Inhoudsopgave van November - December 2015 - Inside Cricket

The action-packed 2015 Ashes series had as much in common with great contests of the past as panting supermarket fiction has with a good novel. It was a bizarre imitation; a potboiler. Everything was sensational; anything else – like the Haddin and Siddle episodes – was sensationalised, where possible. The series didn’t turn on events of great moment, rather moments of silliness. The statistically noteworthy performances of Broad and Anderson will go down in history, yet ring with the historical resonance of a false note on a kazoo. They’re better than that. They brilliantly did a job. The batsmen, confirming suspicions Test cricket lovers harbour, did the rest. This was no clash of talent. It was cheap drama, like Nicky Minaj calling out Miley Cyrus. Undoubted Test-match champions had their…

“That’s how they operate. They never stop. If you're on TV they keep coming back. When you’ve been involved they’ve always got one up on you.” Lou Vincent comes clean on matchfixers' tactics at Chris Cairns' UK trial. “I once had an LBW problem. Closey, aged 60, came to the nets and batted without pads: ‘Only way you’ll sort your problem, young man.’” Michael Vaughan in his tribute to Brian Close, who died in September. “I’m very happy. I’ve been pretty fortunate to have this second go at it and have loved every moment of it.” Chris Rogers, who was so often the difference, humble as ever upon his retirement. “I know Shane reasonably well. I think he acts in the best interests of the team – sometimes.” Australia’s high-performance…

New Zealand is no-one’s littl e brother. Apart from the fact that they speak (roughly) the same tongue as Australians, the sibling relationship is superficial. What they have most in common with Australia is sport – mainly cricket, rugby union and rugby league. Maybe it’s the similarities, maybe the differences, but when they play together, they play ferociously. Historically, while Australia was off striding the big stage, at least in the sports they were good at, New Zealand often waited in relative obscurity “across the ditch.” The first time they competed in an international cricket match, 1945-46, Australia condescended to give them an offhand belting before proceeding to more familiar shores. The first time they met in a series was 1973-74, in two three-Test brackets, one either side of the…

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Shane Bond is arguably New Zealand’s quickestever Test match bowler. In 18 Tests, he averaged just over 22 and took a wicket every 29 balls in ODIs. He was at his best against Australia, taking 44 ODI wickets at 15.79, including a hattrick at Hobart in 2006-07 and 6-23 in the 2003 World Cup. Bond’s international career spanned nine years, but he was out injured much of that time. He retired in 2010 and coached NZ’s fast bowlers at the World Cup. Currently, he coaches the Mumbai Indians bowlers, NZ’s developing young quicks and his hometown club, Canterbury. Who has the best attack going into this Test series, New Zealand or Australia? I’m always going to have a bias towards New Zealand. They’re evenly matched, both got good pace, good…

With interminable T20 riches, conflict at the highest level, bartered schedules, fading interest in parts of the world and accusations of a coup by the three strongest participant nations, Test cricket risks withering on the vine. Or, as Gideon Haigh puts it, “being treated like an ailing mother to whom you periodically pay duty visits for form’s sake.” But is the format truly an anachronism, a nostalgic indulgence and a nod to another age? Or does Test cricket have a realistic present and an emboldened future in the right hands and given the right treatment? This summer of cricket in Australia against the Kiwis and Windies will provide some telling indicators. Innovation from Cricket Australia in the form of our very first day/night Test appears to have tickled some gills,…

FIRST TEST, JUNE 8-11, SOPHIA GARDENS, CARDIFF Something about the relationship had been instantly reactivated. At 3-43 on the first morning, England, a hair’s breadth from collapse, were already regarding the new ball in the hands of Australia’s fast men with trepidation. Then Joe Root, yet to open his account, snicked! 4-43! The innings was as good as over. Australia had probably, already, struck the series’ decisive blow. Their quicks would have their tails up; England would now fold – if quantum mechanics had a say in it. This might even have occurred in one of QM’s alternate universes. But 4-43 never happened in this one. Root did snick, and Brad Haddin dropped one of the simplest catches he’d ever be presented. Haddin’s been a fine ‘keeper, a true saviour,…

Our regular “How To” section is written by the best in the business, Elite Cricket. The Head Coach and Director of Elite is none other than former Australian off-spinner Jason Krejza, who also took this month’s instructional snaps. Jason applies his vast experience working with the world’s best players and coaches to his own coaching. Jason had a historymaking Test debut when his 12 wickets for the match against India in 2010 included eight wickets in the first innings. Elite Cricket was started 14 years ago by former firstclass cricketer and Australia A representative, wicketkeeperbatsman Mark Atkinson. Since then, Elite’s innovative coaching methods have been designed to accelerate skill development, increase understanding and promote the fun of cricket. With this vision in mind, they provide individual coaching, school programs, junior…

WINNING EDGE: BEHIND THE SCENES OF ELITE CRICKET MIKE HUSSEY WITH DAVID SYGALL. HARDIE GRANT BOOKS. RRP $29.95 He began late as a Test cricketer, but history will reveal Mike Hussey was one of our greatest middle-order batsmen; an indispensable member of an excellent side. Hussey was always an incisive analyst; he was a meticulous preparer driven by an unconquerable will, and it was his intelligent approach that led him to be good at everything he turned his hand to, cricket-wise. Turns out he does a good book as well. The conception and the content reveal why he was so accomplished as a player. He has produced a “how-to” manual which is underpinned by his unique insight and wisdom. The book deals with topics ranging from reading weather conditions to…

This month’s local hero, John Hastings, was unexpectedly recalled to the Australian squad in August. The big “Duke” leapt into the calculations of selectors and the Australian cricket-loving public after being called to England following various injuries and retirements. There he took 3-21 in the deciding match of the five-game series, at Old Trafford. Two days earlier, he’d had a miserable match with the ball – reasonable with the bat – and wondered, along with many, whether he’d blown it. His figures were 0-56 after only 6.2 overs, with the winning six being clubbed straight back over his head by England’s Willey. But in that conclusive game, after being surprisingly selected ahead of his good mate James Pattinson, he showed he could be more than handy at the top level…

COMPTON, 20 NOT OUT. The London National Portrait Gallery recently featured paintings of cricketers from Compton Cricket Club. Nothing unusual in that, you might think: quaint portraits from a century or so of cricket in a cosy English village nestled between Godalming and Guildford, probably on loan from the local gallery. But then you’re a little taken aback by the incongruity of the pictures: an intense stare, intaglios of wretchedness and desperation on worldly-wise faces, gang stamps, a savage mohawk. This chap recently played for an outfit called the “Crips”; this one for the “Bloods”; teams that sound familiar, vaguely. After a while you get a cumulative sense of a rogue’s gallery; of a spite somehow reformed by cricket, and you realise these are no products of some idyllic British…

Australia and New Zealand have enjoyed a short but fascinating history in cricket. It’s obvious to Aussie fans that, with their combative streak and their ability to make the very most of limited resources, a strong New Zealand side would immensely benefit the international cricket scene. The competitiveness of series between the two sides has been sporadic, and often depended on the health of cricket across the ditch, yet these series, few though they’ve been, have brought forth some extraordinary cricket at times, produced by remarkable cricketers. Here are just a few heroes of trans-Tasman cricket over the last 40 years. Ian Redpath Good ol’ Redders. Ian Redpath (seen here on the left, walking out to bat with Bill Lawry) was much-loved by everyone except the selectors. Redapth had a…

In Test cricket, 10 wickets in an innings is an amazing, and rare, feat. Only two men have achieved it: Jim Laker and Anil Kumble. The small list of men who have attained nine is a “who’s who” of bowling royalty: Hadlee, Lohmann, Laker, Qadir, Muralitharan, Dev. And then there’s the “who’s that?”: one Jasubhai Motibhai Patel. Jasu, as he was known, would probably be unknown even to most Indians today but for the starry-eyed veteran cricket watchers who speak of “the miracle at Kanpur” with the sort of wonderment today’s kids of India reserve for World Cup, 2011. India is now a powerhouse of world cricket, but it wasn’t always the case. Bradman never even bothered to set foot there when his boat once docked on the way to…