Economics and politics dominated an auction that left a pair of veterans counting their blessings

If you’re Mohammad Kaif, a lottery ticket would be a smart move, while Damien Martyn could do worse than contemplate the tables at Bellagio or Caesar’s Palace. Neither man has played international cricket for more than three years, and Kaif’s performances in the inaugural Indian Premier League – he didn’t even make the Rajasthan Royals squad for the second season in South Africa – were as ordinary as Martyn’s brief flirtation with the nearly forgotten Indian Cricket League.

The Royals, captained and coached by Shane Warne, bought out Kaif’s $675,000 (£412,000) contract before the auction to free up the space that they then filled with the classy 38-year-old batsman who was once Warne’s brother in baggy-green arms. If that raised eyebrows, there was bemusement when Kings XI Punjab, who have appointed Kumar Sangakkara as captain in place of Yuvraj Singh, splashed out $250,000 for Kaif, whose batting is usually conspicuously devoid of the power and pizzazz associated with Twenty20 cricket.

Many of the headlines in England on Wednesday will focus on the lack of interest in Graeme Swann, but the Twitter-friendly off-spinner’s IPL tale is far from over. The auction represents only the most high-profile route into the league. There are other ways. Both the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings have injured players that they can replace before the action begins on 12 March. In Mumbai’s case, they will have only the $100,000 that they spent on Kyle Mills last season, but Chennai have a whopping $1.55 million to draw on, having seen Andrew Flintoff go under the surgeon’s knife yet again. Don’t be surprised to see Swann or Doug Bollinger, another who attracted no interest, fielding a few calls from agents over the coming days.

With the auction taking place in Mumbai, a city subjected to the worst terror attacks ever seen in India, there was little doubt that the story of the day was the shunning of the 11 Pakistan players on the auction list. When Richard Madley, who usually helps sell antiques and Read more…

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Ricky Ponting is fascinating viewing at the moment.

Watching him get dropped at the start of his inings playing the pull shot this morning will inevitably start another round of speculation urging him to shelve the shot.

He wants to play it and good luck to him.

The pull is not so much a stroke as a signal of intent. It sends aggressive vibes flowing through both dressing rooms.

If Ponting gave the shot away it would leave him in a difficult place because there are few graceful ways of handling balls on the body.

It is a shot based on instinct.

Our only hope for him is that he plays it with conviction. No shot is more vulnerable when played half-heartedly than the pull.

People saying he should make some concessions to advancing years are making solid points. Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh all modified their games.

But the pull shot is not simply part of Ponting’s game but the very essence of it. Read more…

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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…

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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…

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Not even a surprising decision by a third umpire prepared to ignore the evidence provided by Hot Spot, and so the review system, could take the gloss off a superb chase by the West Indies or a deserved victory by Australia. The West Indians can be proud of their performance. In times past they were granted five-match series but their stocks have fallen and they stand near the bottom of the rankings.

On the face of it, a 2-0 defeat has not significantly improved their reputation but the result conceals a substantial improvement reflected in sharper fielding, improved running between wickets and more committed lower-order batting. Lazy habits had taken hold and the basics had been neglected. Now a healthier culture has developed. The players looked like cricketers and performed with their hearts and heads. As much could be told from Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge’s audacious and ill-starred last-wicket thrust.

Twice in the series the touring team came back from cricketing death. Further humiliations were feared after their heavy defeat at the Gabba. Instead, the visitors stirred sufficiently to shake up the hosts in Adelaide.

Heavy defeat was likewise expected after the tourists fell 208 behind in the first innings in Perth. Instead, the West Indies skittled Australia for a paltry total and chased with such grit that at one stage their chances of taking the spoils were put at 3-1. In the end they fell short but they went down fighting.

Numerous members of a hitherto mostly anonymous outfit made their marks. Hardly any of them had previously toured Australia. Roach’s sizzling pace, Sulieman Benn’s stilted legs and climbing tweakers, Adrian Barath’s daring strokeplay and bright fielding, Dwayne Bravo’s skills and gusto, Narsingh Deonarine’s pluck, Travis Dowlin’s grit and Denesh Ramdin’s promise all attracted high praise. The West Indies can build around these players. Australia have lost some lustre but remain hard to conquer. These blokes had a good crack at it.

Chris Gayle deserves credit for the awakening of his side. Plain and simple, he saved the series. Beforehand his leadership had been questioned, not least hereabouts. The criticisms Read more…

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The last time a Test match was drawn in South Africa was three years ago; since then 17 Tests have produced results. In fact, South Africa have drawn only two of their last 27 matches at home, against England in 2005 and New Zealand in 2006. Australia’s 57 home Tests in this decade produced 48 results.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting says that he fears for the future of Test cricket because of the low percentage of decisive matches in the subcontinent. There are two messages here, the obvious one and the one implied, which is that the subcontinent, or more correctly India, probably hold the future of the longer game in their hands.

Only 29 of 47 matches in India, or 62 percent, have produced results and that is cause for worry. Should public interest and thus television and advertising money move away from Tests as a result of too many inconclusive games, then that format is in danger. A major attraction of the shorter formats is that matches end in victory or defeat. Cricket has seen some exciting draws – but not too many in the subcontinent where the fate of a match is often decided by the third morning and everybody merely goes through the motions thereafter.

But – and this is a point that Ponting has missed – it is not only the tracks that hold the key to a result. There is such a thing as temperament, and psychologically Indian captains play safe, ensuring first that at least a draw is assured before thinking about victory. No Indian captain – Tiger Pataudi, and possibly the early Sourav Ganguly were exceptions – would let go of a bird in hand for a speculative two in the bush. A defeat is such a national disgrace that few captains are willing to take a chance on losing in order to push for victory.

Rahul Dravid’s refusal to enforce the follow on despite a 300-plus lead in the Trent Bridge Test of 2007 or Sourav Ganguly’s similar response after India made 700-plus and restricted Australia to under 500 in the Sydney Test of 2004 are examples of captains who realize that the effigy-burners and editorial-writers are just waiting for a single mis-step to swing into action. It is worse at home where Indian captains are expected to win every time, and the unreal Read more…

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ALLAN Border’s contribution to Australian cricket is almost impossible to measure.

Such is his nature that Allan Border does not notice let alone complain that the true worth of his service to Australian cricket is often unrecognised, unwritten and undiscussed.

So to this end it is hardly surprising that the 25th anniversary of his first appearance as his country’s 38th captain went unnoticed this week.

This is not acceptable. Attention should always be drawn to December 7, 1984 when Border succeeded his mate Kim Hughes as skipper against the West Indies in Adelaide.

It is a date of the utmost significance for it marks the beginning of what is best termed “the age of stability” in Australian cricket.

It is much too easy following the heady successes of the past 20 years under Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist to ignore, even forget, the confusion, controversy and tensions which so characterised Australian cricket in 1984.

Despite some initial misgivings and an anxious and sometimes grumpy first two years in office Border prospered to become a very fine captain and led Australia on a record 93 occasions over the next nine years and three months.

Aside from his enormous contributions as one of the greatest and most courageous batsmen of any era (11,174 runs at 50.56 with 27 hundreds and 63 fifties) his legacy was the provision of certainty, unity and a collective confidence at a time of great uncertainty — a bequest from which Australian cricket in general and Ponting and his men in particular continue to benefit.

Indeed, it is remarkable that Australia has had just four captains in 25 years and there is no doubt that the many successes of this period have been a direct consequence of the impressive stability achieved and maintained at just about every level of Australian cricket. There is no Read more…

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EXCUSE me. Over here.

EXCUSE me. Over here.

Sorry to intrude, but while some of you have been attending to the weighty matters on the gossip pages, something significant has been happening in the frivolous world of Test cricket.

While you were away — distracted, understandably, by bling and beauty — there has been a significant shift in the long-established pecking order of Australian batting.

A change has come over the landscape out in the middle where men earn their whites through sweat, application and repeated effort.

Over the past three seasons of Test cricket one Michael Clarke has quietly established himself as Australia’s leading batsman.

For the best part of forever Ricky Ponting has sat atop the pile, his character announced by the fact that his batting improved in the early years after he took on the top job.

Ponting is one of the great batsmen of all time, but his raw numbers are in decline and he has not averaged above 50 in the past six Test series.

The captain has slipped out of the International Cricket Council top 10 rankings for the first time in seven years and is now ranked 12th in the world.

Alternatively Clarke has risen to fourth spot and is the leading Australian on the table.

Yes, the ICC rankings are a little skew-whiff.

Simon Katich, who has been a tick behind Clarke over the past 18 months for the Australians, does not even appear in the top 20 (Michael Hussey is, by the way, in freefall having Read more…

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India deserve to be the best team in Test cricket after reversing their fortunes since the heavy loss to Australia a decade ago

Last Sunday, Bollywood luminaries and team-mates, his childhood coach, Ramakant Achrekar, and those he grew up admiring gathered at the south Mumbai residence of Mukesh and Nita Ambani, owners of the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise, to celebrate two decades of Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. There was even Asha Bhosle – of Cornershop’s Brimful of Asha fame – to sing that classic from Umrao Jaan, Aankhon ki Masti (The Magic of these eyes).

Tendulkar was a John McEnroe-admiring curly-haired bully of eight when the movie was released in 1981. But as much as he would have enjoyed the evening, it wouldn’t have been a patch on what had happened earlier in the day, as victory by an innings and 24 runs over Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium took India to the top of the Test rankings for the first time.

To understand what it meant to Tendulkar, you perhaps need to go back a decade, to a Test tour of Australia when he was captain. A magnificent 116 at the MCG turned out to be a mere footnote as Steve Waugh’s side annihilated India 3-0, the margin that had been predicted by Jaywant Lele, the BCCI secretary of the time.

Those were the worst of times. The morning after the Mumbai victory, Rahul Dravid, who aggregated 93 runs in those three Tests a decade ago, spoke of how things had changed. “Back then, people were happy if we won one game,” he said. “No one expected much more on overseas tours. These days, when you play for India, you’re expected to win wherever you go.”

He and Tendulkar have played as big a part as anyone – Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, both now retired, were the others at the forefront – in scripting the turnaround over the past 10 years. In the post-match interviews, several of the players and coaching staff spoke of the last 18 months, in which India have beaten Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but to get to the heart of the revival, you have to go back to Eden Gardens in March 2001.

When folk refer to Edgbaston 2005 as The Greatest Test, a lot of Indians are Read more…

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The hasty departure from Australia of English umpire Mark Benson has been portrayed in some quarters as yet another blow for the Umpire Decision Review System – a waffly title for what should be a simple concept.

Benson is said to have walked out of the Adelaide Test after complaining in private that the UDRS ‘just makes umpiring harder’. Throw in the comically bad application of the system at the start of the year, the reluctance of England and India to use it, and the disagreement over who should fund it, and cricket suddenly finds itself in familiar territory: a crisis.

And yet if the players and umpires are looking for someone – anyone! – to blame, they should start with themselves. The UDRS has been exploited and misused so appallingly, as well as blamed for everything from global warming to the credit crunch, you’d think unravelling the Duckworth/Lewis system without a calculator was a doddle by comparison.

The truth is, it couldn’t be simpler. A quick reminder: if a player thinks he’s been done an injustice and his side has one or both of its challenges per innings in hand, he can refer the decision to the TV umpire. And if the TV umpire sees clear evidence that the original decision was wrong, he can over-rule. Where, gentlemen, is the difficulty?

Problems have arisen not because – as romantics such as Dickie Bird believe – the on-field umpires have been stripped of their authority, but because both the players and the TV umpires have exceeded their brief. The ICC, in trying to deal with the kind of umpiring-induced bad blood that marred India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08, have made it clear all along that the UDRS is there to get rid of the howlers. And that is it.

If you believe howlers are a time-honoured and endearing part of the game, you will now be shaking your head. But if you believe cricket has a duty to its spectators and players to get as many decisions right with as little fuss as possible, you may think the eradication of Read more…

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