A deep dive into numbers from the last 30 years or so will reveal that Dale Steyn is not merely great, but is actually among the finest half-dozen quicks to ever have played the game

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jul-2018 • Updated on 31-Aug-2021Just how good is Dale Steyn? Outstanding, right? Almost everyone will agree he is an all-time great. But as he stands on the verge of breaking the record for South Africa’s most Test wickets, requiring one more dismissal to go clear of Shaun Pollock, the numbers suggest he has been even better than he is in most people’s estimation. It may be that Steyn is not merely great, but is actually among the finest half-dozen quicks to ever have played the game.We will eventually measure Steyn’s record in relation to the best quicks through cricket’s modern history, but before that let’s look at how he compares to his 21st-century peers. Among fast bowlers who have taken over 200 wickets since 2000, Steyn’s average of 22.42 is third-best, behind those of Glenn McGrath and Vernon Philander. While McGrath was experiencing a late-career harvest (his overall numbers are slightly worse), Philander is buoyed by spectacular numbers while playing at home – he has been nowhere near as effective as Steyn outside South Africa, and his returns in Asia have been particularly modest relative to his exploits elsewhere.Where Steyn is a clear leader, however, is in strike rate; no one else on the list gets close to his 41.6. He is also the second-highest wicket-taker for this period, with 421 scalps. Only James Anderson has been more successful, but Anderson’s average (27.23) and strike rate (56.2), are not in Steyn’s league. This is no real surprise – although Anderson has been a supremely skillful bowler, Steyn could do pretty much everything Anderson could do, but at 10kph faster.How Steyn stacks up against other fast bowlers of his era•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdAmong Steyn’s clearest claims to greatness have been his performances in Asia, where quicks generally encounter the least helpful surfaces. He has 92 wickets in the continent, well clear of Anderson, who is the next-most-successful non-Asian seamer this century with 59 wickets. Among quicks to have played at least 20 Tests in Asia since 2000, though, Steyn’s numbers compare favourably even with those of Asian fast bowlers. His numbers are virtually indistinguishable from those of Shoaib Akhtar, with other wonderful Asian quicks – the likes of Chaminda Vaas and Zaheer Khan – sitting way back.The best Test fast bowlers in Asia since 2000•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdWe have now established that Steyn is the most penetrative and versatile quick of the last 15 years, but let’s now look a little further back and bring the great ’90s bowlers into the frame. To do a meaningful comparison across eras, though, we must account for varying conditions and trends. Although bowler-friendly tracks have made a roaring comeback over the past few years, much of Steyn’s career was played in an infamously batting-friendly period. So instead of merely stacking up these players’ averages and strike rates against each other, let’s look at how much better each bowler was than his peers, by calculating the difference between each bowler’s numbers and the mean bowling numbers in his career span (that is, the mean bowling stats from between the bowler’s first and last Test).From among a group of eight truly outstanding quicks, Steyn has the best average differential, though he is neck-and-neck with McGrath.

Where Steyn sets himself apart from McGrath, however, is via that incredible strike rate. Only Waqar Younis had a better strike rate differential than Steyn, but then Waqar was more expensive as well.How much better is Steyn over others in his era?•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdWhere Steyn’s versatility – owing probably to his mastery of reverse-swing – really become clear is when his figures in Asia are compared to those of the best visiting quicks through cricket’s history. His raw average and strike rate in Asia is staggering enough, but throw the differential numbers in – that is, compare Steyn’s stats to the mean for his era, while doing the same for the other non-Asian greats – he comes out ahead of the pack in terms of average.How Steyn’s numbers in Asia stack up against the rest•ESPNcricinfo LtdOn strike rate, Steyn and Wes Hall are well clear of the rest. Effectively, Steyn’s wickets in Asia have come an astounding 28 balls closer together than they have for the average bowler in his era.ESPNcricinfo’s jury panel recently voted in McGrath as the right-arm quick in our Test team of the last 25 years, but given the above numbers, I would replace McGrath with Steyn, owing not only to Steyn’s prowess on the toughest continent for quicks, but also because of the value he adds via his strike rate. A full fifth of McGrath’s wickets had also come against minnows, by which of course I mean England 1994 through 2003.Even Malcolm Marshall, whose record in Asia is what clinches him the “greatest fast bowler ever” tag, for many, was not quite as statistically dominant as Steyn has been there.Is Steyn the greatest-ever non-Asian quick bowler in Asia?•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdBy now, it is clear that numbers-wise, Steyn has a strong claim to being the finest fast bowler of the last 30 years – in a fairly crowded field. He is also almost certainly the best non-Asian quick in Asian conditions. Among bowlers of any ilk with more than 200 wickets, from any era, Steyn’s career strike rate of 41.6 is the best. If you are a captain in need of quick wickets, with minimal release of pressure, there is no better player to call on from your great-bowler rolodex than Steyn; he is the most aggressive great bowler there has been.

Finally, one more figure that puts Steyn in the league of the most sublime quicks to ever bear down on batsmen: his record in victories. Aside from the first few years of his career, in which Australia dominated, South Africa have arguably been the best Test team in the world for a good portion of Steyn’s career. In that time, no bowler has been more crucial to his team’s success. In fact, few quicks have ever been as impactful for any team as Steyn. Of bowlers that played in the last 100 years, only Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan have better averages in victories (minimum: 100 wickets in wins). Steyn has more wickets in wins than the other top 15 bowlers (by average). It pretty much goes without saying by this stage that Steyn’s rocking strike rate is the best.

With all these numbers considered and put into historical context, Steyn’s career comes out looking even more monstrous than perhaps he has got credit for. How many bowlers in history can claim to have dominated matches in Galle (in 2014), as well as at the Wanderers? There is stiff competition for the pace-bowling spots in an all-time XI, but having been the clear leader during his playing period, and having put up spectacular numbers despite playing in one of the most batting-friendly eras in history, he deserves to be part of any all-time XI conversation.Stats updated till July 18, 2018

The Test readiness of England’s rookies is perhaps secondary to the sense of purpose that their inclusions project

Andrew Miller at Lord's08-Aug-20181:47

Pope gets the nod for England, but who’ll miss out?

The kids are alright, you know. For the fourth time in 2018 alone, and for the fifth time since the selection of Haseeb Hameed on the last tour of India in November 2016, England have plumped for youth over experience, excitement over stability, the bold approach over the same old narrative with interchangeably seasoned campaigners.At the age of 20 years and 219 days, Surrey’s Ollie Pope will bat at No.4 for England in the Lord’s Test – a position that effectively leaves him man-marking one of the game’s all-time great batsmen in India’s captain, Virat Kohli, the scorer of 200 formidable runs in last week’s Edgbaston Test.With just 15 first-class matches under his belt, Pope slots into England’s Test history as their third-youngest specialist batsman behind Denis Compton (19 years and 83 days) and Hameed (19 years and 269 days), and does so in the wake of his Surrey team-mate and fellow 20-year old, Sam Curran, being named as Man of the Match for a precocious allround display in the first Test.Throw into the mix the bloodings of Mason Crane (20 years and 320 days) at Sydney in January, and Dom Bess (20 years and 306 days) for the Pakistan Tests in May and June, and is clear that the only thing being fast-tracked more quickly than young English talent is a sense of revolution from the new national selector, Ed Smith, who whiled away his time during England’s nets session by patrolling the Nursery Ground outfield with phone glued to ear and with shades and rolled-up shirtsleeves transmitting a stockbroker’s air of urgency.What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything and nothing, in the opinion of England’s captain, Joe Root (who was himself a grizzled 22-year-old when he made his own Test bow at Nagpur in 2012-13). Before this sudden baby boom, England had chosen just 19 under-21s in their first 140 years of Test history – most recently Steven Finn as a last-minute replacement on the tour of Bangladesh in 2010. But with the team’s current Test record perhaps as erratic as it has been in a generation, there is arguably a perverse prudence to such an abrupt change of strategy.”If you’re old enough, you’re good enough,” Root said. “A lot of the selections of late have been quite bold, we’re not shy of being a little bit brave and doing things slightly differently. It’s worked out for us so far.””I think when you give exciting young talents responsibility, they tend to surprise you,” he added. “We’ve seen that so far. The challenge for them moving forward is to try and sustain that and not put too much pressure on themselves and too much expectation on them to deliver on a really consistent basis.”Ollie Pope and Sam Curran warm up ahead of training•Getty ImagesThe issue of youth and renewal is one that cuts to the core of everything in English cricket at present. The question of whether the likes of Pope and Curran are truly ready for the step-up in class is perhaps secondary to the sense of purpose that their inclusions project.Much as was the case with Adil Rashid’s recall at Edgbaston (and maybe, if you want to extrapolate even further, the ongoing mayhem that is The Hundred), the noses that get put out of joint by the ECB’s sudden predilection for thinking outside the box are less important than those outside the game’s usual confines who get wind of this disruption to the status quo, and poke their noses in for a first sniff of the action.Certainly Root was at pains to make it clear that the door is not closed to county performers who earn their recognition through the more traditional formula of runs and wickets over time. But, tellingly, he also seemed less interested in immediate dividends, even with a series as important as a five-Test rubber against India on the line. The long game is what really matters as England attempt to reboot their red-ball fortunes.”I think we’ve got to be really realistic that these guys are exciting young players and they will do some very good stuff,” said Root. “It might not all happen straight away and we have to be a little bit patient with that.” Join us for the ride, in other words, and invest in these guy’s stories. Whatever transpires, it is unlikely to be dull.Even India’s captain seemed rather engaged by Pope’s tale. “We want to try and knock him over as early as possible, but on a larger front, I am happy for him,” Kohli said. “As a cricketer I understand how important it is. I will tell him to enjoy the occasion, and not get too many runs!”The prospect of Pope having his credentials scrutinised by the best batsman in the world may be daunting, but it is not as if England’s rookies are being thrown into the fray without a serious support network behind them. In Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad – not to mention Root himself, whose 6000 Test runs are still only the start of what he could achieve – this team’s senior pros are among the most senior ever to have played the game.”We’ve got some very good experienced players around them so they can learn and mould their games at the highest level,” said Root. “For young guys coming in, that’s exciting for this team, and for people around it, seeing a young man in Sam performing how he did last week with a real bright future, it’s exciting for English cricket. That should fill a lot of other lads around the country with a huge amount of confidence.”And if the beauty of Test cricket lies in its narrative, then what could be more beautiful than these kids-turned-veterans, looking back in 15 years’ time on the priceless nuggets of wisdom that they received first-hand in their earliest outings? It may be wildly out of kilter with everything that English cricket has preached about Test cricket in the course of its first 990-odd engagements. But since the turn of the year, there’s been a turning of the page. And are you not entertained already?

‘To be honest, I believe in [the yo-yo test]. I was disappointed in a way as to why I could not clear the test, so I worked towards it and cleared it’

Shashank Kishore in Bengaluru23-Aug-2018In July, when India were playing an ODI series in England, Ambati Rayudu was enjoying his time in the Yorkshire sun. Only a month prior to that, he had been withdrawn from the ODI squad because of “fitness concerns”, which he later confirmed was a failed yo-yo test.Rayudu, though, wasn’t sulking at the axe, even if an international comeback after two years had just been put on hold. He enjoyed a week-long trip to England, mentoring a bunch of age-group cricketers, handpicked by his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, on an exchange programme. Incidentally, it was in England that Rayudu had first stormed his way into the national reckoning in 2002, with a 177 in a one-dayer against England’s Under-19s.Now he finds himself back in the fray again, after passing the yo-yo test. Less than 24 hours after being drafted into the India A side, Rayudu weathered a probing burst of fast bowling from Billy Stanlake and Jhye Richardson to make a fighting unbeaten half-century. In the bigger scheme of things, it gives the national selectors another option as they search for a consistent middle order batsman with the 2019 World Cup just 10 months away.”I was disappointed with myself that I could not clear the test [before the England tour],” he said on Thursday. “[I have] nothing against the test at all as everybody has to be there at a certain fitness level, to play for India. To be honest, I believe in it. I was disappointed in a way as to why I could not clear the test, so I worked towards it and cleared it.”After he returned from the coaching stint in the UK, it was business as usual at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. At a time when many of the fringe players were locked up in a tussle against South Africa A, Rayudu was immersed in his own routines.Every morning, barring the one weekly day off, he was at the gym for cardio, followed by strength and conditioning sessions. Those were followed by two hour-long batting stints with a small lunch break in between. The evenings were spent in recovery. This routine helped him regain “lost fitness” and set himself up for the yo-yo test again.When the teams for the quadrangular series were announced, Rayudu wasn’t included among the 30 players across the two Indian squads, because he hadn’t yet taken the yo-yo test. Earlier this week, Rayudu completed his test, met the parameters prescribed by the team management, and made the India A squad.The IPL, where he was the highest run-getter in a victorious campaign for CSK (602 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 149.75), seemed a distant memory, but Rayudu showed no traces of rust or a dip in form when he returned to action on Thursday.He was his calm self, absorbing pressure, trying to play on the patience of the bowling unit, before cashing in once the spinners were introduced. The end result – a carefully crafted half-century in a winning chase – pleased him, even though he showed no outward elation afterwards.Rayudu has been unlucky in the past too with fitness issues. In 2015 he had to return from Zimbabwe, where he was part of a second-string India ODI side, because of a quadriceps injury. In the two innings on the tour, he had made 42 not out and an unbeaten century. He lost a year after that in recovery, and when he was eventually declared match-fit he couldn’t quite regain his place.These episodes, Rayudu said, taught him valuable lessons in channeling his frustration. He also underlined how important it was to be in a good headspace and accept injuries to deal with them better. Asked about the frustration of not being termed “yo-yo fit” despite being “match fit in the IPL”, Rayudu was forthright.”Fitness is definitely important for cricket. Obviously one has to be absolutely fit to play,” he said. I am happy that there is a certain kind of a benchmark and a bar. It is just that everybody has to respect it and move forward. For me, it is just keeping things simple. I missed a year due to an injury. This year, I could not clear the test for the last series, so I am actually happy to be back to play for India A.”Rayudu is a man of few words. The anger he can sometimes show on the field can, at times, come as a shock if you’re used to his polite off-field persona. He smiles more than he talks.From being touted as one for the future in 2002 to playing in an Under-19 World Cup in 2004 to disappearing into the rebel ICL and then returning to the mainstream, Rayudu’s career has been one of promise not entirely fulfilled. He has seen many of his Under-19 contemporaries – Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik to name a few – bypass him for the India cap. After his return from the ICL, he switched from Hyderabad to Baroda and Vidarbha before returning home again.As he readies himself for another audition ahead of next year’s World Cup, there are bound to be sterner tests. But Rayudu isn’t perturbed. “In a country of billion people, if you are able to represent your country, you will be happy, it is always a matter of pride. I am happy that I am now in the scheme of things. I am just waiting for another opportunity.”

With a strong core of experienced players – Bates, Devine, Satterthwaite, Kasperek – New Zealand will be keen to make amends for their collapse in the 2016 World T20 semi-final

Vishal Dikshit08-Nov-2018

Squad list

Amy Satterthwaite (capt), Suzie Bates, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Sophie Devine, Kate Ebrahim, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Katey Martin, Lea Tahuhu, Jess Watkin, Anna Peterson, Hannah Rowe

World T20 pedigree

One of the stronger and consistent teams in women’s cricket, New Zealand had a stellar run in the 2016 World T20 until they fumbled in the semi-final. Apart from pushing aside Sri Lanka and Ireland in their opening two matches, they thrashed Australia by six wickets (how often does Meg Lanning get out for a golden duck?) and then bowled South Africa out for 99. In the semi-final too, they were on their way to chase down 144 against West Indies but the eventual champions struck timely blows to end New Zealand’s campaign.They still have the same personnel who starred in their run to the knockouts – Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Leigh Kasperek albeit under a different captain this time. Bates stepped down just two months before the World T20 and handed the reins to experienced allrounder Amy Satterthwaite. If Bates can perform even better than how she has been with the bat in recent times – centuries for Hampshire, Player-of-the-Match performance in the IPL exhibition match – then oppositions will have to find new ways to restrict her. She will, however, need more support from the middle order if New Zealand wish to go all the way.Leigh Kasperek (holding the trophy) poses for a selfie with her team-mates•IDI/Getty Images

Recent T20I form

After the last World T20, they won twice against Pakistan and even beat Australia 2-1 in Australia (2017) and whitewashed West Indies 4-0 at home earlier this year.Their recent form will be a slight worry though. They won only two of five matches in a T20I tri-series against South Africa and England in June, and were handed a seven-wicket thrashing in the final. A big positive in that series included their record score of 216 in the opener, but the main contribution came from Bates’ 66-ball 124.In their most recent series, away from home, Australia blanked them 3-0. Batting first, New Zealand could not defend their totals in any of the three matches. Going into the World T20, they will hope their spinners Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr fare much better on the slower pitches in the Caribbean.Amy Satterthwaite pulls stylishly•Getty Images

The captain and coach

“Branch”, as she is known for her height, Amy Satterthwaite is one of the more experienced players in the squad. Having begun her international career in 2007, the middle-order batsman has made six ODI centuries and strikes at nearly 95 in T20Is. She also has a knack of scoring big in big matches – her maiden international century was against Australia, and she scored 103 and 85 in successive matches against England in the 2013 World Cup.She was left out of the squad for the World T20 in 2014 but returned with impressive performances and has now played in the WBBL as well as the Kia Super League in England. She also became the first woman to score four consecutive ODI centuries, only the second player in international cricket after Kumar Sangakkara.Earlier a medium-pacer, she switched to bowling offspin and even holds the best T20I figures (among the major nations) of 6 for 17.Haidee Tiffen, also one of the finest allrounders of her time, has been with New Zealand for three-and-a-half years now. Also a former captain and an impressive athlete when she played, she focusses on all those aspects as a coach and mentor for several of the young women in the squad. She also acted as the assistant coach of Auckland Hearts and the New Zealand side before taking over full time from Hamish Barton. Having won the 2000 World Cup and led her side to the final of the 2009 edition, she will be eager to achieve similar success as a coach this time, and in a different format.The male cricketer to come closest to Amelia Kerr’s 232 not out and five-for in an ODI is Alvin Kallicharran, who made 206 and took six wickets in a List A game in England in 1984•Getty Images

Best players

The top run-scorer in women’s T20Is, New Zealand’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format, and the player with most catches by a non-wicketkeeper for her country – Suzie Bates. Opening the batting with the explosive Sophie Devine, Bates will be the most crucial player for New Zealand, playing the anchor role with the bat, picking up wickets with the ball and defusing crunch situations when they arise. This year, apart from her form in international cricket, she chipped in with vital performances for the Southern Vipers in the Kia Super League.As much as frontline spinners Kasperek and Kerr are expected to exploit the conditions in the coming weeks, New Zealand will need some solidity in the middle order too, and they will look to Katey Martin for that. Their captain also named Martin as one of the key players for the tournament, after they arrived in Guyana last week. Apart from wicketkeeping gloves, Martin brings with her the experience of 140 international matches having made her debut in 2003. She has scored four T20I fifties this year, was the Player of the T20I Series against West Indies at home earlier this year, and put on a record 124 with Satterthwaite in the second T20I of the same series – then the highest for New Zealand.

Where will they finish

Given they are in Group B with India, Australia, Pakistan and Ireland, New Zealand will have to reach the knockouts at the expense of India or Australia. Considering Australia’s pedigree, the tournament’s opening game between India and New Zealand could well decide who takes the first-mover advantage out of the two. While they have made it to the knockouts consistently in the past, it’s the extra push towards the final they have lacked and need to overcome.

Cricket in Meghalaya faces a multitude of hurdles. but hope for the future is embodied in the motley crew that makes up the state’s first-ever Ranji Trophy squad

Saurabh Somani20-Nov-2018If a Meghalaya player has a particularly bad outing during this Ranji Trophy 2018-19 season, you might find him teetering nervously on the edge of a cliff, about to jump off. No, literally, you might.This will not be a “leave this world behind” leap, though. It’ll be a bungee jump. Sponsored by captain Jason Lamare. Because Lamare runs an adventure-sports business in Shillong, and bungee jumping is next on the expansion agenda. And when asked if he’d let any players do it, he laughs and tells ESPNcricinfo, “Definitely. It will be a punishment – if you don’t bowl well or bat well, you’re going to jump!”This propensity to laugh is infectious and heart-warming, and it runs across the team. It’s in evidence during their training sessions, when they are on the field, when they are attending an official dinner, or when they are engaging in an impromptu game of foot-volleyball because Cyclone Gaja has stopped play in Puducherry, the venue of Meghalaya’s second Ranji Trophy match.Before the Vijay Hazare Trophy that marked Meghalaya’s entry into senior-level cricket, the team bonded by trekking up Shillong Peak in the rain. During the tournament, whose Plate Group was played across three cities in Gujarat, they watched “all the movies that released that month together” – according to Puneet Bisht, the senior-most professional.The north-east has for long been looked at as football country in cricket-crazy India. It might have stayed that way had the Lodha Committee recommendations not mandated the BCCI to include all of its states in the cricket fold. Nearly all of the cricket in Meghalaya is concentrated in the capital city of Shillong, which has a grand total of ground. But in this cricketing outpost, there might still be hope for a cricketing future.There’s the captain himself, who at 35 is one of the oldest members in the team. He played for Assam before the Meghalaya Cricket Association was formed, and this, he thought, had ended his cricket career prematurely. So did his cousin Mark Ingty, who is 42. Ingty made his first-class debut in January 2002, when fellow fast bowlers Lakhan Singh and Dippu Sangma were in kindergarten. Fun fact: the combined ages of Lakhan and Dippu fall short of Ingty’s.The BCCI has provided support staff for the team, which is a boon because it’s brought them an experienced hand as head coach, in Sanath Kumar. Like each of the other eight new teams, Meghalaya have signed up professionals too, the trio of Bisht, Yogesh Nagar and Gurinder Singh bringing skill, nous and years of experience on the domestic treadmill with them.But while necessary when the team is in its toddler phase, the professional coaches and players are peripheral to the cricketing story of the team. Sure, it’s the professionals who have done the heavy lifting for Meghalaya so far – as they have for every team in the Plate Group. But for those teams right now, the journey is far more significant than the results.Fast bowlers Chengkam Sangma (left) and Dippu Sangma travelled hundreds of kilometres to make it to the Meghalaya team•Saurabh Somani/ESPNcricinfoDippu and Chengkam Sangma’s journey to the senior team was an arduous trek, literally. Chengkam stays in Tura, home to the Garo indigenous group. It’s 323 kilometres of mountainous terrain from Shillong. For Dippu, Tura is the closest “big town” – he lives a further 100-plus kilometres away, in Baghmara.”There’s not much scope for jobs,” Chengkam says, and Dippu nods his assent. An advertisement in local papers for trials for the state team brought them together. There was one initial round of trial in Tura. Both attended, both were selected to go further, and they arrived in Shillong. Both did well once again, and found themselves part of the state team.Chengkam is one of seven siblings, Dippu counts himself among six. Both grew up on tennis-ball cricket, and neither had bowled with a leather ball until three years ago. “I found it heavy,” Dippu says of his first experience with a proper cricket ball. “I couldn’t control the swing also, and while batting, I couldn’t play the swinging ball well.”Chengkam had a similar experience, and neither had access to any coaching that would guide them. They’re now bowling at one level below international cricket, having made an unimaginable journey not just in miles but in learning the game too.”Our village is a bit backward, so there isn’t any big business. I would have done some small business if it wasn’t for cricket,” Chengkam says. His family wasn’t supportive of his foray into the game until recently. Now that he’s representing the state, they’ve relented. Other players might see dollar signs when the IPL comes calling, or in glitzy ad shoots once they make it as international cricketers. Here, the earnings as a journeyman domestic cricketer are gold dust, and a more lucrative career option than any other available.”I was studying before this, I just did my graduation. My college is not very good,” Dippu offers with disarming honesty. “If it wasn’t for cricket, I would have looked for a job, maybe in the police.”They speak Hindi with a lilting twang, but despite an obvious communication gap, there is little difficulty in making themselves understood, especially when they are asked if cricket was the best option for them. “Yes,” comes one emphatic answer. “Definitely,” comes the other.Wanlambok Nongkhlaw will go back to being a traffic policeman after the cricket season•Wanlambok NongkhlawIf any of the Meghalaya team were to break traffic rules while zipping around Shillong, they might cop a fine from Wanlambok Nongkhlaw, a traffic policeman who also happens to be the only left-arm seamer in the Ranji squad.Nongkhlaw was stationed in Shillong, and was active in the local leagues for the Meghalaya Police (MLP) team. Four MLP players were called for trials, and only Nongkhlaw made it to the state team. Once the season is done, though, Nongkhlaw will return to his job – though he might perhaps let a minor infraction or two pass if he spots a team-mate riding down the street without a helmet. “A little bit you can let go,” he says, eyes twinkling.”I have not turned from a policemen to a cricketer, I’ve turned from a cricketer into a policeman,” Nongkhlaw says. “I’ve been playing cricket since childhood, and then in 2008 I got a job with the police and I was posted with the traffic police.”There are signs that a cricketing culture could take root in Meghalaya, but plenty of work remains to be done.”The first challenge is getting enough players,” coach Sanath says. “The other thing is enough place to practice. All cricket used to take place in just one ground in Shillong. Now suddenly you have the men’s team, Under-23, Under-19, women’s team, women’s age-group teams… and with just three or four pitches, everybody has to practice. They are used to unexpected rains too. So for their weather, they definitely need a very good indoor practice facility, which they don’t have yet.”Funding is an aspect Sanath stresses on. It’s needed to build more practice facilities, to send the team for matches outside the state to accelerate their learning, and to maintain and spread the game in Meghalaya.”I feel people in the north-east love sports,” Sanath says. “And they are naturally very agile and athletic. It’s just that they haven’t been given an opportunity to get into the game yet.”Lamare concurs. “We have kids who play and we have youth interested. There is a cricket academy which has 300 students now. It might take a few years, but it is going to pick up,” he says. “Once the youth in all the north-eastern states realise there is potential in cricket, there is a career. You don’t have to work now, you can actually play cricket and earn – so interest will develop.”Meghalaya captain Jason Lamare is leading them on the field, but his first love is adventure sports•Saurabh Somani/ESPNcricinfoDespite that, Lamare almost didn’t want to come back to cricket, preferring to mess about with scuba diving, ziplining, rock climbing and the like. Father Peter, a coach at the Shillong Academy, and Ingty – who has missed the first two rounds through injury – brought him around. “My dad and Mark Ingty convinced me to play,” Lamare says. “His (Ingty’s) mother and my father are brother and sister, so we’ve literally grown up playing cricket. We are very close. He’s feeling really lousy he’s not here. We miss him.”Adventure sports is, in a way, Lamare’s first love. His company, Pioneer Adventure Tours, has been in operation from 2012 and has had visits fro Shikhar Dhawan, Unmukt Chand and the actor Kalki Koechlin, among others.When Meghalaya became an Affiliate member of the BCCI in 2008, Lamare could not play for Assam any more. And at 25, he couldn’t play for Meghalaya either, since they didn’t have a senior team.”That winter I went to Goa to become a certified scuba-diving instructor,” he says. “I worked there for two seasons till 2011. Then in 2012 I started my adventure business. Adventure has always been a part of me, so that move was always going to happen. It just happened a bit earlier because my cricket career halted in 2008. I thought that since my business is stable now, I can keep it aside for two months. January 2 is the last game, and on 4th it’s back to work!”Standing around on a cricket field for 90 overs must be dull for Lamare after that. “Definitely,” he laughs. “When things don’t go your way in the game, though, you think, ‘Man I wish I was back home diving or cliff-jumping or something.'”Meghalaya are one of the few north-east teams for whom “home” games are actually at home – and not in a borrowed stadium in a different state. For Lamare, one thing is certain as soon as they have a stretch of games at home. “As soon as we’re in Shillong, the team is immediately going,” he says. Going, that is, for adventure sports with him.When they do go, whether they’re ziplining or rappelling or camping by the riverside – it will merely be an extension of life as they’ve known it these past few months. It’s been an adventure.

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.

He couldn’t do too much worse than the current top six, and his bowling would take some of the load off an overworked pace attack. So why isn’t he playing?

Danyal Rasool in Cape Town04-Jan-2019″Horses for courses” is one of the pithier selectorial phrases in cricket. It has justified, or tried to justify, calls based on players’ particular talents, and in an increasingly data-driven sport, helped inform selection calls based on format, context and, of course, location. It is why Steve O’Keefe played for Australia in Pune in 2017, and the reason Will Somerville and Ajaz Patel made their New Zealand debuts against Pakistan in the last two months, keeping Tim Southee and Neil Wagner out of the side. Essentially, it’s about picking players likeliest to succeed in the conditions games will be played in.In Faheem Ashraf, Pakistan have the type of seam-bowling allrounder Faf du Plessis waxed lyrical over in Centurion, saying a seam bowler who batted at seven was a combination to be found in “a perfectly balanced Test team”.It was an option Pakistan used with relative success in Ireland and England, with Faheem scoring 83 on debut in Malahide and a 38-ball 37 at Lord’s to pile greater pressure on England. At Headingley, where Sarfraz Ahmed’s side found themselves on the wrong end of a hiding, he was their best bowler, taking 3 for 60 even as Pakistan suffered an innings defeat.ALSO READ – Can Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf give Pakistan the flexibility they need?These performances led to thoughts of Faheem featuring even in the UAE where, even if his brand of seam bowling would find limited purchase, his canny ability with the bat would go further than it had in the British Isles. When that didn’t materialise, it was horses for courses that justified it, with Mickey Arthur eager to play two spinners and Sarfraz Ahmed at seven. That squeezed Faheem out, and if it felt a tad harsh on a player who seemed to improve with each passing match, it was at least fathomable.South Africa appeared to be the perfect place to unleash the talents of a player who has looked, more seriously than any other, capable of filling the role last played consistently in Pakistan’s line-up by Abdul Razzaq. If his bowling had looked a threat under the cloud cover in England and Ireland, it was likely to be a handful on the bouncy pitches in Centurion and Cape Town. Preciously, it was a potent fifth-bowling option against batsmen of South Africa’s quality, likely to come in handy as one partnership or other wore the stock quartet down.If Pakistan won’t play him here, as has been the case for the first two Tests, what does it say about Faheem’s Test-match prospects? The horses-for-courses equivalent of benching Faheem Ashraf here is Frankel taking a year off at Ascot.Even Arthur effectively acknowledged after the first Test that playing without Faheem had been a mistake, though in that particular instance Yasir Shah would have been the player to miss out. Today, somewhat bizarrely, he refused to characterise Faheem as a seam-bowling allrounder, instead calling him “a bowler who bats a little bit at the moment. We’re hoping to get him into that allrounder role.””He’s going to get a game, there’s absolutely no doubt about it,” Arthur said. “When we sit down and select, we do so with the balance of the team in mind. After Centurion, we felt we needed six batsmen, we looked at the wicket, we thought there was enough work there for three seamers. We knew if we could take the game deep, the spinner would come into it.”That is a colossal “if” which didn’t work in Centurion, and hasn’t worked in Cape Town either.Faheem Ashraf reaches for the ball•Getty ImagesIt isn’t like the need for five bowlers hasn’t arisen either. Today, as Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma batted Pakistan out of the game, Pakistan turned to the gentle medium-pace of Shan Masood and the offspin of Asad Shafiq while the bowlers enjoyed a breather. And if you’ve got 177 on the board, that becomes a problem. The eight overs Masood and Shafiq bowled today went for 31 runs, casting Pakistan further back into the wilderness in a game they must not lose if they are to avoid yet another series defeat in South Africa.Should they decide to play Faheem in place of Fakhar Zaman or Imam-ul-Haq, they have the added advantage of a proven opener at this level. Azhar Ali may now occupy a spot in the middle order, but in 35 innings as opener he averages 47.25, which is better than his career average of 44.12. That way, Shan Masood keeps his place at number three, where he’s regularly attributed his success to the openers taking the shine off the ball, and no batsman is shunted into a position too high for them.The strongest argument against Faheem’s inclusion has been Pakistan’s nervousness about shortening an already fragile batting order, but who could bet on him scoring significantly fewer runs across the series than, say, Fakhar?Since Razzaq’s retirement, Pakistan, along with India, have turned to the fifth and sixth bowling option for under 15% of their overs, less than any other Test side. Shorn of a genuine fifth bowler, Pakistan have opted instead to have their specialists plugging away into fatigue and injury, alleviated by the occasional gentle legspin of Azhar Ali at best.It is perhaps why Junaid Khan’s knees will never be the same again, and why Mohamad Amir was so overloaded he sat out an entire home summer this year. Even today, Amir’s pace was down; according to , he bowled more deliveries in the 120-132 kph range – 61% – than in any other innings in his Test career. Arthur himself contrasted the relative pace of the two attacks.”Our bowlers struggled a little bit with the comeback spells in terms of pace,” he said. “The difference is the South African pacers bowled at 145 kph while our bowlers only managed 135 kph, and at this level those 10 kilometres are very significant.”The presence of an allrounder could alleviate these concerns, yet Pakistan have routinely spurned that option. This was simply the most baffling example of it.”I’ve sat and thought about five bowlers a hell of a lot, and there’s two ways of doing it,” Arthur said. “You can go out with five bowlers or four, and we went with four. Rightly or wrongly, it’ll play out in the end.”Whether it plays out rightly or wrongly isn’t much of a question at this point, but the wider trend of Pakistan’s reticence over using a fifth bowling option makes it hard to take Arthur’s comments about considering the strategy in detail at face value. For whatever reason, the Pakistan coach has been reluctant to opt for a five-bowler strategy anywhere in the world. The Ireland and England Tests last year were very much the exception to the rule. In those Tests, the batting ability of Faheem – he averages 30.75 from four innings with a half-century – and Shadab Khan allowed Pakistan to pad up a historically fragile tail.For two Tests in a row now, Pakistan have botched up their team balance and personnel. It’s not just a case of getting marginal calls wrong; these are bread-and-butter decisions they have floundered over. Tours to South Africa are harder for Pakistan than visits anywhere else, and a perfectly selected team in good form would still likely end up second-best. South Africa certainly do not need added assistance from their guests in the form of confounding selections, and they have been offered that advantage for two matches in a row.

The reactions to Sri Lanka’s stunning 20-run win over top-ranked England

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2019

Wow Wow Wow
Today v England Team Work was the winner … A big salute as well to Angi , Mali, Avishka and Dhana you beauties .. It's starting to happen for Team SL pic.twitter.com/ZVmw5pCO3m

— Dimuth Karunaratne (@IamDimuth) June 21, 2019

Great win by the boys.proud to be apart of this family.Thanks for all the support pic.twitter.com/jeCH82GtGR

— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) June 21, 2019

Great win boys!!!!! Lasith Malinga You beauty well done @IamDimuth under pressure delivered. Played @Angelo69Mathews

— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) June 21, 2019

Well Done Sri Lanka … Fantastic spirit showed today … Lasith Malinga take a bow … Magnificent display … !! #CWC19

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 21, 2019

What a moment … what a feeling #CWC2019 no one gave them a chance #ENGvSL That’s the way to do it … thought that was a great team effort and everyone pulled in the same direction .. no we realise the full value of @Angelo69Mathews innings

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) June 21, 2019

What a performance by @OfficialSLC great win inspired bowling by lasith Malinga and danajaya de silva . WOW. Hope this is the catalyst for the team to believe even more. Now for the batsmen to respond with heart

— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) June 21, 2019

Malinga is a champion. Fantastic win for Sri Lanka. Showing what they are capable of #ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/w70tT5bsKJ

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) June 21, 2019

The close contest came at a time when many thought the top four, consisting of Australia, New Zealand, India and England, were unlikely to be challenged.

Brilliant stuff from Sri Lanka.
What they didn't do with the bat, they more than compensated with the ball.
Malinga and Co. were disciplined & troubled the batsmen.
With England still needing to play Australia, New Zealand & India, the #CWC19 may throw up a few surprises.#ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/T4mHATZiz2

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 21, 2019

WATCH on Hotstar (India only) – Fall of wickets

Sensational defence of a small total. Sri Lanka making the world cup interesting.
Whats next guys? #ENGvSL #CWC19

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) June 21, 2019

Well done Sri Lanka. Fantastic win. Malinga and Matthews, showing what experience can do in crunch situations. Makes the table interesting #ENGvSL

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) June 21, 2019

My gosh. What a game. Well played played Sri Lanka. . A couple of teams at least are thankful for your magnificent effort today. Happy for Malinga.

— ian bishop (@irbishi) June 21, 2019

Great win by #srilanka no one gave them chance to win against the mighty English team. Malinga was at his best with the new ball as well old. #ENGvsSL #WorldCup

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 21, 2019

Excellent performance from Sri Lanka to beat England.
England have India, Australia and New Zealand to play with and will have to win 2 out of these 3.
World Cup is alive #EngvSL

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 21, 2019

What a thrilling game today! In-form Malinga's 4 for 43 leads Srilanka to a convincing victory. Well deserved, Srilanka. The second half of the tournament is getting tight. #ENGVSL #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/QS5Hn4m0Ni

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) June 21, 2019

Don’t we all prefer these type of matches?

Wow what a game for Sri Lanka beating England I like games like these 240/50 kinds not 300/350 kind of matches.. well done @OfficialSLC #WorldCup2019

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 21, 2019

England still World Cup favourites despite the hiccup?

Hiccup!

NO PROBLEM AT ALL!

England still

— Kevin Pietersen(@KP24) June 21, 2019

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.

Our writers and reporters pick their standout moments of the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-20193:22

Top 10 moments from World Cup 2019

What did you most enjoy?

George Dobell: The spirit. Cricket has become a little more gentle, a little more decent, a little nicer since the last World Cup. It was demonstrated in the gracious manner in which New Zealand reacted to their misfortune in the final. Other teams would have taken to the courts; New Zealand shrugged it off with a phlegmatic smile and warm praise for England.We saw it when Virat Kohli asked the Indian supporters to applaud Steven Smith too. Oh, and for all the rubbishness of British weather, I’m not sure another nation could have produced the multi-ethnic crowds supporting every team and at every venue without need for segregation or concern. In that way, at least, it was a great World Cup. Osman Samiuddin: The fact that it stayed alive until pretty much the last few games of the group stages. It could’ve gone so wrong had Sri Lanka lost to England that day – and England’s own tortured run to the semis was immensely enjoyable. Andrew Fidel Fernando: The bowling. I, like everyone else, thought it would be a batting World Cup. It wasn’t. The yorkers were wonderful. Melinda Farrell: Perhaps it’s self-indulgent, but it’s seeing lovely people from all around the world, people you might not have seen for a few years. The friends and colleagues who inspire you and keep you smiling when you’re running on empty. Alagappan Muthu: Kane Williamson – Every run he made was under pressure. But look back at the replays and it feels like he was having a net. Only thing missing was a straight drive while he was yawning. Sharda Ugra: For being Skills Inc. Before it began, the lament arose: 400! 500! The end of bowling! The end of contests! Fortunately, it was a World Cup of bowlers, merchants of pace and sultans of swing, with their magic variations. And yet it was marked by generous passages of high-quality batting and outright biffing. What’s not to enjoy? Andrew Miller: Full houses for pretty much every group-stage match – a tribute to multicultural Britain and a clue as to where the future of the sport in this country needs to lie as it builds on the interest generated this summer. Bangladesh’s fans deserve a special mention in this regard – from The Oval to Lord’s to Southampton to Cardiff, they were legion. The toy-tiger industry alone could prop up the economy post-Brexit.Karthik Krishnaswamy: The pitches. The England-Pakistan series before the World Cup made 500 seem like a real possibility, but we ended up with lots of 240-meets-240 matches instead.Mohammad Isam: Having the best of both worlds as a reporter. I sat with the crowd for some of the matches, which not only ensured that I hardly missed a ball, but also gave me fresh perspective. At the same time, one of the great privileges of my profession is to witness up close how a cricket team prepares and deals with high-pressure situations.Nagraj Gollapudi: Ball dominating bat. Fast men telling batsmen: give me respect.Alan Gardner: Seeing players, fans (and colleagues) from all around the world descend on the UK and help take the World Cup carnival on the road, from Taunton all the way up to Chester-le-Street.Smouldering Faf du Plessis smouldered right out of the World Cup•Getty Images

What was the biggest surprise?

Isam: India not making it to the final still surprises me, given their experience and overall skill level. All they had to do was negotiate a strong opening spell from Trent Boult and Matt Henry. They weren’t chasing a big total too.Farrell: That the expectation of sexy legspin turning teams on their heads was not fulfilled.Gardner: India not making the final. New Zealand knocking them out, having lost their previous three games, was more surprising than the fact they ran England so close.Krishnaswamy: The lack of spinners among the top wicket-takers. The four years between 2015 and this World Cup were the years of the wristspinner, but Imran Tahir apart, none of them had a particularly memorable tournament, with Rashid Khan enduring a poor one by his standards.Samiuddin: South Africa. I didn’t think they were among the very top favourites but I didn’t foresee that they’d struggle so badly and be one of the first teams to be knocked out of contention for the semis.Miller: The pitches were far less conducive to murderous strokeplay than had been predicted in the build-up to the tournament, and while that came close to sinking England’s tournament after their stumble against Sri Lanka, it also vindicated their eventual triumph as they took their licks, learned their lessons, and ground it out on another dog of a deck in that thrilling final. Elsewhere, Afghanistan’s failure to land a major scalp was the biggest surprise for me. Riven by politics, they were a shadow of their true selves.Dobell: The pitches. The plan was for absolute belters where 350-plus was par, but we saw scores of 250 defended often. Whether it was the weather or the amount asked of the groundsmen, something went quite wrong there. It created several fun games, but that really was more by accident than design.Ugra: The speed with which South Africa faded despite having so many gifted, world-class players in their ranks. It was mournful to watch them implode. There were no more jokes to be made about the C word, and Faf du Plessis’ graphic description of what defeat did to teams lingered as the event wore on. Muthu: Pitches – almost forgot that England in the not-so-distant past was a bowler-friendly place.New Zealand: making cricket a kinder, more gentle and decent sport•Getty Images

Which match did you most enjoy?

Samiuddin: West Indies-New Zealand, India-New Zealand, Pakistan-England for the atmosphere, but the final, by a stretch, wins it as game of the tournament for me.Farrell: Impossible to go past the final, although “enjoy” might not be the right word. It was an experience unlike any I’ve ever had at a sporting event. Exhilarating, mind-blowing, nerve-jangling and utterly overwhelming.Gollapudi: Let us leave the final aside, as it was the game of our lives. Outside of that, I’d pick the India-New Zealand semi-final.Krishnaswamy: My enjoyment of some of the most thrilling games of the tournament – New Zealand-South Africa, New Zealand-West Indies, the final – was compromised by the frenetic activity of being on ball-by-ball or live-report duty. The games I enjoyed most, therefore, were probably those I simply watched. It was late at night when Australia were chasing 326 against South Africa, and I was lying in bed, watching on my phone, drifting off to sleep one moment and jolting awake the next. When it ended, my head was buzzing with everything that had happened, and falling asleep was suddenly a struggle.Ugra: Pakistan v South Africa. Because it was prototype Pakistan, where the textbooks are tossed aside, the process bullshit is ignored, and the game is played with a focused intensity and urgency. To be at Lord’s as Pakistanis streamed in, chatting loudly, cursing the players and their performance against India, yet determined to be in one voice was to see one wave roll in outside the field. On it, the team’s cricket turned tidal and drowned South Africa.Dobell: West Indies v New Zealand at Old Trafford. Partly because I was there as a spectator – a close finish is less fun when you have to write about it – and partly simply as it was a wonderful advert for our great game.Fernando: Of the ones I personally attended, New Zealand v South Africa was probably the best. Muthu: New Zealand v West Indies – West Indies’ fire, New Zealand’s cool. If only it could have happened again in the final.Isam: Bangladesh striking down South Africa in their first match, in front of a full house at The Oval, particularly with their very one-sided bilateral series in South Africa a year and a half ago in mind. It wasn’t a shock result but it was a surprise how Bangladesh were more disciplined than the South Africans.Miller: West Indies v New Zealand at Old Trafford was the perfect neutral’s showdown. It had been a fine match in its own right throughout – Kane Williamson’s stunning century after two golden ducks for New Zealand’s openers was worth the admission alone. But for the match to then be lit up by that grandstand finish from Carlos Brathwaite was something else entirely.Gardner: The second semi-final was a rare instance of England clinically dismantling the mighty World Cup-winning machine that is Australia. Having not won a knockout match in 27 years, they did it with ease and – shockingly – appeared to have fun doing so.The only losers in that World Cup final were our fingernails•Getty Images

What was the biggest wow moment?

Dobell: Did you see the final?Miller: Well, apart from the bleeding obvious… there’s Mitchell Starc’s yorker to Ben Stokes at Lord’s. Not only was it utterly sensational, it left the hosts and favourites on the brink of elimination, and set the group stage ablaze.Fernando: James Neesham’s outrageous one-handed catch to dismiss Dinesh Karthik in the semi-final. I gasped so hard my breathing didn’t return to normal for several minutes. Muthu: Starc v Stokes. The ball goes out as Mitchell Starc releases it. Then it swings in because of mad reverse. Physics can maybe explain that. But I still won’t get how it got the Player of the Final out on 89.Gardner: There are a dozen instances from the climax of the final, but the one I’ll never get my head around is Trent Boult stepping on the rope at long-on. That was the game, right there.Ugra: The two direct-hit run-outs in the India-New Zealand semi-final: Ravindra Jadeja getting Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill getting MS Dhoni. In a World Cup of outstanding catches and pieces of fielding, over two days we watched exact throws become the magic moments in the game.Isam: When Jofra Archer burst through Soumya Sarkar, struck the bail and had the ball sailing over the ropes in Cardiff.Farrell: That Martin Guptill catch at leg gully off a full-blooded Steve Smith pull. There were a lot of breathtaking catches in the tournament, but that one, for me, was the most incredible.Samiuddin: Guptill’s catch to (help) dismiss Steven Smith at Lord’s. And then his direct-hit run-out of Dhoni as well. Actually, the latter probably wins.Krishnaswamy: Ben Stokes’ Dive of God. There’s a Maradona-esque, Botham-esque quality to some players, where everything – even something as outlandish as an inadvertent deflection for four overthrows – seems possible, and fated to have happened. Stokes is exactly that kind of player.The ball that could not be: Mitchell Starc’s yorker was a guided missile into Ben Stokes’ stumps•David Rogers/Getty Images

What was the most gripping phase of play?

Miller: Until Sunday, I’d have said the implosion of India’s top order in the Old Trafford semi-final. It was a Bo(u)lt through the Blue, as 2015’s beaten finalists confirmed unequivocally that they were the real deal. But come on. Every detail of that final climax, from the 49th over of England’s chase onwards, will be tattooed on my retinas till I die. Muthu: Last five overs of the final – I was on the live report and I was screaming every ball, and that’s why all of it is in capital letters.Samiuddin: Jos Buttler’s counter against Pakistan, the last two overs Carlos Brathwaite played against New Zealand at Old Trafford, Shaheen Afridi’s opening burst against New Zealand. But also, in the final, Colin de Grandhomme’s entire spell against England. It was just so counterintuitive (and down to the pitch) that a bowler like him would be such a threat against a batting line-up like England’s. The pitch as the great leveller.Ugra: Jasprit Bumrah’s tenth over against Afghanistan and the awesomeness of its inevitable efficiency. As Mohammad Nabi began to eat away at a modest total and India teetered, Bumrah was India’s insurance policy. It was duly encashed.Dobell: England’s chase against Australia at Edgbaston. And the way they attacked the bowling, in particular. Mitchell Starc might be one of the greatest white-ball bowlers in history, but after five overs he had conceded 50. Nathan Lyon was hit for six first ball and Steven Smith conceded three sixes – one of them may not yet have landed – in his only over. This wasn’t the England any of us grew up watching. And it was all the better for it.Isam: Kane Williamson’s captaincy when he brought on Colin de Grandhomme in the final. He was supposed to be New Zealand’s weakest bowler, but the in-and-out fields and lengths kept England guessing, and showed why Williamson is the rightful heir in a long line of great Kiwi thinkers that includes Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum.Fernando: Angelo Mathews winning the match against West Indies with the ball, after he hadn’t bowled even in the nets for eight months, was unforgettable.Krishnaswamy: Carlos Brathwaite against New Zealand. All the classic ingredients were there – a seemingly wrecked chase in a must-win game, no recognised batsmen at the other end – and when the realisation dawned that this was actually happening, everything slowed down, and every ball became an event. New Zealand invited (and eventually earned) fines and demerit points for their long deliberations between balls, but all those long gaps were filled with exquisite tension.Gardner: Overs 49-50 (of England’s innings) and the two Super Overs in the final. They are seared on my cerebral cortex for eternity.Demons in the pitch? Not for master swordsman Ravindra Jadeja against New Zealand at Old Trafford•Getty Images

What was your favourite individual performance?

Dobell: Probably Chris Woakes’ against Australia at Edgbaston. I’ve known Chris quite a long time. Maybe there’s a more unassuming, humble international sportsperson, but I’ve not met them. To come through the injury setbacks he has had and enjoy a day like that on his home ground in a World Cup semi-final… yeah, that was a good day.Samiuddin: Babar Azam’s hundred against New Zealand. Been watching him for a long time and he is so clearly so obviously such a good player who only needed one big match-winning innings to be acknowledged as more than just a very good player – but rather one who is potentially a great already.Miller: Jonny Bairstow’s screw-you-all century against India. His wrath was ridiculous, but his response to those perceived slights in the media was both brilliant and utterly foreseeable.Gollapudi: Two. Ravindra Jadeja’s cavalier half-century against New Zealand in the semi-final, when he batted on a different pitch to the rest of the batsmen. And Ben Stokes’ smart, patient, daring innings in the final, an innings that has the potential to inspire and create a generation of cricketers across the world.Farrell: I’m going to throw Sheldon Cottrell in there. Not for a particular performance, although he had plenty, plus catch, but for all of the times I saw kids imitating his salute. They say that performing is all about connecting with the audience and he nailed it.Gardner: Since I was there and got to write about it, Lasith Malinga’s monstering of England at Headingley. It was also a performance that ensured the group stage would hold interest until pretty much the end. Muthu: Brathwaite versus New Zealand. Those sixes. The courage to trust that he had the game to keep out the best bowling attack in the world and also clatter them for sixes to win the game for West Indies.Isam: I am split between Shakib Al Hasan’s hundred against West Indies and his full quota of ten overs from the end with the shorter midwicket boundary against India at Edgbaston. Of course the performance in Taunton won Bangladesh the match, but his bowling is a testament to how effortless Shakib is as a cricketer, even when he takes on big challenges.Ugra: Babar Azam’s century against New Zealand, which is a bit biased given that I wrote about his back story and knew that a breakout performance had yet to appear. Everybody loves a stylist, and when the stylist becomes a match-winner, it’s like the gods have given their approval.Fernando: Malinga’s wobble-bellied four-for against England.Krishnaswamy: Chris Woakes’ new-ball bowling was a joy to watch throughout, and his first spell in the semi-final at Edgbaston was outstanding. Australia had never lost a World Cup semi-final, and here they were, 14 for 3, with Woakes’ control, swing and seam doing the bulk of the damage.600-plus runs, 11 wickets: Shakib Al Hasan put up numbers no player had done in a World Cup before•Getty Images

Who was the player of the tournament for you?

Farrell: Look, I’m happy that Kane Williamson got the official nod, and he’s a worthy winner. I think it’s a toss-up between him and Shakib Al Hasan, who was brilliant as ever. Who hit the most boundaries?Fernando: Shakib Al Hasan, whose runs and wickets in the tournament have confirmed him as the first all-time great cricketer from Bangladesh.Ugra: Shakib – numbers and presence and impact. A big man for a big occasion. How Bangladesh will miss him when he’s gone. Muthu: Shakib. Asking for what he wanted. Proving that he deserved it. And showing the entire world that he could get into a team on his batting alone.Krishnaswamy: Shakib. He has always been a top allrounder, but at this World Cup his batting reached new heights. Great batsmen know their strengths and weaknesses intimately, and at one point work out a method by which they can churn out fifties on autopilot. We see Virat Kohli bat like that all the time, and Shakib raised his game to that level.Gollapudi: Jofra Archer.Isam: Shakib, the third highest run getter, with 606 runs, at the tournament’s highest average, 86.57. He was the joint second-highest wicket-taker among spinners with 11 wickets. Nobody in the World Cup’s history has ever taken more than ten wickets and scored 400-plus runs. He delivered at a level never before seen by any allrounder in this tournament.Dobell: Nobody could argue with the choice of Shakib, for his all-round excellence, or Williamson for his grace and cool under pressure. But I’d have given it to Stokes: that’s what redemption looks like.Gardner: Ben Stokes. Colossal.Samiuddin: Jofra Archer. Quite simply because he transformed the England bowling attack.Miller: Shakib was stunning. With bat or ball in hand, he was in total control of his game at all times, and as a consequence no contest ever seemed entirely out of Bangladesh’s reach. Thanks to his guiding hand, they were by a distance the best of the non-semi-finalists, no matter what the World Cup table tells you. But Kane Williamson was a hugely worthy winner, for his class in every innings and his grace in (non-)defeat.Alex Carey: kid’s good off either foot•Getty Images

Who was the breakout star?

Gollapudi: Archer, but also Rishabh Pant.Gardner: You can’t get away from Jofra Archer. Literally – he will hunt you down, bounce you at 90mph and then bamboozle you with a knuckleball. The kid is fi-yah. Muthu: Alex Carey. Never seen a kid be so good off both front and back foot. Never seen a kid shrug off a blow to the helmet like that. Gonna see this kid for years to come.Ugra: Nicholas Pooran, whose heady chase with Fabian Allen in a dead rubber against Sri Lanka became the promise of tomorrow for West Indies cricket, besides their dynamo power batting and explosive bowling. Now if only the three could meet every time in every game.Krishnaswamy: Liton Das. He has been around for a few years, and it’s hard to call his tournament a breakthrough, since he only played one real innings of substance – 94 not out against West Indies – but what an innings it was, filled with the most sublime strokeplay. With the ability he has, he surely will blossom into a mainstay across formats and rewrite some of Bangladesh’s batting records.Miller: Jofra Archer has been everything we were promised, and more. Viciously quick but extraordinarily cunning as well. That knuckleball to Glenn Maxwell in the semi-final was pure witchcraft.Fernando: Jofra Archer and Lockie Ferguson were incredible to watch right through the tournament. Let’s hope they stay injury-free.Isam: Archer will become one of the brightest stars in world cricket. His languid action spewing high pace has batsmen jumping around already, and like Brett Lee, he is a fast bowler who smiles more than he snarls. A crowd favourite, and a legend in the making.Farrell: Jofra Archer has still only played a handful of ODIs. How crazy is that? Looking forward to seeing a lot more of Shaheen Afridi and Nicholas Pooran too.Kane get you out of my head: The finish feels unfair to New Zealand and throws a shadow over England’s hard-fought win•Getty Images

What was the biggest disappointment?

Muthu: Laws. Yeah, don’t make me talk about this. I’ll use bad words.Dobell: The finish. It feels untidy. It doesn’t feel fair to New Zealand, who were simply unlucky, or England, who deserve unstinting praise but may now not receive it because of the manner in which their victory was achieved. I’d have been happy to see the trophy shared. Might it not have set quite a good precedent? Might it not have shown that, however hard sides play, it’s not all about winning and losing?Samiuddin: Not that much, though I guess that rain had such an effect on some sides – good or bad – is probably one thing. The controversies around the final, to a degree, but, personally, the drama of such a great game, a great game as the final of the game’s showpiece event, overshadows those.Farrell: Not seeing as many teams as we did in the last World Cup. Also, the outrageous amount of plastic and needless waste at venues. We need to be better.Krishnaswamy: Ireland, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Netherlands were playing extremely competitive ODI cricket in the lead-up to the World Cup and during the tournament too. At least two of them should have been at the World Cup.Miller: The lack of free-to-air coverage. It’s old-hat, I know, and we’ve dealt with it in our very English manner for the past 15 years. But the incredulity of my colleagues from overseas brought it home to me, just how isolated and irrelevant English cricket has allowed itself to become in the past generation. The euphoria around the final confirmed that the latent fans are still out there somewhere.Isam: Forget free-to-air for a minute. The real culprit for a World Cup was the organisers’ lack of effort to make more people aware about the event in the host cities. A few posters with a trophy and a sponsor’s name at the bottom hardly suggested that a World Cup was happening in the neighbourhood.Ugra: West Indies’ tailspin in the event after a Sheldon Cottrell-like statement of arrival with beating Pakistan.Gardner: Afghanistan were much poorer than I thought they would be. And the wet weather in the second week was untimely.Let’s talk about six, baby: Kumar Dharmasena controversial decision in the final is going to be a conversation piece for a long time to come•Getty Images

What was the biggest facepalm moment?

Samiuddin: Easy – the appointment of Kumar Dharmasena for the final after his semi-final performance. And that blunder actually happened earlier in the year, when they awarded him Umpire of the Year, which meant that, as long as Sri Lanka weren’t in the final, Dharmasena would likely be standing, because if the ICC don’t pick their own best umpire for their showpiece game then it doesn’t put their award in a great light. So they did and… well.Isam: The overthrows off Stokes’ bat, which, firstly, should have made the ball dead (had the ICC been serious about such intricate details), and the resultant six runs which should have actually been five runs, had the umpires, already equipped with so much technology, observed things better.Gollapudi: Chris Gayle raising his bat while walking out, even as West Indies were being knocked out of the World Cup.Gardner: South Africa’s entire campaign, but in particular how many self-owns they managed in the must-win game against New Zealand at Edgbaston.Ugra: Shai Hope missing a stumping off Dhoni. And Boult, Boult!, stepping on the boundary rope in the final. When Boult loses his bearings, it is a sign that that the match is going to go England’s way. No matter how, the World Cup was England’s from that moment on.Farrell: When Gulbadin Naib brought himself on to bowl at the death against Pakistan. Muthu: Once bad boy Kohli turning goody-goody and walking when he wasn’t even out. They should make that dismissal into an emoji.Krishnaswamy: Shimron Hetmyer and Chris Gayle going for risky hits, ignoring the available singles in the must-win game against New Zealand, leading to a collapse. We’ll remember what Carlos Brathwaite did next, but the bigger takeaway for West Indies will be how their heavily T20-influenced approach failed them in two winnable games: this one and the chase against Australia.Miller: It’s not so much a facepalm as a jaw-drop. Of all the “uncontrollables” that turned the final England’s way, Trent Boult’s rope-tread was the clincher. After the poise he showed to end Brathwaite’s rampage at Old Trafford, it was an error that will haunt him for evermore.Dobell: It actually happened a bit before the start of the tournament. I was having a coffee with Moeen Ali. An Australian guy came over and said, “Ah, look, I’m an Australian but I just want to say I really admire you and the way you bat all day. How about a selfie?” I caught Moeen’s eye at this point. He looked bemused. “I bowl all day sometimes,” he said. “Batting… hmm, not so much.” Anyway, it became pretty apparent the Australian fella thought Moeen was Hashim Amla. He probably has that selfie of him and “Hashim” on Facebook now.