A Statistician's Look at New Zealand Cricket

I’m really a statistics writer. I’m not the first call for any pieces about management styles, off the field behaviour and so on. When I write about cricket I generally write about what happens on the park, and particularly about the results, and what can be found from analysis. However the current situation in New Zealand Cricket is one that is fascinating to me. The current “crisis” seems to be one that has been misunderstood, misreported, over-estimated and entirely avoidable. So I thought I’d take a statistical enquiry type approach to the current situation, and see what came of it.

The statistical enquiry cycle has 5 parts: Problem, Plan, Data, Analysis and Conclusion.

Problem: Why is there an environment in NZC where a breakdown between captain and coach can have catastrophic consequences and be played out in the public domain as appallingly as this one has.

Plan: Look back over the last 6 years of New Zealand Cricket’s history and see if there is a pattern, and anything that might be the reason:

Data: In a statistical enquiry this is where I gather the numbers. Obviously that’s not so relevant in this situation. So instead I went through just over 4000 articles in three different news archives that related to New Zealand Cricket. Here is a time-line of some of the significant events in New Zealand Cricket over the last 6 years. I’ve broken it up into Governance, Management, Leadership and Players; but some of the issues related to more than one category, so they could have fit across more than one. In these situations I picked what I felt was the most appropriate.

Date	Governance	Management	Leadership	Players
Jan-2006				Cairns retires
June-2006		Snedden announces 5 year test plan. Incuded 2 tests in 18 months.
July-2006			Andy Moles appointed as ND coach
Sept-2006	Don Neely replaces John Reid as president of NZC
Dec-2006		Snedden steps down	Dayle Hadlee appointed bowling coach
Jan-2007				Astle retires
Apr-2007				Fleming retires as ODI captain
June-2007		Justin Vaughan appointed new CEO. Forms committee to look at Bracewell’s position as coach. Includes Ric Charlesworth	Wright turns down Australian academy, expresses interest in working with NZ cricket.
July-2007			Bracewell re-appointed for 2 more years. Mark O’Neill new bating coach. Wright to have a (largely unspecified) role. Bracewell loses veto over selectors
Aug-2007	Heath Mills expresses concern about the newly mooted ICL. Asks NZC to talk with ICC about it.		Nash, Turner, Hadlee and Bracewell all re-appointed as selectors. Haslee and Nash given 1 year contracts, Turner and Bracewell 2 year contracts	Bracewell drops Fleming from t20’s. appoints Vettori captain
Sept-2007				Vettori given test captaincy. Fleming says he will stay on.
				Cairns, Harris, Astle and H Marshall all sign for ICL
Oct-2007			Ric Charlesworth quits as high performance manager	Craig McMillan retires
				B McCullum made vice captain
Nov-2007			Wright appointed high performance manager	Andre Adams makes himself unavailable for ODIs
Dec-2007		Richard Hadlee initially left off guest list for Chappell-Hadlee fixture.
Jan-2008				Bond signs with ICL
Feb-2008		Vaughan allows Auckland to play James Anderson, despite opposition from other asociations.		Fleming retires
				Ryder incident in bar
				Lou Vincent & Adam Parore join ICL
May-2008			Bracewell announces he will quit April 2009	Andre Adams becomes a Kolpak player
June-2008		Major changes in the organisation at NZC. 11 positions removed and 20 created. John Wright and Lindsay Crocker’s jobs both disestablished
July-2008			Dermot Reeve appointed coach of CD
Aug-2008		A number of staff leave NZC – Alec Astle, Dayle Hadlee, Dayle Shackel, Warren Frost, Brian Aldridge	Bob Carter appointed Canterbury coach
Sept-2008	Alan Isaac replaces Sir John Anderson as chairman of NZC board after Anderson retires.
Nov-2008		Geoff Allott appointed general manager of cricket.	Andy Moles appointed coach
		NZC apologises to West Indies for “it’s all white here” slogan
Dec-2008			Mark Greatbatch appointed as advisor to national selection panel
Jan-2009			Heath Mills criticizes selectors for not communicating with players when they are dropped.
Feb-2009			Dave Currie appointed manager
			Mark O’Donnell appointed assistant coach
Apr-2009			Moles asks to become a selector.
June-2009		State Insurance pull out as sponsor		Bond becomes available after ending ties with ICL
Aug-2009			Moles and Vettori added to selection panel, replacing Nash
Oct-2009		First Class competition moves to home and away format.	22 – reports players unhappy with Moles	McCullum loses vice captaincy
			23- Vettori gives some support to Moles
			24- Moles quits.
Nov-2009		Name of first class comp returns to Plunket Shield	John Wright to assist Vettori with national team
Jan-2010			Greatbatch appointed coach	Taylor named “stand-by captain”
Feb-2010		NZC announce partnership with USACA. Schedule matches in Florida	Martin Crowe appointed “batting advisor”
Mar-2010	NZC agrees to nominate John Howard, rather than original pick, Sir John Anderson as new ICC president.	NZ pull out of Zimbabwe series
May-2010			Roger Mortimer joins as performance director.
June-2010	John Howard rejected as ICC president			McCullum gives up keeping in tests.
Aug-2010	Alan Isaac appointed as ICC vice-president. Chris Moller takes over as NZC chairman		Shane Bond assistant coach at CD
			Trent Woodhill appointed as assistant coach
Oct-2010	Robbie Hart appointed to board
	Board calls for sweeping review post Bangladesh clean-sweep
Nov-2010		Geoff Allott resigns.	Duncan Fletcher comes in temporarily as consultant
Dec-2010	Bond, Martin Crowe and Gerard Gillespie bought into cricket committee.	Another deal with USACA	John Wright replaces Mark Greatbatch as coach. Vettori loses selector role.
Jan-2011			Alan Donald joins as bowling coach
Mar-2011				Vettori retires from T20i
Apr-2011	Crowe quits cricket comittee		Buchanan appointed director of cricket.
June-2011			Donald quits as bowling coach	Players consulted on the leadership qualities of Taylor and McCullum
			National selection managers role introduced, given to Greatbatch temporarily	Taylor appointed as captain, after rigorous process
			Trent Woodhill reappointed	Vettori quits ODIs
July-2011			Hesson appointed Kenyan coach
			Damian Wright appointed bowling coach
			Mike Sandle appointed manager
Sept-2011		Vaughan steps down as CEO	Kim Littlejohn appointed national selection manager
Dec-2011		David White appointed CEO
Mar-2012				Ryder & Bracewell dropped for breaking protocol
				Ryder takes indefinite break from cricket
Apr-2012		NZC signs 8 year media deal		ICC rule Wagner eligible for NZ
May-2012		Therese Walsh comes onboard to run NZC’s part of the 2015 World Cup	John Wright turns down a new contract with NZC
July-2012			Mike Hesson named as new coach	Williamson named interim captain while Taylor injured and McCullum rested
				Ryder makes himself eligible for Wellington
Aug-2012			Bob Carter appointed as assistant coach
			Damian Wright steps down as bowling coach
Sept-2012	Review of the board completed. 39 recommendations were made, and published.	Friday night TV deal announced.
Nov-2012	Stephen Boock named NZC president, Greg Barclay appointed as director		Turner and Crowe appointed talent scouts	Hesson approaches Taylor with Sandle and Carter, tells him that he is going to recommend a leadership change to the board after the tour.
Dec-2012	Chris Moller announces a special general meeting to look at a new constitution for New Zealand cricket.			McCullum appointed captain. Taylor rejects offer of split captaincy, steps down from South Africa tour.

Analysis: This is where I normally do some calculations, arrange the data into a nice table, and perhaps draw a graph. None of those things work here, so instead I’ve looked at some of the trends in the stories.

The one constant in New Zealand cricket over the past 6 years has been change. During that time the team has had 5 coaches, at least 11 selectors and at least 16 assistant or specialist coaches. There has been a litany of job titles for people too. General manager of cricket, chairman of selectors, convenor of selectors, national selection manager, high performance manager, performance director, director of cricket selection advisor, batting advisor etc. There have also been 6 captains for the international team (although Kane Williamson was only as an injury replacement and Jamie How was only for a tour match)

There have been a number of quite significant changes in the power balance between the captain and the coach. First there was a confrontation between Bracewell and Fleming. Then Moles and Vettori. Then Hesson and Taylor. The role of the captain has changed a number of times. Vettori was a selector, and for a while was actually the coach as well (although that was only for about 2 weeks while the team was between coaches). However this is not an issue that is limited to New Zealand cricket. There were similar issues in Australia between Warne and Buchanan and most spectacularly in England between Pietersen, Flintoff and a range of coaches.

An interesting story came out in 2009 where Richard Hadlee felt that Fleming had downgraded the role of coach in New Zealand. That balance in power has certainly been an issue.

Likewise there was an issue with player power in Central Districts while Dermot Reeve was coach, and almost one in Auckland not long after Paul Strang took over. In that situation Auckland Cricket acted quickly, brought in someone extra to help sort out the communication and define the roles between the senior players and the coach.

Conclusion: This is not the first time that there has been a power issue between coach and captain in New Zealand Cricket, or in international cricket in general. It is something that has been bubbling under the surface for a while. New Zealand Cricket probably need to do what Auckland did: bring in someone who is respected by both the coaches and the players, get them to work with both groups to define clearly the roles and expectations of the coach and captain. And then stick with it.

There have been so many changes in New Zealand Cricket over the past 6 years, that consistency is probably better than making more changes. However the roles need to be more clearly defined, and there needs to be a third person introduced to make sure that the two are working together correctly. That person may be the manager, or the director of cricket or someone else, but whoever it is needs to get involved before this happens a fourth time.

Mini-session Analysis, 3rd test, India vs England, Kolkata, 2012-13

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the third test between India and England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-Session	Score	Winner
1-1a	India 54/1 off 14	India
1-1b	India 36/1 off 15	England
1-2a	India 30/1 off 15	England
1-2b	India 52/1 off 14	India
1-3a	India 58/1 off 16	India
1-3b	India 43/2 off 16	England
2-1a	India 43/3 off 15	draw
2-1b	England 22/0 off 11	England
2-2a	England 40/0 off 14	England
2-2b	England 59/0 off 17	England
2-3a	England 66/1 off 14	England
2-3b	England 29/0 off 17	draw
3-1a	England 50/0 off 18	England
3-1b	England 30/0 off 14	draw
3-2a	England 43/1 off 17	India
3-2b	England 42/1 off 13	England
3-3a	England 52/2 off 12	England
3-3b	England 76/1 off 16	England
4-1a	England 14/4 off 4.3	India
	India 32/0 off 10
4-1b	India 54/0 off 11	India
4-2a	India 33/4 off 13	England
4-2b	India 26/2 off 17	England
4-3a	India 39/2 off 14	England
4-3b	India 55/1 off 18	India
5-1a	India 8/1 off 1.4	India
	England 41/3 off 12.1

Latest update, click here

England win the mini-session count 14 - 8

First drinks, Day 1: India lead the mini-session count 1-0

It was going so well for India before Virender Sehwag had the honour of becoming the 50th batsman to be run out in a test at Eden Gardens. Gambhir will need to score big to make up for running out Sehwag while he was looking hungry for runs.

Lunch, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 1-1

Monty Panesar managed to trick Che Pujara with a cunningly straight delivery. England will be very happy with 90/2 after losing the toss and being put in.

Tea, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 2-2

Tendulkar is in. All across India people will be turning on TV's and radios, waiting to see what their hero can do. He's on 46, and batting very cautiously. He my be gearing up for another big score.

Final drinks, Day 1: India lead the mini-session count 3-2

More Tendulkar magic, but Yuvraj has found a way to get out after a great partnership. India need a good partnership here. After winning the toss they would not want the bowlers to be batting before the end of the first day.

Stumps, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

What a great day's play. England are probably on top, but not by much. If Zaheer and Ojha can survive, and Dhoni can score some runs, then India can put together an imposing total on this pitch. However, If England knock over the tail quickly with the new ball tomorrow, then they have every chance of taking a significant lead.

First drinks, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

316 is an awkward total to know how to assess. It's enough to be challenging if the pitch continues to misbehave. But it's not enough to really set the match up for India. Basically the match is balanced fairly well.

Lunch, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 4-3

A solid start, nothing spectacular, but most of the shine has been taken off the ball without incident for England. India will have to bowl in more challenging areas if they want some breakthroughs.

Middle drinks, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 5-3

Compton and Cook continue to bat. A couple of scares for Compton, and a missed run out opportunity against Cook, but other than that it's starting to look like it could be a long day for India.

Tea, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 6-3

Compton is starting to score some runs. He has been so defensive this series, he looks a completely different player to the one who I saw hit 20 off 10 vs Kolkata Knight Riders for Somerset at last years CLT20. However he has started taking to the spinners, particularly Ojha. Not allowing Ojha to settle is a good move, as the pitch is taking some turn, and the English batsmen's traditional weakness against spin is likely to be shown up if the Indian spinners are allowed to find their rhythm.

Final drinks, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 7-3

Cook is looking imperious. Compton was straight out, somehow, possibly caught, possibly lbw, possibly handled the ball, possibly obstructing the field. It was hard to say really. Either way, the real story of the hour was Cook breaking Wally Hammond's record for the number of hundreds for an Englishman.

Stumps, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 7-3

Incredibly slow progress by the English batsmen. They are in the lead, but not by as much as you would expect after only losing one wicket in 73 overs. A good session with the new ball for India tomorrow could cause this game to take a sudden turn.

First drinks, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 8-3

Now England are starting to bat India out of the match. They are still only one collapse away from the game being reasonably even, but every hour takes more and more out of the legs of the Indian bowlers.

Trott gave up one chance, but Sharma managed to make a complete hash of it. India can't afford to throw away opportunities.

Lunch, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 8-3

England have again scored so slowly in that hour that they haven't advanced the game enough to really be in a better position than they were at the start of the hour.

Final drinks, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 10-4

England are now building a sizable lead. However they have not scored fast enough that they are able to think about declaring any time soon. India have done well to restrict the English batsmen to less than 3 an over. England will be looking for at least another 150 or so runs before lunch tomorrow. If they manage that then they will be able to create some real scoreboard pressure on the Indian batsmen tomorrow.

Stumps, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 11-4

England are close to eliminating the chance of India winning this match. The pitch seems to be still behaving itself reasonably well, but it will start to break up as the game goes on. England will probably be looking at a declaration just past lunch tomorrow.

First drinks, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 11-5

India storm back into the game. They are still well behind, but they have made significant progress towards getting back into the game. England will be rueing dropping Sehwag. Some dropped catches can be very costly, dropping Virender Sehwag is very rarely a good idea.

Lunch, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 11-6

England need a breakthrough soon. Sehwag and Gambhir are hitting the ball to all parts. The confidence that this will bring in the rest of the batsmen is dangerous to England, even more dangerous than the runs these two are scoring.

Middle drinks, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 12-6

And just like that the game turns back England's way. Swann played a horrible shot this morning, but has redeemed himself by taking a couple of vital wickets.

Tea, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 13-6

A double strike from Anderson got England another step closer to victory. We are now getting to the point where the question now is more how much will England win by, rather than what the result will be.

Final drinks, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 14-6

Surely England will finish this off tonight now. 2 wickets left and the new ball probably available tonight. The Indian management need to make some tough decisions. Some of their stars have failed again, but more than that the horrible fielding lapses, and generally poor outcricket have contributed to what is likely to be an innings defeat by a team that is supposed to be bad in the sub-continent.

Stumps, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 14-7

R Ashwin needs to talk to his top order batsmen. he has shown the sort of application that the batsmen needed to show earlier in the day. There is nothing wrong with batsmen getting out to a great delivery. That happens in cricket. However all of the Indian batsmen except for Yuvraj Singh got out playing either lazy shots or mindlessly attacking balls that they shouldn't have. Ashwin hasn't been without some luck, but he has generally applied himself diligently to batting sensibly.

End of match, Day 5: England in the match and the mini-session count 14-8

After a couple of scary moments for England, they cruised home comfortably to win by 7 wickets. After the first test this has been quite a turn-around. England retain the Pataudi trophy, which certainly seemed unlikely two weeks ago.

Mini-session Analysis, 3rd test, Australia vs South Africa, WACA, 2012/13

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the third test between Australia and South Africa at WACA, Perth, Australia

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-Session	Score	Winner
1-1a	South Africa 38/1 off 11.3	draw
1-1b	South Africa 25/2 off 13.3	Australia
1-2a	South Africa 34/3 off 13	Australia
1-2b	South Africa 44/1 off 14	South Africa
1-3a	South Africa 65/2 off 18.2	Australia
1-3b	South Africa 19/1 off 3.4	South Africa
	Australia 33/2 off 11
2-1a	Australia 40/4 off 12	South Africa
2-1b	Australia 45/1 off 13	Australia
2-2a	Australia 31/1 off 13	South Africa
2-2b	Australia 15/2 off 4.1	South Africa
	South Africa 24/0 off 6
2-3a	South Africa 125/1 off 17	South Africa
2-3b	South Africa 81/1 off 15	South Africa
3-1a	South Africa 56/0 off 13	South Africa
3-1b	South Africa 34/1 off 15	Australia
3-2a	South Africa 85/0 off 17	South Africa
3-2b	South Africa 62/2 off 13	South Africa
3-3a	South Africa 96/3 off 13	South Africa
3-3b	South Africa 6/2 off 2.5	Australia
	Australia 40/0 off 13
4-1a	Australia 33/1 off 13	South Africa
4-1b	Australia 37/2 off 12	South Africa
4-2a	Australia 42/1 off 13	draw
4-2b	Australia 52/3 off 13	South Africa
4-3a	Australia 118/3 off 18.5	Australia

Final update, click here

First drinks, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 0-0

South Africa won the toss, and went on the attack early against the inexperienced Australian bowlers. However a good ball from Watson levelled up the first mini-session.

Lunch, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 1-0

When a left-armer manages to swing the ball he becomes deadly. Mitchell Starc just proved exactly why that is. He bowled Petersen and Kallis through the gate by pitching it up and letting it swing. Advantage Australia.

Middle drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 2-0

South Africa chose to bat and are probably regretting it now. 6 wickets down for less than 100 runs, and Australia have 4 quicks, so they are all fresh. South Africa are going to require a big effort from Faf and the bowlers if they are going to stay in this match.

Tea, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 2-1

A good recovery here from South Africa. They were looking a lot better before Peterson was dismissed, but it was still their hour.

Final drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 3-1

It was all looking so good for South Africa, but Australia are playing like the wily veteran boxer who lands a flurry just before the bell to take the round. Two quick wickets and the hour goes to Australia. Mitchell Johnson is great to have as a fourth seamer. He is erratic, bowls some filth, but he does take wickets.

Stumps, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 3-2

Some quick runs from Morkel followed by some beautiful bowling by Steyn and Philander have meant that this game is back in the balance. I think Australia are in the lead, but it could potentially be a real cracking test.

First drinks, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

It's not often after a team lose 4 for 40 in a mini-session that you can say that they finished well. However Australia got 12/4 off the first 5.2 overs. Hussey and Wade are looking reasonably confident, but Australia are going to require a similar rearguard effort to what South Africa had yesterday.

Lunch, Day 2: Australia lead the mini-session count 4-3

A very good hour of cricket for Australia. Mathew Wade has looked like he is batting on a different pitch to everyone else. He has a chance at going past Kapil Dev's record for the largest proportion of a team's score by a lower order batsman.

Middle drinks, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 4-4

South Africa get the big breakthrough and dismiss Wade. They put some pressure on to dry up the runs, and eventually Peterson came in and the pressure was converted to a wicket.

Tea, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 5-4

Robin Peterson was prepared to roll the dice and he picked up a couple of wickets for his trouble. The South African openers then had to face a tricky spell. Petersen looked jumpy, and edged a few, but scored quite well. Smith looked reasonably solid, but has struggled to score.

Final drinks, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 6-4

This was possibly the most decisive mini-session since Welegedara and Herath picked up 5 top/middle order wickets for next to no runs against South Africa in December last year. Amla and Smith were scoring almost off every ball. They looked like they were batting on a belter in an ODI.

Stumps, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 7-4

Hashim Amla is poetry to watch. They used to say about Frank Worrell that he played grammatically correct shots. I never got to see Worrell,but watching Amla must be similar. It was clever captaincy from Clarke to keep him stranded on 99, because at the moment it seems the only way to get Amla out is to have him get himself out. South Africa are now very hot favourites.

First drinks, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 8-4

After the past 2 mini-sessions, 56 runs in 13 overs seems almost pedestrian. In reality it is anything but. Amla hasn't looked quite as composed as he did yesterday, but he has still looked good. Kallis, however, has looked impenetrable.

Lunch, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 8-5

Australia broke the partnership, and then kept the new batsman quiet. It was a good hour for them. Shane Watson looks like the best bowler in the Australian team. Batting looks so much more difficult when he has the ball in his hands. Clarke has to make the difficult decision about how much to bowl him. The good news for South Africa is that AB de Villiers seems to be finding going difficult. This indicates that there is still life in the test, so Australia batting out a draw won't be particularly easy.

Middle drinks, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 9-5

South Africa have continued to take the game away from Australia. de Villiers has found his timing, and is scoring runs quickly. It's now de Villiers biggest innings as a keeper, but it possibly shows why it might be an idea for him to move lower in the order. Often it takes a while for a keeper to get into batting mode after keeping. Batting at 6 might be more suitable than 5.

Tea, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 10-5

Amla fell just short of his double century, and Elgar completed his pair on debut, but despite losing the two wickets, South Africa scored a lot of runs quickly. AB de Villiers has completed his hundred, and looks like he is just wanting to push on further. Faf du Plessis has been solid in defense, without really looking to dominate.

Final drinks, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 11-5

More runs. Graeme Smith seems to be enjoying watching the Australians struggle in the field. The TV commentators are talking about a declaration, but I can't see Smith declaring unless he decided to give his bowlers 5 or 6 overs at the end of the night.

Stumps, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 11-6

Despite a couple of scares, Australia have survived the tricky evening period. They actually got a relatively significant benefit from cleaning up South Africa's tail so quickly, namely that they had 14 overs, and so the South African bowlers don't really get a second bite of the new cherry in the morning. This pitch is a lot easier to bat on once the ball loses its shine. The South Africans will be looking to get the ball to reverse, because if it doesn't then they will have to do a lot of bowling with significantly less assistance.

South Africa are still clearly leading this match, and it feels like a question of when and not if they will win, but there is a glimmer of hope for Australia.

First drinks, Day 4: South Africa lead the mini-session count 12-6

One down. South Africa are about 15% of the way there. After the early loss of Warner; Cowan and Watson have survived a testing hour of quality bowling. If anything Ed Cowan looks like the sort of batsman who is going to really thrive with this challenge. He may not win a battle of skills, but he is likely to win a battle of wills.

Tea, Day 4: South Africa lead the mini-session count 14-6

I went away to take a practice with my team and returned to find Australia in disarray. I checked the score progressively and every time there had been another wicket fall. I can't see Australia surviving the night tonight. If Australia are still going when the new ball arrives they are certainly unlikely to be after that.

End of match: South Africa win the match and the mini-session count 14-7

It was always going to be a bridge too far for Australia. They probably had one of the best chances of any team who have faced such an enormous challenge, but that's like saying that they were the lamb that was most likely to survive a week in the tiger enclosure at the local zoo. A fantastic post-script partnership by Lyon and Starc, but it was like trying to put out a building fire with a water pistol, and fell significantly short.

Mini-session analysis 2nd test, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 2012/13

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the second test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at P Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-Session	Score	Winner
1-1a	New Zealand 48/2 off 13	Sri Lanka
1-1b	New Zealand 48/0 off 16	New Zealand
1-2a	New Zealand 45/0 off 16	New Zealand
1-2b	New Zealand 34/0 off 16	New Zealand
1-3	New Zealand 48/0 off 19.5	New Zealand
2-1a	New Zealand 45/0 off 15.1	New Zealand
2-1b	New Zealand 30/3 off 18	Sri Lanka
2-2a	New Zealand 54/2 off 19	Sri Lanka
2-2b	New Zealand 44/1 off 16	Sri Lanka
2-3a	New Zealand 16/2 off 4	New Zealand
	Sri Lanka 35/3 off 12
2-3b	Sri Lanka 8/0 off 5	New Zealand
3-1a	Sri Lanka 40/0 off 13	Sri Lanka
3-1b	Sri Lanka 24/2 off 13	New Zealand
3-2a	Sri Lanka 38/1 off 14	New Zealand
3-2b	Sri Lanka 32/0 off 16	Sri Lanka
3-3	Sri Lanka 48/0 off 13.2	Sri Lanka
4-1a	Sri Lanka 19/4 off 7.4	New Zealand
4-1b	New Zealand 59/2 off 17	draw
4-2a	New Zealand 48/3 off 15	Sri Lanka
4-2b	New Zealand 47/0 off 15	New Zealand
4-3a	New Zealand 40/4 off 7	New Zealand
	Sri Lanka 41/2 off 11
4-3b	Sri Lanka 6/2 off 4.4	New Zealand
5-1a	Sri Lanka 27/1 off 14.2	New Zealand
5-1b	Sri Lanka 33/0 off 19	Sri Lanka
5-2a	Sri Lanka 14/1 off 16	New Zealand
5-2b	Sri Lanka 47/1 off 16	draw
5-3a	Sri Lanka 27/3 off 4.5	New Zealand

Latest update, click here

First drinks, Day 1: Sri Lanka lead the mini-session count 1-0

A terrible start for New Zealand. A good ball in the first over to dismiss Guptill followed by a fairly average decision against Brendon McCullum. After that Williamson generally looked solid, pushing good balls for singles. Taylor, however, went for the big shots and narrowly avoided being caught a number of times. These two have survived, but they are certainly not looking unflappable.

Lunch, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 1-1

This is a solid reply from Williamson and Taylor. They have both settled down and are starting to dominate the bowling. Taylor is scoring quite freely while Williamson is being a bit more patient.

Middle drinks, Day 1: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 2-1

This was an absorbing period of play. The highlight was watching the mental battle between Jayawardene and Taylor. There's often something magical about those battles when a captain is batting well. Mahela used a 3-6 legside field and had Randiv bowling just outsie off stump to Taylor. Taylor has recently been dismissed quite frequently playing cover drives against balls that are coming in to him. It was clear that he had decided to remove that shot from his repertoire. Without it, he was hitting with the spin to the leg side and often was unable to score. It was a chance to see who would blink first. Taylor won the little battle, managing to find about 5 or 6 singles through the packed legside field before Jaywardene abandoned the plan.

Tea, Day 1: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 3-1

Sri Lanka have tried hard to restrict New Zealand. Jayawardene has set very defensive fields, waiting for a mistake from the batsmen. It didn't really make for an action packed hour, but there was certainly tension. It was an hour for purists, more than casual fans, but it was a good hour for purists.

Stumps, Day 1: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 4-1

I combined the final two mini-sessions, as there were only 3 overs bowled after drinks. It was another good hour (and a bit) for New Zealand. Ross Taylor brought up his hundred, and Williamson is on 95. A current NZ player said that he felt that Williamson was going to be remembered as either New Zealand's best batsman ever or New Zealand's best batsman since Martin Crowe. This performance shows why they rate him so highly. While he hasn't scored freely, he has not been bogged down, and has looked incredibly solid. Taylor is scoring much more quickly, but is looking a lot less solid. I have been somewhat critical of Taylor for not converting starts to big scores. He now has 119*, but his team needs him to keep scoring tomorrow. He should really be looking at becoming the 13th New Zealander to score a double century, just as the previous captain did last time New Zealand played a test at the P. Sara stadium.

Stumps, Day 2: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 7-4

Soutee and Boult picked up where Taylor and Williamson left off. These two are a special combination. If they remain injury free, they could be the best spearhead New Zealand have had since Bond and Cairns or even Hadlee and Chatfield. In his 6 over spell Southee bowled balls that swung out, seamed out, seamed in, cut in and went straight on. Boult didn't have quite the variation, but managed to take an inside edge, a couple of outside edges and a top edge, as well as a play and miss that went between bat and pad. And they were not bowling to bad batsmen on a green wicket. They were bowling to one of the most formidable batting line ups in the world, in their own conditions, on a pitch that had been described as "benign", "friendly" and "a batting paradise".

Earlier Herath continued to find ways to get New Zealand batsmen out. He removed both of the set batsmen, and then found out a way to get another 4 wickets to keep his incredible run going. Sri Lanka are relying on him heavily too. He has taken 17 wickets at 12.41 so far this series. The rest of the bowlers have taken 13 wickets at 41.15. If Herath takes 6 more in the second innings he will break the record for the most wickets in a 2 match series. I would not be a masssive surprise if he achieved it.

Lunch, Day 3: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 8-5

A couple of breakthroughs from Southee and the match is starting to look like it is in New Zealand's favour. It's often difficult to tell how a match is going until both teams have batted, but New Zealand look to be edging it here.

Tea, Day 3: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 9-6

The match keeps advancing. Patel and Astle kept the Sri Lankan batsmen reasonably quiet, but, other than a couple of moments, didn't look particularly threatening. But they have used up the majority of the old ball, and managerged to give Southee and Boult a rest. The next hour is one of those hours where the game could potentially could change very quickly. If Sri Lanka survive the hour without losing any wickets, then they will probably get into a position they are unlikely to lose from. New Zealand need at least two wickets to put themselves in a position to continue to enforce their will on the match. One wicket and the game is still up in the air.

Stumps, Day 3: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 9-7

While it is a stretch to say that Sri Lanka are on top, Suraj Randiv is playing an innings that one would not expect from someone who had only scored 108 runs from his last 15 innings. Sri Lanka will still need to bat well in the tricky morning session with the new ball.

First drinks, Day 4: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 10-7

Boult has previously not been very effective against the tail. Today he reversed that. New Zealand picked up the last 4 Sri Lankan wickets for only 19 runs.

Lunch, Day 4: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 10-7

New Zealand probably need a lead of about 350 before they will be confident of a win. That means they need 180. So they are a third of the way there. But in removing both openers, Sri Lanka are about a third of the way to the tail, so the honours are really quite even. It would have easily been New Zealand's hour if McCullum hadn't been stumped. That wicket was a great piece of orthodox spin bowling. Herath drew McCullum forward, but bowled it slower than McCullum expected, meaning that he stretched forward that extra couple of centimetres, enough that his foot was on the line, rather than behind it.

Middle drinks, Day 4: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 10-8

At 74/2 it looked like New Zealand were starting to dominate. 4 balls later it was 75/5 and it looked like Sri Lanka were going to pull off a massive momentum swing. Then a small partnership is threatening to swing it back to New Zealand. Isn't test cricket wonderful!

Tea, Day 4: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 11-8

This was very much New Zealand's hour. A fantastic partnership, and the ball started going up and down. This could lead to an intrigueing end.

Final drinks, Day 4: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 12-8

My normally reliable formula awarded that mini-session to Sri Lanka, despite it being clearly won by New Zealand. That really shows part of the beauty of test cricket, context is very important. It's why Faf du Plessis won man of the match in Adelaide despite scoring significantly fewer runs than Clarke. Context is important in test cricket. New Zealand losing the wickets while trying to get through to the declaration target was irrelevent to everything except for the individual players averages. If New Zealand were going to declare at 54 overs anyway, then it was only the runs that counted. Likewise while Sri Lanka scored reasonably quickly, losing the two wickets were more important than a good scoring rate in the first 10 overs. All four possible results are still on offer after that hour, but a draw became less likely.

Stumps, Day 4: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 13-8

Another short final "hour", but one that might prove decisive. For two reasons. Firstly Sri Lanka lost two very important wickets, but secondly Doug Bracewell looked like he was back. New Zealand has a very well balanced pace attack with him bowling well. He gets wickets in a different manner to Boult and Southee, and doesn't rely on the new ball as much as they do, so him bowling well will greatly improve New Zealand's chances of taking out the match.

First drinks, Day 5: New Zealand lead the mini-session count 14-8

The wicket was a run out, and won't be assigned to a bowler, but Doug Bracewell contributed to that, as Samaraweera was looking uncomfortable against Bracewell, and was trying to get off strike. It's a big breakthrough for New Zealand, because, other than Bracewell hitting Samaraweera, the batsmen hadn't played a false shot all morning.

End of match, Day 5: New Zealand win the match, and the mini-session count 16-9

New Zealand have found some bowlers. Once Southee and Boult had the new ball in their hands the result looked inevitable. Bobby Fulton is reported to have said that the next great bowlers would be a swing bowler. The idea is that the batsmen's techniques have entropied to such a degree that they get out of position easily. Allan Donald suggested that he felt Tim Southee could become the best bowler in the world. It's probably too early for that, but Boult and Southee are certainly looking good. Angelo Mathews worked hard all day to try and save the match. He batted for abut 6 hours, but almost ran out of partners, so started hitting the ball hard. He scored 20 runs in 8 balls, before finding Guptill at second slip trying to hit a straight one over midwicket. Taylor has now won 30% of his matches. While he has really only just started, it's not a bad start. New Zealand's most winning captains, Howarth and Fleming won 36% and 35% respectively.

Mini-session Analysis, 2nd test, India England, Mumbai, 2012/13

Here is the mini-session analysis for the second test between India and England at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-Session	Score	Winner
1-1a	India 50/1 off 14	India
1-1b	India 37/2 off 14	England
1-2a	India 47/2 off 18	England
1-2b	India 33/0 off 14	India
1-3a	India 45/1 off 14	draw
1-3b	India 54/0 off 16	India
2-1a	India 27/1 off 17	England
2-1b	India 34/3 off 8.1	England
	England 7/0 off 4
2-2a	England 42/0 off 17	England
2-2b	England 28/2 off 15	India
2-3a	England 65/0 off 16	England
2-3b	England 36/0 off 13	England
3-1a	England 78/0 off 16	England
3-1b	England 42/2 off 12.4	India
3-2a	England 71/1 off 17.2	England
3-2b	England 44/5 off 10.3	India
3-3a	India 46/2 off 14	England
3-3b	India 71/5 off 19	England
4-1a	India 25/3 off 11.1	England
4-1b	England 58/0 off 9.4	England

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First drinks, Day 1: India lead the mini-session count 1-0

This first hour was microcosm of the rollercoaster of emotion that is test cricket. England lose the toss again, and after the first ball goes to the fence they must have wanted to dig a hole, as it would have felt very similar . However the next ball saw Gambhir heading back to the pavilion. England would have felt like this was going to be their day. The rest of the hour, however, was them chasing leather as Sehwag and Pujara worked the ball around the ground without ever really looking troubled.

Lunch, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 1-1

Welcome back to test cricket Monty Panesar. After he got smashed in his first over, a lot of captains would have pulled him off. Not captain Cook. He stuck with him, and it paid dividends. First Sehwag then Tendulkar, not a bad brace for his first two wickets of the tour.

Middle drinks, Day 1: England lead the mini-session count 2-1

I think they have two pitchs here. One of them is being batted on by Cheteshwar Pujara and the other pitch is being batted on by everyone else. This might be a short test. If the Indian batsmen are having trouble with the spin, how will the English batsmen fare?

Tea, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 2-2

Great fightback from India. Pujara was lucky to survive a dropped catch 4 balls after drinks, but after that he and Dhoni have quietly gone about building the innings. A score of 300 would probably give India the advantage in this match.

Final drinks, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 2-2

England removed Dhoni, but Ashwin has stood tall so far. There is still the threat of the new ball, which might be a chance for England to get into the tail.

Stumps, Day 1: India lead the mini-session count 3-2

Cheteshwar Pujara probably wishes he was playing against England every week. He's just kept collecting runs, scoring in his areas and denying the bowlers if they are not bowling in his scoring zones. His temperment may be similar to Dravid, but he is his own man, and he could be a real asset for India. As yet he hasn't shown much in his two matches outside India, and he had trouble picking Jeetan Patel, so he might really struggle with Narine or Ajmal, but regardless he looks like a real talent.

Stumps, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 7-4

England clearly won the day. However they still have a lot of work to do to be in the lead in the match. India may be regretting going with only one seamer, as Zaheer probably looked the most dangerous of the Indian bowlers on day 2. Possibly that will change, however, by the time day 5 arrives.

First drinks, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 8-4

India have just let this game slide by. They need to start making the game happen, because waiting for Cook and Pietersen to make a mistake might take a while.

Lunch, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 8-5

India strike, but England are still looking good. They are only 30 runs away from having a lead, with only 4 wickets down. It's a cliche, but the next couple of hours will be vital.

Tea, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 9-6

A big partnership followed by an epic collapse. This is somewhat fimiliar. The only difference from the usual English performance in the subcontinent is the size of the partnership. England lead by 86, which might be enough to counter the disadvantage of having to bat last, but the game is really still in the balance.

Final drinks, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 10-6

When Sehwag was dismissed England were happy, but when Pujara was dismissed the whole team lifted. India are in some trouble now.

Lunch, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 13-6

A clinical performance by England. A complete reversal from the first match. The third test will be really interesting now. Was this just a follow-on hangover, just an aberation or a change in the momentum of the whole series?

Part of the beauty of sport is that we will get to find out in a few days, once test 3 arrives.

Mini-session Analysis 2nd test, Australia vs South Africa, Adelaide 2012/13

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the second test between Australia and South Africa at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-Session	Score	Winner
1-1a	Australia 44/2 off 12	South Africa
1-1b	Australia 58/1 off 13	Australia
1-2a	Australia 108/1 off 12.2	Australia
1-2b	Australia 70/0 off 13.4	Australia
1-3a	Australia 98/0 off 17	Australia
1-3b	Australia 104/1 off 18.5	Australia
2-1a	Australia 22/4 off 13.1	South Africa
2-1b	Australia 46/1 off 7.2	Australia
	South Africa 3/0 off 4
2-2a	South Africa 57/0 off 16	South Africa
2-2b	South Africa 57/0 off 15	South Africa
2-3a	South Africa 46/1 off 14	South Africa
2-3b	South Africa 54/1 off 18	South Africa
3-1a	South Africa 28/3 off 14	Australia
3-1b	South Africa 28/2 off 14	Australia
3-2a	South Africa 58/0 off 17	South Africa
3-2b	South Africa 7/3 off 12.3	Australia
3-3a	Australia 73/0 off 15	Australia
3-3b	Australia 38/5 off 17	South Africa
4-1a	Australia 43/0 off 12	Australia
4-1b	Australia 52/2 off 14	South Africa
4-2a	Australia 61/1 off 12	Australia
4-2b	South Africa 40/2 off 13	Australia
4-3a	South Africa 27/2 off 22	Australia
4-3b	South Africa 10/0 off 15	Australia
5-1a	South Africa 24/0 off 17	South Africa
5-1b	South Africa 25/0 off 18	South Africa
5-2a	South Africa 45/1 off 15	draw
5-2b	South Africa 41/0 off 17	South Africa
5-3a	South Africa 21/1 off 14	Australia
5-3b	South Africa 15/2 off 17	South Africa

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First drinks, Day 1: South Africa lead the mini-session count 1-0

Warner and Cowan started off with a hiss and a roar, but Kallis and Morkel made two quick break-throughs to take the first hour. Kallis has held his pace back a little bit, and managed to take the wicket of Cowan in his first over.

Lunch, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 1-1

A great first session. Lots of runs and lots of wickets. Often when 3 quick wickets fall the batting side go into their shells. Not Clarke and Warner. These two just came out swinging. Almost 4 an over after the fall of the 3rd wicket. Outstanding. However the biggest moment in this hour was when Kallis limped off. Losing him makes a big gap in the South African line-up. They will be sweating on his hamstring strain being just something minor.

Middle drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 2-1

Another hour of attack from Australia. There was some pressure on David Warner coming into this match. There is likely to be a little less pressure after that effort. It was a sensational innings. Clarke is looking solid again, he has just been sensational since taking over as captain.

Tea, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 3-1

This might be the start of another big Clarke - Hussey partnership. They have made it to a 50 partnership more than once every 4 times they have batted together, and to 100 roughly once in 7. While they haven't scored quite as quickly as Warner, but they are still going at a ridiculous 5 an over.

Final drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 4-1

Hussey and Clarke are relentless. South Africa went into this series with a bowling line-up that was rated as the best in the world, and possibly the best ever. But they are looking like they have been deflated at the moment.

Stumps, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 5-1

What a day of cricket. South Africa are in some serious trouble here. In all likelyhood they are going to be chasing leather for a while again tomorrow, then will be batting without Jacques Kallis in their top 6. The only glimmer of hope for South Africa is that they have a new ball, a new batsman to the crease, and the bowlers will be fresh(er) tomorrow morning. If they can clean up the tail quickly they can potentially get themselves back into the match very quickly as a swing in momentum could play big psychological tricks on the Australians.

Tea, Day 2: Australia lead the mini-session count 6-4

People are describing this as a good pitch. I'm not so sure. I like an even contest between bat and ball, and this pitch seems too even, with too little grass. There is some bounce, but that isn't likely to bother either of these sides. There is not much movement off the seam, not much spin and a lush outfield, so there's not likely to be any reverse swing. The first day, and first morning of the second day should provide more of a test for the batsmen than this pitch has.

Final drinks, Day 2: Australia lead the mini-session count 6-5

As a junior cricket coach I have seen some appaling runing between wickets. However I can honestly say that Petersen just produced the worst piece of running I've seen this season. The batsman should normally run down the other side of the wicket to the non-striker. The batsman should never assume the ball is going to be thrown to the keeper. Finally the batsman should slide his bat, rather than plonking it over the line. For a close run a dive is also a good idea. Petersen broke almost every rule of good running. Sometimes a run out is a sign of positive intent. This was not one of those run outs. It may also prove to be a vital moment. The Australians had started to drop their heads, and Petersen gave them back some energy.

Stumps, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 6-6

South Africa probably finish the day slightly in the lead, which, after the first day, is almost miraculous. It started with Morne Morkel, then Petersen and Smith and finally Rudolph. I still think that this pitch isn't very good in terms of getting a result, but it has produced an even contest.

Stumps, Day 3: Australia lead the mini-session count 10-8

Cricinfo proclaimed this as Australia's day. They won 4 mini-sessions, but I think that South Africa are actually slightly in the lead. The late wickets have put South Africa in a position where they may end up chasing 350 with a day and a half to do it, and Australia down one of their strike bowlers. Game on.

First drinks, Day 4: Australia lead the mini-session count 11-8

Michael Hussey has batted very well this morning. South Africa's bowlers, however (with the exception of Morkel) have looked toothless. Tahir in particular has looked awful. His strategy of bowling round the wikcet to Michael Clarke looks as sensible as open windows in a submarine.

Lunch, Day 4: Australia lead the mini-session count 11-9

South Africa struck back, but it's feels like too little too late. South Africa is going to need a fantastic effort to come back from this.

Middle drinks, Day 4: Australia lead the mini-session count 12-9

Australia are now in firm control of this match. They had the audacity to declare, as South Africa had taken too long to bowl them out. In the process Imran Tahir has claimed a record that has stood for over 50 years, the player who has conceded the most runs without taking a wicket. 430 will be a phenomenal chase, but South Africa are a team who has a history of unrealistic chases against Australia.

Tea, Day 4: Australia lead the mini-session count 13-9

South Africa are in significant trouble now.

Stumps, Day 4: Australia lead the mini-session count 15-9

The race is now on between Australia and the draw. The idea of South Africa winning is starting to fade. The thing that they do have in their favour is that they will get to use the roller in the morning, and the pitch will settle down for a while. The only issue is that it won't stay flat for ever. Unless de Villiers and du Plessis pull out something remarkable, South Africa are at distinct risk of finishing second in this match.

Stumps, Day 5: Australia win the mini-session count 16-13

Such a dramatic finish. It's the first time that a team has scored 2/15 off 17 overs, and been awarded the mini-session. Faf du Plessis has done very well to keep the wolves at bay, and carry South Africa to a historic draw. He was cramping up, and getting treatment regularly, but batted on bravely and now has a place in South African cricketing folk-lore. In amongst the action, Nathan Lyon managed to bowl a spell of 11 overs, 11 maidens, 1 wicket for 0 runs. That's a very impressive set of numbers, but perhaps giving away a few runs to get an extra wicket might have been a better idea.

Some records from Day 1 Australia vs South Africa in Adeliade 2012/13

Here are some stats/records/trivia that I've noticed from day one of the test between Australia and South Africa.  In no way is this exhaustive, as there has been a lot of things happen on this day.

It is the second highest score by a team on the first day of a test, narrowly behind Australia's 494 against South Africa in Sydney in 1910/11

Clarke became the first person to score 4 double centuries in a calendar year.

Three players hit centuries on the first day of a test. I know that there has never been 4 players hit centuries, and haven't been able to find any other incident of a third century being completed on the first day.

Other interesting trivia:

It was Clarke and Hussey's fourth double century partnership, and second in succession.

Two South African bowlers (Morkel and Tahir) also got (less desired) centuries.

Two South African bowlers (Kallis and Steyn) had to leave the field with an injury mid-over. This is the first incident I could find of this happening twice in a day.