Cricinfo Select
Ghost in the machine
Mark Vermeulen, once among Zimbabwe's most promising young batsmen, could spend his next 25 years in jail
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Fitch-Holland said Vermeulen had been diagnosed with a "depressive illness which of course has a significant impact upon his behaviour. For anyone, let alone a professional sportsman, to publicly admit to such a struggle is, I suggest, exceptional and worthy of a degree of respect. We offer no excuses for Mark's unacceptable conduct but ask instead for some understanding."
It was under this heavy cloud that Vermeulen returned to Zimbabwe determined to resurrect his career. "When he came back and said to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), 'I want a contract and I want to play for Zimbabwe again', they quite rightly told him he had this thing hanging over his head in England, which was not ideal, and to go play league cricket and prove himself," Campbell explains. "But to fob off someone who's already unstable was just asking for trouble. There was absolutely no support base for a guy like him, there was no system to fall into. That was a recipe for a bomb going off, which is basically what happened.
"You'd think he might try and knock out the chief executive or something. But to do what he did - if, of course, he's guilty - you've got to realise there's a serious problem. Put yourself in his position: 'If I come back at least I can play cricket again. But now I can't do that. In fact, I've got nothing. Now what do I do?' It's a scary scenario."
Full postSorcerer and apprentice
Gideon Haigh on Warne v Pietersen, a cricket rivalry for the ages
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Gideon Haigh
A game consisting of clearly delineated individual contests, cricket seems to contain huge potential for the creation and maintenance of personal rivalries. Most of them, however, are low-key and intimate, lost in the corporate struggle. Who remembers who dismissed or punished whom last time, or the time before? Only, generally, the opponents themselves; even then, the game's structure tends to the complex, and competition to the diffuse.
Full postThe day of the specialist captain
For the umpteenth time this winter, England are taking a risk on a half-fit player with Michael Vaughan returning to captaincy
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Tim de Lisle
Being an international captain is a less perilous business than it used to be. Most of the current incumbents of the major nations have been there a while. Stephen Fleming is the daddy of them all, with 80 Tests in charge dating right back to February 1997: rare is the captain who gets to decide whether to have a 10th-anniversary party. Brian Lara gets sacked or resigns every so often, but never for long: he is now in his third stint, spread over nine years.
Full postFrom the sublime to the ridiculous
India squandered a golden opportunity to score an elusive series win away from the subcontinent, writes Dileep Premachandran
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Dileep Premachandran
A series that began with India supposedly on a hiding to nothing ended on the final day at Newlands with the team wondering how they let a coveted away win escape like sand through cupped fingers. On a pitch that Graeme Smith wished that he'd never see again in the southern cape, India dominated for three days before freezing in sight of the finish line. The batting on the fourth afternoon will forever be a black mark in the annals of the Indian game, and the shabby display in the field on the final day obliterated pleasant memories of four golden days at the Wanderers.
When it came to the crunch, Indian cricket's legends failed it, even as South Africa's key performers carried their team home. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid set the negative tone while batting in slow motion, and the lethargy spread to Anil Kumble, who went wicketless on a fifth-day surface against batsmen not renowned for their ability to combat the turning ball.
Full postWhen the tide turned
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan looks at eight turning points in India's tour of South Africa
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
In a series where the scales constantly tilted,Cricinfo picked out eight
phases where the momentum shifted. It often took just one manic passage of play
for the game to turn with neither team dominating extended periods. The
pendulum swings made it one of the best series in recent memory
Full postSix moments which defined England's series
Andrew Miller picks six moments which defined England's series
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Preparation
Andrew Miller
If you believe the likes of Dennis Lillee and Ian Chappell, England's Ashes campaign was doomed from the moment they opted to shirk their responsibilities at the ICC Champions Trophy, and treat the tournament as an inconvenient obstacle rather than a means for gathering momentum. England in fact erred twice in India - firstly by failing even to pretend they were interested in winning, and secondly by flying home for ten days' R & R immediately afterwards - a decision that Lillee slammed as "stupid". Australia, meanwhile, were runaway winners, with runaway momentum.
Full postThe contenders
Peter English looks at the players lining up to replacing Australia's retiring veterans
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Peter English
Australia's Test team will undergo an enforced shake-up later this year after the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. Peter English takes a look at the players jostling for a place in the side.
Opening batsmen
Full postNot a lot to shout about
My lasting memory of 2006 will be who's-turn-is-it next - otherwise known as opening the batting for New Zealand in Test cricket
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
by Andrew McLean
My lasting memory of 2006 will be who's-turn-is-it next - otherwise known as opening the batting for New Zealand in Test cricket. It is now over 20 years since Bruce Edgar gave it away, yet still we gag for a partnership of the quality he formed with John Wright...not that you would know it from the Test selections in 2006. On the contrary, a casual observer would think New Zealand had such riches at the top of the order it was akin to picking a new tie for another day at the office.
Full postThe best, the worst, the Warne-derful
Some more of 2006 before 2007 takes over: Here's Cricinfo's list of everything notable on and off the field last year
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
by Osman Samiuddin
Some more of 2006 before 2007 takes over: Here's Cricinfo's list of everything notable on and off the field last year
Full postAshes to Zombies and eyerything in between
2006 was another year filled with excitement, intrigue, controversy and records in international cricket
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
2006 was another year filled with excitement, intrigue, controversy and records in international cricket. Here Cricinfo runs through the alphabet of the past 12 months and finds stories ranging from drugs, to effigies, to umpires.
Andrew Miller
Full post