International Cricket Hall of Fame

Tucked on the Southern Highlands only about 90 minutes south of Sydney at Bowral is the International Cricket Hall of Fame. This is the new name of what was the Bradman Museum until a new wing was added.

The museum has now put most of the little bloke's stuff upstairs, leaving downstairs as a very clever combination of interactive view screens, static displays of memorabilia and large view screens. There is a large collection of cartoon drawings of famous cricketers and personalities and the theatrette was playing highlights from the IPL. There is a large curved wall with the members of the ICC Hall of Fame in huge silhouettes and the details of their achievements were on the opposite wall.

Denis Lillee's aluminium bat was there!

I watched Greg Chappell's impassioned explanation of the under arm ball and Lillee's first innings routing of England in the Centenary Test. I even watched an interview with the Nawab of Pataudi on the meaning of the Spirit of Cricket.

The changes since my last visit are embracing the non cricket lover. Previously, a reasonably good understanding of the game was need to get maximum value from your entry fee but now, someone who has lived for the entire life at the North Pole would walk through and understand what the game is about. On top of that, reception staff are friendly and helpful and certainly made my visit all that much more enjoyable with their engagement with me.

I am no fan of Bradman. I've read to much Fingleton and O'Reilly and listen to Chappelli speak on Bradman's manner as a captain and as an administrator. Were all human and perhaps that's what I've realised about this man that is revered here and give divine status in India. In hearing of his human failings, I find him less than I would want my cricketers, let along my captains to be. He was a great batsman and a ruthless captain but he appears to have cared for himself above all else. I find it ironic that as he carefully made himself famous and then wealthy from Australian cricket, so now the game make an even bigger killing from his legend.

I didn't need to go upstairs. I've known the achievements since my days of an innocent school boy. They are glorious and almost unsurpassed and whilst the numbers will never be mastered, they can never be enough to confer tags of the highest level of greatness. Sure that is a value judgment based on more that numbers on a page. In fact, Bradman said as much. Therefore, I'll stand by "almost unsurpassed".

In my opinion, Tendulkar is better and so was McCabe.

I can recommend a visit to the ICHF, even if you have been before. In revisiting, us cricketragics reinvent ourselves.

New ACA President Has The Gloves Off

Greg Dyer, the former Australian wicketkeeper from the 1980's, is the new President of the Australian Cricketers Association, following the resignation of Michael Kasprowicz in August. Kasprowicz has taken up a position for the the other side, accepting a position on the Cricket Australia Board.

Dyer has been a successful businessman here in Australia, the USA and through out Asia. He was the chief financial officer for ACP and Murdoch Magazines. An accountant, he is an interesting choice for the position and has made clear several policy platforms he will be standing on, including the maintenance of the 26% share to players of Australian cricket revenue and the negotiation of a new memorandum of understanding between the ACA and Cricket Australia. He is concerned at discrepancies which have occurred in the suggested distribution of funds from the Big Bash Twenty20 tournament but it is the MoU that he sees as his major work initially.

He has been joined on the executive by Marcus North and Lisa Sthalekar, the latter being the first woman cricketer elected the ACA executive. North joins fellow left handers Michael Hussey, Darren Lehmann and Simon Katich on the executive, whilst George Bailey is the token right hander among the group, apart from the President. 

Simon Katich was sought for a comment but he couldn't be contracted. 

Farewell To A Man of Elegance

News of the death of one of India's finest cricketers, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, severs a link between the past generation of cricketers and the current superstars. Robbed of his right eye in a car accident when he was only twenty, he was later to be robbed of his royal title when the Indian government removed such things in 1971. Regardless of said decree, those of us who were seduced by the romance of the game as boys, will always remember him as the 9th Nawab of Patuadi.

The Nawab became Indian captain at just 21 and leading by example, he scored nearly three thousand Test runs despite only seeing from his left eye. In similar circumstance, the English batsman Colin Milburn retired. His highest Test score was the 203x he scored against England at Ferez Shah Kotla in 1964 but there is general agreement his greatest batting was the brace of 75 and 85 against Australia in Melbourne in the first few days of 1968. In the first innings he was in a 5-25, batting down the order with an injured leg and in mist and rain, not ideal visual conditions for a man with one eye. Of the other batsmen, only Russi Surti, later of Queensland, made double figures against a rampaging Garth McKenzie who took 7-66. Simpson and Lawry passed the Indian score themselves and Ian Chappell, batting at five made 151 as Australia piled on the runs. Second time round, a future captain, Ajit Wadekar, made 99 and the Nawab batted with the tail but failed by 4 runs to make Australia bat again.

The Nawab's legacy was to create a group of Indian players who believed in themselves. He saw India's strength as spin and developed the policy which regularly saw three spinners chosen. India's greatest spinners emerged under his leadership: Bishen Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekar (himself crippled as a child by polio) and Venkat (look up the full name yourself). He also encouraged the wristy strokeplayers who are so much a trademark of Indian cricket still. Players such as Wadekar, Gundappa Viswanath, Ashok Mankad and Sunil Gavaskar were all directly developed under his guidance.

As a young man he captained Oxford and during his career he gained further captaincy success with Sussex. He was a Test match referee during the 1990's and had been an official of Indian cricket for a long time, becoming a strong opponent of Lalit Modi in recent years, even taking legal action against Modi and the Board for their failure to run cricket in India honourably.

The Nawab is survived by his actress wife Sharmila Tagore and their three children. Like Sharmila, two of their children are Bollywood actors.

Known as the Tiger, he was legendary for his refusal to submit. He was the first to instill this in Indian cricketers. In the end, a lung infection struck him down at 70. He used all the advantages the Raj gave him, including an education and the fine tuning of his cricket skills and took it back to India. In doing so he became the first building block upon which Indian cricket constructed the strongest cricket nation in the world.

Yet, with all his strength and determination, he was a man of elegance and style and peerless humility. Cricket can ill afford to lose such men.

Selecting Coaches

The days after a Test series are always difficult ones. There's the postscripts with every expert - including radio jocks who are to cricket as the Liberal party is to quantum physics - trading in on the team's performance. If its been a bad one, they pillory and attack. If its been a good one, they dig for faults then pillory and attack. The restless need for negativity is fed by a perceived view that they public craves bad news stories to discuss over the tea trolley or the frothy pot at lunch time. If that were true, how do you explain the Tassie Princess and the abnormal doting on each occasion she drops an heir for Denmark? Despite the cosmopolitan ethnicity of Australia thanks to immigration since Hitler and Tojo were sent back to the hell they came from, we essentially haven't escaped our ball and chain background.

For me, in that same aftermath, a sense of loss floods in. The days lack a defined task and daily routine of scanning print media over breakfast, hurried housework before play, the seven hours engaged and the writing afterwards. There is always "normal" life to resume but those five days are as good as any addict's smack attack and withdrawal's a bitch.

Lucky then that Australian and English cricket have ways of keeping themselves in the headlines. Tiny Tim Nielsen has gifted us a month of comment on the coaching position thanks to his incredible ability to spit a dummy all the way from the Bay of Bengal to Melbourne's Jollimont St via the Australian media. Within twenty four hours, the contenders have risen like the morning sun, each trying to block the next with their radiance. Trevor Bayliss, Mickey Arthur and Steve Rixon have all raised their hand in Cricket Australia's most advanced classroom. Rixon would seem the favourite on the basis of experience and performance, current placement as Australia's fielding coach and his closeness to the players, especially The Big Dog, Michael Clarke.

Geoff Lawson

While CA looks for a High Performance Manager, its the coaching and selecting roles which have the hottest interest, possibly because they are positions the public understands. The new role of Chief Selector appears the most pivotal and Rod Marsh and Trevor Hohns have both been named in dispatches and have admitted interest. A third high profile candidate, Geoff Lawson abandoned any hint of coyness yesterday and has openly stated he wants the job, an act likely to work against him within the staid, quiet halls of Cricket Australia. All three have much to salivate over. All three are well credentialled. Lawson may be the choice for the times though. He was the NSW Captain who shook the game up in his state, often prepared to do the unusual in order to have success. Declaring behind, closing the innings without batting, opening the bowling with spinners ... he was innovative and aggressive and he retains that high level of confidence in himself. His working relationship with ex team mate Rixon would be strong.

He may be, however, just too strong a personality. Marsh may have the same problem. They are both types who can bulldoze when push comes to shove, especially if the pushing and shoving is in their direction. Therefore, the quiet man with all the success in the former role, Trevor Hohns, may be the best pick. He continued to build Australian teams after Lawrie Sawle's work in the 80's. His public face was always firm, controlled, informed and respected. That respect extended - admittedly through a period of prolonged success - in a direct line through players, officials, the media and fans.

There's another hour of this long post series day filled in.

What Was That Noise?

Tim Nielsen resigns

In case you were wondering, that noise you heard overnight - the one that sounded suspiciously like a tantrum - came from Sri Lanka. It was the sound of Tim Nielsen spitting the dummy at the first available opportunity. With the Argus Report released while the team was in Sri Lanka, the Australian coach waited until the end of the tour to puke the pacifier about the restructuring of his position. Credit for that but, apparently ignoring Jack Clarke's public invitation to apply for the new expanded role, he has resigned, leaving the other Clarke and his men almost certainly with a caretaker coach for the South African tour. His basic objection is that he wasn't automatically appointed to the new role and therefore, he has resigned, apparently with no intention to reapply. All this couched within Nielsen's assurance to Fox Sports that he thought he had the attributes for the new role.

Perhaps not.

A Good Start

Hardly a surprise, but the 3rd and final Test of the Australian tour of Sri Lanka ended in a draw, with the Australians failing by only two overs to use the five sessions given to them by the hosts for batting practice.

The final day went very much to script - well, almost exactly to the script written here on thecricketragics, with Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey taking full toll of a Sri Lankan attack that was short of a second spinner and a pitch which conformed to the highway code. Just like Rudolph Guiliani's zero tolerance policy on drugs in New York, no crack could be found on the Colombo pitch. 

Phil Hughes fairy tale must have all lived happily ever after at stumps, because he was out quickly to Herath, sweeping hard at a ball outside off stump and sending a top edge in an easy parabola to Thiramanne at square leg. This left the smallest opening of the door of opportunity for Sri Lanka but Clarke and Hussey slammed it shut with a partnership of 176 off just 38 overs.

Michael Clarke reaches his century

Clarke was superb, showing his best footwork against the spin threat that Herath was mounting single handed, all be it on a deck where he could be sure of bounce and spin. Just as his second innings 60 was the cornerstone of an Australian victory in Galle, his hundred here assured a series victory. It did so much more though, as teams perform so much better when their skipper is lending his A game to the effort. It breaths life through all team members. Just look at the relief Mark Taylor's team felt when he scored that heroic 129 at Edgbaston in 1997. Clarke had been on a low ebb which stretched back to the Basin Reserve in March of 2010, a gap of twenty three innings and four 50's. His best in that had been the superb 80 against England in Adelaide last summer which is remembered, unfairly, more for the timing of its end than the quality of the batting which preceded it. He had a longer run of outs in 05 and 06 but the stats are remarkably similar, so a hundred, even in easier circumstances was a further tonic.

Hussey missed a century in each innings by a whisker. He is a rare tradesman: good at his work, arrives on time and doesn't leave until the job is finished. He was 21 after 60 deliveries - trim, secure and careful - when lunch was taken and then, following his captain's lead, joined Clarke in flogging the Sri Lankan attack before tea. His final 70 runs came at a run a ball.

Rangana Herath too 7-157

Of the rest, little can be said but when Peter Siddle sweeps with authority in front of square, you can be certain the batting conditions are friendly. Despite this, Johnson failed again after a poor series in Sri Lanka and its now 37 innings since that amazing hundred against South Africa at Newlands in 2009 with only two 50's against England last summer to further justify his alrounder status. Haddin wasted an opportunity for time in the middle with some frivolous hitting.

Of the bowlers, Rangana Herath was heroic, sending down 52 overs for his deserved seven wicket return. He provided the only threat on a day perfect for batting and it was appropriate he secured the accolades. 

Mike Hussey was named
Man of the Series

It has been a disastrous few weeks for Sri Lanka. They have provided pitches which have raised questions of inappropriate preparation, their selections have been flawed, their batting poor and apart from the first Test, their bowling ineffective. Dilshan's captaincy created more questions than it answered and their slide from grace since Murali's retirement continued. Perhaps unlucky in England but outplayed anyway, they were behind the Australians from that disastrous second day at Galle and stayed there for the rest of the series.

The Australians revelled under their new skipper, winning the series and heading back in the right direction by climbing one rung on the ICC team rankings ladder. More important than the result was the way it was achieved. The veneer of macho bullshit which had been so apparent under Ponting is being re-managed and reversed under Clarke and yet who can argue that this team is weaker. Most believed they would do well to limit the damage to a 1-0 loss and yet they won and in the washup, won well. In the process they launched Marsh, Copeland and Lyon successfully, moved Ponting from 3 and possibly restarted Hughes. 

The victorious Australians with the
Warne-Muralitharan Trophy

Clarke has a month to regroup until South Africa. If Sri Lanka shone a flashlight on his men, South Africa will be a blow torch. 

Here's hoping Cricket Australia is as good as its reviewed words and these players head back to club cricket in between. It has always been that wearers of the Baggy Green are gardeners, helping to grow the new plants in the cricket garden. In Sri Lanka, Australian players visited townships and lent their gravitas to programs for street kids. The least they can do in their own backyard is water the garden at club level.

A Tale of Two Tons

Angelo Mathews celebrates - but
why did it take so long?

It may seem a strange thing to say when the opposition scores 473 and leads by plenty but Australia completely dominated the fourth day at Colombo, as much through the quality of their captaincy, tactics and bowling, as through the inept and lost performance of Sri Lanka.

In charge of the game after three days and behind in the series, they needed quick runs and a lead of 250 to pressure the Australians. Instead, they dithered over Mathews maiden Test century, refusing to call Clarke's bluff until late in the piece. The standard for such situations was set by Steve Waugh when he batted with lesser men. Waugh took the runs on offer and trusted his batting partner. Not only did it have immediate effects for that innings but it made better batsmen of super duds like Glenn McGrath. Its easy to be critical of a young man but if Mathews was uncertain what to do then Dilshan should have made it clear. The fact that 90 minutes were lost over too few runs is an indictment on the captain not the player.

Whilst the tactics employed by Clarke to string Mathews along are difficult to sit through in the stands, they are not new. Jack Fingleton (Cricket Crisis) talks about Bradman using the same tactics against Compton in Adelaide when England toured Australia immediately after the war. The circumstances were remarkable similar - an established batsmen moving toward a hundred with only the tail on a dead pitch. Time was Bradman's friend as a draw would give Australia the series. Unpleasant to watch but in in this instance, justified. Sri Lanka may regret losing time.

The real culprit here is the pitch. Much fuss was made of the state of the pitch in Galle - indeed, it has been the subject of an official report to the ICC from the match referee. Will the same apply to the Sinhalese Sports Ground track here in Colombo? It was tracks like these which drove people away from the game. Phil Hughes hundred was the 79th at the SSG which makes it the most prolific ground for centuries on the sub-continent. Of course, defenders of the ground will point out that Muralitharan had an outstanding record here, with four 10 wicket hauls and a best of 8-87 but its ten years since bowlers had an even chance. Besides, Murali had a great record everywhere ... except Australia. This road is taking the match nowhere which is a boring end to what has been an interesting series.

Phil Hughes

The Australian second innings was always going to be a matter of mind over matter, as the reality is they have been given five sessions of centre wicket batting practice. Hughes and Watson opened with 62 in twelve overs, with the little left hander in a particular hurry smacking some beautiful cover drives. Watson was out in Rangana Herath's first over, lbw to a ball he stretched forward to and was given not out by Tony Hill. In pre DRS days, only Billy Bowden would have given this one as most umpires erred on the side of caution. That's why players got well forward to create that doubt. The DRS means that if you're out, you're out. You might think that's a good thing but just like porn, it's stripped the romance from act.

Shaun Marsh caught off the pad

Marsh stood watching whilst Hughes kept his swash buckled, the latter attacking judiciously but after adding 60, Marsh committed the batting equivalent of hari kari, confused perhaps by the feel of his batting pad against his glove. The actualities of the event were clear, even on first run at full speed: Herath had sent a ball from Marsh's pad into Thiramanne's hands at short leg, the Sri Lankan's appealed, desperate to remove him and Tony Hill obliged. Marsh stood for a moment like an Eastern Grey in a Mack's spotlights and then turned and left without thought of a review. What was only marginally less crazy was that Phil Hughes didn't suggest a review either, to an original decision that looked a howler as it happened.

Ricky Ponting looked impressive

Ponting joined Hughes for yet another sixty odd partnership but left, as he has done repeatedly this series, when in complete control. He looked good, with one fierce cover drive from an over pitched gift from Dilshan, who was by now trying to pretend to be the second spinner. Ponting's real test is coming in a month in South Africa when he'll be asked to hook Steyn and Morkel and defend them at pace and moving away from his vulnerable off stump. Herath got him with a beauty which he did all the right things to combat but it was just too good for him.

Hughes had raised his century before Ponting left. It had been a spectacular innings, despite slowing after he reached the 80's and realised that his tall mountain was almost peaked. There were many of his trademark drives, cuts and slog sweeps. It was aggressive and it was the answer he needed. Unfortunately, it was the worst thing possible for Australian cricket. Just as Marcus North saved himself innumerable times from the axe with last minute centuries, so has Hughes and whilst all should admire his grit and his success, amidst the glorious drives and cuts there were awkward moments where better bowlers would have taken advantage. His style in unconventional which is bright and refreshing but is also vulnerable to quality bowling, a fact proven often enough since his initial onslaught as an unknown to the South Africans.

Hughes reaches his hundred
but why the fisticuffs?

Upon reaching his century, he shook his fist at the press box with Ponting laughing his approval. Up yours was the message. After play, Michael Clarke talked of Hughes' frustration, his concern that he had taken Katich's place in the side and other elements which may have led to his exuberant show of defiance to the press. Apparently, a lack of skill at this level, lack of form and lack of results are not Hughes responsibility but those of the fourth estate who have written and commented about it. Yesterday was put up or shut up time and good for you Phil, you put up, but the press and the rest of Australia's cricket fans put a high price on the Baggy Green - as you clearly do too - and the previous 19 Test innings against five different countries on four different continents with only 1 half century and an average which declined from 87 to 35 gave all of us due cause to suggest Australia would be better placed with someone else doing your job.

Katich already proved he could but given the circumstance,s Marsh looked to have the technique to take on the role.

Australia should have little trouble batting this game to a standstill. Clarke needs a hit out and Hussey is the Oliver of this side ... please sir, I want some more! The only slight doubt  is over Herath, a man who gives chunkies the world over cause to hope for greater things. He will trouble the Aussies but he's bowling without company after the Sri Lankans decided to leave Surav Randiv, the off spinner, out of this game in order to debut  Shaminda Eranga. A good decision in the first innings but spinners win games on the last day more often than quicks and Eranga is in trouble as his follow through takes him into Maverick territory in centre pitch. He's already received one wag of the finger from Eileen Darl. Welegedara bowled a good spell late in the day but has only removed tail enders so far and every over Dilshan sends down must remind him that Randiv was his best bowler in Pallekele.

A draw looks the most reasonable result ... there is no England attack here to reproduce Cardiff.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Paranavitana 46

So said Friedrich Nietzsche but as a cricketer he made a handy little philosopher. However, watching the Australians in the Colombo today, there might just be something in what old Fred was trying to say.

Today was hard work. It was 30C again but at least there was some respite from the humidity which only reached 74%. The lack of clouds and no rain interruptions were as good an indication as any that there was less moisture in the air. Perhaps the hardest thing isn't the heat and humidity during the day but rather the evening, where the temperature stays only a few degrees lower that the daily maximum but the humidity climbs to three figures. To keep it out, players live in air conditioning which makes even less trying conditions during the day seem far worse. The human body can cope with most things but dislikes stark contrasts.

Thirimanne 28

The worst of the hard work came from the flat, hard, lifeless pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground and a determination by the Sri Lankans to make the most of Australia's failure to score enough first innings runs. There was no flood of runs again today, despite it being perfect for batting. In fact, conditions for batting at Test level don't get any better than this but Sri Lanka were content to just have a constant trickle flowing rather than attempting to open the taps full bore. Of course, to forget just how well the Australians bowled under the circumstances would be worse than naive. Perhaps the flood was mostly averted by a good line, some thoughtful field placements and courage ... lots of good, old fashioned guts.

Sangakkara 79

The home side's top seven have batted its team to a handy lead at stumps and a four hundred plus total but none have scored a century. Each of them have made a contribution from Angelo Matthews' 85 not out down to Thirimanne's 28. Only four of the Australian top seven did the same.

The day started well for the Australians, dismissing Mahela Jayawardene before the fifteen overs required for the new ball had been bowled. He was out again playing too wide to a ball outside off stump from Watson. The former skipper had raised another hundred partnership with the other former skipper Kumar Sangakkara. Peter Siddle, with the new cherry in hand bowled the day's best ball, one which lifted from a length and forced Sangakkara to meekly blade it to Haddin. Like Siddle the day before, he shook his head all the way back to the pavilion, the chance of a hundred in his 100th Test dissipated by the Victorian's enthusiasm. 

Mahela Jayawardene 51

Mathews and Tilarkaratne Dilshan settled things until lunch and then dominated the second session. Dilshan was his usual aggressive self but tempering his booming drives with a mixture of defence and even the occasional leave outside off stump. His 14 boundaries were all cracked to the boundary with that flashing blade wielded by what must be the fastest hands in Test cricket. He dominated the partnership scoring 78 of 121, with Mathews content to play a supporting role and build his own score whilst the Australians coped with Dilshan. The second hour after lunch was the only period of the day that looked to be getting away from Michael Clarke but he kept moving his bowlers about and countering Dilshan with fielding changes. Even Ricky Ponting bowled a few overs of medium pace, his second having two fours hammered from it by Dilshan and featured Ponting fielding off his own bowling and throwing a return at the batting end which hit Dilshan's pads in front of the stumps. It raised a strenuous appeal and a minute of complaint from Ponting when it was turned down. What he might have been appealing for is anyone's guess.

Dilshan 83

Just before tea, Copeland made the breakthrough, having Dilshan caught in the most bizarre fashion by Haddin, standing up to anchor Dilshan in his crease for Copeland. The batsman got a healthy edge, it struck Haddin just above the right knee before his glove could react, and as he bent in reaction to the blow, the ball boggled up into the keepers midriff where he trapped it with his gloves. The limited worth of this standing up tactic can be further questioned after a drop by Haddin in the same circumstances off Eranga late in the day. In the wash up, Dilshan was unlucky.

Mathews 85 no

The last session was Sri Lanka's most prolific, with Mathews, Prassana Jayawardene and late in the day Shaminda Eranga adding 91 from 34 overs but even then Australia didn't let them get away. With his men tiring, Clarke turned to Copeland for another lone, accurate spell, proff again that too much has been made of his slower pace. His height and accuracy more than make up a perceived lack of speed. Siddle, Lyon and even Johnson bowled good spells of accurate line and length, constantly holding the batsmen in check. Runs were score but each was hard earned. Johnson bowled some loose balls but there  was far more meat and potatoes in the afternoon than the ice cream he served up before lunch. Shane Watson also did his share and it was here that the potential folly is exposed for he has probably been forced to bowl too many in this innings given he will need to bat well. Is there a connection between his increased bowling workload this series and a decline in batting form. To be cheeky, maybe its the change of batting partner?

Prasanna Jayawardene 47

Sri Lanka ended the day with a handy lead but not enough yet to win a Test match. Once the next wicket falls there is little left apart from a quick fire 20 or 30 from the slapper Herath. Eranga has a deserved reputation as a hitter in first class cricket but it is Mathews who must start tomorrow as if he already has his ton and attack the bowling. If Sri Lanka can add another 60 or 70 before lunch they will have a total to at least make the Australians nervous and a nervous Australia can sometimes see demons jumping from the pitch to mock them. Phil Hughes is already batting like a dead man and Watson, despite his glorious fitness will have tired legs.


In truth, tomorrow after lunch on a still perfect deck, should be great time to start a five session net in preparation for packing the silverware to take home to show Australia that recovery is started. That's if justice prevails over irony, although cricket has a habit of reversing that order.

Sparing Partners Cautious

(With apologies from the author whose copy was delayed by mythical flying creatures and wild horses)  

The second day of the final Test was asintriguing as both sides seemed afraid to take the audacious risk that is often necessary to win such games. After two days and only 482 runs on a wicket that looks every inch a belter, credit for the slowness lies with the Australias not wanting to surrender a series lead for their new captain and Sri Lanka not wanting to bat with the same lack of purpose they have shown in the other Tests of this series. 

The bowling has been good without greatness. Australia bowled tight lines and with sustained intent but they hardly looked like running a blowtorch through Sri Lanka's batting line up. 

Hussey reaches
his century

Earlier in the day, Mike Hussey moved to his inevitable century as the tail not only failed to wag but turned garden skink and in an act of autotomy, completely dropped of. Haddin may have genuinely not heard or felt the nick he sent through to the keeper but it looked and sounded like it had more wood than a rainforest and given the limited DRS technology available in this series, it was embarrassingly easy referral for the square-eyes of Kettleborough to make. Johnson spent a long time making 8 and was out when deceived by a long hop which could have been drilled anywhere through the off but instead was lobbed to Herath at point. Siddle is probably still shaking his head after a golden duck but it was Copeland, a beginner, who showed an old timer the way things should be done. Edging to Mahela Jayawardene low at second slip, the catch was held at so low dew would have wet the fielders fingers. Copeland left after a quick confirmation with the fielder, in stark contrast to Jayawardene's actions in the same circumstances last week. Well played Trent Copeland. Hussey was last out, the fourth wicket for the impressive debutante Shaminda Eranga. It's a mystery why he hasn't played in all the Tests of this series for he has pace, an ability to jag the ball both ways off the seam, can lift it from a length and youthful enthusiasm ... remember that?

Shaminda Eranga

Sri Lanka, chasing an inadequate Test match total, were cautious throughout, taking 65 overs for just 166 by an early stumps: the day once again buggered by the digital readout of a machine which has been dramatically recalibrated since the 28th April 2007. Each of the partnerships was developed with care so that wickets were preserved at all costs. Phanto and Our Geoffrey could have done no better. The appearance of Lahiru Thiramanne at the top of the order caused no end of comment - literally - despite Tillarkaratne Dislhan's announcement at the toss and the fact Thiramanne is a specialist opener. The captain, who always plays as though he is late for the No 10 bus has made a smart change. We shall see on the 3rd day, when Dilshan's usual strokeplaying freedom will be needed. Three steady partnership have lifted the Sri Lankans into a good position but it will be the a continuation of the current Sangakkara/Jayawardene partnership and the batting of Dilshan and Angelo Mathews in the next two partnerships that will determine where this match is heading. For Sri Lanka to win, they must add 300 on day three.

Sangakkara was beginning to show fluency toward the end of the day: his off drives reminiscent of his best work, with all their silky caresses and pin point accuracy. This pair average 127 together at Colombo and conditions alone dictate another big stand here. 

Kumar Sangakkara - silky smooth

The Australians were impressive and so the captain, who again didn't sit still and wait for things to happen. Its hard to imagine his coach's plans have changed much but their execution has a completely different interpretation under Michael Clarke. All of the bowlers were impressive except Johnson, who returned to his worst. In this guise, he sprays the ball like a mob of dogs might spray an unlucky lamp post. "He bowls puss" was a comment on my right that was hard to argue with. As he has done in the second half of his career, he only allows Good Mitchell from his personality cupboard on rare occasions and it is all too obvious in his bowling. It was a poor, ill directed half volley from Johnson that dismissed Paranavitana. Ponting took an excellent reflex catch at short cover, doing what he has always done to the highest standards. Earlier, Siddle moved one back at Thiramanne and rattled his stumps via the inside edge.

There is still a lot of work to be done for either side to win but the game needs someone to give it a serious shake or Australia will be going home 1-0 winners of the Google Eyes/Hurley's Boyfriend Trophy.

Sri Lanka v Australia - 3rd Test, Day 1

It ended a nice even day of Test cricket after strange beginnings which started at the toss.

Sri Lanka included Thirimanne to replace Samaraweera, Eranga to replace Prasanna and Herath returned to replace Randiv. Thirimanne has played only one previous Test, against England at Southampton when he replaced the injured Dilshan. He's a fair young cricketer who has the distinction of having a one syllable name amongst his collection of five: Don ... I wonder where that comes from? Dilshan announced at the toss that Thirimanne will open, allowing the skipper to drop down to 5. By comparison, the dropping of Randiv and playing only one spinner seemed just mildly strange, after Randiv was the best of their bowlers just a few days ago. Australia dropped the unlucky Usman Khawaja for Ponting and replaced the injured Ryan Harris with the work horse, Peter Siddle.

The last surprise at the toss was Dilshan's decision to bowl when Michael Clarke misread a tail. Sri Lankan commentators put an aggressive spin on it but this was pure defence in the face of strong Australian batting in the second Test that could afford to drop Khawaja. Still, with three quicks, they had to bowl on the first day.

Hughes bowled second ball

The start was late so I had a lovely walk in the sunshine listening to Cream and Bad Company and revelling in my age as one can when the iPod removes the shadow a disapproving world casts over you. I returned in time to see Phil Hughes support my argument for his removal, with that unconvincing laxity outside offstump giving the inside edge a go this time and his castle imploded from inside the moat. In walked the 2nd Test hero, positioning himself where Ricky Ponting once stood, Kipplingesk as the man who would be 3. With Ponting at 4, Clarke had delivered one of the surprises he had given warning of mid week. 

Watson's lazy square drive in the ninth over gave Shaminda Eranga a wicket on debut in the style of Lyon, first ball. Four weeks ago he took a wicket second ball on debut in the ODI at Hambantota. He's a talent but Watson's shot was poor.

It so easy, he can do it
with his eyes closed

Ponting looked smooth and untroubled despite rain stoppages which can break a lesser man's concentration. He drove well and had an instant running rapport with Marsh. It was a shock therefore, that after adding 79 in two hours with Marsh, he would slash at an ordinary ball from an otherwise accurate Lakmal and edge it behind. The skipper came and went after three quarters of an hour looking solid, bat and footwork in perfect positions behind the ball. His first loose ball was met with another lazy shot which found the edge for the same result as his former skipper. An old mate once said to me when I asked what I was doing wrong after a series of cheap dismissals despite looking like a batting millionaire ... "it's the last ball that's causing your trouble." Clarke might want to consider The Dozer's advice. He's a renaissance man, so he might understand it.

Sri Lanka had risen to the top of the cream through hard churning and not by being the only cat in the dairy. Hussey, in that tradesman-like way he does, set to with Marsh to rescue the position. They bat together like a meeting of like minds, sharing one opinion and whilst ever together, Sri Lanka knew their day was unfinished. When not splitting the field with laser guided 4's, Hussey could still thump Herath over wide mid on for a major and in between it all, he and Marsh pushed their ones and twos. Dilshan rang the changes, never tiring of the task as in previous Tests. As the batsmen applied pressure, he pushed back and none were better in the cause than Lakmal and Eranga. Their line was excellent and their persistence rewarded.

Marsh bowled by Herath for 81

It was Herath who broke through when he spun a ball through its usual arc and revolution to keep Marsh honest and instead saw the rookie play inside the line, fooled by his own misjudgement and not the bowler. At such times, when a batsmen has taken more than two hundred from your side in two innings, you take the gift, say thanks and set your claims in the acclamation of your team mates.

Michael Hussey

The new ball was taken and used briefly before the umpires called a halt because their numbers gadget said they should. Hussey looked grateful, struggling in the late afternoon as high humidity wrung the sweat from his body and forced him to admit his age, if only to himself. Haddin, in need of runs to avoid a terminal Paine, had one close call when he chose to cut a Dilshan offbreak which coveted his stumps but there were signs of his best too. Two straight lofted drives of Herath were good but a straight drive which breezed past the stumps off Welegedara with perfect timing and at rocket pace was more in the realms of great. It was a a Haddin special.

All square after day one. The new ball has hardly a dent and if Sri Lanka's quick men can bowl with the same penetration and break through twice in the first hour, Australia could be dismissed for under 300. This series is far from decided.

Something To Be Said For Ponting

From the credit where it due dept ... it must be said that the major change to the selection process which has included the Australian skipper and the coach was a major push which Ricky Ponting had argued for for almost his entire term as captain. Working along the same lines as the touring team model where the captain has been a selector since the early seventies, it means that whilst the captain can have his plans represented by way of a vote, he also has the responsibility of conveying changes to the team to the players. Ian Chappell has always described one of his worst moments in captaincy was having to tell Doug Walters he was dropped for the final test in 1972 and Michael Clarke has expressed his dislike for that aspect of the job.

However, Clarke also says as Ponting had done before him, the players would rather here bad news from their skipper.

Clarke had his first distaste for the role today when he passed on the bad news to Usman Khawaja but Clarke has nothing to hang his head about. The man who should be averting his gaze from Khawaja is his NSW team mate Phil Hughes. If the saying goes "more comebacks than Melba", perhaps we will add a new phrase to the Australian lexicon shortly ... "more chances than Phil Hughes." Can't bat, can't throw ... where Joe the Cameraman when you need him?

Worth Reading

Among thecricketragics "worth reading" collection (side bar, down left) is a new article about Australia's progress in rebuilding their side. See "Flat Tracks & Modest Attacks"

Biggest Week

Many thanks to readers of thecricketragics who have handed the website the biggest week of its two year history. Originally starting as a weekly quiz emailed to keen buffs of cricket trivia, the website seems to be growing in popularity and for that, we are grateful. During the week Sept 4-10, the site recorded more than 300 page views - small by comparison with mainstream sites but rewarding anyway.

Please feel free to pass the address on to your friends ... or enemies, should that be more effective for you!

Lango

ICC Awards

The International Cricket Council have announced the winners of their awards across a variety of categories and for the sober of thought, there were no real surprises with the exception perhaps of Kumar Sangakkara's naming as ODI Player of the year.

Jonathan Trott was named International Cricketer of the Year, a fair return for a player who has been successful in Tests and ODI's and who is currently the best No 3 in world cricket and Alastair Cook was a lay down misere for Test Cricketer of the Year with his mountain of runs at a phenomenal average.

The West Indian opener Stafanie Taylor was named Women's Cricketer of the Year averaging 76 with the bat and taking 15 wickets in ODI matches and playing so strongly at the Women's Twenty/20 Challenge in South Africa.

The hot field, thanks to prolific number of matches each year and the World Cup being played during the voting period, was the ODI Player of the Year and it was Kumar Sangakkara who emerged the winner. A fine player who had a strong year, he beat several others who perhaps had stronger claims. There were many batsmen whose figures were as good, if not better than Sangakkara. Among them would have been Gautum Gamhir, JP Dumminy, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Misbah-ul-Haq but the unluckiest would have to be South Africa's bearded bowler destroyer, Hashim Amla whose record over the same period was superior. Bowlers tend to be overlooked in ODI awards but Lasith Malinga's 39 wickets at 21 were the best in international cricket and should have had him in the top two or three for consideration. The press release said otherwise.

Sangakkara's won the people's choice award, the respected Aleem Dar was named top umpire and West Indies leggie Devendra Bishoo was named the Emerging Player of the Year. The best of the non-Test playing nations was Ryan ten Doeschate, who scored hundreds against England and Ireland at the World Cup. Tim Southee won the Performance of the Year for Twenty20's for his 5-18 against Pakistan at Eden Park on Boxing Day.

Finally but far from least important, the ICC recognised Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian Captain, for his act of allowing Ian Bell to return to the wicket following his run out after it appeared he'd been under the misapprehension the ball was dead during his century at Trent Bridge. Dhoni was quoted afterwards as having told his team "we don't want to play our cricket that way." It was a fine act of sportsmanship and made him a worthy winner of the Spirit of Cricket Award.


The ICC Test and ODI teams of the year were also announced. You can find links to the teams in "Lango's Lean Links" in the sidebar to the left.

Clarke Outstanding

The last day at Pellekele Stadium, Kandy, produced 94 runs from 35 overs, cost Sri Lanka only 4 wickets and was mostly wet and dark. All this in the face of such bright captaincy from Michael Clarke seemed an unworthy end to such uplifting and inspired leadership.

It was, however, far from a boring day of Test cricket.

Kumar Sangakkara was reminded that form and success can be as fleeting as an overnight sleep, out in the fourth over to Australia's hardest worker, Ryan Harris. Pitching on leg and causing Sangakkara to close the face in prospect of playing between midwicket and square, he was undone by Harris' penchant for making the ball jag from the deck. In an instant, he was edging a comfortable catch to second slip where Clarke gobbled the chance. The new ball had its first victim and a second was claimed before drinks in this first session. This time it was Trent Copeland, bowling an immaculate off stump line to Mahela Jayawardene and finding enough movement to get to the outside edge. Clarke took a cracking catch at grass tip height well to his left and the Australians erupted spontaneously.

Clarke assures Jayawardene

The next few moments were most interesting. Jayawardene stood his ground, clearly unsure whether Clarke had snared the catch without the intervention of the ground. Clarke immediately moved forward and assured the batsmen he had taken the catch. Ground microphones caught him explaining to Jayawardene that he was certain "100%" he had taken the catch. Jayawardene passed the comment that he was a walker but wanted to be sure and perhaps the third umpire should look at it. At that point, in similar circumstances in the past, Australian players have become ugly under other captaincy and it started again with two or three beginning to give Jayawardene the send off. Clarke held his hands up, calmed his team, took control, moved away from the group and engaged Jayawardene in reasoned, sensible discussion making it plain he had fairly held the catch, that Jayawardene should refer the decision if he needed to but that he just wanted to make sure the situation was clear.

This was outstanding captaincy.

Compare it to the the Sydney fiasco against India a few years back and the inflammatory role of the former captain and suddenly Clarke's stocks bucked a world trend. It was a damn fine effort and one which deserves our commendation and perhaps, now, our support.

Samaraweera and Prasanna Jayawardene batted long enough with Angelo Matthews, both former players caught at the wicket by Haddin with Watson and Harris (again) the bowlers: long enough for the weather to end any threat to the home side.

Clarke frustrated by the rain

Harris was certainly Australia's pick and used the new ball very effectively but was every bit as dangerous with the old ball. His control of length and his consistent line make his ability to move the ball off the seam a consistent threat to batsmen. It is around his form Australia could well build their resurgence. For once, Johnson was not disappointing, showing control which has been missing for a long time. The painted lady even seemed calm and if this is a new look, there is much to like about it. His short stuff was pointed and effective because he didn't waste the ball otherwise. Even the snarl was gone and he looked a much better bowler.

The pitch was perfect and Sri Lanka used it well. Despite having been under the pump for three previous innings, Dilshan's men at least batted in partnerships during this innings and refused to acquiesce.  

Colombo next and Australia in the box seat to start their long summer with a series win, something perhaps only Clarke and his team thought possible six weeks ago.

Hail The New Order

Michael Clarke leading from the front

He's only in his third Test and I may well be proven guilty of premature exclamation but there seems evidence of a pattern emerging that indicates Australian cricket is experiencing a new order.

It started in Sydney before the old King was even dead, when new players again received their Baggy Greens from former players. Then, after the abdication, the unwanted were discarded during the early stages of winter and although other axemen took responsibility, it was clear not all the blood was on their hands. Here in Sri Lanka, there has been a quickness in the step of players between overs and a commitment to bowl to targets. Gone are the long consultations between overs. The players seem to have a new belief in themselves and each other and the captain has been caught offering quiet encouragement to individuals.

Then the news this morning of a declaration before play and the gamble which was as much about the bowlers knowing the Skipper believed in them as it was about calculations for rain and setting up the match for a result. Out came the Aussies, all in their Baggy Greens and again, statements were being made.

Michael Clarke, the man,  had not impressed me before Sydney. I thought him too new world to consider him seriously as an Australian Test captain. Leading the pyjama side is one thing but the big job was for men of vision - not necessarily the same vision but one that was big and could see beyond the next day's play. However, he hasn't worked out the way I thought and as each hour passes in this Sri Lankan tour, there is more to be enthused about.

There has been nothing in this pitch since tea on the first day and Sri Lanka's peril has been to bat badly on the first day ... at the same time that Australia bowled well. It's been catch up for them since. During this fourth day, they have played the catch up game very well, on a pitch which is straight and true and easy to stay in on. The odd thing about this series so far is how the pitches have got better each day.

Another clever thing about Clarke's declaration this morning before play is that it would have caught Tillerkaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana completely by surprise but it if it did, it didn't show. Dilshan is reported to have read the riot act to his batsmen and demanded an improved effort or they would face the consequences, although the complete set of those hasn't been outlined. Dilshan himself led the way with great discipline for the first eight overs when he hardly played a shot but once comfortable, those booming drives started appearing. Paranavitana was also slow to get underway but mostly because of the number of times he played and missed. He must have near feathered the ball a dozen times in the first half hour. Of note also was the fielding of Phil Hughes, who continues to be slow to the ball and then have badly directed radar when throwing it under pressure. His fumble and wide throw took all the pressure of a potential run out mix up between the openers.

Paranavitan

Johnson was into the attack fairly early and he bowled a good spell which kept both batsmen under pressure, with just the right mix of unsettling short stuff and for once, control over his direction. In his fifth over, Paranavitana had the first of a brace of decisions with a dichotomy of outcomes which made him both lucky and unlucky. A rising Johnson delivery coming across the left hander and passing over leg stump was played at by the batsman in attempt to glace the ball fine. Haddin took the ball and the Australians erupted in appeal but were denied Kettleborough so Clarke sent it upstairs. Unfortunately, the technology available to assist is crude by the modern standard and although instinct gave one the impression it was out, it was no surprise that umpire Tarapore denied the review. Twenty overs later after rain and other scheduled breaks, Paranavitana swished at a widish ball from Hussey - on again to do his Golden Arm best - and again Haddin led the raucous appeal. Again denied and then sent to the pavilion, this time, the same technology and the same level of insecurity wasn't enough to save him. This time however, instinct said he didn't hit it.

Swings and roundabouts - there is both irony and justice in the great game.

In between, all that patience became to much for Dilshan and he played a dreadful shot at a ball from Harris and sent it at great haste to Watson at first slip who made no mistake. The blood must fairly race about Dilshan's head sometimes.

Sangakkara

Sangakkara and Jayawardene, the best of the Sri Lankans both in temperament and skill then combined to add 95 at a pedestrian pace but run rates count for little in the pursuit of saving a Test match. They offered Clarke and his myriad of bowlers no joy until right at the death when Jayawardene tried to sweep Lyon from well outside off stump but succeeded only in gloving the ball and plopping it towards leg gully with Haddin and Clarke doing their best to get a hand to it. Sangakkara, after an ambitious drive on the off early in his innings from Harris, didn't strike another boundary until Clarke came on in the 62nd over ... more than thirty overs later.

Mahela Jayawardene

Clarke used seven bowlers, including himself and Hussey but had to be content with only two wickets. They all bowled well, but Copeland and especially Johnson were the pick. Johnson bowled with great rhythm and he's bowled much worse on days when he's picked up four or five wickets. If he can bottle this consistency, he will be a valuable bowler for Australia again. Lyon was outclassed by the quality of the batsmen and the lack of demons in the pitch but he will have learned lessons from the experience.

Sri Lanka finished only 14 behind. No matter when Clarke declared it would have been difficult if the Sri Lankans applied themselves, as suggested by a regular follower of this correspondent, Leftie. A good call son.

With the pitch still perfect and more rain about, it will take something special early doors with the new ball for the Australians rattle through. Three wickets before lunch should be enough but five would be better. Ryan Harris might be the go to man again. A draw looks likely but this man Clarke seems capable of pulling the odd rabbit from his hat so stay tuned.