Thursday, December 18, 2008

2nd Test | New Zealand vs West Indies Day 1 Live Streaming | Napier | Highlights

The name may not ring a bell for West Indian cricketers but their new strength and conditioning coach is one of the true legends of rugby league football in Australia. Steve Folkes, who joined the West Indies team at the start of their current New Zealand tour, played 510 matches for the Canterbury Bulldogs in Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) and was player and coach for more than 30 years.

"It's been going really well," Folkes said. "The sport is different from what I'm used to but the guys have been welcoming and we've managed to do some decent sessions. It's pretty good." He is the West Indies' third such recruit from the tough world of Australian rugby.

Denis Waight, who first took over during Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, himself became a legend after more than 20 years with West Indies when he was credited with the super fitness of the players who comprised the great teams under Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards. Now retired and back in Australia with his West Indian wife and family, he remains in contact with those players. He was last in the Caribbean for last year's World Cup.

Bryce Cavanagh joined West Indies four years ago but had less success. Seemingly frustrated by the response of the players to his methods, he quit midway through the tour of Pakistan in December 2006.

Folkes explained that, when his playing career ended, he went into strength and conditioning and then onto coaching.

"The sports are different and the needs are different so I just need to adjust," he said. "I will learn by watching and I've spoken to head coach John Dyson and sought his advice." He acknowledged that the culture of the West Indies is different to what he's used to.

"It's a bit of a challenge, but they say a change is as good as a holiday," he said. "I'm working my way into the role and I am working them out. It's trial and error and I am learning about what they can handle."

The players can expect some tough work under Folkes who is known in Australia as a strict disciplinarian with a no-nonsense approach. But he won't be applying the same system as in rugby.

"Cricket is obviously not a contact sport so the players don't need muscle bulk," he said. "But they still need to be strong in their shoulders. It is less endurance-based but it is tough for a fast bowler who has just bowled 15 to 20 overs in a day. They are on the field every day so it's hard to do too much with them."

Like so many Australians, Folkes' knowledge of and admiration for West Indies cricket was first sparked by the stars who played in Australia in his youth.

"I can remember going to the SCG and watching Sir Garry Sobers, Wes Hall, Rohan Kanhai, Roy Fredericks and other great West Indies players," he said. "Naturally I got autographs from them all, so I understand that West Indies have a very proud and successful heritage. I will do my part to have a positive environment, good team atmosphere and good team culture."

His manager, John Fordham, told the media in Australia that, while excited by the job, Folkes still harbours an eventual return to rugby league when a position becomes available in Australia or England.

"Steve wanted to keep himself active after the Bulldogs," Fordham said. "He didn't want to go into retirement. There was an opportunity with the West Indies team and it is a good learning experience. He is fortunate to have strength and conditioning qualifications as the basic skills apply anywhere."

The West Indies are also fortunate to have secured him, at least for the time being.

2nd Test | India vs England Day 1 Live Streaming | Mohali | Highlights

After ceding the limelight to Sachin Tendulkar on the final day in Chennai, Mahendra Singh Dhoni fronted up to the cameras and microphones in Mohali, perhaps aware that no Indian captain has won three Tests on the trot [excluding tours of Bangladesh] since Sourav Ganguly triumphed at Kolkata, Chennai [Australia] and Bulawayo seven years ago. His record as captain thus far is perfect - four from four - and Mohali was the scene of the most emphatic victory, a 320-run drubbing of Australia two months ago.

"Nothing is easy, I can assure you of that," said Dhoni with a smile when asked if this whole captaincy business was a lark. "International cricket is tough. Yes, if you do have a good side, if the side is doing everything right, it looks a bit easy. I think it's just that the team is playing really well."

There was certainly cause for alarm in Chennai, with England dominating the first three days of the match. "In the first three days, I don't think we won too many sessions," Dhoni said. "But the last two days, we were on the mark, we won the sessions that mattered. We raised our standards, we took the responsibility as a team, and that's what really matters. Viru [Sehwag] started it in the second innings and of course Sachin and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh] batted really well. But at the same time, the bowlers were also fine. When there were partnerships, they were willing to bowl and stick to the plans.

1st Test | Australia vs South Africa | Day 3 | Live Streaming | Perth | Highlights

The most severe scars do not heal quickly and Australia's dominance of South Africa's batsmen over the past decade gave Ricky Ponting hope leading into this series that the old wounds could be reopened. For much of the second day in Perth it looked like the damage was being mended but Mitchell Johnson's brutal late spell of 5 for 2 will add to the hurt.

His efforts meant South Africa crashed from a strong position at 3 for 234 to a severely weakened one of 8 for 243 at stumps. They trail by 132 with two wickets in hand and Johnson's 33 minutes of mayhem undid much of the good work done by Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, all of whom entered the match with significantly lower Test averages against Australia than their overall marks.

"It was frustrating," Kallis said. "At 230 for 3 we were in a commanding position but that's what happens when you play against the best side in the world. You've got to be on top of your game all the time. We've got some hard work ahead of us. We've been in positions like this before and come out of it.

"It was a world-class spell and these things do happen. Hopefully we can have a couple of those throughout the series as well. We certainly don't see the game as down and out. We'll come back from it."

Smith looked impressively determined until he played on to Johnson for 48, de Villiers was generally fluent in his 63 and Kallis fought off a form slump to post 63. The 47 from Hashim Amla, a man unencumbered by any past meetings with Australia at international level, was the most attractive innings of the lot. None of the men went on to hurt Australia badly but Kallis said there was no hangover of past struggles against the world's No. 1 team.

"We're a different side now, a lot of experience and a couple of young guys," Kallis said. "You lose games of cricket throughout your career and you move on. You certainly don't think about them all the time. We've moved on."

Still, the collapse was particularly annoying for a team that has chased Australia for so long. If they could pull of a 3-0 victory in Australia, South Africa would jump past their hosts to become the No. 1 Test team in the world. Johnson's heroics have not made that task impossible but they have left the visitors with an uphill battle.

On a day that finished on such a downer for South Africa it would be easy to overlook the fact that they could draw several positives from their efforts earlier in the day. Perhaps the most pleasing thing was the innings of Kallis, who made his second half-century since the tour of India in April.

He survived a close call early when he inside-edged a dangerous Jason Krejza offspinner that flew past the stumps. It was Kallis' fifth ball and after he saw off the threat of Krejza, who was pumped after turning one between Amla's bat and pad, he settled into the accumulation mode that has been so typically Kallis over the past decade but has deserted him this year.

"I've worked hard with Duncan Fletcher and our coach Mickey Arthur over the last couple of months and felt really good over the last month or two," Kallis said. "It's nice to start with a few runs up front on the tour, it makes life a little bit easier. But there's a lot of work left ahead, 60s don't win you games. All those batters know we've got to get some big hundreds."

The initial task is to bat for as long as possible on the third day and reduce Australia's lead. To do that they will need to forget about the destruction caused by Johnson, who has a rare chance to finish with nine wickets in a Test innings. Johnson is banking on the late collapse weighing on the minds of the South Africans even after a good night's sleep.

"Hopefully mentally that gets into their head a bit and they start thinking about it a bit more," Johnson said. "Obviously there's been a lot of talk up about their pace attack and how strong their batsmen are and hopefully we've taken them down a notch."