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South Africa are bringing together all areas of their game and producing a dangerous combination

Firdose Moonda at SuperSport Park17-Dec-2011Half a Test match. These days when South Africa win a Test match, that’s all the time they need. For the second time this summer, they have wrapped up victory in little over seven sessions, pushing the match in fast-forward and earning themselves some extra time off over the holiday season.Resounding with the bat, forceful with the ball and comprehensive all-round, South Africa were able to stamp their authority over their opposition early on. Out of 10, they are probably an eight, with the only worries being the back-up bowlers and a few of the batsmen, but as an all-round unit, they are starting to gell in dangerous fashion.”Today was probably the best standard we produced,” Graeme Smith said. “Even though we bowled Australia out for 47, I thought today was really good. “It was not just a performance of value because South Africa cleaned Sri Lanka up but because they did so having maximised the ability to exploit conditions and sharpened their killer instinct. Previously, South Africa may have laboured trying to dislodge the tail or even been satisfied with a smaller lead. Smith said “we would have been happy with a 100-run lead on this surface but to get 200 and a bit ahead really allowed us to attack with the ball.” At the end of the second day’s play, AB de Villiers was certain that South Africa had a big enough lead, at the end of the match, they proved him right.Vernon Philander is already being hyped up as the find of the season after his role in securing the victory. At international level, he may well be, but those who have watched him from his days as an cheeky newbie in 2007, to his toil on the first-class scene since then, will not be surprised by the performances he has put in. Words like skilful and canny have been used to describe him but another couple that can be added to those are disciplined and aggressive.

South Africa’s attack blended their aggression with strangulation and Smith summed it up well when he said “there weren’t too may free deliveries out there”.

He stole the limelight off Dale Steyn, which gave the world’s top-ranked bowler the time he needs to hit top gear. He covered for an under-firing Morne Morkel, who Smith said was “a bit rusty” and would get better the more he bowled. Philander’s penetrative performance also meant the match was over before Imran Tahir could even come into play.In his three Tests so far, the legspinner has had to play on seamer-friendly pitches and although he has managed to squeeze out some wickets, he has had to do so despite the conditions. Still, Smith believes there is a place for Tahir in the Test squad and that the time will soon come for him to play a part.”I don’t think it’s been the easiest wickets for Imran to start his Test career on. The wickets have seamed a lot and he has not really had to play a frontline role for us,” Smith said. “But, this Test match, he went looking for work with the bat and in the field and the confidence and enthusiasm that he showed is always exciting to have. We know what skills he has and I’m sure somewhere in this series, the skill will have to come to the fore.” Tahir scored a run-a-ball 29 and showed a marked improvement in the other two aspects of his game. Cape Town will likely provide him with his best chance to impress.Jacques Kallis also showed a more committed approach to bowling, which was absent from his game against Australia. He regularly got up to over 140kph and has taken his place as the containing seamer. “I don’t know if he has got too many more 147 kph spells in his body but it’s always great to see him like that. It’s terrific the amount of work he is putting into the bowling,” Smith said. As a whole, South Africa’s attack blended their aggression with strangulation and Smith summed it up well when he said “there weren’t too may free deliveries out there”.With the bat, it was particularly pleasing to see Mark Boucher’s 65 and the way he combined with the tail to form key partnerships at the end of the innings. At the start of the series, Boucher was facing pressure, with talk about his successor swirling. He was able to ignore the debate and humble enough to seek help. “Mark has played enough games to know when he is not performing to a standard,” Smith said. “I think it’s more a technical thing, he has put in some work on his batting and if you look at the way he played against Australia, he changed a few things technically.”South Africa will take five days off before regrouping next Friday in Durban. They will allow their bodies to rest but not their minds and the primary objective when they get to the coast will be to keep the lid on Sri Lanka. “Today was quite emphatic, our intensity was great,” Smith said.

Returning from his battle against cancer, the India allrounder is seeking fitness and redemption, aiming to get back ahead of the World Twenty20

Sharda Ugra07-Jul-2012Yuvraj Singh, having battled a rare germ-cell cancer called mediastinal seminoma for the last six months, is seeking fitness and redemption, and believes T20 will be an ideal format for him to explore his return to competitive cricket.The World Twenty20 has been marked down by many as the event that will signal his comeback, but on Friday, Yuvraj said he ideally wanted to be completely ready in time for two T20 internationals against New Zealand scheduled for Visakhapatnam on September 8 and Chennai on September 11.”It’s important for me to play a little bit of cricket before I play the T20 World Cup. I should be ready enough to play in those two games. I want to be ready 15-20 days in advance so I can push really hard in the T20 World Cup.”He said he thought he had a “95 to 100%” chance of making it back in time for the World Twenty20 and the bigger event happened to be a “realistic” target. “I’m not going to come back 90% fit or 80% fit. If I feel I am 100% fit then I am going to go into the field… I am recovering really well, getting a lot of strength, my cardio sessions have been good. [If I] keep doing those repetitions, I think my body will recover faster.”The post-cancer routines, he said, had not varied greatly. “There’s nothing different to it, it’s just that I have to build on everything altogether. So T20 would be a great start for me because you’re playing 20 overs. Then you play 50 overs. Once you have that feel of international cricket, you’ll be fine to play all other formats.” It is why he believed setting out for T20 would be an “ideal start” for him in international cricket.Yuvraj was speaking at his academy, the Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence, at the Pathways School near Gurgaon, Delhi, on Friday, the day before the launch of a cancer initiative called YouWeCan. It was here that he made his first public appearance after returning from chemotherapy in the US in April. The man in the room this week was significantly altered from the bald, slightly hesitant and almost unrecognisable figure who wore sunglasses indoors to deal with the glare of camera lights.The two months between then and now, Yuvraj said, had been spent recovering from his chemotherapy, taking a vacation with friends, and most recently his first nets session in six months. While he did make a brief appearance during the IPL in Pune, the return to nets at the NCA in Bangalore has given him energy, direction and optimism, he said.The transformation from being in a wheelchair during his final cycle of chemotherapy in Indianapolis and three months later walking into the NCA nets or sprinting, up to what he called 90% of capacity, was, he said, an experience hard to “explain in words”. Yuvraj called the NCA nets “stepping stones for me to come back”. He said he had been anxious when he went into the nets for the first time. “It was special for me, but I was a bit nervous, my feet weren’t moving great, but just moving, just being in the nets, was just a great feeling.”

He learnt to inject himself with a blood-thinner every day for three months in order to deal with the post-chemo blood clots, and to accept the effects of his treatment as necessary elements of a painful route to a recovery

According to his own assessment, Yuvraj thought of himself as about halfway ready then, admitting his recovery was “more of a mental battle”. For the better part, though, muscle memory had kicked in when he faced net bowling for the first time in six months. “As a cricketer your natural instincts are still the same. I was hitting the ball perfectly, I was catching the ball perfectly, I was bowling perfectly. It didn’t look like I’ve been out of sorts. It just looked like I need more time to spend on the field in the nets. It didn’t look like my bat is coming from somewhere else. Yes, my feet weren’t moving that great. I was struggling to go towards the ball, but my hand-eye coordination was the same.”At the moment, he is trying to spend a total of five to six hours – though not at a stretch – on conditioning work. One of the first shocks for his body to recover from was an initial reaction to the leather ball after three to four months spent in bed, struggling to walk or breathe like normal. “Yes, I was a bit scared of the leather ball. When I was watching the IPL – guys catching, somebody hitting the ball – I would get scared. My body was under a lot of shock, just getting over that shock is coming slowly.”Instincts and muscle memory can kick in quickly for any athlete, Yuvraj said, but anxiety would only go away over a period of time, “The leather ball hitting you… that feeling has to go away, because eventually you have to go to international cricket and play at the pace of 145-150kph, so you want to be as confident as ever when you go back. You have to get that routine in, you have to spend hours and hours. You have to spend extra time on your body.”He said that the cancer treatment had “completely broken” his body and dealing with the load of an exercise regime for the first two weeks and the muscular pain was hard. “My body hurts a lot, but after two weeks I’ve seen the results, it’s started to get better. A lot of strength has been gained. My body has not gone through a ligament tear or a hamstring pull. It will take its own time to come back.”Yuvraj was, he said, positive that the next two months would find him in far better physical condition. He said he felt comfortable batting, bowling, fielding and sprinting in short bursts. “If I can do five rounds [of a cricket ground] at a stretch, that means I am fit. At the moment I am not able to do do that. Cardio-vascularly my lung capacity has gone down after chemotherapy.”Yuvraj spent more than two months in Indianapolis, being treated at the IU Simon Cancer Center, where dealing with the after-effects of chemotherapy meant getting used to the loss of hair and appetite and “bad mood swings”. He learnt to inject himself with a blood-thinner every day for three months in order to deal with the post-chemo blood clots, and to accept the effects of his treatment as necessary elements of a painful route to a recovery.”You can’t keep the food inside, and it is the same for everyone who has chemotherapy. You smell the food but you can’t taste it… in four-five days your taste comes back. These are normal symptoms. It is important for people to understand that it is you who has to take the initiative for getting better.”The YouWeCan initiative was, he said, targeted at all kinds of cancers. “If we can work on detection and stigma, the percentage of people dying of cancer can come down. It can make a huge difference.”Cancer, he said, had made him a more grounded, organised and disciplined person. “I am trying to be more disciplined in my eating, in my sleeping times, in who I want to meet and who I don’t want to meet.”Am I more organised? My room is still dirty. I still throw my clothes.” He said he had begun to pray every day, “which earlier I used to struggle with”.The disease, he said, had made him appreciate the small things. He laughed about grabbing a bite to eat before talking to reporters, “I love every meal now. I just ate a samosa. I had struggled to breathe, so breathing fresh air is a great thing for me.”Yuvraj said he did not think of himself as someone who was going to give up on the demands of cricket. “I’m not a person who is going to say [enough]. I’m just going to live a normal life and I want to get back on the field, because I want to see how much my body can take. This phase has made me very strong and I am sure this strength will take me back on the field.”Yet, Yuvraj believed, the “motive” in his life had changed. “I am not going to be worried too much about my performances. I am just going to be happy that I am coming back on the field and play for India again.”Yes, I have to excel in Test cricket – if it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. One-day cricket or T20, I would just love to come back and play for India and I would just be happy, trust me. It’s a huge thing from where I was and where I am going to be.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the fifth day of the third Test at Lord’s

Firdose Moonda and George Dobell at Lord's20-Aug-2012Drop of the day
Most of the drops in the series have come with England in the field – nine to be exact – but South Africa have occasionally been guilty of the same. Jacques Rudolph was the culprit, when Jonathan Trott was drawn into the drive by Jacques Kallis. A slightly more difficult than regulation chance presented itself, Rudolph would have had to move to his left and stretch a touch but he was already heading in that direction when Trott got into position to play the cover drive. The ball squirted out of Rudolph’s grasp and ran away to third man for four. Trott was on 37 at the time and went on to almost double his score, a costly drop for Rudolph, if not ultimately significant.Celebration of the day
Imran Tahir was told to rein in his over-the-top celebrations as part of the new Gary Kirsten stable approach to success and failure but he could not hold back when he took the wicket that opened up England’s middle order. Jonny Bairstow should have gone forward to one that pitched on leg and turned across him but he stayed back and could not get his bat down in time to keep it out. Tahir charged away from his team-mates towards the pavilion, yanking his shirt at the point close to his heart. He stopped only when fairly close to pavilion and glared at it while his team-mates caught up with him. In the past, he would have run almost over the boundary so he showed some measure of restraint.Over-eagerness of the day
Vernon Philander had his best two days of the series and was so keen for it to continue that when he hit Trott above the knee roll he appealed vociferously and immediately thought it was out. His appeal was rejected but Philander did not even wait for Graeme Smith and made the T sign himself, asking for the review. Smith was so unimpressed with the bowler’s impulsiveness, he turned his back on him and went to consult with AB de Villiers, leaving Philander with his arms crossed. After a few seconds, Smith turned around again and shook his head, indicating he would not ask for the review and he was correct not to – the ball was bouncing over the top of leg stump.Key wicket of the day
If England were to have any realistic hope of chasing down a challenging target on the final day, they needed their most experienced batsmen to contribute a good chunk of the runs. Instead they lost Ian Bell early. Most galling was the manner of the wicket: Bell, ignoring the fact that the South African seamers were finding substantial movement, opted not to see his side through a testing first session, but flashed well away from his body and edged to slip. It was a loose shot of an experienced man of whom more was expected.Telling moment of the day
Graham Gooch sunk his head into his hands after the run out of James Taylor. Taylor was dismissed having been sent back by Jonathan Trott after attempting a fourth run. It was a moment that typified the way in which England, probably confronted by a superior foe, worsened their plight with a series of self-inflicted wounds.Revival of the day
Just when it seemed all hope had gone, England were revived through an outrageous stand of 74 in 66 balls for the eighth wicket between Graeme Swann and Matt Prior. Swann, counterattacking with bravado, smashed 41 in 34 balls but, responding to the sight of Prior bearing down on him, was forced into an unlikely single. JP Duminy’s throw was far from perfect but Imran Tahir, the bowler, collected neatly and hit the stumps with his own throw from close range to seal a tight run out that ended England’s last realistic hope of victory.Twist of the day
In the end it made no difference but Matt Prior won a remarkable reprieve that, for a time, provided another twist in a remarkable and absorbing game of cricket. It seemed Prior was out when, attempting to slash a delivery from Morkel through the off side, he scooped the ball to Duminy running in from the cover boundary. Prior was just feet away from crossing the boundary rope when a roar from the crowd alerted him to a shred of hope and he turned to find that Simon Taufel, the on-field umpire, had asked Rod Tucker, the third umpire, to check whether Morkel had overstepped and delivered a no-ball. Replays showed that he had and Prior, for a short while anyway, sustained England’s slim hopes.

With his England career on hold and despite a hint of vulnerability, Kevin Pietersen the broadcaster was full of praise for one of his replacements

David Hopps in Colombo21-Sep-2012Busy, busy, busy. England have not produced many cricketers as hyperactive as Luke Wright. There he bustles, a bat to swing, a job to do. Heart pounding, mind ticking. A stocky bundle of positive energy. Plug him into the National Grid and he would solve England’s energy deficit at a stroke. It is exhausting just to watch him.Wright is the enthusiastic one in the office who bustles around, putting the paper in the photocopier, ordering the bacon sandwiches and arranging the inter-company five-a-side, even when an inter-company five-a-side is the last thing anybody wants.He now shares England’s highest Twenty20 international score with Alex Hales, a more languid individual, more likely to be the one who left the photocopier empty in the first place. Both have made 99 in the past three months, Hales bowled on his home ground at Trent Bridge by West Indies’ Ravi Rampaul in June, Wright finishing 99 not out from 55 balls against Afghanistan at the Premadasa as he dragged the final ball of the innings from Dawlat Zadran into the leg side for two.But something else connects them, something more controversial. Both could be presented as the likeliest benefactors from Kevin Pietersen’s absence from the England side because of his prolonged brouhaha with the England hierarchy and Pietersen was there in Colombo to watch them as an expert summariser for ESPN Star Sports*, complete, on this occasion, with Union Jack cufflinks. KP has always valued a strong fashion statement.Pietersen’s role as a summariser, with his England career in abeyance and with peace negotiations ongoing in Colombo, is not a comfortable one. But even in the highly controlled world of England cricket, he is entitled to an opinion or two, as long as it is not destructive in its intent. The right to free speech is too often carelessly tossed away by young sportsmen and women whose priorities rest elsewhere.That is not entirely natural for the ECB, which not so long ago hauled Graeme Swann in for a ticking-off because by expressing his view that England play too much 50-over cricket he might annoy the sponsor.So when Pietersen responded to Wright’s innings by suggesting, supportively but pointedly, that he had benefited from playing T20 in overseas domestic competitions, IPL included – the running sore in his relationship with the ECB – it is to be hoped that David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive, and Hugh Morris, England’s managing director, do not misinterpret it as further rebellion, and that the media does not mischievously dress it up as more than it was.”Thrilled for Luke Wright,” said Pietersen. “He’s been out for ages, he has come back in, one of his first games since the last tournament and he has performed. I totally agree with his sentiments saying he has been out of the game, he has played the Big Bash, bits of the IPL, he has also played in bits of the T20 competition at home and he has become a much better player.”The difference is that Wright played domestic T20 tournaments when England did not want him; Pietersen wanted to play them when England did want him.To confuse matters, Pietersen then argued, with equal validity, that England’s bowlers will be helped in World Twenty20 by the fact they have not played IPL on the grounds that opposition batsmen will be less wise to their variations. Morris and Collier must have wondered if he had suddenly become a convert to the ECB policy to discourage participation in domestic T20 tournaments whenever possible. They would have been better to head to the bar and let him get on with it.That Pietersen remains valued by the viewers of ESPN Star is indisputable. A poll asked: “Are England stronger or weaker than when they won the tournament in 2010? Weaker, said 76%; only 8% said stronger. “The KP Factor,” pronounced David Lloyd on commentary, and so it was. Even if the poll had been closed when Afghanistan were 26 for 8, the result would have been much the same.

“The night belonged to Wright. Even his hair, all spiky and highlighted, seems to have an extra life of its own. But these days alongside all his energy spillage comes a greater degree of calculation”

Pietersen has adapted spiritedly to the summarising role, disproving the theory that he only ever talks about himself. But his absence from World Twenty20 must be cutting deep. There was a vulnerability about him as he renewed acquaintances with English commentators, if not yet English cricketers.”I agree with KP,” said Nasser Hussain, a former England captain, from pitchside, in a brief discussion about the use of the short ball.”Nasser agreed with me? I have almost fallen off my chair, Nass,” came Pietersen’s rejoinder, a lighthearted but somehow discomforting remark, a reminder that agreements of any sort have not come easily to him recently.Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, was only fully appeased about Pietersen’s commentary stint when he learned that it would not be broadcast in the UK. When his next pre-match remarks were entirely drowned out by music, one suspected that Clarke must have arranged a timely burst of God Save the Queen, only for it to turn out to be the Afghanistan national anthem instead.Then the night belonged to Wright – he also took Pietersen’s England record for the highest score at a World Twenty20, eclipsing the 79 Pietersen made against Zimbabwe in 2007.Even Wright’s hair, all spiky and highlighted, seems to have an extra life of its own but these days alongside all his energy spillage comes a greater degree of calculation. In the opening overs, this was a strange pitch – not so much two-paced as six-geared – but he allowed himself time to come to terms with it. Dawlat Zadran made one leap and struck him on the glove, then later deceived him with a slower legspinner which trundled devilishly through at shin height.England made only 15 off the first four overs, for the loss of Craig Kieswetter, but they escaped with 37 off the next two, seeing their opportunity and driving it home remorselessly. They pretty much controlled the match from then on.These days when Wright does hit, the favoured analysis of the moment is that he no longer “over hits,” and that his experience of T20 with Sussex, Melbourne Renegades and Pune Warriors has made him a more polished cricketer, a view with which he concurs.He was only 76 at the start of the penultimate over, but Izatullah Dawlatzai produced an eight-ball over which cost 32. Wright pummelled three successive sixes, including a free hit that was caught at long-on at the first attempt only for Ashgar Stankikzai to step back on to the boundary marker.It was all more of a mismatch than it might have been, a 116-run defeat representing something of a recovery. But Afghanistan, many of whose players learned their cricket in refugee camps, remain one of cricket’s most life-affirming stories. The MCC, together with the charity Afghan Connection, are committed to plans to arrange coaching camps and build pitches under their Spirit of Cricket banner. They could watch events unfold with a deeper sense of pride.*ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.), the parent company of ESPNcricinfo, and News Corporation Limited (STAR)

England’s poor record in India and a persistent weakness against spin bowling mean the hosts will start as favourites

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan13-Nov-2012When India began their tour of England last year, they were the No.1 ranked team and expected to provide a stern test to the hosts. Instead, the series turned out to be hopelessly one-sided, with England emerging comfortable winners in all four Tests. India’s form plunged further in Australia, where they were again beaten 4-0. In the eight Tests in England and Australia, India lost four by an innings and managed to score over 300 only once. The only successes for India in the period (since July 2011) were home series wins against lower-ranked West Indies and New Zealand. Surprisingly, England also struggled to maintain their position at the top of the rankings, losing 3-0 to Pakistan in the UAE and 2-0 at home to South Africa. Following the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, India’s batsmen will have their task cut out against a top-quality England attack. On the other hand, England’s batsmen, who were all at sea against Pakistan’s spinners last year, will be challenged in spin-friendly conditions. Given that England have won only one Test in India in their last four visits, the hosts start as favourites going into the first Test in Ahmedabad.England hold a 38-19 advantage in the head-to-head clashes with India. However, a significant percentage of their matches (46%) have ended in draws. The matches in England have been dominated completely by the hosts, who have won 27 and lost just five Tests. India also hold the edge at home, winning 14 matches to England’s 11. Since 1990, India have a 6-1 win-loss record in home Tests with their best performance coming in the 1993 series when they won 3-0. In the same period, India have won two Tests in England (2002 and 2007) and have a win-loss ratio of 0.28. The result percentage in India since 1990 (63.63) is well above the corresponding overall number in India (49.01). In contrast, the result percentage in England in matches since 1990 (52.94) is lower than the overall figure in England (61.53).

India v England in Tests

MatchesWins (India)Wins (England)DrawsW/L ratio (India)Result %Overall1031938460.5055.33Since 19902888121.0057.14Since 2000195680.8361.11In India511411261.2749.01In England52527200.1861.53In India (since 1990)116146.0063.63In England (since 1990)172780.2852.94Despite their ordinary record in India in the last two decades, England will be quietly confident following their performance in the last two series (one win and two losses). In 2006, they fought back from a match down to square the series in Mumbai. On their last tour (in 2008), England had the better of the Chennai Test till Virender Sehwag’s blitz enabled India chase down a challenging target of 387. The average difference for England (difference between batting and bowling averages) in the 2006 series was 2.52 but much lower (-9.86) in 2008. The England batsmen scored more centuries (3) than their Indian counterparts in the drawn 2006 series but were slightly behind on the century tally (3-4) in 2008. In the 1993 series, when England were blanked 3-0, their average difference was -31.23 with India picking up 58 wickets to the visitors’ 28. Considering that the wickets difference has drastically fallen in the last two series (six and two respectively), the upcoming series promises to be a far closer contest.

England’s series record in India since 1990

SeriesSeries resultEngland (bat avg)England (bowl avg)Avg diff100s (Eng/Ind)Wickets (Eng/Ind)19933-0 (India)26.0557.28-31.232/428/5820011-0 (India)30.1236.39-6.271/231/4720061-133.2430.722.523/146/5220081-0 (India)33.1042.96-9.864/328/30In their last four series, England have won three Tests and lost six including two at home against South Africa. Between the start of 2009 and the series in the UAE, England built up a formidable 20-5 win-loss record. There was, however, a massive difference between their performances in and outside the subcontinent. In matches played in the subcontinent since 2009, England managed only a solitary win against a major Test team (Sri Lanka) and lost four matches. Outside the subcontinent, England have a 20-7 record including a 3-1 Test series win in Australia. England’s average difference (difference between batting and bowling averages) is 10.71 in matches outside the subcontinent but falls to 3.15 in matches played in the subcontinent. India, on the other hand, have a tremendous win-loss record in the subcontinent (13-2) but an ordinary one (3-9) outside the subcontinent. The team record is clearly reflected in the average difference; in the subcontinent, the average difference for India is 12.11 while the corresponding number outside the subcontinent is -11.17. On average, England have been a more penetrative bowling unit as the wickets-per-match figure suggests. England, who have a win-loss ratio of 2.09, have a marginally better ratio of 100s to 50s as compared to India (0.47 to 0.44).

Recent form of both teams (since January 2009)

Eng (wins/losses)Ind (wins/losses)Eng (bat avg/bowl avg)Ind (bat avg/bowl avg)Eng (100/50)Ind (100/50)Eng (wkts/Test)Ind (wkts/Test)Overall23/1116/1140.46/31.1738.14/37.8155/11648/10816.6515.62Subcontinent3/413/231.64/28.4947.71/35.606/1537/5918.5716.85Outside subcontinent20/73/942.41/31.7029.73/40.9049/10111/4916.3214.17Alastair Cook, England’s highest run-getter since 2009, has an average of 43.34 against fast bowlers in Tests outside the subcontinent. The number increases to 67.33 in matches played in the subcontinent. Spinners have found it difficult to dislodge Cook in matches outside Asia (balls per dismissal 168.83) but have done significantly better in matches played in the subcontinent. Jonathan Trott has fairly even numbers against pace bowlers in and outside the subcontinent but has fallen far more often to spinners in matches played in the subcontinent (average 33.55). Kevin Pietersen, who is back in the England squad after a stormy period, has a lower average but high scoring rate (3.78) owing to his aggressive approach. Pietersen’s quickfire century at the P Sara Oval last year set up England’s eight-wicket win and he will once again be England’s trump card in a series that is likely to be decided by how the visitors fare against the Indian spinners. Ian Bell, who has been supremely consistent in matches outside the subcontinent, has failed to replicate the form against pace and spin in the subcontinent (27.00 and 39.00 respectively).India’s batting woes have been primarily because of the ordinary run at the top of the order. In Tests since the start of 2011, the Virender Sehwag-Gautam Gambhir partnership has averaged just 30.25, with both batsmen failing to register a single century. If the openers don’t fire, the inexperienced middle order will mount pressure on Sachin Tendulkar and the in-form Virat Kohli to deliver. On the other hand, England’s middle and lower order batting looks in considerably better shape with Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann coming in after Matt Prior, who averages 43.17 in Tests since 2009.

England batsmen against pace/spin in Tests since 2009 (avg, balls per dismissal)

Outside subcontinent – paceOutside subcontinent – spin
Subcontinent – paceSubcontinent – spinAlastair Cook43.34, 87.4281.58, 168.8367.33, 148.0050.44, 108.88Jonathan Trott43.40, 87.68222.33, 468.3347.00, 79.2533.55, 92.77Kevin Pietersen51.44, 86.2352.18, 80.6348.00, 88.5044.70, 61.20Ian Bell45.39. 89.63102.88, 193.1127.00, 48.6639.00, 76.37James Anderson, who passed the 250-wicket mark in the series in Sri Lanka, has an excellent record against Tendulkar, whom he has dismissed seven times in matches played since 2005. Sehwag has scored at over eight runs per over off Anderson but has been dismissed four times in 40 deliveries. Graeme Swann, who has generally been successful against left-handers, has dismissed Gambhir five times at an average of 20.60. Stuart Broad, the highest wicket-taker in the England-India series in 2011, has enjoyed much success against MS Dhoni, dismissing the Indian captain three times while conceding just 28 runs.Zaheer Khan, who hobbled off after picking up two wickets in the first Test at Lord’s last year, has hardly proved to be incisive ever since. In the two-Test series against New Zealand, Zaheer picked up just three wickets at an average of close to 60. He, however, has a strong record against Bell and Cook, dismissing them five and four times respectively. Bell, in particular, has struggled against Zaheer, scoring just 18 runs at an average of 3.60. Ishant Sharma, who is not a certainty for the first Test, has had the better of his contests with Cook, dismissing the England captain six times at an average of 16.66.

Batsman v Bowler stats (since 2005)

BatsmanBowlerDismissalsAverageBalls per dismissalScoring rateSachin TendulkarJames Anderson726.2845.283.48Gautam GambhirGraeme Swann520.6044.402.78Virender SehwagJames Anderson413.5010.008.10MS DhoniStuart Broad39.3329.001.93Alastair CookIshant Sharma616.6640.832.44Ian BellZaheer Khan53.606.803.17Alastair CookZaheer Khan430.0046.253.89Ahmedabad, the venue for the first Test, has hosted three Tests since 2006. While two of them have been high-scoring draws, the game against South Africa ended in a victory for the visitors after India were bowled out for 76 in their first innings. Mumbai has hosted only two Tests in the same period, with England winning the game in 2006 and the second (against West Indies) ending in a draw with the scores level. Nagpur, which is set to host the final Test, is the only venue among the four that has a 100% result record. While Ahmedabad has the lowest first-innings average (32.96), it has the highest second-innings average (71.37) among the four venues. While the third and fourth-innings averages in Mumbai are 16.25 and 18.00 respectively, the corresponding numbers in Nagpur are 26.13 and 20.90. Spinners have picked up more wickets than pace bowlers at all three venues except Ahmedabad. At Mumbai, both pace bowlers and spinners have performed well (average 32.16 and 29.77). In contrast, the corresponding numbers in Kolkata are 59.90 and 46.59.

Venue stats for the series (matches since 2006)

VenueMatchesResult%Avg (1st inns/2nd inns)Avg (3rd inns/4th inns)Pace (wkts/avg)Spin (wkts/avg)Ahmedabad333.3332.96/71.3741.91/22.0045/36.7733/59.03Mumbai250.0049.50/41.0316.25/18.0036/32.1640/29.77Kolkata366.6770.13/48.1538.83/53.5031/59.9042/46.59Nagpur3100.0045.84/41.0326.13/20.9044/32.7946/38.28

Here are the Official Confectionery Stall Conclusions From Days 1 to 5 Of the World Twenty20

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Here are the Official Confectionery Stall Conclusions From Days 1 to 5 Of the World Twenty20.England will definitely win the Ashes

The perfect final over except those four missed chances© Associated Press
Australia were humiliatingly dumped out of the tournament from a group containing only Sri Lanka (a nation that failed to win a Test match between 1877 and 1985) and West Indies (who had played no discernible cricket in the previous two months).England, by the starkest of contrasts, heroically stormed into the last eight despite being lumbered in The Group Of Death with the Netherlands (a team good enough to beat England, the founders of cricket, in their own head-quarters) and Pakistan (undisputed 1992 World Cup winners, and a team good enough to beat the team good enough to beat England).The only possible conclusion from this is that the Ashes are all but in Andrew Strauss’s back pocket already.Arguably, I might be reading too much into it. But for those looking for omens of an England victory (in the absence of overwhelming scientific evidence pointing that way), in 2005 the Australians suffered a Twenty20 humiliation, losing to England by 100 runs, and went on to lose the Ashes.Therefore, an England win is surely written in the stars. Admittedly, there are innumerable stars in the sky, and, if you squint hard enough, you can convince yourself almost anything is written in them. Last week, a friend of mine told me that the words “if you ride your bicycle fast enough into a disused quarry you won’t get hurt” were written in the stars. His heavily bandaged head and knees bear painful testament to his need to invest in a higher-quality telescope.Stuart Broad is a natural-born history-maker
Not content with being ceremoniously plonked for six sixes by Yuvraj in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, Broad became (it must be safe to assume) the first cricketer at any level of the game to miss four chances in a single over.Three potential run-outs and a caught-and-bowled opportunity literally slipped through his fingers in a quite heroic display of near-missing in the last over of England’s defeat to the Dutch. That he managed to remain focused on his world record attempt whilst simultaneously bowling an almost perfect final over was still more impressive.The momentousness of Broad’s achievement was somewhat lost in the frenzy of the match’s staggering climax and the hair-rending anguish / joyous celebrations / barely-suppressed sniggering that followed (delete one or more of the above according to whether you are from (a) England, (b) Netherlands, or (c) anywhere else in the cricketing world). Boys were expelled from my school for missing four chances in an entire season. To miss four in an over is the stuff of well-earned immortality.On reflection, it was the quality of his bowling that gave him the four opportunities not to dismiss the batsmen. This was a two-tone jelly of top-level professionalism and village-green clangery, displaying international sport at its most compelling.A lesser player would have been satisfied with his slice of history, wrapped it up in a hanky, and quietly faded into the background. Broad, however, responded with 3 for 17 against Pakistan. The lad clearly had tungsten-coated balls.Momentum schmomentum
There is much talk of the importance of momentum in this competition (particularly in an effort to give meaning to the final three group matches, which have been rendered practically pointless due to the peculiar means of deciding who plays in which Super Eights group – if West Indies beat Sri Lanka and India beat Ireland in the final matches today, all four group winners will be in the same Super Eights section, thus rewarding teams for not showing off by winning their two group games).However, it is the Confectionery Stall’s firm belief that the sultry temptress Momentum is one of cricket’s more deceitful goddesses.Group B has proved this theory. England went in to their match against Netherlands surfing a wave of momentum after six consecutive wins in all forms of cricket. They fell off their surfboard. They not only lost, but also ticked more ineptitude boxes than Mike Gatting has had hot dinners, and took the kind of public battering usually reserved for an especially naughty politician or a particularly tasty-looking piece of haddock. They thus entered the game against Pakistan with no momentum. And won. Easily.Pakistan, their already non-existent momentum shunted into reverse gear by this heavy defeat, then faced the Dutch, oozing momentum out of every pore after their landmark win against England. Pakistan duly clobbered the Dutch. On this evidence, teams should be looking to enter the Super Eights with the minimum possible momentum achievable without stalling completely. (Australia unluckily took this approach one step too far.)Perhaps Netherlands had too much momentum, and overbalanced like an overfed rhino in a slalom skiing race. Or perhaps they had the wrong kind of momentum. Or pointed their momentum in the wrong direction.Or perhaps it doesn’t necessarily matter that much in sport − and especially in an unpredictable sport like Twenty20, in which surprises are more likely and results more changeable than in longer forms of cricket, as they would be, for example, in one-set as opposed to five-set tennis matches, or one-egg egg-cooking competitions rather than a week-long best breakfast tournament.This is, in my opinion, both a strength and a weakness of Twenty20, just as the shortness of the tournament is both an advantage and a drawback. Anyone could win it. But, by the same token, anyone could win it.(As a footnote to this, it has been brought to my attention that in my previous blog I may not have analysed England’s alleged defeat to Netherlands with quite the rigour some would have expected. However, so excellent was the hosts’ performance in their second game that I have concluded that the opening match was a hoax. England, a well-funded professional side, did so many things wrong – silly selection, complacent underestimation of their opposition, batting like a bowl of porridge in the latter part of their innings, the list goes on and on and on and on – that the entire match must have been a media fabrication.)I still quite like Twenty20
Before this tournament began, I quite liked Twenty20. I have watched much of this tournament. I still quite like Twenty20.I’ve enjoyed some of the cricket, but have found some of it repetitive and formulaic. Watching Yuvraj and Gayle majestically demolish roofs of buildings is magnificent in any form of the game. Watching player after player haul his front leg out of the way and mow the ball over midwicket becomes decreasingly interesting. It has been good to see the stumping reclaim prominence in the scorebook, but I have started to hanker after slip fielders, textbook forward defensives, and lulls in the game.If Twenty20 fever is sweeping the world, I think I might have developed immunity to it. I would love to contract a dose, as it seems inevitable that T20 will increasingly dominate global cricket. However, for all its several unarguable virtues, and the fervour and crowds it brings, it lacks too much of what I love most about cricket.I am, however, more convinced than ever that, if the powers-that-claim-to-be in world cricket are genuinely serious about the primacy and importance of Test cricket, they must take action to preserve and nurture it, alongside its shorter, brasher, more accessible grandchild. Cricket is now competing against itself, and too much recent Test cricket has been featureless and predictable. If this is allowed to continue, the Twenty20 grandchild will pack its five-day granddad off to a nursing home, and probably forget to send him a birthday card.

By Stuart John, Australia

Stuart John25-Feb-2013By Stuart John, AustraliaCan Ed Cowan make more out of his international career than his English namesake?•Getty ImagesThis sounds familiar to anyone? Regular first-class cricketer plays for over seven years, not excelling but not sinking into the abyss as many have before. Mid-table mediocrity, so to speak. Said cricketer then wakes up one morning and discovers the cricketing fairies (I’d like to imagine Merv Hughes in a Tinkerbell outfit tip-toeing around the house so not to wake anyone up) have turned him into a batting champion. Centuries flow from his bat like beer from the tap, eventually leading to a long-awaited Test call-up. Once there, our hero doesn’t disgrace himself either, battling a difficult pitch and a strong bowling attack to make a useful 60-odd before being caught behind; his second innings is less successful, with an lbw decision against him early on.I should probably mention at this point that our hero is already a published author. If you’re an Australian cricket fan, you probably know the answer. And if you said his first name is Ed, we’d be in agreement. But our hero for this particular story isn’t new Australian opener Ed Cowan – instead, it’s former England player Ed Smith. Mind you though, most of the above could be true for Messrs. Cowan or Smith – and there’s more to it than that. Both made their first-class debuts at a young age, for world-famous British universities (Cowan at 20 for Oxford, Smith at 18 for Cambridge); both struggled for about four years into their first-class careers; and both have a reputation for being intellectual in a career that doesn’t always look that kindly on those outside the norm.Probably the major difference between the two Eds is the timing of their season diaries. Cowan’s is about his 2010/2011 season, where his average average of 34 was partially balanced out by a century in the Sheffield Shield final that helped Tasmania to only their second-ever win. Smith’s narrates his amazing 2003 season, where he hit six centuries in six matches to metaphorically blast down the door to English selection down with a cannon, bazooka, laser and anything else that came to hand.Both wrote their diaries with very different home lives as well: Cowan is happily married to media personality Virginia Lette and settled in Hobart, while Smith broke up from his girlfriend and moved house just before the start of the 2003 season. Smith was already a published author by this point, his comparing English professional cricket with Major League Baseball. What is uncanny about the two though is the similarity in writing styles. Both Eds reveal plenty about themselves in their diaries, how they treated triumph and disaster; and even the little tweaks they made to go from Ed Plodder to Ed Dasher. (No, I’m not going to tell you what they were – you have to read the books for that). So what happens next? For Ed Smith, that 64 on debut remained his highest score after his remaining four innings gave him just 23 runs and had him fade out of England contention. He continued playing for Kent for one more season before moving to Middlesex, retiring in 2008 before becoming a major writer for the newspaper. For Ed Cowan, that chapter is yet to be written. One hopes that when it is, it’s written in a way that will continue to do credit to Eds the cricketing world over.

Surrey’s new captain preached a message of pride and responsibility as he arrived to begin the task of rebuilding the county in his image

Alan Gardner12-Apr-2013Graeme Smith’s arrival at Surrey was always likely to generate sizeable interest, as one of the few genuine big-ticket overseas names in the county game this summer, but his unveiling at The Oval was marked not just by the frisson of nylon-clad journalists shifting in their seats, as every member of the Surrey squad present also filed in to the back of the room to watch. The new leader certainly seems to have inspired a following.Ten years ago this summer, Nasser Hussain referred to South Africa’s new, 22-year-old captain as “Whatshisname”. For a man called Smith, he needs remarkably little introduction now. The most successful captain in Test history, the only man to lead in 100 Test matches, currently in charge of the No. 1 team in the world and one of the leading openers in the game. Last summer, in his 100th Test, he scored a century at The Oval, the ground he will call home for the next three years.There can be no doubting the reasons behind Surrey’s decision to appoint him as captain, either. In 2012, a squad full of youthful promise experienced blunt-force trauma in the death of Tom Maynard, a tragedy that led to subsequent allegations about a dissolute culture within the dressing room. Smith, along with fellow new signings such as Ricky Ponting, Vikram Solanki and Gary Keedy, is charged with helping to build something formidable from the rubble. But first, there are introductions to make after all.”Initially, I’ve got to do as much learning as everybody else,” said Smith, who joined his new team-mates in London just a few days ago. “I need to get a feel for the team, the players – I’m still trying to learn the names, who does what. The first few weeks are going to be a lot of learning. The club has taken steps in the right direction and shown the intent with the decisions they’ve made. They brought in not only me but a lot of experienced guys, which adds value to the team culture. We want to create a culture that the guys are proud of, that they take responsibility for, that they respect.”His reputation may precede him but, as can be seen in the band-of-brothers bond he has forged with South Africa, Smith will not lean on it as a leader. “It’s about relationships. You need to build that trust in relations with your players in order to get the best out of them, that is the key. Early doors it’s going to be about building relationships, then over time hopefully imparting my style and what I’m about into the squad.”

‘It’s a six-month season, we can’t handcuff guys and put them on leashes, people need down time and that’s an important part of success. But hopefully we can create an environment in which people make the right decisions’Graeme Smith

Growing up and learning his trade whilst also captaining his country gives Smith a privileged insight as to the pressures young sportsmen face. He says that the “unique challenge” offered him at Surrey was the major draw but, with a young family (his wife is expecting their second child in July), the stability of a three-year contract was also a factor. One his new challenges will be to bring cricketing stability to Surrey.”One thing I can say is that over ten years I’ve been through a lot,” Smith said. “I took over at 22 and it hasn’t always been rosy. There was a lot of growth, maturing, times you have to look yourself in the mirror – and a lot of success. I feel that I’m a pretty well-rounded leader, in terms of what I’ve been through, to come in here and hopefully be able to grow the team. In South African cricket I’ve been dealt a lot of tough blows, on and off the field, having to deal with a lot of things, different situations. So I feel like I can add value to the squad.”Value in runs is almost certain but his influence may well be invaluable. In keeping with his emphasis on relationships, Smith advocates giving players the freedom to learn for themselves. With his mountain range of shoulders, barrel chest and gimlet eye – albeit perpetually on the verge of a twinkle – the man South Africans know as “Biff” wouldn’t look out of place as one of the Untouchables but he is not about to impose a new era of prohibition at Surrey.”It’s a six-month season, we can’t handcuff guys and put them on leashes, people need down time and that’s an important part of success,” he said. “But hopefully we can create an environment in which people make the right decisions.”Smith’s recruitment will bring enormous experience to the Surrey dressing room•Getty ImagesChris Adams, Surrey’s director of cricket, has emphasised the need for the club to remember Maynard but also move on. Smith may arrive as the Great Redeemer – “Obviously you can’t hide from it being a factor, everywhere I go it seems to be discussed” – but his recruitment is also about generating success. Last season was Surrey’s first back in Divison One after three seasons in the second tier and their last Championship pennant was claimed back in 2002. Winning is something Smith definitely knows about. Forget the fact he captains the best Test team in the world – in 2005 he managed to lead Somerset, the perennial runners-up of county cricket, to the T20 title.If he is to succeed again in England, he has not chosen to do it the easy way, even though Surrey’s resources surpass those of most other counties. Throwing his lot in with first-class cricket in England in April is not a glamorous career choice, either. Smith could have been hitting sixes on the subcontinent but, rather than join most of the world’s other marquee players at the IPL, he will likely be turning up his collar and battling it out on greentops. Ugly runs, a hands-dirty situation – it seems appropriate for the man.”One of the big things was the leadership challenge that Surrey offered was something I was looking for, I was looking for a place to make an impact. I would love to maybe play another year of IPL at some stage down the line bit if that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. My commitment is to Surrey cricket now for three years and maybe even longer, if we can make a success of it.” That may not be a big ‘if’.

Daniel Vettori still loves the game, but he is uncertain whether the game still loves him

David Hopps in Cardiff09-Jun-2013″When you are away from the game it probably rejuvenates your love for it.” That assessment came from Daniel Vettori as he contemplated his lengthy absence from the fray. Against Sri Lanka, in New Zealand’s first game in the Champions Trophy, Vettori finally made his return. One wonders how rejuvenated his love feels now.Vettori still loves the game, but he is uncertain whether the game still loves him. These days it gives him so much hardship. Back on the field, in his first ODI for 27 months, he gazed into its eyes, hoping his love would not go unrequited, but the game gave him mixed messages, flattering him for all it was worth, without ever suggesting that things were how they used to be.”Tell me you need me, tell me we’ll grow old together, tell me I’m still the one,” Vettori said to the game. And, in his first over, the game assured him he was still a superhero. “I’ve made you a used, dry pitch, your favourite,” said the game. But as he ran in to bowl, his body thicker these days, his movements more cumbersome, he still feared the game was looking elsewhere.He came on for the eighth over, his appetite whetted by the presence of Mahela Jayawardene, who he had picked off regularly over the years. They had first come up against each other in an ODI in Napier in 2001 and Vettori got him lbw. The habit was still ingrained in what had been his 273rd and last ODI – the World Cup semi-final in Colombo – when Jayawardene was lbw to his third ball. “Memories like that can help get you through,” said the game.New Zealand lost that match, another near miss in a major tournament, and immediately afterwards Vettori announced that he would take a prolonged rest from ODIs to prolong his Test career. He has been resting, or retiring or recuperating ever since: different words, but all signifying that the years were passing by and he was no longer on the field.This time, in Cardiff, his third ball turned and skimmed past Jayawardene’s outside edge. The next ball, tossed up higher, slid through Jayawardene’s defences and struck him on the back pad. Vettori begged the umpire, Bruce Oxenford, for the lbw decision and when it came Jayawardene knew, in his heart, that there was little point in a review.At the end of the over, Vettori was withdrawn from the attack, his immediate job done. He returned later and, in all, conceded only 16 runs in six overs, conceding boundaries to Angelo Mathews, a full toss bashed through midwicket, and to Lahiru Thirimanne, a slog sweep in the same direction. After such a lengthy lay-off, he could not have asked for much more.His spectacles glinted and tongue lolled from his mouth, with the intense concentration of a student sitting finals, just as it had always done. He demanded respect; he might have lost his litheness, but he will never lose his game sense. He took a catch too, back-pedalling five yards to clutch a routine skier from Thisara Perera at mid-on.”I’m still the one, tell me you’ll never let me go,” Vettori told the game. But the game could not be entirely oblivious to the heavy strapping on his right arm, a more ungainly approach to the crease and his limping gait at mid-on. It had heard too, about the mesh implanted into his groin earlier this year to address another injury concern. Then there was the hand pressed into the thigh whenever he bent down to field, a legacy of years of back trouble, once an endearing idiosyncracy, now a reminder of his growing vulnerability.His ambitions once stretched no further than becoming a pharmacist, after taking a degree in health sciences, but it is likely that no amounts of pills or potions will spare him now.There was a time when the game almost loved him without limits. Back in 2009, he dominated for New Zealand with bat and ball, but even then the side he led was poor and, as much as people spoke about his nous and praised him for holding New Zealand cricket together, he was landed with one of the worst captaincy records in New Zealand’s history. They even lost 4-0 in a one-day series in Bangladesh.It was good to see him back, but he did not look fit. New Zealand will give serious thought to resting him against Australia in Birmingham and keeping him for what could be more spin-friendly conditions back in Cardiff against England on Friday. But his return did not give much credence to his wish to stick around long enough for the 2015 World Cup, to be held in Australia and New Zealand. This tournament might yet become his farewell.Most disturbing was his response when Mitchell McCleneghan bowled Mathews round his legs. He clapped his hands in delight, but hobbled in to join the celebratory huddle so slowly that by the time he arrived, the wisecracks had already ended. The achilles injury that has prevented two earlier attempts at a comeback in England this summer still seems with him.Neither will there be many times when New Zealand will wish to field two spinners, as they did today. One of Vettori’s great achievements has been to build such a record in a country with a climate not conducive to spin bowling. Nathan McCullum, who has advanced his one-day career in Vettori’s absence, has a worse bowling average, but he is a stronger batsman, and busy and purposeful in the field.But at least Vettori was spinning a cricket ball again. It was better than spinning apples. In IPL this year, about the only time he came to anybody’s attention was when he joined Sir Richard Hadlee to appear in a promotional video for New Zealand apples, complete with a powerful rock music soundtrack. Vettori tried to look tough and mean, as if spinning apples was the challenge he had been seeking all his life, but it was his head that must have been spinning.In between times, he grew a bushy brown beard, which is the sort of thing you do to pass the time in India hotel rooms when there is no cricket to be had. He was clean-shaven for his comeback, 34-years-old yet strangely full of excitement and trepidation.He came in to bat with New Zealand rocking at 70 for 5, but was unable to turn the game. He made five in an uncomfortable 15-ball stay and then fell lbw to Lasith Malinga. Replays showed that he had got an inside edge, and he knew it, but New Zealand had already used up their review.”That’s not fair,” Vettori told the game. But the game was looking away.

England’s brand of cricket was not always admired during the Ashes but they able to seize the moment and produce periods of exhilarating play

George Dobell26-Aug-2013It is remarkable how demands change. A decade ago, any Ashes victory would have been celebrated as a stunning achievement. It is not so long ago it warranted an open-top bus parade through the streets of London and MBEs all round.Now, it seems, the bar has been raised. Victory is not enough. England are not expected just to win, but to win with style and flair and grace. Despite the 3-0 result, they have been criticised for their perceived negativity, their perceived gamesmanship and their perceived limitations. They are judged by far harsher criteria than they used to be. They are the victims of their own success.It was probably fitting that the series should end with a controversial umpiring decision. Issues associated with the DRS and umpiring errors have dogged the series with wearying regularity and overshadowed other on-field matters. The farce with bad light just showed, once again, how far the game’s administrators have allowed the rules to stray from the necessity to respect spectators. Common sense is anything but common at the ICC.It was also probably fitting that England’s moment of success was mitigated by another negative news story. Reports that England players may have urinated on The Oval pitch after the game will serve not just to diminish the standing of the winning team, but deflect attention from Australia’s lacklustre display. Australia may have lost the series, but they continue to win the propaganda war.That is not to condone the actions of England’s players. They sound both bizarre and uncouth. But there is a theme here: after almost every game, a story has emerged that has been designed to denigrate and demean the most successful Test team England have produced for many, many years. Whether it has been about England players smoking, England players not walking, the perceived deficiencies of England’s captain compared to Australia’s, or the latest ‘slashes’ story, all too often the narrative of this series has been manipulated to divert attention from Australia’s failings.England set out to win this series. They did not set out to entertain, to revive the spirit of the sport, to win 5-0, or to win Tests in three or four days. They set out to win. So this result can only be judged an unmitigated success. Many England supporters – particularly those who remember how grim things used to be – will find the margin entertainment enough.Panesar available for Ashes tour

Simon Kerrigan

He’s ok. I would imagine he feels very proud to have been part of a Test win [sic]. He’s a good young man, obviously a good bowler, with a good first-class record, but he had a tough time. I think he’ll come through that well, he’s under a good man up at Lancashire. Hopefully he’s learned a lot from the experience and I hope he comes back and has a successful career both with Lancashire and England. I think he’s a good young man, he’s a strong young man and I hope people get behind him and support him.

Chris Woakes

I thought he went ok. His pace was good. He’s actually a swing bowler but he didn’t get as much swing in this game as we would have liked. He can swing it both ways; he’s quite skilful with the ball. I thought he showed a good technique and a calm mind when he batted. I thought he did really well.

Monty Panesar

He is available for the winter tours. It’s not as if it [the incident with the bouncers] didn’t happen, because it did happen. But there’s got to be a cut-off time at which time he is available for selection and we didn’t feel it would be right to pick him in this fifth Test match but the Ashes away is a few months away and I would imagine, all being well, he’ll be available for selection by that time.

Tim Bresnan

He has a scan on Tuesday, but the results will only come out at the end of the week so we’ll have a better idea then. Even in the worst case scenario, I wouldn’t expect him to be ruled out of the entire tour, but he might not be able to play some of the early games.

Bad light

“It was a very tricky situation, because it was so close to a conclusion and the responsibility to entertain the people that were in the ground and watching on TV has to be taken seriously. So it was a tricky situation and I do sympathise with the umpires. Did they get it right? Ask them. We have spoken to the ICC a number of times over the years, but the description in the regulations of how they judge bad light is, I think, poorly written. The emphasis is on safety and very rarely is there a safety issue out in the middle. In my personal opinion it should be either a very strict reading on the light metre and there is a universal reading they could adhere to or it should be about the fairness of the balance of the contest between bat and ball.”

England play hard, pragmatic cricket. They have developed not just a belief in their ability to win, but a hatred of losing. Those are excellent qualities and they have served the side well. They are now unbeaten in 13 Tests and have won seven of those, including five out of seven this summer. Not since 1977 have Australia contested an Ashes series without a single victory.England went a long way to winning this series in the planning. They reasoned, long before the first ball was bowled, that the key difference between the sides was in the strength of spin bowling. They reasoned that the Australian seam attack was dangerous, that the Australian spin attack was modest and that the best chance of negating the former without incurring risk from the latter was by preparing slow, dry surfaces. That would take the sting out of the Australian seamers and highlight the greater potency of Graeme Swann over his Australian rivals.It worked, too. While Swann claimed 26 wickets in the series – the most by any bowler on either side – the four spinners utilised by Australia claimed 15 between them. Andy Flower, who not only planned this strategy but persuaded the groundstaff to implement it, is, unquestionably, one of the key reasons in England’s success.So, too, is Ian Bell. While the rest of the England top-order endured disappointing series, Bell three times produced centuries when his team most required them. Each one has led to England winning. After a tough year or so, Bell has bounced back with the series that may well define his career. Mature, calm and possessing the confidence to defend for long periods without allowing himself to lose patience or composure, this was the style of batting that Bell’s talent always suggested he could play.The downside – such as there is one – in England’s choice of pitch for this series was contested on relatively slow surfaces. That did nothing to encourage positive, attractive cricket and rendered much of the series attritional. It was, at times, even mediocre, compared to the high-standards of previous Ashes encounters.There is a theory – a theory expounded by those who peddle Australian propaganda mainly – that England will not like the quicker pace of Australian pitches. While it is true that Swann may find less assistance, the top-orders and seam attacks of both sides will probably prefer such surfaces. It may well result in a more entertaining series.But it is simplistic to admonish England for their tactics. Apart from truly outstanding teams, the likes of West Indies of the ’80s or the Australia team that followed, Test cricket has often been as much about patience and discipline as flair and adventure. England have been successful playing a brand of cricket that, in the T20 world, may appear somewhat sedate, but it would be wrong to underestimate its value.Besides, after long passages of careful cricket, England were able to seize the moment and produce periods of exhilarating play. They were behind on first innings in four of the five Tests but, whether it was Swann or Bell or Stuart Broad or James Anderson, they invariably produced outstanding individual performances to define games.Australia might do well to learn from England, not mock them. Certainly James Faulkner, a man without a Test victory to his name, lecturing Flower and co. on tactics at the end of the third day of the final Tests was incongruous. It was like a mouse telling a lion how to roar.There are a few clouds in the distance. Two or three of this England team – and its main coach – are rather closer to the end of their careers than the start and there is no sign of a replacement for Swann. He may be appreciated more after he has gone. His contribution has been immense.But such issues can wait. England have retained the Ashes. They have retained them without losing a game and without playing at their best.English cricket is not perfect, but it is much better than it used to be. And it better than Australia’s. In a landscape where victories between the two nations remain the benchmark by which they are judged, the current team deserve rather more than the begrudging praise they are receiving.