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The tall paceman will travel to Melbourne on Wednesday as a replacement for Lockie Ferguson

Andrew McGlashan17-Dec-2019Kyle Jamieson, the uncapped Auckland pace bowler, has been called into New Zealand’s Test squad as a replacement for the injured Lockie Ferguson.Jamieson, 24, is tall pace bowler and useful lower-order batsman who played for New Zealand A earlier in the season against England.Although he only has five wickets in three first-class matches this season, his overall record is 72 at 27.93 and his height, with the potential to extract bounce from Australian wickets, has helped earn his call-up.”It’s an exciting opportunity for Kyle who has impressed in the Plunket Shield domestic four-day competition,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “We’ve also been really encouraged by his progress in the NZC winter camps and his performances for New Zealand A.”Standing at over two metres tall he obviously gets good bounce and brings something different to our other pace bowlers.”Describing himself as “a bit tall and a bit gangly maybe”, Jamieson said he received the call from selector Gavin Larsen as he was gearing up for a nets session as part of his preparation for Auckland’s game against Canterbury in the T20 Super Smash.”It was a pretty special moment,” he said, adding, “it was pretty hard to concentrate [on his training]” after the call, and that the prospect of making a debut in Australia’s backyard is at once daunting and exciting. “I think it’s a great, challenging stuff, but I think most kids growing up would say that a Boxing Day test against the Aussie’s would be pretty special.”He admitted to “never ever [having] set foot [in Victoria] outside the Melbourne airport,” and that he has not received any indication of playing at the MCG or the SCG for the third Test.”Whether I play or not, basically just to be a sponge and soak up the atmosphere and just the whole trip itself and just learning off some of those world-class guys in that squad,” he said.His height – “a gift from my parents” – is an advantage he is hoping “to make the most of” to get healthy bounce on the Australian tracks. “It’s just about doing your role for the team and I guess whatever that looks like for me, I’m happy to do that,” he said. “So whether that’s bowling full, or it’s bowling wide or it’s whatever it is.”Jamieson will play in the Super Smash match against Canterbury Kings on Tuesday before heading to Melbourne to link up with the squad on Wednesday to prepare for the Boxing Day Test.Ferguson, who made his Test debut in Perth, has been ruled out for up to six weeks after suffering a calf strain on the opening day.”We’re all absolutely gutted for Lockie,” Stead said. “He’d worked really hard to earn his Test debut and to have it cruelly halted by injury was truly unlucky. He’ll return home to begin his recovery with an eye to India’s tour of New Zealand starting in late January.”On Monday, Stead admitted that they would not be able to find a like-for-like replacement for Ferguson’s pace. “I can’t promise you that I can pluck out guys that can bowl 150kph from New Zealand and bring them over here because I’m not sure we necessarily have them that are fit and available. We’ll consider everything we’ve got but there’s still some positives for us that we can go to Melbourne with and work out how to put Australia under pressure.New Zealand head to Melbourne with a number of issues to resolve as they aim to bounce back from the 296-run defeat in Perth. Jeet Raval’s poor form continued with scores of 1 and 1 while Mitchell Santner went wicketless through 41 overs and conceded 3.56 runs per over.They have two days of match practice against a Victoria XI on December 20 and 22 – split over three days with a training day in the middle – before the second Test when those who weren’t part of the XI in Perth will get their chance.That will likely include Trent Boult who is on track to return for Melbourne after it was decided he was too much of a risk to play in Perth as he recovered from his side strain.Tom Blundell, who is the reserve wicketkeeper on the tour but also the spare batsman, would be the player to replace Raval if he was dropped – leading to a potential reshuffle of the batting order – while legspinner Todd Astle could put pressure on Santner.

SACA CEO Breetzke terms the Covid-19 pandemic as a ‘convenient excuse for the delay’

Firdose Moonda08-Jun-2020The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has accused Cricket South Africa’s board of a “lack of will” to conclude suspended CEO Thabang Moroe’s disciplinary proceedings which remain unresolved more than six months after Moroe was put on paid leave. Moroe continues to earn his full salary of R350,000 a month (approx. US $20,809) while acting CEO Dr Jacques Faul has been asked to continue in the role for as long as needed.Faul was seconded from the Titans franchise to head up CSA for what the organisation’s president Chris Nenzani said would be a maximum of six months. That period elapsed last Friday, with Moroe’s case yet to be resolved. At the time of writing, CSA had not yet responded to requests for comment to clarify when Moroe’s case will be concluded.Late on Monday afternoon, CSA issued a statement noting the concerns of “our stakeholders” and called the situation “regrettable”, while promising an update as soon as possible. “CSA would like to assure all cricket stakeholders of our uppermost intention to ensure absolute transparency on the related forensic outcomes once all of the related processes have been concluded,” the statement read.”It appears as if the Covid-19 pandemic is being used as a convenient excuse for the delay, in spite of the fact that CSA is operationally fully functional at the moment,” Andrew Breetzke, SACA CEO, said. “There appears to be a distinct lack of will at board level to deal with this matter, despite the dire need for finality on this material issue for all stakeholders in cricket. It is interesting to note that there were no such delays in dealing with the numerous other CSA disciplinary matters.”ALSO READ: CSA braces for just ‘half a season’ in 2020-21Moroe was the seventh CSA employee to be suspended when the organisation imploded late last year, and the only one whose case has not progressed significantly. Of those, only one has returned to the organisation. Corrie van Zyl, who was working as interim director of cricket before he was suspended, was acquitted of wrongdoing in relation to delayed payments of player’s commercial rights to SACA, and now works under director of cricket Graeme Smith. Chief operating officer Naasei Appiah and head of sales and sponsorship Clive Eksteen were both found guilty of misconduct and are understood to be appealing. However, financial manager Ziyanda Nkuta, procurement manager Lundi Maja, and administrator Dalene Nolan, have all been dismissed.Moroe’s case, which includes charges of credit card misuse, is dependent on the completion of a forensic audit, which is still in progress. CSA confirmed the audit is still to be finalised and the findings will be shared pending board approval. SACA believe CSA are also using the incomplete audit as a reason to prolong Moroe’s case. “CSA will point to the forensic audit that has not yet been completed, despite the fact that the crises that have enveloped CSA over the past 18 months are evidence of a prima facie case against Moroe. It is hard to imagine another professional environment where such vacillation on a matter of such importance would be tolerated by a board of directors,” Breetzke said.SACA have made repeated calls for the CSA Board to step down, and have been at loggerheads with CSA over a variety of issues under the Moroe administration, who they took to court over a proposed restructure of the domestic game. The case was withdrawn in February after the plan was scrapped. Since then, relations between SACA and CSA have improved, and Breetzke made an appearance at a CSA press conference, outlining the organisation’s plans to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. That marked the first time SACA and CSA representatives addressed the media together in the last three years. However, the two bodies continue to clash over the Moroe issue, over which there remains no deadline to resolve.

As teams stand for ‘moment of unity’ in seamer’s debut Test, ECB commits to ‘full investigation’

George Dobell02-Jun-2021Ollie Robinson has “unreservedly apologised” after admitting posting “racist and sexist” comments on Twitter while a teenager.The tweets, sent between April 2012 and June 2013, included use of the ‘N’ word, comments suggesting Muslim people were linked with terrorism, and derogatory comments about women and people of Asian heritage. Robinson was aged 18 and 19 at the time, and representing either Leicestershire, Kent and Yorkshire in second-team cricket.”On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public,” Robinson said in a statement released shortly after stumps on the opening day of the two-Test series against New Zealand. “I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist.”I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I would like to unreservedly apologise to anyone I have offended, my teammates and the game as a whole in what has been a day of action and awareness in combatting discrimination from our sport.”There was some irony in the timing of the discovery. Both England and New Zealand joined in a ‘moment of unity’ ahead of play in an attempted to show a collective stance against any form of discrimination in cricket. England also unveiled training t-shirts to be worn all summer which bear slogans declaring that ‘cricket is a game for everyone’ on the front and denouncing racism, sexism and religious intolerance among other things on the back.”I don’t want something that happened eight years ago to diminish the efforts of my teammates and the ECB as they continue to build meaningful action with their comprehensive initiatives and efforts, which I fully endorse and support,” Robinson continued.”I will continue to educate myself, look for advice and work with the support network that is available to me to learn more about getting better in this area. I am sorry, and I have certainly learned my lesson today.”Ollie Robinson has apologised for offensive tweets posted as a teenager•PA Images via Getty Images

The tweets may also expose the ECB to allegations of a failure to conduct due diligence. Robinson has been close to the England team for some time – he has toured with the Lions and spent months in the senior team’s bio-bubble in recent times – so it may raise eyebrows that nobody at the organisation had noticed such comments. Questions might also be raised of Yorkshire, who are currently facing an enquiry into their attitude towards race and inclusivity. Robinson made his first-team debut for the club in August 2013.While the comments were made several years ago, it is possible Robinson could still face disciplinary action from the ECB. A statement from ECB chief executive Tom Harrison made it clear that a “zero tolerance” attitude to such behaviour will be taken and committed to “a full investigation as part of our disciplinary process.””I do not have the words to express how disappointed I am that an England Men’s player has chosen to write tweets of this nature, however long ago that might have been,” Harrison said.”Any person reading those words, particularly a woman or person of colour, would take away an image of cricket and cricketers that is completely unacceptable. We are better than this.”We have a zero-tolerance stance to any form of discrimination and there are rules in place that handle conduct of this nature. We will initiate a full investigation as part of our disciplinary process.”Our England Men’s Team, alongside others from the ECB and our partners across the game, worked together today to create a moment of unity. Using today’s spotlight to reaffirm our commitment to driving forward an anti-discrimination agenda. Our commitment to that effort remains unwavering, and the emergence of these comments from Ollie’s past reiterates the need for ongoing education and engagement on this issue.”England players and staff stand for a Moment of Unity whilst wearing anti-discrimination T-shirts•Getty Images

Until the emergence of the tweets, Robinson had enjoyed a memorable day for almost entirely positive reasons. Having been presented with his Test cap by former Sussex colleague Jon Lewis, who is now the bowling coach with England, he impressed in taking two of the first three wickets on a flat pitch. Delivering an excellent probing length, he generated movement in both directions and looked to have the talent to forge a decent career at the top level.”Today should be about my efforts on the field and the pride of making my Test debut for England, but my thoughtless behaviour in the past has tarnished this,” Robinson’s statement continued.While Robinson made no attempt to excuse his behaviour, he did suggest he had “matured as a person” since the tweets were posted. In a subsequent media conference, he also suggested they had been sent in a period of turmoil after his release from Yorkshire. While the tweets came to prominence shortly after lunch, it is understood that the England management did not tell Robinson until the close of play.”I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable,” Robinson continued. “Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets.”Over the past few years, I have worked hard to turn my life around. I have considerably matured as an adult. The work and education I have gained personally from the PCA, my county Sussex and the England Cricket Team have helped me to come to terms and gain a deep understanding of being a responsible professional cricketer.”Related

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It was not until July 2014 that Yorkshire terminated Robinson’s contract due to “unprofessional” conduct. The club’s coach at the time, Jason Gillespie, was quoted at the time as saying: “When a player consistently displays behaviour that isn’t professional, there has to be a point in time when you say, ‘look, this isn’t really working, you’re obviously not bothered about playing for the club’.”Robinson’s current club, Sussex, issued a statement saying they were “beyond disappointed to read these tweets when they were brought to our attention today” and that “their content was wholly unacceptable”.”We are pleased that Ollie has apologised unreservedly and taken responsibility for a significant mistake that he made as a teenager,” the statement said. “His age does not excuse the content of these tweets in any way and he will now suffer the consequences of his actions.”We know he recognises the severity of the situation and that he is devastated that what should have been a proud day has been overshadowed in this manner. We know also that Ollie will learn some very important lessons from this experience. We will be here to offer any support Ollie needs during that process.”There will be some who dismiss the tweets as the work of an immature young man and suggest Robinson should not be defined by them. Others will point out that we may all have once been young and foolish, but we have not all been young, foolish and racist. Either way, they will be an acute embarrassment to the individual as well as the ECB and do nothing to convince the doubters that the sport is inclusive and welcoming.In the longer term, though, Robinson’s tweets may serve to provide a reminder of where we are as a sport and a society on such issues. By doing so, they underline the importance of the England’s team’s current campaign in ensuring there is greater awareness and education in such areas.

There is a template for a success from other left-arm spinners who have toured Australia

Andrew McGlashan01-Dec-2021The return of Ben Stokes to the England set-up is good news on many levels, but one person perhaps happier than most will be left-arm spinner Jack Leach.Leach, who famously combined with Stokes at the dramatic conclusion of the Headingley Test in 2019, did not play a Test in the last English season (he has not played at home since the 2019 Ashes) largely because of the difficulty in balancing the side in Stokes’ absence.England tried to find a solution by recalling Moeen Ali after the first Test against India but that still left Leach on the outer. Leach’s Test record is a more-than-creditable – 62 wickets at 29.98 from 16 games – he took 12 at 25.83 in the previous Ashes – 11 of which have come overseas.Putting Stokes straight back into the Test cauldron at the Gabba will be something of a gamble given the lack of preparation – albeit the rain has made that an issue for a lot of players – but Leach’s fortunes are closely intertwined with his presence.”Stokesy being back is a great boost for all of us, in terms of the balance it really helps things out and is probably good news for the spin department,” Leach said. “From the summer the feedback was that Stokesy not being in the side, having that all-round option in the top order, made it difficult for me to get into the side.”Related

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“Over the summer not playing I was thinking about this series so I feel like preparations have been ongoing and now it’s about getting out there and doing it.”Leach is confident he will have enough bowling under his belt despite the disrupted build-up that has so far limited England to 29 overs of play.The other dynamic at play in terms of Leach’s place in the team is the inclement weather and what that might mean for the Gabba wicket although Shane Warne for one would laugh at the notion of not playing a spinner.It is the bounce offered in Brisbane that can be as important as the turn – a factor that can extend to venues beyond the Gabba – and Leach has noted how Nathan Lyon has been able to forge an outstanding career.”For years I’ve watched Nathan Lyon and he’s very impressive, how he goes about his business,” he said. “How strong his stock ball is on wickets that don’t necessarily offer a lot spin-wise he’s found ways to extract bounce, dip and all the other things. There’s a lot of over-spin from him and those are the kind of things that I’ve been trying to add in but trying to stick to my strengths. You take little bits from everyone you play against.”A central plank of England’s victory in 2010-11 was the role of Graeme Swann whose overall return of 15 wickets at 39.80 may seem modest but he won the Test in Adelaide on the final day and conceded just 2.72 an over which meant the scoreboard rarely got away.Leach can also take some confidence from the role played by Ravindra Jadeja on India’s last two tours of Australia and further back that of Keshav Maharaj and Paul Harris for South Africa.”I don’t think he [Jadeja] did too much different to what he does in India,” Leach said. “That’s another nice thing to see. He’s taken what he does, is doing pretty similar things and having success. I also take a lot of confidence from bowling in England, against Australia in 2019.”Definitely looking at those left-armers who have had success is a good thing. Offspin is totally different, [it’s still] fingerspinner but different parts of the pitch bowling to right and left handers.”And while seamer-friendly conditions may not play in Leach’s favour – the second Test is with the pink ball under lights in Adelaide – he can more than see the silver lining.”I went for food with Broady and Anderson the other day and some guy came out afterwards and started saying ‘I just want to wish you the worst of luck at the Gabba’. Then he said ‘it’s going to be a green seamer’ and I was thinking, not sure that’s the best sledge to two of the greatest bowlers England have ever had so I think they were pretty pleased about that.”

Architect of 100-ball cricket will depart ECB role after 2023 competition

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2023Sanjay Patel is to leave his position as managing director of the Hundred following the conclusion of this year’s competition.Patel, the man behind the ECB’s introduction of 100-ball cricket, was previously chief sales and marketing officer before taking charge of the Hundred when it was unveiled as a concept in 2018.His departure comes at a time of uncertainty over the future of the competition, with newspaper reports in recent weeks suggesting the ECB could drop the format and refocus attention on its T20 offering.”I’d like to thank Sanjay for all his work and dedication at the ECB over many years, and wish him the very best for the future,” Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive officer, said.”There’s no doubt that the Hundred has been a success, helping cricket reach new audiences, bringing in important revenue and propelling the game forwards. It plays an important role in our game and I’m looking forward to a very long and successful future for the Hundred.”The Hundred has been controversial from the start, with the ECB accused of alienating cricket’s traditional fanbase in pursuit of new audiences. Its launch was pushed back a year to 2021 by the Covid-19 pandemic, while a recent report by Fanos Hira, Worcestershire’s chairman, suggested the competition had made a £9 million loss in its first two seasons.However, the return of cricket to free-to-air TV, via the BBC, and its role in giving the women’s game a higher profile have been credited with creating a more diverse appeal.Patel said: “I would like to thank Sky, the BBC, and all our commercial partners for their support.”I would also particularly like to thank my whole team for their hard work and dedication in launching the competition. I will always be grateful for their support and friendship. We have come a long way in a short space of time and it is down to their brilliance.”I will miss this job and the people immensely but once we’ve completed the third season of the Hundred I believe the time will be right for me to look for a new adventure.”

“Women’s cricket is very much on the map. People want to invest in it and I hope it continues.”

Firdose Moonda01-Jun-2022Women’s domestic cricket in India has already benefited from franchise T20 cricket to the point that Indian “domestic players can walk into the South African side any day,” according to South Africa’s captain Sune Luus, who played for the Supernovas.Luus, who has featured in both the FairBreak Invitational tournament and Women’s T20 Challenge last month, said while the overall standard of women’s cricket has improved across nations, India have fast become among the leading nations in the shortest format and have a steady supply for players and strong support for the game to thank for their progress.Related

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“Being at FairBreak and being in India for the IPL was a massive opportunity and an awesome learning curve. Both are T20 cricket – the changes are in the conditions and the opposition you are playing against,” Luus said, on arrival in Ireland, where South Africa’s winter tour begins.”The IPL was a bit of a better standard. With FairBreak there are a lot of girls from the Associates, some girls who used spikes for the first time, who played on a turf wicket for the first time so it was a whole different experience. The most surprising thing for FairBreak was the standard of cricket. You don’t really know about Austrians playing cricket or countries like that. But to see the standard they are at and the love of the game, it was exceptional to see. You can’t compare it to India. They are fanatics of cricket. They absolutely love it. And even the domestic players can walk into the South African side any day. The standards were a bit different but overall it was good cricket.”Luus was part of the winning team in both competitions and had ample opportunity to test herself against the best. She hit the winning runs for the Tornadoes in the inaugural FairBreak tournament in Dubai, in what was a fairly one-sided final, and made a crucial decision in the field for the Supernovas in a tight final against Velocity in India. Chasing 166, Velocity needed seven runs to win off the last two balls and Laura Wolvaardt, unbeaten on 64, was facing strike. Given that Luus captains Wolvaardt at international level, Supernovas captain Harmanpreet Kaur had a question for Luus.Sune Luus, Alana King, Sophie Ecclestone, and Pooja Vastrakar ahead of the Women’s T20 Challenge final•BCCI

“She ran to me and she was like, ‘Do we bring square leg up and keep deep extra out or do we take square leg out and bring deep extra in?’ It was a very short conversation.”Knowing Wolvaardt’s strength on the cover drive, Luus, who was stationed on the boundary, told Kaur, “You cannot bring deep extra cover in. You are going to have to keep me out and we are going to have to gamble with square leg being in the circle.”England international Sophie Ecclestone, the left-arm spinner, was bowling and delivered a flatter, faster ball that Wolvaardt could not get under and inside-edged to long-off for a single. Luus was more relieved than excited at first, as she helped mastermind a title-winning fielding strategy.”Luckily Sophie, the competitor that she is, executed her ball perfectly and the game plan worked,” she said. “If it had been the other way around, she (Kaur) would have probably been on my case for that one.”It’s instances like that, where national team-mates are pitted against each other and international competitors are made to combine, that has underpinned the success of various franchise men’s T20 leagues around the world and Luus hopes it can do the same for women’s cricket.”It’s an opportunity for some of the domestic players within countries to play with international players from around the world and obviously gain experience and learn from them,” she said. “It’s important to have T20 leagues across the world to get to know different players and play in different conditions.”Just like the men’s game, as franchise tournaments grow and the calendar is squeezed, Luus recognises that international cricket may suffer. “It’s just a case of finding the balance with international cricket and finding the time to get enough international cricket in the calendar,” she said.Already, the likes of Luus, Wolvaardt and Ayabonga Khaka have only had a couple of weeks between the Women’s ODI World Cup, which ended in April, and the FairBreak and Women’s T20 Challenge. The trio have now traveled to the UK, where South Africa will be on tour until mid-August, playing in six T20Is against Ireland and England. Also on the calendar are the ICC Women’s Championship ODIs against Ireland, a one-off Test against England (South Africa’s first since 2014), ODIs against England and the Commonwealth Games. Luus said they would have to be smart with switching between formats and keeping players in form as the weeks roll on.”It’s a very difficult thing because we have ICC points up for grabs, we have a Test match coming up which is quite new for a lot of the players and in-between that we have to focus on T20 cricket for the Commonwealth Games,” she said.But, Luus agrees that it’s better than the alternative, especially as women’s cricket continues to make big strides.”Women’s cricket is becoming big in a lot of the countries and we are making our case for it to become professional in many of the countries and some of the Associate countries as well,” she said. “Women’s cricket is very much on the map. People want to invest in women’s cricket. I hope it continues. Women’s cricket deserves that.”

LSG have been over-reliant on their top three, but have found a way out of most holes because of their exceptional bowling line-up

Alagappan Muthu24-May-20222:26

Will Virat Kohli’s form be key for RCB to progress?

Big picture

“We needed another team. Now it’s all on us,” Glenn Maxwell said as Royal Challengers Bangalore celebrated making it to the playoffs. It is a sentiment that would have really resonated with his team-mates. Everybody appreciates a second chance but players of the quality of Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Josh Hazlewood tend to know exactly what to do to make the most of it. Kohli, in particular, will be thrilled that he has something tangible to play for especially now that he’s finally hit form.

Live in the USA

If you’re in the USA, you can watch the match live on ESPN+

By building a team of allrounders, Lucknow Super Giants have been able to find a way out of a lot of tough spots, but the one thing they haven’t been able to shake is an extreme reliance on their top order. KL Rahul (537 runs at 48.8), Quinton de Kock (502 runs at 38.6), and Deepak Hooda (406 runs at 31.2) have carried a line-up where the others have collectively contributed only 789 runs at 17.2.A weakness that glaring would have pulled a lot of teams out of playoff contention, but Super Giants are here because their bowling has been exceptional. They took 96 wickets in the league stage at an average of 23.8 and strike rate of 17.1. They’re No. 1 in each of those metrics.

In the news

Krunal Pandya missed Super Giants’ last league game with a niggle. He’s had almost a week’s worth of recovery time. If it isn’t a serious injury, he should be back in the playing XI.Harshal Patel split the webbing on his bowling hand and his stitches came off on Tuesday. He should be fit for the game, he said on the team’s YouTube channel. In case he doesn’t make it, Akash Deep could take his place.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Mahipal Lomror, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel/Akash Deep, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Mohammed SirajLucknow Super Giants: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 KL Rahul (capt), 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Avesh Khan, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Mohsin Khan, 11 Ravi BishnoiIn Royal Challengers Bangalore’s last game, Virat Kohli looked as fluent as he ever has this season•PTI

Strategy punt

Maxwell has had a fairly fun time bowling to Rahul in T20 cricket: 23 balls, 23 runs and two wickets. Royal Challengers will be hoping the trend continues on Wednesday.Fingerspin can be used as a weapon against Maxwell too, with Krunal getting rid of him four times in 13 meetings. Krunal has very good numbers against Dinesh Karthik as well: 28 balls, 24 runs and two wickets.

Stats that matter

• Eden Gardens has hosted 16 IPL matches over the last four years and in each and every one of them the captain winning the toss has opted to bowl. Nine of those games have resulted in victories. The average first innings score here, since IPL 2018, is 183.
• Super Giants are yet to win a single match against the teams that have qualified for the playoffs in this year. So perhaps they’ll take heart that they are facing the bowling attack that has conceded the most sixes in IPL 2022 – RCB with 123 – on a ground that has the highest sixes per match ratio (17) since IPL 2018.
• Following up on a breakthrough 2021 season, Avesh Khan has yet again picked up at least five wickets in every phase of a T20 game. He’s the only player in IPL history to do it twice.
• This has been the year of Dinesh Karthik. He has the best death-overs strike rate (226.37) in the IPL (min 50 balls faced). It’s helped him find his way back into the Indian team. And now he has the trophy in his sights. Given all that you wouldn’t put it past him to correct his playoffs record which currently reads: 246 runs in 15 innings at an average of 16.4 and strike rate of 107.
• There has been a distinct difference in Rahul this season when he has batted first (425 runs at an average of 85 and strike rate of 149) and when he has batted second (112 runs at an average of 18.7 and strike rate of 101). His whole team has been having the same hang-up. Super Giants have lost four of the six games they’ve had to chase in this campaign.

Australia and England pulling away from the pack, as “pervading culture of insecurity” undermines positive strides

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2018The rapid growth in the profile of women’s international cricket is being undermined by continuing “amateurish” standards, particularly at domestic level, according to the findings of a global survey conducted by FICA, the players’ association.The FICA Women’s Global Employment Market Report and Survey 2018 is the first study of its kind since female players were formally brought under the auspices of FICA in 2016. In a 60-page document released this week, it outlines 20 key findings into the health of the game, as determined from interviews with players from the ICC’s 12 Full Member nations.The overwhelming conclusion of the report is that the game is “moving forward in a positive way”, with 89% of the 124 players surveyed, including 76 current internationals, stating that they were optimistic about the future of women’s cricket.However, the report also found that gender inequity was the biggest barrier to the game’s long-term future, with opportunities for participation still limited in many countries, as well as a continuing inequality of pay when compared to their male counterparts.”There has been a dynamic shift in the world, where businesses and sports are increasingly seeing the importance of equality,” Lisa Sthalekar, the former Australia allrounder and current FICA Board Member, states in the report. “Cricket is no different, with a watershed moment occurring in July 2017, when the ICC Women’s World Cup final was sold out at Lord’s.”That tournament, won by England in a thrilling final against India, transformed the profile of the sport and propelled many of its biggest names into a limelight that had never previously fallen on women’s cricket. However, the challenge of bridging that gap between the game’s possibilities and its current realities remains significant.The report states that the sport’s growth is currently being hampered by “the pervading culture of insecurity” that exists within the women’s game, and calls for minimum standards to be enforced in terms of playing opportunities and pathways, employment contracts, travel and accommodation.FICA’s research found that the global number of fully professional female players is currently “no more than 120”, adding that at present only Australia, with the Women’s Big Bash League, and increasingly England, through the advent of the Kia Super League, are in a position to offer professional cricket as a genuine career choice for women. As a consequence, the report states that “these two are pulling away from the rest of the countries”.Furthermore, four of the ICC’s 12 Full Member nations – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan – were unable to provide sufficient information to offer a “realistic and balanced assessment” of the health of the women’s game in their countries.”Whilst the report recognises the great strides of the women’s game both on and off the field, there is still plenty of work to be done,” Sthalekar said. “Complacency is not an option if the game is to realise its potential and recalibrate the scales of equality in cricket.”

After four innings of the Test series no one other than the India captain has scored more than 33 and the tour risks becoming a nightmare

Nagraj Gollapudi at Lord's12-Aug-2018Accepting mistakes committed by his batsmen is becoming a norm for India captain Virat Kohli. For the second Test in succession Kohli admitted the batsmen had failed, including himself on this occasion, and that is the reason India were “outplayed”. But despite the disappointment he also spoke of the motivation to keep the series alive by winning at Trent Bridge next week.”We’re certainly not thinking of anything else, but to get to 2-1 in the series and from there on build on that strongly,” Kohli said. “Because this is the first time in the last five Tests that we’ve been really outplayed.”Although Indian fans will now fear this Test series is moving along the same lines as that of the nightmarish tours in 2011 and 2014, when India lost 4-0 and 3-1 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, Kohli insisted his team were not weighed down by the past. With five days to go before the Nottingham Test, Kohli stressed his players ought to meet the challenge at Trent Bridge head on.”We need guys putting their hands up and saying ‘Give me a tough situation, I’m going to pull the team out.’ It is all in the head. It is nothing to do with the game,” he said. “You can play well in any condition if you are mentally ready for it. And that’s something we need to work on over the next four or five days. We should want the next Test match to come early rather than thinking, ‘Oh, we have five days till the next Test match comes on.’ These are little things that make a massive difference.”Asked to put a finger on where exactly the India batsmen had failed, Kohli underlined the absence of partnerships in the second Test as an example. The seventh-wicket stand of 55 between R Ashwin and Hardik Pandya in the second innings was the only one to cross fifty.”We haven’t been able to have partnerships, which is the basic rule while batting. We haven’t had any sort of partnerships in this game. Only 50 with Hardik and Ash in this innings. Nothing of any substance before or after that. That is something that we really to focus on. Stringing partnerships, making sure we get 60, 70, 80 run partnership and try and build that into a big partnership or have three or four little partnerships of 60 or 70 odd and put this team in a strong position.”Cheteshwar Pujara’s defences were breached in spectacular fashion•Getty Images

Kohli encouraged his players to break play into small periods and not look too far ahead, especially when conditions are challenging. He said India needed to compete as they did at Edgbaston where they lost by 31 runs after being on even footing until the final morning.”When you start the game, you obviously think positive, you feel like you are ready for the game. Every batsmen thinks that. It is when you are out there in the situation that is tough that you have to find ways of countering that situation, which I think we have failed to do as batsmen, myself included in this game.”When you look too far ahead, thinking the score isn’t enough or there are wickets on the board, that can pressurise the batsmen. But if you are focused on adding five runs at a time or building that partnership slowly but surely, that’s how you come out of a difficult situation. It’s something that you have experienced in the past as well. For that you need to find ways of doing it.”After Kohli’s outstanding double of 149 and 51 in the first Test, India’s next highest score in the series is Ashwin’s unbeaten 33 in the second innings at Lord’s. The top order looked all at sea against the moving ball and reliant on Kohli for a substantial total, but he said he also fell below his own high standards at Lord’s – albeit troubled by a back problem on the fourth day.”I’m the first one to come out and accept that because unless you accept your mistake you can’t improve on it and you can’t get better and have a chance of competing in the next game,” he said. “If you want to level the series and win the games, we definitely have to accept what we did wrong.”There’s no hiding from the fact that mistakes have been made. We’ll have to accept those, put them on the side, learn from them and make sure that we’re not thinking about the same mistakes again rather get more confident and get ahead of the mistake and not repeat it again. That’s our immediate focus heading into the next game.”

Naseem Shah has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game with a viral infection

Andrew Miller27-Sep-2022

Big picture

The deafening acclaim within the National Stadium on Sunday night told the tale of the tour so far. Even allowing for the emotion and excitement of England ending their 17-year absence in Pakistan, there had been fears beforehand that a seven-match T20I series was simply too much to take in, but they were emphatically scotched by the denouement of Game Four in Karachi.Haris Rauf’s raucous, raw pace bowling, and Shan Masood’s dead-eyed underarm from mid-on, combined to square the series in a game that England won, then lost, then won and lost again – much like their record in the series as a whole, in fact. And the upshot is that part two of the tour, in Lahore, will witness at least two live games out of three, and maybe even the sort of winner-takes-all scenario in Sunday’s seventh game that can serve as the perfect preparation for next month’s T20 World Cup.That, at any rate, is the spin that England are already putting on a series in which they seem, on paper and even for long passages of each fixture, to be by far the better, more rounded outfit – particularly with the bat. Yet they have twice been pegged back in contrastingly remarkable fashions, by ten wickets on Thursday, and then by two runs in Sunday’s cliffhanger.”Yes, we would love to have won, but I think when you head into a World Cup, you want to play against good opposition in tough games and it’s been every bit of that,” Matthew Mott, England’s head coach, said on Sunday night. For his own peace of mind, however, Mott will want this week to be the one in which his white-ball team secures their first series win of the post-Eoin Morgan era, after being knocked down a peg by India and South Africa in the summer just gone.England are at least getting a better idea of where they need to tighten up their gameplans. For instance Moeen Ali, the stand-in captain, did not bowl a single over of his offspin on Sunday night, given that his 21-run over against Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in Thursday’s thrashing had been the moment in which their spectacular 203-run stand went into overdrive. And by the time their subsequent stand of 97 had been mitigated by Pakistan’s sub-par 20-over total of 166 for 4, it seemed that England had the game at their mercy.In response, however, their own batting proved a touch too loose for the occasion. It was to England’s credit that they could recover from a scoreline of 14 for 3 after 12 balls and take the game so deep – and with Harry Brook and Ben Duckett in such thrillingly free-flowing form, the likes of Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have not been greatly missed in the collective line-up. But equally, Pakistan’s strength remains in its fast bowling, and as Mark Wood proved for England in his solitary outing of the tour to date, genuine pace is not an attribute against which many liberties can be taken.Wood might well be back in contention for this contest, as England seek a balance between match fitness and workload as he continues to return from an elbow injury, but Buttler will not be risked. His calf tear, sustained during the Hundred, remains a concern with just under a month until the start of the World Cup, and with three T20Is in Australia to come before England’s opening night against Afghanistan on October 22, it may even be that he’ll remain a bystander until they touch down Down Under.For Pakistan, meanwhile, the challenge is much the same as it has been all series long. Find a means to make a virtue of their clear and obvious strengths, but avoid falling in a heap when Plan A lets them down. So far their batting and their bowling has proven irresistible in one game each. That ratio doesn’t make them favourites, but it does reinforce the sense that you can never, ever write them off.

Form guide

Pakistan: WLWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)

England: LWLWL

In the spotlight

Buttler’s continued absence means an extended opportunity for Phil Salt to prove his mettle as a genuine frontline option in England’s World Cup ranks. As the heir apparent to Jason Roy, Salt has a number of compelling similarities – not least his endearing willingness to go hell for leather from ball one (and suffer the occasional indignity as a consequence, such as his first-over 8 from 4 on Sunday). And yet, the logic of Alex Hales’ recall – in spite of the line in the sand that his omission once entailed – proves that he will be the shoo-in come the main event next month, not least given his matchwinning half-century in the Karachi opener. Salt, by contrast, has 56 runs for the series from 47 balls so far. With Will Jacks another coming man at the top of the order, he needs to lay a marker soon.The Karachi crowd may have been starved of international cricket down the years, but to judge by the clamour for Asif Ali on Sunday night, their deep knowledge of the game has not been dimmed in the interim. The stadium was close to mutinous by the time Pakistan had held their heaviest hitter back until the final over of their innings, and sure enough his two sixes in three balls turned out to be the difference between the teams in the final analysis. Asif’s T20I average after 46 matches is an underwhelming 16.30, but few contemporary batters are better versed at smashing sixes to order – close to one in ten of his 353 deliveries have so far cleared the ropes. In a team that seems to be under perpetual scrutiny for its strike-rate, that’s a vital asset to have.

Pitch and conditions

Two strips have been prepared for the Lahore leg of the series, which implies that the surface for Wednesday’s match will be the same as the one for Game Seven, with the alternate used in between whiles. Heavy rain on match eve meant that both teams cancelled training and therefore a chance to gauge conditions at this stage, although the pitch currently seems dry enough to warrant an extra spinner.

Team news

Shadab Khan is in the mix for a recall, not least because his fellow legspinner Usman Qadir didn’t bowl a ball on Sunday, having injured his thumb while taking a spectacular catch off Hales in the powerplay. Pakistan have confirmed that allrounder Aamer Jamal, who had a strike rate of 194.11 in this year’s National T20 Cup, will make his debut, while Naseem Shah has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game with a viral infection.Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Shan Masood, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan/Usman Qadir, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Shahnawaz Dahani, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Haris RaufChris Woakes could be in contention for his first white-ball appearance since November, as he continues his rehab from knee surgery, while Richard Gleeson has recovered from the back issue that hampered him in Karachi. After a tough start to the series on surfaces that don’t suit his game, Dawid Malan made way in Karachi to allow Will Jacks a (short-lived) go at No. 3. But as England’s lock at first-drop for the World Cup in Australia, he’s likely to get first dibs at the new venue. From the perspective of sealing the series win, England may prefer to recall Wood for this game, with a view to having him available for a decider on Sunday if needs be, rather than hold him back for a solitary outing in Game Six.England (probable): 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali (capt), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

Stats and trivia

• England have never yet played a T20I at the Gadaffi Stadium. In fact, there had been just three such matches globally when England last played any international fixture in Lahore, on the ODI leg of their 2005-06 tour.
• Babar Azam needs 61 more runs to reach 3000 in T20Is. If he does so in this next innings, his 80th in the format, he will beat the record of 81 held by India’s Virat Kohli.

Quotes

“When we lost in the summer we were playing poorly. You are a bit more down about those results. It was disappointing result the other night but it was a great game of cricket. Okay, we lost, but I feel we are playing good cricket. We lost a lot of wickets in the powerplay but we managed to stay in the game until the very end.”

Moeen Ali is upbeat about England’s progress as they build towards the World Cup.