The Top Spin: Throwback Blackwell a permanent one-Test wonder after retirement
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The series stood at 1-1 with three to play. England had been skittled for 172 by Jason Gillespie, but reduced Australia to 50 for four. Then Smith had Matthew Elliott fending to slip. Graham Thorpe dropped it. Elliott made 199, Australia won by an innings, and Smith disappeared back to Bristol, unhappier for the experience. Yet Smith had nothing on the sob story that reduces other sob stories to uncontrollable wailing. Selected for the crucial fourth Test at Old Trafford in 1902, where England needed to win to give themselves a chance of regaining the Ashes, Fred Tate of Sussex dropped Joe Darling at a crucial stage of Australia’s second innings. The drop meant England eventually had to chase 124 – it might have been 80 or so had he held on – and fate inevitably decreed that it was Tate who should march out at No 11 with eight still needed. Wisden takes up the story: ‘Tate got a four on the leg-side from the first ball he received from Saunders, but the fourth, which came a little with the bowler’s arm and kept low, hit the wicket and the match was over.’They still call that one Tate’s match. At least Nagpur will be remembered for Cook. Capping a horrible match: Debutant Mike Smith looks back at his stumps in his one and only Test in 1997 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS England on edgeSo, England will be heading to Auckland trying not to spend too much time thinking about the nightmare scenario of a series defeat by the No 8-ranked side in world cricket. It’s fair to say this was not part of the plan [assumes tin hat and awaits charge of arrogance].But neither was in 2001-02, when Nasser Hussain’s team landed in New Zealand’s biggest city with a 1-0 lead, and were confronted with a damp pitch whose first-day indentations had hardened into mini-saucers by the time England batted last on day five. That Mark Butcher was caught at gully off a ball that popped disconcertingly at him from the sub-military medium of Nathan Astle said it all.And the idea that New Zealand might be playing for a draw this time seems outlandish. If Eden Park starts damp and England bat first, the scenario will be very much on. A curious series still has life in it, which is precisely what Test cricket needs in that part of the world. Drawing no comfort: England's captain Nasser Hussain (left) looks forlorn opposite New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming after the 2001-02 Test series finished level The lesser-spotted Afridi For the discerning sports fan, there was a treat on TV on Sunday afternoon. Wigan and Newcastle forgive me, but the sight of Shahid Afridi doing a Shahid Afridi in Johannesburg was just too life-affirming to miss. One of the seven sixes he hit during an almost absurd 48-ball 88 actually went out of the Wanderers, which may be South Africa’s equivalent of clearing the Lord’s pavilion. Defending 343, South Africa were getting jumpy.And yet. One of the great shames of contemporary cricket is the rarity with which Afridi manages to impersonate himself. At times, he has had to settle for parody. You have to go back to June 2010, and a pair of hundreds in Dambulla, for the last time he made more than 88 in a one-day international. Before that, you have to go back to April 2005. In the meantime, Afridi has become a bowling all-rounder. But when he comes off with the bat, my word… Boom boom: Shahid Afridi hits out during his innings against South AfricaIndia get it right with Fletcher Is Duncan Fletcher finally being allowed to mould the Indian team he wanted all along? Australia’s bowlers may be providing India with some desperately easy pickings, but a top order that includes Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli feels like the kind of line-up Fletcher has traditionally worked wonders with: talented, hard-working, young enough to learn new tricks. In that respect, India’s defeat by England and win over Australia feel like twin impostors: one suffered by a team in transition, the other inflicted on a side in disarray. More relevant to the recent extension of Fletcher’s contract as India coach by a year is the fact that they will need his expertise for what is to come: trips to South Africa, Gawd help them, and New Zealand. If Fletcher remains beyond that, it would be for a five-Test series in England. We hammer the BCCI regularly here. But they’ve got this one spot on. First picks: Duncan Fletcher (left) pictured with India captain MS Dhoni, is being allowed to build his own team Come again? Apologies for kicking a team when they’re down, but it was instructive to read Australia coach Mickey Arthur’s rationale behind dropping Glenn Maxwell for the Mohali Test. Maxwell, you will recall, had been drafted in for a debut in the previous game, at Hyderabad, in the process ousting Australia’s established off-spinner Nathan Lyon. Yet back came Lyon for Mohali, where he took two for 151 in Australia’s six-wicket defeat. In advance, Arthur had explained: ‘Maxi [Glenn Maxwell] was brought here as the all-rounder-type guy. I guess, in a way, he competes with Moises [Henriques] for one position and we’ve decided we’re going with our specialist attack.’Despite this, Henriques and Maxwell had both played at Hyderabad. Which makes you wonder: even taking into account the disruption of Homeworkgate, have the Australians lost the plot? More... The Top Spin: England slow out of the blocks again... but second innings shows they've nipped it in the bud England's washout in New Zealand has seen Compton and Broad book their places in Ashes dream team Cook rues Wellington washout after rain thwarts victory bid and forces damp draw Three and easy! Australia lose again as India look for series whitewash
