Warne’s Spirit and Approach inspires Clarke and the Aussies at Barbados

Brent Read, in the Australian, 13 April 2012, where adifferent title was deployed: “Clarke evokes warne to find a way to win“

FIND a way to win, Michael Clarke instructed his players, and find a way they did yesterday in the gathering gloom at Kensington Oval to achieve one of the great victories in Australian Test cricket history.

This was a triumph Norman Vincent Peale would have delighted in. A Test match win, like success generally, has many fathers usually but this one over the West Indies in the first of three Tests for the Frank Worrell Trophy series had only one – the power of positive thinking.

Before this victory – as special, Clarke said, as any in his career – could so dramatically be enacted on the field, it first of all had to be conceived and it is little short of astounding that any Australian would even have thought of it midway through the fourth day, with the West Indies needing only two more Australian wickets to take a massive lead of more than 150 runs into the second innings.

Shattering the Kalu myth

Michael Jeh, courtesy of ESPN cricinfo, at http://blogs.espncricinfo.com/diffstrokes/archives/2012/02/shattering_the_kalu_myth.php

Web Editor: Just yesterday I heard Tony Greig refer to “little Kalu” in striking admiration of his aggresive batting style, while Michael Slater referred to his explosive century at the SSC in his first Test Match against Australia when he took young Shane Warne apart. Thus,  this essay is pertinent; but note my caveats on missing dimensions in the ADDENDUM at end. Also see the comments in the original site.

 Pic from Getty

Nostalgia can indeed be a seductive mistress, can she not?  Watching Sri Lanka dismantling the Australian bowling attack in Sydney tonight, I heard Tony Greig waxing lyrical about the feats of Romesh Kaluwitharana in the 1996 World Cup. Greig’s insinuation was that Kalu’s breathtaking innings at the top of the order in that tournament were the catalyst for the new style of opening in ODIs. It is easy to be fooled into thinking that Kalu set the world alight and got Sri Lanka off to some amazing starts, but my distant memory forced me to check the facts.

Truth is, Kalu actually had a pretty average World Cup as a batsman. His scores, listed here as runs/balls faced, were: 0/1, 26/16, 33/18, 8/3, 0/1, 6/13.

They certainly weren’t slow starts but, apart from the 33 against Kenya, his contributions could hardly be considered significant. It’s easy to remember him as that explosive little stick of dynamite but if you actually look at his scores during that season, even leading into the World Cup, the numbers tell a very different story.

Aussies celebrate their hold on the Murali-Warne Trophy

 Pic from Sunday Times

Tom Moody reviews Sri Lankan Cricket Scene

From SKYNEWS at http://www.skynews.com.au/sport/article.aspx?id=662380&vId=

Sri Lanka haven’t won a Test since Muttiah Muralidaran retired back in July last year, a run stretching over 10 matches following the draw with Australia in Kandy. The game’s administration in the country is also struggling, a permanent replacement is yet to be appointed for former coach Trevor Bayliss. The Australian departed following April’s World Cup, before the country’s sports minister dissolved the cricket administration in July amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement, while rumours continued to circulate about players who were unsure of new captain Tillakaratne Dilshan’s leadership qualities.

But former Australian Test player Moody, who coached Sri Lanka from 2005-07, believes getting past the departure of retired greats like Muralidaran, fast bowler Chaminda Vaas and batsman Sanath Jayasuriya will be the nation’s biggest challenge.

Aussie Country Boys strike Pay Dirt at Galle

Peter Lalor, in The Weekend Australian, 3-4 September 2011

Pic from AFP

 NATHAN Lyon had a dream. Country boys don’t dream too big, but he had ambitions. The agricultural worker’s son from rural NSW wanted one day to make it right to the top of the pile and be the head curator at the Adelaide Oval.  As a teenager he packed up his bags and moved from Young, a cherry-growing district with a population of a little over 7000, and moved to the big smoke. Once in Canberra he gained an apprenticeship as a groundsman, working for four years watching the grass grow at Manuka.

Things really started to happen for him when he landed a job with the ground staff at his field of dreams: the Adelaide Oval. To this point Banjo Patterson had done a rough draft of the hungry-looking part-time cricketer’s script, from here on in the bloke that penned Shane Warne’s improbable script took over and hammed up the story line.

A Fi’fer Spinner sends Aussie hopes soaring

Peter Lalor in Galle, from The Australian , 2 September 2011, where the article had the title “Quest for A Spinner bears Fruit”

Pic from AP

HOLD the celebrations, for it may be a mirage, but if it is not, then the long, desperate and occasionally delirious search for a spin bowler appears to be over. Nathan Lyon, the 11th man to try to fit into Shane Warne’s glittering jacket, came to the Galle Test having played just five first-class matches. He left the field two sessions later having taken 5-34 from 15 searching overs on a pitch that was a spinner’s dream. Australia had a lead of 283 with four wickets in hand at the close of play on a day that saw 16 wickets fall and only 220 runs scored. The visitors dismissed Sri Lanka for just 105, then fell to be 6-115 themselves on a pitch that is a nightmare for batsmen. Michael Clarke held together the second innings with a fighting 60 from 80 balls. He was only the third batsman to pass 30 in the game.

Australia is in a commanding position in the game, which will struggle to last four days unless the weather intervenes.