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Geoff Boycott on the key to the opener’s success, India’s spin combination, and what makes Alastair Cook tick

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2012Siddhartha Talya: Hello and welcome to a special edition of Bowl at Boycs, and I say it’s special because Geoffrey Boycott is in Mumbai, and we’re speaking face to face. Geoffrey, you’ve been to Mumbai on several occasions after your retirement but you played your first Test here, didn’t you, back in 1980?Geoffrey Boycott: A memorable Test match. It was the Jubilee Test to celebrate 50 years of Indian cricket. I met the president of the cricket board, Mr Wankhede himself, I liked him. Surprise, surprise, you were so kind to us – which normally you’re not – you gave us a lovely pitch that seamed and swung. We were a bit better than you at that. We proved when you came to England and we beat you 4-0, and you’re much better when it turns.Ian Botham, you were up against one of the great allrounders, and he got 13 wickets and a hundred. We won by ten wickets, and all the time I’ve been coming here as a commentator, I’ve never seen one like it since. So it was a rare pitch, lovely moment and we played that on our way back from a series in Australia, three Tests and plenty of one-dayers.ST: And then you came back again a few years later…GB: I did, and you won the series then 1-0. So, you’re very tough to beat in India, very, very tough indeed. It was a one-off Test [in 1980] and anything could happen, but you gave us a pitch that was quite extraordinary.ST: We’ll come to the questions now. The first one comes from Anshul in India. He says this is probably the first time you’ve had a good look at India’s spin combination of R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha. What’s been your first impression, given they’ve had wickets come easy in the first innings, but had to work hard for them in the next?GB: First of all, Ojha is an old-fashioned slow bowler. By that I mean, he tosses the ball up, he gives it air, with spin, but he’s the old-fashioned type of flight and guile. He’s not turned to the modern way – despite Twenty20 cricket – of firing it in because people are going to slog him out of the park. The ball is up in the air so long, he actually gives the impression that it should be easy to hit, but he isn’t. He’s got a simple, orthodox, textbook action. He’s a nice bowler and I have no reason to think he won’t get wickets, not at all. Everything looks nice and smooth in his action, he does spin it and he looks a good bowler.Ashwin is a bit different. His action is all arms, a bit all over the place. Quite frankly, after seeing him get 50 wickets, quicker than any other Indian bowler, I was disappointed. I really was. Why? Because his line and length was all over the place. For example, for too long he attacked Alastair Cook, bowling over the wicket aiming at Cook’s leg stump. There were a lot of the bowlers’ footmarks, rough, outside the left-hander’s off stump, which would have afforded him unpredictable spin, maybe some unusual bounce, the odd ball stopping and lifting and maybe the odd ball keeping low. If he’d bowled around the wicket and aimed there, consistently, often with patience, I think it would have been a much better plan to get Cook out. If you remember, he got Cook out driving off the front foot exactly that way [in the first innings]. If you got the guy out in the first innings like that, why the hell do you want to go over the wicket and bowl at his leg stump. Cook is much better at leg stump. The pitch [there] is not going to turn as much, it is much more pristine. And he hardly bowled there [outside the left-hander’s off stump] in the second innings.Even to the England right-handers, his line and length was all over the place. I don’t think his strategy and planning was good enough. He didn’t have enough patience. Every spinner should have a stock ball he can bowl pretty much at will on a good length and a good line, and he can do it time after time. An offspinner should be able to bowl an offspin ball to right-handed batsmen just outside off stump, pitching it up, on a pretty good length. He didn’t seem to have any consistency or patience. If you saw a map of his bowling, the ball was all over the place, different lengths, different lines. I thought, on a pitch which had such slow turn, that wasn’t the best way to go, so it was a disappointment. Let’s see how he bowls in Mumbai. But what I saw there, I wasn’t impressed.In fact, I think Harbhajan Singh at his best was, for me, a better bowler. But he lost form a little bit, bowling so flat in one-day cricket, which, I’m saying, could happen. It mentally makes the spinners bowl flatter, because if you toss it up, they’re going to hit you out for a six and you can’t afford that too often. Apparently Harbhajan’s coming back a bit. I don’t know. Ashwin’s got wickets so he must be a decent bowler. But, if you ask me, I give you the truth. What I saw was disappointing. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad bowler. There’s another three Tests so we’ll see what happens. Ask me then at the end.ST: Is this where someone like MS Dhoni comes into the picture as well. He’s the captain, he’s standing right behind the stumps. Given that Cook was playing Ashwin so well for such a long period of time, is this where Dhoni could have stepped in and told Ashwin to change his strategy a bit?GB: Yes, he could have. I don’t know what went on and I don’t want to guess what was said. Dhoni’s a good captain. He handles the players and the team and the situations pretty good, so I don’t know. But the bowler in Test match cricket ought to know. He’s been around the park a bit. He’s played IPL for a few years. He’s won two trophies and lost to Kolkata last year, so it’s not like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Some young kid, playing his first Test, two or three, then maybe a player, ex-player or captain could say, “Hey, maybe you should do this.” But, he’s not exactly a young kid of 20, is he? How old is he?ST: He’s 26, he’ll be turning 26 this year.GB: Yeah, and he’s had a few years playing, so he ought to have been able to sort that out himself. And tell me, you bowl somebody out one way in the first innings, don’t you do that again? The batsman’s already thinking, “I don’t want it there, I’ve got out there.”ST: The Mumbai Test will be of special significance for another Indian player and that’s Virender Sehwag. He is playing his 100th Test overall. Related to that is a question from Srikkanth in the United States. He says: I don’t mean to compare Sehwag to Viv Richards, who was…GB:: No, don’t, There’s no comparison…ST: … and he elaborates, saying, Richards was destructive against superior bowling attacks at a time when helmets were not around. But what has been the key to Sehwag sustaining such a remarkable strike-rate of 82, especially with a consistency that’s given him an average of over 50 in Test cricket, and for such a long period of time?GB: Let’s take the average first. I don’t think we should get too carried away with averages or statistics. They don’t tell you everything about a player. They don’t tell you the type of pitches or the quality of opposition, you’ve already mentioned that. No helmets, fast bowlers, etc.All modern-day players have higher averages than they did 20 years ago. I don’t know what the total answer to that is but there are heavier bats, shorter boundaries, pitches are flatter and prepared better, certainly in England. They’re miles better, as are all over the world. They are a yardstick to measure the quality of a cricketer against other players of era. In the era he’s played, he has been superb.Virender has been a superb player. From my point of view, watching him, oh, he’s fun. He’s an entertainer, a guy who keeps people on the edge of their seats, because in a blink of an eye you could miss him, or miss some fantastic shots. For me, it’s a lack of fear in his batting. He plays by instinct, with superb timing. He is inventive with his strokeplay. And in his best period, he was blessed with great eyesight. That’s important because it means you pick up the line and the length slightly quicker than most people. To play all those shots he plays, he’s got to pick up the length very quickly. He’s always had an uncomplicated, free-flowing bat speed. He picks it up and he hits at the ball and it’s always a free flow. It’s a gift, which, together with his instinct to take on bowlers, particularly on subcontinent pitches, it’s worked brilliantly. He’s mesmerised bowlers in the subcontinent.It’s not so easy for him to play that way on some pitches abroad. That’s why his record is better in the subcontinent. He’s still done well, at times, abroad, but he’s also been shown up at times, like in England. And in his favourite environment where he grew up, which is India, he’s used to the pitches and they tend to have a low bounce that gets lower. And there is hardly any movement with the new ball. So he can hit through the line of the ball. It’s not going to move on him, and he does take the ball on the up, which is chancy. If anything, the pace of the ball is much slower in India and gets slower and slower as the matches go on.In England, that’s totally different. The normal pace is quicker than India and, many times, it will seam, it will swing. If you were playing on the up and extravagant shots and your technique isn’t pretty good – he’s never been a technical player, he’s been an expressive player – then that’s fraught with danger. In South Africa and Australia, some pitches aren’t quick, like Port Elizabeth, but there are others like Cape Town, you’ve got a Johannesburg, you’ve got a Pretoria, and much high above, sometimes in Durban you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. Australia has bouncier pitches, they are faster and bouncier. All these conditions help the bowlers a little bit more, which give problems to the batsmen. Then it’s not so easy to play these risky shots on the up, over the top, with limited footwork. That’s the key, early on with limited footwork. We’re all playing much better when we’ve got runs, 30, 40, 50, then the footwork is brilliant. It’s early on, they get you out before you go in.It’s difficult for bowlers to bounce him in India. When they bang it in, it takes the sting out of the ball so it sits up nicely to hit. When he goes abroad they can bang it in with more pace and he does get into trouble a lot more. It gets high on the chest and it’s more difficult to handle. So I’ve tried to put the plusses and the minuses and to explain to you, not be detrimental or be highly critical. I love his batting, he’s been wonderful for the game, but when there’s been awkward bounce, and awkward movement, it makes his job or the way he plays much more difficult.He’s always had this quick eye to make up for his technique which isn’t special. And technique is much more vital when there’s pace and bounce and movement.

“There’ll be people with a wider range of shots, there’s Bell, Clarke, Kallis and Amla. But I don’t think they’ll be more effective than Cook. He’s just as effective as them and he’ll keep going on and on and on”

As he gets older, which he is beginning to, he’ll still be able to play, but maybe his eyesight and reactions might just slow down a little bit. It happens to all of us, not just him, and so he should find it a little more difficult to play that way when the ball moves around, bounces and so forth. But, when he’s on song, particularly going well on these slower pitches, going after bowlers in the subcontinent or the odd pitch abroad where it doesn’t move too much, he is exciting and absolutely impossible to bowl at.ST: He’s had a few big scores overseas but, as you said, there are certain technical aspects of his game that may not necessarily help him get more big scores outside of India. But have you noticed any technical adjustments he’s made to his game when he’s gone overseas? Or is the technique so firmly entrenched in his game that, subconsciously, even when you’re playing abroad, knowing that the pitches are much more difficult, it’s still difficult to change your game?GB: I don’t think he really wants to change. He’s got such a phlegmatic temperament. Nothing seems to bother him much. He’ll sing tunes and everything in the dressing room, he takes everything in his stride. That’s a wonderful asset. That’s not a criticism. If you’ve been so successful in a particular way, I think he just thinks, “Well, I’ve done pretty good, why should I change,” and I think he’s going to play that way till the end of his career. I don’t think he’s going to change very much.As you get older, you may lose a little bit of reaction time, a little bit of eyesight, it’s not quite the same, but you should have learnt and gained maturity from playing a lot of cricket around the world. You should have gained experience, you should have gained knowledge, shouldn’t you? So where you lose a little bit on one side, you should have gained something to a kid when you start. If you’re clever, you use one to offset the other, you may play slightly a different way. For instance, Sachin Tendulkar may have to do that, one of the all-time greats. I don’t see Viru doing that. He’s an uncomplicated individual. He’s comfortable in his own skin, comfortable with his own way of playing and, I think, he’ll go out the same way as he came in. And he’ll be remembered and loved.ST: Geoffrey’s favourite question for this show is related to technique as well. It comes from Prajot in India. He says: Alastair Cook has a better average in Australia, Sri Lanka and India than he does in England, showing he has an ability to adapt to conditions quicker than most. What is it about his technique that has brought him so much success? And have you noticed any adjustments he makes when he plays outside of England?GB: I don’t think he changes his technique, wherever he is. He has a very good technique but England is probably the most difficult place to be an opener, because the English climate of rain, cooler weather with small amounts of sunshine, leaves even well-prepared pitches open to more seam and swing. The new-ball bowlers exploit that and opening the batting is always going to be a bit harder in England, just the nature of the country.Cook’s technique is very simple. It’s to get as far forward as he can, whether he is playing spin or seam, so that the ball, after pitching, has the smallest distance to travel after hitting the pitch to him meeting it with his bat. And when it’s short of a length, he uses the crease and gets deep into it, and get as high as he can, to give himself more time to watch the ball spin or seam. That way, he can play pretty late, close to his body, and he is, sort of, over the top of the ball. He has a strong mind, always has had. Every cricket he’s played , every time he’s gone up a notch, he’s played well. He’s got a strong mind, patience, concentration, a good temperament that is unflappable, he is not really fazed by anything. He’s a tough, determined kid under that really nice mild manner. He’s always had a nice, mild manner.And he doesn’t sweat, which has been talked about recently, which helps him when he’s playing in the heat abroad. While playing long innings, you need to change your gloves which get wet. You’re sweating such a lot, you need to get towelled down a bit, it gets you a bit flustered. It doesn’t bother him that way, so that is a help.Apart from this excellent defence and determined strong mind, he does have certain areas or shots that he feels comfortable in. He uses them. Others, that are not his favourite areas, he doesn’t try early on. Some batsmen will have a much wider range of strokes than him. For instance, Bell and Pietersen, in the England side. But he’s clever. He sticks to what he knows he can play or he’s comfortable with. And he only plays the other shots when he’s in, when he’s getting runs, confidence, feet are moving well, and it’s very difficult to get him out of his comfort zone. So that makes a tough cookie to bowl at.Once he’s in, he will expand his range of shots a bit more. But there are certain shots… you don’t see him hooking, he’ll pull. He’s not really an on-driver through the on side, he’ll hit it off his hip on the back foot. I could go through his batting. He’s a very smart cookie. I’m not dissecting him out for criticism, I’m giving you a constructive appraisal where I think he’s a very, very fine player. Let me tell you.”He’s a tough, determined kid under that really nice mild manner”•Associated PressIf he does have a problem, sometimes early on, he doesn’t get right forward. He gets half a stride, so he’s quite a long way from the ball. And if he’s ever out of form, his footwork’s not great, he will get out putting his front foot on the wrong side of the ball. In other words, if you’re playing as a left-hander, your right foot, the front foot, should be on the leg side of the ball so the bat can come down straight and hit the ball. He will sometimes get his foot on the off side of the ball, then he can’t get at the ball with a straight bat, he has to go round his pad going towards midwicket. And as he’s going around, he tends to fall over with his balance. His head falls over because his foot’s in the wrong place. He had that trouble before we went to the last Ashes in Australia. There was talk about him: Would he get a run? Would they drop him? He played at The Oval, got a hundred then went to Australia and played unbelievably well, didn’t he? So, once he gets in good form, he doesn’t give it way, he tends to do pretty well.He’s fairly unflappable, he doesn’t get upset one way or the other. He’s pretty determined. And as batsmen go, there’ll be people more pleasing on the eye, like Sehwag, Pietersen when he’s going. There’ll be people with a wider range of shots, there’s Bell, Clarke, Kallis and Amla. But I don’t think they’ll be more effective than Cook. He’s just as effective as them and he’ll keep going on and on and on. So you better get him out early.ST: Did you see anything similar with Cheteshwar Pujara when he got that double-century? These are players who are in the age of Twenty20 but just seem to be made for Test cricket.GB: He’s not dissimilar. He has a good technique, strong mind, temperament, concentration, just the same and he didn’t change his game. He kept on going. And that’s the secret of making big scores. Just keep going. Why change? There’s an old saying: If it’s not broken, why fix it? So if you’ve got a good technique to get a hundred, why would you change and do something different? Go and get another one. It’s quite simple really. In the end, people talk to me about this shot and that shot, I say: Look it’s simple. It’s cricket. If you’re a batsman, I judge you on how many runs you make. If you’re a bowler, I judge you on how many wickets you take. I don’t judge you on what you talk about, or what you say you might do. I’m not interested in how unlucky you are because that swings on roundabouts. Just tell me how many runs are you going to make for the team, and how many wickets you’re going to get as a bowler. To me, that’s a very, very fine player. And he is.ST: And finally, before we go into the Bombay Test match which starts tomorrow, Stuart Broad missed a training session today, India are without Umesh Yadav, there’s no Steven Finn for the second Test. Not asking you to make a prediction or anything, but how do you see both teams in terms of their balance?GB: If you were to tell me one of the spinners has broken his finger or broken his foot, then that’s a big factor. But if I were a betting man and I was batting tomorrow, I won’t be bothered which seamer was bowling at me.ST: Let’s see how it goes. Thanks for that Geoffrey, we’ve come to the end of this show. We’ll speak to Geoffrey once again in a couple of weeks from now but do remember to send us your questions using our feedback form, and Geoffrey will be joining in from Kolkata.GB: Could be 1-1 then.ST: That will spice up the series but there’ll be a lot who would think otherwise.GB: [Laughs], I’m teasing you.ST: Thanks for that, Geoffrey.

Despite falling out of favour, Wrexham's all-time top goalscorer Paul Mullin was elated at the club's promotion to the Championship.

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Wrexham earn promotion to the ChampionshipMullin does not hold back celebrationsRed Dragons to undergo summer revampFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Wrexham stormed to the Championship with a 3-0 thrashing of promotion rivals Charlton Athletic on Saturday evening. Celebrating their third promotion in as many seasons, Mullin could not hold back his emotion and argued his controversial move to the club in 2021 has been justified by their meteoric rise up the English divisions. While his future may lie away from the Red Dragons, Mullin's role in propelling Phil Parkinson's side up the leagues will not be forgotten anytime soon at the Racecourse Ground.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT MULLIN SAID

Speaking to after the game, Mullin said: "It's not just about me. It's a real team effort. When I first joined, Rob McElhenney told me: 'Championship in five years'. We've done it a year early. It's been some journey, unbelievable. These fans f*cking deserve it. Sorry for the language. [It's an] unbelievable feeling. I'm so happy for everyone involved. Phenomenal.

"I've found it hard not being involved as much this season, but I will enjoy this one just as much. The question I got asked when I signed here was: 'Why Wrexham? Why Wrexham?' Here's your answer for the third time in a row. It has been phenomenal; we've created history yet again. Back-to-back-to-back, never been done, it has now and it belongs to Wrexham. I'm so happy for all the fans."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Mullin has not featured in a match-day squad in League One since being an unused substitute against Mansfield in February. His last minutes in the league came in a 3-2 defeat to Stevenage at the end of January. He has been all-but-frozen out of the squad, but still takes pride in the role he has played in helping the Red Dragons get to where they are now – and the Championship.

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR MULLIN?

With Wrexham adding Jay Rodriguez and Sam Smith to their striking options in January, Mullin saw his game time drop massively. With the club's promotion to the Championship now sealed, rumours linking the club with other top forwards, including Jamie Vardy, have already started flying and Mullin appears destined for the exit door. However how unceremonious his departure may be, Mullin will leave a Wrexham legend.

The booming cover drive was packed away as Dinesh Chandimal buckled up for the safety-first innings Sri Lanka needed

Andrew Fidel Fernando at P Sara Oval15-Mar-2017Dinesh Chandimal has a big, booming cover drive, and everyone knows it. Mahela Jayawardene had one that purred like the engine of a Jaguar. Kumar Sangakkara’s became so high class and epoch-defining he could have had the Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy installed on his forehead.Chandimal’s is more fast-and-furious than grace-and-finesse: a lowered Subaru Impreza with a flaming paintjob, blinding rims, and an exhaust pipe that could house a small elephant. I mean, just watch him in the shot. His head stays steady, but his arms are almost a blur – the backlift massive and menacing. He doesn’t stroke or hit the ball, he outright assaults it.Like the boy racers who take their cars flying around residential zones, though, Chandimal’s drives can be endlessly annoying when deployed in the wrong place. The tour of South Africa was like this. Repeatedly, coaches and captain would go on record pleading with batsmen to take care in their shot selections, to show a bit of patience, and please for the love of all that is good and holy, refrain from driving at the seaming bloody ball. Yet there Chandimal was, a senior man by number of Tests played, flashing giddily, sending balls to keeper or slip, bringing hundreds of thousands of palms to faces.When he was subsequently told by the chief selector to retune his game in first-class cricket, Chandimal seemed to radically alter his approach. His first innings at Galle last week was almost a self-flagellation for his South African extravagances – he spent 71 minutes and 54 balls at the crease, but scored only five runs. Had the long drought scrambled his mind completely? On as flat a surface as Sri Lanka has produced in a year, Chandimal’s was an innings so out of character you couldn’t help but wonder if he had lost a little bit of himself again, as he had once done in 2014.He made 50 not out in the second innings of that game, but this did not convince the doubters either, so easy had that half-century come. Sri Lanka were completely dominant when Chandimal came to the crease and, in an ideal world, would not have delayed the declaration long enough for him to get the milestone. What was the point of virtually gifting a Sri Lankan batsman a score, after all? Chandimal has come through one of the weakest domestic circuits in the world: he already has access to a lifetime supply of meaningless fifties.At the P Sara on Wednesday, however, he was suddenly everything fans wanted from a senior batsman. Chandimal put his fingers on the pitch and batted to its pulse, discerning early on it was more devious than it appeared. The scoring opportunities were not spurned altogether, but the brash strokes had definitely been locked up.

For one day, at least, Chandimal was the station wagon Sri Lanka needed, rather than a roaring Subaru

Today, it was his team-mates who were running themselves off the road and into bushes, or plunging off avoidable cliffs. Through most of the day, Chandimal kept his tyres on the tarmac, and just kept plugging on. His unbeaten 86 came off 210 deliveries, and featured four fours. Only one of those boundaries was the result of a drive – though this one was crisp rather than flamboyant, and hit further towards the centre of the batsman’s V than way out towards the badlands at deep cover.”We analysed that he’s got out a lot against seam bowlers, driving outside off stump, early on,” coach Graham Ford said of Chandimal after play. “That’s been his downfall a lot of the time. When he puts that lovely looking cover drive away and doesn’t use it early on, he gets big scores. When he hits it, it’s an exquisite shot, but it’s a high-risk shot in Test cricket, especially if he’s batting at No. 4 and getting in earlier.”It’s more about his mindset. He’s the first to admit that rather than getting himself in, he’s played a few ambitious shots trying to get himself moving or get the scoreboard going. But he’s come back and really thought about his game.”In fact, so responsible did Chandimal’s innings seem, that he even took on a role Angelo Mathews had turned into an art form: that of looking supremely pissed at the non-striker’s end at a team-mate’s loose dismissal. Chandimal raised palms up to ask Dhananjaya de Silva “why?” after he tried to hack Taijul Islam over midwicket and got himself bowled. He was visibly annoyed when Niroshan Dickwella had his stumps rattled playing a fantastically poor reverse sweep. Even Dilruwan Perera – whose major role is with the ball – got an eyeful of ire from Chandimal when he chased a wide ball and edged behind.Chandimal’s has been a rapid transition from wasteful talent to stern senior man, and to be fair, with him there is no telling when he will transition back again. But for one day at least, he was more station wagon than roaring Subaru. And man, did Sri Lanka need it.

Also: which cricketer was nicknamed Panda, and who was the last Test cricketer to play at Wimbledon?

Steven Lynch07-Nov-2017How often have numbers eight and nine in the batting order both scored centuries in the same Test innings, like Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich?asked Savo Ceprnich from South Africa
The achievement of Shane Dowrich (103) and Jason Holder (110) in Bulawayo last week, when they scored centuries from eight and nine in the batting order against Zimbabwe, had been replicated only once before in a Test match. That was back in 1907-08, when Roger Hartigan (116) and Clem Hill (160) shared a match-changing partnership of 243 for Australia against England in Adelaide. Hill usually batted much higher than No. 9, but had been ill: “I was suffering acutely from gastric influenza,” he wrote. “On the Tuesday I was feeling a little better, so I went along to the Oval… The doctor had given me some tablets to take. I don’t know what they contained but they enabled me to keep going. I was ill many times on the field. It was very hot weather, the temperature reaching as high as 111 [43.8°C]. When play ended for the day it was 105 and I was 106.” Hill had gone in with Australia only 102 ahead at 180 for 7, but his partnership with Hartigan – who was making his Test debut, and won only one more cap – completely turned round a Test which Australia eventually won by 245 runs.For more on the Dowrich-Holder partnership, click here.Afghanistan and Ireland were given Test status earlier this year, but they haven’t played any Test matches yet. When will they start? asked Mithun Mohammad from Pakistan
Cricket Ireland recently announced that their first Test match would be against Pakistan in May 2018, probably in Dublin. It will be the first time Pakistan have been involved in a country’s inaugural Test since their own, against India in Delhi in 1952-53.As for Afghanistan, an article on ESPNcricinfo a few months ago suggested their first Tests would be against Zimbabwe. But no dates have yet been announced, and it’s not clear yet whether this plan will be affected by the cash-strapped Zimbabwean board’s recent decision to scale back on Test matches, as reported here.Which county cricketer was nicknamed “Panda”? asked Derek George from England
This was the Glamorgan wicketkeeper Haydn Davies, who first appeared for them in 1938, and played in all of their Championship matches between 1947 and 1957, when he was 45. That run included Glamorgan’s first ever Championship title, in 1948. He became known as “Panda” because his chunky frame and deceptively slow movements reminded team-mates of the exotic animal. But Davies was not really slow, as he had been a squash champion in his youth and continued to play to a high standard. He came close to Test selection, appearing in a Test trial in 1946, but his heyday coincided with that of Godfrey Evans, whose better batting ensured he was a fixture behind the stumps for England for more than a decade.Chris Gayle in the match where he became the only opener so far to bat through in a completed T20I•Getty ImagesWho was the last Test cricketer to play at Wimbledon? asked Mike Rawlinson from England
The last Test cricketer to play in the men’s singles at Wimbledon was William “Buster” Farrer of South Africa. He won his first-round match in 1956 before losing in the second, and later played six Test matches, with a top score of 40 against New Zealand in Johannesburg in 1961-62. He also played hockey and squash for South Africa.Farrer did not travel to Wimbledon again, and soon concentrated on cricket. “It cost the old man a bit of money for the first trip,” he wrote in his autobiography, the appropriately titled All-Rounder. “I enjoyed it, playing tennis every day, because your tennis improves. But I was working and I suppose it was a question of finance.”Farrer came close to selection for the Davis Cup, tennis’ team competition. But two Test cricketers did play in it: Cotar Ramaswami, who played one Test for India in England in 1936, when he was 40, and the 1950s West Indian wicketkeeper Ralph Legall. Ramaswami also played at Wimbledon, in 1922, the inaugural year at the current grounds in Church Road.Has anyone carried their bat through a competed innings in a T20 international? asked Mauro Freitas from the UAE
There have been several instances of an opening batsman surviving the full 20 overs of a T20 international, but only one in which the opener remained unbeaten throughout a completed (all-out) innings. The man concerned was Chris Gayle, who scored 63 of West Indies’ 101 as they slumped to defeat against Sri Lanka in the World T20 semi-final at The Oval in June 2009. That innings had a sensational start: Angelo Mathews took three wickets in the first over – all bowled – after Gayle took a single off the first ball.Leave your questions in the comments

Manchester United are still hoping to complete one final deal in the coming hours as they look to finalise their squad for the second part of the Premier League campaign, it has been reported.

Manchester United's January signings

Ruben Amorim’s first transfer window as Manchester United manager ended with just two new faces added to his squad despite the Red Devils languishing in 13th place in the Premier League and with a less than good record since the former Sporting manager arrived, which was compounded by their most recent defeat to Crystal Palace.

Ruben Amorim’s Premier League record

Games

13

Wins

4

Goals scored per game

1.2

Goals conceded per game

1.7

Points per game

1.08

The major addition was Patrick Dorgu, with the wing-back arriving from Lecce in a deal believed to be worth around 35m euros (£29m) with add-ons included.

“I am incredibly proud to be able to call myself a Manchester United player – this is a very special day for my whole family,” said Dorgu upon being unveiled at Old Trafford.

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“I cannot wait to work with Ruben Amorim. His vision for this team and the future of the club is incredibly exciting. There is a clear plan set out for my development, and I feel that Manchester United is the perfect place to fulfil my potential and complete my huge ambitions.”

Though still just 20-years-old, Dorgu is expected to be an instant starter at the Theatre of Dreams and will add some much needed firepower and dynamism on the left hand-side for Amorim, while he is also versatile enough to play elsewhere should he be required. A long-term option at fullback, his arrival means that United are now pursuing a late exit.

United aiming to finalise exit for stricken star

That is according to The Athletic, who report that the Red Devils are still aiming to complete a late loan move for Tyrell Malacia. Despite the English transfer window closing at 11pm on Monday, the Dutch transfer window remains open for another 24 hours and it is there that INEOS are looking to finalise a deal.

Malacia, who has seen much of his time since arriving at Old Trafford marred by injuries, has caught the eye of PSV Eindhoven after a move to Italy or Portugal broke down “over the club’s desired loan fee and the level of a future option to buy”.

Indeed, he has “travelled to the Netherlands to undergo a medical” in a move that will see at least some part of his £75,000 a week wages taken off the books for the remainder of the campaign, adding to the significant savings that both Marcus Rashford and Antony’s loan moves this month have provided.

Malacia won plenty of praise during his early tenure at Old Trafford, including from former Red Devil great Rio Ferdinand, who hailed him for his performance against Mohamed Salah back in 2022.

“He reminds me of Patrice Evra in many ways,” said Ferdinand “He’s athletic, he looks like a pound-for-pound strong kid”.

However, the 25-year-old has failed to kick on from that early promise thanks to injury, and his career now appears to lie away from Old Trafford both in the short term and likely the long term too.

Chelsea’s academy has been up there with one of the very best in the country over the last few years, helping the club win nine FA Youth Cup trophies – the most in the competition’s history.

Endless players have made the jump from Cobham into the first-team setup, having a huge impact on the club and cementing their place as a regular under various different managers.

Enzo Maresca’s current side possesses multiple academy graduates, including the likes of Reece James, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah as the trio look to fire the Blues back to Premier League success.

Numerous others have been sacrificed to raise funds for the managers to make their own stamp on the squad, including Mason Mount who moved to Manchester United for £60m last summer – a great deal considering his tally of 33 games in the last 18 months.

Such a move undoubtedly softens the blow of the big money spent by owner Todd Boehly, with the American forking out huge money to secure the services of one star back in January 2023.

Mykhailo Mudyrk’s time at Chelsea so far

After a bidding war with London rivals Arsenal, Chelsea secured a huge £88.5m move for Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk in January 2023, joining the Blues from Shakhtar Donetsk.

His first appearance came as a substitute against Liverpool at Anfield, making an immediate impression with his pace and direct nature with the ball at his feet.

However, it would be an audition that sold the supporters a dream, with the 24-year-old unable to sustain such a level of performance, only registering 10 goals in his 73 appearances to date.

The winger hasn’t featured since the end of November due to a provisional suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance, with his return date or outcome of the decision yet to be announced.

His lack of form, coupled with his current absence, has seen a drastic decrease in market value, with one former first-team star massively overtaking him in value after his form away from Stamford Bridge.

The former Chelsea player now worth more than Mudryk

English attacker Callum Hudson-Odoi emerged out of the club’s academy as a teenager, looking to be the next big thing to make his mark on the first team in West London.

The now 24-year-old first showcased his talents on a consistent basis in 2018/19, making 24 appearances, scoring five times and registering five assists – looking way beyond his tender age.

Such a run of form would see interest from European giants Bayern Munich, but the Blues would stand firm, rejecting a loan with an option to buy for £70m – highlighting his importance to the club, with the hierarchy showing faith in his development.

However, an achilles injury in April 2019 would halt his progress at his boyhood side, sidelining him for an extended period and dropping him down the pecking order as a result.

Hudson-Odoi would move on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in 2022/23 to try and resurrect his promising career, before ending his spell with the Blues and joining Nottingham Forest for just £3m two years ago.

The move would allow the winger to thrive in the Premier League once again, registering eight goals and two assists in his debut campaign in the East Midlands – leading to talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbing him as “superb”.

He’s once again continued his stellar form during this campaign, scoring the only goal in the Reds’ victory against Liverpool at Anfield, remaining as the only side to defeat Arne Slot’s side in the league.

Games played

20

Goals & assists

5

Pass accuracy

90%

Chances created

34

Successful dribbles

27

Dribble success

68%

Recoveries

59

As a result of his displays, Forest have valued the forward at £40m, an increase of 1235% from the fee the Blues sold him for less than two years ago, subsequently seeing him worth more than Mudryk, who’s now valued at just £25m by Transfermarkt.

Given the re-emergence of Hudson-Odoi, the decision to allow him to leave for such a minimal fee is now one that looks to be a huge mistake, potentially offloading a player who could have played a vital role under Maresca.

Mudyrk has ultimately failed to match the expectations of his big-money transfer fee, with the hierarchy now facing a similar situation in taking the risk of offloading the Ukrainian and suffering a repeat of Hudson-Odoi.

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Exiled Wrexham striker Paul Mullin posted an emotional five-word message on Instagram after his side took a giant leap towards another promotion.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Wrexham beat Blackpool 2-1Inch closer to third straight promotionMullin sends five word messageFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Mullin has not played a single minute for Wrexham since January but despite being left out of the squad, he still rejoiced in the Welsh side's crucial 2-1 win at Blackpool as they went back into League One's automatic promotion spots. The 30-year-old said it was a "great result" for the Red Dragons, while reflecting on their promotion from League Two in an emotional post.

AdvertisementWHAT MULLIN SAID

Mullin, who led Wrexham two back-to-back promotions, wrote in an Instagram story: "Great result from the boys!"

In another post, he posted a photo from last season and added: "Time flies… feels like yesterday".

InstagramInstagramTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Mullin has gone from being the main man at Wrexham to someone who can't even get in matchday squads under manager Phil Parkinson. January signing Sam Smith, veterans Jay Rodriguez and Steven Fletcher, and Jack Marriott are all ahead of him in the pecking order as the Welsh outfit inch closer to a third-straight promotion. While many may not want to admit it, Mullin's time with the club could be drawing to a close.

GettyWHAT NEXT?

Wrexham, who sit second in League One with a two-point lead over Wycombe Wanderers in third, can secure promotion to the Championship this weekend if they beat fourth-placed Charlton Athletic and Wycombe fail to win at Leyton Orient.

Though tours of Zimbabwe are potential banana skins for fringe players, Dhananjaya de Silva and Asela Gunaratne have put in clutch performances and made themselves hard to ignore

Tristan Holme in Harare07-Nov-2016Over the past few years, visitors to Zimbabwe have faced an unwelcome prospect: little to gain, everything to lose.The decreasing value of a tour of Zimbabwe can be seen in its most consistent marker. As India visited in three of the last four years, the teams they selected became ever weaker. In 2013, five first-XI players were rested. This year, as many as 17 players who were in India’s previous limited-overs squads were left at home.Sri Lanka’s situation on this tour is slightly different in that the five first-choice players back home were all injured, and so this is the strongest possible side. Yet, the players coming in still faced the prospect of gaining little at best, and, at worst, kissing goodbye to future selections at the highest level. The way they have gone about their business has not suggested that this has been weighing on their minds.The first Test brought a maiden century for Kusal Perera, and a first Test hundred in a decade for Upul Tharanga. But with Zimbabwe dropping six catches as they felt their way back into top-flight cricket, and both batsmen benefiting from the foundation laid by Sri Lanka’s openers, neither century was one to seal debates on their long-term future.The situation was different when Dhananjaya de Silva walked to the crease on the first day of the second Test. Sri Lanka were 112 for 4, and under pressure for the first time in the series. “I think we dropped our guard a little bit yesterday morning and we found ourselves in a spot of bother,” Graham Ford, Sri Lanka’s coach, said after day two. “Some of our batters came in under pressure, and it was pleasing to see the composure in the way they absorbed the pressure that we needed them to.”Zimbabwe had enjoyed a little bit of luck in taking three wickets prior to lunch. It wasn’t necessarily luck that they deserved, but after the first Test, it could be argued that it was luck they were due. When they came out after lunch, the hosts seemed to have acknowledged that and decided to make the most of it. Bowlers who were so errant in the first session ramped up the pressure on de Silva and Tharanga, with the first 18 overs of the session yielding just 44 runs. “We started off badly in the first session, but I think we pulled it back quite nicely as the day wore on,” Hamilton Masakadza said.De Silva looked the perfect batsman for the circumstances. Although the pitch had even bounce, it remained on the slow side. Zimbabwe were playing the waiting game – a game that flashier batsmen than de Silva might well have lost. Instead, he remained compact, his neat technique never allowing him to get ahead of himself. Crucially on this surface, his range of strokes made it difficult for Zimbabwe to bowl in one place and block him up. By the end of the first day, he had an unbeaten hundred, having feasted on the spinners during the evening session. A Cricviz analysis showed the balance in his strokeplay: 51 runs off the front foot, 49 off the back foot; 51 on the off side, 49 on the leg side.”He’s known as the Ice Man in our dressing room because he showed such composure and handled real pressure against Australia – they were one of the best attacks in world cricket and he showed that he was up for Test match cricket,” Ford said. “There’s that side to it, but he also seems to have a lot of time. We saw he plays the short ball pretty well – he can dispatch it – and has good technique. There are lots of positives there when you add all of that together, so he’s a real find for Sri Lankan cricket.”While de Silva looks to have set up his stall for the foreseeable future, adding depth to a batting department that is coming to terms with the retirement of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Asela Gunaratne’s case may be slightly different. Already 30 years old, Gunaratne is classified as an allrounder, but his bowling is never likely to be used on more than a part-time basis in Test cricket. As Sri Lanka toiled for 10 wickets on the last day of the first Test, Herath never once tossed him the ball.But 186 runs in three innings for two dismissals is difficult to argue with. In the first Test, Sri Lanka were 351 for 5 when Gunaratne came to the crease. In the second Test, the score was 255 for 5. With Gunaratne marshalling the tail, they have added 435 runs for the last five wickets over the course of two first innings. Angelo Mathews will walk back into the Test side when Sri Lanka head to South Africa next month, but it will be difficult to keep Gunaratne off the plane.”It’s good to see the form that the batsmen have shown,” Ford said. “Before the series, we knew that some of the fringe players had some talent but hadn’t seen much opportunity. Now, they’ve put their hands up and scored runs, so to see some depth in our batting department is really encouraging and important.”On the ‘little to gain’ dilemma, he added: “The batsmen can only do what they can do, which is go out and score runs. If the wicket is flat, there’s nothing they can do about it.”Sri Lanka’s greatest challenge may yet come over the final three days of this match, as they face an improving Zimbabwe side on another flat pitch. Ford believes it will take some turn, but with fewer favours from Zimbabwe’s batsmen – and the umpires, now that DRS is in place – a lot of hard work lies ahead. So far, Sri Lanka’s batsmen have ticked all the boxes. Now, it’s over to the bowlers.

A key update has emerged regarding Celtic signing an attacking “jewel” in the current transfer window, with Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph sharing the news.

Celtic transfer news

The Hoops were reportedly in talks to complete the signing of Sevilla striker Kelechi Iheanacho on Saturday, with the Nigerian keen on a move away from the La Liga side. Brendan Rodgers worked alongside him during their time at Leicester City, and he could help fill the attacking void left by Kyogo Furuhashi.

Celtic are also believed to be eyeing up a last-gasp move for Slovan Bratislava forward David Strelec, with attacking reinforcements seemingly the order of the day at Parkhead. He has scored 10 goals in 11 league starts this season, as well as netting twice in the Champions League.

Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia has been mentioned as a transfer target for the Hoops, too, with Alex Valle moving back to Barcelona earlier this week.

Whether the Red Devils would be willing to sell remains to be seen, especially given Luke Shaw’s injury woes, but it would be a real signing of intent by Celtic, ahead of their Champions League playoff clash with Bayern Munich later this month. Now, another transfer claim has dropped regarding a fellow target.

Update on Celtic's move for attacking "jewel"

Writing on X on Saturday, Joseph reported that Celtic’s talks with Brondby over the signing of Mathias Kvistgaarden have “broken down”, with a move for the £10m-rated attacker seemingly off:

This is a disappointing update for Hoops supporters, considering what a strong addition Kvistgaarden could be, not only in terms of the present, but also the long-term future.

The 22-year-old has found the net 10 times in only 12 starts in the Danish Super Liga this season, while football talent scout Jacek Kulig has described him as a “jewel” of a footballer.

Hopefully, there is still the potential for Celtic to sign Kvistgaarden in the summer, even if he doesn’t move to Parkhead during the current window, but the fact that Joseph points out that other targets are now being looked at suggests that may not happen.

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It’s now a case of frantically signing an alternative before Monday’s deadline, but the Hoops must make sure they don’t panic buy, bringing in the wrong player in the process.

After a sub-par 2016 and with India’s strong bench, Shikhar Dhawan’s ODI career has reached the phase where he has no choice but to perform

Arun Venugopal14-Jan-2017Shikhar Dhawan is always smiling, but there is no way to tell what’s on his mind. It is the same smile – dripping with warmth and a hint of mischief – that follows a boundary or a dropped catch or a joke shared with a team-mate. Even when he grimaces, there are faint traces of a smile. The last six months, however, are likely to have tested such a quality.Ahead of his first ODI in nearly a year, Dhawan isn’t even a certainty in the XI. It is ironical given that his ODI form has been consistently good: since 2013, he has averaged more than 50 in nine of the 16 series he has played. During the same period his average has dropped below 40 only once. Even last year, he notched up 287 runs in the five ODIs he played.And yet, his place in the ODI side is not a given. While Dhawan would lose the popular mandate – fans have bayed for his axing on social media for a while now – the selectors have voted in his favour, even if not emphatically. It won’t be a stretch to suggest that Dhawan’s ODI career is on weak footing; a failure in this series could see KL Rahul – who is swiftly rising into a reliable all-format batsman – push him down the pecking order.Ideally, Dhawan’s ODI record would earn him a longer rope, but that it is not, at least to some extent, a consequence of his meagre returns in Tests and T20s over the last year. At any rate, it isn’t entirely uncommon for players these days to be picked in one format on the basis of strong performances in another – think Yuvraj Singh.Dhawan’s average differential in Tests and ODIs has been consistently increasing in the last four years•BCCIWhile Dhawan’s Test average in 2016 was 26, he averaged 57.40 in ODIs, a difference of 31.40. Such skewed numbers aren’t a one-off occurrence, and the gap between his Test and ODI averages has continued to widen over the last four years, with 2015 being the lone exception. For instance, in 2014, when India played Test series’ in England, South Africa and Australia, the difference between his Test and ODI averages was 16.44. In his 39 Test innings, he has had three sequences of seven or more innings without a 50-plus score, but in contrast only once has he gone five consecutive innings without a fifty in ODIs.Things went downhill for Dhawan when he was dropped for the Port of Spain Test last August after a modest tally of 138 runs from four innings. He sat out the Kanpur Test against New Zealand, but was handed a lifeline in Kolkata after Rahul injured himself. But, Dhawan copped a furious onslaught from Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Matt Henry, and managed only 1 and 17.A thumb fracture, courtesy Boult, made the management’s decision easier. Upon recovery, he had to audition himself in the Ranji Trophy where five innings didn’t yield a single half-century. His T20 form had been poor as well – he managed 43 runs from four innings in the World T20 – and he hasn’t been picked in the format since.After the Duleep Trophy final last year, Dhawan, who scored 29 in each innings, spoke candidly about how he channelled the disappointment of being dropped for the T20Is into becoming a better batsman. Equally pragmatic was his take on the competition for the opening slots with the emergence and success of KL Rahul: ” [One needs to give it one’s all to keep one’s place in the side].”Dhawan found some form in the first practice game against England earlier this week and went on to score 63 off 84 balls on a flat track. After starting shakily, some of his characteristic strokes – the cut, pull and the uppish drive over covers – made an appearance. The innings would have gladdened his team-mates. Nicknamed Gabbar after the iconic villain of the Hindi film , his moustache-twirling thigh-slapping celebrations are a hit with his team-mates.His captain, Virat Kohli, is as much a fan of Dhawan’s quirks as he is of his explosive potential. But how does he motivate a batsman who has lost his place in two formats and is not too far from being dropped in the third?”A player like Shikhar, everyone is aware of his ability. We try to keep someone like Shikhar in a very good head space,” Kohli said. “Because once he’s cleared his head, he can really take the game from the opposition. That’s something we try to do, give him as much space as possible, not speak too much about the game – that’s something I like to do.’We try to keep someone like Shikhar in a very good head space’ – Virat Kohli•Associated Press”Knowing the kind of player Shikhar is, and the kind of person he is, it is better to leave a guy like that to his own planning and own thinking, rather than giving your plans to him. Because he’s so instinctive, once he gets going, he just finds more options than anyone else. Once he’s in the game, he has momentum, I’ve seen guys really struggling to bowl to him when he’s in full flow.”Kohli feels Dhawan is still a good enough ODI opener, who possesses an ability to set up games for batsmen coming down the order. “He bats long as well, he can really bat till the 40-45th over once he gets going,” he said. “So, he has a lot of positives, that’s what we always back Shikhar on.””Jinx [Ajinkya Rahane] is coming back from an injury as well, he’s batted well in the one-day warm-up match. KL has been playing well for a while; he’s coming off almost a double-hundred in Chennai. Shikhar has also got runs in the warm-up game so we have to figure out, among these three, who are the two who will be likely to start. But, again, I say, I am happy that all three are in a good space now having had some runs behind them. It makes my job easier.”