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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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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

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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.

Scores 148* as visitors turn first-innings deficit of 190 into a lead of 126 with four wickets in hand

Sidharth Monga27-Jan-2024When the day began, we wondered if there would be a day four in the Hyderabad Test. Then Bazball arrived.After England lost four of their first five wickets in the first innings to defensive shots, you could almost imagine their coach, after whom Bazball is named, telling them it is more acceptable to get out reverse-sweeping than defending. That commitment to the sweep of various varieties brought India face to face with Bazball properly for the first time. England claimed the honours on the third day in Hyderabad, converting a first-innings deficit of 190 into a lead of 126 with four wickets in hand.Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 148 was the biggest turnaround from the first innings during which he meekly followed the turn with his hands and edged to slip. In the second innings, he swept and reverse-swept with aplomb to mess around with the spinners’ lines and lengths and capitalise on the enterprising start provided by Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. He was rewarded with a first century in India, the highest second-innings score by a visiting batter in India since Alastair Cook’s 175 in Ahmedabad 12 years ago.All told, England scored 79 runs with variants of the sweep without losing a wicket to it. Pope alone scored 41 of those runs, pulling the shot off almost every time a spinner troubled him. Consequently England became the first team since Nagpur 2012-13 to score 300 against India in a second innings in India.India will be thankful you can’t reverse-sweep Jasprit Bumrah. For it could have been worse for the hosts without a rousing spell of reverse-swing bowling just after lunch during which he got rid of Duckett and Joe Root. The pitch offered only slow turn, and England kept nailing high-risk options, but the spinners will still be disappointed that Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers on a day-three surface with figures of 12-3-29-2. R Ashwin went at 4.42 an over for his two wickets, and Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja at 4.60 and 3.88 for one each.Jasprit Bumrah sent back Ben Duckett and Joe Root during a fiery spell of reverse-swing•BCCI

For all the talk of Bazball and the excellent start England managed against pace in the first innings, what had stood out was their top three falling to traditional dismissals. All three were caught playing defensively in front of their body, which leaves you at the mercy of the turn, whose degree you cannot predict with any certainty.Having taken the last three Indian wickets for 15 – led again by Joe Root the offspinner – England played what they practised. Not immediately, though. In his first two overs with the new ball, Ashwin could have had both Duckett and Crawley, but the inside edges fell either side of short leg. That was enough to shake them up. No more, they said.Crawley began with the reverse-sweep against Ashwin before taking Axar downtown. All the sweeping played on Ashwin’s lengths. In order to stay one step ahead, he overpitched far more than usual, and it was only when he went back to a proper length that he drew a forward defensive from Crawley. The ball didn’t turn, and the edge went to slip. By then, though, England had put 45 on the board.Duckett and Pope kept sweeping and reversing India to distraction. That a lot of practice has gone into the sweeps was plain to see. Like Ben Stokes in the first innings, they kept almost switching their stance without changing their grip, which allowed them to play the reverse-sweep powerfully and in front of square.Post-lunch Bumrah began reversing the ball, but was let done by a non-review of a close lbw shout against Duckett. He bowled him top of off after highly skilful bowling across two overs, but England had hit four boundaries in that time. Still, when Bumrah trapped Root in front, India had 73 runs in the bag.Jonny Bairstow was bowled shouldering arms to Ravindra Jadeja•BCCI

Jonny Bairstow proceeded to thwart Bumrah by staying leg-side of the ball to avoid lbw, reacting late if he bowled the outswinger, and picking the slower ones. When it began to look threatening for India, the natural variation from the pitch came to their aid. Jadeja turned one past his outside edge, and the next ball, nearly identical, went straight on to dislodge the off bail as Bairstow left it alone.Then followed about the only period when England allowed the spinners to work on a dismissal. Ashwin craftily pushed Stokes back and dragged him out with his changes of length until he had him playing back to a full ball, which turned past the bat to bowl him. With 27 runs still in the bag, India would have smelled the win here, especially as Pope and Ben Foakes were forced to play defensively.There came a period of 70 balls without a boundary for England as Foakes played more traditionally, and Pope was kept quiet. After tea, though, the floodgates opened again as India began the session, unimpressively so, with Jadeja and Axar. Not for the first time in his short tenure as captain, Rohit Sharma has begun a session with the bowlers who had till then looked the least likely to take a wicket.In the final session, Pope was even more emphatic with his reverse-sweeping, on one occasion even reverse-Dilscooping Jadeja over the keeper’s head. In between he gave the charge once in a while but the backbone of his innings was the sweeping and the reverse-sweeping. By them time he made a mistake with the reverse, he had already scored 110, and even then he was dropped by Axar at backward point.Axar came back to take Foakes’ wicket with one that stayed low, but that was the extent of inroads India would make. At stumps on day three, the new ball was three overs away, which would give India hope. There is every chance that on a pitch with slow turn, and given their spin attack, England might not stretch their lead far enough for this Test but this turnaround could still have implications for the series.

“It does look sometimes like the top order doesn’t trust the middle order, but you can improve this”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2022The top T20I teams are “one step ahead” of Pakistan in terms of their approach, particularly with the bat, according to chief selector Mohammad Wasim. He also feels that the top order, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam specifically, needs to “show more faith” in the middle order for the team to achieve the sort of big totals they need at the upcoming men’s T20 World Cup.”We often talk about the brand of cricket we play, and how we eventually have to play the modern form of T20 cricket,” Wasim told . “Obviously, the sort of cricket England and a few others are playing, they are one step ahead of us in terms of their approach. For us, it will take time to be fully converted into this brand of cricket, because for it you need certain players to be fully ready.Related

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“But if you talk about a winning formula, we need our middle-order complementing the top order. We did get success from it as well. Our [2021 T20] World Cup went well, our home series have been good, and our success rate has been up. At the moment, the best policy for us is to mix and match [the batting approach].”One of the issues that has been most under scrutiny is the method of Pakistan’s top order, specifically when setting a total. The top three of Rizwan, Babar and Fakhar Zaman have often anchored their way through an innings, batting deep and leaving fewer balls for the more free-scoring middle-order batters. While chasing, the approach often comes off. While setting targets, though, Pakistan have usually been just around par, if not below it.”It reflects in my selection, but whatever the final strategy is, it is down to the captain and coach,” Wasim said. “The vision about my selection is based on the thought that if the low-value wickets in the lower-middle order are used, then we can get better results. We did see some valuable contributions from Asif [Ali], Khushdil [Shah] and Iftikhar [Ahmed], but I think we need to have more consistency from them.”Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar Ahmed, two of Pakistan’s lower-middle-order hitters•AFP/Getty Images

In the final, deciding, T20I against England, which Pakistan lost by 67 runs after conceding 209, they were 33 for 3 when Shan Masood and Khushdil got together. They added 53 runs together, but took up 7.1 overs to score those, leaving a huge asking rate for the batters to follow.”I think maybe there isn’t a clear message, or there is a problem in the lower-middle order as they are valuing their wicket a bit more than they should, which is a problem,” Wasim said. “The partnership between Shan and Khushdil wasn’t impressive, it was going nowhere. The big advantage while chasing is that they know the target and it’s easier to set a pattern and plan accordingly.”If you want to play like this, or want to play this sort of cricket, then we don’t need better-equipped players to get in. You will get such resources anyway. It all comes down to what is your game plan.”One of the possible ways in which the problem can be bypassed is to have spin-bowling allrounders Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz bat higher, at four or five, on a more regular basis.”Every team has its stronger links and weaker ones, and ours is bowling; our batting does need to improve for us to win games. As coach [and not as selector], I would love to see Shadab and Nawaz bat higher, and I had this discussion with the management, and you will see it happening going forward.”It might give some shape to the middle order and it’s not for the sake of change, but based on the skillsets they bring. Both can play spin well, bat at a high strike rate, rotate the strike, and accelerate the score.”Pakistan are contemplating making better use of allrounders like Shadab Khan•AFP/Getty Images

Wasim was also asked about the dependency on the opening pair in particular, and whether that has affected trust with the middle order.”It does look sometimes like the top order doesn’t trust the middle order, but you can improve this,” Wasim said. “As a batter, you get disappointed, but at the same time, you have to look up to the other group as well. I am sure coaches have spoken and this isn’t a good message that the top-two wickets falling result in the entire team getting out. So there is a need to show more faith on the others.”The England games are over, and now Pakistan play a triangular series in New Zealand, with Bangladesh as the third team, and then go to the World Cup in Australia. But there are murmurs that there could be a few changes to the squad before the marquee event. Like in 2021.”Last year, changes were made mainly because of injuries and we have encountered similar issues again,” Wasim said. “We are constantly monitoring. I would say that this is the same squad [that will go to the World Cup], but in light of injuries, we will definitely consider replacements if needed.”You can’t say anything about changes during a series, and if there is a plan, we won’t talk about it in public. Because the situation is fluid around the injuries. At the same time, we have backed these boys for a year now and we will still back them. But we are looking into who is expected to be fit and who will be unavailable and who can be a replacement.”

Captain Will’s T20 career-best leads thumping victory over winless Leicestershire

ECB Reporters Network16-Jun-2021Will Rhodes, Birmingham Bears’ captain, posted a T20 career-best 79 as the North Group leaders notched a fourth consecutive win and consigned Leicestershire to a fifth straight defeat in the Vitality Blast.Sam Hain overtook Ian Bell as the Bears’ all-time top scorer in the format in making 45 as they racked up 191 for 7. Ben Mike took a career-best 4 for 22 bowling two death overs but Naveen-ul-Haq was the pick of the Foxes’ bowlers with 2 for 20 from his four.Scott Steel made 46 and Rishi Patel 30 but after losing three key batters in the powerplay, Leicestershire were always off the pace and fell 35 runs short, Tim Bresnan taking 3 for 29 and Danny Briggs 3 for 35.Asked to bat first, the Bears lost both openers to Naveen’s slower balls, Ed Pollock miscuing his to short fine leg and Pieter Malan spooning one to mid-on, which left Bears 42 for 2 from the powerplay.But Rhodes, dropped off Colin Ackermann on 27 when Naveen misjudged a chance at long-on, hit clearly to clear the ropes five times as he and Hain added 113 from 62 balls before Rhodes mistimed one to caught at square leg.”I think I’ve owed the lads a performance like that,” Rhodes said afterwards. “I’ve had a fairly bleak three or four months with the bat and to hit a few over the ropes is really pleasing.”Related

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Hain looked set for a fourth half-century in five innings but going after Ben Mike he holed out to long-on, where Lewis Hill took a fine catch above his head, with Carlos Brathwaite caught at wide long-off in the same over.Mike claimed two more in the final over, tracking a skier from Michael Burgess out to midwicket for a return catch, before Dan Mousley hit the next ball straight to deep point, although Bresnan pulled the hat-trick ball for six and overthrows made for an untidy end.Josh Inglis hit two of his first three balls to the boundary as Briggs opened the bowling for the Bears, but he was bowled trying to cut, setting the tone for a costly powerplay for the Foxes, who also lost Lilley to a stumping off Briggs, and Ackermann to a slower ball from Bresnan that he hit straight to mid-on to leave them 48 for 3.Rishi Patel raised Leicestershire’s hopes with 30 from 25 balls and as he and Steel added 51 off 39 the Foxes needed 92 from eight overs. But after Patel’s flick off his legs found the fielder at square leg, Steel was beaten by Briggs and stumped, with Louis Kimber run out in the same over.Hill was left unbeaten on 26 but wickets fell quickly at the other end, Bresnan dismissing Mike and claiming his third wicket off the last ball as Ed Barnes holed out to deep midwicket.”It’s a very disappointing night for us,” Paul Nixon, Leicestershire’s head coach, said. “We had a really good bowling powerplay but there was a bit of a breeze down the ground and the Bears used it as they targeted the Pavilion end, scoring about 100 in eight overs. They looked a side full of confidence.”We didn’t field well again – the catch dropped off Hain should have been taken. There were too many expensive overs and when we batted there were too many soft dismissals. The first three dismissals essentially gave their wickets away.”

On Australia’s tour of Bangladesh, he says ‘you don’t have to be Einstein to realise it’s probably unlikely to go ahead’

Daniel Brettig31-Mar-2020Australia’s captain Tim Paine says the nation’s cricketers are aware the delay to their central contracting for next season may well lead to pay cuts, and they accept that such a move would be part of the need to “do our bit” to preserve the game amid the coronavirus pandemic.He has also conceded that the scheduled Test tour of Bangladesh is looking unlikely, with the ICC yet to deliberate on what will take place should the remaining series of the World Test Championship be delayed or cancelled due to the need to reset for whenever it is safe again to travel around the world for international series.While Cricket Australia has been highly fortunate in the timing of the pandemic, the governing body and its state association owners have been locked into deep discussions of how to prepare for the broad range of scenarios in front of them, ranging from minimal disruption of next summer to an outlook as bleak as that currently faced by the winter football codes.Paine, who awoke on Tuesday morning to find his wallet had been stolen after he left it in his car in Hobart after moving it outside to make room for a home gym set-up, said that the players were aware of the fact that they may need to make financial sacrifices to help shore up the wider game, under the terms of their collective agreement with CA that affords them around 26% of Australian Cricket Revenue each season.”Certainly discussions will start happening in the next week or so,” Paine said. “There’s obviously the delay in our list announcement if you like. Certainly if things happen similar to what’s happened to football and other sports, then we’ve certainly got to do our bit to make sure the game survives and remains really healthy for years to come.”If it comes to that, I’m sure that’s something that the players will look at. But there are bigger issues going on around the world at the moment than how much our sportsmen are going to get paid. That’ll be a small thing to us if that was to happen.”As for Bangladesh, Paine said that time was running short for the series to be able to be played as scheduled, leaving administrators to weigh up what to do next. “At this stage I think you don’t have to be Einstein to realise it’s probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June,” Paine said. “Whether it’s cancelled completely or its pushed back, we’re not quite sure at the moment, but it’s a couple of Test matches and if at the end of the day we have to miss them, then so be it.”I think whether some series have been cancelled, whether one’s going forward, or we are going to postpone them [we have to wait and see]… And maybe players are going to go through a period where we play five weeks’ cricket [at a stretch] if we can to complete the Test championship.”I think the players are certainly enjoying that points system and the fact that every Test match counts for something and you are playing towards a premiership if you like. I think all players will be in favour of trying to finish that in any way we can. But again if it doesn’t happen as I said there are bigger issues in the world and missing a few Test matches isn’t going to hurt us.”Similarly, Paine spoke with equanimity when asked about the likely need for fixture clashes between cricket and football codes should health restrictions for coronavirus be relaxed late this year.”If that’s what happens, that’s what happens. We’re going through some pretty different circumstances clearly around the world at the moment,” Paine said when asked about the Twenty20 World Cup going head-to-head with the AFL. “I think all sporting codes and businesses are going to have to do things slightly differently going forward. Again it’s about working together, I think footy and cricket can help each other as much as society can in general in difficult times. For me personally I’d quite like to see both if I’m totally honest.”This week brought an end to Steven Smith’s two-year ban from captaincy in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, and Paine indicated that leadership would likely be a conversation topic with his No. 4 batsman. However he clarified that he had no intention to stand aside early to hand the captaincy reins back to Smith, also pointing out that there were a growing number of options around the national teams.”I haven’t had that conversation with Steve, I probably will at some stage no doubt,” Paine said. “But I think if you look at the fact he’s captaining Rajasthan Royals, captaining in The Hundred, it’s obviously something that he loves doing. So if Steve Smith decides that’s the way he wants to go, then I will fully support him in trying to do it again.”I know it’s a really big thing for JL [coach Justin Langer] and [CA chief executive] Kevin Roberts to make sure that we are developing a number of people when the role comes up, whether it’s the Test role or when [limited-overs captain] Aaron Finch decides that he’s had enough. We’ve got a number of guys to choose from.”At the moment, I’d like a Steve Smith who’s done it before or ones that are developing like a Travis Head or Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne. Pat Cummins is another one. We are starting to build a real depth and that’s what we want to do to make sure that when my time’s up, there are a number of options.”

The head coach also backed captain Sarfaraz Ahmed for his wicketkeeping form over recent months

Umar Farooq08-Feb-2019With under four months to go for the World Cup in England, Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has said the selectors and team management will look at the upcoming PSL and the ODI series against Australia before finalising a squad of 15 for the global tournament. Pakistan play 10 ODIs before the World Cup – five against Australia in the UAE after the PSL and five in England in May – and Arthur said he and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq had 19 players in mind and would want to have two game plans in place for the conditions in England during the summer.”Inzi and I have been on the same page for a long while here. And I’m going to be honest because I’ve told the boys in the dressing room the same thing the other night,” Arthur said in Lahore after returning from South Africa. “I think we’ve got probably 19 players for 15 positions. PSL always throws up one or two good individual performers, so we are going to have a look at some of our borderline players, the guys that we are not sure about. We have to look at them during the Australian series and then we will make our minds up leading into England, obviously we will be taking 15 there. The key is players get clarity in terms of their roles and role clarity is particularly important.”Pakistan have given opportunities to youngsters with the advent of the PSL in the last couple of years. With the T20 league starting in under a week, players will want to impress the selectors particularly for slots in the middle order and the fast-bowling attack. The current probables for the pace attack comprise Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Usman Shinwari and bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf. Among the spinners, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim are the likely candidates to make the trip to England.”The other thing that’s important for us is having an option with two game plans,” Arthur said. “I’m saying two game plans because the weather in England at any given time is very unpredictable, so we need an option where we have our spinners, who are able to suffocate through the middle [overs] because the key for us to win one-day games is about taking wickets through that middle period.”Either we do that with two spinners or little bit of reverse-swing if the weather stays dry, or if the weather is wet over that period of time there we have to have an option of a seam-bowling allrounder who can come in and bat at No. 7 for us. So we’re very close, we’ve covered all our bases in terms of our personnel at the moment.”Pakistan fought hard against South Africa in the ODIs, losing the series 3-2, but their form since they won the Champions Trophy in June 2017 hasn’t been impressive. They have won 15 of their 27 completed matches since then, completing series wins only against Sri Lanka, ranked eighth, and Zimbabwe. In this time they were also blanked 5-0 in New Zealand a year ago, won matches only against Hong Kong and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in September, and drew the three-match series 1-1 against New Zealand in the UAE in November.AFP

Looking back at the South Africa tour, where Pakistan lost the Test series 3-0, ODIs 3-2 and T20Is 2-1, Arthur said he was proud of the way the team showed their “passion” and “intensity”.”I just think it is really important that I reiterate how proud I am of the cricket team,” he said. “We were two months away on the road. Four-and-a-half months away is a hell of a long time and the intensity and the passion that these guys trained with has been fantastic. So, look I am very very proud, players are very proud, of the development of the lot of our young players.”We’ve played the most cricket over the last four-and-a-half months than any other team in the world. That’s not an excuse, I’m not using it as an excuse because that’s the way it is. We’ve got to handle that. India have a large pool of players available to them. We didn’t rotate our players as much because we are in a process, we need to educate them in all conditions so that’s exactly the decision we’ve made.”Our planning is done. We’ve got our schedules, we’ve got everything in place leading upto the World Cup. Myself, Inzamam and Sarfaraz [Ahmed] have been completely united in the process that we are going forward.”Even though Sarfaraz’s own form has been under scrutiny, he recently got the backing of the PCB to lead the team in the World Cup. He has averaged only 26.62 in 12 ODI innings over the last year, scoring only one half-century. But with his replacement Mohammad Rizwan not impressing much with the bat in two ODIs and three T20Is against South Africa, the pressure on Sarfaraz was not mounting and Arthur, too, backed the captain primarily for his wicketkeeping skills and form.”It’s very simple, we need to be very fluid with out game plans,” Arthur said. “Sarfaraz has done exceptional work for us up and down the order. I think the thing that we’ve got to realise is over a long tour, form comes and goes and players start playing well and then they slip off the radar a little bit, and we need to then be able to send our form players at any given minute. In terms of fluidity in our batting order it’s whoever is in form and what that situation demands at that particular time. If you see all the best teams in the world have the ability to be flexible. We’re trying to be as flexible as we can. If we didn’t give the opportunity to players in those positions we wouldn’t know.”Understand that Sarfaraz’s first and foremost thing is captain and wicketkeeper, people forget wicketkeeping is a specialist position. Sarfaraz’s numbers over the last four-and-a-half months are mindblowing, one catch dropped, one stumping missed. I can tell you I did the research on the plane coming last night, he’s dropped eight balls in four-and-a-half months, so he is not out of form in his core job. His core job is to keep wickets and to take the catches and make the stumpings, he’s done a job over four-and-a-half months.”Sarfaraz will be the first one to admit that his batting form has come and gone. We have worked exceptionally hard on Sarfaraz’s batting going forward. When Sarfaraz plays well, he wins games for us. I want to reiterate I am not worried about Sarfaraz’s form. Sarfaraz Ahmed is a very very good cricketer. He and I work incredibly close together, we’ve got very close working relationship, as good as I had with any captain. I just need to put that to bed.”

From allowing Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich to put on 212 for the eighth wicket to the soft dismissals of Solomon Mire and Craig Ervine, day four in Bulawayo didn’t go to plan for the hosts

Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo01-Nov-2017Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak admitted it would be tough for his side to bat themselves back into the match after conceding a 122-run first innings lead against West Indies in Bulawayo.”There’s still a long way to go, 92 overs,” he said. “And it’s slow going out there, not an easy wicket to score quickly on. So we’ve got to get through a session and get ourselves into a position where we can maybe consider giving them a target. But it’s very tough, especially with the deficit we’ve had to make up, and the pitch being so slow.”Zimbabwe found themselves 23 for 3 in their second innings before a half-century from Sikandar Raza – his second of the Test – took them to 140 for 4 at stumps.”There’s still a lot of cricket to be played tomorrow,” Streak said. “A hard fighting day and a hard fighting first session. It’s not too far until the new ball, and we’ve got to get through that and see if we get some sort of total to defend.”He added that, after several missed chances in the field, Zimbabwe had only themselves to blame for allowing Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich put on a record 212-run partnership. “They put us under pressure, and we didn’t help ourselves with a few dropped catches,” Streak said. “We’ve got ourselves to blame for giving them that lead, but we’ve just got to deal with where we’re at now.”He lamented the soft dismissals that heaped pressure on Zimbabwe’s middle order once again, suggesting that wickets in hand could have helped Zimbabwe push for more of a lead heading into the fifth day.”Hamilton [Masakadza] got out to a good ball that hooped back quite a bit, but then Solomon [Mire] got out to a soft dismissal even by his own standards,” Streak said, describing Mire’s swipe across the line at a ball from Kemar Roach that trapped him lbw. “He does play aggressively, but on that wicket and with that length, it’s very difficult to play that type of shot, especially on a fourth-day wicket when you’ve had a lot of evidence of balls keeping low. So those are the sorts of dismissals we want to get rid of. Even Craig Ervine, if he’s honest with himself, got out to a pretty soft dismissal. It wasn’t like the ball did a heck of a lot.”If we had taken maybe two wickets off there, Mire and Ervine’s wickets, then it’s 140 for 2 and that’s a pretty good score. We’d have wickets in hand if we want to push on and try and get some sort of lead and put them in.”One bright point for Streak was the batting of Raza and Peter Moor, who reined in his attacking instincts to finish on 39 not out from 152 balls at the close. ” PJ [Moor] is a very determined guy first of all, and he’s a very intelligent guy who has worked out watching the other guys,” Streak said. “It’s not easy to just go out there and play shots, so he’s adjusted his game accordingly to the wicket. His batting in the first innings has also given him some insight into how to do it. Anyone who has gone out there and batted for a period of time, you can see there haven’t been easy or free flowing innings from anyone.”Apart from being slow, the pitch also fell short of Zimbabwe’s expectations in terms of help for the spinners. “Having a bit of cool weather around, has meant that the wicket hasn’t dried and dusted up as much as we would have liked,” Streak said. “So it’s been a little more placid than what we’d hoped. We wanted a wicket that would spin and break up, but the weather conditions on day one and two made the deterioration of the wicket much slower than it ought to be. Normally in October you get hot, dry days and then that deterioration happens a lot quicker.”

Nottinghamshire and Middlesex go into the final day of this match with everything at stake

George Dobell at Trent Bridge08-Sep-2016
ScorecardJake Ball took out the top three•Getty Images

There was a time, not so long ago, when these late season Championship encounters held little significance. Sure, one team might be challenging for a title but, as recently as 20 years ago, such matches very often lacked relevance or competitive edge. The season drifted off to sleep with the same gentle familiarity as “Sailing By” and the Shipping Forecast.Not any more. Here we are in the second week of September and Nottinghamshire and Middlesex go into the final day of this match with everything at stake. The side that loses will be relegated or see their hopes of a Championship title severely dented. Both have to win. Both can win. We are all set for a classic at Trent Bridge.So, as county cricket tears itself apart in the quest for a few dollars more – or a few million dollars more – it is worth reflecting on one of the great success stories of recent years: promotion and relegation works. It has improved county cricket markedly. It has made it tougher, more interesting. And, partially as a result of the increased edge to the competition, England’s players go into the fierce environment of Test cricket better prepared for the rigours they will face.It is no coincidence that England have won five of the last seven Ashes series; no coincidence that the side that reached No. 1 in 2011 contained four men in the top seven (Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior) who made centuries on Test debut – two others, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, made half-centuries – and a bowler (James Anderson) who started with a five-wicket haul. We risk diluting the success of the Test team when we meddle with its foundations.That Nottinghamshire’s hopes of survival remain just about alive is largely due to some decent batting from Steven Mullaney and Brett Hutton and another incisive new-ball spell from Jake Ball. Ball’s fitness levels might need to improve if he is to enjoy a long Test career – unlike Chris Woakes, for example, it is noticeable that his fourth spell is significantly less hostile than his first, irrespective of the softening of the ball – but with the new ball he is, already, a terrific bowler.After taking a hat-trick in the first over of Middlesex’s first innings, he struck first ball in their second. And if Nick Gubbins, so compact and calm around, might regret being drawn into pushing at one he could have left well alone, the delivery that accounted for Sam Robson – nipping in sharply and taking the off stump as Robson tried to leave it – was a gem.There was a revealing irony in that dismissal. As Nick Compton went out to bat in the first innings, Robson warned him to watch out for the booming outswing that had just dismissed him. Moments later Compton was walking off having been trapped in front by one that cut back. Here Robson had been undone by the same trick. It bodes well for Ball, and England, that he has such skills. If Nottinghamshire do go down, second division batsmen face quite a challenge next year.Dawid Malan, also beaten by one that nipped back, but this time to the left-hander from round the wicket, also departed before the close. Middlesex bat pretty deep – Toby Roland-Jones is a No. 9 who could be a No. 6 – but Notts will know the allrounders will be padded up in the morning.At his best, this is the sort of situation Compton would have relished. But now? He has had looked a defeated man at times this summer, beset by the doubts and scars that torture nearly all batsmen in the end. But perhaps this challenge – and it is a hell of a challenge – might be yet the thing to reinvigorate him, entwine him to the heart of this team’s title challenge and prove to himself what most of those watching will know: at this level, at least, he remains a class act with much more to give.Batting on the fourth day is unlikely to prove easy. Samit Patel, again looking as solid as anyone (technically rather than physically), was undone by one that cut back and kept horribly low while, in the final over of the day, Compton was beaten by a legbreak from Imran Tahir that turned so sharply you imagine Don Bradman, at his best, might just have been good enough to edge it.Middlesex did not bowl especially well earlier in the day. While Steven Finn finished with three wickets, he gained two with balls that might uncharitably be described as long-hops – certainly the one that Michael Lumb edged as he tried to cut would have to be described that way – and the other with a leg-before decision that seemed to be heading down the leg side. They may yet regret allowing Notts to score 50 or so more than might have been the case.But the fragility of Nottinghamshire’s batting has let them down all campaign. Here, they fought for a while, but like addicts slipping back into bad habits, they couldn’t resist for long. A waft here; a poke there: at least three of the top four will reflect that they played a huge part in their own downfall.Jake Libby, poking at one without moving his feet, was first to go, before Tom Moores slashed to point and Lumb tried to hit his cut too hard. None of them averages 30 in the campaign. And while that can be tolerated for a couple of youngsters learning their trade at this level, it requires compensation from senior players. There has been none of that compensation this year, with nobody in this team averaging even 38 and only Mullaney averaging more than 35.He batted nicely here. He plays the cover drive as nicely as anyone in the county game and has an efficient cut that was well fed by a diet of Finn long hops. Hutton, too, attacked selectively and eked out 40 runs for the last two wickets that might yet save his county from the drop.But the sense that Notts had failed to take advantage of a slightly off-colour display from Middlesex was underlined by the manner in which they lost their last three wickets: Ball missed an attempted whip into the leg side; Imran slogged one to cow corner – where Roland-Jones clung on to an outstanding catch leaning backwards having originally misjudged his run and lost sight of the ball in the sun – and Harry Gurney was run-out. Each one of them was unnecessary and, in a match – a season, even – where another 10 runs might yet prove crucial, just a bit sloppy. Ollie Rayner finished with four wickets without ever looking particularly dangerous on a surface offering him some assistance.Still, it all leaves this match beautifully poised. Triumph and disaster loom. It will be painful for some but it’s meant to matter. And the fact that it still does, at this late stage of the season, is something to savour.

Sussex fans in the NatWest Blast quarter-final at Hove were told by an ECB official to stop protesting about the possibility of T20 city franchises – and the possibility is receding in any event

David Hopps13-Aug-2015Sussex fans in the first NatWest Blast quarter-final were ordered by an ECB employee to take down a banner protesting against the possibility of a city-based T20 tournament in England as unease over the future direction of the English game spilled onto the terraces for the first time.Perhaps the banners can be stored away for the time being, in any case. Traditionalists on the terraces can relax – a huge rise in attendances for this season’s NatWest Blast has begun to counter calls for revolution.The banner stating Say No To City Franchises was smuggled into Hove and displayed at times during the first Blast quarter-final between Sussex and Northants, but when the protests continued at the after-match presentation, an ECB official politely intervened. Although no reason was given, disrupting the post-match coverage was presumably seen as an act too far.Tension among traditional county fans about the future direction of T20 cricket in England has been an underlying theme of the summer as the ECB has undertaken a summer of private consultation in its search for a way to rid the professional game of joint debts of around £110m and reports have surfaced of a possible eight-team city league.But the panic, for the moment is overstated. County chief executives and chairmen have been assured by the ECB heirarchy that there will be no rush to make changes before the broadcasting deal ends in 2019.Strong resistance among the counties was partly responsible for that, as those eager for change, such as the new ECB chief executive Tom Harrison, recognised the futility of his revolutionary zeal, but there are other reasons too.There are two major international tournaments in England in that time – a Champions Trophy and a World Cup – and to damage those by internal wrangles would be unforgiveable. The commercial landscape is also changing rapidly and the argument over some form of free-to-air coverage is still raging.This year’s NatWest Blast has also made great strides – attendances have risen by around 20-25% with some counties, Birmingham and Yorkshire among them, showing particularly marked rises.Sky, who already pay more than £260m over four years for broadcasting rights to English cricket, were reported last month to favour a deal for an eight-team city-based Twenty20 competition intended to rival IPL and the Australian Big Bash. The proposed deal would have seen the new Twenty20 league shoe-horned into a compact July window, with assurances that centrally-contracted England players would be freed to take part by a reduced international schedule.Counties could potentially be around £2m a year richer if such an outcome came to pass. This would effectively more than double the annual share-out from the ECB, but the suggestion caused trepidation among many counties that under such a scenario they could be left with a lot of money but reduced credibility.A proposal to run two T20 tournaments – one involving city franchises, one retaining the 18-team structure – would also entail the slashing of the Championship to 12 matches and could render the county tournament a second-class citizen and, as such, risk its eventual collapse.All that encouraged whispers of a rebellion against the new ECB power brokers, not just Harrison, but head of commercial Sanjay Patel and chairman Colin Graves, leading Harrison to write to the counties to seek to appease the most implacable opponents.Graves, who has repeatedly said that county cricket needs to pay its way, is thought to favour a city-based T20 series which would be played in a block with nightly TV matches and aim to attract the biggest international stars.The term “franchise” is misleading, however. Even under the most radical English model, teams would be owned by the ECB, or the counties hosting the matches, not by private companies, so ensuring that money remained in the game for the general good.One compromise still being pushed in some quarters is simply to adopt two divisions of nine with promotion and relegation and market the First Division far more aggressively, but even that compromise might not necessarily be adopted if the rising attendances this summer continue into next season and empower those who argue the current system can succeed.A switch to two divisions carries an assumption that the counties with larger international grounds would eventually come to the fore, but there has been little sign of that this season, with only three of the eight qualifiers for the NatWest Blast from the Test match counties.More will become clear when a working party under the chairmanship of the Warwickshire chief executive, Colin Povey, reports in the autumn – perhaps one of the last acts before Povey stands down as Warwickshire’s chief executive.This story was updated at 1700 on August 13 with additional information

Oli Stone, the England Under-19 captain, took four wickets to earn his team a 119-run lead on the second day in Cape Town

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2013
ScorecardOli Stone, the England Under-19 captain, took four wickets to earn his team a 119-run lead on the second day in Cape Town.Stone was not the original captain for the trip but replaced the injured Shiv Thakor last week. He did not bring himself into the attack until six other bowlers had been used, after suffering a dislocated finger in the warm-up match, but soon made an impact with two wickets in two balls removing South Africa’s top-scorer, Murray Coetzee (50), and Vassilli Orros as the home side slipped to 120 for 5.He claimed two further wickets to complete an efficient display by England who had earlier extended their first innings to 313. Ed Barnard, who scored a century on the opening day, was only able to add seven to his overnight score before being bowled sweeping.South Africa made a solid start in reply before Harry Finch, a 17-year-old from Sussex, had Andries Gous and Shaylin Pillay caught behind in quick succession. A partnership of 60 between Coetzee and Diego Rosier, the captain, followed to leave the game evenly balance but Miles Hammond had Rosier lbw to start the collapse.