Stats highlights from the five-Test series, which England won 3-0 despite their overall numbers being pretty similar to Australia’s

S Rajesh27-Aug-2013If the overall numbers from five Tests were to be shown to someone who had slept through the last six weeks, he would probably give the series to England by a one-match margin: after all, England’s average runs per wicket was about three runs more than Australia’s. That would, in a normal series, indicate a close contest, but this series has been quite a bizarre one, and the contrast between the result – 3-0 to England – and the numbers is a good indicator of that. England scored 121 more runs, and one century, more than Australia, and took four more wickets. Australia’s bowlers were more economical, but England won all the key moments in the series.In many ways, Ian Bell was the difference between the two teams – his 562 runs at 62.44 was streets ahead of anyone else. He was the only batsman from either team to average more than 50; in fact, no other England batsman who played more than a Test averaged even 40 – Kevin Pietersen’s 38.80 was the second-best. (Click here for England’s batting and bowling averages.) Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, two of the mainstays of England’s top order, had a series to forget: together they aggregated 570 runs in 20 innings at an average of 28.50. England’s bowling was largely a three-man act, with Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Stuart Broad taking 79% of the total wickets, though Tim Bresnan made vital contributions too.Australia’s heroes were their fast bowlers. Ryan Harris, the pick of the lot, Peter Siddle and, to a lesser extent, Mitchell Starc were relentlessly accurate: each went at less than three runs per over, and offered very few freebies to England’s batsmen. Harris deserved his 24 wickets; his average of 19.58 was the 36th instance of a bowler taking 20-plus wickets in an Ashes series at a sub-20 average, and the first such instance since Stuart Clark’s 26 wickets at 17.03 in the 2006-07 series in Australia. The batsmen started the series poorly, but picked up as it went along and in the end finished with almost as many 50-plus scores as England’s batsmen. Their top seven averaged 32.49, to England’s 35.78, and made 15 fifty-plus scores to England’s 17.

Series stats for England and Australia

TeamW/LRuns scoredBat ave100s/ 50sWkts takenEcon rateEngland3/ 0285633.605/ 13893.37Australia0/ 3273530.734/ 13852.99Though England won the series, their top-order performance was a concern throughout. The average partnership for the top two wickets was lower than 30, with no century partnerships for either wicket.What saved England, though, was that each of the top five partnerships was progressively more productive than the previous one, in terms of average stand: the third one was in the mid-30s, the fourth almost 50, and the fifth 73.88. The top two partnerships were both for the fifth wicket, as Bell added 153 with Joe Root and 144 with Jonny Bairstow, both at Lord’s. The fourth highest was also for the fifth wicket – 115 between Bell and Pietersen at Old Trafford. In fact, Bell was involved in six of the seven highest partnerships for England in the series.Australia were fairly solid at the start with their opening partnerships, thanks to Rogers, but they struggled with their second and third wickets, averaging less than 30 for each. Australia’s most productive partnership was for the fourth wicket, where they had a stand of 214 (Michael Clarke and Steven Smith at old Trafford), 145 (Smith and Shane Watson at The Oval) and 98 (Clarke and Usman Khawaja at Lord’s). The second-highest average partnership for them, though, was for the tenth wicket, which is a damning indictment of their top-order performances. Australia’s aggregate of 321 runs for the tenth wicket is the third highest for any team in a Test series (Australia are the only team to have aggregated over 300 runs for the last wicket in a series). Of those 321 runs, 228 were scored in the first Test, at Trent Bridge.

Partnership stats for England and Australia

EnglandAustraliaWicketRunsAverage100/ 50 standsRunsAverage100/ 50 stands1st26626.600/ 143443.401/ 22nd28828.800/ 425525.501/ 13rd35535.501/ 218518.500/ 04th44449.331/ 259559.502/ 15th66573.883/ 330230.201/ 16th25732.120/ 218518.500/ 27th20826.001/ 016418.220/ 08th15622.280/ 117124.420/ 19th10615.140/ 012317.570/ 010th11115.850/ 032153.501/ 1The most even contest in the series was between the fast bowlers of both teams. Australia’s pace bowlers took 11 more wickets and averaged marginally better. Harris, Siddle and Starc were the lead acts, while James Faulkner picked up six wickets in the only Test he played. For England, Broad shone in the fourth Test and also picked up wickets at The Oval after a disappointing start to the series, while Anderson also took 22 wickets. England’s spin, though, was far more potent than Australia’s.

Pace bowlers and spinners for England and Australia

WicketsAverageStrike rateEcon rate5WI/ 10WMEng-pace5830.8955.73.324/ 2Aus-pace6930.0462.52.880/ 3Eng-spin2929.0356.43.082/ 0Aus-spin1544.2094.42.800/ 0The head-to-head battlesFive Tests between two teams meant there was plenty of opportunity for a bowler to dominate a batsman, or vice-versa. There were a couple of batsmen who fell to a bowler six times in the series – one of them was Rogers against Swann. Rogers was outstanding against England’s pace attack, averaging 94 against them, but Swann completely dominated him, dismissing Rogers six times at a cost of just 79 runs.The other bowler to dismiss a batsman six times was Anderson, but his victim was Siddle, a tailender, who scored only 24 runs against him. Anderson’s mastery over Siddle was illustrative of his hold on Australia’s lower order: of the 22 wickets he took, 12 were of the lower-order batsmen. Against the top order, Broad was more effective: 15 of his 22 wickets were of Australia’s specialist batsmen or Brad Haddin. His mastery of Clarke was one of the bowling highlights of the series: Broad dismissed him five times at a cost of 84 runs, for an average of 16.80. Bresnan played only three Tests but had the measure of Watson in those games, nailing him five times (which was also 50% of the total wickets Bresnan took in the series). Not surprisingly, Watson’s highest score of the series – 176 at The Oval – came when Bresnan wasn’t in the bowling attack. On the other hand, Watson was dominant against Anderson, averaging 136 against him and scoring at the rate of more than four per over.Swann was the highest wicket-taker from either team in the series, and he relished the opportunity to bowl at so many left-handers: against them, he averaged 18.18, taking 16 wickets; against right-handers, his average fell to 46.40.Australia’s stand-out bowler was Harris, not only because of the number of wickets he took but because of the quality of his wickets as well. Of his 24 wickets, only six were of the lower-order batsmen. (His 18 top-order wickets include those of Matt Prior and Chris Woakes, who batted at No. 6 at The Oval.) Harris was at his best against Root and Trott, dismissing them four times each for very little. Cook didn’t have much success against him either, while even Bell scored only 56 runs off him in 158 balls and was dismissed twice.Siddle had Pietersen’s number, getting his wicket three times for 64, but he didn’t have much success against Bell, dismissing him only once at the cost of 117 runs.

Head-to-head stats in the Ashes

BatsmanBowlerRunsBallsDismissalsAverageRun rateChris RogersGraeme Swann79230613.162.06Chris RogersPace bowlers282581394.002.91Michael ClarkeStuart Broad84161516.803.13Shane WatsonTim Bresnan499459.803.12Shane WatsonJames Anderson1361951136.004.18Left-handersGraeme Swann2916851618.182.54Right-handersGraeme Swann4648091046.403.44Joe RootRyan Harris3814149.501.61Jonathan TrottRyan Harris4882412.003.51Jonathan TrottMitchell Starc3871312.673.21Alastair CookRyan Harris71168323.672.53Ian BellRyan Harris56158228.002.12Ian BellPeter Siddle1172391117.002.93Kevin PietersenPeter Siddle64134321.332.86Matt PriorPeter Siddle389449.502.42

Stats highlights from India’s fifth consecutive Test-win, at the Eden Gardens

Shiva Jayaraman08-Nov-2013

• Mohammed Shami’s bowling in this match was a rare high in the annals of fast-bowling performances for India at home. His bowling figures for the match are the fourth-best by an India fast-bowler at home and the best since Javagal Srinath took 13 for 132 against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in 1999. Before that, a better bowling performance than Shami’s by an India fast bowler came way back in 1983 when Kapil Dev took 10 for 135 against West Indies in Ahmedabad in 1983.
• Shami’s bowling figures for the match are the best by an India fast-bowler on debut and the second-best by an India bowler on debut.
• Shami’s five-wicket haul was only the third by an India fast-bowler on debut in Tests. Including him, only eight India bowlers have taken a five-for (or more) on debut in Tests.
• This is the first time that India have won five Tests in a row. This sequence started for them with the Test in Chennai against Australia earlier this year. Before this, India have had two sequences of four consecutive wins – against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2009-10 and against England and Zimbabwe in 1993.
• Rohit Sharma’s 177 in India’s first innings beat Doug Walters’ 155 against England in Brisbane in 1965, which was the previous highest by a No. 6 batsman on debut. Rohit fell ten runs short of Shikhar Dhawan’s 187 against Australia in Mohali, which is the highest score by an India batsman on debut.
• Rohit is only the fifth India player to win the Man-of-the-Match award on Test debut and the second India player this year after Shikhar Dhawan. Click here for a list of players who have won Man-of-the-Match award on debut in Tests.
• Shane Shillingford’s bowling figures of 6 for 167 in India’s first innings are the second-best at the Eden Gardens in Tests by a visiting spinner. Richie Benaud’s 6 for 52 in 1956 are the best by a visiting spinner at the Eden Gardens. Shillingford’s figures are also the best by a West Indies spinner at this venue and only the second instance of a West Indies spinner taking a five-wicket haul (or more) at the venue.
• This was Ashwin’s second hundred in Tests. Ashwin now averages 41.11 in Tests and has scored 690 runs at an average of 40.58 batting at No. 8. MS Dhoni and Mahmudullah are the only other batsmen to have scored 500 or more runs at an average of 40 or more in Tests at No. 8.
• Ashwin continued his good all-round form against West Indies in this Test. He has now hit a hundred and taken five wickets for the match against them in consecutive Tests. He had hit a hundred and taken nine wickets the last time India played against West Indies in Mumbai in 2011. Only four other India players have hit a hundred and taken five or more wickets for the match. Ashwin’s the only one to do it twice.
• The 280-run partnership between Rohit and R Ashwin is India’s highest in Tests for the seventh wicket, beating the unbeaten 259-run partnership between VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni against South Africa at the same venue in 2010. This was also the second-highest partnership for India against West Indies for any wicket in Tests. The Eden Gardens has clearly been a productive venue for India against West Indies as far as partnerships are concerned. India’s highest partnership against them, an unbeaten 344 between Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar, also came here in 1978. Also, four of the top six partnerships for India, against West Indies, have come at the Eden Gardens.
• There was hardly any resistance with the bat from West Indies’ lower middle-order and tail in this match – the 154 runs that West Indies added for their final seven wickets wickets in the match are their lowest ever against India in Tests.
• This was Dhoni’s eighth win in Tests by a margin of an innings as captain. He has equalled Mohammad Azharuddin’s record for most wins by an innings in Tests by an India captain. Sourav Ganguly is next in that list with seven wins. With this match, Dhoni has captained India in 48 Tests and is now second in the list of players to have captained India in most Tests. Only Sourav Ganguly (49) has captained India in more Tests than Dhoni.

Andrew Hall talks about being shot at, the world’s best-looking sportswoman, and a cricket rule he’d change if he could

Interview by Jack Wilson14-Dec-2013You played over 100 times for South Africa – but it could have been Australia, couldn’t it?
It could have, yes. In 1998, when I was shot the first time, I was thinking about moving somewhere else. I had a look around and I spoke to friends in Australia and managed to get a contract from one of the state teams to come out and play. I wanted to do well and hopefully qualify for Australia, but a couple of months later I decided on staying in South Africa.You were shot in the hand from point-blank range at an ATM. Does it affect you now?
When it happened, it did, but it was over within the space of a couple of seconds. After that I never had any issues with it. The next afternoon I came out of hospital and went back to the same area to use the ATM. A car pulled up and the door slammed and my legs turned to jelly, but no, nothing after that.Do you ever sit back and reflect on what you could have won with South Africa?
It’s a difficult one. I’ve always just felt proud having played for South Africa and for getting out there.You’ve been promoted to Division One in the County Championship and won the Twenty20 Cup with Northamptonshire this year. How good has it been?
Magnificent. It’s been such a great effort. At the start of the season you set out targets and they’re always pretty similar in that you want to compete on all fronts. We’ve done exactly that and more. We went out and set goals for ourselves and trained hard. We looked at the intensity of our training – and not just how long we trained – and it’s paid off.If you could pick one highlight of your career, what would it be?
There are two that spring to mind. Beating Australia in the 438 game and my first Test century, 163 against India.Tell us about the best ball you’ve ever bowled
You’d have to go back a long time. Desmond Haynes was playing for Western Province. The first ball I bowled him, he played a forward-defensive, nicked it, and it went in between first and second slip for four. I thought that was the chance. Then the next one pitched straight, nipped away, and knocked his off pole out. I’ll never bowl one of those again in my life.What’s your favourite shot?
I’d have to say it’s a toss-up between a cover drive and a pull shot.Give us a name to look out for in the future
Olly Stone, at Northants, is an unbelievably talented cricketer. Ben Duckett is high class too. They’re both involved with the England Under-19s.

“If a game is heading to a dead end at tea on the final day, it should be allowed to be called off”

Which of your team-mates – past or present – has the best banter?
Our skipper Alex Wakely is very good in the training room. We have good fun trying to rev up our big fast bowler Luke Evans in there!Who’s the messiest player you’ve shared a dressing room with?
Unfortunately, I’m sat right next to him in the changing room at Northants. I’m one of the neatest and I sit next to David Murphy, who is the worst by a long way.On the pitch, who has the worst chat?
Another South African, Deon Kruis, came over to England to play for Yorkshire. He used to abuse you on the field and you’d cringe and laugh at him at the same time. All wicketkeepers have bad chat and they all say the same things. I’ve heard them all so many times in the last five seasons. It’s quite amusing thinking of what they’re going to say before they say it.You’re stuck on a desert island. Which one item would you take with you?
I’d take a leatherman. It’s a multi-tool knife, there’s loads I could do with that. I’d take my wife Lena too and, if she’s coming, I’d take a blanket with me!Who’s the best-looking sportswoman in the world?
The Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva.What one rule in cricket would you change?
If I’m talking seriously it would have to be the referral system. I don’t think it’s a great system and it hasn’t worked out especially well. Otherwise, if a game is heading to a dead end at tea on the final day, it should be allowed to be called off.If you could bowl at any batsman in history, who would it be?
Everyone talks about him as the best batsman of all time, so it would have to be Don Bradman.

Bangladesh’s collapse on the first day highlighted an ingrained problem in their Test batting, where they have failed to get to 100 without the loss of four wickets in 91 instances out of 161 Test innings

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur27-Jan-2014Bangladesh have a top-order collapse roughly once every two innings. When Mominul Haque was dismissed, Bangladesh were 59 for 4 in the 18th over, and it became the 91st time out of 161 Test innings that Bangladesh’s first four wickets fell before the score had reached hundred.The easy assumption after the latest collapse would be to call it complacency, particularly after having a decent 2013 batting-wise and an even better previous Test series against New Zealand three months ago. The worst batting performance last year was in the first Test in Zimbabwe last April, when everyone surrendered to seam and the threat of a shorter length.The same theme followed in this first innings as Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal bowled a shorter length and produced bounce from the Mirpur wicket with more wrist-action on the ball. All of the batsmen tried to play shots, but weren’t manufacturing them, to their credit.But the day’s scorecard is dismissive enough of their batting approach. Monday’s collapse was the result of bad habits, proper planning from the opposition and impetuous strokeplay, though the current top-order contains batsmen with more ability than it did in the past. Tamim Iqbal’s hook shot didn’t connect well, Marshall Ayub missed a ball that moved in just a bit, Shamsur Rahman played away from the body – his natural reaction to anything pitched up – and Mominul pulled the ball when he shouldn’t have.Bangladesh weren’t too troubled by the bounce till they started pulling and hooking. Tamim is a naturally aggressive batsman, and could have taken the tougher route of hanging back and waiting for the bad ball. But as an opener who likes to go after the bowling, he thought the best way to answer Sri Lanka’s stifling length would be attack the short ball. The result was a catch at long leg, but he would have tried it on most occasions.Marshall is in need of runs at No. 3, Bangladesh’s newest entry into that crucial spot. He is a natural middle-order batsman, but due to his technique and domestic runs, he was selected to plug this gap. He has the second innings left in this Test to prove his credentials, and that innings will be pivotal for his future.Shamsur started off with edges, timed the ball for a while before he edged once more. For a debutant opener, he deserves more time to showcase his attacking approach at the crease.These four wickets were followed by the routine recovery act. Shakib Al Hasan and captain Mushfiqur Rahim added 86 for the fifth wicket stand but when you start from 59, ending on 145 doesn’t offer much help. The pair’s approach should be followed however as they only went after short and wide ones, and batted within themselves during the partnership. This was the sort of discipline that Mushfiqur would have expected from the top four. Shakib started off quickly before reining in his strokes for the rest of the afternoon, until missing a sweep shot off Rangana Herath.Mushfiqur got a borderline call when the ball appeared to take an inside edge, but replays proved inconclusive. His exit confirmed that Bangladesh would not have a lower-order resurrection, and when they were bowled out for 232, the blame laid squarely on the misfiring top-order.Luckily, none of the Bangladesh top-order batsmen give excuses. Tamim is in a quest to achieve greater heights as a batsman while his new partner Shamsur has made 267 earlier this month, and is a heavily experienced domestic batsman. So is Marshall, while Mominul’s recent record gives some assurance that he has the knack for a big score.Most importantly, they have to make sure a second collapse is not repeated, and ensure that the short ball is handled a lot better the next time around.

From not even being handed a Big Bash League contract, to holding his own at the MCG against England, James Muirhead’s rise through the ranks has been fast and spectacular

Brydon Coverdale11-Feb-2014There are eight teams in the Big Bash League, each with a squad of 18 men. That means 144 players begin the season with BBL contracts. This summer, James Muirhead was not considered good enough to be one of them. It was not until December 19 that he was brought in by the Melbourne Stars as a replacement for the injured James Faulkner. Less than two months later, Muirhead has now joined Faulkner in Australia’s squad for the World Twenty20.It has been a rapid rise for Muirhead, who until he was 13th man for Australia’s final ODI against England in January, had never even been to an international match. Five days later he found himself standing in the middle of a heaving MCG in front of nearly 65,000 spectators, bowling legspin to men whose sole job was to hit him out of the park. That would be enough to worry most 20-year-olds, but Muirhead showed a maturity that belied his years.In his four overs, Muirhead took 1 for 17, tossing the ball up, turning it sharply, not worried that he might drag the odd delivery down or serve up a full toss. He did not concede a single boundary in that match. On debut two days earlier, Muirhead’s third ball had been dispatched for six by Jos Buttler in Hobart, but at no stage over the three-game series did he retreat into a defensive style – he kept flighting the ball, dipping it and spinning it, and kept troubling the batsmen.”It was definitely really daunting, especially in front of 65,000 at that game,” Muirhead told ESPNcricinfo last week. “Bowling legspin you just really have to have confidence and believe in yourself and you know you can perform at that level. You just try and take in the crowd and relish the moment and enjoy yourself. You’re going to get hit for a few sixes or a few boundaries bowling legspin in T20, so you can’t put yourself down, you’ve just got to keep fighting against them.”In Twenty20 cricket there’s got to be a balance between defending and attacking, so whether that’s bowling a slider, bowling a faster legbreak or throwing one up, you’ve just got to find that balance. That defines whether you’re successful or not.”Daunting as the experience may have been, Muirhead is a young man not lacking in confidence. It is near impossible to succeed as a wrist-spinner without that self-belief. Muirhead’s team-mate in those three T20s against England, as well as with Victoria, Cameron White, knows the pressure of bowling legspin at international level, and has been impressed by what he has seen.”It’s really exciting. I’ve stood at slip in the three Twenty20 games he’s played for Australia and you can just see he’s a real natural legspinner of the ball, there’s a lot of sidespin on the ball,” White said. “He gets really big turn. I think that’s got everyone excited, including the people he plays with. I can tell you from experience it’s not easy to bowl legspin, especially in front of [nearly] 70,000 that were at the MCG for that Twenty20 game.”He bowled really well in that game and showed that he’s got the mindset and the calmness to then go out and deliver his skill. It’s impressive stuff so far. I think you definitely have to have that type of personality. It’s that confidence, the absolute belief in your ability to perform in front of that many people. To bowl legspin is a big ask and he’s doing it really well at the moment.”The TV commentators during the T20s against England would have had viewers believe Muirhead was the reincarnation of Shane Warne, so excited were they by the emergence of a confident young legspinner. But while such successes, and the upcoming World T20, will improve Muirhead’s career significantly, Australia’s selectors will be equally interested to see how he performs in the Sheffield Shield over the next few weeks.Can he maintain his consistency in the long form, where batsmen have to wait for the bad ball? Can he build pressure over four days, not four overs? We are about to find out, for before the World T20, Muirhead has some red-ball cricket to play. Muirhead has already played more international matches – three – than he has first-class games. His only Sheffield Shield match came late last summer in Adelaide, when he took one wicket in each innings against South Australia.His other first-class outing was for the Cricket Australia Invitational XI against England at the SCG in November; there he claimed six victims for the match, including Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook. It was that performance that really made the national selectors sit up and take notice. Now, the Victorian selectors have taken the hint from above, for Fawad Ahmed has been demoted to the Futures League while Muirhead will take on New South Wales in a Shield match starting on Wednesday.”In the shorter format you use a lot more variation than you would in the longer form,” Muirhead said. “In Sheffield Shield cricket I’d probably bowl 90% legbreaks, in Twenty20 I’d probably bowl 70% legbreaks. They’re both pretty hard formats to bowl in. As a leggie, you want to dominate the batsmen and get them out, especially in the longer form. That defines how good you are. At times you’ve got to attack them really hard and go early if you feel confident.”Muirhead certainly speaks with confidence, certain that he knows his game and trusts in his own ability. That will be refined, of course, but it’s a good starting point. Over the past few months, Muirhead has worked with Stuart MacGill on a pre-season trip to Sri Lanka and with Shane Warne, who advised him on tactics and the mindset of a legspinner.Naturally, Warne was Muirhead’s childhood idol, although it was his uncle Daryl Veteha, a club legspinner in Melbourne, who helped him learn his craft in the backyard. Muirhead’s father Matt, who coached him in past years, still provides a valuable sounding board. “We talk most nights about cricket,” Muirhead said of his father, “especially when things aren’t going right.”It remains to be seen what sort of conversation they will have when Muirhead returns from the World T20, where the world’s best strikers will be ready to take him down. Confidence is important, but nothing can really prepare Muirhead for the task ahead of him in Bangladesh, where he will join Brad Hogg and Glenn Maxwell in Australia’s spin attack.Muirhead has played a combined total of 20 days of first-class, List A and T20 cricket; Hogg has 20 years of experience in first-class and one-day cricket alone, from which to draw. Perhaps that’s a Twenty20 omen.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the game between Sri Lanka and New Zealand

Andrew McGlashan and Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Mar-2014The head-shake strike-rateHaving made a brisk start, Kusal Perera’s shock at wrongly being given out caught down the leg side for the second time in as many matches was expressed with a bout of furious head-shaking that almost outstripped his rate of scoring. From the moment the umpire’s finger was raised, until he exited the field, it almost seemed as if Kusal was watching two tennis players at the net. What’s more, it was infectious. Incoming batsman Mahela Jayawardene approached the square in visible disbelief as well.The win some, lose some momentStrength becoming a weakness. Tillakaratne Dilshan scored his first boundary with a scoop off Kyle Mills, but in the next over from Trent Boult he tried to reverse scoop the left-armer over slip and only succeeded in providing a catch to Luke Ronchi.The useful overthrowThere is never really a good outcome to conceding free runs in T20 – a format that can be decided by the narrowest margins – but when Brendon McCullum had a slightly unnecessary shy at the non-striker’s stumps, lulled into by the batsman teasing to leave his ground, and the resulting deflection gave away a single, there was a silver lining for New Zealand. Next delivery, Nuwan Kulasekara drove on the up and picked out Brendon’s brother, Nathan, at short cover to leave Sri Lanka 93 for 7.The not out, then outAll of Rangana Herath’s overs were special – in what would become one of the great T20 spells – but in his second he made Ross Taylor, a very fine player of spin, look clueless. The third ball of the over slid on past the inside and took the pad to short leg (the loud appeal correctly turned down) then the next delivery turned considerably, squared up Taylor and struck him on the back leg. Rod Tucker, again, declined the appeal and this time Sri Lanka were harshly done by as off stump would have been hit flush on. At their third time of asking, however, Sri Lanka got the response they wanted when Taylor was again beaten, this time by one that skidded, and Tucker’s finger went up.The dislocationWhen Corey Anderson failed to hold Sachithra Senanayake’s mow down the ground in the 18th over it was a double blow for New Zealand. Not only did it concede six, but Anderson immediately left the field clutching his right hand and was soon on his way to hospital for treatment for a dislocation. It meant he was not available for New Zealand’s innings, but given the margin of defeat it may not have made a difference to the result.

Also, twin hundreds in South Africa, T20’s leading run scorer and wicket-taker, and more on innings hoggers

Steven Lynch18-Mar-2014Rohit Sharma hit 30 sixes in one-day internationals in 2013 (most of them in his innings of 209). Is that a record for a calendar year? What’s the record for Tests? asked Vikas Vadgama from India

Rohit Sharma’s 30 sixes in one-day internationals in 2013 – 16 of them in his 209 against Australia in Bangalore in November – put him in joint 11th place on that particular list (along with, among others, George Bailey who also hit 30 sixes in 2013). On top of the pile is Shahid Afridi, who struck no fewer than 48 sixes in 2002 – out of a total of only 743 runs, meaning that 39.5% of his runs that year came in hits over the boundary. Shane Watson hit 42 sixes in 2011 (15 of them in one innings against Bangladesh in Mirpur), and Sachin Tendulkar 40 in 1998, the year he scored a record 1894 runs in all. Shahid Afridi pops up again with 37 sixes in 2005, then come Sourav Ganguly (35 in 2000), Matthew Hayden (35 in 2007), MS Dhoni (34 in 2005), Yuvraj Singh (33 in 2007, and 31 in 2008), and Ricardo Powell (31 in 1999). The most in a calendar year in Tests is 22 sixes, by Adam Gilchrist in 2005 and Virender Sehwag in 2008. Andrew Flintoff struck 21 in 2004.AB de Villiers made at least a fifty in 12 consecutive Tests before he was dismissed for 14 and 43 at Cape Town. Is that a record? asked Adarsh Chopra from Belgium

It was indeed: AB de Villiers’ run of 12 Tests with at least one score of 50 or more broke the old record of 11, set by Viv Richards in 1976, and later equalled by Gautam Gambhir (2008-09) and Virender Sehwag (2009-10). It’s a slight surprise not to find Don Bradman’s name on this sort of list, but his best run was seven Tests in a row with at least a half-century. However, between 1936-37 and 1946-47 he did have a run of scoring at least a fifty in each of 13 Tests in which he batted, but that sequence includes the Oval Test of 1938, in which he broke his foot in the field and couldn’t bat at all. For the full list, click here.Was David Warner the first visiting player to score two hundreds in a Test in South Africa? asked Mauro Freitas from the United Arab Emirates

David Warner, who made 135 and 145 in the recent third Test in Cape Town, was actually the sixth visiting batsman – but the fourth Australian – to score two hundreds in the same Test in South Africa. The first two to do it were Englishmen: Jack Russell made 140 and 111 in Durban in 1922-23 (in what, oddly, turned out to be his final Test) and Eddie Paynter 117 and 100 in Johannesburg in 1938-39. Then the Aussies took over: Jack Moroney scored 118 and 101 not out in Jo’burg in 1949-50, Ricky Ponting 103 and 116 in Durban in 2005-06, and Phillip Hughes 115 and 160 in Durban in 2008-09. Rather strangely, only one South African has managed this feat at home: Jacques Kallis hit 161 and 109 not out against India in Cape Town in 2010-11.Who is the leading scorer in T20 internationals? asked James Burgess from New Zealand

Going in to the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, there’s a clear leader in this list. New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum is just 41 short of becoming the first man to reach 2000 runs in T20s, and he is over 600 clear of the chasing pack, which is led by a trio of Sri Lankans – Mahela Jayawardene (1335 runs), Tillakaratne Dilshan (1320) and Kumar Sangakkara (1311). Next comes Australia’s David Warner, with 1260. For the full list, click here.How many bowlers have taken 100 wickets in T20 internationals? asked Colin Reed from England

At the time of writing no one has – but that may change quite soon. Saeed Ajmal currently leads the way with 81, but he is not far in front of two of his Pakistan team-mates – Umar Gul with 74 and Shahid Afridi on 73. Going in to the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh there are four other bowlers with 50 or more wickets: Ajantha Mendis (62), Stuart Broad (61), Lasith Malinga (60) and Graeme Swann (51). For the full list, click here.Regarding last week’s question about the highest percentage of runs by one batsman in an ODI innings, what about Shane Watson? He scored around 80% of the total in one match against Bangladesh… asked Brad Michaelson from Sydney

The list on the ESPNcricinfo records page regarding this feat includes (as the footnote says) only innings that are all-out or in which the full allocation of overs is used up. This means that the case of Shane Watson – who hammered 185 not out in a total of 232 for 1 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in April 2011 – is not included on there, as Australia used up only 26 of the 50 available overs. I admit this is a bit harsh on Watson, although he still isn’t top if you include all innings which ended when the victory target was reached: Brendon McCullum smashed 80 not out in New Zealand’s 95 for 0 as they zoomed past Bangladesh’s modest 93 in only six overs in Queenstown on New Year’s Eve, 2007. That’s 84.21% of the total, compared to Watson’s 79.74%. If you take all innings into account, there’s even a case of 100%: during the 1992 World Cup, in Mackay, India made 1 for 0 off two balls before rain ended their match against Sri Lanka – and Kris Srikkanth scored the run. I was sorry to see that Mackay was not on the list of venues for the 2015 World Cup, so Harrup Park won’t be adding to its grand total of two international deliveries just yet.

Lionised in Taunton and championed for England by county fans everywhere, Peter Trego has not given up on bringing his brand of belligerence to the international stage

Alex Winter14-May-2014When England called up Ian Bell and Chris Woakes as replacements for their World T20 squad in Bangladesh, there was a slumping of shoulders from England supporters at the lack of inspiration. Fine cricketers both but not exciting new names to raise expectations. Might a jovial West Country allrounder have been the man to enthuse the fans?The sight England have lost, spectators in this season’s revamped NatWest T20 Blast can revel in. Peter Trego, beloved in Somerset and vociferously championed for years by much of the county cricket fraternity on social media, can be expected to bring his own brand of belligerence to Friday nights.Trego provides entertainment. After many years at Somerset, with T20 experience around the world – although escaping the gaze of the IPL – and with high-class ability with both bat and ball, is Trego the man England have missed? Predictably overlooked for the upcoming Sri Lanka series, he begins a fresh new domestic T20 format with international ambitions still to be realised.”That’s the reason I wake up in the morning and want to play cricket,” Trego said after another day delighting the Somerset public, this time with a counter-attacking innings against Nottinghamshire. “I’m not blind to the social media stuff, I get a lot of support from the general public saying they’d like to see me get a crack and that is completely my goal within my career.”I know that I can do it. I’ve done it on the big stage against IPL franchises and world-class attacks and it’s just about doing enough consistently to get that opportunity because I don’t think anyone in English cricket wouldn’t admit that there are spaces in the limited-overs England teams.”Trego moved into England circles in 2010 with 10 appearances for the Lions. But England were then at their peak. The team sheet may now have more blanks to fill than for many years but has this opening come too late for Trego, who will turn 33 next month and pushing the back-end of an average cricketers’ lifespan by the time the next World T20 comes around in 2016? The best advice is to catch him in the Blast while he remains at his peak.”Age doesn’t concern me,” a sanguine Trego said. “Statistically I’m probably one of the fittest cricketers in the country. I train and do triathlons on my days off for fun. From a physical point of view, I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in in my life. I’ve worked relentlessly, especially over the last two years on my physical self and made some surprising ground even for myself. So it doesn’t bother me. It’s about putting up the numbers on the board.”And Trego’s career numbers compare very well against the members of England’s World T20 squad. In last year’s Friends Life t20, he was among the leading all-round performers with 289 runs at 36.12 and a strike rate of 117.95. With the ball, his economy rate of 5.86 was the fourth best of bowlers to have played in 10 or more matches.

“I love the fact that I entertain and will continue to do so. T20 is a great opportunity to go out there and give the crowd exciting cricket and that’s certainly what I’m trying to deliver”Peter Trego

Not blessed with express pace and often asked to bowl during the Powerplay, Trego has developed a number of change-ups to ensure he remains unpredictable. His armoury contains an offcutter, legcutter, one out of the back of the hand and a seam-up delivery where he does not snap his wrist. He uses the yorker only as a last resort but has been working on the wide full delivery that is in vogue.”I’ve almost got to bowl with a spinner’s mentality,” he says. “With three or four variations on my slower ball and making sure that my stock delivery into length is bowled hard into the pitch so if there is some seam movement I exploit that.”I’m not a particularly strong yorker bowler, so I need to find different ways of tying the batsman down. When you’re not blessed with huge amounts of speed you have to rely on a bit of craft so having different slower balls is pretty crucial.”Trego is also tasked with a top-order slot in the batting and made handy runs in last season’s FLt20. But it was in the 40-over competition that he found his best form last season, with 745 runs at 82.77, the leading tally in the tournament as Somerset reached the semi-finals.It would be easy to see Trego’s heavily tattooed arms, hear the gentle West County burr in his voice, realise his love for entertaining and cast Trego as a happy-go-lucky cricketer. But success rarely comes without a plan and, like the careful thinking behind his bowling, he talks intelligently about tactics with the bat.”I like to go in in the first 10-15 balls and just look to hit fours, not necessarily look to go aerial,” Trego says. “I normally find that when I’m hitting the ball sweetly and piercing the gaps for fours, the sixes take care of themselves a bit.”I think as a top-order batter in one-day cricket you have to back yourself to maybe see a few dots in the early part of your innings but with the confidence that you can catch up later on in your innings and get the boundaries flowing.”I’ll be looking to concentrate on my ball-striking really and making sure I’m connecting with balls in the right ways, not trying to over-hit too much. I think there were times when a lot of guys used to try and hit the ball three streets away whereas you only have to get it over the rope.”With all the gym work we do nowadays and the big bats, it’s all about timing really, the guys who are successful at T20 are good timers of the ball, they don’t just go out swinging blindfolded.”Trego enjoys a T20 day – a refreshing affair after the rigours of four-day cricket, where at Taunton the games are difficult to get through for an allrounder. The shortest format also provides the best platform for his desire to please the crowd: “When I’m having fun is definitely when I’m at my best.” The dashing 86 that lit up Somerset’s last Championship match, a tame draw against Notts, demonstrates that he plays in the same way across all formats.”I play with one of the greats of the modern era in Marcus Trescothick and it’s a great feeling for me to have an equally loud clap when I walk to the wicket,” Trego says. “I love the fact that I entertain and will continue to do so. T20 is a great opportunity to go out there and give the crowd exciting cricket and that’s certainly what I’m trying to deliver.”

Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have met three times this season, but the IPL is yet to witness a genuinely explosive meeting between its two best sides. That might well change in Sunday’s final

S Rajesh31-May-2014The overall numbersThe final of IPL 2014 will be played between the best batting team and the best bowling team of the tournament. Kings XI Punjab have scored 2788 runs, including 117 sixes and 245 fours – all of these are the highest among all teams this year. Their run rate of 9.03 per over is also by far the best – the second-highest is Chennai Super Kings’ 8.53. In terms of win-loss ratio also, Kings XI have been the top team in the competition, with 12 wins and four defeats.Their opponents, Kolkata Knight Riders, haven’t been as impressive with the bat: they’ve struck only 65 sixes and 208 fours, and their batting run rate is 8.10, the third-highest among all teams in this tournament. However, they are on an eight-match winning streak, and their bowling has been the major reason why they are in the final (though the top-order batting has picked up significantly as well). Knight Riders have taken 91 wickets – third among all teams in the tournament, after Kings XI (106) and Super Kings (98), though both have played an extra match. However, Knight Riders have an economy rate of 7.57, easily the best – the next-best have been Mumbai Indians with 8.02. Since the tournament moved to India, most bowling sides have struggled but Knight Riders have still kept their economy rate down to 7.73, while the next-best is Mumbai’s 8.26.While Knight Riders have struck only 65 sixes in the entire tournament, they have also been frugal in terms of conceding sixes – only 67 of them have been hit against their bowlers, again the least in the tournament; Kings XI have conceded 96.Subtracting the run rate from the economy rate for both teams, Kings XI are marginally ahead, 0.72 to 0.53. They are again the top two teams on that yardstick, ahead of Super Kings’ 0.19. Also, Knight Riders’ win-loss ratio is next only to that of Kings XI, so in every way it’s only fair that these two teams have made it to the final round.

How KKR and KXIP have fared in IPL 2014 so far

Team	Matches	W/ L	Bat ave	Run rate	Bowl ave	Econ rate
Kolkata Knight Riders	15	10/ 5	28.60	8.10	24.67	7.57
Kings XI Punjab	16	12/ 4	30.63	9.03	24.47	8.31

The middle-over kingsIn terms of batting numbers, Kings XI have been particularly strong in the middle overs: between 6.1 and 15, their run rate has been 8.77; the next-highest are Knight Riders at 7.97. In the middle overs, Glenn Maxwell has scored 426 runs at a strike rate of 189; next on the list is Robin Uthappa with 298 at a strike rate of 131. (In the Indian leg, though, Uthappa leads with 239 runs, followed by Mawell’s 216.)In the opening overs, too, Kings XI have scored considerably quicker than Knight Riders, but the return to form for Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa has lifted Knight Riders in the Indian leg: the team has averaged 52.44 at a rate of 7.86 since returning to India, compared to Kings XI’s 43.14 and 9.15. During this period, Uthappa has scored 558 runs from ten innings at an average of 62 and a strike rate of 144, while Maxwell has 252 from ten innings at an average of 25.20 and a strike rate of 175.However, while Kings XI have been strong at the start with the bat, they have also conceded plenty with the ball in the first six: their economy rate of 8.70 in the Powerplays is the worst among all teams; Knight Riders have an economy rate of 7.12, the best among all sides. In the last five, too, Knight Riders have by far the best economy rate – 8.39, while the next-best are Sunrisers Hyderabad at 9.14. Kings XI, meanwhile, have conceded 10.02. Knight Riders’ success is largely because of Sunil Narine, who has bowled 156 balls during the last five, and taken 14 for 156. Gambhir has kept about two of his overs for the end, and that tactic has worked superbly throughout the tournament – no other bowler has bowled as many balls during the slog overs. (Click here for the tournament batting and bowling stats for Knight Riders, and here for Kings XI.)

Batting stats at various stages of an innings

	First 6 overs		6.1 to 15 overs		15.1 to 20 overs
	Average	Run rate	Average	Run rate	Average	Run rate
Kolkata Knight Riders	35.16	7.03	32.45	7.97	20.13	10.06
Kings XI Punjab	36.26	8.68	33.00	8.77	23.33	10.04

Bowling stats at various stages of an innings

	First 6 overs		6.1 to 15 overs		15.1 to 20 overs
Team	Average	Run rate	Average	Run rate	Average	Run rate
Kolkata Knight Riders	32.05	7.12	31.37	7.43	15.38	8.39
Kings XI Punjab	33.44	8.70	24.66	7.19	18.51	10.02

KKR’s spin advantageKnight Riders have the obvious advantage in terms of bowling firepower, especially in the spin department. Their spinners have taken 43 wickets at an economy rate of 6.58, compared to Kings XI’s 29 wickets at an economy rate of 7.41. Twenty of the 43 wickets belong to Narine, at an economy rate of 6.01.Kings XI’s quick bowlers have taken 69 wickets, 15 more than the seamers from any other team, but they’ve also leaked 8.58 runs per over. In the Indian leg, they’ve been even more expensive, going at 9.32 to the over.

Fast bowlers’ stats, in India and the UAE

	Overall			In India
	Wickets	Average	Econ rate	Wickets	Average	Econ rate
Kolkata Knight Riders	36	34.38	8.09	23	35.08	8.31
Kings XI Punjab	69	24.75	8.58	41	29.41	9.32

Spinner stats, in India and the UAE

	Overall			In India
	Wickets	Average	Econ rate	Wickets	Average	Econ rate
Kolkata Knight Riders	43	21.81	6.58	27	24.66	6.72
Kings XI Punjab	29	28.89	7.41	22	27.81	7.20

The Narine factorAnd finally, a look at how Kings XI’s current batsmen have fared against Narine. Sehwag has gone after Narine, and done it fairly successfully, while George Bailey has been more circumspect, scoring at a run a ball. Maxwell has done well against him too, scoring 42 from 33 without being dismissed (16 from 13 in this tournament). How these batsmen – and David Miller – go against Narine in a big game could well decide the result of the final on Sunday.

Narine versus… (in all T20 matches)

	Runs	Balls	Dismissals	Average	Run rate
Virender Sehwag	30	14	0	–	12.85
George Bailey	36	35	1	36.00	6.17
Glenn Maxwell	42	33	0	–	7.63
David Miller	15	11	1	15.00	8.18

Narine v right- and left-handers in IPL 2014

	Runs	Balls	Wickets	Average	Econ rate
Right-handers	266	264	13	20.46	6.04
Left-handers	94	97	7	13.42	5.81

His reliability, respect within the team and an ability to draw the line during media interactions make Mashrafe Mortaza a good candidate for Bangladesh’s ODI captain

Mohammad Isam01-Oct-2014Mashrafe Mortaza’s appointment as Bangladesh captain for the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in November can easily be slammed as a late, reactionary decision that has come after the team had slumped beyond recognition. Closer to the truth, however, is the fact that the BCB has chosen a respected figure and a largely reliable character, despite his fitness issues. This is more of a last-ditch effort to restore confidence in the team’s most favoured format.Mushfiqur Rahim might wonder whether he will have another chance to rectify his blotched CV as a captain, but the winless streak of 13 matches in ODIs was a problem that pointed to the team’s dynamics first, then the captaincy. Now that the latter has been found faulty, there has been a change in leadership with the hope of a fresh mind. The easier choice could have been to opt for Shakib Al Hasan, who was a close contender, but his recent controversies – including suspensions for misbehaviour and for making an inappropriate gesture – made him a second option.Instead, Mashrafe, one of the last bastions of this battered team, has been put in charge. He could have given up at least 11 times – the number of major surgeries he has had on his body hip-down – but he stood up straight despite the frequent injuries. Mashrafe has missed 106 ODIs and 44 Tests since his debut in 2001 but his time as a Bangladesh cricketer has mostly been controversy-free.Over the last 13 years, he has stayed away from making strong comments. It stems from his modesty as an individual though he is prone to striking back at times. When he had returned from a long lay-off in early 2010, he left the team hotel after feeling “unwanted” among his team-mates. Earlier this year, when a journalist had, as part of a question in a press conference, called Bangladesh’s 2012 win over India an “upset”, he did not seem keen on the particular word. But he knows where to draw the line, a quality much needed by the BCB.Mashrafe’s captaincy will also invigorate his team-mates and push them to newer places from time to time. This was evident when Bangladesh pushed Sri Lanka right down to the wire in two T20s under his captaincy at the start of the year, particularly in the second game in Chittagong when the home side had to defend 120 runs. Mashrafe’s bowling changes were rapid and random, unhindered by any particular set plan that has usually come out of Bangladeshi dressing-rooms.He was unafraid to use a newcomer, left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny, as an opening bowler; he switched bowlers seemingly at will but, mostly, a new one was present every time a Sri Lankan wicket fell. There was heavy dew that evening and there, too, he used his experience as a seamer, bowling the pacers – himself, Rubel Hossain and Farhad Reza – more than the spinners in tight situations.The visitors slumped to 50 for 6 in the 12th over, after which Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera brought them back in contention. Sri Lanka needed two off the final ball, and Mashrafe told Reza to bowl a bouncer to Sachithra Senanayake. The zany move didn’t pay off because of the bowler’s military-medium pace and the softer ball stood up quite nicely for a pull shot, which was duly hit. Mashrafe, to his credit, did not hide from admitting that he had instructed Reza before the final ball.On the other hand, Mashrafe is also part of the same dressing-room that regularly brings out ultra-conservative strategies and use of skill, designed only for damage control: bowling left-arm spinners to right-handed batsmen and off-spinners to left-handers; invariably sending a left-handed or right-handed batsman according to the opposition spinner in the attack at the time (knowing full well that the opposition captain can change the bowling too); slipping to the eight-batsmen strategy even in ODIs only to contain the opposition; bowling poorly to a new batsman and at the death, and making knee-jerk selection calls in the playing XI.It remains to be seen how Mashrafe’s own form will play out in his time as captain. During his captaincy, Mushfiqur’s batting undoubtedly took strides in ODIs, with an improved average, a strike-rate that rose from 66 to 77, a slightly better 50 to 100 conversion rate and ultimately a more central role as a batsman. With Tamim Iqbal out of form for much of the year, and Shakib Al Hasan facing suspension, Mushfiqur was the only reliable batsman in the side. He did not just have to restore parity to a batting order at risk of a collapse, he was also its anchor and chief hitter in the later overs. Moreover, he has been Bangladesh’s wicketkeeper for most of the last seven years, though his standards in that skill have dropped of late.Mashrafe, meanwhile, uses seam and conditions better as a bowler now, benefiting from the two new balls in ODI cricket these days. His pace has slowed considerably but he showed, in favourable conditions at home in June against India and on a couple of occasions in the West Indies last month, that he can still bowl quickly and keep beating the bat.Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan will take on the roles of captain and vice-captain again, like they did in 2009•BCBThe question-mark in his bowling has always been his inability to cut down runs in the last ten overs of an innings. Though Bangladesh cannot boast of a specialist bowler who concedes less than six an over during the last ten overs of an ODI, Mashrafe’s economy-rate of 7.57 has always made fans nervous, particularly after he starts the innings well.The other major factor considered when giving him the captaincy was his injury-prone body. His first stint as full-time captain ended when he injured himself while bowling in his first Test in charge in 2009 against West Indies. When he was given back the reins after more than a year, he lasted only seven matches.A twisted ankle kept him out of cricket for a few months and, with Shakib leading by example, he was not considered for the role again. Coincidentally, and perhaps due to the strange ebb and flow of Bangladesh cricket, Shakib is his deputy once again, as was the case when they were first appointed Bangladesh’s captain and vice-captain in mid-2009, following Mohammad Ashraful’s meltdown in Nottingham.Mashrafe has often struck one as a man who wants to move forward. This time, with only five matches and a dangling carrot of leading the team to the 2015 World Cup, he doesn’t quite have any other direction. He will simply have to be careful while wildly diving to stop a defensive prod, lest he injure himself again.