Anil Kumble… India’s most prolific ODI bowler….

In an ODI career spanning 17 years, Anil Kumble took 337 ODI wickets – the most by an Indian bowler. It is a record which Agarkar amongst current bowlers is most likely to threaten. When Kumble quits Test Cricket, he will leave as India’s most prolific Test bowler as well. That is the measure of this magnificient cricketer. However, he hasn’t left Test Cricket yet (thankfully!) and so one must consider Kumble in ODI’s here. His Test record is for another day, and indeed, the last words in that epic are yet to be written.

Kumble was the original mystery bowler in World Cricket. When he came along in 1990, the mercurial Abdul Qadir of Pakistan was Cricket’s freak bowler – and he was a classical leg spinner. The 1980’s had been dominated by medium fast and fast bowling, and indeed the only mystery faced by the world’s batsmen was that occasionally that red blur coming their way would get lost – until they turned around and saw the wicketkeeper nonchalantly toss it to the grinning slipper. Kumble emerged as a fastish leg break bowler, who rarely turned the ball. His chief weapons were unrelenting accuracy, quick pace off the wicket, a slippery faster one and a tireless work ethic. On dry wickets, he was lethal. If ever there was a bowler who embodied “You miss, I hit!”, it was him. Batsmen seem to read him off the team sheet and took a while to come to terms with his bowling. Playing him as a classical leg spinner was fraught with risk. By the time batsmen realized what he was all about, he had established himself. These were great years for Kumble – from 1992 – 1996 when he took 150 wickets in 103 games at 24.88, including 61 in the year 1996. This tally has been surpassed only by Warne and Saqlain for a calender year. He was also highest wicket taker in the 1996 World Cup.

The Sri Lankans, led by the brilliant Aravinda De Silva were the first to sort Kumble out, and many other teams followed their lead. Typically the anglo-saxon teams “played him like a in-swing bowler”, while Aravinda played him like a spinner! A lull followed, when it seemed that Kumble’s mystic was gone for good. He was still unplayable at times in India in Test cricket, but in the late 90’s, not only did his ODI returns fall away, so did his overseas Test performances. This was truly a mid career crisis.

He emerged from this, by working on a googly, introducing more variety in his bowling, bowling slower through the air, mastering the art of bowling round the wicket to both right and left hander. This process reached maturity only by 2003. In the intervening time, Kumble devastated all comers in India, and occasionally demonstrated why he was so valuable to India simply because he was – well…. Anil Kumble…. He spend the 2001 Australia home series nursing a broken arm and nurturing Harbhajan Singh towards a virtuoso 32 wicket haul in a thrilling 2-1 series victory over the world’s best team. If ever an event had pointed towards the value of a full time bowling coach – this was it.

He never really recovered in ODI cricket from the slump which began in 1997. His accuracy at that point proved insufficient and batsmen became more and more irreverant, willing to sweep from the stumps without a second thought. Kumble was one of the unfortunate victims of the evolution of ODI batting. The addition of variety took away some of his relentless accuracy and he could no longer control the game in the middle overs of an ODI like he did in his hey day. He was however always in the squad, and occasionally teamed up with Harbhajan Singh and even took his place.

Kumble was once a great ODI bowler. That is but a small part of his story. Having to bowl without men around the bat in ODI cricket, Kumble was like Arjuna with a borrowed bow. He was like Kapil a great trier. As an ODI bowler, he belonged to another era.

We will not see Kumble in Blue again. However, im looking forward to watching him on top of his run, his earnest eyes set, the red cricket ball being flicked with his wrists as though it were an extension of his person. Kumble prepares himself in his studied, deliberate manner as the batsmen faces up – the close in men waiting to pounce. It is in this moment, that India play their best cricket. It is a moment delivered by Anil Kumble.

Cricketing View

Endulkar? Version 2.0 – Should Tendulkar retire?

Ian Chappell’s comments about Sachin Tendulkar, have invited swift reaction in the press – who – true patriots that they are must have taken the trouble to contact a number of ex-cricketers and ask for their views on Chappell’s remarks. Other important questions have also been posed. Tendulkar also features prominently in other “inside” scoops – untold stories of a scandalous debacle. Everything from disharmony and disagreements to ego problems and communication gaps have been cited, each supported by their own evidence as the reasons behind India being dumped from the World Cup.

All this analysis reveals an unhealthy, misguided obsession with the phenomenon that is the Indian Cricket team, and a complete disregard for the idea of sport. Chappell makes his observations very well – without being apologetic about the fact that he is treading on dangerous ground (he doesn’t live in India, or else his house might have been stoned by now). Chappell’s article intends and succeeds in its intention of provoking thought.

Chappell’s introduction of Brian Lara into the debate is in my view flawed, because Lara’s position in the West Indies side as batsman is very different from Tendulkar’s position in the Indian side. Lara has always been the preeminent batsman in his side – a situation Tendulkar found himself in through out the 1990’s and thrived in. Tendulkar’s decline as a batsman – thanks to injuries and the wear and tear that must inevitably come from playing international cricket for 17 out of his 33 years, has coincided with an improvement in India’s overall batting side. From being the linchpin of the side, Tendulkar has been reduced to being a crippled elder passenger. I don’t think that sits too well with the great man. Further, the position in which he made his name as an ODI batsman – where he remains unsurpassed in modern day cricket has now been taken away from him. With Lara on the other hand – whatever his own form/fitness situation might have been, his position as the pre-eminent West Indies batsman has never been in question. Lara has had numerous slumps in his career, where as the last two years represent Tendulkar’s first significant slump in his 17 year career.

How has Tendulkar reacted to the changes – to his injury woes and his batting decline? By all accounts, his response to injury has been exemplary. Inspite of so called fitness concerns, Tendulkar runs between wickets better than all Indian batsmen bar Yuvraj Singh, he fields better than all Indian batsmen bar Yuvraj Singh, has proved more adaptable (in terms of run output) than all Indian batsmen bar Rahul Dravid. The record suggests this. So his response to these developments has been above reproach. It is equally true that his batting has been in decline. He is no longer the best batsman in the world, possibly not even the best batsman in India. Even though his place in the side is never going to be in question (because he is still miles ahead of the next best Indian batsmen – something which is not the case in Australia – Michael Hussey was pushing Damien Martyn for a Test place and is clearly as good as Martyn), Tendulkar now finds himself a prisoner of his past.

Should he retire? Hes not too old, hes still clearly good enough to play for India – in terms of batting and fielding. Does he want to retire? Clearly, thats not something anybody other than him can say with any authority. Should we leave him alone? That is something only we can answer with authority. The debate is not about whether or not Tendulkar is good enough to continue – it is about whether he is still needed. In my view, he is absolutely needed.

If we look at “Team” rather than individual, he is needed. If we look at “individual”, then it has to be his decision. This is a paradox – the commentary in the press on the one hand is about “stars” and “individuals” and the lack of “Team”. And yet, the discussion when it comes to real issues, rarely progresses beyond the long, dark shadow of the “star”. When Greg Chappell refers to “player development” and “youth” and “process” – these are treated as buzzwords. When Kiran More talks about “player development” – and points to a stellar record – both in terms of results and giving young players the opportunity to play international cricket and actually identifying who is and isn’t ready, people can’t look beyond his alleged unfavorable equation to Ganguly and in some cases beyond his less than compelling hold over the English language.

In Tendulkar’s case, it is a matter of him reinventing himself as an India player. The player development process which had to be put on hold in order to cobble together a World Cup side, which has failed and proven Chappell and More right (in purely cricketing terms, all though this is an argument which patriotic Indians are unlikely to understand, mainly because they are not the sort of worry about the details of arguments), involves not only the unearthing and nurturing of new players, but also of the reinvention of established players.

Ajay Shankar of the Indian Express is the classic example of a journalist getting sucked into the disappointment of defeat and losing perspective. That article (linked above) is not reporting – it is a collection of disappointed confessions which are of no consequence. There is as much disagreement in the Indian camp as there has been in the Australian camp. The difference is that the average quality of cricketer in the Australian XI is superior to that in the Indian XI, thus ensuring results – which paper over the cracks like nothing else.

So should Tendulkar retire? Thats the wrong question to ask. The real question is – how can Tendulkar contribute in his remaining years as an international cricketer? Captaincy is only on the far horizon, all though his appointment as vice-captain is an admission of the fact the fact that there is nobody in the new generation who is good enough to be a future captain. There was Kaif, but he doesn’t make the Test team or the ODI team. There was Sehwag, but its the same story with him.

I see the team management – Dravid (C), Tendulkar (VC) and Chappell (Coach) being retained – for a period of 12 months – until the end of the Australian tour. The national team clearly is not the problem area of Indian Cricket right now, and Tendulkar is the least of India’s problems. The real solutions lie in the India A fixtures and the revamp of the Ranji Trophy schedule. The Australians took 13 years of rebuilding (from 1987 – 2000) in order to become the best team in the world. Lets not fool ourselves that India will get there any sooner.

I would however make one suggestion to Tendulkar – something he may want to think about as he decides what he wants to achieve in the next few years – that he should retire from ODI cricket and concentrate on Mumbai and Test Cricket. There is no question that this will hurt India’s ODI side. But it will have a beneficial effect on Cricket in general in India – in that it will reduce the profile of ODI cricket and raise the profile of domestic cricket.

If Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar concentrate on First Class Cricket and Test Cricket, it will be the best possible thing for Cricket in India. And by that i mean for the way it is percieved.

Update: I am not making the argument that Tendulkar should join Kumble in retirement. Make no mistake – Kumble as an ODI player has been past his prime since about 2003, while Tendulkar is still one of the top 3 ODI batsmen in India. Tendulkar should retire, even though he would walk into the ODI side, because he needs to take the lead in conveying a message which the public needs to recieve and take on board. Kumble’s is a far more conventional retirement.

However, both have an equally important role to play in domestic and Test cricket.

Cricketing View

New Zealand v West Indies Match Review

New Zealand beat West Indies by 7 wickets to make a winning start to their super 8’s schedule. The West Indies now find themselves behind the clock as far as qualification goes, needing to win atleast three if not all four of their remaining super 8 games.

I wrote in my Match Preview, which finished when the West Indies were 4/86, that they would have to make their stand in the remainder of their batting innings – as it turned out, they did progress to 150/5, when Lara fell and the West Indies collapsed – losing 5/27. With only 177 to defend, it was going to require a Malingaesque effort for the West Indies to take away the all important points. As it happened, without a mystery bowler, and without the relentless pace of yore, New Zealand won with 10 overs to spare. That in itself is significant because the West Indies have conceded 1 full net-run-rate point in this game. Their 100 run defeat against Australia has already hurt their net-run-rate and it is looking increasingly likely that for the 3rd world cup in a row, the hosts may not make the last 4.

The match shows that inspite of the early wickets, (3/77 in 20 overs), a total of 177 meant that it was always going to be a matter of 1 good partnership for New Zealand, and once they got that, it was no contest.
Cricketing View

New Zealand v West Indies March 29 Antigua – Preview

I have started writing this preview late, and as i write, Chris Gayle seems to have finally figured out that there is a World Cup being played on his home islands. I hope i don’t put the wood on him, but Gayle is to the West Indies what Sehwag has been to India for a very very long time – the man who cannot help but make a match winning contribution if he stays in for about 20-25 overs. Gayle does it much better than Sehwag does, but like Sehwag – he has technical limitations and seems to thrive on sheer bloody-minded confidence (it is interesting how often the word bloody-minded seems to apply to cricketers – but then again may be i need to find better options in the future). When Sehwag passes 40 (he has done so in 44 out of his 165 innings), Indias win rate jumps to 70% from the normal 52% in games where Sehwag plays. For Gayle, him reaching 40 gives the West Indies a 7% better chance of winning (from 48 to 55%). Gayle has reached 40 in 58 out of his 160 innings. This win percentage is probably down to the Indian middle order’s superior conversion rate. The great value of an aggressive opener firing is that it makes things much easier for the middle order.

Coming back to New Zealand v West Indies, this has traditionally been one of the low key contests in World Cricket. In the context of this World Cup however, this is an important game – especially for the West Indies. A quirk of scheduling has found them playing on three consecutive days. A second successive defeat will leave them a too much to do in their next 4 games. In all likelihood, they will have to defeat England and South Africa to progress. For New Zealand, a win here would leave them with one foot in the semi final. With games against Bangladesh and Ireland (no cakewalks, but easier than say South Africa or Australia) to come, it will essentially mean that they need to win only one out of their next three games against the big teams.

So this contest, which has since the great battles which Richard Hadlee fought (and often won) against the formidable West Indies top order of Greenidge, Haynes, Lloyd and Richards in the early 1980’s have lacked the excitement of a great individual contest – if you leave aside the then unprecedented sight of Mark Greatbatch charging the great Malcolm Marshall in the 1992 World Cup and smashing him over square cover for 6, is an important World Cup match. This year, it also features some of the finest individual cricketing talent in the World – Bond, Lara, Sarwan, Gayle, Bravo, Oram, Vettori..

World Cup contests between these two sides have been closely fought and as with most sides, New Zealand have in recent editions had the better of the West Indies after coming off second best in the West Indian heyday (South Africa have proved to be the exception to this rule and have a poor record in multilateral tournaments against the West Indies). Much like India against Brian Lara, New Zealand have tended not to feel the full force of the flashing West Indian blade. Early world cup meetings in the 1975 and 1979 editions went the West Indies way. The first one was a World Cup Semi final and New Zealand collapsed to 158 all out in the face of the emerging West Indian pace attack – led in this game by Bernard Julien, then considered the next Gary Sobers. The West Indies won with ease, thanks to a century stand between Alvin Kallicharan and Gordon Greenidge. In 1979, the two teams met in a group match at Richard Hadlee’s home away from home – Nottinghamshire. Hadlee had a moderate day and it was Clive Lloyd who led the West Indies to 244/7 in 60 overs. The New Zealand line up, facing the A list West Indies fast bowling line up could manage 212 in reply.

The next time these two sides met was in the 1992 World Cup, in Auckland New Zealand. An indifferent West Indies batting effort meant that New Zealand were left with 205 to win at the diamond shaped Eden Park ground. With Greatbatch’s belligerence and Martin Crowe’s class, they ran out easy winners by 5 wickets. New Zealand were favorites in the 92 World Cup and they played like favorites, until another classy batsman destroyed their hopes in 10 mad overs in World Cup semifinal. Backed by the wily Miandad, the Inzamam of 1992 batted with characteristic ponderous belligerence to devastate New Zealand’s hopes. At Southampton in 1999, New Zealand were undone by another West Indian who never fullfilled his potential in many eyes – Mervyn Dillon. Ridley Jacobs, opening the batting lead a successful West Indian run chase of 156.

Their last meeting in the World Cup – at the notoriously unpredictable Port Elizabeth wicket in 2003 was potentially a World Cup classic. Chasing 242 for victory, the West Indies slumped to 5/46 and then 6/80, before Ramnaresh Sarwan and Ridley Jacobs led a brilliant recovery with a 98 run stand for the 7th wicket, a rarity, especially in run chases. The chase was well and truly on, when Sarwan was dismissed effectively ending West Indies hopes.

As i conclude this preview, the West Indies find themselves in retreat in what is a must win game for them – 86/4. Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo are at the wicket and this is where they must choose to make their stand. It’s going to be difficult, especially because the West Indies don’t seem to possess the special bowling resources of yore to withstand a siege.

Cricketing View

PTI Report on returning Indian team – 3/10

This effort describing the return of the Indian side would have recieved about 3/10 (well – maybe 4, since India lost) from my English teacher in 7th standard. Im amazed that this appears under a PTI byline.

If it was tongue in cheek i take my words back…..

Cricketing View

South Africa v Sri Lanka, Australia v West Indies – Match Review and Match Track….

Two super 8 matches were decided today and the favorites (if there is such a thing in this world cup) came through in both games. The Australians executed a clinical innings in the field and had the game sewn up at early as the 9th over of the West Indies innings when they reduced the West Indies to 3/20. Chris Gayle could not match Mathew Hayden, and the veteran McGrath continued his strong run against the West Indians taking 3/31. Brian Lara had his moments but it was way too many runs for him to chase down by himself. Bradley Hogg – one of the lesser stars in the Australian line up is proving to be their most crucial performer in the World Cup. He brings to the Australian bowling attack that priceless quality – spin bowling which most batsmen in the World don’t read very well. He bowls a superb length and i have rarely if ever seen him get square cut. The Match Track confirms Australia’s dominance…

The Sri Lanka – South Africa game, one which was crucial to the South Africans, ended up being a thriller, all though one was left with the feeling that it was unnecessarily so. In actual fact, it was a game characterized by 2 collapse. Sri Lanka collapsed from 5/195 to 10/209, while the South Africans went from 2/160 to 9/212 – a loss of 7/52. Lasith Malinga took 4 wickets in 4 balls spread over two seperate overs and what was seeming to be a cruise for the South Africans ended up being a heart-stopping quasi-nightmare. The choking bogie has been raised and some uncharitable viewers called this the Chuckers v Chokers game. In reality, the game reinforced the fact that with the magic of Muralitharan and the class of Vaas, Sri Lanka need only one other bowler (Malinga, Maharoof or Fernando) to produce 2-3 wicket taking deliveries in their spells to make them a potent bowling force. Fernando produced a beauty to Tendulkar against India, and Malinga got his yorkers right at the end against South Africa today.

Greame Smith suggested at the end of the game at the South African’s dominated 95 overs of the contest – that turns out not to have quite been the case. The partnership between Dilshan and Arnold had it continued to the 50th over would have given the Sri Lankans 25 extra runs to play with – which might have been crucial. This game, which saw Sri Lanka lose 5/14 and South Africa lose 2 wickets in 2 balls (from Murali) and then 4 wickets in 4 balls (from Malinga) was much closer than the South African captain would have liked.

As it happens, it was a great result for the super 8’s, which now stand as follows:

Australia 4
South Africa 2
Sri Lanka 2
New Zealand 2
West Indies 2
England 0
Bangladesh 0
Ireland 0

Cricketing View

Times Of India Ends Kumble’s ODI Career

The Old Lady of Boribunder seems to be taking leave of her senses. This story runs with the headline “Kumble announces ODI retirement” and one would expect that he made the announcement and offered his thoughts on the World Cup. Yet, scroll down to read the story and it starts with

“ Master leg-spinner Anil Kumble is all set to swing his Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) office-bearers in action to arrange for a formal announcement on his retirement from One-day cricket in the next few days.

Before he goes public with his decision, Kumble, the ever-courteous and morally upright cricketer, took the trouble of taking his colleagues in confidence in Port of Spain before the team left for home on Tuesday. “

!!

Even considering the low standards of the press and the age of the venerable newspaper, this has to rank amongst their vilest efforts. The report lauds Kumble as an “ever-courteous” cricketer and reports his communication to his team mates, yet the act of filing the report with a very misleading headline not only reeks of opportunism and indecent haste to break a “story” (even though Anil Kumble had already declared his intention of retiring from ODI cricket after the World Cup), but also denies Kumble the opportunity to make his actual announcement. The public has a right to be puzzled when Kumble actually announces this retirement after reading this story in the Times of India.

The reporting ignores the very qualities it admires in Kumble – his courteousness, the grace and class in his remarks to his teammates and his sheer honesty. A player, any player must surely have the right to declare his retirement without the so called story being “broken”. This headline is typical – tantalizing, yet ultimately misleading. When we learnt to write essays and stories in school, the advice about framing titles was that the title should not mislead, and should not reveal too much, yet give an indication as to the subject of the story. Clearly, this was a story which could have been held back a couple of days. “Breaking” it created no real advantage to anybody.

Im going to wait for Kumble’s actual announcement and i hope that Times of India and their affiliated TV and Radio networks get lost on their way to the announcement.

Update: Other publications reported the story as well:

Kumble to announce ODI retirement – Rediff
Kumble to quit ODI’s – Central Chronicle
India’s Kumble to announce ODI retirement
Kumble to announce ODI retirement on return to India – The Hindu

So clearly – there are two different stories out there. When other people are willing to be careful enough to report accurately, why not Times of India? Some others have used headlines such as “India’s Kumble retires from One Day Cricket” – which is still fine as an accurate statement of fact.

Cricketing View

Sri Lanka v South Africa, Guyana, Preview

This contest will bring back terrible memories from 2003 for the South Africans. Mark Boucher blocked the last ball of Muralitharan’s over, believing South Africa had put themselves ahead of the rain rule score, only to find that this was the score to tie. It cost them a place in the super 6’s in their home World Cup.

Since South Africa’s reentry into World Cricket, their contests against Sri Lanka have been easy to predict. At home, they have dominated the Sri Lanka, while in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankans have let the South Africans win only 1 game. Sri Lanka demolished South Africa 5-0 during their last meeting in South Africa, while South Africa have achieved 4-1 and 5-1 victories in series in South Africa. At neutral venues, it is even stevens – 8 wins a piece. Muralitharan is a threat for South Africa at neutral venues – he has taken 23 wickets in 13 games, at a fine average of 20, and an economy rate of 3.80.

The South Africans possess the world cup’s most potent new ball attack – Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock. Jayasurya and Tharanga will have their work cut out for them. The veteran has struggled against the South Africans, averaged 24.9 against them compared to his career average of 33. Sri Lanka’s best chance is to bat, put up 250 and defend it with Murali in their ranks. Smith will be a key player because South Africa will depend on the runs they can against the new ball, especially if their concerns about the wicket turn out to be well founded. This is a new ground, with an untested wicket. The other new wicket in Antigua played very well today with the Australians scoring their 6th consecutive 300+ score (i wrote it was the 7th consecutive score in the earlier post about the Australia match but it turns out it is the sixth). Sanath Jayasuriya has participated in all but two of his country’s ODI games against the South Africans. Kumar Sangakkara amongst all of Sri Lanka’s batsmen has the best record against the South Africans, he averages 40 against them.

South Africa are my sentimental favorites in this world cup, now that India have been eliminated. I would really like to see them win – as a tribute to their courageous policy of affirmative action in their national cricket team, and now also as a tribute to Bob Woolmer. Having said that, it is hard not to admire the Sri Lankans, who play very skillful One Day cricket. They are the masters of defending scores in One Day games and there was a period between 2000 and 2005, where they had a 100% success rate at defending 250+ when Murali played, and had only 1 defeat defending 250+ when he didn’t play – Inzamam inspired Pakistan to a successful run chase of 290 odd in South Africa. That string of successes was broken by the brilliance of Mahendra Dhoni who made 183 not out chasing 298. After that, the Sri Lankan record has been chequered.

From the point of view of the World Cup this will be an important game for the South Africans. If they lose this one, then they will have to win 4 out of the next 5 to qualify, while Sri Lanka and one out of Australia and West Indies will be 2 victories clear of them.

The ICC must be wondering what it must do to ensure that its plans for revenue generation don’t keep going kaput. With the losses due to the exits of India and Pakistan, the rain rule ensures that only half the Australia v West Indies game will be televised. The South Africa v Sri Lanka game will overlap with this one and there is bound to be further drop in advertising revenue (assuming it works based on whether or not the games are actually televised to the full TV audience)

I hope the South Africans win tomorrow, it will make the super 8’s that much more interesting.

Cricketing View

Chappell wanted youth….. hang him!!!! – Hes covering his tracks now…..

This is interesting news. It will generate the usual comments about “rift”. Should Chappell have revealed this to Rajan Bala? Its the sort of information journalists invariably recieve, in good faith. Happenings in selection committee meetings are confidential – but are not secret – in so far as the fact that the revelation of these deliberations do not constitute a security threat or even a cricketing threat.

People are likely to go to town about this “shocking” evidence of “disharmony” in the ranks. Without ever having gone into any selection committee meeting, i can tell you from my experience of meetings that there has never been a meeting (except possibly in Saddam Hussein’s Revolutionary Command Council), were the participants have agreed about everything – that is the precise reason why meetings happens – to get people with different ideas together.

And if Dilip Vengsarkar was upset about the backlash, after seeing the nonsense on TV in the last week, can you blame him? Just underlines the point that i made in my comment in the discussion on this earlier post. The article was meant as a discussion about trends in ODI cricket, but turned into one about the World Cup result for India – “the problem with ODI cricket, especially in India is that it is impossible to rebuild a team because the public does not tolerate reverses.”

Chappell’s had emails he sent to the BCCI chief leaked to the press. He can be excused this small indiscretion – especially because it brings home to roost the fact that the national cricket establishment feels threatened by its own supporters.

Meanwhile – that shining example of a rehabilitated late bloomer – Matthew Hayden has just made 158 with 3 overs to play against the West Indies. Australia look like crossing 300 for the 7th consecutive game in ODI cricket.

Cricketing View

West Indies v Australia, March 27, Antigua

The Super 8 stage of the World Cup commences with the hosts taking on the rejuvenated Australians at the brand new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua tomorrow. West Indies v Australia contests have a rich history. This was the first great contest (if not rivalry) of the televised ODI cricket age. The West Indies were frequent tourists to Australia in the 1990’s and rarely was a Benson & Hedges World Series played without West Indian participation. They met 45 times in the 1980’s and the West Indies dominated these contests.

In the World Cup, these two teams have met 8 times – twice each in 1975, 1983 and 1996 and once each in 1992 and 1999. They participated in the first World Cup final – the West Indies won comfortably, inspite of a last wicket stand between Lillee and Thomson which threatened briefly. In the earlier group stage, the West Indies had won with even more ease – by 7 wickets. The World Cup final saw Clive Lloyd make a brilliant hundred and the great Rohan Kanhai in his final international appearance a patient 49, which saw him go scoreless for 12 straight overs at one point. Viv Richards failed with the bat, but effected 3 run outs, which proved crucial in the final analysis. By 1983, the Australian greats had aged and the West Indies were in the ascendancy. Two more victories were achieved by the West Indies – the first by 101 runs, and the return match as it was called in that edition of the tournament by 7 wickets thanks in large part to brisk 95 not out by Vivian Richards. In 1992, the first hints of West Indian decline were emerging and they went down by 42 runs in a low scoring game. Neither West Indies nor Australia distinguished themselves in the competition. While 1996 edition confirmed the West Indian decline, it also provided a glimpse of what was to come in the future – after the West Indies had won a hard fought victory in the league match, they seemed to be cruising to victory in the semi final at Mohali. With the West Indies going strong at 163/2 chasing 208, Steve Waugh produced his greatest delivery to beat the outside edge of Brian Lara’s defensive bat and clip the top of off-stump. Then Warne took over and Australia stole a 5 run win to sneak into the final. By 1999, the wheel had come a full circle – Australia were now top dogs, while the West Indies were one of the also rans, wistful of their past. The Australians toyed with them after an inspired spell by Glenn McGrath had the West Indies struggle to 110 all out. With a keen eye on the run rate, the Australians batted 40 overs to overhaul the West Indies score – the last 49 runs coming from 21 overs. The Australians had Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan at the wicket when victory came. In 2003, the West Indies did not qualify for the second stage, and there was no meeting.

In recent years however, the West Indies have done better against the Australians than many other teams – beating them thrice in the row in the West Indies in 2003-04, a feat repeated only once since – by the New Zealanders in the recent Chappell-Hadlee trophy. It will be an important contest between these two teams – both have carried over points from the group stage, and a victory tomorrow will ease the pressure for them in their remaining games. The West Indian attack looked disciplined against Pakistan and will face its severest test against the awesome Australian top order. Chris Gayle will be the key for the West Indies, for he can match Gilchrist and Hayden on his day at the top. If it ends up being a straight bat v bat contest on a flat wicket, the Australians will win, mainly because they have greater variety in their bowling than the West Indians, in addition to having the marginally better batting line up (especially if Symonds plays). If the wicket is tricky, it could be interesting, because Brian Lara’s genius will come into play decisively there. Like Tendulkar, Lara hasn’t achieved a great deal against the Australians with the bat in recent meetings. He should look to right that.

All in all, it is the perfect match to begin the Super 8’s.

Cricketing View