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England have attacked unwisely, been sloppy in the field, and made selection mistakes

Ian Chappell02-Jul-2023England are looking more like a team resigned to the fate of losing the Ashes rather than the freewheeling confident bunch who felt they could comfortably achieve victory at home in any circumstances.The Australian team has great confidence and belief in captain Pat Cummins, who has proved his leadership style in a variety of conditions. England, on the other hand, are reeling, having lost a Test they thought they would win, at Edgbaston, and then seen their hopes at Lord’s dashed by all-round sloppy work in the field and a failure to cope with a bouncer attack from the opposition.Australia are growing in strength, while England are starting to question themselves, and this is a recipe for a disaster for the home side. They suffered an ignominious 4-0 hammering in Australia, and now the ugly scars are re-emerging; they’ll have trouble halting the slide.Related

• Australia are quite good, England might not be as good as they thought

• Can England maintain their tactics under an Australian assault? That will decide the result of the Ashes

• England loosen grip on Lord's Test in the face of short-ball barrage after Duckett 98

• Freedom leads to freefall as England batters abdicate responsibility

There is no doubt Ben Stokes is employing the right strategy in trying to win Test matches from the first ball; that is how the game is best played. What is in doubt is the ability of England – as they’re currently constructed – to successfully employ that strategy.England’s bowling and fielding have been disappointing, and now their batting has suffered a dramatic collapse against the short-pitched delivery. Major doubt is now evident in the English camp.It’s going to take a monumental display of strong leadership from Stokes to reboot England’s confidence to a point where they can turn the tables on Australia.Forget the first-innings declaration in the Edgbaston Test – that was a positive move. England lost that match because of their unbalanced, struggling attack, inept fielding, and their confusing and downright poor selection. They had an ageing attack that lacked variety and whose control over line and length was in question when confronted by an onslaught. They also don’t have the pace required to mount a meaningful bouncer barrage.When their batting – a source of comfort in the past – collapsed in a flurry of panicked shot-making at Lord’s, the doubts quickly resurfaced. That this occurred following a major injury to Australia’s prized offspinner Nathan Lyon only underlined England’s plight.

A bouncer barrage like Australia’s takes a physical toll on the bowlers, but if it helps secure an early series victory, the remaining Tests become a matter of coasting home

The England batters had no sensible answer when Australia resorted to a bouncer attack, and this gave Cummins’ men a huge boost. It’s true that Australia’s bowlers have the height and pace to employ bouncers well, but it helps when the opposition self-destructs. While it’s also true that a bouncer assault takes a physical toll on the bowlers, if it helps secure an early series victory, the remaining Tests become a matter of coasting home.It’s all well and good for England to say “That’s the way we play”, but when wild and woolly shot-making like in the first innings at Lord’s is on display, it’s time for the batters to answer some serious questions.In the field England are struggling to combat Steve Smith’s monumental thirst for runs, Usman Khawaja’s stubbornness, and the aggression of Travis Head. In addition, David Warner has shown tremendous resolve to overcome Stuart Broad’s domination. In the face of Australia’s determination, England needed to field superbly but they failed dismally.England’s error-ridden selection was summed up by Moeen Ali’s recall. he was not a successful spinner against Australia even at his peak and yet England chose to bring him back, making yet another serious miscalculation.Now that England’s batting has stumbled and fallen, the selection blunders become more apparent. In the past England haven’t been quick to change tack and resolve thorny issues. I’ll be surprised if the modus operandi changes under this selection group, while Australia are likely to go from strength to strength.Trying to win from the first ball is admirable, but gifting your wicket to the opposition with reckless shot-making is not a tactic designed to beat good sides. Australia under Cummins are a good side.

At the 2019 World Cup, Kuldeep was smashed by the same opposition, which started a downward spiral for him

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Oct-2023If you’re a mystery spinner in 2023, there are countless close-ups of your grip, dozens of analysts breaking down your release from slo-mo footage, and opposition batters poring over every flick of your fingers.You think you’re the finished product? That deception will always be your friend? That you will forever leave batters gawking open-mouthed at clattered stumps? The world has news for you. Whatever trickery has brought you here may not last. Under the blinding spotlight of international cricket, so little of your game can remain in the shadows.So it was for Kuldeep Yadav in the 2019 World Cup, on a cloudy Birmingham afternoon. Kuldeep, partnered then with Yuzvendra Chahal (giving rise to #KulCha), had in 2018 magicked his way repeatedly through the England batting order, claiming nine wickets at 16.44, in a three-match ODI series.Related

• Kuldeep credits straighter run-up, increased pace for ODI success

• Unbeaten India look to push England further towards elimination

• Kuldeep: Everyone told me to bowl quicker, but no one told me how

• Faster, straighter, deadlier – Kuldeep 2.0 is India's ace in the hole

But a year later, there Kuldeep was, being bullied by the same opposition. Jason Roy smoked him repeatedly down the ground, Jonny Bairstow danced down the pitch and thumped him for sixes or stayed in his crease and reverse-swept him for fours. In his ten overs, Kuldeep was ransacked for 72.The next year was also unkind. After being dropped from the XI before the end of that World Cup campaign, Kuldeep went for a run-a-ball through his next nine ODIs. In that time he averaged 44.72 – a wristspinner both struggling for wickets and failing to build pressure through the middle overs. When he was let go from the squad entirely, you wondered if that had been the last of him at the top level.It wouldn’t be the first time, right? Mystery spinners – match-winners when they are hot, liabilities when unravelled. The genre of cricketers most likely to have a shelf life.That Kuldeep has successfully reinvented himself, and bowled his way back into the India XI, is credit to his own pursuit of evolution, of course. But it also speaks to an increasing resilience in Indian cricket, which provides players multiple paths back. If it is not the National Cricket Academy, it is a state body, and failing that, the IPL. Whatever ails you, there is knowledge, there is investment, there is support.Kuldeep Yadav was taken apart by Daryl Mitchell but came back strongly•ICC/Getty ImagesIn this World Cup, roughly four years after his game broke down, Kuldeep has been a vital part of India’s attack, never going wicketless, proving difficult to dominate, and mounting a strong resurgence even in the one match in which he was blasted.It is in that New Zealand game in Dharamsala that all of Kuldeep 2.0 was in evidence. He had bowled slower in the early overs, looking for big turn, but when Daryl Mitchell came down the pitch and repeatedly launched him straight, Kuldeep would find ways to reply. When Mitchell shaped to reverse-sweep, Kuldeep would usually slip in the quicker ball – sometimes bowled like a cross-seam delivery, not looking for sideways movement off the surface, but frequently bowled at more than 100kph, and occasionally gaining a little extra bounce when the ball hits the seam.In general, there is just more zip in Kuldeep’s deliveries now. The old revolutions on the ball, and the turn, is still there, but the most obvious of the technical changes is his straighter approach to the crease, which in turn means there is more body behind the action, which takes stress off the shoulder, and a stronger front arm. Essentially, when batters are crashing him for boundaries, as Mitchell – and to a lesser extent Rachin Ravindra – did in his first five overs, Kuldeep now has an entire defensive section of his bowling to fall back on. He can slide them quickly with the arm, get others to skid through into the pads out of the front of the hand, and slip in fast, wide googlies with the leg side open, tempting right-hand batters to drag him against the turn.As for many other successful mystery spinners, it is having strong defensive options for when pitches are flat, or batters are flying, that allows them to be more persistent with their attacking deliveries. If boundaries come, there is belief that control can be regained, both within the bowler, and from his captain. After going for 48 in his first five overs against New Zealand, Kuldeep was not rushed out of the attack. His last five overs cost only 25, despite his earlier tormentor Mitchell still being at the crease. He also claimed two wickets, both with quickish deliveries. He should have had another – the wicket of Mitchell – had Jasprit Bumrah held a straightforward chance at long-off.There is irony to Kuldeep showcasing his newfound mettle ahead of his next World Cup game against England. In their own way, England’s white-ball team has come full circle too, reprising that familiar England avatar, in which they drag their carcasses around the tournament.To the extent that they have been able to prepare for India, following their crushing defeat to Sri Lanka on Thursday, England will have pored over footage of Kuldeep 2.0. Perhaps they will have clocked too, that his game does not seem so easy to dismantle as it had once been in Birmingham.

Though “really happy” with his form, Padikkal says “the ultimate prize” is the Ranji Trophy title

Deivarayan Muthu09-Feb-2024After Devdutt Padikkal went from 88 to a century with a punchy sequence of 6,4,4 off Tamil Nadu captain R Sai Kishore, he pumped his fist, spun around, and then raised his bat to acknowledge the cheers from a crowd of almost 1000 on Friday afternoon at Chepauk.Padikkal countered everything that Tamil Nadu threw at him. Sandeep Warrier smacked him on his helmet and unprotected shoulder, but he shook those blows off and hooked him away to the boundary. When M Mohammed went much fuller and attacked the stumps, Padikkal repeatedly pumped him over his head. It prompted Sai Kishore to station himself – the tallest fielder on the park – at straight long-on, almost right behind the bowler.Despite Sai Kishore taking a leaf out of MS Dhoni’s playbook, Padikkal kept launching the ball in the arc between midwicket and long-on. With both the Tamil Nadu left-arm spinners – Sai Kishore and Ajith Ram turning the ball into him – Padikkal took calculated risks to disrupt their lengths and lines.Related

• KL Rahul ruled out of third Test against England; Devdutt Padikkal called up

• Sai Kishore, and going where his 'inner voice' takes him

• Padikkal looks to bounce back by 'staying stable through the highs and lows'

• Late-blooming Koushik wants to make the most of his time

“I was just waiting for them to flight it up a little bit,” Padikkal said at his post-day press conference. “Both of them are really good bowlers and both of them were bowling really consistently in those [good] areas. So, we were just waiting for them to flight it up a little bit more and trying to make use of that opportunity because whenever those opportunities come, you have to score runs off them. Otherwise, you will probably get stuck.”Padikkal had walked out to bat at No.3 after his captain Mayank Agarwal was castled by Sai Kishore for 20. He is primarily an opening batter, but has been batting largely at No.3 in the past two domestic seasons to let the more experienced Agarwal and R Samarth do their thing at the top.”It’s just the way our team is set up,” Padikkal said. “I don’t mind batting at No.3 and I don’t mind opening either. So that doesn’t really make a huge difference. So I just want to make sure wherever I bat, I contribute to the team.”An acute intestinal issue over the past two years affected Padikkal’s form and fitness – in the 2022-23 season, he managed only 260 runs in seven Ranji innings at an average of 37.14. After regaining full fitness, Padikkal has now hit the high notes with the bat. He was Karnataka’s top run-getter in the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy with 465 runs in five innings at an average of 155 and strike rate of 120.46. He has followed it up with four hundreds in six first-class games this season. Padikkal hopes that his stellar run will culminate in a Ranji title for Karnataka.

“How much ever you perform individually, if you’re not winning the Ranji Trophy, it doesn’t matter.”Devdutt Padikkal

“To be honest, in the last couple of years I wasn’t doing too well,” Padikkal said. “My performances were naturally dipping because of that. But I was always confident enough that I’d be back scoring runs at some point. Now that I’m back in terms of my fitness and health completely, I’m really happy I’m back scoring runs as well.”We all understand that when you’re not scoring runs, it’s not a great place to be. Really happy that I’m getting runs and helping the team win. For Karnataka, winning the Ranji Trophy is the ultimate prize. How much ever you perform individually, if you’re not winning the Ranji Trophy, it doesn’t matter.”If Padikkal could convert his century into a double on Saturday, on a Chepauk pitch that is already showing signs of variable bounce, he could take Karnataka towards the top of Group C in the Elite table and a step closer to that title.

He has paid SRH back more than the INR 20 lakh they got him for, and is more than likely to get a bigger payday come the next IPL auction

Vishal Dikshit15-May-2024Nitish Kumar Reddy wasn’t expecting to be retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) before the last IPL auction. Can’t blame him – he featured in just two games in IPL 2023 in which he didn’t get to bat and leaked 54 runs in five wicketless overs.”Even I thought no one is going to pick me and suddenly SRH retained me,” Reddy says in a chat with ESPNcricinfo on the sidelines of IPL 2024. “I was like, ‘I have to work a little more’.”While some of the top allrounders earned massive deals in the IPL 2023 auction, Reddy, hardly a big force in the IPL circuit, was signed for his base price of INR 20 lakh, picked primarily as a bowler who can bat a bit.Related

• Nitish Reddy flexes his seam-bowling all-round credentials

He displayed his bowling prowess earlier this year for Andhra in a Ranji Trophy game, when his 5 for 64 had Mumbai in trouble at one point. Reddy bowled with a fairly new ball, removed Ajinkya Rahane for a golden duck, swung the ball both ways, and later also dismissed Shreyas Iyer from around the wicket with the old ball.The SRH think-tank would have patted themselves on the back for investing in a teenager who would become Andhra’s top wicket-taker in the last Ranji season with an average of just 18.76. But that’s not all there is to him as we have discovered more recently.Reddy, who calls himself a “genuine allrounder”, got his IPL opportunity of this IPL season when Mayank Agarwal was unwell, against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In the eight balls he faced in that game, Reddy showed glimpses of his temperament, reverse-sweeping Ravindra Jadeja for four and the completing SRH’s victory with a straight six off Deepak Chahar.A much bigger test, however, awaited Reddy in the next match when the Punjab Kings (PBKS) quicks reduced SRH to 39 for 3 in five overs, the trio of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram gone.SRH typically want Henrich Klaasen to walk out in the second half of the innings for the big hits, and for that they needed someone to steer the ship for a few more overs. Reddy moved along to 14 off 17 balls, with Rahul Tripathi falling on the way, to rebuild for his team. It was one of those occasions when SRH’s high-risk-high-reward batting approach at the top didn’t work.

“I don’t really feel satisfied when the team scores 270 and I score 50 or 40 runs of those. But when the team really needs me, like when we are 4 for 10 or something like that, and I can go there and take the team till the end or the last over… I want to showcase that because that’s what my role is”

“We know it’s not going to work every time. It’s not like we will go hard on opponents all the time, but one bad game, one bad ball, such things happen and we have to be prepared for early wickets,” Reddy says. “You can see at first we scored huge runs and after that we collapsed. So I’ve been thinking at the back of my mind for this situation that if the team is going to collapse, I have to be ready for that situation.”Once Reddy had set his eye in, he figured out that the fast bowlers were getting more out of the fresh pitch in Mullanpur, so it was better to go after spin. He soon laid into Harpreet Brar for a 15-run over that turned the tide of the innings. From 66 for 4 after ten, SRH went on to post 182, despite losing Klaasen for just 9, because Reddy slammed 64 off 37 – including 22 more off Brar in the 15th over. Reddy’s maiden T20 fifty had come in the IPL, that too in a rescue act.”I just love playing these kinds of innings,” he says. “I don’t really feel satisfied when the team scores 270 and I score 50 or 40 runs of those. But when the team really needs me, like when we are 4 for 10 or something like that, and I can go there and take the team till the end or the last over… I want to showcase that because that’s what my role is.”A few games later, SRH were under the pump again. They had lost back-to-back games to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and CSK, and then got to 37 for 2 after six overs, their poorest powerplay of IPL 2024, against Rajasthan Royals (RR), who possess one of the best bowling attacks in the competition.With Head for company, Reddy went back to his template of building a base and then identifying a bowler to take on, no matter how high profile. Once he was on a comfortable 22 off 19, he tore into Yuzvendra Chahal to change the momentum of the innings. Two sixes over the bowler’s head and two fours on the off side meant Reddy had smashed the star legspinner for 20 in an over.He finished on 76 not out in 42 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the Player-of-the-Match award after SRH’s win for his 3 for 41, but Reddy was ESPNcricinfo’s MVP.Nitish Kumar Reddy has held his own in a team of superstars•AFP/Getty ImagesReddy, however, rues the losses to RCB and CSK before that. In both those games, SRH were chasing 200-plus totals and were 56 for 4 and 40 for 3 respectively within the powerplay. The stage was set, but Reddy couldn’t capitalise on his run-a-ball starts, and SRH slipped down the points table.”I loved the Punjab innings but after that against CSK and RCB, I wanted to take the team till the end,” Reddy says. “I was very disappointed for those two innings, and I was thinking if we have to be on top of the table, I have to take the team till the end when the team collapses. That’s what my role is. So ,when I didn’t do well in those two matches, I felt really bad and I feel winning those [kind of] games will be more satisfying for me; I wasn’t satisfied at all.”Coming back to this game with RR, winning like that with a crucial knock after two early wickets, that knock really boosted me.”While being the SRH crisis man, Reddy has so far scored 239 runs from seven innings while striking at 152.22 and averaging a formidable 47.80, with more sixes (17) than fours (12). The highlight has been his ability to change the course of a game with one big over, even if a big-name bowler is against him.He has scored 23 off ten against Chahal, 21 off eight against R Ashwin, 19 off ten against Avesh Khan, and ten off five against Kuldeep Yadav. Reddy attributes this largely to match awareness and some homework.”I just watch a couple of videos and variations of bowlers before going into the match,” he says. “And, according to the field, you will get to know what ball [the bowler] is going to bowl. It’s just that the starting phase of batting will be a little difficult to get boundaries or to get that opportunity to get the gaps. But once you cross 20-30, you will feel like you know what the bowler is going to do next, and you will have a good idea of what the pitch is also behaving like.3:18

‘Time to start investing in Nitish Reddy the allrounder’

“I would take some time in my innings and after that I accelerate. I will choose a bowler or someone who is good to strike against.”Reddy relies a lot on his base of solid technique to score in the ‘V’ in front and to pull the short balls, options that have helped him score a lot this IPL. He was also aware before the season that he had to raise his batting, especially against spinners, knowing that he would largely bat in the middle overs. One shot he worked a lot on was the reverse sweep, which has earned him 22 runs off just ten balls this IPL.”Spinners mostly keep three fielders around point area [cover point, backward point, and short third] and one sweeper cover, so it’s really hard [to score],” Reddy says about his reverse sweep. “You have to time the ball, otherwise you’ll be out. So I just practice the reverse sweep; it’s easy to score over [the three short fielders off side].”A habit Reddy has developed over time is visualising such situations when in his hotel room, plus shadow batting, which he often does during training sessions at the ground as well. It’s this hunger “to always improve” that has brought him quick success in the IPL, which he wants to build on to become a gun allrounder like his idols Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes.”I want to take it to the next level, there are not many people like that [proper allrounders],” he says. “Maybe in half a year I might become the allrounder [I want to be]. I guess in bowling I need to be more specific also. Like I know I’m not getting the chances, but I have to read the game. I’m not getting that experience in bowling as of now, I am just bowling one or two overs.

“I feel being an allrounder is a difficult job. At the same time, we are the match-winners. It’s not easy to take the recovery part properly to maintain your body, like you have to make sure you’re in a good space”

“It’s okay, but I can learn something from T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar, they all are doing good so I want to gain that experience through watching them and I want to practice a little more because you can see in India A and B levels there is no impact rule. There I can get my bowling chances and improve.”Reddy admits “it’s really hard” being an allrounder because of the different demands and the toll it takes on the body.”I feel being an allrounder is a difficult job,” he says. “At the same time, we are the match-winners. It’s not easy to take the recovery part properly to maintain your body, like you have to make sure you’re in a good space. So you have to recover, look after your body or maintenance, your fitness so that’s where your performance will be connecting. If you miss even one or two sessions, it will affect you on the ground, so it’s really hard to be an allrounder.”But, as I mentioned, I always love to be a match-winner, so I don’t have any choice. I have to be an allrounder and I will work on my fitness and everything.”Reddy has taken the first few steps towards it.He was named the best cricketer in the Under-16 category by the BCCI at their annual awards function in 2018. Six years on, he has become a vital cog between the hard-hitters at the top and in the lower order for SRH.He probably shouldn’t blame himself if he is not retained by SRH after IPL 2024, as that will be the big one, but if he is let go by them and picked for a much bigger amount than the INR 20 lakh he currently gets, he can claim to have earned it.

Variable bounce was the highlight during the group stages; but some remedial work has been done over the past two weeks

Matt Roller26-Jun-2024The defining feature of the pitches at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad during the group stages of the T20 World Cup was variable bounce. Some balls spat up from a good length, while others skidded through low – perhaps most notably, the pea-roller which accounted for Azmatullah Omarzai against Papua New Guinea.The square was relaid before the World Cup and preparations were hit by rain in the build-up to the opening game at the venue, West Indies’ win over New Zealand. New Zealand were not happy with the quality of training pitches on offer, and cut their session an hour short on the eve of the match. “It was deemed not really acceptable,” Gary Stead, their coach, said.Samuel Badree, who has commentated on dozens of games at the Brian Lara Academy, believes that the variable bounce owes to the “patchiness” of the surface.Related

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“There are lots of areas with grass and then there are lots of bare areas, which makes it so difficult because you can’t predict the bounce of the pace,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Some balls turn, some don’t turn, some bounce, some keep low. It’s challenging for the batters – and there’s a significant dew factor as well.”But Daren Ganga, another regular commentator at the venue across the CPL and international cricket, believes that the bounce will be truer in Wednesday night’s semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa after remedial work over the past two weeks.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”They have adapted the pitch to have more of an even covering of grass density along the cracks,” Ganga told ESPNcricinfo. “The grass in the cracks is what has created the variability in bounce and pace. That’s going to change and that’s going to improve. It’s going to be a higher-scoring venue. You wouldn’t see that variability again: I can assure you of that.”The central strip – pitch No. 4 – will be used, meaning that there will not be a short boundary for batters to target. “It’s probably a 155-160 par type of pitch,” Ganga predicted. Scores were significantly lower in the four group games there, in part because three Associate teams batted first in matches against Full Members.The pitches have proved hard to predict in the venue’s short history, since its completion in 2017. In December, England racked up 267 for 3 there thanks to Phil Salt’s second successive hundred; two nights later, on the same strip, they were spun out for 132 in a tight defeat. It suggests that the surface can change quickly.

T20 World Cup stats:

Matches: 4
Average first-innings score: 91

Average runs per over: 5.48

Defending wins: 1

Chasing wins: 3

All T20Is stats since July 2022:

Matches: 8
Average first-innings score: 138

Average runs per over: 7.18

Defending wins: 4

Chasing wins: 4

Mining the talent pool is top of mind for both teams with an eye out for the T20 World Cup in 2026

Firdose Moonda26-Sep-2024It’s time for a fresh start in the shortest format for both Ireland and South Africa after they experienced contrasting fortunes at this year’s T20 World Cup. While Ireland (admittedly in a tough pool) lost all three matches they played – including one to Canada, South Africa went where they have never gone before and reached the final, only to fall agonisingly short of the trophy.Their snatching-victories-from-the-jaws-of-defeat run lasted eight matches and proved they can step up when the moment calls for it, but maybe not always otherwise. They were blanked 3-nil by West Indies either side of the tournament and while those defeats could be explained by South Africa not having their first-choice squads available, they also pose worrying questions about their depth.Mining the talent pool is top of mind for both teams as they look ahead to the 2026 edition of the T20 World Cup, which means there are certain boxes they’ll hope to tick in this two-match series.Related

• Balbirnie dropped for SA T20Is as Ireland seek 'new dynamic' at top of the order

• Ireland to host South Africa in Abu Dhabi

By the way, if you’re wondering why these matches are taking place in the UAE, and not in either of the two countries playing, it is because Ireland were due to host this series and had to come up with what their CEO Warren Deutrom called a “creative way to overcome infrastructure constraints,” which is another way of saying it’s more affordable to play in the UAE. If that sounds difficult to believe, consider that Ireland do not have a permanent home stadium and have to pay rent and bring in temporary facilities every time they play at home, and it’ll all add up. While Ireland are building a new stadium that will be functioning by 2028, the fact that Abu Dhabi is more economical as a venue currently tells you something.Will conditions be the great leveller?The almost-40 degree heat and slow, dry surfaces are foreign to both South Africa and Ireland, and could bring the sides closer together. As things stand, they are as far apart as two teams could on the T20I competitive scale as South Africa have won all five of the games they’ve played against each other. They also have the advantage of having been in the UAE for an extra week so the heat feels “a little bit more normal,” according to captain Aiden Markram.For their part, Ireland are not complaining about the lack of home comforts, as they see the importance of experience in conditions they will come across at the next T20 World Cup, hosted by Sri Lanka and India, in particular.”It helps for a number of reasons. We play a lot away from home now, so it’s getting used to new conditions again and we’re playing a lot on the subcontinent where huge competitions are going to happen in the future, and the next T20 World Cup is the main one,” Paul Stirling, Ireland’s captain said. “It has its advantages and I think as an organisation we need to get that balance right. You want to play in front of your home supporters and your home crowd but I think it’s okay if you occasionally play the odd away game, which is your home series.”Ireland exploring top-order options – and South Africa should tooAndy Balbirnie is Ireland’s leading run-scorer in T20 cricket this year, with 298 runs from 12 matches, but has been left out of these matches as Ireland focus on “introducing a new dynamic,” according to national selector Andrew White. Balbirnie’s strike rate of 113.74 from his 12 matches in 2024 suggests Ireland want more firepower upfront. Heinrich Malan confirmed that Lorcan Tucker, with a T20I strike rate of 123.32, will open the batting for the first time with Harry Tector, Curtis Campher and Neil Rock to come in at No.3, 4 and 5.Likewise, South Africa may find themselves at a crossroads with Reeza Hendricks, who has struggled through much of this year. He has only gone past 20 five times in fifteen T20Is and faces competition from Matthew Breetzke and Ryan Rickelton. The problem is neither Breetzke nor Rickelton, who have dominated run-charts at domestic level, have made the most of his international opportunities. Breetzke has a top score of 19 from six T20Is and Rickelton a top score of 27 from six T20Is. This is the series for at least two of three to make the opening spot their own.Some relief from spin for South Africa (or maybe not) Just last week, South Africa registered their second-worst performance against spin in any bilateral series where at least 40 overs of spin were bowled at them. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Nangeyalia Kharote and Mohammad Nabi took 16 South African wickets between them in three ODIs. What was clear from the way the South African batters were dismissed was their struggles in reading the turn, especially against Ghazanfar, a mystery offspinner, who coach Rob Walter said they had not seen before.They won’t want to use the same excuse against Ireland and to a large extent, they can’t. South Africa have played against George Dockrell and Ben White and the other spinner Gareth Delaney, has not made the trip after suffering what captain Stirling called an “unfortunate accident,” in the last week. That leaves left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys, who has one T20I cap, and Gavin Hoey, who has flown in for the T20Is, as an unknown. And, no disrespect to Ireland, but this quartet is not expected to pose quite the same challenge as Afghanistan, even in what could be favourable conditions. This may be South Africa’s opportunity to re-find their confidence against spin and show that things are not quite as bad as they seemed against Afghanistan.Who’s got the variations?Seamers have been seen to suffer on surfaces in the UAE unless they have an adequate number of variations, and it will be interesting to see how they approach things in this series. Lungi Ngidi set the tone in the series against Afghanistan, in Sharjah, where he delivered a selection of offcutters and proved difficult to get away. South Africa didn’t use either of Ottneil Baartman or Lizaad Williams in those matches, but both are capable of doing the same and should be given a run in these games.Ireland are without left-armer Josh Little, who is at the CPL, and will lean on Craig Young and Fionn Hand, both swing bowlers who may be able to make things happen under lights but all eyes will be on Mark Adair. He enjoys the challenge of the death overs, has a wide range of deliveries in his arsenal and is a genuine wicket-taker, who last year became the sixth-fastest to 100 in T20Is. Expect some fireworks.

The wicketkeeper-batter is capable of unbelievable things when he’s at the crease but hasn’t stayed there for long enough on this tour

Alagappan Muthu25-Dec-20244:16

Will leaving Reddy out give India better balance?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the ones with Rishabh Pant in them would start with “what the…” There is one depicting his reverse scoop to Scott Boland in the second innings of the Adelaide Test. He’s leaning back, away from the ball. His bat is flipped, and the maker’s name is facing the wrong way. A short-of-a-length delivery that would otherwise have cramped a left-hand batter gets tossed out to the boundary and there is disbelief all around.Pant, by now, is on the floor. He had premeditated the shot. There was a touch of extra bounce. The pink ball was up where his chest would have been had he stayed still. But since he hadn’t, he had a bit of distance to make up. So he increased his bat speed, went down to up and swung so hard and so fast that along with making contact with the ball, he knocked himself clean off his feet. Sprawled on his hands and knees, he watched his score tick over from 7 off 8 to 11 off 9.The principles that used to govern batting have but a tenuous grasp of it right now. With every innings he plays, Pant is making it harder for them to hold on. He wasn’t set. His team was trailing. He targeted the bowler who had picked up two of the three Indian wickets to fall, including Virat Kohli. His instinctive, imaginative strokeplay exists outside of match situations and its pull can be so powerful that sometimes what he does ends up deciding the match result.Related

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Pant’s second-innings hundred in Ahmedabad three years ago had that kind of effect. India were 146 for 6 in response to England’s first-innings 205 on a pitch taking a lot of spin. He took them to 364. That innings included a reverse scoop too.India, and even Australia, were expecting something similar from Pant on this tour. It hasn’t come. He has 96 runs at an average of 19.20.There have been moments, like the second innings in Adelaide. He made 28 off 31 with 20 of those runs coming in boundaries. That night he almost seemed desperate to do what he does naturally. A packed crowd had taken great offence to Mohammed Siraj sending off the local boy Travis Head.Pant was one of several team-mates who rallied around Siraj, running down to the bowler from his spot behind the wicket to put an arm around him. The way he batted, certainly that first ball where he charged down the track and smacked Boland for four over cover, felt like he just didn’t like what was happening to India in that Test and was going to go do something about it. Pant’s rage lasted less than an hour.”Our job here is to explain things to them again and again. We talk to them about small things like match awareness and match situation,” Rohit Sharma said as he explained how he and his support staff manage their maverick wicketkeeper-batter. “We talk to them about all these things. I don’t think it’s necessary to complicate their plans and thought process. Rishabh knows what his expectations are. He has a lot of expectations from himself. He’s working hard in his game. I think he’ll do well in these two matches.”Rishabh Pant combined child’s play with mastery in a moment of scooping brilliance•Getty ImagesIn Brisbane, Pant fell five balls after resuming from a rain break, which was his first ball after that rain break and three balls before what turned out to be the next rain break. Essentially not a great time to lose a wicket. Pat Cummins was the one who took him out. There’s a little head-to-head developing there in BGT 2024: 21 runs, 41 balls, three dismissals, an average of 7. Australia’s captain, who began the series looking rusty, has got on top of India’s difference-maker. It’s helped that they’ve been able to drag him to the crease while the ball is new.Where Travis Head, a batter quite similar to Pant, has been protected by his top order, coming in when the Kookaburra has aged 35 overs, which seems to be the point where it starts to lose some of its sting but not its hardness, making it easier to play shots, Pant has had to deal with its mischief in four out of five innings. He came in during the 17th over in the first innings in Perth, the 20th and the 15th overs in Adelaide and the eighth over in Brisbane. If India could help delay Pant’s arrival to a more amenable time, they might be able to get the best out of him.”He has played only two or three Test matches here,” Rohit said. “He’s in good form recently. He has made good runs in India. He has a good record in Australia. After two or three Test matches, it’s not right to judge him. He knows what he has to do.”At the Gabba in 2021, with a squad that was being held together by bandages and loose string, Pant had the audacity to have a go at Australia, both from behind the stumps – eight of the current squad pulled his name up when they were asked by which Indian player sledges/banters the most – and in front of it.That was a miracle and by definition those are quite rare, except Ahmedabad happened in less than two months, then Cape Town in less than a year. In September 2024, his first Test since the car crash that threatened to take his life, Pant walked in and scored a century. He’s made people believe in miracles. One more in front of 90,000 on Boxing Day at the MCG would do quite nicely for India.

Jimmy Adams upstaging Wasim Akram in St John’s or Pat Cummins’ Australia beating Bazball? Pick between two classics

Deivarayan Muthu08-May-2025Update: This poll has ended. The ENG-AUS 2023 Birmingham Test moves to the round of 16.

West Indies’ one-wicket jailbreak vs Pakistan – St John’s, 2000

After more twists and turns than a whodunnit, Jimmy Adams upstaged Wasim Akram to complete a one-wicket heist with a healthy helping of luck. West Indies benefited from two umpiring errors and Saqlain Mushtaq fluffing two run-out chances, including one when Adams and No. 11 Courtney Walsh were both stranded at the striker’s end.When West Indies were 202 for 9, still 14 runs away from victory, Saqlain panicked under pressure and failed to gather the throw cleanly at the bowler’s end. Adams and Walsh eventually scrambled a leg-bye, leaving Pakistan wondering what might have been. Walsh held on limpet-like for 72 minutes with his captain Adams, who remained unbeaten on 48 off 212 balls, as West Indies clinched one of their most memorable and dramatic wins in Test cricket at the turn of the century in St John’s.Despite the lapses in the field, Akram had kept Pakistan in it by taking out four of West Indies’ top six – he came away with a match haul of 11 wickets – but Adams had the final say when he squeezed a single to point off Akram.

Australia beat Bazball – Birmingham 2023

“Boring, boring, Aussies” was the chant from the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston on the fourth afternoon when Usman Khawaja was digging in and slowly building for Australia in their pursuit of 281. By the fifth evening, the crowd was stunned into silence as Australia aced the old-school long game to beat England’s new-age fast play.When Khawaja fell for 65, with Ben Stokes ending his near-five-and-a-half-hour vigil, Australia had slipped to 209 for 7. Then, when Alex Carey’s wicket left Australia at 227 for 8, it certainly felt like England’s Bazballers were on their way to another famous win. Australia captain Pat Cummins, though, flipped the mood and result with an unbeaten 44 off 73 balls, with No. 10 Nathan Lyon hanging on in an unbroken 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket.After having come under fire with his defensive fields on the opening day, Cummins played the decisive hand on the final day, absorbing good balls from Stokes and Ollie Robinson and lining up Joe Root’s part-time offspin for a brace of sixes. After sealing the deal, Cummins let out a big roar, threw his bat and punched his fist in a rare show of emotion that summed up how much this win meant to him and Australia.

Already an England great, Joe Root is still hungry for more – and Sachin Tendulkar’s record may not be safe

Matt Roller25-Jul-20254:14

Manjrekar: ‘Serious chance’ for Root to break Tendulkar’s record

“Just the one more to go now,” Ricky Ponting declared, as Joe Root jogged a single to overtake him as Test cricket’s second-highest run-scorer. Root has never paid much attention to personal milestones but after this innings, only Sachin Tendulkar is ahead of his 13,409 Test runs; Tendulkar is still a long way off, but nobody has ever come closer.This was a rare day, as Manchester basked in the greatness of a Yorkshireman. The 6000 fans in Old Trafford’s Party Stand rose to their feet when Root glided Anshul Kamboj to deep point to reach 120 and surpass Ponting, then serenaded him by singing his name to the tune of “Hey Jude”. Root grinned sheepishly, then waved his hand as though knocking their applause back.Root was met by another standing ovation when he was finally dismissed for 150, which he turned to acknowledge as he walked off. But first, with his left hand, he briefly imagined a shot that he could have played instead, shaping to work the ball into the leg side. It was a moment that epitomised the hunger and attitude that will keep him going for some time yet.Related

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Ponting’s arrival in the Sky Sports commentary box was perfectly timed: he witnessed what he described as “a magnificent moment in history” on only his third day of work in the series. He will not lose sleep over slipping down to third: when the golf brand Callaway sent him a putter inscribed with 13,378 at the end of his career, he was oblivious that it was his final run tally.It is a trait that Root shares: he has long insisted that he is motivated only by team success and has constantly played down his individual achievements. “I’ve never really been one to have goals because I just feel like if you miss them, then you’ve failed – and this game is full of failure anyway,” he explained in Multan last year, when he became England’s leading Test run-scorer.Alastair Cook, the man he overtook, obsessed over becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 runs but struggled to find another motivation thereafter and called time on his Test career two years later. At 34, Root is already a year older than Cook was then, but has expressed his ambitions to play in the 2027 World Cup – and may not stop there.His success has relied upon a hunger to keep improving: in his 40 Tests since stepping down as captain, Root has averaged 57.70, with 13 hundreds. “It’s just about wanting to keep the enjoyment element of it, to keep finding ways of improving and getting better, to make sure you don’t stand still and get stuck in playing one way,” he has said.Joe Root walks off after scoring 150•Getty ImagesWhere some batters – Cook and Ponting among them – struggle when they relinquish the captaincy, Root has attained new heights since he returned to the ranks. He scored heavily in his final years in the role, often shouldering the burden of run-scoring almost single-handedly in a poor side, but has been even better under Ben Stokes’ leadership.His innings in Manchester underlined why. It has often seemed as though Root has spent his entire Test career walking in with England 30 for 2, but their top three – if still imperfect – are far more dependable than they once were. This time, he came out at 197 for 2 and picked off runs against an underwhelming Indian attack, and ticked off landmarks like items on a shopping list.Even if Tendulkar’s record is unlikely to be a major source of motivation for him, Root still has a genuine chance to break it: he is 2,512 runs behind but, for context, has scored 2,556 in his last 50 innings dating back to February 2023. Since England play an average of 12-14 Tests per year, Root could feasibly overtake him by the end of 2027.”I wouldn’t be surprised if he can chase him down,” Ollie Pope said after the third day. “He loves playing for England in Test cricket more than anything… I think he just wants to keep playing as long as he can. The excitement he still has to play Test cricket [is huge]. Whenever we rock up at the start of a series, he’s always got the biggest smile on his face.”The most remarkable, yet least remarked upon, aspect of Root’s sustained brilliance is his fitness. England have played 159 Tests since Root’s debut at Nagpur in 2012 and he has only missed two, once when dropped, the other on paternity leave; despite his occasional back issues, he has never missed a match through injury across a 13-year Test career.Root avoided media duties on Friday evening citing cramp but in truth, his batting has already said more than enough. He has already secured his status as one of England’s all-time greats, and that position will become undisputed if he scores his first hundred in Australia this winter. If he can achieve that, then it would be brave to bet against him catching Tendulkar.

The last few weeks in the Caribbean have been rough for Sam Konstas, and might be viewed as growing pains some day. But, for now, it’s back to the drawing board for the selectors

Andrew McGlashan14-Jul-20250:27

Sam Konstas gone for duck as tough Caribbean tour ends

It was meant, or at least hoped, to be the beginning of something. The new era of Australia’s top order. But as Sam Konstas walked slowly off Sabina Park in the glare of the floodlights having fallen for a duck, there was instead a familiar question being asked: who is going to open the batting for Australia going forward?In six innings against West Indies, he has made 50 runs at 8.33. That’s the lowest series average for an Australia opener in the 21st century, pushing David Warner’s 2019 Ashes into second place. Across all time, only Alec Bannerman, Rick Darling, Wayne Phillips and Keith Stackpole have scored fewer runs in six innings as an opener in a series. Those are harsh numbers to sit with a 19-year-old who has basically been asked to develop his game on the international stage: five of Konstas’ 20 first-class matches have been Tests.In his final innings of the series, Konstas could not have asked for a tougher set of conditions than West Indies’ very good pace attack with a new pink Dukes ball under lights. He left his first ball from Shamar Joseph, defended the second and third, and shouldered arms to the fourth. The fifth ball of the over was short of a length outside off and Konstas pushed at it off the back foot, the thick edge flying to Roston Chase at gully.Related

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“It’s pretty hard, but you wouldn’t know how he’s been going, if he’s gone well or not. He seems pretty level,” Scott Boland said. “He’s always training hard. I see him hit hundreds of balls. I’m sure he’s got a big future. It’s not going to be the last he plays for Australia.”West Indies have bowled very well to Konstas and his opener partner Usman Khawaja throughout the series. Khawaja fell for the sixth time in six innings from around the wicket, dragging Shamar Joseph into his stumps, although has soaked up more than 300 deliveries in the three matches. Meanwhile, they have exposed Konstas on both sides of his bat, raising questions over whether he has technical issues that should be addressed at the level below.In Barbados, he was twice removed by in-duckers, targeting a weakness that had been evident in his early career, and it was a similar manner of dismissal in the first innings in Jamaica. In Grenada, he edged behind and then in the second innings dragged on looking to force through the off side. On the opening day of the second Test, Konstas got himself set on 25 – an innings termed a “small step forward” by coach Andrew McDonald – and in Jamaica, worked hard to 17 although he was given a life in the slips. It’s slim pickings.

And while the last few weeks have rough, in years to come it may be viewed as growing pains. Sam Konstas can still forge a long Test career. But, for now, it’s back to the drawing board for the selectors

There need to be some caveats. Conditions in the Caribbean have been torrid for openers. The highest score by any of them is 47. The overall collective batting average for the series from both sides currently sits below 20. When Steven Smith is all at sea as he was against Alzarri Joseph, you know it’s tough. Konstas is not alone. It was asking a lot, maybe too much.But the spotlight has been on him because Australia are desperate to find a settled opening pair, well aware that they may need new opener before too long. Prior to this series, McDonald said he wanted some stability before facing England in the Ashes. Now it feels a lot will have to go right for Konstas to be walking out in Perth.The Australian selectors had waited to bring Konstas back after his whirlwind debut against India. He sat out the Sri Lanka tour when the long-standing plan to open with Travis Head was retained and then Marnus Labuschagne was given one last chance to save his place in the World Test Championship final.”It’s not going to be the last he plays for Australia,” Scott Boland said of Sam Konstas•AFP/Getty ImagesBetween Konstas’ two Test series, there had been the extraordinary display in the Sheffield Shield match against Victoria, where he fell sweeping Boland in the third over. He managed to recalibrate himself somewhat for the latter stages of the season, but since the heady moments of his Test debut, it has felt like he is trying to work out the batter he wants or needs to be.At around the time Konstas was dismissed in Jamaica, the state fixtures from the Australian domestic season were released and it laid out the run of matches Konstas has before the start of the Ashes with Sheffield Shield matches at the WACA, Junction Oval, the Gabba and SCG. He is also a good chance of featuring for Australia A in the two four-day games on the tour of India in late September. Three or four hundreds, particularly at home Test venues and, perhaps, the Ashes isn’t out of reach.When it was put to McDonald last week that Test selection was heading for another “bat-off”, he smiled and said that was the media’s term not his. But he acknowledged there would be great opportunities. The Test-match dream for the likes of Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw could well live on. There will be uncapped players such as Jake Weatherald thrown into the mix. Labuschagne may yet find a way back at the top of the order.And while the last few weeks have been rough, in years to come it may be viewed as growing pains. Konstas can still forge a long Test career. But, for now, it’s back to the drawing board for the selectors.