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Australia’s warm-up in England brought three victories, but now Justin Langer has to finally nail down his starting XI for the opening game of the World Cup

Andrew McGlashan28-May-2019Khawaja v MarshBarring injury, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh cannot fit in the same XI now that David Warner and Steven Smith are back, so one will be carrying the drinks. Each have strong cases to make the cut, although if the most recent success carries weight then that favours Khawaja, who has scored 769 runs in 13 ODIs this year (more than any other player). He was shuffled around in the warm-up matches – batting in an unaccustomed No. 5 against West Indies then opening against Sri Lanka and making 89 – and has shaken off two injury scares (a blow on the head and the knee) during the preparation. The other debate with Khawaja, if he plays, is where he bats – either opening where he has forged a strong alliance with Aaron Finch or at No. 3 to allow Warner to return at the top. Marsh, meanwhile, could rightly feel hard-done by if he misses out having carried Australia’s batting during their one-day struggles with four centuries in eight innings against England, South Africa and India.
One spinner or twoThe warm-up matches allowed teams to use more than eleven players so there was a chance for Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon to get a good amount of work. During the camp in Brisbane, Finch said that Zampa was the No. 1 spinner given he provides an attacking option, but the ball has also been coming out nicely for Lyon since arriving in England. However, it’s tough for Australia to balance their side with three frontline quicks and play both frontline spinners – the only way would be to leave out a batsman, play Alex Carey at No. 6 and a collection of bowling allrounders. Glenn Maxwell’s bowling is shaping as an important part of the gameplan – good for a full quota if things go well – and he has previously spoken about the value of his stint with Lancashire earlier in the season. It was also interesting to see Smith given a twirl against West Indies and Sri Lanka, clearly Finch is trying to have as many options as he can. And could the captain be one himself? Remember that ODI against Pakistan in March when he took 1 for 41 off his 10 overs?
Who supports Starc and Cummins?The big two are locked in, but in the absence of Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson there remains a jostling for who the third quick will be between Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson and Jason Behrendorff. They all bring something a little different; Coulter-Nile offers more batting, Richardson is known for his skills at the death and Behrendorff can be a threat if the new ball moves. Richardson was given both official warm-up matches although he was expensive against the Sri Lankans, Coulter-Nile took a pasting from Jos Buttler before claiming his wicket and Behrendorff collected 2 for 43 in his outing against England. It is likely that all will be needed at some stage of the tournament but it remains tricky to say who is the frontrunner.

Mark Adair claims four-wicket haul and adds crucial runs as Craig Ervine’s ton for Zimbabwe goes in vain

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2019Andy Balbirnie’s fifth ODI hundred set up a successful chase as Ireland beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in the first encounter of their three-match series. Balbirnie fell with 26 still needed but Mark Adair, who had earlier claimed 4 for 73, struck 21 from 13 balls to seal victory with an over and a half to spare.Zimbabwe’s 254 for 9 had been built around a century from Craig Ervine, but he received little support from the rest of the top order and it took an unbeaten 49 from 42 balls by No. 8 Ryan Burl to get them up to a competitive total.”Zimbabwe are a good team but I thought the Zimbabwe score was about par or a bit below, as the outfield was very quick and it was as good a wicket as I’ve played on here,” Balbirnie said. “I think looking ahead we can learn from last series against Afghanistan when we went one up and then we didn’t perform in the second. We’ll be desperate to train well and put in another good performance in the next ODI.”Morning rain had led to a delayed start, and Adair then struck twice in the opening Powerplay to send back both Zimbabwe openers. Brendan Taylor became the maiden ODI wicket for debutant Shane Getkate, leaving Zimbabwe 49 for 3 in the 14th over.Ervine found a partner in Sean Williams to post a 55-run stand, before Getkate struck again. Neither Sikandar Raza nor PJ Moor stuck around for long, and after Ervine fell for 105 – his third ODI ton – Zimbabwe were 210 for 7 and in need of some impetus from Burl, who cracked three fours and four sixes to end the innings with a flourish.In response, Paul Stirling and Balbirnie fashioned a century stand for the second wicket, after Kyle Jarvis had removed James McCollum in the ninth over. Stirling struck eight fours in registering his fifth consecutive ODI half-century, only for his dismissal to give Zimbabwe an opening, as Tendai Chatara claimed three wickets in as many overs to leave Ireland 150 for 4.Lorcan Tucker, in his third ODI and having taken the gloves for the first time, steadied the hosts by helping Balbirnie add another 64 runs. But there was more drama when Jarvis removed Tucker on the hook and then Balbirnie ran himself out three overs later.However, with 26 required from 28 balls, Adair and Getkate did their bit with the bat to ensure that Ireland would get home and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Hanging in and playing the long game as Rangana Herath did helped him succeed in Galle, the New Zealand spinner said

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle15-Aug-2019Much like the Sri Lanka seam bowler, the New Zealand spinner is a second-class citizen. If you’re not bowling with the seam upright and at at least 120kph, the place is practically designed to make you feel insecure.Early in the summer, pitches can be virtually indistinguishable from the outfield. In the stereotype of New Zealand, cows and sheep in neighbouring paddocks line up at edge of grounds and bleat longingly at the unused grazing opportunity that is the pitch block. A specialist spinner may sometimes not get a game at all, but if he does, he will be subjected to the gross indignity commonly known as the token “over before lunch”. This is the practice wherein a spinner is granted the final over of the session, to get it over with quickly, while all his teammates have switched off and begun thinking about food.Over the last 15 years, there has been an attempt to make New Zealand domestic pitches less seam-friendly, but this has only helped breed properly quick bowlers – Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, etc – instead of the military-medium operators New Zealand used to be infamous for. No Test spinner has made a serious attempt to pick up the retired Daniel Vettori’s slack. Partly as a result, New Zealand’s Test pitches are as lush as ever. If you’ve got Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner in your ranks – i.e. the greatest pace attack New Zealand have ever likely assembled – why prepare anything else?So imagine you’re Ajaz Patel. Yes, you have a good haul of domestic five-fors, but you’re also nursing a first-class bowling average over 31. Which, you know, are the kinds of numbers a Sri Lankan spinner (operating on domestic dustbowls) could put up if he bowled with his off-hand while balancing a kit bag on his head. You’re sent to Asia, given precious little time to acclimatise (the modern international schedule is unforgiving), and expected to essentially lead the attack. But, incredibly, for the second time in two Asian tours, Ajaz is doing it in remarkable style.His performance on debut in Abu Dhabi – the best Test of 2018 – was extraordinary. He had claimed 2 for 64 in the first innings, which is a middling return. But then when faced with defending a low score in the fourth innings, on a track that is taking turn (i.e. exactly the type of situation when the great spinners distinguish themselves from the mediocre ones), Ajaz took 5 for 59 – trapping Imam-ul-Haq in front, having Sarfaraz Ahmed caught behind, before spectacularly clinching victory with Pakistan needing only four to draw level by getting Azhar Ali lbw on 65. He would go on to play a strong role in New Zealand’s second win of that series as well, and finished with 13 wickets for the tour.And then he went home. He took no wickets for 60 on a greentop that turned into a road in Wellington. He bowled only 12 overs on another seaming deck in Christchurch. Then he went unrequired for the rest of the Test season.Now, in Galle, the pitch of a spinner’s dreams laid out before him, Ajaz has made big moves in a Test again. He was too quick through the air to begin with, by his own admission, but quickly discerned the appropriate pace, and soon was gaining wicked turn. Crucially, he wasn’t so enamoured of the rip he was getting off the surface, that he began to chase those magic pitch-on-leg-hit-top-of-off type balls. Instead, bowling those Herathian lengths, slipping in the occasional quicker one in Herathian fashion – though, of course, looking cooler than Herath, shades on, beard in a state of manly fullness – he set Sri Lanka’s dramatic middle-order nosedive in motion, and finished with 5 for 76 for the day.At stumps, he gave the most Herathian summary of his bowling he could possibly have given. “I think with surfaces that offer you something, you’ve got to stay patient and ask good questions of the batsman,” he said. “We know Sri Lankans are good players of spin, so you’ve got to respect that and make sure you put balls in good areas for long periods.”This should come as no surprise to anyone who watched him bowl today, but it turns out he has in fact intentionally taken cues from the great old waddler himself. “Bowling in the UAE there was a lot more bounce. Over here there’s not so much bounce, so you try and keep the stumps in play,” he said. “One of the greats, Rangana, who has got 100 [102] wickets in Galle – if you see the template that he set out when bowling on this wicket, he looked to attack the sticks and keep them in play the whole time, and allow the batters to make decisions around off stump. You’ve got to keep hanging in and play the long game.”Sri Lanka are not bowled out yet, so it is possible they will establish a first-innings lead. A slim one might not help them much, though – the highest successful fourth-innings chase at Galle remains 99. So long as New Zealand bat competently in the second innings, they will feel the more comfortable side. If they win a third successive Test in Asia in four attempts, they might reflect on the period either side of tea on day two as the definitive passage of play. Sri Lanka had a big lead in sight at 143 for 2. Then Ajaz, doing his Herath impression, took three wickets for ten runs. He changed the outlook of the game.

Gil Langley, the Australian Test wicketkeeper who also represented his state at football before becoming Speaker of the House in state parliament, died on Monday night in an Adelaide nursing home at the age of 81 following a long illness

Rick Eyre14-Sep-2019Gil Langley, the Australian Test wicketkeeper who also represented his state at football before becoming Speaker of the House in state parliament, died on Monday night in an Adelaide nursing home at the age of 81 following a long illness.Langley played 26 Tests for Australia from 1951-52 to 1956, in which he held 83 catches and made 15 stumpings. He made his first-class debut for South Australia as a specialist batsman in 1945-46, immediately after the conclusion of the Second World War. He donned the gloves during the 1947-48 Sheffield Shield season, and by 1949-50 was chosen as deputy wicketkeeper to Ron Saggers for the Australian tour of South Africa.Both Saggers and Langley remained in the shadow of the great Queenslander Don Tallon whenever he was available for Australia, but following the retirement of his two peers, Langley received his first call-up to the Test side in the 1951-52 series against the West Indies. On his debut, at the Gabba, Brisbane, he took three catches and four stumpings in Australia’s three-wicket victory, going on to claim 21 victims for the series.He remained Australia’s first choice wicketkeeper until 1956, playing his last Test match against India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. In addition to his 98 dismissals, and scored 374 runs in Tests at 14.96 with a top score of 53.Despite being part of a well-beaten Australian side in England in 1956, and missing two Tests because of injury, he was recognised by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack as one of its five cricketers of the year in its 1957 edition. In the Lord’s Test of 1956 he completed nine dismissals – at the time a world Test record – in Australia’s only win of the series.In all first-class cricket he made 122 appearances, taking 292 catches and 77 stumpings. He scored 3236 runs at an average of 25.68 and a top score of 160 not out. The last of his four centuries was achieved in his final game for South Australia, against New South Wales at Adelaide Oval in December 1956. Given three cheers by his opponents as he came to the crease in the second innings, Langley made exactly 100, scoring a boundary after 6pm on the final day before being stumped next ball off the bowling of Richie Benaud.Langley was also a successful Australian Rules footballer, who played for the Sturt club in the SANFL (South Australian National Football League) and went on to captain South Australia in interstate football competition. While transferred to Melbourne in the munitions department during the Second World War, he played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League, making four first team appearances and sitting on the reserve bench in the losing grand final side of 1943.Langley achieved a rare double, equalled only by Victor Richardson, of captaining Sturt in both cricket and football.A popular identity in Adelaide, Langley later entered politics and became the Member for Unley in the state House of Assembly, representing the Australian Labor Party. During his 20 year parliamentary career he became Speaker of the House.Gilbert Roche Andrews Langley was born on September 14, 1919 in North Adelaide. He is survived by four children. His nephew, Jeff Langley, played cricket for South Australia and Queensland between 1969-70 and 1979-80.

Half-centuries from Josh Cobb, Adam Rossington and Dwaine Pretorius seal seven-wicket win

ECB Reporters Network30-Aug-2019Josh Cobb, Adam Rossington and Dwaine Pretorius powered Northamptonshire to a consolation victory at Wantage Road to deny Worcestershire a home quarter-final in the Vitality Blast. Northants chased 189 to win by seven wickets with seven balls to spare.Cobb’s 62 in 32 balls, Rossington’s 54 from 30 and an unbeaten 50 in 36 deliveries from Pretorius saw Northants end another disappointing campaign with victory. It forced Worcestershire into an away tie at Sussex in the last eight when a win would have been good enough to secure the match at New Road courtesy of Nottinghamshire’s heavy defeat to Durham.The Northants batting has struggled this tournament but they enjoyed themselves on a true wicket with Cobb playing a fine captain’s innings. The required rate had climbed to 10.7 at the half-way point but Cobb responded with four sixes in an over from Ed Barnard, the best of them a slog-sweep that sailed out of the ground.Rossington’s early striking was just as impressive. He advanced at Dillion Pennington to heave six over square leg before dancing down next ball to swing another maximum over long-on. A third six was sent flat over extra-cover in the fourth over before Rossington flat-batted four more through the off side and pulled Moeen Ali to the fence as Northants made 65 in the Powerplay for the loss of Richard Levi, stumped to Moeen’s first ball for 16.But after the first six overs, Rossington lifted Barnard into the hands of long-on and four overs went for only 16 runs. Cobb’s onslaught then revived the hosts.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Pretorius completed the chase. He struggled to 8 from 19 balls before picking up the task when 40 were needed from 30 balls. He pulled Daryl Mitchell for a flat six over square leg, repeated the trick against Pat Brown before delicately late cutting Brown for four over short third man in the 19th over as Northants coasted home.Worcestershire’s 188 for 5 was built around brisk innings from Moeen, Riki Wessels and Ben Cox after Hamish Rutherford holed out to deep midwicket for 19 in the third over.Moeen bided his time before pulling Blessing Muzarabani almost for six over midwicket and flicking Pretorius for another boundary past short-fine leg. He skipped down to lift Graeme White’s first ball over extra-cover for four more before finding his six-hitting range.His first was a pull off Nathan Buck that went flat over deep square. A second strike against Buck carried long-on before he took took White for consecutive sixes into the Ken Turner Stand – the second a colossal hit that landed on the roof – as he passed fifty in 28 balls before clipping Pretorius to deep midwicket.Wessels struck his first boundary with forearm jab against Buck before cutting Pretorius for four. Consecutive sixes, picked up over the leg side, off Faheem Ashraf left Worcestershire 119 for 2 after 12 overs. But like Moeen, Wessels holed out to deep midwicket when well set and when Ross Whiteley swept and missed at Rob Keogh to be bowled for just 2, the visitors were 135 for 4 in the 15th.Ben Cox swept two boundaries off White and drove and cut Muzarabani for fours either side of a leg side heave over square leg for six. Barnard then hammered two straight fours from Buck in the penultimate over but Ashraf nailed his yorkers to only concede five from the final set.

Board pledges £20 million over two years and announces 40 new domestic contracts

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2019The England & Wales Cricket Board has pledged a funding boost for women’s cricket of £20 million over two years, and plans to invest £50 million in the next five years, in a bid to make cricket into a gender-balanced sport.The challenge of transforming women’s and girls’ cricket was one of six priorities within the ECB’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ strategy for 2020-2024, and part of the new remit is a commitment to the funding of 40 full-time professional, domestic contracts, in addition to the existing central contracts for England Women’s elite players.A ten-point action plan was unveiled by Clare Connor, the ECB’s managing director for women’s cricket, at an event in London, with a focus on five key objectives:Participation: To increase the number of women and girls playing cricket recreationally

Pathway: To develop aspiring female cricketers (U11-17) as players and people

Performance: To drive the performance of England women’s cricket through a new semi-professional, eight region structure

Profile: To elevate the profile of women’s cricket through The Hundred, the England Women’s team and the elite game

People: To increase the representation of women across the cricket workforce”Cricket has been an integral part of my life, as a player and in my role of Managing Director of Women’s Cricket. I have never been more excited by the opportunity in front of us right now,” said Connor.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Recent initiatives have given women and girls more opportunities to play, such as All Stars Cricket for 5-8-year-olds, the South Asian female activators programme, and the Kia Super League for our most talented domestic cricketers. But to truly transform women’s and girls’ cricket, we must now move from targeted standalone programmes to addressing the whole pathway as one.”We have an amazing opportunity to make cricket the sport we want it to be – a sport that is modern, innovative and inclusive. I have been so heartened by the level of enthusiasm, commitment and support for this plan from everyone involved in cricket.”Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, added: “During the development of Inspiring Generations, and extensive conversations and research across the game, the strong appetite to transform cricket’s relationship with women and girls was abundantly clear.”There is tremendous energy across the cricket network to pursue the game’s largest growth opportunity and to increase the number of women and girls playing, watching and volunteering at every level of the game.”This plan, formed in collaboration with the whole cricket network, and supported by our commercial and media partners, represents a crucial step in achieving our ambition of making cricket a gender-balanced sport.”The plan was produced following two years of consultation with all 38 Counties and Cricket Wales, and detailed analysis of thousands of survey responses from the recreational and elite game.To test some of the recommendations for the recreational game, ECB has run pilot programmes with over 600 cricket clubs to better understand the essential criteria in creating the most sustainable women’s and girls’ clubs.”This action plan is a really exciting next step in the continued growth of women’s cricket,” said Heather Knight, England Women’s captain. “We need more young girls to be inspired to play and those young girls need to be able to see a clear pathway above them that encourages them to continue pursuing the game.”As England players we’re fortunate enough to meet lots of young girls who love the game and it means so much to us to see how much they love cricket. Much of this plan is about normalising the game for women and girls and I’m excited to see how this increased opportunity takes the game forward.”

There are already signs that the new head of high performance at Cricket Australia has brought a calmer outlook

Daniel Brettig13-Nov-2019Following seven stormy years in which Pat Howard stood atop Cricket Australia’s team performance wing with all the energy but also friction of a perpetual change agent, the appointment of Ben Oliver as the head of national teams for the governing body has been accompanied by a move into far calmer and contemplative waters.This coincides neatly enough with their respective characters: Howard a man very much of action, whether others liked that action or not, Oliver a far more measured and contemplative figure, for more than five years the quiet consigliere alongside Justin Langer’s Godfather-like leadership of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers. As the brother of the laconic Castlemaine football product Stephen Oliver, he of several striking cameos for Carlton in the early 1990s, Ben Oliver played as an allrounder for Victoria and Tasmania, before injuries led him through jobs with Cricket Victoria, CA, and the ICC before the WACA.As a product of so many cricketing backgrounds, he brings welcome empathy to a realm that had, since 2011, been known as much for debate as collaboration, with disconnection between the states and CA, its national teams and programs being a long-running issue. In stepping directly from WA to CA, Oliver has joined Langer and the new senior assistant coach Andrew McDonald in knowing both worlds, and it is no surprise to hear him speak repeatedly of the need for “connection”.ALSO READ: A lot to learn about mental health issues – Cricket Australia’s Ben Oliver“That’s an important part of being able to connect Australian cricket and really unite and inspire the high performance system,” Oliver said of appointing McDonald. “Really pleased that’s fallen the way it has, I think Andrew will be an outstanding person within the team, he comes with great leadership experience and a really strong set of values”He’s an excellent communicator, great passion for the game, exceptional work ethic and he’ll bring some really interesting experiences to the coaching group in support of Justin and the players. I think it’s important we keep finding ways to connect our domestic cricket with our Australian teams and that’s an example of how that’s coming to be.”Asked what has struck him as uniquely difficult about the job, Oliver points quickly to the schedule. In the case of CA adopting an improved domestic program for 2019-20, marrying Sheffield Shield more closely to domestic limited-overs games while tightening the BBL, Oliver can see the sort of progress long wished for at international level.”The schedule is a complex challenge, inherently within that there’s likely to be trade-offs from time to time,” he said. “That’s one thing we’ve got to keep working on and keep finding a path through. Pleasingly that’s landed very well this domestic season, Peter Roach and his team have done an excellent job in picking up on some of the recent feedback from state and territory associations, from players, from CA staff. So the domestic schedule this year is very positive.”As Langer’s longtime offsider in WA, Oliver had to cope with the competing demands of state and BBL teams and the wider needs of the state association and CA. He is working assiduously at ensuring that the movement of players between one level and the next is smooth and also attentive to their needs.Ben Oliver during his playing days for Victoria•Getty Images

In choosing McDonald, Oliver has worked to establish a core coaching group that will remain more or less consistent across formats, with the conditional and tournament based additions of other experts. Short stints by the likes of Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey will be a consistent thing depending on what Langer and McDonald need.”One of the shifts is creating a coaching group around the men’s team that consists of some core leaders within that group who are really driving the team’s culture and the team strategy and that are consistent across the three formats,” Oliver said. “Then really complementing that with some other expertise from a specialist skill coach perspective or a mentor coach perspective.”In terms of how it’s shaping up that’s a subtle shift. For the Test summer, I’m really excited about the fact we’ve got Graeme Hick in there, Troy Cooley in there and Sridharan Sriram supporting Justin and Andrew. A really strong group of coaches, but that’ll evolve as we work our way through different series and tournaments.”In contrast, there has been no shift in the structure of the selection panel. While Langer and the chairman Trevor Hohns are soon to be joined by another selector, likely with more contemporary, T20 era experience, they will remain in classical operation, rather than slimming down to a more coach empowered model. The difference Oliver wants is more attitudinal than structural: connection again.”There are a number of views on selection structures and that was certainly part of the initial considerations in terms of our next step,” he said. “Ultimately we feel as though a three-person panel will continue to serve our needs. The critical part here is making sure we get a really aligned but complementary set of skills on the panel and that we’re really connected to our state, territory BBL and WBBL network.”Langer, it seems increasingly likely, will be given respite by having McDonald work as head coach at times, though Oliver hesitated to suggest a clearer succession plan was now in place. “No doubt that being head coach of the Australian cricket team across three formats is a challenging task, an incredible workload, and we’ve got to continue to find ways to support Justin in that as we need to do with our players and other staff who are working across all three formats,” he said. “There’s an element of that, and I’m very comfortable we’ve got Andrew in that role.”In terms of the future, I think that’s something that will just evolve as we understand the schedule and the demands of the role and as the world around us continues to change, we’ll need to be agile and creative in the way we set up our coaching team.”And as for the so commonly discussed area of fast bowler management, Oliver said that he and his high performance colleague Drew Ginn were looking at taking on many views from around the game, in pursuit of what will ultimately look like a far more individually tailored management plan for each bowler, as opposed to the “broad-brush” theories so often thrown around.”That’s a really healthy place to be, something that’s important for our game, for our teams, for the individual players to keep finding the best way to prepare our pace bowlers. Also to allow them to recover and prepare again,” he said. “So it is about balancing the different considerations that exist around management of pace bowlers, but if you were really to strip it right down, what we’re trying to achieve is the best preparation for our players for each match and series and year and keep building on that. I think we can often get caught up in the detail, but we’re very open about the fact we’re continuing to learn.”Calm and considered, with a wealth of cricket behind him, it seems likely that any Oliver-led revolutions will be of the quieter kind.

He revealed that the PCB was mulling a policy to ensure players remain available for Pakistan across formats

Umar Farooq17-Dec-2019Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s head coach and chief selector, has criticised fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz for the timing of their retirements from Test cricket. He revealed that the PCB was mulling a policy to ensure that players remain available to play for Pakistan across formats.Amir gave up Tests in July, in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career, for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world. Wahab followed suit in September, taking an “indefinite break” from red-ball cricket, including the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s domestic first-class tournament.While Wahab was 34 when he made his decision, Amir was only 27.The loss of the two experienced left-arm quicks has left Pakistan in a situation where they have been forced to rebuild their pace attack with young and inexperienced options including three teenagers in Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Muhammad Musa.”We are thinking deeply on these lines, and we will make a policy on this very soon,” Misbah said, referring to the loss of experience from Pakistan’s pace stocks. “Going forward this might become a problem for Pakistan, because when you invest so much in the players, on their development, and expect them to give back, they leave the game and it’s not the right way to go about it. Your resources are consumed for their development and we need a certain policy to make sure players should be available for Pakistan first.”Amir’s case stands out in particular, both for his age and the fact that he enjoyed immense support from the board and the team management during his reintegration following a five-year ban for spot-fixing. He ended his Test career with 119 wickets in 36 Tests at an average of 30.47. His Test career was split into two parts. From his debut as a 17-year-old in July 2009 to the start of his five-year ban, he played 14 Tests, picking up 51 wickets at 29.09. After his return in July 2016, he played 22 Tests, taking 68 wickets at 31.51.ESPNcricinfo understands that there were discussions ahead of Pakistan’s recent tour of Australia about asking Amir to reconsider his Test retirement, but the plan didn’t go through.Pakistan are currently sixth on the World Test Championship table with 20 points, earned from the drawn Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka. Before that, they lost 2-0 in Australia, in the first Test series under Misbah’s management.It has not been the smoothest start to Misbah’s time as coach-cum-selector, but he identified a few positives to have emerged nonetheless.”The biggest plus for us is Babar Azam and our batting, the way we responded in Australia overall,” Misbah said. “His hundred in Rawalpindi and his overall shift from white-ball cricket to red is an important positive for Pakistan at this stage. And at the same time we’ve got a younger bowling attack. The way Shaheen and Naseem are bowling, consistently hitting 140-plus [kph] in good areas. They have ample time in their careers to develop into match-winners. They have played very little cricket so far, but will improve with every passing day.”

A see-sawing game went overtime as the young England allrounder raised his game to another level

Tristan Lavalette28-Dec-2019
Sixers won the Super Over by 1 runA starring all-round performance from Tom Curran propelled the Sydney Sixers to a thrilling victory over crosstown rivals Sydney Thunder in the first Super Over decider this BBL season.Moises Henriques scored 14 of the Sixers’ 16 runs in the Super Over, which proved just enough as the Thunder fell one run short in reply with Curran holding his nerve with the ball.Tom Curran has a knack for thriving in pressure situations•Getty Images

In the Sixers’ nerve-jangling chase of 150, Thunder held sway throughout before a late flurry from Curran (35 from 17 balls) almost single-handedly forced extra time of the Sydney Smash.The Sixers (3-2) won their second straight game, while the Thunder lost for the first time this season.Hales explodes before Thunder slideMuch of the Thunder batting is built around the opening partnership of the explosive Alex Hales and elegant Usman Khawaja, who was mainly a spectator with the Englishman providing the early pyrotechnics.Hales smashed 27 inside the opening three overs, including five boundaries and an audacious swivelled six off a stunned Ben Dwarshuis. Khawaja joined the party with a smoked six over the small midwicket boundary off Jackson Bird, who was having a tougher time than his brilliant season debut on Boxing Day.The Sixers desperately needed a breakthrough and Sean Abbott came through with his first legal delivery, as Khawaja fell for 16. Abbott caused problems by cleverly changing his pace and was unlucky not to have removed Hales on several occasions.With his earlier momentum halted, a frustrated Hales holed out to Curran immediately after the Powerplay as the Sixers impressively clawed back into the contest.The Thunder’s slide continued when spinner Lloyd Pope’s wrong ‘un lured a struggling Matthew Gilkes out of his crease to be stumped. Having lost 3 for 6, Callum Ferguson and Alex Ross needed to consolidate in the middle overs.Callum Ferguson raises his bat•Getty Images

Ferguson plays lone hand as Pope shinesThe Thunder scored only 24 runs between overs five and 11 as Lloyd Pope, with his crop of red hair standing out, took charge with a menacing concoction of loop and wrong ‘uns.Finally managing to get hold of Pope, Ross showcased beautiful foot work and hit the legspinner over cover for six. Other than that, the batsmen mainly worked the ball around in a bid to leave wickets intact at the end.The partnership ticked past fifty before Ross decided to change gears in the 15th over as he targeted Curran. It worked a treat initially when he smashed a six over long-on before holing out two balls later to a superb diving catch to Abbott.Pope finished a mesmerising spell (3-23) by bowling Chris Green with another precise wrong ‘un. Having initially stymied the Thunder, Curran fittingly provided the finishing touches (2-23) as the Thunder fell short of their desired total despite a fifty from Ferguson. Having won the toss and decided to bat, he wouldn’t have been pleased his side could only get 37 runs in the last five overs and finish on 8 for 149.Thunder chip away at SixersWith James Vince missing due to a mishap before play, the Sixers’ rejigged batting opened with Hayden Kerr alongside Josh Philippe. The Thunder needed early wickets and Ferguson backed his spin-heavy attack with Jonathan Cook clean bowling Kerr in the first over.Philippe was uncharacteristically subdued, but Daniel Hughes showcased sublime touch to race to 27 off 16 balls inside the Powerplay. Philippe just couldn’t get going and was trapped lbw by Chris Morris after falling across his stumps.Is that going for six? Oh wow, it is!•Getty Images

Henriques was the key wicket but he continued his hot form, highlighted by clubbing Green into the second tier. Green had better success against Hughes though, knocking over his leg stump.The wicket out of seemingly nowhere left the contest evenly poised, but then tilted towards the Thunder when Jordan Silk was brilliantly run-out by a direct hit from Green at long-on. The Sixers were 4 for 72 with half the innings still left to play.Curran’s heroics ensures tieKnowing the chase likely rested on his shoulders, Henriques nudged the ball around to ensure the run-rate didn’t spiral out of control. Jack Edwards provided some valuable support in a stabilising 38-run partnership until holing out in the 17th over.It meant the Sixers needed a difficult 40 off the final 21 balls. Curran, who batted brilliantly in the death against the Perth Scorchers, hit boundaries off his first three deliveries to change the momentum.The game flipped again when Henriques fell in the 18th over, deceived by a slower Daniel Sams delivery. Needing 16 off the final over, Curran smashed a six off Chris Tremain’s first delivery and then hit a boundary off the penultimate one to inch the Sixers within two runs. In a dramatic finish, Curran was caught short of his ground after attempting the second match-winning run.Henriques stars in the Super OverCurran couldn’t replicate his batting heroics in the Super Over as he fell first ball to Morris. Henriques recovered the situation with two extraordinary scooped shots – the second going over the third man boundary – to score 14 of the Sixers’ 16 runs.Khawaja and Hales could only muster five runs off Curran’s first four balls before the right-hander smashed a six to ensure the match came down to the last ball. Hales hit a boundary but the Thunder fell agonisingly short.

The series will also be the first big one for both teams in the year of the T20 World Cup later this year, with over 20 matches to go for each

The Preview by Vishal Dikshit23-Jan-20205:39

Bangar: Understanding ground dimensions key in NZ

Big Picture

New Zealand must be hurting and how. The last time they took the field they had been thrashed 3-0 in the Tests in Australia, and the last time they played a T20I, it ended in, well, a Super Over loss to England. New Zealand were leading that five-match T20I series 2-1 and even though they handed England an innings loss in the Test series later, crossing the Tasman Sea after that dented their confidence considerably. Now, New Zealand face a stiff opposition in India to end their home summer before landing in Australia again for three ODIs.ALSO READ: Tim Southee backs New Zealand to bounce back after Australia setbackThe India series will be “huge” for them, as selector Gavin Larsen said, to work out a few things: a best XI with several players injured and how to restore their reputation. First, they will draw confidence from the fact that they had beaten India 2-1 in the T20Is last year, with a similar bowling attack that is to play in the coming series. The hosts have recalled Hamish Bennett, who last played an international in 2017, to join Tim Southee, Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn in the pace attack, with Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi making up the spin department. Where are the rest? Well, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are all injured. Another worry for them will be Santner’s form, as he picked only one wicket in four Test innings in Australia. A different format, though, could do it for the left-arm spinner who took his best T20I figures – 4 for 11 – against India, in 2016.There’s more experience to fall back on in the batting department, with Kane Williamson, who returns after missing the T20Is against England, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and Colin Munro making the top and middle order.The series will also be the first big one for both teams in the year of the T20 World Cup later this year, with over 20 matches to go for each.India are also without a few injured players – Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar – but their depth in reserves has hardly ever been stronger. They will have their tails up after drubbing Sri Lanka 2-0 in T20Is and fighting back formidably against a full-strength Australia to win 2-1 in the ODIs. They have a settled bowling line-up with four quicks, two spinners and three allrounders to choose from. With Samson replacing Dhawan in the 16-man squad, it remains to be seen if he and Pandey will get a chance if Rishabh Pant gets to play as wicketkeeper and KL Rahul plays purely as a batsman.

Form guide

New Zealand TLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WWWLW

In the spotlight

Hamish Bennett will be in line to make his T20I debut with 17 international games to his name already. In the absence of New Zealand’s main frontline quicks, Bennett now has a big task ahead against India’s batting line-up that doesn’t have as much experience in the lower-middle order. Bennett could use his pace, bounce and variations in the middle or end overs to dent India’s progress towards a big total. Bennett comes on the back of figures of 3 for 34 against Auckland in the Super Smash final, New Zealand’s domestic T20 tournament, in which he finished as the leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps from 11 games, and an economy rate of 7.20.ALSO READ: Firebird Hamish Bennett ready for his New Zealand rebirthVirat Kohli and Kane Williamson pose with the T20I series trophy•Blackcapsnz/Instagram

With Pandya not returning to international cricket anytime soon, India need to have his solid back-up for the T20 World Cup. They are carrying three allrounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar – and it will be a good trial for both Dube and Washington in New Zealand conditions after India played their recent games at home. Both Dube and Washington could play in the XI and India need to assess if they will need a batting or a bowling allrounder more in Australia later this year.ALSO READ: India have missed a trick with their allrounder strategy, writes Aakash Chopra

Team news

Ross Taylor said on Tuesday the injuries in their camp has given the fringe players a chance to stake a claim for spots. New Zealand have a fairly stable top half which sees Williamson’s returns. It might mean they will have to pick one of Colin de Grandhomme and Daryl Mitchell for No. 6.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Tim Seifert (wk), 4 Kane Williamson (capt), 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Colin de Grandhomme/Daryl Mitchell, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Scott Kuggeleijn, 11 Hamish BennettIndia played only five bowling options in their last T20I against Sri Lanka, but may now have to pick a sixth on a high-scoring Eden Park. Virat Kohli said on the eve of the match that making KL Rahul keep in T20Is too will give them “a lot more balance” to play another batsman. In that case, they can accommodate Manish Pandey at No. 5 and two allrounders at Nos. 6 and 7 out of Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Shivam Dube 7 Washinton Sundar/Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav/Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

Auckland is where the Super Over was played against England recently, with both teams scoring at over 13 an over in a rain-curtailed match. A cloud cover and some drizzle is expected in the morning and evening which could affect the 7.50pm local time start. With no heavy rain expected, we should get a game even if with reduced overs.

Stats and trivia

• With legspinner Adam Zampa coming into focus against Kohli in the recent ODIs, New Zealand will probably want to bowl Ish Sodhi to him early. Sodhi has a decent record against India, having dismissed Kohli and Rohit once each: he has taken 11 wickets in seven innings, averaging 16.18 with an economy rate of 7.73
• Ross Taylor is batting too low to play an anchor role in this format. He has primarily batted at No. 5 for New Zealand since 2018, but at a strike rate of just 119.40, he is scoring slow for that position. Among 31 batsmen to score 100 or more runs batting at No. 5 or lower in T20Is since 2018, Taylor’s strike rate of 125.80 is 10th worst (there are 21 other batsmen that score faster than he does).

Quotes

“Honestly, even if you think of revenge, these guys are so nice you can’t get into that. We get along really well with all these guys.”