Tom Latham - Carrying his bat

When the statisticians flung out the figures following Tom Latham’s record-breaking 264 not out, I was amazed that he was only the 56^th man to bat throughout a completed Test innings without being dismissed. In a year when  only Mushfiqur Rahim had reached 200 in Tests, it was also remarkable that the New Zealander’s score was the highest ever by a player ‘carrying his bat’.

He eclipsed the previous best, achieved by Alastair Cook only a year ago in Melbourne. However, remarkably, one man has carried his bat twice this year: Dean Elgar. At Jo’burg in January he ran out of partners in a losing chase against India then, two months later, his unbeaten 141 laid the foundation for a thumping victory over Australia, a game unfortunately remembered more for Steve Smith Cameron Bancroft and David Warner coming a cropper for cheating.

Latham is typical of a traditional bat-carrier: an old-school blocker, the guy you need in a Test side to anchor an innings while others make the strokes. He spent more than eleven hours at the crease, facing 489 balls, representing a strike rate not too shabby, even by modern standards. Mind you, he didn’t start to push on until joined by the Black Cap tail, and only 90 of his runs came in boundaries. But of course that doesn’t matter when you have colleagues like Williamson, Taylor and de Grandhomme at the other end upsetting the Sri Lankan attack.

Two players have carried their bat in Tests three times: Elgar and the great West Indian from the '80s and '90s, Desmond Haynes. The latter was no slouch but, when compared with his long-time opening partner Gordon Greenidge and the likes of Viv Richards, Carl Hooper and Brian Lara, he was a stonewaller. These three occasions were in a mixed trio of circumstances, the matches resulting in a draw defeat and victory.

There are some familiar obdurate openers on the list, from Atherton to Lawry, Gavaskar to Dravid, Kirsten to Turner, but also some of the most flamboyant cricketers of modern times. In 2009, Chris Gayle struck 165 out of a second innings 317 at Adelaide which effectively prevented defeat against the Aussies.

One of the most memorable displays of bat-carrying came at Hobart seven years ago. In a very low-scoring game against New Zealand, Australia needed 244 to win. Up to then, only two players had passed 40 and the Aussie batsmen were maintaining that grim record – all except David Warner. While Bracewell was causing carnage at the other end, he produced a brilliant innings of 123 which took his side to within seven of the target before Lyon was bowled.

However, perhaps the greatest effort happened in 2008 at Galle. As all around him lost their wickets at an alarming rate, Virender Sehwag just stuck to his normal game and flayed 201in 231 balls out of a first innings total of 329. He added 50 on his second outing and India went on to win decisively.

I wouldn’t mind betting that Geoff Boycott would have relished carrying his bat. Even if he scored only one not out. But if there was one thing the Yorkshire legend loved even more, it was scoring centuries. Therefore, he must have been fuming when, in Perth almost four decades ago, whilst endeavouring to stave off almost certain defeat, he was left high and dry on 99 not out. Coincidentally, the Aussie Kim Hughes had earlier been dismissed on 99 while Boycott’s 20-ball first innings facing Lillee and Dymock had yielded precisely nothing.

In the end, carrying the bat is a feat nobody aims for. It may boost your average but, more often than not, it’s indicative of a poor team performance overly reliant on one batsman. Tom Latham’s case is an exception: he just kept on going and showed why old-fashioned values of knowing when to play and when to leave can reap dividends in what is likely to be a winning cause.

Team of the Week ending 30th May Viru goes Batty!

With wet weather restricting the action in England, there were only two County Championship centuries this week. That just makes it more surprising that there were two scores of 99 and one of 98! The unlucky trio of Westwood, Patel and Hildreth also fail to make my team of the week. Instead my opening batsmen come from the IPL. Virender Sehwag has largely been living off past glories for a while now but, with a place in the final at stake, the old Viru returned to the fore. Against CSK, the Kings XI star plundered 122 from 58 balls, 96 coming from boundaries. Rajasthan's teenage wicketkeeper Sanju Samson also produced a brilliant 74 in 47 balls against Mumbai Indians.

Sehwag's innings had to be special to outshine Suresh Raina's scintillating response of 87 in 25 balls for the Super Kings. All bar three came in fours and sixes, and 33 runs were thumped from a single seven-ball over (including a no-ball) by Awana before it took a brilliant piece of fielding from George Bailey to run him out.

Back now to the Championship for the next selections. Will Porterfield's 118 for Warwickshire against Somerset was his first with the red ball for his county while Gordon Muchall's unbeaten 158 in Durham's draw against Notts was the top score of the week. Two Glamorgan players vied for the number six position, and I've plumped for Jim Allenby's all-round consistency over Chris Cooke's two lively performances in the Championship and T20 Blast.

Tom Smith struck 54 and claimed 5-49 in the otherwise damp and dismal Roses contest, folowed by a 27-ball 54 as Lancashire's T20 opener, enough to make my Eleven. The contrasting ODIs between England and Sri Lanka witnessed several excellent bowling displays. Principal amongst them was Chris Jordan's 5-29 at Old Trafford where the home team dismissed SL for their third lowest ODI score ever. Fortunes had been reversed just a few days earlier. In chilly Chester-le-Street, Dilshan scored 88, Kulasekera took 3-15 but spinner Sachithra Senanayake trumped the lot with his mean 4-13 to complete England's misery. He has accumulated some pretty decent career stats over the years, particularly in limited overs formats, but will surely add to his single Test appearance.

My final two choices are Junaid Khan and Gareth Batty. The Pakistani aggregated 7-33 in Lancashire's two T20 victories and certainly doesn't deserve to be ignored in favour of some England has-been called Flintoff when he makes his debut, as he surely must, if only to attract more through the turnstiles next week. I'm no fan of Batty's spiky on-pitch demeanour, as illustrated by his aggression against Somerset last summer. However, 8-68 for Surrey against Essex was the bowling performance of the week.

Sehwag and Pujara take charge

After all the waiting, India enjoyed the best of the opening skirmishes in Ahmedabad. So many under-fire home players but at least two restored their confidence on Day 1. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir relished their first century stand for yonks, then Viru progressed to one of his run-a-ball specials before missing a sweep off Graeme Swann. It's eleven years since his Test debut in South Africa, when he scored a relatively sedate 105 at six in the order, and two whole years since his last hundred, on the same ground.

That impressive debut in 2001 was shared with a big innings from Sachin Tendulkar but the Little Master looks a pale shadow of the batsman he was even a couple of years ago. He lasted a mere 18 balls before becoming Swann's third victim. This match gave Virat Kohli a chance to establish his true Test credentials but despite a very patient spell at the crease, he made only 19. Thank goodness for one other young star. Cheteshwar Pujara followed his 159 against New Zealand in August with an unbeaten 98, and I hope he quickly reaches three figures in the morning.

Yuvraj Singh, like Tendulkar, recently crashed a major score in a rare domestic first-class outing and he looked solid in partnership with Pujara. If the pair can continue until lunch, England will be looking down the barrel. However, Swann was beginning to get real grip and spin, and has reason to be optimistic about adding to his four wickets. Tim Bresnan suffered at the hands of Sehwag and Anderson couldn't get any swing. India's side is awash with slow bowlers so perhaps England will rue the inclusion of Patel instead of Panesar. We'll see.

I'm also nervous for Nick Compton. As a Somerset fan, part of me really wants him to do well as an ambasssador for his adopted county. However, should he notch up loadsa runs, he could end up with a central contract and then where will we be in the Championship next summer?! A Compton-Cook opening pair won't make for an exciting exhibition of strokeplay. I can't see our Nick becoming the second man in a few days striking a six from the first ball of a Test match innings, a la Gayle. Of course, that's not why he was picked; the fireworks are Pietersen's prerogative.We'll know in the next few days whether he marks his return with a Sehwag rocket or Tendulkar damp squib.

Daredevils defy defeat

In many ways, there have been few surprise so far in the IPL. Admittedly it is not my favourite competition but I can't deny the passion (as well as the income) it generates for cricket, particularly in India itself. The Delhi Daredevils have lost only two matches so far, when they were overpowered first by AB De Villiers (RCB) and then Jesse Ryder (Pune Warriors), and in recent weeks have boasted what looks like a 'fantasy' batting line-up. Jayawardene, Sehwag, Pietersen, Taylor and Pathan make for a fearsome top five. Captain Sehwag has now thrashed five successive half-centuries, which may be unprecedented, and KP has also made match-winning runs. Mahela and Ross have struggled but it doesn't matter when the other two are firing on all cylinders, and Morne Morkel is taking wickets. Today's opponents, KKR, have won five on the trot without having outstanding individual performances. Like Sehwag, skipper Gambhir has led from the front but the usually relaible pair of McCullum and Kallis have so far failed to shine with the bat. It is hardly a shock to me that the young West Indian spinner Sunil Narine is their top wicket-taker and is one of the most economical bowlers in the whole competition, conceding an average of just 5.25 runs per over. His 5-19 against the Kings XI last month remains amongst the best match figures, too. The Mumbai Indians will surely again reach the knockout stage, although they needed three boundaries from the last three balls from Dwayne Smith to beat the Super Kings yesterday, after Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma had seen their splendid foundation to the chase eroded by a crazy spell of ten balls, in which four wickets went for four runs. The fourth place is up for grabs although at the moment RCB look favourites to progress. Any side with Chris Gayle, AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli in their side has to be in with a very good shout. However, the Jamaican must be disappointed. He has slammed 'only' 31 sixes and failed to convert five fifties into three figures. What a failure! AB's 172 is the highest strike rate of any leading batsman in the tournament to date, but top of the run aggregate is Ajinkya Rahane. While a Mumbai star in the Ranji Trophy, he opens alongside Rahul Dravid for the Rajasthan Royals who still harbour hopes of reching the top four. The bowling table has a familiar look to it, too. Lasith Malinga lords it at the top, with more wickets and a superior economy rate to anybody. Twenty20 often throws up new stars and the giants can easily be thrashed for sixes, but the Sri Lanka magician has in 2012 maintained his reputation as a death bowler par excellence. It remains a mystery to me why he couldn't do it consistently in Test cricket. As for today's clash of the top two teams, it could go either way. KP has gone back to England to prepare for the Windies but KKR can breathe no more easily because he will be replaced in the Daredevils team by none other than David Warner, another superstar of the format. Gambhir needs more support from his batsmen and for Narine and co to make early inroads into that formidable Delhi top five if their recent round of victories can be extended. My guess is that they won't do it and that the home team wil extend their lead in the table.

Players of the Week: Virender Sehwag and Doug Bracewell

I'm sorry, I can't help it. There simply has to be a double accolade this week, one apiece for batting and for bowling. Not that Virender Sehwag and Doug Bracewell had it all their own way.

There was Younis Khan's unbeaten double century in Pakistan's thumping defeat of Bangladesh while in Pakistan's domestic competition runs, the bowlers were very much on top just about everywhere. In Lahore, Habib Bank Ltd and the WPDA actually tied their first-class fixture, which was also notable for Imran Khan (no, not THAT one!) taking 5-57 and 9-77! In Islamabad, it wasn't just the European financial institutions taking a hammering. The State Bank of Pakistan cricket side was bowled out for just 40 in their second innings, Anwar Ali capturing an impressive 8-16.

However, I have plumped for the two most impressive international performers as my joint Players of the Week. A few days ago, Virender Sehwag seemed to have it in the bag. As I wrote in a previous blog, his world-beating 219 in 149 balls was simply one of the best one-day innings of all time, not just for the sheer volume of runs. He could not take the field after all the exertions and didn't even play in the following match, blaming his great age. Viru, you're only 33!! It is true that his biff-bang opening style rarely takes him beyond the first Powerplay and so to find himself batting in the 47th over probably gave him a nosebleed just think about it!

Advance a few more days and transfer to Hobart for what looked likely to be a simple Test victory for Australia against a Vettori-less New Zealand. James Pattinson took a five-for to put the home team in front on day one before the Aussies were skittle for just 136. NZ managed to top 200 second time around but when day three ended with David Warner looking ominous, the game seemed done and dusted. In only his second Test, T20 specialist Warner was magnificent while his more illustrious team-mates fell like flies and he won the MOTM award. However, I have to credit 21 year-old medium pacer Doug Bracewell because his 6-40, following the first innings 3-20, swung the game back to the Black Caps. Ponting, Clarke and Hussey (first ball) each fell to his swing and seam before returning to finish things off at the end just as Lyon appeared to be keeping Warner company with the winning post in sight.

Sehwag's World Record!

Today, Danesh Ramdin played an assured, run-a-ball, personal best ODI innings of 96 as the West Indies compiled a useful total of 265. Unfortunately for them, this was in reply to India's mammoth 418-5, and the Trinidadian's efforts were obliterated by the phenomenon that was Virender Sehwag's 219, easily surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's previous world record set last year.

Sehwag's ability to strike a ball is well known but he doesn't often convert early blitzes into big innings. The World Cup opener was one of those and now the West Indies were on the receiving end of the greatest of them all at Indore. It wasn't just a T20-style slogfest either. Sure, he swung the bat for some mighty straight sixes but there were some brilliant flicks and audaciously delicate 'upper cuts' to the boundary, too. He survived a couple of run-out attempts and a dropped catch but even Darren Sammy had to applaud a marvellous performance which his batsmen never stood an earthly of matching.

It took 2,962 ODIs before Tendulkar became the first man to hit a double and at one stage it looked as if it would take only another 261 before the 250 barrier was breached. However, it took a rare mistimed slog off the innocuous medium pace of Kieron Pollard to dismiss him.

So where does this innings ran alongside the best of one-day innings? Well, undoubtdly a million miles ahead of the very first ODI century, compiled by Dennis Amiss back in 1972. Kapil Dev's 175 not out blitz against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup was a real eye-opener, especially as he came in at number six with his side reeling at 9 for 4! However, the first truly special innings against a top team came from the majestic Viv Richards. At Old Trafford in 1984 he plundered an unbeaten 189, a record which lasted 13 years before being eclipsed by Saeed Anwar's 194 for Pakistan against India at Chennai.

Two years later, Saurav Ganguly's 183 may not have broken a record but, in tandem with Rahul Dravid he broke Sri Lanka's hearts and possibly some bones and windows around Taunton in the World Cup. That was wonderful to watch. Anyway, Anwar's record stood for another 13 years and, incredibly, 1,753 matches before then 36 year-old Tendulkar notched another cricketing milestone by becoming the first to reach 200 in a single innings, this time against South Africa at Gwalior, just a few hundred miles NE of the location of today's innings.

Apart from Viv Richards' demolition of England and confirmation of his status as the finest one-day batsman of his era, I suppose the only other innings which would compete with Sehwag's knock is Shane Watson's World Cup tour de force against Bangladesh in April. 185 not out in 96 balls, including 15 sixes. That was probably the greatest sustained display of big hitting ever seen in a one-day international, but for majestic strokeplay combined with clever gap-finding, the humble Virender's double-century will take some beating.