Sunday, September 29, 2013
MONTY PANESAR EXCLUSIVE: I have lost whatever dignity I had... I am so ...
Saturday, September 28, 2013
MONTY PANESAR EXCLUSIVE: I have lost whatever dignity I had... I am so ...
Monday, September 9, 2013
Clarke century leaves England facing mammoth chase
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Review: The Ashes
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Murali Kartik: My wife was sure I was the Fake IPL Player
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Ashes 2013: James Taylor can successfully replace Kevin Pietersen at Old Trafford
By Paul Newman
PUBLISHED: 15:49 EST, 24 July 2013 | UPDATED: 15:49 EST, 24 July 2013
The mystery of James Taylor's sudden disappearance from the England scene after two tough but far from disastrous Tests against South Africa last year may be about to be resolved at last.
Taylor remains just about the only England Test player in recent years - at least since Darren Pattinson - to be jettisoned by a selection panel, who pride themselves on continuity, without a proper opportunity to sink or swim.
Yet if Kevin Pietersen fails to recover from his calf injury in time for the third Test at Old Trafford, then all logic points to Taylor - enjoying a prolific season with Nottinghamshire that has seen him score 824 first division runs at almost 59 - being the best middle-order candidate to replace him.
The first step towards Taylor, the smallest man in the game, being given another Test chance now was confirmation that he will play for Sussex against the Australians in their warm-up match at Hove. A guest appearance there means he is very much in the Test frame.
A call-up now would be rich in irony because Pietersen was said to be far from impressed with his diminutive partner during the Test at Headingley where he fell out so spectacularly with England. Now Taylor could be the man who steps into his shoes for a match that can decide the Ashes.
More importantly, Taylor's selection would finally dispel the long-standing suspicion that England saw something in his technique that made them discard him much quicker than they have any other emerging player.
If England were to look elsewhere, and Ravi Bopara and the intriguing name of Gary Ballance are also said to be under consideration, then Taylor would really know that he faces an uphill battle to play on the ultimate stage again.
The argument could, of course, be rendered redundant for now if Pietersen recovers in time for next week but, as he took three months to get over a bruised knee, his fitness cannot be taken for granted now.
At least England have options other than Taylor, not least Bopara, who reignited his international career with a successful return with both bat and ball for the Champions Trophy earlier this season.
Bopara has a side injury which is stopping him bowling but the fact England asked Essex to leave him out of their Championship game against Leicestershire so that he would not risk aggravating the problem indicates he has not been ruled out of a Test comeback of his own. And that would be some recovery from the point last year when he was talked out of retiring from Test cricket by national selector Geoff Miller after personal problems had led to him withdrawing from the South Africa series.
The most fascinating possibility remains the latest Yorkshireman who could make the step up to international cricket. Ballance, 23, is an adopted Tyke, having been born in Zimbabwe, but it is clear that England rate him as one of the best young talents available to them.
Even if the left-hander is not picked now, he is likely to be included in the one-day series against Australia that follows the Ashes.
Ballance's time will come but Taylor's needs to be in the here and now. The next vacancy in the England middle order is clearly his to lose now.
Those of us who have balked at the aesthetic 'delights' of The Point at Old Trafford will travel to Manchester for next week's Test full of anticipation at how it all looks now.
We were always told by Lancashire to judge the rebuilding at the famous old ground once it was finished, so judgment day is near. It has been said that Old Trafford has been rebuilt in the spirit of the old Hacienda nightclub which, if true, will do for me. I look forward to hearing a bit of Joy Division rather than Jerusalem when the players walk out for the third Investec Test.
The good: It has to be Joe Root! What an outstanding performance at Lord's, one that proved overwhelmingly that England were right to move him up to the top of the order for the Ashes. What they have here now is an opener for the next 15 years! Graham Thorpe, batting coach to the next generation at Loughborough, has been enthusing about Root for the last 18 months to two years and he's a bloody good judge.
The bad: Spare a thought for James Pattinson, who had to face up to the end of his Ashes dream this week. I've met him a couple of times and he's a very impressive young fella. Pattinson would desperately have wanted to make a contribution throughout this series but his body has let him down again. There's nothing wrong with his action - his body is just not holding up and he's got to go home.
I feel for the lad and he's just got to work on it so that he can put a run of games together. He has the talent, that's for sure.
Titch Taylor can complete the journey out of the wilderness to fill KP's big shoes
By Paul Newman
PUBLISHED: 15:49 EST, 24 July 2013 | UPDATED: 15:49 EST, 24 July 2013
The mystery of James Taylor's sudden disappearance from the England scene after two tough but far from disastrous Tests against South Africa last year may be about to be resolved at last.
Taylor remains just about the only England Test player in recent years - at least since Darren Pattinson - to be jettisoned by a selection panel, who pride themselves on continuity, without a proper opportunity to sink or swim.
Yet if Kevin Pietersen fails to recover from his calf injury in time for the third Test at Old Trafford, then all logic points to Taylor - enjoying a prolific season with Nottinghamshire that has seen him score 824 first division runs at almost 59 - being the best middle-order candidate to replace him.
The first step towards Taylor, the smallest man in the game, being given another Test chance now was confirmation that he will play for Sussex against the Australians in their warm-up match at Hove. A guest appearance there means he is very much in the Test frame.
A call-up now would be rich in irony because Pietersen was said to be far from impressed with his diminutive partner during the Test at Headingley where he fell out so spectacularly with England. Now Taylor could be the man who steps into his shoes for a match that can decide the Ashes.
More importantly, Taylor's selection would finally dispel the long-standing suspicion that England saw something in his technique that made them discard him much quicker than they have any other emerging player.
If England were to look elsewhere, and Ravi Bopara and the intriguing name of Gary Ballance are also said to be under consideration, then Taylor would really know that he faces an uphill battle to play on the ultimate stage again.
The argument could, of course, be rendered redundant for now if Pietersen recovers in time for next week but, as he took three months to get over a bruised knee, his fitness cannot be taken for granted now.
At least England have options other than Taylor, not least Bopara, who reignited his international career with a successful return with both bat and ball for the Champions Trophy earlier this season.
Bopara has a side injury which is stopping him bowling but the fact England asked Essex to leave him out of their Championship game against Leicestershire so that he would not risk aggravating the problem indicates he has not been ruled out of a Test comeback of his own. And that would be some recovery from the point last year when he was talked out of retiring from Test cricket by national selector Geoff Miller after personal problems had led to him withdrawing from the South Africa series.
The most fascinating possibility remains the latest Yorkshireman who could make the step up to international cricket. Ballance, 23, is an adopted Tyke, having been born in Zimbabwe, but it is clear that England rate him as one of the best young talents available to them.
Even if the left-hander is not picked now, he is likely to be included in the one-day series against Australia that follows the Ashes.
Ballance's time will come but Taylor's needs to be in the here and now. The next vacancy in the England middle order is clearly his to lose now.
Those of us who have balked at the aesthetic 'delights' of The Point at Old Trafford will travel to Manchester for next week's Test full of anticipation at how it all looks now.
We were always told by Lancashire to judge the rebuilding at the famous old ground once it was finished, so judgment day is near. It has been said that Old Trafford has been rebuilt in the spirit of the old Hacienda nightclub which, if true, will do for me. I look forward to hearing a bit of Joy Division rather than Jerusalem when the players walk out for the third Investec Test.
The good: It has to be Joe Root! What an outstanding performance at Lord's, one that proved overwhelmingly that England were right to move him up to the top of the order for the Ashes. What they have here now is an opener for the next 15 years! Graham Thorpe, batting coach to the next generation at Loughborough, has been enthusing about Root for the last 18 months to two years and he's a bloody good judge.
The bad: Spare a thought for James Pattinson, who had to face up to the end of his Ashes dream this week. I've met him a couple of times and he's a very impressive young fella. Pattinson would desperately have wanted to make a contribution throughout this series but his body has let him down again. There's nothing wrong with his action - his body is just not holding up and he's got to go home.
I feel for the lad and he's just got to work on it so that he can put a run of games together. He has the talent, that's for sure.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Leicestershire seek to end Championship drought
Leicestershire's focus switches from the Friends Life T20 schedule back to the County Championship as they start a four-day match against Essex at Chelmsford today.
It is a quirk of the fixture programme that sides across the country hurl themselves into the 20-over frenzy, then have to tackle the odd first-class encounter before completing the T20 programme in a flurry of games - the Foxes will play four matches in six days beginning with the visit of Lancashire Lightning to Grace Road on Tuesday.
However, they have to get their minds in gear today to try to get on track in a Championship season that is slowly getting away from them.
Leicestershire sit at the foot of the Second Division without a win in nine games - they are the only side in the section yet to register a win.
Their cause has not been helped during the course of the T20 programme by key players suffering injuries. Seamer Matthew Hoggard picked up a groin injury in the field against Yorkshire at Headingley, while off-spinner Jigar Naik sustained a shoulder injury fielding from his own bowling in the win against Nottinghamshire last Friday.
Hoggard had shown more than a glimpse of his best form in County's most recent Championship outing, a close-fought match against Essex at Grace Road which the visitors won by four wickets.
The former England man had taken six wickets in the Essex first innings to show that he was clear of the hip and back injuries which had severely limited the number of appearances he made in the first half of the season.
Naik had been enjoying a productive season with 21 Championship wickets in the bank, a good return for a slow bowler given that the first couple of months of an English season tend to be dominated by the seamers.
He had bowled well in T20, too, only to be forced off the field after some sharp work from his own bowling against the Outlaws.
Slow left-armer James Sykes would look the most likely option to replace Naik, with Shakib Al Hasan ineligible for the Championship.
Anthony Ireland missed the game at Grace Road with Essex, but could return to share the new ball with Alex Wyatt, who troubled the visiting batters on that occasion last month, particularly in the second innings.
Essex have their own injury problems. England all-rounder Ravi Bopara is currently sidelined with a side strain, while opener Tom Westley needed surgery on a finger injury sustained in the Ashes warm-up game against England earlier this month.
Pacemen David Masters and Tymal Mills were also forced out of the action against England with leg injuries, although both are expected to be in the frame for places against Leicestershire.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Leicestershire seek to end Championship drought with trip to Essex
Leicestershire's focus switches from the Friends Life T20 schedule back to the County Championship as they start a four-day match against Essex at Chelmsford today.
It is a quirk of the fixture programme that sides across the country hurl themselves into the 20-over frenzy, then have to tackle the odd first-class encounter before completing the T20 programme in a flurry of games - the Foxes will play four matches in six days beginning with the visit of Lancashire Lightning to Grace Road on Tuesday.
However, they have to get their minds in gear today to try to get on track in a Championship season that is slowly getting away from them.
Leicestershire sit at the foot of the Second Division without a win in nine games - they are the only side in the section yet to register a win.
Their cause has not been helped during the course of the T20 programme by key players suffering injuries. Seamer Matthew Hoggard picked up a groin injury in the field against Yorkshire at Headingley, while off-spinner Jigar Naik sustained a shoulder injury fielding from his own bowling in the win against Nottinghamshire last Friday.
Hoggard had shown more than a glimpse of his best form in County's most recent Championship outing, a close-fought match against Essex at Grace Road which the visitors won by four wickets.
The former England man had taken six wickets in the Essex first innings to show that he was clear of the hip and back injuries which had severely limited the number of appearances he made in the first half of the season.
Naik had been enjoying a productive season with 21 Championship wickets in the bank, a good return for a slow bowler given that the first couple of months of an English season tend to be dominated by the seamers.
He had bowled well in T20, too, only to be forced off the field after some sharp work from his own bowling against the Outlaws.
Slow left-armer James Sykes would look the most likely option to replace Naik, with Shakib Al Hasan ineligible for the Championship.
Anthony Ireland missed the game at Grace Road with Essex, but could return to share the new ball with Alex Wyatt, who troubled the visiting batters on that occasion last month, particularly in the second innings.
Essex have their own injury problems. England all-rounder Ravi Bopara is currently sidelined with a side strain, while opener Tom Westley needed surgery on a finger injury sustained in the Ashes warm-up game against England earlier this month.
Pacemen David Masters and Tymal Mills were also forced out of the action against England with leg injuries, although both are expected to be in the frame for places against Leicestershire.
Friday, July 12, 2013
The Ishant Sharma Challenge
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 16 : 14
As the curtailed 2013 Champions Trophy final rolled towards its finish line, England were looking good to hoodwink India for a win. Three overs remained and two of them were to be bowled by Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin. It was the 18th over that worried Indian cricket fans in general, and it worried them some more when MS Dhoni threw the ball to Ishant Sharma, his most experienced medium-pacer.
Ishant's figures prior to that over were 3-0-29-0, that too in a match where the margin of error was reduced thanks to a paltry target in a near-rained-out match. It was one of those inexplicable Dhoni gambles that paid off and we will never know why, or even how. A slower ball followed up by a short ball left England's innings in disarray. Even so, those were poor shots from Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara that did half the trick.
It is hard to fathom what goes on with Ishant because when a bowler bowls well in one match, wins the Man-of-the-Match award, you expect some rhythm to carry forward to the next game, especially in near-similar conditions. Maybe wickets won't come forth, that is something ascertained by different factors. Yet, after the semi-final against Sri Lanka, Ishant's lack of rhythm in the first three overs of that spell in the final is worth pondering.
And it is not a one-off case. This lack of rhythm, or a lack of consistency in his bowling, has been the hallmark of his six-year long international career so far. After his ground-breaking performance in the Perth Test in 2007-08, the upswings in his career graph have been few and far between. The words 'few' and 'far' are important herein.
'Few' refers to the odd number of times he has been India's prime bowler. South Africa in 2007, then Australia and Bangladesh in 2008-09, after which there was a long lull before he returned with 22 wickets in the West Indies in 2011. 'Far' refers to the gaps in the matches he played, sometimes rested because the previous bunch of selectors thought of keeping him away from limited-overs cricket and at other times, because Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, etc. were busy partnering Zaheer Khan. There were a few troublesome injuries therein as well.
However, it is not just a long-term phenomenon. Even within a series, Ishant has this tendency to go off the boil. The Champions Trophy semi-final and final is a good combined example, or we can refer to the recent home season Team India has encountered. Against England he played two Tests, bowling a fine spell at Nagpur as the leader of the attack after a somewhat lacklustre showing in the third Test at Kolkata. He was aided a little by bitterly cold conditions in the Pakistan ODIs but went off against England with poor economy. A month later, against Australia, Bhuvneshwar Kumar completely upstaged him in his debut series.
The point isn't to undermine Ishant's contribution to India's cause. Instead, it is to understand why he disappears from the scene more often than not. Why was it a gamble to give him a fourth over in the first place, after all this time in international cricket? Why is there such a gap between his important spells? And why he doesn't look the senior statesman in the side despite playing fifty-odd Test matches?
That number, 51 Tests, is quite huge considering that Ishant will only turn 25 in September this year. It brings to mind something Shane Warne once said, emphatically, about Monty Panesar and perhaps it is also applicable in Ishant's case. Maybe, Ishant has not played 51 Tests but played the same Test 51 times.
In an indirect way, it is reminiscent of the times when the word 'unlucky' came to be associated with him. It was another way of saying that Ishant doesn't bowl many wicket-taking deliveries, or even enough deliveries to consistently trouble the batsmen. So, where is he going wrong, despite playing too much cricket?
In a free-wheeling conversation, former India cricketer Manoj Prabhakar talked about Ishant's problem. Prabhakar has also served as Delhi's Ranji coach as also their bowling coach at different times, most importantly just before Ishant made a 'comeback' to the side in 2011. He spoke about Ishant's wrist position being worked upon in that particular domestic season (2010-11) and the possibility that a new problem has now embedded itself into his action.
"Ishant has one of the best rhythmic actions for a medium-pacer in Indian cricket, but his leading arm, left one in this case, just falls over during his delivery stride, thus hampering him at the time of the release of the ball," he said. "Until he corrects this anomaly, he will continue to struggle for rhythm at different times."
Maybe Ishant will speak to Prabhakar, maybe he will not. Maybe Ishant will be guided by Waqar Younis at Sunrisers Hyderabad, maybe he will not. Maybe at some other IPL team, or by some other former cricketer, it could happen. Or it could not.
Indian cricket cannot take that chance. This is because the transition isn't related to the batting line-up alone. With the departure of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, the bowling needs new teeth as well. The spin department is covered for the moment by R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja is making huge strides. But the medium pacers are quite young and devoid of experience.
It is in this light that a new challenge beckons Duncan Fletcher and his support staff. They need to channelise his energy and give him a set direction. They need to work on him, so he can tap into his potential and the experience of having played so many matches already. They need to convert Ishant Sharma from an also-ran third-choice pacer to the lead bowler who is worthy of presenting debut caps to newcomers.
Given the number of foreign tours coming up, it is imperative that this Ishant-specific task is on top of Fletcher's to-do list.
LIVE: Essex v England
By Paul Newman
PUBLISHED: 04:41 EST, 30 June 2013 | UPDATED: 12:31 EST, 1 July 2013
Alastair Cook leads out England in familiar territory as his side take on Essex at Chelmsford in a four-day warm-up match ahead of the upcoming Ashes series against Australia.
The Aussies secured a six-wicket win over Somerset on Saturday in their first warm-up match and England will be looking to lay down a marker of their own ahead of the first test at Trent Bridge on July 10.
Joe Root is given the chance to open the batting alongside Essex man Cook while Kevin Pietersen will appear in England whites for the first time since injuring his knee in New Zealand in March. James Anderson and Stuart Broad are expected to be rested, allowing Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn and Graham Onions the chance to stake an Ashes claim.
Tymal Mills has shown excellent pace to add the wicket of Jonathan Trott to that of Alastair Cook from this morning while the 23-year-old leg-spinner Tom Craddock is having the day of his fledgling career after coming on to pick up the prize scalps of Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and, just before tea, Matt Prior. And this from a bowler who before today had not picked up a first-class wicket in two championship matches this season!
What a piece of fielding, by the way, that was from Jaik Mickleburgh at short leg. There are those who might say that should have been a dead ball because Mickleburgh was on the move before the ball had reached Bell but I would prefer to pay tribute to a sensational piece of skill.
As soon as he saw that Bell was shaping to play a lap sweep Mickleburgh anticipated what was going to happen and pulled off a stunning reflex catch to his right.
2.40pm: A rare sighting on a ground in the last few months - Jonny Bairstow playing cricket not carrying drinks. Off mark from another full toss.
Root should be fine as should be Stuart Broad who was rested from this game with a sore shoulder. But Root got some good practice under his belt before Kevin Pietersen was welcomed back to the England fold after his injury problems with some very accommodating bowling from Mahmood and Ravi Bopara. He will fancy batting all after noon alongside Jonathan Trott.'
Sportsmail's Paul Newman at Chelmsford: 'Well, Mahmood doesn't seem to have the pace anymore that once enthused Fletcher.'
11.29am: Alastair Cook has edged a cut behind to fall for 18. The delivery from Mills was a rapid 92.9mph.
10.55am: The Essex XI is - Westley, Mickleburgh, Rutherford, Shah, Bopara, Pettini, Foakes, Mahmood, Masters, Craddock, Mills.
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