Peter Roebuck - Just whose side were you on?

RIP (6/3/56 - 12/11/11)

It is only fair to say from the outset that my personal feelings toward Peter Roebuck when he was alive were tinged with a sense of mild mistrust and more than a little anger. Like a reformed smoker banging on about the perils of the dreaded weed, he would constantly pick holes in the very fabric and more often the soul of English cricket in way that stuck in my craw. Where was his loyalty? Where was his perspective? Was he really still so bitter after the Richards/Botham fallout?

But now (and how often is it the case, when it is too late?) in the aftermath of his suicide I feel a genuine sense of loss. No more will I open the sports section of the Sydney Morning Herald, seek out his column and start boiling up with annoyance, all the while admiring the unique insight, scathing attack and morally robust position that he would take on any subject. No more will I assume a polar opinion to his, only to find myself being drawn relentlessly to recognise the validity of his argument. No more will I wonder what he's really like and most probably the only tiny relief is that no more will I wonder (albeit only in moments of my own introspection) whether or not he would be the next cricketer/journalist to take his own life.

Peter Roebuck's cricket career has been thoroughly documented elsewhere but the bottom line is that Roebuck scored more than 17,000 first class runs, was instrumental in the departure of West Indians Viv Richards and Joel Garner, as well as England captain Ian Botham, from Somerset during his tempestuous reign as captain in the late 1980s and captained England to an ignominious one day defeat against Netherlands which cut-off any possible elevation to the main England skippers role. After retiring from the game in 1991, Roebuck moved to Australia and forged a career as a stylish and strongly opinionated cricket writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne's the Age and latterly the Cricinfo website.

After his move to Australia, Roebuck seemed to revel in the prolonged spell his country of birth had in the cricketing doldrums. Every new collapse, every new captaincy crisis was greeted with a metaphorical rub of the hands. His articles were peppered with new found Strine colloquialisms that reeked of TITF (see it is catching!) and the sense of a grudge well and truly (Sydney) harbored. His spells in the ABC commentary box highlighted his quirks and foibles but also allowed his depth of intellect, sense of humour and respect for cricket to shine through.

His call for the sacking of Ricky Ponting as Australian captain in 2008 was a bold (but thoroughly justified) viewpoint and highlighted his firm belief that nobody is bigger than the game and that strong standards should be kept. The vitriol heaped on him afterwards spoke volumes more about Aussie insecurity than Roebuck's judgement.

As for the circumstance of his passing and the rumours that had occasionally dogged him, that is for others to dwell on. On the few occasions I was fortunate enough to see him speak the sense that he was possibly troubled was difficult to shake off, however sparkling his monologue or robust his particular position on a pressing issue of the day.

That being said and acknowledging Peter Roebuck was by no means everybody's cup of tea it must not be denied that he enriched the game we love with his dogged ability, his rapier sharp pen, his passion for and unique take on the game we love.

He shall be genuinely missed.


Andy Franks - Sydney 14th November 2011

15,000 runs and counting...

Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday achieved another milestone as he became the first cricketer in the history of the game to cross 15000 runs mark in Test cricket.

Playing in his 182nd match, Tendulkar reached the mark on the third day of the first Test against the West Indies when he scored his 28th run in India's second innings with a single off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.

After crossing the coveted milestone, the batting maestro looked up at the heavens and acknowledged the standing ovation given by his teammates from the dressing room as his partner Rahul Dravid congratulated him.

The only questions is when will he get his 100th international century and when will he ever stop?

Match fixing

I have thought long and hard about it. Tried to find a way to finesse a position on it. Got very bloody angry about the underlying racist tone of some of the reporting about it. Gone round and round in circles about it and have finally come to the conclusion.

That it is just not cricket, old boy. Is it?

Andy Franks. Sydney 1st November 2011

Graham Dilley RIP

When the day is done, and the ball has spun, in the umpire's pocket away
And all remains, in the groundsman's pains for the rest of time and a day
There'll be one mad dog and his master, pushing for four with the spin
On a dusty pitch, with two pounds six of willow wood in the sun

When an old cricketer leaves the crease, you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse of a twelfth man at silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff, and it could be John, with a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me, and it could be thee, and it could be the sting in the ale
Sting in the ale.

When an old cricketer leaves the crease, well you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse of a twelfth man at silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff and it could be John, with a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me and it could be thee, and it could be the sting in the ale
The sting in the ale.

When the moment comes and the gathering stands and the clock turns back to reflect
On the years of grace as those footsteps trace for the last time out of the act
Well this way of life's recollection, the hallowed strip in the haze
The fabled men and the noonday sun are much more than just yarns of their days.

When an old cricketer leaves the crease, well you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse of a twelfth man at silly mid-on
And it could be Geoff and it could be John with a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me and it could be thee and it could be the sting in the ale
The sting in the ale.

When an old cricketer leaves the crease, well you never know whether he's gone
If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse of a twelfth man at silly mid-on
And it could be me and it could be thee.

England's best spinner*

MONTY













* After Swanny of course...

England are the best test cricket nation in the world - Official!

The ebullient Graeme Swann bowled England to another stunning victory over India to complete a 4-0 series whitewash, as Sachin Tendulkar fell nine runs short of a landmark 100th international century.

Tendulkar and Amit Mishra looked to be batting India towards safety as they frustrated England with a partnership of 144 at The Oval. But Mishra was bowled by Graeme Swann (6-106) for 84 and Tendulkar, who had ridden his luck to reach 91, was out to a marginal lbw decision in the following over.

India's remaining batsmen were skittled in quick succession as England stormed to victory by an innings and eight runs - their seventh innings triumph in 13 Tests - midway through the afternoon session on the final day.

When they finally broke the Mishra-Tendulkar partnership, England were ruthless, claiming India's last seven wickets for 21 runs in 94 balls, with Swann finally making his mark on the series with a spell of four wickets for seven runs.

It was England's first whitewash over India since 1974 and completed a memorable series in which Andrew Strauss's men usurped the visitors as the top-ranked Test side in the world.

"We had to work pretty hard for that," England captain Andrew Strauss told BBC Radio's Test Match Special. "When you enforce the follow-on, you're always asking a lot of the bowlers especially on a flat wicket. They stuck at it. To bowl India out for 300 and 283 on that wicket is quite a performance."

After India resumed their second innings on 129-3 - still 162 runs adrift of England - Tendulkar got his score ticking over with a four off the second ball of the day and reached his 61st Test fifty off 74 balls.

Nightwatchman Mishra, who had served notice of his batting ability with a breezy 43 in the first innings, started to find the boundary with regularity, taking the partnership past fifty with a flick to the midwicket fence.

Tendulkar played and missed twice in a Broad over as he got bogged down in the fifties, but he eventually broke the shackles with a trademark drive through the covers for a boundary.

With Tendulkar edging closer to his hundred, the air of expectancy grew around The Oval, as a vast Indian contingent cheered his every run. But the pressure seemed to weigh heavily on the 38-year-old's shoulders as he offered England a string of chances.

First, Alastair Cook at short leg just failed to hold on to a sharp bat-pad chance off Swann, then Matt Prior dropped a tricky caught-behind chance off the spinner, who also had a close lbw appeal turned down.

Mishra had equalled his highest first-class score with his 10th boundary when he finally succumbed in the 41st over of the day, bowled by a quicker ball from Swann that fizzed past his outside edge.

Tendulkar's show-stopping demise arrived in the following over when he played across a Bresnan delivery and was given out by Rod Tucker, with replays suggesting the ball would have clipped the top of leg stump. With the "Little Master" back in the pavilion, India seemed to lose their stomach for the fight as England's bowlers ruthlessly finished off the match.

Suresh Raina was trapped on the crease by Swann before MS Dhoni and RP Singh were both caught off edges in the same over from Stuart Broad. Gautam Gambhir sliced to backward point and last man Sreesanth was clean bowled after missing a huge leg-side heave off Swann.

After the match, England were presented with the ICC Test Mace to mark their status as the world's number one side.


ICC World rankings

1: England - rating of 125
2: South Africa - 118
3: India - 117
4: Sri Lanka - 108
5: Australia - 100

Back, back, back...

Sorry about that. We got a bit distracted, where were we?

Oh yes, England marching forward to Test glory. Day 2 of the second Test and KP has just crunched his way to another landmark. 6,000 test runs. As many people will be happy to point out, he now only needs another 9,000 to draw level with The Little Master. However, KP's achievement shouldn't be brushed under the carpet, he is a fine cricketer and there is nothing to stop him becoming England's leading run scorer.

So, as I write Pietersen is a mere 177 not out. not bad for an off-spinner!

CWC - Ireland v England

Bat like gods, field like idiots, bowl like schoolkids, lose like we used to.

The Jardine Verdict: A brilliant performance by Ireland an absolute shocker by the full-time professionals. Time to wake up!!

CWC 2011 - India v England

England tied a remarkable World Cup game against India in Bangalore thanks in no short measure to a dazzling captain’s knock from Andrew Strauss' brilliant 158.

The co-hosts set an intimidating 339-run victory target after a superb 120 from Sachin Tendulkar. Strauss and Ian Bell (69) put England in command with a 170-run third-wicket stand before Zaheer Khan dismissed both batsmen in successive balls. The tail set up a grandstand finish but England fell a frustrating one run short of victory after needing 14 from the final over. England wanted 29 from the last 12 balls, having earlier faced a much easier equation of 67 from the last 60, and then two off the final ball but Graeme Swann could only manage a single from Munaf Patel's delivery. The late drama finished off the most enthralling match of the 2011 tournament so far, a game which both teams will feel they should have won.

The much-anticipated, sell-out Group B encounter featured two superbly crafted centuries and a maiden five-wicket limited-overs haul by Tim Bresnan, fast becoming England's most reliable one-day bowler. The tourists' riposte had been constructed around an inspirational individual innings from Strauss, who made the joint-second highest individual score by an England player in a limited-overs international. The England captain, dropped on 22 by Harbhajan Singh, was in imperious form, smashing 13boundaries and a six in a ruthless 145-ball innings, silencing the fiercely partisan crowd inside the capacity M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But Zaheer struck just when England were about to accelerate their run rate after taking the batting powerplay in the 43rd over.

Bell was the first to fall for 69 when he top-edged an off-side scythe to Virat Kohli at extra cover and the very next ball - a brilliant inswinging yorker - trapped Strauss leg before wicket. The double strike deflated England's innings, but late lower-order hitting from Bresnan and Swann, who each struck timely sixes, left England requiring 14 from the final over of the match.

Ajmal Shahzad shifted the odds in England's favour when he struck a six straight back over bowler Munaf Patel's head with the third delivery of the over. A leg-bye, followed by a two from Swann left the same batsman needing two runs from the final delivery of the match - but his off drive could not beat Yusuf Pathan at mid-off, leaving the ninth-wicket pair to run through for the single which tied the match.

The gritty performance against the pre-tournament favourites contrasted vividly with England's uninspired six-wicket victory over the Netherlands on Tuesday. England had only won one of their previous 13 encounters against Sunday's opponents in India - and another defeat looked on the cards when Mahendra Dhoni opted to bat on what appeared to be good wicket, despite the persistent heavy showers which had engulfed Bangalore and the lush green outfield in the previous 48 hours. England made two changes, dropping Ravi Bopara for Michael Yardy while Shahzad was summoned in place of the ill Stuart Broad, and India swapped seamer Sreesanth for leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. The capricious Sehwag (35) gave India a typically ballistic start before an audacious late cut from Bresnan's first over was too close to wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who took an excellent diving one-handed catch to his right in the eighth over at 46-1.

New-man Gautam Gambhir, an astute player of spin, maintained Sehwag's tempo while Tendulkar had been relatively restrained with 24 from 43 deliveries.
But a change of bat in the 17th over soon changed matters and 'The Little Master' thumped the first six of the match before bringing up his 94th half century with yet another imperious maximum off Paul Collingwood. The onslaught was relentless - two successive leg-side sixes off the returning Swann, lofting the first over long-on before dispatching the second with a brutal slog-sweep high over deep midwicket and into the stands as the second-wicket partnership stretched to over 100.

An unplayable Swann delivery from around the wicket accounted for Gambhir (51), pitching on middle before gripping and clipping the edge of the left-hander's off stump. But the dismissal caused minimal disruption to Tendulkar's nerves, bringing up his 47th one-day century with a glance off his hip. To put Tendulkar's career achievements in perspective, the entire England XI have 22 one-day centuries between them - and he soon took his tally of sixes to five with a stand and deliver smear over long-on. The 37-year-old's fine knock came to an end in the 39th over but Yuvraj (58) and Dhoni (31) took India beyond the 300-run mark before the impressive Bresnan cleaned up the lower-middle order as the co-hosts were dismissed for 338.

Facing a required run-rate of 6.78, England openers Strauss and Kevin Pietersen took full advantage of some bizarre field placements by Dhoni, smashing nine boundaries in an exhilarating start. Strauss, given an early lifeline by Harbhajan when he misjudged a tough chance at mid-on, was in particularly belligerent mood square of the wicket. A huge slice of fortune accounted for Pietersen, whose ferocious drive straight at Patel's head was parried in the air before the fast bowler completed a simple one-handed catch while sitting on the ground.
With his fast bowlers unable to exert any control, Dhoni turned to spinners Harbhajan and Piyush Chawla to apply the brakes as Strauss notched a run-a-ball 50.

Bell looked at ease alongside Strauss at the wicket, although the number four was fortunate to survive a close lbw call turned down by umpire Billy Bowden at 163-2. India immediately referred the decision and the ball-tracking device available to the third umpire suggested the ball had made contact with Bell's front pad in line with the stumps - but more than 2.5m down the wicket, which saved Bell's wicket even though the ball was predicted to hit middle.

That let-off allowed Bell to play an excellent foil as Strauss scored a quite brilliant century from only 99 deliveries, his sixth one-day international three-figure score. Bell launched a laconic sweep over deep midwicket for six to bring up his half century from just 45 deliveries as England dominated. But the match turned in the 43rd over as Zaheer hit back. Collingwood, Sussex’s Prior and Yardy soon followed as England's run chase looked to have faltered, but lusty sixes from the lower-order batsmen ensured England were in contention through the final over. They just could not find that extra run which would have sealed a quite remarkable victory.

The Jardine Report: The pre-tournament favourites India put in a big effort but still couldn’t shrug off a gutsy England team. Sachin Tendulkar showed what a quality player he is and Andrew Strauss demonstrated his own steely determination to leave a positive mark on this tournament. A fantastic game and a performance that will hearten every English supporter and also convince the nay-sayers that the 50 Over version of the game can still produce a high level of quality and drama to rival its shorter 20/20 version.

CWC 2011 - England v Netherlands

A shabby England survived a major scare in their opening World Cup match as they beat a spirited Holland with only eight balls to spare in Nagpur.

Dutch/South african all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate thumped 119 from 110 balls as the Oranj took advantage of some poor England bowling and abject fielding to post 292-6.

Andrew Strauss (88) and Jonathan Trott (62) gave England a solid start. But after that runs dried up in the middle overs, however Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara (both 30 not out) saw England home. The duo brought a nerve-wracking run chase to a conclusion in the penultimate over, with Bopara crashing a six and two fours off medium pacer Bernard Loots, much to the relief of the England camp.

However, the day belonged to Ten Doeschate, whose innings paved the way for the closest finish yet of the 2011 World Cup. After taking a dozen balls to get off the mark, he thereafter scored at a rate of a run per ball, scampering intelligent singles, smashing nine fours and three huge sixes.

But, for all the Essex all-rounder's brilliance, Ten Doeschate was also helped by a truly wretched performance in the field from England, whose body language was devoid of the energy and aggression that won them so much praise during the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia.

The negative vibe was encapsulated in a horrible mix-up between Kevin 'KP' Pietersen and Jimmy 'Jimbo' Anderson, who allowed a skied drive from Ten Doeschate - on 47 - to drop harmlessly between them to the obvious anger of bowler Graeme Swann and the general bemusement of all those watching.

The innings was punctuated by mis-fields, no-balls, and untidy wicketkeeping by Matt Prior, while both Pietersen and Trott spilled difficult chances, which on a good day would have stuck.

In the penultimate over, captain Peter Borren was bowled by Stuart Broad but he was recalled because England only had three men inside the circle, one fewer than the regulations permit. And, to round off a comedy of errors, in the last over Swann allowed a routine chance to slide inexplicably through his fingers.

The performance may prompt a rethink ahead of Sunday's day-night Group B match against India after the decision to leave out Sussex's ace left-arm spinner Michael Yardy backfired.

Back-up spin bowler Pietersen gave away 19 runs from his two overs, while a lack of alternatives meant an off-colour Anderson (0-72) was obliged to run through his full 10 overs.The Dutch had made a positive start to their innings with Wesley Barresi striking three fours off an over from Broad.

But, in the following over, Tim Bresnan made the breakthrough as Worcestershire opener Alexei Kervezee's attempted pull skimmed off the top edge of his bat and into the gloves of Prior.

Netherlands' bright start forced Strauss to turn to the spin of Swann in the 12th over and England's off-spinner reproduced his handy habit of striking in his first over.

A skilfully flighted ball at a tempting length outside off stump passed Barresi's outside edge and Prior whipped off the bails moments before the batsman could get his foot back behind the line.

Tom Cooper, dropped by Pietersen at fine-leg on 46, was out one run later when he flicked a Collingwood ball straight to Anderson at mid-on.

Bas Zuiderent got himself squared-up and gifted a dolly of a catch to Collingwood and Tim de Grooth was bowled by a Broad yorker after a decent 28 off 31 balls.

Ten Doeschate motored into the 90s with two successive fours off Bresnan before reaching three figures courtesy of more hapless fielding from England as Trott's attempt at a run out cannoned off the stumps and flew away to the boundary for four overthrows.

A magnificent innings finally came to an end in the penultimate over when a slog off Broad picked out Bopara at deep square leg.But there was still time for the Dutch to take advantage of some comical fielding to post the second highest total by an associate nation against a Test side in all one-day internationals - behind Zimbabwe's 312-4 against Sri Lanka in 1992.

Strauss set the tone for England's reply with three fours in the first over, one of which flew off an edge and almost took out his off stump. With the Dutch bowlers struggling to adjust their line to the left-hander, the England captain made the most of some leg-stump bowling to race to his fifty off 34 balls with nine boundaries.

Pietersen made a positive start to his innings before getting bogged down by some tight bowling, and prodding left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar straight to short extra cover for 39. Strauss looked on course for his sixth one-day international hundred before he got a little greedy and pulled the ball straight to deep square leg.

Trott and Ian Bell kept things ticking along with ones and twos but with the required run rate creeping above seven and boundaries a rarity, the game remained in the balance going into the final 10 overs. Ten Doeschate proved his qualities with the ball by having Trott stumped and clean bowling Bell, who only managed one boundary in his 40-ball 33.

That left Collingwood and Bopara needing 52 from 7 overs and luckily for England they were up to the task.

Jardine Verdict: Well, it could have been worse. England are notoriously poor starters in World Cup's. However, they'll have to shake off the obvious lethargy they displayed against the Dutch if they want to have any hope of beating the hosts India in Bangalore on Sunday 27th.

What's been happening?

Regular readers of the Jardine Report will no doubt be disappointed at the lack of detailed day by day reports, especially in light of England's phenomenal performance in the fifth test. Unfortunately a family loss has made reporting difficult.

However, we shall be posting a detailed review of the Sydney Test and the first T20 on Thursday.

Keep the faith!

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