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Jaipur can often leave you feeling amazed

Shamsher Singh21-Mar-2013Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal
Jaipur owes a lot to its founder, Raja Jai Singh II. He had varied interests but was especially passionate about science and astronomy. Jantar Mantar has an amazing collection of astronomical instruments, including a sun dial, which were used for weather forecasts back in the 18th century.Hawa Mahal is an incredible piece of architecture too, and is one of the iconic monuments of Jaipur. Made of pink sandstone, this five-storey structure is in the heart of the town’s main bazaar area. Its main attractions are the 953 (windows), which stack up like a pyramid, and were built to allow women of the royal family to take a peek at the streets below without being seen. The windows are designed so as to let the breeze be distributed uniformly throughout the structure.Ajmer
Apart from visiting Jaipur’s famous forts and taking a trip to the Ranthambore wildlife sanctuary, you could also head to Ajmer to visit the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti dargah, believed by Muslims to be second only to Mecca in its holiness. Legend has it that Mughal emperor Akbar walked barefoot to the dargah to pray, after which he was blessed with a son. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in India, and only two hours from Jaipur. Many cricketers and Bollywood stars seek blessings at Ajmer.Listen to folk music and go dancing
Rajasthan is famous for its folk and traditional music. Most evenings in the summer, there is live music in Central Park, which has colourful fountains, and is a good place to walk and jog.B2B in the basement of the Country Inn and Suites, near the railway station, has a decent-sized dance floor and is popular with youngsters over the weekend. Players also head there during the IPL.Shop in the bazaars
Jaipur is one of the biggest markets for precious and semi-precious stones. There are lots of showrooms on MI Road and Chowda Raasta, where the traditional goldsmiths carve out intricate designs, blending stones on gold and silver jewellery. Sanganeri prints, block prints that are used for salwar kurtas, curtains, bedsheets and various furnishings, can be bought at Bapu Bazaar and Chowra Raasta. Jaipur quilts, made of silk, linen and cotton, are popular buys too.Improve your golf swing
Rambaugh Golf Club is an exclusive club but you can hire equipment and play there for a day after making prior arrangements.

Few of Australia’s recent losses will hurt like the one at Chester-le-Street, because they know – they – they should have won it

Brydon Coverdale at Chester-le-Street12-Aug-2013LLLLLLDL.That’s not the name of an obscure Welsh town, that’s Australia’s record in Tests since the start of this year’s tour of India. Stretch it back to the start of the Australian summer and it’s a little healthier, but not much: DDLWWWLLLLLLDL. The victories were all against Sri Lanka, a team that has never won a Test in Australian conditions. Australia were on top in all three draws, against South Africa and England. Some losses have been comprehensive, others close.Australia seem to have forgotten how to handle the pressure moments, the tight contests. Perhaps it is not so much that they have forgotten but that they’ve never known, for besides Michael Clarke, none of this current outfit have ever really known extended Test success. The coach, Darren Lehmann, played in 27 Tests and only five weren’t wins. Compare that to a man like Steven Smith, who has played in only two victories, both early in his career, from 11 Tests.Winning is a habit. Get a few successes on the board, especially against quality opponents, and especially in close finishes, and you start to trust that it can be done. Shane Warne often talks about believing it is possible to win from anywhere; Clarke’s men appear petrified that they can lose from anywhere. How else to explain their collapse after tea at Chester-le-Street? Few of their recent losses will hurt like this one, because they know – they – they should have won it.The target of 299 was a challenge, certainly, but Chris Rogers and David Warner made Australia’s highest opening stand in a Test chase in 18 years, reaching 109 for 0. Even after Rogers fell, Australia were still comfortable at tea, at 120 for 1. Then the doubt crept in. The fear. The knowledge that this match was there to lose, a 2-1 scoreline was theirs to give up. And dutifully, they handed England the momentum, their wickets and a series win.At 5.26pm Usman Khawaja departed, Warner at 5.44, Clarke at 6.10, Smith at 6.22, Shane Watson at 6.29, Brad Haddin at 6.39. Then the bowlers tumbled too, but it wasn’t their fault. In the final session Australia lost nine for 104. England’s bowling improved – Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan bowled in tandem, keeping things tight, bringing the batsmen on to the front foot instead of offering up the short-of-a-length stuff they had delivered before tea. But they weren’t nine-wickets-in-a-session good.That Australia collapsed again is almost not a story, for it has happened so often in recent years that it is the norm. But to collapse when the openers had laid such a strong foundation is almost more galling. And how many of the batsmen could say they were done by great balls? Clarke missed a super delivery from Broad that angled in and nipped away just enough, but Watson and Haddin essentially just missed straight deliveries.They were the two senior men in the lower middle-order. They had to show more resolve, respect the good balls and wait for the bad ones. Rogers had given them the template. Smith tried to do that, go after a short ball, but wasn’t good enough to middle it and played on instead. Khawaja was typically elegant, but elegant doesn’t win Test matches in tight situations. Fight does. Hunger does. Sheer bloody-mindedness does.It raised the question – again – of whether Australia’s batsmen are good enough for Test cricket. It goes without saying that Clarke is, and Rogers has shown in this series that he has the necessary technique and determination. Warner played a mature innings here but too often is careless. Watson is the No.6 and allrounder because there is nobody better. Smith and Khawaja have both shown signs of being Test batsmen but inspire little confidence in tight spots.For all of them, this was an opportunity. This was a chance to stand up in a challenging situation, to deliver a victory for their struggling team. Rogers and Warner did the hard work early. Nobody matched them. It leaves the selectors in a difficult position, for they cannot keep picking men who fail under pressure. Phillip Hughes and Matthew Wade could be considered for The Oval Test, but where are the other batsmen applying the pressure?”I think we are picking the best players,” Clarke said after the loss. “Everyone says rebuild, rebuild, rebuild, but you need guys in first-class cricket making runs to take someone’s slot. We have to continue to show faith in these guys – it takes time playing against good opposition. We just played South Africa in Australia, we are playing England here then England in Australia, then we go to South Africa – we are playing the best oppositions in the world. I think the selectors are doing the best they can to pick the best sides.”Clarke has had plenty of practice answering difficult questions after losses, but in the post-match press conference he looked drained of all his spark. He paid credit to Broad for his fine bowling, claimed responsibility for his own dismissal and not leading by example, and tried his best to back his men. Ultimately, though, his mood could be summed up by one answer: “It’s extremely disappointing – I guess I know now what it feels like to lose an Ashes series as a captain.”Losing matches, losing series – it’s all becoming far too familiar a feeling. When he retired after the series win over Sri Lanka during the home summer, Michael Hussey handed custodianship of the team victory song to Nathan Lyon. That was seven months ago. Eight Tests ago. Lyon is yet to lead the beer-soaked choir.The words are easy to remember, how to win a Test match not so much.

Plays from the first ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Hambantota

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Nov-2013The scoop shot junkie
On a day when Tillakaratne Dilshan appeared to be short of fluency, he seemed addicted to trying one of the most difficult shots in the game – even if it is one of his own devisement. Dilshan scooped one over his shoulder as early as the seventh over, and when Corey Anderson came on to bowl during the batting Powerplay, he appeared intent on playing no other stroke. He sent Anderson’s second ball of the 38th over above the keeper, then tried it again next ball, but missed. He played the scoop again successfully on the penultimate ball, but eventually, Anderson got wise. The last ball of the over was slightly slower and Dilshan was early into the shot, sending it straight up for the advancing wicketkeeper to pouch.The adaptive advance
Angelo Mathews says he loves to play the hook and pull and, although he got himself into an awful position for the shot in the 36th over, a good eye and quick hands ensured he executed it superbly. Having already hit a four in the over, Mathews ran down the track to Mitchell McClenaghan who dug the ball in very short, maybe having seen Mathews charging. The wise thing at this point would perhaps have been to duck but Mathews, with his Plan A foiled, was still keen to be aggressive. Judging the length quickly, Mathews hooked the ball, which was above head height when it reached him, and he connected so well the ball pierced the gap on the leg-side boundary, well in front of square.The sense of déjà vu
Almost a year ago, against the same team, Dimuth Karunaratne had been lbw for a duck on Test debut, to a ball that pitched around off stump and swung back into him. Though he hit a torrent of List A and first-class runs in the past three months, he suffered almost exactly the same fate in his first ODI in two years. Kyle Mills pitched the first ball of the innings on middle stump, angled across the left-hander, and got it to straighten off the seam. Karunaratne could not get his feet moving and was struck in front of the stumps on the crease, leaving the umpire with an easy decision.The yorker
Lasith Malinga has an excellent record against New Zealand, having terrorised many of the visitors’ batsmen before. Chasing a tall total, newbie Anton Devcich became Malinga’s latest victim, falling prey to his trademark yorker in the first over. Malinga had swung a couple of deliveries onto the batsman’s legs, and bowled a wide down the leg side, but on the penultimate ball of the over, he got the ball to move in towards the batsman from outside the off stump. Devcich misjudged both the line and the length of the ball, and it continued unimpeded to strike the base of middle and off stump.

Pakistan’s seamers failed to create opportunities as a unit. Their bowling coach Mohammad Akram reiterated that the bowlers let Sri Lanka off the hook by not maintaining any pressure

Umar Farooq in Dubai09-Jan-2014Saeed Ajmal went wicket-less. Junaid Khan was tidy. Bilawal Bhatti was ineffective. Mohamamd Hafeez was under-bowled and Rahat Ali was unlucky. That was the tale of Pakistan’s bowlers on the second day in Dubai. They managed to take only three wickets, conceded 261 as Sri Lanka walked away with a decent lead of 153 runs and six wickets in hand. Pakistan walked away with few positives in terms of the bowling, on a pitch that is expected to get flatter and test them further.Pakistan stumbled to 165 after losing the toss yesterday – an improvement from their 99 after opting to bat first against South Africa on the same pitch in October. The toss was the difference but bowlers toiled hard on both occasions to mend the mistakes made by the batsmen from day one.The chatter in the press box was mainly about Rahat being ‘unlucky’. He toiled for 26 overs with little success, with several edges dropping in front of the slips and a regulation take that was spilled by the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Ajmal was economical but unsuccessful. Bhatti, playing in his second Test, was the quickest – clocking 147 kmph – but lacked discipline. Coach Dav Whatmore said before the Test that his bowlers had the ability to take 20 wickets to win the contest but today, the bowlers struggled to take half that number to try and restrict the Sri Lankan batsmen.”The pitch played better than yesterday and it was very obvious when they (Sri Lanka) won the toss and bowled first,” Mohammad Akram, Pakistan’s bowling coach, said. “There was a bit of juice in the pitch yesterday. We knew that the pitch will get better (for batting) but still, our bowlers held them well. But yes, they needed to be more disciplined.”There was occasional seam movement but the lengths didn’t work and the bowlers rarely troubled the Sri Lankan batsman. Rahat was in fact lucky when Kumar Sangakkara’s bat was stuck under his boot, only to be trapped in front of the stumps. It was Rahat’s only wicket. Akram said the bowlers didn’t put in enough effort.”When you are bundled out for 165, there is a bit of frustration (among bowlers), and you look to pick up wickets,” Akram said. “That’s the time when you really need to be disciplined. At times we bowled too many loose balls as well but the effort was there as the bowlers still ran in with their heads up.”We lacked disciplined in the bowling. You can’t offer a loose ball early in the day and let the batsman get set. The pitch is far different today to what it was on the first day so had we batted sensibly and survived, it could have been a different scenario for us.”Our bowling attack is still the best in the world. But what we are lacking is the experience and if you add the number of matches the seamers have played it is hardly 17 or 18. Unless these bowlers play, they won’t thrive.”Akram wasn’t worried about Ajmal being off-color, acknowledging that the conditions had challenged him. Ajmal had picked up a six-wicket haul in the Test against South Africa.”Ajmal is our main bowler, but there was a lot of grass on the pitch and hence not much purchase for Ajmal,” Akram said. “The seamers had to do the job. We need not panic and there is no reason to be frustrated if he (Ajmal) isn’t picking wickets. It happens and you can’t judge him on these two matches as he has done a lot in the past.”

With an unpredictable run-up and an urgent, hustling style, Maharashtra seamer Samad Fallah has scripted a tale of resilience and passion for cricket

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Indore19-Jan-2014In the middle of his second over on Saturday morning, Samad Fallah came to a halt halfway through his run-up. Most fast bowlers, in that situation, would have turned around, walked back to the top of their mark, and started again. Fallah simply resumed running from where he had stopped.Over the course of the 16 overs he delivered in dismissing seven Bengal batsmen at the Holkar Stadium, Fallah’s run-up was a wild and unpredictable thing, seemingly without a fixed starting point.”When I start, I do mark my run-up,” Fallah says. “But as my bowling goes on, sometimes I try to surprise them, don’t let the batsman get ready, make my run-up short. But run-up is not in my brain. I can run from anywhere and I can bowl. With my run-up I’ve played lots. I’ve run zig-zag also. To take wickets in first-class cricket I’ve done so many things.”A lot of bowlers nowadays use a measuring tape to mark out their run-ups. For them, achieving rhythm is a matter of scientific precision. If rhythm is an ingredient in Samad Fallah’s bowling, it is probably the rhythm of free jazz. His run-up, which begins with a two-second shuffle on the spot, barely contributes any momentum to his action, which is all shoulder and whirring arm, culminating in a Rafael Nadal grunt.The grunts grew louder with each ball – and were frequently followed by desperate appeals for lbw – over the course of Fallah’s first spell on Saturday, which spanned ten overs. “The first spell is 10 or nine always,” he says. “Eight is minimum.” When he came back for his second spell, he replaced Harshad Khadiwale, who had taken an unexpected wicket in a three-over spell of gentle medium pace.Khadiwale might only be an occasional bowler, but his textbook run-up and delivery stride spoke of his rigorous schooling in the game. He has played for Maharashtra’s Under-14, U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 teams.Fallah’s action is as much a product of his upbringing as Khadiwale’s is. He’s never played age-group cricket for Maharashtra. In his early 20s, he gave up cricket for two years, apart from the odd tennis-ball match, and worked behind the counter of the Irani cafe established by his grandfather, and run by his father, in Pune.Fallah kept taking wickets in tennis-ball cricket, though, and found himself a place in the Poona Club team. Big wicket hauls in the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s invitational league – “73 wickets in nine games,” he says, “which is a record still” – earned him a call-up to the Maharashtra team at the start of the 2007-08 season. At that point, his father didn’t even know he was playing serious cricket. Fallah called him from Chennai, where Maharashtra – he wasn’t in the playing XI yet – were playing Tamil Nadu.”I called him, and I said I got selected for Ranji Trophy, and he said, ‘No no, you can’t be selected’,” Fallah says. “I had to call from a landline number, and then he realised, okay, he’s in Chennai.”A painting of Fallah in his bowling action, with a selection of his first-class statistics, now adorns a wall in his father’s cafe. “It was not me who asked for it,” Fallah says. “My dad actually wanted to surprise me, so suddenly I saw a picture that was not looking like me at all.”The left-arm seamer on Cafe Alpha’s wall doesn’t have the shoulder-length hair, the soul-patch, or the studded earlobes. It might well be a painting of Irfan Pathan. The stats, moreover, need an update. The wall says 134 wickets in 34 first-class matches; Fallah now has 198 in 50.

“When I start, I do mark my run-up,” Fallah says. “But as my bowling goes on, sometimes I try to surprise them, don’t let the batsman get ready, make my run-up short. But run-up is not in my brain. I can run from anywhere and I can bowl. With my run-up I’ve played lots. I’ve run zig-zag also. To take wickets in first-class cricket I’ve done so many things.”

In his debut season, Fallah took 20 wickets, at an average of 23.90. Since then, he hasn’t gone a single first-class season without crossing 25 wickets. He reached that mark for 2013-14, during the course of his seven-for on Saturday.At the start of the season, when he took just two wickets in Maharashtra’s first three matches, that number seemed a distant prospect. Left out of the game against Andhra, Fallah came roaring back. In his last five matches – he only bowled 9.4 overs in one of them, a spin-dominated game in Assam – he’s taken 26 wickets.”After [the first] three games I was not feeling good, then I was not picked for the next game,” Fallah says. “I was supposed to be rested for the other game also, but I got a chance because somehow the selectors felt that one game was enough for me to get back. If I would have dragged myself that time, I would have been worse, because I was not in good shape also in my mind. I was doubting myself.”What my bowling is all about is believing. I kept on believing in my instincts and the things that I do, bowling around, over [the wicket] … to enjoy myself. Basically I enjoy my bowling, which I was not doing in the first phase. After one break I realised, okay, now I can’t stay out of the game also. So I came back against Kashmir and I took four and that’s how I got back. So it was good actually, what happened. Sometimes you need that kick, that ‘okay, I’m not doing that good.’ And you see your players, your team, wanting you. Everyone was calling me, the team, coaches, selectors, saying they need you. The team wanted me. Me being a character also, they need me somewhere.”Fallah says he is a talkative, needling presence in the dressing room and on the field. “Normally I talk too much,” he says. “I express too much.”It shows in his bowling too, in his urgent, hustling style, always at the batsman, probing away from different angles. It shows in his frantic appealing. He might yet cop a fine for the amount of lung-power he expended against Bengal. But, you suspect, he’ll accept it with a grin and carry on appealing as raucously as ever.A couple more successful appeals will take him to 200 wickets. It might also bring about a long-overdue update to the stats on Cafe Alpha’s wall. “The first hundred took only 21 matches,” he says, alert as always to his own statistics. “I’ve played almost 30 matches after that, so I guess I’m slowing down.”

On his day, Gary Gilmour could change the game with bat or ball, but a debilitating foot injury, the Packer era and an offhand attitude to fitness meant he played his last Test at 25

Christian Ryan10-Jun-2014The AgeWas joining Packer the right decision? “From a financial point of view, yes. From a career point of view … I don’t know”•Getty ImagesThe photographer is ready to start snapping and Gary Gilmour is fishing about for props. The living room is stuffed with them. He ignores the beer mugs autographed by Australia’s 1975 Ashes squad. He steers clear of his Centenary Test bat, blackened with spidery signatures. He goes straight for his baggy green cap. It’s the first thing you notice when you walk in: a shimmering, strangely intimidating presence on the mantelpiece. And dazzlingly, ludicrously green. It looks as if it has never been touched.”This one’s not like Steve Waugh’s,” he says. “Look, it’s still brand new inside. Never wore it once. Couldn’t stand the thing. It was bloody uncomfortable.”Mid-afternoon and the Gilmour household is abuzz with activity. His three sons traipse in and out, sliding bemused glances at the couch. It’s not everyday some bloke with a tape recorder hangs on the old man’s every word.All the boys play cricket, two of them first grade. And all of them, once a month or so, dig out the tapes of that inaugural 1975 World Cup – when Gus, for two days in June, was king. “The long hair, the long sideburns. When you hear them laughing you know they’re watching the World Cup videos.”The English batsmen didn’t see the funny side in the semi-final. Gus had been 12th man throughout the preliminary matches. Now he was asked, ahead of Jeff Thomson, to share the new ball with Dennis Lillee. “I only found out as we were going out on the field,” he said. “You never knew with Ian Chappell what was going to happen until it happened.”Chappell’s timing was impeccable. Headingley was blanketed in cloud and the ball was spitting and reversing, darting every which way. Gus, a brisk left-arm swing bowler, was in heaven. “They kept shouldering arms and the ball swung back in and did the rest,” he said. “I wanted to bowl and bowl. I didn’t want my overs to run out.”His figures still defy belief. Twelve overs, six maidens, 6 for 14. When Wisden compiled a list of the 100 greatest one-day bowling performances in 2002, based on 10 sets of statistical gobbledegook, Gilmour’s 6 for 14 was No. 1.I intended to ask whether that pleased him, but there’s no need. On another wall is the list.Still he wasn’t finished. Australia, chasing 93, were 6-39 when Gus joined Doug Walters. “I was still on a high. I felt like I was infallible and I was going to be the hero.” A few lusty blows and lucky edges later, Gus had creamed a run-a-ball 28. Australia was home. “It was one of those days,” he said, “that happen once or twice in your lifetime.”Three days later it happened again. The West Indies won a gripping final by 17 runs but nothing could stop Gus. His 5-48 included four king-size scalps: Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Alvin Kallicharran and Rohan Kanhai. The key wicket was Lloyd for 102. “They still say it was a doubtful decision,” smiles Gus. “But I’ll take it. The other blokes got out throwing the bat.” Another smile. “I wouldn’t say I bowled brilliantly.”He averaged 42 with the bat in one-day internationals and 10.31 with the ball. Had he sustained those figures over 50 matches, he would be as famous as Garry Sobers. But Gus played only five one-dayers.”Test cricket was what we played for,” he said. “One-day cricket was something you had to do for your boss because he was paying the bills.” Back in 1975 the World Cup was the “social event of the year”. All the teams stayed together and drank together. Strategies started and ended at deciding whether you would retire to the hotel bar or venture further afield.

“I couldn’t play under today’s conditions, what with the travelling and training and scientific aspects. It’s not a sport any more, it’s like going to work”

“I couldn’t play under today’s conditions, what with the travelling and training and scientific aspects. It’s not a sport any more, it’s like going to work. You know how some mornings you get up and don’t want to go to work – that’s how I’d feel playing cricket these days. I’d clock on for a sickie.”But it doesn’t answer the elusive question: whatever happened to Gary Gilmour? It doesn’t explain why Australia’s last genuine allrounder – a man who swung matches with bat, ball and a ready grin – played his final Test at 25. Or maybe it does.The photo session over, Gus plonks himself back on the couch. He’s breathing heavily. Fitness, so they say, never was his strong point. “That’s pretty unfair,” he shot back. True, he didn’t fancy sit-ups and push-ups. “But in the nets no one worked harder than me.”There is a story of Gilmour, in his World Series Cricket days, being threatened with a $1000 fine unless he could run four kilometres in 15 minutes. It was as if Kerry Packer had asked him to pilot a space shuttle. “I had Ray Bright as my frontrunner and Rick McCosker up my arse. Every time I lagged back, McCosker gave me a push.” When four minutes were up they caught a cab and measured, on its tachometer, how far he had run. He made it. “I always told Packer there were sprinters and stayers. A Golden Slipper winner never won a Melbourne Cup.”Rudimentary medical practices were a bigger curse, he said. He bowled all summer in 1976-77 with a bone “the size of a five-cent piece” floating around his heel. When his performances plummeted, the selectors kept choosing him, thinking he was simply out of form. By the time the Centenary Test came round he could hardly walk. “I was a fool,” he says, for not pulling out. He bowled nine overs, made 4 and 16, and never played another Test.His bitterness at missing out on the 1977 Ashes tour is palpable. He shared a drink and chat with the selectors, who had secretly picked the squad, during the Centenary Test. “They didn’t have enough guts to tell me,” he said. “I was driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge one night and the team was read out. My name wasn’t in it. That really peeved me.”Once peace was declared and Packer packed up his caravan, the Chappells, Lillees and Marshes were welcomed back. Not Gus. “They had me earmarked for destruction.” He played two more matches for NSW and was dropped forever. His last pay cheque totalled $109 for four days’ work. “I was only 27 and that was the end of my career.”He is 51 now. He coaches a bit and gets invited to the occasional class-of-75 reunion. “Plenty of state reunions too but I don’t go to them.” So, 26 years on, is he glad he signed up with Packer? “From a financial point of view, yes. From a career point of view …,” his voice trails off. That baggy green cap is staring straight at him. “… I don’t know. The jury’s still out.”For a while he could have been anything. His World Cup final should have been just the beginning. Only with Gus Gilmour, the cap never quite fit.

West Indies seem to have preserved Kraigg Brathwaite for Test cricket for the moment, and the young batsman is showing a rare patience in modern cricket

Mohammad Isam07-Sep-2014When he finally emerged from his shell to sweep Mahmudullah for four in the penultimate over of the second day’s play at St Vincent, Kraigg Brathwaite became the tenth batsman to score a Test double-hundred before his 22nd birthday. The significance of his innings, apart from its impact on West Indies’ first innings against Bangladesh, is that it highlights Brathwaite’s proclivity for Test cricket, when compared to many other batsmen of his generation.The last man to make a Test double-century at the age of 21 before Brathwaite was South Africa’s Jacques Rudolph, in his debut innings against Bangladesh, more than 11 years ago. Six batsmen went past the 150-mark between Rudolph and Brathwaite, with AB de Villiers getting closest.

Can win if we get good lead – Brathwaite

Kraigg Brathwaite believes West Indies can win the Test provided they get a sizeable lead against Bangladesh in the first innings, despite rain interruptions on the first two days.
“I think we are in a good position and we can’t control the weather,” Brathwaite said. “We still have a lot of time in the game so if we can get a good lead we can back ourselves and I can see us winning the game.”
An “anxious” Brathwaite faced 11 dot balls before reaching his maiden double-hundred, in the company of his idol Shivnarine Chanderpaul. “Firstly I was also anxious to get a double. The pitch was slow and it was not that easy, but Shiv was just telling me to relax and not force it. Obviously the the field was up, I was quite relieved and very happy.
“I’ve been working towards it from much before and quite happy to achieve it. My hard work has paid off. It was a big relief.”

Since 2004, only four batsmen under 22 averaged more than Brathwaite in Tests – Alastair Cook, de Villiers, Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain. Four batsmen have passed the 1000-run mark before turning 22; Brathwaite is 163 short, but has 85 days to have a crack.Brathwaite’s case is special in some ways. West Indies have kept him exclusively for the longer format. He is playing his 13th Test and has not played a single T20, even at domestic level. He has played 59 first-class matches and only 14 domestic one-dayers. Some may call him a restricted and overly-cautious batsman, but that’s what Brathwaite is good at, and that’s what West Indies need, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul winds down his career.With so much emphasis on batting aggressively and playing at a higher tempo in modern cricket, it is refreshing to see a young batsman standing his ground and being the batsman he wants to be. From a young age, Brathwaite had decided to bat this way.A few months after his Test debut in 2011, Brathwaite was quite keen to state his target of playing 100 Tests for West Indies.”I want to play at least a 100 Tests,” Brathwaite had said then. “I enjoy being at the crease because once I’m out there, that’s where the runs are scored. I know that if I stay long, bad balls will come and I can capitalise on them. The best feeling is to get a hundred.”He was 18 at the time and had scored a single fifty in three Tests. But just before the series against India in November 2011, he had impressed against Bangladesh with his doggedness. “I used to look for boundaries when I was playing Under-13, but by the next two years I started to buckle down,” he had said. “I took advice from my coach and my father. I started batting long and occupying the crease.”Obviously I want to play T20 cricket in the future, but right now I’m concentrating on scoring runs in Test cricket. As I get older, the forearms will get stronger, in a couple of years maybe. But I want to see myself getting settled in Test cricket first.”This approach could hurt Brathwaite’s prospects in this age of T20 cricket, if he isn’t able to smoothly transition into the shorter formats. But judging by his batting in this Test so far, he seems unflustered by a lot of these temptations.Depending on how West Indies approach the third day, Brathwaite has a major landmark in front of him. He can think about 300, given the pitch and his almost complete control over the Bangladesh’s bowling attack, and if he does get there, he will be the second youngest to do so.

Plays of the day from the first ODI between New Zealand and South Africa in Mount Maunganui

George Binoy21-Oct-2014The quip
Ryan McLaren had bowled a bouncer that reared at Kyle Mills, forcing the batsman to hurriedly swerve his head out of the way, but as he turned in his follow through he saw umpire Chris Gaffaney first call a no-ball and then change his decision to a wide for height. It was a marginal call, and someone – perhaps McLaren – was heard on the stump microphone telling the umpire in jest, “You must have been a batter in your day.” And indeed he was.Fast off the blocks
Quinton de Kock shares the record for being the quickest to 1000 ODI runs and his five catches and a stumping today made him the fastest wicketkeeper to claim 50 dismissals – in 28 matches. One of those six – a joint one-day record – was an incredible catch to dismiss Nathan McCullum. Spotting the short ball down the leg side early, de Kock’s trigger movement was to his left, and once McCullum only managed to glove the pull, he dived full stretch to take the catch with one hand.Quick hands, quick feet
JP Duminy came down the pitch to Nathan McCullum, clipped the spinner towards midwicket, and began to run a single because the ball was certainly going to beat the fielder. Martin Guptill, however, is no ordinary fielder. He sprang to his right, dived and stopped the ball, and threw accurately at the keeper while lying on the ground. Duminy, though, was nimble enough to stop dead, turn around and dive full length to make his ground before Luke Ronchi broke the stumps. A direct hit would have had him.Brendon breaks free
Vernon Philander had suffocated the New Zealand batsmen, his unrelenting good length and ability to seam the ball both ways returning figures of 5.3-1-8-2. Seven of those deliveries were to Brendon McCullum, and the New Zealand captain had not yet scored. To his eighth delivery, McCullum skipped out and swung through the line, clearing the straight boundary. To his ninth, he stayed back and pulled over deep midwicket. Philander’s first spell ended with a beating.The common-sense decision
Dean Brownlie pushed forward at a quicker delivery from Imran Tahir that did not turn much and tried to defend. The moment de Kock caught the ball, he and the bowler went up in concerted appeal, but umpire Gaffaney said not out. On referral, there was a noise and Snicko recorded a faint blip as the ball passed the outside edge. There was no visible deviation, however, and Hotspot showed no mark on the bat. It just felt out, though, and the umpire changed his decision to give Brownlie out.

Ed Joyce, Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson and Kevin O’Brien talk through their World Cup memories and pick out their stars – past and future – of ODI cricket

Interviews by George Dobell and Melinda Farrell10-Feb-2015What is your earliest World Cup memory?Ed Joyce: I would probably say it’s Mike Gatting’s reverse sweep against Australia in the final in 1987. That would be my earliest memory.Paul Stirling: It’d probably have to be the 2007 one, where Ireland beat Pakistan in the group stage. I just remember that was the one where I watched every ball that was going and obviously Ireland were in it for the first time that I’d seen, so I was catching up on everything we were doing.Gary Wilson: I think it was England not doing very well in the 1999 World Cup. It was in England. I was a Surrey fan growing up, which is a bit weird, because I ended up playing for them and I remember going around to my mate’s house to watch Thorpe and Stewart etc in that World Cup, and I think they were knocked out pretty early.Kevin O’Brien: Probably would have been 1999, I think, in England. Just watching it on TV. It was the first real World Cup where I sat down and watched most of the games. I was very fortunate to go to one of the games, which was held in Clontarf, West Indies v Bangladesh. That was probably the first time I’d seen professional cricket at its best. I was enthralled by it and I just wanted to get to there myself.Who will be the breakthrough player in this World Cup?Joyce: From our team, Andrew Balbirnie. He’s come in over the last couple of months and taken us by storm, and he wasn’t ever a certainty in our 15 for the World Cup even a couple of months ago, so he’d be my pick from our team. I’ll also go for Haris Sohail from Pakistan. I think he’s done well in the past six months and I think he’ll go well in the World Cup.Stirling: In our side we’ve got Andrew Balbirnie, who’s just come up the ranks and he’s just timed his run perfectly. It’s his first World Cup but he’s probably the batsman in the best nick at the minute so hopefully he gets a chance to show what he’s all about.Wilson: I’d love to see one of our lads. I know Paul Stirling is well keen to have a big World Cup. I wouldn’t necessarily say that people don’t know about him but I think he can really put his name forward in this World Cup.O’Brien: From our team I think it might be Andrew Balbirnie. He’s got a great opportunity to score some vital runs for us in the middle of the order. He’s been in great form over the last three or four months and he’s really excited and looking forward to stamping his authority on the pitch. Further afield, there are a couple of young guys in the English squad who have impressed in the last while. I think James Taylor is in good form as well and Moeen Ali, he’s batting and bowling well.Who is the best death bowler you’ve seen?Joyce: I’m going to go with a couple of my Sussex colleagues – Yasir Arafat, or James Kirtley, who’s played for England.Stirling: We haven’t faced Sri Lanka much but obviously watching Lasith Malinga on TV, he gets his yorkers in really well and his slower ball is very dangerous. We seem to miss out on Sri Lanka a few times so hopefully we’ll get them in the knockout stage after the group stage. It’d be nice to face him.Wilson: Brett Lee would have to be up there with the best, I reckon, just from what he’s done.Who are Ireland going to play in the final?EJ: It’s got to be Australia.PS: Australia or South Africa would be the two strong favourites to get there.GW: It’d be great if get to the final. I fancy New Zealand and Australia to both have big tournaments. Obviously New Zealand are playing really well at the minute, and the Aussies in their own backyard.O’Brien: It would be great if it was either Ireland v England or Ireland v Australia.Who is the most destructive batsman you’ve seen?Joyce: It’d have to be Dave Warner.Stirling: I always liked watching Virender Sehwag I’d say. He hits it really well through the off side and always did really well in the big competitions. It’s nice watching him.Wilson: AB de Villiers would probably be the name at the minute.O’Brien: Probably Chris Gayle. I think with the power he has, he’s twice as powerful as I am, and if he gets going it’s going to be quite scary for bowlers in this tournament. The grounds, especially in New Zealand are probably a little bit smaller than here in Australia, so there could be some big sixes.What’s the best World Cup match you can remember?Joyce: I would say Ireland against Pakistan in 2007. I was playing for a different team at that World Cup, and just watching the guys, there was such passion. The whole crowd seemed to be Irish and it was Ireland’s first big victory at a World Cup.Stirling: I can’t really look past the Ireland v England one in 2011, when we won. It’s certainly been the best one I’ve been involved in. Big Kev’s quickest hundred in World Cup history – I can’t really go past that.Wilson: Ireland beating England in the 2011 World Cup in Bangalore is probably my best memory of a World Cup game and one of the best innings you’ll ever see, from Kev. We were almost down and out and he turned that game around. It was brilliant.O’Brien: Any game I’ve played in. I’d say the best game I’ve seen that I haven’t played in would be either the India v England game in Bangalore, the tied game, or else the Australia v South Africa, the run-out in the semi-final in 1999. That was epic TV.Have you ever had a proper job?Joyce: Nope. Not one. Good question, though!Stirling: No proper job yet and hopefully no proper job for a wee while.Wilson: No, I haven’t. I was at school until I was 18 and then I moved straight into county cricket. Actually it was the MCC Young Cricketers.O’Brien: Yeah, I used to work in a restaurant. I was in the kitchen cleaning the pots and pans when I was 16. I really, really enjoyed it and I suppose that’s where I got my love of cooking from. I like to try to cook and experiment in the kitchen. I watch a lot of television cooking shows like .Who is the best finisher?Joyce: I’ll go for Michael Bevan. He’s my sort of era.Stirling: AB de Villiers. I just think he’s one of the best players in the world at the minute.GW: It’s hard to look past Michael Hussey, for Australia. Certainly in my era he’d be considered the best.O’Brien: Probably MS Dhoni. The cool head that he has and in a run chase, if he’s there at the end, India are winning most games.

Weekend trips out of Brisbane will take you to surfing paradises and shipwrecks. And watch out for hippies

Will Macpherson08-Feb-2015The state of Queensland is vast. There’s no two ways about it. It takes something ridiculous like 20 hours to drive from Brisbane or the Gold Coast at the southern end up to Cairns, which is still another 24 hours from Jardine River up top. Even flying takes more than two hours.Fortunately, however, when visiting Brisbane for the World Cup, big needn’t mean unmanageable. Here are three trips – all a manageable distance from the state capital. The World Cup games at the Gabba have been socially spaced four days apart, so hire a car (or hop on a bus) and spend a night or two in these spots. Soak up the sun and revel in the opportunity to enjoy the sea air, sea breeze and seafood.Noosa
First, we’re heading 130km north of Brisbane, to Noosa. This is where Aussies holiday: well-to-do Brisbanians have houses and many cruise up on the weekend all year round. The name Noosa comes from the Aboriginal word , meaning shadow, and until the 1980s there weren’t too many folk casting shadows alongside the grand conifers that surround the town and give it its name. Before then, it was a quiet hangout for surfers, hippies and a handful of locals, and was reachable only by dirt track. How times have changed.Now Noosa is a smart, sprawling holiday destination of expensive restaurants and cute boutiques. Hastings Street, which runs parallel to the water between the natural glories of Noosa National Park (more of which later) and Noosa Spit Recreation Reserve is the centre and symbol of the town’s redevelopment – a flash, low-rise, palm-lined boardwalk of a street that you need to ready your credit card for. Stunning luxury apartments are rife; some of the grub – particularly the shell-fish: Moreton Bay bugs and oysters (try Sails Restaurant) – is second to none; and the people all seem smart, well-coiffed, friendly and active. A wander through town receives a veritable volley of “g’days”.The answer to why this transformation has happened lies in Noosa’s natural resources. The town that has emerged is essentially a meeting of three or four smaller neighbourhoods with lovely creeks and little lakes emerging all over the place. The National Park is stunning; beaten paths running through thick woodland with the sea coming into view, the sound of rosellas singing overhead and the sight of koalas slacking in gum trees. The ocean is perfectly blue, whether viewed from on high on the Park’s rocks or up close from one of the dreamy, creamy beaches, many of which have handy surf too. If you’re lucky you’ll catch a glimpse of a whale or a turtle, and there are enough dolphins to go round. Even the drive up from Brisbane, especially if you take the short detour through the Glass House Mountains, is utterly glorious. On arrival, Noosa Flashpackers is an excellent budget accommodation option, while Alaya Verde is a rather more expensive choice but an extremely comfortable stay. Bistro C was the best coffee I sipped, and I had an excellent breakfast too, and Season has a beautiful beach view. For dinner, grab fish and chips and eat on the beach.Noosa’s development is tasteful and classy, big on beauty, short of the gauche high-rises of Gold Coast and Surfer’s Paradise, and not entrenched on the East Coast backpacker route. As a result, it’s no party town – the best way to enjoy it is with early mornings and early nights, sundowners, swimming and seafood, slowing down and settling in. Noosa is little known outside of Australia and part of its curious glory unquestionably comes in its reputation as a little mature, bookish and quiet. Noosa may have been reborn but it has certainly not been ruined.A flock of great-crested terns at Fraser Island•UniversalImagesGroupFraser Island
The other two locations on this list are about flexibility, about setting your own agenda and indulging in a little “you time”. But a trip to Fraser Island is done best on a tour, where you’re looked after. You can do such a tour in high-end splendour or on a budget as a backpacker, for just a single night or as long as you like. There are eco-friendly resorts, campsites, self-contained villas, hotels and specific tour accommodation. For the best backpacker packages try Cool Dingo, where you’ll zoom around the island in a 4×4 and stay in cute lodges. If you’re looking for high-end luxury, Kingfisher Bay Eco Resort & Village is the island’s most luxurious place to stay.Fraser can be accessed via boat from Hervey Bay (ferry 30 mins) or, more conveniently from Brisbane, beautiful Rainbow Beach (ferry 10 mins), which is about two hours north of Brisbane. You can take your own car to Fraser, but it’ll need to be sturdy enough to deal with rough terrain.Fraser’s a place that is different in many other senses, too. It’s unique, in that it’s the world’s largest sand island and one of only four World Heritage sites in Australia, alongside Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Kakudu. The island is ringed by white beaches (including the famous 75-mile one that runs the length of the east side), is full of thick woodland, and dotted with over 100 freshwater lakes. The wildlife is varied, with 354 species of birds (including 18 birds of prey), snakes and dingoes (the only pedigree ones left) on land, and turtles, whales, dugongs, stingrays and sharks in the waters around.The island’s Bushwalks are well-marked and varied and take you through lush rainforest and past all sorts of flora and fauna, tall trees and wide trunks. Keep your eye out for that wildlife, though. The beaches are spectacular, but due to the presence of those sharks, it’s not advisable to swim, so head to the lakes, which are of varying size and depth and are always nice and warm (and safe). You can also swim at stunning Champagne Pools, drive up and down beach and check out the spectacular shipwreck. The views out onto the ocean and its wildlife from Indian Heads are second only to one: the vantage point you get from a plane. A 15-minute flight is not the price you’d expect ($75) and offers spectacular views of the island’s lakes and the ocean’s wildlife from above.Byron Bay
Finally we’re headed south and across the New South Wales border to Byron Bay. It’s known as surfing’s promised land and the easternmost point of Australia and for the beautiful lighthouse that marks the headland at that point. It’s a place that people go to rest and to heal, to chill out and wind down. It’s known for its strong links to hippie culture – dreadlocks, VW campers, tie-dye, and perhaps even a whiff of marijuana.People relax at Byron Bay beach•Getty ImagesIn 2015, Byron Bay has all of those things. The surf is great and the sun and sand are wonderful too. The locals will tell you the best beaches to catch the surf are the Wreck, the Pass and Belongil Beach, while Wategoes is a great place to paddleboard. The lighthouse and the walk up to it are beautiful, and the views afforded at the top out onto the vast expanse of the Pacific are as special as any in Australia. Again, dolphin and whale sightings are two-a-penny when the season fits.The hippies are in town, sitting out back of their campers, their wind chimes ringing away, sipping beer and braiding their hair. And the place is crawling with backpackers. All of the above and its reputation for the easy life and wild social scene make Byron Bay arguably the crucial stop on the East Coast pilgrimage from Cairns to Sydney (or the other way).But there’s much more besides. Byron has undergone a peculiar rural gentrification. It still feels a tiny town, but it’s jam-packed; there are heaps of hostels and campers but amazing apartments and high-end hotels and B&Bs too; fine dining and a typically trendy coffee scene have landed. The people are a mix of cashed-up retirees, pure hippies, holidaying city types and travellers from all over the world. The charm, thankfully, hasn’t been lost.For brunch, Byron’s favourite meal, I headed to the brilliant Bay Leaf Café, an open, wedge-shaped place with excellent, fresh food and good coffee, and Dip and its huge servings. The Coffee Doc and The Roadhouse are good for caffeine-filled pit-stops. In the evening, One One One provides a café feel and restaurant-quality food, which is just right in Byron. Try Byron Bay Brewing Company for a little alcohol education, top beer and a relaxed bar.Explore, too. The beautiful beaches aren’t just in the town, so head up and down the coast. Further inland has some fantastical landscape – a world of parched green dales, rainforest and waterfalls. Many of the backpackers will head to the commune-style town of Nimbin in a multi-coloured van to smoke pot, play hippie and Instagram it all at the end. Skip Nimbin – hop on a public bus and try Bangalow instead. There’s a wonderful monthly market in this classic, sloped, 19th century one-street township. It’s all verandahs, diddy shops and quaint eateries: a great place to just watch the world go by ever so slowly, to dine al fresco and to bury your head in a book.