The Reverse Sweep

Sachin Tendulkar's 99.94

It was going to take something pretty special to wake this lapsed blogger from his slumber. KP's childish spat with his team mates and the ECB? Not a chance. England winning a Test series in India? No way. An Ashes series in England? Close but no cigar. The retirement of the Little Master? You bet it does. Rip van Winkle has arisen (as I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses blasts out of my hibernation cave).

In pure Rafa Benitez style - except with no rants required - here are some facts we'd like to celebrate about the remarkable career of Sachin Tendulkar:

• Longevity: An international career of 25 years is a staggering achievement and one that aptly apes the player with a similar sobriquet as Tendulkar: Sir Jack Hobbs - The Master.  
• Records: Where do you start? 200 Test matches, 463 ODIs, just shy of 16,000 Test runs with 51 hundreds and close to 18,500 ODI runs with 49 tons. Wherever you look, the numbers are extraordinary.
• Sachin's 99.94: Incredible as it may seem, the Little Master's record number of Test hundreds is vulnerable with Jacques Kallis just seven three-figure scores behind and a certain Alastair Cook positioning himself well. But, Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds brokers no such threats. The closest challengers still playing (Chris Gayle with 21 and Virat Kohli with 17) are simply miles behind. This is Sachin's 99.94.
• Dignity:  Rarely can someone be so good at what they do that not even a smidgen of arrogance or cockiness is detectable. That fact that Tendulkar has been and will continue to be deified by 1bn countrymen makes his modesty all the more remarkable.

But is he cricket's best ever batsman? At the risk of being declared a heretic, this writer thinks not. Don Bradman wrote an indelible claim to that title when he retired with that average of 99.94 to his name. You need to add a batsman of the class of Clive Lloyd's Test average to that of Sachin's final score of 53.78 to reach the Don.

Whilst you can't compare eras that still brokers no argument in our book. Better to celebrate Tendulkar's career as the remarkable one it was rather than making claims that are impossible to substantiate.

Sachin has been amazing and I for one have enjoyed watching him grow from boy to man over his remarkable tenure of a quarter of a century as King of India. Cheers Sachin. 

Where next?

Sachin Tendulkar & Jack Hobbs: Masters with much in common

The 30 Greatest Batsmen Ever: Part 1 (30-21), Part 2 (20-11), Part 3 (10-1)

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #12

Neil McKenzie (Hampshire) - Whilst his former South African team mates ground England into the dust at The Oval, the Hampshire opener took 139 runs off the Essex attack at Chelmsford. 

Sam Northeast (Kent) - Hit a stylish hundred - the fourth of his first-class career - as the game with Glamorgan petered out to a draw.

Nick Compton (Somerset) - Kept his side in the game against Warwickshire with an unbeaten 73 in the first innings and then provided sterling support to Kieswetter as Somerset pulled off a remarkable turnaround at Taunton. 

Jim Troughton (Warwickshire) - The captain's hundred looked to have set up a decisive advantage for the title challengers at Taunton before Somerset turned the tables in the second innings.

Craig Kieswetter (Somerset) - Bludgeoned Somerset to a narrow one wicket victory against the Division 1 leaders with 152 from just 170 balls at Taunton.

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire) - Won the battle of the part-time bowlers with 12 wickets to Steven Croft's nine as Lancashire were humbled at Old Trafford.  

David Wheater (Essex) - Nearly pulled off a remarkable heist at Chelmsford, but with his score on 98 and Essex just three runs short of their 360 run target, the keeper holed out to Sean Ervine on the long-on boundary

Ben Scott (Worcestershire) - A week for keepers - as well as Kieswetter and Wheater, Mark Wallace hit a hundred and Chris Read 98, but Scott's 1st innings hundred proved decisive in a low-scoring contest at Old Trafford.

Alfonso Thomas (Somerset) - Demonstrated that he isn't just a limited overs specialist with nine wickets as Somerset beat previously unbeaten Warwickshire at Taunton. 

Steve Magoffin (Sussex) - Was the difference between the sides at Arundel with match figures of nine for 50 (off 34.4 overs) and then hit the winning runs after Sussex had stumbled in their pursuit of 94 against basement side Durham.

James Tomlinson (Hampshire) - Grabbed five for 86 including the final wicket of Wheater as Hampshire narrowly defeated Essex at Chelmsford.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XI's of the week

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Ravi Bopara's big opportunity

At first glance, Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara wouldn’t appear to have much in common as cricketers.

The first extracted the absolute maximum out of his abilities to have a long and successful international career, whilst the latter has yet to justify his obvious talent consistently on the biggest stage. Collingwood is one of the mentally toughest cricketers to have played for England whereas Bopara has a reputation for being a bit flaky and prone to serious lapses in form, confidence and concentration.

But Bopara was the man Andy Flower initially earmarked as Collingwood’s replacement in the Test side before Eoin Morgan stole the prize from the Essex man at the death prior to the home series with Sri Lanka last summer.

Since then Bopara had suffered misfortune after misfortune as first Samit Patel and then Jonathan Bairstow were handed opportunities to cement a role in England’s troublesome number six position.

But finally Bopara has got his turn again, and after an inauspicious duck in the 1^st innings at The Oval now has the chance to prove he is a worthy successor to Collingwood. The Ginger Ninja cemented his reputation as the iron-willed Brigadier Block with starring roles in the nine-wicket down rearguards at Cardiff, Centurion and Cape Town.

As Geoffrey Boycott forcibly stated on TMS yesterday evening, the mindset required to save a Test is markedly different to coming in and playing a few strokes. Does Bopara have the aptitude, concentration and sheer bloody-mindedness to tough it out on a day five pitch against a formidable attack spearheaded by the irrepressible Dale Steyn?

We are about to find out. If Bopara leads England to an unlikely escape, it could be the making of him.

Where next?

Cricket heroes: Paul Collingwood

Is Ravi Bopara the unluckiest cricketer in the world?

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Alastair Cook keeps proving them wrong

Let's go back in time to two summers ago. Pakistan were visiting English shores for what would prove to be an eventful and never to be forgotten tour - and not for the right reasons sadly.

Alastair Cook couldn't buy a run. His game looked completely awry and Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer toyed with their new victim like an excitable pair of kittens with a cornered mouse.

Drop him was a familiar cry from pundits and spectators alike. But then from the depths of despair, Cook came out firing at The Oval with a courageous 2nd innings hundred that silenced the doubters and confirmed his place in the Ashes squad that winter. Not that it was ever really in question thanks to England's wise trigger shy selectors.

We all know what happened next. Cook morphed into a left-handed Jack Hobbs and plundered three hundreds and 766 remorseless runs as Australia were ground into the dust. Cook hasn't looked back and since the start of that Ashes tour has amassed over 2,000 runs at 72.75 with his hundred against South Africa yesterday making it seven hundreds in 21 Tests. These are phenomenal figures.

But Cook has not been content in merely becoming the best opener in Test cricket today. When he was handed the one day captaincy after Andrew Strauss retired from the 50 over format after yet another disappointing World Cup, even supposedly informed observers like Michael Atherton likened Cook to a donkey that did not have the game for 50 over cricket. Others felt Cook was not captaincy material not least because his supposed limitations as a batsman meant he wasn't worth a place in the side.

The critics were wrong again on both counts. His batting in a format that many thought was alien to him has been nothing short of a revelation. In 25 matches since assuming the captaincy, Cook has plundered 1180 runs at 51.30 with four hundreds and seven fifties. More telling is that he has done that at a strike rate of 88.65. Not bad for a donkey.

And what about his captaincy? Whilst his skills as a leader are still clearly developing, he has won five out of his six series at the helm - the aberration of course being the 5-0 whitewash in India - as England have climbed to number three in the ODI rankings.

In two years, Cook has gone from chump to being spoken of as the only challenger to Sachin Tendulkar's haul of 100 international hundreds. That is ridiculous of course as Cook is some 75 hundreds off achieving that, but it does show how far this unassuming character has come. Long may it continue.

Where next?

England vs South Africa - too close to call again?

Sachin Tendulkar & Jack Hobbs: Masters with much in common

How England won the Ashes: Part 4 - Runs, runs, runs...

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County Championship XI of the week #11

The Championship returned at long last, but the weather was just as bad as when the Friends Life T20 interrupted proceedings at the start of June, but we still managed (just) to cobble together an XI of the week...

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex) - Scored 50 out of his side's dismal 1st innings total of 98 and then demonstrated he is ready for the South Africans with an unbeaten 127 against Notts at Uxbridge.

Joe Root (Yorkshire) - Many believe the young Yorkshireman is the heir apparent to Strauss at the top of the order of England's Test side and a classy unbeaten career best 222 at Southampton certainly confirmed his candidature.

Kevin Pietersen (Surrey) - Amidst the soap opera of the has he or hasn't he retired from limited overs international cricket, KP's rare foray into county cricket produced a quite stunning 234 not out off just 190 balls against the county champions at Guildford. 

Steven Croft (Lancashire) - Hit a career best 154 not out at Guildford but was ultimately overshadowed by the rain and Pietersen's remarkable innings.

Jim Allenby (Glamorgan) - Steered his side to their first win of the season and lifted them off the bottom of Division 2 with a brisk half century at Northampton as the Welsh side successfully chased down 351.

Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) - Struck his fifth fifty plus score of the season to put his side in the ascendancy at Uxbridge before the rain fell again. 

Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire) - Hit his third hundred in eight Championship innings to help secure maximum batting points at Edgbaston and then added three wickets to lift Warwickshire to the top of Division 1. 

Andre Adams (Nottinghamshire) - Took his tally of Championship wickets for the season to 46 (at just 15.5) with a six wicket 1st innings haul at Uxbridge before the rain prevented Notts from going clear at the top of Division 1. 

Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) - Not for the first time this season the rain fell on Edgbaston, but the New Zealander's five for 77 at least ensured maximum bowling points for his side.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) - Grabbed four wickets at Uxbridge to take his season's tally to 34 at 25.

Reece Topley (Essex) - The 18 year old future England Test bowler took three of the four wickets to fall as rain ruined the first part of the Cheltenham Festival.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XI's of the week

Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket: the case for the defence

Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

England vs South Africa - too close to call again?

We were fortunate enough to attend the inaugural lunch of the Wisden 150 Club at the Kennington Oval earlier this week where Michael Atherton and Allan Donald relived their memorable contretemps at Trent Bridge in 1998 as well as other notable encounters between the two.

Whilst the Chatham House Rule prevents us from divulging what Messrs Atherton and Donald actually said whilst we enjoyed a glass or two of a rather fine Bordeaux, we were reminded that clashes between South Africa and England tend to be extremely close.

Think back to 1994 where Devon Malcolm’s nine for 57 squared the series at The Oval, or 1995 where after four drawn Tests including Atherton’s famous 185 not out at the Wanderers South Africa prevailed in the final Test at Cape Town. Three years later in England, the home side came back from one-nil down to take the last two Tests and the series. Then in 2003, having ended Nasser Hussain’s reign as skipper and scoring double hundreds in each of the first two Tests, Graeme Smith saw his side pegged back at The Oval to see the series end two Tests apiece.

England then won another close series in South Africa in 2004/05 as they toned up for a titanic Ashes series six months later. The two-one score-line was reversed in the summer of 2008 when Smith finally led his side to a series win in England and saw the back of another home skipper in the shape of Michael Vaughan. Finally, in 2009/10, England somehow escaped with a drawn series having secured thrilling nine-wicket down draws at Centurion and Newlands.

By now you probably get the picture – England and South Africa Test series are always close and if anything this upcoming series could be the closest yet as there does not appear to be a hair’s breadth between the sides. Whilst the series is scandalously being played over just three Tests – especially as it pits the best two teams in the world against each other (forget the updated ICC rankings published at the weekend, which surely erroneously placed Australia at number two), a thrilling contest awaits.

As the home side, England probably just have the edge, but an opposition containing batsmen such as Smith, the classy Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and the underrated AB De Villiers plus a bowling attack of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir will provide Andrew Strauss’ team with an almighty Test.

After a seemingly never-ending diet of Twenty 20 and fifty over cricket, the series cannot come soon enough even if the biblically bad weather will no doubt rear its ugly head. We’re so excited, we’ve even started updating this blog again!

Where next?

Who gets in an England-South Africa composite XI?

The pursuit of greatness & the England cricket team

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

The pursuit of greatness & the England cricket team

In our view true greatness in sport is rare, although the last two Sundays have seen superlative performances from arguably the best tennis player of all-time and one of the best sides to ever grace a football pitch.

But if Roger Federer's and Spain’s places in the sporting pantheon are assured, what of England’s cricketers who but for rain washing out the ODI game at Edgbaston against an outclassed and confused looking Australian side would likely have been sitting at the top of the ICC Test, ODI and T20 rankings?

That is the subject of our piece for All Out Cricket’s rather fab website this week. Have a read of England In Pursuit Of Greatness and see if you agree.

Where next?

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

England vs Australia ODI series: Why do we feel so underwhelmed?

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England vs Australia ODI series: Why do we feel so underwhelmed?

England versus Australia. Now there's a clash to whet the appetite. Two bitter rivals slugging it out on the cricket fields of England. So why do we feel so underwhelmed about the prospect of the five match ODI series that starts at Lord's today?

Well for a start there are no Ashes Tests to follow the hors d'oeuvre of the coloured pyjama brigade. Worse, the series has been solely arranged for the benefit of mammon and television. Catastrophically, the imposition of this needless series coupled with the Olympics means that the forthcoming Test series with South Africa will be played over just three Test matches.

So forgive our cynicism and negativity about the five match series. England are playing thirteen (or is it fourteen? To be honest we've lost count) matches this summer. No wonder, Kevin Pietersen decided to give this ridiculous schedule a miss.

England-Australia clashes are supposed to be special. This series clearly isn't, and with back-to-back Ashes series next year, thousands more one day games and yet another Ashes series in England in 2015, the ECB and Cricket Australia are in danger of diluting the brand and making England versus Australia as appealing as the prospect of a dinner date with a group of Barclays investment bankers. 

Bob Diamond or Michael Clarke? It shouldn't be a contest but with 30 encounters between the two sides scheduled for the next 18 months, the odious Bob may be preferable come early 2014.

Where next?

Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket: The case for the defence

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

England are playing THIRTEEN ODI this summer. Oh joy...

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Tom Maynard RIP: He'll always be 23...

At the start of the season as we selected our County Championship XI to watch in 2012 we suggested that Tom Maynard was a good outside bet for England's squad to defend the World T20 trophy in Sri Lanka in September. Now we will tragically never know.

The circumstances surrounding his death are still shrouded in mystery, but it seems he was hit by a tube train after running away from police who had stopped his car in the early hours of the morning.

23 is no age to die. Like Ben Hollioake before him, we will never know now how good Maynard could have been and whether he could had the successful international career that his father Matthew so richly deserved.

Maynard hit over 1,000 runs in the championship at 40 in his debut year for Surrey last season after moving from Glamorgan to help his new side to promotion. He already had 525 at 40.38 this season including a phenomenally good hundred at New Road that nearly enabled Surrey to win after following on. But it was as a hard hitting ODI or T20 batsman and brilliant fielder that Maynard was likely to first break into the England side.

We heard Stereophonics 'Local Boy in the Photograph' on the radio this morning for the first time in ages. This was a couple of hours before the terrible news surfaced about Maynard, and it is his fellow Welshmen that perhaps have the most poignant words on this desperately sad day:

"He'll always be 23, yet the train runs on and on
And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph
Today
He's gone away"

Rest in peace, young dragon.

Where next?

An XI of cricketers that tragically died young

County Championship Division 2 XI of 2011

Cricket Heroes: Graham Dilley R.I.P

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

England v West Indies - England series marks out of 10

Andrew Strauss (326 runs at 65.20) 9: Redemption at Lord's followed by a second successive hundred at Trent Bridge (to prove that Test match centuries can be like London buses) set up his side's victories in the first two Tests. A touch negative in the field during Samuels' and Sammy's big stand at Nottingham and also when Best and Ramdin caused chaos at Edgbaston.

Alastair Cook (176 runs at 44.00) 6: Failed in the 1st innings of every Test and only made it to 24 at Trent Bridge after being reprieved twice by Roach no balls, but anchored a tricky run chase at Lord's with 79 vital runs and was there at the end at Nottingham whilst looking in decent enough nick.

Jonathan Trott (140 runs at 35.00) 5: Another to look in good touch but could only manage a top score of 58, which was unlike his usual ruthless self. Perhaps he is saving some big innings for his fellow South Africans?

Kevin Pietersen (203 runs at 50.75) 7: Looked in tremendous form at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston but was unable to turn scores of 80 and 78 into big three figure scores. Courted controversy once again by retiring from limited overs internationals but South Africa should beware as KP looks in the mood.

Ian Bell (222 runs at 111.00) 8: No doosra (or Saeed Ajmal), no cry for Bell who eased back into his 2011 vintage with three fifties from four innings with the most crucial coming in the 2nd innings at Lord's when England had stumbled to 57 for four chasing 191.

Jonathan Bairstow (38 runs at 12.66) 3: Started promisingly with a brief cameo of 16 at Lord's but was all at sea at Trent Bridge against the short ball. It is harsh to judge him on four brief innings, but an in-form Ravi Bopara is clearly a better bet against South Africa's daunting pace attack.

Matt Prior (35 runs at 17.50) 5: Whilst his work with the gloves was its usual high quality, he for once failed to cash in against his favourite opponents where in two innings he was bowled through the gate each time.

Tim Bresnan (12 wickets at 33.00; 39 runs at 39.00) 6: Disappointing at Lord's but back to his bustling best at Trent Bridge with eight wickets and an important 39 not out. if Edgbaston is anything to go by, he is far better as a third seamer than the leader of the attack. Winning run ended on 13 by the rain in Birmingham.

Stuart Broad (14 wickets at 21.71; 35 runs at 17.50) 8: Opened up with a career best eleven wicket match haul at Lord's and since the start of the India series last summer has 54 wickets at 18.88 and a batting average of 32.27. That is world-class in any language. Rested for Edgbaston but was still the leading wicket taker in the series.

Graeme Swann (6 wickets at 47.00; 31 runs at 15.50) 6: The pitches offered him scant assistance but took the vital wickets of Bravo and Chanderpaul as West Indies fought hard second time around at Lord's. Should come into his own against the South Africans in the summer's main event.

James Anderson (9 wickets at 26.88; 6 runs at 3.00) 8: Bowled better than his figures suggest, beat the bat countless times and is now the personification of consistency as he barely wastes a ball. Wasn't happy to be rested for Edgbaston where England missed his skill with the ball and nous as the attack leader. His forthcoming dual with Dale Steyn should be fascinating. 

Steve Finn (1 Test, three for 109; 0*) 5: The 'next cab off the rank' came in at Edgbaston as Anderson and Broad were rested and mixed up some unplayable deliveries with several balls - especially in the record last wicket partnership - that were lacking in line or length.

Graham Onions (1 Test, four for 88; DNB) 7: England's decision to rotate their seamers handed the Durham bowler his first Test cap for two and a half years after a serious back injury. He was the pick of the attack with four wickets and may have moved ahead of Finn now in the pecking order. 

Where next?

England v West Indies - West Indies series marks out of 10

2nd Test marks out of 10: England and West Indies

1st Test marks out of ten: England and West Indies

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket: the case for the defence

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep