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Talk of Kolpak signings and whether Lancashire can avoid another relegation battle hover over Glen Chapple’s first season as head coach

Paul Edwards01-Apr-2017Lancashire’s media days have changed. Time was when they used to consist of a team photo, the players’ mugshots, a few interviews and a hotpot. On Friday morning, though, the Old Trafford outfield was bedecked with three sets of chairs for the team, their placement dependent on the sponsors being promoted; and Steven Croft’s players dutifully sported Lancashire’s three kits, white for the Championship, red for the T20 Blast and a curious shade of green for the Royal London Cup.It all took a while, especially given the spreadsheet of sponsors to be accommodated and the team’s need to scoot back to the dressing room and don another strip. Each clothes change seemed to require a fresh application of hair gel and sweet-smelling unguents. The whole thing had the air of a fashion parade. “And here we have Liam, and Liam is wearing a daring guacamole number by Kukri of Preston…”Before long, probably to the relief of everyone, substance replaced style – well, talk about substance anyway – and discussion of what has been an eventful winter at Emirates Old Trafford. Ashley Giles has gone back to Warwickshire, Tom Smith has retired and Alviro Petersen has been released. The club have signed Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dane Vilas and Ryan McLaren. Inevitably, Glen Chapple, the new head coach, had to field questions about recruiting the 42-year-old Chanderpaul and what this said about the county’s wish to develop its own players and give chances to them.”When you’re making signings, you’ve got one eye on what you think your squad needs but you’ve also got one eye on opportunities,” he said. “I didn’t set out thinking I was going to sign Shiv but when I found out how well he was playing and how keen he was to play, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. He will add another dimension to our squad and he will be a great help to our batters.””We know Shiv,” Chapple added, referring to Chanderpaul’s previous spell with Lancashire in 2010. “He loves playing cricket and he lives to bat. The modern day game needs people who know how to bat in a four-day match. I think Has [Haseeb Hameed] will speak to him a lot about batting. Has already has that mentality but I’m sure they’ll have loads of conversations.”Maintaining a balance in Lancashire’s squad is clearly important to Chapple. The loss of Petersen – who has been banned for two years for breaching Cricket South Africa’s anti-corruption code – left a large gap in the top-order batting, one best filled by an experienced cricketer. However, he also understands and shares the deep desire of the county’s supporters that the club should bring on its own.”Long term the priority is to have as many homegrown players in the squad as possible and if you watch this season, we’ll always have seven of those who will be homegrown and not signed from other counties,” he said. “In our defence we are still producing first-class cricketers and over time we’d like that number to be more, but our supporters want us to achieve success as well. They want us to win trophies. They don’t want periods when we say we’re developing.

“With one team fewer in the division there is less scope for any poor performances. If you’re not competing at the top, you’ll be looking over your shoulder”Glen Chapple

“It is a balance but our priority is on producing players from within and for me that means the north-west. We are careful to sign the right players who want to perform for the club and are hungry to achieve more. They’re not just coming because they can. I’ve not heard people spoken of more highly than Dane Vilas and Ryan McLaren in the reports I received about them. That’s a really good sign for us.”Nevertheless, for all that he has a great deal of coaching skill and acquired more during his two years working under Giles, Chapple has had to adjust to leading Lancashire’s coaching team and helping to establish an atmosphere, perhaps a more relaxed one than his predecessor’s, in which the players can perform at their best. He does not demur at the suggestion that he is putting his own stamp on things.”There were a few things that changed given a slightly different approach,” he said. “You might share some values but when it’s up to you, you make slightly different decisions. I work closely with Mark Chilton [his assistant], Chris Benbow [the analyst] and the rest of the management staff to do what I think is right. I want the players to be themselves in training and to have the freedom to express how they want to play their cricket. It’s a career that needs to be enjoyed but you need to enjoy getting better. I want us to be a tough team to play against.”My previous role was all-encompassing but it was more as an aid to the captain and head coach whereas now ultimately some decisions rest with me. The captain will have the final say on who he takes onto the field. I and the coaches just want to help the players achieve success. I don’t think you have to become a different person as a head coach but it’s nearly ten years since I’ve been simply a player, so I’m probably distanced a bit in that respect. I’ve enjoyed the job so far and I can’t wait to get into the competitive stuff.”That competitive stuff begins at Essex next Friday and some attention will be taken by the duel between Alastair Cook and James Anderson. “Alastair’s good friends with Jimmy but he’ll be wishing Jimmy wasn’t the bowler he was facing first up,” observes Chapple, who is fully aware how intense the cricket will be in a division in which two of the eight teams will be relegated in September.”The teams that were a bit weaker last season have strengthened, the one team that came up, Essex, have strengthened quite a lot and with one team fewer in the division there is less scope for any poor performances,” he said. “If you’re not competing at the top, you’ll be looking over your shoulder.”So Chapple is understandably loath to set his team the target of winning a trophy in 2017.”I’d rather judge the season on how we play our cricket,” he said. “If we play really good cricket and finish mid-table, then great. I’d much rather we won the division but until it kicks off you don’t know how difficult that is going to be. Last season was the strangest I’ve seen. We were 20 points clear after four games and then suddenly everyone started winning and we couldn’t find a result. The key thing for me is that you can’t have a game off, you have to be right at it this year. Whenever we’ve been successful in the past, it’s the players who have set their own targets and we have to find a day this week to talk about that. I’m pretty sure what we’ll hear.”

ESPNcricinfo picks its best XI for each franchise after the IPL 2016 auction in Bangalore on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-201614:13

How the eight teams stack up

Rising Pune Supergiants – Intimidating batting line-up, weak bowling1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Kevin Pietersen (overseas), 3 Faf du Plessis (overseas), 4 Steven Smith (overseas), 5 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 6 Mitchell Marsh (overseas), 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 M Ashwin, 11 Ishwar Pandey
Full squadGujarat Lions – Strong allrounders, short on reserve batsmen1 Aaron Finch/Dwayne Smith (overseas), 2 Brendon McCullum (overseas), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Bravo (overseas), 6 James Faulkner (overseas), 7 Ishan Kishan, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Pravin Tambe
Full squadRoyal Challengers Bangalore – The best top four in the business1 Chris Gayle (overseas), 2 Shane Watson (overseas), 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers (overseas), 5 Mandeep Singh/Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Kedar Jadhav (wk), 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Varun Aaron, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 S Aravind, 11 Mitchell Starc (overseas)
Full squad Kolkata Knight Riders – A no-frills outfit with proven T20 performers1 Robin Uthappa (wk), 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (overseas), 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Andre Russell (overseas), 8 John Hastings/Jason Holder (overseas) 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Morne Morkel (overseas)
Full squadKings XI Punjab – Reliant on overseas batsmen, questions over who will lead1 M Vijay, 2 Manan Vohra, 3 Shaun Marsh (overseas), 4 Glenn Maxwell (overseas), 5 David Miller (overseas), 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Rishi Dhawan/Gurkeerat Singh, 9 Kyle Abbott/Mitchell Johnson (overseas), 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Full squadDelhi Daredevils – Light on proven match-winners, possibly the only overseas captain1 Shreyas Iyer, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Sanju Samson, 4 JP Duminy (capt, overseas), 5 Karun Nair, 6 Albie Morkel (overseas), 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Chris Morris (overseas), 9 Mohammed Shami/Zaheer Khan, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Imran Tahir/Nathan Coulter-Nile (overseas)
Full squadMumbai Indians – No obvious chinks, strong overseas bench strength1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Lendl Simmons (overseas), 3 Rohit Sharma (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kieron Pollard (overseas), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Harbhajan Singh, 8 J Suchith, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan/Tim Southee (overseas), 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Lasith Malinga (overseas)
Full squadSunrisers Hyderabad – Formidable first XI, short on Indian bench strength1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 David Warner (overseas), 3 Kane Williamson/Eoin Morgan (overseas), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Naman Ojha (wk), 7 Ben Cutting/Moises Henriques, 8 Trent Boult (overseas), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Karn Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra
Full squad

West Indies have identified batting as their biggest concern in the upcoming series against South Africa

Firdose Moonda16-Dec-2014With the world’s highest bungee jump – 216 m at the Bloukrans bridge – the world’s oldest and largest ultra-marathon – the 90 km Comrades race – and the world’s toughest canoe race – the Dusi – South Africa can be a pretty wild place for sportsmen. Even cricketers.Graeme Smith used to call it the most difficult place to the open the batting and there are a slew of top-order batsmen who are testament to that. Mark Taylor couldn’t help but nick off in 1996-97, Michael Vaughan was done for pace in 1999-00 and Virender Sehwag was susceptible to the short ball in 2010-11. None of that will offer any comfort to West Indies, who have identified batting as their biggest concern in the upcoming series.”Our batting hasn’t been up to scratch in the last couple of years,” Denesh Ramdin, their captain said on the eve of the Centurion Test. “It’s important that myself, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, all the senior guys put up our hands and that the younger guys can learn as they go along.”In their last 10 Tests, West Indies have managed scores of over 250 in only nine out of 20 innings. Three of those were against Bangladesh at home, four against New Zealand at home and remaining two, including their highest of 507, in New Zealand. The only top-six team they played in that time was India and they scored fewer than 200 in three out of four innings.Ramdin is among their top run-scorers in that period and the list also includes Darren Bravo, who made a double-hundred in Dunedin and a century in Port of Spain against New Zealand, Chris Gayle, who made three fifties in his last four Tests, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has slowly been encroaching on Brian Lara’s record, and Kraigg Brathwaite, who has 541 runs from his last four Tests at an average of 90.17. Two of those five are not on this tour.Ramdin has placed the onus on West Indies’ senior batsmen to combat difficult South African conditions•WICBGayle withdrew with a back injury and Bravo pulled out for personal reasons which has left Chanderpaul and Brathwaite to act as the mainstays in a line-up that includes in-form Marlon Samuels and Devon Smith and a determined Ramdin. “I am going to relish the opportunity as a captain to lead from the front,” he said. “I’ve done well in the last 18 months or so, so I’d like to continue that. If every one plays, I will try to hold it all together and put in some good partnerships.”Although Ramdin did not have a successful last visit to South Africa – he averaged 18.16 from six innings and only once scored more than 30 – his form has enjoyed an upward curve in the last year. In the last 20 innings, Ramdin has averaged 31.85, more than his overall figure of 27.17, he has scored a century, a fifty and four scores in the 30s and 40s. For a No.7, those are decent contributions.West Indies, as an outfit, have dipped far below their glory days and the rebuilding process has not been promising. Ramdin wants that to change, starting in South Africa, a series which he hopes to use as a new beginning after the squad abandoned their visit to India. “Its important for us to forget about that and move on to the future,” he said. “We are going to put that behind us and take it one step at a time and do our best.”From a batting perspective, that means digging in and displaying the temperament required of Test cricketers in an environment that is known to be difficult. “It’s important that we play consistent cricket,” Ramdin said. But for the bowlers, it is a licence to take a walk on the wild side and Ramdin predicts left-armer Sheldon Cottrell will be the man to take advantage of that against a South African top-order whose only real struggles have come against southpaws.”At some point he will be a surprise package,” Ramdin said. “If we look at the Australia series, Mitchell Johnson had success against South Africa. If Sheldon is in the team, I’m sure he will do something special for us.”

Jadeja jokes, Raina’s sixes and Steyn’s antics kept the crowd in good spirits, while the home team got routed

Videh Ranjan09-May-2013Team supported
I have always been a keen follower of CSK, because they are an entertaining and a balanced side with a lot of big names. I did hope for a Chennai win but surely wanted a closer contest than what transpired.My dream final will be between Chennai and Rajasthan Royals, with the latter winning a hard-fought contest marginally. I like the two men leading these teams, with very different approaches to cricket and leadership – they are both inspirational and cool-headed men who love competing and never give up without a fight.Key performer
This game was a Suresh Raina special. He once again demonstrated how much of a team player he is. He started by supporting Michael Hussey who was going strong, but once Raina crossed 50, he joined the run frenzy. The giant screen kept bestowing him with catchy monikers after each blow – Red-hot Raina, Smashing Raina, Hammer shot Raina and so on.The last ball of the Chennai innings had Darren Sammy bowling at Raina who was on 93. The Chennai fans, including our little party was praying for a no-ball. As luck would have it, Raina sprinted through for a tight second and somehow managed to make his ground – and yes, it was indeed a no-ball. It seemed that fate had conspired to give Raina the opportunity to reach a ton, but it was not to be. He could only pick up four runs off the last ball and finished on 99.One thing I’d have changed about the match
After the massive run-fest that was the Chennai innings, even the most optimistic Hyderabad fan would’ve been apprehensive. Everyone was hoping someone would play a David Miller hand – perhaps Shikhar Dhawan. I wish he had not been run-out so early in the chase. His presence might have ignited the fight in Hyderabad’s batsmen.Face-off I relished
Dale Steyn v Michael Hussey. Steyn, among the best bowlers this season, started off wonderfully with a maiden. Hussey bided his time, though, and capitalized against the other bowlers. In the end Ravindra Jadeja put him away for two exquisite off-side boundaries, but Steyn still finished with enviable figures.Accessories
We were the spies in the Sunrisers camp for this game. We wore the Sunrisers jerseys, but cheered for the Super Kings.Close encounter
Jadeja, whose jersey has the name ‘Jaddu’ on it, was fielding in front of us – and all the jokes were out of the bag. Every save was cheered, and every time he looked back at us, the mob went hysterical. He waved shyly but the crowd never let go of the Jadeja jokes.Steyn threw a water bottle across to the crowd in the stand above ours and a wild roar went up as a young guy caught it superbly.Shot of the day
By the time Sammy came on for the last over, Raina had discovered his golden touch and was simply unstoppable. The absolute disdain with which he dismissed Sammy’s first ball was a thrill to watch.Crowd meter
I have been to quite a few matches in Hyderabad – including the Test matches with New Zealand and Australia and a few IPL games. However, the atmosphere at the stadium today was easily the best. It was packed with people from all walks of life – kids aged five already fiercely loyal to their teams, and older people who were dancing to the Mexican wave as enthusiastically as the young ones.Perhaps because of the evening showers, the heat had eased a bit, prompting the crowd to dance and make merry. Surprisingly, there was plenty of support for Chennai. MS Dhoni was welcomed like a legend – and it was sad to see him disappoint the crowd with a couple of loose shots and a quick exit.Hardship factor
The parking facilities at the ground leave a lot to be desired. The stadium is quite far from the city and it takes quite some time to reach there. After having fought through the peak city traffic, we dread searching for a parking spot at the stadium. It is quite an ordeal, and we often end up parking very far away from the gate we are supposed to enter.TV v stadium
At a match like today’s, the stadium experience cannot even be compared to the TV. The atmosphere, the anticipation, the impromptu dance jigs, the Mexican waves and the big-hitting, all contribute to a very memorable experience.Marks out of 10
Definitely a 10 for the crowd, but only 9 for the match itself. We had gone along with a friend’s mother, who is a keen follower of cricket and it was her first time at a stadium. Even she got sucked into the Mexican wave and the other assorted revelry. If only Hyderabad had put up a fight.

You never know your luck in the big city that is New South Wales cricket, Nathan Hauritz says, but then you never know when you might disappear, either

Daniel Brettig27-Jun-2011Life in the New South Wales state squad rather resembles life in Sydney. It is a bustling metropolis, with more eligible candidates pushing for the same jobs than anywhere else in the country – not all of them home-grown.Though opportunities for high achievement are vast and varied, it is just as easy to disappear in an environment where no one is likely to stop for anyone who has fallen in the rush. Sometimes that pressure encourages high fliers, but others deduce it to be a cue to take flight to other cities.As befits this kind of environment, success and failure seem to arrive in equal measure for NSW Cricket. The Blues have finished first and last in the Sheffield Shield three times each over the past decade. Their new coach, Anthony Stuart, has been charged with breaking that sequence, and will have the assistance of senior men like Simon Katich, who has chosen to show the national selectors the error of their ways rather than retire.Another well-travelled figure is that of Nathan Hauritz, a sometime-captain of the Blues, and for two years up to last summer, Australia’s No. 1 spin bowler. He has grown a lot since moving to Sydney in 2006, but still bears the scars of his use and misuse in Queensland, where the understanding of slow bowling has never ventured far beyond the rudimentary. In NSW he found greater competition for places but also greater guile, and grew his game accordingly.”Coming from such a large talent base everyone has to fight for their spot just a little bit harder,” Hauritz told ESPNcricinfo. “There might be three players playing for one spot, where in Queensland there might have been one or two people. Probably that fight and that drive, it’s the same for any player, but in NSW a bit more selfishness comes out, which in the end helps the team.”The depth of the squad has always been very good since I’ve been here, the transition of players from NSW to Australia has always been very good, and the professionalism here is second to none, with coaching staff and that sort of thing. They’re the things we have done really well.”The only thing we haven’t done as well is the transition for the Australian players to come back into the NSW team – the gelling of the team. It can be really tough when you’ve got [Brad] Haddin coming back and [Michael] Clarke and that sort of thing.”Sometimes the other players will think, ‘Since they’re back, they’ll do it for us.’ When they’re not there, the boys generally play really well.”Playing really well but then getting dropped has become an occupational hazard, and the rest of the nation is littered with NSW players who have decided to venture elsewhere. Ed Cowan in Tasmania and Dan Christian in South Australia are two who have parlayed their moves into greater success, and Peter Forrest (Queensland) and Mark Cameron (Western Australia) are about to tread a similar path. The remodelling of state contracts may see others move too.”I reckon this year the talent is being spread around a bit more, with the player payment pool going down and contracts being cut,” Hauritz said. “We’ve got guys here who could play for Australia, but because sometimes you’ve got those Australian players coming back, they’re playing less and less cricket here, guys like Peter Forrest having to go.”You’ve got so many good players playing here now. There’s young Patrick Cummins coming through at 18, and we’ve still got Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Trent Copeland, Stuart Clark to bowl a little bit, Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee when he’s back, Burt Cockley as well. So there’s an abundance of players and you can’t fit them all into a side.”Ultimately you’ve got to make the decision as a player. If you think you’ve got the potential to play for Australia and you want to get to that level, then by all means I think it’s the best thing to do to leave and seek opportunities elsewhere. But if you’re more than content sitting in the squad and not growing as much as a player, you’ll see those guys stick around. But more often than not you’ll find that guys leave and improve.”As well as the jostle for places within NSW, there is tension between NSW and Cricket Australia. It is no secret that the game’s central authority and its most populous stakeholder do not always see things the same way. One of the continuing debates is whether or not CA can offer anything greater in the way of player development than the state association.Key to the argument is the Centre of Excellence, which has been pushed in a different direction by CA ever since the central contracts system was formalised in 1998. Rather than a primer for young first-class aspirants, it has become a finishing school for players with international potential, meaning the intake is now populated by cricketers who have already been in the national system for some time. Hauritz believes the atmosphere in Brisbane is not what it could be.”At the CoE you’ve got nowhere to escape your cricket, training two or three times a day, and I feel it becomes mundane,” Hauritz said. “You build friendships there and you have them for the rest of your life, but when you’re training here at NSW, everyone comes in at 8am, trains for four hours, goes home, has a hit of golf. You have a good base of mates.New South Wales factfile

Captain Simon Katich
Coach Anthony Stuart
Where they’ve finished in the Sheffield Shield since 2001-02 last, first, fifth, first, last, second, first, last, third, second
Australia Test debutants since 2001 Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Phil Jaques, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Beau Casson, Doug Bollinger, Phil Hughes, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja
Slipped through the cracks
Beau Casson Heralded as “something special” by Justin Langer on his entry to first-class cricket, Casson was poached by the Blues but has followed a more torturous path than his predecessor Stuart MacGill. Suffered at the hands of the national selectors, who gave him one Test in the Caribbean in 2008, then dropped him, and has battled health and confidence problems since.
Peter Forrest Technically sound and assuredly focused at the crease, Forrest has suffered from the glut of available talent, and moved to Queensland ahead of 2011-12 in an effort to make a domestic, and ultimately national, place his own.
Mark Cameron Fast, powerful and fiery, Cameron seems to have it all. All, that is, except a reliable body. Has been in and around the Blues squad for eight years, but that he has had only 16 first-class appearances says as much about his injuries as it does about his competition. Has elected to try his luck in Western Australia, where he has been promised a modified training and playing programme.
Future Fund
Pat Cummins Strong, quick and swinging the ball late, Cummins looked closer to 25 than 18 at times in his first season with the Blues. He is now the responsibility of Cricket Australia, and they will need to take very good care of him.
Josh Hazlewood Rather forgotten in the blaze of publicity for Cummins is the fact that Hazlewood has the potential to ape Glenn McGrath. Tall, quick enough and capable of disconcerting bounce, he has already debuted for Australia and needs only to stay fit to do more.
Nic Maddinson The antithesis of David Warner, Maddinson is slight, neat and correct. He looks and plays like a Test batsman, and will be given every chance to become one. Has shown the capability to compile a wide range of innings.

“But up at the academy now there’s 30 kids, different drills… To me it has gotten away from how the academy was when it started. You had Rod Marsh there and Wayne Phillips. It must have been working because you had a lot of guys come through and play for Australia. Now I just feel that the academy, the facilities are great, the coaching and everything is fantastic, but they’ve got to make sure they still keep the kids interested.”They’ve got to want to train, they’ve got to want to play, they’ve got to want to come back and do all that sort of stuff at home. They have a whole six-month off season at the academy and then come back and play the summer at 22 years of age. There’s got to be a bit of give and take there, I reckon.”In recent times the “take” has been away from established development practices, including the weakening of the second XI competition. That gambit, known as the Futures League, has been partly corrected for next summer, but Hauritz bemoaned the loss of the chance for young players to earn a place in matches against established players returning from injury.”They used to make a joke that the first year after the academy a lot of guys would play pretty poorly because we’d have a chip on our shoulder and think we were very good,” he said. “But you got that sense of playing with men down at the academy, because you played in the second XI competition, and played against second XI cricketers. You weren’t playing against Under-23s or anything like that, you were playing against guys who were 30 years of age and who’d played second XI cricket for four years. When those guys get into the system of first-class cricket, they succeed because they know their game. Now it’s 22-23, you’ve got a kid steaming in, it’s so different.”That’s the part of the game that I think breaks down. They’re still very good cricketers. Travis Birt’s a very good cricketer, but if he just plays grade cricket and scores hundred upon hundred, what else does he have to do to make it? The second XI was a good competition – you played with men and young kids who deserved to be there played.”You got the feeling of almost playing first-class cricket. You played with guys who’d played or were coming back through injury. I remember playing a first-class game against Nathan Bracken, Don Nash, Stuart Clark, Dom Thornely – they were all very good first-class cricketers. But now you can’t do that, or it’s very hard to do that. What better experience could you get as a batter, having to face those guys coming through?”Hauritz can see the gap in the system when he runs his eyes over Steve Smith and Phil Hughes, two young men with much invested in them for the future of the Australian team. Each emerged at a time when the Sheffield Shield had been weakened by the loss of numerous older heads to Twenty20 pursuits or state squad rationalisation, and have seemed a little less hardened at the international level for it.”You can’t beat match experience. Fair enough, the young kids can play, but as you see from NSW, the performances aren’t consistent, they’re very yo-yo,” Hauritz said. “At the Australian level if you have those performances, you’re in the media eye a lot more, you’re going to cop a lot more scrutiny, and there’s going to be a lot more scrutiny on those kids than when they’re back here.”When there’s a settled side, they’re a lot older, they know their game when things aren’t going well. If Ricky Ponting’s not scoring runs – he’s scored 15 billion runs because he knows how he did it. If Steve Smith’s not scoring runs, he’s got a little bit of experience to fall back on, and he’ll come through, but it’s just a different thing.”Much like the difference between a newcomer to the big smoke and a seasoned city dweller.

Paul Adams didn’t last as long as he should have, but he usually burned bright when he played

Neil Manthorp03-Oct-2008

Adams’ action took a heavy toll on his body, undermining his control, which was never the greatest to start with © Peter J Heeger
Grassy Park is a “salt of the earth” kind of suburb, where fathers wear blue overalls to work and kids sleep two or three to a bedroom and mothers do the washing by hand. It is the kind of place where, provided you avoid the gangs and drugs, you grow up with good values and an intrinsic understanding of what is right and what is wrong.Thank goodness Paul Adams grew up in Grassy Park, because without the values instilled in him by his neighbourhood and family he would never have survived the tumultuous and heady trip from schoolboy to international star – at least not without significant scar tissue.At first glance it is hard not to go along with the conclusion that Adams was used by South African cricket and then discarded when it had no further use for him. Retirement at the age of 31, when he was in prime health and still as keen as a kid to play, seems fundamentally wrong for South Africa’s sixth highest Test wicket-taker. Take a look at the numbers, any of them – average, strike-rate, economy-rate – they’re all impressive. And he’s five years younger than Bryce McGain, the spinner who was set to make his debut for Australia until a shoulder injury sent him home from India.But the flip side to the story is the reality of the last three years, during which time his chances to shine did not diminish. He was kept on contract longer than his results justified, and his salary was even paid by Western Province’s major sponsor for a season simply to ensure that he was around to compete for a place. He was even plucked from the obscurity of club cricket and added to the national squad by selection convenor Haroon Lorgat a couple of years ago in the hope that “being involved” would somehow reignite the magic spark. But he spun the ball less than he used to, bowled slightly more bad balls, and crucially, had become far easier to read.The unorthodoxy of his action had taken a heavy toll on his body, which had started to compensate for the strains placed on his hips and shoulders, further undermining his control, which was never the greatest to start with. The truth was, he simply wasn’t taking wickets, or even placing batsmen under pressure any more. The surprise element had worn off and captains weren’t prepared to back him and be patient. Retirement at the age of 31, when he was in prime health and still as keen as a kid to play, seems fundamentally wrong for South Africa’s sixth highest Test wicket-taker As a kid he played backyard cricket with his brother Noel, using a tennis ball with the fur scraped off. Quite by chance they discovered that Paul could make it swerve in the air by spinning it – both ways. They knew nothing of cricket terminology and referred to the “in-spinner” and the “out-spinner”, until the late, great Eddie Barlow discovered Adams and gave him an Academy place.”It wasn’t love at first sight, I assure you,” Barlow recalled, “but I’m the sort of person who sees a diamond in every piece of broken glass, and after a couple of weeks I realised we had something special – a lad who was going to change South African cricket.”And he did. In many ways, Adams’ debut year, 1995, was as good as it got. Young, naïve, innocent, ebullient – nothing bothered him, and England paid the price, especially when Devon Malcolm tried to knock his head off during the series-deciding tenth wicket stand of 72 with Dave Richardson in the Test at Newlands.One of the triumphs of Hansie Cronje’s ill-fated captaincy was his handling of Adams. South Africa’s bowling strength and depth of allrounders meant there were always five frontline bowlers as well as Adams. It meant two things – first, he never to bowl, and second, Cronje could use him as a strike bowler in short, sharp spells, never allowing the batsmen to settle, and prolonging the element of surprise.Inevitably the South African board held Adams aloft as a trophy to celebrate the triumph of transformation and their expensive development programme, but the truth was rather different, as his brother and mates from Grassy Park will testify. It took years before Adams was able to determine who was using him and who was abusing him, and to reach his own conclusions about what being a “role model” meant. But he got there; now, married for three years, and with two daughters, there are fewer more balanced ex-cricketers than this one.Some fireworks last longer than others. The one called Paul Adams may have ended far earlier than everybody would have liked, but when it was burning at its brightest there were very few that produced brighter or more colourful showers of sparks, or put broader smiles on our faces.

Kotian and Deshpande broke Vidarbha’s resistance on the fifth afternoon

Deivarayan Muthu14-Mar-2024
Mumbai broke Vidarbha’s resistance on the fifth afternoon and secured their 42nd Ranji Trophy title and first since 2015-16. Spin-bowling allrounder Tanush Kotian and fast bowler Tushar Deshpande crushed Vidarbha’s dream and dismissed them for 368, in an unprecedented chase of 538, after captain Akshay Wadkar and rookie Harsh Dubey had played out a wicket-less morning session.Fittingly, it was veteran Dhawal Kulkarni who sealed victory for Mumbai in what was his last game for them. With his captain Ajinkya Rahane and the Wankhede crowd warmly cheering him on, Kulkarni bowled Umesh Yadav to give himself a winning send-off. Having picked up a fourth-innings five-for in his first Ranji final, against Uttar Pradesh, back in 2009, Kulkarni signed off as a bona fide domestic stalwart for Mumbai.He leaves Mumbai’s seam attack in the safe hands of Deshpande, who bullied Vidarbha with around-the-wicket bouncers on the fifth day and Mohit Avasthi, who was Mumbai’s joint-highest wicket-taker this season with 35 strikes in eight games. Avasthi wasn’t available for the final because of injury, with Kulkarni taking his place.

Dhawal Kulkarni takes the final wicket as they beat Vidarbha by 169 runs in the @IDFCFIRSTBank #RanjiTrophy #Final in Mumbai

Brilliant performance from the Ajinkya Rahane-led side

Scorecard https://t.co/k7JhkLhgT5 pic.twitter.com/Iu458SZF2F

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 14, 2024