Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the second day of the Jamaica Test
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.87 mb
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Audio length: 7.58 minsRahul Dravid has set up many of India’s greatest wins, such as at Headingley, Adelaide and Rawalpindi, but in each of those Tests other batsmen had also pitched in. In contrast, he’s virtually doing it alone at Jamaica, and his half-centuries here are worth big centuries at any other Test. Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss what a monumental role Dravid is playing in this Test, as well as this is turning out to be such a low-scoring pitch – it’s not all about the pitch.Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.4 mb
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Surrey maintained their record of reaching every Twenty20 finals day with an overwhelming performance at Bristol, usually a fortress for Gloucestershire in one-day cricket. However, the home side made the unusual decision of bowling first and were never really in the contest. At 80 for 3, Surrey were not racing away but that soon changed as Mark Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke joined forces in a thrilling stand of 139 for the fourth wicket. There were boundaries galore as the pair tucked into the Gloucestershire attack with the spinners taking some fearful hammer. Ramprakash smashed 10 fours and three sixes while Clarke – dropped twice – struck five over the rope in his 42-ball 79. Ramprakash eventually fell for a 50-ball 85 but Surrey had a huge total and the pressure showed. Both Gloucestershire’s key strikers – Craig Spearman and Ian Harvey – went early and with them so did any hopes for the run chase. Anil Kumble used his experience while Nayan Doshi continued his wicket-taking form in this tournament. No one will want a semi-final against Surrey.
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David Hussey powered Nottinghamshire into the finals day for the first time with a powerful 71. Samit Patel also played a crucial part with 65 in a third-wicket stand of 121 as they ran Northamptonshire ragged in the field. Both batsmen treated Trent Bridge’s highest domestic crowd for more than 30 years to some fine stroke play as they launched nine sixes between them. Stephen Fleming had given the innings early momentum with 39 off 28 balls before falling to Sourav Ganguly – who conceded more than 11-an-over. The Northants top order couldn’t produce a similar boundary-crashing display as the Nottinghamshire seamers made vital early inroads. Ganguly’s poor form continued as he was caught off Ryan Sidebottom – whose spell cost just 16 – for 5. There was then an incident involving Rikki Wessels who was run out after a mix-up and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. The chase quickly became a lost cause for Northants despite a violent innings from Lance Klusener and Nottinghamshire will now have home advantage on finals day.
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Leicestershire also continued with a full set of finals day appearances as they eased past a Kent side that struggled to compete at Grace Road. HD Ackerman and Darren Maddy showed their Twenty20 expertise with a superbly measured opening stand of 105 which took all the pressure off the run chase. The highlight of their stand was the remarkable success of the reverse sweep – with Maddy to the fore as his fifty came off 42 balls – and Leicestershire made light work of their target with a flurry of boundaries. Stuart Broad handed Leicestershire the early initiative with an outstanding spell of pace bowling which will have caught the eye of England’s selectors. He nipped out Robert Key in the first over and then benefited from two stunning catches – by Claude Henderson and David Masters – as Kent slumped to 31 for 4. The Leicestershire fielding was outstanding; Henderson caught his effort diving full-length, running back at mid-on with a bobble, Masters flung himself as the ball came over his head at backward point and also produced a direct hit to remove Tryon Henderson. Martin van Jaarsveld played well for his 70, and at least gave his team something to bowl at, but it was nowhere near enough.Essex 149 for 5 (Foster 47*) beat Yorkshire 143 for 6 (Brophy 43, Lehmann 40) by five wickets
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Essex eased into the semi-finals with a five-wicket win after Yorkshire had failed to capitalise on winning the toss in front of a sell-out crowd at Chelmsford. Gerard Brophy and Darren Lehmann revived their innings after they got off to a sluggish start, but they failed to press on in the final overs. Despite that, Yorkshire appeared on course for victory as Essex slid to 73 for 5 before Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster turned the game with an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 76 with Foster clearing the ropes on four occasions as they crossed the winning line with four balls to spare. One of the highlights of the evening was Darren Gough against his former club. He had plenty of support from the crowd, especially after removing Michael Lumb in the first over. When he came out to bat, at No. 3, a number of the Yorkshire players enjoyed some banter with him. However, it was Gough and Essex who had the last laugh.

Simon Katich and Phil Jaques will get the first chance to audition for an opening berth after Matthew Hayden was omitted for match one of the tri-series in Malaysia on Tuesday. Ricky Ponting also confirmed Glenn McGrath would make his international return against West Indies in Kuala Lumpur after nine months away due to his wife Jane’s illness.While the inclusion of McGrath was expected, the pairing of Katich and Jaques was a surprise, but the team is tinkering as Adam Gilchrist, the usual opener, stays at home in Perth. Jaques, the New South Wales left-hander, has appeared in only two one-day internationals and Australia’s initial experiments look to the future instead of the past.Hayden was chosen for his first one-day tour in more than a year on this trip, but he will have to wait for his chance in the large squad of 18, which will appear in four preliminary fixtures over the next two weeks. Other notable absentees from the first side were Michael Hussey, the tour vice-captain, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and Damien Martyn, while the emerging trio of Dan Cullen, Mitchell Johnson and Mark Cosgrove was given an opportunity to perform.”It’s been hard to map it all out to tell you the truth,” Ponting told . “We’re looking to give equal game time to all the players here, some guys will get two games, some three games, so it’s just the way we’ve worked it out.”Ponting said the bowlers would also be rotated to ease them back into competition after a five-month break. “We might have to [bowl short spells],” he said. “It might be the same for all our bowlers, these sorts of conditions after the long break we’ve had, it’s going to be hard for anyone, doesn’t matter how much work you’ve done in the off-season.”Australia Simon Katich, Mark Cosgrove, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Dan Cullen, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath.

ScorecardPoints tableStephen Peters guided Northamptonshire to a comfortable eight-wicket win against Glamorgan to keep their hopes of the title alive. Peters and Usman Afzaal added an unbeaten 113 for the third wicket as their team cruised to the target with 23 balls to spare after rain reduced the match to 36 overs.Northamptonshire had early bowled and fielded impressively despite being hampered for stages by a damp ball as play continued during drizzle. Robert Croft held the Glamorgan innings together with 54 off 84 balls, but lacked support with the next highest score being 17. Lance Klusener, Jason Brown and Monty Panesar each took two wickets.David Harrison hit back with a brace of his own at the start of the Northants reply, but none of the Glamorgan attack could do anything to stop Peters and Afzaal. They are now level on points with Essex but have played a game more.

VVS Laxman, selected for the India Green side, has pulled out of the Challenger Series tournament owing to a hamstring injury.It was earlier reported that Mohammad Kaif, who was appointed as the captain of the India Green side, may also miss the series because of a viral fever, with the likelihood of Sachin Tendulkar leading the side in his absence. However, Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, assured that besides Laxman, all the other players from the three squads were fit.Rajagopal Satish, the middle order batsman from Tamil Nadu, has been added to the India Blue squad. India Blue play their first match on Monday against India Red.

“If Clive Lloyd is the Big Cat, then Chris Gayle is the Cool Cat,” a member of the West Indian support staff let on. He was once offered a lift by Gayle, from the team hotel in Kingston to a restaurant close by, and what should have been a five minute trip took close to an hour. Gayle took his own time getting in the car; even longer turning the key in the ignition; fiddled with the stereo getting the music going … everything just took so much longer, and time seemed to stand still.And that it does when he bludgeons the ball as he did against South Africa in the second semi-final today at Jaipur. At times it appeared as if Gayle was the only man in the stadium, standing in the middle, bathed in light, blasting the ball to all parts; the fielders did not have to move, it seemed not to matter who was bowling or what sort of ball was bowled: it just had to go, and fast.”I’m a moody guy, very very moody,” Gayle drawled at the end of the match, a big grin plastered across his face. “You see me doing ridiculous things at times. Sometimes I talk to myself a lot and try to motivate myself when I’m too laidback. At other times I just try to relax, cracking a joke to someone out in the field. Rather than standing around and doing nothing I try to do something on the ground. I want to be involved in the game at all times.”But perhaps it’s just the way of performers. When you put them on stage and the curtain rises, they’re one personality – confident, charming, expressive. And off it they’re no different from you and I; relaxed, leading seemingly normal lives. Gayle is a bit like that. On one day he can be the life of the party, garrulous, extroverted, cracking jokes, dancing like a fiend, and on another he can just be seated quietly at the bar, nursing a drink, barely saying a word to anyone. It’s much the same with his batting.For bowlers, the real question to ask is not whether Gayle is in form or not. It’s not whether the pitch suits him or not. It’s just a question of which Christopher Henry Gayle has turned up to the pitch. On the day it was not the quiet one, blocking or dropping anchor. The very first ball from Shaun Pollock – who was coming off figures of 7-0-20-2 in South Africa’s demolition of Pakistan – was flat-batted back past the bowler for a boundary. The next ball was played even better, with total control and a straight bat, and the result was the same.There was some suggestion that Gayle found Pollock’s pace agreeable. If that was the case he certainly didn’t mind the extra zip of Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel. A clip through midwicket off Nel, an audacious slap over midwicket off Nel, and Graeme Smith was forced to pull his best bowlers out of the attack. Smith brought himself on, and with Jacques Kallis, began to restore some order, but Gayle quickly disabused them of such notions, reverse-sweeping Smith to the point fence. The fours came at a steady clip, but it was the sixes that really drove home the point. One each off Pollock and Kallis showed intent, but it was a blow against Robin Peterson, full stride down the pitch, massive heave of the bat, which wasn’t even especially well timed yet sailed high over long-on, that signaled it was Gayle’s day.But those who dismiss him as being unpredictable or unreliable should see that it has not merely been his day, it’s been his tournament, and his year. Gayle has scored 434 runs in this tournament, with three centuries, and is far and away the topscorer, with a game still to play. When he scored 10 on the day, he’d brought up 1000 runs for the calendar year, at an average of over 40.

Two days before the semi-final, Gayle had chatted to the media after a practice session. “I made some adjustments out in the middle, and it is working for me,” he said of his batting and recent success. “There is a lot of difference in my batting now, I am just trying to play straight. When I get a start, I try to capitalise on it and not give it away.” And he didn’t give it away, unbeaten on 130 as the winning runs were drilled down the ground and West Indies cantered to victory with six wickets and as many overs to spare.The Australians, who are already in the final, will remember Gayle well. In their encounter earlier in the tournament the normally chilled out Gayle was all keyed up, and some might say it was his constant chirping and encouragement that lifted the team and broke a crucial partnership. Brian Lara thought there might be more in store for the Australians in the big final. And Lara thought Gayle, who has scored heavily all tournament, will want to make a mark in the biggest game of them all. “It’s a brand new game,” said Lara. “We have requirements of our openers and Chris has fulfilled them in the tournament. I’m almost sure that he doesn’t want to leave centre-stage to anyone on the final. He’ll be very keen to get out there and replicate what he did today.”Ask Gayle what he’d make of it if he was sitting out watching himself bat, and the answer rolls of with no hesitation. “I don’t need to watch myself. I know what I am already – flamboyant,” he said. “But one thing I can tell you, if I were to watch myself, it’s going to be pretty, definitely. It’s got to be pretty.” When he bats as he did today, even the opposition, despite the hiding they’re receiving, have got to take out a moment and admire Gayle for his strokeplay.

It’s a tremendous loss to Indian cricket. Hanumant was one of the finest gentlemen I have met. He was talented enough to have gone on to lead the country but things didn’t go his way at all. He was a very good reader of the game, one of the shrewdest minds I have encountered. He was a wonderful mentor and fine coach.My fondest memory of him was during my Test debut in Kolkata. It was the game against West Indies when the stand was burnt down. There was tear gas being sprayed and I couldn’t see anything. Amid all that commotion I was trying to search for my shoes and blazer. It was Hanumant who came to me, found my things and guided me to safety. He always thought of others before thinking of himself.He was a very close friend of mine. It’s a sad day for Indian cricket. He was extremely knowledgeable and an excellent coach. He was also a man of multi-faceted talents – he was a good match-referee, director of the National Cricket Academy. I fondly remember our tour to England in 1967 and it was when I realised how well he analysed cricket. I haven’t come across someone who could analyse cricket so well. He also made batting look very easy.It’s very sad that such a thing should happen within two months of him getting ill. He was a close friend. Naturally a great loss as far as cricket is concerned. He was a brilliant player in his days and was doing his bit for Indian cricket by coaching youngsters. He was not afraid to take tough decisions and was a hugely respected coach.I have lost one my very best friends in Hanumant Singh. I played with him for many years for the State Bank team, along with Baloo Gupte, Sharad Diwadkar, Budhi Kunderan … and I’m the only one of the five left now.The main thing about Hanumant was that he was a damn good batsman off the back foot. It is very rare to find someone in India who is good off the back foot, generally all are front-foot players. We’ve shared some big partnerships for State Bank, and some great memories as well. He was a bit of an introvert, but a wonderful guy and a team man.It’s amazing that his India career was curtailed by that so-called injury. Otherwise I have no doubt he would have gone on to score plenty of runs for India. Even after that he was absolutely and completely devoted to the game. For him it was just cricket, cricket, cricket, in whatever role he played.The proof of his being a good coach is that one of his wards is now playing for England, in place of Marcus Trescothick – Ed Joyce used to come here to Mumbai for coaching at the World Cricket Academy.

Uttar Pradesh’s inability to knock off the 129 runs they were set in 25 overs in their previous match against Tamil Nadu means this match is all about the coming together of three players who surely believe they should be in South Africa – Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina – and two others, RP Singh, and Piyush Chawla, who also have Team India aspirations. As it turned out, UP lost wickets in a hurry against Tamil Nadu, settled for a draw, got two points where they could have got five, and are at the bottom of Group A. Baroda are at the top. It is not mathematically impossible for UP to make it to the semi-finals but requires a miracle bigger than they had enacted last year – they had four points in four matches and won everything from then on to become champions; this year they have four points from five matches.And so the next four days will be largely about the five India cricketers.For Pathan, Kaif, and Raina the wheel seems to have turned a full circle. A year ago they promised so much; Pathan was going through a dream run, unable to do anything wrong and getting that hat-trick in Karachi. Kaif and Raina, out of the Test side, were busy winning UP their first Ranji title and, in so doing, strengthening their places in the one-day side and staking a claims for Tests too. Today, they’re wondering how to get back to the team.Pathan has become the first Indian player to have been sent back home midway during a series. Kaif and Raina failed so miserably in South Africa that, instead of pushing towards Test selections, they were dropped in favour of Dinesh Mongia and Dinesh Kartik.With the World Cup probables slated to be announced on January 12, this match becomes all the more important for Singh and Chawla. Pathan, Kaif, and Raina should be able to make it to the list of World Cup probables but this match, for them, could be a trial for the selection for two four-match series against Sri Lanka and West Indies, which in turn could serve as a trial for the final World Cup selections. The two series will be the last cricket India play before setting off for the West Indies.For Pathan this match could mark the start of a long road back. For Raina and Kaif, this could be a major bend on the road. They have had a mixed return to the Ranji Trophy. While Raina started with a duck on a difficult Kanpur surface, Kaif got 91 to bail his team out. UP lost that match narrowly to Karnataka. Kaif got a pair in the next game and Raina failed to do anything special as UP lost by an innings to Haryana. Then came the game against Tamil Nadu where Raina got a timely hundred and Kaif 88, offering the hope that they’d recovered their form. Having failed to finish two games they could have won, they will need to raise their game considerably to convince anyone that they’re serious contenders.Pathan looked quite relaxed at the practice sessions and, if one can hazard a guess, relieved at being away from all the attention and comfortable in the company of old friends and team-mates. The last time he was called Irfan Pathan junior was in November 2003, and he would hope this would be a fruitful return to his home side.After a light warm-up with a game with Frisbees and some exercise, he took aside Pinal Shah, Baroda wicketkeeper, and bowled on the pitch adjacent to the one to be used for the match, which had a look of green on it but experts around feel it should turn out to be a good batting track after a few hours of sun on it. Then after some catching practice, he had another long dig at the nets, both with the bat and the ball.The UP team went about their nets in a typically random manner. Kaif was among the first to reach the ground and padded up right away. This is the first time Kaif and Pathan will go head-to-head since they won their India caps and they prepared for the duel with a lunch at Pathan’s place yesterday. Two friends are looking at the same destination, having taken different roads that intersect tomorrow. Unfortunately for UP, as far as this year’s Ranji Trophy is concerned they on the exit lane.

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Captain Sylvester Joseph and Tonito Willett missed out on centuries as Leeward Islands and Jamaica remained locked in a tense battle, after honours were evenly shared on the second day of their first-round Carib Beer Series match at St Mary’s Park in St Kitts.Joseph failed to add to his overnight 97 while Willett was dismissed for 89 as Leewards were bowled out for 396, after resuming at 291 for 4. At the close, Jamaica had reached 165 for 3, with Brenton Parchment stroking 51.Joseph, who batted soundly on Thursday to steady the innings, survived just 12 balls on Friday before being caught at square leg by Tamar Lambert, attempting to pull a short ball from fast bowler Jerome Taylor with the score on 297. Willett unbeaten on 43 overnight, again batted enterprisingly as he held the innings together after Joseph’s dismissal.He failed to find a steady partner, however, as wickets tumbled around him. Taylor, who finished with 3 for 69, produced a sharp, lifting delivery to Omari Banks which the batsman fended to Parchment at short square leg, to leave Leewards 314 for 6.Jermaine Lawson, Jamaica’s best bowler with 4 for 72, took care of Jason Williams for ten with a slower delivery, and Willett’s knock finally ended when he edged a faster ball from offspinner Samuels to wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh. He batted just under four hours, faced 173 balls, striking 11 fours.Jamaica quickly dispatched the two remaining Leewards wickets and hastily started their pursuit of first-innings points, with Chris Gayle and Parchment adding 70 for the first wicket. Gayle was bowled by the first delivery after tea when he played over a pitched up delivery from Adam Sanford.Samuels was brilliantly taken one-handed by Banks at second slip off Carl Simon for 34 with the score on 127, and with no addition to the score Parchment was taken at silly mid-off off Banks. Captain Wavell Hinds was unbeaten on 30 at the close.
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Barbados are behind the eight-ball for the moment. A keen-battle for first innings honours was slightly in favour of Trinidad and Tobago at the half-way stage of their opening round Carib Beer Series match yesterday. When stumps were drawn on the second day at the North Stars Club ground, Barbados were trailing Trinidad and Tobago by 53 runs with only two wickets intact.Had it not been for the resolute Floyd Reifer, the situation might have been worse. It was pleasing to see the diligence and application from Reifer, especially after a lean season last year. There wasn’t a flurry of exciting strokes, but you saw the value of watchful occupation of the crease. If some of his teammates could take a leaf out of his book, it would serve them well for the remainder of the season.Reifer’s unbeaten 54 off 212 balls stretched almost four-and-a-half hours and contained seven boundaries. He left countless balls outside the off stump, defended a whole lot that were on the wicket, nudged the ball around and spanked some of the bad balls to the fence. A lot rests on his shoulders if Barbados are to get close to Trinidad and Tobago’s total.Dale Richards, polished and purposeful, and Dwayne Smith, exciting and selective, wasted the benefit of promising starts by giving away their wickets on the approach of an interval. Richards was especially strong when driving through the off-side but failed to capitalise on a sharp chance he offered low to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. Seven minutes short of the first refreshment break of the day and two shy of a half-century, Richards should have done better with a long-hop from offspinner Amit Jaggernauth which he pulled to the man running in from deep midwicket.Smith sent a buzz around the ground with a wonderful straight drive off Mervyn Dillon and then batted with increasing responsibility for the better part of an hour-and-a-half. The time he has spent working with the legendary Seymour Nurse, it seemed, was paying off.Ten minutes before tea, Smith picked up the medium-pace of Bravo and deposited him down the throat of deep midwicket after making 38. It was a waste of a wicket. Kevin Stoute is the darling among local fans at the moment and he immediately created a favourable impression upon his arrival. He played a few attractive strokes and looked at ease on the way to his 24 in front of another good crowd.Stoute surely shouldn’t be batting as low as No. 8, but he didn’t let it bother him. There were occasions when he appeared not to be sure which way the ball was turning when he was facing up Dave Mohammed’s chinamen. He survived that uncertain period before falling to an edged catch at gully in the second over with the new ball.If the final line-up Barbados put out on Thursday raised a few eyebrows, there was even more debate about the batting order yesterday. Patrick Browne is a wicketkeepe- batsman and capable of handling himself in front of the stumps, but in a team packed with a plethora of specialist batsmen, No. 3 is not the place for Browne.He batted soundly for an hour- and-a-half before falling to an outstanding one-handed catch at forward short-leg by Jason Mohammed. Browne’s elevation pushed promising rookies Kirk Edwards and Stoute down to No. 7 and 8 and more significantly, denied Barbados of an experienced head at a critical position.Either the captain Ryan Hinds or Reifer or possibly Smith should be given the responsibility of No 3. In a tight battle for first innings, you can hardly afford two run outs. Both Hinds and Tino Best fell by that route, but neither could be faulted.The two dismissals involved Reifer, but he could not be targeted either. On both occasions, Reifer slipped in the process of running, forcing his partners to try to regain their ground at the opposite end.
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Early morning rain and another sharp shower during the tea break condemned the second day of the first round Carib Beer Series match between the Windward Islands and Guyana to just 40 minutes action.In the 10.3 overs allowed at the Tanteen cricket ground, the Windward Islands moved to 185 for 6, continuing from their overnight 163 for 5. A soggy outfield delayed the start of play until 2:30 pm and Windwards quickly lost danger man Junior Murray in the third over of the day for 44.Murray, unbeaten on 38 overnight, edged offspinner Narsingh Deonarine to wicketkeeper Derwin Christian to miss out on his 31st regional first class half-century, with the score on 170 for 6. Captain Rawl Lewis, 10 not out, and Liam Sebastian, unbeaten on 3, were together when rain ended play prematurely.

ScorecardA late attack from Adam Crosthwaite followed by Mick Lewis’ excellent bowling earned Victoria their second consecutive Twenty20 title as they beat Tasmania at the MCG. In front of a mammoth crowd of close to 30,000, Crosthwaite turned Victoria’s lacklustre opening into a respectable 6 for 160, enough to worry several Tasmania batsmen into throwing their wickets away in the chase.The bowlers delivered the victory and kept the Bushrangers’ unbeaten Twenty20 record going. Lewis turned the match in Victoria’s favour in the 11th over when he claimed two wickets in two balls. Tasmania were 3 for 90 and were set to overcome the target when Lewis had George Bailey caught at midwicket for 9 and Adam Polkinghorne caught at third man attempting a glided six.The part-time spinners Brad Hodge and David Hussey then ripped through their overs quickly and tightly, and when Dane Anderson (40) misjudged an attempted slog to long on, the Tigers were 6 for 114. The required run-rate escaped from the visitors and the 18 they needed from the final two overs was too much. Anderson and Daniel Marsh had Tasmania on top at 2 for 76 in the ninth over but it was Lewis who also broke that partnership when he had Marsh caught at deep midwicket.The contest had looked like a one-sided affair as the Tasmania bowlers kept the runs down and the wickets falling early in Victoria’s innings. Brendan Drew and Damien Wright put the ball on a good length in the opening stages and Hodge, Aiden Blizzard and Rob Quiney all fell cheaply to skied catches, trying to lift the run-rate. When Luke Butterworth and Polkinghorne began landing yorkers the frustration grew for Victoria, who were in big trouble at 6 for 92 from 14 overs.But Crosthwaite and Jon Moss turned things around in the 17th over, taking 20 off Marsh, including a six each. Crosthwaite used his feet to the fast and slow bowlers and his late blitz featured consecutive sixes off Damien Wright, one over cover and an even better one over point. His 68-run partnership with Moss took only 36 balls; Crosthwaite remained unbeaten on 52 and Moss on 20.Marsh, the Tasmania captain, said the game got away from his team when Hussey and Hodge tightened the screws. “The spinners came on and we just didn’t deal with them,” Marsh said. “They tied us up and we lost a few wickets in that period. It’s something we’ve been working on, playing spin and trying to rotate the strike and it just didn’t work for us.”Victoria were the only side to win batting second this season and Hodge said winning the toss in the final had been a huge advantage. “It’s just a difficult game to always keep on top of the run-rate,” he said. “You think that eight or nine an over is not difficult but it is. We [in Australia] haven’t quite grasped the concept of chasing successfully but over in England it’s used as quite a good method.”