Nottinghamshire remain only Championship team to lose a match in 2024

ECB Reporters Network16-Apr-2024Barely a mile down the road from Trent Bridge, about three and a half hours before the scheduled start of play on the final day of Nottinghamshire’s Vitality County Championship game with Worcestershire, a tornado ripped tiles off houses and brought down trees, some close to the Nottinghamshire chief executive’s house. Sadly, however, there was to be no such drama on the field.An hour after lunch, with the latest squall sweeping through and winds threatening to send the covers flying towards Lincolnshire, play was abandoned without a ball bowled. Nottinghamshire, 195 runs ahead overnight but with only three wickets standing, took 14 points and Worcestershire, who had fancied pushing for victory, departed with 13. It was one of three matches, all in the East Midlands, to be left as draws with a complete final-day wash out.Until Nottinghamshire suffered their second catastrophic collapse in seven days on Sunday, they had seemed well set to offer a target for Worcestershire to chase. But in eight overs approaching the close they had crashed from 125 for 1 to 144 for 7, Worcestershire’s new overseas signing this year, Kiwi Nathan Smith, claiming four in seven balls, including a triple-wicket maiden. He now has ten wickets in three innings.The previous week, it was Essex new-ball bowler, Sam Cook, who had returned 6 for 14 as Nottinghamshire plummeted to 80 all out on the same ground. After gaining a first-innings lead of 44 over Worcestershire they had still entertained hopes of a win themselves, suggesting that around 250 would be hard for their opponents to pursue on a turning pitch. Sadly we will never know. A game apparently destined for an enthralling finish alas bowed to the rain and gusts that have defined the season so far.

There is a 60% chance of rain around the match start time

Ashish Pant18-May-20244:26

How do RCB make best use of Maxwell?

The morning of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB’s) high-stakes IPL 2024 game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was bright and sunny, but as the day progressed, the sun was mostly out of view, hidden behind clouds. There remains a forecast of thundershowers and a 60% chance of rain around the time the match is scheduled to start, at 7.30pm local time.It’s a game that will decide the identity of the last team in the IPL 2024 playoffs, but the weather could have a big say in how things pan out at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.The Indian Meteorological Department has predicting a “generally cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers”.Related

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• IPL 2024 scenarios – RCB vs CSK for final playoff spot

Fans who are expected to fill the ground can, however, take heart from the way things went on match eve. Rain and thunderstorms had been forecast for the evening but, while it was cloudy for the most part, the rain never arrived in central Bengaluru. Both RCB and CSK trained for over an hour without any disruption.The city has received consistent rainfall over the last couple of weeks after a spell of uncharacteristically hot weather. However, it has remained relatively dry in most places in the last three days.Even if it does rain, the Chinnaswamy Stadium has an excellent drainage system and is one of the few grounds in India with a subsurface aeration system, which allows play to begin 30 minutes after the rain stops.RCB’s chances of making the playoffs will end in case of a washout. After losing seven of their first eight matches, they made a sterling comeback, winning their next five games. They are currently on 12 points with a net run rate of 0.387, while CSK are on 14 with an NRR of 0.538. To go past CSK’s NRR and make it to the playoffs, assuming a score of 200, RCB need to beat CSK by 18 runs or chase down the target with about 11 balls to spare. A truncated game will make that task tougher.”The good thing is that it is crystal clear what we need to do,” Malolan Rangarajan, RCB’s head of scouting, said on the eve of the game. “Doesn’t matter if it is a 20-over game or a five-, six-over game. For us, it might be 3.1 or 3.4 [the number of overs in which RCB may have to chase the target in case of a five-over game] because there are other intricacies within that. We are not going to be going inside thinking we need to restrict 18 runs or 11 balls. We are going to go there, try to stay consistent with what we have done.”For CSK, the equation is simple: a win, a washout, or even a narrow defeat is enough for them to make it to the final four.”The weather and these kind of things we don’t have control over,” Dwayne Bravo, the CSK bowling coach, said. “We don’t try to bring up things that we don’t have control over. It’s another game for us to push for a playoffs spot and we’re really looking ahead to the challenge against a very good team tomorrow.”

The Australia opener could be facing England for the last time as his career draws to a close

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-20241:53

Warner relives Australia’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2021

David Warner has predicted England’s last two Ashes destroyers loom as far different prospects on the slower T20 World Cup wickets of the Caribbean.Australia will meet England for the first time in any format since last year’s tense Ashes series on Saturday [Sunday AEDT] in Barbados, in each side’s second game of the World Cup.Related

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• Jofra Archer: 'I had a bit of a cry' on return to action in Barbados

Mark Wood and Jofra Archer are expected to play for an England side desperately needing a win after a washout against Scotland.Archer has not played Australia since the 2020 white-ball series in England, which took place during Covid, having made his mark against them in his debut Test series in 2019. Wood was also England’s most hostile bowler in the 2023 Ashes, coming in at Headingley and helping the hosts go from 2-0 down to a 2-2 draw.Both are among the quickest in the world at their best, but the slow pitches of the Caribbean are far removed from their home conditions. Throw in the fact it is a T20 rather than a Test match, and Warner believes this is a very different scenario.”You just have to use their pace,” Warner said. “Test cricket they set different fields, different balls. In Twenty20 cricket, you only have to get half an edge on it and it can go. So there’s a fair difference.”David Warner played an important innings against Oman•Getty Images

Warner also does not expect consistently high bounce as seen elsewhere in the world.”I’ve played a lot of cricket over here,” Warner said. “You are expecting it to be low rather than bounce, unless it is real short. The variation in bounce is what surprises you. Because when they pitch the ball that eight-metre [from the stumps] length, your natural instinct is to pull it. But you have to go back to targeting straight, backing yourself, and if it does bounce, so be it.”Warner hit a steady 56 from 51 balls to guide Australia to a winnable score in their first match against Oman to begin his last international tournament. The runs came after a disappointing IPL, prompting questions from critics over whether he deserved a final hurrah ahead of rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk.”It [the criticism] doesn’t fuel me. It’s in one ear, out the other,” Warner said. “I don’t understand why it’s all about myself. There are 11 players in the team. I don’t get it.”People feel like they have to keep criticising the way I play. I don’t know what it is. I have no answer as to why people write that. I have had it my whole career. I don’t listen to it.”Sunday’s Group B clash has gone from near irrelevant to crucial for England, after their shared points with Scotland. A loss to Australia would spell disaster for the defending champions, after Scotland beat Namibia on Friday. If England are beaten, it would leave open the prospect of a net run-rate shootout between them and Scotland to be the second team to advance from the group.

Pat Cummins is rested from the entire tour, while Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell will join for the ODIs against England

Andrew McGlashan15-Jul-20241:23

Clarke: Some Australia players might walk away from T20Is

Perth Scorchers and Western Australia allrounder Cooper Connolly has been handed his first international call-up for Australia’s T20I squad to face Scotland and England, while Jake Fraser-McGurk has been included in both the T20I and ODI squad as the selectors start to glance towards the future.Australia will play three T20Is against Scotland and England from early September, and the squad reflects the start of the transition from the group that exited the recent T20 World Cup in the Super Eights. The ODI squad is more stable with an eye on next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan.Fraser-McGurk’s inclusion had been expected, and he now has the chance to establish himself as David Warner’s successor at the top of the order in both limited-overs formats. He has yet to make his T20I debut, but played two ODIs against West Indies last season.Related

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• 'All yours now champion' – Warner endorses Fraser-McGurk

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Connolly, the 20-year-old left hand batter, has only featured in 15 domestic T20s, but played a starring role in the BBL 2022-23 final to secure Scorchers the title. He strikes at 145.80 in T20s, and also provides a useful left-arm spin option. Connolly also made 90 on his Sheffield Shield debut, in the final, earlier this year.”We haven’t had that many bolters for a little while,” national selector George Bailey said. “He’s an exciting young talent. Hasn’t played a great many games yet, but we really like his versatility. His work through the middle order for the Scorchers has been really impressive. Handy left-arm spin as well which, as a secondary skill, is something we are really keen to keep exploring and see where that goes with his cricket.”Mitchell Marsh remains the T20I captain, and will also lead the ODI side in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is rested from the entire Scotland and England tour ahead of the home summer. Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell will also miss the T20Is before joining for the ODIs, while allrounder Matthew Short, who was a traveling reserve at the T20 World Cup, will remain at home for the birth of his first child before arriving for the five ODIs against England.Cummins is currently among the group of Australians taking part in the ongoing MLC, but Bailey said missing the Scotland and England tour had been in the planning for around 12 months with an eye on a condensed schedule that comes once the home summer begins.”He’s got a couple of things he wants to work on physically,” Bailey said. “He’s had a lot of cricket over the past period, and this is an opportunity to get on top of those and set him up for the next period of time; it’s more a management of that. The MLC opportunity came reasonably late, [and] as far as the plan went, it’s an extra 18 or 19 days that he’s up for, [so] it doesn’t fundamentally change the plan we had for him.”2:32

Bailey impressed with Connolly’s ‘versatility’

From those who featured in the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies last month, Ashton Agar and Matthew Wade have been dropped from the T20I squad, while Warner has retired.In the T20I squad, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis will be part of the pace attack alongside the experience of Josh Hazlewood. Allrounders Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie are included across both formats with the former likely to see far more opportunity. Josh Inglis will replace Wade with the gloves in T20Is.Alex Carey is back in the ODI squad as Inglis’ understudy, having lost his place in the XI during last year’s World Cup.The T20Is against Scotland, which replace the tour of Ireland which was cancelled by the hosts for financial reasons, take place on September 4, 6 and 7. Three T20Is against England follow on September 11, 13 and 15, followed by the five ODIs.

Australia T20I squad vs Scotland and England

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Spencer Johnson, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Australia ODI squad vs England

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis (wk), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Shamar Joseph could play his first Test in his home nation while Nandre Burger could return for South Africa

Firdose Moonda14-Aug-2024

Big Picture: West Indies, South Africa look to go back to winning ways

That competitive edge we were hoping for in the series opener showed itself on the last day of the rain-affected match, where both teams did all they could to avoid a draw. In the end, too much time was lost to rain and they had to settle for Test cricket’s first draw in 28 matches. The teams will want to get back to winning ways in Guyana.Happily, the elements are not expected to have as much of an impact and more play should be possible. Both teams have plenty of things to work on. At the outset: getting a batter (or two) to convert a start into a three-figure score will be top of mind. Three South Africans – Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs – and one West Indian – Alick Athanaze – scored half-centuries in Trinidad and there were nine other individual scores in the 30s, which suggests that getting in was less of an issue than staying in. The placidity of the pitch aside, batting in this series appears to be a test of patience and the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite and David Bedingham, who are known for their ability to hold vigils in the middle, could be among those to watch out for.For bowlers, the challenge of Test cricket is always time-based as they seek to stay disciplined for long periods. This series appears to demand more than most as Jayden Seals – who bowled eight spells in South Africa’s first innings in Trinidad – and Keshav Maharaj – who sent down 40 successive overs in West Indies first innings – showed. We’ve seen excellent examples of persistence and quality of skill which should continue into the second Test, where there’s plenty at stake.Keshav Maharaj put in long shifts during the first Test•AFP/Getty Images

West Indies remain rooted to the bottom of the World Test Championship points table and are seeking their second win. Their next assignments are against Bangladesh in the Caribbean followed by a tour to Pakistan, and they will want to maximise all the home advantage they can. The drawn first Test means South Africa will face each of their next seven Tests in this World Test Championship cycle as a must win. If they manage a perfect record, their chances of qualifying for the final will be almost certain. If they slip up somewhere, they could still get to Lord’s but will have to rely on other results, among teams who play far more than they do, to go their way.

Form Guide

West Indies: DLLLW ()
South Africa: DLLLW

In the Spotlight: Alick Athanaze and Kyle Verreynne

Alick Athanaze fell eight runs short of a first Test hundred in Trinidad, helped save the Test and looked comfortable against the short ball, and used the sweep shot well. His composure against South Africa’s more experienced players – Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada – was also impressive. He has already been identified as a key cog in the revival of West Indies’ long-format fortunes and could underline that with another big performance at a place in which he has historically done well: Guyana. Athanaze has played two first-class matches in Providence and crossed fifty three times. He scored 66 against Guyana in 2019, and 81 and 97 against Jamaica in March 2023.Kyle Verreynne will hope to find form in Guyana•AFP/Getty Images

If South Africa want the option of playing only six batters, they will have to believe Kyle Verreynne can score big runs when needed. He’s had a stop-start time in the Test squad, was dropped for the now-retired Heinrich Klaasen, and faces some competition from Ryan Rickelton. So, Verreynne will want to make use of the opportunities he gets quickly, he has not gotten past 39 in his last five innings. But he will want to draw from his first-class success, where he averages almost fifty, to find form in Tests.

Team News: Burger, Shamar likely to return

It would seem amiss not to play Shamar Joseph at home, especially as he is yet to play an international at Providence. After Gudakesh Motie went wicketless in Trinidad, Shamar may be in, leaving Jomel Warrican as the primary spinner.West Indies (Probable XI): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Mikyle Louis, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Alick Athanaze, 5 Kavem Hodge, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Jomel Warrican, 9 Jayden Seales, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shamar JosephSouth Africa were comfortable going into the first Test a bowler short but with the series on the line, they may have to sacrifice the length of their line-up to equip themselves with enough firepower to push a win. That could mean benching Ryan Rickelton and choosing between left-armer Nandre Burger or an extra spinner in Dane Piedt to give them a 6-5 split.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Tony de Zorzi, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Temba Bavuma (capt), 5 David Bedingham, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder/Dane Piedt, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Nandre Burger

Pitch and Conditions: Tough outing for the batters?

With only two Tests played at this ground, and the last of those 13 years ago, there is scant data to go on for what to expect here, but the first-class numbers may tell us something. In 2023, it hosted three red-ball matches and the average first-innings score of 206, which suggests that batters are in for another tough outing. The venue seems to offer enough for both seam and spin with quicks taking 67 wickets in 2023 at 20.20 and an economy of 3.35 and spinners 49 wickets at 21.20 with an economy rate of 2.55.There are some afternoon thunderstorms forecast throughout the match, but the outlook is mostly sunny and dry. The players may need a few extra drinks breaks, though as temperatures will hover in the upper-30 degrees range but with humidity above 90%, so the real feel will be closer to 40 degrees.

Stats and Trivia:

• There have only been two Test matches played at Providence before and West Indies have a 1-1 record. They lost to Sri Lanka by 121 runs in 2008 and beat Pakistan by 40 runs in 2011.
• Aiden Markram had never been part of a drawn Test before the Trinidad match. He was part of a 37-game streak in which games have either been won or lost by South Africa.
• Kagiso Rabada needs five wickets to get to 300 in Tests. If he gets there in this Test, he could be the fastest South African to reach the landmark by number of balls. Rabada has bowled 11,596 balls in Tests so far. Dale Steyn, the quickest South African to 300 wickets by number of matches, got there in 12,605 balls. That gives Rabada 168.1 overs to get to 300 quicker than Steyn.
• In 15 home Tests between 2018 and 2021, Jason Holder took 64 wickets at an ave of 16.4. Since 2022, in six home Tests, he has seven wickets at 58.85.

Quotes

“On the previous game, there was obviously a little bit of frustration. We felt that with a little bit more time, a result could have been possible. Games ending as draws are few and far between and it wasn’t the case of both teams playing super well over five days. I’m yet to be in that situation. It would be nice to be involved in a test where both teams play at their best and at the end of the day, you can’t get a winner. Test cricket has become attacking. That’s an obvious thing because of T20 cricket. But in these conditions, I think it can be a bit tough to be overly attacking in slow wickets.”
“Batting-wise, in the first innings we could’ve put more runs on the board. I think that’s a big focus of ours and bowling-wise, the pitch didn’t offer much, especially the fast bowlers. They [the bowlers] didn’t get much spin in the first innings as well, but we were quite disciplined.”

Sri Lanka captain also explains why they’ve been hard to come by

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Sep-2024It’s the batters, batters, batters. Right through the series, Sri Lanka have emphasised that it was their batting order that was letting the side down. Four innings in, with Sri Lanka never having got close to 350, with none of their top seven having got to triple-figures, captain Dhananjaya de Silva has reiterated the importance of top order runs again.In the first Test, Sri Lanka were 72 for 5 in the first innings. In the second Test, they were 83 for 5 in the first innings. Here’s where de Silva believes they lost.”Our batters have to score runs, and that’s the biggest issue we’ve had, ” he said. “Those who got starts didn’t turn them into hundreds and 150s. If you look at Joe Root on their side, he’s consistently made runs and it’s around him that others made runs. That’s what someone on our side needs to do as well, so we can get to 300 or 350. First-innings runs are what’s crucial to victory.”Related

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The only Sri Lanka batter to make serious runs on tour has been Kamindu Mendis, who batting at No. 7 has made scores of 113 in Manchester and 74 at Lord’s. He arrives at his sixth Test with a batting average of 78.87, having made six fifty-plus scores in nine innings, and having gone onto triple-figures on three of those occasions.Sri Lanka would have been tempted to shunt him up the order for this match, given not only his form, but the fact that he bats in the top and middle order frequently for domestic sides. But they will leave him where he is, for now, de Silva said.”I think if Kamindu plays well down there there’s no reason to change what he’s doing and put him in trouble. If he’s scoring there, it’s good for his career as well. In the future, maybe we will talk to him, about his plans as well and see what changes we can make. But right now we’re thinking of him as a No. 7.”The remainder of the batting order, even those on their third tour of England, have struggled badly against England’s seamers meanwhile. A lot of this has to do with their discipline, de Silva said.”They [England] have a lot of control in addition to their experience. They have great control of line and length and we don’t get many loose balls in England. We need to be prepared for that and our plans have to take that into account. That’s just what you get in England. In the two previous matches they didn’t let us execute our plans. That’s why they were successful.”Root, who has made 350 runs in four innings so far in the series, has also helped pound Sri Lanka to a 2-0 scoreline. Earlier this week, Dimuth Karunaratne spoke about Sri Lanka needing to go back to square one with their planning for him. De Silva hopes they’ve now got something together that will surprise Root, at the very least.”It’s not that our plans against him didn’t work – he just very quickly recognised what we were trying to do and countered it. That’s what world class players do, and that’s why he scored runs. We’ve hopefully come up with something now that he won’t expect.”

Franchises could make players direct offers of multi-year contracts worth up to £300,000 per season as a result

Matt Roller01-Oct-2024The Hundred franchises could make players direct offers of multi-year contracts worth up to £300,000 per season if an overhaul to the tournament’s draft system being considered by the ECB is approved. The board is also considering lobbying the UK’s Home Office to permit each team in the Hundred to field a fourth overseas player in the XI, an increase from the current limit of three.The ECB started the process of selling stakes in each of the eight Hundred teams last month and has told prospective investors that total wage bills could increase by over 80% next year. Each team currently spends around £1.9 million per year on salaries across men’s and women’s players and coaches, which is projected to jump to more than £3.5m per year once deals are signed off.If the early-stage plans are approved and the sale process moves quickly, top salaries could climb from £125,000 to £300,000 in the men’s Hundred ahead of the 2025 season, and from £50,000 to over £100,000 in the women’s Hundred. The changes would put the Hundred’s total salary spend second to the IPL among men’s leagues, and second to the WPL among women’s leagues.Related

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The Hundred has consistently attracted the best overseas players in the women’s game, but not the men’s. This year, Shaheen Shah Afridi pulled out of his deal with Welsh Fire because Canada’s Global T20 was due to pay him at a more competitive rate, while Pat Cummins revealed he “hadn’t thought” of playing in the Hundred while he was at Major League Cricket.As a result, the ECB is considering allowing an updated recruitment model which would allow each franchise to make up to six direct overseas signings – three men’s and three women’s – on multi-year contracts, following the lead of several other leagues including the BBL, ILT20 and SA20. The existing draft system would remain but with increases in salary bands across the board, particularly at the top end.Vikram Banerjee, who is running the sale process at the ECB, said recently that the Hundred has “fallen behind” a number of other short-form leagues in attracting top men’s players. “We are the sixth highest-payer in the men’s game,” Banerjee told the podcast. “We’re about to go seventh if we stay still at the moment – which we won’t.”Banerjee also suggested that top salaries would grow at a much more significant rate than those at the bottom. “The 15th selection in a 15-man squad, with all due respect, you don’t need to pay huge sums for. They might be an up-and-coming player,” he said. “It’s that top three or four players [per team] that you do need to pay to get their time and their effort to be there, and we have fallen behind.”Top salaries could climb from £50,000 to over £100,000 in the women’s Hundred ahead of the 2025 season•Getty Images

The plans would also see each team able to sign one designated ‘England star’ on a multi-year deal, worth around £100,000 in the women’s competition and £250,000 in the men’s. The proposed increase in overseas players per playing XI from three to four would bring the tournament in line with the global standard set by the IPL, WPL, PSL and SA20.ESPNcricinfo understands that while the plans have been circulated to prospective investors, they are at a relatively early stage and may not come to fruition until 2026, depending on the speed of the ongoing sale process. The ECB has declined to comment.The Hundred’s sale process has come under fire in the past week. Banerjee, the ECB’s director of business operations, conceded that it could take until beyond the 2025 season to complete, and the process was described last week as “a big fat Ponzi scheme” by Lalit Modi, the founder and architect of the IPL who is serving a life ban from the BCCI.”I don’t recognise his particular comments,” Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, told the BBC last week in response to Modi’s criticism of the Hundred’s financial projections. “It wasn’t so long ago that he [Modi] had an article in the saying he wanted to buy the competition for £1 billion.”Gould insisted the ECB are “very confident” in the strength of English cricket. “We’ve got nearly 100 or so interested parties involved in [the Hundred sales process] which is a huge number… Everyone knows that the money that comes in, we want to use it to protect and then supercharge the game throughout our county network and beyond.”The Hundred’s 2025 season will start in early August, immediately after England’s men complete a Test series against India.

New Zealand’s key selection call ahead of the first Test in India will be whether to play three quicks

Andrew McGlashan13-Oct-20241:46

Can India prep for Australia tour in home Tests against New Zealand? Gavaskar, Manjrekar weigh in

Former New Zealand captain Tim Southee will be at the centre of a selection debate ahead of the first Test against India as the visitors ponder the balance of their attack for Bengaluru and weigh up whether to play three quicks.Southee stood down from the captaincy after the 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka last month and there’s a chance he loses his place in the XI straightaway after a lean run in format where he has taken eight wickets at 73.12 this year.Related

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He is working to discover the “snap” in his bowling action but though be boasts a handy record in India with 20 wickets at 28.70, including his career-best 7 for 64 in Bengaluru 12 years ago, his place will likely be under scrutiny whichever way New Zealand structure their bowling attack.If they opt for just two quicks Matt Henry has a strong case to partner Will O’Rourke who was impressive in Sri Lanka, while if they played three the choice would then be between Southee’s experience or the extra pace of Ben Sears who made a mark on his debut against Australia in March.Head coach Gary Stead said that the discussions between him and Southee after the Sri Lanka series would remain private but acknowledged they were “delicate” and did concede that without Southee as captain it allowed greater flexibility in selection.Matt Henry will be in the mix to return to the side•AFP/Getty Images

“Like all Test tours and series we have reviews at the end of it and Tim and I had a conversation around it, then he made the decision to stand down,” Stead said. “He thought it was in the best interests of the team. I supported his decision around that.”It allows different players to be considered in roles and as a selector and coach you are always trying to put what you think is the very best team out there. With Tim as captain, he was the guy who was starting for us and leading that team and think we were always looking at the options that were best for the team going forward.”An additional factor with the balance of New Zealand’s attack is the impact on the lower-order batting. Mitchell Santner batted No. 8 against Sri Lanka while Michael Bracewell would be another spin-bowling option, but Bengaluru turns out to help fast bowlers, and three quicks were selected, then either Henry or Southee would need to take on the role of chipping in with some runs down the order.”They’ve both scored fifties so that’s always the balance that possibly in New Zealand you think about more, especially if it’s going to be real seamer-friendly,” Stead said. “Think here the first thing you want to do is make sure you’ve got the bowlers you think can take 20 wickets.”Southee is working with bowling coach Jacob Oram on trying to rediscover his wicket-taking form and has been studying video from successful periods in a career which has so far brought 382 Test wickets, leaving him on the brink of becoming just the second New Zealand bowler to 400.”From my conversations with Tim he recognised he hasn’t been at his best but there’s certainly no desire to not get back there,” Stead said. “He’s working hard in the background, he’s doing everything he can and trying to rediscover what that little thing he feels is missing is.”There’s a couple of little technical points Tim’s working on. He’s working with [Jacob] Oram around them. We’ve looked back at quite a bit of video from previous years and times he’s played in India and had success. It’s just trying to rediscover that and find a little bit, I guess you could call it snap back into his action.”Stead added that Will Young was likely to bat No. 3 in the first Test in the absence of Kane Williamson who is recovering from a groin strain. There remains hope that Williamson will be available for the second Test with a call likely to be made during the first few days of the Bengaluru game.India will be without Mohammed Shami but Stead noted the depth of talent India were able to call on. “If they have an injury it doesn’t seem to effect them like other teams. There’s someone else who can come in who is equally adept,” he said. “They have the mass of numbers they can call but they are also very skilful and are an experienced team with a lot of Test caps. They play a brand of cricket that makes it very difficult for you over here but that’s the challenge that’s ahead of us.”

The left-arm quick took a career-best haul to lead Australia to a tight victory over Pakistan which clinched the T20I series

Andrew McGlashan17-Nov-2024Spencer Johnson is building some good memories of the SCG. For his second consecutive outing there he walked away as player of the match as a career-best 5 for 26 sealed the T20I series against Pakistan.They were the best figures by an Australia men’s quick in T20Is, moving above James Faulkner’s 5 for 27 also against Pakistan in Mohali in 2016, and it follows his title-winning performance in last season’s BBL final against Sydney Sixers where he claimed 4 for 26. Throw in 3 for 28 also against Sixers in early 2023, and he has 12 wickets at 6.66 in T20s at the ground.Related

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“That doesn’t really make any sense to be honest,” Johnson said of his figures on Saturday evening. “It’s nice to be back at the SCG. My last time here was the Big Bash final and the conditions were in the bowler’s favour.”Much like that BBL game, where he was struck for three boundaries off his four balls before turning things around, it wasn’t an ideal start in front of a crowd of 31,563 as his first ball went for five wides down the leg side and his third was taken first slip.But Johnson had confidence in himself, and in his second over removed Sahibzada Farhan. Then when he returned in the 10th over he put himself on a hat-trick with the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha before making the decisive blow by removing Usman Khan for 52 when he was threatening to turn the game back Pakistan’s way.”I’ve played enough T20 cricket to know game to game you can have good games and bad games,” Johnson said. “A lot of time it’s through no fault of your own. You can mis-execute. But I knew tonight I had three overs to bounce back. I felt like the first over in that Big Bash final was a bit under pressure, and I was thinking back to that game and that I still had three overs to contribute to the team.”Johnson is among a group of Australian quick bowlers who fight for their opportunities in white-ball cricket when the big three of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are absent as they are for this series. With that trio having spoken of Test cricket being a priority, there could be a chance of some renewal in Australia’s first-choice T20 attack ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup following their Super Eight exit at this year’s tournament although Johnson is not expecting rapid change.”I know the big three will be here for a long time,” Johnson said. “They’re not going anywhere, they are only getting better. To be able to chop in and be part of the squad a lot more will only help me there. They are unbelievably durable and have done it for so long. They are definitely the benchmark.”Johnson, who missed the UK white-ball tour in September with a side strain, admitted that backing up game after game remained the challenge for him. He is expected to play the final T20I in Hobart on Monday which would make it four games in a row having also featured in the deciding ODI in Perth and has his sights set on a Sheffield Shield outing for South Australia before the BBL with Brisbane Heat.”The durability question mark is there for me, and, hopefully, the more I play the more durable I get.” he said. “I feel like the body’s getting there. It’s taken its time.”

England big-hitter reminisces about his new IPL franchise: ‘When I was watching IPL years ago, if they were playing, I’d turn the TV on’

Matt Roller26-Nov-20246:59

Moody: ‘RCB’s top seven looks formidable with Tim David at No.7’

It is a situation that only the vagaries of the IPL auction can explain. Eleven months after attracting no interest from the 10 franchises, Phil Salt attracted a winning bid of INR 11.50 crore – around GBP 1.08 million or USD 1.37 million – from Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday night, and will spend next spring opening the batting with Virat Kohli at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Despite his snub at last year’s auction, Salt became an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning side in IPL 2024. Having signed as a replacement player, he scored 435 runs – at a strike rate of 182 – and formed a dynamic opening partnership with Sunil Narine. KKR bid aggressively to get him back on Sunday, but ended up running out of funds.KKR had retention rights on Salt before the auction, but opted to keep hold of six other players instead. “There wasn’t a whole heap of chat around retention,” Salt told ESPNcricinfo. “I feel like, having just won the IPL, they probably had the hardest job of all the franchises, figuring out which direction they were trying to go in with their retentions, so I just sort of left them to it.”Related

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They entered a bidding war with RCB, but after spending INR 23.75 crore to bring Venkatesh Iyer back, found themselves pulling out. “As you saw, they went hard to try and bring me back,” Salt said. “But with the way the auction went for the different teams up to that point, maybe there wasn’t enough money in the room.”The result is that Salt will form part of a characteristically formidable RCB batting line-up, with head coach Andy Flower confirming he will open with Kohli. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Virat,” Salt said. “I’ve always had a bit of chat with him – and a laugh and a joke – when I’ve played against him in the past, so I’m looking forward to playing alongside him.”He looks like a natural fit for a franchise associated with fearless batting, and recalls watching Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers playing for them as a teenager. “They’ve got a very clear way of playing the game which is to go out and attack,” Salt said. “They’ve always had the fiery personalities and their batting line-ups have been world-class.”They’re one of a few teams who, when I was watching IPL years ago, if they were playing, I’d turn the TV on. Obviously they’ve got Andy there and Mo Bobat [as director of cricket], and I’m really looking forward to playing under them. Having been around them a little bit, I know that we’re quite similar thinkers on the game in some ways – and their track record speaks for itself.”Phil Salt made quite a mark at KKR at IPL 2024•BCCI

Salt followed the auction from the United Arab Emirates, where he is playing for – and captaining – Team Abu Dhabi in the Abu Dhabi T10. “It was pretty cool,” he said. “Obviously it feels like a long way away at the minute, but I’m very, very excited for it.”He will have two England team-mates for company in Bengaluru: Liam Livingstone, who has spent the last three seasons at Punjab Kings, and IPL newcomer Jacob Bethell. “He’s very committed, and there’s not many people out there that have the skill that he’s got,” Salt said of Bethell. “Hopefully, he does well in his Test debut coming up.”Salt revealed his own ambitions to play Test cricket earlier this year, but his chance to press his case for selection in the County Championship was thwarted by his IPL deal and he has not played a first-class game in over a year. He was mentioned as a contender when Jordan Cox went down injured in New Zealand this week, but Ollie Robinson is the preferred replacement.Salt recently signed his first central contract with England, but has not yet sought talks with either Rob Key or Brendon McCullum to discuss a potential route into the Test side. In any case, there is unlikely to be a vacancy after the New Zealand tour when Jamie Smith returns from paternity leave.”It’s been said before that you don’t have to play a load of red-ball cricket to make a case,” Salt said. “But I’m pretty content with where I’m at, at the minute… It is tricky. I’d have liked to play more. I’d like to play all formats, but the way that the schedule is at the minute for me, that’s not the easiest thing to do.”