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With some flaws laid bare, competition organizers insist that a new format for 2025 could revive the Leagues Cup

Thomas Mayo’s closest flirtation with glory, as an athlete at least, came in 2002. He was a 1,500-meter runner for team Great Britain in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The final started well, Mayo positioned well in the race. But he faded late, and settled for eighth place – the highest position he would reach in a major competition.

But back then, that didn’t really matter. It was about the knock on effect.

“The week after, every gym, every running track, every swimming pool was packed with people that wanted to play, participate, umpire, help, support, volunteer,” he recalled.

He may not have won that race, but the impact was worth it. Great Britain would go on to host the 2012 Olympics – using the 2002 Commonwealth Games as proof of concept. Mayo was well off the pace when it counted, but still felt integral in a larger movement.

That was his first exposure to being a part of something big. And now, 20-plus years on, he is in a similar position. Mayo isn’t running. Instead, he will be working rooms, sitting on panels, or crunching numbers behind his desk. Still, his impact might just be similarly broad.

The former team GB runner has been tasked with helping fix the oft-maligned Leagues Cup – the yearly tournament that pits MLS and Liga MX. Last year, the competition underwhelmed. This iteration, he claims, will bring more jeopardy, deeper storylines and must-watch soccer. And he, along with others, insist that this splintered competition can be fixed – and become pivotal in the world soccer calendar.

“The decisions that you make today, in the back of your mind, all the time you think… ‘Will this still be relevant in 10 years and is this going to make it a great tournament?’ So that's the sort of thinking that you put in,” he said.

Getty Images Sport'It's a different construct'

Sound far-fetched? Of course. Remember, Leagues Cup was at a crossroads at the end of the competition last year. Although the Columbus Crew were good value for their championship win – and Wilfried Nancy’s tears at full time showed how meaningful lifting the trophy can be – the tournament lacked bite.

There were empty stadiums, second-string XIs, and a lack of digestible narratives. Intended to be a forum to foster the rivalry between the United States and Mexico, the competition had run cold.

“When you put Liga MX versus MLS, it's a different construct, a different game,” Mayo said. “The players like it, the fans like it. And that's what this tournament's about. It's trying to put the two leagues together.”

MLS responded with a wholesale review. They crunched the numbers, brought executives together, and decided what worked and what didn’t. Their ultimate solution was rather simple: this competition was meant to pit Liga MX teams against MLS counterparts – and it wasn’t doing so frequently enough.

Organizers decided there should be very few – if any – intra-league games. In fact, the whole of the first round of the competition this year – in effect, the group phase – will only feature Liga MX teams against MLS. Do the math, and 93 percent of the matches are guaranteed to test one league against the other. Once the quarterfinals hit, all bets are off, anyone can play anyone.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'This year’s format is an interesting one'

Former participants praised the revamped schedule.

“If you're an American player and you're a Mexican player, it's huge. The US-Mexico rivalry in every aspect of football is really big,” two-time MLS All Star Dax McCarty told GOAL. “It stems from years of the Mexican National Team playing against the US Men's National Team. It stems from CONCACAF and wanting to have supremacy in CONCACAF."

Those slated to participate this year also see the logic.

“This year’s format is an interesting one,” NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese told GOAL. “Obviously, the big priority, a big ambition, is to get Liga MX versus MLS games, rather than Liga MX teams playing against each other in Harrison, New Jersey. I don't think that necessarily was the original goal of the tournament. And so I think that the format change is dedicated to that.”

There are further changes, too. Only the 18 MLS clubs that qualified for last year’s playoffs will participate in the Leagues Cup. Meanwhile, all 18 Liga MX sides will play. This time around, there are no draws. Matches tied at full-time go straight to penalty kicks.

A win in normal time awards a club three points. A win on penalties gets you two. Liga MX teams have also been designated to special “pods” – or hubs where all of their fixtures will take place. That initiative is meant to counter a common gripe made by Liga MX surrounding the traveling issues they have encountered in previous iterations of the competition.

Getty Images Sport'It's very much like a startup'

There are more significant implications on the line, too. The top three clubs all qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The winner will book their spot in the 2029 Club World Cup, which technically does not exist yet.

These may be the same two leagues participating, but it is, in effect, an entirely different tournament. Mayo wasn’t involved in any of the decision making. He didn’t conduct a wholesale review. He didn’t sit in meetings with clubs and stakeholders. He wasn’t there when the whole thing was thrown together.

Instead, he is here to promote it. Mayo insists that an outside perspective – especially from someone still involved in sports – was only a good thing.

“I'm not from soccer, but I am from sports and building brands and companies. So it's very much like a startup, a three-year-old startup, in a way, and that was my background,” he said.

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IMAGN'One of the craziest games I'd ever been involved in'

He wants to think long term. And that’s where his impact might be most keenly felt. Leagues Cup is still being tweaked. And after this transitional year, there will be even loftier ambitions for the future. Mayo insists that the competition could be a must-watch event for the whole of the footballing world within a decade.

“I think that the litmus test will be in 10 years' time – you'll know in your head when it's on, what's happening, who's won it before – you've got all the stats,” Mayo said.

Building that, though, won’t be easy. Sure, the format can be adjusted, but there’s more that goes into piecing together a tournament than the right framework.

What so often makes soccer is the storylines and jeopardy surrounding it. That's why the World Cup yields a fan favorite every four years, or why fans tune into games in which they have no stake. McCarty insists that the Leagues Cup can offer that. For him, it already has. The 2023 quarterfinal between his Nashville FC and Club America was perhaps the most encapsulating game in the competition’s history. Nashville trailed 2-1 until the 99th minute, when Sam Surridge headed home to equalize.

The game eventually went to penalties. America thought they had won it when Luis Malagon denied Jack Maher’s spot-kick. Their fans flooded the pitch. McCarty thought he was going home. But VAR determined that Malagon stepped off his line before the kick was taken. Maher buried the re-take, and Nashville went on to win the shootout, 6-5.

“That was one of the craziest games I'd ever been involved in in my whole career, it was amazing,” he said.

The pitch was affording of assistance to the spinners, but Harbhajan Singh still had to pitch them at the right areas to fox the batsmen, and that he did superbly

On the Ball with S Rajesh28-Mar-2006The pitch was affording of assistance to the spinners, but Harbhajan Singh still had to pitch them at the right areas to fox the batsmen, and that he did superbly in a ten-over spell which turned the game around and gave India a dramatic win at Delhi. Six of his last ten ODIs against England had failed to fetch him a wicket, but here he was unstoppable: his 5 for 31 was his second consecutive five-for against England at home. In six games against them in India, Harbhajan’s stats read an impressive 15 wickets at 15.47.The key here was the line he maintained – 55 out of 60 deliveries he bowled pitched on or just outside off, a perfect line considering the turn the wicket was offering him. The line meant he had the batsmen in trouble both with the conventional offspinner and the doosra.It also gave India the opportunity to win after scoring just 203, the lowest score that they have successfully defended against England, beating their Lord’s total in 2004 by a whisker – on that occasion they won after scoring 204.England, on the other hand, continue to struggle while chasing what should be achievable targets in the subcontinent. In their last three run-chases – all of which have been unsuccessful, England have scored 188, 197, and 164, and on two of those occasions, the targets were 211 and 204, scores that should have been achieved.The only saving grace for them was the bowling performance by Ian Blackwell, who bowled with excellent control to return figures of 1 for 24 in 10 overs. Only two spinners have returned more economical figures in a spell of nine or more overs against India in India – Tauseef Ahmed, the Pakistan offspinner, took 2 for 18 from 10 at Pune in 1987, while Mohammad Rafique, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, had figures of 2 for 21 from 10 at Mumbai in 1998.

Statistical highlights, South Africa v Australia, 2nd ODI, Cape Town

Kanishkaa Balachandran04-Mar-2006Australia’s capitulation for 93 is not something we normally associate with the best side in the world. In fact, only three times have they been dismissed for a lower total, as the table below shows. This is also the first time they have collapsed for a score below 100 in over 19 years.

Australia’s five lowest totals in ODIs

Total Overs faced Against At

70 25.2 England Edgbaston, 1977 70 26.3 New Zealand Adelaide, 1985-86 91 35.4 West Indies Perth, 1986-87 93 34.3 South Africa Cape Town, 2005-06 101 33.5 England Melbourne, 1978-79Australia’s previous lowest total against South Africa was 125 at Melbourne in 1997-98. Australia’s whopping defeat by 196 runs also escapes their worst defeat in ODIs when batting second, but it is their most comprehensive overseas.

Australia’s five worst defeats in ODIs

Margin (runs) Against At Season

206 New Zealand Adelaide 1985-86 196 South Africa Cape Town 2005-06 164 West Indies Perth 1986-87 133 West Indies Port-of-Spain 1994-95 128 West Indies Melbourne 1981-82Makhaya Ntini achieved his best bowling figures in ODIs (6 for 22) and claimed the South African record in the process, beating Allan Donald’s 6 for 23 against Kenya at Nairobi in 1996-97. This was also the first time a South African bowler had taken six wickets in an ODI against Australia – the previous best was Nicky Boje’s 5 for 21 in 2001-02, also at Cape Town.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene average 72.10 per partnership in Tests, which is the highest among all pairs who have batted together at least 50 times

S Rajesh13-Jul-2007

Bangladesh’s bowlers had no answers as Kumar Sangakkara, in the company of Mahela Jayawardene, turned it on again © AFP
A series that has brought little joy for Bangladesh got even worse on the third day at Kandy, as Sri Lanka mercilessly hammered them into the ground, amassing a monumental 500 for 4 by close of play. The protagonists were, yet again, two batsmen who have made it a habit of getting together and making life miserable for opposition bowlers. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene celebrated their 50th stand together with a mammoth third-wicket partnership of 311, which is, quite amazingly, less than half their highest stand – an unforgettable 624 against South Africa at the SSC Stadium in Colombo last year. The 311 they added is also the second-highest partnership at Kandy, after the 335 that Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya added against Pakistan in 2000.Among all the pairs who have played at least 50 times together, Sangakkara and Jayawardene have now become the most prolific in terms of averages, edging past the Australian pair of Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting (which means that the Australia-Sri Lanka series later this year will be a battle of, among other things, the two best batting pairs in the game). As the table below shows, the gulf between these two pairs and the rest is huge – Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten, third in the list, average ten runs fewer per dismissal.

Most prolific batting pairs in Tests (at least 50 innings)

Pair Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s

Sangakkara-Jayawardene 50 3389 72.10 8/ 12 Hayden-Ponting 69 4591 71.73 16/ 21 Kirsten-Kallis 64 3592 61.93 9/ 17 Tendulkar-Ganguly 61 3478 59.96 10/ 12 Lawry-Simpson 64 3600 59.01 9/ 18 Inzamam-Yousuf 55 2982 58.47 10/ 13 Hutton-Washbrook 53 2900 58.00 8/ 13 Dravid-Laxman 54 2748 57.25 10/ 6 Dravid-Ganguly 54 2779 55.58 9/ 10 Lara-Sarwan 58 3198 55.13 12/ 8 Sangakkara and Jayawardene have been especially unstoppable when playing at home – they average 88.60 per partnership, with five century stands. Overseas they haven’t quite turned it on in similar fashion, though the numbers are still very impressive – 1174 runs at an average of 53.36.Thanks largely to the two, Sri Lanka piled on 470 runs today, which is the second-highest scored in a day in all Tests in Sri Lanka, and the 15th overall. (Click here for the entire list, before today’s play.)Bangladesh could have been forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjà vu: five years back against Sri Lanka they had leaked 509 runs in a single day, though their misery was slightly mitigated by the fact that they managed nine wickets. They’ve now been involved in three instances where more than 450 have been scored in a single day – the third occasion was at Chester-le-Street against England in 2005, when 475 were scored on the second day. Instead of being hapless onlookers in the field, Bangladesh had contributed with the bat on that occasion – they scored 297 of those runs.

Where and how it all began

Steven Lynch17-Sep-2007The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket. This week, after a happy event in the Lynch family (surely it must be a good omen when a legspinner has a son who shares a birthday with Shane Warne?), it’s all about births.

Syd Gregory was born where the Sydney Cricket Ground currently stands © The Cricketer International
Which Test player was born on the Sydney Cricket Ground? asked Vishal Nehra from Trivandrum
The youngster born to cricket was Syd Gregory, who played 58 Tests for Australia between 1890 and 1912, 52 of them against England, a record (he made eight Test tours of England, and was captain on the last one, in 1912). Gregory was born on the site of the current Sydney Cricket Ground, where his father Ned Gregory lived as he was the SCG’s curator (groundsman) at the time.Who was the first son of a Test player to play a Test? asked Andy Lawrence from Nottingham
The answer to that one is the same as the first question: it’s Syd Gregory again. His father Ned played for Australia in the inaugural Test at Melbourne in March 1877. For a full list of related Test players, click here.Have any Test players been born at Lord’s? asked Vicky Johnson from London
As far as I’m aware no Test players have actually been born at Lord’s. The nearest miss was probably by John Carr, who was very close to selection for England, particularly during 1994 when he averaged 90.76 for Middlesex and topped the national averages. He was born in a house backing on the ground. It was owned by MCC and occupied by the former Derbyshire batsman and one-time England captain Donald Carr, who was MCC’s assistant secretary at the time. He later became secretary of the TCCB, the forerunner of the ECB, in which John Carr now holds a high-ranking position.

Alf Gover could only celebrate his birthday every four years as he was born on February 29 © Cricinfo Ltd
Were any Test players born on February 29? asked Gordon Donaldson from Beckenham
Two Test players were born on Leap Year Day, and thus sentenced to having a proper birthday only once every four years. The more famous of them is the Surrey and England fast bowler Alf Gover, who was born in Epsom (in a house overlooking the cricket ground) on February 29, 1908. Gover, who was England’s oldest Test cricketer when he died in 2001 at 93, won four Test caps, but is probably better remembered as the proprietor of a famous indoor cricket school in south London. The other Test player born on February 29 is Gavin Stevens, a batsman from South Australia who won four caps on tour in India and Pakistan in 1959-60. But perhaps the most famous cricket event to have taken place on Leap Year Day was Kenya’s upset victory over West Indies in Pune in the 1995-96 World Cup.Who was the first Test player to be born? asked Rahul Dhinshaw from Delhi
The versatile bowler James Southerton is the answer: he was born on November 16, 1827, in Sussex, one of three counties he represented during a long career (he played for them, Surrey and Hampshire in first-class matches in 1867 alone, a feat not repeated until this year, when Kyle Hogg played for three different counties in the Championship (as mentioned in last week’s column). Southerton played, aged 49, in the first Test of all, at Melbourne in March 1877. He also holds a more unwanted record: he was also the first Test cricketer to die, in 1880.Who has fathered the most international cricketers? asked Patrick Leonard from Wokingham
My first thought was that it would be Sheikh Ismail, the father of the prodigious Mohammad clan: four brothers – Hanif, Wazir, Mushtaq and Sadiq – played for Pakistan, and that is indeed the Test record. Reggie Ranatunga, a former Sri Lankan government minister, has three Test-playing sons – Arjuna, Sri Lanka’sformer long-serving captain; Dammika, who was briefly the chief executive of the Sri Lankan board; and Sanjeewa, while a fourth brother, Nishantha, played for Sri Lanka in ODIs. But you asked about “international” cricketers, which widens the field beyond just Tests and ODIs, and I think the winner then comes from Ireland. James Joyce has three sons who have played for the Irish national team: Ed, who has also played for England; Dominick, who made his ODI debut in the same match as Ed, but for the opposite side (in this match at Belfast); and Gus, whoplayed one first-class match for Ireland in 2000, before they gained full ODI status. But the Joyces also have twin daughters – Cecelia and Isobel – who have both played for Ireland’s ladies’ team. Of course, there might just be someone whose 11 sons all played for Vanuatu, but we haven’t got his name yet …

How Dhoni changed his game to become the world’s top ODI batsman again

Sidharth Monga05-Sep-2008

Not pretty, effective: Dhoni watches one from Mendis closely © Getty Images
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a rock star among cricketers. Everything about him is cool – his hair, his adverts, his bikes, his Bollywood friends, and his general demeanour on the field. His cricket has a raspy, rough edge to it; when he riffs with the bat, it is fascinating to watch.Shortly after a sensational start to his career, the world’s bowlers sorted Dhoniout. At one point he looked no more than an extremely powerful man who had two orthree strokes. Seamers on helpful pitches and good spinners seemed toexercise a fair amount of control over him. No longer was lusty hitting possible.But the thing about Dhoni is that he manages to find a way. He may fail once, but no matter what the predicament, he goes back, does his homework and somehow finds away. After a superb series against Sri Lanka, during which he tackledAjantha Mendis creditably, Dhoni has returned to the top of the ICC’srankings for one-day batsmen. It would not be an overstatement to say that since the end of the World Cup last year he has been the best ODI batsman in the world.Long before Mendis, there was Muttiah Muralitharan. Long before the Asia Cup, there was the World Cup. Dhoni’s dismissal in the World Cup match against Sri Lanka wasthe enduring image of India’s debacle in the tournament. He went back to cut Murali, his bat coming down from the fifth floor, and the ball skiddedthrough to hit his pad before the bat had come down to thelevel of the stumps. It was one of the most comprehensive lbws ever; Dhoni evenwalked for it. It seemed time – and there seemed evidence enough – to dismiss Dhoni as a bully on true tracks and against predictable bowling.That was then, though. Now that huge, unwieldy back-lift has been cut out almost completely, courtesy an almost Rafael Nadal-like resolve to eliminate a mistake from one’s game. So much has Dhoni changed that the image of that dismissal is now a comfortably distant memory.Weeks after the World Cup, India found themselves in another mess,against Bangladesh in Mirpur. They had lost five wickets for 144, and needed another 107 in 19 overs. It was a match India simply couldn’t afford to lose: they were supposed to extract revenge after the World Cup, not embarrass themselves again.That game, perhaps, was when Dhoni traded exuberance for efficiency for good. He was running out of body fluids and partners fast, but he remained the last man standing. A dasher and a finisher he had been until then; now he took the first steps towards becoming an accumulator and a pressure-absorber, while still finishing matches. India didn’t lose on the tour after that jailbreak. Rahul Dravid, Dhoni’s captain in the match, observed: “He does not play in just one fashion. He has got the ability to change gears, to change the tempo of the game, play according to the situation, and that’s a fantastic gift to have at such a young age.” Dravid had seen what the world had yet to.Aided by bad light, Dhoni went on to save the Lord’s Test, another turningpoint for India in their rehabilitation after the World Cup. Towards the end ofthat trip to England, the captaincy of the one-day side fell to him, and soon hecreated for himself a circumstance that would demand he take his batting toanother level altogether. Slowly he got rid of the older players, thereby placing more responsibility on himself than there already was. Grandly he invested in youth, though seldom was his faith repaid: while the youngsters brought a much-needed freshness to the fielding unit, only one of them, Gautam Gambhir, batted consistently. This is a batsman whohas completely rediscovered his game, in the public eye, in the face of the addedpressure that his captaincy moves have surely brought It was Dhoni who absorbed the pressure and took it upon himself to lead India’s batting. Much of his success as a captain flows from his being a leader by example. When the team fails, he is the first one to take the blame, the first to go back to the drawing board.When Mendis bamboozled the batsmen in the Asia Cup final, Dhoni wasthe only one to provide any sort of resistance, trying desperately to readthe bowler from the hand, in the air, off the pitch, hanging in somehow,delaying the inevitable for as long as possible. The next time he facedMendis, he was up against a different monster altogether, one who had begun theend of the most feared middle order in modern Test cricket.It took Dhoni a match and the best part of another to successfully tackle Mendis. In the second game he soaked up the pressure that the fall of early wickets in a low chase brought. In the third he gave Mendis a bit of stick, punishing any error in length, scoring 29 off the 28 balls he faced from him. And in the fourth he accumulated like a true workman, running hard despite cramps, showing just why it is his team-mates respect him so. The way he pushed Suresh Raina while the two ran between wickets sent a strong message. Dhoni had promoted himself ahead of two men who were playing as batsmen alone, and was key to the wins that resulted in India’s first series victory in Sri Lanka. He may not have the immense natural talent of Virender Sehwag, or the quick footwork of Gambhir, but he managed to do better than the rest of the Test line-up.Since the World Cup he has scored more runs than any other batsman in the world, at an average of more than 50, but it’s the manner in which his runs have come that tells a story. His strike-rate in his 69 matches up to and including the World Cup was 98.51; since then, he has scored at 84.51 per 100 balls. In 51 matches in this period he has doubled his centuries and half-centuries tally to four and 24 respectively. The 1987 runs he made before the World Cup featured 161 fours and 63 sixes, and 51.43% of his runs came in boundaries. After the World Cup he has hit 137 fours and 27 sixes in 1805 runs – a boundary percentage of 39.31.In the last year and a half Dhoni has performed well in almost every situation the middle order has thrown up. He has accumulated on difficult pitches in Guwahati, Brisbane, and more recently in Colombo. He has soaked up the pressure of tricky run-chases in Mirpur, Adelaide and Dambulla. And every now and then, when the need has arisen, he has brought out the big hits, like in Chandigarh, against Australia, and variously in Karachi during the Asia Cup.

Not only has Dhoni raised his game, he has been an inspiration to the likes of Raina, who have fed off him © Getty Images
Less tangibly, but more importantly, he has inspired the batsmen around him: Raina has fed off him, Yuvraj Singh has enjoyed competing with him, and Gambhir has revelled in the faith shown by Dhoni, which has had its part to play in his transformation as a successful Test opener. Versatile and consistent, Dhoni is on his way to becoming a complete ODI batsman, both in setting up scores and chasing down totals.The transformation could not have come easy, though. This is a batsman whohas completely rediscovered his game, in the public eye, notwithstanding the addedpressure that his captaincy moves have surely brought.The abbreviated back-liftis believed to be the single most effective technical change he has made.It has been asimple change, but one that no doubt required a thorough knowledge of his game tobring about.The way Dhoni tackled Mendis, especially, was exemplary. Forstarters, he didn’t mind looking ungainly at times. He didn’t commit and lookedto play as late as possible, taking his front pad adjacent to the line ofthe ball, eliminating the lbw.With his heavy, bottom-handed grip, whenhe nudged the balls round, it seemed he was actually putting the ball intothe gaps more with his hands than with the bat. He has always had thebull-like strength to fall back upon, whether it is the occasional big hitor the running between the wickets.When he came back into the side from the self-imposed break during the Test series, it was without any promise of a magical transformation, just renewedcommitment. “Do you have any special plans for Mendis?” he was asked a daybefore he left for Sri Lanka. “You’ll see once the time comes,” he said. Andso we did.

They may not have a Test win in New Zealand since 1976 but India are focused on winning the series instead of worrying about past performances

Sidharth Monga in Hamilton17-Mar-2009
Sachin Tendulkar hasn’t won a Test in New Zealand © Associated Press
The ODI series win will have changed a few notions inside the Indian camp. Some of the players who hadn’t been here before, including the captain, will be wondering what the fuss about New Zealand was about. Twenty-seven days into this tour, the previous tour already sounds like fiction.Others who have been here before have only the freakish conditions in 2002-03 as explanation for not having won a Test. Sachin Tendulkar, for example, has played eight Tests in New Zealand and hasn’t been on the winning side even once. He will know, given the team’s form and the conditions this time around, that this series represents his best chance – and most likely his last. So too for Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.Then there’s the middle group, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, whose only experience of Tests in New Zealand are those losses in 2002-03. But all three are strong characters, capable of putting past failures well behind them. Sehwag has made a living out of forgetting the previous ball he has faced.However, history is against India. The facts are startling: India last won a series here more than forty years ago and even their last Test victory here came back in 1976.A lot will depend on how successfully India ignore history. Of late, this team has made a mockery of history and reputation. They were supposed to be the worst of the big teams at the World Twenty20, they were supposed to lose easily in the ODIs in Australia, they were not supposed to win a Test there.Ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni if past record matters to this team and he says: “We hadn’t won a one-day series [in New Zealand] either.” This time they cruised through the series, just missing out on a clean sweep.”I am not bothered about whether we have won here or not,” Dhoni said. “I am just bothered about the things we need to do over here as a team. We are not thinking about what happened in the past. I am not great when it comes to stats, so that really helps.”Fast forward to the present, and what India need to do here as a team. They have almost everything sorted out going into the first Test. They couldn’t have asked for a better team, with 10 players picking themselves. All they would have hoped for is a third pace bowler who they can repose their faith in. Munaf Patel is not that bowler as of now. L Balaji, on his comeback, is too untested to be that man.Dhoni made clear that Munaf’s poor outings in the ODIs would not be held against him. “You know he is a much better bowler than what he did in the one-dayers,” Dhoni said. In two ODIs Munaf bowled 9.3 overs for 93 runs for no wickets. “Often he bowled as one-change seamer, and wickets were quite placid. We had big scores, and most of the times New Zealand got off to a good start, which meant basically the batsmen targeted the third seamer. It’s always tough to judge on the basis of one-day especially.”We will see who the best bowler is and who is bowling better right now, and accordingly we will pick the third seamer.” Munaf, though, has bowled fewer overs than Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and L Balaji in the nets over the last couple of days.India will fix that quandary on Wednesday morning. Another historical blip they need to fix is the first-Test blues while touring. Even on their two most recent tours, first Test losses to Australia and Sri Lanka set the tone for series defeats. India cannot afford a slow start here. If they suffer one here, that coupled with their past record in New Zealand, could weigh heavily on the rest of the series.That said, India have the right mix, the conditions are good and this is not the toughest New Zealand side they have faced. They have players to whom history means nothing, players who have suffered and have lessons to share, and they have players who are very good at putting the past behind them. From tomorrow, they will look to set right what they believe is an aberration.

In a five-part preview series, Cricinfo profiles the Super League teams

Cricinfo staff31-Oct-2008
You can trust the in-form Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina to put up the big scores for Uttar Pradesh © Cricinfo Ltd.
Uttar PradeshThe enigma boys are at it again. Champions one season, just about avoiding the relegation the next, and almost winning the Ranji Trophy in the next. It took a superlative rearguard from Delhi to deny Uttar Pradesh the title last year, but it will take a few more consistent seasons for UP to genuinely make a transition from being backwaters to powerhouses.Their contribution to the national teams – RP Singh, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and RP Singh – is an endorsement to the cricketing revolution in the state, and despite the state. Their captain, Mohammad Kaif, too, has been a close outsider to the Indian team. Like Delhi, they have a coach who has just retired as a player – Gyanendra Pandey.They would want to start off with a big win in their first game, against Andhra in Meerut, because after that their star players will be available to them sporadically, as this season clashes with big international matches – the England one-dayers start from November 14.As the case has been for the last three years, no one knows what to expect from them. In those widely varied results, the personnel had not changed drastically.What they did last season
Their last season was not dissimilar to their championship season. In 2005-06, they had four points from four matches, and were sitting pretty at the bottom of the table. Last season, they had eight from four, and again they were at the bottom of the table. Like in 2005-06, three big wins followed, and they were through to the semi-finals.In the semi-final, they got a green top in Vadodara, which worked to their favour. Sudeep Tyagi, their new pace sensation, and Praveen Kumar, their seasoned pro, combined well to shot Saurashtra out for 127 and 113. Kaif helped them to marginally more than that.They had a superb start to their final, too, at the Wankhede. After having scored 342, they had Delhi down to 36 for 4. Delhi recovered, but UP still managed a 52-run lead, only to squander it through some irresponsible batting in the second innings. A Gautam Gambhir special followed in a chase of 230 runs to stop the dramatic turnaround at its last step.Kaif was their leading run-getter with 687 at 57.25, followed by Raina with 683. They were Nos 4 and 5 on the overall run-getters’ list. But it was Tyagi who made the main difference, with 41 wickets at 21.63, in his debut season. Praveen, who was available for only six matches, made his contribution with 36 wickets at 16 apiece.Men to watch
As usual there are lots to watch out for, depending on their availability and form. Tyagi is one of the lesser known ones: after a promising debut season, when it came to taking himself to the next level – the zonal games, or the IPL money and fame, he got injured. He played a match against Australia A, which might suggest he is fit again, but it will be interesting to see if he finds the form that form that made him such a success last year.RP Singh, who has now become a frequent flier with the Indian team, might not be available for long. Raina would want to make Test claims, Chawla would want his place in the ODI side back, and Praveen would look to cement his place in the ODI side.PunjabPunjab clearly are yet to recover from the ICL exodus that saw 12 players defect to the unofficial league as they just about managed to avoid the relegation to Plate with an outright victory in their final league encounter. And to think they were the runners-up only three years back. Inthikab Alam was the coach then but subsequently, though, Punjab have had two more coaches. Arun Kumar, former Punjab wicket-keeper, will be the third coach in as many years and he replaces Gurcharan Singh who failed to provide any sort of impetus to a weakened team.Kumar’s familiarity with the players was the main reason behind his appointment, which probably might help in the team bonding. That and the presence of Yuvraj Singh, who is part of the squad for the first two games at least, should help Punjab start on a positive note in a tough season where they play a solitary home game.What they did last season
Despite having home advantage in five games Punjab won just one game in a must-win situation against Orissa. Uday Kaul’s two fighting centuries in the initial half of the season had gained first-innings points against Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Against UP, VRV Singh played a pivotal role with a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, which denied the visitors the lead. But even if the batsmen managed decent, if not huge, totals Punjab’s bowling failed to show any consistency. VRV only played four games and peaked in two of them; Manpreet Gony was more of harmless trundler and Gagandeep Singh toiled hard but sometimes without much luck. The bowling clicked against Orissa, reducing them to 50 for 4, but the batsmen failed miserably to hand over the advantage. However, VRV snatched it right back with a superb five-wicket haul to set up an easy target to chase.As for the performers Uday Kaul was the only batsman to cross the 500-mark (503). VRV Singh, in and out due to his injury concerns, managed to still bag the maximum wickets, 15, with Gagandeep and Manpreet sharing the second spot with 13.Men to watch
With VRV still recuperating from his ankle injury and not expected to play at least in the first half Gagandeep and Gony will be the strike bowlers. Not to forget Siddarth Kaul, who even if green, has a good enough pace to trouble the bat. He showed that during the Under-19 World Cup final against South Africa. India needed two wickets, their opponent needed 16 runs off the last over and Kaul cleaned them up without much trouble.AndhraA sixth place last year despite the loss of Venugopal Rao and Syed Sahabuddinshowed Andhra are no pushovers. They have gone in for more new blood this season: four new players and a new coach in MV Narasimha Rao have been recruited. And Rao is confident that his young bunch can do more damage this season.”We have many guys from Under-22 division, our fast bowling looks good with P Vijaykumar, Kalyankrishna, Israel Raju and Sharat Babu. Our batting too is in good hands with Hemal Watekar and the two young talent in AG Pradeep, and B Sumanth.” They have a tough start against Uttar Pradesh but as Rao says, and as the recent history shows, Andhra could give a good fight to any team on their day. The spin department is a worry, though, as Andhra have lost the services of Shankara Rao, the left-arm orthodox who picked 20 wickets last year, this season due to a accident. They will look to M Suresh, the legspinning allrounder to do the job.What they did last season
Watekar, the opener, hit two hundreds to get Andhra off to a comfortable draw against Punjab and his opening partner Prasad Reddy reprised that effort to earn another draw against Uttar Pradesh. They won their next game against Orissa but suffered heartbreak against Hyderabad in a low-scoring thriller . They went on to draw against Baroda and beat Bengal but that loss against Hyderabad proved crucial in the final-four ranking.Men to watch
Watch out for the openers, Watekar and Reddy, who amassed 909 runs between themselves last season. Kalyankrishna and Vijaykumar, who grabbed 20 and 21 wickets respectively, will lead the bowling attack.

So the home side lost, but the fans at Centurion weren’t complaining – too much

Guy Snelling23-Sep-2009Choice of game
South Africa were playing and the opening match of any tournament is always worth watching. If I were a gambling man, my money would have been on South Africa, and indeed I still had hope for them until Jacques Kallis lost his wicket.Team supported
I’m a Protea supporter and I still believe that we can win this tournament. The team will learn from the mistakes made today and will work to move forward.Key performer
Tillakaratne Dilshan. He outplayed the South African opening bowlers, Wayne Parnell in particular, and his 106 off 92 balls was well deserved.One thing I would have changed about the match
I would have had South Africa play a few warm-up matches before the tournament. They hadn’t played for a few months and the practice could only have helped.Wow moment
Dale Steyn’s wicket of Dilshan, caught by Albie Morkel when Steyn was re-introduced at the Hennops River End was a turning point, as were Parnell’s consecutive wickets of Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera.Player watch
We were sitting in the stadium in the area of long leg to a left-hand batsman and the players near us were the fast bowlers of both sides. Due to the “moat” at Centurion, it is impossible to get autographs, but the partisan crowd applauded both Steyn and Johan Botha. Lasith Malinga managed to avoid any heckling until his “wide” bouncer to Botha. After that the crowd set up a chant against him.Shot of the day
Kallis’ high four on 15, immediately followed by Graeme Smith’s low flying rocket to the boundary on 17 really got the crowd going and were probably the best shots of the South African innings.Crowd meter
It was a weekday match and the stadium started off only about half full, but it filled up slowly as spectators got off from work. By that time, though, Sri Lanka were well up on their score, so the crowd was very subdued. There was the occasional Mexican wave and isolated pockets of cheering and singing that kept the buzz going and most people had a good time. It was a partisan crowd but there were a number of Sri Lankan flags flying nevertheless, and all the spectators applauded the good Sri Lankan shots and fielding.I saw a few people in green-and-yellow body paint and a couple of topless guys running round in skirts.There was a group of four- or five-year-old girls smartly dressed in pink and white, dancing and waving their South Africa flags and 4/6 cards whenever they got the opportunity, much to the delight of the nearby spectators.Entertainment
There are going to be a number of competitions running during this tournament during the innings breaks. We were entertained with the Reebok “Hit the Stumps” competition, where lucky spectators can win cash prizes of up to R 100,000 for hitting the stumps from the boundary. There was also a Dress Like a Champion” competition, where the winner got to take home a Honda motorcycle.Unlike the cheerleaders of the Twenty20 competitions, we had African dancing and drums for each wicket and six. A nice idea, but I thought it was somehow out of place in the environment of a cricket stadium.ODI v Twenty20
I think that South Africa has been spoilt by the amount of Twenty20 that we’ve been exposed to this year. This was my first live ODI in a long time and it did seem to drag at some stages. It obviously lacks the speed of Twenty20, but the match did get exciting, and I look forward to the rest of the tournament.Dale Steyn provided some relief•Getty ImagesEnhanced viewing
I didn’t take too much with me in the way of food, but I did have field glasses to view the action and the crowd, and also my cellphone, with which I logged on to Cricinfo to get clarification on scores and plays.Marks out of 10
On a scale of 1 to 10, where the South Africa v Australia 438 match was a 12, I would rate this one 7. There was some excellent cricket played by both sides, but the domination by Sri Lanka put a dampener on the local crowd.Outplay of the day
It seemed to me Sri Lanka beat South Africa by their bowlers’ ability to bowl to their field. Sri Lanka were able to easily score boundaries during their opening Powerplay, but when it was their turn to bowl, they stacked the field on one side and the bowlers bowled to that side. Consequently South Africa found it hard to find the gaps, and even when they did, the sweeper was perfectly positioned to prevent a boundary.

Garry Sobers, Wes Hall, Viv Richards and Richie Richardson discuss the plight of West Indies cricket, Stanford’s legacy, hosting the World Twenty20, and more

Interview by George Dobell15-Dec-2009SpinIs Chris Gayle the best man to lead West Indies if he said he didn’t care for Test cricket?•Getty ImagesAfter all the years of success West Indies cricket enjoyed, is it hard to see the side so low in the rankings and being beaten by Bangladesh?
Viv Richards That is tough []. Let us forget the rubbish about the depleted team: when you put a team out, that is your country’s team. Don’t give me no excuses. Bangladesh must be given credit, and I am not quite sure that the first-choice guys would have been able to do any better.Wes Hall I’m not sure that was the West Indies side that was beaten by Bangladesh. You might remember that the best 35 players weren’t available.Garry Sobers I don’t agree. They were the best side available. They were the West Indies. In 30 years, when you look in the record books, it won’t say, “Oh, the best 35 players weren’t available.” Besides, why are you so sure that the first-choice team wouldn’t have been beaten by Bangladesh? I’m not.Richie Richardson It is hard, but my tears dried up long before we lost to Bangladesh. When I was playing, I was getting frustrated because I saw the way we were heading. The players at the time were very concerned but we weren’t listened to. It’s still sad, but sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can bounce back, and I am hoping we have hit rock bottom.How do you view the players’ strike?
Hall The latest players’ strike, you mean? They are always on strike. Look, I was president of the WICB and experienced a couple of their strikes. Sometimes the reasons would make you sick. Some of these guys are striking for money before they have scored a run or taken a wicket! Of course there are times when the players have legitimate concerns, but the solution is to be found by communicating. Making demands and going on strike is not the way. I don’t think they understand the pain they cause to all those people around the world who care about West Indies’ cricket.
Sobers I wonder why they play the game now. What’s their motive? We never thought about money when I played – and we never made any – but now it seems that’s all it’s about. Look, I’m delighted that players are making money from cricket. But what is their priority? It should be the honour of representing West Indies. But I ask you, is it? It’s difficult for us to talk about it. Whatever we say, we’ll be told we’re bitter or jealous because they’re making more money than we ever did.Richardson The whole thing is very sad for me. We all want our best players to be out there for us, playing hard and giving everything for their country. I don’t know all the ins and outs. I think the West Indies Cricket Board is responsible for cricket in the Caribbean and responsible for dealing with whatever problems we have. The players also have a responsibility but based on the little I’ve heard, the players have had enough. They believe they have been maltreated by the board for a very long time, that they have been let down and that the board will only listen to them if they take the actions they did. We had a lot of problems with the board during my time as a player, but nobody knew and we were winning, and many times we would put our differences aside and go and play.[…] I don’t know who they [the WICB] answer to, I would love to know. Is it the government? I believe that West Indies cricket belongs to the people. I would love the governments, if they have the authority, to take control of the board, disassemble the board and put five or six very serious and successful businessmen in control. I have nothing personal against the individuals on the board; it’s the system that has to be changed.

“I know that some are pretending they never trusted Stanford, but I couldn’t do that. I did and I still do”Garry Sobers

Should Chris Gayle be captain?
Richards Maybe some of the things he said are rather unfortunate, but there are folks that do take things out of context sometimes and maybe Chris Gayle is one of those hard guys to understand at times []. Let’s hope that what he said about Test cricket was taken out of context because he would have learnt his cricket playing first-class and Test cricket before he got into one-day and Twenty20 cricket.Sobers I’m sorry, I’m not such a diplomat. I read in the papers that he didn’t want to be captain. And he said he didn’t care much for Test cricket. Are those the qualities of a leader?Richardson I don’t have any problem with Chris Gayle as captain. I get the impression that the players respect him and want him to be captain, and that is the key. He’s very laidback, but I think he is the best man for the job.A year ago we were all in Antigua watching the Stanford Super Series. None of us could have known what was about to happen to Allen Stanford or his empire. What will Stanford’s legacy be?
Sobers I don’t know what his legacy as a man will be, but his legacy for West Indies cricket is very positive. He was the first man to put the money into West Indies cricket that it needs. The Stanford Super Series was a good event and it captured the imagination of the people. I know that some are pretending they never trusted him, but I couldn’t do that. I did and I still do. I’ve seen pictures of him in chains, which they don’t seem to do to other people accused of crimes, and I hope that he is cleared. People were always looking for ulterior motives with him. I didn’t see any. I believe he would have been very good for West Indies cricket. It’s very sad.Hall I don’t recognise the description of the man I hear people talking about. I trusted him and believed in him and I still do. He’s a good man. We’re not experts on high finance, so we can’t comment on what may have happened in that respect. But his aim was to get hundreds of people in the Caribbean playing professional cricket. Training every day. Living right and thinking about cricket. He had started to do that and we were beginning to see the results. He chose the right people to do the job and he paid for it. I still believe his passion for cricket – and for West Indies cricket – was genuine and it’s a terrible shame things have worked out this way. We were called all sorts of names for being involved. We did it because we believed in him and what he was trying to achieve.Richards It’s disappointing to see him in the position he’s in. I’m not going to be judge and jury. You’re innocent until you’re proven guilty. But what I do know is that what he did for us in Antigua and what he tried to get done in the cricketing world was a great period for us.Wes Hall: “I played for 10 summers and winters in succession. Ten. I’m not sure modern players are as fit as we were. What you put in your mouth is very important”•Getty ImagesRichardson I was very excited about the Stanford 20/20 because I believed you had already started to see positive results – young kids had started to play cricket again. Families were coming out to watch cricket and the whole world was focused on Antigua. I was a member of the [Stanford] board and we had one island playing fully professionally. Since that time, the Antiguan team cannot lose a match.There’s some talk of Trinidad going it alone as a Test nation. What do you think?
Richardson It would not be good for the region. But Trinidad has shown if we work collectively and organise properly, we can be successful. We need to use Trinidad as an example.Sobers It’s rubbish. It will never happen. I know they say we, in Barbados, already did it because we played a couple of matches against a Rest of the World team to celebrate independence. But it was just a one-off. Can you imagine England travelling all the way just to play Trinidad?Richards I don’t think they should. It would be totally ludicrous and selfish. They did represent West Indies cricket in the Champions League and [reaching the final] was a remarkable effort. What they showed with those performances was that with the right environment West Indies cricket is still relatively healthy.Hall The idea has no merit whatsoever. It won’t happen. Some have said they could play in a second division of Test cricket, but I don’t think that’s a good idea, either.It’s becoming much harder for West Indies – and other non-English – players to participate in county or even league cricket in the UK. What are your thoughts?
GS The English have very short memories. County cricket was only being watched by one man with a white stick and his dog when they asked us to play. I didn’t do it for my benefit; I did it because they needed help. And they’ll need help again. I remember Enoch Powell’s speech in 1968. Some people have wanted to get rid of us for years.Richardson Everybody is responsible for their own development. England is trying to do what they think is best for English cricket and there is nothing wrong with that. What we need to do in the Caribbean is start looking at our cricket. We need to make sure we have a good enough structure that is going to propel our cricket way into the future. We shouldn’t be dependent on English cricket.Hall People used to moan that we learned from playing in English conditions and against their players. And it’s true, we did. After one season playing league cricket in England, I had bowled more there than I had in the West Indies. But surely they could learn just as much from us? Surely if you play with and against the best players, you learn? Besides, people should ask those watching what they want, too.Modern players seem to be injured more frequently than you were. They say that because today’s cricket is more “intense”. What do you think?
Sobers [] There were some quite good players around when we played, you know. There were Test players in the leagues in those days. When I played in domestic cricket in Australia, some of the teams had nine or 10 Test players in their sides. We played without helmets, on uncovered wickets, and we played all the time. I was never injured. I know some modern players dismiss what we did as they say the game has changed. But it hasn’t.Hall I played for 10 summers and winters in succession. Ten. I’m not sure modern players are as fit as we were. What you put in your mouth is very important. And even now I swim in the sea six times a week. You have to push yourself, but sometimes poverty encourages success and wealth prevents it. Maybe wealth has come a little easy for some.Sobers Some of these people retiring from Test cricket wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for the IPL. I don’t blame them; they have to look after themselves and their families. But the money in the game now from Twenty20 is in danger of damaging Test cricket.Richardson It’s hard to say. There’s a lot more cricket. But I’m probably not the best person to make that judgement because I was always a workaholic and never shied from playing and if wasn’t playing I was training. But your mind is powerful thing and if you start thinking, “I’m playing too much” then you can get an injury. A lot of it has to do with the mind.Is there still the raw talent for cricket in the Caribbean?
Hall We do have the talent. Look at the results of our teams at Under-13, U-15 or U-17 level. They’re as good as anyone’s. The problem comes between the ages of 19 and 23, when they might go astray. It’s more about hard work and discipline.Richards Yes, it’s rubbish when people say it’s not there or people are going to basketball. We’ve still got a lot of talent, but people get disillusioned. Say you were a young player aspiring to play for the West Indies and you were reading all this stuff. You start to wonder: is this the right kind of environment?Sobers I’ve said for years that we have the talent, but I don’t know what’s happened with it. I don’t know any more. There is still talent, but where does it go? When I was young, I used to travel around the island watching as many of the great players as I could. I used to operate the scoreboard and just watch how the players moved their feet. I saw cricket as my way to see the world and do something with my life.

“I would love the governments, if they have the authority, to take control of the board, disassemble the board and put five or six very serious and successful businessmen in control”Richie Richardson

Richardson I have always believed that. I think we will always have that. I believe cricket is embedded in our genes and will always be there. But that has been taken for granted – that we will produce these players and they will go out and beat everyone. The game has moved on and other countries have analysed the game and done what it takes. We have regressed.Hall One of the good things about Stanford was that he asked us to talk to the current players. There’s a man like Sir Garry – the greatest cricketer who ever lived – available to help and not enough players seek his opinions or listen to his views. They say, “Oh, it was different in your day’. [].Sobers If a players phones me and asks for help, that’s good. I can’t just go and give them my opinion if they haven’t asked.The 2007 Caribbean World Cup was not a great success anywhere but Barbados. Will the 2010 World Twenty 20 be better?
Hall Yes. Lessons have been learned. The WICB deserve some credit for that. Ticket prices will be lower to encourage locals and there won’t be the restrictions on bringing in food or musical instruments.Richards We’ll have to be better. We gave a lot of opportunities to individuals from the ICC to come and tell us how we run a Caribbean party. I hope that’s not the case next time.Richardson I hope so. The 2007 World Cup was a disaster. We were promised a lot of things. We were given the impression that this was the greatest thing on earth that was going to happen to the region, that it was an opportunity to make money and develop our infrastructure, and that then we would be sailing. But for that to happen you have to do this and do that and suddenly the World Cup became not a Caribbean show. There was nothing West Indian about it; everything was taken away. That was sad.The Caribbean fans became disenfranchised and even the fans from overseas, who had come for a great West Indian time – they didn’t see that. It was like it was held in another country. It kept the fans away. A lot of the governments spent lots of money and we have some massive structures that are hardly used. It was like money down the drain. Hopefully the authorities will have learned their lessons and next year’s World Cup will be different.