Piyush Chawla believes the Indian batting hasn’t failed, the bowling unit has been doing well, and that there is no need to panic.

Sidharth Monga14-Dec-2012Piyush Chawla believes the Indian batting hasn’t failed, the bowling unit has been doing well, and that there is no need to panic. Replying to England’s 330 on a tacky surface, India – 2-1 down coming into the decider – were 87 for 4 with prospects of batting last on the pitch that can start breaking up any time.”We have lost a few wickets, but we have two quality batsmen [Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni] at the crease,” said Chawla. “They are having a good partnership, they are seeing the ball really well, and hope for the best because the way these guys are middling it, we will like to have a good session in the morning.”Asked if the batting failures have affected the bowling unit’s morale adversely, Chawla said: “There are phases. It’s not as if they have flopped a lot. We’re still we are scoring 300-350 every match. I don’t think it has affected the bowlers much. We are doing well as a bowling unit.”Chawla said it was just one partnership – between Joe Root and Matt Prior – that thwarted them otherwise they restricted England well. England began the day at 199 for 5, and Chawla said they would have been happy if they had bowled India out for under 300. “We thought if we get one wicket at the start, we can stop them around under 300, but Prior and Joe Root batted really well,” he said. “Once we broke that partnership, we recovered well.”Asked about how disappointing conceding lower-order runs were – England having been 139 for 5 at one stage – Chawla said, “As I said before, they got one big partnership, but after that we restricted them well.”Chawla, who took 4 for 69, made a surprising comeback to the Test side in a season that he has averaged 54.30 with the ball. His first-class averages over the previous two seasons have been 40.61 and 41.04. He said the stats were bad because he has bowled on seaming tracks, and he hasn’t been getting long spells.Chawla was asked – citing Cheteshwar Pujara’s disappointment at being given out caught off the elbow and pad – if it was high time that India agreed to using DRS. “Replays suggested that it was not out, but it is part and parcel of the game,” Chawla said. “At the end of the day, umpires are also human, so you can’t really say.”

With the retirement of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, Australia could be in need of a seasoned specialist batsman, and David Hussey, at 35, could fit that role

Brydon Coverdale31-Dec-2012Just as Mark Waugh’s Test debut came at the expense of his brother Steve, David Hussey is now dreaming of a possible baggy green call-up, thanks to the retirement of his brother Michael. The chances might be slim, given that he is 35 and has struggled for Sheffield Shield form this summer, but Hussey knows that the gaping hole left by the departures of his brother and Ricky Ponting could send Australia’s selectors in search of a veteran.Usman Khawaja is the most likely man to be given a chance at No.6 for the upcoming tours of India and England, but the coach Mickey Arthur has conceded that the unexpected departure of Hussey could force a rethink in the way the selectors approach their task. Without naming names, Arthur has raised the possibility of looking to an older, wiser head with Australia facing such a busy year of Test cricket.”When you have Ponting, Hussey and Clarke, it was all about injecting some youth into our side,” Arthur told the . “The ground rules have changed now because we’ve lost a massive amount of experience. That’s why we need to sit down and chat. Is it another experienced player, or are we happy to go with a young gun? There’s a lot of guys who come under consideration now.”With Test matches in India and England, we’ve got to sit down [and ask], ‘Do we want to have a look at a guy who is a proven run-scorer, who has the right stats both in Australia and outside of Australia and can get hundreds’?”If the selectors do go for experience abroad and a proven century-maker, David Hussey would be a leading candidate, while another option would be bringing the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin back as a specialist batsman. Chris Rogers falls into the same category, but as a specialist opener, he would be the fifth such man in the Australian line-up, alongside Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson.Hussey has 12,459 first-class runs to his name at an average of 53.70 and he has plenty of experience in England, having piled up runs for Nottinghamshire over the years. The first Ashes Test is scheduled for Trent Bridge, the Nottinghamshire home ground, and a venue where Hussey has made 3353 first-class runs at 76.20, including a remarkable 15 centuries.Statistically, Hussey has done enough over his career to warrant selection. He has made centuries in 15.89% of his first-class innings, a higher percentage than any of his rivals for the Test position, and higher even than Michael Clarke, whose figure is 14.23%. By comparison, Khawaja scores a ton 10.6% of the time, Alex Doolan 7.93%, Rob Quiney 7.5%, George Bailey 9.03%, Rogers 13.93% and Haddin 6.14%.However, his form this summer has been disappointing: in seven first-class innings this summer he is yet to pass fifty. If he was to debut at 35, he would also be the oldest specialist batsman to make his Test debut for Australia since Ken Eastwood, who played one Test in 1971 at the age of 35. Hussey said he hoped his age would not be held against him.”I desperately want to play Test cricket and I haven’t had the opportunity,” Hussey said. “I think Michael Clarke always says that age is no barrier. If you’re making runs at 17 or making runs at 45, you’re still going to be in the frame for selection. My advantage is I’ve played for a long time, I know my game pretty well, I’ve made a lot of first-class runs. Allegedly I’m a very good player of spin, so I’d love to prove myself against the Indians.”Hussey’s best chance to impress the selectors with current form and remind them of his credentials will come in the second half of the Sheffield Shield season, which begins in late January, after the completion of the Big Bash League.

Dhaka Gladiators returned on top of the points table after posting their seventh win in the competition

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur09-Feb-2013
ScorecardDhaka Gladiators returned on top of the points table after posting their seventh win in the competition. They crushed Barisal Burners by eight wickets and with 44 balls to spare as the Burners’ hopes of a final four finish took a beating.Shakib Al Hasan’s half-century hastened the victory and ended the night game early. Shakib struck 54 off 31 balls with seven boundaries and a six, and was helped on the way by Tillakaratne Dilshan who made an unbeaten 49 off 39 balls. The pair came together after Mohammad Ashraful fell to a pull shot off Azhar Mahmood in the second over of the small chase, and added 92 runs for the second wicket.Shakib was particularly attacking and played some splendid shots off the four-pronged seam attack of the Burners. Afghanistan fast bowler Hamid Hassan’s debut match at the BPL ended without a wicket as he went for 28 off his four overs.But batting seemed more difficult when the Burners batted first after they were stifled to 114 for 9 in 20 overs. Mahmood made 30 off 33 balls but found no support as Brad Hodge fell for 12 and Sabbir Rahman, the other in-form batsman in the Burners line-up, made only 18 off 14 balls.Mashrafe Mortaza, Alfonso Thomas, Shakib Al Hasan and Chris Liddle took two wickets each.

Ryan McLaren has much to do if he is to secure a place in the South African team for the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda08-Mar-2013Barring a few minor tweaks, the squad Gary Kirsten has for the current series against Pakistan is the one that will represent South Africa in the Champions Trophy in June. As a result, almost everyone in that unit knows they are not playing for their place but to enhance their skills and accumulate match practice. Almost.Ryan McLaren is one of those who is not.As the current first-choice allrounder, McLaren is likely to compete with Jacques Kallis for a spot in a major tournament XI and it does not take a rocket scientist to know who will win that battle. It puts McLaren in a tricky position because, although it may not be as harsh as him clinging on by his fingernails, it could get there.Kallis does not play bilateral one-day series anymore as part of his management programme. Kirsten said after 18 years of service that is a more than acceptable concession. But Kallis wants an ICC medal as much as the next South African cricketer, so management remain “in negotiation” with him for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.Whether he will be at either of those events will depend on his fitness after the IPL and his own willingness. If he makes himself available and his body agrees, Kallis will definitely be part of the squad. McLaren will not be discarded completely but he may be an understudy. He remains the ODI all-rounder and all indications are that he will be given a fair run.Like Robin Peterson did when he was offered an extended rope, McLaren will have to do something with that to keep ahead of the likes of Chris Morris, who is emerging as another option at bay. Currently, one of the only things to choose between them is experience and McLaren’s is more valuable in time than numbers.His international record reads like that of a bit-part all-rounder. Ideally, he would like his batting and bowling statistics swapped around. In 16 matches over the last four years, McLaren averages 10.66 with willow and 32.52 with leather. His most memorable performance was probably only one moment long – the one in which he hit James Franklin for six off the last ball to win the third ODI against New Zealand in January in a series that South Africa had already lost.Domestically, McLaren has enjoyed far greater success. In 132 List A matches, he has scored eight half-centuries and averages 32.57. He has taken 157 wickets at 27.56 and is known for his dependability above everything.Noble a quality as that is, it is also forgettable because it is overshadowed by exciting talents who produce dramatic performances. McLaren knows that he has to come with a few of those in this series. “We know that when we go to the Champions Trophy, we will try and take the strongest squad available so there are a few guys in this team that want to try and cement a place in the side and put their hand up to make sure they go along,” he said, distancing himself from the obviousness of who those players are.Batting at No.7 and bowling behind the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Kyle Abbott may not give McLaren much opportunity but there will be a role for him to play. South Africa’s middle order is notoriously soft and often leaves it to the end for something to happen. A quickfire 15 or 20 runs are not immediately classed as valuable but when they prove the difference between two sides, they are exactly that.To that end, McLaren has been preparing for ways to break free with the bat, especially against the Pakistan attack. “Their strength is in their spinners and our preparation has been specifically focused on how we are going to play their spinners,” he said.In the bowling department, South Africa have lacked at the death but also appear to freeze when confronted with a batsman who has had the confidence to take control. Martin Guptill in the festive Twenty20 against New Zealand and Kane Williamson in the ODI series which followed are classic examples, as is Mohammad Hafeez’s 86 in the Centurion T20.For much of Hafeez’s innings it looked as though the better he got, the more South Africa’s bowlers allowed themselves to shrink away. No-one could come up with the breakthrough and it took a bizarre of hit wicket to end his knock. Guptill and Williamson were both unbeaten because South Africa could not apply sufficient pressure.McLaren said there has been much introspection from the attack in the aftermath. “There has been reflection. As bowlers, we got together and had a chat about what we learnt and what we felt we could improve on. It’s an on-going process, every game is about building for the Champions Trophy.” And for McLaren, it will be about ensuring he is part of the group that travels there.

Kumar Sangakkara believes the role of player agents has been misunderstood by Sri Lanka Cricket and said they were not a detriment to the game

Sa'adi Thawfeeq25-Feb-2013Kumar Sangakkara believes the role of player agents has been misunderstood by Sri Lanka Cricket and said they were not a detriment to the game. His comments came after the Sri Lankan board had said it will not recognise agents any more and will deal directly with the players instead.”There is a lot of misunderstanding and an even bigger case of miscommunication as to what the role of a player-manager or agent is,” Sangakkara said. “They are not here for the detriment of the game.”SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga had said agents “bring more negatives than positives” to Sri Lanka cricket, but Sangakkara said that was not the case. He said that if there were issues with the role of agents, there should be a provision for dialogue where problems could be solved.”If at anytime the player manager issue has a massive negative impact on the game, it is important there is a forum where it can be discussed with the players and Sri Lanka Cricket and then come to an understanding and a decision taken,” Sangakkara said. “There has been quite a lot of media pressure as well, and pressure from former players on player management, so Sri Lanka Cricket has taken a stand where they will avoid any complications or misunderstandings that can arise in the future by saying we will communicate directly with the players. I don’t see anything wrong in that. A statement was also made that the players can go ahead and employ anyone of their choosing, which is of course their freewill and their right to do so.”Sangakkara said he had benefitted from having an agent manage his off-field affairs during his career because it had freed him up to focus on his cricket.

Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim called his side’s hustling victory against Sri Lanka a “calculative chase”, even though there were many moments of panic

Mohammad Isam28-Mar-2013Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim called his side’s hustling victory against Sri Lanka a “calculative chase”. It did not seem so deliberate. They won by three wickets to level the ODI series 1-1, but only after many moments of panic in the dressing room and out in the middle.Following a rain break of more than two hours, the equation for Bangladesh was to score another 105 runs in 13.2 overs from a position of 78 for 1 in 13.4 overs. They lost six wickets in the process and some of the batsmen looked too eager to finish off the game. But the staying power of Nasir Hossain, amid the tension, gave them the edge.”We wanted to play cricketing shots to get a 30-40 run partnership up early,” Mushfiqur said. “We are not used to playing in such tight circumstances against such tough opponents, so I think some of us panicked. I would still call it a calculative chase because we took risks and lost some wickets, but in the end we had one guy holding things together.”The underlying theme of this series has been how poor Bangladesh’s resources has been. They lost several players to injuries, but the biggest were those to Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza. These are senior players in a very young team that does not win often and yet carries the swelling expectations of a cricket-mad nation.To beat Sri Lanka in their backyard has given Mushfiqur the pride to tell his players that all is not automatically lost when the stars are absent. “If Shakib was here, he could have won the man-of-the-series award probably, because he has done it quite a number of times in the past,” Mushfiqur said. “But some of the others have stepped up this time. The team will now believe that without big stars, Bangladesh can still do well.”The captain also showed appreciation for Nasir who has progressed into a batsman keen to finish games off during tight chases. “Hats off to Nasir,” Mushfiqur said. “I firmly believe that he can break all batting records in the Bangladesh team if he continues in this vein. He has played really well. He does well when the team needs him to score. It is his most important trait.”With such a long gap between what effectively was two parts to the game, it was easy to forget Abdur Razzak’s earlier achievement, and the unassuming manner in which he led the attack. The left-arm spinner finished with his fourth five-wicket haul in ODIs, which held back Sri Lanka’s surge towards an even bigger score. More significantly for Razzak, his fifth wicket on the day was also his 200th in ODIs for Bangladesh.Mushfiqur was full of praise. “I congratulate Razzak bhai for becoming the first bowler from Bangladesh to take 200 wickets. He is a tough guy, and he can bowl at the top and at the end so well. Sometimes bowlers feel uncomfortable at certain situations, but he has never said no to me.”The manner in which Mushfiqur managed to get the best out of the five bowlers will remain as a notch in the captain’s belt. The spinners impressed and the pace bowlers just about managed to get away with their ten overs, but it was the management of these spells that was vital in keeping Sri Lanka quiet after such a good start, and in taking wickets later when the final slog was supposed to be in full swing.”I wanted to use Mominul or Nasir, but they had a partnership going till the 35th over,” Mushfiqur said. “Using occasional bowler against set batsmen would have been tough on them given the fielding restrictions these days.”Bangladesh take on Sri Lanka one last time on this tour, in a Twenty20 game at the Pallekele International Stadium on March 31.

Yusuf Pathan ended his three-year IPL fifty drought, but the day was meant for the end of another barren spell

The Report by Sidharth Monga15-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo: Yusuf Pathan was involved in a near-collision again•BCCI

Yusuf Pathan ended his three-year IPL fifty drought, but the day was meant for the end of another barren spell. Pune Warriors won their first match since April 15, which knocked Kolkata Knight Riders out of the tournament. This was their third win in 24 matches, which gave them hope of avoiding the bottom of the table for a second year running.For a majority of the contest, the match seemed going down the familiar Warriors script. A good start from Aaron Finch and Robin Uthappa, a slowdown after they fall, a middling finish, then a good start with the ball, then a recovery from the opposition, and then Warriors break down. Tonight, though, it was Yusuf, who seemed to have committed the crucial error, getting out obstructing the field when his 72 off 44 had brought his side to needing 23 off 14 balls. It wasn’t a clear-cut decision.Parnell, who had started well with two wickets in his first spell, was going through a torrid comeback over – 14 off four balls – when he bowled a yorker. The ball was on the pitch but Yusuf took off for the single. Parnell closed in on him while going for the ball, which was also in Yusuf’s path.Parnell stuck his hands out as he approached Yusuf, who slowed down, possibly because of the contact. Yusuf ended up kicking the ball with the face of his foot open, like footballers do. The umpires, with the help of replays, deemed Yusuf had done so deliberately, and ruled him out.Presumably the umpires also deemed that Parnell didn’t deliberately block Yusuf’s path by raising his hands. Had they seen it as deliberate obstruction by Parnell, they would have called the ball dead and awarded the batting side five runs. Repeated replays showed neither was Parnell looking at Yusuf when he ran into him nor did Yusuf seem to be looking at the ball when he kicked it.Yusuf was livid at being given out, and he watched the rest of the match from the stairway to the dressing room, punching the railing at one point. The railing was sturdier than Knight Riders’ lower order, who managed only 15 further runs. This was the kind of finish you could have attributed to Warriors in the normal course, but this time they managed to come back every time they slipped.When Finch fell for 48 off 32, Warriors were 97 for 2 in the 13th over, and the expected slowdown began. Yuvraj Singh struggled against spin, and the next nine balls produced only two runs. Manish Pandey, though, put paid to that, hitting three consecutive fours off Jacques Kallis. Despite later stumbles, Warriors managed 72 off the last six overs.Parnell put them further ahead with full swinging deliveries to Manvinder Bisla and Kallis. Gautam Gambhir fell early too. Yusuf and Ryan ten Doeschate, though, added 98 for the fourth wicket to take Knight Riders close. Then came Yusuf’s first mistake of the night when he refused to respond to ten Doeschate’s call for a single to short fine leg.That single was fair game for the final overs of limited-overs games, but Yusuf was now left needing to make amends. He nearly did make amends by rearranging Parnell’s figures, but he was adjudicated to have made the final mistake of the night.

After a difficult time at Sussex, Ollie Rayner claimed a maiden five-wicket haul for his new county, Middlesex, to put them on course for victory at Lord’s

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's07-Jun-2013
ScorecardOllie Rayner took his maiden Championship five-wicket haul•PA Photos

There is a faint, faint possibility that Middlesex might not win this game and for that they have only themselves to blame. Some lax bowling and Tim Murtagh’s drop of Luke Wright from a skied sweep shot, will have Sussex returning on the final day, of a match they have yet to have any control of, just 48 runs behind with six wickets remaining.From here, Sussex’s only real hope is to set a difficult chase, but Middlesex need only to look at the scorecard at their domination over the last three days to dissipate any doubt.Victory looked like it could even come on day three as the visitors made a pig’s ear of their follow on – a suicidal run out and tame hook shot doing for Chris Nash and Michael Yardy. It all seemed rather wasteful, especially after Luke Wright and Will Beer did their best to garner as many runs as possible this morning, despite the inevitability of the follow-on.The Sussex first innings was eventually finished off thanks to a wicket for Neil Dexter and two for Ollie Rayner, who took his maiden five-wicket haul for Middlesex in the Championship – a first since August 2008 when he helped his opponents to a 10-wicket win over Hampshire at Arundel.Dropped to the second XI for two games for, essentially, not spinning the ball, Rayner came back into the first team after what he described as “time off” to rediscover his game. As a child, he was a big turner of the ball before the development of his batting saw him lose his attacking instincts and morph into a lower middle-order batsman-cum-support bowler.A move to Middlesex, made permanent in October 2011 after an extended loan spell from Sussex, saw a continuation of this in a seam-heavy attack, leading him to, as he put it, “bowl in his sleep”. From his words last night and his actions this morning, there is every indication he wants to move his cricket on to the next level. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who would not wish Rayner well; an affable character who takes it upon himself to act the fool in the dressing room in the name of team spirit.Matt Prior and Sam Robson were unavailable for comment on Prior’s controversial dismissal on the second day, but Rayner obliged. “It’s not often people want to speak to me,” he gleamed. “I’ll take it!” He went as far as to hope Prior was not annoyed at him for appealing. Even modesty and self-consciousness can be six-foot five and blonde.It’s unclear whether he offered an apology of sorts when Prior came to the crease after the tea interval, but the pair locked horns once again as Prior and Ed Joyce set about drastically eating into Middlesex’s lead with some dashing shots. Three balls into their reunion and Prior had already taken Rayner for 10 runs – a slapped sweep shot for four, a paddle around the corner for two, before he came down the pitch and hit Rayner over midwicket’s head for another boundary.Prior’s cameo didn’t last much longer, as he sat back and cross-batted a good length ball from James Harris to a diving Murtagh at mid-on. As he walked off, the congregation in the Mound Stand asked England’s Test wicketkeeper if he was happy with that decision. Prior, to his credit, acknowledged the home fans with good grace and his bat, as the cat calls turned to polite applause.But Wright joined the fray and kept the scoring rate going all the way through to stumps, as Joyce passed fifty to little fanfare. While Toby Roland-Jones and Murtagh persisted for too long with some short-pitched bowling, Sussex will be more than satisfied with how they made hay in the evening, going at over four-an-over.If Sussex finish the game with anything other than defeat after three days of toil, they will do so with great satisfaction and an even greater feeling of justice.

Rob Key’s century saw Kent make a fluent reply to Hampshire’s first innings 405 for 9 declared on day two of a Championship run-spree in Canterbury

16-Jul-2013
ScorecardRob Key made his 22nd first-class century at Canterbury•Getty Images

Rob Key’s century saw Kent make a fluent reply to Hampshire’s first innings 405 for 9 declared on day two of a Championship run-spree in Canterbury. Having chased leather for more than four sessions, Kent made a game reply to finish day two on 200 for 1 – a first innings deficit of 205 – and with Key unbeaten on 105.The former England batsman lost opening partner Sam Northeast with only 37 on the board, but then teamed up with England Under-19 starlet Daniel Bell-Drummond to add an unbroken 163 for the second wicket through to the close.Key, who won the last of his 15 Test caps in 2005, batted faultlessly to reach his century from 142 balls and with a dozen boundaries. Already the highest ever Championship run-scorer at Canterbury in Kent’s history, this was Key’s 22nd hundred on the ground – 21 of which have been for the county. It was also the 34-year-old’s 44th ton for the club.At the other end, rookie Bell-Drummond, in only his 11th Championship start, made a sticky start and looked troubled by the pace of James Tomlinson. But, after surviving the left-arm paceman’s new ball burst, Bell-Drummond relaxed into his work to reach a 103-ball half-century.The teenage prodigy from Millfield School moved to the landmark by dancing down the pitch to on-drive one from Danny Briggs to the ropes at long-on having already hit the left-arm spinner for six into the Frank Woolley stand. By stumps, Bell-Drummond had reached a Championship-best 74 as he and Key took Kent to their first batting bonus point of the match.At the start of the day, Hampshire elected to extend their first innings beyond lunch before finally declaring nine wickets down and some 30 minutes into the mid-session.After his stoic, opening day century, former Kent batsman Michael Carberry moved effortlessly to 150 from 291 balls before chasing a wide one from Calum Haggett to be caught behind for 154 and end a fourth-wicket partnership with Sean Ervine that added 99 inside 29 overs. Haggett took his tally to three for 100 by trapping Adam Wheater leg-before, then Darren Stevens pinned Adam Rouse lbw for 9 to bring a quick end to his maiden innings in first-class cricket.After lunch, Kent captain James Tredwell took his first wickets of the Championship campaign on Kentish soil to finish with respectable figures of 3 for 83 from 27.2 overs. The offspinner had Ervine stumped for 72, Sohail Tanvir caught at slip then Danny Briggs caught at long-on to spark the Hampshire declaration.

Murray Goodwin fell six runs short of his double-century in becoming one of seven wicket for Lancashire spinner Simon Kerrigan

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford16-Jul-2013
ScorecardSimon Kerrigan stopped Murray Goodwin short of his double-ton on the way to a seven-wicket haul•PA Photos

Even in his 41st year Murray Goodwin is a batsman whose thirst for runs remains gloriously unslaked. Angular, compact and resolutely well-organised, the Zimbabwean gives the impression that scoring a century merely lays the foundation of his innings.Goodwin’s demeanour also suggests that he is, in the best sense of the word, a most combative cricketer. It is little wonder that one strays into the semantic field of boxing to describe the technique of this chunky, square-jawed batsman, who mixes a very tight defence with the cuts and punches that earn him his runs.Yet on the second afternoon of this game – and having added 56 runs to his overnight 138 – Goodwin was eventually removed by Simon Kerrigan, a young spinner whose desire for success is no less keen than the man who is more than 16 years his senior. When just six runs short of passing 200 for the tenth time in his career, Glamorgan’s close-season recruit from Sussex carelessly slapped a short ball from the slow left- armer straight to square leg where Andrea Agathangelou pocketed a low two-handed catch with his customary aplomb.That Goodwin was plainly annoyed with himself as he stalked off the field reflected well on his professionalism; all the same, it was unfortunate that his disgruntlement prevented him fully acknowledging the generous applause that came from all the open stands at Old Trafford.In truth, Goodwin’s dismissal – he was eighth out after batting for 458 minutes and facing 354 deliveries – concluded a period in which Kerrigan effected a partial restoration of Lancashire’s fortunes in this game.At 408 for 4 and having lost only Jim Allenby on the second day, lbw to a Glen Chapple shooter for 92, Glamorgan had seemed set to build a total which would have left Lancashire with little but a draw to play for. Instead, Kerrigan had Mark Wallace caught at slip, probably off inside edge and pad, for 37 and then took three wickets for seven runs in 18 balls as the Welsh team declined to 474 all out, a total which is still very formidable without being quite the riches they hoped for.Kerrigan’s performance offered further proof that he possesses the tough character which is the sine qua non of any successful spinner. Having been at less than his impressive best on the first day of this game, Kerrigan took 5 for 48 in 13.1 overs on Tuesday and finished with 7 for 162 from 49.1 overs.The 24-year-old has now taken 39 wickets in nine County Championship games and he is now comfortably the most successful spinner in the country. If Monty Panesar is still the favourite to make the winter tour to Australia as Graeme Swann’s understudy, Kerrigan cannot be too far behind him and it would be only natural for the Lancastrian to cast an eye over the massive stands being erected for the Ashes Test and wonder when his chance might come.For the moment though – which is what the professionals are so often encouraged to experience and enjoy – Kerrigan’s efforts have given Lancashire a sniff of a chance of overhauling Glamorgan’s total and maybe pressing for an unlikely victory in this game. That impression was confirmed when Karl Brown and Luis Reece, Lancashire’s fifth opening partnership in seven games, added an untroubled 93 runs in 40 overs in the evening session.