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Big Picture

Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting are mentor and captain of Mumbai Indians for the season•Mumbai Indians

If willingness to put millions behind desire was a guarantee of success, Mumbai Indians should have been IPL winners multiple times by now. Year after year, auction after auction, they have poured in the big bucks and signed the biggest names, but the prize has always eluded them. The IPL is only five seasons old, and there are more franchises that haven’t won it than those that have, but the tag of free-spending underachievers has belonged to Mumbai. Three successive seasons of making the IPL knockouts and a Champions League title haven’t quite been able to shake off that label. That’s the price you pay for assembling so many overseas and Indian stars.This season is no different. John Wright and Anil Kumble are the latest additions to the Mumbai management. Ricky Ponting is the newest captain. These are not merely big names. These are institutions, men whose achievements will resonate for generations to come. They have probably the biggest crowd-puller the game has ever seen, Sachin Tendulkar, whose presence guarantees sellouts at Wankhede Stadium weeks before the season begins. There is Kieron Pollard, to whom Twenty20 comes as naturally as cricket did to Garry Sobers.Why is such a collection of superstars still without an IPL title? It is as much a reflection on the fickleness of the format as on Mumbai’s inability to handle the pressure in knockout clashes. It is difficult to imagine a similar line-up going without success for so long in Tests or ODIs, although South Africa will readily dispute that when it comes to world tournaments.For what it’s worth, the South African flavour of the squad last season has given way to one that is overwhelmingly Australian, with four of the five buys in the 2013 auction coming from Ponting’s country, including the million-dollar Glenn Maxwell. The Indian contingent, especially the first-choice players, is perhaps the strongest in the IPL.When you have so much to play with, you are prone to tinker too much too soon if the results don’t come – Mumbai tried 24 players, the most, last season and as many as eight opening combinations. Stability is one thing Ponting will have to strive for. The results could follow. Or then again, the knockouts could prove to be the stumbling point. Regardless, the Wankhede stands will be packed and shrieking.

Key Players

Mumbai were the only bidders for Ricky Ponting in the auction. They bought him at base price and made him captain. This was probably the only way for Ponting to return to the IPL. Most other franchises have settled leadership. Ponting is making the most of what is left of his playing days following the end of a great international career in December. After the IPL, he will play in England and the West Indies. No love is lost between the former Australia captain and Indian fans, and now he is leading a franchise which has Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Kumble.Ponting’s record suggests he isn’t a bad Twenty20 batsman at all. He has been in fine nick; more than 900 runs in the Sheffield Shield and a decent run in the Big Bash. He was one of the longest-serving captains in international cricket, and has an overflowing trophy cabinet to back his credentials. On the face of it, it seems to be a bargain buy for a splurging franchise that has had to do with reluctant and hot-headed captains in the past.Pollard was Mumbai’s second highest wicket-taker last season, behind Lasith Malinga. Harbhajan had six wickets from 17 matches; RP Singh 10 from 11 at nearly eight runs an over. Barring Munaf Patel to an extent, there was little strike support for Malinga from the other frontline bowlers. Malinga has only four overs in a T20 game, and the others will have to do better than their 2012 showing.Davy Jacobs, James Franklin, R Sathish, Aiden Blizzard, T Suman, Richard Levi, Herschelle Gibbs, Dwayne Smith … that is not some random wishlist for a Mumbai Indians XI, but the list of opening partners for Sachin Tendulkar over the previous two seasons. Only the pairing with Smith had some success. Phillip Hughes is the newest contender to open with Tendulkar, whose T20 strike-rate has also suffered along with his overall decline. Unless Tendulkar can script yet another revival in his batting, the onus will be on his partner to provide firepower at the top. Who will it be, or rather, how many more combinations will we see?

Big players in

Undoubtedly Ponting, although paying a million dollars for Maxwell also makes him a big signing. However, with Ponting, Pollard and Malinga likely to take three of the four overseas players’ slots, it is to be seen how many games Maxwell gets. Many have pointed to his lacklustre debut Test series in India to scoff at the price Mumbai paid for him, but if reverse logic was to be applied, Pollard should have been hailed as a potential Test great by now.

Big players out

Thisara Perera, the hard-hitting Sri Lanka allrounder, was released by the franchise and bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $675,000 in the 2013 auction.

Under the radar

First-class batting and bowling averages of 42.03 and 25.47 suggest that Rishi Dhawan, the 23-year old from Himachal Pradesh, has the makings of a genuine allrounder. Another allrounder, Madhya Pradesh’s Jalaj Saxena has been around for a while, and his batting has prospered in recent times, although the same cannot be said about his offbreaks.

Availability

If, and that is a big if, Franklin is picked in New Zealand’s Test squad to tour England, he could end up missing a substantial chunk of the tournament in May.

ScorecardElton Chigumbura’s all-round performance gave Sylhet Royals their second win•BCB

A late assault from Elton Chigumbura and Nazmul Hossain Milon helped Sylhet Royals to a thrilling four-wicket win over Duronto Rajshahi. Even though both sides were in command in different stages of the game, victory was finally clinched by the Royals thanks to a brilliant all-round show from Chigumbura.Duronto had the game all but wrapped up when they reduced the Royals to 80 for 6 in the 14th over in pursuit of 148 runs. But the match changed its course when Chigumbura cracked Abul Hasan for a six and a four in the following over. After an eight-run over off left-arm spinner Monir Hossain, the pair launched into Sean Ervine, who gave away two sixes in his 18-run over. It helped the Royals cut down the asking run-rate drastically from over 11 per over to 27 off 18 balls. Chigumbura added another six and two more boundaries, before Milon finished the game with a boundary off the first ball of the last over. The pair added 70 runs in just 34 deliveries, though Milon did survive after being caught off a no-ball in the 19th over. Chigumbura, having a lot of experience in Bangladeshi conditions, was unbeaten on 43 off just 21 while Milon, a big-hitting sensation locally, made 33 off 22.Before the final assault, it was the young Duronto spinners who kept things tight with their accuracy and flight. Naeem Islam jnr, Taijul Islam, Monir Hossain and Farhad Hossain shared all six wickets among them. Tamim Iqbal’s plan was to use his experienced seamers for the latter overs, but it backfired along with his decision of not making Farhad complete his quota of four overs after he had conceded just five runs. The faster bowlers – Abul, Ervine and Ziaur Rahman – gave away 74 runs off 5.1 overs, and it hurt Duronto badly.The Royals however would be somewhat disappointed after giving away such a good start with the ball, and having to fight so hard to win the game.Jahurul Islam pulled the Duronto innings out of an early scare, as he batted confidently. Offspinner Sohag Gazi had captain Tamim Iqbal caught and bowled off the first ball of the match, and soon, Duronto’s experiment of using Mukhtar Ali as an opener also backfired when he was caught behind off the same bowler, in the third over.From 9 for 2, Jahurul added 63 for the third wicket with Moeen Ali, who batted scratchily for 35 deliveries to make just 24. Jahurul however struck five fours and a six in his 38-ball 50, and ensured his team reached a decent score before getting out in the 19th over. Ziaur also hit a six and three boundaries in his 19-ball 21 before Ervine and Farhad scampered to put up a respectable total.The Royals bowlers were initially led by Gazi’s two wickets but Chigumbura’s three wickets and offspinner Mohammad Nabi’s four tight overs ensured control. Dirk Nannes, who flew in the day before, looked tame and as a result, went wicketless despite being the most experienced in the attack.Before their next matches in Khulna, Duronto would eagerly want their foreign signings to arrive as they have had to function with just 12 players.

Fast bowlers Mohammad Irfan and Ehsan Adil are among five players who have been called up to the Pakistan Test squad for the tour of South Africa, which begins at the end of the month. Batsmen Nasir Jamshed and Haris Sohail, and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed were the other inclusions who were not on the Test tour of Sri Lanka in June and July 2012.The players left out were wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal, fast bowlers Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Sami, batsman Mohammad Ayub and Afaq Raheem.Asad Shafiq, who had missed the limited-overs tour to India due to a finger injury, has recovered and is back in the national team. Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, who was banned by the ECB during last year’s county season for failing a dope Test, also returns to the squad.Irfan and Jamshed performed impressively in the ODI series in India. Irfan made an impact because of his height, using his seven-foot frame to generate pace and bounce, Jamshed scored two hundreds in three matches and was the Player of the Series. Haris Sohail was part of the ODI squad to India but did not get a game.Adnan, who has been Pakistan’s specialist wicketkeeper and has played 16 Test matches between 2010 and 2012, was reportedly dropped for being unfit. However, Adnan is currently playing the ongoing first-class tournament and has scored 243 runs at 121.50. Interestingly, none of the Akmal brothers – Kamran, Umar and Adnan – feature in the squad.Adil was part of Pakistan’s Under-19 team at the 2012 World Cup Australia, where they made the quarterfinals. Sarfraz last played a Test for Pakistan in 2010, in Hobart. His last ODI was in Colombo in June 2012. He was out of action due to finger injury, but in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy he is the leading wicketkeeper with 13 dismissals.Pakistan play three Tests in South Africa, in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Centurion. The first Test begins on February 1.Test squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Umar Gul, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Ehsan Adil, Saeed Ajmal, Adbur Rehman, Haris Sohail, Faisal Iqbal, Taufeeq Umar, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk).

England will begin the defence of their Women’s World Cup title against Sri Lanka on February 2 at the Wankhede Stadium. The hosts, India, will play on the opening day of the tournament against West Indies at the same venue and the final will be held at the Cricket Club of India ground on February 17.The eight teams that have qualified have been split into two groups of four and the initial stage of the tournament will see one team eliminated from each group with the remaining sides progressing to the Super Six phase. As with the men’s World Twenty20, the teams will retain their seedings from the group stage regardless of the position they finish – so, for example, if England finish third in their group they will still progress as A1.England, Australia, New Zealand and India qualified for the tournament after finishing as the top four in the 2009 competition and will be joined in Mumbai by West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa. West Indies are one of the rapidly improving sides in the women’s game and reached the semi-finals of the recent World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.A total of 25 matches will be played across five venues in Mumbai – Wankhede Stadium, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Cricket Club of India (CCI), Middle Income Group Club Ground (MIG) and DY Patil Stadium. Ten of the matches will be broadcast live.Alan Isaac, the ICC president, said: “This will be the third time that India has staged the Women’s World Cup but this could be by far the most significant. I feel that we are on the verge of a massive sea change in the women’s game and where better for that to take place than in the great city of Mumbai.”Last month the World Cup trophy was detained at Mumbai airport because officials said it had not been brought into India under the correct procedure.For a full fixture list click here

Glamorgan have handed the captaincy of their CB40 and T20 sides for 2013 to Marcus North, the former Australia international. Mark Wallace, Glamorgan’s wicketkeeper, will continue to lead the club in Championship cricket.Wallace, who took on the captaincy after Alviro Petersen opted not to return in 2012, also led Glamorgan in 40-over cricket last season, with Jim Allenby captaining in the Friends Life T20. North has now been given responsibility for both limited-overs formats, in what will be his second season with the county.He led Perth Scorchers to the final of the inaugural Big Bash League in Australia at the start of the year, as well as during last month’s Champions League, but stepped down as Western Australia captain at the end of October.”I’m honoured to be recognised by the management and to be given the chance to captain Glamorgan in limited-overs formats,” North said. “The facilities and resources in Cardiff are fantastic, so whilst last year was a tough campaign in such a wet summer, with key injuries to key players, there were times we played well and at other times we let ourselves down. To compete it’s about showing consistency and you need to do that within a game plan and structure that plays to your strengths.”My one-day record is pretty good, having captained Western Australia on and off for eight years, I’m sure the extra responsibility will bring the best out of me as leader and player.”Glamorgan finished sixth in Championship Division Two last year, although they were only five points off the bottom. In CB40 Group B they were sixth out of seven teams, above Scotland, and they finished fifth in their FLt20 group, having suffered five abandonments due to the poor weather that overshadowed the summer. Wallace, who has been awarded a benefit year for 2013, said he was “delighted” to continue as Championship captain and hoped Glamorgan could push for promotion again, as they did in 2010 when they finished third.Glamorgan’s head of elite performance, Matthew Mott, added: “Both Marcus and Mark have wide-ranging experience, so splitting the roles of captain between red- and white-ball cricket makes a lot of sense. These two guys working together is a great fit. It’s a massive year for Mark, a benefit year does take up a lot of time, so there is a balance required, but Mark is ambitious about Championship cricket and that reflects our drive to get promoted.”I would like to personally acknowledge 2012 player of the year, Jim Allenby, for his understanding during this change in leadership. Jim led the T20 campaign last year very well considering the conditions that we encountered. Jim does have great leadership attributes and captaincy ambitions and he is a key player for Glamorgan going forward.”

At the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, James Taylor was like every other kid. He’d be seen around the Sunway Hotel, watching the ice-skaters on the rink and spending time on his iTouch at Starbucks in his free time. Last week, Taylor was seen making his Test debut against South Africa at Headingley, and he held his own against the world’s fastest bowlers. He is the second from the England Under-19 batch of 2008, after Steven Finn, to make it to Test cricket, a timely reminder for his juniors of the possibilities ahead as they prepare to open the 2012 World Cup in Townsville.England’s first opponents are the hosts, Australia, who have blooded more young cricketers at international level in recent years than they did in the past. From the squad that went to the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh have had a morsel of senior limited-overs cricket.In both these teams, however, you’d have to be prodigiously gifted like Ricky Ponting, or have the tenacity to perform when talent meets opportunity like Alastair Cook did, to convert a young debut into a lasting career. Taylor and Finn got where they are now through the grind.”Our aspirations for our players are that they go into first-class cricket, quite a few of the boys have played first-class cricket, then to supply the Emerging Player Programme,” Tim Boon, the England coach, said. “They then go on to the Lions … so by the time they’re 24-25 they’re knocking on the England door. There’s no direct pathway through. All these players have got to go and earn their stripes. They’ve got to go and perform in county cricket. The great thing is there’s a big queue developing.”Stuart Law, who played the first youth World Cup in 1988 and would have had many more than the one Test cap had he been in most other Australian eras, is the coach of their Under-19 side. He too said his players would have to go through the club and state route, but also that there were more opportunities for bolters at this time in Australian cricket.”When the likes of Darren Lehmann and myself were playing, there were about 15 guys who could have played Test cricket who weren’t even in the Australian team,” Law said. “[Australia] haven’t quite got that now. It has changed. Young kids are getting an opportunity earlier, which may not be the greatest thing for Australian cricket, but some kids, you throw them in the deep end and if they start swimming, you’ve found a couple of winners.”If any of these guys have a real good tournament, obviously their home states will sit up and take notice and they’ll start being let through. But it’s not just about performing well here, they’ve got to go back to their club sides and start the season well.”The Under-19 World Cup is an opportunity for a head start. Performance here could catch the eye of Australia’s National Talent Manager, Greg Chappell, who’s travelling with the team, and that could mean quicker access to an elite training environment, which in turn could widen the gap between the selected player and those he’s outrun.While several countries want for adequate youth programmes, England’s Under-19 cricketers, Boon said, were fortunate to be part of a fully integrated body, with players at higher levels keen to help those below them. “In December last year we went to South Africa. We had six international England bowlers – [James] Anderson, [Stuart] Broad, [Chris] Tremlett etc – and six Lions bowlers wanting to bowl at our Under-19s. They were there on a training camp,” he said. “That stood the lads in good stead. Our bowlers partnered with Broad and those guys, and the batters were able to face high-class internationals and tap into their experience. It was daunting and very rewarding.”A common yet significant problem several teams face at the World Cup is adjusting quickly to the unknown: strange conditions and unfamiliar playing styles. To aid their development in this regard, England toured Bangladesh and also visited Townsville for a quadrangular series in April 2012. Their results weren’t too hot: losing 5-2 in Bangladesh, and losing the semi-final of the quadrangular after winning all three league matches. They had also lost a home series to South Africa (2-4) and an away series to Sri Lanka (1-3) in 2011.”Our aims are to challenge the players under pressure, to give them really intense periods of cricket. We look at skill learning and then and testing those skills. In doing that we go to places like Bangladesh. It was very tough, very different,” Boon says of the experience. “The lads played against spinners they’ve never seen before. [They were exposed to a] different lifestyle and culture, that was also really important. It’s about grooming their skills so that they can stand independently, without a coach overlooking them.”If World Cup warm-up results are any indication, England have adjusted quickly after arriving in Australia a week ago. They beat Pakistan, a perennially strong Under-19 side, before brushing aside Zimbabwe.Australia, on the other hand, had mixed results in the warm-ups, losing to West Indies and then thumping Scotland. They had a tough workout in the weeks leading up to those matches, losing a series to Pakistan 2-1 in Gold Coast. And in the quadrangular in India in September 2011, they had won two out of seven matches, while in the quadrangular at home in April 2012, they won three out of five games.Law, who’s been with the team for only five weeks, said that all match practice at this level was immensely beneficial. “We haven’t played together a hell of a lot. We played Pakistan in a three-match series down the coast, and you can see they have been playing together for quite a while,” he said. “At this age, you need to play, the more you play the better it is. They’ve got to live the game to understand what they can do and can’t do in games of cricket.”On Saturday, both these teams will be living and learning in the most momentous match of their lives. Win, and the chances of topping a group that includes Ireland and Nepal are significantly higher.

Gautam Gambhir has said India need to improve their bowling in the last ten overs of an ODI if they want to win consistently. India conceded 90 and 97 to Sri Lanka’s lower-middle order from overs 41 to 50 in the first and third games of this series, and needed the batsmen to provide buffer on both occasions. The one time the batsmen failed, India lost meekly in the second ODI.”We just didn’t bowl well in the last 10 overs,” Gambhir said after the five-wicket win in Colombo. “You can’t afford to give 95-odd runs in the last ten overs, when they have literally two new batsmen at the crease, Angelo [Mathews] and Jeevan Mendis. Sometimes when you give 60-70 that is still tolerable, but 95-[odd is] too many runs when the [batting] Powerplay is over.”At one stage we were thinking we can contain Sri Lanka to 250 and then chase it down, but there is a difference when you think to contain someone to 250 and then the opposition gets to 287 [286], that is a huge margin. If we want to be a quality side in the future and if we want to win consistently we just need to work on the last ten overs, the way our bowling is. We have given a lot of runs in the last 10 overs in the past as well. We will learn from our mistakes very soon.”While India had the cushion of 314 runs in the first ODI, today’s profligacy left their batsmen needing to achieve the highest successful chase ever against Sri Lanka at home, which they managed to in the last over. Gambhir led the way with a breezy century that kept India going despite the early departure of Virender Sehwag and slow thirties from Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. Gambhir said it was important that one of the top three batsmen batted long.”When you are chasing 280-odd it’s important that someone from the top three bats for 40 overs and tries and anchors the innings from one end, and then people can play around them. Luckily, and fortunately, it was me today [who did that]. [In the] first game Virat and Viru [Sehwag] did it and today it was my turn.”Mahela Jayawardene said Gambhir’s ability to build an innings was why Sri Lanka needed to dismiss him quickly. “The other day [second ODI] he held the innings together,” Jayawardene said. “He is one of those guys who we have to try and get early because he builds innings and bats long and bats big, so then it is easier for the other guys to bat around him, and he bats at a good pace as well.”Gambhir’s 102 set up the eighth win in 11 games for the chasing side at the Premadasa Stadium, which used to favour the team batting first before the pitch was relaid for the 2011 World Cup. Gambhir said that pitch got better when India batted. “It was a good wicket for 100 overs and there was no breeze, though it was very humid. There was a bit of dew [and] the ball started coming on better in the second innings.”The other major blemish in India’s performance was Rohit Sharma’s first-ball duck. On the eve of the match, Gambhir had stood by the out-of-form batsman and his stance remained the same after Rohit fell to a Lasith Malinga yorker. Rohit averages 15.60 this year from 10 innings, and has made 5, 0 and 0 so far in this series, while Manoj Tiwary continues to be benched despite scoring a match-winning century in his last ODI in December 2011.”If someone gets out first ball … if someone gets set and then gets out, then he needs to think about it,” Gambhir said. “Anyone can get out. I still believe, and whenever I say it I mean every word, that Rohit Sharma, according to me, is the best talent India has ever had. Let’s not talk about individuals, let’s not put the blame that Rohit is not doing well. When the team is doing well we need to support people who are not doing well.Gambhir pointed out Rohit’s Man-of-the-Series performances against West Indies at home and away last year. “There was a time against West Indies when neither Viru [Virender Sehwag] nor I were getting runs. It was Rohit who was single-handedly winning the games for us. Let’s not single out. Everyone should back him because I see him scoring a lot of runs in the future and he could be one of the great players of Indian cricket.”

Paul Adams, the former South Africa spinner, has been unveiled as the new coach of the Cape Cobras. Adams takes over after Richard Pybus – who has since been handed the Bangladesh job – stepped down at the end of last season, citing differences with administration in the franchise as the reason for his stepping down.Adams has previously held coaching roles with the Western Province amateur side and the South Africa A side, and was the assistant coach of the now defunct seventh domestic franchise, Impi.Cobras chief executive Andrew Odendaal said there are “high expectations” of Adams to lead the traditionally strong franchise. The Cobras are the current one-day cup champions and had held the domestic first-class and Twenty20 titles last season, but failed to defend their titles in 2011-12.

Match facts

Sunday May 20, 2012
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Virat Kohli has settled in well in his role as captain•AFP

Big Picture

The task is straightforward for Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have to win this game to secure a berth in the playoffs. Why it has come down to a last-minute scramble to make the final four for a team that possesses the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Muttiah Muralitharan is a bit baffling. It shows how unpredictable this edition of the league has been. Here, they will be up against the bottom-placed Deccan Chargers, who have nothing to play for except to break a few hearts.Chargers terminated Rajasthan Royals’ chances of progressing with a clinical win in Hyderabad, where they’ve won just two games in 19 attempts. This will be their chance to end another torrid season on a positive note. Their fielding remains shoddy, and they’ll be hoping to lift themselves in that department.Another team closely following this game will be the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings. Should Royal Challengers lose, both will be locked on 17 points but Super Kings will go through on superior net run-rate.

Form guide

Deccan Chargers: WLLLL (most recent first)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WLWWW

Players to watch

After stints with Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, Shikhar Dhawan has justified his billing with Deccan Chargers, compiling 564 runs with five fifties. He’s behind only Chris Gayle in the run charts, after having overtaken Ajinkya Rahane in his previous outing. He may not finish at No.2, with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag closing in on the 500 mark, but Dhawan’s done enough to push the national selectors into debating whether he warrants a recall when they pick the team for the World Twenty20.Daniel Vettori’s ordinary bowling form has compelled him to sit out for the sake of the team. Virat Kohli has done a fine job as a stand-in captain, ensuring that Vettori’s absence didn’t upset the team’s fortunes. His 73 against Delhi Daredevils in their most recent match was part of a stand of 204 with Chris Gayle, the second-highest partnership in Twenty20.

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers have played each other ten teams, with five victories apiece.
• Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra are the only two Chargers bowlers who have taken more than ten wickets in this IPL.
  

  Quotes

  “When you are at the bottom of the table, there is hope to upset some other people’s tournament.”
  “They really support me as captain. As a young captain, you fall short of ideas at times. But they have been very helpful.”

The first round of the Kingfisher Beer Cup, formerly known as the ECB National Club Championship, begins on Sunday, with last year’s winners, Shrewsbury, beginning their quest to retain the title with a short trip to North Staffordshire & South Cheshire League side Stafford.Shrewsbury are one of 256 clubs competing for the £5,000 first prize, with the final to be played at the County Ground in Derby on September 16. The 2011 runners-up, Cambridge Granta, will host competition newcomers Peterborough Town CC from the Northamptonshire Premier League. The full draw can be found here.Graeme Swann, one professional to have graduated through the competition, fondly recalls his days in recreational cricket.”My first senior club was Northampton Saints who I am still registered to today,” Swann said. “The Saints used to play in the Cockspur Cup, who were the former sponsors. I remember facing Steve Ogrizevic, who was then Coventry’s goalkeeper and who bowled fast for Coventry and North Warwicks CC when I was about 15. They were great days.”For more details, click here.