favorite Trent bolt

                                                favorite cricket player Trent bolt 

born July 22, 1989, is one of the finest pace bowlers New Zealand have produced for some time. While his physique is far from that of a typical pacer, he generates good speed and is a tremendous athlete on the field. On his 26th birthday, Shiamak Unwalla looks at 10 interesting things to know about the Kiwi fast bowler.

1.  Dissimilar brothers: Trent is the younger brother of Jono Boult, who also plays for the domestic side Northern Districts. Jono is older by around three years and, unlike the pace-bowling Trent, is a spinning all-rounder. Co-incidentally, while Trent bats right-handed and bowls with his left hand, Jono bowls right-arm and bats left-handed.

2.  The golden batch: Boult was a part of the golden batch of young cricketers who played the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. This was a particularly impressive batch, with future international cricketers like Phillip Hughes, Josh Hazlewood, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Dinesh Chandimal, Darren Bravo, Wayne Parnell, Steven Finn, Chris Woakes, and Rubel Hossain all playing the tournament.

Along with Boult, New Zealand’s batch of cricketers included Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, and Hamish Rutherford. Boult and Southee first formed their lethal opening partnership in this tournament; it was a sign of things to come. Boult excelled in the match against Malaysia, where he took 7 for 20 to destroy the hosts.

3.  A lethal partnership and praise from a legend: Though they are no Dennis Lille and Jeff Thomson, the pair of Boult and Southee are currently one of the most successful new-ball partners in world cricket. Both bowlers are unlike each other enough to be effective on virtually any surface. While Southee relies more on reverse swing and bounce, Boult is the more consistent of the two, and relies on conventional swing. Perhaps the biggest praise they received was from the great Sir Richard Hadlee, who went so far as to call them the “best ever new-ball combination” in New Zealand’s history.

4.  A memorable debut: Boult made his Test debut against Australia at Hobart in 2011. Doug Bracewell was the star for New Zealand with three for 20 and six for 40 in the match, but Boult had a good debut as well, taking three for 29 (including the wickets of Mike Hussey, James Pattinson, and Mitchell Starc) and one for 51 (Usman Khawaja) while also scoring 21 vital runs in the second innings as New Zealand beat Australia in a Test for the first time since 1993.

5.  Not a bunny: While Boult may not be exceptionally talented with the bat, he is certainly not a walking wicket (unlike his more ‘illustrious’ predecessor at No. 11, Chris Martin!). He added 127 with BJ Watling for the final wicket against Bangladesh at Chittagong in 2013, scoring his maiden, and till date only, Test half-century in what was ultimately a draw. He enjoys a batting average of 15.77 — extremely respectable for a No. 11 — thanks to 21 not outs in 43 innings.

6.  Supreme catcher: Despite coming from a country that has traditionally produced outstanding fielders, and despite sharing the dressing room with phenomenal fielders like Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, Boult is perhaps one of the best catchers in New Zealand along with Kane Williamson. The duo one-ups each other on a regular basis; if one hangs on to a blinder, the other finds a way to take a stunning catch as well.

With the likes of McCullum, Guptill, Williamson, and Boult in the outfield, it is a wonder opposition batsmen even try to play the ball in the air!

7.  Famous idols: Being a left-arm pacer, it stands to reason that Boult’s favourite cricketer of all time is Wasim Akram. Boult also sees Dale Steyn as one of his idols.

8.  World Cup hero: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 saw some outstanding performances, especially that of Man of the Series Mitchell Starc. However, it should be kept in mind that Starc was not the sole leading wicket-taker of the tournament; Boult ended with as many wickets as Starc (22) but at a higher bowling average of 16.86 against Starc’s 10.18.

Arguably Boult’s most memorable ODI performance came during the iconic league match against Australia at Auckland, Boult took five for 27 to rout Australia for a paltry 151. The Australian bowlers then fought back brilliantly after McCullum’s 24-ball 50, and reduced the Kiwis to 146 for nine. Boult had to survive two nerve-wracking deliveries from a fire-breathing Starc, which he successfully managed to do, and Williamson’s six won New Zealand the game by one wicket.

9.  Late but productive entry: Curiously overlooked in previous auctions, Boult was a big enough name by Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 to fetch a commendable bid in the player auctions. Boult was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for a whopping $600,000. In 2017 edition, he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders.

10.  A place among heroes: Among all New Zealand bowlers with at least 100 Test wickets, Boult ranks fourth on the all-time list in terms of both average and strike rate. While Hadlee is comfortably ahead on both, Boult’s average of 28.75 puts him below Bruce Taylor (26.60) while his strike rate (58.1) is better than that of Taylor’s (57) but behind his teammate Neil Wagner (54.1). However, Boult can statistically be considered New Zealand’s best bowler in nearly a decade.

                                                 here is a pitcher 

slithmalinga

                                                             slithmalinga 


Lasith Malinga, born on August 28, 1983, is one of the most dangerous bowlers in cricket today. The Sri Lankan slinger has terrorised batsmen with his yorkers, coming from that peculiar action that took the world by storm. 

is a once in a lifetime bowler. With an action that is difficult to emulate, Malinga has carved a niche for himself and become one of the most dangerous limited overs bowlers in international cricket. The man who has a penchant for yorkers comes from a humble background from a small village to make it to the biggest stage in cricket. Today, he is perhaps the most sought after bowler in T20 cricket with the advent of numerous leagues around the globe. Here are 10 little known facts about Malinga.

1. Malinga started playing cricket at the age of 11 in his village of Rathgama, near Galle. Playing soft-ball cricket on the beach, he claims that his weird action is natural. It was only during his late teens that he started bowling with the cricket ball.

2. Malinga made his First-Class debut for Galle Cricket Club in 2001 at the age of 17. In his first match, he picked up a total of eight wickets. That game featured his future teammates Jehan Mubarak and Prasanna Jayawardene.

3. It is said that Malinga was taken to the Sri Lankan nets to bowl in 2001, but was stopped from bowling for fear of causing injuries. The Guardian reported Aravinda de Silva as saying, “Around about the time we were getting ready for the 2003 World Cup I heard there was this young pace-bowler new in Colombo and how no one really wanted to bat against him, certainly none of the seniors. So I had to have a go.”

4. Champaka Ramanayke and Rumesh Ratnayke have been Malinga’s mentors through his young days. In an interview with Cricinfo, Malinga said that Ramanayake tried to change his action, but was unsuccessful. Hence, they had to settle for the slinging action!

5. Malinga has dismissed Bradman! No, it isn’t Sir Donald Bradman of course. However, a Sri Lankan First-Class cricketer called Prince Bradman Ediriweera. He dismissed him in a List A game in 2003 and then got him again in a First-Class encounter in 2004.

6. On the tour to New Zealand in 2005, Malinga was so devastating that the home side had a problems sighting the ball. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain had asked the umpires to remove their ties as they would often lose the ball as it came an awkward angle. The umpires were also asked to tie a white jersey around their waist so that the batsmen sight it better. Though Steve Bucknor complied with this, Darrel Hair refused. “We found it extremely tough when he bowled a certain line and length to pick him up. We’ve asked for the uniforms to be changed. The umpires are there to help, not hinder. I know it’s tradition that they wear that colour, but this circumstance is pretty unique,” Fleming was quoted by the media.

7. During the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, Malinga made a mark on the world stage and became a known figure in cricket. He had then honed that hairstyle that has become his identity, the long curls streaked with colour. It was during that World Cup that he was named as the sexiest man in cricket by a Barbados-based magazine named Easy. Malinga won accolades for his cricket during that World Cup, but this one may have been the least expected one.

8. Malinga has dismissed seven batsmen, six times in international cricket. That list includes big names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Shahid Afridi, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Shane Watson. However, he has been most successful against Bangladesh batsmen Shahriar Nafees and Javed Omar. Nafees fell to Malinga six times in 11 matches, whereas Omar was dismissed six times in seven matches.

9. Malinga was a part of the highest ninth-wicket partnership in One-Day Internationals (ODIs). Along with Angelo Mathews, he put up 132 against Australia at Melbourne in 2010 to help Sri Lanka win from a hopeless situation.Chasing 240 to win, Sri Lanka were 107 for eight when the pair got together. Malinga scored 56 and was dismissed with a run required for victory.

10. Malinga is the only bowler with three hat-tricks in ODIs, two of those hat-tricks have come in World Cup games, also a world record. In 2007, he took four wickets in four balls against South Africa, becoming the only bowler to do so. In 2011, he picked up a hat-trick against Kenya in a World Cup game in Colombo. His third hat-trick came against Australia later that year.

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