Why Australia could have the advantage in the World Test Championship final

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

It ought to have been a clash of equals, but the unavailability of key players for India could hobble them

Ian Chappell21-May-2023Two staunch rivals in India and Australia will compete in the prestigious World Test championship final at The Oval next month.As it should be, this is a hard match to predict. That’s mainly because of injury concerns and neither team having played a Test since completing a hard-fought series earlier this year. To make matters even more difficult, many of the players involved have only competed in the IPL in the lead-up to the one-off Test.While this may not seem to be the ideal preparation, it’s worth recalling the opinion of former England batter Ravi Bopara. In 2009, Bopara went from the fledgling IPL into a Test series against West Indies and reckoned he was ideally prepared because T20 got his feet moving and put him in a positive frame of mind.Related

What India, England and Australia can learn from MS Dhoni as a big Test summer begins

Too much cricket? Yes, but Labuschagne gets his 'routine and rhythm' from it

Winners of WTC final between Australia and India to take home US$ 1.6 million

Rahane returns to India Test squad for WTC final

India become the No. 1 ranked team ahead of World Test Championship final

Heft was given to that view because Bopara reeled off successive Test centuries. The modern cricketer regularly has to adapt, going from one format to another, so Bopara’s theory should be even more applicable.Therefore expect the players, especially the batters, to be ready for the Test. It’s up to the bowlers to prepare specifically for the longer spells required in the five-day format.If Australia’s classy pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are available, that makes them slight favourites. They are good bowlers any time, but England in early June should be right up their alley. Nevertheless, an Indian pace attack containing Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav is also strong and only just behind the Australian trio in wicket-taking capability.Mental strength will play a huge part in this Test. The team that displays the most resilience is likely to win as long as the contest is not unduly affected by bad weather. Being able to maintain a decent line and length under attack is now mandatory in the tougher series, and a fully fit Australian attack should benefit if the opposition are overzealous.

The injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant badly affect India. They would be outright favourites with these two playing

Therefore much will depend on how the batters treat the talented opposing pace attacks. Australia rely heavily on Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja’s big scoring ability but the enigmatic David Warner shouldn’t be overlooked. Despite his struggles in England, Warner is a dangerous player because he can score quickly. If he gets a start, India need to be wary because of the danger Warner presents.On the Indian side Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are a handful because they have enjoyed success in Test cricket. Their job will be tough against a strong Australian attack.The Australian bowlers also need to pay careful attention to Shubman Gill. He tends to play with no fear and has a stroke-making mentality, which will not change even on this momentous occasion. If he is allowed the freedom to score quickly and hit boundaries, Gill will be a headache for Australia.One selection dilemma for India will be Ajinkya Rahane. Judging by the current squad, Rahane is likely to play, which means he will largely be relying on past form against Australia. If he plays, he will help in the slips to the spinners, as he is easily India’s best catcher in that position.India have an advantage in spin bowling because of Ravindra Jadeja’s ability to bat in the top six, which allows them the luxury of including the efficient R Ashwin. While Nathan Lyon is a good bowler, he will be Australia’s sole spinner. However, this shouldn’t be detrimental in England, as allrounder Cameron Green’s genuine pace is well suited to the conditions.The injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant badly affect India, as they would be outright favourites with these two playing. The somewhat surprising unavailability of allrounder Hardik Pandya also harms India, as he could have provided them with the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle.With the match being played under English conditions, this slightly favours the strong Australian pace attack. However, as Bopara showed, you should never underestimate the value of IPL preparation for batters.

From Andhra Pradesh to Auckland to Amsterdam – Teja Nidamanuru's journey to the World Cup

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The Netherlands batter talks about living alone since he was 16, and how a call out of the blue changed the trajectory of his life

Shashank Kishore26-Sep-2023The smell of tomato (a type of dal) elicits a child-like excitement in Teja Nidamanuru. He has had a long day of training in Bengaluru, surprisingly hot for late August, and is craving spicy Indian food for dinner. It’s a giveaway to where in India his roots are.Nidamanuru, 29, comes from Vijayawada in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, known for the heat of its cuisine, and is currently in the country to represent Netherlands at the World Cup. When he takes the field in their tournament opener against Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 6, his family will be watching him play for the first time.His maternal grandmother, who he says has promised to make him loads of , will be among those in attendance. It will herald a new chapter in an eventful journey that has taken him to Auckland, Amsterdam and Harare.On a hot June afternoon in the Zimbabwean capital at the World Cup Qualifiers earlier this year, he unleashed carnage on West Indies’ bowlers, scoring a 76-ball 111 from No. 5 – the fastest ODI hundred for Netherlands – to help his side force a tie in their steep chase of 375, before Logan van Beek’s heroics in the Super Over sealed a sensational win to all but confirm their World Cup ticket.Related

  • 'I was trying to study Kuldeep, even on the bus in' – Teja Nidamanuru and Netherlands' learnings never stop

  • Teja Nidamanuru hopes World Cup success paves way for more bilaterals and Euro T20 league

  • Netherlands keep their SOUL intact despite World Cup reality check

  • Netherlands have the spunk, but do they have the steel?

  • Orange is the new pack: Netherlands add a bit of joy to pre-World Cup camp

“It’s surreal to even just be sitting here and talking of playing in a World Cup,” Nidamanuru says as he sips piping hot . In part that might be because moving to Netherlands wasn’t part of his plan when he first arrived in the country in the summer of 2019 to play club cricket.Nidamanuru had been living in Auckland, a city he moved to as an six-year-old when his mother took up a job there as a dialysis technician. After school he completed a double major in sports management and marketing, while also playing cricket.He made his List A debut for Auckland in 2018, having played age-group cricket alongside current New Zealand internationals Mark Chapman, Colin Munro, Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Phillips. But when Nidamanuru couldn’t break into the ranks of New Zealand’s domestically contracted players, he looked for opportunities elsewhere. That was when an agent helped him sign with the Kampong Cricket Club in Utrecht.”I’d finished my six-month stint in Utrecht and was in India on a short visit to see family en route to Auckland when I received a call that changed my life,” Nidamanuru says.”It was from someone I’d met through a common connection. I later found out he was an amateur club cricketer who I’d played against in Amsterdam. He happened to be the CEO of a company called StrateX. During a casual conversation after one of our games, I’d told him of my education background and where I come from. He’d asked for my CV and I’d sent it over to him out of courtesy.”So here he was now on the phone, and he’s like, ‘Are you happy to work in Netherlands?’ I had been exploring different avenues since I wasn’t a contracted domestic cricketer in New Zealand, so I said yes, ditched my onward journey to New Zealand and booked a flight back to Amsterdam once my work papers came through.”Nidamanuru’s innings against West Indies in the World Cup Qualifiers was the fastest ODI hundred by a Netherlands batter•Johan Rynners/ICC/Getty ImagesIt’s a strange quirk of fate in a way that a skilled worker visa, and not a sports visa, has helped Nidamanuru fuel his cricket dream in the Netherlands. Work, he says, was an outlet to give himself a safety net and secure himself financially before he went back to cricket.”Now I’ve gained valuable experience in a start-up environment, having worn multiple hats,” he says. “It’s given me life experience.”It’s nothing related to sports marketing, but it is only because of my educational degree that I’ve made my way into the Dutch team. Once I got a taste of it, I thought, ‘Maybe I can play international cricket.’ The road to it has been hard but today, it feels worth it.”Nidamanuru gets teary reminiscing about the sacrifices his mother made for the family. “My mum’s had a tough life. She brought me up as a single mother, but because of her own challenges, she returned to India. I’ve been living in New Zealand on my own from the age of 16.”I had to mature at a very young age. I was sharing a flat with someone at the age of 16, paying my own bills, I had a part-time job. I had to find a way to survive. Fortunately, I had friends who were like family. Had they not insisted I study, I wouldn’t be here.”Nidamanuru qualified for Netherlands selection in May last year, and he struck an impressive half-century on debut in an ODI against West Indies. In the period between settling in the country and trying to fulfil qualification criteria, he made his way up to the premier division, where a hundred against a team coached by former Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar turned heads.An emotional Nidamanuru celebrates Netherlands’ Super Over win against West Indies•ICC via Getty Images”After that game, I spoke to Pieter of a desire to play for Netherlands if an opportunity came up,” Nidamanuru says. “He spoke to Ryan Campbell [head coach at the time] and got me involved with the group. He invited me for winter training in 2021, where I played alongside Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Max O’Dowd, who I knew from New Zealand as he’d also migrated there with his family when he was young. In a way, I knew most of the guys before my senior team debut, so that helped.”As his cricket took off, Nidamanuru found himself having to juggle work, which invariably led to long days, sometimes lasting 16 or 17 hours. He says a laptop is his companion at all times. It’s even present on our table during the interview.Two months ago the Netherlands Cricket Board (KNCB) offered him an opportunity to work in administration for them. That has allowed him “better balance”, he says, for the board understands the effort that goes into training to play international cricket. He currently has two contracts: a playing retainer, and another for his administrative job, which enables him to live in Netherlands.”In Netherlands currently, there are just three of them who make a living out of the game,” he says. “I’m on a summer contract as far as my cricket goes, which offers a retainer for five months. It covers fuel expenses, travel and a few meals, but isn’t enough to make a living. That’s why a lot of Dutch guys go to England to play county cricket. Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann, de Leede – they all have contracts.”Cricket in Netherlands needs a boost, the structures need to grow. I’ve now come on board to lead their cricket performance, look at things from a strategic aspect and develop strategies to grow the sport, develop pathways and work alongside the high-performance manager and CEOs. Being a player gives me an overview of everything – it allows me to contribute in different ways.””It is only because of my educational degree that I’ve made my way into the Dutch team. Once I got a taste of it, I thought, ‘Maybe I can play international cricket'”•Albert Perez/ICC/Getty ImagesOn the field, Nidamanuru swears by a philosophy called S.O.U.L, which he believes is slowly becoming the team’s World Cup buzzword. “It stands for: Selflessness, Ownership, Unity, Learning. All of us are as passionate about the game, as you guys are in India or anywhere else.”You may call it Associate cricket, [but] for us, it’s as important a game as we’ll ever play. In Associate cricket, something is always on the line when we play, whether it’s a qualifier or a bilateral. That’s the type of culture we’ve tried to create over the past year, from the T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. We’re very proud of how everyone works with the little resources we have. We’ve been able to achieve significant results despite that, and we want to do it more consistently now.”Nidamanuru’s immediate goal is the World Cup, for which he’s been “training like mad”. Indulgences, like gorging on rich Indian food, as he is when we speak, are rare. He draws inspiration from the physical regimen of players like Virat Kohli. “That kind of commitment is the difference between good and great, I guess,” he says.”I’m ready to do anything in my capacity to help Netherlands win. I definitely want to go out and have a World Cup to remember. I hope it’s the start of something big in Netherlands. We’ve also made it through to the T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA next year. It just shows how much one can achieve with commitment.”As we wind up our chat, Nidamanuru is offered a tempting assortment of desserts by the restaurant staff. “Nah, I’m good, thanks,” he says.”Discipline, discipline! I’m staying back in India after the World Cup to visit family back in Vijayawada. I’ll gorge on them then. For now, I can’t wait to get started.”

Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc bust a gut for the cause but Australia's over-reliance is telling

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Boland and Murphy struggle for impact, as England stay alive in yet another cliffhanger

Andrew McGlashan09-Jul-2023The margins of this series have been so tight that as Mitchell Starc, who had an outstanding Test at Headingley, ran in to bowl at England’s lower order, it was still possible to envisage him winning the game with three yorkers.Instead, Mark Wood played probably the shot of his career as he drilled a cover drive towards the Western Terrace. England suddenly needed seven to win. That shot was followed by a wide and a two out to deep point. Four to win.Then Wood got a top-edge that flew towards deep third. It looked like Scott Boland’s catch coming off the rope but Alex Carey – who has had an interesting couple of weeks but has been largely faultless with the gloves all series – ran after it, dived and couldn’t quite get there.By the standards that had preceded them, therefore, the countdown for those final three runs was almost sedate, although Woakes’ square-drive for the winning boundary – to the opposite side of the ground from Ben Stokes’ famous cut for four four years ago – sent the crowd into familiar scenes of delirium.Having come out on the right side of close finishes in the first two Tests, this time it went against Australia. As with Edgbaston and Lord’s there were so many moments, and small passages of play, that can be picked out as making the difference, but ultimately two had a huge bearing on Australia not quite having enough runs to play with.They had reduced England 142 for 7 at lunch on the second day but then leaked 95 runs in the next 10 overs. Then, batting under sunshine that evening, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith managed to hand their wickets to Moeen Ali when Australia’s lead was approaching 100. Conditions were tricky for batters throughout, on what was a top-notch Test surface, but with Usman Khawaja also being extracted in that period, it meant Australia were four-down when play eventually resumed under leaden skies on the third evening.Mitchell Starc trapped Ben Duckett lbw early on day four•AFP/Getty Images”Mitch [Marsh] got us back in the game and Travis [Head],” Pat Cummins said. “Then we lost 6 for 20. The next day their tail put on a good partnership with Stokes. Then [we were] ahead of the game batting on in sunlight on day two and probably missed that opportunity. [We had] various opportunities, but another great Test match.”In the end 251 was something to play with and, at times, it looked like it could be enough, especially when Joe Root and Ben Stokes both fell to leg-side catches and Jonny Bairstow dragged on to a big drive. But this time England did not need their heroic captain to get them over the line.When reviewing Australia’s overall performance, one element that stands out is how much they leant on Starc and Pat Cummins in the attack. England tend not to bat for long, but they bowled 63 of the 102 overs that Australia sent down in the match, taking 14 of the 17 wickets.Mitchell Marsh was handy with the ball on his Test return after his spectacular century on the first day, but Australia’s attack did not have the depth of earlier in the series. They overcame Nathan Lyon’s absence at Lord’s but here it felt very significant on the final day. Todd Murphy was given one over before lunch then another with 30 runs needed; it’s hard to believe that Lyon would not have had a more central role, even in conditions favouring the quicks.Murphy is a fine young spin bowler who should have a long career, but when Lyon’s calf went on the second after at Lord’s it felt like a major moment in the series. It could still be.”[It was] mainly just conditions-based,” Cummins said of Murphy’s lack of overs. “Didn’t quite spin as much as we thought it would. And [we] probably didn’t bowl as many overs as we thought we would as well. We bowled under 60 both innings. I would have liked to get Toddy into the game a bit more. But I’m sure next week in Manchester will be a bit more spin-friendly.”Related

What happens next? Recapping the crazy men's Ashes

Starc okay with high economy to make high impact

Wood's pace leaves Australia a new challenge

Old Trafford Test: can Australia fit in both Marsh and Green? What about Warner?

Ben Stokes: Headingley win is 'just the start' for England

Allied to that was Scott Boland’s wicketless match, with England’s batters once again scoring relatively freely from him, albeit not at the rate of Edgbaston where he went at nearly six-an-over. He has often bowled better than his figures suggest but being able to largely nullify Boland – except for the evening session under clouds at Edgbaston – has been one of England’s successes. His series now reads 2 for 231 from 47 overs, a far cry from his 18 wickets at 9.55 in the 2021-22 Ashes.Josh Hazlewood was rotated out for this match and he would likely have been a handful on this surface. As the runs required dipped into the 40s, Cummins gave Marsh another brief spell after he’d been effective after a ball-change earlier in the innings while Murphy’s one-over return cost seven. Once again, it was all on Cummins and Starc.The pair combined for Harry Brook’s wicket although there was almost a collision in the covers as both converged on the big top-edge. At that point 21 runs were still needed as Wood walked out to join Woakes. Two balls into the next over, Murphy pulled off a spectacular save at deep square leg, palming the back inside the field to Labuschagne while mid-air. Four runs conceded became one.Given the way this series has played out, it was the sort of moment that, even then, might have made the difference. But off the next ball Wood hooked Cummins for six. This time it was England who had enough.As in 2019, Australia came to Headingley knowing a win would retain the Ashes. This time it would also have given them a first series win in England since 2001. They have two more chances. For now history remains on their side, but they will hope they don’t look back on this as their missed opportunity.

World Cup's the (toughest) stage for accidental captain Kusal Mendis

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The next two weeks could define the Sri Lanka captain’s growth trajectory in a role he has no option but to grow into

Shashank Kishore25-Oct-20232:42

Maharoof: ‘Hope Mendis the captain remains the same batter’

The earliest memory Kusal Mendis has of watching cricket is the 2003 men’s World Cup. As an eight-year-old, he had heard tales of the magic Aravinda de Silva weaved with the bat. Aravinda was well past his prime by then, but he had done enough to fuel Kusal’s burning desire to emulate him.A few months short of his 18th birthday, Kusal won the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award. The recognition that came along with it helped him meet his boyhood hero, who is believed to have told him he should aspire to be the captain one day.When Kusal burst onto the scene at the Under-19 World Cup in 2014, he was earmarked for big things including captaincy. It has taken nearly a decade for Kusal to get that job, but it has come under circumstances he wouldn’t have envisaged.Related

Samarawickrama – Doing it with style, doing it with substance

Sri Lanka find new lionhearts in sloppy-to-sublime performance

Is Kusal Mendis finally going to be Sri Lanka's – rampaging – Mr Consistent?

Cornered lions England and Sri Lanka aim for miraculous resurrection

As such, international cricket can be a hard place to learn on the fly and Kusal perhaps had valid reasons for not wanting the job in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup. Far from a sustainer of good form, he had only slowly been emerging from that frustrating ‘one step forward, two steps back’ pattern that has been a constant in his seven-year international career.But amid an ordinary start to a campaign many were cautiously optimistic about, largely because of the conditions, Kusal has been thrust into the role. Dasun Shanaka, an admirable leader who had backers for his style of rallying a team in doldrums together, had been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a quadriceps injury.As such, Shanaka’s batting had tailed off so alarmingly that even a late surge against South Africa in chase of 429 merely seemed to limit damage than offer hope of him returning to his ferocious ball-striking ways. That he was a reluctant bowler didn’t help.Kusal Mendis has the captaincy added to his batting and wicketkeeping duties•ICC via Getty ImagesSo, two losses in – the one against Pakistan deflating them, one where they failed to defend 345 – there were rumblings of a potential change. As it turned out, Shanaka’s injury may have saved the selectors from a tough call. It’s under this backdrop that Kusal led Sri Lanka for the first time last week, against Australia in Lucknow.It is an understatement to say he has had to hit the ground running. It is not quite a dreamy scenario. These are difficult circumstances that will need Kusal to not just manage his own form and expectations around his batting, but also figure out plans and work around all the other external challenges that come with the captaincy.His spontaneous response at his first press conference after captaincy on what he expects from the team was a giveaway of how quickly things have unfurled. “I hope the bowlers know their roles,” Kusal had said when asked about formulating specific plans. He wasn’t feigning ignorance. He had barely had a few days to settle into the job, forget about easing into a role or building a team with the players he’d seen or backed.It has been a week since that game. Sri Lanka have since gone on to scrap a win against Netherlands and find themselves in a logjam for points in the middle. On Thursday, they play England, who are equally desperate for two points. It is only bound to get tougher and Kusal knows there’s only so much wriggle room. If he wants, Kusal has plenty of sounding boards in the dressing room, like Dimuth Karunaratne or Angelo Mathews. But in the heat of the battle, he will have to be his own man.On Tuesday during Sri Lanka’s first training session in Bengaluru under lights, Kusal was largely by himself, focused on his own idiosyncrasies – like his shadow swing, playing an imaginative forward defence, ducking and weaving bouncers, playing a straight drive. In his own little bubble, or the ‘zone’ as they say, until he was tapped by the team manager.Then he walked across to observe proceedings from a little close, joining head coach Chris Silverwood to watch Mathews go through the motions. Mathews, of course, was Sri Lanka’s captain when Kusal debuted as a precociously talented batter in 2015. How the wheels had turned now. Here he was assessing Mathews from the eyes of a leader, not the boy-wonder who could barely mumble a few words to him.

“We all get into that cycle and then we come in, we go out and then the next generation comes in. So, playing under Kusal, where he started when I was the captain, it gives me pleasure because he’s come a long way and I’ve seen him grow as a person and also as a batsman over the years.”Angelo Mathews on playing under Kusal Mendis’ captaincy

That small moment encapsulated Kusal’s challenges. Of someone keen to work on himself in bringing out his best to now having to look beyond just his own goals for the team’s sake. There are five league games left, and each one a must-win for Sri Lanka. There are bowlers to manage, plans to formulate with coaches, senior players to hand-hold, handling media and the scrutiny that comes with the job.It helps that there’s warmth and mutual admiration among the leaders within the group. For someone as senior as Mathews to swallow his ego, and be part of the group as traveling reserve tells you of his keenness to contribute. For him to sit with Kusal and ease him into a role he is still getting used to – he’s captained at the Lanka Premier League, but not at any other level of senior cricket prior to this – must help.”He has evolved so much over the last five-six years,” Mathews said when asked about his assessment of Sri Lanka’s current captain. “And now he’s showing his maturity playing fearless cricket and leading from the front. And yes, I mean, playing under him, I’ve played under so many different captains and they’ve also played under me, so, it’s a cycle.”We all get into that cycle and then we come in, we go out and then the next generation comes in. So, playing under Kusal, where he started when I was the captain, it gives me pleasure because he’s come a long way and I’ve seen him grow as a person and also as a batsman over the years which is very fantastic to see.”There is striking simplicity to Kusal’s see-ball-hit-ball approach as a batter. Captaincy may not be so simple. But the key for Kusal will be in how he manages to channel his batting without allowing the rigours of the job to affect him. It’s easier to do so perhaps in a bilateral series. But with the stakes high, the next two weeks could define his growth trajectory in a role he has no option but to grow into on the toughest stage.

Switch Hit: It's a knockout

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

England’s miserable World Cup defence is finally over. Alan Gardner sat down with Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to pick through the pieces

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2023England’s reign as World Cup-holders is finally over, although they spared themselves the ignominy of missing out on Champions Trophy involvement by winning their final two group games. With the dust beginning to settle – and squads already announced for a tour of the Caribbean – Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to look at what went wrong and where the one-day side goes from here. Topics up for discussion included Jos Buttler’s form, departing greats and the next men in, and whether multi-year contracts are actually such a good thing after all.

Pakistan, and the familiar sigh of resignation

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Defeats against most opposition inflicts bruises, but Australia leave tattoos, and Pakistan are now covered in them

Danyal Rasool27-Dec-20233:55

Malcolm: ‘Cummins made something happen out of nothing’

There are some things you fly from Lahore to Melbourne for at this time of year. Warm weather, perhaps. More of a Christmas vibe, possibly. A reading of the air-quality index that doesn’t give you a panic attack, quite probably.And then you’re sat at the MCG on an idle festive evening. Tea was served only recently. Maybe you helped yourself to a cuppa, and a slice of pizza or cake to go with it. Or maybe both; you may be on holiday, and you wish to indulge.You settle down happily into your seat. Pakistan are doing all right. In fact, you dare yourself to think it: Pakistan are winning this day. Second day of the Boxing Day Test, they’ve knocked off Australia’s final seven relatively cheaply within a session, even if, possibly in generous holiday spirit, they have gifted a whopping 52 extras. And now, captain Shan Masood and opener Abdullah Shafique are neutering Australia’s pace attack with relative comfort. The partnership is 90, the score 124 for 1. Nearly 45,000 people are in to enjoy the Test cricket. You don’t get that in Pakistan.Related

  • Shafique rues Pakistan's batting collapse: 'As a batter you have to take your chances'

  • 'How did that bowl me?' – the tale of Babar, Cummins, and a dream ball

  • Waqar questions where Pakistan's pace has gone

  • Cummins changes the day after Pakistan hint at dominance

  • Betting adverts removed from Pakistan broadcast of Melbourne Test

And then you see something you are sure looks familiar, something you realise, with a pang of horror, you never needed to leave Lahore at all to see. Pat Cummins pitches one up, it’s moving in, and Abdullah Shafique pushes uncertainly at it in the bowler’s general vicinity. Cummins bends low in one lithe, graceful motion, and when he emerges from a dive, he’s got the ball in his hands.”It’s just one of those ones that… off the bat, they’re pretty hard to pick up, and they either stick or they don’t,” Cummins said later. “Luckily that one stuck – in the other hand to what I thought it was going to go in.”But against Pakistan, these catches seem to find a way to nestle into Cummins’ secure hands. Twenty-one months ago, Shafique – in the second series of his career – had put on a 150-run partnership with Azhar Ali – at the other end of his career – in Lahore. He’d fallen 44 runs earlier, but his stand with Azhar had helped Pakistan into a relatively secure position after Pakistan had triggered an Australian collapse to keep them below 400. It was 214 for 2 when Azhar played a near-identical shot: the nothing push.Cummins had thrown himself to the floor to strike, and Pakistan watched as Australia laid waste to the rest of their side, the last eight wickets falling for 54 runs. Pakistan never quite recovered, and Australia sealed a series-clinching victory two days later.Babar Azam was cleaned up by a Pat Cummins in-decker•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaBack here at the MCG, you shift uncomfortably in your seat. You were there in Lahore that day, and you remember what happened immediately. It’s hard not to, because defeats against most opposition inflicts bruises, but Australia leave tattoos, and Pakistan are now covered in them.Australia have toiled all day with little to show for it until then. But like a cheetah that awaits its moment, they recognise the time to strike. Cummins needs just three more deliveries to produce the delivery of the Test match so far, one that lands outside off and moves in off the seam so sharply Babar Azam’s defensive prod only ends up going all around it. Australia sprang at the right time to knock their prey to the ground, and now it’s time to feast.Masood dances down the crease to attack Nathan Lyon – what he’s seen unfold at the other end need not impact his own approach. But there’s only so many times a bowler with 500 wickets at just over 30 will allow a batter with 1600 runs at just under 30 to punish him that way. Masood doesn’t recognise the slightly altered flight path, the length pulled a shade back, and goes through the shot anyway, losing his shape and his wicket.This is a dance the universe is all too familiar with, and each participant, unwitting and otherwise, knows the next steps by now. Josh Hazlewood and Cummins knock back the next two as Pakistan lose five wickets for 46 runs in a little over an hour. It is somehow both incredulous and yet inevitable that Pakistan would dominate the best part of two-thirds of a day against Australia, and somehow end up in a significantly worse position than they started it.Shan Masood was positive in his approach, but Nathan Lyon had the last laugh•Getty ImagesYou no longer remember the wickets Aamer Jamal took this morning, or the child-like excitement of Hasan Ali as he celebrated each dismissal. You have forgotten how hard Pakistan made it for Australia to score runs on a morning they were pushing for an advantage, or even the blinder of a catch Mohammad Rizwan took diving low to his right to trigger the collapse in the first place. You can barely recall the technical solidity of Shafique as he got Pakistan off to another bright start, or Masood’s commitment to a playing style that saw him post his highest Test score in nearly four years.Instead, you remember the extras Pakistan so blithely gave away, the cheap runs rather than the wickets, the fine margins that saw Australia survive two DRS calls. You recall Imam-ul-Haq’s dismissal off Lyon after the openers had survived another 15 overs, and you know exactly how many runs Pakistan are behind Australia with four lower-order wickets to go, each of those 124 weighing down on you.It’s a pleasant December evening in Melbourne, with the sun still out long after stumps have been called. But as you wearily trudge out of this cathedral of a stadium and walk up the Yarra, you can only see the clouds as they stealthily make their way over the city. Instead of being warmed by the sun, the southerly wind that’s suddenly picked up in intensity chills your bones. You realise you haven’t brought a jacket, and how little time it takes for a Pakistani to feel unprepared in Australia. It feels uncomfortably like a metaphor.You flew across hemispheres to the other side of the world, but this is an experience Lahore provided just as authentically as Melbourne. It has, after all, never been Australia’s style to give Pakistan a hiding place.At least you can see those Christmas lights in Federation Square, though. And the air quality is pure enough to allow you to take that familiar sigh of resignation.

Rizwan atones for his mistake in Melbourne

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

After falling while trying to get out of the line of a short ball at the MCG, Rizwan went after the Australian bowlers in Sydney

Danyal Rasool03-Jan-2024Mohammad Rizwan had got out of the way, and he was furious. He pointed to his arm, gesturing towards a white spot further up the limb the ball definitely hadn’t hit, in an attempt to deflect from the soft, incriminating kiss it had given the wristband of his glove. He went to the Australian fielders to tell them he wasn’t out; given they had opted to send it up to the TV umpire Richard Illingworth, it’s safe to assume they begged to differ. When he was given his marching orders, he seethed some more, animatedly gesturing to the umpire before walking off the MCG in a huff. It wasn’t like Rizwan at all.He had been cramped for room (as he almost famously said in Hyderabad), and now he was acting out.But perhaps what angered him wasn’t the TV umpire’s decision – the evidence was fairly conclusive – but his reaction to Pat Cummins’ body serve of a delivery: he’d got out of the way. And that, if you know much about him, is even less like Rizwan.For the most part, Rizwan’s body is always on the line; he wears blows like badges of honour. It’s possible the mystery mark on his arm was just one of many such bruises decorating his flesh. He throws himself to the ground, diving to complete runs he could have dawdled and still completed, and invariably bruises an arm or a leg, or knocks his helmet grill back into his head keeping the concussion doctor on his toes. He cramps up and yes, he acts. But for a man of faith like Rizwan, getting out of the way must be as close as sport comes to sacrilege.Related

Hafeez says 'inconsistent umpiring' and 'technology curse' cost Pakistan the MCG Test

Jamal's 82 saves Pakistan after another Cummins five-for

'A real shocker': Wasim and Waqar slam Afridi's Sydney omission

And having sinned once, Rizwan was ready to repent in Sydney. At 56 for 4, Josh Hazlewood bowled a similar ball to him, arrowing into his body off a slightly short length, but one that would have made ducking tricky. Instead of stepping away, Rizwan moved his body further into the line and got down low, making himself even more vulnerable. Fine leg was stationed on the edge of the boundary, meaning an aggressive shot here would be as much a professional as a personal risk, but Rizwan didn’t care. And then, in a motion that was more a crack of a whip than a swing of a bat, one liquid motion that almost saw him use his ribs as a pivot, he clobbered one over fine leg’s head for six.Hazlewood pitched the next one on a length; it was nothing like the previous ball, nothing, even, like the Cummins ball. But with the zeal of a convert, Rizwan went after this one too, his head falling away well before he was through his shot, and his body following soon after. Either of those two balls could have got him out, but to note that was to miss the point. For Rizwan, there are certain things that bother him, but getting out isn’t intrinsically one of them.Rizwan went off for lunch, but his appetite was nowhere near sated yet. This time, he was facing Cummins himself, the man who had caused him to sin last week, snapping his side out of the heavenly dreams of victory and casting them back into this mortal realm. He bowled two balls wide of off stump, each of which Rizwan tried to attack, but it was when he sent one the third one in short that Rizwan delivered retribution. He rose to his toes, extending himself to his full height and carved him away for a boundary; it was now that Rizwan was tucking in.Mohammad Rizwan was unhappy with his dismissal during Pakistan’s chase at the MCG•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaWhen Mitchell Marsh came on, Rizwan didn’t need so much as a second look. He cut the first ball over the slips, flashing hard over gully to pick up four, before nearly chopping on against Cummins the following over attempting another high-risk shot. It was that battle against Cummins which Rizwan was, for better or worse, never going to back down from. He attacked just under 20% of all deliveries he faced from the Australian captain, a higher percentage than any other bowler. And of the 61 runs Cummins conceded in 18 overs, 19 of them came off just 21 deliveries he bowled to Rizwan.Masood had fallen by now, but Rizwan was busy constructing a salvage job with Salman Ali Agha. An over before drinks, where he drove Nathan Lyon against the turn and swept him with it set the tone, and fittingly it was a boundary off a short Hazlewood delivery that took him to his second half-century in Australia.Rizwan’s commitment to this brand was so total it appeared to have a proselytising effect on Agha. Like a faithful disciple, he followed Rizwan in planting the front foot and sweeping Lyon, before charging down the wicket the following delivery and walloping him back over his head. Rizwan himself went one better, of course, dancing down and fetching six more off the spinner. Four days after Pakistan had dropped into the abyss following the breaking of a partnership between these two man, here they were, digging them out of it.Cummins ran through his options, bringing Mitchell Starc back on. Starc is perhaps the man who can land the most painful of body blows, but Rizwan flashed two short deliveries square for four as he hurtled towards a record he set the first time he batted in Australia four years ago. No Pakistan wicketkeeper has ever scored a century in Australia; Rizwan’s 95 in Brisbane in 2019 is the closest anyone has ever come. He could put that right in a few minutes. But Rizwan wasn’t looking to make amends from last tour, more from last week.With a weary sense of inevitability, Cummins brought himself back on, and sent down the same delivery that had accounted for Rizwan at the MCG. Rizwan swiftly got himself in line but the ball continued to rise, and the batter’s slash flew up to the square leg it had sailed over two hours earlier. Hazlewood completed the catch with ease, and Rizwan fell a dozen short of that history-making hundred. It was a bad time to get out, and if you watched it in isolation, inoculated from what happened at the MCG and of the way Rizwan thinks about cricket, a naïve way to depart.From Rizwan himself though, there was no remonstration this time. He put his bat underneath his arm and walked briskly off. Rizwan’s body was back on the line, and his team back in the contest. If Pakistan can turn disaster into anything resembling triumph, the origins of it might have been conceived a thousand kilometres away, with an uncharacteristically angry man pointing to a phantom mark on his forearm in late December sunshine.

Stats: Tanmay Agarwal smashes fastest triple-century in first-class cricket

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The 701 runs scored by Hyderabad and Arunachal Pradesh are the second-most in a single day in first-class cricket

Sampath Bandarupalli26-Jan-2024147 Balls needed for Tanmay to complete his triple century. It is the fastest-recorded triple ton in the history of first-class cricket by balls taken, breaking the record held by Marco Marais off 191 balls for Border against Eastern Province in 2017.Tanmay’s milestone was reached in 183 minutes, making it the second quickest by time taken – behind only Denis Compton’s triple ton in 181 minutes (261 balls) for MCC against North Eastern Transvaal in 1948.

119 Balls taken by Tanmay for his double century. It is the fastest by an Indian in first-class cricket by balls taken (where known), bettering the record that Ravi Shastri held with his double hundred off 123 balls against Baroda in 1985.Tanmay’s double is also the second-fastest in first-class cricket, only behind Shafiqullah’s 89-ball effort for Kabul Region against Boost Region in 2018.26 Sixes by Tanmay during his triple century are the most by any batter in a first-class innings, surpassing the 23 by Colin Munro during his 281 against Central Districts in 2015. Tanmay’s 26 sixes are also the most by any batter in a first-class match, bettering the 24 by Shafiqullah against Boost Region in 2018, which included 22 sixes from his unbeaten 200.292 Runs scored by Tanmay through boundaries during his innings. These are the second-most boundary runs scored by any batter in a first-class innings, behind Lara’s 308 during his 501* against Durham in 1994.366 Tanmay’s score against Arunachal is now the joint-fourth highest by an individual in the Ranji Trophy. It is also the joint-highest for Hyderabad in first-class cricket, equaling MV Sridhar, who also made 366 against Andhra in 1994.323* Tanmay’s score at the end of the first day. These are the seventh-most runs scored by any batter in a single day’s play in first-class cricket, and the highest since Brian Lara’s 390 on the final day of the 1994 County Championship match against Durham.Tanmay is also the first batter from India to score 300-plus runs in a single day’s play in first-class cricket. Virender Sehwag’s 284 on day two of the Brabourne Test against Sri Lanka in 2009 were the previous most scored by an Indian in a day’s play.

701 Runs scored by Hyderabad and Arunachal Pradesh on Friday are the second-most in a single day’s play in first-class cricket. The record is the 721 on the first day between Essex and Australians at Southend-on-Sea in 1948. The touring Australia team had scored all those 721 runs on the first day of that match in 129 overs.202.2 Tanmay’s strike rate during his 366 is the second-highest for any batter in a first-class innings of 200-plus runs (where balls faced data is available). The highest is 224.71 by Shafiqullah, whose unbeaten 200 in 2018 came off just 89 balls.10.33 Run rate of Hyderabad’s innings (615/4 in 59.3 overs) is the highest for any first-class innings (min 300 runs). The previous highest was 7.85 by Nondescripts Cricket Club, who made 372/3 in 47.2 overs against Ace Capital Cricket Club in 2022. The previous highest total where a team scored 10-plus runs an over was 295/2 by Punjab against Services in 1988, which they scored in 28.5 overs at 10.23.11.13 Run rate of the 449-run opening partnership between Tanmay and Rahul Singh that came off just 40.2 overs. It is the highest run rate for any double-century stand in first-class cricket since 2006 (where data is available).The duo eventually fell only 15 runs short of the highest opening stand in Ranji Trophy history, held by Ravi Sehgal and Raman Lamba with 464 for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh in 1994-95. However, it is now the highest first-class partnership for Hyderabad for any wicket, surpassing the 386 between Akshath Reddy and Hanuma Vihari against Mumbai in 2012.

WPL 2024 FAQs – Ins and outs, and everything else you wanted to know

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

What’s different, what’s the same? Where and when will the matches be played? What’s new about this season?

Ashish Pant20-Feb-2024Will it all be played in Mumbai again?
Unlike last year, when the tournament was held in its entirely across Mumbai, WPL 2024 will be played in Bengaluru and New Delhi. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium will host the first 11 games, while the second-half of the season, including the eliminator and the final, will be held at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla.Is the format any different from last year’s?
No, the same number of games (22) will be played this year too. Each of the five teams plays the other four twice. The table-toppers directly qualify for the final, while the second and third-placed teams square off in the eliminator.After the Mumbai vs Delhi game, Royal Challengers Bangalore will open their campaign the following day against UP Warriorz, with Gujarat Giants, the fifth team, facing Mumbai on day three.Here’s a detailed look at the fixtures.What are the timings?
All the matches will start at 7.30pm IST and, unlike last year, there are no double-headers this time.Let’s go back to the auction: how did that go? Were there any major buys?
The biggest surprise in this year’s auction was the uncapped duo of Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh pocketing bids of INR 2 crore (Giants) and INR 1.3 crore (Warriorz) respectively. Gautam, however, has been sidelined by injury and won’t feature in the competition.Amandeep Kaur is the only left-arm wristspinner in the WPL•Mumbai IndiansAustralia allrounder Annabel Sutherland, who was released by Giants ahead of the auction, was the most expensive overseas pick (Capitals) at INR 2 crore, while Shabnim Ismail, released by Warriorz, was picked up at INR 1.2 crore by Mumbai. Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield attracted a handsome bid of INR 1 crore from Giants. This will be 20-year-old Litchfield’s maiden WPL appearance.Related

  • Bengaluru ready to jazz up women's cricket through WPL

  • Five Indians going into the WPL with T20 World Cup hopes

  • Shubha Satheesh just wants to be responsible

  • Athapaththu: 'Rejection is a kind of motivation for me'

  • Gouher Sultana's ten-year hiatus

Kate Cross, who was working as a broadcaster last year, has gone to RCB, and Danni Wyatt (Warriorz) will also be a part of WPL 2024 after being unsold at the auction the last time. Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce (Giants) is the lone Associate player in the tournament.Did any major player miss out? Any withdrawals?
Chamari Athapaththu seemed set to miss out for a second straight season, but was picked up by Warriorz as a replacement for England’s Lauren Bell, who opted out to prepare for England’s tour of New Zealand (starting March 19). RCB’s Heather Knight too will miss the season for the same reason; she has been replaced by South Africa allrounder Nadine de Klerk.Among the notable exclusions are Australia bowling-allrounder Kim Garth, who was released by Giants after last season, and former West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin. On the Indian front, there were no bids for Devika Vaidya, who was picked up for INR 1.6 crore in the inaugural season by Warriorz.Australia fast bowler Lauren Cheatle (Giants) too has withdrawn from this year’s WPL after undergoing a medical procedure for skin cancer on her neck. New Zealand veteran Lea Tahuhu has replaced her.And, along with Gautam, spin-bowling allrounder Kanika Ahuja has had to opt out with an injury. Gautam has been replaced by uncapped allrounder Sayali Satghare, while Ahuja has been replaced by Shradda Pokharkar at RCB.Gouher Sultana and Harmanpreet Kaur are the only Indians in WPL 2024 to have made their international debuts before 2010•Gouher SultanaAre the captains and coaches for the teams the same as last season?
While the five captains: Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai), Meg Lanning (Capitals), Smriti Mandhana (RCB), Alyssa Healy (Warriorz ) and Beth Mooney (Giants) remain unchanged, there have been some movements on the coaching front.Most notably, Giants parted ways with Rachael Haynes after just one season, bringing former Australia batter Michael Klinger on board as the head coach. Luke Williams, who won the WBBL with Adelaide Strikers, takes over from Ben Sawyer as RCB’s head coach.Which country – apart from India – has the maximum representation?
Australia has the biggest representation with 13 players, including three captains. Capitals lead the way with four Australians in their squad, while Giants, Warriorz and RCB all have three each. Mumbai are the only team to not have a single Australian player in their set-up. England have six players taking part in the tournament, while South Africa have five.Who were the breakout stars of WPL 2023?
Mumbai’s left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque and RCB allrounder Shreyanka Patil have gone on to play for India. They are considered to be products of the WPL to an extent.Recognising the need to reward performers, the BCCI has ensured that players who were capped between the two seasons automatically received an upgraded WPL contract. Signed at base price (INR 10 lakh) at the inaugural auction, both Ishaque and Patil will be paid INR 30 lakh this season following their India debuts.

Paul Wiseman: 'We don't have the numbers India or England have, so we have to be smart with what we've got'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

New Zealand’s talent identification manager talks about developing the side’s next generation of quicks and spinners

Deivarayan Muthu21-Jul-2024Former New Zealand offspinner Paul Wiseman put the country’s next generation of batters through their paces and oversaw their development at a camp in Chennai in June, ahead of tours of the subcontinent for both the senior and A teams. Upon return to New Zealand, Wiseman spoke to us about his role as a talent-identification manager handling the transition and development of the country’s up and coming bowlers.What were your impressions of Dean Foxcroft, Mitch Hay and Tim Robinson during the Chennai camp?
I haven’t really met them in person yet since we got back from Chennai, but even within the first week, it was pretty obvious to see the gains they had made, especially from a batting perspective: understanding of the different surfaces – the black clay and the red clay – to get into the best positions to access the ball with some power and not get stuck, if you have players around the bat and that sort of thing. It won’t be until they get into those situations again that we will see the true value of it. I think just in general, the way they approach spin and the standard of their game against spin has been hugely elevated since and during that trip.Winter camps like the one you currently have at the NZ High Performance Centre in Lincoln, where you have a “marquee” protecting the wickets from the weather and simulating certain conditions ahead of tours – how have these camps benefited players?
The marquees have been a game-change for us. It gets pretty cold here in the middle of the winter; I think it was -2°C here last night. But we can still train all year around with the marquee and we can create our own little ecosystem where we can actually produce wickets that do turn.Related

Ben Sears eager to prove himself in subcontinent challenge

NZ's Robinson, Foxcroft and Hay train in Chennai as transition to next generation looms

The Boult legacy: how will NZ cope without Southee's other half?

'Attitude comes first' – New Zealand's Afghan-origin Rahman Hekmat wants to be a role model

New Zealand's female players get match-fee parity in new five-year deal

We’ve got the Merlin bowling machine as well, which can replicate what a lot of these guys do face. But it’s [not like how] you get an experience like being in Chennai when it’s hot and humid and you’ve got different people bowling at you, and maybe you don’t feel well all the time and those sorts of things. But for us to be able to train there [with the marquee] during the winter has been an absolute game-changer, and we have many camps, for both men and women throughout the winter. So it’s been awesome.You’ve been New Zealand’s talent identification manager for over a decade. What drives you in this role?
You’ve aged me a bit there (). It’s getting close [to a decade].Look, it’s the same things that excite me as they did when I started [in 2015]. It gives me immense satisfaction to see young, raw talent coming through and becoming refined international cricketers. More importantly, to see them develop as people, as husbands, fathers, and becoming that rounded person we’re all wanting to be. Cricket is not the most rounding game, and it takes a long time… you’re away so many days. A lot of these guys are getting to have their lives outside of cricket going, and to get that balance is so crucial.Mitchell Hay (right-most) trained at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai earlier this year•Super Kings AcademyHow do you strike a balance between player development and getting results at the age-group level?
Yeah, it’s a tricky balance. We don’t shy away from the fact that [we want] our players and coaches to be competitive. We want them to compete, but not at the detriment of the [player] development side of things. At the Under-19 World Cup, we try and get across to players as much as we can. It [the U-19 World Cup] is an incredible experience, if you’re lucky enough to get it. But it’s not a career-defining one.Yes, you’re going out to try and win every game, but as you would have seen during the last World Cup, all our players played. Who knows what the strongest side would have been, but that wasn’t our priority. Our priority was to give as many players the experience we can, because we feel down the line that will benefit them more than just trying to win a U-19 World Cup.If that [U-19 World Cup title] comes along, it’s an awesome experience because it’s extra games. But we’re in it for the long term and for even the guys that miss out, it’s not career-defining. Because of the size of our talent pool, we are able to keep some of those guys that don’t make it in our high-performance programmes as well. So that’s one of the advantages of having a smaller talent pool.How do you make the most of that smaller talent pool and nurture them?
It’s obvious that we don’t have the sheer numbers that an India or Pakistan or England have, in terms of talent, and we don’t have the resources around it. So we have to be quite smart with what we have got. We have to invest in what we think is the right talent but we also have to be able to give them time. We tend to be a little bit later developing, and that’s probably because we encourage our athletes to play as many sports as they can until they have to make a decision [about which one to focus on].A lot of our athletes could have been All Blacks and Black Caps, or hockey players or basketball players as well. So we’ve got a number of guys that play other sports to a high level, and the risk is we [might] lose them to that sport. But if we encourage them to do that, we’re going to get more rounded persons and athletes, and by the time they chose to come to our sport, they will be a better athlete for it rather than specialising early. And then we also have to have a lot of patience, and understand that our sport may not be the one that they eventually choose.It’s becoming more competitive with even the likes of rugby now because of tournaments like the IPL. The pay has swung back in favour of cricket and you can probably have a longer career and have your head and your body at the end of it as well (). So cricket is an attractive sport for young men and young women in New Zealand, especially from a financial perspective now.Will O’Rourke took 4 for 59 and 5 for 34 on his Test debut, against South Africa in February this year•Hannah Peters / GettyNew Zealand’s senior team, especially the bowling attack, is in transition. How do you manage this phase?
We have had an incredible decade or so of talent that has been at the top. New Zealand cricket, for a long time, has had freakish years. If you go back to the Under-19s in 2009-10, there were 16 Black Caps that came out of that one year plus two other internationals – Logan van Beek, who has played for Holland, and Theo van Woerkom, who has played for Ireland. Tom Walsh, a shot putter, came out the same year. Just two years before that came [Kane] Williamson, [Trent] Boult and [Tim] Southee.So there’s no hiding that we had a freakish amount of players that came through at the same time. And obviously they’re all of similar ages and will be transitioning into other parts of their life or other parts of the game. So we’ve got some of the New Zealand greats stepping out in the next few years and just recently as well, with Boulty.You’ve got to replace those guys, but you can’t just replace greats overnight. We need to focus on the areas of the goods and the very-goods and get them to the highest level they can be, and we have been blessed with a number of those guys as well – Lathams, Nicholls and Henrys. They are all now world-class players, and that comes from great work ethic and attitude and wanting to learn. Those sort of things we hold pretty dear in New Zealand cricket. We have to be patient with players coming through because it might not be possible to replace players like Trent Boult or Kane Williamson just like that.But the likes of Will O’Rourke have stepped straight in and had instant success, and Ben Sears and Ben Lister as well. The thing that has happened is, there has been a bit of logjam with these very-goods and the greats, which has meant that our players, when they do get the chance, they have tended to have quite a few seasons under their belt. Over the last six-seven years, pretty much every guy that has debuted has come in and had success, which has been fantastic. So we need to keep that going and we have got some nice talent coming through – Rachin [Ravindra], Searsy and Will got their first central contracts, and there are a few other quicks coming through below them.Give us a rundown of some of those up-and-coming fast bowlers. Sriram Krishnamurthy, who has been with the Wellington and Chennai Super Kings age-group coaching system, regards Sears very highly.
Ben Lister, in my mind, has a huge ceiling. Unfortunately he and the likes of Henry Shipley have been hampered by injury and illness over the last year or so. But they are still youngish men and are guys with big futures and hopefully opportunities to come.New Zealand bowlers to watch

Will O’Rourke
The 22-year-old fast bowler made New Zealand’s ODI side less than two years after making his domestic debut. and took a nine-wicket match haul on Test debut.

Ben Sears
The 26-year-old fast bowler can consistently hit speeds upwards of 140kph and generate extra bounce.

Ben Lister
Lister has an assortment of variations in his repertoire, including cutters, bouncers and yorkers. The 28-year-old has played three ODIs and 12 T20Is for New Zealand and earned a deal with Nottinghamshire in the 2024 T20 Blast in the UK.

Adi Ashok
A modern wristspinner, who can bowl a skiddy googly, the 21-year-old has been earmarked to take over from Ish Sodhi. He has already played three white-ball internationals for New Zealand and took a seven-for against Northern Districts last year.

Ben [Sears] and Will are different people and have got up to this level in different ways. Ben is a little bit older; he was with the New Zealand U-19 team in Bangladesh in 2016. And it has taken a little bit of time for his progress. You get niggles and injuries when you bowl as fast as he can. It’s a natural thing for a fast bowler and now he has reached physical maturation, which hopefully means a lot of the major injuries are behind him. He’s also been doing a law degree – a very smart man – and he’s really starting to understand his game.Will is a very fast learner and listens well and has taken a short period of time to get to where he’s got to. He’s managed to remain pretty injury-free up to this point, touch wood.So, [it’s about] managing these two young quicks, and the likes of Shipley and Lister and Matt Henry are obviously more experienced and matured. We’ve got to get [Kyle] Jamieson fit and back on the park as well. Nathan Smith is also handy with the bat, as is Zak Foulkes. Then there’s Matt Fisher, who played in the 2018 U-19 World Cup. He’s got good pace and has played for New Zealand A too. There’s some really exciting talent there but we’ve got to manage them really well if we want to have consistent performances at the highest level.Like Shipley, O’Rourke and Jamieson, their Canterbury team-mate Zak Foukes gives the attack a point of difference with his height and ability to generate steep bounce. What do you make of these tall, hit-the-deck quicks from Canterbury?
It’s got to be one of the tallest bowling attacks in the world. Jamieson at 6’8” and then you also have Michael Rae, who is probably 6’6”, and then the others are about 6’5”. Henners [Matt Henry] is shorter, but he’s a genius. I don’t know if we can get all those guys on the park at the same time but it will be a real test for any batter, I think. They are an exciting group and it would be great to see all of them fit in at the same time.Rachin Ravindra has been one of the success stories of New Zealand and Wellington’s age-group systems. Is that something the next generation resonates with?
Rachin is one of those kids who is self-made. He and his dad… the story has been repeated many times. He used to get up at five in the morning and drag his dad down to the indoor nets, so he was always going to be a very good cricketer. It was just a matter of when his chance would come along. His success and story has had a bit of knock-on effect, especially in Wellington where the young batters are training and hitting a lot of balls. You can’t get away from hard work and being smart about things. It can get you a long way in life in anything that you do.If you look around the domestic sides and even the Black Caps, the work ethic in those players has driven New Zealand Cricket to where it has got to, considering the small population that we have.Dean Foxcroft had a chance to test his offspin against Tamil Nadu Premier League batters in a T20 game in Chennai•Super Kings AcademyBeyond Mitch Santner and Ish Sodhi, even New Zealand’s spin pool has depth now, with Ajaz Patel, Adi Ashok, Michael Rippon and Tim Pringle around. How pleased are you with the spin stocks?
We’re probably the strongest we’ve been. Yes, we don’t have a great [such as] in Dan Vettori right now but we’ve got some very-goods. Mitch Santner is such a wonderful white-ball bowler and has now become a red-ball bowler as well. The likes of the Rachins, [Glenn] Phillips and the [Michael] Bracewells and Santners that all bat as well. Foxcroft can also bowl, and Cole McConchie is another guy who bats and bowls. Adi and Tim Pringle are both injured at the moment but they’re highly promising spinners and Rips [Michael Rippon] being a left-arm wristspinner. Rachin didn’t bowl much at CSK because of the quality spinners there, but he can do a job.Below that, there are some young spinners coming through. [Rahman Hekmat], the Auckland legspinner, unfortunately missed the U-19 World Cup earlier this year because of a stress fracture, and there’s a mystery spinner coming up through Canterbury as well. So I’m really excited by it and we have got to invest a lot of time into these guys and give them the experience. It’s a little bit like what we had in Chennai and in the marquees – to try and encourage our coaches [to nurture them]. Some of these pitches are becoming more conducive to spin, and the only way you get better is when you play. You can have talent but if you’re not bowling overs in the games, it makes it difficult to progress.The seam-friendly conditions across New Zealand mean some of these spinners are relegated to the sidelines. How do you deal with that challenge and give them more game time?
Yeah, it’s challenging and frustrating for the likes of Ajaz. He takes a ten-for in Mumbai and then he sits on the sidelines the next time he’s back home. It’s hugely frustrating for him and it’s hard to sit and watch, but you can understand it as well. The way Test match pitches are being developed now, they’re often extreme because of the importance of winning Test matches and points at home to compete for a World Test Championship.But the encouraging thing from last year is two of our Test pitches turned quite a lot. I think Nathan Lyon really enjoyed the Basin Reserve, which normally doesn’t turn a lot but had turn and bounce to offer in that game. Seddon Park also turned, and the Bay Oval also offered something to spinners.Unfortunately, we didn’t really use the pitches that well because it was a little bit against the run of play. Normally it doesn’t spin as much, so unfortunately we went a spinner light and it will be interesting to see if they [curators] produce the same ones this season.But certainly in first-class cricket. Last season, a used wicket was used at Seddon Park and it turned. It was really cool and we saw some games being won by spinners on the last day. The more we can do that means it challenges the batters, close-in fielders and the captains, who have to think in a different way. You know it’s good for the game, so we have to try and find ways of keeping bounce and pace in the middle two-thirds of the pitch and maybe the ends can a bit more conductive to spin. If we can do that, we can develop that sort of cricketer, who can perform in all conditions.

Game
Register
Service
Bonus