A virtual quarter-final that goes down to the penultimate ball. Both teams go through. Couldn’t ask for more

Ross Done23-Sep-2010Choice of game
I made sure I could attend all the Champions League games in PE, even if it meant going alone (as was the case tonight). It was so worth it. The match was a virtual quarter-final, and while it wasn’t as dramatic an ending as the Chennai v Victoria game, in some ways it was even better.Team supported
I was supporting the Warriors, just for them to make the semis. And my wish came true.Key performer
For the Warriors, Justin Kreusch was the main performer, followed closely by Rusty Theron with his awesome death bowling. Keen to see what happens to him come IPL auction time. For Chennai, Hussey on the batting side, and in the field I’d give it to Justin Kemp and Hussey. Catches win matches, as they say.One thing I’d have changed
I was really hoping for Colin Ingram to show his mettle. He top-scored in both the 40- and 20-over domestic competitions last season, and has just been selected for the SA squad. He’s having a rather dismal Champions League though.Face-off I relished
I was looking forward to seeing how Makhaya Ntini did against the IPL team that didn’t want him anymore, and also how the Warriors spinners would do against Indian batsmen. Ntini seemed pumped up, but the spinners got a bit of stick.Wow moment
In the fifth over of Chennai’s innings, the band started up in earnest. It got the crowd going and the sounds of cheer echoed around the stadium.Player watch
It was a bit chilly, so the crowd stayed in their seats and didn’t give the players too much trouble. Ingram took a great catch at long-on, where I was sitting, but later made a bit of a botch of another attempt. He dropped the catch, almost forgot to chase after it, and having finally stopped it before the boundary, picked it up again when he was out of play. Four runs!Shot of the day
Notable was Murali Vijay’s six off Boje’s first ball. Nothing says “We’re going after you” like a mow over cow corner. That over went for 16. The best shot, though, was Mark Boucher’s four, which got the Warriors enough runs to get into the semi-finals. The crowd cheered like the home team had won the match.Crowd meter
It was overwhelming support for the home team, with spots of Chennai supporters here and there. The mood was great, though. The first Mexican wave went around three times and the band meant there was lots of supportive singing going on. It really is something you have to experience live.Fancy-dress index
The day started off rather windy and cold, but there was a bunch of guys with their shirts off and “Warriors” spelt on their chests. Brave souls.Entertainment
Having been to all the PE games, this was definitely the tops. The attendance was slightly lower than on the previous Saturday, but they pulled out all the stops. The fireworks were great. The DJ helped keep the vibe without any repeats (but for the Chennai theme song). The band was on song, and at one point started playing “Wave Your Flag”, and most of the audience joined in.Accessories
The facilities at St George’s are pretty good, so I didn’t really need to bring much. Just some warm clothing and my phone to keep track of deliveries on Cricinfo, as I can’t call the carrom ball from the boundary.Banner of the day
Some female admirers of young Mr Ingram had a “Colin’s Corner” poster. They also cheered loudly for him.Overall
It was great cricket: a game that went down to the second-last ball, a brilliant vibe, and both sets of fans went home happy as their teams qualified for the semis.Marks out of 10
9/10. It would have been better if some of my friends could have made it and if the attendance could have been just a little higher. It was Rudi Koertzen’s last game umpiring at St. George’s Park. After the game he did a lap of honour and the crowd cheered. When he got to the band, they sang “Bye bye Rudi, we hope we see you again”. Nice moment.

Arthur Morris was one of Bradman’s Invincibles. Here he looks back to the pre-deodorant days: meeting the Don, getting bounced by Keith Miller, the baggy green, and more

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi17-May-2010″Because I grew up in the country, with hard, concrete wickets, I would be cutting and hooking and pulling”•Getty ImagesDid you always open the batting?
The highest I batted in my early days at [Sydney Grade side] St George District Club was five or six, and bowling chinamen a bit. Then, one day, Bill O’Reilly, who had won the toss, saw me relaxing and told me I was opening. I was like “Oh, no, Mr O’Reilly. Truly?” I was 16 or 17 then and continued opening for the rest of my life.Who was your hero when you were growing up?
Don Bradman, who was every boy’s hero. When I was about eight years of age I met him. I put my little hand out and said, “How do you do, Mr Bradman?” I was not groomed and didn’t have any shoes on, and to think that I would be playing under his captaincy was just ridiculous.Why did you look up to him?
He was so great. He just came in and took the game over. You can talk about lots of people getting runs, but he got them quickly – he could get to 300 in a day! After the war, a boss of mine, a fellow called Smith, bowled to Bradman in the nets after he came up from Bowral. Alan Fairfax, who played for Australia pre-war, bowled at him for 10 minutes. Fairfax turned to Smith and said, “This fella is crude, isn’t he?” Smith said, “But we haven’t beaten his bat yet.”How important is concentration for a batsman?
It is very important. I was talking to Bradman one day when somebody got out on 60. He said, “I can’t understand how anyone can get to 60 and not get a hundred.” He just went on and on and on. We had some big partnerships but we never really went up and talked to each other because both of us focused on what each one was doing.Did you really think you could get 404 to win on that final day at Headingley in 1948?
No, no, I didn’t. Don wrote in his book that he thought we would get beaten. And I thought we would. But when Don joined me after [Lindsay] Hassett got out, we just regrouped and started hitting. I got some 20 fours in my first hundred because [Norman] Yardley had the field up all the time and I took advantage. After lunch Don had some problems with Denis Compton and seemed confused about playing the Englishman’s spin. So I took charge against Compton and went after him for two or three overs. The next day EW Swanton, the cricket writer, wrote that if Compton had kept bowling, they would have won the match. I reckoned we would have won an hour early because Compton was not used to bowling.Did you initiate the aggressive charge?
It was really after lunch that I got into that mode. Don was marvellous. He let me go. It was during the second session, between lunch and tea, that we grew confident. In the first session we thought we could possibly get a draw. At about half-past three we thought we could win and then we just kept on
going.Do you require a different temperament as an opener?
I suppose you are picked as an opener because you play the new ball well, which means playing off the back foot and not on the forward. Because I grew up in the country, with hard, concrete wickets, I would be cutting and hooking and pulling. That hooking helped me a lot in one instance, when I took 23 runs off Keith Miller’s first over in a Sheffield Shield game between New South Wales and Victoria.

“I was having a conversation with a bloke who didn’t know anything about cricket and the topic came to Don’s duck. He asked me if I was aware of it and I said I was there. So he asked if I was there because I was in England on business. I told him I was at the other end”

Was that when he bowled eight bouncers?
Right. You know where the field was placed – six behind square and a wicketkeeper, so I knew what was coming. I have never seen anyone spitting chips like Miller was. He was really ripping them down.What did wearing the baggy green mean to you?
Right from my first cap at St George, wearing a cap always gave me a terrific thrill. When I played for New South Wales, it gave me a great thrill. Then I got picked for Australia and that scared the hell out of me.What did you learn from cricket?
Cricket to me was discipline, loyalty and enjoyment. Even today, if somebody throws a ball somewhere, I want to go and chase it. I just have the natural ball sense, that feeling.What is the best change on the cricket field you have witnessed?
One of the most sensible things the administrators did was to get rid of leg-side fieldsmen, because it was killing the game. It brought about so much defensive cricket, which I found ridiculous. Len Hutton, who was a great bloke, never got tired of his defensive tactics. So when I took guard against Alec Bedser, I would yell at the umpire, “Six inches outside the leg stump”.Who are the greatest cricketers you have seen?
I saw only two great players in my time: Bradman was the best batsman and O’Reilly was the best bowler.You made 196 in Bradman’s final Test at The Oval. You were standing at the other end. What did you think when he fell for a duck?
He got a couple of very good balls. The wicket was a bit wet and Eric Hollies bowled a beautiful legspinner. Then he bowled another in the same spot, Don went to play the same shot and it was a wrong’un. I was surprised Don came out fairly late in the day instead of sending somebody else in. Nobody knew that his average was so close to 100. I’m sure if Alec [Bedser] knew that, he would have given him one. I’m sure Eric didn’t know.But nobody remembers that you made 196?
I was on a business trip once. I was having a conversation with a bloke who didn’t know anything about cricket and the topic came to Don’s duck. He asked me if I was aware of it and I said I was there. So he asked if I was there because I was in England on business. I told him I was at the other end.”The crowds had not come to see me bat, they had come to see Bradman bat”•PA PhotosDid the lack of recognition ever bother you?
It never worried me. I was never in the show-pony class. There was so much modesty in the game then, the cricket culture was completely different. Think of this: the greatest batsman you have seen gets out for a duck. What would the bowler have done today? He would do a couple of cartwheels and the whole team would chase him around the ground and give him a hug. But what happened [in 1948]? Dead silence. The crowds had not come to see me bat, they had come to see Bradman bat.Has modesty always been a strong point?
It’s a strong point of everybody I played with. Modesty has disappeared through American influence in the country and the colour television. We didn’t rush into a huddle; if I was fielding on the fence, the huddle would be over by the time I got there. We didn’t have deodorants in our days, so can you imagine hugging each other with all of our dirty socks and smelly things?

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from Pakistan’s encounter with New Zealand

Osman Samiuddin and Brydon Coverdale in Pallekele 08-Mar-2011Birthday gift of the day
Ross Taylor turned 27 today. Then he came across Kamran Akmal, who gifted him two lives in three balls, on 0 and 4. Then he got a career-best hundred. Happy birthday Ross.Sign of the day
At least one fan in the crowd was prepared for Taylor’s big day, with a computer print-out that was held up as a sign. There was only one problem. It read: “Happy birthday Rose Taylor”. Ah well, a Ross by any other name would smell as sweet.Opening of the day
Pakistan: land of strapping, wicket-taking fast bowlers who blow through you with the new ball and clean up with the old? Perhaps not. Shahid Afridi chose to open with Abdur Rehman for the second over of the innings, the time a spinner had bowled one of the first two overs for Pakistan in an ODI since April 1998, when Mohammad Hussain – another left-arm spinner – did so. And until his last two overs went for 34, he hadn’t done such a bad job of it.Communication failure of the day
The Powerplays often create headaches for captains, but it was even more so for Shahid Afridi during New Zealand’s innings. After 10 overs, he seemed to believe the bowling Powerplay had started, but one ball into the over was in an animated discussion with the umpire Nigel Llong, who had not given the signal. At the start of the next over, Afridi made it clear to the other official, Daryl Harper that he wanted the Powerplay to begin. Remarkably, the same thing appeared to happen with the batting Powerplay. Afridi had only three fielders outside the circle for the first two balls of the 41st over, apparently under the impression New Zealand had taken the Powerplay. Again, Llong clarified matters, and at the start of the next over, Afridi watched closely as Harper signalled that finally the batting Powerplay was under way.Atmosphere of the day
It’s to be expected that not all the neutral matches in this World Cup will be well attended, but the crowd at Pallekele was wonderful. Not for nearly a decade has Kandy hosted a one-day international, and the city’s only international cricket in more than three years was the horribly rain-affected Test against West Indies last year. The locals have clearly been craving the game. A big crowd turned out and cheered vociferously for both teams, roaring their support of Taylor late in the New Zealand innings. No doubt the solid numbers were helped by the price of tickets – the cheapest were only 30 rupees, which equates to approximately 27 US cents.

In Kolkata everyone’s a cricket watcher, and what better place to watch it than at the stadium that has come to be an emblem of the city?

Soumya Bhattacharya17-Nov-2010One of my most thrilling cricketing memories from boyhood comes not from what I witnessed on the pitch, nor from a game I’d seen on TV, nor from an account of one I’d heard on the radio. It concerns what happened in the south Kolkata home in which I spent several years as a boy.It was a sticky summer’s evening in 1984. My father, having just returned from his clinic, called me and, with a smile, handed me a small, glossy card.On the top left-hand corner was the crest of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), and across the middle, in block capitals, were the words “LIFE MEMBER”. On the reverse, in blue ink, were my name and a number.For a Kolkata boy, this was a gift of monumental significance. What it meant was that, by virtue of being a member of the CAB, I was assured of a place at the Eden Gardens whenever a game was played there. I wouldn’t have been happier had I been given the moon no sooner than I’d asked for it.For several years before that, my father had called in favours to get me tickets. On occasions my mother’s side of the family – almost all of them members of the CAB – had offered me tickets. But this gift of his was putting an end to all that scrounging and begging. I now had the right to be at the Eden whenever chose.Even before I watched a single game there as a LIFE MEMBER (yes, I think of the phrase capitalised) – even before the evening was over – I had begun to place myself at the heart of the mythology of the life member at the Eden Gardens. We and Eden have a history, these members think. We are family. We are inseparable. And therefore we become card-carrying members and representatives of Kolkata’s cricket cognoscenti. (What a word. What a .)It is the truth, though, that the Eden Gardens – that vast amphitheatre hemmed in by huge stands, so unlovely and yet so full of allure – is central to Kolkata’s overriding passion for the game. Unlike in, say, Mumbai, the local cricket league in Kolkata doesn’t assume much significance. Local football some people still have time for. But local cricket? Oh, no. In Kolkata it is the Eden – and one being there on match day – that is a true reflection of fandom. (Of which more in a minute.)A lot of this has to do, I suspect, with the fact that Bengal has produced so few international cricketers of real class that you won’t need even a single finger to tot them up. In Kolkata, as in all Indian cities, little boys with stardust in their eyes dutifully practise with expensive kits on the city’s . But perhaps their interest dwindles after a while; perhaps they give up because they find out they are not good enough; perhaps they just become investment bankers or poets.And that is where Bengal’s – and Kolkata’s – fanaticism about Sourav Ganguly comes in. Sport is an inescapable part of our popular culture, and Kolkata, despite being big on culture (if you don’t have much else to show for yourself – like, say, top industrialists or a lot of money, culture is your badge of distinction), has no culture of producing top players.In Kolkata, you have a lot of people who will talk intelligently about a lot of players. But where are our own? Ganguly fired Kolkata’s imagination because he was the talisman the people of the city had been looking for. In Ganguly came the answer to years of prayer for a hometown boy who had made good. And how good he made.For Kolkata, when it comes to cricket there is Ganguly and the Eden Gardens. But long before there was Ganguly, there was the Eden.

Sport is an inescapable part of our popular culture, and Kolkata, despite being big on culture has no culture of producing top players

The English poet and critic Ian Hamilton once said: “I don’t play much football, but you should watch me watch it.” That’s just as true for Kolkata and cricket. We don’t have world-class players, but we are world-class spectators. We take the watching very seriously indeed. And if the venue where one can do the watching, live, is called the Eden Gardens, well, where else would one rather be?The answer, of course, is nowhere. would rather be at the Eden than anywhere else. A lot of people would do anything at all do be there on the day of a cricket game. (Which is why, that present from my father, the CAB membership that allowed me to be there without having to do anything at all, was so decisive.) When in 1978 I first went there to watch India play Alvin Kallicharran’s West Indies, 90,000 people packed the stands on the final day of a dead Test match. Half the ground fills up for a Test match these days, but I suppose it’s still like how I first remember it for an IPL game – especially if Ganguly is leading the Kolkata Knight Riders.Going to the Eden is Kolkata’s annual picnic; it is a secular festival (as feverishly anticipated, as wide in its reach and as rich in its enjoyment) as huge as the city’s other festival, Durga Puja.The first time I walked through the crowd heading towards the ground – the first time I walked with this crowd – I was frightened. I had never seen so many people together. The tight columns made me feel claustrophobic; I feared a stampede. In the years that followed, once I had got used to it, I would get off the bus and plunge right in, taking my place behind the last person in the long queue. It was a good couple of kilometres to the ground. Hard work when there’s no place to put your feet, when all you see in front of you is a sweat-stained shirt and all you can feel is the guy behind you steadying himself in the crush. Just occasionally, to your right you can see the vacant road. There are so many policemen – on foot, on motorbikes, in jeeps, chattering agitatedly into their walkie-talkies. The emptiness of the road only draws attention to how packed tight you are.I no longer live in Kolkata. I remembered all this – vividly, with the sort of sharpness that the recollection of something so crucial to our days and ways is supposed to bring – while having lunch in a Mumbai restaurant with the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Richard Stagg, and his deputy in Mumbai, Peter Beckingham.Both men are ardent cricket fans. And the moment they knew that I had spent many of my growing-up years in Kolkata, they started talking about the Eden Gardens. They said their time in India would not be complete till they watched a game there. I could sense that they found the image of Kolkata inseparable from the image of the stadium that lies at its heart. (No stereotype is without a core of truth.) And I smiled to myself, and felt again that sudden, keen stab of desire: the wish to , to sit in those stands, Block L or B, one on either side of the Club House, behind the bowler’s arm if he was coming in to bowl from the Club House end, and to see on the other side of the ground the flag fluttering on top of the High Court from which the other end derives its name.I know it’s something that hundreds of thousands of people in Kolkata and from Kolkata will feel. For us, the notion of cricket has been bound up with the Eden.I know something else, too. I know how I shall anticipate – and once it occurs, be fulfilled by – a particular moment. That is the instant I first see the ground. I’d be past the police and I’d be walking through the long, wide, musty corridor beneath, and then, between the stands. And then, in one unforgettable moment, I’d see the field. I’d see its shimmering, immense expanse of smooth green, framed by the stands, beneath a patch of open sky.I’d feel inordinately thrilled – as, I know, did thousands of others. And I’d feel blessed. Because I know that as long as I care to turn up, the Eden will always have place for me.

ESPNcricinfo looks back at some memorable New Zealand victories in global tournaments

Nitin Sundar26-Mar-2011New Zealand’s stunning win against South Africa in Mirpur is the latest addition to a list of memorable barn-storming performances from a team that has invariably brought its A-game to the big events. ESPNcricinfo looks back at some other memorable New Zealand victories in global tournaments.Stephen Fleming was the protagonist when New Zealand toppled South Africa in the 2003 and the 2007 World Cups•Getty Images2007 World Cup Super Eights v South AfricaThe tournament format left New Zealand needing just one upset to make it to the last four. It came in their Super Eights game against South Africa, on a damp and dark Grenada pitch that made batting a nightmare. Shane Bond and James Franklin were close to unplayable with the new ball, as South Africa lost their openers with just three runs on the board. Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Ashwell Prince grafted hard to put up 193 for 7, a score that bordered on the defendable, given South Africa’s pace arsenal. Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris, though, stone-walled their way to half-centuries, as New Zealand ground out a win in the 49th over.
2003 World Cup v South AfricaHaving lost to Sri Lanka and forfeiting their game in Kenya, New Zealand had to upset South Africa to sneak into the Super Sixes, and Stephen Fleming’s best one-day innings helped them do that. Herschelle Gibbs’ energetic 143 had propelled South Africa to 306, but New Zealand came out throwing punches in all directions. Craig McMillan kickstarted the chase with typical flamboyance, but his dismissal, sandwiched between a power breakdown and a rain interruption, did little to thwart New Zealand’s momentum. Fleming waded into the seamers with an array of explosive drives and cuts, and when Mark Boucher dropped him on 53, an upset seemed to be on the cards. Things got considerably easier for the visitors after a 52-minute rain break in the 31st over, that reduced the target to 226 off 39. Nathan Astle joined in the fun as New Zealand charged to a famous nine-wicket win.1999 World Cup Super Sixes v IndiaWith their World Cup dreams already shattered, India sleep-walked through their final Super Six fixture, much to New Zealand’s joy. On a track with early movement, against a steadily incisive seam attack, India’s in-form top three exited after making promising starts. Ajay Jadeja held things together and took them past 250, a score that had proved defendable in all but one game in the World Cup. New Zealand galloped off the blocks as Nathan Astle thumped anything loose, while Matt Horne scrapped a valuable 74. Roger Twose carried the baton for the middle order, but a late rain break and an unusually subdued Chris Cairns brought India back into the game. Adam Parore had plans of his own though, stealing five fours in 14 balls to win the game with ten balls to spare, and put his side in the semi-finals.1992 World Cup v Australia Martin Crowe inaugurated New Zealand’s most consistent World Cup campaign with a measured 100 that paved the way for an upset of the defending champions in the opening game of the 1992 World Cup. Three early wickets had New Zealand in some strife before Crowe and Ken Rutherford revived the innings with a 118-run stand, setting Australia a target of 249. David Boon matched Crowe’s effort with an even 100 of his own, but New Zealand’s merry army of dibbly-dobblies, led by the miserly Gavin Larsen pulled the plug on the chase with ease. The win set the template for New Zealand’s dominance in the group stage, that included wins against West Indies, India and England.ICC KnockOut, 2001 New Zealand first sprinted past Pakistan to ruin a potential India-Pakistan final clash in the ICC KnockOut, and then went on to spoil India’s party with another upset in the final. Saeed Anwar scored an attractive century to set Pakistan up for a big score in the semi-final, but New Zealand restored parity through Shayne O’Connor’s five-wicket haul in the end overs. Roger Twose anchored the chase of 253 with a typically gritty 87, while Craig McMillan played the finisher’s role to perfection, scoring a risk-free 51 off 56 balls to set up an encounter with India. Things began to fall apart early in the final, as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly added 141 in 26.3 overs, but New Zealand clawed their way back into the game through two run-outs. India’s innings went into tailspin in the end overs, closing at 264, at least 30 runs short of what the openers had set them up for. Chris Cairns, who had missed the Pakistan game, played the innings of his life to hustle New Zealand past the finish line with two overs to spare, giving them their only piece of ICC silverware to date.

A day on from his funeral, Jenner is remembered by one of his long-time bowling partners as a man with great powers of persuasion and a passion for spin bowling

Ashley Mallett01-Jun-2011In the summer of 1959 our latest recruit was a skinny, gangling country kid wearing a big, baggy, brown-peaked cricket hat 10 times too big for him.Fourteen-year-old Terry Jenner leaned on the wall of our ancient wooden pavilion at Shearn Park in Mt Lawley, an inner suburb of Perth. “I’m a wicketkeeper,” he said with a grin, “But I plan to become a legspinner.”Terry spoke as though the world was his oyster. He exuded confidence, probably the legacy of his old man, Arthur Jenner, who ran the general store in Corrigin, 200km south of Perth. One day at his “local”, Arthur hit triple 20 with his first two darts and instead of “following his dart”, as would all top pub players, invited all the drinkers at the bar to the corner where “you can watch me make it 180!”. Arthur had a propensity to boast. Before the dart hit the board, he had turned his back on its flight, smiling. He knew where it was heading. Terry was pretty cocky then, like his old man.When barely 16, he played A grade for Mt Lawley. He grabbed a couple of wickets, but his main thing was 60 not out, batting at No. 11.Soon Terrance James Jenner was given a label, “TJ”, and the nickname stuck.TJ and I finally teamed up in the club’s A grade. Together we’d go to the Inglewood Hotel after matches, to soak up the cricket talk and down a few beers.We had a good attack; too good for TJ and I, because early on he was the No. 6 man to get a bowl and I was No. 7. Most spin was handled by Ron Frankish, a quickish offspinner who had the doosra before the word was coined. But Ron, as with all the rest in later years, had to bend and straighten his arm to deliver it. In those days we called it a “chuck.”Despite a lack of long spells at the crease, TJ’s cricket came on fast. He made the Western Australia side at the age of 18, but with Tony Lock, and sometimes Tony Mann, in the side, there wasn’t much hope of getting to bowl a lot.Round that time TJ and I were batting together for Mt Lawley against Subiaco once, who had the raw pace of left-hander Jim Hubble to call on. He was bowling quick and short to TJ. Each ball got progressively shorter and flew higher, eventually forcing TJ to tread on his stumps. One bail fell to the ground. TJ quickly looked at the square-leg umpire, Warren Carter, who, not unusually, happened to be looking anywhere but the actual play, so TJ nonchalantly leant over, replaced the bail and settled over his bat for the next ball.Two matches later, skipper Frank O’Driscoll took TJ out of the attack. It was a silly move, for TJ had four cheap wickets to his name and had the veteran Ken Mueleman nearly stumped four times. TJ lost his cool, grabbed his jumper and walked off the ground. We could see him sitting under a gum tree on the hill. Next day TJ was in damage control mode. He fronted O’Driscoll’s house and summoned all the considerable powers of his personality to talk his captain around.Logic didn’t quite win as it turned out. But before the next summer’s first match, the team voted for a new captain and TJ won hands down. In our first match TJ was still dragging on a cigarette as we took the field. The umpire, Carter again, had TJ hauled before the tribunal, and he was fined one guinea.TJ and I lived for cricket. On Sundays we played for a club called Miling, some 200km north of Perth. The competition had six teams and we got Miling into the “four” for the first time in 50 years.TJ’s first attempt at cricket coaching there was a disaster. There was TJ giving the three brothers, Ray, Des and Les White, instruction on how best to defend their wicket against a big, burly fast bowler. Each of the White brothers was clean-bowled first ball. Surely this was the only time identical triplets had featured in a hat-trick – and all clean-bowled.TJ first came up against Les Favell, in a match in Perth. Western Australia captain Barry Shepherd threw TJ the ball, and before he had started to move in to bowl, Favell was singing “happy birthday to me!” Favell charged down the track like Victor Trumper and hit the ball over cover for four. Shepherd sent John Parker to field on the fence. Favell was still singing “Happy Birthday” when TJ moved in for his second ball. Again the ball went over cover, first bounce to Parker on the boundary. Non-striker Ian Chappell raced through for the run, but when he arrived, Favell, with his back turned to him, and his bat behind the popping crease, yelled: “Piss off Chappelli, it’s my birthday, not yours!” TJ learnt two things about becoming a spinner. You needed patience and you had to have a sense of humour.

TJ’s first attempt at cricket coaching there was a disaster. There was TJ giving the three brothers, Ray, Des and Les White, instruction on how best to defend their wicket against a big, burly fast bowler. Each of the White brothers was clean-bowled first ball. Surely this was the only time identical triplets had featured in a hat-trick – and all clean-bowled.

I had been 12th man for WA and TJ had played 30-odd state matches, but with Lock at WA, we had to go elsewhere. We picked South Australia. Favell was an attacking captain and SA had no spinners. Adelaide Oval was apparently a bowler’s nightmare, a flat, unresponsive pitch. However, instinctively we knew it couldn’t be as tough as the flint-hard Perth wickets. We knew Adelaide turned and bounced for most of the match, and we figured that the side needed two spinners, certainly for home matches.Lessons under the tutelage of Clarrie Grimmett – the old craftsman emphasised getting the ball above the batsman’s eyes – proved decisive in the development of us both as spin bowlers.Playing for Prospect against Glenelg in a one-day match also was a pointer of things to come. TJ dismissed Greg Chappell and I got Ian, so the state selectors may have been a little interested. I missed the first match with a dislocated finger, but TJ played and he grabbed a five-wicket haul.TJ loved Favell’s attitude as captain.”After I went for runs in my first couple of overs, I thought I’d be taken off,” TJ told me, “But it wasn’t like WA. Les said, ‘C’mon, son, give me one good over and you’re on for the session.'”Soon TJ and I were playing together and bowling in tandem. We soon became the “spin twins”. After the game we enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere in the company of such luminaries as Ian Chappell, Favell, Barry Jarman and Neil Hawke. Favell and Jarman treated us like family.We got A$30 for the four days of a Shield game, but $7.50 was taken out for tax. And if you won in three days they docked you a day’s pay. One time TJ was bowling late on day three. Queensland was 180 for 8 or so, chasing plenty. Ross Duncan swung lustily and the ball went high in the air. Aware that the game might not go into the fourth day, Hawke yelled with a laugh: “Drop it, drop it… drop the ball…”Of course we would have loved to have been paid big money like they get today, but we were glad we played in the 1970s, especially under the leadership of Ian Chappell.When TJ and I bowled in tandem there was never a need for us to stop at the end of an over and talk about which one of us wanted to bowl to whoever. We instinctively knew, for we could read one another’s game so well. If TJ reckoned Ian Chappell gave me too much of a go and he was ignored, he would front the skipper at the end of play. Chappelli might already be sitting at the table. TJ heralded his arrival by thumping his long-neck bottle of beer on the table top, and the captain would say, “Okay, TJ, what’s the problem?” There was always a robust debate. Once Chappelli said to TJ after he complained of not getting much of a bowl: “Oh, sorry TJ, I forgot you were out there.”TJ maintained friendships with his mates at Mt Lawley, especially O’Driscoll and opening bat Barry “Scrub” Rayner. While he craved a better relationship with his dad, TJ always received great support from his mother, Queenie, and his sister Lorraine. So too his beloved partner, Ann. The day I paid $90 for my first car, a gleaming 1956 FJ Holden, I drove TJ and Queenie to Scarborough Beach. We all sat together on the front bench seat, but the seat gave way. TJ and Queenie ended up tumbling backwards and TJ maintained that it was a miracle I hung on to the steering wheel.Ian Chappell reckoned TJ would make a good coach. And Rod Marsh agreed to give TJ a go coaching at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide. There he linked up with the young Shane Warne. They were alike in personality. You just knew Warne was special. He had that sparkle in his eye, much the same as TJ had all those years ago.Warne immediately gravitated towards Jenner because their personalities were so alike•Jack Atley/Getty ImagesHis genius as a spin bowing coach lay within his manner of getting his message across. People know how good he was at illustrating a point or telling a good yarn. He did that so beautifully when commentating on ABC Radio, giving a speech or running his famous TJ Test Match brekkies.Spin bowling was his passion and he lived and breathed the art. The past year must have been so difficult for TJ, given that he could no longer get out to the nets with the young spinners.He taught Warne a lot. If you ever get a chance to talk cricket with Warne, you’ll be impressed with his great passion for spin bowling. He talks of bowling to stay on, just as TJ spoke of it. He talks of “spinning up”, again a TJ trait.We were almost inseparable in the early days and throughout our time with SA and Australia. In recent years we’d catch up occasionally, usually at a cricket function, or the ground. No matter how much time had elapsed when we met we just took up where we had left off.Right now TJ is probably talking legspin with Don Bradman and Victor Trumper. Imagine Bradman extolling the virtues of Bill O’Reilly and Trumper talking up Arthur Mailey. TJ would be using all the great persuasive powers of his personality to convince Messrs Bradman and Trumper, pushing the case for his protégé, Shane Warne. I can just see him now, “Gentlemen. You are right. O’Reilly and Mailey were something great. But statistically and realistically, Warne was the best of all.”With TJ’s passing, the cricket world has lost a great servant. Those who knew him are richer for it.So long, old mate. God bless you.

The 2011-12 Australian summer begins on Sunday with a one-day match between Queensland and Victoria, before the opening Sheffield Shield round starts on Tuesday. ESPNcricinfo looks at some of the young men to keep an eye on this season

Brydon Coverdale07-Oct-2011New South Wales
Patrick Cummins
At 18, Cummins is one of the most exciting prospects in Australia, and is set to make his international debut in the limited-overs games in South Africa later this month. Despite having taken only nine first-class wickets, Cummins’ pace excited Australia’s selectors so much that they gave him a central contract this year. But he missed the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe due to a back strain and the key question surrounding Cummins this summer is how his young body will handle a full season of first-class cricket. If he gets through without a problem, a baggy green won’t be far away.Nic Maddinson
As if New South Wales don’t have enough top-class openers, they discovered another one last summer. Maddinson, now 19, scored a century opening the batting in his first-class debut and added a second hundred later in the season. It was enough to earn him Australia A selection and he made 63 in one of his two one-day innings on the tour of Zimbabwe, before a calf strain ruled him out of the first-class matches. A classical left-hander with a cool head, Maddinson has every chance of following his flatmate Usman Khawaja into Australia’s Test team in the future.Queensland
Ben Cutting
Two years ago, Cutting topped the Sheffield Shield wicket list with 46 victims at 23.91 and he could have pushed for international selection during the following year but for an ankle injury that was so serious it required surgery. He managed only one Sheffield Shield game last summer but has been named in Queensland’s squad for their opening matches this season. A seamer who gets good bounce from the pitch, Cutting, 24, will be keen to cut back into Australia’s pace-bowling queue with a strong season for the Bulls.Joe Burns
At 21, Burns is – along with the more established Chris Lynn – the future of Queensland’s middle order. A right-hand batsman whose talent was identified early, it took until the tail-end of last summer for Burns to force his way into the state team. When he did, he showed his hunger with an unbeaten 140 in his first game, the third-highest score on debut by a Queensland player. Another half-century followed in his third match and he finished the season averaging 70.25. In the Queensland side from the start of this summer, Burns could progress in leaps and bounds.South Australia
Theo Doropoulos
As the only import in a South Australia squad that the new coach Darren Berry wanted to be based mostly on local talent, Doropoulos has been given a golden opportunity. During his four seasons with Western Australia, Doropoulos, a batting allrounder, was considered not to have made the most of his natural talents. He moved to Melbourne last season and won the Jack Ryder Medal as the best player in grade cricket, and will relish the chance to score runs on the friendly Adelaide Oval. At 26, he cannot afford to waste such a second chance.Kane Richardson
It’s a new era for South Australia’s fast bowlers, with Shaun Tait now a Twenty20-only player and Ben Edmondson, Rob Cassell, Chris Duval and Tim Lang also gone from last year’s contract list. Young fast men will be given plenty of chances and Richardson, 20, will be one of the first on the list. A right-armer who gets the ball to swing in, Richardson collected five wickets in his first-class debut towards the end of last summer and could challenge Peter George to be the Redbacks’ main strike bowler this season.Tasmania
James Faulkner is fit to start the season after missing the Australia A series due to glandular fever•Getty ImagesJames Faulkner
A left-arm pace-bowling allrounder, Faulkner took giant strides last season and not only finished up fourth on the Sheffield Shield wicket tally with 36 at 17.72, he also won the Ricky Ponting Medal as Tasmania’s best player for the season. Faulkner, 21, was picked for the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe but didn’t travel due to glandular fever. He has recovered and was named in Tasmania’s squads for the opening matches of this season and with John Hastings out for the summer, an ODI call-up is a possibility if he can extend his strong first-class form to the one-day arena.Tom Triffitt
Tim Paine’s broken finger means that Triffitt, 20, will be the starting wicketkeeper for Tasmania in the early matches this season. Described by the state captain George Bailey as “a natural gloveman”, Triffitt was part of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup-winning squad last year and made a vital 50 in the semi-final. His challenge this summer is to bring his batting skills to first-class cricket.Victoria
Jayde Herrick
A heavily-tattooed fast bowler who shaves his head before every match, Herrick was this time last year making a dollar by driving heavy machinery in a quarry. At 26, he now has a Victoria contract and has impressed the captain Cameron White with his work during the off-season, after making his state debut last summer. “It’s his first pre-sason having full-time coaching and he’s improved out of sight,” White said this week. “He’s set for a big season.”Glenn Maxwell
A powerful batsman who hovered on the fringes of Victoria’s side for several seasons, Maxwell certainly grabbed his opportunity last summer. In his second first-class match, he scored 103 not out and 63, having earlier in the season blasted a 19-ball half-century – an Australian domestic record – in a one-day match against Tasmania. Also a useful offspinner, Maxwell, 22, has a chance to make himself a permanent member of Victoria’s side in both formats this season.Western Australia
Nathan Coulter-Nile
A tall fast bowler who picked up 21 Sheffield Shield wickets at 22.04 last summer after injuries affected the start of his season, Coulter-Nile is regarded by the Western Australia coach Mickey Arthur as “the one player in this group who will definitely go on and play higher”. At 23, he has started to find his feet at interstate level and is expected to be a key man in the Warriors’ attack this season.Marcus Harris
Finding the right opening combination had been a problem for Western Australia over the past few seasons, so the Warriors were excited when Harris grabbed his chance last summer. In his third Sheffield Shield game, Harris became the youngest Australian to score a first-class 150, when he made 157 against Queensland at the WACA. That effort broke a 115-year-old record set by Clem Hill, and confirmed Harris, who is now 19, as an important part of Western Australia’s future. A short left-hander, Harris will be aiming to forge a strong opening bond with Wes Robinson in the longer format.

Offspinner Nathan Lyon, a groundsman by trade, took 5 for 34 on debut to skittle Sri Lanka for 105 in Galle

Daniel Brettig in Galle01-Sep-2011Nathan the Lionheart. Such a phrase might have seemed hackneyed a day ago, but not now. Combining flight, spin, guile and the knack for theatre many of the best spin bowlers possess, Nathan Lyon scooped 5 for 34 on debut against Sri Lanka. He was helped by the most united and committed Australian performance in the field for some years, a sterling ensemble display by his fellow bowlers, and a spiteful pitch.Lyon’s day began at fine leg, where he was seen taking advice, if not medication, from Alex Kountouris, Australia’s physio. Several players had been coping with stomach troubles, and Lyon looked thinner and paler than usual. This did not stop him from rushing to congratulate Trent Copeland on a first Test wicket from his second ball, via the unseemly haste of Tillakaratne Dilshan and the stellar reflexes of Ricky Ponting.Copeland’s wicket boded well for Lyon, and he knew the surface would offer plenty of help. Replacing his fellow debutant at the pavilion end, Lyon placed the field with the help of his captain Michael Clarke, spun the ball from hand to hand one more time and set off to bowl to Kumar Sangakkara and his 8438 Test runs. Seconds later he was engulfed by his team-mates, having delivered a venomous off break that touched Sangakkara’s edge and was held low at slip by Clarke. Few spin bowlers can operate successfully without a strong relationship with their captain, and the Lyon-Clarke union could scarcely have made a better start. Lyon will never forget it.The rest of the morning passed wicketless for Lyon but the portents were all there. He turned the ball quickly and with bounce, varied the degree of spin and pace, and maintained a balance between looping his deliveries to invite a drive and preventing the batsmen from taking too many liberties. The lack of scoring chances produced a pivotal run-out, when Tharanga Paranavitana punched to point and Mahela Jayawardene was left short by Copeland’s crafty back-hand throw to Brad Haddin.Such run-outs have been rare for the Australian teams of recent summers, and they went the entire Ashes without one. The support Lyon enjoyed in the field was unconditional, keeping the Sri Lankan batsmen on their heels and seeking out opportunities with a hunger at least partly inspired by the recruitment of Steve Rixon as fielding coach. Lyon also contributed, demonstrating a decent arm from the outfield and throwing himself about whenever necessary. The Argus review had said that fielding “has extra significance, as in the panel’s view fielding standards reflect the attitude and professionalism of the team”. Lyon benefited from a group that caught everything, curtailed Sri Lanka’s scoring and manufactured a run-out. It was as significant to his fortunes as the pitch.The problems inherent in the surface cannot pass without comment, particularly given that Lyon is a groundsman by trade. Michael Hussey and Ponting have both been heard to say they have never seen a drier pitch, while local opinion is that it may have been underprepared after the strip was relaid mid-year. Galle is known to turn from the first day, but has never offered such extremes of bounce. As a spinner, Lyon would love to wrap up the pitch and take it everywhere. As a groundsman he would be less enthusiastic.Beginning after lunch with figures of 1 for 16, Lyon returned as Shane Watson squeezed the Sri Lankans with a spell that would break their batting. The combination of reverse swing and treacherous spin was familiar from previous subcontinent visits, and the wiles of India in particular, but this time Australia were gleeful to be employing rather than receiving. Watson’s incisions offered Lyon the chance to attack the tail, and he claimed the last four wickets for as many runs in two overs. Lyon’s fifth wicket arrived via a return catch so athletic as to be reminiscent of a leaping goalkeeper, and in his riotous celebration could be seen the attitude his mentor Mark Higgs has spoken so warmly about.”Every hurdle that’s been set in front of him he’s been able to get over, and get over it well, so I can’t see why he wouldn’t do it again,” Higgs said of 23-year-old Lyon before the Test. “I’d like to see him get an opportunity at some stage. If he’s ready now, he’s ready now. If they need him on a turning wicket I think he can be effective. We’ve seen a lot of guys get picked for Australia on a few opportunities and Nathan’s now another one of those, and hopefully he will do well. I think he will – he’s got a great personality for it.”That personality meant there were plenty of cricketers, friends and observers happy to celebrate Lyon’s hand in razing Sri Lanka for 105. His was the best analysis by an Australian on debut since another offspinner took a remarkable 8 for 215 against India on a Nagpur turner in 2008. Lyon can only hope for a future more successful than the subsequent path taken by Jason Krejza, and other spin bowlers since Shane Warne. At least in terms of epithets, “Lionheart” sounds more promising than “Krazy” ever did.

ESPNcricinfo presents Plays of the Day from the second day of the third Test between England and India at Edgbaston

Andrew Miller at Edgbaston11-Aug-2011Omen of the day

With 207 catches to his credit, the highest in Test cricket by a non-wicketkeeper, Rahul Dravid could be said to possess the world’s safest pair of hands. But that crown would seem a misfit if you have seen Dravid put down some easy catches in this series. So far his drop count stands at five: at Lord’s, on the first day, he gave Jonathan Trott two chances, even if MS Dhoni shared some blame for the second. In the first innings at Trent Bridge, he made good ground to get to a chance from Ian Bell but the ball slipped out as he fell on his elbow. Today Bell was given another helping hand by Dravid. Sreesanth had bowled a nice awayswinger to get an edge, but the ball hit Dravid at the base of his wrists and popped out. An even simpler chance came Dravid’s way off Eoin Morgan’s edge in the last over of the day. Dravid grabbed at the ball though and floored it, and immediately threw his cap down in disgust.Failed appeal of the day

Sreesanth came up with a wonderful delivery that pitched and moved just that bit away from Kevin Pietersen’s bat. He then charged, determined and assured, like a 4×100 metre relay runner who had won the gold medal, with his right hand index finger raised high and upright, towards MS Dhoni and the slips. Pietersen, bemused, walked away staring at Sreesanth. Simon Taufel, the Australian umpire, did not move. Dhoni asked for a review. Hot Spot could not locate any edge as the ball had brushed the pad on its way to Dhoni.Non-performer of the day

Clearly that honour should go to Amit Mishra. Granted the legspinner was playing his first match of the series and hence could be given some leeway. But eight no-balls was going too far as Mishra kept sliding his landing foot in front of the popping crease. In fact, the only wicket he got on the day, bowling Strauss round his legs, should also have been called for an overstep, but Taufel, who had called him four times previously, missed the one that mattered. In his previous 11 Tests, Mishra had transgressed the line an incredible 61 times. By contrast, in their past 11 Tests, England as a team have bowled just 39 no-balls.Slow reaction of the day

Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity is one of sport’s modern miracles, but on a day as one-sided as this, he couldn’t help but look every one of his 38 years. A sprightlier presence at midwicket would surely have curtailed Alastair Cook’s innings to 165, when Ishant Sharma – returning for a new spell – found some rare aggression on a good length, and lured Cook into a looping leading edge. Tendulkar, however, barely even flinched as the ball plopped harmlessly to the turf two metres in front of him. He claimed he had been unsighted, but perhaps that was selectively so. After all, there’s a time and a place for straining the hamstrings and flinging oneself headlong to the turf. At 405 for 3 in the 101st over, it’s probably neither.Clanger of the day

Four overs later, it was Eoin Morgan’s turn for a reprieve, but this one was rather more straightforward. Quite what Sreesanth was doing at point is anyone’s guess, but when Morgan climbed into a loose cut off Ishant, the ball slapped straight into his palms and out again. To add to the indignity, the batsman scampered a single as a boisterous crowd roared its approval, and Sreesanth was instantly banished to the boundary’s edge to contemplate his sin. He didn’t have long to think before the ball came his way again, however. Another cut, this time, from Cook, rolled gently into the deep, leading to a massive ironic cheer as Sreesanth this time gathered properly.

India’s opposition has given them all possible indicators as to how turnarounds, while difficult, are neither impossible nor complicated

Sharda Ugra at The Oval18-Aug-2011On a tour when much has rained down on India – bad planning, injuries, woeful form – the English summer skies finally opened up too. Play was washed out after lunch, probably in protest against the visitors’ poor first session on the opening day of the Oval Test. It brought a halt to the one-sided proceedings after England’s openers had motored along to 75 for no loss and set in motion more questions about where the Indian team was headed.At the moment, in real terms, down the hatch. If this series has brought anything for Indian cricket, it would have to be the awareness that their golden age is slipping away faster than they imagined it would. To be in England when this is happening is fortuitous: India’s opposition has given them indicators as to how turnarounds, while difficult, are neither impossible nor complicated. They may just take a while.Ask Peter Moores, who coached England at their most tumultuous four years ago. Taking over from Duncan Fletcher, he headed straight into a commotion that looked like it belonged to an airport novel. Moores is widely regarded as the man who re-established the link between the first-class game and the England team, re-opening doors for James Anderson and Graeme Swann, introducing Ryan Sidebottom into the elite set-up and also hiring key members of his support staff: Andy Flower as batting coach, Ottis Gibson as bowling coach and Richard Halsall as fielding coach. Of the three, Gibson has left England to coach West Indies but Flower is now the alpha male of the support staff, with Halsall one of his deputies.On the outside, however, Moores’ 18 months with England looked like one dramatic turn of events after another: in the summer of 2007, India won their first series in England after 21 years, Michael Vaughan quit as captain in the middle of a series a year later and a theatrical bust-up with new captain Kevin Pietersen followed at the end of 2008 which resulted in both Moores and Pietersen being removed from their jobs.Moores today coaches Lancashire, who are currently heading the County Championship table and are in line to win their first title since 1950 (when it was shared with Surrey), and he watches the England team with great satisfaction. He believes the links between the first-class game and the England set-up have played their own part in the rise to the No. 1 position.”We see players come in from first-class cricket and do well straight away. Matthew Prior is one person who came up, we’ve seen Jonathan Trott come through, Eoin Morgan… I think you see many more players come into the England side and be successful. That’s quite a big credit to county cricket.”The high standard was best reflected, he believed, in the opinion of the overseas pros in county cricket, “We’ve asked them [the overseas players] what they think of the standard and they say, it’s strong, it’s competitive. I think you need strong links between the two because the players at first-class level need to know what’s expected of them if they go up to international cricket. I think those links have got stronger, and I think they need to stay stronger if England are going to remain the force in world cricket.”Along with the first-class feeder line he said elite teams needed good structures around them, “I don’t think it’s come by a fluke, there’s been a lot of hard work behind the scenes and of course Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have done a fantastic job to manage the side. In order to become successful, you need a good support structure and a lot of good support staff around you. You need good players and you need depth. What England have got now is not just good players within the team but they have also got depth outside.”From this position, England, he believes, wants to “leave a legacy and become one of the teams of this era. We’ve seen the West Indies do that, we’ve seen Australia do that, we’ve seen India dominate over the past couple of years. I think we’ll see that England want to try and do that, to stay at No. 1. To do that, that needs a lot of hard work. The only way it will ever happen is if there’s a drive and hunger within the set-up to do it. And it sounds like it is.”India’s challenges, Moores says, lie not in any shortage of talent but in how it is identified and handled. India’s big question was finding replacements for its high-quality Test batsmen. “Which batsmen are going to replace the quality of the likes of Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid and their maturity as Test match players?” Moores says, “No one has done it yet, come from being a good one-day player into a good Test match player. So can the likes of Raina, or someone like that, fill the boots of some of those obviously outstanding Test match players? That is going to be the challenge for India over the coming time. India are always going to have a big pool to select from – they have got to make sure they select the right players.”The one England batsman Moores believes can become the best ‘crossover’ player from ODI to the Test format is Eoin Morgan. “Morgan is one person who has made his mark in ODI cricket, and has now established himself as a Test match player. If he comes through and ends up being a very good Test match player, he’d be the one who actually does it. The normal route is to become a good first-class player and then you adapt that game to the one-day game.”The lure of the shorter formats, Moores said, was powerful and “for every nation that wants to be strong in both formats, you have to try and make sure you create good opportunities for people to be successful for both formats. And that the incentives for Test match cricket remain strong enough for people to want to do the work to become a very good Test match player.”It is where India must look ahead, not merely four months down the road when they tour Australia but perhaps four years down the line, when they return to England.