Alan, Miller and Matt look back on an eventful couple of weeks, which included England Women losing a World Cup semi-final

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2023It’s been a busy fortnight since the Switch Hit team last sat down, with England’s men and women in action in various parts of the globe. Alan Gardner, Andrew Miller and Matt Roller/ start by reflecting on a famous finish to the Wellington Test, as New Zealand became only the fourth team in history to win after following on. They also look back at England’s semi-final exit in the Women’s T20 World Cup and run the rule over another impressive series win in Bangladesh for Jos Buttler’s ODI side.

By holding up a mirror to expose cricket’s flaws, this landmark document should help to instigate meaningful change

Andrew Miller27-Jun-20232:24

Miller: ICEC report exposes imperial legacy as cricket’s biggest flaw

Language matters. That much has become increasingly apparent with every new revelation in England’s ongoing racism reckoning. Whether the arrestingly awful headline slurs that Azeem Rafiq outlined during his emotional testimony at the DCMS hearings, or more insidious everyday micro-aggressions – such as Cheteshwar Pujara protesting on this website that he didn’t much like his nickname at Yorkshire of “Steve” – there cannot be many people within cricket who’ve watched this story unfold across the past three years, and not had reason to reflect on behaviours that would simply have gone unchallenged in a previous age.But language matters in the other direction too. If, as the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) has set out to achieve, your aim is to speak devastating truth to a demographic that you suspect may be resistant to the message you are bringing, then the only hope you have of achieving any cut-through is to engage the brains of your target audience before they can withdraw them from the process.That – over and above the 317 pages, the 44 recommendations and the plausibly uttered and graciously received apology from the ECB for past failings – is the crowning achievement of a masterfully compiled document.Related

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For those who approach the ICEC report with an open mind, there’s a fascination to be derived from a historical narrative that delves deep into cricket’s colonial history, and draws together a range of disparate threads into a single, compellingly argued point: that a sport that was born in pre-industrial England but exported around the globe as a soft-power byword for imperial Britain’s underlying sense of fair play has had deep-seated prejudice baked into its soul from inception.And for those less willing to give such findings the same slack, they might find it reads rather like a perfectly argued comment piece in your least-favourite newspaper. You can try to disagree with its at-times forensic findings if you really must. But should you dare to do so, you’d better come armed with facts to back up your opinions, because this is a work that is ready to take you back to school.Take the report’s skewering, in a section called “Before we begin” (which in itself is a disarmingly candid turn of phrase, like Columbo turning fatefully to utter “just another thing”), of those respondents to the commission’s online survey whose views were much as you might expect to find in many a website comments section: “Don’t bow to the scourge of wokeness,” wrote one such contributor. “99.9% of people couldn’t care less [about race, class, gender],” declared another.”So we begin this report with a request,” the ICEC narrative continues, “that people who hold views like these keep an open mind and accept the reality that thousands of people who participated in this review, and many more who didn’t, have experienced discrimination in cricket …”Some people may roll their eyes at the perceived ‘wokeness’ of this work. However, as much as the word may have been weaponised in recent years, taking on a pejorative meaning, we consider – and it is often defined as such – that being ‘woke’ or doing ‘woke work’ simply means being alive to injustice.”Azeem Rafiq’s revelations sparked a race reckoning within the game•PA Photos/Getty ImagesTo that end, the ECB comes in for some justifiable early praise within the report’s preamble for “proactively initiating this process” and being “positive and brave” enough to open itself up to such forensic scrutiny. For if, as the subsequent narrative rather implies, cricket is a microcosm of the English establishment, then maybe the process of “holding up a mirror” to the establishment’s favourite sport could yet be a means for similar meaningful change to take root in society at large.”The problems we identify are not, sadly, unique to cricket,” the report continues. “In many instances they are indicative of equally deeply rooted societal problems … change does not happen without understanding the issues that need to be addressed and so we believe the ECB is worthy of praise for undertaking this exercise.”As a means to define the report’s terms of reference, therefore, it is incontrovertible; calm but firm. Precisely the sort of tone that this conversation has been crying out for, ever since Rafiq’s claims first burst into the public conscience, in part through ESPNcricinfo’s reporting in September 2020.From that moment onwards, cricket has floundered for a coherent game-wide response, and failed with increasingly depressing inevitability – most damningly at the recent Cricket Disciplinary Commission hearings, a process criticised by ICEC as a case of the ECB “marking its own homework”, and from which most of the ex-Yorkshire defendants withdrew claiming, with some justification, that they did not believe it could give them a fair hearing.

“When viewed through a post-colonial lens, it is easier to see why race and class in particular are such fundamental barriers to cricket’s quest for greater inclusivity”

By that stage, of course, the “who” and “what” had long since been the most titillating source of media interest – what was it that Michael Vaughan said to his team containing four Asian players on the outfield at Trent Bridge, and who within the Yorkshire dressing-room truly believes the word “P**i” was acceptable banter? No matter how often it was claimed throughout this phase of the process that cricket’s attempt to heal itself would be focused more on institutions than individuals, the collateral damage of the past three years – from Vaughan, to Yorkshire’s back-room staff, to David Lloyd, and self-evidently Rafiq himself – told a different, more divisive tale.But for the sake of a true advancement of the cause of equity, the ICEC report has rightly recognised that “how” and “why” are the only questions that matter now, with a pivot away from personality-based explanations, and a deep-dive into the longstanding root causes that any cricket fan with a conscience would be able to recognise as complicit.Certainly, when viewed through a post-colonial lens, it is easier to see why race and class in particular are such fundamental barriers to cricket’s quest for greater inclusivity (and why the women’s game, to quote the report’s brutal assessment is “frequently demeaned, stereotyped and treated as second-class”).It was some four decades ago that the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit suggested that immigrants who support their native countries rather than England during Test matches are not significantly integrated into the UK. And yet, that delineation still endures – and in many cases is joyfully celebrated by the communities concerned, even several generations later – perhaps most notably in recent weeks when Bangladesh took on Ireland in Chelmsford back in May, and the vast British-Bangladeshi communities of East London flocked to the three-match series, to rally around their cultural heritage.That’s not to say that the traditional rivalries that form the version of cricket that still pays most of the bills and draws most of the crowds in this country are the root cause of the sport’s ills. But given the oft-quoted figures about the popularity of cricket among ethnically diverse communities, compared to the conversion of that interest to the professional game (30-35% to 8.1% in 2021), the ICEC is within its rights to infer that a degree of “them and us” has been hard-coded into the sport’s pathways.British-based Bangladesh fans flocked to watch their country play Ireland at Chelmsford•Cricket IrelandPerhaps the one truly sour note about this report is the timing of its release. A bombshell dropped on Lord’s, the focus of much of the ICEC’s righteous anger, 24 hours out from a must-win Ashes Test in a summer that feels disproportionately important to the overall health of English cricket.The logic of the drop is sound enough in isolation. The contents of this report are too important to be snuck into the news cycle on a day when the media’s attention could conceivably be drawn elsewhere. This way, the rug is pulled from under the game before the report can be swept under it. And, for the next five days, whenever the cameras cut to those egg-and-bacon types in the pavilion, or to the punters in the stands with their stereotypically white, male and affluent profiles, it would be astonishing if there was not at least an incremental uptick in the number of people checking their privilege along the way.It does, however, feel like a punitive piece of timing, if the overall aim of the ICEC report is to unify for the betterment of the game as a whole, and perhaps one that’s been designed with Lord’s as the specific target, rather than an England team that has been visibly eager in recent years to fulfil its social obligations – not least, of course, in their at-times evangelical determination to entertain and inspire a new generation.For if there is a villain of the piece, it is Marylebone Cricket Club – the embodiment of the ancient order, the root of all the sport’s inequity (and, to judge by the language that the report uses, its iniquity too).Whether it’s the damning assertion that “the ‘home of cricket’ is still a home principally for men”, or that the MCC’s ban on musical instruments has been disproportionately offputting to the Caribbean community, or the remarkable fact that the Eton-Harrow match at Lord’s – ostensibly an anachronism with no relevance beyond the narrow social confines to which it appeals – is deemed to be one of the 44 most urgent issues that the sport needs to address.For the time being, a brief statement from Guy Lavender, MCC’s chief executive, is the sum total of the club’s response, with its commitment to reflection, and a focus on making sure that Lord’s is “a place where everyone feels welcome”. The language you might expect from an embattled organisation at such a critical juncture, in other words.But it’s the language of the ICEC that offers the most startling critique, within the broader context of its findings. “We respect and value many of the traditions of cricket generally, and Lord’s in particular, but not all,” the commission writes. “Some no longer have a place in contemporary Britain.”And as a consequence, for the next five days, contemporary Britain will be watching the goings-on in NW8 with perhaps a touch more scrutiny than the grand old club is used to feeling. As a proxy for cricket’s wider problems, which the ICEC is now seeking to drag into the light, it’s clearly as good a place to start as any. And in terms of underlining the issue’s existential importance, to unveil it right now is a reminder too that the sport cannot get away with standing on ceremony any longer.

And how many women have been out for 99 in one?

Steven Lynch27-Jun-2023In the first Ashes Test there were 11 players who had taken at least one five-for in their career – six from England and five from Australia. Is this the most for any Test match? asked Jatin Patra via Facebook

Rather surprisingly, perhaps, there have been several instances of 11 players going into a Test having taken five wickets in an innings at least once: the exciting first Ashes Test at Edgbaston was the 21st such occasion. The record is actually 12 players, which has happened twice: by Australia and England in Adelaide in 1974-75, and England and West Indies at Old Trafford in 2020.Usman Khawaja batted on each day of the first Test. How rare is this? asked Tim McClelland from England

Usman Khawaja’s award-winning effort in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston was the 13th occasion that a man had batted on each day of a five-day Test. He was the third to do it this year: both West Indian openers, Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, batted on all five days against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in February.The first to achieve the feat was the talented Indian ML Jaisimha, against Australia in Calcutta in 1959-60. It should be borne in mind that many Tests, especially before the Second World War, were scheduled for fewer than five days.How many women have been out for 99 in a Test, as Ellyse Perry was last week? asked Lesley Robertson from Australia

Ellyse Perry, who fell for 99 in the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge last week, was only the fourth woman to be dismissed one short of a century in a Test match. The previous instance was by her current team-mate, Jess Jonassen, against England in Canterbury in 2015. That was Jonassen’s debut; she hasn’t yet reached three figures in a Test.The first to fall for 99 in a women’s Test was England’s Betty Snowball, against Australia at The Oval in 1937, and it also happened to Australia’s captain Jill Kennare against India in Bombay in 1983-84.There have been five 99s (and a 99 not out) in women’s ODIs, but none yet in T20Is.Betty Snowball (left) was the first woman to be dismissed for 99 in a Test•Getty ImagesBangladesh beat Afghanistan by 546 runs recently – was this a Test record? asked Mehdi Hossain from Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s thrashing of Afghanistan in Mirpur last week was actually the third-heaviest defeat by runs in any Test. Biggest of all was England’s 675-run win against Australia in Brisbane in 1928-29 (Don Bradman’s Test debut, as it happens). Australia returned the favour by crushing England by 562 runs at The Oval in 1934 (Bradman scored 244, and Bill Ponsford 266 in his final Test).The heaviest Test defeat of any kind came at The Oval in 1938, when England beat Australia by an innings and 579 runs – Bradman was injured and unable to bat (England’s captain declared at 903 for 7, but it’s said he might have carried on had the Don been fit). Australia beat South Africa by an innings and 360 runs in Johannesburg in 2001-02. Here’s the list of the biggest innings victories .At the end of the second day of Bangladesh’s Test against Afghanistan, both batters had the same score (54, from 64 balls). How often has this happened? asked Badri Meden from India

There are many instances of the two not-out batters having the same score at the of a day’s play in a Test, including lots of 0s, but only 12 times had they both scored 50 or more. The highest identical overnight score is 85 not out, by the Indian pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the end of the third day against South Africa in Kanpur in 2004-05. Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis both had 80 not out at the end of the second day of South Africa’s Test against England in Cape Town in 1999-2000.Madhav Apte and Vijay Hazare of India were both undefeated with 63 at the end of the second day against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1952-53, and Brian Chari and Craig Ervine of Zimbabwe both had 60 at the second-day close against Sri Lanka in Harare in 2016-17. There was another case of this earlier this year, in February in the Bulawayo match mentioned in the second question above, when the West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul both had 55 at the end of the first day against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.None of the other 50-plus instances involve the same number of balls, as in Mirpur recently, where both Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain had faced 64. In the Bulawayo match earlier this year, for example, Chanderpaul had faced 170 balls and Brathwaite 138.By chance I received a similar question from another correspondent, who was adamant the answer was the 63 of Apte and Hazare. The table he produced in support, which he apparently found somewhere online, was missing three of the top four instances (and five of the 12 overall), and so wasn’t very reliable at all! Beware of Ask Steven imitators…Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The team is youthful and there is promise, but there are significant gaps in skill and strategy, and no serious body of work to look back at

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Oct-20231:58

Spin-heavy Sri Lanka could sneak into knockouts

If there had been hype building for this Sri Lanka side through their Asia Cup campaign, much of it burned down, like a Vesak lantern that catches fire and ends in a smouldering mess, as a result of that calamitous final – a total of 50 all out tends to have this effect.But there been a hard-fought victory against Pakistan to reach that final, plus two wins over Bangladesh through the course of the campaign, as well as a victory over Afghanistan that was partly the result of the opposition’s miscalculations. There is enough of a body of work to suggest this is no pushover team, even if they had to qualify for this World Cup via a qualifier in Zimbabwe (in a tournament they went unbeaten in, by the way).Expectations at home, though, are muted. Dare fans dream of a semi-final spot? Right now, it seems more sensible to find reasons to keep a lid on the excitement.Related

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Chief among these reasons, perhaps, is that captain Dasun Shanaka has been on perhaps the longest stretch of batting misery as can be remembered for a Sri Lanka cricketer (and this is something of a crowded field). We won’t run through his recent run of scores here, largely because even stating these facts seems malicious. Suffice to say the guy averages 9.78 and has struck at 76 since March this year and, if anything, the scores are getting leaner.If he were not captain, he would have been dropped. In fact, despite his having led Sri Lanka to better ODI results than in the years prior to his captaincy, Sri Lanka’s selectors still seriously considered letting him go in the days following 50 all out. Part of why they have retained him is because no other player is seriously gunning for the job, of which there may be two interpretations: either no one wants to be saddled with the leadership of this team for a World Cup campaign, or there remains trust in Shanaka within the dressing room.Still, a non-performing captain is unlikely to venture the kind of risks that might see a side with such limited resources overperform in the tournament, which, let’s be honest, is what they would be doing if they were in that final four. He is a diminished force in selection conversations. And if, early in the tournament especially, someone needs to be told they are left out of the XI… how does Shanaka even broach that conversation?Beyond this big one, several other concerns.Kusal Perera will likely start the tournament as the opener that partners Pathum Nissanka, but there remain serious doubts as to whether his ailing body can withstand a 50-over tournament that puts teams on a travel-train-play treadmill for almost six weeks. Even when Shanaka contributes, Sri Lanka have been poor at providing the finishing fireworks that good ODI sides frequently produce with the bat. And though several of Sri Lanka’s batting performances in the Asia Cup were founded on Kusal Mendis’ innings, Mendis has not historically been a sustainer of good form.If Dasun Shanaka were not captain, he would have been dropped•AFP/Getty ImagesEven the bowling attack, which has bowled out 13 of its last 15 oppositions, has hit new snags. Wanindu Hasaranga is not in the squad, after aggravating a hamstring injury. Hasaranga had not completely cracked ODI cricket, so perhaps this is not as substantial a bowling loss as it may appear. But his batting brought crucial balance, particularly in the context of Shanaka’s form. Maheesh Theekshana remains under an injury cloud too.If Sri Lanka go with Matheesha Pathirana in their starting XI, as they are likely to do, they will have to find a second new-ball bowler to partner Dilshan Madushanka. For all the pace and death-overs skill that Pathirana brings, he remains unable to swing the new ball, for now. In the Asia Cup, it came down to Shanaka – whose average speeds are in the mid 120kph range – to bowl in the powerplay.Pathirana is, to some extent, a fitting mascot for the team. It is youthful (only five of 15 squad members are over 30, and three of those are 32 or younger), and, to some extent, full of promise. But there are also significant gaps in skill and strategy, and no serious body of work to which they can point.Where once Sri Lanka built conscientiously towards global events, they have tended to lurch scriptlessly towards them in the past seven years. If there is hope, it is hope in youth; that someone will find a new gear. That collectively, there are enough unknowns here, that they will surprise.

If England are to defend their title, input from Stokes, Root, Buttler, Rashid et al will be key

Matt Roller08-Sep-2023It resembled an old-fashioned shoot-out. With the ICC final World Cup selection deadline looming, Harry Brook and Dawid Malan walked out to open the batting together in the Cardiff sunshine. Naturally, their first task was to help England beat New Zealand in the first ODI – but the subplot was clear.At least one of Brook and Malan will be in England’s 15-man squad for India, and possibly both. England are in no rush to make a firm decision – they have nearly three weeks to finalise their travelling party – and will hope that an obvious solution presents itself, whether through form or through injury.Malan made the stronger case, scoring a fluent half-century – the eighth time he has passed 50 in his 19 ODIs – but fell to Rachin Ravindra for 54 in the first over of spin bowled. Brook, who arrived in Wales late on Thursday night and played after Jason Roy suffered a back spasm, made 25 off 41 before gloving a sharp Lockie Ferguson bouncer behind.What did it all mean? Malan’s innings encapsulated the differences between T20I and ODI cricket. He has long insisted that 50-over cricket is his strongest format and he played several crisp cover-drives to get England up and running in the Powerplay, resembling a completely different batter to the one who lacked tempo in the preceding T20Is.Brook clipped the first ball of the match for four through fine leg but only managed one more boundary, playing second fiddle throughout an opening partnership worth 80. He was thrown in at the deep end, opening in a 50-over match for the first time; this was further proof that even the best young players will have the occasional off-day.In truth, the picture has hardly changed: Malan is still a consistent 50-over run-scorer; Brook remains a hugely exciting young player. There may be some concern over Roy’s fitness, having missed most of the Blast with a calf tear, but England have every reason to be cautious rather than risking players at this stage.Jonny Bairstow was rested as a precaution with a shoulder niggle. “We didn’t want to take a risk,” Jos Buttler explained. Mark Wood was not required either: “He’s still building back up… we don’t need to rush it. Getting him fully fit and ready for travelling to India is the priority.”Dawid Malan stole a march on Harry Brook in the fight for a World Cup squad berth•PA Photos/Getty ImagesIf anything, then, Friday was a reminder that the identity of England’s fringe players is unlikely to be the difference between success and failure at the World Cup. For all the intrigue around selection – and the interest in Brook specifically – major tournaments tend to be won by teams whose senior players perform.Four years ago, at the equivalent stage in their World Cup preparations, there were two spots for England to resolve in their squad: which reserve seamer would Jofra Archer squeeze out, and who should be their spin-bowling allrounder? They backed Tom Curran and Liam Dawson over David Willey and Joe Denly – and at the tournament itself, neither of them played a game.Careers can hinge on such decisions: Willey thought his days as an England player were over after his last-minute omission in 2019 and cherishes the medal he picked up as a member of last year’s T20 World Cup squad, despite the fact he did not make an appearance.But whatever England choose to do this time around, the performance of the players who are guaranteed to feature will be far more relevant to their progress in the tournament than decisions around who should be their spare batter or their sixth seamer.Related

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Take Joe Root. He struggled to get going on Friday, making 6 off 15 balls before slog-sweeping Ravindra to deep midwicket, and the next three ODIs will be vital match practice for him in a format he has hardly played over the last four years. Whether he scores 250 runs or 500 in the World Cup will make a huge difference to England’s hopes.Much the same is true of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, who slipped seamlessly back into 50-over tempo in a partnership of 88 off 104 balls. England would have been runners-up but for their 110-run stand in the final four years ago: “The thing about World Cups,” Stokes said on Thursday, “is they can come down to who can handle the pressure best.”England lacked a cutting edge with the ball, with Wood kept in mothballs ahead of more important tests to come and Adil Rashid unavailable to bowl due to cramp while Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell were building their unbroken, match-winning partnership of 180.Rashid’s eventual figures – 1 for 70 in eight overs – were ugly by the conclusion, but redeemed by the context, having to bowl to two set batters with the field up as England chased the game – that too at a ground with notoriously short straight boundaries. Again, England will not be worried so long as he comes good when it matters – as he did in Australia last year.It is not that England don’t care about results – they were rightly proud to beat Bangladesh 2-1 earlier this year, given Bangladesh’s formidable home record – but they have accepted these shadow bouts for what they are. “Of course, we’re disappointed,” Buttler said, “but there’s a lot of quality in the team.”Tom Latham, New Zealand’s captain, joked that these two teams are playing a five-match series: four September ODIs in England, then a fifth in Ahmedabad on the opening night of the World Cup in four weeks’ time. But England’s approach has long been attuned to the futility of modern bilateral series: these games will be quickly forgotten so long as they win on October 5 … and beyond.

There was no Shakib Al Hasan, but Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan managed to tie New Zealand down in knots

Mohammad Isam01-Dec-2023The scene is all too familiar. The Bangladesh spinner rips his fingers to snap out the ball. An umbrella of close-in fielders are waiting to pounce. The overseas batter picks the ball from the hand but can’t fully judge how much the ball will turn. Whether to play forward or back, he wonders. Crucially, the overseas batters doubt whether it will keep low or kick up. Except for that last part about the bounce, it was all standard stuff in Sylhet in the last four days.Bangladesh’s spinners have taken 15 wickets in this game so far. They have left their side on the verge of beating New Zealand at home for the first time with this big effort. Taijul Islam has stepped up as the attack leader in Shakib Al Hasan’s absence, although he told the reporter who asked him about it not to make him into a (old man). Mehidy Hasan Miraz is Taijul’s second fiddle, mainly playing as the team’s allrounder in this game. Nayeem Hasan only ever plays home Tests. He has never bowled abroad.Related

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The band obviously is missing the lead man, but even without Shakib, Bangladesh’s spinners were lethal against New Zealand. Shakib’s absence usually leaves a big hole in both the batting order and the bowling attack. Now that it happens so often, especially in Tests, the rest of the team is getting used to it. Bangladesh have done well getting back to the basics, and doing what they do best, this point especially applying for the spinners. Taijul said that he only focuses on bowling in his one spot, and then trying his variations from that point.It was expected of the new captain Najmul Hossain Shanto to keep Taijul bowling continuously from one end. Generally an energetic personality, Shanto, however, kept things moving from both ends. He gave Taijul 20 overs but ensured the left-arm spinner kept bowling attacking lines. He allowed Shoriful to bowl six overs at the top, which Bangladeshi captains like Shakib and Mominul Haque have usually tended not to do in such situations. Shoriful picked up one wicket, keeping things tight as well.Shanto took off Mehidy after his first over, but later gave him two spells. Mehidy took a wicket early in his second spell, removing Henry Nicholls. Taijul bowled 15 on either side of the tea break, but with always a more concentrated off-stump line, as opposed to his defensive outside off-stump line when Shakib is around.Taijul did the job too for his captain, picking up three wickets in his first spell. After a short break, he took a wicket in his second spell. Shanto brought on Nayeem quite late on the day, but gave him an eight-over spell first, and then two more in the end. Shanto used Mominul for just two overs on the fourth day, maybe by popular choice after the part-time left-armer took three wickets in the first innings.Taijul said that Bangladesh have a job to do even without Shakib in the team. The players know their specific roles, but it also changes according to the shape of the game. He said that when they get on top of big teams, it suggests that Bangladesh are changing from within.”I can’t do what someone else is doing, and someone else can’t do what I do,” Taijul said about bowling without Shakib in the attack. “I stick to my plan. Whether we have Shakib or not, we have other spinners in the team. Plans change from game to game – someone takes the wickets, someone defends the runs. If I stopped the runs, Miraz or Nayeem would have taken the wickets. The main thing is, if the team is doing well.”It is a truly different feeling to beat big teams. We haven’t won the game yet but we are trying our hardest to win this game. Confidence goes up so that we can use this for the rest of the year. It suggests a change in the team. I don’t know how many matches we will win but I want to do something good for the Bangladesh team.”Bangladesh’s bowlers were all over New Zealand on the fourth day•AFP/Getty ImagesThere’s so much belief in Taijul that when he came into the attack to bowl at Kane Williamson, one of the Bangladesh fielders commented that Williamson was his wicket. Taijul said that it speaks of the confidence that the team has on him, but also that he is quite strong in his own belief of his line and length.”I guess they have faith in me that I can set (Williamson) up to take his wicket. I have been playing for nine years, you know.”I don’t really prepare in that particular way. I have only one preparation: my spot. I try to bowl in that spot, and try my variations from there,” he said.But what Taijul does, is quite difficult without the likes of Mehidy and Nayeem. Both are orthodox offspinners without any mystery deliveries but they keep batters honest on offstump. It is what they do well for long periods in a match. Of course, they have had their ups and downs, but Taijul and Mehidy have generally stepped up well when Shakib isn’t around.

“The fans will surely want the three remaining New Zealand wickets to fall quickly on the fifth morning. If it all goes to the spinners, it will be just reward for a band of bowlers who have done most of the running in this game”

Mehidy, in particular, had an interesting time in the World Cup recently, when his batting was more in the limelight. He batted in several spots, which is now being discussed as one of the reasons for Bangladesh’s failure in the tournament. It wasn’t Mehidy’s fault by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he kept getting the runs in any position he was sent out. It probably affected his bowling a bit, but it is quite hard to knock Mehidy off his bowling spot in the last few years.Nayeem, meanwhile, has had to rely heavily on domestic cricket for much of his international career. He has only played a handful of home Tests since his debut five years ago. It is hard to motivate oneself plugging away in the domestic grind, but he seems to enjoy it. He took 36 wickets for Chattogram Division in this season’s NCL.The spin trio had to bring their A-game in this game as this is a difficult time in Bangladesh cricket. There’s lack of belief among their fans, which is reflected in the near-empty stands in all four days of the Test in Sylhet. There’s likely to be a few more coming to the stadium on the fifth morning. They will surely want the three remaining New Zealand wickets to fall quickly. If it all goes to the spinners, it will be just reward for a band of bowlers who have done most of the running in this game.

Temba Bavuma hoping his side can set up “Super Saffaday” for their countrymen in Paris

Firdose Moonda20-Oct-2023There are Super Saturdays and then there are Super Saffadays and this is one of the latter.South Africa and England (hence Saffa: the casual expression for someone from South Africa – which is also where a lot of English professional sportspeople come from) have only played each other in international cricket and rugby once before on the same day and that was 25 years ago. In 1998, South Africa and England were tussling on day three of the Manchester Test, which was eventually drawn, and the Springboks beat England 18-0 in Cape Town. This time, they’re both on neutral ground playing at World Cups, an unprecedented occasion, which means there’s at least 10 hours of entertainment and rivalry guaranteed.Related

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Let’s start with what’s at stake: in Paris, in a replay of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, there’s a spot in the 2023 final up for grabs. It’s win or bust. In Mumbai, we’re not quite there yet. Both teams are only a third of the way through their group stage campaigns but already, they both need to get their trains back on track. South Africa and England are coming off losses against lower-ranked sides, after failing to chase fairly modest scores against Netherlands and Afghanistan respectively. South Africa’s loss stung particularly sorely, after they were also beaten by Netherlands at last year’s T20 World Cup, but one of their prominent countrymen has told them it doesn’t matter.”We believe in you guys. We trust you guys. One hiccup, but you know what to do,” Siya Kolisi, the Springbok captain said in a video message to the Proteas. “Enjoy it and play as hard as you can. You know that over 60 million South Africans will be supporting you, including us. So make it special.”Said by anyone else, those words may seem greeting-card glib but delivered by Kolisi, with his earnest tone and honest eyes, they carry enormous meaning. Kolisi is the poster child of the message that sport in South Africa is about more than a game. Born to a teenage girl in a township and raised by his grandmother, Kolisi as an adult found and adopted his half-siblings from an orphanage. He is the epitome of how sport can change lives. And while he knows that winning matches will never put food on ordinary South Africans’ tables, he also hopes it can provide some joy to people in a state of despair. A pre-tournament video promoting their campaign shows the Boks dedicating their performances to people and places that matter to them. Some do it for their hometowns, others late grandparents or parents, others for South African leaders and legends. Towards the end, Kolisi says they are doing it: “For you, South Africa, we are who we are because of you.”By the time you get to that point – 47 seconds into a one-minute clip – even if you have never heard of Kraaifontein or the Karoo, your eyes might be brimming. Now, Kolisi has called on Bavuma to jump on the same train, and to set the tone on Super Saffaday, where the cricket will be played first and should end just in time for the rugby to start. “The responsibility is on us to get things going the right way,” Temba Bavuma said at the Wankhede. “We have that responsibility to put smiles on our countrymen’s faces, and make sure we go out and entertain, and bring back the win.”Like Kolisi, Bavuma called the defeat to Netherlands “one blip” and said his team will not allow it to define this campaign or even their performances over the last year.”We acknowledge the fact that in the last couple of months, we’ve played a lot of good cricket. We can’t overlook that and allow one blip in our game to override everything that we’ve done. It’s easy to second-guess yourselves but it’s about not forgetting all the good work that we’ve done.”South Africa will be looking to bounce back after the defeat against Netherlands•ICC/Getty ImagesAnd against England, South Africa don’t have to look too far for evidence. Earlier this year, they beat England 2-1 in a crucial World Cup Super League series, which was squeezed into the SA20 window, to earn some of the points they needed for automatic qualification to this tournament. Rassie van der Dussen and Bavuma scored match-winning centuries in those matches, which will be confidence-boosting reminders after their dismissals in Dharamsala. Bavuma was bowled by a delivery that did not turn and van der Dussen reverse-swept Roelof van der Merwe straight to the square leg fielder. But for once, South Africa are not running away from their ghosts. Bavuma advanced down the track to smash a spinner for six in the nets at the Wankhede while van der Dussen was spotted practising his reverse-sweep in a suggestion that both are attempting to conquer their demons here and now. It may not work, but the new South African cricket way is to make sure they try.They’ve been given a license to thrill, and it has resulted in the top six playing some of the most dynamic cricket of the last two years. In case anyone forgot about that, David Miller served up a reminder when, at optional training on the eve of the match, he hit a six from the nets into the press box window, 14 rows up. More are expected to come on the day itself. “The guys that have played here, JP Duminy [batting coach] and Quinton [de Kock], have spoken about how it can be a batter’s paradise. You get value for your shots and the ball seems to travel further,” Bavuma said. “As batters it can build a lot of confidence. And if it is your day, you can fill your boots. And I guess just the atmosphere of it all, being a full ground, it can really be something to enjoy.”For Bavuma, the occasion holds special significance. He spent his early years idolising hometown hero Sachin Tendulkar (he was even nicknamed “Sachin” after him), and dreaming of one day playing at the Wankhede. Now he is here, not just playing but leading the national team. His story to international fame is not dramatic as Kolisi’s, and unlike Kolisi, he is not as public-facing a figure, but their ascendance at the same time is symbolic of a transforming South Africa that is slowly and painfully working through its past.On Super Saffaday, Bavuma will first lead out the Proteas before Kolisi does the same for the Springboks and 62 million hearts will stop for a second. South Africans don’t unite for too many things but when they do, they do it properly. It’s loud, it’s colourful and it’s passionate. The pulse of a nation will start with the first delivery in Mumbai and continue through to the final whistle in Paris. Whatever happens, it’s going to be a day to remember.

A look at the MVPs and the most impactful performances of WPL 2024, based on ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats

S Rajesh18-Mar-2024Royal Challengers Bangalore swept most of the honours in WPL 2024 – apart from the trophy, they also took the Orange and Purple Cap awards – but the prize for Most Valuable Player (MVP) went to UP Warriorz’ Deepti Sharma. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, which gives a rating value to every batting and bowling performance based on match context, Deepti got a rating of 82.85 impact points (on a per-match basis), with Marizanne Kapp and Ellyse Perry taking the next two spots.Top impact values in WPL 2024 (Min 5 matches)•ESPNcricinfo LtdThough Warriorz didn’t even make the playoffs, Sharma had an outstanding tournament with both bat and ball. She was the leading run-scorer for her team, and the fifth-highest among all batters in the tournament, despite batting only twice in the top four. (She scored 147 runs in those two innings.) Her 295 runs came at an average of 98.33 – she was dismissed only three times in eight innings – and a strike rate of 136.57. With ball, she was the second-highest wicket-taker for Warriorz with 10, at an economy rate of 7.23.Related

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Apart from the sheer number of runs and wickets, what earned her more impact points was the match context and pressure under which she performed. Despite batting in the middle or lower-middle order, she scored 107 more runs than the next-highest run-getter for Warriorz. A good example of her lone-ranger act was in Warriorz’ last game of the tournament, against Gujarat Giants: requiring 153 to win, Warriorz fell eight short, but Deepti scored an unbeaten 88 out of the team total of 144; the others in the top six made a combined contribution of 13 runs.

Veteran set for his second Shield final 11 years after his first having helped WA claim hosting rights with a five-wicket haul against Victoria

Tristan Lavalette19-Mar-2024During his long Sheffield Shield career, Cameron Gannon has been used to being well down the pace pecking order, forced to bide time and wait patiently for opportunities to emerge through injuries or international call-ups.He’s mostly stayed on the fringes, which would frustrate many, but the experienced Gannon, 35, takes a pragmatic view. “It’s a difficult job, but you would rather have that than no job at all,” he told ESPNcricinfo.As Gannon prepares to play the Shield final, after being 12th man for the past two, he encapsulates Western Australia’s remarkable pace bowling depth and ‘next man in’ mantra.WA are on the cusp of their first hat-trick of titles since the late 1980s despite frontline quicks Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and Matt Kelly playing just five matches between them this season.Related

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None of them will be available for the final against Tasmania starting on Thursday at the WACA. But Gannon, who played just five matches across the previous two seasons, has taken his opportunities and was key in WA’s barnstorming finish of the home-and-away season.Able to swing the new ball menacingly and bowl a nagging line and length consistently, Gannon has effectively slipped into the role of workhorse that was previously held by Kelly, who only managed to bowl seven overs this domestic season due to injuries.Gannon claimed 14 wickets at 21.79 in WA’s last three Shield matches highlighted by a player-of-the-match performance against Victoria with a place in the final at stake.Using his 6 foot 7 frame to devastating effect, Gannon superbly exploited a spicy Junction Oval surface on a pivotal day two. He generated awkward bounce and targeted the divots to finish with 5 for 42 and ensure WA had a 100-run first innings lead after bowling Victoria out for 144.Cameron Gannon has become WA’s workhorse•Getty Images”It was awesome. I had a whole lot of fun,” Gannon said. “As one of the senior bowlers you want to contribute when given a chance. That’s been the most pleasing thing.”Gannon might make it look seamless, but stepping in and making an impact is “incredibly difficult” despite his experience.”You hear players from previous generations say the game is easier now. I could not disagree more,” he said.”The quality of cricket being played across the country compared to when I started has improved so much. So many young guys come in and are ready to perform.”To come in and play a game here and there is so hard because you don’t have the rhythm of playing consistently and build on performances over a period of time.”Gannon’s late-season surge means he will get a chance to win his first Shield title. His only previous appearance in a final was in 2012-13 with Queensland and against, coincidentally, Tasmania in a match that ended in a draw at Bellerive Oval.Before the competition’s bonus point system, home teams in finals had notoriously been producing flat surfaces in a bid to get the draw needed to claim the title.”The flattest wicket of all time, it was horrific,” recalled Gannon with a laugh. He toiled for 1 for 88 in 32 overs as a cautious Tasmania made a painstaking 419 from 173.4 overs in their first innings.The match also dredges up painful memories for Gannon, who was twice reported for an illegal action and subsequently banned by Cricket Australia.A biomechanical analysis at the Australian Institute of Sport found Gannon bowled with an average elbow extension of 24 degrees – far above the allowable 15-degree limit.

“Playing in a Shield final is what we aspire to as domestic cricketers. It’s the closest thing a lot of us will get to Test cricket. It will be an amazing thing to be part of, especially in front of our home fans. I’m incredibly excited.”Cameron Gannon

It halted a rise for Gannon, who collected 31 Shield wickets at 23.51 during a breakout 2012-13 summer having made his first-class debut in October 2010.”It was tough. I’m glad that period of my life is done,” Gannon said. “But it taught me some valuable lessons and it’s knowledge I can pass on to younger bowlers.”If I hadn’t done the work back then I wouldn’t have these opportunities now.”Gannon painstakingly rebuilt his action during remedial work, but when he returned to the field he had to endure the stigma of throwing and copped barbs from fans.”From a technical standing there were a lot of cues that got me through that period. But I don’t even use them now. They are second nature to me,” he said.Gannon relied on the support of coaches Ashley Noffke and Andy Bichel to help him overcome the physical and mental challenges.”[Noffke’s] a wonderful technical coach,” he said. “Bic is unbelievable from a belief perspective. He always instils amazing self-belief. It’s almost like he believes in you more than you believe in yourself.”Gannon’s confidence gradually returned and he finally became a regular member of Queensland’s XI in 2019-20 when he was the Shield’s leading wicket-taker with 38 at 20.92.But with emerging quicks making their way through the ranks, led by Xavier Bartlett who had debuted that season in first-class cricket, the then 31-year-old Gannon was only offered a one-year deal from Queensland after wanting two.Cameron Gannon playing for Queensland•Getty ImagesWA sensed an opportunity to pounce. Still early in Adam Voges’ tenure as coach, WA were in the midst of a rebuild following Justin Langer’s departure having finished fifth in 2019-20. They were on the lookout for a seasoned and durable seamer to help prop up an inexperienced and injury-prone attack.WA’s three-year offer proved too hard to refuse. “I loved the boys and playing for Queensland, but what pushed me over the line was security. WA were there for me when Queensland weren’t,” Gannon said.”My wife and I looked at it as a chance to live somewhere different and push ourselves outside our comfort zone. We decided that cricket was going to be a vehicle for experiences for our family.”So we decided to bite the bullet and shift across the country,” added Gannon, whose kids Henry and Nora were aged four and one at the time.But Gannon struggled to replicate his previous season’s form and averaged 39.58 from eight matches in 2020-21. He was soon back on the sidelines, as Richardson and Morris took the reins, and played just five matches across WA’s back-to-back Shield triumphs.Gannon’s first-class career appeared in familiar jeopardy after appearing in only two of WA’s first seven matches before his late-season burst earned him a one-year extension. It has ensured he will hold off on his move into financial planning post his playing days.”I’ll keep playing until I’m 40 if I can,” Gannon quipped. But it might not be a stretch with Gannon also building a playing career in the United States. The holder of an American passport, through his Sacramento-based mother, Gannon starred in last year’s much-anticipated inaugural season of Major League Cricket. He won the domestic player of the tournament to help Seattle Orcas reach the final.Having played four T20Is for the US in 2019, Gannon had hoped to be part of the upcoming T20 World Cup with some of the tournament’s matches to be played in New York, Dallas and Lauderhill.But Gannon is set to be ineligible for selection having missed zonal trials in the US due to his domestic cricket commitments in Australia. “If that’s the policy then that’s the policy and there is nothing I can do about it. But it’s disappointing,” he said.Gannon’s focus right now is on the Shield final and playing his part in a WA attack that continues to dominate opponents no matter who is in the lineup.”It’s a very intelligent bowling group with clear plans,” he said. “As a group, we communicate really well. If someone is working on a particular thing, they communicate it to the others and we can all feed off that knowledge. It’s really a great group to be a part of.”After so much time waiting in the wings, Gannon gets an unexpected late career chance to shine on the most famous stage in Australian domestic cricket and help etch WA into Shield lore.”Playing in a Shield final is what we aspire to as domestic cricketers,” he said. “It’s the closest thing a lot of us will get to Test cricket. It will be an amazing thing to be part of, especially in front of our home fans. I’m incredibly excited.”