Plays of the day from the first day of the Auckland Test between New Zealand and England

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland22-Mar-2013Decision of the dayIt was only the second time in Alastair Cook’s nine Tests as captain that he had to make a decision at the toss. In Nagpur he batted, in Auckland he bowled. Brendon McCullum said he would “probably” have done the same. It was the 23rd time since 2000 that England had put the opposition into bat and their record is good: of the previous 22, they have won 12, drawn eight and lost just two – one of them being Nasser Hussain’s infamous “We’ll bowl” in Brisbane in 2002.Top edge of the daySixes were never going to be far away in this match and it was a bit of a surprise that it took until the 23rd over to register one. Peter Fulton got the ball rolling, but not in convincing style, as he top-edged a short ball from Stuart Broad that sailed over the keeper for all of the 53 metres it needed to travel to cross the rope. The record for sixes in a Test is 27 between India and Pakistan in Faisalabad from January 2006 where Shahid Afridi and MS Dhoni peppered the boundary. If any ground could break that milestone, it’s here.Challenge of the dayThe dimensions of the ground make it a challenge for spinners and it did not take long for Monty Panesar to get a taste of what was ahead. Hamish Rutherford tried to attack him straight away and in Panesar’s second over cleared the straight boundary with nothing more than two chip shots, leaving Monty to ponder his lot of the day.Modest celebration of the dayHaving gone to tea on 95, Fulton had plenty of time to ponder reaching his maiden Test century. It did not come easily for him, either, as England started to bowl wide outside off but, finally, from his 203rd delivery he pushed the ball just to the left of mid-on. There was no Compton-style leap of relief and joy, instead a deep breath and an understated salute around the ground. Having waited so long for this, he did not want to get carried away.The ‘it hasn’t gone to plan’ moment of the dayThe sight of Jonathan Trott and Joe Root bowling in tandem during the final session was not quite the white flag from Cook, but it certainly showed the day had not gone to plan. Instead of using the second new ball to try and wrap up the innings, England needed it to try and break the second-wicket pair.

It was just as frustrating as trying to get help over the phone, though the home team’s win did soothe the nerves

Soumen Purkayastha15-Apr-2013Choice of game
The prospect of watching of Jacques Kallis face Dale Steyn and Kumar Sangakkara face Sunil Narine was mouth-watering. Kallis, having taken so many catches at slips off Steyn’s bowling, surely knew the bowler’s strengths and weaknesses and vice versa. Sangakkara has always been dexterous at playing spin, so I had expected a great duel between him and Narine, who is easily the wiliest spinner in IPL.I had expected Kolkata Knight Riders to win the match, because they were a better team on paper, were playing at home and, had a certain Sunil Narine in the team.Team supported
It’s a no-brainer for me — it has got to be Knight Riders again. The Eden Gardens will host the final this time and just imagine the ambience if Knight Riders manage to make it. In such a case, I foresee the ticket touts making a killing.Key performer
Gautam Gambhir was the Man of the Match and I do not dispute the fact that he batted well and marshalled his resources well. However, Knight Riders owed the score of 180 — an excellent score on this wicket — to Eoin Morgan’s innings. Before Morgan launched his onslaught, Knight Riders seemed to be progressing towards a 150-ish total. Sunrisers Hyderabad would have happily settled for a target of about 150 — they had thrived chasing and defending low totals in their preceding games. So Morgan’s innings took the game beyond Sunrisers’ reach.One thing I’d have changed
I only wish Sunrisers had been a little more competitive. They arrived in Kolkata with a pretty good record, in fact, a better win-loss record than Knight Riders, but almost handed the match to Knight Riders on a platter. While I was happy to see my home team win, I was disappointed to see such a facile win.Wow moment
I might never know whether Yusuf Pathan, when he was a kid, was adept at plucking fruits that hung high on trees, but when he leapt to take a catch which many had thought was destined for a six off Cameron White’s bat, he probably gave away a little bit of information about the pranks he played when he was younger.Close encounter
White hit the ball high towards long-on and Morgan lost sight of it when he was blinded by the floodlights. It looked like a comical scene when he took evasive action but the ball could have seriously injured him.Shot of the day
Steyn, until Morgan chose to ruin his bowling figures a bit, had been the most economical bowler in the game with just 14 runs off three overs. Morgan flat-batted the first legal delivery of Steyn’s last over for a towering six over long-off. Disdain and disrespect for the world’s best fast bowler reeked from the shot.Crowd meter
Based on the decibel metre of the crowd when the player names were announced, Narine, Gambhir and Pathan beat others by several miles in terms of popularity. It was surprising though that no Kolkata-based player got such roars of approval.Hardship factor
Getting to the stadium was like trying to contact the customer care executive of a bank on an Interactive Voice Response system. You had to reach the stadium after taking several detours which was unnecessary, and given the swelter, inhuman too. The security and the volunteers were mostly officious and confused. The BCCI and the cricket boards owe a lot to India’s cricket-crazy people but I am not sure they realise that.Entertainment
The crowd was at its noisy best and I struggled to talk over my phone each time it rang. It was rather entertaining to see an elderly man, who sat a few rows in front of mine, doing a few jigs when a popular song was played.Marks out of 10
6. The match eventually turned out to be a one-sided affair and the organisation left a lot to be desired. Spectators deserve much more in the form of clean toilets, helpful and well-informed volunteers and reasonably-priced food items.

After enduring six delays in the last seven months, the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League is set to being on September 10

Mohammad Isam09-Sep-2013The Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League will kick off on Tuesday after enduring six postponements over seven months. The delays also pushed the 2012-13 domestic one-day tournament to the start of the 2013-14 season.Defending champions Victoria Sporting Club take on newly-promoted side Kalabagan Cricket Academy at the BKSP, while the two other opening day matches will be held outside Dhaka – Gazi Tank taking on Khelaghor Samaj Kallyan Samity in Bogra and Brothers Union facing Prime Bank Cricket Club in Rajshahi.The matches have been conferred with List A status by the BCB after nearly 39 years of the league being the country’s most important professional domestic competition. Previously, it was the National Cricket League’s one-day competition that was List A cricket in Bangladesh, but that stopped inadvertently in November 2010.There will no longer be a question of legitimacy of the league. The champions will be internationally recognised, something that could have been the case a long time ago given its stature among players, officials and the general public.The status will also finally remove the statistical black hole that Bangladeshi cricketers find themselves in about their performance in the Dhaka Premier League. Only for the last two seasons has the BCB maintained a comprehensive club-by-club statistical website. It is still not clear who the all-time highest scorer and highest wicket-taker is in the competition which began in 1974-75.Nonetheless, there is widespread approval of the Dhaka clubs’ contribution to Bangladesh cricket decades before it gained Test and ODI status. From providing players a climate of competition, giving them financial security and supplying a plethora of organisers for the BCB, they have tremendous influence on the country’s cricket despite being merely a city-based league.So much has been their influence that they held up the domestic season from February 25. The Dhaka Premier League was first delayed in March when the clubs didn’t want to play without the national players who were touring Sri Lanka at the time. After they returned from Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, they didn’t want to play in June because of the monsoons.The BCB gave five dates afterwards but the clubs didn’t budge, although one of the delays was due to the board chief’s apprehension about the ICC’s BPL corruption investigation. The other delays were due to the clubs’ unhappiness with the player transfer system and them needing more time to prepare, for which the commencement had to be shifted from September 3 to 10.The delays have irked the players and undermined BCB’s position, but both parties are unable to take a stronger stance. The players are bound by their own financial constraints. Not all of the players are in BCB’s payroll or part of the BPL, so they can’t speak too strongly against the clubs. The cricket board suffers from acute conflict of interest with the clubs, as most of the BCB officials are linked to the Dhaka clubs in some capacity.While the influence has remained as much as it did in the 1970s, its tangible contribution has reduced in the last 15 years. Only a few of the clubs can boast of excellent training facilities despite their league budgets increasing every year.The Dhaka Premier League’s importance has also never let the first-class tournaments to gain similar relevance. For years, the National Cricket League was called “picnic cricket” as the players struggled to motivate themselves playing for lesser money, despite representing their own regions.But the clubs have surged on, decade after decade. Whether cricket was the country’s No 1 sport or not, the competition, and the rest of the Dhaka league system, has thrived and never had a dull season. It has provided context to Bangladesh cricket, added drama, highlighted players and created stars.

The comparisons with Brian Lara are inevitable but the maiden double-century against New Zealand showed that Darren Bravo is capable of more than just sporadic brilliance

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin06-Dec-2013

Sodhi enjoying the Test learning curve

This is Test cricket, Ish Sodhi. A long day in the field, 28 overs and one wicket to show for it. But the legspinner is savouring the chance to further his rapid education.
“I’m learning things every single minute,” Sodhi said. “When it comes to stuff on the field and off the field, there’s a whole lot of things that you have to build together as a routine. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to learn at a young age and so hopefully it’ll give me a little bit of fortune later in my career.”His two wickets – Kirk Edwards with a slider and Denesh Ramdin with the googly were – examples of a sharp tactical mind and the effects of a little bit of help from former New Zealand offspinner, Paul Wiseman.
“When you plan something and it comes off, it’s more satisfying, so I’m pretty happy with how those two went. I still stay a little bit in touch with Paul, as he’s been pretty instrumental for me in the past couple of years, and sort of devise plans and gauge information on how they’re going to play on certain surfaces. It’s all sort of worked out alright so far.”

The idea was to try and write a piece about Darren Bravo without referencing a certain cricketer whose initials are BCL. But then Bravo played two cover drives off Neil Wagner through a tightly packed off-side field. It was no longer possible to resist.The stories are already familiar. Growing up in the same Trinidad village, Bravo idolised Brian Lara and his bedroom at home was plastered with cuttings. If there was a doppelgangers reward, Bravo would have it nailed. Lara had spoken to his protégé after the first day of this Test, telling him to “let the world know the true Darren Bravo.””It’s no longer a secret; growing up as a kid, Brian was the only guy I looked at when West Indies were batting,” Bravo said, happy to tell the story again. “As a kid growing up, whenever Brian’s photo was in the newspaper or a magazine, I would cut it out and stick it up all over my room. Everything I wanted was to be just like Brian. I look up to him a lot. He has been there for me ever since and that’s something I hold very close to my heart.”The connections don’t end there, either. When he went to his 150, passing Lara’s only hundred in New Zealand – 147 in Wellington – Lara, who made his Test debut on this day in 1990 and was following the Dunedin Test in the UK, tweeted: “Keep it going.” And Bravo did. The batsman went past his previous best of 195 and onto a maiden double-hundred, which was greeted with a leap, a punch in the air and an embrace from the hobbling Darren Sammy. It was just the third double ton by a West Indies batsman in New Zealand after Gordon Greenidge (213) and Seymore Nurse (258).”I had a bit of nerves, while the bowler was running in and all the fans were clapping,” he said. “I didn’t want to do anything rash. I knew a single was right around the corner. I had batted all day, so why not wait a couple more balls. It’s a great feeling. It’s one of my most special moments and hopefully I can continue where I left off today.”Bravo has looked a Test batsman since making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2010 where he notched three fifties in the series. It set a tone for him, where his batting has flourished away from home. His only extended problems on foreign soil came against the moving ball on the 2012 trip to England where he did not pass 29 in five innings; the recent tour of India was not prolific, but he was often solid there before getting tied down against spin.The difference in his returns is stark – at home he averages 29.88 and away, as he stands overnight, it is more than double at 59.64. His away average is currently the highest for all West Indies batsmen in overseas conditions who have played at least 10 Tests abroad. He’s not a player for home comforts.”Before I left India, I didn’t really perform well. I was spending some time, like an hour, hour-and-a-half at the wicket, but I wasn’t scoring big runs,” Bravo said. “I remember telling Kieran Powell that I’m going to score a double hundred in New Zealand. I just backed myself. I knew I was going to have a special innings in New Zealand.”0:00

‘Came into this match with a positive frame of mind’ – Bravo

It was not an innings without fortune – escaping a run-out chance on 76 when Brendon McCullum threw to the wrong end, dropped on 82 by Neil Wagner in his follow-through, edging between the keeper and slip on 188 and what appeared a glove to slip on the third evening – but it was the type of display that those long-suffering West Indies fans, who are put through the trying time of watching this side, have been imploring to see. Resilience, control, longevity and a hint of flourish.This was a formidable Test hundred. In terms of balls faced, it is already the 15th longest for West Indies and he has been at the crease over nine hours. New Zealand’s attack is far from weak and, although the surface did die, there was just enough to keep batsmen honest, as the brief period either side of Narsingh Deonarine’s wicket showed; a delivery scuttled past Bravo’s off stump before Corey Anderson made one climb to take Deonarine’s edge.New Zealand should still wrap this match up on the final day (weather permitting, and a few afternoon showers do loom) but Bravo has tested their resolve. When Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul – the previous two West Indies batsmen to score Test double hundreds – fell within the first hour the expectation was that the resistance had been snapped. There was another heartening fact about this day’s play: the support came from others even as the plaudits were all going to Bravo. And something else: there have been six previous double hundreds in follow-ons, and none have been in a lost cause.Hopefully it is the sort of innings that will inspire a young cricketer back in the Caribbean to cut out some pictures (or nowadays, perhaps, to save them on his Facebook page) with the hope of following in those footsteps one day. Sadly, though, most cricket fans in West Indies will have to do with still pictures of this innings because there is no TV coverage. It was worth so much more.

Plays of the day from the first day of the second Test between Pakistan and South Africa in Dubai

Firdose Moonda in Dubai23-Oct-2013Hasty reviews of the day
South Africa did it when they asked for a review for a catch against Azhar Ali, correctly given not out because it had come off his arm to be looked at by the third umpire and Pakistan returned the favour by dispensing off both their reviews before five overs had been bowled. Mohammad Irfan thought he had Graeme Smith out lbw in the third over but the on-field call went against him. On review, it was just clipping leg stump and the decision remained not out. Then, Pakistan reviewed again, only two overs later, when Irfan was convinced Alviro Petersen had nicked a ball that rose on him. Although the ball was close to bat and glove, there was neither sound nor deviation and without hotspot, Pakistan’s hasty use of technology appeared a waste in hindsight.Surprisingly modest celebration of the day
Imran Tahir and boisterous celebrations are known to go together but it seemed something had changed when he did not bring one out for this first wicket. After starting off bowling too full, he looked unthreatening until he bowled Shan Masood with a ball that turned into him from around the wicket, took the inside edge and hit the stumps after a few bounces. Masood seemed surprised that his watchful start had been undone in such a modest fashion and so did Tahir. Mere high-fives marked his first scalp on his comeback.More exuberant celebration of the day
Four overs later there were glimpses of the Tahir of old. His googly had Misbah-ul-Haq playing down the wrong line and trapped low down on his front pad. The Pakistan captain, in nothing more than hope, asked for a review but while he did that, Tahir had made his way to short fine leg, with his team-mates in toe. It wasn’t the full-blooded war cry he has made his own but some of the childlike glee was starting to re-emerge.The Tahir we know moment of the day
And three balls later, the familiar Tahir was out in full force. Adnan Akmal, a member of the family Tahir was close to when he was in Pakistan, was beaten by a quicker ball which clipped leg stump. As lunch was declared, Tahir took off past square leg, arms spread and fists pumping. The rest of the South Africa squad looked on, some tried to keep up but most waited for him to stop. When he did, he emphatically grabbed his protea badge, blew kisses to his wife Sumayya and leapt up to slap Morne Morkel’s hand. Joy knew no boundaries then.Runs of the day
There weren’t too many to speak of in the Pakistan innings and South Africa also found the going slow but will remember the boundary Smith scored at the start of the 37th over. Saeed Ajmal, who was handled with relative ease, bowled a half-volley, Smith stepped out to drive and pushed it down the ground for a well-timed four. The boundary had double relevance. It gave the South African captain a half-century, putting to rest questions about his form given the amount of time he has had out of the game, and put South Africa in the lead.

Plays of the Day from the India v Sri Lanka Asia Cup clash

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Fatullah28-Feb-2014The Sri Lankan rope trick
Chasing back from mid-on to get under a lofted shot from R Ashwin off Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawardene realised he didn’t have a chance to catch it and turned his attention to stopping the boundary as the ball bounced and rolled towards the prism-shaped blocks of advertising that, for the sake of convenience, shall henceforth be known as the rope. Jayawardene slid past the rope, pulling the ball back before it could join him on the other side, but saw that he hadn’t retarded its momentum completely. Diving back over, and lifting his feet off the ground in an exaggerated manner, he pushed the ball back into play, just in time.The collision
In India’s match against Bangladesh, Mohammed Shami and Ambati Rayudu had collided while going for the same catch. Shami had somehow managed to hold on. Now, it was Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan’s turn to converge, running from point and third man respectively to get under a top-edge that Kusal Perera sent steepling over Fatullah. Unlike Shami, neither Rahane nor Dhawan came away with the ball.The swipe and miss
Coming down the pitch to Ravindra Jadeja, Kumar Sangakkara failed to connect with an attempted flick. The ball trickled off his pads and towards the stumps. As he had done to stump Mominul Haque in the match against Bangladesh, Dinesh Karthik swooped down at the ball, picked it up, and swiped at the stumps. This time, he missed his target completely. By the time he knocked down the bails on the second attempt, Sangakkara – as replays showed – was comfortably back in his crease.The full-toss
Dew was clearly bothering the Indian bowlers – in the 46th over the ball had become so damp that the umpires called for a replacement. The seamers were still finding it hard to grip, though, as seen in the number of full-tosses they were bowling at the closing stages. One of these full-tosses, though, nearly won India the match, slicing off Kumar Sangakkara’s bat and into the hands of a diving R Ashwin at short third man. It was waist-high from Mohammed Shami, but the third umpire deemed it had been no higher than that.

South Africa’s two senior spinners are both 34, and there is a lack of promising youngsters on the horizon

Firdose Moonda15-Jan-2014All countries make do without something. Most of the islands of the Caribbean do not produce oil, India does not have a football team that is World Cup worthy (yet) and South Africa struggle for match-winning international spinners.Currently, their choices lie between Robin Peterson and Imran Tahir, and both could do with some polishing. “They need to be a little bit more consistent,” Paul Harris, the former South Africa left-arm spinner who retired from all forms of the game last season, told ESPNcricinfo.”They both bowl a few too many bad balls. Robbie needs to work on line and length and hitting his areas all the time and Imran needs to learn to be patient. He also has to get his legspinner to turn so he doesn’t have to rely on his googly as much.”Peterson is currently the man in possession and Harris thinks he will start against Australia. The three Tests will be played at Centurion, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, venues where Harris feels South Africa will need a specialist spinner, which rules out the possibility of an all-pace attack and Duminy to do the slower bowling duties. Harris would prefer it that way, anyway.”JP can bowl but it’s not fair to ask him to bowl teams out. He should be able to give you 10 or 12 overs a day but he has to focus on his batting at No. 6,” Harris said. “That’s his main job. He could average 50 in Test cricket for South Africa so he should focus on that.”At the same time, Harris would like the spinner in South Africa’s side to concentrate foremost on holding up an end because of the prowess of the pacemen. “It’s really important to bowl as few bad balls as you can,” Harris said. But he knows that’s not as simple as it sounds, because he had to do it himself. “It’s about understanding that every time you go out there, you don’t have to take five wickets. It can get frustrating but it’s the job.”Nicky Boje, who played 43 Tests for South Africa between 2000 and 2006, agrees that it can be “tough to be the only spinner in the side,” because of the sometimes thankless nature of the job but said the rewards can be worthwhile. “Sometimes a spinner only takes one wicket but if you check the context of it, it will usually be quite an important wicket,” he said. “Like the wickets Robbie took against India in the Durban Test, those were crucial.”Peterson finished with four wickets in the match and even though, as Harris conceded “they came from bad shots,” it’s that kind of luck that a spinner sometimes rides. Peterson also scored an important 61 in that match which, Harris believes, will give him the edge over Tahir in the immediate term, especially in Jacques Kallis’ absence.But as far as the future goes, South Africa need are still searching for a spinner. Both Peterson and Tahir are 34 years old and there is a lack of promising youngsters on the horizon. Harris has a reason for the lack of spin talent. “I feel a bit sorry for guys who want to become spinners because the pitches usually don’t suit them at all,” Harris said. “I remember when I was at the Titans, at one stage we had wickets being specifically prepared for spinners so Imran and I could learn.”Harris and Tahir played together for the Titans under Richard Pybus but it’s rare to see two spinners in a first-class game anymore, particularly last summer when first-class pitches were seamer-friendly. “The spinners don’t bowl as much as the quicks. Last season, very few first-class matches went four days, so there wasn’t much opportunity for them,” Harris said. This season, CSA sought to change that with less spicy domestic surfaces, to add to their attempts to encourage spin development.Last August, for example, Boje accompanied six spinners to a training camp in Bangalore. They were joined by six batsmen, who made the trip to develop their skills on slower, turning tracks. “It was really about learning the conditions,” Boje said. “The guys were getting a lot of overs under their belt and bowling for between four and five hours a day. They don’t do that in South Africa, so from an experience point of view, it was valuable.”All six of them have played some franchise cricket with one of them surging to the front of the queue as far as national selection is concerned. Warriors’ offspinner Simon Harmer played in the unofficial Tests against Australia A and India A in the winter that passed. He bowled South Africa A to victory against their Australian counterparts in the second match, with an innings haul of 8 for 87.Boje is heartened to see the progress Harmer has made and Harris believes he could be a prospect in the years to come. “I like the look of him but he needs to mature a bit more,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “He doesn’t bowl many bad balls, he gets a bit of rip and he also catches very well.”Harmer is currently second on the first-class wicket-taking chart. In the four matches played so far he has claimed 17 scalps at 37.47, and is three wickets behind Cobras’ left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks. Last season, he was the highest wicket-taking spinner and was picked to play for South Africa A. “I think he can do a holding and a wicket-taking role but it will take time,” Harris said. “But South Africa have a bit of that.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the Group 2 match between Australia and West Indies

Abhishek Purohit and Mohammad Isam28-Mar-2014Batsman makes room, successfullyFacing up to the West Indies spinners was expected to be a challenge for the Australians. They were to lose six wickets to them, but you would have never thought that was coming after the opening over of spin bowled by Samuel Badree. Aaron Finch kept making room outside leg stump and smashed Badree for three successive boundaries. The first blow sent a flighted delivery over long-off. Badree bowled the next two flatter and quicker, but Finch backed away again to hit them for fours either side of point.Batsman makes room, unsuccessfullyDavid Warner tried the same tactic against Badree as well. He rocked back and made room to cut a flat, quick ball for four. He tried to repeat the treatment to the next legal delivery, but this came on even quicker, and also stayed a shade low. Warner swung, missed and was bowled.Point takes coverIn the 15th over, Andre Russell bowled a beamer at James Faulkner, perhaps in anger for the batsman’s verbal attack two days ago. But so engrossed was Darren Sammy at point, he ducked like Faulkner too. The telecast didn’t pick up on the West Indies captain’s sudden movement but who would even look towards point when the beamer has missed the batsman and wicketkeeper?The regulation second attemptWicketkeepers hardly get two attempts at a stumping chance, but Shane Watson gave Denesh Ramdin exactly that in the sixth over. After he had been beaten by Sunil Narine three times in the over already, Watson, who had strayed slightly out of the crease, missed another. Ramdin threw his hands at the stumps and completely missed the bail, but Watson still hadn’t dragged his toe behind the crease, allowing him to remove the bails on the second attempt.The spectacular second attemptDwayne Bravo was moved around the Mirpur ground to ensure West Indies had one of their best fielders wherever the batsmen were looking to slog. Glenn Maxwell holed out to him at deep midwicket and when James Faulkner hit one towards long-off , Bravo rushed in and got under the ball slightly awkwardly. The ball hit his palms and popped up, but Bravo was quick enough to dive full-length to his left and complete the catch.

Also, youngest captains, run out in both innings of a Test, England’s oldest surviving Test player, and women’s T20 tons

Steven Lynch22-Apr-2014MS Dhoni completed 600 dismissals in international cricket during India’s victory over Bangladesh in the World T20. Is he the first Indian wicketkeeper to reach this milestone? asked Michael Seymour from Ireland
He certainly is: MS Dhoni is well clear of the next Indian wicketkeeper, Nayan Mongia, who completed 261 dismissals in all international cricket. At the time of writing, the only keepers from anywhere who are ahead of Dhoni’s 603 dismissals are Mark Boucher (998), Adam Gilchrist (905), Kumar Sangakkara (629) and Ian Healy (628). For the full list, click here. (Note that some of the players mentioned took additional catches while not keeping wicket.)I noticed that Brett Lee took five or more wickets in a Test innings only ten times, despite finishing with 310 wickets. Has anyone with 300 wickets had fewer five-fors? And has anyone taken 100 wickets with no fives at all? asked Hari Narayanan from India
Of the 27 bowlers who have now taken 300 or more Test wickets, no one has taken fewer than Brett Lee’s ten five-fors, although Zaheer Khan is close with 11. Lee never took ten wickets in a match, either: only Bob Willis of the other 300-club members also failed to manage that, although he did take five in an innings on 16 occasions. The most Test wickets without ever taking five in an innings is 87, by the England seamer Mike Hendrick – although he might be surpassed if Mashrafe Mortaza’s body ever holds together long enough to allow him another cap or two. Currently Mortaza – who hasn’t actually played a five-day Test for Bangladesh since 2009 – has 78 wickets, with a best of 4 for 60. New Zealand’s Nathan Astle is the only bowler to take 50 Test wickets without ever taking four in an innings (his best was 3 for 27). Viv Richards took 32 Test wickets with a best of 2 for 17. And Shivnarine Chanderpaul has taken nine Test wickets – all in separate innings.Was Meg Lanning the youngest player (man or woman) to captain an international side? asked Siddhant from India
Meg Lanning, who captained Australia to victory in the recent World T20, was the youngest to lead a side to victory in a global event. But she wasn’t the youngest to captain in any official international – that honour goes to Arran Thompson (now Arran Brindle), who was only 19 years 260 days when she captained England against Scotland in a one-day international at Reading in 2001. Lanning first captained Australia in a one-day international in January, when she was 21: her 22nd birthday came a few days before the recent T20 final in Bangladesh. Only four younger women have ever captained in T20 internationals, the youngest being Shemaine Campbelle, who was 19 years 338 days old when she skippered West Indies against England at Arundel in 2012. The youngest man to captain in any international was Rajin Saleh, who was 20 years 297 days old when he led Bangladesh in an ODI for the first time. Rodney Trott of Bermuda was the youngest in a T20 international (against Canada at Belfast in 2008 aged 20 years 332 days), and Tatenda Taibu the youngest in a Test – 20 years 358 days for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in Harare in May 2004.How often has a batsmen been run out in both innings of a Test match? asked Kazi Mohammad Firoze Hassan from Bangladesh
This has happened 24 times now, most recently to New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming, against Zimbabwe in Wellington in December 2000. Mark Taylor, the former Australia captain, was run out in both innings of a match twice, as was his long-time team-mate Ian Healy. Perhaps the unluckiest of all was the West Indian fast bowler John Trim – against Australia in Melbourne in 1951-52 he bagged a pair, run out in both innings. For the full list, click here.After the death of Reg Simpson late last year, who is now the oldest surviving England Test player? asked Richard Williams from Manchester
I’m always a bit worried about answering questions like this, as it feels like tempting fate. But as I write the oldest surviving England Test cricketer is Don Smith, the left-handed Sussex allrounder, who won three caps against West Indies in 1957: he should celebrate his 91st birthday in June. Fred Ridgway, the old Kent fast bowler who played five Tests in 1951-52, is one of only eight other players worldwide who are over 90: pride of place goes to Norman Gordon, the only surviving pre-war Test player, who was 102 last August. For the full list, click here.Has a woman ever scored a hundred in a T20 international? asked Dennis Morgan from Denmark
So far there have been three centuries in women’s T20 internationals. The first was a thunderous 112 not out by Deandra Dottin, for West Indies against South Africa in the World Twenty20 in Basseterre in May 2010 – Dottin dashed to three figures in just 38 balls, with nine sixes. Five months later Shandre Fritz followed suit with 116 not out for South Africa against Netherlands in Potchefstroom. And in the recent World T20 Australia’s captain Meg Lanning hit 126 from 65 balls against Ireland in Sylhet. For the full list, click here.

Having left out Morne Morkel, who might have made the tactic work, KKR used Vinay Kumar to bowl short at Brendon McCullum, and he was only too happy to sit back in his crease and keep pulling

Sidharth Monga in Ranchi02-May-2014The short nature of Twenty20 makes it an extremely tactical game, especially in a match reduced to 17 overs. More rides on every captaincy move, every input from every laptop, and every bit of coaching, than it does in longer formats. Kolkata Knight Riders got one wrong today when they decided to bowl short to Brendon McCullum. It is hard to tell if it was an instinctive call from the bowler and the captain, or if indeed they had some numbers to suggest this could be a plan – although it is hard to imagine McCullum struggling against bouncers – but the end result provided a fillip to what had been an okay start from the batsman.Also, had it been a larger plan, you would have imagined Knight Riders would get Morne Morkel to execute it and not pick Andre Russell in the XI and get R Vinay Kumar to get it into McCullum’s chin. As it happened, an umpiring oversight might just have ruled out any chances of Knight Riders not going through with it.Knight Riders had opened with two spinners, presumably to get some of their overs in before the towels came out. The outfield had taken some rain, and there had been some dew around even before it rained. Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine had been tight against the adventurous and successful Chennai Super Kings openers, and Dwayne Smith had been taken out. The ball was turning, and we were entering a crucial phase before Narine would come back to finish off. A few tight overs here, and Narine would have the upper hand, but Narine would be chasing the game if Super Kings kicked away now.At 43 for 1 after 6 overs, on came Vinay. When he first bounced McCullum, he beat the batsman. Replays, though, showed the ball had gone over head-height. A stricter umpire might have called it a wide. Under those circumstances, you might have possibly questioned the bounce in the pitch, and asked yourself if you really want to go ahead with the bouncers. Instead you see one fly, beat the top edge, all doubts disappear, and you put one extra man back on the hook.McCullum, though, didn’t hold back on the pull, and the movement of mid-off into the circle basically told him he could sit back and wait for the short ball. McCullum said as much. He found hitting down the ground difficult so he was anyway deep in the crease to shorten the length and go horizontal. Knight Riders’ plan only helped him.McCullum got one chest-high, and those quick hands and feet helped him put it over square leg. It didn’t stop Vinay from trying the short-pitched bowling in his next over. This is where McCullum’s footwork proceeded to create his own length. The first two balls Vinay didn’t quite bowl in his own half, but McCullum managed to pull them from the depth of the crease. Both went into the gap between the two men back, which meant McCullum kept strike.Vinay got higher now, and McCullum didn’t bother keeping the pull down. Into the gap again. The plan was hurting Knight Riders bad, but it wasn’t changing. It was a little surprising that Knight Riders stuck with it for as long as they did. In all, Vinay bowled eight short or shortish balls to McCullum, who took 19 runs off them with his pull.That over from Vinay ended with a moral victory for Knight Riders, when McCullum gloved the last ball – another short one – for four to fine leg, but by then Super Kings had already broken away. At any rate, at Vinay’s pace, on an easy-paced pitch, it would really have been against the run of play had Knight Riders got the better of McCullum with short-pitched bowling.