The home of Australia’s first – and possibly last – full-time dealer of his kind is a treasure trove of cricket literature amassed over 45 years

Russell Jackson25-Nov-2014″Cricket has one of the richest literatures,” said John Arlott, “yet often the invitation from a good friend and cricketer to ‘come and see my cricket library’ strains tact to the limit.” Though he’s a lover of Arlott’s works himself, veteran cricket book dealer Roger Page might disagree with that particular aside.Though some nominative determinism might have played a role too, a love of cricket and cricket books has remained constant throughout Page’s life. Nestled on shelves that line every available wall space in his hybrid shop-cum-home in Melbourne’s north-east is a treasure trove of cricket literature, amassed over a remarkable 45 years (as of last month) as Australia’s first and only full-time cricket book dealer.Visitors expecting a crusty old septuagenarian will be surprised and maybe inspired by Page’s enthusiasm, energy and passion for his cricket pursuits. For 38 years and counting he has been scoring for Victorian Premier cricket side Fitzroy-Doncaster. (I probe him for recollections of Abdul Qadir’s late-’90s season in those ranks and he admits, “I haven’t seen anything else like it.”) And in addition to his primary concern of selling books he also edits a new Australian journal, , named in honour of his former acquaintance and titan of Australian cricket writing, Ray Robinson.As the business creeps towards its half-century, Page recounts that the wicket was actually a bit dicey early on. The A$300 worth of profit from his first year of operation was swallowed by the taxman and it was four years before the full-time business started making money. “It took longer than I thought to really become established,” he says, but by then he’d dug in for the long haul.In those formative years Page travelled to England for stock, stashing books (“three or four bob each”) in “ridiculous” large cabin trunks at his grandmother’s house in London. Those were then ferried on to his Tasmanian home for the princely sum of £10 each and arrived at his Tasmania home a few months later.On those early treasure hunts the Epworth Press in London, and Charing Cross Road, were ripe for plunder, as was a small bookshop Page spotted as he alighted from a train in Leeds. In that instance he was drawn inside by a row of 1930s that would complete his own personal collection. Moments later, the shopowner was heading upstairs to dust off a pristine copy of Pelham Warner’s , unknown to Page at the time.The shopkeeper mistook Page’s reservations about lugging the hefty volume home as haggling and halved the £3 asking price. It couldn’t be left behind for a deal like that, and sits in Page’s collection to this day. In those early days he could buy a full run of original (from 1891 through to 1970) off John McKenzie for £150. Now the same set would pay off the best part of a luxurious holiday house.Since the recent passing of his wife and business partner Hilda, Page’s only visible sign of slowing down is the help he gets in on Fridays to pack the orders that now flow a little more regularly again since the creation of his website, a nod to modern business that he credits with saving the shop over the last half-decade.

Neither the state of the publishing industry nor of the game itself particularly ruffles him, neither does the fact that the completists and obsessives of yesteryear are not being replaced by younger collectors. He now sells far more new books than he does old ones

Many of the consignments end up at the MCG, on the shelves of the Melbourne Cricket Club library, whose librarian, David Studham, marvels at Page’s longevity and exacting service. “All our cricket books come from Roger,” says Studham. “He’s amazing, really.”At regular intervals meticulously wrapped packages will arrive at the ground – as they do for scores of private collectors – bolstering the collection with the latest journals, magazines, elusive limited-edition releases and obscure periodicals from around the globe. All are sourced through Page’s extensive overseas contacts in England and the subcontinent. Without his services, acquiring them would be a logistical nightmare or impossible. “Service” is a word Page himself uses often, perhaps unknowingly, and his brand of it is old-fashioned and reliable.A quick glance at one of his early-’70s price lists is good fun. Back then tour guides went for 30 or 40 cents apiece, Arlott titles for $1.50, and classics by the likes of Robertson-Glasgow and Alan Ross barely a dollar more. When I pick up one of Ross’ early tour diaries in the shop, Page smiles and says he’s “one of my favourites too”.Otherwise his tastes, perhaps predictably, lean towards the cream of the cricket writers whose books have passed through his hands in epic quantities. “The books in my collection, aside from the annuals, have got to be written with style and power,” he says. “I just can’t read the stuff that’s poorly written, with hackneyed and clichéd expression, which drives you up the wall.An advertisement for Page’s wares that appeared in the in 1987″It just varies depending on my mood. A year or two ago I went through some of EW Swanton’s tour books of the ’50s and found them interesting because he could sum up a game so very well. I like the Cardus works and the Arlott works, and Gideon [Haigh] is a favourite, of course.” His other contemporary likes include David Frith, Rob Steen and George Dobell.Though I shouldn’t be, I’m a little surprised when Page says he’s an ESPNcricinfo devotee on account of his passion for county cricket. In the middle of his book-lined office space sits a gleaming iMac, the only noticeable concession to modern times.Page foresaw none of this when he started selling books in 1969 as a means of furthering his own collection, back when he was an English master at Parklands High School in Burnie, Tasmania. At 22, while juggling an arts degree, he wrote and published a history of Tasmanian cricket. Before he and new wife Hilda, once a fashion designer, left the Apple Isle to make a full-time go of the cricket book business in Melbourne, he had also found the time to form the Tasmania University Cricket Club, now a mainstay of the TCA competition.”There was no cricket club, so I called a meeting and became their first secretary,” he says. Later he also became their first life member.Thus, in a literal sense, our hour-long chat covers births, deaths and marriages. Page no longer struggles for stock, though this is a bittersweet scenario, because many of the collections he once helped swell – extensive and lovingly compiled ones – have arrived back on his doorstep as older collectors sell up and slowly die out.Some older collectors even worry that Page will drop off the perch before them, a suggestion that makes him laugh. Neither the state of the publishing industry nor of the game itself particularly ruffles him, neither does the fact that the completists and obsessives of yesteryear are not being replaced by younger collectors. He now sells far more new books than he does old ones.Still, so many of the older volumes Page stocks contain stories separate and sometimes every bit as poignant as the actual texts themselves. “I just acquired a collection from a bloke from South Australia,” he says. “It was marvellous because he kept a record of pretty well every book he got and all about it. Going through that year by year, it became obvious that the love of his life was the cricket books.” Like many collectors, he found a kindred spirit in Roger Page.As for anyone else taking up the baton and continuing what Page has started, the man himself is doubtful. “I’m sure no one at the age of 30 is going to start a business like I did, so that’s the end.” With a laugh and a wry smile he concludes, “I’m sort of the last of the Mohicans”.

Less flashy, more substantial, maybe a little boring – Tillakaratne Dilshan has matured into one of Sri Lanka’s most reliable run-scorers

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Melbourne26-Feb-20152:06

‘We have to come back strong’ – Dilshan

There is nothing in the world more like Tillakaratne Dilshan than the shot he brought to cricket in 2009. Like the man, the stroke treads the line between daring and embarrassment. If he wears the ‘Dilscoop’ on the helmet, nothing looks so foolish. If he connects, he sends stadiums into raptures. It’s a shot that has the feel of a heist. Modern captains have never put men behind their wicketkeeper. They probably never will. By hitting to this part of the ground, Dilshan is almost cheating.In some part of his mind, though, this roguish, dashing 2009 version of himself still exists, because Dilshan still talks a big game. “If you compare my performance with the others,” he said recently, “I have a better batting average in ODI cricket.” The “others” in that sentence are Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, and the statement is not quite true; Sangakkara outstrips his average year-on-year.But what is important is that Dilshan himself believes it. The facts about Dilshan’s batting are not nearly so important to his team as the bluster that underpins him. In 2011, Dilshan became captain and ditched the designer beard and bad-boy gold chains, only to enter some of the leanest months of his career. In 2014, he launched a clothing line, the advertisements for which featured himself, shirtless, in a quarry, lying suggestively on a pile of jeans and abseiling on a rock face. That year, he hit more than a thousand runs.But his head is perhaps the only place where bad-boy Dilshan still exists, because the batsman who was reformed in 2009, has now been refined again in the least thrilling fashion imaginable. Sometime in the last two years, and perhaps unbeknown even to himself, Dilshan has become a steady hand. He’s an engine-room player, when he used to be a sports car with switchblade doors and a spoiler.Tillakaratne Dilshan has pared back his batting as he has got older•Getty ImagesMuch of his 161 not out off 146 balls against Bangladesh was everything an ageing one-day opener should produce. The beginning was not quite sedate, but it was measured. While Lahiru Thirimanne, no attacking batsman by nature, was sliding out of his crease to the quicks and aiming big blows to the legside, Dilshan pinned himself in the crease. Only the half-volleys and half-trackers went to the fence. Of Sri Lanka’s first 50 runs, Dilshan had scored 15 (though that was partly due to having had less of the strike as well).The Dilshan of the past outmatched partners shot for shot. His feet flitted about where now they plod. Sri Lanka were not exactly motoring after 18 overs, having scored at 4.61 an over, but Dilshan was startlingly unambitious as Taskin Ahmed delivered a maiden to him in the 19th. No booming drives came after the first few dot balls. There was no self-chastisement when he failed to pierce the field.His pace quickened soon after, but Sangakkara made better use of Bangladesh’s wayward bowling. Not so long ago, Sangakkara was the more reticent of the two, while Dilshan flashed away. Only at the death did Dilshan find the top gear Sangakkara had been in since he arrived at the crease.”Just after taking a start, I want to bat as long as possible,” Dilshan said. “The thing is I know that in the last 10 overs, I can catch up easily, especially with the four fielders outside. I started very slowly, but caught up with Kumar in the last five overs. In the last 10, we took more than 120 runs. We know if we keep wickets in hand, we can score more than 100 the last 10. I think that’s why we got 300 plus today.”All through the recent series, those halting starts have been fruitful for Dilshan. This knock was his highest score, and the record at a World Cup for Sri Lanka, but he also has four tons in his last 10 innings. Among those outings is an 81 and a 44. For so long, Dilshan was a flagbearer for Sri Lanka’s attacking tradition at the top of the order but, in his new avatar, he is almost an ’80s throwback.All three Sri Lanka seniors have hit hundreds at this World Cup now, suggesting the batting experience will begin to pay off in matches to come, though the bowling remains wayward. It will almost certainly be Dilshan’s last World Cup – his energy and optimism notwithstanding – in addition to Sangakkara and Jayawardene’s, and he is playing like a man who knows that.Dilshan is taking stock of options. He’s playing percentage cricket. He’s mature. He’s 38. He’s a little boring. And he’s probably never been better.

In the first episode of Contenders, a special ten-part buildup to the 2015 World Cup, Rahul Dravid and Graeme Smith discuss the impact of local conditions on team compositions and the issues surrounding the format of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-201531:02

Spinners can be effective in Australia – Smith

As the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand approaches, excitement is building about what the tournament holds. Who are the players to watch for? Which teams start favourites? Contenders, a ten-part ESPNcricinfo special series, examines the strengths and weaknesses of each team in depth, with two legends of the modern game – former South African captain Graeme Smith and former India captain Rahul Dravid. To kick off the series, Smith and Dravid reflect on the importance of a World Cup for a player, the impact of local conditions on team compositions, the issues surrounding the format of the tournament and the likely effects of the new ODI rules on the games.

What they said about…

Importance of playing a World Cup
Dravid: You want to make a mark in the World Cup, simply because you felt that the best players in the world were playing that tournament.
Smith: I was fortunate enough to play in three of them and never got to win one but have some great memories of those occasions.Memories of the 1992 tournament
Dravid: I had just started playing first-class cricket. One thing that we observed was the players’ colourful uniforms. We used to look at them and think, ‘Yes it would be nice to wear one of those someday.’
Smith: That was my first ever sort of exposure into international cricket. When I was 9 or younger, we used to lie on the bedroom floor, wake up at odd hours of the morning and watch television.Impact of local conditions on team composition
Dravid: You can’t have one set formula. Even if you are confident enough to qualify as one of the top eight teams, you can never predict where your quarterfinal will be. You’ve got to have a squad that covers all bases.
Smith: The unique thing about playing in Australia is the size of the grounds, it’s one thing that most other nations aren’t really used to. You have to put emphasis on scoring singles and running twos and threes.The format of the World Cup
Dravid: You can almost predict who the top eight teams are going to be. There comes a time in the tournament, when everyone starts to wait for the quarterfinals, because you know that those are the big games.
Smith: The experiences I’ve had with the football World Cup and the rugby World Cup is that every weekend, there’s a big challenge, and you’re looking forward to the next game. I think that’s crucial for us to create to keep cricket on the map and keep it competitive.Impact of new ODI rules
Dravid: When you have five fielders in the ring, it’s very hard to play a part-time bowler, you are almost forced to play five specialist bowlers. You’re going to be forced to attack and look for wickets than just sit back for long periods of play and see part-timers bowl.
Smith: You need to sum up the batting conditions with the two new balls in Australia and New Zealand. You need to set more of a platform and you can catch up in the last 20 overs if need be. The key is not to go three or four down for nothing.

Stats highlights from Chris Gayle’s record-breaking 215 against Zimbabwe in the Group B match in Canberra

Bishen Jeswant24-Feb-2015215 Runs scored by Chris Gayle, the highest by any batsman in World Cups. He broke Gary Kirsten’s record of 188, against UAE in 1996. This is also the third-highest score by any batsman in ODI history.4 Number of batsmen who have scored ODI double-hundreds; Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and Gayle. Rohit has made two such scores.5 Number of years since the first ODI double hundred was scored. Tendulkar was the first man to this mark, on 24th February 2010, exactly five years ago. He faced 147 balls to score 200 runs on that day. Gayle played 147 balls for his 215 today.138 Number of balls in which Gayle reached his double-century, the fastest for any batsman. The previous record was 140 balls, by Virender Sehwag. Tendulkar got his double-hundred in 147 balls, while Rohit got to his two double-tons in 151 and 156 balls, respectively.16 Number of sixes hit by Chris Gayle, the joint-most by any batsman in an ODI innings. AB de Villiers and Rohit have also hit 16 sixes each.9136 Number of ODI runs scored by Gayle, the second-most for any West Indian batsman. Brian Lara is the only other West Indian batsman to score over 9000 ODI runs. Overall, Gayle is the 16th batsman to reach this milestone in ODIs.22 Number of ODI hundreds for Gayle, the most for any West Indian batsman. He has now equaled Sourav Ganguly (22) and Virat Kohli (22) to go fourth on the overall list of batsmen with the most ODI hundreds.372 Runs scored by West Indies, their highest ever in an ODI. This is also the fifth-highest score by any team in World Cups. This is also the highest score by any team in an ODI in Australia.372 The second-wicket partnership between Gayle and Marlon Samuels, the highest for any wicket in ODI history. The previous record was 331, between Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid against New Zealand in 1999. This is also the highest partnership for any wicket in List A cricket (includes domestic one-dayers).165 The previous record for the highest second-wicket when the first wicket has fallen without a run being scored. This partnership was between Mohammad Azharudding and Sunil Gavaskar, against Australia in 1987. Samuels and Gayle more than doubled this record with their 372-run partnership.298 Number of balls faced by Samuels and Gayle during their partnership, the most for any ODI stand. The previous record was 278, once again by Tendulkar and Dravid against New Zealand in 1999.20 Number of innings since Gayle’s last ODI century, against Sri Lanka in June 2013. He had only made one 50-plus score in the intervening period.3 Number of 275-plus scores for Zimbabwe in this World Cup, the most ever for them in a single edition of the World Cup. Zimbabwe made two such scores each in the 2003 and 2011 editions.

Stats highlights from the fourth ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Nelson

Shiva Jayaraman20-Jan-201515 Runs Kumar Sangakkara needed before this game to pass Sanath Jayasuriya and become the third-highest run scorer in ODIs. Sangakkara scored 74 and is now only 215 runs short of going past Ricky Ponting, who is second in this list. Sangakkara’s 74 was his 112th fifty-plus score in ODIs, as many as Ponting had in his ODI career. Only Sachin Tendulkar, with 145 such scores, is ahead of them.68.30 Kane Williamson’s batting average in ODIs since 2014 – the second highest among batsmen with at least 500 runs. Williamson has hit 50-plus scores in nine of the 14 innings he’s played during this period. Only AB de Villiers has averaged more during this period.3 Centuries Kane Williamson has hit in ODIs batting at No. 3 – the most by any New Zealand batsman. Nathan Astle and Ross Taylor have two each. No other New Zealand no. 3 has more than one hundred.9 Number of times a team has chased a target of 275 or more to win an ODI in New Zealand, including this match. The odds were against New Zealand when they began their chase, with teams setting targets of 275-plus winning 35 of the 45 contests.39 Number of innings since Angelo Mathews got out for a duck in ODIs – also against New Zealand, in 2013. Until that innings Mathews had ten ducks in 108 innings in ODIs – an average of almost one duck in 11 innings.
192 Runs Mahela Jayawardene had scored in ODIs in New Zealand in 13 innings before this tour. In three innings on this tour, he has more than doubled his tally in New Zealand, scoring 225 runs at an average of 75.48 Number of ducks by Sri Lanka captains in ODIs – including the one by Mathews in this match. Sri Lanka have now gone past England as the team whose captains have got out for most ducks in ODIs.

Stats highlights from the Group B game between South Africa and UAE in Wellington

Bishen Jeswant12-Mar-20155:05

Insights – Using DRS effectively

341 South Africa’s total, their fourth 300-plus score at this World Cup, the joint-most with Sri Lanka. They have made a 300-plus score in each of the four games where they batted first this World Cup.0 South African batsmen who made a century today, making their 341 the highest score in World Cup matches without a single individual hundred. The previous record was also set during the 2015 tournament when Pakistan scored 339 against UAE without a single batsman getting to 100.20 Sixes hit by AB de Villiers during this World Cup, the most by any batsman in a single edition. Matthew Hayden struck 18 sixes during the 2007 World Cup. Chris Gayle also has 18 during this World Cup.36 Sixes hit by De Villiers in all World Cups, the most for any batsman. He went past Ricky Ponting who has 31 sixes in World Cup matches.Shaiman Anwar, with 309 from five matches, has the record for most runs by an Associate player in a World Cup•Getty Images309 Runs made by Shaiman Anwar at this World Cup, the most for any batsman from an Associate nation in a single edition. Second on this list is Ryan ten Doeschate with 307 in the 2011 World Cup.11.5 Average opening stand for South Africa in this World Cup, the second-worst for a Test nation, behind Pakistan’s 10.4. South Africa’s six openings stands at this World Cup have been 10, 12, 18, 12, 0 and 17.8.1 Quinton de Kock’s ODI batting average in 2015, the worst for a top-order batsman (Nos. 1 to 7) from a Test nation (min. five innings). De Kock has played seven innings in 2015 with a top score of 26.2-15 De Villiers’ bowling figures in this game, his career-best in ODIs. This is the second time that De Villiers has claimed two wickets in an ODI. Since 2014, he has picked up at least a wicket on five out of the six times he has bowled.

Afghanistan’s rapid climb up cricket’s world order created plenty of excitement and expectations around the team. The World Cup gave them a chance to gauge their strengths and they strengthened their case for more exposure

Abhishek Purohit16-Mar-2015How their tournament panned out
Afghanistan ended their first World Cup with a one-wicket win over Scotland and five losses. Four of those defeats were pretty comprehensive. Afghanistan’s rapid climb up the world order has created plenty of excitement around them, and also brought with it some expectation. From that perspective, there is reason to feel let down with their displays in the tournament, particularly with the batting, for the side is definitely capable of better performances. However, it must also not be forgotten that coming into the World Cup, Afghanistan had played all of ten ODIs against Full Member opponents, and five of those games had come against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. They were expected to beat Scotland, which they did, but anything else would have had to be a bonus. They did give Sri Lanka a proper scare, and if anything, that made a case for greater exposure against the bigger sides.The high point
Undoubtedly the match against Sri Lanka in Dunedin. Afghanistan posted their highest score of the tournament – 232 – and tellingly, it came without a standout contribution from any of the batsmen. Their three fast bowlers took an early wicket each to reduce Sri Lanka to 18 for 3. Mirwais Ashraf kept the scoring down from one end, and Hamid Hassan took out the centurion Mahela Jayawardene. At one stage, Sri Lanka needed 45 from six overs with four wickets remaining. Then Thisara Perera cracked an unbeaten 47 off 26 but Afghanistan’s fight had Jayawardene remarking that there was “not a big gap between the top countries and these guys.”And the low
The start of their chase in the opening match against Bangladesh, when they slipped to 3 for 3. Afghanistan had beaten their opponents the only time they had faced them in an ODI before, in the Asia Cup last March. If they were to win a second game, this seemed to be the likeliest. But their top order just froze after Bangladesh posted 267. Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain were hustling and accurate, but by no means unplayable or even express. But their batsmen’s feet simply refused to move, and they were easy targets. It was catch-up for the rest of the batsmen after that.Top of the class
Samiullah Shenwari gave Afghanistan their first and only World Cup win. With single-digit scores littered above and below him on the scorecard, he all but took Afghanistan home in their chase of 211 with his 96. Afghanistan were 97 for 7 and 132 for 8 but Shenwari did not give up. He is a powerful hitter but buckled down to tackle the situation at hand. Shenwari was the lone light in a badly misfiring batting unit, with 254 runs in the tournament at an average of 42.33, more than twice the number of runs the next-best Afghanistan batsman managed.What we learnt about Afghanistan
We had only caught a glimpse of Afghanistan’s fast bowlers in the past, but after a month at the World Cup, we know they have a seriously good and even versatile attack in Hamid Hassan, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran. Better sides won’t mind having such fast bowlers. No less a batsman than David Warner was impressed by the zip they generated at the WACA. The Australia match was the only game where Afghanistan leaked a flood of runs, but it was more a case of an inexperienced side running into a fearsome line-up than poor bowling. The number of yorkers Afghanistan got in at the death that afternoon in Perth was commendable. The slow bowlers were quite steady, but Afghanistan missed the control the injured medium-pacer Ashraf brings in the middle overs. That they still managed to compete as a bowling unit over 50 overs shows their tenacity.What they learnt from the World Cup
However well you bowl, it will be futile if your batting falls apart almost every time. Afghanistan’s up-and-down batting was their weak link coming into the World Cup, and it failed them massively. They averaged 17.14 per wicket with the bat in the tournament, the worst among all teams (as on March 13). The one time they gave their bowlers some runs, the attack tested the might of the Sri Lankans. Afghanistan’s batting strike-rate of 60 was also the poorest in the tournament, also indicating that the line-up was always under pressure as wickets fell regularly. In stark contrast to their bowlers, their batsmen were just not able to show that they could build a challenging score over 50 overs. In their defence, it is rather difficult for batsmen to adjust to changed conditions, especially a group that has not had much experience in them, again pointing to the need for more exposure.

A deficit of 296 could have been reason to be bogged down, but Tamim Iqbal led Bangladesh into a fighting position in the Khulna Test by reprising his firebrand approach to batting

Mohammad Isam in Khulna01-May-2015Tamim dedicates hundred to late aunt

Tamim Iqbal dedicated his century on the fourth day to his aunt, who passed away in the early hours of Friday in Chittagong. Fatima Hossain was the sister of Tamim’s father and being from a close-knit family, her sudden demise shocked Tamim.
He had wanted to go to Chittagong but decided against it as he would have already missed the janaza and burial.
“I got a call from my brother early in the morning,” Tamim said. “I was very shocked. All I can do is dedicate this hundred to her. It is a very sad day for my family as she was not ill or anything. Her children are very close to us.
“I asked the manager if I can leave after my batting finishes today. But then I realized that I wouldn’t be able to attend the janaza or the burial. When you play for the country, you sometimes have to think differently. Family is also important, but so too is cricket.”
Tamim relayed an emotional story from his childhood about his father and aunt Fatima.
“She used to cook for me and my father, who loved to eat. There used to be an Indian cooking show called Khana Khazana where I saw something and told this aunt to cook that for me. It was my last meal with my father.”

The Khulna-Jessore highway adjacent to the ground was emptier than usual. Like a weekend siesta. The crowd was light, weather hot and Tamim Iqbal was batting at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.His seventh Test hundred, third in successive matches, was a sign of Bangladesh’s change in thought, action and spirit during the first Test against Pakistan. Having chosen to bat and a flat pitch to exploit, both he and his opening partner Imrul Kayes had adopted a conservative approach. Today though, they amassed 273 runs at a run-rate of 4.47.Tamim looked quite assured, like he had inside knowledge of the bowlers’ plans. If there was the need for a cover drive, he was leaning into it with aplomb. When it was short, he got on top of it and never let it out of sight. Every gaps, big or small, offered by Misbah-ul-Haq was pierced with ease. He picked up boundaries quite frequently because his defensive game has improved.The unbeaten 138 on the fourth afternoon was a better example of how Tamim bats than the 74-ball 25 in the first innings. He was able to maintain his usual tempo without having to charge the bowler unnecessarily. Last year, those flays had invariably taken the outside edge. So the they were done away with. Many of his shots did take the edge but when a batsman is doing the right things at the right time, luck becomes his friend. That’s how it was for Tamim.Another impact of his batting was Imrul, who had kept wicket for 120 overs, was filled with renewed vigor. Their unbroken 273-run opening stand is now Bangladesh’s best for any wicket, beating the 267-run fifth wicket stand between Mushfiqur and Mohammad Ashraful in Galle in 2013.The five hours from mid-day to early evening was a transition of energy from one side to another. Bangladesh began 296 runs behind but are now 21 runs away from wiping the deficit off. With the final day left to play, the hosts couldn’t have asked for a better position. Tamim reasoned his attacking approach was needed to unsettle the Pakistan attack and keep them on the field for a longer period. He also said that the stodgy first-innings approach wasn’t going to help them against scoreboard pressure.”When we were chasing 318 against Scotland in the World Cup, our coach [Chandika Hathurusingha] told us that if you look at the scoreboard, we won’t get anything but pressure,” Tamim said. “There were two ways to look at it. We could have played defensively in a bid to play out 150 overs, but they would have got us out due to our negative mindset. The other way was to attack, [which is] the best defense. We knew that we could have been caught in the boundary trying to hit those sixes or when I played the reverse sweeps [and] there would be a lot of talk about it. We just didn’t want them to settle down. They are a good bowling attack.”Imrul and I didn’t really talk about going after them. We just wanted to bat in our way. They will get you out if you give them the upper hand. They bowled well in the first innings, the wicket wasn’t conducive to stroke play. As a result, we also played a bit defensively. Saving this match would be difficult if we go out of character.”Tamim hardly played anything through midwicket or mid-on, but he speared cuts away and timed his cover drives to pick up five boundaries. Two more boundaries came with a turn of the wrists through square leg and a flat-batted pull over midwicket. And then there were the four straight sixes, the first off left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and the next three off his nemesis Mohammad Hafeez, who had dismissed him five times previously in international cricket.Tamim said he hadn’t premediated his attack on Hafeez, that it simply tied in with the plan to remain positive.”Hafeez is very dangerous against left-handers. If I was defending him, he would find a way to get him out. He would get confused if we attacked him, but he is a really good bowler. Today I was successful.”However, Tamim admitted Wahab Riaz’s second spell, six overs for 14 runs, had tested him so much that he could only think of survival. During this spell, Pakistan spent their second review after the umpire declined Wahab’s appeal for a leg-before in the 28th over. Replays showed it pitched outside off-stump, ensuring it went the batsman’s way.”Wahab Riaz’s second-last spell was high quality pace bowling in this wicket where there wasn’t any pace. He was reversing the ball. These are small battles that build to something big. It has happened in my career before where a quality pace bowler is reversing the ball, and I am surviving,” said Tamim.Once he had survived, Tamim latched on to Junaid Khan in the 40th over to move from 93 to 101 with a cover drive and an edge through third-man, both times going on the charge. It was the first time that a Bangladesh batsman has scored three hundreds in as many matches.”I am very proud of the effort. It feels good to have made three hundreds. The hope is to extend this form as long as possible. Even two weeks ago I didn’t think I would score three centuries in this tour. I try to remain confident despite what people are saying about me.”But he was aware that there was still work to be done. “We have to start afresh. Tomorrow I will think I am starting from zero, not 138. If we can cross the first session and the second new ball, the situation will be in our favour. But it won’t be easy,” he said.Tamim and Imrul had also added 224 in Bangladesh’s last Test, in November against Zimbabwe in Chittagong. The only other time that a Bangladesh opening pair had batted longer was when Javed Omar and Tamim’s brother Nafees Iqbal played out 83 overs against Zimbabwe in 2005 to ensure Bangladesh’s first-ever Test series win. When it comes to rearguard actions, the Javed-Nafees partnership is still ranked as one of the best in Bangladesh’s history.The Tamim-Imrul pair showed the other way of a rearguard, a more modern method of taming a bowling line-up. Tamim was the fire starter and when Imrul found his groove, he became the anchor. At 11:50 am Bangladesh were precariously placed. By 5:00pm, they were taken over the treacherous second and final session of the fourth day on Tamim’s shoulder. Bangladesh would now be more comfortable riding on Tamim’s speed.

The oldest Test debutants since the start of the new millennium

03-Jun-2015Shaun Udal (England)
Debut: v Pakistan in Multan, November 2005
Age: 36 years and 239 days
Matches played: 4•PA PhotosAdam Voges (Australia)
Debut: v West Indies in Roseau, June 2015
Age: 35 years and 242 days
Matches played: 1*•Getty ImagesEnamul Haque (Bangladesh)
Debut: v Zimbabwe in Harare, April 2001
Age: 35 years and 58 days
Matches played: 10•IDI/GettyZulfiqar Babar (Pakistan)
Debut: v South Africa in Abu Dhabi, October 2013
Age: 34 years and 308 days
Matches played: 8•Getty ImagesLuke Ronchi (New Zealand)
Debut: v England in Leeds, May 2015
Age: 34 years and 36 days
Matches played: 1•Getty Images

Stats highlights from an unusual Ashes series in which the winning team didn’t necessarily have the better stats

S Rajesh25-Aug-2015In every way, this was a bizarre series. Out of a possible 25 days of cricket, there were only 18, making this the joint-shortest five-Test series, along with the England-West Indies series of 2000; there were only 7920 balls bowled in the entire series, the third-lowest in a five-Test series with results in all five matches; for the first time in a five-Test series, no match went into the fifth day.It wasn’t the most compelling Ashes series of recent times, though. The team which took the early initiative in each Test invariably dominated the rest of the game and won by a huge margin. The only fightback was on the opening day of the series, when Australia had reduced England to 43 for 3 and then dropped Joe Root, who led a magnificent recovery and allowed England to finish the day on 343 for 7. Through the rest of the series, neither team was able to recover from early setbacks.Even so, the matches were largely action-packed – wickets fell in a hurry, and yet both teams continued to score at a frenetic run rate: England’s series run rate was 3.74, and Australia’s 3.72. The overall series run rate of 3.73 is the third-highest in Ashes history, next only to those in 2001 and 2005. A wicket fell every 49 balls, and the average score in a full day’s play (90 overs) was 336 runs for the loss of 11 wickets.Australia lost their fourth successive Ashes campaign in England, but in two of those series – in 2009 and 2015 – they ended with a higher batting average than England. The 2015 averages were obviously influenced by the dead-rubber last Test, when Australia scored 481 for 10 wickets compared to England’s 435 for 20; after four Tests of the series, England averaged 31.63 runs per wicket to Australia’s 29.77. In 2009 Australia averaged 40.64 to England’s 34.15, despite losing the series 2-1, while in 2013 England had an advantage of only three runs despite winning by a 3-0 margin.

The last four Ashes series in England

YearTeamRuns scoredWkts takenBat aveResult2015England23658029.193-2Australia25658132.062-32013England28568933.603-0Australia27358530.730-32009England28697134.152-1Australia28868440.641-22005England29628931.842-1Australia28109331.571-2England’s middle-order mightEngland’s average score at the fall of the second wicket was 43; Australia’s was 131. The opening partnership was one of the success stories for Australia, while Adam Lyth’s lack of runs – he had one of the poorest series for an Ashes opener – meant England always lost at least one early wicket. Rogers and Warner, on the other hand, put together 514 runs, one of only 12 instances when an opening pair has added more than 500 runs in an Ashes series.Australia’s problem, and England big advantage, was their middle and lower middle order. For wickets three to seven, England, on average, added 184; Australia managed just 115. That turned out to be the key difference between the two teams. Root got enough assistance from England’s middle and lower order to stitch together useful partnerships almost every time – Moeen Ali made useful runs down the order, while Ian Bell and Ben Stokes made a couple of vital contributions (though Bell’s overall series numbers were very ordinary). For Australia, middle-order wickets consistently fell in a heap. England’s No. 4 to No. 8 batsmen scored 1228 runs at 30.70, with two hundreds and eight fifties, while Australia managed just 737 runs at 18.89, with four half-centuries and no hundreds. Australia had more players who topped 400 runs in the series – three to England’s one – and more batsmen who averaged 40-plus, yet in the final analysis that didn’t count for much. (Click here for England’s player-wise batting and bowling averages in the series, and here for Australia’s.)

Partnerships for each wicket

EnglandAustraliaWktInngsP’ship runsAve stand100/50p’shipInngsP’ship runsAve stand100/50p’ship1st914716.330/ 01056562.773/ 32nd923726.330/ 1961468.221/ 33rd931439.250/ 4918122.620/ 14th848560.622/ 1826933.621/ 05th831739.621/ 1814317.870/ 16th819824.750/ 1822828.500/ 27th816220.250/ 289812.250/ 08th822327.870/ 2833141.370/ 39th823529.370/ 27689.710/ 010th8476.710/ 07689.710/ 0The bowling comparisonComing into the series, Australia claimed they had the best fast-bowling attack in the world, but in this series there’s no doubt that they were second-best to England. Until Peter Siddle came into the line-up at The Oval, Australia’s pace attack consistently leaked runs at an uncomfortable rate – the combined economy rate of the two Mitchells, Starc and Johnson, and Josh Hazlewood, was 3.76 runs per over, compared to 3.24 for England’s five fast bowlers – Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Mark Wood and Stokes. Both Starc and Johnson averaged more than 30, which, in the context of a low-scoring series, wasn’t quite good enough, especially when Broad’s 21 wickets came at just 20.90 each.Nathan Lyon was clearly the more skilled of the two specialist spinners on view in the series, but Moeen Ali made some vital contributions with the ball, dismissing Warner four times and Smith twice.

Pace and spin for each team

PaceSpinTeamWicketsAverageSRWicketsAverageSREngland6427.2349.91642.5657.4Australia6327.7446.61729.1151.2The head-to-head battlesFive-Test series allow a lot more time for batsman-bowler rivalries to develop, and there were a few interesting ones in this series as well. Root was the only batsman from either side who scored more than 100 runs against three opposition bowlers – Starc got him out three times, but against Johnson and Hazlewood he averaged more than 50, and those battles went a long way in defining the series. Cook was very good against Johnson and Hazlewood, but not quite as successful against Starc and Lyon. Moeen clearly preferred the spin of Lyon to the pace of Johnson – he may have lost the battle of offspinners, but won his personal duel against Lyon. Lyth, meanwhile, struggled against most of the bowlers he faced in the series – he was dismissed three times each by Starc and Hazlewood, and against Siddle in the last Test, Lyth faced 20 balls, didn’t score a run, and was dismissed twice.

England batsmen v Australian bowlers

Batsman Bowler Runs Balls Runs/over Dismissals AverageJoe Root Mitchell Johnson 115 168 4.10 2 57.50Joe Root Josh Hazlewood 104 146 4.27 2 52.00Joe Root Mitchell Starc 102 155 3.94 3 34.00Moeen Ali Nathan Lyon 89 120 4.45 0 – Alastair Cook Mitchell Johnson 83 143 3.48 1 83.00Joe Root Nathan Lyon 83 111 4.48 0 -Alastair Cook Mitchell Starc 75 137 3.28 3 25.00Alastair Cook Josh Hazlewood 68 159 2.56 0 -Moeen Ali Mitchell Johnson 63 90 4.20 4 15.75Alastair Cook Nathan Lyon 59 186 1.90 3 19.66Adam Lyth Mitchell Starc 44 94 2.80 3 14.66Adam Lyth Josh Hazlewood 28 63 2.66 3 9.33Jos Buttler Nathan Lyon 18 41 2.63 4 4.50Among the Australian batsmen, Rogers scored 100-plus runs against Anderson and Broad, but while Broad dismissed him five times, Anderson couldn’t get him out even once. On the other hand, Anderson had plenty of success against Rogers’ opening partner, Warner, but Broad failed to dismiss him all series. Broad, though, was generally superb against Australia’s top order, dismissing Smith three times and Clarke twice. In fact, Clarke fell twice each to Broad, Wood and Finn, suggesting that Broad wasn’t his only nemesis. In fact, he faced only 12 balls from Anderson in the entire series, indicating how insignificant his batting was through the summer.

Australian batsmen v England bowlers

Batsman Bowler Runs Balls Runs/over Dismissals AverageChris Rogers Stuart Broad 113 216 3.13 5 22.60Chris Rogers James Anderson 109 181 3.61 0 -Steven Smith Stuart Broad 77 122 3.78 3 25.66David Warner Moeen Ali 69 77 5.37 4 17.25David Warner Stuart Broad 66 134 2.95 0 – Steven Smith James Anderson 63 112 3.37 0 -Steven Smith Steven Finn 42 69 3.65 3 14.00David Warner James Anderson 32 72 2.66 3 10.66Michael Clarke Stuart Broad 29 57 3.05 2 14.50Michael Clarke Mark Wood 29 55 3.16 2 14.50Michael Clarke Steven Finn 4 33 0.72 2 2.00