Stuart Wark
The multifaceted Mr Ravi Shastri
We might know him better as a commentator, but in his day he was a fine spinner and, when called on, a gritty opener
Stuart Wark
23-Nov-2014
The widespread introduction of televised broadcasts saw a fundamental shift in cricket commentary. Prior to live television, radio teams were usually two commentators: the main reporter was a normally a professional journalist who did the ball-by-ball descriptions and received support from a famous former Test cricketer, who provided expert analysis interspersed with anecdotes.
This model worked (and indeed continues to work) very well on the radio, but the emergence of pictures removed the need for the detailed account of every delivery. The trained journalist was gradually replaced by "star" ex-cricketers, and most television broadcast teams now only have former international players who often have little or no media schooling. It is perhaps no surprise that Richie Benaud, seen by many as the "doyen of commentators", is actually a trained journalist who started his post-cricket career doing the police rounds.
However, there are clearly far more ex-Test cricketers than there are commentary jobs, so not all of them can take this pathway. For some individuals, though, it almost appears pre-destined that they will progress quickly from the field of play to the box. Ravi Shastri is one such.
Full postAll hail the Phantom
One of Australian cricket's leading voices, he was also a technically correct opener who took on some of the best fast bowling attacks with distinction over a ten-year career
Stuart Wark
23-Oct-2014
This is one in a series of articles about the playing careers of cricket commentators. The focus of the previous one was the inimitable Tony Greig; it seems only appropriate to follow up with his long-time sparring partner and colleague Bill Lawry.
Lawry was born on February 11, 1937 in Thornbury, a suburb of Melbourne. Historically the lower-level cricket competitions in Australia's cities were often structured around "Churches Cricket Leagues", and Lawry's first organised games of cricket were through his school and for the Thornbury Presbyterian Church. He transitioned into the formal district cricket competition at 12, playing initially for the Northcote Fourth XI. He also played for Preston Technical School, then the largest technical school in Victoria, where he was to undertake a plumbing apprenticeship.
Lawry worked his way through the grades at Northcote, and was selected to make his first-grade debut at the tender age of 16. He was a technically correct left-hand opening batsman, and his ability to bat for long periods of time was quickly recognised by the state selectors and he was chosen for the Victoria 2nd XI to play against South Australia on December 31, 1954. The match was not a personal success for Lawry, as he was bowled by Alfred Bailey for a duck. Victoria went on to win by an innings and 40 runs and Lawry therefore didn't get the chance to bat again. Eleven months later, Lawry played another 2nd XI match against South Australia with far more success; he single-handedly passed the visitors' innings of 157 with his own score of 183. This innings, along with his continuing good form for Northcote, saw him selected to play his initial first-class game against Western Australia in February 1956. Victoria won that game by an innings, but Lawry personally failed, with a score of just 3.
Full postRemembering Tony Greig, the allrounder
It's easy to forget that some popular commentators of our time were excellent cricketers before they took up the mike
Stuart Wark
01-Oct-2014
A recent cohort* of students realised they could distract me from attempting to teach them the basic principles of public health by subtly turning the discussion to cricket. One thing I have gained from these conversations is that many younger cricket fans have little knowledge of the often considerable on-field contributions made by current cricket commentators.
Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and others are now cult figures more famous - admittedly in part due to the efforts of Billy Birmingham - for their role in talking about cricket than for what they did while actively playing. So my next few articles will be focusing on commentators who should be remembered for their cricketing skills as much as for their ability to talk about the game.
My first subject is Tony Greig, who died far too young on December 29, 2012, succumbing to a heart attack a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. He is correctly remembered as an entertaining and often thought-provoking commentator. However, to only remember him in this capacity is to do him a major disservice. He was one of England's greatest ever allrounders.
Full postLet us now praise Dudley Nourse
The South African batsman's superior Test numbers may have slipped under the radar because of his team's poor record in the few years either side of the Second World War
Stuart Wark
06-Sep-2014
With the recent retirement of Jacques Kallis, there has been renewed discussion about South Africa's greatest Test batsman. Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock are often nominated as Kallis' main claimants to the crown as South Africa's "best-ever", but there is another player who has genuine claims who seems to be rarely mentioned. Dudley Nourse was the son of Dave Nourse, who himself played 45 consecutive Tests for South Africa from 1902 until 1924. Nourse Sr set numerous batting records; however, the son's Test record was soon to eclipse that of the father.
Dudley was born on November 12, 1910. He grew up in Durban, playing cricket and soccer at a high level. The decision of which sport to focus on was not straightforward and Dudley missed an entire season of cricket at 17, to concentrate on football. However, he returned to cricket the next year, joining the Umbilo Cricket Club in Durban. It is interesting to note that he received no formal coaching from his family. His father reportedly told him: "I learned to play cricket with a paling from a fence. Now you go and do the same."
In 1930, Dudley was selected as 12th man for Natal in a game against the touring MCC side. While being named as 12th man would not appear overly significant, he commented afterwards that the experience "was sufficient to prove a turning point in my outlook on the game. I no longer had an attitude of indifference." Cricket had now taken over as Dudley's main sporting focus.
Full postThe un-English flair of Denis Compton
The antithesis of the dour English batting stereotype, Compton wowed fans and peers with his ability to play all the shots in the textbook and several outside of it
Stuart Wark
10-Aug-2014
It is interesting to reflect on the stereotypes that exist with respect to the various batting "styles" of players from certain countries, like the Calypso flair regularly argued to be inherent to cricketers from the West Indies.
Some of these archetypes are somewhat self-explanatory: for example the back-foot dominance of Australian players stems from faster, bouncy pitches, while the wristy elegance of batsmen from the subcontinent reflects lower and slower tracks. However, one of the strongest stereotypes of all is the technically proficient but dour English professional. From the days of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe through Len Hutton and Ken Barrington to Geoff Boycott, there are many exemplars of this concept, and yet relatively few examples of glorious strokemakers. However, every now and again, a player comes along who doesn't simply break the public's "thought mould", he smashes it into tiny pieces.
David Gower, and more recently, Kevin Pietersen, are examples of English players who manage to bypass convention and play in a manner that delighted the crowds more than the technical purists.
Full postVinoo beyond the Mankad
One of India's greatest allrounders is today unfortunately mostly remembered for a mode of dismissal that, though legitimate, is seen by many to be unfair
Stuart Wark
07-Jul-2014
It seemed appropriate to briefly wait for the furore regarding Sachithra Senanayake's run-out of Jos Buttler to die down, but there is an important issue that needs addressing. It is not a change to the laws, be they legal or the spirit of, but instead an examination of the word "Mankad".
The topic for this article is the person, not the action. Some players are forever remembered for a single feat which was not purely performance-based: Trevor Chappell's* career would probably be a mere asterisk appended to those of his two older siblings if not for the underarm incident. Similarly, Vinoo Mankad sadly now seems to only be recalled negatively for the running out of Australian batsman Bill Brown - an action that has seen his name unfortunately appropriated to describe an entirely legitimate but for some undetermined reason viewed as underhand method of dismissal.
The fact that outside India Mankad is largely only remembered for this one action is very unfair as he was an excellent cricketer with genuine claims to being considered India's greatest allrounder. With India currently in England to contest a five-Test series, it seems only proper to remember one of the key figures in the team's inaugural Test win over England, and to try to redress the perceived dishonour that has been unfairly attached to his name.
Full postTime to dump the coin toss?
Let the home team prepare the kind of pitch they want but let the visitors decide whether to bat or field first on it
Stuart Wark
17-Jun-2014
One of the most common utterances heard regularly in cricket is that if a captain wins the toss, they should always choose to bat first. The supposed original quotation, ascribed to WG Gracem was: "When you win the toss - bat. If you are in doubt, think about it - then bat. If you have very big doubts, consult a colleague - then bat." Similarly, Ian Chappell quotes his grandfather Victor Richardson as saying, "Nine times out of ten when you win the toss, bat first, and on the tenth occasion think about it, then bat."
There have been numerous statistical analysis arguing whether winning the toss actually makes any difference to the outcome of the match. However, the question no one seems to ask is: why do we toss a coin to decide which team bats and which team bowls? In fact, when did tossing a coin to choose between the two options first become standard practice?
References to the common usage of metal coins can be found as far back as the 7th century BC in the Greek islands and across middle Asia. In order to distinguish between the values, coins were imprinted with different images or text, and as early as 610 BC the "Lydian Lion" coin from Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) had two clearly defined sides - a lion's head on the obverse and a punch mark on the reverse that occurred during the minting process. At some point, and with humanity being what it is, probably very soon after the first coin was produced, two people decided to bet upon the outcome of throwing a coin up in the air and seeing which side finished facing the sky.
Full postStyle over statistics
Wasim Raja played 57 Tests, scored four centuries, and averaged 36.16. But those numbers don't reveal his value to the side or the joy he brought to those watching
Stuart Wark
16-May-2014
Some players capture our imagination through their statistical brilliance. The name Bradman is still synonymous with batting genius right around the cricketing world, even though he played his last Test match well over 60 years ago and there are now very few fans around who would have seen him play in person.
Other cricketers, however, are able to inspire and thrill crowds through their attacking approach to the game without regard to opponents' reputations or preservation of their own averages. There are many batsmen who are said to have "wasted" the natural talent bestowed upon them by failing to score big centuries consistently. Usually it is the highly attacking players who wear this tag - their desire to dominate the bowling leading to relatively early exits from the crease.
Wayne Prior, the former Australia opening bowler, disagreed with this argument by commenting that the expectation and sheer sense of excitement that flows through fellow players, umpires and spectators when such a batsman arrives in the middle is in itself sufficient justification for the supposed squandering of their talent.
Full postThe finest of Sri Lanka's early years
In the '80s, the classy Roy Dias gave stability to a Sri Lankan batting line-up that had to compete against teams with far greater experience and depth
Stuart Wark
14-Apr-2014
In recent articles I looked at the first great batsman from India and Pakistan. After watching Sri Lanka's meritorious victory in the World T20 recently, I was motivated to continue this wander through the history of some of my favourite cricket-playing countries and move on to consider who was Sri Lanka's first great with the blade.
As I have noted previously, one of the difficulties in such an endeavour is trying to evaluate performances across eras and times, and particularly for players we may not have witnessed personally and for whom there is no available video footage to review. However, Sri Lanka are easier in this regard than either India or Pakistan, as they are a relatively recent introduction to the family of Test-playing nations.
I am using the same criteria as with the previous pieces in only considering batsmen who have played at Test level. Sri Lanka made their debut in 1982. This means that many undoubtedly very good players are not eligible. Batsmen such as MK Albert, LDS Gunasekera, Nihal Gurusinghe, Frederick C de Saram, Mahadevan Sathasivam, Sargo Jayawickreme, TCT Edward, Mano Ponniah, Stanley Jayasinghe, Anura Tennekoon, Sunil Wettimuny and Ievers Gunasekara all have excellent reputations and are worth acknowledging for their performances for both Ceylon and Sri Lanka prior to their country becoming a Test nation.
Full postTakes a licking, keeps on ticking
A look at some brave efforts from injured batsmen who managed to return to the field to resume the fight
Stuart Wark
16-Mar-2014
Since their return to the international cricket family in the 1990s, South African sides have generally not been particularly popular with the wider Australian public. Captains such as Kepler Wessels set a tone in which they were often seen as negative and defensive. In the 2005-06 season Graeme Smith managed to alienate a large proportion of the Australian cricket-viewing population, and at the same time lost five of the six Test matches. Smith tried to talk tough, but that approach dramatically backfired. It would not be unfair to describe Smith back then as one of the most unpopular cricketers in Australia since Richard Hadlee hung up his boots.
However, the 2008-09 season saw a dramatic turnaround in both public perceptions of Smith and the South African team. Smith's performance in that series as a leader was exemplary. He remained calm, and managed the media particularly well. He succeeded in transforming himself into a considered and mature captain who rarely appeared flustered.
When he walked out to bat, injured hand and all, in the second innings of the third Test in Sydney during that 2008-09 series, Smith received a standing ovation from the entire crowd. It was reminiscent of the footage of the standing ovation for Harold Larwood at the same ground during the Bodyline series. While the public would have applauded Smith's bravery in 2006 if he had come out to bat in similar circumstances, he would not have won their hearts as he so clearly did in 2009.
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