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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It is often said that the Indian cricket public are not terribly interested in Tests. But a glance at the blogosphere suggests that they are thoroughly enjoying their team’s rise to No. 1 in the world rankings.

When a fellow English columnist (sorry, “ranting Pom”) recently scoffed at the table, suggesting that India were poor under pressure and didn’t deserve their lofty position, he was subjected to a ritual disembowelling online.

For myself, I tend to feel that India are every bit as deserving of the laurel wreath as South Africa or Australia. The problem is that we have become accustomed to the idea of a single champion team, because that is the way the game has been since the early 1970s.

In theory, the concept of three or four half-decent sides scrapping it out at the top of the table – a hung parliament, if you will – should make for greater drama than the monotony of totalitarian rule.

But that is to under-estimate our love of neatness in all things, especially sport. We like to know who the pillars of world cricket are, so that we can look for cracks in the edifice. There is no story as resonant as the fall of a dynasty (as Tiger Woods, a dynasty in his own right, has just discovered).

The ICC’s algorithm does a decent job of turning results into placings, as far as that goes. But the definition of a true champion side is that you don’t need to look at the table to know they are the world’s best.

The other issue with India is that they are a team without great bowlers (begging Harbhajan Singh’s pardon). Their batsmen do the attacking, crushing the life out of sides with Read more…

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THERE would normally be massive hype now about the coming summer of cricket, but this year is unusually quiet.

In other years the excitement would be building and everyone would be debating who should be in the Test team, with states pumping their players up.

Maybe my three kids have taken all my attention and I’ve missed it, but I haven’t seen any real campaign promoting this week’s first Test.

Or here’s a conspiracy theory . . . the West Indies are rubbish and most first-grade sides in Australia would beat them, and Cricket Australia is just treading water until the Pakistan players arrive.

It’s a real shame as the past month has been amazing for Australian sport, especially in Melbourne.

The Spring Carnival was amazing and everyone at the Victoria Racing Club should give themselves a pat on the back.

Then Tiger-mania hit and, wow, didn’t it capture the country’s imagination. Of course, there was drama and the local golfers did well and the course was simply outstanding, but Tiger was huge. And he won. What a week.

Sports fans across Australia are on a roll and their mouths are watering for more. But when does the cricket start?

Does anyone know it’s on besides the players and hardened fans?

With so much happening at the moment, Cricket Australia should have had a huge Read more…

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Australia’s best young cricketers ought to think long and hard before rushing down IPL’s yellow brick road. Naturally it is tempting go for the quick buck, or rather a quick million. Cricket is a blue-collar game hereabouts, and lots of the younger fellows are battlers. Sign on the dotted line, and overnight they can buy a house or a fancy car. Most of them, too, have agents whose only source of income is to obtain IPL contracts or lucrative sponsorship deals for their charges. Unsurprisingly, the youngsters are agog at the idea of mixing with the giants of the game. They can leap from grade cricket to batting with Sachin Tendulkar. Of course it is tempting.

That is the problem.

But the players ought to beware.

Already the lights are flashing.

Numerous IPL players have returned with dreadful injuries, rotten form or soft brains. Playing a few 20-over games might not seem much of a commitment, but bad habits can easily set in. It’s only possible to attend so many parties and emerge intact. A lot of damage can be done in that period. Although other factors were involved, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and Muttiah Muralitharan have all struggled to recover from their first IPL campaign. Nor has much been seen of bright sparks such as Ajantha Mendis or Shaun Marsh. For that matter Ishant Sharma and Ravi Bopara have gone backwards. India cannot find any youngsters to challenge its ageing champions. None of them have progressed. Some have become front-foot swipers.

Success ought not to come too soon or too easily.

IPL suits older players on the way out and neglected cricketers anxious to make a mark and a dollar.

Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and company are perfect fits - great cricketers unable or unwilling to spend days in the field or bowl long spells but Read more…

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THERE is a point at which beleaguered Test cricket and the game’s faddish shorter forms intersect, and it is where cricket authorities must redouble their efforts if the traditional game is to avoid the redundancy to which it is seemingly fated. It is called sunset.

Alone of the three forms, alone also among major sports, Test cricket is exclusively a daylight game. In its heyday that did not matter because all sport was played in the daytime. But for 25 years sport has been moving into the night. The biggest football fixtures are played after dark, the biggest tennis matches, too. At the Olympics, the biggest days are nights.

Fifty-over cricket mostly is played in the afternoon and evening - it used to be called day-night cricket - and Twenty20 lends itself ideally to the night stage. But Test cricket strays into the floodlights only when the weather closes in or the over-rate lags.

This is not necessarily because of stodginess or intransigence. Rather, it is because no one has yet been able to produce a red ball that is visible at night, nor a white ball that lasts 80 overs. Authorities and makers have experimented furiously, but unavailingly,

But the time has come to bite the bullet. The consensus of players and fans is that the Test format does not need to be altered in any substantial way. It is a more vibrant game now than 25 years ago, thanks to players like Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. It ought not to be shortened, nor can it be sped up. Its rhythms still appeal. But it is being jostled out of its pre-eminence by other forms.

The fact is that for cricket fans more than any other, the night game has spoiled it for the day. A seven-hour sojourn at the height of summer can be a gruelling experience, a vigil of sacrificial devotion, running the gauntlets of sunburn, sweat and sozzlement. In all senses, night Read more…

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It seemed destined to be a hopeless mismatch. An unknown debutant named Clint McKay was running in to bowl at Sachin Tendulkar. With the game and the series hanging in the balance, the fans of Hyderabad were baying for Australian blood.

Tendulkar already had 175 to his name - a monumental innings to rank with anything he has produced in his long and glorious career. He needed only to clear the ropes twice, and victory would be sealed. Instead he flipped the ball unerringly into the hands of fine-leg. India flopped to a morale-shredding defeat.

Perhaps you weren’t watching Sky Sports at the time (around three o’clock last Thursday). Perhaps you have more productive things to do with your afternoons. But this was the defining moment of what has been a surprisingly compelling series. Above all, it illustrated why, despite Australia’s decline as a Test nation, their 50-over form remains all but invincible.

One-day internationals are all about collective responsibility. Each bowler is limited to 10 overs. Each batsman has to risk his wicket for the team. They embody that old cliché “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. And because the Australian state system produces more technically sound, mentally tough cricketers than any other in world cricket, Ricky Ponting can turn to someone like McKay in a clutch moment. Surely no other team in the world could have lost nine first-choice players to injury and still beaten the Indians on their home soil.

Tests are different. They are more like theatrical productions because certain people – usually the most proven performers – tend to dominate the stage for long periods of time. If your Hamlet is top-notch, it doesn’t really matter whether Rosencrantz and Guildenstern stumble over their lines: the show will still be a success.

When the Australians whitewashed England in the 2006-07 Ashes, they had a whole host of splendid old thespians trooping the boards. Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden – these men dominated opponents not only with their runs and their wickets, but with Read more…

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THEIR bromance was born out of a mutual love of speed, fast cars and shopping.

To Michael Clarke, he’s an idol who has become a best friend. Clarke describes their mateship as special. A fondness for designer threads and motorbikes aside, the binding factor between Warne and Clarke is their passion for the game and their determination to be the best cricketers possible.

“We both love our speed,” Clarke said. “Our cars, our motorbikes, and a bit of shopping here and there - but we also both love trying to be the best cricket players we can. I guess that’s how our relationship continued to grow.

“I had an idol who was willing to help me. I would have been stupid not to have listened to him. From there, we’ve built a friendship outside of cricket, which is very special to me. It’s something I’m very lucky to have.”

Clarke has consoled Warne in his darkest hour when his marriage fell to pieces. Warne was also there for Clarke when he was gutted by his axing from the Test team - and he is there for him now as he battles a back injury.

Clarke is aiming to play the last couple of games of the one-day series in India, but he has conceded it is “unlikely”. The 28-year-old has degeneration of the spine, first discovered when he had a scan when he was 17.

Last week, Warne caught up with the Australian vice-captain at Clarke’s Bondi penthouse to discuss the mental battle when dealing with injury. The inaction has been frustrating for Clarke. But Warne has been through it all. Dodgy shoulders and broken fingers kept him away from the game and his words obviously helped.

“He’s been very supportive,” Clarke said. “The hardest thing for me is to sit still. I find that very difficult. I feel lazy. I’ve done hardly anything for three weeks … I’m not used to Read more…

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Former Australia captain Allan Border feels Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar should play less limited-overs cricket in order to prolong his Test career.

Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer in Test cricket and has not given any indication that he might retire soon, but Border feels that the 36-year-old would be better served devoting less time to the game’s shorter formats.

“I have high esteem for Tendulkar and his achievements in international cricket, but I think it would be better for him to appear in fewer limited over matches, including one-dayers. It would help him to prolong his Test career,” Border said.

“Representing your country for 20 years in international arena is not a small achievement. There is always a lot of pressure on an international cricketer and I must say Tendulkar has managed it beautifully.”

Border’s run tally came to 11,174 runs in 156 Tests, while Tendulkar now has 12,773 in 159 Tests over a span of 20 years, and the Australian feels that Tendulkar’s achievements have come from a desire to continually improve his game.

“Like many others, his career was also disturbed by injuries. But even after many ups and downs, Tendulkar still has the same passion and love for the game,” said Border, who was speaking as the brand ambassador of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon to be held on Sunday.

“Tendulkar is a player who always looks for improvement. It would be very difficult for others to climb to his stature.”

Meanwhile, Border feels that India have the advantage for the remainder of the one-day series, which is currently locked at 1-1, following their 99-run win over Australia in Nagpur Read more…

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It’s one thing to become the No 1 ranked team in the world through a series of wins in bilateral series and mini tournaments, but it’s another thing altogether to come to a big tournament and beat all the opposition that come your way.

If Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team really want to be known as the best team in the world — and this is quite different from being the No 1 ranked team — then they need look no further than Ricky Ponting and the Australians for what needs to be done.

Even as the Australians were lording it over England, eventually winning 6-1, they had an eye on the Champions Trophy in South Africa, and were plotting just what needed to be done to peak at the right time. Despite a serious scare against Pakistan, where the game went down to the last minute, there was little the Australian team did wrong.

If anything, they adapted to the varying conditions at Centurion and Johannesburg better than anyone else, with only New Zealand, the other finalist, coming close.

For the third time in the last four 50-over world competitions, Australia did not drop a single game. If anything, their one defeat in four competitions, against the West Indies in the Champions Trophy in India in 2006, only goes to underscore just how dominant they have otherwise been.

To win three World Cups on the trot and then two Champions Trophies sets the Australian team some way ahead of the rest of the group, even if the rankings and points systems will tell you otherwise.

That this team does not have the aura of Aussie teams of old is undeniable and only inevitable, as the likes of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have Read more…

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In the middle of the one-day series that finished at the weekend, a fellow scribe, someone who is just about as far away from the archetype of the cynical hack as it is possible to be, a man whose sense of humour and of the absurd is never far away, looked at his blank laptop and said: “I love this game, I really do, but I just can’t take any more of it this season.”

On the same day I had given my godson a ticket for his first international match at Lord’s. He could not have been more excited. When I saw him at the end of the day his sense of wonder was undiminished. Only the result was a bummer, he said.

It is a difficult business for administrators to balance the cricket weariness of players and pundits against the enthusiasm of followers who might see, at best, one or two games a summer (and at the ECB’s prices, who can afford more?). Responding to the criticisms of the NatWest Series that completed the longest international summer in living memory, Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, had a point when he said that the appetite for such matches remained strong.

Seventeen thousand turned up at Durham on Sunday to watch a game in which the only interest was a ghoulish one — whether England could avoid a 7-0 whitewash.

Against these excellent ticket sales, and the greed of the players (and players’ associations) who cannot see that turning out for every Tom, Dick and millionaire weakens fatally their case for burnout, administrators must realise that schedules, domestically and internationally, are stifling standards, which will, in turn, eventually diminish sales. When coaches must rest top players, or in the case of Tim Nielsen, of Australia, rest themselves, overkill is not so much a Read more…

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