Video: On Cricket Australia’s punishment and reaction of media, fans and critics

It was sad to see a champion cricketer cry in front of the camera, but at the end of the day, a mistake is a mistake. But as a matter of fact, the reactions of fans and critics were too much.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Abhishek Mukherjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the whole saga.

Note: This video has been published at Cricketsoccer on Video: On Cricket Australia’s punishment and reaction of media, fans and critics

Thank You
Faisal Caesar 

On the head coach of Bangladesh

 

The search for a head coach is still on

Almost two weeks ago, Paul Farbrace, the assistant coach of England, turned down the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) proposal of becoming the head coach of Tigers.   

According to ESPNcricinfo, Farbrace was close to signing up as the head-coach of Tigers. But after being sent the contract, he chose instead to inform the BCB that he was unable to join the Bangladesh team. The BCB still remains hopeful, but the possibilities of Farbrace being appointed as the head coach, are less.

This means that Bangladesh’s search for the ideal replacement of Chandika Hathurusingha is prolonged to a greater extent. Even though, on March 7, Nazmul Hassan, the BCB boss, said, his search for the coach has ended and the name would be revealed by the first week of April, but four days later, Mr. Hassan hinted, they were keen to interview more coaches about the job and two days later, the turndown of Farbrace surely, would test the patience of BCB and Bangladesh cricket followers more.

Names like Anil Kumble, Tom Moody, and Rahul Dravid are heard time and again, but at the end of the day, those names manage an entry in the rumor list. Though, recent news suggests, BCB had been in talks with former South African batsman Gary Kirsten to hire him as a team consultant for an extended period.

According to Jalal Yunus, the BCB spokesman, “He is on our list but he will come only as a team consultant. It’s not final, though. Hopefully, we will be able to strike a deal after the Indian Premier League”.

The respected Courtney Walsh was appointed as the interim coach of  Tigers, but being a man of ethics, it can also be dubbed whether Walsh accepted the ugliness of Shakib Al Hasan and Nurul Hasan in Sri Lanka or not. A reputed man like Walsh believes in playing the game in a fair and gentle way. For him, aggression is expressed through deeds and not by displaying ugliness on and off the field. In that sense, how long Walsh would continue his role remains a moot question.

Bangladesh are experiencing a similar situation to 2014 when they were without a coach and after a brief period of searching, BCB appointed an unknown figure named Chandika Hathurusingha in May 2014. Chandika had Heath Streak alongside him and both of them scripted one of the most memorable periods in the history of Bangladesh cricket.

All of a sudden, the dark days of 2014 were over and the Tigers entered into a period of an absolute purple - a patch where they earned the reputation of big boys in world cricket. Sadly, Streak and Chandika had to leave without thanks – a bad gesture by the media and fans for sure.

Especially, the departure of Chandika has been a huge loss. His impact on our cricket had been humongous. The local media, fans, and critics might be biased enough to ignore him, but I am sure, deep down, they would be feeling the impact of Chandika.

What sort of a coach does Bangladesh need?

It’s a tough question to answer.

To coach in countries like Bangladesh is a tough task nowadays. Apart from dealing with the pressures on the field, there exist pressures off the field as well. Keeping such things in mind, Bangladesh need a coach who would be able to balance both the pressures on and off the field smartly and run the show with enough guts. Again, no matter who is appointed as the coach, should have the tendency to embrace our culture warmly and should know, for the common people of Bangladesh, cricket is not only a game but a matter of life and death.

Someone like Ian Pont can be a very good choice as the head coach. He is one of those coaches, who have a very sound knowledge about Bangladesh cricket. As a bowling coach during 2010 and 2011, when the team won 11 of its 14 ODI's till the 2011 World Cup, Pont was very successful in polishing the likes of Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam. Even though he is more famous as a bowling coach, but his knowledge and skill are not limited to bowling only, but in batting and fielding, he bears the same sort of knowledge and skill. Of course, Pont has the ability to manage big egos and bring out the best from them. As the head coach of a Franchise team in the Twenty20 League in Bangladesh, he struck gold in successive seasons.

One must not forget, Pont, the writer of renowned cricket books on fast bowling, is a three-time ICC World Cup coach who has been at the 2003 South Africa with England, 2007 West Indies with the Netherlands and 2011 India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh WC with hosts Bangladesh.

Then, Adam Griffith, the current coach of Tasmanian Tigers can be approached as well. When Griffith was appointed as the head coach of Tasmania, he faced the tough task of lifting the stateside who finished at the bottom in the previous season. But under Griffith’s coaching and man-management abilities, Tasmania have performed very well in the 2017-18 season. Griffith and his fellow assistant coach Jeff Vaughn played a very crucial role in reviving the career of Tim Pane who was almost lost from the international arena.

Bangladesh can also consider Wade Anthony Seccombe as the head coach. Wade is the head-coach of Queensland. Under his tenure, Queensland charged to their Sheffield Shield title in six years. In Queensland, he was instrumental in developing a healthy cricket culture which paid rich dividends in the long run. He offers the players to enjoy the game and make them feel as if they are in a family.

On the other hand, Greg Shipperd is vastly experienced as a coach. The former Australian cricketer has the experience of coaching great teams with distinction. An experienced campaigner, Greg always has that nag of working on the simple matters more and possesses the eye to spot the weaknesses in a player and fix the chinks to bring out the best from them. Moreover, he has knowledge about the topsy-turvy world of subcontinent cricket.

Above all, Bangladesh must not forget about Richard McInnes.

All the world and Bangladesh know how influential he had been, in nurturing the talents of Bangladesh cricket. He was instrumental in gifting Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Tamim Iqbal and is one of those persons who know the ins and outs of Bangladesh’s cricket culture.

Meanwhile, in County Cricket, there are high profile names who could benefit Bangladesh cricket a lot.

Richard Dawson is one such name who’s in the plans of England Cricket Board. But with Trevor Bayliss and Farbrace still around the corner, the possibility of Dawson as England’s head coach is thin. Then there is Paul Collingwood, the former England cricketer, who is an excellent reader of the game and gifts a positive environment in the dressing room. Paul was part of the Scotland staff during the 2015 World Cup.

Ashley Giles helped England to improve a lot during the period of 2012-14. Many think he was unlucky to miss out in2014 as England opted for Peter Moore. He was one of the contenders to replace Bayliss as the head coach of England.

Jon Lewis is another customer who could be considered. 

He stepped in as the head coach of Durham after the illness of Geoff Cook in 2013 and had an immediate impact by leading the side to the Championship Victory.

After then landing the job permanently following his work as Second XI coach, Lewis then led the side to Royal London One-Day Cup glory in 2014, but the county was relegated by the England and Wales Cricket Board two years later after financial problems.

Lewis has known to have great insights about the game and can play the role as a great mentor when it comes to nurturing young talents.

Meanwhile, the value of Steve Rhodes as a coach can never be undermined. Rhodes is hugely praised for his contributions towards Worcestershire and like the names mentioned above, Rhodes’ quality as a head-coach bears enough weight. He is not only innovative and skillful but possesses a great quality to manage critical characters in the side and earn the respect of players by being their friends rather than the strict headmaster of a school. In his plans, there are no ultra-adventures, but keeping things simple is his way to go. His friendly nature and astute man-management qualities can be extremely helpful for Bangladesh at this stage.

Why coaches from England and Australia?

One might ask, why have I focused only on coaches from England and Australia and not other countries. My answer would be, with due respect to coaches from other countries, England and Australia have been producing the best coaches for a brief period. They have been able to create a very good impact on the team and for the last two decades, their deeds are well known to all.

One must not forget, not everyone is a Chandika, Streak, Duncan Fletcher, John Wright or Andy Flower.

One might also ask, why have I not stated anything about the local coaches. My answer would be, the local coaches of Bangladesh are still not prepared enough to run a national side.

Appointing famous names might not be the ideal decision

On March 7, Mr. Hassan said, “I can say that he is a well-known figure, not someone unknown like Chandika Hathurusingha”. Now, one mistake, Bangladesh cricket’s hierarchy and critics make and which is, the tendency to look for famous names as the head coach. Famous names don’t always prove to best of coaches. What Bangladesh require now a competent coach rather than famous customers as quality matters more. History suggests, how the likes Bob Woolmer, Dav Whatmore and Chanika changed the complexion of their respective teams and made them world beaters in the course of time. Big names have mostly proved to hog the limelight more for their star status and not for their coaching abilities.

Conclusion

Time is running fast and Bangladesh have a very busy season ahead of them. But, the position of head coach is still vacant. BCB is trying heart and soul to find the right person. Over the years, Bangladesh have earned a very bad reputation for handling cricket coaches. The whole Chandika saga portrayed a very image of Bangladesh cricket in the international circuit. But still, sensible brains exist in Bangladesh cricket’s fraternity. The job of coaching Bangladesh might be tough, but it would one hell of a cracking journey for any coach. T the end of the day, he would be a satisfied man.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 27/03/2018 On the head coach of Bangladesh

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Video: A Test match overshadowed by #sandpapergate

It could have been a Test match to remember for all the good reasons as on the first and second day, we witnessed some high-quality batting and bowling display, but everything was overshadowed by one of the most bizarre controversies ever in the history of Test cricket. Australia took cricket to a new low by the #sandpapergate controversy.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta and Faisal Caesar discuss the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town.

Note: This video has been posted in Cricketsoccer on 26/03/2018 Video: A Test match overshadowed by #sandpapergate

Thank You
Faisal Caesar  

#sandpapergate: Oh Australia, that was unnecessary!

Australian have tarnished the image of cricket!

The razzmatazz of Indian Premier League still has not engulfed world cricket. The ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe had everyone kept at the edge of their seats with its twists and turns while here in Bangladesh, that Nidahas Trophy is still the talk of the town. Amid all these, in South Africa, Test cricket has been utterly brilliant. It has been proved yet again, no formats of the game can give an ardent follower of cricket the greatest pleasures than an exciting Test match.

The ongoing battle between Australia and South Africa have everything which a cricket fan relishes. Some high-class batting and bowling display, on-field mental intimidation and off the field controversies and some brilliant fightbacks which have already become a part of cricket’s folklore. But, the ploy to make the ball do a bit more in that eventful afternoon at Cape Town yesterday has dented the overall image of this fantastic game and of course, Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and Darren Lehman have let cricket down. Most importantly, the Australian cricket followers across the globe were shell-shocked and left feeling horrible and cheated.   

Let me be frank. I have been a follower of Australian cricket team since the days of Allan Border. That Australian team played the game hard. They were never the unit to give up easily and Border had instilled a culture which was carried on successfully by Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting for almost two decades. They sledged, they attacked with the bat and ball and they were smart on the field, but they played the game fairly. They never left their fans feel cheated.

Fans like me and millions of others have always tried to defend Australia’s sledging, mental intimidation, line-shifting antics and ultra-aggressive approach on the field, but on what basis would a fan defend their disgraceful ploy yesterday remains a moot question. In fact, there are no logics available to defend Bancroft’s actions. A fan cannot even term it as brain-fade after the confession of Bancroft and Smith in the post-match press conference.   

The confession in the post-match press conference was appreciative. No dramatic statements were made to defend such a shame. But would their confessions save the image of Australian cricket? Would their confession save the integrity of this game?

Smith has proved to be the worst ever captain in the history of Australian cricket. He has failed to instill smartness and moral ethics within this team and similarly, Darren Lehmann can be termed as a failure in true sense of terms.  To coach and lead a team like Australia, who are always scrutinized by the critics, fans and media, requires steadiness, intelligence and ethics. There has to have the Australian way and not the ways of a cheater!

Mitchell Starc has been absolutely marvellous with the old ball while bowling from an angle. Then, the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh were good as well with the old ball. They chipped in the crucial junctures of the match and reversed to ball to trigger important collapses and let Australia comeback into the game.  

Reverse-swing is an art and like many teams in world cricket, Australia have learned this art quite well. In the first two Test matches, they had displayed, this art without enough fuss and hullabaloo. They are a very good exponent of this art and what led them to adopt such a ploy yesterday, one cannot just understand.    

Now, due to Australia’s action yesterday, a common fan would even doubt the mastery of Starc and co exhibited previously. How quickly the thought process changes with just one bad incident? How badly is a fan let down by just one bad incident?  

At present, one can see the vacuum at the top of Australian cricket. The emptiness of genuine leader and mentor are heavily felt by all.

Richard Hinds in his opinion piece at abc.net.au said, “That leadership vacuum is now starkly exposed, both in the abject lunch time ball-tampering plot and the ham-fisted attempt to cover up Bancroft's actions even after they had been exposed by the TV cameras.

Thus Smith, Lehmann and their team have not merely let themselves down, they have angered and humiliated those they represent.

Australian cricket as a whole now wears the cheating label they have applied.

How Australia's ball tampering scandal stacks up against other cases around the world.

This includes the juniors to whom the team is portrayed as role models in promotional and advertising campaigns, the club cricketers who form a vital part of the game's eco-system and the viewing public which is constantly sold the message that the Australian team represents the very best of what we are”.

At the end of the day, being a fan of Australian cricket, I can only say, that was unnecessary mate! 

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 25/03/2018  #sandpapergate: Oh Australia, that was unnecessary!

Thank You
Faisal Caesar 

Australia deserve accolades for their fightback

Yet another day, yet another Australian fightback!

The second day of third Test at Cape Town had plenty of things on offer – Dean Elgar became the first man in history of Test cricket to carry his bat through in an innings twice in the same year, and also joining Desmond Haynes as the only men to carry their bat through three times in Test matches. The punch-and-counter-punch battle between David Warner and Kagiso Rabada set the social media on fire. Morne Morkel finally registered his name in the 300 club. In the end, there was an Australian fight back, yet again, to make the day an exciting one.

The Australian history in Test cricket has been glorified with so many fightbacks. Even when the chips are down, they always tend to rise from the ashes and scripts, some jaw-dropping displays some which have become a part of Test cricket’s folklore. Like the Germans in soccer, Australia would always strike back even when there are no hopes at all. It’s a never-ending story and the only beneficiary is Test cricket and its ardent followers.

On the first day, Australia discovered themselves in a hopeless situation. Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers were batting in such a mood, it seemed, they both would bat Australia out of the game on first day. Especially, Australia’s most successful bowlers over the years, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were tamed brilliantly and the shoulders of Australian fielders dropped.

But Australia know, how to make a comeback.

Steve Smith brought back Pat Cummins, a bowler who always delivers when the rest fails to chip in. In a dynamic spell of eight overs, he changed the complexion of the match. The cream of South Africa’s middle and lower middle-order was polished off in style as Australia left the field with a satisfactory smile on their faces.  

On the second day, Vernon Philander, Rabada and Morkel set jitters in Australia’s top and middle-order and the visitors discovered were in the hot soup. When Mitchell Starc was dismissed, the last hope of a fightback from the tail was dashed and it was just a matter of time for South Africa to take a big lead in first innings.

But, an Aussie won’t stop driving until the petrol in the car is empty.

Tim Paine hung around only to support a man who’s not expected to take the South African attack to the cleaners. Lyon’s entertaining knock left South African bowlers clueless. He had luck on his side as he was dropped, but he utilized his fortune very well to counter-punch in a one-hour of exciting cricket.

Rabada was hit for fours. Morkel took the beating and in no time, the fifty-run partnership came up. The hook shot by Lyon off Morkel and the swagger against him through the cover in the 63rd over would be one of the moments to remember in this series. But it was Morkel who dismissed him in the end, but his 47 runs off 38 balls have boosted the morale of Australia a lot.

Like the first Test, the Australian tail wagged again. Their grit and attacking instinct have been masking the poor show by the top and middle order. But one thing for sure, the Australians are doing a great job for the betterment of Test cricket. Their fightbacks are helping a lot in enriching the five-day formats and attracting a lot of people to enjoy the beauty of Test cricket.  

Note: This article was published at Cricketsoccer on 24/03/2018 Australia deserve accolades for their fightback

Thank You
Faisal Caesar 

Right at the top

I was a student of class eight in 1994. The schedules were always hectic in Saint Josephs High School. Each day a student had to undergo three or four class tests and at times, back then, I wished to run away from my house. But cricket stopped me from running away as if I escaped from my house, I would not be able to enjoy cricket on television. Superstars like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Shane Warne, Curtly Ambrose and co stopped me time and again. The likes of Javed Miandad, Allan Border, Salim Malik, Richie Richardson, Graham Gooch, Martin Crowe, etc. had lost their sting to a great extent. But still, when they dazzled, they overshadowed the stars of 90s. In 1994, world cricket was a great mixture of old and new. It was tough to escape from home.

When Martin Crowe scored 115 against England at Manchester in third Test, New Zealand were following on and yet again, his hundred proved as valuable as gold as it saved New Zealand from a defeat. I was tired and annoyed with my second term examinations as my preparations were in doldrums and Mathemetics became one of my nightmares at that time. But, yet again, cricket came to give me some space to breathe – the century of Crowe was not as dazzling as one would expect, but it had the ingredient of a fighter – in those days such knocks were termed as Miandad-esque. Crowe was not a Miandad but a class of his own.

It was his 17^th Test hundred, the highest number of hundreds made by a New Zealand batsman in Tests, but amid the hype of Lara and Two Ws, it failed to create enough buzz around the globe. Cricket journalism had not reached that peak like today in 1994. No one even cared to sit down and talk about Crowe’s epic achievement from a land who were always rated as bloody underachievers. No one even bothered to talk about the significance about that hundred and the man, undoubtedly the best in the history of New Zealand cricket since Sir Richard Hadlee.

I watched the hundred. Enjoyed it. And, went back to prepare for my second term examinations.

It did not create any impact on me.

But it was a significant one.

Who would have thought, it would take a New Zealand batsman twenty-four years to dethrone Crowe from the top.  Many batsmen came and showed promise, but none could challenge the class and aura of Crowe until a young man named Kane Williamson came into the scene at Ahmedabad in 2010. The young man showed great technique and temperament against one of the best Test teams in world cricket to notch up a hundred. Since then, more than seven years have passed. That young lad has come of age and at present, he is one of the best batsmen in world cricket alongside Virat Kohli, Joe Root, AB de Villiers and Steve Smith.

Today, he has reached another milestone at Auckland. He is now the owner of highest number of hundreds smashed by a Kiwi batsman in Tests and dethrone Crowe. In 1994, this achievement would have gone unnoticed, but today such achievements are celebrated and praised widely. It had long been assumed, one day, Kane would be the proud owner of this record and today was that day. There were hopes invested in Ross Taylor, but the class and composure of Kane were too weighty to leave Taylor behind.

So far he has played 64 Test matches,  fewer than Virat, Root or Smith; but his brilliant conversation rates in five-day matches always kept him in a league of his own. Since Crowe, New Zealand never had such a consistent batsman who would stamp his authority in world cricket and challenge the might of the world’s best bowlers. I wonder, if New Zealand played more Test matches, where would Williamson, just 27 years old at present, end? He would have ended as the highest run scorer in Test cricket. But, sadly, Kiwis play less five-day matches. They need to focus on playing more Test matches. Cricket can’t afford to enjoy less of Williamson. It wants more of his style.

Thank You
Faisal Caesar 

When nothing is happening, Pat Cummins is there to deliver

Pat Cummins is a young fast bowler. He is ruthless. He is red hot. He is sexy. He is the ideal man to deliver when the others fail. He has been doing such things time and again since he returned to Test cricket after a long gap. He does it ether by piling up the pressure or taking wickets. A genuine game-changer for Steve Smith.

Remember his deceptive pace to unsettle the Bangladeshi top order batsmen last year at Mirpur? In a very critical juncture of the match on the third day, Smith quickly realized the importance of bagging the scalps of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. With Josh Hazlewood out of the match due to a sore-side, Smith’s best option was Cummins.

In the third over of the post-lunch session, Tamim faced the fury of Cummins. He breathed fire – full, straight and deceptive on a turning track.  The intent was so aggressive, it dented Tamim psychologically. In a quick succession, Cummins chugged down the big fish and then Nathan Lyon bagged the scalp of Shakib to make the hosts lose their way.    

Then, in the first evening of first Test at Brisbane last year, Joe Root was trapped lbw by Cummins which allowed Australia to come back and in the second Test at Adelaide, Cummins’ dismissal of Dawid Malan from round the wicket, shifted the balance of the match towards Australia.   

The story at Cape Town was similar on Day 1.

It was a flat deck with no movement off the pitch and slightly off the air. Dean Elgar’s nuggety approach and AB de Villiers’ dominant batsmanship only indicated, they would continue to bat, bat and bat out the visitors out of the match. Especially, AB was scoring at a brisk pace. Boundaries and singles came easily to add more agonies to Smith and his men.  

 Josh Hazlewood was not at his very best while Mitchell Starc was a scattergun. On the other hand, Lyon was tamed well by Elgar. The match was slipping away from Australia as Day 1 was all set to end with the perfect signature from Elgar and AB.

Smith wants to come back and he knew who can be his man to bring back Australia back into the match. Enters Pat Cummins, who went wicketless in his previous three spells, to wave his magic.

The tall and strong 24-year old had an immediate impact. He flummoxed AB to pop a gentle catch to David Warner at mid-off. None was expecting such a soft dismissal from a batsman who pummeled the inswingers easily towards midwicket in the previous session. But it happened to the astonishment of Capeown crowd. Cummins had stuck and then, he produced a memorable spell of fast bowling to bring the smile back in the face  Smith.   

In the twinkle of an eye, South African batting lineup melted by the heat of Cummins’ bowling. He pitched it short at pace and while pitching it on the back of a length, he moved it away from fourth stump to let the batsmen poke. Then, he brought the South African batters forward to entice a drive by pitching it up further at pace.  The young lad was fueled by adrenaline.

Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander departed quickly. His eight-over spell fetched four valuable wickets at the cost of twelve runs.

It was a spell of high quality and made each and everyone realise about the abilities of Cummins – he is born to deliver when others fail.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Dean Elgar: Attritional but effective

A South African, but still not a South African

“I prefer not getting hit, to be honest, but you have to take the blows. It puts me in a different mindset. It's like the challenge is a little bit more. I guess only an opening batsman could see it that way”.

Dean Elgar after scoring his eighth Test hundred last year at Kia Oval.

Dean Elgar is a South African opening batsman. But when he bats, he won’t give you the impression of being a South African opening batsman. We, the generation of late 80s and 90s, are habituated to enjoy the attacking flair from a South African opening batter. And why not? Since South Africa returned to international cricket from apartheid in 1991, Andrew Hudson gave each and everyone the impression, the openers from Proteas don’t see-off the new ball, but they attack – be it in Test or 50-over match, they mean business by hitting the ball from the word go.

The legacy of Hudson was carried on pretty successfully by Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith for a brief period. Even the young man Aiden Markram loves to exhibit his attacking flair like his predecessors. But, Elgar is not such an opening batsman who neither has the attacking flair nor the tendency to play his shots even when the conditions are aiding him to do such. His mantra of batting is all about grit.

Elgar has his limitations and when a batsman score runs consistently within his limitations, one needs to agree, he is one of those cricketers ho plays with sheer willpower. Such cricketers are not blessed with the talent of a Jac Kallis or AB de Villiers, but still, they make a way through on the basis of their willpower. Mind you, they end up with a very successful career.

It’s still too early to say how far Elgar would go, but definitely, he is showing signs of a very long and successful career.

Hard nut to crack

Elgar would get it on the body. He would get hit on the face to see stars around him. His white flannels might be bathed with blood. But still, he would shrug off all the pain and blows to face the next delivery. One cannot forget his defiant resistance on a tough track at Wanderers where the Indian bowlers attacked him with pace a bounce on Day 3 - a Jasprit Bumrah delivery, that replays showed had pitched back of a length, hit Elgar under the grille and prompted the umpires to take the players off the field.

Elgar came out to bat on Day 4 on the same deck and exhibited tremendous temperament to carry on along with Hashim Amla and instilled fear among the Indians of a whitewash, but in the end, Virat Kohli laughed the last smile. India avoided the whitewash. Elgar ended up earning accolades for his grit.  

He carried on his grit and determination in the ongoing Test series against Australia, where, in the second Test at Port Elizabeth, on second session of Day 2, his attritional batting display against the reverse swing of Mitchell Starc and co let the critics to point finger towards him, as, definitely, in places like Australia and South Africa, hanging around is never the way to go. But, Darren Lehman thought otherwise.

“Certainly I thought Elgar and Amla showed our blokes a little bit how to get through that and as we know when your bowlers are starting to bowl 25 overs an innings it is starting to get to be tough work”, Lehmann said.  “You make your runs at the back end against quality attacks and that's what we've got to get better at”.

Moreover, if you cannot be like AB, just be yourself. Elgar plays it his way.

 “I can’t go out there and play an AB [de Villiers] knock. If you want that you have to look elsewhere because I am not going to be able to do that. I am not going to be able to play a Hashim Amla knock because those are special cricketers,”

“But what I have is potentially something they don’t have. We have guys who can grind it out and we have guys who have the ability to play special knocks. It will be awesome if I was a little bit talented.”

Dean Elgar said in an interview.

Hmm…Elgar is a hard nut to crack type of cricketer.

Elgar bats the Elgar way at Newlands

The dismissals of Markram and Amla mattered nothing when AB de Villiers was milking boundaries. Mitchell Starc kept on bowling straight in the middle stump and AB was quick to respond by creaming those through the midwicket region – an area where he plucked plenty of runs today. Yet another boundary in the same area just halts your regular routine and lets you sit down and enjoy the maestro’s class. AB keeps on batting in his fluent mode, and you forget how time is passing by as you sense, the master is up to something.  But, you forget about Elgar – a man who was playing the role of a sheet anchor at the other end.

Elgar was in his typical attritional mood early on, but as time progressed, he also flexed his muscles and targeted the cover region where he scored more runs than his previous Tests. Then he was quick to respond to those deliveries which were bowled onto his pads.  According to CicViz,  “Aside from a couple of swishes down the leg-side, Dean Elgar's control has been superb at Newlands. He's played just 4.2% false shots (global average 14%), and has sapped the energy of the Australian bowlers”.

Elgar’s vigil not only helps to spa way the vigour of a red-hot pace bowler, but at the same time, he contributes a lot in grafting partnerships which make the opposition bowlers and fielders toil hard and run out of idea at times. A captain might manoeuvre the field, but Elgar would grind and test the patience of the opposition.

Steve Smith tried to pepper him with short-pitch stuff, testing lines outside off and test his technique more by engaging Nathan Lyon with an attacking field. Lyon posed a threat, but Elgar decided to use his feet more – when required, he did not bother to come out of the crease and disturb the line and length of Lyon.   

Elgar continued to bat. No man has faced more deliveries than him in the past one year or so.

A boundary off Starc brought up his first hundred of this year. It was yet another gritty knock, but a bit different from previous ones as there was a fluency.

Elgar witnessed the end of AB and then in the twinkle of an eye, witnessed Cummins trigger a collapse, but the gritty South African was not in a mood to throw his wicket away. At the end of Day 1, he is not out on 121. He has Kagiso Rabada with him and it would be interesting to see how can he marshall the tail tomorrow.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 22/03/2018 Dean Elgar: Attritional but effective

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

            

What happened to England?

Boult and Southee sink England

Life had not yet gained momentum in the early morning in Dhaka. I got out of my house as early as possible to reach hospital. While stuck in the traffic-jam, a pretty annoying one on a day when the ruling party is all set for one of their funny show downs, I checked on the live commentary at ESPNcricinfo. Well, the score 35 for 9 left me shell shocked! Was the website hacked or something else? One of the best Test teams of modern day cricket, were in all sorts of trouble against the pace and swing of Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

New Zealand’s Day-Night Test match needed a big BOOM and Boult and Southee gifted the home team just the kind of start they needed for this event and the perfect boost to start up this Test series. But not a great moment for England, whose journey in five-day matches in Downunder have been shambolic so far!

During the first drinks break, seven of English batsmen were back in the hut and at one point, it seemed, New Zealand would hand England their lowest Test total – 26 - ever which England gifted them in 1955 at Auckland. But, well, England could save their prestige a bit as Craig Overton played some shots to get the total past 50. England were all out for 58 – simply shocking!

I took time to watch the highlights of England’s disastrous display against the pink ball in the afternoon. I kept on guessing, such a terrible display could have been possible under the lights, but not in afternoon when the pink ball won’t move that daringly. England’s problems would have been more about lack of technique against the moving ball.

While watching the moments of craziness in the first session, I found out, England’s footwork was at its worst. The back foot was stuck at the crease – it hardly moved and the front foot never reached the pitch of the ball. Even big names like Alastair Cook and Joe Root were found wanting. Their outside edge was consistently challenged – of course, Boult and Southee would do such. But melting down early was not expected.   The new pink ball moves, yes the new ball moves early on, but if you are in a limited-overs mode, mate, you are going to struggle big time.

The English team of the 90s were underachievers, but I don’t think they would have struggled that much like this current side!

“I thought we made a lot of mistakes today with our footwork”, said Trevor Bayliss. “The ball was swinging a little bit, but when the ball's full, it's as simple as it gets, you've got to play forward. A lot of our guys were out today from behind the crease to fairly full balls.

“We've been on the other side of scores like that and it's euphoria. This is the opposite. Someone sneezes and the rest of the guys catch a cold don't they? Everyone was making the same type of mistakes - feet not moving properly, decision making not as it normally is”.

“Someone makes a mistake at the top of the order and under pressure sometimes that happens. Unfortunately, today it was our turn. It wasn't good enough”.

England would need to play extremely well in the next few days to halt their poor record away from home, which includes nine defeats in the last 11 matches. England's longest winless streak away from home is 12 - they will do well not to equal that now.

Boult and Southee – too hot to handle!

You forget about Trent Boult and Tim Southee easily when names like Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson or Stuart Broad are cited. But these two gems of New Zealand tend to remind you hard by dishing out some mind-blowing bowling displays.  Both of them moved the new pink thing and pitched it fuller like never before – the line has been always on fourth stump and bingo! England with their poor technique found no answer.

Boult and Southee reminded us again, not to forget them. They demand a place among the modern day great fast bowlers.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Video: There is a difference between aggression and ugliness

Cricket has never been a gentleman’s game, but it has never encouraged the ugly behaviour. The war of words, eye contacts, aggressive body expression or some of the antics do add colour to this game, but crossing the limits only earn disgrace.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Abhishek Mukherjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the matter…..

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 19/03/2018 Video: There is a difference between aggression and ugliness

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Ugliness is not the brand of Bangladesh cricket

Cricket has never been a gentleman's game, but at the same time, cricket never glorified ugliness. It's a pity the way some of the fans and media personnel are glorifying the ugly behaviour shown by the Bangladeshi cricketers on march 16. They are terming this as "Bangladesh Brand of Cricket".

Are you kidding me?

Ugliness can never be the brand of any cricket team. Bangladesh's brand is playing fearless cricket and not ugliness.

I found ICC - International Cricket Council punishment pretty funny. The behaviour of Shakib and Sohan deserved bans and not demerit points. This demerit point system allows to repeat the mistakes.I really feel sorry for Kagiso Rabada and others who were the victims of ICC's funny rules.

I am a die hard of Shakib Al Hasan, but being a student of the game, I am not ready to justify and glorify his behaviour. The situation demanded steadiness, but he made it complex with his unnecessary behaviour. The umpire was wrong, but requesting the players to come off the ground was not the way. Shakib forgot, with Mahmudullah around, Bangladesh were always in a chance of pulling it off.

On the other hand, cricketers like Sohan need to understand what aggression is. He is in the early days of his career and such attitudes won't help him to progress.

And don't compare Shakib's incident with Sunil Gavaskar and Arjuna Ranatunga - the situations were different. Even in 1986, while touring Sri Lanka, Imran Khan was disgusted by the Sri Lankan umpires and protested in a controlled aggression rather than making things ugly.

If you justify and glorify the wrong today, tomorrow it will haunt you. Karma is a bitch my dear Bangladeshi fans and media.

Bangladesh win matches, but at the cost of losing fans, friends and well wishers.

Thank You
Faisal Caesar 

The revolution at Melbourne

He was tall. He was strong. He had a Punjabi-style moustache. His hair used to fly like Hercules while running towards the batsman with the ball in his hand – for the young and enthusiastic female followers of cricket, that sight was a sheer joy. He was aggressive and played the game hard. He was introvert and never wanted to share his plans and views about the game. A complex character with a very few friends.

In his decade-long cricketing career, Sarfraz Nawaz hit the headlines more due to his controversial acts rather than his in-cutters and in-swing with the old ball. His in-cutters came back so sharply, the batsmen could hardly realise when it had beaten his defence and left the stump cartwheeling towards Wasim Bari, the wicketkeeper. Meanwhile, he would not dish out the incoming deliveries against someone like Sunil Gavaskar, who played those very well. For Sunny, Sarfraz’s weapon was either outswing or leg-cutters, which challenged his top of off.

But, above all, he could move the old ball. How Srafraz learned this art still remains a mystery to many. Several sources mention the name of Farrakh Khan, a leading light of the Lahore Gymkhana in the late 1950s and 1960s, and suggest that he passed the secret to the young Sarfraz.  In 1966, in the Lahore Gymkhana nets, he showed it to a 17-year-old Sarfraz Nawaz.

Peter Obrone in his column at the Daily Telegraph wrote, “Sarfraz discovered reverse swing by bowling with balls of all conditions, new, semi-new and old. He began on matting wickets, where he could cut the ball. “One day I shone one side of a very old ball and it swung. It was rough on both sides, but I shone one side and it swung towards the shine – it should not have done this.” In that Eureka moment, reverse swing was born. He refined the new technique at the Mozang Link Cricket Club in Lahore. His opening partner Saleem Mir also knew how to reverse swing, but they kept it a secret from other bowlers”.

In 1974, during the England tour, Sarfraz discovered, Imran Khan might be his bowling partner in upcoming days and thus, he shared such secrets and art of reverse swing. In an interview, he said, “Imran Khan didn’t know about reverse swing. In 1974 when we (Pakistan) were playing against West Indies, Imran Khan came to me and asked how to swing the ball in reverse.”

“I told him ‘not during the match’ but will teach you ‘during net practice’ the next day”.

In the early and mid 70s, whether Sarfraz was able to use reverse-swing effectively could not be understood as in those days, matches were not telecast live on television and Pakistan hardly played enough Test cricket to showcase their talent in the international circuit. Moreover, the wickets in abroad did not suit Sarfraz to use the art and while playing in his own country, the wickets were dead as a pancake as in those days, Pakistan captains were defensive and avoided defeat.

The eventful day at Melbourne

After a stupendous tour in Australia in 1976-77, Pakistan, led by Mushtaq Mohammad, set foot on Australian soil for a two-match Test series. But this time around, the Australian team was hit by Packer series. Still, the likes of Rodney Hogg, Graham Yallop, Kim Hughes, Graeme Wood and Allan Border were available to give the home team the confidence to challenge Pakistan’s might.

Australia’s fighting spirit was evident in first innings when Rodney Hogg and co ended Pakistan’s first innings below 200. None of the batsmen could get past 40. Yallop’s decision to field first after winning the toss was proven right. But, Imran was too hot to handle when Australia came out to bat. It was an Imran Khan, who used to bowl with pace and less movement. He could still bang the ball short and brought it back in at an astonishing pace. Australia experienced the Imran of Sydney in 1976-77 as they trailed by 28 runs in first innings.

Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal’s bat shone at the right time and Pakistan declared at 353 for 9 in their second innings to give the home team 382 runs to score in fourth innings. Australia ended Day 4 with 117 for 2 on the board.

In those days, chasing such totals were not easy, but still, Australia ran Pakistan for their money.

In the morning session of final day, Graham Yallop was run out. Border called for a single but Yallop was too late to respond. Asif picked the ball quickly and threw it to Imran at non-striker’s end. At 128 for 3, Australia were in a bit of a bother, but the fear and anxiety of home team ebbed away when Hughes and Border came together at the crease.

Sarfraz bowled tight, Sikandar Bhakt was threatening while Imran attacked all the way. The Pakistani pacers were aided by the legspin of Mushtaq and Wasim Raja and Majid bowled nine tight overs to break the partnership between Hughes and Border.

But nothing happened and it seemed nothing was going to happen.

Border and Hughes batted past lunch and saw off till tea.

Mushtaq took the new ball and Border and Hughes weathered the storm very well. Their partnership of 177 for the fourth wicket as the highest in an Australia-Pakistan series.

At 305 for 3, it was Australia’s match to lose from there.

Pakistan’s shoulders dropped.

Mushtaq threw the ball to Sarfraz. Earlier, he was relying more on the conventional swing and pithced the ball up more from a straighter line. Neither did he feel the need of using the angles nor variation in lengths as in first two days, the track was aiding movement off the pitch. But the track lost its juice in the last three days and required something extraordinary to register a win.

 Sarfraz started to use the art which he learned at a young age. The shiny side was seen on the right giving Border the impression, it would move away, but when it landed on a fuller-length to cut back in and nail Border, it left him and others astonished. This is not something normal, but a bolt from the blue – the old ball was moving like a boomerang and none of the Australian batters were familiar with it. In fact, hardly anyone had an idea about this phenomenon back then.

Wood came out to bat. Sarfraz delivered one which pitched full again but moved the other way. Wood edged it and Bari took the catch. Peter Sleep avoided the hat-trick but was an uncomfortable figure in the middle. Sarfraz dished out a Yorker to nail him. The movement of the ball was unconventional.

Hughes needed someone to hang around. Ken Wright tried to give him support, but the ball was moving awkwardly to make life tough for the batsmen. At one moment it left the bat and moved in on other occasions – you don’t expect the old ball to behave like this. But Sarfraz was making the ball talk. He was in a different momentum.

Hughes tried to attack Sarfraz to break the shackled but holed out to Mohsin Khan. Wayn Clarke was outclassed by another reverse-swing and Sarfraz was on a hat-trick for the second time.  At this stage, Sarfraz’s spell figures read 5 for 0 from 13 balls.

Hogg managed to avoid the hat-trick a big appeal for lbw was turned down by the onfield umpire. Hogg and Wright tried to hang around, but it was not an easy task to face Sarfraz in the final session of final day.  Sarfraz brought one back in to trap Hogg lbw with 12 overs still to go. Two balls later, Hurst edged one to Bari off Sarfraz, and Australia folded for 310.

Sarfraz finished with 9 for 86 and his spell on the fourth afternoon read 7 for 1 from 33 balls. His match figures were 11 for 125.

The impact of display at Melbourne 

The crowd at Melbourne was stunned. The cricket experts and critics were left thinking about the mysterious behaviour of the old ball. It was the first time, the cricketing fraternity witnessed the devastation created by reverse-swing. Sarfraz had unleashed a weapon which would be regarded as one of the greatest discoveries in the history of cricket. It would have a great impact on the game and even though the elites spoke against it at first, with the progress of time, this Pakistan-made art became the part and parcel of their cricket culture.

Sarfraz’s spell at Melbourne on the final day was a revolution.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 15/03/2017 CS Flashback: The revolution at Melbourne

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Video: South Africa level the series

Kagiso Rabada struck gold in morning session and the Australian tail failed to put up a resistance. They took a paultry lead, but still, the home team made the weather heavy. They lost wickets quickly, but AB de Villiers and Theunis de Bruyn did not let any shocking events to crop up.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta and Faisal Caesar discuss the action of Day 4…..

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 13/03/2018 Video: South Africa level the series

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

গুরুত্বহীন পোস্ট

ভাই, সবাই তো নেপালের এয়ারপোর্টকে ধুয়ে দিচ্ছে। ধোয়া ভালো কাজ। বেশি ধুলে নিজেদের দোষ গুলো ঢেকে দেওয়া যায়। কিন্তু দোষ ঢাকতে, ঢাকতে সেটার পরিণতি কি হয় তা আল্লাহ পাক দেখিয়ে দিয়েছেন।

নেপালের এয়ারপোর্ট বিপদজনক। আনাড়ি লোকজনে ভর্তি কিন্তু আমাদের ইউ-এস বাংলার মান কি রকম ছিল? ATC কি এতটা অনভিজ্ঞ হবে? অনেকেই এই নেপালি এয়ারপোর্টের পূর্বের খারাপ অভিজ্ঞতার কথা বলছেন। কিন্তু সেটা তো তার পাহাড়ি অবস্থানের জন্য, ATC জন্য কি? ATC রিলেটেড কিছু হলে শেয়ার করবেন।

আর আপনি নেপালি ভাষার কথা গুলো শুনুন ভাই। ওখানে টাওয়ার থেকে পাইলটের ডিসওরিয়েন্টেশনসের কথা বলা হয়েছে। শুনেছি পাইলট অভিজ্ঞ। সে এরকম হলো কেন?

ইউটিউবে কথোপকথন এর রেকর্ডকৃত অংশ শুনলে কনফিউসড হতে হয়। ক্লিয়ার না। কারণ অনেক জায়গায় বিচ্ছিন্নতা আছে। সেটার উপর ভর করেও মতামত দেওয়া কঠিন।

We can guess. But can't come to any conclusions.

হা, আমরা অনেকেই অনেক মতবাদ দিতে পারি কিন্তু সেটাকেই প্রতিষ্ঠিত করতে চাওয়াটা ঠিক হবে না। একপেশে মতবাদ ভুল শোধরাতে সাহায্য করবেই না।

রানা প্লাজা ধ্বসের পরও হেভিওয়েট মহলে আমি এতটা হাহাকার দেখিনি। এই ব্যাপারে দেখছি। এটা ভালো দিক কিন্তু হেভিওয়েটরা কোন কারণ ছাড়া হাহাকার করে না।

আবারও বলি, এটা সাধারণ কোন ঘটনা না। এটার পেছনে কাহিনী আছে।

যাই হোক, ঘুমাই।

মনটা খারাপ তাই পোস্ট দিয়েছি।

গুরুত্বহীন পোস্ট!!!

ধন্যবাদ
ফয়সাল সিজার

The Black Panther

Kagiso Rabada is the Black Panther of world cricket. Strong, fast, skillful and always surprises you something different.  

Somewhere in the deep forests of Southern Africa, two eyes are focused to fulfil his wish. There are no movements of upper eyelids for a single moment, but his determination was so strong, the muscles of eyelids remained stagnant. He knows he’s different from other big cats. He is more of an ambush predator and relies more on a surprising element and would sneak up on his prey. Attacking from the bushes by running after the prey is too old-fashioned for him and thus, he prefers to stalk through trees and across ledges.

The night gets deeper. There is a horrifying silence around the forest. The timid deer did not even hear the sound of trees when he jumped into that trunk nearby. The silence of the forest is a killer and not even the owl is making a single sound. The owl is stunned by the plan of the Black Panther to hunt his prey.

The Deer is enjoying the silence of the forest all alone. All of a sudden, the black cat jumps over his prey. He grabs the prey with his claws and applies the suffocating neck-biting. He knows how stronger, he is than the other cats and possesses the power and skill to hunt down his prey eloquently than a Cheetah, Lion or Royal Bengal Tiger.

The Deer shunned the hope of trying to escape – in fact, he did not get the time to think about the situation and breathed his last to become the supper of the hungry Black Panther.

***

The conditions were hot and humid on Day 4 of second Test against Australia at Port Elizabeth. For a young, fast bowler ageing 22, it’s never easy to maintain his stamina and focus in such a sultry condition. But still, Kagiso Rabada is such a hard nut to crack, he doesn’t bog down easily. His focus and stamina remain steady under any circumstances. Be it, the ICC verdict, warning from a match referee or getting hit by a batsman doesn’t deter him from his goal – like a Black Panther, his eyes don’t move but keep on reading the batsmen and match situation. For him, reverse swing is not the way, but relying on his own skills and element of surprise like the Black Panther is the way to hunt.

The Australian tail wags. It wagged at Durban and one could not deny the fact, Mitchell Marsh, the ever-improved cricketer in the last twelve months, is well capable of stitching another partnership with Tim Paine and bat South Africa out of this game.  And when Marsh executed that aerial drive in the second ball of Day 4, the signs were ominous. The fans thought Australia might take the upper hand in first session.      

But like a Black Panther, Rabada lets his prey bask in the glory and relish the moment. He knows, his element of surprise would give him the scope of celebrating like never before. And, it came in no time.

The last ball of the over was a jaffa! It pitched on a fourth stump line, nipped off the seam after landing on the back of a length and beat Marsh’s defence to leave him stunned! The shiny side of the ball was directed towards leg side which surprised him as he thought, Rabada might pitch it in and around middle and leg, but it pitched on a fourth stump line and disturbed the timber.

The Black Panther was on song!

In a quick succession, he ended the stay of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who are known to be stubborn tail-enders.  The wicket of Starc gave Rabada his 11-wicket haul of the match. He bowled with a lot of hostility and intent yesterday to nail the Australian batsmen. Especially against Steve Smith, he was a fast bowler who meant business. Steve was exposed by Rabada and the man for whom, even a score of fifty is taken as a below-par performance, surrendered against the Black Panther.

The hunting of prey was done and it was time to relish the moment. It was time to watch his teammates enjoy the comeback after the heavy defeat at Durban. South Africa levelled the series and would move on for the next Test with a recharged confidence.

The spoilsport ICC rules are there to hamper the wonderful mood, but Rabada is a Black Panther. He is not bothered by such obstacles but would maintain his focus on nailing the batters n upcoming matches. Surely, he would bask in the glory of his skills and astonishing wicket-taking abilities at an age when the greats like Glenn McGrath, James Anderson and Courtney Walsh were struggling to find their feet in international cricket.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on The Black Panther

Thank You
Faisal Caesar