Indians v Windians

The West Indies have made the most of a mostly poor performance on the first day at Delhi, reaching stumps on 256-5. The West Indies won the toss and batted, with India handing caps to a pair of spinners, Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin. The Windies didn’t start well, slipping to 45-2, but a solid 63 from opener Kraigg Brathwaite kept the innings together and an unbeaten 111 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul ensured they weren’t embarrassed.

I say the Windies made the most of a poor performance because only two of their batsmen passed 20 (Carlton Baugh is 19 not out overnight). That said, the Indian bowling attack did not look at it’s best. They only played two seamers, neither of whom looked particularly incisive. All five of the wickets went to the two debutant spinners, which looks more like a result of the West Indian batmen not having experience playing spin on the subcontinent. The fact that Chanderpaul looked untroubled for his century bears this out. He is an excellent player of spin, and unless the Indian bowlers improve he could be in for a very prolific series. He will need support though. He had an incredible series in England in 2007, but the Windies still lost 0-3. It’s not clear from where that support may come however and with the Indian top order back to full strength the West Indies will have to come up with something to stand a chance.

Heartbreak

Not for me, mind, for Zimbabwe. My prediction of a heavy New Zealand victory looked good after the Kiwis took a big first innings lead. Vettori took five and Zimbabwe were bowled out for only 313. From a strong position, however, the Kiwis collapsed to 36-3 in their first innings and eventually declared on 252-8. I expect they will have wanted to lose fewer wickets, but it still set Zimbabwe a 366 to win, which looked like too much. New Zealand looked on top at stumps on day four, with Zimbabwe 61-2.

Zimbabwe played very well on the final day, however and needed just 101 more to win when the fourth wicket fell. That wicket was Taylor, however, who had scored 117 and put on over 100 with Taibu. Taibu, however, could not carry on to give his side a win. He got to 63, but with Vettori turning the ball out of the rough Taibu played a rash sweep and miscued it straight to midwicket. It was not the best of shots, and it put New Zealand on top. Zimbabwe fought and fought though. Ncube came in up the order (he batted at eleven in the first innings) and hit Vettori for a big six over midwicket. Zimbabwe just couldn’t quite do enough, however, and the superiority of the Kiwi bowlers finally started to tell and the rest of the tail collapsed. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 331 and lost by 34 runs.

Despite the loss, however, Zimbabwe should take heart from their performance. It’s never easy to get more than 300 in the fourth innings of a match, especially against a spinner of the quality of Vettori. New Zealand are certainly a better side on paper. They ought to have won, especially after taking a first innings lead of over 100 runs. The fact that Zimbabwe lost after being briefly 265-3 will be heartbreaking.

New Zealand, similarly, will have some worries after this match. They’re still a reasonably good ODI side, but the Test side have been slipping badly recently. They very seldom play Test matches anymore and they look a bit out of practise. They have two Test against Australia in December and they will definitely need to improve. They looked a bit flat on the last day when they were pushing for victory and I suspect part of that was due to not having played five days in quite some time. New Zealand is not a major cricketing nation, but they need to find a way to play decent Test cricket to maintain development for the future.

Fixing reactions

It’s been a pretty eventful week in cricket and there have been a lot of very good articles written, with not all of which I entirely agree. I’ve shared a lot of them on my Twitter feed, but I wanted to share them here as well. They are in no particular order:

A cleansing process Andrew Miller’s excellent piece on Cricinfo.

Here at last is the moment at which cheating for monetary gain stops being an in-joke, as acted out by jaded professionals with too many miles on the clock and too few years in which to capitalise on their athletic prime.

Why the spot-fixing scandal shouldn’t shake our faith in cricket Lizzy Ammon in the Mirror wrote a lovely article about why Sangakkara’s Spirit of Cricket speech at the MCC last summer should be remembered in the wake of the spot-fixing verdict.

Cricket must fight to regain its reputation, it’s still a game with a great deal of integrity and even more amount of beauty populated mostly with talented, polite, passionate, respectful players and officials – we really do have to try and remember that.

Does our society breed corrupt sportsmen? Harsha Bhogle writes on Cricinfo about the effect of culture on corruption in sport. Though I disagree with his statement that similar crimes by politicians would not be reported. The MPs expenses scandal has shown otherwise. ‘But sportsmen come from the same society as everyone else. Among sportsmen are the noble, the diligent and the caring, as there are the callous, the cheats and the criminals.’

The loss of innocence The BBC’s Adam Mountford has a much more pessimistic look at the proceedings which, I confess, is closer to my mood.

For me it is this loss of innocence which is one of the saddest aspects of this whole story. What I love about sport is the drama and the unpredictability. When I turn up at a cricket match I love the feeling that anything can happen that day.

Match-fixing: Where it all began Andy Zaltzman has his usual cleverly amusing take on the origins of match-fixing.

The best place to start might be with this game: USA v Canada in 1844, the first-ever international cricket match. It was a suspiciously low-scoring game, in which no batsman scored more than 14, and the USA, cruising to victory at 25 for 0 in pursuit of 82 to win in the fourth innings, lost all 10 wickets for 33.

A strong deterrent After the guilty verdict, but before the sentences were handed down, Nasser Hussain blogged about why this sent a clear message to potential fixers. I’m not sure jail time does this more than a lengthy ban, but I agree with the sentiment.

If the reward for fixing outweighs the risk of being caught, then there will always be those willing to chance their arm – particularly if they are not getting paid much by their cricket board.

As a final note: Whilst Kumar Sangakkara’s moving speech at Lord’s is an excellent reminder of what is great about cricket, The Duckworth Lewis Method‘s lone album has a similar effect. I’ve had it on a loop for most of the last few days.

Pakistani cricket

At stumps on the first day of the Pakistan v Sri Lanka Test Sri Lanka are 245-2. It’s not been a good day for Pakistan, but the scoreline is not the worst of their problems. The ICC have been given access to all the evidence collected by the CPS with regard to the spot-fixing case and are now looking into Pakistan’s matches before the scandal broke. It’s impossible to know what they will find, of course. It may be that all of the allegations are groundless. Any cricket fan will be desperately hoping that is the case, but it does beg the question of what to do if it’s not.

If it transpires that most or all of Pakistan’s matches are suspect and that there is a culture of fixing in the Pakistan side, as have been alleged, what could be done? It would be a problem far too deep to simply eradicate with bans, or the threats thereof. It would not be feasible to throw Pakistan out of cricket until they get their house in order, but on the other hand how could anyone watch them play with any confidence? The one saving grace is that most of the current side are different from the one that toured England, but if the corruption is set into the administration that would count for little in the long run.

Of all the things that have come out in the trial (including the desperately sad testimony by Amir about his pride of playing for Pakistan) this is, for me, the saddest. There does not seem to be any good outcome that is reasonably likely. The best that could happen is that the ICC finds no evidence of further corruption. It doesn’t look likely, but for now we have to keep our fingers crossed.

It’s a fair cop

The sentences in the spot-fixing trial were handed down today. Majeed is to be imprisoned for two years and eight months, Butt for two years and six months, Asif for one year and Amir for six months. Half of the sentences are suspended in each case.

I’ve stated earlier that I didn’t want to see long prison sentences, but I think these are fair. I’d have rather liked to see Amir avoid any jail time at all, though. The judge did make it clear that he considered the effect of the bans already handed down, but they were complicit in fraud. The impression I got from reading the judge’s statement was that the sentences were mainly for the fact that they did defraud bettors, and less for the disrepute brought onto cricket.

This is, I think, the correct course of action. It is not right that players be punished in a criminal court for cheating alone, that is a job for the governing body of the sport. Since the cheating in this case amounts to theft, however, it is reasonable that they be prosecuted for such. Since the prosecution focused on the no-balls and the judge could not determine the extent of the money that was defrauded, these seem like fair sentences. Going into the trial, I had hoped for less, but the judge laid out his reasons quite clearly and took the pleas and earlier bans into account. One can’t say fairer than that, and I doubt the players themselves could have too many complaints.

1-0 the Windies

The West Indies beat Bangladesh this morning by 229 runs to win the series 1-0. It very easily could have been a 1-1 draw, had it not been for the poor outfield drainage in the first Test, though with Bangladesh it cannot be assumed that they would have converted a strong position into a victory. The West Indies continue to look rather mercurial, but generally improving somewhat. Last spring they beat Pakistan in a Test match and did not embarrass themselves against an admittedly reduced Indian side. Then they came to Bangladesh and played very poorly in the first Test. They probably ought to have lost, but only three days of play were possible. Coming on the heels of being bowled out for 61 in ODI, it looked pretty grim for the second Test, but they came back well. They twice bowled Bangladesh out for under 300, and the Bangladeshis strength is their batting. Their captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, was unimpressed with his side’s collapse on the final day, however.

The West Indies now go across the border for three Tests against an Indian side presumably still reeling from their 0-4 tonking in England. The way the Windies have played against Bangladesh they will be clear second favourites. The way India played against England may cast some doubt on that, but a more rested side at home should see off the Windies comfortably. Two-nil, I’d say.

Guilty

Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have both been found guilty of conspiracy to cheat (unanimously) and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments (by a 10-2 majority). It was also revealed today that Mohammad Amir had pleaded guilty to the charges. Their sentences will be handed down later this week; Butt faces a maximum of seven years in prison.

I am glad to see that they were found guilty; any other verdict would have cast doubt on the ICC’s decision earlier this year. It is also a welcome change from the general dithering that has previously accompanied fixing allegations. I’m not convinced that it is a good idea for the courts to meddle in a case of sport, but in this case it did work out well.

I do hope, however, that the jail sentences are not harsh. I doubt that they will act as a deterrent more than the existing bans would. What I would like is for the ICC to use this to enforce the suspended aspect of the bans, but that does not seem feasible. Hopefully this is the end of the matter and in future we will not have to question every dropped catch. I’m not sure how feasible that is either.

Zimbabwe v New Zealand and Pakistan v Sri Lanka predictions

There are a couple of Tests starting this week: Zimbabwe play New Zealand in Bulawayo tomorrow and Pakistan ‘host’ Sri Lanka in Sharjah on the third.

For Zimbabwe it’s just their third Test since returning to the longer form. They beat Bangladesh to mark their return, but collapsed spectacularly to lose against Pakistan. (Though Sri Lanka have shown that may have had more to do with the Pakistani bowlers than the Zimbabwean batsmen.) Daniel Vettori will play for New Zealand for the first time since the World Cup, having retired from one day cricket. New Zealand have been playing very few Test matches lately, and winning still fewer, but I think they will be too strong for Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe are without one of their best batsmen, Tatenda Taibu, and I think they will struggle against Vettori. The pitch won’t help him much, but he’s probably the best bowler that Zimbabwe will have faced and the only one who can bowl long, tight spells to put the batsmen under pressure. He will play on their patience and I don’t think they will be able to keep their nerve. My prediction: New Zealand to win by seven wickets/225 runs.

Sri Lanka need to beat Pakistan in their final test to draw the series, but I frankly don’t see that happening. Sri Lanka have not looked like taking twenty wickets in the first two matches of the series, or in any of the three matches in England. Their bowling has only been at all penetrative at home on a pitch that favoured the bowlers to the point of insanity. Their best hope is to grind out a draw, which they may well do. Despite being bowled out for under 300 three times out of four, they have shown glimpses of competence at various times. Pakistan have had trouble scoring quickly in both matches, and I think Sri Lanka could hold out for a draw in a similar fashion to the First Test. I think that they will, but it might be a close run thing and I would not be surprised to see Pakistan win. My prediction: Match drawn.

Top ten moments of 2011

Twenty-eleven is over as far as English cricket is concerned, so I am getting a jump on the year end reviews. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do a top ten so early, but then I realised that I would probably forget in December. Here, then, are my top ten cricket moments of 2011:

10 – Nasser Hussain v Ravi Shastri. Just the best of all the times over the summer the Indians were cross with Nass over a perceived slight.

9 – MS Dhoni recalling Ian Bell at Trent Bridge. It was a very polarising moment, but I think MS Dhoni did the right thing by recalling Bell. Bell was an idiot, but it wouldn’t have been right to take a wicket like that.

8 – Lancashire force a super over on T20 finals day. Lancashire lost in the super over, but only got that far courtesy of a six off the last ball of the innings to draw the scores level. I include it because it was probably the most exciting moment in a T20 I have ever seen.

7 – KP scoring 200 in the first test against India. In an odd way it was one of KP’s worst innings. He was under some pressure coming into the series after a run of low scores. He did not look comfortable for most of the innings, but once he got to his century he found another gear and slogged his way to 200 before the declaration.

6 – England record their highest ever innings total in Australia. It was a tour of records and one of them was England scoring 644 in the first innings of the Fifth Test. Never before had they scored so much in an innings in Australia, though they had declared on 620-5 at Adelaide.

5 – England complete the 4-0 whitewash of India India fought back well in the last Test, but needing less than 30 to make England bat again with five wickets in hand they suddenly collapsed and England won by an innings and eight runs.

4 – England’s spectacular victory in Cardiff. Only 900-odd turned up in Cardiff to watch the end of what looked like a rain affected draw. Instead England blew Sri Lanka away for 82 and won by an innings and 14 runs.

3 – Stuart Broad taking a hat trick against India. After batting England back into contention in the first innings, Broad blew away India’s lower middle order to keep England’s deficit manageable. Admittedly, Harabajan Singh should not have been given LBW, but it was India who refused to use the DRS so I have no sympathy.

2 – Lancashire winning the County Championship. The County Championship went right down to two wire for the second year in a row. Warwickshire couldn’t bowl out Hampshire on the final day and Lancashire thrillingly chased 211 in the last two hours to bring the trophy to the northwest for the first time in 77 years.

1 – England winning the Ashes. It’s the only thing that could beat out the Red Rose to the top spot. A first win in Australia for 24 years topped off by Jonathan Agnew doing the sprinkler.

Honourable mention: VVS Laxman losing his off stump as England marched to victory at Trent Bridge.

Three from three!

It’s not often that I can get a hat trick sporting victories in a day. (To be fair, it’s not often that three of my sides play in the same day.)

England’s men started the morning with a T20 against India. Despite my earlier prediction, they finally found a bit of form and restricted the hosts to 120-9 off their twenty overs, though once again the death overs were expensive. Steven Finn was once again the pick of the bowlers with 3-22. Showing that they had taken the lessons from the ODIs to heart, India opened the attack with spin from both ends. This did tie down England to an extent, but KP was intent on breaking the shackles and did so to awesome effect. He hit 53 off 39 (5×4 3×6) deliveries before being adjudged LBW to a ball that pitched outside leg. By this time the match was all but won, and England got home with six wickets and eight deliveries to spare. Unfortunately England’s women were denied by rain after being well on top in their T20 match in South Africa. They were 15-0 chasing 111 to win and it’s probably the only way South Africa were going to avoid defeat.

Whilst that match was going on, Bath Rugby played London Irish in the Premiership. Bath won 12-13 thanks to a late penalty and some very good stoppage time defending. Bath were probably the deserved winners; ten of their points came from tries. They could have had the match well in hand, but Sam Vesty missed both conversions and a first half penalty. He was still responsible for eight of the points, however, scoring one of the tries as well as the match winning penalty in the 77th minute. The first try was the only scoring of the first half coming after Delon Armitage was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Tom Biggs. It was a very see-saw encounter with Bath coming from behind twice in the second half. The win takes them to fourth in the table.

To cap off the day, Liverpool beat West Brom 2-0 at the Hawthorns. The Reds did not play brilliantly, and showed why they dropped points to Man United and Norwich in the preceding weeks, but West Brom were awful. Their defence was nowhere for much of the first half and their offence only put pressure on the Reds a couple of times. Liverpool took the lead early through a penalty after Suarez was brought down. It’s worth pointing out that although Suarez gets a lot of criticism for diving and going to ground easily he stayed on his feet in the Carling Cup tie against Stoke when he could have had a penalty and made an effort to do so today. The West Brom fans were not happy with him or the referee, but their ire should be directed at their own defence. Despite efforts to put him off, Adam converted from the spot to give Liverpool the lead. Suarez continued to play well; though he still could not get the finishes that have eluded him in the league this year, he set up Liverpool’s second goal just before halftime. Carroll was the scorer, his third for the Reds this year, after Lucas stole the ball in midfield and Suarez put him through on goal. Liverpool’s defence held firm in the second half for just their third clean sheet this season. The only real disappointment for the Reds was Stewart Downing, who came close to scoring his first Liverpool goal, but hit the woodwork.