Who makes the cut after a season which has seen significant disruption?

Tristan Lavalette24-Jan-2022Statistics until the end of the regular seasonBen McDermott (Hobart Hurricanes)After a delayed start to the season due to a groin injury, McDermott initially struggled at No. 4 before a move to the top of the order unleashed his belligerent batting. The 27-year-old lit a fuse under the BBL mid-season when he became the first player in the competition’s history to smash consecutive centuries. A few matches later he agonisingly fell short of his fourth career BBL ton with 93 against Heat. McDermott tailed off slightly but his spectacular season, where he compiled the most runs, ensures the pressure is on Australia’s ageing openers Aaron Finch and David Warner ahead of a home T20 World Cup.Josh Philippe (Sydney Sixers)Philippe has been a standout batter in the BBL over recent years and it appeared the 24-year-old had taken his game to another level after striking three half-centuries early in the season, including 99 not out against Melbourne Stars at the MCG. Just as he was making an irresistible case to national selectors, Philippe went uncharacteristically cold and scored just one half-century in his next 10 innings. He has been overtaken by McDermott in the pecking order for Australia’s T20 team heightening the pressure on Philippe amid Sixers’ stuttering quest for a historic hat-trick of BBL titles.Related

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Stats – Glenn Maxwell and Melbourne Stars' record-breaking act

Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars)Maxwell’s season was a mishmash of highs and lows but it was never dull. Over half of his runs came from two breathtaking innings, where he smashed hundreds, but around them were a lot of failures including four straight single digit failures amid Stars’ Covid-19 drama. Some of his dismissals were particularly rash and perhaps can be rued after Stars agonisingly missed finals by just one point. But Stars’ skipper just has to be included on this list after his record-breaking 154 not out against Hurricanes in a reminder of why the ‘Big Show’ remains the best show going around.Mitchell Marsh (Perth Scorchers)Fresh from his heroics at the T20 World Cup, Marsh has become perhaps the most intimidating batter in the BBL. Even though he’s played only half the tournament, Marsh’s imprint has been sizeable and he now exudes a type of aura reserved for the absolute elite. While the 30-year-old’s power hitting has been unparalleled, his growing maturity is eye-catching. His seam bowling hasn’t been greatly needed amid Scorchers’ well-oiled machine but he’s been handy when needed. However, a hamstring injury suffered in the qualifying final against Sixers has the potential to derail his golden run.Has this been a breakout season for Jason Sangha?•Getty ImagesMoises Henriques (Sydney Sixers)Somewhat reminiscent of team-mate Philippe, Henriques started the BBL season superbly with a pair of 70s but has cooled off since. Although he has still looked the goods and showed composure during Sixers’ horror collapses against Brisbane Heat at the SCG and Scorchers in the qualifying final. It’s been a tough period for Sixers mired in the BBL’s Covid-19 chaos and the two-time defending champions have been uncharacteristically off the boil. But the strong leadership of Henriques, who soon turns 35, has held Sixers together as they chase history.Jason Sangha (Sydney Thunder)The much-hyped 22-year-old is starting to live up to top billing after an ultra-consistent season batting at No. 3. Sangha had a purple patch during Thunder’s six-match winning streak where they stormed up the ladder and he also impressed as stand-in skipper for a few games. Given his inexperience, Sangha’s composure at the crease has stood out but he can switch gears when required like when he clubbed 91 not out from 55 balls against Adelaide Strikers. An international debut might not be far away.Ashton Agar (Perth Scorchers)Once again, the spinning allrounder has been ultra-consistent and a key cog in Scorchers’ dominant season. Generally bowling after the four-over powerplay, often in tandem with legspinner Peter Hatzoglou, left-armer Agar has been miserly and strangles batters mid-innings. He has a knack of picking up wickets at pivotal moments and Agar has also contributed several cameos with the bat at the death.Hayden Kerr (Sydney Sixers)The 25-year-old has been the breakout bowler of the BBL with Kerr finishing the regular season as the second highest wicket taker. With Sixers enduring a run of injuries to their quicks, Kerr has grabbed his opportunity with both hands and stolen the show. His versatility has stood out with the left-armer able to bowl rapidly but he has clever variations. The best of Kerr, who had been injury prone previously, may still be ahead with his explosive batting barely being utilised at No. 8.Rashid Khan signed off in style for Adelaide Strikers•Cricket Australia via Getty ImagesRashid Khan (Adelaide Strikers)It’s little surprise to see the maestro spinner on this list after Rashid once again stamped himself as the BBL’s best bowler. He kept afloat Strikers, who struggled for most of the season but importantly racked up bonus points to help them secure a finals berth. Rashid continued to weave his magic on flummoxed batters none more so than against Heat, where he finished his BBL season with the remarkable figures of 6 for 17.Peter Siddle (Adelaide Strikers)Siddle turned back the clock during a vintage regular season where he claimed the most wickets in the BBL. No one bowled better at the death marked by Siddle’s mastery of delivering unplayable yorkers. With Travis Head starring in the Ashes, Siddle took the captaincy reins and stamped his leadership on the group. He’s galvernised them and instilled belief even when Strikers’ finals prospects appeared grim. It appears there is plenty left in the tank for the evergreen 37-year-old.Andrew Tye (Perth Scorchers)Much like Siddle, Tye shows no signs of age after being one of only two Scorchers players to have played every match this season. The 35-year-old’s renowned trickery and slow bowling expertise have been on full display but he’s also bowled quicker than in recent years to perhaps rekindle an international career that appeared over. During his stellar season, Tye became the first Scorchers player to reach 100 career BBL wickets.X-factorsJoe Clarke (Melbourne Stars)
Tom Rogers (Hobart Hurricanes)

Perennial underachievers, MP, have the chance to make their first final since 1998-99

Srinidhi Ramanujam13-Jun-2022The semi-finals of the 87th edition of Ranji Trophy, India’s premier first-class tournament, will kick off in Bengaluru on Tuesday with Madhya Pradesh taking on Bengal and Mumbai facing Uttar Pradesh. Here is a look at how the teams are placed ahead of the crucial matches.Bengal target back-to-back finals
MP captain Aditya Shrivastava was five years old when they last reached the Ranji Trophy title round, in 1998-99. Chandrakant Pandit was the MP captain then, and 23 years later, he has led them to the semi-finals. None of the current team members were even born when the team – then called Holkar – lifted the trophy, way back in 1952-53. However, the perennial underachievers now have the opportunity to collect the silverware they so yearn for.Coming off a dominating 10-wicket win over Punjab in the quarter-finals, MP will be up against an in-form Bengal, in Alur, the outskirts of Bengaluru.Related

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MP have match-winners in the likes of Kumar Kartikeya, Akshat Raghuwanshi and Rajat Patidar. Yash Dubey, Patidar and Shubham Sharma have all scored more than 400 runs each in four matches this season, while left-arm spinner Kartikeya sits at the top of bowling charts for the team with 19 wickets from four games. Pace bowlers Anubhav Agarwal and Gaurav Yadav have picked up 25 wickets between them, while Puneet Datey and offspinner Saransh Jain also showed glimpses of promise in the quarter-finals.Bengal, the 2019-20 edition’s finalists, have made their way to the last four having won all their three group games (only team to do so this season in Elite groups), and eking out a draw against Jharkhand after gaining a mammoth first-innings lead of 475 runs in the quarter-finals.They would be banking on the pace trio of Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep, who have accounted for 40 of the 67 wickets taken by the team this season. And then there is Shahbaz Ahmed, who has picked up 12 wickets and piled up 344 runs in four matches and has carried his IPL form into the long format.That their veteran batter Manoj Tiwary found his groove in the quarter-finals – he scored 73 and 136 against Jharkhand – would bode well for the team, who last claimed the Ranji title three decades ago. Having come close to winning the trophy in March 2020, Tiwary, who was also a part of the Bengal teams that lost the finals in 2005-06 and 2006-07, would be keen to help Bengal get hold of the elusive title.Kumar Kartikeya picked up six wickets in the second innings to see Madhya Pradesh through to the final four•ESPNcricinfo LtdMumbai favourites against UP
It didn’t matter that Mumbai just managed to sneak into the knockouts (they also had to rely on other results to go their way in the group stage). Making a strong statement in the quarter-finals with the biggest ever first-class win, of 725 runs versus Uttarakhand, Mumbai begin as favourites against UP at the Just Cricket Academy.Having featured in 46 of the 86 Ranji finals, the 41-time champions will aim to carry forward their confidence from the quarter-final triumph. Experienced wicketkeeper-batter Aditya Tare will miss the game after suffering a finger injury, and so will Suryakumar Yadav and Ajinkya Rahane. However, Mumbai do boast of a batting line-up consisting of Prithvi Shaw, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Arman Jaffer that can threaten any opposition. That the debutant Suved Parkar also made an instant impact with his record 252 against Uttarakhand will please Mumbai. In the bowling department, left-arm spinner Shams Mulani has been the headline-maker with 37 wickets, the most for a bowler this edition.Sarfaraz, the season’s highest run-scorer, will be up against the state he belongs to and the team he quit to return to Mumbai. Even Mumbai’s opener Jaiswal has roots in UP.And though UP do not have big-name players like Mumbai nor do they have any titles to show in the recent past (their last Ranji title came in 2005-06), Mumbai would not make the mistake of taking them lightly. Like Mumbai, UP also had to battle for a knockout berth until the last day of the group stage. They have been unbeaten so far, which includes a come-from-behind win against eight-time winners and pre-tournament favourites Karnataka in the last-eight stage.In Rinku Singh, Priyam Garg, and Karan Sharma, Uttar Pradesh have a reliable batting line-up. Pace bowler Yash Dayal, who had a breakthrough IPL season, has only strengthened their bowling department that also comprises Ankit Rajpoot and left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar.Having scripted a heist to reach the semi-finals, UP would want to extract a small measure of revenge for their 2008-09 final loss to Mumbai.

And when we’re not all agog for Trent Boult vs James Anderson, we’re waiting to see whether Jay-Z will bring Brooklyn’s finest PR skills to our game

Alan Gardner15-Jun-2022The conclusion of the IPL means we can finally turn our attention back to cricket for a little while – the apotheosis of which is, of course, the pursuit of glory in the Test match arena. Nothing beats the timeless verities of the five-day game, the crucible of white-hot competition between the greatest, most-skilled practitioners of our beloved sport.By which the Light Roller means the extremely important race to determine who is the best worst batter of all time.For those with a kink for tailender nonsense, England versus New Zealand has decent history – from Caddick, Mullally, Tufnell, Giddins and ignominy at The Oval to Monty Panesar swimming for his ground in Auckland. But the Trent Bridge Test, which, to be fair, had one or two things going for it, featured a slice of history to truly be cherished.Tallying up the most runs ever scored by a No. 11 is very much in keeping with the you-don’t-have-to-be-crazy-to-work-here-but-it-helps mood that sets cricket apart from most other sports. There don’t seem to be too many people keeping track of the most goals scored by a right-back in football, or most aces served in first-round defeats in tennis grand slams.But Trent Boult has, by his own admission, spent his ten and a half years as a Test cricketer slowly reeling in Muthiah Muralidaran’s record, finally getting there amid the familiar flurry of jabs, squawks and feints that makes his batting a piece of performance art. The whole spectacle could only have been bettered by the sight of James Anderson, who has spent almost twice as long on the trail of Murali, vengefully reverse-sweeping his way past Boult’s mark later in the match (and that could still happen in the final Test of the series).Frankly, it was a more innocent age when players could be so good at one aspect of their job that they were allowed to be laughably bad at another (while still allowing for the development of an appropriate hierarchy). The Light Roller was just about starting to feel better about the world when we heard that Nicholas Pooran had taken a four-for.

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Cricketers, as we all know, love to take the positives. Your team might have spent five sessions in the field, and dropped as many catches, but hey, lads, the bum pats were on point. Now Ben Stokes, in his role as England’s Test captain, has moved on to talking the positives, too. “The message from me to everyone is to look to be even more positive than we were last week. Let’s just always try to be better,” he said ahead of the aforementioned Trent Bridge Test. “I don’t know how you make positive more positive but I think you know what I mean.” Hmm, yeah. Not exactly Churchillian, eh? Although it seems Jonny Bairstow got the message.

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Well done to anyone who foresaw that Cricket South Africa’s next move on the “journey of rebuilding trust” with the fans would be to bring in Jay-Z as a consultant. South African cricket may have 99 problems but a PR link-up with a millionaire rapper’s entertainment agency ain’t one. “We are not bringing them in as cricket development partners. We understand that we are experts in developing talent and in cricket,” said CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki, placing the definition of the word “expert” under all sorts of strain. But anyway, good luck to them. It’s a hard-knock life if you’re not a member of the Big Three. And while the self-proclaimed Eighth Wonder of the World might think lbw stands for Lil Bow Wow, cricket has always gone well with an empire state of mind. If they are not rolling out branded Hova covers next time it rains at the Bullring, then it’ll be an opportunity missed.

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In the latest failing-to-read-the-room ICC pronouncement, chair Greg Barclay has had his say on how to grow Test cricket in the women’s game. The answer? You don’t. Never mind the climate of optimism around women’s sport generally, from increased professionalism, prize money and prestige; or campaigns such as “This Girl Can”, “Close the Gap” and “We Know Our Place”. No, no, ladies. The ICC knows your place, actually. “I can’t really see women’s Test or long-form cricket evolving at any speed at all,” Barclay said. “Men’s Test cricket represents the history and legacy of the game – it is what makes the game unique.” Keep sidelining 50% of the population and pretty soon that’ll be another reason why cricket is unique.

Verily did England need a messiah to deliver them from a mess. And behold, one did appear

Alan Gardner15-Sep-2022And lo, did the wise men (relatively speaking) of the ECB seek counsel from the shepherd Bren, of the faraway land of Inzid. And they said unto him, our Test cricket is in a right two and eight, could ye be persuaded to leave the T20 tiddlywinks behind and perform a true miracle?Related

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Bren left the wilderness to guide his new flock, and he preached only of kindness, and goodness, and chasing every ball to the boundary. And privily did he bestow unto them his wisdom, pumping the tyres of his disciples and playing the hymnals – e.g. Robbie Williams’ “Angels” – from his sacred boombox.Thus he spake: “Call me Baz.”And he set down the commandments by which his faithful should live:
1. Do as ye would be done by (play hard and fair, lads)
2. Give it a whack
3. If in doubt, add an extra slip
4. Be thine best self
5. Plan as if ye will live until the resurrection, live as if ye will achieve deliverance tomorrowSoon there was light where heretofore there had been darkness, as the followers of Bren trusted their game and played unto divine word. And they were sent forth into the benighted land to spread the gospel.Stokesy the Apostle: “Test cricket needed salvation. We are now playing for a higher purpose – win, lose or draw. Well, not draw, obviously, not the way we bat.”Broady the Nighthawk: “Everything is about how we can move the game forward, whether that is always looking for the wicket-taking option or going out, shutting your eyes and trying to leather every ball over deep square leg. And I think the crowds are really connecting with our message.”Zachariah the Opener: “It’s great, I don’t have to score runs anymore!”And lo did England win six out of seven, and the people did .And the word went forth. “Let it be known as ‘Bazball’,” sayeth some bright spark, although Bren isn’t too keen on this. But he sitteth and he smileth, and he weareth his shades and cap at a jaunty angle.Behold, said the herald from the ECB – a great prophet hath risen among us, and the World Test Championship will never be the same again. Talk about putting bums on seats!And Bren did give a sermon, though only occasionally, so as not to take the limelight from his disciples.”Blessed are the bat-makers…”(New English Test-ament continues for 96 pages)

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Back to the real world and the exxciting (sic) arrival of another T20 league. To get noticed these days, you really have to make a splash – but whereas the Hundred decided to pointlessly tweak all of the playing conditions, the SA20 has gone with a jazzed-up logo. Over to CSA’s press release, which reckons the new tournament’s identity is founded on “bold and energetic iconography”, incorporating an XX – the number 20 in roman numerals, rather than anything saucy – and a colour scheme of cyan, navy and green, which is “symbolic to the world of cricket – day, night and the 22 yards” (no it’s not just ripped off from some environmental expo). They’ve also saved 20% on the characters used in the name. “Dropping the T in T20 cricket shows our intention to be different,” said Graeme Smith, SA20 league commissioner. Remember that when MI Cape Town line up against Johannesburg Super Kings in a contest that looks strikingly similar to some T20 you might have seen before.

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If you’re anything like the Light Roller, you’ll remember exactly where you were on September 8, 2022. Rumours swept Twitter as the rain drummed down at The Oval. It had been expected for a long, long time, but some had begun to doubt whether it would actually happen. Could the status quo go on forever? There had been dark times, periods of turmoil and national intrigue – but then, all of a sudden, the moment was upon us. The crowds flocked to pay their respects. The line of succession was unbroken. Jubilation filled the realm as No. 71 was unveiled before a rapturous public… and King Kohli sat on his throne once again.

And how often have both captains produced double-centuries in a first-class cricket match?

Steven Lynch14-Feb-2023Both captains scored double-centuries in a recent Ranji Trophy match. How often has this happened in first-class cricket? asked K Lokaraj from India
The match you’re talking about was last week’s Ranji semi-final in Bengaluru, when Mayank Agarwal scored 249 for Karnataka, and his opposite number Arpit Vasavada responded with 202 for Saurashtra, who eventually won by four wickets.There have been only five previous instances of both captains scoring double-centuries in the same first-class match. The first was by Clyde Walcott (209 for Barbados) and Jeff Stollmeyer (208 for Trinidad) in Bridgetown in 1950-51. It didn’t happen again for more than half a century, until 2001-02, when Carl Hooper made 222 for Guyana and Stuart Williams 252 not out for Leeward Islands in a West Indian domestic semi-final in Albion (Guyana).The next instance – the only one in Tests – came in Karachi in 2008-09, when Mahela Jayawardene scored 240 for Sri Lanka and Younis Khan 313 for Pakistan. In a Ranji Trophy match in Delhi in 2016-17, Deepak Hooda hit 293 not out for Baroda and Yuvraj Singh 260 for Punjab. And in a County Championship game at The Oval in 2021, Chris Cooke made 205 not out for Glamorgan, and Ollie Pope 274 for Surrey, an innings which raised his first-class average on the ground at the time to a Bradmanesque 99.94.Is it true that Glenn McGrath took a wicket with his last ball in all three international formats? Has anyone else done this? asked Martin Harrison from Australia
Actually the great Australian seamer Glenn McGrath did not quite complete this impressive treble. He did dismiss England’s Paul Collingwood with his last ball in a T20I (in Southampton in 2005) and Jimmy Anderson with his final delivery in Tests, in Sydney in 2006-07. But in his last one-day international – the 2007 World Cup final in Bridgetown – the wicket of Russel Arnold came from his penultimate delivery. McGrath bowed out with a ball that Chaminda Vaas pushed away for a single.The data is not quite complete, but it looks as if only two other bowlers have taken wickets with the last balls they bowled in two of the three international formats: the Bermudian seamer Stefan Kelly, and Scotland’s slow left-armer Mark Watt. Both of them appeared only in ODIs and T20Is; Watt will probably play again soon.With Tagenarine Chanderpaul passing 200 the other day, are there any other father-and-son pairs who have scored double-centuries in Tests? asked Leon Ben-Lambrecht from South Africa
The new West Indian opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored 207 not out, in only his third Test, against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo last week. His father, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, made 203 not out against South Africa in Georgetown in 2005, and repeated that score against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2012-13.The only other father and son to score Test double-centuries are a proud Pakistan pair. Hanif Mohammad made 337 against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58, and also scored 203 not out against New Zealand in Lahore in 1964-65. His son Shoaib Mohammad emulated Chanderpaul senior in twice making 203 not out: against India in Lahore in 1989-90, and New Zealand in Karachi in 1990-91. There are ten further father-and-son combinations who have all scored Test centuries, including the Indian Amarnaths and the Australian Marshes, where two sons followed their father into three figures.Hanif (left-most) and Shoaib Mohammad (right-most) are the only other father-son pair besides Shivnarine and Tagenarine Chanderpaul to both have scored double-centuries in Tests•Shoaib MohammadKuldeep Yadav has a ridiculously low ratio of white-ball internationals where he has gone wicketless. Does anyone have a better record? asked Choyon Sen from India
India’s left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav has so far bowled in 103 innings in ODIs and T20Is, and taken wickets in 82 of them – that’s 79.61%. Counting only bowlers who have also bowled in 100 or more innings in white-ball internationals, he comes in eighth overall: on top is Rashid Khan, who has struck in 132 of the 155 innings in which he has bowled (85.16%). Also ahead of Kuldeep are Brett Lee of Australia (82.64% from 242 innings), the South African pace pair of Dale Steyn (81.29% from 171) and Allan Donald (80.25 from 162), New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond (80% from 100), Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralidaran (79.89% from 353) and Kuldeep’s current team-mate Mohammed Shami (79.82% from 109).If you reduce the qualification to those who have bowled in at least 50 innings, there’s a new leader: the Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane has struck in 65 of 73 innings, or 89.04%. Kuldeep Yadav is 15th by that reckoning.My friends and I have been trying to think of allrounders who have the best positive difference between their first-class batting and bowling averages. After the first Test against Australia, Ravi Jadeja reached +22.50, surpassing Jacques Kallis at +22.42. Who are the top performers in such a list? asked David Moore from England
You’re right that Ravindra Jadeja has just inched past Jacques Kallis on this particular list. They are actually 11th and 12th overall, given a minimum of 100 first-class matches and a reasonable number of wickets. On top is another Indian, possibly an unexpected name: the former Test captain Vijay Hazare averaged 58.38 with the bat in first-class cricket, and 24.61 with the ball (595 wickets), a difference of 33.77. Next come Garry Sobers (27.12), Warwick Armstrong (27.11) and Keith Miller (26.60).Sobers leads the way in Tests with 23.75 (57.79 vs 34.04), a little ahead of Kallis (22.71). Jadeja (12.70) is currently fifth, behind Imran Khan (14.88) and Miller (13.99). There are 74 players who have completed the Test double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets: bottom by this measure is Bangladesh’s Mohammad Rafique, with minus 22.19 (18.57 with bat, 40.76 with ball).Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

At a tricky juncture on the fourth day, everything about the way he batted was spot on

Sidharth Monga25-Dec-2022″If Shreyas was not the Player of the Series, I would have definitely shared this award with him, but he is, so I will take this home,” R Ashwin said in the post-match presentation after India’s three-wicket win, pointing to his Player-of-the-Match trophy.Now either Ashwin had been informed and there was a last-second change or he was nudging the adjudicators to do the right thing because Shreyas Iyer was the deserving Player of the Series. Ashwin himself was the top-scorer in a tense chase of 145 after he joined Iyer at 74 for 7, but Ashwin knew Iyer had played the better innings, one that calmed everyone down.Related

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Iyer did come to bat after the 28th over, which means India were near the time when the ball would go soft and misbehave slowly than it did earlier, but still he offered false responses to only four of the 46 balls he faced. Nobody came close to that batting efficiency in the whole Test. Ashwin, batting with him, faltered 12 times in 62. Everything about the way Iyer batted was spot on: judging the length, playing either right forward or right back, always on the lookout for runs, but not taking outrageous risks.It was not just on the outside. Captain KL Rahul spoke of how the panic in the dressing room settled down once Iyer started batting. “When someone’s performing consistently for you, it is very heartening, and Shreyas has been around the team for a long time and he had to really wait for his opportunities,” Rahul said. “And so happy to see that when he has got the opportunities he is really grabbing them with both hands, and he is doing the job for the team.”The way he batted today was phenomenal. He made it look really easy. There was a lot of pressure, there was a little bit of panic in the dressing room, but it didn’t look like there was any panic when we were watching Shreyas bat. He had a really good partnership with Ashwin.”

“He is someone who has been doing really well for 15 months to two years, but unfortunately he had the injury and he went away from the game for a little bit. He has been really patient through all of this. Obviously his journey has not been easy..”KL Rahul

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise because Iyer has been showing how good he is against spin from the time he debuted last year in Kanpur and rescued India from 106 for 3 and 51 for 5. He averages 68.67 against spin and 42.40 against pace. He has played just one match outside Asia, so we should reserve the verdict, but against spin in helpful conditions, he and Rishabh Pant have been India’s best batters since his debut.”He is someone who has been doing really well for 15 months to two years, but unfortunately he had the injury and he went away from the game for a little bit,” Rahul said. “Then he had to wait his turn again. He has been really patient through all of this. Obviously his journey has not been easy, no one’s journey has been easy in the team. The way he is batting is phenomenal, hope that he can continue to do this and keep getting better.”What Rahul said is also acknowledgment of the work Iyer had to do in domestic cricket to get his Test debut. He came into Test cricket with over 4000 runs at an average of over 50 and a strike rate of over 80. Since ESPNcricinfo has been keeping ball-by-ball records, no batter has managed that. And most of those runs came in Ranji Trophy where you have to face a lot of spin.In a series that spin dominated, Iyer made false responses to only 24 balls out of the 244 balls he faced from spinners. In the three innings that Iyer played, his points of entry were 112 for 4, 94 for 4 and 71 for 6. It is in keeping with Iyer’s career: only 54 false responses in 592 balls of spin.A good visual measure of how well you are batting against spin is how often you get neither forward nor back, giving the ball chance to misbehave and not giving yourself any chance to recover if it does. Iyer hardly ever does that.The next indicator is how a batter manages to score relatively risk-free runs off good balls. The one trait that has shone through Iyer’s batting so far is the classic trick against spin, especially on pitches keeping low: look to be pressing forward, but be quick to pounce on anything marginally short of a length. Those two shots, one each in both innings, will resonate for long: on both occasions, right back to a slightly short ball and pulling a left-arm spinner over midwicket. In the second innings, that shot signalled end of panic.Iyer might not have got the Player-of-the-Series award that Ashwin thought he would be, or should be, getting, but there can be no better tribute than that he calmed the panic down in the dressing room with his assured batting.

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.

And when have bowlers dominated? Over 2500 Tests have been played so far – we analyse the numbers

S Rajesh02-Jun-2023The Wellington Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka earlier this year – which the home team won by an innings and 58 runs – was the 2500th Test match in men’s cricket. It wasn’t a particularly memorable contest, but the landmark was a reminder of how long the format has been around.The very nature of the five-day game means only a limited number of them can be fitted into an annual calendar. In 2022 only 43 Tests were played, compared to 161 ODIs and a whopping 531 T20Is (that last number is also a function of the huge number of teams that play the shortest format). While it has taken 146 years for Test cricket to reach 2500 matches, the other two formats have been rapidly adding to their numbers: in 52 years of the 50-over ODI, 4578 matches have taken place, while 2076 T20Is have been played in only 18 years.That by itself means milestone matches come far less frequently in Tests. The 2000th Test was played almost 12 years ago, in July 2011, and the 1500th about 11 years before that. And that is super quick compared to the first 500, which took 83 years. (Even accounting for the 11 years lost to the two world wars, that’s a long time.)So how has Test cricket changed in this period, and which teams and players have been the most dominant in each of the five non-overlapping 500-Test blocks? Let the numbers tell the story.

Overall numbers in Test cricket, 1877 to 2023

For a format that has been played for more than 145 years, it is remarkable how similar the batting averages are in the five blocks. The early part of the first block featured lower averages due to uncovered pitches, but since then the number has hovered around the early 30s. The averages in the third and fifth blocks vary from each other by a minuscule 0.01, while in the second block (1960-1984), it was only about half a run higher.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the first decade of the 2000s, the overall batting average jumped to almost 35. That was clearly the batting era, characterised by relatively flat pitches, several batters who averaged above 50, and bowlers who struggled to achieve sub-30 averages. That is the only block of 500 Tests in which more than 1000 centuries were scored – 1042, compared to 766, 854, 791 and 951 in the four other blocks (in chronological order). Since then, bowlers have fought back to re-establish equilibrium, and in the last five years, they have even turned the tables on the batters.What changed, though, are scoring rates, and the number of non-draw results. From a dour 2.54 runs per over in the first block, the run rate has gone well past three now, which seems to be the influence of the 50- and 20-over formats. That’s the one data point where the number has consistently gone up in every period, apart from the last decade, when it dipped marginally in comparison to the previous one, largely due to the more bowler-friendly conditions on offer. The percentage of draws has drastically decreased too, from around one in every two games in the second block of 500 Tests, to one every five games in the last decade.

Team-wise trends in each 500-match block of Test cricket

To start with, England and Australia were the dominant teams. Of the first 500 Tests, in 178 those two teams were pitted against each other, while 310 involved at least one of them. South Africa were the only other team to play more than 100 Tests in this period. However, while Australia and England won many more Tests than they lost, South Africa largely struggled in this period, winning only 27 against 72 defeats.