lead image (c) Darren Pateman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And then came Cronje-gate.

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

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

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

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

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough

Michael Vaughan by Max Benson

Graham Dilley by James Morgan

VVS Laxman by Minal

lead image: (c) guardian.co.uk

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

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

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

November, 1996 Motera – Ahmedabad Vs South Africa

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have you watched…

The raindrops fall on your window sill

The dewdrops slide down from a leaf

The flowers blossom in the morning sunshine

The sun set into the ocean wide

The moonlight on a pitch dark night

The snowflakes rest into your palm

The river find her way gently through the rocks

The rainbow spread far into the sky

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

Have You Watched VVS Laxman Bat?

Previous Favourite Cricketers

Brian Lara by David Siddall

Allan Border by Ben Roberts

Douglas Jardine by David Green

Curtly Ambrose by Matthew Wood

Sachin Tendulkar by Subash Jayaraman

Ian Botham by Jonathan Kilroy

Shane Warne by Murray Middleton

Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

Wasim Akram by Blaise Murphet

Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Angus Fraser by James Marsh

Paul Allott by Jonathan Howcroft

Tim Bresnan by Yorkshire Len

Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

David Boon by Jimi Stephens

Herschelle Gibbs by Justin Lawrence

Bob Woolmer by Nigel Henderson

Darren Lehmann by Daniel Gray

Kumar Sangakkara by Nishant Joshi

Justin Langer by Sarah C Robinson

Andy Bichel by Nicko Hancock

Chris Tavare by Gideon Haigh

Gavin Larsen by Ken Miller

Ray Bright by Dan Lonergan

Chris Pringle by Michael Wagener

Anil Kumble by Rishabh Bablani

Shoaib Akhtar by Assad Hasanain

Stuart MacGill by Kristian Gough

Michael Vaughan by Max Benson

Graham Dilley by James Morgan

lead image (c) telegraph.co.uk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That will just be epic…..