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Entering a second summer as Australia’s No. 1 spinner, Nathan Lyon hasrevealed his struggles to deal with the avalanche of bowling advicefired his way across the first 12 months of his time in the Test team.One of the side-effects of Lyon’s rapid rise from obscurity to thenational team was that many glimpsed his bowling for the first time inTest matches. A return of 42 wickets at 27.83 from 13 Tests suggestsLyon had a decent enough idea of how to bowl but everyone, it seemed,had an opinion on how he might do better.During the summer Lyon was incredulous to find himself being called bystrangers advising him of how to gain better results against India’sbatsmen. Then, amid a difficult Australia A tour of England on whichLyon’s bowling became “muddled” in the words of the national selectorJohn Inverarity, it is believed he was even offered technicalsuggestions by Mitchell Johnson.Having shown signs in the recent Sheffield Shield match againstTasmania of a return to the tantalising loop, curve and spin thatfirst won him a national spot, Lyon said he was now very careful aboutwho he listened to, keeping the counsel of a small group including theSouth Australia coach Darren Berry and the spin coaches Craig Howardand John Davison.”It’s been pretty difficult to be honest with you,” Lyon toldESPNcricinfo. “To come into the thing and no-one say anything at thestart, then come seven Tests you have people ringing you up and stuff.I’ve been fortunate to have Darren Berry and Craig Howard and JohnDavison on my side, and having that close unit together, really beingable to work with each other.”We’ve got that little group there where we all trust each other andare on the same page heading in the right direction. Everyone hastheir own opinion and stuff, but I’ve really tried to block that outand just worry about working with the people I really trust and knowwhere my game is at and where I need to get to. I just rely on DarrenBerry, Craig Howard and John Davison now really.”Inverarity was concerned by what he saw of Lyon in England, where hewas outdone by the Victorian left-arm spinner Jon Holland. However thenational selectors are determined to persist with Lyon, given thesignificant role he played a critical junctures of the past year, notleast in Sri Lanka, the West Indies and also South Africa, where hetook vital wickets in both innings of the epic Johannesburg Test.”We hold Nathan in very high regard, he’s a bowler with a lovelyaction, he gets drop and bounce and turn,” Inverarity said. “For sixmonths he got a bit muddled and he didn’t bowl well on the A tour, andhe didn’t bowl well in Brisbane [against Queensland]. But in Adelaidehe bowled much better.”On the first day of the Shield game against Tasmania he bowled 30overs, 0 for 90 in round figures. He got [Mark] Cosgrove dropped atmid-on, chest-high. He had [Alex] Doolan mistiming one to point anddropped, he had [Ricky] Ponting missed stumping. So he’s got 3 for 50let’s say, and he might’ve picked up another couple. You can’t do muchmore than deceive someone in flight and they hit it chest high tomid-on.”The ebb and flow of Lyon’s rhythm is something the Australianhierarchy is prepared to roll with for a time, aware that Test matchesaccount for exactly half of his 26 first-class appearances to date.Inverarity offered parallels with the young fast bowler JamesPattinson, who has shown himself to be a bowler of great destructivecapability at his peak, but one of rather more modest results whenrhythm and swing prove elusive.”You’ll often see with fast bowlers it can often be little technicalthings … with Nathan he had a lovely rhythm and good drop and bounceand turn,” Inverarity said. “For whatever reason he lost it, lost hisrhythm, and he got frustrated and then I think he was running in tobowl and he was thinking about where his front arm was and he wasfalling short. He’s practised now and is concentrating on where he’slanding it.”James Pattinson last December bowled superbly, and in Brisbane lastweek he bowled fast, he swung it, was accurate, he was terrific. Inthe West Indies and England he was not the same bowler, he was veryordinary. He lost pace and rhythm and was ordinary. So these thingshappen, particularly with young bowlers.”Irrespective of where his advice is coming from, Lyon knows he mustkeep improving so as to grow into a more senior member of Australia’sbowling attack. It will help that he has a battery of high class fastbowlers around him, plus a captain in Michael Clarke who has the rightsense of how best to use spin as an attacking weapon.”Personal results always help, but we’ve really got a solid bowlinggroup at the moment,” Lyon said. “We’ve got quality fast bowlers,probably the best in the world at the moment, and it’s really goodworking closely with Michael Clarke, he’s fantastic and just beingable to know my role has been a massive help over the last 12 months.”Being able to play in 13 Tests and being involved in 14 Tests wasunbelievable. I’m pretty grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had,but I really need to grab the ones that come my way this summer andreally try to move forward, keep trying to improve and keep trying towin games of cricket for Australia.”

Wellington ensured Pakistan had some competitive matchplay when taking a 168-run lead before declaring in their three-day match at the Basin Reserve today.By stumps, Pakistan faced a battle heading into the last day and one wicket down for 49 runs, still 119 runs behind and Wellington’s pace attack which rolled Pakistan for 175 on the first day still finding plenty in the pitch.Imran Farhat chanced his arm along with Saleem Elahi and both played shots that went just wide of fieldsmen when they could just as easily have been catches.It was a mixed day for the Wellington side. An outstanding second wicket partnership by Selwyn Blackmore and Grant Donaldson made light of the international attack they were facing.They put on 121 runs in a fine display of attacking batting with their competitive spirits being unleashed in the form of some free-hitting which saw Blackmore gracefully swing into the line of the ball to put three sixes over the leg-side boundary with timing as sweet as anything seen in the game.Donaldson, younger and brasher, pulled two sixes over the square leg boundary from the fast men Mohammad Akram and Fazl-e-Akbar.Their stand ended in the only way it seemed possible, by a run out. It was Donaldson who departed for 60 while Blackmore batted on until just after the lunch break when he gently touched a ball from Akram to wicket-keeper Humayun Farhat to depart for 74.That saw a much more cautious middle session of the day, dominated by debut player Rhys Morgan who, having survived a catching chance from the third ball he faced, applied himself and batted for 143 minutes and 89 balls to eventually be run out for 35, having seen three partners depart.Wellington scored only 63 runs for three wickets during the middle session but when Morgan and Chris Nevin came out after tea, it was all on. They added 30 runs in quick time before Morgan was run out.And then Nevin took over to register 50 off 63 balls, the milestone coming up with a six over midwicket from Arshad Khan. Another six, off leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed soared over long off.However, the reintroduction of Fazl-e-Akbar, who had toiled with only the leg before wicket dismissal of James Franklin earlier in the afternoon, produced the breakthrough.He had Nevin, on 67, trying to cut a ball that was too close to him and he chopped it onto his wickets. Andrew Penn came down the wicket to Mushtaq and sent the ball in the direction of Space Station Mir for a huge six.Then in the next over Mark Jefferson was caught at mid on to give Fazl his third wicket for 75 runs, at which point the declaration was made by Richard Jones with Wellington 343/8.Pakistan had to be pleased with the workout their bowlers got, especially late tour replacement Mohammad Akram who bowled 25 overs and took two for 103, and even moreso, Fazl-e-Akbar who had three for 75 from 24.3 overs.Fazl asked plenty of questions of umpire Evan Watkin during the afternoon and had his reward by the end of the innings.Mushtaq Ahmed bowled 32 overs but had only one success when having first day hero Matthew Walker out caught at mid off for 22 just when he was starting to climb into the bowling. With Hamilton’s WestpacTrust Park likely to favour seam bowlers, Mushtaq’s hopes of another Test on tour may have faded while the selectors face an interesting choice between Fazl and Akram for the third seamer’s spot.

He is the least-known and the smallest person among the West Indiessquad. But his job is the most time-consuming and the most state-ofthe-art.And Garfield Smith, affectionately called Shorty by those who know himand even those who don’t, loves it to the fullest.A little more than a year ago Smith had never even put foot outsideJamaica and he was no more than a basic computer user.In the last 14 months, however, he has travelled throughout theCaribbean and visited England and Australia with the West Indies team.He has developed his technological skills to the extent that he is thesquad’s analyst for the current Cable & Wireless series.It represents a major progression from the days when he was just ascorer for his secondary school.One just has to watch the 23-year-old with the computer and televisionmonitor for a few minutes to see the commitment he has.It is very challenging. You have to be concentrating as all scorersdo, but it takes extra concentration, he said of his job.But while doing it, you need to have some fun. If you don’t have fundoing it, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes.There are times when it gets difficult, but there are times when it’sfun and you enjoy it.So what exactly is his task?For every single ball that is bowled in a day, he records the videoand outlines on the computer exactly what happens where the ballpitched, what it did, what type of shot the batsman played, if it wasplayed off the front foot or back foot, if it came off the middle ofthe bat or the edge or whatever else might be relevant.When the action in the middle is over, he puts data on compact discsfor coach Roger Harper, who analyses the information and uses it forwhatever purpose he might see fit.When Smith first started working with the West Indies team, his rolewas scorer/statistician, but now there is no need for pens, paper andscorebooks.In the middle of the tour of Australia that ran from last November toFebruary, Smith went on a training course to familiarise himself withthe Pro Systems Stats Master programme.Pro Systems is an Australian-based company which specialises indeveloping statistical programmes for most sports.Before I started using this, I was just a basic computer user, Smithsaid.In Australia after the second Test match, while the team went toCanberra for a One-Day match against the Prime Minister’s XI,(assistant coach) Jeff Dujon and I went to Melbourne for training inthis programme.It took us about a day to learn. We took it to Adelaide for the thirdTest match and that’s where we first tried it out.There is a slightly amusing story about how Smith first got involvedin scoring.It all started a day at school when he was part of an Under-16 teamopposing the Under-19s in a practice match.I was batting down the order and the coach asked who would volunteerto start scoring and I volunteered, he said.When my turn came to bat, I did not make a lot of runs and I went backinto the pavilion and finished what I started.There are no records to suggest that he was a world-beater, but Smithsaid a knee injury, which has bothered him for some time, preventedhim from making his school’s Under-16 team that year.He, therefore, became the school’s regular scorer and during a final,media personnel were so impressed with his work that it landed him anopportunity at the famous Kingston Cricket Club.Radio stations also went after his services in commentary boxes and hehas often been one of the official scorers for Jamaica Test matchessince 1995.Having not gone outside of Jamaica until last year, the Harbour View,Kingston resident cherishes the experiences he has gained sinceworking with the West Indies team.That’s what I’ve always wanted as a young kid meeting people, makingnew friends. That is part of my nature, he said.

Richard Illingworth returned his best championship figures since 1997 on another day dominated by the bowlers at Derby.The 37-year-old slow left arm spinner took four wickets on his Derbyshire debut to send Middlesex sliding from 64-1 to 95-5 before David Nash and MikeRoseberry dug in to steer their team to 146-5 at the close, 52 behind.Illingworth struck with his sixth delivery when he defeated Ben Hutton’s forward push and although Owais Shah drove him for two fours in an over, he came back to have the England A batsman caught behind for 24.Andrew Strauss played patiently for 38 until he gloved a pull at Graeme Welch and was ct down the leg side and in the next over, Stephen Fleming played back and was lbw.Illingworth won another lbw appeal when Paul Weekes tried to turn the ball to leg, but Nash and Roseberry maintained their concentration through two stoppagesto deny Derbyshire further success.Another former England spinner, Phil Tufnell, also had a four wicket haul as Middlesex prevented Derbyshire taking a single batting point.Illingworth was one of his victims as he went back and across and the innings ended when Tim Munton was caught at short leg off bat and pad.Dominic Cork failed to get among the wickets but sent down nine overs in two spells since a back injury forced him out of England’s tour of Pakistan althoughhe was twice warned for running on the wicket by umpire Mike Harris.

The top hierarchy of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are being made the whipping boys for Lord’s disgrace when the team management should also be taken to task for adopting wrong strategies.The best available players, though some are aging ones, composed one of the most formidable Pakistan sides ever to tour England, at least on paper.The most experienced players were put to the test at Lord’s while all the junior cricketers were kept on the sidelines. If the pre-Test preparations were poor and if the team selection for the game absurd, fingers should be pointed at the tour selection committee.The PCB, nevertheless, has to shoulder the blame and responsibility for naming Waqar Younis as captain, endorsing an unbalanced team and appointing English-born South Africa-based Richard Pybus who has been exposed in just three weeks. Pybus, by virtue of being the coach, is part of the tour selection committee which also comprises captain Waqar Younis and the vice-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.Questions should have been asked from the trio why they fielded first against Kent in the last warmup game before the Test. To rub salt on the wounds, they declared their maiden outing at Canterbury after the dismissal of Saeed Anwar at 201. Even Salim Elahi, who scored a pair while facing just nine balls at Lord’s, was denied a century when he was just seven short.Now they are blaming lack of match practice for which the think tank of the team is chiefly responsible. Just to recap, Pakistan’s batting lasted just 116 overs in the match and scored 203 and 179 in the two innings.Waqar, lucky to be touring England on merit as a bowler who has not taken five wickets in an innings since 1997-98 season, continues to defy the experts of the game and maintains his decision to field in five bowlers as correct.Will someone ask Waqar if Australia would dare think of dropping Shane Warne or Sri Lanka consider the possibility of leaving out Muttiah Muralitharan on the same surface on which Saqlain Mushtaq, considered as the most successful finger spinner, was left out.