Umesh Yadav, India's go-to pacer at home

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Along with his incisiveness, Umesh showed his ability to shoulder extra load in the absence of Shardul Thakur, producing a career-best performance against West Indies

Alagappan Muthu in Hyderabad13-Oct-2018Umesh Yadav bowls a lot of balls down the leg side. It’s the price he pays for attacking the stumps, but without it, India wouldn’t be so invincible at home.Delve a little into his statistics, and you realise that he, too, is invincible at home. His strike rate, for example, is better than Kapil Dev’s, and places himfourth on the list of fast bowlers who have played at least 10 Tests in India.His ability to pick up quick wickets was on show in Hyderabad, where he knocked over West Indies’ tail in half an hour, and reserved his best for the centurion Roston Chase. Though Chase had batted 188 deliveries, the Umesh specialty – a straight ball at high pace and swinging into the right-hander – burst through Chase’s defence, and knocked back his middle stump. Of Umesh’s 69 wickets at home, 35 have been bowled or lbw. That’s over 50%.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo before the Tests, Umesh had spoken about a conscious effort to attack the stumps more. “Look, I know I have pace,” he had said. “And pace [If you gain something from pace, you lose something too]. Batsmen have chances to score runs, they just need to time the ball. If you stray on the pads, it’s an easy boundary. So I did some reflection about my bowling and thought that if I keep it wicket-to-wicket and swing the ball from the fourth stump, it will be difficult for batsmen to hit. And even if he goes to hit it, there is only a 50-50 chance of success. But if I bowl half-volleys or very wide, then I don’t give myself a 50-50 chance, it’s much less.”Umesh’s career-best performance came in a match where he was the only fast bowler. For the longest time, he has had to compete with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharama, Mohammed Shami, and now Jasprit Bumrah, especially when India go abroad and find themselves starting at a pitch that is helpful for seam bowling.”It’s very unfortunate that Umesh didn’t get to play much in South Africa and in England,” B Arun, the bowling coach, had said before the Test. “Also, the bowlers who played performed exceptionally well. We look at Umesh as someone who is quick, and we also have a system where we rotate the bowlers so that they remain fresh. And Umesh would definitely be a part of that. And we are extremely confident of what Umesh can bring to the table.”So is he. Even though he is playing only his fourth Tests this year, Umesh steps up to the bowling crease full of energy. As importantly, he is one of India’s best outfielders. “It’s [in the] past and I am looking ahead,” Umesh said on Friday, when asked about being in and out of the side. “I don’t want to dwell on the matches that have gone by. My thinking is that I should try and perform well in the matches that I will be playing from now on. If I keep thinking about the past, then I won’t be able to focus on the future. So focus is on doing well in future games and helping my team.”Umesh had the same mentality when he realised he would have to bowl extra overs on a flat pitch, with Shardul Thakur going off the field with a groin injury. “You can’t really do anything in these situations as this is part of the game. If he is not there, I will have to bowl his quota of overs too, and I knew he was not going to come back. I didn’t want negativity to creep inside. So as much as you discuss and deliberate, if I have to bowl, then I have to bowl. So my thought process was if the team asks me to bowl I am ready for that.”In all home Tests since 2010, India have benefited from 36 five-wicket hauls from a spinner – R Ashwin has contributed 20 of them – but only three from fast bowlers. Umesh joined those ranks on Saturday, and celebrated with a bonus wicket as well, recording the first six-for by an Indian fast bowler at home since Javagal Srinath in 1999. When the second innings starts, he has the chance to become only the third Indian to pick up a hat-trick in Test cricket.

Breaking down Babar Azam, the ODI batsman

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Everyone knows he’s a quality player, and that he has areas to improve on. What are those areas, though, and is he the right man in the wrong team?

Osman Samiuddin and Shiva Jayaraman01-Feb-2019Babar Azam has had a big Test year, yes. Babar has been having some big white-ball years for a while, also yes. How big? A lot of the talk around Babar’s ODI – and T20 – batting has centered on the records he has broken, some records which have acquired greater value by dint of the men he has gone past.Last year, for instance, he didn’t just become the fastest in terms of innings to 1000 T20I runs, he Virat Kohli. Not long ago he was the joint-fastest to 1000 ODI runs, sharing that record with two all-time greats, Sir Viv Richards and Mr Kevin Pietersen.Some are not really records, just mildly interesting trivia: he’s the only player to have scored a career’s first three ODI centuries in successive innings; he’s the only player to score five hundreds in a row in one country (the UAE, in this case); he already has more ODI hundreds at No. 3 than any Pakistan batsman ever.What isn’t discussed in enough depth is what kind of ODI batsman he is, and how good – or not, yet – is he really? On the surface, it is patently absurd to even ask how good he is. Of course he is very good – only a cursory glance at his record confirms that, as well as the simple observational method of watching him play most anywhere – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the UAE and England.Beyond that there is surface-level acknowledgment about shortcomings, like his record against the top four ODI teams in the rankings (against England, India, New Zealand, South Africa he averages 36.5), his strike rate (broadly, not great), his dot-ball issues (generally, needs work) and his boundary-hitting ability (could be sexier). The identification is not wrong, but in this World Cup year, when he will be so critical to Pakistan, it’s worth going deeper into this.First that strike-rate. At 84.66, the polite way to look at it is that there might be room for improvement, especially by the standards of the modern game. In an admittedly limited but fairly elite club of batsmen who have scored at least 2000 ODI runs and maintained a 50-plus average, Babar’s strike rate is only higher than those of Michael Bevan and Jonathan Trott – the former from a different era and the latter stuck slap-bang in the middle of two eras and so, seen as both hero and fall guy and still nobody is sure what he ended up as.

Batsmen with 2000+ ODI runs and average of 50+ (min 50 games)

Name Matches Innings Not-outs Runs Average Strike-rateAB de Villiers 228 219 39 9577 53.50 101.09Virat Kohli 222 214 37 10533 59.50 92.58MS Dhoni 337 285 81 10414 51.04 87.72Joe Root 121 115 19 4946 51.52 86.43Babar Azam 59 57 9 2462 51.29 84.66Jonathan Trott 68 65 10 2819 51.25 77.06Michael Bevan232 196 67 6912 53.58 74.16It’s worth breaking that down further although the reading doesn’t get any prettier. Batting in the first Powerplay, of the 36 batsmen who have scored at least 300 runs in that phase since the start of 2016, Babar’s strike rate of 63.67 puts him at 35th (and it really doesn’t help that one man who bats above him in the order, Imam-ul-Haq, sits at 34th).Ok, he’s not an opener so cut him a little slack (not too much though, as he does open in T20s). In the middle overs (11-40) and using the same cut-offs, you’d think Babar fares better. As a one-down, this phase, after all, should be patch. It’s not. He scores at a strike rate of 83.67 in this period, placing him 50th out of the 103 who qualify. And Pakistan’s problems are evident from those around him: Mohammad Hafeez is one place above him and Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed – Pakistan’s middle order essentially – comfortably slower than him.

He’s better in the death overs, where he goes at 142.67, but given the slowness of his start and build-up and the batsmen around him, it doesn’t ever feel enough.From these numbers, and especially in terms of the progression of an innings, there does at least emerge a clearer identity of the kind of ODI batsman he is currently. Think Ross Taylor, think Kane Williamson, think Steven Smith, think Joe Root. In fact, the similarities with Taylor and Williamson are stark.Breaking down their strike rates over the first 50 balls of an innings and then post-50 balls, Babar first scores at 75 and 103.39 thereafter. Taylor scores at 74.3 initially and then 104.13; Williamson 73.63 and 100.85. Smith is not too different, with 75.11 and 95.91. You could actually argue both, that Babar’s differential is simultaneously too big and not big enough: Rohit Sharma’s differential is 36.09 and Virat Kohli’s is 27.06 (Babar is 28.39). But Rohit and Kohli go considerably harder over both the first 50 balls after it.So this is what Babar is, a quality anchor, and most sides still need one of them to play off of. But there’s one metric that gets to the heart of Babar’s batting. One especially useful way of looking at strike rates is for innings that last 50 balls or more; that is, innings in which a batsman is well set and of a duration long enough across which you expect the best to be going at a run a ball or more.With a minimum of 50 balls faced, and 1000 runs scored across those innings since January 2016, the names at the very top in terms of strike rates are no surprise: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock, David Warner and the Indian top three all go at over a run a ball.

Babar’s strike rate is 88.5 here and again finds himself alongside the likes of Williamson, Root, Hashim Amla and Smith. But note how these anchors have team-mates above them (in terms of strike rates). Smith is five runs slower per 100 balls (83.17) but he has Warner above him, and Glenn Maxwell below. Amla has Faf du Plessis, de Kock and David Miller.Root, meanwhile, is the straight man in the most insanely destructive ODI batting line-up ever assembled. (India are an anomaly in that Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are anchors of a kind we’ve not really seen before.) These are all batsmen who make the anchor look good, who, more importantly, make the anchor look useful.Until Fakhar Zaman’s 70 in Cape Town on Wednesday, Babar had nobody above him in this list. And for Fakhar’s presence, he also has Imam-ul-Haq to offset it, given that Imam goes slower at 85.17. He is, in effect, another anchor at the top of the order. You could argue this is much like Williamson, who may have Martin Guptill above him but anchors in Taylor and Tom Latham around him. But he also has Colin Munro up top, and the likes of Corey Anderson, Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme to come. Babar has Hafeez, Malik and Sarfraz following him. Imad Wasim, you might say (averaging 43 and striking at over 100), but in his last 16 matches, he hasn’t gotten a turn to bat in half.This is why Babar’s strike rate becomes more of a problem than it should be for the kind of batsman he is. It is as much, if not more, about the batsmen around him as it is about him.Still, there are areas for improvement. One of the earliest issues coach Mickey Arthur identified was his dot-ball percentage. But over three years the trend has not gone in the direction he, or Pakistan, would wish. Year on year since 2016 it has actually gone up, where you would imagine he would be working to bring it down. Circumstances define these numbers of course. Losing an early wicket for Babar and Pakistan does not mean the same thing as losing an early wicket for Root and England, or Williamson and New Zealand. It makes sense if Babar, by dint of the batting around him, plays more cautiously early in his innings.And naturally the dot-ball percentages fall the longer he stays at the crease so that, after he’s played 40 balls, that percentage comes down to 35.7.

Compared to other anchors, since 2016, that dot-ball percentage is actually excellent and as a result, his strike rate the highest.But this is where his boundary-hitting abilities also begin to matter. Year on year, his balls per boundary rate has fluctuated: as high as 16.18 in 2017, as low as 10.77 in 2016 and 12.47 since 2018. Again, it’s more instructive to break that down over phases of an innings and look especially at his boundary rate after he has been at the crease for more than 40 balls – that is, settled enough to start imposing his game on the situation.

Babar Azam v other anchors (after 40+ balls, since Jan 2016)

Batsman Inns Dis Runs Balls SR Dot % BpBHashim Amla 20 16 766 826.00 93.00 36.70 14.00Ross Taylor 29 22 1139 1152.00 98.87 36.97 10.87Steven Smith 19 15 794 826.00 96.13 40.07 11.63Kane Williamson 24 21 928 949.00 97.79 39.94 11.16Babar Azam 25 19 1084 1083.00 100.09 35.72 12.74Joe Root 33 22 1282 1352.00 94.82 36.83 13.39This is where he suffers even against other anchors. Since 2016, and in innings of 40+ balls, he hits a boundary every 12.74 balls. In a group of six anchors, that places him second from bottom. To Babar’s credit, that figure is down to 10.67 since 2018: greatly improved boundary-hitting frequency, but still high at that stage of an innings compared to the who’s who of ODI hitting – the likes of Rohit (6.75), Roy (8.4), Jonny Bairstow (6.05), Jos Buttler (8.30).Mitigating factors could be argued, such as that he plays a lot in the UAE, where grounds are not given to boundary hitting. Except that even there he is in the bottom ten (of 52 batsmen who have scored at least 200 runs in the UAE since January 2014) for balls per boundary (14.97), behind even those infamously low strike-raters and boundary-hitters Ahmed Shehzad and Azhar Ali.Ultimately there’s no doubting his quality, or that there are aspects upon which he can improve. But perhaps there needs to be greater recognition that the batting order around him is helping neither him, nor Pakistan, realise his full potential.

Super Smash round-up: Kyle Jamieson towers over all

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Canterbury’s beanpole quick, standing at six feet and eight inches, highlighted the second week of the tournament, as he rang in the New Year with a record haul against Auckland

Deivarayan Muthu02-Jan-2019Kyle Jamieson runs in to bowl•Getty Images

Jamieson towers over Auckland

Two days after his 24th birthday and on the first day of 2019, Jamieson exploited a bouncy Eden Park track to claim 6 for 7 – the best return by a New Zealand bowler and the third best overall in T20s. Jamieson’s extraordinary feat had former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson gushing on Twitter: “An impressive bowler who at 6ft 8in can swing it……another one to add to the @BLACKCAPS stable.”Jamieson, who is reportedly taller than “Two-Metre Peter Fulton”, used his height to extract bounce and harry Auckland.He bounced out opener Sean Solia in his first over and meted out similar treatment to James Vince in this next over, which also included the wickets of Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman. While Jamieson swooped in on the ball from his followthrough and ran out Phillips, Mark Chapman popped a low catch to Stephen Murdoch at slip. After conceding only one run in his next over, he was pulled out of the attack. He then returned in the 18th over to snip off the tail in another triple-wicket over.Jamieson was on a hat-trick after removing Mitchell McClenaghan and Ben Lister, but Will Somerville denied him and made 27 off 24 balls to drag Auckland past 100.

James Vince’s Super Smash debut

England international Vince’s batting has always been stylish but has lacked substance. His Super Smash debut wasn’t any different. He promised much when he cracked seamers Ed Nuttal and Henry Shipley through the covers, but was undone by the extra zip and bounce of Jamieson. Vince was late onto a pull and wound up top-edging a catch to Cam Fletcher, the keeper, for a run-a-ball 18. With Colin Munro and Martin Guptill both on national duty, Auckland will want bigger contributions from their England recruit.

Match of the week

Defending champions Northern Districts’ scrap against Otago in Alexandra. After opting to bat on a slow, low pitch, Otago hobbled to 99 for 7 in their 20 overs, with none of their batsmen striking at over 100. Seamer Scott Kuggeleijn came away with 2 for 11, while spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi had combined figures of 8-0-34-3.The Knights, too, struggled to come to grips with the tricky track and slumped to 35 for 3 in the eighth over. But a measured 34 not out off 32 balls from captain Dean Brownlie saw them home with five wickets and 14 balls to spare.Dean Brownlie top-scored for Northern Districts in their one-run victory•Getty Images

Batsman of the week

Brownlie, again. After launching the tournament with a boundary-laden 99 in Hamilton, he knuckled down on a more difficult pitch at Molyneux Park, ushering the Knights home in a low-scoring scrap against Otago. He was the only batsman from both sides to strike at over 100 in that match.

Bowler(s) of the week

Jamieson, who else? His record six-wicket haul vaulted him to the top of the bowling charts. Pretoria-born seam-bowling allrounder Christi Viljoen has one wicket less than Jamieson but has been more economical. After picking up 4 for 23 to spark a dramatic Wellington collapse last week, Viljoen took 1 for 16 in three overs to make the Knights work hard for their victory.A string of such performances could give him a shot at international cricket in the new year, when he becomes eligible for New Zealand selection. So, what’re the odds of Viljoen doing a Neil Wagner in 2019?

Less fiery, but Malinga is still proving his worth

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Age, fitness issues and a drop in pace could easily have deflated Lasith Malinga’s confidence. Instead he has strived to improvise within his limitations

Deivarayan Muthu in Hyderabad10-May-2019Lasith Malinga went unsold in the 2018 IPL auction. He was – and he still is – the top wicket-taker in the IPL. His pace was on the wane, multiple injuries proved a bane and he was out of the international scene, too. Instead, he had a stint in ice cricket in Switzerland, which largely featured retired stars, including his former Sri Lanka captain and current Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene. Jacques Kallis and Michael Hussey, who are also coaches in the IPL, were part of the Switzerland jaunt, too. Later, Mumbai roped Malinga in as a bowling mentor for IPL 2018 – his first such role with any side. You might have wondered whether this was the end for one of the most celebrated fast bowlers ever.When Malinga was a teenager, he had “nearly hit all of them” at the Sri Lanka nets, so much that the senior players feared that he might injure them with his breakneck speed and unique round-arm action. The breakneck speed is gone, the knee, ankle and hamstrings are all creaky, but Malinga is still around – returning to Mumbai as a player in IPL 2019, after being recalled into Sri Lanka’s side as well.He doesn’t quite breach 140kph these days, but then, again, he isn’t as slow as that one time when he bowled offbreaks in a club game because of bad light. As a bowler Malinga has never let his ego distract him, instead he has strived to improvise within his limitations. That has helped him find a middle ground: working over batsmen with his slower variations, particularly the offcutter that kicks up at the batsmen.The offcutter has been responsible for seven of the 15 wickets Malinga has picked up this season. What about that deadly yorker that gave nightmares to batsmen? Believe it or not, the yorker has fetched Malinga wicket.Malinga’s protégé Jasprit Bumrah is currently the highest wicket-taker for Mumbai with 17 scalps in 15 matches at an economy rate of 6.84, but the master isn’t too far behind. Having played four fewer games than Bumrah, Malinga has taken 15 wickets at an economy rate of 9.52. While he has been expensive, Malinga’s strike-rate of 16.3 is the fourth best among seamers who have bowled at least 30 overs this season – only Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Khaleel Ahmed, and Delhi Capitals’ Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris have fared better in this regard.If you’re still not convinced that Malinga has it, how about 10 for 83 across formats and across countries in less than 12 hours? After helping Mumbai stall the Chennai Super Kings juggernaut at the Wankhede Stadium, with the vital wickets of Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav and Dwayne Bravo, he took a 1.40am flight from Mumbai, landed home at 4.30am and finally dashed to Kandy by 7am to turn out for Galle in the domestic 50-over tournament. Malinga made it by memorable outing by grabbing a career-best 7 for 49, eighteen seasons after making his List A debut.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile Malinga was away from the IPL, West Indies tearaway Alzarri Joseph claimed 6 for 12 on debut – the best bowling figures in the IPL. Even after Malinga’s return, the Mumbai team management opted for Joseph’s promise over Malinga’s experience. Joseph was taken to the cleaners by Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler and he wound up conceding 53 in three overs – the most expensive three-over spell in the competition. To add injury to insult, Joseph suffered a tear in his right arm and was consequently ruled out of the tournament.South Africa left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks was added to the roster as a replacement, but Mumbai had to fall back on Malinga’s experience. The Sri Lankan marked his comeback to the IPL with two four-wicket hauls in four matches. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s AB de Villiers went after Malinga once again – de Villiers reaped 23 runs off the eight balls he faced off Malinga. The bowler, however, recovered and took down Moeen Ali and Marcus Stoinis with crafty offcutters before taking care of the tail.Malinga also expertly exploited a slower-than-usual Chepauk track with his cutters and returned 4 for 37. His haul was central to Mumbai knocking over Super Kings for 109 – their lowest total at Chepauk.ALSO READ: Mali & Boom, a match made in bowling heavenMalinga then reminded the world of his tact and nous when he went around the wicket to Andre Russell and bounced him out for a golden duck in a game Mumbai needed to win to have two cracks at a place in the IPL final. Russell gone. Game over for Kolkata Knight Riders.”He had a good practice session yesterday [on May 4] and he felt very good. We told him it’s about time he tries it in a game,” Jayawardene said of the Russell set-up. “That’s a thing in modern-day cricket, even though you have been a great, you still have to find new ways of creating things. It was nice to see him opening up for that idea and getting rewards.”Malinga’s resurgence truly began in the unheralded Global T20 Canada in mid-2018, when he embraced his limitations and ditched his rapid yorkers for the floaty slower balls. He took 13 wickets – most of which via offcutters – in six games at an average of 11.64 and economy rate of 6.41. Malinga’s economy rate was the best among seamers who had bowled more than 20 overs in the competition. Just like that, he was back in Sri Lanka’s World Cup plans and Mumbai’s IPL plans.Age, fitness issues, reduced pace could have easily defeated his confidence, but Malinga the fast bowler understands T20 cricket better than many. He might not fluently articulate his skills, but with ball in hand you can read his bowling intellect. Whether Mumbai took a gamble by buying back Malinga, we don’t know. What has remained a constant is Malinga’s status as one of the most valuable weapons for Mumbai in their pursuit of an unprecedented fourth IPL title.

A World Cup dominated by left-arm seamers and No. 3 batsmen

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Batting first was no longer a curse in World Cup 2019, while spinners generally didn’t have much to celebrate. These and other stats highlights from the tournament

ESPNcricinfo stats team. Graphics by Ishita Mazumder17-Jul-2019The run-rate dip
Given how ODI run rates had soared in England in the four years leading up to this World Cup 2019 – it was 6.07 in the period between the last two World Cups – people generally assumed that the scoring rate in this edition would leave behind previous ones by some distance. Well, it didn’t pan out that way, thanks to the pitches and the conditions.The run rate in this tournament was 5.59, marginally lower than the 5.65 that was achieved in the 2015 edition in Australia and New Zealand. It also broke a 12-year sequence of each World Cup exceeding the rate of the previous edition, which had been happening since 2007.ESPNcricinfo LtdBat first to win
Chasing was generally the preferred option for teams in England in the four years leading up to this tournament: the win-loss ratio for teams batting first was 20-32 (0.625). In the World Cup, it flipped completely: teams batting first won 28 and lost 15, a ratio of 1.866, which is a three-fold improvement for the team batting first. It is also a significant departure from ODI trends over the last four years since World Cup 2015.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe difference was especially stark in the second half of the tournament, when the pitches generally became slower and the weather cleared up. In the first 21 completed matches, the teams batting first only had a 11-10 win-loss record; in the next 23 matches, it changed drastically to 17-5. The 1987 World Cup is the only one in which the team batting first had a better win-loss ratio.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe captains winning the toss caught on: in the first half of the tournament, only four times did teams win the toss and bat; in the second half it happened 18 times in 23 games, and it yielded a 13-4 win-loss (apart from a tie). Overall, the 15-6 win-loss record for the team winning the toss and batting is the most skewed among all World Cups.ESPNcricinfo LtdNo place for spin
Spinners had a forgettable tournament. They took only 136 wickets in all, at an average of 51.05 and an economy rate of 5.41. Only once in the past have they conceded more runs per wicket – in 1979, when they averaged 65.25. Their economy rate in 2019 was the poorest in all World Cups. The top 17 wicket-takers in this World Cup were all seamers; Yuzvendra Chahal, with 12 wickets, was the best among the spinners. The seamers finished with 500 wickets at 30.16.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe middle overs are generally when spinners come into their own, but they struggled even during that phase in World Cup 2019. Their average of 50.64 and economy rate of 5.30 between overs 11 and 40 were the worst in this phase in World Cup history.Top-class top orders
The top three batsmen (Nos. 1-3) in the batting line-ups of all teams scored 51% of the total runs off the bat in the entire tournament, compared to 43% in 2015, 48% in 2011 and 44.5% in 2007. Among the 11 batsmen who scored 400-plus runs in the tournament, only one – Ben Stokes – batted outside the top three. The top three batsmen averaged 43.24 in 2019, five more than they have in any other World Cup.ESPNcricinfo LtdLed by Shakib Al Hasan, Kane Williamson, Babar Azam, Joe Root and Virat Kohli, the No. 3s generally had a tournament to remember. They averaged 52.47, their highest by far in any World Cup; their next best is 43.40, in the 1987 edition. In contrast, No. 4s didn’t have such a memorable tournament, averaging 34.97, their lowest in the last four editions.Starc and Co dominate
Mitchell Starc’s 27 wickets broke the record for most wickets in a single World Cup, while Mustafizur Rahman, Trent Boult, Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Afridi were among the top ten wicket-takers, making this an outstanding tournament for left-arm fast bowlers. They took 136 wickets, their best haul ever in a World Cup, and two more than their tally in 2015.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn terms of averages too, they were clearly better than their right-arm counterparts: the left-arm seamers averaged 25.38, compared to 31.95 by the right-arm fast bowlers.ESPNcricinfo LtdCaptains lead the way
Four captains who scored 300-plus runs at 50-plus averages in this World Cup; in previous editions, there have never been more than two captains who did so.ESPNcricinfo LtdWilliamson, Aaron Finch, Kohli and Faf du Plessis were outstanding with the bat, while Eoin Morgan and Dimuth Karunaratne made vital contributions too. Overall, the captains averaged 42.94, the second highest in any World Cup: in 1975, they averaged 49.14.

Kohli and de Villiers in limited-overs chases: who does it better?

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An analysis of their numbers brings distinct patterns to light

Kartikeya Date11-Jan-2020Limited-overs run chases are a record-keeper’s delight. When a team bats first in a limited-overs game, the task before its batsmen is “make as many runs as you can in the remaining overs”. When chasing, the equation is as specific as it can ever be in cricket. At every ball the batsman knows exactly how many balls are remaining and how many runs are required. This allows us to ask some interesting questions about players and about the nature of run chases.I’ve come to think of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers as the machine and the polymath of the current era. In limited-overs cricket, and especially in limited-overs run chases, Kohli’s mastery often appears frictionless, while de Villiers’ most famous stands have been heroic if ultimately unsuccessful. Yet de Villiers has a formidable record in run chases. When it comes to T20, Kohli’s record is mixed and his approach appears to be eccentrically old-fashioned compared to the cutting-edge masters of contemporary T20.This article offers a comparison of these two modern masters in limited-overs chases, and looks at the two players’ approaches and capabilities. In the process, it offers a way to think about choices batsmen have to make during these chases.Kohli’s and de Villiers’ career records in chases are below. These include all games in which they batted for at least one ball, and for which ball-by-ball data is available.

The table above shows the player’s scoring rate and batting average (these represent speed and consistency of run-scoring respectively). It also shows the runs scored at the other end while the player is at the wicket. (In the table above, only runs scored off the bat of the other batsman are considered.) Third, it shows the runs scored in the innings while the batsman was not at the wicket. The record shows that while Kohli’s run output in ODI chases is outstanding (average of 67, strike rate of 94), he does enjoy strong support at the other end (44, 87). de Villiers makes 60 on average, at a strike rate of 95, but his average partner manages only 37 and 81. Kohli scores 8% faster than his average batting partner, while de Villiers scores 17% faster than his average batting partner. When they’re not at the wicket, their team-mates manage about the same run output. In T20 chases, Kohli seems to prefer consistency (42, 132), while de Villiers seems to prefer power (36, 147).The ball-by-ball data enables the player’s run output from a given delivery to be compared to the required scoring rate as it was at the point when that ball was going to be bowled. For example, suppose 125 are needed in 100 balls and the player takes a single, leaving 124 required from 99. This would increase the asking rate by 0.003 runs per ball. If the batsman scored a boundary instead, it would reduce the asking rate by 0.004 runs per ball. In other words, the net improvement in the asking rate, from the batting team’s point of view would be -0.003 runs per ball in the first case. In the second, it would be +0.004 runs per ball. This net change is the scoring rate relative to the required rate for that ball; or, net scoring rate (NSR).The net scoring rate can be calculated for entire innings for each player. This is the aggregate scoring rate relative to the required rate for each ball of the player’s innings. It can also be summarised for each player for each over in a team’s run chase, and for the nth ball of the player’s innings. These are the two types of summaries that are considered in the remainder of this article. (In each summary, all deliveries available in the record in which up to six runs per ball were required before the delivery was bowled are included.)The graphs below provide three kinds of information. First, the grey bars provide the distribution of deliveries each player has faced in a given over in the innings during run chases. Second, they provide the player’s NSR in that over in the innings. Third, it gives the successively cumulative NSR. This is NSR as aggregated in each successive over. This cumulative figure provides a picture of a player’s approach in a given part of the run chase. Remember that when a player scores slower than the required rate, the NSR is negative. When a player scores faster than the required rate, the NSR is positive. And when a player scores at exactly the required rate, the NSR is zero.The evidence suggests that Kohli adopts a classical approach to ODI chases. Typically, he does not try to keep up with the asking rate in the first 25 overs of the chase. In the second half of the chase, he begins to catch up with the rate, and by the 37th over, his individual innings is typically proceeding at the required rate. In the final 10-12 overs of the chase, if Kohli is still at the wicket, he tends to be a law unto himself and the asking rate ceases to be a problem. He has to be dismissed or he ends up on the winning side.Kohli ODI run rate v required rate•Kartikeya Date/ESPNcricinfo LtdAB de Villiers is less conservative in the first 25 overs of the ODI run chase. He tends to stay abreast of the required rate for the most part, and about midway through the chasing innings, he tends to score at least as well as the required rate, if not better. However, as the chasing summary at the beginning of this article suggests, his approach is shaped, at least in part, by the relative lack of batting support at the other end compared to a player like Kohli in a strong batting team like India.ABD ODI run rate v required rate•Kartikeya DateIn ODI chases neither batsman appears to be daunted by the required rate. Each seems to be able to respond comfortably and make up ground whenever it is lost. In T20, it is a different story. Kohli tends to score about one run per over slower than the requirement during the first ten overs of a T20 chase. He faces anywhere between 2.5 to 3.4 balls per over in each of these overs, so on average, his NSR per ball is -0.321 during these 11 overs. For the next four overs, he scores at the required rate, but cumulatively he is still about ten runs behind the requirement at this stage. After the 15th over, he explodes, but by this time he’s making up lost ground, and on average, he does not make up enough to break even by the end of the chase.Kohli T20 run rate v required rate•Kartikeya DateBy contrast, while de Villiers also tends to score slower than the requirement in the early overs of a chase, he stays within about four runs of the requirement for the most part. Like Kohli, he also tends to score quickly after the 15th over, but he does not have as much ground to make up as Kohli does.It is worth noting here that while de Villiers’ average innings in a T20 run chase lasts 24 balls per dismissal, Kohli’s average innings in a T20 chase lasts 32 balls per dismissal. So de Villiers is more likely than Kohli to be dismissed within the first 15 overs of a chase. Having said that, when this happens, his average contribution to the chase tends to have left his team-mates with less ground to make up than in Kohli’s case.Seen in the context of a traditional cricketing conversation (in which dismissal is always a bad thing for the batsman and the batting team), Kohli is more conservative than de Villiers. However, seen from the logic of T20, Kohli could be said to take bigger risks than de Villiers because he tends to allow himself (and by extension, his team) to fall further behind the requirements of the chase for larger parts of the chase compared to de Villiers.ABD T20 run rate v required rate•Kartikeya DateSo far we have seen how these two players perform in different parts of the chasing innings. In the next part, we will see how their innings take shape. Note that in the case of the ODI record, the charts are limited to the first 100 balls of each player’s innings. The T20 charts show the full length of each player’s innings. Among the innings for which the record is available, de Villiers’ longest innings in a T20 chase lasted 50 balls, while Kohli’s longest innings in a T20 chase lasted 61 balls.In his average ODI chasing innings, Kohli spends the first 12 balls without any concern for the required rate and allows himself to fall behind the requirement – on average, he falls about three runs behind the required rate. He keeps up with the required rate without making up ground for the next 28-30 balls. Typically, after his 40th delivery he begins to make up lost ground, and by his 60th, he has caught up. After his 60th delivery he’s unstoppable. On average, Kohli survives 71 balls per innings in chases. His average contribution in a run chase has an NSR of +1.7. Even considering that he plays in an Indian ODI batting line-up, and those tend to be strong, this is an astonishing record, especially given the length of his average innings in an ODI run chase.Kohli ODI chases relative run rate•Kartikeya DateAs is the case with Kohli, the required rate in an ODI chase is almost never an issue for de Villiers. He is marginally more aggressive than Kohli and his average innings in a chase lasts 63 balls compared to Kohli’s 71. By his 63rd delivery, de Villiers’ NSR is +5.0. And yet, de Villiers played in 64 wins and 43 defeats in ODI chases, while Kohli (at the time of writing) has played in 88 wins and 45 defeats in ODI chases.This adds to evidence that chases are won by teams and not individual players. One is left with the tantalising possibility that perhaps de Villiers might have profited from adopting a more conservative approach in chases. If he managed 63 balls per innings while achieving an NSR of +5.0, how much more consistent would he have been had he shaped his innings in ODI chases in the way Kohli did? Against this, the fact that de Villiers had less support at the other end (average 37, strike rate 81) compared to Kohli (44, 87) has to be considered. This put greater scoreboard pressure on de Villiers.ABD ODI chases relative run rate•Kartikeya DateIn T20 chases Kohli’s approach appears similar to that in ODI chases. He starts slowly (relative to the required rate), falling about four runs behind the required rate over his first ten balls. Over his next 20 balls (11-30), he falls a further two runs behind the required rate. From the 31st delivery in his average innings, Kohli begins to make up lost ground. He reaches a positive NSR only after his 50th delivery on average. In the average ODI chase, recall that it takes Kohli 60 balls to reach a positive NSR on average. In a 300-ball chase, this makes Kohli a phenomenal chaser. In a 120-ball chase, it makes him a highly risky chaser. Kohli’s average innings in a T20 chase lasts 32 balls, by which time, on average he has a -5.8 NSR.Kohli T20 chases relative run rate•Kartikeya DateBy contrast, de Villiers is largely untroubled by the daunting required rates in T20. His average innings in a T20 chase lasts 24 balls per dismissal, and on average he stays within 2.3 runs of the required rate at all times (his NSR never drops below -2.2). By his 16th ball, de Villiers begins to score quicker than the requirement, and by his 30th he is above the requirement. This approach is less risky for de Villiers’ team’s prospects than Kohli’s approach because even when de Villiers fails (which occurs more often than with Kohli), it happens sooner rather than later, and it leaves his team with less ground to make up compared to Kohli.The comparison suggests that Kohli tends to treat T20 games as abbreviated ODI chases, while de Villiers is not only naturally more aggressive than Kohli but also far more capable of tailoring his approach to the requirements of the chase than Kohli is. Kohli does not get out as often as de Villiers. This makes Kohli very consistent from a conventional cricketing standpoint. It also makes him extremely reliable in moderately steep T20 chases (typically, those involving targets below 165).ABD T20 chases relative run rate•Kartikeya DateOne commonly heard refrain about Kohli is that he averages 50 in all three formats. This is neither here nor there. The average is irrelevant in the T20 game. As Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde show in their excellent book , a characteristic feature of the first decade of T20 cricket was the inability of batsmen brought up on longer forms of the game to learn to value their wickets less in T20 than they were trained to do in the longer forms of the game. Sachin Tendulkar never fully made this shift. It is not surprising that the best T20 batsmen tend to be players who have not had distinguished careers in international cricket (either Test or ODI). de Villiers remains the solitary exception. Kohli’s record shows that perhaps he values his wicket excessively in T20.Why does Kohli approach his T20 innings in this way? If the above record can be seen from publicly available data, it is unlikely that the sophisticated analytics departments in India’s national team or in Kohli’s IPL franchise are unaware that a conventional conservative batting approach is a highly risky approach in T20.Does capability shape approach? Or are Kohli’s choices tactical? There is some evidence to suggest that Kohli can, at times, hit boundaries at will. After the 15th over of T20 innings (this is not restricted to chases), Kohli hits 27% of his deliveries to the boundary, compared to 26% for de Villiers. de Villiers hits a higher proportion of sixes compared to Kohli. Kohli’s average boundary is worth 4.7 runs, while de Villiers’ is worth 5.2 runs in this period. During the first 15 overs of a T20 innings, de Villiers hits 17% of his deliveries to the boundary, while Kohli hits 14% to the boundary. This gives de Villiers a scoring rate of 138 runs per 100 balls faced during his first 15 overs compared to 124 for Kohli.In the first ten balls of his innings, de Villiers hits 16% of his deliveries to the boundary, compared to 13% for Kohli. From the 11th to the 20th ball, de Villiers manages 19%, compared to 16% for Kohli. After 20 balls, de Villiers hits 24% to the boundary to Kohli’s 18%. While it is clear that there are parts of the innings when Kohli can find the boundary at will, these periods tend to occur not only late in T20 innings but also late in Kohli’s innings. Whether this is a matter of approach or capability is an open question. The evidence does suggest that Kohli might try to play T20 differently in the new decade compared to how he did in the 2010s.In conclusion, consider where Kohli and de Villiers sit among the 20 most prolific batsmen in T20 chases. Note that in the table below the NSR and balls faced are given per innings and not per dismissal. REQ SR gives the average required scoring rate facing the player in a T20 chase. SR gives the player’s scoring rate.

'Such records can motivate you to work harder on your game' – Cheteshwar Pujara

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Cheteshwar Pujara on why his 50th first-class century is special – especially in light of India’s upcoming tour of New Zealand

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jan-2020Cheteshwar Pujara joined an elite list of cricketers when he brought up his 50th first-class century on Saturday, the first day of the Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka in Rajkot. He finished unbeaten on 162 to help Saurashtra gain control after Karnataka picked up two early wickets.Pujara’s record comes about a month before India’s tour of New Zealand – a significant one, as a win there could leave them within touching distance of the inaugural World Test Championship final in June 2021. In a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Pujara talks about the landmark and why it is special.Were you aware of this landmark when you brought up your century?Actually I wasn’t, but before this season there was an article on ESPNcricinfo only – at that time I was close to the 50th first-class ton. But after that I forgot. To be honest, when I scored this hundred I did not really remember that.This is your fourth match this Ranji season. You scored two half-centuries in the previous matches (against Uttar Pradesh and Railways). And this is your first century, so you should be happy about the way you have started the new season?Yes, I would say so. All the first three matches had outright results. The first two games, in fact, finished in three days itself. So we were playing on challenging pitches, but I still felt I was batting well. Even in the last game against Uttar Pradesh, I was in good touch, so I knew that there was a big one coming soon. Even against Bangladesh, in both the Tests I got fifties. But you want to convert the fifties into a big one and today I was able to do that. It is the right time actually – we are going to New Zealand soon so it is good for the preparation. Whenever you score runs, you are high on confidence and you also get back your rhythm.You have always maintained you play for the joy of the game rather than records. But this record must still mean something special to you considering you are now part of a select list of players to have achieved this feat?It does feel special. It’s a proud moment, although you don’t want to look too much into your stats. At least while you are playing. Because even when I am batting I am hardly aware if I am nearing the 50 or 100. I actually don’t even remember the number of Test matches I have played and the number of runs I have scored. When someone else is discussing it, you come to know.At times [such records] also motivate you to work harder on your game. You start trusting your game even more because not many players have achieved this feat. You know that you have some talent, and you need to keep working on your game and continue doing the same things. And when such moments come in your career you feel, yes, for whatever you have done in the past you have got the results, and then there are the stats you can look at.ESPNcricinfo LtdA healthy number of your first-class centuries have come in domestic cricket. The importance of domestic cricket cannot be ruled out, isn’t it?Not at all. I am a believer that a player, before making [their] debut, should play enough domestic games before being given an opportunity in the Test team. I strongly believe that our first-class cricket is competitive and the guys who have scored runs in Ranji Trophy, for example Hanuma Vihari and Mayank [Agarwal] – these guys were ready when they got their opportunity [to play Test cricket]. The same applies to a bowler as well. Take [Shahbaz] Nadeem – he was ready for the international level. Playing Ranji Trophy and performing there should be appreciated and that is the process BCCI is following.You are 31, there definitely must be a lot of cricket left in you. Will this record perhaps inspire you to keep going in domestic cricket once you are done with Tests?Yes, it would. But your priority is always to play Test cricket as much as possible. It is still a long way to go. Luckily I am young and I still love playing this format. Times are changing and white-ball cricket has become popular. But Test cricket is always special and it will always remain special. And let us hope it continues for as much time as possible.How important is this record to you coming on the eve of an overseas tour (New Zealand)?There is no right [or wrong] time, but yes, I would say it is always the right time when you are going abroad or if a big match is coming up. If you achieve such a thing before such tours, you feel confident and you start trusting your game again. That is because when you are going abroad and you are playing in challenging conditions, you need to trust your game, trust your preparation. And when something like this happens then you know that you need to continue doing whatever you have done in the past. And maybe work a little harder. It gives me the confidence that if I can do well in first-class cricket, then I can do it in any form of cricket. I’ve still got a lot in me, I still am young and I still have a lot to achieve in my career.Virat Kohli is eventually going to set a number of records and cricketers, in the future, will be looking to chase that. Do you think he will he catch up with your first-class century count?He hasn’t played too many first-class games so you can’t even compare [our first-class records]. But he has achieved at the highest level and in all formats of the game, which is always higher than the first-class level. I mean if he has scored many tons at international level, it is always a proud moment. You can’t compare first-class records with ODI tons or even Test match centuries – [taking that into account] he is way ahead when you compare with other players.

Has anyone taken more than Bob Willis' 325 wickets without a ten-for?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Also, who did Steven Smith beat to become the fastest to 7000 runs?

Steven Lynch10-Dec-2019I noticed that Bob Willis, who has sadly passed away, took 325 Test wickets without ever taking ten in a match. Has anyone taken more than that? asked Juan Castro from Argentina
The much missed Bob Willis is indeed top of this particular list. His best match figures in Tests were 9 for 92, against New Zealand at Headingley in 1983. At Headingley in 1981, when he pulled off that sensational 8 for 43 in the second innings to complete the come-from-behind win against Australia, he’d managed only 0 for 72 in the first.Two other bowlers have taken 300 Test wickets without ever recording a ten-for: Brett Lee collected 310 and Morne Morkel 309. Jacques Kallis was not far short with 292. Nine others reached 200 without ever taking ten in a match.In Adelaide, Muhammad Musa remained unbeaten in both innings of his first Test. How many others have done this? asked Siddharth Gupte from India
The 19-year-old Pakistan seamer Muhammad Musa, who made 12 not out and 4 not out against Australia in Adelaide last week, was actually the 67th player to remain not out in both innings of his first Test, as this list shows. The 66th was Senuran Muthusamy, for South Africa against India in Visakhapatnam a few weeks earlier.The most runs scored while achieving this is 178, by another Pakistani, Azhar Mahmood, who marked his debut, against South Africa in Rawalpindi in 1997-98, with unbeaten innings of 128 and 50. Jackie Grant of West Indies (against Australia in Adelaide in 1930-31) and Australia’s Albert Trott (v England in Adelaide in 1894-95) both scored more than 100 runs on debut in two undefeated innings. At the other end of the scale, 11 men started with a pair of 0 not outs.Apparently Steven Smith became the fastest to 7000 Test runs at Adelaide. Whose record did he beat? asked Matthew Clarke from England
Steven Smith breezed past 7000 Test runs against Pakistan in Adelaide last week, during his 126th innings, in his 70th Test. Both figures are records. England’s Wally Hammond reached 7000 in 131 innings, although that came in his 80th Test. Virender Sehwag and Garry Sobers got there one match quicker, in 79, although it took them more innings.It’s probably worth reminding everyone that Don Bradman fell a boundary short of 7000 runs, his 6996 runs coming in 80 innings (46 fewer than Smith), and 52 matches.Steven Smith’s 7000th run came in his 126th innings, in his 70th Test – a record on both counts•Getty ImagesLast week’s column mentioned HM Thurlow, who did not score a run, take a wicket or make a catch in his only Test match. Was this unique? asked Ibrahim Kamara from Malaysia
The Queensland fast bowler “Pud” Thurlow, whose most memorable contribution to his one and only Test match, against South Africa in Adelaide in 1931-32, was getting run out to leave Don Bradman stranded on 299, was by no means the only man to make no impression on the scorecard in his solitary appearance.Rather surprisingly, perhaps, in all, there have been 20 men who failed to score a run, take a wicket or make a catch or stumping in their only Test match. The first name on the list, Emile McMaster of England in 1888-89, was playing what turned out to be his only first-class match.The two most recent occurrences were both in 1999: in March, Lincoln Roberts from Tobago made one unproductive appearance for West Indies, against Australia in Kingston, while in November Gavin Hamilton – called up by England after a productive World Cup for Scotland – failed to trouble the scorers against South Africa in Johannesburg. Not long before that, in 1997-98, seamer Paul Wilson – now a Test umpire – made one appearance for Australia, against India in Kolkata.Has anyone been captain on their Test debut, apart obviously from a team’s own first match? asked Kashif Latif from Pakistan
This has happened 22 times in all now (list includes those who captained in a country’s inaugural Test). It was quite a frequent occurrence in the early days of Test cricket, when teams were often not chosen by a central selection committee but by representatives connected to the ground where the match was being played. In West Indies’ first home series in 1929-30, for example, the captain in each of the four Tests was chosen from the island staging the game – and two of them had not played a Test before.Since the Second World War there have been only four instances of a player captaining in his first Test. Two of them date from the days when a suitable amateur might be plucked from county cricket to captain England on tour: Middlesex’s George Mann skippered on his debut, against South Africa in Durban in 1948-49, as did Lancashire’s Nigel Howard, against India in Delhi in 1951-52.Tony Lewis of Glamorgan captained England on his Test debut, against India, also in Delhi, in 1972-73, while most recently Lee Germon took charge of New Zealand in his first Test, against India in Bangalore in 1995-96.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

New England find value in old virtues as Dom Sibley proves worth

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On the ground where Trevor Bayliss set out his preference for an “attacking” top order, Dom Sibley knuckled down

George Dobell at Newlands05-Jan-2020On the ground where Trevor Bayliss laid out his “attacking” template for England’s Test team, Dom Sibley provided the counter argument for the new-look sideIt was here, almost exactly four years ago, that Bayliss spelt out how he wanted his team to play. A methodology that was, by and large, to characterise his period as coach.”Ultimately, I’d like to see two of the top three guys as attacking-style batters,” Bayliss said. “I just think if you have a couple of attacking guys up the top it puts pressure on the opposition a lot easier. If you’ve got three who don’t necessarily get on with it you can be half-an-hour before lunch at 0 for 30, you happen to lose two and it’s 2 for 30 two hours in. If you’ve got guys who can play their strokes and get on with the game, if you lose a couple before lunch you’re 80, 90 or 100.”ALSO READ: Burns doubtful for SL, may require ankle surgeryEngland had a couple of obdurate top-order players at the time. And while one of them, Alastair Cook, was established enough to continue to play the way he knew best, the other one, Nick Compton, seemed unsettled by the comments. In subsequent Tests, he looked ever more skittish as he attempted to show there was more to his game than resistance. Of his four innings immediately after Bayliss’ statement, he was caught at mid-on or midwicket on three occasions as he tried to clear the in-field. You could probably make a half-decent case that Compton was ruined by such talk.But those days have gone. Now, an England side stung by years of batting collapse have a greater appreciation for the old-fashioned values of crease occupation and careful accumulation. And in Sibley they have a master of the art.Sibley’s greatest strengths are probably his patience and his discipline. For while his partner, Zak Crawley, started brightly with five fours in the first 10 overs, he was soon lured into driving at a wide one resulting in an edge to the keeper.Sibley, who had just 3 at the time, preferred to leave such balls. Indeed, 31 of the 34 balls he faced from Vernon Philander were scoreless. And while there were moments when the bowlers had their heads in their hands as deliveries seemed to pass agonisingly close to the off stump, Sibley knew what he was doing. Frustrated by his refusal to be drawn into anything outside off stump, the bowlers started to aim ever straighter only to see him pick them off his legs. After 49 overs, he had scored 44 runs. But, as the bowlers tired – and they did seem to wilt to a surprising degree in the final session – and the ball softened, he started to take advantage.He had, to this point in his Test career, failed to do himself justice. Perhaps due to nerves, perhaps forced into shots beyond his comfort zone by the quality of the bowling, he had been lured into a couple of unworthy dismissals, not least edging an attempted defensive stroke off the spin of Mitchell Santner in New Zealand

After working with Gary Palmer, Sibley made six centuries in nine first-class innings and was the only man in Division One of the 2019 Championship to score 1000 runs

But there were signs that this innings was coming. He had helped Rory Burns add 52 for the opening wicket in Mount Maunganui and then 92 in Centurion and, while he had not gone on to register a significant personal score, he had achieved one aspect of his role: seeing the shine off the new ball and, in theory, making life easier for the middle order.He will have come on for this performance, too. He has proved, to himself as much as anyone else, that he can contribute at this level. And, on the day we learned that Burns is likely to miss five Tests with his ankle injury, Sibley has probably earned himself a sustained run in the side.He showed, also, that he was not limited to leg-side scoring as had been suggested by some after his early performances. While he is, without doubt, strong off his legs and hips, there were two cover drives, both off Kagiso Rabada but one off front and the other off the back foot, as well as a series of cuts when Keshav Maharaj dropped short that demonstrated a wider range of stroke than had previously been apparent. By stumps, he had scored more than half his runs – 43 out of 85 – through the off side.Any pressure there may have been on him to accelerate was alleviated by the innings of Joe Root. England’s captain was inventive, producing an array of sweeps, both conventional and reverse, to prevent Maharaj, the spinner, from emulating the fine job performed by Dom Bess the previous day. While England’s middle order contains such strokemakers as Root, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes – and while Tests are scheduled for five days – there is no reason a batsman like Sibley should not perform a valuable role for England.When the story of Sibley’s career is written, it may well be the intervention of Gary Palmer that is seen as a turning point. Palmer, a freelance batting coach, encouraged him to open his stance a little and, as a consequence, improved both his balance and his ability to play straighter. At the time, in September 2018, he was averaging 19.26 for the season. Afterwards he made six centuries in nine first-class innings and was the only man in Division One of the 2019 Championship season to reach the 1000-run landmark. He eventually finished with 1,324.Dominic Sibley and Hashim Amla put on 236 for the third wicket•PA PhotosIn truth, he was always a talented player. He scored heavily for England Under-19s – he made a century against a South Africa attack including Rabada on tour here in 2013 – and, as an 18-year-old playing his third game for Surrey, became the youngest English player to score a first-class double-century. He made no secret of his admiration for his team-mate at the time, Hashim Amla, and once posted 236 against Yorkshire with him. There were times here when Sibley’s patience and calm at the crease were a little reminiscent of Amla. And there’s not much higher praise than that,There’s another aspect to this. A batsman like Sibley also gives England’s bowlers the hope of a little more respite. So while the South Africa attack – the relentlessly hostile Anrich Nortje aside – seemed noticeably less potent than in the first innings, England’s should have been given a little more time to recover.The upshot of all this is that England have an excellent chance of achieving their first Test win in Cape Town since 1957. The lead is already 264 and there is plenty of time to come.The bowlers may have to work hard in South Africa’s second innings, though. The cracks in the pitch have not opened as anticipated – perhaps due to the relatively cool weather in Cape Town at present – and it may be that this surfaces flattens out rather than deteriorates. More cool weather is forecast for Monday.It may also be the South Africa attack is weary. Their batsmen gave them little time to recover after the first innings and this Test has followed hot on the heels of the first. It may yet prove that England’s bowlers, given a total to defend and time to recover by Sibley, can find a bit more life in the surface.Either way, this has been an encouraging innings. And if it leads to a rare overseas win, it may encourage this new England into pursuing this more patient, disciplined style.

Craig Cumming named head coach of the Blaze

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Craig Cumming, the former New Zealand batter, has been appointed as head coach of the Blaze for their first season affiliated to Nottinghamshire as part of the Tier 1 women’s domestic structure.Cumming has enjoyed success in his home country with Otago Sparks, leading them to two 50-over Hallyburton Johnstone titles in four years. He will arrive in the UK in the new year, after the conclusion of the Super Smash T20 competition.”I feel very humbled and privileged to be selected as head coach of the Blaze,” Cumming said.”I know some of the players and staff already, and have visited the team while in the UK over the last couple of years, so I know that everyone works to the highest standards. But most importantly, I know that I’m joining a brilliant group of people, both on and off the field.”I can’t wait to be part of this wonderful team, and I’m ambitious to help deliver more of the success they have had in the past couple of seasons.”Cumming’s appointment comes after Chris Guest, who coached the Blaze to their first piece of silverware in last season’s Charlotte Edwards Cup, left to take charge of England Women Under-19s.Blaze director of cricket, James Cutt, said: “Craig’s success as a coach speaks for itself. In a relatively short period of time, Craig has had a significant impact at Otago, who have been a pre-eminent force in New Zealand women’s cricket in the past few years. I’m excited to see how we can evolve under his leadership.”Guesty’s departure gave us an opportunity to look at how we could move forward from a position of strength, having put together such a strong record over the past two summers.”We conducted an exhaustive, global search to find the best candidate, and – amongst some very strong applicants – Craig’s credentials and pedigree were the most compelling.”There’s an exciting summer ahead for us, with an expanded fixture list and a squad with a blend of young talent and international experience, and I’m sure Craig’s fresh perspective will be a huge asset.”

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