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A spinner under pressure, a batsman in a Test slump, an Australian hungry for runs and an irreplaceable star make for a tough to-do list

George Dobell at Edgbaston03-Aug-20190:37

I’m gutted for Jimmy – Woakes

Moeen Ali:Sunday feels like a big day for Moeen. On a pitch offering substantial assistance to spin bowlers, he is the man England will rely upon in the hope of bowling out Australia.The evidence of Saturday was mixed. He claimed an early wicket – Cameron Bancroft turned one into the hands of short-leg – and should have had another had Jos Buttler held on to a low edge offered by Usman Khawaja in the slips. But the chance went down and Moeen subsequently struggled to maintain the right lines and lengths – a tough task against a batsman as good and as unorthodox as Steve Smith – and leaked more than five-an-over. Ominously for him, Joe Root bowled three overs himself and was about to turn to Joe Denly when bad light and then rain came to end play for the day. It felt as if he had lost a bit of confidence – and, perhaps, patience – in Moeen. The contrast with Nathan Lyon, who conceded 2.55 an over and beat the bat numerous times, was not flattering.It seems, in many ways, incredible that Moeen should be under any pressure. He is the top wicket-taker in the world in Test cricket since August 1, 2018 – he has taken 47 wickets in that period at a cost of 24.04 apiece – after all and he was England’s leading wicket-taker on both their winter tours. His career strike-rate – a wicket every 60.2 balls in Test cricket – is better than Jim Laker’s (62.3) and almost identical to Graeme Swann’s (60.1).Moeen Ali extracted the wicket of Cameron Bancroft•Getty ImagesBut with his batting form having disintegrated – he has made four ducks in his last eight Test innings and is averaging 15.40 since December 10, 2017; his ‘shot’ on Sunday was ugly – he needs to deliver with the ball if he is see off the challenge of Jack Leach. And while Leach’s best deliveries may not fizz and dip quite as much as Moeen’s, he can, perhaps, be relied upon to build pressure more readily by maintaining a tight line and length.It feels, at present, as if the spark of confidence has gone out in Moeen. And bowling to a batsman as good and as hungry as Smith in such a mind-set is fiendishly tough. But England need him to deliver on Sunday. And if his career is to be extended, he may need it, too.Jonny Bairstow:Another man whose form with the bat, at least in Test cricket, has disintegrated. Bairstow now averages 23.68 in Tests since the start of the 2018 English season. He has passed 30 twice in his last 16 Test innings – a run that includes five ducks – and, having made it clear he would rather bat down the order, really needs to deliver to justify the faith shown in him. His dismissal here – a footless waft which resulted in an edge to slip – was not pretty.To be fair to Bairstow, he has been shunted around the order in recent times – he has batted in four different positions in his last five Test innings – and even been left out of the side briefly in Sri Lanka. As a result, he may not feel quite as comfortable as might be the case. Technical faults magnified by batting up the order may have eaten away at his confidence, while changes made to improve his white-ball game – not least giving himself room to hit through the off-side – may also have become faults in a format of the game where the ball offers the bowlers more lateral movement.Peter Siddle had Jonny Bairstow taken at slip•Getty ImagesUltimately, though, there can be few excuses. Bairstow’s propensity to be bowled – 29 percent of his Test innings have ended in such a manner; the fifth highest ratio in history among regular players – suggests a technical fault, as does the fact that the percentage has risen to 40 percent over the last couple of years. The global average is 18 percent.The encouraging thing, from England’s perspective, is that Bairstow seems to perform at his best when doubted and under pressure. With Ben Foakes – man of the series in Sri Lanka, remember – biting at his ankles, however, Bairstow can ill afford a prolonged run of poor form. Foakes is, without much doubt, the better keeper. And while he probably cannot match the peaks of form that Bairstow has managed at times with the bat – between December 2015 and October 2016, he averaged 71.23 in Test cricket with three centuries and six half-centuries in 20 innings – he does average over 40 in Test cricket and showed himself calm and capable enough to win player of the match awards on both his Test and ODI debuts.In the longer-term, it may be worth reflecting on why the form of Bairstow and Moeen has deteriorated so badly in the England environment and why the coaching staff are apparently unable to arrest the decline. The reasons are probably multiple and complex – the predominance of white-ball cricket, a lack of red-ball cricket and a lack of time or interest in technical coaching – but they may need attention if England are to prosper in the World Test Championship.Steve Smith:Put simply, it seems England don’t have any idea how to dismiss Smith. From August 20, 2015, he averages 145.71 against them in seven Tests. Over a longer period – from August 20, 2013, he averages 77.37 against them in 17 Tests. The way things are progressing, he looks to be the difference between the sides.There’s no faulting England’s efforts. They have experimented with their lines, their lengths and their fields going back to the Brisbane Test in the last Ashes. Smith seems to have an answer for everything. And while there are times England seem able to slow his progress, he is so determined he will endure long periods of slow scoring in the knowledge that he will eventually exhaust the bowlers and feast upon their decaying carcasses.Steve Smith runs between the wickets•Getty ImagesEngland had hoped the Dukes ball or seaming wickets would help them stop Smith. But the relatively slow nature of the Edgbaston surface has allowed Smith the time to adapt to the seam movement and, to date, the Dukes ball has not swung as anticipated. It is also possible that James Anderson or even Jofra Archer might have had more success against Smith. But England won’t want to play on much quicker surfaces as it may encourage the Australian seamers.It was a point acknowledged by Chris Woakes after play on Saturday. “He’s obviously a world-class player and we’ve got to find a way to get him out,” Woakes said. “On this surface, in particular, it’s hard to force the issue as a bowler. The pace has gone out of the pitch so you almost have to build pressure maybe attack at the other end and hold at the other. But Steve doesn’t make too many mistakes.” All of which sounds ominously like ‘we’ll just try and get everyone else out and leave him stranded.’James Anderson:Anderson’s loss is a body blow to England’s hopes. He has been, by a distance, England’s best seamer over much of the last decade and gave every indication of improving with age. The choice of the brand of Dukes ball in use in this series was made, in part, on the basis of what he could do with it and, for all the effort and ability of Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, neither would claim to have the skills of the leading wicket-taker among seam bowlers in Test history.James Anderson shows some discomfort•Getty ImagesWhile it would be premature to rule Anderson out of the entire series – he bowled both before play and at lunch on Saturday, after all – there does seem every chance he is set for a lay-off that could keep him out of much of the series. The results of the scan on his calf are expected in the next day or two, but Root would have loved to call upon him at Edgbaston on Saturday and Sunday. The fact that Mark Wood is already ruled out for the entire series compounds England’s problems.There is, at least, help to hand in the shape of Archer. But for all his talent and potential, it is asking a huge amount of him to expect him to come straight into an Ashes series and replace England’s leading wicket-taker in Test history. As England were always sure to find out eventually, there is no replacing Anderson.

Despite its share of hiccups, the opening night of Pakistan Super League 2017 showed the competition may be starting to gain a foothold in its home away from home

Osman Samiuddin in Dubai09-Feb-2017Fahad Mustafa is the king of Pakistan television. Pakistanis know this, but to those who don’t, take it as true that he is. By occupation he is an actor but really he is the host of a wildly successful game show that works on the simple formula that you cannot go wrong if you give prizes to anyone with a pulse within a 100m radius.He is the show. Imagine the Energizer bunny. Imagine that Energizer bunny a few cans down of an energy drink. Imagine the Energizer bunny a few cans down of an energy drink and then a shot of pure adrenaline to the good. Then multiply that by some. What you have is about half the energy Mustafa brings to his shows, day in, day out.So to have him as the hype man for the opening ceremony of the second Pakistan Super League in Dubai was, at so many levels, the rightest thing organisers could do. This wasn’t quite the canvas for him to do his thing, and the crowd was already feeling the occasion, but still: he was just the man for the moment and mood.He was one of a few things they got right. Altogether there was something more polished about this opening than last year. That evening had burned through on emotion alone. Until the very last moment, it had felt like it might not even come to be. There had been little marketing in the build-up because the budgets were so tight. Ticket sales had been an issue. The broadcast deal was unheard of. There was confusion over where they would play. It was sharing space with the Masters Champions League – which then seemed like a workable idea and even a threat.But somehow they got it up and running and Peshawar Zalmi flew in 143 students and teachers from the Army Public School, the scene of a terrible terrorist attack the year before, and the stadium had enough people in it, and it didn’t matter that the opening ceremony felt slightly disjointed and nervous because the night felt so redemptive. Pretty much the whole season surfed through on the emotion of that night.This year there has been more control. In the run-up there has been greater promotional visibility around Dubai for the league. And it showed, in the number of fans that had been streaming into the ground a good 90 minutes before the opening ceremony was due to start.Big names at the PSL? Of course•Pakistan Super LeagueIt showed in the ceremony itself, slicker, smarter and not averse to a few tugs at the heart. Any other time, for instance, a rendition of “Dil Dil Pakistan” might pass by unnoticed – it is just what you get at any Pakistan game. Nobody missed the significance this time, just two months removed from the death of its singer Junaid Jamshed. And there is no occasion that isn’t fit for a little Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Feels, they say these days, proper feels.But like Sean Paul last year, Shaggy was an odd intrusion. When and where indeed was Shaggy not an odd intrusion other than, perhaps, for a brief period in the 90s? Perhaps not as odd as the PSL’s original wish – Justin Bieber – would have been though. Given how much Pakistan’s music industry is bubbling currently, another Pakistani to accompany Ali Zafar and Shehzad Roy could not have been difficult.This being a Pakistani production, there had to be a fashionable delay before the game actually began. Last year there had been a 20-minute delay. Tonight it took 50 minutes to start because of what appeared to be difficulties in dismantling the stage without affecting the sightscreen behind it. Don’t miss the symbolism, given how long and how many delays there have been in getting the league off the ground in the first place. By this point the stadium was all but full – in itself a revealing achievement given how sparse crowds have been for recent Pakistan internationals here. Some of the energy that Mustafa had generated had gone though.And once the game began, the evening assumed an oddly familiar feel, as if this is precisely what we have come to expect – a little razzmatazz, the biggest Pakistani names, team-mates and opponents to some of the world’s finest talent. Yep, this is what the PSL is. Which is odd given that it is not being played in the country it is supposed to be played in and that it was only the 25th match in the short history of the league. Increasingly, this is the thing about popular T20 leagues, that you can identify with them and that you pretty much know what to expect as an experience when you go to any one of their games.Indeed it would have passed by in that haze of familiarity had it not been interrupted by a brief shower. Those are not as unusual as you might think, especially as it comes at the end of an unusually cold spell. But still – how many would have predicted that? Coupled with the late start and the shower – which came after midnight with the second innings not yet 10 overs in – it meant that about a third of crowd had left well before the end of the game.Which is a shame because the action – the very thing that will sustain this league – was promising. Last year, slow surfaces had made for lower-scoring Twenty20 cricket, intriguing in its own way, but not necessarily a recipe for long-term success. If this game is anything to go by – a first innings total near enough 200, a significant chase by the champions, though with only two balls to spare – this season might be a correction.

Marks out of 10 for Sri Lanka’s players following a 2-0 defeat on their Test tour of New Zealand

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Dec-2015

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Dushmantha Chameera (12 wickets at 24)In Hamilton, Chameera blasted New Zealand out with the short ball. Are Sri Lanka bowlers even allowed to do that? In just his third and fourth Tests, touching 146 kph at times, Chameera was easily the best of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, and bowled perhaps the ball of the series, to Ross Taylor in that first innings at Hamilton. He looks a little fragile, though. Whippet-thin at 23, perhaps Sri Lanka Cricket can set up a body-weight exchange programme with some other Sri Lanka quicks.

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Dinesh Chandimal (192 runs at 48, 5 dismissals)Irrepressibly peppy behind the stumps and in front of them, Chandimal made Sri Lanka’s first innings spark in Hamilton, and gave it substance in Dunedin. He seems lucky at times, because he mishits so many balls at the beginning of his innings, but maybe he is just an excellent judge of risk. When he hits out, he makes sure to give himself room for error. Is probably the best wicketkeeper of the few glovemen in contention for national places, but the team will want him to focus on his batting at no. 4.

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Milinda Siriwardana (158 runs at 38)One of Sri Lanka’s finds of the year, Siriwardana sparkled with the bat, if only too briefly. He plays a lovely cover drive, always seems confident, and has the seeming adaptability to succeed on most kinds of surfaces. He hasn’t quite cemented his place in the team, but he is close. His fielding has also been an asset, though his bowling was not required on these pitches.Dimuth Karunaratne (152 runs at 38)Promised plenty with his 84 in the first innings of the series, but was out cheaply twice to the short ball in Hamilton. He had the worst of the batting conditions however, so an average of 38 is serviceable. Caught well in the slips and at least gave the team a start in the remainder of his innings, even if he didn’t carry on to something substantial.

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Kusal Mendis (131 runs at 32.50)Had some good fortune in both Tests, having had at least three clear-cut chances in total. He was part of two fifty-plus opening stands – something of a rarity for Sri Lanka this year – and played some dazzling leg-side shots that gave a glimpse of his talent. He is clearly a long-term prospect for Sri Lanka, but is very raw at present. The selectors might do well to get him playing as much A team cricket as possible whenever the international schedule allows.Angelo Mathews (106 runs at 26.5, 1 wicket at 61)His 77 helped Sri Lanka near 300 in the first innings at Hamilton, but the relative paucity of his other scores makes this an underwhelming tour, by Mathews’ standards. He created the occasional chance with the ball, though he may have over-bowled himself sometimes. Sri Lanka’s fields also probably veered too far towards conservatism, particularly when they were defending a small score in the second Test.Nuwan Pradeep (6 wicket at 41)Didn’t exactly create pressure by bowling tight, but did send down some terrific balls nonetheless. Sri Lanka would have expected a little more from him in Hamilton, where the deck suited his style of bowling. Still, he has managed to stay fit for five consecutive Tests, which, for a Sri Lanka seamer, is deserving of some sort of statue or commemorative plaque.Kithuruwan Vithanage batted too loosely and kept getting himself out•AFP

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Rangana Herath (4 wickets at 57.75)The surface at Dunedin gave him the freak wicket of Martin Guptill, but nothing else. By the time the ball started turning in Hamilton, Sri Lanka had already lost the Test. Was attacked in that second innings in Dunedin, but maintained a good economy rate elsewhere. Also batted bravely when Sri Lanka were attempting to draw the first Test.Suranga Lakmal (4 wickets at 44.25)Sri Lanka needed control from Lakmal, but they didn’t quite get enough of it. He was mediocre in the first innings in Dunedin, where the visiting quicks had first use of a green pitch, and only sporadically threatening thereafter. Eighteen months ago he was looked at as the leader of the seam attack, but, plagued by injury since, he hasn’t quite live up to that promise.

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Kithuruwan Vithanage (69 runs at 17.25)As ever, Vithanage played some fine strokes, then batted too loosely to get himself out. The selectors keep trying him in Tests, but given his track record, it may be better for him to establish himself in the shorter formats first.

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Udara Jayasundera (30 runs at 7.5)A poor first foray into Tests on paper, but given his record, he probably deserves a longer trial at the top level. Jayasundera had started to play some shots in the first innings at Hamilton before he ran himself out. He was even unluckier to be wrongly given out by the third umpire in the second innings.

A tour of the Gray-Nicolls factory in Robertsbridge, Sussex, leaves our correspondent wondering about psychology’s role in the hitting power of modern bats

Sidharth Monga25-Aug-2014There’s a window. On the ledge is a small radio, a small table fan, an even smaller fan, two pots of cactus and a lot of sawdust. Next to it is a longish wooden platform. There’s more sawdust on the platform. Sugar soap. A mallet. A hammer. A drier. Sandpaper. More sawdust. An Ernest Hemingway is in the next window. Hardly a machine in this room. This is Chris King’s workstation.In the warehouse behind this room, there are tree trunks. There are clefts of wood stacked up. They have been cut from trunks that are no more. There are industrial fans set on the clefts. There is also a kiln to dry the cleft further. These clefts are being graded based on the grains on the faces of the clefts, whether there are any marks, knots or other blemishes. Between these two spaces in east Sussex, in this small Gray Nicolls factory, a short walk from Robertsbridge train station in east Sussex, magic is created.Cricket bats. The different sounds they make. Snick. Thwack. Tuk. A batsman’s only tool of aggression. Everything else is for his defence. It’s difficult to imagine they were trees once upon a time. This process starts with Gray Nicolls’s growing their own willow. The willow is sent to their factories in Australia and India too. The labour is cheaper in India, and the demand high, and it makes good business sense to branch out, but the batmakers in India can hardly provide the personalised customisation the ones in England do.Ask Shivnarine Chanderpaul. He visits the factory often. He wants about nine grains, a red edge, and he wants his blade slightly longer and handle slightly shorter than other bats. Grains are the lines that run along the length of the blade. The more the grains the older the wood, and the less dense it is, which means less weight but more size. After a point, though, too many grains indicate hollowness, which means no life.King is a former freelance photographer. He studied working on wood. He has also worked in antique restoration. The Hemingway is his. Three years ago he saw a wanted advertisement for a bat technician. He joined. Freelance photography is a hard-sell. He had been working on repairs until one fine day Chanderpaul came and asked him to make his bat. Chanderpaul went on to score 87 not out and 91 with it at Lord’s. King now makes all of Chanderpaul’s bats. He gets a little cap at the top of the handle so he doesn’t damage the bat when he is digging the bail in to mark his guard.Batsmen often leave with him a bat they like as a specimen for future bats. He looks at them, and replicates the curve, the bow, the length, the weight distribution. Some bats are lighter at the shoulder, some at the toe. He has Chris Woakes’ bat here. Often Niall O’Brien comes and spends a full day, just taking in the process. He goes and gets food for everyone here during the lunch hour.Then there are others who are not fussy at all. Alastair Cook can pick up a bat from a retail store and score runs. He is not as particular as the others. Once Cook broke a new bat two overs into an innings. King felt gutted. He feels anxious every time he has given someone a new bat. Among batmakers, it is a bit of a fantasy team. King has Cook, Woakes and Chanderpaul among others.King feels a batmaker has to be as much a psychologist as a craftsman. This is a bit of a revelation. The size of the bat, he says, is all about psychology. Gray Nicolls have done tests at Imperial College in London, which prove that the width of the blade makes no different to how far the ball travels; the weight does. King is a big believer that when the batsman glances down at the bat tapping down behind his back foot, he feels empowered by looking at the massive tool.It is a bit like hitting sixes on small fields that would have been sixes at the MCG too, just because your mind has been freed up by the small boundary. At the MCG you fear you will hole out. The bat doesn’t swing that smoothly then. In their heads, King feels, batsmen feel bigger bats will send the ball far; they do, but it’s because their belief in the bats frees up their minds and results in a cleaner swing.The effect of modern pressing and drying techniques becomes clear when you contrast Chris Woakes’ monster bat with the skinny piece of willow Walter Hammond used•Sidharth Monga/ESPNcricinfo LtdThere are many other older bats in this building. There is the legendary Scoop. The Lara 501 Scoop. That bat during the days of the Chappells was one of the first big innovative steps for bats. The Scoop was one of the first to take out weight from behind the blade, through two ridges, giving it a thicker appearance with the same weight. The Scoop is one of the most recognisable bats. Apart from Lara scoring his runs, Greg Chappell used it to smack a streaker, one of the more famous cricket incidents. It just so happened that Andrew Symonds also had a Gray Nicolls in hand when he tackled a streaker.Until the Scoop bats hadn’t evolved much. Since that innovation push in the late-’70s/early-’80s, they’ve come a long way. You can see how thick Andrew Strauss’s blade grew during his playing days. One of his first and one of his last bats are both here. His was almost the old-fashioned thin bat when he first began to play. He ended with a monster that looks like Woakes’s, which is our reference point during the factory tour. Linseed oil need not even be talked about.They also have a stoolball bat, which is no bigger than a frying pan, and a looks like a bigger version of a table-tennis racket. Stoolball, traditionally a sport played by milkmaids, is believed my many to be an ancestor of cricket, baseball and rounders. As the game stands today, the ball is delivered underarm from 10 yards, and the stoolball bat is used to hit it away. In its original form, the only way to score runs was to defend the stool, which was the wicket, for a run each. In its modern form, stoolball includes fours and sixes and running between the wickets, as in cricket. The diameter of the playing field is about 90 yards.The real beauty here, though, is Wally Hammond’s bat. It’s a beautiful walnut brown, but that’s mostly because of age. It weighs only 2lb, and looks tiny. Almost like the technique bats used by coaches nowadays. A technique bat, which companies have now begun to manufacture, is less than half as wide as a normal bat. It is used only in the nets by perfectionists. Geoffrey Boycott’s mum’s stick of rhubarb wouldn’t be much narrower.The thing about Hammond’s bat, though, is it is the kind that hit the only six over the Lord’s pavilion. Albert Trott did it in 1889. That is a massive six. Marcus Trescothick was offered a million pounds in 2010 if he could hit one over, but even his thick and wide bat couldn’t manage it.King goes back to psychology. He will concede, though, that modern pressing and drying, which gives you more volume for less weight, has increased the size of the middle. It might not send the ball farther, but a larger middle frees the mind up. The bowler also sort of fears those massive willows.One of these days hopefully a batsman will come along and use an older thin bat, even a Scoop, which is much thinner than the modern bats, and hit the ball just as far and score just as many runs. King, and other batmakers who are having to think of newer, snazzier shapes every day, will possibly smile a little smile.

It was on odd Twenty20 series with three one-sided matches, none more so than the decider, and there were also contrasting performances from two players who had been away from the scene for different reasons

Iain O'Brien16-Feb-2013It had been ten months since New Zealand stepped out in front of a home crowd when the Twenty20 series against England began last week. The anticipation was high and the public were hoping the team could bury a tough two months of board-related mismanagement. At 1-1 after two matches it was promising, that was until the show rolled into Wellington where New Zealand had more than history against them.Winning the toss in Wellington was a massive advantage. Having been put in, New Zealand had to buck the trend. No team has ever defended a score there in T20; 139 was always under-par and England’s openers, Alex Hales and Michael Lumb, made it look tiny. History in this instance was insurmountable.England outplayed New Zealand in the first encounter. They then out-executed England in the second and in the decider, England completely out-gunned the home side.The series marked the return of Stuart Broad to the England team after the injury problems he suffered in India. This was his first outing in a T20 since the World T20 in October and first appearance in any format since second Test against India after which he was firstly omitted before injury struck again.A lacerated fat pad in his left heel has been revealed as a problem he will carry throughout his career. However, he showed no signs of discomfort during the three T20s. In fact, he showed signs that the Broad of old was back. He bowled quickly, he bowled aggressively, and enjoyed considerable success with a career-best 4 for 24 in the first match and series-sealing 3 for 15 in the third. The only blemish was the middle encounter where he conceded the most expensive T20 figures by any bowler against New Zealand of 0 for 53.Watching from the sidelines, there seems to be a slight change in Broad’s action. His front arm is coming down closer to his body and his delivery stride is slightly shorter. The shorter the delivery stride the less likely he is to land on the heel of his left foot as it allows the bowler to land more “whole footed” than heal first, thus protecting his injury site.This change in action goes against what England’s bowling coaches, led by David Saker for the national team, have been suggesting as the ideal. They want to see long delivery strides, based on a study that says that is the method employed by most international fast bowlers. I always disagree with trying to turn bowlers into something that they’re not. The truer tests for Broad, though, will come in the longer formats, first the ODIs and then especially the Tests.The T20s also brought the return of Ross Taylor to New Zealand colours. It has been a tough two-month period dealing with the fall-out of his poor treatment and management from the organisation that, you’d think, he could trust the most, and would treat him accordingly, New Zealand Cricket.He was welcomed back to international stage by standing ovations rarely heard before by New Zealand cricketing crowds. The Auckland crowd, especially, provided an emotional atmosphere for one of the country’s best batsmen.Alas, the ovations and warmth showed by the public couldn’t be backed up with performances in the middle by Taylor. Scores of 13, 4 and 6 were all he could muster, and dropping two catches in Auckland showed his focus wasn’t quite back to its best.The nerves surrounding the comeback for Taylor must have been an issue. Treated horribly by NZC, welcomed back so warmly by the public and then not being able to perform at his best will eat away at him for a while to come. But there is no time to reflect, regroup and rethink; the ODI series is already upon isThere will be talk that Taylor should have been sent back to his province to find form. This would have been the wrong move. The gap between the levels, especially the level of bowling this English team provides, would have made domestic success largely irrelevant to the international scene. The ODIs, where strike-rate and time are less of an issue for a longer period, should provide Taylor the best preparation for the Test series.New Zealand were not even close to their best in the field, dropping a total of eight catches in the three T20 matches. This has to improve. Conversely, it would be hard to pick a better fielding team than this current England side.We are now back in Hamilton, the scene of New Zealand’s success, for the start of the one-day series. England welcome back some big names – Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, James Anderson and Graeme Swann. New Zealand can’t afford any more off days.

ESPNcricinfo reviews the performances of the West Indies players in the Tests against India

Sriram Veera11-Jul-2011Adrian Barath slipped
For a man who scored a debut hundred in Australia this series was a disappointment. He was consistently squared-up by deliveries seaming away from the off stump. Ian Bishop reckons he has the discipline to work hard and come back with the required improvements.Lendl Simmons looked out of place in Tests
He just didn’t look like a Test opener. He was on song in the ODIs but couldn’t handle the seaming tracks on offer in the first two Tests. His replacement didn’t do too well either.Kirk Edwards showed true grit
He might not have the greatest technique but he seems to have a big heart. He was willing to fight it out, willing to look ugly, willing to be remain patient and bat through sessions. He replaced Ramnaresh Sarwan and looked like he has it in him, at least mentally, to cope with the task on hand. It will be interesting to see how he handles the short ball on bouncier tracks. It’s too early to say anything conclusive about him.Chanderpaul likes a fight
He was under immense pressure ahead of the final innings of the final Test but came through with yet another patient fighting knock of real substance. He has shown his value in a batting line-up shorn of experience and has earned himself plenty of breathing space. When West Indies is in trouble, it’s still Chanderpaul that you turn to.Samuels makes a comeback
It was Samuels who played the most skilful knock by a West Indian in this series. In the second Test, the pitch was seaming but he played late and showed immense patience to fight it out. It was a stirring knock under pressure. In the third Test, in both innings, he failed as he hung back to relatively full deliveries though he got a bad decision in the second innings. He was one of the pluses for West Indies this series as he showed he has the class.Carlton Baugh came through
He was very good behind the stumps and as the series went he showed his worth in front of it as well. He displayed character in situations when things were slightly dicey for the team. West Indies were at the risk of losing in the second Test when he came in and seized the Indian attack with his aggression. He hit a fifty in the first innings of the final Test and has now firmly gone ahead of Denesh Ramdin.Darren Sammy showed guts
He faced plenty of criticism but he came through. He was the one that kept out Kemar Roach but impressed with his tireless spells and commitment. His batting never came on and unless it does, his place will be always under question. He led the team well on the field and the team looked a professional unit. Sammy might not have great skills but he definitely has the heart.Ravi Rampaul sparkled
Rampaul impressed with his canny seam bowling. He showed intelligence and skill and hit the right areas nearly always. He always put the batsmen under pressure. He was attacking and yet never leaked runs.Fidel Edwards sizzled
Eyebrows were raised when he replaced Roach but he turned in impressive spells, bowling with pace and fire to silence everyone. Sometimes it appeared he was overdoing the short stuff but he always attacked and was the chief aggressor in this unit. He was indefatigable and astonished with his commitment. On the third day of the final Test when West Indies were without Rampaul, the way Edwards took on the responsibility was a stand-out feature of the series. Also, the way he knuckled down and batted with Chanderpaul on the final day of the Test. He is a fighter.Devendra Bishoo will have learned
He started off with a bang on the first day of the series but tapered off slightly as the series went on. This would have been a great learning curve for the young legspinner who continues to impress. He was guilty of bowling a touch short in the third Test but by then he perhaps was tiring.

Prolific partnerships in all forms of the game, and opening bowlers whose fathers were Test players too

Steven Lynch18-Dec-2007The regular Tuesday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions
about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan now hold the record of being the most
prolific partnership for Pakistan in Tests, but which is the most prolific
pair overall – in Tests and in ODIs – and, while you are at it,
Twenty20s? asked Abhijit Shukla from the United States
Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf did recently
become Pakistan’s most prolific partnership: by the end of the series
against India they had put on 3080 runs together, beating the previous
record of 3013 by Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq. But they are quite a long way
down the overall Test list,
which is headed by Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, who put on 6482 runs
together, not far ahead of Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer (6081). The ODI list is headed, not
surprisingly, by Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, who have put on 8227
runs together for India, well ahead of the next pair, Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya (5462). In the short history of Twenty20 internationals,
the top pair are Australia’s Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, with 398
runs between them. For what it’s worth, there’s a full list here.In the second Test against Sri Lanka, England’s bowling was opened by two
sons of former Test cricketers. Is this a first? asked Robin from
England
In Sri Lanka’s innings during last week’s Test in Colombo, the new ball
was shared by Stuart
Broad, the son of the former England opener Chris, and Ryan Sidebottom, whose
father Arnie played once for England in 1985. This was indeed a first in
Test cricket, although there was one previous instance of both new-ball
bowlers having a father who played Test cricket – when Dayle and Richard Hadlee opened the bowling
for New Zealand against Australia at
Adelaide in 1973-74. Their father Walter Hadlee played 11 Tests for
New Zealand between 1937 and 1950-51. For a full list of related Test
players, click here.Who once bowled a 17-ball over in an ODI? asked
Dave Burton from Reading
The unlucky bowler who sent down the longest known over in international
cricket was Mohammad Sami of
Pakistan, with the third over of the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in Colombo in 2004. It included four
no-balls and seven wides, and the sequence of the over was:
wd-4-2-nb-wd-nb1-0-wd-wd-0-wd-nb-wd-wd-nb-0-4. Ironically, Sami’s previous
over had been a wicket maiden, so he came off with the bizarre figures of
2-1-22-1. Pakistan officials explained that he was trying to remodel his
action and was struggling for rhythm. The longest over in a Test is believed
to be one of 15 deliveries – including nine no-balls – by Curtly Ambrose for
West Indies against Australia at
Perth in 1996-97.Graeme Swann missed 175 ODIs before his recall to play for England
recently. Is this is a record? asked Jamie Clifton from
Newark
Rather surprisingly, Graeme
Swann’s long gap is not even a record for England – Shaun Udal missed 193 matches in
more than ten years between 1995 and his recall in 2005-06. But Udal is only
fourth on the overall list, which is headed by the New Zealander Jeff Wilson: he missed 271 matches,
over a record 11 years and 331 days, between his debut series in 1992-93 and
a short-lived recall in 2004-05. (In between, Wilson had been playing rugby
union for the New Zealand All-Blacks.) For a full list, click here.Has any batsman scored two double-centuries in the same Test match?
asked P Balaji from India
No one has yet managed this in a Test match. The closest was by Graham
Gooch, who made 333 and 123 for England against India at Lord’s in 1990. Five other players
have managed a double and a single century in the same Test, most recently
Brian Lara, with 221 and 130 for West Indies in Colombo in 2001-02, in a match Sri
Lanka still won by ten wickets. For a list of the others, click here. Only one man has
scored two double-centuries in the same game in first-class cricket: Kent’s
Arthur Fagg, against Essex at Colchester in 1938. He scored 244 in the first innings, and 202 not
out in the second. That included a century before lunch on the first day,
and 98 in 90 minutes before lunch on the third.Who called his life story Mad As I Wanna Be? asked Jared
Christopher from Sydney
This unusual title adorned the 1997 autobiography of the New Zealand fast
bowler Danny Morrison. New
Zealand players make something of a habit of giving their books peculiar
names, as readers of this column over the years may have noted!And there’s an afterthought to last week’s question about Don
Bradman, from Max Bonnell in Australia
“I don’t know why people keep repeating the idea that Otto Nothling was, in his only Test in 1928-29, a
replacement for Don Bradman.
Bradman (a specialist batsman) lost his place in the XI to Vic Richardson (a
specialist batsman). Nothling (an opening bowler and handy lower-order
batsman) replaced Jack Gregory (an opening bowler and handy lower-order
batsman) who broke down in Brisbane with a knee injury. The idea that
Nothling took Bradman’s spot seems to be impossible to kill – it was
repeated by Peter Roebuck on Australian radio a few weeks ago – but it just
isn’t true.”

Big picture: Can LSG keep their cleansheet against Mumbai?

Of the four teams that made it to the playoffs, Lucknow Super Giants are the least glamorous and talked about. They obviously don’t have the rich history of Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, but even Gujarat Titans get a lot more attention than them. LSG’s highest run-scorer – Marcus Stoinis – is the 19th on the run charts this season, and their top bowler – Ravi Bishnoi – is 11th on the list of top wicket-takers. They don’t have a future Indian superstar at the top, an experienced fast bowler, or a magician of a wristspinner.That LSG qualified for the playoffs without their regular captain and star batter KL Rahul speaks volumes of Krunal Pandya’s captaincy. Under his leadership, they won three of their last four completed games; those victories coming at the end of the league to qualify without much stress.The one thing they do have in common with the Titans is a clean sheet against one of the IPL’s most successful teams. Just like Titans had a 3-0 record against CSK before Qualifier 1, LSG have a 3-0 record against Mumbai, their opponents in the Eliminator. They played only once during the league stage this season, and LSG won that home game by five runs.LSG have won by setting and chasing targets in recent games but they have depended on their overseas batters – Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Kyle Mayers and Quinton de Kock – for most of their runs. Apart from Rahul, their other Indian batters have scored only two half-centuries this season, compared to ten fifties from overseas.Another area they would want to improve is their bowling in the powerplay. They’ve taken the fewest wickets in that phase, and conceded the most wicketless powerplays during the league stage. They’ve used a variety of bowlers with the new ball, and early wickets will be vital against Mumbai’s power-packed and deep batting line-up.Mumbai had a much rougher ride to the playoffs because of injuries to key players but they have once again benefitted from unearthing Indian talent: Nehal Wadhera has impressed with his striking ability, and Akash Madhwal is becoming their go-to death bowler. They squeaked through to the playoffs in fourth place by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad on the final day of the league, and then Titans did them a favour by knocking out RCB.While Mumbai are the best chasing side this season, LSG are the best defenders of totals. Both will have to factor in the possibility of a slow pitch, and whether or not dew will play a part, when deciding what to do if they win the toss. There are no second chances in Chennai on Wednesday: the winner takes a step closer to the final, the loser gets eliminated.LSG beat Mumbai by five runs in their only league meeting this season•BCCI

Form guide

Mumbai Indians WLWWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants WWWLL

Team news: No injury issues

LSG don’t have any known fitness issues. For Mumbai, Tilak Varma seems to be fit because he was on their list of Impact Player subs for their previous game and was padded up, but wasn’t needed to bat.

Impact Player strategy

LSG will swap an opening batter, like Karan Sharma, with one of their frontline bowlers like Mohsin Khan or Yash Thakur.Lucknow Super Giants (probable XII): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 , 3 Krunal Pandya (capt), 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Prerak Mankad, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Mumbai will also use a similar strategy and sub out a bowler like Madhwal for Tilak if they bowl first, or vice versa if they bat first.Mumbai Indians (probable XII): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Nehal Wadhera, 5 Tim David, 6 , 7 Cameron Green, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Hrithik Shokeen/Kumar Kartikeya, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Jason Behrendorff, 12

Stats that matter: Can Suryakumar shine away from Wankhede?

• All four of de Kock’s dismissals have come against legspinners this season; Piyush Chawla dismissed him in the previous LSG-MI fixture. De Kock also doesn’t have a great record against Chris Jordan in T20s: 59 runs off 41 balls with four dismissals.
• Bishnoi has dismissed two of Mumbai’s in-form batters three times each. While Ishan Kishan has scored at run a ball against Bishnoi (21 off 21), Suryakumar has done marginally better (29 off 25) against the legspinner.
• There is a significant difference between Suryakumar’s home and away performances this season. At the Wankhede, he has scored 367 runs while striking at 201.64, including a century and three half-centuries. But away from home, he has managed just 144 runs in seven innings while averaging 20.57.
• Mumbai have reached the playoffs for the 10th time in 16 seasons; LSG have made it two in two.

Pitch and conditions

The Eliminator is likely to be played on the same pitch on which CSK beat Mumbai in a low-scoring contest. Chennai will again be warm and humid.

MatériaMais Notícias

Mesmo que a Taça Rio seja uma espécie de “prêmio de consolação” (times que ficaram entre 5º e 8º lugar no Carioca), o títuloda competição ganha importância para o Botafogo, pois vale uma vaga para Copa do Brasil de 2024, um dos torneios com maior premiação no país. Apesar do peso menor, o Alvinegro terásua primeira final sob gestão da SAF.

Anunciado em março do ano passado para comandar a equipe, Luís Castro ainda não disputou nenhuma final pelo Glorioso. O treinador declarou em dezembro do ano passado que um dos seus principais objetivos no clube era levantar taças.

+Demitido da Globo, Cléber Machado fecha com a Record: veja as movimentações da imprensa esportiva em 2023

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasBotafogoBotafogo anuncia Anderson Santos como novo Diretor Financeiro; saiba maisBotafogo01/04/2023BotafogoBotafogo anuncia retorno do atacante Júnior SantosBotafogo31/03/2023BotafogoBotafogo anuncia contratação do atacante Diego AbreuBotafogo31/03/2023

– Quero muito isso (títulos). Queria já nessa última temporada. Conquistar títulos é viciante. Nos últimos anos ganhei e queria ganhar no Botafogo. Sinto energia positiva no clube e na torcida. Sinto toda gente entusiasmada, quero aproveitar para crescermos mais e mais. É o que procuro fazer através da minha liderança diária – declarou Luís Castro em entrevista ao”Charla Podcast”.

+Botafogo encerra mês de março com uma derrota; relembre os jogos

ELENCO AMBICIOSO

Tiquinho Soares chegou ao Botafogo em agosto do ano passado e se transformou em um dos protagonistas da equipe alvinegra. Em entrevista ao LANCE! no ano passado, o atacante revelou que sonhava em conquistar títulos pelo clube. Confira a entrevista completa.

– Meu sonho no Fogão é ganhar troféus. Todo jogador sonha com isso. Espero que, junto com os meus companheiros e a nossa apaixonada torcida, a gente possa ganhar títulos em 2023 – afirmou.

Luis Henrique, que retornou ao clube no segundo semestre do ano passado depois de duas temporadas no futebol francês, também afirmou ao LANCE! recentemente que este atual elenco alvinegro merecia ser coroado com troféus. Confira a entrevista completa.

– Eu tenho uma relação com Luís Castro de muito respeito e trabalho. Eu espero continuar conquistando a confiança dele para que eu possa ajudar cada vez mais o Botafogo nos jogos. Espero conseguir algum título com esse elenco, que é tão forte e unido – afirmou Luis Henrique.

+Conheça Diego Abreu, reforço do Botafogo para 2023

+Botafogo tem maratona de jogos previstos para abril; confira

JOHN TEXTOR QUER TÍTULOS

Quando John Textor decidiu assumir as ações do Glorioso, ele fez questão de afirmar que seu objetivo no clube era conquistar títulos. O acionista majoritário está há um ano no comando e ainda não conseguiu cumprir este objetivo.

– Vencer vem primeiro. No final, se você ganhou, se você se divertiu enquanto tentava ganhar, quando perder, que você lute com todas as suas forças para superar e voltar a vencer. Assim, você irá se divertir, e o dinheiro virá como consequência. (O Botafogo) É um grande clube, eu sei o que os torcedores querem. Se eu não quisesse ganhar campeonatos, eu teria comprado o Londrina – declarou John Textor para CNN em março do ano passado.

+Júnior Santos de volta ao Botafogo: relembre os altos e baixos do atacante no clube

EM BUSCA DA PRIMEIRA TAÇA

Lucas Perri, Adryelson, Víctor Cuesta, Marçal, Tchê Tchê, Eduardo, Tiquinho… O Glorioso conta com muito jogadores qualificados em seu atual elenco que chegaram ao Rio de Janeiro recentemente, ainda não disputaram uma final pelo clube e sonham em conquistar títulos com a camisa alvinegra.

+Audax x Botafogo: onde assistir, prováveis escalações e desfalques para ida da final da Taça Rio

Audax e Botafogo se enfrentam neste domingo, às 18h, no Raulino de Oliveira, pelo jogo de ida da final da Taça Rio. O confronto de volta está marcado para dia 9 de abril, às 18h, também em Volta Redonda. O título da competição vale uma vaga para Copa do Brasil de 2024. Saiba como comprar ingressos.

continua após a publicidade

GOAL looks at the biggest storylines among Americans Abroad, including Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah seeking to right some wrongs

The English Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, and domestic competition in Italy and Germany kick off this weekend as European football returns in full swing. For Americans Abroad, it's a chance to start a crucial season on a high note.

It's an opportunity for players who transferred this summer to make great first impressions, and for those looking took secure spots on the USMNT's 2026 World Cup squad to send a message to manager Mauricio Pochettino.

In Italy, Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah return to the pitch for AC Milan in the Coppa Italia, while new manager Max Allegri looks to make a lasting impression on the club. In Spain, it's time for Johnny Cardoso to prove himself to his new Atletico Madrid teammates. For a player who is so highly rated at the club level, but still a mystery internationally, it will be a fascinating season under Diego Simeone.

Meanwhile, the first American to lift silverware this season, Chris Richards, takes the pitch on Sunday with Crystal Palace. After their Community Shield win over Liverpool last weekend, they'll look to start things on top against Chelsea. 

GOAL looks ahead at some of the biggest storylines to follow among Americans Abroad this weekend.

Getty Images SportRichards and Palace take on Chelsea

Coming off their Community Shield victory over Liverpool, the Eagles face another member of the "big six" in England on opening weekend. Chelsea overhauled their roster this summer and are considered Premier League contenders, so it's a big opportunity for both Richards and Palace to prove themselves – again.

In two meetings last season, the clubs split. In all-time head-to-head meetings, Chelsea have won 20 and drawn twice, with just four wins for the Eagles.  For Richards, it's an opportunity to establish himself early on in the campaign as one of the top defenders in the league.

He'll be tasked with taking on Chelsea's blistering attack that features Cole Palmer, Neto, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and more. Chelsea is coming off a title-winning FIFA Club World Cup. Palace, meanwhile, won the FA Cup in the spring, and the Community Shield last weekend. This one should be good.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportPulisic and Musah seek fresh start

Christian Pulisic is reportedly set to be fit in the race for Milan's competitive debut on Sunday, when they take on Bari in the Coppa Italia. These two teams haven't met in nearly 15 years, with their last competitive match coming in 2011 – a 1-1 draw in Serie A.

The Serie B side will look to pull the upset on Sunday. For Pulisic and Musah, it's a chance to right some wrongs from last season. Milan made it to the final of the 2024-25 Coppa Italia, but fell to Bologna 1-0 , and missed out on European competition this season as a result.

For Pulisic, it will be his first competitive minutes since May after he opted out of playing for the USMNT in the Gold Cup. Over the past two weeks, he picked up a slight knock that held him out of Milan's final two preseason fixtures, but he is available for selection on Sunday, paving the way for him to make a statement performance to begin the campaign.

Musah, meanwhile, was a regular participant in all five of Milan's preseason matches, and he started the final three. He's been linked with a move away this transfer window, with Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Napoli reportedly interested. But as things stand, he's still a Milan player.

After a rather disastrous 2024-25 season across all competitions, Sunday is Milan's chance to start things on a high – it's win or bust. The should be looked at as favorites, under Allegri, to compete for the Coppa Italia.

AFPCardoso looks to make first impression

In Spain, Cardoso and Atletico Madrid kick off their La Liga campaign against Espanyol on Sunday, and this is an major moment for the young midfielder.

He has big shoes to fill in the middle of the park following the exit of Rodrigo De Paul, who was signed by Lionel Messi's Inter Miami earlier, and a lot will be asked of him by manager Diego Simeone. The 23-year-old featured in their last two preseason friendlies, both victories, but he still has competition for a spot in the XI.

Atleti take on Espanyol to begin the season – a club who have been a struggle for them to beat in recent years. Their last four matches, dating back to 2022, have all been draws, as Simeone's men failed to get over the line against the Catalan club.

Cardoso, meanwhile, will look to make a good impression and put some of his USMNT woes behind him. He has yet to find his footing on the international stage and is searching for a starting spot under Simeone so that he can continue to show Pochettino why he warrants a selection in the build-up to the World Cup. 

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Getty Images SportOther storylines to watch

+ Sergino Dest and PSV take on FC Twente on Sunday. Ricardo Pepi will not feature due to "fluid in his knee," per manager Peter Bosz. 

+ Josh Sargent scored the game-winning goal for Norwich City on Saturday as they defeated Portsmouth 2-1 in English Championship action. It was Sargent's third goal of the season.