All posts by h716a5.icu

Two centuries for Australia A came either side of not being offered a central contract, but good news was to come

AAP22-May-2023Matt Renshaw credits a moment of enlightenment on the Australia A tour of New Zealand with helping him to book a spot on the upcoming Ashes tour.The 27-year-old left-hander, who was born in England, had endured a dire Test tour of India where he made scores of 0, 2 and 2 in two Tests. Only runs, and lots of them, were going to get him on the plane to England.The Australia A tour started superbly for Renshaw against New Zealand A with scores of 112 and 78 at Lincoln while opening the innings.Related

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James Anderson: Australia won't be able to cope with England at their best

With just one match to go, he was looking out for the release of Cricket Australia’s centrally-contracted players list and his mind started to play tricks.”I had a little bit of a blip in the first innings of the second game. The contract list had just come out and I had missed out,” Renshaw told AAP. “I had done a bit of thinking about that and was trying to predict stuff in my own head, but that didn’t really work out.”That second game it got in my head in the first innings. I played a terrible shot and got out for two. I said to myself, ‘OK, that’s not why you play. Get back to why you want to play’…and I scored [140] in the second innings.”Obviously India was tough mentally from the cricket side of things. I would have like a lot more runs but unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Renshaw added.”So I went to New Zealand with a mindset to enjoy my cricket. It can be tough when you know you have to score runs to get in a side, but I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just trying to enjoy myself. That is when I produce my best batting. The results over there were part and parcel of that.”Renshaw’s approach was like that of a zen monk, clearing his mind with no thought of grasping or striving for an elusive goal. He hit the jackpot when Australian chair of selectors George Bailey phoned later with news of the Ashes squad.”I had spoken to Usman Khawaja and he got his call the day before so I knew mine was coming,” Renshaw said. “George gave me a call and it started with all the standard stuff and I said,’ Come on, just tell me whether I am in or out’. He told me I was in and I was really excited to be going to England.”Renshaw opened the batting early in his Test career but said being dropped from the Queensland side several years ago was “a silver lining”.”It made me force my way back into the side at No. 5, just because of how strong our batting order has been,” Renshaw said. “I always thought I had the game to bat in the middle order. A lot of openers do, it’s just that they haven’t had the opportunity.”In terms of this tour, it is going to be about supporting the boys at the start and if I do get an opportunity to play, whether as an opener or in the middle order, I will enjoy myself.”It is the Ashes. There will be more emotions and more people watching but at the end of the day it is a bowler against a batter trying to score runs.”

Lahore Qalandars’ Zaman Khan gave away just five runs off the first five balls of the last over, but was unable to close it out

Associated Press10-Mar-2024Shoaib Malik hit a boundary off the last ball to give Karachi Kings a three-wicket victory in a must-win game against two-time champion Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League on Saturday.The win kept alive the Kings’ hopes of a place in the playoffs with eight points from nine games. Qalandars were already eliminated, beating only Quetta Gladiators and losing seven games in the absence of injured spinner Rashid Khan.With three runs needed off the last delivery, Malik (27 not out) drove fast bowler Zaman Khan’s low full toss through point to guide his team to a winning 179 for 7 in a tense finish.Qalandars had posted 177 for 5 on the back of half centuries from Abdullah Shafique (55) and Fakhar Zaman (54) after the Kings captain Shan Masood won the toss and chose to field.Masood’s decision to demote himself to No. 3 after struggling as an opener in his first season as the team’s captain paid off as the pair of James Vince (42) and Tim Seifert (36) provided a confident start of 59.But Qalandars came back strongly when fast bowler Tayyab Abbas (2-23) got the big wicket of Kieron Pollard (3) and Seifert was run out after a major misunderstanding with Malik.Irfan Khan scored a brisk 35 off 16 balls with six boundaries before the Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-37) knocked back his middle stump in the penultimate over. Zaman conceded just five runs off his first five balls but Malik stayed calm to seal the game for the Kings off the final delivery.

Freeman's father was named to the Pro Bowl after leading the NFL in receiving yards in 1998 with Green Bay

Freeman believes MLS All-Star has the edgeHis father, Antonio, played in one Pro BowlFreeman also reflected on first All-Star experienceGet the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

AUSTIN, Texas – Orlando City SC All-Star Alex Freeman's father Antonio played in the NFL for almost a decade, and was named to the Pro Bowl after leading the league in receiving yards in 1998 for the Green Bay Packers.

Growing up, Alex Freeman got to attend multiple Pro Bowls. And While the NFL is still king in the American sports landscape, Freeman believes MLS's midsummer classic might have a slight edge over the NFL's All-Star event.

"I think almost All-Star, just participating in it. I think its an honor," Freeman said following the Skills Challenge. "You know Pro Bowls, I've been obviously because of my dad. MLS All-Stars [and the Skills Challenge] is a new thing. I think it is really creative. I think it's really fun to watch your boys do what they want and you're also doing stuff, too."

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Freeman, 20, is in the midst of a breakout campaign for both club and country. He has scored four goals and added one assist from the right back position at Orlando and started in all six of the USMNT's Gold Cup matches en route to the tournament's final against Mexico – a 2-1 loss. He acknowledged he's trying to enjoy his meteoric rise over the past year.

“It's kind of hard to reflect on that when so much stuff is happening,” Freeman said at MLS's All-Star media day. “Right after I finish Gold Cup, I go right into [MLS] games again. So the time to reflect was limited. But I always do think about it, of how grateful I am and what a great journey it was, to be able to come out the scene so quick."

DID YOU KNOW?

Having made it as an MLS All-Star and having made it to USMNT, Freeman's goals have changed. Can he make the most of it? Can he then turn this summer into an even bigger leap with the 2026 World Cup less than a year away?

"It's one of those things where everything's going good for you," he told GOAL, "but there's so much more that you can do, you know? There's so much more to push for. It's not even about being humble, but it's about not overreacting to stuff like this. Obviously, when you do well, all of this stuff is going to happen, but I feel like it's about being able to continue to want more when you're in these types of moments."

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WHAT NEXT FOR FREEMAN?

Freeman is set to play in Wednesday's MLS All-Star Game against the Liga MX All-Stars.

Stats preview of the 3rd Test between India and England at Mumbai

George Binoy17-Mar-2006

Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have tormented visiting teams in Mumbai © AFP
The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai is India’s most successful home venue among grounds where India have played more than two Tests. India have won nine of their 20 Tests here, drawn five and lost six. England have lost their last three Testsat this venue. Avoid batting last . Seventeen out of 20 times, the captain winning the toss has decided to bat first and in thirteen of those occasions the team has not lost the match. The average runs per wicket declines from 34.1 in the first innings to 19.8 in the fourth. In the last Test played there, the highest total was 205 and Australia were dismissed for 93 in the final innings.If England bat first, it is vital that they post a sizable first-innings score. The Wankhede’s history suggests that as the match progresses the spinners become more than a handful. Since 1995, spinners have taken 95 wickets here to the fast bowlers’ tally of 69.

Pace/Spin at the Wankhede since 1995

Innings Pace avg/Spin avg Pace SR/Spin SR

1st 27.52/36.86 63.36/72.79 2nd 26.76/22.78 52.35/50.38 3rd 26.00/14.55 57.71/33.21 4th 64.50/15.65 138.00/41.05Since 2000, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have taken a total of 36 wickets in their last three Tests in Mumbai. Kumble averages 21.15 and Harbhajan 17.58 at the Wankhede.While none of the Indian batsmen have phenomenal records at Mumbai, three of the top four average above fifty. Sachin Tendulkar has a century and six fifties from seven Tests at his home ground. . Rahul Dravid averages 63.28 and Virender Sehwag 53.33.

Mathew Varghese looks at the performance of India’s first-change bowlers over the years

Mathew Varghese14-Aug-2007

First-change bowler RP Singh was instrumental in India’s series triumph © Getty Images
India’s first series win in England in 21 years came largely on the back of a team performance, with Man of the Series, Zaheer Khan being first among equals. While the spotlight fell on Zaheer, fellow left-armer RP Singh also impressed in his role as the third fast bowler in the attack – and it’s no coincidence that his performance in that role had a direct bearing on the overall result.Coming in as first-change RP Singh picked up ten wickets in the first two Tests, including a five-for in England’s second innings at Lord’s. In fact, he didn’t bowl first-change during his unimpressive match-haul of 2 for 122 in the final Test at The Oval, as captain Rahul Dravid brought him on only after Anil Kumble replaced one of the opening bowlers.RP Singh’s success as first-change bowler underlined a statistical truth – that India perform better away from home when the two strike bowlers have a good support act.

Best series averages for Indian first-change pace bowlers (Min50 overs)

Player Series Overs Wickets Average

Syed Abid Ali India in New Zealand, 1967-68 52 5 17.60 Chetan Sharma India in England, 1986 102.316 18.75 RP Singh India in England, 2007 61.3 1022.50 Javagal Srinath India in South Africa, 1992-93 113.510 26.20 Shah Nyalchand Pakistan in India, 1952-53 64 332.33 The first three bowlers listed in the table helped seal rare series victories away from home. Syed Abid Ali may have only picked up six wickets – five as first-change – in India’s first away series triumph, but an economy rate below 2 per over indicated that he tied up the runs at one end. Ali’s role, though, was more about backing up the three spinners – Erapalli Prasanna, Bapu Nadkarni and Bishan Bedi, rather than new-ball bowlers.Chetan Sharma was India’s hero in their emphatic 1986 series victory in England.Sharma missed the second of the three Tests at Headingley, but his tally of 16wickets at Lord’s and Birmingham was more than the 12that the opening bowlers – Kapil Dev and Roger Binny – could manage.Sharma bagged a five-for each in the two Tests, and a ten-wicket match haul in the drawn Test at Birmingham – the only one by an Indian bowler in England.RP Singh’s performance must also be judged by the batsmen he dismissed. He accounted for England’s key batsmen – Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan – in nearly half their stints at the crease, dismissing Pietersen thrice and Vaughan twice.RP Singh’s five-for at Lord’s may have come in a draw, but the manner in which he ran through England’s middle-order definitely must have given a boost to the team ahead of Trent Bridge. In the second Test, Pietersen was the target man for RP Singh. He trapped him in front of the stumps in both innings, bowling around the wicket. The second dismissal was reminiscent of Wasim Akram – the ball pitched well outside the off stump but then it sharply jagged back in. Pietersen, who’d shaped to leave it, was plumb in front and didn’t even wait for the umpire’s decision.The performance of these three bowlers is in sharp contrast to India’s traditionally frail first-change bowling, the third seamer invariably failing to support the opening bowlers duo. The following table compares India’s opening and first-change fast bowlers over the years. One clarification though: our records consider Sourav Ganguly as a pace bowler.

Opening v first-change averages for India in Tests (only pacebowlers)

Record Openers (1-2) First-change

Overall 34.47 42.20 Away 35.27 41.14 Away since 1995 33.15 40.63 Away since 2000 31.99 39.03 India’s recent tour of South Africa is a good example of where the new-ballbowlers – Sreesanth and Zaheer – bowled well in tandem, taking 31wickets at 25.48 in the three-Test series. However, VRV Singh, India’sfirst-change bowler in the first two Tests, managed only three wicketsin the 44.1 overs he bowled. He averaged 66.33 per wicket but, moresignificantly, conceded 4.5 runs per over in contrast to the 3.4 given bythe opening bowlers. In fact, in the deciding Test of the series at Cape Town, Dravid brought on Kumble ahead of fast bowler Munaf Patel in both innings. India went on the lose the match and the series.Over ten years ago, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad formed a potentattack, especially on the tours of England and South Africa. However,their efforts were sidelined by support seamers unable to sustain thepressure on the opposition.

India’s fast bowlers in England, 1996

Player Matches played Wickets Average

Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad 3 26 31.07 Paras Mhambrey 22 74.00

India’s fast bowlers in South Africa, 1996-97

Player Matches Wickets Average

Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad 3 35 26.91 Dodda Ganesh 21 165.00 David Johnson 12 45.50

After the misery of Sydney, Perth provided an enthralling and rewarding day of Test cricket when the focus returned to the contest between bat and ball

Sambit Bal at the WACA16-Jan-2008

The manner in which Dravid has battled his way back, over by over, innings by innings, should be an inspiration to anyone struggling with form © Getty Images
It was in keeping with the script of the day that Rahul Dravid played an uncharacteristic swipe to effect his dismissal and tilt the momentum, in fine balance at that point, in Australia’s favour. After the misery of Sydney, Perth provided an enthralling and rewarding day of Test cricket when the focus returned to the contest between bat and ball.It didn’t quite pan out as expected, though. The build-up to the Test had been breathless with everyone from the curator to former players to newcomers talking up Perth’s restoration to its former fiery glory. The speed gun kept crossing 150 when Brett Lee had the new ball but, one hour into the second session, the field placements told the story.Mitchell Johnson had gone back to his run-denying line, a foot or two outside the off stump with a seven-two field; Shaun Tait returned to bowl with point on the fence; Ricky Ponting stood at short mid-on to Andrew Symonds’ gentle medium-pacers. By tea, Symonds and Michael Clarke were bowling spin at both ends. Even the breeze was blowing in the wrong direction, from south-east instead of south-west.But drama wasn’t lacking. Virender Sehwag announced his return to Tests with a series of swishes that got India off to an explosive start, Brett Lee then bowled an outstanding spell to bring Australia back, only for two batting masters, playing in contrasting manners, to take over.Rahul Dravid’s struggle in the earlier matches has been one of the most fascinating stories of the series. A man of lesser character would have wilted, but the manner in which Dravid has battled his way back, over by over, innings by innings, should be an inspiration to anyone struggling with form. He had the good fortune of being dropped early today but with the innings’ progression emerged the man who scored 619 runs in his previous series here.The manner of his dismissal will dominate the reports tomorrow and it will perhaps grate him the most but in the circumstances and in the context of the match, he played a splendid innings. As always, he was assured against the short ball, either swaying away or getting on the top of the ball and dropping it down, but the key to succeeding on bouncy pitches often lies in how a batsman responds to the full ball and Dravid’s driving through the covers and down the wicket was flawless. It would have been a century to cherish and perhaps the anxiety to get to it quickly induced that stroke.Of course he was indebted to Sachin Tendulkar, who is now batting as well as he ever has. His innings was constructed as much on skill as on cleverness. His greatness is based on balance and versatility and today he displayed both. The Australians had apparently spotted a weakness in his response to the short ball, and it was clear from the beginning not too many would be offered for him to drive. And so he devised his response. Something ought to be done about the slow over-rates. Fines have just not worked. Ian Chappell advocates banning the captain but there might be a even better deterrent. Hit them where it hurts the most by docking them for runs.A few of his early slashes would fool late-comers into thinking Sehwag was still at the crease but followers of Indian cricket would remember it was Tendulkar who showed the way at Bloemfontein in 2001, when Sehwag was a wide-eyed apprentice. Today, if the ball was short and outside off stump, it was evident that Tendulkar would try to hit over the slips for four. A couple of his slashes were edged but the ball was never in danger of being caught. The best of them, though, was manufactured almost after the ball had passed his nose. A short one from Lee followed him as Tendulkar looked to sway out of the way and when it got too close to him, he brought the bat below the ball and gently directed it over the cordon. It was inventive, deft and touched with genius.Not until he got to 64 did Tendulkar hit a four in front of square on the offside, and it was a glorious cover-drive played off Stuart Clark, front foot stretching forward, the upper body leaning in to give the stroke force, and the front shoulder rotating to give it direction. Sixteen years ago he had played a lone and glorious hand at this ground as his seniors crumbled around him; this Indian batting line-up is far more solid but, once again, Tendulkar was the guiding light on the day that could have gone horribly wrong for India. A rough decision and a brilliant over from Lee denied him his second successive hundred at the WACA but it wasn’t until Dravid’s dismissal that the wheel started turning in Australia’s favour.

Brett Lee was outstanding, bowling in the off-stump channel, the wind blowing across his right shoulder, generating a lovely away curve at good pace © Getty Images
Perhaps even the Australians had been misled about the pitch. To add to it, their big weapon, Shaun Tait, failed to fire. Either he was too eager, or too underdone, or perhaps both. He is yet to add variety to his bowling and once the Indians started going they picked him easily for runs. Lee was outstanding, bowling in the off-stump channel, the wind blowing across his right shoulder, generating a lovely away curve at good pace. He could have got Sehwag early, had a catch dropped off Dravid and he alone troubled Tendulkar. Responsibility now sits handsomely on his shoulders.His dismissal of Laxman in the dying moments of the day gave Australia the edge. At start of the innings, they would have expected to knock India out for under 300. After the experience of the first two sessions, they will take 350. For India, the challenge is to push towards 400.An excellent day was, however, marred by hopeless over-rates. The Sydney Test was blighted by all sorts of unsavoury incidents but one offence, committed by both teams in the series so far, is the speed at which the bowlers have gone about their job. When India last toured Australia Sourav Ganguly came close to a ban for failing to keep the over-rate up to speed but on this tour the matter hasn’t even come on the radar.A 90-over stipulation was put in place to rein in the West Indians, who, it was argued, were gaining an unfair advantage by bowling their battery of fast bowlers leisurely. The decision to play with four quick bowlers in Perth was Australia’s and so was the onus to keep it moving. They were found shockingly lacking. They bowled 12 overs in each of the first two hours, 13 in the third, 14 in the fourth, and the second new ball wasn’t due until after ten minutes of the scheduled close of play. That is an unacceptable breach of playing conditions.Something ought to be done. Fines have just not worked. Ian Chappell advocates banning the captain but there might be a even better deterrent. Hit them where it hurts the most by docking them for runs. See how no-balls have become scarce in Twenty20 after they introduced the free hit.

In an age obsessed with speed, Ramesh Powar is charmingly headed the other way. Siddhartha Vaidyanathan met him

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan07-Sep-2007

Powar gets another victim with sheer lack of pace © Getty Images
It’s said that some cricketers belong to a different era. Ramesh Powar belongs to a different century.He is from an age when cricketers came in different shapes and sizes, wore outsized red sunglasses and delectable hair bands, and bowled slow, really slow. We’ve heard about the adrenalin rushes, speed barriers and shoulder-aches that the fastest bowlers experience. Now it’s time to celebrate the slowest among the slow.Over his last five games Powar has defied the modern notion that bowling in one-day cricket is about restriction. In a high-scoring series he has rarely darted the ball in at a flat trajectory, never beaten batsmen with speed. He has wound the clock back to the golden age of cricket, the Edwardian twilight preceding the first World War, and risked conceding runs for wicket-taking rewards. Expectedly he has got wickets (six in five games); surprisingly he has been economical (4.41). Only Andrew Flintoff, who has played two games fewer, has done better.A ten-minute chat with Saqlain Mushtaq, when the Indians played Sussex during the early part of the tour, made a big impact. Powar was fretting over not getting any of the Indian batsmen out in the nets. Saqlain’s advice was simple: “If you succeed in making these guys defend you, then you are bowling very well. Don’t think of getting a Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid out. Even if you are able to bother them in the nets, it’s good enough.”Powar has grown in confidence with every game since, so much so that he has not hesitated in slowing down his pace considerably. He usually operates in the 45-to-55 mph range. Occasionally, especially when he bowls the undercutter that goes straight, he gets slightly faster. More often, when he simply lobs up a moon-ball that goes straight, he gets slower. Once he dropped as low as 41mph. He admits it’s his slowest phase yet but, fascinatingly, thinks he can “easily get slower”.At Edgbaston, in the third game of the series, brought on in the 16th over, with Ian Bell and Alastair Cook at the crease, Powar slipped in a really slow one and nailed Cook on the top-edged sweep.”In the third game it struck me that if I bowl a little slower, they might sweep,” he said. “I knew they wouldn’t try to hit over the fence because they rely on batsmen like KP [Pietersen] and Bell to stay at the wicket. They couldn’t afford to take many chances. So I’ve been taking chances against Cook, Bell, [Paul] Collingwood and Pietersen.”It’s helped that Powar is usually operating with Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, who is comparatively faster. “It always helps with Piyush bowling at the other end, because the batsmen tend to always go after those bowling quicker. So, suddenly when the slower bowlers come on, it becomes difficult for them to work around it. And with my kind of pace, I don’t think they can do that easily.”Does he think he can slow it down further? “For left-handers I might go a lot slower because they play against the spin. For right-handers I think it’s fine. Because I’m an open-chested bowler, I can adjust my action easily. I deliver the ball behind my ear and lose pace since I am a side-arm bowler. And since I’ve been bowling like this for seven-eight years, I know how to lose pace with the same action. Sometimes you don’t tweak the wrist – just let it go. Sometimes you hold the ball in the palm, sometimes you hold it in two fingers rather than three. There are a lot of ways to lose pace and I’ve worked on different methods in the nets.” He usually operates in the 45-to-55 mph range. Often, when he simply lobs up a moon-ball that goes straight, he gets slower. Once he dropped as low as 41mph. He admits it’s his slowest phase yet but, fascinatingly, thinks he can ‘easily get slower’ Powar’s Headingley dismissal of Ravi Bopara, one of England’s best batsmen against spin, underlined the value of pace variations. Two quick ones, at around the 55mph mark, were followed by a straight dolly, lobbed up at 42.4mph. Bopara, completely deceived, popped a simple return catch.”They had changed the ball just then,” Powar said. “It was a newish ball and I knew that tossing it up may help getting some bounce. Maybe he didn’t expect it to spin or bounce that much. There was not much spin but some extra bounce.”Powar anticipates the batsmen’s intentions much better these days. He has always been a shrewd bowler but thinks his gut feel pays off more often these days. Paul Collingwood’s case is worth mentioning. “Collingwood always played the chip shot against me [lobbing over midwicket]. So I decided not to bowl any offbreaks that will help that chip shot. In ten balls I will probably bowl seven straight balls to him. I’m guessing better right now.”The straight one which he utilises so effectively was mastered by watching a great legspinner on television. “I learned that delivery watching Shane Warne bowl. I used to try it earlier also but it used to spin a bit. That’s maybe because at the Wankhede anything spins. When I tried it here in England at the beginning of the tour, it was going straight really well. I don’t know whether the release has changed slightly but it is working. That’s all that matters.”Powar’s trade requires him to bide his time and wait for success. His philosophy in life – one that has seen its fair share of tribulation – is similar. “I’m not the kind who wants success every day,” he says sombrely. “I’ve seen life in and out. So success and failure in a game shouldn’t be taken too seriously.” It’s a perspective that has made Powar the cricketer he is. It’s also helping him become the bowler he wants to be.

Rahul Dravid joins the 10,000-run club

Mathew Varghese29-Mar-2008
Rahul Dravid celebrated his entry into the 10,000-run club with a century in Chennai © AFP
With the 80th run during his 111 in Chennai, Rahul Dravid became only the sixth player – and the third Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar – to reach the coveted milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He hasn’t been at his best of late – this hundred was his first since last May – but Dravid’s determination came to the fore yet again; perhaps it was fitting that he brought up the milestone with a typically characteristic knock, stonewalling his way to a hundred while Virender Sehwag stole the thunder with a blazing 319.Dravid reached the landmark in his 120th Test and 206th innings, and although both Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar required lesser number of innings, Dravid has achieved the same in the shortest time span, a few months under 12 years, almost two years lesser than Lara. With an average of 55.41, Dravid has the best average among those with over 10,000 runs.His career average is only bettered by two Indian batsmen, neither of whom has played more than three Tests. With a cut-off of at least 500 Test runs, Dravid’s average is the highest among Indians.

Best averages among Indian Test batsmen (at least 500 runs)

Player Matches Innings Runs Average 100/50

Rahul Dravid 120 206 10,031* 55.41 25/52 Sachin Tendulkar 147 238 11,782 55.31 39/49 Vinod Kambli 17 21 1084 54.20 4/3 Virender Sehwag 54 90 4677 53.75 14/12 Sunil Gavaskar 125 214 10,122 51.12 34/45
*Consistency has been a hallmark of Dravid’s batting: South Africa is the only opposition against which he has less-than-impressive numbers – his average is below 40 both against and in South Africa. He averages 45.78 against Australia, but against all the other seven Test-playing teams his average is more than 50. (For Dravid’s career batting summary, click here.)Like Stephen Fleming, who retired recently, Dravid too relishes the prospect of an overseas challenge. (He averages much higher that Fleming, though, managing over 50 both home and away.) Dravid’s home average is 51.75, while in overseas matches it shoots up to 58.50. Among those with at least 1000 away runs, Dravid’s average is fifth on the list. Don Bradman is far ahead with an average of over 100, while three England batsman – Ken Barrington, Wally Hammond and Jack Hobbs – occupy the next three spots with averages of 69.18, 66.32 and 59.91. Increase the cut-off to 4000 runs and the only batsman ahead of Dravid is Hammond, and the list of 15 offers a good comparison of Dravid’s away record against other profilic run-getters.

Best away averages (Min 4000 runs)

Player Matches Innings Runs Average 100/50

Wally Hammond41 72 4245 66.32 13/14 Rahul Dravid 69 1185968 58.50 16/29 Jacques Kallis 5291425557.50 14/18 Allan Border 70 1205431 56.57 14/28 Steve Waugh761165083 55.85 16/20The innings in Chennai was Dravid’s 150th at the No. 3 position. No other batsman has achieved the mark, and it’s no surprise that Dravid has scored the most number of runs at the position, closely followed by Ricky Ponting. In terms of averages, though, Bradman, Ponting and Sangakkara have higher numbers.

Top run-getters at No. 3

Player Matches Innings Runs Average 100/50

Rahul Dravid 94 150 7677 57.72 19/38 Ricky Ponting 75 128 7271 66.10 27/26 Kumar Sangakkara 65 100 5628 60.51 16/23 Don Bradman 40 56 5078 103.63 20/10 Richie Richardson 67 107 4711 47.11 14/21Dravid performs better in the first innings than second innings, but unlike quite a few other batsmen, his performance doesn’t crumble in the fourth innings of a match. He averages 46.17 in the fourth, while his third-innings averages is only marginally better at 47.67. Dravid has scored a total of 1293 runs in the fourth innings, but more significantly 878 of those have come in wins and draws, with his average nearly touching a hundred in those games.

Best averages in wins and drawn games in the fourth innings (min 500 runs)

Player Matches Innings Runs Average 100/50

Rahul Dravid28 22878 97.55 1/7 Bruce Mitchell 11 11 583 97.16 1/4 Ricky Ponting 36 26 1087 83.61 4/3 Inzamam-ul-Haq 25 16 609 76.12 1/5 Greg Chappell 28 19 600 75.00 1/4Dravid averages drops to a rather poor 27.27 in the 36 matches India have lost through his career, but he more than makes up in wins and drawn matches, averaging over 70 in those. His average in non-losses is among the best among the most prolific batsmen in Tests, making him one of India’s best match-winners with the bat.

Best averages in wins and draws (min 4000 runs)

Player Matches Innings Runs Average 100/50

Don Bradman 40 58 6044 125.91 27/7 Garry Sobers 68 111 6758 73.45 25/25 Rahul Dravid 83 133 8038 72.41 23/41 Wally Hammond 67 104 6198 70.43 22/18 Kumar Sangakkara 49 72 4485 70.07 13/19A feature of Dravid’s Test career has been his ability to string partnerships. He’s been involved in the most 100-run stands in Tests. Dravid has been part of ten century stands with three other batsmen in India’s middle-order – Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Gavaskar is the only other batsman who has had ten century stands with three partners.

Most 100-run partnerships by a player – Tests Player Matches Inning Partnerships 100+ 50+ Highest

Rahul Dravid 120 206 539 72 159 410 Sachin Tendulkar 147 238 487 66151 353 Ricky Ponting 116193 354 64 150 327 Steve Waugh 168 260 590 64 151 385 Allan Border 156265 616 63 167 332 Brian Lara 131 232 508 62 146 322 Sunil Gavaskar 125 214 519 58 143 344 Dravid’s last 1000 runs have taken the longest: he needed 30 innings to move from 9000 to 10,000. He required 24 to move from 4000 to 5000, and took 23 for his first 1000. Tendulkar was a slower starter than Dravid, but he caught up and got to 10,000 in 11 fewer innings.

Dravid’s progress to 10,000

Milestone Tests for Dravid Innings Tests for Tendulkar Innings

1000 14 23 19 28 2000 25 40 32 44 3000 39 67 45 68 4000 48 84 58 86 5000 63 108 67 103 6000 73 125 76 120 7000 82 141 85 136 8000 94 158 96 154 9000 104 176 111 179 10000 120 206 122 195

South Africa’s coach has had a fair amount of success in Asia. He offers England ten tips for success in their Tests in India

Mickey Arthur07-Dec-2008

Stay leg, play off: the likes of Ian Bell would be well advised to tweak their games for Indian conditions© Getty Images
1 Deal with pressure
Playing cricket in the subcontinent is all about absorbing and applying pressure. You have to be able to endure dead periods where not much happens. Be prepared to play boring cricket if it’s in the team’s best interests. You will need to close the game down, maybe scoring only 50 or 60 runs in a session, especially when the ball gets older and starts turning. And you need to stop the Indian batsmen scoring. They’re not happy if the ball’s not going to the boundary. Stop that and you have control of the game.2 Adjust to the game’s pace
When you play in South Africa, Australia and England, the game starts off quickly and then slows up. You would generally give the first session to the bowlers because the wicket is fresh and there’s normally something happening. Once you get through that first session the game takes shape and the pitch flattens out. In India the game is very slow to start off with and the first innings is crucial. Say 450 plays 420 and everybody thinks it’ll be a draw. But then the game really quickens up, the ball turns square, the wicket breaks up and you could be rolled for 150 in the second innings. It’s the opposite of how you expect games to go in our part of the world.3 Make first innings count
Win the toss, bat first, but that’s only the start of it. Facing the new ball can be the best time to bat in India because of the attacking fields and the SG ball, which is harder than others and doesn’t swing much. But you absolutely have to make your first innings count. Then the opposition is playing catch-up.4 Stay leg side of the ball
The way our batsmen did well in India was to stay leg side of the ball and score through the off side. Most Test batsmen in England or South Africa are back-and-across guys who look to get in line with off stump before each ball. In our part of the world you need to do that to counter the bounce and sideways movement. In the subcontinent if you do this, you’ll line yourself up for lbw as well as missing out on scoring through the off side. If you stay leg side – and we’re talking about the difference between taking a guard of two legs as opposed to middle – then your foot can go straight down the wicket as opposed to across. If you’re hit on the pad, the chances are it will have pitched outside leg or will be missing leg. And most importantly it leaves you free to score more readily on the off. The balls that you nick to third slip and gully in England fly behind point for four in the subcontinent because there isn’t the pace and bounce.Of England’s batsmen, I think Ian Bell might have to change his technique because he’s very much a back-and-across player. It will be a challenge for KP as well, because he’s not a big scorer in that area. He likes to get right across to the off and play through leg. To do that you need bounce and pace off the wicket. He’s not a huge driver, and unless the ball is short enough to pull, flicking through the leg side is high risk.”Don’t be scared to bowl bouncers. It’s the seamers’ one weapon in India” 5 Plan against spin
You need to have two key scoring options against India’s spinners. Firstly you need an accumulating shot like the sweep, which helps rotate the strike and relieve pressure. But you must also have an attacking option, because if you allow Harbhajan and Co to dominate, you will go nowhere. Equally, Harbhajan in particular doesn’t respond well to being put under pressure. Neil McKenzie slog-swept well while Graeme Smith waited until Harbhajan dropped short and cut or dabbed him through the off side.To prepare for batting against spin we waited until the end of a net session, when the bowler’s end was roughed up. We’d turn the nets around, rake the wicket and then throw balls into the rough. Our batters had to manufacture their strokes in those exaggerated conditions.6 Handling reverse swing
All Indian seamers bowl decent reverse swing, so your batters have to deal with that. One method we’ve used is to stay a bit deeper in the crease and try to hit the ball to mid-on all the time. Jacques Kallis is brilliant at that because he’s such a technically correct player. Hashim Amla is also good because he plays later than others. Whenever bowlers got it wrong he would punish them through the leg side.There are three phases to batting in India: the new-ball period, when there are good opportunities to score; the spin period, often with two slow bowlers operating within the first hour, when you need to accumulate; and finally the reverse-swing period.7 Use your bouncer
Don’t be scared to bowl bouncers. It’s the seamers’ one weapon in India to stop their batters lunging forward all day long. You need to have the ability to hit them on the head, and that is why Steve Harmison is crucial. None of the Indian batsmen pulls; they much prefer to cut. You bowl your bouncer to keep the batsman in his crease for your next delivery. Your bowlers have to bowl more attacking lines in India than you would in England or elsewhere. If you bowl outside off stump, you will simply get flayed. You must bring the ball back into the right-handers and cramp the batters for room. Andrew Flintoff could have bowled more attacking lines to South Africa during our recent Test series. He allowed us to leave too many balls, which someone like Virender Sehwag would get stuck into in India.

Stock and shock: Panesar needs to be a foil to the fast bowlers in the first innings and attack in the second© AFP
8 Role definition
You have to be able to take 20 wickets, so you need to allow certain bowlers freedom to attack. We allowed Dale Steyn to run in hard and go after the Indian batsmen, knowing he would go for four an over. But then you need other guys who can hold down the other end for you. Monty Panesar will be a major strike bowler in the second innings but in the first he must be prepared to hold the game for the seamers. Indian batsmen like scoring, and if you can dry them up for periods, you’re in control. Be prepared to be boring to get a positive result.9 Bowling reverse swing
There’s so little going for the seamers in India that you have to be able to bowl reverse swing. The SG balls lose their shine quickly and they’re also harder, which means they ping off the bat quicker. But they do reverse. In the first innings you should have Panesar at one end with your quicks rotating from the other, hopefully reversing it.10 Play with field settings
We always say that in India “caught cover” is as good as “caught second slip” in our part of the world. Seam bowlers don’t like getting wickets caught at cover but they need to change their mindset. If you do get a batsman caught at cover in India, the chances are you’ve deceived him with a slower ball – it is just as good as bowling the perfect away-swinger in England. Having catchers in front of the wicket is the Indian equivalent of second and third slips elsewhere.There is a lot more scope to play with your fields. Try a short midwicket because your bowling lines will be straighter than normal.Any visiting team should be able to out-field India. Whereas Steyn might dive to stop a boundary at fine leg, Ishant Sharma will stick a boot out and it’ll go for four. India’s fielding has improved but they’re still a way off most other teams. If you take your chances in India, you will have a 20- to 25-run advantage. And in the second innings of a Test over there it will take you an hour to score those runs, so that is how valuable good fielding can be.

Shortly after his hideous flap at Nathan Hauritz’s threat-free spin, Kevin Pietersen was caught by the cameras slapping his forehead on the pavilion balcony, and little wonder

Andrew Miller in Cardiff08-Jul-2009Kevin Pietersen has his sights set firmly on greatness, but he’ll never scale the heights that are so clearly marked out for him, unless he can find a way for his inner genius to hold sway over the lunatic that, just occasionally, bursts forth to ransack his reputation. His hubristic dismissal to Nathan Hauritz, midway through the final session of another compelling Ashes opening day, was a moment that could have proved fatal to England’s prospects in this first Test.That it had been glossed over by the end of the day was thanks to a stunning, and – if truth be told – unexpected counterattack from Matt Prior, whose No. 6 credentials had still been in some doubt despite his success against West Indies earlier this summer, and Andrew Flintoff, whose straight-hitting 37 was a brief but welcome throwback to his 2005 pomp. Though both men fell before the close, their stand of 86 in 95 balls – including 39 in 40 against the second new ball – transformed a scorecard that had been flaccid in the extreme at 241 for 5, at the moment of Pietersen’s aberration.Shortly after his hideous flap at Hauritz’s threat-free spin, Pietersen was caught by the cameras slapping his forehead on the pavilion balcony, and little wonder. He has a self-destructively disdainful attitude towards spinners of all shapes and sizes. Like Viv Richards, the batsman he most resembles in terms of presence at the crease, he regards spin as little more than a useful setting on a washing-machine, and for the third time in 12 months, a wilfully foolish stroke had handed the initiative straight back to his opponents at a critical juncture of the contest.True to form, Pietersen was defiantly unapologetic at the close, and blamed an imperceptible deflection off his helmet for the way in which the ball ballooned to Simon Katich at short leg. “When you get out, you’re out, you can’t do anything about it,” he said. “It could have gone down to fine leg and I’d have got away with it, but it hit my helmet and I was out. You guys look a lot deeper into it than I do. I got out. I don’t think I pre-empted the shot, he maybe outfoxed me a little bit. But it was just unfortunate it hit me on the head.”So be it. It is simply the Pietersen way, and had it not been for his outrageous contempt for reputation against the last Australian team to visit these shores, England might never have pulled out of their final-day nose-dive at The Oval in 2005, and secured the series that turned today’s contest into the most hyped and anticipated English Test match for four years.But ominously for England, both of Pietersen’s most recent brain-freezes were directly attributable to two of their most traumatic defeats of the recent past. At Edgbaston against South Africa last summer, he went for glory with six needed for his century, and slapped the hitherto cowed left-arm spinner, Paul Harris, straight to mid-on. Then, in Jamaica in February this year, he mowed Sulieman Benn for four, four, six to race to 97, and then one ball later smeared a top-edged hoick to the keeper.Today, Pietersen’s treatment of Hauritz put across the impression that he considers him unworthy of sharing such an illustrious stage, even though his subsequent assessment was improbably (and suspiciously) flattering. Throughout his innings he was two-parts dominant, and one-part disaster-courting. His third shot against the bowler was a top-edged sweep that landed safe at fine leg, and on 27, he gave Hauritz the charge, only for the ball to tweak sharply and crash into his back pad.Against the part-timer, Michael Clarke, he was barely any more complimentary, and in the final half-hour before tea, he came excruciatingly close to being bowled round his legs, as he wandered casually across his stumps and failed to make contact with a wafty sweep. It’s part of the thrill of Pietersen that he can conjure shots that mere mortals would not countenance, but the Achilles heel that hampered his running between the wickets today was nothing compared to the one that ultimately got him out.”It’s just the way he plays, really,” said Australia’s coach, Tim Nielsen. “He tends to take the game on, and he was pretty keen not to let our spinners settle. He swept probably 15 times beforehand and played them all quite well. If you get out to a cover drive you don’t say ‘don’t play the cover drive’. He hits the sweep well, you miss one and hit one in the air, that’s the way goes sometimes.”Of course, seeking to dominate the acknowledged weak link of the Australian attack is one thing, but Pietersen’s blind spot for spinners gives no thought to reputation. During the last Ashes, in that infamous tussle in Adelaide, he memorably claimed to have tamed even the mighty Shane Warne, after grinding him into the leg-side rough during his 310-run stand with Paul Collingwood. However, after bruising first-innings figures of 1 for 167, Warne bowled him round his legs in the second dig with a massive ripper. And the rest very quickly became history.Adelaide was unquestionably on the mind during Pietersen and Collingwood’s redemptive stand of 138, during which they eased through the entire second session without offering a chance or facing an attacking fielder. No England pair had batted with such serenity against Australia since that fateful second Test in 2006-07, which made the subsequent soft dismissals of both men all the more disappointing for a fervent Anglo-Welsh crowd.But as a statement, the speed of England’s scoring – from the top of the order where Ravi Bopara mixed cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof footwork with a handful of sumptuous boundaries, to the Prior-Flintoff alliance late in the day – was reminiscent of the chaotically successful onslaughts that England produced at Edgbaston and Old Trafford four years ago. They have runs on the board and two spinners to exploit what is already appreciable turn. And for the first time for 12 years and seven campaigns, they’ve claimed at least a share of the first-day Ashes spoils.”I could be greedy and say we’d like to be four or five down, and myself and Colly missed out on opportunities to get a real big score, but the way previous Ashes series have gone Australia’s way on day one, we’ll definitely take 336 for 7,” Pietersen said. “The one great thing about today was how positive we all played. We are here, and we want to compete this summer in a very, very big way.”