All posts by h716a5.icu

But the trend might be changing, as bowlers come into their own on the tiring pitches at Brabourne and DY Patil stadiums

Vishal Dikshit and S Sudarshanan14-Mar-20235:08

Haynes: It’d be nice to see boundaries pushed out a bit in coming seasons

We are just past the halfway mark in the inaugural WPL and there have already been four 200-plus totals, plenty of fours and sixes, two batters coming close to scoring centuries and more feats, mainly with the bat.There have been three five-wicket hauls, but bowlers have not had a great time. In batting-friendly conditions, they have been carted around the two grounds being used in the tournament, the short boundaries – as close by as 42-44 metres from the batting end in some cases – compounding problems for them.Such scores – Delhi Capitals’ 223 for 2 against Royal Challengers Bangalore has been the highest so far, with both grounds witnessing two 200-plus scores apiece – are rare in women’s T20 cricket.Bowlers, both uncapped and international, have been hit around, and fours and sixes have accounted for 65% of the total runs scored so far. The four 200-plus totals, all in the first innings, have come in just 22 innings (just under one in five innings). For context, the WBBL in Australia has had only four 200-plus scores in eight seasons and 922 innings (once every 230 innings, approximately). A total of 200 in a T20 would roughly equate to a score of 160 in the Hundred, and its two seasons have had just five 160-plus totals in 117 innings (one in 23 innings, approximately).ESPNcricinfo LtdMassive totals aside, the scoring rate in the WPL after ten games was 8.69, well ahead of 7.18 in the last season of the WBBL and 7.73 in the 2022 Hundred. One of the main reasons, again, for that is how often the batters have been hitting fours and sixes in the WPL compared to the WBBL and the Hundred.ESPNcricinfo LtdShort boundaries, though, are just one reason. There’s more.Flat pitches and quick outfieldsEven though both Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium have been rotating the pitches, conditions have predominantly been friendly for batters. Apart from the odd sign of swing and turn, batters have not had to worry about much. And even if they miscue a shot, they get the advantages of quick outfields and, yes, the remarkably short boundaries.Shabnim Ismail, UP Warriorz’s South African pace spearhead, pointed out that the high scores were also a result of how the women’s game has progressed, and some batters have been hitting big sixes.”The boundaries are short but women’s cricket in general is moving forward, so you can see some batters have been hitting huge sixes, like 70-plus metres,” Ismail told ESPNcricinfo. “So it’s not only about the small boundaries, also how you can capitalise in the middle, which is great to see in women’s cricket in general.”The boundary ropes have been pulled in to measure as short as 42 or 44 metres on one part of the ground, and the BCCI has reportedly set a cap of 60 metres for the longest boundary, compared to 65 at the Women’s T20 World Cup last month.Related

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The going’s good at the moment, but as the pitches suffer more wear and tear, scores may start to come down and we may see more assistance for the slower bowlers.”I’ve probably got a few grey hairs being a captain [to stop the run flow], but as a batter definitely your eyes tend to light up a little bit,” Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy told ESPNcricinfo about the scores. “That’s the nature of the competition. As it continues to go on and the wickets get tired a little bit, the scores might come down just a fraction. It’s been exciting, the 200-run scores have looked great, but there also have been tight contests. So, I have enjoyed that side of the game than the big scores.”On that last point, there has been one chase achieved with one ball to spare, one with two balls to spare, and one victory by 11 runs in a match in which 391 runs were scored.While the intention behind preparing batting-friendly conditions is perhaps to pull in more crowds at the grounds and attract more eyeballs on TV, for a tournament that has just started, Lisa Sthalekar, who played 187 internationals for Australia, does commentary around the world, and is currently the Warriorz mentor, said it was not the best way to promote the game.”I understand the reason why BCCI did that… same thing happened in the WBBL – bring everything in, we want the scores high,” she said. “For cricket tragics, they look at the scorecard and think, ‘120 vs 130, why am I watching this? But 160 vs 170, I am definitely watching that’.”The WPL has to keep educating people along the way. If you have to manipulate things to get the outcome you want, I think players understand that. But at some point, you have to even the ledger out. One thing I have seen over time is if you have good pace, good bounce, good carry in a pitch, you can put the boundaries out. The players are strong enough to hit sixes. So you don’t need to manipulate it much. But if it’s a low, slow turning pitch, then it’s hard.”Overseas batters bring in the powerplayThe first boundary in the WPL was a six, when Hayley Matthews sent Mansi Joshi’s length ball over deep square-leg. That was perhaps an early sign that the overseas players were going to dominate the Indian domestic and not-too-experienced international players.While Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh and S Meghana haven’t sparkled so far, Shafali Verma is the only Indian among the top-eight run-scorers in the competition so far. She is at the top of the six-hitters’ chart, which is again dominated by the overseas players. Shafali, Harmanpreet Kaur, Kiran Navgire and Harleen Deol are the only Indians to have struck half-centuries (six, overall), compared to the 13 from overseas players.”Everyone recruited pretty well at the auction and so, you’ve got some outstanding batting line-ups in all the teams,” Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Batty, who has coached Oval Invincibles to titles in the women’s Hundred and Melbourne Stars in the WBBL, said. “You’ve got more overseas players in these teams than you would do in others [leagues]. You’ve got four [in the XI], you’d normally have only three in the others. So the teams are actually probably stronger and batting-heavy in a lot of them.”Inexperienced bowlers struggle to keep paceThe other aspect is the less-experienced bowlers bowling to these top-flight batters.Case in point, left-arm spinner Preeti Bose, who played five internationals for India in 2016, bowling to the explosive England batter Sophia Dunkley in the powerplay. Gujarat Giants’ Dunkley tore into Bose for a 23-run over on her way to an 18-ball half-century against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Those are the most runs leaked by an Indian bowler in an over in the WPL so far.Among the 11 overs that have gone for 20 or more in the WPL, eight have been by bowlers who have not played, or played very little, international cricket. Australia’s Annabel Sutherland, who played most of her 33 internationals in 2022-23, has twice conceded 22 or more in an over, both times at the death.1:38

Dunkley on her 18-ball fifty: ‘At my best, I just go with the flow’

Save for Warriorz, whose most expensive over has come from Australia’s Tahlia McGrath (19 runs, twice), most of the other teams has had inexperienced bowlers bleeding runs: Bose for RCB, Sutherland for Giants, and USA’s left-arm seamer Tara Norris for Capitals. And none of the domestic Indian players, with the notable exception of Mumbai Indians’ Saika Ishaque, have managed to pick up wickets regularly. Only Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma have taken five or more wickets among Indian bowlers, apart from Ishaque’s chart-topping 12.There’s another interesting factor here. The inexperience of some of the captains, which has led to bowlers not always been used in the best possible way. Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet aside, none of the captains have much experience leading international sides. Point to note: Lanning’s Capitals and Harmanpreet’s Mumbai are top of the table currently.Not only are three of the five captains inexperienced at the job, they hardly had any time to get to know their squads and plan strategies. Now that each team has played at least four games, the captains can strategise better to probably not bowl two uncapped bowlers in tandem or not expose them too much in the powerplay and the death overs.The WPL provides a platform for such bowlers to excel and enhance their skills by being exposed to such scenarios. As the competition has gone on, bowlers have also adapted and pitches have started to tire out, which could be why the WPL hasn’t had a 200-plus score after the first six games. Maybe that will be the trend from here on, and bowlers will have more of a say.

Mendis, Karunaratne, Mathews, Chandimal and de Silva refused to buckle, and that’s not happened often

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Mar-2023Sometimes you need only describe the scene at a cricket ground to know what is about to happen.The skies monochrome and heavy like a wet blanket that is about to be applied to the series at the first opportunity. The pitch so flush with vegetation, woodland creatures have taken residence. The outfield damp, as a cold drizzle descends occasionally on biting winds. And while the local bowlers – all tall and strapping – are lithe and powerful in their warm-up overs on the practice pitches, Sri Lanka batters swaddled in woollen sweaters face throwdowns, bearing the air of soon-to-be human sacrifices on an altar of seam bowling.Win the toss. Put Sri Lanka in. Watch the ball leap gleefully off bat edges into a pair of hands in the slip cordon, batter after batter clunking off like marionettes, the scoreboard showing 45 for 3, then 67 for 5, tail-end swipes pushing the total just beyond 100. Here are the familiar beats of a day one story for Sri Lanka at a ground such as Hagley Oval.Related

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Last time they were here, they didn’t have to bat first, but were nevertheless 104 all out. The previous time, they had the likes of Kumar Sangakkara in the XI, and were blitzed for 138. Barring second-innings near-miracles, which Sri Lanka do occasionally produce, these are match-defining mires. (And then New Zealand will go out to bat and put on half a million for six, wearing polite smiles that serve only to underscore the incompetence that had preceded.)And then, this. Four years after they had last played a Test in New Zealand (megaspanked by 423 runs, at this very venue), here was a day of astoundingly non-trash batting. Of gloriously semi-decent defensive play, of gobsmackingly okayish technique. Had Sri Lanka’s batters done the work to figure out the whereabouts of their off stump they started a Test on foreign soil? The mere thought should bring a tear of pure pride to the eyes of any Sri Lanka fan.Kusal Mendis, perhaps the form man in the XI, led the way. Key to his 87 off 83 was his judgment of length on a somewhat bouncy surface. When it was on a good length, he defended close to his body, almost always with soft hands, so that on the occasions the ball seamed and took the edge, the ball bounced short of the slips. Mostly, though, he defended inside the line, using his bat largely as an obstacle to deliveries that might pin him in front of the stumps, or sneak through to the wickets.When New Zealand’s bowlers bowled fuller, pressing hard for that catchable edge, Mendis committed fully to his front-foot strokes, sometimes driving imperiously, other times sending it squirting off the face of the bat through backward point, otherwise flicking deliciously off his pads.Angelo Mathews scored 38 of his 47 runs through the leg side, but looked gorgeous when driving down the ground•Getty ImagesHe hit 50 off 40 balls, as New Zealand’s bowlers had a modest morning themselves – 44 of those runs coming in boundaries. He and Dimuth Karunaratne, who was equally compact, but less aggressive against the hittable deliveries, put on a 137-run second-wicket partnership that formed the bedrock of Sri Lanka’s day-one progress. They would get out in successive overs, but their departure was unusually followed by further batting competence.Angelo Mathews waited for the shorter deliveries, scoring 38 of his 47 runs through the leg side, having also clipped a couple of boundaries off his pads. Dinesh Chandimal preferred the off side, hitting each of his six boundaries in that direction. Dhananjaya de Silva manufactured boundaries wherever he could, as he batted in the company of Kasun Rajitha towards the end of the day.Their scoring areas were diverse, but almost all of Sri Lanka’s top-seven batters covered the stumps, declined to lunge at balls until they were set, were unperturbed by the deliveries that beat their bats, and did not follow seaming balls outside their stumps. Collectively, they refused to collapse even in the face of probing bowling (mostly from Tim Southee and Matt Henry), as they often have in seaming conditions.Given the long tail, and the lack of experience in Sri Lanka’s attack (which New Zealand are very capable of exploiting), 305 for 6 is not an outstanding first-day score. New Zealand may well go on to dominate the match. But under the circumstances, Sri Lanka were passable. And you do not often say that of a Sri Lanka side on day one in New Zealand.

Tectonic shifts in the game have marginalised ODIs severely. Still, the 50-over World Cup is the sport’s apex event – and it will be this year as well

Osman Samiuddin03-Oct-20232:08

What will this World Cup be remembered for?

In a way the arrival of Pakistan in India, and the heartwarming little reception in Hyderabad, is the moment the 2023 ODI World Cup really began. A World Cup does not happen every day. It is a special occasion, where we anticipate wonderful and rare and unexpected things to occur. Pakistan were always going to make it, of course, but we’re in a moment where all the bitter politicking over their participation over the last year was more reflective of the state of international cricket than of whether they would actually participate or not.So for Pakistan to finally arrive in India is one of those big-picture moments we crave from a World Cup. It’s the first time they’ve visited India in seven years and nearly two World Cup cycles. When they were last here, Shahid Afridi was captain of the side, not father-in-law to its biggest star – that’s how long ago it was. Only two members of their squad have ever been here before, and they are the only team at this World Cup, other than Netherlands, to not have toured India in those seven years. The IPL brings the world to India every year, the Asia Cup brings Pakistan and India together every year, but Pakistan in India is a sign – perhaps the surest sign – that a World Cup is upon us.And no sooner is it upon us than thoughts turn to the end, not of this particular edition, but of the larger idea of an ODI World Cup. To be clear, the World Cup is not going anywhere for now. All of cricket has signed on for two more tournaments over the next eight years (although, just saying, it’s not like all of cricket has never flip-flopped over its events). But given how swiftly the game’s calendar is changing, how the priorities are shifting for its players, how international cricket is being edged out, this may well be the last time a World Cup is as big a deal in the game as it is now, the last time it is the World Cup as we have known and loved it over the last 40 years.Related

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It's a pity the ODI has been allowed to wither as a format

Because it is very cricket to have come to a situation where its showcase event is played in the one format whose future is so uncertain. The two opinions on what to do with ODIs these days stand at opposite ends from each other. Either they are totally dispensable and not worth playing at all until a World Cup year (a great idea because it frees up calendar bandwidth). Or the Super League ought to come back (a great idea because it gives context to bilateral ODIs). Meanwhile, nobody’s mentioned the next World Cup, back to its expansionist avatar, with 14 teams. More teams should mean more, not fewer, ODIs in the intervening years, to make Associates more competitive. But more teams also mean that a Super League becomes redundant, because narrowing it down to eight teams from 13 (and then two from a qualifier) carries the necessary jeopardy, but how do you retain that fairly when 14 have to qualify?Cricket, why you do this?The game has been confronted by such existential choices – mostly choices it has forced upon itself – almost non-stop since the last World Cup. Members want leagues all over the calendar, members want international cricket all over the calendar. Players want to be in all those leagues, players also want to play international cricket, and players also want some R&R. How much longer should we keep playing formats that we think are dying? No wonder cricket feels so fatigued by itself: these conversations are exhausting.Thankfully, that fatigue will wear off as soon as the first ball is bowled in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Cricket will no longer be one long doomscroll, or the disparate, siloed experience of following it now, where watching one game or series or league means you’re missing out on ten elsewhere at the same time. For the next seven weeks we’re all watching one and the same thing. In spite and love, with cheers and boos, and yes, in outrage, we will be, for once, united.Pakistan arrive in Hyderabad, their first time in India in seven years•Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty ImagesIt will, hopefully, also be a reminder of the virtues of the 50-over game, that it is more than the Fredo Corleone of formats (the modern choice would have been Connor Roy, except, one, he was the oldest sibling, though with middle-child vibes, and two, he didn’t die). That at its best it can provide naturally both the slow-burn satisfaction of long-form cricket as well as the instant rush of the shortest formats.Until that first ball is delivered, we exist in the vast, beautiful but unlit unknown; in the exquisite moment where we don’t know what is possible except that everything is. New stars, old stagers, fresh ideas, old thinking, rivalries, ball meet bat, life meet sport, all of it coiled before us, ready to be sprung.Going into 2019, we thought we knew what to expect. The game’s trajectory was unmissable. Between 2015 and 2019, England rewrote batting and other sides were catching up. They were playing on English pitches, where a lot of the rewriting had taken place. The World Cup was going to showcase the evolution of batting, and it was hard to look beyond England. It didn’t quite play out that way – delightfully – but expectations going in were clear.This time, as Nathan Leamon, England’s full time data guru and sometime zen philosopher, notes, nothing is quite so obvious or straightforward. ODIs were the biggest casualties of the pandemic, and even though the Super League eventually played itself out, the dishevelled, haphazard nature of it and the ensuing bilaterals has meant no pattern or outright trend has emerged over the last four years.Rashid Khan meets a young fan at one of the warm-ups•ICC/Getty ImagesInstead, T20s have land-grabbed the terrain. Since the last World Cup, there have been two T20 World Cups, four seasons of all the established T20 leagues, a season each of three new T20 leagues, four seasons of the Abu Dhabi T10, and three seasons of the Hundred. Chuck in two cycles of the World Test Championship and no wonder the middle overs of ODIs started to feel so long this year.It’s reasonable to assume that some of the early energy at this tournament might be spent working out the tempo of ODIs all over again, or at least in recalibrating to the needs of the format: when to go hard, when to go harder; when to pull back; when to chase; how to extract wickets in the middle and not just save runs. And given the large number of late and high-profile injuries – a direct result of the crush of this calendar – many sides will first be working out how to cope without key names.Maybe for most it all will simply fall back into place. After all, nearly half of the players in this World Cup took part in the last World Cup (across the nine sides that played both). And though the format may have faded, it isn’t gone yet. This is still, by and large, an era in which players have grown up watching and then playing ODIs.Unlike in 2019, when England began as clear favourites, there is little real form to draw on. Most people are happier to predict only a final four this time. England themselves arrive with an unusual confidence, having oscillated for much of the intervening four years between indifference to the format and a monstrous mastery of it. On paper, that is reflected in a 7-7 win-loss record (with two washouts) over the last 12-odd months, but such is the assuredness and depth of their white-ball cricket that the latter end of that scale is a truer setting.India have a powerful line-up, and the good wishes of over a billion if they need those•Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty ImagesIndia are at home, which would ordinarily be enough of an endorsement. But they have a truly formidable side, a batting order that, to be honest, is straining at the leash to be let loose, and a bowling attack that covers most situations and conditions. Opponents might have only the hope that they peaked at the Asia Cup to draw from.Australia are quirkier than usual, first with a captain who feels slightly stop-gap for the format, and a squad that is a retro tribute to England’s 1992 side (and almost every South Africa side of the ’90s). Full of allrounders who give them batting depth, but without compromising much on the bowling. They may rue not having enough spin options, though.Pakistan’s campaign is already accompanied by the rhythms that so often get them and their supporters going. They’re on the back foot simply by virtue of being in unfamiliar territory, part entertainers, part diplomats treading a geopolitical tightrope. They’ve lost the services of an electric young fast bowler. They’re coming off the back of a couple of big, bruising defeats at the Asia Cup; administrative turmoil is rumbling in the background. Forget that they have a pedigreed, if not complete, ODI side; a familiar narrative is peeping out over the horizon.South Africa are not as starry now as some of their recent World Cup sides were, so expectations are lower. But that might not be such a bad thing given their history at these events. New Zealand have a proper last-dance vibe going – as many as nine players from the 2019 squad and five from 2015. Throw in a couple of upgrades and a settled bowling attack (three of whom were together in 2015) and nobody can claim to be surprised if they do make the knockouts.Strap in now. And soak it up over the next month and a half because who knows if we will see a World Cup like this again.

Australia are annoying teacher’s pets again, India get gold stars for effort, England look for a place to hide their report cards

Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Nov-2023Gather round children. World Cup term is out. Hey, Sri Lanka and Pakistan! How many times do I have to tell you to keep quiet in the back? Do you to be suspended? Sri Lanka, don’t you dare answer that.Where was I? Yes, you’ve played all your matches. Some of you I’m very proud of. Some of you must already know you can do better. Come up one by one in alphabetical order and get your report cards.AfghanistanPlace: SixthTeacher’s remarks: You cuties. You did so well! And you did so well without upsetting the regular balance of things, by which I mean not winning against India and Australia and thereby putting earnings at risk. Your plucky run through the tournament was as inspiring as watching the rebels in . That is, if the rebels did not have Princess Leia or any other female generals or women fighters involved in any way.Related

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Advance Australia, inevitably

Best work: Beating England to not only set your campaign on a good run, but also trip them down a set of stairs they would continue to tumble down to the amusement of many.Worst work: Giving away 201 runs to Glenn Maxwell, whose body was so lifeless it looked like every shot was a spasm powered by defibrillator shock.AustraliaPlace: FirstRemarks: You did your best to sabotage yourselves. You lost your first two games and were bottom of the table. You fell off golf carts and gave yourself concussion. One of you had a broken hand for half the tournament. And then you came first, yet again. No one can figure out how you keep doing this.Best work: Your captain getting the wicket of Virat Kohli and turning that final.Worst work: Your captain saying he was “sad to see” England’s downfall at this World Cup, when we all know he very much was not sad.Next time maybe just give Australia the trophy at the start of the tournament•ICC/Getty ImagesBangladeshPlace: EighthRemarks: Never got close to the top spots, as usual. But created a lot of drama, as usual. Full marks for consistency.Best work: Your captain delivering a consoling shoulder tap to the batter he’d just appealed to have timed-out, then going on to win that game and acting like the whole thing was nothing.Worst work: Everything else.EnglandPlace: SeventhRemarks: Strutted in like big dogs, with big attitudes and major expectations. Then proceeded to crap your pants pretty much all the way through the competition. Gross. Don’t see me after class.Best work: Beating Netherlands by 160. You rock stars.Worst work: Choosing to bat first when you won the toss against Pakistan, when they had a tiny chance of qualifying for the semis but only if batted first. As if tanking your campaign wasn’t enough.IndiaPlace: Second
Remarks: The best student through the course of the term, ticking all the achievement boxes, sometimes embarrassing the other students with how much better you are than them across all subjects. There were times when it felt like your dad was doing your homework for you, but he’s the main donor to this school, and who am I to dock points? Yes, you stumbled in the final, but note that I am still giving you a special 10/10 perfect score. Actually 100/10. And all the stickers you want from the gold star sticker book. Plus free fruit juices for all of next term. If it were up to me, you’d be first place forever. I would have redone the final. Please tell your dad I don’t want to lose my job.Best work: Beating Pakistan in a stadium of 250,000 at least, surely. Jai Hind.Worst work: If you’d had Hardik Pandya you’d have smashed the final too, wow what a shame, don’t be sad, here are more stickers.Déja boo: South Africa have seen this somewhere before•ICC/Getty ImagesNetherlandsPlace: TenthRemarks: You did not just make up the numbers. You were a valued member of this class. It doesn’t matter to us that you’re from humble backgrounds. The memories you created will stay with all of those who watched this World… See you when we see you and good luck with your life otherwise.Best work: Beating South Africa.Worst work: Would have been really fun if you beat England too, but you didn’t quite manage it.New ZealandPlace: FourthRemarks: Yes, you’re all so glad for the opportunity to be here, and this country is such a wonderful place to play cricket, plus the fans are so passionate, and the sky is such a beautiful colour today, but would it kill you to have more to your collective personality beyond being nice?Best work: Rachin Ravindra’s hair.Worst work: Rachin Ravindra telling the world his first name was a mix of Rahul (Dravid) and Sachin (Tendulkar), until his dad said it was “nothing of the sort”, proving that if you’re of South Asian descent it doesn’t matter if you’ve made the most runs ever for a World Cup debutant, your parents are still going to somehow find a way to shame you in public.PakistanPlace: FifthRemarks: You really need to stop living in 1992. We went through this in the last World Cup. Sometimes losing a lot is not a prerequisite to not losing, and is just a sign that more losing is about to come.Best work: Announcing your major captaincy reshuffle while the rest of the world was focused on the World Cup knockouts.Worst work: Some of your World Cup showings didn’t cover themselves in glory.Tissues are now a mandatory kit-bag item for South Africa in World Cups•Getty ImagesSouth AfricaPlace: Third (kinda)Remarks: You didn’t do what everyone expected you to do. But you also didn’t quite blow those expectations out of the water. But, okay, sure. In four more years. I agree, for sure, you have some young players with promise. Next World Cup, absolutely. You’re gonna crush it then. Not a doubt in my mind. Keep believing, etc.Best work: Not choking in the semi-final and just losing it despite your best efforts.Worst work: Not being good enough to even get into a position in the semi-final for choking to be an option.Sri LankaPlace: NinthRemarks: No matter how bad your playing XI is, it will never be as bad as your administration. But man, has your playing XI sucked.Best work: Beating England. Very least you could do. But nice.Worst work: Your administrators asking for the ICC to suspend their own board after the Sri Lankan courts gave a stay order ousting the interim committee that replaced the board for roughly 24 hours, off the back of you crashing out of the World Cup and out of the 2024 Champions Trophy.

The lack of T20Is after the World Cup played a key part in shaping the list while Jhye Richardson still has the selectors’ backing

Andrew McGlashan and Alex Malcolm28-Mar-20240:41

Is Steven Smith’s best cricket behind him?

All to play for among Test batting reservesWhen Matt Renshaw was recalled to the Test squad earlier this year it was made clear he was considered the next best batter in Australia. That no longer seems to be the case. By the time Renshaw toured New Zealand he was averaging 24.93 in the Sheffield Shield and has since not received a CA contract. It is highly likely that the XI that played in Christchurch will be the same which starts at Perth against India in November, but the spare batting position is now wide open which leaves much to play for early in next season’s Shield and a likely Australia A-India A red-ball series.Related

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“Think it’s open for anyone to jump up and grab the opportunity,” George Bailey, the chair of selectors, said. “We were really clear with Matt, and not only Matt, the guys who missed out as well, it was a really close decision to take him on that New Zealand tour. I guess a blank page is a good way of describing it. I know Marcus Harris is one who has come off contract but he’s firmly in that mix as well, Cam Bancroft, Nathan McSweeney has had a wonderful season as well.”It is not the first time Bailey has name-checked McSweeney, who averaged 40.10 for South Australia in a bowler-dominated season and also captained Australia A, while Aaron Hardie (a new inclusion on the contract list) was also given another mention along with Beau Webster and Josh Inglis’ credentials as a specialist batter.Matt Renshaw was Australia’s spare batter over the last few months, but a host of players could now be in the mix•Getty ImagesNext full-time opener will likely be an openerThe big selection call this season was to promote Steven Smith to open the batting so that Cameron Green could return at No. 4. Though it was an uncertain start for Smith, who averages 28.50 after four Tests in the position, a major shift would have to occur for him not to retain the role against India. But Bailey indicated that when a permanent opening vacancy next comes up it is highly likely to be a specialist who takes the role.”Not saying it won’t happen [promoting a middle-order player] but think there’s probably less chance of that happening,” Bailey said. “That’s something I hope I’ve made clear in chatting to the opening batters who missed out, it’s not that we don’t value the position, it was a unique situation and I would say it’s probably likely that the next opportunity goes to a top-order player.Australia men’s contracts 2024-25

Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Jhye Richardson, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
In: Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matt Short, Aaron Hardie
Out: Michael Neser, Marcus Harris, David Warner, Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis
Extensions not retained: Matthew Wade, Tim David, Tanveer Sangha, Jason Behrendorff, Spencer Johnson

Horses for coursesBut there are still times when Australia may get creative. Aside from the five-match series against India, the other Tests that fall in the next contract period are two games in Sri Lanka from late January 2025, which will be Australia’s final qualifying matches of the current WTC cycle.Travis Head could be an option to open in those Tests, while Glenn Maxwell, who was close to playing on the 2022 tour of Sri Lanka, remains firmly in consideration having been ruled out of last year’s India series due to a broken leg. Inglis’ dexterity against spin is highly regarded and could work in his favour purely for a batting role.”I think we’ve shown in the past that we have other options in terms of throwing guys up in subcontinent conditions if we think that suits,” Bailey said.Ashton Agar has had a difficult 18 months but could yet feature in the T20 World Cup•Getty ImagesAgar a good chance for T20 World CupThe omission of Ashton Agar and Marcus Stoinis from the list prior to the T20 World Cup was always set to grab attention but it is a case of looking at the fine print. The 2024-25 contracts do not come into effect until July 1 so the T20 World Cup falls in the current contracting period with both players a strong chance of featuring. Bailey indicated it was highly likely the squad would include a second frontline spinner.”Those guys have both obviously got contracts this year and are firmly a part of our planning around that T20 World Cup,” Bailey said. “The balance of the squad think will probably lend itself to having that second spinner there…Glenn Maxwell is a pretty handy white-ball spinner and we don’t necessarily consider him a part-time option, so he’s one that we consider a frontline option in that space. Zamps [Adam Zampa] will clearly be there and I think there will be opportunities potentially for one more.”What it means for the future of those two players beyond the World Cup is interesting. Agar is only 30, but he missed out on selection in the ODI World Cup last year due to injury having also missed out on the XI for the T20 World Cup win in the UAE in 2021. He has lost his way in red-ball cricket having slipped down the pecking order as the reserve Test spinner and was not selected as WA’s main Sheffield Shield spinner in the second half of the season due to Corey Rocchiccioli’s rise. There is still a possibility he could be in the mix for the Sri Lanka Test tour but at present, he will head back onto WA’s list as a domestic white-ball player only.Marcus Stoinis could be heading towards a freelance career•Getty ImagesStoinis, 34, is in a different phase. He has already spoken with the selectors about where his international career is headed. A freelance career likely beckons beyond the T20 World Cup but he has not closed the door on ODI cricket and still has desires to play in the 2025 Champions Trophy. However, the elevation of Hardie and Matt Short as well as the continued development of Green in 50-over cricket, will make it hard for him to reach Pakistan.Tim David is another who is in an interesting spot. He qualified for a contract upgrade in this 2023-24 period and is going to be a key member of the T20 World Cup side. Bailey noted there are only six T20Is in the next contract period, which is why David was omitted.”Tim’s really enjoyed his time with the T20 side and hopefully he feels like a really important member of that team,” Bailey said.Injury-prone Richardson remains a key investment along with BartlettThe selectors are willing to continue investing time in Jhye Richardson•Getty ImagesJhye Richardson has not played an international since June 2022 yet he remains on the contract list for a second straight year despite a horror domestic summer where he played in just two Marsh Cup games, one Sheffield Shield match and eight BBL matches due to another shoulder dislocation and a severe side strain.He has gone to the IPL with Delhi Capitals after a long and deliberate rehabilitation period with WA but has yet to play. Bailey confirmed that despite all his issues, Richardson remains in the frame for the upcoming T20 World Cup.”Some of those injuries have been incredibly unfortunate and there’s a few things we can continue to work with Jhye and with WA on how we try and map out Jhye’s next 12 months and hopefully see him on the park for longer,” Bailey said. “There’s a high skillset there and he doesn’t need a great deal of cricket to be able to get his skills back on track. We’re excited that he’s over in India. Hopefully he gets a couple of opportunities in the IPL and he’s another one who is in the mix for that T20 World Cup as well.”The addition of Xavier Bartlett is a rapid rise given he was not playing for Queensland at the start of the recent home summer due to a back injury and seemed a long way off international selection. But a stand-out BBL saw him vault into the ODI and T20I sides. He has seemingly jumped Spencer Johnson. They are different bowlers in some ways but both are great white-ball prospects.However, 2024-25 features a Champions Trophy and very little T20I cricket. Bartlett’s durability across the three formats, but particularly in 50-over cricket where he swings the new ball in a format that features two new white balls and a 10-over powerplay, has seen him contracted ahead of Johnson.”We certainly like the skillset across all three formats.” Bailey said. “Ongoing it will just be that challenge of prioritising what he’s available for and when and keeping his body trending in the right direction. Hopefully another huge 12 months ahead for him.”In terms of Test cricket, Bailey said that Michael Neser’s omission from the list did not mean his standing in that format had reduced and remained in the mix alongside contracted duo Scott Boland and Lance Morris.

Decades before India dominated world cricket, Gavaskar gave them an identity in the game

Sambit Bal10-Jul-2024I was not 20 when I was forced to confront a future of sporting darkness. Sunil Gavaskar had just retired, out of nowhere, without a warning, without saying goodbye. Just like that, he would be gone. Never in a skull cap again.Cricket is the only sport I really knew, and cricket to me – apologies to Kapil Dev and the 1983 heroes – began with, and I feared then would end with, Gavaskar. No exaggeration, contemplating watching cricket without him was impossible. His leaving felt like a betrayal.Only a few months before, he had played one of greatest Test innings I had ever seen. On a turning, spitting, and viciously treacherous pitch in Bangalore, on which the second-highest score was 50 from Dilip Vengsarkar, and on which Pakistan had been bowled out for 116 on the first day, Gavaskar summoned his greatest virtues for a fourth-innings masterpiece after India were set a target of 221.A few years before that, Gavaskar had helped India nearly overhaul 438 with a double-hundred full of dazzling strokes. But on a snake pit of a surface here, his surviving each ball felt like a feat.Related

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Imran Khan, who had been persuaded by the wily Javed Miandad to choose two fingerspinners over Abdul Qadir, the leggie, on the premise that all that mattered on such a pitch was accuracy, didn’t even bother to bowl an over himself in the second innings. Iqbal Qasim, the left-arm spinner, opened with Wasim Akram, who was soon replaced by Tauseef Ahmed, the offspinner, and Qasim and Tauseef would go on to bowl 83 of the 94-odd overs bowled in the innings.Only three of Gavaskar’s team-mates reached double figures and only Mohammad Azharuddin managed to go past 20. But Gavaskar remained in his own bubble of excellence, combining technical virtuosity – immaculate judgement of length, precise footwork, playing late, close to the body and with the softest of hands – and fierce focus. Balls exploded off a length, some went past the bat, some hit the glove, and team-mates departed routinely. But it was like he was in a trance, dealing in moments, and keeping his team alive in a contest in which doom loomed a ball away.It was on 96 that he finally fell, to a ball that rose sharply from a length that it was impossible to get forward to, and spun enough to brush the rising hand, ballooning up for a catch off the glove. Gavaskar removed his gloves and walked off briskly the moment the umpire began to raise his finger. Who would have known then that he would never be seen in a Test match again?In fact, we did not know for a while. He would soon go on to accomplish a couple of things that had eluded him all his life: a century at Lord’s, turning out for the Rest of the World against an MCC XI; and an ODI hundred, with blazing hits over cow corner against New Zealand in the home World Cup. It wasn’t until later, when my heart had gone past the ache and desolation, that I was able to grasp the significance of his going on a high, when the world wondered why now, and not why not.Years later, when cricket journalism imposed on me a rational and more enquiring relationship with sport, it became natural to question Indian fans’ devotion to individuals rather than the team – a devotion that sometimes had a shackling impact on Indian cricket. But then, in those times what did we have? Gandhi and Nehru were long gone, adorning currency notes, postage stamps and walls as framed photos. Politics was shabby and chaotic, the economy was in the doldrums. Shortwave radio was our window to the world, and as television screens began to turn colour, cinema fuelled our fantasies and cricket our hopes and aspirations. Hell, we needed our heroes.On Gavaskar rested the aspirations of Indians who had little to aspire to elsewhere•PA Photos/Getty ImagesOn celluloid, there was the brooding, simmering rage of Amitabh Bachchan, whose towering presence and baritone voice filled the screen, and on the field, there was Sunil Gavaskar, a small man in flesh and blood, taking on the most fearsome bowlers of the world without a helmet. The victories of 1971 I only read about, and India didn’t win much away from home during my initial years as a cricket fan, but there was always Gavaskar, with a defence so immaculate that it was a thing of beauty, a cover drive of geometric precision that left no half-volley unpunished, and a minimalistic, no-fuss straight drive that told the bowler he had been had.For a nation unsure then of its place in the world, Gavaskar was the picture-perfect embodiment of valour and accomplishment, and a constant source of hope and pride. The year 1977 was when cricket captured my imagination. With a transistor radio stuck to my ear under a blanket, I spent winter mornings following India’s tour of Australia, which see-sawed thrillingly to end 3-2 in Australia’s favour. And there was Gavaskar, who my aunt had told me so much about, with three hundreds.India’s next tour, to Pakistan in 1978, would end the golden age of Indian spin bowling (and herald a rising star in Kapil Dev), but it had Gavaskar standing amidst the wreckage, scoring 447 runs with a couple of hundreds. However inappropriate it may seem now, that’s how we counted India’s gains in cricket in those days, in terms of hundreds.It was perhaps ordained that Bombay would become my home. But long before I moved there, I adopted Bombay as my Ranji Trophy team, and Shivaji Park would be my first pilgrimage when I arrived. My fandom gradually dimmed as professional training took hold, but it was a high to have Gavaskar as a guest for the launch of the first cricket magazine I edited, and because my daughter shares his birthday, I rarely forget to wish him on email. He unfailingly replies.And because we inhabit the same professional landscape now, there has been the odd disagreement over the years, but the first hero remains forever. Behind my work desk is a collage of sportspeople as I would like to remember them. At the centre of this arrangement is the photograph of Gavaskar at the top of this article: bareheaded, down the pitch, weight on the front foot. The bat has completed its arc and finished above the head, the gaze is fixed straight ahead, presumably following the path of the ball that has raced down the ground. It’s a picture of symmetry and batting perfection, and a reminder of an age when irrespective of clouds or storms, it was always sunny days as long he remained at the crease.Happy 75th. Let the memories never fade.

With every passing game, Sunrisers’ opening pair seems to be pushing the envelope further and further

Shashank Kishore21-Apr-20241:56

What has given the Sunrisers batters so much freedom?

You couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that Delhi Capitals decided to move away from their home ground for the first part of IPL 2024 because they wanted to give pitches time to recover from the WPL games in March.Sunday night must have felt like returning home to see their fortress broken into, the safe ransacked and their CCTV network expertly dismantled. Such was the carnage Sunrisers Hyderabad caused. And Capitals could do nothing about it, except wonder if embracing the “tired pitches” would have been the better option.Perhaps Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma might have adopted a different approach then. Or, maybe, they would have been just as effective – given the form they are in, they seem capable of taking the pitch out of the equation.Related

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There’s been so much written and spoken about Head’s reinvention over the past year. Still, it is sometimes astonishing how he has been able to push the boundaries of the batting powerplay with every passing game this IPL. There’s no slogging, but just proper trust in his methods that he believes will help him unfailingly deliver most times. There’s also the small matter of receiving that backing from the captain and coach.His opening partner, Abhishek, is much younger, but being around the senior circuit for six years now has given him a firm grip on what he needs to do. Sunrisers had raced to 83 without loss in four overs. Head had already brought up a barnstorming half-century and it would have seemed prudent enough to play Kuldeep Yadav out. Abhishek, though, is cut from a different cloth.He welcomed him with three sixes, the last of them bringing up Sunrisers’ 100 inside five overs. This may seem like a bit of daredevilry on the surface, but there’s been a proper mindset change that can only come with maturity because the approach comes with the inherent risk of more failure than success.Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma put on a blazing show in the powerplay•Associated PressThis approach by Abhishek, of going hard in the powerplay may have been stamped and sealed at the IPL, but has taken flight away from the arc lights when he had identified this was the method he had to master to be different. Abhishek spoke about it candidly during the domestic season, touching upon how amid the Gills and the Gaikwads he needed to reinvent himself to be different.At the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, Abhishek put all of it into practice. He was the second-highest run-scorer. His 485 runs came at a strike rate of 192.46. Abhishek’s runs, more importantly, helped Punjab win their first T20 crown. It’s rare enough to have a few impactful performances when your propensity for risk is that high, but Abhishek had proved he wasn’t just a risk-taker for the heck of it. The consistency since then is merely a by-product of clarity and putting it into practice.Head has been playing outrageous shots every ball, or so it seems, making jaws drop with the approach that has redefined his game across formats. To not just match that but strike better takes something special. Abhishek could’ve been forgiven for rotating strike and watching the best show from the other end, but here he was showcasing himself to the world.Not only did he strike them clean, but he did so with a calm head, superb balance and impeccable timing, bringing a certain insouciance to his stroke play that made it amply clear that this was the handiwork of a proper batter, not a powerplay slogger. And it’s this partnership that has helped the Sunrisers thrive.”I just feel like Abhi’s probably been the standout for me,” Head said at a media round-table a night before Sunday’s fixture. “I know he has come through a really good Under-19 program and that he’s really close with a couple of guys who have excelled and gone on and played [Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw]. The way he learns and adapts, he’s confident and trains all those things that I guess you see a lot of now.”Abhishek himself can’t believe he has been able to learn off Head the way he has over the past few weeks. His three sixes in his first over off Kuldeep was just a proper demonstration of not just picking angles but also lengths and the bowler, both in the air and off the pitch.1:58

Rapid Fire review – ‘Head, Abhishek bat as if 260-270 is par score’

In the very first over, Head had given him a blueprint against Khaleel Ahmed, who may have perhaps seen how RCB’s bowlers saw their length balls disappear down the ground at the Chinnaswamy last week. So he went short, but Head was equally effective in transferring the weight back in a jiffy to access the square boundaries with the pull.”We’ve been talking a lot off the field,” Abhishek said of his partnership with Head. “It’s joyful to watch him bat. Our chats are helping. He’s someone I’m looking forward to batting with for the rest of the season. All the Punjab boys know I admire Travis for the way he bats in all three formats. Luckily we got him here [at Sunrisers].”I’m very clear about my mindset and goal. I had a very clear plan in my mind before the IPL. I was clear about my batting style and performance and how I was going to do it. I’m executing well, all the hard work in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s is really helping me a lot.”Remember that Kuldeep takedown?It was not just a result of a pre-game chat Head and Abhishek had about the endless possibilities against spin in the powerplay, especially on a fresh surface at a venue with short square boundaries as the Kotla offers. It was also down to their planning before the game that involved facing left-arm wrist spinners in the nets.”Personally, I try and plan really well for the spinners as they’re the main bowlers for teams,” Abhishek said. “This match also, I was very careful [in his planning] for Kuldeep. He’s their main bowler. I watched his videos, I try to play similar bowlers a day prior, it could be any net bowler or local bowler, but [the idea is to] try to make sure they’re similar to the bowlers we’re going to face. That helps me a lot.”It’s hard to imagine now that this opening partnership was discovered by accident. Mayank Agarwal’s illness ahead of their fourth game against Chennai Super Kings allowed them the option of pairing Abhishek with Head, who incidentally sat out of the tournament opener. Now it is impossible to imagine them being separated in the near future.

As England begin search for new white-ball coach, they should examine what support captain needs

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Jul-2024″That didn’t interest me because the team is flying,” Brendon McCullum told New Zealand’s SENZ radio back in May 2022 after being appointed as England Men’s Test coach. “I wasn’t interested in a cushy kind of gig.”The “gig” in question was the England white-ball job, one McCullum was touted for but neither applied for nor was offered. It was instead given to Matthew Mott. And as Mott leaves his post on Tuesday, two years into a four-year contract, he will be the first to tell you it has been anything but “cushy”.When Mott took the reins, England were indeed flying – to a point – in limited-overs cricket. They held the ODI World Cup and finished the 2021 T20 edition as disappointed semi-finalists. Mott would add the 2022 men’s T20 World Cup to a crowded mantlepiece after a hugely successful time leading Australia Women. But the sands were shifting as Test cricket became England’s outright priority after years of underperformance in whites.That manifested itself in different ways. Mott rarely had access to his full squad, meaning continuity and defining roles were left to the eve of major tournaments at a time when personnel shifts should have been constant given the age profiles and trajectories of established and establishing talent. A dire defence of the ODI title last winter showed that did not happen fast enough.Related

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On three occasions – his first engagement in the Netherlands, a ludicrous series against Australia a week after the 2022 T20 World Cup and an inconvenient three matches against Ireland at the end of the 2023 summer – he was essentially working with a second/third-string hybrid squad. Even when he did have a full deck, external awkwardness brought its own challenges.The contract stand-off at the end of last summer, as the ECB introducing new multi-year deals spilt over into the start of the 50-over World Cup, created an awkward mood in the England camp. While the conversations with players began during the summer, by the time the contracts were officially announced at the end of October, the defending champions had lost three of their first four group matches. David Willey, one of the few players to perform in the first four weeks of that tournament, was the only member of the squad without one of the 26 deals. Announcing his retirement while voicing his displeasure at the decision was indicative of a sour atmosphere.Managing director Rob Key is right to state the team “needs a new direction”. But Mott certainly did not have full control of the wheel or the pedals. The key event of his tenure, one which will also influence the question of who takes charge after Marcus Trescothick sees out the summer as interim, was set in motion on June 20, 2022.That Monday morning, Eoin Morgan woke up in the WestCord Fashion Hotel, Amsterdam, and decided to retire, 33 days after Mott had singled out his “astute leadership” as a key reason for becoming white-ball coach. Mott was intended as a facilitator as Morgan continued to drive the agenda. With Jos Buttler taking over, the job spec had changed dramatically.Individually, Mott and Buttler worked well. Mott maintained calm within the dressing room, most notably during the recent T20 World Cup when rain and a defeat to Australia put England on the brink of another failure. Buttler has long emboldened those around him, both as a conscientious person and one of the best limited-overs batters on the planet. But as a combination, blindspots emerged.1:57

Roller: Buttler captaincy a bigger issue than the coach

By and large, Buttler’s instincts are sound, but they could be stronger. At times, he was too rigid in the field, sticking too long to plans even as they started to unravel. His decision to field first against South Africa in the sweltering Mumbai heat at the 2023 World Cup was followed at the T20 World Cup by bowling Will Jacks to Australia’s left-handed top order, with a short leg-side hit made to seem even shorter by the wind blowing across the Kensington Oval.Unlike Morgan, Buttler wears disappointment visibly. A byproduct of always being locked into the game as wicketkeeper? Buttler continues to insist the all-compassing nature of his work behind the stumps does not affect his captaincy. But at times, he could have done with a stronger, disagreeing voice in his ear. Mott was never that.Ultimately, Mott makes way because it is easier to replace a coach than a captain, particularly with a leadership void in the white ball set-up. Key’s priority is finding a seasoned coach with strong franchise and international groundings, with no desire to restrict the search to identifying an English candidate. But working with Buttler means there are parameters to instill. Whoever comes in needs to be a counterpoint to a captain who, at 33, is entering his endgame.England will not opt for a contrarian – Key dislikes the idea of “good cop, bad cop” pairings believing it only promotes disagreements, which is hardly conducive to a healthy dressing room – but they do need a firm hand.Of the names linked so far, Kumar Sangakkara could offer that given his pre-existing relationship with Buttler as Rajasthan Royals head coach, and wealth of experience as Sri Lanka captain. Ricky Ponting, let go last week by Delhi Capitals, also fits that bill. Andy Flower has gone on to be regarded as one of the best short-form minds on the circuit without totally losing the strict demeanour that oversaw the kind of success with the England Test team that McCullum is desperate to replicate.England ran out of road at the T20 World Cup against India in Guyana•CREIMASMahela Jayawardene is arguably the most standout candidate, encompassing every facet of playing experience and franchise success. But he would take some turning to depart Mumbai Indians, where he is head of global cricket with further expansion of the Ambani family’s reach – notably into the Hundred – on the horizon.Though lacking coaching experience, Mike Hussey impressed while on deck with England for the 2022 World Cup win, unafraid to challenge batters while also offering reassurance by way of insight. If a lack of international playing experience is no barrier, Mike Hesson is another name to consider – one who does not seek the limelight but has no problem pulling up those in it.Undoutedly a few will have spotted the scrutiny Mott faced and wonder if it’s worth the hassle. It would take a lot for them to turn their back on whatever plum gigs they have, particularly as franchise owners seek greater loyalty from their employees.The ECB is willing to exercise a degree of flexibility, appreciating the very best coaches are ones in demand in world cricket’s ever-changing landscape. Mott was understood to be on around £200,000 a year – a figure not set in stone and likely to be greater for a higher profile applicant – and there will be chunks in the calendar available for other opportunities.The risk here is if a coach does not give as much of themselves to it, that ‘England white-ball coach’ just becomes another job on their docket. It could also lend itself to conflicts of interest, though that is not restricted to this particular avenue, or cricket as a whole. Morgan, who dismissed talk of replacing Mott last week but is still thought of as a great option, is close to Buttler. Andrew Flintoff, popular with this group of players and currently in his first head coach role with Northern Superchargers, is a long-time friend of Key, but is unlikely to be considered this time around.There is much to consider, though time for consideration. The new coach will ideally begin from the end of the summer onwards, with a white-ball series in the Caribbean followed by the 2025 Champions Trophy in February. It is an ideal opportunity to start again, albeit with the same captain and similar challenges in the immediacy given that West Indies series is sandwiched by Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand.If the “gig” seemed “cushy” back in 2022, it certainly is not in 2024. Nor is the job of identifying and convincing Mott’s replacement.

He has come in to bat in tough situations and played some eye-catching shots. Now he needs to build on it.

Alagappan Muthu10-Dec-20241:01

Manjrekar: Reddy is an exceptional batting talent

Fifteen yards out from the boundary line in Canberra, Dhruv Jurel had rocked onto his back foot, opening up his hips to get power into the shot. He found it and the ball was hurtling away in front of square… exactly where Nitish Kumar Reddy was taking his throwdowns.Someone cried out in warning. They needn’t have. Reddy shifted seamlessly from checking what he could do better with India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate to whack this ball away too. He has got himself a nice little highlight reel in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy.It began in Perth when he was alert to the possibility of some quick runs. Nathan Lyon had come on and after sussing up that there was no real turn on offer, in addition to knowing that facing the fast bowlers had been really hard work, Reddy reeled off three fours in eight balls. One went down the ground, the next over cover, hit inside out, and the last was a reverse sweep. Shots seem to be his thing.Related

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According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, Travis Head, that phenom who has left Ricky Ponting in awe of how hard he hits the ball, is on top of the list for most runs made in this series through aggressive shots, or attempts made to find the boundary: 156 in 54 balls. Picking the ball early and committing to shots fully are hallmarks of Head’s batting and it helps that he has such great hands too. Reddy shares that strength. He is No. 2 on the list: 114 in 36 balls.In the second Test, when Mitchell Starc presented him with just the slightest bit of width – the length was still fine – there was an opportunity to free the arms and the young India allrounder took it with glee. The host broadcast had calculated that ball had come to him at 116kph (after pitching) and was sent away at 116kph too. Reddy hit Scott Boland for a reverse swept six as well and since that shot is a little more unorthodox it tends to stick out. But the square boundaries are shorter at the Adelaide Oval. To hit Starc – who is deadly almost every time he pitches the ball up – over cover – so no slogging – and have enough on it to go sailing into the crowd is a pretty special effort. His bat speed on that lofted drive was recorded to be 60kph. Whirlwind hands.”[Reddy] has done everything a young player could do in a very short space of time and we think he has a very high ceiling,” ten Doeschate said on Friday.At the time he was picked to play in Australia, he had played only 21 first-class matches, and his better discipline, batting, had fetched him one century and two fifties. Obviously, as an allrounder he plays down the order so he doesn’t always have the chance to score big runs but those numbers are still not the break-the-door-down type that the selectors often ask for. Reddy struggled in the early part of the tour, playing for India A. In four innings, he made 0, 17, 16 and 38 and picked up only one wicket.Nitish Kumar Reddy made 42 runs in each innings in Adelaide•Getty ImagesPlayers with raw talent like Reddy need this kind of exposure. Back when he was making his way up the Andhra age-group system, he was scoring double and triple-centuries for fun. So when he levelled up and had a poor season, he thought it was nothing. Then he had another blip and that’s when he realised where he stood.India have taken a big punt on him. He wasn’t dominating the Ranji Trophy. He only began playing professional cricket four years ago. His rise is a little bit out of nowhere, helped by his exploits in the IPL, and a little bit out of necessity. India need a seam-bowling allrounder. There is another big Test tour of England coming up next year. Someone like Shardul Thakur has done well in this role in the past but at 33 he might not be a good fit for the future. Reddy could. He has top-scored for India in three out of four innings in Australia. But given those scores were 41, 42 and 42, there is clear understanding that he is very much a work in progress.Take his singular strength once again, the one with which he has caught the eye and come up through the ranks – his attacking shots. When Head has played them this series, he averages 156, which means he has got out to them only once, which means he is choosing his moments to be aggressive quite carefully. Reddy’s average when playing attacking shots is 38. They have got him out in three of his four innings.”From the prep week in Perth, where he looked like he still needed to figure things out,” ten Doeschate said, “the way it worked in Perth and the game plans he implemented in Perth to get crucial runs there, I think to get us to 150 in that first game was amazing.”Still a little bit of work to do, he’s very raw. But for a young kid, a 21-year-old to come out like that and play three innings and the quality he has, it is super exciting.”In places like Australia, where the new ball poses immense threat, there is every chance a visiting team finds itself at 100 for 5 over and over. Runs thereon from people down the order can be the difference between winning and losing, and runs are possible from there because the ball goes soft and does considerably less. In that regard, Reddy, at No. 7, is a crucial piece of India’s puzzle and considering he is the team’s second highest run-scorer, he is coping pretty well. He had grown up watching the stars in this team. Now he is holding his own with them.

Rather than the pace of Jofra Archer, it was Chris Woakes with the keeper up to the stumps that did for India’s captain

Matt Roller11-Jul-20251:23

Manjrekar: Can’t find fault with Gill for his dismissal

“He’s out,” read the banner headline in the London evening newspaper , such was the sense of relief in England when Don Bradman was finally dismissed for 230 at The Oval in the final Test of the 1930 Ashes. In the absence of a modern equivalent, it was Chris Woakes’ face that evoked the same sentiment when he had Shubman Gill caught behind at Lord’s.Gill arrived in England averaging 35 and with plenty to prove away from home but his name has been mentioned in the same breath as Bradman’s ever since his 430-run match at Edgbaston. With 585 runs in the first two Tests of this tour, Gill could put Bradman’s record tally for a five-match series – 974 – under genuine threat before he heads home in August.While Gill was out in both innings in Birmingham, his dismissals hardly felt repeatable: his tired pull to square leg on 269, and skying a caught-and-bowled to Shoaib Bashir on 161 were simply the results of mental and physical exhaustion. Ben Stokes would not be drawn on England’s plans for the Lord’s Test, beyond saying: “We’ve got plans for all the Indian batters.”Related

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Stokes and England would not admit as much, but the timing of Jofra Archer’s comeback seemed like a direct response to Gill’s dominance. There remains a suspicion that Gill’s main vulnerability is genuine, express pace; within four balls of his first Test spell in four-and-a-half years, Archer had bowled the fastest delivery of this series.As soon as Gill walked in at No. 4, Archer returned for a second spell. His first ball to him was right on the money, at 88mph/141kph, and he had Gill flinching and dropping his hands to avoid his short deliveries. Archer has an excellent record against Gill – two dismissals in 28 balls in Tests, three in 19 in the IPL – and was desperate to extend it.With the ball becoming gradually softer, Stokes turned to his familiar short-ball ploy and set an extraordinary six-three leg-side field for Archer: long leg, backward square leg, deep square leg, square leg, forward square leg and midwicket. Gill was untroubled, even shimmying outside leg stump to forehand-swat a short ball into the covers.But Stokes had another plan up his sleeve. As soon as Gill walked in, a helmet came out so that Jamie Smith could stand up to the stumps with Woakes bowling. When Gill whipped his first ball from Woakes into the leg side for one, Smith took it straight back off and stood back when KL Rahul took strike.

“On a wicket where you’re working with a slope, if you can put someone further back in the crease, there’s more time for the ball to deviate one way or the other. You feel like you’re bringing more modes of dismissal into the game”Joe Root on the shubman Gill dismissal

Gill batted well out of his crease at both Headingley and Edgbaston, where he made Woakes look like a medium pacer: their head-to-head for the series read 153 balls, 102 runs, zero dismissals. But Smith’s proximity forced Gill back, giving the ball a greater chance to move off-straight – his average interception point against Woakes was half-a-metre deeper than it had been at Edgbaston.Woakes drew a false shot three balls into the plan, Gill pressing forward and edging him through past second slip for four. He looked comfortable enough when pushing a half-volley down the ground with a pristine straight drive, but when Woakes went a fraction wider on the crease, he caught the outside edge and Smith gleefully gobbled up a tough chance.England’s celebrations told the story of a plan coming together even if, at 80mph, the wicket ball was significantly slower than one Stokes might have imagined when calling on Archer. Woakes beamed as he ran away with arms outstretched, aeroplane-style. “I’ve seen a lot of him bat already – as we all have – so it was nice to take that wicket,” Joe Root said later, with a relieved grin.2:19

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The long-term implications of England’s attack leader bowling with the keeper up were less than ideal, but with the series level and the match in the balance, it was the here and now that mattered. “It was a good bit of bowling – clever, as well,” Root added. “Sometimes as a bowler, you’ve got to take your ego out of it, and I think it was smart.”On a wicket where you’re working with a slope, if you can put someone further back in the crease, there’s more time for the ball to deviate one way or the other. You feel like you’re bringing more modes of dismissal into the game, and it stops them batting out of the crease and cuts the angles down… It was good thinking, good skill to be able to execute it as well.”Root seemed to have finished his answer when he realised that he should mention Smith’s “unbelievable catch” too, and this was an important moment for England’s wicketkeeper. Smith may not be as natural with the gloves as his predecessor and Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes, but this dismissal would not have been possible without his ability to stand up to a seamer. Added to another counterattacking half-century, Smith’s catch completed a fine day for him.It left Gill trudging off having scored 16, only his second failure of a sparkling maiden series as captain. If he can add another 373 runs in his five remaining innings of the tour to go clear of Bradman’s benchmark, then England will be buoyed that after a week of chasing leather in Birmingham, a ploy to get him out finally worked.