In the end, England were not able to produce a third great escape to win the Test series here in South Africa. But had they held on for a couple of extra hours at the Wanderers on Sunday they might have just managed to do it.

Johannesburg was hit by a huge thunderstorm in the afternoon which would have washed out any play after tea - and on Monday the city was hit by heavy rain and dark cloud which may have made conditions impossible on what would have been the scheduled final day.

Whether it would have been right for England to win the series is obviously highly debatable although this morning’s newspapers here in South Africa leave you in little doubt about what they think.

Stuart Hess, writing in the Johannesburg Star, states: “There are those who believe that England deserved to get something out of the Test series. They’d be wrong. The outcome was not a true reflection of the standard these two sides displayed, for South Africa were much the better team. England were resilient throughout, showed a lot of character, but even their own captain recognised they were the inferior team.”

Despite England’s rather disappointing capitulation yesterday morning it has overall been a gripping Test series. As England clung on to nail-biting draws at Centurion and Newlands we got a great picture through your e-mails and texts of how you were nervously listening to Test Match Special.

It was almost too much for TMS new boy Michael Vaughan at Newlands who turned to Jonathan Agnew during the final over to say “I’m sorry Aggers, I just can’t watch this”. Jonathan quickly replied: “I’m sorry you’ve got to. Remember how many times you put us through this sort of thing when you were captain.”

One of my favourite stories of people listening to the series came from Steve in Oxford who e-mailed us when England were taking important wickets one afternoon. He told us: “I am currently invigilating an exam and just jumped for joy at that wicket, disturbed everyone, but I Read more…

Administrator RSA vs ENG Adil Rashid, Alastair Cook, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cape Town, Centurion, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Duncan Fletcher, ECB, England, Geoff Boycott, ICC, Johannesburg, Michael Vaughan, South Africa, Stuart Hess, UAE, UDRS, Wanderers, Yorkshire

From Centurion to Perth, there was plenty to savour as the long version of the game produced some thoroughly absorbing play

Did you notice how many of the “100 Top Sporting Moments” related on these pages last week occurred in Test matches? Were you absorbed from a distance by the uncertain outcomes of the simultaneous Test matches in Centurion and the Waca ground in Perth? Crowds for both games were no more than satisfactory but much of the cricket was spell-binding, proof if it were needed that Test cricket will confound those sages who fear that it is an anachronism in an age of instant gratification.

Such gratification does not come much more quickly, even in Twenty20 cricket, than it did for Chris Gayle last Friday, or for those who watched him launching a series of his trademark straight sixes on his way to a Test hundred scored from 70 balls during the third of three increasingly hard-fought games between Australia and West Indies.

He was out too quickly afterwards and West Indies lost their last six first innings wickets for 27 but they bowled Australia out cheaply and finished only 35 runs short of victory early on the last day. Since their uneven performances against England earlier this year West Indies have found a convincing fast bowler in Kemar Roach, the Barbadian who was quick enough on the Perth pitch to rough up Ricky Ponting, and an opening batsman of equal youth and promise in Adrian Barath.

While conditions at the Waca, as always, encouraged quick bowlers and buccaneering batsmen, those at Centurion rewarded patience, craft and enterprise in equal measure. On the third day in Perth 16 wickets fell for 235 runs; on the same day in Centurion seven fell for 303. Such variety is what we want; plus a proper balance between batsman and bowler; and, not least, administrators ready to keep balanced programmes without overloading the best players.

Pitches and the attitude of the players have always been the keys to interesting cricket. In India this month Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team recovered from a turgid opening draw in Read more…

Administrator England, South Africa Adrian Barath, Ahmedabad, Andrew Strauss, Australia, Barbadian, Blogs.CMDN.com, Centurion, Chris Gayle, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, David Richardson, Duncan Fletcher, Kemar Roach, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Paul Harris, Perth, Ricky Ponting, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Twenty20, UDRS, World Cup

Memo: New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan.

Re: New Zealand cricket coach.

How about getting John Wright associated with the New Zealand cricket team in some capacity during the home three-test series against Pakistan in November and December.

There has been a lot of tip-toeing around the issue of whether Wright wants to be involved. Has he expressed official interest and does he want the arduous grind of overseas travel again?

But there is no formal coach at present, and having Wright involved – he is on the NZC staff payroll after all – would be a good way of testing the waters for the players and the prospective coach.

This way, Wright could get a feel for the team and the environment and see if they could work together on a longer-term basis, and vice versa.

Goodness knows, sitting at seventh on the world test table, we need as much expertise as we can muster, especially with the Black Caps’ vulnerable top-order lineup. That is where former gritty left-hander Wright, with his knowledge of top-order batting, is invaluable.

Wright probably has reservations about wanting to join the Black Caps after what happened to previous coach Andy Moles and having been involved with the panel that appointed him.

He comes from the 1980s playing era when things were done differently and all the latter-day gadgets and gimmicks had not been developed. Being from the old school may not please everybody from the modern era.

But Wright knows plenty about the bottom line, crease occupation, and is passionate Read more…

Administrator New Zealand, Views Black Caps, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Duncan Fletcher, John Dyson, John Wright, Justin Vaughan, Kiwi, Moles, New Zealand, NZC, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies

Dan Vettori has seldom spoken a truer couple of sentences than he did this week when looking ahead at how New Zealand will settle on a new national coach.

“We just want to sit back and make sure this process is as thorough as possible. We don’t want to be in a similar situation again,” he said.

As New Zealand Cricket begin the search for a replacement for the departed Andy Moles, the first thing they must do is settle on the type of person they want.

Do they want a hands-on operator, armed with skills to pass on to the players, providing a strong hand on the tiller? Or should he be an organiser, a backroom planner who makes sure everything is running smoothly, using specialist coaches for individual player needs, and take some load off Vettori?

The last two coaches, John Bracewell and Moles, came from opposite ends. Neither appeared an entirely happy fit with the players, for various reasons.

So what to do? Where to look?

There is only one candidate in New Zealand who would be considered, former captain and Indian coach John Wright. He has received less than resounding endorsements from both NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan and Vettori, who have talked of the need to find the right fit for Wright, so to speak.

If he is discounted, then it’s overseas NZC must go, and perhaps to swallow a Read more…

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Andrew Flintoff admits he got found out at last year’s IPL but is looking forward to putting that right next spring

Andrew Flintoff, with an expert dip and hoist of his crutches, slips into a discreet corner of a restaurant on the outskirts of Manchester. He grins ruefully as he shimmies along to the far edge of the plush cubicle where he can stretch out his damaged leg and slide his crutches under the table.

“Sorry about all that,” Flintoff says, shrugging at the sheer palaver his simplest movement entails these days. “The frustrating thing is that I don’t even feel injured. I’m not in pain but the surgeon warned me it’s going to be a test of patience – and patience is not something I’ve got in abundance.”

In late August, just days after he helped England to regain the Ashes with a series of performances lurching from fiery glory to determined limping, Flintoff underwent major surgery on his chronically injured right knee. The surgeon induced two micro-fractures to a bone, in an attempt to stimulate tissue growth and replace worn cartilage, so that he can return to limited‑overs cricket next summer.

“The rehab is very slow,” Flintoff explains. “I’m on the crutches until November and once the knee is scanned, we’ll see if it’s beginning to work. It helps that the surgeon says the chances of me coming back are high. Obviously there is always the odd case where it doesn’t work but I did my own research.

“You Google the operation and get all these examples. A lot of basketball players have had it and they’re much bigger and heavier and they jump higher than me. And they’ve made full Read more…

Administrator England Andrew Chandler, Andrew Flintoff, Ashes, Ashes to Ashes, Blogs.CMDN.com, Canada, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Dave Roberts, Duncan Fletcher, ECB, England, IPL, Manchester, Michael Vaughan, Reg Dickason, South Africa, St Lucia, Twenty20, World Cup

Walking distance from Mannat, Shahrukh Khan’s bungalow on Bandra Band Stand is a bus stop. These days, you can find KKR officials lurking there, hissing at folks waiting for the 211 bus: “Pssst, hey you, want to coach the Knight Riders?”

Well almost. At least that’s what it looks like. They haven’t left out anyone not so why not give Mrs Yvette Salgado from Chium or Jude D’Lima from Shirley Rajan village a try?

Contemplate this list: Wasim Akram, John Wright, Sandeep Patil, Duncan Fletcher, Pravin Amre, Chandrakant Pandit, Eric Simmons, Richard Pybus, W V Raman, Dermott Reeve, Lalchand Rajput, Ashok Malhotra, Michael Bevan and Paras Mhambrey. (What, no Mohinder Amarnath?). That’s not an Old Boys touring team, that’s the number of prospective coaches KKR have met or are going to meet or want to meet before naming their final choice.

John Buchanan would totally approve, that’s how he likes his coaching staff: over-populated.

Now see. When hiring coaches, you would think that people know essentially what they are looking for. A technical genius or man manager or even someone with bit of both. A development coach or a performance coach. Someone from overseas or someone closer to home or one of each. Bootstrap specialist or elite fine-tuner.

Then, we assume, you do your research, ask around and line up a short-list (that’s why it’s called short list, it stops at a maximum of five or six.). Even the BCCI could bring down the Read more…

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Daniel Vettori has emerged from a systems shake-up a more powerful figure in New Zealand cricket since, and possibly including, Stephen Fleming.

For the first time since taking over the captaincy following the 2007 World Cup Vettori can claim, some personnel issues aside, that this is his side.

With coach Andy Moles by design a more peripheral figure than John Bracewell, the onus has been placed on Vettori and his senior team-mates to drag New Zealand out of the massive hole they have dug for themselves in test cricket.

At the forefront of this sea change in philosophy has been Roger Mortimer.

Under the direction of Mortimer, who was pivotal in directing the 2004 Olympic campaigns of Sarah Ulmer and Hamish Carter, the onus has been put on players to map out their own career trajectories. Read more…

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The Ashes captains have shown little regard for the etiquette of the game with their appeals and claimed catches