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Centuries from N Jagadeesan (101 off 150) and Yo Mahesh, who produced his second rearguard performance of the season, helped Tamil Nadu finish on 326 and secure the first-innings lead against Madhya Pradesh in Indore. Madhya Pradesh, however, replied strongly in their second lead to end the day on 142 for 1 with Rajat Patidar (81*) and Shubham Sharma (41*) at the crease. Earlier, Tamil Nadu resumed on 191 for 6 and lost their overnight batsman Jagadeesan early on the day, who was bowled by Avesh Khan shortly after his second century. Yo Mahesh and M Mohammed, who scored 43 off 69 balls, then stitched together 92 runs for the eighth wicket. After Mohammed’s dismissal, Yo Mahesh had a handy partnership with R Sai Kishore and eventually finished unbeaten on 103, laced with seven fours and five sixes. Seamers Ishwar Pandey and Puneet Datey claimed three scalps each.Seamer Shardul Thakur’s five-wicket haul shot out Andhra for 215 and helped Mumbai secure a sizeable first-innings lead in Ongole. Mumbai’s batsmen, led by Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 95-ball 75, responded strongly in the second innings to finish the day on 190 for 4 and stretch the lead to 307. Resuming on 74 for 2, Andhra’s cause was helped by captain Hanuma Vihari (70) and Ricky Bhui (69) who put on 134 runs. But, their dismissals in the space of 4.2 overs helped Mumbai get back into the game. Eventually, Andhra slumped from 156 for 2 to 215 all out. Dhawal Kulkarni provided Thakur able support with three wickets.Subhranshu Senapati’s unbeaten second century was the centrepiece of Odisha‘s resistance against Baroda as they went to stumps on 316 for 5 in their first innings in Vadodara. Odisha still have to wipe out a deficit of 187 runs, but with Senapati still at the crease, they might have reasons to remain optimistic. Resuming on 64 for 2, Odisha didn’t have the best of starts, though, as they lost Natraj Behera who was caught behind off Vishnu Solanki in the first over of the morning. Senapati, however, raised partnerships of 103 and 105 with Shantanu Mishra (46) and Biplab Samantray (55) before adding 44 runs in an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership with Rajesh Dhupar.

Twenty-one Pakistan players, including Saeed Ajmal and Imran Khan, and commentator Aamer Sohail found themselves in a pay dispute with the Afro T20 Cricket League organisers and decided to return home without completing the tournament. The players’ return tickets were also cancelled at one point but according to Ajmal, their flights were rebooked for December 21 after talks with the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA).The Afro T20 Cricket League, featuring eight teams, is supported by the UCA and was approved by the ICC, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The tournament started on December 17 and was scheduled to run until January 1. However, a few days into the tournament, the organisers were not releasing payments for players. The league had reportedly set USD $50,000 for the winning team with each player having a contractual agreement. Ajmal said he got multiple verbal assurances from the organisers who later flew to Dubai with yet another promise that they were going to arrange the payments and return.”The organiser wasn’t paying us and we insisted for our payments as per the contractural agreement,” Ajmal told ESPNcricinfo. “But he deserted us with a promise that he is going to Dubai to arrange payments and will return but he hasn’t and we decided to return in protest. Our return tickets were blocked and we had informed Uganda Cricket Association and with some pressure we managed to rebook our return flight for December 21. But we are perfectly fine in Uganda, we are in touch with the Pakistan consulate as well and things are under control.”The PCB issued a press release saying the ICC had been in touch with the board about the availability of the players for the league, and things were firmed up by the PCB on that basis. The board said it is looking into the matter and will decide how to act once the facts are established, while also stating that it had been up to the players to negotiate their terms with the organisers.*”PCB received applications from players to participate in the Afro T20 League being played in Uganda. Upon inquiring of the bonafides of this League from ICC, we were advised by the ICC that Afro T20 League has been approved by them and that it is been played under the umbrella of Uganda Cricket Association (UCA). The ICC sent us a list of players which were provided to the ICC by the League organisers and asked us to allow them to take part in the tournament. Upon receiving confirmation from ICC, PCB issued NOCs to all Pakistani players who were mentioned in the approved list.”PCB is currently looking into the incident which has taken place in Uganda during the Afro T20 League and once complete information is received, further course of action will be advised.”It may be mentioned that it is the responsibility of the players to negotiate the terms of their engagement and not that of the PCB whose role is confined to the issuance of NOCs on the condition that the players are not required for PCB duty at home or abroad.”*

A world record Test match crowd of more than 91,000 spectators is still expected to roll up to the MCG on Boxing Day in the wake of the car attack on Flinders Street on Thursday that has left 12 people in hospital.Three of those victims remain in a critical condition, while Victoria Police continue to investigate the incident in which a four-wheel drive was driven into a crowd of pedestrians. Daniel Andrews, the Victorian Premier, outlined plans for an increased police presence at major events in Melbourne over the holiday period, including on Boxing Day.”People across Victoria will already have noticed an increased police presence and that will continue to grow in coming days all the way through to New Year’s Eve fireworks and the other important festivities,” Andrews said. “There will be more Victoria Police at things like the Big Bash, the soccer on at AAMI, the Boxing Day Test, Carols by Candlelight, all the way through to New Year’s Eve next week.”This is always a very busy time of year. Victoria Police have the resources and have the resolve to do everything that needs to be done to keep the community safe. If it takes a bit longer to get your bag searched, that’s being done for your safety and I would ask that you are patient, that you are as cooperative as you possibly can be and that you remain vigilant.”If you see something that you don’t think is right, speak to one of the many members of Victoria Police that will be out and about over this really busy period.”Nevertheless James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said that he remained hopeful of a world record day one attendance for the fourth Test of the Ashes series. “I think we’re in good hands,” Sutherland said. “You’ve heard from the Premier and from Stephen [Leane, assistant commissioner] from Victoria Police that it’s really business as usual. A very calm approach comes from the great experiences we have here in Victoria of hosting major events and continuing to adapt to the circumstances of the day.”CA has great confidence in where we’re at and we share that with the MCC who are the ground managers and we look forward to a fantastic event. Four years ago here at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test match we recorded the biggest ever crowd for Test cricket, 91,000 people, and we’re hoping that with the way the weather forecast is and the way ticket sales are that we’ll see a record crowd again this year.”From Boxing Day we know and the ensuing days are great days of Test cricket, it’s important for people to plan their day, to plan ahead, to use public transport as much as they possibly can, be aware of the parking restrictions around the ground. To get here early and plan ahead is the best advice we can give to anyone. It’s going to be warmer as the Test match goes on, so people also need to look after themselves in that regard with the extra heat.”Sutherland said that he had been in consistent contact with the ECB in the hours after the attack as it was ascertained that no players on either side had been involved in the incident at one of Melbourne’s busiest thoroughfares. “There was always going to be a bit of concern and urgency around the time immediately after the incident happened,” he said. “But certainly our security people and the advice from police and support from police meant everyone was very calm quickly afterwards.”Andrews said that as victims recovered from the attack, it was important for the general public to work co-operatively with police over coming days. “The good news there is that steadily, people are going home, having received the care that they need,” he said. “Last week’s events, the events in Flinders Street, they make our hearts heavy and they make us angry as well. But let’s not make things any more difficult for our emergency services by making silly choices these next few days.”

Australian cricket is on course to top two million spectators at matches this summer, as the expected success of the Ashes series and the limited-overs matches that follow combines with the continuing growth of the Twenty20 Big Bash League.Including day one of the SCG Test, total Ashes attendance has now reached 729,527, putting the series in line to top the record crowds of 2006-07, when the preceding 2005 clash in England had raised interest in the ensuing battle. That was the only Australian Test series on record to have topped 800,000 spectators, with the previous Ashes series in 2013-14 being attended by more than 753,000 spectators.This summer’s increased attendances have been aided by the greater capacity of Adelaide Oval, and also the fact that each match so far has run into the fifth day. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said the rising tide of crowds was being matched by the growth of the BBL, as the two contests feed off one another in terms of drawing people to cricket.

Ashes crowds in Australia since ’90-91

1990-91 394,255
1994-95 478,126
1998-99 545,820
2002-03 568,774
2006-07 819,627
2010-11 764,463
2013-14 753,868
2017-18 729,527*
*After day one of SCG

“It’s been a great series in terms of putting on an event, an Ashes series in our cycle of future tours programme is always a really important summer,” Sutherland told ABC Radio. “We’re heading towards crowds of over 800,000 for the Ashes Test matches. I think when we get to the one-dayers, T20s, we’ll be over a million.”Add another million for the Big Bash League, then for the first time ever we’re going to see attendances of over two million for cricket matches in Australia. So far so good, it’s been fantastic and I’d have to say the performances of the Australian team have been very pleasing as well.”This year we’re buoyed by the Adelaide Oval being at full capacity. It was only at half capacity last time, it’s one of the great assets of Australian cricket in that we’ve got these magnificent stadiums. We’ve got the Perth Stadium coming online for a game on the 28th of January, already pretty well sold out, and that in itself is just another way in which we can meet the demands of people wanting to come along to the cricket, which is fantastic to see.”Sutherland said that CA had seen evidence of Test match crowds becoming younger and more diverse, a shift he attributed to the use of T20 in general and the BBL in particular to bring new audiences to the game – a key plank of CA’s recently released strategy for the game down under. While there are inevitable grumbles about overlaying the BBL across the international summer, Sutherland has long been a proponent of co-existence rather than distinct windows.”The focus we have around T20 is bringing new fans to the game, particularly with kids, females and families, but at the same time what we’re seeing – and you only have to look around the SCG today – is kids graduating their interest into Test cricket,” Sutherland said. “Some people think that BBL is sort of counter to Test cricket, but it’s actually designed to be complementary. All of our research suggests that people still understand that the pinnacle of the game is Test cricket, the aspiration for young people is to play Test cricket, that’s the ultimate.”They’d love to play BBL, but to take it a step further and play at the highest level, and play for your country. I think this time of year I often say ‘more cricket is never enough’ and that’s been demonstrated by the way the Big Bash League has continued to grow. We also forget that Test matches are played in one place. They’re here for one week, we’re here in Sydney for one week, and that’s where it is, but at the same time, Big Bash League matches are being played in other parts of the country.”Previously in other summers gone by, we haven’t been able to feed the appetite of the Australian cricket community with other matches that they wanted to go to. We saw last night there was a game down in Hobart, great crowd, fascinating game, and again just another example of cricket being able to spread itself around the country.”As for the recent “poor” rating given the MCG for its lifeless drop-in pitch, Sutherland said the venue had been fortunate to miss out on the new ICC regulations – enforced from January 1 this year – that would have meant it faced a ban from international matches in the event of a second consecutive “poor” rating.”I think now with the new regulations that are in at ICC level, the consequences of that are quite severe,” Sutherland said. “The new regulations that came in on the first of January mean that once you’ve got a first strike, the second strike means you’ve actually got to have matches taken away from you. We’re not at that stage with the MCG, but it’s all about improvement and this is an opportunity to get better.”Ultimately it’s very disappointing to receive that rating. I think it’s probably a moot point as to where it lands and whether it was poor or the next category up, which was below average. But it’s an indicator either way – below average or poor – and it’s a rating we’re not comfortable with, and I know the MCC and the MCG aren’t happy with it either.”I think that will be the catalyst for us to work closely with them to respond and ensure we know and understand exactly what we’re looking for in an MCG pitch. And to define that, and to then make sure that’s rolled out with regularity and confidence.”

Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain, has responded to criticism from Simon Doull about the team’s T20 fortunes and reiterated that he wants to be involved in all formats for his country. Williamson said he had chatted amicably with Doull about the former pace bowler’s comments but would be looking to continue the balancing act that sees him lead the Test, ODI and T20 sides.Speaking on New Zealand radio last week, Doull suggested bringing in a specialist T20 coach to replace Mike Hesson and said that Williamson should only be in the side as an opener. Williamson has batted at No. 3 in recent series, with limited success, and New Zealand have lost three T20s in a row – in the process dropping from No. 1 to No. 4 in the ICC rankings.Despite being heavily beaten by Australia in their opening Trans-Tasman T20 fixture in Sydney last week, New Zealand have qualification for the final in their own hands ahead of three games at home. Williamson may yet miss out on Tuesday’s match against England in Wellington due to a back problem. Henry Nicholls has been called up as cover.”I’d quite like to play,” Williamson said. “I spoke to Simon afterwards, he wanted to go for a coffee. So we caught up, and I’ve known Simon for a long time and he wanted to clarify a few of those points because he didn’t believe they came across in the right way. He’s looking at volume of cricket, bringing new players into the international game and there’s sense that he makes, but at the same time from a personal perspective T20 cricket is so prevalent in the international and domestic game and you play a lot more of it nowadays, and it’s something you want to be a part of.”I definitely want to play all three forms, without a doubt, it’s a challenge I look forward to. But at the same time, as we’ve seen throughout the summer already, guys have had time off, they’ve missed a few games for those reasons and it’s a balancing act moving forward because the volume of cricket seems to increase every year.”Since January 2017, Williamson has averaged 18.60 in T20 internationals, with a strike rate of 100.54. While Colin Munro’s move up to opener has been a success – he has scored two hundreds and two fifties in nine innings – the knock on has been a further dip in Williamson’s form: at the SCG, with New Zealand in trouble after losing early wickets, he managed just 8 off 21 balls and was caught at cover off a leading edge.”Not as good as I would have liked,” Williamson said of his recent returns, “but at the same time it’s the nature of the game, that you’re wanting more and more. I’m looking to improve all the time, trying to contribute as much as I can for the team and that’s my focus. Don’t get me wrong, I would like a lot more runs, but at the same time you don’t want that to get in the road of what you’re trying to achieve, which is your gameplan facing each ball as best you can and knowing that if you do put your trust in that, that’s when the runs come.”You take risks in T20 cricket sometimes it doesn’t come off and it came be frustrating but it is going out and playing in the right style to help move the team forward. When you do take that approach and you do score some runs, that’s when you help the team, rather than perhaps thinking about yourself too much and how many runs you might want.”While New Zealand have refused to rip up their playbook for T20, they have made changes for the next few games. Mark Chapman and wicketkeeper Tim Seifert are set to debut at the Westpac Stadium, with Tom Bruce and Tom Blundell making way, and Williamson said it was just reward for their form domestically.”Tim’s a player that can score all around the ground, packs a punch and hits the ball a long way… it was a really tough decision because Tommy [Blundell] came in and offers so much to the group every time he is involved. But it was purely a balance and a role-type decision and that’s why Timmy comes into the fold and it’s a really exciting opportunity for himself and Mark to make their debuts for New Zealand and come out and play their natural game, which they’ve been doing so well in the domestic T20 comps.”New Zealand have had a ten-day break without a game, as England completed the Australia leg of their tour, and Williamson said it was helpful for the players to have some time off. Having won every game at home this summer until two T20 defeats to Pakistan in January, they will be hoping to get back on track.”T20 is fickle, so it’s important we don’t chase the win, we chase how we want to be playing cricket,” Williamson said. “That’s where we put our focus, we’ve said it all along. We’ve had a couple of losses in a row, which hasn’t been what we’ve wanted but we’ve just been looking at how we’ve been playing and how we want to try and improve, and when we do that’s when the results happen for us. So it’s important we don’t get ahead of ourselves.”

Bangladesh may have come a great distance over the past few years. They may have orchestrated two excellent chases in the Nidahas Trophy to dump the hosts out of their own party. But for India, a loss to them is still cause for mild embarrassment.So said wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik on the eve of the final. The teams have played seven T20Is against each other, India victorious on each occasion. As a result, Rohit Sharma’s side are the more fancied team, even though several of their marquee limited-overs players have not made the trip.”Let’s be fair to India as a cricketing nation – whether we play the second string or the first-string team it’s always the case [that a win is expected],” he said. “When we play Bangladesh and we win it’s like : ‘Ok, you’ve won against Bangladesh’. But if we lose it’s like: ‘Dude, you’ve lost to Bangladesh. What are you doing?’ I’m sure that’s going to be there. With Rohit, the first thing that he said was that although we have a few of our other players missing, we’re looking to play exactly the sort of cricket that we’ve played in the past one year.”But especially in subcontinent conditions, Bangladesh are a very good team. They are known for their tenacity. They really try hard. They are team that achieved Test status not many years ago, and from there on they have propelled in all formats of the game and done well for themselves.”How the India side has played has been to hold themselves to demanding standards. Although the attack is inexperienced, they remain the best-drilled side on show in Colombo, their top order having performed in every game. Part of what has fueled their limited-overs success has been the ruthless edge to their play, and their ability to quickly address weaknesses. After an indifferent outing in the field in the first match against Bangladesh, India reflected on the factors that had contributed to the performance.”When you play international cricket you’re used to a certain amount of crowd – that’s one of the things that spurs you on, and it has a massive effect on fielding,” Karthik said. “When the home team is not playing, the crowds are small and sometimes the motivation is not there. The second match that we played I thought we fielded the poorest, against Bangladesh. We dropped about five catches. We weren’t the usual Indian team that’s known for it’s fielding.”The fielding coach was straightaway in our ears and pointing it out, saying that’s not happening irrespective of whether we have a crowd or not, whether the outfield is good or not. We’ve set a certain benchmark for ourselves and we need to keep hitting that benchmark every time we step on to that field. I think that message was taken loud and clear by the boys. I think we came back all guns blazing the next time we played Sri Lanka and in the next game against Bangladesh.”Across the six games so far, India are the only side to have won batting first, in the second match against Bangladesh.”Chasing is not necessarily easy. I don’t know much about the wicket, but if the dew settles it’s much easier for the team that bats second,” Karthik said. “If there’s no dew then it’s going to be a great game. If the wicket is sow and it’s going to turn, it will be a challenge. The team that bowls better has a better chance to win the final.”

Yorkshire plan to revive the spirit of Geoffrey Boycott to try to address faltering Championship batting form that they believe stems from the negative impact of Twenty20 cricket.They have not quite run to a life-size statue of their most formidable batsman, there are no trenchant Boycottian judgments playing from loudspeakers in the dressing room, nor compulsory videos on hand of his most famous defensive knocks.But it may be only a matter of time.Yorkshire’s batting has faltered since their back-to-back Championship wins in 2014 and 2015 with the presence of their England duo Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow now a distant memory and those in possession, such as the talented opening pair, Adam Lyth and Alex Lees, afflicted by too many headstrong moments.While Root, as England captain, and Bairstow often extol the virtues of a positive approach in Test cricket, the fact is that England have not won a Test all winter. Yorkshire are taking the opposite view: Dig In will be the watchword.Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “As our one-day batting has improved, our four-day batting has declined. I think enough years have gone by now to say there is a relationship in that and a lot of it, for me, is mindset. This desire to dominate, hit boundaries, is carrying over from T20 and we are finding it harder and harder to separate that from our four-day attitude.”Whereas specialists are becoming more common at international level, such luxuries are rarely seen at county level where financial imperatives insist that players have to adapt. Playing the three formats largely in independent blocks was meant to help, but that has not been evident at Yorkshire.”In the international game, there aren’t many batters playing all three formats,” Moxon said. “They are starting to specialise. But it is hard for us as countries because we can’t afford to have, as things stand, different teams. We are asking the lads to play three formats of the game.”I think with the right mentality it is possible to make that switch. But because of the proliferation of T20 competitions around the world, and the money available, sub-consciously at least, maybe even consciously, lads are wanting to be better at T20 than they are red-ball cricket. They see that as the dominant format of the game. The majority of their time is spent on T20 to the deteriment of their four-day skills.”Matters came to a head for Yorkshire after a dismal finish to last season when Essex, the Championship winners, thrashed them by 376 runs at Chelmsford, dismissing them for 111 and 74, the latter representing their lowest score this century. “As bad as I’ve seen,” admitted their coach, Andrew Gale.Geoffrey Boycott might like what he sees at Headingley•Getty Images

It remains to be seen whether Yorkshire can turn back the clock. But the squad, minus its international contingent, has been committed to a new approach since reporting back in November.Gale, who is about to begin his second season as coach, said: “I’d say it’s 90% mental to bat long periods of time. Obviously you need a good, solid technique to do that, but I see a bunch of batters at Yorkshire who are technically pretty good. What they need is the application and the mindset to bat long periods of time.”The message should be reinforced by the two overseas batsmen recruited by Yorkshire, the New Zealander Kane Williamson and India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, both of whom have the aptitude to ride out tough passages of play. Mark Nesti, the sports psychologist best known for his work in Premier League football, has lso been more actively involved.”You have to be prepared to bat for six or seven hours to make a massive dent on the game,” said Gale. “It is not just people struggling at Yorkshire . You just had to watch the Ashes in the winter to know that.”Boycott, of course, had plenty to say about that with barely an England batsman escaping a verbal roasting by the end of the series. So is a new Boycottian era about to dawn in the county that he dominated for so long?Moxon played the first dead-bat of the season, the first perhaps of many. “The intention is to win games of cricket. Geoffrey was a past master at scoring hundreds and that’s what we lack at the moment,” he said.

ScorecardSouth African fast bowler Hardus Viljoen rescued Derbyshire with the bat on a keenly contested opening day of the Division Two match against Middlesex at Derby.Viljoen scored his first fifty for the county as the home side recovered from 167 for 7 to 265 and then reduced Middlesex to 45 for 3 at the close.Ravi Rampaul and Duanne Olivier claimed their maiden wickets for Derbyshire as Max Holden and Robbie White went cheaply before Viljoen removed Hilton Cartwright.Middlesex were a bowler down for much of the day with Toby Roland-Jones managing just five overs in the morning before leaving the field with some back soreness. He was ruled out of the Ashes last year due to a stress fracture of his back.Head coach Richard Scott said: “We will assess him overnight and then a recovery session in the morning and then see how he pulls up tomorrow. If he’s still stiff in his back tomorrow we’ll have to have further investigation.”I thought Viljoen played well but again we’ve been more disciplined than that in the past and it’s unusual for us to go for four an over. But with a bowler down in Toby to bowl them out for 265 you take.”Despite bright sunshine, it was no great surprise after so much recent rain that Middlesex elected to bowl but their seamers, with the exception of Tim Murtagh, lacked consistency before lunch.Murtagh had Luis Reece brilliantly caught by Ollie Rayner at second slip in the seventh over but Ben Slater and Wayne Madsen played well until Slater left one from Harris that moved in to take the off stump.Cartwright had Alex Hughes caught behind off the last ball of the morning but it had still been a good session for Derbyshire although the picture quickly changed after lunch.Billy Godleman drove a cut Harris for consecutive fours but was beaten by some late movement and Madsen was defeated by Murtagh’s inswing before Gary Wilson mistimed a pull to midwicket.But Viljoen and Tony Palladino grew in confidence against an attack without Roland-Jones. Viljoen became increasingly assertive and raced to his first half century for Derbyshire by dispatching Rayner for three sixes from five balls before Harris claimed his fourth wicket when Palladino was caught at second slip on the stroke of tea.Helm was hooked by Viljoen for a fourth six but the paceman wrapped up the innings off consecutive balls courtesy of two more catches by Rayner.Derbyshire’s total looked even more competitive when Holden edged a loose drive at Ravi Rampaul and the quality of Derbyshire’s bowling forced Sam Robson and White to fight for survival before Olivier claimed his first wicket for the county.Only 22 runs were scored in 13 overs, 11 of them extras, and the pressure told when White followed one that swung away to be taken at third slip.Robson was determined to see his side through to stumps but Cartwright was lured into edging a drive to second slip as Derbyshire ended the day on top.

Sir Richard Hadlee has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. According to a statement released by New Zealand Cricket on behalf of his wife Lady Dianne Hadlee, he has undergone surgery to remove a tumour.”Last month, Richard had a routine, 3-year colonoscopy, and we discovered that he has bowel cancer,” the statement said. “He has since had an operation to remove the tumour. This operation went extremely well and he has made an excellent recovery from surgery.”As a safeguard, further treatment in the form of chemotherapy will commence shortly and last for a few months. It is expected that, in time, he will have a full recovery.”Hadlee, 66, is widely considered New Zealand’s greatest ever cricketer, and was one of the four great fast-bowling allrounders of the 1980s alongside Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev. He took 431 Test wickets – a world record at the time of his retirement – in 86 matches at an average of 22.29, and also contributed 3124 runs at 27.16.His performances were central to New Zealand’s rise as a serious cricketing power, as match figures of 7 for 130 and 10 for 100 in their first ever wins over Australia and England, respectively, would suggest. In all, he took 173 wickets at 13.06 in New Zealand Test wins.During his last tour of England, in 1990, he was knighted for his services to cricket.