lilbeankiddo

[lilbeankiddo]

England leave Australia punch drunk in cricket match

It’s easy to look back on England’s 2010/11 Ashes victory as though there was a sense of inevitability to it all. That a disintegrating Australian side led by an increasingly tetchy and out of sorts Ricky Ponting was never going to be a match for Strauss and Flower’s expertly marshalled tourists. It didn’t feel that way at Perth though.

England had been roundly thumped at the WACA, a rejuvenated Mitchell Johnson, recalled after being dropped for the Adelaide Test, taking nine in the match to  leave the series 1-1 with two to play. In a trailer for the horror flick that followed three years later, Johnson had dismissed Cook, Trott, Pietersen and Collingwood in a ferocious burst of 8-3-15-4, described by Ponting as “one of the great Ashes spells”, on his way to firstinnings figures of 6-38.

Shell-shocked, England survived only 37 overs in the second innings as Johnson found devastating late swing to pick up three more. The scoreline may have read 1-1 but with England searching for their first overseas Ashes victory for 24 years, it suddenly felt as though Australia were in the ascendancy.

It seems strange to think it now but I remember a sense of foreboding walking to the MCG on that grey, overcast Boxing Day morning. The optimism following Cook and Trott’s epic stand at Brisbane and then that magnificent win at Adelaide had quickly dissipated and the Aussie press, who had been tearing strips off their players in the wake of that innings defeat, were bashing the Poms with renewed vigour.

When Strauss called correctly at the toss and shocked even members of his own team by deciding to field, becoming the first visiting captain to do so at the MCG for 10 years, the Australian cricket reporter sitting next to me suggested that England’s captain, still shaken by events at Perth, was running scared. In truth it was probably the most courageous call of Strauss’ tenure.

A near-world-record crowd packed into ‘The G’ for the flagship event of the Australian sporting calendar to watch one of the most one-sided opening days in Test history. England’s bowlers were relentless from the off, making the most of the seam-friendly conditions to terrorise Australia’s batsmen. By lunch the hosts were 58-4, by tea they were blown away, all out for 98.

As if by divine intervention, the cloud cover which had played into the hands of England’s seamers had disappeared by the time Australia’s quicks returned fire and Strauss and Cook merrily stroked their way to 157-0 by stumps. England’s “perfect day”, as Strauss later described it, was complete.

“At the MCG the teams walked off in different directions and we could see our opening batters leaving the field, 150 without loss, already 50 ahead, and the Australians looked dejected,” recalled Jonathan Trott. “That was the moment I realised we’d retained the Ashes.”

Trott was merciless the following day and into the next, eventually finishing 168 not out, marking his guard one final time before leaving the field with a firstinnings lead of 415.

England went on to complete victory by an innings and 157 runs and then nailed their third innings win of the series at Sydney, giving a contest that had been in the balance only two weeks previously a very one-sided feel. “For the rest of our lives we’ll still have that couple of months together,” said Trott. “It was an amazing time. I don’t know if it will ever be done again so convincingly.” Eight months later, England’s whitewash of India achieved the team’s goal of becoming officially the best Test team in the world, an honour that was to prove short-lived.

For Australia, a change of captain and a root-and branch review of the team’s performance followed. Next time England returned to Australian shores, Michael Clarke’s side would be ready and waiting for them.

[lilbeankiddo]

Big guns go out in indian super league 2019

Your decision to expand the field in order to 24 teams in indian super league 2019, met along with much scepticism, but the very first knockout stage delivered the raft of upsets as well as thrilling contests to give the competition a much-needed injection of pleasure after a relatively sterile team phase. And this was in spite of Egypt being eliminated with a suddenly inspired South Africa, who else tactically outfoxed the hosting companies by playing a high collection, adding to their speed about the counter and generally outplaying typically the Pharaohs with a neat completing game. Thembinkosi Lorch’s delayed winner was as much as Stuart Baxter’s team deserved along with left the neutrals questioning where this South African-american side had suddenly jumped up from after burning off two of their opening a few games. Defensively they were good too, as full-back Sifiso Hlanti kept Mohamed Salah in check.

Egypt’s exit came up the day after the knockout cycle began with Morocco provided out by lowly Benin on penalties. It was a practically comical litany of have missed opportunity for Herve Renard’s expenses, including a spotkick in injury time that should have ensured some sort of late 2-1 victory. Alternatively, the mercurial Hakim Ziyech thundered his shot versus a post and the sport went to extra time, where Benin gallantly hung on and typically the won the shoot-out. Cameroon had lost their top before Egypt went out, Odion Ighalo getting two ambitions as Nigeria won 3-2. Cameroon had come from right behind to score twice just before half-time, only to suffer a similar one-two punch as Ighalo equalised and then Alex Iwobi acquired the winner three short minutes later.

Then followed typically the excitement of Madagascar manning their group stage heroics to beat DR Congo on penalties in a wish debut. The game ended 2-2, watched by a plane weight of Malagasy fans who received travelled over on a chartered flight with their president, Andry Rajoelina. Ahead going into the past minute, Madagascar conceded a equaliser to Chancel Mbemba’s powerful header and it believed as if the fairytale would likely end there, only for Yannick Bolasie to botch the kick in the shoot-out along with Madagascar to go through 4-2 about penalties. Ghana were the past of a heavyweight list of prior winners knocked out, concluding their record of five successive semi-final appearances considering that 2008 as Tunisia sided them on penalties.

?t had been a fourth draw intended for Alain Giresse’s team, still they looked much much better as they booked a quarter-final place. Taha Yassine Khenissi gave them a 73rdminute lead before an unfortunate individual goal from sub Rami Bedoui forced the game straight into extra time. Jordan Ayew possessed chances to then gain it for Ghana, nevertheless Tunisia got through soon after changing their goalkeeper ahead of the shoot-out. Ivory Seacoast and Senegal posted 1-0 victories over Mali along with Uganda respectively, while Algeria looked sharp in a 3-0 win over Guinea.

Senegal would not have it easy against some sort of stubborn Benin side ahead of Idrissa Gueye scored typically the winner, while Tunisia were being much more emphatic with a 3-0 triumph over Madagascar. The added wheels came off for Nicolas Dupuis’ journeyman team soon after Ferjani Sassi’s deflected hit went in, followed by ambitions for Youssef Msakni along with substitute Naim Sliti. From the other two quarter-finals, most between past winners, Nigeria beat South Africa and Algeria edged past Ivory Seacoast on penalties. Nigeria’s win at the Cairo International Ground was their 50th with the finals but came unintentionally as South African owner Ronwen Williams, who was spectacular in earlier games, have missed in his effort to bargain away a corner and the soccer ball struck William Troost-Ekong about the knee for an 89th-minute victorious one. Nigeria were ahead with half-time but let Newcastle, south africa back into the game after a VA decision allowed Bongani Zungu’s headed effort, even though having been patently offside. It was for the reason that video showed the soccer ball brushed a Nigerian exactly the way through and therefore enjoyed Zungu onside and turned out the usefulness of the technique, even though oaches did try to stoke up controversy any time calls did not go their very own way.

Algeria won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw with the Ivorians while they should have settled the game on the inside 90 minutes after Sofiane Feghouli gave them typically the lead. Baghdad Bounedjah have missed a penalty chance to extend typically the lead and Jonathan Kodjia needed no second invites to equalise and power the game into extra time, where Ivorians had the better involving some close chances. ?t had been a game where Wilfried Zaha showed his wizardry soon after being benched for two on the group games.

Yet another goalkeeping calamity proved decisive while Tunisia lost to Senegal in a match full of mistakes, while Riyad Mahrez won a stunning last-gasp winner to determine Algeria past Nigeria from the other semi. It supposed the two form teams carried on to the decider although Tunisia, whose overall tournament harmony was mediocre at best, maintained themselves in contention throughout until the end. They were untied by a bizarre own aim in extra time as goalkeeper Moez Hassen came off of his line to try to remove a free-kick from the appropriate flank but completely have missed the ball, which then reach Dylan Bronn and travelled into the net for the merely goal of the game. Both equally teams had a chance to give the result in the second fifty percent but squandered penalties, when Tunisia were awarded yet another spot-kick after going right behind, only for the decision to be rescinded after the ref consulted VA. Tunisia were handed a problem in the 73rd minute being a stinging effort from Ferjani Sassi was blocked with the elbow of Senegal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who noticed a caution and ended up being harshly suspended for the Remaining. Sassi hesitated as they stepped up to take the give up and hit a domesticate effort right into keeper Alfred Gomis’ arms.

Three short minutes later Ismaila Sarr ended up being tripped in the Tunisia fee area by Yassine Meriah, but when Henri Saivet destroyed a strong shot to the nook he was denied by a left-handed save from Hassen. The other semi-final was marked by simply Mahrez’s stoppage-time free-kick for you to earn Algeria a extraordinary 2-1 victory to add high class class after an individual goal and another VA penalty decision. Algeria proceeded to go ahead in the 40th small through an own goal by simply William Troost Ekong being a cross from Mahrez ended up being deflected and struck him or her in the midriff to drip back over the Nigeria goalline. Gambian referee Bakary Gassama initially dismissed Nigerian fee appeals in the 70th small when Oghenekaro Etebo’s hit struck the arm involving Aissa Mandi but solved his decision on online video evidence. It allowed Odion Ighalo to record a final goal of the tournament by simply sending Rais Mbohli the wrong manner from the spot.

Mahrez’s victorious one was Hollywood-style stuff, blasting in from 20 meters with the last kick on the match to send Algeria by way of their first Final considering that 1990. For a tournament stuffed with bizarre goals it looked like almost fitting that the launching attack of the Final presented yet another. After two short minutes, Algeria striker Baghdad Bounedjah’s shot hit the body of opponent Salif Sane, who had been generated within the side for the suspended Kalidou Koulibaly. The ball looped up and then dipped substantially into the goal over the bemused head of keeper Alfred Gomis, who misjudged the spine spin and watched enthralled as the ball landed in the back of the net.

?t had been the fastest goal in the Final since 1980 any time Nigeria’s Segun Odegambi won in the second minute versus Algeria. But any expectation this would be just the start of any roller-coaster game at the Cairo International Stadium evaporated easily into a stop-start, niggly occasion as Algeria tightened the particular midfield and frustrated Senegal’s efforts to play. Only Youssouf Sabaly on the left looked very likely to penetrate although there were endeavours at goal but off of target from Henri Saivet and Mbaye Niang’.

Cameroonian ref Sidi Alioum indicated to the spot for a supposed handball by Adlene Guedioura on the hour mark to make available Senegal a chance, but solved his decision after a VA review. Sabaly did power an acrobatic save via Algeria’s Rais Mboli while Senegal continued to look better in the second half, nevertheless their search proved hard-to-find and, as their legs worn out, it was obvious the result ended up being slipping away from them.

[lilbeankiddo]

England’s chances in the Cricket World CUp 2019

Here’s a prediction. England will win the World Cup in July and after his match-winning hand in the final, as well as some decisive innings in the Ashes, Jos Buttler will win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2019, making him only the fifth cricketer after Jim Laker, David Steele, Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff, to win the award. And undoubtedly the most modest and unassuming. When Buttler first played for Somerset a decade ago he was compared to Botham, mainly for his incredible ball-striking ability. In fact he is nothing like Somerset and England’s greatest warrior. Botham, a bear of a man, hit sixes with muscular ferocity, pummelling the life out of the ball. Buttler is more feline, moving almost stealthily into position and then pouncing on the ball and easing it into the distance with a simple swipe of his Kookaburra blade. He has been blessed with perfect timing. A six seems to take nothing out of him. He is a nonchalant destroyer, as he showed in that amazing 150 off 77 balls against West Indies in Grenada recently. He barely seems to break sweat. That, perhaps above all, is why he is most feared. He doesn’t savagely assault a bowling attack so much as calmly dismantle it with an amazing range of shots that only his idol AB de Villiers can emulate. From the day when he made 227 for King’s College, Taunton in a 50-over game, Buttler’s natural gifts were obvious. Mark Garaway, England’s team analyst when Andrew Strauss was captain, saw the innings, and recalls: “His dominance and composure and ability to manipulate the innings were outstanding, and he was only quite small then.”

Buttler combines superb balance, phenomenal handspeed and withering power. He makes hitting the ball look ridiculously easy. And beautiful. And yet, just as some of the world’s most stunning women lack self-confidence, so Buttler has been prone to self-doubt and introspection. He has evolved various ways of dealing with it. One is the motto “F**k It”, written on the top of his bat handle. It was spotted last year by Sky TV cameras but actually it has been there since about 2013. “It came out of various conversations I had with our team psychologist Mark Bawden,” Buttler said last week. “We worked out that my best state of mind at the crease was when I just thought ‘f**k it’. Trust myself and let everything take care of itself. What will be will be. It’s a reminder to come back to trusting your instincts and not allow negative thoughts to dominate. It’s a really nice reminder. It brings me back to a good place. Even during an innings when I might be questioning myself a bit I get to the non-striker’s end and look at the top of my bat and it helps me make clearer decisions.” Presumably he didn’t have to look at it too much during that incredible demolition at Grenada. What was his state of mind then?

“Pretty calm actually. It was fun and I remember wanting to try and extend it as long as possible and wanting to be ruthless. Maintain consistency. Trying to stay in the zone. It’s almost a sort of meditative state, but also being alert and sharp. The best feeling when you’re batting is when your subconscious is doing everything and you’re there with a fairly blank mind. You almost play a shot and think ‘where did that come from?’ It’s the purest form of batting.

“That’s been one thing I’ve tried to work on in the last year – the mental side, trying to access that zone more consistently. It’s not good enough to just explain success by saying ‘it was my day today.’ How come Virat Kohli’s day is every day?! How does he get to that state so often? Something I’ve tried to tell myself is ‘you can do it every day’.

“When I was with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL last year I met a guy called Anand Chulani, a performance coach. Our conversation actually started with him trying to help me cure my chipping yips around the putting green! He recommends certain techniques – how to try and get into that subconscious state. You have to fi nd an anchoring system. Something like clicking your fi ngers or clenching your fi st – a bodily function to try and instigate that visualisation of feeling at your best. A cue, a movement. To remind your body of that special state.”

By the time you read this Buttler will be back in India for his second season with the Royals. He is eagerly looking forward to it. Although he had produced some wonderful innings for England before that, the Royals experience had a profound infl uence on him. He is now a more complete player, illustrated by his statistics. In the 10 months since that IPL he has made 1,700 runs for England in all formats at an average of 46. For comparison, Joe Root has scored 1,584 runs at 37 in the same period.

Buttler undoubtedly felt more at home with the Royals, more family-orientated than his previous franchise Mumbai Indians, dominated by the owner Mukesh Ambani – the richest man in India – who liked to surround himself with legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. “Mumbai feels like the Manchester United of the IPL,” says Buttler. “A massive franchise in a huge city. A big operation. There’s a lot of expectation and pressure. The Royals felt like a much smaller outfi t, a bit more personal.” Initially he slotted in down the order, they let him fi nd his feet. “It probably wasn’t until mid-tournament that I got where I wanted to be. I was saying to my wife [Louise] how desperate I was to do well and she said, ‘Look, everyone wants to do well here. You’re no different from them. Stop trying to force it. Relax. Be yourself. Let it happen.’ “That was a big realisation point. There’s no doubt the smaller outfi t did make you feel more relaxed. It’s a big strength of that franchise – they make you feel at ease.” Once moved up to open, Buttler delivered, reeling off fi ve successive half-centuries – equalling the IPL record – in a number of winning causes. The Royals, in their fi rst season back in the IPL after a two-year suspension, made the play-offs. It wasn’t just Buttler’s skill that made the Royals’ UK-based owner Manoj Badale believe they’d got a bargain at £490,000. It was his attitude. “I sat next to him on a plane journey to one match,” Badale said. “He spent most of the time asking me about my business and what had made it a success. He even asked me if he could do some work experience at one of our companies.

I had never experienced a player with that openmindedness and interest in other people’s lives before.” Buttler says: “It’s really important taking an interest in something outside the game. I loved talking to Manoj, fi nding out about a different walk of life. I always try and keep cricket in perspective. It’s not the be-all and end-all. “Even on tour I want to try new things. Like, I had a go at wakeboarding in the Caribbean. It makes it better that it’s something you’re not really supposed to do. It makes you feel normal.” He cites Shane Warne, now the Royals’ coach/ mentor, as a huge infl uence: “I love listening to him – he’s a great storyteller, and has an incredible outlook on the game. He sees things differently. He just gave me so much confi dence. And it didn’t feel false either, which was a big thing for me. “When I got the recall to the England Test team I was excited, but there were a few nerves too. I just didn’t know how it was going to go. Warne just said ‘Enjoy it, be yourself and take it on. Be authentic, true to yourself. You’re good enough to do it.’ Coming from someone who is one of the greatest players to have ever played the game, that meant a massive amount.”

The impact was almost immediate. He made 67 at Lord’s against Pakistan, being particularly satisfi ed about a period when Mohammad Amir was bowling a testing spell and he was judging the ball well. “I felt really comfortable about the way I was playing”. Then came an ingenious 80 not out with the tail on a tricky pitch at Headingley to engineer a seriessaving victory. And a few weeks later a maiden Test hundred against India at Trent Bridge, the ultimate validation. “I hadn’t scored a red-ball hundred for several years [for Lancashire away at Durham in 2014]. There was joy, but a big sense of relief too.” We are all familiar now with Buttler’s sublime skill, his adaptability and of course his destructive power. What is less well known is his perceptive reading of the game. In the fi rst Test in Sri Lanka in November, England, intent on an aggressive mentality, were 103 for 5. Buttler was a few not out at lunch. He spoke up in the dressing room. “We were aggressive and had taken some chances. It was the right way to play on that pitch. But because it was an all-spin attack it all feltvery quick. There were boundaries, wickets, no time to breathe. I just  said ‘slow the game down, play it at our tempo. We can occupy the crease and wear them down’.”

He stabilised the innings with Ben Foakes and England eventually totalled 342. In another innings he got England back on track with judicious sweeping and a lot of nimble running. He made telling contributions in all three Tests. His versatility, his talent and his nous are all going to be integral to England’s hopes of winning a first World Cup. He pinpoints what England need to succeed: “We need to be positive, aggressive, and smart. We naturally get the fi rst two all the time. But we do need to react faster to conditions or situations that we haven’t seen before.”Buttler is the man to supervise that process. He knows that. He’s comfortable with it. His unique ability to control an innings is England’s trump card. He has timed the maturing of his batting to perfection. Oh, and his chipping onto the green is more consistent now, too.

icc world cup 2019 schedule pdf download

[lilbeankiddo]

Cricket legends who played in the Indian Premier League

“It’s only a few people, administrators and umpires, who had some doubt,” Murali recalls about the controversy over his bowling action. “That is their opinion,  but someone’s opinion can’t be the rule. Doubt is part of life, that’s fair enough. But there are two sides to every story. An Australian university proved me right, in the end.

“If you leave the decision to the umpire, though, I don’t think that is fair. Not on the umpire and defi nitely not on the player. How can you see from the eyes and say that this is not right? Two people might see it diff erently. When you’re bowling, your arms rotate quicker than anything and you can’t see properly. So use the technology, see if what you’re saying is right, and then come to a conclusion. And then you can tell the bowler to change their action. These rules have been brought in aft er my incident, so things are done in diff erent ways. Now a bowler has a fair chance.

Cricket boards get millions from TV rights, the ICC pay you a lot. And who wants to take that money? Not the cricketers. Everything is politicised. In the 1990s, nobody wants to come to develop the game, so honest people do the work. Aft er the World Cup win in 1996, money started coming in by 2000, and in ten years’ time, they spoil all the game.

“We have good youngsters, but confi dence levels are going down. We used to be very confi dent. The most important thing is to get them mentally right. They have all the shots, but they don’t know how to make fi ft y, hundred or even a partnership. Those are the things that are lacking in the national side.” Since retirement, Murali has gone into manufacturing – his father made biscuits, while he has gone into aluminium cans. He’s also heavily involved with former manager Kushil Gunasekera’s charity, Foundation of Goodness. “The foundation helps people in the poorer areas, those parts of Sri Lanka aff ected by the Civil War and the 2004 Tsunami. We also have built sports facilities and helped run sports tournaments. “I was fortunate to play cricket, to play for Sri Lanka. When I had my troubles in Australia in 1995, the Sri Lankan people stood by me, supported me during those diffi cult years, where I worked hard to prove myself innocent of the charges. The people of Sri Lanka helped me a great deal and I thought then that I would do something to help them, too.

“I was actually there when the tsunami hit southern Sri Lanka in 2004. I was visiting a village near the coast with my wife and mother-in-law, delivering books for school children. We saw the sea was high in the distance, but suddenly people were running towards us. They didn’t know anything about tsunami, so when we asked them what was happening, they just said ‘the sea has come to land’. We ran away quickly. If we’d been 20 minutes later, the tsunami would have got us.”

Bringing up bats in the IPL

The development of young Australian cricketers hasn’t been quarantined from a fast-changing world. The difference from the system in the 1950s is dramatic but in recent years it’s occurred at a much quicker pace. The last exceptional Australian side began to disband when Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath retired in 2007. The first World T20 event was held later that year and up until then the development system for young Australian cricketers was evolving gradually. With the widespread growth of T20 leagues, the players now have an extra choice when it comes to earning a living and this also means having to choose a development direction from a more cluttered path. A young player now comes through a system that includes many structured net sessions, hours facing bowling machines or a coach wielding a “whanger”. All these sessions are closely monitored by a coach who has various technology aids to emphasise his point.

The system I grew up in had few structured net sessions and many hours of playing matches, whether they were in the backyard against my brother or at one of the many venues where pick-up games were available. There were no bowling machines, unless you count the thousands of balls thrown by our father, Martin. There were no whangers – we didn’t throw balls to the dog, we hit them and Champ gleefully chased them, diligently returning the missile – saliva and all – to his master.

The hours of playing matches were crucial in the development process. Without knowing it at the time, all sorts of information was being embedded in my brain which stood me in good stead when I later faced first-class and international bowlers. The coaching was at the weekend and it was from an excellent tutor in Lynn Fuller. This experience has led me to the conclusion that it is best to have good coaching, or none at all. Not having formal coaching allows a young cricketer to spend hours honing his skills and better understanding his own game. The careers of great players such as Sir Donald Bradman, Bill O’Reilly and Doug Walters all began in the bush where they unearthed their own particular way of developing skills.

As the modern young cricketer progresses, he reaches the stage of playing various level under-age matches and attending an academy. My academy was the backyard and the local playing fields. Soon after playing in my only under-age competition – an under 14 state carnival – I entered the realm of senior cricket, competing against men. This was a critical part of my development and it undoubtedly hastened my cricket education. On leaving school, I graduated to A-grade cricket in Adelaide where I competed with and against Test and interstate cricketers.

When Dennis Lillee walked into the Kingston Hotel in October of 1995, it was as if Dennis Lillee himself had walked into the Kingston Hotel. It was, for a Canberra kid, flat-out unbelievable. Dennis Lillee! In the Kingo! Our local! Even 26 years old and six schooners deep, I was the fan kid in Almost Famous when he clocks David Bowie. Lillee! It’s Dennis Lillee! My mate Pagey didn’t care. He bounded straight over. “Oi! Dennis Lillee!” declared Pagey and began yapping away like they were pals. And DK laughed at some bit of nonsense, and at the front of the bloke, and soon enough I was over there, in the great man’s orbit, shaking hands, unable to speak.

And he smiled that lop-sided Dennis Lillee smile, the one you’d seen on the beer ads, and said, “How are ya, son?” And I smiled back like a shy kid with Santa, and said nothing lest it come out a squeak. Mike Veletta was there too, laughing along with Pagey’s babble. Lillee’s fellow man of the west was in town to captain-coach the ACT Comets, the local boys playing their first season in the domestic one-day comp, the Mercantile Mutual Cup. Veletta was 31 and had played Tests and ODIs for Australia, and would’ve been a big enough deal for we cricket-mad locals. Turn up with Dennis Lillee and he was Mick Jagger’s wingman. Safe to say we didn’t get a lot of cricket in Canberra. Not the top stuff, anyway. We  did get the Prime Minister’s XI; Robert Menzies’ muse brought back to life by Bob Hawke because he knew Australians as John Singleton knew Australians. Singo knew what sold Winfield Blues and Tooheys Draught, and Hawkey knew what sold Hawkey. And in those days, as Kerry Packer would have attested with a vengeance, cricket sold. And those PM’s XI fixtures, for cricketstarved Canberrans, were magnificent.

The first one was against the mighty West Indies side of 1984. Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, big Joel Garner, and all the rest of those ridiculous humans with their long limbs and languid moves, and other-worldly skill – they were so unbelievably cool. Their visit energised the town; the match was sold out. Three thousand people snuck in under the fence. Manuka Oval heaved. It was ridiculous: January day; hotter than hell. Man, it was good. Desmond Haynes fielded just in front of us, on the fence backward of square. He was our guy, diving around, smiling his head off. And every time he came back from some bit of adventure we’d cheer, “Dessie! You beauty!” And he’d laugh and wave, into it. It was so cool.

Kids were mad for those West Indians. For the Aussie team, too. A mate of a mate, Coyley, played locally for Easts and wore his cricket kit to the game: woolly jumper, thick white socks, Greg Chappell hat. And he stood outside the Australian team's dressing shed signing autographs. Quizzical kids lined up. Years later, a younger mate dug out his toy bat with all the autographs, and there between “Michael Holding” and “Greg Ritchie” was “Peter Coyle”. Out in the middle, another relatively anonymous cricketer, a squat Tasmanian called David Boon, was whacking big Joel down the ground on the way to 134. And in a summer in which the Windies’ quicks were more four-pronged killer attack squad than men, we bayed for this boy Boonie, and for the PM’s boys, and for Hawkey who’d made it happen. The great man took a walk inside the perimeter, lapping it up, a rubbery figure come to life, shamelessly in love with himself.

And we loved him for it. And Hawkey knew it. ScoMo? There can be only one. In 1990 came England, and mates and I had a gig selling ice creams at the PM’s XI. We worked out you could wedge a six-pack of VB in amongst the dry ice, and we’d sit there, watching cricket, selling Cornettos and sucking on VB stubbies. Now and again you’d chant “Ice cream!” and down they’d come, the people. And I got half-pissed watching Allan Border belt the Poms around Manuka. At stumps, I was paid 150 bucks cash. Still the greatest job I’ve ever had. Another was operating Manuka’s Jack Fingleton scoreboard. They’d brought it up from the MCG, plank by plank, this great, hulking old banger, heritage-listed. And mates and I would sit inside it, shirtless, sweating up a treat, drinking tinnies, watching cricket.

One day saw a young Michael Bevan belt a ton against Wayne “Cracker” Holdsworth, bowling heat for NSW seconds. Cracker was short, skiddy and rapid. He was Malcolm Marshall without the guile. And without the Malcolm Marshall. But he bolted in and let rip, Cracker. And he was quick. At least he was this day, bouncing Bevan and the Canberra boys. In the same match, Marty Haywood who’d taken plenty of Cracker because, truth be told, Bevo didn’t much fancy it – was run out in the shadows of stumps as Bevo scurried back to the non-striker’s end. And I can still hear Haywood’s bull moose roar of “craaaaap!” reverberating around the empty concrete stands of Manuka Oval. And I thought, “My but I love this game.” And I love this ground. And now Manuka’s got a Test match. Little Canberra has become.

Canberra has four distinct seasons. Autumn is dead leaves. Spring is blossoms. Winter is colder than Krakow by night. And summer is just hot. Broken Hill hot. It’s a dry, “bush” heat. It’s African savannah. It’s scorched earth. It’s stinkin’. And you played cricket in it because that’s just what you did. And you watched cricket. And you lived and loved it.

We played on “synthetic” wickets which were concrete strips overlaid by “AstroTurf” of various plumage. They could be bouncy as bejeezus. A top-edged cut shot would soar into space. Not a lot of seam. But bounce, baby, bounce. The turf wickets could be a bit how-you-goin’, as they say. Shades of the old MCG: shooters, bounders, rip-snorters. Ordinary, lot of ’em. And a lot of ordinary bowlers got wickets. Outfield grass was generally long because it was cold at night, and wouldn’t grow back if you cut it. Thus, batters did their best.

Yet a steady drip of first-class cricketers has come out of the joint, punctuated by the odd Michael Bevan and Brad Haddin. Greg Rowell bowled accurate fast-meds for NSW, Queensland and Tasmania. Wayne Andrews went to WA and played 91 Sheffield Shield games. Mark Higgs bowled left-arm wristspin and gave it a whack for the Blues, once belting 181 not against Queensland. Nathan Lyon came from Young to pilot Manuka’s mowers before doing the same at Adelaide after Les Burdett.

Largely, though, the very good ones stayed, big fish in a small pond. Few reasons: there were plenty of players like them in Sydney grade cricket; there wasn’t money enough to uproot a family to chase a dream; in Canberra there were public service jobs forever that gave you time off to play. And it was fun to play for the ACT.

Brad Bretland kept wicket for the ACT. You haven’t seen a bloke with quicker hands, whipping bails off standing up to the quicks. He played indoor cricket for Australia. Unbelievable eye, reflexes. Peter Solway holds the record for most games and runs for the ACT, and most games and runs in the ACT comp. He played in the PM’s XI of ’93-’94 alongside young guns Hayden, Langer, Ponting. Fellow local legend Greg Irvine played in the PM’s XI two days before Christmas 1987. Took 5/42 swinging the ball both ways before going down swinging in a run chase against Richard Hadlee, bookended in the batting order by ME Waugh, DW Hookes and AR Border. Solway says there were a couple of nibbles from Sydney but things were progressing nicely in Canberra. The Country Championships had kicked off. There were regular tours and second XI fixtures. And in ’95 came the Mercantile Mutual comp. “And I had a decent job, I was married,” he says. “It crossed my mind to move to Sydney. But I suppose I didn’t want it bad enough.” Was he good enough? Solway reckons he’d have backed himself. Yet the NSW team was a tough nut to crack. “The era I came through of under-17s and under-19s – and I don’t know if it put me off – but the NSW team was Taylor, Waugh, Waugh, McNamara and a heap of guys.

“I don’t regret [staying]. I’m happy with how things have panned out. Was I good enough? I dunno. I probably would’ve backed myself. But until you do, you don’t know.” Mike Veletta believes Solway was “easily” first-class level. “He was one of those great blokes who was happy doing what he was doing. He worked for the government, he was content, his family was entrenched in the community. There’s no doubt – temperament, nous, technique – he would’ve thrived at first-class level.” After Solway, Irvine and company, however, came a generation of cricketers for whom there was a genuine pathway and opportunity to play up. They were my generation – let’s call them the under-19s of ’89-’90. These talented ones could get amongst it at the AIS or the academy in Adelaide. Michael Bevan was of this generation. You played against Bevo, he was left-arm quick. Going across you, bending it back in – he was a bit bloody good, Bevo. Scary, even. A singular fellow, but a good fellah. He could bat, sure – but there were batters better.

One played in his own team – Huntley Armstrong, a Greg Ritchie-shaped belter with Shane Warne’s mullet. In a semi-final at Rivett Oval, my Woden Valley under-16s played Huntley’s Weston Creek. Bevo wasn’t playing, there was a soccer tournament on. But they still had plenty. Bunch of blokes would play U19s for ACT. But Huntley was the wicket.

On 20-odd on a ridiculously, freezing cold March day (truly, it was maybe six degrees, sleeting, wind-chill factor hideous), Huntley smashed our Laxman-wristed leg-spinner Michael Streat one thousand yards into space. I waited for it to come down. And waited. No-one thought I’d catch it – me included. Damn thing soared towards me like an ice comet. But I pouched it, somehow, and punched the air, and we knocked off the Creek, the hot faves. And all the dads said over again, “catches win matches”. And Huntley’s mum declared, “It’s all Michael Bevan’s fault!”

Week later in the grand final against St Edmund’s, another top player from that class of ’89, Marty Haywood, was on maybe 42 when he smashed Streaty high, and long, and way out to cow corner. And there waited I – The Hero of Rivett – underneath it. Beautiful day. Saw it all the way. Grassed the bastard. And watched our man Marty go on to plunder 157 not out and win the game. And that, as the cricket gods would tell you, is cricket.

Haywood went to Campbelltown and onwards to Mosman, where he captained the club for 20-some years. He would play 13 matches for NSW when the Waugh twins were playing for Australia. That was his competition in the Blues’ middle order: the bloody Waughs. Today, a good one would’ve gone to Tassie or somewhere. Haywood stayed and notched his highest score, 97, at the Junction Oval. And you play golf with him today and there’s longing behind his eyes. Huntley went to Adelaide and the academy there, and stayed on playing grade cricket. He played a couple of one-dayers for South hero of mine, David Hookes. Michael Bevan went to Sydney, and fashioned a fairly decent career in the game. Today there are several ex-Canberrans playing first-class cricket, such as Will Sheridan (Victoria), Jason Behrendorff (WA), Jason Floros (Queensland), Nick Winter (SA) and Tom Rogers (Tasmania). It’s always been the same – and it’s the same for those from Townsville, Geraldton, Innamincka – you want to be taken seriously, you leave. And until the ACT gets a Sheffield Shield team, that’s how it will stay. And that’s why they want one.

Mike Veletta had played 12 years of first-class cricket when it was put to him that he might like to captain-coach the fledgling one-day team called the ACT Comets in the Mercantile Mutual Cup. There was a job in property with a reputable firm. There was a chance to learn about coaching. It ticked a few boxes. But jeez, it was different to Perth. “They flew my wife and I over to Canberra in July, and you can imagine the weather,” Veletta remembers. “It was horrible. Four days later we got on the flight home, my wife said, ‘Thanks for that – I don’t need to see any more.’

“A month later we were there.” The move was still a punt for Veletta. The Comets were still an idea, there wasn’t actual confirmation that they’d be a firstclass entity. Yet he rocked up for pre-season training and learned things were done a little differently in the Bush Capital.

“I was told the first pre-season game was always against Manly, and they’d always stay at the Steyne Hotel,” says Veletta. “It wasn’t going to be a typical cricket tour. So we played against Manly and spent a long weekend at the pub! It was pointless going to bed early. It was a great way to get to know your team-mates and a great introduction to ACT cricket.”

Veletta was allocated a local club, Weston Creek, and was expected to dominate. Yet conditions were so different to Perth that he battled. “The pitches were average, really. Average bowlers could get wickets. It took me a while to work it out.” But he grew to love it. He was captaining guys for whom the interstate one-day competition would be the highlight of their careers. He found it refreshing that people played for love alone, and were proud to represent a tight-knit community.

Yet after three seasons and 18 one-day matches, the Comets were axed. Solway blames politics. And Cricket Australia. And a few other things. “Cricket Australia [then the Australian Cricket Board] showed a lack of vision,” Solway says. “It was shortsighted. It was voted on by states thinking about what they had to lose rather than the good of Australian cricket. Denis Rogers from Tasmania was chairman of the board. He drove it. Tasmania and South Australia were thinking about what they had to lose.

“We had players coming to Canberra to get an opportunity. Instead of going to Tassie, they were coming here. We were always keen to play first-class cricket. And I reckon it scared people. “But more teams wouldn’t weaken the standard. Australia’s had the same six state teams forever. Cricket’s set in its ways. And look how we’re going.” The Comets had their supporters. Alan Crompton was one. Geoff Lawson was coach of NSW and saw the ACT as a good destination for kids from his region of Wagga Wagga and the Riverina.

“I asked people on the cricket board why the team was axed and their responses were very political,” says Veletta. “It didn’t make sense. In regional cricket, the ACT could’ve played a huge role. I always thought for all the country guys between Sydney and Melbourne, the one-day comp would’ve been a great stepping stone.” In terms of cricket competition, though, the territory was, and remains, a fairly poor cousin to the metropolitan centres. It’s seen as a nudge above the comps in Newcastle, Ballarat, Sunshine Coast. Sydney boys will tell you Futures League games against the ACT are like hard first-grade games. Good cricket – nothing you can’t cop.

Today the Comets – which played its last, first-class 50-over matches in February of 2000 – are the ACT/NSW Country Comets and play List A Futures League fixtures against state second XIs, academies, and various mobs of young turks. Locals lament that the Comets are a de facto NSW side. Trent Copeland recently played “back”. There was a Comets teams that played recently, didn’t have any ACT players in it. And this when Sydney grade cricket’s yearning for their people. One assumes Pat Howard’s KPIs are being ticked. “It disappoints me that the Futures comp is ACT and NSW combined,” says Veletta.

More on IPL can be found on https://iplnewslatest.blogspot.com/

[lilbeankiddo]

Reviewing England’s cricketers in IPL (Indian Premier League)

Kent had an excellent year. As well as achieving Championship promotion, they made it to the Royal London One-Day Cup fi nal and the Vitality Blast quarterfinal. Worcestershire deserve a mention, too. While Championship relegation was a disappointment, they won the T20 Blast and progressed to the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup. And they did it all with a side brimming with home-grown young talent. Then there is Surrey, who won the Championship, provided several players for England and continued to sell vast quantities of tickets and provide the only real resistance to the ECB. But the team of the year has to be England’s ODI side.

From the debacle of the 2015 World Cup, they have grown into the No.1-ranked ODI and legitimate favourites for the 2019 World Cup. Underlying the improvement were home and away series wins against Australia (England won 9-1 across the two series), as well as victories over a strong India (in England) and in Sri Lanka. Ignoring one-off matches (such as the defeat to Scotland in May), England have won their last nine bilateral series dating back to the start of 2017. It may not add up to much if they do not win the World Cup, but England have arguably never had a better ODI side.

Debut of the year

Within a few hours of his Test debut, Ben Foakes had become the fi rst England wicketkeeper to make a century in Asia. An hour or so after that, he equalled the record for the earliest dismissal (second ball) on debut as a keeper when he caught Dimuth Karunaratne off James Anderson, while a couple of hours after that he completed his fi rst stumping. And, if it looked straightforward, it is worth remembering that, between November 2012 and December 2015, England did not complete a stumping in Test cricket. Foakes was subsequently named man of the match and, having fi nished as the highest run-scorer on either side, player of the series. He made a tough job appear relatively simple and provided a reminder of the value of a topquality keeper.

Signing of the year

Kolpak registrations get a bad press, but there is no doubt that the best of them raise the standard of county cricket. Simon Harmer (Essex) was one such addition in 2017 and Morne Morkel (Surrey) another in 2018. It is no coincidence that their counties went on to win the Championship title in each of those seasons. Surrey won the fi rst eight Championship matches in which Morkel played (a run ended only when the covers blew off at Taunton and forced anabandonment) in 2018, with him claiming four fi ve-wicket hauls and producing several more defi nitive spells. Morkel’s loss to international cricket is a concern, of course, but his recruitment was a boost to county cricket and Surrey, in particular.

Mohammad Abbas proved an excellent signing, too. He had played only fi ve Tests before he joined Leicestershire for a sum understood to be well under half the annual salary paid for Sam Northeast, for example, but provided outstanding service in claiming 50 Championship wickets in 10 matches to help the club enjoy a much-improved season. He is up to No.3 in the Test rankings (he was 38th when he signed) and he is back for next year, too.

Comeback of the year

By the start of June, England had lost six (and won none) of their eight most recent Tests. At one stage they lost three out of four by an innings and been bowled out for 58 in Auckland. So to reach Christmas having won fi ve in a row and eight of the last nine represents a fi ne comeback. When you add in a fi rst overseas whitewash (in a series of three matches or more) since 1962/63 and a fi rst such success in Asia, where their enduring weakness – playing spin bowling – was tested to the full, and the progress looks even more admirable. There are the usual caveats: Sri Lanka are not what they were, and India fell victim to seam-friendly surfaces and a helpful Dukes ball. But let us not always explain away England’s success: that Sri Lanka side had recently won in Bangladesh and the UAE – England could manage neither – while India are the world’s No.1- ranked side and contain one of the world’s greatest ever batsmen in their side. England deserve a great deal of credit for the progress they have made. Jack Leach, the Somerset spinner who was told a couple of years ago his action was illegal but fi nished the Sri Lanka series as England’s joint highest wicket-taker, deserves a mention here. As do Paul Downton (ridiculed with England, but reborn as director of cricket at Kent) and Adil Rashid (who went from giving up red-ball cricket to becoming a fi xture in the Test team within a few weeks).

Swoop of the year

Nottinghamshire’s reputation as a poacher of talent is overplayed. While they have leant pretty heavily on Leicestershire, in particular, in recent years, they have produced more homegrown players – notably Jake Ball, Samit Patel and, at a push, Alex Hales – than several other Test-hosting counties. This summer, though, they swooped on their four smaller neighbours and signed the best young player (Joe Clarke, Worcestershire; Ben Slater, Derbyshire; Ben Duckett, Northamptonshire; Zak Chappell, Leicestershire) from each of them. Good for them. They are fine players who could represent Notts with distinction for a decade. But it was a reminder of the inequalities of the system and a prompt to ensure developing counties are far better rewarded and incentivised.

Winning run of the year

In winning eight straight Test tosses, Joe Root not only went within one of the record for individual captains but gave his side a big advantage in several games; not least against India at Lord’s and in all three Tests in Sri Lanka.

Encouraging sign of the year

The lack of pace bowlers was a major weakness during England’s unsuccessful Ashes series a year or so ago. But, over the last few months, several prospects have emerged that suggest things could be different next time. Of the more mature fast bowlers, it was Warwickshire’s Olly Stone (who had a Championship bowling average of 12.20 and a strike-rate of 22.30) and Somerset’s Jamie Overton who stood out, while of the slightly younger ones there was Josh Tongue, Dillon Pennington (both of Worcestershire), Chappell and, to a lesser extent, Tom Barber (Middlesex) and George Garton (Sussex), who claimed one Championship wicket between them but, by virtue of being left-arm and fast, warrant some attention. None, though, were more exciting than Warwickshire’s Henry Brookes, who was dubbed a “potential superstar” by his director of sport, Ashley Giles.

Farewell of the year

There are few happy endings in sport but, had Alastair Cook been chaired off the Oval pitch by seven dwarves, his final Test could hardly have been more fairytale. He was granted at least a dozen standing ovations during the Test with the one that greeted his second-innings century lasting several minutes. Cook has endured several prolonged and public struggles for form and one especially ugly period when he was vilified for his part in the decision to end Kevin Pietersen’s career, but this farewell gave the cricket-loving public a chance to show their appreciation. It couldn’t have ended better.