch, it is a lot harder to play.Lehmann It does take a while to pick his doosra but it comes after facing him for a while. You’ve really got to back yourself and watch hard which way the ball is spinning.

The year it all went wrong: Thorpe is done in by the Murali cobra at Kandy in 2003 © Getty Images

The left-hander’s advantage

Lehmann The reason left-handers have had a reasonable amout of success against him is because he spins it so far that it’s hard to get an lbw. And since he is spinning it away from the bat, you don’t get that many bat-pads either.Cullinan When he is turning it into the left-hander, he has to pitch it way outside leg stump, and that is what [Brian] Lara exploited. Where Lara was brilliant was that ability to use his pad: when the length was good, he would take the bat and glove out of the equation and play with his pad, and when it was full he would hit with the bat. When Murali would bowl from round the wicket, for the ball to hit the wicket he had to pitch it outside leg, but the likes of Lara were happy to sweep him in that case.

Attacking first

Cullinan There could be some truth to the fact that he doesn’t like being dominated. The moment we slog-swept him he was very quck to get a deep midwicket and deep mid-on in place.He was bowling 30-40 overs a day, and he was going to get you, so you had to ensure that your wicket came at a price. It was important to find ways to open the inner field for getting singles and getting to the other end, because if he bowled a good succession of balls to you the chances were he was going to get you out because he would have a silly point, short leg, leg gully and slip around you.The only way out was to play him on the on side, and for me the slog-sweep became a big option in pushing the field back. And it worked. It also opened up certain gaps on the leg side through which you could try and push for a single.Ashraful I studied the way Lara handled Murali, and he attacked more times than less, so whenever I had the opportunity, I didn’t think twice. If you don’t attack him, he will attack you.Thorpe If you can get on top, he might become slightly more defensive – maybe even let you get a single and bowl at the other player.

Do’s and dont’s

Ashraful I’ll not cut his offbreaks, but I will go for the square cut against his doosra.Your defence needs to be strong. Play him one ball at a time.Thorpe If you are not picking him well, then you have to pick some shots to attack him with. I would sweep him a little bit more if I had a period where I couldn’t pick him, but the longer I faced him the easier it became.Lehmann I never avoided playing any shot against him.Cullinan Any shot to the off side is a risky one unless you’re confident about the turn. Trying to hit into the turn as a right-hander was a no-no. He is a sort of bowler, when you play against him you are able to instinctively spot the different deliveries, but if you haven’t faced him long enough, then you can struggle.Also, you generally don’t want to be caught playing back because the chances are you’ll be caught in front. If you look at the angle of the delivery, he bowls from wide, and if you got a good stride in, you should be getting it outside the line, so you cannot be given out lbw.

Five visiting leaders have got centuries in Australia since 2001-02 and improved their standing. Mahela Jayawardene’s stock is up, but his team remains down

Peter English in Hobart18-Nov-2007

Five visiting leaders have got centuries in Australia since 2001-02 and improved their standing. Mahela Jayawardene’s stock is up, but his team remains down © Getty Images
Visiting captains carry an extra-large target when they come to Australia and if they can avoid being hit it enhances their reputation. Mahela Jayawardene deserves to be pleased with his stand-alone century – the swinging first pump showed how much it meant – but the personal achievement was diminished by another limp overall performance.Surviving against a mean attack requires diligence and determination. Michael Vandort managed it once in the first Test and Jayawardene built on his starts in Brisbane to produce his defining innings against Australia. It was essential to prove there was more to his aims than vocal intent, but the job has barely started. Declining to enforce the follow-on, Australia reached a lead of 407 entering the fourth day. In private Jayawardene must want to weep.Australia are buoyant and each segment of the side is wedged to back up the captain. Owning match-winners in most corners assists Ponting’s pursuits, but Sri Lanka also carry a batch of stars who are fearless until lining up against green or gold caps. The returning Kumar Sangakkara flickered with 57, but the third-best collection was Marvan Atapattu’s 25. Jayawardene had been let down again.A stunning example of the lack of support for the captain came when Farveez Maharoof was run-out by his runner. Communication difficulties increase significantly when three batsmen are involved, but the breakdown between Mahela and Prasanna Jayawardene was preventable on a handful of occasions before the wicketkeeper was eventually caught short. The loss was made more horrible because Maharoof had batted in his normal position despite hobbling with a foot fracture.Instead of winning help for his courage, Maharoof was cut loose by a colleague’s mistake and his leader lost his last run-scoring ally. Jayawardene’s effort with the tail was superb and he was able to push the total to 246. They needed at least another 200 to make the game safe.Australia bowled extremely well again – Stuart Clark swung the ball deliciously and Brett Lee was a menace – but Jayawardene showed anything could be handled. There were imposing cover drives against the fast men and silky inside-out pushes off Stuart MacGill. A strong defence added to the all-round quality of the 104, which included two spilled catches in three balls from Lee as Jayawardene chased his century.A cover-driven boundary off Lee was followed by a cut over slips for four, taking him to 97, and he repeated the previous shot to capture his 19th Test hundred and first against Australia. Unfortunately he will require an even bigger return in the second innings, especially if his partners continue their unproductive trend.Jayawardene’s worth as a leader was confirmed long before today, but he gains credibility for standing up to the Australians in their home. Five visiting leaders have got centuries here since 2001-02 and improved their standing. Jayawardene’s stock is up, but his team remains down.

From black sheep to main man, Sourav Ganguly has come a fair distance over a year. Siddhartha Vaidyanathan met him in Bristol

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan28-Aug-2007

Sourav Ganguly, Puma bat in hand, is ensconced in a large sofa in the coffee shop of the Marriott Royal hotel, a gothic structure in Bristol’s College Green area. Overlooking him – to many in Bengal – are portraits of English monarchs. He’s served coffee by a Bengali waitress, who blushes when asked for the bill: “For you, sir, it’s complimentary.”A few metres from the hotel stands a life-size statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a political hero in Bengal and a pioneering Indian social and religious reformer. Ganguly had paid a visit to the spot that morning and garlanded the icon. Roy, who died in Bristol, played a big part in Bengal’s Renaissance movement back in the early 19th century; about two hundred years on, Ganguly was to achieve the cricket equivalent. It was under him that India took their first steps towards improving their abysmal away record.”Enormous,” he thunders, when asked how much India have improved on their travels over the last few years. “Honestly our overseas performance since 2000 has been very, very good. The tag of ‘we don’t travel [well] abroad’ is not fair.”He’s fidgeting with his bat, twirling it as if getting ready to enter the field. It’s probably the same chunk of wood that transformed into a wand during his incandescent 57 at The Oval, an innings that effectively put a seal on the Test series. “I don’t think we would have lost either way ,” he shrugs when asked about the stunner. “But I’m batting well.”Surely India’s new Mr Dependable is doing more than just batting well? “The good thing is its been under crucial situations. Like at The Oval. Even in Nottingham [his 79 in the second Test], the morning session against the new ball turned the Test match in our favour. That’s what is expected of you when you’ve been around for so long.”More bat twirls. This is fast resembling Lt. Daniel Kaffee’s quirky baseball manoeuvres in .***Before he arrived at the Marriott, Ganguly spent half an hour patiently attending to media requests. At the end of India’s practice session at the County Ground, reporters from nine television channels hovered around him, taking turns to ask three to four questions each. Switching effortlessly between English, Hindi and Bengali, he patiently responded to all. It’s almost as if he had slotted it as ‘media day’. He’s not the captain anymore, hasn’t been for a couple of years, and isn’t forced to face the press every other day.”Obviously not being captain has helped,” he says, gently feeling the Puma marker on his bat. “When you’re captain you get involved in a lot of things. You’re trying to get the best out of players and subconsciously, without knowing, it gets to you. At the end of the day you return to the room tired. You’re working on everyone, on the team, on yourself. Slowly, slowly it affects you.”An hour earlier Rahul Dravid responded to a variety of questions, first from the television media, then radio, then print, then radio again. Some questions related to India’s crushing loss in the first one-dayer, others left him speechless. “Sachin Tendulkar has scored two hundreds on this ground from No. 4,” cried out one reporter, implying that Tendulkar should bat at that position in the second ODI. Dravid deflected it with, “Thanks for telling me”, before breaking into a laugh.”It’s hard work ,” says Ganguly. “I understand what Rahul goes through and I keep on telling him, ‘You should not take things to heart’. Because there are too many things happening. If he starts worrying about everything, he’ll be a goner. I’m sure he understands. He knows what he’s doing.”Ganguly would know best. Five years ago, during India’s previous tour to England, it was him in the hot seat. So hot was the seat that he ended up rubbing people the wrong way. ‘Lord Snooty’, they termed him. Yet on all his three trips, starting with his fairytale start in 1996, he has left an indelible imprint with his batting.”I love coming to this country,” he beams. “The facilities, the travel, the hotels … it’s comfortable, it’s not tiring. We’ve been here for more than two months and honestly I’m not tired, I’m not homesick. It’s great, man. It feels like home.”

But where’s the naked aggression? Surely he doesn’t plan to leave without baring his chest on the Lord’s balcony? “It’s gone down, ,” he says, like a teenager who has been stood up on his first date. “But it go down. As captain you’re involved immensely. You get worked up, you get carried away. It slowly dies down once you’re a player. You realise you’ve to take the back seat.”That back-seat team, comprising Ganguly, Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman, have played a big part in Dravid’s performance at the steering wheel on this tour. It’s a series when they needed to chip in, especially with no coach to take the pressure off Dravid. With such a wealth of sounding boards, Dravid has rarely been short of ideas.Nobody knows which is trickier: asking Ganguly about India coaches or doing the reverse. His relationship with John Wright often got messy; the one with Greg Chappell ended in the ugliest divorce in Indian cricket – one that was played out in public.Now, for the first time in his international career, India are without a coach. So, Mr Ganguly, how has it been? “We have coaches,” he says matter-of-factly. “Robin [Singh] and Venky [Prasad] have been superb. Their man-management skills have been worth watching. Chandu Borde has been nice. When he got appointed, a lot of people said, he’s 73. He may not be the most active because of his age but the batting ideas he gives … he stands behind in the nets, watches every ball. That’s all you need.”Both Robin and Prasad played under Ganguly, and the air of matey-ness between them is apparent. Ganguly insists the dressing-room atmosphere has been relaxed and, with the finesse that he would use to thread a gap between point and gully, proceeds to fire some salvos.”The youngsters have enjoyed themselves. It’s been a lovely dressing room, a free dressing room. No hiccups, not many controversies off the field, not too much rubbish going around. Which has been good. It’s been fantastic.” With the exception of “rubbish”, which is spewed out, all the other words are uttered in a measured tone.”You don’t need a professor at this level,” he says. His expressions don’t change but the tone goes up just a notch. “You don’t need to treat international players like students. What are you going to teach Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble? What are you going to tell them? [There are] minor things which you notice in the nets you come and tell them, ‘This is what I feel, this is how you can do it better’. And Mr Borde does it perfectly.”***There’s an exaggeratedly mellow tone about Ganguly. At 34 it is but natural. It’s an age when bankers and doctors start the best phase of their professional lives but one when cricketers are expected to slink away silently. Ganguly may be playing the best cricket of his life, but he has nowhere to go.”They say with age your reflexes slow down. I’ve not felt it,” he says, admiring the green grip on his bat before twirling it even faster. “As a batsman playing fast bowling, when playing somebody like Chris Tremlett, with a bit of bounce, I’ve not felt it. In South Africa I faced the pace. When I came back to India you had Lasith Malinga bowling at 150, Dilhara Fernando bowling at 150. I never felt I was late.

“It’s how well you look after yourself . Rahul is 34-35, I don’t see him change in his batting. Rahul produced his best knocks between 30 and 34. Matthew Hayden is 35, Gilchrist is 34-35, Steve Waugh, Allan Border … I’ll give you a whole lot of names. Unless or until you’re special like Tendulkar or Lara … look at Chanderpaul. His batting has gone to a different level.”He realises his coffee has turned cold. But he wants to continue a train of thought. He quickly takes a few sips before coming back to Tendulkar and Lara. “They’re exceptions. The best two batsmen I’ve seen. Ricky Ponting comes close but …”Tendulkar he has observed at close quarters – played with him, been led by him, captained him, and is now back to playing with him. Mention the name and he reacts with a spontaneous “great”. No thought, just a sudden “great”. The two have been like true chums on this trip, constantly motivating each other and chirping away incessantly in the slips.”We’ve opened in one-day cricket a lot, nearly 150-160 games,” he says, shadow-practising the right-hander’s square cut. “We know each other’s batting, what the other guy wants to do, what the other guy is trying to do.”So, like the rest in their mid-30s, should Tendulkar be at the height of his powers too? The response arrives in a tone that says, ‘Stop talking rubbish.’ “When you play for 18 years you can never be the same,” he says. “Especially when you have been brilliant. But he’s still one of the best.”That innings at The Oval, which he played, I told him after the Test match, ‘It’s an innings for everyone to watch, for every youngster to watch and learn.’ For somebody who’s got 25,000 runs, they kept hitting him on his body. He was not hitting the ball well. Still he stood there and batted, batted, batted, batted, batted. And he got an 80. It shows the hunger of that man.”One gets the feeling that by using “batted” five times in the sentence Ganguly is trying to explain the greatness within the struggle, the humility in seeing oneself exposed yet achieving the end result. He thinks for a moment before considering the best option. “I think nobody has the right to talk about Sachin Tendulkar’s game,” he says. “It’s just a phenomenon.” With a thud, he plonks his bat on the red carpet.***Ganguly is soon set to join Tendulkar and Dravid in an elite club; he stands within touching distance of 300 one-day caps. It’s a milestone he could reach during the fifth match of the ongoing series, at Headingley.

These days he values every innings highly, knowing full well that the “job” might last for only a “year or two”. Ganguly tries to draw an analogy to explain.”Every time you walk out and perform, it’s that feeling of, ‘Man, I belong at this level’. It’s not about money. As a journalist, you interview a Maradona or a Sampras or a Tiger Woods and you feel, ‘Yeah man, I’ve done a great job. This is what I’ve worked for.’ Similarly in my profession it’s the satisfaction you get by hitting a good cover-drive, or defending well to somebody bowling at 90 miles an hour. It’s a job satisfaction thing.”How would he have reacted if, in the spring of 1996, when he had all but given up playing for India, someone had said he’d play 300 one-dayers? “I’d have said, ‘Tell me where you want to go for dinner and I’ll take you.'”His dinner plans for tonight involve Monty Panesar, his former Northamptonshire team-mate, who ran him out two days ago. He grins a wry grin when told that he was Monty’s first international run-out victim. “Lovely fellow,” is the only response.Which brings us to the end of one the more engaging bat-twirling sessions in recent memory. For the audience, comprising the waitress, three English monarchs and myself, it has been a fascinating experience. With Ganguly there is no other way.

Anjum Chopra’s Arjuna award marks another step in the evolution of the women’s game in India, writes Nishi Narayanan

Nishi Narayanan30-Aug-2007

At a time when disillusionment with the establishment is rife and higher pay packets are luring players to rival leagues, take a moment to appreciate those who have stayed in cricket for years on end purely for the love of the game. Anjum Chopra, who was yesterday presented with an Arjuna award, one of India’s highest civilian honours, is among that company.Chopra is only the seventh woman cricketer to win the award since it was first established in 1961, and no male cricketer has been nominated since Harbhajan Singh won in 2003. The honour comes a few days after the Indian board announced an allocation of Rs 60 to 70 million ($1.47-1.71 million) for women’s cricket this season – almost twice last year’s allotment. The future may look bright for women’s cricket in India, but for the likes of Chopra, who played the best part of their careers in the years when there were no financial incentives, it may be a little too late.The women’s game still retains an amateurish feel, with many international players taking leave (without pay) from their regular jobs to play for the country for small daily allowances. Chopra is among the very few players who have consistently performed well and remained on top despite the hardships.She considers herself fortunate to have witnessed the change of guard from the amateur body that was the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) to the BCCI, with all its monetary and organisational power. “It has been a very nice journey with the WCAI who worked hard to keep the game alive,” she said, speaking to Cricinfo a day before she received the award. “But this is just the beginning of the road with the BCCI and we have a long way to go.”Chopra has already come a long way herself. She made her debut in 1995 and is the first Indian woman to play over 100 ODIs. When asked what her most satisfying series as a player has been, she prefers to go with the line that satisfaction comes from the team’s success, whatever one’s individual contribution may be. “You don’t make headlines, the country makes headlines,” she says. On being pressed further she nominates India’s Test victory in South Africa in 2002, their first away win and second overall in 28 Tests. She fails to mention that she led the side and top scored with a patient 80 as India won by 10 wickets.Neetu David, her former India team-mate, remembers another memorable Chopra game. “It was her first tour of England. Anjum batted on while the others around her were dismissed for low scores. That was her first one-day hundred. We celebrated wildly after the game.” India won the match by 86 runs and the series 2-0.In 2006 when India won their first Test in England, Chopra once again top scored for her side with 98. Indeed, her successes have more often than not come in Indian victories – 13 of her 15 half-centuries in ODIs have been in matches won – a stat any player would like to boast of.

It hasn’t always been rosy, though, especially recently. Chopra took over the captaincy from Anju Jain in January 2002, but held it for only a year before being replaced by the current captain, Mithali Raj, in February 2003. And she hasn’t been having too good a time of it with the bat either. In her last 17 ODIs, dating back to July 2006, she has been about 10 points off her overall career average. She was even dropped for two games in the Quadrangular series in Chennai early this year.Shubhangi Kulkarni, who was the secretary of the WCAI and is now the convenor of the
BCCI’s women’s committee, and herself an Arjuna award winner, believes Chopra truly deserves the recognition she is receiving. “Anjum is one of the most attractive batsmen on the circuit and she is a role model for younger cricketers with the way she carries herself on the field.”Chopra may have unwittingly become a representative for women’s cricket also by virtue of her appearances on television as an expert during men’s international tournaments, but
where she truly represents women cricketers, across generations, is in achieving what she has while playing without incentive and recognition. This award, which recognises her efforts, makes some of the struggle worth it.

We’ve seen plenty of pendulum swings over the last three days but that’s only because when you expect a team to take the bull by the horns, they wave the red rag instead.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Delhi24-Nov-2007

After Anil Kumble’s spell gave India the edge Pakistan clawed their way back © AFP
Several years from now, when memories fade and mainly highlights packages remain, this match will probably be recounted as a classic. In terms of gripping the spectator it could, by the end, sit alongside the 1999 Chennai classic. Just when there was talk about India v Pakistan lacking the usual spice, we have a potential humdinger.What is different, though, is the nature of the contest. Several factors go into making a Test match exciting and the one big reason why this game has been allowed to veer into thrilling territory is this: both sides have given up the advantage far too often, far too easily.The pitch hasn’t thrown up a single demon – its lethargic nature continues to confound. The bowling attacks have been hardworking but not menacing enough to merit scores of 231, 276 and 212 for 5. The pendulum has swung wildly over the last three days but that’s only because a team positioned to take the bull by the horns waves the red rag instead.India’s batting approach this morning summed it up. They began the day three runs behind Pakistan and soon saw their position firm up. VVS Laxman swished his wrists, batting with no sign of discomfort, and Anil Kumble provided support. They overcame the early threat, saw the overcast conditions clear, and got themselves into a solid position. Shoaib Akhtar’s grunts were getting louder, Sohail Tanvir was trying slower balls, Danish Kaneria was regularly looking up to the heavens, and Shoaib Malik spent time between overs chewing his finger-nails. Only one team was ahead and it had the chance to drive home that advantage. … one must wonder if Laxman is a misfit at No. 6. Unlike Misbah-ul-Haq, he isn’t an improviser, unlike Andrew Symonds, he isn’t a big hitter, and unlike Chamara Silva, isn’t a hare between wickets That was precisely when India dropped the baton. It’s difficult to fault anyone at this point – Kumble got a fine legbreak that kicked from a length – but what happened after was recklessness. The last year has shown India’s tailenders can be relied on – Laxman and ZaheerKhan added 70 at the Wanderers, Laxman and Sreesanth added 52 at Durban, and the tail played a big part in drawing the Lord’s Test in June.Today’s effort, though, was tragic-comic in comparison. Harbhajan Singh moved across and left his leg stump exposed and Zaheer slashed wildly at a ball after depositing Kaneria for a six. Laxman faced just six balls after Kumble fell and Munaf didn’t last longer than one.Somewhere along the line one must wonder if Laxman is a misfit at No. 6. Unlike Misbah-ul-Haq, he isn’t an improviser, unlike Andrew Symonds he isn’t a big hitter, and, unlike Chamara Silva, isn’t a hare between wickets. Neither does he farm the strike. He seems to belong to Steve Waugh’s trust-your-partner school of tail-end batting and doesn’t seem tochange his game according to who is at the other end. It would be harsh to blame him here, especially after playing a potentially match-winning knock, but India need to ponder this question. Is he being kept for too late? Can Sourav Ganguly, a more aggressive batsman who’s left-handedness can work well with the right-handed tail, work better there?Pakistan played their part later in the day, letting slip the advantage provided by a solid opening stand, but India were to have the last word. It’s 161 for 5, Pakistan effectively 116 ahead, and India have their chance to pick up their sixth wicket. Misbah hasbeen foxed by a Kumble faster one, poking tentatively to short leg, offering India a chance to wrap it all up.But sorry. India can’t be bad hosts. Wasim Jaffer muffs up the catch, sees the ball rebound off his chest and muffs it up again. It’s not the first time India’s close-in fielding has let them down recently and is unlikely to be the last. It set up an exciting Test for the neutral but squandered a golden position for India.