After the draw at Lahore, both players and spectators will hope that the Faisalabad pitch will be conducive to a result

George Binoy20-Jan-2006

Inzamam-ul-Haq scored two hundreds in his last Test at Faisalabad © Getty Images
After the draw at Lahore, both players and spectators will hope that the Faisalabad pitch will be conducive to a result. History suggests that the chance of a result is about 50%. In the 23 Tests at Faisalabad, 11 have produced a result while 12 have been drawn. Since 2000, only one of four Tests has ended in a result.India have never won a Test here, losing one and drawing three of their four games. But Pakistan’s record isn’t much better. Since 1995, they have lost three, drawn as many, and won just one of seven Tests.In the wake of all the bad publicity the pitch at Lahore got, the Faisalabad strip will be under intense scrutiny. If stats are an indicator then Shoaib and Co might prove to be a handful. Since 1995, spin has yielded 86 wickets at 38.07 and a strike rate of 81.26 while the fast bowlers have done far better: 150 wickets at an average of 26.13 and strike rate of 51.33.Though Inzamam-ul-Haq missed a share of the Lahore spoils, he remains Pakistan’s go-to man and his Faisalabad record is consistent with his career equivalent. He averages 52.27 at the venue and while that stat isn’t extraordinary, India should remember it was here that Inzamam scored two hundreds in the same game in the recent series against England.The toss didn’t matter at all at Lahore, but how important will it be at Faisalabad? On 18 out of 23 occassions, the captain winning the toss has elected to bat but only five times has the team gone on to win while 11 games have been drawn. But given that since 2000, the average partnership for each wicket in the fourth innings is just 27.6, compared to the 44.8 in the third innings and 30-plus averages in the first two, teams will want to avoid batting last.The four Pakistan v India encounters at Faisalabad have been high-scoring affairs, no surprise then that three have been drawn. On average 1218 runs have been scored per match, and the drawn matches have barely reached the fourth innings.

Cricinfo sums up the gains and losses incurred during abizarre six-day war.

Andrew Miller05-Jun-2005There really is nothing more that can be said about the series just passed. Ian Bell, with a century before lunch to his name on Saturday, summed the situation up last night, when he admitted that the bowlers he had just spanked around the park were less of a challenge than your average county attack.What, though, of the challenge ahead? Australia have arrived and the summer is about to begin in earnest, but after a warm-up of this one-sidedness, are England remotely prepared for what is about to hit them? Here, Cricinfo sums up the gains and losses incurred during a bizarre six-day war.

Steve Harmison: important wickets, but should he now be rested? © Getty Images
Steve Harmison’s confidence. A tally of 10 wickets in two Tests is no great shakes, although it is one more than he managed on thattraumatic tour of South Africa last winter. His first-day performance at the Riverside was as explosive as anyone could have wished, and the 90mph yorker that dismissed Habibul Bashar would have troubled even the best of Australia’s batting line-up.Harmison says he has an extra gear to unleash on the Aussies, althoughthere must be a strong temptation to wrap him in cotton wool until thestart of the Ashes. If he is truly England’s trump card, then why play him in seven largely irrelevant one-day games? The Aussies, naturally, would claim he was running scared, but bear in mind, they never had any qualms about hiding Shane Warne during the 1993 Texaco Trophy. And look how that little ruse turned out.Andrew Flintoff’s fitness. Compare and contrast Freddie’s recovery (or lack of) after his hernia operation in 2002-03, to the Lazarus impersonation he has pulled off in 2005. He flew home from South Africa at the end of January to have a spur on his left ankle removed, and the initial prognosis was that he would take no part in the Bangladesh series whatsoever, or at least play only as a batsman.In the event, the exact opposite has occurred. Flintoff bowled 21 fieryovers in the second Test, having eased his way back with five wickets in an exploratory performance at Lord’s, and though he was inked in at No. 6, he was not required to bat even once, thanks to the unfailing success of the England top five. That scenario, as Vaughan admitted, was not ideal, but there will be plenty opportunities in the one-dayers for Freddie to put bat to ball.

Ian Bell: effortless arrival into England’s Test team © Getty Images
Ian Bell’s arrival. Three into two didn’t go in South Africa this winter, so Bell was the unlucky man to miss out when the tour party was unveiled. But Mark Butcher and Robert Key were unable to stake an unassailable claim to the middle-order rights, leaving the way clear for England’s most assured newcomer since, well, Andrew Strauss.The beauty of Bell’s batting is its anonymity. Because he plays every ball precisely on its merits, he has never yet looked in a hurry at the crease, not even while milking 105 runs in a session on Saturday morning. He is unlikely ever to approach that sort of run-rate again, but there is every reason to believe he can survive against Australia, and ultimately flourish.Geraint Jones’s keeping. Never mind the little controversy surrounding that catch. A more savvy cricketer than Nafees Iqbal would have stood his ground, and the moment would have passed after a brief consultation. Nafees, and Bangladesh as a whole, will be older and wiser for the experience, and that, after all, is what this tour is all about.For Jones, the feeling of ball on glove is the more important aspect. South Africa was a tough tour, made tougher by his unfortunate habit of diving blindly in front of first slip and so unsettling his slip cordon as well as himself. Here, his footwork was first-rate, thanks in no small part to his one-on-one sessions with Jack Russell, and a tally of nine catches in the match took his career haul past 50 dismissals – an important milestone for one so doubted.

Matthew Hoggard: Man of the Match, but not at his best © Getty Images
Matthew Hoggard’s no-ball problem. When asked who he thought would be the England’s biggest threat to the Australians, Habibul Bashar immediately plumped for Hoggard – a curious choice that said more about Bangladesh’s unfamiliarity with swing bowling, rather than any genuine form on Hoggard’s part. For in truth, though he finished with a flourish with his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests and the Man-of-the-Match award at Chester-le-Street, Hoggard did not enjoy an impressive series.Michael Vaughan certainly wasn’t fooled by his performance. At Lord’s, he and Harmison were profligate with the new ball; at the Riverside, Hoggard was withdrawn after three ineffectual overs. What is more, he served up 23 no-balls in the two games, and resorted to running in with his eyes closed in a bid to rediscover his rhythm. It was an apt metaphor for a series in which England were not exactly challenged, but a worrying sign nonetheless. Fortunately, with no one-day duties to distract him this month, he’ll have plenty time to groove his action in county cricket before Lord’s.England’s spin options Two years ago, the question on everyone’s lips was “what is the point of Ashley Giles?” It was a cruel jibe, but at the time a valid one, for Gilo’s role in the side had not been properly defined. It took a renaissance series against New Zealand this time last year to finally put an end to the bickering, but with his fitness in doubt because of a dodgy hip, the issue of his replacement has resurfaced. So, let it now be asked, what is the point of Gareth Batty?Until his 15 overs at the death of the series, Batty’s only notable contribution had been a miraculous catch at square leg. Duncan Fletcher loves his utility players, but in Batty’s case, his versatility has usually outweighed his impact with the ball. And it has ever been thus – in Sri Lanka two winters ago, his improbable batting success against Muttiah Muralitharan meant that England’s best attacking spinner, Robert Croft, was omitted from the decisive Test of the series. The result? England lost by an innings and 215 runs. Australia will have taken note.Bangladesh’s development. Not strictly relevant to England’s Ashes prospects, but valid nonetheless to the English summer. The pleasure of watching England ease to their tenth consecutive home Test victory has been severely tempered by the quality of resistance on display, and with the most pointless triangular tournament in history to follow, it can only be hoped that Bangladesh can take heart from their second-innings performance come the one-dayers.I wouldn’t bet on it. As Vaughan noted, the Bangladeshis like to go for their shots, but for every occasion in which Aftab Ahmed’s strokeplay pays off, there are likely to be ten occasions in which he holes out to cover for a 14-ball 20. Bangladesh’s record in one-day internationals is pitiful – this form of the game is supposedly a lottery, and yet they have won just twice against senior opposition in 20 years of trying. They have been in disarray so far on this most testing of tours. For everyone’s sake, we must hope they have now overcome the worst of the culture shock.

Simon Jones’s replacement could hold the key to wrestling the Urn from Australia’s 18-year-long grasp

Will Luke01-Sep-2005

England are doing everything possible to get Simon Jones fit for The Oval © Getty Images

The things the modern cricketer has to endure. Twenty years ago, prominent England players would have winced at the thought of sitting in an Oxygen chamber, no doubt scoffing at its supposed benefits. Simon Jones has little choice: after he injured his ankle in the last Test, England have been doing everything they can to patch him up for the final fling. He has been a key, reverse-swinging cog in England’s success this summer, and if he fails a fitness test, his replacement could hold the key to wrestling the urn from Australia’s 18-year-long grasp. Or not…Who could replace him? His long-term understudy, James Anderson, is finally playing cricket regularly. For Lancashire this season, he has taken 48 wickets but averages over 30: this is not what England, or Anderson, wants. He’d played just three games for Lancashire in 2002, before England called him into the one-day squad against Australia the following winter, and his success was instant. But his confidence was fragile, and attempts by England’s coaches to modify his bowling action sapped it further still. He remains promising and, importantly, is still only 23, but England can’t afford to risk his selection in what is the biggest match of England’s recent history.Chris Tremlett, 24 tomorrow, has usurped Anderson as the young, English fast-bowling hope but is yet to play a Test. He played three one-day matches earlier in the season, and performed reasonably well, picking up 4 for 32 on debut against Bangladesh, and the useful wicket of Adam Gilchrist in the following match against Australia. Importantly, he has remained in the England “bubble”, Duncan Fletcher’s protective cushion, throughout this series which signifies he is very well regarded. Indeed, his extreme height has excited many observers: he is 6′ 7″ and generates bounce from a natural short-of-a-length, something Michael Vaughan can testify to as Tremlett smashed a ball into his elbow at Edgbaston. For Hampshire this season, he has taken 45 wickets at 26 – a good performance, if not a spectacular one – but he doesn’t move the ball a la Jones. Worryingly, in Hampshire’s latest match against Warwickshire, his two wickets cost 98 runs and included six-no balls.Paul Collingwood is desperate to play Test cricket again, to add to his two matches played against Sri Lanka in 2003. While he is primarily a batsman, his bowling has improved steadily this season with 19 wickets for Durham. He remains very much a wobbling medium-pacer, though and it is a front-line bowler England needs to at The Oval. His inclusion would strengthen the home side’s batting considerably, and this could yet win the selectors over. England, after all, only need to draw the fifth Test to regain the Ashes. But the remaining England bowlers’ workloads would be become even heavier. He is in excellent batting form, though, and his catching and fielding abilities are almost without peer. His bowling won’t win England the Test, but his batting and fielding could.

Chris Tremlett is the man in waiting, but can the selectors risk a debutant? © Getty Images

England’s former pace bowlers Andrew Caddick and Darren Gough are both a year either side of 35, but each would give their eye-teeth to be a part of a successful England side, and especially one which has, at long last, dominated an Ashes series. Caddick, 36, last played for England in Sydney in 2002-03, a Test England won, but injuries have since forced him out of the side. Despite his age, he is still the leading English-qualified wicket-taker this season with 54 at 27.79. Meanwhile it has been rumoured, rather cheekily, that Gough was asked to attend a training session by England. Mind you, Gough is the closest like-for-like replacement for Jones: he was England’s best exponent of reverse-swing throughout the 1990s, but with age comes medium-pace. England’s consistency in selection has arguably been a key factor in their successes spanning two years, and it remains unlikely Gough or Caddick will buck that trend.Whoever is chosen – and other names in the mix include Kabir Ali and Jon Lewis – it is unlikely they will match the skill Simon Jones has shown this summer. His rare and surprising ability to move the new and the old ball is almost irreplaceable. Britain will be praying the German doctors can work their oxygen-chamber magic on him; and for Jones himself, it would be devastating to miss the finale of a series he has played such an integral part in swinging England’s way.

Lara scored 53 runs off 63 balls against spin and only 16 runs off 37 balls against the fast bowlers. At every opportunity, Lara used his feet to smother the spin and bounce

George Binoy26-May-2006If India were to make a match of their meagre total of 217, their spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar, had to turn in a performance similar to that of the second ODI where they bowled 20 overs and took 3 for 70. The signs were encouraging after India struggled against Marlon Samuels, who conceded just 37 off his ten overs. However, what the Indian middle order lacked, West Indies had in abundance – the genius of Brian Lara. In a masterclass on footwork against spin on a slow surface, Lara mixed caution with stunning aggression and ensured that India never had a chance of winning the game. The following graphic depicts Lara’s wagon wheel against the spinners.Lara scored 53 runs off 63 balls against spin and only 16 runs off 37 balls against the fast bowlers. At every opportunity, Lara stepped out to smother the spin and bounce – coming down the track and driving to midwicket, mid-on and the cover region. Lara attacked Powar from the onset. He used his feet to play aggressively through the offside, scoring 21 runs off the 22 balls Powar bowled to him. So often did Lara use his feet that Powar even slipped in a couple of flatter and faster balls, something he hardly does.Having fallen to Harbhajan at St Kitts, Lara was more circumspect against him. He scored only 12 off the first 30 balls Harbhajan bowled to him, choosing to step down and defend, or leave anything outside his off stump. He played with a straight bat unless the length was short enough to cut safely. Then, having seen off the danger, Lara clobbered Harbhajan for two fours and a six in his final over, as if to emphasise that he had been in charge all along. After Chris Gayle had departed following a period of stagnation, Lara orchestrated the run-chase to perfection.

Sachin Tendulkar was attacking in Melbourne, authoritative in Sydney, and innovative in Perth but this was the combination of them all

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at the Adelaide Oval24-Jan-2008

	Tendulkar brought out his signature shot that he hasn’t played in recent Tests: the charge against the spinners to launch them back into the stands © Getty Images

There’s a statue of Don Bradman at the Cathedral End of the Adelaide Oval, where he appears to be dancing down the track and lofting the ball straight over the bowler’s head. The bat is above his left ear, his knees are bent and the eyes are looking upwards, watching the ball soar into the horizon of his home ground. It was fitting that Sachin Tendulkar chose the venue to bring up an immaculately-crafted hundred, the kind which is said to have put Bradman so far ahead of the rest.If anyone missed Tendulkar’s innings in the first three Tests they should have simply landed up here. He was attacking in Melbourne, authoritative in Sydney, and innovative in Perth but this was the combination of them all. It had the moments of adrenaline-fuelled strokeplay, a hint of chance, a dash of inventiveness and tons of intelligence. Bringing out his percentage game against a high-quality bowling attack, he stood alone.It wasn’t an innings with any distinct shade, rather one that covered the entire spectrum. Walking in to a standing ovation, he didn’t score off the first 18 balls. Soon after he had eased into first gear, he set the stage with a flurry of fours. The first was a simple, yet glorious straight drive off Brett Lee; the fourth was hammered past Mitchell Johnson, the bowler. The skies were clear but it would have been fitting if a rainbow hung over the arena.Bradman rated his 254 at Lord’s as his finest innings, simply because each stroke went exactly where he intended. It was interesting to hear Tendulkar talk about the first couple of straight drives here, saying how the ball travelled precisely where he wanted it to go. “These are phases which come and go,” he said, “and you know when you’re hitting the ball well. You need to wait for that moment.”It wasn’t a flawless innings. He was in trouble against Brad Hogg, padding up without offering a stroke, and had his nervy moments while facing Lee and Johnson. A few moments before tea, with Johnson bowling the 53rd over, he was bounced twice before being beaten on the move. The next ball, pitched on the same length like the previous one, was left alone. The final ball, straighter and swinging away, was edged short of first slip.Through the innings, he showed the ease with which he could adjust. By paddle-sweeping Hogg, he altered his line towards the off stump. Soon he tapped it away to the off. Against Lee, while facing a brilliant late-afternoon spell, Tendulkar subtly changed his stance after each miss, shifting an inch or so either way. Good balls were followed by a little nod, as if to suggest that he was enjoying the battle.

	Through the innings, he showed the ease with which he could adjust. By paddle-sweeping Hogg, he altered his line towards the off stump. Soon he tapped it away to the off. Against Lee, while facing a brilliant late-afternoon spell, Tendulkar subtly changed his stance after each miss, shifting an inch or so either way.

It was an innings where the good balls were put away, amply illustrated when Hogg said his “best ball of the day” had been struck for six. Stuart Clark saw a good away-goer race past gully, simply because Tendulkar had known exactly when to open to the face of the bat.What he also did was to bring out a shot that he’s rarely played in recent Tests: the charge against the spinners to launch them back into the stands. It used to be one of his signature strokes and often came with an air of dominance, dismissing the good balls with quicksilver footwork. Twice he stepped out and smashed the spinners over their heads, revealing yet again how he could change his game depending on the situation. He signed off with a cheeky ramp over the slips, making full use of Lee’s pace and bounce, and rounded off an innings which had almost everything.

At the WACA, they say, batsmen can leave alone balls pitched at a good length. Some tellable pitchside tales from Wild West Perth

Dileep Premachandran16-Jan-2008

Home is where the bounce is: The WACA was a track tailormade for Ambrose © Getty Images
To understand just how frightening the WACA used to be for batsmen, you only have to watch the footage of Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop in their prime in 1992-93. Australia had been denied a first series win in a generation in Adelaide, and the teams had come to Perth all square. And although Australia lost Justin Langer early, caught behind off Bishop, they were pretty handily placed at 58 for 1 when the match and series went pear-shaped. Again, it was Bishop, targetting Steve Waugh’s body, and the diffident glance was taken by Junior Murray.The initial incisions may have had a Trinidadian flavour to them, but it was all Antiguan aggression after that. Ambrose had enjoyed a stellar series, beating Malcolm Marshall’s record for most wickets in a series against Australia, and with the flick of an imaginary switch, he produced one of the great spells of fast bowling seen anywhere.Mark Waugh nicked one behind, and David Boon was helpless against one that lifted off a good length. When Allan Border was squared up and caught behind first ball, the innings was in disarray. But Ambrose was far from done. Of the seven wickets he took, conceding just one run, six were caught by the keeper or the slip cordon. The seventh, Merv Hughes, perished to an ambitious hoick that was taken at cover.It wasn’t the fastest spell you’ll ever see, but it was an object lesson in what length to bowl on the fastest pitch in the world. Ambrose was never too short, and his height and the steepling bounce meant that even balls that landed on a driving length were too hot for batsmen to handle.After Australia succumbed just before lunch on the third day, the curator was sacked. It was West Indies’ fourth win in four attempts at the WACA, and it was small wonder that Border used to regard Perth games against the men in maroon caps as an away fixture.The next match West Indies played here would mark the end of an era. They arrived having lost a series in Australia for the first time since 1975-76, but there would be one final sting in the tale from the last of the great assembly line of the Caribbean quicks.Only Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan offered resistance as Ambrose and Bishop again triggered a slide to get Australia all out for 243. In reply, Brian Lara produced one of his greatest Test hundreds, the equal of his glorious 277 at the SCG four years previously. His 132 was the difference between the sides, and by the time Australia wiped off the deficit, they were eight wickets down.This time, the destroyer in chief was another legend, Courtney Walsh, who ignored a hamstring injury to bowl 20 overs on the trot for his five wickets. West Indies haven’t won a game in Australia since, and the game is immeasurably poorer for their decline.The first sign of their years of plenty, when they were almost invincible, had also been glimpsed at the WACA in Greg Chappell’s first series as Australian captain. Australia had won comfortably in Brisbane, and Ian Chappell’s scintillating 156 gave them a decent total of 329 on a lightning-fast pitch in Perth.At least, it appeared decent until Roy Fredericks went to work. Kid Cement, as Fredericks was known for his courage against fast bowling, got away with a miscued hook for six off Dennis Lillee, and there was seldom a false stroke afterwards as a four-pronged attack of Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Gary Gilmour and Max Walker was put through the mincer. Fredericks hooked, pulled, cut and drove with awesome power and imperious timing on his way to 169 from 145 balls. Such was the awe it inspired that Clive Lloyd’s regal 149 (off just 186 balls) became almost an afterthought. Viv Richards, who made just 12 himself, called it a “privilege” to be there, to witness the best innings that he ever saw.

Kid Cement: Roy Fredericks is cheered off by the Australians as they go in for a tea break © The Cricketer International
Greg Chappell’s take on it is slightly different. “Fredericks played very well, but to be fair we bowled badly,” he says. “We were too short most of the time and too wide the rest. It was a very good pitch for fast bowlers, hard and well grassed, but good for the batsmen too if you gave them room or length to work with. The West Indies didn’t give us the room and their extra bounce made it difficult. It was the perfect wicket for their combo of shot making and tall, fast bowlers.”They were too good over the three to four days of the Test. Ian Chappell was the only one who batted well for us and his innings was probably the better of the two, because he was made to work harder than we made Fredericks work. We couldn’t have bowled more to suit him if we had tried.”Australia would win the four remaining Test matches, though, with West Indies unable to cope with the pace barrage, the sledging and what Richards called blatantly racist abuse from sections of the crowds. Chappell, though, regards that 5-1 series win as one of the high points of Australia’s cricket history, though he qualifies it by saying: “I think the series we drew with them in the West Indies during WSC [World Series Cricket] when their bowling was more mature would rank as highly.”As for India, this has seldom been a happy hunting ground. It’s 16 years since they last played here, a one-sided match remembered only for the bright kernel of hope to emerge from the embers of a defeat triggered by one of cricket’s quintessential journeymen. “Ripping through a line up containing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin takes some doing,” says Michael Whitney, looking back on his 7 for 27 from 12.1 overs that pushed India to a 300-run defeat after Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Navjot Singh Sidhu had put on 82 for the first wicket in the second innings.Tendulkar still regards that first-innings 114 (161 balls) as one of his finest hundreds, and those who have watched him since 1989 would find it hard to pick a knock that has eclipsed it. Kiran More, who added 81 for the ninth wicket with him, had the best view in the house. “For any batsman to play at Perth for the first time is not easy,” he says. “He played some shots straight through the covers off the back foot. On that pitch, if you play on the back foot, most of the shots go square and fine, but he was playing through extra cover and cover. Sachin’s a short person, and those shots are difficult to play, but he was doing it so easily.”The best assessment of Tendulkar’s masterpiece came from an Australian with a gift for the pithy phrase. Merv Hughes’ language may usually have been colourful, even blue, but he was spot on when he turned to Border and said: “This little prick’s going to get more runs than you, AB.”

Reckless but not selfless, “Woody” brought a fevered edge to the game

Christian Ryan20-Apr-2008On a green and goose-bumped MCG wicket, some balls speared high and others shimmied low. Ian Healy, clobbered twice in the groin, felt sick. Dean Jones had a smashed rib and fingers so bruised it felt like he had been playing the piano for ten hours. Seldom did Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, or Courtney Walsh land the ball in the batsman’s half. Patrick Patterson, the brute, never did. “There is absolutely no pleasure in it,” muttered Allan Border, no coward. “You walk in wondering where your next single is going to come from.”On this same hellhole, against these same hellraisers, Graeme Wood resembled a dartboard in pads. But if he was scared, he never flinched. If he was hurting, he did not grimace. He batted 130 minutes in the first innings and 50 in the second. He made 12 and seven. He never played for Australia again. It was Christmas 1988 and Christmas has felt a bit meaner, a bit thinner, ever since. Or it has to me.The Test before that was in Perth, on a pitch chipped and crusty, littered with loose flakes of turf as big as pizzas. “No Test cricketer,” wrote Mark Ray, “should have been asked to bat on such a pitch, let alone against West Indies.” Wood jumped up and bunted down the janglers at his throat. The rest he hooked, pulled, cut, or drove. These were not simply shots out of a textbook but shots fired across Caribbean bows, executed with a tumbling back-lift and a loose flap of the arms. He made 111 and 42. One game before life’s darkest injustice, this was cricket’s brightest rearguard. Or it was to me.Politicians must lie awake at night racked by visions of broken promises. Me, I often lie there wishing Woody’s Test average was a few decimal points higher: 31.83 is such a slap in the face. Lower than Graeme Fowler and Haroon Rashid and Bevan Congdon. It seems almost unspeakable. So belittling. Sometimes I wonder if he feels the same way.As a teenager, the game was almost an afterthought for me: Graeme Wood came first, leather and wood second. When the Australians took a wicket I would scan the team huddle, looking for Wood – who he was next to, whether he was mates with DK and AB, one of the boys or a misfit. His bravery was part of the fascination. He’d wear a helmet but no grill. He’d field at short leg. He was the man the selectors rang whenever the Windies were in town.Wood had a stance built to combat express bowling. Feet splayed wide apart, bum sticking out, so square-on that his front shoulder pointed almost to midwicket, as if daring the bowlers to aim at it – and when they did he would hook without hesitation, whether there was no man in the deep or three. Bouncers would be swayed rather than ducked, neck craned diagonally and eyes wide open, the ball grazing his moustache. They do not collate statistics that count how often batsmen get cracked on the knuckles, but this is one table Wood might sit atop. A radio commentator once said Wood’s hands were stained violet and swollen to twice the size of a normal human’s.

Old team-mates speak of an exquisitely gifted batsman, hardworking too, running pre-season laps with Olympian zeal, driven by his conviction that he could best serve the team by summoning the best out of himself

And yet this courage of Wood’s was never selfless – not like his opening partner Bruce Laird’s. Laird would do anything for his team. Wood, you fancied, would do anything to shore up his spot. If he made a duck in the first dig, you could tell he was trying extra hard in the second. If he made a hundred first-up, he’d lope out in the second innings like some obnoxious millionaire, serenely disinterested, then get out attempting something goofy. Only twice in 59 Tests did he make a half-century in each innings. I know without looking it up that this is a world record for a specialist batsman. Not an admirable record but never mind. Laird I always found a bit grey. Everything about Wood was utterly compelling.Before facing a ball he would gallop on the spot, pads and buckles flapping. He never played for the red ink, or calmly negotiated a maiden over. Everything had to be manic. He was dropped and recalled by Australia 14 times. So skittish was his running, lightning but hair-brained, that the papers called him “The Kamikaze Kid”. He was run out four times in his first 22 Test innings, and there was always the sense that he was a bus crash waiting to happen. He once grafted 104 not out in an Adelaide one-dayer, against the hostile West Indians of course, but ruined it by running out Kepler Wessels, Wayne Phillips and Rod McCurdy. It was the first hundred by an Australian against West Indies in 26 one-day matches. Yet he wasn’t even named Man of the Match. Why couldn’t the world see what I saw?Only one person, it seemed, shared my preoccupation with Wood, and that was the man himself. Old team-mates speak of an exquisitely gifted batsman, hardworking too, running pre-season laps with Olympian zeal, driven by his conviction that he could best serve the team by summoning the best out of himself. Woody was a strange one, they’d say. Remote, self-absorbed, focused, disciplined. Maybe he was too intense. Maybe to succeed in batting you need to realise how unimportant success in batting is. But batsmen averaging in the mid-30s, 40s or 50s are dime a dozen. On reflection, 31.83 feels about right. If he averaged more he would amount to less.

Stats analysis of Matthew Hayden’s career

S Rajesh13-Jan-2009A batting average of 50 is generally considered the benchmark for greatness, and Matthew Hayden finished his Test career just above that mark. Despite a slump that reduced that average by nearly three runs in four months, Hayden still ended with a mean of 50.73, making him one of six Australians to score more than 5000 Test runs at a 50-plus average. In terms of aggregate, his 8625 is in fourth position, bettered only by Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Allan Border.The start and end to his career were similar – he averaged around 24 in his first 13 and last nine Tests – but in between he was amazingly prolific, with 29 centuries in 145 innings, and an outstanding average of more than 58.

Hayden’s career in three parts

Period	Innings	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
First 13 Tests	22	536	24.36	1/ 2
Next 81 Tests	145	7706	58.37	29/ 25
Last nine Tests	17	383	23.93	0/ 2
Career	184	8625	50.73	30/ 29

Hayden’s remarkable run began in that unforgettable tour of India, when he scored 549 and averaged 109.80. Since then, his year-end average didn’t dip below 43 for seven successive years, before dipping to 32.47 in 2008. During this seven-year period, from February 2001 to January 2008, he was the leading run-scorer in Test cricket, with 7706 runs in 81 matches. The average, at 58.37, wasn’t bad either.

Best batsmen between Feb 1, 2001 and Jan 31, 2008 (at least 3000 runs)

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Jacques Kallis	69	6729	67.96	22/ 34
Ricky Ponting	77	7301	64.04	27/ 27
Mohammad Yousuf	52	5034	63.72	18/ 17
Kumar Sangakkara	65	5714	59.52	16/ 22
Brian Lara	56	5820	58.78	19/ 18
Matthew Hayden	81	7706	58.37	29/ 25

His imposing presence and sheer aggression at the crease were unique, but Hayden backed his style with plenty of substance. Many of his colleagues are calling him Australia’s greatest opener, and while that might be arguable, Hayden has the numbers to support that argument. Among Australian openers who scored at least 2500 runs, only one – Bob Simpson – had a higher average. Critics might question the quality of bowling attacks around the world, but Hayden did the job in most conditions, against most opposition line-ups. His average dipped below 40 against only one team – New Zealand – though he did have his problems tackling the conditions in South Africa and England. (Click here for his career summary.)

Leading Australian openers (at least 2500 runs)

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Bob Simpson	38	3664	55.51	8/ 19
Matthew Hayden	103	8625	50.73	30/ 29
Justin Langer	65	5112	48.22	16/ 18
Bill Lawry	67	5234	47.15	13/ 27
Arthur Morris	45	3381	45.68	11/ 12
David Boon	36	2614	45.06	8/ 10
Mark Taylor	104	7525	43.49	19/ 40
Michael Slater	74	5312	42.83	14/ 21

Increase the cut-off to 5000 runs, and throw open the competition to openers from all teams, and Hayden’s numbers still compare favourably – he is one of only six openers to score more than 5000 runs and average more than 50.

Leading openers in world cricket (at least 5000 runs)

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Len Hutton	76	6721	56.47	19/ 31
Jack Hobbs	58	5130	56.37	14/ 27
Virender Sehwag	61	5238	52.38	14/ 16
Graeme Smith	72	6036	52.03	18/ 22
Matthew Hayden	103	8625	50.73	30/ 29
Sunil Gavaskar	119	9607	50.29	33/ 42
Justin Langer	65	5112	48.22	16/ 18
Geoff Boycott	107	8091	48.16	22/ 42
Herschelle Gibbs	68	5242	47.22	14/ 21
Bill Lawry	67	5234	47.15	13/ 27
Gordon Greenidge	107	7488	45.10	19/ 34
Graham Gooch	100	7811	43.88	18/ 41

With Justin Langer, Hayden formed one of the greatest opening pairs of all time. In terms of partnership runs, only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes got more, but their average was more than four runs lower than the Australian pair. Hayden and Langer got 3567 of those partnership runs in matches that Australia won, which is a record for any opening pair.

Most prolific opening pairs in Tests

Pair	Innings	Runs	Average stand	100/ 50 p’ships
Greenidge-Haynes	148	6482	47.31	16/ 26
Hayden-Langer	113	5655	51.88	14/ 24
Atapattu-Jayasuriya	118	4469	40.26	9/ 24
Slater-Taylor	78	3887	51.14	10/ 16
Lawry-Simpson	62	3596	60.94	9/ 18
Hobbs-Sutcliffe	38	3249	87.81	15/ 10
Chauhan-Gavaskar	59	3010	53.75	10/ 10

Hayden began his love affair with the subcontinent way back in 2001, and the relationship has stood the test of time. After that watershed series, Hayden also scored hundreds in Sri Lanka and in Sharjah (in a Test against Pakistan). Of the four centuries he has scored in this continent, at least three can be counted among his best innings. Among Australians, Hayden’s record in Asia is bettered only by Border, who scored 1799 runs at 54.51 in 22 matches.

Best Australian batsmen in Asia(at least 1000 runs)

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Allan Border	22	1799	54.51	6/ 8
Matthew Hayden	19	1663	50.39	4/ 8
Mark Taylor	13	1020	48.57	2/ 3
Ricky Ponting	24	1541	41.64	5/ 7
Steve Waugh	23	1205	41.55	3/ 5

Unlike many batsmen who prefer batting in the first innings of a Test, Hayden’s stats are marginally better in the second (an average of 51.82 as against 50.02 in the first). Among Australian batsmen who’ve scored at least 2000 second-innings runs, Hayden’s average is third, next only to Don Bradman and Border.The ODI star

Hayden’s Test record is admittedly more imposing, but he was an outstanding performer in the shorter version too, with 6131 runs at 44.10 – the seventh highest in terms of runs for Australia, and third-highest in terms of averages among Australians with at least 2500 runs, next only to Michael Bevan and Dean Jones. Hayden’s partnership with Adam Gilchrist was worth 4503 runs, the most by any opening pair.Hayden’s big-match temperament shone through in the World Cups and in tournament finals: in 21 World Cup innings he averaged 51.94, and the story was similar in tournament finals – an average of 50.66, with seven fifty-plus scores in 17 innings. His World Cup tally is fourth among all Australians, while his average in tournament finals is highest among Australians who scored at least 750 runs in such matches.

Australia’s touring party for South Africa is a sensible squad chosen with an eye to both the present and future

Alex Brown05-Feb-2009
The selection of Marcus North gives hope to consistent Sheffield Shield players across the country © Getty Images
This week, the prime minister Kevin Rudd announced a $42 billion stimulus package aimed at preventing the Australian economy falling into recession. A nation hopes.Sadly, there is no such optimism for Australia’s cricket team. Having posted negative growth figures for the past two quarters, and with no sign of an impending upswing, Australians have arrived at the realisation that the boom market of the Warne-McGrath era is a thing of the past.Opinion polls suggest Australians are supportive of Rudd’s move to revive the national economy. The same cannot be said for the stewardship of Andrew Hilditch. Over the past year, Australia’s chairman of selectors has alternated between roles of bull and bear, and the subsequent confusion has done little for the confidence of established players, the nerves of those on the periphery and the patience of supporters across the wide, brown land.But maybe, just maybe, lessons are being learned. Following an inglorious 2008, in which Hilditch’s panel was justifiably criticised for its shabby treatment of emerging spinner Beau Casson and its poor handling of Andrew Symonds, Australia’s selectors have begun the new year by displaying prudence and foresight in naming their 14-man squad for the three-Test tour of South Africa.Any line-up that contains eight players with a combined ten Tests to their name – four of whom are uncapped – is bound to raise eyebrows, but in reality, this is a sensible squad chosen with an eye to both the present and future. Retirements, injuries and suspension have ensured that Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey are the only survivors from the Johannesburg Test of three years ago, while the remaining selections form the framework for a solid cricketing stimulus package – loyalty to seniors, patience to emerging players and incentive to rookies.Australia’s cricketers have watched their stock price tumble in recent seasons, prompting major writedowns and revised forecasts across the board. It was only two years ago that Ponting – speaking on the eve of his first Test without Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer – boldly declared that his new-look Australian team would improve on the performances of previous squads. Similar levels of hubris could be detected among team management.But with regression has come humility, and with humility, sagacity. The move to retain all members from the victorious Sydney Test team (minus, of course, Matthew Hayden) sent the kind of reassuring message that was all but absent nine months ago, when Hilditch’s men named a 25-man contract list – ostensibly the best cricketers in the land – then all but ignored it over the series that followed.The elevation of the 20-year-old batting phenom Phillip Hughes is an acknowledgement of the need to develop players for the future, while the selection of the well-performed Bryce McGain, 36, represents a pragmatic move to address Australia’s spinning concerns in an Ashes year. McGain may almost qualify for a seniors discount, but he remains by some measure the best, attacking spin-bowling option in the country. He could yet play the generational bridging role for which Stuart MacGill had been earmarked.Marcus North, meanwhile, has been rewarded for a career of honest toil at the coalface of first-class cricket. At 29, and with 125 first-class matches to his name, the Western Australian left-hander provides solid batting support, and a handy finger-spinner option when required. His is a selection that should imbue hope into Sheffield Shield players across the country, indicating that national squad selection is no longer reserved to an exclusive clique ordained by Hilditch’s panel.Of course, none of this guarantees Australia victory in South Africa. The climb is steep. But there can be little argument that this 14-man squad represents the best Australia has to offer in this current credibility crunch.

Stats review of South Africa’s 2-1 series win over Australia

Siddhartha Talya08-Jan-2009Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini’s defiance on a deteriorating pitch in Sydney summed up the story of the series. South Africa almost snatched a draw in the final Test after Australia had them on the ropes, and the home team, despite having held the initiative in the first innings – as they did in the greater part of the first two tests – came close to squandering yet another winning opportunity. The tail wagged for both teams – more so for Australia – but a far superior performance by South Africa’s top-order proved decisive in the outcome, as Australia lost their first home series in over 16 years.Australia’s last four wickets have averaged 29 per partnership since the start of 2008 – the highest for any team. They bettered that in this series, averaging 34.25 for the last four wickets, but the first six averaged just five runs more, at 39.76. For South Africa, however, the figures are markedly different – 32 for the last four wickets and 50.20 for the first six.South Africa’s top-order were involved in six out of seven century-stands – JP Duminy and Dale Steyn’s match-turning partnership of 180 for the ninth-wicket in Melbourne being the only one from their lower order – with four of them coming in fourth-innings chases. Australia managed just three century-stands, with all of them coming in the first innings. From 2000 to 2007, the average partnership per dismissal for visiting teams in Australia was 27.25, with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath doing much of the damage. That figure has gone up to 34.77 – South Africa managed 44 this series – since the start of last year.

Average partnership runs

TeamOverallFor Wickets 1-6100s/50sFor Wickets 7-10100s/50sSouth Africa4450.206/632.001/2Australia37.7239.762/934.251/2Australia dominated New Zealand in 2008, but struggled to dismantle the Indian lower-order earlier in the year when Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh batted well with Sachin Tendulkar to average 31.47 for the last four wickets. However, they won both those series with their bowling spearhead Brett Lee proving most effective, taking 30 wickets at 23.83. His performance this series, though, was abysmal as he conceded 249 runs for a solitary wicket in the first two Tests. Mitchell Johnson, who averaged 34.5 in his first four Test series, including 40.07 in India, replaced Lee as Australia’s lead bowler, taking 17 wickets at 25.88, and was well supported by Peter Siddle, who took eight of his 13 wickets – he averaged 27.38 – in Sydney.Barring Lee’s flop and Jason Krezja’s 1 for 204 in the first Test in Perth, there was not much to choose between the bowling attacks of the two teams. In a high-scoring series, Dale Steyn led the tally for South Africa with 18 wickets at 26.16. But fellow fast bowlers Morne Morkel and Makhaya Ntini conceded 42.66 and 50 runs apiece. Jacques Kallis was a touch more effective with seven wickets at 38.70 but it was Lee’s slump that made the difference in how the two attacks fared.

Bowling Performances

TeamWicketsAverageStrike RateEconomy rateSouth Africa (overall)5436.5566.43.30Australia (overall)4342.5590.02.83South Africa (first two Tests)4032.40593.29Australia (first two Tests)2551.1298.43.11Australia conceded 44 runs for each wicket – their second-worst bowling performance at home in 16 years – and their batsmen, who often backed them up when their efforts were below-par, failed this time, averaging a relatively low 37.72 per wicket – It’s only the second time since their defeat to West Indies in 1992 that Australia’s batting average has fallen below their bowling.

Average Runs per wicket

TeamOverallFirst InningsSecond InningsSouth Africa44.0036.7957.93Australia37.7240.4634.29The outcome of the series was also a consequence of individual successes and failures, with the performances of Jacques Kallis and Michael Hussey – both struggled in 2008 – playing a pivotal role. Kallis peaked at the right time, scoring fifties in each innings in Perth and taking six wickets in the first two Tests, while Hussey, whose batting average has fallen from 80.58 to 59.36 since the start of last year, managed just 10 runs in his first four innings, including two ducks. Matthew Hayden continued his poor run, averaging 19.50 in six innings, while Hashim Amla – he averaged 25.50 in his first 15 Tests and 57.10 in his next 19 – was South Africa’s second-highest run-getter in the series, including a valuable half-century in his team’s successful chase of 414 in the first Test.

Batting performances

BatsmanBefore 2008 (Runs and Average)In 2008 before the seriesSeriesJacques Kallis9282 at 58.01519 at 28.83187 at 37.40Michael Hussey1934 at 80.58890 at 44.5085 at 17Hashim Amla1042 at 32.561012 at 53.26259 at 51.80Matthew Hayden8003 at 53505 at 38.84117 at 19.50Graeme Smith’s inspiring effort in trying to save the Sydney Test showed how much he deserved to be to the Man of the Series; his century in the fourth innings of the Perth Test set the tone for a record win, and he followed that up with a half-century in South Africa’s run-chase in Melbourne – his 919 runs in fourth-innings victories is the highest for any batsman. AB de Villiers and Duminy were the other stars with the bat – both average above 60 – while Neil McKenzie was inconsistent after performing well for much of 2008. Michael Clarke was the highest run-getter this series with 383 at 76.60, including a maiden ton at the SCG. Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, and Brad Haddin each averaged close to 50 but Australia let their guard down in their second innings of the first two Tests, losing the first seven wickets for an average of 171 runs.Head-to-head contests
South Africa’s top-order made Lee struggle, and while they took runs off Johnson, they were not able to dominate him. Johnson won the contest with Jacques Kallis dismissing him thrice, as well as Graeme Smith, who was bowled by him at the death in Sydney.Ten of Steyn’s 18 wickets comprised the top five. He dismissed Katich and Hayden thrice, and Hussey twice in the first two Tests. However, Johnson took him for 55 runs at over four-an-over, while Ntini struggled against the Australian top-order, especially Ponting.

Player v player

BatsmanBowlerRunsBallsDismissalsAverageGraeme SmithBrett Lee681240-Hashim AmlaBrett Lee4757147AB de VilliersBrett Lee28680-Graeme SmithMitchell Johnson82102327.33Hashim AmlaMitchell Johnson63122163.00Jacques KallisMitchell Johnson30103310.00JP DuminyMitchell Johnson52122317.33Graeme SmithPeter Siddle65125165.00Hashim AmlaPeter Siddle741350-Mark BoucherPeter Siddle175535.66Simon KatichDale Steyn88152329.33Matthew HaydenDale Steyn58107319.33Michael ClarkeDale Steyn74112237.00Ricky PontingMakhaya Ntini7675176Mitchell JohnsonDale Steyn5571227.50