Semaphore and shooters

It's all about planning
There were a few raised eyebrows when Stuart Broad had a deep square-leg in place while bowling to Jacques Kallis. After all, this has been a surface where the quicks have caused most of their problems by pitching the ball up and getting uneven bounce. Was it a double-bluff from Broad and Andrew Strauss? No, it was a perfect piece of planning. Broad, after drying up the runs, banged in his first short ball of the day, and Kallis obligingly pulled it to Alastair Cook on the boundary who, despite a mini-wobble, held on.

Signal failure
Early in the day, there was a lot of arm-waving going on between the pitch and scorers. It wasn't clear what the issue was until Brian Jerling, the fourth umpire, made his way up to the box, accompanied by a man with two large bulbs. It emerged that there were no indicator lights to enable the scorers to confirm they had registered the umpires' signals, and so instead they had to resort to semaphore. However, the man with the bulbs quickly went to work, and soon everyone's life had been made that bit easier.

Within an inch
England haven't had any luck with the review system in this match, and are pretty fed up with the whole process. Their mood won't have been enhanced when, desperate for a breakthrough, Andrew Strauss gambled on using his final review when Graham Onions had a huge shout for lbw against AB de Villiers. The replay looked good; it pitched in line, hit in line, but would have crashed pretty comfortably into leg stump, but under the parameters set for the margin of error, there was enough doubt still lingering for de Villiers to survive.

Young talent
As has been the case since the second day, the crowd were allowed onto the outfield during the lunch interval. Among the many games that sprang up, one young boy caught the attention. He ran in with a neat action, bowled with a hint of swing and then switched to sending down a few leggies. When his turn came with the bat he was quickly into position to play the pull shot. Expect him to be offered a Kolpak deal within days.

England finally get one
Given they had spent another sweltering day in the field, England may just have lost the plot if JP Duminy had survived his lbw appeal against James Anderson on review. The ball pitched in line and swung nicely back into Duminy's pads so Steve Davis was happy to give it out. Height was the concern, but it went in England's favour - but only just. Replays showed the ball was only clipping the bails but, because it had originally been given out, the on-field call remained.

Play that
Hashim Amla had just reached his hundred by flicking Broad through midwicket and was seeing it like a football. Still, he had no chance of playing the grubber from Anderson that scuttled along the deck and crashed into off stump. Anderson barely celebrated, partly because South Africa's lead was out of reach, but mostly because he knew the challenge that was about to confront England in their second innings.

Clouds on the horizon?
During the fourth day, the sky became something other than perfectly blue for the first time in the game. The ominous sign of thunderclouds began forming in the distance - as the forecast had predicted - and they started to turn the sunshine hazy. This match has been notable because it's the first time here that an England game hasn't impacted by the weather. But there is still a day to go, and the visitors would welcome some help from above.

Rohit's triple and Baroda's near-miss

The triple
It's good to know Rohit Sharma has it in him to play a long innings. Never mind it came against Gujarat on a flat track, a first-class triple-century is a proud achievement. For a batsman considered to be the future of the Indian middle order, it had been a concern that the attractive 30s were not being converted into bigger scores. Consider this: the 322 balls he faced for his 309 not out was 28 more than what he faced in the whole of the 2007-08 season. Rohit is aware of the criticism against him. "This knock means a lot to me. Without doubt, this is my best innings," he told the Indian Express. "Questions were being asked if I was good for the longer versions. I have been through tough times, but this triple-hundred will change things."

Sow in 2008, reap in 2009
Karnataka played six matches in the league stage this year. They won four of them outright (two of them with a bonus point), and took the first-innings lead in the remaining two. No team in their group could get the better of them, not even in the first innings. Mumbai, on the other hand, won just one of the seven matches they played, scraped through into the top three, thanks to the four instances in which they managed the first-innings lead. But Mumbai, by the virtue of being the defending champions, get to play the Plate League qualifiers in the quarter-finals. We understand it's an old Ranji Trophy rule, but it can certainly do with a revision: it is quite clear as to who out of Karnataka and Mumbai deserve to face the easier opponents this season.

Pathans miss a trick
While there was no last-day fight for any of the quarter-final slots, Baroda gave Delhi a late scare for the final spot. Baroda started the final round with 10 points, and Delhi 15. As Delhi went on to concede a first-innings lead against Bengal and earn themselves just one point, Baroda knew if they could beat Maharashtra with a bonus point they could tie with Delhi on points, and scrape through on a better run quotient. It all seemed to be working out for Baroda when Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel took seven wickets between them to set themselves a target of 101. The catch was, they had to win by 10 wickets in order to get the bonus point, and they also had to play out two overs on the third evening.

Irfan promoted his brother, Yusuf, to open the innings. The Indian Express reports: "On the very first ball, however, he stepped down the track and skied the ball to the wicketkeeper Rohit Motwani." Irfan told the paper: "We had made a decision to send him in early to accelerate the innings and to ensure we had a reliable batsman who would survive the last two overs. Unfortunately things didn't turn out that way."

Fallah gets a hat-trick
Yusuf's rush of blood completed a staggered hat-trick for the Maharashtra left-arm medium-pacer Samad Fallah, to go with his eight-for in the first innings. This was the second hat-trick this season, following Karnataka's Abhimanyu Mithun's effort on debut. Maharashtra, though, didn't have much else to cheer for as they were relegated to the Plate League.

No quarters given
Since the two Plate qualifiers have the opportunity to face the Super League teams, we have a few rare match-ups. Mumbai and Haryana have played each other only once before, and Uttar Pradesh and Assam only thrice. And despite both of them playing in the Super League, Karnataka and Punjab have somehow avoided each other ever since the Super and Plate divisions were introduced. The last time they played each other was the 1998-99 semi-final, which Karnataka won by seven wickets.

Look who's playing the quarters
Former Mumbai players, Sairaj Bahutule and Amol Muzumdar, who represented Assam this season. Bahutule's 25 wickets at 18.48, and eight wickets in the Plate semi-final helped Assam through. Assam's other key performer was the former Maharashtra batsman Dheeraj Jadhav, who carried his bat through for 165 in the semi-final. While it's unlikely that Bahutule and Muzumdar will come face to face with Mumbai this season, there is every chance they might play a league match against their old team in 2010-11.

Bengal's new opener
His 152 against Delhi may have come a bit late in the season for Bengal, but Sourav Ganguly is all set to open the innings for them in the East Zone one-dayers in Cuttack in February, reports the Telegraph. The Kolkata-based paper suggested Ganguly will use this to get into groove for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2010 IPL: their regular opener, Brendon McCullum, will be away for a major part of the tournament. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Bengal's captain, approves. "I have absolutely no problem with Sourav opening. He is free to choose his batting position."

The Chanderpaul understudies

West Indies haven't had Shivnarine Chanderpaul as their middle-order rock at the WACA, but they've had two very good imitations in Narsingh Deonarine and Brendan Nash

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA

December 19, 2009

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Narsingh Deonarine has more than just anti-glare patches in common with Shivnarine Chanderpaul © Getty Images



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Players/Officials: Shivnarine Chanderpaul | Narsingh Deonarine | Brendan Nash
Matches: Australia v West Indies at Perth
Series/Tournaments: West Indies tour of Australia
Teams: West Indies

West Indies haven't had Shivnarine Chanderpaul as their middle-order rock at the WACA, but they've had two very good imitations. Cricket in the Caribbean isn't flush with cash but Narsingh Deonarine and Brendan Nash have put an enormous price on their wickets, and the team could enjoy healthy dividends if their diligence continues.

The long, hot Perth day eventually got to both batsmen and they departed in the final session. By then they had given their side hope in a chase of 359, although late wickets put Australia back on top. Patience and discipline are vital qualities in Test cricket and it's no surprise that West Indies, who barring Chanderpaul haven't always had those traits in the past decade, have won only three of their past 41 Tests.

Nor is it remarkable that in a region that has produced dashing superstars like Viv Richards and Brian Lara (though they were brilliantly adaptable and could defend for their lives), a younger generation preferred to entertain. Stroke-players such as Xavier Marshall, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith have rolled through the Test line-up, providing much sparkle but little substance.

Now there are batsmen coming through who are aiming to emulate Chanderpaul, and the team is better for it. Much like Chanderpaul, Deonarine and Nash are small-statured left-handers whose first priority is to not get out and if runs come along the way, then that's good. It was precisely the attitude the team needed when they came together on the fourth day at the WACA.

At that stage the visitors required 291 to win, with seven wickets in hand and time was of no consequence. It was so irrelevant to Nash that for 70 minutes he didn't score a run, remaining on 48. It didn't bother him. He once batted through a whole session for Queensland and scored two runs.

Deonarine played in a similar fashion, although he was more willing to attack and memorably brought up his half-century with a six straight back over the head of the bowler Nathan Hauritz. He would have gone through the whole series without playing a Test but for the finger injury that Chanderpaul suffered in Adelaide.

He slotted into Chanderpaul's No. 4 position with ease, batting 100 minutes for 18 in the first innings as he aimed to shore up one end, before he lasted 202 minutes for 82 in the second innings. The similarity was even more striking as Deonarine wore anti-glare strips under his eyes - the same patches that Chanderpaul has made a trademark.

Deonarine was ten years old when his Guyanese countryman Chanderpaul made his Test debut in Georgetown. Eleven years later, Deonarine made his Test debut under Chanderpaul's captaincy. With his performances, he has given himself a chance of keeping his Test spot even when his idol returns.

"Since I was a little boy growing up I was always looking at Shiv and always he was my role model," Deonarine said. "The way he's going about doing his business, a very determined guy. I tried to model myself in his way, going out there, be determined, spend time at the crease. He taught me a lot and advised me a lot, so in the end it's worked out."

Today, neither Nash nor Deonarine could make it through to stumps but their 128-run stand, forged over more than three hours in 35-degree heat, gave their team a chance. Deonarine missed a straight ball and saw it crash off his pads and onto the stumps; Nash's tired brain told him to leave the new ball that swung in to knock his off stump.

But it's worth remembering that early in his career, Chanderpaul was often criticised for getting tired and not batting long enough. Things can change.

Last year in the Caribbean, he was at the crease for nearly 26 hours in the three Tests against Australia, including more than 18 hours straight without being dismissed. If Deonarine and Nash can perfect their Chanderpaul imitations and become long-term investments, breaking through the West Indies' middle order will truly become a test.

Chilly weather will test India - Chandrakant Pandit

Chandrakant Pandit, India's Under-19 coach, has said his team's biggest challenge at the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand will be the cold conditions. The biennial tournament starts on January 15 with India, the reigning champions, starting their campaign against Afghanistan in Lincoln. The final will be played at the same venue on January 30.

"It will be a little more chilly and windy out in New Zealand so the conditions will be different and the biggest challenge," Pandit said in Mumbai on the eve of the squad's departure to South Africa, where India will play a tri-series from December 27-January 5 that includes Sri Lanka. "The boys need to get acclimatised as early as possible. We should be ready from the first game to handle the conditions."

The 15-member squad, led by allrounder Ashok Meenaria from Rajasthan, was a picture of confidence as it faced the media contingent at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Both captain and coach said the players have bonded well over the last year, when they've been together. Most of them were also part of the tour of Australia in April this year, where India won the ODI series 2-1 and drew the Tests 1-1.

The Indians finished a 10-day camp in Mumbai on Friday and Pandit said it was a fruitful exercise, with every player made aware of his role. "Our plan was to go step by step," Pandit said. "To begin with, we placed individual responsibilities in the camp. We want to do well in South Africa and finally come up with our best performance in New Zealand."

The seriousness of India's campaign can be gauged from the fact that guest speakers like Sachin Tendulkar, former Australian fielding coach Mike Young and sports psychologist Dr Bhimeshwar Bam spent quality time with the youngsters.

Pandit, a former team-mate of Tendulkar's, said the 45-minute conversation Tendulkar had with the players would stand them in good stead. "Tendulkar spoke on how to approach a game. His technical feedback was really valuable," Pandit said. "For example, he told the fast bowlers that when they run towards the target [batsman] they have to keep their head forward. We would Probably have learnt that after going there," Pandit said with visible excitement.

He said Tendulkar's most valuable advice was on "trusting the teammate". "He told them that "if you are going to stand next to each other you need to have the confidence in the other. Only then can the team perform". The boys seemed to have understood the message as they started looking at the other from there onwards," Pandit said.

As for Young, he managed to instill a more enthusiastic approach to fielding. "He made us enjoy fielding," Saurabh Netravalkar, one of the fast bowlers in the squad, said. "He started with the basics of fielding, about how to start, how to position yourself, and made fielding easy."

Young just focussed on refining certain basics as he felt that Pandit had been carrying out the right drills and there was no need for him to introduce anything new.

Pandit said India haven't missed anything by way of preparation. "We need to now look at how we are going to implement what we have been working on during the actual games."

Meenaria said the defending champions were not in any way burdened by expectation. "There is no pressure, instead we are more confident now - especially after winning in Australia," he said. "I'm confident we are favourites to win the World Cup. But for now, our focus is on the South African tour."

India play their first game against South Africa in Johannesburg on December 28.

Shane Watson fined for aggressive send-off

Shane Watson gets animated after dismissing Chris Gayle © Getty Images



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Shane Watson has been fined 15% of his match fee by the match referee Chris Broad after his over-the-top celebration on dismissing Chris Gayle.

When Watson's caught-behind appeal was granted, he ran close to Gayle and while facing the batsman celebrated with excessive cheering and roaring. The umpires had a chat to Watson straight afterwards and he was also spoken to by his captain Ricky Ponting, who was keen to avoid any further incidents after the Sulieman Benn-Brad Haddin-Mitchell Johnson fracas.

"Shane is a very energetic and enthusiastic bowler but on this occasion he has gone too far by running down the wicket screaming, thereby not showing due respect for the opponent," Broad said. "While handing down the punishment, I took into account that Shane admitted his mistake by pleading guilty."

Benn was suspended for two one-day internationals for his part in the verbal and physical clash earlier in the match, while Johnson and Haddin were both fined. Australia's coach Tim Nielsen said he had warned Watson after the Gayle dismissal that he should tone down his behaviour.

"I spoke to him quickly at lunch-time and I said I think he needs to be careful about the way he reacts or celebrates his dismissals," Nielsen said. "I think that's probably been one of the things about this Test match also, there's been ... quite a bit of [needle] between the playing groups out there. That's something we're conscious of and something that I'm certainly talking to the playing group about.

"We're trying to maintain a pretty even keel as often as we can but at the same time, when things get emotional and it's hot and you're tired and there is a game on the line, you can understand that some of those reactions are maybe over the top sometimes. It's something that we've spoken about and I'll have another chat to Watto about it tonight."

An unfortunate nickname and fancy footwork

Drop drop
When Theo Doropoulos plays Twenty20s for Western Australia the nickname on his back is "Drop". Sadly for him, the name proved far too apt when he came on as a substitute fielder late in the day. He had barely taken the field when Sulieman Benn chipped Mitchell Johnson to mid-on, where Doropoulos put down a simple chance. Redemption came in Johnson's next over when Doropoulos, who had been banished to deep midwicket, was given another chance by the free-swinging Benn and this time held on.

Clint dirty
To paraphrase his namesake Eastwood, Clint McKay had to ask himself one question today: "Do I feel lucky?" Sadly for McKay, this didn't look like being his most fortunate day. He celebrated what he thought was his first Test wicket, complete with hugs and back-slaps from his team-mates, when Ian Gould adjudged Denesh Ramdin lbw. However Ramdin asked for a review and the final verdict was that the ball was slipping down leg. To add insult to injury, Gould signaled four leg-byes. McKay did get his chance to celebrate soon afterwards when he jagged one back off the seam to rattle Ramdin's stumps.

Fancy footwork, part one
Chris Gayle has impressed fans this series with his soccer skills, including a display in which he kept the ball in the air for about ten kicks before it hit the turf. This time his efforts were far more serious, when in the first over of the innings, he fended away a short delivery from Doug Bollinger and the ball spun back towards his stumps. Gayle was late in realising the danger and only a last-ditch toe-poke saved him from being bowled.

Fancy footwork, part two
Doug Bollinger wasn't to be outdone - shortly afterwards Gayle nudged a delivery back down the pitch, giving the bowler a chance to show his own skills. He kept it in the air with both feet, and his knees, but only managed about five touches before it hit the ground. Still, it was more agreeable footwork than Bollinger had displayed in Adelaide, when his kick of the turf in anger at a negated lbw appeal earned him a reprimand from the match referee.

Mitch hitch
The absence of Mitchell Johnson at various periods during the day didn't help the Australians, after he was sick all through the night and into the fourth day with gastro issues. Johnson did take the field and bowled in short spells but he was clearly unwell, often hunching over in discomfort. He had to leave the field several times and his condition was not helped by the heat in Perth, where the temperature soared as high as 37 degrees.

They could be contenders
Australia are facing the possibility that Ponting will miss his first Test in five years with his elbow tendon problem placing him in doubt for Boxing Day. If that were to happen, the selectors would face an interesting decision over his replacement. As the fourth day unfolded at the WACA, the contenders presented their cases around the country. Leading the charge was Phillip Hughes, who made a quick 122 in a Sheffield Shield game in Newcastle, although bringing in an extra opener would require some shuffling of the batting order. At Adelaide Oval, Michael Klinger scored a patient, unbeaten 64 after Shaun Marsh had made 82. Other candidates including George Bailey, David Hussey and Cameron White, will be batting for their states over the next couple of days.

Free entry for day five
Despite being a Saturday, the crowd of 8556 on the fourth day was lower than any of the first three days of the game. The WACA will open the gates for free on the final day, with Australia requiring only one wicket and West Indies 51 runs for victory.

Amla century leaves England in strife

Close England 356 (Swann 81, Harris 5-123) and 11 for 1 (Cook 4*, Anderson 6*) need another 353 runs to beat South Africa 418 (Kallis 120, Swann 5-110) and 301 for 6 dec (Amla 100)
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details



Hashim Amla was South Africa's saviour, as he turned the tables on England © Getty Images



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Players/Officials: Hashim Amla | James Anderson | Mark Boucher | AB de Villiers
Matches: South Africa v England at Centurion
Series/Tournaments: England tour of South Africa
Teams: England | South Africa

Hashim Amla rescued South Africa from a first-session meltdown with a brilliant and phlegmatic five-and-a-quarter-hour century, and in so doing, built a platform from which England were left dangling precariously at the end of an enthralling and fluctuating fourth day at Centurion. In the six overs available after Graeme Smith had declared with an unassailable lead of 363, Morne Morkel produced an unplayable second-ball snorter to extract the key scalp of Andrew Strauss for 1 - a massive breakthrough in their bid to claim the opening match of the series.

By the close, Alastair Cook and England's nightwatchman James Anderson had chiselled and grimaced to 11 for 1 in reply, an uncomfortable mini-session that meant that the day had finished as it had begun, with massive pressure being exerted on a jittery top-order by accurate and incisive new-ball bowling. On a dry and dusty surface, the extra hardness of the still-lacquered Kookaburra played havoc on the ever-widening cracks - and few deliveries misbehaved as badly as the Anderson shooter that eventually ended Amla's vigil after five deliveries of England's second new ball.

With that in mind, England's bid for survival will require a performance of Amla-esque sang froid, after he arrived in the middle in the third over of the day and had to watch from the non-striker's end as his captain Smith was himself skittled by a delivery from Graham Onions that barely rose above his bootlaces. With England alive to the possibilities and maintaining an admirable wicket-to-wicket line, South Africa's anxieties extended even to the normally unflappable Jacques Kallis, who ground his way to 4 from 32 balls before hoisting a surprise short ball from Broad straight down the throat of Cook at deep square leg.

At 46 for 4 in the 22nd over, South Africa were in serious jeopardy, especially given the manner in which Graeme Swann and Anderson had ripped the initiative away from them with their thrilling ninth-wicket partnership on Friday afternoon. But Amla retained his composure admirably in the conditions, crouching low in his stance to combat the bounce, but quick to cash in on anything loose, particularly with a spring-loaded cut shot.


Amla believes that the early wicket of Strauss could be crucial to South Africa's chances of victory


Until his dismissal, his innings was virtually flawless. Swann's offspin caused him one moment of alarm on 23, when an lbw appeal was sent to the third umpire for review, but replays showed he was struck just outside the line. And on 49, he brought up his half-century from 106 balls with arguably his only false stroke in 213 attempts - a rash swipe for four that just skimmed out of the reach of the man at mid-on.


But if Amla was the linchpin, then the catalyst for South Africa's revival was de Villiers, with whom he added 119 for the fifth wicket in a fantastic post-lunch alliance. De Villiers' urgency and aggression transformed a run-rate that had been dawdling along at barely 2.5 an over, and in so doing, forced England out of their comfortable wicket-to-wicket mindset, and forced them to offer up more loose deliveries in search of the elusive unplayable ball.

His first shot in anger was a shimmy down the track to Swann and a handsome loft for six over mid-on, and though both Anderson and Onions hinted at a touch of reverse-swing, neither man could maintain a consistent line to utilise it to the max, with too many offerings sliding into the pads. He survived one moment of good fortune on 47, when a reviewed lbw from Onions was upheld in accordance with the original on-field decision, and it was eventually Broad who broke the stand, 20 minutes before tea, when Ian Bell at short cover scooped a scuffed drive off a slower ball.

On 11, JP Duminy redressed the review balance when his own marginal lbw decision was upheld, this time in Anderson's favour, but if England thought they were back in the hunt at 191 for 6 (a deficit of 253), then Mark Boucher came bursting out of the blocks in typically belligerent fashion. With Amla quite content to close down one end, Boucher blazed nine fours and a six in a 73-ball 63 not out, and reached the fifty that had eluded him in the first innings moments before Amla sealed his century with a sweet clip through midwicket off Broad.


James Anderson is braced for another England rearguard


By now, the demons in the wicket had vanished along with the hardness of the old ball, and while it was a frustration to England after a spate of morning successes, it also served as something of a reassurance that survival could be a simple matter of putting bat on ball on the final day - assuming, of course, that tomorrow's first hour with the six-over-old new ball doesn't prove to be a demolition derby.

Anderson's reaction on detonating Amla's off stump was instructive. Far from celebrate the moment, which left him with England's stand-out figures of 4 for 73, he booted the offending orb into the outfield as it rebounded into the path of his followthrough. In the final hour of the day, England's last vestiges of good humour were wiped away by Morkel, who flogged Broad for 18 in an over to hasten Smith's declaration, then responded to his new-ball opportunity by cramping Strauss from round the wicket, and grazing his edge with a perfect leaping delivery.

First shooters, then fliers. The net result is that England have a battle awaiting them on Sunday. And unless they can find an Amla of their own, their fortunes could be made or broken inside the first hour of play