Hayden has big plans for Australia

Hayden has big plans for Australia

Cricinfo staff

May 2, 2007
Matthew Hayden was the World Cup's leading batsman © AFP



Matthew Hayden landed back in Australia on Tuesday and immediately set his sights on building the next stage of the team's success. While four high-profile players have walked away over the past five months, Hayden has no plans to join them, especially after finishing as the World Cup's leading run-scorer.

"This side wants to stay together for a little bit longer," he said in the Courier-Mail. "We've got a job to do within cricket just to try and set it up for the next stage of Australian cricket. I don't think you'll see too many retirements over the next 12 months anyway." Glenn McGrath stepped down after winning his third consecutive World Cup trophy while Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn departed during the Ashes.

Hayden travelled back from the West Indies ahead of the team, which is due to land on Thursday, to be with his wife Kellie ahead of the birth of their third child. "This week she's due and she's hung on," he said. "To get a chance to see my family after winning a World Cup is pretty exciting. At the moment I can't even think of anything else other than my family."

The Australian squad will have a 45-minute reception at Sydney's Martin Place on Thursday at midday, which will include a special tribute for the retiring Glenn McGrath.

How Gilchrist Dstroys Sri Lanka

Australia v Sri Lanka, World Cup final, Barbados

How Gilchrist destroyed Sri Lanka

S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna

April 28, 2007

Adam Gilchrist celebrates his first hundred in World Cups. He went on to make 149, the highest score in a World Cup final © Getty Images

In 30 previous World Cup innings, Adam Gilchrist had never reached the three-figure mark - his highest had been 99, against the Sri Lankans in 2003. It seemed the run-out on that occasion would deny him the landmark forever, but in what will almost certainly be his final World Cup innings, Gilchrist conjured up his best display. By the time he was done, he had made the fifth century - and the highest score - in a World Cup final, and had put Australia firmly on the road to a hat-trick of World Cup triumphs.

There was plenty of discussion over Ricky Ponting's decision to bat first after winning the toss in conditions which were likely to favour the fast bowlers, but Gilchrist made all that talk redundant with an astonishing display of attacking batsmanship. On a true pitch, Gilchrist needed precisely six balls to gauge the pace and bounce, before hitting Vaas for two fours and a six in a six-ball period which set the trend. In his first 24 deliveries he scored at a run a ball, before really turning it on. Once he got into his stride, none of the Sri Lankan bowlers had much clue about how to stop him.

Break-up of Gilchrist's 104-ball 149

	Runs	Dot balls	4s/ 6s
First 24 balls	24	13	2/ 1
Next 80 balls	125	30	11/ 6

Gilchrist versus the Sri Lankan bowlers

Bowler	Balls	Runs	4s/ 6s	Scoring rate
Muttiah Muralitharan	23	23	0/ 1	100.00
Lasith Malinga	17	19	3/ 0	111.76
Chaminda Vaas	25	30	4/ 1	120.00
Dilhara Fernando	23	42	5/ 2	182.60
Tillakaratne Dilshan	7	15	0/ 2	214.28
Sanath Jayasuriya	9	20	1/ 2	222.22

It was a typical Gilchrist innings in terms of his scoring rate, but not in terms of the strokes he played or the areas in which he scored. Usually very strong square of the wicket on the off side, he scored 65 of his 149 runs in the V between mid-off and mid-on. In contrast, he scored just 13 in the arc from cover to third man.

On a pitch on which the ball was coming on to the bat, Gilchrist's front-foot drives were particularly lethal and fetched him 63 runs, including six fours and five sixes. And when Muttiah Muralitharan came into the attack, Gilchrist employed the sweep to counter the fact that he couldn't read the spin out of the hand.

Gilchrist's glittering strokeplay

Stroke	Balls	Runs	4s/ 6s
Front-foot drives	40	63	6/ 5
Flick/ pull	34	57	6/ 2
Sweep	9	14	0/ 1
Cut/ back-foot strokes	21	15	1/ 0

The Sri Lankans were completely outclassed in the field, but the start didn't suggest such a rout was on the cards. Lasith Malinga hadn't played against the Australians in the Super Eights, and that move probably saved the Sri Lankans about 20 runs, as the Australian openers gave themselves some time to figure him out. His first four overs went for six; his next four leaked 43. The Sri Lankans allowed only 46 in the first ten overs, and 118 in the last 16, but they lost the game in the 12 overs in between, as Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden blasted 117 at nearly ten per over. That was also the period when Gilchrist took the majority of the strike, and in the mood he was in, it was simply impossible to stop him.

Break-up of Gilchrist and Hayden's 172-run partnership

Period	Gilchrist - Balls	Runs	Hayden - Balls	Runs
First 10 overs (46 runs)	30	31	31	14
Next 12.5 overs (126 runs)	53	88	25	24

Stats tribute to Glenn McGrath

Stats tribute to Glenn McGrath

Bowing out on top

S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna

April 29, 2007

Glenn McGrath: a class act in both whites and coloured clothing © Getty Images

A wicket off his last ball in Test cricket and his penultimate ball in ODIs, a 5-0 Ashes triumph in his last Test series and a World Cup win in his last ODI appearance, coupled with the Player of the Tournament ... Glenn McGrath bows out of international cricket on an incredible high.

Throughout a glittering career that spanned 13 years, the one aspect that stood out more than any other was his sheer consistency and the ability to deliver the matchwinning performance no matter what the conditions. The numbers bear that out amply: his career summary in Tests shows he had to work his hardest for wickets against South Africa, but even against them his average was only 27.33. Similarly, in Pakistan and Sri Lanka his average crept up to around 30, but everywhere else he was outstanding; in every continent he averaged less than 24; his home and away stats were almost identical; he was equally good in the first innings and the second; and only in two calendar years since 1995 did his average go beyond 24.

Since coming of age on that historic trip to the West Indies in 1995, McGrath never looked back in Test cricket. His average of 20.87 is bettered only by one bowler during this period.

Best Test bowlers since 1995 (at least 5000 balls)

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	5WI/ 10WM
Muttiah Muralitharan	94	618	20.71	54/ 19
Glenn McGrath	116	544	20.87	29/ 3
Curtly Ambrose	50	186	20.88	11/ 0
Allan Donald	55	255	21.04	16/ 2
Shaun Pollock	107	416	23.19	16/ 1
Courtney Walsh	64	280	23.22	15/ 2

His ODI summary is equally impressive, with an average of 22 and an economy rate of less than four runs per over. Like in Tests, in the one-dayers too he was hardly bothered by such trivialities like the toss and the playing conditions. He took slightly longer to find his ODI bearings, but since 1999 his numbers are unmatched.

Best ODI bowlers since 1999 (at least 5000 balls)

Bowler	ODIs	Wkts	Average	Econ
Glenn McGrath	176	286	20.03	3.83
Muttiah Muralitharan	196	316	20.40	3.64
Brett Lee	150	267	22.65	4.69
Shoaib Akhtar	128	203	22.89	4.61
Shaun Pollock	227	300	23.65	3.64
Makhaya Ntini	150	235	23.66	4.42
Wasim Akram	102	139	24.64	4.05
Shane Warne	98	143	26.83	4.38

One reason why McGrath deserves to be considered among the all-time great bowlers is his performance in the subcontinent - in conditions which were usually not conducive to fast bowling, McGrath adapted superbly, averaging 23 runs per wicket, which is among the best for overseas fast bowlers.

Best overseas fast bowlers in Tests in the subcontinent since 1980 (at least 2000 balls)

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	5WI/ 10WM
Malcolm Marshall	16	68	20.17	3/ 0
Courtney Walsh	17	77	20.53	5/ 0
Glenn McGrath	19	72	23.02	1/ 0
Shaun Pollock	17	60	23.18	2/ 0
Jason Gillespie	14	54	23.75	1/ 0

Over a long international career, few cricketers have walked the talk like McGrath has. His predictions went famously wrong during the 2005 Ashes, but almost every other time he has been spot on, a testament to his unmatched ability and his huge self-belief. On the big stage, in the most important matches, against the best opposition, McGrath has invariably brought out his A game. His Ashes average is a splendid 20.92, with 157 wickets from 30 Tests; he finished as the leading wicket-taker in World Cups, with 71 from 39 games at 18.19; and in finals of ODI tournaments he averages an astounding 16.43.

Equally impressive was his ability to live up to his pre-match talk of nailing the opposition team's best batsman, whether it be Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis or Stephen Fleming - they all rank very high in his list of batsmen dismissed most often in Tests. The table below lists his averages against specific batsmen since June 2001 - not many have enjoyed too much success against him.

McGrath versus the top batsmen in Tests since June 2001

Batsman	Balls	Runs	Dismissals	Average	Runs per over
Herschelle Gibbs	492	191	3	63.67	2.32
Nathan Astle	297	189	3	63.00	3.81
Brian Lara	233	90	2	45.00	2.31
Jacques Kallis	378	133	3	44.33	211
Michael Vaughan	349	193	6	32.16	3.31
Marcus Trescothick	438	184	6	30.67	2.52
Kevin Pietersen	270	135	5	27.00	3.00
Graeme Smith	224	81	5	16.20	2.16
Chris Gayle	177	63	4	15.75	2.13
Michael Atherton	210	86	6	14.33	2.45
Stephen Fleming	222	63	7	9.00	1.70
Rahul Dravid	170	26	3	8.67	0.91

It was no different in the ODIs - Tendulkar, Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Herschelle Gibbs and Fleming were among the wickets he nailed most often in the shorter version as well. The key aspect here - apart from the fact that he got the good batsmen out - is the number of times he dismissed them early in their innings, before they got starts. The averages column in the page of batsmen dismissed indicates the average score of the batsmen in the innings in which McGrath dismissed them - significantly, that figure is mostly in the teens, or sometimes even in single digits.

The table below breaks-up his Test and ODI wickets by batting positions, and by cheap dismissals. He got rid of the openers 155 times in Tests, and on 84 of those occasions they fell for less than ten. The corresponding stat is even more impressive in ODIs.

McGrath's wickets by batting positions and scores in Tests and ODIs

Match type	Openers	Openers <10	Nos. 3-7	Nos. 3-7 <>	Tail	Tail <>
Tests	155	84	266	115	142	95
ODIs	128	72	171	99	82	57

More McGrath stats

McGrath has taken 414 wickets in Test wins - only Shane Warne, with 510, has more wickets in victories. In ODIs, McGrath's 301 wickets in wins is better only by Muttiah Muralitharan (305) and Wasim Akram (326). McGrath's 7 for 15 against Namibia at Potchefstroom is the best bowling figures in a World Cup match, and the second-best in all ODIs, after Chaminda Vaas's 8 for 19 against Zimbabwe in Colombo in 2001-02. His 26 wickets in the 2006 World Cup is the highest by any bowler in a single edition of the World Cup. In ODIs in which he bowled at least eight overs, 11 times he finished with an economy rate of less than two, and only four times went for more than seven an over. His most economical and most expensive figures were both at Sydney, within five days of each other - against India in 1999-2000 he returned astonishing figures of 10-4-8-4, while against Pakistan five days later he leaked 67 in eight overs. McGrath has bowled 279 maiden overs in ODIs, next only to Shaun Pollock's 288. McGrath has won 11 Man-of-the-Match and five Man-of-the-Series awards in Tests. In ODIs, he has won 15 MoM awards, six of which have been in World Cups. Only Tendulkar, with eight, has more awards in the tournament. Along with David Boon, Mark Waugh and Matthew Hayden, McGrath is one of only four Australians to win the MoM award three times in the same World Cup. The c Gilchrist b McGrath combination accounted for 90 dismissals in Tests, which is next only to the 95 times that Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee combined to dismiss batsmen. (Click here for the full list of such combinations.) In ODIs, the McGrath-Gilchrist combination brought about 73 dismissals. Those 73 dismissals also included one stumping, when Craig McMillan was caught out of his crease at Wellington in 2004-05. That's his only stumped victim in international cricket.

Australian team is perfect for a coach

Australian team is perfect for a coach

AFP

April 30, 2007

John Buchanan: "The perfect team is the one that keeps wanting to be better day in and day out" © Getty Images

John Buchanan, who has retired from his coaching role, said it was Australia's destiny to be at the cutting edge of cricket after they had won a third straight World Cup title. Australia's victory over Sri Lanka by 53 runs meant his players gave Buchanan, 54, a winning send-off in his last game after eight years in charge.

Although supervising a gifted side, Buchanan has been credited with extending the team's horizons. Buchanan, who is set to concentrate on what had been a motivational speaking sideline, had challenged the rest of the world to match Australia's standards after they beat India in the 2003 World Cup final.

But while now reluctant to pass on tips to other nations, Buchanan was clear where the sporting future of Australia lay. "It's our role always to lead change, to lead new ideas to be right at the cutting edge of cricket or of sport," he said. "Then it's up to other countries to try to chase us. In a sense we're not interested in what other countries have to do, it's what we still have to do."

India and West Indies are two of the sides looking for a new coach after World Cup failures, but Buchanan said he had no interest in taking charge of another country. "I suppose you can never say never but right at the moment no," he said. "I feel very loyal to the team that I coach and the players that I've worked with. So right at the moment I'm looking to venture into new territory altogether. This sort of role will be a thing of the past for me."

Buchanan said the key to Australia's enduring success - they are the world's best Test side and have now gone 29 games unbeaten at the World Cup - began with the players. "Each individual has strived for perfection all the time," he said. "From a coach's point of view, that is the perfect team. The perfect team is the one that keeps wanting to be better day in and day out. I've been basically a passenger for the last three years or so. I get there [to practice], put the gear out and bring it back in again."

But Ricky Ponting said: "We shouldn't let the coach get away with that. He's challenged us all the whole time he's been in charge of this team. He's always been overlooked. It's not an easy thing to do to take over a team that's already playing good cricket and make it better.

"But he's been able to do that with me and with all of us. Some of that is to do with the players, but a lot of it is also to do with how you're coached as well

Shoaib Malik's Profile

Shoaib Malik

Pakistan

Player profile

Full name Shoaib Malik
Born February 1, 1982, Sialkot, Punjab
Current age 25 years 89 days
Major teams Pakistan, Gloucestershire, Gujranwala Cricket Association, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Reserves, Sialkot Cricket Association
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Statsguru Test player, ODI player

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	18	29	4	941	148*	37.64	2132	44.13	1	5	130	8	8	0
ODIs	137	121	16	3524	143	33.56	4567	77.16	5	21	297	39	48	0
Twenty20 Int.	2	2	0	31	16	15.50	33	93.93	0	0	3	0	0	0
First-class	73	111	13	2766	148*	28.22			6	12			36	0
List A	199	165	28	4951	143	36.13			8	29			77	0
Twenty20	17	16	5	606	88*	55.09	483	125.46	0	5			8	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	18	1429	820	13	4/42	4/94	63.07	3.44	109.92	1	0	0
ODIs	137	4798	3584	104	4/19	4/19	34.46	4.48	46.13	1	0	0
Twenty20 Int.	2	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0
First-class	73	9842	4905	163	7/81		30.09	2.99	60.38		5	1
List A	199	8094	5866	201	5/35	5/35	29.18	4.34	40.26	6	1	0
Twenty20	17	197	231	15	5/13	5/13	15.40	7.03	13.13	0	1

Shahid Afridi's profile

Shahid Afridi

Pakistan

Player profile

Full name Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi
Born March 1, 1980, Khyber Agency
Current age 27 years 61 days
Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Griqualand West, Habib Bank Limited, ICC World XI, Karachi, Leicestershire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Legbreak googly

Statsguru Test player, ODI player

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	26	46	1	1683	156	37.40	1954	86.13	5	8	216	50	10	0
ODIs	238	226	10	4998	109	23.13	4598	108.69	4	27	468	225	83	0
Twenty20 Int.	2	2	0	35	28	17.50	27	129.62	0	0	5	1	0	0
First-class	96	163	4	5105	164	32.10			12	25			61	0
List A	313	298	12	7088	112	24.78			5	43			99	0
Twenty20	11	9	0	153	49	17.00	96	159.37	0	0			2	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	26	3092	1640	47	5/52	5/43	34.89	3.18	65.78	1	1	0
ODIs	238	9255	7113	201	5/11	5/11	35.38	4.61	46.04	2	2	0
Twenty20 Int.	2	33	47	0	-	-	-	8.54	-	0	0	0
First-class	96	11463	5958	216	6/101		27.58	3.11	53.06		7	0
List A	313	12583	9626	284	5/11	5/11	33.89	4.59	44.30	3	3	0
Twenty20	11	222	244	11	3/23	3/23	22.18	6.59	20.18	0	0	0

Mohammad asif's profile

Mohammad Asif

Pakistan

Player profile

Full name Mohammad Asif
Born December 20, 1982, Sheikhupura, Punjab
Current age 24 years 132 days
Major teams Pakistan, Khan Research Labs, Lahore Division, Leicestershire, Sheikhupura Cricket Association, Sialkot Cricket Association
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Statsguru Test player, ODI player

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	9	13	6	40	12*	5.71	163	24.53	0	0	5	0	2	0
ODIs	22	7	2	20	6	4.00	65	30.76	0	0	1	0	2	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	0	0	0	0	-	0	-	0	0	0	0	0	0
First-class	68	91	37	448	42	8.29			0	0			26	0
List A	53	23	13	155	40	15.50			0	0			14	0
Twenty20	14	3	1	13	12	6.50	24	54.16	0	0			6	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	9	1914	986	49	6/44	11/71	20.12	3.09	39.06	3	4	1
ODIs	22	1024	702	22	3/28	3/28	31.90	4.11	46.54	0	0	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	24	21	2	2/21	2/21	10.50	5.25	12.00	0	0	0
First-class	68	12169	6713	280	7/35		23.97	3.30	43.46		17	5
List A	53	2371	1834	54	4/30	4/30	33.96	4.64	43.90	1	0	0
Twenty20	14	311	323	24	5/11	5/11	13.45	6.23	12.95	2	1	0

Career statistics
Statsguru Tests filter | Statsguru One-Day Internationals filter
Test debut	Australia v Pakistan at Sydney - Jan 2-5, 2005 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v Pakistan at Cape Town - Jan 26-28, 2007 scorecard
ODI debut	Pakistan v England at Rawalpindi - Dec 21, 2005 scorecard
Last ODI	South Africa v Pakistan at Johannesburg - Feb 14, 2007 scorecard
Only Twenty20 Int.	England v Pakistan at Bristol - Aug 28, 2006 scorecard
First-class span	2000/01 - 2006/07
List A span	1999/00 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2004/05 - 2006/07