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She seemed like she had thrown her wicket away in the 80s again, but a stroke of luck saved her and she brought up her first hundred since 2019

Annesha Ghosh01-Oct-2021WV Raman, who was India Women’s head coach until earlier this year, remembers Smriti Mandhana as a “very chilled-out character” who didn’t overthink her game, or “talk cricket” too much, or overdo things at training.”She had it in her head all that time that ‘I need to provide a good start, I need to contribute a lot being a senior cricketer’ and stuff like that,” Raman recalled when speaking on Sony Sports India on Friday about Mandhana’s mindset when going through a dry run.He was alluding to the up-and-down phase after Mandhana’s breakout 2018 following the middle-to-late-tournament lull at the 2017 ODI World Cup. After racking up runs for fun and becoming the 2018 ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, Mandhana kicked off 2019 with the promise of plenty, even hitting a blistering 105 in India’s very first match of the year. But in the 48 innings since, before Friday, not once could she get to three figures. In 12 of those innings, Mandhana lost her wicket after reaching a half-century. And had a front-foot no-ball – which also happened to be a full toss – by Ellyse Perry on day two of the ongoing pink-ball Test against Australia not ruled out a catch, Mandhana would have had a 13th missed hundred to her name.”I actually get scared of bad balls quite a lot. When that happened on the second ball of the day [I faced]… I got a full toss and I was like, ‘Oh, s***!’ I was like, ‘Oh, God, what is this! I prepared so much overnight, and I have got out to a full toss!’ For us, we thought the catch was taken and the no-ball came out of the box,” Mandhana said of the lifeline, regaling reporters with her animated narration after the truncated second day’s play at Carrara Oval.Related

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• Mandhana aces pink-ball test after 'two nets sessions'

• Mandhana hits highest score by a visiting player in Australia

On a day when she hit 127, breaking the 72-year-old record for the highest score by a visiting batter in women’s Tests in Australia, Mandhana mostly looked the part of the “determined” batter she had set out to be, after finishing overnight on 80.In an in-play interview with 7 Cricket, she also acknowledged the mental hurdle that the protracted spate of near-misses had become: “Really happy that finally I got through this 80[-run] period because I keep getting out in 80s and 90s, so I was really focused and wanted to at least cross that and try and get to three figures… Disappointed I gave it away towards the end. Nevertheless, I am happy with the performance.”

“From 2018 to this year, the way I would have loved to bat, I was not able to. Even though I was getting the fifties or whatever scores I was getting, I was still trying to search the kind of feel I wanted to search”Smriti Mandhana

The monkey off her back, Mandhana opened up on what the anguish of losing her ability to bat the way she visualised felt like. This, especially when going through her past performances with elder brother Shravan and longtime personal coach Anant Tambvekar back at home.”From 2018 to this year, the way I would have loved to bat, I was not able to,” she said. “Even though I was getting the fifties or whatever scores I was getting, I was still trying to search the kind of feel I wanted to search. With family also I just kept asking about… we kept checking the videos of what has gone different. The only thing which I was working on was to try to get the kind of feel I wanted to get as a batter.”Whenever the tours were coming, I was not thinking about that because at the end whatever you bat at that time, you have to deal with it and just go forward and try and look to play the match. But, definitely, this series I was feeling much better as a batter and definitely wanted to make it count because of the few chances I had lost in the last two years [because of the lack] of my feel. So, I wanted to try and make it up and still want to try and make it up.””Runs will keep flowing – whether you go for them or not,” WV Raman recalls telling Smriti Mandhana•BCCI/UPCAMandhana had batted all of “two nets sessions” with the pink ball before opening the batting for India on Thursday. But it was down to her that India, despite the lack of familiarity with the pink ball or long-form cricket in general, had got into a position of strength, the opener laying the marker with her “tempo”, as Meg Lanning described it.On Friday, Mandhana added seven fours to take her tally to 23 boundaries in a 216-ball knock. And when the milestone came on the back of two fours – the second a deceptively languorous short-arm pull – off Perry in the 52nd over, an uncharacteristically energetic celebration followed.”In the 14-day quarantine [in Brisbane, ahead of the start of the series], I was doing all of that only: I was trying to visualise me batting and trying to celebrate my century,” she explained, deconstructing the celebration that saw her take the helmet off, raise both arms and tap her name on the back of her shirt with the bat, as if to make a statement.In his evaluation of Mandhana’s 127, Raman jogged his mind back to conversations when he would insist she “consumed overs”, for staying in the middle alone would be enough for her naturally fluent style of run-scoring to dictate the pace of her – and India’s – innings. “Runs will keep flowing – whether you go for them or not… even if you take some time, you will always make up,” he remembered saying.On the evidence from the first two days of the Test, she might be on her way to making up for the missed hundreds too.

Rating the leading allrounders of the two formats

Anantha Narayanan09-Oct-2021A few months back, I did a comprehensive study of Test allrounders. In it, Shakib Al Hasan emerged as the top allrounder, a whisker above Garry Sobers. This article became one of my most discussed ones in recent times. Quite a few of those who wrote to me were not comfortable with giving Sobers second place. However, an equal number were happy that the all-round skills of Shakib, a player from a less prominent team, were recognised.In addition, there were many emails suggesting minor and major tweaks. The range of responses was staggering and these covered every aspect of analysis in both width and depth. I realised I would have to do a comprehensive overhaul of the analysis. I have now finalised the revised Test allrounders’ tables with inputs from various contributors. The changes are summarised below. Also, using the changed parameters as the overall base, and accounting for the nuances of ODIs, I have worked out a list of the best ODI allrounders.Test Allrounders Analysis
Let me first cover the revised basis for the Test allrounders’ analysis. There are four groups of parameters. A move away from longevity-based measures is a feature of the revised analysis.1. Weighted Batting Average (20 points): There was no doubt about the importance of this solid batting measure. The maximum permissible 20.0 points are given for a WBA of 55.0; the figure is proportionately lower for lower WBA values.2. Bowling Average (20): There was also no doubt about the importance of this wonderful bowling measure. This also has a weight of 20.0 points, which is given for a bowling average of 20.0 (it is proportionately lower for higher bowling averages).3.1. Share of team values (15): This recognises the player’s contribution to the team. In order for this measure to be comprehensive, it takes into account runs scored, wickets taken and balls bowled. This ensures that allrounders who carried differing load levels are recognised. No one type of allrounder is favoured. A workload of 20% is allotted the maximum points, 15.3.2. Consistency Index (15): This is the most important new measure added, replacing the concepts of Impact Index and High Impact Index used earlier. Many people felt uncomfortable with the black-or-white treatment of the impact indices, and the double counting, so I have split players’ careers into three-Test blocks, with the last block being three, four or five Tests long. I then looked at what the player achieved in each block. (This is somewhat similar to the E-Runs measure – Equivalent Runs – explained later.)I considered a wicket as the equivalent of scoring between 25 and 31 runs, depending on when the Test was played. Then I determined whether that was a successful block from an allrounder’s point of view. A block should satisfy three criteria to qualify as successful: 300 E-Runs, 100 runs and six wickets (for a three-Test block, and extrapolated, as required, for the last block). This allows the players flexibility to handle lean batting or bowling phases, and for them compensate batting lows with wickets and bowling lows with runs, while maintaining an overall contribution.The percentage of successful blocks is considered; 15 points are allocated for an 80% success rate. A perusal of the related numbers will show you how effective this index is. If an allrounder like Imran Khan or Jacques Kallis did not bowl at all in a few Tests, they might lose a little, but then they were not playing those matches as allrounders.4.1. Delivery of base components per match (10): This is an important new measure based on the average contributions of runs, wickets and catches/stumpings per match. Everything is brought to an E-Runs basis: each wicket is valued at X runs, where X is the exact RpW value across the allrounder’s career. It is low for matches played before the First World War, and reasonably high for the first decade of this millennium, and the range is 25.5 to 33.7 for the set of allrounders considered. Each catch/stumping is valued at 40% of the value of a wicket. The weight for this measure is 10 points, which is allotted for an average of 210.There was little that Garry Sobers couldn’t do perfectly on a cricket field•Getty ImagesThe next two parameters relate to Performance Ratings.4.2. Best Match Performance (5): The best all-round performance gets the player a share out of 5 points. The best here is the famous Ian Botham masterclass in the Jubilee Test in Bombay in 1979-80. This performance gets nearly 5 points; the others get proportionately lower for lower values. This is represented in the tables below by the RPP-Best column.4.3. Average Performance per Test (5): This recognises sustained performance across a career. The weight for this measure is 5 points, which is allotted for an average of 700 rating points per match. In the tables, this is the RPP/T column.4.4. Career length – Years/Tests (10): This was specially requested by many readers. They wanted the ratings to recognise players who performed at the highest level for many years and played many Tests. This is the only non-performance measure, relating rather to a player’s longevity. The allocation of points is based on a combination of years and Tests. Kallis, with a long career on both counts, gets the highest value, ten points.There may seem to be an overlap between 4.1 and 4.3; 4.1 is based on raw, unadjusted, basic runs/wickets/catches per Test – all brought to an E-Runs basis. There is no context there. On the other hand, 4.3 is based on a contextual, complex calculation covering the batting and bowling performances. It incorporates pitch quality, bowling/batting quality faced, innings status, support received, location/result, relative team strengths, target before the team, quality of wickets, and so on. As such, while seemingly there is an overlap, these are two different measures.A simple comparison: Brian Lara’s unbeaten 400 is 247 runs more than his unbeaten 153, going by 4.1, while the 153 gets 150 more rating points than 400 under 4.3. Also, fielding isn’t accounted for in 4.3. In summary, 4.1 covers the standard player delivery of the basics, while 4.3 accounts for the outliers and extraordinary performances.Now the selection criteria, which are the same as in the earlier article. For my first level of selection, I included players who have scored over 1500 runs and taken 50 or more wickets, or scored over 1000 runs and taken 75 or more wickets. This got me a substantial number of players. To avoid including bowlers who have played many Tests and thus accumulated enough runs (like Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Chaminda Vaas, Stuart Broad, et al), I have set a limit of 22.5 as the lower cut-off for WBA (a batting average of around 25). And to avoid classifying Chris Gayle, Mark Waugh, Asif Iqbal, et al as allrounders, I have excluded those who took less than a wicket per Test. There was a temptation to keep 40 as the upper limit for the bowling average, but I have resisted that since it would mean the exclusion of a few players who are normally perceived as allrounders – prominent among them Ravi Shastri and Carl Hooper. A total of 51 players qualified. All teams, barring Sri Lanka, are represented. This is understandable considering that only Vaas comes closest to being an allrounder for Sri Lanka.With these revised parameters, there has been a slight shift in the table positions. First, let us have a look at the revised table of top allrounders.Anantha NarayananFittingly, one of the greatest players of all time, Sobers, is at the top of the revised Test table. He has a reasonable edge over Shakib. This despite the fact that Shakib has the edge on most of the newly introduced measures. Sobers has a substantial lead in the Batting group and a slight lead in the Ratings Performance group. Shakib has an edge in the other two groups but just falls short. However, just as Sobers deserves all the accolades for finishing first, Shakib deserves recognition for continuing to give Sobers such a tough fight. Those who question Sobers’ lead in batting should remember that he is, inarguably, one of the five best players to have touched a bat, irrespective of the basis used. Perhaps if I do this analysis in a couple of years again, Shakib might move to the first place, since he could potentially improve some of his numbers.Imran Khan, Botham, Richard Hadlee and Keith Miller, the next four on the table, will be in anybody’s list of top five allrounders ever. Imran, Hadlee and Miller are strong in the bowling department, while Botham and Hadlee excel in the Rating performance areas. Hadlee is ahead in the contribution-per-Test group. Each of these four has their own spheres of excellence, and that comes out clearly.The great pre-war allrounder Aubrey Faulkner deservedly comes next. He leads narrowly from Trevor Goddard and Kallis. R Ashwin gets a well-deserved place in the top ten.A study of the percentage values is revealing. Sobers and Kallis get nearly 25% of their points from the WBA component. Imran, Hadlee, Miller, Ashwin and Shaun Pollock are bowling allrounders. Shakib, Goddard, Vinoo Mankad, et al derive their strengths from the “Contribution and Consistency” group. Finally, Botham, Hadlee, Ashwin, Pollock and Kapil Dev are strong in the fourth group. That is how it should be. Almost all the 20 players featured are true allrounders, who are likely to shine in different areas.Comparing the previous table with the current table, I have summarised the changes below.Sobers and Shakib have exchanged places at the top. Imran moves up five places, Botham three. Faulkner moves down a little. Jack Gregory drops like a stone. Miller and Chris Cairns drop slightly. Ashwin and Kallis exchange places. Kapil moves up. Tony Greig, Ravindra Jadeja and Andrew Flintoff have maintained their respective places.Anantha NarayananThe table of base values is above. Here are some of the interesting values.- The high WBA of Sobers, which stands at 51.3. Kallis’ WBA is close to 50. Only five players have WBAs over 40.- The sub-25 bowling average of Hadlee, Imran, Miller, Ashwin, Pollock and Jadeja.- Shakib’s high Runs-Wkts-Balls share of 18.7%, followed by Faulkner, with 18.2% and Mankad, with 18.1%.- Shakib’s Consistency level of 73.7% (he is followed by Dwayne Bravo, with 69.1%, and Miller, with at 66.7%). Also, note the relatively low percentage values for the players I call “specialist allrounders” – like Pollock, Kapil, Hadlee, Kallis, etc.- The very high Base components (Runs/Wkts/Catches) per match of Ashwin, Shakib, Botham, Sobers, Hadlee and Imran. All have contributed 180 or more E-Runs per Test.- Botham’s once-in-a-lifetime performance in Bombay, fetched him 2034 Rating points. He scored 114 and took 6 for 58 and 7 for 48 in the match. The next one, some distance away, is Mushtaq Mohammad’s 1798. Mushtaq scored 121 and 56 and took 5 for 28 and 3 for 69 against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1976-77. Next on this list is Botham’s 1981 Headingley performance.- Hadlee’s average rating points per match of 666, very closely followed by Ashwin, with 665 points. Sobers and Imran have over 600 points per match.Anantha NarayananThis Ratings values chart is offered with no additional comments. The high values have already been outlined in the previous chart. The corresponding point values can be located in this table.ODI allrounders analysis
The ODI analysis is more or less based on the Test parameters. However, new parameters have been added to incorporate relevant metrics, such as strike rates. To distinguish the Test tables from the ODI tables, I have kept the ODI maximum limit as 1000. The cut-off values are much simpler here – 75 wickets and 2000 runs; 57 players qualify.1.1. Weighted Batting Average (125): There was no doubt about the importance of this solid batting measure. This has a weight of a maximum of 125 points, which are given for an adjusted WBA of 50, and proportionately lower for lower values. The adjustment is by period.1.2. Batting Strike Rate (125): The maximum points here are allotted for an adjusted strike rate of 125. The adjustment ensures that the low strike-rates during the early years of the format are pushed up and vice versa for latter years.2.1. Bowling Strike Rate (BpW-125): There was also no doubt about the importance of this wonderful bowling measure. This too has a weight of 125 points maximum, which is given for an adjusted bowling strike rate of 30 BpW; it is proportionately lower for higher values.2.2. Bowling Accuracy (RpO-125): This is given as much importance as the balls-per-wicket measure; 125 points are given for an adjusted RpO of 3.5.3.1. Share of Team values (125): This recognises the share of relevant team values. In order for this measure to be comprehensive, I have included runs scored, wickets taken and balls bowled. This ensures that allrounders who carried differing load levels are recognised. This does not favour one type of allrounder. A workload of 30% is allotted the maximum points.3.2. Consistency Index (125): I split players’ careers into four-ODI blocks, with the last block being four, five, six or seven matches long. I then checked what the player achieved in each block. This is somewhat similar to the E-Runs metric. This time I considered a wicket as the equivalent of between 25 and 31 runs, depending on the period when the ODI was played. Then I determined whether that is a successful block from an allrounder’s point of view. The block should satisfy three criteria to qualify as successful one: 180 E-Runs, 60 runs, and two wickets (for a four-ODI block, and extrapolated, if required, for the last block). This gives the player flexibility to compensate for batting lows with wickets, and bowling lows with runs, while maintaining an overall contribution. The factor being considered is the percentage of successful blocks; 125 points are allocated for an 80% success rate. A look at the related numbers will show you how effective this index is. If some allrounders did not bowl at all in a few ODIs, they might lose a little, but then they were not playing as allrounders.4.1. Important Tournaments – Batting (50): This measure and the one following it cover performance in the latter stages of tournaments. In general, the Super Eights, Super Sixes, quarter-finals and later stages of ICC trophies, and finals of lesser tournaments, are considered. Since the number of such matches varies considerably between players, an average performance per match is used. Fifty points are given for 60 runs per match.4.2. Important Tournaments – Bowling (50): For bowling, 50 points are allotted for 1.8 wickets per match.The next two relate to the Performance Ratings.5.1. Best Match Performance (50): The best all-round performance gets the player a share out of 50 points. The best is the famous Aravinda de Silva masterclass in the 1996 World Cup final, which got 151 rating points. This performance gets nearly 50 Best Match Performance points. Other performances get proportionately lower for lower values.5.2. Average Performance per ODI (50): This recognises sustained performance across a career. The weight for this measure is 50 points maximum, which is allotted for an average of 65 points.5.3. Career length – ODIs played (50): This parameter is to recognise players who have performed at the highest level for many years and played many ODIs. This is allotted a maximum of 50 points. Sachin Tendulkar, with a long career of 463 ODIs, gets the highest value here, with the benchmark being 500 matches.Shahid Afridi: a limited-overs giant•AFPShakib has proved that his close second place on the Test allrounder table is no fluke, and that he is the leading allrounder in the world now across formats. He tops the ODI allrounder table by a comfortable margin. As true allrounders do, he does not lead in terms of the base measures, but he is in the top quartile for both batting and bowling. He substantiates this with excellent performances in the other measures and has finished a deserving first. But for his ban in 2019, he might have finished even higher. However, he has come back with a bang and his recent performances have been excellent.A surprise placement in the second position. Not many will have expected Flintoff to finish second. He has achieved this high place through a table-topping combined value of the two basic groups (Batting and Bowling): he has 350 points in these two groups, and that, with his very solid achievements in the other groups, fetches him second place. He is very close to the top in the bowling group. Kallis has had a more balanced all-round career in ODIs than in Tests and this has resulted in his well-deserved third position.Anantha NarayananViv Richards in fourth place? Those who are surprised should know that he has taken 118 ODI wickets to supplement his outstanding batting skills. The bowling numbers are in the lower quartile but his other achievements more than make up for those. Shane Watson comes next and that should not be a surprise since he was a genuine allrounder and a very good fourth bowler. Kapil gets a well-deserved sixth place, aided by the significant upward tweaking of his batting strike rate.Lance Klusener might seem a surprise at No. 7, but a look at his numbers, especially bowling, shows they are almost identical to those of Imran, who appears next. Sanath Jayasuriya’s ninth position should not surprise anyone, since he took over 300 wickets, and nor should tenth place for Gayle. These two were nearly proper allrounders in ODIs.I am extremely happy with the 11th position of Shahid Afridi, whose figures are mind-boggling – over 8000 runs at a near-120 strike rate and nearly 400 wickets. Tendulkar just misses out on featuring in this table. He finished 18th.Looking at the percentage of rating points, Richards is strongly batting-centric, as is Afridi. Flintoff, Wasim Akram and Pollock are strongly dependent on bowling points. Shakib is very strong in the contribution/consistency group and in performances in important matches – where Akram and Klusener are also strong. Finally, Afridi makes his presence felt in the other group, through his rating performance achievements.Anantha NarayananAs I did for the Test allrounders, I am going to look at the highlights of the table above.- Richards has a high WBA of 44.3 while Kallis clocks in at 38.1. At the other end, Akram has a low WBA of 14.8.- Afridi has an excellent strike rate, of 118. Kapil’s already high strike rate, during an era of staid scoring, has been elevated to 111 after adjustment for period. As was Richards’ 103. Jayasuriya clocks in at 93.- Flintoff has a low BpW value of 34. Akram is close behind at 35. Dwayne Bravo, not featured on the table, shares the lowest value with Flintoff. Among the spinners, Mohammad Nabi required 48 balls for every wicket he took.- Pollock had the lowest RpO of 3.8. The only other bowler with a sub-4.0 RpO is Nabi, with 3.9. Richards, Jayasuriya and Cairns were quite extravagant, conceding over five runs per over.- Shakib’s contribution percentage (Runs/Wickets/Balls) was a very high 26.6. He is the leader on this measure, by a mile. Richards, with dominating batting numbers, provided 22.4% of his team’s work load. At the other end, Akram and Afridi had a contribution percentage of around 17.- Shakib’s consistency is amazing. Out of 53 blocks, he met the tough requirements in 39 blocks, leading to a success rate of 73.6%. Flintoff achieved a figure of 65.7% and Kallis 67.1%. Akram was successful in only 18% of blocks, since most times he did not meet the batting standards.- In important matches, Richards averaged 42 runs and Tendulkar 47. Botham took around 1.6 wickets per match in such games. Tendulkar, of course, played a lot of such matches – 111, to be precise.- The best ever all-round performance was de Silva’s 3 for 42 and 107 not out in 124 balls in the 1996 World Cup final, which fetched him 153 rating points. Next comes Afridi’s magnificent performance of 7 for 12 and 76 off 55 balls against West Indies in Providence in 2013, which fetched him 146 rating performance points. He is closely followed by Richards, whose 189 not out off 170 balls and 2 for 45 at Old Trafford in 1984 fetched him 141 rating points.- Shakib averaged 61 rating points per match. Botham follows with 57 points per match.Anantha NarayananAs in Tests, this rating values chart is also offered with no additional comments. The high values have already been outlined in the previous chart. Readers may locate the corresponding point values in this table.Conclusion
Sobers is now, deservingly, placed at No. 1 on the Test allrounders’ table. He performed a triple role – premier batter, seam bowler and spinner – in most Tests he played. Not to mention his outstanding fielding skills. However, Shakib has been outstanding in two formats, and there is no doubt that he is the premier allrounder of the past four decades or so.Calling for an all-time XV
In 2013, I conducted an exhaustive readers’ poll to determine a group of 15 players to be considered for an all-time World team. There was excellent response and the results were very insightful and interesting. I now call for submissions again since new contenders have emerged, as also new measures for selection. You can email your entries through one of three routes with the subject “All-time XV – 2021”.- Send an email to my personal mail id, if you have it
– Send an email to the email id at the bottom of this article
– Send an email to the Talking_Cricket group, more on which is below.When sending in your XV, provide your name, place of residence, and your list of 15 players (no more, no less). The team must be an all-terrain one. A manager/coach is optional. If you send multiple entries from one email id, I will consider the last one sent. Thus, you have the opportunity to change your selections. You don’t have to justify your selections; I prefer short emails. I will include this message in the next two articles. I will write a summary article, which will probably be published in January. The entry that matches the final selection or comes closest to it will be acknowledged.- eight batters/allrounders
– one wicketkeeper
– four pace bowlers
– two spinnersTalking Cricket Group
Any reader who wishes to join the general purpose cricket-ideas-exchange group of this name that I started last year can email a request for inclusion, giving their name, place of residence and what they do.

Just when it seemed like Australia’s soft underbelly could be exposed, Pakistan inexplicably moved away from seam bowling completely

Danyal Rasool12-Mar-2022The National Stadium in Karachi might not quite be the MCG, but it’s certainly a big ground. So when David Warner danced down the wicket to wallop Sajid Khan over mid-off for six – as if he hadn’t yet left Rawalpindi – as early as the 11th over, the visitors’ intentions seemed fairly obvious. Hasan Ali had just been prised out of the attack as Usman Khawaja punished any deviation in line, and the early jitters a new ball naturally spawns in Pakistan had begun to vanish.Sajid had spoken about how he set Warner up in Rawalpindi, observing how the Australian opener kept going back no matter how full he bowled. Well, Warner made sure he couldn’t say that today. A few overs later, he danced out of his crease, and despite not getting to the pitch, creamed Sajid over mid-off for six more. Two balls earlier, it was Khawaja who had taken the attack to Sajid. Slithering out of his crease with the quiet elegance of a synchronised diver breaking a pool surface without making a splash, he targeted that well-peppered mid-off region beyond the boundary, and the openers were blasting Pakistan’s premier spinner out of the attack.Related

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So Babar Azam did what he didn’t have the luxury of doing in Rawalpindi and turned to Faheem Ashraf. It’s been an odd start to what still feels like a budding Test career for Ashraf, who spent the best part of the first three years of his Test career out of the side. Which is bizarre because Ashraf is yet to play a Test match he hasn’t substantively contributed in, either with bat or ball. Quietly, almost by default, a man who broke into the national side through his white-ball prowess has manoeuvred himself into a position of indispensability in Pakistan’s Test match side.Ashraf was the man whose unavailability appeared to spook the hosts so much they all but admitted to neutering the liveliest deck in Pakistan in the first Test. So eager were they to have him available he was brought back a day after he tested positive for Covid-19, with a subsequent negative test the following day putting him in the clear.Six balls after that Sajid mauling, Ashraf, in the middle of a typically tidy spell, made his mark once more. On a pitch that looked like it was flattening out under the baking Karachi sun, he found enough deviation of the seam to kiss Warner’s outside edge through to Mohammad Rizwan. As so often, once the door appeared shut on Pakistan, Ashraf was the locksmith who had worked them back in. Of his 23 Test wickets, more than a third – eight – have broken partnerships of 50 runs or more.So when Australia’s third wicket partnership surpassed 50, Babar’s thoughts turned to his partnership-breaker once more. Australia had been ticking along at nearly four, so with potence and economy both required, Ashraf was pressed into service once more.

Australia might have been 160 for 2, but like a boxer awaiting the bell, they knew for now, they needed to hang on till tea. Ashraf was sniffing closer and closer, and with Shaheen on from the other end, Australia had no respite

What followed was an intoxicating hour of Test match cricket under the blazing Karachi sun. The energy levels hadn’t yet sapped, and as Ashraf and Shaheen sent down three successive maidens, the whiff of an opportunity began to waft through the field. Khawaja and Steve Smith were set, yes, but as they battled and scrapped, they suddenly appeared vulnerable. The scoring ground to a halt, and Ashraf – that white-ball specialist, the occasional dibbly-dobbler – suddenly had two of the world’s leading batters on the ropes. There was some tail-in to Smith that, even by Smith’s standards, had him fidgeting about, while there was enough flirting with Khawaja’s outside edge to suggest further dalliances would be forthcoming.The nervous energy crept through the Karachi crowd. Not the sort that has you leaping from your seats, more the kind that tantalising anticipation of a payoff can produce. Australia might have been 160 for 2, but like a boxer awaiting the bell, they knew for now, they needed to hang on till tea. Ashraf was sniffing closer and closer, and with Shaheen on from the other end, Australia had no respite. With the relative inexperience of Travis Head, Cameron Green and Alex Carey in these conditions, Pakistan felt the visitors had a soft underbelly, and a wicket could open the floodgates.The value of that session perhaps truly became clear in third session that would have been soporific if it wasn’t so bizarre. Like the plot device of a convoluted mystery novel where the more outlandish points are never quite explained, Pakistan, for no discernible reason, turned away from seam bowling completely until the second new ball. Babar turned to himself and Azhar Ali before he’d resort to the seamers as the session threatened to descend into farce.Even Ashraf, given the second new ball ahead of Hasan Ali, for once lacked teeth as Khawaja, now past a hundred, and Smith, stuck in. But there was time enough for yet another facet of Ashraf’s all-round game to come to the fore, as a left-handed pluck, seemingly out of thin air, sent Smith on his way seven balls before the end of play.The payoff might have come too late to offer Babar’s side much satisfaction. Ashraf, who Test cricket has kept waiting for so long, will know that more than most.

Zimbabwe have made the cut for the T20 World Cup 2022 after getting through the qualifiers at home

Mohammad Isam27-Jul-2022Cricket in Zimbabwe is looking up. Bangladesh and India are set to tour the country before they head to Australia for the T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe will be there too; a dominant performance in the global qualifiers has ensured that. The moment was four years in the making. They had missed out on the last two global events, having suffered the heartbreak of missing the 2019 World Cup after a narrow loss in the qualifiers at home. Understandably, then, Sikandar Raza, and others, are “more relieved than happy” at this point.Related

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• Sikandar Raza out for an indefinite period after bone marrow infection

It was a difficult period, with many of their senior players unsure about their future. Raza was one of them. In the recent qualifiers, he had figures of 4 for 8 against Netherlands in the final. Each time he took a wicket, the Bulawayo crowd went wild. Qualification for the World Cup, of course, had been ensured for both teams once they won their semi-finals.”It is nice to be playing one more World Cup before I hang up my boots,” Raza told ESPNcricinfo. “It was tricky to miss out on the last 50-overs World Cup. It was disheartening and painful not to be playing the last T20 World Cup as well. I think the senior players were more relieved than happy [to qualify for this year’s World Cup]. There was a lot on our shoulders. There was a lot that was to be done by the core group of players. To see all of us achieve that is the most satisfying part of going to Australia.”Raza said the target has been to do more than just qualify. They wanted to be the best among the teams in the qualifiers in order to be ready for bigger things. Much of that also came from the big crowds that turned up to watch them get back where they believe they belong.”We would have never settled for only qualification,” he said. “Our first target was to qualify, but we targeted winning five out of five games. Without a question, we wanted to win the final. It was very important for us to become champions. It is a different feeling to be champions of some tournament. It was amazing.Sikandar Raza scored the most runs and picked up the joint-most wickets for Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers•AFP/Getty Images”The crowd on the weekend has always been brilliant in Bulawayo and Harare. Hands down, this was the biggest and loudest crowd I have experienced in Bulawayo. Every time we took a wicket, the crowd just erupted. It was unbelievable.”The satisfaction also brought back memories of a similar time four years ago when Zimbabwe missed out on qualification. Raza was in the thick of things back then too.”Those emotions were always there. We couldn’t go to the World Cup by a margin of two [three] runs,” he recalled. “The nightmare of not being able to make it through the last qualifiers were always at the back of the head. The guys who were there in the previous qualifiers and now in the core group, tried to stay in the present.”We tried to prevent those feelings from affecting us. Those feelings were there. We didn’t deny its presence. We just had to find a way to deal with them. Everybody had different ways to deal with them. The fact that we could do that and ended up qualifying, is relieving.”Some of those who played in 2018 have settled into bigger roles within the Zimbabwe team. Fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani is knocking on plenty of doors in the T20 arena, while young Wessly Madhevere graduated to the senior side within a month of their Under-19 World Cup campaign in 2020.

“It was tricky to miss out on the last 50-overs World Cup. It was disheartening and painful not to be playing the last T20 World Cup as well. I think the senior players were more relieved than happy [to qualify for this year’s World Cup].”Sikandar Raza

“He [Muzarabani] came from very humble beginnings. He has tasted success but he is still a very humble boy,” Raza said. “He is very respectful. He will get better and better, and I believe he will be rewarded because he is such an honest worker.”Richard Ngarava had a few setbacks due to injuries, but I believe he will follow Blessing Muzarabani sooner or later. He has good work ethic. He will be exposed to different T20 competitions.”Wessly Madhevere is rising. Performances go up and down but I genuinely believe that he is growing as a cricketer. He will take Zimbabwe cricket forward. He will take it in the right direction. He is a very good kid. I will also mention Milton Shumba, a smart cricketer. He will have a role to play in the future.”Zimbabwe also have a strong group of experienced cricketers in the mix, thanks to Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Regis Chakabva and Tendai Chatara, who is sidelined because of a shoulder injury, apart from Raza.”Chatara has been the spearhead of the bowling department,” he said. “Unfortunately, he has broken his collarbone but we are praying that he is fit for the World Cup. Regis Chakabva is a senior guy as well. Very calm guy. We need him.”We are happy to have Sean Williams back in the team. Craig is a silent soldier. He is calm and composed, a team man.”Zimbabwe also have a new entrant in their coaching setup. Dave Houghton has returned to coach Zimbabwe and Raza said that he was already gelling with the team.”Blessing Muzarabani will be rewarded because he is such an honest worker”•AFP/Getty Images”My first experience with Dave has been brilliant,” he said. “He has a lot of trust towards his players. He has confidence in our abilities. Zulu [Lance Klusener, batting consultant] has been brilliant with us throughout. It is great to have him back. He has made a lot of difference in my career. Shepherd [Makunura, fielding coach] and Stuart [Matsikenyeri, assistant coach] are fantastic too.”Raza himself has done well over the last few years. A bone-marrow infection last year meant that he had to resort to a new bowling action. Luckily for him, it clicked.”I thought with my old action it was slightly difficult to bowl variations,” he said. “I figured out that I lost a lot of strength in my shoulder following the surgery. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise. I hope I have better control of my variations in a year’s time. I also realise that my career economy in T20s and T20Is have come down.”For now, Raza is looking forward to a busier phase for Zimbabwe. They first play Bangladesh – an opposition that has got the wood on them in recent times – in three T20Is starting July 30 followed by as many ODIs. India will be there too.”It is a very exciting because now we are looking forward to something,” Raza said. “Everything we do now is a build-up to Australia. We want to be in the main tournament. We want to cause a few upsets.”We are trying to beat all these teams so that we can form a culture, so that when we get to Australia, we have a winning changing room. It was lovely to see all the senior guys there [in the qualifier].”

They shared nine wickets to help the visitors bowl Bangladesh out for 365 in the first innings of the Mirpur Test

Mohammad Isam24-May-2022When they arrived in Bangladesh earlier this month, Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando wouldn’t have expected to form a bowling partnership. Vishwa Fernando’s concussion in Chattogram, however, brought them together, and the two fast bowlers have delivered impressively for Sri Lanka.If Ebadot Hossain wasn’t run-out to end Bangladesh’s innings on the second day of the Mirpur Test, Asitha and Rajitha would have been the first fast bowling pair from Sri Lanka to share all ten wickets in an innings. Rajitha picked up his maiden five-wicket haul and Asitha missed his by one wicket. But the two helped their side bowl Bangladesh out for 365.They might not have vast experience to draw from but they showed maturity by keeping an upright seam, and bowling tight lines and lengths. While they largely bowled an attacking line around off stump, they didn’t hesitate to use bouncers. In fact, they overdid the latter on the second day, but that was probably Sri Lanka sending the home side a message.Before the Mirpur Test, Rajitha had played exactly ten Tests, ten ODIs and ten T20Is. Asitha had four Tests and four ODIs. The nice symmetry aside, it mainly shows that neither has really nailed a place in the national team in any format. The last ten days, however, might be the corner that Rajitha and Asitha were looking to turn.When Suranga Lakmal retired from international cricket earlier this year, Sri Lanka didn’t really have a real successor. Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa were being groomed to take over the baton but Kumara’s career hasn’t really kicked on while Chameera is more of a white-ball bowler.Asitha Fernando celebrates dismissing Mominul Haque•AFP/Getty ImagesIn this phase of uncertainty, these two rookies have put their hands up. After impressing in the first Test, Rajitha as a concussion substitute no less, they exceeded expectations in Mirpur, even stepped in when the Sri Lanka spinners couldn’t quite provide breakthroughs.When Rajitha removed Mosaddek Hossain on the second morning, it was not just his maiden five-for. It was also the first by a Sri Lanka fast bowler since Lakmal took one more than a year ago. At the Shere Bangla National Stadium, it was only the second five-for by a fast bowler in the last eight years.Asitha has been around since his ODI debut in 2017, but he made his Test debut only last year because when Lakmal was playing, Sri Lanka generally picked out-and-out fast bowlers, like Chameera or Kumara.Rajitha is slightly more experienced, having started his Test career in 2018 with 11 wickets in two Tests against West Indies. In the seminal South Africa series in 2019, he was Sri Lanka’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Vishwa, with nine wickets at 23.22. But in the following South Africa tour last year, Rajitha had bowled only 2.1 overs before a groin injury ruled him out for the rest of the year.He always had the height and ability to move the ball off the seam, but what stood out in these two Tests is his consistency in bowling probing lengths. Even more impressive was how he was able to extract help from the usually unresponsive Chattogram and Mirpur pitches. These are enough reasons to believe Rajitha has come back from injury as a better bowler.In the past too, Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers, like Chameera, Kumara and Vishwa, have made instant impacts in Test cricket, but following it up has been a major challenge. Specifically, fitness has been a concern. Rajitha too had his share of fitness issues in 2021. So, that’s one thing he has to be careful about.Sri Lanka play most of their Test cricket in conditions that favour spinners. But this series must have given them the confidence to prepare tracks that have something in them for fast bowlers too.

Internationals, development tours and booming franchise leagues will stretch talent pool, says Mo Bobat

Matt Roller21-Oct-2022Next month, more than 60 English men’s cricketers will be in the UAE simultaneously. England’s 15-man Test squad will go head-to-head with England’s 15-man Lions squad in a three-day match, while around 30 Englishmen take part in the Abu Dhabi T10 and a handful of seamers continue their rehabilitation programmes.In early 2023, England’s player pool will be stretched even further. There are three full men’s tours in the space of six weeks – three ODIs in South Africa at the end of January, two Tests in New Zealand in February, three ODIs and three T20Is in Bangladesh in early March – and a Lions tour to Sri Lanka from late January to late February, comprising two four-day ‘Tests’ and three 50-over games.Meanwhile, at least 40 players will be involved in the inaugural season of one of the two new franchise T20 leagues: South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE’s ILT20. As it stands, there are 26 England-qualified players with ILT20 deals and 19 in the SA20; some will pull out due to injury or international commitments but others will sign as replacements.”It is a real challenge,” admits Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director, whose role over the winter is to help perform a delicate juggling act. “I’d add to that dynamic that we have an Under-19 series in Australia too. Some of our best high-potential players will be involved in that, and that will be another strain on our talent pool.”Related

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Bobat started speaking to players in June about their winter plans, trying to help them “make well-informed decisions that connect to England needs”, he says. “Gone are the days where you can just go: ‘What’s our Lions squad? Let’s just announce it.’ You can’t do that anymore. You need to have really intimate and meaningful conversations with every player around what you think of them and their aspirations, and our needs as an England team across formats.”Players appearing in overseas leagues during the English winter is nothing new, but the emergence of the SA20 and ILT20 has accelerated the trend. “Some of them might choose to engage with Lions experiences instead of those more lucrative financial opportunities in white-ball cricket; others might have a bit of a mix in their programme, where they play a certain part in the Lions series, having already experienced some white-ball cricket,” Bobat says.”And some might decide that, given the red-ball emphasis of the Lions trip, they might want to focus on their white-ball opportunities and take on the challenge of playing in a franchise competition as an overseas player and the pressure and scrutiny that goes with that. I can see value in all of that, and I certainly won’t judge players for their choices.”Some players opted against travelling to the UAE for the Lions camp before Christmas, instead opting to spend the start of the winter training at home. Dom Sibley is set to travel to Sri Lanka for the spring tour but will spend November at The Oval as Surrey, his new county, start their pre-season, while Matt Parkinson will work on his action with Carl Crowe at Lancashire.Bobat insists, however, that players are still excited by the prospect of playing for the Lions. “I’ve not had any conversation with any player that makes me feel disheartened in that sense,” he says. “They all want to play for England, across formats. If the Lions is a mechanism for them to develop their skills, be tested, and also be observed and assessed by us, they want to do that because they want to bang on the door.”The tour to Sri Lanka in the new year will be particularly important, with England due to play a five-Test series in India in early 2024. “It’s an important time for us to get players out there and get them used to playing in subcontinent conditions,” Bobat says. There may also be a fixture against Australia next summer before the Ashes, though that may be mothballed if they reach the World Test Championship final.The ECB are still working through the Lions’ forthcoming schedule but made clear in the recently published High Performance Review that there will be an increased red-ball focus, with the proliferation of short-form leagues around the world already providing players with opportunities to develop outside of the English summer.”Many of them engage in franchise cricket overseas which has proven to be a real catalyst for their development,” Bobat says. “A lot of the white-ball gap-bridging is already happening overseas, from opportunities in franchise cricket. Instead of competing with that, we need to look at it as a complementary fit.”Instead of the Lions and international pathway putting on cricket that butts heads against that, we might as well provide something that doesn’t exist. That is red-ball development experience in a best-vs-best environment.”

Everything you need to know about the inaugural Women’s Premier League

Vishal Dikshit03-Mar-2023Right, so finally we have the Women’s IPL! Wait, or is it called something else?
It’s called the Women’s Premier League or just WPL.Cool, WPL. So when does it start and where?
It starts on March 4 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, with Mumbai Indians taking on Gujarat Giants. Before you ask, there are five teams, 22 matches in all, including the final on March 26 at the Brabourne Stadium at the other end of the city.So all matches are in Mumbai? What’s the format?
Yes, all in Mumbai. Technically, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, which also comes under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. All the games will be played at just the two grounds mentioned above.The five teams will play each other twice in the round-robin stage. That makes it eight games per team and 20 league games. Then, the team that finishes on top cruises straight into the final and watches the teams placed second and third battle it out in an eliminator that decides the second finalist.Related

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What time are the matches?
Most matches will start at 7.30pm IST, except on double-header days, when the first match will begin at 3.30pm, like in the IPL. The WPL has four such double-headers.Interesting. Who owns these teams again?
Three owners of IPL teams also bought teams here – Reliance got Mumbai Indians, the JSW and GMR group got Delhi Capitals, and Diageo bought Royal Challengers Bangalore. There are two new owners – Adani Sportsline bought Ahmedabad-based Gujarat Giants and Capri Global, a non-banking financial services company, took the Lucknow-based UP franchise, UP Warriorz (yes, that’s with a Z, not S).Who are the five captains?
We have two Indians and three Australians in charge:ESPNcricinfo LtdIs there the usual rule of four overseas players per XI, like in the IPL?
That’s right. Except that if a team has an Associate player – she could be played as the fifth overseas player in the XI. Capitals were the only team to buy an Associate player at the auction: Tara Norris, a left-arm quick, from USA.Who are the players to watch out for overall?
Among the big players, you have the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Beth Mooney among others. We have also put together a list of seven unknown players who could be future superstars.What do the five squads look like?
As per the rules, each squad has 15 to 18 members, with six overseas players each. Here are the five squads in full detail, along with their strengths and weaknesses.Why aren’t these teams all playing at their home grounds then?
The BCCI secretary Jay Shah said on the day of the players auction that the tournament may expand to more cities later on, but for now it’s all in Mumbai for logistical reasons – the fact that the tournament has been planned in a short period of time, only in the last few months.So what happens if more than two teams finish on the same number of points for any of the top three places?
Take out your calculator. Once the points are tied, the team with the most wins in the league stage will be placed higher. If the wins are also the same, the team with the higher net run rate will be placed higher. If the NRR is also equal, the team with the higher number of wickets taken per legal balls bowled in matches with results will be considered higher. Hopefully we won’t get that far.What happens if a match, say the final, is tied?
You can throw that calculator out, we’re not counting boundaries. If the scores are level in any game, then a Super Over will be played. If the Super Over is also tied, subsequent Super Overs shall be played until there is a winner. If it’s not possible to play or complete the Super Over, the match will be tied and both teams will be awarded one point each.If the Super Over is not possible in the eliminator or the final, then the team which finished higher on the table after the round-robin stage will be declared winner.And what if there’s a rain-curtailed match, given all games are being played in and around Mumbai?
Fair enough. Let’s also take climate change into account because it doesn’t (usually) rain in March in Mumbai. If it does, both teams need to bat a minimum of five overs to get a result, and the usual DLS rules apply.Will the DRS be available?
Yes. Each team will be allowed a maximum of two unsuccessful reviews per innings. UltraEdge and HawkEye technologies will be available to the third umpire for edge detection and ball-tracking.And we have the usual rules around concussion replacements and third umpires keeping tabs on bowlers overstepping?
Yes, it’s all business as usual.Is there free entry, like it was for some of the India vs Australia matches in December, or paid tickets like the IPL?
As of now, there is free entry for women at both grounds. Boys and men have to purchase tickets starting at INR 100 (USD 1.2 approx.).

A look at the Australian batter’s 32nd Test century by the numbers

Sampath Bandarupalli29-Jun-202332 Centuries for Steven Smith in Test cricket are the joint-second most for Australia in the format. Ricky Ponting tops the list with 41 hundreds, while Steve Waugh also has 32 tons.ESPNcricinfo Ltd174 Innings Smith needed to score his 32nd Test century, the fewest among the 12 players with the feat. The previous quickest was Ponting, who scored his 32nd Test ton in the 176th innings he batted.22 Hundreds for Smith in the first innings of Test matches, the most for any batter, surpassing Ponting’s 21 tons. Seven of Smith’s 22 centuries came when the team was put into bat, the joint-most, alongside Jacques Kallis.ESPNcricinfo Ltd8 Test hundreds for Smith in England, the second-most by any visiting player in the country, behind only Sir Donald Bradman’s eleven tons. Smith has seven of those eight centuries against England, while another came against India in the WTC final earlier this month.12 Test centuries for Smith against England. Only Bradman (19 against England) and Sunil Gavaskar (13 against West Indies) have more triple-digit scores versus an opponent in Test cricket than Smith.1 Number of players to complete 9000 Test runs in fewer innings than Smith’s 174 innings. Kumar Sangakkara is the fastest to the 9000-run milestone, needing only 172 innings. Smith, however, is the fastest in terms of Tests played to complete 9000 runs, as he needed only 99 matches, while the previous fastest was Brian Lara in 103 games.ESPNcricinfo Ltd12 Smith’s hundreds in the Ashes. Only Bradman’s 19 tons rank higher in the Ashes, while Jack Hobbs also has 12 centuries. Smith is also now the fourth-highest run-getter in the Ashes with 3176 runs.2014 Test runs scored by Smith in England. Only three other visiting players have scored 2000-plus runs in England – Bradman (2674), Allan Border (2082) and Viv Richards (2014).416 Australia’s total in the first-innings is the highest for a visiting team at Lord’s since Australia’s 566 for 8 in the 2015 Ashes. Australia’s run rate of 4.13 is also the highest for any visiting team to make 400-plus in a Test innings at Lord’s.

Former England captain admits personal tragedy helped change perspective, as he prepares for Red for Ruth Day at Lord’s

Matt Roller28-Jun-2023Andrew Strauss has a strong claim to be England’s most successful Test captain of the modern era: Ashes victories both home and away, more than twice as many wins as losses in charge, and a rise to the top of the ICC’s Test rankings clinched with a whitewash against India.And yet, as Strauss reflects on his career, he has a lingering sense that his team could have achieved more than they did. “We felt like we’d achieved everything we wanted to,” Strauss said, “but there was something slightly missing. And it was that excitement, that feeling of pioneering, trying new things. If I had my time again, maybe I would do things differently.”That view is informed, in part, by Strauss’s career since his playing retirement in 2012. As England’s managing director, he was an instigator of their white-ball revolution. Last year, back in the role on an interim basis, he appointed Rob Key to his old, position, and Key in turn then chose Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes as Test coach and captain.”That’s a reflection I’ve had for many years, starting with the white-ball revolution in 2015: that there are different ways to play the game,” Strauss said. “As I’m a bit older and have less hair now, my thinking on this has changed a bit from, ‘It’s only about winning’ to, ‘It’s also about how you win’.”That’s what Stokes and McCullum have done now: they’ve won, but they’ve won with style. They’re questioning centuries-held conventions in the game – and doing it with good reason. The game has evolved and changed dramatically over the last few years.”Strauss admits his glory with England was about personal goals and ambitions, whereas the foundation is about ‘something greater than me’•Getty ImagesBut Strauss’s perspective has also changed by events in his personal life. Five years ago, his wife Ruth was diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer that affects non-smokers. She passed away later that year, survived by her husband and their sons Luca and Sam.Strauss set up the Ruth Strauss Foundation in 2019 to provide support for families and raise awareness of non-smoking lung cancers, and Thursday marks the fifth annual Red for Ruth Day at Lord’s.”Seeing her courage and her bravery, you completely change your perspective in life about what’s important, where you get fulfilment and where purpose lies,” Strauss said. “I was very proud of what I was able to achieve in an England shirt but, in many ways, that was about me achieving my own goals and ambitions.”This is something much greater than me. I know how hard it is for all those families. It just breaks my heart that every day, there are hundreds of kids being put in the situation that my kids were put in. We can’t change that, but we can make it a little bit easier. If we’re able to do that, that warms my soul and I know it’ll be warming Ruth’s soul too.”The foundation has raised millions of pounds through previous Red for Ruth days, but the money itself is not the point. As Strauss puts it: “The Ruth Strauss Foundation is not here to raise money. The Ruth Strauss Foundation here is here to help as many people as possible.”But the Ashes provides an opportunity that other series do not: “People are going through this from all walks of life in all parts of the country, many of whom have never heard of Cricket or the Ruth Strauss Foundation. The Ashes Test match is hopefully a time when people that perhaps aren’t always watching cricket are suddenly tuning in.”Related

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In the past 12 months, the foundation has rolled out peer support groups for both the children and surviving spouses of people with incurable cancer. “People feel a really strong kind of desire and yearning to talk to people who’ve been through something similar to them,” Strauss explained.”It’s great having professional help, but it’s equally powerful just to talk to other people who’ve gone through it. And I think that’s even more the case for kids: kids find it hard to speak to adults, but they find it easier to speak to other kids. More broadly, [it’s about] having a conversation about death, which we’re just not very good at in this country.”In Strauss’s own case, “It was one of those situations that my friends and family, they just weren’t qualified to help me. And so I did reach out to people that had been through something similar; I hung on their every word. And of course for people that have been through it, it’s a lovely thing to share their experiences but also to remember their loved ones.”There was no shortage of criticism for England on Wednesday: for their selection, their catching, their lengths, their body language, their willingness to speak to Australia’s players. As Lord’s turns red on Thursday, perhaps it will provide an opportunity to remember that there are more important things to worry about.For more information and to donate to the Red for Ruth Foundation, click here.

Why England were a pale shadow of their 2019 selves, and how Australia’s power-over-technique template paid off

Kartikeya Date14-Dec-2023Travis Head faced Jasprit Bumrah on the fourth ball of the third over in the second innings of the 2023 ODI World Cup final. Bumrah was bowling around the wicket to him. The delivery was aimed at the off stump from wide of the crease and moved away. Head, according to the ball-by-ball commentary on this site, “stays leg side of the ball and almost nicks it off”. Head was beaten on the inside or outside edge in this manner on the seventh, ninth, tenth, 18th, 19th, 22nd, 26th, 28th, 29th and 30th balls he faced. This included him inside-edging past leg stump, playing and missing outside off stump, and being beaten on the inside edge as he fell over. Before scoring 25, Head was beaten multiple times in nearly every single one of the ways it is possible for a batter to be beaten by a bowler in cricket. He played a false shot to ten of his first 30 balls.He went on to score a brilliant 137 off 120 balls, playing only ten false shots in his last 90 balls. When India batted earlier that day, Rohit Sharma played five false shots in his first 30 balls. He played his sixth to his 31st and was dismissed for 47. A few balls later, Shreyas Iyer stayed leg side of the ball and nicked off against Pat Cummins instead of merely playing and missing.Head’s survival and Iyer’s dismissal were not by the batter’s design. No player’s survival of a false shot is by design. It is a matter of that dreaded thing – luck. In cricket, luck is the accumulation of favourable outcomes for a set of actions to an extent that is significantly different from the average expected outcomes for that set of actions. It is only by accounting for luck that distinctions in skills can be located.Related

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In addition to the three traditional measurements in cricket – runs, balls and wickets – ESPNcricinfo’s control measurement records whether or not the batter was in control of the delivery. Control makes three measurements possible:1. The frequency of a false shot (balls per false shot)
2. How often a false shot results in a dismissal (false shots per dismissal)
3. Runs per false shotThese measurements help us locate luck and skill (or efficiency). For instance, if Head had played only four false shots in his first 30 balls, to dismiss him, India would have needed one in four false shots to go their way. As it happened, they needed only one in ten to go their way in those first 30 balls. That is to say, they forced a false shot every third ball on average. In the remaining 90 balls, they created comparatively little jeopardy. In that early part of the innings, Head was lucky. But after his first 25 or so runs, India would have needed to be lucky to dismiss him.The control measurement is the hinge of the cricketing contest. It helps to measure how much jeopardy the bowlers create, how much risk the batter has assumed, how lucky the bowlers are, and how efficient the batter is. Before we use it to understand the 2023 World Cup and how its patterns were different from those of the 2019 tournament, it is worth reflecting on the patterns of the control measurement.A survey of the control record since January 1, 2016 shows that a dismissal occurs every 10.1 false shots in Tests, 7.7 false shots in ODIs, and 5.6 false shots in T20Is. A false shot occurs once every 5.6 balls in Tests, once every 4.8 balls in ODIs, and once every 3.3 balls in T20Is. Quicker scoring involves more frequent risks and also bigger risks (the average false shot is more likely to result in a dismissal in a T20 than in a Test). Within each format, the evidence suggests three things.First, a batter’s capacity to avoid false shots (Balls Per False Shot) and to survive them (False Shots Per Dismissal) depends on skill. The table below gives the rates for each by batting position in Tests and ODIs.