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Christopher Martin-Jenkins will be posthumously honoured at the British Sports Book Awards with the Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing award

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2013Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the cricket broadcaster and journalist who died earlier this year, will be honoured at the British Sports Book Awards with the Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing award. Martin-Jenkins’ memoir, , has also been shortlisted for the Cricket Book of the Year Award.Martin-Jenkins, known throughout the game as CMJ, was a veteran of the BBC’s commentary team, as well as a former editor of the and cricket correspondent for the and the . He died on January 1, after a year-long battle with cancer. The posthumous award will be collected by his wife, Judy, at the May 21 ceremony, which will fittingly be held at Lord’s.”CMJ was a colossus of the cricket world,” David Willis, chairman of the BSBA, said. “He was the ultimate writer and commentator, a professional whose passion for the game earned him an unrivalled respect by his peers and an admiration from cricketers at all levels and fans around the world. We are delighted to be able to honour him with the Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing award.”Martin-Jenkins’ final book will be up against , Gideon Haigh’s highly regarded biography of Shane Warne, and Steve James’ dissection of how England became the best Test team in the world, , in the cricket category. The awards, in their 11th year, celebrate the best in British sports writing across nine different categories.

Cricket Book of the Year shortlist

by Christopher Martin-Jenkins by Charles Williams by Gideon Haigh by Steve James by Alan Hill by Max Davidson

The IPL’s fifth season has registered a fall in total viewership and television ratings for the opening six games in comparison to the 2011 season

Tariq Engineer11-Apr-2012The IPL’s fifth season has registered a fall in total viewership and television ratings for the opening six games in comparison to the 2011 season. This includes a decline in cumulative viewership for the first time in the IPL’s five-year history.The cumulative number of people who tuned in to watch the first six games was 90.1 million, down from 101.77 million last year, according to TAM Sports, a division of Tam Media Research, the leading television ratings agency in India. “Cumulative reach” is the number of individuals who watched a channel/programme for at least one minute. The tournament had managed to increase its audience in each successive season till 2011.Television Viewer Ratings (TVR) were down 18.7% as a result, with the opening six games posting an average TVR of 3.76 compared to 4.63 last season (TVR is a time-weighted figure which accounts for time spent by viewers in addition to the number of viewers). The opening ceremony held in Chennai the day before the first game drew a rating of just 1.16, despite the presence of a number of Bollywood celebrities.The 2012 season is considered something of a litmus test for the league after ratings slumped last year. The 2011 IPL produced the lowest television ratings of any of the first four seasons, down 29% from 2010. That reversal was largely blamed on “cricket fatigue” arising out of India’s victorious World Cup campaign, with the IPL starting a mere six days after the final between India and Sri Lanka. With no international cricket in India in the build-up to this season, the league was expected to bounce back, with BCCI president N Srinivasan telling the he expected the tournament “to be a sweeping success”.Sridhar Ramanujam, the head of brand consulting firm Brand Comm, thinks the problem is that there are too many games in the IPL now and that the BCCI needs to find a way to shorten the tournament. “I expect viewership will be selective,” he said. “If I like Sachin Tendulkar, then I might watch the Mumbai Indians. I will probably watch Rahul Dravid. There might be people watching Sourav Ganguly.”It is not as if people are going to stop watching it. There will be selective viewing. In a 50-over game, people are now watching the first 10 overs and the last 10 overs. Possibly there is a viewing pattern emerging for T20 as well.”Advertisers have also adopted more of a wait-and-watch approach to the tournament this season, with three major brands – Parle, LG Electronics and Godrej – choosing not to continue their association with the league. “Advertisers are starting to look at other options,” Alok Bharadwaj, senior vice-president of Canon India, told the . “Each year the rates have gone up by 15 to 20% and the returns are not directly proportionate.” Canon has reportedly cut down its spending on the league by 80%.However, others, such as Vodafone, have backed the league, saying it is still the best platform to reach to reach a mass audience.Sridhar believes Multi-Screen Media, which broadcasts the tournament on its Set Max channel, will need to consider moving to a pricing system that is linked to ratings in order to sell out its advertising space. “I think the whole [IPL] business model is a bit shaky now and not as robust as it was made out to be when it first started.”Edited by Abhishek Purohit

Delhi Daredevils’ revamped batting order pulled its weight to complete a thrilling chase at the DY Patil Staduim in Mumbai, securing their maiden victory after two losses

The Bulletin by George Binoy17-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYuvraj Singh helped Pune clobber 26 off the final over of their innings•AFP

Delhi Daredevils used the depth of their revamped batting order to complete a thrilling chase at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, securing their maiden victory after two losses, and handing Pune Warriors their first defeat in the 2011 IPL. Delhi’s team effort upstaged a terrific all-round performance from Yuvraj Singh, whose half-century had powered Pune to 187 before his four-wicket haul was the difference between Delhi winning at a canter and having to sweat until the final over.Teams have had trouble defending targets in excess of 180 in this tournament but Pune were on course to do so, with Delhi needing 41 runs off the last three overs with five wickets in hand. Yuvraj had tripped his opponents’ progress by dismissing Irfan Pathan and Naman Ojha off successive deliveries in the 13th over. Delhi, however, had kept a couple of their power-hitters back and Aaron Finch and Venugopal Rao matched the demanding asking-rate.The over that won the game for Delhi was the 18th, bowled by Shrikant Wagh, off which they scored 20, slashing the equation to 21 needed off 12. Finch, batting at No. 7, broke the game open with two huge strikes over the long-on boundary.There was another twist, though, as Yuvraj bowled the 19th and had Finch caught and bowled with his first ball and dismissed Venugopal with his last. Between Finch’s dismissal and his, however, Venugopal had clattered Yuvraj over long-on and to fine leg.That left Delhi with only 8 to get off the final over, which Yuvraj gave to Jesse Ryder ahead of his seamers, who had gone for plenty. James Hopes, having faced only two balls in the IPL, crashed his third cleanly over Ryder’s head for six, and carved the next through backward point to spark off celebrations in the Delhi dug out.Such a tense finish was a remote possibility when David Warner and Virender Sehwag were batting, and for the first time in the tournament showcased just how explosive an opening combination they can be. Warner was all muscle, bludgeoning the ball down the ground and square of the wicket. He was particularly severe on the South African pair, taking three boundaries off one Wayne Parnell over and hitting Alfonso Thomas for four, six and six off consecutive deliveries. At the end of the Powerplay, Delhi had scored 67, four more than Pune had.Warner was eventually run out for 46 and Sehwag, after scoring 37 off 23, had his middle stump knocked back in the 10th over. Pune had finally got through Delhi’s powerful top order but they failed to break the lower-middle.The difference between the two sides was the number of batsmen that pulled weight: four for Delhi while only Ryder and Yuvraj for Pune. The free-spirited Ryder struck the tournament’s second-fastest fifty, off 24 balls, laying into mediocre bowling from Venugopal, Pathan and Umesh Yadav. He swung hard, aiming straight or over midwicket, and made powerful contact several times.Delhi began to pull Pune back after Ryder’s dismissal with Hopes bowling tight overs and dismissing the dangerous Robin Uthappa cheaply. Only one wicket stood between Delhi and keeping Pune to a merely competitive total, but they failed to take it.Yuvraj got into his stride with a sweep and a six on the leg-side off Shahbaz Nadeem, and he punished Pathan by slamming him over long-off, but it wasn’t until the final over that he really hurt Delhi. After taking two off Ashok Dinda’s second ball and top-edging the third over the wicketkeeper for four, Yuvraj sent the last three flying into the crowds at midwicket and long-on with powerful swings off the front foot. Pune plundered 26 runs off the 20th, but ultimately that didn’t cost Delhi the game.

Half-centuries by Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine and Andy Blignaut propped up Zimbabwe on the third day in Grenada to stretch the lead to a competitive 225 with three wickets in hand

Cricinfo staff19-Apr-2010 Zimbabwe 183 and 322 for 7 (Blignaut 72*, Ervine 58, Taibu 59) lead West Indies A 280 (Dowlin 84, Edwards 69, Mpofu 7-37) by 225 runs
ScorecardHalf-centuries by Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine and Andy Blignaut propped up Zimbabwe on the third day in Grenada to stretch the lead to a competitive 225 with three wickets in hand. West Indies A extended their overnight lead to 97 before the tourists put in a much better batting performance to leave the final day interestingly poised.Zimbabwe seized the initiative first thing in the morning when they wrapped up the last five West Indian wickets for just 23 runs. Christopher Mpofu mopped up the tail to finish with a seven-wicket haul, including the wicket of Kirk Edwards who added only seven runs to his overnight score of 62.The tourists didn’t get off to the best of starts as they lost three wickets for 61 before lunch. The offspinner Shane Shillingford was the pick of the home bowlers with figures of 4 for 109. Taibu and Ervine started the revival with a stand of 103 for the fourth wicket. But Nelon Pascal and Imran Khan took two wickets in quick succession to pull things back for the hosts. Ervine and Blignaut then came together to add another 103 in just under 20 overs.

On a tricky pitch in a stop-start game, he stepped up with both ball and bat to KO defending champions England

Vishal Dikshit28-Jun-20241:40

Axar: Hitting big shots, sweeps, reverse sweeps was all tough

When Axar Patel got the ball in the fourth over of England’s chase of 172, he had already been told by his captain Rohit Sharma, India’s top scorer, that the pitch was keeping low and skidding, and hitting the big shots wasn’t easy. India were already feeling confident after posting a total that had “10-15 extra” runs on a pitch difficult for batting, and Axar thought since the batters were going to attack him early on, it was best to not do anything “extraordinary” and force the batters to try and do different things, which could work in his favour.That’s exactly what happened when Axar sent down his first delivery, from around the wicket to England captain Jos Butter, who went for a reverse sweep and ended up popping the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Axar then went on to take down Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali in consecutive overs to leave England on 46 for 4 and finish with a stifling 3 for 23, which earned him the Player-of-the-Match award.”I hadn’t really planned to get a wicket on the first ball,” Axar said with a laugh at the press conference. “My mindset was to put the ball in the right areas. Obviously, when you play knockouts, you want to start and finish well with the first and last ball.Related

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“The plan in the powerplay was the usual. It’s tough to bowl in the powerplay, but when you know that you are getting help from the wicket, then without thinking much, without doing anything extraordinary, I thought that the more I keep it simple, the easier it would be for me. We spoke about it in the dressing room that it’s not an easy wicket [for batting], and I knew that the batsman will charge at me. It wasn’t going to be easy to hit me down the ground and hitting off the back foot wasn’t easy either because the ball wasn’t coming on the bat nicely. My plan was to make it difficult for them, force them to think of playing some other shots, and, that’s what happened on the first ball.”I think we knew we could defend 170, it was a par score. The way the wicket was behaving, and Rohit 1:33

Dasgupta: Axar a standout performer from game one

When Axar batted at No. 8 for six balls from Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer in the death overs, he saw that they were taking the pace off, and putting the balls away wasn’t easy at all, though he struck a six off one of Jordan’s slower ones.”Obviously, I got a clue from that as to what to do and what not to,” Axar said of the mental notes he made while batting. “Giving pace would have made it easy for them. It was ideal to bowl at good areas. No one has hit me when I’ve pitched the ball at a good length. It was important to pitch the ball on a good length and line and that’s what I tried to do in the powerplay.”His first delivery, to Buttler, wasn’t particularly quick at 91.5kmh. When he bowled one slightly quicker to Bairstow at 94.5kmh, he still stuck to his accuracy by pitching it around off stump, and the ball skidded on with low bounce to knock over the off stump. His third wicket was a reward, along with some luck, after he had conceded just 11 runs in his first two overs. England were 46 for 3 after seven overs and Moeen on 8 off nine balls when he tried to clip a delivery from Axar off his pads and took off for what he thought was a single. But the ball had only deflected off his pad towards Pant, who whipped the bails off when Moeen ventured out of the crease.”It’s also about pressure,” Axar said when he was asked if the England batters got more worried facing spinners compared to other teams, “when you are chasing, and you know that the wicket is helping the bowlers in that pressure. So, as an opener, or anyone in the top four, they must be thinking of cashing in on the powerplay as much as possible. I’m guessing that’s what they were thinking, but it didn’t work out.”I think it was difficult to hit big shots as well as the sweeps and reverse sweep because some balls were keeping low on this pitch so it wasn’t easy to connect. It creates a doubt in the batsman’s mind that if he sweeps and the ball keeps low, he’ll get hit on the pad. So it depends on what line and length you bowl. Mostly our spinners kept it stump to stump so it was very difficult to execute the sweeps and reverse sweeps.”Then, the batsmen think of hitting straight as an option but we had seen videos of their batsmen that they play a lot on the back foot, but on this kind of pitch you have to come on the front foot and play your shots.”

Both teams scored big and won their opening fixtures, and another high-scoring contest is likely in Guwahati

Sreshth Shah04-Apr-20235:05

Moody: Rabada needs to take powerplay wickets against Rajasthan

Big picture: High-scoring contest likely

This contest has produced some huge totals in recent seasons. At Sharjah in 2020, Rahul Tewatia played an iconic innings to help Rajasthan Royals chase down 224. At the Wankhede in 2021, Punjab Kings scored 221 but won by only four runs. Ground dimensions and pitch conditions were key factors in those high-scoring matches, and their clash in Guwahati could go the same way.In October 2022, India and South Africa scored a total of 458 runs for the loss of only six wickets in a T20I in Guwahati. While both Royals and Kings scored big and won their opening fixtures this season, Sanju Samson’s men are at full strength, while Shikhar Dhawan’s Punjab have to play without Liam Livingstone once again.Despite Livingstone’s absence, the Kings batters went hard from the start during their fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders. Dhawan played anchor while the others were explosive around him. The challenge will be to repeat that against a much-stronger bowling attack.The Royals will want a repeat of their season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad: attacking top-order batting, an incisive new-ball performance, and their spinners providing the squeeze.Wednesday’s game will also be the first time the IPL moves to north-east India. In 2020, the Royals, who have a long-standing partnership with Assam Cricket Association, were supposed to play in Guwahati, but Covid-19 ruined those plans.Jos Buttler has begun IPL 2023 in top gear•BCCI

Team news: No Livingstone, but Rabada’s in

Livingstone is still awaiting fitness clearance from the ECB and has not yet arrived in India, but Kagiso Rabada has joined the Punjab squad after completing South Africa’s ODI series against Netherlands on April 2. If Rabada is ready to go, he will replace Nathan Ellis in the XI. The only doubt for Royals is West Indies fast bowler Obed McCoy, who is still nursing an injury.

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Rajasthan Royals

Possible bat-first XI: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Devdutt Padikkal, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Jason Holder, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 KM Asif, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.Royals subbed out Jaiswal for Impact Player Navdeep Saini during their defence against Sunrisers. Royals could repeat that or bring in a different pacer – Sandeep Sharma or Kuldeep Sen.Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Riyan Parag, 6 Jason Holder, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 KM Asif, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Sandeep Sharma/M Ashwin.Padikkal could come in as an Impact Player at No. 4 during the chase if Royals bowl first. If Murugan Ashwin gets a game, then he’ll stay on as a lower-order hitter with a fast bowler being subbed out.Sam Curran scored quick runs and picked up the big wicket of Andre Russell in Punjab’s opening game•BCCI

Punjab Kings

Possible bat-first XI: 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Sam Curran, 7 M Shahrukh Khan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Kagiso RabadaHard-hitting bowling allrounder Rishi Dhawan could be the Impact Player as a lower-order batter. He could replace Rajapaksa and contribute with the ball during the second innings.Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 2 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 3 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Sam Curran, 6 M Shahrukh Khan, 7 Harpreet Brar, 8 Rishi Dhawan, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Kagiso Rabada.If Kings are bowling first, they could name only three overseas players in their XI and bring in Rajapaksa as the Impact Player for Arshdeep during the chase.Kings will be without Raj Bawa for the rest of the season, as he’s out with a left shoulder injury. Pace-bowling Punjab allrounder Gurnoor Brar has been signed as a replacement for INR 20 lakh (USD 24,000 approx.). Twenty-two-year-old Brar is yet to play an official T20.*

Stats that matter

• Buttler has had the upper hand in his battles against Rabada. In 11 innings in T20 cricket, Rabada has dismissed Buttler only once, while conceding 96 runs off 56 balls.
• Arshdeep keeps Buttler quiet (21 runs conceded off 20 balls) but is expensive against Samson (49 runs off 26 balls).
• Royals could consider bowling Ashwin early to Dhawan. In 13 innings, Dhawan has a strike rate of only 88 against Ashwin – 85 runs off 97 balls – and has been dismissed four times.
• Since IPL 2022, Royals have a 100% success rate of defending totals of 190+. Trent Boult’s ability of taking wickets in the first over has certainly helped their defence. Boult has 17 first-over wickets since IPL 2020; the second-best – Jofra Archer – has only five.

Pitch and conditions

Both fast bowlers and spinners could struggle in Guwahati, which is usually a batting-friendly surface with medium-sized boundaries. Humid conditions are expected with a small chance of rain in the evening.*

Babar Azam top-scored with 32* for Kings but Quetta Gladiators chased it down in 15.5 overs

Danyal Rasool29-Jan-2022
Karachi Kings might have the advantage of playing at home, but they were all at sea in an abject showing against Quetta Gladiators on Saturday. In a contest that the Gladiators appeared to have sealed before the first powerplay was up, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side thumped Babar Azam’s by eight wickets, skittling the Kings out for 114 before coasting to victory in 15.5 overs. Naseem Shah was the chief instigator behind the Kings implosion, his first ever T20 five-fer wreaking havoc at the top and tail of Kings’ innings. He had never before taken more than two wickets in a T20 innings, but richly deserved the 5 for 20 his figures showed today.Sohail Tanvir had Sharjeel Khan drag on in the third over, and from thereon, the Gladiators kept Babar off strike while wreaking carnage at the other end. Naseem cleaned up Tom Lammonby, Mohammad Nabi and Lewis Gregory before the completion of the seventh over, reducing the Kings to 34 for 5, before Sarfaraz’s men chipped away regularly enough to ensure the Kings never really managed to regain the foothold they had lost so early in the contest.While Babar remained undismissed, there remained a sliver of hope for his side, and when Aamer Yamin teamed up with him, he finally appeared to have a batting partner who was providing him some support. A six off Nawaz got him going, with Babar creaming a couple of fours off Hasnain a couple of overs later. But just life seemed to be surging back into the contest, Babar nicked off to the keeper, and after another four and a six, so did Yamin. There was little salvaging a wretched innings by this point, despite a little cameo from Imad Wasim, and the 2020 champions ended up folding for 114.Quetta effectively sealed the game with the opening partnership, another big stand setting up their innings perfectly. Will Smeed was less explosive than he’d been on Friday, managing 30 off 35, but when Lammonby held on sensationally to a dipper at deep point, Smeed and Ahsan Ali had wracked up 76 in 11 overs, and the game as a contest was over.Ahsan did his burgeoning reputation no harm with another half-century replete with a combination of sweet timing and blistering power. The 28-year old finished unbeaten with 57 off 43 to go with his 73 the previous day. He did find himself involved in the awkward run-out of Ben Duckett, who, dashing to the danger end, found himself mysteriously turned away by the Pakistani.But the Englishman’s frustration was quickly forgotten when Sarfaraz strode out and finished the game in style with three successive boundaries to make amends for a game they really should have won against Peshawar Zalmi on Friday. The Kings, meanwhile, have lost both, without ever looking like any other outcome was possible in either game.

Programme extends to Birmingham after successful trials at The Oval this year

Matt Roller29-Oct-2020Surrey’s African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme will become an independent charity after receiving a £540,000 grant from Sport England and further funding from the ECB.The project was set up earlier this year by Ebony Rainford-Brent, the former England international who currently works as a board member and director of women’s cricket at Surrey and as a broadcaster for Sky and the BBC, with its stated aim to address a 75% decline in participation among black cricketers since 1995. 70 young players aged 11-18 took part in trials in March, with 25 of those graduating to a coaching programme at The Oval this summer, one of whom has already appeared for Surrey’s Under-18s.The programme’s expansion will see four full-time members of staff employed – including Chevy Green, who has become its director of programmes – and a launch in Birmingham, in partnership with Warwickshire. It aims to build grassroots programmes and talent pathways, provide elite programmes to talented players, and develop a diverse coaching and volunteer scheme, and features several prominent names as honorary patrons and ambassadors, including Michael Holding, Roland Butcher, Sophia Dunkley, Alex Tudor and Mark Butcher.Sport England’s backing is particularly significant, following research they commissioned this year which indicated the severe underrepresentation of young black people in cricket. Chris Grant, one of Sport England’s board members, said in a press conference at The Oval on Thursday that it had been a “no-brainer” to support the programme financially.”It was 25 years ago that a lot of the African-Caribbean community lost it with cricket,” Grant said. “That was the year that there was an article with the title ‘Is it in the blood?’ was published in Wisden [Cricket Monthly magazine] asking how Devon Malcolm could really be English. That was in 1995, soon after when Norman Tebbit introduced his famous ‘cricket test’ – absolute nonsense, but it really resonated for some people.ALSO READ: Did England waste the talents of Devon Malcolm?“It was also the year when the West Indies toured England and some cricket grounds were really proud of introducing new ticketing mechanisms and were banning musical instruments and banners. That meant that a whole generation of West Indies supporters – English people, who were supporting West Indies – got thrown out of the game.”For me, that rupture with cricket in the 90s was painful. I don’t want to put too much pressure on ACE, but I hope and believe that one of the consequences of this work will be to repair some of those relationships.”While the programme will initially launch in London and Birmingham, Rainford-Brent revealed her ambitions to have expanded its reach to five cities in total within the next three years, if further funding can be generated, with Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol lined up as likely options.Warwickshire’s involvement is also notable, not least after the club fielded an exclusively white playing XI throughout the Bob Willis Trophy this season, despite being based in one of the UK’s biggest and most diverse cities.”We need to make sure that we hold a mirror up to the club, both in terms of the playing staff and people working at the club, that it represents all of the community around Edgbaston,” said Stuart Cain, the county’s chief executive. “Being honest, we’re not there yet, and this is one of the first steps we’re taking to try and address that.”We’ve worked really hard with the South Asian community over the last four or five years and that has really started to show results – about 60% of our academy age group comes from South Asian communities in the inner city.”Surrey’s Nico Reifer was one of only a handful of black British players in county cricket this season•Getty Images

The programme’s launch comes at the end of Black History Month, and immediately after a cricket season in the UK which saw several prominent figures – including Rainford-Brent – provide testimony about their experiences of racism within the game, following the death of George Floyd in police custody in the United States.In August, academics at Leeds Beckett University including sociologist Dr Thomas Fletcher published figures showing that in the 2019 season, only 30 out of 362 male county cricketers were from BAME backgrounds (excluding overseas players), while only two out of 118 managers or coaches in the men’s county game were black.ALSO READ: What has English cricket been like for black players?Fletcher, whose research previously informed much of the ECB’s South Asian Action Plan, launched in 2018, said that it was vital that the ACE programme had involved a group of ambassadors and honorary patrons who were prominent black figures within the game.”That makes a clear statement that this is a group of people who understand what it is like to be black and who understand the barriers faced by the community collectively,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Networks are key too, even if it’s not a formal thing.”If most parents say that a child can’t get a trial at 6pm for some reason and want to rearrange, the scout or coach will tell them to piss off. But if Ebony, or Alex Tudor, or Michael Holding rings someone and asks them to find time and tells someone ‘this kid deserves an opportunity’, they’re going to be listened to, and that is absolutely a positive thing.”That is why it’s so important that these pilot tests are part of a wider strategy, which is resourced appropriately. What we don’t want is just a couple of case studies saying ‘this person has been picked up by so and so’ and for it to lose traction. You want it to become a movement.”

England’s middle-innings enforcer determined to make speed variation his World Cup weapon

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2019Liam Plunkett knows he can’t bowl consistently as fast as he used to but he is determined to turn what could be seen as a shortcoming into a weapon.After all, there is a World Cup on his doorstep and Plunkett admits he turns into a green-eyed monster if he is not on the big stage.Even during England’s last warm-up, a nine-wicket win against Afghanistan on Monday, he couldn’t help himself. Plunkett was officially rested for the match but came on as a substitute fielder, took a catch and was involved in a run-out.While Plunkett’s ability to frustrate opposition teams during the middle overs was his big selling point for World Cup selection, a drop in pace – inevitable at the age of 34 – was also noted as pundits weighed up the possibilities ahead of England naming their final squad last week.”I find it harder to bowl as quick as I used to consistently,” Plunkett said. “But I feel that’s something that helps me. I’ll try and bowl the same speed and sometimes it will come out at late 80s and sometimes it will come out at 81. So I feel I’ve got to use that as my variation. If I don’t know what speed it’s going to come out, the batters won’t either.”Plunkett’s role is also helped by England’s formidable batting line-up which is threatening to become the first team to reach a total of 500.”I’ve gone through patches since I came back when I was bowling consistently quick,” Plunkett said. “We call our bowlers the ants as they just do the job, go home and let the batters get the glory. We’ll take that.”I just try and go about my business and do the hard yards with the boys in the middle and make it as boring and difficult as possible for the batters.”Obviously it’s been harder now for people as we can score at eight and nine an over so you know the batters will come after you. Maybe that’s helped with wickets because people know they need to score and that gives you a chance to get wickets.”Plunkett returns to England’s World Cup fold ahead of Thursday’s tournament opener against South Africa having last featured in 2007, when he took four wickets in three matches. He has secured his place with 85 wickets at 28.43 from 53 matches since 2015.He can’t remember exactly where he was during the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, but he was watching, sometimes.”I was watching,” he said. “When I’m not in the squad I get a bit bitter. I don’t like watching England because you’re always jealous because you want to be there. So I didn’t watch too much to be honest with you.”At that point I wasn’t sure I was going to play in the white-ball team so much. So, to be a couple of years down the line and be on the brink of playing on Thursday is exciting.”Plunkett can empathise with fellow fast bowler David Willey, who missed out when England opted for back-up spinner Liam Dawson for the World Cup. It is a feeling compounded by the squad’s closeness, developed under captain Eoin Morgan.”Even though people were thinking about the World Cup squad and the Pakistan series, the bowlers who didn’t play were helping each other out,” Plunkett said. “Me down at fine leg, one of the other bowlers would come and say, ‘what do you think about this?’ which is something that can be hard to do in a team, especially when you know the squad is coming up.”Do you want to give that guy extra credit or something you know about the batter? So the guys have been really good, because we all get on with each other. But at the end of the day it is international sport.”You want people to do well. I’ve never been a person who wanted someone to go out there and fail because I feel that can come round and bite you on the backside. This team, the support we have as a unit, is the best I’ve ever played in.”Meanwhile, Jofra Archer, whose inclusion also contributed to Willey missing out, wished he could have bowled double the amount of overs he had in preparation for the tournament since making his international debut against Ireland last month.”I’ve bowled about 20 overs in the last month in a match situation which isn’t really ideal,” Archer said. “The flip side of that is you get to rest and I’ve had a long six months going back to October.”I was 100 percent fit but I guess they were just trying to rest me. I didn’t have any niggles or anything like that. I can get by, but personally I’ve not played a lot of 50-over cricket in the last year so I just wanted to top up.”

Seven weeks ago, India began their tour of South Africa at Newlands. They return there with all to play for in the T20I series decider

The Preview by Firdose Moonda23-Feb-20187:14

‘SA need a win to salvage this tour’ – Graeme Smith

Big Picture

Here we are. Back where it all began.Exactly seven weeks ago, India’s tour to South Africa began with the (later-than-usual) New Year’s Test. The first day saw South Africa bowled out for 286 and India finish on 28 for 3. If nothing else, it promised a fiery, competitive clash, with two teams desperate to outdo each other, more desperate than usual because of the recent history between them.South Africa scars from their tour to India were fresh and they hoped to heal them with revenge pitches, full of pace and bounce that would hurt and humiliate India. Instead, they only got one surface in the three Tests that they truly enjoyed, and it was at Newlands, where they find themselves again now, at the end of a tour that has not gone the way the hosts wanted.After their win in the second Test, there was talk of 12-nil as South Africa sought complete domination over India. Instead it is 7-4 the other way, and despite losing the Test series, India will be the happier side, whatever happens in the deciding T20. They’ve done what Ravi Shastri promised they would and found home comforts in foreign conditions, with their top order all in good form and success for their spinners. For India, the final match should not matter. They’ve already done more than expected.For South Africa, it matters a great deal. Victory in what they are calling a “final” will give them a major boost after they lost several players to injury over the course of the series and a large chunk of their confidence.Defeat in the final Test with that series won was not the end of the world, but it was the start of a spiral that saw South Africa’s “Vision 2019,” fall out of focus and then completely blur. Their ODI side needs work and their T20 team may have showed what kind of work. The younger players, particularly Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen and Junior Dala, have stood up even as the seniors have faded and though South Africa’s depth remains an area of concern, they do have players worth investing in, especially if they provide a return at Newlands.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WLWWL
India: LWWWW

In the spotlight

It’s David Miller’s turn to come under scrutiny as a senior batsman whose contributions do not match his reputation. Miller played in five of the six ODIs and only managed a top score of 39, and has been dismissed in single-figures in both T20s. These white-ball matches have only emphasised that South Africa need players they can rely on in crunch situations and while Miller’s immense talent provides some reassurance, they will need big numbers from him as well as the World Cup draws closer.For the final time, Virat Kohli will be India’s player to watch, not least because he needs less than 20 runs to become only the third batsman in the world to 2000 T20I runs. Kohli has already led India to their most successful tour of South Africa, with a Test win and their first ODI series win in the country. Whatever happens in the final match, he can be proud, but he will be that much prouder if he can return home with two trophies instead of one.3:38

Cullinan: ‘I would seriously consider two wristspinners’

Team news

With a series win front and centre of their minds, South Africa may not be able to give Christiaan Jonker an opportunity and could stick with the same batting line-up. A change may come in the attack, which could feature two specialist spinners. If South Africa opt for both Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso, Dane Paterson may have to miss out.South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 JJ Smuts, 3 JP Duminy (capt), 4 David Miller, 5 Farhaan Behardien, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Junior Dala, 10 and 11 two out of Dane Paterson, Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron PhangisoHad India won at SuperSport Park, they would have wanted to use this match to trial some new combinations but now they need to field the XI they believe can win them the series. The team that lost had one change from the team that won at the Wanderers with Shardul Thakur replacing Jasprit Bumrah, who was out with an abdominal niggle. That spot may be the only one India change, with the possibility of Axar Patel or – if he has recovered from the hand injury that kept him out of the first two T20Is – Kuldeep Yadav coming in as second spinner on the surface most likely to take turn.India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah/Shardul Thakur/Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav

Pitch and conditions

The change in altitude will require the biggest adjustment from the players, who will need to be wary that mishits are unlikely to sail for six at the coast and they could end up caught on the boundary instead. Still, the Newlands strip is expected to have plenty of runs in it, with Farhaan Behardien calling it “not far from a Highveld wicket”. It will be a cool day in Cape Town, with temperatures below 20 degrees and a small chance of some rain, which could negate spin.

Stats and trivia

• After the Indian wristspinners claimed 33 wickets between across the six ODIs, Yuzvendra Chahal has only managed one wicket in the two T20s so far.
• Virat Kohli needs just 17 runs to become the first India batsman to 2000 T20I runs.

Quotes

“We came unstuck but we are sticking together as a unit. Tomorrow is a massive opportunity for us to turn it around. To win two out of the three series against a strong Indian unit, that’s a big plus. We went over to India, we beat them in the ODIs 3-2, in the T20 series two-nil, we lost the Test. It’s basically a reversal but we have the opportunity to go one up on them tomorrow. Everybody is upbeat.”
“Whenever you’re playing in the first six overs, you have to play your shots. When you have a lot of batting depth in the middle order you need to play really well in [the first] six overs. When you have a good middle order they can always execute later on, so you need to take a chance [in the Powerplay].”