The whole transcript of Kumar Sangakkara’s hour-long speech at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2011The Spirit of Sri Lanka’s Cricket – A celebration of our uniqueness4 July 2011Mr President, my Lords, Ladies and gentlemen.Firstly I wish to sincerely thank the MCC for giving me the opportunity and great honour ofdelivering the 2011 Cowdrey Lecture.I was in India after the World Cup when my manager called to pass on the message that CMJwas trying to get in touch with me to see whether I would like to deliver this year’s lecture.I was initially hesitant given the fact we would be in the midst of the current ODI series, butafter some reflection I realised that it was an invitation I should not turn down. To be the firstSri Lankan to be invited was not only a great honour for me, but also for my fellowcountrymen.Then I had to choose my topic. I suspect many of you might have anticipated that I pick oneof the many topics being energetically debated today – the role of technology, the governanceof the game, the future of Test cricket, and the curse of corruption, especially spot-fixing.All of the above are important and no doubt Colin Cowdrey, a cricketing legend with a deepaffection for the game, would have strong opinions about them all.For the record, I do too: I strongly believe that we have reached a critical juncture in thegame’s history and that unless we better sustain Test cricket, embrace technologyenthusiastically, protect the game’s global governance from narrow self-interest, and moreaggressively root out corruption then cricket will face an uncertain future.But, while these would all be interesting topics, deep down inside me I wanted to share withyou a story, the story of Sri Lanka’s cricket, a journey that I am sure Colin would haveenjoyed greatly because I don’t believe any cricket-playing nation in the world today betterhighlights the potential of cricket to be more than just a game.This lecture is all about the Spirit of the Game and in this regard the story of cricket in SriLanka is fascinating. Cricket in Sri Lanka is no longer just a sport: it is a shared passion thatis a source of fun and a force for unity. It is a treasured sport that occupies a celebrated placein our society.It is remarkable that in a very short period an alien game has become our national obsession,played and followed with almost fanatical passion and love. A game that brings the nation toa standstill; a sport so powerful it is capable of transcending war and politics. I therefore decided that tonight I would like to talk about the Spirit of Sri Lanka’s cricket.The History of Sri LankaLadies and Gentleman, the history of my country extends over 2500 years. A beautiful island situated in an advantageously strategic position in the Indian Ocean has long attracted the attentions of the world at times to both our disadvantage and at times to ouradvantage.Sri Lanka is land rich in natural beauty and resources augmented by a wonderfully resilientand vibrant and hospitable people whose attitude to life has been shaped by volatile politicsboth internal and from without.In our history you will find periods of glorious peace and prosperity and times of great strife,war and violence. Sri Lankans have been hardened by experience and have shown themselvesto be a resilient and proud society celebrating at all times our zest for life and living.Sri Lankans are a close knit community. The strength of the family unit reflects the spirit ofour communities. We are an inquisitive and fun-loving people, smiling defiantly in the faceof hardship and raucously celebrating times of prosperity.Living not for tomorrow, but for today and savouring every breath of our daily existence. Weare fiercely proud of our heritage and culture; the ordinary Sri Lankan standing tall andsecure in that knowledge.Over four hundred years of colonization by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British hasfailed to crush or temper our indomitable spirit. And yet in this context the influence uponour recent history and society by the introduced sport of cricket is surprising and noteworthy.Sri Lankans for centuries have fiercely resisted the Westernisation of our society, at timessummarily dismissing western tradition and influence as evil and detrimental.Yet cricket, somehow, managed to slip through the crack in our anti-Western defences andhas now become the most precious heirloom of our British Colonial inheritance.Maybe it is a result of our simple sense of hospitality where a guest is treated to all that wehave and at times even to what we don’t have.If you a visit a rural Sri Lankan home and you are served a cup of tea you will find it to beintolerably sweet. I have at times experienced this and upon further inquiry have found that itis because the hosts believe that the guest is entitled to more of everything including thesugar. In homes where sugar is an ill-affordable luxury a guest will still have sugary tea whilethe hosts go without.Sri Lanka’s Cricketing RootsFittingly, as it happens, Colin Cowdrey and Sri Lanka’s love for cricket had similar origins:Tea. Colin’s father, Ernest, was a tea planter in India. While he was schooled in England, heplayed on his father’s plantation where I am told he used to practice with Indian boys severalyears his elder. Cricket was introduced to Ceylon by men like Ernest, English tea planters, during the Colonial period of occupation that covered a span of about 150 years from 1796.Credit for the game’s establishment in Sri Lanka, though, also has to be given to the Anglicanmissionaries to whom the colonial government left the function of establishing theeducational institutions.By the latter half of the 19th century there grew a large group of Sri Lankan families whoaccumulated wealth by making use of the commercial opportunities thrown open by thecolonial government.However a majority of these families could not gain any high social recognition due to theprevalence of a rigid hierarchal caste system which labelled them until death to the castethey were born into. A possible way out to escape the caste stigma was to pledge theirallegiance to the British crown and help the central seat of government.The missionaries, assessing the situation wisely, opened superior fee levying Englishschools especially in Colombo for the affluent children of all races, castes and religions.By the dawn of the 20th Century the introduction of cricket to this educational system wasautomatic as the game had already ingrained into the English life; as Neville Cardussays “without cricket there can be no summer in that land.”Cricket was an expensive game needing playgrounds, equipment and coaches. The Britishmissionaries provided all such facilities to these few schools. Cricket became an instantsuccess in this English school system.Most Sri Lankans considered cricket beyond their reach because it was confined to theprivileged schools meant for the affluent.The missionaries in due course arranged inter colligate matches backed by newspaperpublicity to become a popular weekend social event to attend.The newspapers carried all the details about the cricket matches played in the countryand outside. As a result school boy cricketers became household names. The newspapersalso gave prominent coverage to English county cricket and it had been often saidthat the Ceylonese knew more of county cricket than the English themselves.Cricket clubs were formed around the dawn of the 20th century, designed to cater forthe school leavers of affluent colleges. The clubs bore communal names like theSinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Tamil Union, Burgher Recreation and the Moors Club,but if they were considered together they were all uniformly cultured with Anglicizedvalues.Inter-club matches were played purely for enjoyment as a sport. Club cricket also openedopportunities for the locals to mix socially with the British. So when Britain grantedindependence to Ceylon in 1948 it is no wonder cricket was a passion of the elitistclass.Although in the immediate post- independent period the Anglicized elite class was asmall minority, they were pro-western in their political ideology and remained apowerful political lobby.In the general elections immediately after independence, pro-elite governments wereelected and the three Prime Ministers who headed the governments had played First XIcricket for premier affluent colleges and had been the members of SSC.The period between 1960 and 1981 was one of slow progress in the game’s popularity as thepower transferred from the Anglicized elite to rising Socialist and Nationalist groups.Nevertheless, Sri Lanka was made an associate member of the ICC in 1965, gaining theopportunity to play unofficial test matches with players like Michael Tissera and AnuraTennakoon impressing as genuine world-class batsmen.In 1981, thanks to the efforts of the late Honourable Gamini Dissanyake, the ICC granted SriLanka official Test status. It was obviously a pivotal time in our cricketing history. This wasthe start of a transformation of cricket from an elite sport to a game for the masses.Race Riots and Bloody ConflictI do not remember this momentous occasion as a child. Maybe because I was only five yearsold, but also because it wasn’t a topic that dominated conversation: the early 1980’s wasdominated by the escalation of militancy in the north into a full scale civil war that was tomar the next 30 years.The terrible race riots of 1983 and a bloody communist insurgency amongst the youth was todarken my memories of my childhood and the lives of all Sri Lankans.I recollect now the race riots of 1983 now with horror, but for the simple imagination of achild not yet six it was a time of extended play and fun. I do not say this lightly as about 35 ofour closest friends, all Tamils, took shelter in our home. They needed sanctuary from viciouspolitically-motivated goon squads and my father, like many other brave Sri Lankans fromdifferent ethnic backgrounds, opened his houses at great personal risk.For me, though, it was a time where I had all my friends to play with all day long. Theschools were closed and we’d play sport for hour after hour in the backyard – cricket,football, rounders…it was a child’s dream come true. I remember getting annoyed when agame would be rudely interrupted by my parents and we’d all be ushered inside, hiddenupstairs with our friends and ordered to be silent as the goon squads started searching homesin our neighbourhood.I did not realise the terrible consequences of my friends being discovered and my fatherreminded me the other day of how one day during that period I turned to him and in allinnocence said: “Is this going to happen every year as it is so much fun having all my friendslive with us.”The JVP-led Communist insurgency rising out of our universities was equally horrific in thelate 1980s. Shops, schools and universities were closed. People rarely stepped out of theirhomes in the evenings. The sight of charred bodies on the roadsides and floating corpses inthe river was terrifyingly commonplace.People who defied the JVP faced dire consequences. They even urged students of all schoolsto walk out and march in support of their aims.I was fortunate to be at Trinity College, one of the few schools that defied their dictates. Yet Iwas living just below Dharmaraja College where the students who walked out of its gateswere met with tear gas and I would see students running down the hill to wash their eyes outwith water from our garden tap.My first cricket coach, Mr D.H. De Silva, a wonderful human being who coached tennis andcricket to students free of charge, was shot on the tennis coat by insurgents. Despite being hitin the abdomen twice, he miraculously survived when the gun held to his head jammed. Likemany during and after that period, he fled overseas and started a new life in Australia.As the decade progressed, the fighting in the north and east had heightened to a full scalewar. The Sri Lankan government was fighting the terrorist LTTE in a war that would dragour country’s development back by decades.This war affected the whole of our land in different ways. Families, usually from the lowereconomic classes, sacrificed their young men and women by the thousands in the service ofSri Lanka’s military.Even Colombo, a capital city that seemed far removed from the war’s frontline, was undersiege by the terrorists using powerful vehicle and suicide bombs.Bombs in public places targeting both civilians and political targets became an accepted riskof daily life in Sri Lanka. Parents travelling to work by bus would split up and travelseparately so that if one of them died the other will return to tend to the family. Each andevery Sri Lankan was touched by the brutality of that conflict.People were disillusioned with politics and power and war. They were fearful of an uncertainfuture. The cycle of violence seemed unending. Sri Lanka became famous for its war andconflict.It was a bleak time where we as a nation looked for inspiration – a miracle that would lift thepallid gloom and show us what we as a country were capable of if united as one, a beacon ofhope to illuminate the potential of our peoples. That inspiration was to come in 1996.An Identity CrisisThe pre-1995 era was a period during which Sri Lanka produced many fine cricketers butstruggled to break free of the old colonial influences that had indoctrinated the way the gamewas played in Sri Lanka.Even after gaining Test Status in 1981, Sri Lanka’s cricket suffered from an identity crisisand there was far too little “Sri Lankan” in the way we played our cricket.Although there were exceptions, one being the much-talked about Sathasivam, who was aflamboyant and colourful cricketer, both on and off the field. He was cricketer in whose handthey say the bat was like a magic wand. Another unique batsman was Duleep Mendis, nowour chief selector, who batted with swashbuckling bravado.Generally, though, we played cricket by the book, copying the orthodox and conservativestyles of the traditional cricketing powerhouses. There was none of the live-for-the momentand happy-go-lucky attitudes that underpin our own identity.We had a competitive team, with able players, but we were timid, soft and did not yet fullybelieve in our own worth as individual players or as a team.I guess we were in many ways like the early West Indian teams: Calypso cricketers, whoplayed the game as entertainers and lost more often than not albeit gracefully.What we needed at the time was a leader. A cricketer from the masses who had the character,the ability and above all the courage and gall to change a system, to stand in the face ofunfavourable culture and tradition, unafraid to put himself on the line for the achievement ofa greater cause.This much-awaited messiah arrived in the form of an immensely talented and slightly rotundArjuna Ranatunga. He was to change the entire history of our cricketing heritage convertingthe game that we loved in to a shared fanatical passion that over 20 million people embracedas their own personal dream.Arjuna’s LeadershipThe leadership of Arjuna during this period was critical to our emergence as a global force. Itwas Arjuna who understood most clearly why we needed to break free from the shackles ofour colonial past and forge a new identity, an identity forged exclusively from Sri Lankanvalues, an identity that fed from the passion, vibrancy and emotion of normal Sri Lankans.Arjuna was a man hell-bent on making his own mark on the game in Sri Lanka, determinedto break from foreign tradition and forge a new national brand of cricket.Coming from Ananda College to the SSC proved to be a culture shock for him. SSC wasdominated by students from St. Thomas’ and Royal College, the two most elite schools inColombo. The club’s committee, membership and even the composition of the team wasdominated by these elite schools.Arjuna himself has spoken about how alien the culture felt and how difficult it was for him toadjust to try and fit in. As a 15-year-old school kid practising in the nets at the club, a seniorstalwart of the club inquired about him. When told he was from the unfashionable AnandaCollege, he dismissed his obvious talents immediately: “We don’t want any “SarongJohnnie’s” in this club.”As it turned out, Arjuna not only went to captain SSC for many years, he went onto break thestranglehold the elite schools had on the game.His goal was to impart in the team self-belief, to give us a backbone and a sense of self-worththat would inspire the team to look the opposition in the eye and stand equal, to competewithout self-doubt or fear, to defy unhealthy traditions and to embrace our own Sri Lankanidentity. He led fearlessly with unquestioned authority, but in a calm and collected mannerthat earned him the tag Captain Cool.The first and most important foundation for our charge towards 1996 was laid. In this slightlyover-weight and unfit southpaw, Sri Lanka had a brilliant general who for the first timelooked to all available corners of our country to pick and choose his troops.The Search for Unique PlayersArjuna better than anyone at the time realised that we needed an edge and in that regard hesearched for players whose talents were so unique that when refined they would mystify anddestroy the opposition.In cricket, timing is everything. This proved to be true for the Sri Lankan team as well. We asa nation must be ever so thankful to the parents of Sanath Jayasuriya and Muthiah Muralitharan for having sired these two legends to serve our cricket at its time of greatestneed.From Matara came Sanath, a man from a humble background with an immense talent thatwas raw and without direction or refinement. A talent under the guidance of Arjuna that washarnessed to become one of the most destructive batting forces the game has ever known. Itwas talent never seen before and now with his retirement never to be seen again.Murali came from the hills of Kandy from a more affluent background. Starting off as a fastbowler and later changing to spin, he was blessed with a natural deformity in his bowling armallowing him to impart so much spin on the ball that it spun at unthinkable angles. Hebrought wrist spin to off spin.Arjuna’s team was now in place and it was an impressive pool of talent, but they were not yeta team. Although winning the 1996 World Cup was a long-term goal, they needed to find arallying point, a uniting factor that gave them a sense of “team”, a cause to fight for, an eventthat not will not only bind the team together giving them a common focus but also rally theentire support of a nation for the team and its journey.This came on Boxing Day at the MCG in 1995. Few realised it at the time, but the no ballingof Murali for alleged chucking had far-reaching consequences. The issue raised the ire of theentire Sri Lankan nation. Murali was no longer alone. His pain, embarrassment and angerwere shared by all. No matter what critics say, the manner in which Arjuna and team stoodbehind Murali made an entire nation proud. In that moment Sri Lanka adopted the cricketerssimply as “our boys” or “Ape Kollo”.Gone was the earlier detachment of the Sri Lankan cricket fan and its place was a new foundlove for those 15 men. They became our sons, our brothers. Sri Lankans stood with them andshared their trials and tribulations.The decision to no ball Murali in Melbourne was, for all Sri Lankans, an insult that would notbe allowed to pass unavenged. It was the catalyst that spurred the Sri Lankan team on to dothe unthinkable, become World Champions just 14 years after obtaining full ICC status.It is also important to mention that prior to 1981 more than 80% of the national players camefrom elite English schools, but by 1996 the same schools did not contribute a single player tothe1996 World Cup squad.The Unifying Impact of the 1996 World CupThe impact of that World Cup victory was enormous, both broadening the game’s grassrootsas well as connecting all Sri Lankans with one shared passion.For the first time, children from outstations and government schools were allowed to makecricket their own. Cricket was opened up to the masses this unlocked the door for untappedtalent to not only gain exposure but have a realistic chance of playing the game at the highestlevel.These new grassroots cricketers brought with them the attributes of normal Sri Lankans,playing the game with a passion, joy and intensity that had hitherto been missing. They had watched Sanath, Kalu, Murali and Aravinda play a brand of cricket that not onlychanged the concept of one day cricket but was also instantly identifiable as being truly SriLankan.We were no longer timid or soft or minnows. We had played and beaten the best in the world.We had done that without pretence or shame in a manner that highlighted and celebrated ournational values, our collective cultures and habits. It was a brand of cricket we were proud tocall our own, a style with local spirit and flair embodying all that was good in our heritage.The World Cup win gave us a new strength to understand our place in our society ascricketers. In the World Cup a country found a new beginning; a new inspiration upon whichto build their dreams of a better future for Sri Lanka. Here were 15 individuals from differentbackgrounds, races, and religions, each fiercely proud of his own individuality and yet theyunited not just a team but a family.Fighting for a common national cause representing the entirety of our society, providing ashining example to every Sri Lankan showing them with obvious clarity what it was to betruly Sri Lankan.The 1996 World Cup gave all Sri Lankans a commonality, one point of collective joy andambition that gave a divided society true national identity and was to be the panacea thathealed all social evils and would stand the country in good stead through terrible naturaldisasters and a tragic civil war.The 1996 World Cup win inspired people to look at their country differently. The sportoverwhelmed terrorism and political strife; it provided something that everyone held dear totheir hearts and helped normal people get through their lives.The team also became a microcosm of how Sri Lankan society should be with players fromdifferent backgrounds, ethnicities and religions sharing their common joy, their passion andlove for each other and their motherland.Regardless of war, here we were playing together. The Sri Lanka team became a harmonisingfactor.The Economic Impact of being World ChampionsAfter the historic win the entire game of cricket in Sri Lanka was revolutionized.Television money started to pour into the cricket board’s coffers. Large national andmultinational corporations fought for sponsorship rights.Cricketers started to earn real money both in the form of national contracts and endorsementdeals. For the first time cricketers were on billboards and television advertising products,advertising anything from sausages to cellular networks.Cricket became a viable profession and cricketers were both icons and role models.Personally, the win was very important for me. Until that time I was playing cricket with noreal passion or ambition. I never thought or dreamed of playing for my country. This changedwhen I watched Sri Lanka play Kenya at Asgiriya. It was my final year in school and the firstseed of my vision to play for my country was planted in my brain and heart when I witnessedSanath, Gurasinghe and Aravinda produce a devastating display of batting. That seed ofambition spurted into life when, a couple of weeks later I watched on television that gloriousfinal in Lahore. Everyone in Sri Lanka remembers where they were during that final.The cheering of a nation was a sound no bomb or exploding shell could drown. Cricketbecame an integral and all-important aspect of our national psyche.Our cricket embodied everything in our lives, our laughter and tears, our hospitality ourgenerosity, our music our food and drink. It was normality and hope and inspiration in a war-ravaged island. In it was our culture and heritage, enriched by our myriad ethnicities andreligions. In it we were untouched, at least for a while, by petty politics and division. It isindeed a pity that life is not cricket. If it were we would not have seen the festering wounds ofan ignorant war.Bigger roles for the cricketersThe emergence of cricket and the new role of cricket within Sri Lankan society also meantthat cricketers had bigger responsibilities than merely playing on the field.We needed to live positive lifestyles off the field and we need to also give back. The samepeople that applaud us every game need us to contribute back positively to their lives. Weneeded to inspire not just on the field but also off it.The Tsunami was one such event. The death and destruction left in its wake was a blow ourcountry could not afford. We were in New Zealand playing our first ODI.We had played badly and were sitting disappointed in the dressing room when, as usual,Sanath’s phone started beeping. He read the SMS and told us a strange thing had justhappened back home where “waves from the sea had flooded some areas”.Initially we weren’t too worried, assuming that it must have been a freak tide. It was onlywhen we were back in the hotel watching the news coverage that we realized the magnitudeof the devastation.It was horrifying to watch footage of the waves sweeping through coastal towns and washingaway in the blink of an eye the lives of thousands. We could not believe that it happened. Wecalled home to check what is happening. “Is it true?” we asked. “How can the pictures bereal?” we thought.All we wanted to do was to go back home to be our families and stand together with ourpeople. I remember landing at the airport on 31 December, a night when the whole ofColombo is normally light-up for the festivities, a time of music and laughter. But the townwas empty and dark, the mood depressed and silent with sorrow.While we were thinking as to how we could help, Murali was quick to provide theinspiration.Murali is a guy who has been pulled from all sides during his career, but he’s always stoodonly alongside his team-mates and countrymen. Without any hesitation, he was on the phoneto his contacts both local and foreign and in a matter of days along with the World FoodProgramme he had organised container loads of basic necessities of food, water and clothingto be distributed to the affected areas and people.Amazingly, refusing to delegate the responsibility of distribution to the concerned authorities,he took it upon himself to accompany the convoys. It was my good fortune to be invited to join him. My wife and I along with Mahela, Ruchira Perera, our physio CJ Clark and manyother volunteers drove alongside the aid convoys towards an experience that changed me as aperson.We based ourselves in Polonnaruwa, just north of Dambulla, driving daily to visit tsunami-ravaged coastal towns like Trincomalee and Batticaloa, as well as southern towns like Galleand Hambantota on later visits.We visited shelter camps run by the Army and the LTTE and even some administered inpartnership between them. Two bitter warring factions brought together to help people in atime of need.In each camp we saw the effects of the tragedy written upon the faces of the young and old.Vacant and empty eyes filled with a sorrow and longing for homes and loved ones andlivelihoods lost to the terrible waves.Yet for us, their cricketers, they managed a smile. In the Kinniya Camp just south ofTrincomalee, the first response of the people who had lost so much was to ask us if ourfamilies were okay. They had heard that Sanath and Upul Chandana’s mothers were injuredand they inquired about their health. They did not exaggerate their own plight nor did theywallow in it. Their concern was equal for all those around them.This was true in all the camps we visited. Through their devastation shone the Sri Lankanspirit of indomitable resilience, of love, compassion, generosity and hospitality andgentleness. This is the same spirit in which we play our cricket. In this, our darkest hour, acountry stood together in support and love for each other, united and strong.I experienced all this and vowed to myself that never would I be tempted to abuse theprivilege that these very people had given me. The honour and responsibility of representingthem on the field, playing a game they loved and adored.The role the cricketers played in their personal capacities for post tsunami relief and rebuilding was worthy of the trust the people of a nation had in them. Murali again stands out.His Seenigama project with his manager Kushil Gunasekera, which I know the MCC hassupported, which included the rebuilding of over 1000 homes, was amazing.The Lahore AttackI was fortunate that during my life I never experienced violence in Sri Lanka first hand. Theyhave been so many bomb explosions over the years but I was never in the wrong place at thewrong time.In Colombo, apart from these occasional bombs, life was relatively normal. People had theluxury of being physically detached from the war. Children went to school, people went towork, I played my cricket.In other parts of the country, though, people were putting their lives in harm’s way every dayeither in the defence of their motherland or just trying to survive the geographicalcircumstances that made them inhabit a war zone.For them, avoiding bullets, shells, mines and grenades, was imperative for survival. This wasan experience that I could not relate to. I had great sympathy and compassion for them, buthad no real experience with which I could draw parallels.That was until we toured Pakistan in 2009. We set-off to play two Tests in Karachi andLahore. The first Test played on a featherbed, past without great incident.The second Test was also meandering along with us piling up a big first innings when wedeparted for the ground on day three. Having been asked to leave early instead of waiting forthe Pakistan bus, we were anticipating a day of hard toil for the bowlers.At the back of the bus the fast bowlers were loud in their complaints. I remember ThilanThushara being particularly vocal, complaining that his back was near breaking point. Hejoked that he wished a bomb would go off so we could all leave Lahore and go back home.Not thirty seconds had passed when we heard what sounded like fire crackers going off.Suddenly a shout came from the front: “Get down they are shooting at the bus.”The reaction was immediate. Everyone dived for cover and took shelter on the aisle or behindthe seats. With very little space, we were all lying on top of each other.Then the bullets started to hit. It was like rain on a tin roof. The bus was at a standstill, aneasy target for the gunmen.As bullets started bursting through the bus all we could do was stay still and quiet, hopingand praying to avoid death or injury.Suddenly Mahela, who sits at the back of the bus, shouts saying he thinks he has been hit inthe shin. I am lying next to Tilan. He groans in pain as a bullet hits him in the back of histhigh.As I turn my head to look at him I feel something whizz past my ear and a bullet thuds intothe side of the seat, the exact spot where my head had been a few seconds earlier.I feel something hit my shoulder and it goes numb. I know I had been hit, but I was justrelieved and praying I was not going to be hit in the head.Tharanga Paranvithana, on his debut tour, is also next to me. He stands up, bullets flying allaround him, shouting “I have been hit” as he holds his blood-soaked chest. He collapsed ontohis seat, apparently unconscious.I see him and I think: “Oh my God, you were out first ball, run out the next innings and nowyou have been shot. What a terrible first tour.”It is strange how clear your thinking is. I did not see my life flash by. There was no insanepanic. There was absolute clarity and awareness of what was happening at that moment.I hear the bus roar in to life and start to move. Dilshan is screaming at the driver:”Drive…Drive”. We speed up, swerve and are finally inside the safety of the stadium.There is a rush to get off the bus. Tharanga Paranawithana stands up. He is still bleeding andhas a bullet lodged lightly in his sternum, the body of the bus tempering its velocity enoughto be stopped by the bone.Tilan is helped off the bus. In the dressing room there is a mixture of emotions: anger, relief,joy. Players and coaching staff are being examined by paramedics. Tilan and Paranavithanaare taken by ambulance to the hospital.We all sit in the dressing room and talk. Talk about what happened. Within minutes there islaughter and the jokes have started to flow. We have for the first time been a target ofviolence. We had survived.We all realized that what some of our fellow Sri Lankans experienced every day for nearly 30years. There was a new respect and awe for their courage and selflessness.It is notable how quickly we got over that attack on us. Although we were physically injured,mentally we held strong.A few hours after the attack we were airlifted to the Lahore Air Force Base.Ajantha Mendis, his head swathed in bandages after multiple shrapnel wounds, suggests agame of Poker. Tilan has been brought back, sedated but fully conscious, to be with us andwe make jokes at him and he smiles back.We were shot at, grenades were thrown at us, we were injured and yet we were not cowed.We were not down and out. “We are Sri Lankan,” we thought to ourselves, “and we are toughand we will get through hardship and we will overcome because our spirit is strong.”This is what the world saw in our interviews immediately after the attack: we were calm,collected, and rational. Our emotions held true to our role as unofficial ambassadors.A week after our arrival in Colombo from Pakistan I was driving about town and was stoppedat a checkpoint. A soldier politely inquired as to my health after the attack. I said I was fineand added that what they as soldiers experience every day we only experienced for a fewminutes, but managed to grab all the news headlines. That soldier looked me in the eye andreplied: “It is OK if I die because it is my job and I am ready for it. But you are a hero and ifyou were to die it would be a great loss for our country.”I was taken aback. How can this man value his life less than mine? His sincerity wasoverwhelming. I felt humbled.This is the passion that cricket and cricketers evoke in Sri Lankans. This is the love that Istrive every-day of my career to be worthy of.Post 1996 Power PoliticsComing back to our cricket, the World Cup also brought less welcome changes with the startof detrimental cricket board politics and the transformation our cricket administration from avolunteer-led organisation run by well-meaning men of integrity into a multi-million dollarorganisation that has been in turmoil ever since.In Sri Lanka, cricket and politics have been synonymous. The efforts of Hon. GaminiDissanayake were instrumental in getting Sri Lanka Test Status. He also was instrumental inbuilding the Asgiriya international cricket stadium.In the infancy of our cricket it was impossible to sustain the game without state patronageand funding. When Australia and West Indies refused to come to our country for the World Cup it was through government channels that the combined World Friendship XI came and played inColombo to show the world that it was safe to play cricket here.The importance of cricket to our society meant that at all times it enjoys benevolent statepatronage. For Sri Lanka to be able to select a national team it must have membership of the Sports Ministry. No team can be fielded without the final approval of the Sports Minister. It isindeed a unique system where the board-appointed selectors can at any time be overruled andasked to reselect a side already chosen.The Sports Minister can also exercise his unique powers to dissolve the cricket board ifinvestigations reveal corruption or financial irregularity.With the victory in 1996 came money and power to the board and players.Players from within the team itself became involved in power games within the board.Officials elected to power in this way in turn manipulated player loyalty to achieve their ownends. At times board politics would spill over in to the team causing rift, ill feeling anddistrust.Accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct were lost in amad power struggle that would leave Sri Lankan cricket with no consistent and clearadministration. Presidents and elected executive committees would come and go;government-picked interim committees would be appointed and dissolved.After 1996 the cricket board has been controlled and administered by a handful of well-meaningindividuals either personally or by proxy rotated in and out depending on appointment or election. Unfortunately to consolidate and perpetuate their power they openedthe door of the administration to partisan cronies that would lead to corruption and wontonwaste of cricket board finances and resources.It was and still is confusing. Accusations of vote buying and rigging, player interference dueto lobbying from each side and even violence at the AGMs, including the brandishing ofweapons and ugly fist fights, have characterised cricket board elections for as long as I canremember.The team lost the buffer between itself and the cricket administration. Players had becomeused to approaching members in power directly trading favours for mutual benefits and by1999 all these changes in administration and player attitudes had transformed what was aclose knit unit in 1996 into a collection of individuals with no shared vision or sense of team.The World Cup that followed in England in 1999 was a debacle: a first round exit.Fortunately, though, the disastrous performance of the team proved to be a catalyst for furtherchange within the dynamics of the Sri Lanka Cricket Team.A new mix of players and a nice blend of youth and experience provided the context in whichthe old hierarchical structures within the team were dismantled in the decade that followedunder the more consensual and inclusive leadership of Sanath, Marvan and Mahela.In the new team culture forged since 1999, individuals are accepted. The only thing thatmatters is commitment and discipline to the team. Individuality and internal debate arewelcome. Respect is not demanded but earned. There was a new commitment towardskeeping the team from board turmoil. It has been difficult to fully exclude it from our teamdynamics because there are constant efforts to drag us back and in times of weakness anddoubt players have crossed the line. Still we have managed to protect and motivate ourcollective efforts towards one goal: winning on the field.We have to aspire to better administration. The administration needs to adopt the same valuesenshrined by the team over the years: integrity, transparency, commitment and discipline.Unless the administration is capable of becoming more professional, forward-thinking andtransparent then we risk alienating the common man. Indeed, this is already happening. Loyalfans are becoming increasingly disillusioned. This is very dangerous because it is not theadministrators or players that sustain the game- it is the cricket-loving public. It is theirpassion that powers cricket and if they turn their backs on cricket then the whole system willcome crashing down.The solution to this may be the ICC taking a stand to suspend member boards with any directdetrimental political interference and allegations of corruption and mismanagement. This willnegate the ability to field representative teams or receive funding and other accompanyingbenefits from the ICC. But as a Sri Lankan I hope we have the strength to find the answersourselves.A Team Powered by TalentWhile the team structure and culture itself was slowly evolving, our on-field success wasprimarily driven by the sheer talent and spirit of the uniquely talented players unearthed inrecent times, players like Murali, Sanath, Aravinda, Mahela and Lasith.Although our school cricket structure is extremely strong, our club structure remains archaic.With players diluted among 20 clubs it does not enable the national coaching staff to easilyidentify and funnel talented players through for further development.The lack of competitiveness of the club tournament does not lend itself to producinghardened first class professionals.Various attempts to change this structure to condense and improve have been resisted by theadministration and the clubs concerned, the main reason for this being that any elected cricketboard that offended these clubs runs the risk of losing their votes come election time.At the same time, the instability of our administration is a huge stumbling block to the rapidface-change that we need. Indeed, it is amazing that that despite this system we are able toproduce so many world-class cricketers.However, the irony to this is that perhaps our biggest weakness has been our greateststrength. It is partly because of the lack of structure we are fortunate that the guys likes Lasith/ Sanath / Murali and Mendis have escaped formalised textbook coaching. Had they beenexposed to orthodox coaching then there is a very good chance that their skills would havebeen blunted. In all probability they would have been coached into ineffectiveness.The Challenge Ahead for Sri LankaNevertheless, despite abundant natural talent, we need to change our cricketing structure, weneed to be more Sri Lankan rather than selfish, we need to condense our cricketing structureand ensure the that the best players are playing against each other at all times. We need to do this with an open mind, allowing both innovative thinking and free expression.In some respects we are doing that already, especially our coaching department anyway,which actively searches out for unorthodox talent.We have recognised and learnt that our cricket is stronger when it is free-spirited and wetherefore encourage players to express themselves and be open to innovation.There was a recent case where the national coaches were tipped off by a district coachrunning a bowling camp in the outstations. He’d discovered a volleyball player who ran tothe crease slowly but then delivered the ball while in mid-air with a smash-like leap. His leapwould land him quite a way down the pitch in the follow through. The district coach videorecordedhis bowling for half an hour. National coaches in Colombo having watched thefootage invited him out of curiosity a week later to come for formal training. The telephonecall found him in a hospital bed tending a strained back as he had never bowled for such along period as 30 minutes before in his life.Another letter postmarked from a remote village in Sri Lanka had the writer claiming to bethe fastest undiscovered bowler in Sri Lanka. A district coach investigating this claim foundthe writer to be a teenage Buddhist priest who insisted upon giving a demonstration ofbowling while still dressed in his Saffron-coloured robes. Cricket in Sri Lanka tempts eventhe most chaste and holy.On that occasion the interest in unique talent did not yield results. But the coaching staff willpersevere in their search to unearth the next mystery bowler or cricketer who will take ourcricket further forward.Cricket’s Heightened Importance in Sri Lanka’s New EraIf we are able to seize the moment then the future of Sri Lanka’s cricket remains very bright.I pray we do because cricket has such an important role to play in our island’s future.Cricket played a crucial role during the dark days of Sri Lanka’s civil war, a period ofenormous suffering for all communities, but the conduct and performance of the team willhave even greater importance as we enter a crucial period of reconciliation and recovery, anexciting period where all Sri Lankans aspire to peace and unity. It is also an exciting periodfor cricket where the re-integration of isolated communities in the north and east opens upnew talent pools.The spirit of cricket can and should remain and guiding force for good within society,providing entertain and fun, but also a shining example to all of how we all should approachour lives.The war is now over. Sri Lanka looks towards a new future of peace and prosperity. I ameternally grateful for this. It means that my children will grow up without war and violencebeing a daily part of our lives. They will learn of its horrors not first-hand but perhaps inhistory class or through conversations for it is important that they understand and appreciatethe great and terrible price our country and our people paid for the freedom and security theynow enjoy.In our cricket we display a unique spirit, a spirit enriched by lessons learned from a historyspanning over two-and-a-half millennia. In our cricket you see the character of our people,our history, culture and tradition, our laughter, our joy, our tears and regrets. It is rich inemotion and talent. My responsibility as a Sri Lankan cricketer is to further enrich thisbeautiful sport, to add to it and enhance it and to leave a richer legacy for other cricketers tofollow.I will do that keeping paramount in my mind my Sri Lankan identity: play the game hard andfair and be a voice with which Sri Lanka can speak proudly and positively to the world. Myloyalty will be to the ordinary Sri Lankan fan, their 20 million hearts beating collectively asone to our island rhythm and filled with an undying and ever-loyal love for this our game.Fans of different races, castes, ethnicities and religions who together celebrate their diversityby uniting for a common national cause. They are my foundation, they are my family. I willplay my cricket for them. Their spirit is the true spirit of cricket. With me are all my people. Iam Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam andChristianity. I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan.

A collection of quotes from Shoaib Akhtar and by others about him over his colourful career

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2011″How many diamonds can you retrieve from one single mine; there has to be an end somewhere. I don’t see any natural fast bowler after me.”
(June 14, 2008)”I think I will donate the money to Mother Teresa or something like that.”
. (May 30, 2008)”Once Shoaib sees the crowds, and of course the babes around, I think he will be able to perform.”
(May 7, 2008)”The Shoaib Akhtar [of our team] is Asmavia Iqbal … The only difference between him and her is that she’s completely fit, sticks to her game and does the job she’s asked to do.”
(April 24, 2008)”I don’t know – for us or for Pakistan?”

(September 29, 2007)”This would be a first for Shoaib, who is widely regarded as a more committed playboy than cricketer.”
(May 11, 2007)”He said I looked like Tarzan, and wondered how I could bowl fast looking like that.”
Shoaib reveals how Andrew Flintoff inadvertently boosted his will to win (December 14, 2005)”Shoaib, leave the chicken man alone, and start your practice.”
(November 27, 2005)”I didn’t see him in Australia because he didn’t turn up for the first three days of the Test.”

(November 11, 2005)”This is not a joke, so just shut up.”
(October 20, 2005)”A bloke’s bowling at 150kph trying to rip the fingers off your arms or probably even worse. It gets your blood going and the adrenalin pumping. You are in a fight. And to me that’s what Test cricket is all about.”

(January 1, 2005)It is quite surprising that one is unfit in Pakistan and by reaching England gets fit overnight.”
(May 12, 2004)”I am not an angel, I have my bad days and good days. I am still learning day by day.”
(April 10, 2004)”We will try and pull the chain and stop the train midway.”
(March 4, 2004)

Thrown in at the deep end in the mid-2000s, Chris Mpofu nearly fell by the wayside, but now he’s back, with a freshly minted offcutter, and ready to lead by example

Firdose Moonda15-Sep-2011The dusty towns of Kimberley and Bloemfontein in the heartland of South Africa are not destinations for people in search of self-realisation. The cricket pitches at both venues are flat and unresponsive, and fast bowlers are particularly unlikely to discover themselves at either. But Zimbabwe’s Chris Mpofu did.He toiled on both surfaces during Zimbabwe’s short tour of their neighbour in October last year, recording unflattering figures of 1 for 59 in a Twenty20 in Kimberley and 0 for 59 in an ODI in Bloemfontein. His was not the most expensive return, but it was the most disappointing because he was expected to perform as the senior seamer and failed to do so.”Robin Jackman came and spoke to me after those two performances and said if I wanted to succeed in international cricket, I had to learn to bowl a slower ball,” Mpofu told ESPNcricinfo. “He said it’s not all about speed, it’s also about variation. Even if you hit the same areas over and over again but don’t change your pace, batsmen will find a way to succeed against you.”Mpofu had bowled some cutters in the nets before that but “did not have the belief” to try them in a match situation; he had also not found the need to. Only after bending his back on the batsman-friendly strip in Bloemfontein did he start to ponder what Jackman said, and his choice to take the advice seriously represented the turning point of his career.”The most difficult part was getting him to realise that he needed to add to his repertoire, but once he acknowledged that, it was quite easy to teach how,” Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s bowling coach, said. “In cricket you need a range of balls, over and above your stock delivery. Once Chris knew that, he was happy to learn, and we worked in the nets for over a month to develop his offcutter.”Streak and Mpofu have a special relationship as the only two members of the current national set-up who come from Bulawayo. They have known each other since Mpofu first turned up to bowl in the nets against the national team in the early 2000s, when he had only just discovered an interest in cricket. Mpofu was a late starter in the game, having played as a goalkeeper for his school’s football team and participated in athletics. “I only started watching cricket during the 1999 World Cup,” he said.Zimbabwe fielded one of their strongest sides in that tournament and beat both India and South Africa to advance to the Super Eights. They were labelled the giant of the smaller teams and it’s easy to see why a youngster like Mpofu may have been inspired to take up the sport. Five years later he got his wish, but not in the way he would have imagined.The 2004 player walkout left glaring gaps and Mpofu was one of the youngsters who was fast-tracked onto the international stage. He was 19 at the time and although it was his dream to represent his country, he was not comfortable doing so in that environment.”It wasn’t easy for any of us. We had no one to lead us and we didn’t know what the future would hold,” he said. “Some days we would come into the change room and not know what we were doing, and even when we thought we were doing well, things weren’t going our way.”He stuck it out, though, like Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Prosper Utseya, Tatenda Taibu and Brendan Taylor. It was probably tougher for him than for any of the others because he was often the lone seamer among a clutch of spinners. Mpofu had the essentials – his height allowed him to get good bounce and his action was technically sound – but he had no one to help him work on consistency and discipline. As a result he was often wayward and expensive and the target of opposition batsmen.His poor performances seemed a symptom of the malaise that had crept into Zimbabwe cricket, and there were times when walking away looked an attractive option. “There was a game against Pakistan when I took 1 for 75 and I had to ask myself if it was worth it.”The answer only came much later, after things had started to change in Zimbabwe cricket. When Alan Butcher was brought in last year, with Streak as his bowling coach, Mpofu could sense that things were stabilising. As if in validation, he had a handful of decent performances in the tri-series against India and Sri Lanka and the matches against Ireland. He went off the rails after that, though.”The tour of South Africa was one of the toughest times in my life,” he said. “When I was doing that badly, I thought of Mick Lewis in the 438 game against South Africa and how I had not seen him play for Australia again, and I wondered if I would ever play for Zimbabwe again.”It was Streak who helped him believe he would. Mpofu said that because Streak speaks his mother tongue, Ndebele, it made it easier to talk to and relate to him.”He had been more willing to open up and discuss issues with me, whereas in the past he may not have been as comfortable with other people,” Streak said. It was probably the sense of familiarity that Mpofu felt around Streak, whom he describes as his cricketing hero, that made him receptive to Streak’s mentorship in developing the slower ball.”Streaky is the master of the offcutter,” Mpofu said. His desire to learn to bowl it like the master took over. “It was an easy thing to teach because he has the ability,” Streak said. “And the good thing is that his action doesn’t change too much when he bowls the offcutter, so that element of deception is there. We had to be quite careful that he didn’t lose his quicker ball, but he has done very well.”The special celebration jig with Ray Price•AFPMpofu showed great improvement at the 2011 World Cup, where he took seven wickets at an average of 22.71 and eased into a more senior role for Zimbabwe. He began to symbolise the new era of Zimbabwe cricket, one that is not scared to experiment and innovate.He formed another special friendship during that tournament, with his new-ball partner Ray Price, and the two invented a special heel-touching jig to celebrate their wickets. “We saw some of the Kenyan guys doing it and we decided to make our own version,” Mpofu said. “Ray taught me to celebrate every wicket, because you never know when you may take another one. He said, ‘Even if a team is 300 without loss and you take the first wicket, you should celebrate it.'”Recently Mpofu has not had as much to celebrate as two of Zimbabwe’s new young seamers, Brian Vitori and Kyle Jarvis, have done. Since they debuted against Bangladesh, the spotlight has shifted to them, but instead of envying them their easier passage into international cricket and their early successes – which he did not have – Mpofu is quietly thrilled they are involved. “Having them makes my job easier,” he said. “In Tests if they open the bowling, by the time I come on, I would have had time to see what the pitch is doing. I know if they do well, I have to continue that, and if they don’t, I have to fix it.”Streak is pleased with the way Vitori and Jarvis have combined with Mpofu. “It’s good to have that competition in the squad, and there will be days when he [Mpofu] has to take a back seat to them and vice versa. But he has taken on the more responsible role,” Streak said.Mpofu may seem to have been around for a while, but he is just 26 and is the senior seamer in the attack. Streak thinks his maturity at such a young age means Zimbabwe can look forward to a dynamic future with the three quick bowlers. “Their best years are ahead of us, and by the next World Cup I think the three seamers will be quite a handful.”Mpofu has set himself some lofty goals. “I would like to play in the Indian Premier League or the Sri Lankan Premier League, or maybe even in England – a big league; that would be a real achievement for me.” But ultimately it’s not the personal accolades but the collective ones he wants to reel in, having seen how resilient his team-mates have been over the last few years. “We have been through a lot but the guys haven’t got too affected by it,” he said. “We lost matches day in and day out and now we’re probably three-quarters of the way there. We can’t stop now.”

The WACA is the one venue where Australia might miss Mitchell Johnson. But the way their pace attack has thrived this summer, they probably won’t

Brydon Coverdale in Perth12-Jan-2012Australia will enter the Perth Test on Friday with a pace attack made up of Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus. Mitchell Starc may also join them. If all the fast bowlers in Australia were fit, James Pattinson and Pat Cummins would be among the first picked. Where Mitchell Johnson would rank is anyone’s guess, but he wouldn’t be higher than sixth in line.While the Australians trained in the WACA nets this week, Johnson was hobbling around in a moon-boot in Melbourne, where he was due to have a check-up after a season-ending surgery on his toe in December. He had hurt it during the Johannesburg Test, in which his last act was to partner Cummins as the winning runs were struck late on the final day.At the time, it felt like a changing of the guard. The 18-year-old Cummins had outbowled his older colleague, the man who was supposed to be Australia’s spearhead. In the 12 months up until that point, Johnson had taken 24 Test wickets at 46.75. He was, figuratively, on his last legs. As it happened, he was literally as well, as something in his foot gave way during that final day.It is a measure of how little Australia have missed Johnson in the past four Tests that they have bowled out their opposition in all eight innings. Only once have they conceded more than 300. But if there is one venue at which Australia would like to have Johnson in the mix, it’s the WACA. They haven’t been without him in a Perth Test since the Warne-McGrath era.Something about the WACA works for Johnson. He took 11 wickets against South Africa at the venue three summers ago, including a breathtaking spell late on the second day. Against England last season, he picked up nine wickets. The pace and bounce allows Johnson to dig in short balls at the ribs, and the Fremantle doctor helps him swing the ball in to right-handers, something he finds so difficult elsewhere.In four Perth Tests Johnson has bowled 160.1 overs for 30 wickets. In Glenn McGrath’s last four WACA Tests he bowled 160 overs for 18 wickets. But for all the statistics, for all the great Mitchell Johnson memories from past Perth performances, it is impossible to think that the Australian attack under the guidance of bowling coach Craig McDermott will seriously miss him in this match.McDermott is another man who did his best work at the WACA, where the pace and carry can encourage fast men unfamiliar with the conditions to bang the ball in too short too often. Generally, the best way to bowl there is to use the speed and bounce as a shock weapon, something to surprise the batsmen and keep them guessing. As often as not, full and straight is still the way to go. Edges will always carry to the cordon.Harris enjoys the WACA nearly as much as Johnson. He has 29 first-class wickets there at an average of 24.65, his best of six-for having come last season in the Ashes. He is a bustling bowler who hits the wicket hard, but bowls full enough often enough to nip the ball around and cause problems. He has the pace to sharpen a batsman’s reflexes with rib-ticklers.Surprisingly, Siddle has struggled in Perth over the years. His best in a first-class match there is 2 for 63. But the McDermott mantra, to aim at the top of off, will help Siddle at the WACA. If he can resist the temptation to drop his length back there is no reason he should not be a force this week.Hilfenhaus has 21 first-class wickets in Perth at an average of 36. But like Siddle, he has subtly changed his style. He swings the ball later than ever and the breeze across the WACA might just help him to mix things up even more. He can only hope it doesn’t make him swing the ball too much to catch the edges, for that has been a familiar feeling for him in the past couple of years.Starc is yet to play a first-class game at the WACA. The offspinner Nathan Lyon made his first-class debut there and picked up six wickets. He enjoys the bounce and the breeze helps him to drift the ball. Whichever way Australia’s selectors go, they should have an attack that can thrive in the conditions.Of course, if Johnson were fit, it would be hard to leave him out. But his injury has freed the selectors up to look further afield. Pattinson has burst on to the scene as a result, and Hilfenhaus has re-emerged as a new force. The attack, in whichever configuration has been required, has worked well. Most of the bowlers have shown they can deliver the kind of match-winning spells that Johnson occasionally produced. But none leak runs and spray wides like he did.While they work at the WACA over the next five days, Johnson will be watching, his left foot still encased in wrapping as he continues to recover from surgery. It’s unlikely he will be able to bowl this season. The IPL looms as his next chance to show that he still has it, and he hopes to be picked up in the auction for this year’s tournament.At 30, and with 190 Test wickets to his name, it is too early to write Johnson off completely. He may remain a key bowler for Australia in the shorter formats. But the more success Australia’s attack has under McDermott, the tougher it will be for Johnson to regain his Test place. For now, let’s remember the stinging performances he has delivered at the WACA. And over the next week, let’s see if his replacements can replicate his deeds.

MS Dhoni had earlier spoken of how the rotation policy will have helped “by the time” India make it to the finals. With “by the time” becoming a big “if”, India are set resort to their best XI, but who constitutes that XI is not a straightforward decision

Sidharth Monga in Sydney25-Feb-2012MS Dhoni will persist with Ravindra Jadeja as the allrounder, and Irfan Pathan will play as a specialist bowler in India’s near do-or-die match against Australia on Sunday. Dhoni said he was impressed with Irfan’s bowling, but that playing him at No. 7 will leave the batting thin. When asked if India will play a specialist batsman at No. 7 as, seemingly, the batting was their main concern, Dhoni said he didn’t want to lose out on Jadeja’s spin bowling.It is an interesting persistence. Jadeja is a likable player, no doubt. He fields superbly in the circle, has a rocket arm from the deep, and squeezes every last drop out of his batting and bowling talent. You want to make space for such players in your side, but how long do you persist, and do you respect conditions? The fact remains that Jadeja is neither as good a timer of the ball as Irfan nor as good a bowler in Australian conditions with two new balls being used.This thought process points to a limited side that happens to be out of form too. In other words, Dhoni is not confident that his four specialist bowlers and Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag can bowl 50 overs among them. Nor does he trust his six best batsmen followed by Irfan and R Ashwin to bat out – and bat out convincingly – 50 overs. You have to empathise with Dhoni here: the batting is struggling, and you will never bet your well-earned money on India’s bowlers, bar two, completing their quota.One of those two bowlers, Zaheer Khan, is out with a calf injury, which is the reason Irfan was tried out in the first place. The second, Praveen Kumar, has played only two ODIs in this series despite being fit. Given Vinay Kumar’s hamstring injury, Praveen is likely to return, but Dhoni made it clear he wasn’t the first choice as his pace and length had fallen away following a rib injury that kept him out of the Test series.”He is swinging the ball,” Dhoni agreed, but added, “after he has come back from injury, he has dropped down in pace a bit. From a bowler who was bowling just over 130, the last game that he played, he bowled close to 125 and below that. And he was bowling a fraction short. At that pace if you are a fraction short, then players have more opportunity to cash in.”Dhoni said that with the injuries forcing him to rotate players, there was no need to employ an extra rotation policy. When India had won two matches in a row and tied the third, Dhoni had spoken of how the rotation policy will have helped “by the time” India make it to the finals. “By the time” has become a big “if” now. And so, he suggested he would go back to playing the best XI, meaning Rohit might miss out again.It was a bold move to back the youngsters, to give them more exposure, or even look for a better fielding unit. The motive behind the move cannot be questioned in a vacuum. The communication can be, but that’s a different matter now. At the end of the day, the youngsters haven’t taken those opportunities. Rohit has all but played himself out, Raina has only been marginally better. Dhoni is not giving up on them any time soon, though.”Not disappointed,” he said, “because every time any individual goes on to the field he wants to perform. And at times you can’t perform. It has happened to each and every one who has played international cricket. It’s just that most of our batsmen haven’t done consistently well in the series, so we are feeling the pressure.”Doesn’t matter who you are or where you are batting, if you think of the first six batsmen as a unit. Out of first six, if three or four of them are performing, it doesn’t matter who is the person who is not performing. Because what happens is, as a team you do well. You can give those extra few games to the individual who has not done well.”But when you are going through a phase where you are struggling a bit, then it becomes difficult to give that particular individual those extra two games or three games, which may make him turn things around. You have to go by the demands of the game, and right now we are not in a very good situation. We are in a do-or-die situation, and the best XI will feature based on fitness and availability.”What the best XI is, is another matter altogether. There are various factors to be considered: slow fielders, injuries, bowlers who can’t be trusted to bowl ten overs every day, out-of-form batsmen. You wouldn’t want to be in Dhoni’s shoes right now.Edited by Nikita Bastian

Terrific on the road, not so at home. An inconsistent Kings XI Punjab still punched above their weight

Siddarth Ravindran20-May-2012

Key player

Kings XI Punjab had to shell out $1.4m for David Hussey’s services, but it proved to be money well spent. Whether it was as a finisher or as a stabiliser, Hussey’s game proved malleable to the match situation. With Adam Gilchrist ruled out of much of the season with a hamstring tear, Hussey took over the leadership and inspired his younger team-mates like Mandeep Singh. His offspinners weren’t on view often, though it did prove a game-changer in at least one match.

Bargain buy

At $200,000 Azhar Mahmood was a cut-price purchase. After the troubles with his visa were sorted, Mahmood became an integral part of the XI, showing that even at 37, he was a formidable force in Twenty20s. In a tournament where the death-bowling has been abysmal, Mahmood was a reliable performer late in the innings, regularly tricking batsmen with his slower ball. He hasn’t been a slouch with the bat either, entering the tournament with 14-ball 33 against Royal Challengers Bangalore and finishing with a steadying 36 against Delhi Daredevils.Another contender in this category is uncapped fast bowler Parvinder Awana, who went on to become their highest wicket-taker this season.

Flop buy

Hard to pick anyone for this category at a tight-fisted franchise like Kings XI. Unlike others, they didn’t make any big-money buys to shake up the XI. Their wage bill was possibly less than last year as they sold off the $900,000-rated Dinesh Karthik and brought in a load of inexpensive players. The costliest acquisition this season was Mahmood at a measly (by IPL standards) $200,000, and he turned out to be a shrewd investment.

Highlight

Halfway through the season, Kings XI had only three wins, and were playing to pre-tournament expectations by being stuck at No.8. The tailspin seemed set to continue against Chennai Super Kings, when they blundered to 156, after having been 97 for 1 in the 12th over. Super Kings’ openers cruised to 47 by the sixth over, before Mahmood started the fightback, dismissing both openers with his slower ball. Piyush Chawla then showed his resilience, taking 2 for 20 and choking the middle order just three days after a confidence-shattering, match-losing penultimate over against Mumbai Indians. Even the depth of Super Kings’ batting, with Albie Morkel at No. 8, wasn’t enough to overcome Kings XI, who in the absence of superstars once again turned in a team effort to outpunch heavier opponents.

Lowlight

After completing the difficult job of beating both Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore away in the space of five days, Kings XI were in the top four for the first time in the season. They had a chance to build on that momentum when they came up against a Rajasthan Royals side that had lost four in a row, the last of which had been a hiding at the hands of Daredevils. Instead, Kings XI imploded, going down by 43 runs. Their captain Hussey summarised the performance: “I don’t think our bowlers were that flash, I don’t think our fielding was that flash. I think the batting needs a bit of work as well.”

Verdict

Inconsistent. They never managed to win more than two games in a row. Kings XI beat four of the top five teams on the road, but their home record was unflattering, victorious in only three matches. For the third time in four seasons, they had a chance of qualifying as the final round of league games started and, as on the previous two occasions, they blew it, surrendering to Daredevils in Dharamsala.One of the bright spots in their campaign was that the highest run-getter and highest wicket-taker for Kings XI were both young, uncapped Indians. At the start of the tournament, Kings XI seemed to have one of the weakest of Indian contingents, especially after the sale of Karthik to Mumbai Indians. Mandeep Singh, all of 20 years old, stepped up as an opener while Awana extended his success in the Ranji season to the IPL as well.

Michael Clarke again demonstrated his captaincy skills but the more modest player pool at his disposal hampered Australia’s efforts

Daniel Brettig at Lord's29-Jun-2012A winning record, it is often said, does not necessarily make a captain great. Ricky Ponting has won more Test matches than any other captain in the history of the game, yet opinions on his leadership of Australia are mixed. Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards were similarly considered fine players and strong leaders, but their tactical ability was often called into question because of how a rich supply of West Indies fast bowlers and batsmen meant they were seldom short of options. By contrast, Stephen Fleming is regarded as a great leader of New Zealand, for he extracted the very most he could from a modest talent base.Michael Clarke has greater resources at his disposal than Fleming, but considerably less than Lloyd and Richards. Certainly he has less than Ponting enjoyed in the first half of his captaincy. As a result, Clarke will have numerous days as captain of Australia where his own contribution, be it in the field or with the bat, will not be enough to guide his team to victory. At Lord’s in Australia’s first encounter with England since 2010-11, Clarke experienced one of those days. He did most things right in the field, and performed ably with the bat, but walked off at dusk with a 0-1 deficit to his opposite number Alastair Cook.Before the match Clarke had said the major improvement in his side since the last Ashes was in work ethic, their willingness to train hard for a common goal. Asked whether the team’s skills had improved he was less sure. “With hard work and a lot of training you hope your skills improve,” he said. “I guess we’ll see, over the next couple of weeks, how we go when we’re under pressure against a very good and confident one-day team.”It turned out at Lord’s that Australia’s skills and composure were not yet at the level required to better England. The visitors may be No. 1 in the ICC’s ODI rankings but it was the hosts who showed greater presence of mind at the important moments, and better skills at the right times. Eoin Morgan’s late-innings hitting took the target beyond Clarke’s ideal, then piercing spells by James Anderson and Tim Bresnan destabilised the chase. They were helped by Clarke’s involvement in a run-out just when it seemed he and Matthew Wade might threaten the target, one of only two miscalculations Clarke could be said to have made across the day.Clarke’s captaincy for the majority of England’s innings was admirably alert and typically assertive. He favoured slips and catching men long after the balls lost their shine, posted three men in the arc between gully and point to restrict Jonathan Trott’s pet cut shot, and worked his angles neatly to limit the number of boundaries that can flow quickly at Lord’s if field placings are imprecise.His choice of bowlers was also shrewd, calling on Pat Cummins after one rain break for instance, then calling on Xavier Doherty for the first over following the conclusion of the batting Powerplay – a gambit for which he was rewarded with Trott’s wicket. As a batsman Clarke is known for capitalising on the drifting nature of an ODI’s middle overs, pushing singles here and there. But as a fielding captain he does not allow himself to be lulled, constantly seeking wickets and challenging the batsmen to hit through or over his field settings.

“Steve Smith’s place in the Australia team remains hazily developmental, the one blind spot in the ‘role clarity’ espoused by captain and coach”

It was only towards the end of the innings, as Morgan tilted the match with a series of brazen blows that reaped 48 runs from the final four overs, that Clarke briefly resembled a more ordinary one-day captain. The bowlers did not let Clarke down entirely, as loose deliveries were few and each man generally bowled to his field. But they did not find an extra gear to match that reached by Morgan, and left a batting line-up of middling quality with about 20 more runs to chase than they would have preferred on a day when cloud and cold aided the England attack. With time, that gear will be found more often, as bowlers like Cummins, James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc develop, but it was absent here.Australia’s reply began soundly enough, David Warner showing typical spunk in his first international innings on English soil, and the No. 3 George Bailey aiding him in a useful partnership, though the Tasmania captain remains a somewhat optimistic choice at first wicket down. Clarke came to the crease with the task still in hand, and it would never slip away so long as he was there. However David Hussey and Steve Smith did not do enough to help him in the middle order, and were to be put in the shade by the combative Wade.As captain, Clarke is responsible for Australia’s batting order, and he appears to have erred by placing Smith ahead of Wade, who already has one match-winning Test innings to his credit. Smith’s place in the Australia team remains hazily developmental, the one blind spot in the “role clarity” espoused by Clarke and the coach Mickey Arthur. He is a batsman and legspinner, but seldom bowls, and so far has not looked capable of holding his place with the bat alone. To play him at No. 6, ahead of Wade, was Clarke’s second misstep, one that can be argued to have been made as much at the selection table as in the dressing room.Brett Lee’s bold rearguard came up short, leaving Clarke with a few areas to ponder ahead of Sunday’s second match at The Oval. Where should Smith and Wade bat? How might his bowling attack be better balanced to cope with a late-innings acceleration? And what can be done to prevent Anderson and Bresnan, those familiar Ashes tormenters, from making the pivotal breaks? Clarke did little to detract from his growing reputation for agile captaincy at Lord’s, but to win this series his team will need to be better.

Titans found the correct length with the ball on their home turf, making their bowlers far more effective than the Scorchers’

Firdose Moonda13-Oct-2012Local knowledge was going to be an advantage for South African sides at this year’s Champions League and the Titans showed why. A major factor in their 39-run win over Perth Scorchers was their ability with the ball, which helped them find the correct length on their home turf to far greater effect than Scorchers’ bowlers did.Evidence of that can be found in a simple score comparison. At the end of 12 overs, the Titans were 105 for 0. At the same stage of the Scorcher’s innings, they were 64 for 4.Scorchers’ bowlers pulled it back and gave away only 58 runs in the last eight over of the innings to restrict the Titans to 163 but their lapses earlier cost them at the end. On a pitch with good bounce, every bowler in the attack preferred length and full deliveries to ones just back a length, which the Titans later showed would have made it more difficult for the batsmen.Titans captain Martin van Jaarsveld was surprised at the lack of penetration from the Perth attack upfront, especially since he thought whoever had first use of the surface would make it count. “I was quite disappointed to lose the toss because I thought it was going to do quite a bit,” he said. “But at the beginning they bowled either too full or too short and our openers were electric.”For 73 balls, Scorchers allowed Henry David and Jacques Rudolph to dictate proceedings. Davids enjoyed shimmying down the track and hitting through the offside, and took the pressure off Rudolph, who was allowed time to show why he should not be labelled a Test player.Only when Davids was dismissed did Scorchers get measure of how to operate. Brad Hogg led the way, giving away only two runs of his third over and the Titans batsmen had to do more than just help themselves. “It was tough to hit the spinners,” van Jaarsveld said.With a rein on the innings, Nathan Rimmington did the rest of the containing and gave away only five singles in his last two overs. Scorchers’ captain Marcus North said that performance gave the team some belief as they went into the break and enhanced Rimmington’s reputation as his go-to man.”He is our banker. As a captain he is the guys you want to throw the ball to and you know he will get it right more often than not,” North said. “It comes with the confidence of having a few good games and it is down to hard work. He has worked really hard at those yorkers and trying to be a step ahead of the batsmen. He is very easy to captain and very clear and decisive about what he wants to execute and what fields he wants.”Van Jaarsveld must feel as though he has three Rimmingtons. His seamers, Alfonso Thomas, Ethy Mbhalati and CJ de Villiers did not put a foot wrong, after Eden Links set the tone with a tight first over. Links got the length right immediately as he beat Herschelle Gibbs with a short of a length delivery. And the rest of the attack very rarely swayed from that plan.”We decided to hit four-day lengths and aim for the top of off stump,” van Jaarsveld explained. “I found that the tall bowlers were able to extract a lot of bounce off the wicket.”CJ de Villiers, who will remind some of Marchant de Lange, was the tallest of the lot and had the most success. He used his variations well too, something a bowler like Mitchell Marsh was not able to do. “There is slight inexperience in their bowling line-up,” Van Jaarsveld said. “And we sort of took the wind out of the sails upfront.”North said the air stayed out, even in the batting department, where he would like to see improvement. “The wicket played really well and we left too much work for the middle order. The top four have to take responsibility. With the make-up of our side – five batsmen and the keeper at six – we really need the top four to fire.”

There were almost no flaws in Sydney Sixers’ victorious campaign. Brad Haddin had rich resources at his disposal and he managed them astutely

Firdose Moonda29-Oct-2012At the start of the Champions League T20, there was little to suggest Sydney Sixers were different from the other contenders. Their first media engagement was held in the same room as everyone else’s and they addressed a small contingent of reporters, speaking with the same bravado and brushing off similar concerns. However, there was something about Brad Haddin that made him a little more serious than other captains, especially when he spoke of the management of the young fast bowlers in Sydney’s squad.”My job is to tell them to go out there and bowl fast,” Haddin had said in response to a question on how carefully he had been asked to look after Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Sydney coach Corey Richards also voiced his opinion: “Managing them is important, but from our point of view we are here to win a competition and to get them performing as best as they can over the next couple of weeks.”At the time, those statements did not seem too revealing, except to say Sydney were taking the competition seriously. Over the three weeks, however, talk about the three quicks became almost as frequent as discussions of KP text-gate, only more exciting. The conditions suited Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood and they turned in performances that would have made those who don’t appreciate 20-over cricket take notice.Starc was the leader. With exceptional control for a young bowler, he was able to limit run scoring and prise wickets. Hazlewood backed him up and emerged as perhaps the second best prong of the attack. Cummins, however, may have reached a stage where his reputation precedes him. Despite being the quickest, he was targeted and expensive at times. But Cummins still showed why he is regarded as a special talent, and also held his nerve with the bat.As the trio turned in performance after performance, Haddin’s words echoed in the background. He managed them expertly and was getting as much as he could out of them. With a Test series between South Africa and Australia beginning next week, there was heightened interest in the quicks and their showing left locals in no doubt that Australia’s fast-bowling resources are well stocked.There was more to Sydney, though. A peek behind the bowlers gave a glimpse into the rest. They had a batting line-up that seemed never-ending. Against Titans in the semi-final, Ben Rohrer scored some of the most important runs in the Sydney reply and was later acknowledged by Richards as having done so. Steve O’Keefe was promoted to open the batting in that match and also did not disappoint.There was the all-round presence of Moises Henriques, who probably should have won Player of the Series. He outshone all the big names in the first match and ended up being one of the most reliable performers in the competition.The spinners were in the shadow of the quicks through the tournament but they achieved plenty in the final. A clever captaincy move allowed Nathan McCullum and O’Keefe to own a Wanderers pitch as though it was a dustbowl in Sri Lanka, and they did not even need turn to do it.And then there was Haddin. He missed out on selection for the home Tests against South Africa, but showed why he remains in contention. His leadership, which included playing with an injured thumb, was classy. He batted like he captained and was a major part of all of Sydney’s key moments in the tournament.As a result, Sydney dominated the tournament from start to finish, the latter parts without Shane Watson. They owned all the important statistics. They were the tournament’s only unbeaten team and won the final by the highest margin, in wicket terms, in the event’s history. Starc was the highest wicket-taker and Michael Lumb overtook four South Africans on the final day to become the leading run-scorer.The numbers, for once, did tell the whole story. As the final drew closer, opposition camps were describing Sydney as the most “complete” unit. Come to think of it, that word could have been used to explain Sydney’s poise in that first press conference: they looked as though they were complete.

It will be a battle between Titans’ batsmen and Sydney Sixers’ bowlers in the second Champions League T20 semi-final in Centurion

Firdose Moonda25-Oct-2012The similarities between Titans and Sydney Sixers are startling, beginning with the simple fact that they are the only two champions left in the Champions League.Both won their respective domestic competitions and have established themselves as the powerhouses of cricket in their countries. Both have potent bowling attacks, although Sydney’s has more of the future with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood while Titans’ is more of a mix with CJ de Villiers in the youth corner and Alfonso Thomas adding experience.Both have stalwart wicketkeepers in Brad Haddin and Heino Kuhn – who is hoping to challenge for national selection – and both are without some big stars. Titans reached the final without the Morkel brothers, AB de Villiers or Faf du Plessis, Sydney have had it a little less severe.Shane Watson played in their first three matches, all of them which were Sydney victories, but was then ordered to return home. His team showed they could cope without him as they went on to win their last group stage game as well. The battle lines have been drawn on that premise: these two teams are fighters no matter what.”You can’t underestimate a side without their top stars. Titans have shown that in this competition and so have Sydney,” Titans coach Matthew Maynard said, further outlining where the duel will be waged. “We know Sydney are a very strong side and bowlers are suited to these conditions, but so are our batsmen. I think that’s going to be the contest that decides it.”Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids have done the bulk of Titans’ work with the willow. They have featured in two half-century opening stands and, in both circumstances, Titans scored sizeable totals and won the match. The pair accumulated runs in more traditional ways, rather than relying on improvised 20-overs methods, which Maynard said is the way the shortest format should be played.”I don’t think slogging plays a massive part in 20-overs cricket, full stop,” he said. “Maybe it comes in towards the back end of an innings when people hit the ball in unusual areas. But generally, good cricket shots pay off and teams have learned that over the years. Henry and Jacques both play good cricket shots and they have done well.”But, the pair and Titans’ batting as a whole fell apart against Kolkata Knight Riders, when they were dismissed for 89. It was their weakest performance in recent memory but Maynard is not reading too much into the defeat, because Knight Riders could play with absolute freedom, having already been knocked out of the tournament.”The Knight Riders batsmen really went after our bowlers and hit our guys off their lengths. They had nothing to lose doing that, even if a couple of balls went in the air,” Maynard said, maintaining that building strategies on that type of gameplan does not pay off in the long-run. “It was high-risk, high-reward kind of cricket. You can’t keep playing your cricket as adventurously as Knight Riders did that day and [have it] keep coming off; there’s a time where that fails.”Maynard does not expect Sydney to approach the semi-final with that attitude. “I’ll be very surprised if Sydney are as carefree as Knight Riders were,” he said, but acknowledged that they are the favourites. “The favourites for the final, probably from the outset, would have been Delhi and Sydney. But the two local sides are in the semi-finals as well. I don’t think many people would have predicted that at the start.”The success of the South African sides has in some part been credited to their knowledge of local conditions but Maynard said there is something else Titans will be counting on come Friday. “A big crowd is what gives you the home ground advantage,” he said. “The players love playing in front of a crowd, as they showed against Perth in the first game.”Marcus North, the Scorchers’ captain, admitted that his side found it intimidating in front of the Centurion faithful and Maynard is hopeful they can repeat that against Sydney. “If the stadium is a third full or a quarter full, then I don’t believe there is any home advantage because there isn’t that atmosphere created by the supporters to make that much of a difference,” he said. “But 10,000 people … that’s different.”