All posts by n8rngtd.top

Legspinner is one of five frontline spinners in England’s 30-man training group

Matt Roller18-Jun-2020Matt Parkinson has backed the introduction of full-time spin coaches in county cricket to help the development of young English spinners.Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, has a strong working relationship with Stuart MacGill after being mentored by him as part of the ECB’s pathways programme three years ago, and worked closely with Jeetan Patel on tour with England this winter. He has learned from Carl Crowe, the specialist T20 spin-bowling coach, who has worked in a consultant role at Lancashire.He is one of five frontline spinners in England’s 30-man training group that will meet at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday ahead of next month’s Test series against West Indies, alongside Moeen Ali, Dom Bess, Jack Leach and Amar Virdi. The spin cadre will work with Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire’s head coach, during the series, but the ECB’s lead spin-bowling job is currently vacant after Peter Such’s departure last year.ALSO READ: Patel: ‘If I had one message to young spinners, it would be: bowl and bowl and bowl’And having himself felt the benefits of support from mentors, Parkinson thinks that it would be beneficial for young English spinners to have greater access to specialist coaches from early on in their careers.”I just look back at when Peter Such was the [ECB’s] lead spin coach, and you’d probably see him once every two months. And he was stretched thin as well,” Parkinson said. “Personally, I think there’s a place for [spin coaches in county cricket].”We’re very lucky at Lancashire. We have Carl Crowe as a spin consultant, so I’ve had access to him when I come back from tour, and I think that’s where county cricket will probably end up going, with more of a consultancy-based [system].”There aren’t enough spinners out there to probably warrant a full-time spin coach. I just know how lucky I’ve been to have had access to Stuart MacGill, Sushi [Such], Jeetan this winter, whereas other spinners haven’t had that.”Matt Parkinson worked closely with Jeetan Patel on tour with England last winter•Getty Images

While a handful of counties have a former spinner on their staff, most are not in specialist spin-bowling roles: Min Patel, for example, is head of talent pathway at Kent, while Dawson combines his work with Gloucestershire’s spinners with his duties as head coach. Ian Salisbury was due to become a full-time spin coach at Sussex this season before the pandemic struck.That has meant spinners are often left to find individual mentors during the off-season, such as MacGill. He has worked closely with several English spinners in recent years: he speaks particularly highly of Matt Critchley, the Derbyshire allrounder, and has also mentored Josh Poysden, Mason Crane and Delray Rawlins. Parkinson, too, remains in regular contact with him, and sent him videos from a training session two weeks ago to ask for feedback on his action.But the ECB has not sponsored spinners’ trips to Australia to work with MacGill for the last two winters, instead leading a training camp to Mumbai for Bess, Crane and Virdi last November, and Parkinson said that young spinners can be left to feel exposed without the right support.”It does [leave them exposed],” he said. “I think that’s why we’re all so close as well. It is a lonely art. I was very fortunate to have that winter with Stuart MacGill and to still be in contact with him now is fantastic.”I think that’s what you see with spinners who are 23, 24, 25 now: we’re actually starting to play a bit more and we’re probably benefitting from the work that you did that Sushi put in [place] for you: to go and net-bowl for six weeks, to go to Australia for four months. Hopefully now the lads who have benefitted from that can start playing regularly.”Parkinson is the only frontline wristspinner in England’s enlarged training group, and hopes that his improvements as a red-ball bowler over the winter will give him an opportunity to play against West Indies if they decide to field two spinners. Both venues for the series – Emirates Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl – typically offer some turn.ALSO READ: ‘Being written off after one game is a bit harsh’ – ParkinsonDespite a difficult start to the winter with the red ball – he admitted that he “didn’t do enough to warrant selection” in New Zealand or South Africa – Parkinson felt as though he had made strides by the time England arrived in Sri Lanka in March, and took four wickets in the first warm-up game to boost his case for Test selection.Parkinson is put through his paces by Carl Hopkinson, England’s fielding coach•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“I look back on Sri Lanka and I think I showed some improvements from the winter. To perform as well as I did in the opening ten days in Sri Lanka was pleasing. When it first got cancelled, I was gutted – I could potentially have missed out on maybe playing or being actually close to playing.”I think the work I did over the winter with Jeetan and being round the England squad had put me in a decent position for that tour. It was nice to be in a bit more of a relaxed position, thinking I had actually done OK here, and if I’m selected I’m ready to go. If not, then there probably wasn’t much more I could have done.”Parkinson has only bowled with red balls in training since lockdown, and has enjoyed the opportunity “to get a decent chunk of red-ball” training after spending much of the last three years juggling all three formats. He is more cautious than most spinners about his body, having suffered two stress fractures already in his short career, but said that he has no lingering concerns about coronavirus despite the public health situation.”When we got the option to opt in or opt out, it was a no-brainer really, for me. Being with the England team is probably one of the safest places you can be, surrounded by the best medical staff there is in a secure complex like the Ageas and Emirates Old Trafford.”The one thing that I was a bit worried about [was] say games did get played in July or August, that I wouldn’t be in a position to be selectable. But training has gone well, and I think that’s probably put the small nerves that I had about returning to bed.”

England captain reflects on dramatic final one year on from lifting trophy at Lord’s

Alan Gardner13-Jul-2020Much has changed about cricket, and the world in general, since this time last year. But for Eoin Morgan, one of the benefits of lockdown is that he has at last been able to sit down and watch back the 2019 World Cup final in all its harum-scarum grandeur – including the moment when he thought the game was lost.England’s World Cup win, a four-year project overseen from start to finish by Morgan, was the crowning achievement during a summer that promised to rejuvenate the game in the UK. The final was screened simultaneously on Sky and Channel 4 – the first time cricket had been free-to-air since 2005 – with more than 8 million viewers tuning in as England prevailed, by the barest of margins, in a dramatic Super Over finish against New Zealand.Morgan has subsequently had to get used an increased level of recognition in the street, posing for selfies and being regaled with individual anecdotes about watching the game. And while the ECB’s hopes of building on that success this summer have been severely impacted by the ongoing the coronavirus pandemic, England’s limited-overs captain remains convinced that legacy of that July day at Lord’s can “do wonders for the sport” in this country.ALSO READ: Plunkett: ‘I pride myself on breaking partnerships and taking wickets’“I think that the profile of the game has lifted quite substantially,” Morgan said. “Just going off the back of people coming up to me in the street or in a pub or a cafe. It is not just at home. When we go on holiday there will be someone who flicked over during the tennis or the Grand Prix or who heard someone shouting next door and wondered what they were watching. It was just a celebration of sport and people obviously love it when they win trophies. Cricket has certainly become higher profile and with that that’s how my life has changed. People recognise me more.”I think in life when you have to work harder for anything regardless of whether it’s a World Cup or a forward defensive, the harder you work the better it feels after. That’s human nature and that’s how I feel. But the dramatic nature of the day really does do wonders for sport. The final is actually, it’s bigger than cricket, and it’s actually propelled up as one of the highlights of a sporting day ever in British history. That will be around for a very long time so it was probably more satisfying that it will continue to be like that.”Having become a father in March, Morgan could be forgiven for not having much spare time on his hands – but admitted he had had multiple opportunities to relive the final during cricket’s enforced shutdown. Despite calmly marshalling his team through one of the most fraught days in the history of the English game, Morgan revealed there was one point when he briefly considered they were “dead and buried” as Ben Stokes attempted to drag New Zealand’s target within reach.”Obviously the last four months has been a bit of a challenge but that’s actually allowed me to watch the World Cup final – I’ve watched it three times now. And that’s allowed me time to sit back and actually enjoy it for the first time. I suppose I haven’t had it on DVD or computer from start to finish, full production, but now I have it I’ve watched it three times and it’s been an incredible day to sit back and watch. It’s still tense throughout the whole day every time I watch it back, the ebbs and flow of the game, is a privilege.”There’s only one [moment of doubt] for me and it probably came to me the second time I watched it. Jimmy Neesham’s bowling to Ben, he bowls a slower ball, Ben hits it down to long-on and I remember the ball being in the air and you can see the trajectory of the ball – and you full well know when you hit it up the hill you have to absolutely smoke it to hit it for six. And it’s gone high and not quite as long as he’d liked and for a minute I just thought ‘That’s it, it’s over, Ben’s out, we still need 15 an over’ – that’s when I thought for a split second we were dead and buried.”Fortunately for England, Trent Boult stepped on the boundary rope, before Stokes scrambled his side to a tie and Jofra Archer completed the resurrection from the final ball of an epic contest.Although Morgan subsequently took some time to consider his future, he opted to stay on in charge of England’s white-ball teams ahead of back-to-back T20 World Cups. The fate of this year’s competition, still scheduled to be held in Australia in October and November, remains undecided due to Covid-19 restrictions, but Morgan will return to action later this month in three ODIs against Ireland, followed by a T20I series against Pakistan later in the summer.With his 2019 winner’s medal now parked “on a shelf” at home, Morgan’s focus is on attaining another peak with England – though he admitted topping the country’s maiden 50-over World Cup win would be difficult.”There hasn’t been a team who have held T20 and 50-over World Cups so that would be a nice challenge,” he said. “But, realistically, probably out of the next two World Cups, winning one of them would be unbelievable. To win two would be a bigger achievement than winning the 50-over World Cup. Just because both of them are away from home and would favour Australia in Australia and India in India, so you would have to win both of them to top the 50-overs win.”

Tector, who has 20 T20I caps, and Curtis are part of the 22-man Irish group staying on-site at Ageas Bowl

Matt Roller28-Jul-2020Curtis Campher and Harry Tector are in line to make their Ireland ODI debuts against England on Thursday after being included in a 14-man squad for the first match of the series, which will kick off the Men’s World Cup Super League.Campher, a 21-year-old allrounder, toured England in 2018 with South Africa Under-19s, but decided earlier this year to use his mother’s Irish passport to boost his international prospects. He signed a development contract earlier this year and travelled with the Ireland Wolves on their A-team tour against Namibia before the pandemic struck.ALSO READ: Explainer: Men’s ODI World Cup Super LeagueAn attacking middle-order batsman, Tector has already won 20 T20I caps at the age of 20, but is now in line for a 50-over debut. He warmed up for the series with a pair of fifties – in Ireland’s intra-squad practice match and in their fixture against England Lions – and showcased his ability as a hitter in the T20I series against Afghanistan in March.The high-profile omission from the squad is Mark Adair, Ireland’s leading ODI wicket-taker in 2019. Adair got through eight overs against the Lions following an ankle surgery earlier this year, but is not yet fully fit after limited cricket so far this year.Ireland will name squads on a match-by-match basis, with a 22-man group staying on-site at the Ageas Bowl. Left-arm spinner George Dockrell and middle-order batsman Gary Wilson are also left among the reserves, with the selectors looking to give younger players an opportunity to bed into the international set-up.ALSO READ: TV umpires to call front-foot no-balls in ODI Super League“Curtis has impressed selectors and coaches with both his batting and bowling, played very well for the Ireland Wolves against Namibia in February, has trained well in recent weeks and provides a great balance to the side,” said Andrew White, the chairman of selectors. “Fans saw a little of what he can offer during the intra-squad match last Wednesday, and we believe he’ll be ready to step up if called upon.”Another exciting one for Irish fans is Harry Tector, who comes into the reckoning now to make his ODI debut. Harry has already featured in 20 T20 Internationals for Ireland, and has demonstrated during warm-up games and in training that he is ready for this format of the game. His half-century on Sunday was against an excellent attack, and demonstrated a maturity in his batting for a player so early in their career.”Our deliberations on selection took into account not only those two warm-up games, but also form shown earlier in the year before lockdown. In addition, we also took into account that we have a larger squad here than would be normal, so we decided on a side for the first game only at this point. This means that the eight players who miss out on this playing squad may still have an opportunity to feature in the series.”Ireland squad for first ODI: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig YoungReserves: Mark Adair, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, JJ Garth, Tyrone Kane, James McCollum, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson

Opener digs in for unbeaten 75 as Paul Walter impresses after promotion

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2020Sir Alastair Cook smoothly reached his 182nd first-class half-century around the rain as Essex totted up the runs against Hampshire at Arundel.Former England captain Cook appeared in little danger with his second fifty of the Bob Willis Trophy and ended the day on 75.Only 47 overs were bowled on Sunday, after no play on the first day, as rain continued to frustrate the top two teams in the South Division.After the entirety of the opening day was kiboshed by rain and a damp patch on the bowlers’ run-up at the Castle End of the ground, the coin was eventually tossed 24 hours late. Sam Northeast won it and elected to bowl first, and hope for a similar new ball burst to that which downed Surrey last week.But that didn’t arrive as Paul Walter and Cook looked at ease against accurate but lifeless bowling – with the conditions not helping movement either in the air or off the pitch.Walter rose to his audition as a first-team opener after being given to step in for the rested Nick Browne. Walter, who has previously opened successfully in the second XI, was selected on the back of scores of 33, 46, 33 and a watch winning 27 not out in the middle-order thus far in the Bob Willis Trophy.The promotion didn’t faze him, as he struck Brad Wheal through the covers in the third over. Seven more offside boundaries followed, with only three of his 43 runs coming on the leg side during an 83-run stand for the first wicket.An early lunch was brought about by a heavy shower, with the afternoon session also washed out. But 5pm saw the resumption of play, with 51 overs lost, and almost immediately lost Walter.The left-handed batsman edged to a stooping Tom Alsop at first slip, with the third ball of the restart, to offer Ian Holland a breakthrough.Around Walter, Cook had played the sort of innings which England supporters got used to watching in his 161 Test matches. Where the innings lacked in glamour, it made up for in substance, as he struck six boundaries on his way to a 101-ball half-century.Cook’s most aggressive period came when he twice pulled James Fuller to the boundary with perfect execution. Mason Crane picked up his 12th wicket of the season when Tom Westley, following a 61-run stand with Cook, prodded behind to Lewis McManus with three overs left of the day, before nightwatchman Jamie Porter guided Cook through to close without any further damage.

Dhoni felt that the start the Super Kings got wasn’t good enough in a tall chase, and also said the team needed to do a better job at not bowling no-balls

Saurabh Somani22-Sep-20204:14

Gambhir: Dhoni batting at No. 7 makes no sense

Before IPL 2020, MS Dhoni had batted at No. 7 – the lowest he’s ever batted in the tournament – only six times in 12 years. In the two matches the Chennai Super Kings have played this year though, Dhoni has come out at No. 7 both times, in a winning cause against the Mumbai Indians first up, and in a losing one against the Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.Dhoni said his lack of time in the middle – his match against Mumbai was his first competitive game in 437 days after India’s World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand in 2019 – was the primary reason he was coming lower down the order.”Oh I haven’t batted for a very long time, you know and the 14-day quarantine doesn’t really help,” he told Star, the host broadcaster, about his batting position. “[I’m] slowly trying to get into the tournament. Also at the same time, we want to try a few different things like Sam [Curran] or [Ravindra] Jadeja, sending them up.”It’s something we haven’t done for a very long time and this gives us an opportunity to do that, at the start of the tournament. And as the tournament progresses you’ll see the senior players stepping in and taking that responsibility, but otherwise we have been one team that has kept doing the same thing. I feel we have an opportunity over here where we can try a few different things if it works. If it doesn’t work, we can always go back to what our strengths are.”ALSO READ: Gambhir slams Dhoni’s decision to bat at No. 7: ‘Makes no sense to me’Dhoni came in 114 for 5 in the 14th over, and was on 9 off 12 before ransacking 20 runs off the five balls he faced in the final over. That took the Super Kings to 200 for 6, a 16-run defeat after the Royals had piled on 216 for 7.Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach, echoed Dhoni’s words at the post-match press conference and held that in terms of overs remaining, the captain came in at the right time.”We have this question every year,” Fleming said on being asked if Dhoni had come in too late. “He was in in the 12th over [it was actually the 14th over], which is pretty much optimal time, and sort of batted accordingly. He is coming back from not playing a huge amount of cricket, so the expectations – to see him at his best – is going to take some time. But you see him towards the end, he was very good. Faf du Plessis carried the form, so we weren’t too far away. It wasn’t the batting that was the worry to be honest.”Dhoni felt that the start the Super Kings got wasn’t good enough in a tall chase, and also said the team needed to do a better job at controlling the things they could, such as avoiding bowling no-balls. While not explicitly naming Lungi Ngidi, Dhoni pointed out that the Royals could have been restricted without the extras. Ngidi bowled the final over the innings, giving up 30 runs. He bowled two no-balls during the over, both of which were hit for sixes by Jofra Archer.”I think with 217 on the board, we had to have a very good start, which was not the case,” Dhoni said. “At the same time, we need to give credit to their bowlers also because there was a lot of dew. That’s one thing you know, if you put runs on the board then you have seen in the first innings that what is a good length to bowl on that wicket, and I think that’s what they did. They kept putting the ball in the same areas. Especially the spinners, they didn’t try too many different things.”It was important on this wicket to keep it away from the batsmen. Yes, they’ll hit a few shots but at least you’re not confused. A smaller outfield, you know you’ll get hit a few from back of the length or short ones, then you’ll get hit when you bowl up. I feel that was an error that our spinners committed in the first couple of overs that they bowled, two each. After that, we did come back nicely in the game.”Without singling out anyone, I think what we could have done – which is a controllable – is [avoided] no-balls. Even when you’re under pressure, try not to give no-balls because that’s a controllable. You can’t really control how the opposition batsman is batting. I feel that’s one area we can improve in. If we could have maybe restricted them to 200, it would have been a very good game.”

It is a clash of two aggressive teams that will look punch and counter-punch

Shashank Kishore25-Oct-20204:30

Should Kings XI persist with Jordan? Should Morgan bat ahead of Karthik?

Big picture

It’s a mid-table clash but a blockbuster clash. A battle for fourth spot couldn’t have become more intriguing. Kings XI Punjab were at the bottom of the pile only 10 days ago. Suddenly, here they are now, having won four games on the trot, and looking for a fifth that will vault them into playoff contention.Kings XI got out of jail, yet again, against Sunrisers Hyderabad; their death bowling coming good to defend 20 off the last three overs. The last 14 balls yielded six wickets and an epic choke that kept them alive.One of the reasons for their improved death-overs bowling is 20-year old Arshdeep Singh. He’s flown under the radar, and doesn’t get talked about like some of his other India Under-19 batch mates from the victorious 2018 campaign, but Arshdeep’s hard lengths, cutters into the pitch and use of the crease and angles has allowed him to more than make up for his lack of pace. It has also helped compensate for Chris Jordan’s off days.In addition, the threat Ravi Bishnoi and M Ashwin bring to the table has complimented a batting line-up capable of destroying any attack. They’ll want to however start winning much earlier, and not always take it into the final over.The Knight Riders’ win on Saturday can be equated somewhat in a Tennis context to being 4-0 down in the fourth set, after taking a 2-1 lead, in the third round of a Grand Slam. They were down for the count at 42 for 3 just after the power play, but were sensationally launched to a mammoth score by Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine.The confidence of runs also showed with the ball as Narine, bowling with half-sleeves – was that a statement? – delivered a telling spell in the middle to choke Delhi Capitals for runs after Pat Cummins did the early damage and Varun Chakravarthy finished with a deserving maiden five-for in IPL 2020.So it’s a clash of two aggressive teams that will look punch and counter-punch. Kings XI know they simply have to win. Knight Riders, meanwhile, can take a step closer to the playoffs with a win. Even if they don’t, not all is lost, but they don’t want to be looking at the table when they can be masters of their own fate.

In the news

Mayank Agarwal, who missed Sunday’s game, is likely to return. Agarwal was rested after suffering body bruises while diving full stretch to avert a run out earlier in the week. His inclusion could mean one of Mandeep Singh or Deepak Hooda could miss out.Knight Riders are closely monitoring Andre Russell, whose hamstring has been problematic over the years. He has been training regularly and is closely working with the physio. If they do decide to play him – a half-fit Russell could perhaps still hit big sixes in Sharjah – who do they leave out? Eoin Morgan is captain. Narine has just delivered a telling performance. Lockie Ferguson has made an immediate impact and Cummins is just starting to come into his own. It’s a really tough call.

Previous meeting

Kings XI needed 21 off 17, with nine wickets in hand. And then, somehow, they contrived to turn it into a situation where two new batsmen – literally; neither had faced a ball yet – needed to hit 14 off the last over. Against Narine. They fell two short.Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan and Mohammed Shami – the heart of KXIP’s bowling•BCCI

Likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mandeep Singh, 7 Chris Jordan, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Shami Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Nitish Rana, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Sunil Narine, 7 Pat Cummins, 8 Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 9 Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Lockie Ferguson/Andre Russell

Strategy punts

• Gayle v Narine: 177 balls, 153 runs. Five dismissals. Strike rate of 86. It merely confirms an established fact: Gayle isn’t the same force against spin, at least early on, as he is against the faster bowlers. That said, Sharjah is a small ground where even mishits carry for six. Knight Riders have two bowlers of the mystery kind. How about looking to finish overs of spin through Narine and Varun Chakravarthy while Gayle’s around? You’d be able to at least put a temporary lid on scoring or perhaps get him out if you’re lucky.
• They have invested heavily in Shubman Gill. He’s even part of the leadership think tank, but sentiments aside, he has had one of the worst strike rates (112) for an opener this season – a shade below Aaron Finch and Ben Stokes – among those who has played more than five games. Maybe they could change things around and look to open with Tripathi with Rana.
• Despite his good form, Knight Riders should look to resist temptation to open with Narine. Kings XI have two legspinners and Narine is lethal against them – striking at 211 in the 54 balls he’s played of this variety. So hold him back for them the spinners come on.

Stats that matter

• Kings XI’s death overs economy of 8.8 is the best among all teams in the second half of IPL 2020
• Maxwell has faced the second-most number of deliveries (100) without hitting a six this season behind Ben Stokes, who went without hitting a six having faced 122 balls
• Agarwal and Rahul’s 623 runs in 10 innings is the most an opening pair has put on in IPL 2020. Will they be reunited for Monday’s fixture?

He will be remembered as Zimbabwe’s best-known power-hitter of his generation

Danyal Rasool07-Nov-2020One of Zimbabwe cricket’s most storied careers will draw to a close at the end of the current tour of Pakistan, with Elton Chigumbura announcing his retirement following the T20I series, which started today. The former Zimbabwe captain, now 34, played 213 ODIs for Zimbabwe, more than anyone apart from the Flower brothers Andy and Grant, and scored 4289 runs. In addition, he has played 54 T20Is (before the series against Pakistan), scoring 852 runs at a strike rate of 142.71.Once a medium-pace-bowling allrounder who became a frontline batsman in the latter stages of his career, Chigumbura will be remembered as Zimbabwe’s best power-hitter of his time. He made his debut in international cricket in 2004 after the exodus of an upheaval in Zimbabwe cricket, at the end of which a number of rebels left the cricket set-up, and quickly established for himself a permanent place in the middle order. A 90-ball 77 against Australia in just his sixth ODI further boosted his credentials – he had played a starring role with the ball in an Under-19 World Cup win against them a few months earlier – and a couple of decent innings in the Champions Trophy in England cemented his place in the team. Zimbabwe, and Chigumbura, may look back wistfully at a career where his batting never quite moved up to the level his talent may have warranted, but he was always capable of big-hitting, which made him dangerous lower down the order. He also played his part in some of Zimbabwe’s most famous moments. An unbeaten 52 in a win over Australia was a highlight, as were back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan and India in 2015.He had his moments in T20 cricket, too, a format that, on the surface, suited him to the tee. His most famous innings came against India, a stunning 26-ball 54, 42 of which came in sixes, as his side eked out a memorable two-run win. A 21-ball 53 against the UAE at the 2014 World T20 was similarly destructive, but far too many knocks failed to translate into wins for the side.In terms of the captaincy, Chigumbura was first given the reins in 2010 before another spell in 2014. But towards the end of that stint, his form with the bat began to fade sharply, and the fact that he was no longer an allrounder put significant pressure on him. Subsequently, his struggles, especially against pace, were evident and he last managed a half-century in either format over four years ago.His career with the ball isn’t completely a footnote; he took a five-wicket haul against Bangladesh in just his third Test, but that was over 15 years ago. Just as he began a promising international career, a stress fracture in his back meant he would no longer be a genuinely quick bowler. As such, he was more of a utility sixth bowler than a central figure, though it did perhaps spur him on with the bat.A sign of his stature is that he was a rare Zimbabwean cricketer to get franchise T20 contracts, plying his trade with the Barbados Tridents in the Champions League, the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL, and the Sylhet Royals in the BPL. The IPL proved elusive, but a career that began in the bitter turmoil of the 2004 rebels’ saga didn’t shape out too badly.

The 22-year-old says he is ready to bat anywhere in the top six

Daniel Brettig17-Nov-2020Almost two years on from his first call-up to an Australian squad, Will Pucovski has declared himself ready for a Test debut anywhere in the batting order and spoken of the mental process work he has done to be ever more capable of churning out big scores such as the consecutive Sheffield Shield double-hundreds that vaulted him back into the reckoning.Back in January 2019, a wide-eyed Pucovski was not yet 21 years old when he joined the Australian Test side against Sri Lanka, and in between mental-health breaks and a frustrating sequence of concussion issues he has been on an exacting journey to return to the cusp of a baggy green.Those challenges, which Pucovski has navigated in part through the help of the noted mind coach Emma Murray, were set aside when he was granted a promotion to open the batting by Victoria’s new coach Chris Rogers and promptly responded by peeling off a pair of huge scores against South Australia and Western Australia in the Shield. Pucovski reckons that his mind will be much more focused on the job this time around, rather than being distracted by the bright lights that follow the Australian team around the country.”It’s been a long journey but I don’t think I could be in a much better place to take this challenge on,” Pucovski told .”It’s something I’m really excited for, and people have their different journeys and mine’s taken a different path, but two years down the track from Sri Lanka when I was just about to turn 21, I feel like I’ve put in a mountain of work and that’s been to achieve my goal of hopefully succeeding and playing for Australia. So, if the opportunity comes, I definitely think I’m ready.”I feel like I’m in a much better place to take the opportunity if it presents itself now than I may have been a couple of years ago. I think I’ve just put the work in, to be honest, and I guess natural maturity. I was 20 a couple of years ago, I’m 22 now, I’ve played 15 or 20 more first-class games, I’ve put a stack of work in off the field to make sure my life and my cricket’s in a really good place and probably the difference in feeling is more like you’re excited but you’re ready to do a job this time.”Last time, not that I wasn’t ready to do a job, but you were probably so filled with that sort of excitement of getting picked for Australia that I didn’t think too much about the job at hand. This time around it feels like ‘I’ve earned the right to be here’ and I’m pretty pumped to take the challenge on, even if I don’t play, just doing my bit around the squad to hopefully win a series for Australia.”As for where he may bat, given the coach Justin Langer and captain Tim Paine’s evident contentment with the combination of David Warner and Joe Burns, Pucovski said he had shown he can slot anywhere in the top six and apply his commitment to long innings with equal rigour.”Most of the team have done very well over the last year or two, so it is a good thing for Australian cricket that there’s so much depth in all areas of the team and maybe one advantage I do have is I am able to bat wherever is required,” he said.”The current top six are going pretty well, so it might just be one of those things where you just have to wait your turn, but as JL [Langer] suggested if I keep performing well, I’m only putting myself in the best possible position. It’s one of those things where it’s out of my control, and wherever the opportunity presents itself, if it does, I’ll be ready to take it.”Asked about Murray, Pucovski said she had aided him in having the clarity he needed at vital times to perform as a batsman and a cricketer.”It’s been massive for me, she’s helped me transform the way I look at things, which has been huge, both on and off the field. She came into my life a couple years ago and it’s been a slow and steady process and there’s been a lot of ups and downs, but if I look at myself two years ago as a complete person compared to where I’m at now, it tells quite a different story.”So I’m very grateful for the work she’s done with me and I hope that relationship continues over the journey, especially with cricket being quite a challenging sport, she’s a great help in terms of getting me in the right headspace to go out and perform and do my best and execute my processes. I’m a massive Collingwood fan [in the AFL], but it is great to see Richmond have their success knowing that they’re implementing a lot of the ideas that she teaches and really preaches. It’s easy for me to see why they’re so successful because of the work I’ve done with her.”The recent Shield games were a strong indicator that a couple of years of greater maturity, plus work on mental skills, have left Pucovski well placed to take the next step in the game. “I do a lot of work on my processes and making sure I’m in a place to be really clear with what I want to do,” he said. “Cricket’s quite a mentally taxing game and you can get in your own head quite a bit with a lot of different things, whether it be technical or tactical or whatever you want to call it. Just having that clear mind and ‘this is how I’m going to go about it’.”It’s just that drive to keep going I think. I’ve always hated getting out really and from a mental point of view, if I look at it as in ‘I’m just repeating a five-second process over and over again’, then the time seems to pass a lot quicker. To a degree it seems like you’re out there for a long time, but at the end of the day it hasn’t felt like you’ve been out there all day, because all you’ve been doing is repeating a process over and over in your head and seeing what’s going on. That’s been the key I think, and easy to have faith in that when you have the results to back it up.”I love the challenge of it, I love the idea of – dominating is the wrong word, because I don’t see myself as a dominating player, but just grinding the opposition down and being really tough to get through and batting at the same tempo the whole time. I’ve had a few people suggest to me that it looks like whether I’m on zero of a hundred I’m batting the same and I get a bit of enjoyment out of that repeatability and being able to repeat that process time and time again.”

The Strikers lost six wickets for 44 runs in the last six overs of the first innings

Daniel Brettig08-Jan-2021A nerveless stand between Mohammad Nabi and Jake Fraser-McGurk lifted the Melbourne Renegades to a six-wicket victory over the Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval to end a wretched seven-game losing run in the Big Bash League.The Strikers had kept the Renegades in the contest by breaking down badly in their final six overs, losing 6 for 44 after looking highly likely to pass 200 after strong contributions from Phil Salt, Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw – Jack Prestwidge’s spell of 2 for 20 was key in stemming their momentum.Mohammad Nabi and Jake Fraser-McGurk’s partnership took Renegades past Strikers•Getty Images

After Aaron Finch fell early, the Renegades were in danger of drifting to defeat once more, but Nabi formed a salvaging union with the promoted Prestwidge and then the pivotal one with Fraser-McGurk, who may also have done some longer-term damage to the Strikers by hammering a drive back into Peter Siddle’s left thumb. Siddle completed the game but was clearly uncomfortable as Nabi blazed the boundaries that took the Renegades home and nearly doubled his tournament aggregate in the process.Strikers find the Salt shakerThere had been discussion leading into this match about the place of Salt at the top of the order, after only one score above 30 in his first eight innings of the tournament. An outing against the bottom-placed Renegades afforded the chance to regain some poise, and in perfect early evening conditions at Adelaide Oval, Salt warmed nicely into his work alongside Renshaw, spending 12 balls to get settled before climbing into Noor Ahmad, Peter Hatzoglou and Imad Wasim.Renshaw, too, had his moments in an opening stand worth 61, striking a quintet of boundaries inside the Powerplay and exhibiting the power he has occasionally been able to showcase against both the white and red balls. Renshaw’s innings slowly lost momentum without quite so many gaps to find, and when he drove Prestwidge to mid-off it seemed an opportune time for the arrival of Carey to the middle.The Power Surge that wasn’t, then wasAdelaide were 1 for 104 and handily placed when Carey, it seemed clear to all and certainly the Renegades captain Finch, chose to utilise the Power Surge. Sizing up Kane Richardson as Finch brought all but two fielders inside the circle, Carey proceeded to blaze sixes over cover and long on from the first two balls of the surge, before bunting another two runs down the ground. After these three balls, there was suddenly a moment of conjecture when it became apparent that neither umpire had noticed Carey’s clear signal and Finch’s acknowledgement.For a few seconds, a pair of adversaries not quite as friendly as Carey and Finch might have entered a stand-off. Had Carey denied his signal – even if it was clear on the broadcast – the Strikers may have been able to get a fresh call for another two overs. But as it was, Carey and Finch worked very much within the spirit of the game by allowing the umpires to call the Power Surge belatedly to the scorers, and after Carey fell the following over, the Strikers’ innings was limited to 6 for 44 from their final 35 balls.Nabi comes to Renegades partyJust 78 runs in six innings so far had suggested Nabi’s previously handsome record with the Renegades was taking the same jolt as Michael Klinger’s coaching tenure. However a slower Adelaide surface that was beginning to take turn – more for Rashid’s leg break than is usually seen in Australia – was the sort of pitch Nabi had often prospered on at Docklands, and he was soon finding the boundary at the right times after Finch, Mackenzie Harvey and Sam Harper had all made it into the teens.Finch’s decision to promote Prestwidge after he delivered a decidedly useful spell with the ball gave Nabi an ally of similarly positive mindset, and together they clumped the runs that gave the Renegades the bonus point for bettering Adelaide’s tally at the 10-over mark. As wellas Rashid was bowling, their stand of 42 from 26 balls did not deserve to be ended by his googly: while Prestwidge was clearly beaten, the ball was arrowing comfortably down the leg side.Fraser-McGurk strikes a telling blowHaving already belted one six down the ground with the follow-through that is already familiar to those who have seen him in junior and state ranks, Fraser-McGurk was struggling to find a way past Siddle in a Power Surge over that ultimately cost just two when he laced a ball back straight and struck his former Victorian teammate a painful blow on the left thumb as he tried instinctively for the catch. Play was held up for several minutes as Siddle tried to recover, and the following over Fraser-McGurk hit a ramp shot about as cleanly as possible to hit another six, this time off Wes Agar. When the next ball was miscued over cover, Siddle dropped it as he still struggled with his left hand.This left Nabi with a very achievable scenario from the final four overs, allowing the fifth-wicket pair to take 10 from Rashid’s final over. Needing 21 off the final two overs, Fraser-McGurk benefited when another ramp was misfielded by Harry Conway, allowing three, before Nabi hammered Siddle straight then over cover-point for four then six. Now the Strikers’ fade in their final six overs came sharply into view, as the Renegades joyously knocked off the final five runs with a ball to spare.

South African board suggests postponement compromises WTC and is seeking financial redress

Firdose Moonda08-Feb-2021CSA has written to the ICC asking it to consider means of redress for less wealthy nations to make up for financial losses when tours do not take place as scheduled. The communication came as a response to Cricket Australia’s decision to indefinitely postpone a three-Test series that was due to be played in South Africa in March citing an “unacceptable” level of risk because of the coronavirus pandemic.The letter, seen by ESPNcricinfo, called Australia’s unilateral decision to pull out of the series “against the spirit of sportsmanship”, with implications for the credibility of the World Test Championship (WTC), and raises concerns it will have a “serious impact on the financial well-being of less-wealthy” ICC members.”There’s got to be some understanding of how we manage the impact to less-wealthy nations,” Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of CSA’s interim board told ESPNcricinfo. “Unilateral decisions of this nature are punitive to less-wealthy cricket-playing nations and there has to be some discussion around redress.”ESPNcricinfo understands that in order for the ICC to take action, it would first need to establish there was a dispute between CSA and CA and if that could be brought before its dispute resolutions committee. However, CSA has not lodged a formal complaint and sent its letter as a means of opening the door to communication about how best to manage the international cricket schedule during the pandemic, especially in the light of the WTC.Related

• Relations between CSA and CA 'strained', admits Graeme Smith

• Australia set to tour Bangladesh later this year for T20Is, not Tests

• England blame facilities after claims of Covid-19 protocols breach

• New South Africa lockdown won't affect Sri Lanka series

• Australia postpone SA tour because of 'unacceptable' Covid-19 risk

CSA believes that as the Australia series was part of the competition it falls under WTC terms, and that if members “can unilaterally decide whether to fulfil their obligations or not” it will put the integrity of the WTC into question. Australia will now need certain results to go their way if they need to qualify for the WTC final.CSA was left extremely disappointed by CA deciding not to send its men’s team to South Africa after CSA went to every length to create a strict biosecure environment (BSE) for the series. That included obtaining government permission for Australia to receive VVIP treatment at the airport, which would not require them to even step into the terminal but proceed as diplomats would on to a bus, and additional assurances from the country’s health minister. Private hospitals also indicated they would make beds available to the Australian touring party if required.Despite that, and evidence that South Africa has passed the second-wave of the pandemic, the variant of the virus prevalent in the country saw CA receive medical advice against traveling. It communicated this to CSA last Tuesday, a little over three weeks before the touring party was meant to arrive in South Africa, and a day after the restrictions in the country were eased.”The reasons Australia cited seemed out of kilter with where the pandemic is,” Nicalaou said. “If we had got this communication from them in December it might be justified. The downward trajectory, even with the so-called South African strain, has shown a 75% reduction from the peak. Our preference would have been to ask for a consultation and we would have got the necessary experts on the call and explained the downward trajectory and we could have given assurances about the biosecure base. The decision should have been consultative and we would have seen what other measures we could have taken.”CSA has also written to CA, detailing its concerns and saying it will “lose much needed revenue but will also result in wasted costs which CSA can ill afford”, and that it “cannot over-emphasise the loss of revenue caused by your unfortunate decision as well as the reputational damage that is certain to follow.” It is expected that CSA’s costs and losses will run into the millions of Rands.Positive Covid-19 tests saw the curtailment of England’s tour in December•Getty Images

South Africa are further concerned that Australia’s decision creates the impression that it is unable to maintain a BSE, despite doing so successfully on three occasions. South Africa hosted Sri Lanka for festive Tests on the Highveld (at the same venue where Australia were due to stay), the Pakistan women’s team for three ODIs and three T20s in Durban, and have held the domestic one-day cup in a bubble in Potchefstroom.Their first attempt at creating a BSE, hosting England in Cape Town, did not go well after three South African players, two hotel staff and two members of the England touring party tested positive for Covid-19 (though the England tests were later confirmed negative); England pulled out of the tour before playing any of the three scheduled ODIs. However, that BSE was more lenient than any of the others, on the request of the ECB, and made allowances for players to leave the hotel to play golf at various different courses.The Australia bubble was due to be strictest yet, and would have included all staff staying at the hotel for a three-week quarantine period before Australia arrived. Australia’s demands exceeded globally accepted norms, which ask for a quarantine period of two weeks in most cases, but CSA was willing to accommodate it in a bid to make the series happen.Ultimately, CSA is also concerned that this postponed series will further entrench cricketing inequalities that see wealth and fixtures shared between India, England and Australia and which leaves the other nine Full Members behind. As an example, India have just returned from a tour to Australia and are hosting England. They will then travel to England in the northern hemisphere summer before England head to Australia for the Ashes. While these three teams will play several more Tests in 2021, South Africa do not have a single fixture confirmed.”The cancellation of our tour sends a hurtful message to the less-wealthy cricket-playing nations of the world,” CSA’s letter to CA said. “Our considered view is that it will have a deleterious impact on the stability of global cricket, its growth and its future.”