The Blind and Visually Impaired Cricket Club, Sierra Leone

The Blind and Visually Impaired Cricket Club gathers twice a month to play out keenly fought matches in Freetown, the capital of the small West African country of Sierra Leone. Each side has six overs to work the rattling ball for as many runs as possible. On the wicketkeeper’s call (“bowler bowl”) the bowler sends the ball rolling towards the other wicket (wides are harshly judged!) and the batsman, listening as closely as possible to the noise, tries to put bat to ball.

Most of the shots were a kind of brushing, paddle sweep (with shades of Eoin Morgan reverse sweeping?) although the odd partially sighted player does have a go at a drive-come-slog.

When there is contact the most manic and – in the nicest possible way – most fun part of the proceedings start. Fielders have to listen for the ball, spread their hands out as though they were polishing the floor, trying to locate the bloody thing. And the batsmen have to judge which direction the other wicket is as they try and get some runs.

But for all the smiles and laughs, the players are serious and determined. Ismael, for example, went blind only in the last few years and the club is now an important part of his life, showing that he can keep going with his life.

The team captain, Henry, is demanding and eager to win (he does win the game we watch). And for all the players there is a palpable excitement and sense of pride; they are ecstatic that some travellers from England, “cricket’s homeland”, have come to see them.

The coach, Mohamed, himself a “handy allrounder” has grand plans to extend the game out into the country’s provinces and create a mini league. He may yet be held back by a desperate shortage of kit and equipment, but his ambition and drive remain undimmed.

As we stood watching the game, joined by a small group of local kids who looked absorbed but also slightly bemused, it was easy to forget that we were watching some people who face some of the biggest challenges of anyone in the world. Not only are they blind (with many going blind only later in life, as a result of prevetanable diseases like measles), but they live in one of the poorest countries on earth.

It was just 13 years ago that Sierra Leone finally escaped a vicious civil war. After the British army intervened, a group of rebels, the Revolutionary United Front, renowned for amputating hands and arms, were beaten back and the country started to rebuild itself. This recovery and reconstruction has been difficult enough for ordinary Sierra Leonians, but imagine if you were blind as well.

I have been lucky enough to watch some of the greatest cricketers of our times. I’ve been to some of the best grounds and even watched the 2010/11 Melbourne and Sydney Ashes Tests. But in its own way watching this wonderful, if slightly peculiar, game of cricket on the West African coast was a match for all of this. It spoke to the role that sport, and cricket in particular, can play in bringing joy to some of the most forgotten and most hard done by people in the world.

By Will Paxton

England celebrate the 3-1 victory Down Under that means that they defend the tiny little urn in 2013

It was, until very recently, a cause for nervous anticipation for England fans. You looked forward to clashes against Australia in the same way you looked forward to trips to the dentist. Or to an exam. It might rain, was the best the Poms could hope for, in which case everything would be all right.

The boot is on the other foot now, though. Expectant of success against submissive Englishmen, the Aussies are now possessed of the weakest of the two sides, unquestionably. That, of course, will do nothing to dampen their cautious optimism. You won’t find many Australians willing to accept defeat too readily.

Michael Clarke’s side have arrived in England on the back of a 4-0 whitewashing at the hands of India. Conditions on the subcontinent didn’t play into the hands of their strong seam attack and highlighted the impotence of their spin options, a problem that could potentially be resolved by the fast tracking of a passport for Fawad Ahmed.

Australia isn’t a country typically associated with an open door policy when it comes to immigration, but when it comes to sport, exceptions can be made. Such is the desire to have Ahmed available to face England that new rules are being implemented in parliament.

A great vote of confidence for Nathan Lyon, currently the squad’s only spinner, there… Even the politicians are in the act of desperately searching for options to improve a squad that look ill-equipped for the challenge of regaining the famous little urn.

The pace attack, on the other hand, could cause anyone problems (in the right conditions). In James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird and James Faulkner, Australia has the tools to compete with England’s vaunted seam attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and the recovering Chris Tremlett.

In Graeme Swann, however, England has by far and away the most dangerous spin option. At any rate, it’s unlikely Ahmed will turn up and leave as big an impression on the Ashes series in England as Shane Warne did in 2005.

England had to rely on Monty Panesar to survive a few balls in the final innings of the series in New Zealand to come away with a draw

That England were forced to cling on grimly, yet heroically, to force the series draw in Auckland spoke volumes for both sides. This New Zealand outfit, under the leadership of Brendan McCullum, is not to be taken lightly and England, too, still have the air of defiance about them that played no small part in their previous march to the top of the ICC Test rankings before being dethroned by South Africa 12 months ago.

On home soil, however, it is difficult to see England being caused too many problems by New Zealand. The two Tests in the series are at Lord’s and Headingley, before a three match ODI series ahead of the Champions Trophy.

The weather in England has been a mixed bag of late and it is likely that the Lord’s Test will be affected. This shouldn’t derail England, though, and I fully expect them to assert their superiority over the Kiwis, even without the injured Kevin Pietersen.

The ODIs are far more difficult to call, but England will be very keen to lay down a marker ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. There then follow two T20s at the Oval at the end of June, before the Aussies arrive. It’s hard to see this as anything but an hors d’oeuvres, but as we saw only a few weeks ago, underestimate this New Zealand side at your peril…

Watch out for…

In the absence of Kevin Pietersen, Jonny Bairstow has another opportunity to impress in the England Test side. He was devoid of First Class cricket throughout the winter, something that didn’t help him as he was thrust into the side in Auckland. He has started the season in decent form for Yorkshire and England Lions and there is also a wicket keeping spot up for grabs in the limited overs sides if Jos Buttler slips up at that level.

Bairstow has be a regular with the gloves for Yorkshire and kept for the Lions against the New Zealanders, whilst Somerset have stuck two fingers up at England’s selection panel and kept faith with axed England keeper Craig Kieswetter at the expense of Buttler.

Graeme Swann has never played a Test against New Zealand and his recovery from elbow surgery appears complete as he will play in the series. Tim Bresnan also returns to the squad, but is most likely to feature on the field with a tray of drinks and the odd pair of gloves.

For New Zealand, Hamish Rutherford will be keen to kick on after so impressing in the return leg. He scored a composed century in the first Test that made a big impact in New Zealand. It would be great to see him find success away from home, too.

On the bowling front the Kiwis have an array of hard working seamers of which I anticipate Neil Wagner being the pick. Expect it to be definitively confirmed that Bruce Martin is not of sufficient quality to be a front line Test spinner.

Predictions

England to win the Test series 2-0, weather permitting. It’s just impossible to see New Zealand having enough quality to keep England at bay. The Kiwis have, however, made a habit of making the impossible a reality by performing at levels seemingly beyond them. Surely not this time, though. Surely not.

I also expect England to win the ODI series. I won’t be so bold as to put a score line on that, though, and I certainly don’t make that prediction with the same conviction with which I predict the outcome of the Tests. Limited overs cricket is a great leveller and New Zealand are never to be written off.

By Miles Reucroft

Everyone has to put the training hours in

Just as well the season at Englefield Green kicks off with a couple of friendlies. It’s just a shame I’ve got a wedding to go to on the second weekend.

I’m really looking forward to the new season. It’ll be my first as a captain and that, for the time being at least, is making me look forward to the season ahead. The 2^nd XI didn’t win a game last year, so it can’t get any worse in 2013!!

I’m also looking forward to using my new bat. I’ve had a mixed time in nets, but had a good session with a bowling machine a couple of weeks ago. It gave me plenty of time to iron out a couple of issues and I managed to start finding the middle of my Slazenger V100.

As I’ve mentioned before, the TAS inserts make a real difference and expand the size of the bat’s sweet spot. The time spent on the bowling machine was a good opportunity to work on footwork and timing and it also enabled me an opportunity to work through defensive, as well as aggressive play. Even in defence, with good timing and placement, there was enough power through the bat to generate scoring opportunities.

That said, however, a bowling machine in a heated sports hall on a Sunday evening is a different experience altogether compared to being out in the middle, but the portents are good.

Hopefully the optimism of a new season can carry over into the summer this year. There will inevitably be a few low scores, but hopefully there will be a few high ones, too.

I’m aiming to average in double figures this season. I managed this easily in 2011, averaging 20 for the season, but fell away drastically last year, averaging a very embarrassing four! Like all bad workmen the tools have been blamed, so there are no excuses this season…

Another source of blame last season was the weather. Out of 17 league games, seven were rained off. That helped no one. It was snowing in London 10 days ago but the sun was shining this past weekend and long may that continue.

I’ll be back again in a couple of weeks to let you know how it’s going…

By Miles Reucroft

Peter Fulton was hugely impressive for New Zealand and his example should be followed by his younger colleagues

It was nice not to have to sit through an overcrowded limited overs leg of a tour that rapidly lost its intrigue following an enthralling Test series. Instead, the staccato rhythm laid down with the white ball rose to a crescendo that was finished with the red ball.

It’s a shame most series are organised the opposite way around, opening with the Tests.

England won both the T20 and ODI series 2-1, twice winning the decider. They must surely have held out high hopes of doing likewise in the Test series, having been denied victory in Wellington only by the weather.

It was a Test series defined by two poor innings for England. First up in Dunedin they were all out for 167 and first up in Auckland they were swept aside for 204.

Other than that, it wasn’t really as bad as some would have you believe. The ‘catastrophes’ that beset the side were the result of decisions that backfired like a cartoon shotgun that’s barrel has been blocked by the finger of the target.

The first day washout in Dunedin led to a touch of hubris as England carried on in ODI mode, trying to smash New Zealand out of the game. Their incompetence first time around was highlighted by the consummate ease with which they secured the draw.

The backfiring theme continued in Wellington, this time New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum opted to bowl upon the winning toss. It was a poor call that should’ve cost his side the game.

And so to Auckland. Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bowl. New Zealand said thanks very much and set about piling on the runs. One wicket fell on day one.

The match ended as a modern day classic, another cling on job by England’s rearguard. There were shades of the last South Africa tour when Graham Onions kept the Saffers at bay; there were shades of Cardiff, the nostalgia for that famous day heightened by the presence of comedy batsman Monty Panesar.

So it all ended in stalemate. 0-0 looks a dour series on paper but there was so much more to it than that. England were expected to whip their hosts but ended the series celebrating joyously a series draw against a side ranked six places lower than them.

Cricket, ey. Funny old game.

What we learnt about…

New Zealand

Despite the outrageous way it was done, McCullum looks the right man to lead the Black Caps. His captaincy was innovative and he constantly sought to pressure England. There is a long way to go for New Zealand, but the scars of Ross Taylor’s dumping as captain and the South Africa tour are at least beginning to heal.

England

There is a tough spine to this side. Twice they were in tricky positions and twice they survived. The bowlers weren’t as effective as expected, but a return to the Dukes ball will inspire confidence and garner wickets.

Nick Compton cemented his place as opener for the summer, but there are still issues at number six. Off the top of my head, since the first Test in Galle on the tour of Sri Lanka only 12 months ago, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, James Taylor and Joe Root have all batted there.

That, simply, isn’t good enough and displays an uncharacteristic indecision in Andy Flower’s regime. Root looks the man in possession, but Bairstow, who came in for the injured Kevin Pietersen, was woefully out of touch, that being his first First Class game since the third Test in India. In November. How can he be expected to perform?

For all their problems, however, England are lucky that they have an easy year ahead. Ashes guff aside,  Australia are a poor side who should be easily overcome. New Zealand in England will be an entirely different proposition, too.

Whatever happens there, if that series is half as intriguing as this, it will be well worth watching.

Man of the series

The emergence of Hamish Rutherford in Dunedin adds more depth to what was looking a bare Kiwi batting cupboard only two months ago. ‘Two Metre’ Peter Fulton’s back-to-back centuries in Auckland were the biggest surprise of the tour, though. Having seen Pete trudge along before, one wouldn’t have predicted a swashbuckling century in the second innings that witnessed him mercilessly flog England’s bowlers to all corners.

One also wouldn’t have predicted a century in the first innings. His application and desire to play for New Zealand, though, is something the side can build upon. He was selfless and hugely impressive and hopefully his attitude will rub off on his colleagues.

By Miles Reucroft

Mickey Arthur (left) and Michael Clarke were unimpressed at the lack of presentation skills in their squad

England got their Test tour of New Zealand off to a typically underwhelming start last week. Bowled out for 167 on the flattest of flat pitches, Kiwi debutant Hamish Rutherford showed his much vaunted opponents the way with 171 runs of his own. Even England bowler Steven Finn had the temerity to upstage his willow wielding colleagues with a turgid 56 in the second innings. Application, my friends. Application.

The innings puts Rutherford seventh on the list of highest scores on debut.

There was also a maiden Test ton for Nick Compton and yet another for Alastair Cook.

England dug in for two days and secured a draw, but the ineptitude of their first innings was completely overshadowed by the ineptitude of four Australians when it comes to filling in forms/sending e-mails/sending SMS messages and making presentations.

Australia coach Mickey Arthur wanted his charges to consider how they could improve the team in the aftermath of two defeats in two Tests in India. I’m sure Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson would simply have suggested ‘I could play a f**king game. I mean, c’mon mate, strewth, Phil Hughes is getting a knock. He’s s**t.’

Shane Watson could have suggested ‘meh, not a lot’ and James Pattinson ‘a bit of support would be nice. Find a decent spinner, too. Just someone who can spin a ball would do. Seriously.’

Say all of the above quotations in a comedy Australian accent and you get a true picture of what’s going on…
Anyway, none of the above bothered with this task set out by Arthur. So he decided to drop them for the third Test. All four of them. Because they didn’t suggest ways that a really average team could improve and start its quest to become world no1.

Here’s a suggestion to Cricket Australia. Invent a time machine and go back to 2002. Or find a way of preventing ageing in human beings. You could then have replaced Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Hussey, Waugh and Waugh, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath and Lee with themselves.

Then you’d be no1. You’re not no1 because your players, with the notable exception of Michael Clarke, are crap. Mystery solved.

Still, that hasn’t stopped Arthur from managing the side like a man who has got a hefty sum invested in England winning back-to-back Ashes this year. Come on, if his name was Mohammad Arthur from Lahore this point would be taken seriously…

In other age related news India have dispensed with another modern legend. Virender Sehwag’s international career looks at an end as he has been dropped for the third Test in Mohali against Australia. Having got himself out early in the second Test, he had to kick back and watch young whippersnappers Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara pile on the runs. The walls must surely now be closing in on Sachin Tendulkar.

Perhaps the most remarkable event in Test cricket over the past seven days, however, was the performance of Bangladesh, against Sri Lanka, in Galle.

The match bore 18 wickets in five days. I’d suggest it wasn’t the most competitive of surfaces. Still, nearly exactly one year ago England were being rolled over here inside four days.

To wash down the 18 wickets were eight centuries, two from Kumar Sangakkara.

Nothing remarkable there. No sir. The remarkable bit came from Bangladesh’s innings of 638. Mohammad Ashraful, that much maligned one-time Aussie basher of 2005 vintage in a Cardiff ODI, rediscovered how to hold a cricket bat and was desperately unlucky not to become the first ever Bangladeshi to hit a Test double century. He fell for 190.

Mushfiqur Rahim, the pocket rocket Bangladesh keeper/captain was so inspired by his team mate that he went on to take that honour himself. The partnership of 267 between the two was also a new Bangladeshi record for any wicket.

Nasir Hossain also chipped in with a maiden ton. It was a good match for Bangladesh and I truly hope that they build on this and become a tough side to beat.

The fact that Rahim fell for exactly 200 and Hossain for exactly 100 suggests that milestones still come as a huge surprise for this lot, but it’s a nicer problem to have than sitting around saying ’but we have to pick Ashraful. The cupboard is completely bare.’

That’s the past seven days, I hope the next seven are just as good.

By Miles Reucroft

Michael Clarke and MS Dhoni both set records in Hyderabad. One was good, one not so...

The current imbroglio was expected as the initial matches in the tour saw Indian Test aspirants walking away with career best figures against this brittle batting line-up. Right from the moment this team was selected, the Australian selection fiasco was evident and the selectors’ inability to find replacements for Test veterans Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey gave early indications of the quagmire awaiting them.

Only skipper Michael Clarke has so far carried his fine form forward and it looks like he too is now running out of steam. His boys around him have repeatedly collapsed against the guile of Indian spin on wickets doctored to suit the hosts’ spinners.

Though the seamers for India, barring Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in the second Test, did not have any role to play, spinners like R. Ashwin and part-timer Ravindra Jadeja have become a thorn in the flesh of the Aussie batsmen. Having looked like a rudderless boat against England, Ashwin is oozing with confidence all of a sudden. Jadeja has now almost become the perfect Test all-rounder that MS Dhoni has been looking for, though his batting so far has been nothing to shout about.

The Australian batting is full of players who do not seem to have the patience and temperament required to bat in Tests, especially on viciously turning Indian tracks. Also, playing across the line has brought about most of the Australian downfall so far.

Phil Hughes, from whom much was expected, has only 25 runs from four innings. A team with only two batsmen in Clarke and Moises Henriques, who had a dream debut, can probably prolong the agony but never avoid the inevitable rout.

Shane Watson, having declared his team’s aggressive intention before the series began, looks a shadow of himself and has managed just 77 runs in his four innings. His last Test century came 37 innings ago.

It is now clear that Clarke needs to move up the batting order and probably play Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith in the upcoming Tests in an attempt to revive Australia’s dwindling fortunes. Having scored four double tons in 2012 and a century and 91 so far in this series, Clarke is paying for the sins of his batsmen.

The press and fans Down Under are baffled by the spineless displays of their team so far. With the Ashes series only a couple of months away, they must be dreading what is in store for them. Clarke’s challenge is not his own batting anymore, it is in the combination he picks for the remaining Tests. Will he get it right? Clarke has probably never felt this lonely.

Barring James Pattinson in the first Test, the Aussie bowlers too have had a miserable run, too.  Axing Natahn Lyon and picking Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell for the second Test hasn’t gone down well with many. For India, this series has been a fairy tale so far.

Dhoni’s fortunes as a skipper, and as a batsman, are smiling on him. The Indian batting line-up looks confidence personified.  With Tendulkar missing a ton in the first Test, batsmen like Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Dhoni too, have made hay while the sun shines.

It is a sorry story, however, for Virender Sehwag. The veteran who once thrilled the world has been a bad squib of late and it very much looks like the end of the road for one of cricket’s great entertainers. We’ll always have the swashbuckling memories.

Harbhajan Singh, another veteran of the side, has been bowling well but he must be ruing his inability to take wickets whilst his colleagues are unable keep count of their hauls. With the team winning, though, he is likely to get an extended stint, at least for the rest of this series.

While Dhoni became the Indian captain with most the Test wins, Clarke became the first skipper in Test history to lose by an innings after declaring the first innings in Hyderabad.  As things stand, it looks like a 4-0 sweep to India taking them to third position in the ICC Test ranking.

But knowing how funny this game is, Clarke and his men still have an outside chance to atone for the first two Tests. Almost a year ago, India were on the receiving end of a whitewash in Australia. It now looks like payback time. Time for regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy!

By Venkat Balantrapu

Nick Compton, despite only debuting in India, has a bit of pressure on his shoulders ahead of the Test series in New Zealand

England’s last Test assignment was a famous 2-1 series win India, whilst New Zealand were last seen being bent over in South Africa. The form of the two sides, on those outings, could hardly be more different.

England, however, are not without selection headaches going into Wednesday’s opening Test in Dunedin. There will be no need for two spinners so Monty Panesar, who was exceptional in India, will make way for a third seamer to accompany James Anderson and Steven Finn.

Graham Onions did himself no favours with a poor outing in the only four day warm-up fixture and Chris Woakes isn’t really in contention for a Test berth. That means a return to the first XI for golden boy Stuart Broad.

The warm-up fixture resulted in a surprising victory for a New Zealand XI. Any arrogance that England had looking ahead to the Test series must surely have been beaten out of the side there.

It would be a surprise if England don’t win the series comfortably as New Zealand are brimming with selection issues of their own. Brendan McCullum is carrying good form with him from the ODI series and needs to prove his metal as Test skipper on the back of the South African shellacking and with the return of ousted skipper Ross Taylor to the side. It will be an intriguing series.

Big series for…

England opener Nick Compton, despite having only made his debut on the tour of India, is under the microscope on this leg of the tour. He failed to convert his openings in India into significant contributions and will be keen to register a maiden Test century.

The rapid rise of Joe Root has added to the pressure upon Compton, since the Yorkshire youngster is comfortable operating as an opener. Root is solving a mid-term problem at number six at the moment, but if Compton fails on this tour, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Root promoted and someone like Jonny Bairstow or James Taylor come back into the side of good early season Championship form ahead of the Ashes…

It would suit England’s planning ahead of the Ashes summer to have a settled top order in place. Turning 30 this year, it would be difficult to envisage Compton forcing his way back into the side if he were to be dropped. It is time for Compton to show that he is Test class by plundering a few runs in this series.

By Miles Reucroft

You can learn to play like your heros through your phone

Those who have had coaching most likely received it at school. The problem with this, certainly in England, is that not many schools offer cricket coaching. It is usually offered only at private schools and most people don’t get the opportunity to learn the game at a young age.

I know myself, from starting to play cricket in adulthood, that correct technique isn’t something that I possess! It’s not easy to find, either. You can try to emulate what you see on TV, but unless you have the time to practice for a few hours each day, this doesn’t really help.

I recently came across a mobile app that aims to help people with their cricket. The Cricket Coach App, available on your smartphone, aims to tackle the coaching of the individual areas of batting, bowling and fielding across three apps.

I downloaded the batting and bowling apps (my fielding’s okay, I think…!) to see what I can pick up from them. With nets having commenced a few weeks back, I have found the in depth breakdowns of each discipline to be very useful.

The one area that I have really improved upon from last year is the bowling of wrist spin. I’m not really a bowler, but the videos, talk throughs and analysis of this trickiest of arts has been hugely beneficial.

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t turned into Shane Warne overnight (more Anil Kumble if a comparison must be drawn) but I have been pitching the ball with increased accuracy and bowling a better length than before.

The app also teaches you about seam, off spin and orthodox left arm bowling. In the same vein, the batting app teaches you about front foot and back foot play; defensive, attacking, leg side and offside play. It even goes as deep as your running between the wickets and games you can play in the nets to improve your accuracy and shot selection.

My batting technique is entirely self taught and predominantly back foot devoid of foot movement. My ineptitude is more dyed in the wool than with my bowling, but the app has really helped me.

There are videos from all angles of a delivery/shot and diagrams to help further explain the techniques involved. You can record your own action and compare it against the videos in the app and it also lists all of the common faults that hold most of us back.

I would highly recommend this to any village or club cricketers, or at least anyone who hasn’t got access to coaching. It’s an incredibly affordable way of accessing thorough information and is a great refresher as to correct methodology.

By Miles Reucroft

you can view the app for Android, iPhone and Blackberry