Swann, Sehwag, and other nominees

The list of nominations for the ICC Awards 2010 is out, and it's time to delve deeper into the numbers to see how the nominees have fared, and if some deserving names have missed out. The late inclusion of Graeme Swann in the Cricketer of the Year category is obviously welcome, but are there others who should have made the cut as well, and some who are lucky to be there? This column takes a look at the performances of those in the shortlist (if you can call it that), as well as those who've missed out on these nominations. The period under consideration is August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010.


A look, first, at those who were nominated in the Test Player of the Year category: of the 16 in this list, nine have made it largely for their batting, two - Shane Watson and MS Dhoni - for their multiple skills, and five largely for their bowling.

At first glance the criteria seem to have been rather simple: among those who've scored 750 or more during this period, the top eight in terms of averages have all made the cut, with Tamim Iqbal in eighth place. Thilan Samaraweera has scored fewer than 750, but then his has been a remarkable story of fighting back from a bullet wound sustained during the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009, and then scoring a bucketful of runs on his return. The captaincy and wicketkeeping skills of Dhoni have obviously helped him win a place, but a couple of batsmen who'll feel hard done by are VVS Laxman and Michael Clarke. Laxman scored 49 runs more than Samaraweera at an average that was six points more than Samaraweera's, but doesn't find a place in the list. In 12 innings, Laxman topped 50 eight times and scored two centuries, including a match-winning unbeaten 103 against Sri Lanka earlier this month, and averaged nearly 85.

Clarke's was a marginal case: in 10 Tests he scored 862 runs, averaged more than 57, and had two innings of more than 150 in consecutive matches. Among the others who missed out were Ian Bell and Rahul Dravid: both averaged more than 60, but neither had an aggregate of more than 750. (Click here for the full list of batsmen who scored at least 500 runs during this period.)

The Test players of the year - batting

Batsman                  Tests   Runs     Average 100s/ 50s

Virender Sehwag       10      1282       85.46      6  /   4
Sachin Tendulkar       10      1064       81.84      6  /   3
Kumar Sangakkara     7         867       78.81      4  /   2
Thilan Samaraweera    7         625       78.12      2  /   4
Mahela Jayawardene   7         849       70.75      2  /   3
Hashim Amla               9         923       65.92      4  /   2
Simon Katich               9         991       61.93      2  /   8
Jacques Kallis              9         849       60.64      4  /   2
MS Dhoni                    9         594       66.00      3  /   2
Tamim Iqbal                7          837       59.78      3  /   6
Shane Watson             9          750       46.87      1  /   5

Among the bowlers, only six took more than 40 wickets during this period. Five of them have made the list, with Mitchell Johnson the only one to miss out, with some justification - his 44 wickets have come at a cost of 29.06 each - higher than the averages of the other five. Swann's exclusion would have been a travesty, for he has taken 49 wickets during this period - the second-highest, after Mohammad Asif's 51. Swann has also taken six five-fors, which is twice as many as the next-best bowler.

In terms of averages, though, the outstanding Dale Steyn heads the list: his 41 wickets have come at 20.78 each. Watson has been superb too, with a bowling average that is less than half his batting one, thanks largely to two five-fors against Pakistan earlier this summer.

The Test players of the year - bowling

Bowler              Tests Wickets Average 5WI/10WM

Dale Steyn          8  41 20.78 3/ 1
Shane Watson     9 24 20.87 2/ 0
James Anderson  8 41 22.53 3/ 1
Doug Bollinger     9 42 22.71 2/ 0
Mohammad Asif  10 51 23.39 3/ 0
Graeme Swann   10 49 27.55 6/ 1

The six batsmen who've scored more than 1000 runs in ODIs have all been nominated in that category and deservedly so, for they've all averaged more than 40 at a strike rate of over 80. Tillakaratne Dilshan has the stand-out numbers among these six, averaging more than 57 at a strike rate of more than 107, but there are three other batsmen who've scored less than 1000 runs at an outstanding rate: Sachin Tendulkar, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have all averaged more than 60 at excellent strike rates. (Click here for the top run-getters during this period.)

Among the bowlers, Daniel Vettori and Ryan Harris have terrific stats: Vettori's economy rate of 3.74 alone makes him a deserving candidate, while Harris has averaged two-and-a-half wickets per match, with three five-wicket hauls. Like in the Tests category, Johnson is among the highest wicket-takers in this format too, with 41, but his average (28.07) and economy rate (5.10) are both among the higher ones. Watson too has been outstanding in ODIs - he is the second-highest run-getter and the highest wicket-taker during this period, with 48 scalps at an average of less than 22.

The surprise candidate in this list is Sehwag. No one doubts his merits in the Test list, but his merits as an ODI batsman are somewhat dodgy. In 18 innings he has only one 50-plus innings, and an average of less than 30. His strike rate is admittedly superb, but even taking that into account, his inclusion is a surprise. Shahid Afridi would be justified in feeling aggrieved at his exclusion, as he has a higher average and strike rate than Sehwag. Plus, he has contributed more as a bowler.

ODI players of the year

Player ODIs Runs Average Strike rate Wickets Average Econ rate

AB de Villiers 16 855 71.25 103.38 0 - -

Sachin Tendulkar 17 914 65.28 98.91 0 - 13.20

Hashim Amla 13 797 61.30 90.67 0 - -

Tillakaratne Dilshan 23 1198 57.04 107.63 7 33.00 5.13

Jacques Kallis 12 599 54.45 91.03 7 37.28 4.92

MS Dhoni 28 1028 54.10 83.30 1 14.00 7.00

Michael Hussey 38 1281 45.75 94.95 0 - 8.57

Ricky Ponting 36 1549 45.55 82.08 0 - -

Cameron White 40 1327 41.46 79.22 1 0.00 0.00

Shane Watson 37 1448 41.37 90.16 48 21.85 5.06

Virender Sehwag 19 539 29.94 120.58 5 31.80 5.32

Daniel Vettori 16 398 30.61 95.90 27 20.29 3.74

Ryan Harris 16 36 9.00 144.00 40 15.17 4.63

Doug Bollinger 23 4 2.00 66.67 37 22.40 4.38

Which brings us to the nominations for the Cricketer of the Year. The revised list has 17 names, after the late inclusion of Swann. Three of those players - Johnson, Clarke and Morne Morkel - have made that list without finding themselves in either the Test or ODI lists. Johnson and Clarke have been among the wickets and runs in both formats - Johnson is also the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 internationals during this period, but Morkel's credentials are not as compelling: his Test stats are pretty good - 37 wickets in nine Tests at 24.62 - but he has only played seven ODIs and five Twenty20 internationals during this period. Similarly, Harris has been terrific in ODIs but has played only two Tests and three Twenty20 internationals, which makes his inclusion in the Cricketer of the Year category quite perplexing - even more so since the ICC had initially left out Swann, the second-highest wicket-taker in all categories combined during this period.

One player who deserved a spot ahead of Harris and Morkel is Mahela Jayawardene. Apart from his Test average of 70.75, he averaged 40.20 at a strike rate of 88 in ODIs, and almost 35 at a strike rate of 153 in Twenty20 internationals, in the process also scoring a hundred at the World Twenty20. Was that another oversight by the ICC?

The importance of Kumble

Anil Kumble wants to work with India's young talent and help in grooming and preparing them for life as cricketers. A better person could not be found, and a more crying need could not have been identified in Indian cricket. While it is a cricketer with skills who takes the field, the person within the athlete walks along too; sometimes as a shadow, sometimes even as a cloak. In the long run, while skill is important, attitude is supreme.

Kumble was a man possessed of considerable skill himself, but as a competitor he was awesome. His skill made him a very good cricketer, and his attitude propelled that skill towards making him a legend in Indian cricket. It is such qualities that Indian cricket and the young men who symbolise it need a dose of, because currently there is an epidemic going around.

Fine young cricketers are dropping off the radar, either unable to cope with fame and its attendant pressures or being satiated too soon. Kumble doesn't possess a wand, he is not an alchemist. And anyway, work ethic cannot be enforced or injected. It has to grow within. But hopefully Kumble can remind them of the path they need to be on. In truth they know of it, or at any rate they should, but a little nudge wouldn't be a bad idea.

Once the bosses of Indian cricket take time off from looking into finances - important but not the core aspect of the game - maybe they can start looking at players. It is not identifying talented players that is the main issue, it is what to do with them once they are identified that seems a little more difficult and will require sensitive handling. India's problem, then, lies not so much in unearthing talent as in maintaining it.

RP Singh and Sreesanth are wonderful vehicles that spend more time in the garage than on the road. Yuvraj Singh is a thoroughbred in danger of wandering off the track. These are not talents that a team can lose. If they hit the basement button, there has to be somebody to stop them. Hopefully Kumble can guide them. But eventually India's young cricketers must feel the need to be competitive and world-class from within, and do what it takes. In recent times I have met a couple of overseas cricketers and an Indian great, who without prompting offered the word "lazy" as a descriptor for some of our young bowlers.

So either the BCCI could take a laissez faire approach and say that if some of the younger brigade project the wrong attitude they are probably the wrong people for the side anyway. Or they could take a serious look at the attrition levels in Indian cricket. It has disappointed me that more hasn't been done in that regard.

The core of what Kumble will come up with will necessarily have to do with how to cope with success. It can lead to many things, some beautiful, some dangerous. It can spur you on to excellence or it can lead to complacence. My fear is that for the first couple of years, excellence stays relevant and then for some it seems to demand too much time, become too much of an effort. The low-hanging fruit seems too enticing.

It would be too difficult to expect the coach to handle such matters, which is why many have been advocating a senior person, not necessarily a cricketer, as a permanent manager; not someone who guarantees a vote and gets an expense account but a real professional, who players can open their hearts to.

People within the cricket system tend to mock those who reside outside. They often prefer the narrow confines of their world and prevent fresh thought from knocking at the door. My wife and I earn a living talking to corporate India about lessons from sport. The greater need, I am convinced, is for the best of corporate India to offer lessons in excellence to our young cricketers. Kumble's plan should be a starting point.

I have been living a dream: Tendulkar

After facing a few throwdowns from coach Gary Kirsten at the P Saravanamuttu Oval on Monday, Tendulkar spoke at length about an impending feat - surpassing Steve Waugh's record of 168 Test appearances.


Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, who holds almost all batting records, is usually so superstitious that he does not talk about an approaching milestone. But after facing a few throwdowns from coach Gary Kirsten at the P Saravanamuttu Oval on Monday, Tendulkar spoke at length about an impending feat - surpassing Steve Waugh's record of 168 Test appearances. The little master recounted his journey from his first Test in Pakistan in 1989 to this record-breaking encounter. Excerpts...

On becoming the most capped player in Test cricket

It's been a long journey. I still remember the first Test I played in Pakistan in 1989. It was a completely different feeling compared to any cricket I had played. And since then it has worked out pretty well. I'm very happy that I have had the privilege of such a long journey at the international level. This was my dream - to play for India. And getting to play 169 Tests is fantastic.

On what it takes to last long enough to play 169 Test matches

The journey has gone by very quickly, quicker than I expected. Time flies. You just need to enjoy it, it's a circle. You are not always on the top, sometimes there are rough patches, but the simple formula that I have followed is whenever I have gone through phases, I have found a reason to work harder.

And, you know, try and spend all my energy at something I have been wanting to get better at. I have done that. I have tried to keep things simple. If you keep things simple, they are pretty simple to manage. I have used the huge support that I have had around the world as a factor to motivate myself.

I try and live up to the expectations I have of myself, and also make sure that I am always top of my game, or at least my preparations are such that I am out there to deliver and do my best at all times.

On whether he thinks this record will be broken

Records are meant to be broken. All I can say is whoever breaks my records should be an Indian.

On the importance of this record in comparison to other records he holds

The rest of things can be achieved, but for this you need an X number of years, an X number of tours, that's when this thing happens. It has taken me 20-plus years to get here. It's wonderful that we have been able to play so much Test cricket. In the last few years we have played a reasonable amount of Test cricket.

At one stage, in the early nineties, I hardly got any Tests. On a couple of occasions there were just two or three Tests in a year. It was disappointing. That is not the case now.

On whether his passion for the game was the main thing that keeps him going

Over the years the love for cricket has remained the same. If at all, it has only increased with time. Passion also has kept increasing. Whether it is match or practice, I still enjoy it.

On how difficult the journey has been over the last two decades

Had it been less than 20 years, it would have still been difficult. I don't take this as a burden. It is god's gift that my life's passion is also my work. So I enjoy every moment. I got the chance 20 years ago, and since then I have been living a dream.

On his advice to youngsters who want to become Sachin Tendulkar

It's important to dream, and then the second thing is, chase your dreams. Be sincere and honest, and chase your dreams. They do come true.