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“We still want him as a player because we believe he still has a great value to add, and just go out and enjoy it, without the hype of being a captain”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2024Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher has said the team wanted to take pressure off Rohit Sharma, who had captained the side since 2013, when they handed the mantle to Hardik Pandya ahead of IPL 2024.”[Rohit] has not had the best couple of seasons of late with the bat, but he has done well as a captain,” Boucher said on the podcast. “One thing I picked up with Ro, as well, who is a fantastic guy – he has been captaining for ages and he has done really well for Mumbai Indians, and India as well – is that he walks into a place and there are just cameras, and he is so busy. Speaking with the Mumbai Indians group, we thought that this is an opportunity to step in for his last year or so.”Across the last two IPL seasons, Rohit scored 600 runs at an average of 20.00 and a strike rate of 126.84. Mumbai won their fifth title in 2020 but failed to make the playoffs in 2021 and 2022 and were knocked out in the second Qualifier in IPL 2023.Related

• CSK to host RCB in IPL 2024 opener on March 22

• Rohit to lead India at 2024 T20 World Cup, Dravid to remain head coach

• Hardik takes over from Rohit as Mumbai Indians captain

• Mumbai Indians trade Hardik from Titans and trade Cameron Green to RCB

“We still want him as a player because we believe he still has a great value to add, and just go out and enjoy it, without the hype of being a captain,” Boucher said. “He is still going to captain India, that hype is going to be there. But when he steps into the IPL maybe just taking that extra bit of pressure off him as a captain, maybe we get the best out of Rohit Sharma.”We see him playing with a nice smile on his face, spending a bit of time with the beautiful family he has got. There’s no easy way to do it.”Mumbai bought back Hardik from Gujarat Titans in an all-cash deal in November last year and made him captain ahead of the auction in December. Hardik captained Titans to the IPL title in 2022 and led them to a runners-up finish in 2023.”We saw a window period to get Hardik back as a player,” Boucher said. “He is a Mumbai Indians boy as well. He’s gone over to another franchise, he won his first year as captain, came runner-up in his second year. There’s obviously some very good leadership skills as well.”In India, people get quite emotional, but you take the emotion out of it, it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made. I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit – as a person, as a player – and let him go out there and enjoy and score runs.”Boucher also looked forward to working with Jasprit Bumrah, who missed IPL 2023 with a back injury. “Bumrah coming back strengthens us big way,” he said. “He is someone that I have looked at and I have gone, ‘this guy knows what he is doing’. He is very smart, apparently, good team man as well. That’s one relationship I am looking forward to.”

The 67 runs Muttiah Muralitharan conceded in the first VB Series match against Australia is his second-most expensive figures in ODIs

S Rajesh13-Jan-2006

Even through their worst days on the field, Sri Lanka usually have one consolation: a tight ten-over spell by Muttiah Muralitharan, for whom conditions and assistance from the pitch seems to matter little. In the first match of the VB Series against Australia, though, the Sri Lankans didn’t even have Murali’s performance to fall back on. They got thrashed to the tune of 318 runs – which isn’t that unusual in ODIs these days – but far more surprisingly, Murali returned figures of 10-1-67-0.In all the spells he has bowled in his career, only once did he vanish for more runs – against Pakistan at Nairobi more than nine years ago, when he went for 73, but at least managed to pick up two wickets. Here, he wasn’t even allowed that solace, and had it not been for a maiden over in his ninth, his figures would have looked even worse. Not surprisingly, Sri Lanka have lost all these matches – they look well on their way to defeat at Melbourne – and have conceded more than 300 in all but one of these games.

It’s interesting to note that Murali’s top ten most expensive spells have all come overseas. The worst he performed at home was against Zimbabwe – when they used to be a force to reckon with – in 1998, when he conceded 55 from 10 overs.

The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket

Steven Lynch07-Aug-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Has anyone ever sat with his pads on for longer than Tillakaratne Dilshan did during Sri Lanka’s big partnership of 624? asked Graham Hadleigh from Reading
Surprisingly, it isn’t a record: assuming that Dilshan put his pads on when the second wicket fell in Colombo, he would then have sat through about 645 minutes of actual play, while Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara shared their big stand. But another pair of Sri Lankans batted for even longer: when Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama put on 576 against India in Colombo in August 1997, during the highest Test total of 952 for 6, they were together for 753 minutes. Aravinda de Silva was the man with the pads on in the pavilion for all that time – but it didn’t seem to affect him much, as he went out and made 126.Were Nicky Boje’s figures 0 of 221 in the first Test against Sri Lanka the worst ever in Tests? asked Shalinder Tickoo from India
Nicky Boje was only the second bowler to conceded more than 200 runs in a Test innings without taking a wicket – but he didn’t quite break the record, which is still held by the Pakistan fast bowler Khan Mohammad. He bowled 54 overs at Kingston in 1957-58, but finished with 0 for 259 as West Indies ran up 790 for 3 before declaring – Garry Sobers made 365 not out and Conrad Hunte 260. He wasn’t helped by the fact that his new-ball partner Mahmood Hussain pulled a thigh muscle in his first over, and another bowler (Nasim-ul-Ghani) broke his thumb after 15 overs. West Indies made 790 for 3 declared in all – Fazal Mahmood toiled through 85.2 overs and conceded 247 runs, but at least he managed two wickets. Many years later I bumped into Khan Mohammad at Lord’s, where he used to do some coaching. He smiled when reminded of that pasting: “Everyone always talks about my 0 for 259,” he said. “They never talk about when I got Len Hutton out for a duck, at Lord’s in 1954!” For a list showing the most runs conceded in any Test innings, click here.Was Mahela Jayawardene’s 374 the highest score ever by a right-hander? asked Gamini de Silva from Kalutara
Mahela Jayawardene’s 374 for Sri Lanka against South Africa in Colombo last week was indeed the highest score by a right-hand batsman in Tests, beating the 68-year-old record of Len Hutton, who made 364 for England against Australia at The Oval in 1938. The other four higher scores than Hutton’s – by Garry Sobers, Matthew Hayden, and two by Brian Lara – were all by left-handers. For a list of the highest Test scores, click here. The highest score by a right-hander in first-class cricket is 499, by Hanif Mohammad in Pakistan in 1958-59.

Has there ever been a bigger partnership than the 624 Sri Lanka managed last week? asked Terry Dolby from Bristol
The Sangakkara-Jayawardene stand of 624 in Colombo is a new world record for any wicket in Test and first-class cricket. The previous Test record was the 576 of Jayasuriya and Mahanama that is mentioned above, while the first-class record went just one run better – 577, by Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy final against Holkar at Baroda in 1946-47. The highest-known partnership in any form of cricket, though, is an unbroken one of 664, by the 14-year-old Sachin Tendulkar and his future Indian team-mate Vinod Kambli in a school game in Bombay in February 1988.Ravi Shastri once hit six sixes in an over. When was this, and has anyone else done it? asked Suresh Verma from India
Ravi Shastri achieved this feat in the course of a very fast double-century for Bombay against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy at Bombay in 1984-85. The unfortunate bowler was the Baroda slow left-armer Tilak Raj. The only other person to do this in a first-class match was the great West Indian Garry Sobers, who clouted Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash for six sixes in an over while playing for Nottinghamshire at Swansea in 1968.Which ground has staged the most Test matches, in England and worldwide? asked Andrew Bell from Chelmsford
At the top of the list, appropriately enough, is Lord’s, which has now staged 112 Test matches. No other ground has yet reached 100, although Melbourne is close with 98. Sydney has staged 94 Tests and The Oval 88: then there’s a bit of a gap to Old Trafford (71), Headingley (66, including this year’s one against Pakistan), Adelaide (64), Port-of-Spain (54), Trent Bridge (53), and the Gabba in Brisbane (48). For a full list of Test grounds, and the matches played there, click here. It’s a very different story in one-day internationals – Sharjah leads the way with 198, ahead of Sydney (124) and the MCG (120).

Muttiah Muralitharan’s 4 for 14 in Bangladesh’s first innings was his 100th four-wicket haul in Tests

Mathew Varghese03-Jul-2007

Fazeer Mohammed thinks the new West Indies coach, John Dyson, should have accompanied the team to Zimbabwe, and reminds John Buchanan of the West Indies’ supremacy in the 70’s and 80’s

Fazeer Mohammed 16-Nov-2007

This is the tale of two Johns: one who is not yet in place, and the other who is a farce and out of place.You would think that, especially after all the challenges at the early stages of Bennett King’s tenure as coach of the West Indies team, efforts would have been redoubled to ensure that his immediate successor spends as much time familiarising himself with the cricketers ahead of their next assignment.But given the way things generally operate around here, we really shouldn’t be surprised to learn that John Dyson is not in Barbados for the squad’s training camp, nor will he be accompanying them for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe.The explanation from the West Indies Cricket Board is that the former international opening batsman was required to give his current employers notice of his impending departure, while the process of relocating his family to Antigua is also taking some time.The reasons may be valid, but yet another golden opportunity has been lost.Surely those who were part of the hiring process would have taken into consideration the need for that individual to be involved from the outset of the assignment in Zimbabwe.The expectation that the regional side will dominate the Zimbabweans is irrelevant in the context of appreciating the importance of Dyson spending time with the players in an environment where lines of communication can be opened and both sides can understand with crystal clarity where the other is coming from.All of that team-building would more than likely make no difference for the main part of the campaign in South Africa, by which time Dyson is due to be on board.But if our administrators see this latest Australian supervisor as the man to initiate the revolution that is so desperately needed, wouldn’t it have made sense to ensure that the new coach was in place for the formative process now underway instead of hopping onto the bus in the midst of the journey?The more things change, the more they remain the same.Remember the fiasco of the premature announcement of King as coach in 2003, only for Gus Logie to fill the breach until terms were finally agreed with the Queenslander 18 months later? When he did eventually take charge in the aftermath of the 2004 Champions Trophy triumph in England, King had to contend with almost non-stop turmoil from day one as the sponsorship dispute between Cable and Wireless and Digicel ruined plans to build on the momentum of that dramatic victory in London.At least now, with the freefall to irrelevance showing no signs of slowing down, Dyson, even as a Johnny-come-lately when the squad reaches Johannesburg on December 10, won’t be burdened by the weight of expectation.

In contrast, Dyson’s compatriot, namesake and fellow coach seems to be getting carried away with this period of almost complete Australian dominance of the international game.Here’s a bit of what John Buchanan had to say recently:
“Countries should look to recruit young players from Australia, and places like India, to increase their depths of talent. Those players would enhance the domestic competition and, hopefully, go on to play Test cricket for the country they move to.”We don’t want cricket to become like a horse race when the favourite wins all the time. No-one will want to watch.”The way the former Australian team coach and several other prominent personalities have been going on recently about the inexorable march of Ricky Ponting’s side, you might think that this is unprecedented in the history of the game.Then again, it might be…if your appreciation of cricket began in 1995, which would mean that the greatest period of dominance in the annals of Test cricket never happened.I can understand why it may seem so unreal in the context of a contemporary squad that makes a mockery of those golden memories, but the fact remains that the West Indies, not Australia or anyone else for that matter, were unbeaten for 15 years in Test series anywhere in the world.
That’s 29 series (17 of them away from home) in a row in which our Caribbean conquerors remained invincible from 1980 to 1995.To match that, the Australians have to play unbeaten for another 13 years.Yet there was no condescending talk then from West Indians about making our second-tier of players available to the rest of the world. We simple-minded types just reveled in the success without taking it as a license to pass judgment and prescribe all sorts of preposterous and insulting solutions to everyone else.The fact that the Australians, followed by most of the cricketing world, have not only caught up with us but left us trailing so very far behind is an indictment of our complacency and short-sightedness.However, it doesn’t nullify a standard that Ponting and his successors will have to match first before all this self-serving drivel about unhealthy dominance gains any real currency.As someone who experienced the West Indian juggernaut at its height first-hand, maybe Dyson should advise his namesake to show a little more respect for a record that will remain unsurpassed until 2020, at least. It won’t compensate for not being in Barbados right now, but at least it will be an expression of real interest in West Indies cricket by the new coach while he ties up loose ends at home.

Stats highlights from the two-Test series between West Indies and Sri Lanka

S Rajesh08-Apr-2008

Going into the fourth day of the Trinidad Test, West Indies were in danger of slipping to their eighth series defeat in a row, and their tenth loss in the last 11 series. Thanks to Ramnaresh Sarwan’s superb 102 and his 157-run partnership with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, though, West Indies swept to the third-largest successful run-chase at this ground, thus denying Sri Lanka their first series win in the West Indies. The result also means Sri Lanka haven’t won an away series against a team other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh since 2000, when they beat Pakistan 2-1. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s overseas series since 2000.)For Sarwan, it capped an excellent series, one in which he topped 50 in every innings. It was a welcome return to form too – in his last 25 innings before this series, he had only scored one century, and averaged 27.20. His fourth-wicket partnership with Chanderpaul is a West Indian record for that wicket against Sri Lanka, and fell just seven runs short of equalling their highest for the fourth wicket in the last innings of a Test.Overall, Sri Lanka had the slightly better numbers in the series, averaging more runs per wicket, and scoring at a faster rate. West Indies, though, raised their batting standards on the last day of the series to give them their second win in their last five Tests.

The partnership numbers for both teams indicate that both teams had problems with their top-order batting. Marlon Samuels had the lowest average among the West Indians, with 29 runs in four innings, while Tillakaratne Dilshan, Michael Vandort and – more surprisingly – Kumar Sangakkara all had ordinary series for Sri Lanka. (Click here for the series averages for West Indies, and here for the averages for Sri Lanka.)Sri Lanka’s opening pair did a fine job, but West Indies’ second-wicket stand was far better, thanks to Sarwan’s run-fest. Further down the order, the fourth-wicket partnership was a huge one for West Indies – it helped them level the series – while Sri Lanka relied heavily on Chaminda Vaas’ batting prowess at No. 7: their stands for the sixth and seventh wickets were both in excess of 50.

Among the bowlers, this was one series in which Vaas easily outdid Muttiah Muralitharan. Vaas, in fact, had an outstanding all-round series, averaging 19.75 per wicket with the ball and 37.67 with the bat. Murali took as many wickets as Vaas, but each one cost him nearly 33.West Indies’ bowling star was Jerome Taylor, whose 11 wickets at 24.81 took him past the 50-wicket milestone in Tests.Head-to-head contestsThe ability of the West Indies top order to tackle the Murali menace was perhaps the most significant aspect of the series. Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Gayle all handled him with a good degree of success, which made the Sri Lankan attack look far less threatening.Vaas, on the other hand, was more than a handful for Samuels, but he had less success against long-time bunny Gayle, who fell just once to Vaas in 58 deliveries.

It is a measure of South Africa’s batting strength that JP Duminy was
not in their starting line-up when the tour began. In a similar way
that Michael Hussey’s first few months of Test cricket left
non-Australians wondering how on earth he had been overlo

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG28-Dec-2008

It is a measure of South Africa’s batting strength that JP Duminy was
not in their starting line-up when the tour began. In a similar way
that Michael Hussey’s first few months of Test cricket left
non-Australians wondering how on earth he had been overlooked for so
long, Duminy’s initial Tests have prompted the same thoughts from
Australian cricket followers. How good is your top six when this guy
can’t find a place?The same question was asked of Hussey in 2005 and the same answer
applies to Duminy – damn good. When they arrived in Australia, South
Africa boasted five of the top 11 run scorers in Tests in 2008. Only when one of those men, Ashwell Prince, cracked his thumb, did Duminy
get a look in. If Prince is fit for the third Test in Sydney the
selectors will face a tough decision on who to leave out. Duminy must
play. He believes he won’t.”I probably came out here thinking I wouldn’t play, being that I’ve
travelled now for a year without getting a game,” Duminy said. “But
stranger things have happened in life. Ashwell gets hit the day before
the first Test on the thumb and fractured finger and there I was in
the Test.”It probably will happen [that I will be dropped]. If Ashwell’s fit to
play I’m sure he will play. But I’m just thankful for the opportunity.
I’ve got a taste of Test cricket so I’m just looking forward to the
next game.”It’s hard to remember a player who has enjoyed a pair of such
priceless performances in his first two Tests. His debut effort in
Perth was an unbeaten 50 that included striking the winning runs in
the second-highest chase of all time. At the MCG he followed with an
incredible 166 that in the space of a day took South Africa from a
position of extreme vulnerability to a point where they can dream of
securing a 2-0 victory by Tuesday.That in itself is testament to Duminy’s ability. His 180-run
partnership with Dale Steyn – whose courage in a near four-hour stay
cannot be underestimated – was the third-highest ninth-wicket stand of
all-time in Tests. It was so unexpected that even the 42,079-strong
MCG crowd got behind the pair, despite the consequences for Australia.
Duminy said his century at the “colosseum of all grounds” eclipsed his
Perth performance and the support of the spectators must have been a
factor.Melbourne fans love to back the underdog – they were captivated by a
similarly surprising 107-run last-wicket stand between Hussey and
Glenn McGrath against South Africa three years ago. This time they
gave Steyn a standing ovation after he was out for 76 and earlier had
drummed the advertising boards when Duminy was on 99, roaring their
approval when he reached his hundred even though it was off the
hometown hero Peter Siddle.The biggest cheers came from Duminy’s team-mates, who had made their
way down to the boundary to show their appreciation with whooping and
clapping. It was the best they could do without running onto the
ground to shower him with hugs and kisses. That most of his batting
colleagues had failed should not be forgotten.The most noticeable thing about the celebrations was Duminy’s
calmness. He kissed his helmet, raised his arms and acknowledged the
applause but not once looked overawed by the moment. Here was a man
ready to bat on, and whose maturity belied his 24 years. He did
exactly that, guiding South Africa to within 20 minutes of stumps on a
day when batting until lunch had been an initial lofty goal.His century had come with a back-foot cut for four, typical of his
strength square of the wicket throughout the innings. He clipped off
his pads superbly, defended patiently and displayed the kind of
precision placement that marks true class. Australia fielded poorly
and dropped catches but none came off Duminy; he was chanceless until
the top-edged sweep that ended his innings.Duminy’s other great strength was the faith he showed in his
lower-order colleagues Paul Harris, Steyn and Makhaya Ntini, who helped the
last three partnerships add up to 275. Singles were taken to expose
Steyn, who drove down the ground like a proper specialist and fought
through two painful blows on his fingers.”He showed a hell of a lot of guts today,” Duminy said of Steyn. “He
got hit quite a bit but also he played and missed quite a bit, so a
lot of luck went our way as well. He stuck it out and we kept talking
to each other, trying to motivate each other to stay calm, play the
moment, play the ball and it worked out for us today.”The South African tail batted like batsmen, comprehensively
outperforming the Australian lower order that so frustrated the coach
Mickey Arthur on the second day. There are no such concerns for Arthur
now. His biggest worry over the next few days could be working out who
to drop if Prince recovers for Sydney and it is a pleasing problem to
have. It will be a travesty of justice if it’s Duminy who misses out.

No bombs but plenty of explosions courtesy Bangalore’s own Kiwi, some ordinary fielding, and a monster at arm’s length

Chandrachud Basavaraj18-Oct-2009Choice of game
I knew I would be home in Bangalore for Diwali, and as soon as the Royal Challengers qualified for the league phase, I booked tickets for this match. To be honest, I did not know then who the opponents would be or that the match could be a dead rubber for Bangalore.Team supported
True Bangalorean that I am, I supported the Royal Challengers all the way, even if it meant the last IPL team would get knocked out. But it was hard not to want Virender Sehwag to score a few, or feel sorry for Amit Mishra later on. With Bangalore out, I’ll be cheering for Trinidad & Tobago and maybe Brett Lee and Co. in New South Wales for the rest of the tournament.Key performer
While Ross Taylor undoubtedly was the man who reduced the match to a no-contest, my key performer would be the man who let him off at a crucial stage, Ashish Nehra. It was comical to watch Nehra at his awkward best, first parrying the ball over the fence for six, and then conceding an extra run in the same over.One thing I’d have changed about the match
The match was great fun but if Bangalore had still been alive and fighting for a semi-final berth, that would have added a level of tension to the proceedings. We could also have done without the bomb scare before the match. There was a constant reminder of that threat in the form of a security guy patrolling the boundary bearing a fancy gadget with an antenna.Face-off I relished
Taylor v Glenn McGrath was a potentially interesting contest but Taylor settled it pretty early with lofted fours in McGrath’s first over. Watching Dirk Nannes bowl short and fast against the Bangalore top order was a treat. He hit 150kph quite consistently.Wow moment
Roelef van der Merwe’s fielding off his own bowling was eye-catching. He was bowling without a midwicket inside the circle, and thrice in the same over, he chased down the ball, put in the sliding dive, and prevented the second run. The moment of the match, though, was the crowd cheering for Taylor when he walked in to bat – it was as if Sachin Tendulkar himself had walked in.Player watch
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, the debutant, fielding at the boundary near us put in a neat performance in front of a big crowd, and he held his nerve while bowling against Sehwag as well. Virat Kohli’s show on the field ranged from a special dive, pick-up-and-direct-hit at backward point, to an ordinary misfield for four against Kumble at deep midwicket.Shot of the day
Taylor’s big hits into the second tier made for brilliant watching and Kohli looked very skilful against Mishra with a square-driven four and a couple of late cuts. But my shot of the day would have to be Rahul Dravid’s six to finish the match off on a perfect note.Crowd meter
Since the unforgettable 1996 World Cup game against Pakistan, few crowds in India could have provided a better atmosphere for a cricket match. Only a couple of empty sections were visible in the stadium. The DJ played his part, getting the crowd to start chants of “Jumbo, Jumbo”, “Hodiyappa, Uthappa” chants, and Mexican waves from time to time.Fancy-dress index
One guy seated just behind us sported long, wild hair, wore a hideous mask, and cheered shrilly even when nothing was happening on the field. We were quite happy when he moved away towards the fence to dance with his mates.Bomb detectors are becoming a common sight in cricket now•Getty ImagesEntertainment
Most of the music was of the sort I don’t carry on my iPod – loud and noisy – but it got the crowd going all right. I quite liked the Champions League theme music that was aired from time to time. The music got better when Bangalore batted, with repeated airings of “”, but cosmopolitan as Bangalore may be, the Kannada film numbers were the ones that really got the entire stadium grooving – “”, and “”. The cheerleaders closest to my seat were three Mischief Gals, who were quite a treat to watch. The crowd and the girls fed off each other, and at one stage as Taylor blazed away, they were performing backward flips and other gymnastics tricks.IPL v Champions League?
The Champions League tickets were more affordable than those at the IPL 2008, but the stadium décor was definitely poorer. This match was effectively an IPL match and the crowd knew each player: from van der Merwe to Nannes. Most of us got to see some of the Cobras v Bushrangers match as well. While the names there were not as well known, or the match as engaging, that didn’t stop the crowd from calling out the names of the boundary riders, or generally being at their raucous best.Star spotting
The only non-player to make it to the big screen was Jacques Kallis’ girlfriend. That apart, the crowd in my stand went into a tizzy towards the end of the first match, when the Challengers and Daredevils made their entry into the stadium through an adjacent entrance. The RCB players also took a victory lap at the end of the match, and the likes of Dale Steyn, van der Merwe, and Taylor tossed their red caps into the crowd, sparking mini fights amongst the fans.Marks out of 10
9. Some of the fielding and catching was ordinary, and I suppose we could have had a closer contest, but Kumble and Dravid fired, Taylor exploded, and overall the crowd got more than their money’s worth on a super Diwali night at the Chinnaswamy.Think you could do a good job of a Fan Following report for the Champions League final? Send a brief note (no more than 100 words) about yourself to [email protected]. NOTE: This offer is open only if you’re going to be watching live in the stadium in Hyderabad.

Katich’s and Watson’s were innings of contrast, complementary efforts that built on the success they have enjoyed together

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA16-Dec-2009Neither Simon Katich nor Shane Watson are facing the new ball by design. They are accidental openers who have simply made the most of their opportunities and, for a couple of middle-order batsmen, they make a fine opening pair. Their 132-run partnership at the WACA was a display of style and substance, and for the second time in two Tests, set Australia up wonderfully.Three years ago, they were Australia’s one-day international openers. Their last innings together came in that famous cricket hub, Kuala Lumpur, when Katich laboured for 101 minutes for his 25. They were a strange combination, the flashy allrounder trying to prove himself as a top-order man, and the dogged compiler whose international days seemed to be fast running out.When Katich was duly dropped from the ODI side after that game it seemed incomprehensible that in 2009-10 they would be Australia’s Test openers. Yet here they were in a Test decider in Perth, causing all sorts of problems for West Indies, their opponents in that Malaysia match of 2006, and showing no signs that they should be separated again any time soon.Katich’s 99 and Watson’s 89 were innings of contrast, complementary efforts that built on the success they have enjoyed together over the past six months. As they had in Adelaide during their 174-run partnership, the two men showed no discomfort facing the new ball at Test level, even though neither of them opens in the Sheffield Shield.Like Katich in the Caribbean last year, Watson stumbled into the opening role on the Ashes tour this season. It could have been a temporary solution, but sometimes things just work out. They’ve opened together nine times and are averaging 71 for the first wicket, and their individual figures are similarly impressive. As a Test opener, Watson has scored five half-centuries and averages 52.55; since being joined at the top by Watson, Katich has four fifties and an average of 50.87.It’s good news for Australia’s much-criticised selectors, bad for Phil Jaques, Chris Rogers and Phillip Hughes. The specialist openers toiling in Australia’s state cricket must be wondering if they should switch to the middle order, if moving the other direction is so easy.They remain an odd pair. Watson doesn’t know how long this opening gig will last, so he’s going to enjoy it while he can. He has transferred his one-day style to Tests and, whether or not it works in the long run, it’s fun to watch. At the WACA he pounced on short balls and pulled with self-belief, and took the shine off the new-ball by crunching drives into the advertising boards.There was to be no century for Watson, who was caught behind for 89 to add to his agonising 96 in the previous match. Watson emotions are always on display and he was despondent leaving the field so close to triple figures for the second time in just over a week, although this time he at least felt he’d been done by a good ball. The fans were sad to see him go but thrilled to have watched him…. and then Simon Katich was out for 99•Getty ImagesBy the time Watson departed he had more than doubled the score of Katich, who was content to hand over the strike and had crawled to 40. He lifted his rate and cut and drove his way to 99, continuing his role as the quiet achiever in Australia’s line-up. He has been so impressive this year that none of his team-mates, not even Michael Clarke in career-best form, have scored more than Katich’s 1001 Test runs in 2009. Watson certainly enjoys having him at the other end.”We’ve definitely put on some good partnerships in the last two Tests,” Watson said. “It’s very nice batting with Simon. One, he’s a really nice guy, but also he’s very calm, very level-headed when he’s batting. He’s got a very simple game and he sort of rubs off onto me with that.”Like Watson, there was no century celebration for Katich, who for the second time in Tests departed on short of triple figures. His sweep off Sulieman Benn found the man at square leg and was later described by the West Indies coach David Williams as “a terrible shot”, but Katich didn’t need anyone to tell him that he’d made the wrong choice of stroke.”He’s very disappointed,” Watson said. “The times that it gets you more is when you do have a mental error and make a wrong shot, especially when you’re close to that real big milestone. I know how he’s feeling, when you do play a mental error more than good bowling. He’s very frustrated at the moment.”That feeling will ease. As Watson and Katich both know, it’s far more frustrating not to be playing Test cricket.

The sheer longevity of WG Grace’s career was remarkable, and some of the records he set might never be equalled

S Rajesh01-Aug-2010Comparing WG Grace with other modern-day greats is a near-impossible task – at least statistically – due to the period in which he played. His international numbers hardly look imposing, but that needs to be judged in the context of the period he played in. While his first-class record was superb, what stood out more than anything was the sheer longevity of his career: Grace began his first-class career when he was 16, and finished at 60, for a remarkable career that stretched 44 years – a time span that is mind-boggling in today’s age.His impact on the game obviously went far beyond the stats, but he didn’t do badly on the field either. His overall first-class numbers were outstanding: he finished with 54,211 runs at an average of 39.45, and a wickets tally of 2809 at 18.14. Apart from the sheer number of runs and wickets, what’s also remarkable is that his batting average was more than twice his bowling average, a feat few have managed to achieve in the last 50 years. And if his overall batting average doesn’t seem as impressive as some of the more recent batsmen, remember that he played his entire cricket on pitches that were hardly as well laid out as the tracks we’re used to.Over his four-and-a-half decade first-class career, Grace had several highlights. Here’s a list of his amazing achievements, some of which might never be equalled.

• In 1871, aged 23, he scored 10 centuries and 2739 first-class runs at 78.25. The next best average was 37.66 with just one hundred.
• Even 31 seasons later, he scored 1187 at 37.09, while Victor Trumper, at age 24, averaged 48.49 (Trumper’s best season).
• In 1876, he scored 839 runs in a mere eight days, with a sequence that read 344, 177 and 318 not out. It was a season when only one other batsman topped 1000 runs. His 344 was also the first triple-century in first-class cricket.
• Between 1868 and 1880, he topped the first-class averages 10 times, including seven times straight till 1874. Between 1868 and 1876, he scored 54 first-class hundreds; the next highest didn’t even manage 10.
• In the decade 1871 to 1880 he averaged 49, a period during which nobody else averaged more than 26 or scored even a third of his runs. He also took 1174 wickets in the 10 years, which was the second-best in the country after Alfred Shaw.
• In 1895, as a 47-year-old Grace reeled off scores of 288, 52, 257, 73 not out, 18 and 169 – the last bringing him 1000 runs before the end of May (the first man to reach that landmark). His 288 was also his 100th century, making him the first player to the milestone.
• Grace played 870 first-class matches in his career, which is the third-highest on the all-time list, after Wilfred Rhodes (1110) and Frank Woolley (978). His tally of 54,211 runs is the fifth-highest, while his haul of 2809 wickets puts him in 10th place.

Grace played only 22 Tests – all of them against Australia – but he had some noteworthy achievements in that format too. At the time of retiring he was one of only six batsmen to have scored more than 1000 Test runs; in his first Test he scored 152 at The Oval, making him only the second batsman – after Charles Bannerman – to score a century on debut. In the first innings of that match, he added 120 runs for the second wicket with Bunny Lucas, which was the first century partnership in Test cricket. (Click here for all century stands before 1900.) The only other century Grace scored was in his eighth Test, when he made 170 at the venue where he started his Test career. In 14 matches after that he topped 50 five times but never managed to go past 75; in his last seven innings, his highest score was 28.

Grace also led England in 13 Tests, winning eight and losing only two. The last time he captained the team was in the summer of 1899, when he was all of 50 years and 320 days old – no other captain has come within five years of matching that feat. It’s a record that, like several of his other first-class feats, will probably never be equalled.