All posts by h716a5.icu

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are still being missed, Rangana Herath is bowling with the help of a walker, and the video analyst needs a dietitian

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle27-Jul-2017Coach, tough day in the office for your boys?
Err… I suppose you could say that. Being in a situation where we are 14 for 5, following on, on the second day, after Karnataka B made 789 for 5, is not ideal.AFPThere were four catches dropped in the first session today. Is it fair to say that standards have fallen substantially?
I think we have to be very careful about that kind of statement. I thought we fielded extremely well in the recent one-dayers against Zambia. We were really able to put them under pressure with that one throw that hit the stumps. Keep in mind also that a couple of the chances that went down today were very tough. The one at cow corner was extremely tough, as there was quite a breeze. It was also unfortunate that the fielder then dived on to the stationary ball as he thought it was going to the boundary. He’s picked up a pretty serious groin injury with that, and we’ve sent him to Colombo for scans.You must be pleased that your lead spinner can still take wickets. But is there a lack of support for him on the slow-bowling front?
First of all, it’s difficult for any bowler to measure up to Rangana Herath, so perhaps that’s a little unfair. What a champion he is – that should be the focus. Today, the front wheels of the walker he uses to get to the crease were out of shape, but he didn’t use that as an excuse. He’d bowled unchanged since the first morning, but he does his job without any complaints. And let’s not forget, that he had also bowled 150 overs in the match last week against the Russia-USA team, so he’s had to recover from that as well.Are there any positives with the batting?
Very much so. I know Upul Tharanga was out of the team only a month ago, but he’s certainly one of the experienced players our guys look up to. He was timing the ball beautifully in his innings wasn’t he? When he got to 25 I really though he was set for a big one, but sadly he hit that drive that ricocheted off Herath’s dislodged dentures at the other end and was out caught. I’m glad that rule is changing from October – he wouldn’t have been out in another few months. But unfortunately that’s cricket.The fielder who injured his groin is one of your key batsmen – a veteran of some seven Tests. How will you replace him for the next Test?
Well the good thing about our first-class system is that there are plenty of batsmen to choose from, so that’s good. There is a young No. 4 from the northwest who is in form. And that’s really the great strength of a 62-team first-class competition. Five years ago, Kirimatiyana Youth Sports and Physical Culture Club wouldn’t even have had a three-day team, and now one of their players could become Sri Lanka’s 963rd Test cricketer. That wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership of His Munificence Thilanga Sumathipala and the wonderful system that has been set down.Is the high turnover of players over the last few years preventing members of this side from really building up any confidence?
Yes, you can say all sorts of things about how the five dozen players who have represented Sri Lanka since January, but the truth is that we have had a hell of a lot of injuries. Just last week our premier fast bowler got a grade-two tear in his hamstring by sitting down too fast on the team bus. That’s definitely an area we need to look at. And our chairman of selectors has been doing the job now for 15 years, so there is really no one with more experience or a deeper understanding of the system, who is better for the job.Karnataka B have come with a very large support staff, and their players are obviously much better compensated? Is it tough for a side like Sri Lanka to compete with a team that has the kinds of resources they have?
Absolutely. I have spoken to the board about following the Indian model and getting a specialist dietitian for our video analyst, because at the moment he may not be taking on the right kind of nutrition required for his role. But the unfortunate thing is that the board is servicing large debts and that’s the reality. The undersea stadium off Hambantota built by Nishantha Ranatunga’s previous board required quite a lot of shark-proofing, I think. Though it is a wonderful facility.Disappointed at the fan turnout?
Look, it’s Galle on a weekday, and there was a bit of rain around in the morning as well. The pleasing thing was that the five people who came in to watch really made themselves heard. We may not even have got as many in the ground if the screens hadn’t gone up to stop non-paying spectators peering in from above the…Media manager: Err… The screens are there because the disturbances from the fort interfere with our new state-of-the-art broadcast technology.The transition of this Sri Lanka team has been going on for a while. Are you confident you can be the man to lead them out of it?
Absolutely, I am. I wouldn’t have become Sri Lanka’s 14th coach in the last decade if I had had any doubts about that. The one thing you know with Sri Lanka is that there is ridiculous amounts of talent. The school-cricket system is unbelievably strong. We are looking very closely at a few players who are prolific at the Under-13 level for future Sri Lanka honours.And you can’t replace players like Sanga, Mahela and Dilshan just like that.

All you need to know about what is set to be one of the most watched women’s cricket matches of all time

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2017What’s the big deal about this final?This World Cup final, between England and India, will probably be the most watched women’s cricket game ever. More than 50 million people around the globe have already tuned in to watch this tournament, which is an 80% increase from 2013, and in India, the world’s largest consumer of cricket, there has been a 47% hike in audience participation.This World Cup has already had two sellout crowds, and the final is set to join that list, with more than 26,500 people expected at the ground. Since the hosts, England, and the most popular side, India, have made the finals, interest in women’s cricket has hit a peak.So what is the Women’s World Cup?It is a 50-over tournament that is considered the centrepiece of the women’s cricket calendar. An interesting piece of trivia is that it has actually been around since before the men’s World Cup. The first edition was in 1973, this is the 11th, it began on June 24 with eight teams, and now has come down to two.When and where is this final being played?Sunday, 23 July, at 10:30 local time (9:30 GMT, 15:00 Indian Standard Time) at Lord’s cricket ground, known as the home of cricket, in London.Who are the favourites to win?England have been one of the strongest sides throughout women’s cricket history and are currently second, behind Australia, in the International Cricket Council’s team rankings. They have won the World Cup three times, and since they are also playing in home conditions, are considered favourites. There are vulnerabilities though, which were apparent in the semi-final when South Africa instigated a middle-order collapse that forced the match into the final-over.India began the tournament ranked fourth but have beaten all the sides ranked above them on the way to the final, including Australia, the six-time champions. India have never won the Women’s World Cup, and this is only their second final.Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171* had a nation on its feet•Getty ImagesWhy are Indians particularly excited about this final?For the first time, all of India’s games at a Women’s World Cup have been televised or streamed live on the Internet. The team also had creditable victories over England and New Zealand in the group stages, but it was in the semi-finals that they grabbed headlines. Harmanpreet Kaur played what is already being described by some as the best innings in the history of women’s cricket, smashing 171 not out off 115 balls. This is also the last World Cup for two of India’s greatest cricketers, Jhulan Goswami, who has the record for most ODI wickets, and Mithali Raj, who in this tournament became the highest ODI run-getter.Who are the players to watch out for?India’s Harmanpreet Kaur, one of the most destructive hitters in the game, a reputation solidified by her heroics in the semi-final.England’s Natalie Sciver, whose “Nat-meg” – a flick shot played between the legs to yorker-length deliveries – has had world cricket sit up and take notice. With 318 runs and 7 wickets so far, she is among the prime contenders for the Player of the Tournament award.So if this final is so big, the women’s game must have come a long way in the past decade, right?Absolutely. This is the first Women’s World Cup in which every team has featured centrally contracted professionals. Both England and Australia now have franchise-based Twenty20 leagues, which give the players more opportunities to earn a living. The number of runs per game is going up, with batsmen capable of hitting big sixes, which is always a draw. Fielding standards have also improved immensely, with direct hits and spectacular catches a common feature. Also, while Australia, England and New Zealand have traditionally dominated the women’s game, South Africa and India proved themselves capable of matching those teams in this tournament, which could signal the dawn of a more competitive era.

Steven Smith talks about how he became Australia captain, the challenges he faced on the India tour, and bringing back the ruthless tone of the 2013-14 Ashes

Interview by Daniel Brettig01-Nov-20177:28

‘Our Nos. 6 and 7 getting runs will make a big difference in the Ashes’

Though Steven Smith first captained Australia in 2014, it is easy to forget he had been a permanent fixture in the team for barely a year up to that point. Smith’s formative years have been captured in a new book, The Journey, on the eve of a home Ashes series that will play a large part in defining how much he really has learned about batting and leadership over his career so far. He spoke to ESPNcricinfo about his early days, his batting, his captaincy, the Ashes and the future of the game.One of the things we learn from your new book is that you were still learning to drive when you first captained Australia. This book really captures your years learning about the game, about leadership and life, doesn’t it?
It did take me a little while to go from my Ps [provisional licence] to my full licence, a little bit lazy probably on my behalf to not go and get it done, but I’m on my full licence now, which is great. But yeah, learning on the job and trying to figure out ways to be successful was all a part of it and part of the book.Tennis was a big influence on you, both technically and mentally – learning to adapt a game style to different opponents and circumstances?
Yeah, it was a way to keep my hand-eye co-ordination up in the off-season. I loved playing tennis and I still love tennis. I watch it quite a lot. Roger Federer is my favourite, which is pretty well documented, but I always loved playing growing up. It was a way to be competitive. I was quite a small kid and I didn’t have quite the power some of the other people I played against had, so it was about finding different ways, whether it was taking the pace off or changing different angles up and trying to run them around the court a bit more, things like that. So it certainly helped me to think and solve problems on the go and I think I bring that to my cricket.What sort of a cricketer do you think Roger Federer would have been if he’d grown up with that instead of tennis?
I kind of liken him a bit to Mark Waugh, who was my favourite cricketer growing up. He just made everything look so easy and effortless. I see similarities in the way that those two go about their business in the respective sports. I think he’d be very stylish and just make it look easy.Another influence you talk about as a young player is the idea of concentrating on your strengths and building them up, rather than focusing too much on your weaknesses or trying to be more orthodox. You talked about that a lot with Trent Woodhill?
People always used to say to me: “You need to hit the ball straight back down the ground if the ball’s on middle and off stump, that’s where it should go.” I think changing people’s hands is very difficult to do. Everyone’s got their own authentic swing, and, for me, that’s always been going across myself. I’ve always been very strong going towards the leg side, so Trent always said to me that if I get a ball on off stump, “What are you doing trying to hit it there [straight], why don’t you just hit it to the leg side?” and I was like, “Yeah, good point”. So I started doing that and it worked pretty well for me.

“There’s been a directive from the board last year to try to get younger guys into the Australian team. That’s got to filter down, I think, into state cricket a bit”

When you arrived on the domestic scene, Australian cricket was looking for a legspinner after Shane Warne, and as the young, pudgy blond, you looked the part. What was it like dealing with that expectation when you yourself knew you wanted to be a batsman in the end?
It was a tough period in my career. A lot of people were telling me, “You need to keep bowling”, and I was batting No. 8, I think, for a while in Shield cricket because they wanted me just to bowl and try and get picked for Australia that way, which was tough because all I ever wanted to do was bat.I was really fortunate to get an opportunity to play as a spinner to begin with when we were trying to find the next spinner. Thankfully Nathan Lyon’s taken that role on himself recently, but it was a difficult moment because I just wanted to bat. I’ve always loved batting, but at that point my way into the team was probably through the ball, so I worked hard at times on my spin bowling. I probably could have worked a lot harder on it, but I was thankful for the opportunity to play for Australia. Receiving my cap off Ricky Ponting at Lord’s is certainly something I’ll never forget.Did it take strength of character to be able to block out all these people saying “we need a legspinner” and really think of what you wanted to do?
I probably listened to it a lot for the couple of years where I was bowling a lot more than I am now. I’ve always read everything that’s written about me, so I was probably buying into it a little bit. But the real turning point was when I got dropped from the Australian team after playing as an allrounder and I was able to just focus on my batting. I thought that was the way I was going to have a long career for Australia and fortunately things have turned out pretty well at the moment.Two things that seemed to happen after you were dropped the first time around were that you concentrated on your batting but you also got yourself a lot fitter. Did that mean you were better prepared physically and mentally when you came back in 2013?
I’d say when I first started playing for Australia, I was probably a little bit chubby, so I took my strength and conditioning training a lot more seriously and really enjoyed going to the gym. Still do, really like those sessions now. I find them a bit of a soothing experience after tough days.After your recall you make pretty swift progress, you start making hundreds for Australia and become a really important figure in the team, but then everything stops because of Phillip Hughes. Do think the game’s been forever changed by his death – things like the game being called off at North Sydney Oval recently?
I’ve no doubt the game has changed. That was a terrible moment for everyone involved in the game and in cricket. He was a good mate of a lot of ours and you certainly see now when someone gets hit in the head there’s genuine concern rather than “let’s give him another one” – that sort of thing had always gone on in the past.”Hadds is someone I’ve grown up with and respected. He’s a good friend of mine now, someone I can talk honestly with”•Getty ImagesAre you conscious of that when you’re thinking of an Ashes series and using pace and intimidation with three fast bowlers as a weapon? Is it a bit of a conflict sometimes to balance those things?
I still think that we have to play the game. Some people have some weaknesses to short bowling and you’ve got to use it. If they get hit, you have concern for them, but it’s still part of the game. I think it will always remain a part of the game. Straight afterwards, guys were a little bit hesitant to bowl a short ball, but as time’s gone on, guys have got back into it and started to play the game again.You get back on the field for the Adelaide Test match against India. It’s a very emotional game and a dramatic win. Then you’re talking to Brad Haddin and Mark Taylor at a bar in Adelaide and you find yourself becoming Australian captain virtually in that conversation. That week was such a whirlwind.
It sure was. It was a tough week. We played a really great Test match at Adelaide, won that game at the end of the fifth day, which was great. That night, celebrating our win, a lot of the Nine commentators were there having a drink with us, including Mark Taylor.I was talking to Mark and Hadds at the same time and he went to Hadds and said, “Are you ready to captain next game?” He said, “No, I think you should give it to Steve”. Taylor goes, “You’re kidding right?” and Hadds says, “No, I think he should do it”. It was fortunate that I’d done some captaincy stuff with New South Wales and the Sydney Sixers, and did it pretty successfully and scored runs while doing it as well, so I was confident about that. Tubby said, “I’ve got to go make a few calls to a few board members” to see if he could clear it. Fortunately they agreed and it was all history from there.Was it nice that the conversation was with those two guys, given the influence they have had on you?
It wasn’t until after that I had many conversations with Tubby and tried to soak up all of his wisdom. He was Australian captain previously and someone who’d been in my shoes. You can relate to people like that. Every now and again I speak with Tubby and try to learn anything off him that I can. Hadds is someone I’ve grown up with and respected for a very long time. He’s a good friend of mine now, someone I can talk honestly with and he can give me feedback about anything to do with leadership and captaincy and things like that. Two guys who are very good to talk to about all those kinds of things.

“The real turning point was when I got dropped from the Australian team after playing as an allrounder and I was able to just focus on my batting”

One of the things you’ve been in the news about lately is for “captain’s calls”, like dropping Ed Cowan from the Sheffield Shield side to have a look at Daniel Hughes. You’ve also written about moving David Warner down the order at the World T20 in 2016. You’re not an official selector, but how does that responsibility sit with you?
It’s part of my job and certainly I take accountability for all that and have to deal with things if they go well or if they don’t. I probably regret David Warner batting at four. We picked a few openers, we had a lot of guys who opened the batting in T20 cricket, and if I had my time again, I’d have David up the top, but hindsight’s a wonderful thing, of course.In regard to Ed Cowan, this has been a tough selection. Ed was the leading run-scorer last year in Shield cricket and played particularly well. But as we’ve always known at NSW when the Test players come back, someone has to make way and, unfortunately, in this instance it’s Ed Cowan.There’s been a directive from the board last year to try to get younger guys into the Australian team, guys like Matt Renshaw and Pete Handscomb, who came in and did really well. That’s got to filter down, I think, into state cricket a bit. I know Ed doesn’t agree with it, but Hughesy’s been in terrific form. He played beautifully in the JLT Cup, getting a couple hundreds there, got 200 [in club cricket] on the weekend, so we’re picking a guy in good form and a guy who I think is a genuine Test prospect in the future. I’ve only seen little bits of him, but watching him face our quicks in the nets, it looks like he’s got a lot of time, which is a very valuable asset as a batsman, and I’d love to see him come out and score some big runs for NSW.Another test of your captaincy and for a lot of players was the Sri Lanka tour last year, after the Australia team had gone to No. 1 in the rankings. You said that out of that tour you needed to adapt how you played spin bowling. We’ve also seen Nathan Lyon adapting his bowling for Asia. You talk about adapting a lot, but that was a case of actually doing so?
It was. Sometimes you can learn a lot more from a loss than you could from a win, if that makes sense. That was a challenging tour. Those wickets were tough to play on for guys going overseas. The difference between balls spinning and skidding was something that I probably hadn’t quite experienced either as one of the more experienced batters in the line-up who’d played in those conditions. We weren’t up to the challenge in Sri Lanka. I think guys learned from that and when we went to India, we adapted a lot better and were able to compete for a lot longer. Although we couldn’t win in India, I think we made some really good strides.”I think India, four Test matches, there was a lot that went on throughout the series, and just those little things drained me. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point again”•AFPCan you contrast what you saw of Nathan in Sri Lanka with what you saw of him this year and your captain-bowler relationship over that time?
I’ve always been a big Nathan Lyon fan. I think he’s a tremendous bowler. His record speaks for itself. It was just about being willing to change different little things and have some subtle variations so that everything wasn’t the same all the time. I think when everything’s the same in those conditions and you’re not getting much natural variation then it becomes a lot easier to play. I think something Nathan adapted really well from Sri Lanka to India is when guys were trying to sweep him. He’d throw in a quicker ball and make them think twice about playing that shot and get them back to defending.When they’re defending, I think he looks very dangerous, as well as bowling some cross-seam deliveries that don’t drift and go a bit straighter – something he wasn’t doing very well in Sri Lanka, but I thought he did extremely well in India and since then in Bangladesh as well. He’s learned a lot. He’s got a lot more confident in his ability, he’s continuing to grow and learn, and his record now as an offspinner in Australia is quite phenomenal.That India series was a real epic, and a bit of an underdog bout. There were a few incidents that fall under the banner of dealing with pressure, like the Bangalore incident with you and Pete Handscomb looking towards the dressing room on a DRS referral. Was that a case where the pressure of the moment just overcame you?
Yeah, I’d say so. It was such a big Test match. If we won that game then we retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, would have been 2-0 up, so it was just like, “I don’t want to be out”. Pete probably didn’t help me much either coming down, and when you’re in a moment of desperation and someone says, “Why don’t you look up there?” your first instinct is just to look where he tells you. It was a mistake on my behalf and I apologised straight away. We got accused of doing it a lot, which is absolute rubbish. It was a brain fade on my behalf and an error. Hopefully I don’t have one of those moments again!The way Virat Kohli played that, you’ve written that you really don’t have an idea of what was behind that and can only conclude it was a bit of gamesmanship. He’s never really raised it with you after that, has he?
No, I’m not entirely sure what he was going on about there, because that was certainly the only moment that ever happened. So, as I said, a load of rubbish.

“When I first started playing for Australia, I was probably a little bit chubby, so I took my strength and conditioning training a lot more seriously and really enjoyed going to the gym. Still do”

The other thing that happened in terms of verbal exchanges was the release of stump microphone audio. Something you’ve pointed out is that stump audio when the ball is dead is against ICC regulations. How much did that annoy you?
It annoyed me that they had to sieve back through the archives and find those moments, particularly painting a bad light on our team when both teams were guilty of doing the same things. That was disappointing. I think the broadcasters are told over and over again that they need to turn the stump mics down but they keep putting a lot of pressure on and keeping the stump mics on, which is unfortunate.Something else you’ve reflected on is that you felt at the end of the series you were batting at a quicker pace than earlier in the series, and that was partly mental fatigue. You didn’t feel you could bat out there for as long?
I think I was in such good form and seeing the ball really well. I’d done a lot of batting in that series and even leading up to the last Test match, I hit an unusually low amount of balls before the game, because I just wanted to get in the middle and give everything I had left. I was very mentally fatigued, and it was just about seeing the ball and hitting the ball in the last Test match, and not thinking too much. I think at one point I hadn’t made 10 [yet] and I hit Umesh Yadav over cover for four, something I wouldn’t normally do in a Test match. It was a little bit bizarre. I was still fortunate enough to get a hundred. I wish I had a bit more in me to get a big score. I think that really would have helped the team, but I was so mentally drained that I just didn’t have anything left.That fourth Test in India is the most recent hundred you’ve made for Australia. Do you think it’s a challenge for you going ahead as captain to have the mental reserves to be able to bat out there for long periods? You’ve already done it a lot as a batsman but just over time with the different demands of captaincy?
I’ve never got to that point before. I just think that India, four Test matches, there was a lot that went on throughout the series, and just those little things drained me. And that last Test match was a tough one. But let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point again. I’m feeling really fresh right now and hoping to make some big impacts this summer.Going into the Ashes and taking on the England leadership combination of Joe Root and Trevor Bayliss, who you know well, do you expect this England side are going to be quite aggressive in their approach this time, rather than in 2013-14, when they were more a team waiting for things to happen?
I don’t think they had much choice in 2013, to be honest. I don’t think we gave them an opportunity to get into the game at all. From the first Test match we set the tone and were ruthless the whole way through. First Test match is going to be really important. We need to set the tone again and hopefully get them on a similar path to what we did in 2013. A few players were out here for that tour, and hopefully we can get them thinking the same way, open a few of those scars up as such, get them thinking “oh not this again” and that kind of thought process. I know Trevor very well and he’ll ensure they are very attacking. We just need to stick to our guns and ensure we prepare really well and make sure we’re doing the basic stuff really well out in the middle.Steven Smith receives his baggy green from Ricky Ponting at Lord’s•Getty ImagesThe Gabba as a venue, you didn’t get to start the summer there last year. How much of a confidence advantage is it for an Australian team to go out and play there? Do you get a lift just from the memories?
It’s been a fortress for Australia for a long period of time and it’s nice to know we’ve done well there, but at the same time it’s a new game, you have to turn up and be willing to do the same things. The first Ashes Test is always huge, so it’s going to be an exciting time for everyone.Another venue you’ll be going to for a major Test match for the last time is the WACA Ground. What’s unique about playing there?
It’s a great place to play cricket, I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve got some pretty fond memories there, my first hundred in Australia at the WACA. It’s a ground that as a batsman if you get in, it’s one of the best places to bat in the world. The bounce is consistent, the outfield’s like a carpet where the ball just runs away if you hit it through, and it’s a fantastic place to play cricket. I think back to 2013-14 as one of the most amazing moments in my career when Mitchell Johnson bowled that ball to Jimmy Anderson and George Bailey took the catch at bat-pad and we’d won the Ashes. That was certainly a highlight of my career and a moment I won’t forget.One contrast between the England and Australian sides is batting depth. Without going into selection or who’s going to be in those positions, do you think if you’re going to be successful in this series you’re going to need to get more out of that 6-7 middle order position? It’s been a problem area for a while.
We’ve had a lot of collapses in the last couple of years. I think in our last 15 games we’ve had 14 collapses or something like that. We can’t afford to do that this summer and six and seven are a place where we’ll need some rebuilding if those sorts of things happen. It’s going to be a valuable spot if guys there are getting runs for us. It’ll make a big difference, so let’s hope that is the case.At the end of the book, you mention a lot of long-term goals. Winning a Test series in Asia, winning a World Cup, winning the Ashes in England. Given that the ICC made it formal the other day, can we add winning a Test Championship final to that?
Yeah definitely. It’s a great concept, it just gives every game you play so much more relevance, which is great for cricket. There won’t be any Mickey Mouse series as such, everything’s important.You say quite pointedly that you don’t want to be part of the generation to let Test cricket “go down the plughole”. What does that mean in practical terms? What can you and other players do to make sure it survives?
I guess whatever the game demands. We now see day-night Test cricket that’s come in and been a big success. The grounds have been packed, the TV ratings have been exceptional and it’s a fabulous concept. Whatever the next demand is, whether it’s four-day Tests or whatever, we have to just get on with it and ensure that we’re doing everything we can to keep Test cricket alive. Right now, I think five-day Tests are still going really well, but you never know what the future holds. We just have to be willing to adapt and do whatever we need to do.

A negative Smart Economy Rate essentially means a bowler has saved more runs than he has conceded. Five bowlers have managed such a feat this IPL season

Shiva Jayaraman18-May-2018The match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium witnessed outstanding spells by arguably two of the best bowlers in the T20 format. Both Jasprit Bumrah and Andrew Tye earned a Smart Economy – one of ESPNcricinfo’s new metrics for the T20 format. That means, in the context of the match and historical averages of the overs bowled by them, they ended up saving more notional runs than they actually conceded. Who else has managed such a feat this IPL? ESPNcricinfo looks at five performances that fetched the bowlers a negative Smart Economy.ESPNcricinfo LtdJasprit Bumrah, 3 for 15 v Kings XI PunjabWith Kings XI Punjab needing 42 off the last four overs, Bumrah gave away just four runs in the 17th to arrest the momentum Kings XI had gathered from the previous Mayank Markande over that had gone for 17 runs. After the 18th over went for 15 runs, Bumrah snuffed out Kings XI’s fight in the 19th by dismissing the dangerous KL Rahul and conceding only six runs. His two overs at death had gone for only 10 runs while the other three of the last five overs cost 46. Added to his two frugal overs earlier in the innings, Bumrah’s economy of 3.75 – in a match where bowlers conceded runs at an economy of 8.72 – had actually saved 19.68 runs. Bumrah ended up with a Smart Economy of -1.17 – the best for any bowler in a match this season. Andrew Tye, 4 for 16 v Mumbai IndiansThe first innings of the same match saw another seesaw battle for momentum. Mumbai Indians had got off to a flyer, having made 21 runs off the third over. However, Andrew Tye applied the brakes in the next over, dismissing Evin Lewis while conceding just two runs off it. Mumbai wrested the advantage back in the fifth over by scoring 18 runs, only to lose it in the next over, when Tye conceded three runs and took the wickets of an in-form Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Tye’s two overs in the Powerplay had gone for just five runs while the rest had conceded 55 runs from four overs. He came back later to bowl two overs at the death for just 11 runs. Tye had an economy rate of 4.00 in a match where the overall economy for the bowlers was 8.72. He ended up saving 18.92 runs. Tye’s Smart Economy of -0.73 for the match was the second-best of the season. Sunil Narine, 1 for 17 v Chennai Super KingsNarine may not have bowled the tough overs like Bumrah and Tye in the above instances, but he managed an economy of 4.25 in a match where over 400 runs were scored. With CSK requiring 75 off the last six, the 15th over went for 17 runs and had them primed to launch a late assault. Narine did his part by conceding just seven runs off the next over – also his last – against MS Dhoni and Sam Billings. However, Super Kings still managed to win as the last four overs went for 53 runs. Narine, though, finished with a Smart Economy of -0.49 and ended up saving 18.96 runs for his team. Rashid Khan, 1 for 13 v Mumbai IndiansRashid Khan was at his indecipherable best against Mumbai Indians when he totalled three overs of dots and conceded just 13 runs off the remaining six balls. It wasn’t a high-scoring match, but Rashid’s economy of 3.25 – over two times better than the overall match economy of 7.15 – meant that he saved 13.98 runs for his team. Rashid’s Smart Economy of -0.24 in that match is the fourth-best in this IPL. Jofra Archer, 2 for 16 v Mumbai IndiansIn a match where Bumrah went for 34 runs in three overs and pacers registered an economy of 8.74, Jofra Archer gave away just 16 runs from his four overs to go alongside the wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and the Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma. Archer’s economy of 4.00 was twice as good as the overall match economy of 8.00. That translates to him having saved 16.05 runs, and a Smart Economy of -0.01.

They have a spin attack that can tie up any side in the world, but it remains to be seen if their batting line-up can regularly post competitive totals

Hemant Brar07-Nov-2018Squad listJaveria Khan (capt), Muneeba Ali, Nahida Khan, Bismah Maroof, Umaima Sohail, Nida Dar, Sana Mir, Aliya Riaz, Aiman Anwar, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Ayesha ZafarWorld T20 pedigreeAn overall record of five wins and 15 losses in 20 World T20 games does not look good, but Pakistan women are on the path of improvement. While they failed to win a single game in the first two editions in 2009 and 2010, the last one in India in 2016 was their best. They beat India and Bangladesh, but a four-run defeat against West Indies (and a 68-run defeat against England) meant they couldn’t finish any higher than third in their group.This time Pakistan have a young side – seven out of 15 players are under 25 – with Bismah Maroof, Javeria Khan, Sana Mir and Nida Dar lending most of the experience. In fact, this will be the sixth World T20 appearance for Javeria and Mir.Pakistan’s strength once again will be their spin attack. Left-arm spinner Anam Amin and offspinner Dar are currently at No. 4 and No. 8 in the ICC T20I bowlers’ rankings, and last month Mir became the first Pakistan bowler to top the ODI rankings. Twenty-year-old left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu completes the spin quartet. On typically slow Caribbean pitches, Pakistan may not hesitate to field all four of them.The 21-year-old Umaima Sohail showed promising signs with the bat during the T20I series against Australia last month, but there is still a dearth of power-hitters in the squad. But if Bismah, Javeria and the others take the side to fighting totals regularly, Pakistan could spring a surprise or two.Recent T20I formPakistan started the year by defeating Sri Lanka 2-1 under Bismah. Although they failed to make it to the final of the 2018 Asia Cup, they did well to win three out of their five games, with their losses coming against the eventual finalists Bangladesh and India.They bounced back by defeating Bangladesh 3-0 in an away series, despite playing without Bismah. Under Javeria, their bowlers put up a clinical performance and restricted Bangladesh to under 100 in each of the three completed games, including bundling them out for 30 in the second T20I.But the gulf between Pakistan and a top team like Australia was apparent when they were clean-swept 3-0, even though Bismah returned to the side for the last two T20Is.Nida Dar sends one down•ACCCaptain and coachJaveria Khan had initially filled in for regular captain Bismah when the latter underwent a sinus surgery in July. But after her comeback to the side, Bismah decided to relinquish the captaincy, letting Javeria continue.So far, Javeria has captained Pakistan in six T20Is, with three wins and as many losses. She is Pakistan’s second-highest run-getter in T20Is after Bismah and their top batsman this year, scoring 318 runs at 26.50 and a strike rate of 106. In Pakistan’s last two T20Is, against Australia, she opened the innings, a position she is likely to occupy in the West Indies as well.Mark Coles was appointed as coach in September 2017, after the rift between the previous coach Sabih Azhar and the then ODI captain Mir became public, leading to Azhar’s departure.In his 18-year coaching career, Coles has worked with several men’s and women’s teams across various levels in Australia and New Zealand. His first assignment as Pakistan women’s coach was a three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Although Pakistan lost 2-1, they fought well throughout and registered their first ever win against New Zealand in any format.Pakistan happen to be in the same group as New Zealand in the World T20 and Coles will hope for an encore from his side.Pakistan appointed Andy Richards as an assistant coach and batting consultant this July, but it’s difficult to gauge his impact in his short tenure so far.Best playersBismah Maroof is no longer leading the side, but Pakistan will expect her to lead the batting unit along with Javeria. Although she was out for a first-ball duck in her return game against Australia, her 43-ball 34 in the final T20I was heartening for the team management.Bismah is among the top ten run-scorers in T20Is in the world, with 1641 runs at 25.24 at a strike rate of almost 89. Her numbers this year are far more impressive: 240 runs from ten innings at 26.66 with a strike rate of 123.07, and Pakistan will hope the 27-year-old carries her good form into the big event.While Pakistan have Sana Mir and Anam Amin in their ranks, the spinner they would expect to make most inroads is Nida Dar. With 80 wickets from 84 T20Is, Dar is the fourth-most-successful T20I bowler in the world, and her economy rate of 4.99 is second only to Shanel Daley of West Indies among bowlers with at least 50 wickets.With Mir likely to open the bowling, Dar will be entrusted with being both frugal and incisive during the middle overs.Where will they finish?Pakistan have never reached the knockout stages of the tournament. Placed in Group B, they once again face a stern challenge from Australia, New Zealand and India. Given the only team they are favourites against are Ireland, finishing in the top three of their group would be an achievement.

October in cricket featured many Rs: return, retirement, run-out, rest and Ravi Shastri

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Oct-2018Cricket, anywhere, is never not in crisis. It is forever dangling from a cliff, its temples throbbing from the greed of administrators, its heart aching on account of match-fixing, its face flowing with tears because the Kookaburra ball just doesn’t want to swing for more than a few measly overs. It is vital, therefore, that the sport regenerates – that its old guard steps aside, that new careers be allowed to flourish, that fresh ideas take root. This month, the Briefing makes note of cricket’s winds of change. Even if, inevitably, all those winds are bringing are Sri Lankan monsoon rains.Looking out for the youth
No player, no matter how established, can carry on forever, can they? When keen youngsters are knocking on the selectors’ door, just waiting for a chance to showcase their skills at the international level, is it not borderline morally bankrupt to keep hanging on? Dwayne Bravo knows this. That’s why this month he took the courageous decision to retire from international cricket, in order to “leave the international arena for the next generation of players” in his own words.It is typical of Bravo to not make a big deal of the fact that, actually, he has gone further than most to ensure the international arena is wide open for young talent. Having last played an international in 2016, he has heroically refused to take up a spot in the West Indies side, despite the fact he was in the absolute prime of his career. Even before 2016, Bravo had frequently refused to play for West Indies, leaving himself with no option but to take up massive dollar contracts with franchise T20 teams instead. Every man has a cross to bear. You can only hope that at least now, this clutch of young West Indies players will stop squandering the gift of having their best senior cricketers selflessly earning millions of dollars elsewhere.A great man’s succession plan
Rangana Herath, meanwhile, has gone about his retirement in a different fashion. Having not had a stable place in the Sri Lanka team in his youth, it was not until his mid-30s that Herath truly began to hit his peak as a bowler. In not announcing his retirement until his 41st year, Herath helped ensure that Sri Lanka won’t be left without adequate replacement, as they were when Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara exited. It’s true that Dilruwan Perera, the Test team’s second spinner, has been a capable bowler for some time. But Herath waited patiently until Dilruwan, now 36, became slow in the field, and started to sport a little paunch, before he felt he could truly trust him to be a replacement. Herath retires after the first Test against England, and as he does so, he will no doubt give strict instructions that Dilruwan himself must under no circumstances think of retiring from Tests until he is sure that Sri Lanka’s next generation of fingerspin-bowling uncles is ready to waddle proudly into the limelight.Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdPunching gloves
When senior players retire, younger men become the new seniors, though that doesn’t mean they stop being daft. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq – who are trying to fill the void left by Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan’s retirements – produced the comedy dismissal of the month. During the second Test against Australia, thinking an outside edge off Azhar’s bat had gone to the boundary, they met in the middle of the pitch for a chat. The ball, though, had pulled up short of the rope, and a gleeful Australia completed the run-out with the batsmen mid-pitch – Azhar and Shafiq wearing the kind of surprised and injured looks that Misbah and Younis would have reserved for more momentous occasions, such as being backstabbed by the board or being sacked as captain.The long lost
Now many of our readers may be too young to remember this, but very long ago, weird as it may seem, the small nation of New Zealand – those islands east of Australia – actually played cricket at a high level! Look, you probably think I’m pulling your leg, but it’s true – they were surprisingly decent until they fell off the cricket map all of a sudden, for reasons lost in the mists of time. But guess what? Apparently they have named a new squad for matches against Pakistan in November, which means that they are back. Far as my memory serves, they are led by this guy called Kayne Williams, who is expected to sport a white beard – our info states he has sprouted a grey hair for every run Joe Root and Virat Kohli have scored in his absence. Also in the team is a batsman called Rose Tailor, who had to have surgery to remove a growth obscuring his eyesight just before New Zealand stopped playing, but whose eyesight has deteriorated again just from pure old age. Having more teams playing cricket is generally a good idea, but personally I’m yet to be convinced that bringing back a retro team is the direction the sport needs to take right now.The rested
Then there are some great players who have led their teams to so much greatness over the course of great careers that the language we mortals use to describe their cricketing twilight ought to reflect the great feats they have achieved, not to mention their resplendent and undeniable greatness. MS Dhoni, for example, who we know is absolutely the best finisher ever, has apparently attracted extremely faint whispers – which could just be the rustling of the wind, or the legs of someone’s trousers rubbing together, to be honest – that he is now a shadow… diminished… slightly non-vintage version of his former self, which I will remind you is not saying much, since he was the smartest and most clinical lower-middle order batsman-keeper ever. The selectors said that in keeping him out of the T20 series against West Indies and Australia they were only “resting” him. Some people think it would be better if he was “rested” all the way until the next ODI World Cup, and then rested forever after that. Not me, obviously.Shastri corner
No month passes in cricket without wisdom from India’s coach, and this month Ravi Shastri reserved his choicest praise for 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw, whose outstanding batting in the Tests against West Indies suggested he could be one of the young stars to propel cricket into the future. Shastri didn’t hold back: “There’s a bit of Sachin there,” he said. “There’s a bit of Viru there,” he roared. And then, because Indian greats are not enough, “when he walks, there’s a bit of Lara there,” Shastri boomed. But why did you stop there, Shaz? A bit of Viv, the way he adjusts his box, no? A bit of Federer, the way he brushes his hair out of his face? A bit of Mandela, the way he speaks? Disappointing that you let these opportunities slip, frankly.Next month in the Briefing:- “A bit of Tiger Woods, the way he looks at wom…” Shastri stops himself mid-sentence.- The sublime MS Dhoni honoured with prestigious lifetime sabbatical from cricket by India selectors, as reward for his absolutely unquestionable place in the India team.- “Smile with us. Dream with us. Cuddle us.” The Australia cricket team unveil new tagline following cultural review.

From being insecure about his place in the Saurashtra side, Dharmendrasinh has carved out his own identity both with bat and ball this Ranji Trophy season

Saurabh Somani in Bengaluru26-Jan-2019It’s not enough that Dharmendrasinh Jadeja plays for Saurashtra, like Ravindra Jadeja does.
Or that he bowls left-arm spin – like Ravindra.
Or that he’s a handy lower-order batsman – again like Ravindra.
Or that he’s also the team’s gun fielder and prowls at point – you guessed it, like Ravindra.
Both Ravindra Jadeja and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja’s fathers also have the same name, Anirudhsinh.”That’s why people often think I’m his younger brother,” the 28-year-old Dharmendrasinh tells ESPNcricinfo. “My fielding is also like his. He also fields at point and I do too. When we play together also I field at point. Because he might be between tours, or has an India tour coming up, so he stays at mid-on. We haven’t played too many matches together, but when he’s there he helps quite a lot. When we’re bowling together, he always tells me what to bowl on which sort of pitch.”

“Earlier, there was the insecurity that since he [Ravindra Jadeja] is an India player, if he is available for Saurashtra, I won’t get to play… My fear went away because I put in good performances.”

The 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season has been the younger Jadeja’s . He’s got two of his three first-class fifties, including his highest score of 87. And he’s got 50 wickets, making it his most successful season ever. That has allowed him to emerge from the shadow that Ravindra’s achievements cast, but it wasn’t always this way.ALSO READ: Dharmendrasinh Jadeja finally escapes Ravindra’s shadows”Earlier, there was the insecurity that since he is an India player, if he is available for Saurashtra, I won’t get to play,” Dharmendrasinh says. “But now it’s very nice because we both get to play, no matter what the pitch is. My fear went away because I put in good performances.”It’s rare that a first-class player, whether an established one Dharmendrasinh or a rookie, make an admission of this kind. But then again, he’s not quite like most.On the third day of Saurashtra’s semi-final against Karnataka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Dharmendrasinh bowled a whopper of a first spell, one that lasted 23 overs. It spanned both lunch and tea breaks. He came on to bowl at 11.45 am, and by the time his 23rd over was bowled it was 3.45 pm.Across that time period, he accounted for Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal and K Gowtham. The day might have ended with Shreyas Gopal and Abhimanyu Mithun carrying Karnataka to a lead of 276 with two wickets still remaining, but in many ways the most remarkable performance came from Dharmendrasinh.”I’m used to this, because in Saurashtra, we get a lot of (flat) wickets, so I have to bowl a lot,” he says. “The fast bowlers can’t bowl long spells, so it comes down to me. Bowling 20-25 over spells happens often. In this match, the fast bowlers weren’t getting much in the middle period and some balls were spinning, so the hope was that we could get wickets which is why I was kept at one end. I did have a cramp in my calf, but that was just because I had been bowling for 20-plus overs.”I work a lot on my fitness in the off-season. There are a lot of facilities at our stadium itself in Saurashtra, so I go there regularly. It’s 15 kms from my house. Now it’s become a habit, I bowl this much every season so I don’t get tired.”He’s not exaggerating. In 73 innings before this match, Dharmendrasinh had bowled 1526.4 overs – or about 21 overs per innings .Dharmendrasinh Jadeja has been in excellent form•Ekana Cricket Media/ Randhir DevAnd this from someone who confesses he enjoys hitting a cover drive more than bowling the sort of ball that got Agarwal out -drift, dip and sharp turn beating an established batsman who was set and crashing into the stumps. “The whole team also knows that when I play a cover drive, I hold that pose so that photos can be taken,” he says, with a laugh. “But I’d enjoy taking a five-wicket haul more than hitting a century.”There are other ways in which Dharmendrasinh is unique. He likes to bowl almost exclusively around the stumps. He did that for large parts against Karnataka, in both innings. “I was more getting turn from that angle, and more inconsistent bounce too,” he says. “I didn’t need Jaydev Unadkat to bowl over the wicket from the other end because his footmarks wouldn’t have helped me. They would have been a little too wide (away from the stumps) for me to target.”You can’t get too many lbws from over the wicket too. You can stop runs, but not much else. So, I prefer going around the wicket. You get the angle too from there, and you have options if it straightens, or turns. I stay around the wicket to left-hand batsmen also, though I can bowl over the wicket to them too. If there are lots of footmarks, or nothing is happening around the wicket, then I might switch to over the wicket.”It is almost pure luck that Dharmendrasinh wasn’t lost to cricket as a young boy who was passionate about the game but not very good at it. Because he began life as a left-arm wristspinner.”When I started I was a chinaman (sic) bowler,” he says. “I started at 15 years old, but at 17 I changed to left-arm spin because I wasn’t getting too many wickets. I decided to change on the spur of the moment, no coach told me to. (Since nothing is happening anyway, let me try something new). But it’s good I changed, I’m here today because I changed!”It’s all come together for the boy from Rajkot whose family always watches him when he’s playing.”Last year too I had got 34 wickets,” he says. “But we played only six matches, and didn’t progress (beyond the league stage). This year there were eight matches in the league stage and we progressed further, so the wickets have come because I’ve played more matches.”My most memorable moment this season was the match against Maharashtra, where I took a hat-trick too. The match was slipping out of our hands. It was a green wicket in Nasik, but I got seven wickets in an innings, so that was a good match for me.”He has delivered with the ball in the semi-final too. Given that the pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium isn’t the truest surface, he might still have to unfurl that cover drive if Saurashtra are to reach a third Ranji final in six years.