Joe Root’s 100 in 100th Test

It seems like only yesterday when I predicted a great international future for a 21 year-old Yorkshireman called Joe Root. Normally such a statement is a kiss of death but it’s not often that a batsman looks so comfortable in both white and red ball cricket, especially the latter. However, that winter he made his Test debut at Nagpur, scoring 73 and 20 not out and three years later his runs had made him so indispensable that he was handed the England captaincy. 

His only real flaw was a seeming inability to turn fifties into hundreds, which has been blown to pieces in recent weeks. In sharp contrast to 2020 and a few lean years before that,  today’s unbeaten 128 following 228 and 186 against Sri Lanka, maintains a scintillating strain of form. Should we be surprised? Most top English batsmen struggle on Asian pitches against skilled spinners but Root has a higher batting average on the sub-continent than anywhere else, a clear sign of world-class footwork. Chennai today was apparently a batsman’s dream with even Ashwin, Bumrah et al unable to make much headway. 

On top of that, there’s the headline-grabbing 20^th century in his 100^th Test, a landmark achieved by only twelve other England players. Many of them also captained their country. Only Ian Bell and Root’s current coach Graham Thorpe hit the milestone slightly under the radar, although Pietersen and Boycott weren’t regulars. Root isn’t the only Englishman to hit three figures on his 100^th appearance, though. Colin Cowdrey did it in 1968, but I was too young to remember. Alec Stewart’s 105 against the West Indies at Old Trafford in 2000 was relatively memorable, although for me the match was more significant as the debut for my Somerset hero Marcus Trescothick! That was quite a batting line-up, too, featuring five skippers past and present, including Atherton, Vaughan and Hussain. 

So what about representatives of other nations scoring a 100 on their 100^th appearance? Javed Miandad was the first, back in 1989, closely followed by Gordon Greenidge. Prior to Root, the most recent players to do it were South Africans Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla. However, only one batsman marked his 100^th Test with not one, but two centuries. Stand up, Ricky Ponting who, as skipper, fifteen years ago struck 120 and 143 not out against South Africa at the SCG..

The Aussie legend is an all-time great of cricket but could the son of Sheffield emulate Punter’s achievements? He’ll need to step up the rate of hundreds, especially on home territory. However, Ponting retired with a mediocre record in India - a solitary ton in 14 games – so Root is doing something right. He could yet go down as one of England’s finest players of spin if not of any bowling. He has at least five years left at the top level and, fitness allowing, has a chance of emulating Cook’s records of caps and hundreds. Go on, Joe: prove me right.

My Hundred: from 60 to 51

 60: Chris Gayle

After Brian Lara retired, I hoped Chris Gayle would continue the tradition of Caribbean cavaliers and attract young West Indians to the sport. It didn’t quite happen that way. Instead, Gayle’s nonchalant brilliance in Twenty20 diverted his attention away from real cricket towards the lucrative franchise league circuit. Of course he was fabulous to watch, swinging sixes with apparent ease, and I’d have placed him much higher had he not treated his Somerset contract several years ago with such apparent arrogance. A twenty-first century sporting icon nonetheless. 

59: Jos Buttler

In my biased opinion, Jos blotted his copybook after being allowed to leave Somerset for Lancashire. Not his fault, I know. He came up through the county ranks as a blazing wicketkeeper-batsman and I had a lot of respect for the teenager’s attitude to the game and spectators when I saw him play at Taunton. I didn’t foresee Jos becoming one of the finest one-day improvisers in the world, though. A frequent match-winner for England in ODIs boasting a strike rate of 120, the third highest on record, leaving the West Country certainly didn’t hold back his limited-overs career. 

58: Glen Chapple

Surely one of the greatest redheads never to play Test cricket for England, Chapple was an extremely consistent seam bowler, late-order batsman and captain for Lancashire, leading them to the Championship crown aged 37. He was granted a consolation ODI against Ireland in 2006, during which he was injured, so that was that. I was at Lord’s in ’96 when he took 6-18 to destroy Essex in the Nat West Trophy Final. Nearly two decades later I was willing him to remain fit enough to reach the 1000-wicket milestone in first-class cricket but he retired, stranded on 985. 

57: Ricky Ponting

Not the most popular of characters in England but then Aussie captains are never at the top of the Barmy Army’s Christmas card list. A more attacking batsman than Steve Waugh or Allan Border, he accumulated runs for fun in a twenty-year career, leading his country to huge success in Tests and World Cups. Hardly a loveable character, ‘Punter’ nevertheless appealed to me on various levels, notably his reluctance to go down the Twenty 20 pre-retirement route. Instead his final fixtures were for Surrey in the Championship and it seemed to me a noble way to bow out. 

56: Mushtaq Ahmed

The roly-poly leg-spinner, only 5 foot 4, is arguably the most successful spinner in the county game since Derek Underwood. ‘Mushie’ was not the best of Pakistan’s world-class crop of spinners in the Nineties but he proved a giant of the County Championship over many years. I saw him twirl for Somerset back in the 1990s but it was at Sussex in 2006 and 2007 where he took a hundred wickets twice in succession, winning titles in the process. Few players are so popular wherever he plays or, as in recent years, coaches. 

55: John Lever

Google him and you’ll probably find an association with Vaseline, like Mike Atherton’s pocketfuls of dirt. However, John Lever spent 22 years at Essex, taking more than 2,000 wickets for the county. His fast-medium swing was rarely appreciated by England selectors but JK’s wickets, economy rates and boundary fielding were instrumental in Essex’s success in both Championship and one-day competitions in the late Seventies and Eighties. I saw him play many times in an era when left-arm pacemen were a novelty. 

54: Adam Gilchrist

Such was Australia’s strength in depth that Adam Gilchrist was almost 25 when he made his ODI debut and nearly 28 when his Test chance finally came along. He soon made up for lost time, becoming the most exhilarating batsman of the Noughties, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle notwithstanding. Unfortunately for me, he didn’t make many runs when I saw him play a T20 for Middlesex in his latter years but, like Viv Richards, he seemed to save his best for the grandest occasions like a World Cup Final,. Oh, and he was a damn fine wicketkeeper, too. 

53: Andrew Caddick

Although often derided as an inconsistent loner at international level, Andy Caddick nonetheless took 234 Test wickets, at a rate per match almost comparable with Anderson and better than Broad. Having spent twenty years at Somerset he is a legend in the West Country. New Zealand-born, he shared Richard Hadlee’s sticky-out ears, giant feet and devastating short-of-a-length seamer, and took tons of wickets on the traditional Taunton featherbed. Since his 2009 retirement I have watched several matches from in front of the Andrew Caddick Pavilion. 

52: Harry Pilling

I’ve not picked Ashton-Under-Lyne’s Harry Pilling just because he was only 5 foot 3. However, it’s certainly one of the main reasons! He was a feature of Lancashire’s hugely successful side in the 1970s, especially in one-day tournaments, and as such was frequently on my TV screen in the summer. Compared with the Lloyds, Hayes or Wood, ‘Arry wasn’t the most exciting or prolific batsman but he was highly proficient at finding the gaps and holding a one-day innings together His stature made him look comical in the field but I remember always looking out for him. 

51: Martin Crowe

It’s not Martin Crowe’s fault that the Somerset board’s decision to choose him over Viv Richards ripped the county apart. Even a massive Viv fan like me realised that the young NZ superstar was in 1987 a better prospect, and he duly delivered until his country called him home. He never played for us again but Martin went on to be one of the finest Black Cap batsmen – and useful medium-pacer – of all time. His first-class batting average was an awesome 56 and he top-scored in the 1992 World Cup. His death from cancer at just 53 rightly prompted national mourning.

Cricket World Cup 2015 - Preview

It seems like only yesterday when MS Dhoni crunched that match-winning six in Mumbai to spark riotous celebrations and Sachin Tendulkar's fabulous boyish smile. So much has changed in four short years, not least India's entire attack.

Some of the best ever World Cup performers were on show in 2011 before retirement. Unsurprisingly, Tendulkar's longevity made him by far the top scorer in the competition's history, followed by Ricky Ponting, who at least had a few earlier cup successes under his belt prior to Australia's failure to make the semis last time. Muttiah Muralitharan bowed out as a beaten finalist, too.

So who else makes my all-time World Cup XI? For me, it's Herschelle Gibbs and Sanath Jayasuriya. Sehwag and Hayden have a decent claim, but the Sri Lankan practically invented the pinch-hitting opener role, combined with a haul of 27 valuable wickets. The South African scored 1,069 runs at more than 56 and a strike rate of 87, his exploits unrewarded in terms of silverware.

SRT and Ponting are there, of course, and there has to be room for the mighty Viv Richards. From his electric fielding in the inaugural Final to some mighty hitting in the next two competitions, he showed what was possible in ODIs, be they 60, 55 or 50 overs an innings. Imagine what he'd do in the modern era of big bats, small boundaries and Powerplays.

Adam Gilchrist was a phenomenon as wicketkeeper-batsman in any form of cricket but in World Cups he topped 1,000 runs and took more scalps behind the stumps than anyone else. No shortage of fantastic all-rounders to choose from, but I'd pick winning captains Imran Khan (Pakistan, 1992) and Kapil Dev (India, 1983). Murali is the obvious spin choice supported by leading wicket-taker Glenn McGrath (71 wickets at under four runs an over) and fellow Aussie Brett Lee. His economy rate was inferior but strike rate and average were better than all of the big names.

No current names grace that list but I wouldn't bet against AB De Villiers from usurping Gilly's place, and could the likes of Dale Steyn, Kumar Sangakkara and Dilshan press their claims for promotion from superstars to World Cup legends in what will surely be their swansongs? I reckon some of the younger players could really shine in the forthcoming weeks, and not necessarily the big hitters like Corey Anderson, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum or David Miller. The ICC rankings suggest the stars will include Amla, Kohli, AB, Shakib, Saeed Ajmal (if permitted) and Mitch Johnson. However, don't be surprised to see Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult and Kyle Abbott making a few headlines.

I'm a huge supporter of an inclusive World Cup with the leading Associate nations having their day in the sun, striving to snatch unlikely successes against the odds and maybe inspiring youngsters in Ireland, Afghanistan, even the West Indies to take up the sport and be the World Cup legends of the future. Nevertheless I don't see anyone outside the top eight seeds from progressing to the quarter-finals. Bangladesh could do what they failed to do on home territory four years ago but at whose expense? Pool A looks too strong. However, could Zimbabwe or Ireland upset the Windies or Pakistan in Pool B? Not impossible.

In 2011, New Zealand and Sri Lanka reached the semis but my bold prediction for the last four is: Australia v India and New Zealand v England. Yes, England! Written off as no-hopers in the absence of Pietersen or any form for Eoin Morgan, I wouldn't rule them out in a one-off contest against, say, Pakistan or South Africa should Anderson and Broad shock the top order.

That leaves us with a battle of the two hosts, just as we did in the last World Cup. The Black Caps are buzzing right now and they look to have a good balance of bat and ball, seam and spin, but their fast bowlers are probably more swing than pace and bounce, which is likely to favour Starc and Johnson. Whether it's Smith or Clarke who leads them up to the podium, I'd say the eventual winners will be wearing green and gold.

I'd love South Africa or New Zealand to triumph for the first time and it will be fascinating to see how they fare against the hosts who must be favourites.

India face more Boxing Day heartache

2-0 down already and now India step out in front of 90,000 fans at a ground where they have lost five consecutive Tests, all of them convincingly. Melbourne is traditionally a bowler's wicket where draws are rare. It won't be a case of hoping Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara and Kohli rack up 500+ runs and cling on. India's attack must fire on all cylinders or face another defeat.

Four years ago, scoring became harder and harder each day until Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle wore down the formidable Indian line-up of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and a young Kohli for a second time inside four days. In 2007, the margin was a hefty 337 runs. Phil Jaques and Matthew Hayden almost beat India on their own. Mitchell Johnson's Test career was in its infancy but his second innings 3-21 played a major part alongside Brett Lee and Stuart Clark. A four-man India attack was pretty toothless by contrast, a situation which looks set to be repeated this week in 2014.

Back in time to 2003 and Boxing Day belonged to Virender Sehwag. His 195 gave India a great start but he had poor support. Steve Waugh's side boasted a fantastic side and Hayden (136) and Ricky Ponting (257) flayed Agarkar, Nehra and Zaheer Khan to all parts. Despite the absence of Warne, McGrath and Gillespie, the Aussies restricted Ganguly's men to 286 before Hayden and Ponting knocked off the 95 needed on the final morning.

In 1999, the home team were again favourites. The weather as much as India's attack slowed the green baggies down on dates 1 and 2 but they passed 400. More than could be said for India. Only captain Sachin Tendulkar looked defiant, his 116 providing almost half the side's total. At the other end, debutant Brett Lee and McGrath wreaked havoc. Soon Waugh declared to leave India two days to make 376. Rain threatened to save them but Lee, Fleming and Mark Waugh did more enough to win.

In 1991 Bruce Reid took 6-66 and 6-60 to spark that five-match MCG losing streak. However, six years earlier India had been on topics. Only Allan Border's 163 and the weather staved off an unlikely loss. Back in 1981 Australia were in transition and had list the Ashes the previous summer. Glen Chappell led the side and Border's century set up a large first innings lead. A 165-run opening stand between Chauhan and Gavaskar put India back into the match but Australia needed only 143 to win. Enter Kapil Dev. Bowling second-change, he claimed 5-28 and the opposition was skittled for 83.

Somehow I can't see India repeating the feat this Christmas. A restored Bhuvi Kumar and Ishant Sharma will have to keep Warner and Smith quiet. Twice. India are notoriously poor tourists and an Aussie whitewash looks almost inevitable.

The curse of Brisbane strikes again?

It's 27 years since England last beat Australia at the Gabba in a Test match, and already they require a meteorological miracle of a stupendous rearguard batting performance by Cook, Pietersen, Root and Bell if the barren spell isn't to continue.

Back in 1986, Ian Botham and Graham Dilley set up a seven-wicket victory, with Chris Broad still there as the winning runs were struck. History tells us that Mike Gatting's England proceeded to clinch the Ashes that winter and that the tourists were to suffer for the next few decades. What happens in Brisbane usually indicates the Ashes series outcome, making a good start so important.

In 1990 the pace bowlers were totally dominant. No innings topped 200 but Bruce Reid, Merv Hughes and ultimately Terry Alderman did the most and the Taylor/Marsh opening partnership racked up the 157 needed to win inside three days. Four years later, Michael Slater and Mark Waugh took control on day one before Craig McDermott took 6-53. Taylor didn't enforce the follow-on, with the result that Shane Warne ran riot on a spinning wicket on day five.

Australia were in the driving seat in 1994, too, but centuries from Steve Waugh, Ian Healy and Slater again were not quite enough as thunderstorms and a flooded outfield wiped out the final session to save England blushes. However, the next two Gabba clashes produced Aussie slaughters.

In 2002, England won the toss for a change but, having inserted Waugh's team, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting made hay early on. Hayden struck another brisk hundred second time around and, facing a massive target of 464, England collapsed to a pathetic 79 all out thanks to Messrs Warne and McGrath. Ponting was in charge by 2006 but the first innings total passed 600 as the captain amassed 196, ably supported by Justin Langer, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke. McGrath's 6-50 left Australia with a huge lead which Langer extended to 647 by the end of the third day. Pre-echoes of 2013 as England lost two early wickets but there was to be no fairytale fightback by Cook, KP and Collingwood and they lost by 277 runs.

Can they do better tomorrow....?

Aussies maintain their Old Trafford run

I know the Third Ashes Test is only two days old, but England's chances of winning look rather slim after the performances of Michael Clarke, Smith, Rogers, Haddin and the latest late-order batting sensation Mitchell Starc! Whichever direction the pitch faces, Australia haven't lost an Ashes contest at Old Trafford since 1981, although it wasn't one of the venues four years ago.

In the '70s and early '80s it was all England in Manchester when it was all pavilion and railway wires in the background. In 1972, John Snow and Tony Greig starred in an 89-run triumph, despite the efforts of Aussie legends Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh. Five years later, Lillee was badly missed although it proved more of a spinner's wicket. Bob Woolmer's 137 and Derek Underwood's 6-66 in the second innings set up a nine-wicket victory. In 1981, of course, Ian Botham was on fire. He and Bob Willis helped dismiss Kim Hughes' side for 130 , but Lillee and Terry Alderman restricted the home side's lead to 101. Botham's sensational 118 in 102 balls, daring to thump Lillee's bouncers into the stands, extended the margin to more than 500. Despite Graeme Yallop and Allan Border scoring centuries, that proved 103 too many.

Four years on and the Green Baggies were beginning to rebuild under Border's captaincy. Nevertheless, Old Trafford saw them suffer another first innings mauling thanks largely to Mike Gatting's 160. However, Captain Grumpy produced one of his trademark rearguard actions, his unbeaten 146 staving off all that spinners Emburey and Edmonds could throw at him. In 1989, international cricket was changing, and Australia were challenging the West Indies for top dog status, and England were in the firing line.

At Manchester David Gower chose to bat but, despite Robin Smith's defiant century, England were bowled out for under 300. A solid Aussie batting line-up laid the foundation for an easy win, but a heroic 142-run seventh wicket stand between Emburey and Jack Russell almost saved the match. Almost. The 1993 Old Trafford Test was the Ashes opener, and was to become famous for not one, but two dismissals in particular. Gatting b Warne 4 doesn't quite tell the whole story, but that was the moment the cricketing world recognised the genius of a new leg-spinner as he delivered the Ball of the Century! Shane took anoher sevcen wickets in the game, and Merv Hughes claimed eight for himself, too. Facing a target of 500+ in almost two days, Graham Gooch advanced to 133 when he was given out 'handled ball', still one of the few instances in Test history. England finally succumbed by 179 runs as the Aussie attack fought against the clock to bowl them out.

The winning margin was even greater in '97, when Steve Waugh's two hundreds almost beat England on their own. Oh, and we shouldn't forget the seventeen wickets shared by that wonderful pairing of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Eight years passed before the nations met once more under Lancastrian skies. Despite Manchester's reputation, rain hadn't seriously threatened results, and so it proved again, but this was to produce a memorably tight finish in a series renowned for them. Michael Vaughan's 166 and Simon Jones' 6-53 put the home team inthe driving seat before Strauss and co rubbed Aussie noses in it even further, declaring with the visitors 422 in arrears. Batsmen came and went but Ricky Ponting held firm. Harmison, Hoggard, Flintoff and Giles tried their best but Ponting's 156, then the last-wicket pairing of Brett Lee and McGrath, did enough to secure a draw, 52 runs short of an improbable victory.

So, moving on to this week and in the era of my cricketing interest, the Old Trafford roll call reads 3 wins apiece with 2 draws. Michael Clarke must hope that the unbeaten record at this grand old ground extends well beyond three decades.

Ponting's Last, Agar's First

It's been a spectacular week for Australian batsmen - and one bowler masquerading as a batsman! I'll deal with Ashton Agar's spectacular record-breaking Test innings separately but there were some even bigger scores from some of his more illustrious countrymen now plying their trade in the County Championship. Surrey remain in deep trouble after yet another draw at The Oval. However, their match against Nottinghamshire will go down as Ricky Ponting's very last in first-class cricket. Fortunately he bowed out in grand style, passing 24,000 runs and reaching his 82nd century, half of which have come in Test cricket. The ovation accorded him as he left the pitch on 169 not out was heartfelt. He may have been a love-hate figure in England but all true fans of the game appreciate his contribution to the sport over the years.

In a mid-table clash, one of Punter's former team-mates, Adam Voges, struck 150 and 51 for Middlesex, albeit in a losing cause. Warwickshire's victory was built on the foundations of one of Virun Chopra's trademark big hundreds, this time an unbeaten 228. Sussex remain top of Division One, thumping Somerset inside three days. Another Aussie did a lot of damage; Steve Magoffin, albeit with the ball. I managed to sneak a glimpse of him giving Craig Meschede a torrid time on Monday afternoon, but even Nick Compton fell to him twice for only seven runs. Marcus Trescothick would love to have scored that many. Two ducks made it four in succession in all forms of cricket! Could it be that the Somerset stalwart's powers are finally waning? I hope not. Durham advanced to second after easily dismissing Derbyshire. SA-born opener Keaton Jennings almost beat Derby on his own, contributing 216 runs, while Chris Rushworth enjoyed replacing England squad member Graham Onions' as new ball merchant, taking 10-103 in total.

In Division Two, Lancashire won the battle of the top two, defeating Northants by eight wickets. Cameron White top-scored for the home side in the first innings but then Simon Katich, a year younger than Ponting, stroked his way to 200. Spinner Simon Kerrigan's 7-63 and Glen Chapple did the rest. Aussie-born Michael Hogan is now officially England-qualified and playing in Wales. His bowling helped Glamorgan keep up with Hampshire for two days and when Marcus North (from Melbourne) took 5-30, a second win of the season looked on the cards. However, James Tomlinson and Danny Briggs bowled Hants to victory by 43 runs.

At the time of writing, Gloucestershire and Kent are slugging it out on an ultra-flat Cheltenham strip where only eleven wickets have fallen on the first three days. Four home batsmen have helped themselves to centuries, led by Alex Gidman's 211 but - guess what? - yet another Aussie, Michael Klinger, creamed 102 not out against some part-time 'declaration' bowling (plus Vernon Philander). Kent will need 411 to win on another hot day, and on this pitch, it's not as impossible as it first sounds.

Amidst more T20 knockabouts, there's another round of Championship fixtures next week. Sussex could open up a big lead at the top of Division One if they beat Middlesex but Yorkshire could regain second spot if they follow the form book against lowly Derbyshire. Even without Root or Bairstow, they should win easily, and without any Aussies, too.

Ponting and Chanderpaul roll back the years

Two 38 year-old batsmen with 46,000 first-class runs between them have been facing each other this week, and not in international competition. Instead, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ricky Ponting are representing Derbyshire and Surrey, respectively, in a County Championship Division One relegation battle, and it's great to see them both strutting their stuff.

The little man from Guyana has always been a class act, with runs flowing wherever he goes. He did it with Durham last time and now Derbyshire are reaping the benefits of his experience. In this home match, Chanderpaul scored 125 in a 265-run partnership with Wayne Madsen against an attack missing Jade Dernbach but including Meaker and Tremlett. When Surrey replied, the Aussie legend plundered 192 on his debut (190 more than Graeme Smith managed on his last month!) and contributed to century stands with Arun Harinath and Stephen Davies. Many were surprised when Ponting hung up his 'baggy green' last year while continuing his career with Tasmania but I applauded him for doing so. His IPL season may have been a disaster but his Shield performances were superb and now his new employers in England must be licking their lips. With Smith out of action, it is down to Ponting to keep them in the top tier.

Sadly for me, it looks as if Somerset are heading down for the first time in several years. They avoided defeat against Yorkshire at Taunton but probably only because the first day was washed out. Adil Rashid collected a third consecutive century but at least James Hildreth registered his first ton of the summer in reply. The draw meant that Sussex will remain top no matter what happens in their game against Nottinghamshire, still in play as I type and delicately poised.

In Division Two, Northamptonshire are sitting pretty 25 points clear at the top, despite only drawing at home to Hampshire. There were no major position changes this week, largely because of poor weather at the start. However, Lancashire came agonisingly near to closing that gap. Only some stubborn late-order defence from Gloucestershire frustated Glenn Chapple's men at thebend of a match which featured 110 from Alex Gidman and a second consecutive 'six-for' from 18 year-old Gloucester seamer Craig Miles.

Daryl Mitchell's 156 and Jack Shantry's 7-69 were the performances of Worcetershire's curtailed game against Essex while Kent had the better of their clash with Leicestershire. Darren Stevens claimed 5-39 and just missed out on a century against his former county. The coming week features some intriguing fixtures, the pick of which must be Middlesex v Sussex and Northants v Worcestershire. Here's hoping for some June sunshine....

County Championship Preview 2013 - the Imports

As the international cricketing calendar heads for its annual hiatus, and many stars head for the heat and dust of India to boost their bank balances for several interminable weeks, my own mind switches to more local matters. If it's April, it must be the start of the County Championship.

There have been some articles recently about how boring county cricket is. I have to disagree. Yes, it suffers from the uncertainty over who is playing for each county, because of the England central contract system and ludicrous short-term contracts for overseas stars, but there remains plenty of quality in the game, in whatever format. 2012 may not have produced the last-day drama of the previous two summers but the Championship still has plenty of excitement to offer. Where people criticise owes more to the media coverage. It used to have the May-August period to itself, but now there is wall-to-wall sport throughout the northern hemisphere summer. Sky TV hoovered up all the live broadcasting rights to domestic cricket but gives it next to no publicity, demoting cricket - other than the Ashes - below football (even when there aren't any competitive matches), rugby league, tennis, golf, fishing (FISHING??!!) and probably the ITPL (Indian Tiddlywinks Premier League).

So why should we sit up and take note of the 2013 Championship? I'll preview the two divisions shortly but today I'll focus on the likely imports set to descend on these shores. Right now, after three weeks of persistently cold, often very snowy conditions, Mumbai and Mohali must look far more inviting than Derby or Durham. However, a number of international cricketers have signed up to at least two months of county action. Some are old hands for whom the IPL is irrelevant, others just looking to keep their hands in during a break in international commitments. However, there are some real names to note.

After last year's distrubing season, Surrey have again splashed the cash, nabbing Graeme Smith as captain on a three-year contract. He'll give them some much-needed beef at the top of the order. And who is due to arrive in mid-season? Only Ricky Ponting! He may have nothing to prove, but then if the pressure is off, opposition bowlers may suffer at the hands of a true master of the past two decades.

In an Ashes summer, there are plenty of Aussies heading for England early. Nottinghamshire welcome Ed Cowan, who will be replaced by David Husey when the Test series starts. Michael Klinger, Rob Quiney, George Bailey and Joe Burns head for Gloucestershire, Essex, Hampshire and Leicestershire, respectively, while veterans Simon Katich, Marcus North and Chris Rogers beat a more familiar path to Lancashire, Glamorgan and Middlesex. ALviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince (potentially on a Kolpak contract) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul could all shine, too.

Note the dominance of batsmen. I suppose it's a sign of the times that bowlers are more interested in preserving their weak bodies for T20 than learning their craft in proper cricket. Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) and Trent Copeland (Northants) are the only bowlers appearing in the first part of the summer, although Pakistan spin duo Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman should be useful assets for Hants and Somerset as the season reached its climax.

I haven't mentioned T20 as the line-ups will no doubt change between now and July. The Champions Trophy in June also lead to greater demands, injuries and hasty new signings, so watch this space. Watch, too, for my previews of the Championship. It's likely to be unpredictable as ever (so predictable!?). Will Warwickshire follow Lancashire's fate and go straight form champions to relegation? Will Somerset finally, FINALLY win the pennant? Will Surrey take the title their wealth demands? Lots to look forward to. IPL? Pah!

Ricky Ponting - and then there were two...

All credit to Ricky Ponting for announcing his imminent retirement on the eve of his last Test rather than months beforehand. Best to get the pain over with as quickly as possible. Mind you, it was his successor Michael Clarke who looked the more emotional at the press conference.

Yes, there may have been detractors who were losing patience with Punter's performances in the current series and the man himself was the first to admit frustration with the way he has got out so often against South Africa. 24 runs in four innings is a paltry aggregate but no doubt he will go out with a bang in his final session at the crease. He has made a career out of big second innings scores so nothing can be ruled out.

And what a career it has been! 168 Tests, 375 ODIs plus 17 T20 outings add up to 560 international appearances, most of them on the winning side. He followed in Steve Waugh's considerable shoes as a highly successful captain, with an uncompromising, often abrasive, style. But that's how the Aussies like their leaders, and every time the English booed him his stock at home rose further. Of course his side uniquely contrived to lose not one, not two but three Ashes series. Tours of India also disappointed. However, 27,000 runs, 70-odd centuries and more than 360 catches in the Australian cause tell a tale of a brilliant batsman.

Bradman was unique and Greg Chappell excelled in an era dominated by fast bowlers, but Ponting the batsman has shone brighter in the last seventeen years than anyone apart from, perhaps, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. Until recently he was the most successful number three apart maybe from Rahul Dravid. From the callow youth with a little goatee I recall from the mid 90s to the still youthful-looking 37 year-old veteran, he has experienced the inevitable ups and downs, on and off the pitch (what Aussie legend hasn't?!). In the previous decade, he had few peers, aggregating more than 2000 Test runs in 2003, 2005 and 2006. In 12 Tests of 2005-6 he struck eight centuries, and on three occasions (once against the Windies at Brisbane and twice against South Africa, home and away) hit two in the same match. An astonishing run of form, and achieved as captain, too.

Ponting's departure means that just two of the batting legends of the past two decades remain on the international scene: Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis. No doubt there will be added pressure on both to quit while ahead, but they should resist. The Little Master has had bad runs before but inevitably this one is being attributed to either advancing years or lack of effort. Or both. Let's face it, he's been there, done it, got the T-shirt. The biggest global star cricket has ever produced. The SA all-rounder has nothing to worry about form-wise; for him, it's all about playing on until the motivation or body tell him to stop. Punter has called time on his own career on his own terms, and that is surely the way for a sporting superstar to do it. Even the hardest core of England supporters must begrudgingly admit Ricky Ponting will be missed.

South Africa in Australia

Since South Africa came in from the cold in 1992, they have won only three of the fifteen Tests played in Australia. The first was a classic at the SCG in January 1994. Shane Warne took 7-56 and Michael Slater struck 92 to give the home side a healthy first-innings lead. Only Jonty Rhodes defied Warney in the second, but the Aussies needed only 117 to win with more than a day remaining. The crowd were allowed in for free but the home supporters were in for a nasty shock as Fanie de Villiers (6-43) and Allan Donald (3-34) bowled the Proteas to victory by just five runs.

It was nearly fifteen years before they enjoyed another success Down Under. In the mean time they were destroyed 3-0 by Steve Waugh's team in their pomp in 2001-2, then 2-0 four years later. It should have been tighter had Ricky Ponting not accepted the second innings challenge made by Graeme Smith. Declaring just before lunch on the final day, SA set the visitors 287 to win. Matthew Hayden and Ponting shared a second wicket partnership of 182 at almost a run a ball, and the latter secured victory with 143 not out in 159 balls.

Forward to Perth in December 2008, and Mitch Johnson's 8-61 set up a 94-run lead. The Aussies topped 300 again, leaving South Africa 414 to win, something only one team had achieved before in Test history. Plenty of time remained, however, although Graeme Smith was in belligerent mood, striking a brisk 108. Amla and Kallis chipped in with 50s but it was AB De Villiers and debutant JP Duminy who embarrassed the Aussie attack by claiming victory by a massive six wickets.

The Boxing Day Test started well for the home side, as the MCG crowd enjoyed a Ponting hundred on day one. A day later, SA were struggling on 198-7 but then that man JP stepped up to the plate. He put on 180 with Dale Steyn for the ninth wicket and now the Aussies were on the back foot. Steyn steamed in with the ball and took 5-67, while only 'Punter' provided stern resistance, eventually dismissed by Morkel for 99. The target of 183 was a piece of cake for Smith, McKenzie and Amla, and South Africa had their first series success in Australia for decades. The home team achieved a consolation victory in Sydney thanks largely to Michael Clarke's runs and Peter Siddle's wickets, but this signalled the start of Australia's slide from the pinnacle.

Now at the end of 2012, it's South Africa who stand proud at the top of the Test rankings, although Clarke's side have advanced to third and could displace Smith's men in the next month or so. This time last year they shared the spoils in SA but now, on paper, it's the Saffers who look so strong throughout the team, while the Aussies are suffering from injuries to some key men like Shane Watson and just about all their promising young pace bowlers. If only they could field a settled side, they might just have a fighting chance and not have to resort to psychological warfare (i.e. sledging) to wrest back control.

With De Villiers keeping wicket, it may mean that there is space at seven for that man Duminy to reprise his heroics of four years ago. That is, assuming he gets a bat with Smith, Amla, Kallis, AB et al ahead of him. The Proteas' attack of Steyn, Philander, Morkel, Kallis and Imran Tahir just looks too good and too consistent for the Aussies to dominate. They seem to have a knack for sharing out the workload and wickets so it's the team rather than individuals that has carried South Africa to the top of the mountain just as it did for Australia ten years ago.

Man of the Moment: Ricky Ponting

Just when you think the man is dead and buried, up he jumps, perky as a teenager with a bottle of alcopop and reminds you that he's very much alive and kicking. That's the story over the past few weeks of Ricky Ponting. Seemingly a spent force after ceding the captaincy of first the ODI side then the Test team to Michael Clarke, Punter clearly knew what the selectors suspected, that he had plenty more runs in him; it was only a matter of time. That time has been January 2012.

OK, so he has been facing a demoralised Indian outfit wondering how they can have deteriorated so badly with a team which were the undisputed kings of cricket just ten months ago. Nevertheless, after more than 16 years, 162 Tests and 370 ODIs, Ponting has proved he still has the appetite to push on for himself and his country. He now has 41 Test centuries to his name and, like fellow veteran Jacques Kallis, he's not happy with just a single hundred; a 'double' will do very nicely.

Until Perth he hadn't reached three figures for almost two years, since he scored 209 against Pakistan at Hobart. When he made that undignified but successful scramble for the crease on 99 a few weeks ago, the boyish grin showed how much that extra run meant to him and his fans. Clarke was clearly a big supporter, too. Unlike Tendulkar, Ponting has made a habit of making big tons. His first double-century came in 2003 in Port of Spain then in successive home Tests later that year he struck 242 and his career best to date of 257. The opposition? India, of course! The next two came against Pakistan, three years apart and now 221 in Adelaide. In Perth he played second fiddle to his captain but this week he outscored him, albeit narrowly, in runs if not strike rate. This was the Ponting of old and it's good to see him back.

The recent crushing defeats have piled pressure on the Indian old guard to retire gracefully before being dropped. That's tough on Tendulkar and Dravid, so dominant in 2010 and 2011, respectively, especially when you see what Ponting has achieved after a long lean spell. Maybe Ponting will choose to go after the 2013 Ashes unless his form evaporates completely before then. Some of the younger middle-order Aussie batsmen have failed to stake a commanding claim for the old-stager's position at four, just as has happened in India, and this has helped selectors keep faith when others demanded his head. This latest series has ensured he remains not just a great player of the past but also the Man of the Moment.

From Ponting and Law to Lyon: Aussies back on track?

Michael Clarke may have been the one savouring his first victory as full-time Test captain, and Mike Hussey the Man of the Match, but two other players in Australia's 1st Test victory over Sri Lanka are worthy of mention.

This was ex-skipper Ricky Ponting's 100th Test win, which is more than most nations have achieved in their history, let alone a player's career. He's now well into his 37th year and his contribution to the win at Galle was only 48 runs. Indeed he has reached three figures only once in the last two years - and that was a double against Pakistan - but his landmark is a reminder of what he has achieved with Australia. 'Punter' made his debut at the WACA, also against Sri Lanka, in December 1995, making 96 out of a massive total of 617-5 declared. Interestingly, the other debutant in that match, Stuart Law, hit an unbeaten 54 and never played another Test. However, with a career aggregate of more than 27,000 runs, I don't think any other Australian has score more in first-class cricket. The likes of Ponting and the Waughs kept him out of the side but who knows? Perhaps it could have been the Queenslander and not the Tasmanian looking back in 2011 on a great Test career?

At the other end of the scale, the latest Test featured two new men in Clarke's team: seamer Trent Copeland and off-spinner Nathan Lyon. Ryan Harris may have eclipsed Copeland with the new ball, but Lyon claimed 5-34 in the first innings. Sangakkara was his first victim, a good one for the CV, before he wrapped up the Sri Lankan tail. Whilst in the second he took some treatment from Jayawardene and Mathews, he was the man who took the last wicket to fall, thus signalling Australia's first win in Asia for five years or so. That must give them a lot of confidence which had plummeted after the Ashes drubbing last winter.

But what about Lyon? Will he be a Ponting, or a Law? Ricky himself has expressed disquiet about the policy of selecting players for Tests with virtually no first-class experience, just a few useful performances in Twenty20 games. Lyon's career at South Australia began only six months ago so there does indeed seem to be a sense of desperation in Cricket Australia's picks. Michael Beer was just as inexperienced, albeit three years older, when he was catapulted into the side to face England at Sydney. After taking a solitary wicket, he was immediately dropped and I wonder whether he will be seen in a green baggy cap again. There will never be another Shane Warne but after making a useful start in a winning team, it is surely worth persevering with young Lyon and encouraging his development back at Adelaide in proper cricket, not just four-over containing spells of spin in the twenty-over thrashes.