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Stats highlights from the second ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan, in Napier

Shiva Jayaraman03-Feb-20154 Number of scores higher than the 369 that New Zealand hit in this match in ODIs. The highest they have scored in ODIs is 402 for 2, against Ireland in 2008. New Zealand’s total today is their highest against any team other than Ireland and Zimbabwe. This is also the fourth-highest total scored in ODIs in New Zealand.12 Number of fifty-plus scores Kane Williamson has managed in just 18 innings since the beginning of 2014. During this time he has got out without scoring at least 40 only four times. Only Sangakkara has hit more fifty-plus scores during this period. Williamson has scored 2452 runs at an average of 46.26 from his 60 ODI innings. While in his first 30 innings he had hit 827 runs at a modest average of 31.80, his last 30 innings have produced 1625 runs at an average of 60.18.

66.63 Ross Taylor’s average against Pakistan in ODIs – his best against any of the Test teams. This was Taylor’s third century against Pakistan, which is also the most he has hit against any team. Taylor was playing his 150th ODI, becoming only the 12th New Zealand player to do so.0 Number of times New Zealand’s Nos. 3 and 4 had both scored hundreds in the same ODI before this match. They had come closest to achieving this way back in 1994-95, when Adam Parore got out for 96 batting at No. 3, with Ken Rutherford getting his century at No. 4 against India.93 Runs conceded by Bilawal Bhatti in this match; this equals the most any Pakistani bowler has conceded in an ODI. Wahab Riaz had also conceded 93 against South Africa in 2013.15 Boundaries conceded by Bhatti in this match – the most any Pakistani bowler has conceded in an ODI since 2001. Five of those boundaries were sixes, which equals the most sixes any Pakistani bowler has conceded in ODIs since 2001.18.80 Younis Khan’s batting average in ODIs in Australia and New Zealand. He has hit only one fifty in 16 innings in these countries, back in 2002 against Australia.0 Number of times Pakistan’s openers had put up a century partnership while chasing a target of 300 or more before this match. The highest their first wicket had added was 97 against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup last year.

Gary Ballance is one of several admirable young members of England’s side, and it defies belief that there was talk of his position being in danger

George Dobell at North Sound17-Apr-2015There is an odd, febrile atmosphere in English cricket at present. It feels like the day after the revolution: the guilty are being rounded up and guillotined. And if a few innocents happen to be rounded up with them, so be it.How else could it be that Gary Ballance, after an outstanding start to his Test career, could feel under pressure going into the second innings of this Test? How else is it that some could be speculating that his position was in jeopardy?That is Gary Ballance who came into this game with a Test batting average of 60.75. Gary Ballance who scored three centuries in seven Tests last summer. Gary Ballance who filled the considerable hole left by Jonathan Trott and seems to have the temperament, the technique and the time – he is only 25 – to continue to fill it for much of the next decade.The problem for Ballance, and several others, is perception. The reputation of England cricket is currently so low that everything associated with it risks contamination.To some extent that is understandable. England cricket is still, probably incorrectly, judged on Ashes results and the last series was a humiliating whitewash. They were also wretched at the World Cup.Furthermore, some of the more visible members of the administration have behaved in an arrogant, high-handed way without demonstrating the competence to match: think of the “outside cricket” media release and the handling of the Kevin Pietersen affair as examples.But we need to take a step back and reflect on the difference between young players and the board that pays them; the difference between an England of Giles Clarke and Paul Downton and an England of Gary Ballance and James Tredwell. And the difference between limited-overs and Test cricket.Because somewhere, far below the headlines made by the Pietersen saga, far quieter than the cries for the head of Peter Moores or Alastair Cook, clouded by the debate about successors and leaks from Lord’s, an exciting new England Test team is emerging.It is a team containing Ben Stokes, arguably the most exciting young allrounder in the world; Joe Root, a prolific batsman who, at 24, has the world at his feet; Jos Buttler, an outrageous talent with the bat and, standing back at least, a vastly improved keeper; Moeen Ali, an allrounder whose batting you want to take for a weekend in Paris; and, right in the middle of it, Gary Ballance.Ballance lacks the glamour of some of the others. He is the Volvo to their Jaguar. Not quite as exciting, perhaps. But reliable. Sturdy. Guaranteed for 10 years and, actually, a bit quicker than you think. His ability to cut almost any delivery – at times it drove West Indies to the brink of despair – his hunger for runs, his love of batting. There is just a hint of Jacques Kallis about him. And praise comes little higher.There is a danger that this innings will be dismissed as it was “just” against West Indies. But when he came in, Jerome Taylor was in the midst of an outstanding spell of bowling and a Test was in the balance. He left the ball astutely, defended compactly and showed glimpses of his “other gear” when accelerating towards setting up the declaration. It was selfless, composed and reassuring. He earned the opportunity to bat against tired bowlers and an old ball by seeing off both when they were new.”Coming in when the seam bowlers have done well up front, swinging the ball at pace, is always tough,” he said. “So I had to fight hard yesterday. I probably looked a bit scratchy, but I was able to kick on and to get a hundred in the second innings is huge.”I would like to have thought after last summer I was settled in the number three spot but I guess that’s international sport. I didn’t come here thinking if I had a bad game I was going to get dropped. I came here trying to win games for England.”It’s obviously been a tough winter for myself and the team. I’ve found there is pressure playing international cricket, but four bad innings at the World Cup doesn’t make you a bad cricketer.”It is odd that Ballance felt under any pressure. He had, after all, experienced only one poor Test innings in his last nine. But the punch of the air and sustained celebration when he reached three-figures told their own story; clearly the run of low scores – albeit in a different format of the game – have been weighing heavy on him.Equally, England’s seven-month break from Test cricket, has resulted in some forgetting the fact that they have actually won their last three matches and that Ballance performed well in them. The World Cup debacle and administrative shambles have overshadowed everything, but actually their Test ranking – No.3 – remains respectable.Ballance was not given the best chance to succeed in the World Cup. Having not been included in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour, he won a recall to the squad after Alastair Cook’s sacking but was unable to take part in the tri-series after sustaining a hand injury at the start of the tour. Then, thrown into the opening game of the World Cup despite little meaningful cricket before hand, he struggled. And as the struggle continued, so his confidence ebbed.”Getting an injury early on didn’t help because I went into the tour feeling very good,” he explained. “Then, in the first game, against Australia, we were chasing 350 so I had to get on with it and didn’t get a score. Then you don’t score again and you start to feel the pressure of the World Cup.”But whether Ballance turns out to be a successful ODI cricketer should have little bearing on his Test career. Indeed, given England’s exhausting schedule, the chance to focus on one format might extend his career.Whatever England’s problems – and whatever the anger towards the ECB – the likes of Ballance show a new, admirable Test side is emerging. As young players they will sometimes err and sometimes fail. But it would be folly to jettison them as a reaction to impatience with the board. They are the future. And they are a more entertaining, more likeable, more exciting future than many might have noticed amid the din.

Tino Best talks about banter with Flintoff, wild celebrations, and why his Test-highest 95 is not his No. 1 achievement

Interview by Jack Wilson28-May-2015“Mind the windows, Tino!” Tell us about that Freddie Flintoff sledge.
It’s a good gag, isn’t it? Freddie is a legend. If I wrote a book I’d call it . I’m not embarrassed, stuff like that is good for the game. I always thought Ashley Giles was a decent bowler, but he wasn’t spinning the ball that much, so I had a go.Fred was only getting you back, wasn’t he?
That’s right. I once ran to bowl to him in Trinidad without the ball. He was ducking and scrambling because he thought I’d bowled a bouncer. Everyone started laughing. In the end I made my highest Test score, the 95 against England. I got my revenge. It was all gravy in the end.You scored that 95 but recently wrote on Twitter that you can’t bat. What happened?
People on Twitter cuss me. I like having a pop back. I can bat!Do you enjoy your batting?
Oh man, yes. I used to bat a lot. I batted at three or opened as a kid, then at 19 I became a bowler. When I put my head down, I can bat. It’s all about temperament. One of my big regrets is that I didn’t become a proper allrounder. I see people who are allrounders now and I think, seriously, I could have been one.Where does your 95 rank in your career achievements?
It’s number three.”I told him [Thorpe] it was my dream to open the batting for West Indies. Then years later he became the first man I dismissed. It was crazy”•Getty ImagesAnd what are the top two?
Number one is my 6 for 40 against Bangladesh on one of the most docile pitches ever. I did it with a hamstring injection. I needed to have three injections to run.The second one is my first Test wicket – Graham Thorpe. He’d seen me playing as a kid in 1990 on the outfield at Sabina Park and was impressed. He gave me his bat – his Kookaburra – and I told him it was my dream to open the batting for West Indies. Then years later he became the first man I dismissed. It was crazy.You’re 5ft 8in tall. As a pace bowler, do you ever wish you were taller?
No, not at all. My bowling wish would be that I was more consistent. I tried to blast people out and bowl 95mph. I should have settled for 85mph, with a bit of shape and wish I’d mastered that when I was 22.Do you feel harshly treated by West Indies?
My granddad is 92 now. He emigrated to England in the ’50s and he always says if I was playing in England I’d have played 80 or 90 Tests. If I was in a different set-up I’d have played more. I wish I was treated better.Which of your team-mates has the worst taste in music?
Ottis Gibson listened to anything when he was playing. He doesn’t have a good taste in music.Who is the worst dressed?
Kirk Edwards. He’s not a hot dresser. He wears anything.Who is the best dancer?
Darren Sammy.And the worst?
Sunil Narine.”I tried to blast people out and bowl 95mph. I should have settled for 85″•Getty ImagesWho is the best fun on a night out?
Chris Gayle, without a doubt.What is it like to share a dressing room with Brian Lara?
It was amazing. It was awesome. He was a real fighter and a guy who worked his butt off. When we were losing he always tried to be positive.Who was your cricketing hero?
My uncle, Carlisle Best.Who is the biggest influence on your career?
Again, my uncle Carlisle, and my grandmother. She told me to keep working hard and the rewards would come.What’s the story behind your nickname Ntini?
That’s what Wikipedia says but Wikipedia is a liar! I have two nicknames: Animal and Bobski. I love Bobski because it’s after one of my favourite singers, Bobby Digital, from the Wu-Tang Clan.What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Devon Malcolm, when I was about 18, watched me bowl. I was bowling rapid but had no control. He said to me: “You’ve got pace but right now you’re a Ferrari without a steering handle.” It was nice for him to say that. Ferraris are good, right?Who has got the worst celebrations after taking a wicket?
Imran Tahir goes mental. He’s worse than me!And who has the best?
Brett Lee. When he gets a wicket he’s pumping his fists. He gives me goosebumps. He’s one of my inspirations.If you could bowl at one batsman from the past, who would it be?
I would love to bowl at Sir Garry Sobers and my uncle Carlisle Best when we were all in our primes, aged 25. I tease Sir Garry and say, “I would love to have bowled at you.” He says, “Tino, I would have creamed you everywhere!”Describe yourself in a sentence.
I wear my heart on my sleeve.

Oman’s players racked up a $2500 debt due to lost cricket balls during net sessions on tour, but created a 100-fold return by making it to the World Twenty20 in India, where the participation fee alone is $250,000

Peter Della Penna in Malahide23-Jul-20152:38

‘Biggest achievement of my life’ – Siddiqui

On Wednesday afternoon, in a tiny section of Dublin known as The Inch, Oman gathered for a training session at an even tinier cricket ground fenced into the premises of North County Cricket Club. During the net session on the centre wicket, Oman’s heavy hitting batsmen stayed true to the mantra of “practice how you play” by launching ball after ball over wire extending up from the steel poles on the north side of the ground.When one of the players tried to open a gate, he was stopped by a local official who warned them that behind the fence was private land on which the players were not allowed to trespass. The Oman team manager, Jameel Zaidi, broke out into a panic.”These are brand new $125 Kookaburras,” Zaidi blurted with exasperation. At least four went into the thick brush before the batsmen reined themselves in. According to Zaidi, 20 were lost during the team’s first two training sessions in Cork, a city on the southwest coast of Ireland, where they began their tour of the British Isles in June. A month later, $2500 of lost cricket balls at the start of the tour for a cash-strapped amateur team practicing their sixes turned out to be a worthwhile expenditure.”The chairman is here,” a laughing Zaidi said after Oman’s win over Namibia, which secured their maiden berth in the ICC World Twenty20 in India. “He said no issues. I’ll get some more for you.” Thanks to Zeeshan Siddiqui’s match-winning knock, which included six fours and two sixes, that $2500 investment has been parlayed 100-fold into $250,000, the participation fee each Associate country gets for making the tournament.Oman became the lowest ranked team to qualify for a senior World Cup•Peter Della PennaIn the first half-hour of play at Malahide on Thursday afternoon, Oman played more like ‘Oh-Man’. Three drops and a botched run-out with both Namibia batsmen virtually at the same end showed how nervous the team was in their first television appearance of the tournament. In eight overs, Namibia were 70 for 1 and that quarter-million loot looked as far away as Cork.”Our coach told us before the match, ‘Don’t think about the match being a live telecast,’ but it was a little bit in the mind,” Siddiqui told ESPNcricinfo, after celebrations had calmed down a bit. “After two, three or four overs, we got used to it but at that time they had a good start. But after that we realized we had to fight hard. After 10 overs, we were in the game. Before that we were nervous you can say but after that we got the rhythm in the bowling.”Towards the end of the first innings, their supporters had found their voice, none more so than Oman Cricket Board member Pankaj Khimji. He was the man who linked Derek Pringle to the team as a technical consultant. Standing on the south embankment at Malahide watching Munis Ansari’s second spell, he bounced up and down like a pogo stick when Ansari struck with back-to-back wickets.”Ek Aur! Ek Aur! (And one more!)”, Khimji kept shouting from the hill. He was just as animated during the chase but he had circled around to the western boundary edge when Jatinder Singh and Siddiqui had commenced their 62-run stand. Each time a four was hit, the chant was yelped even louder and could be heard as far as the Oman tent on the opposite side. He could hardly contain himself when the match was over.”What can I say?” Khimji said while pointing to Siddiqui as the players were heading toward the team bus. “I’ve got to buy him a drink, but he doesn’t drink so I’ll have to find another way to please him. Oman have made history. To make it to the five or six position is inexplicable. We are indebted to the boys who’ve played some superlative cricket today. It’s them all the way, it’s them all the way, it’s them all the way.”Over the last month, the Oman players racked up more than $2500 in lost cricket ball debts. But as Khimji said, their board is now indebted to them after a historic day at Malahide.

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2015Jongwe picked up his third when he had Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai edge one to slip, leaving the visitors on 34 for 3 in the 10th over•AFPWellington Masakadza kept chipping away at the wickets as Afghanistan failed to form substantial partnerships•AFPDebutant Tendai Chisoro and Masakadza never let Afghanistan get a foothold, sharing seven wickets between them as the visitors were dismissed for a paltry 122 in 34.1 overs•AFPZimbabwe started strongly in the chase led by Chamu Chibhabha’s half-century and eventually cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket win•AFP

The fastest Pakistan bowler to 50 Test wickets is reviving the art of legspin and is expected to bamboozle batsmen, just like Ajmal and Rehman did three years ago in UAE

Andrew McGlashan08-Oct-2015Nearly four years ago, as England prepared for their previous Test series against Pakistan, they came across a legspinner in a warm-up match against a PCB XI. He claimed eight wickets. His name? Yasir Shah.England’s two surviving top-order batsmen from that tour – Alastair Cook and Ian Bell – had contrasting experiences against him: Cook made 133, Bell a second-ball duck. That’s all they would see of Yasir on the tour. They actually won the match comfortably, by 100 runs, but it did not herald a successful Test series, instead they were whitewashed 3-0 as Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman shared 43 wickets.Now Yasir is one of the major threats looming for England as they try to avenge those defeats. And his is a wonderful story of a player being rewarded for years of toil and waiting his turn.This time last year Pakistan’s spin bowling had entered a state of flux. As so often with their cricket, they found a way through a period of uncertainty.Ajmal had been reported for a suspect action. He has not played Test cricket since and is unlikely ever to again: his first-class season for Worcestershire tallied 16 wickets at 55.62. His comrade Rehman, who took 6 for 25 to win the Abu Dhabi Test against England in 2012, drifted down the pecking order after playing his last match in August 2014.They were considerable shoes to fill, especially the role of Ajmal. The Pakistan selectors, an unpredictable group at the best of times, plumped for Yasir, who had previously had a fleeting chance at international cricket in 2011 when he played two wicketless T20s and a solitary ODI against Zimbabwe. In the second of the T20s he was the sixth bowler used and sent down a single over. That would be it for three years while Ajmal held court.Ross Taylor was dismissed three times in four Tests by Yasir•Getty ImagesYasir sidled back to domestic cricket where he remained a consistent wicket-taker – 2011-12 brought 27 wickets at 21.74, 2012-13 earned 41 wickets at 25.63, 2013-14 had an impressive 48 scalps at 16.45. He also had the advantage of having a good man to impress: his domestic captain, when available, is Misbah-ul-Haq.”Yasir has proved himself and he has made sure I have never missed Ajmal,” Misbah said recently. “He has done extraordinarily and given us breakthroughs whenever we needed them. He has taken bunches of wickets, so what else would a captain want? He has had a great impact on our victories after Ajmal and he has become an integral part of the team.”In ten Tests Yasir has 61 wickets, making him the fastest Pakistan bowler to reach 50 in Tests. When you consider the pedigree of those he has overtaken – Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Ajmal himself – that is a notable achievement.Bowlin’, Yas: David Warner is befuddled into losing his wicket in Dubai•Getty Images”I just try my level best whenever I play,” he said during the recent one-day series in Zimbabwe. “It doesn’t matter what the result is in the end, good or bad, I’ll keep making the effort because when I started playing cricket I never thought that this was going to happen.”The Test debut that may never have been came against Australia, in Dubai, last October, although his initial inclusion in the squad had been met with a sense of indifference amid the fallout of Ajmal’s suspension. It would become a triumphant couple of Tests for Pakistan and Yasir. After the batsmen had piled up 454, it took a little while for Yasir to make his mark, but his maiden Test wicket came courtesy an errant cut shot by Steven Smith that found point.But it was his second scalp that made people jolt upright. Bowling round the wicket to David Warner, who was in dominant form on 133, he pitched a delivery in the growing footmarks outside off stump. It gripped, ragged into Warner, who had already been lured into thinking it was there to cut. Before he knew it he was bowled. There were shades of Shane Warne to Andrew Strauss or Warne to Shivnarine Chanderpaul. It was quite a statement from Yasir.”I actually started bowling legspin watching Shane Warne, and he is my idol,” Yasir said during the Australia series, when Warne had lauded his performance. “My brother, who is in UK, used to show me his videos and send me the copies, so I tried to model my career watching him.”Fifteen wickets followed in three Tests against New Zealand, ten in two against Bangladesh and then 24 in three against Sri Lanka. He hasn’t just been mopping up the tail either. Ross Taylor fell four times to him in three Tests, Angelo Mathews three times in the series, and both Mushfiqur Rahim and Smith three times in two Tests. Expect an England batsman or two to be in that collection by next month.In a practice match in England’s previous series against Pakistan, Yasir took 8 for 114•Getty ImagesYasir is a trailblazer for an art form that has entered a fallow period. There are a few legspinners around – Devendra Bishoo, Imran Tahir, Amit Mishra, Ish Sodhi and Adil Rashid – but not all of them play Test cricket, or if they have, they do not come close to Yasir.He will be the finest legspinner England will have faced in Tests since Anil Kumble in the home series against India in 2007. That came shortly after Warne’s final series in the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash. It marked the end of an era, when Warne, Kumble and, in a slightly less emphatic way, Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria and Stuart MacGill had dominated the game for more than a decade.Since Kumble played his last Test in November 2008, Yasir’s 61 wickets make him the leading legspinner. The next five between them – Bishoo, Mishra, Tahir, Kaneria and Sodhi – have taken 210 wickets at 41.67 in a combined 64 Tests. By way of comparison, in the period between 2000 and 2008, which encompassed a significant period in a golden age for wristspin, the top four – Warne, Kumble and Kaneria and MacGill – took 1081 wickets at 29.71 in 222 matches.It is not that the game has been devoid of high-quality spin. The doosra (although there are significant question marks over its legality) and the carrom ball took over from the flipper and the googly. Even the occasional orthodox spinner, such as Graeme Swann and now Nathan Lyon, has managed to show that old-fashioned virtues still have a place, but wristspin has been a rare beast. And there are few better sights than watching a high-class legspinner work over a batsman. Unless you are the batsman in question.England have seen Yasir once since that match in early 2012. He took 3 for 45 against them in a World Cup practice game at the SCG. Joe Root had a decent look at him that day in making 85, and that head-to-head will be one of the defining contests of the forthcoming series. This time, Yasir provides much than just a warm-up act.

Three books on the master commentator and Australia captain offer you the wisdom of Benaud

Paul Edwards20-Dec-2015Sometimes it is wise to succumb to temptation. Asked to review three books that celebrate the life of Richie Benaud, this cricket writer is itching to respond in the pithy style of the great man himself:And now he has. Not a word wasted there, and potential readers can get on with the business of ordering.Yet even sitting at a desk, one intuits the late Benaud’s distaste for hyperbole. If you must, Benaud might say, but can we please dispose of this idea? Before long, Benaud’s list of truly great men and women is produced and one recalls his dismissal of the idea that Shane Warne getting out for 99 might be labelled “a tragedy”. Words are not candyfloss.All of which illustrate one of the beguiling paradoxes of Benaud’s career – that while no one in cricket was more easily or frequently impersonated, there was still nobody like him.All three of these books are anthologies and each has plenty to commend it. The ideal stocking-filler is probably , edited by Rob Smyth, which does not suffer in the least from being confined to extracts from the but might have benefited from the inclusion of a contents page. A particular strength of Smyth’s book is that the last third of it includes a season-by-season chronicle of Benaud’s career, but we also have a host of tributes to his skill as a commentator and his shrewd assessments of his countrymen. For example, there is this from the 1973 on Dennis Lillee:

“Though he looks flamboyant in action on the field, Lillee is essentially a man of simple character, preferring a king-size steak to the more spicy continental dishes, and the occasional glass of beer to the magnum of champagne… On the field, a man who shows an obvious dislike to batsmen, he is of equable temperament once the day’s play is over, and the only thing he is prepared to dislike in cricket at the moment is the type of field set for him in one-day fixtures on the England tour.”

, seems on first glance to be a slighter book, one that can easily be placed in the coffee-table category. But it is not so. For one thing, the photographs have been well-chosen and are superbly reproduced. For those of us currently thinking about how the camera supplies a different history of the game, they provide a wonderful chronicle of Benaud’s career from the multifaceted springtime of Worcester in 1953 to the not-too-grand elder statesman speaking alongside a statue of himself at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2008.Some of the writing is very fine, too. Consider this from AG (Johnny) Moyes:

“No slow bowler can reach the top of the hill – it is a difficult upward climb – without much planning, perseverance and hard work. There is no proper pathway to success except through blood, sweat and tears, for the spinner must learn to take a hiding without giving ground. Purposefulness, endurance and brains are prime necessities. Benaud has these qualities, and that is why he finally emerged from the clouds into the sunshine of rich and continued success. He is without doubt one the most gifted slow bowlers in cricket’s long history.”

For some of us, Richie Benaud was always there, a soundtrack to our cricketing lives. Shrewd, articulate, wise, he was the perfect antithesis of RC Robertson-Glasgow’s one-way critic. He was commentating when we fell for the game and he policed our love with astute observations.As the cricketing world spins ever more rapidly we will wonder what he might have said about it all. Richie himself might observe that there are other commentators and we should listen to them. He might also add that it might not be such a bad idea if we made up our own minds a little more. Quite true, but when we need to be reminded of Benaud’s unique voice we will have these three fine anthologies and his own books on our shelves. Marvellous, indeed.Benaud in Wisden
Edited by Rob Smyth
Wisden
198 pages, £10.99Remembering Richie
Richie Benaud and friends
Hodder and Stoughton
334 pages, £20Those Summers of Cricket – Richie Benaud 1930-2015
Hardie Grant
185 pages, £20

For the last eight years, Monty Desai has been ever present at domestic matches, watching intently and identifying players who have gone on to play key roles in the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Jan-2016He sneaks in quietly. He prefers to stay invisible. But he is always on the lookout. There is a black book tucked under his right arm. A pen clipped to the book. Club cricketers come and say hello. Monty Desai acknowledges them quietly and shifts his focus immediately to the match he has come to watch at the Wankhede Stadium.Desai was one of the main talent scouts at Rajasthan Royals, one of the two IPL franchises suspended by the Lodha Committee for two years as a fallout of the probe into the 2013 IPL corruption scandal. Desai’s contract expired on December 31, 2015. Even so, over the past week, he has been shuttling between the two grounds in Mumbai hosting the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament. Doing what he likes and cannot stop liking: hunting for talent.As he watches Monday’s Super League match between Mumbai and Baroda, Desai wears a happy expression as he spots various former Royals players: Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar. He is proud he was able to play a role in the growth of these players, and cannot be content merely with running two cricket academies in the northern suburbs of Mumbai.Desai’s database is a black A4-size diary in which he has noted down names since 2008, when he joined Royals. Although he is on the lookout for all kind of players, Desai confesses he has a soft corner for bowlers. What he is looking at, more than anything else, is how the player reacts to different situations. “Bowling is something which has always been taken as labour class in our game,” he says. “But if somebody has the courage, after being hit for a six, to come back and bowl a beautiful yorker and get a dot ball, I don’t know how many people are able to watch and store that data. The bowler’s figures could read four overs for 40 but out of that there might have been only two or three bad balls. So that is what I am looking for.”A thorough Mumbaikar, Desai graduated as a mechanical engineer, and is a Level 3 certified coach who was involved for three years as an assistant coach with the World Cricket Academy. There, he met the likes of Andy Flower, a “dear friend and mentor”, who was then the Essex coach.”I enjoy the fact that my eyes have seen everything: from grassroots cricket to the pathways of somebody who has represented the country like Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja. Players who were with Royals before ending up with the Indian team.”Obviously Desai is figuring out what to do next. At the moment he is doing the scouting job independently. He believes it is just a “phase” and continues to be in close touch with the Royals top management. He wants to remain part of the franchise in some way. He is waiting to hear from Manoj Badale, one of the owners of the Royals, before he takes a final decision.Desai knows his experience as a scout with Royals will not go to waste. Already two franchises have expressed their interest in him. But he wants a long-term role that will allow him to “build” teams, which remains his primary goal and desire. The franchises also want to know about the unknown players signed up by Royals and want Desai to help them identify names that can fill gaps in their squads. “Clearly I know the player’s strengths and weakness and where exactly he can play a role and the new franchises are asking me that.”The two franchises have asked Desai to attend their trials and help them shortlist players whom they can target at the player auction, scheduled for February 6.”It is a bits-and-pieces role,” Desai says. “Come and do the trials, give us the names after that.”Desai says he is proud to have been part of the scouting team that identified unknown and little-known names such as Pravin Tambe, Dinesh Salunkhe and Sanju Samson and offered them a platform. He considers himself just another cricket fan who is interested in watching the game. The only difference is, he is on the lookout for talent.”It keeps you in touch,” he says. “It keeps you not rusty. And it is a good way to keep on adding to my database. Never know when I can use it.”

Tino Best recalls his debut, back in 2003, and how he didn’t quite get the support he needed

Jack Wilson11-Apr-2016My Test debut was here. The Kensington Oval – my Barbados backyard – was jam-packed. The crowd were screaming for the local boy and I had ball in hand, ready to bowl my first over in Test cricket. Twenty-one years old, the world at my feet. Jermaine Lawson’s first had gone for six and the great Australian opener Matty Hayden was on strike for the second.I gave it everything: stormed in; pounded in as Tino Best does. I held nothing back. There were no nerves, just the pressure to do well for myself. People said I was the next Malcolm Marshall before I’d even played a Test. I just wanted to be Tino Best: the lightning fast bowler who bowled at the speed of sound.I put down a couple of bouncers and Hayden pulled one just wide of Brian Lara and he couldn’t get to it. Damn. My first over went for ten, the next two went for nine and that was my first spell done: 3-0-19-0. Not the best of starts. A few overs later and I was back on at the Joel Garner End – and I came so close to getting my first Test wicket. It would have been a stunner too: RT Ponting.I charged in again. Do speedguns go into three-figures? Could I bowl 100mph? Ponting drove hard and nicked it to gully. Yes! My first Test wicket. Shiv Chanderpaul was there to gobble it up. It was too good to be true. My first wicket: the great Ricky Ponting. Shiv had a decent pair of hands, but then, disaster. He downed it. Shiv had grassed it. Man, I was so, so hurt. I couldn’t help but think of playing for Barbados. If Sulieman Benn was in gully, there’d be no way he’d drop it. The big 6 foot, 7 inch Suli, with his giant hands, doesn’t drop themI was there, in Barbados, just wishing for my Barbados team-mates. And there, in that moment, was one of the huge difficulties in playing cricket for the West Indies. You are all from different nations, with different cultures and from different backgrounds. If Suli had dropped it, I’d have had guys there putting an arm round my shoulder. We were all Bajans; all in it together. They’d tell me I got the batsman to make one mistake and I could get him to make another. We’d all be together as one.Brian was supportive. Vasbert Drakes, the only other Bajan in the side, was too, and Jermaine Lawson was always good to learn from in the nets. But the others? Not really. It wasn’t even lunch on day one of my Test career and I’d had my first insight into why playing for the West Indies is so hard. It didn’t hurt me – the lack of support – but it was an eye-opener. In many ways, my debut Test was the hardest cricket match of my life.Don’t get me wrong: these aren’t selfish people. They’re just so focused on wanting to play their best that it’s hard for them to see the bigger team picture. That day, I didn’t have Courtney Browne or Floyd Reifer to support me. They were like brothers to me for Barbados. Behind the stumps was Carlton Baugh – and he was from Jamaica. It just wasn’t the same.It was my first big international match and I felt lonely. I felt totally on my own out there. How can this be right? The Aussies were a good – no, great – side. That was one problem, but the lack of support from my team-mates was a bigger one. I know we were 2-0 down in the series, which didn’t help, but no one said anything.

I watched Merv play when I was younger and I used to think he was one of the best bowlers, but he just saw me as a rookie and he gave me the rookie treatment

It was tough on the field and tough off it. I’d replaced Merv Dillon in the side to make my debut and he was a real senior figure. People were even saying he was the man to fill Courtney Walsh’s boots when he retired. Merv played 38 Tests and 108 ODIs for the West Indies but that match he never, ever had a conversation with me. Not once. I don’t know if he was intimidated that I was coming for his place, but that bothered me.He’d been dropped for me and didn’t encourage me one bit. I didn’t need it, I wasn’t begging for it, but it would have been nice for a senior West Indian bowler, who was still with us in the camp, to acknowledge I was there. He didn’t even speak to me or offer me a drink of water. Something simple like that would have been nice.I watched Merv play when I was younger and I used to think he was one of the best bowlers, but he just saw me as a rookie and he gave me the rookie treatment. I got home and thought that night that, whatever happened, I would never, ever be like that.That was a wide awakening to what Test cricket was really like. Australia racked up 605 for 9 before they declared. I bowled twenty overs, no wickets for ninety-nine, in that first innings. Man, it was hard. The pitch was just too slow. Afterwards Steve Waugh came out and said it was one of the most docile he’d ever played on – and he played 168 Tests. Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie were steaming in as the Aussies replied but even I had no problems playing them.The next Test match, in Antigua, I was dropped for Merv Dillon. He took two wickets in the first innings, four in the second innings and was smiling and happy again. I wasn’t bitter or angry about it because, when you’re a rookie, anything goes. I was being sacrificed for a senior player and I wasn’t thinking it was unfair – it was right. But the fact that he had snubbed me so badly pissed me off. I’ll never be like that, never.Best bowls in Hamilton, New Zealand in his last Test to date, in December 2013•AFPI’ve seen some tough things in all my years in the game and the worst is the lack of support. At Barbados, you’ll go through tough sessions but we’ll all still be chirping away trying to inspire each other. With Yorkshire, during my spell as an overseas player in 2010, it was the same. They’d give me so much support. I love that so much, but it’s so different with the West Indies. I’ve run in for the West Indies during Test matches and no one is clapping; no one is encouraging you to give it your all. This is Test cricket: why would you not be doing this?Loneliness is a horrible feeling. No player should have to deal with that but it’s been like that for so long. Unless the West Indies disbands and we play as individual islands, I don’t know how things can really change. I don’t think the islands will ever go their separate ways but I can honestly say I’d love it to happen. Barbados versus Australia, imagine it now. I would love it so much if Barbados went alone and were left to make their way up the ICC rankings.I’m sure we’d do well. We’ve always had an awesome team and we produce the most international players per square kilometre in the world. We have a proven record of producing top-class cricketers. If anyone should break away, we should. We’d always play as a unit too. We’d encourage each other, be there for each other, take care of each other. The same can’t be said for the West Indies.Will it happen? No. I don’t think so. So what we’ve got to do is get some women on the West Indies Cricket Board to make some big decisions. We need women executives, as a board of too many men is not a good thing. If the board is made up of ten members, surely three or four should be women. They calm things and help men make better decisions, just like my aunts, mother and grandmother did with me when I was growing up.Tino Best’s autobiography, , written with Jack Wilson, and with a foreword by Andrew Flintoff, is available to pre-order now

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2016Shikhar Dhawan wasn’t convincing initially, but survived a short-ball examination in the first half hour of play•Associated PressA fired up Gabriel clocked an average speed of over 145kph in a lively opening spell of 4-2-6-1•Associated PressCheteshwar Pujara blunted the attack in a manner he knows best, seeing India through to lunch on 72 for 1•Associated PressLegspinner Devendra Bishoo struck in the first over of the second session to dismiss Pujara for 16•Getty ImagesDhawan had started to look fluent and attacked Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder•Associated PressVirat Kohli was in sublime form; he was quickly off the blocks and had Holder worried•Getty ImagesThe pair had added 105 before Dhawan fell to Bishoo at the stroke of tea. When Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed, India were 236 for 4•Getty ImagesKohli soon brought up his 12th Test century off 134 balls, an innings that contained 11 fours•Associated PressHe found an able partner in R Ashwin, who was unbeaten on 22. Kohli ended the day on 143, India were 302 for 4•Getty Images