The Reverse Sweep

Are Pakistan about to shoot themselves in the foot over Mohsin Khan?

Did the ECB even consider for a second replacing Andy Flower as England coach in the immediate aftermath of last winter’s Ashes success in Australia? Of course not. Similarly, are Cricket Australia likely to debate the tenability of Mickey Arthur’s position in the wake of the whitewash over India? Don't be silly.

But believe it or not, Pakistan’s interim coach Mohsin Khan is strongly rumoured to be being replaced by Dav Whatmore in the next few weeks despite masterminding his team’s superb Test series win over the number one ranked side in the United Arab Emirates.

Whatmore may be an experienced international coach, but why would the PCB want to meddle with the strong team dynamic that Mohsin and his skipper Misbah-ul-Haq have forged with a young team?

Mohsin has brought consistency in selection, unity, nurtured individual and team responsibility, positive results on the pitch and all without even the merest hint of scandal – all things hitherto thought impossible in the mad, bad and crazy world of Pakistan cricket.

Given how his players hoisted him on their shoulders as they celebrated their amazing victory in Abu Dhabi on Saturday it is evident how highly they regard Mohsin. The last thing this settled and talented side needs is a change at the top – Misbah knows it, the players know it and for the sake of Pakistan cricket let’s hope the PCB realise it before it is too late.

Where next?

2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

Misbah-ul-Haq second only to Bradman

Cricket heroes: Saeed Ajmal

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Geoff Boycott's dose of Yorkshire humour on England's 72 all out

After the shambles of England’s feeble run chase in the 2nd Test in Abu Dhabi on Saturday it was going to take something pretty special to put the smile back on the faces of England’s devoted supporters.

Well, Geoff Boycott may just have done it  - partially at least.

Writing of England’s defeat in the Telegraph, Boycott played more forceful strokes off the front foot than in his entire first-class cricket career. We particularly enjoyed his take on Eoin Morgan:

“Morgan’s body language is abysmal. When he walks in under pressure he gives me the impression of a lamb to the slaughter. When he comes in, I daren’t go for a pee because I know I will miss him”

We’re not sure if it is the “pee” line that makes us laugh the most or the thought of Geoffrey wetting himself in the unlikely event that Morgan hangs around at the crease for a couple of hours in the 3rd Test.

A dose of gruff Yorkshire sarcasm is just what the doctor ordered after that most sickly of displays by England’s terrified batsmen. We'll leave the final word to Geoffrey...

"England batted as if they had no idea how to score. They succumbed like lemmings jumping off a cliff: uncertain, negative and mesmerised"

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If you've been injured during a sporting event, or during negligent medical treatment afterwards, and you want to talk to some personal injury solicitors in Sheffield, then visit www.irwinmitchell.com

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Where next?

2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

England's tale of woe against spin in Asia

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2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

Andrew Strauss - 3: Captained the side well again and at least showed some fight in anchoring the run chase. Sadly the skipper's lack of form and his colleagues lack of stomach did for Strauss and for England. Should consider dropping to three in an effort to regain form.

Alastair Cook - 6: Typically resilient in the 1st innings where his diligence and concentration deserved a hundred. His early loss in the run chase proved terminal for England - it was Cook's sixth single figure score in his last nine Test innings.

Jonathan Trott - 6: Poor footwork cost him his wicket in the 1st innings after he and Cook had done all the hard work. Illness meant it is difficult to level any blame on Trott's shoulders for his failure in the run chase when he eventually came in at number seven. Definitely not Trott's fault.

Kevin Pietersen - 1: Whilst those questioning his place are clearly insane his complete lack of form in this series - only 17 runs to date at 4.25 - and his overall record in Asia where he averages just 29.54 from 13 Tests (excluding matches against Bangladesh) are real causes for concern. 

Ian Bell - 2: The best Test batsmen of 2011 has been made to look a novice by Pakistan's spinners. Seems as likely to be able to read Ajmal's doosra as a tourist in London has of spotting a family of Tyrannosaurus Rex's enjoying a vegetarian picnic in Hyde Park. 

Eoin Morgan - 1: Supposedly in the side due to his ability against spin, but there has been little evidence to date on this tour with his dismissal in the 2nd innings being especially grotesque. Impressing in limited overs internationals is one thing, but Test cricket is quite another. Should be replaced by Ravi Bopara for the final Test.

Matt Prior - 4: Sound again behind the stumps and prepared to battle more than most in front of them. Unfortunately, his game is the least suited of England's top seven to facing quality spin bowling on these type of wickets as evidenced by his tendency to play back too often.

Stuart Broad - 8: Didn't deserve to finish on the losing side after another fine exhibition of bowling and a counterattacking 1st innings fifty that seemed to have put his side in control. As an enforcer he was more Barbie than Rambo, but since he dropped the tough guy act he has taken 33 wickets in six Tests at less than 16. 

Graeme Swann - 7: His hold over the Pakistani left handers - against whom he averages five -continued, but in truth he was outbowled by Panesar for the majority of the Test.

James Anderson - 7: As in Dubai, he barely wasted a ball and performed manfully in conditions that are pretty alien to him.

Monty Panesar - 8: After 29 Tests in the wilderness, Monty made a magnificent return and certainly got through some work, bowling 71.3 overs in the match and taking seven for 153. Looks to have more control, variety and a more attacking line than Monty v1.0.

Where next?

2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

1st Test marks out of 10: Pakistan and England

All-round Stuart Broad no longer a Charles Hawtrey figure

England's tale of woe against spin in Asia

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2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

Mohammad Hafeez - 8: After starring with the bat in Dubai, this time he contributed with the ball removing Strauss early on in the 1st innings and snaring the crucial wicket of Cook in the second after he had put England in a stranglehold with the new ball. A very fine all-round cricketer.

Taufeeq Umar - 4: The early signs were good as he and Hafeez compiled another fifty opening stand on the first morning, but looked unsure against spin and heard the death rattle in both innings against Swann.

Azhar Ali - 8: Courageous four hour 13 minute vigil for 68 precious runs gave his bowlers something to play with. Some criticised his approach, but without his Misbah-esque knock Pakistan would have been doomed.

Younis Khan - 3: Pakistan are 2-0 up in the series and their best batsman has yet to contribute. He got a beauty from Broad in the 1st innings an even better delivery from Panesar second time around.

Misbah-ul-Haq - 9: The MBA captain proved to be the master strategist again. His own contribution with the bat saw an impeccably watchful and well-timed 1st innings 84, but it was the way he organised, energised and deployed his troops that was so impressive. In seven series as captain (including the one off Test with Zimbabwe), his side have won five and drawn two with Misbah's own contribution being 1133 runs at 70.81. That is extraordinary.

Asad Shafiq - 8: Gave his wicket away when well set in the 1st innings but no doubt chastened by the criticism of Mohsin Khan, he quickly learned his lesson to form the crucial partnership of the Test with Azhar second time around. 

Adnan Akmal - 5: Failed to deliver with the bat this time and was like an excitable puppy behind the stumps where he made Stuart Broad look a reluctant appealer in comparison. Could do with turning down the volume and doubling the concentration.

Abdur Rehman - 9: Turned the ball more than anyone and having played the support role to Ajmal with aplomb took centre stage to devastating effect to rip England's doomed run chase to shreads.

Saeed Ajmal - 9: Became the quickest Pakistani to 100 Test wickets and the fastest since Ian Botham over 30 years ago. England played him better than they had in Dubai, yet Ajmal still took seven for 130 in the match and now has 17 wickets in the series at 13 a piece.

Umar Gul - 6: Only bowled 16 overs in the game, but did help peg England back by removing Ian Bell with the second new ball. A couple of lusty blows helped raise England's target even further.

Junaid Khan - 3: Bagged a pair and bowled just eight overs in the match, so should have plenty left in the tank for Dubai.

Where next?

2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

1st Test marks out of 10: Pakistan and England

Misbah-ul-Haq second only to Bradman

Cricket heroes: Saeed Ajmal

Pakistan's gripping yarn keeps on spinning but fails to enthral Hollywood

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Billy Bowden achieves the impossible not once but twice in the same afternoon

We've gone on record before about Billy Bowden's irritating and incompetent umpiring. The crux of our argument being that Billy is the antithesis of a good umpire in that they should neither be seen nor heard.

With Billy, it is essentially all about Billy. Whether it is his silly hand gestures and signals or consistently irrational decision making, Bowden invariably becomes a major talking point of the day's play.

However, yesterday in Abu Dhabi, with Billy sidelined in the role of video umpire and England turning what should have been a straightforward pursuit of 145 into an attempt to scale Everest without oxygen, sherpas or any discernable plan, the last person we expected to hear about was Bowden.

But when the on-field umpires referred what appeared to be a simple appeal for a bat-pad catch at short-leg by Azhar Ali, Billy grabbed his opportunity to seize the spotlight.

Everyone else watching - English, Pakistani and neutral alike - saw that the catch had been taken cleanly and that Andrew Strauss was out, but not Billy. Oh no, not Billy.

Despite  viewing the replay more times then he probably caresses and kisses a framed bedside picture of himself signalling a six every morning, Bowden inexplicably adjudged that the evidence was not clear and that Strauss should be reprieved.

In that moment Billy achieved what we thought was impossible and proved that he is an even worse umpire off the field than he is on it. It takes an especially unique character to make the case for DRS when he is on the field of play and then to make the contrary argument against it when he is esconsed in the video umpire's chair.  But Billy did just that.

It was going to take something especially cretinous to outmanouvere England's batsmen as the biggest clown in Abu Dhabi yesterday, but good old Billy pulled it off with typically inept aplomb and consequently achieved the impossible not once, but twice in the same afternoon.

Where next?

England's tale of woe against spin in Asia

Cricket heroes: Saeed Ajmal

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4th Test: Australia vs India - India marks out of 10

Gautam Gambhir - 3: Surprised by the extra bounce generated by Siddle after getting a start in the 1st innings and then fell early to his usual failing outside off-stump second time around. Has now gone 39 Test innings without a hundred and averaged just 20 in the series in England and Australia. Brilliant piece of quick thinking to run out Hussey from silly point. 

Virender Sehwag - 4: The captaincy failed to inspire him out of his form slump although his 2nd innings 62 was ferocious entertainment not least for its ending, which could yet go down in the annals of Test cricket as the most irresponsible dismissal ever from a captain. Like Gambhir, averaged just 20 in England and Australia and his run without a Test hundred has now extended to 26 innings.

Rahul Dravid - 2: Had his stumps rearranged for the sixth time in this series and then fell to a poor shot in the 2nd innings. Did a wonderful job of manning a burning bridge in England last summer but couldn't repeat it here. Will we see him again in Test cricket?

Sachin Tendulkar - 2: His form of the early part of the series deserted him and one wonders how much the interminable wait for the 100th hundred is weighing him down. Will get another chance in the ODI series but the torture and tedious hype has now lasted for 25 innings.

VVS Laxman - 3: Got a start in each innings but fell to atrocious shots both times - a probable sad end to a fabulous career. The purists won't be happy, but there is the bearded Laxman - Hashim Amla - to salivate over. The original has gone with a whimper averaging just 21 in England and Australia. 

Virat Kohli - 8: We saw the good, the bad and the ugly from India's leading run scorer in the series. The good was a splendid maiden Test hundred, the bad his foul-mouthed reaction to reaching this milestone and the ugly his brainless and grotesque run out in the 2nd innings. Is a wonderful talent, but could do with growing up a bit. 

Wriddiman Saha - 6: Was far more proficient and eager than the usual incumbent behind the stumps - he even dived for the ball on occasion. Batted well in unison with Kohli in the 1st innings and can be pleased with his contribution.

Ravichandran Ashwin - 4: Brought into the attack early in the 1st innings, handed the new ball second time around and did well troubling both openers each time. Needs to be more consistent but can be relatively pleased with his first overseas tour. 

Zaheer Khan - 5: Whilst India's whitewash will pain this passionate cricketer there will be some consolation that he has managed to get through the whole series. Considering the chasm between the sides, his 15 wickets in the series at 32 is a pretty good return.

Ishant Sharma - 3: Is he unlucky? Well, he does seem to go past the outside edge more than most, but perhaps his return of just five wickets for the series is more telling. Could do with a private session with Craig McDermott given how he has rejuvenated the Australian bowling attack.

Umesh Yadav - 2: He is young, so will learn from this chastening experience, but he has been far too expensive in this series - none more so than on the first day here in Adelaide. Definitely one to persevere with though.

Where next?

4th Test: Australia vs India - Australia marks out of 10

Virat Kohli points the way forward for India

3rd Test marks out of 10: Australia and India

2nd Test marks out of 10: Australia and India

1st Test marks out of 10: Australia and India

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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4th Test: Australia vs India - Australia marks out of 10

Ed Cowan - 5: Got a start in both innings but was unable to go on and fell to spin each time. Took the catch that saw Tendulkar leave the crease for probably the last time in a Test in Australia.

David Warner - 4: There was no repeat of his explosive heroics at Perth as the early introduction of spin troubled him and bogged him down.

Shaun Marsh - 1: More Quicksand than Marsh. Just 17 runs in the series at a hideous average of 2.83 - even Chris Martin (the cricketer or the Coldplay frontman) would be embarrassed with that.

Ricky Ponting - 10: If his hundred at Sydney was redemptive, the double ton here saw Ponting almost back to his brilliant and dismissive best. Many thought he was finished after Cape Town, but 705 runs at 70.5 since then suggests the contrary.

Michael Clarke - 10: A dream end to a dream series for the captain with a double hundred to set alongside his triple hundred at Sydney adding up to 626 runs at 125 for the series where his side have completely steamrollered and whitewashed a feeble opposition.

Mike Hussey - 5: Looked in good touch before being brilliantly run out by Gambhir in the 1st innings and was the victim of a borderline leg before to Sharma second time around.

Brad Haddin - 6: Got some cheap runs off a bruised and battered attack but it can only be a matter of time before iron gloves waves adieu to international cricket.

Peter Siddle - 9: Seems to have benefitted the most from the McDermott effect. Found life on a pitch where there was none, which makes his 1st innings five for all the more impressive. Ended up with 23 wickets at 19 in the series, but his strike rate of a wicket every 32 balls is even more impressive.

Ryan Harris - 8: The best tribute you can pay him is that Australia didn't really miss the bowler he replaced - James Pattinson. The more difficult task is how to keep him fit.

Ben Hilfenhaus - 8: Woefully impotent in last year's Ashes but as dangerous as a rabid dog in this series. Picked up another four wickets to take his series tally to 27 at an average of just 17.

Nathan Lyon - 7: The ultimate rags to riches story. A groundsman for the last Adelaide Test here he bagged an enviable list of victims including Laxman (twice), Sehwag and Tendulkar - all of whom were probably playing their last Test innings in Australia.

Where next?

4th Test: Australia vs India - India marks out of 10

Ricky Ponting proves the doubters (and gladly us) wrong

3rd Test marks out of 10: Australia and India

2nd Test marks out of 10: Australia and India

1st Test marks out of 10: Australia and India

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All-round Stuart Broad no longer a Charles Hawtrey figure

As an enforcer, Stuart Broad was about as effective as Charles Hawtrey would have been as a bouncer at a particularly troublesome nightclub.

The penny finally dropped with the player himself when despite favourable bowling conditions his return for the series against a fragile Sri Lankan batting line-up was just eight wickets at 48.75. Indeed, the decision whether to replace him with Tim Bresnan for the subsequent series against India was apparently a borderline one.

Following his lucky reprieve, Broad resolved to pitch it up more and the results have been devastating. Up to the end of 1st innings in Abu Dhabi, he has taken 32 wickets at just 15.15, with an economy rate of 2.33 and a Dale Steyn-esque strike rate of a wicket every 39 balls.

If that wasn’t good enough then his record with the bat since and including the glorious 169 against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010 is 491 runs at 49.10 scored at a brisk strike rate of 75.07.

Broad turned the Trent Bridge Test against India last year with a brilliant counterattacking fifty when England were struggling with the bat and then a hat-trick when India were threatening to take a decisive 1st innings lead. Should England prevail in Abu Dhabi, Broad’s skilful performance with the ball and vital intervention with the bat in securing a lead for England is also likely to prove crucial.

Michael Vaughan reckons that Broad is ideally placed at number eight as he can then play his natural attacking game and he may be right. But Broad is quietly shaping up as a boys own all-rounder in the tradition of a Botham or a Flintoff – a cricketer that can change a match explosively with bat or ball.

Not bad for the man some still refer to as Barbie.

Where next?

England's tale of woe against spin in Asia

Misbah-ul-Haq second only to Bradman

Win a brand new kit for your cricket team

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

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Virat Kohli points the way forward for India

There was some rare good news for the bedraggled Indian cricket team today. One of their batsmen finally managed to reach three figures in what has turned out to be the most one-sided Test series since India last played a Test series outside the subcontinent.

The even better news was that the identity of the century maker wasn’t one of their veterans rolling back the years for a final hurrah (or even a long awaited 100th international hundred). Nor was it one of the misfiring opening batsmen whose individual run without a Test hundred now extends to 38 innings for Gautam Gambhir and 25 for Virender Sehwag.

Today saw the maiden Test hundred for Virat Kohli and it was a good one too even if it probably won’t avert yet another heavy defeat for his side.

We’ve been quite impressed with Kohli for some time and his success could (and should) herald a radical new selection policy for India. One that should see long-service awards and pats on the back for VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and dare I say it the Little Master himself and their replacement in the side with Kohli's fellow new breeders namely Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.

As it has with Kohli it may take some time for the new boys to assimilate to Test cricket, but let’s be frank they cannot do much worse than the incumbents have fared in England and Australia. As an example prior to the Adelaide Test, Gambhir averaged 23.00 in the England and Australia series, Laxman 20.28 and Sehwag 16.09.

It’s time for Indian cricket to move on and Kohli’s hundred may well have pointed the way.

Where next?

Rohit Sharma: The Artist formerly known as Nohit

India: Tigers at home; pussies away

India's batting line-up and Goebbels's big lie

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England's tale of woe against spin in Asia

During the Dubai Test last week, Sky threw up one of its ridiculous stats, which illustrated how contrary to popular opinion the averages of England’s top seven batsmen against spin are all actually higher than their career averages.

However, Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t be fooled by this and nor were we. Taking the candy on offer from the likes of Xavier Doherty in Australia, Amit Mishra last summer and Paul Harris on frankly any pitch is one thing, but doing it against Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan and now Saeed Ajmal in their own backyards is quite another.

A quick scan of the averages of England’s current top seven away to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka is far more revealing – no we are not including Tests in Bangladesh as facing what is effectively a County 2^nd XI attack tends to inflate the averages of even the worse batsmen. Yes, even Chris Martin.

Surprisingly, it is Matt Prior that leads the way with an average of 46.71 from 6 Tests, followed by Alastair Cook (39.33, 8 Tests, 2 hundreds), Andrew Strauss (37.20, 8 Tests, 3 hundreds), Ian Bell (32.95, 12 Tests, 1 hundred) and bottom of the pile Kevin Pietersen with an average of just 31.54 from 12 Tests with two hundreds. (NB: the Test in Dubai was Trott’s and Morgan’s first away to Pakistan, India or Sri Lanka)

The causes of this serial failure are many with some or all of the following applying to each of England’s batsmen: hard hands, a general lack of foot movement, an inability to take singles and rotate the strike, too much deference and not enough decisiveness, tentativeness and a failure to pick Ajmal.

England’s recent record away to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka is woeful with the defeat in Dubai making it just one win in 18 Tests stretching back to the twin triumphs in Pakistan and Sri Lanka of 2000/01.  It was perhaps hardly surprising therefore that Pakistan’s bowlers took 14 wickets for 184 runs in Dubai on a pretty flat wicket with inconsequential turn and little bounce. This doesn’t bode well for the remainder of this series, nor the ones to Sri Lanka and India later this year.

If any inspiration is required, England should look to four of the leading English batsmen in the subcontinent over the last 30 years. Geoff Boycott leads the way with an average of 58.83 from 8 Tests in India and Pakistan (he never faced Sri Lanka) and is closely followed by David Gower (56.90, 16 Tests), Graeme Thorpe (48.29, 10 Tests) and Paul Collingwood (42.15, 12 Tests).

Three of the four were defined by their grit, bravery and obdurateness, which should be attributes most of England’s batsmen can relate to and hopefully display when they get to the crease later today. Pietersen will hopefully realise that genius as exhibited by Gower can thrive in Asia too. England’s number one ranking depends upon it.

Where next?

Misbah-ul-Haq second only to Bradman

How good are this England cricket team?

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Pakistan's gripping yarn keeps on spinning but fails to enthral Hollywood

We once wrote that Pakistan had forced a dismayed Hollywood to tear up its script after they failed to renact that famous defeat to Australia in Sydney by beating the same opposition at Headingley in 2010.

Those with long memories may recall that this was Salman Butt's first Test as captain after Shahid Afridi had jumped ship after just one match. Of course, Butt's captaincy ended even more unhappily than Afridi's.

Whilst England's sorry defeat in Dubai last week left us like most England fans feeling a bit miserable, it did at least confirm that Pakistan - international cricket's most exciting team - are back where they belong at the top table of international cricket.

It has been an unlikely tale of redemption and one that we felt deserved the wider audience offered through All Out Cricket. So as England hope to redeem themselves in Abu Dhabi, read Pakistan's gripping yarn keeps on spinning and wonder if there are more twists and turns to come in the thriller that is the Pakistan cricket team.

Where next?

A canned Hollywood film about cricket, fixing and a homeless team

Is this the most blatant example of a fixed cricket match ever?

Win a brand new kit for your cricket team

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Misbah-ul-Haq second only to Bradman

Whilst Don Bradman's dismissal for a duck in his last Test innings may have deprived him of finishing his career with a batting average of 100 it failed to dim a much lesser known but perhaps even more formidable statistic.

In 24 matches as captain, Bradman's average actually increased to an even more remarkable 101.51 whilst his side failed to lose even one series - not bad considering that Australia lost Bradman's first two Tests as captain to leave them 2-0 down in the 1936/37 Ashes. This was but small fry to the Don, who hit 270, 212 and finally 169 in the next three Tests so that for the only time in history, a side came back from 2-0 down to win a five Test rubber.

Misbah-ul-Haq's record is not quite that of Bradman's but it is mightily impressive. As well as doing the impossible in creating a unified, solid and dependable Pakistan team since his appointment as captain he has led the way with the bat, averaging 74.07 with one hundred and 11 fifties in 21 innings. After conquering this Everest, perhaps Misbah should co-ordinate efforts to rescue the Euro and avert a nuclear flashpoint in Iran?

Misbah's record ranks second to Bradman of Test captains with a minimum of 15 innings - see full list here. He is certainly ahead of some impressive names with the rest of the top ten featuring Kumar Sangakkara (69.60), Mahela Jayawardene (66.93), Michael Clarke (65.00), Gary Sobers (58.80), Hanif Mohammad (58.73), Graham Gooch (58.72), Brian Lara (57.83) and Alan Melville (57.00).

Of course, Misbah will do well to maintain this record in the current series let alone for the remainder of his reign as captain, but in terms of leading from the front and setting the benchmark for the rest of his side, he is doing a pretty good job.

Calm, composed, cunning, tactically astute and full of runs, Misbah is shaping up as some captain - only Pakistan could have waited until he had reached the ripe old age of 35 before handing such a natural leader of men the reins of power. 

Where next?

Bradman Inspires Australia To Come Back From The Dead In 1936/37

Cricket heroes: Saeed Ajmal

Responsibility and Misbah-ul-Haq

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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Podcast: Pakistan v England, Australia's dominance over India & much more

We had the pleasure of joining Blaise and Jonathan for this week's One Hand One Bounce podcast on the excellent World Cricket Watch where we had the dubious task of defending England after their pitiful defeat in Dubai last week and talking up the chances ahead of the 2nd Test that starts in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

To hear whether Andrew Strauss should be worried about his place, Monty Panesar should be picked and how much of a ribbing we got from Blaise (an Aussie, as you ask), give it a listen below.

As well as a post-mortem on England, Blaise, Jonathan and Punter Steve discuss Sri Lanka's comeback
in South Africa and Australia's continued dominance over India. There are also the coveted weekly awards, plus all the latest news and happenings in world cricket.

NB: Please allow a moment while it buffers/loads

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Don’t miss a single episode of the One Hand One Bounce Podcast. Automatically get each new episode by subscribing via iTunes or subscribing to the RSS feed.

Where next?

Top 20 Cricket Blogs: 8 - World Cricket Watch / @worldcricketw

Gideon Haigh speaks about Peter Roebuck

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

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Win a brand new kit for your cricket team

Does your grassroots cricket team fancy a brand shiny spanking new kit for next season for free? Would you also like a top of the range AEG washing machine for the clubhouse in which to wash the aforementioned new kit too?

Of course you would especially as a fresh sparkling new kit will likely transfer to plenty of runs and bagfuls of wickets. It also means you'll be able to burn your old putrid, grass-stained and ripped kits before the first match of the season. What could be better?

To find out how your team can be one of 40 lucky grassroots cricket teams in the UK to receive an AEG Ultimate Kit & Laundry Package - featuring 12 bespoke cricket kits and a top of the range AEG washing machine, follow the link at the end of the video below featuring Paul Nixon and Michael Vaughan for more information. 

Good luck.

Please note this is a sponsored article.

Where next?

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

How good are this England cricket team?

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Ricky Ponting proves the doubters (and gladly us) wrong

When we asked a few months ago if Ricky Ponting had lost his punch, despite being English we did so with a heavy heart given that we always had a strange and inexplicable affection for him.

At the time of writing, Ponting had performed poorly at Cape Town in the Test that Australia were infamously dismissed for just 47.

The axe was hovering as Ponting's dismal run reached what appeared to be its climatic moment. He had scored only one hundred in his previous 23 Tests. His average during this run was just 33.78. That slipped further to 26.50 in the 13 matches since that solitary hundred in Hobart against Pakistan and to a dismal 18.84 since the start of the 2010/11 Ashes. In short he looked finished.

When he registered a duck in his next Test innings in Johannesburg, the game looked up. Australia's best batsman since Bradman was surely playing his last Test. His form and technique seemed to have completely eluded him.

But Ponting is nothing if not determined and a resilient 62 in the 2nd innings at The Wanderers helped carry Australia to an improbable victory to draw the series. He had survived the selectors guillotine. Just.

And with India's bowlers proving the most willing of accomplices, Ponting has shoved the words of the critics back down their throats with his 40th and 41st Test hundreds. He has also scored another three fifties since his partial redemption in Johannesburg.

From the depths of despair after that duck at The Wanderers, Ponting now has 561 runs at a tick over 70 and looked something close to his best today in Adelaide.

Never has the old adage of form being temporary and class being permanent held more true than in the case of Ponting, who lest it not be forgotten now has over 13,000 Test runs to his name.

Ponting may have proved our words false, but for once we are glad as such a batting champion deserved an epitaph better than the ones hastily written after the debacle in Cape Town.

Where next?

3rd Test: Australia vs India - Australia marks out of 10

3rd Test: Australia vs India - India marks out of 10

David Warner blasts a 69-ball hundred as euthanasia becomes a serious option for India

India: Tigers at home; pussies away

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An Arctic Tale starring Alastair Campbell, Andy Flower and the England cricket team

We were at an event the other night where Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell (a master of the Teesra long before Saeed Ajmal) gave the keynote address and shared with us a list of acronyms that he kept close to hand during his time in government.

Number six or seven (we cannot remember exactly) was HAP, as in get your head above the parapet in times of crisis.

That's exactly what England coach Andy Flower did the day after England's humiliating ten wicket defeat to Pakistan in the 1st Test in Dubai (a location that still doesn't sound quite right for Test cricket).

Flower's honest appraisal was that the nature and extent of the loss would act as a wake-up call to the squad with him reasoning that the long break between England's last Test against India at The Oval in August and this one had left the team fatally under prepared and undercooked.

With the bowlers, we are not sure this really applies. The four man attack stuck to their task well, hardly gave anything away and bowled Pakistan out for a sub-standard total on that pitch.

The problem of course lay with the batsmen who barely exceeded Pakistan's total in their two innings put together. Not content with playing Ajmal as if he was the devil himself - one would have thought that having endured 13 years of Campbell's New Labour England would be able to handle a bit of spin - they seemed to be attempting to outdo each other to see how many times they could be strangled down the legside. The cherry on the top though was Kevin Pietersen's (an absolute liability before he has got off nought) grotesque, hare-brained dismissal in the 2nd innings.

Indeed, Pietersen, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook only totalled 15 runs between them during the match - less than James Anderson on his own and nearly five times less than the number of Graeme Swann managed. That's not undercooked, that's frozen - arctic like frozen.

Where next?

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

How good are this England cricket team?

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1st Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

Andrew Strauss - 3: Failed to heed his patience policy with a dismal pull in Ajmal's first over and then amidst some rancour gave a faint legside edge behind second time around. Without a Test hundred in 17 innings and averages just 31 since the start of the tour to South Africa in 2009. Talk of him being under pressure though is ridiculous as evidenced by the fight his sides showed in the field.

Alastair Cook - 1: Perhaps the early introduction of spin in only the sixth over of the match surprised him and forced an injudicious cut off Hafeez's third ball. Caught the legside strangulation bug in the 2nd innings. Just 8 runs from 61 balls in the match is not the returns England has become accustomed to.

Jonathan Trott - 4: Successful audition for the part of golden arm with prize wicket of Younis hid two disappointing dismissals with the bat even if he looked in better touch than any of the other top six batsmen - not that that says much.

Kevin Pietersen - 1: Strangely subdued maybe because he had no crowd to play to. His duck in the 2nd innings was particular ghastly. As one wag noted perhaps KP should have been told the full house had come dressed as blue seats.

Ian Bell - 1: Moved rapidly to the head of the queue for the role of Ajmal's bunny after fatally failing to read the doosra in both innings. 

Eoin Morgan - 3: Instigated a mini-recovery with Prior on the first morning and ably demonstrated his ability against spin before missing an attempted slog sweep to fall leg before. Undone by Rehman's arm ball in the 2nd innings.

Matt Prior - 7: Played an unusually cautious knock - he didn't score his first boundary until his 85th ball and brought up his seventh 50+ plus score in his last 11 innings before falling cheaply second time round. Smart diving catch to remove Shafiq.

Stuart Broad - 7: Brought England back into game with wickets of Taufeeq and Azhar, and bowled to a consistently high standard throughout. Unlike Lord's in 2010, there were no heroics with the bat this time around. 

Graeme Swann - 7: Helped bring some respectability to England's first innings and his 39 second time around meant he was just two runs short of being England's highest run maker in the match. Stuck to his task well with the ball and was eventually rewarded with four wickets. Didn't get much turn and found Pakistan's batsmen less willing accomplices than Ajmal found England's.

Chris Tremlett - 5: Failed to take a wicket in a Test innings for the first time but he will bowl worse than he did here and take three or four wickets. Didn't give much away but the pitch nullified his usual bounce and menace.

James Anderson - 7: Barely wasted a ball and scored more runs than Cook, Bell and Pietersen put together. For once not needed as nightwatchman - England really were that bad. 

Where next?

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

How good are this England cricket team?

England will need to be bold to see off Pakistan

2009: England vs Pakistan - England series marks out of 10

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1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10

Mohammad Hafeez - 8 : Struck with his third ball to further embellish his golden arm tag. Batted beautifully but fell just 12 runs short of a deserved hundred after missing an attempted sweep off Swann. Had the honour of hitting the winning runs.

Taufeeq Umar - 7:  Notched up another fifty as part of his fifth century opening stand with Hafeez (a Pakistani record) before being undone by a peach of a ball from Broad to lose his off-stump.

Azhar Ali - 1: Surprised early on by movement off the seam to feather an edge behind off Broad: a failing that was all too evident in England in 2009.

Younis Khan - 5: Struggled initially against England's plan of bowling straight to him, but looked well set on 34 before suffering the embarrassment of being dismissed by the innocuous Trott.

Misbah-ul-Haq - 8: If Margaret Thatcher was the Iron Lady then Misbah is rapidly beoming the Iron Captain. Master stroke to turn to spin in the sixth over of the match brought immediate dividends. Batting falls into the efficient and effective category rather than the entertaining and engrossing one but brought up 2000 Test runs and his 12th 50+ score in 21 inns since taking over captaincy during which time his average is 74.

Adnan Akmal - 8: It is hard to believe that he comes from the same gene pool as the butter-fingered Kamran such was his tidiness and dependability behind the stumps. Looked assured with the bat too. Labour may have picked the wrong Milliband, but it seems Pakistan eventually picked the right Akmal.

Abdur Rehman - 7: The support act to Ajmal in the 1st innings although he did get one to turn to get the crucial wicket of Swann. Picked up three victims second time around though including Morgan with a clever arm ball. A good foil to Ajmal.

Umar Gul - 7: Perhaps the frustration of bowling on this pitch prompted his ridiculous persuasion of Misbah to refer one that pitched two pitches outside leg stump in the 1st innings, but kept running in and was rewarded by the collective brain fade of England's top four second time around.

Saeed Ajmal - 9: Made a friend for life in Bob Willis and a potential bunny in Bell as he dismantled England on the pitch and in the mind with a seven wicket haul in the 1st innings and ten in the match. Has 93 wickets in his 18 Tests now and 63 at 23.60 in the 11 Tests since Misbah assumed the captaincy. The best spinner on the planet? On this showing, without a doubt. Could even afford to smile at falling foul of the DRS (and the bungling Bowden) when batting.

Aizaz Cheema - 6: Suckered Trott into a dreaded legside caught behind on the first morning and looked lively until suffering a hamstring injury in the 2nd innings. That Pakistan will probably be stronger and more balanced if Junaid Khan or Wahab Riaz replace him is no reflection on Cheema.

Where next?

1st Test: Pakistan vs England - England marks out of 10

Cricket heroes: Saeed Ajmal

Responsibility and Misbah-ul-Haq

How good are this England cricket team?

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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Cricket heroes: Saeed Ajmal

This may seem a strange thing for an England supporter to write the day after a bowler has just taken seven for 55 against our country, but it just confirmed that we're big fans of Saeed Ajmal here at The Reverse Sweep.

Ajmal adds a splash of colour to an otherwise obdurate and unusually attritional Pakistan side led by the calm and composed Misbah-ul-Haq.

Off the pitch, the ebullient Ajmal understands theatre - one only needs to view his post-match interviews to see that.

He also knows that he has got into the heads of the England batsmen, who simply cannot pick him. As such his pre-series assertion that he had developed a new delivery - the Teesra - in part led to the confusion that unfolded in the middle yesterday. Shane Warne, who has invented more deliveries than the Royal Mail would be proud.

Ajmal is a late-developer - he only made his Test debut at the age of 31, but he has proved a quick learner on the biggest stage (perhaps that understanding of theatre again) and already has 90 wickets in seventeen and a half Tests at a decent average of 28.

Those figures are impressive enough, but since Misbah took over the captaincy in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal in October 2010 and he finally became a first-choice pick, Ajmal has got even better with 60 wickets in nine and a half Tests at 24, with an economy rate of 2.5 and strike rate of a wicket every 57 balls.

He was the leading wicket-taker both in Tests and international cricket in 2010, and if he continues to bamboozle the number one side is likely to usurp Graeme Swann as the best spinner on the planet come the end of the series.

Suggestions that his action is suspect seem like sour grapes to us and thankfully have not been backed up (in public at least) from the England camp. Ajmal is just a damn good bowler who for the England batsmen at least seems impossible to read - an anomaly in this digital age.

Let's hope that Ajmal continues to add an unpredictable splash of colour in the spectacle of Test cricket. With Misbah, Younis Khanand now Ajmal all having been bestowed with hero status here at The Reverse Sweep, Pakistan are rapidly infiltrating our minds. That's mastery of vulcan mind tricks that we can also add to Ajmal's arsenal.

Where next?

Cricket memories of 2011: Pakistan rise from the abyss

The criminally underrated Younis Khan & the criminal negligence of Ijaz Butt

Cricket memories of 2011: Butt, Asif and Amir are sent to jail

The best Test XI of 2011

How good are this England cricket team?

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How good are this England cricket team?

On the evidence of today's showing not very good, not very good at all. Indeed the words that come most readily to mind are hubris, intransigence and fallibility.

Hubris

We're not hanging this one on Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss, but since their unofficial coronation as the best Test side on the planet, it's fair to say that they've had a lot of plaudits coming their way: "best England side ever...", "...set to dominate Test cricket for years to come". Some even tried to compare them to the great West Indians of the seventies and eighties and the Australians of the last decade.

Let's call it a case of collective premature ejaculation from the media, but at least it has not spread to Flower and Strauss who have been far more guarded and realistic in their aims.

Intransigence

Whilst there is reasonable basis to stick with a winning team, when it flies in the face of all available evidence it becomes more of a case of stubborn intransigence.

England play nine Tests away to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India this year and if they are going to prevail in any of these encounters they will need to change their rigid Plan A and play two spinners.

Pakistan's spinners took nine for 112 today in Dubai and whilst that had a lot to do with the brain fade of several of their batsmen it also exposed England's six batsmen-three seamer-one spinner strategy as horribly flawed.

Fallibility

If in years to come cricket historians are to view this England side as a great one then they will need to conquer their two obvious shortcomings.

One of these is on rapid and bouncy tracks such as those they encountered in Johannesburg and Perth in 2010 where they were horribly exposed and suffered heavy losses and were bowled out in each of their four innings for under 200.

The other debilitating weakness is against subcontinental teams in their own slow and low backyards -and as it transpires the United Arab Emirates, which contrary to what you might have read is situated on the Arabian Peninsula and NOT on the subcontinent (it would seem that geography is not a strong point for the vast majority of cricket correspondents).

England have only won one of their last 17 Tests away to subcontinental sides (excepting Bangladesh, who even England can beat on their own patch) since the twin triumphs in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, when Nasser Hussain's side executed to perfection the tactics required to succeed.

If the present-day side continue to bat like they did today: tentative, clueless and impatient - Matt Prior apart - then that sorry tale will not improve soon.

...but there is hope

England are nothing if not resilient as they demonstrated in recovering from 43 for five and 94 for seven to get to 192 today. The first day at Brisbane last year saw England have a similarly disappointing first day and look how they responded then.

How good is this England side? It's too early to say, but by the end of this year we should have a much better idea.

Where next?

England will need to be bold to see off Pakistan

Responsibility and Misbah-ul-Haq

England's Dirty Dozen

Annus mirabilis: The best Test XI of 2011

Annus horribilis: The Worst Test XI of 2011

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