From Bodyline to Sandpapergate, these contests are remembered for the controversies they sparked

Mohammad Isam12-Jul-2020Bodyline for Bradman

A cricket series so acrimonious it ended a talented fast bowler’s career, led to the ostracising of a famous captain, soured relationships between two countries, and led to a permanent change in cricket’s rules. By the time the 1932-33 Ashes rolled around, Don Bradman was well on his way to becoming a cricketing God – he had scored 974 runs at 139.14 in the previous Ashes. To counter his brilliance, Douglas Jardine, the England captain, a man who, reportedly, had a special hatred for Australians, decided to employ “leg theory”, a tactic of placing a ring of close fielders on the leg side and bowling short at the batsman’s body. Harold Larwood, one of the fastest bowlers of the time, was charged with attacking the batsmen’s heads and ribs and left many of them bruised. While England won the away series 4-1, the Australian board protested, declaring the tactic unsportsmanlike, and the MCC eventually agreed it was not in keeping with the spirit of the game. Bodyline bowling was subsequently outlawed.”West Indies aren’t coming out”

Clive Lloyd’s mighty West Indians had already won in India, England, and Australia. It seemed a foregone conclusion they would add New Zealand to the list. But, when they travelled there in 1979-80, umpiring took centrestage. West Indies were already upset at having seven lbws given against their batsmen over two innings in the first Test, and things kicked off, literally, when Michael Holding was refused a caught behind in the fourth with New Zealand 28 for 2, chasing 104. The batsman, John Parker, was already removing his gloves, prepared to walk back to the pavilion after watching the keeper complete the take, but umpire John Hastie ruled not out. Exasperated, Holding kicked down the batsman’s stumps. New Zealand ended up winning by a wicket.In the second Test, incensed by another caught-behind denial on the third day, West Indies threatened not to take the field after tea, eventually coming out 12 minutes late. They seemed to intentionally play below par from then on and even threatened to leave the tour. Things got ugly when Colin Croft deliberately flicked the bails off at the bowler’s end after umpire Fred Goodall had given a no-ball. Croft then barged into Goodall while bowling the next ball. That Test and the next ended in draws, but not before there was another threat from some West Indies players to take early flights home. There were also reports that Goodall had made racist remarks about the West Indians, which led to a tense relationship between the two teams for several years after.Patrick Eagar/Popperfoto/Getty Images”A little war erupted”

Fights between the players, with someone in the stands, a walk-out by the umpires, a letter to a president – there was drama enough for a mini-series when Imran Khan’s Pakistan visited Sri Lanka in early 1986. There was already some tension between the sides as Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lanka captain, had complained about biased umpiring when his side toured Pakistan the previous year. Early in the series, Sri Lankan umpire Alane Felsinger allegedly told the visitors this was “not Pakistan” while turning down an appeal. Defiant, the Pakistan players appealed more often and longer, causing the umpires to walk off in protest. Khan had to apologise to convince them to return.In the second Test, Javed Miandad first got into an altercation with the Sri Lanka fielders and then with someone in the stands who had thrown a stone at him. After losing, Pakistan were in such a forlorn mood they considered going home before the third Test. “We felt as though we were locked in a darkened room without a chink of light,” Khan wrote in his book . He wrote to Pakistan president Zia-ul-Haq, who told them to stay put.As a result of that series, Khan became an advocate for neutral umpires, setting an example by inviting them to stand in Tests in Pakistan.The summer of suspicion

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis took 43 wickets between them as Pakistan beat England 2-1 over five Tests. The world heralded the coming of two generational talents, but the British press could not wrap their heads around how the duo could get the old ball to swing so much, and so late. Akram and Younis, along with Aaqib Javed, had played on the county circuit, and there were already murmurings about them tampering with the ball, which only got louder as they ripped through England again and again. Things came to a head during the fourth ODI, at Lord’s, when the ball was changed during the lunch interval of England’s innings. The ICC never made it clear why the match referee changed the ball, leaving a cloud hanging over the incident.The atmosphere was made even more edgy by contentious umpiring, with memories of Mike Gatting’s ugly spat with Pakistan umpire Shakoor Rana from England’s 1987 tour of Pakistan quickly resurfacing when umpire Roy Palmer warned Aaqib Javed for intimidatory bowling at the tail in the third Test, before appearing to dismissively toss Javed’s sweater at him at the end of the over. Javed and his captain, Javed Miandad, were livid. In the next Test, Roy’s brother, Ken, adjudged Graham Gooch not out when he had fallen well short of the crease, and then Mervyn Kitchen turned down a Mushtaq Ahmed appeal for caught-behind, causing the Pakistan fielders to vociferously protest.Writing in , journalist Martin Johnson summed up the series: “As far as Pakistan are concerned, cricket in England is run by arrogant racists. As far as England are concerned, Pakistan cheat. Today, the two countries are as far apart as ever.”This was the first of several series in which Asian teams playing against cricket’s old powers, England and Australia, were accused of bending the rules. In 1995, Muttiah Muralitharan was called for chucking in Australia, and then in 2006, Inzamam-ul-Haq forfeited a Test at the Oval after his side was accused, this time officially, of tampering.Associated Press”Only one team was playing in spirit of the game”

It takes a fair bit to make the usually even-keeled Anil Kumble angry, so when he accuses a team of not playing in the spirit of the game, you know a series has become really heated. In the Sydney Test, the second of the series, umpire Steve Bucknor made several mistakes that went against India. But what irked Kumble and his team was first that the Australians refused to walk, even when the edges seemed clear, and second that Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, insisted a catch taken by Michael Clarke close to the ground was clean, raising his finger to signal to the umpire it was out. Replays suggested the ball may have hit the ground, but since the teams had a pact to take the fielder’s word for close ground catches, Sourav Ganguly had to walk off when Ponting made his gesture to the umpire.For their part, Australia were left fuming when Andrew Symonds accused Harbhajan Singh of using a racial slur against him. India denied the accusation, leading to a situation so acrimonious India reportedly considered pulling out of the tour before the third Test. After Kumble’s famous “spirit of the game” statement and Bucknor being withdrawn from the rest of the series, India played on and won the next Test, in Perth.Dressing-room threats and Sandpapergate

On the second day of the four-match Test series, Australia players were heard using ambush marketing tactics in protest of having the stump mic volume turned up. By the end of the series, that would be barely a footnote as they lost their captain, vice-captain, opening batsman and coach before the final ball was bowled.The series was bad tempered from the off. Nathan Lyon appeared to drop the ball near a diving AB de Villiers in the second Test, and then Quinton de Kock and David Warner got into an argument on the staircase leading up to the dressing-rooms. The incident was caught on camera, and Warner was seen being held back by team-mates as he yelled at de Kock. Warner was at the centre of more controversy when CSA officials were shown photographed next to fans wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks in an attempt to ridicule Warner, whose wife had been involved with Williams years before.In Cape Town, Kagiso Rabada shoulder-barged Steven Smith and Warner confronted a fan, but nothing could prepare the cricketing world for what would transpire on the third day. Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera shoving a piece of sandpaper down his trousers, and Australia were accused of ball tampering. Bancroft and Smith, his captain, made an apology at the end of the day, but the Australian public called for long bans, and even the prime minister decried the incident.Eventually, Smith, Bancroft, and Warner, who was identified as chief conspirator, were handed lengthy bans, coach Darren Lehmann resigned, and Cricket Australia ordered a cultural review into Australian cricket.

A team ‘never short of character’ is what India captain Ajinkya Rahane called his side after a thrilling draw at the SCG

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2021

Bruised. Broken. But never short of character. Really happy with how the boys fought till the end. Lots to learn and improve as we look forward to Brisbane now. pic.twitter.com/4VBZGCvbnp

— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) January 11, 2021

‘There is a hunger for the simple pleasures of our great game: never again will we take them for granted’

George Dobell01-Jun-2021The problem with cynics is they’re so often right. So, the cheque usually isn’t in the post, they probably aren’t just friends and driving to Barnard Castle almost certainly isn’t the best way to check your eyesight.So, yes, let’s be frank: the England and New Zealand series has been poured onto a schedule that is already saturated in order to keep the broadcasters sweet. It is, pretty much, all about money.But that really isn’t such an unusual situation. It’s the reason last summer’s cricket took place behind closed doors, the reason the England team are on a never-ending tour and the reason we’re about to a have a third IPL ‘window’ within 12 months. Hell, it’s the reason most of us drag ourselves to work on a Monday morning. Anyone shocked by the revelation that sport and money shacked up years ago really hasn’t been paying attention.Besides, for most cricket lovers, this series is a very welcome addition. With England not having played in front of a home crowd in Test cricket for 21 months, there is a hunger for the simple pleasures of our great game: never again will we take them for granted. Yes, it’s a shame that Lord’s will be only a quarter full. But with the knowledge that bigger crowds will follow and combined with news that the UK has just experienced its first day without a Covid-related death in well over a year and that the vaccine roll-out continues at a pace, this really should feel like a celebration.For these are two well-contested and high quality teams. And while the absence of Trent Boult does weaken New Zealand, they are still (arguably, at least) in the strongest era in their history. The last Test they played on this ground, in 2015, was one of the classics and the last international, in 2019, produced one of the most memorable finishes in history. They’re a good side and, win, lose or tie, they’ve provide an excellent advert for the sport.Related

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It’s worth thinking back to that World Cup final for a moment. And perhaps worth thinking of the fallout had one or two other sides been as unfortunate to finish on the losing side. No doubt, in time, the result would have stood. But would it have stood with the same good grace and phlegmatism demonstrated by Kane Williamson and co? Or would it have been like Donald Trump contesting the election result?Either way, Williamson made it clear he was “looking forward and not backwards”. And why wouldn’t he? New Zealand still have plenty to play for and could be within a few weeks of the great triumph of their cricketing history. Remember, the population if New Zealand is under five million. And cricket comes in as an also-ran among the most popular sports in the country behind every code of rugby you can think of and a few you probably can’t.With the World Test Championship final looming, they can use these two games to fine-tune plans and grow accustomed to the Dukes ball. Their success in New Zealand has been built, on the whole, on a traditional brand of Test cricket which involves making big first-innings runs and finding ways to whittle out the opposition on flat tracks. Much the same could be said about India, the recent tour by England being the obvious aberration.But Tests in England in recent years have been played in very different fashion: something approaching fast-forward, with bowlers generally on top. Talk from the England management suggests a preference for slightly better batting tracks this year as they seek to recover from the traumas of India and build towards the Ashes. But if those surfaces – and that Dukes ball – plays anything like they have in the last few years, New Zealand’s opportunity to acclimatise before the WTC final could be significant.Joe Root gears up for the Test series against New Zealand•AFP via Getty ImagesBoth New Zealand and India will also provide a timely barometer of England’s progress. As the two best sides in the world, they are well equipped to challenge England’s unbeaten home record which stretches back to 2014. If it is still in place at the end of the summer, England can congratulate themselves in a job well done. They will also go into the Ashes with confidence relatively high.It’s a bizarre situation when a team uses its matches against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the world to prepare for a series against the No. 4 side. But such is the status in which the Ashes is still held in England. Whether that is healthy or helpful is a different point entirely.They’re not quite as impoverished in selection terms as they might have you believe, either. They are probably only two indisputably top players absent in Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer with the batting right down to No. 5 or so pretty much first-choice. The bowling attack, too, is going to look rather familiar with James Anderson and Stuart Broad likely to be back in tandem.It caps a remarkable comeback from Broad. Ahead of the first Test of last summer, he was dropped leading many of us to suggest it was the beginning of the end of his career.We should have known better. His hunger for this game and this stage remains unsated and he has reinvented himself in recent years as a highly intelligent fast medium seamer in the classic English definition. Whether he and Anderson remain ideal choices for the Ashes is debatable. As is the relevance of the question. England can’t afford to experiment much against opposition of this quality.Without a recognised allrounder – be it Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran or Moeen Ali – England will find it almost impossible to balance their side. Ultimately, it seems England’s final choice will come down to a decision between a fourth seamer, in either Mark Wood or Ollie Robinson, or a specialist spinner, in Jack Leach. The fact that Joe Root admitted he had “gained a little more confidence” in himself as a bowler after his performances over the winter suggests England were minded to opt for the extra seamers before the fine weather of recent days.Among the other areas highlighted for improvement by Root was the requirement for more lower-order runs. It’s true that when they won the Ashes in 2015, for example, the lower-order often provided key contributions with the bat. Root might reflect, though, that it remains the job of the top-order to score the bulk of the runs.We could be cynical, too, about the ‘moment of unity’ ahead of the game. Particularly as it comes at a venue where prices tend to limit the chances of inclusivity. But neither team had to make such a gesture and England are committed to adding action to their words in the coming months. There’s a lot to like about these sides and the prospect of this series.

Overseas availability and the absence of Kolpaks were key features, but who will win it?

Matt Roller23-Feb-2021

The overseas question

There were seven overseas spots available at the draft, and teams faced a balancing act in terms of player availability: should they pick a star who might only be available for four or five games, or a slightly lesser player who was likely to be available throughout?The majority of teams leaned towards the first option. West Indies’ home series against Australia and Pakistan clash with the start and end of the Hundred respectively, while South Africa players will miss the first couple of games to play their T20I series against Ireland and Bangladesh’s series against Zimbabwe is also due to overlap with the season.Manchester Originals, for example, used all three of their overseas picks on players with partial availability: Nicholas Pooran is likely to play four games, while Kagiso Rabada and Shadab Khan should get around six each. But crucially, they will be able to retain those players in future seasons, when they hope they will be available throughout.Related

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Teams will be able to sign short-term replacements as required, and it is understood that discussions have already begun around who might be available. Oval Invincibles are the only side likely to have all three of their overseas signings – Sunil Narine, Colin Ingram and Sandeep Lamichhane – available for the duration of the season.”Full availability of overseas players was definitely something we paid close attention to in our squad construction – not only this year but last year as well,” Freddie Wilde, their analyst, said. “In a short tournament we recognised the importance of role and strategy stability and minimising the comings and goings of our overseas trio is a massive part of that.”Dan Weston, Birmingham Phoenix’s data insights manager, added: “We’ve got full availability for Kane Williamson, as far as we’re aware. Shaheen Afridi’s value has increased since the draft – I think he’s the best left-arm pacer in the world for this format – and retaining him is a strategy with an eye the future as well. Adam Zampa’s stock has risen too since the first draft, so we were pleased to retain both of those players.”

Retain or release?

Teams took drastically different approaches with regards to their retention strategies. Trent Rockets, Southern Brave and London Spirit retained 12 of the 14-man squads they had assembled at the initial draft in October 2019, while Welsh Fire released half of their players and Manchester Originals kept only four (excluding those with England Test contracts).Eleven of the 35 players released were Kolpak registrations, who no longer qualify as local players in English domestic cricket after the UK’s exit from the European Union. That affected some teams more than others, while some players were retained on higher or lower salaries following negotiations between teams and their agents.”We were really pleased with our original picks,” Weston said (Phoenix released only three players). “We did some detailed post-draft analysis and thought we had one of the stronger squads. We’ve identified some players who can grow with the franchise. We were quite aware of how the Kolpak situation might play out too, whereas some teams might not have taken that into account so much.”Harry Gurney was signed by Manchester Originals after his release by Trent Rockets•Getty ImagesThe Originals’ decision to overhaul their squad appeared to pay off, enabling them to pick up two of the top overseas players available in Pooran and Rabada and one of the best remaining English players in Harry Gurney. Other teams were well placed to target particular gaps in their squad, with Phoenix picking up Tom Abell early on to plug a middle-order hole.

Dutch courage after Kolpak drain

The exodus of Kolpak players meant bad news for Dane Vilas, who lost his £125,000 contract with the Originals and was not signed as an overseas player by anyone. Having released Rilee Rossouw, the Invincibles filled their one vacant overseas slot with Colin Ingram, signed as a Kolpak by Welsh Fire ahead of the 2019 draft. David Wiese, Ravi Rampaul, Simon Harmer, Hardus Viljoen, Wayne Parnell, Marchant de Lange, Kyle Abbott and Cameron Delport were the other players with Kolpak status or spousal/ancestral visas to miss out after signing deals in the first draft.However, the ECB’s post-Brexit registration regulations still allow those with settled status in the UK through an EU passport to qualify as local players. That meant Roelof van der Merwe could be retained by Spirit as a domestic player, while Timm van der Gugten, Brandon Glover and Colin Ackermann were picked up by Trent Rockets, Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals respectively to complete a quartet of Dutchmen. Ryan ten Doeschate failed to find a suitor, most likely on account of his £48,000 reserve price.

2020 vision

Players who missed out in late 2019 but were picked up in early 2021 included Daniel Bell-Drummond, Jamie Overton, Tom Lammonby, Steven Finn, Matty Potts, Callum Parkinson, Ian Cockbain, Josh Cobb and Samit Patel, all of whom pressed their case with strong T20 Blast campaigns last summer.”Recency bias always plays quite a big part in drafts and auctions,” Weston said. “With a few of the more experienced players who were picked – Bell-Drummond, Cockbain, Cobb – they’ve got the weight of runs and performances over a long period of time. There was a group of players who felt quite hard done by that they weren’t picked up in the original draft, who used that as a point of reassessment and were more proactive last year.”For others, a lean Blast season in 2020 proved costly: Ed Pollock, Eddie Byrom, Luke Fletcher, Ed Barnard and Leus du Plooy were among those to lose their deals after initially being drafted. Sam Hain and Jack Taylor both missed out again after failing to convince teams with their form last summer.”There’s always a balancing act between recognising recent form but not overreacting to it,” Wilde said. “We definitely had an eye on the future when building our squad – we’ve got one of the youngest in the comp – and this should enable us to build across a number of years rather than just a single season.”

Keeping focus

Squads for the Hundred are relatively small, with a core of 14 supplemented by one or two Test players and a Blast wildcard who will be signed shortly before the tournament starts. As a result, five teams have only found space for one wicketkeeper in their squads: Phoenix (Chris Cooke), Spirit (Adam Rossington), Invincibles (Sam Billings), Superchargers (John Simpson) and Brave (Alex Davies).In that light, it was particularly surprising to see Ben Foakes go undrafted, while James Bracey, Riki Wessels and Adam Wheater may also consider themselves unfortunate to have missed out. All four will be in demand as replacements if any of those sides suffer an injury to their only keeping option, and could be picked as Blast wildcards before then.Ben Foakes went undrafted•Getty Images”I felt that keepers were over-valued in the previous draft,” Weston said. “A few teams picked up several keeping options. Drafts and auctions are always about supply and demand, and the supply wasn’t necessarily there with domestic keeping options. You want someone who adds value with the bat in their own right and for us, Chris Cooke is a great hitter at the death against pace.”

Who will win it?

Southern Brave look like the strongest side, contingent on Warner and Russell’s availability, while Oval Invincibles are not far behind. Manchester Originals, Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit all have the raw materials to compete, with one or two holes. Welsh Fire will need their seasoned county pros to step up, Trent Rockets’ bowling appears to be heavily reliant on Rashid Khan, and Northern Superchargers’ attack and top order look strong but their middle-order options are limited.”Obviously I would say this about a squad I helped build but I think we are one of the strongest sides in the comp,” Wilde said. “We focused on building a strong bowling attack which we’ve achieved and we’ve managed to do that without compromising our batting, which is very versatile and packed with young and dynamic players.”As you’d expect in a draft system all the teams have strong suits, but I was particularly impressed by how Manchester re-drafted their squad yesterday. And any team with two of the world’s top five T20 players in it will be dangerous; Southern Brave have managed that with Warner and Russell.”

The former Rajasthan Royals batsman talks about his move to the Chennai Super Kings, his middle-order struggles, and finding his groove as an opener again

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi24-Mar-20214:26

Robin Uthappa on the evolving role of the opener in T20 cricket

Robin Uthappa’s biggest strength may be that he always tries to remain positive, never afraid to chart a new path as long as he believes it will take him to a happy place in cricket. When he started in the game, he had to unlearn his natural technique as he pursued the dream of playing Test cricket. Now, at 35, Uthappa has new goals. This IPL he will turn up for three-time champions the Chennai Super Kings, who bought him in a trade with the Rajasthan Royals, who released him after just one season. Uthappa says he is looking to score 1000 runs in a single IPL season, an unprecedented feat. He talks to us about why he was made to be an opener, the challenges of batting in the middle order, and finding himself in a team with players he started his cricket career with.Playing for Chennai Super Kings. Reuniting with MS Dhoni, your India team-mate and captain in the 2007 World T20. You were young men then. Now both of you are fathers. Are there tales of all kinds to swap?
() It is different, though, right? [Dhoni] has a girl, and I have a boy; raising girls and boys is entirely different! But, yeah, it’s been a while, and there was always a desire for me to play with him before he retires. I’m really happy that is coming to fulfilment.Our relationship is such that when we are not in touch, we aren’t. But when we do get back in touch, we kind of pick up from where we left off – the affection and the closeness is always there. Our wives are very close friends now. So there is a care and concern that goes beyond cricket. Just to be able to play cricket with someone that you share emotions for outside of the sport is phenomenal. So you know that when you are playing, you are going to put everything on the line for that person.Related

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'I believe I have a World Cup left in me' – Robin Uthappa

And just for the leader that MS has been, . For the knowledge that he has, the commitment and the desire that he inspires within a group is phenomenal. And you have just seen him grow and grow, get better like fine wine.Not just him. Even guys like Suresh [Raina] and [Ambati] Rayudu. Rayudu was actually my first captain when I played for India Under-17. Suresh and I played for the country at the same time: we went on a Under-17 Asia Cup to Sri Lanka. So we know each other from the age of, like, 15. And here we are 20 years later, playing together. So it just brings back a lot of fond memories, a lot of feel-good factors.And when you play for a team like CSK, who have done so well, got the kind of support that they have and the reputation they have, it just brings everything [together] beautifully. You really want to go out there and add value and make a difference to that side.

“The Super Kings breed security within the group, and when you do that, players will do anything for you because they are not focusing on their own performance, they are focusing on trying to win games for you”

What did you feel when you heard about the trade?
I was extremely happy, because when a team like CSK puts faith in you – and they know how my previous three seasons have been, [when] I’ve batted in the middle order – you want to go out there and put everything on the line and give your best.I was in Mumbai [representing Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy], when I got to know about the trade and I called my wife [Sheetal Goutham, former India tennis player] and told her. She is like: “You have worked so hard, and you’ve always gone out there and been as honest as you can and taken up any challenge that has come your way. And it is the way of God and the universe [rewarding you for what] you have done as a human being in the past to have a team like CSK put their faith in you.”Have you spoken to Dhoni?
He, in fact, called me. He said, “I want you to know that I didn’t make the decision about you coming in here. It was actually the decision of the leadership group, which involved the coaches and the CEO.” He also said – and that’s what I love about him – “I didn’t want anyone to think that I was the one picking you. I wanted you to get into the team with your own ability and with your own skill. And when it came to me, I said, please ask everybody else in making the decision about you. Because anyone might feel ‘because MS is there, Robin got here’.”It is amazing, right, when there is that level of honesty. I truly appreciate that. For me, I know that I have gotten there by my own skill, by my own credibility. That is what I love about MS. You want to play for a leader like that, who gives you that confidence that, “Hey, you have come in here by your own credibility. I’ve done nothing.”You have been an IPL champion during your time at the Kolkata Knight Riders, in 2014. Only Mumbai Indians and the Super Kings have won more IPL titles than the Knight Riders. What is it about the Super Kings you always admired?
One of the things I’ve always said about teams like CSK or Mumbai Indians is the kind of consistency that they have in their players. What they build in a group is security, so you know that the 1st XI is going to play at least six or seven games before a change. Something has to go drastically wrong for there to be a change – at the minimum you get at least five games before there’s a change in the side. When you do that, players will do anything for you because they are not focusing on their own performance, they are focusing on trying to win games for you. Even in a [poor] season like last year, I don’t think [Super Kings] made a change in the first four or five games.”To be able to play cricket with someone that you share emotions for outside of the sport is phenomenal”•Associated PressFor instance, what they did with Shane Watson in that season [2019], where he just didn’t get runs for 14 games. Come the knockouts and he got a hundred and he played such an important role in them winning that 2018 championship. That epitomises a team like CSK.You will, no doubt, want to open?
Oh yeah, absolutely. That’s where I know my stuff. I know how to get the team off to a good start, I know how to win games from that place. It comes very naturally to me. It is something that I’ve done my entire career. I have been open to taking up the challenge of batting in the middle order, but it is not something that comes naturally to me. It is not something that is comfortable.Why do you think teams like the Knight Riders and the Royals wanted to bat you in the middle order?
KKR, yes. That was more about moving on from the brand of cricket that we played when Gautam [Gambhir] was captain. One of the reasons I was moved down to No. 3 was because they wanted to get off to explosive starts, which was the communication that was given to me.And then when Shubman Gill came into the fray, in 2019, he was batting at No. 7. They wanted to ease him in so to speak. But somewhere down the line in that tournament, there was a big communication gap. And suddenly, the night before a game, they told me I am batting at No. 4. That changes the whole scenario a little bit, because batting in the top three and batting from four down are very different mindsets.And then that game against CSK, I got out to the first ball. I saw a ball that I felt was there to be hit and I tried to hit it and got out, and I immediately got dropped from the team. Again, no communication as to why I was dropped. And then things kind of went south.

“Dhoni called me and said, ‘I didn’t want anyone to think that I was the one picking you. I wanted you to get into the team with your own ability and with your own skill'”

Automatically Shubman came in at No. 3, did well, and now he has progressed to opening the batting. Once the 2019 season got over, when Baz [Brendon McCullum, the Knight Riders’ head coach] took over the side, the communication was that they were going to keep me. And I think a day before the [2020] auction, I got a call from Baz saying that they are going release me because they were moving in a different direction.With the Rajasthan Royals, they told me well beforehand that they would be looking at me batting in the middle order. And I felt, okay, let me take up this challenge. It didn’t serve anyone’s purpose when in the first five or six games we were three down for absolutely nothing in the first four overs. And then I go and bat when the team is 30 for 3.The games in Sharjah, we got off to a flyer, but games outside, we were like three down in three overs. And then you are doing a repair job. I tried to communicate to them that I can open the batting, get the team off to a good start. By the time that came around, it was only the seventh or eighth game. And once I opened the batting, we started getting off to better starts.But they [Royals] are a team that has always bred youngsters. They have a few youngsters in that group that are openers: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Manan Vohra. And you have guys like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who want to open the batting. They have guys who have been in the side a long time, so they probably felt that if they have Robin in the side and he has to open the batting, that changes everything for them. Otherwise I don’t play, because I don’t serve a purpose in the middle order. That’s why they decided to part ways with me, which is fair enough, which is what I thought happened.But I communicated to them that I know very well where I can perform well for the team and get the team off to a good start. And I did that, opening the batting. And I’ve done that in the past. If you have seen my inconsistencies in the IPL, they have happened only when I bat in the middle order, not when I’m opening the batting.ESPNcricinfo LtdDo you think the role the opener performs has changed?
The change that has come about is that it has become really role-specific, where they don’t really care about the wicket anymore. The value of the wicket has really gone down and the value of being explosive has gone up. So if you are an opening batsman, what you do in maybe the first six to ten overs is what is critical now, the explosive start you give: are you giving a start of 60-65 [runs in the Powerplay] with minimum wickets falling.Again, it is a fine balance. Getting off to a massive start, where you get 80 for 1 or 80 for no loss in six overs, the chances of that happening are a lot less than getting, say 50, 55, 60 in six overs todayAnd that is where strike rates come in. Are you on board with that?
In the last six years, since 2015, you would have seen the game change drastically, especially as far as batting is concerned. You will see that there are guys specifically in the team for a certain role. Like a Chris Lynn: he is there for the first four to six overs. Like Sunil Narine: his role is defined only for the first six overs. Anything he does beyond that is a bonus.Someone like Hardik Pandya, epitomises a finisher’s role. [Kieron] Pollard, for that matter, again… Guys like them, teams are looking at them playing only in the last six to seven overs. They don’t want to use them before that.Like Andre Russell.
He is specifically there to play that role between overs 15 and 20. When I was in KKR, in 2016-17, you felt like if you gave Russell more than eight overs, you are probably giving him too much to think [about] and he will probably not perform. And with the onset of T10 cricket it has become even more intense, the specificity of the role.No one expects you to bat 20 overs and score a hundred now. If you have batted for ten overs and the team’s score is 120, you have done your job.

“If I am not competing to win then what am I doing? I am not playing for myself. I would have played tennis if I wanted to play for myself”

Chris Lynn made an interesting remark during the PSL recently: he said he would rather focus on the one-percenters, which is executing his role, and not focus on the strike rate. Do you agree?
I am not actively thinking about the strike rate, honestly. I am thinking of getting the team off to a good start. Batting is a challenging job in the first six overs. So for me what matters is: are my partner and I getting the team off to a good start? Are we getting the 50-55 [in the Powerplay] without the loss of a wicket? And then from there are we able to extend that good start into something that takes us into a good middle-overs phase?Today people don’t even discuss that middle phase too much. In 2014 when we [Knight Riders] won the championship, a lot was discussed about how we are going to play our cricket between overs seven and 14. If you noticed, KKR played a lot of good cricket between those overs because we got off to good starts, and Gauti [Gambhir] and I made sure in that segment we are actually playing a little high-risk cricket and trying to get a few boundaries, but at the same time focusing on singles as well.Is it team-specific also? Rohit Sharma bats the same way you would like to – bat deeper because he has the advantage of power-hitters in the middle and lower order.
Yeah. At the base of it, in T20 cricket it is a fact that if you don’t lose wickets, you end up getting 180-plus. You need one guy to anchor it down for you, saying, “I’m holding one end up, the others are going.” So if that guy gets off to a great start and then is just feeding strike to the guys coming in, but at the same time getting the odd boundary, you know the team will get 180-plus. It does not matter how you get to 180-200.Is there a kind of discomfort with this new approach where batting in T20 cricket has become role specific?
No, I actually welcome it. If you don’t evolve, you die. What challenges me, grows me.You are 35. Normally one would think it is the end of a batsman’s career around this age. But then you look around: Chris Gayle is 41, Dhoni is 39, Harbhajan Singh is 40, Dwayne Bravo is 37. Imran Tahir will soon be 42. How are you looking this season, as a fresh debut for the last part of your career, or are you on the final chapter?
I honestly feel I am at the peak of my batting prowess at the moment. I feel like the best years are lying ahead of me. Look at Roger Federer. He is 38 and having spent a year outside of his sport, he is coming back, playing at a very high level. So age is just a number. People like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have been pioneers in defining that. Rahul played till he was 39, [Tendulkar] played till he was 41. Today you see guys like Gayle following that, MS following that.”I have a deeper understanding of my batting over the last couple of years because I have reverted to my natural technique”•Getty ImagesThe thing about a career in sport is, you can only play it for that long. Once you stop, you can never play again. So you want to play for as long as you physically can and as long as you truly love and enjoy the game. I love the game. I am enjoying competing. I am enjoying winning. I am enjoying adding value to every team that I play. As long as I am doing that, I will play.Do you agree that performing this season is the key for your future?
Of course. Performing every season is key. Those are the things that you recognise. Now, if I was 21 years old and I had three seasons that didn’t go well because I was made to bat in the middle order, no one would have cared. It matters now because I am 35.What is the change you want to bring in your batting?
I have really hit a sweet spot with the way I am batting right now. There is a deeper understanding of my batting that has happened over the last couple of years because I have kind of reverted to what was naturally my technique. I unlearned what was my natural technique and learned a new one to serve my pursuit of the Test cap. Around 2017 I decided to revert to my natural technique, to what I was born with, and it has taken me a few years. My aim is to play the role of a match-winner irrespective of the role that is defined for me.What record would you like to break in the IPL?
Ha! To be the first guy to score 1000 runs in an IPL season. One of the things I consciously do as a human being is try to push myself outside of my comfort zone so that I can experience growth. I think that’s one thing that drives me in life as a person. I am really looking forward to that.Isn’t it scary to raise that bar?
What do I have to lose? I am just going to go out and have fun, man. If I can do that, and when I do that, you know for sure my team is going to win. That’s what I want: I want to win. If I am not competing to win then what am I doing? I am not playing for myself. I would have played tennis if I wanted to play for myself.

Her Test debut was as much a vindication of her talent as it was a bulldozing of perceptions around it

Annesha Ghosh20-Jun-20216:00

Mithali Raj – ‘I’m mightily impressed with the debutants’

Mohit Sharma remembers seeing some of the traits before. The intrepid strokeplay, the solidity in defence, the clarity in approach, the seeming lack of nerves. “Never before had I seen a girl bat like that or with that kind of an easy, fearless attitude,” he recounts.Sharma, who last played for the India men’s team in 2015, followed the England vs India Bristol Test on TV. “This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to watch women play Test cricket,” he says over a phone call. But there’s an element of familiarity to this novel experience of his.About five months ago, at a camp of the Haryana men’s team, the domestic side he represents, Sharma played some half a dozen practice matches against Shafali Verma. And bowled at her at the nets, too. So the 96 and 63 that Verma, 17, scored in the one-off Test, becoming the youngest woman to hit twin fifties on Test debut, wasn’t entirely surprising to him.”At the camp, Shafali would handle the new ball with ease,” Sharma recalls. “It didn’t matter to her if the pacers were clocking 135kph or higher, or what the stature or skillsets of the bowlers were. In all of those five-six matches, she confidently survived a good 15-18 overs opening the batting. So, scoring runs wasn’t her only achievement.”That rang true for Verma’s performance in Bristol, too. She batted for the better part of days two and three, and a part of the morning session on day four, trying to get the better of England’s 396 first-innings tally and then a follow-on deficit of 165. The 235 balls she faced across the two innings, the second-most by an India debutant in women’s Tests, were as much a vindication of her talent as it was a bulldozing of perceptions around it.Shafali Verma became the youngest woman to hit twin fifties on Test debut•Getty ImagesBefore this Test, 75 percent of her 617 international runs had come in boundaries. Capped only in T20Is, her 29 sixes, the most by any woman player in T20Is since her debut in September 2019, and her No.1 ranking in the format, have been a testament to her ability. In the Test against England, her record three sixes, the most by a woman Test debutant, did her reputation as a big-hitter no harm.But broken down to its individual components, her Player-of-the-Match winning debut was remarkable also because of its more elemental, less dazzling facets. The blocking, the grinding, the restraint, all high elbow, supple wrists – and doing it for prolonged phases of play.”Shafali, [as] we know, does have a range of shots and she can be very effective in a format like this if she gets going,” Mithali Raj, the India Test and ODI captain, said after the match. “In no time, we could see the score would be somewhere else if she gets going. And once we knew it’s a used wicket and there won’t be much movement, we thought it would be a good time to give her a Test debut, and she lived up to it.”Related

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Before her dismissal in the second innings, Verma’s approach in the opening half-hour of the final day was a study in character as well as a test of it. Sophie Ecclestone, the No. 1-ranked bowler in T20Is, began with a slip and a short leg in place. Her left-arm spin was angled largely into the body, with the drift playing its part, and Verma responded with only forward presses and straight-bat back-foot plods.Three overs later, in Ecclestone’s third on the day, Verma threatened to cut loose, starting with an inside-out shot, right off the middle of the bat, over the bowler’s head. The tossed-up delivery carried all the way over the fence. Restraint be damned.The start to the over was reminiscent of the momentum-changing four she struck off Brunt on day two en route to her record 167-run opening stand with Smriti Mandhana. The end to that over, with Verma having offered up a catch off Ecclestone, was a reminder that the Bristol Test was, after all, the teenager’s first competitive red-ball game.”Personally, [I felt] her fifty in the second innings was a very beautiful fifty,” Raj said. “The 96 she scored was a good knock, but the fifty came with a little more sorted head and a little more experience. The sweetly timed drives… It was beautiful to watch her.”Verma was dismissed long before India saved the match, from where it looked like their four-Test unbeaten streak would not extend to five. The feisty draw, broadcast live to global audiences, could have wide-ranging, long-lasting ripples.

“I’m sure from here on, she’ll go from strength to strength and will be very, very important to the batting of the Indian team, in all formats.”Mithali Raj on Shafali Verma

For starters, Verma is still uncapped in ODIs. For the home series against South Africa in March, she didn’t receive a call-up for the 50-overs assignment. (The team management or selectors never explained why.) But the Bristol Test left little room for any uncertainty to cloud Verma’s immediate future.The England tour now transitions into its limited-overs leg. A maiden 50-over appearance for India in the three-ODI series should only be a matter of (a week’s) time. In the larger scheme of things, discussions around the playing combination and putting on competitive first-innings totals leading into the 2022 ODI World Cup must start revolving around Verma’s role.”I’m sure from here on, she’ll go from strength to strength and will be very, very important to the batting of the Indian team, in all formats,” Raj said. “She beautifully adapted to this format. She didn’t go like how she would go bonkers in the T20 format. Sensibly she played the new ball and it’s great to have her.”Shafali Verma had the opportunity to share the dressing room with the likes of England and Velocity batter Danielle Wyatt in the Women’s T20 Challenge•BCCIIt couldn’t be more ironic that Verma now sits atop the list of most runs by a Test debutant without a first-class cap. The Bristol draw was India’s first Test in nearly seven years. The three-day senior women zonal tournament, the only domestic red-ball domestic event, ceased to exist after the 2017-18 season. The absence of an Under-16 national competition means an entire demographic remains untapped or under-exposed or both until the players reach the Under-19s and Under-23 competitions.Against the backdrop of the dearth of a well-outlined pathway for female cricketers in India, Verma’s journey to a Test cap remains something of a study in the relation between intent and talent-nurturing. At the Haryana men’s camp earlier in the year, Verma was the only female player. It was the Haryana Cricket Association, her state unit, that ensured Verma got a regular hit at the nets, in practice matches, and took part in the fitness sessions alongside the men’s players.”I had to even remind my bowlers, ‘ (Don’t go easy on her because a girl; she might take you to the cleaners),'” Sharma, who led the opposition team in the practice games featuring Verma at the Haryana camp, remembers. “All of us bowlers gave our 100 per cent. There was no leniency because she is a girl. We knew we were up against a good batter.”For all the paucity of Test cricket for women internationally and of a structure that assists planned, long-term development of India’s female cricketers, Verma’s record-breaking debut in the longest format remains a success story like no other. Imagine what could happen if India got down to unearthing talent by design, not by accident.

Delayed gratification comes to those who push on through the suffering – just look at Williamson’s men

Andrew Miller23-Jun-20212:08

Steyn: Southee a different bowler since World Cup 2015

It takes something extreme for BJ Watling to display any anguish on a cricket field, so when, in the crunchy closing stages of a gripping morning session, he stuck out a hand to gather a wayward shy from Kane Williamson and immediately ripped off his gauntlet in a state of mild panic, the omens were instantly grim. Sure enough, the physio, Tommy Simsek, rushed out to manipulate Watling’s dislocated ring finger back into place – a procedure every bit as wince-inducing as the patient made it look – and though he soldiered on to the interval, it was his deputy Tom Blundell who took his place in the team huddle after lunch.Watling, however, is not a man you would want to leave behind in the final battle of a campaign. Even before NZC could amend their tweet confirming the extent of his injury, he had rushed back down the pavilion steps, shunted Blundell back to the margins, and reclaimed his place behind the sticks for the final session of his 75-match, 12-and-a-half-year Test career.Related

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Bravery and foolhardiness are basically one and the same. For this was a day for digging deep, something that this magnificent New Zealand team does better than almost any outfit in the world. One final busting of the gut, an exhortation to cast aside the fripperies of physical injury, and tap instead into the emotional hurt that New Zealand have known only too personally in their last two ICC global finals.Watling was not a part of those dressing-rooms in Melbourne in 2015 or Lord’s four years later. But then nor was Neil Wagner, another man who knows only too well that pain is transient but glory eternal. Against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui in December, Wagner had his boot crushed by a Shaheen Shah Afridi yorker but bowled on through the pain, claiming two wickets in each innings in a bid to stave off a rare defeat.And so it was fitting that such a doughty pair would combine – for one final time in Watling’s immense career – to deliver the breakthrough that truly set New Zealand on their way to glory. In ordinary circumstances, the presence of Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7 might have seemed a place too high; in extraordinary circumstances, such as those that transpired on this pulsating final day – and indeed, in the two sides’ last ICC meeting, at Old Trafford in the World Cup semi-final – he was exactly the sort of brawler to meet the needs of India’s hour.Tommy Simsek manipulated Watling’s dislocated ring finger back into place, a procedure every bit as wince-inducing as the patient made it look•Getty ImagesAnd that hour after lunch was Test cricket at its zenith. A wounded India team, rightly recognising the dangers of becoming becalmed in the third innings – a lesson that England’s final-day defeat in Adelaide 15 years ago has etched into the sport’s lore, exactly as India’s Kolkata miracle in 2001 changed forever teams’ attitudes towards the follow-on. Merely sitting in your foxholes in such circumstances, digging for survival but in truth waiting for the one with your name on it, does a team no favours when the inevitable comes to pass. A counter-attack of some description was mandatory. Scalp a lead, however it may come, and defend it for your life thereafter.And so it came down to that gritty, grotty hour after lunch, as Wagner rumbled in with his dog-eared, 60-over ball, aided and abetted by the high-kicking immensity of Kyle Jamieson at the other end. The pair of them charged with closing India’s routes back to parity while burgling a few breakthroughs to build on New Zealand’s three-wicket morning.The lead was 98, the die was cast, and Watling’s fingers were numb as he all but fumbled Jamieson’s second ball of the session, a glove-thumping lifter that might have been designed to ask the question: “are you you’re still up to this?”. Wagner, inevitably, made it his business to ask the follow-up questions, thundering through the middle of the pitch as Pant – with perfectly ludicrous logic – reversed his stance and rolled his wrists on a pull through third man, the obvious percentage option with a phalanx of leg-side catchers scattered for the conventional top-edge.Jadeja’s part in their 33-run stand – the second-largest of the innings – was muted by his standards but vital, as he willed himself to withstand Wagner’s bombs as New Zealand’s requirement was stretched into 110s. But then he was done in by the fractionally fuller length – the short ball that wasn’t, after all – and with his weight inevitably deep in his crease, Wagner’s exaggerated angle from around the wicket brought the edge into play, and Watling, in the clutch moment, made no error as he nudged ahead of MS Dhoni with his 257th and final Test catch.Watling had begun his fielding stint with a handshake from Virat Kohli after announcing at the start of the tour that this Test would be his last. Ross Taylor, by contrast, chose to wait until the winning moment, his shovelled flick off the toes for four off Mohammed Shami, before turning to his opponents and accepting the respect that was due to one of the mightiest campaigners of them all.But you got the sense, as his formless but indomitable quest for victory grew in stature, that Taylor’s own announcement wouldn’t be so far behind. In a recent interview with the ICC, Taylor admitted that, had the 2019 final not turned out as it did, he might not have had the drive to take his career into this, his 14th year. A farewell on home soil might be tempting, but for New Zealand’s greatest Test run-scorer, stages do not get more fitting than this.Taylor and Williamson share a moment after making New Zealand Test world champions•Getty ImagesAt the other end, throughout his unbeaten 96-run stand for the third wicket, Williamson exuded a level of certainty that no other player came close to matching all Test. Calm and calibrated, his astonishment at being given out lbw on 1 was vindicated by DRS on review. And he barely played another false shot until the ball before his fifty, an ugly hoick that just eluded Jasprit Bumrah’s fingers at third man.Taylor, by contrast, brought little but revolting pugnacity to the table, but it was precisely the mettle that the moment needed. Despite an 80 at Edgbaston that was hewn from a similar rock, he has been as bereft of form on this tour as Nasser Hussain in the latter days of his own guts-for-glory Test career, and he’s quite possibly bowed out with a similarly iconic boundary too. Batting from muscle memory clearly has its advantages at such high-stakes moments.Taylor needed 18 balls to get himself off the mark with a crack through backward point, but he wore his indignities and soaked up the blows, none more savage than the length-ball bouncer from Bumrah that spat into his badge as if launched from a fielding trampoline. Taylor grimaced, then grinned, then got straight back to business after the concussion test. Unmoved and immoveable. And ultimately magnificent.This was a day on which New Zealand weren’t afraid to get down and dirty in their final push for the summit. Small moments of heroism echoed through their day. None more crucial than Henry Nicholls’ ice-cool running catch at backward point, blocking out the cat-calls of another emotionally invested crowd to see off Pant and unlock India’s flimsy lower order. Tom Latham and Devon Conway will not graft many more valuable 33-run stands either, their achievement in reaching tea unscathed was an especially vital statement.But as Williamson hoisted the World Test Championship trophy on an exquisitely sunlit evening in Southampton, the highs and lows of an extraordinary six-day Test suddenly took on a new, more metaphorical meaning – most especially, the importance of keeping your head through the tough times and savouring the glories when they come. Two years ago, at Lord’s, New Zealand’s hopes and dreams were cruelly washed out, just as they had been four years before that in Melbourne. Delayed gratification does eventually come to those who push on through the suffering.

Ashley Mallett was among Australia’s finest spinners – and a source of comedy on the field

Ian Chappell30-Oct-2021After a long battle with cancer, Ashley “Rowdy” Mallett has died aged 76, bringing to an end the successful cricket and writing career of a beloved team-mate of mine.It wouldn’t have surprised me if I’d received this horrible news following Rowdy suffering a bad fall. He might just have been the clumsiest man ever to take a hundred Test wickets and a slew of blinding catches in the gully. Then again, we were never quite sure about the extent of Rowdy’s clumsiness, as many of his stumbles seemed designed to provide a laugh in the dressing room.His clumsiness knew no bounds but probably reached its zenith at Lord’s in the second of three ODIs in 1972. Mallett had bowled brilliantly in the first session as he completed the last over before lunch. In addition to taking the wickets of Dennis Amiss and John Hampshire, he’d been especially miserly.Related

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The final delivery was played sedately into the covers and knowing it was lunch – along with everyone else bar Mallett – the English batters began to walk towards the pavilion. Sensing a run-out opportunity, Rowdy moved quickly to retrieve the ball but instead trod on it and twisted his ankle. Then, having been convinced by his team-mates that it was the lunch break, he picked up the ball and obligingly returned it to the umpire.There was only one problem: the stumps were between Rowdy and the umpire and he flattened all three – leg, middle and off. This episode brought the house down, as did his performance in that match, 2 for 24 off 11 overs and a blinding catch at mid-on to get rid of the always dangerous Alan Knott.How good was Mallett as an offspinner?He got to 100 wickets in exactly the same number of Tests, 23, as Shane Warne. I regard Erapalli Prasanna as the best offspinner I played against, and in India in 1969, Rowdy matched him wicket for wicket – he ended up taking 28, two more than Prasanna.In 1977, when World Series Cricket was being planned, Kerry Packer told me: “I’m not giving that [insert adjective] straight-breaker a contract” when I asked for Mallett to be included in the playing list. A few weeks later we were having dinner in Leeds with a few of the English players who had signed for WSC. Packer had reluctantly signed Mallett and wanted an assurance his investment was viable. He asked Knott his opinion of Mallett’s bowling and when the keeper gave a glowing report, Packer accused me of prompting the Englishman.Mallett was the best Australian offspinner I’ve seen, in addition to being a brilliant gully fielder. He could also be a useful lower-order batsman and once smote Jeff Thomson for four with a perfectly executed cover-drive. He didn’t move as he admired the shot and when I asked him afterwards why he hadn’t run, he replied; “I’ve always wanted to just stand at the crease after hitting a boundary.”Mallett was a brilliant offspinner, extraordinary gully fielder, and a consummate comedian on the field•Alan Gilbert Purcell/Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesHe was also a courageous cricketer. As an offspinner he was often on the receiving end of a bouncer barrage, and one such delivery from Dennis Lillee broke his hand during a Sheffield Shield encounter at the WACA ground once.As we chased a target of 291 in the second innings, I told Mallett he would bat at 11 and then only if we needed just a handful of runs. When the eighth wicket fell with 17 still needed, he raced out the door ahead of confirmed No. 11 Wayne Prior to face the bowling of Lillee.Along with keeper Mike Hendricks, Mallett completed the victory but not before he’d toe-ended a cut shot from Lillee, which must have jarred his injured hand terribly. By the time he reached the dressing room his hand was shaking uncontrollably. I thanked Rowdy for what he’d done for the team and added, “But you’re a bloody idiot going in to bat like that.”He simply replied, “I couldn’t let Wayne go in to face Lillee.”Mallett got his best Test figures of 8 for 59 in bowling Australia to victory over Pakistan at Adelaide Oval in 1972. His last Test wicket was David Gower in the 1980 Centenary Test at Lord’s.After retirement his journalistic career flourished and he published numerous books and articles with a preference for writing on spin bowling. His book on the legendary legspinner Clarrie Grimmett, who gave Ashley some worthwhile advice when he was a budding offspinner, was a labour of love.He had recently just completed a well-written and researched book on Australian champion batsman Neil Harvey, the last of the 1948 Invincibles.In addition to his writing, Mallett regularly conducted sessions on spin bowling, many of them with his mate and fellow tweaker Terry Jenner. In recent years he remarried and was as happy as I’d seen him in a long time with his soul-mate, Patsy. Sadly this loving relationship was cut short but Rowdy will be remembered as a fine bowler, a valued team-mate and a soft-spoken but witty human being.