Packaged within a budget of US$ 28 million, Allen Stanford’s five-week tournament offers a million dollar first prize from a total prize structure of US$2,115,000

Vaneisa Baksh27-Oct-2005Packaged within a budget of US$ 28 million, Allen Stanford’s five-week tournament offers a million dollar first prize from a total prize structure of US$2,115,000. The runner up gets half that, with the man of the match taking US$25,000 and the man of the championship match getting US$100,000.It offers each participating nation $100,000 for infrastructure and equipment, $120,000 for players and coaches, $60,000 for maintenance of facilities, and $350,000 for airfare, lodging, meals and other expenses.The countries invited to participate are: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Combined Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago.In addition, Stanford has allocated $380,000 for two nutritionists and four athletic trainers to provide overall support from their base in Antigua. Stanford allocated half his overall budget to these items, plus media and tournament costs. The other half goes towards his big event, “Stanford Caribbean Super Stars,” which pits a “super star” team, presumably of West Indian players against two invited teams. For this, he is offering $5 million to each winner of two matches to be held in November 2006.He has also acquired the services of 14 West Indian cricket “legends” to form an advisory board overseeing the project. Chaired by Andy Roberts, the impeccably pedigreed board includes Sir Garry Sobers, Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Wes Hall, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Lance Gibbs, Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop.

After the first day, England would have settled for a first-innings total in the vicinity of 300. If they managed to get nearly 100 more than that, it was largely due to the effort of Paul Collingwood

On the Ball with S Rajesh02-Mar-2006After the first day, England would have settled for a first-innings total in the vicinity of 300. If they managed to get nearly 100 more than that, it was largely due to the effort of Paul Collingwood, and some excellent lower-order resistance. Collingwood’s wagon-wheel shows his penchant for leg-side play – more than 70% of his runs came in that region. In fact, leg-side scoring has been a feature of this match: 50 of Wasim Jaffer’s 73 runs, and 29 of Rahul Dravid’s 40 came in that region as well.The most impressive aspect of Collingwood’s innings was the manner in which he took charge when he was left with the tail. As the table below indicates, Collingwood was extremely circumspect on the first day, scoring at less than three per over against all the bowlers. On the second day, he upped his scoring rate dramatically, scoring at nearly or more than a run a ball against Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh.

Collingwood v the Indian bowlers

Bowler 1st day – runs Balls 2nd day – runs Balls

Pathan 12 29 2923 Sreesanth 5 17 1526 Kumble 18 45 1229 Harbhajan 16 50 2529Collingwood did the bulk of the scoring, but Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar offered him excellent support. It wasn’t as if Collingwood farmed the strike when he was batting with them – Harmison faced 42 deliveries, Panesar played 43, while for Collingwood the corresponding figure was 83 – that’s marginally less than 50% of the total balls. And though Panesar scored only 9, he helped Collingwood add 55 during that period, lifting England to a score that they would consider is par for the course on a pitch increasingly assisting spin.

A stats preview of the seven-match ODI series between England and India

S Rajesh20-Aug-2007

England will look to Pietersen to provide the punch with the bat in the ODIs series © Getty Images
A win in the Test series wasn’t expected, but India will start the seven-match one-day as favourites against an England side that has struggled to get the right formula in the shorter version. India haven’t set the world alight either with their recent one-day form, but after their World Cup debacle, they have shown signs of getting it right, beating South Africa 2-1 in Belfast earlier on this tour. England, on the other hand, went down 1-2 to West Indies after thrashing them in the Tests. Overall, India hold a 30-26 edge against England, but more importantly, they’ve won seven of the last ten. (Click here for more detailed stats on ODIs between England and India.)The Indian fast bowlers did a fabulous job in the Tests, but the onus of winning the ODIs will probably rest on the batsmen. Rahul Dravid had a poor Test series with the bat, but he can heart from his ODI performances in England – he averages more than 55 from 20 matches, and has scored at least a half-century in 50% of his innings here. Sachin Tendulkar averages nearly 40, and has never missed out on a hundred once he has gone past 50 in an ODI in England.

India’s Big Three in ODIs in England

Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s

Rahul Dravid 20 891 55.68 77.74 2/ 8 Sachin Tendulkar 19 677 39.82 89.90 3/ 0 Sourav Ganguly 20 785 39.25 75.48 1/ 4Andrew Flintoff’s return will obviously bolster England, especially since he has such an outstanding record at home: in 47 games, he averages nearly 40, at a strike rate of more than 95. When playing outside England, his average drops significantly, to 28.25. Flintoff will also be playing his first home ODI in more than two years – he last time he played one was in July 2005, during the three-match NatWest Challenge Series against Australia.

England’s batsmen in home ODIs

Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s

Andrew Flintoff 47 1268 39.62 95.62 3/ 6 Ian Bell 13 484 40.33 69.24 0/ 4 Owais Shah 8 242 34.57 75.62 0/ 2 Kevin Pietersen 21 473 31.53 87.10 0/ 3 Alastair Cook 5 146 29.20 76.84 0/ 0 Paul Collingwood 44 868 28.93 76.40 1/ 5Unlike Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen has done much better overseas: compared to an overall average of 53, he only scores at a rate of 31.53 at home; abroad it jumps to 66.46. Paul Collingwood comes in at the bottom of that list, but along with Pietersen, he has been England’s biggest matchwinner in the last couple of years.India’s best batsmen in wins during this period haven’t been Tendulkar, Ganguly or Dravid; Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have taken over that mantle, and their ability to keep a cool head during the frenetic final overs of ODIs could again prove critical to their team’s chances.

Best batsmen in ODI wins for England and India since August 20, 2005

Batsmen Innings Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s

Mahendra Singh Dhoni 28 1197 85.50 105.64 1/ 9 Yuvraj Singh 31 1342 70.63 94.90 3/ 8 Kevin Pietersen 11 506 63.25 95.11 1/ 3 Paul Collingwood 16 632 63.20 83.37 2/ 3Yuvraj hasn’t yet broken into the Test team, but he has been outstanding in the shorter version in the last two years. In fact, it’s remarkable how similar his and Dhoni’s numbers are to Pietersen’s.

Comparing Dhoni, Yuvraj and Pietersen

Batsmen Innings Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s

Dhoni, in last 2 years 54 1950 51.31 98.68 2/ 13 Yuvraj, in last 2 years 51 1938 51.00 89.30 4/ 11 Pietersen – career 48 2068 53.02 90.90 5/ 14 Dhoni v England 6 184 46.00 80.00 0/ 1 Yuvraj v England 16 521 47.36 96.12 1/ 3 Pietersen v India 6 318 53.00 90.08 0/ 3 Yuvraj in England 12 300 30.00 84.98 0/ 2 Pietersen in England 17 473 31.53 87.10 0/ 3Zaheer Khan and James Anderson will spearhead the bowling attacks, and again, their ODI stats are pretty similar as well.

Zaheer and Anderson – spearheads with similar stats

Bowler ODIs Wickets Average Econ

Zaheer – career 127 184 27.71 4.86 Anderson – career 69 99 27.88 4.82 Zaheer in England 7 14 23.57 5.64 Anderson in England 17 31 22.12 4.97 The two spinners in India’s squad – Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla – are relative newcomers, and England will feel relieved that they won’t have to contend with Harbhajan Singh: in 17 matches against England, Harbhajan has taken 28 wickets at an average of less than 23, and an economy rate of less than four runs per over.

Half a century into their storied rivalry, India and Pakistan are yet to produce a series that is great all the way through. Will this be the one?

Osman Samiuddin21-Nov-2007

In focus: Yousuf and Shoaib will be the lynchpins of Pakistan’s effort © AFP

Even now, 55 years and one month after their first encounter at the Feroz Shah
Kotla, a great series still awaits one of the great rivalries of cricket. Pakistan
and India has had drama; they have played magnificent Tests; their batsmen have
played grand hands against the other, their bowlers delivered legendary spells, but a truly
great series combining all this into one sustained battle eludes them.There have been landmark encounters no doubt, times where life itself, not just
cricket, has been worth celebrating: the very first in 1952-53 was one, as was
1978-79 which released 18 years of the tension the lack of cricket created. The jousts of
1998-99 and 2003-04 were similarly significant. Both contained outstanding
cricket and at least two fine Tests, but were they really the great series this
rivalry needs?There is no equivalent here of, say, the Ashes of 1981 and 2005. Neither has there
been the intensity, the epic feel, of recent series between India and Australia, or
older ones where Pakistan and Australia took on West Indies, clashes where an
entire established order often felt at stake.Overwhelmingly, fear has crippled the rivalry, particularly in its early years when
wounds were fresh. Twelve successive draws, in the 1950s and 60s, were borne of the
terror of losing to the other. It was a well-founded fear: Fazal Mahmood captained
an unbeaten side in 1960-61 (admittedly he didn’t win a Test either), yet was removed
on return from the team altogether (he was promoted in the police force, though).
Asif Iqbal also found leading in 1979-80 an extraordinary weight, one which after a
series loss he could no longer bear. Bishan Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar have
discovered the perils of losing to the auld enemy. And only three years ago Javed
Miandad, as coach, was sacked after his side lost both Tests and ODIs.That fear has receded as the century closed, but has it fully left? Bangalore
glossed over four horrendous Tests in 1986-87, and the 1989-90 return in Pakistan
didn’t even have that final, saving grace. Even as recently as India’s last visit to
Pakistan, in 2005-06, there often seemed a greater chance of a final resolution in Kashmir than one on the field.Perhaps fear just manifested itself not so much in the cricket itself but in pitches on which a month might not be enough to yield a result. Perhaps the umpiring too, until neutrality was enforced, played a part.But even if there hasn’t been one great series, and far too many draws (36 out of
56), there has at least been cricket glasnost since 2003-04, with six results
from nine (nine from 12 if you include 1998-99). It is the way of modern cricket and it
is also, broadly, the way when attacking bowlers, as Pakistan have had, come up
against attacking batsmen, as India have had.Indeed, that theme has been a central, enduring one, the spin that has always been
applied to the contest: Fazal against Hazare and Manjrekar, Imran against Gavaskar,
Shoaib against Sachin. So it is again, though perhaps now with a twist.For even without Mohammad Asif, it is to pace Pakistan will turn and hope. Or at
least they should: Shoaib Malik’s words and tactics against South Africa last month suggested Pakistan have spun their way to cricketing eminence.Shoaib Akhtar is not as consistently quick, definitely not as fit, but he is a much sharper tack. Umar Gul may not be as consistent as Pakistan want, but that he is the real deal is in no doubt. And if they’re really lucky, this tour might be the making of one from Mohammad Sami and Sohail Tanvir.

Since 1998-99 there have been nine results from 12 Tests. It is the way of modern cricket and it is also, broadly, the way when attacking bowlers, as Pakistan have had, come up against attacking batsmen, as India have had. And indeed, that theme has been an enduring one

Their batting, reliant recently on three men, will now make do with only two.
Fortunately, both Ys are currently to be found at their very zenith. But other
heroes will have to emerge from somewhere in that uncertain order, and Malik should
note, if an Indian series can be the breaking of a captain, it can also be his
making.India’s batting, as ever, is covered from every angle. They have the makings of an
opening pair, the genius of Sachin, the technical virtuosity of Dravid, the silk of Laxman and the
punch of Dhoni. So covered that Yuvraj Singh, a among batsmen, might
not play. But the twist, possibly the decider, is in India’s pace attack.For a start, they have one. And it is the most potent they have ever had. It has led
them to a rare Test win in South Africa and a slightly less rare series win in
England. The maturing of Zaheer Khan, the sharp progress of RP Singh, and the outrageous
outswing gifts of Sreesanth have coincided beautifully, and here lies a real
opportunity. Singh and Sreesanth may be injured but Munaf Patel — fitness and attitude permitting — isn’t bad cover. A cute irony it is that such a fine pace attack will be captained by a spinner.But ultimately there is no outright favourite, for there never is. And that is as it
should be. If India appear more settled, a little more solid, it is a balance of
power Pakistan don’t mind, especially in India. The 2004-05 side was said to be the
weakest to cross the border, yet they drew the Test series.The hype, the hope, the headlines, the , the very essence of it, seems
somehow reduced this time: the novelty has worn. This is the fourth series since
2003-04 and maybe, just maybe, it should be preserved with greater care and not
overdone for the dollar. It is good, for it suggests that the two now treat each other as
normal opponents. But it is also a little sad, for an India-Pakistan series should
make you tingle. More reason then for the two to come together and produce, finally,
a definitive series.

A look at the statistical highlights of West Indies’ victory over South Africa in the first Test in Port Elizabeth

Cricinfo staff29-Dec-2007

The wait is over: It was in his 24th Test that Dwayne Bravo experienced his first victory © AFP
Win No. 1: West Indies’ 128-run victory against South Africa was their first victory in South Africa. They had been beaten 5-0 and 3-0 (one draw) on their previous tours to South Africa in 1998-99 and 2003-04.May 2005 was when West Indies recorded their last Test win, against Pakistan in Bridgetown. Since then they had played 20 Tests, losing 14 and drawing six, before this victory against South Africa.June 2000: The last time West Indies beat opposition (other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) overseas. Since their victory against England at Edgbaston in June 2000, West Indies have played 45 Tests overseas with 32 defeats, eight draws and five victories (two each in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and this one against South Africa).23: The number of Tests Dwayne Bravo played before experiencing a victory. Bravo did not play in the victory against Pakistan in Bridgetown and had a loss-draw record of 16-7. This was also a maiden Test victory for Runako Morton, Darren Sammy and Denesh Ramdin, and a second Test win for Jerome Taylor.11: The number of Tests South Africa have lost in Port Elizabeth. They have played 23 Tests here out of which they have won only eight.

Stats highlights from the second day of the Bangalore Test

S Rajesh09-Dec-2007

Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan piled on the runs, as left-handers scored 515 out of India’s total of 626 © AFP

Sourav Ganguly continued from where he had left off on the opening day, making his highest Test score, and his first double-century. His 239 is the seventh-highest by an Indian, and the highest by a left-hander for the country, going past Vinod Kambli’s 227 against Zimbabwe in Delhi in 1992-93. Ganguly’s century was also the 50th by an Indian batsman against Pakistan.

Ganguly’s knock lifted his aggregate for 2007 to 932, which is next only to Jacques Kallis’ 1125. (Click here for the list of highest run-getters for 2007.)

With Irfan Pathan getting a century as well – to add to the efforts of Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh – it was a rare instance of three left-handers scoring a century in an innings. This was only the third such occasion in Tests – Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist achieved it against New Zealand in Brisbane in 2001-02, while Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe feasted on South Africa in Durban in 2004-05.

The four left-handers in the Indian team – Gautam Gambhir being the fourth – totalled 515 runs in the innings, which is only the fourth time left-handers managed an aggregate of more than 500 in an innings. The record for the two highest contributions by left-handers is held by West Indies, and on both occasions Brian Lara was the protagonist – he contributed 400 out of 612 against England in Antigua in 2003-04, and 375 out of 556 against the opposition in 1993-94. Matthew Hayden’s 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth helped the lefties add 549.

The 178-run partnership between Ganguly and Pathan is the highest seventh-wicket stand for India against Pakistan, going past the 155 that Roger Binny and Madan Lal added at the same ground in 1983.

Pathan finally managed to get a three-figure score after having fallen in the nineties twice in Tests. He needs just 63 more to get to 1000 Test runs.

India’s total of 626 comes in ninth on the list of highest scores by the team, and is their fifth-highest at home.

Yasir Arafat became only the eighth Pakistan bowler to take a five-for on debut, and while his performance was extremely encouraging for a team struggling with their bowling resources, a look at the careers of the other seven doesn’t augur well for him. None of them have gone on establish themselves as regular threats with the ball: Mohammad Sami is the highest wicket-taker in the list, with 78, but he has laboured 33 matches for that haul. Shabbir Ahmed has been the most effective, with 51 wickets in ten Tests, but a suspect bowling action has severely limited his international career.

Best performance on debut by a Pakistan bowler

Bowler	Debut performance	Versus	Venue & year
Mohammad Nazir	30.1-3-99-7	New Zealand	Karachi, 1969-70
Mohammad Zahid	20-30-66-7	New Zealand	Rawalpindi, 1996-97
Arif Butt	21.3-1-89-6	Australia	Melbourne, 1964-65
Shahid Nazir	22.4-3-53-5	Zimbabwe	Sheikhupura, 1996-97
Sahid Afridi	23.3-6-52-5	Australia	Karachi, 1998-99
Mohammad Sami	15-4-36-5	New Zealand	Auckland, 2000-01
Shabbir Ahmed	18.1-2-48-5	Bangladesh	Karachi, 2003
Yasir Arafat	39-5-161-5	India	Bangalore, 2007-08

When he reached 29, Salman Butt became the 44th Pakistan batsman to get to 1000 Test runs.

Stats highlights from the fourth ODI between India and Australia at Chandigarh

S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna08-Oct-2007

Australia didn’t quite manage the run-chase, but Matthew Hayden continued his awesome form, getting past the 1500-run mark for the year © Getty Images
This was India’s first ODI win against Australia in 12 tries. Their last victory was on January 18, 2004, in a VB Series match. Since then, they have lost eight games while three have been washed out. The defeat also breaks Australia’s 14-match unbeaten run, which dates back to February 20 this year, when New Zealand beat them in the third game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Since then, Australia had won all 13 games in which there had been a decisive result. Matthew Hayden continued his good form, getting his third successive half-century of the series, and along the way reaching the 1500-run milestone for the year as well. It was only the seventh instance of a batsman getting to that mark in a year: Sachin Tendulkar has done it twice (1611 in 1996 and 1894 in 1998), as has Sourav Ganguly (1767 in 1999 and 1579 in 2000), while Saeed Anwar (1742 in 1996) and Rahul Dravid (1761 in 1999) have achieved it once each. Hayden’s feat thus makes him the first player from outside the subcontinent to score 1500 ODI runs in a single year. The earlier highest for Australia was Mark Waugh’s 1468 runs in 1999. Australia were unusually sloppy with the ball, conceding 31 runs from wides (16 wide deliveries). It’s the second-most number of runs from wides that Australia have conceded in an ODI innings – the only time they conceded more was also in India, during the TVS Cup in 2003-04 against New Zealand in Pune, when they leaked 32. Overall, they conceded 39 extras, which is also just one run lesser than their record: they allowed Sri Lanka 40 extra runs in a VB Series match in Sydney in 2002-03. Hayden’s dismissal for 92 means he joins Ricky Ponting and Dean Jones as the only other Australian batsmen who have fallen in the 90s four times in ODIs (Jones also has two unbeaten 90s). Gilchrist, though, holds the record for most number of such dismissals for an Australian: he has fallen six times in the 90s. When Tendulkar reached 53, he became the first batsman to make 1000 runs in a calendar year seven times. Tendulkar has achieved it in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2007. The only other batsman to manage it even six times is his current opening partner, Ganguly. Tendulkar is also the seventh batsman to get to 1000 ODI runs in 2007 – Mahela Jayawardene, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matthew Hayden, Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting are the others. Ganguly and Tendulkar added 91, which is the 42nd time they have added fifty or more for the first wicket in ODIs. This equals the record, which stands in the name of the other opening pair in this match, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. It was also the 53rd time the pair put together a fifty-plus stand for any wicket in ODIs, which is also comfortably the highest. No other pair has more than Hayden and Gilchrist’s 42. (Jayasuriya-Atapattu and Greenidge-Haynes have 40 each.) Tendulkar’s 79 is his 84th half-century in ODIs, which is a record, going past Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 83. The only other batsman with 80-plus fifties is Dravid, who has 80.

Cricinfo looks at some of the numbers that could matter ahead of the second Test between Sri Lanka and India in Galle

George Binoy30-Jul-2008 16th century Dutch fort overlooks the Galle International Stadium where Sri Lanka have proved difficult to conquer. They’ve won six out of 12 Tests here, including five in a row between 2000 and 2002, and lost only two. Their recent results aren’t so flash: Sri Lanka have not forced a win in their last four Tests at Galle. They drew against England in 2003, lost to Australia and drew with South Africa in 2004 before the tsunami laid waste to the stadium. The first Test after it was rebuilt in 2007, against England, was also drawn despite Sri Lanka dismissing the visitors for 81. Having equaled Don Bradman for most centuries at a venue by scoring his ninth at the SSC, Mahela Jayawardene prepares to move on to an even more prolific venue. He’s scored 1389 in 17 innings in Galle at an average of 99.21. The rest of Sri Lanka’s batsmen have solid, if not spectacular stats in Galle. Even Chaminda Vaas averages 31.58 here.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen in Galle

Batsman Matches Runs Average 100s

Mahela Jayawardene 12 1389 99.214 Kumar Sangakkara 9 647 53.912 Thilan Samaraweera 5 282 40.280 Tillakaratne Dilshan 4 220 44.001 Michael Vandort 1 18 18.000 The Indians don’t have much experience of playing in Galle. Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan are the only players to have played a Test here. Dravid scored 73 in that Test in 2001, Ganguly made 19. Zaheer took 3 for 89 while Harbhajan bowled 33 overs for his solitary wicket. Galle is Muttiah Muralitharan’s second most prolific venue after Kandy. He’s played only 12 Tests here but picked up 91 wickets at an average of 16.50 and strike-rate of 50.40. In contrast, Vaas’ 11 Tests here have brought him only 23 wickets at 33.43 apiece. Murali’s effectiveness increases as the match progresses in Galle: his average in the third innings is 15.96 and in the final innings is 12.00. Teams have batted after winning the toss in ten out of 12 Tests in Galle. The average per wicket in the first match innings is 37.9. It drops to 33.3 in the second innings, 27.8 in the third and 20.5 in the final innings. Visiting teams average 26.87 per wicket in the first innings, 28.80 in the second, 26.33 in the third, and 22.36 in the fourth. Both Sri Lanka and India have two spinners in their bowling attack and, given Galle’s history, they will have a crucial role to play. Spinners have taken 217 wickets at 28.06 in 12 Tests here. Fast-bowlers and medium-pacers have 116 wickets at 40.29.

And so the juggernaut rolls on. Not even the rain, increasing gloom or a return to form for Hershelle Gibbs could stop England’s one-day bandwagon, while an early-morning back spasm was no hindrance to Andrew Flintoff

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's31-Aug-2008

	‘The one thing, after the fourth operation, then the side strain that drives you is having days like today. There have been some dark times, but I’m back in the side and determined to enjoy’ © Getty Images

And so the juggernaut rolls on. Not even the rain, increasing gloom or a return to form for Hershelle Gibbs could stop England’s one-day bandwagon, while an early-morning back spasm was no hindrance to Andrew Flintoff. The dizzy heights of No.2 in the world are still on the cards, but the successful run chase here was timely from another point of view. At the end of October there’s a little bit of money at stake in Antigua and England were able to work on a few Twenty20 skills.”I don’t know how many shots we’d have played if we were playing for a million bucks each,” said Kevin Pietersen as he reflected on another job well done. He should have ‘focus’ tattooed on his arm just below his other inscriptions. Pietersen is taking each individual challenge on its own, broken down into single matches and refuses to be drawn into thinking ahead beyond his quest for a whitewash.”We just look at the cricket now, how the guys are playing and how they are training. Talking about Stanford isn’t a great idea. The key is, and it will be the same on Wednesday [at Cardiff], is not to look too far ahead. It’s about delivering and we did it today and will do it again on Wednesday. We’ll try our hardest to win the series 5-0 because there would be no greater satisfaction than to finish at 10.30 and know we are second in the world. That’s the most important thing, not Stanford.”Still, though, they wouldn’t be human if minds hadn’t wandered to Pietersen or Flintoff producing similar fireworks in a couple of months. Flintoff is regaining that irrepressible force that made him such a giant of the game. He has already gone back to being ranked the best one-day allrounder, and he is firmly back as the fan’s favourite. When he walked to the nets for a few throw downs before the run chase he was greeted to cheers from the Compton and Edrich stands. And he had already quickly shrugged off his early-morning back problem to take a vital 3 for 21; after four ankle operations and a side strain it probably didn’t feel like a problem at all.”These hotels beds are very soft and I think I spent about 11 hours in it last night, far too long,” he said. “It was a bit of a spasm but nothing serious and having not played at Lord’s for so long that wasn’t going to affect anything.” With Ryan Sidebottom’s back problems earlier this season, the country’s hotels might be asked to reconsider their bed policy. Maybe they could give the soft mattresses to the Australians next summer? It’s just an idea.One of the keys to Flintoff’s resurgence has been the responsibility throw his way by Pietersen. None of this hiding him at No. 7 that came on his Test return at Headingley. “When Kev asked us to bat at No. 5, I was over the moon,” he said. “I’ve had my best times batting at five, I feel more comfortable there because you get the chance to have a look. I’ve managed to score a few runs and it’s the manner I’ve scored them has probably been most pleasing.”As Flintoff charged England towards the victory line everything was finding the middle of the bat. It has been that way all series. And he has played contrasting innings, too. Aggression at Headingley, consolidation at The Oval and a freedom to swing at Lord’s.Pietersen is never one to mince his words and is taking praise to a whole-new level. “He’s playing some of his best cricket,” was the assessment of Flintoff, but the man himself was slightly more guarded.”I’m doing alright,” Flintoff said modestly, “but I’m not getting carried away. One of the things I said after my ankle operation was that if I didn’t feel I could play as well as I had done, or better, then I probably wouldn’t have gone through it. I’ve been on the other side before so won’t get carried way.”After the fourth operation, then the side strain, what drives you is having days like today. There have been some dark times, but I’m back in the side and determined to enjoy it. At the moment I’m having a great time.”While Flintoff may have taken the late glory, his team-mates needn’t have worried about being forgotten. Pietersen has plenty of love to go around and following Samit Patel’s glowing report after The Oval, it was the turn of Owais Shah, who was promoted to No. 3 at the insistence of the captain. After a slow start to the series – and his innings here – he finished with 44 off 40 balls.”When you give a guy confidence and he knows he can come in and play his way, and he’s going to be backed, then he’ll come good,” Pietersen said. “I knew it and he knew the players had the confidence in him. He has the stats and has done it over the years [for Middlesex]. He’s delivered today and the way he was talking in the middle was a great sign. I’m very happy with everyone.” Why shouldn’t he be. At the moment the whole team must feel like a million dollars.

Both wickets and runs have had to be earned in this match. Which is how it should be in Test cricket

Sambit Bal in Chennai13-Dec-2008

	Andrew Flintoff alone has beaten the bat more times in one innings than all Australian bowlers did in the whole Test in Nagpur © Getty Images

The cyclonic rains that preceded this Test have been a blessing. They have prevented the curator from laying out a batting beauty. The previous Test here had been a perversion, the kind that would persuade bowlers to become nuns: it produced 1498 runs for 25 wickets, and at no point threatened to throw up a result.There has been little time to prepare the pitch for this Test, and the result has been a slow, two-paced, and mildly dusty pitch that has produced tense and gripping cricket: not the pulse-racing kind, but of the slow and subtler variety that is ultimately more satisfying. A result is now almost guaranteed and, though England are way ahead at the moment, theoretically either team can win it.Run-making isn’t easy on this pitch, but why must it always be so? Not that it is a mine-field. It has demanded graft and vigil, which Andrew Strauss has been able to supply, but it has also rewarded flair, which Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman put on display for a while on the second day. Equally, it is not a pitch for wickets to fall in a heap – Graeme Swann’s two wickets in an over was an aberration – but one that has yielded to sustained excellence.To sum it up in one sentence, both wickets and runs have had to be earned. Which is how it should be in Test cricket.So far, England have defied the script resolutely and with spirit. There was a period on the first day when they seemed to have bottled it, for the normal template for a Test win in India is: win toss, bat fast, and bat big. England batted four-and-a-half sessions, consumed 129 overs and managed only 316. By Harbhajan Singh’s estimates, that was at least 100 short. But they also did well to get that far after looking like imploding when they lost Andrew Flintoff early on the second day.It was refreshing, however, that they didn’t unduly worry about the might of the Indian batting. Already they had been bold in selection, picking a second specialist spinner over a batsman – it took Ricky Ponting till the final Test of the recent series to pick one – and it was a relief not to see a deep point at the start of the innings.Kevin Pietersen has been invisible with the bat in this match, but his influence is evident on the team. It is no secret he played a massive hand in getting the team, all of them, back to India. Once here, they haven’t lingered on the goodwill aspect of the tour. Intent is the first step to success in sport, and it has been evident from the beginning that the England captain has had the belief that his bowlers could bowl India out. And that’s how they have bowled, at the stumps, at the ribs, and to fields designed to catch batsmen, not to stop them from galloping away.

	Intent is the first step to success in sport, and it has been evident from the beginning that the England captain has had the belief that his bowlers could bowl India out. And that’s how they have bowled, at the stumps, at the ribs, and to fields designed to catch batsmen, not to stop them from galloping away

Once again, Flintoff has been towering. The wickets column doesn’t quite capture the magnitude of his contribution. He alone has beaten the bat more times in one innings than all Australian bowlers did in the whole Test in Nagpur. Overall, the English quick bowlers have looked more hostile than the Indians.Mahendra Singh Dhoni has shown himself to be an admirable leader in the short time he has captained India and he is a man likely to stick by his beliefs irrespective of what the world makes of them – he has obviously spotted something in Pietersen’s batting that makes him vulnerable to Yuvraj Singh’s non-spinners – but he might be developing an over-reliance on the old-ball and reverse-swinging abilities of Zaheer Khan. As a result, the new-ball is in danger of being regarded as a nuisance rather than an advantage.Zaheer was excellent against Graeme Smith and Matthew Hayden with the new ball but once again left-handers have returned to haunt India. Ishant Sharma has struggled in this Test to get his line right against Strauss and Harbhajan Singh, whose natural ball spins away from the left-hander, has always been far more comfortable bringing the ball in to right-handers. And once again in this Test, he has struggled to find the right pace, often firing the ball in at a trajectory not designed to deceive the batsman.Almost out of nowhere, India’s onward march as a Test team has been imperilled. Only once has a score of 300 been reached on the last innings at this ground – India scored 347 on final day in 1986 to tie the Test against Australia – and it is now quite probable that they will be chasing more.England should win from here and, given that they were seen as winners just by deciding to tour, it will count as a double victory. Who would have envisaged such a situation when they boarded that flight from Abu Dhabi last week? That cricket continues to spring such surprises remains a large part of its appeal.