No coach, no managing director of cricket, no selector and now no Test captain

Matt Roller15-Apr-2022″There’s no coach, no managing director of cricket, no selector.” Eoin Morgan did his best to sum up the power vacuum at the heart of England’s men’s teams in an interview with ESPNcricinfo last week but now Joe Root has thrown the Test captaincy into the black hole, too.Even before Root’s resignation on Friday, England were in a mess. They had won one of their last 17 Tests and spent most of last summer treating home fixtures against the world’s two best teams – India and New Zealand – as “preparation” for an Ashes series that they lost four-nil.Against West Indies, the team felt increasingly out of sync with the wider mood. As England slipped to a 1-0 series defeat, Root insisted that they were making “big improvements” in his final television interview in the role, in which he was grilled by an increasingly short-tempered David Gower.The two highest wicket-takers in their history, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, are frustrated by the lack of communication they have had with their employers since they were surprisingly omitted for the series defeat in the Caribbean. “There’s nobody in those positions permanently,” Anderson said earlier this week. “I’m presuming that is why I’ve not heard anything.”Related

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There were mitigating factors throughout, with the demands on England’s leading players heightened by the effects of Covid on both their schedule and their day-to-day lives with the suffocation of bubble life catching up with them. But when results turned, so did public opinion; by the final day of Root’s last Test as captain in Grenada, his predecessors were queuing up to call for him to be sacked.”Why now – why not 20 years ago?” a reporter asks in a episode when Krusty the Klown announces he is quitting show business. The same could be asked of Root’s resignation: why wait until mid-April when it has been clear for three months that his time is up?Root said in his statement that during a rare break after the West Indies tour, it had “hit home how much of a toll [the captaincy] has taken” and the impact it has had on his life away from the game. It is a reminder of just how gruelling England’s schedule has been that he did not have time to make that realisation in the weeks after the Ashes.It was telling that Tom Harrison, the chief executive, was the only senior figure left to pay Root tribute in the ECB’s statement, rather than a coach, a managing director or even a chairman, and even he appears to be on his way out. Andrew Strauss, the interim MD, has been calling the shots for the last two months but his family circumstances mean he will only be a short-term appointment.Joe Root’s resignation adds to a long list of vacancies in England cricket•Getty ImagesThe immediate speculation will be around Root’s potential successors but at least two key appointments will come first: the managing director and the head coach – or head coaches, if the role is split in two. There may well be a new selector, too.Rob Key has become the favourite for the managing director role almost by default. Several leading options either opted not to apply (Alec Stewart, Ed Smith and Mike Hesson) or pulled out of the running (Marcus North) and the reported on Friday afternoon that he will be appointed next week.Key was critical of Ashley Giles’ decision to concentrate power in the hands of Chris Silverwood. He suggested before the West Indies series that the ECB should return to a split coaching set-up and “some form of selection panel”, and said that Stewart would be “perfect” as a short-term coaching option.He has also mentioned Jos Buttler as a potential captain – Key was critical of Root’s leadership – but Ben Stokes is the obvious successor. That Root jumped, rather than being pushed, makes him more likely to accept the role if offered, and his decision to pull out of the IPL auction to focus on the Test team now looks almost prescient.England’s first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s, is under seven weeks away. There are few breaks in their schedule from that point onwards. They play seven Tests this summer (three each against New Zealand and South Africa, one against India) and five over the winter (three in Pakistan, two in New Zealand), while multi-format players have regular bilateral white-ball series and another T20 World Cup to fit in.The volume of cricket would be daunting for any team; for an England side without a captain, a coach or anyone in place with the long-term authority to appoint them, it is ominous. For whoever comes in, at least things can hardly get worse.

The former England batter, now Derbyshire’s new batting consultant, on why he chose to coach in Division Two, and why he’d like to work in the subcontinent in the future

Matt Roller13-Apr-2022Ian Bell turned 40 on Monday. Landmark birthdays are confronting, but in this case not only for the person celebrating: is the junior member of England’s 2005 Ashes squad really heading towards middle age?”If I’m old, it makes everyone feel old, doesn’t it?” Bell jokes the day before celebrating at home with family and friends. He used the occasion as an excuse to open his player-of-the-series champagne from the 2013 Ashes. “It’s all downhill from now, isn’t it?” he laughs.Bell is in the early stages of his new career as a coach and is speaking at the end of his first week as Derbyshire’s new batting consultant, a role he will fill for the first two months of the county season before playing in the Road Safety World Series, a tournament in India for retired players. He is to work for four days per week with the county – the first two of each Championship game and the two training days before. We talk on the second morning of their draw against Middlesex at Lord’s.Mickey Arthur, who became Derbyshire’s head of cricket over the winter, was in contact with Bell last summer. “I always had him at the back of my mind,” Arthur says. “He’d approached me about potentially doing some work last year when we were over here with Sri Lanka and I know he wants to develop himself as a coach.”It’s a match made in heaven. It’s superb to have a guy of his ilk in our dressing room. The response from our young batsmen – and our more senior batsmen – has been excellent. He’s fitted in really well… he’s been fantastic, as I knew he would be.”The move represents a return to the fundamentals of batting for Bell, who spent the majority of his fledgling coaching career in the white-ball game. His CV includes stints with England Under-19s, Hobart Hurricanes, Birmingham Phoenix and Chennai Braves (in the Abu Dhabi T10), all substantially different coaching experiences to that of the early months of the Championship season in the spring.Related

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Ian Bell joins Derbyshire as consultant batting coach

“T20 cricket isn’t going anywhere, is it?” he says. “You want to be at the cutting edge of the way the game is developing… you want to be in there. I played a lot of T20 cricket at the back end of my career, but my foundation was around Test-match cricket and four-day cricket, and having a good technique. I need to make sure that I’m really balanced in my coaching experiences.”When Bell returns to Australia this winter, he hopes to fit in a stint with Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield side as well as his BBL commitments with Hobart.”My theory at the moment is to be stretching myself in different environments with different people, different cultures, and building up that foundation,” he adds, “so that when the right role comes up full-time, I can dive into it knowing that I’ve worked with some great people and have a good contact list of coaches that I can bounce ideas off.”It is to Bell’s credit that he starts the season at Derbyshire, rather than his home county, Warwickshire. He aspires to become head coach at Edgbaston in the long term but decided to put himself “outside my comfort zone” at a new club rather than staying with the county he knows so well. “It’s important that it’s not just a ‘job for the boys’ type role. I want to earn that right to be head coach [at Warwickshire]. When I go and coach somewhere like that, I want it to be because I’m ready and because I’m known as a good coach, not as an ex-player.”He timed his retirement well, too. Bell had initially been due to play for Warwickshire in 2021 but declined the opportunity to play a final season; instead, his decision to leave the game a year ahead of schedule ensured players like Matthew Lamb, Chris Benjamin and Dan Mousley had opportunities in their middle order. All of those players contributed to the Championship title last summer.”I’ve got really big ambitions,” Bell says. “But having worked in some of these franchise competitions, I thought, ‘Why not go to a county that’s in Division Two and have a look?’ A lot of people talk about these teams but I thought, ‘I’m going to have a look for myself.’ It would be easy for me to work at Warwickshire at the top end of it, but why not have a look at the other end? It’s important to do a bit of both.

“It’s a match made in heaven. It’s superb to have a guy of his ilk in our dressing room. The response from our young batsmen – and our more senior batsmen – has been excellent. He’s fitted in really well”Derbyshire head coach Mickey Arthur on Bell

“I’d love to work in international cricket – and that doesn’t necessarily mean England. I spoke to Mickey and Farby [Paul Farbrace, Warwickshire’s director of cricket] about this and I’d love to work with some of the subcontinent sides. Having worked in the T10 and played a bit of franchise cricket in the PSL, the enthusiasm and the love for the game is so good and the opportunity to go and work in those environments would be massive for me.”I love coaching players, helping them find their way and improve. There’s a lot of talk in English cricket at the moment about coaches maybe being a bit tougher on certain things, but having the trust of a player first is really important. That allows you to have those honest conversations.”From a county point of view, those six months in the winter are the time to really do your technical work; if you’re going to make big changes, that’s your time. In the season, it’s more about game plans. This week it was: how are we going to go and score runs against Tim Murtagh? Sometimes you assume that everyone will know the right thing to do, and that’s a mistake. Some of these lads need a bit of help or a bit of guidance.”Bell is sceptical about off-stump guards, the latest trend in the county games for batters trying to avoid edging wobble-seam balls in the channel behind.”We have to be open that there isn’t one way. It’s not about me telling people to bat like me, or to bat in a certain way; you have to work with the strength of the player. If you bat on off stump, you have to know where it is and think, ‘Anything outside my eyeline, I leave.’ That’s an individual trying to find the right solution for themselves, but I always get a little bit concerned.”For me, the problem with that comes when you’re playing world-class bowlers who are then smart enough to adapt, so you move across and they move across as well and you end up playing at balls you don’t need to. The problem with that is, you leave yourself vulnerable: if you miss a straight ball, you’re out. The other thing is that from a scoring point of view, if you get too far across, you’re missing out on cut balls. You’re missing out on scoring options because you’re getting too close to the ball. Especially on bouncy pitches, if you’re defending at fourth stump rather than leaving, you’re asking for a bit of trouble.”But if he disagrees with some players’ methods, he is heartened by the attitude and standard he has seen at the start of the season. “There’s a lot of talk about county cricket – you hear a lot of guys that I played with talk about it – and it’s generally at the end of an Ashes campaign where we get absolutely smashed. For the first few months after that, it’s very emotional, it’s very raw, and it needs to settle a little bit.”It’s very easy to make assumptions about county cricket but from what I’ve witnessed, there are some young players working extremely hard and trying to do the right things”•Alex Davidson/Getty Images”What I’ve witnessed in the last few days is young players working extremely hard on their game trying to find their way, working extremely hard and trying to do the right things. That’s what I’ve seen on both teams. For me, it’s about getting in and getting a little bit dirty with county cricket; getting stuck in, trying to help.”And those young players learn from good senior players. I remember batting with Dan Mousley in my last game. Farby was adamant that he would learn way, way more, batting with me for two hours in the middle than spending hours in the nets with any coach. That’s what you need in county cricket.”Having [Suranga] Lakmal with Derby at the moment with a young guy like [Sam] Conners – how good is that? I remember Broady [Stuart] Broad saying it about Ottis Gibson when he was at Leicestershire making his way. Everyone to a man came off at lunch yesterday and said, ‘Lakmal let Conners choose which end to bowl from.’ They’re the senior players you want. They’re the players that are helping young players become better.”Derbyshire have another of those in their ranks in Shan Masood, the Pakistan opener who has signed for the full season. He made twin fifties on his debut at Lord’s last week, and has already enjoyed having Bell on the club’s staff.”He was one of the top batsmen in international cricket – and one of the most aesthetically pleasing batsmen to watch,” Masood said. “I had a hit with him in Derby the day before we travelled, and he gave me some good insights. It’s always good when a coach tells you a few new things, and I think I applied a few of them here.””I love coaching players, helping them find their way and improve,” Bell adds. “I’m not shy of doing the work. I don’t have to rush into certain jobs for the sake of it but I’ll know when the time is right. I’m very ambitious but for now, I want to keep learning.”

Breakthrough never came on fourth morning as old ball refused to move in overcast conditions

Valkerie Baynes05-Jun-2022″I’d sell my soul for total control…” so sang The Motels circa 1979 and this was a match where neither side could claim to have held full sway until what turned out to be the final morning, when Joe Root and Ben Foakes guided England to a rather anticlimactic five-wicket victory over New Zealand just over an hour into the fourth day.Talk to any seasoned England fan with their side needing just 61 runs with five wickets still in hand and one of their greatest ever battters unbeaten on 77, and still they more than half-expected a calamitous collapse to inject some unwelcome excitement, or the imposing gloom overhead to erupt and elongate the day. But neither eventuated.New Zealand needed to seize the initiative with an ageing ball they had managed to swap out the previous evening, arguably to their peril when it failed to give them any assistance, and they repeatedly tried – unsuccessfully – to change it again on Sunday morning.Related

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“The game ebbed and flowed throughout the whole three-and-a-half days and there were some very similar traits,” Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, said. “We were trying to take advantage of those, whether that was overheads or the slightly harder ball.”Credit to England, it was a game that was on a bit of a knife-edge, it was finely balanced and we knew coming into this morning that if we could pick up a wicket early then we know things can happen quickly here in England. It wasn’t to be. We struggled to get the assistance that we hoped for and an exceptional knock from Joe there, that he’s done so often and he does it again.”Indeed, it was Root and Foakes who finally took control over an arm-wrestle of a match with a glorious century and mature 32 not out respectively as part of an unbroken 120-run stand.But before that, it was some of the more out-of-control moments that had the potential to define this match. There was Colin de Grandhomme’s bizarre run-out as he appeared to bask a little too long in surviving an lbw appeal from Stuart Broad in the middle of three New Zealand wickets falling in as many balls, then de Grandhomme’s no-ball which gave Ben Stokes a second life on 1 (he went on to score a valuable 54).There was Stokes taking to spinner Ajaz Patel, launching him for three sixes and effectively shutting him out of the attack on the third day and Stokes’ eventual dismissal flailing his hands at a Kyle Jamieson steepler. All were moments within moments that could have turned the match.Jamieson could hold his head high after bowling superbly on the third day for his four wickets. Williamson said it had been his intention to use Patel more but, after he conceded 22 off his two overs in England’s second innings and with cold, overcast conditions not conducive to spin on the last day, he looked again to his seamers.”Both teams played frontline spinners, looking at the surface and expecting them to come into play,” Williamson said. “We’ve seen that a little bit more throughout the whole season over here in county cricket as well and, as we saw, it took a slightly different turn and things started happening quite quickly, where the threat with the seam bowlers appeared to be more significant and so we were trying to utilise that.”Naturally as the game starts coming to a close and time’s not on your side you’re trying to make the decisions that might give you the best chance and we felt that the seamers out there were the ones to try and do the job, as they did in the first innings.”He was also left to rue Broad’s explosive spell with the second new ball which removed Daryl Mitchell shortly after he reached his century on the third morning, while James Anderson removed Tom Blundell four runs shy of his ton, which served to highlight the New Zealand bowlers’ inability put a lid on Root and Foakes until the second new ball was due for them.New Zealand were frustrated on the fourth morning•Getty Images”It was a game that was so finely balanced throughout all the days that it was played and so it was trying to stay in it and stay patient and know if you could bring quality for long periods, then then it can change so quickly and we certainly had that hope coming into to the last day today,” Williamson said.”We were sort of hopeful perhaps of some assistance and a lot of the guys have played in England before and talk about overheads and today you couldn’t have hoped for much better. But it wasn’t to be and it was met with real quality in the batting and in the chase that England provided. So unfortunately for us that it wasn’t our day, but credit to England and the way they played and stayed in the fight as well.”Stokes, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Saturday, recalled his thoughts as he turned back, three-quarters of the way back to the pavilion thinking he was out to de Grandhomme: “No matter what my wife gets me for my birthday, it probably won’t be as good as that.””It was a huge bit of luck, but sometimes you need it,” he added, “just very, very fortunate because I don’t think Dutchy really over-steps the mark that often. Lord’s and drama and me – it just seems to follow me around, doesn’t it?”Stokes too, remarked on how the momentum could have gone either way throughout in a match that kept raising reminders of their 2019 World Cup final battle.”We didn’t take control, New Zealand didn’t take control,” he said. “Maybe they did at one point when Mitchell and Blundell were playing but I just don’t know what it is about Lord’s, England-New Zealand, there’s just always drama, always very good games and we’re very even sides, especially in these English conditions.”Sixty needed, five wickets down, it sounds like we should cruise to victory, but the way this wicket’s played and the conditions that always seemed to be in the bowlers’ favour, but the way that Joe and Ben went out and played this morning, you know, almost put the nail in the coffin straight away.”So finally someone found it. That precious moment of control.

Also, Klaasen, Verreynne or neither? Firdose Moonda on the questions facing South Africa in ODIs

Firdose Moonda24-Jul-2022A bilateral ODI series that doesn’t count for World Cup Super League points in a non-World Cup year could easily leave us wondering what the point of it is, but for South Africa, whose next few ODIs are crucial in their quest for World Cup qualification, these matches have given them some food for thought.After forfeiting their games in Australia (scheduled for January 2023) to start a T20 franchise league at home, South Africa are likely to find themselves in must-win Super League series soon. They face India in October, England at home next February and Netherlands in two matches that are yet-to-be-rescheduled after being postponed when the Omicron variant of Covid-19 appeared last November. That means this England series was their best opportunity to experiment and get their combinations right for the challenges ahead.They weren’t helped by the absence of regular captain Temba Bavuma, who is out of the tour with an elbow injury, or by two washouts, but there are some takeaways. Here’s what they’ll be mulling over ahead of big contests later in the season:Who is de Kock’s best opening partner?
Janneman Malan has an ODI average of 55 and could be the fastest South African to 1,000 runs in the format (he has 896 runs from 19 innings and the current quickest, Quinton de Kock, got there in 21 innings) so this could immediately come across as too harsh, but should South Africa scrutinise the pace of their starts?Malan’s strike rate of 85.75 does not feature in the top fifty opening batters since he made his debut in February 2019. In the last year, he is 16th on the list, behind both England’s openers, for example, but ahead of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Fakhar Zaman.With de Kock at the other end, South Africa may not need to consider this too deeply but if they want more explosive openings, there might be an option. It’s not Reeza Hendricks who carried drinks in these three matches and strikes at 76.76 or Bavuma, who is used at No. 3 when fit to play. But what about Rilee Rossouw?With the door re-opened to him in the T20I squad, Kolpak a thing of the past and Rossouw having the highest strike-rate among recognised specialist batters in last season’s domestic one-day cup, it’s an idea that could pay off as South Africa seek to seal qualification for the 2023 World Cup. Though used mostly at No. 3, Rossouw has opened 21 times in List A cricket and has an average of 46.14, his most profitable batting position. At the least, it’s worth a try.Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj have formed a good spin-bowling partnership•Getty ImagesThree seam, two spin for the win
It still seems a little unusual to see a South African attack that is not heavily pace dependent but it’s become the norm for this team to field two specialist spinners – Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj – and not just because one of them has had to stand in as captain. The pair have played 16 ODIs together since Maharaj’s debut in 2017, and eight under Bavuma’s leadership. Together, they maintain an economy rate of under six runs an over (5.25 between them in this series) and take enough wickets (six between them in this series) to also demonstrate a decent ability to threaten.With three Super League matches in India, a possible qualifying event in Zimbabwe (known for slow, low surfaces) and (they’re hoping) a World Cup in India, South Africa are likely to stick to this formula. That leaves the question of how they’re going to choose their two best specialist quicks and which allrounder they prefer.Andile Phehlukwayo’s concussion, sustained in the first match, meant that he was unable to stake a claim for the role and Dwaine Pretorius made excellent use of his opportunity, which will make it difficult to displace him. Lungi Ngidi’s use of variations have made him a versatile option which could leave Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and left-armer Marco Jansen (who did not play in this series) competing for one spot.Heinrich Klaasen hasn’t crossed fifty in his last 10 ODI innings•Getty ImagesKlaasen, Verreynne, or someone else in the middle?
There’s a bottleneck in South Africa’s middle order in terms of who accompanies David Miller at the end of innings. The two closest competitors are Heinrich Klaasen and Kyle Verreynne, with Khaya Zondo also included in the squad on this tour.Zondo has only played one ODI since being re-selected and that was in the washout against Netherlands, so it’s fair to assume he was included as back-up for now. Klaasen, who scored a half-century and a hundred in the warm-ups, was preferred over Verreynne but apart from making the most of his chance to annoy England in the second ODI, he didn’t get much opportunity to make a bigger impact.The actual question should be when did he last make a big impact? Klaasen hasn’t crossed fifty in his last 10 ODI innings dating back to the pre-pandemic series against Australia in March 2020. Verreynne, on the other hand, scored two fifties in his last four innings, both in South Africa’s previous home summer. Verreynne may consider himself unlucky to have missed out here and even more unlucky if the whole debate becomes moot when Bavuma returns at No. 3 and everyone from Rassie van der Dussen moves down one spot and then there is no room for either him or Klaasen.

The Tamil Nadu and Gujarat Titans batter has 243 runs in three innings so far in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Daya Sagar and Rajan Raj16-Nov-2022Tuesday was an unforgettable day in the life of Tamil Nadu opening batter Sai Sudharsan. Not only did the 21-year-old score his maiden List-A century in his team’s 14-run win over Chhattisgarh in Alur in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans also opted to retain him for the 2023 season.Sudharsan’s innings had an added significance because his mother, Usha Bharadwaj, was also in attendance, having made the 500-kilometre trip from Chennai to watch her son play. She has watched Sudharsan in all three Vijay Hazare Trophy games this season, with the left-hander serving up scores of 121 off 109, 73 off 75 and 49 off 38.Related

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Usha was herself a volleyball player in her youth. She has become a fitness trainer since and guides her son too about his fitness routine.”More than being emotional, I am quite happy today,” Usha says. “The way he [Sudharsan] has been working hard, this century was just a matter of time. He would have got there in the previous match itself but he got run out. He may have got a three-figure score today, but our conversations will be completely normal. We speak to him more on days when he fails to perform.””I am very happy because I have been looking forward to scoring a century for a long time,” Sudharsan says of his knock. “To do it with my mother and brother in attendance just makes it more special.”Sudharsan’s entire family has strong sporting connections. His father R Bharadwaj was a sprinter and represented India at the 100m event at the 1993 SAF Games in Dhaka. His elder brother Sai Ram played football and cricket at competitive levels, and was also present at the Alur ground to watch his sibling bat on Tuesday.The last one and a half year has been surreal for Sudharsan. On his Tamil Nadu Premier League debut in July 2021, he smashed 87 off 43 balls. He scored five half-centuries in eight innings and finished the season with 358 runs, second on the run-getters list, ahead of more experienced batters like Shahrukh Khan, Vijay Shankar, N Jagadeesan, Baba Aparajith and Baba Indrajith.Sai Sudharsan scored 145 runs in five innings in IPL 2022•BCCIThis performance brought the attention of IPL teams upon him, and he also got his first taste of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Tamil Nadu. New franchise Titans picked him at the auction, and he scored 145 runs at an average of 36.25 and a strike rate of 127.19 in his debut season. He didn’t have a great Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (170 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 121.42) but in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, has accumulated 243 runs in three innings so far, at an average of 81.00 and a strike rate of 109.45.Sudharsan’s parents have had a big role in his success. Being sportspersons themselves, they emphasised the importance of “discipline in sports” from his early years.”He was about eight when he first showed an interest in sport,” Usha says. “My husband was an athlete too and we were keen that he should also be associated with some sport. We didn’t know then that cricket would be his sport of choice. But we supported him wholeheartedly once we realised it would be cricket.”My husband and I make sure we take care of his physical and mental fitness. In the past couple of years, there wouldn’t have been too many days when he hasn’t devoted some time to meditation and yoga. He goes to bed only after preparing a list of things to do the following day. This would be details of meditation, yoga, sprints, on-field training and net practice. He also maintains notes of what he has done well and what he could improve upon.”Sudharsan concurs. “I maintain a note of my daily targets and also what I want to improve upon,” he says. “I will also analyse this century, because while I did put up a score, there were areas that I could have improved upon.”Apart from this, I also write other observations about myself. I do some different kinds of sprints, and also run longer distances for 15-16 minutes every day. My parents guide me through this. My father has represented India and knows what it takes from a fitness standpoint.”Sudharsan understands that his cricketing journey has just begun, and he still has a long way to go. That’s why any questions about his IPL future or the prospect of a Ranji Trophy debut this season are met with a simple statement that all he wants to do for now is to help his team win the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

They have moved on where others have appeared to stand still. Their split-coach method is something sides will want to look at imitating

Mark Nicholas15-Nov-2022The best team won. It came easier than it might have done, with the sight of Shaheen Shah Afridi limping from the field of play after just one ball of his third over, but no one could reasonably argue against the fact that England have the most bases covered. Indeed, a surprise of the tournament was how few bases have been covered by some of the pretenders.Only a year has passed since the last T20 World Cup but England have moved on, while most others appear to have stood still. The buy-in to this fearless style of cricket is the thing, along with the lack of judgement from those at the helm when events occasionally go pear-shaped. It is driven by free spirit and a form of unbridled expression that is filtering through the English system. When England lost the Lord’s Test to South Africa last summer, the general opinion was that the batters should have reined themselves in against a fast and accurate attack. When asked about this in the post-mortem, Brendon McCullum went all counterintuitive with his belief that in such conditions and against that opponent, England should have gone harder. The consequent trickle-down was even seen in county cricket, where big scores were chased with relish. In the Hundred, some of the batting was outrageous.Having said that, brains matter. For all his buccaneering, Ben Stokes applies the most forensic of minds to the white-ball chase. He knows when to soak it up, like a boxer on the ropes for a while, wearing down his opponent, and he knows when to strike back. In the 2019 one-day final at Lord’s, he played a truly great innings – one of the best three I can think of in World Cup cricket – while at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, his batting was a little less tidy, as if he were in a street fight. At times the angled bat, over-complicated footwork and penchant for looking to run fast legcutters for a single to third man appeared to have cost him, but they did not, however animated the appealing of the Pakistanis. In fact, the more those bowlers beat his bat, the more he smiled at the absurdity of it all.Related

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England's grit, depth and brilliance shows success is no flash in the pan

When Afridi left the field for the second and last time, Stokes pounced on Babar Azam’s decision to finish the five remaining balls of the over with Iftikar Ahmed’s offies. By heaven, what a gamble! Immediately the move seemed like it had worked as England’s talismanic allrounder threw all he had at a nothing ball a tad outside off stump and mishit it so badly that it fell agonisingly shot of Babar at deep mid-off: Stokes was so sure he was out, he barely ran. After that, they had to stop the fight. Ten off the last two balls of that over were complemented by three Moeen Ali boundaries in the next over and that was that. T20 games disappear from your grasp quicker than a magician’s hand.A full set from Afridi – the Wasim Akram of the day – would have made it tighter, but with the batting to come and Stokes’ extraordinary temperament and talent to guide it through, an England win remained the more likely outcome.It was a rum business for Pakistan – a thrilling team in so many ways – but as Babar admitted, they were 20 short with the bat. In part, this was of their own doing, especially in the final stanza of the innings, but England were impressive with the ball. Well, Adil Rashid and Sam Curran were hugely impressive and the others stacked up solidly enough alongside them. Fact: the combined figures for Rashid and Curran were 5 for 34 off eight. That’s ridiculous. Three of those wickets and only 12 of those runs were down to Curran. His father was Kevin, the bruising Zimbabwe allrounder who died young from a heart issue while out on a run ten years ago. One can only begin to imagine the pride he must have had looking down from somewhere above the Spidercam.If Shaheen Afridi hadn’t limped off the field in his third over, England would probably still have won, but the match might have been tighter•Getty ImagesWatching these two at work in the shadow of the Shane Warne Stand was a particular joy, for they were about skill and deception. Rashid started the rot, beating Mohammad Haris in the flight and fooling Babar with the googly. It wasn’t just that he dismissed Babar, it was that he made the world’s most elegant batter look clueless, and you don’t see that often, if at all. At the ground Warne loved more than any other, Rashid spun it and swerved it, floated it and dipped it just like the master we all so miss would have done to the delight of those Melbourne crowds that adored him.Curran seamed it, swung it, wobbled it, cut it, slowed it down, sped it up, bounced it, looped it and generally ran amok. His confidence is high, his heart big, his mind ahead of most of the blokes taking guard; and he can bat and field too. A word for his Mum, Sarah, his brothers, Tom and Ben, and for Allan Lamb too: they all played their part in Sam’s fulfillment and this terrific day for English cricket. In addition to Alec Stewart’s fatherly hand at Surrey, a key aspect of the Curran education has been the IPL, where time spent with MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming – as well as playing a run of high-standard T20 cricket – has been invaluable.I say this because, from afar (which is not the best informed place for comment), it appears that the IPL is not the go-to reference for selection it might be. Perhaps the same can be said of the Big Bash. The obvious signs are ignored in favour of existing perceptions, which can lead to blind faith. To those of us on the outside, it seems the strangest thing to omit Rishabh Pant from any T20 team. If you were selecting on the principle of whom the opposition least want to play against, Pant might be first choice.Both India and Australia need a T20 reset, which almost certainly means the purging of a few popular faces, but if not, a rapid change in agenda. Pant’s devil-may-care approach is the zeitgeist and there are new kids ready to step on the block within both of these great cricketing traditions.England’s Player of the Series, Sam Curran (right) took 13 wickets in the tournament, and Adil Rashid finished with an economy rate of 6.12, the best among those who bowled at least as many overs as he did•Getty ImagesSomething that requires urgent attention for all teams around the world is the splitting of coaches. Initially this sort of thing was thought to create confusion, but England have proved that the move actually provides greater stability, with the head coach and support staff focused and energised by the project for which they have sole responsibility. This allows a more objective look at players, and the possibility of regenerating those who have lost their mojo in one format by relocating them to another. Matthew Mott came with high praise and has not disappointed. In a burst of McCullum-esque conviction he suggested England were timid in defeat against Ireland and asked for a more attacking mindset from the batters.Each batter has to work out exactly what this means. The bigger playing areas in Australia lead to fewer sixes and more hard running between the wickets. Spinners can therefore give the ball more air, rather than get away with simply bowling a hard length into the pitch. Equally, at the MCG for example, the quicks can bowl back of a length and even short, knowing that the boundary riders provide serious wicket-taking options. Liam Livingstone’s third catch, deep in the leg side in the final, was taken with a kind of “Really, again… so you think I ever drop these?” inevitability. In Adelaide the quicks pitch up and place the Livingstones at deep mid-off and deep mid-on. It’s not rocket science but it is the kind of detail that is as important to a batter’s response as to a bowler’s planning.A word for the upsetters – Namibia, Scotland, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Netherlands all put some big names to shame. The biggest shock – tinged with more than a hint of irony – came when the Dutch, with a few South Africans of their own in their ranks, blew South Africa out of the tournament. This allowed Pakistan a second chance at the semi-final place all South Africans assumed was theirs, a chance that was gobbled up. No doubt, the smaller teams have improved and will continue to do so; professionalism and wider opportunity ensure as much. It is a truism that the lowest common denominator evens things up. T20 is, therefore, the most likely of the international formats to create an upset. Even so, South Africa’s defeat further fuelled the mickey-taking that has haunted their players and supporters since the 1990s.Sure, it rained a bit around the Great Southern Land but it was fun otherwise, primarily because the pitches in Australia gave more to the bowler. This balance between bat and ball is all that really matters for cricket to thrive. The tournament finished with the most attacking batting side playing the most attacking bowling side in a match that, but for an injury, might have gone to the wire.Naturally, if the home team fails to reach the knockout stage a bit of momentum is lost but India filled a semi-final ground and Pakistan all but filled the MCG for the final. There wasn’t much not to like. Cricket is in a good place but the message should remain that, wherever possible, less is more. That way we will continue to marvel at the incredible cricketers of the age.

He smashed 42 off 18 balls to help Delhi Bulls off to a winning start

Aadam Patel24-Nov-2022Australia made one change from the XI that won the T20 World Cup final last year for their opening game of this year’s tournament. Tim David came in for a certain Steven Smith.David had made his debut for Australia just a month earlier – he had earlier turned out for Singapore in 14 T20Is – but such was potential that the management believed he warranted a place in the starting XI for Australia’s title defence.Related

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They failed to make it to the semi-finals, but the selection of David was in itself an indication of the direction the game is travelling in. David has never played a first-class match and is the first man this century to be picked for the Australia national team without either a state or a national contract.To date, he has played for ten teams in T20 leagues around the world, including the IPL, PSL, BBL and the Hundred. In the IPL this year, 16 of the 86 balls he faced for Mumbai Indians went the distance. That’s some way to go about repaying the INR 8.25 crore he was sold for at the auction.On Thursday evening, he made his debut in the world of T10. That it was his innings that helped Delhi Bulls to victory in their opening game against Northern Warriors in Season 6 of the Abu Dhabi T10 came as no surprise.42 runs. 18 balls. Five fours. Two sixes. Job done. Onto tomorrow.It is a format that suits him to the tee. “Yeah for me, it’s a similar tempo to T20, to be fair,” said David. “There’s maybe a bit more clarity in that once you get in, you’re trying to hit every ball for six. It probably doesn’t get much more complicated than that.”Dwayne Bravo’s Bulls fell short last year at the final hurdle, but now they possess one of the world’s most destructive batters and Thursday was a potent reminder of what the David can do.

“It was a great experience to be a part of a World Cup at home and it was brutal. We might not have been at our 100% best but we didn’t do a great deal wrong and we ended up getting knocked out.”Tim David

Across 14 T20Is for Singapore between July 2019 and March 2020, David faced 352 balls and smashed 76 of them to or over the rope.It’s somewhat remarkable to think that it was only last summer when David had his first experience with an overseas franchise and after Bulls’ victory in the second game of a triple-header on Thursday, he credited his breadth and depth of experience across the global franchise circuit for his dramatic rise.”I’m in a good place with my game. The IPL was great for my confidence,” the 26-year-old said. “You build a skill base of being able to start off with a new group which is obviously important on the franchise circuit as you’re always meeting new faces. You get to rub shoulders with some of the best players around and share ideas and pick things up from each other.”With Kieron Pollard calling time on his IPL career, David is perhaps in pole position to be his replacement at Mumbai, but for now his focus is on adding the T10 title to his CV.The past year or so has confirmed his status as a genuine power-hitter and now that he’s had that taste of playing for Australia at a major tournament, he’s keen to ensure that the opportunity comes again.”It was a great experience to be a part of a World Cup at home and it was brutal. We might not have been at our 100% best but we didn’t do a great deal wrong and we ended up getting knocked out,” said David.And for all his know-how in the franchise free market, David admitted that wearing the Australia colours added a whole new dimension to the game that even he couldn’t explain.”It’s definitely different to playing franchise cricket. It’s hard to put a pin on what exactly is different. T20 is a real inconsistent game and when you’re playing for your country, you want to win every game, so that’s one of the toughest parts,” said David.The story of Tim David is well known and undoubtedly different to the conventional pathway. He is the ultimate globe-trotting freelancer who has seized his opportunity and continues to do so. And as the landscape of the sport continues to evolve towards the shorter formats, David perhaps knows that he is ahead of the curve.

Reactions to Kohli’s first Test hundred since November 2019

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2023In the ongoing fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Virat Kohli scored his first Test hundred since November 2019. Here’s how social media reacted to it.

Welcome back Virat Kohli. This is a test century well received in many quarters. No 28.

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) March 12, 2023