All posts by h716a5.icu

Chris Martin’s favourite opponent was South Africa, against whom he had a better than Glenn McGrath did, but his Test bowling against Australia was more than 64

S Rajesh03-Jul-2013Only one New Zealand fast bowler – Richard Hadlee – has played more Test matches, or taken more Test wickets than Chris Martin. That, in a nutshell, captures the value that Martin offered to New Zealand cricket for more than a decade. Chris Cairns and Danny Morrison were more high-profile players (and Cairns obviously offered a lot with the bat as well), but neither played as many Tests: Cairns took 218 wickets in 62 matches, while Morrison played 48 Tests for his 160 wickets. And then there was Martin’s No.11 batting, which became legendary for its ineptness: in 104 innings he scored 123 runs, with only one innings in which he touched double-digits. Of the 52 times he was dismissed, 36 were for ducks, the second-highest in Test history; apart from this, he was also not out on zero 28 times, ten more than the second-best.He’ll arguably be remembered by fans more for his batting than his bowling, but for the team the consistency and control he brought with his bowling was a huge asset. There were the odd blips in his career when he lost his swing and his incisiveness, but for the most part he was New Zealand’s go-to seamer over the last decade.Martin started his Test career in style, taking 11 wickets against South Africa – his favourite opponents – at an average of 26, but then followed a few ordinary performances, including three successive series against England and Australia when his bowling average was more than 50. (Click here for Martin’s series-wise bowling stats.) After 21 Tests, his bowling average was almost 38, though that was also the period when he produced his best match figures – 11 for 180 against South Africa in Auckland, in a series in which he took 18 wickets in two Tests.Then came the period when he sustained his high level over a much longer time: over the next three years, he took 71 wickets in 19 Tests at an average of less than 28. Thereafter, he never regained that level, though he was reasonably consistent. In his last Test, quite fittingly against South Africa, he took 3 for 63 in 19.2 overs.

Break-up of Martin’s Test career

WicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMFirst 21 Tests6537.9661.45/ 1Next 19 Tests7127.8152.73/ 0Last 31 Tests9735.4164.72/ 0Career23333.8160.110/ 1Martin is one of only four New Zealand bowlers to take 200-plus Test wickets, and one of five to go past 150. Like most bowlers, he preferred home conditions too, averaging 31 at home and more than 38 overseas. Among overseas countries, his favourite was South Africa – in nine Tests there, he averaged 29.13 at a strike rate of 54.7. (Click here for Martin’s bowling career summary in Tests.)

Most Test wickets by a New Zealand bowler

OverallIn home TestsBowlerTestsWicketsAverage5WI/ 10WMTestsWicketsAverage5WI/ 10WMRichard Hadlee8643122.2936/ 94320122.9615/ 3Daniel Vettori11135934.2020/ 35715937.116/ 2Chris Martin7123333.8110/ 13814630.997/ 1Chris Cairns6221829.4013/ 13110928.355/ 1Danny Morrison4816034.6810/ 02711527.129/ 0Lance Cairns4313032.926/ 1247528.903/ 0Ewen Chatfield4312332.173/ 1246630.740/ 0As mentioned earlier, South Africa were clearly his favourite opponents. So good was he against them that his average is slightly better than Glenn McGrath’s versus the same opposition. In fact, among bowlers who’ve bowled at least 250 overs against South Africa since their readmission into Test cricket, Martin is the only one with a strike rate of less than 50 balls per wicket; the next-best is Javagal Srinath’s 51.7. Against all other teams combined, Martin’s bowling average was 36, almost ten runs more than the average against South Africa.The team against whom he struggled the most was Australia: in 12 Tests he took 23 wickets at an average of 64.21, and a strike rate of 102 balls per wicket. His stats against them are so poor that among all the 136 bowlers who’ve bowled at least 300 overs in Test cricket against Australia, Martin’s average is the worst. Among those who’ve done better than Martin are Carl Hooper (average 60.35), Ashley Giles (56.95), and Venkatapathy Raju (50.35).

Most Test wickets v South Africa since their readmission

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMShane Warne2413024.1660.97/ 2Muttiah Muralitharan1510422.2256.811/ 4Anil Kumble218431.7981.33/ 0Javagal Srinath136424.4851.74/ 0Harbhajan Singh116028.4059.44/ 0James Anderson175738.0771.52/ 0Glenn McGrath175727.3371.62/ 0Chris Martin145526.7249.64/ 1Courtney Walsh105119.8055.42/ 0Brett Lee145034.6462.42/ 0And then there was Martin’s legendary batting skills, which was surely one of the main reasons why he played only 20 one-day internationals. In the 97 international matches he played – 71 Tests, 20 ODIs, and six Twenty20 internationals – he scored a grand total of 136 runs. In 192 first-class matches he averaged 3.71, in 142 List A games his average was 2.86. However, in seven Twenty20 matches he scored 16 runs and was dismissed just once, giving him a grand average of 16.In Tests, only once did he go get into double-digits, when he made an unbeaten 12 against Bangladesh in Dunedin in 2008. His second-highest score in Tests was 7.Among those who’ve played in at least 50 Tests, Martin’s aggregate of 123 runs is easily the lowest – the next-lowest is BS Chandrasekhar’s 167 runs in 58 Tests, at an average of 4.07. Clearly, the legend of Chris Martin the batsman isn’t going to die anytime soon.

Least Test runs among batsmen who played at least 50 Tests

BatsmanTestsRunsAverageDucksChris Martin711232.3636BS Chandrasekhar581674.0723Danish Kaneria613607.0525Fidel Edwards553946.5619Ishant Sharma514509.7817Matthew Hoggard674737.2719Lance Gibbs794886.9715Iqbal Qasim5054913.0710Glenn McGrath1246417.3635Allan Donald7265210.6817

Bangladesh have not had a much success in finding a batsman who thrives at No. 4. Mominul Haque has made a positive start in that position

Mohammad Isam17-Oct-2013Over the last 13 years, Bangladesh have had to endure a paucity of runs from their No. 4 batsman in Tests. Their newest candidate for that position, Mominul Haque, has the opportunity to make it his own. After scoring his maiden century, Mominul is already Bangladesh’s fourth-highest run scorer for that position, in only seven innings, and has the best average. He is of composed character, but coping with the expectations placed on him now will be as much of a test as the challenges of batting at No. 4.The second half of his six-hour 181 in Chittagong was a fair indication of what Mominul can expect in the second Test, the rest of the winter and the foreseeable future. He had started quickly, feasting on freebies from Bruce Martin and Doug Bracewell to score Bangladesh’s second quickest Test fifty. On the third morning, Mominul had continued to bat in similar rhythm, reaching a century off 98 balls with his 18th boundary.That’s when he stopped scoring freely, not abruptly but he began to limit shots. The cover and square drives, the sweeps and quickly driven singles were put away. He used the nudge and push, and the primarily defensive prods that brought him singles. Whether the New Zealand bowlers finally got it right or whether Mominul batted cautiously, he scored 50 off his next 98 deliveries. He slowed down further as his captain Mushfiqur Rahim dominated, and by the time the partnership was broken, Mominul had a strike-rate of 66.05.He said later that the bowlers had probably figured out his strengths and bowled accordingly, but there was no obvious change in the modus operandi of Trent Boult and Bracewell. Even as he slowed his pace, however, Mominul showed he was comfortable with grinding down an attack.Even if he did feel as though the bowlers were getting on top, Mominul has few reasons to worry. Bowlers are supposed to dominate periods of a Test and batsmen are supposed have the good sense to try and see them off. Pride must be swallowed.Mominul remained confident between 100 and 181. He was happy to give the strike to Shakib Al Hasan or Mushfiqur, free-scoring batsmen who were fresh at the crease. Mominul’s score is the highest by a Bangladesh batsman at home, and the third highest overall. It was also only the third hundred at No. 4 for Bangladesh.Mominul will need to use that temperament in order to have more success than his predecessors at No. 4. Mahmudullah batted there in Zimbabwe before him, and before them Naeem Islam looked like a good fit but he was careless and got injured. If Naeem or any other batsmen have hopes of displacing Mominul, it is not a far-fetched ambition, because Bangladesh batsmen have not held down the spot with conviction.Mohammad Ashraful has the most runs at No. 4 for Bangladesh, but his 691 runs have come at an average of 15.70. Of the 47 batsmen who have batted at least 40 innings at No. 4, Ashraful’s aggregate and average are the lowest. Aminul Islam lasted two years before Ashraful took over; Rajin Saleh was only slightly better, from 2003 to 2008. He was the last batsman to get more than six innings there, after which ten more batsmen were tried.Mominul has made the sort of start that will make Bangladesh believe they have unearthed a successful No. 4, but he has only begun. After his century, Mominul told a journalist in Chittagong that he had celebrated only because, “It wouldn’t look good if there was no celebration”. It is his wish to remain in the background. Bangladesh can do without the flash and bluster at No. 4; they will settle for runs.

For 11 years, Smith has done a job that in other countries many people do not hold on to for even one. It is a task that requires taking responsibility, selflessness and meeting enormous expectation, much like parenthood

Firdose Moonda06-Mar-2014Two days after South Africa lost their third Test match in as many years, beyond the security gates at OR Tambo International Airport, a man was running after a delighted 18-month-old girl. She was giggling and squealing as she wobbled along and he was allowing her to enjoy her mock escape. It could have been any father entertaining any child except that these were not any people. The man was Graeme Smith. The toddler was his daughter Cadence.She has grown up in cricket’s spotlight, after being born during South Africa’s tour to England in 2012, and is something of an unofficial sunshine-bringer to the dressing room. Children often are. Their carefree approach to life is something adults envy when they age. Since having two of his own, Smith has found his again. It has been a long time coming for the oldest 33-year-old cricket has known.For 11 years, Smith has done a job that in other countries many people do not hold on to for even one. It is a task that requires taking responsibility, selflessness and meeting enormous expectation, much like parenthood. It is no coincidence Smith looks the kind of father any little one would be lucky to have. He got enough practice by being a captain.Very few people in their early 20s are ready to have someone totally dependent on them and Smith was no exception. His immediate response to the role thrust upon him then was to meet it head on. He behaved like the moniker given to him: Biff short for Buffel (the Afrikaans for buffalo).If you have come across a herd of buffalo, you will know that when they start moving, you have to stop. They advance languidly, they occupy space a few hundred metres at a time and if they decide you are worth looking at, they do it with absolute disdain. You are left in no doubt as to who is boss. Same with Smith.When he took over, he was brash, he was bold and he said silly things. Anyone who was asked to assume authority early would have done a similar thing. That was the early Smith, the one who handled his baby awkwardly but competently enough, the one who was not too sure he was always doing the right thing but who managed to get the kid to stand on its own two feet.By 2007, phase two had begun. Teenage-hood. Smith had led the side for five years and a World Cup. He was comfortable and confident. Perhaps overly so in both departments. The team he led had a reputation of being a bit of a boys’ club. Mostly in their mid-20s, they were the equivalent of high-school jocks. They played the game hard, they partied hard. They were a little too full of themselves.They thought they knew it all and there was not much evidence to argue with that on that front. In the three years that followed the 2007 World Cup, they won series in England and Australia and drew in India. But there was one thing that reminded them they did not know it all. There was no ICC trophy in their cabinet despite three chances to claim one.

He took the team in when it was abandoned by men who could not read rain calculations and scolded it into submission. He brought it up the way he wanted it to turn out. He saw it mature into something he could be proud of

Smith bore the brunt of that bile. He had come through an indifferent period in limited-overs cricket, underlined by how many matches he had missed, which included home and away series against Australia, because of his arm and hand injuries and it seemed he was losing ground as a shorter-format player.In August 2010, he confirmed that. Smith stepped down as captain of the Twenty20 side and said he would give up leadership in the 50-over game after the 2011 World Cup. At the press conference he held to announce his decision, Smith looked defensive and defiant.He wanted it to be known that he was not quitting or giving up. He was simply allowing the younger children to take over because he believed they were ready and it would free him up to concentrate on himself for a change. That day he said he still thought he had “five or six years,” of cricket at the highest level still in him and one of his goals was to capture a World Cup in that time.South Africa compiled what they thought was the most suitable squad for sub-continent conditions to go to the 2011 tournament. It included three spinners and a range of batsmen, including Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, who had proven themselves there before. They left these shores with optimism and hope packed as tightly into their bags as cricket kit.On arrival in India, Smith got tetchy. He bristled with irritation and snapped at journalists whenever they brought up South Africa’s history of choking. After they lost to England on a crumbling pitch in Chennai, Smith looked close to combusting with fury. He reacted like someone whose little ones were being picked on and bullied. He protected them with aggression.Things changed after the quarter-final defeat. That day Smith did not shout as much. His eyes were almost empty as he searched for a way to explain what had happened. It was obvious that he wanted nothing more than to get out of there and the moment his official business was over, he did. He did not return to South Africa. He took a break, went to Ireland and asked Morgan Deane to be his wife. The humiliation of a World Cup defeat became a love story, though not everyone liked it at the time. Their child was growing up.From a cricket family to a real family for Graeme Smith•Getty ImagesThey did take a liking to Morgan, though. She was feisty and funny. She posted things on social media that made most people blush. But none of that would have mattered if she had not changed the captain. Before our eyes, Smith turned from a captain into a person and it is this stage of his career that we will remember most. It is when he blossomed at the side of his bride.Smith actually did not want to carry on captaining then. He had something else to focus on. It was up to Gary Kirsten, his old opening partner, who convinced him to continue. Kirsten wanted Smith at the helm on the journey to No.1. Having been on that road for some time, the chance to see a promised pot of gold at the end was too much for Smith to turn down.He may have if he was not allowed to embark on it as the big daddy. Kirsten changed the culture of the national side to become more of a family, which was just the way Smith liked it. With those traditional values in place, South African cricket took its biggest leap.They claimed the Test mace in England while Smith was entering his first weeks of fatherhood; they defended it in Australia, despite losing a player to a snapped Achilles’ tendon in the first match. JP Duminy, the hero of their 2008-09 trip was ruled out and Cadence Smith, a mere four months old, was one his first visitors in hospital.Last week, Cadence had an accident with boiling water. She required time in hospital and, understandably, the full attention of her parents. They gave it to her, so much so that Smith moved the announcement of his retirement to the middle of the Test match instead of the start.Cadence is doing fine. She is running around and giggling, perhaps not as much as she was two weeks’ ago but enough for even a casual observer to know she has come through okay. The night before his last day as an international cricketer Smith and his wife had dinner at an upmarket restaurant close to Newlands. He looked weary but happy. He also looked free. He looked like a parent whose children had finally moved out.That is what Graeme Smith has been to South African cricket. A father-figure. He took the team in when it was abandoned by men who could not read rain calculations and scolded it into submission. He brought it up the way he wanted it to turn out. He saw it mature into something he could be proud of. Many men do that but few do it for a cricket team. Now Smith can go and do that for his own children. He deserves nothing less.

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad

Alagappan Muthu05-May-2014The pull out, almost
The slower bouncer and the wide yorkers are part of every fast bowler’s arsenal. The spinners have the doosra and there were even rumours of a teesra. In Ahmedabad, Andre Russell has pioneered a variation that might well be nominated as the height of trickery. He chugged up to the crease and in the final few steps seemed to pull out. Shane Watson loosened the grip on his bat and was already preparing for the umpire’s call of dead ball. Only Russell revved back up and bowled a short and wide delivery. The startled Watson walked down to have an animated chat with umpire Nigel Llong, but the delivery was ruled legal.The flamingo
The IPL has had spectacular feats involving the boundary rope and the latest entry was provided by Suryakumar Yadav and his nimble footwork. Shane Watson blitzed one down the ground and the fielder backpedalled as far as he could. All the while though, Yadav was spying the progress of the ball and having judged its trajectory, raised his hands over his head and well behind him to pluck a magnificent grab. But that wasn’t the end of it. The momentum pushed him off balance, but Yadav shoved his left leg into the turf and extended all his other appendages in the air to hold onto his balance and gift Sunil Narine with the purple cap.The edge
Karun Nair endured two failures to start the season and then overcame a sluggish beginning to erect a match-winning effort against Delhi Daredevils. That form carried through and he looked assured of himself in Ahmedabad, but that didn’t mean the odd bit of luck wasn’t welcome. First up, it was a full toss. The added bonus was it being on leg stump. And to cap it off, Nair’s shovel over square leg went for six. Off the edge. Or should we start calling it the face now?The new guy
Ryan ten Doeschate’s athletic prowess would have played a significant part in Knight Riders inducting him into the XI ahead of the seasoned Jacques Kallis. He had the opportunity to reiterate that to the public when Stuart Binny smoked a length ball down to deep midwicket. The flat missile threatened to lob ten Doeschate when he propelled himself back, flung his hands over his head and completed a stunner in quite nonchalant fashion.The comeback
After Knight Riders had established a brilliant platform in the chase, they promoted Russell at No.3. He lasted three balls and Watson got the better of him every time. The first one was a yorker that was just about dug out and almost resulted in the run-out of the well-set Robin Uthappa. The second one was dug in short and rose past Russell’s chest as he let it go outside off. The third was a legcutter which pitched around middle and leg and straightened to beat Russell’s grope to flatten middle stump. A long, hard stare from Watson at the departing batsman indicated he had not forgotten Russell’s trick earlier in the match.

Also, losing a T20 without losing a wicket, biggest difference between scores in an innings, keepers without dismissals, and bowlers without wickets

Steven Lynch20-May-2014Has anyone ever lost an international match without losing a wicket when batting second? asked Gautham Kamath from India
This unusual situation has only happened once – batting first or second – and even then the weather was the real culprit. In a T20 international in Johannesburg in March 2012, India were 71 for 0, chasing South Africa’s 219 for 4, when rain forced the players off after 7.5 overs. They couldn’t get back on, and India were behind the Duckworth-Lewis target score of 83 at the time, so South Africa were declared the winners. There have been six further matches – two ODIs and four T20s – in which the unsuccessful side lost only one wicket. Two of those involved the team batting second – Zimbabwe (29 for 1, chasing 44 in five overs) against Sri Lanka in Providence in the 2010 World Twenty20, and Bangladesh (179 for 1) against West Indies (197 for 4) in an uninterrupted T20 in Mirpur in December 2012.Is Darren Sammy the only Test cricketer from St Lucia? asked Alex Nweke from Nigeria
Darren Sammy, who recently announced his retirement from Test cricket after being relieved of the captaincy, remains the only man from St Lucia to play in a Test match. However, two other men from this tiny but picturesque island have played international cricket for West Indies: the hard-hitting opener (and occasional wicketkeeper) Johnson Charles has played 30 one-day internationals (scoring two hundreds) and 21 T20 internationals so far, while slow left-armer Garey Mathurin played three T20 internationals in 2011 and 2012.How many times have both captains have taken ten wickets or more in a Test match? asked Siddhartha from India
That’s a nice simple one: there has never been a Test in which both captains took ten wickets. Indeed, such is the paucity of bowling captains that there have only been 17 occasions in all where a skipper has taken ten or more wickets in a Test, four of those by Imran Khan and two by another Pakistani, Intikhab Alam. The last one was by Shaun Pollock, with 10 for 147 for South Africa against India in Bloemfontein in November 2001. There have only been two instances of rival captains taking six or more wickets in the same Test: by Fazal Mahmood for Pakistan (6 for 123) and Australia’s Richie Benaud (8 for 111) in Dacca in 1959-60, and England’s Bob Willis (6 for 131) and Imran Khan of Pakistan (8 for 115) at Headingley in 1982.When Brian Lara scored his 501, the next-highest score was 116. Is that the biggest difference between two scores in the same innings? asked James Wallace from England
Brian Lara’s 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994 broke the individual first-class record of 499, set by Hanif Mohammad for Karachi in 1958-59. But one of Hanif’s marks from that match against Bahawalpur in Karachi in 1958-59 remained intact: the next-highest score in that innings was Wallis Mathias’ 103, a difference of 396 runs (to the 385 between Lara and Keith Piper). There are six other instances of a difference of 300 or more between the top scorer and the second-highest, the sixth of which is the Test record – set by Lara again, during his 375 for West Indies against England in St John ‘s in 1993-94, when the next-highest score was Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 75 not out.Who’s the only wicketkeeper never to make a dismissal in a Test? asked Surinder Patnaik from Delhi
The holder of the melancholy record as the only designated wicketkeeper to play Test cricket but not make a dismissal is Humayun Farhat, of Pakistan, who failed to get on the scorecard in his only match, in Hamilton in March 2001: New Zealand lost only four wickets in winning by an innings. Humayun’s brother, the batsman Imran Farhat, had made his debut in the first match of that same series: he has now won 40 caps. Seven other keepers failed to take any catches in their Test careers, but did pull off a stumping – including the unfortunate Vijay Rajindernath, who made four stumpings on his debut for India, against Pakistan in Mumbai in November 1952… and never played again.Who has bowled in the most Test innings without taking a wicket? asked Jeremy Larkham from England
I wasn’t quite sure what you meant here – the most innings bowled in without ever taking a wicket, or the most wicketless ones by someone who did strike elsewhere. Assuming it’s the second of these, the answer is Sachin Tendulkar, who turned his arm over in 112 Test innings in which he didn’t take a wicket (although he did manage 46 in all). A rather more celebrated bowler, Jacques Kallis – who finished with 292 wickets – bowled in 106 innings in which he failed to strike. Steve Waugh (98), Sanath Jayasuriya (88) and Mark Waugh (86) come next. Of bowlers who never took a Test wicket at all, the Indian opening batsman Krishnamachari Srikkanth bowled in 16 different innings without any luck, and George Headley of West Indies in 14. The Lancashire allrounder Len Hopwood holds the record for the most balls bowled in Tests without getting a wicket – 462 – but he played in only two Tests, both in the 1934 Ashes series. Headley (398 fruitless deliveries) is second on this list too.And there’s an update to the recent question about Derek Underwood’s long-awaited maiden century, from Mike Slattery from Ireland
“Further to the reference to Derek Underwood’s maiden – and indeed only – first-class hundred in Hastings in 1984: in the very same innings, the Australian Test bowler Terry Alderman made his maiden – and only – first-class half-century. It seems remarkable that both managed their achievements in a match in which all 40 wickets were taken at an average of 16.75; their partnership of 53 for the ninth wicket was the second-highest of the match. It was quite a game for personal achievements: Colin Wells top-scored with half-centuries in both Sussex innings, and also took a five-for. All this, and it ended in a tie!”

Plays of the day from the Champions League T20 final between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders

Abhishek Purohit04-Oct-2014Uthappa’s timing
Robin Uthappa temporarily became the leading run-getter of the main edition of the tournament during his 39, and his timing was as good as it has been through the IPL and CLT20. Off the last ball of R Ashwin’s first over, Uthappa took a step out and drove at a pitched up delivery. He checked the shot in the end and held his followthrough. But the ball took flight and went soaring over long-on as if it had been clobbered.Raina’s miss
Two balls after he had put down a diving chance off Jacques Kallis at slip, Suresh Raina tried to anticipate a stroke from Gautam Gambhir at short fine leg. Gambhir prepared to tuck Ravindra Jadeja off his pads behind square and Raina started to move to his right early. However, Gambhir ended up going finer than Raina had expected him to, and the ball ran away for four to the fielder’s left, leaving Jadeja furious.Du Plessis’ attempt
Gambhir swung Pawan Negi flat down the ground and the commentator said it was heading for six, but Faf du Plessis decided to intervene at long-on. He jumped high and plucked the ball with both hands. He landed back on the ground, threw the ball up as he teetered beyond the rope and came back in to take it again. Replays showed he had stepped onto the boundary the first time he took the ball, and Gambhir stayed.Cummins’ slow yorker
Dwayne Smith had already cracked Pat Cummins for two fours in the first over of the chase when the fast bowler slipped in a slow yorker. Smith brought his bat down too early to try and keep it out. It hit the ground before the ball arrived and bounced up. The ball now hit the bat, and slid under the small opening to disturb the bails.Yadav’s misfields
Suryakumar Yadav seemed to have a sweep from Brendon McCullum covered with a sprint and a slide at deep square leg. Only, the ball slid under his slide to roll into the rope. The next ball was swept straight to him, and he bent down on his knee for a regulation stop, only to let the ball slip through his fingers for another embarrassing four.

Stats highlights from the fifth ODI between Australia and South Africa, in Sydney

Bishen Jeswant23-Nov-20144-1 Australia’s margin of victory in this series. The previous bilateral ODI series between these countries in Australia, in 2009, was also decided by the same margin, but in favour of South Africa on that occasion.1 Number of times that Australia have beaten South Africa in a bilateral ODI series at home; this is the first. There have been two previous series’; South Africa won in 2009, while the series was drawn in 2000. Australia have beaten South Africa in a couple of bilateral ODI series in South Africa.6 Number of ODI centuries for Quinton de Kock. Six is also the number of South African players who have scored more ODI hundreds than de Kock.4 Number of wicketkeepers who have scored more ODI hundreds than de Kock – Kumar Sangakkara (17), Adam Gilchrist (16), AB de Villiers (9) and MS Dhoni (9). De Kock, with his sixth ODI century in this game, overtook Kamran Akmal (5), to go sole fifth on this list.5.8 Number of matches per century for de Kock in ODIs. This is the best matches-per-hundred ratio for any of the 71 batsmen who have scored more than five ODI hundreds. Next on the list is Hashim Amla, who scores a hundred every 6.1 games (17 hundreds in 103 matches).1 Number of batsmen who had scored as many hundreds as de Kock at the age of 21 – Upul Tharanga. With six hundreds each, de Kock and Tharanga hold the joint record for the most hundreds at this age.* Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most hundreds at the age of 22, eight, followed by Virat Kohli with seven. De Kock has them both well within his sights.63 Runs scored by Farhaan Behardien in this game, his highest ODI score. He had made only one fifty in his 15 previous games, 58 against Pakistan in 2013. His strike rate during that innings was 70.7. In this innings, Behardien was striking at 153.7.83 Number of runs that Shane Watson had scored, at an average of 13.8, from six previous ODI innings in 2014. He scored 82 runs in this match, taking his average up to a slightly less embarrassing 23.6 for the year.*15.00GMT, November 23: The article had earlier stated that Quinton de Kock is third on the list for most hundreds at 21.

15-Feb-2015Quinton de Kock was the first to depart, perishing to Tendai Chatara for 7 in the fourth over•Associated PressAB de Villiers made 25 off 36 balls before his knock was cut short by a stunning hokey-pokey catch•Getty ImagesAfter Craig Ervine pulled off the catch, Zimbabwe threatened to tear open the portal to 1999•Getty ImagesHowever, the Miller-Duminy show shut it out•Getty ImagesThe duo starred in a world record fifth-wicket partnership of 256 off 178 to propel SA to 339 for 4•AFPVernon Philander struck early in the chase, bowling Sikandar Raza for 5•Getty ImagesChamu Chibhabha and Hamilton Masakadza added 105 for the second wicket•Getty ImagesMasakadza, playing his first World Cup game in a 13-year career, raced to a fifty with a six off Dale Steyn•Getty ImagesImran Tahir, though, removed Masakadza for 80 in the 33rd over to derail Zimbabwe. The legspinner claimed figures of 3 for 36•Getty ImagesWickets tumbled and Zimbabwe slumped from 214 for 3 to 245 for 8•Getty ImagesVernon Philander and Morne Morkel finished with two wickets each as SA wrapped up a 62-run win, but not without surviving a mini-scare•AFP

Bob Hawke visited Australia’s training session on Monday, and it wasn’t long before the typical quips surfaced

Daniel Brettig in Sydney23-Mar-2015It took only a few minutes visiting Australia’s training session at the SCG for the former Prime Minister Bob Hawke to lighten proceedings with a typically ribald bit of humour.Hawke spent around half an hour with the team ahead of their World Cup semi-final against India on Thursday, and saved his best quip for the allrounder Shane Watson, following an equal parts fortunate and forthright innings to wrap up the quarter-final against Pakistan in Adelaide. “How much,” Hawke asked mischievously, “did you pay the bloke who dropped you?”Later, Hawke spent time chatting with the young batsman and captain-in-waiting Steven Smith, who wore his broadest grin while speaking with a man known for his lifelong love of cricket, frequent visits to the SCG and habit of draining a glass of beer in front of spectators whenever they see him at the ground.Asked for his opinions of the 2015 Australian World Cup team, Hawke was warm. “We’ve got a good side, a very good side,” he said. “Our batting is very good and an exciting bowling line up. Those fast bowlers, what an array of quickies… about 10 foot tall each of them.”I just wished them luck, but I was very impressed by the camaraderie of them. The relationship between the players seems to be very good. The captain Michael Clarke, he’s not an effusive fella but he has the confidence of his team.”I think he’s been absolutely remarkable personally, the way he’s fought back over his injuries and he’s very much respected for that. The relationship between the players, just listening to them and watching them with each other impressed me very much indeed.”There was something to be taken from this observation, for Hawke was a consistent presence in the Australian dressing room during less happy times when he was Prime Minister and the national team was struggling to regain a place near the top of world cricket.The success of the 1987 World Cup and the 1989 Ashes tour heralded better days, and Hawke personally awarded Allan Border the Order of Australia following the second of those triumphs – an award he had previously handed to the great West Indian captain Clive Lloyd.By the time of the 1992 World Cup, Hawke had been deposed as Prime Minister by Paul Keating, but has retained an interest in the game. Hawke visited the team via the link of the Cricket Australia liaison staffer Pearce Gibbons, whose wife Jill is Hawke’s personal assistant. The opportunity to converse with the team ahead of the Cup semi-final was a fleeting one, for the 85-year-old Hawke was due to fly to China on Tuesday.But he did not leave the team without a confident prediction, even expectation, of success. “They will win on Thursday and they’ll win on the weekend,” he said. “I told them I expected it.”

He doesn’t know how he bowls the arm-ball and doesn’t want to either. Arafat Sunny is content in plying his skills gleaned from years on the domestic circuit. The only hitch – the loss of his beloved pigeons

Mohammad Isam20-Apr-2015A pigeon fancier wouldn’t necessarily know how to bowl an arm-ball. Arafat Sunny doesn’t know how he bowls the arm-ball. He rolls his arm over exactly the same way he bowls conventional left-arm spin, but the ball holds its line and arrows into a right-handed batsman.What Sunny knows is to bowl ten tight overs of left-arm spin from round and over the wicket. He also knows how to look after pigeons. Raise them like a child, he says. He knows what and when to feed them and exactly how long it would take them to return to the coop after a day’s flight.When you ask him about the pigeons these days however, he wears a slightly disenchanted look. “I had to give most of them away,” Sunny says. “I can’t give them much time. I had around 60-70 pigeons over the last several years but now I have around 8 to 10 birds. My mother insisted on keeping the few because she says ‘my house is empty without them’. I haven’t sold them. I have given it to people from whom I can get it back. I will get it back.”Former Australia captain Bill Lawry, former South Africa seamer Henry Williams and former Pakistan batsman Zahid Fazal are known pigeon racers among cricketers, but Sunny doesn’t want to be one because it takes a lot of dedication and attention towards the birds. “You have to treat them like humans if you are a racer. You need to feed them at certain times. You can’t feed them too much or they will get sick.”His knowledge of all things pigeon is enough to suggest it is more than just a hobby. What keeps him away from the pigeons is his day job, which has now become an all-year affair, after he spent the first 13 years of his career playing out only the domestic season. A year after his international debut in a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka, he is making the best of home conditions and doing the job expected of him.He has taken 12 wickets in his last four home matches, including two consecutive four-fors against Zimbabwe and a three-wicket haul against Pakistan last Friday. In the second ODI of the three-match series against Pakistan, he finished with 1-41 in ten overs. The only wicket was Mohammad Hafeez, who was dismissed by an arm-ball.Nothing suggests mystery in Sunny’s make-up as a bowler but to him, delivering and executing the arm-ball is still confusing. He doesn’t shy away from saying that he has tried to find out how he delivers the ball and why exactly it doesn’t spin away when he uses the same arm action and use of finger for the away-going delivery to the right-hander. He has even gone through video footage but hasn’t cracked the puzzle yet.”I myself don’t know about my arm-ball, to be completely honest,” Sunny said. “I don’t know which one is the arm-ball because I keep the same action and the ball turns and then it goes straight on, being an arm-ball. I don’t know and I don’t even want to know. Frankly what I don’t know must be quite difficult for the batsmen.”When the seam lands, the ball seems it will turn but sometimes it doesn’t. I have seen footage on my laptop in the last Zimbabwe series. Even I am curious to find out what exactly happens. I tried to locate it but I haven’t been able to find out the difference.”He may not know about the arm-ball but he knows exactly what he needs to do when brought on to bowl in the first mandatory Powerplay with a newish ball. He has mastered this part of his job in the domestic one-day leagues for high-profile Dhaka clubs.”There are advantages and disadvantages to bowling in the Powerplay overs,” he said. “You have more fielders inside the circle so the singles are cut out. In the domestic league, I often open or bowl one change.”I come early to the bowling attack in the domestic matches. So it doesn’t feel any different when I start early for Bangladesh. Plus we are playing in home conditions, so I know what length to bowl in order.”Sunny is the classic safety bowler in the mould of Abdur Razzak. With Shakib Al Hasan often mixing up his pace and attacking the batsman’s off-stump, Sunny is expected to tie them down with his faster pace.He said that bowling in that one game in the World Cup, against England in Adelaide, taught him a lot more about the skill than years in the domestic competition. Sunny went wicketless but did the job he was asked to – cutting out runs and not giving more than 50 in his spell.”I only try my stock ball later in the innings when the batsmen are in attacking mode. I don’t try anything different than what I know,” he said. “I don’t take the risk of finding out if something else would work towards the end of the innings. I try to stick to my strength.”I learned a lot from the World Cup, particularly pace variation. Conditions were totally different; those were bouncier pitches, more batting-friendly. One couldn’t just bowl back of a length. I had to learn how to bowl according to those conditions. I am applying those things here. I can mix things up. I don’t bowl every delivery quickly. I hold it back sometimes. I got a higher level of confidence from the World Cup.”The trajectory of Sunny’s cricket career is slightly varied from the usual path taken by Bangladesh internationals. Many start too young – in terms of age or domestic experience – and fade away quickly. Only a handful make the cut. Sunny is among the few cricketers in Bangladesh who got to the senior side after 13 years of first-class cricket. And he is still learning new tricks.The only downside obviously is the loss of his pigeons. For the time being, he will trade it for the high of international cricket, taking four-wicket hauls, playing in the World Cup, beating Pakistan and bowling a delivery that is still a mystery to him.