Having been behind for large parts of the match, the home chased over 300 for victory

AAP24-Nov-2021Skipper Jordan Silk guided Tasmania to a Sheffield Shield victory over Western Australia in the shadows of stumps on the final day in Hobart.Silk was unbeaten on 83 as the home side reached their target of 315 with four wickets to spare on Wednesday after WA held the upper hand for the majority of the game.The 29-year-old, who also scored a crucial 73 in Tasmania’s first innings batting with the tail, hit consecutive boundaries to secure his side’s second win of the season.WA captain Sam Whiteman declared at 7 for 226 halfway through the morning session to set up the match.Caleb Jewell (60) and Tim Ward (42) got Tasmania off to a swift start with a century stand but the chase hit a hurdle when in-form Ashes hopeful Jhye Richardson struck two blows. Richardson, who took 4-53 in the first innings to further push his Test aspirations, removed Charlie Wakim and Jake Doran in quick succession.WA dropped several catches throughout the match, including when wicketkeeper Josh Philippe grassed Ward off Test allrounder Cameron Green before lunch.Silk, who channelled his short-form expertise and was lightning between the wickets, combined with No.8 Lawrence Neil-Smith to get the Tigers home.WA were a bowler down on the final day after quick Lance Morris suffered a side strain on day two. Resuming the day at 4-170, WA went after quick runs with Green adding just two to his overnight score before being bowled by second-gamer Brad Hope.Green got nine overs under his belt and trapped Hope lbw, as he eyes the first Ashes Test against England on December 8.WA remain top of the Shield ladder with two wins from five matches, while Tasmania jumped to second.

South Africa captain says lack of match awareness and match fitness also played a role coming into the series

Firdose Moonda30-Dec-20212:29

Cullinan: SA ‘not following the basic principles of Test cricket’

Lack of runs in their first innings rather than leaking runs in India’s first cost South Africa the opening Test against India, according to captain Dean Elgar. After conceding 272 for 3 on the first day, thanks largely to a wayward morning with the ball, South Africa went on to take 7 for 49 on the third to bowl India out for 327. They were then dismissed for 197, where Elgar said the match was lost.”You need runs to compete and it’s safe to say we didn’t get that in our first innings,” Elgar said. “They bowled well with the new ball and the nature of Test cricket is that you’ve got to compete against the new ball. The way they started was something we struggled against. We know what it’s like scoring 250-plus runs here.”Just last year, South Africa piled on 621 runs on this ground, albeit against an under-strength Sri Lankan attack, and in four of their last five Tests here, they scored over 250 in the first innings. That they went on to win all those matches makes clear the importance of first innings runs, but for that you need a strong and somewhat reliable line-up, which can only be achieved with regular competitive game time against quality opposition.South Africa have only played six Tests this year, the last one six months ago. There have only been four rounds of domestic first-class cricket and of this squad only Duanne Olivier and Keegan Petersen played in all four.There is an obvious lack of match time, which both vice-captain Temba Bavuma and Elgar recognise as a weakness.”Playing four or five-day cricket is something you can’t replace but the schedule doesn’t allow for our players to play a lot of first-class cricket,” Elgar said. “So there’s a little bit of (a lack of) match awareness and match fitness. It’s by no means an excuse. We knew that coming into the series. There’s a lot of learning for us that the basics of the game still applies. I don’t think we had that with regards to the batting.”You may immediately ask why Petersen, the only one who played in this Test who has sufficient match practice to his name, was not more successful but there’s a reason for that too. South Africa’s opening stand has been particularly poor and has not crossed double figures in the three Tests Petersen has played.”KP has come in and played in three Tests matches and the three batting conditions that he has experienced have been relatively tough,” Elgar said. “He has had a bit of a rough start and it doesn’t reflect on him as a player. He is an extremely talented player – one of our better players in the first-class system. The stats don’t reflect his ability. I feel for him. I know he wants to make a play and is maybe a little bit anxious. We need to, as a leadership group, try and give him a better opportunity to try and contribute.”Dean Elgar: “In Test cricket facing the new ball and opening is not easy”•AFP via Getty Images

In order for that to happen, Elgar and Aiden Markram have to start better, which they know but can’t guarantee. “In Test cricket facing the new ball and opening is not easy. You get a good ball and you go and sit and watch the rest of the game. That’s the nature of the beast,” Elgar said. “Aiden and I have had the rough of the green but we are very mindful that we need to start well.”Another option is to swap Petersen with the (slightly more) experienced Rassie van der Dussen. “It is something that will be a conversation,” Elgar said.So will changes to the lower order. Olivier should be available for selection and should be an automatic pick at the Wanderers. Ordinarily, that would mean leaving out his replacement Marco Jansen. But the 21-year-old acquitted himself so well in his first Test that the discussion will turn to whether Wiaan Mulder, playing as an allrounder but not really contributing with the bat, should be benched to give Jansen the chance to stake a claim in that position.”Wiaan had a pretty good game with the ball. He is not living up to his standards with the bat which is something we will chat to him about,” Elgar said. “In this environment you have to have those open conversations in order for this environment to grow and for individuals to grow. Marco had a brilliant debut. He was our player of the game. And he came into a really tough situation. He didn’t shy away from his responsibilities within the side.”And Elgar is not hiding from his – as captain of a team that has to turn the corner soon and is feeling more and more sure that they can in three days’ time. “I don’t think we’ll lack any confidence heading into Johannesburg but it’s never nice losing a game especially when we know where we went wrong,” Elgar said. “It’s difficult to correct those wrongs during a game, but building into the second Test, we’ll have some time to reflect around what has happened.”

Warwickshire allrounder Jacob Bethell named vice-captain in 15-man squad

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2021England Young Lions will be captained by Hampshire’s Tom Prest at the upcoming Under-19s World Cup in the Caribbean next month.Prest made full debuts in all three formats during the summer, having scored a triple-hundred for Hampshire’s 2nd XI, and led the Young Lions in series against West Indies and the recent tour to Sri Lanka. He will be supported by vice-captain Jacob Bethell, the Barbados-born allrounder who signed professional terms with Warwickshire at the start of the year.Also included in the 15-man squad are James Coles, the 17-year-old Sussex allrounder, James Sales, son of former Northamptonshire stalwart David, and Sonny Baker, the Somerset fast bowler who was the Young Lions’ leading wicket-taker in their 4-2 win over West Indies in September.Related

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Josh Baker, the Worcesershire offspinner, and Yorkshire seamer Ben Cliff will travel with the group as reserves.”It’s always a hugely exciting moment for any young cricketer to be selected in a representative age-group squad, especially so when it’s for a World Cup,” Young Lions head coach, Richard Dawson, said.”We’re really looking forward to getting out there and testing ourselves against the best young players in the world, and continuing our development as a side and as individuals.”England Young Lions have been in drawn in Group A alongside Bangladesh, winners of the 2020 tournament, Canada and UAE. They will begin their campaign against Bangladesh in St Kitts on January 16.England Young Lions squad: Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Aspinwall (Lancashire), Sonny Baker (Somerset), Nathan Barnwell (Surrey), George Bell (Lancashire), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire, vice-capt), Josh Boyden (Lancashire), James Coles (Sussex), Alex Horton (Glamorgan), Will Luxton (Yorkshire), Tom Prest (Hampshire, capt), James Rew (Somerset), James Sales (Northamptonshire), Fateh Singh (Nottinghamshire), George Thomas (Somerset)Travelling reserves: Josh Baker (Worcestershire), Ben Cliff (Yorkshire)

Shakib Al Hasan becomes the fifth bowler to take 400 wickets in T20 cricket

Mohammad Isam24-Jan-2022
How the match played out
Andre Russell was in his element, following up figures of 2 for 27 with an unbeaten 31 off 15 balls, as Minister Group Dhaka beat Fortune Barishal by four wickets in Mirpur. This was Dhaka’s first win in three matches in BPL 2022 and Russell’s first major contribution this season.Chasing 130, Dhaka were in early trouble at 10 for 4 in the third over. Left-arm quick Shafiqul Islam bowled Tamim Iqbal in the first over of their chase before Alzarri Joseph dismissed both Mohammad Naim and Jahurul Islam in the second over. When Shafiqul bowled Mohammad Shahzad in the next over, Dhaka were tottering.Mahmudullah and Shuvagata Hom then steadied things with a 69-run fifth-wicket stand before Russell did what he does best: close out games with his big hits. Shakib Al Hasan, however, gave Barishal a reason to celebrate: he became only the fifth bowler to take 400 T20 wickets.Earlier, Barishal had slipped to 23 for 3 in the powerplay, when they lost Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shykat Ali and Towhid Hridoy. The experienced pair of Shakib (23) and Chris Gayle (36) then added a semblance of respectability to their innings. But neither could convert it into a bigger knock, which left Barishal at 94 for 6 in the 16th over. Dwayne Bravo’s unbeaten 26-ball 33 then dragged the side to 129 for 8.All six of Dhaka’s bowlers were among the wickets, with Isuru Udana and Russell taking two each. Meanwhile, Rubel Hossain, Hom and Hasan Murad all bowled economical spells.Big hit
Russell’s big blows – a four and a six clobbered through square-leg off Joseph – gave Dhaka a huge sigh of relief. It ensured Dhaka were in touch with the asking rate before Russell rushed them to victory with a six and a brace of fours off Taijul Islam in the 17th over.Dhaka captain Mahmudullah provided Russell great support at the other end, scoring a run-a-ball 47. He struck three fours and a six before he became Shakib’s 400th victim in T20 cricket.Barishal made a decent fist of their defence, thanks to Shafiqul who bowled with good pace and a bit of movement with the new ball. He was well-supported by Joseph before Russell lined up his West Indies team-mate.Big miss
Tamim missed out for the first time in three matches, getting out for a second-ball duck in this game. Dhaka’s top four managed only single-digit scores of 0,5,4,0. It could be an alarming sign for Naim and Jahurul who are yet to make a sizeable contribution this season.

Lack of biobubbles at DPL “was one of the reasons I signed the contract,” Pakistan veteran jokes

Mohammad Isam16-Mar-2022Mohammad Hafeez is playing in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League in Bangladesh for his “own enjoyment and passion” and to “inspire youngsters”, but he will have a big job to do at his team, Mohammedan Sporting, too, as they are without some of the top international players, who are on tour in South Africa.”I am playing for my own enjoyment and passion, and to inspire and help youngsters around the world,” Hafeez, Player of the Match in the PSL final last month, said. “My motivation is to enjoy the cricket. I am retired from international cricket but, personally, I still have something in me to give to cricket. I try to inspire the youngsters, so that they can learn from me. I always try to be helpful to everyone, whoever wants me in their game.Related

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“I didn’t play ODIs in the last couple of years, but I believe I can do well in this format. I try to hit the same fitness levels every day that is required at the international level. Mohammedan were very welcoming, they were kind in handling lots of things.”Hafeez’s heroics helped Lahore Qalandars lift the PSL trophy for the first time this season, and he is now with a team that is looking for their first DPL title since 2009-10. And they are missing Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed and Abu Jayed, who are all in South Africa.”Some of the teams will miss their best players,” Hafeez said. “They are on the tour. It is a good opportunity for the youngsters to show their talent. We are very confident that we will do well as a team. We have some international experience like Soumya Sarkar. It will be good to be part of Mohammedan club.”Hafeez said, half-jokingly, that he became more excited about playing in the DPL when he was told that there wouldn’t be ant biobubbles.”It was one of the reasons I signed the contract,” he said. “I asked him [a team official] if there’s a biobubble, he said, ‘no’. I said, ‘I am coming’. I wanted to be a part of this beautiful Muslim culture. I want to move around freely, enjoy my stay, enjoy the cricket. Biobubble gets on you mentally. In this league, everyone will enjoy a little bit extra.”We all are human. We spent two-and-a-half months in England, without our family. It can break you mentally. You don’t feel like a human being staying in a controlled environment. Everyone needs a bit of freedom, so now we all know how to live a life in Covid.”Hafeez admitted that he would be interested in a role in Pakistan cricket in the future, but doesn’t want to hurry into anything: “At the moment, I am enjoying my cricket, giving time to my family members. I am not a job-seeker. If I can add value in any system, I will definitely opt for it.”Hafeez has also kept an eye on the ongoing Tests in Pakistan and said that Australia had showed more intent than the home team in the series so far. At the start of the fifth day of the second Test in Karachi, Pakistan were 192 for 2 and needed another 314 runs to win, after the first game in Rawalpindi ended in a high-scoring draw on a “below-average”pitch.”You need to be result-oriented,” Hafeez said. “No one wants to watch drawn Tests. The fans basically want results, which is why Super Over has been inducted in T20s. Draws aren’t the best way to move forward.”We all want Test cricket to be the No. 1 format of international cricket. I don’t mind assistance to seamers or spinners, but there should be a result. I am a fan of Test cricket, so it feels more when you know on the first day it is going to be a draw. There’s no excitement then. Intent wasn’t good, but so far Australians are showing a little bit more intent to win the game and the series.”

Ian Bishop “not surprised” by KKR’s call, given the situation they find themselves in in the tournament, but believes the spinner can still turn it around

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-20226:12

What has gone wrong for Varun Chakravarthy?

Daniel Vettori, the former New Zealand and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, believes Varun Chakravarthy “needs a Plan B very soon”. His lack of a counter against top-quality batters who have figured out the methods that previously brought him much success could be one of the reasons for his massive dip in form this IPL season, Vettori said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out.On Thursday, Knight Riders left Chakravarthy out of their XI, replacing him with the uncapped seamer Harshit Rana for the match against Delhi Capitals. The change came even as Knight Riders were desperately trying to find form and get a move on on the points table; as on Wednesday, they were eighth on the table.”The numbers aren’t there. It looks like he hasn’t been deceptive like he has been in the past,” Vettori said. “He isn’t a big turner; it doesn’t look like he’s turning the ball as much. It looks like batsmen feel comfortable taking him on. Those factors may have pushed KKR towards taking this decision [to drop him].”Maybe they’re trying to provide a catalyst for him around improvement, around finding his game plans. It just seems like he isn’t the bowler he was last year. It just felt like he wasn’t the bowler who was destructive like in the past.”Chakravarthy’s numbers are telling: four wickets in eight matches at an economy of 8.82. Chakravarthy has been wicketless in each of the three previous matches, while also not completing his quota of overs. He has an economy of over 12 in this period.This is in sharp contrast to his form at IPL 2021, where he picked up 18 wickets in 17 matches, and was a key to their stunning turnaround in the second half of the season that culminated in Knight Riders making the final.”I’m being brutally honest. I’m not totally surprised,” former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop, who was also part of T20 Time Out’s panel of experts, said. “He’s been going for 12 an over for the last three games or so. Four wickets in eight games, and it has come down to a point where KKR have less wriggle room.”Six points [so far] this season. They have to put out the best team at Wankhede to try and get two points. These two points are critical. It’s not quite now or never yet, but it’s kind of getting very close. So, I’m not totally surprised with Varun, in the conditions they’re going to play today.”Bishop feels surfaces haven’t slowed down as much as expected so far, which could be one of the reasons for Chakravarthy’s effectiveness. As such he isn’t a big turner of the ball but depends on minute variations and grip off the decks.”I don’t ever give up on a player. I always feel that at some point, even if it is at an advanced stage of your career, you can learn something. So, while we’ve seen (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Kuldeep (Yadav) do some good things, I still don’t think some of the pitches have offered [much to] Chakravarthy, who doesn’t spin the ball a lot anyway,” Bishop observed. “The ball deviates just that much, so he perhaps needs a little more grip than some of the surfaces [are offering] to be at his very best.”Maybe he’ll come back in at some point later in this tournament itself if the conditions and his confidence and form are right, provided he’s not injured. I won’t give up on him. Maybe they’re giving him a break to say ‘mate, take some time to refresh yourself’, there’s a possibility to come back now or next season.”Vettori also believes the axe could just be temporary and may be a way to revive him, provided it is communicated as much by the team management. Having coached Royal Challengers in the IPL and Brisbane Heat at the BBL, Vettori has had to take similar decisions in the past, like dropping Harshal Patel in 2017 before he returned to win the Player of the Match award.”I subscribe to the theory that when you’re in poor form, there’s a time where you’re waiting to be dropped,” he said. “When you keep playing and playing and playing, you don’t get a chance to work out what’s going wrong. Therefore, if you do actually leave a player out and give them strong communication, they can almost reset themselves.”Like Bish said, you don’t ever want to give up on a player, particularly a retained player, particularly a player with that skillset, how effective he can be at his best. This just may be a reset, he can go away a little bit, work with the bowling coach, work with coaches outside of the KKR setup and just see where it gets him to. He’s also a fresher, so when he goes back into the team, it won’t be about how bad he’s been. He’s had a break, fresh start, let’s see what he’s got.”

The left-arm quick has been ruled out of action for four to five weeks, according to team physio Bayjedul Islam

Mohammad Isam19-May-2022Bangladesh left-arm quick Shoriful Islam has been ruled out of the rest of the Test series against Sri Lanka after he sustained a right hand injury on the fourth evening in Chattogram. An X-ray revealed a fracture and Shoriful has been ruled out for four to five weeks, which is likely to make him unavailable for the first West Indies Test as well, set to start on June 16.The selectors didn’t name a replacement for Shoriful while announcing an unchanged squad for the second Test in Dhaka starting May 23.”Shoriful Islam had a contusion of the right hand while batting,” Bayjedul said in a BCB release on Thursday. “After the fourth day’s play an X-ray was carried out which has revealed a fracture on the base of the 5th metacarpal bone. Such injuries tend to take around three weeks to heal followed by a couple of week’s rehab. He will not be available to play for four to five weeks.”Kasun Rajitha struck Shoriful on his right hand after he tried to fend away a short ball in the 167th over of the Bangladesh innings. Physio Bayejidul Islam came out a couple of times to tend to him but Shoriful continued to bat. Four overs later, he fell down screaming in pain after swinging and missing at Rajitha.Shoriful eventually retired out to close the Bangladesh innings on 465 and he didn’t come out to bowl at all when Sri Lanka batted again.Bangladesh are already without Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the Chattogram Test due to injuries. Taskin’s participation is also a concern for Bangladesh’s West Indies tour next month as well. Taskin, who consulted a specialist in London for his shoulder injury earlier this month, is undergoing conservative treatment at the moment, so the selectors are yet to decide if he will be considered for the Tests in the West Indies.”We are not getting Shoriful for the Tests in West Indies. Taskin too is most likely unavailable for the red-ball matches. We might get the pair in the white-ball part of the tour,” Minhajul Abedin, the BCB chief selector, said.Bangladesh are likely to head for the tour on June 5 to play two Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs till mid-July.

It has also been learnt that Ravindra Jadeja will remain with the team as a player

Nagraj Gollapudi20-May-20223:36

Shastri: Dhoni ‘unbelievably fit’, has ‘enjoyed his cricket this year’

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have not had a happy IPL 2022, but they have a leg-up for the next edition: MS Dhoni will be with the team as a player next season and, importantly, is going to be their captain too. The main reason to play, as Dhoni explained, is to bid adieu to his supporters in Chennai and the rest of India.Asked by Ian Bishop on Star Sports about his future before Super Kings’ match on Friday evening against Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni said, “Definitely [I will play IPL 2023]. It’s a simple reason: it will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you [to the fans]. Mumbai is one place where, as a team and as an individual, I have got a lot of love and affection. But it wouldn’t be nice to the CSK fans.”And also, hopefully next year there will be an opportunity where the teams will be travelling so it will be a like thank you to all the different places where we will be playing games at different venues. Whether it will be my last year or not that’s a big question, because you know we can’t really predict about something two years down the line. But definitely I’ll be working hard to come back strong next year.”Related

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As reported by ESPNcricinfo almost an hour before the toss, Dhoni, now almost 41 years old, has told the Super Kings team management that he will be available for the 2023 IPL and will lead the team too. In another shot in the arm for the four-time IPL champions, it has been learnt that Ravindra Jadeja, who left the Super Kings camp following an injury, will also be in the mix for the 2023 season. This debunks the perception that Jadeja had fallen out with Dhoni and the team management after the captaincy swap a little more than halfway into Super Kings’ 2022 season.The developments are significant for Super Kings, whose game against Royals is their final match of the ongoing season. With just four wins so far in 13 matches, Super Kings are ninth on the points table, just above Mumbai Indians.It was on May 1, ahead of Super Kings’ ninth league match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune, that Dhoni returned as the team’s captain. This, after Jadeja had decided to step down, having taken the reins from Dhoni at the start of the season.At the toss, when Danny Morrison asked Dhoni whether he would be seen in action in 2023, Dhoni had given a cryptic answer: “You’ll definitely see me in the yellow jersey – whether it’s this yellow jersey or some other yellow jersey you will have to wait and watch.”The issue of the Super Kings’ captaincy has been in the news right from the beginning of the season; when, just two days before the first game of IPL 2022, it was announced that Jadeja would be leading them; when a run of losses kept Super Kings in the bottom two of the points table; when the decision was made to return the captaincy to Dhoni and then Jadeja abruptly exited the competition.5:26

Vettori: ‘Probably comes down to Jadeja not enjoying the captaincy’

After winning the first match on his return to captaincy, Dhoni had spoken about the circumstances that forced him to take back the captaincy. He explained that captaincy was “having an effect” on Jadeja’s game, and that the team management had eventually decided that they needed Jadeja the player more.”What is important is once you become the captain, you have to take care of many things,” Dhoni had told Star Sports after the Sunrisers match. “And that also includes taking care of your own game. And with him, his mind was working a lot.”It’s not easy to control your mind, it’s the strongest feature… body, physiques, all of those things are fine, but once your mind starts working and it wants to contribute more: okay, what’s the combination I can play with; okay, who can bowl at what point of time. It doesn’t really stop. So, what really happens is the individual is not able to relax – even when he closes his eyes and wants to sleep, the mind is still working.”So what I felt was, it was having an effect on his game also. When he was going in to bat, or when it comes to his preparation, is putting this [extra] burden affecting his game? Because I would love to have Jadeja as a bowler and batter and fielder. Captaincy, fair enough. Even if you relieve [him of] captaincy, and if he is at his best [as a player], that’s what we really want because we were also losing a great fielder. We were struggling [to find] a deep-midwicket fielder.”They will be there, in the Super Kings ranks, next year too•BCCI

Dhoni, the Super Kings captain right through their journey in the IPL – bar the two years the franchise was banned following the spot-fixing scandal of 2013 and the first few matches of the ongoing season – and Jadeja were both part of the quartet retained by Super Kings ahead of the 2022 players’ auction. While Jadeja was retained as the first pick at INR 16 crore, Dhoni was the second player retained at INR 12 crore.Dhoni, who will be close to 42 by the next IPL, is already the oldest player in the tournament. Though he is one of the fittest players around as well as one of the most astute captains, the question about Super Kings’ next captain has been posed often to both Dhoni and the Super Kings management over the past few years.Last October, immediately after Super Kings won the 2021 IPL, N Srinivasan, the Super Kings’ owner, said that Dhoni would always be “part and parcel” of not just the franchise, but also the city of Chennai and the state of Tamil Nadu. “There is no CSK without Dhoni and there is no Dhoni without CSK,” Srinivasan had said.A month later, while felicitating Dhoni and the team for winning their fourth IPL title, Srinivasan had reiterated, “People keep bugging him, ‘are you going to continue?’ , he’s there, I say. He’s not gone anywhere. Why don’t you understand the fact that he’s there. He’s still there. With us.”

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.”

The two will also train at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and be part of Queensland Bulls’ pre-season preparations

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2022Chetan Sakariya and Mukesh Choudhary will headline the overseas presence at the KFC T20 Max series in Queensland next month. They will also train at Cricket Australia’s National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and be involved in Queensland Bulls’ pre-season preparations, as part of the old exchange programme with the Chennai-based MRF Pace Foundation, which had been paused because of Covid-19.Sakariya, 24, made a name for himself during IPL 2021, playing for Rajasthan Royals, and has turned out in an ODI and two T20Is so far while also playing for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, while Choudhary was impressive in his debut IPL season, this year, for Chennai Super Kings, picking up 16 wickets in 13 games. The two will be joined by three Papua New Guinea internationals: Norman Vanua, Chad Soper and Charles Amini.Related

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Sakariya will play for Sunshine Coast, while Wynnum-Manly will have the services of Choudhary. Sandgate-Redcliffe have all the three PNG players – regulars with their national side, which finished third at the recent World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe – in their ranks. Vanua and Soper are medium pacers, while Amini is a legspinning allrounder.There will also be a strong list of current or recent BBL players, some of them internationals, in the mix too: Jordan Silk, Beau Webster, Cameron Boyce, Ben Cutting, Liam Guthrie, Nick Larkin, Clint Hinchliffe, Josh Lalor, Nick Hobson, Jake Lehmann, Arjun Nair, Chris Sabburg, Nick Bertus, Ryan Gibson, Spencer Johnson and Nathan McSweeney.In a note on its website, Queensland Cricket said, “Due to the popularity of the concept and a surge in the number of players expressing interest, Queensland Cricket today updated the competition rules to allow each Premier club to sign an additional interstate or international recruit, moving from three players per club to four.”Several regionally based players have already brokered arrangements with teams, while contracted Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat players will be available for selection as part of their pre-season preparations.”The tournament will be played over three weeks, from August 18 to September 4, at the club grounds as well as at the refurbished Allan Border Field, under lights.Exchanges between the MRF Pace Foundation, founded in 1987, and Australia began in 1992, when the academy opened its doors to players from beyond India’s shores.Among the first to come and train under Dennis Lillee, then the director at MRF, was Glenn McGrath, who later took up the directorship once Lillee retired after a 25-year stint in 2012. Fast bowlers from many other countries, including Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe), and premier quicks from Australia like Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, have all trained at the academy over the years. Similarly, young Indian quicks have been given the opportunity to spend time in Brisbane as part of the programme. The last of these, in 2019, were Prasidh Krishna, who has since played ten ODIs for India, and Mukhtar Hussain, the 23-year-old right-arm quick from Assam.