Australia v South Africa - Series Preview

Any Australia v South Africa clash is always highly anticipated, and both sides enter this series with a point to prove and with captains under a certain amount of pressure. Australia have never won an ATG series against the Proteas, and it was the 3-1 defeat in South Africa last season that brought Bradman's reign as captain to an end. Present incumbent Richie Benaud has since led the team to a successful Ashes defence followed by a 3-0 win over New Zealand, but his personal form has hit rock bottom during this time - 87 runs @ 12.43 and 20 wickets @ 44.10 - and he will know that he must perform in this series or face the consequences.

South Africa's last outing was their traumatic 3-1 defeat in the Caribbean, a series that saw them fatally exposed against pace, with the nadir reached in Antigua when they were bowled out for 30, the lowest total ever recorded in ATG history. Trevor Goddard has been at the helm for each and every one of South Africa's 49 ATG Tests, but like Benaud he too is now under pressure, and he will need his team to perform at a far higher level than they did against West Indies if he is to hold on to his job.

As far as the rest of the South African squad is concerned, the main talking points have been the omission of Mike Procter and the inclusion, for the first time, of Hansie Cronje. Procter has paid the price for an alarming loss of form against West Indies, whilst Cronje's selection has divided opinion, given the match-fixing baggage that accompanies him. There has even been talk that he could be given the captaincy should the selectors decide to call time on Goddard's reign, a scenario that really would raise eyebrows around the cricket world.

South Africa Squad
TL Goddard (c), AD Nourse (v/c), NAT Adcock, KC Bland, WJ Cronje, DJ Cullinan, AA Donald, PS Heine, DT Lindsay, NBF Mann, BM McMillan, PM Pollock, RG Pollock, BA Richards, DJ Richardson, HJ Tayfield.

Sri Lanka v England - Inaugural Test

P Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo

Sri Lanka: S Wettimuny, RS Mahanama, AP Gurusinha, PA De Silva, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, DS De Silva, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, RJ Ratnayake.
England: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, WR Hammond, KF Barrington, MC Cowdrey, IT Botham, +RW Taylor, GAR Lock, DL Underwood, JB Statham, RGD Willis.

Debuts: SRI - All
Umpires: AR Crafter (AUS) & VK Ramaswamy (IND)
Toss: England

Fresh from their highly successful tour of India, England were the opponents for Sri Lanka's inaugural ATG Test, and although expectations were high on the island, the real hope was that the home team could simply put up a fight and not embarrass itself in the nation's first foray into the ATG world. A minor relief for Arjuna Ranatunga's team was the absence of Ames and Laker from the tourists' team sheet - with Godfrey Evans also injured, Bob Taylor was an eleventh hour replacement behind the stumps - but that relief was short lived as England totally dominated the first two days in Colombo.

With Len Hutton making it an incredible six out of six for the tour at the toss, England prospered on a perfect surface with Hutton himself leading the way by batting through the entire first day for a methodical and faultless 152, and with Hammond posting 128 England reached stumps on day one at an imposing 395-3. None of Sri Lanka's bowlers had been able to exert any control - the part time spin of Aravinda De Silva was as threatening as anything and actually picked up the wicket of Hammond - and it was the same story on day two, with Colin Cowdrey's third ATG hundred enabling Hutton to declare at lunch with the scoreboard reading 557-6.

Tillakaratne's stunning catch at point to dismiss Botham (38) off the bowling of Rumesh Ratnayake was just about the only highlight in the field for Sri Lanka, and there was to be no redemption with the bat as the Lankans showed great naivety with a succession of rash strokes that saw the innings fold for just 178 early on the third morning. England took their catches well, and only Wettimuny, who batted over two hours for his 31, showed any meaningful resistance. Following on a massive 379 in arrears, a defeat inside three days loomed large for the debutants, and when Willis and Statham reduced Sri Lanka's second innings to 68-4, the writing was on the wall.

Wettimuny clung on for the second time in the match and deservedly posted the Lankans first ever fifty, but after three more hours at the crease he finally lost patience and skied Underwood to Willis on the boundary for 52, and with most of the evening session still to play the hosts stood on the precipice at 108-5, still 271 behind. However, it was at this point that the Sri Lankans finally started to rally, and led by a pugnacious 70 from skipper Ranatunga they finally showed that they might just be able to compete at this level. 77 runs were added for the sixth wicket between Ranatunga and Tillakaratne, then Tillakaratne and Kaluwitharana carried on the fight into the fourth day with a stirring, boundary laden partnership of 147, and the growing sense of pride around the Saravanamuttu Stadium was almost tangible.

Kaluwitharana eventually gave Underwood a return catch having made a wonderful 72, but Tillakaratne went on to complete Sri Lanka's maiden ATG hundred before finally punching a weary drive off Willis straight to Barrington at mid off for a memorable 125. Tillakaratne was ninth out, and when Dharmasena holed out in the next over, bowled by Lock, it was all over. Sri Lanka had totalled a commendable 377 second time around, and although this left them an agonising two runs short of making England bat again, their second innings fightback had restored much of the pride that had been dented over the course of the first two days.

Once the likes of Muralitharan, Vaas, Jayawardene, and co. are eligible for ATG selection, Sri Lanka will most likely be reasonably competitive at this level, but until that time it is likely to be a long, hard road for the islanders. However, they showed enough spirit with the bat here to suggest that they might be able to bloody a few noses, and when their Test schedule resumes next season they will certainly be ready and eager for the fight.

Scores
England 1st Inns 557-6 dec. (Hutton 152, Cowdrey 130, Hammond 128)
Sri Lanka 1st Inns 178
Sri Lanka 2nd Inns 377 (Tillakaratne 125, Kaluwitharana 72, Ranatunga 70, Wettimuny 52)

ENGLAND WON BY AN INNINGS & 2 RUNS


Man of the Match: HP Tillakaratne

India v England - Series Summary

After the opening two Tests had resulted in high scoring draws, it looked as though we were in for a good, old-fashioned Indian series, played on dead pitches designed to break bowlers' hearts, but in Bangalore it all changed. Gavaskar's decision to bat on a slightly damp wicket backfired, India were bowled out inside a day, and England won by an innings to seize an initiative which they never relinquished for the remainder of the series.

Before Bangalore, Gavaskar's leadership of the team was unquestioned; India entered the series with a chance to rise above Australia in the rankings, and his record breaking 415* in Ahmedabad seemed to place him at the pinnacle of his trade. There were murmurings to the effect that he should have pressed for victory rather than for records, but they remained murmurings, that is until the disaster in Bangalore, after which both his innings and that of the team as a whole were suddenly derided as folly. A second heavy defeat at Nagpur only served to exacerbate the situation, despite Gavaskar's own defiant century, and just two Tests after beating Bradman's record, Gavaskar was dethroned as captain.

Whether Pataudi will take the team to New Zealand is unclear, but there will undoubtedly be a clear out in the ranks before that tour. The spin of Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar simply wasn't a factor over the course of the series, and the quest continues for a settled opening partner for Gavaskar, assuming of course that his services are actually retained. One positive to come out of the series for India was the all-round form of Kapil Dev, and one wonders whether he may finally be making the breakthrough at this level.

As far as England are concerned, a 3-0 series victory must have been beyond their wildest dreams, especially after conceding almost 1400 runs in two innings over the course of the first two Tests. India's submission at the hands of Laker on the first day in Bangalore was the turning point of the series, and the partnership of Laker and Underwood proved irresistible from that point onward, with Underwood never having bowled better throughout his ATG career. Bob Willis provided some incisive pace back-up in the last two Tests, but the contributions of the remainder of England's seam attack were decidedly muted.

England's batting was extremely consistent, with the first day failure in the final Test the only poor performance of the series; even then, the tourists redeemed themselves with 526 in the second innings. Hutton led from the front with a number of solid innings, and whilst the top six all made significant contributions, it was Les Ames at number seven who was the real revelation, with his unbeaten 165 in the final Test a real tour de force. Whilst it must be said that Ames' keeping was inconsistent, it would appear that any hopes harboured by Alan Knott for a return to the team any time soon will have to remain on hold.

India Batting

	M	I	No	Runs	HS	Avge	100	50
SM Gavaskar	5	9	1	637	415*	79.63	2	-
M Azharuddin	5	8	-	356	179	44.50	1	1
VS Hazare	5	9	1	355	127	44.38	1	2
M Amarnath	2	4	-	174	70	43.50	-	2
Kapil Dev	5	8	2	244	91	40.67	-	1

India Bowling

	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5I	10M
VS Hazare	46.1	128	6	21.33	2-24	-	-
SP Gupte	64.0	210	8	26.25	5-173	1	-
Kapil Dev	203.0	622	19	32.74	5-78	1	-
EAS Prasanna	124.2	345	8	43.13	4-73	-	-
BS Bedi	171.0	456	10	45.60	4-121	-	-

England Batting

	M	I	No	Runs	HS	Avge	100	50
LEG Ames	5	7	2	454	165*	90.80	2	2
WR Hammond	5	8	1	500	115	71.43	2	3
L Hutton	5	8	-	420	130	52.50	2	2
JB Hobbs	5	8	-	364	174	45.50	1	1
MC Cowdrey	5	7	-	314	72	44.86	-	3

England Bowling

	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5I	10M
RGD Willis	48.2	167	7	23.86	3-56	-	-
DL Underwood	244.3	609	23	26.48	8-74	2	-
JC Laker	206.3	606	20	30.30	7-41	2	1
JB Statham	103.0	260	5	52.00	3-25	-	-
IT Botham	144.0	498	7	71.14	2-51	-	-

ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 3-0

Players of the Series: Kapil Dev & DL Underwood