PAUL CARRICK shares his story of how he met the cricketing great and down-to-earth Bishan Bedi.

“No Problem, No Problem” was the cheerful response to a cold call I had made to one of the statesmen of the world game. A friend of mine had procured his number and I wanted to get something signed. “But how are we gonna do this” he continued,” you can come over to my place I live quite a distance from the city centre, but your welcome to come over”.

It’s December 8^th 2009, I’m in the wonderful city of New Delhi with great company. Neil Killeen Durham “Lifer” over 600 wickets in all competitions and statistically the best one day bowler in England for a couple of seasons in his 16 year career and Martin Speight former Sussex and Durham explosive and innovative batsman for whom IPL came a generation too late. His career 10,000 first class runs doesn’t tell the full story. Speight is a very accomplished artist and we have with us a pencil portrait of Bishan Bedi and the great man has just agreed to sign it. “Oh I tell you what, I have an appointment at the Delhi Golf Club tomorrow I’ll meet you there about one o’clock if you like”. Tomorrow at One O’clock it is then.

We are in the car park at 12:45 waiting for him to arrive. The pioneering left arm spinner, Bishan Bedi, is arguably the best of his trade that the world has ever seen. His smooth repeatable action made it almost impossible to detect a change of pace. His 1560 domestic  first class wickets is an Indian record. They cost him 21.69 over a career that spanned 20 years from his debut in 1961. His 6 year spell at Northamptonshire yielded 434 wickets. The term ball on a string appears to have been invented for him.

By 1:15pm he still hasn’t arrived, we’ve been in India long enough to know that the allotted time is only a generalisation in a country  with over a billion people and where the average motorway will accommodate 5 lanes of gridlocked traffic with drivers  giving way  to the 5000 or so cows that roam the Delhi streets. We are also aware that Bish, as he likes to be known, is not a man who is short of words or opinions. This is a man who declared India’s innings closed in protest at the West Indies intimidatory bowling during the Kingston Test in 1976. This is a man who advocated throwing the 1990 Indian touring squad in the sea after their poor displays in England. Here is a man who made clear his objection to Essex fast bowler John Lever using Vaseline to stop the sweat getting in his eyes during the Madras test on England’s  tour of India in 1976/77. Here is a man who has brought into question the legitimacy of  Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action risking litigation

Just then he arrives, immaculately dressed and wearing the trademark  pastel coloured turban that makes him instantly recognisable. “Sorry I’m late” he says politely,”you’ve probably seen the traffic problem we have in this city”. We exchange greetings and I introduce my friends “Bish this is Neil Killeen and Martin Speight” .”Ah yes” he says instantly “How is Geoff” referring to Geoff Cook Durham’s innovative and successful coach who was a team mate of  Bedi at Northants. Clearly his extensive knowledge extends to the game in England.

We show him the pencil portrait that we have asked him to sign. He comments on its quality and tells us the background to  photograph on which the portrait is based. We talk about coaching as that is the direction that Neil and Martin are heading when their careers draw to a close. “I don’t even have a level 1 certificate, I just teach the kids what I learned and it works” he says with a hint of modesty.   His record  suggests you couldn’t really argue that a certificate would make him a better coach “ I’m sorry but I’m a bit pushed for time, you see, I’m playing Santa Claus at a kid’s party here but it’s great to meet you guys please stay in touch”.

With that we shake hands once again and he’s gone. We retire to the clubhouse for a soft drink. We have the appearance of the archetypal Brits abroad t-shirts and shorts and we meander into the members bar and are promptly asked to order outside. We find a table, still somewhat in awe of the man we have just met and the genuine interest he took in us. The waiter arrives at our table and we order 3 cokes with ice. “Ice Sir” the waiter asks seemingly mystified and on confirmation leaves to fetch our order. We sit for half an hour and the tables around us fill up with golfers some elated others dejected, seeking refuge from the temperatures  in the sanctuary of the 19^th hole. As the tables fill up it’s then we realise that those around us are wearing roll neck golf shirts with wool sweaters and some wear caps whilst one has the audacity to wear a woolly pom pom hat as they enjoy their hot soup. It is after all 25 degrees.

As part of our continuing series, World Cricket Watch and Balanced Sports invited Glenn Mitchell, sports broadcaster and mental health advocate, to write about his favourite cricketer, Justin  Langer.  Glenn’s website is glennmitchell.com.au and he tweets @mitchellglenn

I clearly remember standing in the middle of a rain-soaked Sinhalese Sports Club in September 1999 as the third and final Test of the Sri Lanka-Australia series came to a very wet conclusion and the hosts on the precipice of a historic 1-nil series win.

Beneath the light drizzle that day I had a chat with Justin Langer near the heavily covered pitch.

Like many of the Australian batsmen during that ill-fated series, Langer had struggled for runs, scoring just 51 in four innings. Those lean performances took his then 23-Test career aggregate to 1261 runs at an unflattering average of 33.

Having taken almost six years to compile those numbers, Langer’s long term place in the team looked precarious – in fact, his short term viability at Test level looked decidedly uncertain.

As we were chatting, I asked him what his goals were for the future. He looked me straight in the eye and said he wanted to play 100 Test matches.

I smiled back, but behind the smile I was thinking that such an ambition was more than likely a quixotic dream, the misplaced desire of a young man who loved the sport and with it, representing his country. In short, I doubted his future while Langer believed firmly in his.

History will indicate that one of us got it right and I am happy to state that it wasn’t me.

Langer entered Test retirement the same day that Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath hung up their boots – at the end of the historic final Ashes Test at the SCG in January 2007, on the back of a 5-nil series whitewash.

Langer left centre stage having played 105 Tests during which time he amassed 7696 runs, with 23 centuries, at 45.3.

Those figures speak volumes for his ability, drive, self-belief and desire to succeed. But, like so many statistics in life they are merely numbers – numbers that fail to truly paint the picture of Langer’s career.

He first made people sit up and take notice during the last match of his maiden Sheffield Shield season for Western Australia. Batting at three, the 21-year-old came to the crease at the WACA Ground in the Shield Final against New South Wales without a run having been scored in his side’s second innings.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself staring at a scoreboard that read 3/3; the batsmen falling all well-credentialed and experienced – Geoff Marsh, Michael Veletta and Tom Moody. While those around him lost their heads, Langer firmly applied his to the daunting task at hand.

He compiled a match-defining 149 against an attack that boasted Test quicks Geoff Lawson and Mike Whitney. WA went on to win the match by 44 runs on the back of Langer’s heroics.

It came to light after his innings that he had been involved in a serious car accident on the way to the ground that morning.

The confluence of events that day, both on and off the ground, said much about Langer’s inner resolve, a trait that served him well throughout his career.

His first match beneath the baggy green was against the West Indies in Adelaide in January 1993. It was a baptism of fire. Australia famously lost the encounter by a solitary run while Langer made scores of 20 and 54, along the way being felled by a bouncer from Ian Bishop.

From the time he took guard in that match, he had been pigeon-holed by all and sundry as a grafter – an ugly duckling whose heart far outweighed his technique and attractiveness at the crease. Throughout his Test career he had to fight constantly to convince the naysayers that he was worthy of his spot.

Langer was always at his best in such times with his back to the wall.

A black belt in martial arts, when Langer’s position was questioned, his eyes lost their traditional sparkle and were replaced with a look of a man who had received a corneal transplant from a shark: the steely resolve and intensity clearly displayed by a man who was anything but frangible.

Opponents would no doubt have cringed when the nuggety little left-hander’s place in the team was questioned on the eve of a Test, as more often than not Langer would make critics eat their words.

After the fateful discussion in Colombo in late 1999, the Australian team strung together a world record 16 consecutive Test victories. Langer was one of only three men – along with Mark Waugh and Michael Slater – to play in each of those historic wins, averaging 49 throughout.

Ironically, it would be Slater who provided Langer the opportunity that in many ways would provide his biggest legacy in the sport. After a lean trot during the home series against West Indies and India in 2000/01, Langer didn’t make the team for the first four Tests of the Ashes series in England. By his own admission he became despondent and withdrawn; at times he considered his international career was over at age 30.

A lifeline came ahead of the final Test at The Oval when tour selectors omitted Slater whose form and off-field antics earned him a spell. Langer seized the opportunity, opening the batting with Matthew Hayden.

He reached 102 before an Andy Caddick bouncer forced him to retire hurt. That single innings was the genesis for what became one of the great opening pairings in the game.

Back home the next Australian summer, he and his confrère eviscerated first New Zealand and then South Africa. Each made four centuries and through the six Tests shared four 200-plus opening stands.

The pairing of Langer and Hayden produced an aggregate of 6081 runs, making them the third most productive partnership in Test history behind Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (6920), and Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (6482) – quite some company.

One of Langer’s proudest possessions is a photo that hangs in his home gymnasium. It’s a shot of the scoreboard during the second Test against New Zealand in Hobart in 2001/02 which reads Langer 50no, Hayden 1no!

Langer can still bristle when asked about why he played such limited One-Day cricket for his country. His standard answer points to the six games where the selectors chose to use him and his near-Gilchristian strike rate of 89. Indeed, in the English summer of 2006 he topped the T20 aggregates with 464 runs at a strike rate of 161 for Somerset.

Whilst always perceived as a grafter and accumulator, when required Langer could destroy an attack as well as most, purloining runs with ease from a fulminatory blade. His pairing with Hayden, a fellow left-hander, provided the perfect conflation at the top of the order.

Tall and broad, Hayden batted well out of his crease and thundered drives down the ground, while the far shorter Langer collected the majority of his boundaries square on the off-side, although both were ferocious on the pull shot.

The bond they built was clearly evident when either reached a milestone – their midfield embraces often the fodder of jokes for their teammates.

When Langer finally left the Test scene he continued in first-class ranks until the end of the 2009 English season. He retired as Australia’s most prolific first-class batsmen, having surpassed Don Bradman’s previous Australian record of 28,067 runs shortly before the end of his last county stint. His 86 first-class centuries are bettered only in number by ‘The Don’, who casually peeled off 117.

By the end of his career, through dint of self-belief and a work ethic that surpassed most, Langer had finally turned doubters to admirers by dint of his efficacy. He may not have been the game’s most attractive or technically pleasing batsman, but no man has ever possessed more inward drive to succeed.

And succeed he certainly did!

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough

Michael Vaughan by Max Benson

Graham Dilley by James Morgan

VVS Laxman by Minal

Hansie Cronje by Purna Hassan

lead image (c) Darren Pateman

MATTHEW WOOD, of the excellent Balanced Sports, reviews Game for Anything by Gideon Haigh.

If Bill Simmons is the everyman sportswriter full of pop culture, in-jokes and homer-isms, then Gideon Haigh is his antithesis. You read Simmons as he thinks aloud, a man down at the bar with his mates. However, he’s just self-aware enough to know that because he monopolises the conversation he should fling jokes about to keep his audience engaged. There’s obvious research, but done on the sly; he’s no stat-geek, but muses on feel and zeitgeist.

Haigh, deliberately and with culture incomparable, compiles cricketing words that evokes a history professor’s magnum opus. Immaculate research, mirrored by thoughtful prose. Simmons’ raison d’etre is entertaining learning. For Haigh, it is the reverse. And they’re both brilliant.
Haigh’s compendious “Game for Anything” released in Australia his collected writings for publications such as Wisden Asia and the now-defunct periodicals The Bulletin and Wisden Cricket Monthly. It features several learned insights into periods of the game about which I, a studious and informed cricket fan, knew very little. Each essay is structured magnificently, being economical yet descriptive; each word is steeped in context. That he quotes an assortment of historical figures from Jardine Machiavelli to Mark Waugh exemplifies his remarkable reading range.

In fact the stand-out point of Haigh’s work is just that – his research. Articles are based not around his palpable love of the game, it’s correct spirit and statutes; his writing is revolves around a prescient “angle” and why it emerges as such a story from a multi-textured background.

There are elements of whimsy as well: he defines his favourite cricketer as the English batsman Chris Tavare, decries the rise of park cricket sledging and, most beautifully of all, develops delicate snapshots of cricket history. These short trips are, unlike the footage that comprises most of our memories, full-colour and high-definition – he makes Bradman more than ridiculous numbers and grainy footage of a fourth-ball duck.

Perhaps what’s most remarkable about his text is how easily he makes just the right words fit together on paper. Despite obvious labour over books, newspapers, journals and microfiche, Haigh’s words appear with economic precision – as if he has the most severe of editors. When writing for a mass audience using such a scholarly approach, Haigh is to be praised and respected for balancing intellect with ease of reading. Characters like Lawrence Rowe, Richard Wardill and characteristics such as gambling are all treated with the same laconic, precise respect. A memorable example was my favourite essay from Game for Anything, concerning the late-19^th century Australian captain Harry Trott and his commitment to Kew Asylum.

If you learn about politics from a book by a political master, you learn about cricket from Haigh – far more than from any other writer today. His words lack Roebuck’s flair but also his occasional florid tones. He analyses the game from a removed, scholarly position; writing not because he loves the game (although he does) but because he feels it has stories to tell. In the prologue, he encourages young writers to do likewise.

It’s so utterly characteristic of Haigh – a book of cricket essays where his opinions are so subtly obvious yet with only this one proclamation. Highly recommended.

For a different perspective, the SMH also reviewed this work.

Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch are inviting cricket writers from around the globe to wax lyrical on who they consider their “favourite cricketer”. This week, Purna Hassan of Cricket Minded chooses one of the most controversial cricketers the game has ever seen – Hansie Cronje. Purna tweets @cricketminded.

I fell in love with cricket because of Hansie Cronje and the team he captained. My Dad introduced me to cricket as he was an avid fan of India, I followed his passion. It was only at age eleven that I began to grasp the concepts of the game and realized cricket’s meaning differs between countries.

In India, it was religion bordering on fanatic levels. In West Indies, cricket was an aura that had stunned the world. In Australia, it evoked a chase between a wild animal and its prey. In South Africa, it was an avenue for a country to step up and etch their place on the map. In the 1997-1998 Test match between South Africa and India, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock captured my attention, Jonty Rhodes made me clap rowdily and Hansie Cronje – he simply demanded my respect.

He wasn’t as flamboyant as a batsman could be. In fact, his batting numbers are far below what he should have achieved. But I have no complaints. Hansie was too busy being a leader, instilling faith in players that had been overlooked for years because of the unfortunate state of their country. Hansie was too busy being there.

I am trying here to express what he represented, for his team and his country. I’m not South African, but do come from a country that has always struggled to rectify the overblown, deeply concentrated negative images displayed for so long in the media. Hansie was put in charge of such a team at the tender age of 24; despite relative youth, he never showed any greenness.

Hansie feared no one, or if he did, I never saw it. His confidence, ego and intensity were, in my opinion, exactly what the new era Proteas needed. After all, this team had defend every single outburst (racial or otherwise) which would have been termed ‘part of the game’ for others. The world was watching and Hansie and co. had to prove that South Africans were capable of much more than just apartheid.

His greatest power lay in the knowledge that he was there to play cricket. His love for the game resonated in his eyes and his smiles. He could have a good time on the pitch even when times were hard. He was a prankster and I fondly remember his banter with Jonty and the then young Jacques Kallis (ed: I could have sworn Jacques Kallis was born at age 32 with bat in hand).

Allan Donald was his go-to man, Pollock the newcomer of distinguished lineage. Herschelle Gibbs marked the role of restless youngster to perfection and Dave Richardson his reliable old sage. Even as a young man, Cronje instinctively knew how to handle, utilise and shuffle his pack. I can’t remember a single instance where his decisions on the field were questioned by his team-mates; when those choices were dubious or cost them the game, Hansie was the first to admit his mistakes and the quickest to learn from them (alas, apart from the choking). He was in every sense a leader.

It was little wonder that South Africa quickly rose to the top of the international game. Talents like Gibbs, Boucher and Ntini flourished from the nutrition provided by Hansie and coach Bob Woolmer. The results began to evolve as they won the Asia Cup – their only ICC trophy – in Dhaka. I remember as he held the trophy; I was watching with tears in my eyes. All he said was ‘It’s heavy, but I don’t want to put it down’.

In the 1999 World Cup, South Africa were the hot favourites. It was there that I saw the first signs of my captain’s weakness. Hansie took the field with an ear-piece to communicate with Woolmer, a move he later paid for. South Africa’s previously impressive top order began to rely more on Lance Klusener’s WMD finishes. In the excitement and amid a remarkable run of “Zulu” form, the otherwise perceptive Hansie Cronje let his team play; he should have united the team and reminded them of their duties.

Personally, I loved it. Klusener is and will always be my 1999 World Cup hero, but in there is no way Allan Donald should have been the man at the other end with Zulu when the likes of Kirsten, Gibbs, Cullinan, Kallis, Cronje and even Pollock came before. I thought the 1999 World Cup semi-final was the first and last time the Proteas would break my heart.

And then came Cronje-gate.

I distinctly remember the day Hansie confessed his crimes. I was leaving for a vacation and woke up early to start my travels. I picked up the newspaper – it’s first page featured a huge picture of Hansie crying and the headline “Match-fixing scandal rocks the Cricket world”. To say I was devastated is an understatement. Till then, I had vehemently defended Cronje, strongly believing the allegations to be a set-up. Anyone and everyone who loves cricket was shattered by the revelation but for me it was more personal: it was the ultimate and immutable demise of my hero.

I was disgusted that he had persuaded team-mates to join him and shocked by the tremendous flaw that the match-fixing scandals revealed in a man I respected. It pained me to see what he had reduced his cricket to, to what he had reduced himself. Those are the only emotions I recall from those days – betrayal and an overwhelming sadness. Even still I couldn’t bring myself to hate him, rather I was grateful when he stepped aside and accepted his bans with grace. I couldn’t bear to see him stoop lower.

Cronje broke my heart a third time with his untimely death. It’s indicative of the man that sometimes I feel he’s still alive, on an island and living it up. In these times, he’s grinning from ear to ear as only Hansie can.

It’s probably pretty plain that I forgave him quickly. His incredible betrayal could not taint the memories he had given me over the years and neither could it stain his leadership and passion for the game. Hansie Cronje may have changed cricket forever with his misguided activities, but for me it doesn’t detract at all from the confidence he provoked in the Proteas and, by extension, his gift to the cricket world.

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough

Michael Vaughan by Max Benson

Graham Dilley by James Morgan

VVS Laxman by Minal

lead image: (c) guardian.co.uk

Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch are inviting cricket writers from around the globe to wax lyrical on who they consider their “favourite cricketer”. This week, Minal of Granger Gab and The Sight Screen writes of the most stylish Indian of them all, a man whose nickname was the ultimate compliment: VVS Laxman.  Minal tweets @granger_gab, and we really suggest you follow her.

As much as we love to deny it, we all have a secret crush – the one we adore but won’t admit because it would mean sharing loyalties with our one true love. My favourite cricketer has always been and will always be Rahul Dravid. When the World Cricket Watch team asked me to pen a piece for this series, I saw that Rahul was already spoken about and hence thought it was best to write about my secret cricketing crush – the Very Very Very Special Laxman.

In fact VVS Laxman is the secret crush of every Indian fan. He is the guy that unites the Tendulkar, Dravid and Dada fans alike. VVS the last of the Fab Four to hit the scene – his batting – exquisite, beautiful , elegant – a delight to watch; one that could tempt many a staunch supporters of any other cricketer to commit infidelity when it came to this man.
After witnessing the birth of two future batting stalwarts at Lords 1996, India wasn’t quite prepared for the sublime batting that would put her in a trance for the next 16 years.

November, 1996 Motera – Ahmedabad Vs South Africa

On a devilish pitch, probably one of the worst test wickets, a young man of 22 held fort in the second innings to get 51 after India has conceded a small lead of 21 runs. No Indian batsmen had got a 50 in that match barring this young lad. When I was watching him bat, the teenage me turned to my dad and asked “Papa since when did the rules allow a batsman to bat twice in the same innings, why is Azhar playing again?” Laxman reminded me of Azhar then– still does; the silken grace, the wristy shots on the on-side, the gift of impeccable timing. These batsmen from Hyderabad seemed to be blessed with a batting style as delectable as the Biryaani from that land.
But sadly as has been the case with Indian cricket, a permanent place in the packed middle order was always going to be tough. Ganguly came back from his injury and VVS found himself out of the side in the 3rd test of that series. VVS was later asked to open and he never really succeeded in that position; but his affair with Australia started at that very position. In the 99-00 tour VVS wove his first spell of magic on the Aussies at Sydney. He decimated the Aussie attack single-handedly. His 167 in a team total of 261 was intoxication at its best – even today while revisiting the innings you will drown in the beauty and wide array of strokes on display – the ease in his batting, the delicacy of his wrist play. As a friend once said, “Sachin is God, but there are strokes that Laxman plays at times, which Sachin would only dream of.” I have never dared to debate with him on this point.

Post this series and the one at home against South Africa, Laxman put his foot down and refused to open. He went back to the domestic grind, scored big hundreds and forced the selectors to consider him as a middle-order bat. After a year, Laxman came back to the Indian side and the rest as they say is history. VVS’s 281 Vs Aus in 2001 still gives me goosebumps when I watch the VCD of the match. He was the only one who put his hand up in the first innings – getting 59 in a team total of 171 and the last man to be out. Trailing by 274 with the test and series loss looming large, VVS walked in at number 3 and scripted a miracle along with Rahul Dravid. What he achieved with that knock did not merely amount to an Indian victory to be stored in cricket’s record books, with it he restored the shaken belief of a billion Indian fans. In that one knock, he truly reflected the attitude that John Wright and Ganguly were trying to build into this team – to make them world beaters; he showed that his team was not the one to give up, had the courage to conquer all demons and withstand all attacks. That knock laid the first brick to India’s success in test cricket – of achieving the Numero Uno position. In that one knock – Laxman weaved his magic forever on us.

Of the numerous shots he played that day – one remains stuck in my head forever – replayed a million times, in awe of this man. Warne bowled a delivery leaving the leg stump, Laxman got behind the delivery, his bat almost facing the on-side and hit the ball in the extra-cover region. That was as classy an extra-cover drive you will ever see but mind you it came against a ball wide of the leg-stump. Not a single soul moved on the field – Warne stood still wondering what had just happened. VVS had the ability to play the ball when he wanted and where he wanted.

Post that knock Laxman became India’s crisis man. His 75 in Brisbane ’03 after India had lost 4 wickets – his partnership with Ganguly set the tone for that series. The sublime 148 at Adelaide was an able aid to Dravid’s 233 when India were down in the dumps at 85/4 after Aus had got 500+ in the first innings. The 73 against South Africa ’06 in the 2nd innings – along with Sreesanth’s 5-40 in the first innings took India to her first win in South Africa. The SCG 109 in ’08 – VVS and Dravid came together to script another fight back on day 2 after the shambolic performance in the first test at Melbourne. VVS followed this knock with a 79 in Perth to play an important role in India’s first win at the venue after the Sydney horrors.

In 2010 he probably re-wrote his own fairy-tale – being part of India’s finest test wins – 2 of them chasing in tough situations on 5th day. His 103* Vs Sri Lanka at P Sara Oval sealed a victory and helped us draw the series after 3 wickets had fallen in quick succession the previous evening. His 96 at Durban ’10 which was the sole reason behind India’s win to level the series; and finally the nail-biting Mohali chase Vs Australia. Fighting back spasms VVS had only Ishaant and Ojha for company when India were reeling at 124-8 chasing 216 , that 81 run partnership that followed with Ishaant turned out to be among Australia’s worst nightmares. Laxman had yet again been there when it had mattered the most for his team. In away wins, Laxman’s contribution with the bat stands at 3^rd position behind Rahul and Sachin.

Statistics don’t do justice to his potential. In 134 matches, he has 8781 runs with an average of 46 and 17 hundreds. That last number should’ve been much higher. His modest performances against South Africa and England on away tours will always remain a mystery to me; but I think Laxman chose his love affairs well – with Australia and Eden. Among his contemporaries he stands at #3 with most runs against Australia; only Sachin and Lara are ahead of him. Probably the reason why Brett Lee said this of Laxman:

If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it’s a miracle.”

Of his 17 100s, 6 have come against Australia, 4 in Australia – 3 of them at SCG. Of the modern era Laxman’s 281 is the highest score against Australia, he is preceded by Hutton(364) and Foster(287)
Back home like his look-alike Azhar, Laxman loves Eden and Eden loves him, just like she loved Azhar. Both players have 5 100s there. Laxman is the only player to get 1000 plus runs at Eden. Hyderabadis and Eden – it is a divine connection. There is a common word that goes around – If it is Eden, no matter where he bats, Laxman will get a 100.

I would be doing grave injustice to Laxman the slip fielder if I did not mention his 135 catches. He stands among the top 10 in the world today among players with most catches as non-wicketkeeper. He has kept Dravid fine company during the last decade and helped build a strong close-in field for his team’s bowlers.

VVS Laxman – the quiet performer among the Fab Four, his shy demeanor and no -nonsense batting. Come to the crease, get to the hundred in no time, boost the team score and quietly fade away in the background – in that period on the crease, cast a spell and leave us in a trance. Rarely have I seen him play an ugly stroke, no slogging for him. A species so rare, in this cruel world of fast-food cricket today we have no space to preserve this species of batsmen. He may be the last to come by – so savor all that is left of his batting.
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman aptly rechristened to “Very Very Special Laxman” by Ian Chappell  – the universal, non-debated favorite player of all.

As I end my post on my secret crush – I leave you with these lines I penned down a few months back

Have you watched…

The raindrops fall on your window sill

The dewdrops slide down from a leaf

The flowers blossom in the morning sunshine

The sun set into the ocean wide

The moonlight on a pitch dark night

The snowflakes rest into your palm

The river find her way gently through the rocks

The rainbow spread far into the sky

Have you watched these marvels of nature and then…..

Have You Watched VVS Laxman Bat?

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough

Michael Vaughan by Max Benson

Graham Dilley by James Morgan

lead image (c) telegraph.co.uk

If you – like many other people out there  – have become a little bit confused about the ICC Test Rankings and all the ifs and maybes, don’t worry…..the main takeout from the Sri Lanka-England drawn series is that England remain the #1 side in the world for the time being.

Whilst England can feel pretty good about their 8 wicket win in Colombo and the ease in which they chased down the modest target of 94; the reality of their achievement can be put down to the efforts of one man – Kevin Pietersen. Sure the resurgence of Graeme Swann (10-181 in the match) with the crucial wickets of Samaraweera and Jayawardene in Sri Lanka’s second innings made matters easier for England. But much in the way that Maheyla Jayawardene was in Galle, Kevin Pietersen was the difference between the two sides. His masterful knock of 151 off 165 balls in the first innings featuring 16 fours and 6 sixes made you wonder whether he was playing in a parallel universe let alone on a different pitch.

Man of the series rightfully went to Maheyla Jayawardene who scored 350 majestic runs at 87.5. Man-who-saved-England’s-blushes goes to Kevin Pietersen.

Had England not ended their hoodoo in the subcontinent, their reign as number one would have ended and they would have been labelled a flawed team. Instead, they have ended their run of four straight test defeats and exercised some demons in the process.

Barely two months ago, England were rudderless, tied in knots and eventually spun out only half way to their  target of 145 in Abu Dhabi as a 3-0 whitewash and humiliation pursued. This time around – despite losing Strauss in the very first over – England through Alastair Cook were aggressive, proactive and sporting a game plan which meant the result was only going to go one way. In the process, the disdain with which Kevin Pietersen treated Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka’s bowling spearhead post Murali) indicates that the left arm spin voodoo is finally starting to wear off.

You can’t help but think that if there was a third test in the series – which should be a minimum requirement for any series – England would have banished their subcontinent blues once and for all. Besides the Pietersen heroics, England can take heart in the performance of two men who can take much credit for England’s number one status. Andrew Strauss contributed with the bat with a dogged 61 in the first innings to quash rumours of his place being in jeopardy. And Graeme Swann (16 wickets at 22) reminded everyone why he was considered the finest spinner in the world rising out of a form slump that had him visibly sweating.

Special mention has to go to Tim Bresnan who must be practicing some black magic of his own. He has now played in 11 Tests for England and been on the winning side in each and every single test. Though unspectacular in this return, his all-round impact on the side is starting to get beyond “lucky charm” status. To average 40 with the bat and 24 with the ball after 11 games is a start to a Test career as influential as South Africa’s Vernon Philander.

So what is next for England and their number one ranking?

Presuming England see to the West Indies at the start of the summer, the fate of the number one ranking will surely be decided by a straight shootout between the champion and the pretender to the throne as South Africa come to play a three Test match series.

That will just be epic…..

Australia are in the Caribbean to take on a depleted West Indian outfit in a three match test series. To mark the occasion, we ask proud Jamaican GARFIELD ROBINSON some of the biggest questions in the build-up to the series.

Q. How different is the West Indies team because of IPL and do they still stand a chance in this series?

The West Indies will be going into the test series without Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine being available to match skills with the Australians. Under normal circumstances at least three of those named would have been in the squad and the others would certainly have been seriously considered.

For sure Gayle would have opened the innings, especially since he and the WICB has come to some sort of agreement.

After the problems Narine posed in the limited over games the Australians must be happy they won’t be required to decipher his mysteries in the tests. In my view he would have been a significant factor if the WI were to do well this series.

Marlon Samuels has not been in good batting form, but coach Gibson seemed to have suggested that he would have played when he announced that Samuels’ absence forced them to turn to Deonarine, who he curiously said is on probation.

Had they been available, Dwayne Bravo, Russell and Pollard would have been among those looked at first if the WI were to require replacements due to injury or loss of form.

You could say, therefore, that the WI has been significantly weakened because some of its top players are off to the IPL. This is very unfortunate as I consider test cricket to be the highest form of the game. The ICC has to act to preserve the primacy of international cricket.

Q. How would you appraise the captaincy of Darren Sammy to date?

He has done as well as could be expected with the team he has under his command. I was not really in favor of the original decision–though I understood why it was made–of making him captain, because I thought he would not always be able to hold down a place in the side on merit. It turns out though that his numbers are comparable to those of the other WI pacers; his bowling average is actually better than those of Roach, Rampaul and Edwards.

This may be fools’ gold but the limited overs games just completed seem to indicate that the team is coming together nicely. The fielding was outstanding and team spirit seemed high. Of course team morale often go hand in glove with performance but these are welcome signs that a good team, devoid of any major stars, could be emerging under Sammy. He will need to maintain a reasonable level of play to command the respect of his players and the public, and total devastation by Australia will trigger more calls for his head. He and this team, however, have an opportunity here to begin the climb from near the bottom of the rankings. The authorities should stick with him for a while longer.

Q. Where is WI cricket right now? Is it on an upward curve or in a constant state of mediocrity?

I hope it is now starting to curve upward, but I really don’t know for sure. Experience has taught us West Indian cricket fans to be cautious. Hope, on the wings of a few healthy performances, has soared in our hearts before, only to crash back down to earth, crippled by inept and senseless cricket. So our optimism is tempered by the realization that this could be just another false dawn.

There have been some good signs overall. Sunil Narine has emerged as an exciting spinner capable of causing serious concern to top class batsmen and is a very effective addition to our bowling. There are also some young pacemen like Shannon Gabriel from Trinidad and Tobago and Sheldon Cotterell, a lefthander from Jamaica, who could develop into worthy international performers.

The batting is more problematic. There is some talent there but little experience and too much of an inclination to collapse. There are some bright spots there too. The improving Kieron Pollard has already shown his value in limited overs cricket and could develop into a good test batsman. The exciting Darren Bravo has played a few high quality test innings last year, as has Kirk Edwards, while all-rounder Andre Russell was almost as brutal as Pollard in the 50 over games against Australia. The team would do well, however, with a consistent opening pair and a dependable player at 6 in tests.

There is also need for improved relations between The West Indies players association and the board. The cricket has suffered in the past whenever they have been at each other’s throats. I hope that the apparent resolution of the Chris Gayle issue, along with the resignation of Ramnarine–often seen as too cantankerous by WICB officials–from the WIPA presidency, will lead to more cordial dealings in the future.

Q. The world would love the West Indies to rise up to the dizzy heights of their dominance in years gone by. Does cricket still capture the imagination of the youth in the Caribbean? Is it still the ultimate dream or do other sports hold the edge?

Cricket certainly is not as alluring to the youth as it once was. As a youth I used to play cricket almost everyday. Nowadays soccer, basketball, and track and field are much more popular than cricket. In Jamaica, a high school cricket match between two of the top teams might attract a few dozen spectators, while a schoolboy soccer game will draw thousands.

All is not lost however. I know in Jamaica that there are people doing good work to revive and strengthen the appeal of cricket in certain areas. There is still quite a bit of cricket played in the schools in Jamaica, and there are still some communities that are very enthusiastic about their cricket clubs and competitions.

Q. What do you expect from the upcoming West Indies-Australia test series.

I am hoping the West Indies will put up a good fight. I really don’t expect the WI to win the series because I consider Australia a significantly better team, especially with the WI depleted by the absence of the IPL players.

I am thinking that the Australian pace attack will have the upper hand against the WI batsmen. The opening position has caused the WI much worry. Barath will open but I am not sure if his partner will be Brathwaite or Powell. Neither should overly concern the Aussies and Barath himself is sometimes not tight enough, especially when playing outside off. Kirk Edwards and Bravo at 3 and 4 are good players who could get some runs, though Bravo seemed a bit out of sorts in the ODI games.

We hope that Chanderpaul will be his usual immovable self at 5. Deonarine, who I think will bat at 6 has been this year’s top batsman in our regional competition and will want to make good use of this opportunity. Wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh can bat but has been rather shaky at 7, losing his wicket too often playing the sweep shot.

Australia’s fast men should be able to restrict the WI batting to scores low enough to enable them to win, especially at Kensington, which I hear will have pace and bounce. The WI will have firepower of their own in Roach and Edwards but the likes of Watson, Clarke, Ponting and Hussey should be able to cope, though we would hope for something of a repeat of the skirmishes between Roach and Ponting of the last series.

If it turns at the Queens Park Oval or at Windsor Park then the WI could be in with a chance. Bishoo, who won the ICC emerging player of the year award for 2011 has probably dropped off a bit but is still a useful leg spinner, while Deonarine has taken quite a number of wickets this season bowling off breaks. I am not discounting Lyon, but I believe WI will have an advantage in the spin-bowling department.

The WI will have to up their game for this to be a competitive series. I hope they will. Australia is the better team and so should win, but I am looking for good performances from players such as Kirk Edwards, Bravo, Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Roach and Bishoo. If they rise to the occasion then it will be a series worth watching.

I believe Australia will win 2-0.

lead image: (c) guardian.co.uk

Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch are inviting cricket writers from around the globe to wax lyrical on who they consider their “favourite cricketer”. Today is the turn of James Morgan, co-editor of The Full Toss, who chooses an England seamer who played a part in two triumphant Ashes series. James tweets @thefulltoss.

As a lifelong Worcestershire fan, Graham Dilley is a cricketer who has always been close to my heart. He joined Worcs in 1987, at the same time as Ian Botham, in what was my first season as a junior member at New Road. It was a special time for the county – and a special time in my childhood.

Some of my fondest memories involve spending summer days under the chestnut trees at the county ground, watching that great Worcs side which won back to back championship titles in 1987 and 1988. Dilley often used to field in front of us at long leg. I know I was just ten years old at the time, but he seemed taller than a giraffe.

Dilley wasn’t quite a great fast bowler – like so many of England’s best seamers, injury put paid to that – but he was an extremely useful one. He was pretty quick, moved the ball away from the right-handers, and played a part in two of England’s greatest Ashes triumphs. I’m referring, of course, to his defiant half century alongside Botham at Headingley in 1981, and his starring role in Mike Gatting’s series success down under in 1986-87.

From a personal point of view, however, it was Dilley’s success at Worcs that I will remember the most. He was the spearhead of what was possibly the best county bowling attack of the modern era: Dilley was joined by Neil Radford, Ian Botham, Phil Newport and Richard Illingworth. All of them represented England at one point or another, albeit not at the same time. Perhaps only the Lancashire side of the early nineties could match them.

Dilley, of course, was the best of the lot (Botham had lost a bit of pace by 1987). He took an almighty run up that made Allan Donald’s approach look like an off-spinner’s, reared his left leg horizontal in his delivery stride, pounded his leading boot into the turf, and followed through like a wind powered turbine. It was a great sight to behold. When the ball was taken behind the stumps by Steve Rhodes, usually standing nearer to the sight-screen than the stumps, the ball made an almighty thud.

Unlike some of county cricket’s other big names, Dilley always seemed happy to sign autographs at the end of the day. He was a gentle giant – and he possessed one of the best 80s blonde mullets outside of A-Ha. When I heard about Dilley’s sudden death in October 2011, it was a bolt from the blue.

Sports fans in Worcester were particularly upset at Dilley’s premature passing because his son, Chris Pennell, is captain of Worcester Warriors, the city’s premiership rugby team. Somehow, somewhere – probably at that great fast bowlers’ union in the sky – you sense that Graham is still following the Warriors’ progress, and cheering his boy on.

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough

Michael Vaughan by Max Benson

New columnist GARFIELD ROBINSON tracks the rise of one of the greatest ever fast bowlers the game has seen. One who didn’t even particularly like cricket.

Curtly Ambrose first came on the scene in 1986, representing the Leeward Islands in the local Red Stripe cup competition. The Antiguan played only one game that year against Guyana at Bourda and he took 4 wickets. He missed all of the 1987 season because The Leewards’ fast bowling department was staffed by the likes of Winston Benjamin, Eldine Baptiste, Anthony Merrick and George Ferris, players who were either already playing for the West Indies, or were considered among those next in line. He only started the 1988 season because Baptiste and Benjamin were in India on West Indies duties and made good use of the opportunity.

Fitter and faster now, he began to terrorize the regional batsmen and soon word spread throughout the Caribbean that he was to be feared, and possibly avoided. One Jamaican opener was somehow convinced by his partner that his left-handedness made him less vulnerable to Ambrose’s missiles, and so he should take him while he would content himself with Benjamin. The result was that Nigel Kennedy, making his first class debut, suffered a broken arm and never played for Jamaica again that season, and I am yet to find out if he has spoken to his opening partner since.

On a docile Antigua Recreation Ground pitch Ambrose totally routed Guyana, taking 12 wickets in the match with 9 of them bowled. In all, the 6’7” Antiguan took a season high of 35 wickets at an average of 15.48, with Malcolm Marshall next in line with 27 wickets.

By competitions’ end everyone knew that his next step would be to the then all-conquering West Indies team. There was just no way his claims could have been ignored, and we were confident he would add his name to the long line of fast bowling legends from the Caribbean. So no one was surprised when he was named in the team to face the visiting Pakistanis.

It was an unbelievable rise. Ambrose had played his first meaningful cricket match for Swetes, his village, in 1984 at the age of 21. Within four years he was a West Indies player, bowling alongside Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh.

It’s not like he lived for cricket. Unlike many Caribbean boys, Ambrose did not dream of playing for the West Indies. Most athletes who make it to the highest level dedicate hours of youthful energy to improving their craft. We know that Donald Bradman spent hours throwing a golf ball against a tank and hitting it with a stump. Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player ever, practiced every morning before school with his high school coach. Success normally requires a love for the sport that borders on obsession, and a work ethic that only a few can summon.

It was not so with Ambrose.  He never really played much cricket as a young man, he said; actually, he never really cared much for the game. He played football and basketball. Cricket was too hard, consumed too much energy, so he only played tennis ball cricket on the beach with his friends to have a good time, and occasionally, because his friends thought he could bowl, he would be persuaded to have a game in the village.

This is somewhat unusual. Read the biographies of most cricketers and they tell of endless games in the backyard, or the nearby ground, or at some makeshift venue.

Cricketers who make it to the elite level often report that they were so taken with the game in their youth that they became cricket stalkers, searching for a game wherever one could be found. Ambrose only played when his friends asked.

Had an acquaintance from his village left for space when Ambrose was a teenager, and returned, say in 1994 while he was putting England to the sword at the Queens Park Oval, they would have been flabbergasted to find that the beanpole kid who was so indifferent to the sport could have risen to its very top. He would have found it remarkable that such a reluctant cricketer would have gone on to take 610 international wickets.

Ambrose played his last game for the West Indies at the Foster’s Oval in Kennington on the 2000 England tour. Since then it appears he has been mainly occupied with music. He plays bass in a band called “The Big Bad Dread And The Baldhead,” which also features Richie Richardson as its rhythm guitarist. Cricket? He hardly even watches.

“I was a fast bowler, I’m now a musician” – Curtly Ambrose

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lead image: (c) guardian.co.uk

Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch are inviting cricket writers from around the globe to wax lyrical on who they consider their “favourite cricketer”. Today is the turn of Max Benson, the youngest star of the Test Match Sofa alternative cricket commentary team, who chooses England’s 2005 Ashes-winning captain and most beautiful batsman – it’s Michael Vaughan. Max tweets @sofa_maxb.

Northern batsmen aren’t stylish. Northern batsmen are Geoffrey Boycott, Michael Atherton and Paul Collingwood. They are grafters and men of toil, hell-bent on building an innings by any grim means necessary.

All stereotypes are rooted in truth, but my favourite cricketer goes against that particular grain. He possessed a heavenly mix of balance, exquisite timing and sheer class at the crease – creating at will a thing of true beauty each time he unfurled a cover drive or square pull. Indeed, this smitten writer may well go to the grave believing there to be nothing finer in this life than a Michael Vaughan cover drive.

Born the wrong side of the Pennines it was fortunate that Yorkshire accepted him in 1993, just after relaxing their part-admirable, part-ludicrous rule that allowed only players born within the county to be considered for selection. It was Doug Padgett, a veteran of over 500 First Class games for the county who persisted in bringing Vaughan to the club. The thought of him enjoying the career he did with a red instead of a white rose on his chest sends a chill down many a Tyke’s spine. Never mind those that did get away before common sense prevailed.

I first saw Vaughan play for Yorkshire in a one day game at North Marine Road, Scarborough, in 1999. He top-scored with an understated 41, taking the Tykes to a seven-wicket win against Leicestershire, but it was the following summer where he began to shine on a bigger stage.

The first Test match I saw live was at Headingley in 2000. The famous two-day Test against the West Indies, in fact, as luck would have it.

‘’Don’t expect them all to be like that,’’ my dad felt obliged to caution the ten-year-old me, beaming after Caddick and Gough had dismantled the tourists for 61 in their second innings and a deliriously boozed-up army of nuns, Elvises and the like had stormed the field from the old Western Terrace.

Amidst the chaos and tumbling wickets that day, one man personified calm. Vaughan’s expertly crafted 76 took England to what proved to be a match-winning score of 272. Graeme Hick had stayed with him for a neat half century of his own, but it was Vaughan who steadied the ship so ably from 93/4 in front of his expectant home crowd against the aging yet undiminished brilliance of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

His coolness under pressure was paramount in the decision to award him the England captaincy in 2003, the year in which he all-too-briefly topped the world batting rankings after racking up 633 runs and three centuries in yet another Ashes defeat Down Under.

Allied to his superb man management skills and, somewhat paradoxically, his one-of-the-lads mentality; the decision to hand him the reigns was undoubtedly the right one.

The England side had improved steadily under Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain, four years on from when the latter was booed onto the Oval balcony after defeat to New Zealand left England bottom of the Test rankings in 1999. Central contracts helped transform a ragged and insecure bunch of county players into a cohesive unit, and Vaughan was the perfect man to take them to the next level.

He dealt instinctively well on a personal level with the self-destructive Andrew Flintoff and the fragile Steve Harmison, while his on-field demeanour and tactical nous made him by far the best all-round leader in world cricket at the time.

The defining moment for Vaughan’s captaincy came as he led his country in probably the greatest Test series of all time against the Aussies in 2005. Prising the urn from the enemy for the first time since 1987, a rollercoaster series captured the imagination of a football-orientated English press and public like never before.

But Vaughan was fallible, too. His batting suffered, perhaps inevitably, with the strains of captaincy and his final dozen innings or so for Yorkshire in 2009 were painful to watch as the magic – or at least the eyes and joints – appeared to have gone for good. We’re all human. We all get old.

He had always suffered more than most with injuries.  The summer of 2006 was a complete write-off, as was the following winter’s whitewash in Australia, all due to a chronic knee problem. A serious hamstring injury followed, and Vaughan was cruelly destined never to regain the magic that had graced county and country for nigh on a decade.

That only adds to the reasons for him being a ‘favourite’. He played on for as long as possible because of a love and deep respect for the game, yet knew to bow out without losing too much dignity on the field. And besides, who would be so heartless as to deny such a player a bit of extra grace to play out a few more innings on the county circuit as the curtain came down on a sterling career? Well, Yorkshire, probably.

In a media-saturated world now awash with anodyne quotes straight off a script from most of our sportsmen and women, Vaughan’s departure from the England captaincy couldn’t have been further from the catatonic norm.

His tearful farewell in full glare of the world’s media was fantastic proof of his boyish love of the game. To see an Ashes-winning gladiator reduced to tears spoke volumes for his sincerity as a player and pride in his country. It was a single moment encapsulating what sport really is: blood, sweat, tears and hyperbole.

Vaughan embodied much of what I believe is great about the game we love. He could ooze style and class when at his work and read the game beautifully with a sound tactical mind. Most striking is that he remained ‘one of the boys’ – a hideous phrase – and someone whose raw passion and enthusiasm we simple fans could relate to.

I, and I suspect many others, wanted to share a pint with him – the ultimate compliment for a Yorkshireman. No one in their right mind wanted to drink with Boycott.

(c) Paul McGregor Cricinfo

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough