Stats highlights from the first day’s play at Lord’s where Misbah and Shafiq rescued Pakistan after a false start

Bharath Seervi14-Jul-20160 Number of captains who scored a century at an older age than Misbah-ul-Haq’s 42 years, 47 days in the history of Tests. The previous oldest captain to make a Test century was Bob Simpson at 41 years, 359 days against India in Adelaide in 1977-78. This is Misbah’s fifth-century after turning 40, all have come as captain; no captain scored more than three centuries after 40.8 Centuries for Misbah as captain in Tests, which is the most by a Pakistan captain. He went past Inzamam-ul-Haq’s seven centuries as captain. Misbah had scored only two centuries as non-captain in 33 innings compared to eight hundreds in 74 innings as captain.90 Years since an older batsman scored a Test century at Lord’s. There have been only two such instances, and both were in the same Test: in 1926, Australia’s Warren Bardsley scored one at the age of 43 years and 202 days, and Jack Hobbs, just ten days younger, responded with a hundred as well.5 Batsmen older than Misbah who have scored Test hundreds: Hobbs has done it four times, while Patsy Hendren, Bardsley, Dave Nourse and Frank Woolley have achieved it once each. The last of those innings was in 1934, which means Misbah is the oldest batsman to score a Test hundred in the last 82 years.7 Number of century stands between Misbah and Asad Shafiq for the fifth-wicket in Tests – the most by any pair. They went past Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh who had shared six such stands for the fifth-wicket. The 148-run stand in this innings is Pakistan’s fourth-highest for any wicket in Tests at Lord’s.139.13 Misbah’s strike rate against Moeen Ali at the end of the first day. Misbah made 32 runs off 23 balls against Moeen hitting seven fours. 24 of those runs came behind the wicket – 12 on each side with three fours each. Against other batsmen, Moeen conceded 14 runs in 19 balls. Misbah scored 41 off Steven Finn’s 50 deliveries to him. Misbah, therefore, scored 73 runs off these two bowlers at a strike rate of 100 and 37 runs off the other bowlers at a strike rate of 34.90.13 Number of fours hit by Misbah behind the wicket, out of the 18 fours by the end of first day’s play. He scored 63 out of the 110 runs behind the wicket – 29 runs on the off-side and 34 on the leg-side.3 Number of Pakistan captains who scored a century in their maiden Test innings in England, including Misbah. The first two were: Hanif Mohammad (187*), also at Lord’s, in 1967 and Javed Miandad (153*) at Edgbaston in 1992. Unlike Misbah, they had played Tests in England before doing that as a captain. Misbah is only the fifth player to play his first Test innings in England as a captain and also score a century. The others being Graeme Smith, Alan Melville, Duleep Mendis and Angelo Mathews.76 The previous highest score by a Pakistan player in his maiden Test innings at Lord’s, by Asif Iqbal who scored those runs at No. 9 in 1967. Misbah has scored a century in his maiden Test innings here. Two Pakistan batsmen, Javed Burki and Nasim-ul-Ghani, made centuries (both made 101) in their first Test at Lord’s, in 1962, in their team’s second innings. Shafiq, who is also playing in England for the first time, made 73 which is joint fourth-highest by a Pakistan player in his maiden Test innings at Lord’s.0 Number of four-wicket hauls for Chris Woakes in Tests, before this. He took 4 for 45 by the end of first days’s play – his first such haul in career of nine Tests. His previous best figures were 3 for 9 against Sri Lanka in Durham earlier this year.7 Number of consecutive Tests for Pakistan outside UAE where their openers have failed to score a fifty in the first innings of the match, which includes the first innings of this Test as well. The last fifty-plus score by an Pakistan opener in the first innings of an away Test was Mohammad Hafeez’s 196 at the SSC in Colombo in 2012. Since then, in 14 innings there have been seven single-digit scores by them with highest of 42.6 Number of times Younis Khan has been dismissed by Stuart Broad in seven Tests, which is the most by any England bowler since Broad’s debut. In this period, all the other England bowlers combined have dismissed Younis only six times. Overall, Younis has never got out more than three times to any other England bowler.

Stats highlights from the third round of the tournament include Goa’s first triple-centurion and Gujarat’s biggest win by runs. Also, the new trend of Delhi’s innings defeats

Bharath Seervi24-Oct-20161 Sagun Kamat became Goa’s first triple-centurion in first-class matches with his 304 against Services. The previous best for Goa was Swapnil Asnodkar’s 254 not out, against Railways in 2007-08. Kamat’s was the sixth 200-plus score for Goa and it helped his side post their first 600-plus total.8 Captains who have scored triple-centuries in the Ranji Trophy. There have been two this season – Swapnil Gugale’s 351 not out in the second round and Kamat’s 304 not out in the third. This is the first Ranji Trophy season where more than one captain has scored a triple-century.

1 Jaydev Shah is the only Saurashtra captain who has scored a double-century in first-class matches. He made 217 against Maharashtra in the third round, having fallen seven runs short against Rajasthan in the first round. He is the only Saurashtra batsman to have scored two centuries in this season so far.159* Iqbal Abdulla’s score, batting at No. 8 against Hyderabad, is the highest by a Kerala batsman at No. 6 or lower. The previous best by a Kerala player at No. 6 or lower was Sreekumar Nair’s 147 against Saurashtra in 2002-03. This was Abdulla’s second first-class century; in both instances, he scored more than 150 at No. 8 or lower. In the last ten Ranji Trophy seasons, no other player apart from Abdulla has scored more than one 150-plus score batting at No. 8 or lower.1 Bowler to take a hat-trick for Tripura. Rana Dutta, playing against Himachal Pradesh, took the first hat-trick for Tripura in first-class cricket history. This was the fourth hat-trick against Himachal Pradesh; the last one against them was by Sreesanth in 2004-05. Dutta ended with figures of 6 for 58, his best innings haul in first-class cricket.294 Gujarat’s victory margin against Railways, their biggest in terms of runs in the Ranji Trophy. It came despite them being bowled out for 187 in their first innings. Their previous-biggest margin of victory was 293 runs against Saurashtra in 1960-61.4 Innings defeats for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy over the last 30 years, including their recent loss by an innings and 160 runs to Karnataka. All four defeats have come in the last nine seasons. Between 1981-82 and 2008-09, Delhi never lost by an innings. Delhi scored 90 and 164 in two innings against Karnataka, after making big totals of 589 for 8 and 590 in their first two matches. They won their first game of this season, against Assam, by an innings and 83 runs.2 Totals in excess of 500 runs for Tripura in the Ranji Trophy. They made 549 against Himachal Pradesh in the third round. Their first such total was 650 for 8, against Hyderabad in 2013-14.

He was out of Test cricket for three years before he became Zimbabwe’s captain. He had a batting average of 10.75 before he made a century

Tristan Holme in Harare31-Oct-2016Graeme Cremer does not tend to attract much attention, but there is a story about Zimbabwe’s captain that provides some insight into his character.He had been rested for a warm-up match against West Indies in Sharjah in March ahead of the World T20 but after Neville Madziva injured a finger while fielding, Cremer had no problem stepping in. He took a good catch on the boundary and then insisted on batting when Zimbabwe collapsed. “That’s Graeme – always wanting to improve his game,” Kenyon Ziehl, who was there as Zimbabwe’s selection convenor, said.Cremer took on a short ball from Dwayne Bravo and fractured his left forearm. The X-rays showed numerous splinters, but “he wanted to put the arm in a cast and get on the plane to India for the World T20”, Ziehl said. “He was even willing to sign an indemnity form. In the end we had to make a call based on his health, because the medical advice was that one of the shards of bone could have got into his nervous system or his blood stream.”Such determination has not been been evident in Zimbabwe’s cricket of late. As a team they often deserve sympathy for the conditions they are expected to operate in, but at the same time there is also the feeling that they are all too happy to fall back on those excuses – at least in their own minds – when things invariably get tough in the middle.

The irony is that while he saves Zimbabwe from humiliation, Cremer often leaves the batsmen that preceded him red in the face

Since taking over as captain in June, Cremer has shown – through actions rather than words – that he is not one to utilise the get-out clause. As a result he has often been the difference between heavy defeat and abject humiliation.Cremer began his first Test as captain – against New Zealand in July – having not played the format in over three years. He could have easily hidden himself but he bowled 53 out of 166.5 overs and contributed 33 runs as well, occupying the crease for three hours and helping Sean Williams drag Zimbabwe up from 17 for 4 in the second innings.In Harare against Sri Lanka, Cremer had bowled 42 overs, most of them during the toughest phases of the innings, for four hard-earned wickets. Then, when Zimbabwe were 139 for 6, trailing by 398 runs with only four wickets in hand, Cremer responded with an innings few thought possible of a batsman averaging 10.75 in Test cricket.It began innocently enough, with him holding an end up as Peter Moor counterattacked, hitting two clean sixes down the ground. “I think we bat quite well together because he plays some big shots and keeps the scoreboard ticking, and I know that I can block out a maiden if I need to and just get off strike,” Cremer said.The irony is that while he saves Zimbabwe from humiliation, Cremer often leaves the batsmen that preceded him red in the face. There’s nothing flash about a player who often batted last in his school teams – he has an elegant forward push that brought seven of his 10 fours through cover, but otherwise he remains compact, picks up the length well and, crucially, doesn’t do anything stupid.Graeme Cremer and wicketkeeper Peter Moor were a good combination while batting too•Associated PressBy the evening, Moor had fallen for 79 but Cremer was still there, pinching singles with the tail to get a maiden Test century, before celebrating in a manner that suggested he was also pinching himself. “It’s very special – I hadn’t got fifty before in Test cricket and I don’t even have a five-for yet,” he said. “When I got to 75, I started thinking, ‘There’s a chance here.’ Then I thought I might run out of partners. It was an awesome feeling to get that one run to get to a hundred.”Cremer’s influence appears to be rubbing off on some of the newer members of his side, notably Moor and seamer Donald Tiripano. Moor’s attitude has been evident since the ODI series against India in June. When a journalist commiserated with him over a marginal lbw decision, he brushed the comment off and instead took responsibility for his actions. “I should have hit it,” he said.That no-excuses approach has been drilled into Zimbabwe since Heath Streak, who also scored his Test century as a No. 8 and captain, was appointed as head coach.”We spoke about that as soon as Streaky came in,” said Cremer. “We can carry on whining about things that happen to us and we just keep going backwards, or we try and turn it around and be a lot more positive as a unit, and show what we can do out there. Whatever happens then is out of our control. There’s a good positive attitude in the changing room and it’s good to see for a change.”The Zimbabwe side that Streak was a part of was widely respected not because they won very match, but for an attitude that helped them punch above their weight. When Hamilton Masakadza was axed as captain earlier this year, with Zimbabwe at a particularly low ebb, one wondered what kind of leader might serve them best, especially given few available options. By embodying the sort of grit that has so often been lacking, Cremer has answered the question in his own quiet style – and notched an unlikely Test hundred while he was at it.

Some of the players who were lost to injury and form are set to return as South Africa seek to begin a climb back up the Test rankings

Firdose Moonda15-Aug-2016The only thing most stomachs want after their bodies have been violently ill is to settle. Dry toast and black tea, a hot-water bottle, an extended period of bed rest without much to challenge the brain or body so the internal storm can pass.South Africa’s Test team is that stomach. The next two weeks is it’s chance to settle. But circumstances may not allow it to do so completely.The 2015-16 summer was the team’s worst in recent memory. They lost back-to-back series against India and England, they tumbled off the No.1 ranking and slipped to the bottom half. They lost their premier pace bowlers to injuries, their senior batsmen to bad form and even their captain.Now that 2016-17 has arrived, South Africa only have some of that back, but they have to start somewhere as they seek to begin a climb back up the rankings.”We’ve got to go back to the basics of our game,” opening batsman Dean Elgar said. “In the last two seasons we haven’t really done that well. We’ve a lot of chopping and changing throughout the team, whether that was from a selection point of view or because of injury. So we’ve got to establish ourselves in world cricket again by ticking the boxes, doing the right things correctly.”The shifting in the South African XI has stopped at the top, where Elgar will have his third opening partner in as many home series, except his one seems set to stay. Stephen Cook, who succeeded Stiaan van Zyl and Alviro Petersen, has been identified as the medium-term solution, and Elgar seems hopeful he can bring stability to the early part of innings.”I think Stephen has played 15 years of first-class cricket. So he’s very well established in that position. He’s opened the batting for 100% of his career. So he’s definitely the man for the job,” Elgar said.But that is where some of the certainty ends. The middle order can look imposing, but remains in limbo with Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy keeping their places in the squad – du Plessis has been elevated to lead the side in AB de Villiers’ absence – despite being dropped last summer. Add to it the inexperience of Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock.The risk of too much change by blooding someone new has forced South Africa’s selectors to stick to the names they know, and hope they perform better than they did last summer. “We might not have had the results in the past but we know that the crop we have now – the squad and the back-up – are definitely the guys for the job,” Elgar said.In the bowling department, South Africa will welcome back two old hands in Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, who missed large parts of last summer with injuries. To compensate, South Africa stacked their pace pack with options including Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell and Chris Morris. Against New Zealand, they will likely have to pick three of the six to play.At least, they have limited the spin choice to just one person – Dane Piedt – and have ensured that six other members of the Test squad have done some pre-series preparation so they are not caught undercooked, as South Africa so often are.South Africa sent A teams to Zimbabwe and Australia, under Cook’s captaincy, with Elgar, Parnell, Philander, Piedt and van Zyl all in the touring party. The results, however, were not entirely pleasing. After winning the Zimbabwe series 1-0, South Africa A lost both matches in Australia, leaving themselves open to questions over the quality of their depth.”It’s not that bad. Most of the guys in Australia had a good run out,” Elgar reasoned. “It was challenging cricket. Sometimes it’s good to have that first up. We know what we need to do and we know how to prepare before a series. The guys aren’t taking it lightly. The intensity throughout the squad is possibly the best I’ve seen it.”Still, he could not help himself from gazing across at the opposition camp where the stomach bug has long passed and everyone is in good health. “They’ve had quite a bit of success throughout the last season or two. They seem to be a lot more established with regard to their roles in the team. It’s going to be a massive challenge for us but we don’t see it as a bad thing. We see it as something we can look forward to and try and test ourselves and see where we are as a team by playing a very good side.”

Stats highlights from a day on which West Indies edged past Pakistan in Sharjah

Bharath Seervi01-Nov-20165 Number of West Indies batsmen who have carried their bat through a Test innings. Kraigg Brathwaite became the fifth. The only other West Indies batsman to carry his bat in the last 20 years was Chris Gayle, against Australia at Adelaide Oval in 2009-10. The three instances prior to Gayle were all by Desmond Haynes, between 1986 and 1993. Frank Worrell (1957) and Conrad Hunte (165) were the other two to achieve this feat.9 Instances of batsmen carrying their bat against Pakistan – the second-most against any side. Three of the last four instances against Pakistan, before Brathwaite, were by Zimbabwe players. There were five instances of batsmen doing this against Pakistan in 1990s but Brathwaite is only the second since 2000. The team against which this has happened the most is England (13 times), and the least is against Sri Lanka (twice).1 Only one of the previous six instances of West Indies batsmen carrying their bat have resulted in wins – Haynes (143*) against Pakistan in Port of Spain in 1992-93. Overall, only 13 of the previous 50 instances have resulted in wins.3 Batsmen who have carried their bat in the last 14 months. Dean Elgar and Cheteshwar Pujara did this last year. There were no such instances for about three-and-a-half years between January 2012 and August 2015.13 Before this match, West Indies had failed to take a lead in 13 consecutive Tests when batting second. In those matches, they conceded an average lead of 204. In away matches, when batting second, in matches excluding Bangladesh, the last time West Indies took a lead was way back in 2006 in Multan.3 Number of top-order batsman (Nos. 1 to 6) to bag two pairs in a year – Asad Shafiq became the third. The previous two were: Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 and Mark Waugh in 1992. Both Amarnath and Waugh had got those pairs in the same series, unlike Shafiq. Shafiq is only the second Pakistan player from any batting position to get two pairs in a year after Shabbir Ahmed in 2005.2 Instances of Pakistan’s top-four batsmen aggregating four ducks in a Test. The only previous instance was also in Sharjah, in 2002-03, against Australia. In this match, Shafiq got a pair, Azhar Ali scored zero in the first innings and Younis Khan in the second. This was Younis’ fourth duck in the UAE, and his third in Sharjah.2 Pakistan’s 281 in this Test was the second smallest total in a completed Test innings to include four individual fifty-plus scores. New Zealand had scored only 275 in an innings inclusive of four fifties against Pakistan in Hamilton in 2010-11.2 Five-wicket hauls for Wahab Riaz. This is his 20th Test. His first five-for was against England at The Oval in 2010 on his debut, and the second came in this match after a gap of six years.1 Number of three-wicket hauls for Jason Holder in Tests prior to this series, in 17 matches. In this series he has had two such hauls, including the one in the second innings of this Test. This is only his second series, out of eight, in which he has taken more than five wickets. In the four matches of the home series against India recently, he had taken only one wicket.

With a defeat-strewn year coming to an end, and seven months of red-ball inactivity approaching, England need to take a long, hard look at the future of their Test captaincy

Andrew Miller14-Dec-2016You don’t need to have been in the same room as Trevor Bayliss to pick up his exasperated tones as he addressed – not for the last time, you suspect – the status of Alastair Cook as England’s Test captain.”I suppose if you guys keep talking about it enough, he’ll start believing it at some stage,” Bayliss told reporters in Mumbai, in response to speculation that England’s most-capped Test captain is on the brink of calling it a day.It wasn’t, in fairness, the ideal time for such an issue to bubble to the surface. England’s surrender in the fourth Test was as bruising as any of the sizeable beatings they’ve endured in recent months – only two teams in history had previously managed to lose by an innings after posting 400 first time out – and they’ve still got a gruelling finale in Chennai to come.But equally, it was disingenuous for Bayliss to dress the furore up as some sort of an end-of-a-losing-series scapegoat-seeking frenzy (as can, admittedly, be the case on some occasions).After all, it was Cook himself who invited the line of enquiry with his pre-series admission that the end of his reign could be nigh, while Bayliss ramped up the inquisition, after England’s defeat in the third Test, by revealing that he had ‘stepped up’ his presence in the dressing-room – an intervention that he must have known would be interpreted as a comment on Cook’s passive leadership, particularly in Visakhapatnam and Mohali.You can dress up the details in whatever finery you like (and nothing looks like being decided until Cook has sat down with his old captain and opening partner, Andrew Strauss, for a debrief in January) but there is no escaping the conclusion that a fork in England’s path has been reached.That much is as clear from England’s itinerary as their statistics. Never mind the seven Test defeats that they have suffered in 2016 (one more in Chennai will equal their record for a calendar year), it is the seven long months of Test inactivity that are of greater significance to Cook and England. The team’s attentions are about to turn to white-ball cricket on a scale never witnessed in their history – and who knows where that will leave the skipper, should he seek a return to his role against South Africa in July.England have endured longer breaks between Test matches in the past – most recently the eight-month hiatus around the 2015 World Cup – but Cook, of course, was the ODI captain as well going into that spell, only to be jettisoned, with a cruel but overdue lack of ceremony, in the final run-up to the tournament. As a consequence, he is about to spend longer out of an England shirt than at any previous point in his career.There’s no point in conflating the events of that sorry winter with the circumstances of this one, except to point out that Cook’s appointment as England’s one-day captain – recalled from outside the squad after Strauss’s resignation in 2011 – had been the ultimate symptom of the format’s second-class status in the eyes of the ECB. And, by extension, his removal was the catalyst to the white-ball revolution that followed.That upheaval came too late to salvage any dignity at the World Cup, but this coming period – culminating in a home Champions Trophy and a plausible shot at a first ICC global 50-overs trophy – is the first real test of the ECB’s new resolve, ahead of the 2019 World Cup, to treat one-day cricket as an equal priority.And with that in mind, if Bayliss is getting twitchy about the team’s lack of “positivity” under Cook’s leadership, albeit in a different format, then you’ll just have to trust his judgment on that one, at least until there’s sufficient reason to doubt it. After all, nine months ago, many of the same players who have been cowed into submission on this trip had so enjoyed their last visit to India that they came within four fateful deliveries of winning the World T20.It may well be true that Australia’s recent Test struggles expose the long-term folly of focussing too much attention on the white-ball game. But England have spent too many years swimming against the tide not to go with the flow while they can, and given that one of their most consistent performers in the last two Tests was Jos Buttler, a man who says that a lack of first-class cricket was the secret to his success, there seems already to be circumstantial evidence to back up Bayliss’s attention to mindset.Where all of that leaves Cook is both crystal-clear … and clear as mud. What cannot be in any doubt is his enduring importance as England’s totem of Test batsmanship. Talking of mindset, when Cook sets his mind to bat all day, it becomes one of the most unbreakable substances known to man. He has not missed a Test match since his first visit to Mumbai in March 2006, and he is not scheduled to miss another until the date that he so chooses.Cook will be 32 years young on Christmas Day, and it’s still debatable whether he has yet broken sweat, let alone a bone, in the course of an extraordinary career. With 10,998 Test runs to his name already, he has the chance to set records that may never be challenged.None of those remarkable facts, however, have any bearing whatsoever on Cook’s aptitude as a leader, or indeed his suitability to be Bayliss’s right-hand man in England’s long-form planning, and those are the only aspects of his game that are up for debate as the India tour draws to its conclusion.It is not that Cook even looks weary after four years as England’s full-time Test captain – certainly not to the extent that his predecessors have tended to be after this length of time in charge. Only during his annus horriblis in 2014 did his seemingly limitless reserves of mental strength come flickering to the brink of exhaustion.But nevertheless, he has carried himself with an air of … well, resignation, throughout this winter’s tour of the subcontinent. Who knows what toll his personal life has taken on this trip – he met his newborn daughter for a matter of hours before jetting off to rejoin the squad in Bangladesh two months ago, and that is a sacrifice that would cut any family man to the quick. But Cook will know that his own returns haven’t come close to the standards he sets himself, particularly in Asia, where his record as an overseas batsman is unrivalled.Form-wise, Cook has drifted into what is, for him, an unusual limbo – neither drastically lacking in touch, nor capable of grinding his good starts into towering finishes; as a captain, he’s clearly struggled to make the best of the men at his disposal, and there’s no disgrace in that.And yet, if you look at Cook’s opposite number, Virat Kohli – in the form of his life with the bat, but living every moment in the field as India’s most fired-up leader since Sourav Ganguly – or if you look back at the methods and mien of other recent England captains – the passion of Nasser Hussain, the tactical wit of Michael Vaughan, even the officer-class detachment of Strauss – you’d be entitled to wonder whether a squad with this much talent should be looking quite this defeated after a series in which they had moments of genuine opportunity in three of the four matches. As the People’s Front of Judea might have asked of the Romans, “apart from a mountain of runs, a record-breaking run of appearances, two Ashes victories and famous series wins in India and South Africa, what exactly has Alastair Cook ever brought to the England captaincy?”Well, his time as leader has spanned 58 Tests to date, the most by an England captain, and in winning 24 of those, he has already matched Strauss’s mark and is two shy of Vaughan’s all-time record of 26. However, he’s also on the brink of a far less coveted record. Should England succumb to another defeat in Chennai, Cook would also overhaul Michael Atherton as the most defeated England captain in history.Somewhere between those two figures lies a verdict on Cook’s time as England captain. It’s not that he has been a poor leader – far from it. If you were to take only his first full series in charge, his stunning assault on India’s citadels in 2012-13, he would go down in history as the warrior-leader of one of England’s greatest series wins of all time.But for much of the rest of his reign, Cook has led with an imperceptible listlessness that has, at times, drawn brutal criticism – most notably from Shane Warne, though he’s hardly been alone in his frustrations. Though cut from the same conservative cloth as his friend and predecessor Strauss, he has somehow never forged the same captaincy credentials. The ECB let him down terribly in their (mis-)management of the Pietersen affair, but even before that debacle, Cook had been struggling to forge an identity independent of his Essex mentors, Andy Flower and Graham Gooch. For a man of such singular resolve, it has remained a curious dichotomy.The Lord’s Test against New Zealand in 2015 gave a fleeting glimpse of what Alastair Cook’s old-pro leadership could look like when surrounded by young guns•Getty ImagesOverall, Cook’s batting hasn’t suffered in the manner of his predecessors (in fact his average is a few decimal points higher when captain than not) which is one tenuous reason not to do anything so rash as to hand the reins to Joe Root before the Ashes. More tellingly, however, his runs haven’t really contributed to any grander narrative. England haven’t won three Tests in a row – even on home soil – since battling back from 0-1 down to beat India 3-1 in 2014, while Cook’s overall record since 2015, the year in which he was left to focus on Test cricket, has been a decidedly limp: W12, L13.That final statistic is perhaps the most galling, for it speaks of a failure to shore up England’s standards in the form of the game that they still profess to hold most dear. Even last summer’s Ashes redemption was punctuated by two of the most towelling defeats you could ever wish to experience in a winning cause.There have been fleeting glimpses of what Cook’s old-pro leadership could look like when surrounded by his team of young guns – most tantalisingly during his epic hundred against New Zealand at Lord’s in 2015 – but for the most part, he’s seemed either to try to lead where others cannot follow (take his Vizag rearguard, for instance), or, perhaps more worryingly, he’s felt the need to adapt his own style to meet the new dressing-room imperatives. That way madness lies – the Cook of 2012-13 would never have danced out of his crease to be stumped for 46 from 60 balls, as he did on the first morning in Mumbai.And for all his protestations about wanting to carry on working with Cook for the foreseeable future, these are issues that Bayliss (whose own Test record is a must-do-better W10 L11) knows he needs to address with less than a year to go until the next Ashes curtain-raiser in Brisbane.”We have a chat before every day’s play about what the message will be to the boys and the way we want to play,” said Bayliss of his relationship with Cook. “Nothing is ever 100%, it’s like selection, you don’t want the same philosophy from every selector, you want different thoughts and ideas. So at different times we’ve come from a little bit of a different angle but, in the end, we go into the team singing from the same hymn-sheet.”Differences in style where captains and coaches are concerned are often a very good thing – Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher hardly seemed like natural bedfellows, after all. And nobody is seriously suggesting that England’s Test brains trust are at each other’s throats. But could it be that seeking consensus is precisely the wrong way to get the best out of a man as famously bloody-minded as Cook?Or could it be that his ideal role in the final years of his career will come as a gnarled senior pro, clanking under the weight of his campaign medals and with the likes of Haseeb Hameed under his wing, who is given licence to grind out a ten-hour century on the second and third days in Adelaide and call bullshit at crucial moments when the coach’s flights of attacking fancy get the better of him? Cook’s defining series, the 2010-11 Ashes, came when he had nothing on his mind but the need to score mountains of runs. Why shouldn’t he long for a return to such carefree days?

Favourites from the start, Dhaka’s win came as no surprise to many, but that does not mean it was an easy ride to the title

Mohammad Isam10-Dec-2016Tournament overview
Everyone expected Dhaka Dynamites to win the BPL. But as their captain Shakib Al Hasan and coach Khaled Mahmud said after clinching the trophy, it was never an easy ride.With expectations come pressure, and Dhaka had a lot of that this season. They had the squad for every situation and all conditions but to pick an XI was a nightmare at times.If they hadn’t won the trophy, there would have been more questions about their ability but with so many match-winners in their team, Shakib managed to get everyone together and become a successful unit.Dhaka had Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell together towards the end of the tournament while Evin Lewis, Kumar Sangakkara, Seekkuge Prasanna and Matt Coles provided thrusts whenever required. The local players, led by Shakib and Mehedi Maruf, gave important performances too.Mosaddek Hossain, Sunzamul Islam and Mohammad Shahid made handy contributions while Nasir Hossain, Alauddin Babu and Abu Jayed chipped in at times.Kumar Sangakkara scored a 33-ball 36 in the final for Dhaka•Daily StarHigh point
Dhaka’s batting stumbled in the final but Sangakkara made sure they passed the 150-mark, which was always going to be a safe score in a night game in Mirpur. Their bowling and fielding did not relent as Rajshahi Kings were bowled out for just 103. The team effort that Shakib insisted was quite evident as they dominated a big final.Low point
The only time in the tournament that Dhaka Dynamites disappointed was when they couldn’t defend 182 against Rajshahi in Chittagong. For once their bowling fell apart, against Samit Patel’s big-hitting.Dwayne Bravo assisted the captain Shakib Al Hasan and was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker•BCBTop of the class
Dwayne Bravo was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, and Dhaka’s best bowler on most days. He took three wickets on four occasions, with his variation always posing a problem at the end of an innings. Bravo now has the most wickets in a calendar year in T20s.Under-par performer
Nasir Hossain started the BPL with a decent innings and a great catch but ended it with a whimper. He finished with 195 runs in 10 innings, without a fifty. His bowling was irregular throughout the tournament.Tip for 2017
A similar team may be hard to put together, but Dhaka’s finances and overall resources could still see them building another championship worthy team for 2017.

With teams focusing on ODIs, given the upcoming Champions Trophy, and the next World T20 possibly three years away, there is a distinct lack of context to Friday’s New Zealand-South Africa match

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland16-Feb-2017New Zealand and South Africa are singing from the same hymn sheet: one-off T20s don’t have much meaning. There are caveats, and clichés, thrown in – playing for your country, putting on a show, building momentum – but the bottom line is that it is hard to stack much relevance on a standalone 40 overs of cricket before switching to another format.Context to world cricket is a hot topic at the moment after the recent round of ICC meetings in Dubai, which went a long way towards redrawing the shape of the international schedule. New Zealand are the No. 1-ranked T20 side, and while they are rightly proud of their standing, it does not come with the kudos of South Africa’s top spot in ODIs or India’s in Tests.”You always want more meaning on anything you play in, and if you could extend the series, it probably would give it that,” Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain, said. “But at the same time, with the schedules, it isn’t that easy to do. We have a big one-day series after this, followed by big Tests, so it’s just the nature of the beast.”Both these sides have recently come off three-match T20 series – New Zealand beat Bangladesh
3-0 and South Africa lost 2-1 to Sri Lanka – which gave the players involved a chance to sink their teeth into the format rather than a fly-in, fly-out meeting.While there is a considerable overlap between T20 and ODI personnel, there are some for whom the shortest format is their one international chance: Colin Munro, for example, has been dropped from the New Zealand one-day squad but remains in the T20 set-up.Imran Tahir, the South Africa legspinner who is the No. 1 bowler in both white-ball formats, believes one-off matches make it harsh to judge a player. “More would be fair – at least three games or maybe two,” he said. “In one game you might get rain and play a 5/5, so another game or two would be nice. Guys need an opportunity to perform. If you have two-three games you have a better chance to show what you can do, unlike missing out in one match.”The next World T20 is not scheduled until 2020 – the chances of another being slotted in during 2018 appear to be receding – and in the first part of this year teams are focused on their preparation for the Champions Trophy in England.”When it comes closer to World T20 time, teams tend to play a lot more T20 cricket,” Williamson said. “At the same time you are in competition for your country and you want to play well. I think it’s important that the T20s are worked into tours and they can carry a bit more weight when it comes closer to the World T20. It’s just natural there is more focus on certain formats in certain years.”Imran Tahir: “In one game you might get rain and play a 5/5. Guys need an opportunity to perform. If you have two-three games you have a better chance to show what you can do”•Associated PressThe growth of T20 has come on the franchise scene rather than international cricket. The IPL, BBL and CPL are currently the big three, and they are joined by the PSL and BPL. Later this year South Africa will launch a league and in 2020, English cricket will begin its new T20 tournament.On Monday the IPL auction will take place in Bangalore. Some cricketers will become rich, others will think they could perhaps have gone for more, some will be left disappointed not to get picked up at all.Last year Chris Morris, the South Africa allrounder who is part of their squad for this tour, was one of the surprise big buys when he was bought for $1 million by Delhi Daredevils, and there will be plenty of players looking their phones as the gavel comes down next week. Tahir, who was released by Delhi, and so is back up for auction, insisted that whatever sums of money float around, it will always remain South Africa first for him.”It’s somewhere in the back of my mind. The T20 is another opportunity to play for South Africa, which is more important for me. I really mean that. Everyone is aware of the auction. I’ve been released from Dehli Daredevils, so I have nothing to lose. I might get it, I might not. But as long as I keep winning games for South Africa, that’s more important for me.”There are 19 New Zealand players in the auction, including 20-year-old Glenn Phillips, who is set for his international debut on Friday, but Williamson, who was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad, is adamant it won’t prove a distraction.”You never quite know what will happen, it’s often a hard thing to read – who might go for what – but it’s a fantastic opportunity, especially for those involved for the first time. But at the same time it’s something you can’t control and our focus remains on the cricket we have here.”

Take your pick from some memorable individual and team performances in their 16-year Test history

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2017

Bowling coach Azhar Mahmood talks about the transformation of Pakistan’s pace attack, a key factor in their road to the Champions Trophy final

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jun-20171:04

Pakistan’s new go-to man: Hasan Ali

why he feels Pakistan’s young fast-bowling unit is one of the best.You said the current fast bowling unit is the best you have worked with. Why?
Because they have got skill, they have got the ability to take wickets, they want to learn, and they are very disciplined. Each of our fast bowlers has a different skill, but to go on the field and execute the plans, guys like Hasan Ali and Mohammad Amir have done that. I find that remarkable.You said this transformation has not happened overnight, it has taken six months. What has been the focus for you in this period?
The thing I have tried to change is the mindset during the match situations. Do they have the courage to go and do the same thing in tough situations during a match? I am trying to teach them this kind of mindset.I have been working with the Pakistan team since Pakistan’s last tour of England [in 2016] and I have been impressed with their consistency. My job is to teach them to take the responsibility, making the decision at the right time. I have not got enough time to work properly on their techniques. It has been more about the tactics and making minor adjustments in their bowling action like checking their wrist position, the head position, the front arm, the front shoulder.”What I have been working hard on with the bowlers is their thought process. Everyone has the skill […] If they are brave enough to bowl that delivery in a crunch situation, that is what matters”•Getty Images/ICCYou and the bowlers have come a long way from the blow inflicted on Pakistan by Alex Hales last year.
I must give credit to all the bowlers. I gave them the plan even that day. It was just a bad day. At times you have to give credit to the batsman to come out and play a phenomenal innings like the one played by Hales. He played out of his skin.What I have been working hard with the bowlers is on their thought process. Everyone has the skill. Everyone practices day-in, day-out. It is very important to understand when to use a delivery. If they have the courage, if they are brave enough to bowl that delivery in a crunch situation, that is what matters.On Pakistan’s last tour of Australia, a very dear friend who follows our cricket closely said: “Before I die, please make your bowlers pitch two yorkers in one over.” Check the matches we played against Sri Lanka and South Africa in the Champions Trophy, and check the number of yorkers we bowled in the death overs.Check the slow bouncers our boys pitched in the semi-final against England. The boys are executing the plan. Ben Stokes, one of the best strikers in the world, he faced the last 11 overs and during that phase we went for just one boundary. He just couldn’t get a boundary in [64] deliveries? That solitary four also came off an edge of Liam Plunkett’s bat. I am really proud of my bowling unit. I am very pleased with the work we are doing, to see the improvement and growth in the bowlers.You have played in England a lot. What is the key to succeed on such pitches that you have noticed in this tournament?
The ball has not been swinging. Not from Amir. Not from [Trent] Boult. Tim Southee swung a little against Bangladesh. I feel that has to do with the weather. When it is cold, the white ball does not swing. The fingers also become stiff when it is cold conditions. That is what I feel speaking about the absence of swing.But we have not let that impact our plans. We have bowlers like Amir, who has both swing and seam, and we were looking to get wickets in the first ten overs. If we can’t get wickets, then we have to drag the length back. If you allow a batsman width, they will murder you. If you tuck them in, if you don’t give the any room or any margin of error you have a chance to take the wicket. That has been my suggestion: don’t let them open their arms.

“Amir has got everything: skill, pace, mind […] I think he is bowling at 70% potential. That is my feeling. He needs to put his foot on the throttle and just go”

But Pakistan have been the only team to get some reverse-swing.
Conditions – we used them properly. Against South Africa, at Edgbaston, we played on a old pitch which was being used for a third match. We were originally meant to play on a new pitch, but since it had rained heavily, they played on the used pitch. So those conditions suited us as the square was rough. In Cardiff, too, the practice pitches had no grass, so the ball got scuffed up easily.It was similar conditions to the subcontinent. We did not get massive reverse-swing, but it was enough for the bowlers to utilise to their benefit. I heard England speak about the pitch conditions after the defeat, but we made better plans and executed them. We outplayed England, simple as that.What is the right length and line to bowl, then, on these pitches?
It depends on the pitch, the bounce. Usually you need to pitch on a good-length spot, about six to eight metres from the wicket. But sometimes the good-length spot can also be five to six metres, but that totally depends on the bounce again. At The Oval, normally you get extra bounce so the good-length spot should be about six metres. But the pitch in the India-Sri Lanka match was true, where you could easily hit even a length delivery on the up. But if the pitch holds up then you go for stuff like cross-seamers.We learned our lessons from our experience from last year’s tour. We figured the side boundaries here are usually longer compared to the shorter straight ones. The key thing for the bowler is to ask the batsman to hit to the longer boundary. If someone can clear a 75-80 yards boundary, then you just say “good shot”.Pakistan have been successful in the middle overs [11-40]. What have you and coach Mickey Arthur done specifically that has helped the fast bowlers be so successful considering before this tournament you would struggle during this phase?
Our economy rate has been brilliant, considering we have bowled our last three opponents out below 250. One important factor has been we have got the right combinations. Hasan Ali, a wicket-taker, a match-changer, has been successful in this middle segment.”Hasan comes after around 15 overs and then he bowls his quota before the 45th over. He is key for us”•Getty ImagesIn our first match, against India, we played Wahab Riaz. He struggled with the new ball. He is a better bowler with the old ball than the new ball. Hasan, too, is a better bowler when the ball is slightly older. That is why we used Imad Wasim to open the bowling. That was our game-plan so we could bowl well in the middle period. But when one of your strike bowlers does not perform in the middle overs, the pressure comes on the inexperienced ones and that is what happened against India.If you see we were fine against India till the 40 over. The plan was working till then. It was only in the last eight overs that we lost the plot and India made 106 runs. It was in those eight overs we did not execute the plans. When you are under pressure your mind gets clouded and that is what happened.But we have been good since then. Hasan comes after around 15 overs and then he bowls his quota before the 45th over. He is key for us. We also have Shadab [Khan] as an attacking option who could get us a couple of wickets. The only way you can control soaring run rate is by taking wickets. India and Pakistan have taken more wickets than the rest in this tournament and hence they are in the final. My theory is: batsmen win you games, bowlers win you tournaments.It is incredible still to see Pakistan turn games around during modern times when a team like England have a reputation for scoring big.
In modern-day cricket, teams’ approach is to treat the first 40 overs of an ODI as a Powerplay. If you have a David Warner batting on 80 and Glenn Maxwell going strong on 90, and you have only four fielders in the outfield, it is hard to stop them. That is why if you keep taking wickets, you put pressure on the opposition as the new batsman has to build his innings.Amir has not taken big hauls of wickets since his return to international cricket, but what exactly does he bring to the group that is vital?
Amir has got everything: skill, pace, mind. I just feel sometimes that Amir holds himself back. He does not go all the way. The way he has been bowling so far, I feel he has more potential to do much better than what he is doing. I think he is bowling at 70% potential. That is my feeling. He needs to put his foot on the throttle and just go.

“We have to believe we can beat India, because the overall record between the countries stands 72-52 in Pakistan’s favour”

Have you told him so?
I have not yet shared that thought with him. But what I am saying is in a positive manner. Maybe I am wrong, but that is my feeling. I will give you another example: Yasir Shah. Recently, after the West Indies tour where he got 25 wickets, I checked with Yasir: “Are you satisfied with your bowling?” Because he trusts me, he said no. He confessed his length was [on the] shorter side although he got wickets. I told him that was my point: if you did not bowl well and still got 25 wickets, imagine what you could have ended with if you had bowled well. It is very important that I have the trust of my bowlers. They need to trust me and understand where I am coming from.What about Junaid Khan?
Junaid is always under pressure as he keeps making comebacks. It is not easy when you are coming back and you are expected to perform. But he bowled really well with the new ball against South Africa. Him sharing the new ball with Amir allows our main bowlers, Hasan, Shadab or Faheem [Ashraf], to operate in the middle overs. We did not have that luxury against India, someone who could control the game up front.He has become a key factor. It shows his character, not playing the first game, then putting in good performances. I have been working with him on his bowling action. His head position and the bowling shoulder were going in opposite directions. He was losing direction. I have been trying to get his head and bowling arm as close as possible, just like Amir.There is one area where you have brought about a significant change – arresting the no-balls. We hear you have this special device which you use to check no-balls in nets now. Tell us a bit more about it.
We were having issues with the no-ball during last year’s Australia tour. I thought we had to do something about it. This device basically tells the bowler to stay behind the line. It is basically two line sensors on both sides of the bowling crease. Three is a monitor that beeps based on where the foot lands. It will beep if it is a no-ball. That way even if am not around I know who has crossed the line.Sunday would be the biggest game of their lives for all your fast bowlers. What gives you the belief they can handle the pressure in the final?
Where we started and where we are now, that gives us the biggest belief. Before the tournament started, we said we will go to London – not to take a flight, but to play in the final. We said the same after losing to India. We have got nothing to lose. We need to play our best cricket on June 18 to beat India. Our record might not be good in ICC tournaments, but we have to change that. We have to believe we can beat India, because the overall record between the countries stands 72-52 in Pakistan’s favour. It is all about being mentally tough.