Jadeja is sidelined with a hamstring injury while Rahul suffered pain in his right quadriceps

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-202411:42

Newsroom: How do India replace Jadeja and Rahul?

Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been ruled out of the second Test against England starting on February 2 in Visakhapatnam.Jadeja suffered a hamstring injury on the fourth day of the first Test in Hyderabad, while Rahul complained of pain in his right quadriceps, the BCCI said in a statement. Middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and allrounder Washington Sundar have been added to India’s squad.Related

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• Bumrah reprimanded for physical contact with Pope during Hyderabad Test

Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh, who has 290 first-class wickets at 24.41, has been part of the India Test squad before – he was picked for their tour of Bangladesh in December 2022 – though he is yet to make his debut. He comes into the squad in excellent form, having picked up a second-innings five-wicket haul in India A’s recent innings win over England Lions. That match also included a 160-ball 161 from Sarfaraz, who has been knocking at the selectors’ doors constantly over recent seasons with his prolific first-class returns; he presently averages 69.85, with 14 centuries in 45 games.The absence of Jadeja and Rahul leaves India significantly weakened in their bid to bounce back from their 28-run defeat in the first Test. Apart from the injured pair, they will continue to be without Virat Kohli, who withdrew from the first two Tests for personal reasons.Washington Sundar has scored three fifties in four Test matches•Getty Images

Jadeja, who pulled up in seeming distress after being run out during India’s fourth-innings chase, took 3 for 88 and 2 for 131 in Hyderabad apart from scoring 87 and 2. Rahul made 86 in India’s first innings. While it seems likely that the uncapped Rajat Patidar, who was added to the squad after Kohli’s withdrawal, will take Rahul’s place in India’s middle order in Visakhapatnam, India may find it trickier to replace Jadeja.Since the start of 2016, Jadeja has been one of the foremost allrounders in world cricket, averaging over 40 with the bat and under 25 with the ball over a span of 53 Test matches. Sundar comes closest to being a like-for-like replacement with his ability to bat at No. 6 or 7 and bowl fingerspin, but it remains to be seen if he can take on a bowling workload comparable to that of Jadeja, who sends down an average of nearly 44 overs per home Test. Sundar’s four previous Tests – the last of which came in 2021 – have brought him three fifties and a batting average of 66.25, but only six wickets at an average of 49.83.With India’s preferred XI also containing two other spin-bowling allrounders in R Ashwin and Axar Patel, it is likely India will look to replace Jadeja with a frontline spinner, in which case Kuldeep Yadav, the attacking left-arm wristspinner, is likely to come into the side. Kuldeep has an excellent Test record – 34 wickets at 21.55 – though he has been a sporadic presence in India’s attack thanks to the presence of Jadeja and Ashwin, only playing eight Tests since his debut in 2017. Kuldeep was Player of the Match in his most recent Test appearance, picking up a match haul of 8 for 113 in a 188-run win over Bangladesh in Chattogram in December 2022.

India’s squad for second Test against England

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar.

The Blues stand to make a big profit on the wantaway winger despite the indifferent nature of his spell at Stamford Bridge

We have been waiting some time to witness Chelsea's bewildering new transfer strategy yield some semblance of success, but, all of a sudden, it has started to bear fruit. Fresh from their incredibly young squad claiming a second trophy in as many months, the Blues are set to make a cool profit on one of their expendable wantaways.

Noni Madueke is set to complete a costly £52 million ($70m) transfer across the English capital to fierce rivals Arsenal, and the imminent deal means Chelsea stand to gain more than £20m ($27m) – despite the winger largely flattering to deceive since arriving from PSV for £30.5m ($41m) in January 2023.

This is the new master plan in action, and with tangible success finally being delivered on the pitch, the club's hierarchy will believe that their often baffling approach to the transfer market is now paying off…

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  Big profit for limited return

  The truth is that few Chelsea fans will bat an eyelid at the news of Madueke's imminent departure. It will irk some that he is joining a fierce London rival, but the reality is that he has been far too inconsistent for anyone to quibble with the incoming fee.

  Since joining just two-and-a-half years ago, the winger has demonstrated his potential in fits and spurts, but a return of 20 goals and nine assists in 90 appearances has clearly not been enough to convince the club that they should turn down more than £20m in profit.

  Madueke only really became a regular starter in the second half of last season, with his lack of end product and perceived selfishness in the final third often drawing the ire of Chelsea supporters, with his best performance undoubtedly arriving in the form of a hat-trick against Wolves way back in August last year.

  Arsenal fans don't have a reputation for being the most reasonable, but even so, it speaks volumes that the hashtag '#NoToMadueke' has trended on social media in the lead-up to the transfer being completed, while others have raged against head coach Mikel Arteta.

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  Indiscipline

  While Maresca has largely managed to keep a young, ego-packed squad in check, it's apparent that Madueke's discipline has been an issue behind the scenes, with that contributing significantly to their decision to sell.

  Under Mauricio Pochettino in 2023-24, he was at the centre of an ugly incident after Chelsea were awarded a penalty against Everton, where both he and Nicolas Jackson furiously tried to wrestle the ball away from regular taker Cole Palmer.

  Then, in a now-infamous modern faux pas on the eve of that hat-trick against Wolves last season, Madueke accidentally posted publicly on his Instagram that Wolverhampton was "a sh*t place".

  In December 2024, Maresca dropped the wide man for a game against Aston Villa. The Italian said at the time: "Noni can do much more. He can do much more. The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit and the reason why he was not playing is because I do not like the way he trained. He can be much, much, much better."

  Later that month, Madueke was left out of the matchday squad altogether for the defeat to Fulham, with Maresca citing a "technical decision". He would eventually regain his place as a regular starter, but evidently never quite did enough to make himself untouchable in his manager's eyes and those above him.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  'Nobody told Noni to leave'

  It emerged in early June that Madueke was unexpectedly among a host of players that Chelsea were open to cashing in on this summer, with the feeling behind closed doors that his 'development had stalled', and there soon proved to be no smoke without fire as links to Arsenal gathered steam.

  With the rest of the squad largely settled, disregarding the raft of loanees and outcasts separated from the first team, this was also a rare instance of a core member actually wanting to leave.

  Effectively confirming the winger's imminent move across the capital, Maresca said recently: "Noni is in contact with the new club. I guess he is going to be announced in the next hours.

  "I said in one of the last press conferences, if players want to leave then it is difficult for the club and the manager. Noni decided to leave, nobody told Noni he had to leave. If he is happy, we are happy."

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  The Chelsea model

  This is a deal, then, that clearly made financial, sporting and disciplinary sense for Chelsea, and it is perhaps one of the first signs that a previously baffling transfer strategy… might actually be working?!

  In recent years, Chelsea have moved away from the Roman Abramovich-era policy of spending on big, established names, instead stockpiling some of the finest young talent around as they look to future-proof their squad, resulting in the youngest squad in the Premier League.

  Of course, finances are also a significant motivation, with the wage bill slashed and the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) swerved by amortised contracts stretched over unconventionally long periods (like eight years, in some cases) as the club spreads the costs.

  Flipping unwanted players for a profit is another key aspect of the strategy, which is reflected in the readiness to let go of Madueke – a player who is not indispensable, whose progress the club clearly believes has slowed – and pocket more than £20m. An amortised contract that still has five years left to run also gave them a strong negotiating position.

  Undeniably, there is the possibility that Madueke will explode at the Emirates Stadium and this decision will backfire horribly, but that is a calculated risk Chelsea are willing to take.

Inglis walked in with Western Australia 58 for 4 and added 124 with Short

AAP03-Mar-2024
Josh Inglis came to Western Australia’s rescue with a sparkling century to put his team on track for victory in the Sheffield Shield match against Queensland at the WACA Ground.Chasing a mammoth 448 for victory, Queensland will resume play on the final day at 56 for 1. WA took a 140-run first-innings lead after rolling Queensland for 170 on Saturday. But WA were looking wobbly at 58 for 4 in their second innings on Sunday before Inglis took control. He combined with D’Arcy Short for a 124-run stand to help lift WA to a declaration.WA spinner Corey Rocchiccioli snared Queensland opener Bryce Street for 5, caught at slip, but Angus Lovell and Jack Clayton dug in to make it safely to stumps.Inglis, who scored 47 in WA’s first-innings 310, was happy with how he performed in his first Shield hit-out of the season.”I haven’t played much red-ball cricket, but to come back and have an impact and help the team to be a really good position, I’m happy,” Inglis said. “We’re in a good position. I probably would have liked one or two more [wickets] tonight, but their guys played well.”I think there’s still a bit in it [the wicket]. There’s plenty of divots out there on both sides of the wicket, and plenty of bounce and spin for Rocchiccioli as well. I think if we put the ball in good areas tomorrow, we’ll get another nine chances.”WA’s top four put up little resistance as Cameron Bancroft, Sam Whiteman, Jayden Goodwin and Hilton Cartwright fell before the 25-over mark.Cartwright batted despite injuring a finger during the team’s warm-up a day earlier. It’s not yet known how serious the injury is.WA tailenders Joel Paris and Cameron Gannon added some handy late runs to ably support Inglis, who cracked 17 fours and one six.WA will rise to second on the ladder if they can beat Queensland and Victoria are defeated by Tasmania. Victoria enter the final day of their match in Tasmania needing 69 more runs for victory but with only two wickets in hand.Queensland, fifth on the ladder, haven’t given up hope of pulling off what would be a famous victory against WA.”I think the wicket’s in a pretty good spot,” Jimmy Peirson said. “There’s a little bit there when you hit the right area. But when the ball gets softer, we saw today with the way Ingo batted, you can get in there and score runs. It’s left us a big total to chase down, but stranger things have happened.”

Marcus Rashford is looking forward to working with Lamine Yamal at Barcelona, a player that he considers to be one of “the best” in the world.

England international has completed loan moveWill link up with teenage wonderkid in CatalunyaLooking forward to new challenge in La LigaFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Having been frozen out at Manchester United, Old Trafford academy graduate Rashford is preparing himself for another new challenge. He spent the second half of the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Aston Villa – rediscovering his spark there before suffering an unfortunate injury.

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Barca have taken England international Rashford on a season-long loan that includes a purchase option for the summer of 2026. The 27-year-old forward is determined to prove his worth.

WHAT RASHFORD SAID

Playing alongside teenage wonderkid Yamal should aid that cause, with Rashford saying of the exciting 18-year-old – who is already being tipped to win multiple Ballons d’Or: “He is a very special talent, and for me, I feel definitely last season, he is one of the leading players in the world, if not the best.

“Everyone wants to play with the best, and there is a lot of talent in this squad. I am happy and eager to play with them on the pitch. Maybe I can help them, and for sure, they can help me. It is going to be exciting.”

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Rashford added on the qualities that he will bring to Hansi Flick’s La Liga title-winning squad in Catalunya: “I know myself, one of my best skills is to adapt and change to circumstances on the pitch, especially in games, I don’t have any fears about this. In time, it will be a good match.

“I am eager to make it happen as soon as possible, to feel comfortable and show my skills in this team. I hope it happens straight away, but sometimes it is not as simple as that. I also want to get a better understanding of the club, the fans and the culture, I want to experience everything, not just on the pitch.”

Kimber leads resistance for home side in face of hefty total

ECB Reporters Network27-Apr-2024

Leicestershire 97 for 2 (Kimber 47*) trail Northamptonshire 453 for 7 dec (Bartlett 126*, Gay 88, Procter 64) by 356 runsA combination of rain and bad light frustrated Northamptonshire after they had taken a solid grip on their Division Two match with Leicestershire in the Vitality County Championship at the Uptonsteel County Ground, where the home side are 356 runs behind on 97 for two in their first innings.George Bartlett, who moved to Northampton from Somerset at the end of last season, posted his maiden hundred for his new county and finished unbeaten on 126 as Northamptonshire began the second day by scoring 116 in 14 overs to secure maximum batting points, before declaring on 453 for seven.Chris Tremain (37) and Lewis McManus (28 not out) backed up Bartlett’s fine innings, before stalwart seam bowler Ben Sanderson supplied the bonus of a big wicket in his first over as Australian opener Marcus Harris was dismissed for a duck.Leicestershire, for whom Louis Kimber is unbeaten 47, were looking to rebuild when gloomy conditions forced the players off the field in mid-afternoon never to return. Only 37 overs had been possible and with wet weather forecast for day three this may be yet another match destined to end in a draw.Having closed the opening day on 337 for six, Northamptonshire had hopes of securing perhaps two more batting bonus points by reaching 400 within 110 overs, although a cold, cloudy morning made for weather conditions that were hardly ideal. Moreover, the Leicestershire bowling attack fancied they could do some damage with a ball that was still relatively new.In the event, the first hour could hardly have been much more one-sided as Bartlett and Tremain, followed by McManus, picked off boundaries at will to top 450, thereby collecting the maximum five batting points. The home attack had struggled for consistency at times on day one and again bowled too many loose deliveries.Tremain, in his final match for the county before returning to Australia, muscled 37 from 44 balls, with six fours and a booming straight six off Tom Scriven. McManus deployed a range of innovations before slog-sweeping Rehan Ahmed for six to reach the target with two balls to spare, finishing with an unbeaten 28 from 15. Ahmed picked up a second wicket when Tremain found the fielder at deep midwicket but the England spinner’s figures took a dent with 28 conceded off his last two overs.Bartlett, who reached his maiden Northamptonshire century from 180 balls when he drove Scott Currie for his 15th four, also slog-swept a maximum off Ahmed for a final boundary count of 18 fours and a six.The first of two stoppages for rain prompted a declaration by skipper Luke Procter, after which the wicket of Harris in the first of eight overs possible before lunch in Leicestershire’s reply capped a more than satisfactory opening session for the visitors. Sanderson found the edge as the Australian left-hander, who made a double hundred against Derbyshire last week, pushed at a ball outside off stump to be caught behind without scoring.Another rain shower delayed the resumption by 35 minutes, a break in the weather allowing another 15.1 overs before heavy cloud made it too gloomy to continue, albeit two and half hours before play was finally abandoned for the day.Kimber, in need of a score, was three short of a solid half-century but he had lost second-wicket partner Rishi Patel after a stand of 57.Patel, aggressive as usual, found the boundary five times in six legitimate deliveries facing Procter, but succumbed to the all-rounder’s next one, propping forward to defend but feathering an edge through to McManus.

“With a pace attack like ours there’s a fair bit of confidence when we get 250 on the board,” says captain Weibgen

S Sudarshanan11-Feb-2024Australia captain Hugh Weibgen was all praise for his fast-bowling quartet of Callum Vidler, Charlie Anderson, Tom Straker and Mahli Beardman after their Under-19 World Cup win in Benoni as he backed them to “go a long way” in their respective careers.”With a pace attack like ours there’s a fair bit of confidence when we get 250 on the board,” Weibgen said at the presentation. “That was our plan [at the toss] to get a few runs and back ourselves to defend it. As a unit, they worked so good together. They know their roles and are happy to bowl either ends. They are all for the team. I would be surprised if all of them don’t go a very long way in their careers.”Middle-order batter Harjas Singh had a lean patch heading into the final, with only 49 runs across six matches. But Australia persisted with him in the side and he responded with a crucial 55 at No. 4.”He [Harjas] is a quality player,” Weibgen said. “Class is permanent, form is temporary. Full credit to the coaches for sticking with him, putting the faith in. All the boys knew he could get the runs. It was awesome to see him score runs today.”Related

• Under-19 World Cup trio Konstas, Hicks and Anderson earn NSW contracts

• Is this the next batch of Australia's golden generation?

• Red-hot Australia defend 253 to win fourth Under-19 World Cup

• Saharan bemoans 'rash shots' from India: 'We didn't spend enough time in the middle'

How Dennis Lillee helped Beardman with mental prep

Beardman, who picked up ten wickets in the competition including 3 for 15 in the final that pegged India back, said the win felt “surreal” and also spoke about former Australia fast bowler Dennis Lillee’s influence on his game.”[It feels] pretty surreal to be honest and hasn’t fully set in yet,” Beardman said after he was named the Player of the Match. “It has been something we have been working on for a long, long time. All that hard work has paid off. India have been incredible this tournament, so we knew there was always going to be a good battle.”Mahli Beardman was named the Player of the Match for his three wickets•ICC/Getty Images

Beardman, who has been coached by Lillee, was brought on as second change in the match and struck immediately, removing the prolific Musheer Khan. He then went on to dismiss Uday Saharan, India’s captain and leading run-getter of the competition, and then bounced out the set Adarsh Singh, who had scored 47, to kill the chase.”From DK [Lillee] I learnt a lot of mental stuff and tried to implement that as much as I can this tournament. He got me thinking about my bowling instead of just bowling, thinking about my field setting and then from there working on mental things – little cues like going head, and then going toes next ball. Stupid stuff like that.”[The win] means so much. The amount of work we have put in over the last year and a bit, prior to the England series as well, this has been on the forefront of our minds. Standing alongside Cal [Vidler] and the rest of the cartel is a dream come true. Our strong suit has been how close we are as a group, and it is not just performance-based but off the field as well. We get along really well as mates and that chemistry helps.”Beardman lauded his team-mate Vilder, who has led the pack for Australia with 14 wickets – joint third-most in this Under-19 World Cup – with Straker close on his heels with 12.”[Vidler] has been incredible,” Beardman said. “It was a pleasure to bowl alongside him. He was awesome in England, he’s been crazy here as well. He is super talented. It was a pleasure to bowl alongside him and the rest of the cartel. Future goals will be Big Bash [League] and play for my state.”Straker, who picked up the final wicket to kick off the celebrations, said, “[It is a] great feeling. We have worked all year for this. We have been to Brisbane and England, all for this moment and it has finally come. We are all good mates. We all love to play with each other and we love four quicks playing.”

Mohammed Shami is looking to “get back on my feet soon” after undergoing surgery in his right Achilles tendon in London on Monday. This all but rules him out of IPL 2024, which will be played from March 22 to May 26.Shami hasn’t played any cricket since India’s ODI World Cup campaign, where he played a key part in India’s run to the final, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 24 wickets in seven matches at an average of 10.70 and strike rate of 12.20.He played through pain during the tournament, taking injections to treat his ankle, and has been away from cricket since.

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Daniel Gidney says ECB must invest more in promoting women’s domestic competitions

Matt Roller18-Apr-2024Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s chief executive, has called on the ECB to find a title sponsor and a standalone broadcast deal for the Charlotte Edwards Cup after his club’s investment in women’s cricket was rewarded with the award of Tier 1 status from 2025 in the revamped domestic structure.Lancashire have been major investors in Thunder in England’s regional competitions since 2020, with help from two sponsors in Hilton and Sportsbreaks.com. They will have a full-time squad of 15 professionals this year and travelled to Dubai and Bangalore last month, their third successive pre-season tour.They were among the counties pushing for a change in the domestic structure which would empower them to invest more in their women’s team and Gidney said that he was “absolutely thrilled” that Lancashire will host a Tier 1 side from next season. “I’ve always believed that if you are going to do this, you have to do it properly,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Related

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To that end, Gidney believes the ECB must find a title sponsor for the Charlotte Edwards Cup – the regional T20 competition – and invest more in marketing games outside of the Hundred. The ECB have committed to investing around £19 million in women’s domestic cricket by 2027.”There is a lot of history of men’s sports sponsors wanting women’s competitions as an add-on,” Gidney said. “We’re now at a stage where the Charlotte Edwards Cup needs to be backed, it needs to have England players available, and it needs to be taken seriously. There were more people at our quarter-final at Blackpool last year than at Finals Day at New Road.”The Charlotte Edwards Cup falls under Sky Sports’ TV rights deal with English cricket, which runs from 2024-28, but the channel has rarely broadcast matches from the competition, which are instead largely available via free online live streams. Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, said any changes will only be considered before the next rights cycle, which will start in 2029.”If we deliver on what we aim to deliver, that is a natural consequence of what we aim to do,” he said on Thursday at the launch of the ECB’s national tape-ball competition. “At the moment, we fall back on streaming platforms for much of our professional domestic cricket at county level and we’ll be doing the same for the women, but ultimately, that’s what we want to do.”While the three men’s county competitions all have headline sponsors, the women’s regional equivalents do not. Gould would not be drawn on sponsorship, saying: “I would not want to go into that at this point.” Gidney said: “This competition needs a title sponsor that is paying proper money, and we need to get it broadcast.”We shouldn’t just be giving assets away to people: it’s insulting to all of the women’s professional cricketers we have in the UK now. This is a proper sport that has real value. The top [level] of women’s elite sport in English cricket is the Hundred, but that’s not the only domestic professional cricket in town.”Gidney believes the move away from a regional structure funded predominantly by the ECB and towards a county model reflects the speed of commercialisation in women’s sport. “At the time the regional structure was introduced, it was all about accelerating performance, development of skills and professionalism,” he said.”But people underestimated the speed at which elite women’s professional sport has become commercialised: look at the amazing successes of the Lionesses, the Red Roses, sell-out games for Arsenal’s women at the Emirates Stadium, the Women’s Premier League. The money that has come in and the level of engagement from a new fanbase has been mad.”Deloitte put out a report to say that they believe in 2024, women’s elite sport will become a billion-dollar industry… you have to encourage innovation and generate commercial income to help grow women’s elite sport. We’re thrilled to be a successful Tier 1 club, but that comes with massive responsibility. I can’t now use it as an excuse that the ECB are holding me back.”Lancashire are building a new training base at Farington•Lancashire CricketGidney believes that the tender process for Tier 1 teams has demonstrated which counties are “serious” about investing in women’s cricket. “I sat in one meeting and one CEO said, ‘if you get it and we don’t, you’re getting more revenue off the ECB.’ I said, ‘I’m astonished you’ve used the word ‘revenue’ in this context.’ The money that comes from the ECB is just a percentage of what has to be invested into the women’s programme to make it successful.”A few years ago, there was one non-Test match ground county that took a lot of money from the ECB for its academy. They spent £20,000 on the academy, and the rest on a Kolpak fast bowler. Authenticity is important. If you’re serious, you have to put your money and your actions where your mouth is, and I’d challenge anybody to say that Lancashire hasn’t done that in the last few years.”Thunder – who have appointed Chris Read, the former England wicketkeeper, as their coach ahead of the upcoming regional season – will play seven fixtures at Old Trafford this year, the most that any regional team will play at a men’s Test venue. The old away dressing room at the ground has already been converted into a home dressing room for the women’s team.Lancashire are also building a new facility at Farington, near Preston, which will become a training base for their men’s and women’s teams and will stage some first-team matches as well as second-team and pathway fixtures. But Gidney stressed: “Emirates Old Trafford is the home of Lancashire Cricket – for both our men and our women.”Old Trafford will also stage women’s international cricket again from 2025, more than a decade since its most recent fixture. Gidney wants to host Women’s T20 World Cup matches there in 2026: “We haven’t got a men’s Test match in 2026, so we are very hopeful about that.”

South Africa’s 4-0 clean sweep of Australia in 1969-70 showcased some of the game’s all-time greats yet none of them ever played Test cricket again

Rodney Hartman29-Dec-2005
Ali Bacher is chaired from the field after the win in Johannesburg © Cricinfo
It was by common consent the best Test team South Africa ever fielded. It was also, as it turned out, the last Test team South Africa fielded for 21 years.By clean-sweeping an Australian side who had won six and lost only one of its previous nine Tests, the 1969-70 cricket Springboks (as all South Africa’s sports team were known up to 1991) left a legacy that no subsequent South African side has matched.These players, at the peak of their powers, then left Test cricket for good. The golden age of Springbok cricket was summarily ended by the apartheid policies of the South African government.South Africa’s extraordinary run of success was played out against the backdrop of growing concerns about the advisability of the team touring England later that year. At the start of the Test series the Springbok rugby side were touring Britain, besieged at every turn by often violent anti-apartheid demonstrators. As the rugby players felt the force of growing anti-South African sentiment so support for the high-riding cricketers grew back home. These feelings were indicative of white South Africa’s obsession to engage and conquer the world in sporting battle.Sensing that a sports boycott was about to shut them out and starve them of top sporting action, the South African public flocked to the Tests against Australia. They had been without Test cricket for three years since the 3-1 triumph over Bob Simpson’s Australians in 1966-67. So the matches were played to capacity crowds and, such was the frenzy of interest around the series, newspapers reserved front-page slots for it on a daily basis.The crowds were of course racially segregated in line with the Separate Amenities Act, one of the draconian laws that underpinned apartheid. Blacks still turned out in numbers, particularly in Cape Town and Durban, but it was noticeable that many of them supported the Australians. The white fans relished the Springboks’ dominance and gave the Aussies, particularly their unpopular captain Bill Lawry and Ian Chappell, a hard time.The political noose tightening around South Africa’s neck seemed to be a motivating force for its cricketers. The Springbok cricketers were united in the need to win – and win big – for the sake of their country. This was not politically inspired because the cricketers were increasingly incensed at being victims of apartheid. It was more their way of demonstrating that, in spite of apartheid, the world could not turn its back on them.This stimulation was heightened by a team that, at its core, boasted the world-class talents of Graeme Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Mike Procter, Peter Pollock and the wicketkeeper Denis Lindsay (whose obituary will appear in next month’s issue). And then there was a young opening batsman called Barry Richards who instantly took the cricket world by storm. In those four Tests – the only ones he ever played – he scored 508 runs at 72.57. John Arlott described him as “a batsman of staggering talent”. To Ali Bacher, the South African captain in 1969-70, he was “the most complete batsman I ever encountered”.Richards was tall and elegant. He was still at the crease, saw the ball earlier than anyone and used his wrists to perfection. He had the potential to become one of the all-time great Test batsmen.He scored nine of his 80 first-class centuries before lunch and, in the second Test at Durban, reached his maiden Test century against these Australians in the first over after lunch on the first day. If there was one passage of play that characterised South Africa’s dominance it was in that hour after lunch at Kingsmead on February 5, 1970 when Richards and Graeme Pollock put on 103 runs in 60 minutes.

Richards was tall and elegant. He was still at the crease, saw the ball earlier than anyone and used his wrists to perfection. He had the potential to become one of the all-time great Test batsmen

Richards, 24, made 94 out of 126 for 2 at lunch. He had scored 140 of the 229 runs on the board before he lifted his head and was bowled by Eric Freeman. His hundred had come off 116 balls.Pollock, the left-handed genius in his 21st Test, batted on for another six hours to reach 274, then the highest by a South African in Tests, before hitting a tired return catch to Keith Stackpole. Pollock’s imperious batsmanship had brought him 177 runs in boundaries and those lucky enough to be in the ground were united in the belief that political obstacles could not be allowed to obstruct players of such pure box-office potential.Pollock was the broadsword to Richards’ rapier. He was one of the first players to use a heavy bat and he crashed anything loose on either side of the wicket. His cover drive was his signature shot but he developed an equally lethal pull and on-drive to overcome an apparent leg-side weakness early in his career. “One thing that was absolutely certain about Graeme,” recalls Ali Bacher, “was that if you bowled a bad ball to him, it went for four.” Don Bradman remarked at the time simply that Pollock was the best left-hander he had seen.South Africa were a team of stars and few shone as brightly as Eddie Barlow, the bespectacled and rotund allrounder. He was the most belligerent and confident Springbok of all and known to his team-mates as `Bunter’. He had wanted to be the captain and had the support of many pundits but Bacher, his great rival, got the nod. At Durban Barlow made only one after coming in at 229 for 3 at the dismissal of Richards. He explained there was “no price” batting after Richards and Pollock.In the second innings, after Bacher (a medical doctor) had enforced the follow-on with a 465-run advantage, the Aussies were mounting a fightback when a telegram was delivered to the captain on the field. It read: “Please Doc, give me a bowl. Bunter.” Bacher tossed him the ball. Barlow, whose figures were 0 for 50 at the time, rolled in, medium-fast and took three wickets in 11 balls.
Mike Procter batting against Australia – but it was his bowling, 26 wickets at 13.57, which proved so devastating © Cricinfo
It must be said that Lawry’s Australians were hard pressed. Their recent record was impressive but they arrived in South Africa straight from an exhausting tour of India and had been on the road for four months. Australia won in India but it had been tough: rioting fans, a ticket stampede at Calcutta that left six cricket fans dead, and 24-hour police protection after they were targeted by extremists for Australia’s role in the Vietnam war. On top of this, Lawry was accused in India of assaulting a photographer.Unusually for Australia there were also rumours (which turned out to be true) of rifts in the touring party over the captain’s autocratic style of leadership. At the start of the tour he described his vice-captain Ian Chappell as “the best batsman in the world in any conditions”. In South Africa Chappell averaged 11.50 in eight innings with a top score of 34.Chappell’s problems were symptomatic of an Australian top order that had no answer to the Springboks’ fast bowlers on hard, bouncy pitches. Of the 80 wickets they lost, 52 were captured by Peter Pollock (Shaun’s father), Procter and Barlow, and Procter – he of the floppy, flaxen hair and whirlwind action that was once a tourist attraction in Bristol – accounted for half of those. On the flipside Graham McKenzie, Australia’s ace strike bowler of the decade, took 1 for 333 in the series, his solitary success coming in the second innings of the final Test when Bacher was out undefinedhit wicket for 73.Four Springbok batsmen averaged over 50 and two of them, Pollock and Richards, over 70. Only one of their opponents, Ian Redpath, averaged more than 40.The Aussies brought with them a mystery spinner called John Gleeson, who was touted as their secret weapon. He could bowl off- or leg-breaks with equal facility without a discernible change in action. This involved flicking the ball from a grip comprising thumb and folded middle finger and such was his value that he insured his right hand for A$10,000.Gleeson took 18 wickets in two provincial matches at the start of the tour and then five more in the first Test at Cape Town. Most of the Springboks were seeing him for the first time and initially struggled to fathom him. But it was Richards, the most junior of them, who claimed to have worked him out. It was simple, he told his team-mates, if you see one finger and the thumb, it’s the offy; if you can see more than one finger over the top, it’s the leggy. Was he right? Not once in seven innings did Gleeson, who took 19 wickets in the series, get him out.The series ended when Bacher took the final catch. It was the South African captain’s only series in charge – a 4-0 walloping of Australia – and then it was all over forever.