Gideon's Cricket World

A new project

2010-04-08T11:07:00.000-04:00

I'm giving the 'pure' ATG Tests a rest for now, but I have another ATG project already up and running, involving the top teams from history, according to the ICC ratings. At the current time I don't think I'll be posting the results here, but write-ups and results can be found over at the Home of British Sports Replay Gaming forum; look for the thread marked ICC ATG Test Championship.

Thanks for looking in.

Season I - VI Complete Statistical Review

2010-02-13T17:34:00.006-05:00

Six seasons of ATG cricket are now in the book, and the following files provide a statistical review of all the Tests played since England and Australia first took the field at Trent Bridge, some 231 Tests ago.

If you'd like to download the stats as one handy PDF file, make your way to the Home of British Sports Replay Gaming, and look for the post titled ATG Cricket Statistical Review in the 'Cricket' folder.

Pages 1 & 2

Pages 3 & 4

Pages 5 & 6

Pages 7 & 8

Pages 9 & 10

Season VI Statistical Summary

2010-02-07T01:12:00.004-05:00

The Test in Kandy between Sri Lanka and Australia brought down the curtain on the sixth season of ATG cricket; click on the image below for a statistical summary of the season.

Season VI Statistical Summary (click to enlarge)

Sri Lanka v Australia - Only Test

2010-02-03T17:11:00.007-05:00

Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy

Sri Lanka: MS Atapattu, UC Hathurusingha, AP Gurusinha, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, GP Wickramasinghe.
Australia: WM Woodfull, AR Morris, *IM Chappell, GS Chappell, SR Waugh, KD Walters, +RW Marsh, RR Lindwall, SK Warne, CV Grimmett, GD McGrath.

Debuts: MS Atapattu (SL); IM Chappell, KD Walters, SK Warne & GD McGrath (AUS)
Umpires: HD Bird (ENG) & S Kishen (IND)
Toss: Australia

Australia sent what was very much a shadow squad on this, their first ever trip to Sri Lanka, but with the illustrious quartet of Ian Chappell, Doug Walters, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath all making their debuts the team was hardly weakened. Ian Chappell also had the honour of captaining the side, and he rounded off a memorable first day by sharing in a century stand with brother Greg before completing a chanceless hundred off just 133 balls shortly after tea. Australia lost five wickets in the final session though, subsiding from 254-3 to 319-8 in the process, but on a dry and cracked pitch Messrs Warne and Grimmett were expected to put a seemingly disappointing score into a somewhat different perspective on day two.

Ian Chappell made the perfect start to what is likely
to be a short-lived career as Australian captain

Australia were eventually bowled out on the second morning for 346, a challenging if not dominant total on this pitch, and after the opening pair of Atapattu - on debut - and Hathurusingha both fell in the 20s, Gurusinha and de Silva upped the pace and took the score to 143-2 before Lindwall bowled both of them in consecutive overs before tea. Lindwall was by far the pick of the Australian attack at this stage, but in the evening session McGrath finally found his rhythm and wickets continued to fall. Tillakaratne held firm though, and in partnership with Ravi Ratnayeke he set about salvaging the innings from the depths of 215-7. Their eighth wicket partnership had reached exactly 100 before McGrath finally induced a catch in the gully to dismiss the battling Ratnayeke - who had been dropped by Woodfull when on 5 - for 49 shortly after lunch on day three, but Tillakaratne was able to press on to a thoroughly deserved century, and Sri Lanka secured their first ever first innings lead as last man Wickramasinghe contributed a career best 24 to a last wicket stand of 53.

Lindwall apart, Australia had not bowled well, and Sri Lanka's total of 386 - the highest in their eight Test history - gave them a 40 run lead at the game's halfway stage. Australia's top three batsmen then all threw away starts as their second innings stuttered to 97-3, but day four of this see-sawing Test was dominated by the tourists as Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh got their heads down and batted with great composure to snuff out any chance the Lankans might have had of forcing victory.

Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh batted remorselessly on the fourth day

Both players reached three figures as their fourth wicket partnership swelled to 208, and with the pitch playing better than anyone had expected the home bowlers were unable to create a single chance. The score had moved on to 305-3 when Chappell finally departed, playing on for 113 in Wickramasinghe's second over with the second new ball, but Waugh continued on into the evening session and, along with Marsh, helped take the total past 400 before a late shower brought on the declaration, Sri Lanka being set the unlikely target of 371 to win in just over a day.

It was soon obvious that the draw was to be the limit of the hosts' ambitions, and by lunch on the final day they had progressed to 102-3, a score that meant the game was still very much in the balance. Shane Warne was enjoying an enthralling joust with Aravinda de Silva, and with his score on 49 Sri Lanka's pocket dynamo offered a chance to Greg Chappell at slip, but the ball went to ground and Sri Lanka had been thrown a lifeline. De Silva and Ranatunga batted on past tea, taking their fourth wicket partnership past the hundred mark in the process, and although Warne managed to complete his five-for on debut with three wickets, including de Silva for 94, in the evening session, Sri Lanka held on with relative ease for a morale boosting draw. Ranatunga was still there at the close, undefeated on 81 after four and a half hours at the crease, and Season 6 ends on note of unexpected optimism for ATG cricket's new boys.

It was de Silva to the rescue as Sri Lanka secured an honourable draw

Score Summary
AUS 1st Inns 346 (IM Chappell 104, GS Chappell 52, Waugh 43)
SL 1st Inns 386 (Tillakaratne 131*, PA de Silva 49, Ratnayeke 49, Gurusinha 43; McGrath 4-102)
AUS 2nd Inns 410-6 dec. (Waugh 128, GS Chappell 113, Morris 49, Marsh 42*)
SL 2nd Inns 295-6 (PA de Silva 94, Ranatunga 81*; Warne 5-86)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - Australia 1st innings 319-8 (Warne 5*; 99 ov)
Day 2 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 243-7 (Tillakaratne 57*, Ratnayeke 10*; 80 ov)
Day 3 - Australia 2nd innings 113-3 (GS Chappell 6*, Waugh 10*; 32.4 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 8-0 (Atapattu 2*, Hathurusingha 6*; 4 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 295-6 (105 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Sri lanka's 386 in the first innings is their highest ever total
▪ Tillakaratne and Ratnayeke's partnership of 100 is Sri Lanka's highest for the eighth wicket
▪ Sri Lanka took a 1st innings lead for the first time
▪ IM Chappell is the sixth Australian, and eighteenth overall, to score a century on debut and the first player to captain on debut, other than in a country's inaugural Test
▪ SK Warne is the first Australian, and eleventh overall, to take five wickets in an innings on debut
▪ GS Chappell made his 50th appearance for Australia

Man of the Match: HP Tillakaratne

West Indies v India - Series Summary

2010-01-22T20:07:00.006-05:00

WEST INDIES WON THE SERIES 3-1
Whilst West Indies eventually took the series at a canter it must be remembered that India gave them a run for their money to begin with, winning the first Test in Jamaica and then holding on heroically for the draw in Trinidad. It was not until Curtly Ambrose came to the fore in the second half of the series that West Indies really asserted their authority, and with Garner and Marshall also finding their form in the latter stages it was a barrage of relenting pace that finally did for the Indians.

The recalled George Headley led the run scoring for the hosts, almost half his runs coming in one innings in Guyana (but what an innings!) and Viv Richards looked to be rediscovering his best form by the end of the series after what had been a somewhat extended slump. The opening positions are still up for grabs though, with neither Greenidge nor new boy Lawrence Rowe able to stake a solid claim, and whilst Dujon continued to provide valuable runs down the order - indeed, he actually topped the batting averages - his displays behind the stumps were somewhat below par.

If truth be told, neither side fielded particularly well, but whilst West Indies were able to compensate the Indians' poor out cricket went a long way to costing them the series. The tourists dropped sixteen catches over the course of the five games and with their bowling, Prasanna apart, lacking any sort of penetration, this was simply unacceptable. Gavaskar's stellar form with the bat papered over the cracks to some extent, but the likes of Pataudi, Manjrekar and Umrigar hit as many lows as they did highs, and the way in which India's batting simply disintegrated in the last two Tests would have been a source of both concern and embarrassment for the selectors.

West Indies' eighth consecutive series win guarantees that they will end Season VI on top of the rankings, whilst India remain in sixth place and are now in danger of being overtaken by perennial basement dwellers, New Zealand. For now though the focus switches to Sri Lanka, where Australia's visit for a one-off Test brings the season to a close.

Series Averages
(click to enlarge)

Players of the Series: CEL Ambrose & SM Gavaskar

West Indies v India - Fifth Test

2010-01-19T12:39:00.009-05:00

Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's

West Indies: CG Greenidge, LG Rowe, GA Headley, IVA Richards, CL Walcott, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, AME Roberts, MA Holding, CEL Ambrose.
India: SM Gavaskar, M Prabhakar, DB Vengsarkar, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, +SMH Kirmani, J Srinath, EAS Prasanna, BKV Prasad.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: Mahboob Shah (PAK) & RS Dunne (NZL)
Toss: West Indies

Having started the tour so well it all came down to a case of do or die for India in Antigua, but the momentum was now firmly with West Indies, a draw being enough to secure an eighth successive series victory. Injury meant that Worrell, Garner and Griffith all remained in Barbados, but the selectors were able to call on the handy trio of Walcott, Marshall and Roberts as replacements, and Pataudi's incorrect call at the toss allowed Garry Sobers' team first use of a hard, glistening surface at the ARG.

Lawrence Rowe's 80 turned out to be
the highest innings of a low scoring match

The strokemakers were expected to be favoured on such a pitch, but 13 wickets fell on a dramatic first day as West Indies were bowled out for 314 and then responded by reducing the Indians to a precarious 13-3 by the close. The early part of the hosts' innings was built around Lawrence Rowe's first ATG fifty, and when he was out for 80, bowled by one that Prasanna held back a touch, two further fifties from Sobers - his first of the series - and Dujon combined with a boisterous 31 from Roberts to steer the innings past 300.

India's bowlers had performed well although the tail somewhat gifted Prasanna a five wicket haul, but their fielding had again been poor. Both Rowe (on 66 at the time) and Dujon (on 28) were given lives when Prasad and Kirmani respectively grassed a pair of simple catches - Kirmani's fumble off the bowling of Prabhakar was a real howler - and this profligacy was compounded when Marshall removed both Gavasakar and Manjrekar with what turned out to be the last two balls of the day, leaving the tourists deep in the mire. Vengsarkar and Umrigar threatened to stage a recovery on day two, but from the relative heights of 60-3 the innings fell apart as the spin of Sobers picked apart a batting order that was being traumatised by pace from the other end, and West Indies' skipper finished with the eyebrow-raising figures of 5-11 from 9.5 overs as India crumbled to 101 all out, equalling their lowest ever total in the process.

Sobers' bowling came off the sidelines
to devastating effect on the second day

India had batted very poorly and were asked to follow-on some 213 runs in arrears, but led by a confident innings of 79 from Vengsarkar they made a much better fist of things second time round, and had progressed to 174-4 when Vengsarkar lost his middle stump to Marshall late on the second evening. There were no further casualties before the close, but on the third morning the rampaging Marshall simply tore through the lower order like a tornado through Texas, and when hostilities ceased the Indians had been bowled out for 196 to hand West Indies victory by an innings and 17 runs before we had even reached lunch.

Marshall's analysis of 5-12 from 16.3 overs ensured that most onlookers now had both eyebrows firmly elevated, and at the hastily arranged presentation ceremony the Indian players milled around in a near catatonic state as the magnitude of their defeat began to sink in. After starting the series in such positive fashion they had been bowled out for under 200 in each of their last four innings, and the final two Tests were completed in less than five days put together. The four-pronged pace attack fielded by West Indies after their shock defeat in the first Test gradually wore down the Indians' resolve, and the denouement here in Antigua tightens still further West Indies' grip on the number one position in the ATG world.

Malcolm Marshall and Jeff Dujon, two of the main
architects of West Indies' victory in both match and series

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 314 (Rowe 80, Sobers 62, Dujon 50; Prasanna 5-55)
IND 1st Inns 101 (Sobers 5-11)
IND 2nd Inns 196 (Vengsarkar 79, Gavaskar 46; Marshall 5-12, Ambrose 4-47)

WEST INDIES WON BY AN INNINGS & 17 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - India 1st innings 13-3 (Vengsarkar 4*; 5 ov)
Day 2 - India 2nd innings 179-5 (Pataudi 18*, Kapil Dev 4*; 48 ov)
Day 3 - India 2nd innings 196 (62.3 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ India's 101 in the first innings equals their lowest ever total
▪ Ambrose passed 100 career wickets
▪ This was the shortest ever completed Test match, both in terms of time (14 hours and 19 minutes) and of overs bowled (189.3)
▪ West Indies have now won eight successive series

Man of the Match: MD Marshall

West Indies v India - Fourth Test

2010-01-16T12:48:00.008-05:00

Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

West Indies: CG Greenidge, LG Rowe, GA Headley, IVA Richards, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MA Holding, CC Griffith, CEL Ambrose, J Garner.
India: SM Gavaskar, M Prabhakar, DB Vengsarkar, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, +SMH Kirmani, J Srinath, EAS Prasanna, BS Bedi.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: Mahboob Shah (PAK) & DJ Constant (ENG)
Toss: India

Whilst the late withdrawal of Malcolm Marshall with a hamstring strain may have disappointed the local fans, fellow Bajan Charlie Griffith was rushed into the side as a late replacement and the bowling of another favourite son of Barbados, Joel Garner, was to the fore as India's batting was destroyed on a remarkable first day at the Kensington Oval. Pataudi won the toss and batted on a pitch that promised to provide both pace and bounce, but he was soon regretting his decision when Gavaskar played on against Ambrose for just 2 in the sixth over. Garner then proceeded to tear through the middle order and when Prabhakar, who had been promoted to open in place of the axed Engineer, finally departed for 33 after two hours at the crease, India were 56-4 and in distinct trouble.

Fee, fi, fo, fum...Ambrose and Garner tore India apart on the first day

Umrigar dug in to provide a small ray of hope for the tourists, but wickets continued to tumble around him as Ambrose now wrought havoc, and shortly after tea India had been bowled out for just 129, Umrigar top-scoring with 35. Ambrose and Garner picked up five wickets apiece as the Indians emphatically failed to deal with West Indies' two giant fast men, but the hosts quickly stumbled to 75-4 in reply as Prabhakar and Srinath, who was making his first appearance of the series, continued the dominance of ball over bat. The West Indians had also been shaken by the sight of Frank Worrell being stretchered off the field after ducking into a ball from Prabhakar that didn't really get up, and although he is expected to make a full recovery, what was later revealed to be a hairline fracture of the skull means that Worrell will take no further part in the series.

So, with the score effectively 75-5 West Indies were now under unexpected pressure, but an epic innings from Viv Richards shifted the momentum firmly back in favour of the hosts over the course of the next couple of sessions. It could have been a different story had Prabhakar clung on to a sharp slip catch off Srinath before Richards had scored, and Prabhakar's error was to prove enormously costly as Richards set about dismantling an Indian attack that lacked the resources to take full advantage of the conditions in the manner of Ambrose and Garner. Richards was actually outscored initially by Dujon, who contributed a valuable fifty as West Indies moved past India's total before stumps on the first day, but on day two he took over as he blasted his way to a stunning century.

Viv Richards' vintage century scuppered any hopes of an Indian recovery

Richards' partnership with Dujon had been worth 87, and with Holding and Ambrose both contributing useful tail end runs West Indies were finally bowled out for 311 and a lead of 182, Richards remaining undefeated on 153, an innings that included eighteen fours and six sixes. India now had it all to do, but in a repeat of the events of the first day the tourists were pounded with pace and by close of play the scoreboard read a sorry looking 124-6, with only a valiant, unbeaten 80 from Gavaskar preventing total humiliation. He fell early on day three though, Ambrose picking him up for the second time in the match as Dujon reacted brilliantly to grab onto the ball on the rebound after Greenidge failed to hold on at first slip, and although Kirmani delayed the inevitable with a defiant innings of 47, India's final total of 187 meant that West Indies required just six runs to win.

With the match not even having reached its halfway stage, Greenidge and Rowe duly secured an emphatic ten wicket victory and along with it the series lead, and although Ambrose's first ever ten wicket haul gave him the man of the match award, Richards' pyrotechnic century will also live long in the memory. After beginning in such positive fashion India now face the prospect of ending the tour with nothing, and their powers of recovery will be put to the test when the teams meet in Antigua for the final match of what has been a highly entertaining series.

Score Summary
IND 1st Inns 129 (Ambrose 5-24, Garner 5-34)
WI 1st Inns 311 (Richards 153*, Dujon 57)
IND 2nd Inns 187 (Gavaskar 84, Kirmani 47; Ambrose 5-64)
WI 2nd Inns 6-0

WEST INDIES WON BY 10 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 159-4 (Richards 54*, Dujon 54*; 36 ov)
Day 2 - India 2nd innings 124-6 (Gavaskar 80*, Kirmani 8*; 40 ov)
Day 3 - West Indies 2nd innings 6-0 (1.5 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ West Indies recorded their first ever 10 wicket victory
▪ Richards passed 6000 career runs
▪ This was the shortest completed Test in terms of overs bowled (190.2)

Man of the Match: CEL Ambrose

West Indies v India - Tour Match

2010-01-14T16:23:00.006-05:00

Barbados XI v Indians
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
3 Day Game
Umpires: HBD Jordan & LH Barker
Toss: Barbados XI

Barbados XI: G Challenor, SL Campbell, SM Nurse, CA Best, JED Sealy, *JDC Goddard, DAJ Holford, +DA Murray, VA Holder, ST Clarke, WW Daniel.
Indians: SM Gavaskar, M Prabhakar, VL Manjrekar, VS Hazare, DB Vengsarkar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, +SMH Kirmani, J Srinath, EAS Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar.

India needed to regroup following their third Test defeat in Guyana, and on a placid strip at the Kensington Oval they played out a tame draw with John Goddard's Barbados XI ahead of the Test here later in the week.

The hosts batted with enterprise on the first day, with Carlisle Best slamming fifty off just 43 balls after the early loss of both openers, and after Best eventually went for 81 out of a stand of 137 with Seymour Nurse, a further 191 runs were piled on for the fourth wicket as Derek Sealy played second fiddle to the increasingly dominant Nurse. India's bowlers toiled in the unhelpful conditions as Nurse made his way to a confident century, but the pace of his scoring slowed somewhat as he approached 200, forcing Goddard to extend the innings almost until lunch on the second day in order for Nurse to reach his milestone.

Nurse's undefeated 200 dominated what
turned out to be a relatively mundane draw

Barbados had reached 412-4 when the declaration came, and in reply the Indians batted on past tea on the third and final day, paying scant regard to the match situation as they simply opted for what amounted to a glorified net session. Clarke, Daniel and Holder struggled to extract any life from what was by now a truly dead wicket, and it was the medium pace of Goddard and Sealy that posed the most telling questions as all bar Hazare of the Indians' top order got some runs under their belts.

Manjrekar's five and a half hour 90 was the most significant contribution for the tourists, whilst Pataudi's quickfire 69 provided the most entertainment as the Indians meandered their way to a final total of 355 in the game's final hour, the match ending as a draw with Barbados reaching 23-1 in their second innings. India would probably be very happy to play the Test on a similar pitch to the one used here, but with the series poised at 1-1 with two to play one can only speculate as to the instructions issued to the ground staff ahead of what promises to be a pivotal fourth Test match.

Score Summary
BAR XI 1st Inns 412-4 dec. (Nurse 200*, Best 81, Sealy 78)
IND 1st Inns 355 (Manjrekar 90, Pataudi 69)
BAR XI 2nd Inns 23-1

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - Barbados XI 1st innings 348-3 (Nurse 166*, Sealy 70*; 101 ov)
Day 2 - Indians 1st innings 129-4 (Manjrekar 33*, Pataudi 0*; 48.3 ov)
Day 3 - Barbados XI 2nd innings 23-1 (12 ov) - end of match

West Indies v India - Third Test

2009-12-16T00:13:00.007-05:00

Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana

West Indies: CG Greenidge, LG Rowe, GA Headley, IVA Richards, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, J Garner, CEL Ambrose.
India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, DB Vengsarkar, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, EAS Prasanna, BKV Prasad, BS Chandrasekhar.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: Mahboob Shah (PAK) & DJ Constant (ENG)
Toss: West Indies

Following their dramatic escape in Trinidad, the tourists would have no doubt been bracing themselves for a West Indian backlash in Guyana, and so it was to prove as the hosts piled on the runs over the course of the first two days. Sobers won an important toss given the benign nature of the pitch at the Bourda, and George Headley led the rout as West Indies piled up a daunting total of 596, 428 of which came on a breathless first day.

George Headley was in imperious form during his mammoth 285

Greenidge got the ball rolling with a rollicking 96 and Richards blitzed 52 off just 35 balls, the second quickest fifty in ATG history, but it was Headley who was to prove chief executioner. He gave ne'er a chance, and by the time he was finally dismissed by Kapil Dev on the second afternoon he had taken his score to 285, the second highest individual innings in West Indian history. India stumbled their way to 147-4 in reply, but centuries from the inevitable Gavaskar and captain Pataudi, along with a confident fifty from Kapil Dev, enabled the tourists to pick their way to 343-5 by the close on day three, just 54 short of saving the follow-on.

However, the innings crumbled at the hands of Holding and Marshall on the fourth morning, and the last five wickets tumbled for just 14 runs as India's tail succumbed to an inspired spell of hostile pace bowling to leave the tourists 34 runs short of saving the follow-on at 363 all out. Sobers invited the Indians to bat again, and by lunch two further wickets had fallen to make it seven for the session as India looked like they could be ready to hoist the white flag. Gavaskar had other ideas though, and with Manjrekar his willing ally 178 runs were posted for the third wicket as India fought back. Manjrekar went for 95 in the day's last half hour but Gavaskar's defences remained unbreached, and on the final morning he brought up his second century of the match and his third in successive innings as India took the lead.

West Indies must be getting sick of the sight of Sunil Gavaskar

Wickets were falling at the other end though, and the fate of the game had now come down to a delicate equation of runs versus time. By tea India were 335-7, a lead of 102, and another hour's batting would surely be enough to save the game. Ambrose now delivered perhaps the most telling spell of his ATG career though, and in the space of half an hour the final three wickets fell for the addition of only 12 further runs, Ambrose finishing with career best figures of 6-50. Gavaskar had carried his bat for 149 and had batted for an incredible 18 hours over the course of both innings, but if West Indies could knock off 115 runs in the 30 overs that remained then his efforts would have been all for nought.

Greenidge and Rowe provided a solid base with a partnership of 65 off 17 overs, and with Greenidge continuing on to his second fifty of the match the result was never in doubt. The winning runs came with 16 balls and 7 wickets to spare, and India's resolve had finally been broken after two Tests of heroic defence. That said, the series is still only level at 1-1, and after three engrossing Tests we now look forward to the second half of what could go down as a truly classic series.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 596 (Headley 285, Greenidge 96, Richards 52, Sobers 42; Prabhakar 4-114)
IND 1st Inns 363 (Pataudi 109, Gavaskar 105, Kapil Dev 61; Holding 4-82)
IND 2nd Inns 347 (Gavaskar 149*, Manjrekar 95; Ambrose 6-50)
WI 2nd Inns 116-3 (Greenidge 51*)

WEST INDIES WON BY 7 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 428-6 (Headley 183*, Marshall 9*; 99 ov)
Day 2 - India 1st innings 100-2 (Gavaskar 56*, Manjrekar 23*; 40 ov)
Day 3 - India 1st innings 343-5 (Pataudi 107*, Kapil Dev 54*; 118 ov)
Day 4 - India 2nd innings 227-4 (Gavaskar 93*, Pataudi 7*; 81 ov)
Day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 116-3 (27.2 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Headley's 285 is the second highest individual innings in West Indies' history
▪ Gavaskar is the ninth player, and third Indian, to score two hundreds in a Test and the second player, after JG Wright, to score three consecutive Test hundreds
▪ Gavaskar is the second player, after JB Hobbs, to carry his bat through a completed innings
▪ Sobers passed 5000 career runs
▪ Headley passed 2000 career runs
▪ Gavaskar and Manjrekar's partnership of 178 is India's highest for the third wicket against West Indies
▪ Richards' fifty off 35 balls is the second fastest in ATG history
▪ Dujon became the first wicketkeeper to reach 200 victims when he caught Prabhakar in India's 2nd innings

Man of the Match: GA Headley

West Indies v India - Second Test

2009-12-10T22:06:00.008-05:00

Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad

West Indies: CG Greenidge, LG Rowe, GA Headley, IVA Richards, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, CEL Ambrose, CA Walsh.
India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, VL Manjrekar, VS Hazare, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, EAS Prasanna, BKV Prasad, BS Chandrasekhar.

Debuts: LG Rowe (WI)
Umpires: RS Dunne (NZL) & BC Cooray (SL)
Toss: India

There were changes in both camps for the second Test; India dropped Ghavri in favour of Chandrasekhar, whilst West Indies went for extra pace, with Michael Holding coming in for Gibbs and Curtly Ambrose replacing the injured Garner. Lawrence Rowe would also make his debut in place of the under-performing Haynes.

Neither captain was happy with the surface prepared at the Queen's Park Oval, and it therefore came as no surprise when Pataudi inserted his opponents upon winning the toss. However, by the game's halfway stage it was West Indies that held the advantage, leading by 125 on first innings after India's bowlers failed to take advantage of the conditions. Rowe (43) and Headley (89) put on 101 for the second wicket, and after the innings slumped to 211-7 the eighth wicket pair of Dujon (98*) and Holding (52) contributed a national record 120 as West Indies totalled 362; four dropped catches didn't help the Indians cause either. In reply the tourists advanced to 176-3, but a torrid third afternoon saw the innings subside to 237 all out in the face of an unrelenting pace barrage, and as bravely as most of the Indians batted, Gavaskar's 85 was the only innings to make any significant impact in the runs department.

Headley batted superbly in both innings for West Indies

Greenidge went for a duck in the first over of West Indies' second innings, but Rowe and Headley put together their second hundred partnership of the match, and although Rowe again fell in the forties Headley, who had been dropped on 2, pressed on to complete a deserved century. India's attack simply lacked the necessary firepower to take advantage of the pitch conditions, and Viv Richards took full advantage as he ended his poor run by smashing a brutal, undefeated 124 out of a 203 partnership with Headley for the third wicket. Richards was also dropped, on 83, by Gavaskar in the slips, and when Sobers declared following Headley's dismissal midway through the fourth afternoon, West Indies led by 430 and India looked a tired and dispirited team.

Richards blasted his way back into form on the fourth day

Engineer, Manjrekar and Hazare all departed for single figures as the tourists slumped to 56-3 in their final innings, and although Gavaskar and Umrigar managed to progress the score to 118-3 by stumps, West Indies were still the overwhelming favourites going into the final day. India's fourth wicket pair remained resolute though, batting through the whole morning to take the total to 180-3, and a tempestuous afternoon session ended with the tourists still in with a chance of pulling off the greatest of escapes. Rowe spilled a simple chance to give Umrigar a life on 70, and on 99 Gavaskar survived a hugely confident shout for caught behind off the bowling of Marshall, a decision that allowed him to complete a wonderful hundred in the very next over. Umrigar also reached three figures before finally edging Marshall behind for 102, but his partnership with Gavaskar had spanned almost five and a half hours and had eaten up 72 overs in adding exactly 200 runs.

Umrigar's eighth Test hundred was also one of his finest

India took tea on 264-4 and now needed to survive for just another 35 overs, but Pataudi soon went for 9 and then Walsh claimed the crucial wicket of Gavaskar, caught by Rowe for 149, to leave the Indians on 294-6 with 22 overs remaining. Gavaskar had defied his opponents for more than eight hours, but his efforts now looked like they could all be in vain as West Indies closed in for the kill. Kapil Dev, Prabhakar and Prasanna all clung on gamely, but when the ninth wicket fell on 347 West Indies had sixteen deliveries left to complete the victory. Prasad and Chandrasekhar dug in, but with five balls remaining Ambrose seemed to have trapped Chandra plumb in front. Umpire Cooray remained unmoved though, and after playing and missing at the next three deliveries Chandra got bat on the final ball to secure the draw for India and hero status for himself. It was a suitably dramatic end to what had been one of the greatest of all Test matches, and India's lead in the series remains intact as the teams head to Guyana for the third match of what is proving to be a highly unpredictable series.

Just like a wall, they couldn't out Gavaskar at all...

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 362 (Dujon 98*, Headley 89, Holding 52, Rowe 43)
IND 1st Inns 237 (Gavaskar 85)
WI 2nd Inns 305-3 dec. (Richards 124*, Headley 123, Rowe 49)
IND 2nd Inns 352-9 (Gavaskar 149, Umrigar 102)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 296-7 (Dujon 65*, Holding 37*; 88 ov)
Day 2 - India 1st innings 156-3 (Gavaskar 77*, Umrigar 5*; 49 ov)
Day 3 - West Indies 2nd innings 102-1 (Headley 50*, Rowe 49*; 30 ov)
Day 4 - India 2nd innings 118-3 (Gavaskar 62*, Umrigar 32*; 35 ov)
Day 5 - India 2nd innings 352-9 (125 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Dujon and Holding's partnership of 120 is West Indies' highest for the eighth wicket
▪ India's 352-9 is their highest ever 4th innings total and the fourth highest overall

Man of the Match: SM Gavaskar

West Indies v India - Tour Match

2009-12-06T09:09:00.004-05:00

Trinidad & Tobago XI v Indians
Guaracara Park, Point-a-Pierre
4 Day Game
Umpires: CE Cumberbatch & RG Gosein
Toss: Trinidad & Tobago XI

Trinidad & Tobago XI: CA Roach, MC Carew, CA Davis, HA Gomes, GE Gomez, *GC Grant, BD Julien, +D Williams, IR Bishop, D Ramnarine, AH Gray.
Indians: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, VL Manjrekar, VS Hazare, RJ Shastri, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, EAS Prasanna, BKV Prasad, BS Chandrasekhar.

India maintained the momentum they gathered in Jamaica by routing Trinidad & Tobago in little more than two days at Guaracara Park, recording a comprehensive innings victory despite totalling only 274 themselves. Jackie Grant's Trinidad team emulated its national counterpart by batting very poorly in both innings on a pitch that could not be held to blame, and all the tourists' bowlers prospered as a result.

Kapil Dev bowled well in both innings as the
tourists recorded a comprehensive victory

The Trinidadians were bundled out for just 130 on the first day after Grant had won the toss and chosen to bat, Kapil Dev and Prasad picking up three wickets apiece as only a quickfire 40 from Gerry Gomez inconvenienced the visitors to any extent. India trailed by just fifteen by the time stumps were drawn, Gavaskar having made his way to a composed fifty, and a lead had been established when Tony Gray found Gavaskar's outside edge to dismiss him for 72 early on the second morning. Shastri, who had joined the squad as injury cover, and Pataudi followed soon after to leave the tourists rocking somewhat on 163-5, but Hazare's 66 coupled with a pair of bright cameos from Kapil Dev and Prabhakar helped take the total to 274 by the time the innings closed shortly before tea.

Gavaskar's 72 was the highest score
of a match where ball dominated bat

The tourists led by 144, and this was to prove enough as Trinidad & Tobago's second innings fell apart in even more spectacular fashion than its first. Openers Roach (53) and Carew (13) were the only batsmen to reach double figures, and after just forty minutes play on the third morning it was all over, with the hosts scraping together a total of just 110 to hand the Indians victory by an innings with over five sessions to spare, Kapil Dev the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-18. Attention now turns to the Test in Port-of-Spain, and Pataudi's team will be full of confidence after such a positive start to the tour.

Score Summary
T & T XI 1st Inns 130 (Gomez 40)
IND 1st Inns 274 (Gavaskar 72, Hazare 66)
T & T XI 2nd Inns 110 (Roach 53; Kapil Dev 4-18)

INDIANS WON BY AN INNINGS & 34 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - Indians 1st innings 115-2 (Gavaskar 59*, Hazare 11*; 34 ov)
Day 2 - Trinidad & Tobago XI 2nd innings 92-6 (Julien 0*, Williams 0*; 34 ov)
Day 3 - Trinidad & Tobago XI 2nd innings 110 (42.5 ov) - end of match

West Indies v India - First Test

2009-12-02T07:55:00.013-05:00

Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

West Indies: CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, GA Headley, IVA Richards, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, J Garner, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.
India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, VL Manjrekar, VS Hazare, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, KD Ghavri, EAS Prasanna, BKV Prasad.

Debuts: BKV Prasad (IND)
Umpires: RS Dunne (NZL) & BC Cooray (SL)
Toss: West Indies

India's dressing room looked more like a casualty ward in the build up to the first Test with Vengsarkar, Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Srinath all unavailable for selection, and it was a triumph of sorts for the tourists just to get eleven players on the field. However, India's seamers soon provided some respite as the ball swung on a rain-hit first morning, and after West Indies had won the toss and elected to bat on a flat, unblemished surface they soon found themselves reeling at 60-4 with both Headley and Richards departing for inglorious ducks. Worrell and Dujon fought back gamely with a brace of fifties, but Prasanna's marathon spell enabled Pataudi to maintain control, and with Dujon ninth out for a fighting 92 on his home ground a final total of 269 was a poor return given the batting surface.

Dujon's 92 helped save West Indies from
complete humiliation on the first day

Gavaskar and Engineer then put on 65 for India's first wicket, but with the spin of Sobers and Gibbs playing an unexpectedly prominent role, the tourists slumped to 92-4 by tea on day two. Manjrekar and Pataudi countered the threat by sweeping on sight, and the pair extended their gutsy partnership to 159 before Manjrekar was out hooking at Garner on the third morning just seven short of his century. Pataudi, playing a crucial innings for both himself and the team, managed to grind on to his third ATG hundred - the other two also came against West Indies - and when he finally edged Walsh behind for 126, Kapil Dev took over.

Kapil accumulated a sedate fifty off 107 balls, but following Pataudi's dismissal at 339-6 he scored at a run a ball as the tail all hung around for long enough to allow him to raise a wonderful hundred. West Indies did not field well - Pataudi was dropped on 63 and Dujon missed three possible stumping chances - and with the umpires most certainly favouring the batsmen Sobers led a disgruntled and frustrated team off the pitch when Kapil Dev was last man out for 123 early on the fourth morning. India's total of 456 had given them a lead of 183, but on a wicket that was still playing evenly, the hosts would have been looking to improve on their poor first innings performance with the hope of perhaps being able to put some pressure on the Indian batsmen on the final day.

Contrasting centuries from Pataudi and Kapil Dev
gave India a sizeable first innings advantage

However, West Indies were skittled for just 221 in what was quite frankly an embarrassing attempt at batting to save a Test match, and the Sabina Park faithful made their feelings increasingly clear as the day wore on. Fellow Jamaican George Headley played the only innings of substance, but with his score on 72 he became one of five victims for Prasanna when he clipped a simple catch to Hazare at midwicket, and whereas Manjrekar and Pataudi had played the spinners with aplomb in India's innings, the West Indian batsmen simply could not handle Prasanna. Haynes, Sobers and Dujon all perished to injudicious sweeps, and when last man Walsh holed out to Prasad - who had bowled very well on debut - India were left with a target of just 35 to complete a famous victory.

Gavaskar nearly took India home in the four overs that were possible on what was left of the fourth evening, but frustratingly everyone had to come back on the final morning in order for India to knock off the five remaining runs, everyone that is except the crowd, who stayed away en masse in protest at their team's shocking performance. India's nine wicket victory, one of the greatest shocks in ATG history, was consequently completed in front of empty stands, but Pataudi and his team did not care one jot. The batting frailties that were on show in New Zealand remain a huge problem for the West Indies, and despite their number one status they will now have to look very closely at themselves before the sides reconvene in Trinidad for what could be an explosive second Test.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 269 (Dujon 92, Worrell 73; Prasanna 4-60)
IND 1st Inns 456 (Pataudi 126, Kapil Dev 123, Manjrekar 93)
WI 2nd Inns 221 (Headley 72; Prasanna 5-51)
IND 2nd Inns 35-1

INDIA WON BY 9 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 246-8 (Dujon 78*, Gibbs 0*; 79.4 ov)
Day 2 - India 1st innings 192-4 (Manjrekar 60*, Pataudi 57*; 76 ov)
Day 3 - India 1st innings 452-9 (Kapil Dev 122*, Prasad 4*; 160 ov)
Day 4 - India 2nd innings 30-1 (Engineer 6*, Manjrekar 0*; 4 ov)
Day 5 - India 2nd innings 35-1 (7.5 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Pataudi passed 1000 career runs
▪ Prasanna passed 100 career wickets
▪ Manjrekar and Pataudi's partnership of 159 is India's highest for the fifth wicket against West Indies
▪ Hazare made his 50th appearance for India

Man of the Match: EAS Prasanna

West Indies v India - Tour Match

2009-11-28T18:49:00.008-05:00

Jamaica XI v Indians
Sabina Park, Kingston
4 Day Game
Umpires: D Sang Hue & EA Nicholls
Toss: Indians

Jamaica XI: AF Rae, JKC Holt, LG Rowe, EH Mattis, JC Adams, MLC Foster, +*FCM Alexander, NO Perry, FA Rose, R Gilchrist, BP Patterson.
Indians: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, DB Vengsarkar, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, J Srinath, KD Ghavri, BS Bedi.

Batsmen prospered on a featherbed at Sabina Park, and the Indians will not mind in the slightest if the surface prepared for the Test here plays in the same fashion. Gavaskar and Engineer opened up with a partnership of 112 after Pataudi won the toss and elected to bat, and whilst Engineer fell short of his century Gavaskar was not to be denied, advancing to 122 and adding 159 for the second wicket with Vengsarkar, who also reached three figures before stumps on the first day.

Will Dilip Vengsarkar be able to
carry his form into the Test arena?

Maurice Foster's off breaks were given an unusually extended run as Gerry Alexander struggled to exert any control in the field, and with contributions right down the card India's total had swelled to 523-9 when Pataudi declared at tea on day two. India's bowlers had plenty of runs to play with, but the Jamaican innings followed the same script as that of the tourists, with Rae's wonderfully fluent 92 paving the way for a dominant stand of 165 for the fourth wicket between Lawrence Rowe and Everton Mattis. Rowe was caught in the covers off Kapil Dev for 87 but the unheralded Mattis went on to raise a deserved hundred, and with rain twice halting play on day three Jamaica batted on into the fourth and final day before eventually closing on 448 at lunch.

Rae batted as well as anyone in compiling his 92

Ghavri did his chances of Test selection no harm at all by picking up four wickets, but India's fielding was below par, with three catches going to ground over the course of the innings, and this is something that will need to be improved upon ahead of the Tests. India chose to bat out the remainder of the day, Umrigar's undefeated 68 the highlight as they progressed to an inconsequential 180-4, and the tourists' batting looks in good shape ahead of the first Test.

Score Summary
IND 1st Inns 523-9 dec. (Vengsarkar 128, Gavaskar 122, Engineer 74, Manjrekar 40)
JAM XI 1st Inns 448 (Mattis 105, Rae 92, Rowe 87, Adams 48; Ghavri 4-73)
IND 2nd Inns 180-4 (Umrigar 68*)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - Indians 1st innings 354-2 (Vengsarkar 128*, Manjrekar 24*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - Jamaica 1st innings 93-1 (Rae 55*, Perry 0*; 25 ov)
Day 3 - Jamaica 1st innings 387-5 (Adams 34*, Foster 8*; 107 ov)
Day 4 - Indians 2nd innings 180-4 (51 ov) - end of match

West Indies v India - Series Preview

2009-11-22T14:29:00.006-05:00

The three previous clashes between West Indies and India have all been close affairs, West Indies emerging victorious by a 2-1 margin on each occasion, but India would do well to repeat such a scoreline this time around, given the form that has carried West Indies to seven consecutive series victories coupled with the expected recall of the likes of Richards, Marshall and Holding after they were rested for the tour of New Zealand. West Indies are understandably the hot favourites going into this series, but the consistent failure of the top of the batting order on the New Zealand trip does provide the Indians with perhaps the merest glimmer of hope.

The Indian squad contains just one new face in seam bowler Venkatesh Prasad, and Vijay Manjrekar has been entrusted with the number four position after his century on debut against Sri Lanka. Skipper Tiger Pataudi is under pressure following his recent run of failures with the bat, and he will be looking to rediscover the form when the sides last met in India when he topped the averages by some distance. The Indian squad contains three spinners in the shape of Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Prasanna, but with the selectors likely to pick two at most for the Tests the opening tour match in Jamaica should provide an insight into the tourists' plans.

Pataudi and Prasad, for different reasons, will
both be looking to prove a point on this tour

Current form (most recent result first)
West Indies WDWLW
India WLLDW

Previous series result
India 1 West Indies 2 (Season V; 3 Tests)

India Squad
MAK Pataudi (c), Kapil Dev (v/c), BS Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar, FM Engineer, SM Gavaskar, KD Ghavri, VS Hazare, SMH Kirmani, VL Manjrekar, M Prabhakar, BKV Prasad, EAS Prasanna, J Srinath, PR Umrigar, DB Vengsarkar.

Itinerary
- Tour Match v Jamaica
- 1st TEST (Jamaica)
- Tour Match v Trinidad and Tobago
- 2nd TEST (Trinidad)
- 3rd TEST (Guyana)
- Tour Match v Barbados
- 4th TEST (Barbados)
- 5th TEST (Antigua)

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Series Summary

2009-11-21T17:29:00.006-05:00

NEW ZEALAND WON THE SERIES 1-0
Being able to write 'New Zealand won' is a rare event in the ATG world, but it happened twice when Jack Cowie took the final wicket in Hamilton, with New Zealand's victory there - just their sixth in 55 Tests - sealing their first ever series success. The fact that the opponents were Sri Lanka and that the series consisted of just two Tests must be taken into consideration, but when you have fed on scraps for so long you don't turn down any morsel that comes your way.

John Reid's two centuries will ensure that he retains the captaincy for a little while longer, and the form shown by Chris Cairns would suggest that New Zealand are now able to field three allrounders worthy of the name. The third member of the trio, Richard Hadlee, took his seasonal wicket haul past the fifty mark in Hamilton, but with Stephen Boock remaining out of both form and favour the Kiwi selectors continue to struggle to find a spinner capable of supporting their seamers on a consistent basis, with Hedley Howarth claiming just three wickets in the two Tests.

Aravinda de Silva showed his class by saving the first Test with twin centuries, and his absence through injury severely compromised Sri Lanka's chances in the second game. Indeed, for such a short tour the visitors had to cope with a number of injuries, and the loss of Wickramasinghe for the Tests, whilst probably not affecting the final outcome, certainly weakened their bowling attack. De Silva apart, Chandika Hathurusingha, with fifties in both matches, was the only other Sri Lankan to enhance his reputation over the course of the series, and even though Australia are not expected to field a full strength XI for the upcoming one-off Test in Kandy, one would not bank on Sri Lanka to break their ATG duck any time soon.

Series Averages
(click to enlarge)

Players of the Series: JR Reid & PA de Silva

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Second Test

2009-11-20T22:40:00.009-05:00

Seddon Park, Hamilton

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, BE Congdon, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
Sri Lanka: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, AP Gurusinha, RL Dias, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, +HM Goonatilleke, RJ Ratnayake, ALF de Mel.

Debuts: HM Goonatilleke (SL)
Umpires: DR Shepherd (ENG) & D Sang Hue (WI)
Toss: New Zealand

Sri Lanka's injury crisis continued ahead of the second Test - Rumesh Ratnayake and Gurusinha returned but Dharmasena (shoulder) and, crucially, Aravinda de Silva (finger) were ruled out - and wicket keeper Mahes Goonatilleke made his debut after being hurriedly flown out to bolster the squad. John Reid won the toss for an unchanged New Zealand, and two days of hard toil later Goonatilleke must have been wishing he had stayed at home as the Kiwis surpassed the record total that they had posted in the previous game, although to his credit he only conceded one bye out of a mammoth total of 623.

All this came after the hosts had been reduced to 139-4 midway through the first afternoon, at which time Sri Lanka looked like they could really make inroads into the match. The pitch was not to blame though, and New Zealand's fifth wicket pair of Donnelly and Reid batted faultlessly in compiling a partnership of 230, a national record for any wicket. Both players made centuries, Donnelly extending his to a dominant 151, and Sri Lanka's attack looked wholly impotent as the runs flowed. The scoreboard read 369-5 when de Silva finally broke through by bowling Reid on the stroke of lunch on day two, and it had moved round to 475-8 when Jack Cowie joined Ian Smith at the crease shortly before tea. New Zealand's ninth wicket pair then proceeded to rub salt into what were already deep Sri Lankan wounds by equalling the ATG record with a partnership of 124 before Smith fell to the third new ball just seven short of a maiden hundred, and Cowie was able to raise his first ever fifty in partnership with last man Howarth as the Sri Lankans were brought to their metaphorical and, in some cases, literal knees.

Jack Cowie poses with his wonderbat!

Sri Lanka began their reply on the third morning, and as only could have been be expected they crumbled under the sheer weight of all those Kiwi runs. New Zealand bowled well, but the level of application and belief shown by the tourists was disappointing to say the least, with Gurusinha's dismissal typifying Sri Lanka's plight. He top-edged a catch off an ill-advised hook shot having made 59 when he should have been aiming for 159, and it was not until a gallant last wicket stand of 58 between Goonatilleke and de Mel that we saw anything like the type of attitude that was needed.

An all out total of 249 allowed John Reid to enforce the follow-on for the first time in New Zealand's history, and with a deficit of 374 it was the same story in Sri Lanka's second innings as the top order all got in only to get themselves out when set. Rain sent the match into a fifth day with Hashan Tillakaratne the last remaining hope for the tourists, and although he managed to complete his fifty, Hadlee and Cowie reduced the innings from 200-5 to 207-9 as the new ball cut a swathe through the tail on the final morning, Hadlee picking up his third five wicket haul of the Antipodean summer. The Blackcaps were made to wait until after lunch to claim the final wicket, but when Goonatilleke edged Cowie behind the party could finally begin, and although the opposition had only been Sri Lanka, New Zealand's first ever series victory in this, the sixth season of ATG cricket, was still a cause for celebration. Sri Lanka now head home for a one-off Test against Australia, whilst New Zealand will be able to look forward to next season, as they always seem to do, with a reserved air of optimism.

Hadlee's last five Tests have brought him
37 wickets and, finally, an elusive series victory

Score Summary
NZL 1st Inns 623 (Donnelly 151, Reid 114, Smith 93, Cowie 59, Congdon 42; Ratnayeke 4-136)
SL 1st Inns 249 (Gurusinha 59, Goonatilleke 42*)
SL 2nd Inns 217 (Tillakaratne 55, Hathurusingha 54; Hadlee 5-52, Cowie 4-61)

NEW ZEALAND WON BY AN INNINGS & 157 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - New Zealand 1st innings 319-4 (Donnelly 93*, Reid 86*; 95 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 623 (171 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 244-9 (Goonatilleke 42*, de Mel 18*; 90 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 171-5 (Tillakaratne 37*, de Silva 7*; 66 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 217 (98.4 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ New Zealand's series victory is the first in their history
▪ New Zealand's 623 is their highest ever total
▪ Donnelly & Reid's fifth wicket partnership of 230 is New Zealand's highest for any wicket
▪ Smith & Cowie's partnership of 124 equals the world record for the ninth wicket
▪ New Zealand enforced the follow-on for the first time in their history
▪ Goonatilleke and de Mel's partnership of 58 is a Sri Lankan record for the tenth wicket
▪ Crowe made his 50th appearance for New Zealand

Man of the Match: MP Donnelly

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - First Test

2009-11-15T12:17:00.008-05:00

Carisbrook, Dunedin

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, BE Congdon, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
Sri Lanka: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, +HP Tillakaratne, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, ALF de Mel, CPH Ramanayake.

Debuts: CPH Ramanayake (SL)
Umpires: DR Shepherd (ENG) & D Sang Hue (WI)
Toss: New Zealand

Injury-hit Sri Lanka entered their first ever Test against New Zealand with only eleven fit players, and on a flat track New Zealand racked up the highest total in their history before John Reid declared at tea on the second day, leaving himself undefeated on 130 out of a mammoth 576-7. Turner had earlier contributed 107 as he and Dempster put on 170 for the first wicket, and Congdon was denied a century on recall when, on 99, he was caught at short leg off DS de Silva. Ranatunga was on the defensive in the field from an early stage, and whilst the boundaries may have been protected the runs kept coming. Congdon and Donnelly added 145 for the fourth wicket and then Reid and Cairns piled on 168, New Zealand's second best sixth wicket partnership, both players recording their highest ever scores in the process.

All that net practice paid off for John Reid

Sri Lanka fought back well in reply to New Zealand's huge total, Mahanama's typically flamboyant 75 getting them off to a fine start, and following his dismissal during a rain-shortened morning session Aravinda de Silva took over with stroke play that became ever more audacious as his innings progressed. He took just eight balls to move from 77 to 100 and then followed this up by lofting Hadlee for consecutive sixes as the tourists moved on to a relatively healthy 276-4 by tea on the third day. Reid took the new ball at this stage, and under the cloud cover that had hung around for most of the day, wickets started to fall. Chris Cairns bowled superbly to snare the best figures of his fledgling ATG career, but the last pair of de Mel and the debutant Ramanayake managed to cling on into the fourth day, and a tenth wicket stand of 32 saved the follow-on as Sri Lanka reached 382, their highest ever total.

New Zealand still had a lead of 194, and quick runs were now the order of the day if the Blackcaps were going to have enough time to bowl out the tourists for a second time on the final day. The Sri Lankans bowled well though, and only Crowe was truly able to dominate with an undefeated 71 as New Zealand made their way to a rather ponderous 209-6 before Reid declared with an hour's play remaining on the fourth evening. DS de Silva extracted three lbw decisions from Douglas Sang Hue, including Donnelly first ball, to hinder New Zealand's progress, and the Sri Lankans were presented with a target of 404 off a minimum of 103 overs to record their first ever ATG Test victory. Their attempt started disastrously when Mahanama and Dias were dispatched with just six runs on the board, but Hathurusingha and Aravinda de Silva rallied with a third wicket partnership of 142 and the chase was on.

Aravinda de Silva batted beautifully
for Sri Lanka in both innings

De Silva was not quite as fluent as in the first innings but he still managed to pick his way to his second century of the match, and although he was out shortly afterwards a tea time score of 241-4 meant that the tourists retained an outside chance of victory. Sri Lanka's tactics changed after the break though, and their switch to a defensive mindset actually played into New Zealand's hands as Reid was able to attack with the new ball. Cairns delivered a remarkable spell of 3-0 in twelve balls as five wickets tumbled for just sixteen runs, and with the haven of a draw in sight Sri Lanka now looked like falling at the final hurdle.

The last pair of de Mel and Ramanayake had done their team proud in the first innings, and with the scoreboard reading 286-9 they would now need to survive for 41 balls if the tourists were to escape with the draw. Ball beat bat on numerous occasions but for the second time in the match they held on, and when de Mel jammed his bat down on Reid's final delivery the Sri Lankans celebrated as if they had won the match. Once again New Zealand had let a possible victory slip through their fingers, and it will be a case of winner takes all when the teams meet in Hamilton for the second and final Test.

New Zealand were unable to force victory
despite the all round efforts of Chris Cairns

Score Summary
NZL 1st Inns 576-7 dec. (Reid 130*, Turner 107, Congdon 99, Dempster 88, Donnelly 82, Cairns 57)
SL 1st Inns 382 (PA de Silva 131, Mahanama 75; Cairns 4-84)
NZL 2nd Inns 209-6 dec. (Crowe 71*, Dempster 63)
SL 2nd Inns 296-9 (PA de Silva 105, Hathurusingha 72, Ranatunga 58)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - New Zealand 1st innings 330-3 (Congdon 59*, Donnelly 68*; 101 ov)
Day 2 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 99-1 (Mahanama 61*, Dias 7*; 29 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 363-9 (de Mel 14*, Ramanayake 5*; 109 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 48-2 (Hathurusingha 20*, PA de Silva 22*; 15 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 296-9 (105 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Sri Lanka avoided defeat for the first time in six attempts
▪ New Zealand's 576-7 is their highest ever total
▪ Sri Lanka's 382 is their highest ever total
▪ Congdon passed 2000 career runs
▪ Aravinda de Silva is the eighth player, and the first Sri Lankan, to score two hundreds in a Test

Man of the Match: PA de Silva

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Tour Match

2009-11-11T17:10:00.005-05:00

South Island v Sri Lankans
University Oval, Dunedin
3 Day Game
Umpires: DEA Copps & WT Martin
Toss: Sri Lankans

South Island: GT Dowling, *WA Hadlee, KR Rutherford, BF Hastings, NJ Astle, V Pollard, +WK Lees, TB Burtt, DR Hadlee, FJ Cameron, SB O'Connor.
Sri Lankans: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, CPH Ramanayake, GP Wickramasinghe.

Sri Lanka's warm up game ahead of their two Test series against New Zealand was a turgid affair, played on a flat, unyielding surface in front of a sparse crowd at the University Oval. Roy Dias played the stand-out innings on the opening day, his 114 reviving the tourists' fortunes after they had slumped to 29-3, and his fourth wicket partnership of 179 with skipper Arjuna Ranatunga (84) underlined just what a toil it all was for the bowlers on this pitch. Tillakaratne and Kaluwitharana added a further 108 in enterprising fashion before stumps, and an overnight declaration closed the innings on 365-6, a total that the South Islanders would go on to match exactly over the course of the next four sessions.

A century from Roy Dias was one of few
highlights in a dull tour opener in Dunedin

Dowling dropped anchor to record a dour 84, and with Sri Lanka's attack looking every bit as toothless as their Kiwi counterparts, Rutherford, Astle and Lees all helped themselves to fifties, although it must be said that the visitors' bowlers did at least manage to keep the scoring rate down, with Wickramasinghe looking the pick of the bunch. Walter Hadlee declared at lunch on the final day with the scores level, and although the Sri Lankans wobbled somewhat in their second innings, stumbling to tea at 64-4, a robust 41 from Ranatunga allayed any fears of an embarrassing collapse and the game petered out into an inevitable draw, the tourists having crawled to 155-7 before rain ended proceedings mercifully early for the few spectators that had stayed on. The teams remain in Dunedin for the first Test, which is to be played at Carisbrook, and one can only hope that the Tests serve up more entertaining fare than the cricket that was on display here.

Score Summary
SL 1st Inns 365-6 dec. (Dias 114, Ranatunga 84, Tillakaratne 77*, Kaluwitharana 55)
SI 1st Inns 365-6 dec. (Dowling 84, Astle 83, Rutherford 63, Lees 57*)
SL 2nd Inns 155-7 (Ranatunga 41)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - Sri Lankans 1st innings 365-6 (Tillakaratne 77*, Ratnayeke 11*; 96 ov)
Day 2 - South Island 1st innings 257-5 (Astle 26*, Lees 6*; 92 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lankans 2nd innings 155-7 (65.5 ov) - end of match

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Series Preview

2009-11-09T12:24:00.004-05:00

On face value a battle of the basement between ATG cricket's two lowest ranked teams is unlikely to whet many appetites, but in actual fact the two Tests that make up the series should provide plenty of competitive action for both the committed and the casual spectator alike. For New Zealand, this is their best chance yet of securing a first ever ATG series victory, whilst the Sri Lankans will be looking to avoid defeat for the first time after losing each of their first five Tests.

The New Zealand selectors are expected to retain faith with the majority of the squad that was engaged against West Indies, but John Reid's position is under review once again after a poor personal performance in that series and an overall record that now reads just three wins in thirty three Tests as captain, although it must be said that there are few, if any, obvious candidates to take over the reins should the axe fall.

John Reid and Arjuna Ranatunga will both be hoping to lead
their countries to what would be a first ever ATG series win

As for Sri Lanka, this will be the first time that they enter a series with expectation as well as hope, and if their bowlers can at last find some penetration on wickets that should suit them then we could be in for some interesting cricket over the course of the two Tests.

Current form (most recent result first)
New Zealand LDLDL
Sri Lanka LLLLL

Sri Lanka squad
A Ranatunga (c), HP Tillakaratne (v/c), ALF de Mel DS de Silva, PA de Silva, RL Dias, HDPK Dharmasena, AP Gurusinha, UC Hathurusingha, RS Kaluwitharana, RS Mahanama, CPH Ramanayake, RJ Ratnayake, JR Ratnayeke, GP Wickramasinghe.

Itinerary
- Tour Match v South Island (Dunedin)
- 1st TEST (Dunedin)
- 2nd TEST (Hamilton)

New Zealand v West Indies - Series Summary

2009-11-07T17:37:00.005-05:00

WEST INDIES WON THE SERIES 2-0
West Indies made it a magnificent seven consecutive series wins with their expected victory over New Zealand, but had Garry Sobers' team been up against stronger opponents then it could well have been a different story. Time and again the West Indian top order failed - Fredericks, Haynes and Kanhai recorded just one fifty between them and averaged less than fifteen as a unit - and only the form of Sobers and Worrell coupled with a tail that defied expectations with the bat kept the tourists afloat. Worrell was truly magnificent on his recall to the side, and his partnerships with Sobers, which were worth an average of 97.67, really proved to be a major difference between the teams.

A depleted West Indian attack supported each other well as a unit - Walsh, Garner, Griffith and Sobers shared 46 wickets evenly between them - with Hall proving the only real disappointment, but the same cannot be said of New Zealand, for whom Richard Hadlee ploughed an increasingly lone furrow as the series went on. Cowie bowled well in Wellington but faded thereafter, and by the end of the series Hadlee had captured 25 wickets compared to a combined haul of 28 for the remainder of New Zealand's attack. John Reid endured an anonymous series with the ball, but with Chris Cairns making little impact on debut, Reid is expected to retain his place in the side for the Sri Lanka Tests.

Despite its failings in the final innings in both Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand's batting looks in reasonable shape ahead of those matches, with Turner, Donnelly and Dempster all putting in good performances over the course of this series. There remains a vacancy at number three though, and Bevan Congdon is expected to be recalled to fill the berth against Sri Lanka. West Indies now head home to prepare for the visit of India, and all things point to them retaining their number one ranking come the end of that series.

Series Averages
(click to enlarge)

Players of the Series: RJ Hadlee & FMM Worrell

New Zealand v West Indies - Third Test

2009-11-06T23:26:00.007-05:00

Eden Park, Auckland

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, GP Howarth, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, JG Bracewell, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
West Indies: RC Fredericks, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, EdeC Weekes, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, WW Hall, CC Griffith, J Garner, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: CJ Egar (AUS) & LP Rowan (AUS)
Toss: West Indies

Sobers wins the toss, elects to bat and then rescues the innings in partnership with Frank Worrell after the top order all fail. That has been the recurring theme thus far in the series, and so it was again in Auckland as an inspired Richard Hadlee reduced West Indies to 32-3 on a damp first morning at Eden Park. Weekes was then forced to retire hurt having deflected a rising delivery from Hadlee into the side of his head, and with ball seaming around one wondered whether the decision to field two spinners was the right move on the part of the Kiwi selectors, John Bracewell having been chosen to replace hamstring victim Chris Cairns.

Frank Worrell has become New Zealand's
nemesis over the course of this series

As the sun broke through batting became easier, allowing Worrell to add 118 for the fourth wicket with Sobers and a further 109 for the fifth with Dujon as the tourists spent the rest of day one recovering and consolidating. Sobers and Dujon both made fifties but Worrell pressed on to reach his second century of the series before the close, although he was granted a reprieve on 75 when Hadlee ripped out his off stump only to see umpire Col Egar signalling no ball to the scorers. As it was, Worrell went on to reach 131 before Hadlee finally had him caught in the gully by Reid on the second morning, one of eight wickets for New Zealand's champion fast bowler in what was by far the best performance of his ATG career, but West Indies' final total of 362 gave them the upper hand on a pitch that did not look as though it would last the full five days.

That said, Turner and Crowe made batting look easy after coming together at 48-2 in New Zealand's reply, and by the close they had extended the score to 164-2 as the hosts enjoyed an excellent second day. Walsh finally broke the partnership on the third morning when he trapped Crowe plumb in front for 85, and with the ball moving about in hot and humid conditions the innings fell away thereafter; Turner went for 86, popping up a return catch to Sobers to end his five hour stay at the crease, and with Walsh going on to complete West Indies' first five wicket haul of the series, the innings eventually closed on 295 to hand the visitors a 67 run lead.

Glenn Turner has been by far New Zealand's
most consistent batsman of the series

New Zealand struck back immediately as Hadlee found Fredericks' edge to send him on his way for a third ball duck, but with Kanhai managing to bring up his first fifty of the series the score had moved on to 130-3 by stumps, giving West Indies a lead of 197 with power to add. Cowie removed Kanhai's leg stump with just the fourth ball of day four though, and despite yet another fifty from the metronomic Worrell, wickets fell regularly throughout the day as batting became progressively more difficult. Hadlee claimed four more scalps to finish with match figures of 12-139, the best in New Zealand's history, and a total of 231 presented New Zealand with a target of 299 to square the series.

Uneven bounce was now proving to be a problem for the batsmen though, and in a disastrous evening session the Blackcaps were quickly reduced to 60-5 as only Stewie Dempster provided any resistance to an unremitting West Indian pace barrage. He eventually went for 40, bowled by the increasingly unplayable Garner, and although Donnelly and Hadlee managed to survive until stumps, at 103-5 the outlook was bleak for New Zealand. Donnelly managed to raise a spirited fifty on the final morning, and with Smith looking in good touch after replacing Hadlee at 128-6, the more Panglossian Kiwi fans began to sense that victory was not out of the question. Sobers shattered the dream though by holding onto his second caught and bowled of the game to dismiss Smith for 26, and the last four wickets proceeded to tumble for just eight runs as West Indies completed a comfortable 117 run win in the first over after lunch. New Zealand had run out of steam once again, and one must feel sympathy toward Richard Hadlee, whose sterling work with the ball was ultimately trumped by Worrell's unwavering form with the bat.

Hadlee's efforts were in vain as West Indies proved too strong once again

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 362 (Worrell 131, Sobers 67, Dujon 59; Hadlee 8-73)
NZL 1st Inns 295 (Turner 86, Crowe 85; Walsh 5-49)
WI 2nd Inns 231 (Kanhai 59, Worrell 57; Hadlee 4-66)
NZL 2nd Inns 181 (Donnelly 66, Dempster 40; Garner 4-37)

WEST INDIES WON BY 117 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 282-6 (Worrell 107*; 90.5 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 164-2 (Turner 60*, Crowe 77*; 49 ov)
Day 3 - West Indies 2nd innings 130-3 (Kanhai 59*, Worrell 16*; 45 ov)
Day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 103-5 (Donnelly 25*, Hadlee 16*; 35 ov)
Day 5 - New Zealand 2nd innings 181 (61 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Hadlee's innings analysis of 8-73 is the second best for New Zealand and the sixth best overall, and his match return of 12-139 is the best ever for New Zealand
▪ Dujon became the first wicket keeper to pass 3000 career runs
▪ Turner made his 50th appearance for New Zealand

Man of the Match: FMM Worrell

New Zealand v West Indies - Second Test

2009-11-01T11:44:00.018-05:00

Lancaster Park, Christchurch

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, GP Howarth, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
West Indies: RC Fredericks, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, EdeC Weekes, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, WW Hall, CC Griffith, J Garner, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: DL Orchard (SAF) & CJ Egar (AUS)
Toss: West Indies

Whilst West Indies fielded an unchanged XI in Christchurch following their victory in the first Test, New Zealand handed recalls to the brothers Howarth, Geoff coming in to replace the injured Jones and Hedley taking over the spinner's berth in place of the under-performing Boock. The pitch looked a beauty and Sobers duly batted upon winning his second toss in a row, but just as in Wellington the top of the batting card was reduced to rubble by Hadlee and Cowie, and by lunch the scoreboard read a parlous 64-4.

Worrell and Sobers came to the
rescue once again in the first innings

The visitors counter-attacked to devastating effect in the afternoon though as Worrell and Sobers picked up from where they had left off at the Basin Reserve. Sobers raised a wonderful hundred off just 128 balls, his fourth in six Tests this season, and Worrell reached three figures for the first time since his 216 against India in Ahmedabad way back in season III as the pair added 217 for the fifth wicket. Worrell did not have much time to celebrate his century though; after he completed the two runs to take him from 98 to one hundred he turned for a third only to be run out by Dempster's throw to Crowe at the bowler's end, and New Zealand had been handed a lifeline.

Crowe then trapped Sobers lbw without any further addition to the score, and when Hall went for 10 West Indies had slipped from 273-4 to 283-7, and the Kiwis would have been fancying their chances of finishing off the visitors for less than 300. However, the tourists' innings held a devastating sting in the tail; Dujon made a serene 70 and put on a national record 94 for the ninth wicket with Garner, who then continued to swing the bat to great effect in a last wicket stand of 75 with Walsh that exactly matched their effort against South Africa earlier this season.

Big Bird was on song with the bat as
West Indies' tail rallied on day two

Garner swung his way to an incredible 81, and the New Zealanders looked utterly deflated as they left the field, having allowed West Indies to add an unbelievable 214 runs for their last three wickets as the total swelled to 497. New Zealand's reply got off to a solid start as Turner - who was dropped on 39 by Hall off the bowling of Walsh - and Dempster posted 72 for the first wicket, but that was to be the highest partnership of the innings as wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter. Turner ground his way to a six hour century but on the whole the Kiwis found it difficult to score against a disciplined West Indies attack, and although both Reid and Smith finally perked up the crowd with some clean hitting later on, the hosts eventually fell an agonizing five runs short of saving the follow-on.

After a brief period of uncertainty Sobers asked New Zealand to bat again, but with the pitch still holding up well the Blackcaps made a much better fist of it on the fourth day. Turner (37) and Dempster added 92 for the first wicket this time round, and Dempster then hooked up with Crowe to the tune of 190 runs for the third wicket as New Zealand batted their way into the lead. Roy Fredericks popped up to bowl Crowe just two short of his century, but Dempster made no mistake and converted his first hundred into a big one, finally departing for 152 shortly before stumps on a day that had been dominated by New Zealand.

Dempster's maiden ATG century was a chanceless affair

A total of 336-4 gave New Zealand a lead of 132 going into the final day, and runs and wickets came rapidly as both sides tried to force the issue with some positive cricket. Reid's fighting fifty helped take the total total to a commendable 414, but West Indies were still in the box seat, and a target of 211 off 60 overs looked eminently gettable. A slow start hampered the chase though, and with two separate rain delays in the afternoon only serving to put West Indies further behind the clock, what had been another rollercoaster ride of a game was eventually consigned to a draw with West Indies still 72 runs short of their target. New Zealand will take more away from the result than their guests, and the series now remains alive going into the third and final Test in Auckland.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 497 (Sobers 113, Worrell 100, Garner 81, Dujon 70)
NZL 1st Inns 293 (Turner 102, Reid 46, Smith 41*)
NZL 2nd Inns 414 (Dempster 152, Crowe 98, Reid 52; Hall 4-102)
WI 2nd Inns 139-5

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 304-7 (Dujon 4*, Griffith 13*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 34-0 (Turner 20*, Dempster 14*; 14 ov)
Day 3 - New Zealand 2nd innings 13-0 (Turner 5*, Dempster 7*; 4 ov)
Day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 336-4 (Donnelly 25*, Reid 7*; 94 ov)
Day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 139-5 (49 0v) - end of match

Notes
▪ Hadlee passed 200 career wickets
▪ Garner's 81 is the highest ever score by a number ten batsman
▪ Dujon and Garner's ninth wicket partnership of 94 is a West Indian record
▪ Garner and Walsh's tenth wicket partnership of 75 equals the national record

Man of the Match: CS Dempster

New Zealand v West Indies - First Test

2009-10-26T15:54:00.012-04:00

Basin Reserve, Wellington

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, AH Jones, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, SL Boock.
West Indies: RC Fredericks, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, EdeC Weekes, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, WW Hall, CC Griffith, J Garner, CA Walsh.

Debuts: CL Cairns (NZL) & CC Griffith (WI)
Umpires: DL Orchard (SAF) & LP Rowan (AUS)
Toss: West Indies

Despite the potentially one-sided nature of this series, two debuts and a multiplicity of recalls on both sides brought an element of the unknown to the first Test in Wellington, and neither captain knew quite what to make of the pitch either; it was rock hard, which would aid the stroke players, but patches of live, green grass promised to give the bowlers some assistance too.

Sobers won the toss and elected to bat, but the innings stumbled to 45-3 before a pair of attacking fifties from Weekes and Worrell and a boundary laden 35 from Sobers himself re-established the equilibrium. Half an hour before tea the score had reached 186-4, but Sobers and Worrell then departed in consecutive overs to derail West Indies' recovery. Worrell was run out courtesy of a direct hit by Reid, and it took an extraordinarily resilient 33 from Hall at number eight to drag the innings up to a disappointing final total of 272.

Hadlee was expensive yet penetrative
in West Indies' first innings

Hadlee returned the excellent figures of 6-94, but by lunch on the second day the Blackcaps had themselves slipped to a precarious 50-3 in a repeat of the tourists' first morning struggles. Turner and Donnelly staged New Zealand's own rescue act with a stand of 131 though, and once Turner was finally out for 71 both Reid and Cairns contributed to fifty stands with Donnelly, who went on to bring up a wonderfully ebullient century. Cairns looked particularly comfortable at the crease after a wicketless debut with the ball, but in the day's last over an injudicious slog against the part-time spin of Fredericks cost him his wicket, and with Hadlee departing lbw to the very next ball a collapse had begun that would send New Zealand spiralling from 306-5 to 325 all out on the third morning. Donnelly failed to add to his overnight score of 144 but a 53 run lead had been secured nonetheless, and West Indies' top order misfired again as their second innings followed the same script as the first.

Donnelly's hundred was undoubtedly
one of his finest ever innings

Fredericks made a career-high 47, but upon his dismissal West Indies were 74-4 and in distinct trouble as Hadlee and Cowie again bowled well in tandem. However, an early collapse was once again followed by a stabilising partnership, and on this occasion Worrell and Sobers looked like they could be playing a winning hand. Both partners passed fifty as the runs accumulated, but with the score on 223-4 and the lead up to 170, Hadlee found the edge of Worrell's bat to send him on his way for a fine 82, and with the partnership broken at 149 the floodgates suddenly opened. Hadlee also removed Sobers for 67 soon after, and with the innings suddenly in disarray Cowie ran through the tail to emulate Hadlee's six wicket haul in the first innings. West Indies had been bowled out for 254 having lost their last six wickets for just 31 runs, and New Zealand now had two whole days in which to score the 202 runs that would secure them the most famous of victories.

Scores of 67 and 82 made for a profitable
return to the side for Frank Worrell

New Zealand had folded when in an almost identical position against Australia in Brisbane last season though, and it was sadly a case of deja vu for Blackcaps fans on the fourth morning here as the innings crumbled in the face of a remorseless barrage from Hall, Griffith and Garner. By lunch the score was a calamitous 62-5, and although Turner was still there the wind had been well and truly taken out of New Zealand's sails. Turner was eventually seventh out for a fighting 57, but with no-one else getting past 13 it was a sorry effort from the Kiwis, and their target was never remotely threatened. Sobers' spin ran through the tail, and Garner applied the coup de grace by bowling Cowie for 12 shortly after tea to end the innings on 134 and clinch a 67 run victory for West Indies. Just as they had done in the Caribbean last season, New Zealand had pushed their opponents to the brink only to come up short, and one is left to wonder whether the hosts' best chance of an upset in this series has been and gone already.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 272 (Weekes 70, Worrell 67; Hadlee 6-94)
NZL 1st Inns 325 (Donnelly 144, Turner 71, Cairns 44)
WI 2nd Inns 254 (Worrell 82, Sobers 67, Fredericks 47; Cowie 6-62)
NZL 2nd Inns 134 (Turner 57; Sobers 4-32)

WEST INDIES WON BY 67 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 259-9 (Hall 23*, Walsh 2*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 306-7 (Donnelly 144*, Smith 0*; 82 ov)
Day 3 - West Indies 2nd innings 254 (75.4 ov)
Day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 134 (55.1 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Turner & Weekes both passed 3000 career runs

Man of the Match: MP Donnelly

New Zealand v West Indies - Tour Match

2009-10-23T20:20:00.007-04:00

North Island v West Indians
McLean Park, Napier
3 Day Game
Umpires: FR Goodall & SJ Woodward
Toss: West Indians

North Island: BA Young, *GO Rabone, JF Reid, JM Parker, MJ Greatbatch, SA Thomson, BW Yuile, +FLH Mooney, DJ Nash, RS Cunis, GB Troup.
West Indians: RC Fredericks, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, EdeC Weekes, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, WW Hall, CC Griffith, J Garner, CEH Croft.

Both camps praised the ground staff at McLean Park for producing a good cricket wicket ahead of West Indies' tour match against Geoff Rabone's North Islanders, but bat very much dominated ball on day one as the tourists rattled up an impressive total of 361-5. Des Haynes led the way with an authoritative 105, and once he was run out by substitute fielder Jeff Crowe it was Everton Weekes that came to the fore, posting a partnership of 106 with erstwhile captain Frank Worrell on his way to a chanceless, undefeated 127.

Everton Weekes looked in great
touch ahead of the first Test

Current skipper Garry Sobers declared overnight, and runs were far harder to come by on the second day as the hosts stuttered their way to a score of 216-6 by the close. Griffith delivered an impressive opening spell to help reduce the innings to a rocky 31-3, but the middle order rallied around the stoic presence of Mark Greatbatch, who completed a hard-earned century on the third and final morning after almost six hours at the crease. His innings was not without controversy though; he appeared to have been trapped absolutely plumb in front by Garner when on 66, but umpire Woodward refused to heed the West Indians' vehement appeals, and from that point on the atmosphere out in the middle remained decidedly thorny.

Mark Greatbatch's resolute century held
West Indies at bay for over six and a half hours

Indeed, the applause from the fielders when Greatbatch finally reached his hundred was decidedly muted, and one had to feel for the stocky left-hander as his reprieve on the previous day was hardly of his own doing. North Island's innings finally closed on 289, Frank Mooney having contributed a delightful 57 in support of Greatbatch, and despite a second declaration of the match by Sobers at tea after a brief West Indian second innings, the game was destined for a draw. The tourists did manage to capture four wickets in the final session, but Young and Parker batted together for an hour and a half to blunt the pace barrage that was sent their way, and Test skipper John Reid will be hoping to see the same levels of resolve from his batsmen when the first Test gets underway in Wellington.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 361-5 dec. (Weekes 127*, Haynes 105, Worrell 48)
NI 1st Inns 289 (Greatbatch 108, Mooney 57)
WI 2nd Inns 89-2 dec.
NI 2nd Inns 53-4

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - West Indians 1st innings 361-5 (Weekes 127*, Dujon 12*; 95 ov)
Day 2 - North Island 1st innings 216-6 (Greatbatch 84*, Mooney 18*; 71 ov)
Day 3 - North Island 2nd innings 53-4 (27.2 ov) - end of match

New Zealand v West Indies - Series Preview

2009-10-18T16:58:00.006-04:00

If one discounts Sri Lanka, who arrive in Aotearoa for two Tests immediately following West Indies' departure, this is the ultimate 'top vs bottom' match-up; New Zealand have never won an ATG series in fifteen attempts, emerging victorious in just five Tests out of fifty in that time, whilst West Indies have won their last six series and have sat comfortably at the top of the rankings since taking over from England at the start of the current season.

New Zealand surrendered rather meekly in their most recent series in South Africa and West Indies ran out 4-1 winners when the sides met in the Caribbean last season, but if truth be told New Zealand could, and perhaps should, have won three of those Tests, and consequently the Blackcaps will be entering into this series with positive intentions and a feeling of unfinished business. Chris Cairns should make his long awaited debut after being forced to pull out of the South Africa Tests with injury, and John Reid has been retained as skipper, at least for the first half of the New Zealand summer.

John Reid needs results in order to
hold on to the New Zealand captaincy

With this series sandwiched between a tough tour of South Africa and a full five Test engagement at home against India, a number of players have either been rested or omitted for reasons of form and fitness by the West Indies' selectors, most notably Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall. Charlie Griffith is included in a West Indian squad for the first time, whilst recalls are given to Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott, Sonny Ramadhin, Wes Hall, Andy Roberts and Colin Croft, with Worrell included for the first time since losing the captaincy following West Indies' 4-0 humiliation at home to Pakistan at the end of season 3.

Whether West Indies are taking their opponents too lightly remains to be seen, but even with such changes in personnel their squad is still strong, and anything other than a series victory for Garry Sobers' side would have to be seen as one of the biggest shocks in the history of ATG cricket.

Current form (most recent result first)
New Zealand DLLWL
West Indies LWWDL

Previous series result
West Indies 4 New Zealand 1 (Season V, 5 Tests)

The three Ws have played together just
once previously in West Indies' ATG history

West Indies Squad
GStA Sobers (c), RB Kanhai (v/c), CEH Croft, PJL Dujon, RC Fredericks, J Garner, CC Griffith, WW Hall, DL Haynes, S Ramadhin, AME Roberts, CL Walcott, CA Walsh, EdeC Weekes, FMM Worrell.

Itinerary
- Tour Match v North Island (Napier)
- 1st TEST (Wellington)
- 2nd TEST (Christchurch)
- 3rd TEST (Auckland)

India v Sri Lanka - Only Test

2009-10-17T14:12:00.012-04:00

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, DB Vengsarkar, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, J Srinath, DR Doshi, BS Chandrasekhar.
Sri Lanka: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, RJ Ratnayake, GP Wickramasinghe.

Debuts: VL Manjrekar & DR Doshi (IND)
Umpires: Mahboob Shah (PAK) & D Sang Hue (WI)
Toss: India

Sri Lanka's first Test against India was played on a flat, slow wicket in Chennai, and as admirably as the tourists' bowlers stuck to their task the Indians ground their way to a first innings total of 503 before Pataudi declared on the second evening. Engineer's 82 gave India a brisk start, but Vengsarkar looked less than impressive, and despite reaching 72 his scratchy performance will have done little to push his claim for a place on the upcoming tour of West Indies. Polly Umrigar joined debutant Vijay Manjrekar upon Vengsarkar's dismissal at 217-3, and together the pair added 181 as the hosts batted themselves into a very strong position.

Vijay Manjekar unleashes a rare attacking stroke

Umrigar posted a fluent 144, his highest ATG score, and Manjekar marked his debut with a century of his own, but it was more a feeling of relief than anything else when he finally got there, having faced 272 deliveries after five and a quarter hours at the crease. India's progress meandered somewhat once the partnership was broken, but following Pataudi's declaration Chandrasekhar removed the dangerous Mahanama before stumps, and an attritional third day saw Sri Lanka edge towards saving the follow-on, thanks in the main to Hathurusingha's maiden ATG century.

Sri Lanka were a perilous 82-4 at one stage but Hathurusingha held firm, taking 150 balls to get to 50, and after being dropped twice in consecutive overs he moved through the gears, needing just 63 more deliveries to able to raise his bat to the crowd once again. A trademark inducker from Prabhakar cleaned him up almost immediately after though, but a 69 run stand for the seventh wicket between Tillakaratne and Kaluwitharana took the score to 262-7, and by the close of play on day three the Sri Lankans were just 6 runs away from avoiding the follow-on with their last pair at the wicket.

Hathurusingha's hundred kept
Sri Lanka afloat in their first innings

A boundary from Wickramasinghe sealed the deal early on the fourth morning, but a final total of 307 still gave India a lead of 196, and with the pitch now starting to exhibit some signs of uneven bounce as the cracks began to open the hosts were still in a very dominant position. Led by a confident 64 from Gavaskar and a solid 59 from Manjrekar, India were able to build up a lead of over 400 by the time Pataudi declared for the second time in the match, but an excellent bowling performance from Ravi Ratnayeke had kept the scoring rate in check, and he fully deserved to pick up the second five wicket haul of his fledgling ATG career.

Sri Lanka were now faced with the prospect of batting for three and a half sessions to save the game, but Kapil Dev was able to nip out both openers before stumps with just 24 runs on the board, and it was not until Tillakaratne joined his skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga, at the wicket on the final morning that the tourists looked capable of offering any resistance. The pair batted together for almost two hours in adding 81 for the fifth wicket until a well disguised slower ball from Srinath sent Tillakaratne on his way for 34, and when Chandrasekhar eventually prised Ranatunga from the crease for 66, Sri Lanka's chances of avoiding defeat looked slim with the scoreboard reading 189-6 and almost three hours' play remaining.

Ranatunga's 66 spanned the best part of three hours

India's bowlers chipped away the tail, and although a brave last wicket stand between Ratnayeke and Wickramasinghe threatened to provide the game with one last twist, India's two debutants combined to wrap up the win with an hour to spare when Ratnayeke drove Doshi to Manjrekar at cover for a fighting 27. A margin of 162 runs suggested an easy victory for the Indians, but Sri Lanka put up an admirable fight, and although they have now lost each one of their five ATG Tests, they will head into their two Test tour of New Zealand hopeful of causing an upset. India meanwhile next face an arduous tour of the Caribbean, and they will have no illusions about the size of the task that awaits them there.

Score Summary
IND 1st Inns 503-7 dec. (Umrigar 144, Manjrekar 113, Engineer 82, Vengsarkar 72, Prabhakar 40*)
SL 1st Inns 307 (Hathurusingha 101, Kaluwitharana 58, Tillakaratne 40; Chandrasekhar 4-54)
IND 2nd Inns 214-8 dec. (Gavaskar 64, Manjrekar 59; Ratnayeke 5-40)
SL 2nd Inns 248 (Ranatunga 66)

INDIA WON BY 162 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - India 1st innings 310-3 (Manjrekar 72*, Umrigar 71*; 97 ov)
Day 2 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 33-1 (Hathurusingha 15*, Dharmasena 0*; 17 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 298-9 (Ratnayake 3*; 102.5 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 35-2 (Dias 14*, de Silva 4*; 13 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 248 (96.4 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Manjekar is the second Indian and seventeenth overall to make a hundred on debut
▪ Manjrekar's hundred (272 balls) was the ninth slowest in history
▪ Gavaskar passed 5000 career runs

Man of the Match: VL Manjrekar

South Africa v West Indies - Series Summary

2009-10-11T17:32:00.006-04:00

WEST INDIES WON THE SERIES 2-1

Hansie Cronje and Garry Sobers are, statistically speaking, ATG cricket's two most successful captains, but by the end of the series their fortunes and futures could hardly be more different. Sobers enjoyed his most successful series ever with the bat and West Indies have now won six successive series under his stewardship, maintaining their position as the number one team in the world, whilst Cronje now faces a most uncertain future following his first series defeat as skipper.

Regardless of the captaincy Cronje's alarming lack of form as a batsman must put his place in the side in severe jeopardy - he has scored just 332 runs at an average of 17.47 in 11 Tests this season - and his ill-fated declaration in the second Test allowed West Indies to snatch a last day victory that had seemed out of the question over the course of the first four days. With the spoils shared on two poor wickets in the final two Tests and South Africa having had the better of a drawn first Test, West Indies' successful chase of 349 at Centurion was the pivotal point of the series, and the knives were out for Cronje in many quarters from that moment on.

Could it be the end for Hansie Cronje?

Cronje's poor form was in stark contrast to that shown by Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, with Richards' outrageous 171 in Cape Town one of the greatest innings in ATG history. Barlow and Lindsay gave solid support, as did Dudley Nourse on recall in the final Test, and despite Cronje and Cullinan's lack of production the South African batting unit far outperformed its West Indian counterpart. Sobers' tally of 603 runs was almost double the next highest contribution from within the tourists' ranks - 308 runs from Viv Richards - and with South Africa's bowlers arguably besting the West Indians as well, the series defeat was mystifying to the majority of the home fans.

Nonetheless, the West Indian juggernaut marches on, and it travels almost immediately to New Zealand, who fought gamely in the Caribbean last season despite eventually losing the series 4-1. South Africa do not now take the field until next season, and the Proteas' selectors will consequently have plenty of time to mull over the fate of Cronje and one or two others in the South African ranks.

Series averages
(click to enlarge)

Players of the Series: BA Richards & GStA Sobers

South Africa v West Indies - Fourth Test

2009-10-09T23:01:00.005-04:00

Kingsmead, Durban

SAF: BA Richards, EJ Barlow, B Mitchell, RG Pollock, AD Nourse, *WJ Cronje, +DT Lindsay, PM Pollock, HJ Tayfield, NBF Mann, NAT Adcock.
WI: CC Hunte, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: S Kishen (IND) & BL Aldridge (NZL)
Toss: West Indies

South Africa made four changes to the side which lost in Cape Town, Cullinan, Procter and Donald all receiving the axe, whilst West Indies recalled Gibbs and the fit again Marshall at the expense of Ambrose and Garner. Sobers elected to take first use of what looked to be a poor pitch upon winning the toss, and it took a fourth wicket partnership of 95 between Kanhai and Lloyd to steady the innings after Adcock and Peter Pollock had reduced the score to 36-3. Lloyd peppered the boundary on the way to his first fifty of the series but both he and Kanhai fell in quick succession in the afternoon, and despite yet another fifty partnership between Sobers and Dujon, their fifth of the series, the scoreboard read 203-8 shortly after tea and South Africa were very much on top. Sobers was still there though, and he now threw caution to the wind as he flayed the Proteas' attack all around Kingsmead.

Garry Sobers has been in unstoppable
form with the bat in this series

77 runs were added for the last two wickets, with Gibbs and Walsh contributing just 4 between them as Sobers audaciously butchered his way to his third century of the series. He was greeted with a standing ovation when West Indies were finally bowled out for 282, and his undefeated 129 will go down as one of the great counter-attacking innings in the ATG annals. Indeed, Sobers' efforts were put into even clearer perspective on an incredible second day that saw seventeen wickets tumble as oppressively humid conditions made batting even more difficult than it had been on day one.

South Africa did well to lose just two wickets in the morning session, but from 100-2 the innings collapsed like a house of cards in the afternoon, and by tea they had been bowled out for a sorry 158 and a first innings deficit of 124. Barry Richards made a hard earned fifty, a very different innings to the one he played in Cape Town, but there was precious little else to speak of as excessive movement both in the air and off the pitch allowed West Indies' pace attack to run riot. However, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and in the evening session the tourists' batting completely fell apart as the ball continued to dart about alarmingly.

Eddie Barlow swung the ball prodigiously on the second evening

Hunte and Haynes began reasonably confidently, but after a half hour stoppage for rain Eddie Barlow knocked over the top four as a career best bowling performance helped reduce West Indies to 104-7 by the time stumps were drawn. With only two days played a result was now a certainty, but West Indies remained favourites despite their second innings collapse; a last wicket stand of 21 between Gibbs and Walsh helped extend the score to 144, and South Africa now needed 269 to claim a consolation victory and avoid being blanked in the series. It would be a very tough target in the context of the match, but overhead conditions were far more batsman friendly on day three, and another fifty from Barry Richards got the chase off to a good start.

Graeme Pollock also looked in good touch, but on 18 he was trapped lbw by Gibbs on the stroke of tea, and at 88-3 the innings hung in the balance. The recalled pairing of Mitchell and Nourse dug in though, and a stand of 92 gave the hosts renewed hope. Batting was now far easier than it had been on the first two days, and the target was reduced to double digits as South Africa inched their way onwards. Mitchell finally went for 53, and with the hopelessly out of form Cronje also departing before the close for just 9, South Africa entered day four on 203-5, still 66 runs short of the winning post. Nourse was looking immovable though, and with Peter Pollock contributing a very useful 22 from number eight he was able to shepherd his side to victory shortly before lunch, finishing undefeated on 91 after almost five hours at the crease. South African celebrations were muted though with the series already having gone to West Indies, and Garry Sobers' team continue to reign supreme as the number one side in the ATG world.

Hansie Cronje's poor form with the bat must
now put his place in the side in jeopardy

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 282 (Sobers 129*, Lloyd 56, Kanhai 43)
SAF 1st Inns 158 (BA Richards 54)
WI 2nd Inns 144 (Barlow 4-37)
SAF 2nd Inns 272-7 (Nourse 91*, Mitchell 53, BA Richards 50)

SOUTH AFRICA WON BY 3 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - South Africa 1st innings 24-0 (BA Richards 12*, Barlow 12*; 10 ov)
Day 2 - West Indies 2nd innings 104-7 (Dujon 4*; 36 ov)
Day 3 - South Africa 2nd innings 203-5 (Nourse 56*, Lindsay 1*; 65 ov)
Day 4 - South Africa 2nd innings 272-7 (90.1 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Sobers made 129 of the last 151 runs of West Indies' first innings
▪ West Indies have now won six successive series

Man of the Match: AD Nourse

South Africa v West Indies - Third Test

2009-10-06T18:40:00.007-04:00

Newlands, Cape Town

SAF: BA Richards, EJ Barlow, DJ Cullinan, RG Pollock, *WJ Cronje, +JHB Waite, MJ Procter, HJ Tayfield, NBF Mann, AA Donald, NAT Adcock.
WI: CC Hunte, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MA Holding, CEL Ambrose, J Garner, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: S Kishen (IND) & BL Aldridge (NZL)
Toss: South Africa

Slight water damage made it difficult to read the Newlands pitch ahead of the third Test, and after a rocket start from Barry Richards had taken South Africa to a healthy looking 43-0, Holding and the recalled Garner proceeded to engineer the most catastrophic of collapses, five wickets falling for just six runs in the space of 21 deliveries to leave the hosts reeling at 49-5.

Cullinan, Pollock, Cronje and Waite (in for the injured Lindsay) all departed for ducks, but Richards held firm and continued to bat as if he were playing in an entirely different match. He raised a stunning century off exactly 100 balls, made out of a total of 132-6, and by the time he was ninth out he had blitzed his way to 171, with Procter (22) and the increasingly doughty Donald, who contributed 19 to a ninth wicket stand of 73, the only other players to make it into double figures.

Barry Richards was dominance
personified in South Africa's first innings

Rarely has one player dominated proceedings to such an extent, but the fact was that South Africa had been bowled out inside a day for a wholly inadequate 233. However, with Neil Adcock able to extract some excessive lift bowling from the Wynberg End, West Indies slumped to 68-4 early on the second morning and the game was back on an even keel. Haynes played and missed with great frequency but he hung on, and like Barry Richards on the first day he held the innings together, albeit in a completely different style.

Sobers contributed a subdued 22 before being gated by Mann, and with the spinners turning the screw in the afternoon the tourists looked like conceding a first innings lead. Haynes was eventually seventh out for a stoic five hour century, and when Holding departed for a useful 25 the scoreboard read 204-9 and West Indies still trailed by 29. Numbers ten and eleven, Garner and Walsh, were not expected to hold up proceedings for much longer, but they somehow managed to push their side into the lead, and by the time Garner became the deserving Adcock's fifth victim in the first over of day three, both had reached their highest ever ATG scores and had set a new West Indian record for the tenth wicket in the process.

Courtney Walsh starred with the bat, and later
with the ball, as West Indies took control of the Test

A total of 279 had given the tourists a lead of 46, and South African wickets fell at regular intervals during the remainder of day three as the hosts failed to establish a solid foothold. Barlow's 81 was the only innings of substance, and by the time bad light brought about an early close South Africa had stumbled their way to a score of 199-5 and a lead of 153. Runs remained hard to come by on the fourth morning, and when an outrageous burst of three wickets in four balls from Courtney Walsh closed the innings on 261, West Indies were left with a target of 216 for the win.

Hunte and Kanhai fell early, but Haynes was again proving resolute and Donald totally lost his rag as Viv Richards smeared his way to a very streaky half century. The tourists seemed set, but the spin of Tayfield and Mann gave South Africa a little more control, and the wickets of Haynes and Richards, combined with Procter's run out of Lloyd, reduced the score to 129-5 and the hosts were back in with a chance. Sobers and Dujon put up a wall though, and a partnership of 66 had taken West Indies to within 21 of victory when Tayfield finally prised out Dujon for 19 on the final morning. Holding followed soon after but Sobers remained unbowed, and it was fitting that West Indies' skipper should hit the winning runs as the tourists secured victory in what had been a truly incredible Test match. West Indies' three wicket win also handed them the series, and it would not be surprising if South Africa's selectors made some changes ahead of the final Test in Durban.

Garry Sobers has now led his side
to six successive series victories

Score Summary
SAF 1st Inns 233 (BA Richards 171; Holding 4-61)
WI 1st Inns 279 (Haynes 106, Garner 41; Adcock 5-44)
SAF 2nd Inns 261 (Barlow 81; Walsh 5-63)
WI 2nd Inns 216-7 (Sobers 64*, IVA Richards 52, Haynes 45)

WEST INDIES WON BY 3 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 67-2 (Haynes 30*, IVA Richards 4*; 27 ov)
Day 2 - West Indies 1st innings 274-9 (Garner 41*, Walsh 29*; 116 ov)
Day 3 - South Africa 2nd innings 199-5 (Waite 26*, Procter 2*; 75.4 ov)
Day 4 - West Indies 2nd innings 166-5 (Sobers 29*, Dujon 8*; 59 ov)
Day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 216-7 (86.4 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Barry Richards scored a record 73.39% of his side's runs in the first innings
▪ Holding passed 100 career wickets
▪ Garner and Walsh's partnership of 75 is the highest tenth wicket stand for West Indies
▪ Walsh became the sixth player, and first West Indian, to take three wickets in a single over

Man of the Match: BA Richards

South Africa v West Indies - Tour Match

2009-10-02T22:30:00.005-04:00

South African Invitation XI v West Indians
Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
3 Day Game
Umpires: FW Grey & AG Laver
Toss: West Indians

SAI XI: DJ McGlew, G Kirsten, *A Bacher, AW Nourse, RA McLean, BL Irvine, +WW Wade, CR Matthews, RO Schwarz, PHJ Trimborn, BN Schultz.
WI: CC Hunte, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MA Holding, J Garner, CEL Ambrose, CA Walsh.

Following their dramatic victory in the second Test, West Indies' tour itinerary took them to Johannesburg for a three day engagement with a South African Invitation XI, and the tourists' batsmen picked up from where they left off in Centurion, dishing out some tremendous punishment on what was another good pitch for batting.

Conrad Hunte took full advantage of
the benign conditions at The Wanderers

Conrad Hunte dominated proceedings on the first day, sharing in consecutive hundred partnerships with Haynes, Kanhai and Richards as the total approached the 400 mark with only two wickets down. Hunte eventually fell late in the day having completed a marvellous double century, and on the second morning Richards and Sobers went berserk, piling on 123 runs in the first hour and leaving Ali Bacher's bowlers with no place to hide. Sobers hit Pat Trimborn to the boundary five times in one over, and then spanked Brett Schultz for three consecutive sixes before Richards holed out later in the same over as he attempted to reach his hundred in the grand manner.

Sobers declared upon Richards' dismissal, but in the face of a 502 run mountain the South Africans responded well, with the adhesive McGlew piloting the score to 192-3 come stumps on day two, having earlier shared in an attractive 112 run stand for the second wicket with Bacher, who made 67. McGlew completed a richly deserved century on the final morning, but a burst of 3-5 in nine balls from Walsh promptly derailed the innings and the hosts lost their last seven wickets for just 39 as Garner joined in the demolition job.

Courtney Walsh sparked into life on the final morning

A total of 270 allowed Sobers to enforce the follow-on, and with McGlew departing for a second ball duck this time round the South Africans were now very much up against it. Kirsten and Bacher managed to steady the ship however, and a tea time score of 72-2 suggested that the draw was still very much on the cards. Sobers got to work with his spin in the final session though, and in the end it was left to Matthews and Schultz to see out the final over to secure a hard earned draw. West Indies' bowlers had captured an incredible sixteen wickets on the final day, and although it wasn't quite enough to secure victory in the end, the tourists will now enter the third Test with all departments of the team seemingly firing on all cylinders.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 502-5 dec. (Hunte 236, Richards 99, Sobers 62*, Kanhai 53, Haynes 40)
SAI XI 1st Inns 270 (McGlew 116, Bacher 67, McLean 45; Walsh 5-75)
SAI XI 2nd Inns 161-9 (Kirsten 48; Sobers 4-34)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - West Indians 1st innings 379-4 (Richards 38*, Sobers 0*; 89 ov)
Day 2 - SA Invitation XI 1st innings 192-3 (McGlew 86*, McLean 22*; 60 ov)
Day 3 - SA Invitation XI 2nd innings 161-9 (57 ov) - end of match

South Africa v West Indies - Second Test

2009-09-25T07:52:00.009-04:00

Centurion Park

SAF: BA Richards, EJ Barlow, DJ Cullinan, RG Pollock, *WJ Cronje, +DT Lindsay, MJ Procter, PM Pollock, NBF Mann, AA Donald, NAT Adcock.
WI: CC Hunte, RC Fredericks, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MA Holding, CEL Ambrose, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: CJ Egar (AUS) & HD Bird (ENG)
Toss: South Africa

There were changes to both sides coming into the second Test, South Africa opting for the extra bowler and bringing in Peter Pollock in place of Jonty Rhodes, whilst West Indies welcomed back the fit again Rohan Kanhai but lost both Des Haynes and Malcolm Marshall to injury. Garry Sobers' incorrect call at the toss allowed South Africa to have first use of a very flat strip at Centurion Park, and a second successive century from Graeme Pollock helped give the hosts the early advantage before a clutch of late wickets on day one brought West Indies right back into the game.

However, from an overnight score of 311-7 an inspired Denis Lindsay propelled the total beyond 500 as the last three wickets put on an incredible 200 runs. Lindsay blitzed seventeen fours and five sixes in a career high innings of 171*, adding 71 for the eighth wicket with Mann and a national record 85 for the last wicket with an unusually stubborn Adcock, whose 12 runs received almost as much applause as Lindsay's memorable century.

Denis Lindsay's second day blitz gave
South Africa early control of the Test

None of West Indies' bowlers impressed, and just as in the first Test the batsmen now needed to bail the team out of trouble. The top order were not able to impose themselves though, save for Kanhai's 72, and in the face of some excellent pace bowling from Donald and Adcock, the innings had reached a crossroads at 174-5 when Jeffrey Dujon joined Garry Sobers for what turned out to be perhaps the pivotal partnership in the match.

Together the pair piled on 202 runs, a partnership that broke their own national record for the sixth wicket, Garry Sobers saving the follow-on with a straight six off Donald as he emulated Graeme Pollock by making his way to his second century of the series. It was Dujon's innings that really caught the imagination though, full of sweetly timed drives and cuts, and although West Indies' final total of 405 still gave South Africa a 106 run lead, the draw was now seen as the favoured result.

Dujon's graceful century helped keep West Indies in the game

South Africa batted with purpose for the remainder of day four though, and led by Barlow's third century in four Tests since his recall and an undefeated 74 from the inevitable Pollock, a total of 242-2 gave Cronje the confidence to declare shortly before the close with a lead of 348, a move that gave both sides the possibility of victory on the final day. West Indies set off with attacking intent, but both Fredericks and Hunte were back in the pavilion with 58 on the board when Viv Richards joined Rohan Kanhai at the crease. Richards has endured a very poor run of form of late but on this day he was back to his very best, and with Kanhai matching him virtually stroke for stroke the West Indies took control of the chase.

Cronje rotated his bowlers to no avail, and what had appeared to be an unlikely West Indian victory at the start of the day was now looking like a reality. Richards raised his first century in ten Tests off just 107 balls, Kanhai followed suit soon after, and the pair had added 221 runs at almost a run a ball by the time Richards was finally dismissed. 70 runs were now needed to win with 32 overs still remaining, and although the wickets of Kanhai and Lloyd wobbled the final stages of the chase, Sobers and Dujon saw West Indies through to a famous victory with seven overs and five wickets to spare.

Viv Richards was simply awesome on the final day

South Africa had contrived to lose the game after scoring over 500 runs in their first innings and losing just twelve wickets in the match, and questions will now have to be asked before the teams reconvene in Cape Town for the third Test. Given his record up to this point it would be unfair to say that Hansie Cronje now faces a crisis of captaincy, but all eyes will now be firmly trained on Newlands as South Africa attempt to bounce back from what was a truly devastating defeat.

Score Summary
SAF 1st Inns 511 (Lindsay 171*, RG Pollock 124, BA Richards 46)
WI 1st Inns 405 (Dujon 111, Sobers 110, Kanhai 72; Donald 5-99)
SAF 2nd Inns 242-2 dec. (Barlow 121*, RG Pollock 74*)
WI 2nd Inns 349-5 (Kanhai 130, IVA Richards 121)

WEST INDIES WON BY 5 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - South Africa 1st innings 311-7 (Lindsay 35*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - West Indies 1st innings 89-1 (Fredericks 31*, Kanhai 55*; 27 ov)
Day 3 - West Indies 1st innings 393-7 (Dujon 111*, Ambrose 2*; 109 ov)
Day 4 - West Indies 2nd innings 9-0 (Hunte 4*, Fredericks 5*; 3 ov)
Day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 349-5 (85.2 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Lindsay passed 2000 career runs
▪ Lindsay and Adcock's partnership of 85 is the highest tenth wicket stand for South Africa
▪ Sobers and Dujon's partnership of 202 is the highest sixth wicket stand for West Indies
▪ West Indies' total of 349-5 is the third highest ever made to win a Test in the fourth innings
▪ South Africa become just the second side to lose a Test after scoring over 500 runs in an innings

Man of the Match: IVA Richards

South Africa v West Indies - First Test

2009-09-18T21:10:00.005-04:00

St George's Park, Port Elizabeth

SAF: BA Richards, EJ Barlow, DJ Cullinan, RG Pollock, *WJ Cronje, JN Rhodes, +DT Lindsay, MJ Procter, NBF Mann, AA Donald, NAT Adcock.
WI: CC Hunte, DL Haynes, IVA Richards, EdeC Weekes, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: CJ Egar (AUS) & HD Bird (ENG)
Toss: West Indies

South Africa have never lost an ATG Test in Port Elizabeth, winning four and drawing one of the five previous matches staged at St George's Park, and West Indies' struggle to 187-4 on the first day did little to threaten the Proteas' unbeaten record. The tourists had been forced to rejig their batting order at the last minute when a back spasm forced Rohan Kanhai to withdraw from the side, and with stroke play very difficult on a slow, low wicket, frustration got the better of most of the top order. Viv Richards was one such victim, caught for 48 by a tumbling Donald on the boundary as he miscued a hook off Adcock, who bowled an excellent line to claim the first three wickets to fall.

Mann showed just why he has been keeping
Hugh Tayfield out of the South African side

Sobers inspired a lower order revival of sorts, compiling a disciplined 80 and adding 96 for the sixth wicket with Dujon, but the spin of Tufty Mann kept West Indies' scoring firmly in check and the innings ground to a halt on the second afternoon, Mann going on to claim figures of 5-53 off 35 overs, his best ever figures in ATG cricket. The tourists' total of 323 was at least respectable, but after a watchful period on the second evening South Africa's batsmen proceeded to cut it down to size over the course of the third day.

Graeme Pollock joined Barry Richards at the crease on the third morning with the scoreboard reading 67-2, and the pair would not be parted until well after tea as the runs came with more ease on a pitch that had hardened significantly after three days baking under a cloudless sky. Richards dominated the partnership, bringing up his first century in eleven Tests, and when he was finally out for 160 he had added 191 with Pollock and had taken his team to within 100 runs of West Indies' total. Cronje's poor season continued when Sobers cleaned him up for just 7, but a skittish innings from Rhodes gave Pollock further support, and a 55 run stand for the ninth wicket with Donald allowed Pollock to complete his fourth ATG double century, a nine hour effort that had enabled his team to compile a formidable total of 501.

Richards and Pollock batted superbly

Marshall managed to pick up five wickets to give West Indies some joy, but a deficit of 178 now put the tourists firmly behind the eight ball. Runs came quickly as the tourists began their second innings, but by stumps on day four they had stuttered somewhat to 157-4, and when Lloyd was trapped lbw by Procter early on a humid final morning, West Indies were still 21 behind with only five wickets in hand. Sobers was still at the wicket though, and with a captain's innings the order of the day he was in no mood to disappoint.

Successive fifty partnerships with Dujon (22) and Marshall (24) took West Indies into the lead and beyond, and whilst South Africa's bowlers, Adcock apart, were admittedly not bowling all that well, Sobers' performance under pressure was one of the best. He brought up his hundred with three successive boundaries off Barlow, and a stand of 91 with Gibbs (25) for the ninth wicket took West Indies to safety. Sobers was last out for a career best 170, and whilst both sides will probably be content with the draw, South Africa were undeniably in a winning position on the final morning. Cronje's failure to bowl Mann until after tea on the final day resulted in criticism in the press and this, coupled with his own lack of form, presents South Africa's skipper with the first crisis of his captaincy career going into the second Test.

Garry Sobers played the ultimate
captain's innings on the final day

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 323 (Sobers 80, IVA Richards 48, Hunte 46, Lloyd 41; Mann 5-53)
SAF 1st Inns 501 (Pollock 207, BA Richards 160, Rhodes 43; Marshall 5-120)
WI 2nd Inns 408 (Sobers 170, Weekes 57, Haynes 41)
SAF 2nd Inns 8-0

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 187-4 (Lloyd 41*, Sobers 13*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - South Africa 1st innings 55-1 (BA Richards 31*, Cullinan 24*; 30 ov)
Day 3 - South Africa 1st innings 349-4 (Pollock 109*, Rhodes 39*; 120 ov)
Day 4 - West Indies 2nd innings 157-4 (Lloyd 18*, Sobers 8*; 47 ov)
Day 5 - South Africa 2nd innings 8-0 (2 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Pollock's innings (545 minutes) is the longest in South Africa's history and the highest for South Africa against West Indies
▪ Richards and Pollock's stand of 191 is the highest third wicket partnership made against West Indies
▪ Alan Donald has now been involved in three consecutive fifty run stands for South Africa's ninth wicket

Man of the Match: GStA Sobers

South Africa v West Indies - Tour Match

2009-09-09T19:09:00.009-04:00

Zimbabwe v West Indians
Bulawayo Athletic Club
4 Day Game
Umpires: ID Robinson & RB Tiffin
Toss: West Indians

ZIM: GW Flower, GJ Rennie, ADR Campbell, *DL Houghton, +A Flower, NC Johnson, GJ Whittall, HH Streak, BC Strang, AJ Traicos, HK Olonga.
WI: CC Hunte, RC Fredericks, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.

West Indies stopped off in Bulawayo prior to their Test series in South Africa, and a comfortable victory over Zimbabwe should mean that Garry Sobers' tourists are able to hit the ground running against the Proteas. Sobers won the toss and elected to bat under clear skies, and an assured 60 from Conrad Hunte got the innings off to a good start and enabled him to win his personal battle with Roy Fredericks for the right to partner Des Haynes in the Tests.

The middle order then flourished against Zimbabwe's toiling attack; Kanhai contributed a perky 54 to help take the score to 172-3, then Lloyd joined Richards in a stand that completely broke the Zimbabweans' resolve. The partnership reached exactly 200 come stumps on day one, and 84 further runs were added on the second morning as both batsmen powered their way to impressive centuries. Lloyd was first to go for 122, but Richards progressed to a mighty 191 before Brian Strang finally clung on to a catch off Traicos, and after a poor run of form in Season V, it looks as though it could be a return to normal service for Richards in Season VI.

The master had a blast in Bulawayo

Sobers eventually declared at lunch on the second day, and a total of 518-6 was to prove far beyond the reach of Zimbabwe's batsmen. Their first innings folded for just 135, Alistair Campbell top scoring with 21 as Holding led the way for the tourists with 4-31, and on the third day it was Malcolm Marshall who did the damage at the top of the order as Zimbabwe followed on some 383 runs behind. Andy Flower responded with a defiant 57, but Walsh cut through the tail and the curtain finally fell on Zimbabwe's second innings early on the final morning, a total of 222 handing West Indies a comfortable innings victory.

The stage is now set for what has become a highly anticipated Test series, and battle will commence in Port Elizabeth with the number one world ranking the prize for the victors.

Flower's power was not enough for Zimbabwe

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 518-6 dec. (Richards 191, Lloyd 122, Hunte 60, Kanhai 54)
ZIM 1st Inns 135 (Holding 4-31)
ZIM 2nd Inns 222 (A Flower 57; Walsh 4-44, Marshall 4-45)

WEST INDIANS WON BY AN INNINGS & 161 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - West Indians 1st innings 372-3 (Richards 128*, Lloyd 85*; 91 ov)
Day 2 - Zimbabwe 1st innings 128-9 (Strang 18*, Olonga 2*; 52 ov)
Day 3 - Zimbabwe 2nd innings 214-8 (Strang 16*, Traicos 23*; 71 ov)
Day 4 - Zimbabwe 2nd innings 222 (76.1 ov) - end of match

South Africa v West Indies - Series Preview

2009-09-05T12:06:00.004-04:00

Hansie Cronje's captaincy receives its sternest test yet in the shape of the visiting West Indies, and if the hosts can engineer a series victory they would replace Garry Sobers' side at the top of the ATG rankings. Such a result would have to be hard earned though, for despite Cronje's record of eight wins and just one defeat in his twelve matches as skipper, West Indies have won their last five series and they enter this tour as favourites to extend that run.

The tourists' squad contains few surprises, with the omission of the out of form Greenidge constituting the only major change. Conrad Hunte and Roy Fredericks will fight for the right to partner Des Haynes in the Tests, and expectations are high ahead of what should be an extremely competitive series.

Current form (most recent result first)
South Africa DWWWW
West Indies LWWWW

Previous series result
West Indies 3 South Africa 1 (Season IV, 5 Tests)

Can Hansie Cronje lead his team to the top?

West Indies Squad
GStA Sobers (c), CH Lloyd (v/c), CEL Ambrose, PJL Dujon, RC Fredericks, J Garner, LR Gibbs, DL Haynes, MA Holding, CC Hunte, RB Kanhai, MD Marshall, DL Murray, IVA Richards, CA Walsh, EdeC Weekes.

Itinerary
- Tour Match v Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)
- 1st TEST (Port Elizabeth)
- 2nd TEST (Centurion)
- Tour Match v South African Invitation XI (Johannesburg)
- 3rd TEST (Cape Town)
- 4th TEST (Durban)

Australia v England - Series Summary

2009-07-16T16:13:00.004-04:00

AUSTRALIA WON THE SERIES 2-1
England started and finished the tour in spirited fashion, but a disastrous slump in form in the middle part ultimately cost them the Ashes, and in four ATG series against Australia England are still to get their hands on the urn. Injuries took a tough toll on Hutton's squad, with Fred Trueman's ankle problems severely compromising the attack after he had bowled so well in the first Test, and Hutton himself missed the final game amid mounting speculation that he will step down from the captaincy some time before England's next series.

Ted Dexter - who captained the side in Hutton's absence - batted well in his first series, and both Cowdrey and Botham were in the best form of their ATG careers, their partnerships in Melbourne and Sydney likely to live long in the memory. There was little other support with the bat though, and with Trueman injured there was simply not enough penetration with the ball; Underwood was consistent but rarely threatening, and the fact that England's bowlers could take only nine wickets between them in Perth and Adelaide went a long way to consigning the tourists to defeat in both those matches and the series as a whole.

For Australia, everything revolved around Bill Woodfull, who occupied the crease for more than thirty five hours during the course of series, blunting England's pace attack and setting the stage for Bradman who, like Woodfull, averaged in the nineties and batted for over twenty four hours himself. Steve Waugh also scored heavily in what was a breakthrough series for him, and Ian Healy's batting down the order was a persistent thorn in England's side. The hosts' bowling attack lost its potency as the series progressed, but the decisive damage had been done in the early stages, and Richie Benaud's team did enough over the course of the five Tests to reclaim second spot in the rankings, whilst England plummeted to fifth, their lowest ever position.

Test averages
(click to enlarge)

Full tour averages
(click to enlarge)

Players of the Series: WM Woodfull & IT Botham

Australia v England - Fifth Test

2009-07-13T16:41:00.005-04:00

Sydney Cricket Ground

Australia: WM Woodfull, WM Lawry, DG Bradman, AR Border, SR Waugh, KR Miller, +IA Healy, *R Benaud, AK Davidson, RR Lindwall, DK Lillee.
England: JB Hobbs, AJ Stewart, *ER Dexter, DI Gower, MC Cowdrey, IT Botham, +LEG Ames, JC Laker, JA Snow, DL Underwood, AV Bedser.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: DM Archer (WI) & BL Aldridge (NZL)
Toss: Australia

Amid all the speculation that this could well be Len Hutton's final Test as England captain, there was a great sense of anti-climax when it was announced shortly before the game that he would be absent due to a bad back. Ted Dexter took over the reins in what many saw as a possible trial run for the permanent role, and although his incorrect call allowed returning home skipper Richie Benaud to win Australia's first toss of the series, from that point on things went very well for England's new leader.

England's new captain...at least for now

Australia batted very poorly on the first day, perhaps suffering from a post Ashes victory hangover, and by the midway point of a wet second morning they had been bowled out for 230, their lowest total of the series. All England's bowlers took wickets, and it took a relatively enterprising stand of 83 for the sixth wicket between Border (49) and Healy (40) to drag Australia's score to something approaching respectability.

Hobbs and Stewart were both dismissed before the fifty was up in England's reply, but Dexter and Gower then put on 121 for the third wicket in very good time. Dexter was eventually went for 69 then, after a rain break had disrupted play on the second evening, Gower was brilliantly caught by Healy off the bowling of Lindwall for 78, the Australian keeper reacting very smartly to grab the ball on the rebound from Benaud at first slip. Bad light ended day two with England's total on 215-4, but on day three we were treated to an incredible repetition of Cowdrey and Botham's Melbourne heroics.

Ian Botham has been in top
form with the bat on this tour

Both partners hit their stride from the off, and after adding 104 in the morning session the runs continued to flow in the afternoon as Botham launched a furious assault on the second new ball. Lillee and Lindwall were bludgeoned for sixes in consecutive overs as Botham brought up his second consecutive hundred, and Cowdrey joined him in three figures as the pair exactly matched their partnership of 210 in Melbourne before Botham finally played on against Davidson for 112. Cowdrey slowed down somewhat after Botham's dismissal, but with the tail all chipping in he managed to extend his innings to an undefeated 181, comfortably his highest ever score, and England's lead was up to 317 when they were eventually bowled out for 547 on the fourth morning.

Australia have let leads slip in the final Test of the last two Ashes series and they were now in danger of doing so again, but Lawry contributed 43 to an opening stand of 67 with Woodfull, and then Bradman took over as the hosts cruised to an untroubled 198-1 at the end of day four. A determined Bradman completed his century on the final morning, and although Underwood trapped him lbw soon after, Australia were now on 238-2 and seemed relatively safe. Woodfull fell to Laker for 68 in the very next over though, and England sensed that they were back in with a chance as wickets continued to fall in the afternoon session.

Bradman's second century of the series
held England up in their quest for victory

With the pitch now offering some turn, Australia stuttered to 364-7 by tea, but aided by a rain delay of 36 minutes and some very stubborn batting from Benaud, they had extended their total to 380 by the time Underwood claimed the final wicket, his sixth of the innings. England now had six overs to score 64 for a series-levelling victory and Botham opened with Stewart in a show of attacking intent, but precise bowling from Lillee and Lindwall, backed by a very defensive field set by Benaud, stifled England's hopes. They managed just 27 for the loss of two wickets, and the draw meant that Australia took the series along with the Ashes. England can have cause to be pleased with the spirit they showed in the last two Tests, but in reality it was a case of too little, too late, and they had paid the price for a pair of shocking performances in Perth and Adelaide that effectively surrendered the series to Australia.

Score Summary
AUS 1st Inns 230 (Border 49, Healy 40)
ENG 1st Inns 547 (Cowdrey 181*, Botham 112, Gower 78, Dexter 69)
AUS 2nd Inns 380 (Bradman 120, Woodfull 68, Border 53, Lawry 43; Underwood 6-85)
ENG 2nd Inns 27-2

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - Australia 1st innings 228-9 (Lindwall 18*, Lillee 10*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - England 1st innings 215-4 (Cowdrey 23*, Botham 2*; 59.2 ov)
Day 3 - England 1st innings 481-7 (Cowdrey 148*, Snow 2*; 139 ov)
Day 4 - Australia 2nd innings 198-1 (Woodfull 61*, Bradman 86*; 63 ov)
Day 5 - England 2nd innings 27-2 (6 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Cowdrey and Lawry passed 2000 career runs
▪ Gower passed 1000 career runs
▪ Cowdrey and Botham equalled their Ashes record partnership of 210 for the fifth wicket, set in the previous Test
▪ England's total of 547 is their highest in Ashes Tests
▪ Bedser made his 50th appearance for England
▪ England's series loss is their first ever overseas

Man of the Match: MC Cowdrey

Australia v England - Tour Match

2009-07-09T23:12:00.004-04:00

New South Wales XI v England XI
Sydney Cricket Ground
4 Day Game
Umpires: LP Rowan & TF Brooks
Toss: New South Wales XI

NSW XI: SG Barnes, MJ Slater, CG Macartney, ME Waugh, NC O'Neill, KD Walters, +WAS Oldfield, *GF Lawson, CTB Turner, FR Spofforth, GD McGrath.
ENG XI: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, ER Dexter, DI Gower, MC Cowdrey, TE Bailey, +LEG Ames, JC Laker, DL Underwood, AV Bedser, RGD Willis.

With rumours circulating that Len Hutton would stand down as captain at the end of the tour, England put in a very good all-round display to defeat a strong New South Wales XI in their last state match of the trip. The home team got off to an excellent start on the first day after Geoff Lawson chose to bat upon winning the toss, but after 91 from Barnes had led them to a promising 179-2 shortly before tea, Bedser and Laker then sparked a collapse that put the innings into terminal decline. Lawson and Turner dug their heels in, but New South Wales were all out for a disappointing 254 on the second morning as England reaped the rewards of bowling full and straight; indeed, they procured more lbw decisions in this one innings (four) than they have in the entire Test series up to this point (three).

Sid Barnes' 91 on the first day would turn
out to be the highest score of the match

A solid performance from England's middle order saw the tourists coast into the lead, a suitably lordly 85 from Dexter being the standout performance. With Botham rested, Bailey then worked the ball around well with the tail, and an eventual total of 343 gave England a handy advantage of 89 runs when the innings ended shortly before tea on day three. The New South Welshmen had not bowled well, with Glenn McGrath's introduction to the ATG world a particular disappointment, and in the second innings their batsmen fared little better as England closed in on the win.

The hosts stumbled to a precarious 81-4 overnight, and some excellent bowling from Bailey on a hot and humid fourth morning hurried them out for 141, setting England a target of just 53 runs for the win. Hobbs and Hutton took their time getting the runs, but they saw England across the line before tea, and all thoughts can now turn to the final Test. The Ashes may be gone but the series can still be saved, and if the Sydney Test is indeed going to be Hutton's final game in charge, then both he and the team will be fighting hard to ensure that a troubled tour at least ends on a winning note.

Is time about to be called on
Len Hutton's captaincy career?

Score Summary
NSW XI 1st Inns 254 (Barnes 91, Waugh 53)
ENG XI 1st Inns 343 (Dexter 85, Bailey 68*, Gower 54, Cowdrey 41)
NSW XI 2nd Inns 141 (O'Neill 43; Bailey 4-19)
ENG XI 2nd Inns 53-0

ENGLAND XI WON BY 10 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - New South Wales XI 1st innings 226-7 (Lawson 5*, Turner 9*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - England XI 1st innings 216-4 (Cowdrey 34*, Bailey 5*; 66 ov)
Day 3 - New South Wales XI 2nd innings 81-4 (O'Neill 18*, Walters 3*; 32 ov)
Day 4 - England XI 2nd innings 53-0 (25.4 ov) - end of match

Australia v England - Fourth Test

2009-07-07T18:53:00.009-04:00

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Australia: WM Woodfull, WM Lawry, DG Bradman, *AR Border, SR Waugh, KR Miller, +IA Healy, AK Davidson, RR Lindwall, DK Lillee, WJ O'Reilly.
England: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, ER Dexter, DI Gower, MC Cowdrey, IT Botham, +LEG Ames, FS Trueman, JA Snow, DL Underwood, AV Bedser.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: Khizer Hayat (PAK) & CJ Mitchley (SAF)
Toss: England

England made four changes following the third Test debacle, whilst Australia were forced into their first change of the series, skipper Richie Benaud having to sit out after severely bruising his right thumb in the nets. Border took over as skipper but couldn't halt Hutton's run of success at the toss, and Hutton took the gamble of inserting the Australians on a mottled patchwork of a strip at the MCG.

However, it soon became evident that there were actually very few demons in the pitch, and Woodfull and Lawry posted their second consecutive century opening stand, extending it to 173 as Woodfull notched a wonderfully fluent 137. Bradman perished two short of his century after he inexplicably shouldered arms to ball from Snow which cut back, and Australia's total went past the 400 mark during a soporific second afternoon that brought just 39 runs for the loss of three wickets. Underwood and Bedser both bowled tightly, but Australia's approach, and Waugh's in particular, curried little favour with the crowd. Whether Waugh was batting under orders was unclear, but he opened up after tea, adding 74 for the ninth wicket with Lillee before Australia's innings ended on 480, with Waugh left undefeated on 91.

Waugh's go-slow frustrated England on the second afternoon

England now needed to force the pace, and the first half of day three saw a steady flow of both runs and wickets. Gower batted beautifully to post his first fifty of the series, but after Miller ran him out for 62 following a dreadful mix-up with Cowdrey, the scoreboard read 173-4 and the innings could very easily have slipped into free fall. Cometh the hour cometh the man though, and following his 92 against Victoria here, Ian Botham took the game by the scruff of its neck in an incredible evening session. Botham threw the bat with abandon, and he and Cowdrey - who had been dropped by Lindwall off O'Reilly before he had scored - piled on 210 runs, an Ashes record for the fifth wicket, before Cowdrey played on to Davidson for exactly 100 in the day's last over. Botham remained undefeated on 117 out of England's 383-5, just his second ATG century in 46 Tests, and there was more to follow on a weather shortened fourth day as England managed to secure a vital first innings lead.

Of the lower order only Trueman, with 27, made any significant contribution, but there was time enough for Botham to turn his innings into one that will be remembered for many a year, and he eventually finished undefeated just two runs short of what would have been a most deserved double century as England's total of 517 gave them a 37 run advantage on the fourth evening. Snow then managed to prise both Lawry and, crucially, Bradman from the crease in a superb opening burst, and at 2-2 Australia were in distinct trouble. Bad light brought the fourth day to a premature close, and a nail biting last day saw England strive to beat both Australia and the weather in their quest to stay in the Ashes hunt.

Botham's innings was truly one for the ages

Rain frustrated England in the morning, but an inspired spell from Bedser in the afternoon reduced Australia to 126-7 at tea, and it was now down to the tail to defy the English attack. Botham had Healy caught at slip to make the score 140-8, and with a possible 27 overs remaining Australia's lead was a fragile 103 as Dennis Lillee joined Lindwall at the crease. England needed to take the last two wickets quickly, but in the same Fred Trueman over Ames and Hutton failed to hold on to difficult chances offered by Lillee and Lindwall respectively, and the Ashes had slipped through English fingers along with the ball. Australia's ninth wicket pair held on for almost two hours, and Hutton's first Test wicket, gained when he bowled Lindwall for a match-saving 40, was scant consolation for England's despondent skipper. One over later time was called, and the draw secured Australia's Ashes defence with one Test still to play. It had been a valiant effort by England, but time was against them in the end, and the final Test of an Ashes series will once again serve as a victory party for the Australians.

Score Summary
AUS 1st Inns 480 (Woodfull 137, Bradman 98, Waugh 91*, Lawry 62)
ENG 1st Inns 517 (Botham 198*, Cowdrey 100, Gower 62, Dexter 44)
AUS 2nd Inns 203-9 (Lindwall 40; Bedser 4-37)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play

Day 1 - Australia 1st innings 278-2 (Bradman 66*, Border 8*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - England 1st innings 33-0 (Hobbs 8*, Hutton 23*; 11 ov)
Day 3 - England 1st innings 383-5 (Botham 117*, Underwood 0*; 101 ov)
Day 4 - Australia 2nd innings 25-2 (Woodfull 7*, Border 15*; 11.4 ov)
Day 5 - Australia 2nd innings 203-9 (91 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Botham's 198* is the highest innings made by a number six batsman
▪ Cowdrey and Botham's partnership of 210 is the highest fifth wicket stand in Ashes history and the second highest ever stand for England's fifth wicket
▪ Australia retain the Ashes for the third consecutive time

Man of the Match: IT Botham

Australia v England - Tour Match

2009-07-03T14:12:00.006-04:00

Victoria XI v England XI
Melbourne Cricket Ground
4 Day Game
Umpires: RM Crockett & DA Elder
Toss: Victoria XI

VIC XI: KR Stackpole, IR Redpath, GN Yallop, AL Hassett, DM Jones, *WW Armstrong, +JM Blackham, PR Reiffel, MHN Walker, MG Hughes, H Ironmonger.
ENG XI: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, KF Barrington, DI Gower, MC Cowdrey, IT Botham, +LEG Ames, FS Trueman, JA Snow, DL Underwood, AV Bedser.

England's tour management was highly critical of the frankly substandard surface prepared for this game, and Victoria did very well to amass a total of 252 on the first day after skipper Warwick Armstrong had won the toss and elected to bat. Snow dismissed both Redpath and Yallop for ducks in his first over, but an attacking stand of 101 for the third wicket between Stackpole (65) and Hassett (43) put Victoria on top before Derek Underwood got to work on the middle order. From a healthy looking 106-2, the score slumped to 144-7 as Underwood put a brake on the scoring, but some healthy use of the long handle by the tail revived Victoria's innings.

Walker and Hughes put on 53 for the ninth wicket, Hughes clubbing Underwood for two huge sixes on his way to 36, then the unlikely figure of Bert Ironmonger managed to hang around for the best part of an hour, allowing Max Walker to complete a fifty that brought him a standing ovation. England had allowed the game to get away from them on the first evening, and things only went from bad to worse on day two. A relatively strong foundation seemed to have been established at 71-2, but Bert Ironmonger ripped through the middle order with devastating effect and was twice on a hat-trick as the innings crumbled in embarrassing fashion.

Bert Ironmonger's 5-26 destroyed
England on the second day

It was only thanks to a ninth wicket stand of 26 between Trueman and Underwood that the score managed to crawl into three figures, and a total of just 112 gave Victoria a lead of 140, a massive advantage on this wicket. The ball remained on top throughout the home side's reply, but whilst wickets fell at regular intervals there was to be no devastating collapse in the manner of England's abject display, and Blackham's excellent marshaling of the tail saw him reach a deserved fifty as the total finally reached 194 on the third evening. Trueman snared four wickets but looked far from fully fit on his return to the team, and a muscle injury to Snow limited him to just eight overs and must make him a doubt for the fourth Test, as if England didn't already have enough problems to deal with.

The immediate problem at hand now though was how to score 335 on a poor wicket to win this game, and to their credit England set about their task in a most positive fashion. From a platform of 85-2 at the end of the third day the tourists lost both Gower and Cowdrey early on the final morning, but Botham attacked the bowling from the word go and England suddenly had new hope. Barrington, looking in good touch in his first match since his emergency call-up to the squad, made 46 and helped add 74 for the fifth wicket with Botham, and the runs continued to flow as Ames and Botham then put on 68 in even time, taking England to 253-5 midway through the afternoon session, less than a hundred runs away from an unlikely victory.

Botham batted superbly in England's second innings

It was stirring stuff from Botham, who really was batting beautifully given the conditions, but Ames' dismissal for 32, brilliantly caught in the gully by Redpath off Ironmonger, sparked yet another English collapse. England's tail had no answer to the spin of Ironmonger and Armstrong, and the last five wickets disappeared for just twelve runs as England stumbled to defeat shortly before tea. Botham was last man out, caught on the square leg boundary for a valiant 92, but his innings was a rare highlight for the tourists ahead of the crucial fourth Test here. England need to win both the remaining Tests if they are to claim back the Ashes, and on the evidence shown here, winning just one of those games is going to be an extremely tall order.

Score Summary
VIC XI 1st Inns 252 (Stackpole 65, Walker 56*, Hassett 43; Underwood 5-46, Snow 4-54)
ENG XI 1st Inns 112 (Ironmonger 5-26)
VIC XI 2nd Inns 194 (Blackham 51; Trueman 4-70)
ENG XI 2nd Inns 265 (Botham 92, Barrington 46; Armstrong 5-55)

VICTORIA XI WON BY 69 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - Victoria XI 1st innings 252 (82 ov)
Day 2 - Victoria XI 2nd innings 74-4 (Jones 11*, Armstrong 10*; 23 ov)
Day 3 - England XI 2nd innings 85-2 (Barrington 15*, Gower 0*; 21 ov)
Day 4 - England XI 2nd innings 265 (77.5 ov) - end of match

Australia v England - Third Test

2009-07-01T00:18:00.012-04:00

The Adelaide Oval

Australia: WM Woodfull, WM Lawry, DG Bradman, AR Border, SR Waugh, KR Miller, +IA Healy, *R Benaud, AK Davidson, RR Lindwall, DK Lillee.
England: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, MC Cowdrey, DI Gower, +AJ Stewart, IT Botham, TE Bailey, JC Laker, JA Snow, DL Underwood, JB Statham.

Debuts: TE Bailey (ENG)
Umpires: Khizer Hayat (PAK) & CJ Mitchley (SAF)
Toss: England

Whilst Australia fielded the same XI for the third match in succession, England's win in the tour match here had been a Pyrrhic victory; Dexter, Ames and Bedser all now joined Trueman on the sidelines with injury, and with only twelve fit players from which to choose England's selectors sent SOS calls to Ken Barrington and Harold Larwood, both of whom will link up with the squad in Melbourne. Hutton managed to win his third toss out of three to allow the tourists some momentary respite, but after electing to have first use of a dry and slightly dusty surface, similar to the one used against South Australia, his patched-up side once again batted very poorly and were bowled out for 232 on the first day.

Benaud had England in a spin on the first day

Hutton himself went for a duck, but the rest of the top six all made starts only to get themselves out, Hobbs alone able to claim that he had been dismissed by a good ball after having registered his first fifty of the series. Benaud did most of the damage, tossing the ball up and claiming figures of 5-84 as England's batsmen gave the Australians catching practice, and Australia's response was to open up with a 144 run opening stand from Woodfull and Lawry, their third partnership of 100 or more in ATG Tests, the other two also having come against England.

Both were eventually dismissed in the seventies before tea on day two, but Bradman played himself in after the interval, and in partnership with Border he took Australia into the lead before Snow claimed Border's wicket with the new ball shortly before stumps. Bradman's average at the Adelaide Oval, where Australia have never lost, stood at a staggering 160.67 coming into this game, and on the third morning he looked nailed on for what would have been his sixth hundred on the ground. However, Botham stunned the crowd by ending the Don's innings on 88, and before the applause had died down Miller was also making his way back to the pavilion, bowled by Underwood for 0.

Steve Waugh ground England down in the Adelaide heat

Australia were still in a very strong position at 305-5 though, and Steve Waugh now set about taking the game away from England completely. First he put on 136 for the sixth wicket with Healy, who batted very well for his 69, and having reached his first ever hundred he and a free-swinging Lindwall then piled on an undefeated 98 for the ninth wicket before Benaud finally declared on the fourth morning. Australia had racked up an Ashes record total of 601-8, with Waugh's share amounting to 161* after seven and a half hours at the crease, and England's tired attack were all but waving the white flag in surrender.

England thus began their second innings with a deficit of 369 runs (it had only been 360 in Perth), and following more than two days in the field it would have been understandable, though not excusable, if the tourists had subsided against a fresh Australian attack. However, England began their reply brightly, and by tea the scoreboard read 144-2, Hutton having made an attacking 56 and with Cowdrey and Gower seemingly set for a substantial partnership in the evening session. England's third wicket pair added eleven more runs after the break, but with the score on 155-2 Cowdrey, on 41, clipped Lindwall straight to Benaud at short midwicket, and a catastrophic collapse had begun.

Keith Miller claimed five wickets as
England imploded on the fourth evening

Gower was bowled by Lillee in the next over, then Lindwall did for both Stewart and Botham before Miller ran through the tail as a litany of injudicious strokes flashed a succession of catches into gleefully waiting Australian hands. The last eight wickets fell for just 47 runs as the innings crumbled to a sorry 202 all out, and England had lost by an innings and 167 runs inside four days, their heaviest ever defeat in 64 ATG Tests. More changes to what is already an unstable team are now inevitable after such an inept performance, and after having lost the first Test Australia now lead the series 2-1, and they only need to avoid defeat in the fourth Test in Melbourne to retain the Ashes.

Score Summary
ENG 1st Inns 232 (Hobbs 64, Botham 44; Benaud 5-84)
AUS 1st Inns 601-8 dec. (Waugh 161*, Bradman 88, Lawry 73, Woodfull 72, Healy 69, Lindwall 60*, Border 43; Snow 4-128)
ENG 2nd Inns 202 (Hutton 56, Cowdrey 41; Miller 5-54)

AUSTRALIA WON BY AN INNINGS & 167 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play

Day 1 - Australia 1st innings 8-0 (Woodfull 2*, Lawry 6*; 4 ov)
Day 2 - Australia 1st innings 260-3 (Bradman 60*, Waugh 7*; 94 ov)
Day 3 - Australia 1st innings 565-8 (Waugh 147*, Lindwall 40*; 184 ov)
Day 4 - England 2nd innings 202 (59.2 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ This was England's heaviest ever defeat
▪ Australia's 601-8 dec. is the highest total by either side in Ashes Tests
▪ Bradman became the first player to reach 7000 career runs
▪ Lindwall passed 1000 career runs

▪ Lindwall's 60* is the highest innings made by a number ten batsman
▪ Waugh scored his first hundred in his 17th Test

Man of the Match: SR Waugh

Australia v England - Tour Match

2009-06-28T17:57:00.009-04:00

South Australia XI v England XI
Adelaide Oval
4 Day Game
Umpires: GA Hele & GE Borwick
Toss: South Australia XI

SA XI: LE Favell, GS Blewett, C Hill, *IM Chappell, DW Hookes, G Giffen, +BN Jarman, NJN Hawke, AA Mallett, RM Hogg, TW Wall.
ENG XI: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, ER Dexter, MC Cowdrey, AJ Stewart, TE Bailey, +LEG Ames, JC Laker, JA Snow, DL Underwood, AV Bedser.

England had not enjoyed their time on the west coast, losing their lead in the Test series under a mountain of Australian runs, but their suffering bowlers were given an immediate opportunity to redeem themselves when South Australian captain Ian Chappell won the toss and elected to bat first in Adelaide. The pitch prepared for this tour game was dry and dusty and expected to favour the spinners come the final day, but it was England's seam attack that revelled in cloudy conditions on the first day, and when rain forced an early close the hosts had been reduced to 135-8, with Giffen's 43 the only innings of substance.

Bedser found a great deal of
movement on the first morning

With Trueman still unfit and Willis and Botham both rested, Alec Bedser took centre stage on his first appearance of the tour, and by dismissing three of the top four in an excellent opening spell he will have done his chances of making the Test XI no harm at all. South Australia were eventually all out for just 141 early on the second morning, and in stark contrast to their hosts, Hobbs and Hutton had no trouble with either the pitch or the bowling as they constructed England's best partnership of the tour thus far. It was an especially important innings for Hobbs, who has struggled for form of late, and his hundred here would have come as a great relief to all those concerned with the welfare of the touring party.

Hobbs contributed 114 to an opening stand that was eventually worth 227, and Hutton went on to complete a magnificent 152 before being bowled by Wall on the third morning. He could have made many more, but there was also the need to give those below him in the order some match practice, and although Dexter and Stewart both failed, the likes of Bailey, Cowdrey and Ames all spent useful time at the crease. Hutton's declaration at 394-5 gave England a lead of 253, and by stumps on day three South Australia had slumped painfully to 61-5 as Underwood and Laker exerted an iron grip on proceedings. It got no better for the hosts on the final day, and although a dogged last wicket stand of 21 between Hawke and Wall took the game past lunch, England wrapped up a comfortable innings victory soon thereafter, a victory that will restore some much needed momentum ahead of the third Test.

Hobbs' hundred was his first
score of over fifty on the tour

Score Summary
SA XI 1st Inns 141 (Giffen 43; Bedser 4-32)
ENG XI 1st Inns 394-5 dec. (Hutton 152, Hobbs 114)
SA XI 2nd Inns 105

ENGLAND XI WON BY AN INNINGS & 148 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - South Australia XI 1st innings 135-8 (Mallett 8*, Hogg 3*; 70.4 ov)
Day 2 - England XI 1st innings 251-1 (Hutton 124*, Bailey 4*; 84 ov)
Day 3 - South Australia XI 2nd innings 61-5 (Giffen 0*; 39 ov)
Day 4 - South Australia XI 2nd innings 105 (68 ov) - end of match

Australia v England - Second Test

2009-06-25T15:49:00.016-04:00

The WACA Ground, Perth

Australia: WM Woodfull, WM Lawry, DG Bradman, AR Border, SR Waugh, KR Miller, +IA Healy, *R Benaud, AK Davidson, RR Lindwall, DK Lillee.
England: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, ER Dexter, DI Gower, MC Cowdrey, IT Botham, +LEG Ames, JA Snow, DL Underwood, JB Statham, RGD Willis.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: LH Barker (WI) & CJ Mitchley (SAF)
Toss: England

Despite their defeat in the first Test, Australia retained faith in the same XI that played in Brisbane, whilst England entered this game without Fred Trueman, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Better news for England came when Hutton called correctly again at the toss, and the tourists were able to bat first on what looked a belter of a strip at the WACA.

There was rain around though - indeed, there were interruptions to all three sessions on the first day - and Hutton went early, but England were on the road to recovery at 62-1 when all hell broke loose early in the afternoon. Hobbs (26) was caught at slip off Lillee in the first over after lunch, and from the first ball of Davidson's next over Dexter edged one through to Healy, although it was unclear whether the ball actually carried. Dexter didn't want to go, but after both umpires had discussed the matter he was sent on his way and then, just two balls later, Cowdrey was yorked for a duck and England had lost three wickets for no runs in the space of four balls.

Healy's disputed catch to dismiss Dexter
was a key turning point on the first day

It had been a dreadful ten minutes for the tourists and they never really recovered. Ames once again batted well with the tail to drag the score past 200 on the second day, but it had been a very poor performance from England, and after Lawry went for 10 Woodfull and Bradman showed the capacity crowd just how to bat on this surface. Their partnership was worth 174* by the close on day two, with Woodfull repaying the selectors' faith in him by notching his first century since the last Ashes series, some 14 Tests ago, and day three belonged completely to Australia as Woodfull and Bradman batted their way into the record books.

England's toiling attack failed to create a single chance on a long, hot third day that saw Australia's second wicket pair go past Headley and Weekes' previous record partnership of 455*, and both partners had reached double centuries by the time stumps were drawn, with the scoreboard reading an incredible 508-1. It was as dominant a display of batting as you could wish to see, and following as it did the 303 run partnership constructed by Geoff Marsh and Damien Martyn in the tour match here, England's bowling attack looked a tired and ragged unit come the day's end. Woodfull and Bradman had extended their partnership to a staggering 532* when Richie Benaud finally declared on the fourth morning, and a total of 565-1 gave Australia a lead of 360 with over five sessions of play remaining.

Woodfull (268*) and Bradman (276*) rewrote the record
books with their mammoth second wicket partnership

England's second innings began disastrously when Hobbs was run out for 4 by Davidson from the last ball before lunch, and Australia spent the rest of the day chipping away at the tourists' middle order. Dexter made a promising 61, but it was not enough and England entered the final day on 205-4, still 155 behind and perhaps relying on the predicted thunderstorms if they were to salvage the draw. After the early dismissals of Botham for 45 and Ames for 5, Colin Cowdrey proved to be England's main non-meteorological hope, and with Snow and then Underwood showing admirable resilience, the tourists maintained their chance for a draw right up until the tea interval.

Cowdrey completed a most worthy century, but from the last ball before tea umpire Mitchley upheld an lbw appeal from Lillee with the ball quite clearly going down the leg side, and a phlegmatic Cowdrey had to go. England were now 324-8 with 36 possible overs remaining, and although the thunder was rumbling the rains never came. A spirited last wicket stand between Underwood and Willis took England into the lead, but Australia were eventually set a token five runs to square the series, a target that was reached in just five balls. Australia's response to their defeat in the first Test had been nothing short of emphatic, and although England can justifiably feel aggrieved with some of the umpiring decisions here, they were in truth outplayed and need to regroup quickly ahead of the third Test in Adelaide.

Colin Cowdrey was left to contemplate what might have been...

Score Summary
ENG 1st Inns 205 (Ames 70)
AUS 1st Inns 565-1 dec. (Bradman 276*, Woodfull 268*)
ENG 2nd Inns 364 (Cowdrey 101, Dexter 61, Botham 45)
AUS 2nd Inns 5-0

AUSTRALIA WON BY 10 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Close of play

Day 1 - England 1st innings 149-6 (Ames 36*, Snow 5*; 53.3 ov)
Day 2 - Australia 1st innings 207-1 (Woodfull 112*, Bradman 79*; 57 ov)
Day 3 - Australia 1st innings 508-1 (Woodfull 239*, Bradman 248*; 147 ov)
Day 4 - England 2nd innings 205-4 (Cowdrey 29*, Botham 41*; 71 ov)
Day 5 - Australia 2nd innings 5-0 (0.5 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Woodfull and Bradman's stand of 532* is the highest for any wicket in ATG history
▪ Their stand is also the longest in terms of minutes (646) and balls faced (908)
▪ Woodfull and Bradman are the sixth pair to bat unparted through an entire day's play

▪ Woodfull passed 3000 career runs during his 268*
▪ This was the first 10 wicket defeat in England's history (63 Tests)
▪ Woodfull was on the field of play for every ball of the match

Man of the Match: WM Woodfull & DG Bradman

Australia v England - Tour Match

2009-06-22T23:03:00.006-04:00

Western Australia XI v England XI
WACA Ground, Perth
4 Day Game
Umpires: RJ Evans & TA Prue
Toss: England XI

WA XI: GM Wood, GR Marsh, TM Moody, DR Martyn, KJ Hughes, *RJ Inverarity, +TJ Zoehrer, B Yardley, WM Clark, RAL Massie, BA Reid.
ENG XI: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, ER Dexter, DI Gower, MC Cowdrey, IT Botham, +LEG Ames, FS Trueman, DL Underwood, JA Snow, RGD Willis.

After the long journey west from Brisbane, Len Hutton would have been pleased to have won the toss at the WACA, but whilst England's bowlers enjoyed the opportunity for an extra day's rest, their batsmen had to work hard for their runs over the course of the first day and a half. In all, it took them the best part of 150 overs to run up a total of 351; there were fifties from Hutton, Dexter and Botham that were in turn solid, fluent and agricultural, and the home side's bowlers would have been very pleased with their work on what was a typically hard and flat Perth wicket.

Fred Trueman bowled well at the start of Western Australia's reply, removing both Wood and Moody in an extended opening spell either side of tea on day two, but they were to be the last successes for England's bowlers until late on day three as Geoff Marsh and Damien Martyn took complete control. The partnership began relatively cautiously on a rain-shortened second evening, but as the sun came out on day three so did the strokes, and it was not until the last half hour of play that the stand was finally broken, a weary Marsh falling to Hutton's very occasional leg spin for 167.

Marsh and Martyn batted together for six and a half
hours as England's bowlers were made to toil at the WACA

The pair had added a massive 303 for the third wicket, and on the final morning Martyn completed his double century before Snow wrapped up the innings in the afternoon, his five wicket haul giving him every chance of making the starting XI for the Test here. England's attack looked very tired by the end of the innings - Botham spent much of the third day off the field and all ten outfield players were given a bowl at one stage or another - and Western Australia's total of 465 gave them a lead of 114, but with little over a session left to play, all that was left for England to do was bat out for the draw. Dexter impressed again with another score in the 80s, but Hobbs made just 26 to continue his poor run on the tour so far, and England can expect to work even harder than they did here if they are to hold on to their series lead in the upcoming second Test.

Score Summary
ENG XI 1st Inns 351 (Dexter 83, Botham 75, Hutton 69)
WA XI 1st Inns 465 (Martyn 203, Marsh 167; Snow 5-59)
ENG XI 2nd Inns 121-2 (Dexter 81*)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Close of play

Day 1 - England XI 1st innings 233-5 (Ames 7*, Trueman 0*)
Day 2 - Western Australia XI 1st innings 109-2 (Marsh 44*, Martyn 36*)
Day 3 - Western Australia XI 1st innings 375-3 (Martyn 168*, Hughes 8*)
Day 4 - England XI 2nd innings 121-2 - end of match

Australia v England - First Test

2009-06-20T12:13:00.020-04:00

Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

The non-selection of Bill O'Reilly, leading wicket taker on Australia's recent tour of India, was a major talking point in the build up to the first Test, but all this was soon forgotten once the action got underway at a cloudy Gabba. A devastating opening burst from Lillee, including the wicket of Hobbs with the very first ball of the series, left England reeling at 6-3, and it took a 132 run stand for the sixth wicket between Hutton and the ever-reliable Ames - who was dropped by Woodfull when on just 15 - to set the tourists back onto something approaching an even keel. Hutton's century spanned five hours and was one of his most crucial innings for England, but both he and Ames perished before stumps on the first day and the new ball finished off the innings on the second morning for a disappointing 252.

Lillee got the series off to an electrifying start

Lillee had bowled with commendable ferocity to claim just the third five wicket haul of his career, but when Australia came to bat it was Fred Trueman's turn to extract some life from the wicket. He sent Bradman back to the pavilion with just 2 to his name, and although the Australians spent most of day two quietly accumulating runs to leave them reasonably well placed at 197-5 at the close, Trueman burst back into life on the third afternoon after much of the morning's play had been lost to rain.

With the new ball in his hand, Trueman produced a startling burst of 4-4 in seventeen deliveries to send the Australians hurtling from 219-5 to 244 all out, and after struggling for most of the match thus far, the tourists suddenly found themselves with an 8 run lead at the game's halfway stage. Hobbs, Hutton and Gower all managed to get themselves out when set, but England ended day three well placed at 180-3, with Dexter unbeaten on 64. His innings had mixed imperious strokeplay with good fortune in equal measure - he was dropped on 17 by Lillee and survived a supremely confident appeal for a bat/pad catch on 31, Benaud the unlucky bowler on both occasions - and on the fourth morning he continued on to within seven runs of a century on debut before Davidson trapped him lbw with one that kept a touch low.

Dexter showed flashes of brilliance on debut

Australia now had their opening after a 130 run stand between Dexter and Cowdrey, and from thereon in only Botham's rapid 44 troubled the hosts as the trend for tail-end collapses in this match continued. England lost their last five wickets for just 19 runs on the fourth afternoon as the new ball again proved a lethal weapon, and their final total of 340 set Australia a target of 349 runs to win on a pitch that was by and large still holding up nicely. Two late wickets in a rain-hit evening session - including Bradman's, bowled by Trueman for the second time in the match for 28 - dented Australia's hopes though, and an incredibly tense final day saw the game's momentum change hands at regular intervals as neither side could establish a telling advantage.

Border made a typically pugnacious 64 before being brilliantly run out by Botham, and by tea the scoreboard read 265-7. With 84 runs still required all Australia's hopes were now pinned on Ian Healy, who had played magnificently on his way to an undefeated 70, and England needed his wicket quickly. In the third over of the final session Botham obliged, producing a magnificent inswinging yorker to uproot Healy's middle stump and, roared on by a mass of travelling support, Botham then induced edges from both Davidson and Lindwall in consecutive overs and England had won an incredibly hard fought first Test. It had been a wonderful recovery by the tourists after having been 6-3 on the first morning, and the teams now head west to Perth with England leading an Ashes series for the very first time.

Ian Botham was inspirational on the final day

Score Summary
ENG 1st Inns 252 (Hutton 104, Ames 75; Lillee 5-67)
AUS 1st Inns 244 (Woodfull 53, Miller 48, Border 47; Trueman 6-47)
ENG 2nd Inns 340 (Dexter 93, Cowdrey 69, Botham 44)
AUS 2nd Inns 275 (Healy 72, Border 64; Botham 4-54)

ENGLAND WON BY 73 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Close of play

Day one - England 1st innings 230-7 (Trueman 7*, Underwood 5*; 86 ov)
Day two - Australia 1st innings 197-5 (Miller 40*, Healy 7*; 64 ov)
Day three - England 2nd innings 180-3 (Dexter 64*, Cowdrey 15*; 54 ov)
Day four - Australia 2nd innings 93-3 (Border 12*, Waugh 4*; 38 ov)
Day five - Australia 2nd innings 275 (100.5 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Border passed 4000 career runs, the second Australian after Bradman to do so
▪ Benaud passed 1000 career runs
▪ Botham reached 100 career wickets with the dismissal of Healy in Australia's second innings

Man of the Match: IT Botham