World Cricket Watch » World Cricket Feature

Relationships in Cricket are Funny Things

Guest — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:00:24 +0000

lead image (c) news.com.au

BEN ROBERTS talks about how integral relationships are to cricket.

I may be going to sound like Oprah or Doctor Phil, but there is clearly a deep emotional need for success in all cricketers. They cannot subsist on footwork and line and length alone, and the absence of beneficial outside relationships is quite possibly catastrophic.

Take for example the beginning of the Australian summer and the very public spat between always-fiery teammates Simon Katich and Michael Clarke. Their descent into the relationship abyss came at the lowest point of the entire Australian cricket family for years, and no one would have then believed Clarke would be the captain to lead Australia to such a rapid turn in fortunes.

But things did turn around and success has come to Clarke’s Australia; along the way, Clarke has related well to all comers, in particular Clarke and Ricky Ponting have in January 2012 picked up their very productive affair, missing since they last truly connected two years prior.

Not only that, but this summer the new Australian selection panel (a long-established matchmaking institution) have been rather bolshie in taking plenty o’ gambles. In Melbourne they sent absolute opposites Ed Cowan and Dave Warner on a blind date (after Warner’s early summer fling with Phillip Hughes clearly was a very one sided relationship) and the two openers have not looked back. Cowan in fact has spent most of the summer gazing at Warner lest he be struck by a missile from his blade!

All this is not to mention the bond that has occurred within the Skippy fast bowlers. Although Peter, Ben, Ryan, James and Mitchell know that they all cannot be included in the same team all of the time, they clearly feel and care for each other the way they have shared the Indian scalps around.

This relational need in cricket has seemingly gotten the attention of more than just the cricketing authorities. This article link was passed over to me recently. The tongue-in-cheek piece may require both a working knowledge of cricket and the Book of Genesis to fully appreciate the humour, however we can add it as evidence that maybe even a divine relationship is key for cricketing success.

The author Michael Jensen lists many of faith who have graced cricketing fields. Two stuck out on my mind for the era in which they played: England’s Reverend David Sheppard was an ordained minister during his international playing days and later Bishop of Liverpool. Australia’s Brian Booth was an Anglican lay-preacher. Although previously aware of their non-cricketing backgrounds, when presented with them again reading this article, my first reaction was to exclaim to myself (and Zoe the dog) about the wilder types whom they shared dressing rooms.

Respectively, Sheppard and Booth teamed with Fred Trueman and Keith Miller, whom would hardly be described as shrinking violets. I wondered just how it went? Was there precedent for the Clarke/Katich troubles? Of course my first reference point is the modern day font of wisdom Wikipedia. Looking up both Booth and Sheppard, lo and behold both have their relationships with Trueman and Miller described, including that they were full of humour.

Now I am not proposing if looking for a life partner you give up the blind dates, internet chat rooms and bar crawling and head down to your local cricket club. Such a move may not go as well in practice as in theory, but on those days when it is 42 degrees, you’re in the field defending 47, and the opposition is 0/278, look across to your mate at first slip/mid wicket/cover and realise that you may be sharing more than just the old thigh pad in the team kit!

Ben contributes regularly to the following two Blogs:

Balanced Sports – The thinking fans sport opinion and analysis site.

Books with Balls – Reviewing the literature of a number of genres but definitely no Danielle Steele.

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My Favourite Cricketer…. Chris Pringle

Guest — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:30:46 +0000

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 Michael Wagener, of the superb Cricket Geek, chooses a cricketer with fairytale beginnings, a wonderful record and a bucket-load of controversies – it’s Chris Pringle.

As a child I enjoyed playing cricket, and to a lesser degree watching cricket. I think what I enjoyed most about watching cricket was that normally it was something I did with my dad. There were a few incidents as I was growing up that made me fall in love with the game. Firstly when Hadlee dominated Dean Jones in Australia – I remember standing outside, watching through the window as all my older cousins, my father, my uncles and my grandfather crowded around the TV at my grandfather’s house. The electricity in the air was contagious.

The next incident was the 1992-93 world cup. When Martin Crowe chose to open the bowling with Dipak Patel against Australia, and it actually worked, and when I was allowed to go to one of the games at Eden Park and saw Mark Greatbatch hit a six onto the roof. Both of these really captured my attention.

But the ultimate incident that did it for me was in the next season. 1993-1994 the World Series Cup – Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. My family were on holiday at Mt Maunganui, and in the little sun room at the front where I was sleeping there was a television. This was still in the days where sports were broadcast free-to-air, and almost every night there was cricket on. The performance of one player was a big part of why I still love cricket today.

Chris Pringle took at least one wicket in every match in that tournament. He actually managed this in 26 matches in a row from March 1993 until October 1994, in the process playing against every test-playing nation of the time. I believe that the whole story of Pringle is one of the greatest in cricket.

The Chris Pringle Story

The start

He started off his international career after only playing 3 first class games. New Zealand were touring England, and he was over there playing some minor league cricket. He decided to turn up to the game to see if he could get some free tickets off some of the Auckland players that he knew. He got more than he was expecting. At first they asked him if he could help them out by bowling in the nets. Then Martin Snedden got injured, and Pringle got told that he was playing.

After 27 overs New Zealand were in trouble. Gooch and Smith had put together a big partnership, for the 2^nd wicket, and England were 118/1. Pringle was watching Gooch bat and thought he saw a weakness. He asked the captain for the ball, and got him with a slower ball straight away. He ended with figures of 2/45 (Hadlee got 2/45).

It is a Boys Own tale – just out of school, turns up to the ground, gets to play for his country and outperforms (probably) the greatest bowler his country has ever produced.

The skills

Despite being only just over medium pace, and not really doing much with the ball, he managed to have career ODI stats very similar to Waqar Younis (Avg, rpo, sr; Pringle 23.87, 4.45, 32.1; Waqar 23.84, 4.68, 30.5). He did it by finding weakness in batsmen’s techniques and then exploiting them.

He was not built like a fast bowler, he looked like the guy that comes to fix your telephone. In fact, the first time he ever set foot inside a gym was after he had already been picked for Auckland. He had to get some of the other players to show him how to use the equipment. And perhaps this was why he was such a good bowler. He couldn’t rely on physical ability so he had to learn to think.

One of the most memorable moments was in 1991 where Australia needed 2 runs to win off the final over. Bruce Reid was batting, and all he needed was a single to tie the score. Pringle had the ball. He bowled the over of his life to the bewildered Reid, who eventually tried to sneak a single off the last ball, and was run out for his trouble, giving Pringle a final over maiden and New Zealand a win by 1 run. Pringle’s figures of 1/34 off 10 hardly told the story of his excellent performance.

On the way to a ground in Australia he noticed that there were billboards for the movie Predator outside the ground. They featured Arnold Schwarzenegger with camouflage paint on his face, looking like a warrior. Pringle got some zinc and painted similar marks on his face before coming out to bowl. Anything for an advantage.

His approach worked, and he became the most reliable wicket taker in One Day internationals in history. Here is the table of the top 10 most reliable wicket takers:

The controversies

Over the 5 years of his tragically short career he was involved in more incidents than most players are in 15 years. Before long he was just too much of a public relations disaster, and NZ Cricket couldn’t cope any more.

There were sex scandals, concern about his weight and fitness, fall outs with coaches and captains, ball tampering and even a drugs scandal. He made Flintoff, Ryder and Cronje look like beginners.

Even his cricket brain got him in trouble. He figured out that something was going wrong while he was on tour to Pakistan in 1990. The balls seemed to have some strange marks on them. Martin Crowe and him decided to fight fire with fire. They got a bucket full of balls and experimented with ways of tampering with them. They devised a method of scratching the balls using a bottle top, to make them swing like crazy. They tried it out in the third match, and much to their surprise, the umpires didn’t care. One of them even commented to him that at least both teams are cheating equally now. Pringle took 7 wickets, but his place in the record books will forever have an asterisk, due to being the “bottletop bandit” test.

He was also involved in the marijuana scandal in South Africa in 1994. He says that he was only in the room telling the others not to smoke it. I heard from a number of sources that he was blamed by the management for it, and his reputation never recovered. A good friend of mine was a net partner to one of the players involved, and he has privately confirmed Pringle’s story, saying that there were no players from outside Northern Districts except Stephen Fleming involved. In a way it was nicer to believe that he was involved, and that his success was in spite of such excesses.

There were also rumours of a number of sex scandals, none of which are worth repeating, but Pringle comments on a couple of them in his book.

Overall his story is one of a great talent that was only realised briefly. One of the best thinking bowlers of all time was also one of the greatest wasted talents. He thrilled us, but like some other potentially great players like Rodney Redmond or Vinod Kambli, he did so too briefly. It would be interesting to see if he would have kept succeeding if he had managed more than 62 matches. Would the batsmen figure him out, or would he keep finding ways to break batsmen down. This intrigue is part of the reason that Pringle is my favourite cricketer.

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

What Would Hell Be Like for a Pakistani Cricket Fan?

Guest — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:30:50 +0000

What do you imagine hell to be like? Assad Hasanain, of the superb AssadHas, muses over his worst nightmare of what hell might look like for a Pakistani cricket fan. Assad tweets @assad_hasanain.

Like most imaginative individuals who have an abundance of free time, I often amuse myself with images of what hell would be like. I tend to agree with the general sentiment that the usual fire and steel rods routine should suffice as decent enough punishment for the regular person. But then again, I am no regular person. I am a cricket fan. If God is smart about it, he would realize quickly that there are better ways of making me repent my sins.

When I think about an eternal punishment custom designed for me, the first logical question that springs to mind is about the devil. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel strongly that any devil worth his salt should at least be able to torture me with his words. After much deliberation I’ve decided to use Sanath Jayasuria for the role of the devil. I find it appropriate that Jayasuria’s voice accompanies me in what should be the biggest punishment of my life.

The plot begins with my orientation in Hell where the devil, Jayasuria is giving me a personal guided tour . As we walk through a narrow passageway,angry desis are running to all parts. Jayasuria points towards a small room on the right. Glad for a chance to escape the chaos, I oblige. Jayasuria straps me to the chair in the center and turns on the TV. Imran Farhat is batting.

“You will watch this for the next two hours”, he squeaks into my ear, “every time Farhat misses the ball, I’ll have a surprise for you”.

Jayasuria has an evil smile on his face. Despite the situation, I find it hard to take him seriously.

“How bad can this be?”, I think to myself. “Farhat should at least be able to touch the ball”.

And then I start watching. Farhat is trying to drive at every ball and is missing most of his shots. Every time he misses, Jayasuria beats me with a bat. Despite the situation, the cricket fan in me can’t help but admire how powerful Jasyasuria’s bat swing is. On the odd occasion when Farhat strikes the ball, Jayasuria decides to reward me by commentating on it. By the end of the two hours both my body and ears are writhing in pain.

As Jayasuria unstraps me from the chair, I realize that I desperately need to use the loo. Hopefully, I turn to Jayasuria and ask him if I can be excused for a couple of minutes. He chuckles to himself. Quietly, he walks me to the other room. He does his routine of strapping me to the chair and turns on the TV. Misbah-ul-Haq is batting.

“As soon as Misbah scores a run, you can leave for the toilet”, says Jayasuria.

I nod thankfully, relieved at the thought that the devil has become sympathetic to my plight.

“This should be over soon”, I think to myself.

One hour later I am still there. Misbah-ul-Haq is stubbornly defending every ball that his thrown at him. His lunges and crouches look even uglier in Hell. Jayasuria looks at me with a nasty glint in his eye. Scared of tortured again, I keep my eyes on the TV, trying not to concentrate on my bladder which is about to burst.

The Misbah show ends after two hours as he finally gets an inside edge to fine leg and reluctantly crosses over for a run. I am excused for a toilet break. The line to the only toilet in Hell reminds me of the entrance to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The wait is long and painful. Every few minutes, tear gas is thrown into the queue of people.

“They don’t call it hell for nothing”, I think to myself.

To my immense excitement, guy standing next to me in the queue is none other than Salman Butt. Excited, I shake his hand and ask him how his experience in Hell has been.

” It’s all about the country yaar”, he says philosophically.

I ask him if he agrees with being sent to Hell. Disgruntled he replies, ” Evidence kay baghair tow these are just accusations, it’s all a conspiracy against Pakistan”.

Sycophantically, I nod my head in assent and switch the discussion to other matters. Butt tells me that Mohommad Asif is also in Hell. “In fact,” he adds excitedly, “if you ever want to get high, you should get in touch with Asif, he’s got a secret stash”.

Not knowing what to make of this piece of information I stand back in line, quietly awaiting my turn for the toilet. Once, I finally reach my destination, I realize that even the toilet reminds of the Rawalpindi Stadium. The less said about it the better.

When I return, Jayasuria is anxious to continue the rest of the tour.

“You must be bored of sitting in a chair by now,” says the devil with a sympathetic tone to his voice. “This should cheer you up”.

Jayasuria points to a new room. As I make my way inside, I see a familiar face smiling at me with an over-abundance of teeth on display. Kamran Akmal is standing there, with his full wicket-keeping gear on looking at me excitedly.

“What is this?”, I ask the devil incredulously.

Jayasuria proceeds to explain that I will be offering catching practice to Kamran Akmal.

“Catching practice! That’s it?”, I scream out in disbelief. Jayasuria winks at Kamran Akmal.

” Well not quite, Mr Assad. You see Mr Akmal has been dropping a lot of catches recently. The responsibility of getting him to catch again has been delegated to you.”

I gulp anxiously. “And what happens if he drops a catch?”, I ask Jayasuria.

The nasty smile on his face provides me the answer to my question.

“Don’t worry Assad bhai, I’ve improved my catching a lot recently. I should even be back in the team soon”, says Kamran Akmal assuredly.

And so we start the catching practice. True to his reputation, Akmal drops the easiest of catches. Similar to the Imran Farhat routine, Jasyasuria punishes me every time the catch is dropped. And sure enough, his bat swing is as powerful as his playing days.

For the last part of the day, Jayasuria takes me to a boxing ring.

“Wait here”, he indicates. After a few minutes, Jayasuria returns with two bulky, powerful men. On a closer look, I identify them to be Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.

“You’ll be boxing with me today, mate”, says Hayden enthusiastically.

“Boxing with you?”, I ask nervously.

“And when you’re done with him, we’ll do a round too”, chips in Symonds.

It’s a scenario taken right out of my worst nightmare. It is only when I stand in the ring with him that I truly appreciate how big Hayden is, Symonds is egging him on from the sidelines. Jayasuria meanwhile has taken up the opportunity to offer some running commentary. For the next one hour, I am at the receiving end of a beating from Hayden. At the end of the rounds, I am ready to pass out.

“Come on mate, it’s my turn now”, says Symonds.

Symonds steps into the ring.Those bulging biceps and whitened lips looks scarier than ever before. Braver than I was in the fight with Hayden, I manage to land in a couple of punches. I even throw in a few choice phrases borrowed from Harbajhan Singh. Needless to say, Symonds does not take this well. For the next one hour, my body is the victim of my stupidity.

By the end of this session, I am extremely tired and am ready to hit the bed. Sensing that I could use a break, the devil takes me to the quietest room in the area.

“So you want to sleep?”, he asks me.

“I’d appreciate that”, I reply, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.

“Well, maybe we can do something a little more fun than that”, he suggests.Too brain-dead and tired to speculate, I am already prepared for the worst.

Jayasuria, switches on the TV. Sohail Tanvir and Salim Malik are bowling in tandem. The batsmen in the middle are Jack Russell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The batsmen to follow are Daniel Vettorri and Darren Lehman.

“You will watch this for the remainder of the night,” orders Jayasuria.” There is no sleeping in Hell”.

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5 Golden Cricket Commentary Moments

Guest — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:58:43 +0000

Sometimes the words just fit the moment: Assad Hasanain, of the excellent AssadHas, shares five of his favourite pieces of commentary. Assad tweets @assad_hasanain.

Cricketing viewership in recent times has become something of an ordeal. The Arun Lals, Russel Arnolds, Danny Morissons, Jayasurias, Ian Healys and Athar Ali Khans of the world have introduced me to a previously unthinkable phenomenon…watching cricket on mute.

As subtlety continues to disappear and the men behind the microphone continue to fall in love with their own voices, cricket commentary appears to have become more of an exercise in stating the obvious. While the stellar team of Atherton, Gower and Hussain is still holding the fort in English cricket and Benaud, Crowe and Jackman provide much needed relief in matches involving their respective countries, the standard of commentary overall has slipped rather embarrassingly in recent years.

My discontent with the utter tripe insulting my ears during cricket matches often has me longing rather wistfully for better times in cricket commentary; times when the words fit the occasion; when commentary was not an annoying sideshow and actually provided context and emotion to a moment.

Iftikhar Ahmed’s commentary on Miandad’s last ball six at Sharjah is a piece for the ages. Even though the game happened years before my passion for cricket was tickled, the infectious excitement in Iftikhar’s voice instantly transforms me to that quite marvelous era of Pakistan commentary. It was a time when Qureshi and Iftikhar held the reins of Pakistan commentary, when the impact of radio made cricket commentary a profession only for the true orators.

Iftikhar’s voice reflects an almost disbelief at the miracle that has just unfolded in front of the viewers’ eyes and his comments scream out the passion that every Pakistani viewer feels at that historic moment in Pakistan cricket.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Richie Benaud’s memorable vocals behind Wasim Akram’s legendary dismissal of Alan Lamb provide insight into a different school of commentary. As Imran brings in his chief ward to land in the killer punch, Benaud and Tony Cozier are leading the commentary.

Akram bowls a sensational delivery and knocks over Lamb.Notice how the tone of Benaud’s voice does not change and there is no audible excitement in his voice. Instead, his speed of delivery picks up with the excitement of the occasion and culminates in the punchline.. “Allan Lamb has been cleaned up. Perhaps…..”.And then he pauses. It’s the pauses that make Benaud the legend that he is. It may be his mastery of delivery, or the fact that he weighs every word carefully. And then he delivers the verdict. “so too England”.

As Akram hits the top of his mark for the next ball, Tony Cozier is reeling off the names of English batsmen to follow. “Lewis, Reeve, Pringle, Defritas…Fairbrother is still there”….As Akram castles Lewis with a devilish in swinger, Richie Benaud pulls out another classic..Rather than shout out an excitable two liner ala Tony Grieg or Bill Lawry, Benaud plays off quite brilliantly off Cozier’s last comment….”Subtract Lewis from that list…Wasim Akram is on a hat-trick”….It was fitting that five of the greatest minutes in Pakistan cricketing history were accompanied not by an excitable commentator eager to hog the mic but by a brilliant orator who knew not to steal from the moment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

David Gower’s brief tribute to Tendulkar upon his entrance into Lord’s captured my imagination. Gower is an old favorite. He speaks with the same eloquence as his batting, it’s an almost lazy, casual play of words delivered in his own inimitable style.

Similar to Benaud, what stands out with Gower’s commentary are his deliberate and immaculate pauses. Notice in this case the subtle emphasis on the words “legend” and “demigod”…As the cameras seek out the crowd, Gower improvises on the spot with a delicious one-liner taken from a banner…”Lord at Lord’s”..It was just about the most perfectly executed little tribute I’ve ever heard in cricket commentary.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Once upon a time when Ravi Shastri did not have drunken outbursts on TV, he used to be a half-decent commentator. A game from the Champion’s Trophy gives me goosebumps every time I listen to the commentary (listen to the clip below at 7 mins -49 secs). Asif and Shoaib have both been banned on the eve of the trophy and Pakistan’s hastily assembled band of backup bowlers have managed to restrict Sri Lanka to a gettable total.

Pakistan’s batsmen, in true Pakistani fashion, blunder their way towards the total. With the ending in sight Razzaq decides to finish the game off in a blaze of glory. As the ball sails into the night sky, Ravi Shastri’s powerful voice booms in the background, “……its vintage Pakistan here…….”. It was a dialogue that captured everything that’s maddening and captivating about Pakistan cricket in one simple syllable. The victory really was a Pakistan classic, secured against all odds, in the backdrop of a disaster that had left them defenseless on the eve of battle. Ravi Shastri recognises the sentiments of the Pakistani viewer and his comment puts the appropriate close on a night of swinging fortunes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nasser Hussain’s eloquence and charisma as a commentator makes the Sky commentary team a listener’s delight. In this example from Pakistan’s tumultuous last tour of England Saeed Ajmal is announcing himself as Pakistan’s next great spinner. After tormenting England in a test match at Edgbaston, Ajmal is out to prove that his strong performance was not a one off.

The doosra that clips the inside edge of Morgan’s bat is a gem, the commentary if possible is epic. Hussain sums up the brilliance of Ajmal in one poetic sentence…”Ajmal, the destroyer at Edgbaston…is weaving his magic at the Oval”….It might just be the sheer eloquence of Hussain’s delivery, but his point left me infactuated with Saeed Ajmal.

Click here to view the embedded video.

My bias against commentators stating the obvious notwithstanding, Bill Lawry’s commentary to close out the 92 world cup still sends shivers of excitement down my spine. As Rameez Raja circles around to complete the catch, Bill Lawry’s shrieking tones capture the emotion of the moment to perfection. ” It’s up in the air, this could be victory it is! Pakistan win the world cup.

A magnificent performance in front of 87000 people. Imran Khan has led his side to victory. What a great victory.” It is the brilliance of Bill Lawry that while his commentary lacks in thought or originality, the sheer emotion in his voice is enough to keep the average viewer engaged. In this case Lawry’s voice adds color to a quite glorious moment in Pakistan’s sporting history.Contrast this to David Lloyd and Wasim Akram’s rather bland performance in Pakistan’s T20 victory, and one realizes how a passionate commentator can often capture the essence of a great moment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a tricky business judging cricket commentary. While nostalgia, national prejudice and sentimental attachments to the personalities behind the microphone inevitably color the listener’s view, cricket fans generally appear to be united in their disapproval of the utter garbage being paraded around the cricket world as ‘commentary’.

For the time being, we can at least console ourselves with the thought that for every ‘tracer bullet’ that heads to the boundary, every ‘Karban Kamaal catch’ that is completed successfully and every ‘match going right down to the wire’, there are still some sane voices left behind the microphone. And the next time we find ourselves cringing at a Tony Greig cliche, we can rest assured that a little gem from Richie Benaud is somewhere around the corner.

Lies, Damned Lies & Statistics – The Moneyball Effect

Guest — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:19:07 +0000

BEN ROBERTS ponders whether cricket coaches could gain inspiration from the 2011 movie Moneyball which tracks the story of Oakland A’s Billy Beane crafting a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis and statistics.

I might as well throw my voice into the vortex of latter opinion and desire that has been borne out of 2011′s release of the film Moneyball. I only recently got around to watching this film, and enjoyed it immensely. The film’s release has awoken the rest of the sporting world to a concept that was not even new in the period portrayed in the movie, but has been around for over 30 years. Suddenly everyone wants a piece of the action, and to find the killer measurable statistic for their sport of choice that separates the wheat from the chaff.

Baseball is a sport that is made for such a concept. Without going into much detail, in my opinion baseball lends itself so easily to this analysis due to: 1) being very static in game play with players not moving around the field randomly but in a definite order; 2) having direct cause and effect relationships in the game play, for example an out always equals a run saved; 3) Major League Baseball being a market based sport (also replicated in many others but not cricket) meaning that value is something more easily determined as it comes in dollars and cents.

Cricket by contrast does not have such a static nature nor cause and effect relationships. While commentators always say that the best way to restrict scoring is to take wickets this is not an absolute (like baseball) until you are talking about the 10^th wicket to fall. Neither does the sport have a market based nature, although players are more today shifting first-class teams the game remains a sport played at the highest level as a regional representative.

The key premise of the theory is stated early in the movie when Jonah Hill’s character tells Brad Pitt’s character that for years they have been asking the wrong question. They should be trying to buy wins (a direct result of runs scored and restricted) not players. The improvement in statistics themselves had been around for many years, the trouble was the ignorance of the users.

Cricket has a multitude of data already at its disposal. Former Australian coach John Buchanan was known for the recording of extensive data and this has now become the norm for most first-class teams. The difficulty is that unlike baseball where you can name what you want, cricket you cannot be as sure. Yes more runs are important, but in test matches you need to take wickets also.

Okay, then lets just use such analysis for limited over matches where it’s all about runs. Good idea, except last night I saw a rain interrupted T20 match get decided by the Duckworth-Lewis method which gets used a lot and relies on wickets in a calculation of a par score. As well, we still seem to value bowling in limited over games, if we are truly only after more runs why not simply stock your team with 11 batsman who can nominally roll their arm over and field well?

The difficulty is that we do not know what the question to ask is, what constitutes total value in a game of cricket? This is the entire premise of using such statistics and until you restrict the questions that you want the statistics answer you can have them tell you all manner of things. Let me give you an extreme example: You have two batsmen, 1 and 2. In traditional statistics both average 36 and have a strike rate of 72 runs per 100 balls. A normal innings therefore for either is to score 36 runs off 50 deliveries.

So we have a dilemma: If we need to choose, both look equal based on traditional measures. Turning to a more detailed statistical analysis we find that batsman 1 gets them in 36 singles whereas batsman 2 usually hits 6 sixes (I told you the example was extreme). Which batsman is the more valuable?

My initial reaction is to say batsman 1 is more valuable in that they turn the strike over to the other batsman giving greater chance for team scoring while they are at the crease whereas batsman 2 faces a stack of dot balls. But what is the effect on the bowlers? Does the potentially greater runs scored per single ball by player 2 make them more valuable? Unless you know what you really want statistics can tell you anything.

Do not read me wrong, such analysis has every place in the game but requires a liberal amount of common sense to be applied. You can easily measure the worth of two identically skilled players as above. You may use the above analysis in comparison to what the team needs, but you cannot make the clear cut decisions that they can in baseball as there is no single measure of value.

How would you statistically make the decision (as for the recent Melbourne test) whether to play an opening batsman Ed Cowan or all-rounder Daniel Christian? You are comparing apples with oranges. In baseball you can use a standard measure of total value to the team and cut through inconsistencies, in cricket understanding and intuition must still be applied.

I have only a rudimentary understanding of statistic usage, and someone more esteemed than I may be able to prove that there is a methodology escalating statistical analysis beyond being a support category in cricket decision making. But until that time remain wary of the limitations when trying to apply to cricket. Mark Twain believed it was Benjamin Disraeli who said “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Though it remains historically an un-sourced statement, there is still much truth to it.

Ben contributes regularly to the following two Blogs:

Balanced Sports – The thinking fans sport opinion and analysis site.

Books with Balls – Reviewing the literature of a number of genres but definitely no Danielle Steele.

Recent World Cricket Stories:

Australia vs India Boxing Day Test Day 4, as it happens

David Siddall — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:56:26 +0000

Australia need some Mike Hussey heroics: image (c) Herald Sun

Welcome to this live blog of all the major moments on day 4 of the Boxing Day Test. After chaos reigned supreme on day 3 with 15 wickets, who knows what to expect from another action packed day 4?

Australia lead by 230 and have 2 wickets remaining. Virender Sehwag at the press conference last night said that India would feel comfortable chasing down anything under 300. You can’t help but think Australia would be favourites with that sort of lead.

But India start the day as slight favourites on the hunt for two quick wickets.

There has been no Segway drama this morning which I’m sure everyone will be glad to hear.

10:36am Pattinson majestic as he drives Yadav for Four in the second over of the day

After an innocuous first over from Zaheer Khan, James Pattinson caresses Yadav through the covers for four. He has timed that incredibly and it races to the boundary.

Healy is still banging on about crashing the Segway on Channel 9. Just drop it mate!

10:45pm Hussey is trapped by Yadav but Erasmus turns down a stifled appeal

That one looked pretty adjacent. India appeal emphatically from behind the wicket but Umesh Yadav’s heart isn’t really in it. Umpire Erasmus gives it not out but replays and Hawkeye show that one should have been given. That puts DRS watch at 3-3 now. Even stevens. Just like this match!

10:48 Huge Appeal again as Khan Smashes into Hussey’s toes

This time Ian Gould gives it not out. That looked out but replays show the impact was marginally outside the line. Zaheer Khan is cranking it up today. No deliveries under 130kmph today. It looks like something is going to happen every ball.

10:52 Yadav Has Hussey Caught Behind Down the Leg Side

Dhoni catches it down the leg side and there is a huge shout. Erasmus gives it not out but hotspot shows that Hussey edged it. He’s been out twice already this morning. That makes it 4-3 on DRS Watch in favour of Australia now.

Ian Healy for Channel 9 says it’s the wrong decision but not a bad one. Go figure.

10:59 Khan Get Hussey Out Caught behind

Khan has squared Hussey up there and catches the shoulder of his bat in the process. Dhoni snaffles an easy chance and Ian Gould puts up the finger.

Australia are 9/197 and have a lead of 248.

It has been an enthralling morning.

11:13am Zaheer Khan Drops a Skier from Pattinson

Yadav bounces Pattinson and he skies it towards fine leg. It dissects Dhoni and Khan running it but Zaheer gets there quite comfortably in the end. But he’s dropped it.

Every run counts. Now Pattinson confounds the mistake by pulling Yadav in front of square only two balls later. Vital runs. Lead at 262.

11:22 Hilfenhaus Gets in on the Act

Ashwin comes into the attack and serves up some absolute dross. Hilfenhaus spanks him through the covers and the lead moves to 269. Many more and Australia will be transforming into favourites.

The fields are really baffling this morning. Not much attacking going on and deep points, deep mid ons and more.

11:42 Hilfenhaus Drives Ashwin into the Wide Open Spaces for 4

What is MS Dhoni doing? The field is spread and Hilfenhaus drives it gloriously through the off side for four. They lead by 291 now and India don’t look interested.

History is on Australia’s side and they are surely in the box seat now. Pattinson and Hilfenhaus are good enough to pick runs off and India aren’t attacking whatsoever.

11:44 Finally Hilfenhaus Goes

He drives and edges Sharma to Laxman in the slips. That’s a valuable last wicket partnership of 43. India will need 292 to win. It’s got away from India here. They need to Sehwag to get them off to a flyer. Hold your hats!

Australia all out 240.

11:53am Australia take the field content with their mornings work so far

First ball of the innings belongs to Pattinson. He steams in with three slips and two gullys. He starts with a wide. That’s quite an anti-climax.

12:08 Sehwag edges over the slips

He’s got away with one there. He wafts at one outside off stump and it flies just over the slips. India are 14 without loss. His wicket is the prize wicket here. Quick runs could tilt this game in India’s favour.

12:19 Sehwag OUT Caught in the Gully

Sehwag slashes hard to Hilfenhaus. He’s thrown the kitchen sink at that but hasn’t got enough elevation on it to beat the in field. Hussey reaches for it and snaffles it with a bit of a leap. That is a HUGE wicket.

The Wall comes to the crease. India 1/17 needing another 275 for victory. That looks a long way off right now.

12:34: And that’s lunch! This match is the dictionary definition of “Delicately Poised.” The Indians will be umm-ing and ahh-ing about their current situation; they will be disappointed with the way Hifenhaus and Pattinson hit them around during the Australian last wicket pairing, and Viru will be kicking himself he got out in such a loose fashion, but that being said: game on. They’ll fancy their chances; so will the Australians. The Indians are 1/24.

Tense. Taut. Erasmus.

Dave Siddall will be back after the lunch break.

1:45 – Post-lunch catch up.

Dave’s still at lunch, so you’re stuck with me for the moment. India are 2/52 from 16, and the tension is palpable. Siddle, the brick-eating Victorian paceman, removed Gambir to bring Tendulkar to the crease, and was immediately greeted with a Sachin special – a gorgeous drive for three through cover. Once again, it’s the Wall and the Master who could change the game.

Michael Clarke is being understandably conservative with his bowling changes. He hasn’t been juggling the bowlers as much as he normally does because, if truth be told, Hilfenhaus and Siddle have been impressive thus far. James Pattinson hasn’t been as effective and I sense that his line is a little skew-wiff – he’s probably in that sportsman ‘numb state’ after spending excess time at the crease. His 37 was both gutsy and occasionally glorious, but he hasn’t been his usual self at the crease.

Dave’s back. Here we go, here we go, here we go~~-

1:58pm OUT Dravid Bowled. That is Massive!

Pattinson strikes. He steams into the crease and spears it into the stumps. Dravid plays down the wrong line and misses the ball by some distance. Pattinson has broken the partnership most likely to win this game for India.

He goes for 10 and Australia are in control with India 3/58.

Laxman comes to the crease. He is the Indian with the best second innings record versus Australia. The Little Master needs some help here.

2:07 Sachin Tendulkar Gets a Huge Stroke of Luck

Pattinson steams in once more. Sachin looks to flamboyantly leave a short of a length ball only to deflect inches past his own stumps. He picks up four and there are girly anxious screams ringing around the ground.

It’s heart in mouths time. So much rests on Sachin today.

2:11pm Sachin goes from Circumspect to Supreme

He shows the full face of the bat to Hilfenhaus and strokes him back down the ground for four through mid on.

That’s drinks. India 3/68 and way behind.

2:20 OUT – Pattinson Gets Laxman caught at square leg by Ed Cowan

Fresh from beating Laxman’s bat twice in two deliveries, Pattinson tempts Laxman into playing a drive to the onside only to pick out Ed Cowan at square leg. Umpire Gould checks the front foot no ball to see if Pattinson overstepped. Replays show his foot landed centremetres behind the popping crease and then slid forwards. The third umpire rules that makes it a legitimate delivery. So he’s gone.

The Little Master could get stranded here.

2:24 OUT – Kohli Goes First Ball

Hilfenhaus smashes into Kohli pads. Rather than his stock outswinger, this one spears in and Kohli is absolutely plumb despite his disgruntled look.

Perhaps he thought the feeling of bat clipping pad was an edge. But replay and hawkeye confirm it was hitting falf way up the middle and leg stump.

It’s 5/69. Hilfenhaus has two, Pattinson has two, and Siddle one.

2:36 Dhoni Smashes a Six to get off the Mark

India need Dhoni to play a captain’s knock but what kind of shape should that knock tape. Well, he gets off the mark with a six.

2:39 Sachin Gone and India’s dreams shattered

Siddle comes into the attack and draws Sachin (32) into a drive which flies to Hussey in the gully.

Sachin leaves the MCG to a standing ovation. The entire ground is thoroughly disappointed. Everyone was praying for him to go on and make it a contest. With Sachin gone, so have India’s hopes.

Dhoni needs a miracle and to continue his brief assault if India have any chance at all.

Ashwin got a ton against the West Indies not too long ago so he should back him and bat in tandem.

3:15 That’s tea.

Siddle’s last over before tea includes three boundaries from India. One is a brilliant shot and two are streaky. Irrespective of how the runs come, these two have made it to tea but have a gigantic uphill struggle to get India back into this game.

3:37 Ashwin is gone straight after tea

Siddle strikes right away as he gets Ashwin with the short ball. Ashwin tries to fend but dollies the ball straight up in the air to the welcome hands of ed Cowan in the gully.

It’s just a matter of time now.

Zaheer Khan comes to the crease. Surely he won’t be as irresponsible as in the first innings. Dhoni needs a friend right now. India 7/117.

3:57 Pattinson gets warned for three consecutive bouncers

Ian Gould warns Pattinson and it’s jokes all round as Michael Clarke laughs and explains how he didn’t see the signals.

Harsha Bhogle comments on ABC Grandstand how things might have been different under Ponting’s captaincy. Maybe so but Ricky was fantastic and extremely frank at last night’s press conference.

4:00 Crazy o’clock time: How to make Test Cricket Sexy in Australia?

Nicko Hancock from The Sledge has the answer. Ideas include tattoos, Richie Benaud, wordplay and much more. Have a read here: Can Test Cricket Be Saved by Sexiness?

4:05pm Khan smashes a Six

He clears the front leg and smashes Pattinson for six down the ground.

4:06pm OUT Very next ball Pattinson gets his man the very next delivery

He backs away once more but this time it backfires dramatically as he gets an inside edge onto his thigh pad which pops up to ed Cowan at short leg.

4:10pm Talk turns to Man of the Match on ABC Grandstand

Hilfenhaus was amazing in the first innings with his five wicket haul. But you can’t help but feel the contribution of James Pattinson in every aspect was the most vital.

4:14pm OUT MS Dhoni goes for the old heave-ho and gets castled

Pattinson strikes again and MS Dhoni is gone. If there was a sliver of hope left, Pattinson just ate it up.

India 9 down. 150 runs short of the total. It’s just a matter of time now. Attendance confirmed – 25,865 will witness Australia’s victory.

4:39pm Yadav Smacks Lyon for Six

Australia are only a moment away from victory but Yadav skies it and clears the boundary at deep long on.

4:40pm 2 Balls Later He Cannot clear the ropes and Australia WIN

This time Dave Warner flies through the air and catches it metres inside the boundary rope. India are all out for 169. Lyon gets his first wicket of the match and all the Australian bowlers have chipped in for this victory.

Australia win by 122 runs with a day to spare.

This is a huge victory for Australia. The Baggy Green’s trio of quicks were immense throughout this match. With Patrick Cummins and Ryan Harris to come back in, things are looking great for the Australian near future.

India meanwhile can point to two pivotal moments in the match that cost them. First of all their first innings collapse meant they trailed by 51 runs when they should have posted a lead of 50-100 themselves.

Second of all, the woeful captaincy of MS Dhoni having had a brilliant 15 minutes first thing this morning. Pattinson and Hilfenhaus added 43 in a vital last wicket partnership and they were chasing close to 300 rather than 250 tops.

It’s worthwhile noting the performance of three of the Indian top 6. Gambhir, Laxman and Kohli between them have only made cumulatively 3o runs for the entire match.

4:53 James Pattinson is confirmed as Man of the match

He produced 6/108 for the game and contributed 49 runs only being dismissed once.

Australia vs India Boxing Day Test Day 3, as it happens

David Siddall — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:24 +0000

India emphatically won day 2 of the Boxing Day Test but Australia will be enthused by the late wicket of Sachin Tendulkar and the heroics of Peter Siddle.

India have the upper hand and will look to build a substantial lead as it looks a fine day for batting at the MCG.

And Australia need wickets fast. Follow the day unfold here as we share with you the major plays of the day.

10.20 am Healy Segway Accident this Time

Fresh from the Segway hilarity from the plays of the day on day 2, Ian Healy tried his luck on the cricket equivalent of the unsinkable ship grinning from ear to ear proclaiming how easy it was to drive. Moments later he too went arse over tit in the process making himself look a right tit. When will they ever learn!

image: (c) stuff.co.nz

10.31 Ben Hilfenhaus bowls Rahul Dravid second ball of the day

How things have changed in a matter of moments! India went from 2-214 to 4-214 in a matter of minutes, albeit over two days.

Hilfenhaus, despite striking early on to dismiss Gambhir on day 2, was inconsistent and ineffective for much of the day. On day 3 he bowls an absolute jaffer to dismiss Rahul Dravid for 68 the second ball of the day. It came from absolutely nowhere and suddenly Australia are almost even-stevens in the match.

10:55 Cowan takes one to the face

Hilfenhaus bowls to Ishant Sharma who gets a thickish inside edge which should have been snaffled at short leg. Cowan, whose been in the wars with a sore back after his stoic batting on day 1, did not pick it up and it smacked him flush on the helmet.

Hilfenhaus is showing us he can be effective with the old ball as well as the new.

11:01pm Peter Siddle gets VVS Laxman caught behind in his first over of the day

Angry Peter Siddle bowls a ripper to VVS Laxman who is stranded on the crease and can only edge the ball to Brad Haddin. Laxman seems to get edgy if he takes a while to get off the mark and the pressure gets to him. That makes two wickets in two overs for Siddle and two wickets in Australian bowlers’ first overs for on day 3.

India are 5-221. Things have changed fast.

11.30 Hilfenhaus gets Virat kohli caught behind in his first over

After a brief interlude involving Nathan Lyon, Hilfenhaus comes back into the attack and finds Virat Kohli playing slightly loosely outside off stump who is caught behind once more. Three catches for Brad Haddin and three quick wickets for Australia have changed the whole complexion of this game.

Geoff Lawson on ABC Grandstand commentary slated Michael Clarke for bringing Lyon into the attack only minutes after Hilfenhaus took his first for the day and released the pressure momentarily for India.

India are 6/236 and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma looks like being stranded at this rate. Maybe India’s captain and talisman can reverse India’s fortunes.

11.35 Shoaib Naveed for Pak Passion shares an interesting video in the press box of Kamran Akmal producing quite a shady piece of keeping in the infamous Sydney Test

11.44pm Hilfenhaus strikes again as Dhoni plays loosely to the freshly taken new ball

That was a really loose shot from Dhoni. He played with hard hands, away from his body and the ball flew to Mike Hussey in the gully. Are India Australia in disguise? That is some collapse. They’ve now lost five wickets for 31 runs.

India are 7/245. 333 is looking a pretty rosy score for Australia. And Ishant Sharma is still deserted at the non-striker’s end.

12:07 James Pattinson has Ashwin plumb lbw but Umpire Erasmus has other ideas

This one is missing off, missing leg and cleaning up middle stump . Replays show it is a howler. That is another one for DRS watch.

The appeal was emphatic and it just looked out. But the decision goes in India’s favour once more.

12:10pm Hilfenhaus Ends Sharma’s Resistance and Claims five for

Ishant Sharma’s 103 minutes of resistance come to an end as Ben Hilfenhaus claims his first ever five wicket haaul in Test cricket. If yesterday he was struggling, today he has been nothing more than sensational.

Zaheer Khan comes to the crease as India are 8/254.

12:18 Erasmus gets it right

There is a huge appeal as Zaheer Khan is caught at short leg. But replays show it was flush off the thing pad. ABC Grandstand proclaim that DRS would have been on overdrive this Test match.

12:19 Pattinson bowls Zaheer Khan the very next ball

Khan is clearly unnerved by the previous delivery and attempts an audacious slog across the line only for James Pattinson to clean him up. India are now 9 down and have lost 7 wickets for 45 runs. That was a terrible shot. He shows no faith in Ashwin despite him getting a century vs the West Indies.

India’s partnerships from the 4th to 9th wkts yielded 45 runs, their poorest effort in almost 20 years.

This is incredible!

12:29 Ashwin Top edges Pattinson for Six

Vital runs for India as Ashwin top edges a sharp bouncer from Pattinson which flies over the keeper and goes for the maximum.

12:42 Peter Siddle wraps up the innings as Brad Haddin claims five for

7 wickets so far today for 60 runs as Peter Siddle draws the edge from Ashwin (an impressive 31) and the catch carries through to Brad Haddin who has five caught behinds for the innings.

That’s lunch. India are dismissed for 282 and trail Australia by 51.

1:20pm Australia Start the afternoon session leading by an unlikely 51 runs

Zaheer Khan is to bowl the first over. Can David Warner and Ed Cowan will be looking to put Australia even further in the box seat.

1;41pm Huge Shout as Khan Cannons into Cowan’s Pads

That was a massive shout. It looked pretty adjacent and only an inside edge would save him. Ian Gould says he hit it and replays and hawkeye prove Gould to be right. DRS Watch remains at 3:1 in favour of India as we speak.

1:50pm Dave Warner Chops on as Umesh Yadav Picks up where he left off

There are a lot of bowled wickets and a lot of chop on in this game so far. Dave warner is the latest to be dismissed in this way. The back of his bat has the sticker ‘Kaboom’ and that’s exactly what the ball does smashing into the timber.

Shaun Marsh comes to the crease on a pair with Australia 64 runs ahead. Australia 1-13.

1:54pm Ed Cowan Shoulders Arms and Yadav Traps him Plumb LBW

Now Cowan is gone. This is crazy. He shoulders arms to a Yadav thunderbolt that swung in late. There have now been 9 wickets for 84 runs in the day. The batsman’s paradise of the MCG is rapidly turning into a batsman’s graveyard.

This should have been the best batting day of the Test match but chaos is reigning.

Ricky Ponting comes to the crease and receives a standing ovation.

2:09pm Ponting produces the Shot of the Day as Ishant Comes into the Attack

He overtakes Steve Waugh for runs at the MCG with 1,285 and is now only second to Bradman himself. It was a majestic stroke played on his tip toes off the back foot, riding the bounce and stroking it to the point boundary.

The Sharma-Ponting dual is always an intriguing one. Sharma was arguably India’s most unlucky bowler in the first innings whose figures don’t reflect how well he bowled.

2:16pm Now Shaun Marsh Chops On

Shaun Marsh is the latest to chop on to a full pitched delivery from Yadav once more who now has 3-12. He’s been an absolute revelation and is proving to be India’s trump card as predicted in the Australia vs India Test series Preview. He currently has matched figures of 6-118 right now.

That’s now three of the Australia batsman who have played on in the match – Warner and Marsh this innings and Clarke in the first innings.

Speaking of Clarke, he comes to the middle with Australia 3-24.

2:23 Michael Clarke gets a Pair of Chopped on Dismissals as Ishant Strikes.

Welcome to crazy town. This is ridiculous. It’s 11-95 for the day and we are only half way through the afternoon session. Ishant bowls a full delivery and Clarke drives only to get the inside edge which cannons into his stumps.

You have to take your hat off to the Indian bowlers for pitching it fuller and attacking the stumps.

Mike Hussey comes into the crease on a pair and whips Sharma’s first ball through mid wicket for a couple and some momentary rest bite. Australia are 4-27.

This time yesterday Tendulkar and Dravid were giving a batting masterclass scoring runs for fun.

2:45 pm Mike Hussey Produces Exquisite Drive to bring up the Australian 50

The Mike Hussey leave appears to be back. But when he is offered a half volley from Ishant Sharma he crunches it to the cover boundary and produces another contender for shot of the day.

Australia desperately need a partnership and it’s the two oldies who need to fight for their and Australia’s lives.

2:47 Khan Traps Ponting Plumb LBW but is denied by Umpire Erasmus

That is another one for DRS Watch but this time it is most definitely in the favour of Australia. Khan comes on and wraps the pads of Ponting who gets a big stride in. Hawkeye shows that that is hitting the top of middle stump. That is a vital lifeline for Australia and this time India will be pissed off.

Meanwhile Mike Hussey cuts for four and moves onto 18 from 15 deliveries.

3:08 Ponting Shoulders Arms to Ashwin who has a huge appeal

There is a massive appeal as Ponting doesn’t play a shot. That one turned enough to hit the stumps but bounced that bit too much. Erasmus on this occasion makes the correct decision as the Hawkeye replay shows. A dangerous game for Ponting but he got away with it and is batting pretty well since his lifeline.

Hussey and Ponting are batting well in tandem as they look to get Australia out of a whole.

Here is a Hussey stat for you: once he reaches 20, he averages 77 from there on in. He’s currently on 24.

3:27pm And that’s tea, a fascinating session as Ponting and Hussey steady the ship

Cucumber sandwiches all round!

4:06pm Australia bring up their century after tea

The evening session is now in full swing as Australia bring up their century. It seems like it’s only those people over the age of 36 who know how to bat on this surface. Hussey and Ponting have taking the momentum out of India for now and a huge partnership is required for them to come out of this day in a commanding position.

Australia are currently 4-80.

4:22 Ricky Ponting Records back to back half-centuries

Punter times it beautifully off the back foot but the ball doesn’t quite make it to the boundary. They run four and Ricky Ponting records yet another half century.

He gets a standing ovation from the crowd and has batted wonderfully.

Now it is Mike Hussey’s turn to try his luck being only a boundary away. He drives down the ground against Ashwin and can only get three as a misfield took the pace off the ball. Runs starting to flow freely here…

4:25pm Hussey Records a 50

This is vintage cricket from the old-timers. He brings up his fifty in 73 balls as he moves his feet to Ashwin and times it through mid wicket. They run three and Australia, you’d have to say, are now again in the driving seat.

The ovation he got was incredible. As big as Ricky Ponting’s!

4:30pm Hussey and Ponting share a 100 Run Stand

They record their 100 run partnership off 144 balls.

Our colleague called it pretty well after Mike Hussey’s third ball at the crease. Hats off!

This pitch is flattening out and is starting to look like the road we once thought.

4:46 Zaheer Khan Strikes!

Just as it looked like this partnership was turning into a match-winning one, Zaheer Khan strikes in his first over back into the attack and gets Ponting caught in the gully by Sehwag. Ponting fails to convert either of his back to back fifties but still a vital knock there.

Half of the MCG are on their feet to clap him off the G for possibly the last time.

Brad Haddin comes to the crease. You wonder if he’ll play his natural game. He’s got five for today. Can he go on to make amends for yesterday’s errors. This is a seriously riveting Test.

Australia 5/142 lead by 193 runs.

He starts with a Haddinesque shot chipping to mid on for a rather fortunate two. Geoff Lawson is not impressed on the ABC Gradnstand who does not like “dumb cricket”. He then goes on to say the word ‘dumb’ ten times in as many seconds.

Bhogle adds…

“It’s a thin line between being bold and stupid”.

4:58 Haddin is Gone!

Brad Haddin does not last long. To a ball he could leave quite easily, he opens the face and guides the ball straight to VVS Laxman at second slip off the bowling of Khan. Now Australia are in deep shit…

But don’t fear. Into the middle comes Australia’s finest all-rounder of the moment – Peter Siddle. Australia need him to provide the same resilience he showed in the first innings so that Hussey can build a decent lead.

Australia are 6/149.

They need a repeat of that partnership vs Pakistan in Sydney. You can’t help but think that India won’t be offering them much though.

5:25pm Dravid drops a clanger at first slip, Hussey survives

That could be so costly. Dravid usually snaffles them at slip and this one was regulation. He seemed to have it but it popped out. Ashwin who hasn’t troubled Hussey all day did him there but can count himself extremly unlucky.

That’s pretty much the first real chance that Indian has dropped in this match.

Australia’s lead stands at 214.

5:29 Now Siddle Goes too! Yadav gets his man

Yadav steams in and gets some away movement off the pitch. Peter Siddle fences at it and MS Dhoni takes a great catch diving to his right with two hands (unlike Brad Haddin’s failed one-handed effort yesterday).

Nathan Lyon is promoted up the order ahead of Pattinson and Hilfenhaus. Michael Clarke is probably looking for a batsman to occupy the crease as opposed to the hitters.

Eight overs left in the day. Australia are 7/163. 40,556 people at the G today officially confirmed.

5:34pm A Direct hit and Lyon is gone!

Hussey cuts to point and immediately goes for two. Lyon is slow to react but luckily Zaheer misses the stumps and there is no one there to collect. Lucky escape there for Australia. Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! rings round the stadium.

5:39pm The Plan Fails as Ashwin gets Lyon with the Carrom Ball

Ashwin set Lyon up there. He bowled offie after offie and then finally followed it up with the one that goes the other way. Lyon attempts to play it to the leg side but is trapped in front. Shane Warne would have been proud of executing a plan as cunning as that.

Pattinson comes to the increase with Australia eight down for 166.

6:01pm And that’s Stumps. Australia finish on 8/179 with a lead of 230.

Who does this day belong to? Well, it was another batting masterclass from some wily veterans, sandwiched between more batting collapses.

Australia having knocked over India cheaply in the morning would have envisaged being in a better spot come the close of play.

They’ll look to build a lead of 275+ to be overwhelming favourites tomorrow. You’d think they’ll need a lead of at least 250 to be competitive. There are no demons in this pitch. There are no demons in this pitch.

Day four is set to be a cracker.

Check out Blaise Murphet’s View from the Press Box on Day 3

Join me for more action as it happens on day four!

Australia vs India Boxing Day Test, Plays of the Day: Day 2

David Siddall — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:11:04 +0000

lead image (c) The Age

Here is the play by play of a dramatic day of cricket on day 2 at the Boxing Day test.

1. Brad Haddin has yet another brain fade

Australia started the day on 6/277 knowing that they were a good 100-150 runs short of a decent total on a good deck for batting at the MCG. India started the day knowing that if they could make one breakthrough, then they should be able to wrap up the Australian tail in quick-time. Brad Haddin, having admirably batted out the last hour of the evening session on day 1 with Peter Siddle, threw it away yet again with a string of loose shots outside off stump. Off the bowling of Zaheer Khan (4-77), Haddin eventually fell caught in the gully by Virender Sehwag, who in typical fashion did not move his feet.

With yet another brain fart from Haddin, Australia’s resilience was broken and they posted a competitive but perhaps under par total.

2. Channel 9 Segway Driver KOs self and gives away 5 runs

Having mopped up the Aussie tail, the Indians managed to make it to lunch unscathed. Moments before the resumption of the afternoon session the crowd were treated to the most comedic moment of the day. After cameramen driving segways proved a big hit with Fox Sports and the Big Bash League, the Channel 9 team decided to employ them at Test matches too with dramatic consequenes.

The cameraman cannot see where they are going as they film but trust there is nothing on the field. Unbeknown to this particular cameraman was that Australia had brought out a helmet and placed it behind the wicket keeper. He went arse over tit and provided the MCG faithful with a moment of slapstick gold.

Watch the full video

3. Virender Sehwag brings up 8,000 test runs but fails to punish Australian errors

8,000 runs in Test Cricket at an average of 52 is a hugely impressive haul. When you consider how quickly they come and how rapidly they transform a Test match it becomes even more impressive. Having reached his fifty at a decent lick, Australia dropped him twice but weren’t punsihed. First, off the bowling of Nathan Lyon, David Warner dropped a difficult chance at deep mid on. Then only 8 runs later Brad Haddin dropped an absolute sitter diving in front of first slip off the bowling of James Pattinson. The ball clanged straight into his wrist and dropped agonisingly in front of first slip.

James Pattinson then took matters into his own hands with further aggressive deliveries as Virender Sehwag chopped onto his stumps out for 67.

Sehwag’s wicket was crucial as it was right before tea. And in the context of the game, it wasn’t as costly as it could have been.

4. Sachin Uppercuts First Ball after Tea for Six Runs

The 51,00o strong crowd of the MCG almost took the roof off when Sachin Tendulkar came out to the middle. Having survived the Australian mind games of facing Mike Hussey first up before tea, Sachin Tendulkar, on two not out, proceeded to uppercut Peter Siddle over the slips for six runs first ball after tea.

It proved to be a sign of things to come in the afternoon session.

5. Two Highest Run-Getters in Test Cricket Share a Sublime Partnership

Not only are Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid the highest run scorers in Test cricket, but of their combined 27,000 runs, 6,734 have come in partnership together.

To watch them bat in tandem was a mesmerising sight. Highlights included a shot across the line from Dravid, slog-sweeping for a couple and some exquisite straight drives from Sachin combined with some more flamboyant fodder.

Dravid steady. Tendulkar fluent. By the time Tendulkar was dismissed, their 117 run partnership had tilted the game firmly in India’s direction.

6. Peter Siddle Smashes Through “The Wall” but oversteps

Australia were on the back foot for the majority of the afternoon session as Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar brought up their 20th 100 partnership together. At 2-202 to say they needed a break through is perhaps the biggest understatement imaginable.

Peter Siddle, the unluckiest bowler in world cricket, steamed in and broke through The Wall’s defences cannoning into his pegs. Umpire Erasmus asks to refer the decision to see if Peter Siddle had overstepped. To the crowd’s bemusement he had and despite Peter Siddle steaming in as quick as smoke was coming out of his ears, it marked a tragic moment for Australia.

7. Peter Siddle Shatters Sachin’s Quest for 100 Hundreds and Cricket Australia’s Wet Dream in the Final Over of the Day

Peter Siddle continued to steam in and bowls an absolute jaffer to shatter Sachin Tendulkar’s stumps and piss of Cricket Australia’s bonfire and a grandstand crowd in day 3.

The day belongs to India but Peter Siddle is the man for the Melbourne faithful. Please see the lead image for a sign of what Peter Siddle produced in a gripping finale.

India resume tomorrow on 3/214.

Further reading

A View from the Press Box, Day 2, Boxing Day test

Australia vs India Boxing Day DRS Watch

David Siddall — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:21:44 +0000

Australia ended day one of the Boxing Day Test on 6/277 with honours relatively even. However a fantastic day of cricket was overshadowed by controversy surrounding the DRS as the umpires made two howlers and one more dubious decision along the win. Much of the media coverage centred upon debate surrounding the not-in-use system. For example check out Jonathan Howcroft’s DRS Dispute Overshadows Even Test and Alan Gardner of the Guardian going with Australia undone by lack of DRS.

In light of the controversy, here at WorldCricketWatch.com we’ll be doing a feature called ‘DRS Watch’ which aims to track the debate across the entire series. The current score is….

DRS WATCH: AUSTRALIA 4 INDIA 3

DRS Watch Melbourne, Boxing Day Test, Day 1

Incident 1: Zaheer Khan to Mike Hussey

Umpire Erasmus gives Mike Hussey out caught behind first ball off a sharpish bouncer from Zaheer Khan. DRS technology shows the ball flicked Hussey’s shirt and missed the ball by a long, long way.

Decision goes in favour of: India

Incident 2: Ravi Ashwin to Ed Cowan

Umpire Gould gives Ed Cowan out caught behind trying to force it off the back foot. Dhoni takes the catch and the finger goes up instantaneously. The not-in-use technology proves inconclusive with no edge evident and nothing on hotspot. There was a sound on the audio but Cowan seemed to miss it.

Decision goes in favour of: India

Incident 3: Zaheer Khan to Brad Haddin

Umpire Erasmus gives Haddin not out despite him being trapped right in front of middle with the ball going on to hit half way up middle stump. This time around it is Australia who get a lifeline.

Decision goes in favour of: Australia

DRS Watch Melbourne, Boxing Day Test, Day 2

Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test lacked the controversy surrounding the DRS that dominated much of day 1. Whilst there wasn’t a wrong decision in the day, there was nevertheless a moment of contention.

Incident 4: Peter Siddle to Rahul Dravid

Peter Siddle bowls Rahul Dravid but Umpire Erasmus refers the possible no-ball. Replays confirmed he had overstepped.

Decision made is eventually correct

DRS Watch Melbourne, Boxing Day Test, Day 3

Incident 5: Pattinson to Ashwin

James Pattinson hits Ashwin in line and the Hawkeye technology shows that ball was cleaning up middle stump. Umpire Erasmus once more is reluctant to put up the finger and India get the rub of the green once more. They won’t mind too much though as they’ve demolished India in the morning session having started the day way behind.

Decision goes in favour of: India

Incident 6: Khan to Ponting

This time it is most definitely in the favour of Australia. Khan comes on and wraps the pads of Ponting who gets a big stride in. Umpire Erasmus once more chooses to give it not out as appears to be his mantra. Hawkeye shows that that is hitting the top of middle stump. That is a vital lifeline for Australia and this time India will be pissed off.

Decision goes in favour of: Australia

DRS Watch Melbourne, Boxing Day Test, Day 4

Incident 7: Yadav to Hussey

India appeal emphatically from behind the wicket but Umesh Yadav’s heart isn’t really in it as his is more of a stifled appeal. Umpire Erasmus gives it not out but replays and Hawkeye show that one should have been given. That puts DRS watch at 3-3 now. Even stevens. Just like this match!

Decision goes in favour of: Australia

Incident 8: Yadav to Hussey

Dhoni catches it down the leg side and there is a huge shout. Erasmus gives it not out but hotspot shows that Hussey edged it. He was falsely given two lifelines at such a vital stage of the match and that makes it 4-3 on the DRS Watch in favour of Australia now.

Decision goes in favour of: Australia

DRS WATCH SCORES ON THE DOORS: AUSTRALIA 4 INDIA 3

Where do you stand on the DRS Debate?

Australia vs India, Boxing Day Test, Day 1 as it happened

David Siddall — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:59:44 +0000

15 Minutes of Madness Swings Game Dramatically in India’s Direction

At five o’clock, Australia were sitting handsomely on 3/205 as their captain and debutant stodgy opening batsman looked untroubled and likely to seal a dominant day for the baggy green in front of 70,000 festive revellers.

By quarter past five, the game had irrefutably swung in India’s direction as three wickets fell in quick succession.

First to go was Michael Clarke (34) who was done by the old one-two from Zaheer Khan. His first delivery pitched just outside off, swung further away and beat his outside edge. Khan’s next delivery offered more width but swung back in cramping Clarke who could only chop on to his stumps.

The next ball Khan bent his back to surprise Mike Hussey. The bouncer was sharp at 135kmph compared with Zaheer’s slow morning standards and appeared to catch the glove of Mr. Cricket through to MS Dhoni. The appeal was emphatic. And Umpire Erasmus’s finger went up despite replays and the not-in-use UDRS showing he’d missed the ball by some distance.

Right off the back of his worst two Test series in his career, Hussey’s run of bad luck continues. Since January 2008, he has as many ducks (12) as the world XI number XI batsman Chris Martin.

Third of the trio to go was the debutant Ed Cowan. The naturalized Tasmanian, who took up his spot opening the batting for Australia rather than sinking beers in the crowd for his mate’s Bucks Party as originally planned, had looked to bat out the entire day.

He made the bowlers come to him and batting at his own pace with a composure Philip Hughes could only dream of. Testament to his temperament were the two periods of 34 minutes he went scoreless. Any other batsman in the current setup would not have been able to keep as level a head. 14 off 61 balls at lunch, 50 off 120 balls and 68 off 177 when he eventually fell are a perfect example of how to occupy the crease and accumulate for a big innings.

Tireless Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin got Australia’s unlikely danger man with his first genuinely good delivery of the day. Cowan tried to force it on the back foot but the ball turned and bounced appearing to catch the edge of the bat through to the keeper.

Umpire Erasmus raised his finger immediately but Cowan didn’t look too impressed. The not-in-use UDRS technology proved inconclusive with no hotspot or snicko evident. On the live audio feed there was definitely a sound as Cowan played away from his body.

The UDRS debate could rear its ugly head yet again.

Previously at the MCG

Earlier in the day Australian skipper Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat despite massive storms in Melbourne the day prior and the dreary and ominous looking overhead conditions.

David Warner started the morning session positively making a chanceless 37 off 49 balls before the constant Melbourne drizzle forced the players off. Melbourne’s reputation for four seasons in a day was then evident as the drizzle stopped as soon as the covers were on.

First ball after the short rain break Umesh Yadav cramped Warner with a bouncer only for him to glove it to a relieved MS Dhoni. Yadav would then claim the wicket of Shaun Marsh, fresh from his scorching 99 not out in the Big Bash lead. An inviting length drew Marsh into the shot and he fell for a duck caught at backward point by Virat Kohli.

Australia were 2/67 at lunch, as more drizzle came down throughout the break. Honours even.

The afternoon session, once it kicked out, belonged emphatically to Australia. Ponting and Cowan batted in tandem for a partnership of 113. Ricky Ponting’s 62 was his most authoritative knock for a year or more. He too fell to the at-times-brilliant Yadav.

After Michael Clarke and Ed Cowan put on 46 for the fourth wicket, it was Zaheer Khan who took centre stage, reminding the world of his mastery at bowling the older ball.

Yet Another Swing or Maybe Even a See-Saw

Whilst the game had swung most definitely in India’s favour by 5:15, Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle had other ideas about the possibility of yet another all-too-often Australian collapse putting on an unbeaten 63 for the seventh wicket.

Sure they had a bit of luck as Khan had Haddin plumb lbw, but the Sun shines on the righteous as play ends at 6:50pm to glorious sunshine at the MCG.

It’s all to play for on day 2.