Sachin Tendulkar joined an elite group of Test players when he took the field against Bangladesh last month. He became just the fifth person to play Test cricket in four different decades having made his debut as a sixteen-year-old against Pakistan at Karachi in November 1989. Let’s have a look at the players he emulated and how they performed in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings.

The first man to achieve this most remarkable of feats is also unique in that he participated in Tests in five different decades. That man is Wilfred Rhodes, who started his career as a specialist left-arm spinner in the 1890s who didn’t bat any higher than tenth in any of his first nine Tests. However, by 1912 he had graduated to opening the batting with Jack Hobbs and that pair still holds England’s first wicket record partnership in Ashes Tests with the 323 they added at Melbourne in February 1912. Rhodes also holds England’s record partnership for the tenth wicket too, and by the time he was recalled for his final appearances in 1930 he was back to number 10 playing as a spinner.

Batting-wise, he achieved 646 points and fourth place in December 1913 after he scored 152 against South Africa at Johannesburg in the match that Sydney Barnes took seventeen wickets. However it was with his bowling that he really hit the heights. He spent a total of twelve Tests at the top of the bowling tree between 1904 and 1907 peaking at 823 points. He was unfortunate that despite ending his first-class career just 31 runs short of the 40,000 run / 4,000 wicket double, he never topped the Test all-rounder table thanks to South African Aubrey Faulkner who reached his peak around the same time Rhodes did.

Jack Hobbs made his Test debut in 1908 and ‘The Master’ was only toppled from his lofty perch at the top of the Batting Ratings for one match in the entire period from 1912 to 1928 (by South African Herbie Taylor in 1923). He peaked at 942 at the end of 1912 which is the third-highest points tally ever achieved. His opening partnership with Herbert Sutcliffe was legendary and he spent more than a quarter of his Test career with a Rating of over 900 points. His career records of 61,760 first-class runs with 199 centuries will never be beaten and no-one else has ever scored a Test century at the age of 46. Even when he finally ended his international career Read more…

Administrator Indian Cricket Aubrey Faulkner, Bangladesh, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, England, ICC, Jack Hobbs, Johannesburg, Rhodes, Sachin Tendulkar, Sydney, Sydney Barnes, Test Cricket

It’s a tricky scenario. You can’t really bet your hard-earned money on one team when the two best Test sides lock horns. But if you simply cannot hold yourself back, the loopholes need to be analysed.

South Africa have more than proved themselves on the international arena with scintillating performances on a consistent basis while Team India is touted as the next big thing in the cricketing fraternity. So if nothing, the two Test series will at least decide the ruler of the ICC rankings, at least for now.

The South African team was initially scheduled to play five ODIs but an interference of the cricketing boards, in a bid to save the fading excitement and grace of Test cricket, saw the itinerary being altered to a couple of Tests followed by three 50-over deciders.

Whether or not the encounter between the two sides will live up to the label of the ‘Majestic Combat’ is to be seen. Now, that is because, both the teams are struggling on various fronts.

If there has ever been a team worthy of replacing the Aussies at the top of the pack, it has been South Africa, hands down. Similar to Roger Federer’s supremacy being challenged by Rafael Nadal time and again, it has been the Proteas that has given the Champion Aussie outfit a run for their money every time the two sides have met on a cricket field, at least in the recent past.

The famous Johannesburg ODI where Australia scored 434 runs only to be chased to death by the so called ‘Chokers’, is an example that supports my above statement very aptly.

Getting back to the loopholes of both the teams, South Africa, the second ranked Test team, have not been in the ‘Test-groove’ in the recent past. They played two Test series against Australia (at home and away), sharing a trophy each. The only other Test series they have played is the one against England that concluded recently. It was drawn 1-1.

Their pace attack comprises of only two big names - Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. The spin department is not worth the time and space in the blog. With India being among the best players of spin bowling, Paul Harris and Johan Botha will have to come up with something Read more…

Administrator India, South Africa, Test Cricket Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, ICC, India, Ishant Sharma, Johannesburg, Rahul Dravid, Shahadat Hossain, South Africa, Sreesanth, Sri Lanka, Test Cricket, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has yet to be convinced by the controversial Umpire Decision Review System, admitting he has ‘misgivings’ over its application.

The newly-adopted system was at the centre of a handful of flashpoints during England’s tour to South Africa - with TV umpire Daryl Harper criticised for his review decisions and the length of time taken to decide.

And Arthur, an early champion of the review policy, concedes he has yet to be convinced by the UDRS in its current form.

Arthur told the The Wisden Cricketer magazine: “I was always in favour of the UDRS but now that we have seen the system in operation for a decent period of time, I have mixed feelings.

“Incorrect umpiring decisions can affect the results of matches and also players’ careers so I felt that anything that could bring more correct decisions had to be good for the game.

“The system is definitely more good than bad but I do have some misgivings. We have to standardise the use of the UDRS across the world by using all the tools available. If ‘Hot Spot’ and ‘Snicko’ are used in one series but not another then the system is half-baked.”

Arthur has also raised questions over the fallibility of Hawk-Eye, suggesting the predictive system has yet to win over all cricket professionals.

“I’m not 100% convinced about the predictive element of Hawk-Eye and I don’t think many players are either.

“The other issue that needs to be clarified is the amount of time taken to decide whether to call for a review. I understand that in Australia it has been 10 seconds.

“In our series against England we were given 25. I think it’s fair to say that both Read more…

Administrator South Africa, Views Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Daryl Harper, David Richardson, England, Hawk-Eye, ICC, Mickey Arthur, South Africa, UDRS

Having played and coached in the professional English cricket system, it’s always a challenge to work in an associates’ system that is lacking in both funding and a professional outlet. After 3 years as Assistant Head Coach with the Dutch national team to successfully qualify for the 2007 ICC World Cup, I have seen there are many factors that can genuinely help develop cricket. And now, with 3 coaching visits under my belt to the US plus numerous conversations with officials and those involved with playing and coaching, I see far more clearly how the US can help itself.

1. Stop The Politics

In any walk of life people are out to make a name for themselves, But when it comes to developing a sport, a far bigger picture is important. More than making speeches, it’s useful for officials and those involved with the game to actually DO things to bring young players through. Initially, it may mean losing cricket matches at various levels whilst people learn how to win. You will often find managers and coaches of teams just wanting to get their own personal record as good as possible and not think about how they can bring talent through. The game is all about being fair, reasonable and player focused. It’s never about administrators and coaches records even though they like to think it is.

2. Develop Players Correctly

Get a development plan, stick to it and see it through. The only way any country can make a sport attractive is to develop those who already play first, so the national teams that represent that country actually perform well. No media wants to cover a ‘minority’ sport where its teams are not playing at the highest levels. Or worse still when they do, they are heavily beaten. It would be madness to imagine that others are attracted to a sport where there’s no success, outlet for success, nor the opportunity to take the game up further after a young age other than for recreation. If cricket in the US is merely for recreation, it’s competing with activities that take far less time out of a day.

3. Coach Cricket Professionally By Developing ‘Professional’ Coaches

It’s worrying to note that so few high level coaches (or any recognised level coaches) work in the US or are involved with cricket in the US. It simply means that talent lies wasted, Read more…

Administrator USA Andy Flower, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Dale Steyn, Darren Gough, ICC, ODI, Shoaib Akthar

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

The referral system has irrevocably weakened the ancient link between umpire and player based on camaraderie

In the space of a few hot and heated days in South Africa, the age of deference in cricket all but died before our eyes.

If any single innovation were going to undermine the fragile, ancient contract of respect between players and umpires, it was not those hi-tech toys Hawk-Eye, Snicko and Hot Spot, but the bastard son of all of these: the referral system.

Andy Flower doesn’t like it – although, had a few decisions gone England’s way in the first Test, he might do. Stuart Broad, whose pink-cheeked youth barely disguises the gorilla roiling within him, clearly regards it as an instrument of the devil.

As long as the gadgets stayed in the TV box, they were relatively harmless innovations, talking points for the commentators who discussed at length if this were entirely fair on the umpires, given they had no access to these wonders of technology and we, the audience and jury, did. Every replay was accompanied by patronising blather along the lines of: “It’s a tough job out there; the umpires have to decide in a split second.” This did no more than prepare the way for the inevitable.

When the wise men of the ICC took the leap, it came as no surprise. They loaded the gun and handed it to the umpires themselves, with the golden bullet held up in the video replay room by that most ominous of silent villains, “the third umpire”.

The referral system is the European court of human rights of cricket. There is nowhere else to go. It is Hawk-Eye come to life (minus Snicko and Hot Spot, this time, because the local broadcaster can’t afford them).

There, surely, is no going back to the chummy days of yore, when Ian Botham and Allan Lamb felt comfortable popping a mobile phone into the pocket of Dickie Bird’s long white coat Read more…

Administrator Test Cricket Andy Flower, Birmingham, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, David Shepherd, Dickie Bird, Hawk-Eye, Hot Spot, ICC, Snicko, South Africa

INAIA IS NOW the world’s top team in Test cricket. The move to ensure that india plays more Tests is a step in the right direction and can help this format regain its popularity

For cricket’s hardcore devotees, the purists who insist that Test cricket is the real form of the game, September 24, 2007, was no day for celebration.

It was the day Mahendra Singh Dhoni led a team short of full strength — a squad for which top batsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly had made themselves unavailable — to victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in Johannesburg. The game that we knew, relatively gentle, moderately fashionable and acceptably paced, took on another dimension.

It was not as though fans suddenly woke up to the joys of big hitting to the detriment of all else —after all, the subcontinent has been serving up flat decks in one-day internationals (ODIs) for some time now. It was just that India’s administrators, who till then considered Twenty20 cricket a creation of marketing men in England, wholeheartedly adopted the shortest version.

If sociologist Ashish Nandy’s assertion that cricket was “an Indian game accidentally discovered by the British” was a bit of an exaggeration, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) strove to make this a reality with T20s. The hurried establishment of the Indian Premier League ushered in the era where T20 is king.

One-day cricket became popular in India after the country won the World Cup in 1983. T20 got wide acceptance in 2007. Now it is to be seen whether India rising to top position in Test cricket leads to revival in interest in this variety of the game.

When India beat Sri Lanka 2-0 to become the No. 1 Test team in the world, the men counting the coins in the BCCI’s vault discovered there were things that didn’t figure in a balance sheet but they mattered a lot to the game’s stakeholders.

Suddenly, being the best in the world, rather than briefly occupying top spot thanks to a quirk in the rankings system, became the goal. Reaching the top has forced the board to request the visiting South Africans to convert February’s five-ODI series into one comprising two Read more…

Administrator Indian Cricket Australia, BCCI, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Eden Gardens, England, ICC, Kolkata, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Nagpur, New Zealand, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Test Cricket, Twenty20, VCA, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh

Sri Lanka is ranked number seven in the ICC ODI rankings, and there is not a fan who disagrees with that ranking. We are ranked above West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Kenya.

If there is a reason why Sanath Jayasuriya has played beyond his 40th birthday, it’s because the 7th ranked team in the ICC ODI rankings needed him.

“All our guys accept the fact that you got to perform to stay in the side,” Kumar Sangakkara told the media when asked about leaving Jayasuriya out.

One then wonders why on earth Mahela Jayawardene is still playing! Sangakkara’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Fellow Island cricket blogger, Merlin, pointed out that Sanath has performed better in 2009 than Mahela. Albeit slightly better.

Following is a quote from Merlin’s post,

The only thing that keeps pushing Sanath Jayasuriya out of the Sri Lankan squad is the blatant age discrimination being displayed by both the former skipper Jayawardena and the current skipper Sangakkara.

In 2006, with the inclusion of Tom Moody as coach, Sri Lanka was on a drive to introduce “young blood” in to the squad and drive out the seniors. Jayawardena and Sangakakra both were mislead into thinking this is a progressive move which would set them apart from other Asian teams.

Unfortunately in both Marvan Atapattu’s case and now Jayasuriya’s, it is a case of ageism, also known as age discrimination.

Meanwhile, Trevor Chesterfield has written a hard hitting piece, after Sri Lanka’s dismal performance in the 3rd ODI, which really needs to be given a thorough look at.

Sri Lanka has one of the largest groups - if not the largest group - of support staff Read more…

Administrator IND vs SL Blogs.CMDN.com, Chamara Kapugedara, Colombo, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, ICC, Jadeja, Jayawardena, Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Sri Lanka, Tendulkar, Tharanga, Thilina Kandamby, Tom Moody, Trevor Chesterfield, Yuvraj Singh

SHANE Watson is an interesting individual but, on reflection, I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt for the send-off he gave me in Perth.

Watson didn’t actually say anything to me . . . he just kept screaming in my direction. He has a bit of a temper and is pretty emotional so he was probably just letting it all out.

Each player is different and getting me out came at a crucial time in an important Test match. There is no doubt he over-reacted but I am prepared to move on and let bygones be bygones.

While we are talking about some of the behaviour in the Perth Test, there is no way I am going to criticise match referees or umpires. They have a job to do and I think they do it to the best of their ability. But, I have to say, I was a bit confused about how some of the incidents in Perth were handled.

I was in the meeting with match referee Chris Broad when they looked at the problems involving Sulieman Benn, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin.

Sulieman did the wrong thing, but if you watch the video there is no doubt that Johnson was the first one to make physical contact. My concern with this is that, if you look at the instance as a whole, you have to treat all the players in the same way.

But Benny got suspended and the two Australian players were fined.

As a player there is not much more I can say about it, but the West Indies board will certainly be discussing it and they will be talking to the ICC about it.

There was certainly a lot of talk and a lot of niggle from the Australian players in Perth. They played us really hard.

It is never going to be easy taking on the Australians, but I was proud of the way we stood up to be counted.

We showed a lot of guts and determination and who knows what would have happened Read more…

Administrator Australia, West Indies Adrian Barath, Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Brad Haddin, Chris Broad, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, ICC, Mitchell Johnson, Perth, Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Shiv Chanderpaul, Sulieman Benn, West Indies

England have suffered in their trials by video at Centurion but only tweaks are needed to ensure everyone is happy

THE CENTURION Test has been our first experience of the revised Umpire Decision Review System. My initial impression is that the changes made to something that was largely derided earlier in the year on the tour of the West Indies have improved it.

In the Caribbean, the third umpires had a shocker. This was because of the limitations of the system — partly due to poor technology, such as the wrong camera angle being supplied for use in some crucial decisions — and because of misunderstandings as to the exact role that the man in the box plays in guiding the umpires in the middle.

Those problems have now been removed. The most important change has been to allow the third umpire to use the predictive element of Hawk-Eye, whereas previously he was apparently forced to use a ruler as a primitive way of assessing the likely path of the ball in the event of a query over an lbw appeal.

This change emphatically does not mean that there is no debate. At tea yesterday, Sir Ian Botham and I got stuck into a decidedly warm discussion following the upholding of the not-out lbw verdict in favour of AB de Villiers. Hawk-Eye had shown that the delivery from Graham Onions would have clipped the leg stump pretty hard. The crucial point was that it was not within the tolerance levels prescribed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for such incidents.

So if a review shows that the decision of the man in the middle fell within the margin of error, the orange graphic comes up “Umpire’s Call”, and the original decision stands.

This does present an anomaly. We had a situation in which the umpire had given De Villiers not out, and Hawk-Eye suggested strongly that he should have been given out. However, because of the margin of error, the third umpire could not definitively say the original verdict was wrong, so the on-field umpire’s decision stood, and England had lost their final review. That was the point Sir Ian was most indignant about: that even if one accepted the decision as laid down by the rules of the system, it seemed harsh that England had lost the review when everyone knew Read more…

Administrator England, South Africa Aleem Dar, Amla, Anderson, Caribbean, Centurion, De Villiers, England, Harris, Hawk-Eye, ICC, JP Duminy, Kallis, Prior, South Africa, Steve Davis, Swann, Trott, UDRS