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While he stroked his way to a fluent and majestic hundred, his team-mates struggled to find the boundaries, something that is very likely to cost England in their upcoming games

Andy Zaltzman23-Feb-2015Moeen Ali could wake the dead with the timeless beauty of his batting. If many 21st-century players clout the ball as if they hate the entire concept of spheres and have a lifelong grudge against leather, Moeen finesses it like he pities it, and wants to comfort it on its journey over the boundary rope. Even his ugly, mistimed slogs are more stylish than most players’ perfect cover drives. In fact, there are undenied rumours that Michelangelo is considered coming out of his near half-millennium-long retirement to update the Sistine Chapel ceiling with Moeen lofting Richie Berrington for six over long off at Hagley Oval today.How good Moeen Ali proves to be remains to be seen. He is, currently, sporadically effective. He makes mistakes, frequently. Against Australia and New Zealand, he was out. Against Scotland, a drive fell just short of cover, an edge evaded the slips, and Moeen scored 128 off 107 balls. I fly home on Wednesday, before returning for the knockouts. A Moeen Ali century is worth travelling half way around world and back again, just to tell your children about it.Moeen scored 78 of his runs in boundaries, with five sixes and 12 fours. After 42 overs, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and James Taylor had collectively struck three fours and absolutely zero sixes, whilst scoring 88 for 3 off 146 balls. The pitch was a little awkwardly paced, Morgan explained afterwards, and Moeen is an unusually brilliant stroke player, but that is still a worrying statistic for England.Nudging will not win this tournament. It does not win many tournaments. In the 2011 World Cup, England’s campaign of thrilling inconsistency and nail-biting finishes, ended in the dampest possible squib when they managed only 12 boundaries in 50 overs against Sri Lanka, three of them in the final 13 balls, and were duly demolished by 10 wickets.In ODIs since the last World Cup, batsmen from the Test nations have scored, on average, 87 runs in boundaries in the first 42 overs of an innings. With Moeen’s 78 boundary runs and the others’ 12, England were slightly above average. Without Moeen, the others were massively below average – 50 boundary runs would be expected from those 146 balls.All statistics can be crumbled under scrutiny, and Bell was largely playing a valuable, if scratchy supporting role, the principal purpose of which was to ensure that England’s deluge of cricketing calamity was curtailed. He battled admirably against his absent timing, but played with the fluent certainty of a concrete hedgehog on an ice rink.England’s power shortfall is striking. Or not striking, more appropriately. Jos Buttler came in later than would have been ideal (England could be more flexible with their batting order), hit a staggeringly-timed leg-side boundary first ball, and pushed his side above 300. He was aided by Morgan finding some belated fluency. England under-use their power resources. Or leave them on the bench. Or at home. (And this is without even factoring in players who have written awkward autobiographies).Moeen’s sumptuous talents papered over the chasms that were exposed by the two host nations. If he finds consistency, he might even start filling those chasms with some concrete. But he needs help.Morgan claimed that victory has given England some confidence for the second half of their group-stage campaign. Confidence, like momentum (that much-sought-after but frequently irrelevant commodity), can come and go with a few overs, a couple of middled drives, a perfect outswinger, a lucky escape or a dodgy umpiring decision. Perhaps this victory (and claiming their first major ODI title as Official UK Cricket Champions) will prove to be a watershed, but the suspicion remains that England’s strategy and selection is outdated, vulnerable and almost completely dependent on Anderson and Broad, with over 1000 international wickets between them, finding their best form.Moeen Ali scored 78 of his runs in boundaries, with 12 fours and five sixes. After 42 overs, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and James Taylor had collectively struck 88, with three fours and no sixes•Getty ImagesThus far, they have not come close. Broad, who has at times in his fluctuating career been as lethal a full-length bowler as Southee was in Wellington, appears to have become a short-ball specialist. He did not bowl badly in Christchurch, nor was he particularly menacing, and he now has 0 for 90 since his two wickets with consecutive pitched-up balls in the eighth over of England’s opening game.Broad’s innings of nought not out from three deliveries, in which he failed to make contact with the ball, was by far his best performance with the bat in the tournament so far. He has been a spectacular, match-winning, series-shaping cricketer. Does that player still exist? Can he be located within the next three weeks?There are a few statistics that help explain why England have been so heroically unsuccessful at World Cups:

• Moeen hit five sixes in Christchurch, the 39th time in World Cup cricket that a player hit at least five sixes. David Gower was the first to do so, in 1983, a week before Kapil Dev clouted six into the Tunbridge Wells rhododendrons. Since then, 32 different players have hit five or more sixes in a total of 37 World Cup innings. Until Moeen, none of them had been English.
• Moeen’s hundred was only the fifth English World Cup hundred since Graham Gooch’s semi-final masterpiece in 1987, in 46 matches. Since 1992, the other top-8 ODI nations have, between them, scored 92 hundreds, at a rate of one century per 3.7 matches, compared with England’s one every nine games. Interestingly, Moeen was the first England player born in England to score a World Cup ton since Gooch. Hick, Pietersern (twice) and Strauss were the only England players to reach three figures from 1992 to 2011.
• Moeen’s was the first century by an England player in a Southern Hemisphere World Cup, in their 18th World Cup match below the equator.

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Another excellent crowd of more than 12,000 came to the Hagley Oval for Christchurch’s final game of the tournament, including a man who concluded his afternoon’s cricket-watching with one of the more athletic pieces of field-intruding nudity ever seen on a cricket ground.Leaping onto the field at long leg, the streaker, who had no political or commercial message to convey other than an unmistakable belief in clotheslessness, spranted towards the pitch amidst no discernible concern from the players. He evaded the pursuing stewards with a series of swerves and sidesteps reminiscent of the great Welsh fly-half Barry John, star of the British Lions’ series win here in New Zealand in 1971, but fatter, and with his jumble chunks out.He bounded over the third-man boundary fence like a young, naked Ed Moses, ran, without breaking nudey stride, up a grass bank, beetled past the media dining facilities with an unclad defiance, and, reportedly, vaulted over the security fence and escaped into Christchurch with bareness aforethought.

Stats highlights from the first semi-final, between New Zealand and South Africa in Auckland

Bishen Jeswant24-Mar-20156:37

Insights: McCullum tops strike-rate charts

0 Fifty-plus opening stands for South Africa in this World Cup. South Africa have posted at least three 50-plus partnerships in each of their previous six World Cups. Their opening pair only averages 16.25 in this World Cup, with the previous low being 42.85 (during the 2011 World Cup).71 Runs scored by New Zealand in the first five overs, the second-highest in ODIs since 2001 (prior to which ball-by-ball data is not available). The top three five-over scores are all by New Zealand, with the highest being the 78 that they scored against Bangladesh in 2007.482 Runs scored by AB de Villiers this World Cup, the second-most by a South African batsman in a World Cup, after Jacques Kallis (485 in the 2007 World Cup). It is also the third-highest aggregate by a captain in a World Cup after Mahela Jayawardene (548 in 2007 World Cup) and Ricky Ponting (539 in 2007 World Cup).25 Runs conceded by Dale Steyn off the fifth over of New Zealand’s innings, including three fours and two sixes by Brendon McCullum, the most he has conceded off a single over in his ODI career. His previous most was 24 against Australia in 2006.22 Number of balls in which McCullum got to his fifty. This is the fourth instance of McCullum making a World Cup fifty in 22 balls or less. Overall, this has only been done nine times. Mark Boucher is the only other batsman to have done this twice at World Cups. (Click here for the complete list of fastest ODI fifties)Brendon McCullum has now smashed four World Cup half-centuries within 22 balls•Getty Images21 Wicket taken by Trent Boult in this World Cup, the most by any New Zealand bowler in a single World Cup. The previous record was 20 wickets, taken by Geoff Allott during the 1999 World Cup.272 David Miller’s strike-rate during his 49 off 18 balls. This is the highest strike rate by a South African batsman in a World Cup match (minimum 40 runs) and the third-highest by any batsman.192 McCullum’s strike-rate during this World Cup, the highest by any batsman in a World Cup (minimum 5 innings). Each of the top-three instances on this list are from the 2015 World Cup, with the others being Glenn Maxwell (183.5) and Andre Russell (185.7).2 Number of batsmen who have scored 3000-plus ODI runs in New Zealand. McCullum (3014) went past this mark today and the only other person to have done this before him is Nathan Astle (3448).300 ODIs played in New Zealand; this was the 300th. The only top-eight nations that haven’t hosted 300 or more ODIs are West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.299 Runs scored by New Zealand, the most by any team in a successful chase in the knockout stages of a World Cup. The previous record was 289, scored by Australia against New Zealand in the quarter-final of the 1996 World Cup.

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2015Dwayne Smith struck four fours and a six in his 27 before being run out by Trent Boult, leaving Super Kings at 75 for 1•BCCIIshant Sharma did not help Sunrisers’ cause as he bowled four no balls and conceded 46 runs in three overs•BCCISuresh Raina was run out in the 13th over but McCullum continued to lay into the bowling•BCCIMS Dhoni promoted himself up the order and blasted fours fours and as many sixes for his 29-ball 53•BCCIMcCullum played some outrageous shots and raced to his second IPL ton off just 53 balls to help Super Kings finish on 209 for 4•BCCISunrisers started the chase brightly but lost the key wicket of Shikhar Dhawan for 26 in the fourth over•BCCIR Ashwin stifled the Sunrisers and returned figures of 1 for 22 in his four overs even as David Warner brought up his fifty•BCCIIt took a special catch to dismiss Warner as Smith timed his jump perfectly at the boundary•BCCIRavi Bopara hit some late blows but Sunrisers were left with too many to get in too little time and slumped to a 45-run loss•BCCI

R Ashwin has reaped the benefits of reverting to classic offspin bowling and with the confidence his captain shows in him, he can become deadly

Alagappan Muthu in Fatullah15-Jun-20152:00

Insights – Insights – Ashwin India’s go-to spinner in Asia

“Have they shook hands?”The thought couldn’t be helped. India had bowled Bangladesh out in 66 overs, and with enough in the bank to cash in on a follow-on. But the clouds had gathered again and there was only an hour or so left in the game. Barely two days’ play has been possible in the Fatullah Test. Chances of a result had gone down the drain, along with rain water to fill three dozen swimming pools. Yet with the potential for 30 overs including extra time, Virat Kohli wanted one last gamble. And he took out his ace in the hole: R Ashwin.An offbreak fizzed from outside leg, as it was supposed to. It drew Imrul Kayes into a prod, as was planned. The edge hitchhiked off the thigh pad to the first of two slips but was put down. If Bangladesh survived long enough, play was certain to be called off by the mandatory 15 overs. As it was. But Ashwin wouldn’t make it easy.India have said they are on the hunt for wins. So the lead spinner will be pestered for miracles. Trying too much can never be ruled out under such circumstances. But Ashwin had secured his first (of 10) five-wicket hauls outside India – 5 for 87 in 25 overs – through classic offspin bowling in the first innings. He would loop the ball up and then get it to dip. Turn and bounce become academic after that. He trusted his stock delivery, the only variations he tried were those of pace and length and he stuck to a rhythmic, repeatable action. Nothing needed to change.”He’s priceless, to be honest,” Kohli said, “In a subcontinent Test match, you won’t get any better than him. He can bowl at right-handers, at left-handers, he can deceive people with pace, with spin, with bounce. I mean you name it and he has it.”So nothing needs to change looking ahead either. Even in limited-overs cricket, Ashwin had worked out that he is at his best when dealing the ball enough flight. The results were on show at the World Cup: 13 wickets at an average of 25 and an economy of 4.28. Among spinners, he’d bowled the most overs – 77 – and maidens – 6 – and was only two wickets shy of Imran Tahir and Daniel Vettori’s tally.A clever Ashwin is an asset, but an Ashwin who is clear enough in his mind to base his attack around his offbreak can be deadly. Especially in subcontinent conditions. Batsmen are most nervous when the length of the ball prevents them from deciding whether to go forward or not. Often times that means they push with their hands to make up the distance. As Tamim Iqbal did, to be stumped here. As Mushfiqur Rahim did, to be caught. As Shuvagata Hom did, to be caught again.But with a well-stocked bag of tricks comes the compulsion to dip into them. There have been times when the carom ball was strutted out so often that the offbreak might have felt like the jealous understudy. Then there were the changes he often made to his bowling action. As though it had fallen behind the times and he wanted to stay hip. Ashwin had even ceded as much to explain his borrowing Sunil Narine’s action, replete will the full-sleeved shirt that hid the elbow.”I just wanted to see if you can get more revs on the ball, if you can do a little bit with your elbow, as much as [is allowed], that is,” he had said after the Asia Cup in March 2014. “That’s what it was all about. You can get a lot of advantage with these things. So why should I lag behind if someone else is getting a competitive edge?”He’d returned to his normal routine immediately after that match against Bangladesh, including ditching the full-sleeves.Besides, his own tinkering, captains have assigned defensive mandates to him. Especially in away Tests. And when protecting runs enters into a spinner’s equation, it can get ugly. The switch to a limited-overs mindset can come unbidden. The urge to bowl around the wicket and at the pads would seem appropriate. The fact that the batsman is quite comfortable with that, since you are diminishing your chances of getting him out, slips the mind. And the good ones find ways to milk that line far easier.Ashwin had discovered that on his first tour to Australia in 2011: 168 overs, 565 runs, nine wickets. On his next trip abroad, he was dropped after the Boxing Day Test in Johannesburg. Eight months outside the Test team. The murkiest time of his career so far. It is difficult to ascertain if he had fallen off the wagon himself, or if his confusion was a byproduct of the team wanting his role to be summarily overhauled: from attack to contain.”I think he is not being handled properly,” former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh had said in February 2014. “Somebody who came into the Indian side because he had the capability and the urge to take wickets, he was eager to take wickets in 20-overs cricket, becomes defensive in Test cricket where you are supposed to take wickets … Something is going wrong somewhere, someone is giving him the wrong advice.”So Ashwin decided to block out the noise. The World T20 arrived. He did too, with a simple action and a fetish for flighted offbreaks. India waltzed into the final and wowed the audience with the guile their spinners persisted with even in the one format where they were supposed to be most endangered. The flatter trajectory was as good as outlawed, and Ashwin said, “The ball is landing exactly where I want.”There were evidences of similar form in Fatullah. He was able to assess the pitch quickly, the batsmen’s weaknesses in double that time, plan his traps and spring them. The confidence he had was exemplified when he was miffed at the appointment of a deep cover towards the dying stages of the fifth day and demanded he stride back inside the circle.”He understands the game well,” Kohli said. “As a captain, you don’t need to tell him much because he’s very clear about what he wants to do, and I’m pretty confident of his contribution in the coming season, and he’s pretty geared up as well. He’s going to be really important for us.”It would take courage and self-belief not to abuse his variations. More so against batsmen he will meet soon: AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla and Kumar Sangakkara can frighten bowlers to dig for plan Z and beyond. But the offbreak is a classic and there is a reason why the classics are highly rated.

Stats highlights from Bangladesh’s historic ODI win against India in Mirpur

Bishen Jeswant21-Jun-20151:37

Insights – Bangladesh complete 10 straight home wins

10 Successive ODI wins for Bangladesh at home – five against Zimbabwe, three against Pakistan, and two against India.5 Number of ODI wins for Bangladesh against India, in 31 games. Among the top ten sides, Bangladesh have won more often against West Indies (seven out of 28) and New Zealand (eight out of 25). (Click here for their ODI record against each opposition.)93 Bangladesh’s current points tally on the ICC rankings table. Even if they lose the next game against India, and all three against South Africa, they will still be on 90 points, which is ahead of West Indies’ 88.11 Wickets taken by Mustafizur Rahman in his first two ODIs, the most by any bowler in ODI history. Mustafizur took 5 for 50 in his first ODI and 6 for 43 in the second. The only other bowler to take two five-wicket hauls in his first two ODIs was Zimbabwe’s Brian Vitori, with 5 for 30 and 5 for 20 against Bangladesh in 2011.6-43 Mustafizur’s figures in the second ODI, the third-best by any Bangladesh bowler in ODIs. The only other Bangladesh bowlers to take six-wicket hauls are Mashrafe Mortaza (6 for 26 against Kenya, 2006) and Rubel Hossain (6 for 26 against New Zealand, 2013).36 Fifity-plus scores for Shakib-Al-Hasan in ODIs, which equals the record for Bangladesh. Tamim Iqbal has 36 such scores as well. Both have played 145 ODI innings.7 Number of 50-plus scores in ODIs for Shakib against India, from 13 innings. The only team against whom he has more 50-plus scores is Zimbabwe – nine from 39 innings.3 Number of times India have been bowled out for 200 or less against Bangladesh, the second-most for a top-eight side. West Indies have suffered this fate four times. Each of India’s three instances have come when batting first, which is the most for any top-eight side.2 Number of times Nasir Hossain has bowled his full quota of 10 overs in an ODI, against New Zealand in 2013 and India in this game. Nasir conceded exactly 33 runs on both occasions, but was wicketless against New Zealand while he picked up two wickets against India.3 Ducks by Indian batsmen in this ODI, the joint-most for them in an ODI against Bangladesh. The only previous instance of three Indian batsmen scoring ducks against Bangladesh was in Port-of-Spain during the 2007 World Cup.

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2015Vijay was trapped lbw by Tharindu Kaushal for 82, but Rahane’s fluency did not suffer•AFPHe brought up his fourth Test hundred off 212 balls•AFPAlthough erratic, Kaushal’s threat was clear. He removed Rahane for 126…•AFP… after which Dhammika Prasad picked three quick wickets to prompt India’s declaration with a lead of 412 runs•AFPAshwin took out Kaushal Silva in the third over, and out walked…•AFP… Kumar Sangakkara. He was given a guard of honour by the ball boys and the Indian team. But his innings was cut short for 18 and Sri Lanka went in to stumps at 72 for 2, still trailing by 341 runs•AFP

Kevin Pietersen03-Dec-2015I was a rubbish cricketer until I was about 18 or 19. I was keen, I worked hard and I loved the game. But I really wasn’t very good.I had an understanding, though, that if I took my opportunities, I could progress. And, such was my love for the game, it rarely felt like hard work. I loved playing. I loved training. I loved every stage of my journey in the sport.I don’t know if I was brave or stupid when I left home in South Africa as a teenager to go and take my chance in England. I had never travelled and there were no guarantees of success. I had been offered £2,000 for a season of club cricket with Cannock in the Birmingham League.It was great fun. I lived above a pub, I scored a few runs and I worked hard. After a few weeks, I had trials with Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire and Clive Rice, who was the director of cricket at Trent Bridge at the time, offered me a three-year deal.I had some encouragement before then. Just before Christmas 1999, I had come in at No. 9 for KwaZulu-Natal and smacked an unbeaten 60 and took four wickets (including Michael Atherton, Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain) against the touring England side. Nasser, the England captain at the time, was impressed and, when I told him I had a UK passport, wanted me to come and play club cricket for Ilford CC in Essex.There were some setbacks. After a really good first season in county cricket, I came back at the start of the following year, 2002, and couldn’t get a run in the Championship. After five or six games I was dropped.That’s a horrible feeling. But instead of feeling sorry for myself, I redoubled my efforts and worked harder than ever. I tried to learn from my mistakes and ensure that, when the opportunity came again, I would be in a better position to take it. I rectified the technical failures and made sure I used the experience to improve as a player. I was recalled to the first team and scored four centuries in 10 days; three of them career-best scores.Each success helped me grow in confidence. Once you have done something once, you know you can do it again and, knowing I had made it through some challenging times, gave me the strength to know I could find a solution to other problems as they arose. But it all started with that decision – that brave, reckless, stupid decision – to leave South Africa as a 19-year-old.5:56

#PoliteEnquiries: Kevin Pietersen special

That’s the message I’ve trying to get across to the kids on my Sprite 24/7 cricket camp in Dubai. I want them to understand how hard they will have to work if they are going to enjoy success in this game. I want them to understand that, when life offers an opportunity, you have to take it. And I want them to understand that all that work can be great fun.It’s been inspiring for me to see these kids embrace the opportunity they have here. Quite a few of them have never travelled before so this experience – the air travel, the brilliant facilities, the high level of coaching and access to information – has come as quite a shock. But you can see them relishing it and the coaches – Nic Pothas, David Balcombe and Dom Telo – have spotted some outstanding talent here. We’ll be looking to provide scholarships to the outstanding young players to help them pursue their cricketing aspirations.Of course they won’t all go on to be professional cricketers. But a few might and many more will go back to their communities and share their experiences with another generation of young players.That is why we have ensured that each one of these young players will go back to their communities with an ICC Level 1 coaching certificate. Amid the games and the skills training, they have also had enough classroom time to undergo what we are calling the KP Sports Leaders Course.This means that, when they go home, they will be in a position to coach the kids in their communities. That way we hope to spread the messages we are imparting here far beyond the 80 or so kids. We hope that each of them will make a difference in their club, or town, or village and that kids who might not otherwise have had an opportunity to progress will have a greater chance.This game has given me so much. If I can help a few of these kids realise their ambitions, I’d be thrilled.More information can be found here: https://www.kp24foundation.com

Dawid Malan impressed for England Lions in the UAE before Christmas, and is back hoping to enhance his claims to a World Twenty20 berth

David Hopps13-Jan-2016With two months to go until the World Twenty20, England’s squad looks relatively settled. They have lost only one of their last seven matches since a failed campaign in 2014 ended with an ignominious defeat against The Netherlands in Chittagong. But if you were looking for a surprise uncapped addition to the squad then, among the batsmen at least, Dawid Malan must be in the running.Alex Hales and Jason Roy are certain starters at the top of the order, but if England have space in their squad for a stand-by opener then Malan’s excellent run of form both for Middlesex and England Lions can’t be doing him any harm.Malan was one of the stars of England Lions’ pre-Christmas trip to the UAE with three T20 fifties against Pakistan A. His efforts were rounded off with a stellar display in the series decider. His 81 from 55 balls should have won the match in normal time – instead, after a late England collapse had led to a tie, he struck two boundaries in the Super Over to clinch the series 3-2.Now he is back in the UAE again for the 50-over segment of the tour in an England Lions squad that retains the same batting unit for the five-match series, but makes changes in the bowling ranks with Liam Plunkett, Toby Roland-Jones and Craig Overton replacing Reece Topley, who is required for England’s ODI leg in South Africa, Tymal Mills, whose back condition only allows him to play Twenty20, and left-arm spinner Danny Briggs.Malan has always been a destructive hitter, but Andy Flower, who is overseeing the Lions’ UAE schedule, and a man who chooses his words carefully, intimated that his game had become more reliable when he described him as “rock solid”, adding: “He’s a beautiful timer of the ball. He’s been really consistent, but he’s also been explosive at times.”The pair will join forces again with Peshawar in the Pakistan Super League, where Flower has been freed up by the ECB to act as batting coach, so completing a close season heavily focused on the Gulf. “I’ve enjoyed my time in Dubai, which suits my lifestyle outside cricket,” Malan said. “I’ve not given the World Twenty20 much thought, but it would be nice to get a spot in one of the teams. I’m just focused on scoring as many runs as possible to try to make that happen. If someone with the pedigree of Andy Flower praises you then it gives you a lot of confidence.”

England Lions squad

James Vince (captain, Hants), Jake Ball (Notts), Daniel Bell-Drummond ( Kent), Sam Billings ( Kent), Joe Clarke (Worcs), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hants), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Middx), Craig Overton (Somerset), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Stephen Parry (Lancs), Liam Plunkett (Yorks), Toby Roland-Jones (Middx), Tom Westley ( Essex), Ross Whiteley (Worcs).

Itinerary

Warm-up v UAE, January 14

Warm-up v UAE, January 16

1st ODI v Pak A, January 20

2nd ODI v Pak A, January 22

3rd ODI v Pak A, January 25
4th ODI v Pak A, January 28

5th ODI v Pak A, January 30

If the runs keep flowing and he does make the cut for the tournament, he would not be the first batsman to attract England’s attention in the build-up to a World T20 because of his exploits in the UAE. Michael Lumb’s matchwinning half-century for the A team against England in Dubai six years ago, following on the heels of a stand-out season for Nottinghamshire and an IPL contract, won him a place in the squad for the 2010 tournament in the Caribbean, alongside his fellow newcomer and Lions team-mate, Craig Kieswetter. Both men played vital roles in what remains England’s only victory in a major ICC competition.Angus Fraser, Malan’s director of cricket at Middlesex, called him “one of the more gifted players in county cricket” when he signed a new three-year deal ahead of the 2015 season. That summer was his finest to date as he recorded career-best hundreds in all three formats of the game.He began with an unbeaten 115 off 64 balls as Middlesex beat Sussex at Hove, and even damaged a Ferrari with one of his biggest blows. An unbeaten 182 in the Championship transformed a match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, and to round it off he hit an unbeaten 156 as Middlesex completed their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign with victory against Glamorgan at Lord’s.Worse players have won IPL deals, but for the moment that is not on Malan’s radar. His career averages rest around the mid-30s in all three formats, enough to encourage his classification as a stronger limited-overs player, but now that his heavy scoring has spread to the Championship, at 28 he is not about to abandon hope of an England Test cap.”I haven’t tried for IPL because I want to play all three formats for England,” he said. “It would mean missing too much Championship cricket for Middlesex and I don’t want to put myself at a disadvantage. If it doesn’t happen over the next couple of years I might start putting my name in the hat”Such career choices are far from easy, especially with England’s attitude in a state of flux. Under Andrew Strauss’s reign as the director of England cricket, players such as Adil Rashid and Jos Buttler know they can gain experience in overseas leagues with the blessings of the ECB. Malan, for now, does not have to face such a choice. He just wants to make runs for the Lions, and to keep impressing Flower, one of the toughest judges around.”Is a great opportunity to test where you are,” Flower told ecb.co.uk as the T20 leg of the tour ended, “not just in the scheme of other international cricketers, but also amongst your own peers from England. Because make no mistake, they’re watching the people around them. Competition for places is the reality of selection.”

Our writer puts himself in the shoes of the India fans watching their team’s collapse against New Zealand

Jarrod Kimber15-Mar-20162:33

Chappell: India can’t complain about the pitch

This is very touching, Martin Guptill is crying while they honour his hero Martin Crowe.Then he is at the crease. R Ashwin is in front of him. With his 5 for 32 and 7 for 66 from the last Test here. We are screaming, chanting, pure noise. We have beaten the BCCI ticketing system, the trip out of town to the ground, the traffic, and the endless queues just to get into the ground. Guptill’s job is just to get out. That is all.But first ball he plants Ashwin over the fence. We are surprised, and we cheer, maybe just out of shock. This is our event though, so the first ball should be a six, even if we didn’t hit it. There was a rumour of games here earlier in the week, but this is the start, no?Guptill is out. Spin is already king. Colin Munro hits a six, then gets out too. This is awesome, maximum maximums and wickets everywhere. And now Williamson, ha, the Kane Williamson, he is almost, almost, as good as our boys, and he is gone.This is our party, our celebration, our moment, our tournament, our country, our everything. We are bossing it, smashing it, destroying it. New Zealand are performing their role of live chum to perfection.They can slow the game down if they want, they can consolidate, we will party. We don’t need fours and sixes to have a good time, India will make them, enough for both sides, on their way to inevitable victory.Of course the pitch was tough; India hadn’t batted on it. Sure it spun; India had bowled on it.Ashwin was just warming up, the bowling equivalent of cracking his knuckles. Ravi Jadeja was firing them at the pads for fun. Suresh Raina was inventing the run-and-bowled manoeuvre.Corey Anderson, one of the higher stocks on the IPL exchange, couldn’t hit the ball. Ross Taylor was confused. Mitchell Santner was just moving the ball around. Grant Elliott was struggling. Only Luke Ronchi looked good. Heck, New Zealand’s best over in the middle of their innings was from 10 extras. Even while New Zealand batted, India was outscoring them.The total wasn’t even that, it was an incomplete. It was an inadequate chase for our superstars, if anything it would mean fewer maximums would be hammered as the pitiful score was helicoptered out of Nagpur.There was no way India could lose. Not our India. Not at home. Not with this total. Not with all the face paint, the flags, the official replica jerseys, the knock-off replica jerseys, the noise and the passion. It was worth 100 runs on its own. We were doing our part, now our men, our stars, our legends, would collect their win and we would all bathe in the beautiful glow of a victory for our nation.Shikhar Dhawan would end this total. Rohit Sharma can make more than double this on his own. Suresh Raina would compete his all-round match-winning performance. Yuvraj Singh could get a quarter of the score in one over. Jadeja and his bag of triple centuries.Oh, Virat, he averaged like a million in T20 chases.Oh, Dhoni. MS. Mahi. Nuff said.I mean what is a Santner? An Ish Sodhi? And Brendon McCullum’s brother, come on, you are not being serious right now, come back later when you are serious. Trent Boult, gone. Tim Southee, gone. Adam, Milne, a back-up, Anderson, hardly threatening, Elliott, no, that is not an attack that can defend 126, not against anyone. Not against India. Not in India. Not against Dhoni.Shikhar is out, pfft, not a big deal, plenty more of that in the dugout. Rohit, ha, his nohit will not bother us today. Suresh and Yuvi, ok, ok, this is odd, but Virat, Dhoni, come on, who do you think are New Zealand, all you are doing is delaying our gratification, giving Dhoni a chance to just do what Dhoni does.Even without Virat. Even without Jadeja. Even without, wait, what, Ashwin. Why is Ashwin here? What is he doing out in the middle, is this a confusing joke, a huge prank, or is Dhoni trying to make this as hard as he can for himself. Is he waiting until he has to hit a six every ball, and then he will hit a six every ball, and he will tell us that we should always believe in him, and we will quickly pretend like we always did?When did New Zealand even find a whole three spinners, did they clone Daniel Vettori? This is just silly. How are these men we don’t know beating us at our game, in our country, in our tournament.A six, a Dhoni six. It hit the commentators. It is long and beautiful. He was rope-a-doping New Zealand. He was making them bowl out their spinners. He was leaving it until the last minute, the Dhoni minute. Aha, yes. This is it. Yes, our Dhoni, he will deliver us to glory.There is not enough time for man, but there is time for Dhoni.What is that moving at mid-on? It’s going so fast. It’s diving. It’s throwing the ball up. Why is Dhoni leaving? What 79? No. No. Please, no.We are leaving now. This is not what we came for. Now we want to cry.

Plays of the day from the second Qualifier between Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-May-2016Cutting’s leap, parts 1 and 2In the ninth over of the Gujarat Lions innings, Dinesh Karthik skipped down the pitch to Bipul Sharma and whipped him over the leg side. He hit it well, but within range of Ben Cutting, running to his left from deep midwicket. Cutting, however, slightly overran the ball, and the ball ended up brushing the outside of his right hand, as he leaped to catch it over his head, and landed beyond the boundary cushions.Cutting was called into action, at the same station, in the 15th over, when Aaron Finch heaved Barinder Sran towards deep midwicket. This time the ball was carrying far enough for Cutting to have to leap over the rope in order to somehow put it back in play. He managed this with a dazzling piece of athleticism, catching the ball and flicking it back in one motion, while suspended mid-air.Jadeja’s baseball-style runIt was the final over and Lions were looking to scramble any extra run they could manage. When Dhawal Kulkarni drove a low full-toss from Bhuvneshwar Kumar hard down the ground, not far from long-on, he called Ravindra Jadeja back for what looked like a suicidal second. Jadeja was nowhere near the crease when the throw reached the bowler, but it had dragged him several yards wide of the stumps. Jadeja lost hold of his bat as he ran past the crease, and then, spotting the opportunity for a third, turned, called Kulkarni for a third run, and sprinted to the striker’s end with his bat still lying at the other.Bravo nutmegs WarnerDavid Warner was batting on 75 off 45 balls at the start of the 16th over of the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings, so you could say he had his eye in. But Dwayne Bravo’s dipping slower ball can deceive even someone batting on 200, especially if it’s dropping late, into the blockhole. Shaping to whip through the leg side, Warner was through his shot early, the force of it taking his feet off the ground. The ball only arrived when he landed, pitching and then deviating like an offbreak to sneak between Warner’s legs.PK is not amusedPraveen Kumar has got into trouble with his temper on a few occasions, and has spoken of how he now tries to avoid those episodes of ” [two minutes of anger]”. In the 17th over of the Sunrisers innings, he was just beginning to lose his calm; Bipul Sharma had hit him for a straight six, and had then failed to pick a slower ball, sending a leading edge looping agonisingly over his head and beyond his reach. With Warner now on strike, Praveen steamed in from around the wicket and delivered the perfect yorker, moving swiftly to his left to cut off a possible single. Then he spun around and shaped for a mock throw at the batsman’s end.It is unclear if Warner said something at this point, or if Praveen simply took exception to his facial expression, or if he was blowing off steam for what had occurred earlier in the over. He advanced towards Warner, eyes widening, repeating, at regular intervals, just one word. “What?” he asked Warner. A couple more steps up the pitch. “What?” Just as the distance between bowler and batsman was about to dwindle to nothingness, Dinesh Karthik stepped in, sprinting from his wicketkeeper’s post to put himself between them and lead Praveen away with a calming hand on his shoulder.