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