If Sri Lanka can fashion a draw in Hobart, they will head into the rest of the Test series in high spirits and with most parts of their machine humming nicely

Andrew Fernando in Hobart17-Dec-2012When a back-of-a-length delivery from Mitchell Starc hit a crack in the Bellerive pitch and scooted through to the wicketkeeper at ankle height in the final hour on day four, Sri Lanka’s hopes of a maiden Australian victory in Hobart had all but sunk.It had always seemed the least likely of the tour’s three venues to deliver a triumph, but there had been a sniff of victory at tea. Sri Lanka’s last fourth-innings total in Hobart had been 410, and they needed 17 fewer to take a series lead here, against an Australian attack depleted by injury. But as the shadows grew longer, the surface began to turn on the visitors. Survival will be preferred to offense on day five.It is fitting that Sri Lanka’s fate now largely rests with Nos. 3, 4 and 5. Tillakaratne Dilshan had showcased his enduring worth in the first innings, while the remainder of the vastly experienced top order had faltered. On day four, even Sri Lanka’s bowlers proved more capable than many had suspected, knocking nine Australian wickets over in two sessions. Had a plumb lbw off Ed Cowan been awarded on day three, Australia would not have had as fine a platform upon which to aggress as their 132-run opening stand.Still, Rangana Herath collected his seventh five-wicket haul in nine Tests this year, and Chanaka Welegedara collected three wickets. If Sri Lanka’s batsmen can achieve a defiant draw tomorrow, the visitors will move to Melbourne not only in high spirits, but with most parts of their machine humming nicely.The consistency that features in Herath’s 2012 harvest may not suggest he is a bowler who relies on confidence, but his first spell in a Test is almost uniformly reserved. Low trajectory and a rapid swish of the arm characterised his bowling in the first innings, and accordingly, he was economical but wicketless. At home, even the quicker ones can bite to win him a scalp, but Hobart’s surface was not given to the same largesse, and Herath was made to wait for an errant cut from David Warner to add to his year’s tally.When the breakthrough came though, Herath unpacked his bag of tricks in earnest. The variations in pace became more acute, the ball hung in suspense a moment longer, and even the carrom ball appeared on occasion. Herath only has two right-hand batsmen in the Australian top six to take the ball away from, and Shane Watson, one of them, did poorly in his tussle with the spinner.In the first four balls he faced from Herath, Watson survived two lbw shouts, and was stumped overbalancing on the fifth. Like Muttiah Muralitharan, Herath prefers to have men on the fence – even when he is bowling well – and today that hankering earned him a wicket, when Matthew Wade’s belligerence came to rest in the hands of the long-on fielder.”Five wickets is a good achievement because this is my first Test in Australia,” Herath said. “Melbourne and Sydney, from what I’ve heard, will be more helpful to spinners. This is a good start for me in the series.”Many of the negative appraisals of Sri Lanka’s attack before the tour had been founded on a cursory perusal of bowling averages, but Chanaka Welegedara’s stats do not do justice to his improvement in recent years. He was the worst of Sri Lanka’s bowlers in the first innings, despite having the healthiest wicket tally, but his three wickets in the second dig were much better deserved.Welegedara is working his way back from injury and hitting 130 kph regularly, allowing his movement to pose a significant threat. Twice he found the leading edge of an aggressive Michael Clarke, only to see the ball sail over the infield and to the boundary in a resounding endorsement of Clarke’s batmaker. He had already removed Ed Cowan, however, with one that came in off the seam, and Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc were ill-equipped to counter Welegedara’s reverse-swing with the old ball. Sri Lanka have regarded Welegedara as the leader of the pace attack, and he now seems to have found some of the rhythm that he lacked when he was left out during the recent series against New Zealand.It is also encouraging for Sri Lanka that Mahela Jayawardene remains at the crease. In recent years he has been peerless on disintegrating pitches, and a dour but chanceless 37-ball stay on the fourth evening will steel him for the epic test to come on the fifth day. Australia are well aware of his mastery on such surfaces, having been Sri Lanka’s opponents on a staggeringly dry Galle surface where Jayawardene was the only centurion.Hobart’s hazard stems from the cracks that have expanded with every ray of sunshine and every gust of wind on day four, while Galle’s threat was more a result of a loose top layer of soil, but if Jayawardene succeeds in frustrating Australia on Tuesday, he will be largely following a blueprint he has already marked out. Kumar Sangakkara will be desperate to bust out of a poor run of form as well, and he need only look at his own fourth innings knock in Hobart five years ago for inspiration.Only a near-miracle will see Sri Lanka score the 328 they need to win on a misbehaving pitch, but if at stumps on day five, they are not sitting on a series deficit, they will have learnt plenty and earned much for the matches that are ahead.

From Ewan Day-Collins, UK

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Sustained success has never been something particularly associated with England. While other more tenacious nations choose the path of pragmatism, seeking longevity in their position of power, England never seem to have consistency in their play. Supporting England has been a trial of patience, the pain occasionally forgotten when victorious moments such as the Ashes victory in 2005 occur. These moments precede a sharp snap back to reality when yet another defeat soon turns up to spoil the joyous celebrations.A sense of optimism is stimulated by just a small sign of possible power, before yet more tribulations soon quash that feeling. It is these inklings of brilliance that keep the fans and the fanatical Barmy Army turning up, judicious beliefs, sometimes seemingly obvious outcomes that are often overtaken and nullified by unrealistic thoughts of prosperity.We lambaste the players, the coach, the ECB, when things go wrong, of course. But the constant flux in results creates rapid forgiveness, before more accusations are thrown at whoever is seen fit to receive them.Being a loyal supporter of England is not difficult, however. Our craving for brilliance, the expectation often being ridiculous, always remains. This sense of false hope is wonderful, occasionally backed up by the players’ achievements. The few moments we enter sporting utopia fuels our desire for more, and more, and even more of the same. We thrive on the sensation of tranquillity, when all goes right for England, though this perfect equilibrium is rarely durable, rocked too often by our own security and complacency.Supporting England is, as they say, a journey – an incredibly changeable one at that. Each series is given a grand branding, which too often it fails to live up to. We reward our players dutifully if they win however, many receiving MBEs, knighthoods and open-top bus parades.If they do not succeed in their quest, we discard them with unwavering ruthlessness. We fling them to the wayside, before anticipating the next, untried batch to be winners, subsequently erasing the memories of past troubles.Each country has their unique culture of cricketing fans. Some are faithful and partisan, some are calm and prudent, and some soon lose patience and vociferously voice just that. England also has its own identity, though it is difficult to clearly define. A team in fluctuation, a cautious board and unrealistic expectations from the fans often ends in a lack of clarity.If a player appeases and wins over the supporters but then – like Andrew Strauss currently – has a lean patch, we will spare him the slaughterhouse, choosing to be faithful and kind. However, if a player we dislike is in a rough place we will respond quite differently, though always with deference and respect for his attempts. This is the English way.As with any country, the emotion of supporting England also changes rapidly. If, as England supporters, we had been experiencing self-pity before the new guard of Flower and Strauss took control of the reigns, we are now firmly in a state of assurance, we trust in guaranteed success, catalysed by the whitewash against India on home soil.We have confidence in the team, though only continuing success will ensure their security as past experiences have detailed. Now we look ahead with the faith that the team will do well, after so many years of poor performances, punctuated with brief moments of greatness. We seek more of this greatness, and hope it is more regularly achieved.As an England supporter, I do not see the future will trepidation now but with hope, a hope this time supported with evidence. I am not ashamed, when in the company of Australians, to declare my nationality, though I am wise enough to maintain a clear sense of reality: the England team must not become ostentatious or pretentious, but must exert its authority as the world’s No. 1 in the Test arena.Perhaps now, speaking as a supporter inspired rather than embarrassed, England will make up for years of austerity. But we must not enter the dangerous land of complacency, otherwise, once more, our expectations will not be duly met.

The Australian batsmen, with another lacklustre show in Delhi, seem to not have learned their lessons on playing spin

Brydon Coverdale in Delhi22-Mar-2013Another day on this Indian tour, another top-order collapse, another tail-end recovery. To quote the great Major League Baseball player and manager Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again. On a cracking pitch that looked more like a surface from day five than day one, Australia finished at an almost respectable 231 for 8. Peter Siddle was unbeaten on 47 and was the highest scorer. It was the third time in seven innings in this series that the top score has come from outside the top six. That is a damning statistic.Just as the debutant Moises Henriques outshone the specialist batsmen in the second innings in Chennai and Mitchell Starc upstaged everyone else with his 99 in Mohali, Siddle has shown that despite the challenges of this Delhi pitch it can be handled. Not that many of the Australian top order can blame the conditions for their exits at the Feroz Shah Kotla. In fact, what must have displeased Mickey Arthur and his staff the most was the familiarity of the dismissals, the lessons that haven’t been learnt. It was like a clip show from the previous three Tests.Playing straight and showing patience have been mantras the coaches have tried to instil in the batsmen in this series. Arthur was livid when Warner was bowled around his legs trying to sweep R Ashwin early in his second innings in Hyderabad. In the second innings in Mohali, he flashed at a wide ball with no footwork and was caught behind in the first over. Here he did exactly the same for exactly the same result. At least he waited until the second over.Warner’s sweep in Hyderabad followed a similarly poor attempt from Phillip Hughes that yielded Ashwin another bowled around the legs. It must have been especially frustrating, then, for the Australians to see Cowan get out the same way on day one in Delhi. And just like Warner’s ill-fated sweep, Cowan chose to play from the first ball after a change of angle from Ashwin. Over the wicket, sweep, bowled. Cowan had shown such patience in his 99-ball innings of 38 but it was another start squandered.Michael Clarke spoke before the tour of the importance of batsmen going on with their starts, turning twenties, thirties, forties, fifties into big triple-figure scores. The tally is now up to 26 times that Australian batsmen have passed 20 in this series. But Clarke’s 130 in the first innings of the tour remains their only hundred. Clarke is not part of this Test due to his sore back, but one of his dismissals was recreated by his captaincy successor Shane Watson.In the first innings in Mohali, Clarke advanced to Ravindra Jadeja and was beaten by the flight and the turn, stumped because he failed to get to the pitch of the ball. Watson’s dismissal in Delhi might have been a carbon copy, except for the lack of grace in his footwork. It would have been easier for the heavy roller to make a quick u-turn on this pitch than Watson. He cannot be criticised for using his feet, for reluctance to do so has been a failing of the batsmen all tour. But better judgment of length is key.Here another Yogi Berra-ism comes to mind: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” It is all well and good to talk about footwork and ways to counter the spinners, but against quality, in-form bowlers like Jadeja and Ashwin, no amount of theorising or net batting against Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell can truly prepare a batsman for the battle in the middle.

The politician Stephen Smith has served as Australia’s minister for defence and minister for foreign affairs; here, his namesake was Australian cricket’s minister for defence and handling foreign conditions

Hughes looked in wonderful touch until he was roughed up by an Ishant Sharma bouncer and tentatively played on three balls later. It was fine bowling and the unexpectedly sharp bounce put down into Hughes’ mind. In that way, he could perhaps claim to be the only one of the top-order men whose dismissal was a result of the surface. Matthew Wade can also be forgiven; he was given out bat-pad to a ball that touched only his leg.Apart from Warner, the No.7 Maxwell has the most to regret about the way he departed. When he had faced only 15 balls he tried to force Jadeja through the leg side and tamely chipped a catch to wide midwicket. It was a Twenty20 shot, not the stroke to be played at 129 for 5, regardless of Maxwell’s natural aggression. Perhaps he could have watched the way Smith batted.Like Maxwell, Smith struck a six early in his innings. But he reined in some of naturally attacking urges and by the time he had faced 100 balls – the only batsman to reach that milestone until Siddle – he had only 24 runs. The politician Stephen Smith has served as Australia’s minister for defence and minister for foreign affairs; here, his namesake was Australian cricket’s minister for defence and handling foreign conditions.Smith is a natural at using his feet and it was notable that he was often prepared to advance and then block. Most Australian batsman, Clarke aside, seem to think if they are down the wicket they must slog. But the Smith-Clarke approach is an important method of defence in these conditions. Alas, Smith couldn’t push on and nudged a catch to short leg. At least he had helped Siddle with the recovery in a 53-run stand.But the list of starts continued Australia’s stuttering trend: Cowan 38, Hughes 45, Watson 17, Smith 46, Maxwell 10. Siddle showed outstanding patience and if he goes on to become the only man in this innings to score a half-century it will be an indictment on the rest. In truth, it already is. Eleven of Australia’s 19 best partnerships in this series have involved a batsman outside the top six. What have the top order been doing?Down 3-0 and five days from heading home you could understand if their minds are elsewhere. But this was an opportunity to show what they had learnt in their six-week tour. These men all want to be part of this year’s Ashes tour. They are doing their cases little good. To borrow from Berra once more: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else”.

A change of captaincy reinvigorated Durham last season but another transitional campaign awaits a squad still reliant on old stagers

George Dobell27-Mar-2013Last year 6th, CC Div 1; Group stage, FLt20; 5th in Group B, CB40.2012 in a nutshell It could have been much worse. By July 21, Durham were bottom of the table without a win in their first 10 games and relegation favourites. But the appointment of Paul Collingwood as captain in place of Phil Mustard was the catalyst to a recovery that saw them win four Championship matches in succession and pull themselves out of trouble. It had become apparent, however, that Durham were a county in transition. Several highly paid players of international experience – the likes of Ian Blackwell, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett – were unable to command a place and the team remained uncomfortably reliant for runs upon the veterans Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein. The fact that no-one averaged more than Collingwood’s 33.19 in the Championship underlined the difficulty of batting on seamer-friendly pitches, but the excellence of Graham Onions and the emergence of Chris Rushworth ensured they had the weapons to take advantage. They started well in the CB40 before fading and, despite a respectable FLt20 campaign, were unable to progress to the quarter-finals.2013 prospects With a powerful bowling attack and several experienced batsmen, Durham proved towards the end of the 2012 season that they could remain a force in Division One. The age profile of the team is a concern, however, with Benkenstein, Collingwood, Harmison and Callum Thorp all firmly in the ‘veteran’ category and some of the younger players struggling to fill the void. While Ben Stokes, in particular, Rushworth and Michael Richardson offer hope for the future, Durham’s hopes of rebuilding may well be handicapped by financial constraints. A need to cut costs is liable to rule out big-name overseas players or transfers from other counties for the foreseeable future, while this season could be the last for two or three more senior players.Key player Onions – who claimed 64 Championship wickets at a bowling average of 14.98 – exploited the seam-friendly conditions expertly in 2012 and did more than anyone to ensure that Durham remained in the top division. While a little of the pace he had pre-injury may have gone, he remains a fine bowler given any help from the conditions. If he remains fit and is not required by England, he should finish among the top wicket-takers in the country once again.Bright young thing Stokes is a cricketer of exceptional ability. A hard-hitting batsman, decent seamer and very fine fielder, he could well develop into the allrounder the England side have needed for so long. Being sent home from the Lions tour will have done his international prospects little good but, aged 21, Stokes has time on his side and a talent that is hard to ignore.Captain/coach Collingwood made an immediate impression as captain in 2012. Instilling a determination that slipped away, he will demand higher standards of fitness and preparation than had been the case for a while. The head coach, Geoff Cook, has overseen the best days in the club’s history but whether, aged 61, he retains the appetite to rebuild the team remains to be seen.ESPNcricinfo verdict Durham are team in transition but cultural change, particularly with regard to fitness, could be more important than the turnover in personnel.

A hundred-year-old institution in Harare fosters love for sport and churns out international cricketers regularly

Firdose Moonda27-Jul-2013″Mrs C” remembers the small things. Whose father once had to drop them off earlier than usual because he was adjusting to life as a single parent. Who presented what for their annual English speech. And who prefers their tea a certain way. What she does not often recall is the cricket score.Strange that, because Letitia Campbell is the woman behind some of Zimbabwe’s best-known cricketers. She is the mother of Alistair and played an important part in the development of Brendan Taylor, Malcolm Waller and Trevor Madondo, all of whom attended her family-run school, Lilfordia.In her home on the school’s sprawling property 40 minutes from Harare’s city centre, a discarded pair of orange pads, “which must be Alistair’s from some time or other”, welcome visitors into the hallway. The bar is a cricket museum with caps and shirts from various era of Zimbabwean cricket decorating the walls. “I don’t really follow much cricket even though it’s such a big part of this school,” Letitia says with a laugh.The 104-year-old institution has been run by the Campbell family from the beginning. It is a junior boarding school catering to boys and girls from the ages of six to 12, and its primary focus is sport.”Lilfordia is definitely not about the education you receive in the classroom,” Waller says. “Of course, the teachers wanted us to concentrate on our academics, but the main thing is really the sports.”On massive grounds that include three swimming pools, at least six fields for rugby or hockey, tennis courts and cricket pitches, it’s easy to see why outdoor learning was more attractive than anything involving a desk and chair.Waller remembers learning about sport in an uncompromising but fun way from a man who reared two first-class cricketers – Alistair, who went on to captain Zimbabwe, and Donald, Lilfordia’s current headmaster – as well as a daughter, Mary, who is now the school’s director of sports. Iain “Polly” Campbell was headmaster when Waller, Taylor and Madondo were in attendance and “was the main influence on a lot of us,” Waller says.”Although he was a very gentle and quiet man he taught us the hard way. We had a few weeks where we played with tennis balls and then we went on to the red Slazenger balls really soon after that. And then we moved on to hard balls. I remember how our fingers and hands used to hurt from catching them but we were learning and Iain was very good to us.”Cricket was Iain’s first love but the school wanted to give pupils a rounded sporting education, so they made physical activity central to every day. Even while the youngest children, six-year-olds, were adjusting to spending three weeks at a time away from their parents at Lilfordia, it was compulsory that they played sport. Boys had to participate in cricket in summer and rugby and hockey in winter. For girls, there was tennis in summer and hockey in winter.That was after the school day ended. During regular hours, swimming was part of general lesson time. “And then there was the one I don’t think anybody enjoyed – the cross country,” remembers Waller.Every day at 5pm, irrespective of weather, Iain would ring a bell and the entire school had to meet on the main field to run. The younger kids were required to complete a circuit of about 4km, while the older ones ran up to 8km, scampering along the sports fields and through a forest.

“I remember how hard my parents worked, even during the holidays, to manage a top-flight private school by themselves. Members of our family have maintained the interest and drive to run the business. That’s what we will keep doing”Donald Campbell

Donald and Mary have no intention of letting the tradition die. “Sport is an integral part of our ethos and a major focus of our holistic approach to education,” says Donald. “Our malleable time table allows for sport to be played on every day for every age group. We start with movement-skill programmes and move on to ball skills. We also get in highly qualified coaches to enable high standards to be maintained.”Former Test bowler Bryan Strang is one of the high-profile people who worked at Lilfordia, though only for a short time. “He was in the process of obtaining his teaching qualification and needed some practical experience, so he came to us,” Donald says. “He added great value on the coaching front.”Although Lilfordia does not specifically recruit coaches, they are often contacted by almuni who want to get involved and spot young talent, like Iain did. He identified Madondo – described by Donald as a “prolific” batsman and “someone who had the ability to go all the way” – and funded his further schooling at Falcon College, the institution attended by Heath Streak, the Whittalls and the Strangs. Madondo went on to play for Zimbabwe and scored 74 in his third Test, against New Zealand, but his promising career was cut short when at the age of 24 he succumbed to malaria, a disease that claims more lives in Africa than any other.Others who Iain hand-picked for success continue to enjoy it in the national side. Taylor is one of Zimbabwe’s best batsmen at the moment, as he was at Lilfordia as a young boy. “With the exception of Alistair, Brendan was the best schoolboy cricketer to emerge from Lilfordia and broke every record going,” Donald says.What made Taylor exceptional was his maturity. “We were all just kids and we liked to hit a few big shots when we were batting,” Waller says. “Usually we would score a few boundaries and then get out, but Brendan was a little different. He liked to bat a long time and sometimes he would bat the whole innings and we would all be amazed.”Waller, himself, “impressed in every facet of the game,” according to Donald, and earned a scholarship to Brighton College in the UK. Waller believes his formative years at Lilfordia played a significant role in the things he went on to achieve.”It was a really good school and it had a great reputation. Even now, when we have a bit of banter with old mates and things like where we all went to school comes up and Lilfordia gets mentioned, guys respect it. The focus on sport was also important for our discipline. We knew what we had to do and we did it.The main cricket oval with floodlights and the Iain Campbell pavilion•Firdose Moonda”Iain never really shouted at us, unless we had to go to the headmaster’s office for a talking-to, but Mrs C… she was the sterner one and I think everyone was scared of her. I was,” he says.But these days Waller and Taylor visit her for tea when they can and she jokes about the things they did as children. They also support the projects she is involved in. For the last four years, both players have featured in the annual match played between old boys. The fixture is the marquee event in a schools tournament played under lights at the main oval. Given that not even the country’s premier cricket ground, Harare Sports Club, has floodlights yet, the presence of pylons at Lilfordia is an indication of the investment that has gone into cricket at the school.Iain died in 2008, aged 75, and did not live to see the school’s centenary. The ground’s pavilion is named after him and his influence forms an important part of the Lilfordia’s culture.Donald and Mary have promised to continue trying to breed international sportsmen as best they can. “I remember how hard my parents worked, even during the holidays, to manage a top-flight private school by themselves,” says Donald. “Members of our family have maintained the interest and drive to run the business. That’s what we will keep doing.”Lilfordia survived some of Zimbabwe’s darkest days when the economy was collapsing, and it remains as well-maintained and equipped as it has always been. A morning in the family’s company serves as an assurance that they will remain an establishment running smoothly for generations to come.

The allrounder lit up a day that was marred by some above-average rains and below-average bowling

Edward Gilbert23-Aug-2013Choice of game
It is hard to envisage a situation where I would refuse the opportunity to watch an Ashes Test. As a Surrey member, the Oval was the obvious venue to choose. My only regret was that the series was already determined, thus affording England licence to experiment with selection.Team supported
While always wanting England to succeed, I generally like to see the opposition play proficiently. I hoped for a strong performance from both sides, not merely to provide a contest, but also to stimulate England. The course of matches has been closer than the current 3-0 series score suggests, and England need to improve on all fronts to be confident of retaining the Ashes in Australia this winter.Key performer
Steven Smith provided the best individual contribution of the day. His batting was firm and unfussy: the overall impression was of gradual progress punctuated by vigorous boundaries. The six with which he completed his hundred off Jonathan Trott was a fine stroke, and he maintained momentum after passing the milestone with diligent running between the wickets, capitalising on poor England field placements.Best battle on the pitch
On this flat wicket, bat prevailed over ball. As a result, there were no extended batsman-bowler contests. The closest we had to a battle was that between Peter Siddle and Joe Root near the end of the day. Siddle bowled moderately well, managing to exert some pressure on Root’s defences when he was in single figures. Root played and missed, and we wondered whether his slightly weak front-foot play would result in another brief innings. However, Root responded positively and scored boundaries with two well-timed cover drives. It should give him confidence for tomorrow.Shot of the day
There were several good shots today. Smith’s six off Trott and Ryan Harris’s adventurous play off Graeme Swann were noteworthy. However, the best effort was Mitchell Starc’s powerful drive to long-on off Chris Woakes.Atmosphere in the stands when the rain fell …
Wet weather is something that one is accustomed to in England, but it still disappointing when it delays cricket. As the morning rain fell, we sheltered under cover in the stairwell of the Bedser Stand. Spectators remained in good spirits, their summer clothing contrasting with the grey skies. Some crouched near the windows and brought out their newspapers and puzzles to pass the time, others savoured the weak beer available in plastic glasses.… And when it stopped
After 1.35 pm, the drizzle became very weak and largely disappeared for the rest of the day. The covers were removed to cheers. When the play began at 2.30 , the atmosphere in the ground was tepid. The first song came from one of the two Australian gatherings in the ground at around 2.45. After 3, Billy the Barmy Army trumpeter began to play his melodies. For Woakes, he played (presumably “That’s all folks!” as rhyming slang for Woakes) and the . When drizzle threatened, wafted across the ground.The amount of drunken roaring and number of beer snakes were low today. The lower temperatures and the dominance of the Australian batsmen must have been calming influences. However, the crowd bounced an inflatable banana around one stand, and just before the close, sang an impassioned, if musically unsound, rendition of .Overall
The quality of cricket was moderate to good. Bowling was below average from both sides, but Smith’s hundred and the energetic batting of the Australian tailenders were entertaining. From a cricketing point of view, I would give it six out of ten. As an overall experience, nine out of ten – the only fault was the rain delay. It’ll be interesting to see how England respond over the next three days.

Colin Ingram looked comfortable at the top of the order in South Africa’s last match against West Indies after a couple of nervous outings; South Africa will hope he stays comfortable there for a long time

Firdose Moonda17-Jun-2013Colin Ingram does not immediately appear a man to go to war with. He is too polite to say anything offensive, too mild-mannered to raise anyone’s ire and too gentle to be afraid of. His innings against West Indies may start to change that impression.Ingram was the only batsmen to raise his bat to a half-century in a carefully crafted knock that displayed temperament others lacked. He saw off the new balls patiently and dealt with the spin threat by taking it on.It was a display which showed the cut and the sweep as his two main weapons. They transform him from a baby-faced rookie into a man with gravitas.In actual fact, Ingram is both those things. He has been playing professionally for eight seasons and made his international debut three years ago but has been performing a new task in this competition: partnering Hashim Amla at the top of the line-up. A tough ask of anyone.Ingram said it was “not a new role” because he has done it before but that was a long time ago and at a lower level. He opened the batting in 21 of his first 26 List A matches at the start of his career. But he only did it once between November 2009 and now, despite which Gary Kirsten promoted him ahead of Alviro Petersen, the specialist opener who was included in the squad as Graeme Smith’s replacement.Petersen, a regular in the Test squad, was picked on the strength of his form on the county circuit despite not playing an ODI for over a year at the time. Although the national selectors indicated he would play alongside Amla, Kirsten decided to gamble on Ingram because it “would not be too different” to playing him at No. 3 and would allow them to fit David Miller into the middle order.Kirsten’s Midas touch worked again. After two innings where Ingram seemed uncertain and vulnerable outside the off stump, he found his feet against West Indies and formed a good foil to Amla.They put on 80 runs in 12.1 overs, the highest opening stand of South Africa’s campaign so far. What stood out above the numbers was the understanding they seemed to have of each other’s game plans.A small example was their running between the wickets, which was more confident and better communicated than it had been previously. The pair also appeared to have adjusted to conditions which have proved to be trickier than expected. “The two new balls have probably posed more of a challenge than we thought,” Ingram said.Slow starts have been a trend in the tournament and Ingram is happy to adopt a more conservative approach. “It’s been important to stick together with Hashim and look after the new ball,” he said. “We’re looking to assess conditions up front, and just try and build the partnership. The first few overs it nips around. We have to stick in there and try to look for bad balls.”The home side, England, have been the prototype for that. Other teams have tried to do the same with South Africa succeeding in their most recent game. Ingram and Amla’s base allowed the middle order to bat with some freedom.It has also meant South Africa can continue to use the No. 3 position as their swivel spot. If they want a pinch-hitter who can lengthen the line-up, Robin Peterson is on hand. If they want someone to capitalise on a good start, AB de Villiers steps up and if they feel the innings is going according to plan, Faf du Plessis can step into the role.The floating batting line-up did not work for South Africa in the past but they seem to like the idea enough to try it again. Key to its success is having a strong opening pair and with Smith injured, South Africa had to search for a new one.Smith and Amla were the top two in 46 ODIs and averaged 42.77, and their left-right combination was thought to be one of the reasons for their success. Ingram is also a left-hand batsman but does not have a heavy bottom hand or a penchant for swiping towards the leg-side, like Smith. He is a more delicate player who handles spin well.He has only been in the job for three matches, so it is too early to start making comparisons but he has had a promising and quietly confident start. If the soft-spoken Ingram can keep it going, he may be able to nail down the place for long enough to become the man South Africa can entrust with many of their biggest battles with the bat.

The circumstances of the match and the series demanded, beseeched and implored something of the batsmen but they collapsed in a messy heap

Daniel Brettig at Lord's19-Jul-2013So this is what happens when Australia are not illogically bailed out by their tail. On a glorious day, a flat, dry pitch, against bowling of moderate standard, the tourists fell utterly and comically apart. At the moment of greatest possible importance in the series so far, they conjured the worst performance possible. Englishmen wondered aloud if they had ever been quite as bad as this during 16 years of Ashes embarrassments up to 2005. Australians looked sheepishly for somewhere to hide, or to drink.Up on the balcony, the coach Darren Lehmann could offer only rueful smiles as a succession of his batsmen found increasingly idiotic ways of getting out. For all his qualities as a mentor and uniting-force, Lehmann can do little about such a woeful lack of application, now clearly established as the dominant pattern of Australian batsmanship in the era beyond Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey. There will surely be no coming back from this. Not in this match, nor this series, nor possibly the next one in Australia.Of course the chances of the touring batsmen putting together a decent, coherent first innings response to England’s quite middling 361 were always slim, based on all recent evidence. They had run the Trent Bridge Test so unforgettably close mainly due to the freak contributions of the Nos. 11, Ashton Agar in the first innings and James Pattinson in the second. They had been called to account for this by Lehmann in the aftermath of the Test, and the omission of Ed Cowan had provided a reminder to all that mediocrity was not to be tolerated.Yet the circumstances of the match and the series demanded, beseeched and implored something of the batsmen. There was no better stage on which to perform than a sun-drenched second day at Lord’s, the crowd packed into St John’s Wood, the sky flecked with the merest clouds and the opposition’s first innings far short of intimidating – propped up by England’s last pair, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, coshing a joyful 48 in half an hour. This was not a day to lose wickets, but Australia gifted them away. England’s bowlers go home as well stocked as rich kids at Christmas.No great signs of peril were initially evident. Shane Watson and Chris Rogers began soundly enough, surviving the typically probing early overs of James Anderson and then accelerating nicely towards the lunch interval. Tim Bresnan looked unthreatening, and Swann’s first over decidedly tame, Watson nudging a single and Rogers cuffing him twice for two.Alastair Cook swung Bresnan around to the Pavilion End for the final over of the morning session, hoping for a change of fortune. He was to get it in maddening circumstances for Australia.

In Nottingham, Australia’s final pair had been the source of miracles. At Lord’s it was simply a reminder of how horridly inadequate the rest had been.

Watson squanders a lot of starts, gets out lbw almost as often, and wastes precious decision referrals with similar profligacy. Now he was to do all three at once. Playing around his front pad at Bresnan’s nip-backer, he immediately granted England an opening into the unstable and reshuffled batting beneath. Whatever the merits of Michael Clarke’s alleged description of Watson as a cancer on the team, his dismissal on the stroke of lunch infected Australia’s batsmen and their thinking.Having lost a review, Rogers and the new No. 3 Usman Khawaja were conscious of not wasting the one they had remaining. So when Rogers contrived quite bizarrely to miss a high full toss from Swann, his shock was also accompanied by worry about burning the other referral. Khawaja had little to offer in the way of a second opinion, and Rogers wandered off in a daze that would only be enhanced by replays showing the ball drifting well past leg stump. Suddenly the Australians were not only two down but mortified at having double-crossed themselves in doing so.The man walking out at No. 4 would not be Clarke but Phillip Hughes, the captain choosing to demote himself to his favoured spot in the order. As the only batsman who could be said to have completely succeeded in his chosen position during one innings at Trent Bridge, Hughes had reason to be miffed about his move. His state of mind would be exposed by a haywire slash at a Bresnan ball not there for the drive and a thin edge behind. Hughes was not sure he had hit the ball and so reviewed the decision. Moments later Australia had lost their final review.The run out of Ashton Agar compounded Australia’s misery•Getty ImagesKhawaja had waited more than 18 months for this chance but on the evidence of this innings he had not made sufficient use of that time. In a halting display that appeared wracked by nerves, he edged pace through the cordon, was dropped at slip when Swann extracted a nick, evaded a staunch lbw appeal and then perished to a panicked attempt to loft down the ground. Before the series Khawaja had spoken of his hunger to play Test matches again. In circumstances demanding patience, composure and desire, he did not appear particularly famished at all.Steve Smith and Clarke were then to fall in ways that reflected some credit on the bowlers, but also demonstrated a limited capacity to thwart them. Noted as a good player of spin, Smith’s hands wandered too low so a Swann delivery with some top spin kicked up and struck the gloves on the way to short leg. Clarke made a start of some promise, showing more energy and intent than he had managed at Trent Bridge, but fell to the simplest of bowling plans. Broad hurled down a few short balls to push Clarke back, then a full one to pin him in front of the stumps. England celebrated raucously but might have expected more of a fight for the most prized wicket of all.Agar and Brad Haddin represented Australia’s last real hope of significantly reducing the deficit. Their runs in Nottingham had pushed Australia to the brink. Their parting at Lord’s would epitomise a day of infamy. A short ball directed at Haddin’s hip bobbled away on the legside, but he was oblivious to Agar’s call and sprint for a single. As Matt Prior collected the ball and threw neatly to the non-striker’s end, Agar turned and hared back for the crease, but found himself well short.If anguish had been the natural response to the dismissals of Watson, Rogers, Hughes and Khawaja, then Agar’s departure was something like the final insult. From 42 for 0, Australia had dived to 96 for 7, ceding all control of the match and the series to their hosts. When Ryan Harris and James Pattinson cobbled 24 for the final wicket, they posted the second highest partnership of the innings. In Nottingham, Australia’s final pair had been the source of miracles. At Lord’s it was simply a reminder of how horridly inadequate the rest had been.

David Saker, England’s bowling coach, made no attempt to disguise his disappointment at the end of the first day at the Waca, even conceding that England’s selection might have been mistaken as a result

George Dobell at the WACA13-Dec-20130:00

‘England bowlers lacked killer instinct’ – David Saker

David Saker, England’s bowling coach, could not conceal his disappointment after England “let it slip” at the Waca, suggesting that the bowlers became over excited and, as a result of their performance, even threw England’s selection into question.England brought three giant fast bowlers to Australia with the pace and bounce available in Perth very much in mind, but Boyd Rankin, Steve Finn and Chris Tremlett have all to varying degrees failed to press their claims for selection during the tour and all sat out the game as Australia amassed 6 for 326.The reality is that rightly or wrongly England just have the tallest drinks waiters in cricket.”We assess things all the time and try to make sure we get selection right,” Saker said on Sky TV. “Like everything, we make mistakes, like cricketers make mistakes.”We could have made a mistake this game, but I’m sure if our bowlers bowled to their capabilities we wouldn’t have got it wrong. We picked the side we thought would get 20 wickets and I still think we can.”By the time he spoke to the print media, Saker had adopted a calmer analysis. “We thought that the balance of the team would be best with Tim Bresnan in,” he said. “If we then bring in another tall bowler to have another quick we probably leave ourselves short somewhere else. Yes, it probably is an ideal place to have one of the taller bowlers but we thought the best balance of the team was Tim Bresnan.”Australia had slipped to 5 for 143 on an excellent batting surface before Steve Smith and Brad Haddin took the game away from England with a sixth-wicket stand of 124. It left England’s Ashes hopes hanging by a thread. Two-nil down with three games to play, England are going to have to produce their best batting performance for many months if they are to avoid defeat.While Smith and Haddin deserve credit for their batting, the cause of Saker’s “disappointment” – a word he repeated seven times in his post-play media conference – was the self-inflicted nature of England’s injuries.Having selected – some might say controversially selected – a team full of accurate fast-medium swing bowlers, Bresnan included, England’s tactic was clear: they were to bowl tight and frustrate Australia’s batsmen.It almost worked, too. So desperate were Australia to destroy England, to make amends for the last four years and crush their opponents into the dirt, they briefly threatened to squander their opportunity to efficiently dispose of them.So instead of waiting for the poor ball, the Australian top-order went looking for it. Every one of the six wickets to fall owed a great deal to batsmen error, with two men falling to pulls, two more to loose drives and another to a run-out. England were on top.But then their bowlers – experienced men who really should have known better – went chasing the game. They stopped attempting to bowl ‘dry,’ as the England camp call it, and instead went for the kill. They stopped delivering a nagging length outside off stump and started searching for bouncers and yorkers. Both Stuart Broad and James Anderson were timed at 90mph over the course of the day. The result was a surfeit of run-scoring opportunities which dissipated any pressure and allowed the batsmen to pick-up runs without risk.There are mitigating factors. Losing the toss here, in scorching heat and just days after the Adelaide Test, was a tough blow, while the excellence of the pitch from a batting perspective leaves precious little margin for error.

Saker advises Anderson: ‘Don’t panic’

David Saker admitted James Anderson’s record since the Trent Bridge Test in July had been “disappointing” but backed the bowler to rediscover his wicket-taking form soon.
Anderson has claimed only 17 wickets at an average of 45.94 in the subsequent six-and-a-half Tests since the middle of July, with Saker urging him to “just do what you do really well.”
England’s bowling coach said: “He bowled some fantastic spells this series and he bowled some good spells after Trent Bridge as well. He just needs to get some wickets. For all our bowlers it’s just about doing what they do really well. Don’t go searching for wickets, don’t panic, just do what you do really well.
“Jimmy’s a really skilful bowler. The ball hasn’t swung as much to be fair over here than I thought it would. But I still think he’s bowling some good spells.”

But Broad, in particular, will be disappointed with a performance that cost 4.58 runs per over. His second new ball spell was quite ghastly.”We let it slip,” Saker admitted. “And probably not for the first time this series. We had them on the ropes and we didn’t finish the job. It’s partly down to the way they played with the bat, but we also didn’t deliver what we should have delivered today.”We pride ourselves on being able to hold lengths and hold good areas, bringing the batsmen forward and always making it hard for the opposition to score. It’s always hard in Perth to stop teams scoring because it’s a fast outfield and a good place to play your shots. We found it really hard to do that. It can be disappointing when you plan these things, but we didn’t do it right.”It’s disappointing we can’t finish teams off. We’ve usually good a good record that way and, other than today, I don’t think we’ve done too much wrong at that stage.”But today we mixed our lengths and went to the short ball too much. We didn’t hold our lengths for long enough to put pressure on them. We know that. We’re not going to shy away from that. There are some disappointed bowlers in there and a disappointed bowling coach.”England’s bowlers have, by and large, performed admirably this series. They reduced Australia to 6 for 132 in the first innings in Brisbane and, had Michael Carberry taken a simple catch to dismiss Brad Haddin, would have had Australia 6 for 266 in Adelaide.Any weakness has tended to come in the second innings when they have been forced back into action without adequate rest and with Australia’s batsmen enjoying the freedom of an enviable match situation to play aggressively. But here, perhaps as a result of England’s desperate position in the series, the cracks began to show.”The disappointing thing today is we did chase wickets,” Saker said. “And that’s probably one of the first times we’ve done that as a group for as long as I’ve been in charge. That was a little bit disappointing.”We didn’t bowl the areas we would have liked, but we had a chance to put some really good pressure on and we didn’t take that. To be fair we probably bowled a little too short. We drilled into the group not to do that but we probably got a bit excited and that’s not good enough.”It was not Australia’s batsmen who were on the floor by the end of the first day•Getty ImagesWith the pitch likely to quicken on the second day, however, England will need a vastly improved batting performance if Ashes defeat is not to be confirmed some time over the next three or four days.There left the debate about the fast bowlers who did not play. There was a reason that England selected three unusually tall seamers for this tour. The intention was that at least one of them would play in Perth in the hope their pace and bounce would make life uncomfortable for Australia. It looked, at first glance, an attractive proposition.The fact that none of the three has been deemed suitable for selection raises questions about the selection or coaching of the side. It should, for example, have been obvious to the selectors that the Tremlett who played for Surrey in the 2013 county season was a lesser bowler than the Tremlett who bowled for Surrey in 2010.Equally, it should have been obvious that this version of Finn is nothing like the bowler he threatened to become a year or two ago. On his performance on the tour to date, there is no way he could have been picked for this game. If the selectors felt that the England coaching system would work wonders on them, their naivety has been punished.Saker’s own record requires some scrutiny, too. To be presented with bowlers with such obvious attributes and make so little of them reflects poorly on him. Even Rankin, who looked so imposing towards the end of the England season, has gone backwards while on tour and was not trusted to hit the correct length here.That is not to say the match selection was wrong. Picking Finn in such form would not have been picking a man to fight fire with fire; it would have been fighting fire with petrol. Tremlett lacks the pace to prosper at this level. It wasn’t England’s selection that was wrong – not on the day, anyway – so much as their performance.

England wilted in the scorching heat of Perth while Steve Smith played like a cool breeze

John Allan14-Dec-2013Choice of game
My home Test, and home to one of the more historically rich venues, in terms of crowd participation, team and individual performances, tradition, unique pitch and emotional investment. Names of the ilk of Dennis Lillee, Rodney Marsh, Terry Alderman, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Mike “Mr Cricket” Hussey, and others who come from Western Australia, validate the embedded Ashes history at this venue. This globally reputed bowlers’ paradise always has the phantom potential for batsmen to score fast and big off its carpet-like outfield and pace off the ball.Team supported
Australia. Statistically, tough times have been bestowed on this team as they have rebuilt in recent times. What statistics don’t show is that the fight in the dog that has been evident in all but maybe two bad Test losses over the past 15 months, one that only the most ardent followers would have noticed.Key performer
Steve Smith has been a much maligned middle-order prodigy who had seemingly underperformed despite his hefty price tag and high-level support. At the age of 24 and with his second ton holding his nation together whilst the shaky top order capitulates again, Smith may yet prove to be the tough back-up required if and when Michael Clarke misfires. It was a brave and confident innings under immense pressure when England were for once looking to dominate… Domination thwarted!The non-performer
Shane Watson. The Allan Border medallist from all too recently has had a distinct fall from grace, form and technique. With Johnson and Ryan Harris proving more than adequate with the willow as strike bowlers, unless he can find his value in the batting line-up, his exit will make more sense for the team to bring in a genuine batsman than move him to the middle/lower order. His soft dismissal yet again outside off stump on a good length is of growing concern and easy for the opposition to plan, execute and manipulate.One thing I’d have changed about the day
Tough to find anything. England did fight for the first time in the series, but Australia fought back, hard. So I will have to lean on semantics… shade sails! The WACA is a fantastic fan venue, up close and personal for all spectators. But a revamp is required to provide appropriate shade as there is simply no relief from the belting western sun!Face-off I relished
It would be fair to say that the anticipated face-off between Mitchell Johnson and the entire English batting line-up had been built up extraordinarily in the week leading up to this Test. Given that Australia batted first, that will have to wait for day two. However, the crowd was not totally disappointed as the West Australian adopted “Mucho Moustachio” pasted the pasty and weary Poms all over the WACA Ground with an array of elaborate strokes to be 39 not out overnight. His face-off with Broad was particularly tense and enjoyable for the punters.Wow moment
The honours again have to go to Smith. His opening scoring thump for six off Graeme Swann woke up the nervous crowd when Australia’s fragile top order had been humbled. This also was a turning point for the innings as it made the intentions clear to the visitors, from which point they had no answers.Shot of the day
The Dave Warner cover drive! Known for his power drives, powerful short-arm pull shots, the Warner show was in full force and England played right into his hands. With the sun belting down hard and a change of tactics, the strategy of bowling to his apparent weakness outside the off stump exposed an innate improvement in his compact style as the slight adjustment and footwork produced several delicious cover drives with precision placement.Crowd meter
The capacity crowd was abuzz with plenty of wickets early, complemented by some dazzling strokeplay and a burgeoning run rate. The 40-degree heat kept the crowd in check for most of the day, however Smith’s century and Johnson’s innings brought some welcome relief to accompany the famous Fremantle Doctor late in the day.Accessories
Sunglasses, sunscreen, zinc cream, blowfly repellent, wide brimmed hat and my club stubby holder to keep my beverage as cold as possible for as long as possible. The scorching Perth sun is most unkind to the under-prepared punter.Marks out of 10
At 326 for 6, I have to score the day at 9 out of 10. England fought, Australia buckled, fought back, then wore the English down in the miserable heat. Tip of the hat to the Poms for sticking at it and toiling, but seemingly ill-advised or ill-executed bowling plans did them no favours.