Australia captain Michael Clarke pointed to South Africa’s ability to make their positions of advantage count as being the difference between the two sides

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA03-Dec-2012In the end, the best team won. Not the team that played best in Brisbane or Adelaide. But unquestionably the team that dictated proceedings in Perth, and the team that before this series started, and after it ended, were ranked No.1 in the world. The gap between South Africa and Australia may not be enormous, but over the past few days at the WACA, Graeme Smith’s men showed Michael Clarke’s players why they have reached the top.By owning the second day of this grand final, South Africa owned the series, and the Test championship mace that went with it. By dismissing the Australians for 163 on a good batting pitch, Dale Steyn and his colleagues made the previous 11 days of the series irrelevant. Australia were four wickets from victory at the Gabba, but would South Africa have played the same way if the second day hadn’t been washed out? The hosts were two wickets from a win in Adelaide, but South Africa were good enough to deny them.And when the Australians had to dig themselves out of a hole in Perth, they were unable to. The bowlers found the going tough as the South Africans piled up 565 in the second innings, but the damage was done when Australia had batted. In defeat, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke conceded that his side had failed to make use of the upper hand they held so often in the series.”I don’t want to take anything away from South Africa,” Clarke said. “They showed why they’re the No.1 Test team in the world. On the other hand I want to pay credit to the Australian boys to be able to fight it out so tough and stay strong up until this Test match. What South Africa showed us is when they had momentum, they ran with it for as long as they possibly could and when they didn’t have [it], they did everything in their power to fight their backsides off to try and grab it back.”There’s probably a few occasions throughout the series where we had momentum and didn’t run with it for long enough, that’s for sure. Against these teams, the best teams, you can’t afford to do that … There’s plenty of pros and cons and that’s something we need to do over the next few days, to assess where we continue to improve and the positives we can take from this series, the areas we need to get better if we want to be the No.1 team in the world.”One of those areas is glaringly obvious. The failure of Australia’s top three to provide consistently strong starts is becoming a major problem. In this series, Australia’s totals at three wickets down were 40, 55, 91, 34 and 102. That makes life tough for the middle order, and for the bowlers who must then keep the opposition in check in the same way. At the WACA, that was too much to ask of an attack featuring Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, debutant John Hastings and Nathan Lyon.”I don’t want to take anything away from the Australian bowlers, I thought they bowled really well in the first innings and tried their backside off on a flat wicket in the second innings,” Clarke said. “I believe the reason we didn’t give ourselves the best chance of winning this Test match is because of the way we batted in our first innings.”The missed opportunity to reclaim the No.1 Test ranking hurt the Australians even more given they wanted to provide Ricky Ponting with a fitting send-off. The challenge for Clarke and Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur is now to move on to the Sri Lankan series that begins next week, and to find inspiration without their most capped player being part of the setup.”It’s been a tough week, that’s for sure,” Clarke said. “I still don’t think it’s hit the players fully yet. I think it will come the first Test against Sri Lanka when we walk out on the field and see he’s not there. It’s not just about what he does on the field, it’s also off the field, around training sessions, in the change-room, his help, advice, guidance, is something that can’t be replaced.”Like Clarke, Ponting endured a series loss to South Africa at home when he was captain. Four years ago, Smith’s men chased down 414 in Perth, one of Test cricket’s most epic achievements, and it set up their winning tour. Within a year, they were the No.1 team in the world. Another Perth triumph has kept them there.

Should Glenn Maxwell go to India on next month’s tour it will only be as Australia’s third-choice spinner, with Michael Beer heavily favoured to be named the second spinner behind Nathan Lyon

Daniel Brettig15-Jan-2013Should Glenn Maxwell go to India on next month’s tour it will only be as Australia’s third-choice spinner, with Michael Beer heavily favoured to be named the second spinner behind Nathan Lyon, for the four-Test series.Earlier this summer, Maxwell was chosen ahead of Beer as the lone spinner in the Australia A team that faced the South Africans at the SCG, and was later 12th man for the Test on the same ground. But his struggles for wickets against Sri Lanka’s batsmen have made it clear that the Victorian allrounder is still well short of international standard as a bowler.Known for his customary brio in interviews and the dressing room, Maxwell has admitted that so far, the Sri Lankans have had much the better of him. In this his comments recalled Stuart MacGill when he was rendered bereft by India’s batsmen during the 2003-04 summer. Giving away 50.78 runs per wicket during the series, MacGill remarked that it wasn’t so much that the visitors could read what he was bowling, more that they didn’t care.”Their (Sri Lanka’s) feet are a lot crisper, they go forward and back a lot easier and they seem to have a lot better idea on where they can hit and where they can score,” Maxwell said. “They’ve been excellent in the few games I’ve played against them. It’s been tough. I played the Chairman XI’s game [in Canberra] and they played me really well and hit me to wherever they wanted.”I’ve been coming on when they’ve been consolidating their partnership or there wasn’t a whole lot of pressure. The other night they were 30 runs away from winning. Any time when you come on as a spin bowler on a seaming wicket it’s not a good time to come on, especially if we’ve only got 170 on the board and that was the batters’ fault. I’ve got to keep hanging in there.”Six matches into his ODI career, Maxwell remains wicketless, and scores of five and eight in the first two matches against Sri Lanka did not inspire a great deal of confidence with the bat either. Beer meanwhile has been bowling solidly as ever for the Perth Scorchers in the BBL, digging the ball into the pitch and changing his pace in a manner reminiscent of the best method for taking wickets in India.Beer’s summer has not always appeared likely to end with a spot on Australia’s next Test tour. At the start of the summer the national selector John Inverarity indicated that another left-armer, Jon Holland, was the man next in line behind Lyon. Holland was then invalided out of the season with a serious shoulder injury, but Maxwell was preferred for Australia A. Before that match, Inverarity spoke of Beer in measured and not altogether promising tones.”Michael is well regarded and is a good, steady spinner,” Inverarity had said. “We feel that he’s a known quantity, we don’t need to find out a lot more. And he’ll be bowling in the Shield game [for Western Australia v Victoria]. It’s an ideal opportunity for Glenn Maxwell. You’re the spinner, you get on with it, and see how he responds to that.”Now that Maxwell has admitted this spin-bowling business is not easy, Beer’s known quantity will be more reassuring for Inverarity and his panel.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was positive about his team’s chances against the No. 1 ranked South Africa ahead of the first Test between the two sides at the Wanderers

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg31-Jan-2013In between the growing of Graeme Smith’s age and that of the size of his family, his record as the only captain to lead a side in 100 Tests, and Test cricket returning to the Wanderers for the first time 15 months, everyone has forgotten something: Pakistan are also playing. Misbah-ul-Haq and his team are used to being side-lined though, so they are unfazed by it.Misbah waited patiently outside the room as Smith gave his press conference, which was dominated by talk of the captaincy rather than any pre-series analysis. He entered as Smith finished; the Pakistan team manager, their coach and Misbah went to congratulate the South African captain. Misbah and Smith shook hands warmly, posed with the trophy and exchanged some pleasantries.Smith bounded out of the room with the excitement of someone who has a party to look forward to, but Misbah’s demeanour was unchanged. Straight-faced and entirely serious, he sat down to address a much smaller crowd about his team’s very real hopes of success.Naturally, the first question he got was about Smith. How does he think has lasted so long in the job, especially as captains tend not to, particularly in Pakistan where it must be a tough task?The language barrier would have played a role in Misbah’s answer, which side-stepped Smith with the deftness of a rugby winger, trying one of those dinky moves to evade defence. “I wouldn’t say it has been tough captaining Pakistan, I have really [enjoyed] captaining Pakistan and the guys are responding well to me,” he said.Under him, Pakistan have won nine of the 17 Tests they’ve played and lost one. Misbah first led the side against South Africa in November 2010 and since then, as a team, they’ve lost only twice. Misbah was not part of the second defeat, against Sri Lanka in Galle because he was banned for over-rate violations.Overall, his tenure has coincided with two of Pakistan’s more consistent years in all formats. Handy preparation for what Misbah now calls their “biggest challenge.” Pakistan have played in the sub-continent, New Zealand, West Indies and Zimbabwe since Misbah took over. Prior to that they faced Australia and England in England, but they have not come up against South Africa at home since 2007.For visiting teams, the bottom tip of the African continent has been a difficult place to succeed. South Africa have not lost a series at home in four years, since they were beaten by Australia in early 2009. Before that, England triumphed over them in 2004. They have never lost to a team from the sub-continent at home.Now that they are the top-ranked team in Test cricket, attempting to overturn that may seem daunting but Misbah is ready, despite Pakistan playing their last Test six months ago. “It is a good chance for us to improve as a team,” he said. “It does play a bit of a role; not playing as regularly as other players but at the same time it develops you as a team. We’ve gathered, everything is alright and we know what to do.”Pakistan’s experienced players will be much relied upon in the series, especially as many of the squad have not toured South Africa before. Younis Khan, for example, will have to be a provider of information and runs and he, too, is prepared for the task. “We are ready for the big rumble. We are very positive. We know that if you want to win against South Africa you must play with a positive frame of mind,” he said.New Zealand, who were the previous team to tour South Africa, confused aggression with recklessness and batting collapses were the theme of their trip. Pakistan bring better skills than New Zealand though, and their promise of intent should not be taken lightly. “This is the way to go; you have to back your ability.”The intent will start at the top with Nasir Jamshed, who is likely to debut in place of the injured Taufeeq Umar. Taufeeq has been a constant for Pakistan, having played in the last 18 Tests, and he scored in South Africa on their last visit but a stress fracture of the shin had sent him home.Jamshed’s good form includes two half-centuries in the warm-up match and Misbah is hopeful this could signal the start of a long career. “He is a really gifted player and has had some very good knocks against top quality sides. With the kind of talent that he has, he can make a difference.”In case that is not enough to get South Africa thinking of the match itself and not the sideshows, there is also the prospect of facing a quick having a height of more than two metres, Mohammed Irfan. Misbah was cagey about whether the lanky seamer will play, and instead only promised that Pakistan, “have got some other surprises as well.”

South Australia’s batsmen handed back to New South Wales the fighting chance they had been given by another fine display from Chadd Sayers on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2013
ScorecardSouth Australia’s batsmen handed back to New South Wales the fighting chance they had been given by another fine display from Chadd Sayers on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.Defending a meagre 182 on another overcast day, the Redbacks nipped through the Blues’ batting with great success before lunch, and it took a trio of 40s by Trent Copeland, Steve O’Keefe and Gurinder Sandhu to forge a narrow first-innings lead for the hosts. Sayers’ five wickets gave him 47 at 18.29 for the season.However the SA opener Alex Carey was out to Josh Hazlewood second ball of the innings, and another three wickets left NSW in with a strong chance of securing the outright win they need to overtake the Redbacks and be a chance of sneaking into the Shield final.

By the end of day two in Chennai, India reached a contented 182 for 3 with Virat Kohli offering typically wristy support to Sachin Tendulkar

The Report by Daniel Brettig23-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSachin Tendulkar’s innings was the most assured and ominous he has played at Test level in recent memory•BCCI

In the space of his first two balls, Sachin Tendulkar changed the complexion of this match. Arriving at the wicket with India a forlorn 12 for 2 in reply to 380, he punched a rampant James Pattinson through the covers with so much certainty that a previously confident Australia were given pause, while a momentarily cowed India breathed anew.By the end of the day Pattinson had burst through a third batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, but used only in a pair of micro-spells he was unable to get at Tendulkar, and the hosts reached a contented 182 for 3 with Virat Kohli offering typically wristy support. Tendulkar’s innings was the most assured and ominous he has played at Test level in recent memory, though it could easily have ended in the final over before tea.Nathan Lyon pushed most of his deliveries through, but second ball he looped an off break that Tendulkar padded away dismissively though it appeared bound for the stumps. Australia’s appeal was prolonged, but the umpire Marais Erasmus was unmoved. The close call had a restorative effect on Tendulkar, allowing him to go on to only a second half-century in his past 14 Test innings, and a deflating one on Lyon, depriving him of the confidence an early wicket would have provided. He was seldom a threat from that moment.India’s innings had been delayed until after lunch by the obduracy of the Australian tail. Michael Clarke went on from his overnight 103 not out to 130, going past Greg Chappell on Australia’s list of run aggregates along the way, and Peter Siddle dead-batted to a stodgy but valuable 19 from 94 balls. Pattinson and Lyon then managed to extend the session, each ball a little victory for the pair though they were both fortunate to survive lbw appeals. Lyon ultimately succumbed when his sweep was well held at leg slip.R Ashwin again bowled teasingly, and Lyon’s wicket gave him a new innings high-mark in first-class cricket. Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh struck earlier in the morning, the latter improving somewhat on his diffident performance on the first day of the series. Redolent of a desert, the pitch required constant vigilance by the batsmen, and does not look like improving.M Vijay and Virender Sehwag walked out for the start of the afternoon session aware that Australia’s most threatening bowlers would be employed immediately. Mitchell Starc took the first over and bowled tidily without extracting his pet inswing to the right-hand batsmen, relying on the occasional short ball for the element of surprise. He was later to spend too many overs around the wicket, negating his natural angle, and the creation of footmarks for Lyon.At the other end Pattinson charged in for his first Test since a side strain removed him from Australia’s attack in Adelaide last November. Clearly instructed to bowl at his fastest in short spells by his captain Clarke, Pattinson touched 150kmph during a three-over stint that exhilarated everyone but the Indian opening batsmen.

Smart stats

• Sachin Tendulkar’s half-century is his seventh fifty-plus score in Chennai. In 15 innings at the venue, Tendulkar has scored 947 runs with five centuries and two fifties at an average of 94.7.

• Tendulkar, during the course of his knock, also went past 7000 runs in home Tests. Only Ricky Ponting has more runs than Tendulkar in home Tests. Tendulkar is also 128 runs away from becoming the highest run-getter in Tests against Australia.

• Since the start of the England series in 2011, India’s opening partnership has averaged just 33.56 in 32 innings. Among top Test teams (excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe), only New Zealand and Sri Lanka have a lower average for the opening wicket.

• For the first time since November 2009 (end of his 70th Test), Virender Sehwag’s average fell below the 50 mark. Since the Edgbaston Test in 2011, Sehwag has managed just 867 runs in 28 innings at an average of 30.96 with one century.

• R Ashwin’s 7 for 103 is his best bowling performance in Tests surpassing his previous best of 6 for 31 against New Zealand last year. Overall, it is the tenth-best bowling performance in Chennai (seventh-best by a spinner).

• Michael Clarke’s 130 is the highest individual score by an Australian captain in Tests in India. He surpassed the record of Ricky Ponting, who made 123 in Bangalore in 2008.

• For the 11th time overall and the first time since the Delhi Test in 2008, all wickets in the Australia innings fell to Indian spinners.

Entering the match with modest domestic form, Vijay was beaten for pace by a full ball that tailed back fractionally and plucked out leg stump via the inside edge. Sehwag never seemed at home, and a late defensive prod on a ball angled back into him resulted in a dismissal that looked bizarre but also felt inevitable.It was reminiscent of Graham Gooch’s famed handled the ball dismissal in an Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1993, only this time the batsman allowed the ball to drop on the stumps rather than pushing it away with an illegal glove. Having worn his spectacles to the middle, Sehwag strolled off in search of a new optometrist.Tendulkar marked his guard with few recent Test runs behind him, and a clear pattern in his recent dismissals – the stumps were bound to be attacked. But he confronted those first two balls with such assurance that the tone of the innings changed almost immediately, Australia’s bowlers and fielders given pause by the poise of an ageing master, as he set his soundest foundation for quite some time.Pujara lost little by comparison, technically compact but never missing a chance to score, and together with Tendulkar he pushed India out of the worst of the danger. Tendulkar’s non-shot against Lyon will stick in the memory of the Australians should he go on to a century on day three, much as Clarke’s escape from a bat-pad appeal gave India reason to feel wronged on the first afternoon.Australia’s bowlers found some reverse swing not long after tea, Moises Henriques and Siddle both bending the ball usefully. But it was Pattinson who found a way through Pujara, though with a delivery never intended to curve. Delivered across the seam, it skidded through low and beat Pujara’s slightly lax defensive stroke, leaving India precariously placed at 105 for 3.But the breach was not fully exploited. Pattinson again returned to outfield duty after only three overs, Lyon remained inconsistent, and the rest were lacking in danger if not effort. Clarke eventually brought himself on from over the wicket, and had the ball biting out of the rough. But he was unable to land there enough to maintain pressure, and the day petered out with Tendulkar looking every bit as assured as his first two balls had been.

On Friday Eden Park hosts the deciding Test, the first five-day match here since 2006, with much focus on the drop-in pitch which was lowered into place

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland21-Mar-2013Last Saturday Eden Park was hosting a rugby match between the Roosters and the Warriors in the NRL. On Friday it hosts the deciding Test between England and New Zealand, the first five-day match here since 2006, with much focus on the drop-in pitch which was lowered into place just hours after the rugby finished.The process where the pitch, grown near the No. 2 Oval, is wheeled on a large flat-bed frame into the ground took about three hours. Drop-in pitches are not new, Eden Park has used them since 2002, but they always add intrigue especially considered the talk surrounding the nature of the pitches so far in the series.Mark Perham, the head groundsman at Eden Park for 11 years who looks after the surfaces for cricket and rugby, said he had received no direction from New Zealand Cricket over what to prepare. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a result. No one wants to see three draws. Getting through the new ball is key, wickets can go in clumps so the game can move on pretty quickly.”The pitch for this Test has been used for three Twenty20s earlier in the season and has since been reseeded. Perham added that he expected more pace and bounce than the previous two Tests and said that a good guide are the pitches produced on the neighbouring oval which hosts Plunket Shield matches and which uses the same soil.However, he said there was unlikely to be much for the spinners as the clay-based soil used does not break up although Bruce Martin, who plays for Auckland, picked up seven in a match early in the summer and 5 for 45 in the second innings against Canterbury.There were a wide range of totals this season in the Plunket games staged next door including teams being bowled out for under 200, but also a total of 658 for 9 during which Colin Munro (269) and Craig Cachopa (166) added 377 for the sixth wicket. In another match Gareth Andrew, the Worcestershire allrounder, hit an unbeaten 180 at No. 8 although that may have more to do with the standard of New Zealand domestic cricket.The lack of recent Test history at this ground will add to the head-scratching for the captains. The previous Test here in 2006 resulted in a 27-run win against West Indies and there hasn’t been a draw since 1999 (pre the era of drop-in pitches). “The main difference [for internationals] is you have all the good bowlers,” Perham said.England have a mixed history with drop-in surfaces in New Zealand. They encountered two during the 2002 tour, the first producing the famous Christchurch Test which began with England 0 for 2 in the first over, was followed by seven wickets for Matthew Hoggard and then turned into a batting paradise with record-breaking double-centuries from Graham Thorpe and Nathan Astle before England ultimately won by 98 runs.Fortunes were reversed in Auckland where New Zealand slumped to 19 for 4 before reaching 202 then skittling England for 160. They eventually won by 78 runs, but the main controversy of that match was the use of the floodlights on the fourth evening which left Nasser Hussain furious because he said his fielders could not see the ball. New Zealand took advantage and amassed their match-winning lead.There are also the dimensions of the ground – with a straight hit of less than 70 metres – to consider, which Brendon McCullum said will be factor. “Since the wicket has been turned around the dimensions are significantly different to previous Test matches,” he said. “In one-day cricket and T20 there’s an expectancy for the ball to sail over the boundary but perhaps less so in Tests, so it will be an interesting scenario if some guys gets in and can access those short boundaries. It will have its quirks.”Whatever happens this time, though, Perham won’t be listening to any of the comments. “You’ve just got to take it on the chin, I don’t listen to any of it. We just want to produce the best cricket wicket possible, where if you bowl well you take wickets and if you bat well you score runs. You don’t want to get back into dirty green seamers. Who wants to see the Test over in three days?”The pace bowlers on both sides might put their hand up to that question.