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From Colombo to Galle and back: a tale of wedding processions, rather large fish, and rickshaw roulette

Sharda Ugra19-Aug-2015August 10

Flights from Bangalore to Colombo appear to land in a time zone known around the world as TrST (Taxi rip-off Standard Time). If I was a taxi driver, 11pm to 7am is the only shift I’d work, welcoming passengers landing bewildered in a new city, disoriented, sleep-deprived, grumpy and ready to hand over their wallets.Colleague Arya Yuyutsu and I head to Galle, picking Andrew Fidel Fernando up from his home. Colombo is stirring awake, the light towers of the Premadasa go past, and on the walls of the mighty Welikada prison is this noble sign: “Prisoners are also human beings.” Maybe it is to remind the guards inside.August 11

Galle Fort is a world – a UNESCO-heritage-site, slightly Eurocentric, gentrified touristy world – by itself separate from what is outside its walls. We’re at the Secret Palace guest house in the Muslim quarter, which feels like a normal home. An early-morning walk is a reminder that while the tsunami wrecked much of the Sri Lankan coast, the walls of the Dutch Fort, built circa the 17th century, stayed intact. Astonishing. “Buses were being tossed around like matchsticks” says a fellow morning walker, a hairdresser and masseur by profession.One of the stalls in the fish market just outside the fort’s walls is offering what looks like a 100kg tuna. They shrug: that’s normal. India? Yes. Tourist? Cricket. The man grins and offers a familiar word of communication, leading to big grins all around among buyers, sellers and onlookers. The word is “Tendulkar”.A few kettles worth of fish, at the market in Galle•Sharda Ugra/ESPNcricinfo LtdAugust 12

The media have been divided by nationality and segregated, with the scorer sitting in the “right-wing media box”, meant for Sri Lankans. He will communicate with the Indian media via a PA system. The Indians are housed in the “left-wing media box”, a complete breakaway from the politics currently being tried out by Lanka’s jumbo neighbour.Near the left-wing media box is Galle cricket kingpin Jayananda Warnaweera’s office. Technically he is the secretary of the Southern Province Cricket Association, but he’s also the curator and general boss. His office is a visual feast: not like Paris but in its own way. It contains three fish tanks, two giant TV screens and a third, smaller one near his desk, 11 pairs of shoes – five black, one brown, one pair of cricket boots, and two pairs of loafers among them. On the walls are three pairs of cricket trousers, 11 cricket shirts and 14 kinds of hats (I counted). Three other hats with Oakley-type sunglasses sitting on their brims. Oh, and two tea sets: one Sri Lankan porcelain and one Pakistani onyx. You cannot fit it all into a single photo frame.August 13

Sri Lanka’s traffic policemen wear gloves and their motorists give pedestrians right of way at zebra crossings. Apparently you can get fined for jaywalking in parts of Colombo. Better to be fined than run over, say I. Water can be drunk from taps. These are civilisational high points.August 14

Watch an hour’s play from the ramparts of the fort. Sri Lankan wickets are falling, but at one point nearing lunch, an outburst of heightened drama. Arms are flung about, teapot poses are adopted, and a player resembling R Ashwin goes alarmingly close to an umpire. At lunch, the three umpiring bloopers are explained, replays watched. Then Dinesh Chandimal happens.The scenic route: Galle to Colombo by train•Sharda Ugra/ESPNcricinfo LtdAugust 15

The Galle scorer, Thushara Cooray, allows himself a bit of a joke every time he announces the fall of a wicket. He calls the time of dismissal “”, a word from Indian astrology that is meant to describe an “inauspicious” hour, when the rogue planet Rahu is not up to any good. As Indian wickets start to topple, Cooray’s voice calling out the sounds more and more upbeat. India’s batsmen stagger around directionless.August 16

It is Sunday morning, and Galle is awash in wedding parties freshly arrived for their photo shoots. First, a group with men dressed like the kings of Kandy on the fort wall. Half a kilometre ahead, two groups: men in army and naval uniforms, little boys carrying cardboard swords. In the court-house square, a vast population of the soon to be betrothed. Walkers and joggers are huffing past, sweating buckets, but in the wedding groups everyone holds their pose and looks gorgeous. From here they will go to wedding halls. Air-conditioned, no doubt.In the evening, Rathgama, and the home of Lasith Malinga’s unsuspecting parents. It is a two-street small town, not a village. The house is tucked away off a lane, single-storeyed, and surrounded by fruit trees – coconut, , jackfruit – reaching what seem like rainforest heights. The doors are open: Malinga’s mother, Swarna, is teaching a fifth-grade student preparing for her scholarship exams. She is tolerant of sudden intruders. She talks, Fidel translates. She calls that tinted hair, those tattoos, “”: nonsense. She asks if the guests would like some wood apples. Malinga senior is not at home when we call, but on our way out, Nama, the auto driver, recognises him walking up the road, dressed in and shirt. Rapid u-turn and journalistic ambush. He is happy to talk.August 17

Do not travel on election day, who knows what might happen. What happens is that people vote early and go about their business. We are on the Rajarata Regini inter-city express train, along with every single voter who needs to commute from Galle. A single seat is found in the absolute last carriage. Arya stands manfully by the door (and, I assume, sings songs) as he watches the countryside go by.Guess which Sri Lankan star is the subject of this portrait by a Rathgama schoolkid?•Sharda Ugra/ESPNcricinfo LtdIt must be one of the most gorgeous short train journeys of the world. Large stretches of beach and crashing ocean to the left, dense foliage and brightly painted homes on the right. Passengers in crowded aisles lean aside considerately so as not to block the camera of the tourist as she takes her photographs. A group of young men heading to their afternoon shifts as accountants somewhere, though, are unmoved by the scenic splendour; they watch a Tamil movie on their mobile phones. It has songs and a heroic-looking man falling out of his hospital bed to the alarm of a woman who must be his mother.August 18

Colombo. Become a substantial parcel, passed through four autorickshaws to get to the P Sara. The first is heading in another direction in the maze of one-ways that is Colombo and begins by transporting me to another for the minimum fare. No. 2 nods agreeably, calmly turns a corner and finds another comrade. Numero Dos is apparently out of fuel or his axle is about fall off. Or pigs are flying, who knows. No. 3 listens to the instructions regarding P Sara Oval – “Borella Junction” is a recognisable phrase for the now-tetchy passenger – and he races ahead, chattering to the driver of another tuk-tuk going at a good clip alongside. Directions? No, this is to be the Fourth Muskeeter, who will take this troublesome passenger to P Sara. Outraged passenger makes inchoate noises and driver explains: “Booking, 10:15, baby. Booking. Baby. So far.” A booking at 10.15am involving a baby cannot apparently be kept if he heads out to P Sara. Driver No. 4, D’Artagnan, is willing. It is the second day of the parliamentary elections, people have shut shop just in case, and the roads are empty. Forget the Muskeeters, this is Valentino Rossi on three wheels.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2015Brad Haddin had words for Grant Elliott during the 2015 World Cup final•Quinn Rooney/Getty Images#ThingsThatMakeHaddinUncomfortable
The hashtag was born after Haddin revealed why he had been so aggressive towards New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup final, sending off several of their batsmen in less-than-polite fashion. It was because New Zealand – the team and country – had been so nice to the Australian team during their group game in Auckland that Haddin could not stand it anymore. “You know what? They deserved it,” Haddin had told the radio station . “They were that nice to us in New Zealand and we were that uncomfortable. I said in the team meeting: ‘I can’t stand for this anymore, we’re going at them as hard as we can … I’m not playing another one-day game, so they can suspend me for as long as they like.”“I don’t really understand the hype …”
Before Australia arrived in London for the 2015 Ashes, England had just completed what was considered to be the most significant ODI series they had ever played – a high-octane batting exhibition against New Zealand. And Haddin simply scoffed at it. “I don’t really understand the hype around that one-day series,” Haddin had said. “We’d just come off a World Cup. I don’t understand what the excitement is about, and what this newfound form England found in that format. I’m a bit puzzled by it. We’d come off the World Cup and everyone had played – it was just like they were a couple of months too late.”“They break quicker than anyone in the world.”
India were having a torrid time on their 2011-12 tour of Australia, losing the first two Tests by large margins. Ahead of the third match in Perth, Haddin laid into the visitors, attacking their team unity. “We know this side can be as fragile as any team in the world if things aren’t going their way and they can turn on each other and the media turns on them pretty quick,” he had told Sky Sports Radio Australia. “We knew if we could keep them out there and put the numbers like we did on the board we knew we’d get the rewards because they break quicker than anyone in the world.”The Neil Broom incident
The most controversial incident of Haddin’s career occurred when Michael Clarke seemingly bowled New Zealand batsman Neil Broom in an ODI in Perth in February 2009. Replays indicated that not only did Haddin have his gloves in front of the stumps to collect the delivery – which should have led to a call of no-ball from the umpires – but also that he might have dislodged the bails with his hands, and that the ball had passed just over the top of the stumps. Haddin responded angrily to New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori’s criticism of his conduct.”I’m pretty disappointed in Dan that he didn’t have the decency to come and speak to me after the game if he had an issue with it rather than air his thoughts in a press conference,” Haddin told AAP at the time. “I think the polite or the decent thing to do would be to come and ask me. He’s played a lot of cricket now and he knows too well what happens with these situations, so I thought it was a bit low. I think it’s quite poor. After looking at the replay, my hands were in front of the stumps. But the ball, I’m 100% positive, hit the bails first and then came up into my gloves.”Benn banned, Haddin fined
On the second day of the Perth Test between West Indies and Australia in 2009, there occurred an incident that led to Sulieman Benn being suspended for two ODIs, Haddin fined 25% of his match fee and Mitchell Johnson 10%. It began with a run-in between the bowler Benn, who was moving across to field a drive, and the non-striker Johnson, who was taking off for a single. The contact seemed incidental, with neither man at fault, but Haddin appeared to inflame the situation after completing the run, when he pointed his bat at Benn in admonition. “It was an incident which could have been avoided,” the match referee Chris Broad said. “No one likes to see cricketers pointing bats at their opponents or pushing each other away.”Haddin said later that the incident was “something that I’m not proud of.”“Mickey was very, very insecure …”
Mickey Arthur was sacked as Australia coach in June 2013, before the Ashes in England. Later that year, Haddin was stinging in his criticism of Arthur’s tenure, and compared him unfavourably with his successor Darren Lehmann. “I don’t think he [Arthur] understood and was secure enough in himself to get us to where we needed to go … That wasn’t the Australian cricket team that I knew when I flew into Mohali … It was uncomfortable, walking into it. Guys jumping at shadows and the insecurity around everything that was being done, so just refreshing to get back here now and enjoy the game for what it is, a great game and been great for all of us.”

Usman Khawaja’s return looked like it might force Joe Burns out of Australia’s Test side; instead, it was Shaun Marsh who had to watch on as they celebrated Boxing Day centuries

Brydon Coverdale26-Dec-2015It took until 4.30pm, but the MCG crowd finally found a contest worthy of their attention this Boxing Day. There was booing, there was cheering, there was genuine interest in the outcome. Would Joe Burns or Usman Khawaja reach his hundred first? Oh, you thought this battle was between Australia and West Indies? No, by late afternoon Khawaja and Burns were the only dramatis personae involved, while Jason Holder’s men relegated to the status of extras.The batsmen had gone to tea almost level, Khawaja on 84, Burns on 83. For nearly half an hour after the resumption they traded the lead until Khawaja, on 97, sent a late cut towards the boundary. Jeers rang out around the ground as third man cut it off and kept the batsmen to two. Burns began the next over on strike, on 97, and managed to punch Jomel Warrican away through point for three, beating Khawaja to the ton by a nose, and two balls.To see the reaction of Burns was to understand how tenuously he felt he was holding his place in this side. When he reached his maiden Test hundred against New Zealand at the Gabba last month, Burns’ celebration was subdued, he soaked it all in like the level-headed individual that he is. But this time it was different. Having completed the third run, he tore off towards mid-off, ripped off his helmet and gave it a kiss, full of emotion, full of relief.Later, commentating on ABC Grandstand, Chris Rogers said he had spoken to Burns after the Hobart Test and Burns felt certain he was going to be dropped for Boxing Day to accommodate the returning Khawaja. It would have been a harsh call but given Shaun Marsh’s 182 at Bellerive Oval, it was understandable that he felt that way. When Burns spoke to the media in Melbourne earlier this week, he tried to put on a brave face, but looked like a man resigned to his fate.What a moment, then, when Burns brought up his hundred. The selectors had rightly stuck with him – Burns had started the summer with three straight century partnerships with David Warner, and was far from out of form – and he had repaid their faith. When Khawaja scored a BBL hundred six days ago, Burns watched and was pleased for his mate, but worried what it might mean for his own Test place. Another MCG ton for Khawaja came today, with Burns nothing but thrilled.Both men played brilliantly during their 258-run stand but much like in Hobart during the 449-run Marsh-Adam Voges partnership, the lack of pressure from the West Indian attack should be noted. Holder did the best he could and was admirably economical, but runs leaked more or less unchecked from the other end. Eventually Holder resorted to asking Carlos Brathwaite to bowl a defensive line wide of off, until umpire Marais Erasmus started calling wides.

Khawaja, Burns and their fellow batsmen might as well enjoy this bountiful summer while they can. It won’t happen every year

By the end of the day Burns had finally been defeated, or perhaps defeated himself, by dancing down the wicket to be stumped off Kraigg Brathwaite. Khawaja also failed to reach stumps, caught down the leg side in the dying overs. Australia’s captain Steven Smith was interviewed by ABC Grandstand this week and admitted that last summer he felt as though India simply weren’t going to get him out. Khawaja might have a similar feeling at the moment.He has now scored centuries in all three Tests that he has played this summer, as well as his BBL hundred for the Sydney Thunder, and not since October has he been dismissed for less than a hundred in any match, in any format of the game. If last year was the Summer of Steve, this one has belonged to Khawaja. That said, so many runs have been on offer against lacklustre bowling this season that Smith is Australia’s only specialist batsman averaging under 50 for the summer.Khawaja and David Warner have each made three centuries this summer, Burns and Voges two each, Smith and Shaun Marsh one apiece. And while those achievements are to be celebrated, they must also be put in perspective: apart from New Zealand’s work with the pink ball in Adelaide, bowling pressure has been all but non-existent from Australia’s opponents. Not to mention the West Indian fielding – Smith and Khawaja nearly ran a five on Boxing Day.But Khawaja, Burns and their fellow batsmen might as well enjoy this bountiful summer while they can. It won’t happen every year. And they will be judged as much by how they adapt to foreign conditions. Khawaja has the game to succeed all around the world but his past tours have been far from fruitful, Burns is in his seventh Test but all have come at home, and tours of New Zealand and Sri Lanka next year will test their adaptability.Last time Australia toured Sri Lanka, Shaun Marsh scored a century on Test debut and Australia thought they had found a batsman for the next decade. Five years on they are still not quite sure what to do with him. He has opened, been first drop, No.4, No.5. He has been in and out of the side, again and again. And now, again. Often he has been lucky to be picked; this time he is unlucky to miss out. But Australia’s selectors are happy with their top five. And after Burns repaid their faith on Boxing Day, they’re even happier.

West Indies might have lost the Melbourne Test by a massive margin but, given how their batsmen fought, they would have certainly finished with more belief than what they had begun the match with

Brydon Coverdale29-Dec-2015Before this Test, the West Indies captain Jason Holder spoke of his desire to see improvement from his developing side. We need to build and keep building, he said. But you can’t do so without foundations, and Holder noted that first West Indies had to lay down a performance that would allow them to build. They lost the Melbourne Test by 177 runs, but they might just have set down the groundwork that Holder was seeking.Certainly they finished the match with more belief than they demonstrated over the first two days. They could hardly have started in a more dispiriting fashion. They couldn’t buy an Australian wicket, nor could they sell a West Indian one at a high enough price. At stumps on the second day, West Indies were 6 for 91 in response to Australia’s 3 for 551 declared. Another three-day Test to follow their Hobart debacle seemed likely.But then something happened. Darren Bravo dug in and batted for six hours, debutant Carlos Brathwaite gave him support, and they avoided the follow-on by working Australia’s bowlers too hard for Steven Smith to enforce it. Their spirits had lifted. Bravo had shown what was possible, and that mindset spread throughout the team. Remarkably, they went within a hair’s breadth of taking the match into a fifth day.Set 460 for victory, they scored more than half of their runs before they lost more than half of their wickets. Their first century partnership of the series came from captain Holder and his predecessor Denesh Ramdin. At 5 for 250, and with Holder connecting some lusty blows, you started to wonder not only if the match would go to five days, but if West Indies could give Australia an unexpected scare.But the loss of Ramdin shortly before the second new ball led to a late string of wickets that ended the Test at 6.01pm on the fourth day. Still, that they even reached the second new ball was a good sign. For the first time since May 2012, West Indies had reached the 80-over mark in both innings of an overseas Test. Holder’s men had fought, and fought hard.Rajendra Chandrika, the much-maligned opening batsman who had fallen for three ducks in his first four Test innings, soaked up 130 balls and frustrated the Australians with his defence. Every one of the specialist batsmen got a start, though none could go on with it. But still, it was something on which they can build for the Sydney Test. In Hobart they had lasted only 106.3 overs against Australia’s bowlers; here they survived 189 in total.And yet, they lost by 177 runs and Australia retained the Frank Worrell Trophy. Too much ground had been conceded on the first two days, especially in taking only three Australian wickets in 135 overs. Four of the five Australian batsmen who were used in the first innings made centuries, and that after Holder had won the toss and sent them in. But now that his batsmen have shown some grit, he might bat first in Sydney if he gets the chance.”Proud of the way the guys showed some fight in this game,” Holder said. “Still disappointed that we didn’t put up a better fight. But credit to the way the guys played, especially Darren Bravo in the first innings and Denesh Ramdin in the second innings… It’s disappointing [to lose], but I thought we showed a lot of improvement from the first Test match.”Still, you have to wonder what the West Indies bowlers can do over the next few days. Australia’s attack has bowled West Indies out four times already in this series; West Indies have taken just 10 wickets in total. Their bowling was expected to be their stronger suit coming into this series, but their senior men have struggled, especially Kemar Roach, who has series figures of 0 for 218 and has leaked nearly a run a ball.Roach gave up 15 runs in his first over of the Melbourne Test, which prompted Holder to immediately take him out of the attack and pick up the bowling himself. Roach has looked a shadow of his former self and it would be hard to justify playing him in Sydney, where either the legspinner Devendra Bishoo, whose shoulder injury was not as bad as first thought, or the uncapped fast man Miguel Cummins must come into consideration.”We’ve just got to look at how we bowl,” Holder said. “We didn’t come up to the mark again. We didn’t control the game the way we would like. The bowlers were going at a fair bit still in this game, so it’s just a situation where our bowlers really need to take stock of what they’re doing and understand a little bit more the situations of the game.”Although the pitches have been very good for batting, we still have to find ways to contain. We’ve been allowing them to score both sides of the wicket, and we haven’t been able to contain them and control the game thus far, having them run away at certain stages of the game. That’s one area we really need to tighten up on.”Still, at least West Indies have given themselves a foundation. Now to build on it in Sydney.

A packed house and a nail-biting finish, perfect for the T20 format, made it an exciting day at Newlands

Samantha Smith20-Feb-2016Choice of game
It was a Friday evening, and there was a sold-out T20 International at Newlands. I’d be lying if I said I had anything better to do. In fact, I would have turned up to watch a dead rubber between Kenya and Zimbabwe.Team supported
South Africa. Despite their below-average T20 record at Newlands, I initially predicted a win for South Africa, given their historic and confidence-boosting triumph in the ODI series. I did not, however, anticipate a nail-biting, last-ball finish!Key performer
Imran Tahir’s match-winning 4 for 21 restricted a frenetic England to 134 for 8. The tourists looked set to rack up a sizeable total after Alex Hales and Jason Roy put on 38 runs in just 3.3 overs before the latter was caught by Hashim Amla at midwicket off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada. Tahir, however, had other ideas. He struck with his fourth delivery to dismiss the in-form Hales after JP Duminy held on to a difficult catch despite colliding with Rabada. Tahir kept his cool to dismiss Ben Stokes for 11 with the third ball of his second over after the England allrounder deposited his first delivery, a full toss, for four and slog swept his next ball for six. Following tight overs from David Wiese and Chris Morris, Tahir dismissed Eoin Morgan, who top-edged a delivery to third man, and Moeen Ali, caught by a diving Faf Du Plessis at cover, off successive balls. By then, the wind had been knocked out of England’s sails.One thing you’d have changed about the day
Tahir narrowly missed a hat-trick after his googly slithered past Chris Jordan’s middle stump. I would have liked that miniscule distance between ball and stump to have disappeared – if only to watch Tahir’s over-the-top, exuberant celebrations. He probably would have sprinted the perimeter of the field and then jumped into the crowd.The face-off you relished
It isn’t every day that your favourite batsmen open the batting together – particularly when those batsmen are Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. As such, I relished the opportunity to watch South Africa’s premier run machines bat in a Powerplay against a relatively inexperienced English attack. Alas, their partnership only lasted 4.2 overs after Chris Jordan struck early to dismiss de Villiers for 7.Wow moment
Queen’s blared across the stadium during the last few overs of the South Africa innings. Sensing victory, a boisterous Newlands crowd sang along, clapped and stomped vociferously. At one point, the clapping drowned out the PA system. It was a fitting reminder of the unifying power of sport.Shot of the day
Hales’ sweetly-timed on-drive off Rabada in the second over of the day was the shot of a man in sublime form.Crowd meter
Despite the chilly weather, the Newlands faithful turned out in droves. The grass embankments were filled to capacity and the stands, barring the temporary bleachers, were a choc-a-bloc. The crowd was lively and the atmosphere was pulsating. Although most supporters got behind the home team, there were a significant number of England fans in attendance. And you could easily spot them dressed in shorts and T-shirts seated among shivering South Africans wrapped in sweatshirts, coats and jerseys. In what has become somewhat of an anthem for the England tour, South African supporters frequently chanted “Hashim, Hashim” which was immediately met with England fans belting out “Moeen, Moeen”, much to the amusement of a buoyant crowd.Fancy-dress index
You’d be hard-pressed to attend a game at Newlands without seeing someone wearing a detachable ‘Amla’ beard. In addition to donning the popular beards, a cheerful group dressed in white clothing and added cone birthday hats. A trio of girls painted their faces with the colours of the England flag and two young men exhibited numerous South Africa flags on their torsos. One gentlemen dressed in full cricket gear and demonstrated his shot selection up and down an aisle in North Stand. In an original move, another group wore face masks of the yellow emoticons commonly used on social media. Finally, a peculiar man, whose face was painted green and red, stuck his head through a cardboard poster and proceeded to dance like an alien whenever the camera spotted him. It was truly hilarious.Entertainment
The atmosphere was enhanced by LED technology and pyrotechnics which fittingly complemented the fast-paced nature of a T20 contest. Flame units, aptly labelled ‘Protea Fire’, emitted plumes of smoke and bright, orange flames every time a boundary was struck or a wicket fell. The traditional wooden wickets were replaced with LED stumps and bails which flashed red when disrupted. A framework of LED lights were installed around the players’ dugouts, and green flames were frequently released in front of both sightscreens. The PA system churned out a fantastic playlist of contemporary hits, 90s classics and RnB tunes which heightened the atmosphere and got the crowd moving. In fact, the folks on the Oaks grass embankment, and in lively sections of North Stand and President’s Pavilion, couldn’t help but exhibit their dance moves for roaming cameras.Marks out of 10
9. A vibrant atmosphere, brilliant music and a last-ball thriller which culminated in a South Africa win. What more could a Proteas supporter ask for?

England’s Player of the Year was stellar in all formats in 2015-16

Andrew McGlashan16-May-201698 v New Zealand, 1st Test, Lord’sIt had only been a few weeks since a tumultuous turnover of England’s management: Peter Moores sacked on a wet day in Dublin, shortly followed by Andrew Strauss, newly installed as director of cricket in place of Paul Downton, confirming the end of Kevin Pietersen’s career while the new coach, Trevor Bayliss, would not even arrive for another couple of months. English cricket needed some good news. At 30 for 4 on the first morning, against a New Zealand side bristling under Brendon McCullum’s leadership, it appeared a long way off. But out of the gloom emerged two talismen. Moments after Root had arrived, Ian Bell departed but the response was thrilling. Initially, Root allowed Ben Stokes to lead the charge but he soon joined in by attacking Mark Craig before lunch – by which time he had skipped to 48 off 45 balls. He was content to rein himself in again as Stokes sped away, but in the final session was within touching distance of another Lord’s century until he edged Matt Henry two runs short. Still, he had helped ignite England’s season. It was a theme that would continue.104 v New Zealand, 1st ODI, EdgbastonIt was an inauspicious start to England’s latest new era of one-day cricket when Jason Roy drove the first ball of the match to backward point but in a way that opening stroke only cemented the team’s new conviction. There was no pulling back. Root’s half-century came from 41 balls, his next fifty from just another 30 in a thrilling display of controlled striking; a hallmark of Root throughout his year was that he rarely needed to slog. He was out before the halfway mark of the innings – and Jos Buttler’s 66-ball century would steal the headlines – but Root had ensured England’s promises were anything but empty.134 v Australia, 1st Test, CardiffThe opening day of an Ashes series can be a fraught occasion; the build-up, the pomp and ceremony, then finally the cricket. It was Australia who started the stronger and Root, not for the first time, walked out at No. 5 with fewer than 50 on the board. His first two balls were dramatic enough: a thin inside edge saving him from lbw, then moment when, edging a very full delivery from Mitchell Starc, Brad Haddin dropped the catch to his right. Root has since admitted he did not realise he had edged it. After that reprieve, though, he was dominant. By lunch he had chivvied the innings into life with five boundaries in his first 20 balls. Shortly after tea he went to his hundred off 118 balls with a pristine drive off Josh Hazlewood to the increasingly familiar cries around the ground of “Rooooot, Rooooot,” which to the untrained ear could sound like boos. They were anything but, as Root continued to bring much cheer.Joe Root’s hundred at Cardiff set England on their way to regaining the Ashes•Getty Images110 v South Africa, 3rd Test, JohannesburgBy now, Root was up to No. 4 following various batting reshuffles. He had started to get frustrated with himself, too, for not converting a host of half-centuries and other starts into three-figures. He put that right here. Coming in at 22 for 2 after 10 overs of exacting new-ball bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel, then a first-ball debut wicket for Hardus Viljoen, he immediately brought some proactivity to the innings. This was a spicy pitch and even without Dale Steyn, South Africa’s 313 was looking significant. The score would become 91 for 4, but Root was into his groove. As at Lord’s he then sat back a little to let Stokes unleash yet did not miss an opportunity to cash on some increasingly wayward offerings. He could not have brought up his hundred in better style, a rifled cover drive off Chris Morris, Test century No. 9. Although he could only add four more runs the next morning he had put England on course for parity. That allowed Stuart Broad to get to work.83 v South Africa, World T20, MumbaiPart-way through South Africa’s innings, as they flayed England’s attack, the cameras caught a shot of Root’s face as he fielded on the boundary. He appeared filled with anger, or at the very least shock. Even on a flat pitch, few gave England a chance of chasing 230 to effectively keep their tournament alive. Root walked in during the third over, with 48 already on the board thanks to Roy and Alex Hales. The start was relatively sedate – 12 off 11 balls – then he deposited JP Duminy over deep midwicket and there was no looking back. He went on to produce an innings of such control and composure that, incredibly, it was possible to say that England had such a mammoth chase under control. What stood out was not so much his boundaries (the best of which was a dreamy lofted drive off Kyle Abbott) but his lack of dot balls. A deftness of touch and awareness of gaps meant he had just four scoreless deliveries – three against Rabada – in his 44-ball innings.

Visibility is good, so is durability, and while it does swing a fair amount, it ought to spin as well

Aakash Chopra22-Jun-20165:42

Chopra: Pink ball visibility not a problem for anyone

Hardly anything is perfect when tried for the first time, but if you don’t ever try anything new, you’ll make no progress. It’s the same with the pink ball.In the only day-night Test match played with it, in Adelaide, it swung a little too much under lights. There were issues with the visibility of the seam – the green thread used to stitch the ball together at the time didn’t stand out as prominently as the white thread on the red ball did. Also, there were apprehensions about how long the ball would last in slightly drier conditions.The Cricket Association of Bengal deserves applause for conducting India’s first ever multi-day match with the international standard pink Kookaburra ball. While Kookaburra has made significant changes to the ball that was used for the match in Adelaide last year, CAB chose to be slightly cautious (at Kookaburra’s behest) and left a reasonable amount of grass on the pitch for the Super League final.Does it swing too much?

Since there was a decent grass covering on the pitch and the surface was a little moist underneath, everybody expected the ball to move prodigiously, both in the air and off the ground. And it did do a fair bit. There was some swing available in the air for the first 10-12 overs and seam movement till about the 30-35th over. If the bowler was willing to bend his back, he found bounce and carry too.But before passing judgement that the pink ball moves a lot more than the red, please remember that even the red Kookaburra moves about when it’s new. It’s the SG Test ball that doesn’t move appreciably early on, and so it’s unfair to compare its behaviour with that of the pink or red Kookaburra. On the other hand, the SG (if maintained well) keeps moving in the air for a lot longer into a match than the Kookaburra. As far as seam movement is concerned, we can attribute that to the pronounced seam, coupled with extra grass.The pink ball will swing a lot more at the start of a game than the SG Test ball, but movement in the air and off the surface (assuming Test pitches in India will be quite barren) will disappear after the first hour.Is it easily visible?

The pink ball passed this test with flying colours. The change Kookaburra has made in the colour of the thread used for the seam, from green to black, has made a significant difference in sighting the ball. I spoke to some of the batsmen who played in the game, and the wicketkeeper, about whether they were able to follow the seam from the bowler’s hand, and all of them said that they were.Some sensational catches were taken in the slip cordon, and that tells us that sighting the pink ball hasn’t been an issue for the fielders either. As for the commentators, it has been a lot easier for them to spot the ball under lights as compared to even the white ball.The change in the colour of the thread used for the seam, from green to black, has vastly improved the visibility of the pink Kookaburra ball•AFPDoes it last?
That’s the key question that needed to be addressed in this game. The main reason for India not using the red Kookaburra is its longevity (or lack of it) in Indian conditions. Also, the seam on the traditional Kookaburra is blunted and sinks into the surface of the ball by around the 40th over, which makes it almost impossible for the spinners, especially fingerspinners, to make an impact, since they are not able to grip the ball as well as they otherwise might, and nor does the seam grip the surface of the pitch on landing. Since spin is India’s main weapon in the longer format, it’s unlikely that any ball that doesn’t assist spinners will find favours.To address this issue, Brent Elliott, the managing director of Kookaburra, informed us (the Star Sports commentary crew) that they have tried to emulate SG by using a thicker thread to stitch the latest version of the pink ball. We followed the ball closely through the game and were pleasantly surprised to find the seam fairly intact even after the 75th over. Unlike the old Kookaburra, the seam on this new ball didn’t disappear. It could easily be a combination of the thicker thread and the grassy pitch that enabled the seam to stay intact. So the ball needs to be tested on barren pitches before passing a verdict on this aspect.In addition to the thick thread, Kookaburra also had four coats of pink on the ball, for it to last the distance. Usually a big issue with playing under lights is that as soon as the top layer of colour comes off, the ball starts picking up dirt and taking on the colour of the grass, and that affects its visibility. But with extra layers of pink added, visibility was not an issue at any stage of the game, including at twilight.The flip side of having extra layers of pink is that there was negligible wear and tear on the ball – both sides looked almost identical even after the 75th over. If one side doesn’t get scuffed up, it’s impossible to get the ball to reverse-swing, and that element was missed in this game. Once again, it’s expected that the ball will wear faster on drier pitches, but how much and how soon can only be known after further testing.Does it spin?
R Ashwin is India’s best new-ball bowler, for he has dismissed more openers than any other bowler in the current Test side, including the fast bowlers, since his debut. For day-night Test cricket to become a reality in the subcontinent, Kookaburra has to come up with a ball that suits Asian conditions too – that is, one that is spinner-friendly. While spin hardly played a role in this game, the general feeling among the players is that the pink ball will turn on spin-friendly pitches. Since the seam stays pronounced till late in the innings, there’s no reason why it won’t turn if there is some soil (and not grass) to hold on to on landing.It was noticeable that the pink Kookaburra was hard right up until it was replaced by a new one. The ball didn’t go too soft even after it had been hit for hours.How does it react to dew?
Besides the factors mentioned above, there’s the matter of dew in the evening hours, for the bulk of the cricket season in India is in winter. Since there was no dew in Kolkata for the Super League final, we don’t know how the pink ball will behave when there is dew. However, the good thing is that it can’t be too tough to find a couple of Test venues across the country that are not affected by dew at any given time.Overall, the pink ball has got a big thumbs up from everyone involved in the trial, and it looks like a matter of when and not if before the first day-night Test is played in India.The author was a part of the Star Sports commentary team for this game, and had access to additional information by virtue of that role

An analytical look at key deliveries and trends that emerged from the second day in Kanpur

Aakash Chopra23-Sep-20162:27

‘Rotating strike was excellent’ – McMillan

The Green Park pitch
New Zealand played two left-arm seamers and though they tried to go around the stumps quite often, they still managed to create some rough outside the right-hander’s off stump. Every bowler is different with their placing on the crease and their exit in the follow-through. While Neil Wagner got off the pitch quite quickly, Trent Boult, bowling close to the stumps, stayed closer to the danger area in his follow-through, and that is likely to help R Ashwin.90.4 – The rough comes into play
The rough outside the left-hander’s off stump comes into prominence for the first time. Mitchell Santner bowls quick into the bowler’s footmarks and the ball spins viciously. On this occasion the ball doesn’t bounce much and, with Ravindra Jadeja stretching fully forward, it does not cause harm. But with New Zealand’s batting line-up containing four left-handers, expect Jadeja to bowl over the stumps into the rough quite often. Since bowling quick is key for spinners too, it is critical to strike early in the spell before the shoulder gets tired.On turning pitches, it is not a bad idea to play excessive turn with a horizontal bat, using shots like the sweep•BCCI4.4 – The sweep strategy
It’s is only the tenth ball from Jadeja but that does not prevent Martin Guptill from sweeping for a four. In 97 overs, India’s batsmen attempted only two sweep shots: one from KL Rahul for a six, and another that Rohit Sharma did not connect. Guptill was quick to go down on one knee and sweep. One of the fundamentals of batting is to play the short ball with the horizontal bat and the full ball with a vertical bat. But on turning pitches, it is not a bad idea to flip this theory. The lack of bounce does not allow batsmen to play with the horizontal bat on the back foot and it is tough to play excessive turn with a straight bat. Expect New Zealand to use the sweep to counter spin throughout this series.25.6 – Will India miss Mishra?

Jadeja finds a genuine outside edge off Kane Williamson’s bat but the ball drops well short of Ajinkya Rahane at slip. This is only the second session of the second day and the black soil of this pitch is showing its true colours. The lack of bounce is evident and that will force spinners to bowl even faster through the air, which in turn could force the captain to give shorter spells to spinners as well. India are likely to miss Amit Mishra’s presence, for he might not only have taken wickets but also would have also given a break to the other two spinners.New Zealand’s seamers were liberal in their use of short-pitched deliveries•BCCIThe difference in short-ball strategies

There is a remarkable difference in approach between the two sides. While New Zealand’s seamers used the short-pitched deliveries liberally, India’s seamers used the bouncers sparingly. Till the 30-over mark, India seamers had attempted only a couple of bouncers. Wagner, on the other hand, bowled six short balls in the fourth over to M Vijay on the opening day.Latham, Willamson’s clarity in defence
While all the talk will be around Tom Latham’s use of the sweep and Williamson’s footwork, the thing that stood out for me in their partnership was their defensive skills. Positive intent is not necessarily going down the pitch or playing an attacking shot, but also being decisive in footwork and shot selection. Both Latham and Williamson did that perfectly. They either went fully forward to defend – with bat in front of the pad and not beside it – or used the depth of the crease to go back fully. The slowness of the pitch definitely aided them but credit must be given for the clarity of thought and execution.

Ireland have made large strides over recent years, but there is a sense that greater opportunities have arrived at a time when the team is in decline

Tim Wigmore22-Aug-2016Coin tossing was once a skill seldom required of Ireland’s captain. The occasional match between Ireland and Test teams stopping off for a quick game during their tour of England followed a familiar ritual: the tourists would always bat – for that is what the spectators had come to see – and would make plenty before Ireland were bundled out in the afternoon, often at the hands of cricketers rarely otherwise spotted bowling. When Australia thrashed Ireland in 1997, novelty acts Mark Taylor, Michael Slater and Justin Langer all took wickets. That was part of the fun.Last Thursday, Malahide was briefly transported back to this age. Ireland subsided to a 255-run defeat, the ninth highest in ODI history. “I would expect the players to be embarrassed,” former captain Trent Johnston says. “If teams get 340 against us and we’re bowled out for 80, they’re not going to come around and play those games anymore. They’re going to go somewhere else or stay at home.”A few months ago Cricket Ireland unveiled its new strategic plan, emblazoned with the aim: Making Cricket Mainstream. This summer loomed as Ireland’s busiest ever in one-day international cricket, and a perfect opportunity to show how far the sport has come in the country. But as the rain lashed down in Malahide, forcing the second ODI against Pakistan to be abandoned without a ball being bowled, it encapsulated a dispiriting summer. Seven completed ODIs have brought three thumping defeats in the games against Test opposition, an underwhelming 2-2 draw with Afghanistan, and with it, something worse: the sense that Ireland’s burgeoning fixture list has arrived with the team in decline.

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“We were a stronger unit a few years ago for sure, I think everyone would agree with that,” admits Ed Joyce, the only current player with memories of Australia’s visit 19 years ago.This is an obvious irony here: Ireland’s greater opportunities, which the team has fought so long for, have only arrived when they are less equipped to take them. That is unfortunate, but hardly unusual in the history of international sport, where conservative administration has often reigned: Italy’s rugby union side was stronger in the years before their elevation to the Six Nations, in 2000, than after; the same was true of Argentina’s inclusion in the Rugby Championship, from 2012, although the side has since risen again.No country in cricket history has tried to do as much with so little as Ireland. They aspire to match established Test opposition in all three formats of the game, even with funding from the ICC that is about one third of Zimbabwe’s. (Afghanistan are attempting to do the same, but also receive significant financial support from foreign governments). The fear is that Ireland’s romantic dream is imperilling their form in the very format for which the country is renowned. “Test cricket is a massive thing on Cricket Ireland’s radar,” Johnston says. “I don’t begrudge them that, but they’ve still got to be conscious of the 50-over and 20-over games because it’s given them so much in the past through World Cups.”Ireland consider first-class cricket their strongest format – Joyce reckons they would be more competitive in multi-day matches than they were against Sri Lanka and Pakistan this summer – but they know it is on ODI cricket that they will be judged. And while their recent T20 form has been dire, Ireland’s recent ODI record is scarcely any better.That Ireland have so little time together before playing Full Members – players have arrived the day before ODIs this summer – provides some mitigation. Yet their struggles, and a disappointing 2-1 defeat in Zimbabwe last October, also hint at more systematic issues. “We’ve been calling for more ODIs and we need to play better,” Joyce says. “We haven’t played very well since the World Cup. That’s a combination of some poor form and needing new blood in the team.”What we lack is pretty obvious. We lack a wicket-taking threat with spin bowling – Andy McBrine and Paul Stirling do a good job, but it’s more a holding role than real wicket threat.”We could do with another seam-bowling allrounder in there. It’d be nice to have some more youth – our fielding possibly hasn’t been as good recently. We certainly can beat teams in 50-over cricket; whether we can do it regularly at the moment might be asking too much, but with experience and time hopefully it will happen.”

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In the 2011 World Cup, Ireland had a top six of William Porterfield, Stirling, Joyce, Niall O’Brien, Gary Wilson and Kevin O’Brien. Against Pakistan, Ireland had the same top six – with all but Stirling now in their 30s – just in a slightly different order.”The golden generation was always going to come to an end,” Johnston says. “We probably didn’t do the development work we needed to in the late 2000s”.That is a view shared by Joyce. “We’ve introduced John Anderson, who is in his 30s as well, and Stuart Poynter, who hasn’t really got going yet, so we definitely need some guys to come in,” he says. “There’s not a huge amount of other guys getting hundreds in Interpro cricket, and there’s no particularly new batting blood in county cricket either. It’s certainly the best six batters in the country at the moment.”

“I think it is time for Porterfield to step aside in T20 and blood a new leader. McBrine would be someone you would have a look at”Former Ireland captain Trent Johnston

The sense of stasis is embodied by how young players who shone five years ago have failed to advance as hoped. Stirling scored two ODI centuries against Pakistan before turning 23, but his recent innings have been a succession of belligerent 20s and 30s that he has failed to convert into something more substantial: since a magnificent 92 in the World Cup win against West Indies in Nelson, he averages just 22.00 in ODIs. His use as a finisher at No. 6 against Afghanistan was both an attempt to reinvigorate him with a new challenge, and to address Ireland’s reliance upon Kevin O’Brien for lusty hitting at the death. Andy Balbirnie and George Dockrell – the former injured, the latter now the second spinner behind McBrine – are others who appear to have stagnated.Most worrying is the overdependence upon Joyce. He turns 38 next month, yet Ireland are more reliant on his runs than ever. Two unbeaten centuries against Afghanistan last month, two double-centuries in Ireland’s three games in the current Intercontinental Cup, and 955 County Championship runs at 73.46 in 2016 attest to how Joyce is batting as well as ever. But in the five ODIs in which he failed to score a century this summer, Ireland lost by 76 and 136 runs (against Sri Lanka), 39 and 79 runs (against Afghanistan), and then 255 runs against Pakistan. It is not merely that young talent has been slow to emerge but that formerly reliable performers, like Porterfield and Wilson, are struggling; both have lost their places in Championship cricket, and Niall O’Brien has just been released by Leicestershire too.Less tangible than the absence of runs and wickets is a sense that Ireland are no longer as antagonistic on the field, and so a more comfortable side to play against. The side of Johnston and John Mooney, who both retired in the last three years, was swearing, snarling and confrontational; the 2016 vintage is a little meek by comparison. “Trent and John were huge players for us: they were very good cricketers as well as being abrasive individuals,” Joyce says. The field is a quieter place in their absence. “We stood off them and that was reflected in the result,” Joyce says of the defeat to Pakistan.

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In a sense these struggles simply reflect the underlying realities of the game in Ireland. While the number of cricketers has quadrupled since 2007, to 50,000, it remains less than half that of New Zealand, who have the smallest playing pool of any Test nation bar Zimbabwe. “I don’t think there’s enough quality players in Ireland to make sure we hover around eighth, purely on the playing numbers. We don’t have the numbers to justify that,” Johnston says.One way of overcoming this paucity of players is through having an inclusive attitude to foreigners with Irish passports, or those who want to qualify to play for Ireland through residency. Yet under Phil Simmons, Ireland routinely featured far fewer players born overseas than many Test nations, and seemed uninterested in potential recruits: Nick Larkin played two seasons of club cricket in Ireland and played two games against Sri Lanka A in 2014, but heard little from the selectors. He has since scored a Sheffield Shield hundred for New South Wales and was named as the Futures League Player of the Year last season.Then there is PJ Moor, an Irish passport holder who played in domestic cricket for three years and was said to be keen on playing for Ireland; a few weeks ago he scored 71 on Test debut for Zimbabwe. The recent selection of Sean Terry, the son of former England batsman Paul, who has an Irish mother, against Afghanistan hinted at a change of approach.Barry McCarthy’s emergence has been a positive for Ireland•Getty Images/SportsfileEven in a dispiriting summer there has been hope. Barry McCarthy – selected two years late, in Johnston’s view – has provided much of it. He is a combative fast-bowling allrounder who has taken 18 wickets in seven ODIs in between establishing himself for Durham.After years of Ireland’s bowling being their weaker suit, there are other causes for optimism, too, with the emergence of Mark Adair, a pace bowler who has impressed in occasional appearances for Warwickshire, and Josh Little, a 17-year-old left-armer, who can already bowl at 85mph and, fresh from a fine U-19 World Cup, has been likened to Sam Curran by one local coach not normally renowned for hyperbole.Since taking over from Simmons last year, John Bracewell – whose future is beginning to be questioned by some – has tried to change the age profile of the squad, but Johnston would like the pace of that change to be quicker. “Maybe there need to be some bold decisions in selection to blood some younger guys and prepare for the next World Cup,” he says. “Why are these performances happening? We need answers. It’s not so long ago that we were ranked in the top ten in T20s and ODIs – so why are we 16th in T20s and 12th in ODIs? It’s a question that needs to be answered by Cricket Ireland.”To start with, Johnston advocates a new leader in the shortest format. “I think it is time for William to step aside in T20 and blood a new leader. Andy McBrine would be someone you’d potentially have a look at – he’s captained Northwest Warriors, he’s a good, tough cricketer.”Players like McBrine have to prepare themselves for international cricket without adequate resources to train. “Practice facilities are my big worry, really, over here,” says Joyce, who is weighing up returning to Ireland for good after the current county season. “How often can you get outside with the weather, and if you can’t, where do you do go indoors?”Changing this is a priority for Cricket Ireland – but so is improving the A team’s desolate schedule, making Malahide more than a pop-up international cricket stadium, and helping the women’s side build upon their two victories over South Africa this summer. Most conversations about Irish cricket still begin and end with the b-word: budget.

“One or two average years doesn’t mean we’re a bad side”Ed Joyce

Perhaps all this grumbling is just a reflection of human nature: forgetting what we have, and moaning about what we do not. Ireland already have seven ODIs – against Bangladesh, New Zealand and West Indies at home, and two much-awaited games in England – to look forward to next summer. “I never think we’ll go back to playing three or four games a year because the infrastructure that has been put in place will make sure that never happens,” Johnston says. “It’s not going to be downhill when you’ve got guys like Warren Deutrom in charge. I’ll always be confident that they’ll always be a competitive and very good Irish team.”Joyce makes another point: “We have a lot more wins than other teams starting out in the same time frame.” Ireland have won five matches against Full Members over three 50-over World Cups, while Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, the last three teams to gain Test status, had only won one each before their promotion was ratified. “One or two average years doesn’t mean we’re a bad side.”Irish cricket’s hard-won gains will not easily be relinquished, but nor will their lofty ambitions for the game – to make Ireland the “European New Zealand” – be achieved while the team performs as it has since the World Cup. Ireland and the rest of the Associate world know that the ICC’s new-found appetite for giving the leading emerging teams more opportunities must yield results, lest cricket’s governing elite again be put off the very notion of expansionism. Performances in the coming months, then, are not merely critical to Ireland’s future, they could also be pivotal in determining the sport’s attitude to growing beyond the cartel of Test nations.

After losing the ODIs and T20Is 0-3 to Pakistan, West Indies showed more resistance than most would have expected to finish the Test series 1-2

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2016Batting 100 overs in the fourth innings
West Indies lost the first Test in Dubai by 56 runs and the second in Abu Dhabi by 133, but they made Pakistan toil for both victories. They batted 109 and 108 overs in each of those final innings; only the fourth time they had batted for more than 100 overs in the fourth innings more than once in a series. The other three instances were: against England in 1930, Pakistan in 1977 and Australia in 1999. Only 12 times has a team done it in an away series, and this was a first for West Indies away from the Caribbean.Taking all three Tests into the fifth day
Before this tour of the UAE, West Indies had taken only five away Tests out of the last 13, across five tours, into the fifth day. Of those five Tests, only the one in Dunedin had not been interrupted by rain or bad light over the first four days. They managed to take all three Tests in this series against Pakistan into the fifth day, and not a minute was lost to rain or bad light either. This was only the 12th series since 2000 in which West Indies took at least three Tests in a series into the fifth day.Brathwaite making Test history as an opener
Never before in 2228 Test matches had an opener remained unbeaten in both innings of a Test. Kraigg Brathwaite did it in Sharjah. He carried his bat in the first innings, making 142 while West Indies were dismissed for 337, and then scored an unbeaten 60 in the second innings as they successfully chased 153 to win by five wickets.Holder turning a Test with the ball
Jason Holder has not had an easy time as West Indies captain. There were questions over whether he was too young when he was appointed in October 2015, at the age of 23. Since then West Indies have changed coaches and have had issues with senior players over selection. While coping with problems outside his control, Holder has also had to fend off questions over his place in the side: his batting average hasn’t risen above 30 since his ninth Test and his bowling average was only a fraction under 50 after his 18th – the Dubai Test of this series. So his spell of 5 for 30 in Pakistan’s second innings in Sharjah, which began the collapse that culminated in West Indies needing only 153 to win, was a surprise – and a significant improvement over his previous career-best of 3 for 15. The Sharjah Test was Holder’s first win as captain, two days’ shy of his 25th birthday.Bishoo striking at a better rate than Yasir
Devendra Bishoo had taken only four wickets at 67 apiece in two innings in the recent home Tests against India, so a haul of 18 in three Tests against Pakistan in the UAE was quite a turnaround. Bishoo finished the series second on the wicket charts, taking them at an average of 27. His strike rate of 45 was better than that of Yasir Shah, who was the top wicket-taker. Bishoo took ten in the Dubai Test – 8 for 49 in the second innings – and seven in West Indies’ victory in Sharjah. Bishoo’s 18 are the most wickets for a West Indies spinner in a series since Lance Gibbs took 21 against India in 1974.