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One-time Test batter suffered symptoms after a blow to the head in a 2nd XI game last week

Alex Malcolm01-Feb-2024Will Pucovski has been ruled out of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia after experiencing delayed concussion symptoms after a blow to the head in a 2nd XI game last week.Pucovski, 25, was struck on the head attempting a pull shot off South Australia quick David Grant in a match at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide and was forced to retire hurt. However, he passed his initial concussion tests and was cleared to resume batting. He went on to make 89 from 146 balls to help set up a Victoria win but he was subbed out of the match after the first innings as a precaution ahead of the Shield season recommencing this week.However, Victoria did not name Pucovski in their 13-man squad to face South Australia at the Junction Oval starting on Saturday with Cricket Victoria’s head of male cricket David Hussey revealing that he had suffered delayed concussion symptoms.Related

• Will Pucovski joins Leicestershire on short-term deal

• Sam Harper hospitalised after blow to the head

• Pucovski able to resume batting after retiring hurt due to helmet blow

“Will passed the relevant tests following the knock in Adelaide last week but has subsequently experienced symptoms over the following days,” Hussey said. “We’ve spoken to our medical staff and the advice is clear that he won’t be able to play this match. While he’s in otherwise good spirits, it’s important that Will focuses on recovering with the support of our broader team.”It is estimated that Pucovski has had up to a dozen concussions in his career dating back to playing multiple sports as a junior. It was hoped he would have an uninterrupted run this summer for Victoria having spent the winter playing club cricket in England. He played five of the first six Shield games before the BBL break but did miss one against Queensland as part of his ongoing management.Since making his debut for Victoria in February 2017, Pucovski has not managed to play a full domestic season. The closest he has come was the 2019-20 season where he played the first half of the summer for Victoria, four List A and six Shield matches, before taking an indefinite break in December of that summer and not returning until the 2020-21 season.Pucovski has signed a short-term deal to play for Leicestershire in the first five games of the County Championship season starting in April.In better news for Victoria, wicketkeeper Sam Harper has been cleared to play after suffering a horrific head injury at Melbourne Stars training in the later stages of the BBL. Harper ramped a ball into his throat while batting in the nets and was sent to hospital. He missed the last three games of the BBL with a severe concussion but has been cleared to play against South Australia.”Sam has completed all stages of the medical return to play,” Hussey said. “He has no ongoing symptoms and feels confident ahead of Saturday’s game.”Victoria’s Shield captain Will Sutherland and allrounder Matt Short are unavailable after being included in Australia’s ODI squad for the three-match series against West Indies. Victoria’s 50-over captain Peter Handscomb will lead the side in Sutherland’s absence.Nic Maddinson has been named to play his first Shield game of the season after missing the early part of the summer due to a knee injury. Scott Boland also returns after being carefully managed before the BBL due to his inclusion in the Test squad but he did not play any of Australia’s five home Tests across the summer.Victoria Sheffield Shield squad vs South Australia: Peter Handscomb (capt), Scott Boland, Xavier Crone, Sam Elliott, Marcus Harris, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Nic Maddinson, Jon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Mitch Perry, Tom Rogers

Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson played the percentages well, while the Indian seamers erred in not making the batsmen play enough

S Rajesh06-Jul-2005The last time India and New Zealand played a Test match here, seven wickets fell in the first session, and 13 by close of play on the first day. The script ran along very different lines today, primarily because of the nature of the pitch, but also because of New Zealand’s discipline with the bat and the Indian bowlers’ inconsistency.Both Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson played the percentages, leaving plenty of deliveries outside off – a strategy which brought them rich rewards against Glenn McGrath in Australia in 2001-02. Among the bowlers on view today, Zaheer Khan was the worst offender at the start: almost 50% of his deliveries (26 out of 54) in the first session did not require the batsmen to play a stroke. L Balaji was more accurate to begin with – 19 out of 49 balls he bowled before lunch were left alone – but by close of play both bowlers had wasted more than 40% of their deliveries. Richardson ended up letting go a quarter of the deliveries he faced – 73 out of 284.

Vincent’s innings was characterised by his excellence off the back foot. The contrast against his front-foot play was especially stark in the first session – 28 from 31 balls when playing back, and 1 from 49 deliveries when playing forward. In his entire innings, Vincent ended up scoring at more than a run a ball off the back foot – 77 off 67 balls. Is there a lesson there for the Indian bowlers when they bowl to him next?

Australia are pioneering a new brand of one-day cricket, and South Africa are not far behind. Power Cricket is here

Sambit Bal25-Apr-2007

Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, Australia are playing South Africa. Balls will fly into the stands, fielders will move like lightning, sliding and diving, throws will be rifled in from 70 yards, and batsmen will find inexhaustible supplies of energy not only to muscle the ball beyond the ropes, but to continue charging between the wickets till the very end.The above scenario might or might not play itself out in St Lucia on Wednesday. The pitch could be slow and low, it could break up, it could turn and it could be a low-scoring game. But there will be no let up in intensity. Australia are pioneering a new brand of one-day cricket, and South Africa are not far behind. Power Cricket is here.Power cricket does not merely mean hitting the ball hard and long. It means keeping up an unrelenting stream of aggression and incredibly high level of intensity, and pushing the limits of physical prowess and human endurance. It means marrying a strong body with an equally strong mind.In March 2006, Australia and South Africa were involved in an epic one-day match which South Africa won chasing 434. Eighty-seven fours and 26 sixes were hit. Ricky Ponting scored 164 off 105 balls only to be outshone by Herschelle Gibbs’ 175 off 111. The match was considered a freak, never to be bettered again.Almost a year later, they met again. Australia batted first and scored 377. In response, South Africa were 160 for 1 in the 21st over. It was a direct hit from Shane Watson from the backward square-leg boundary that ran out AB de Villiers and changed the tempo of the game; Graeme Smith cramped and South Africa ended at 294. If the pitch plays true in St Lucia, no one knows what score will be safe.It’s not a change that has come overnight. Australia have been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries for years. In 1987, under the leadership of Bob Simpson and Allan Border, they perfected the art of total cricket, mastering stealing and saving the singles. Under Steve Waugh, they lifted the pace of Test cricket. Under Ponting, they are taking one-day cricket to another level.They are closely followed by South Africa. Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, minces no words. “It is a power-based game now,” he says, “it’s all about being aggressive and having the confidence to take risks.” It was a path he and Smith chose when Arthur joined the national team two years go. They reckoned if South Africa were to stay a force in the limited-overs arena they had to change their brand of play.

“It was called brave cricket then,” Arthur says, “and it has become an over-used term. But that’s what it is. It is a game based on the confidence to hit over the top, the confidence to take the sweepers on, and while bowling, having the confidence to go for wickets all the time. We are always looking to strike, with both bat and the ball.”It’s a spirit embodied whole-heartedly by Smith. In South Africa’s must-win match against England, Smith and de Villiers came out needing to score just over three an over, but there was not even a pretence of trying to play out the first few overs safely. The second yielded 14 and from then on, South Africa galloped at more than eight an over. de Villiers was dismissed trying to play a shot too many and it was the cue for Smith to step up a gear. Monty Panesar was bludgeoned for two fours, and a few overs later, Andrew Flintoff was spanked for three more. His 89 came off 58 balls and contained a dozen forays down the wicket.Smith is a big man with shoulders and forearms designed to hit. But de Villiers and Mark Boucher have been revelations. They are both small men, but they clear the rope with relish and effortlessness. In the Super Eights game against West Indies, de Villiers injured his calf just after he got to his hundred. He hobbled on, however, hitting four sixes and three fours in the next 15 balls, grimacing and collapsing to the ground after every effort. It seemed like madness, but there was serious method in it.There is a lot going for the power hitters. Small boundaries and high quality bats are big factors. If Viv Richards had the modern bat, Ian Chappell says, they would have had to fetch a lot of balls from out of the park. Chappell had a chat with Andrew Symonds recently and Symonds told him that the quality of the bats had become far superior in the last couple of years.

In Australia’s Super Eights match against West Indies, Matthew Hayden, who has belted three hundreds so far, charged down the pitch to Marlon Samuels, and found himself a couple of feet away from the ball. Struggling and almost kneeling, he managed somehow to reach and scoop out the ball with one hand. It sailed over long-on for six. “That was so bloody unfair,” Chappell says. “If a spinner beats the batsman in the air, the ball has to at least stay within the ropes, even if it doesn’t end as a catch.”But short boundaries and the big bats are not the creation of players. Australians, South Africans, and, to an extent, New Zealanders, have been smart enough to consciously develop their game to take full advantage of the changes. And the concept of power cricket goes beyond batting. It’s a predatory approach that involves all aspects of the game. If either India or Pakistan had been on the field instead of South Africa at St Kitts, Australia would have perhaps ended at 430. It is unimaginable that the Indian or Pakistani fielders would have been quick enough to save the boundaries on the short, straight field that the South Africans did.Arthur recognises the advantage. “Some of the teams of the subcontinent and England are playing far too a conservative game,” he said. An Indian player echoed the sentiments. “The one-day is running away from us,” he said. “If we don’t step up a gear, we’ll be left behind.”One team from the subcontinent seems to have learnt its lesson quickly. Sri Lanka have not abandoned their natural game. They are still wristy, they still rely on timing and touch. But they are fitter, they run quickly between the wickets, they save runs, and they have bowlers who hunt for wickets. They look contemporary. It’s no surprise that Sri Lanka have made it to their second World Cup final.

Nicole Faltum has been impressive for Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL, but a way into the Australia national team looks some way away still

Ekanth12-Dec-2025Nicole Faltum is a wicketkeeper’s wicketkeeper. She can break down and put back together elements of her game in detail, be it the technicalities of being behind the stumps or the tactical nuances in front of them. She is also sharp when it comes to rationing her attention for the right elements.Having batted in every position, she has enjoyed promotions in the batting order, and shown the responsibility and the ability to score consistently as it helps her contribute with match-winning performances and have an impact on games. And yet she has had to learn just how good she is from reliable external sources.”I probably still struggle with it now, to be honest,” 25-year-old Faltum tells ESPNcricinfo about her confidence levels, particularly with the bat. “You always know that you can do something, but every athlete, and every female athlete, especially, at times, really struggles with their self-confidence, and probably you don’t realise how talented or how good you are until other people tell you, or you get the backing from other people. I think everybody struggles with it. Probably their whole careers, to be fair.”While batting has made her a mainstay for Melbourne Renegades, it was her wicketkeeping that got her into Melbourne Stars back in WBBL 2017-18. In her first two seasons, she took five catches and effected ten stumpings.She credits her success to the bowlers, like Alana King, whom Faltum kept to in her early days, as well as strength and conditioning coach Richard Johnson, former Renegades assistant coach Adam Crosthwaite and current high-performance manager Wade Seccombe for her evolution.Nicole Faltum has come through the system in Australia, but playing for Australia might be some way away•Getty ImagesOver time, she has honed a customised keeping technique combining Australian and English styles. The English style involves “standing back from the stumps, they’re quite tall,” Faltum says.”They don’t really go into that deep squat and don’t have heaps of footwork, where traditionally [in the] Australian style, [you’re] getting down really low to the floor, getting your hands on the ground in a deep squat, and then having lots of footwork. I’ve tried to hybrid those two techniques, and just try and find one that is really efficient and works for me.”Her technique factors in variables for fingerspinners and wristspinners, and her priority is to make space for herself and let her reflexes do the rest.”The way that I try to approach it is just expecting and wanting the ball,” Faltum says. “When you’re keeping to legspinners, you’re thinking it’s going to beat the outside edge a lot more and probably anticipating the ball [in that direction], but then, to the offspinners, it’s probably more likely to come through the gate or beat the inside edge. So, [you’re] just preparing yourself for all the different scenarios. But, at the end of the day, it’s really just watching and reacting.”A lot of it is reflex, and just being able to react to that bounce. Your set-up and your technique does help a fair bit with that. In my opinion, there’s so many different styles and types of keeping, and there’s so many different ways of doing it. My technique is just all about creating space. So if my set-up allows me to be able to move and create space for bounce, but then it also allows me to get low balls or wide balls, then, yeah, I think that’ll hold you in good stead.”

“My technique is just all about creating space. So if my set-up allows me to be able to move and create space for bounce, but then it also allows me to get low balls or wide balls, then, yeah, I think that’ll hold you in good stead”Nicole Faltum on her wicketkeeping style

It has been a long journey from when she debuted for Stars as a “specialist fielder” in 2017. She batted at No. 9, a fact she recalls with a chuckle. At the time, she was “excited just to play, and finally live out my dream.”Cut to the previous WBBL season, where Faltum scored 136 runs at a strike rate of 134. She backed that up to become the fourth-highest scorer for Renegades this season. She was also promoted to open against Sydney Sixers in Renegades’ final game of 2025 with their season on the line. While she didn’t click on the day, the fact that she was promoted shows the faith her captain and coach have in her.State cricket for Victoria has also helped her find her stride. She got promoted to open the batting, a move that boosted her belief in herself and confidence in her skills.”I love cricket. I love batting. So my theory was, if I can face as many balls as possible, then hopefully that can translate to making as many runs as possible,” she says. “So much of batting does come down to watching the ball and reacting to the ball, but I feel if you’re one step ahead of the game, and you kind of know what the game requires, and what you need to do, it just takes a lot of elements away.”Over the last couple of seasons, just when I’ve been able to really contribute and see some scores, and, especially in one-day cricket, by having a little bit more responsibility at the top of the order, and opening the batting, and being able to consistently score runs. I feel like that’s really helped with my confidence.”The presence of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney means there is no role for an additional wicketkeeper-batter in the national team•ICC via Getty ImagesLet go by Stars in 2023 to lifting the WBBL title the very next year with Renegades, Faltum has gained perspective from both experiences. She is as positive as she is pragmatic about her goals – in the short-term, to contribute to every team she represents and win the WBBL again.Faltum’s dream of winning back-to-back WBBLs with Renegades wasn’t meant to be this season. Her journey towards those goals though continues, one deep squat at a time, accounting for turn and bounce along the way.Beyond that, she wants to complete her degree in business and play for Australia. That might still be a little while away with Alyssa Healy the incumbent and Beth Mooney her accomplished back-up. The upside for Faltum is that she has in-game experience thanks to ‘A’ tours, and she has interacted with Healy and Mooney.”Both of them have been amazing with their time and so generous in helping me, which I’m extremely grateful for,” Faltum says. “I had a few rough games at the start of the season in the WBBL and Beth Mooney was one of the first people to reach out and message, and just offered her support. She is such a kind human who is willing to help out.”Sophie Molinuex, Renegades’ captain, also happens to be Faltum’s favourite bowler to keep to.
“She’s got such a good cricket brain,” Faltum says. “I feel like she’s one step ahead of the batters, which is really cool when you’re standing behind the stumps to watch, especially when you’re thinking about the game yourself and different situations and scenarios, when you can really tell, ‘yeah, you’re playing under a really good captain’.”

Daniel Vettori talks about the brotherhood of spinners, captaincy, his all-round capabilities, left-armers, and an unwanted nickname

Interview by Utpal Shuvro19-Jan-2008

After having made your Test debut at 18, how far have you come in your career?
I suppose I was a little bit lucky with the selection at that time. At 38, Dipak Patel was close to the end of his career. They were looking for someone new and I had done well in the Under-19 tournaments. Steve Rixon watched me in my first first-class match and thought I had done enough and gave me a chance. It was pretty nerve-wracking, but pretty exciting as well to get a chance to play for your country at 18.Your emergence coincided with the golden age of spin bowling. There were a lot of quality spinners around – Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq. Now Warne has retired and Muralitharan and Kumble are nearing the ends of their career. Do you think the golden age of spin is also coming to an end?
It’s hard to say. Those three were pretty exceptional bowlers, and when you throw in the likes of Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mustaq, you get arguably five of the greatest spinners to play the game. When you take those numbers of players out of the equation, it’s obviously not going to be as good as it was.But you’ve still got some wonderful bowlers around the world. I love watching Harbhajan Singh bowl. Danish Kaneria is a fantastic bowler – probably doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves. So there are still some good bowlers playing. But when you take Warne and Muralitharan out of the equation, obviously you are leaving a big gap.Of all the great spinners of your time, who did you look up to?
I love watching spin bowlers bowling, no matter who it is. But probably Warne was at the top of the list. Warne was always the most exciting to watch. I loved the way he played the game, loved his ability to work players out, and over a period of time generally dismiss them. I love watching Muralitharan just for his natural ability. Kumble as well. I love to watch the way Kumble and Harbhajan bowl in tandem, particularly in their own conditions. Also, when they go overseas and changes have to be made. I think I am a fan more than anything when I watch the spinners.About Warne, it was not only his bowling: the way he came to bowl, the way he appealed, he created a sense of theatre around him.
I think he worked everything out. He worked out how to get a batsman with the ball, and how to get the decisions from the umpires when he needed to. I think it’s the overall package. He was just a master doing everything he needed to do to dismiss a batsman.When you lose a great like him, you inevitably lose a little bit of colour. But people always come in and step into the fold. Every time a great retires, people worry that something is gone out of the game. But generally someone steps up, and you will see someone … maybe not take his place, but step up to lift the game.

You’ve described yourself as a fan of spin bowling. During the ICC Super Series in Australia, I saw you, Warne, Muralitharan and [Stuart] MacGill have a great time together. Do the spinners see themselves as a community? Do you share secrets?
I think the spinners do feel like that. Whenever you go to a dressing room and have a beer after the game, it’s normally a fellow spinner you love to see and chat about things with. I think there is a mutual appreciation – how everyone does his craft, how hard it can be sometimes and how funny other times. You will generally find that spinners will get together whenever they get an opportunity.
Some share secrets, some don’t. Muralitharan is more than happy to tell you anything. He has always been very good to talk to. Maybe the reason is that he knows no one else can do the things he does.
() Maybe, maybe. But he has always been fantastic to talk to. And anything you need or want out of him, he is more than happy to give. I think, like I said, it comes from [being part of the] fan base. I think the spinners love watching other spinners bowl. He also enjoys it when another spinner gets smashed around a little bit, which makes his job a touch easier. I guess it’s the fan thing more than anything.Do you agree that left-arm spinners are the least glamorous of the lot?
I think it’s because normally left-arm spinners are sort of gangly guys who can’t field and don’t really bat much. So people think that’s all the left-arm spinner does – bowling. But there are a few exceptions these days.I don’t think it [the preconception] is as prevalent in this day and age, except that more people are following the Warne mantle with the legspin. Then you have seen what Muralitharan has done with the ability to bowl the . I think that’s a little bit more exciting than just bowling the left-arm fingerspin. But you see some new guys coming in too. Monty Panesar has done exceptionally well. It shows that you can be successful at Test cricket by bowling left-arm spin. Daniel Vettori is certainly not that gangly guy who can only bowl. You have got two Test centuries and recently completed the double of 200 wickets and 2000 runs. Do you consider yourself an allrounder?
Yeah, I think so. In the last four to five years, my average in Test cricket has been really pleasing for me. I have put together consistent scores. It’s something that I really worked hard on. I am disappointed about my inability to bat for longer periods in the early part of my career – something that I had to rectify. I have managed to do that in the last few years and get to a stage to be considered an allrounder and get chances to bat higher in the order. But I am pretty comfortable at No. 8 at the moment.Has there been any batsman you have bowled to and wished you were not there?
It has happened a few times. It always depends on the size of the ground. When you have got a smaller one, you are a little bit discordant. [Adam] Gilchrist has always been exceptionally tough to bowl to. He is aggressive and does not seem to hold back. Rahul Dravid … not a nightmare, but I always just found it difficult to bowl to him. He doesn’t tear you to pieces or smash you all over the park, but you just think you are never going to get him out.Are you enjoying the captaincy?
Yes, it’s going well so far. I had a difficult baptism in South Africa and Australia, where we weren’t able to play up to our level. Accordingly we lost a majority of the games. Came back home and had a good series against Bangladesh, which we were expected to win.We are playing some good cricket at the moment, but I suppose the test for us and my captaincy is the England series that’s coming up. There are a lot of expectations around. I think that’s when I will find out if I am enjoying the captaincy or have the temperament for the job. At the moment I think I am enjoying it. I have a good group around me, particularly Brendon McCullum, the vice-captain. That makes it a little bit easier. Let’s see how it goes.

Does having a former captain of the stature of Stephen Fleming help? Or does it put extra pressure on you?
I played all my ten years basically under Stephen’s captaincy. I think it’s one of the reasons that I succeeded at times, the way he captained me and captained the team. I know he is disappointed that his term did not continue. But it’s pretty exciting to still have him in the team and having his knowledge around the group.As a bowling captain do you find that at times you run the risk of under-bowling or over-bowling yourself?
I think so. The tag on most bowling captains is that they under-bowled themselves; it’s not often you hear that they over-bowled. I think I have got the balance reasonably right. You don’t always get it right, but as long as you never back away from a tough situation, and make sure that you are the one in the hardest spot to bowl, I think most people will respect you as a bowler and as a captain. I think stepping away from those tough situations is probably not the right thing for a captain, particularly if you are a bowler.Do you like your nickname, Harry Potter?
() Only the Australian girls call me Harry Potter, and that’s normally sandwiched between a couple of swear words. None of my team-mates call me that.

“We weren’t as bad as that,” Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, said after a scrappy but ultimately comfortable win over Hong Kong

Osman Samiuddin in Karachi24-Jun-2008

“We weren’t as bad as that,” Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, said after a scrappy but ultimately comfortable win over Hong Kong. “You forgot my 35?” If it has come to valuing 35s against Hong Kong and not being too concerned at a collapse that left them 161 for 7, then clearly something, somewhere is not quite right.At worst, Pakistan were poor and at best just complacent, nowhere more than in their top order. It is not a weak batting line-up, but falling for under 200 against India in the Kitply Cup, then scoring over 300 against them in the next game and then imploding today screams out a basic inconsistency.”You cannot underestimate anyone in cricket. We made mistakes today in our batting but we want to rectify them,” Malik said. “It happens in cricket often and sometimes your lower order should be tested.”This cannot be argued with, except it seems to happen more often to Pakistan and that the lower order should really be tested against more testing opposition. Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir will cherish their maiden ODI fifties, though their top order will do so more. Their 100-run stand for the eighth wicket was a Asia Cup record, but more importantly rescued Pakistan from an Ireland-style embarrassment.Malik insisted, however, that a promotion up the order for Tanvir – as in the Indian Premier League – wasn’t immediately on the cards. “Fawad and Sohail’s batting was a really good sign for us. Sohail is fine in that position. We needed him in the lower order today, but we might see for later matches.”Malik himself moved up the order, to open alongside Salman Butt in yet another combination. As with the last time the pair opened together, Butt went without scoring, but Malik’s broader role in the team will come under increasing scrutiny in coming days. The opening pair is partly a problem because of Malik’s insistence on having six bowling options, which is in itself a result of his increasing unwillingness to fill in as a bowler. Thus his role as bowler is unclear, as is his position in the batting order.”Opening is a problem for us, but we’ll see,” Malik said. “We can experiment in our first two games. We need a sixth bowler definitely, someone who can get through 4-5 overs. My hope is that I do well as opener but we also have Afridi as an option.”Hong Kong could’ve done with some more bowling options, to back up the admirable Nadeem Ahmed. His four wickets proved again that whatever the nationality, if there is left-arm spin, success is guaranteed against Pakistan. They also could’ve done with perhaps bowling Nadeem right through his ten overs, instead of taking him off after only seven. Pakistan were wobbling and another wicket would’ve sealed it.”Nadeem bowled really well,” Tabarak Dar, their captain, said. “But it’s a 50-over game and we wanted to use other bowlers as well, to give him a break. One more wicket and Pakistan would really have struggled. We could’ve gotten them for under 200.”Tabarak was more concerned about the fitness levels of his mostly amateur side. Zain Abbas suffered from cramps twice during his stay, before retiring hurt, though he should be fit for Wednesday’s game against India. “We won a few sessions with them, but we need to really work on and improve our fitness. There are positives from this game – our spinners bowled really well. But we need to work on batting through 50 overs. We were tired and we need to work on that.”It will take them time to improve, which fortunately they have. For Pakistan – who face India on Thursday – no such luxury exists.

Daniel Vettori knows the public deserves better than what happened in Hamilton, a tame defeat in four days. It’s not the loss that hurts them as much, but the manner in which they lost

Sidharth Monga in Napier25-Mar-2009Wherever you go in New Zealand, as soon as they come to know you are from India and are here for the cricket, a question comes up, “So how many days will your team take this time? Three? Four?” It’s all banter that goes the other way too, but it always starts with how weak the New Zealand team is. Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, knows the public deserves better than what happened in Hamilton, a tame defeat in four days. It’s not the loss that hurts them as much, but the manner in which they lost.”They [public] want results, just like we want results,” Vettori said on the eve of the Napier Test. “They probably need to see the New Zealand team to come out and fight. The big thing about the New Zealand public is that as long as they see the New Zealand cricket side fight for a result – doesn’t matter if there is a hard-fought win or a hard-fought loss, I think they are satisfied. The performance we put together in Hamilton wasn’t consistent with that.” In Napier they need to put a fight to keep the series alive. In the last 20 years, New Zealand have been on the wrong side of a dead rubber at home only twice.New Zealand have been working hard over the last four days, in the nets, in the gym and on their mental make-up. The target is pretty clear: a marked improvement in all the facets of the game, from top-order batting to middle-order batting to opening bowling to spin bowling to fielding to perhaps some out-of-the-box thinking.The troubles start with a young top order, where Martin Guptill, Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn (if he passes the fitness test tomorrow) have 14 Tests between them and seem to offer India an easy target. Vettori, though, wants to repose trust in them and not fiddle with the batting order. He feels it is not a question of quality but of application. Vettori wants the batsmen to work on the longevity of their innings, play out at least 120 overs.A change in the batting order, which would see him, Brendon McCullum or Jesse Ryder move up, is not being considered for now. An unconventional school of thought might suggest picking six batsmen, four bowlers, a wicketkeeper, and then deciding the batting order – no matter if a bowler or a wicketkeeper is better placed than a specialist batsman.”The onus is on the top six to do the job,” Vettori said. “If they do the job then Brendon and I can complement to that. We can mix and match sometimes, but the onus is always on top six to score the runs.”New Zealand have at No. 6, a left-arm swing bowler who has just converted to an allrounder. In Hamilton James Franklin got a rough decision while scoring 0 and 14 and went wicketless. But Vettori doesn’t want to drop like a hot brick the man who was the specialist No. 6 a week ago. “He has been selected as a No. 6, and has had only one opportunity at it,” Vettori said. “He has been highly successful for Wellington. It would be unfair to just take that away from him after just one performance.”Franklin provides the balance with his steady medium-pace, but New Zealand essentially have three medium-pacers who can be decent foils to a yet-to-be found aggressive wicket-taker at the other end. In the absence of such firepower in the bowling department a solid batting performance becomes all the more important. New Zealand just haven’t built enough pressure on the Indian batsmen – neither with runs on the board nor with their bowling.Vettori, the captain and now the allrounder, has too much on his plate. As a captain he has won New Zealand just one Test with the ball – against Bangladesh. The lack of quality bowlers around him shows. In Hamilton he came in to bowl at 99 for 1, as compared to Harbhajan Singh who started his spell at 80 for 6. The difference in what happened was not mutually exclusive.
It’s not an easy state for the New Zealand team to be in, but what is easy is identifying the areas they have gone wrong in – almost all. They have shown faith in the same personnel, the same methodology, but want different execution. Along with them, the public wants different results.

Ross Taylor has stood out in a middling team and it would not be a surprise if he spent a lot of time looking into his hotel mirror asking for some help from his fellow batsmen

Jamie Alter at the SSC28-Aug-2009On Thursday, Jeetan Patel was optimistic about New Zealand’s batting ability at the post-day’s press conference. “We’ve still got Brendon and Rosco, who is going really strong at the moment, so we have some batsmen up our sleeve to get to 250 at least. We’re looking to bat as long as we can and from there set up the game.”New Zealand’s only realistic hope of saving this match lay in a big sixth-wicket partnership between Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, and the message it would have sent to the team. Instead, both batsmen fell inside the first 40 minutes of play and New Zealand went kaput. New Zealand made 234, losing their last five wickets for 51 runs.Taylor had played very well on day two, batting until the close. He only added 11 to his score today in 37 deliveries but subtract his effort and that scorecard would look a lot worse. Since landing in Sri Lanka, Taylor has had to carry the line-up along with his captain. He stood out in the warm-ups with 93, 75 and 58. In the first Test his 35 and 16 carried weight. Taylor has stood out in a middling team and it would not be a surprise if he spent a lot of time looking into his hotel mirror asking for some help from his fellow batsmen.”I found it okay, but it’s always at the back of your mind that one ball has your number on it,” Taylor said quietly. “You hope to try and delay it as long as possible. We needed to see through the first hour and keep wickets in hand but we lost wickets in clumps. Brendon and I went early and then Daniel [Vettori] and Jake [Jacob Oram] got out quickly. We can’t afford to lose wickets against a quality attack. We have to buy time.”The motivational mantra will need to be backed up by sturdiness in the middle. A means of scoring against Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath must be unearthed along with tactics to see out sessions. Taylor will undoubtedly find himself with his hands full and New Zealand will be desperate for runs from the top order, Jesse Ryder and McCullum. None of New Zealand’s main batsmen had ever played in the subcontinent and it has been all too apparent.Despite the time spent working with former Pakistan offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq before the series, New Zealand’s batsmen have shown a reluctance to use their feet to spin. Past teams to have done well in Sri Lanka have found the balance between batting aggressively and eating up overs. In New Zealand’s case, they’ve been too timid. Taylor put it down to inexperience and the failure to perform a decent job.New Zealand will, at some stage tomorrow, be set a massive target to chase or a significant amount of time to bat out. Many times, touring sides here have had to decide between the mindset required to save a Test and win one. Taylor has his route picked out: “The way we have to approach this is to rotate the strike. If we go out and try and dead-bat every ball then its going to get us out. “Where New Zealand’s spinners have clutched at straws on this SSC pitch, Murali and Herath have started to produce results. “It was a bit dry this morning, the ball turned a bit more and did a bit more than yesterday or last night,” was Taylor’s assessment. “Saying that, the way they came out and batted has given us hope. Their spinners are outstanding and we have to come up with a way of staying out there.”Taylor and Co can do well to take a cue from a few of the Sri Lankan batsmen they’ve had the opportunity to watch while baking under the sun. “I’ve picked up stuff from the way they’ve batted. You have to learn from other players and they [Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera] are good exponents of knowing how to play long periods of time in their own conditions,” Taylor said. “I came over here very inexperienced in the subcontinent but I’ve learned things I have to store away for when we come over next.”He may feel more knowledgeable now, but Taylor may still learn a lot more about himself over the remainder of this Test.

So close, so commanding, so gripping

Peter English at the SCG05-Jan-2010Shane Watson is not the sort of player who should scribble the number of Test centuries he wants on the fridge. That sort of motivation is better suited to batters with traditional career paths. It is more appropriate for Watson, an emotional man who has drifted between episodes of heart-break and body-break, to leave his mark by achieving the most 90s.Most things about Watson are almost perfect: the body, the cover drive, the pulling and the attention to fitness. Why ruin the trend of his life by posting blot-free centuries? From the moments of his first back injury and blonde highlights he has been a nearly man. To his immense credit, he has learned to deal with the status.Of course he has moped about his failing body and lack of extended bat raises, but after every bout of sooking comes the committed return. He deserves all the half-centuries, it’s just the hundreds that don’t suit the oh-so-close image. When the blemish was allowed in Melbourne, where his 120 not out came via a drop on 99, it seemed his next trend would be letting the nervousness disappear in a shower of three figures whenever he got close.However, Watson’s romance with despair reappeared the ball after a pure cover drive off Umar Gul for the boundary that took him to 97. It was the shot of such authority that with any other batsman the expectation would be a follow-up swing to bring up the milestone. The next moment is never assured with Watson, who has previously dislocated a shoulder while fielding in his second Test and thought he was having a heart attack when suffering food poisoning.This time he didn’t expect the extra bounce of Gul’s off-cutter and because of his push-forward-first move, was unable to shift back in time to cover the movement. The ball hit the edge of Watson’s angled bat and was re-directed to Faisal Iqbal at second slip, ending the brightest innings of the match while raising hands to faces in the stands.Spectators shouldn’t have been shocked by Watson’s new trademark, which has occurred three times in his past eight innings. By the end of the day Watson wasn’t too bothered either.”To be totally honest, I’m not really worried about it,” Watson said. “I was really happy with the way I batted today. Of course it’s always nice to break that hundred barrier, but I was lucky I didn’t get that ball earlier in the innings. It decked in and bounced more than I thought … There was always a chance I would get a ball like that but unfortunately I got it in my late 90s.”If he continues his current pattern he could level the record of Rahul Dravid and Steve Waugh, who have ten 90s, by the end of next season’s Ashes series. Watson’s batting since he has stepped up to the top of the order has been Australia’s most successful and polished. During eight Tests after rejoining the team he has 819 runs at 63.00, including seven half-centuries and the out-of-sync hundred.In his current demeanour he is playing with the authority of Matthew Hayden, his old Queensland team-mate, but displaying less muscle and much more style. His driving creates gasps and his self-belief extends to pulling or hooking whenever the ball is short. There are not many batsmen in the world who do that consistently, and the shot was responsible for his three sixes.There were also 11 fours, three of which came from pulls, and only one, an inside edge from his second delivery which ended up at fine leg, didn’t go where he wanted. He was dropped on 18 when a hook sped through Danish Kaneria’s hands at fine leg and went over the rope, but it was where he aimed it.This was a classy performance from a player who has found a new home at the top of the order. In the beginning Hughes was Watson’s partner, showing some valuable grit before falling on 37. Watson had replaced Hughes in England but such is the right-hander’s form that he has the opening spot for as long as wants, or he could demand a move to the middle order. Throw in his useful bowling – but not his mouthy follow-throughs – and he has become Australia’s MVP.When Watson looks back at this golden summer he should not glance and grimace at the 90s in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Those grumpy thoughts should be saved for the 89 in Perth, just one run short of his most suitable run-range. Now that was a waste.

A weak batting line-up was brutally exposed by a devastating spell of fast bowling

N Hunter08-Feb-2010India have got a glimpse of the future, and it’s not a pretty sight. When, sometime over the next couple of years, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar – in no particular order – finally call it a day, all those with a stake in Indian cricket will hope that a succession plan is in place, and a better one than the shambles that is the Nagpur Test XI.The folly of picking merely seven batsmen in a 15-man squad for this Test was brutally exposed on Monday by one of the most devastating spells of swing bowling ever seen in India. Take nothing away from Dale Steyn but at least part of his effectiveness was down to the lack of experience in the batting order.Remove Virender Sehwag,
Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the line-up and you are left with M Vijay, S Badrinath and Wriddhiman Saha – the last two Test debutants, Vijay playing his fourth Test, Badrinath the oldest Indian debutant at 29 and Saha not a specialist Test batsman.So when Sehwag lost the company of Gambhir and Tendulkar inside the first hour, he and India found themselves in an uncertain and unfamiliar position. There was no reassuring Dravid, no nonchalant Laxman to hold things together while he accelerated. Today he had to simultaneously settle down and calm Badrinath’s nerves.Typically, his comments after the day’s play were direct. “We are very angry with the way we batted,” Sehwag said. He was more critical of the fact that except for his solitary 100-plus partnership for the fourth-wicket with Badri, the other batsmen did not last long enough to tire the opposition. “It was not a pitch where you could get out so easily. If there were a couple of more partnerships their bowlers might have got tired. But you have to give the credit to the bowlers led by Steyn.”Increasingly, Sehwag is piloting most of India’s surges; the Sri Lanka series was only the latest instance where his bludgeoning performances in the final two Tests allowed India to stun the Lankans and claim the top Test ranking. Even late Sunday evening, when India had four overs to negotiate, Sehwag set the tone with some positive batting and India went in at 25 for no loss.It was the same positive intent that allowed him to take charge and help his partner to cut his teeth successfully on the Test mat. His first move was to shield Badri from Steyn. Incidentally, of all the opposition bowlers, Sehwag scored the maximum runs against Steyn in the first innings: 34 runs off 38 balls but crucially there were just 14 scoring shots. Another key part to his improvisation was to resist the short balls from the South African fast men.S Badrinath had prepared for his innings with a spell of short balls from coach Gary Kirsten, but it required much more than that to deal with the real-time danger of Steyn & Co•Getty Images”I am not a good puller or hooker of the ball so I decided to be patient for the ball in my areas which I could hit for fours and I did that,” Sehwag said without any false modesty. That statement is a fantastic example of Sehwag’s straightforward and simple approach to success. He understands his game and doesn’t shy from talking about his weaknesses. Sadly, once Sehwag lost his concentration, chasing a widish delivery just before tea, the rest of the Indian batting failed to stand strong and fell in quick succession immediately into the final session.Nonetheless, Sehwag was probably the best partner Badri could have hoped for in these conditions. The debutant had prepared for his innings with a spell of short balls from coach Gary Kirsten during the morning throwdowns but it required much more than that to deal with the real-time danger of Steyn & Co.Badri survived a fierce first over from Steyn, then steadily found his own groove and notched his maiden half-century in the process, earning the vice-captain’s praise. “Badri’s debut was very good. He fought with me very well. I asked him to enjoy his game and score runs off all the given opportunities,” Sehwag said.Sehwag’s contribution with the bat to this match is now over but he is still bullish on India’s chances. He refused to accept that India stood on the brink of disaster, saying the hosts had the firepower to stage a fight back. “They need to play their own shots but they need to exercise patience.”He referred, of course, to the historic Test of the 2001 in Kolkata where India escaped to victory against Australia at the Eden Gardens. There is one crucial difference: that side had Laxman and Dravid. There is still an opportunity for their replacements in this game to script a similar miracle. Do Vijay, Badrinath and Saha have it in them? The next day or two could reveal some more interesting facts about the future.