All posts by h716a5.icu

Jalaj Saxena, who produced the joint second-best figures in the Ranji Trophy, hoped to carry Madhya Pradesh into the knockouts

Shashank Kishore09-Nov-2015Jalaj Saxena’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing. As he settled into his seat and turned his phone on, soon after Madhya Pradesh’s nine-wicket win over Railways in Gwalior, he realised his inbox had far more messages that he normally receives after a day’s play. First he mistook them for Diwali greetings, but realised that wasn’t the case after reading the first message. “A local journalist texted saying I had broken some sort of record,” Saxena told ESPNcricinfo. “I wasn’t sure what exactly, but as I scanned through, I slowly found out. It is a proud feeling to win a game, but all the more special because I could play a part in the win.”This wasn’t any ordinary performance. His incredible figures of 16 for 154 were the joint second-best figures in Ranji Trophy history. Only Anil Kumble, someone he has worked quite closely with during his time with Mumbai Indians, has better figures – 16 for 99 for Karnataka against Kerala at Thalaserry in 1994-95. He equaled the figures held by Pradeep Sunderam, who achieved the feat for Rajasthan against Vidarbha in 1985-86.To put things into perspective, it was Madhya Pradesh’s second successive victory to put themselves back in the running for a knockout berth, something that has eluded them since 2011-12. “It’s an incredible feeling to top the group at the moment, but there are still three games to go, so the message within the group is not to get too ahead of ourselves. We have the team to qualify though,” Saxena said. “What we have been harping on is to cash in on the key moments. We have done that in the last two games.”Saxena, who has picked up 26 wickets this season, said that success in recent times stemmed from better use of the crease and sticking to his strengths. “My stock delivery is the offspin,” Saxena said. “Sometimes, with so much of emphasis on the need to have different deliveries, you tend to get carried away. But the key is to stick to your strengths, that is what Daniel Vettori (coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, who Saxena represents in the IPL) told me. I’ve also understood the importance of using the crease. But that’s not to say I don’t want to bring in subtle variations.”What do his chats with Vettori revolve around? “He’s a legend, you learn by watching him bowl,” Jalaj said. “I’m trying to get more control over my flight, because on good wickets, you will need to beat quality batters in the air. That is what I tried to do in this game against Railways, and it paid off.”Even before the talk wheels towards the pitches, Saxena is quick to credit the 22-yard strips. “Last two-three seasons, we have had to play on green wickets, where the ball just skidded on. You had to be lucky if you got one long spell,” he said. “This year, the pitches have been better from spinners’ point of view maybe because we started the season in October. The wickets I have bowled on so far have been on the drier side. There have been a couple of good batting wickets too.”It’s easy to get swayed by his record tally of wickets, but Saxena has been a handy batsman too. He is currently the second-highest run-getter for Madhya Pradesh after Aditya Shrivastava, with 391 runs in eight innings at an average of 55.85. “Maybe because of the IPL I am a better striker of the ball, but I have always tried to be aggressive,” Saxena said. “I have worked hard on it, because you need to contribute in all facets.”As part of his learning, Saxena goes back to analyse his bowling spells with Narendra Hirwani, the former India legspinner. “He has been a great influence, especially when the domestic season is on. He is a knowledge bank on spin bowling in general,” Saxena said. “Talking to him about my cricket makes me feel good about my bowling.”What about the aspiration to play for India then? “That is definitely there. When Naman Ojha got picked in the Indian squad for the third Test in Sri Lanka, it wasn’t just a message that domestic performances don’t go unnoticed, but also reinforced belief into everyone that we too can play for India. For now, I would be happy if we first qualify for the quarterfinals and then take it from there.”

This week’s round-up of the most interesting social media posts about the IPL centres on a couple of early finishes

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2017Dan Christian was lucky to spend his birthday in someone else’s shirt. The face, unfortunately, was all his.

One of the pitfalls of your birthday falling during the IPL… Another great win tonight, Tripathi is a superstar in the making!! Also, put my shirt out to dry with @stokesy after the bowling innings, and grabbed the wrong one before I went out to bat, much to the ire of the match referee

A post shared by Dan Christian (@danchristian54) on May 3, 2017 at 12:44pm PDT

Rohit Sharma had his birthday recently too and was surprised Ravi Shastri wished him over Twitter.

Thanks Ravi Bhai! You didn't need to tweet me Ravi Bhai if you screamed I'd hear you from wherever you are @RaviShastriOfc https://t.co/zRhy6YOgwN

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) April 30, 2017

Mumbai Indians finished their match against Delhi Daredevils six overs early, possibly because they wanted to get away from the Delhi smog as soon as possible. If anyone is preparing a presentation on signs that the earth is in danger, this photo of Harbhajan Singh’s bright Mumbai Indians jersey shining amid a haze may make a good opening slide.

Top win @mumbaiindians last night..Delhi Pollution,smog it was almost impossible to breath last night in the ground…all players were suffering with bad throat after the game #almost choked

A post shared by Harbhajan Turbanator Singh (@harbhajan3) on May 6, 2017 at 10:11pm PDT

Another game that finished inside 36 overs was Kolkata Knight Riders’ match in Bengaluru, in which, with Knight Riders chasing 159, Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine smashed 105 in the Powerplay. David Warner was keen to let everyone know he has been studying to be a travel agent in India.

I think @KKRiders want the 22:45pm flight out of Bangalore tonight

— David Warner (@davidwarner31) May 7, 2017

The last commercial flight from Bengaluru to Kolkata is indeed at 22:45 every day. And Kolkata, who finished the game before 19:30 despite a rain delay, may well have made it. Team owner Shah Rukh Khan was chuffed. Lynn and Narine’s partnership reminded him of a film he was in that had characters named Chris and Sunil who fall out because they are both in love with the same girl but then reconcile.

After Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa in '94, Sunil n Chris come together to make 105… well played boys! Ami KKR… pic.twitter.com/30JSbFaqVE

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 7, 2017

Speaking of early departures, we were under the impression Eoin Morgan had left Kings XI Punjab to play an England-Ireland series, but apparently he was training to become a pirate.

@Eoin16 Look who's on board… #CaptainCaptain pic.twitter.com/YU4GcUA2g1

— Captain Morgan (@CaptainMorganEU) May 8, 2017

Finally, we have some disappointing news. That Sourav Ganguly fantasy team we’ve all been beating comfortably is not actually his.

Hi all ..just saw an ipl fantasy team on my name ..it's not my twitter account nor my team ..it's fake ..I dnt participate in fantsy leagues

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) April 27, 2017

It was not always easy, but a worthy role model and the belated discovery of a cricket club helped keep a childhood passion alive and kicking

Amod Sugiyama01-Jul-2017I never thought a day would come when I would shed a tear while reading a cricket book. Especially when the book was a gloriously funny memoir, Emma John’s .Was it because the protagonist of the memoir was Mike Atherton, her idol growing up, and my favourite person in the cricket world? But while I admire Atherton and eagerly wait for his column every Thursday, I don’t love him the way many Indian fans love Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli.I cried because the book reminded me of my childhood.I was ten years old in August 2005, visiting my relatives in India, when I caught a glimpse of the most memorable Test series ever played. I don’t know if it was Andrew Flintoff’s heroic performances or Kevin Pietersen’s ridiculous hairstyle that made me fall in love with the game, but I became interested right away. Disney villains like Jafar and Maleficent were quickly replaced by Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden in my head. It took almost ten more years for me to learn to respect these two modern cricketing greats.I do not remember much about my previous visits to India before 2005 but my dad tells me now that during a train journey, I was struck by the sight of kids playing cricket everywhere – even on the railway tracks. All I remember from that journey is seeing people throw used paper cups from the train windows. Had I joined them, I might have been a better ball thrower now.My friends say cricket is in my blood. Sure, having an Indian father made it easier to get into the game, but the same didn’t happen to my younger brother. I wanted to know why a blond, slightly overweight Australian man who was apparently bowling much slower than his team-mates was troubling the English batsmen. My brother did not. No, cricket didn’t choose me, I chose cricket.The author learning the game in India as a kid•Sarang UrdhwaresheMy dad bought me a DVD boxset of the 2005 Ashes for my birthday that year and I watched it again and again. Browsing through old cricket scorecards on Cricinfo became a daily activity. I learnt that Test cricket could be both wonderfully exciting (Edgbaston 2005) and incredibly boring (Colombo 1997). I loved listening to my dad’s old cricket anecdotes too, stories of the West Indian greats and Sunil Gavaskar, who was his idol.The epic series of 2005 had made me an England fan and I spent many Saturday afternoons revisiting their previous tours in the last two decades on Cricinfo. It turned out they were not exactly world-beaters in the ’90s. Going through all the scorecards, one man caught my attention. He was the captain of the team for five years in that period and it seemed like he was anchoring many innings, only to find out he lacked partners who could stick it out with him. “Dad, why did Atherton only average 38? Tendulkar averages 57, right?” I asked him one day. “Well, he was an opener. And it was a bloody tough job in the ’90s,” was his answer.I came across the scorecard of the 1995 Johannesburg Test, which Atherton saved by batting for more than ten hours. “How can a man bat for that long knowing his team cannot win,” I wondered. Atherton had been part of the commentary team for the Ashes that year. I could not believe the man with a kind, gentle voice was capable of such a heroic performance. I was also obsessed with Tolkien and at that time and my favourite character was Faramir. Thinking back now, maybe I found some similarities between the young captain of Gondor and Atherton: both were students of history and loved literature. And both could be incredibly brave when they needed to be.Next gen: Kosuke (left) and Naoki Okamoto•Alan MargerisonBut even though I was growing up a cricket fan, my engagement with the game was limited to following professional games on the internet and playing the occasional game in the park while visiting relatives in India until I turned 18. Born and raised in the small town of Takamatsu in Kagawa, Japan, I had no access to playing the game. (This is the excuse I use when I have to explain why I am such a bad cricketer!)Luckily my college prefecture had a club, so I was finally able to play the sport. Shiga Cricket Club (we rebranded the club as Shiga Kyoto Cricket Club this year) was a beacon for cricket-loving expats living in Japan for work or education. When I joined the club five years ago, I was the only Japanese in the team, and all we did was get together on Sundays and have a hit among ourselves in various parks in the area.Now we are playing matches regularly with other teams in this area. There are four university cricket teams and one high school team in our area, though we are still the only adult team around here. Despite all the difficulties – there is no cricket ground in Kyoto, so we play most of the games on a rock-hard baseball ground with matting wicket – cricket is growing here.Our club boasts the best wicketkeeper in the region in Ashley Canning. I owe him for all the stumpings he has got me with my rubbish left-arm spin. But it’s best to leave him alone when he gets out since he will be looking for ways to smash his bat or gloves on something. He’ll be okay five minutes later.Alan Margerison, a Yorkshireman who pretends to be an Aussie, has a good defensive technique, so it’s a shame that we only play 20-over games. He bowls handy offspin too.Indranil Mukherjee (Indi) is not only a good batsman and a true team player but also our team’s fashion guru. Unfortunately, he is pretty busy with his postdoc these days and cannot join us every time. We need you more, Indi!A Shiga match on a baseball pitch•Ashley CanningRemesh Palakkad joined us at the end of the last season and is quickly becoming a central figure in the team. He is a genuine allrounder and our quickest bowler at the moment. I ask him every time whether he wants to take the new ball and he always says no and bowls the second over. We cricketers are superstitious people, aren’t we?Our newest Japanese player, Ikuo Ogita, watched a little cricket footage on CNN years ago and that was how he got interested in the game. He finally started playing this year after finding us on Facebook.However, the two biggest shining lights of our club are a pair of Japanese brothers, Naoki (11) and Kosuke (14) Okamoto, Alan’s family friends. The first time they watched cricket was a Big Bash game on TV during a holiday in Australia. The game looked familiar to them. What form of baseball was this? After a few games in the park while on holiday, they started to practise with a rubber ball. Soon, the temptation of hitting the hard ball became too strong for them and they started to come with Alan to our games. A Japanese version of the Chappell brothers in the making!Emma’s book is a coming-of-age story of a slightly awkward teenager. In chapters three and four, she writes how she tried to be an “evangelist” and introduce cricket to her friends only to find out they “tolerated [her love for cricket] and gently ignored” it. I know how you felt, Emma! I tried too, here in the land ruled by baseball. Some friends and teachers were nice enough to ask me the latest India scores. “How did India go last night, Amod?” “Not good. Lost to Australia again,” was my usual reply while I thought, “Bloody hell, I don’t even support India.”It was tough being the only cricket fan in school. I tried to explain cricket to my school friends many times but to no avail. I now think that the only similarity between cricket and baseball is that you use a bat to hit the ball. They are completely different sports. My friends all thought cricket is a much easier sport to play because there is no foul ball and you can hit the ball to 360 degrees. That is probably true but in cricket, you are judged by your whole innings rather than “one hit”.I sometimes wonder if I’ll get the chance to meet Atherton. “Hi, Athers! Pleasure meeting you. I know you have no idea but you had a big influence on one Japanese teenager growing up. By the way, why on earth did you declare when Graeme Hick was 98 not out in Sydney?”Want to be featured on Inbox? Send your articles to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line.

With a 48-point deficit against their name, Durham have their work cut out in Division Two this year. Their captain knows it’s going to be a slog

Jon Culley11-Apr-2017It was the smell of the grass that made up his mind, Paul Collingwood said, looking out over the expanse of it that he knows best.We are taking in the lush spring green of Emirates Riverside, as Durham prepare for the start of their season and reflect on the price they have been forced to pay for overstretching themselves in their lofty ambitions to become a major international centre.It is the same expanse that Collingwood contemplated six years ago, in the wake of being told that his own international status had effectively been terminated, and wondered if he had the will to carry on. He had already retired from Test cricket, but having led England to their first global silverware in the World T20 title the year before, the decision by the selectors to hand the T20 captaincy to Stuart Broad hit him “like a juggernaut.”He thought seriously about quitting altogether. “But then I thought about things and realised there was so much I would miss massively, even the negative things like having to pick yourself up mentally when you are making low scores,” he said.”I played my first competitive cricket match when I was seven. It’s in my blood. And I know it sounds ridiculous but I thought about the smell of the grass and how much I’d miss that and I realised that I didn’t want to stop.” He still hasn’t, even on the eve, virtually, of his 41st birthday, as he prepares for his sixth season as Durham captain.”I think I’ve probably surprised a few people that I’m still here, but I still believe I have something to give. I’m still learning new things, and honestly, I’ve worked hard in the gym and I don’t think I’ve ever felt fitter.”There is the matter of motivation, too, which, despite the high probability of being marooned in Division Two of the Championship for at least two seasons, thanks to the draconian penalties imposed by the ECB in return for keeping the club alive, is still strong, if not stronger. If anything, he says, the pain of forced relegation and the challenge of starting 48 points behind everyone else, has fuelled it.

“I know it sounds ridiculous but I thought about the smell of the grass and how much I’d miss that and I realised that I didn’t want to stop”

“You can sense a real determination among everyone to get the most out of the season,” he said. “There is a real motivation. You know what it’s like when you have adversity, it brings everyone together. The response from the players has been fantastic.”Like the chairman and chief executive and everybody else grateful that the club still has a future, Collingwood has been obliged to take the punishment on the chin. He admits that the dressing room has not found it easy.”There was a lot of anger when we learned what was happening,” he said. “The thing that hurts more than anything is that we go out there year in year out and perform as well as we can and we have carried on doing that despite all the cutbacks.”From the players’ point of view, we felt like we are the ones being penalised when we didn’t really have anything to do with it. That doesn’t seem fair.”Is it too harsh? It depends which way you look at it.”From the club’s point of view, they have done everything they were asked to do [in terms of developing an international venue]. From the ECB’s point of view, they might say that a county should never get into such a financial position where they are unable to pay the players for two months, and that’s got to stop.”But it has happened. It is not the end of the world, we are still playing first-class cricket. At some point you have got to put it on the back-burner and get on with the job.”That job begins with the visit of Nottinghamshire to Chester-le-Street on Good Friday, bringing an immediate chance to measure Durham against a side expected to be among the front runners in Division Two, and already with a win under their belt.”A good start would be very useful, especially against a good team like Notts,” Collingwood said. “On paper you are looking at pretty much an international side, so to get off to a good start against them would give us some momentum and be great for confidence.”But if we are being honest we are going to need everything to go our way if we are to overcome the 48 points.”I heard what the chairman [Ian Botham] said about us being the best side and I love Beefy’s optimism, but I know county cricket and we’re not going to roll teams over. There is a lot of talent in Division Two and we have to respect that.Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth spearhead Durham’s attack•PA Photos”And losing Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick – that’s pretty much 3000 runs out of the dressing room.”We’ve got the addition of an overseas player this year, which we haven’t had too many times in the past. Hopefully he will bring a lot of runs at the top of the order.”I am confident that we will take 20 wickets. Our bowling attack is very strong. We have a great blend, seasoned professionals such as Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth and some fantastic up-and-coming bowlers as well. In addition, we will have Woody [Mark Wood] at the start.”Although 48 points is a lot of points you can’t write us off completely. It will need two or three players to have the season of their lives but something special could happen.”It could be an 18-year-old having that exceptional season, it could be a 40-year-old like me.”Which brings the conversation back to Collingwood’s future. The body remains willing, the appetite sharp. But for how much longer? Will the grass still smell sweet this time next year?”I’m just taking it year by year, and at the end of each season we review where we are. I’ve got things to consider. I don’t want to be a player who outstays his welcome. I have to look at the fact that I’m on a decent wage and as the wages bill comes under pressure I will have to look at whether I’m blocking the way for a couple of younger players joining the squad.”I’d like to think I have something to give in international cricket in terms of coaching, and I’m ridiculously lucky in that I have been able to spend 55 days last year and 60 days this winter with England, while still playing county cricket in the summer.”I think I’ll know when it’s time to go and I’ll be honest about it.”But if I still feel I am pushing this team forward, still contributing in the dressing room, still scoring runs, taking wickets and taking catches – if I’m doing all those things, I want to continue.”

Sri Lanka Under-19 captain Charith Asalanka has risen through the ranks of Sri Lanka’s school cricket system by the sheer weight of his performances and is fitting in well into his role in the side

Vishal Dikshit in Sylhet30-Jan-2016Afghanistan Under-19s chinaman bowler Zahir Khan had just taken two wickets in the 27th over to put Sri Lanka Under-19s on a precarious 96 for 5. Sri Lanka had lost five wickets for 48 runs and, with Afghanistan looking to run through the remaining wickets, Charith Asalanka took strike against legspinner Rashid Khan, the only player in the ongoing World Cup with international experience.Asalanka, the Sri Lanka captain, blocked the first ball of the over and then unleashed three fours – a back-foot cut, a delicate leg glance behind square and a cover drive that pierced the off-side field.”I don’t know about him (Rashid Khan),” Asalanka told ESPNcricinfo with an innocent laugh holding his Man-of-the-Match award for his all-round show. “I still didn’t know he’s an international cricketer, only you told me. But I just played the ball. Whoever bowled it, international cricketer or whoever, I just played the ball.”Asalanka, who top-scored with 71 and struck twice with his offspin in six overs, has risen through the ranks of the Sri Lankan school cricket system with a load of runs and wickets to his name. He was named the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year and won the national award for the best allrounder last year while representing Richmond College from Galle, which does not have a long history of producing international players. An aggressive left-handed batsman, he scored 780 runs with the help of three hundreds and four fifties in the 12 matches of the previous school cricket season and missed four matches due to the Under-19 tours. In the 2014-15 season, while playing for Galle Cricket Club, he broke a 30-year-old record becoming the youngest player to score a first-class century in Sri Lanka, at the age of 17.Asalanka bats at No. 4 and is a punchy strokeplayer when he gets into the attack mode. On a day when the Afghanistan spinners could have toppled a strong Sri Lankan top order, Asalanka counter-attacked with several boundaries even though wickets fell around him. He took 10 balls to get off the mark and then targeted an in-form Zahir with a six to the midwicket boundary and two consecutive fours in his next over.”I am the captain so I have to play a major role in the team,” Asalanka said. “So I think when we lost quick wickets, I had to change my game and play a different game. When we are in a good position and have lost only one or two wickets then I can play my natural game. When we lose quick wickets, I change my game and play a different game for the team.”Leg side or off side, back foot or front foot, Asalanka took flicks, pulls, cuts and drives out of his bag whenever a loose delivery was offered to haul the team score towards 200. “I think I have an all-round game, I like to play on the off side, it’s my favourite area. When they bowled on the leg side, then I played on leg side.”When Sri Lanka’s turn came to defend the total, Asalanka chipped in with two wickets too to remove wicketkeeper-batsman Ikram Faizi and allrounder Muslim Musa and turn the match in his team’s favour. From 66 for 2, Afghanistan were 74 for 4. It was not considerable turn that got Asalanka the wickets. He bowled flattish deliveries not too far from the off stump to offer hardly any room and both batsmen gave away catches to fielders in the 30-yard circle. Asalanka finished with figures of 6-1-18-2.”From the beginning, I’ve been an allrounder. When I come to the 50-over game I like to bowl flat and be more economical. When I play three-day or first-class matches, I like to give flight.”With two straight fifties and Man-of-the-Match awards, Asalanka has marshalled his team to the quarter-finals with a game in hand against Pakistan. He is already the fourth-highest run-scorer in the tournament, was second on the charts in a recent tri-series involving India and England in Colombo, and if he can curb his instinct to hole out against spinners after building on strong starts, Sri Lanka’s opponents will have to come up with solid plans to cap this force. Does it have something to do with who his favourite player is?”My parents want me to become like Sangakkara. And my favourite player is Sanath Jayasuriya.”

The beauty of James Vince’s batting masks a consistent failure to convert starts into finishes, a flaw that would not be tolerated in a less attractive player

Jarrod Kimber at Sydney04-Jan-2018’He looks so good’, ‘look how much time he has’, “he’s pretty’, ‘he looks the part’, “he has the game for this level’, ‘that shot is gorgeous’, ‘just sublime”. They don’t just say this about James Vince; they coo orgasmically. Nothing makes cricket fans happier than a pretty batsman with time. Vince has all the time in the world and is more beautiful than a summer field.What Vince doesn’t have is Test Match runs. Not many of them anyway, he’s produced more middle-aged groans than runs. It took Vince 12 Test innings to pass fifty. In 19 innings, he’s only passed that mark twice. He’s never reached 100.He’s averaging 22 in his career and 28 in this Ashes, despite scoring his two fifties. Dan Weston, owner of Sports Analytics Advantage, had him down for a predicted average of 24. Weston also said on Twitter: “Is there a better example of biased ‘eye tests’ from selectors -> horror selection decision in any sport around the world than James Vince?”The reason for Weston’s tweet is that there is almost nothing in Vince’s numbers that suggest he deserves another go in Tests, especially on a tour, especially on a hard tour, especially on a hard tour batting at No.3.Last season, playing for Hampshire, he averaged 35 with the bat. The only two seasons in his career in which he averaged over 40 (2013 & 2014) were in Division Two. He’s also never made more than two hundreds in a Championship season in Division One. Vince averages 31 in the top flight, where he makes a hundred once every 16 innings, and 50 in the second tier.If he crabbed across the crease like Simon Katich or had a homespun technique like James Taylor, he wouldn’t have been picked for his country on these numbers. He’d be a grizzled pro hiking out a few runs before moving into another career. But factor in Vince’s grace, and you somehow end up with a Test player.Vince is in his ninth year as a professional; he’s 26, this is his second spell in the Test team, he’s played ODIs and T20Is for his country, and also been an overseas pro in the BBL and PSL. He’s not some ingenue who’s drifted into Tests too soon. He’s a professional athlete who is still picked on aesthetics not statistics.This morning he was discussed on almost every commentary service available. At first, it was his poor record this series, then it was how good he had looked. As Mike Selvey said on Twitter: “Truly, I’ve heard enough about Vince’s pretty cover drive. It’s a Test match not effing Canterbury week.”James Vince walks off after edging Pat Cummins behind•Getty Images***A few years back David Gower gave an interview to ESPNcricinfo. Few batsmen have ever looked better when they were in than he, and yet that meant he was cursed every time he got out. “When people came to me and said, “You are not trying”, I said, “Honestly, I am”.” He also went on to point out, “The first man who is disappointed when you get out for none is you. The man just after that, who is equally disappointed, is the bloke who has paid to come and watch.”There’s no doubt that batsmen who look pretty and get out receive a higher level of criticism than a battling batsman. We believe that a batsman who looks like he is struggling must be, and one who isn’t rushed, isn’t. But VVS Laxman didn’t average more than Steve Waugh.When judging batsmen, we often go to how pretty they are. Victor Trumper wouldn’t be remembered if he batted like Andrew Jones – his skill for changing the game and batting on sticky wickets was important, but the thing that really stood for people with his grace. We are human; we like pretty things.The job of a batsman is not to be pretty; it’s to score runs. While having the ability to have more time (which has been scientifically tested) and the skill to play pretty shots is important, it’s not all about batting. They are just the two most obvious traits. Concentration, hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes, footwork, patience, bravery, fitness, technique, composure, training habits, desire, discipline and game awareness. No one batsmen is great at all of them, they all rely on different skills to get their job done. Some play ugly like they aren’t in, and end up with high averages. Others walk in like they own the pitch, ground and everyone in it, and never make a run.It would be irresponsible to judge a player purely on numbers; those numbers need context, history and research to ensure you get to the right answer. But you win Tests with runs, so to pick a player almost entirely on appearances, while choosing to ignore years of evidence that he doesn’t make many runs, is an incredible gamble. And England have made it twice with Vince.None of this is Vince’s fault; he’s trying hard, figuring it out, trying to survive. When he nicks off to second slip over and over again, it is Vince who first feels frustrated. The game isn’t as easy for him as he makes it look. If it were, he’d make more runs.***He’s upright, stylish, loves to drive, seems to enjoy faster bowling more than dibbly dobbers, and doesn’t at all look out of place in Test Cricket. That’s how Michael Vaughan was described at the start of his career. And when he was picked to play for England he was averaging 33.91 in first-class cricket.When people talk about James Vince, they often compare him to Vaughan.In US sports this is known as anchoring, it’s a behavioural heuristic that allows our brains to make a quick comparison. In cricket, you see it all the time, the tall skinny white bowlers who are compared to Glenn McGrath even when their skill set is entirely different. Our brain makes all those shortcuts, and that makes it easier for us to explain them. The problem comes from how often we are wrong, because as with most short cuts, they tend to end up in a hedge. There are no new McGraths.James Vince is not the new Michael Vaughan.Vaughan was picked with a dire record because England were trying to find batsmen to help them while they were in arguably their worst ever period. In the end, for all his success in Tests, Vaughan only averaged five more in that format than in all first-class cricket. Like many players, Vaughan’s best period with the bat came between the ages of 27 and 33, a period of time in which his overall first-class average was 44.7. When he was older and younger it was 33.To think that because Vince is also upright, graceful and has a bad first-class average, he will also come good in Tests is optimistic. Batsmen don’t usually make more runs in Tests than in first-class cricket; some young batsmen do, as they are picked on potential, some older players do, as they are picked when they are in career-best form. But on average, your first-class career gives a pretty good indication of what you will do in Tests.Vince’s career consists of him not making a lot of runs and struggling when he steps up in class. Seeing as he has not yet hit the golden part of his batting age just yet, it is possible that he will come good. Instead of elegant failures, we’ll see a pro run-scorer come to the fore. It’s also possible that, if he keeps getting chances, he’ll make a breathless hundred. But based on what he has done in his career so far, the chances of him being a consistent run-scorer in Tests is kinda low. For now there will be more pretty starts and brainfarts.James Vince plays one of his trademark drives•Getty Images***Wherever you stand on the Mitchell Starc “ball of the century” debate, it’s an unplayable ball, and Vince’s role was never going to be more than slain victim. But that is not the kind of ball that Vince has struggled with at Test level. The kind of ball that gets Vince out is the kind of ball that most players smash for four.”Vince was right to attack the ball which dismissed him. Against seamer deliveries within 10cm of the one which got Vince, batsmen in our database average 72.40, scoring at 5.43rpo.” This is what CricViz tweeted about the ball that dismissed Vince today. It was short and wide, a Test player would expect to smash it away for four. Many other times, Vince has been dismissed from full and wide balls; again, the kind Test players feast on.Perhaps Vince chases the four balls more viciously than other players, since his debut no one has scored more than 350 runs in Tests with a higher percentage of boundaries. In all, a third of his runs are from boundaries. Vince isn’t even a quick scorer, so he’s either not scoring, or trying to hit a boundary. That gives Test bowlers a long time to look at you. And makes it a riskier shot when you do go for broke.There is also a thought that Vince gets himself out. Perhaps today he did, perhaps he did in the first Test at the Gabba, when he looked set for his first Test ton only to run himself out for 83. But mostly, it seems teams have good plans for him.Vince is only in his third series, but to judge by the data available so far, it is clear that bowling attacks during his debut home summer in 2016 hung the ball out wide and waited for him to nick off. Here in Australia, the bowlers have kept the ball just outside off stump, back of a length, and waited for him to nick off. The real problem for Vince is the conscience; teams work him out, then they get him out. Teams have worked out he doesn’t have patience or concentration, and over time they can work on those flaws, knowing that he’ll eventually make a mistake.All of this makes him pretty, but dull, if you’re an English fan. An unfortunate pretty hate machine.***At The Oval this year, Vince made his way out to the middle when Hampshire lost their first two wickets for 71. It was a flat wicket, and Surrey had both Currans and Mark Footitt bowling. From the start, Vince looked as if he was batting on rails. As if each boundary was part of a movie script, with a storyboard, special effects, choreographer, and make-up team to make it look perfect.Vince had time, he looked pretty, and runs gushed from his bat all day. The Oval crowd made all the sorts of noises you hear when Vince is making runs. As he does in this mood, he had the illusion of permanence, like watching a Jaguar at 100 miles an hour and forgetting about all the times you’ve seen it broken down. He cruised towards a century in a shade over two hours.Just after his hundred, Tom Curran bowled one outside off stump and Vince nicked off*. It was only Vince’s seventh hundred in Division One cricket, it should have been a moment of success, but instead it looked like a continuation of his habitual flaw; he doesn’t fail to start, he fails to go on. Three other players would score more runs in the match, and you could argue he was more naturally talented than all of them.But that would be a useless argument, based on perception and subjective theories. The aim of the game is not to be the most naturally talented, to be the most effortless, or have the most time; the aim of the game is to make the most runs. Vince hasn’t done that in first-class cricket. He isn’t doing it in Tests.***Today James Vince hit, even for him, one of the most beautiful cover drives you’ll see in cricket. The shot made everyone who saw it make weird uncomfortable sounds; it stayed with you for overs, like a kiss from a lover, you automatically sigh when it enters your memory, which it does a lot. It was one of those shots you want tattooed on your arm, to play just once, one that you can’t even master in that surreal over-the-top dream. Oh, it was quite a shot.Today James Vince made 25.*2300 GMT – This paragraph was updated to correct Vince’s mode of dismissal

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2015… as Moeen Ali top-edged a slog sweep to Younis Khan at slip•Getty ImagesIt was another failure at the top of the order for Moeen, who has now scored 62 runs in five innings in the UAE•Getty ImagesAlastair Cook was England’s mainstay in the morning session•Getty ImagesHe added 71 for the second wicket with Ian Bell•Getty ImagesHowever, soon after lunch, Cook fell for 49 to Yasir Shah•Getty ImagesIt was the third time in three innings that Yasir had captured the England captain•Getty Images… and the second time that Cook had fallen to a close catcher on the leg side•Getty ImagesIt was the breakthrough that Pakistan needed to revive their spirits•Getty ImagesJoe Root then fell for 4 to a fine low catch by Sarfraz Ahmed•Getty ImagesRoot initially stood his ground but replays showed the catch was clean•Getty ImagesHowever, Bell endured, growing in confidence as his innings progressed•Getty Images… and James Taylor started well in his first Test since 2012•Getty ImagesBut, after tea, Yasir lured Bell out of his crease to be stumped for 40•Getty ImagesJonny Bairstow arrived at a key moment of England’s innings•Getty ImagesTaylor looked solid as England ground towards first-innings parity•Getty Images

Just when Colin Munro was threatening a big, game-defining innings, the 18-year-old Sunrisers debutant unveiled a nifty little variation

Karthik Krishnaswamy14-Apr-2019If 2019 has been a season of resurgence for fingerspin in the IPL, it’s largely been led by bowlers with a lot of experience – Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Nabi. On Sunday, a much younger fingerspinner unveiled a new variation to stay in the contest against a rampant hitter.Abhishek Sharma is an 18-year-old allrounder who announced himself last year with an unbeaten 46 off 19 balls on T20 debut, playing for the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils against Royal Challengers Bangalore.This season, he was one of three players who went from Delhi to Sunrisers Hyderabad to pave the way for Shikhar Dhawan to move in the other direction. His Sunrisers Hyderabad debut came on Sunday, against his old team.When Kane Williamson introduced Abhishek in the ninth over of Delhi Capitals’ innings, he was up against the left-handed Colin Munro, who was batting on 32 off 20 balls. Captains are often reluctant to bowl left-arm orthodox spinners at left-hand batsmen, but it soon became apparent why Williamson wasn’t.While it was left-arm orthodox that Abhishek bowled to the right-handed Shreyas Iyer, he primarily bowled a different kind of delivery to Munro. It wasn’t full-on wristspin with the ball leaving the hand with overspin, but a delivery akin to the seam bowler’s legcutter, with the wrist snapping backwards, and the fingers ripping down the side of the ball, to apply a significant amount of backspin.Abhishek delivered this ball from left-arm over, and it straightened away from the left-hander off the pitch. Munro jumped down the track to the fifth ball of Abhishek’s over and launched it for a big six over long-on, but the bowler came up with a fine reply. He tossed up the next ball slower and a lot wider outside off stump, and Munro, reaching out for a booming cover drive, wasn’t close enough to the pitch of the ball to play it safely. The ball spun away sharply, brushed the outside edge of his angled bat, and settled in the gloves of Jonny Bairstow, who had moved quickly and decisively behind the stumps to make a difficult catch look simple.Why did Capitals take so long to bring on Mishra?Before today, Jonny Bairstow had fallen to legspin five times in six innings this season, and the other time to Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s mystery spin. Capitals had a legspinner in their ranks, in Amit Mishra, but Shreyas Iyer didn’t bring him on until the 11th over of Sunrisers’ chase. Bairstow had fallen in the previous over for a 31-ball 41, after putting on 72 for the first wicket with David Warner.Given that Sunrisers weren’t chasing a massive target, and given their middle-order worries right through the season, it was important for Capitals to try and separate their in-form openers early. Bringing Mishra on earlier might have helped them achieve this.Another middle-order meltdownAnd yet, and yet. When Bairstow departed, Sunrisers needed 84 off 61 balls, with nine wickets in hand. Most chasing teams are still very much favourites in that situation, and ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster tool gave Sunrisers a 61.96% chance of winning. But Sunrisers have been exaggeratedly dependent on their openers this season, and when Kane Williamson followed Bairstow to the dressing room for 3 off 8 balls, Capitals could sense an opening, with the equation now reading 78 off 50 balls.Most spectators at the ground would have expected Vijay Shankar to walk in at this stage; he’s been in pretty good form this season, and has shown the game and temperament to adapt to a situation such as this one. Sunrisers, however, sent in Ricky Bhui, who was playing the second IPL match of his career.On a slightly two-paced pitch, Bhui simply couldn’t force the pace. To be fair to him, neither could Warner, who was on 32 off 32 when Williamson fell. Mishra gave away only four runs in the 13th over and five in the 15th, using a mixture of loopy googlies and flat offbreaks at over 100kph to tie Warner down. At the other end Chris Morris and Keemo Paul bowled slower, back-of-a-length cutters into the pitch, giving away just 15 between them in the 14th and 16th.By the time Bhui fell for 7 off 12, the match had swung Capitals’ way. And there was no coming back for Sunrisers when Kagiso Rabada dismissed Warner and Shankar off successive balls in the next over, both batsmen miscuing big heaves off hard-to-hit short balls. All told, Sunrisers lost 8 for 15 in their last 23 balls.

Tony Opatha led a rebel side to South Africa in 1982 – a tour on which a certain ill-suppressed madness lurked around the edges

Luke Alfred01-Feb-2017Late one weeknight in September 1982, a South African lawyer called Colin Rushmere flew into Colombo. He had flown from his home town of Port Elizabeth up to Johannesburg, then on to Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. The timing of his arrival in Colombo was no accident: the hour was sleepy, and as expected, customs officials were bleary-eyed.His most important item of luggage was a briefcase, a constant companion. In the bottom of it, disguised by other things, were stacked 14 contracts. He was in Sri Lanka to have them signed. Rushmere was not only armed with his trusty briefcase – he had a story primed, just in case. If asked, he was to mumble his way through a passable Dutch accent and busk for all he was worth. “Tony [Opatha], who picked me up and arranged the [‘rebel’ Sri Lankan] tour from their side, told me that he was so well known that he’d have to drop me a couple of streets away from my hotel,” remembers Rushmere. “He didn’t want to be seen because at that stage the tour was very hush-hush. If anyone asked or we got into any difficulties, I was a ‘Dutch businessman’.”Flying home a couple of days later I had my bags thoroughly searched, including my briefcase. As the official was digging deeper and deeper and I was getting more and more concerned, I had a brainwave. I noticed an exchange bureau close by and asked if I could change my remaining money. As I did, she seemed to lose interest. She never got to the signed contracts.”All the clandestine manoeuvring started a couple of months before Rushmere’s Colombo nip and tuck. In July, Ali Bacher and Geoff Dakin, the chief executive and president respectively of the South African Cricket Union (SACU) made the hop from London, where they were schmoozing around the edges of the ICC’s annual meeting at Lord’s, to Rotterdam. They spent the night and were back in Birmingham the following morning to watch Allan Lamb score his debut ODI century for England against Pakistan, in their eyes a timely reminder of what South Africans could do if allowed to strut on the international stage.”I remember Bacher spotting Opatha in the airport waiting area,” says Dakin. ‘There he is,’ says Ali, to which I replied, ‘Very good Ali, well spotted, he’s the only black man in this sea of white faces.’ We got negotiating and Opatha asks for $30,000 per player. Ali says, ‘You think we have that sort of cash, you must be in cuckoo land.’ So Opatha comes back, quick as anything: ‘So tell me, Ali, how many cuckoos are there to the dollar?'”Bacher and Dakin’s detour to Rotterdam was to gauge the seriousness of Opatha’s scheme to bring an unofficial Sri Lankan team to South Africa later that year. They left satisfied, and returning home, sold the idea to their board. Sponsored by South African Breweries (SAB), an English rebel side had toured South Africa the previous season, and while there was political fallout both at home and abroad, the tour was successful enough for something similar to be attempted again.Although Sri Lanka had only played their first official Test (losing by seven wickets to England in Colombo) that February, that debut didn’t appear to be overly significant to either Opatha or the South Africans. Carrying more heft, by far, was the fact that the Sri Lankans were a non-white team. This would help convince a largely unimpressed world of SACU’s reform credentials, a sort of cricketing equivalent of both having your game and playing in it. A token handful of black and “coloured” players, like Edward Habane, Omar Henry and Joe Rubidge played in the provincial games, but essentially Opatha’s men were playing against apartheid-era white opposition. “By their standards they were going to be handsomely paid,” recalled Dakin, “and we needed regular foreign opposition to keep the game healthy. National Panasonic [the electronics manufacturer] were an enthusiastic sponsor. We went ahead and kept it as quiet as we could.”

“The lepers who are surreptitiously worming their way to South Africa must understand that they are not playing fair by the coloured world”Sri Lankan minister Gamini Dissanayake on the rebels

Opatha hadn’t played cricket in or for Sri Lanka since the 1979 World Cup, and at the time of the negotiations was playing club cricket in the Netherlands. With his customary larger-than-life flair, he set about assembling a side, the financial temptations of the tour proving too generous to ignore.Rushmere flew back from Colombo with 14 signed contracts in his briefcase, but literally on the eve of the Sri Lankans’ arrival in South Africa he needed to dash up to Harare, where they were in the closing stages of a tour against Zimbabwe. “It was very important for us that we get confirmation from [Roy] Dias and [Duleep] Mendis that they were prepared to make it, because we’d heard that they were vacillating,” said Rushmere. “Joe [Pamensky, then the treasurer of SACU] promised that if we could get the signatures of those two, they could come back for another tour the following year.”In the event, the parties got bogged down in financial negotiations. Despite not being available for the entire South African tour, Dias and Mendis demanded the full fee. Rushmere was unable to reach agreement with them, and after a heady few weeks in which there were press rumours of the Sri Lankans’ passports being withdrawn, a group of sundry tourists from Colombo arrived at Jan Smuts airport in late October.Unlike the fanfare that preceded the arrival of the SAB England side the previous summer, there was no media fandango. “They were expressly told to pack a small suitcase with a change of clothes and a toothbrush,” says Dakin. “They were ‘tourists’, dressed in civvies. Kitting out took place here in South Africa. We wanted to draw as little attention as possible to their arrival.”If there were any quibbles from the hosts about the quality of the tourists without Dias and Mendis, who had batted at three and four respectively in Sri Lanka’s official debut Test in February, Opatha did his best to keep them in check. With characteristic swagger he dubbed the team the AROSA Sri Lankan XI – the “ARO” in AROSA standing for the Antony Ralph in Antony Ralph Marinon Opatha – the “SA” being a self-explanatory doffing of the cap at his hosts.The tourists were in all likelihood kitted out by Adidas (the photos are indistinct) and they were shadowed at all times by Piet Kellermann, a South African government representative, who saw to it that there were no official incidents. The tourists were described as “charming ambassadors” but were required to toe the petty apartheid line. There was to be little venturing outside of their hotels, or “see-for-themselves” furloughs into the townships for a little . The unusual use of the verb “worming” tells us all we need to know.As worms in cuckoo land, history has judged neither SACU nor the Sri Lankan rebels well. The verdict is unlikely to change anytime soon.

England captain concedes “challenge of playing on slower wickets” is still an area for batsmen to address

George Dobell in Barbados19-Feb-2019England must learn to win ugly if they are to win the World Cup. That is their challenge with just one more ODI series before the start of a potentially momentous home summer.While England have earned a reputation for explosive batting on true surfaces – they have recorded the two highest totals made in the history of ODI cricket since the last World Cup, both times at Trent Bridge – they have not always proved so dominant in conditions where bowlers have more in their favour. Think of the performance against South Africa at Lord’s in 2017, when they were bowled out for 153, or the match against Australia at Old Trafford in 2015 (they made just 138).But nowhere was this struggle to adapt more painfully exploited that in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan. In that game, on a used surface that provided a bit of assistance to spinners and reverse-swing bowlers, England were dismissed for 211. Pakistan cruised to an eight-wicket win.So, as England start their lead-up to their World Cup campaign – they now play nothing by white-ball cricket until mid-July – they know it is an area they must improve. And, with a possibility that some surfaces in this series against West Indies may prove tough for batsmen, it is a weakness that may confront them several times in the coming days.”Everybody expects us to win,” Eoin Morgan said ahead of Wednesday’s ODI in Barbados. “But the manner it will play out will be different from what people expect.”There is the challenge of playing on slower wickets that don’t necessarily allow us to play an expansive game. We have improved on it, but to produce a level of consistency in performing and winning is something we haven’t nailed down.”I played here last year for Barbados and the pitch was quite uneven and steep bouncing. It offered some turn, too, and the wind plays a big part. So it will be a tough challenge and everybody in our changing room knows that. It’s not an easy place to come and win particularly when they have a lot of match winners.”England misread the conditions ahead of the Test here, however, and it is possible they have done so again. While surfaces on the England Lions tour and in the CPL were not especially good for batting, the pitches prepared for the first two ODIs in Barbados look full of runs.Morgan’s logic is sound, though. England failed to adapt to that surface in Cardiff and, while most pitches for the World Cup are expected to promote big-hitting and high scores, there is always the possibility they will be confronted by a more demanding surface along the way. If so, their batsmen will quickly have to work out what a challenging score might be and play accordingly. It has not been a strength in recent times.England must also grow accustomed to being talked about as favourites and people expecting them to win. This is not entirely new for them – it has been the case for the last 12 months, at least – and they have encouraged such talk in the hope it will”We don’t mind the tag of favourites,” Morgan said. “We’ve spoken about it and we’ve learned to be at ease with it in the last few series. It doesn’t really mean anything: you still have to produce to be rewarded.”But, while England do start this series as favourites – they are No. 1 in the world rankings, after all, and West Indies No. 9 – Morgan made the point that Scotland beat them less than a year ago. There can be no room for complacency.Chris Woakes bowls during England practice•Getty ImagesIn terms of individual selections, the batting and spin bowling looks reasonably secure. But there is at least one seam-bowling position to be finalised, with the likes of Mark Wood, Tom Curran and Liam Plunkett hoping to do enough to see off the challenge from Jofra Archer, who qualifies in about a month.But while Morgan played down any threat to Plunkett’s position, in particular, he did accept that pace – one of Archer’s primary weapons – was an important part of his bowling armoury. And he might have provided a little hint that the loss of Olly Stone, who played in Sri Lanka but has subsequently been diagnosed with a stress fracture, could offer Archer an opportunity.”I’m not concerned about Plunkett,” Morgan replied to a question about the bowler’s apparently diminishing pace. “The trajectory and variations he brings are valuable, too. When you’re facing him, it’s not easy. Particularly here where a bit of extra height does count.”We are very lucky because we probably have only one injury to a guy who might have been involved and that’s Stone. He is capable of bowling 90mph along with Plunkett and Mark Wood. The difference of having those guys is quite significant. You only had to watch the Test matches to see how valuable they are.”One of the best attributes I have is to compartmentalise things. Until Jofra qualifies, he’s not really in our thoughts at the moment.”If Wood is unable to replicate the pace he generated in St Lucia, however, and Plunkett is unable to offer the mid-innings control that he has provided so often in recent times, it is likely Archer will feature very prominently in Morgan’s thoughts before this series is over.