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Gracious and generous, Richie Benaud was a thorough professional but with a wicked sense of humour

Ian Chappell12-Apr-2015″After you, Ian.” They were the first words spoken to me by Richie Benaud.It was 1962 and South Australia had just enjoyed a rare victory over a star-studded New South Wales line-up. Benaud, as the not-out batsman, magnanimously stood back to allow Les Favell’s team to walk off the Adelaide Oval first. I was on the field as 12th man and wasn’t about to leave ahead of the Australian captain and a man whose leadership style I’d admired from afar, but he insisted.That story is indicative of Benaud. He was a thorough gentleman and meticulous in his preparation – I was staggered he knew my name.He was also a generous man. Not long after the Adelaide Oval experience, a Gray Nicolls bat arrived in the post while I was playing in the Lancashire League. It was from Richie, and so began a relationship that only ended after 52 rewarding years with his sad passing on Friday.I say rewarding; that was from my perspective, but I’m not sure what Benords received in return. Often when I spoke to him or called, he had a helpful suggestion, which emanated from a mind that was regularly in lateral-thinking mode.

As a young man he advised me: “Ian, it’s a simple game. The simpler you keep it the better off you’ll be”

As a young man he advised me: “Ian, it’s a simple game. The simpler you keep it the better off you’ll be.”When I became captain I called to explain how a mate had said: “You’ve got the field in the wrong place for [Garry] Sobers.”He laughed. “There’s no right place for the field when Sobers is going,” he explained. “All I’d say is you’re wasting a fieldsman putting someone in the gully. He hits the ball in the air in that direction, but it’s six inches off the ground and going like a bullet. No one can catch it.”When I retired and turned my hand to writing and television, he organised for me to commentate on the BBC – with whom he’d trained in 1956 – during the 1977 Ashes series. He also suggested (Richie rarely advised) I become a member of the Australian Journalists Association so there would be no objection to me writing columns.He did offer me advice once. It was the 1976-77 season and we were commentating on the 0/10 network. Over a drink he told me: “Ian, there’s a better way.” I was eagerly awaiting his thoughts on how I could improve my commentary, when he expanded: “You don’t have to tell every pest to piss off. There is a better way.”He listed some options but I don’t think they registered, as I replied, “But sometimes I get a lot of satisfaction from telling someone to piss off, Benords.”Benaud could carry on unperturbed in front of the camera even if there was utter chaos behind it•PA PhotosThe very next day a strange thing happened. I accepted an invitation to lunch with cricket officials, where there was an even stranger occurrence. I told a former schoolmaster of mine who had recently written me a scathing letter that I’d enjoyed reading his missive.I walked away feeling buoyant and thinking, “Benords is right; There is a better way.”When I happily related the incident, he looked at me quizzically and said: “Then how do you explain what happened to me after play?”Richie had met a mate in the bar at the cricket ground and no sooner had he enjoyed his first sip of wine than a guy marched over to him and said: “You don’t remember me, do you?”A pause, another sip of wine, and then Benaud responded: “Don’t tell me. Just give me a few seconds and I’ll get the name.”After a couple of exchanges the guy couldn’t contain himself and blurted out his name. “Well, piss off then,” was Benaud’s response.

Over a drink he told me: “Ian, you don’t have to tell every pest to piss off. There is a better way”

For a man who lived up to his “keep the game simple” advice on the cricket field, he had a propensity for complicating golf. I remember when he proudly announced he’d bought an odometer so he could measure courses and distances. I was quick to remind him that his good friend and five times British Open champion Peter Thomson always said: “It’s a hand and eye game.”However, he did live up to his “keep it simple” advice as a television commentator and presenter. “Don’t say anything unless you can add to the pictures,” was his mantra as a commentator.As a presenter, he had that marvellous ability to make it look like everything was progressing without a wrinkle, when in reality all hell was breaking loose in the studio.In the early days of Wide World of Sports, he was opening the telecast at the Gabba when the set fell forward onto the back of his head. Without breaking sentence he slowly pushed back with his shoulders to move the set off his head. At that precise moment his watch alarm started buzzing. Maintaining his composure while issuing a perfect sentence, he surreptitiously reached under his cuff and turned off the alarm.He was the game’s great salesman but he could be hard-hitting when he felt the need. When Greg Chappell ordered brother Trevor to deliver the underarm against New Zealand he was quite critical of the move in his after-match summary.Richie was always welcoming of new commentators but Mark Taylor was rather surprised to receive a note from him after one of his early stints. Taylor had just described the fall of a wicket as a tragedy and when he unfolded the note it simply said: “The sinking of the was a tragedy.”Benaud (eighth from left) and Chappell (fourth from right) line up with other former and current England and Australia captains at Lord’s during the Centenary Test in 1980•Adrian Murrell/PA PhotosIt was illuminating to hear people’s comments on Benaud. Occasionally they would say, “I love Richie’s commentary but it’s a pity he hasn’t got a sense of humour.” I felt like replying, “So you watch television but you don’t listen to it.”His was a droll sense of humour and at times it could border on wicked.We were discussing the unwritten rule of fast bowlers not bouncing fellow speedsters on air when I brought up an incident where Ray Lindwall hit Englishman Frank “Typhoon” Tyson on the head at the SCG in 1954-55.Tyson had taken a pounding in the first Test at the Gabba as Australia thrashed England. However, the roles were quickly reversed when Tyson took ten wickets at the SCG after being hit on the head by Lindwall.In conclusion I said, “But you were playing at the SCG that day, Richie, what happened?” He slowly picked up the microphone and said: “It was a mistake,” then gently rested it back on his knee. I was still laughing when, uncharacteristically, he raised his microphone again. “I’ll rephrase that,” he said, “it was a very big mistake.”Benaud made very few mistakes in his life and he certainly didn’t with his choice of life partner. If anything, wife Daphne is even more organised than Richie and apart from cricket they also had a shared love for ballet and cats, both the animals and the musical.At his 2007 Hall of Fame induction, Richie finished his speech with a number of thank yous and concluded with: “And Daphne, who is much loved.”The same could be said of Richie Benaud: he was much loved and will be widely and sorely missed.

Injuries derailed him but a fit Stuart Meaker could provide the speed England need

Alex Winter09-Apr-2015It’s a statistical quirk to rival any other. In 2011, Stuart Meaker took 44 Championship wickets at 22.56. In 2012, he also took 44 Championship wickets at 22.56. “And the coaches want me to be more consistent!” Meaker quips.Those years saw the emergence of a bowler tipped to become a leading international force. The quickest in England, clocked at 93mph, with a front-on action likened to Malcolm Marshall, Meaker seemed a star in the making. But injury has hindered his progress and after two operations and two “gritty” years, Meaker begins 2015 with a host of bowlers ahead of him in the England reckoning and his form to prove once again.”People ask, where are England’s crop of fast bowlers compared to Australia? We’ve got them. And hopefully I can be one of them,” Meaker told ESPNcricinfo.Meaker was first selected for England on the ODI tour of India in 2011. “I was flying that summer: swinging the ball both ways, knocking people’s poles over for fun and thinking this is fantastic, I’m the new Allan Donald.” He did not disgrace himself in the final two matches of the series but returned for two T20s, also in India, the following year and took greater punishment, sending down four overs for 42 in the second fixture.”A big part of me wishes I had been picked a little bit earlier and at a time when I wasn’t carrying the niggles,” Meaker says. “The first tour I was at my peak and really starting to break through but after that I’d injured my shoulder and my knee was playing up. I’d gone through a good season but things had really started to hit me in terms of the body being affected by my performance.”Stuart Meaker is gunning for an England recall after two injury-affected seasons•Getty ImagesEqually impressive returns (to the decimal place) followed in 2012, this time in Division One of the Championship, but Meaker’s much-needed rest at the end of the season was cut short by a call up to the Test tour of India following an injury to Steven Finn.”I had a jab in my knee but when you get the call up you’re just going to do whatever you can to be able to try and perform and I carried those injuries through the tour. There were net sessions where I was in all sorts of bother but not being able to say much because I was worried they wouldn’t pick me or even send me home.”He struggled on through a tour of New Zealand, where he didn’t play, and then in eight Championship matches during 2013. But ultimately surgery was needed and, having never previously gone under the knife, Meaker was in for a double bout within a month, dealing with patella tendonitis – treated by the same surgeon that saw Stuart Broad at the end of last summer – and a shoulder decompression, ironically suffered in Meaker’s last England appearance with a superman dive in the outfield.”I got over it and came out of the blocks flying at the start of last season,” Meaker says. “But then, as happens, you prepare, you do your rehab and then you pick up another injury out of the blue. I had a rib that got inflamed from constantly bashing it bowling. By the time I got back in August, the way the structure of the season works, we had 60-70% of the season done and it was it was difficult to get back in the side.”Previously, when Chris Adams and Ian Salisbury were here, there were times when I had been bowling well enough to just go straight back in the side but I don’t think that’s a good thing for the squad. It’s not fair. So I was back in second XI cricket, it swung around corners for me down at Kent and then I was called back into the first team at Guildford.”That match against Kent saw Meaker back close to his 2011 self; bowling with pace and moving the ball. He took 11 wickets and enjoyed a brief purple patch until his body caught up with him – painkillers were needed for his knee, with no time to continue the strength work that he stuck too so painstakingly during his rehab of almost four months.”I’m quite fastidious in nailing my rehab and doing the right things and being disciplined. That’s just who I am. People might look at it now and go ‘oh why are you doing so much?’ but down the line it’s got to help and I try to look as long term as I can.”Meaker’s “long term” is aiming to get back into the England set-up. He name-checks Liam Plunkett as an example of a bowler who can come back strongly having drifted from the international scene. But, unlike Plunkett, Meaker is yet to really get a thorough crack for England.A brief chat with Kevin Shine, the ECB lead bowling coach, at The Oval has been the only recent contact with the England management. This time, Meaker, who boasts far superior red-ball figures – 210 first-class wickets at 28.27 – to white-ball – a combined 68 List A and T20 wickets at 35.97 – is perhaps looking straight at the Test squad, with the skills required to bowl in one-day cricket becoming far removed.”That path is perhaps becoming eroded now,” Meaker says. “You look at someone like James Faulkner, I don’t see how you can bowl like he does with his tricks and guile and nailing those yorkers, and the way you have to contort your body into all sort of different positions – to then do that with the red ball, in Tests you just have to be consistent in the same areas day after day, it’s completely different. The physical angles are so different so I don’t believe the path to Tests is through one-day cricket now.”That may help Meaker as he tries to deliver on the promise of speed-gun readings and statistician-pleasing consistency.

A scary Malinga slide and a Simmons stunner among plays of the day from the match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils

Arun Venugopal05-May-2015Talk, talk and strikeLasith Malinga took a while to get his field right, and when he appeared ready to bowl the first ball of the match, his captain, Rohit Sharma, walked up to him. The two were locked in a long, animated chat, seemingly bouncing off a thousand ideas off each other. Just when you wondered what the fuss was all about, Malinga thundered in and pitched one outside off only for Mayank Agarwal to offer a loose waft. The edge was snaffled by Parthiv Patel, and Malinga and Rohit let out a collective roar.Missed call and failed juggleShreyas Iyer was particularly severe on Mitchell McClenaghan in the fourth over, smacking him for fours off the first two deliveries. He attempted an encore of his second boundary, a sliced, uppish drive over cover-point, off the fourth ball. This wasn’t timed as well and the ball hung up over cover point with Hardik Pandya and J Suchith converging in pursuit of the catch. Only that both of them forgot to call. Pandya got to the ball first but failed to latch on to it, his concentration possibly affected by the sight of an approaching Suchith. He, however, kept the ball in play with a juggle, but Suchith, who was right next to him, couldn’t take it either. McClenaghan, already annoyed at being hit for two fours, sunk to his knees and yelled in frustration.The scary slideKedar Jadhav was intent on sweeping everything in his sight, and he top-edged one off Harbhajan Singh. Lasith Malinga, at short fine leg, turned around and ran after the ball. As he put in an ungainly slide to retard the ball’s progress, Malinga’s left knee jammed into the turf, a piece of it exploding on impact. There were a few worried faces as Malinga hobbled around. But he was back in business in no time, stepping up to bowl at full tilt the very next over.The slip and celebrationPandya had just been hit for a six by Angelo Mathews. As he ran in to bowl the next ball, he slipped at the point of delivery and tumbled once, and again. Pandya got up with a wry smile and returned for his next ball. He had good reason to hold the smile, as Mathews holed out to long off to give him his first IPL wicket. Guess who the catcher was? His old juggling mate, Suchith.The catch that wasn’tMalinga had deceived Yuvraj Singh with a slower one that bounced more than he expected, and Parthiv dived across to his left to take the edge. Or did he? Parthiv and Malinga were confident they had their man, but Yuvraj chose to hang around. Replays showed he was right, as the ball had bounced in front of the wicketkeeper. Parthiv grinned sheepishly on seeing the replay and promptly apologised to Yuvraj.The catch that shouldn’t have beenThe next ball, Yuvraj scorched one uppishly towards backward point, and it looked headed to the boundary. But Lendl Simmons had other ideas, leaping high and to his right to pluck the ball with one hand. Simmons’ team-mates enveloped him in delight. Even Jonty Rhodes, the fielding coach, was thrilled, clapping till his hands hurt.

Bangladesh have enjoyed unprecedented victories in 2015, a year that should be a watershed in the country’s development as a competitive cricket unit

Mohammad Isam30-Jun-2015Diligent plans tailored to oppositions and conditions, a strong leadership group and renewed hunger – these are some of the ingredients that went into the making of Bangladesh’s most successful year in international cricket.So far, they made the World Cup quarter-finals after beating England in the group stage, and then won ODI series convincingly against Pakistan and a full-strength India. They also drew Tests against those opponents. With another six months left in the year, how good can Bangladesh’s 2015 get?Up next is South Africa, a team that will test Bangladesh’s upward trajectory across formats, but given how they brushed aside two teams from the subcontinent, there’s no reason to believe they can’t scalp another high-ranked side at home.Bangladesh’s on-field leadership, particularly that of Mashrafe Mortaza, has been tireless in maintaining equilibrium among the senior players and giving freedom to the juniors. It has not been an easy task, particularly after the fallout over leadership and discipline issues in 2014. Mashrafe has encouraged an atmosphere in the limited-overs side where Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim take up major roles. In turn the seniors stood by Mashrafe, creating a blend that was conducive to improved results.How long Bangladesh sustain such improved results will be dependent on factors such as the handling of rookie fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman and the other budding players. Mustafizur shocked India by taking a record 13 wickets in a three-ODI series, but expectations on him in the coming series and years will have to be realistic. Many bowlers like Rubel Hossain, Sohag Gazi and Taskin Ahmed started their careers brightly but eventually flattened out.Whether Mustafizur will be left to his own devices or mentored, and whether coaches can help preserve and enhance his skill of bowling offcutters at pace while developing other variations, are questions the BCB will have to answer soon. Along with Mustafizur, the board will also have to nurture the fledgling careers of Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and Litton Das. Sarkar and Sabbir have shown the ability to perform under pressure, while Das’ domestic batting form has been once-in-a-generation for a young wicketkeeper.Bangladesh’s head coach Chandika Hathurusingha will play a vital role in shaping these young batsmen who possess varied abilities and have been developed for different purposes. Hathurusingha has the skills to take these talented individuals to a higher level – the time he spent with Tamim and Mahmudullah in the nets is enough to suggest he can make it happen.So what can the younger players do to help themselves at this point? They could heed Shakib’s example of how to sustain success at international level by keeping on and off-field activities distinct. Despite the controversies he has been involved in, Shakib rarely lets them affect his performance or his ability to handle pressure.They would do well to stay grounded like Mashrafe, to find ways to beat poor form like Tamim did by training harder, to learn how Mushfiqur has learnt consistency over the years and how Mahmudullah rediscovered himself as a batsman during the World Cup. Rubel fought back from a personal ordeal while Taskin had to overcome a major back injury to have a career. There are lessons everywhere in the Bangladesh dressing room for the new players to heed.Bangladesh’s head coach Chandika Hathurusingha will play a vital role in shaping young batsmen who possess varied abilities and have been developed for different purposes•BCBThe buck in Bangladesh cricket, however, stops with the officials and its new-found strength is also a result of the working of the BCB and its president Nazmul Hassan, whose far-reaching influence has kept everyone in line. Hassan should now use his clout to ensure sporting pitches for domestic matches, to produce better fast bowlers and technically improved batsmen. That Bangladesh’s strength is veering away from left-arm spin towards pace is a healthy development.Hassan has ambitions for this Bangladesh team and has spoken of hiring quality consultants to improve the players when the need arises and to provide them with more fixtures. In the FTP that runs until 2022, Bangladesh are scheduled to play more than 60 Tests, including eight three-match series against New Zealand and Zimbabwe of which five are at home.The BCB has also said it will add more tours, which will provide the team the challenge of answering critics who say they must prove themselves away from home. India, too, emerged as a competitive touring side much after they were an established force at home. Confidence from winning anywhere is more important than just touring without a clear strategy.The BCB has found on more than one occasion that there is more interest in hosting Bangladesh when they are winning than when they are losing. Nobody wants to invite a team that will not provide a semblance of competition.The board is also making more money out of TV deals and sponsorships than before. The interest from corporates had risen after the World Cup and the victory against Pakistan, and even Mustafizur has got offers from plenty of companies after his demolition of India. This bodes well for Bangladesh, who under the ICC’s new revenue distribution model, will get a much lower percentage of the profit than most countries. They will need to help themselves more than ever, because that could lead to more financial reward from the ICC.Bangladesh should have followed the development curve Sri Lanka did but they have not. Since 2009, however, they have had a stable side despite the churn of coaches – Hathurusingha landed the job after Jamie Siddons, Stuart Law, Richard Pybus and Shane Jurgensen had unfulfilling tenures – and the results have improved gradually.But these are now heady times in Bangladesh cricket. The only trajectory its path should follow is upwards.

With most bases covered, India are expected to turn a bleak home season around, but for that they will have to break down the only side that has bucked the trend of little Test success on tours

Sidharth Monga in Mohali03-Nov-2015This Monday was 12 days short of two years since India last played a Test at home. The last time India did so, Ajinkya Rahane, an indispensable batsman now, was a toddler by the standards of Test cricket, and had been dropped after two nervous innings on debut. Sachin Tendulkar was actually an international player then. Between the last Test at home and this week, India have played 16 away Tests, Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag have officially retired, the new generation of batsmen has established itself, and the team has spent two Christmases away for Boxing Day Tests.This Monday morning in Mohali, where the morning and evening chill and that companion of north Indian winter, smog, have begun to set in, you get a distinct Christmas feeling. In reverse. In South Africa and in Australia, India’s last two Boxing Day Tests, it was India who would be doing all the hard work on the eve of the Test while the host players finished a light optional session and went away to their festivities. Australia have a family day the day before the Boxing Day Test. Players bring their families along to the nets, and then they all change and go to a team lunch. It is surreal. There is an eerie quiet around if you are looking for Test-match anticipation, and it seems the Indian team is the only people working in town.Now in India, Diwali is about a week away. India is officially in festival mode. It is not that quiet this Monday morning – it can never be in India – but it is South Africa who are working hard, looking at the pitch, fretting over its dryness and the need to stay prepared for the worst, while like a boss India saunter into the city only two days and a bit before the Test, having danced in Harbhajan Singh’s wedding and, in the case of Ravindra Jadeja and Stuart Binny, having played Ranji Trophy matches.It’s almost a given that everything will be taken care of. You talk to the South Africans, and they say the groundsmen have taken care the pitch will be to India’s liking come Thursday. These young Indian batsmen cut their teeth in the tough overseas environs, and it is expected they will have an easier time at home against an inexperienced spin attack on pitches that won’t offer much to the seamers. Never mind that India have lost both the Twenty20 and ODI series to South Africa. Or that India have failed to beat South Africa in a Test series in 11 years. Historically this is a side that has beaten South Africa in only two series out of 11.There is renewed expectation and hope from the side because this is a rare time that the Indian Test team is surer of composition and its strength than the ODI side. In the here and now, they might not be sure of who the leading fast bowler is because Ishant Sharma is serving a one-match ban, but they have a world-class spinner bowling in favourable conditions with two competent support acts around him. There is also intense competition for the batting slots, which heats up the moment India decide to play Ravindra Jadeja or Stuart Binny as the fifth bowler. Three openers have presented their cases in recent time, and a spurned No. 3 has scored 145 when opening in the absence of two injured openers. It is a happy headache; there are options, unlike what the limited-overs side will have you believe.Dale Steyn will have to will his way to wickets in conditions that might not aid fast-bowling•Hindustan TimesOn paper India have most bases covered given the conditions they are likely to encounter. R Ashwin and Jadeja demolished Australia the last time India played a home series against a competitive side. When Ishant is back, India will have a decent bowler in that limited role. Their opponents will have to will their way to wickets. Not that Dale Steyn is not capable of it, not that he hasn’t done it before, but in the current environment he is likelier to be able to go surfing in the cities the Tests are being played than get the kind of pitch he got in Ahmedabad in 2008. If he has to carry out demolition, he will have to do it Nagpur 2010-style.Off paper it will not be as easy for India because South Africa are a Test side known to find a way. Since readmission into international cricket, they have never had a world-class spinner capable of being a match-winner in Tests, but they have still held their own in India better than any other side. They have never looked like being outclassed. There has to be a reason they have lost only one Test series out of the last four in India. There has to be some resilience to a side that has not lost an away Test series anywhere in nine years. It includes two trips to India, and one to Sri Lanka, where they went one step further and won the series. South African sides check in in their baggage that intangible something.Ashwin averages 24 at home, Jadeja under 20, but these batsmen will be their biggest challenge yet. Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis are not there, but Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis are better players of spin than any set these Indian spinners have demolished. They cannot afford to let them repeat what Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook did in 2011-12. If the Indian spinners and the big three South African batsmen are both at their best, this will be a contest for the ages.The one worry with the Indian batting, one which South Africa will prey on, is that when they look good they look really good, but on a bad day they collapse spectacularly. Each of this young team’s disappointments in recent times has been characterised by the ability to resist once they reach a breaking point. And they tend to reach that breaking point collectively. In England last year they went toe to toe with the hosts for two-and-a-half Tests, and then everybody crumbled at the same time. In Australia they collapsed in Adelaide and Brisbane after matching the hosts blow for blow until the final act of the match. Ravi Shastri, the India team director, has put it down to inexperience and being out of their comfort zones.Now they are at home, and they have had the experience. The ODI series loss is gone but not entirely forgotten. As is Harbhajan’s wedding. A much better show is expected from players who have served their time in away series manfully. It will be a surreal sight to watch India go into a home Test without a single player already established as a great. But there is expectation – and not without reason – that this side will turn a bleak home season around. To do so they will have to break down the only side that has bucked the recent trend of little Test success on tours. They have the tools to do so; it is the temperament and tactics that will be tested more.

Sudip Chatterjee has scored four hundreds already this Ranji season and his insatiable hunger for batting long is flourishing in an age where IPL influences many batsmen’s strokeplay

Shashank Kishore18-Nov-2015Like most Bengalis, he loves his football. He is an elegant left-handed batsman who can please the eyes with his off side strokeplay. He is also soon becoming the fulcrum around which his team’s batting revolves. Perhaps an image of Sourav Ganguly easing the ball through cover and looking back at the dressing room to raise his bat comes to mind. Remind Sudip Chatterjee about this and you elicit an innocent response, but there is thrill in his voice when he says he can now talk batting with the man he grew up watching in Barasat, a small town on the outskirts of Kolkata.Why Chatterjee now, you may ask? The Ranji Trophy scorecards this season point to his insatiable hunger for batting long. With 608 runs in six matches, he is currently the fifth-highest run-scorer this season. His 147 against Maharashtra in the seventh round that concluded on Wednesday was his fourth hundred of the season, and his fifth in first-class matches. It helped Bengal walk away with the first-innings lead in Pune and keep their quarter-final hopes alive.Chatterjee, 24, is aware of the inevitable comparison that comes by scoring heaps of runs. But he’s quick to point out flamboyance is not his thing. “It feels great to be talked in the same breath as Dada, but he scored at a faster rate,” Chatterjee tells ESPNcricinfo. “My style is to bat, and bat long. That is what I’ve been taught all along. That has brought me runs so far, so I don’t want to now change my approach for anything.”Chatterjee has an air of assuredness at the crease. What strikes you instantly about his batting is that he has plenty of time and that he generally prefers to hit along the ground, grind the bowlers down and then dig in to make it count. It was not always the case, he admits. “When I started, I was initially concentrating on only occupying the crease, but soon I realised you also have to expand,” he explains. “In age-group cricket, you are recognised for runs and not how long you bat, so I made some minor adjustments to my game.”It looked like those changes bore fruit as he made 192 in last year’s Ranji opener against Baroda. But 12 subsequent innings yielded 392 runs at an average of 33, leading to a hint of disappointment. “Whether I make runs or no, I don’t neglect even the minor issues that are pointed out to me,” he says. One of the areas he was told to work on was with incoming deliveries. And there was good reason. He had been out either bowled or leg before wicket 10 out of the 13 times he batted last season.Chats with VVS Laxman, he says, have been reassuring. Laxman, the batting consultant for Cricket Association of Bengal in their ambitious ‘Vision 2020’ project, has spent a fortnight thrice over the last year with the Bengal team, working with batsmen across all age-groups in batches. “He explained to me the adjustments he had to make from opening to batting in the middle order…What are the routines he followed, how he adjusted to different wickets. It boosted me,” Chatterjee says. “His advice was simple: when you make a hundred, make it count.”Chatterjee credits exposure to his improvement. As part of their pre-season camp, the Bengal side played an assortment of long-form and day games in Sri Lanka across three weeks. Although Chatterjee was laid low by an injury after just one game, he says the exposure to foreign conditions came as a breath of fresh air.What sets him apart from many of the other talented batsmen, one might think. Raju Mukherji, a former Bengal batsman and one who understands Bengal cricket better than most others, offers proper perspective. “Full marks to his dedication,” he says. “What I like about him is the attitude. It has never occurred to him that he doesn’t have an IPL contract. His batting style is a throwback to the 1970s and ’80s. His batting brings plenty of calm to the dressing room, and he is equally adept at both pace and spin; qualities which are rare these days especially when there is so much focus on bashing the ball and adjusting to the shorter formats.” There is plenty of merit there, given he has served as a Bengal selector for most parts of Chatterjee’s blossoming career.Sairaj Bahutule, who is the current Bengal coach, throws in another interesting observation. “He picks the length early these days, at least that is evident during the time I have been associated with the team,” he says. “We have specific roles for each of the batsmen. With Sudip, the mantra is simple. Give him ample time to play himself in and then he tends to score freely. Technically, he has all bases covered, and as a coach, we have worked on getting him to bat long.”In his short journey of 22 first-class matches, Chatterjee has proven words like old-world virtues, text-book batting and orthodoxy are the best adjectives to describe his batting. While the two-hour drive from Barasat to Eden Gardens has gotten a lot more comfortable now, chances are a google search on ‘Sudip Chatterjee’ would not take you to the profile page of the famous Kolkata football player, also named Sudip Chatterjee, if he continues to do what he has been so far.

For Alok Kapali, a starring role in Comilla’s last-ball win to secure a BPL title wasn’t just about redeeming his reputation but telling the country that he can still bring it on a big day

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur15-Dec-2015When 21 was required off the last eight balls, Alok Kapali hit four boundaries and calmly took the single that won Comilla Victorians a major domestic trophy. His teammates kept him in the centre of their wild celebrations. The unbeaten 39 won him the Man-of-the-Final award too. It is hard not to say that the evening of December 15 was his redemption in Bangladesh cricket after more than seven years.Kapali, 31, was one of 13 players to join the rebel Indian Cricket League in September 2008, a defection that bruised Bangladesh cricket’s progress and ego. He was the highest scorer for the Dhaka Warriors team and although all of those players were pardoned and reintegrated back to Bangladesh cricket, he was never the same player. Two years later he was picked for Bangladesh in four ODIs and two T20s, the last of which had been in December 2011.Among those who had left mainstream Bangladesh cricket for the ICL, Shahriar Nafees had made a decent comeback in international cricket ending in 2013 and since then has been a regular domestic performer. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Kapali’s heroics, Nafees’ unbeaten 44 after Barisal batted first would have been a more talked about innings.On Tuesday, Kapali tried to steer clear of making any mention of the ICL but said that the last time he felt this good in a cricket field was in 2008 when he had struck 115 against India in the Asia Cup.”I won’t call this a comeback,” Kapali said. “The current Bangladesh team is doing well and I think that I used to play for that team in the past. I am trying on my own. Actually the ICL is now in the distant past. It is better we don’t talk about it.”I think the last time I felt this happy was when I made the century against India after we had lost four wickets and now this innings, which we really needed since we had done so well throughout the competition. I think we really needed this win in the final.”It had been a tough campaign for Kapali, who struggled to find time at the crease in the six innings he got the opportunity out of the ten starts for Comilla. In his first opportunity to bat at No. 4, he made an unbeaten 32 against Sylhet Super Stars but his batting style hardly allowed him to slog, and neither could he find the gaps regularly.There was much surprise to see him come out to bat before Ashar Zaidi and Shuvagata Hom, especially with 80 needed off the last 10 overs. But Kapali let Imrul Kayes and Zaidi attack at the other end while he found singles and his first boundary didn’t come until the 16th over after both had departed.Both Kapali and his next partner Darren Stevens struggled to find boundaries and just when Barisal had a firm grip, after Stevens and Mashrafe Mortaza were dismissed on back-to-back balls to start the 19th, Kapali snuck two boundaries off the last two balls of the over to get Comilla back in the game with 13 needed off the final six balls. He later said that the plan was to stretch the game to the last over and when he had leveled the score, he told Nuwan Kulasekara that he wouldn’t slog the final ball.”The ball was coming on to the bat quite nicely,” Kapali said. “I thought that even if we needed 17 runs off the last over, I could do it. I told Kulasekara that I won’t play a risky shot. I will take the single because I didn’t want it to go to the super over. I wanted to play till the end, which will be great for me and the team.”Ever since his last international match, he had been regularly making runs in domestic cricket but despite his best efforts, which included first-class scores of 175, 211 not out and 228 earlier this year, the chief selector Faruque Ahmed commented that, “Kapali isn’t even in our plan B. He is not fit for international cricket. There are so many other batsmen who are ahead of him.”Kapali said that his match-winning innings in the BPL final wasn’t a message to anyone but it was more about repaying the faith of Comilla who had taken him on after being omitted in the draft, one of the surprise unpicked players. There was even a bit of tug-of-war with Rangpur Riders for whom Kapali even appeared in one practice session ahead of the tournament, before he latched on with Comilla.”I am not giving any messages to anyone. I just wanted to do well, whether it is for Bangladesh, the Sylhet Division team or in the BPL. Maybe chances will come up if I do well in these competitions. I am just thinking about making my batting better.”I did quite well in first-class cricket last year so I thought I might get a chance in the draft pick. When I wasn’t picked, later Comilla team took me. I tried to fulfill whatever expectations they had. I had belief that I could give something back to the team if I got a chance to bat higher up the order. I think today was that day,” he said.Once he was Bangladesh’s most beloved batsman after Mohammad Ashraful and one might even say Kapali’s batting style and occasional legspin had a bit of cult following. His 324 runs in the ICL kept his fans happy but his return to mainstream cricket in Bangladesh was often marred by a sense of mistrust towards the 2008 rebels.But as Kapali showed in the BPL final, it wasn’t just about redeeming his reputation but telling the country that he’s still alive, and can still bring it on a big day.

The rivalry between the India and Pakistan women’s teams may not grab as much of the limelight as the men’s game but there’s just as much at stake for the two teams when they meet in Delhi

Vithushan Ehantharajah18-Mar-2016If the marquee clash of the men’s World T20 is taking place in Kolkata, then Delhi is where the up-and-comers face up on the undercard. On Saturday, cricket’s fiercest rivals will face-off for only the seventh time in a women’s Twenty20 international.The head-to-head results tell the story: India Women have won five of the previous six T20I matches against Pakistan Women. They are also undefeated in eight ODI encounters. India got off the mark in this tournament with a 72-run win over Bangladesh. Pakistan, hamstrung by the political knockabout above their heads, fell valiantly to West Indies, having prepared with just one net session.While another India win looks a formality, it’s worth noting that Pakistan’s sole victory came when the two teams met in the 2012 Women’s World T20. Even the Pakistan men’s team have not bested India in either a World Cup or a World T20.Much has changed since that one-run thriller in Galle. For starters, India exacted revenge in 2014 by six runs. Also, Saturday’s game will be the first India-Pakistan women’s match where players on both sides are in possession of central contracts.This year marked the start of the professional era in Indian women’s cricket. Given the financial clout of the BCCI, “better late than never” doesn’t quite fly. Still, 11 cricketers are being paid between Rs 10-15 lakh (approx. $15,000 and $22,500) – much better than nothing for a crop of players from humble backgrounds.The PCB was quicker on the draw, taking the plunge on central contracts in 2011, spurred on by a gold in the 2010 Asian Games and rewarded 19 players with deals. This year, 22 were given deals, split into four different categories.Pakistan’s results in that period have been sketchy at best. Their overall T20I record stands at 27 wins from 66 matches. But the development of players such as Anam Amin and Javeria Khan (sadly ruled out of the tournament after breaking her thumb in the opener against West Indies) are good signs of progression. All captain Sana Mir wants now is patience.”Women’s cricket is growing. We’ve made wonderful progress as a team, which is a great sign for cricketers and organisers. We have a great combination in our team where the roles of seniors are well-defined and for juniors as well. If we are patient, the hype will come in the following years.”For India captain Mithali Raj, her long-term focus is slightly different. The BCCI is a board whose ambitions fall short of those of its female players. They were notable absentees at this season’s Women’s Big Bash League, which showcased the best of the rest of the world. The players admired enviously from afar. They know they need to be flawless on the field if they are to be heard by their own board and the Indian public. Especially against Pakistan. Especially on television.”We cannot be complacent tomorrow,” says Raj, “because people have not really seen the women play. This is probably the first time they’ll see us live on television.”The way ahead is only when the next series is televised as well. If you don’t televise a series after the World T20, then people will lose interest. Because the more you have [the] interest of people, the more curious people will be to follow women’s cricket, and that’s how we can garner attention and market the sport.”Both captains expect a tense game. Mir doesn’t think it’ll be as feisty as the first time these sides met, though she wants her players hold their nerve in front of what she hopes will be a sizeable crowd. She declined to state if Pakistan will go with 17 overs of spin again. Raj wants her charges to pick up where they left off and focus on clearing the ropes as they did against Bangladesh. Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy will focus on bringing the fireworks.And both captains agree on another point: this is a game that Asian women’s cricket needs to be proud of. One that, in the near future, will be given the focus of a true marquee fixture. For now, the historic rivalry almost plays second fiddle.

Robert Croft lives and breathes for Glamorgan cricket, so it seemed only a matter of time before he would be head coach. But now the hard work starts

David Hopps08-Apr-20162:05

Croft aims to revive Glamorgan’s fortunes

Three seasons have elapsed since Robert Croft’s Glamorgan career finally rolled to a stop, 407 first-class matches and 23 years logged during his perpetual declaration of Welsh pride. There was even a farewell tale to provide sustenance through his retirement years when he took 7 for 107 in his last match in Cardiff to spirit Glamorgan to a seven-wicket win against Kent. The crankily competitive offspinner had finished on a high.Croft disappeared into the dressing room for the final time, deservedly established as one of the most noteworthy Glamorgan players of all time, 1,175 first-class wickets to the good, all of them secured, one imagined, not just with technical skill, but as the result of a thousand bar room conversations about the game, a lot of sweat and toil and a few dollops of irascibility along the way.Nobody believed he would be gone for long. It would be the Welsh equivalent of a raven leaving the Tower. A wave goodbye, a quick shower and he was reinvented as assistant coach. This February, at 45, the head coach’s role duly followed.That vacancy arose when Toby Radford departed by “mutual consent”, a casualty of a promotion challenge that had lost its way – or, more accurately, his response to it. Ottis Gibson, England’s bowling coach, had a gander at the job but did not apply and Alan Butcher came close, but it always felt like Croft’s job to lose. “I never thought I’d do it,” he insisted at Glamorgan’s media day, so putting himself in a minority of one.This feels like Croft’s time, reason enough to brave the Cardiff chill and here what he had to say. There was a hint of rain in the air, enough to remind you of the joke from the Welsh comedian, Rhod Gilbert, that he never realised he could take his Kagoule off until he was eight years old; Glamorgan could be grateful that their season begins a week later than most. But Croft had a spring in his step as he spread the gospel to anyone who cared to listen about his beloved county or, as he often prefers to call them, “the national team of Wales”.Hugh Morris, as chief executive and director of cricket, has begun much of the strategic groundwork for Glamorgan’s recovery. More resources have been fed into the academy over the past two years and already the results are beginning to show. Morris has also negotiated debts down from £16m to under £5m – and as part of the deal, whether unspoken or not, once can safely assume there will be expectations from Welsh politicians that talented Welsh players will prosper.There are already reasons for optimism. A new crop of young Welsh cricketers is hinting at promise and Croft’s role is to stoke the furnace. History gives Glamorgan the faith that they can succeed. Morris and Croft were team-mates when they won the Championship in 1997 – an achievement based on 10 homegrown players and the world-class fast-bowling of Waqar Younis.Forget pre-season optimism. It will be a huge surprise if the coming generation kicks on so rapidly that Glamorgan wins the Division Two title. They were fourth last year and even to repeat that will be a challenge. The task is to express that Glamorgan has a future built around its own.Robert Croft has spent time working with England, but the heart will always be in Wales•Getty ImagesIt is much harder now: rugby is always strong but football also punches its weight more than it used to. Where does it not?”Rugby is king in Wales, but the growth of football around Cardiff and Swansea is also much more marked than when we won the Championship,” Morris said. “We want to promote cricket, but we need to be keenly aware that many of the best ball players will be interested in football and rugby. How we identify and appeal to local talent is very important.”T20 is hugely important in making that connection. In Cardiff, it is easy to see the attraction of the introduction of a city-based T20 league, just as in the likes of Kent and Sussex it is easy to sense the potential destruction that it might case. T20 connects in Wales and existed in evening club cricket long before it became seen as the financial salvation of the global game. If city cricket won the day, Glamorgan would be one of the winners.Morris is convinced that Croft is the correct choice. He called him “Robert”, which sounded unusual, an attempt at professional distance perhaps, an awareness of the dangers of sounding too matey. “Robert has got a really good knowledge of the game. He has played for 23 years at the highest levels of the game. He understands the game really well and he did a bit of an apprenticeship as assistant coach which added to that understanding.”Robert is always one of those who led from the front from a young age. He wanted to have the ball in his hand, he wanted to have the bat in his hand, he wanted to be competitive. He recognises that the players have to have a big say in how the players go about their business. He will empower them.”Morris still smiles about the ructions when as Glamorgan captain he dropped Croft, early in his career, from a Championship match at Swansea. “He was a passionate cricketer from the first time I met him, determined to succeed and we debated his right to be in the side for quite a long time,” he said.A brief stint as an England spin bowling coach last winter also allowed Croft to operate in a different environment. “I think he benefited greatly from spending a short period of time with England,” Morris said. “He has a lot of skills and knowledge you want as a coach and he very much got the dressing room behind him.”We are very conscious of the fact that we are the only professional cricket team in Wales and to have a Welsh identity in that team is really important. Identifying the next generation of Glamorgan and England stars is essential – we have to have a pathway for young Welsh players. The one caveat to that and it is a very important caveat is that they have to be good enough.”So who are these stars of tomorrow? Croft fulfilled his media duties by insisting that names would not be named, that everybody had a chance to progress and that they would identify themselves, but his pride in Glamorgan’s own is not easily suppressed. Eventually, they were bound to spill from him and so they did.”We have got lots of young Welsh talent coming through,” he said. “The important thing is that it is good Welsh talent. We have got Aneurin Donald, we have got Andrew Salter, David Lloyd, Ruaidhri Smith – just to name a few.”It is very dangerous to pick out individual names. But what we are hammering home is we want the players to concentrate on their strengths and take those strengths to an exceptional level. I want to see ambition in their eyes. It is not just about coming out and playing a game of cricket. I want to see more players from this club representing England, I want to see them raising more trophies.””I guess it’s a big, hairy audacious goal but I think it’s one they can do.”Big, hairy audacious goal? It was a phrase worthy of exploration. It turned out – as some of you may know – to be a term coined by Jerry Porras and James Collins in their business self-help book , the result of a six-year research project at Stanford University which examined the qualities of successful visionary companies.It is a fair bet such goal-setting books were not on the reading list when Morris and Croft helped Glamorgan win the Championship 19 years ago.

In his new role as cricket administrator, the former captain aims to rebuild Zimbabwe’s cricket culture and act as a bridge between players and officials

Firdose Moonda22-Jun-2016The popular narrative is that Tatenda Taibu quit international cricket four years ago because he had seen the light, specifically the light of the Lord. Now he is making a comeback to the game, in an administrative capacity, because he is hoping to to turn some lights on, specifically at the Harare Sports Club (HSC).Taibu has accepted a role as Zimbabwe Cricket’s convener of selectors and development officer, a position he will take up next month, and one of his missions is to install floodlights at the country’s premier ground.It may sound like that should be a peripheral priority but Taibu has a compelling reason for putting it near the top of his list. “Most ICC limited-overs events are played under lights and our players don’t get any experience of that at home, so they are not used to it at all,” he said from the UK, where he has been based for the last few years. “They need to be able to compete in those tournaments.”Given where Zimbabwe cricket is at the moment, that is both a reasonable and realistic aim. Zimbabwe were the only Full Member not to qualify for the last two World T20 main draws. They have won only three matches in their last two 50-over World Cups, all of them against Associates. Given their ranking of 11th in ODI cricket, they cannot even dream of qualifying for the Champions Trophy. So while their absence of a Test ranking is worrying but rectifiable if they play enough matches, the need to do something drastic to improve their limited-overs record is pressing.

“Zimbabwe cricket needs to be treated with a little bit of love for now. We will have to look at the player base and see if there are players around who can eventually replace the ones who are already there”

Pylons have been up at HSC for years and the lights are also there, having spent months at Harare airport awaiting payment for being released. The only problem is that the lights are not on the pylons. If Taibu can arrange for them to get there, Zimbabwe can start playing day-night cricket, provided ZC has the funds to switch them on. And that would be Taibu’s next concern.A year before he quit the game, Taibu criticised ZC’s structures, which included their financials. He stunned the international press by revealing how players did not have contracts and were not paid match fees on the eve of their Test comeback in 2011. Now he admits he does not know whether there is cash in the coffers but he intends to find out as soon as possible. “I don’t know anything about the current financial status. I am not involved there but I would like to know so I can get a clearer and better picture,” he said. “I’m sure when I get there, I will find out.”That alone should reassure Zimbabwean fans: the knowledge that someone of Taibu’s calibre is committed to their cricket. But why now?Since his international retirement, Taibu has been living in the UK. Contrary to popular belief, he has not become a pastor. “When I said I got a calling from the Lord, people thought I was going to start preaching, but I am not a pastor.”I am just a Christian and I live a Christian life,” Taibu said. “If somebody wants me to pray with them or if there are families who want someone to speak to, if I can get an opportunity like that, I will take it because I believe as a Christian, you must be able to touch people’s lives and give them hope.””I have closed the door on coming back to play”•Getty ImagesHe has also been involved in club cricket a bit as a player-coach-development-officer, for Liverpool second-division side Hightown St Mary’s, who he joined in April. He is also working on his autobiography, which is what made him realise that he would have to return to Zimbabwe.”In writing, I have seen that when I recall an incident from when I was ten years old, for example, then my understanding of the situation is that of a ten-year-old. I need to find people who have a better understanding of those situations,” he said. “For that I have to go back to Zimbabwe and talk to people like [former national coach] Stephen Mangongo and [former Under-19 coach] Walter Chawaguta, as well as some of my teachers from primary school and high school.”While Taibu mulled a return to his homeland, he was also in touch with Peter Chingoka, former chairman and an honorary life president of the board, who has urged him to come back to contribute to the game. In the last month, Taibu decided to take him up, primarily because he believes there is something worth saving in Zimbabwe. “If I didn’t see that there was something there, I wouldn’t go,” Taibu said. “I believe there is something that can be done and I want to do it.”The “something” that needs doing involves rebuilding a cricket culture, which Taibu thinks Zimbabwe has lost, and which he has had experience of creating in Liverpool, where he is also involved in recruitment. “You have to get players involved in the community, get kids from schools to play at clubs, that’s how you develop a system,” he said.

“Everyone I have played with and the administrative people know me as a person who does not beat around the bush. Whether I am liked or disliked, people trust me”

Replicating that in Zimbabwe will be tricky because even though the country is still home to prestigious sporting schools, the club structures have deteriorated and the domestic franchise system is in trouble. That will make Taibu’s task tougher as he aims to deepen the player pool. He intends to take a pragmatic approach to things by analysing what resources are already there, nurturing them and looking for additions.”My own assessment is there is a negative vibe at the moment. It is quite tough in Zimbabwe – not just in cricket, the country as a whole is struggling. Zimbabwe cricket needs to be treated with a little bit of love for now. There are many areas that need fixing but we will have to fix them one thing at a time.”We will have to look at the player base and see if there are players around who can eventually replace the ones who are already there. I want to start working with guys at a slightly lower level so that if those players go up to international level, they are at a certain standard already. Otherwise, as a group, they will be under pressure.”Taibu speaks from experience. He was part of the young crop that succeeded the white-player walkout in 2004 and struggled because of inexperience. That bunch of cricketers was also up against an administration that seemed to constantly thwart their efforts – with regular changes in coaching staff, contract disputes, and infrequent fixtures – and Taibu does not want the current crop to endure those difficulties.He intends to be the bridge between the players and their administrators, and has promised to be upfront with all parties – as he is known to be. “Everyone I have played with and the administrative people who knew me know me as a person who does not beat around the bush. Whether I am liked or disliked, people trust me,” he said. “I am trusted by the white community, the black community, the Asian community. Even if we disagree, it’s like brothers in a family. There will be fights but you hope that they don’t fight in public. They know that’s what Tatenda is like and they want to work with someone like that.”Installing floodlights at the Harare Sports Club is high on Taibu’s agenda as a development officer with Zimbabwe Cricket•Getty ImagesTaibu is confident his suggestions will be taken seriously even if they involve reaching out to people ZC has cut ties with, such as former players. “I would definitely want to involve former players but not just them. I want to reach out to anyone who has dealt with Zimbabwe cricket and has knowledge of it. There are lots of people who have worked in the system who have something to contribute.”For now, ZC have engaged the services of two big names from one of their neighbouring countries, South Africa. Makhaya Ntini is the interim head coach and Lance Klusener the batting consultant. Taibu hopes both will stay with the team in some capacity, if only because of their stature and the impact that can have.”I knew Makhaya very well as a player. During the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in 2002, I was in my early years and he was struggling to make the South Africa team, so we used to train together on the beach,” Taibu remembered. “He definitely has energy and that’s something we need in the country. We have to try and create a unique attitude among players so that cricket becomes known for something in Zimbabwe. Something good.”For a while, the good in Zimbabwe cricket was known because of players like Taibu. His dedication and determination provided a boost, and already there is excitement over having that back. There is also an anticipation that, at 33, Taibu may consider a comeback of the playing kind too, especially as Zimbabwe are yet to announce a new Test captain. Those wishing for that will be disappointed. Taibu is adamant that is one light that has been turned off. “That’s really gone,” he said. “I have closed the door on coming back to play.”