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Fast bowler to play second XI match to continue recovery from calf injury, hopes to play in fourth Ashes Test

Andrew Miller19-Aug-2019James Anderson will play for Lancashire’s second XI in a three-day game against Leicestershire in Liverpool this week instead of linking up with the Ashes squad in Headingley, as England’s selectors named an unchanged 12-man squad for the third Test of the series which gets underway on Thursday.Anderson, who aggravated a minor calf tear on the first morning of the series and bowled just four overs in England’s 251-run defeat, missed this week’s Lord’s Test where Jofra Archer made an eye-catching debut in his place, but remained with the squad so that his recovery could be monitored.He will continue to be assessed by the ECB on an ongoing basis, with a view to being recalled for the fourth Test of the series at Old Trafford in just over two weeks’ time.”Anderson is making progress from his injured right calf,” said the ECB in a statement. “[He] will step up his rehabilitation this week by playing for Lancashire second XI against Leicestershire in a three-day friendly at Northern Cricket Club, Liverpool.”Archer’s impact notwithstanding, Anderson’s absence was felt at Lord’s, where he has taken 103 wickets at 23.89 including six five-wicket hauls, especially on an overcast third morning when his ability to swing the Dukes ball would have been a priceless asset as England look to battle back in the series.In his continuing absence, the left-arm swing of Sam Curran remains the only alternative bowling option in a 12-man squad, while England have kept faith with a batting line-up that began to find some form in the second innings at Lord’s.Ben Stokes led the way with the bat, scoring his seventh Test hundred in the second innings, and his first since the Bristol incident in September 2017, while Jonny Bairstow made a battling fifty in the first innings and an unbeaten 30 in the second. Jos Buttler also showed some glimpses of form in making 31 in a 90-run partnership on the final day.But Joe Denly, who made starts in both innings but was unable to go beyond 30, and Jason Roy, who made scores of 0 and 2, remain under scrutiny going into a match that England now cannot afford to lose if they are to maintain a winning record in home Ashes series that dates back to 2005.And Joe Root, who picked up the first golden duck of his Test career at Lord’s, is also in need of a substantial innings after moving up to No.3 at the start of the series.England squad Jason Roy, Rory Burns, Joe Root (capt), Joe Denly, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Sam Curran.

The question has been posed both internally within the BCCI as well as through an external complainant

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Jul-2019Is the Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the BCCI, which has been tasked with picking the head coach for the senior India men’s team, in a conflict of interest? The question has been posed both internally within the BCCI as well as by an external complainant. Justice DK Jain, the ombudsman-cum-ethics officer of the board, has been asked to take the final call before the CAC sits down to shortlist the applicants and conduct the interviews to pick the coach.ESPNcricinfo understands the issue was first flagged internally by Diana Edulji, one of the three members on the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which has been the supervisory authority of the BCCI since 2017. At a recent CoA meeting, held in Delhi on July 26, Edulji said that the CAC could not be convened until all three members – Kapil, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy – submit a written undertaking about their statuses on the matter.The CoA was forced to discuss the issue after Sanjeev Gupta, a life member with the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), wrote to the CoA, pointing out that all three members were in violation of the conflict rule within the BCCI constitution, which states that one person can hold just one post in Indian cricket.Kapil is part of the steering committee on the newly formed Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) where he is also one of directors. Incidentally, the ICA is funded by the BCCI. Kapil also works as an expert for Indian television channels. As for Gaekwad, it is alleged that in addition to working as a pundit on television channels, he is also part of the BCCI’s Member Affiliation Committee, a sub-committee which grants membership to state associations. Gaekwad, too, is part of the ICA’s steering group, as is Rangaswamy, who is also an ICA director.It is understood that the three panelists have not yet sent a no-conflict notice to the CoA. Once they come in, the CoA will send it to Justice Jain. It remains unclear whether the CoA will await the clearance from Justice Jain before asking the CAC to conduct the interviews and submit their final pick for the head coach, which is expected to be wrapped up by mid-August.Although the CoA appointed the CAC to pick the new coaching staff, Gupta has argued that only an elected BCCI administrative team is qualified to do the work. Although Gupta was not available for a comment, he has reportedly written to Justice Jain, stating it was unconstitutional for the CoA to appoint the CAC.Incidentally, Gupta had filed a similar charge against two members of the previous CAC – Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman – which Justice Jain had upheld.While Tendulkar decided to not be part of any BCCI committee, including the CAC, Laxman was asked by Justice Jain to choose one of the different roles he was performing in Indian cricket, which included being a commentator, being part of the CAC, as well as being a mentor with IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. Also asked to make a choice was Sourav Ganguly, who does commentary in addition to serving as the president of Cricket Association of Bengal and advisor to the Delhi Capitals franchise.

Australia completed an unbeaten tour of West Indies in domineering style as they sped to a nine-wicket victory with more than 12 overs to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2019Australia completed an unbeaten tour of West Indies in domineering style as they cantered to a nine-wicket victory with more than 12 overs remaining in the final T20I.West Indies were bowled out for 81 with only Britney Cooper (29) offering much resistance as Jess Jonassen picked up a career-best 4 for 7 – the fourth best T20I figures for Australia – and Georgia Wareham nabbed 3 for 14.The chase was a formality as Alyssa Healy cracked 38 off 16 balls to round off her prolific tour in style. The 75 balls remaining was both the most for an Australia victory and West Indies defeat.”It was always going to be a test tonight,” coach Matthew Mott said. “It’s been a long trip away combined with the Ashes so I was really pleased with the effort, particularly in the field, to bowl them out then it was a clinical chase. It was a real challenge for the group and they spoke about it this morning. We like to finish off in style and close the book on things so that was the most pleasing thing. Can’t ask for much more.”As has been the case throughout the trip Australia made early inroads with Megan Schutt striking in the third over and wickets fell steadily throughout with West Indies unable to build any momentum.Wareham struck with her fourth delivery to remove captain Stafanie Taylor who was playing her 100th T20I and returned to grab two more. West Indies’ last six wickets fell for six runs, including three wickets in six deliveries in the 18th over, with Jonassen, the seventh bowler used by Meg Lanning, helping cut through the lower order.Australia’s chase was off to a blistering start when the opening over from Sheneta Grimmond went for 16 and it appeared Healy would almost knock off the target herself before cutting to short third man.Victory was sealed by Beth Mooney and Ellyse Perry, the winning boundary coming from an elegant lofted cover drive by Mooney to leave no one in any doubt about Australia’s superiority.

Over-dependence on Babar Azam a big reason for batting failures against Sri Lanka, says the head coach

Umar Farooq08-Oct-2019Misbah-ul-Haq cited deficiencies in practically all departments of the Pakistan T20I outfit following their back-to-back defeats to a second-string Sri Lanka side in Lahore, but defended the decision to bring back Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal.Over the last two years, Pakistan have won 21 of out the 28 T20Is and lost seven, five of which have come in the last nine months. “Losing is never good, especially against a team that is without their major players, and it’s an eye-opener,” Misbah, the team’s head coach and chief selector, said in the post-match press conference. “We can see deficiency in every department: bowling, batting and particularly the way we got out against spin, and also our death bowling.”There was a clear difference between the two teams. Despite being inexperienced, they were disciplined and did everything right, while we completely failed to implement our plan.”ALSO READ: T20I cricket comes to Lahore, but it’s not the same Pakistan as on TVWith Shehzad and Umar coming back, Pakistan experimented with their top order, dropping Fakhar Zaman for the first T20I and opening with Babar Azam and Shehzad, and Umar at No. 3. The three, however, fell within 4.2 overs, leaving Pakistan reeling at 22 for 3 in the 165-run chase, which they eventually lost by 64 runs. Fakhar came back as an opener for the second T20I, pushing Shehzad to No. 3 and Umar to No. 5. Their highest run-scorer of the first T20I, Ifthikar Ahmed, was left out altogether. This experiment failed too, with Pakistan losing their top five for 52 in a chase of 182 before they went on to lose by 35 runs.Since his debut in September 2016, Babar – the No. 1 T20I batsman – has scored 1263 runs in 32 innings at a stellar average of 50.52 and a strike rate of 127.96, and nearly 70% of his 831 runs in the last two years have come in wins. Babar and Fakhar’s opening partnership has also been pivotal for Pakistan’s success, but Babar’s failure at the top in the two T20Is against Sri Lanka has left Pakistan in a fix, exposing the top order’s struggle especially during a chase.”There are a lot of reasons for this experimentation,” Misbah said. “Yes, we are the No. 1 team in the world but mostly our strength has been standing on Babar Azam scoring runs and with him not scoring in two games, we are exposed badly. We need to find out six or more match-winners, we need to have more dependable batsmen, we need powerhouses in the top and middle, and in bowling we need to take wickets upfront and in the death overs and we need to have good finishers.”But we failed overall, we are struggling in every department, and it’s a big eye-opener for us. We didn’t play to our strengths and couldn’t deliver. We are looking for more batsmen rather than just relying on one or two.”The recalls of Shehzad and Umar had come in for criticism from various sections – Shehzad has scored 4 and 13 in the two games, while Umar has been dismissed for golden ducks both times – but Misbah stood by the decision to recall them and stressed on the need to experiment.”Both these players have performed well wherever they’ve played in the last one year. Ahmed’s performance in PSL was remarkable enough for a chance, while Umar, whichever format he played, was among the good ones [batsmen],” Misbah said. “It’s unfortunate [that] in our circuit, there is no other batsman in T20s who had performed better than them. Players who have performed in domestic surely deserve a chance, and that’s why we offered them.”If they weren’t able to perform what can be done? Obviously I am answerable, but to build up a team you need to do some experiments to get the answers. When you play someone in international cricket with a couple of games, you understand the utility of a player. We need to show some patience and wait for the next series to find answers.”

The defending champions have lost all four matches so far, and will hope the appointment can help turn their season around

Firdose Moonda19-Nov-2019Neil McKenzie, the former South African batsman and batting coach, has joined the Jozi Stars as a mentor and consultant for the remainder of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) season. The Stars, who are the defending champions after winning last year’s inaugural event, have lost all four of their matches so far.McKenzie, a stalwart in his playing days for the Johannesburg-based Lions, worked with the South African team during Russell Domingo’s tenure as head coach. He was not retained when Ottis Gibson took over in September 2017, with the job going to Dale Benkenstein, and McKenzie has most recently been in the Bangladesh camp, where he was part of their 2019 World Cup preparations.McKenzie is one of 10 former internationals involved in a management role at the MSL, at a time when South African cricket is desperate for their expertise and experience. That means all the MSL franchises have former national players involved. Ashwell Prince, Paul Adams and Hashim Amla (albeit in short-term capacity) are at the Cape Town Blitz, Mark Boucher is head coach of the Tshwane Spartans, Robin Peterson is Eric Simons’ assistant at the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants, and Gary Kirsten is the head coach of the Durban Heat. Paarl Rocks do not have a former international at the helm but are coached by Adrian Birrell, the former national assistant coach, who also worked under Domingo, and count Justin Ontong and JP Duminy among their backroom staff.While McKenzie’s appointment will allay fears that South Africa’s former greats are being sidelined, especially in the aftermath of Graeme Smith pulling out of the race to become the first director of cricket, it is also much-needed for the ailing Stars. Their batting has got worse as the tournament has progressed as they went from a promising 198 for 5 in a narrow 15-run defeat in the season-opener against the Blitz to being bowled out for 108 by the Giants last Saturday. Not only has their line-up has been overly reliant on Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks, but their other senior batsmen, Chris Gayle and Rassie van der Dussen, have barely contributed and their game plan needs work.The Stars were forced to find a new coach after last season’s successful manager, Enoch Nkwe, was promoted to the role of South Africa’s interim team director, a new position created to replace the traditional coach’s role. Nkwe was assigned to take the team to India, where they drew a T20I series and lost the Tests 0-3, and even though it is not confirmed whether he will continue in the role, he was replaced at the Stars. Donovan Miller, who assisted Nkwe last season, has taken over but had a difficult start, and will hope McKenzie can help him turn things around.

James Pattinson, following his code-of-conduct sanctions, is the favourite to come into the XI at the MCG

Andrew McGlashan15-Dec-2019Peter Siddle’s Test ambitions live on after he was picked out by Australia coach Justin Langer as a potential replacement in the squad for the injured Josh Hazlewood.Hazlewood will miss the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand after suffering a hamstring strain in his second over in Perth and appears unlikely to be fit for the final Test in Sydney.James Pattinson, who was ruled out of contention for the opening Test of the season against Pakistan after his code-of-conduct suspension, is the favourite to come into the XI on his home ground at the MCG, and the uncapped Michael Neser is also part of the squad. However, there is likely to be reinforcements added to the squad with an eye on the workloads of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.”We’ve started to think about it, the obvious one would be Peter Siddle,” Langer said when asked who could come into the squad. “He did a really good job in the Ashes, he’s bowling very well for Victoria and it’s at the MCG where he’s played a lot of cricket. We’ll see what happens the rest of this game and then make a decision.”Later, speaking to Channel Seven during the tea break, Langer suggested Australia could consider a five-man attack in Melbourne. “If the wicket’s been like it has the last few years we might even be able to play four quicks and a spinner,” he said. “There’s lots of combinations. Nice to see Marnus and Travis head bowling a few overs as well so that gives us a nice combination.”Siddle played in three of the Ashes series taking nine wickets but picked up an injury in the early stages of the final match at The Oval which hindered his performance. He is Victoria’s leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield this season with 18 wickets at 19.77.Having enforced the follow-on in the second Test against Pakistan in Adelaide and now been reduced to two frontline quicks in Perth, Langer was conscious of the strain the bowling attack is under although there will be nine day gap before the Boxing Day Test.”It always makes you nervous when a bowler goes down,” Langer said. “You always think about the implications for this game but also the cumulative effect of a lot of overs. We also think back to the winter and what’s already been this summer, so they are things you keep in mind. We’ll go through the process and come up with the best solution.”It’s a shame for Josh; he’s built up so well during the Ashes. I feel for him. Hopefully it’s not too bad. He’s certainly out of Boxing Day and but we’ll have a look for Sydney. We’ll have a look at the end of this Test at how many overs the boys bowled, how long we were in there for the second innings and we’ll make a decision on who the next bowler is.”With the overs clocking up for the fast bowlers – and the potential for a second spinner to be needed in Sydney – the question of an allrounder has been raised again. However, options are limited with Mitchell Marsh only just beginning his comeback from the broken wrist he suffered when punching the dressing room wall and the highly-rated Cameron Green is unable to bowl due to a stress fracture of his back. Another Western Australia allrounder, Marcus Stoinis, has had promising returns in the Shield with 322 runs at 35.77 and 12 wickets at 27.25 but would appear a long shot.”There are a few injuries and there’s a great opportunity in Australian cricket for someone to put their hand up and knock really hard on the door to fill that gap,” Langer said. “There’s a lot of talk about allrounders but the truth is, whether it’s a club side, T20 side, Shield side, they all want an allrounder but there aren’t many of them around. And that’s okay, we just find different ways of winning.”Marsh, who will play the Perth Scorchers’ opening match of the BBL against the Sydney Sixers on Wednesday as a specialist batsman, and is at least a week away from bowling competitively, admitted his wrist may never be 100% again following a nine-week recovery. He also conceded he had tried to rush back too soon.”It’s been a long nine weeks, so looking forward to it,” Marsh said. “I’ve only had a couple of bowls, so it will take me a while to get going. It’s been slow but it’s feels good now. Injuries in sport you learn to deal with, but when you do it to yourself, it’s a bit different. We knew it was a ten-week injury but I wanted to get back in four. It’s natural as an athlete and I pushed really hard.”

He’s out of runs and under pressure, but is there really an alternative as England’s leader?

Andrew Miller25-Nov-2019veteran now.And in captaincy terms, Burns actually a veteran. Because unlike Root, or Alastair Cook, or even Strauss, he would come to the role as a County Championship-winning captain following his success with Surrey in 2018 – a runaway success when you consider his own stellar contribution with the bat: 1359 runs at 64.71, almost 300 more than his nearest challenger.Rory Burns shoulders arms with a flourish•AFP

If he ever got the job, Burns would be the first man to captain England after winning the Championship since Graham Gooch, who won the pennant with Essex in 1986 before his first taste of the England captaincy two years later (although we’ll gloss over the fact that, in the wake of a drastic form slump, he handed the captaincy back to Keith Fletcher for that same 1988 season).It would probably be a terrible imposition. But let’s face it, England’s top order are already sacrificial lambs – players with enough stickability to take the shine off the new ball and prevent the flightier strokeplayers in the middle order from being blown away too soon, or so the theory goes. And at least in racking up a mightily respectable 390 runs in this summer’s Ashes – almost twice as many as Australia’s openers combined – the crosshairs that would be trained on Burns’ helmet, were he to lead England Down Under in two years’ time, would provide the perfect decoy for his team-mates to steal back the urn. Now that’s leadership.Chances: eminently feasible

On the plus side, he’s the heir apparent in white-ball cricket – Buttler has stood in for Eoin Morgan on six occasions in ODIs already and four times in T20s, most recently against Pakistan at Trent Bridge on the eve of this year’s World Cup (how did he fare that day? … oh …).Even so, with six wins and four losses all told, Buttler is marginally in credit as a leader (and despite two ducks in his last two outings, he actually averages 47.20 to 40.88 in ODIs). He is certainly rated by Morgan as a tactical sounding-board, and the sort of proper cricket brain who, if push came to shove any time between now and 2023, could be trusted not to make a pig’s ear of England’s precious trophy-winning outfit.But then there’s the challenge of translating all that to Test cricket. For all his world-class attributes, Buttler is currently a luxury batsman at No.7 in England’s Test batting order (any higher and he gets a nose-bleed, like most of the men around him). And he is also the third-best Test wicketkeeper on England’s radar, behind Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow, both currently banished for distinctly differing reasons.Jos Buttler crashes one through the off side•AFP

But perhaps the captaincy would be the making of Buttler at Test level, and of the men around him. Because, let’s face it, while both Cook and Root commanded loyalty as leaders (with maybe one notable exception for the former…), neither have ever offered much in the way of strategic nous.A few funky field placings, a bit of positive white-ball intent. Some sympathetic handling of his long-suffering quicks. A frisson of genius when the team most needs it. There’s the bare bones of a good idea somewhere in there. So long as he doesn’t pad up to too many straight ones when his turn comes to bat.Chances: Strong to smoking hot

A fast bowler as captain! Sacrilege! England haven’t gone down that route in Test cricket since 1984, when Bob Willis last embraced that chilling thousand-yard stare at the top of his mark. It was a state of focused fury that inevitably left David Gower pulling the strings in the field, a role he was finally handed on a permanent basis at Lord’s against West Indies in 1984. (Cheers skip…)Would Broad ever get quite so catatonic in the line of duty? Probably not. He was, after all, England’s T20 captain during that brief separation of powers after the 2011 World Cup – when, in the days before anyone at the ECB gave a fig about white-ball cricket, Strauss relinquished the 50-over duties to groom Cook for the top job, and Broad, then aged 25, was handed the honours in the shortest form with a view to … not sure what, exactly.So Broad did go on to lead England in consecutive World T20s in 2012 and 2014, but with Kevin Pietersen persona non grata at either event, his team were eliminated with a whimper at consecutive group stages, and that was the end of that. He never played the format again after the Netherlands’ victory at Chattogram.Stuart Broad roars in celebration•Getty Images

On the plus side, Broad talks a very good game (always useful for keeping the press on side). Plus, he gets under his opponents’ skin with the precision and subtlety of a hypodermic needle, and tends to save his absolute best for the Australians – not since Ian Botham and, arguably, Darren Gough, has there been a more reliably up-for-it English combatant in Ashes cricket.On the down side, Broad is 33 already, and until his that’ll-show-em performances in the Ashes this summer, he had been looking like the most vulnerable member of an England seam attack that needs to find a succession plan after a decade dominated by his new-ball partnership with James Anderson. If he was ever going to be a stop-gap, that moment surely passed three years ago.Chances: Highly probable … in a parallel universe

What is it you even want from your captain, anyway? Is it runs? Well, yes, that’d be nice – Root would be looking a whole lot more sturdy right now if he wasn’t averaging 27.40 in 10 Tests this calendar year. But failing that, you’re looking for a man who, whatever his personal contribution, will improve every player who crosses his path. Whether that’s through the right encouragement (or chastisement) at the right moment, a timely show of faith at a start of a key bowling spell. Or a moment of tactical clarity that helps to unpick a finely balanced game.If the summer of 2019 proved anything (beyond Stokes’ world-class credentials and the shortcomings of the ICC’s playing conditions), it was that Morgan was the single most important player in that triumphant World Cup campaign. He made the big selection calls (not least where Alex Hales was concerned), he owned the moments when his team appeared to falter. And even if you had wanted to pick holes in his tactics at the pivotal moments, you’d never have made it past his inscrutable poker-face.One thing that Root has going for him as captain – perhaps the only thing, if we are being harsh but fair – is the unquestionable loyalty of his friends and team-mates in the dressing room. They like and respect him, and want to keep playing for him, even when the results don’t go their way.Eoin Morgan poses with the World Cup trophy•Getty Images

Morgan, however, hasn’t really needed friends in the field. He just needs team-mates, a vital distinction that has enabled him to keep a subtle, and authoritative, air of detachment during his reign.As for the realities of a Test comeback, well… he hasn’t played the format for seven long years, and he hadn’t even played a first-class game for Middlesex for three seasons until a less-than-fruitful return to the format late in 2018, in which time he has mustered one Championship fifty in nine matches. And given that his only public misstep during the World Cup came when Kevin Pietersen called out his technique against the short ball, you’d have to assume he’d get a lively greeting if he were ever to don those whites again.And yet, during Morgan’s brief Test career, he was part of a batting line-up that drove the agenda in England’s rise to No.1 in the world, and in the process he racked up two hundreds in 16 Tests – a tally that, of all the players who’ve been tried and discarded since he was in the mix, only Gary Ballance (4) has exceeded. It’s hardly riches, but it’s a very strict definition of failure.He wouldn’t want the job. He’d be mad to take the job. But has anyone watched Morgan in action in the T20 Blast or the T10 League since the World Cup win? He’s been smoking the ball like a man who’s found his happy place in life. He’s fulfilled his life’s ambition, and at the age of 33, he’s got a handful of years to savour his status in the game. But might he fancy one last challenge before he calls it quits? You’re a long time retired in this sport …Chances: Go on, you know you want to …

Relive the dramatic scenes at the Gabba through the ESPNcricinfo ball-by-ball commentary

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2020The Brisbane Heat suffered the worst 10-wicket collapse in BBL history as they threw away a game they looked almost certain to win. While the overall demise of the batting was breathtaking, the last seven wickets fell for seven runs in 16 balls. Here’s how Alex Malcolm recorded the mayhem on ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary.***12.3 Patel to Heazlett, OUT, caught behind! A little edge trying to late cut! It was pushed through from around the wicket, it slid on straighter, he tried to run it fine, got a little tickle and Harper took the catch well after a slight juggleSam Heazlett c †Harper b Patel 56: 4 for 11312.4 Patel to Peirson, OUT, caught and bowled! A soft dismissal. Tossed up on off, it might have held in a surface a touch but he just chipped a drive back to Patel. Easy catch for him. He’s a hat-trickJimmy Peirson c & b Patel 0: 5 for 113Joe Burns trudges off after being run out•Getty Images

12.5 Patel to Cutting, 1 run, shorter on off, he’s back and punching this to long off12.6 Patel to Burns, OUT, Burns is run out in a mix up! It was tossed up outside off, Burns just defended it to cover and called yes immediately, it was to the left of Harris who is a right hander and not a sharp fielder, Cutting sent him back, Burns had to turn around, Harris got to ball and had to spin around to throw, the throw was high but Harper had time to take the bails off as Burns was well out!Joe Burns run out 14: 6 for 114***13.1 Christian to Cutting, no run, good length, on off, he pushes towards mid off, Wildermuth slides coming across from midwicket and takes out a huge bit of turf with his knee! That turf was loose. He is OK but that could have been nasty.13.2 Christian to Cutting, no run, slower ball bouncer outside off, he tries to pull and misses13.3 Christian to Cutting, FOUR, 123kph, length ball outside off, he backs away and slices this in the air wide of mid off and picks the gap!13.4 Christian to Cutting, OUT, Given lbw! The umpire wasn’t going to give it and then he did! This was missing leg by some margin! He walked down the wicket, it was a slower ball inswinger, he might have even got an inside edge but it was swinging a long way as it hit the pad. It was given out and Cutting was furiousBen Cutting lbw b Christian 5: 7 for 11813.5 Christian to Lalor, no run, good length wide off, he tries to drive and missed13.6 Christian to Lalor, OUT, caught behind! Back of a length outside off, this climbs off a length, he’s trying to run it to third man but it got big on him, gets a thin edge through to Harper! This is staggeringJosh Lalor c Harper b Christian 0: 8 for 118***14.1 Boyce to Pattinson, no run, tossed up on middle, he leans out to defend14.2 Boyce to Pattinson, 1 run, floated higher, he drives and gets a thick edge to backward point14.3 Boyce to Laughlin, no run, shorter length, he’s back and defending to cover14.4 Boyce to Laughlin, 1 run, shorter length, he’s back and cutting this to backward point, Wildermuth misfields and they nearly panic and try for a second14.5 Boyce to Pattinson, OUT, Bowled him! Played for spin that wasn’t there! This was floated up on off, it was a top spinner, he tried to work to leg thinking it was a leg break, he closed the face, was beaten on the outside edge and it hit the top of off!James Pattinson b Boyce 1: 9 for 12014.6 Boyce to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, OUT, LBW! Renegades win! Incredible! Tossed up on leg, he tried to sweep, it pitched and spun and got him on the front pad infront of middle, the umpire put his finger up after a big appeal and the Renegades celebrate!Mujeeb Ur Rahman lbw Boyce 0: 120 all out

He will fly out on Sunday for Wellington where the first Test begins on February 21

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2020Fast bowler Ishant Sharma has cleared his fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is set to join the India squad in New Zealand for the two-Test series. ESPNcricinfo understands Sharma will fly out on Sunday and join the squad in Wellington, the venue of the first Test starting February 21. The BCCI is yet to issue a release on Sharma’s update though.Sharma had injured his right ankle during a Ranji Trophy game against defending champions Vidarbha nearly a month ago and had been looking doubtful for the Test series in New Zealand, having been advised six weeks’ rest with a grade three tear. He later went to the NCA for rehab and was named in the Test squad subject to clearing his fitness. Sharma will join Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini in the pace attack. Sharma was also the leading wicket-taker the last time India toured New Zealand, in 2013-14, with 15 scalps from two Tests, and the only bowler to claim two five-fors in the series. Sharma has been the leader of India’s pace attack in Tests in recent years, helping the team strengthen their grip at the top of the ICC rankings, and taking all 360 points in the ongoing World Test Championship. He has been India’s second-highest wicket-taker since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, only behind Shami, with 74 wickets from 19 matches at an average of 20.17 and strike rate of 43.7. He has played 96 Tests so far and could reach three digits in Australia later this year, subject to form and fitness.

Former allrounder and Rohit Sharma discuss the importance of guiding youngsters properly

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2020Former India allrounder Yuvraj Singh believes the big difference between players of his generation and the ones today is how they dealt with seniors in the team, specifically in the “sense of respect towards seniors” and appreciating their work.”The youngsters say anything to anyone now,” Singh told Rohit Sharma, India’s white-ball vice-captain, during an Instagram chat hosted by the latter on Tuesday.According to Singh, the other key difference between the two generations is that the current India team has a very small group of seniors – captain Virat Kohli and Sharma in the main – so the youngsters “have very less guys to look up to”.Singh opened up on the subject after Sharma asked him for an appraisal of the current Indian team, not as a player but as someone watching from the outside. “Can you tell us what you find that we are doing good, what we are doing bad, where we can improve as a team,” Sharma asked.Singh, who retired last June, was blunt in his assessment: “See, I will tell you the difference what I felt in this generation and our generation. I felt that our seniors were very disciplined. Obviously, at the time there was no social media, so there were very few distractions. There was a certain behaviour that we boys had to carry watching our seniors – how they play, how they work hard, and how they actually talk to people, how they talk to the media. Because they were great ambassadors of India.”So I learned a lot that way. And that’s what we tried to do and that is what we told you guys that if you have to play for next ten years, after playing for India you have to be more careful about your image.”But I feel in this generation, I feel the seniors that are there are only you and Virat Kohli are there, who are playing three formats. I just feel there are very less guys to look up to. And I feel that the sense of respect towards seniors to say something or that respect of how these players have become great, like it has become a thin line now, (the youngsters say anything to anyone now).”As a consequence, Singh said, incidents like the one that led to Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul being suspended in 2018 took place, because there were not enough seniors to guide the younger players. “Because of social media and party scenes and the incident that happened with KL and Hardik, these kind of things during our time we could not even imagine of such things happening during our time because we respected the seniors a lot. We knew that if we did some mistake our seniors would tell us ‘, don’t do these things, this is not nice’. I feel the atmosphere is not the same. The boys (juniors) do what they want to now.”Singh, however, didn’t want to blame the youngsters entirely, saying that they did not know how to “handle” the fame and money that came on the back of big IPL contracts. During his time, seniors like Sachin Tendulkar were in his ear, to caution him at the right time, something that might not be case right now.”Even after a little bit of success, it’s not their fault also because at a young age you get distracted (and) because IPL contracts are so big,” Singh said. “[It’s the] starting of their careers, they are not even playing for India they are getting such big contracts. So they don’t know how to handle the money so they’re easily distracted.””So you need seniors, you need coaches, you guys (seniors) have to talk to the youngsters and explain to them what is important to them – playing for the country and working hard on the field and then all these things follow. Tendulkar always told me that, ‘if you perform on the field, everything will follow’.‘They don’t want to play Test cricket’Singh suggested that some of the younger lot were too keen on the limited-overs formats, and not interested in long-form cricket at all. “I was at the National Cricket Academy (in Bengaluru) recently. I was observing (some) boys there don’t want to play Test cricket,” Singh said. “They don’t want to play four-day cricket for their own state. They are happy playing one-day cricket because of IPL.”Except you guys, I don’t think the second generation really wants to play Test cricket. And Test cricket is the real test of a cricketer. So I want the next generation to tell them these things.”Sharma agreed with Singh, recollecting his early years with the Indian team when barring a few youngsters like Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla, the dressing room was full of seniors. He did, however, point out that he was doing his bit to help the newbies, and presented a recent example of putting an arm around young Rishabh Pant’s shoulders after the youngster came under intense scrutiny for his performances in front of and behind the stumps since the 2019 World Cup.Rishabh Pant exchanges notes with Rohit Sharma in the nets•Getty Images

“I keep trying to talk to the guys as much as I can. I talk a lot to Rishabh Pant,” Sharma said. “He came under a lot of scrutiny recently. He’s just 20 and he became really worried. Apart from Pant, there are five-six people I regularly talk to about these things. This (criticism) will be there as long as you’re playing, it’s not going to go anywhere.”‘Every innings should be the like the last of your career’The two players also spoke about how they developed the mindset to dominate opposition for longer periods of time, to convert their starts into big scores and play in the zone where they stood out for their excellence. Sharma wanted to know from Singh, the Player of the Tournament at the 2011 World Cup, how he developed that mindset.”To come into that zone, you need to go through a lot of experience in games. You need that experience,” Singh said. “Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, [Shreyas] Iyer and whoever comes as soon as they come we expect them to play like we did, because we have learnt early. That won’t happen. It has to be over time when they play certain amount of games. Then they fail, they play domestic cricket and they come back and they play a number of games and with that experience when they have a few knocks like that they get into that zone where they know how to make a big score. Like you and Virat probably know how to convert 60s into hundreds. It will not happen with a lot of younger guys because they don’t have that experience.”Whenever they are not playing international cricket they should be playing domestic cricket or they should be playing any form of cricket where they keep on getting experience of playing a lot of games getting into different kind of situations on different wickets.”Singh called Sharma a good example for the youngsters to follow: “When you were playing in the middle-order, you had some exceptional innings of 70, 80, 90 not out, 65 not out. People were saying, ‘wah, Rohit was very good’. But after now that you are opening you have made 200 not out, 260, 200 and 150… so you have taken your game to the next level. That has happened after you playing seven-eight years of international cricket.”Although he agreed with Singh, Sharma stressed that he didn’t want the young players to “lose those seven-eight years, and, which is why I keep talking to them and make them understand that you should start learning these things now itself. I make them understand to try and make sure that every innings you play should be the like the last one of your career.”