Not a vintage crop of contenders this week, at least in terms of numbers. However, there were some excellent individual performances.
Today, Morne Morkel showed what a brilliant foil he can be for the pace of Dale Steyn in the one-day game, taking 4-22 to help beat Australia at Port Elizabeth. Suresh Raina may have scooped the Man of the Match prize in the 4th ODI between Englan and India, but it has been Virat Kohli's week. His innings of 112 not out, 35 and 86 not out played important roles in sending the tourists' confidence plummeting floorward.
However, my stars of the past seven days were in action in the First Test at neutral Abu Dhabi. Junaid Khan's 5-38 put Pakistan on top on day one, then the Pakistani batsmen put Sri Lanka to the sword in the following two days. Taufeeq Umar compiled a career-best 236 and might stil be batting had it not been for the sluggish reactions and thinking of his fifth wicket partner Asad Shafiq who declined a quick single at a time when his side were pushing for a declaration.
Sri Lanka then had almost two days to retrieve a draw from a deficit of 314. When Paranavitana was snared first ball by Umar Gul it looked as if it would be over within a few hours, but in came Kumar Sangakkara. He put on 153 with Thirimanne and, after a miserable middle-order collapse, a further 201 with wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene. The latter scored his fourth century but it was Sanga's 211 which ensured Sri Lanka saved the match and for that he wins my Player of the Week award.
It may not be his most fluent and sparklong but he produced exactly what the situation demanded. Indeed the whole match was a raity in modern Test cricket in that all four innings played were scored at an average of fewer than three runs an over. That may have been quick thirty years ago but in the 21st century looks positively pedetrian. The former skipper now boasts a Test average of more than 56 from 101 games, in which he has aggregated almost 9000 runs. On top of his catches and stumpings, that's pretty impressive stuff and he has yet to reach his 34th birthday.
If only Mahela Jayawardene - also averaging more than 50 and close to his 10,000th Test run - and Tillakaratne Dilshan could also put some scores together in the same innings, Sri Lanka could give their bowlers something to aim at for a change. Too often they are relying on Angelo Mathews to shore up the total after early failures. This week at least, Sangakkara demonstrated why he is one of the top Test batsmen in the world, at least as good as Kallis, Tendulkar and Cook.
