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The hotly contested Sunfoil Series reaches the final round with all six teams still in with a chance and several players hoping to impress the selectors

Firdose Moonda08-Feb-2017For the first time in the franchise era, which began 13 summers ago, all six teams are in with a chance of winning the first-class title on the final weekend. Less than 16 points separate the table-topping Titans from the last-placed Warriors in the Sunfoil series, which means that not only is every match a must-win for both sides but they could also be left relying on other results.None of the sides has managed more than three wins, which speaks to the competitiveness of the competition. According to CSA convener of selectors, Linda Zondi, the almighty scrap at the end is a sign of how high the standards have been.”It’s a clear indication of the strength of our system. Players understand how to perform at a certain level, how to respond under pressure and how to win,” Zondi told ESPNcricinfo. “That means when we pick them at international level, they are able to make the step up. Players are backing their skills and we are very excited about what’s to come.”Zondi and his three other selectors – Hussein Manack, Errol Stewart and Lux Qoboshiyana – watch between 30 and 40 days of domestic cricket a season each to keep a close eye on proceedings, closer even than for some in the national set-up.South Africa’s first-class competition is not televised, which means anyone who is not the at the ground, including Test captain Faf du Plessis, relies on live scoring on the internet to get an idea of performances. With nine Tests in the next eight months before the next first-class competition, it is especially important for du Plessis to see depth.”Now and then I check on Cricinfo for some scores and who is doing well. It’s nice to see that everyone is in the running,” du Plessis said. “Obviously, there are one or two places that are still up for grabs in the Test team so it’s important to see who is on form. I check especially on that. We have really important Test series coming up and there are a few spots up for grabs so it’s just making sure those guys do what they need to do to.”Duanne Olivier has already claimed one of those places, when he was rewarded with a mid-season call-up to the Test squad to play Sri Lanka in Johannesburg following revelations Kyle Abbott had signed a Kolpak deal. Olivier was top of the wicket-takers’ list at the time, with 28 scalps at 21.60, and has since maintained that spot despite missing two franchise matches. He now has 46 wickets at 18.80, 16 ahead of his nearest competitor.That should be enough to earn Olivier a spot on the upcoming Test tours of New Zealand and England, but he is not the only player in action this weekend who could be on those trips.With AB de Villiers ruling himself out of Test cricket until at least the India series in December, South Africa will be looking for a reserve gloveman and two players have put up their hands. Knights’ wicketkeeper Rudi Second, who also lies fifth on the batting charts, and Lions’ Mangaliso Mosehle, who made his T20 debut last month, will both be looked at. South Africa have identified Theunis de Bruyn (fourth on the run-scorers’ list) as the reserve Test batsman but the selectors will also be interested in the progress of Dolphins’ pair Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who leads the charts, and Khaya Zondo, who is in third.But over the next four days, individual efforts will pale in comparison to the spectacle that will be a six-team shootout. Each franchise will be eyeing ten points for victory but, with further bonuses for batting and bowling, calculators could be required. The action takes place in Benoni (Titans v Warriors), Johannesburg (Lions v Knights) and Durban (Cobras v Dolphins) and deserves for there to be more people than just Zondi and co. watching.What each team needs to do to win: (Courtesy of CSA statistician Andrew Samson)Titans: Must beat Warriors and score within 119 runs of what Knights score in the first 100 overs of their first innings, if Knights also win.Knights: Must beat Lions and score at least 120 more than Titans score in the first 100 overs of their first innings, if Titans also win.Cobras: Must beat Dolphins and hope Knights, Titans and Lions fail to win – but even then it is not in their hands. They must hope Titans don’t score at least 57 more than Cobras make in the first 100 overs of their first innings; or Knights don’t score at least 176 more. Cobras can still take the title if Lions win, as long as Lions score no more than 122 more than Cobras in the first 100 overs of their first innings.Dolphins: Must beat Cobras, and score at least 54 more than Cobras in the first 100 overs of their first innings, and hope Knights, Titans and Lions fail to win – but, again, that still does not guarantee them the title. They must hope Titans don’t score at least 4 more than Dolphins score in the first 100 overs of their first innings; or Knights don’t score at least 123 more. If Lions win, Dolphins need them to score no more than 67 more than Dolphins score in the first 100 overs of their first innings in order to win the trophy.Lions: Must beat Knights and hope Dolphins, Cobras and Titans all fail to win and that Titans don’t score within 66 of what Lions score in the first 100 overs of their first innings and that Knights don’t score at least 55 more than Lions in the first 100 overs of their first innings.Warriors: Must beat Titans and score at least 299 more than Titans score in the first 100 overs of their first innings and hope the other two games end in draws and Knights don’t score at least 180 more than Warriors score in the first 100 overs of their first innings.

Despite impressive displays from a host of other spinners in the BBL, the quality of Cameron Boyce’s wickets keeps him in contention for a slot in Australia’s World T20 squad

Will Macpherson11-Jan-2016The Big Bash League, more than ever before, is ripe for a spot of national-selection hysteria.There is a World T20 just months away. The competition is live on a channel that everyone in Australia with a TV has access to, and in front of vast crowds at stadiums almost everyone can afford to visit. With just two overseas players per team, every side is packed with young Australians. And, almost comically, there’s a national selector sat in the commentary box, spending his summer evenings being goaded by his colleagues into divulging state secrets, and revealing who sits where in the increasingly congested pecking order. Mark Waugh, it is fair to say, is not always a master of keeping his cards close to his chest.Each game heralds a different dish of the day. One brief passage of play is enough to catapult one player into social media’s must-pick territory – just ask Travis Head – and another out of the reckoning – see Sean Abbott. The stocks of Alex Ross and his various sweeps and AJ Tye and his eight slower balls have risen rapidly and, surely, if the BBL is to mean anything, then Chris Lynn is a lock. Yet Australia’s World T20 picture is complicated by its Test players, like Steven Smith and David Warner, who operate beyond the BBL – the latter is not even attached to a club – but are bound to be involved. In one of his more candid moments, Waugh admitted the squad was perhaps “three-quarters”; a conservative estimate would say there are 30 players jostling for position to join Smith, Warner and the rest on the flight to India.It was Kevin Pietersen who wisely tweeted last week: “So much chat about how many Aussie players could be in T20 WC squad… remember it’s in India. You have to be able to play spin!” While such a comment will hearten Shane Watson and his fine IPL record, it is also worth flipping; Australia will have to be able to bowl spin, too.Spin has been a conspicuous feature of this year’s BBL, with fingerspin regularly used to stall starts in the Powerplay, and wristspin employed to stymie progress later in the innings. Adil Rashid, at the time of writing, sits atop the wicket-takers’ list, and impressive performances, at various stages, have come from Michael Beer, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon and, of course, the ageless Brag Hogg. Indeed it only took two deliveries from the Brisbane Heat leggie Mitch Swepson on debut to set tongues – and Shane Warne’s tweeting fingers – wagging. Lyon is expected to travel to India, and Glenn Maxwell will bowl his part-timers. But Australia will need one more spinner.Into this hazy equation steps Cameron Boyce.Between World Cups, T20 squads are disparate, brief, often experimental things, so you would be forgiven for forgetting that Boyce not only played in Australia’s last T20, against England in Cardiff in August, but that he has ghosted in to become something of a fixture, playing Australia’s last five T20s, every single one since the last World T20 two years ago. His most recent effort – when he travelled all the way to the UK to bowl a single over, which Moeen Ali spanked for 19 – notwithstanding, he has impressed.This season, Hobart Hurricanes have been plagued by inconsistency, but Boyce has continually impressed. He has 11 wickets at 19 each, and while his economy rate (8.28) took a battering in the solitary game he failed to take a wicket in, when the Melbourne Stars romped to victory, Tim Paine has always had a strike bowler to call upon in the middle overs. Boyce has only bowled one over in the Powerplay, and hasn’t figured beyond the 17th over.”I really look to keep things simple and attack in the middle of the innings,” Boyce tells ESPNcricinfo. “I’m always thinking about how I can take my next wicket and I’m an attacking option. I try to get at the stumps and spin the ball as hard as I can.”I love the expectation on me to take wickets. I’m an attacking spinner and doing what I do you know that the batters are gonna come after you and even in the toughest conditions when we’re under the pump I don’t like to go into my shell or die wondering.”Boyce puts his fine campaign down to his off-season; no, not that 33,000 km round trip to England, but Australia A’s tour of India, where he further got to grips with the conditions he could experience in the World T20, as well as playing two 50-over triangular games, taking five wickets at 16. “Leading into that tour,” he says, “I didn’t feel I was bowling that well, but it was good to get over there and just get through some work and get in some nice hard training.”I’ve been over there [India] a few times now and I reckon as a bowler you can come to expect a bit too much of yourself because people associate Indian wickets with spinners and expect them to take wickets. I did learn a lot from that, not only just from my bowling, but also from how a team and a balanced attack works and about how I can contribute best.”A standout aspect of Boyce’s BBL has been the quality of players he has dismissed and the match-turning spells he bowled in each of Hurricanes’ three victories. In the second fixture against Brisbane Heat, he dismissed Lynn (on 101) to seal the game, and against Sydney Thunder, his 2 for 24, including the wicket of Andre Russell, put the brakes on what had looked a comfortable chase. The ability to dismiss the competition’s best players at key moments should not be underestimated; Chris Gayle and Aaron Finch were running amok, smashing him for three boundaries, but he responded with both their wickets. Brad Haddin, Nic Maddinson and Adam Voges are also among his 11 scalps.”I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous when someone like Gayle is getting after me!” he laughs. “I turned to George [Bailey], and he said ‘he’s going to try to hit you straight’, so I just pulled my length back just a tiny bit, spun it as hard as possible, so if he was going to go straight, he’d have to hit it absolutely perfectly.”Moments later, Boyce says he’d be “lying” if he said he didn’t have half an eye on another trip to India. “I love bowling to these guys. To be able to test yourself against blokes like this is awesome and the BBL has proved it’s a great place for that. Hopefully it’s something I’m doing more in the near future.”

A stats review at the end of the third ODI between South Africa and Zimbabwe at Bulawayo

Bishen Jeswant21-Aug-20140 Number of ODIs that Zimbabwe have won during a bilateral ODI series against South Africa. There have been eight bilateral ODI series between these teams. South Africa have won all 22 matches. Zimbabwe have only ever beaten South Africa twice in ODIs, during the 1999 World Cup and during a Triangular Tournament in 2000, also involving England.0 Number of South African batsmen to have been run-out for a duck on debut before today. Rilee Rossouw became the first South Africa batsman to suffer this fate, when he was run-out by a Malcolm Waller direct hit off the first ball that he faced in ODI cricket. There have been 24 batsmen in all ODI cricket who have been run-out for a duck on debut. He is the tenth batsman to be dismissed run-out on ODI debut after facing only one ball.79 Number of consecutive ODIs that Brendon Taylor had played for Zimbabwe before being dropped for the third ODI of this series. The first of these 79 ODIs goes back to August 2009. The record for the most consecutive ODIs by a player is held by Sachin Tendulkar who played 185 consecutive ODIs for India, while Andy Flower with 172 straight games for Zimbabwe is next.15 Number of centuries that Hashim Amla has scored in ODI cricket, including his 122 in the first ODI of the series. He is now the fastest to 15 ODI centuries, having got there in 86 innings, breaking Virat Kohli’s record of 106. Incidentally, Kohli also reached the 15-century mark with a hundred against Zimbabwe, in July 2013.54.5 Percentage of team runs scored by Elton Chigumbura during his innings of 90, out of Zimbabwe’s total of 165, in the third ODI. This is the second highest percentage contribution to the team’s total by a Zimbabwean batsmen in an ODI innings where the team has been bowled out. The record is held by Dave Houghton, who scored 142, or 59.4% of Zimbabwe’s 239 against New Zealand at Hyderabad during the 1987 World Cup. Both these solo efforts came in losses.21 Number of innings that Quinton de Kock needed to reach 1000 ODI runs, getting there during the second ODI of this series. This is the joint fastest to 1000 runs by any batsman in ODI cricket. Viv Richards, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen also needed only 21 innings each to reach 1000 ODI runs. The next fastest South African is Hashim Amla, who got to the milestone in 24 ODI innings.1 Number of times that a non-keeper has won the Man-of-the-Series award in bilateral series between these two countries. Herschelle Gibbs won it once but the other Man-of-the-Series award winners are AB de Villiers (2), Mark Boucher (1), Taibu (1) and now de Kock.16 Number of different players that Zimbabwe used during the ODI series. This is the most players that Zimbabwe have used in a bilateral ODI series against South Africa. Including South Africans, there were 30 players in this series, which is also the highest for an ODI series between these teams.

James Anderson has become the bowler to take Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket most times in Tests. Here we plot Anderson’s career by looking back at Sachin’s nine lives

George Dobell in Nagpur14-Dec-2012One of the great fallacies of cricket is that each wicket is given the same worth in the record books. But while the dismissal of Chris Martin may rate the same as that of Don Bradman at first glance, players will always take more satisfaction in performing well against the best opposition.James Anderson has now dismissed Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in the history of the game, nine times in Test cricket. Nobody has taken his wicket more and India have never won a Test in which Anderson has dismissed Tendulkar. Perhaps Anderson’s record is somewhat misleading, as Tendulkar had been a highly successful international player for nearly 20 years before he came up against Anderson and may already have been in decline. He remained a fine player, though, and a prized wicket for any bowler.”I know I have a decent record getting Sachin out,” Anderson says in his recently published autobiography, , “but the funny thing is I really do not like bowling at him.”Here we tell the story of Anderson’s career through the wickets of Tendulkar.Dismissal 1: Mumbai, March 2006
Anderson had the best of the encounter when the two first met in Test cricket. Tendulkar, driving away from his body, edged to Geraint Jones behind the stumps for just 1 in India’s first innings and England went on to win the match – their first Test win in India since 1985 – by 212 runs. It was Anderson’s first Test in more than a year. While he had made an excellent impression as a 20-year-old in 2003 – he took a five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe on debut and another against South Africa later in the summer – he had lost his way amid efforts by England’s bowling coach Troy Cooley to remodel his action. He did not play another Test until November, either, as the attempt to bowl with an action he found unnatural resulted in him being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back.Dismissal 2: Lord’s, July 2007
The resignation of Duncan Fletcher as England coach in April 2007 left England in the hands of Peter Moores and the captain, Michael Vaughan. Anderson had abandoned attempts to remodel his action and was grooving his old one in county cricket. He returned at Lord’s against India and the wicket of Tendulkar, playing slightly across a full, inswinging delivery, was one of five victims in the first innings as he swung the ball both ways at a lively pace. It was quite a comeback – he learned later it was the first time that a bowler had dismissed Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in the same innings. But it could not help England win the Test, as rain helped India cling on with nine wickets down nearly 100 short of their target,Dismissals 3 and 4: The Oval, August 2007
Anderson dismissed Tendulkar in both innings, but it was not enough to prevent a drawn game which saw India clinch the series 1-0. In the first innings Tendulkar, batting beautifully on 82, was caught at first slip as he pushed at one outside off stump. In the second innings he was bowled by one that nipped back and took his inside edge on its way on to the stumps. By now Anderson, given greater responsibility by Moores, was given the new ball and choice of ends and was developing into the leader of the England attack. Anderson writes in his autobiography: “Some people claimed that Tendulkar’s eyes had gone but that was absolute nonsense.”Dismissal 5: Mohali, December 2008
England’s Test series against India was briefly delayed, and almost cancelled after terrorist attacks on Mumbai but it went ahead under heavy security. “On game days we would set off at ridiculous o’clock from our hotel in Chandigarh and during that hour-long trek we would not be able to see ten yards in front of our faces, it was that foggy,” Anderson records in his autobiography. In New Zealand at the start of the year, he had been preferred to the likes of Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison as Moores made it clear he was the man he saw as the future of England’s Test bowling attack. He dismissed Tendulkar, caught at gully, in the drawn Test. But India won the two-match series 1-0, with Tendulkar having produced a vintage century at Chennai to help his side chase down 387 to win. A few days later, the rebellion of Kevin Pietersen, then England’s captain, against Moores was household news, leading to both men losing their jobs.Anderson celebrates his dismissal of Tendulkar in his last Test innings at Lord’s•Getty ImagesDismissal 6: Lord’s, July 2011
With Anderson having played a key part in England winning the Ashes at home and abroad, he was now established as one of the world’s leading swing bowlers. Here he dismissed Tendulkar in the second innings for 12 with another that nipped back and beat a tentative forward prod as part of a five-wicket haul that helped England take a lead in the four-match series they would go on to win 4-0. This dismissal may remain particularly painful to Tendulkar. It was his last innings at Lord’s and ended his hopes of ever getting on to the honours board at the ground. Anderson rose to No. 2 on the official ICC rankings of Test bowlers after the game, behind only Dale Steyn. It is Anderson’s highest position to date.Dismissal 7: Trent Bridge, August 2011Tendulkar, batting with great determination on 56 and holding together the increasingly desperate India innings, was beaten by yet another delivery that nipped back sharply and, leaving the ball, was dismissed lbw. England ended the series as the No. 1-ranked Test side with Anderson gaining increasing recognition for his ability to swing the ball both ways at will, either with conventional swing or with reverse. His ability to hide the ball, learned from watching Zaheer Khan in action in India in 2008, rendered it an even more potent weapon with Tendulkar, now a player in decline, among those to struggle to read which way the ball would swing.Dismissal 8: December 2012, Kolkata
Anderson produced one of his most accomplished performances in a memorable England win, generating substantial reverse swing and claiming six wickets in the match on a surface offering little. Tendulkar, having battled to 76 – his highest score in 11 months and 10 Test innings – prodded at a good one and was caught at the wicket. 2012 had not been a great year for Anderson. He had suffered far more than his share of dropped catches as England struggled in the slips and had seen his batting colleagues squander excellent bowling performances, in the UAE in particular. Perhaps there were times, at The Oval against South Africa and in Ahmedabad, where Anderson appeared to have lost a little bit of pace, but he never lost his control and remained as consistent and skilful as ever.Dismissal 9: December 2012, Nagpur
This may have been the wicket that convinced Tendulkar it was time to retire. The ball, keeping low on the slow, uneven surface, cut back sharply and took Tendulkar’s bat on the way into the stumps. It was another fine spell of bowling on a dead pitch offering him little and gave England an excellent chance of sealing a first series win in India since 1984-85. It is surely no coincidence that, since Anderson was elevated to the role of ‘attack leader’ England have broken long winless spells in Australia, risen – albeit briefly – to No. 1 in the Test rankings and have produced their best performance in a series in India in almost three decades. Anderson has been present throughout and, aged 30, currently has the fitness, the skill and the experience to pose problems to any batsman on any surface.

India scored only 23 runs fewer than Australia, taking 43 fewer overs, a scoring rate which has kept the match alive

Sidharth Monga in Mohali03-Oct-2010The backs of the rock-solid chairs at the PCA Stadium don’t move back or forward, else that movement could have been heard when Sachin Tendulkar moved too far across to Marcus North and was out lbw for 98. Tendulkar had played beautifully until then, and the century had seemed inevitable.There were three other knocks in the Indian innings that met a similar fate. Virender Sehwag got a short ball that stopped a touch, Rahul Dravid got a good ball from Doug Bollinger, and Suresh Raina – who looked unstable in the second half of his innings – played around a skidding delivery from Mitchell Johnson. Neither of them was as good or as big an innings as Tendulkar’s, but all three had centuries on offer after having blunted the attack. Had even one of the four men gone on to score a big hundred, India would have batted Australia out of the game.Still, thanks to the pace at which India scored, and thanks to an Australian attack that isn’t quite threatening to take 10 wickets in a day, the late collapse during which India lost five wickets for 24 should not hurt the home side too much. While theoretically all three results are still open, an Indian defeat is only a slim possibility. The only way India can lose now is for Australia to get bowled cheaply, and India to do even worse.Australia, for sure, won’t be too keen to declare too soon, thus giving India most of the final day to survive. The presence of Sehwag in the Indian line-up takes care of such declarations, especially after what he did against England in Chennai in 2008-09. Also, Australia will not be encouraged by how their bowlers hardly created any pressure on India for three sessions.It was possibly this knowledge that prompted India to go for quick runs. They must have felt that they were the side that needed to push for a win. Dravid later said that the pace at which India went had kept the game alive. It was a remarkable approach, too, since they knew VVS Laxman was out for at least the day with back spasms.India scored only 23 runs fewer than Australia, taking 43 fewer overs. It was clear from the in-and-out field set early in the day that Australia were not going to force the pace. They had the runs on the board, and asked India to risk losing wickets going for the quick runs needed for a win. It was a smart approach, and needed high-quality batting to be countered. India took the challenge, and Dravid, Tendulkar and Raina all seized the initiative.Dravid said, though, that India would have loved to totally eliminate the possibility of losing, and force Australia to save the game over four sessions or so. “We had the advantage, and we looked like we were going really well when Sachin and Raina were batting,” he said. “But we lost wickets in a heap. At the same time I wouldn’t say we are behind now. We are on an even keel at this stage. You also got to give credit to the bowlers. [Mitchell] Johnson bowled really well towards the end.”In a strange way, though, this collapse might have given India a slight advantage. Had things gone to plan, India would have tried to bat until the third session of day four, getting a lead of close to 250 and asking Australia to save the game. That would have given Australia a clear approach. Now, they will have to weigh up whether to go for safety first or whether to attack, as a team with a slender lead and with the advantage of bowling last would usually do.As it often happens in Tests where both the teams complete their innings quite close to each other by the end of the third day, the third innings of the match will be crucial here. In their first effort, Australia managed to defend well against spin, with a clear mindset on a fresh pitch. On day four, though, the pitch will be worn out, and there will be options running in the head. If Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan – who “bowled 50 overs on one leg” in the first innings – are at their best, the fourth day will make for some Test cricket.

More readers’ submissions of great series fightbacks

08-Sep-2005

Hirwani’s moment in the sun

West Indies were the undisputed kings of cricket in
the 1980s and thrashed every team with fearsome fast
bowling and explosive batting. However, the West Indian juggernaut was jolted
in its romp in the dustbowls of India in 1987-88.
They had a powerful batting line-up led by
Viv Richards, supported by the likes of Gordon Greenidge,
Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson and Gus Logie, with a
new-look pace attack of Patrick Patterson, Courtney Walsh, Winston Davis and
Winston Benjamin, following the retirement of Joel Garner and Michael Holding
and the unavailability of Malcolm Marshall.Things went according to script in the first Test at
Delhi as West Indies outplayed India
in a low-scoring match on a surprisingly fast wicket.
This was followed by drab draws in the subsequent
Tests at Bombay and Calcutta, with the Indians, led
by Dilip Vengsarkar at the peak of his powers, matching West Indies in batting.The Indian think-tank, realizing
that the only way to tame the mighty Windies was to
have an all-out spin attack, pulled a rabbit out of
the hat when they handed a debut to an unheralded 19-year-old legspinner, Narendra Hirwani, in the last Test at Chennai.Batting first on a square turner, India, boosted by
Kapil Dev’s century, posted a reasonable score of 382.
When West Indies batted, the bespectacled
Hirwani completely bamboozled them with his classical
legspin and made them dance to his tunes while taking
8 for 61, as the mighty West Indians crumbled to 184 all
out, narrowly avoiding the follow-on. More was to
follow after a meek Indian batting display in the
second innings, when Hirwani repeated his first
innings heroics with another 8-wicket haul as India
won by 255 runs and snatched a
series-levelling victory. This was Hirwani’s moment in
the sun as he single-handedly won the Test for India
with 16 wickets on a fairy-tale debut, as
David slayed Goliath.

Caribbean flame

A decade-and-a-half was a very long time for West Indies to have held the crown of world cricket. Australia were now well on their way up from a mid-80’s trough while West Indies, having already surrendered their one-day supremacy through improper succession planning, were beginning to feel the pinch of similar decline in the longer version of the game. High drama was in the air on the eve of this crucial Test series for both teams.The signs of an ebb in the once-unchallenged West Indian cricket was unmistakable, as they squandered their 78-run first-innings lead in the first Test at Brisbane to end up two wickets away from defeat at stumps on the fifth day. In the next match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the then-unofficial Test champions did even worse. They gave the home side a massive 162-run first-innings lead. A young Australian spinner named Shane Warne ensured that the visitors didn’t escape with a draw again on the fifth day. Scoreline 1-0, with three more to go.Sydney was a nightmare revisited for the West Indies. Australia won the toss, batted first and raked up 503. Missing Viv Richards, we all sat up in anticipation of a long-overdue change in the pecking order – and were treated to the unexpected. Young West Indian batsman Brian Lara came out of the shadows of all others with a magical display and a first-ever Test ton of 277 to keep the Caribbean flame of hope burning. Test drawn.A brief interruption to the enthralling series ensued thereafter for the small matter of doing away with the tri-nation one-day international best-of-three finals between these two teams. Looking back, that interruption was anything but insignificant. Dean Jones made Curtly Ambrose remove his wristband mid-spell. This innocuous looking act of Jones had the effect of pelting a stone at the new big bird of fast bowling, setting it off on its greatest flight ever.Ambrose won West Indies the one-day finals, and came back to prise out 10 tough-as-nails Australian wickets in the subsequent fourth Test at Adelaide, which saw his team win by the smallest margin ever – a solitary run. The momentum was suddenly back with the visitors as the West Indian fast bowlers Ambrose, Bishop and Walsh started firing.Ambrose hadn’t had enough yet. He went on to take another nine wickets in the decisive fifth Test at West Indies’ home-away-from-home – Perth. It included a devastating first-innings spell of 7 wickets for 1 run. Having chosen to bat, Australia were all out for 119 and conceded a lead of 203. Ian Bishop performed the last rites with a 6-wicket haul in the second innings as the Australian captain Allan Border completed a pair and his team failed to even make the visitors bat again. The 2-1 scoreline ensured that the West Indians kept the Frank Worrell trophy for a while longer.

Deliverance at Christchurch

The first Test of three had suggested a relatively even series. Centuries to Desmond Haynes, John Wright and Martin Crowe and good wicket hauls to Joel Garner and Richard Hadlee resulted in a drawn match. This seemingly balanced contest was tilted sharply towards West Indies in the second Test at Eden Park. New Zealand was comprehensively outplayed, following on after being bowled out for 157 in the first innings – a score bolstered by the tenth-wicket partnership of 39. West Indies’ first innings total of 418 for 9 was built around a magnificent double-century by Gordon Greenidge. A ten-wicket win to the West Indies only required them to face nine deliveries in their second innings.And so to Christchurch for the third Test and a dramatic turn around in fortunes. In less than 40 overs the tourists were bowled out for 100, boosted by a stand of 25 for the last wicket by Courtney Walsh and Tony Gray. Walsh was the second-highest scorer in the innings – surely a never-to-be repeated feat. Hadlee and Ewen Chatfield shared the wickets with Chatfield bowling unchanged. Even though Hadlee took six wickets Chatfield was the pick of the bowlers, giving Larry Gomes’s outside edge a real work-over. Personally I’ll never forget Gordon Greenidge’s middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground as Chatfield cleaned him out.New Zealand’s 332 for 9 was built around half-centuries by the Crowe brothers and John Bracewell. Martin Snedden then featured with five wickets as the West Indies were bowled out for 264 in their second innings. Only Nos. 10 and 11 failed to get into double figures but 45 was the highest score. Like England in the fourth Ashes Test recently, New Zealand’s batting stuttered in the chase for victory with their supporters on tenterhooks. Five wickets were lost chasing a paltry 33 for victory, but they were the deserved victors. The fiery bowling of Gray, Walsh and Garner could not deny a classic victory. Jeremy Coney’s last Test was a win that was built on a genuine allround team performance rather than individual brilliance.

Lara’s theme

This was a series that was supposed to go 4-0 to Australia.
West Indies had lost 5-0 in South Africa and their
captain Brian Lara was under pressure. On returning home he was
put on probation by being appointed as captain for just the
first two Tests. The first Test was a nightmare as
West Indies were bowled out for 51, then their lowest
Test total, and it happened to be at Lara’s home
ground, Port of Spian, Trinidad.The second Test was at Sabina Park and with six
losses on the trot the pressure was acute on the team – and more so on Lara. Australia made a decent 256 and when West Indies were
reduced to 34 for 4, there were jokes about whether they
would avoid the follow-on. But the genius arose on the
second day of the match, and with support from Jimmy Adams he
batted the whole day to make his third double-hundred. West Indies took the lead and they eventually won by 10 wickets.More drama was to follow in the next Test at the
Kensington Oval in Barbados. Australia made 490 and had
West Indies on 98 for 6 but the fightback then started. West
Indies made 329 and Australia were then bowled out for 146, with Walsh
rising to the occasion. West Indies, needing 308 to win,
started well but then faltered to 105 for 5. It was Lara
again who got them within reasonable
distance but a further collapse took the score to to 248 to 8.
Sixty runs were needed and only Walsh and Ambrose remained to support Lara. The tension grew as Ambrose added 54 with Lara, and with 6 needed Walsh came out to bat, much to the tension of the spectators. He somehow survived, and Lara hit the winning runs, giving West Indies a one-wicket win and a 2-1 lead in the series.

Allrounder smashes maiden ton after coming to crease at 45 for 7

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2023

Worcestershire 118 for 7 (T Price 4-38) trail Gloucestershire 231 (T Price 109, Leach 4-49) by 113 runsTom Price scored his maiden first-class century for Gloucestershire and then took a hat-trick to transform his side’s fortunes after they had plunged to 45 for 7 on the opening day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.The 23-year-old reached three figures off 93 balls with four sixes and 11 fours and shepherded his side to a more respectable 231 all out. He then dismissed Azhar Ali, Jack Haynes and Worcestershire club captain Brett D’Oliveira – all caught behind by keeper James Bracey – to register the second hat-trick of his career.Academy product Price, who had been dismissed for a pair on his debut against Worcestershire in 2020, continued his good start to the season after scoring a half-century and taking six wickets against Glamorgan. He received excellent support from the rest of the lower order including Ajeet Singh Dale who partnered him in a last-wicket stand of 49.Joe Leach maintained his impressive form with a four-wicket haul for the home side.Worcestershire made two changes from the side beaten at Durham – one of them enforced – with keeper Ben Cox and pace bowler Josh Tongue returning. Cox replaced Gareth Roderick, who injured his thumb in training, for only his second Championship appearance in 11 months, while Tongue is being rotated on a match on-match off basis after his career-threatening shoulder problem.