Two, very interesting test-match finishes: 5-day games are back!

It has taken a sustained show of good test matches on our TVs over the last month or so, to ensure that viewer interest in the longer format of the game has been rekindled, to a certain extent. The third test match between WI and Australia has had a very familiar ending with the Aussies being able to beat the islanders very comfortably along with displaying their typical over-the-top, 'backyard' gestures that we have all gotten used to by now.
However, it was heartening to see the last pair, numbers 10 & 11 bat so spiritedly from the West Indies camp. This is something you don’t get to see too often and lower-order batsmen from the Windies are regarded as easy rollovers. On the other hand, the South Africa versus England test match was probably the most engaging piece of cricket being broadcasted last week. The fact that the match made it to the last ball of the match is ample testament to the fact that when played on the right kind of surfaces there are many takers for test matches even in this T20-obsessed cricketing generation. Further, there are more potentially interesting test match games coming-up with the impending Pakistan tour of Australia 2010 and the second test match between South Africa – England. I personally believe that the contest in South Africa if fairly even between the two sides and every match will produce results. The two teams are so similar-looking that it is hard to choose a favourite at this time.

Swann: Purposeful Without Hogging Limelight

He was regarded as an off-spinner who never really did spin the ball but to silence all this critics, Graeme Swann of England has risen to be a very effective ‘spin’ bowler. Some analysts might comment that the word ‘slow’ should be used instead of ‘spin’ but considering the negligible amount of any worthwhile spin that is extracted by spinners in contemporary cricket, such differentiation is uncalled for. Swann is a different type of bowler, using more drift in the air than spin off the pitch. This makes him very different from the likes of Mendis or Harbhajan Singh who are essentially finger spinners. Muralitharan’s name should not be used here because he is in a category of his own.
However, if all the other spinners are compared at the moment, Swann seems to be the most quiet and unassuming of the achievers with little being said about him in the media and little or no on-field antics — a quiet, consistent performer. Swann has already totalled more than 52 wickets in just 13 test matches. You would need to remember that he has done so without playing on sub-continental wickets. He has always come in when the side wanted to contain runs rather than get wickets and surprisingly, Swann has managed to do both with little fuss. I would personally rank Swann a bit ahead of Bhajji, simply because he has been taking wickets consistently and his bowling is improving with nearly every outing. His immediate competitor seems to be Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan who is a more traditional off-spinner, keeping it slower in the air, and giving the ball a chance to rip-off the surface of the pitch. Further, Swann has the amazing ability to bowl decently with newish balls too. His arm-ball and the drifter that turns into a low-yorker like delivery haven’t been decoded by many batsmen and his recent fiver against the South Africa is testament to his growing stature.