Our correspondent soaks in the gorgeous view of Hawke’s Bay, and gets used to following traffic rules even when there are no vehicles in sight

Abhishek Purohit04-Feb-2014January 14
Wait at Mumbai’s soon-to-be-old international terminal turns longer. Early check-in. Delayed flight. How auspicious.The east coast of India finally falls behind. Realise just how far the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are from the mainland, as it takes hours to reach them. More delay arriving in Singapore. Aircraft provides 360-degree view of the many islets. Boarding has already started for the Sydney connection. Airline people rush passengers onto a golf cart and we zoom across the vast maze that is Changi.Night falls. A while later, flight path shows we’re already over Australia. Won’t be landing till early in the morning. What a gigantic land. Breakfast is served just before the horizon starts to lighten. It is just past dinner time back home. Same meal, different name.January 15
Plenty of time for Auckland connection. Enough to step out of Sydney airport and take the metro to Circular Quay. Return ticket costs as much as my three-month Mumbai commuter train pass. First-class pass.The waters are calm. Some people are jogging, some are hurrying to work. The Harbour Bridge is even more magnificent than it looks in photographs. But even at 7.30am, the sun is scorching. And there’s a third flight to catch.New Zealand. At last. Not expecting such a long queue at immigration in Auckland, but very few counters open. After nearly 18 hours on a plane, have to dash to the domestic terminal for the final connection, to Napier. End up walking the wrong way. No one around to help. Will have to adjust to the scarcity of people. A girl finally shouts and corrects from the distance.”We’ll call you for boarding.” No security patdowns? No baggage screening? Go twice to the airline counter to make sure. Yep. Just walk across the tarmac to the aircraft. Receivers outnumber passengers easily in the arrival shed in the tiny Napier airport. Motel is across the road from the Pacific. Sun is still outat 8.30pm and the view is fantastic, but sleep is the only thing on the mind.January 16
The Pacific is so blue and so radiant it stops you in your tracks. “Straight ocean view, all the way to South America!” says a sign in a restaurant. Lose way once more on way to city centre. Go around in circles for a while. No one in sight to ask directions. For five to ten minutes. Unbelievable.Head to Nelson Park, where cricket teams have their nets. There is still time to lose my way a third time. Ridiculous. It seems so easy on Google Maps. A man helpfully guesses, “Headed to the cricket?” and points to the right path.Dr Baba, the India media manager, regularly chases down balls hit outside the nets. “Good for burning the remaining fat,” the already trim doctor says.January 17
MS Dhoni warns a journalist about jet-lag. “It kicks in after two-three days,” says the widely travelled captain. Damn right. Start having trouble sleeping before 4am and getting up before 10.Napier city centre looks straight out of the early 1930s. That is because it has been rebuilt in the same style it stood in before it was razed in an earthquake in 1931.Dinner at Indian restaurant. Moved to order samosas, a deep-fried snack. They don’t quite taste like the ones in India, but just sighting a samosa in Napier feels good. Try some homemade pavlova, the famed meringue-based dessert. Melt-in-the-mouth stuff, topped with kiwi fruit.

Have grown to like New Zealand’s peace but it is not bad for once to hear the din of tens of thousands of fans during the ODI at Eden Park

January 18
They follow traffic signals dutifully here. The cars the pedestrians. Quite a pleasant shock. No vehicle in sight in Napier city centre. But a girl stands motionless, waiting for the light to turn green. Have to suddenly halt, partly out of solidarity.Drive down Napier past its twin city Hastings and through the town of Havelock North to Te Mata Peak. Take a few seconds to recover after soaking in the incredible view of Hawke’s Bay – rounded, rolling hills, carpeted with green.Maori legend says the peak is the body of a warrior who died trying to chew his way through the terrain. When viewed from afar, it does seem as if a giant is lying prostrate.January 19
“Which one is the media entry?” I ask security. “Not sure. Go in whichever way you want to.” They aren’t used to distrusting people in these parts. McLean Park has two stands, one bigger than the other, rectangular and parallel to each other. It also throws in a grass bank at one end, but somehow the experience feels neither here nor there.Stand too imposing, grass bank too meagre. Nice atmosphere for cricket, of course. But press conference room is full of rugby t-shirts and other memorabilia. Makes it clear which sport is the boss here.January 20
Housekeeping lady at motel works seven days a week. Gets only Sunday evenings off. She’s never been out of Hawke’s Bay. She has her dreams, and is saving money to buy a house. “Things are expensive around here,” she shrugs. They are indeed.Bright and warm have given way to overcast and cool. The Pacific has turned darker and heavier. Time to leave the coast and travel inland by bus to Hamilton, past Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest. Journey is through farmland, dotted with numerous sheep.Motel is beside the Waikato rugby stadium in Hamilton. Sprawling park in front. Not a bad location at all, but how can anything beat waking up, drawing the curtains and being overwhelmed by the Pacific? Napier will be missed.January 21
A walk by the Waikato river. So much greenery on both banks. So much quiet. Right in the middle of the city. Liberating. At 8pm, the sunlight is glaring enough for the hands to reflexively go up in front of the eyes.At last, the jet-lag is wearing off. Manage to sleep just after midnight. Early start tomorrow, if Waikato Museum is to be visited. Needling from motel owner about my late rising hours also helps.How can anything beat waking up, drawing the curtains and being overwhelmed by the Pacific?•Abhishek Purohit/ESPNcricinfo LtdJanuary 22
On the way to the museum, walk past Tim Southee and Trent Boult having breakfast in a café. Their table is right on the pavement on one of Hamilton’s main streets, but no one stops. National cricketer? Need your space? Here’s a pavementful.Waikato Museum has a venerated Maori war canoe. Learn about the conflict between the Maoris and the British in the 19th century. And also about the emergence of Hamilton from the time the first European settlers came in. Apparently, Hamilton East and West were squabbling towns but they agreed to merge so they could get government funding to build a bridge across Waikato river.Seddon Park is a lovely little place to watch cricket. One small stand and a few grass banks. Curator says he packs in nine pitches on the square. Who says New Zealand does not have proper cricket grounds?January 23
Take bus from Hamilton, alight next to Auckland’s Sky Tower. Now this is a major city. People everywhere in the main district, looking down, hurrying about their business. Local bus stops right outside motel entrance. Motel right across the lane from massive Eden Park.January 24
The ground where the 2011 Rugby World Cup final was held. Try to find a way into the fortress. Finally see an opening. Guard manning entrance between the main ground and the outer oval. Peers closely at media pass. Opens the grilled door. Shuts it immediately. Wander over to the outer oval. Another guard checks pass. Make way towards main ground. Stopped by a third guard. “Can’t go in there,” he says and points towards where the Indian team is doing fielding drills. Don’t do this, don’t do that. Security everywhere. This feels like India.First sighting of a drop-in. Strange to see a thick cricket pitch loaded on wheels by the side of the ground. Strange to see a concrete cavity in the middle of the ground.January 25
Have grown to like New Zealand’s peace but it is not bad for once to hear the din of tens of thousands of fans during the ODI at Eden Park.No clue where food is being served for the media. This is a damn labyrinth. The second innings has started by the time I locate the food. The press conference room is situated so far down the bowels of the stadium, it is almost like you are underground. Why can’t every city have a Seddon Park of its own?January 26
Back to Hamilton. In a way, feels like a homecoming. Motel owner Brian is walking his dogs. “You’ve come back and I see you still haven’t managed to win any games,” he chortles. “Just you wait. It’s going to be 4-0,” I tell him, predicting the future. The rain pours down that night.January 27
“Please stop. Don’t walk away. At least let us take a picture,” an Indian woman implores Suresh Raina as he comes out of the Seddon Park nets, which open onto the pavement. People have been told by security not to stop the cricketers, but Raina obliges a few.At night, walk along the superbly maintained path by the Waikato river. A man is trying to fish. Run into Ajinkya Rahane. Pleasantries exchanged in Marathi.

The Basin Reserve. Busy roundabout. Public walkway and cycle path. And the home of New Zealand cricket. History lurks in every corner

January 28
Rediscover Subway. Comforting to be able to order the same stuff in the same manner like at home. Multinational chains: making people feel at home across nations.Endearing security guard at Seddon Park. “Hiya matey,” he says every time you take the stairs leading to the press box. No matter how many times you exit and re-enter during the day. “Hiya matey.”The series is lost. Dhoni tears into his fast bowlers at the press conference. “We will always love you, Mahi,” some fans shout as the players board the team bus.January 29
Leaving Hamilton a second and final time. Tinge of sadness. How soon one gets attached to places and people. Check out. Go sit under a tree in the park. Shuttle to airport arrives. Supposed to seat ten. Am the only one on it. Oh New Zealand.Have seen Youtube videos of planes landing dangerously in windy Wellington. But this is a very smooth landing. And a beautiful one. Almost feels like skimming over the clear, blue sea as the plane approaches the runway. The sea then curves inside to provide Wellington a huge, lake-like waterfront.Capital city? She looks a bit like the Indian hill town of Manali, though much more modern, much less crowded. But there’s a first traffic jam to be stuck in. A bus has hit a man, and one of the narrow main streets is clogged.January 30
Iraqi cab driver. Came to New Zealand after the first Gulf War. Never went back home. How must it feel to have to leave your motherland behind forever? Immediately have visions of the inverted triangular island that is Mumbai.The Basin Reserve. Busy roundabout. Public walkway and cycle path. And the home of New Zealand cricket. History lurks in every corner.January 31
View from apartment window. A sliver of water, and the offices of PwC, Deloitte, Grant Thornton. Thank you, fellow Chartered Accountants, for another glimpse of familiarity.WestPac Stadium is on the waterfront. Press box seems far inland. Square-leg view. Quite an effort to get to it. Go through metal structures and walkways that won’t seem out of place on a spaceship.The series ends 4-0, although India take the tosses 5-0. Brendon McCullum beams and beams at the press conference. “You didn’t win tosses against West Indies either,” Ross Taylor mocks him. Captain and former captain. The transition was shambolic, but this makes for a heartwarming picture.Over to Whangarei. Bring out the whites.

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad

Alagappan Muthu05-May-2014The pull out, almost
The slower bouncer and the wide yorkers are part of every fast bowler’s arsenal. The spinners have the doosra and there were even rumours of a teesra. In Ahmedabad, Andre Russell has pioneered a variation that might well be nominated as the height of trickery. He chugged up to the crease and in the final few steps seemed to pull out. Shane Watson loosened the grip on his bat and was already preparing for the umpire’s call of dead ball. Only Russell revved back up and bowled a short and wide delivery. The startled Watson walked down to have an animated chat with umpire Nigel Llong, but the delivery was ruled legal.The flamingo
The IPL has had spectacular feats involving the boundary rope and the latest entry was provided by Suryakumar Yadav and his nimble footwork. Shane Watson blitzed one down the ground and the fielder backpedalled as far as he could. All the while though, Yadav was spying the progress of the ball and having judged its trajectory, raised his hands over his head and well behind him to pluck a magnificent grab. But that wasn’t the end of it. The momentum pushed him off balance, but Yadav shoved his left leg into the turf and extended all his other appendages in the air to hold onto his balance and gift Sunil Narine with the purple cap.The edge

Karun Nair endured two failures to start the season and then overcame a sluggish beginning to erect a match-winning effort against Delhi Daredevils. That form carried through and he looked assured of himself in Ahmedabad, but that didn’t mean the odd bit of luck wasn’t welcome. First up, it was a full toss. The added bonus was it being on leg stump. And to cap it off, Nair’s shovel over square leg went for six. Off the edge. Or should we start calling it the face now?The new guy
Ryan ten Doeschate’s athletic prowess would have played a significant part in Knight Riders inducting him into the XI ahead of the seasoned Jacques Kallis. He had the opportunity to reiterate that to the public when Stuart Binny smoked a length ball down to deep midwicket. The flat missile threatened to lob ten Doeschate when he propelled himself back, flung his hands over his head and completed a stunner in quite nonchalant fashion.The comeback
After Knight Riders had established a brilliant platform in the chase, they promoted Russell at No.3. He lasted three balls and Watson got the better of him every time. The first one was a yorker that was just about dug out and almost resulted in the run-out of the well-set Robin Uthappa. The second one was dug in short and rose past Russell’s chest as he let it go outside off. The third was a legcutter which pitched around middle and leg and straightened to beat Russell’s grope to flatten middle stump. A long, hard stare from Watson at the departing batsman indicated he had not forgotten Russell’s trick earlier in the match.

Plays of the day from the IPL final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab

George Binoy01-Jun-2014The promotion
Virender Sehwag had just been dismissed and attention turned to the Kings XI Punjab dugout to see whether Wriddhiman Saha or Glenn Maxwell would come in at No. 3. Neither did. The captain George Bailey had promoted himself, batting at one drop for the first time this season. The experiment failed. Bailey walked too far across his stumps to his second ball and was bowled by Sunil Narine’s straighter delivery. Narine had struck with his first ball of the evening, but his game deteriorated rapidly and he finished by equalling his most expensive figures in Twenty20 cricket – 46 in four overs.The long waits
The Chinnaswamy Stadium is a batsman-friendly venue. The pitch is true, the outfield is quick and the boundaries are small. Even mis-hits go the distance here. Kings XI, however, had not hit a six for 7.5 overs and were flailing against spin. Until Manan Vohra finally executed perfectly, getting down on one knee and slog-sweeping Piyush Chawla against the turn over the midwicket boundary. It was the first of ten sixes in the innings. In the chase, Knight Riders also took 6.2 overs to hit their first six.The late reactions
In the 13th over, Vohra stepped out to Shakib Al Hasan and nearly yorked himself. He managed to open the face of his bat and squeeze the ball out towards the right of short third man. Narine was slow to react and, by the time he dived, the ball was past him. Gautam Gambhir was at backward point but he began to chase the ball only after it was well past Narine and the ball beat him to the boundary by a small margin.The unusual no-ball
In the 16th over, Narine dropped a skier from Wriddhiman Saha off his own bowling and conceded a single. The next ball, however, he seemed to have Vohra stumped after the batsman was beaten on the cut. Replays showed the back leg was well out of the crease when the wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa broke the stumps. However, replays also showed Uthappa had been a bit too eager. The third umpire was quick to spot that Uthappa’s gloves had been a fraction in front of the stumps as he collected the ball. A no-ball was called, Vohra was reprieved, and he drilled the next delivery down the ground for four.The counterattacks
Three Knight Riders batsmen fell to skied shots off legspinner Karanveer Singh, but before the catches were taken they ran hard and ensured the well-set Manish Pandey – and not the new batsman – was on strike. Pandey responded to each setback by hitting the next ball for six, ensuring the pressure of a daunting target was continuously released. Gautam Gambhir was caught at long-on, Pandey cleared extra cover; and when both Yusuf Pathan and Ryan ten Doeschate were held at long-on, Pandey chose that very area to hit his sixes of the deliveries immediately after the dismissals.The two-handed grab
In the 12th over of the chase, from Akshar Patel, Pandey closed the face of his bat too early and got a leading edge that lobbed towards cover. Bailey, realising the ball was going to fall over his head, back-pedalled furiously and reached out behind him with his right hand. That tough first chance was the easiest of the sequence. The ball popped out of his right hand, and as Bailey began to fall to the ground, he grabbed at the ball with his left, getting a touch on it but nothing more. As soon as he hit the turf, Bailey swung around, collected the ball and threw at the non-striker’s end. Pandey was well short, but Patel was not at the stumps to collect the throw.The leap
David Miller, standing at long-off, had just watched Yusuf Pathan hit Karanveer Singh for six over extra cover. The next ball was coming at him. Miller stationed himself on the edge of the boundary, coiled his body, and sprung up really high with one hand stretched above his head to try and snatch the ball as it flew over his head. It was just out of reach though and Miller crash-landed on the boundary rope on his stomach, bruised but not broken.

Stats highlights from the second day’s play of Mahela Jayawardene’s final Test

Shiva Jayaraman15-Aug-2014

57 Number of Tests Rangana Herath has taken to reach 250 wickets. He is fourth quickest on the list of spinners to take 250 wickets, after Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble. Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria also took 57 Tests to complete 250 wickets.20 Five-wicket hauls that Herath has taken in Tests; he is only the seventh spinner to take those many five-fors. Overall, 21 bowlers have taken 20 or more five-wicket hauls in Tests.180 Wickets Herath has taken at an average of 26.55 in 35 matches since Muralitharan’s retirement from Tests, including 16 five-fors – the most five-wicket hauls in this period, with Saeed Ajmal, Dale Steyn and Graeme Swann next in the list with ten each. Before that, Herath’s 71 wickets had come at 37.88 runs apiece, with only four five-wicket hauls in 22 Tests.6 Number of fast bowlers, including Junaid Khan in this Test, who have taken a five-for in the first innings of a Test at the SSC, Colombo. The last such five-wicket haul came five years ago in a Test involving the same teams, when Thilan Thushara took 5 for 83 against Pakistan.5 Five-wicket hauls Junaid has taken in 11 matches against Sri Lanka, which equals the most against them in Tests. Shane Warne is the other bowler to take five five-fors against Sri Lanka. Junaid’s 49 wickets against Sri Lanka have come at an average of 25.95. He has played a total of seven Tests against other teams – three each against South Africa and Zimbabwe and one against England – and has taken 16 wickets against them at an average of 37.62 without a five-wicket haul.100 Catches Younis Khan completed in Tests when he caught Herath off Abdur Rehman. He becomes the first Pakistani to reach that milestone. Younis was already topping the list of Pakistan fielders with most catches, with Javed Miandad’s 93 the next highest.3 Number of consecutive fifties that Sarfraz Ahmed has hit in Tests, the first Pakistan wicketkeeper to do so. This is also only the sixth time that a Pakistan wicketkeeper has hit four or more fifty-plus scores in a calendar year. Kamran Akmal did it three times for Pakistan.61.40 Sarfraz’s average in 2014; he has hit 307 of his 396 career runs this year in four Tests. In four Tests before this year, he had hit just 89 runs at an average of 11.12.

Stats highlights from the third day in Galle, which was dominated by Dale Steyn

S Rajesh18-Jul-20145 – Number of five-wicket hauls for Dale Steyn in Asia – he has two each in India and Sri Lanka, and one in Pakistan. His 5 for 50 is his best figures in Sri Lanka. 76 – Number of wickets for Steyn in Asia, which is the second-highest for fast bowlers from outside the subcontinent. Only Courtney Walsh, with 77 wickets at 20.53, has more wickets. With a 25-wicket cut-off, Steyn’s strike rate of 39.7 is the best among these bowlers.79.61 – Angelo Mathews’ batting average in ten Tests as captain – he has scored 1035 runs in 17 innings. Among batsmen who’ve scored at least 1000 runs as captain, only Don Bradman has a higher average (101.51), while Kumar Sangakkara (69.60) and Mahela Jayawardene (59.11) are both in the top five as well. In the 31 Tests when he wasn’t captain, Mathews averaged 39.71.50 – Mathews’ career batting average, when he reached 86 in the Sri Lanka first innings. However, he added only three more before he got out, which pushed his career average down to 49.14. His home average, though, has gone up beyond 50 after today’s effort – it’s 50.50. 2004 – The number of Test runs Mathews has scored at No. 6, at an average of 51.38. He is one of only seven batsmen to score 2000-plus runs at a 50-plus average at No. 6.71 – Runs added for the eighth wicket by Mathews and Rangana Herath, which is the 16th fifty-plus partnership in 54 eighth-wicket stands in Tests this year. Eighth-wicket pairs have averaged 35.13 runs per partnership this year, while the opening pairs have averaged 32.46, with 12 fifty-plus stands in 66 innings.59 – The total runs contributed by Hashim Amla (11), AB de Villiers (21), Kumar Sangakkara (24) and Mahela Jayawardene (3). Given that 738 runs have been scored in the match so far, these four batsmen have contributed 8% of the total runs.

ESPNcricinfo writers look back at their worst moments in English cricket in 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-20141.The moment the ECB lawyers agreed to the gagging clause with KPIt meant the rest of the year would be dominated by whispers. Then the story blew up again with his book in October. It should all have been dealt with when the sacking happened, whatever the short-term pain – 2.The day of Kevin Pietersen’s book launch The miserable handling of the Pietersen affair was hauled into the public eye with the claims and counterclaims merely damaging the image of cricket in the UK – 3.The booing of Moeen Ali A reminder that, for all the progress we think we have made in Britain as a multicultural society, there is a long way to go. The ECB’s silence on the subject remains shameful – 4.The Test pitch at Trent BridgeWhether it’s the type of clay, artificial sunlight or, hell, even astroturf, something needs to be done about the standard of pitches in England, which seem to be on a continual decline. Kudos to Horsham who, with the help of Hove groundsman Andy Mackay, produced one of the best wickets of the summer for the Sussex-Warwickshire Championship match – 5.The ECB’s role in the Big Three’s power grab In prioritising self-enrichment in the short-term, the ECB has shown contempt for expanding the sport. Supporting a 10-team World Cup, with a 45-game group stage, and effectively vetoing cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics showed a depressing lack of vision – or sensitivity, indeed, towards maximising profit in the long-term – 6.The slow-motion car crash of Alastair Cook’s final ODI seriesDesperately seeking the runs that would prop up his World Cup ambition, Cook bore the pressure with dignity before being sacked, but the ECB should have acted months ago 7.Decline in recreational cricketConfirmation by the ECB that participation in recreational cricket was down by 7% with a growing number of matches conceded underlined that recreational cricket is facing a crisis. The desire for instant gratification, changing social norms and lessening of community ties has put the game in England under enormous strain –

Netherlands’ batting mainstay Tom Cooper dreams of playing for Australia, his country of birth

Peter Miller24-Oct-2014Dutch cricket has achieved a great deal in the last 20 years, perhaps more than it ought to have done, if you consider that so few people play the sport in a country with a small population. The estimate of active cricket players is somewhere between 4000 and 6000. Ireland has well over ten times this number of regular cricketers.If not for the input of their overseas imports, Netherlands could never have made World Cups or World T20 events. One of those involved in recent Dutch success is Australian Tom Cooper, born in Wollongong, New South Wales, to a Dutch mother.Cooper is an aggressive batsman seen for a large part of his career as a white-ball specialist. He came to the attention of Australian cricket fans when he played an innings that matched a Chris Gayle effort shot for shot while playing for the Prime Minister’s XI against the touring West Indies. Since then he has become a regular in all formats for South Australia, and averaged over 50 in last year’s Sheffield Shield.When Cooper is in form he is capable of destroying opposition attacks. His 175 against Queensland in last season’s Shield was an example of this ability to take the game to the bowlers, even though eventually it turned out to be in a losing cause, thanks to Usman Khawaja’s brilliant 182, which helped the Bulls chase down 471.How Cooper ended up an international cricketer was a complete surprise. He didn’t know playing for Netherlands was a possibility, having applied for a Dutch passport only because he wanted to travel easily in and out of Europe without visas.He was playing for a club side in Scotland when he got a phone call.”It just so happened that the club I played for in Dundee, the Dutch coach at the time, Peter Drinnen, had played there about ten years prior to me being there,” Cooper said. “He had stayed in touch with all the hierarchy at the club.”I averaged 100 for the season, and somehow the word got to him that I had come in on a Dutch passport. Out of the blue I got a voice message during the night saying, ‘Have you ever thought of coming over and playing in Holland?’ It hadn’t even crossed my mind.”But it wasn’t just a case of turning up and getting a spot in the national team. Cooper was invited over to play a season in the Netherlands.

“Up until that late-night phone message it hadn’t even crossed my mind that I was eligible or that there was an opportunity to play for Netherlands. They’ve always been aware that my No. 1 goal is playing for Australia”

“They didn’t want to just to pick me straight into the side, because obviously there is a bit of controversy regarding non-Dutch born players.” To avoid any ill-feeling, Cooper says, it was important to play in Dutch domestic cricket. “I organised with one of the clubs through the KNCB [the Netherlands cricket board] for me to come over and play the season with the intention to get into the Dutch set-up.”I was probably one of the first guys brought into the Dutch set-up in this way. I went about it the right way by playing that season there and getting to know a bit about Dutch cricket.”The controversy that Cooper speaks of is one that most cricket-playing nations, from Full Members on down, are familiar with: “foreign” players arriving to represent another country – a phenomenon that is now a part of modern sport.Dutch-born player Pieter Seelaar says he is comfortable with imports as long as they make the team better. “Guys like Tom Cooper are guys who are giving us something that we don’t have.”By 2010, Cooper was a fixture of the Dutch set-up when he was available. He has been representing South Australia for the entire period that he has been a Netherlands player and freely admits his ambitions lie with the gold and green of Australia.
“All along – and Dutch cricket has known this – my goal and my dream has been to play for Australia. Up until that late-night phone message it hadn’t even crossed my mind that I was eligible or that there was an opportunity to play for Netherlands. They’ve always been aware that my No. 1 goal is playing for Australia.”It was not an opportunity Cooper felt he could turn down, and one his brother Ben also took up.”To get the opportunity to play in a World Cup, in my opinion, can only be good. If you can perform and get your name known, then who knows? Dirk Nannes went from the Dutch side to the Australian side, and who is to say if it was helpful, but it certainly got him in the limelight. The more opportunities you can get, the better. You have to score runs or take wickets when you get that opportunity, but it would be silly to turn it down.”In recent months Cooper has found his way into the Australia A side, and he scored a one-day hundred against the National Performance Squad in what was in essence a trial match. He also did reasonably well in the games against South Africa, but he is not ready to close the door on his involvement with the Dutch team just yet.”Being an Associate nation, it doesn’t directly affect being picked by the Australian side,” Cooper said. “So I don’t have to put an end date on it. I just have to wait and see where it goes. From a selfish point of view, I would like to score a load more runs this year and get my name right up there for Australian selection, but if that doesn’t happen and further opportunities arrive with the Dutch team I would be silly to close the door on them, because they have done a lot for me along the way.”The direction that Cooper’s career takes from here depends a lot on how well his form holds up this Australian summer. Netherlands failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup, so there is no rush for him to make a judgement either way. South Australia will be hoping for similar returns from him next season, and those kinds of numbers could well see Cooper pushing for Australian selection. Currently he has the best of both worlds, but Netherlands could well be better off if he doesn’t find himself in possession of a baggy green.

Two single-figure scores on debut, a sitter dropped to start the Sydney Test, a few misfields and everybody feared if we would even get to watch KL Rahul’s normal game. But he got through his nerves and secured a maiden Test hundred

Sidharth Monga at the SCG08-Jan-20156:11

Where did KL Rahul come from?

Time is a beautiful concept in sport. Sometimes you feel you don’t have enough of it. And there is too much if you have to face a genius like Shane Warne towards the end of the day and he makes you wait by having a chat with his wicketkeeper. For the 22-year-old KL Rahul, on debut, in MCG’s Boxing Day Test, at the biggest stage of them all, it seemed there was no time at all.”It was all going too fast. Quite honestly I don’t know myself what was going in my mind,” he said of the three horrible shots he played to get out twice.If good wishes actually bring good luck, there is no surprise Australia’s substitute fielder Pat Cummins threw to the wrong end with Rahul lying on his face in the middle of the pitch with the bat not in his hand. It’s no wonder the spidercam distracted Steven Smith when he got under a top edge. Everybody wanted Rahul to succeed. Or at least, stay long enough to play his game even if he has to fail. By the end of day six of Rahul’s Test career, hardened cynics had gone “surely he is better than this?”, kinder people were like “awww”, his IPL coach said he was tougher and more correct and his team director maintained he was one of the best young talents he has seen.Here was a 22-year-old taking what is now becoming the unorthodox route to Test selection, first-class cricket. Here was a batsman being raved as technically correct by every coach he has played under, and by Rahul Dravid, sharing a name and state side with whom had already brought expectations and pressure. But on his first six days in Test cricket, at the MCG Boxing Day Test and the SCG New Year’s Test, he had let the occasion get to him. Two single-figure scores, a sitter dropped, a few misfields and everybody feared if we would even get to watch his normal game.Rahul had two chances left and everybody hoped he would at least get into his innings. So we could see what his defensive technique is like. So we could see if he cuts as ferociously as the Karnataka batsmen before him. So we could see if he can play time, if he holds the pose when he cover-drives a four, if he reacts when sledged. We hadn’t reached that stage in the first six days. We knew it wasn’t Rahul playing, it was his nerves telling him there wasn’t enough time, telling him people were watching, telling him to hit a boundary, keeping his hands from a giving a little as he attempted a “sitter” at second slip.”Players told me, ‘Give yourself time between the balls and don’t forget to breathe.'” Alexi Murdoch said something similar in the song , followed by, Your life is here. No eleventh-hour reprieve. So don’t forget to breathe.So Rahul didn’t forget to breathe. He told himself “the only way from here is up”. It helped that he was opening the innings, his natural station, where there is little inactive time for the nerves to build. He said he has batted in the middle order for Karnataka, but here he was relieved he could bat immediately after fielding. It helped, too, that he had taken a difficult catch not long before the Australian innings ended on day two. He had come up smiling from the tumble, possibly the first time he had done so since dropping Chris Rogers fairly early on day one.KL Rahul finally settled down to play the innings everyone hoped•Getty ImagesThe nerves hadn’t quite left him when he began to bat, but finally some luck went his way. He played and missed a few times instead of edging. There was a misunderstanding with Rohit Sharma as well. There might not have been a single available, but Rahul had not even backed up. He went up to Rohit, but didn’t talk, just patted the pitch and came back.Soon, he began getting behind the balls. The temperament came through when you compared him with the batsman at the other end, who kept looking for the big shot when tied down. Rahul went 34 balls with just one scoring shot this morning, but didn’t look hurried. He had enough time now.”After I batted last night, I felt the game is [just] a bat-and-ball [game], and I got away with all the nerves I had.””Last night” there was a significant moment. Rahul was 9 off 34. There was a leg gully in place. Mitchell Starc had troubled Rahul a little with a short ball. This time Josh Hazlewood tried it, but the ball didn’t quite get up. Rahul swivelled and pulled, made sure he kept it down, and got his first boundary in Test cricket. You felt this was the moment he felt in, the moment when he began feeling this is “just a bat-and-ball game”.On the next morning, a calmer Rahul arrived. He had some luck going his way, with that run-out and with that meek pull that the spidercam rescued him from. “I wasn’t worried about what happened, I could have easily played a wrong shot after the dropped catch,” he said. “I am very happy that I could bat through and stuck it out.”Rahul speaks little, slowly and thoughtfully. Now that he had made a hundred, he could look back at his debut with honesty and with a bit of a smile. He thanked his team for showing faith in him for another Test, for telling him what happened to him happens to the best of them, for telling him to not forget to breathe.He was asked if he was proud of having scored a hundred at such a big stage, and that after the horror debut. Rahul honestly said he was more relieved than proud, especially after how the second Test had begun.So were those who saw him looking lost, moments after he had dropped Rogers, alone during the drinks break after that and at deep point for the rest of the day. Relieved that he stayed long enough to show us what his actual game, relieved that he didn’t forget to breathe.

Luke Ronchi has shown he can both rebuild a wobbling innings or launch from a platform at the death, making him a vital cog in New Zealand’s set-up leading into the World Cup

Andrew McGlashan in Christchurch12-Feb-2015McCullum ‘humbled’ by award

Brendon McCullum said he was “humbled” to be named New Zealand’s sportsman of the year on Wednesday night and conceded that it was not too long ago that he wondered if he was worth his place in the team.
McCullum’s 2014 included a triple hundred, two doubles and a 195 while he also captained the team impressively during a year when both personal and collective fortunes changed.
“It’s really humbling. When you play a team sport individual accolades are not what you play for but I’m very respectful of the award. This is for the boys as well,” he said.
“It wasn’t so long ago when I wasn’t sure if I commanded a place in the team and that can be quite challenging as a captain so it was nice to come through that. It got to a point where I let go a bit about what could go wrong with my game and just focussed on the impact I could have.
“Funnily enough, the performances flowed from there. I’m lucky as well, I think, to play with the best three [Kane Williamson] and four [Ross Taylor] we’ve had for a long time which makes it easier.”

Brendon McCullum at the top, Kane Williamson at first drop, Ross Taylor the ballast at No. 4 – it has been a rare occurrence in recent times that one of those has not fired for New Zealand. And when they have had a collective off day, someone has usually been on hand to bail them out.The most extraordinary example was Luke Ronchi’s record-breaking, unbeaten 170 off 99 balls against Sri Lanka in Dunedin – the highest score by a No. 7 in ODIs – when he added 267 for the sixth wicket with Grant Elliott.This has been a breakthrough season for Ronchi at the international level and he is shaping as the X-factor in the New Zealand side, having shown he can both rebuild if an innings is in trouble or plunder bowling in the closing overs if a base has been set – and on occasions, such as Dunedin, do both in one stay at the crease.”It all depends on the game situation,” Ronchi said of his mindset in the middle. “My role is to finish off an innings as well as I can, but if we have lost early wickets then I just go out to bat.”Since Ronchi crossed the Tasman in 2011 and returned his allegiance to the country of his birth, New Zealand have been desperate for him to become a success in the one-day team. Domestically he carried all before him and had shown glimpses during his brief Australia career of the destructive capabilities he possesses with a 22-ball half-century against West Indies in St Kitts in 2008.That was his last one-day appearance in the green and gold, but his return to international level five years later did not begin easily. Miscast as an opener, although with understandable thinking from New Zealand who had been seduced by his power, he limped through his comeback series against England in 2013 and the subsequent Champions Trophy to end with 47 runs in six innings prompting questions about technique and temperament.The selectors kept faith with the man but acknowledged he was in the wrong position. On the tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka later in 2013 he was down in the middle order and glimpses emerged of the impact he could have when he made 49 off 26 balls during a reduced chase in Hambantota.Although the big score was still eluding him, that was often more due to circumstance in that New Zealand’s top order was becoming more productive and Ronchi’s opportunities were often very late in the innings. What he needed, in a perverse way, was for New Zealand to find themselves in a hole – and even better if it came against a strong attack. How about Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander and some spicy pitches?That exact situation presented itself during the early season ODI series against South Africa last October, a time of year when international cricket had never before been played in New Zealand, leaving a fearsome visiting pace attack licking their lips. Twice in the space of three days in Mount Maunganui, Ronchi walked to the crease with his team in a mess: 68 for 5 and 69 for 5.He produced innings of 99 and 79 and, though neither turned the result around, they were solid evidence that Ronchi had a two-fold game. Crucially he was still playing by his natural instincts but his defensive technique had been tightened. When his New Zealand career stuttered at the start it would have been easy to question himself, doubt the game that had carried him twice to international level.Now, leading into a World Cup and with the comfort of a maiden century under his belt, Ronchi is very much at ease with his gameplan. “Unless it’s crazy green that’s the way I’ve always batted. For me, to have a positive frame of mind works best. If I go the opposite way then I’m not playing to my natural ability.”Although McCullum’s decision to hang up the keeping gloves for good to save his troublesome back perhaps bought Ronchi a little extra time, it is not inconceivable that he was one poor series away from his second coming as an international cricketer being aborted. “To be where I am now is not something I thought would be the case a few years ago,” he admitted. “I am really grateful for the position I’m in.”His New Zealand team-mates, and no doubt the supporters, are also grateful to see him in his position in the middle order.

Stats highlights from the second T20I between South Africa and West Indies, in Johannesburg

Bishen Jeswant12-Jan-201568 Number of boundaries scored in this match, the most ever in a T20I. There were 44 fours and 24 sixes in this match. The previous record was 66 boundaries, including 43 fours and 23 sixes, scored by Australia and England in Southampton in 2013.467 Total runs scored in this match, the highest for any T20I. The previous record was 457, scored in a T20I between England and Australia in 2013.236 Runs scored by West Indies, the highest ever in a successful chase and fourth highest in a T20I. The 231 runs scored by South Africa is their second highest in a T20 and fifth highest by any team.119 Runs scored by Faf du Plessis, the highest in a T20I loss. The only other hundred scored in a loss came in a T20I between the same teams at the same venue (Johannesburg), when Chris Gayle scored 117 runs in 2007, a match where South Africa easily achieved their target of 206.1 Number of captains who had made a century in T20Is prior to du Plessis in this game. Tillakaratne Dilshan had scored 104 runs against Australia in Pallekele in 2011.68 Runs conceded by Kyle Abbott, the most by any bowler in a T20I. Abbott returned figures of 1 for 68 from his four overs. The second-most runs conceded by a bowler in T20Is is 64, by James Anderson (2007) and Sanath Jayasuriya (2007). Jayasuriya also conceded these runs in Johannesburg, against Pakistan in 2007.87 Sixes hit by Chris Gayle in T20Is, the joint-most in T20Is, with Brendon McCullum. However, McCullum has played 70 T20Is while Gayle has only played 45. Gayle hit seven sixes during his innings of 90 in this match.2 Number of times that Gayle has been dismissed in the 90s in T20Is. England’s Alex Hales is the only other player to have also been dismissed in the 90s on two occasions. Gayle has scored only one T20I century.86 Runs scored by West Indies in the Powerplay, the most in a T20I between two top-eight sides, and the third highest in any T20I. The record is 91, scored by Holland against Ireland in a World T20 match in 2014.8 Number of batsmen who have scored hundreds in all three forms of international cricket. They are du Plessis, Gayle, Dilshan, McCullum, Suresh Raina, Mahela Jayawardene*, Martin Guptill and Ahmed Shehzad.* January 12, 2015 7.00 GMT Mahela Jayawardene had been mentioned twice in this stat.