Hello everyone and welcome to this weeks edition of Paul Seaborne on Cricket. The first test between India and visitors Australia has ground to a halt and looks like finishing in a pretty tame draw, after Australia declared slightly earlier than expected and set India 299 to win in 85 over’s, they are currently off for bad light and that could be that, even if they do come back out – there isn’t enough time to force a result in the game.

So, lets review the test and see what we can deduce for the forthcoming games. First of all, as expected, the quality of Australia’s shone in the first innings, as they battled their way to a very commendable 430 all out, thanks largely to two quite brilliant innings from Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, who scored 123 and 146 respectively. A slight middle order wobble allowed India a sniff of getting back into the match, but the 100 run partnership between Brad Haddin and Mike Hussey ensured that India we always going to be playing catch up in the first of this five match series.

That 430 was enough to ensure that Australia were going to have some sort of first innings lead, as the pitch was by no means easy to bat on. The pick of the Indian bowlers was Zaheer Khan, who toiled away getting the ball to reverse swing, and eventually picked up five first innings wickets and bowled exceptionally well. As did the ever impressive Ishant Sharma, who has been an excellent find for India in the last year or so, finished with 4-77 off 30 over’s. An excellent return from the young man who I think will get better and better the more games he plays.

I feel India’s biggest mistake this game was not picking a third seamer to assist Khan and Sharma. Instead they had to rely on Harbajan Singh and Anil Kumble, on a pitch that was offering more for the seamers than it was for the spinners. Harbajan will come into his own later in the series, especially at Delhi which is famous for being a dustbowl and offering extreme turn for the spinners.

As India came to bat it became clear just how much they missed that third seamer, as Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee all bowled very well, picking up eight of the ten wickets. At one point it looked as though India were going to struggle to meet the 230 target to avoid being asked to follow on, but as the ball got older, Ponting found he had no quality spinner to turn to and India were allowed back into the game, thanks largely to Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan who both ensured the tail wagged and India ended up getting into a good position, conceding just a 70 run deficit, and with the pitch starting spit and crumble, I thought India had a chance of nipping out the Aussies in the second innings, to face a target of around 260 going into the final day. As it was, try as he might, Harbhajan couldn’t find the edge, and any little bat-pad deflections fell agonisingly short of the fielders. As it was, he picked up two wickets, but it really could have been five.

So at close of play on Day 4, Australia were pretty much in an unbeatable position, and the big question that surfaced was “How long will Ponting go on for in the morning?”

Already holding all the aces, with a healthy lead of 260, and with five wickets still in the bag, questions overnight were asked. All thoughts diverted back to a similar situation in Sydney, where Ponting batted on for what seemed like an age, before declaring and leaving his side just 60 overs to bowl out the Indians. It turned out to be an inspired (or lucky?) move, as Michael Clarke took 3 wickets in the last over to win the game.

This time though, Ponting was a bit more adventurous, and batted for just five overs on the final morning, before calling a halt to proceedings and giving his men 85 overs to take the ten wickets, and setting India a target of 299, at an asking run rate of 3.5 per over. Not impossible, but quite tough on a fifth day pitch.

As it is, India have comfortably secured the draw now, again, they have no spinner of any note they can call upon in situations like this, and it has cost them.

Overall, I think it has been quite a good test, mainly dominated by the bat as over 1100 runs were scored at an average of nearly 40 per wicket. The player of the match for me was Zaheer Khan for his excellent match figures of 6-137 and his vital 57 not out in India’s first innings.

Shot of the match for me was a exquisite back foot drive from Ricky Ponting off Zaheer Khan that flew to the boundary before anyone could even blink.
 
The second test kicks off on the 17th October, (this Friday) so be sure to catch all the previews here at www.priceform.com

Preceeding this game, Sourav Ganguly announced his retirement from Test Cricket at the end of the series. Bizarre timing in my opinion, surely an announcement that could have waited until the end of the series, or at least until the last test, as is the norm. Two points as to why this is possible.

a) Ganguly won’t be the last to retire during or just after this series. It is common knowledge that the BCCI are “leaning” on certain members of the squad to call it a day, not naming any names, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out who the aging stars are in the Indian team, and I don’t think it will be long before Dhoni is the Test Captain…..so it makes sense to spread the “announcements” over a few months

b) Ganguly is arrogant, and wanted the headlines all to himself.

Whatever the reasons – we cannot ignore the fact that Ganguly has been an immense performer for India over the years, and has also been a very successful captain for them.

He has scored 6961 runs at a very healthy average of 41.93 and took over the Indian captaincy in 2000 after some serious match fixing scandals rocked Indian cricket. With their backs against the wall, under Ganguly, India started to become a more focused team, winning away regularly and in tough conditions. When they triumphed in Pakistan, India’s most hated rivals, Ganguly was promoted to almost god-like status. “Dada” as he is lovingly called in his home nation, was at the peak of his career, including leading India to a World Cup final in 2003. However his downfall began in 2004 when at the last minute, he withdrew from the squad to take on Australia, a series the hosts won comfortably, and many believed he had played his last game for his country. However in 2006 he was recalled to the Test team to tour South Africa and it was here that he made his biggest impression on me, for it was here that he finally diminished the demon that he was scared of quick, hostile bowling on fast, seaming tracks. He played fearsome innings and ended the tour as the sides highest run scorer, and then secured his spot for the foreseeable future after finishing the tour as second highest run scorer as India won 1-0 away from home.

After successful series at home against Pakistan he has, at the age of 36, decided to call it a day. I’m sure millions of Indian fans will follow me in thanking Sourav Ganguly for all his efforts over a long and successful career.
 
Also this week, there has been some confusion over the Stanford 20/20 tournament due to be held at the end of October. There were serious concerns that the tournament would be called off due to a row between the financial billionaire Sir Alan Stanford and Digicel, the sponsors of West Indies Cricket. In the contract Digicel holds with the WICB, Digicel have exclusive rights to broadcast and sponsor all games involving a West Indies team, and Sir Alan Stanford argued that this game was out of the jurisdiction of the WICB, therefore Digicel had no rights involving this game. Digicel cited a breach of contract and took the whole saga to the high court, which agreed with Digicel.

So that appeared to be that. The tournament was off. Orders of new cars were cancelled, holidays delayed and jewellery orders cancelled.

Then Sir Alan, who presumably is not used to accepting defeat quite so readily, and Digicel, reached an agreement out of court agreement with Sir Alan stating  "I am pleased with both parties' solution oriented approach and most importantly that this matter has been finally resolved," Stanford said. "We look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to the Stanford Cricket Ground to enjoy a fantastic week of cricket." And a spokesman for Digicel then confirmed the news by saying “Digicel is delighted to confirm that negotiations have been successful and that arrangements have been put in place to allow for the series to continue for at least the next three years," said a statement. "Digicel has at all times supported the Stanford initiative and from the outset sought a negotiated compromise with the relevant parties."

So that’s that then, all parties are happy and yet more calls to the Aston Martin dealerships for the players. The tournament commences on the 28th October.
In Dubai this week the ICC are due to hold their quarterly meeting, chaired by David Morgan, the ICC President. On the agenda this week, first and foremost, will be the ever increasing volume of 20/20 cricket, coincidentally the ICL starts it’s second season this week, and the ICC are concerned that their powers within the game are being lost to the millions of pounds now being thrown around the 20/20 circuit. There is talk of a Test Match Championship, with two divisions comprising of five teams each, with promotion and relegation. I’d imagine in the premier league (sic) would be Australia, South Africa, England, India & Sri Lanka and Div 1/2/B would be New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and possibly Ireland, Kenya or Zimbabwe. Obviously this is just little old Paul Seaborne having a stab in the dark of how it would pan out, and it wouldn’t be for several years yet so several different options will be considered, but the ICC feel they have to do something to protect the games greatest format from the evils of 20/20.
Also to be discussed at the meeting will be the ongoing dilemma of umpire referrals. This was used (quite successfully in my opinion) in the recent Sri Lanka v India series and the ICC are looking further into this, and could quite possibly offer the system for further testing in the forthcoming series between India & England and South Africa & Australia.
Finally this week, Adam Gilchrist has thrown some sort of light on the attitude of some players when it comes to “walking” if they know they’ve hit the ball. Revealing this week that one member of the Australian squad no longer gets his text messages or phone messages returned because he always walked if he’d nicked it, it gives us a slight insight into how the Australians view this noble act! Can’t say I blame them these days if I’m completely honest, I’ve always walked if I’ve hit it, but then, there’s not usually that much doubt.
That’s all I have for you this week – be sure to keep checking in at Priceform for all the latest news and articles.
Until then, be lucky.
Paul.