Test batsmen need to have a number of attributes. Depending on the conditions and the opposition, there will be different requirements.
Some are always necessary:
In matches like Sri Lanka v India at Colombo, other attributes are also required:
We don’t get it. It was only Pragyan Ojha. What’s the big deal?
If we’d taken 800 Test wickets, we wouldn’t be jumping up and down about getting Pragyan Ojha out. We’d have been more worked up about dismissing better batsmen, like Ian Salisbury or Chris Lewis.
We’re certainly intending to do a proper Muralitharan retirement post – possibly after his last match – but for now, we can’t be bothered. These are the things that immediately came to mind when we heard he was retiring:
Flintoff walked back into the Lancashire dressing room after getting out and everyone was staying out of his way because he was furious. Except for Murali.
Murali said: “What’s the matter, Freddie? Another crap shot, was it?”
He smiled when he said it and he got away with it. Murali and Flintoff are friends. You can’t teach good-natured cheek like that and only the tiniest fraction of the population can pull it off.
We haven’t actually seen any of the ludicrously high scoring India v Sri Lanka one-day match. This is just as well, because if we’d witnessed all the breathtaking strokeplay, we might find it more difficult to be properly downbeat about the whole thing.
Out of 13 bowlers used, Harbhajan Singh was the only one to go for less than a run a ball. Zaheer Khan is a great bowler and he went for 88 off ten overs.
There were 104 boundaries. It seems batting wasn’t hugely challenging.
What are we saying here? We’re saying that it was admirable batting from Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Dilshan and Sangakkara, but that our appreciation of an innings doesn’t necessarily correlate with the number of runs.
Picking the bowlers was much harder than picking the batsmen and all-rounders. We’re not going to pretend that we’re 100% happy with what we’ve come up with because that would be dishonest and we save the dishonesty for getting out of social events.
We’ve still not quite worked out how someone so spindly can be so quick. The fastest bowlers do tend to be whippy, flexible beasts, but even allowing for that, Steyn still looks a bit malnourished. Being quick AND being able to swing the ball makes him more rounded than other bowlers.
There are a lot of variables here. As long as Mohammad Asif can stay fit and stay out of trouble and as long as Pakistan actually get to play against other people; as long as all that happens he’ll take wickets by the big-receptacle-load.
You have to do something a bit mental to get batsmen out on today’s pitches. Even if people work out the mental deliveries Mendis uses at present, he seems like the type who’d just invent another one. Will get lots of wickets with slow, straight deliveries that will confuse batsmen predicting sorcery.
Has been a bit ropey of late, but anyone who can make mincemeat out of Ricky Ponting when they’re 19 doesn’t need to improve too much. Ridiculously, he’s still only 21.
Also, just a note to say that the bowler we’re perhaps most excited about, Mohammad Aamer, is more of a bowler for the next 15 years, not the next five. We’re giving him time.
As for the Aussies, they’re all good and all about the right age, but none really stands out. It’s more that we couldn’t pick one in particular than that we couldn’t pick any.
India have risen to be number one in the rankings and many people will say that the rankings are questionable. Are India the best Test cricket team?
A lot of people say the rankings are meaningless. When they make this criticism, they always do it according to a team’s position. The statement is usually something like ‘there is no way on earth that Australia are only the fourth best’.
Australia are actually third now, but these people should look at the points that the positions are based on rather than the positions themselves. It’s like batting averages. One run here or there doesn’t mean a thing (except to Don Bradman maybe). Similarly, one point in the Test rankings doesn’t mean a lot.
Back when Australia were clearly the best Test side, they were generally ahead by about 15 points. That’s enough. You’re definitely ahead there. Back then, being fourth meant you were a distant fourth. Not so long ago, when Australia were ranked fourth, they were fourth by about a point. That doesn’t really mean anything.
One of the best things about Test cricket is that the same two teams can produce wildly differing results if they play each other in different countries, on different grounds or even in different weather conditions.
It’s not like Team A are the best and they’ll always beat Team B, who’ll always beat Team C and so on. There are so many different factors that there’s frequently a healthy amount of grey to the answer to any ‘which side is better?’ question.
Look at the rankings in the same way. A point here or there means next to nothing.
It’s good if it’s your side that’s won, but if you’re impartial, it means that a Test has been one-sided. Australia’s innings victory over West Indies also raises uncomfortable and unwelcome questions about the future of the West Indies as a Test team, even if their best player, Adrian Barath, does have a few years left in him.
India’s innings victory over Sri Lanka is more welcome. Firstly, Sri Lanka scored 760-7 in the first Test, which was good batting, but not good cricket. By actually seeing some wickets, Indian fans might not be driven further towards the shorter formats and by seeing their team gaily prance to victory without a care in the world, they might even warm to Tests a bit. Plus, India should win at home. A tour of India being as hard as diamonds is one of the defining features of cricket.
But if you really want good cricket, look to New Zealand v Pakistan. No declarations, tough batting in the second innings and a tight finish. The balance between bat and ball changed as the match progressed and the players who did well can feel damn pleased with themselves. New Zealand didn’t just win; they earned victory.
After Mahela Jayawardene recorded his sixth Test double hundred, it was tempting to wonder whether he ever gets bored.
We get bored very, very easily. We get bored midway through unlocking our front door and that takes less than five seconds. The only exception to this is rail travel, where we’ve perfected a certain frame of mind that’s not unlike a waking death.
That sounds horrific, but all we actually mean is that all brain activity effectively ceases. We once travelled from Istanbul to Venice via trains and boats without stopping for a night’s sleep. The alarming part is that we didn’t read or sleep or do anything. We basically just sat there, staring at the seat directly in front of us for hour after hour.
We reckon that Mahela Jayawardene can adopt this frame of mind while being staggeringly adept at batting at the same time.
Sri Lanka have searched long and hard and now they’ve finally found a replacement for Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas.
Step forward Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanga Welegedara, who opened the bowling against India yesterday.
If only his mother were still alive to see him make his debut. Unfortunately, she died of exhaustion many years ago after attempting to sew his name into his school uniform.
We’ll be honest with you. The Champions’ Trophy won’t be getting our full attention. Partly we’re a bit tired with the relentless fixture list, partly it’s because England are likely to be toss, mostly it’s because we’re going on holiday next week. So excuse us if there’s a cursory air about some of our reportage.
We’re going to try though. Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a hundred against South Africa yesterday, so the theme of today’s post is: That Tillakaratne Dilshan’s doing stuff of late, innee?
It’s a good theme, we’re sure you’ll agree, but maybe that’s not enough insight for you, in which case here are some statistics to flesh things out a bit. Statistics are easy and give the impression that we’re making an effort when really we aren’t.
Conclusion
A pat on the back to whoever said: “Alright there, our Tillakaratne, how’s about you open up today? T’other lad can’t find ‘is left boot and some’un needs to tek shine off it. There’s a good lad – out you go.”
Animals being conspicuously indifferent to cricket
Cricket bats in unusual places
Live cricket commentary