Straight up
Straight boundaries come easy to Sachin Tendulkar, with drives that look so simple and neat. But it was surprising to see him go for the slog. Stuart Clark pitched it short outside off, the ball was about 132kph, but Tendulkar, instead of pulling it square, swatted it straight over the umpire’s head.Bhajji cools down
After the tirade of hostilities he’s faced on this tour, Harbhajan Singh’s had enough. While Tendulkar made the Australians sweat in the Brisbane heat, Harbhajan cooled himself down by sitting on an ice box. That must have surely helped him walk sedately to the crease amid the boos at the Gabba, home to Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.Tackling Tendulkar
Australians love bodily contact, and among their favorite sports are Australian rules football and rugby. Michael Clarke might be slim but he made use of his rugby skills to pin down the unstoppable Tendulkar. Gambhir pushed the ball towards mid-on and Clarke tried to stop it in his followthrough. One hurdle: Tendulkar was standing to his left . Clarke ended ramming straight into Tendulkar, who was turning back, and pinned him to the ground. Good ‘n you mate, the Aussies might have said; however, it didn’t stop Tendulkar from making runs.What might have been
Ricky Ponting ordered his men into an onfield huddle before the match to outline his plans for the do-or-die encounter. The inspiration might have passed on to his players, but it wasn’t grabbed by the captain when Tendulkar fired a square drive on 7. Ponting had placed himself at a catching position in front of point and the ball sped to his right at a comfortable height, but it was going too quickly and didn’t stick. An amazing catch would have lifted the team; Ponting’s men had to look elsewhere for the spark.Paying the price
Irfan Pathan was turning out to be ineffective against the Queenslanders Hayden and Symonds, who were steadily repairing the early damage done by Praveen Kumar. As Australia neared the 100-run mark, Pathan offered room and Hayden drove it hard towards cover. The batsmen ran for a tight single. Suresh Raina at short cover tried to intercept but it was Yuvraj who picked the ball at mid-off; he had a aim at the stumps but missed, and the throw beat Dhoni and headed to the boundary.

In his first year as editor of the 145th , Scyld Berry warns of the ever-increasing likelihood of on-field physical incident, while attacking the exorbitant and rising costs of watching an England Test.”I fear the day is approaching when a high-profile, televised cricket match will see an outbreak of physical violence on the field – and nothing could be more injurious to all concerned,” said Berry, who has replaced Matthew Engel as the Almanack’s editor for this year and 2009. “Preventing physical violence on the pitch – as more and more matches are played for more and more money – will require vision and leadership.”The worst example came in the Kanpur international when Gautam Gambhir ran straight down the pitch and straight into Shahid Afridi. As the bowler, Afridi was allowed to stay where he was at the end of his follow-through; it was up to the batsman to swerve and avoid him.”It is the ICC’s responsibility to police international cricket, Berry says, and he calls for an exact clarification on the rights of way between fielders and batsmen on the cut strip.Elsewhere in the wide-ranging Notes by the Editor – Wisden’s annual sermon on the state of the game – Berry laments the performances of England’s one-day side and takes aim at the ECB’s responsibility to publicise the game to as wide an audience as possible. “A family day out at an England cricket match is now for millionaires only,” he says. “Watching the England team, whether at a ground or on subscription television, is becoming an elite pastime for the affluent, like opera. To watch the whole Test match at Lord’s against South Africa this summer will cost a member of the public at least £300. Even a day of the New Zealand Test at Lord’s will cost £60, while the best ticket for a one-day international at The Oval has exceeded £100.”Jacques Kallis, the South Africa allrounder, was named the Leading Cricketer in the World for 2007 for his 1210 Test runs at 86.42 last year and 20 wickets at 25.75, labelled by Peter Roebuck as “the first indisputably great African cricketer of the post-apartheid era”. The five Cricketers of the Year were Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom for their England performances last year, Ottis Gibson for his outstanding season with Durham, Zaheer Khan – who enjoyed such a prolific tour of England – and Shivnarine Chanderpaul who defied England so resolutely.Berry also questions why the batsmen of today cannot hit the ball as far as their Victorian counterparts, in spite of their apparently brawnier bodies and bats. The biggest ever hit of 175 yards, or 160 metres, was recorded at Oxford in 1856 “from hit to pitch” by Walter Fellows; the Australian George Bonnor struck a ball 160 yards a few years later. Yet the biggest strike in last year’s inaugural World Twenty20 championship, by India’s Yuvraj Singh, was only 119 metres. Berry offers a possible explanation in a piece entitled “Hail Fellows, well hit”. also look at five great cricketers who were never selected as Cricketers of the Year – which include Abdul Qadir, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Wes Hall – and they introduce a new award, the Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year.

Match facts

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Start time 20:30 local time (15:00 GMT)

The Big Picture

Shane Warne and his Rajasthan Royals travel to Delhi, where the Daredevils await them for their opener under the recently installed floodlights at a refurbished Feroz Shah Kotla. Neither Rajasthan nor Delhi made any big purchases during the auctions; Virender Sehwag, the Delhi Daredevils captain, tops the payroll list for his franchise at US$833,750, while Mohammad Kaif is the most expensive player for the Jaipur-based franchise, at $675,000.Delhi start favourites for the clash, with a heady mix of aggressive batsmen, wily bowlers and athletic fielders, but it will be folly to underestimate the tactical acumen of Warne, the coach and captain.

Watch out for …

Some big hits. Delhi has in its ranks the explosive Sehwag, alongside Gautam Gambhir, a standout performer for India in Twenty20s, and Shikhar Dhawan, while Rajasthan have big hitters of the ball in Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan. Warne’s battle with Sachin Tendulkar has been touted as one to watch in the IPL, but the contest against Sehwag will be no less engaging. After conquering batsmen the world over in unison, Glenn McGrath and Warne will be on opposing ends, though it’s unlikely they will bowl to each other.

Team news

Both teams will miss some of their overseas players. Delhi will be without Pakistanis Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif, while AB de Villiers is back in South Africa playing the Standard Bank Pro20 Series. For Rajasthan, Graeme Smith is also away on domestic duty, forcing them to send an SOS call to 38-year-old Darren Lehmann after Mark Ramprakash turned down the offer. Also unavailable are the Pakistani trio of Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir, besides hard-hitting allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, the only English player in the league. Delhi are likely to open with Sehwag and Gambhir, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik occupying middle-order spots. Manoj Tiwary, Dhawan, Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia will vie for the remaining slots in the batting line-up, leaving space for four bowlers, spearheaded by McGrath and Daniel Vettori, one of the most effective bowlers in last year’s World Twenty20 in South Africa. An injury to Sri Lankan allrounder Farveez Maharoof means Tasmanian Brett Geeves, a surprise signing, might get a game, while it will be a toss-up between Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan, unless Delhi opt for a second specialist spinner in Amit Mishra.Delhi (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Brett Geeves, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Pradeep Sangwan.Rajasthan’s allrounders – Pathan and Watson – form the core group along with Warne and Mohammad Kaif. Taruwar Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, two of India’s World Cup-winning Under-19 team, might get a look in, while Mahesh Rawat is expected to keep. Munaf Patel might seem to be a bit laidback for Twenty20 but, barring injury, he should be opening the bowling alongside Rajasthan’s very own Pankaj Singh.Rajasthan (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Taruwar Kohli, 3 Mohammad Kaif, 4 Darren Lehmann, 5 Niraj Patel, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja , 9 Shane Warne, 10 Pankaj Singh, 11 Munaf Patel.

Stats and trivia

Bangladesh romped to a nine-wicket win over Malaysia in the third-place play-off in the CLICO International Under-15 tournament in Trinidad. Malaysia collapsed from 47 for 2 to 73 all out, with offspinner Khaza Khairuddin taking 4 for 15 and Naseef Ahmed 4 for 9. Didar Hossain (41*) led the chase and Bangladesh knocked off the runs in the 12th over. Despite the loss, Malaysia have performed tremendously considering they only entered the competition at the last minute following the withdrawal of Zimbabwe.Ireland defeat ICC Americas by two wickets in the fifth-place play-off in Tobago. Ireland appeared to be heading towards defeat as they slid to 77 got 6 chasing 139, but Barry McCarthy (44*) and Jonathan Andrews (16) added a vital 52 for the seventh wicket to guide the Irish to victory with three overs in hand. ICC Americas should have posted a bigger score, but from a platform of 110 for 3 they fell away, with Andrews and Ben Wylie taking three wickets each. ICC Americas’ lack of discipline also told as their bowlers gave away 24 wides and five no-balls.Netherlands finished in seventh after a 60-run win over the very poor Kenya side. Stefan Ekelmans’ 51 was the anchor as Netherlands made 172 for 8 in 50 overs, Kenya’s bowlers contributing 21 wides. But Kenya’s batsmen, as has been the case throughout, were simply not good enough, with Irfan Karim’s 50 one of only two scores in double figures as they limped to 112 in 44.2 overs.

Australia’s captain Steven Smith has admitted the Adelaide Oval pitch explicitly prepared for the day-night Test and the pink ball has more grass on it than he expected, leading the selectors to dispense with the services of the left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe and settle on a three-man pace attack for Friday.Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson would appear to be duelling for the final spot in the XI, with Peter Siddle set to resume his Test career in search of the two wickets he needs to notch 200 for Australia. Smith was positive in his feedback to the oval’s curator Damian Hough after the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia some weeks ago, but he said the ground’s thick grass coverage this week had surprised him.”It was considered obviously, as he was here to train with us,” Smith said of O’Keefe. “He’s done incredibly well with the pink ball and we thought he might have played a part, but it’s not going to end up that way. We’re going to go in with three quicks and an allrounder.”There’s probably a little bit more grass than I anticipated to be on it. That added bit of grass probably swayed our decision. I think it is going to be a good Test match for us. I think the facilities here are outstanding, I think the wicket is going to be a little bit more difficult perhaps than the Shield match, but I don’t think the conditions will be too dissimilar, so hopefully we can see a good five days of Test cricket.”The pioneering nature of the contest has been underlined by a noticeably bigger build-up than the first two Tests of the series, while the players are to be playing for a one-off cash inducement of $1 million to be split 60/40 between the victors and the vanquished. Smith played down the money, and resorted to his usual approach of terming the concept “exciting” rather than anything to be cynical about.”We are not really worrying about prize money, our main focus is to win the series against New Zealand, they are our cross-town rivals in a way,” Smith said. “I think it is a really exciting concept. I can’t wait to get out and give it a crack, so I think the ball has had a lot of work, it is at a position now where it is going to hold up, particularly in these conditions out here at Adelaide Oval.”So, I think it is a great concept, I think the crowds have rolled in. Obviously the first two Tests were a little bit disappointing with the crowds, and there is some big numbers expected for at least the first three days here, so I think it is really exciting for us moving forward.”We’ve all batted under lights at different times of our careers whether it is white ball, red ball or pink ball, I don’t think there is a huge difference, it is just a matter of going out there and adjusting and adapting to the conditions and playing what we are faced with. They have some quality bowlers who can swing the ball around and we are going to have to be aware of them.”Changes in tactics have been widely forecast for this match, given the vagaries created by the transition from day into night and the prospect of facing a brand new ball and spells of short bowling under lights. However Smith revealed that his much-commented upon decision to declare before stumps against South Australia in the Shield game had been motivated by a rather more traditional circumstance – giving his spearhead Mitchell Starc a few overs when he was angry. It is Starc who shapes as the most destructive force for Australia, particularly after the retirement of Mitchell Johnson in Perth.”That Shield game, I think Starcy was pretty fired up and angry after being bounced for a few overs there,” Smith said. “That was purely my decision, to declare that evening and have a crack. It worked out well in the end. But I don’t think the tactics and so much has to change as much as people believe.”Losing someone of the quality of Mitchell Johnson is always tough for a team, but I think Mitchell Starc is going to step up and fill that role. We saw that last week. It was extremely impressive to bowl 37 overs above 145kph consistently. Hopefully we can see a lot more of that.”

Afghanistan’s 49-run win in the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on Friday meant they displaced Zimbabwe to enter the top 10 in the ICC ODI charts for the first time.The key architects of the win were opener Noor Ali Zadran and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza, who made 63 and took four wickets respectively as Afghanistan successfully defended the lowest total – 131- for an Associate against a Full Member.Afghanistan will have an opportunity to remain at the tenth position should they win the five-match series against Zimbabwe. A series loss, however, means they will return to their original No. 12 ranking, behind Zimbabwe and Ireland.The year 2015 has been a watershed year of sorts for Afghanistan, who made their maiden World Cup appearance in Australia in February-March, where they beat Scotland by one wicket.They built on that success by registering their first bilateral series win over a Test nation when they beat Zimbabwe 3-2 in a five-match series in Bulawayo in October. Interestingly, they came back from one match down to win the series, which made them the first Associate to topple a Full Member in a bilateral series.

Left-arm spinners Manan Sharma (4 for 21) and Saqlain Sajib (3 for 24) combined to dismantle Mohammedan Sporting Club for 100 and set up Abahani Limited’s five-wicket win at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar. The performance vaulted Abahani to the top of the Dhaka Premier League points table; they are ahead of Gazi Group Cricketers and Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club, also on 20 points each, by virtue of a superior net run rate.Coming into the game on the back of successive 300-plus scores, Mohammedan crumbled in 33.4 overs with only one of their batsmen notching up a score in excess of 20. If Sajib scythed through the top-order, Manan wiped out the lower order in equally quick time.Liton Das then razed Mohammedan with a 22-ball half-century that came with the help of four fours and five sixes, as Abahani raced away in an opening stand of 61 that took just 5.1 overs. With 10 runs needed, Abahani slipped up against the duo of Jubair Hossain and Shamsur Rahman, losing three wickets for the addition of one run. But opener Shadman Islam held firm with an unbeaten 24, and in the company of Shuvagata Hom, took Abahani across the line in 15.3 overs. Shamsur and Jubair ended with two wickets each.Gazi Group Cricketers put behind three successive defeats to crush Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 177 runs at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.Batting first, Gazi Group ran up 350 for 5, built around Nasir Hossain’s belligerent century. Left-arm pacer Abu Hider then kept the good work going with his career-best List A returns of 6 for 35 as Dhanmondi Club sank to 173 all out in 38.1 overs.Gazi Group suffered an early setback when Anamul Haque was dismissed in the second over for 1. Mominul Haque then blasted a 61-ball 66 and added 74 for the second wicket in the company of Munim Shahriar (35 off 33). The association ended with the latter’s dismissal in the 14th over, which brought out Nasir, who was returning from Ireland where he was involved with the Bangladesh national team in a triangular series.Nasir zoomed to 134 off 113 balls, his fifth List A century, with the help of seven fours and six sixes. He shared a fifth-wicket stand of 147 with Gurkeerat Singh Mann (74 off 60), off just 129 balls, to flatten Dhanmondi Club. Gurkeerat was sent back at the start of the 45th over, but Gazi biffed 66 runs off 35 balls after his dismissal. Nasir continued with his big-hitting ways until he had to retire hurt in the penultimate over with a bout of cramps.In their reply, Dhanmondi Club lost wickets upfront and were reeling at 96 for 6 before the halfway stage. Ziaur Rahman tried to mount a fightback with 46 off 29 balls, but it was snuffed out by Hider who then went on to pick two more wickets in the same over; Dhanmondi were bowled out shortly thereafter.At the BKSP-4 Ground in Savar, Marshall Ayub and Shahriar Nafees strung together a match-winning partnership for the second time in two chases as Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club chased down 242 against Prime Bank Cricket Club with six wickets in hand. That, after Prime Bank put up 241 for 8 on the back of half-centuries from Abhimanyu Easwaran (71) and their captain Asif Ahmed (62 not out).Ayub and Nafees got together with Prime Doleshwar at 58 for 2 in the 12th over of the chase. They took the score to an even 200, adding 142 for the third wicket – their second 100-plus stand in the competition. Marshall was the first of the two to fall, having top-scored with 84 off 89 balls, including ten fours and a six. Nafees was a lot more sedate, his 78 taking 129 balls. He fell with Prime Doleshwar requiring another 24, where after Rajat Bhatia and Farhad Reza sealed the chase.Bhatia also played a key role with the ball, limiting Prime Back with his 3 for 50 in 10 overs. Prime Bank, 120 for 5 at one point, were lifted by a 73-run sixth-wicket stand between Abhimanyu and Asif. Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny supported Bhatia well, taking 2 for 40 in 10 overs.

Ian Butler’s meteoric rise into the stratosphere of international cricket continued apace today with his inclusion in New Zealand’s team for the first National Bank Test against England starting in Christchurch next Wednesday.The Northern Districts fast bowler has been included because he has “something special”, according to selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee.He said it was only natural that at 20 years of age that he was inexperienced.”But you can only gain experience by playing,” he said.And while Butler had bowled only nine expensive overs during the recent Test series, he would be a different prospect in the Test match.”He has a very good attitude and he is something a little special,” Hadlee said.The team is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Ian Butler, Chris Cairns, Chris Drum, Matt Horne, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Mark Richardson, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.A significant factor in Butler’s advance was his performance for ND against Wellington under the eye of CLEAR Black Caps skipper Fleming, who bore the pain of one ball that hit him on the hip causing him to require x-rays to see if there was any damage.Fleming’s say had been significant in the selection of the side.Hadlee said: “The selectors asked Stephen Fleming to appraise Butler when he faced him in the last State Championship match. Fleming reported that Butler bowled fast and was difficult to deal with and this confirmed the selectors’ view that Butler should be given an opportunity at Test level.””His input is valuable in our final assessments,” Hadlee said of Fleming’s involvement. Field setting in Tests would also make Butler a different prospect.Butler’s inclusion has meant his ND team-mate Daryl Tuffey has missed inclusion in the side.Tuffey had done very well for the one-day side but the selectors wanted to inject a little more pace and firepower, especially in the absence of Shane Bond, Hadlee said.Cairns has told the panel that he would like to take the new ball in the Tests and Hadlee said he could see him fulfilling that role, although at the same time he said he didn’t expect Butler would be bowling into the wind.Drum will return to the scene of his unfortunate broken collar bone last summer against Pakistan at Jade Stadium and he gained his place in the side after his consistent success in New Zealand conditions and this is reflected in his State Championship figures this season of 28 wickets at an average of 10.71.”Over his first-class career Drum has the impressive statistics of 187 wickets at 17.34. Chris has an ability to bowl into or down wind, swings the ball, and is able to produce consistent line and length for long spells,” Hadlee said.The choice of Vincent ahead of Mathew Sinclair came down to who performed best in tough conditions in Palmerston North in a recent State Championship game and Vincent had played the more significant innings.”Mathew has done what has been asked and scored runs in domestic cricket but he had four misses in his last four innings,” he said.Andre Adams had been considered but coach Denis Aberhart said he still had work to do in the longer form of the game in terms of his patience and application.The squad is selected for the first Test only and Hadlee said he did not think it would be affected by whatever pitch, drop in or natural, that the Test was played on.

It is a feat that eluded two generations of England greats, from Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard to James Anderson and Stuart Broad. But after a Boxing Day five-for and seven wickets in the match, Josh Tongue became the first England bowler named player of the match in an Ashes Test in Australia since Dean Headley in 1998.Tongue was only 13 months old when Headley – who, like Tongue, played age-group cricket for Worcestershire – took fourth-innings figures of 6 for 60 as Australia fell 12 runs short of their fourth-innings target of 175 (coincidentally, exactly the score that England chased down on Saturday). But the significance was not lost on him: “It’s what dreams are made of,” he said.Tongue joined Headley on the honours board in the cavernous away-team dressing rooms at the MCG on Friday evening, with his figures of 5 for 45 immortalised in gold. It was notable, too, that the name of Jasprit Bumrah featured closely above Tongue’s (in 2018 and 2024) given the trait that the two bowlers share in their action contributes to making them so dangerous.Both Tongue and Bumrah release the ball from beyond the perpendicular – that is, their arm points towards 10 or 11 on a clock face (when viewed from behind) rather than the more commonplace 12 or 1. The result is that their natural shape is into the right-hander, tempting batters to play balls they may otherwise have left, and exacerbating the effects of any lateral movement.Tongue is not in Bumrah’s league when it comes to control – Bumrah concedes fewer than three runs per over across 52 Tests, while Tongue has leaked more than four runs per over in his first eight – but his strike rate is comparable: Bumrah takes a wicket every 42.6 balls, and Tongue has struck every 39.6 balls across a much shorter career.Tongue’s first wicket of the match was a freebie, with Jake Weatherald strangling down the leg side, but his next two highlighted his threat. He was brave enough to pitch the ball up in a way that Brydon Carse was not on the first morning, and drew Marnus Labuschagne into an ill-judged drive, then cleaned up Steven Smith with a ball that nipped back appreciably.Related

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It was the fifth time out of five that Tongue had dismissed Smith across formats: once in the County Championship three seasons ago, twice in the 2023 Ashes Test at Lord’s, and once in a Hundred game for Manchester Originals.”He bowled nicely,” Smith said. “He gets above the perpendicular, shapes the ball back into you with that angle, and draws you into playing, I suppose – similar to Scotty Boland in a way. [They have] similar release points and angles they create. He’s a good bowler, bowled really nicely in this game, and he’s done a pretty good job every time he’s had the opportunity to play for England.”Tongue was twice asked to bowl long spells by Ben Stokes: eight overs in the first innings, then 11 unchanged in the second (eight before lunch, then three after). Given his chequered injury history – Tongue came close to retirement in 2022 after two failed shoulder operations – other bowlers might have been reluctant to do so, but he said that “adrenaline kicked in”.Stokes had little choice but to rely on him in the second innings after Gus Atkinson left the field early in the day with a hamstring strain, and said that Tongue’s heavy workload in similar circumstances against India at The Oval five months ago (when Chris Woakes dislocated his shoulder) had given him “so much confidence” in his body that he was happy to push through.Josh Tongue removed Marnus Labuschagne for the second time in the game•Getty Images

“He’s had his injuries and when you do have injuries, you do tend to lean on the side of caution,” Stokes said, “but I think that Test match did so much good for him knowing that he can bowl long spells and then he can come back and back that up, and he’s reaped the rewards since he’s been given the opportunity out here.”He’s got those natural attributes – in particular to right-handers – with his release point and how he constantly makes right-handers feel like they need to play the ball. He’s just got that natural wicket-taking ability that is so hard to come by.”He should be very, very proud of himself the way that he’s operated in this game, bowled some long, big, spells and he’s also backed it up. He’s been phenomenal in the two opportunities that he’s been given so far in this series.”Tongue’s success begged two obvious questions: should England have picked him earlier in the tour, having left him out for the first two Tests? And could Stokes have used him as an opening bowler rather than Carse, whose success in this series – and in his career to date – has come with an older ball?They will dwell on both in the coming days, weeks and months as they reflect on this series. But as Tongue sat in a circle of team-mates on the outfield as the light faded at the MCG, he could at least look back at two days which vindicated the hard work that he has had to endure over the past three years.”I was in a tough situation with my body, potentially retiring,” he said. “I’m glad I put in the hard work to get myself back playing cricket and now playing for England. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”