India talked up a big game ahead of the Test series in England, and despite a 4-1 series loss, claimed to go back with a positive frame of mind. Here’s a look back at a memorable Test series, in their own words
ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2018
October in cricket featured many Rs: return, retirement, run-out, rest and Ravi Shastri
Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Oct-2018Cricket, anywhere, is never not in crisis. It is forever dangling from a cliff, its temples throbbing from the greed of administrators, its heart aching on account of match-fixing, its face flowing with tears because the Kookaburra ball just doesn’t want to swing for more than a few measly overs. It is vital, therefore, that the sport regenerates – that its old guard steps aside, that new careers be allowed to flourish, that fresh ideas take root. This month, the Briefing makes note of cricket’s winds of change. Even if, inevitably, all those winds are bringing are Sri Lankan monsoon rains.Looking out for the youth
No player, no matter how established, can carry on forever, can they? When keen youngsters are knocking on the selectors’ door, just waiting for a chance to showcase their skills at the international level, is it not borderline morally bankrupt to keep hanging on? Dwayne Bravo knows this. That’s why this month he took the courageous decision to retire from international cricket, in order to “leave the international arena for the next generation of players” in his own words.It is typical of Bravo to not make a big deal of the fact that, actually, he has gone further than most to ensure the international arena is wide open for young talent. Having last played an international in 2016, he has heroically refused to take up a spot in the West Indies side, despite the fact he was in the absolute prime of his career. Even before 2016, Bravo had frequently refused to play for West Indies, leaving himself with no option but to take up massive dollar contracts with franchise T20 teams instead. Every man has a cross to bear. You can only hope that at least now, this clutch of young West Indies players will stop squandering the gift of having their best senior cricketers selflessly earning millions of dollars elsewhere.A great man’s succession plan
Rangana Herath, meanwhile, has gone about his retirement in a different fashion. Having not had a stable place in the Sri Lanka team in his youth, it was not until his mid-30s that Herath truly began to hit his peak as a bowler. In not announcing his retirement until his 41st year, Herath helped ensure that Sri Lanka won’t be left without adequate replacement, as they were when Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara exited. It’s true that Dilruwan Perera, the Test team’s second spinner, has been a capable bowler for some time. But Herath waited patiently until Dilruwan, now 36, became slow in the field, and started to sport a little paunch, before he felt he could truly trust him to be a replacement. Herath retires after the first Test against England, and as he does so, he will no doubt give strict instructions that Dilruwan himself must under no circumstances think of retiring from Tests until he is sure that Sri Lanka’s next generation of fingerspin-bowling uncles is ready to waddle proudly into the limelight.Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdPunching gloves
When senior players retire, younger men become the new seniors, though that doesn’t mean they stop being daft. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq – who are trying to fill the void left by Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan’s retirements – produced the comedy dismissal of the month. During the second Test against Australia, thinking an outside edge off Azhar’s bat had gone to the boundary, they met in the middle of the pitch for a chat. The ball, though, had pulled up short of the rope, and a gleeful Australia completed the run-out with the batsmen mid-pitch – Azhar and Shafiq wearing the kind of surprised and injured looks that Misbah and Younis would have reserved for more momentous occasions, such as being backstabbed by the board or being sacked as captain.The long lost
Now many of our readers may be too young to remember this, but very long ago, weird as it may seem, the small nation of New Zealand – those islands east of Australia – actually played cricket at a high level! Look, you probably think I’m pulling your leg, but it’s true – they were surprisingly decent until they fell off the cricket map all of a sudden, for reasons lost in the mists of time. But guess what? Apparently they have named a new squad for matches against Pakistan in November, which means that they are back. Far as my memory serves, they are led by this guy called Kayne Williams, who is expected to sport a white beard – our info states he has sprouted a grey hair for every run Joe Root and Virat Kohli have scored in his absence. Also in the team is a batsman called Rose Tailor, who had to have surgery to remove a growth obscuring his eyesight just before New Zealand stopped playing, but whose eyesight has deteriorated again just from pure old age. Having more teams playing cricket is generally a good idea, but personally I’m yet to be convinced that bringing back a retro team is the direction the sport needs to take right now.The rested
Then there are some great players who have led their teams to so much greatness over the course of great careers that the language we mortals use to describe their cricketing twilight ought to reflect the great feats they have achieved, not to mention their resplendent and undeniable greatness. MS Dhoni, for example, who we know is absolutely the best finisher ever, has apparently attracted extremely faint whispers – which could just be the rustling of the wind, or the legs of someone’s trousers rubbing together, to be honest – that he is now a shadow… diminished… slightly non-vintage version of his former self, which I will remind you is not saying much, since he was the smartest and most clinical lower-middle order batsman-keeper ever. The selectors said that in keeping him out of the T20 series against West Indies and Australia they were only “resting” him. Some people think it would be better if he was “rested” all the way until the next ODI World Cup, and then rested forever after that. Not me, obviously.Shastri corner
No month passes in cricket without wisdom from India’s coach, and this month Ravi Shastri reserved his choicest praise for 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw, whose outstanding batting in the Tests against West Indies suggested he could be one of the young stars to propel cricket into the future. Shastri didn’t hold back: “There’s a bit of Sachin there,” he said. “There’s a bit of Viru there,” he roared. And then, because Indian greats are not enough, “when he walks, there’s a bit of Lara there,” Shastri boomed. But why did you stop there, Shaz? A bit of Viv, the way he adjusts his box, no? A bit of Federer, the way he brushes his hair out of his face? A bit of Mandela, the way he speaks? Disappointing that you let these opportunities slip, frankly.Next month in the Briefing:- “A bit of Tiger Woods, the way he looks at wom…” Shastri stops himself mid-sentence.- The sublime MS Dhoni honoured with prestigious lifetime sabbatical from cricket by India selectors, as reward for his absolutely unquestionable place in the India team.- “Smile with us. Dream with us. Cuddle us.” The Australia cricket team unveil new tagline following cultural review.
England’s white-ball revival since the 2015 has been startling to behold, and it has centred on the subversion of their oldest weakest of all
Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Oct-2018When England last toured Sri Lanka for ODIs, in 2014, their batsmen had essentially tripped over themselves in their attempts to defuse spin. By the final game of the seven-match series, captain Angelo Mathews could have packed his attack with spinners, set them loose inside the Powerplay, then slapped his hands over his eyes, and still soon found the England top order in a tangled, twitching heap in the middle of the pitch.Four years later, England have at times been imperious against slow bowling – fancy footwork, strapping sweeps, and fuss-free strike rotation characterising their batting, at least until after they had taken an unassailable 3-0 series lead. Even in the fifth ODI, in which England fielded a substantially depleted XI, it was the fast bowling of Dushmantha Chameera and Kasun Rajitha that derailed the visitors’ chase, though allsorts offspinner Akila Dananjaya would later claim a clutch of wickets.It turns out, however, that England haven’t merely been good against spin in Sri Lanka. In fact, in a matter of a few years, they have transformed themselves into one of the finest spin-playing ODI teams on the planet. Since May 2016, when England’s ODI form became truly monstrous – 12 out of 13 bilateral series won in that period (not counting the one-off Scotland game, which, you know, no one seems to) – they have averaged 56.44 against spin everywhere in the world. This is second only to India. As the graph below lays out, both teams are well ahead of the competition. Where England have been even better than India, though, is in run rate; no team comes close to their 5.91.
While India have been more or less excellent against spin right through their ODI history, it is the velocity of England’s advance that is truly surprising. In the three years prior to their 2015 World Cup group-stage exit, England had averaged only 33.06 against spin. This means that the average of 56.44, which they have maintained since May 2016*, represents a whopping 71% improvement.Their batting has got better in general, of course – their overall average climbing by 13.1 between the periods considered. But compare their gains against spin, to those against pace. In the three years before the last World Cup, they averaged 31.83 against pace, with that average only going up to 40.94 since May 2016. While ordinarily an improvement of 29% is nothing to snigger at, this figure pales in comparison to their progress against spin. Note that this also means that England are now 38% better at playing spin than they are playing pace.Essentially, of all England’s one-day improvements over the past three years, it is this manic advance against spin that is the most significant. Even accounting for the fact that England have scored only 35% of their runs against spin (as opposed to 65% against pace) since May 2016, we can attribute more of their overall increase in average to their improvements against spin.
Perhaps you may argue that England’s statistics against spin have been unfairly embellished by the flat tracks they have tended to play on at home. There may be an element of truth to this, but it tells only a fraction of the story. For starters, England’s own spinners have been more effective in ODIs at home than they used to be (more on that later). There is also the matter of England’s outstanding recent batting record versus spin in Asia, where slow bowlers have traditionally ruled. Since the 2015 World Cup, in which England have played in all four major Asian destinations (UAE, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), England’s batting average against spin in Asia is an excellent 46.70 – once again second only to that of India. Their run rate against slow bowling is the best among teams playing next year’s World Cup.
So how have England transformed what was for decades a crippling flaw, to arguably the strongest and most forbidding wall in their one-day fortress? Team insiders provide several reasons. The batting order they have put together in ODIs now contains Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler – all decent players of spin to begin with – who have arrived in the prime of their careers, and can share the information they have gleaned from previous battles against spin, including in the IPL, with their teammates. In general, the spin intelligence in the England dressing room is understood to be far higher than it has ever been.Coach Trevor Bayliss, who has been credited with overseeing this sharp ODI rise, says this of conversations within the team: “What we’re trying to do is get them to speak to each other, and work it out between them, to a certain degree. If someone is a good sweeper, well, the other guys speak to him about how he plays the sweep shot. Other guys are good at dancing down the wicket to the ball. Well, speak to your mate and find out the plans that they might use and how they go about it. Share the information. They’ve all got an input. It can be when they’re having coffee, or over a meal. Working it out themselves is better than someone actually telling them what to do.”From a technical perspective, Graham Thorpe, the main one-day batting coach, has focused on two particular ploys. The first was to emphasise that spinning deliveries should not be intercepted in that in-between zone where batsmen are not far enough forward to smother the turn, and not far enough back to confidently play the turn off the surface. This strategy came out of an analysis England had done for Test batting, where they looked closely at Rahul Dravid, whom they considered perhaps the best recent player of spin. In doing so, they had realised Dravid intercepted only 9% of deliveries between the danger-zone, which is between 2-3 metres from the stumps. Moreover, he attacked only 2% of overall deliveries in that area. Though originally intended to enhance England’s Test game, the benefits of this analysis eventually began to be felt – perhaps even more emphatically – in ODIs.”Playing in those safer areas puts the pressure back on the bowler to hit a length that’s about a foot long, rather than a couple of yards long,” says Bayliss. “It’s about picking up the length and using the crease.”ESPNcricinfo LtdThe other of Thorpe’s priorities also had roots in a Dravid insight. Late in his career, asked what he would have liked to have learned earlier, Dravid replied that he should have hit against the turn more in his younger years. England took this on board.Where previous England sides were apprehensive of employing such a strategy, the philosophy of fearlessnes that Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Morgan had ushered in after the 2015 World Cup was a fertile environment in which this tactic could take root. Where England had once seen danger, they now saw opportunity – hitting against the turn meant you were generally targeting the side of the field that is less-well defended by fielders. Beat the infield and fetch yourself a boundary. Morgan does this to excellent effect with his reverse sweep, which is perhaps his most reliable stroke. Root has also been good at accessing the off-side against offspinners.The cumulative effect of these changes has been dramatic to the point of being unbelievable. The graph below charts individual batsman’s growth. The first figure is their pre-World Cup average against spin. The second is the average after May 2016. (Jason Roy is not featured here as he had not played ODIs before the last World Cup.)
In many ways, these individual numbers are the most telling of all. Root has gone from being a very good player of spin, to a fire-breathing, spin-devouring demon. Morgan is a monster himself, having averaged 195 during the just-concluded Sri Lanka series. Stokes and Buttler look like the weak links compared to their team-mates, but have better than healthy numbers. Think about where these batsmen play in the top order – No. 3, 4, 5 and 6. Think about when bowling teams usually deploy their opposition spinners. At the very stage of the game that opposition captains are most likely to bring on their slow bowlers – the middle overs – England have batsmen who average 124.5, 79.7, 51.36 and 52.60 against spin over the last two years.With this taken into consideration, it is possible that England’s recent dominance of spin is even more central to their rise as an ODI batting force, than even these stats lay out. At some point, even Asian opponents may justifiably begin fielding seam-heavy attacks against England – an almost unthinkable strategy four years ago. They might also reserve their spinners for the Powerplay or the death, because based on these numbers, why bowl middle-overs spin to these freaks?Finally, we come to England’s use of their own spinners – principally Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. Rashid’s re-inclusion in the England squad was at Bayliss’ insistence; he believed a wristspinner would play a fundamental role in a new, aggressive England outfit. While the batsmen have been scoring more runs at a quicker rate off opposition slow bowlers, their own slower bowlers have been taking a greater proportion of wickets, increasing their share by 13 percentage points.
All of which is to say that, although much has been said about England’s rebirth as a fearless and successful ODI unit, this change of approach has been matched by a marked increase in cricketing skill and intelligence. The majority of this new prowess has been in the area of playing spin; some of it has also been about bowling it. Once a side of entangled gropers and finger-spinning forgettables, England have, in the course of a little over three years, re-oriented themselves so dramatically that spin is their foremost ODI strength.
The wicketkeeper reflects on the time spent at rehab, surgeries, channeling the frustration of not playing and his eagerness to return
Nagraj Gollapudi22-Feb-2019
You must have counted the number of days you were away from active cricket?
Yes, it is about six-eight months easily, but when I returned to the ground I felt like I had never left. I just felt like I was only away for 15-20 days. When I entered the ground during my first training session with Bengal, I never felt I was out for seven-ten months. Usually after a long break, when you are batting in the nets, you feel your bat is not coming down well, your feet are not moving properly. But my body was feeling good, I was in good rhythm, and I assimilated quickly and easily with my team-mates. It feels good.How hungry and desperate were you to return to the field?
I did not feel like that, to be honest. Once it was decided in July (2018) that I had to undergo surgery and the time frame was worked out – how long I would be away and how long rehab would take – I was okay. The doctors had pointed out that I would be away for minimum six months. The operation took place in August. After that, I went to the NCA. Rehab, training, strength work, running, skills work – whatever I did, I carried doing what I could without feeling that I am injured.During IPL 2018, you injured your thumb. You had just recovered from the hamstring injury you picked up in South Africa. Was it frustrating?
The thumb fracture I picked in the IPL was on the right hand, so I could not do any weight training with my right hand. When I went to the NCA to recover from the thumb fracture, while doing normal training, I realised one day my right hand did not feel like earlier. The NCA physio carried out an MRI. He told me that the right shoulder had become worse (compared to after South Africa tour). Doctors in Mumbai and Bangalore were consulted. Everyone said surgery was the best solution. One of the doctors even said the other option was if I was going to retire in, say, a couple of months, I could play with injections.
“During rehab, I distracted myself by mingling with trainers, coaching staff and other players – talking things outside of my rehab and cricket. If you think rehab is boring then it can actually turn out to be boring.”
So you did not take the injection?
After being advised by both the NCA phsyios and doctors, I took the injection in the first half of July, because I felt if it worked, I could play the Test series in England. But the right shoulder did not recover, leaving surgery as the only option. Finally, I underwent the operation on August 1. So my entire 2018 was full of injuries.In South Africa, I injured the left hamstring tendon, which took me about a month-and-a-half to recover from. While I was at NCA doing rehab on the hamstring, I was feeling a little bit of a problem in my right shoulder. I was given an injection (around February first half) then and recovered completely from the shoulder injury. I was feeling better for the next three months and even played IPL till I got the thumb injury.How long did you not lift the bat after the surgery in August?
I was advised complete rest for three weeks. Then I went to the NCA, where I started knocking for about two months, somewhere in October. There were restrictions especially with wicketkeeping, but I felt if I did not start training it will only mean I would recover late.Were you scared?
No, no. If I was scared I wouldn’t have dived. I started to dive about five months after the operation. Initially I would dive indoors on foam mats (pile of four to five). Gradually I became confident enough of doing full training – wicketkeeping and batting – outdoors. If I had hastened my recovery, I could have risked the injury resurfacing, which would have hampered my return once again. So I decided to become completely fit and only then return.Can you talk about the difficulties of sitting out for such an extended period?
From childhood I have never been impatient. During the rehab, I made sure I did not think rehab was boring. I distracted myself by mingling with trainers, coaching staff and other players – talking about things outside of my rehab and cricket. If you think rehab is boring then it can actually turn out to be boring.Associated PressStill, it must have been challenging?
No doubt, but my mindset has always been to not think of the end result. I have always focused on the positives in everything I do, regardless of the result. So I did not let negative thoughts enter my mind. That is how I have come out of any difficult situation – both on and off the field. I feel some of my best innings with the bat have come in crunch situations.
“I was very happy when Rishabh scored his maiden Test century (at The Oval) and even sent him a message. Recently I met him at NCA. We exchanged notes about the England and Australia series.”
Can I ask your wife, Romi, who was so worried about your playing future after you missed the England tour that she even tweeted on your behalf for support during your recovery.
Romi Saha: The was negativity surrounding his future in cricket and it was affecting me personally. People were talking about his tenure being over. At that point in time, it was useless talking about an international player in that fashion. He has come to the highest level without any support, so I felt it was too fast to comment on his future. I feared it may affect him, after all he is human. I know he is very strong mentally, but as a family we were devastated. Hence I sent out that tweet on behalf of Team Saha.Were you scared in those months when he had the surgery?
Romi: I wanted to join him for the surgery in Manchester, but because the decision was taken at short notice, I couldn’t get my visa. I was very scared because the injuries happened one after another. He was also doing well at that point.So you put more pressure on him than us media?
Romi: I am always putting him under pressure .Wriddhi, you last played for India in January 2018. You have since missed 14 Tests, and India have fielded Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant in the interim. How do you look at the sequence of events as you embark on a comeback?
In South Africa, Parthiv was my back-up. During the England tour, DK and Rishabh got opportunities. So there are four keepers in contention and each has been rotated. Now, Rishabh has grabbed the opportunity. The important thing for me is to do well in every tournament I play – in Syed Mushtaq Ali and then IPL. But [I want to] perform in those tournaments not because I want to make my India comeback. Of course, I want to come back to the Indian dressing room. Once I start doing well, the selectors can take the call whether I can earn my Test spot. I do not think too much. Just keep doing the good work and perform and then hope to get the call from the selectors.So you’re not taking your Test comeback for granted?
I have always believed in working hard. Even when Mahi [MS Dhoni] was playing (in Tests) and I was the second wicketkeeper, my preparation was as if I was playing. I learned that quickly after my Test debut, where I was not actually prepared for the occasion. I don’t think I will get back my Test spot . I have to focus on the process.Are you then okay to be the No. 2 keeper after Pant?
There are so many Indians that play cricket. If you are picked in the 15, it is a proud moment for any player. I have not been in the Indian dressing room for one year, so if I get another opportunity, I will do anything to make a comeback. To get back, I have to perform well. Earlier I was No.1 wicketkeeper in the team. Now Rishabh is. My thinking is if you do well you need to get the chance.As the senior glovesman, what are Pant’s strengths as a wicketkeeper?
He has got the record for most dismissals recently, isn’t it? Is it 11? No doubt he is good, but he still has room for improvement. He is young. The more he plays the better he will get. I was very happy when he scored his maiden Test century (at The Oval) and even sent him a message. Recently I met him at NCA when he had come there after the Australian tour. We exchanged notes about the England and Australia series. We spoke about collecting the wobbling Dukes in England which is a challenge. I have had some experience with India A previously. We also spoke about Australia.You have a small, close-knit family. Romi mentioned the toughest time in the last year was you staying away from home for longer periods. How difficult was it on your daughter?
I used to feel really bad. I would come for a couple days having spent few weeks at NCA. The first thing Anvi would ask me is ‘when are you going back (to NCA)?’ Even now she asks me: ‘Are you going to go back again?’ It is very tough. We missed doing the normal family things: going out, going for a movie, to a restaurant. You were asking me my biggest challenge. It was not cricket. The challenge was I could not spend time with my family as much as I wanted in the last year.
He became the first batsman from Bangladesh to score 1000 Test runs in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia
Mohammad Isam in Wellington10-Mar-2019Like any batsman on a pitch full of grass and with cloudy overhead conditions, Tamim Iqbal mistimed some of his drives. Swing bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee got a few deliveries to nip off the lush green surface, squaring the left-hander up. Speedsters Mark Henry bowled with searing pace while Neil Wagner got his bouncers going too.Like many of the players in both teams, Tamim was stuck in a hotel in central Wellington for the past two days, waiting anxiously for the rain to end. He checked his weather app several times but it was never good news.Like many international cricketers, Tamim has developed a strict and elaborate pre-match routine over the years (which includes a couple of superstitions) and needs precise information to help ensure nothing goes out of hand.Like all openers, Tamim is always keen to get into the middle. But he hates having to start batting in the last hour of the day’s play. So, like the other batsmen in this game who had a look at the Basin Reserve pitch on the second day, it didn’t bother him too much that play was called off around 4pm.Like a top-quality batsman, Tamim took on the challenge of what commentator Scott Styris described as the “green monster” on the third morning in Wellington. The way he started – leaping into drives through cover and mid-off, cuts on either side of point and couple of thunderous pull shots – dispelled the notion that this was a difficult pitch, but at the end of the day, both Wagner and Liton Das admitted that it had plenty for the bowlers to work with.Like he did with the turning monsters of Mirpur in 2016 and 2017, Tamim tamed this one too.Like the Tamim of post-2015, his 74 was the right mix of safety and strokeplay. It was similar to how he went about his work on the first day in Hamilton, or when he steadily built towards another big score on the third day of that same Test. He didn’t target a particular bowler but he did not hold back against certain types of deliveries. Boult was driven through the covers if he floated it up with enough width. Southee was short at times, so Tamim focused on picking him for singles, but whenever he went too short, he either threw his hands at it, or went leg-side of the ball to cut it hard.Unlike any other Bangladeshi batsman, he now has more than 1,000 Test runs in South Africa England New Zealand and Australia (SENA) – although he has never played a Test in Australia, and if CA’s recent stance doesn’t change, perhaps he never will. He has scored three hundreds and seven fifties, and averages 45.59 in England, New Zealand and South Africa.Unlike many top batsmen in this era, Tamim doesn’t get many opportunities to play Test cricket. Among those who have scored 1,500 runs in the last four years, he has played the fewest matches.Unlike most Bangladeshi cricketers, Tamim is open to reinventing himself for the sake of his team. After the 2015 World Cup, he concentrated on discipline, both on and off the field. He is a far more restrained batsman now and that has tied in with how he has turned himself into a fitter and stronger person.Unlike the Tamim of old, he cuts through the bullshit that surrounds many international cricketers. He has bought into a method of run-scoring that works for him, and has become consistent at home and abroad. He has been instrumental in Bangladesh’s resurgence as an ODI side in the last four years, as well as having a big influence on their Test wins since 2016.Like he showed in Wellington, Tamim has the fight that is inherent in all top-class opening batsmen and he’s learned it after years of practice, trial and, occasionally, error. He has also ensured his defensive technique is solid enough that he has the chance of succeeding in all conditions but, of course, the strokeplay still gets all the attention.
They have the best average, the best strike rate and the best economy rate, in addition to the enormous depth in the squad with Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi on the bench
Sidharth Monga20-Jun-20193:29
Vettori: Would like to see Nicholls in the line-up
Winks cannot be quoted. Matt Henry knows that. You can’t quote a wink. Just can’t. It is the ICC mixed media zone where you have two players talk slightly less formally to the press than in the official press conference. There is no video camera on either.Henry is asked if he feels New Zealand have the best attack – not a popular opinion, admittedly – in the tournament. They have the best average (22 per wicket), the best strike rate (28.9 balls for a wicket) and the best economy rate (4.56 per over) in this World Cup after all. “Well,” says Henry. Imagine that said in all caps.And then he leaves it alone like one of those exaggerated Courtney Walsh leaves. “I think obviously every ground we will be faced with different challenges,” he says. “It is about making sure we adapt to every surface we play on. I think every game has been a little bit different, and we have had to attack a little bit differently.””Hey Matt, but you didn’t answer the question,” Henry is told.And then he winks, and looks away to another journalist. Make what you will.Winks cannot be quoted.ALSO READ: Why doesn’t Trent Boult get his due when talking about the world’s best?These numbers have to be put in context first of all. New Zealand are aware of that. Their match against India was washed out without even the toss, and they are yet to play England and Australia. Or West Indies for that matter. They bullied Sri Lanka on a fresh surface, and they have had two surfaces – against Bangladesh and South Africa – where they could bowl into the wicket and use cutters.Matt Henry took four wickets•Getty ImagesNew Zealand will obviously not want to make tall claims before they have actually been tested properly. Yet, if there were to be a debate around the best attack in this tournamen, you can’t totally write them off.In Trent Boult, they have a left-arm quick who will extract every last bit of swing or seam movement available. Henry himself can do that but also bowl into the pitch if required. Lockie Ferguson is among the four or five fastest bowlers in the tournament with the ability to bowl accurate bouncers and yorkers. Mitchell Santner is not the wirstspinner-style wicket-taker you ideally want, but Ferguson has teamed up well with his miserliness by taking more wickets in the middle overs than anyone else. Equally importantly they have two fifth-bowler options in Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham. At a pinch Kane Williamson can bowl.Pose the question now to Gary Stead, the coach, and he makes the point of helpful conditions first. “I think there are some great bowling attacks in a lot of different teams,” he says. “South Africa themselves have a very good bowling attack as well. Whether we are the best, I don’t know. We have played on wickets that have probably haven’t been really high-scoring all the time. The ones that we have been on to date, they have probably been even slower than what we have expected. The most pleasing thing from my perspective is we have adapted to it. And I mean that augurs well. There is a lot of good conversations going on.”ALSO READ: Mitchell Santner, the X-factor is in his instinctsAsk Stead to rate the attack in isolation, though, and he is happy to talk them up. “I rate our attack very highly,” he says. “I guess I selected them to come here. They are a good balanced team as well. I mean Ish [Sodhi] was considered strongly as well [for the game against South Africa]. What went against him this game was that we still felt it was just a touch soft on the top. Maybe the seam movement was going to be effective. So and Tim’s [Southee] back to full fitness and bowling well in the nets but it’s been hard as the guys have stood up do far. That’s what we can ask of them.”Lockie Ferguson bowls as Hashim Amla looks on•Getty ImagesAnd by no means is Stead satisfied yet. “It was not perfect by any means but I thought we were in the right areas for long periods of time,” Stead said of his side’s bowling against South Africa. “And I thought most of the time we used the slower balls and balls into the wicket really really well.”One way to judge attacks is also which players they are keeping out. While the form of Sodhi and Southee has not been in that league, they have not been bad bowlers in ODI cricket. It does create headaches for the management, but New Zealand is a squad that understands what is best for the team. Southee and Stead have conversations around it. His experience helps the side a lot on the sidelines.ALSO READ: Boult and Southee interview – Understanding each other off the field helps us on itIt is also about flexibility and adjusting quickly to the surface you are playing on, and New Zealand have shown for a while they are good at it. They do their homework – talk to curators, talk to players who know the conditions (Jeetan Patel for Edgbaston, for example) – and they quickly communicate among themselves what areas they need to bowl on certain pitches. They don’t always follow a set formula.New Zealand have the depth of an England. Their first two fast bowlers might not be as good as Australia’s but they have the balance and the strength to play a trio that beats others. Man to man, India might just put them to shade, though. In the best-case scenario, they go with Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as opening bowlers and death bowlers, and the two wristspinners as the middle-overs strikers. New Zealand have shown they have been better with the new ball, India at the death. In the middle overs, the wristspinners are ahead of the Santner-Ferguson combine, but de Grandhomme and Neesham are a better fifth-bowler combination than Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav.It is a shame the two couldn’t go head to head when the chance came. Going by how well the two bowling units are going, a future meeting in this World Cup can’t be ruled out. Sterner tests are almost here, though. Next up are West Indies who took them to the shredders in the warm-up game. The game will be played at the 350-friendly Old Trafford. Now is the time to justify those numbers at the top.
England must decide what Eoin Morgan’s best role is and work out if Chris Silverwood needs a helping hand
Matt Roller28-Oct-2019England have treated T20 cricket as ODI-lite since their last-over defeat in Kolkata three years ago. The nature of the international schedule means their T20Is have resembled exhibition matches, tacked on to the start or end of 50-over series, and the lack of an impending world tournament has led to a bitty record: they have won 12 games, lost 10, and used 26 players since that 2016 final.But their five-match series in New Zealand is an important step on the road to Australia next winter. There are only 12 more games scheduled for England between this tour and the start of the World Cup, so it is important that they gain at least some idea of where they stand in the format. Here are five questions they would do well to answer…Are the Blast’s best good enough?This series represents a big opportunity for four of the Blast’s most consistent performers in recent years, all of whom are largely untested outside of domestic cricket.Pat Brown and Matt Parkinson are the two leading wicket-takers in the Blast over the past two seasons, with 48 and 46 scalps respectively. Brown’s temperament stood out in the past two editions of T20 Finals Day, as he repeatedly held his nerve on county cricket’s biggest stage with his array of variations at the death, but a combination of flat pitches and short boundaries in New Zealand will provide a stern test.
Parkinson, meanwhile, has an opportunity to nail down a spot as second spinner: Moeen Ali will be in the World Cup starting XI as a middle-order hitter, but Adil Rashid’s troublesome shoulder means that there should be room for another spin option in the squad. Parkinson bowls an old-school variety of legspin, tossing the ball up at 45mph, and given his relative weakness against left-handers, he will be keen to prove himself against Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner.With the bat, Somerset pair Lewis Gregory and Tom Banton had standout seasons in 2018 and 2019 respectively.Gregory has a chance to stake his claim to be England’s finisher, with a death-overs strike rate of 211.83 against pace (since 2018), though his record against spin is a concern, albeit from a small sample. Banton acquitted himself well against both spin and pace in the Blast, though the dual threat of Santner and Ish Sodhi will be a stern test, and he was beaten for pace by Lockie Ferguson in Sunday’s first warm-up match.What is Morgan’s best role?It is easy to think Eoin Morgan is the first name on England’s T20 teamsheet, but it is worth putting that claim under scrutiny. Since playing four games in the 2017 IPL, Morgan’s experience has almost exclusively been limited to the Blast and sporadic international games – plus four appearances in the CPL, three in the PSL, and four in the Mzansi Super League.
In that period, his form with the bat has been relatively unspectacular. He has a strike rate of 141.7 – good, but not outstanding given how many games he has played on flat pitches in the Blast – and his record against spin (128.3 SR, 22.59 average) is a concern given he is primarily a middle-order player.Throw in his troublesome back, his cautious approach in the Powerplay, and the extent to which T20 has evolved since he last regularly captained a side, and it is far from obvious that Morgan is England’s best option as a No. 4. Instead, it might be worth considering him as a finisher. His recent record against pace at the death (209.5 SR, 24.1 av.) is superb, and England lack an obvious alternative at No. 6; he may not be happy about it, but that might well be Morgan’s best role.Does Silverwood need a hand?Chris Silverwood’s appointment as England coach was met by most with a nod of approval, a sign that Ashley Giles’ promised shift in focus towards Test cricket was genuine. But with two T20 World Cups scheduled in the next two years and England among the favourites for both, it is noteworthy that he is in charge of all formats, not just red-ball cricket.England head coach Chris Silverwood talks to the media on arrival at Christchurch airport•Getty ImagesSilverwood’s two seasons as a T20 head coach brought 12 wins and 14 losses in charge of a decent Essex side, and his playing career saw him gain little relevant short-form experience.While he has been around the England side in the past two years, it should at least be considered that he could do with a hand in T20 cricket; if it becomes apparent that he lacks specialist knowledge in the format during this tour, then Giles would do well to appoint someone with recent franchise experience – Johan Botha or Shane Bond, for example – in a ‘consultant’ role to give him a helping hand.Who is the back-up batsman?There are four batsmen in the England squad aged 28 or above for whom this tour is a massive opportunity. Realistically, it is hard to see how more than two of Joe Denly, James Vince, Dawid Malan and Sam Billings can be in the 15-man squad to go to the World Cup, so this will be a chance to stake a claim.England have used Denly very strangely in white-ball cricket, and T20 in particular. He looks set to be used as a spin-bowling allrounder who bats in the middle order, but that is a role he never fills outside of international cricket.
Since 2017, he has played 55 innings in the top three, and four between No. 4 and No. 7, all of them for England. Vince is a good option as a top-order batsman, but his case suffers due to the wealth of candidates in that role.Malan, meanwhile, is a fantastic player of spin, but counterintuitively has largely been used at No. 3 by England despite his cautious approach in the Powerplay. He is set to open in Tuesday’s warm-up match, but should really be deployed in the middle overs, where he scored at a strike rate of 201.5 against spin in the Blast this season.Billings has the chance to showcase his talents. He made 87 not out off 47 balls in his last T20I innings, but had a torrid summer after missing out on the preliminary World Cup squad and then suffering a serious shoulder injury. His installment as vice-captain is a real vote of confidence, and he has benefited from working with Stephen Fleming for two years at Chennai Super Kings.Which seamers will emerge from the pack?England have a huge number of seam-bowling options for next year’s World Cup: Jofra Archer is a lock, but any of Chris Jordan, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Tom and Sam Curran, Tymal Mills, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Pat Brown, Saqib Mahmood and Harry Gurney could feasibly fill the remaining spots in the squad.Chris Jordan belts out an appeal in England’s warm-up game•Getty ImagesJordan has been England’s only T20 ever-present since 2016, but his record in club colours in the last 12 months (9.06 ER, 29.70 average) is underwhelming, and Brown and Tom Curran will provide competition as death bowlers.Sam Curran can prove his worth both as a finisher with the bat and a Powerplay specialist with the ball, while Mahmood will also largely bowl up front, having bowled more than two thirds of his overs for Lancashire in the Blast this year in the first six.Morgan has generally preferred his seamers to be flexible, and capable of bowling in every phase, but it is important that they are given clarity in their roles ahead of Friday’s opener.
The stats and milestones as Smith breaks yet more Ashes records at Edgbaston
Bharath Seervi04-Aug-20195 Number of Australia batsmen to score centuries in both innings of a Test in The Ashes. Steven Smith joins Warren Bardsley, Arthur Morris, Steve Waugh and Matthew Hayden in doing so. For England, Herbert Sutcliffe, Wally Hammond, and Denis Compton have achieved the feat.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2002 The last time any batsman scored twins tons in an Ashes Test. It was Hayden in Brisbane in the 2002-03 Ashes. Before Smith, only two of the seven instances of twins tons in Ashes had come in England – Bardsley (The Oval) and Waugh (Old Trafford). Overall, Smith is only the second to do so at Edgbaston; the first was Marcus Trescothick against West Indies in 2004.6 Number of centuries for Smith in his last 10 Ashes innings. He has scored 1116 runs in these 10 innings. Bradman is the only batsman to have better numbers in any span of 10 successive Ashes innings. He scored 1236 runs and 7 hundreds between 1937 and 1946 in 10 innings.10 Centuries in Ashes for Smith now – five in Australia and five in England. Only Bradman (19) and Jack Hobbs (12) have hit more Ashes centuries than Smith, although Waugh also hit 10. Bradman, Waugh, Allan Border and Mark Taylor are the only other Australia batsmen to score five or more centuries in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 Smith is only the third visiting batsman to score two centuries in the first Test of a series in England and none has done it in the last 70 years. George Headley did so at Lord’s in 1939 and Alan Melville in 1947. Usually the batsmen don’t find English conditions easy and scoring hundreds at the start of the series is not easy. Smith is also coming back into Test cricket after more than a year, following his ban for ball-tampering. Overall, Smith is only the tenth batsman to score two hundreds in the first Test of an away series and last was Virat Kohli in Australia in 2014-15.25 Centuries for Smith in his Test career, in 119 innings. Only Bradman, in 68 innings, had achieved it in fewer innings. Smith has followed Kohli (127 innings), Sachin Tendulkar (130) and Sunil Gavaskar (138) in terms of fewest innings to 25 Test 100s. He is now tied with Kohli on 25 Test centuries.4 Number of batsmen to score 140 or more in both innings of a Test, including Smith with scores of 144 and 142 in this match. Allan Border, Andy Flower, and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the others to have achieved the double.
Time after time, the batsmen were rooted to the crease against India’s fast bowlers
Mohammad Isam in Kolkata24-Nov-2019The handful of times Bangladesh made India was when their batsmen broke out of their shell.Early in the Kolkata Test, Shadman Islam furiously square-cut and pulled Umesh Yadav, and immediately Virat Kohli put the man back on the square-leg fence. Whenever Mushfiqur Rahim drove the ball firmly, even the might of the Indian pace attack had second thoughts about pitching it up to him.On the second evening at the Eden Gardens, when India were threatening to end the game, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah’s short-lived counterattack brought balance into the contest. It was a reminder that even the greatest bowling attacks can be dealt with if you have clarity of mind.Mushfiqur, who finished as the team’s highest run-getter in the two Tests, didn’t look to dominate, but his approach usually impresses on any opposition the value of his wicket. He had only one early dismissal in the four innings, but would still rue missing out on a bigger score in the second innings in Kolkata. He had a measure of India’s bowling, and more importantly the pink ball.Mushfiqur Rahim made a valiant half-century•BCCIGiven their struggle to put up good scores, there was a lot of focus on Bangladesh’s decision to bat first in Kolkata. But coach Russell Domingo and captain Mominul Haque had the right intention of pushing for a win rather than waiting for the opposition to hand them the opportunity. Their plan only fell apart because of the rest of the team’s tentativeness.Imrul Kayes, who made only 21 runs from 61 balls all series, was the epitome of this mentality. Whether he was defending or hitting out, he looked totally short of confidence, resulting in dismissals to whatever type of bowling he faced. The gap between his bat and pad was that of a batsman who has regressed despite playing more than ten years of international cricket.Shadman, his opening partner, did a little better but the round-the-wicket angle and relentless accuracy of India’s fast bowlers got to him too. The left-hander’s dismissals had a lot to do with his lack of footwork, which was also evident in New Zealand earlier this year where he kept getting out after settling down at the crease. When a batsman is rooted to the crease, it lets the fast bowler corner him with his line and length.Mahmudullah is roughed up by a rip roaring bouncer•BCCIMominul had judgment issues outside off stump. In Kolkata, he was caught behind both times when neither delivery seemed to be heading towards his off stump. The same problem cost him a chance to build on his only substantial knock of the series, in Indore, when he was bowled after leaving an R Ashwin delivery. Mominul is an established Test batsman who has had a few dips in his career, so improvement is expected.Mohammad Mithun, considered to be the right man to bat as high as No 4 in the Test line-up, has work to do as well. The 28-year old owns the Bangladeshi record for most first-class matches before a Test debut, which translates to a technique that is already etched into his system. It might be hard to shake him off some bad habits now, like his bat coming down at an angle against a really good bowler. He is essentially a strokeplayer who has made a career out of quickfire knocks that unsettle bowling line-ups. Perhaps the intention was to ruffle the feathers in the Indian ranks but Mithun, who made only 37 runs in four innings, isn’t quite ready for that role yet.Liton Das is another batsman who is known for his strokeplay, but he continues to be inconsistent, starting off really well but losing focus after hitting a handful of boundaries. It has been a problem that has plagued many a Bangladeshi batsman, with only Tamim Iqbal getting out of this mindset halfway into his career. Liton is known to be a recluse who doesn’t spend a lot of time talking to coaches, and his temperament and mentality could do with a rethink.Liton Das nudges the ball into a gap•AFPAnd what of Mahmudullah? It may be hard to drop him now in the continued absence of Shakib Al Hasan, but his performance indicated the difficulty of one batsman shouldering so many important roles. Mahmudullah is an ODI enforcer and a T20 finisher. It might be too much to ask him to be the team’s backbone in Test cricket as well. It is time for change of approach and the only way that will work is with input from both player and the team management.All these batsmen, barring Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah for a brief period on the second evening in Kolkata, being rooted at the crease came at a huge cost. Perhaps their hanging back had a lot to do with their apprehension about this Indian fast-bowling attack. Half the battle is won in the mind, as many experts say, and most of the Bangladesh batsmen entered the Indore and Kolkata Tests with a preconceived notion that they were about to become lambs to the slaughter. Half the battle was lost right there.
Once notoriously injury-prone, he’s improved his fitness, amped up his pace, and become the leader of Bengal’s attack
Shashank Kishore02-Jan-2020It can be hard to make inferences from domestic cricket scorecards. You need match footage, a live telecast or, better still, be there to watch in person.The scorecard of Ishan Porel’s Ranji Trophy debut in November 2017 will tell you this: Vidarbha’s openers put on 259 in the first innings, laying base for a total of 499. Bengal lost by 10 wickets, after following on. Faiz Fazal, an India international, made a century, and Wriddhiman Saha, the India wicketkeeper, missed one by three runs.It would be easy to miss the figures next to the name of a 19-year-old debutant playing for the losing side. But India’s junior selectors were at the venue, and didn’t miss a thing.They were in the midst of narrowing down the India squad for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. They had watched Porel before, but hadn’t been enthused by his fitness history. He had already gone through a side strain, a medial collateral ligament injury, an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and a partial tear in his left knee while fielding in a selection match.But Porel’s bowling had always been talked of highly. So the selectors watched him bowl 22 wicketless overs on the first day. On day two, they watched him bowl unchanged between lunch and tea.”He was sharp, accurate, and generated bounce from a docile track,” Venkatesh Prasad, the junior selection committee chief, said at the time. In 35-degree heat and sapping humidity, Porel sent down 47 overs in Vidarbha’s first innings, nearly a third of the 138.1 overs Bengal bowled, and finished with figures of 4 for 139. It was enough evidence of his fitness.Porel was soon part of India’s squad for the Under-19 Challenger Trophy, and eventually the Under-19 World Cup. He returned from New Zealand in February 2018 as a World Cup winner. His story could have been a lot different if he hadn’t been noticed that day.Two years on, another set of selectors, the ones who pick the senior India team, are keeping a close eye on Porel. He’s been part of India A squads, bowled a title-winning spell in the Deodhar Trophy, featured in the Duleep Trophy, and will return to New Zealand in January 2020 with the India A team that is shadowing the senior India squad’s tour of the country. Later this year, he will share a dressing room with his Bengal senior Mohammed Shami at Kings XI Punjab.Ishan Porel runs in to bowl•ICC/Getty ImagesIn 2014, Porel was categorised as “underweight” at the National Cricket Academy. He had a wrong-footed action – “somewhat like Sohail Tanvir,” he says – that played a part in sparking his spate of injuries. The basic assessment was that he was unfit. “Not overweight, unfit,” Porel stresses.For a year, he worked on his fitness in his own way. Running. Not in air-conditioned gyms, but from his home in Chandannagar to the railway station, a 30-minute journey, with his kit resting on his shoulders. From there, he’d board a train to Howrah and then take a bus to Salt Lake or Eden Gardens. On his way home, he’d repeat the run back.”For one year, I worked on my fitness without going to the gym. Just running, some hand and shoulder exercises, good diet,” Porel says. “I wanted to prove I could bowl fast. In my first year at NCA, batsmen used to hit me all over the park. It hurt me that I was classified as medium-fast. I wanted to be ‘Ishan Porel, fast’ or Ishan Porel, fast-medium’. That was my goal.”A year after the NCA snub, he was part of a Bengal Colts team in Bangladesh. “That tour, I did really well,” he says. “I played with a lot of the current Bangladesh Under-19 players. One of the coaches complimented me also. He said ‘why don’t you come to Bangladesh and play for our club? We don’t have fast bowlers.’ I’m sure they said it jokingly, but it was a good compliment.”The Colts tour helped Porel establish himself in the Bengal age-group teams, and from there he worked his way up until he was playing in an Under-19 World Cup. That high was followed by what could have been a crushing low, as a heel injury forced him to hobble off 4.1 overs into India’s tournament-opener. He would be out for two weeks. “I was crying every day,” he says.Rahul Dravid, the then India Under-19 head coach, understood that this was the moment Porel had trained for. Sending him back home would crush a young dream, even if it may have been the easiest thing to do. Instead, Porel was given confidence and recovery time. An injury reinforcement was called in, but Porel stayed on and worked, sometimes overtime, with Anand Date, the trainer.He returned for the quarter-final against Bangladesh, bowled a match-winning spell of 4 for 17 in the semi-final against Pakistan, and ended the tournament with a tight opening spell, and the wickets of both openers, in the final against Australia.He came back to a “Chandannagar hero returns home” headline, keys to a brand new motorbike – a Royal Enfield Classic 350 – and the promise of a big future, which is what he continues to pursue.”Ranji Trophy teaches you patience,” he says. “I have been in the circuit for three years. No two wickets have been the same. You can’t bowl the same way in Eden like you do in Bangalore or Hubli. I hadn’t figured this out earlier, but playing domestic cricket allows you to learn on your own and figure things out.”Back of a length isn’t something you can bowl on good tracks in India, and that is my natural strength because of my height. So I’ve learnt to bowl up, swing the ball. Earlier, I used to do it at 130kph. Now, I’m close to 140. That has also made a difference.”Ishan Porel goes up in appeal•Getty ImagesPorel’s ability to swing the ball at a good pace, and his improving death-bowling skills, made an impression on the IPL’s talent scouts. He had been snubbed twice earlier – “when I wanted to badly get into the IPL” – and was understandably cautious when the player auction got underway in December.”Last year, Kolkata Knight Riders were impressed and asked me to be ready, but it didn’t happen,” he says. “Even before that, I had my hopes high. This year, Sunrisers Hyderabad called me on trials on 15 December. I would have had to travel on 14th, come back on 16th and play a Ranji game from 17th.”I’ve learned from my past injuries. Also, Ranji Trophy is a different league altogether, the emotions are different. I didn’t want to take a risk and start a game tired. If I do well, I will be picked. If I don’t, I won’t. For two years, I wanted to play badly, but I didn’t get a chance. Even this year, I hoped to be picked but it wasn’t like I was constantly thinking about it, and it worked.”It did, and Kings XI picked him up at his base price.Either side of the auction, Porel has taken eight wickets in two Ranji Trophy games at an average of 17.38. In Ashok Dinda’s absence for disciplinary reasons, he has become the de facto leader of Bengal’s pace attack. He relishes the responsibility.”I’m looking forward to it,” he says. “Every match I play, be it for Bengal, India A or Board President’s XI, I approach it with the same intensity. The goal is to win matches, get the team into a better position than they were at earlier. It’s that simple. If we all do that together, we will all be moving in the right direction.”Asked to pick a favourite spell, Porel says nothing has come close to the rhythm he felt in the second Ranji Trophy game of his debut season, against Punjab in Amritsar. “I bowled badly in the first innings because I got carried away looking at the wicket,” he says. “Then in the second innings, the ball was reversing, and I came back really well to pick up five wickets in the second innings and we won the game. That was something.”Indeed it was something. He was full of confidence, having just been told he would be playing in an Under-19 World Cup. It’s this confidence he hopes to carry with him to become a flagbearer for Bengal, and maybe India, for years to come.