January 8, 2020 issue
Cricket
Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.
The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.
Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home — two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand — after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.
“It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side,” Lyon said.
“It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time.”
Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.
But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.
“They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session,” said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.
New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.
Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs.
Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.
Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.
First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.
Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.
Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.
Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.
Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.
Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.
“You know you're capable of doing so,” Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.
“I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off.” Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 — his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.
Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.
There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.
It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.
The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.
win over SA
England forced a dramatic 189-run victory over South Africa late on day five of the second Test in Cape Town to level the series at 1-1.
With the tourists still needing three wickets in the final hour, man of the match Ben Stokes claimed them all to cap a stunning all-round performance. He removed Dwaine Pretorius and Anrich Nortje in consecutive balls before dismissing Vernon Philander to secure the win with just 8.2 overs remaining.
The Proteas looked to be grinding their way to a draw, with opener Pieter Malan making a superb 84 off 288 balls on debut, before Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock resisted for almost 34 overs. But De Kock slapped a long hop from Joe Denly to mid-wicket to fall for 50 and Van der Dussen, who spent 140 balls over his 17, flicked Stuart Broad to leg gully.
England's chance of victory was boosted but they still needed Stokes to seize it, the all-rounder finding seam movement and bounce in a devastating spell to secure the tourists' first win at Newlands since 1957.
The third Test of the four-match series starts in Port Elizabeth on 16 January.
Stokes had a majestic 2019 - he starred in England's World Cup final win, led his side to a remarkable one-wicket win over Australia at Headingley in the Ashes and won BBC Sports Personality of the Year. After a tough start to this tour for Stokes, the Durham all-rounder has ensured a spectacular start to 2020.
In his final spell, Newlands finally looked like a real fifth-day pitch, Stokes finding pace and bounce to have Pretorius and Nortje caught in the slips - the latter off a fine juggling effort by Zak Crawley - before Philander fended a brutal ball to Ollie Pope.
England were comfortably beaten by 107 runs in the first Test and failed to capitalise on a strong position in the first innings here, needing Pope's enterprising 61 not out to at least post a competitive total.
Yet the tourists were much improved from that point on, putting in their best bowling performance of the winter to dismiss South Africa for 223 and claim a 46-run first-innings lead.
The top order then batted with the patience that has been lacking in recent years, with opener Dom Sibley compiling a sublime 133 not out, to lay a platform that allowed Stokes to blast a magnificent 72 off 47 balls and set up the declaration.
England may have had the best part of five sessions to bowl South Africa out, but the pitch had slowed and flattened out and the hosts had Du Plessis and Philander, who have experience of saving matches in similar situations.
The hosts were never interested in chasing down a record 438 for victory and showed great resilience for much of days four and five.
Opener Malan, making his debut at 30, was particularly impressive and could only be undone by a superb delivery from Curran.
But ultimately batsman error cost the hosts, with Du Plessis coaxed into sweeping Dom Bess straight to Denly by England putting a fielder in at silly point and Van der Dussen playing at a ball he could have left.
De Kock made the worst mistake and looked horrified as he slowly dragged himself from the field after falling to part-time leg-spinner Denly.
Yet the hosts showed impressive fight to hopefully indicate there are two close Tests to come.
KL Rahul led the charge in the powerplay, as India ended the field-restriction overs at 54 for no loss. The right-handed opener took the game away early with a brisk 45. Dhawan followed soon after, compiling a sluggish 32, as the umpire reversed his decision to send him on his way. Kohli and Iyer then motored along and kept the runs coming at a healthy rate, given that the run-rate required at the time was a lowly 6 runs per over. Iyer blitzed a few boundaries before holing out to Lahiru Kumara for 34, but Sri Lanka's hopes were all but demolished by then. Kumara eventually took the finishing blow, as Kohli pulled him for a six over deep square leg to send Indore into delirium as India coasted to victory.
Earlier, the much-anticipated return of Jasprit Bumrah unravelled at Indore, as he bowled the first over before being taken off the attack to give Saini a go with the new ball. The Indian seamers leaked some runs in the initial overs, as Sri Lanka raced to 31 in the first four. It was then, that Kohli introduced Washington Sundar, India's powerplay specialist.
Despite being reverse-swept for four first ball, Sundar got Fernando to chip one to Saini at mid-off to give India an opening. Saini then produced the ball of the night to york Gunathilaka with a 147.5km/h thunderbolt. Kusal Perera threatened with some improvisation, but eventually got outsmarted by the chicanery of Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up two crucial wickets. Bumrah and Saini then dismissed Shanaka and Rajapaksa respectively to make the 19th over easier for Shardul.
Courtesy the abandoned game in Guwahati, Sri Lanka now have to win the third and final T20I in Pune to equalize.
By Romeo Kaseram
Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd was born on August 31, 1944 in Georgetown, in what was then British Guiana. According to Britannica, he left school when he was 14 to work as a hospital clerk to support his family. Iconic for his six feet four inches stooped stature, a large moustache, and notable for prominent glasses, ESPNcricinfo tells us the thick lenses were the result of damage to his eyes when he attempted to part a fight at school; as Wikipedia adds, the 12-year-old peacemaker was poked in the eye with a ruler.
Siddharth Prabhakar, writing in the website Crickbuzz, notes Lloyd made his Guyana debut at 19. Playing domestic cricket for British Guiana in 1963-1964, his performances took him to the farther fields of Haslingden in the Lancashire League in 1967. As Prabhakar notes, “There was something that attracted the eyes of the talent spotters, for both Warwickshire and Lancashire wanted to sign him on.” No doubt Lloyd’s early years were already making evident his all-round capabilities, with Wikipedia noting his emergence as “a tall, powerful middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler”; that in his youth, “he was also a strong cover point fielder”.
Following his Lancashire debut in 1968, two years later Lloyd notched another first with a pick for West Indies against India at Mumbai. Performing well with the bat in his first Test, he made 82 and 78 not out at Brabourne Stadium, working alongside Sir Gary Sobers to take the team to victory. Back in the Caribbean, Lloyd notched up his first Test century in Trinidad against England, successfully keeping the West Indies from defeat.
Prabhakar tells us during the 1970s Lloyd became a prominent part of the West Indies middle order. Using a batting style that involved minimal usage of footwork and a heavy bat, Prabakar notes “the long follow through generated power which was devastating for his opponents”. He adds: “[Lloyd] was known to annihilate the bowling line ups, especially in the county set up where he scored the then fastest double hundred against Glamorgan in exactly 2 hours.” Lloyd was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1971 following accumulation of 1,600 runs scored for Lancashire at an average of 47, with an innings of 126 that helped the team win the Gillette Cup.
Writing in The Guardian, former English Test cricketer Mike Selvey recalls insightful details about Lloyd’s (nicknamed SuperCat, and also affectionately known by his middle name, Hubert) approach to the wicket, his presence on the field, and his devastating stroke-play. Selvey recalls, “[arbitrary] things: his stooped gait; the tentative shuffle across his crease when he arrived there that gave a bowler a fleeting chance while he focused through his thick-framed goggles. I can see him stand at slip, an impassive general as his war machine blew away batting or raising the first World Cup aloft…”
Selvey shares a welcome, anecdotal insight into a remarkable shot that flew away, a missile leaving Lloyd’s bat: “I can see the most frighteningly percussive shot of my cricket life as if it were yesterday. It was Old Trafford, and Wayne Daniel was bowling from the Stretford End to Lloyd. The ball, high-velocity and ‘heavy’, was delivered with a heave, a grunt and a massive follow-through that scraped his right knuckle on the turf. Just as well because Hubert swung his bat, connected prodigiously from a spot on the blade so sweet it was a danger to diabetics, and sent the ball back past where The Diamond’s head would have been had he had a less energetic crescendo to his bowling… On it screamed, low trajectory, until it splintered the sightscreen and rebounded back into play.”
Lloyd was handed the West Indies captaincy for the India tour of 1974-1975. Right away he scored 100 in 85 balls in the first Test in Bangalore; the fifth Test in Mumbai then turned out his career best of 242, with West Indies taking the series. The following tour to Australia was not successful, with pace attacks by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson leading the home team to a 5-1 victory.
The Australian defeat was an eye-opener, and led to a change in Lloyd’s style of captaincy with introduction of a strategy based on intimidating the opposition using tall fast bowlers moving the ball at blurring speeds, Prabhakar tells us. He adds, “Such a tactic gave birth to an entire generation of unplayable fast bowlers who were instrumental in West Indies ruling the official rankings up till the early [1990s] … it certainly was a trendsetter in the way Test cricket began to be played.” He captained the West Indies from 1974-1985, and played for Lancashire from 1968-1986. Under Lloyd’s captaincy, the West Indies won 26 matches without defeat; outstanding among his achievements was the defeat of England 5-0 in what is known as the 1984 “Blackwash” series. Batting left-handed in the middle-order, Lloyd scored 7,515 runs at an average of more than 46 in 110 appearances for the West Indies.
Few cricketers have inspired an entire generation as Lloyd has, Prabhakar tells us – adding, he is “arguably the greatest captain Test and ODI cricket has ever seen”. Prabhakar also notes the inherent difficulty Lloyd faced in captaining a “West Indies side which consisted of cricketers from various different countries like Guyana, [Trinidad and Tobago], Barbados … [that] came with their own set of baggage and cultural differences… Talent and temper have an almost parallel growth and to Lloyd’s credit, the team that he led was one of the most professional and well-mannered sides.”
Similarly, Selvey also notes “the extreme demands of captaining a group of players who represent a region, a gathering of talents from different countries, diverse ethnicities, religions and beliefs…” He adds, “No one since has managed to gain the degree of respect, allied to affection, that Lloyd gathered. The side he created gave the region an identity on a global scale, and something for the generation that followed to take on.”
In his career, Lloyd has acquired honours, among them honorary Officer of the Order of Australia in 1985 for services to the sport of cricket. He was knighted during New Year honours in early January for his service to cricket.
India captain Virat Kohli says he is "not a fan" of the proposal to reduce Test matches from five to four days.
A reduction in match length is likely to be discussed in January when the International Cricket Council considers the Test calendar beyond 2023.
But top-ranked Test batsman Kohli, 31, said: "I think the intent will not be right then because then you will speak of three-day Tests.
"Where do you end? Then you will speak of Test cricket disappearing."
The England and Wales Cricket Board has said it "cautiously supports" the proposal because it would reduce player workload.
India are the world number one Test side, having won five and drawn one of their past six series.
"I don't think that's fair to the purest format of the game," Kohli said when asked about four-day Tests.
"How cricket started initially, five-day Test matches was the highest test you can have at international level.
"It shouldn't be altered."
South Africa played a four-day Test against Zimbabwe in December 2017, while England also hosted Ireland at Lord's in a four-day match in July 2019.
Openers - Sir Alastair Cook and David Warner
With standout numbers over the decade – 23 hundreds apiece and 67 fifties combined – the two left-handers accounted for nearly 16000 Test runs and stood above other worthy competitors for these two slots.
Other contenders: Dimuth Karunaratne, Dean Elgar, Graeme Smith, Tom Latham, M Vijay
Middle Order - Kumar Sangakkara, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli
Fighting off tough competition from several other competitors, the three batsmen with outstanding records make the final cut. Until his retirement in 2015, Sangakkara averaged 60.34, including a triple hundred, Steve Smith's Bradmanesque turn saw him average even more than Sangakkara at 62.84 while Virat Kohli's 27 hundreds remained unparalleled over the decade.
Other contenders: Younis Khan, Michael Clarke, Kane Williamson, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Joe Root, Cheteshwar Pujara
Wicketkeeper: AB de Villiers
His record as a batsman in the 23 games that he donned gloves is simply stunning. Hitting 7 hundreds (as many as any wicketkeeper in the decade) and an average of 59.5, the numbers are simply too hard to ignore.
Other contenders: BJ Watling, Quinton de Kock, BJ Haddin, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim
Spinners: R Ashwin and Rangana Herath
57 five-wicket hauls and sixteen 10-wicket hauls between these two in the 2010s. They led their respective teams' spin attack splendidly, particularly in the subcontinent making them near-automatic choices.
Other contenders: Nathan Lyon, Yasir Shah, Ravindra Jadeja, Graeme Swann,, Saeed Ajmal
Pacers: Dale Steyn, James Anderson and Morne Morkel
The sheer number of options in this category put it amongst the toughest choices to make. Dale Steyn, with 15 five-wicket hauls and a strike-rate of 43.93, and James Anderson who has more wickets (429) than anyone else are a cut above the rest. Morne Morkel, an underrated member of the fast bowling community, has a balanced home and away record while also complements the other two with his brand of fast bowling
Other contenders: Stuart Broad, Trent Boult, Ryan Harris, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Neil Wagner, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kemar Roach
No all-rounders?
Ben Stokes, Shakib Al Hasan and Jason Holder all had strong cases to make it as an all-rounder. But with none standing out in just one discipline (batting or bowling), it wasn't enough to pip better contenders for the spot.
The eleven (in batting order): Alastair Cook, David Warner, Kumar Sangakkara, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), R Ashwin, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, James Anderson, Rangana Herath
for South Africa
The Canadians left to join the fifteen other competing country teams that will be participating in the South Africa-hosted International Cricket Council’s (ICC) 2020 U-19 World Cup, to be played from January 17-February 9.
The 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup will be the Tournament’s thirteenth edition and South Africa’s second occasion as Tournament hosts. South Africa had hosted the Tournament’s second edition in 1998, ten years after the 1988 Inaugural Tournament.
Canada’s 2020 participation will be its sixth appearance as a team country.
Team Canada had participated in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup’s 2002, 2004, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018 Tournaments.
Canadian players had also been members of the ICC Associates XI Squads that had participated in the 1988 Inaugural Tournament and again in 2000.
The sixteen participating teams at the ICC 2020 Under-19 World Cup will be split into four groups for the Tournament’s Preliminary Rounds. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super League, with the bottom two from each group progressing to the Plate League. Canada will play its Preliminary Round Matches in the Tournament’s Group D.
The Canadians will face the United Arab Emirates on January 18, hosts South Africa on January 22 and Afghanistan on Januray 24.
Canada’s 15-member ICC 2020 Under-19 World Cup playing squad consists of Astan Deosammy (Captain), Akhil Kumar, Arshdeep Dhaliwal, Ayush Verma, Benjamin Calitz, Eshan Sensarma, Gurjot Gosal, Mihir Patel, Muhammad Kamal, Nicholas Manohar, Randhir Sandhu, Raqib Shamsudeen, Rishiv Joshi, Udaybir Walia and Harmandeep Singh Bedi.
Along with its Manager Anil Khanna and Head Coach Farouk Kirmani, the Squad will also include Assistant Coach Kulbir Jaswal, Analyst Shah Zafar and Physio Tejash Patel.
Prior to their departure the Canadian players were presented with their official Team Canada caps at a January 2 Cricket Canada hosted function held at the Best Western Airport hotel.
The players and their management staff were also treated to a Bukhara Restaurant farewell dinner by Cricket Canada officials including President Ranjit Saini, Board Directors Mohammed Shaikh and Ranjit Chaudhri,as well as General Manager Ingleton Liburd.