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Stunning allround displays from James Faulkner and Evan Gulbis lifted Tasmania to a comprehensive defeat of Western Australia in Burnie

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2012
Scorecard
Stunning allround displays from James Faulkner and Evan Gulbis lifted Tasmania to a comprehensive defeat of Western Australia in a low-scoring domestic limited overs match in Burnie.Batting first after winning the toss, the Tigers slid quickly to 6 for 51 before Faulkner and Gulbis united for a stand of 114 that helped take the hosts to what proved a more than adequate 8 for 192.WA’s pursuit was in trouble from the moment Gulbis burst through Shaun Marsh’s defences with the tally at 17. Gulbis and Faulkner shared eight wickets between them to reel in a bonus point for Tasmania and consign the Warriors’ new coach Justin Langer to his third consecutive loss since taking the job.

Muttiah Muralitharan ripped through the Adelaide Strikers to send the Melbourne Renegades back to the top of the Big Bash ladder with a crushing 48-run win at Etihad Stadium

The Report by Andrew Fuss02-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Muttiah Muralitharan and Marlon Samuels took three wickets each•Getty Images

Muttiah Muralitharan ripped through the Adelaide Strikers to send the Melbourne Renegades back to the top of the Big Bash ladder with a crushing 48-run win at Etihad Stadium.Murali was virtually unplayable as he skittled the visitors’ middle order on his way to 3 for 18 off four overs. He clean-bowled the dangerous Nathan Reardon – beating him in flight – before catching Kieron Pollard and Theo Doropolous plumb off front in consecutive deliveries to end any hopes the Strikers had of a middle-order revival.Nathan Rimmington helped build the pressure early for the Renegades removing both openers and going for just seven runs in his first two overs. The visitors never got going after that and only Johan Botha (31 off 31) and Michael Neser (29 not out off 24) offered any real resistance as they crumbled to 107 all out. Marlon Samuels helped clean up the tail to finish with 3 for 16 off three overs.Earlier, Tom Cooper revived the hosts following a sluggish start with a hard-fought 59 off just 46 balls. Cooper combined with Ben Rohrer (35 off 27) for a 46-run partnership in the middle overs to set the hosts up for a late onslaught in which they produced 37 runs from the final three overs.The visitors will be left to rue some poor death bowling as Neser, Putland and Richardson all struggled to bowl to their fields when it mattered most as the Renegades posted a more than competitive total of 155 on a low and slow drop-in deck.Perhaps the highlights of the match came in the field, with Pollard taking a spectacular one-handed catch running back with the flight off his own bowling and Will Sheridan and Aaron O’Brien holding sharp chances inside the circle.The Renegades are now virtually assured of a top four finish while the Strikers are right back in the pack, sitting at fourth for the moment ahead of the Scorchers and the Heat, who have game in hand against the Stars on Thursday night.The result sets up some tantalising fixtures over the final games of the tournament, with the Strikers set to play the Hurricanes and the Scorchers in matches that will shape the top four.

Moises Henriques will make his Test debut in Chennai after beating Glenn Maxwell for the allrounder’s position in Australia’s line-up

Brydon Coverdale20-Feb-2013

Australia team for first Test

David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (capt), Matthew Wade (wk), Moises Henriques, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon.

Moises Henriques leapfrogged Glenn Maxwell for the allrounder’s position in Australia’s squad for the first Test in Chennai.•Getty Images

Moises Henriques has been given free rein to bat in his natural aggressive style when he becomes Australia’s 432nd Test cricketer on Friday in Chennai. Henriques won the battle for the allrounder’s position for the first Test against India, beating offspinner Glenn Maxwell for the role after impressive performances with both bat and ball during Australia’s two warm-up games over the past eight days.Australia on Wednesday confirmed their XI and whereas India are expected to play as many as three slow bowlers, Australia included only one specialist spinner, Nathan Lyon, alongside a four-man pace group made up of Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Henriques. Maxwell will be the 12th man while Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Johnson, Jackson Bird, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith were also overlooked.Australia’s selectors are hoping Henriques can have the same effect on the dry pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium that he did at the Guru Nanak Ground for the tour matches, where he found reverse swing and hit the right lengths better than any of his fellow pace bowlers. Henriques, 26, collected 4 for 12 in the first game, including two of the top four batsmen.Against India A in the second outing he took 1 for 30 and scored 33 from 41 balls including three sixes, an innings that followed the aggressive approach the Australians intend to use against India’s spinners. His efforts impressed the coach Mickey Arthur, who told Henriques of his impending baggy green on Tuesday night, with a message to keep up his attacking method.”I’m a fairly aggressive batsman by nature and Mickey just said if you want to do something out there in the middle just back your strengths,” Henriques said. “If you want to do it, go for it and you won’t be told you’ve done the wrong thing back here in the sheds, as long as it’s your strengths. Play to what you’re good at. If it doesn’t come off, it doesn’t come off, but we want you playing fearless cricket rather than going out and playing the way you haven’t played before.”It’s a good boost of confidence to know you can go out there with your own twist on things. You don’t want to be bogged down for too long against these spinners with those attacking fields, it’s almost an accident waiting to happen. At some stage you do have to try to put the pressure back on the opposition bowlers. I felt like the night before [against India A] they built that pressure up. I think I faced something like 15 dots without scoring. I thought I would try to make a bit of an impression first thing in the morning.”It’s not the first time this summer Henriques has made an impression. Six years after he made his first-class debut as a teenager who had starred as Australia’s captain at the Under-19 World Cup, Henriques finally scored his maiden first-class century, an unbeaten 161 against Tasmania in Sydney in September. By the time he was called into the Test squad for this tour, Henriques had managed 385 runs at an average of 77 and 14 wickets at the average of 18 this Shield season.It was a case of perfect timing, for Shane Watson’s decision to avoid bowling on this tour in an effort to prevent further injuries left the Australians in need of an allrounder to balance the side. Andrew McDonald might have been the first picked had he not been sidelined by a serious hamstring injury, and Mitchell Marsh was also out injured at the time, although he came back strongly with a Ryobi Cup hundred this week.That meant Henriques was the man, and he will have Watson to turn to for advice in the lead-up to his first Test. Like Watson, Henriques has suffered numerous injury setbacks over the course of his career – he tore his side twice last season, had both groin muscles operated on the previous summer, and has also suffered hamstring troubles – but this season he has stayed fit.”There’s been a lot of injuries and in amongst those injuries there has been some inconsistent form as well,” Henriques said. “The one thing you lose first is your match touch and some little one per cent things when you don’t play consistently. Being able to stay on the park for the last six months has really helped my performances and helped some consistency come into my game.”Shane Watson is someone who has gone through some similar sort of injury woes early on in his career, in similar parts of the body. He has had some hamstring problems as I did, and a lot of similar injuries as well. And we’re both a similar sort of weight and size. Someone like that is someone who, I wouldn’t say I’ve modelled myself on, but I have looked up to in terms of rehabilitation, preparation and recovery.”Watson, who will bat at No.4 in Chennai, said he was happy to mentor Henriques, his New South Wales team-mate. Watson said he had been impressed by the length Henriques targeted in the tour matches, and said he could play a big part with the ball throughout the series.”I can certainly help him in a number of different ways,” Watson said. “I can see an amazing amount of similarities between how Mo plays the game and how his career has evolved over the last six or seven years as well. The way he bowls is quite similar to the way I bowl. His length throughout the first tour games was outstanding. He looked as good as any bowler we had, because he knew the length to bowl.”His batting has improved a massive amount and he’s had quite a bit of success this summer. Playing in the last tour match, he certainly has the techinque and game to have success over here. It’s really exciting. It’s great to see a younger guy coming through who has similar traits to how I play and I’m going to help out in any way I can.”Henriques will have to use his team-mates as his support network in preparation for his debut, for his late inclusion meant it was too late for his family to fly over to watch him play. His parents Alvaro and Anabela, both from Portugal, moved to Australia when Portuguese-born Moises was one and a half, and he said his father had embraced the sport.”My dad is all of a sudden a professional on cricket,” he said. “Mum just likes it because I like it. But Dad is always trying to give me advice.”

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has said that a defensive, time-wasting mindset never entered his thinking as India slowly cruised to a six-wicket victory that won them the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Mohali

Brydon Coverdale18-Mar-2013Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has said that a defensive, time-wasting mindset never entered his thinking as India slowly cruised to a six-wicket victory that won them the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Mohali. After Australia were bowled out in the second session on day five, it left India chasing 133 in a minimum of 27 overs and while Clarke could have employed delaying tactics to ensure Australia did not give India any extra time, his focus was firmly on pushing for victory himself.India’s innings began approximately half an hour before tea, meaning that even if Australia had used only their fast bowlers it would have been a struggle to bowl only the minimum 12 overs before the start of the final hour. Instead, Clarke rotated his bowlers quite normally and got through an extra nine overs, which meant that in the end India had 36 overs to chase their target. They got there in the 34th.A draw would have been nothing but a consolation for Clarke’s men, who needed a victory in order to stay alive in the series and retain any hope of keeping the Border-Gavaskar Trophy following their losses in Chennai and Hyderabad. Although India never looked in serious trouble, they did lose four wickets along the way and Clarke said breakthroughs were not only Australia’s only path to victory but the best way of restricting the runs.”We still believed that we could win the Test,” Clarke said. “We thought there were going to be opportunities to take wickets, knowing that India were going to have to score at a decent pace. In that first hour when we went out and bowled we could have taken as much time as possible, wasted time to slow the scoring and not bowl many overs because I knew once 3.30 came around, we had to bowl 15 overs in the last hour.”But I don’t think that’s the way we play our cricket. We try to win and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. We couldn’t get a draw, so we deal with a loss. But I think our players deserve a lot of credit for the way they tried their best. Our fast bowlers worked their absolute backsides off and we were very close to hanging on for a draw.”It was all about taking wickets. We had to try to win the Test match and even if you defend, the best form of defence is taking wickets. If you want to slow scoring whether it be in T20, one-day cricket or Tests taking wickets is the best way to slow the scoring and that was our goal, with 130 on the board you never know what can happen in this game but I think the boys showed a lot of fight and deserve credit for that.”Australia’s fight with the ball was worthy of credit but the lack of a big hundred from any of their batsmen in either innings was again costly. Australia’s first innings of 408 looked good until India posted 499, and the difference was that Shikhar Dhawan and M Vijay both passed 150 and put on a 289-run stand, while Australia’s innings featured four scores above 70 but none of them turned into triple-figures.Australia kept trying hard for wickets in India’s chase•BCCI

Conceding huge partnerships and failing to build their own have both been ongoing issues for the Australians in this series. In Chennai, MS Dhoni scored a double-century and put on 140 for the ninth wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which turned the match, and in Hyderabad Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara compiled 370 together. Australia’s highest stand of the series is 151 by Clarke and Moises Henriques in Chennai, and Clarke’s hundred there is Australia’s only one of the trip. India’s batsmen have made six tons.”Credit needs to go to the India batters, that’s for sure, and as a batting unit that’s what we’re trying to do as well,” Clarke said. “We’re making just as many fifties as India but nowhere near as many hundreds. We have to be more disciplined once we get to fifty, to stay nice and patient, swim between the flags I guess and go on and make a big score.”But I think their batters throughout this series have made the most of conditions. Again in their first innings they are making big scores. I think in the last two Test matches we’ve shown if we can break that partnership, we’ve bowled really well. Apart from the first partnership the other nine wickets fell for 210 runs for us, which was a really good sign for us. And it was similar in the second innings. It’s just breaking that big partnership that we need to keep working on.”This was the sixth consecutive Test Australia have lost in India and at 3-0 with one match remaining, the series has been by far the worst under Clarke’s leadership. Australia won 3-0 at home to Sri Lanka this summer after fighting hard against South Africa but losing 1-0, and Clarke said the team would need to find ways of handling foreign conditions and not just being a threat at home.”I think it’s probably a very fair indication of where both teams are at,” Clarke said of the 3-0 scoreline. “I don’t want to talk for India. But for the Australian team it’s probably a fair indication. We’re playing some really good, consistent cricket at home back in Australia, in conditions we’re very used to, very accustomed to, but we’re not performing as well as we’d like when we go overseas in conditions we’re not used to.”That’s an area we’ve spoken about as a group for a while now, over the past 12 months. We continue to work hard on that. As disappointing as it is that we can’t level the series now that we’re 3-0 down, I think the players individually and the team have learnt a lot over the first three Test matches. We’d love to go home with a win in this last Test in Delhi.”

The fast bowler Jackson Bird will not rejoin Australia’s squad in India after scans in Melbourne confirmed he has a bone stress injury in his back

Brydon Coverdale27-Feb-2013The fast bowler Jackson Bird will not rejoin Australia’s squad in India after scans in Melbourne confirmed he has a bone stress injury in his back. Bird is likely to be out of action for up to two months, which is a worrying development for Australia in an Ashes year, given how well Bird’s accurate seam-bowling style could translate to English conditions.Bird took 0 for 10 from 10 overs in the warm-up match against the Indian Board President’s XI two weeks ago but was not picked for the first Test in Chennai. He flew home after the Test to have his back injury assessed and Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner said the results had shown a problem with his lower back.”Initial tests performed in Melbourne have confirmed that Jackson Bird has a bone stress injury of the low back,” Brukner said. “He will undergo further tests tomorrow [Thursday]. He will not be re-joining the team in India.”The loss of Bird leaves Australia with a 16-man squad ahead of the second Test, which starts in Hyderabad on Saturday. At this stage, the selectors have not decided on whether to send a replacement player to join the group, leaving Mitchell Johnson as the only extra fast bowler in the group besides those who played in the first Test.

Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has accepted that he will now have to serve the rest of his ICC ban

Umar Farooq17-Apr-2013Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has accepted that he will now have to serve the rest of his ICC ban after his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was rejected although he remains determined to resume his career in little more than two years.”I have already served two years and eight months and after another two years and four months and I can still play,” Butt told reporters at Model Town Green Ground in Lahore, the place where he started playing cricket. Wearing a black polo shirt and blue jeans, he looked far more confident than in his previous public appearance when he returned home after serving seven months in prison.”I want to play cricket and getting the appeal was the only hope,” he said. “I wasn’t more than 50 percent sure that the decision would come in my favour, but still there was a hope that I would be able to reduce my ban but now there is no way other than completing rest of my ban.”Butt was given a 10-year ban for his part in the 2010 spot-fixing controversy, five years of which were suspended on condition that, throughout that period, he commits no further breach of the ICC code and that he participates, under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board, in a programme of anti-corruption education.However, while Butt “accepted the ban” he to discuss any wrongdoing and shunned away any questions about admitted his part in spot-fixing. “I am here to talk about rejected appeal and not the case,” he insisted. “Our stance which was on day one, is the currently the same.”ESPNcricinfo understands that if during the first five years of the ban Butt doesn’t take part in any educational programme the suspended five years will come into effect. Suspension can be waved only on the condition if he takes part in a PCB anti-corruption education programme. “What I know from my lawyer is that only five years out the ten are effective and I have already spent half of it,” Butt said.He then cited the age of current Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq as a sign that he will have a chance to resume his career. “In the remaining time I want to work hard,” he added. “Obviously it’s a struggling time but it’s always great to rise after fighting with tough times. The captain of the Pakistan team is 39 years old…I will be 30 when I serve the ban in two years time so I don’t find any reason not to play cricket.”

The preview of the game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium

The Preview by George Binoy28-Apr-2013

Match facts

Monday, April 29, 2013
Start time 2000 IST (1430 GMT)Adam Gilchrist has scored only 94 runs in eight innings this season•BCCI

Big Picture

Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab have little in common. Mumbai are big spenders, often splashing cash on the flavours of the season and then benching them; Kings XI are more frugal. Mumbai have some of the world’s most sought after Twenty20 players on their overseas roster; Kings XI’s foreign cricketers might have been sought after several summers ago. Mumbai’s Indian contingent rivals that of Chennai Super Kings as the strongest in the IPL; most of Kings XI’s Indians are too green. Yet, only one win separates the two sides after eight games each, and Kings XI have had the better of previous contests against Mumbai.After much tinkering and inconsistent results, Mumbai seem to have discovered a successful formula for the time being. Benching Ricky Ponting has reunited Dwayne Smith and Sachin Tendulkar, perhaps the most successful of several opening combinations Mumbai have tried recently, and allowed them to play Mitchell Johnson, whose short-ball salvo rattled Chris Gayle on Saturday. They have also batted Kieron Pollard at No. 5 in recent matches. It’s hard to pick chinks in the side that beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, because Mumbai Indians have shed the poor performers from their previous two defeats – Ponting, Jasprit Bumrah and Munaf Patel.Kings XI have not yet made the decision to drop their non-performing captain. Adam Gilchrist said he was close to sitting out of the game against Kolkata Knight Riders but was voted in by the majority of the selection panel. He made a run-a-ball 27 at Eden Gardens, his best score of the season, but looked scratchy. His hand-eye coordination is just not what it once was. Should Gilchrist not play on Monday, Kings XI could play an overseas contingent of David Hussey, David Miller, Shaun Marsh and Azhar Mahmood or Luke Pomersbach. The problem is, Kings XI don’t have a viable back-up for the wicketkeeper’s job.

Form guide

(most recent first)Mumbai Indians WWLLW
Kings XI Punjab LWWLW

Watch out for …

Mumbai’s new-ball attack is likely to comprise Lasith Malinga and Johnson. They are not among the season’s top wicket-takers but they pose a challenge of international quality to top orders that don’t. Malinga has only five wickets in six games but has an economy-rate of 6.16. Johnson has nine wickets in seven games, and while he may not be the most miserly, his effectiveness as an impact bowler was showcased during his spell to Gayle at the Wankhede.David Miller’s inclusion has added considerable firepower to Kings XI’s batting line-up. He averages 72 and has a strike-rate of 137 after four innings. His only real failure came at the spinner-friendly Eden Gardens; the quicker Wankhede surface will be more to Miller’s liking. Given that there are few other in-form batsmen in Kings XI’s line-up, it is vital that Miller is not held down the order for longer than is necessary.

Stats and trivia

• Of the ten matches between these two teams, Kings XI have won six and Mumbai have won four. Kings XI have won two out of three games at the Wankhede.
• Shaun Marsh averages 65.40 in six games against Mumbai, while Pomersbach has a high score of 79 not out in two innings against them.
• Pollard averages only 14 at a strike rate of 128 in six matches against Kings XI. Malinga has had success against Kings XI – 13 wickets in six games and an economy of 6.

Sachin Tendulkar was thrilled that Mumbai Indians finally won their first IPL title

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2013Sachin Tendulkar was thrilled that Mumbai Indians finally won their first IPL title, after beating Chennai Super Kings in the finals. Tendulkar, who has been with Mumbai for all six years of the IPL, announced his retirement from the IPL moments after his team was crowned champions.”I have waited for this for six years and six years is a long time.” he told the IPL website. “But it’s never too late. This has been an outstanding season for us; we have thoroughly enjoyed every moment with each other. It’s been really solid. The goal for this season was to win the trophy and I am glad that we have been able to do that.”Tendulkar captained Mumbai the last time they reached the finals in 2010. He was also the tournament’s leading batsman that season, as his team topped the league table. “It was good to reach the final [in 2010] but this year we made it till the end.” he said, “Whoever is the captain, it doesn’t matter as long as we lift the trophy. That is what you play for and Sunday was that moment.”Tendulkar, who did not feature in the playing eleven that won the trophy after tendon damage to his wrist, was overjoyed with Mumbai’s achievement. “It’s a different feeling to get your hands on that trophy and I can’t wait to celebrate with the team. We’ve really worked hard for it. After two and a half months of sheer hard work we have been able to win this trophy. It’s a wonderful feeling.”It still remains to be seen whether he has played his last game for Mumbai or whether he will represent them in the Champions League T20.

Michael Lumb struck a composed fifty as Nottinghamshire began their Friends Life t20 campaign with a comfortable win at Trent Bridge. Chasing 178, the home team eased to victory with 14 balls to spare

28-Jun-2013
ScorecardMichael Lumb’s fifty came in just 29 balls•Getty Images

Michael Lumb struck a composed fifty as Nottinghamshire began their Friends
Life t20 campaign with a comfortable win at Trent Bridge. Chasing 178, the home team eased to victory with 14 balls to spare, aided by potent early cameos from Alex Hales and Riki Wessels.David Hussey and James Taylor saw the home side over the line with an 84-run
partnership to the delight of a healthy crowd of 7,390. Hussey played fluently
throughout for an unbeaten 49 with Taylor (37 not out) content with a supporting
role.Leicestershire had started strongly with openers Niall O’Brien and visiting
captain Josh Cobb sharing a 40-run partnership. Cobb struck Nottinghamshire’s new New Zealander Ian Butler out of the park with
a lofty off-drive but Butler made an instant reply with a length
ball that evaded Cobb’s swipe and removing middle stump to end the
opening stand.A delayed toss under grey skies influenced Hussey’s decision to insert
Leicestershire but the visitors found some favour from the damp ball early on. Hussey’s wild throw at the stumps with O’Brien short of his ground evaded the
back up for four overthrows as the Outlaws were briefly troubled.Samit Patel drew Joe Burns to charge down and mistime an intended drive over
extra cover to allow Chris Read a routine stumping before Leicestershire reached
82 for 2 after 10 overs.In a frenetic 11th over, Shakib Al-Hasan hit Jake Ball for consecutive
boundaries before offering a chance to Hussey which evaded his grasp after a
fingertip deflection.Al-Hasan (31) continued to attack but Patel stayed cool under the high ball to
accept a return catch before Hussey bowled O’Brien (47) and had Matt Boyce
stumped in consecutive balls as momentum shifted in the 14th over.Butler had a short-pitched delivery gloved by Shiv Thakor (8) on his return and
Michael Thornley (8) quickly followed. Ned Eckersley’s last ball six gave Leicestershire 177 runs to defend but
expensive spells from Nathan Buck, Rob Taylor and Thornley dashed their hopes.

The ECB hosted Tony Greig’s memorial service in Trafalgar Square, an occasion at which his promotion of Kerry Packer and Word Series Cricket was only lauded

Ivo Tennant24-Jun-2013Last summer, a few months before he died, Tony Greig was invited by the MCC to give its prestigious Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s. Now, in death, he has been honoured by the other cricketing body who once outlawed him in England. To the gratitude of his widow, the ECB hosted his memorial service in Trafalgar Square, an occasion at which his controversial promotion of Kerry Packer’s rebellious World Series Cricket – the breakaway movement which changed cricket forever – was widely praised.Here was a service and reception at which the leading Packer-ites of the 1970s, Richie Benaud, John Snow and Derek Underwood among them, mingled happily with the odd foe. Doug Insole, a leading administrator in that era, was present. Michael Holding, whom Greig reckoned would once grovel before his England team, gave a reading. Jeff Thomson was there, the only member of the congregation not to wear a tie.Dennis Amiss spoke movingly in St Martin in the Fields church, Trafalgar Square, of Greig’s qualities of friendship and loyalty, but inevitably it was Benaud, with his lifelong gift of unearthing the telling phrase, who captivated his distinguished audience. “Players in those days were fine men who had families, wives, children and mortgages,” he said. Then – after one of those characteristic pauses – “never forget the mortgage.”Pre-Packer, Benaud said, “players were paid peanuts and were treated with minimal respect if they asked for more. Tony felt strongly that there should be a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. If I had to choose one word to sum him up, it would be ‘strong’. If two, it would be ‘very strong’. ” He concluded on the occasion by saying, “there is sadness but his advice would have been, ‘just get on with it’, so that is what we shall do.”Amiss said he had never heard Greig say a bad word to anyone – “except the Aussies, of course”. He recalled his outstanding century in Brisbane against Thomson and Dennis Lillee on England’s 1974-75 tour of Australia and how he would goad fast bowlers, be they Australians or West Indians, notably at The Oval in 1976. After describing how he had upped his pace and uprooted one of Greig’s stumps in that final Test, Holding, the most gentle of cricketers off the field, was reading from Corinthians.Greig’s daughter, Beau, sang “Amazing Grace”. There followed a stout defence of his stance over World Series Cricket by Vivian, his widow, who was critical of both administrators and the media of that era. She spoke of his enticing to WSC six England players who were at the end, or coming to the end of their Test careers, which was not strictly true: Underwood and Alan Knott, Greig’s greatest supporter, were at the peak of their careers and Bob Woolmer had still to attain that, but her sentiments were understood and accepted.Not least by Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, the body that has succeeded the Test and County Cricket Board of Greig’s time. Clarke, who was present, told her that “we have not properly recognised him”.The old players in the congregation – Geoff Boycott wearing a hat bearing his own signature, Mike Brearley, Keith Fletcher, John Lever, Tony Lewis, Pat Pocock and Mike Selvey among them – would doubtless have endorsed Underwood’s view that Greig remains under-rated as a cricketer. “That was partly because Ian Botham came along, but Tony’s ability to score a century against Lillee and Thomson in Australia and then make a nine-hour century in India showed that he could play in all conditions. And he was one of the best captains I played under.”Greig died last December, aged only 66. To a younger generation who had not seen him play cricket, he would have been best known as an exuberant, over-the-top commentator. He had told his second wife, whom he had known for 33 years, that by delivering MCC’s ‘Spirit of Cricket’ lecture at Lord’s last year, he had hoped to achieve “acceptance and understanding”.To his public, according to Vivian, “he could make anyone feel special”. And to his children, he was a father “who would tell them such exciting bedtime stories that they couldn’t go to sleep.”