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A disciplined bowling effort from India’s seamers led England to scale back their usual aggressive intent

Matt Roller10-Jul-20251:21

Manjrekar in praise of Root’s batting

Shubman Gill declared the return of “boring Test cricket” but England did not care. They scored uncharacteristically slowly – at just 3.02 runs per over – and ground their way into the ascendancy on their slowest-scoring full day of the Bazball era, as Joe Root reached the close a run short of his 37th Test century and his eighth at Lord’s.”Baz-Baz-Bazball! Come on, I want to see it,” Mohammed Siraj was heard telling Root over the stump microphones, as England put their attacking shots away during a wicketless second session. “No more entertaining cricket, lads,” Gill told his team-mates, after Ollie Pope left the ball alone outside his off stump. “Welcome back to the boring Test cricket.”Boring suited England just fine. The crowd at Lord’s was probably anticipating a very different day when they cheered Ben Stokes’ decision to bat after winning his third consecutive toss, but a sluggish surface and a disciplined bowling effort from India’s seamers – including the returning Jasprit Bumrah – led England to scale back their usual aggressive intent.Related

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• Bumrah and Root show their class on bizarre Bazwalling day

• England sweat on Ben Stokes as spectre of injury looms

• Pant suffers blow to finger, Jurel called up as substitute keeper

But India will be heartened by the fact that after a long day in the field, they have kept England in check. The bowling heroes of their 336-run win at Edgbaston, Siraj and Akash Deep, both went wicketless, but timely scalps for Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and two in an over from Nitish Kumar Reddy ensured that England never got away from them.Root walked in straight after Reddy’s first over, which accounted for both England openers and saw Gill drop a tough chance off Pope in the gully, and quickly got his head down. He put on 109 with Pope for the third wicket, then an unbroken 79 with Stokes for the fifth – though Stokes’ apparent groin issue could become a major worry.India had their own injury problem to worry about: Rishabh Pant tried to grimace through the pain after being struck on the index finger as he tried to gather a rare loose ball from Bumrah, but instead spent the last 49 overs off the field. But Dhruv Jurel proved an able deputy, taking a fine catch to dismiss Pope as Jadeja found his outside edge with the first ball after tea.0:57

What explains England’s ‘Blockball’ approach?

Brendon McCullum ordered a pitch with “plenty of life in it” after England’s heavy defeat at Edgbaston but his plea either arrived too late or fell on deaf ears. It was clear within an over that this was a slow surface, with Ben Duckett edging through to Pant on the half-volley; Bumrah, who replaced Prasidh Krishna, immediately called for the slip cordon to stand closer.Duckett was repeatedly struck on the body in the first hour as Bumrah nipped the new ball off the seam, while Crawley was frenetic. He changed his guard several times and threw his hands at the ball; while he nailed three cover drives, he slashed another over the slips and regularly played and missed at both Akash Deep and Siraj.But it was Reddy, wicketless in Birmingham, who made the breakthroughs. He struck first with perhaps the worst ball of the morning, a long-hop on Duckett’s hip which he under-edged to Pant on the pull, but then dismissed Crawley with one of the best, a wicked outswinger which angled in then shaped away late to take the outside edge.Pope was reprieved by Gill in between those two dismissals and batted as though determined to live up to his tag – coined by Steve James in the – as “the worst starter since prawn cocktail”. But he made it through to lunch unscathed, and dug in alongside Root after the interval; early in the second session, they went 28 consecutive balls without scoring.1:15

Manjrekar: India introduced spin very late

Root, the senior pro, recognised that the best way to play Bumrah was from the non-striker’s end: he faced only two balls of his five-over spell after lunch, pinching singles to give Pope the strike back. They added 70 in a sleepy second session, as India’s seamers hung the ball wide outside off stump and waited for a mistake which didn’t come.It finally arrived straight after tea, as Pope flashed hard at Jadeja and edged through to Jurel. He stood disconsolate, bent over his bat handle in disbelief that he had thrown his wicket away. India had another soon after, as the battle between the ICC’s No. 1-ranked Test batter and bowler ended swiftly: Bumrah nipped one back off the seam to peg Harry Brook’s off stump back.Stokes was underway early with consecutive cuts for four, but looked uncomfortable against spin once more and survived an lbw shout from Reddy via DRS thanks only to the on-field umpire’s call. He was in obvious discomfort after a leave against Reddy, but batted on getting treatment from England’s physio during another long delay.Root, meanwhile, cruised along as he does, only once putting his foot down with a rasping slog-sweep off Jadeja. He was a boundary away from his hundred in the final over of the day but could only manage a two and then a single. History bodes well: the previous 16 men to sleep on 99 in Test cricket have all reached three figures the following morning.

“I look forward to the challenge and respect the need for results”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2022Mark Boucher has been appointed as the new Mumbai Indians coach, his stint beginning from the 2023 edition of the IPL. The announcement came a day after ESPNcricinfo had reported that Boucher, the head coach of the South Africa men’s national team till the end of their campaign at the upcoming T20 World Cup, was the frontrunner for the position. The vacancy opened up after Mahela Jayawardene was elevated to a more global role within the Mumbai Indians group, which now has teams at the IPL, the SA20 league and the UAE’s ILT20.”Their history and achievements as a franchise clearly put them up there as one of the most successful sporting franchises in all of world sport,” Boucher said of Mumbai Indians in a franchise statement. “I look forward to the challenge and respect the need for results. It’s a strong unit with great leadership and players. I look forward to adding value to this dynamic unit.”Related

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Boucher announced earlier this week, immediately after South Africa lost the Test series in England 2-1, that he would be stepping down from the position after the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.While he might not have extensive experience as a coach on the T20 franchise circuit, Boucher had a run as wicketkeeping coach at Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2016 IPL. Prior to that, he had also played for Knight Riders as well as Royal Challengers Bangalore. Soon after, he moved to take charge as head coach at Titans on the South African domestic circuit before moving to the lead role at the South Africa men’s national team.”The way he [Boucher] has transformed South African white-ball cricket in the last two years, he’s been brilliant, and he is also someone that we felt thinks differently and will contribute in a very positive way to Mumbai Indians,” Jayawardene said in a video released by Mumbai Indians on Twitter. “Especially when we have a group of players with the skillsets that we have, then we have a young group coming through as well. So that transition is something that we need to manage, and we feel that Mark is going to be the best man for that.”Akash Ambani, Mumbai’s owner, said he believed Boucher would add “immense value” to the five-time champions with “proven expertise” as a coach both on and off the field.

Back-to-back centurion describes change in attitude under McCullum and Stokes as “massive”

Matt Roller24-Jun-2022Jonny Bairstow says England are trying to play in a style that is “different to the norm” and has described Test cricket as “a simple game that we complicate” after hitting a 95-ball hundred to rescue England from 55 for 6 at Headingley.Bairstow walked out to bat with England 17 for 3 in the seventh over after a stunning new-ball burst from Trent Boult and had only faced one ball when Joe Root edged Tim Southee behind to leave them 21 for 4. That brought in Ben Stokes, with whom Bairstow had added 179 in 20.1 overs during England’s remarkable run chase in Nottingham in the second Test.”‘Fancy doing another Trent Bridge?’ was the first thing that we said,” Bairstow told Sky Sports. “That was it: ‘OK, let’s crack on’. Sometimes it’s a simple game that we complicate. That’s all we’re trying to do: strip that complicated nature of it back, allow people to go out and express themselves in a way that will bring the best out of them as individuals and also as personalities.”There is sometimes a lot of rubbish spoken about a lot of different things. Sometimes it gets into your mind and clutters it; sometimes you have to just flick it. You have to listen to the people that matter to you and right now I am doing that.”The most important thing is me being me. Literally all Brendon [McCullum] has said is ‘go and impose yourself on the game’. It’s an exciting game and the way I’ve always played my cricket. I’ve gone back to young Jonny, where you’re just watching the ball and seeing the ball.”McCullum, who has quickly instilled an ultra-attacking philosophy since his appointment as England’s Test coach, gave a team talk that Ben Foakes told ESPNcricinfo was “like William Wallace” on the final day of the Trent Bridge Test, but Bairstow said that the message had been stripped back to its core principles in Leeds.Related

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“Literally, there wasn’t anything said,” Bairstow said, “just ‘good luck and enjoy’.” Asked if the simplicity felt new to him, he replied: “Or is that the way that people are so used to it happening? I don’t know. I’m asking you the question. Is that the way that we’re so used to it happening? Or is it just ‘we trust you guys to go and play the way in which you see fit’?”He described the change in attitude under McCullum and Stokes as “massive”, adding: “It’s a buy-in from everyone, from the head coach right down to the guys making their debuts and coming into the squad. Whether you’ve played 170 Tests like Jimmy [Anderson] or making your debut like Jamie Overton, everybody’s buying into a certain way that we believe we’re capable of doing – but also a way of Test cricket that is different to potentially the norm.”It’s a case of putting pressure back on other people. If you sit there, sit there, sit there, there’s a good ball in there for you. Rather than being a sitting duck and saying ‘look, alright, you can bowl at me’ it’s ‘OK, you can’t bowl at me, so let’s go’.”Bairstow hit the sixth and seventh balls he faced for boundaries, both off Boult, and said that he had felt as though he needed to “transfer the momentum” after England’s disastrous start. He continued to attack even after Stokes had chipped Neil Wagner to mid-off for 18 off 13 balls and Foakes had been trapped lbw, leaving England six wickets down early, adding an unbroken 209 with Overton in 37.1 overs to cut the deficit to 65 runs overnight.”There’s different ways of looking at it,” Bairstow said. “You can either go into your shell and bat the way people have done for years and years and years – try to survive against bowlers like Trent Boult and Tim Southee when they’re bowling so well. But you need to transfer the momentum, take them off their lengths. They were hitting their straps, conditions were in their favour.”We’re only a few games into it but we’re definitely looking at it in a different way, going out and expressing ourselves, taking the game forward and hopefully playing in ways that can change games. You need people to stand up and change games. That’s how you win games of cricket, whether it’s a bowler taking five, six or seven-for or batters scoring hundreds.”Bairstow’s hundred was his second at his home ground, and his first since 2016. “You know how much this place means to me,” he said. “Being a Yorkshire lad scoring a Test hundred at home, it’s pretty special. All my family and my mates are here.”Every time you score a Test hundred it’s emotional. It means so much to me to play Test cricket for England and that’s the kind of guy I am: I wear my heart on my sleeve. Sometimes it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love representing this team, and I am really excited about the journey we are embarking on.”

Finger and calf problems have disrupted his home season but he was still named T20I player of the year

Andrew McGlashan07-Feb-2021Ashton Agar is hoping to make up for lost time on the T20I tour of New Zealand having seen the majority of his home season wiped out by injury.Agar injured a finger and calf in the ODI series against India, which meant he missed the T20Is, and the latter problem ruled him out of the whole of the BBL with Perth Scorchers who finished runners-up after defeat in the final against Sydney Sixers. He has been preparing for this tour back in Western Australia were his build-up was briefly hit by the Covid-19 lockdown of Perth last week.Despite missing the matches against India, Agar was named the T20I player of the year at the Cricket Australia awards. Now, with the T20 World Cup to work towards in October, Agar is looking forward to getting some time in the middle in New Zealand once the players complete their two weeks managed isolation in Christchurch.Related

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“It has been frustrating, there has been so much cricket on,” he said at Sydney airport. “All I’ve been doing is watching cricket, I’m itching to get out there and that’s a nice feeling to have when you come back after a while to really want to get out there and play.”Lucky I’ve got that opportunity coming up. The injury is coming along nicely. My finger is all healed up and my calf is going really so hopefully fit for game while.”Taking the T20I award and having built an impressive record the ball that reads 30 wickets at 20.86 and an economy of 6.87 has enabled Agar to feel “a bit more settled” in his position but he takes nothing for granted. “You can never get too comfortable because international cricket is a brutal game,” he said.He knows as well that conditions could be a challenge. New Zealand is a tough place for spinners in T20: in the last two years the economy-rate of 8.56 is the joint highest among the top-ranked T20 nations.It’s not certain that Australia will field two frontline spinners in the XI given they will also have Glenn Maxwell’s offspin in the team and perhaps D’Arcy Short’s left-arm wristspin.”That is always the biggest challenge, the smaller grounds,” he said. “I remember going to Eden Park the first time I went to New Zealand and I was like ‘this is a joke, it has to be the wrong ground’ because of how small it was. But it actually brings you into the game as a spinner. They are going to try and hit you for sixes and you’ll get hit for some but you have the opportunity to take a few wickets.”The established pair of Agar and Adam Zampa are joined on this tour by 19-year-old Tanveer Sangha who was the leading spinner in this season’s BBL.”I saw lots of it and was so impressed,” Agar said. “I was just having a chat to him before and have spent a bit of time with him, he’s such a nice level-headed guy. He was able to hold his nerve in his first Big Bash, so his maturity was probably what was most impressive and his skills, I think he’ll be a very fine bowler if he’s not already.”For the new faces – Sangha is one of three uncapped players along with Josh Philippe and Riley Meredith – and the fringe players the tour is a chance to make their claim for a spot at the World Cup. “When you speak about World Cups it takes a whole squad to win one,” Agar said. “We don’t have all the Test stars at the moment but we still have a really good team who I think can beat anyone on their day. Hopefully a few guys can get an opportunity this tour and get a taste.”

This comes after the PCB challenged the ban’s reduction from its original three-year term

Umar Farooq20-Aug-2020The legal battle between Umar Akmal and the PCB took another turn after the Pakistan batsman filed an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne to overturn his ban, which was halved from its original three-year term last month. Akmal’s move came after the PCB had challenged the ban’s reduction in the Court of Arbitration for Sports earlier this month.Akmal had been banned from all representative cricket in April this year after he failed to report details of corrupt approaches made to him ahead of this year’s PSL. He did accept then that the incidents which formed the basis of the two charges pressed against him by the PCB had taken place, but said the circumstances were such that they did not merit reporting. On July 29, the overall sanction was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator, retired Supreme Court judge, Faqir Mohammad Khokhar.ALSO READ: Umar Akmal given harsh penalty because of lack of remorseHowever, after the verdict on the reduction, Akmal’s lawyer argued that the sanction be overturned due to lack of evidence against the player. “We have a wide range of grievances on the decision by the arbitrator and we have reached out to the arbitration court in a motion to set aside the judgement,” Khawaja Umaiz, the lawyer representing Akmal, told ESPNcricinfo. “They don’t have a single piece of evidence that can prove any wrongdoing. The prosecution was based on a phone call, otherwise there is no document, no bank transaction or anything that can substantiate their claim.”The PCB’s decision to appeal against the reduction is understood to be based on its attempt to stress on its zero-tolerance policy against corrupt practices concerning players.Salman Naseer, the PCB chief operating officer, said during a video press conference: “When judgement was reviewed, there were findings in which the judge wrote that the case against Umar Akmal is proven to the hilt. He also said that the statements of the cricketer are self-contradictory and, therefore, not credible.”As far as the verdict goes, the independent adjudicator also wrote that he was looking at the case on compassionate grounds and gave his decision. To us the main question was whether the punishment be reduced on compassionate grounds at all. We also felt that the punishment for the two charges 18 months each should run cumulatively and not concurrently which the independent adjudicator eventually decided on.”In May, Akmal had filed an official appeal against the ban, challenging the length of the sanction and hoping to get it reduced. In similar cases in the past, Mohammad Irfan sat out for six months, while in 2017, Mohammad Nawaz was given a two-month ban. In recent examples outside Pakistan, Shakib Al Hasan – among the senior-most players in the game – was banned for two years with one year of that sentence suspended.Akmal’s case began in March, after he decided against contesting the two PCB charges, foregoing the right to plead innocence. The case was then directed to the chairman of the PCB’s independent disciplinary panel, who after hearing both Akmal and the PCB, handed him the three-year ban. The judge, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had observed that Akmal had failed to give any plausible explanation for not reporting the matter to the PCB’s vigilance and anti-corruption departments and was in breach of article 2.4.4. He was deemed to have engaged in corrupt conduct under the anti-corruption code of the PCB. He had attended that hearing without a lawyer, presenting his case himself.

The fast bowler bagged his fourth ten-wicket match haul in first-class cricket as Tasmania began their season with a 246-run victory

The Report by Alex Malcolm19-Oct-2018Jackson Bird celebrates a wicket•Getty Images

A seam-bowling masterclass from Jackson Bird helped Tasmania rout Queensland in their opening Sheffield Shield clash of the season at the Gabba.Bird took 5 for 42 in the second innings to complete his fourth ten-wicket match haul in first-class cricket after claiming 5 for 35 in the first innings in a worthy Player-of-the-Match performance.Queensland, the defending champions who beat Tasmania in last year’s final, began the fourth day needing 311 for an unlikely victory with eight wickets in hand.But the chase never got off the ground as six of the last nine batsmen failed to reach double figures. Luke Feldman made the second-highest score of the innings with 12 not out after Joe Burns posted 16 on the third evening.Bird rattled through the middle order with surgical precision. Charlie Hemphrey, Sam Heazlett, Nathan McSweeney and Jack Wildermuth were all caught behind the wicket to leave the Bulls decimated at 6 for 58.There was no rearguard action from the lower order with Gabe Bell and Tom Rogers finishing the job. Bell finished with 4 for 17 as Queensland were all out for 93. Only two Bulls players, McSweeney and Jimmy Peirson, managed to make more than 18 in either innings on their seaming home track.

James Vince struck a half-century as Hampshire secured a five-wicket win to move closer to the knockout stages

ECB Reporters Network30-May-2018
ScorecardReece Topley bowled Hampshire to the brink of the Royal London Cup’s knockout stages as they beat Middlesex by five wickets at Merchant Taylors’ School.Topley, who committed himself to white-ball only cricket over the winter as he makes another injury comeback, made Middlesex regret their decision to bat first in bowler-friendly conditions following a delayed start.His 4 for 40 ensured the hosts were restricted to just 199 for 8 in their 45 overs, a target the South Group leaders made comfortably, despite a mid-innings wobble, led by 56 from England discard James Vince.Eyebrows were raised when Middlesex skipper Steven Finn opted to bat after winning a toss delayed for an hour by early morning rain.Deprived of club captain Dawid Malan on Test duty and England one-day skipper Eoin Morgan, ruled out with a cracked finger, much depended on openers Paul Stirling and Nick Gubbins. However, Gubbins perished early, caught in the gulley for 9 giving Topley his first wicket.Under murky skies and with an outfield too wet to afford batsman value for their shot-making, even Stirling with two centuries already in the competition struggled to break the shackles.He did hoist Topley for one huge six into the car park but trying to repeat the shot he fell to the next delivery, holing out at mid-off.This left Max Holden, making his List-A debut for Middlesex and the barely more experienced Stevie Eskinazi needing to entrench.The pair kept the scoreboard ticking but save for a huge straight six from Holden boundaries were scarce in a third-wicket stand of 62 ended by Vince who trapped Eskinazi lbw for 42.Topley then returned to the attack to have Holden caught behind for 38 just as the hosts were attempting to accelerate.
Overseas player Hilton Cartwright and wicketkeeper John Simpson attempted another rebuild before the former had his furniture rearranged by former Middlesex man Gareth Berg.And when Simpson lofted Mason Crane into Topley’s clutches at mid-off just three overs later Middlesex were 158 for 6.A few lusty blows from Tom Helm got Middlesex to the brink of 200, but Topley bowled him to complete his four-wicket haul.In reply, Rilee Roussow was caught behind to a reckless swipe off Finn, who also had Alsop caught by Eskinazi at short cover.But with Joe Weatherley providing solid support for the free-flowing Vince the visitors were seemingly cantering inexorably towards victory with even the competition’s leading wicket taker Ravi Patel – back on his old schoolground – unable to unsettle them.Vince’s 50 came in 64 balls, but with his team in cruise control the England man needlessly took on mid-on fielder James Franklin who promptly ran him out.When Weatherley holed out to Finn at mid-off from the bowling of Sowter six balls later, Middlesex briefly had hope.Sowter had Bradley Taylor caught behind for 11 to crank up the tension, but Jimmy Adams and Lewis McManus’ 60-run stand eased Hampshire home with 26 balls to spare.