All posts by h716a5.icu

Du Plessis' improved spin game makes him 'a pretty tough man to bowl to'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

He has tweaked his role according to his team’s needs, even at 38, even at the fag end of a successful career

Abhimanyu Bose30-Apr-20232:43

How Faf du Plessis has reinvented his T20 game

When you have over 250 internationals under your belt and are close to the end of a successful career at the age of 38, you would be forgiven for going about your business with the tools and skills you are comfortable with. After all, if your game has served you well for so long, why change it now when you have little left to prove?But for Faf du Plessis, it’s never too late to learn, improve and adapt, and in the last few years, he has added a new gear to his game: improved hitting against spin.Just past the halfway stage in IPL 2023, du Plessis leads the run chart with 422 runs. He has got these runs at a strike rate of 167.46, the fastest among the top ten in the list so far.Related

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A major factor in his performance this year has been his marked improvement against spin, which has been an issue for him for long in T20 cricket.In T20s between 2017 and 2021, du Plessis scored 1032 runs against spin at a strike rate of 115.80. From the start of 2022, he has scored 900 runs against spin with his strike rate shooting up to 138.42.In this season, du Plessis has scored the fastest against spin among all other seasons where he has faced at least 100 deliveries. And the increase in strike rate is a significant one.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”The beauty of Faf is that, even though he’s 38, he’s developing his game all the time,” Mike Hesson, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s director of cricket, told ESPNcricinfo recently. “We had a couple of discussions last year around playing spin – especially in the powerplay – and playing left-arm seam. Those were two areas of his game that we’d sat down, discussed and were like, ‘hey, we’ve noticed these; if you can add to your game in these areas…'”How are you going to do it is probably the more important thing. It’s not like you can just flick a switch and say, ‘now I’m going to whack spin’. It’s very much a tactical shift, and a lot of technical work is involved. He took that as a challenge. He went away and we saw major gains in the Caribbean [Premier] League, where he started to take on spin and the left-arm seamers. Those were probably two parts of his game where opposition would potentially try and attack, so once he filled that gap, he’s a pretty tough man to bowl to.”The change isn’t just due to an improvement against any one type of spin. He has fared better against all kinds of spin over the last two years, barring left-arm spin, where he has gotten out thrice in 11 deliveries since the start of 2022.For most of his boundaries, du Plessis has stayed leg side of the ball, sometimes backing away far enough to expose all his stumps. This has allowed him to make room, free his arms and muscle the ball to all parts of the ground in front of square.Even with his trigger movement towards leg, if a spinner has tried taking the ball away from him, he has been quick enough to reach out and still get the ball away, like he did when he cut a very wide Rahul Chahar delivery for four during the match against Punjab Kings. Or, more impressively, when he was backing away to Lucknow Super Giants’ Ravi Bishnoi but adjusted to stretch and slap him for six over cover.But the trigger movement is not a constant. He has also been happy to stay still, like he did in the delivery after that six off Bishnoi, when he pummelled a long hop outside off over cow corner and watched the ball fly 115 metres.What has seemed to be constant is that he does not skip out of the crease and is happy to hang back and wait for the delivery to come to him. Even the movement to leg is lateral.”It’s more around where he sets up and the positions he wants to get himself into to access different parts of the park,” Hesson said. “It’s more about alignment and set-up, really, so he can access all parts of the park and use his strengths. After that, it’s just a mindset shift.”His strike rate against spinning deliveries he has been in control of this season is a whopping 176.3, by far his best in any season in the IPL so far. His best year before this in that regard was in 2019, when he scored at 139.4 off spinners when he was in control.Faf du Plessis watches the ball sail away for six•AFP/Getty ImagesThis suggests that earlier, when he was at Chennai Super Kings especially, his role was to take on pace and against spinners, hand the strike over to his team-mates who are more proficient at that game. But after his move to RCB, his role needed tweaking.His opening partner Virat Kohli’s slowdown against spin, especially after the powerplay, has been well documented. Kohli, in IPL 2023, has struck at 113.76 against spin.But du Plessis’ increased aggression against spin is not just an effort to make up for a slowdown at the other end, or limited to when he to be the aggressor.In IPL 2023, du Plessis has been part of the five highest partnerships so far, all more than 100 runs. Two of those have been with Kohli, while three were with Glenn Maxwell, who is RCB’s middle-order enforcer against spin.But his strike rate against spin while batting with Maxwell (144.4) barely drops as compared to when he bats with Kohli (146.3). He attacks 35.8% of the balls he faces against spinners while batting with Kohli and 33.3% of them when he has Maxwell for company at the crease.This new version of du Plessis has no doubt played a big role in RCB going from being the second-slowest scorers in the middle overs in 2021 (run rate of 7.14) to the third-quickest in 2023 (run rate of 9).RCB’s decision to sign du Plessis before last year’s mega-auction and then appoint him captain was a calculated gamble, one rooted in the hope that he still had the commitment and drive to evolve, even in his late 30s. Based on this season’s evidence, it is a gamble that appears to be paying off – particularly if he can drag them into the playoffs for the fourth year running.

How Charlotte Edwards steered Southern Brave to a third straight Hundred final

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Brave’s local core have stepped up after big-name departures – but can they finally win the trophy?

Vithushan Ehantharajah26-Aug-2023Since the Hundred began in 2021, Southern Brave have been a constant presence in the women’s final. This Sunday, they will be hoping it is third time lucky.A 48-run blowout in 2021 was followed by an equally chastening loss by five wickets with six balls to spare in 2022.Both came at the hands of Oval Invincibles – and specifically, their South African allrounder Marizanne Kapp, who was player of the match on both occasions. This time, however, the defending champions are nowhere to be seen, knocked out in the group stages by – yep, you’ve guessed it – Brave.It was a victory head coach Charlotte Edwards believes was cathartic for a core who had been on the wrong end of an all-too-familiar nemesis. And though they await a new final boss at Lord’s on Sunday after beating Manchester Originals on Wednesday to assume the number one spot outright, they won’t be planning any differently.”We’re not going to do anything differently,” Edwards tells ESPNcricinfo, “and we’re not going to talk about it. Because I don’t think we need to.”The girls know what’s at stake. And if we don’t win, it’s been unbelievable because in a tournament like this, winning as many games as we have… The players play the game, I don’t. I think they deserve to win a trophy, they massively do when you look at our record for the last three years. But that doesn’t mean anything on Finals Day. We just hope we turn up.”Marizanne Kapp has been Southern Brave’s nemesis in Hundred finals•Getty ImagesThat record Edwards speaks of is an impressive 20 wins out of 25. They have only ever lost one group stage game in each of their three campaigns, with 2023’s coming against Welsh Fire in their second match.Despite their undoubted pedigree, Brave came into this season with a degree of trepidation. They were rocked by the March’s draft, losing dynamic England batter Sophia Dunkley to Welsh Fire and Australian legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington to Manchester Originals: 437 runs at 36.51 across 16 innings and last year’s leading wicket-taker with 17, respectively.”We were probably hit quite badly in the draft in terms of some of our main players being taken away,” reflects Edwards. “If you’d have told me straight after the draft that we’d be in the final leading the group, I would have been quite surprised. You never know how a new group are going to knit together, but I’ve just been so impressed by how the players have just stood up into different roles.”Those players are homegrown staples of Edwards’ domestic team, Southern Vipers. Maia Bouchier’s 264 runs – the second-most in the competition – has compensated for Dunkley’s absence, while the unlikely offspin of Georgia Adams has replaced Wellington in the XI and at the top of the Hundred’s wicket-taking charts with 16 dismissals.Maia Bouchier is Brave’s top run-scorer this season•Getty ImagesBouchier’s emergence as a top-order batter has been recognised by England, who will use her as an opener for the upcoming limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka. This Hundred, she boasts a strike rate of 138.21 and has strung together a number of key innings, including a standout unbeaten 63 to chase a target of 105 against London Spirit in an 85-ball affair at Lord’s. Her 47 not out took Brave over the line against Originals.None of this is a coincidence in the eyes of Edwards, who had firm belief in Bouchier’s potential against the new ball: “We had a conversation at the start of the season and I said, ‘look, I think you can open the batting for England.’ So she opened the batting for Vipers at 50-over and T20.”I couldn’t get her in here [for Brave] opening, because Smiriti Mandhana and Danni Wyatt have been so good. But I said to her, ‘you’re going to be No. 3 and are going to have a massive platform to show everyone what you can do.'”I genuinely believe at the moment she is the most rounded player in that top order. She can hit straight down the ground; she’s got lots of options; she’s technically very, very good. And there’s no surprise England have said we want to open with her in the series coming up against Sri Lanka.”

“It’s such a massive tournament for women’s cricket. And I think it’s been another brilliant year and it would be a mistake if it was taken away.”Charlotte Edwards on the Hundred’s future

As for Adams, who has also pitched in with 109 runs in the middle order, her bowling has exceeded expectation. “I think quite surprised,” jokes Edwards. “I think what teams have done in the past is probably underestimate her. I don’t think they have now. But she’s been pivotal.”I signed her last year thinking she’d be our sixth bowler. Now she’s a guaranteed new-ball bowler. Her strike rate is brilliant and the economy is great. She’s been unbelievable – and at No. 4 as well, she’s played some crucial knocks.”Remarkably, Brave have only used 12 players so far. They might have only needed 11 had Lauren Bell not been rested for the first two matches to manage her workloads off the back of the Women’s Ashes.18-year-old Mary Taylor filled in more than capably, taking 3 for 18 against Trent Rockets on her Brave debut. At the other end of the career spectrum, Anya Shrubsole, who will retire after Sunday’s final, has been ever-present as captain.Anya Shrubsole will sign off from professional cricket at Lord’s on Sunday•ECB/Getty ImagesMissing Saturday’s Eliminator at the Oval, which will be played out between Northern Superchargers and Welsh Fire, ensures Shrubsole’s continued presence in the XI. “We didn’t want to play the Eliminator for Anya, because we didn’t think two days back-to-back would be good,” explains Edwards. “So she will be raring and ready come Sunday.”Picking from a small pool has been the Edwards way throughout her coaching career. Most recently, in the inaugural Women’s Premier League, she relied on 12 to guide Mumbai Indians to the title.”If you look at a lot of the teams I’ve been involved in, there’s not been much movement. I’ve tried to stick with players. A lot of people were saying about Freya Kemp only scoring a few runs – we all had the belief in her that she was going to go out there and do something magnificent.” It came in that victory against Invincibles, when she hit a vital 41* off 21 balls.”I made a conscious effort this year of actually putting some real youngsters on the sidelines. We’ve got some of the Under-19 World Cup finalists. I wanted to look at the future a little bit. I think the worst thing you can do is have on your bench people who think they should be playing. And I think I’ve had that in previous years. So I’ve tried to blood a new group of players coming through.”Related

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As the final weekend approaches on what has been the Hundred’s best season across the men’s and women’s codes, based on attendances, merchandise sales, digital engagement and, crucially, on-field quality, speculation about its future rages on.In Edwards’ opinion – one which carries weight as one of England’s greatest batters, captains and, now, coaches – any changes to the competition, especially getting rid of it outright, would be “a massive mistake”.”If anyone has been to any Southern Brave home games, every game we’ve had 10,000 people there. We’ve got massive support down there, the players love it, I love it. It’s such a massive tournament for women’s cricket. And I think it’s been another brilliant year and it would be a mistake if it was taken away.”The eight regions are driving the women’s and girls’ game now and I think it’s proved in the last three years how much improvement we’ve seen with the youngsters coming through. We were on the verge of beating Australia, which hasn’t happened for a while.”It’s working. We’ve got to stick with it and hopefully everyone will invest in the women’s game, from counties to regions. This is a massive platform for these girls and it prepares them for international cricket I believe.”

Switch Hit: Salt and peppered

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The sixes rained and Phil Salt reigned, but England still lost 3-2 in their Caribbean T20I encounter. Alan, Miller and Matt got together for the series debrief

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2023England finished their tour of the West Indies on a bum note as they lost the T20I series decider in Trinidad by four wickets, having already been beaten on the ODI leg. In the final pod of the year, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to sift through the pointers ahead of the 2024 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA. Topics up for discussion include Phil Salt’s evolution as an T20I opener, the continued rise of Rehan Ahmed and whether West Indies can be contenders on their own patch in six months’ time. Merry Christmas!

ChatIPL – An AI-powered peek at the league that defies logic

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

What’s old, what’s new, and what’s well over head height at the IPL this year… don’t say you know, because “Sachin” says you don’t

Alagappan Muthu20-Mar-20246:09

Pooran, GIll, Rashid: Who will be the IPL MVP?

AL: Aw, they remembered me.Icome in message: Wanna hang out and talk about the IPL again?AL: Sure.: I wanna introduce you to someone. This is our new IPL AI. We’re in the final stages of rolling them out and I wanted to have an expert like you make sure they’re properly functioning.AL: What’s their name? Bet you’ve given them a dumb name. Like an acronym or something.The AI: No. I’m Sachin.AL: That’s copyright infringement. Probably. So what do you want me to do exactly?Related

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Icome: Just talk about the IPL with them. See if they can offer a user all the information they might ever need about the tournament.AL: Brilliant. Um, okay. So what do we have to look forward to this season?Sachin: The captains. There’s Hardik Pandya, who got traded to Mumbai Indians on a chaotic deadline day and it soon became clear why he jumped ship from a team on which he was already imprinting himself. The chance to do the same thing at one of the most successful franchises in T20 history.Even his coach – now former coach – Ashish Nehra knew there was nothing he could say to convince Hardik to stay at Gujarat Titans. “I could have stopped him had he been going to some other side,” he said recently, staring off into the middle distance, sighing wistfully. Mumbai made him. And now that he’s risen high enough, he has the chance to make them. How cool is that?The five-time champions have already gone through a rebuild the last few auctions, developing a younger, fresher look. Now they’ve handed control of it to someone who is younger and fresher too. Someone who is chill like MS Dhoni and appreciates structure like Rohit Sharma. It’s been three years since Mumbai made it to an IPL final. That’s longer than any previous wait they’ve endured between titles. They won it back-to-back in 2019 and 2020. And since then, their closest rivals, Chennai Super Kings, have joined them, winning a fifth trophy last year. Change was, perhaps, needed and it has arrived, though taking over from a long-standing, highly-successful, charismatic and beloved leader is never ever easy.AL: Yeah, you guys got anything that can help him?Icome: Course we do.AL: Well?Icome: You know what they say, never ask a man for his salary, a woman for her age, and an advanced alien civilisation for proprietary tech.: There’s also Rishabh Pant. Just the mere fact that he’s back playing cricket is massive. Delhi Capitals might be the one team for whom it might not actually matter whether they win this tournament or not. They have the heart and soul of their team back. India have their point-of-difference match-winner back. But bigger than all that, he has his life back. March 23 will mark the culmination of so much hard work. It wasn’t that long ago that Pant was learning how to walk again, and at that time, in that low, this is what he would’ve pictured to keep himself going. He’s never known anything else. He’s rarely loved anything more. So while there’s a chance he may not be as good as he was, after multiple reconstruction surgeries, even 50% of what he can do – what he did do at the Gabba – will be enough to win 75% of most other games. I’ve done the math.Icome: Imagine being him when he walks out for the toss in *checks* Mullanpur. Wow! They really take this tournament to all parts, eh?Sachin: It will be the 36th venue to host an IPL game.AL: I was just about to ask that. Can they read minds?1:36

‘2015 season with MI was life-changing’ – Hardik

Sachin: I’m still not done. Shreyas Iyer will be hoping for a big season. It is hard to imagine another player who scored a World Cup semi-final century sink as far as he has in the pecking order, with fitness issues also clouding the truth. Shubman Gill had the IPL of his life last year. Now he has to do that and captain the Titans and prevent them from feeling the loss of both Hardik and Mohammed Shami. Pat Cummins might be a world champion but will even that be enough to successfully lead a team that keeps restructuring itself at the end of every auction? Sunrisers Hyderabad used to have an identity – they were a seriously good bowling team, often capable of defending totals of 150 or so. Now what are they? Oh, and Dhoni’s back. Though, he won’t be leading.AL: Wait, why’d you say it like that?Sachin: Oops. I forgot. You guys don’t know he’s a bot.Icome: They sprung big for his new hair.AL: He looks gorgeous.Sachin: Do I need to give you two a moment, or shall we get on with a culture clash that’s about to happen this IPL?In January, India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar flew to South Africa to talk to Rohit and Virat Kohli about their place in the T20I side. Both of them had been iced since the end of the last World Cup but now it seems they’re back in the fold. BCCI secretary Jay Shah even mentioned that he had full faith Rohit will captain India to victory when the next T20 World Cup takes place in June. It is clear that the golden generation wants their crown; wants to stop the toxic conversation that surrounds them where no matter how well they do they get beaten with a stick for the lack of ICC trophies. It’s been over ten years since India stood on the podium as champions of anything.AL: But is it wise to block off two spots in an 11-man sport with the same profile of player? Especially when there are so many versatile options to choose from thanks to the growth and reach of the IPL? YashasviJaiswal was keeping up with Kohli last IPL season. Rinku Singh was coming up on David Warner’s rear view. The tipping point has already happened. The Gen Z era is already here. It is going to be fascinating to see if India are willing to pull the trigger. They probably won’t. Because at a World Cup, experience matters.But, on the 0.00001% chance they do and Rohit and Kohli retire without helping India add to their trophy cabinet, they will still have a hand in winning it. As leaders, as batters and as people, they’ve shaped the future of Indian cricket. It’s just… that kind of praise feels hollow when compared with a shiny gold trophy that they get to hold or the “world champion” tag that they get to wear. Forever.Sachin: So, long story short, India will spend this IPL looking for a lot of super-specialists to round out their batting order. Spin-hitters like ShivamDube, pace-hitters like Rinku, quick starters like Jitesh Sharma. I wonder if it’s weird for them when they realise they’re getting so good that they’ve begun putting pressure on their idols and their place in the national team. Or that their success may very well be partly responsible for the increased investment in uncapped talent.Sameer Rizvi (20, CSK), whom Michael Hussey already sees as a potential replacement for Ambati Rayudu, Kumar Kushagra (19, Delhi Capitals) and Robin Minz (21, Gujarat Titans, although he may not play this year) have all been sold for life-changing sums of money even though they’ve only shown glimpses of what they can do.3:38

How will CSK cope without Conway? Who will be Royals’ fourth overseas player?

Icome: So who’s winning it this time?Sachin: Why’s everybody looking at me? I’m just kidding, I know I’m the all-powerful AI capable of accounting for every eventuality in order to predict an accurate future. But this is such a bonkers tournament. It’s had a final that was spread out over three days. A Super Over on top of a Super Over. Impossible chase after impossible chase and incredible choke after incredible choke. Last year they brought in the Impact Player rule to mess with things even more. And it’s very likely that teams will now have a much better handle of it, instead of simply packing their batting or bowling depending on the toss. The expansion to ten teams ran the risk of diluting the league – Titans looked very light on paper the year they came to be, only to then go on and win the title. I’m sorry, but I can’t figure this thing out. It keeps defying logic.AL: I think you broke them. Also, I like Mumbai. With Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav fit again – well, mostly fit again – it’ll be nice to once again live in a world where they make us question all the basic tenets of reality.Sachin: KKR look real good. Their bowling attack, especially. Mitchell Starc… *fans self*Icome: Dude should be in the thirst trap hall of fame. Dissed the IPL for eight years straight but as soon as he became available, 99 bids in the auction and INR 24.75 crore (USD 2.981 million) in probably a very heavy bag.Sachin: He’s chosen a good time to come back actually. The IPL will be allowing two bouncers an over – as opposed to one, which had been the norm for like ever.AL: And his first match will be up against Cummins, the second most expensive player ever. There’s a page turning there too, right? Many of the overseas picks at this auction are players just starting out on their careers. It’s like the whole world is in transition. And these new guys are savvy too. Phil Salt basically proved that public shaming works and got himself a nice fat IPL contract. Spencer Johnson used to be a landscaper. Then he did this. Now he’s an Australian cricketer and an IPL millionaire.Sure, the established stars are still here. Rajasthan Royals will be deeply dependent on what Jos Buttler and Trent Boult can do. Both Delhi Capitals and South Africa will be really happy Anrich Nortje is no longer strung up on the medic’s table, damned to have played only one international since the end of the ODI World Cup. And Maxi’s gonna’ be doing Maxi things. But the young ‘uns aren’t bad either.Gerald Coetzee with the head bands and the nerve popping gives off pure Dale Steyn vibes. Dilshan Madushanka is Lasith Malinga+Chaminda Vaas. Nuwan Thushara is Lasith Malinga with scarier outswing. And Matheesha Pathirana is Lasith Malinga’s skill+MS Dhoni’s brain. Sucks they’re all under simultaneous injury clouds.Sachin: Anybody got CSK? They had a strong auction, adding one of the most versatile batters in the world into their middle-order.Icome: RCB to do the double. Kohli bringing that dad x2 energy.AL: Finally gonna prove front-loading can win titles, are they?Icome: Seventeenth time’s the charm.Sachin: Lucknow Super Giants came so close to making the highest ever IPL total last year and they have their captain back. Looks like KL Rahul will be wicketkeeping and batting in the middle order this time, as a sort of audition for the World Cup. Their batting line-up slaps.AL: You guys, this is fun. Guess I can tick being first choice to quality test an artificial intelligence off the list.Sachin: Actually we asked Sidharth Monga, Nagraj Gollapudi, Karthik Krishnaswamy, Fidel Fernando, Alan Gardner, Firdose Moonda and none of them were available this close to the start of the season.Icome: Yeah, how come you’re always free? Are you horrible at your jo–AL: Shhhhh! Not so loud.

Stokes' brave calls and bowling return herald start of England's evolution

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

England captain shifts focus towards 2025/26 Ashes ahead of first West Indies Test

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Jul-2024Ben Stokes is excited to put his knee troubles behind him and reprise his role as an allrounder when England’s Test summer begins at Lord’s on Wednesday.The first Test against West Indies will see England step into a new era with James Anderson retiring after his 188th cap. The XI also features two debutants in wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and fast bowler Gus Atkinson, while Shoaib Bashir will play his first home Test.The transition from Anderson will not be smooth. But it will be eased by Stokes now fully recovered from a left knee issue that hindered his ability to offer a fourth seam option over the last two years.Related

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His operation in November was a success and he was free from pain during the India tour at the start of the year. Stokes ended up bowling ahead of schedule in the final Test at Dharamshala, removing Rohit Sharma with his first ball for his 199th career dismissal.Having opted out of T20 World Cup selection to build up his bowling loads with Durham, Stokes managed 89.1 overs across three County Championship matches, taking 18 wickets at 18.83. Now as fit as he has been in the last five years, he is relishing the prospect of bringing back the balance he used to offer with bat and ball.”I’m sitting here now being able to say that I can play that full role that I had been doing over the first eight to 10 years,” Stokes said on Tuesday. “The last two years have been tough with the knee problems that I’ve had. But I’ve done everything right to get myself to where I am now and I’m very excited to finally be able to go out on the park and not have to worry about how things are going to feel in my body.”The surgery for me was the easy part. It was then what I did after that to get me back to where I am today. I’ve worked incredibly hard back at Durham with all the coaches and had a lot of great support.”Anderson and Stokes in their Test whites•PA Photos/Getty ImagesA return to the allrounder of old will coincide with Stokes adopting a new perspective as captain. Along with Test coach Brendon McCullum, Stokes has swapped the ‘be where your feet are’ mantra which underpinned his first two years in charge for a more forward-thinking approach towards the next Ashes tour of Australia. That, ultimately, prompted the move to retire Anderson, who will be 43 by the 2025/26 winter.Stokes’ record of 14 wins from 23 Tests since assuming the captaincy remains sound. But following the 4-1 defeat in India, the last four months have featured plenty of introspection about how the team must evolve.”When you have a lot of time off you’ve got a lot of time to think about how you can take the team forward,” he said. “I’ve been captain now for two years so, for me, it’s about progressing this team. And we’ve been a team, especially in the first two years, very focused on the here and now on what we need to do.

“There’ll be some decisions I’m sure that people might not understand or might be frustrated by.”Stokes accepts that his captaincy will not always be popular

“I want to be able to implement stuff to push this team as far as they can go, not only as a team collective but also as individuals. And you look at where we’ve got to go in 18 months’ time, to Australia: we want to win that urn back.”We’ve got an incredibly talented and exciting group of young fast bowlers coming through at the moment, so giving them the experience of playing international cricket, getting Test matches under their belt, will put us in a much stronger position to hopefully go out and win the Ashes.”The selections of Smith and Bashir reflect the scale of such future planning. Smith will take the gloves despite the fact he is Surrey’s second-choice wicketkeeper behind England’s previous incumbent, Ben Foakes. Similarly, Bashir had to move on loan to Worcestershire last month because Jack Leach – the man he has overtaken – is Somerset’s main spinner.”I know he’s been batting higher up the order for Surrey, but we’re very, very excited by what Jamie can offer to us in this team,” Stokes said of Smith, who has 677 Championship runs for the Division One leaders this season at a strike rate of 76.67. “He fits in perfectly with everything that we want down at No.7 for us, and he’s deserved his place by runs alone.”Jamie Smith is set to take the gloves for England•Getty ImagesWhile Bashir has only managed six dismissals at 76.83 in the Championship, England are keen to give him more international exposure after a strong impression in India where he took 17 wickets across three appearances, including his first two five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket.”When you’re picking a squad and you’ve got one spinner, we had to make a decision on what we thought offered us the most amount of variety,” Stokes said. “Bash is 6ft4in and he’s got a lot of individual traits that we feel that we can bring out. Bash has a very high ceiling and just has a lot of talent we feel like the more games he plays, the more he gets under his belt, we’re going to get a seriously good bowler on our hands.”Stokes appreciates those decisions, especially the enforced retirement of Anderson, will raise eyebrows. But he is under no doubt it is his duty as captain to grasp the nettle on such tough calls that he hopes will eventually leave the team in a better place.”There’s always going to be decisions that are hard ones to make. But that’s a responsibility that you take on as captain or as a leader. You sometimes have to put personal relationships and things to the side. Because for me, the most important thing and what I’ll always make my decisions around, is what I think is best for the team.”There’ll be some decisions I’m sure that people might not understand or might be frustrated by. But that’s something I’m absolutely fine with and I completely understand.”

Stats – KKR's season of dominance

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Kolkata Knight Riders put together a near-perfect campaign to win their third IPL title

Sampath Bandarupalli26-May-20242:30

Was this the most commanding title win in IPL history?

3 – IPL titles won by Kolkata Knight Riders, in 2012, 2014 and 2024. Only Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have won more titles – five each.3 – Matches lost by KKR in IPL 2024, the fewest by a team in any IPL season, along with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2008.57 – Balls remaining when KKR finished the chase in the IPL 2024 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) – the biggest in an IPL playoff game. The previous biggest was KKR’s win with 38 balls in hand in Qualifier 1 against SRH in Ahmedabad.Related

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113 – SRH’s total in the final against KKR is the lowest in an IPL final. The previous lowest was 125 for 9 by CSK against MI in IPL 2013.6 – Matches in which KKR bowled their opponents out this season – the most by a team in a single edition of the IPL. The previous highest was four, by MI in 2008 and 2010.1.17 – The ratio between KKR’s run rate with the bat and economy rate with the ball this season is the highest for any team in an IPL season. They bettered MI, who had a ratio of 1.14 in IPL 2020. KKR’s run rate in IPL 2024 – 10.71 – is the best for any team in an IPL season.1 – Mitchell Starc is the first player to be named Player of the Match twice in the playoffs of an IPL season. He won the award in Qualifier 1 and in the final, both against SRH.1:09

Moody: Difference between KKR and SRH became evident tonight

3 – Number of times Sunil Narine has won the MVP award in the IPL – in 2012, 2018 and 2024. He is the first to win the award three times, surpassing Shane Watson and Andre Russell, who won twice each.24 – Number of balls Venkatesh Iyer took for his fifty, making it the joint-fastest in an IPL final. Suresh Raina against MI in IPL 2010 and David Warner against RCB in IPL 2016 also had 24-ball fifties in the final.4 – Fifty-plus scores for Venkatesh in five IPL playoff matches. Only Raina (seven in 24 innings) has more fifty-plus scores in IPL playoffs.4 – Players with multiple ducks in the playoffs in an IPL edition, including Travis Head in 2024.

Stats – India extend dominance at home, at breakneck speed

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Ashwin now has 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, the joint-highest with Muthiah Muralidaran

Sampath Bandarupalli01-Oct-202415 – Test matches for India against Bangladesh without a defeat, out of which they have now won 13. Only two teams have played more Tests against an opposition without losing a single game: 20 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe and 17 by New Zealand against Zimbabwe.18 – Consecutive Test series wins for India at home, a streak that began with a whitewash of Australia in 2013. England, in 2012, were the last team to defeat India at home in a Test series.India haven’t lost a Test series at home or away since their defeat to South Africa in 2021-22. They have won six of the seven bilateral Test series played in this period.312 – Balls batted by India across the two innings in Kanpur – the fourth-fewest by any team to win a men’s Test. The lowest is 276 balls by England against West Indies in Barbados in 1935, while India batted only 281 balls for their win against South Africa earlier this year in Cape Town.ESPNcricinfo Ltd7.36 – India’s run rate across the two innings in Kanpur, the highest for any team in a Test match where they scored 300-plus runs. The previous highest was 6.80 by South Africa, who made 340 in 50 overs in the only innings they batted in against Zimbabwe in 2005.1040 – Number of balls bowled in Kanpur, making it the third-shortest completed Test match to have gone into the fifth day.The 2000 Centurion Test that ended on the fifth day saw only 883 balls bowled, but both South Africa and England forfeited one innings each on that occasion.England needed only 909 balls to complete a win against South Africa at The Oval in 2022, where no play was possible on the first two days.128.12 – Yashasvi Jaiswal’s strike rate in Kanpur is the third-highest among the batters with fifty-plus scores in both innings of a men’s Test (where data is available). The highest is 137.7 by David Warner against Pakistan in the 2017 Sydney Test, while Harry Brook had a strike rate of 132.59 in the 2022 Rawalpindi Test.1 – Jaiswal is now the first Indian batter to score fifties in both innings of a Test match in fewer than 50 balls. Nine others have had fifties in less than 50 balls in the same Test, with the last being Pathum Nissanka against England at The Oval in September.ESPNcricinfo Ltd8 – Fifty-plus scores for Jaiswal in 13 Test innings at home – all have come in 2024. These are the most fifty-plus scores by any batter in a calendar year on Indian soil in Tests.His 901 runs are also the third-highest in a calendar year in India, behind GR Viswanath’s 1047 in 1979 and Virat Kohli’s 964 in 2016.11 – Player-of-the-Series awards for R Ashwin in Test cricket, the joint-highest alongside Muthiah Muralidaran.7 – Instances of a team winning a men’s Test match despite no player scoring 75-plus runs in an innings and no bowler with a four-plus wicket haul.No Indian took a four-wicket haul in Kanpur despite four three-wicket hauls across two innings, while Jaiswal’s 72 in the first innings was their highest individual score in the match.

West Indies, Bangladesh eye T20I improvements to close out the year

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Neither team has had a great year in the format and will look to make amends

Mohammad Isam15-Dec-2024West Indies will look to take the high from the 3-0 ODI series win in St Kitts into St Vincent where they now play three T20Is against Bangladesh. It is the fag end of the tour for the visitors, who would look to end their time in the West Indies with a win under their belt.Tour mood brings context to contestWest Indies crushed Bangladesh 3-0 in the ODIs after the visitors fought back to draw the Test series 1-1 in Jamaica earlier in the tour. The relationship between the two teams seems to have improved after some heated sledging in the Test series, but that wouldn’t stop them from thrashing out another highly-competitive three-match series.Both teams come into the matches with poor performances in T20Is recently. There will be mini-contests in the shortest format too, particularly between Jaker Ali and the West Indies fast bowlers.Related

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Bangladesh’s quicks will also be expected to rise for one last time this year, to make 2024 worth remembering for the group.West Indies bring in more big gunsRovman Powell now takes over the West Indies side as their T20I captain from ODI skipper Shai Hope. The hosts have called up Keacy Carty for the first time in T20Is, while the likes of Brandon King, Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis will make up the top order. Then come Powell, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase and Justin Greaves completing the middle order.Akeal Hosein is available only for the first two games, before Jayden Seales, Bangladesh’s scourge all tour, returns to the side for the third T20I. Gudakesh Motie could be key, having also bashed an important knock in the third ODI, to give him confidence with the bat.Bangladesh look to improve ordinary T20 yearBangladesh will be smarting from the series defeat in St Kitts because they fancy themselves in ODIs. The shift to T20Is won’t inspire much confidence for them because they have had a sub-par year in the format, having suffered series defeats against Sri Lanka, USA and India. They have lost their last six matches in the format.Jaker Ali was Bangladesh’s best batter across the Tests and ODIs•Randy BrooksTherefore, appointing Litton Das as captain is a desperate move to freshen up the T20I side. Litton is going through a tough time in ODIs so it is important for him to revive his form.They will, however, hope that Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan and their find of the series – Jaker – continue their ODI form into the T20Is. Shamim Hossain comes with renewed reputation while Mahedi Hasan will battle for a place with Mehidy Hasan Miraz.The spinners, including Nasum Ahmed and Rishad Hossain, have a lot of work to do, especially after failing to take wickets in the middle overs in the one-dayers.They shored up their pace department on the eve of the series, adding fast bowler Nahid Rana to the squad.*What to expect from the St Vincent pitch and conditionsBangladesh have bittersweet memories of the Arnos Vale ground from earlier this year. They beat Netherlands and Nepal but crashed out of the T20 World Cup after the loss against Afghanistan. The pitches produced moderate first-innings totals during the World Cup and the spinners could become a vital cog if used smartly by the two captains. St Vincent may experience some rain, which is particularly in the forecast for the third T20I on December 19.*

Kohli-mania takes over Chinnaswamy as IPL braces for restart

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The pre-match training session was anything but quiet and routine, as hundreds of fans turned up for a glimpse of their king

Shashank Kishore15-May-20253:48

Pujara: ‘Under Kohli’s captaincy, everyone started believing we can win overseas’

By a quarter to five on Thursday afternoon, the gates of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium were throbbing. Hundreds of fans had pressed up against the barricades, their collective gaze fixated down Cubbon Road, awaiting the sound of the police siren that generally marks the arrival of the team bus that then turns left into Gate No. 10.For a fleeting moment, the energy dimmed. A bus did appear, but it wore purple and gold, not the one they’d come for. As it rolled past smoothly, the fans began counting down time. Perhaps the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bus was on its way, they convinced themselves. That wait lasted more than an hour, not enough to dim their excitement. And when a bus painted in red and gold finally emerged amid a sea of vehicles, the frenzy reached fever pitch.”Virat! King! Kohli! Koeli! Boss!”Related

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The chants rose like a wave, only to be absorbed by the honking chaos of stalled traffic along Cubbon Park. If you expected a routine pre-match nets to be a quiet affair, you were wrong. The RCB faithful, who want to turn up in whites to pay tribute to their hero Virat Kohli, turned it into an event.Every Kohli appearance at the Chinnaswamy carries a hum of energy. This one felt different. It surely felt like the after-effects of the big announcement he’d made earlier in the week. But for all the hoopla outside, when Kohli arrived – AirPods in, unhurried, and slowly climbing the stairs to the dressing room – he looked utterly at ease with his surroundings.A quick change over into training gears later, Kohli emerged on the balcony amid a number of shutter bugs eager to get the best click. And quickly after, Kohli was all business. As he walked into the arena, padded up and bounding out with three bats in tow, he caught up with Ajinkya Rahane briefly, before they went in two different directions.Kohli was the first out to bat at the main net. For over 45 minutes, he stayed put, alternating with Phil Salt as they faced up to an army of net bowlers initially, until the rest of RCB’s pack joined in after their warm-ups. Out came the drives, cuts, short-arm jabs – routine Kohli territory. And when the spinners came on, Kohli danced down the track to replicate a mini-version of that now epic Melbourne flat-bat when Suyash Sharma thought he’d beaten him with a skiddy length ball.All eyes on me: Kohli is almost always at the centre of attention at the Chinnaswamy•BCCIFor all the while he batted, it seemed business as usual for Kohli. The unwavering focus towards his strokes, the grimace when he mistimed hits, the yelp of “come on!” when he was beaten. But as he finished his net session and packed his kit to walk off, all the net bowlers who were made to toil took turns to walk up and greet him. Kohli obliged all of them and turned to walk back. Until he received a pat on the back from Venkatesh Iyer.As Kohli walked back, with security personnel having to draw a cordon behind the advertising hoardings and sightscreen, the chaotic spectacle relented to a more routine evening. The cameras found another batter to train their focus on, and there were many who hit them big, perhaps none bigger than Andre Russell and Tim David, who batted simultaneously in two different corners, seemingly trying to outdo each other.But even as the big hitters took center stage, there was a quiet hum that remained, unlike the chaotic spectacle from an hour earlier – proof that the evening had already belonged to someone else.

Is worrying about over rates… overrated?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

We tend to measure over rates in terms of overs lost per day; it belies a lack of both empathy for players and understanding of the issue at hand

Sidharth Monga20-Jul-20252:55

Harmison: ‘Stokes will go over broken glass to make sure his team wins’

On day one of the Lord’s Test, 83 overs were bowled with the addition of the extra half-hour. Seven overs lost, never to come back. On day two, India ended England’s innings within the first 30 overs, and England bowled 43 overs by stumps, again with the use of the extra half-hour. Fifteen overs lost, never to come back. On day three, India batted for another 77 overs and bowled one at England in the scheduled six hours plus the extra half-hour. Ten overs lost never to come back.There has been widespread hand-wringing and criticism of the teams, the match officials, and the ICC for “robbing” patrons of cricket. Is it fair to look at over rates through the lens of overs lost, though? What does it say about our empathy for players and our understanding of Test cricket’s competitive framework?Over rates are not calculated every day or even every innings, but across a match. If a bowling side is able to bowl the opposition out in under 80 overs, that innings is not considered for calculations unless the over rate goes beyond the required 15 per hour.Related

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Note the intrinsic understanding of the ICC: if you bowl your opposition out in under 80 overs, you are providing the patrons enough entertainment so they don’t feel “robbed” of the extra few overs. At any rate, unless you get wickets with the last ball before a break, you get an allowance of 18 minutes for taking nine wickets, not counting the one that ends the innings. Drinks breaks are worth four minutes each.So, assuming you have bowled a side out in 80 overs in six-and-a-half hours, you can directly chop off the extra half-hour as allowance for wickets and drinks. Add DRS reviews – at least three because the batting side generally exhaust theirs if they are bowled out – injury timeouts, ball changes, and running repairs, and you lose about 15 minutes in a day. So the over rate here is 80 divided 5.75, which is close to 14 an hour, which isn’t as shabby as the crude boiling down to ten overs lost that viewers will never get back.It is important to remember that even the ICC doesn’t expect teams to bowl all 90 overs in a day if they are using a lot of fast bowling. Match referees privately say that 90 overs of predominantly fast bowling is too much to expect, and needs a review. The question we need to grapple with here is: do we want generous amounts of part-time spin to complete the chore of 90 overs every day, or do we want Test cricket at its highest intensity?Umpires and referees tend to lean towards the latter, which is why they are lenient towards players taking frequent breaks, be it to change sweaty gloves or worry about the ball’s shape. Even gamesmanship, as in the dying moments of day three at Lord’s, can create intense drama between two competitive teams doing what they should: England wanting to face as few deliveries as possible and India trying to bowl as many as possible. These are Test cricketers, not obedient schoolboys who should meekly face two overs or quietly bowl just one when denied the chance for another.More of this, or more overs from part-timers to meet over-rate requirements?•Getty ImagesThe ICC is not saying it in as many words because it will attract even more criticism, but the playing conditions and the track record of match officials tend to suggest that expectations for overs bowled in a day are realistic at a time when draws without weather interruptions are extremely rare, even on flat Bazball pitches, and when Test cricket is being played at a higher intensity than ever before.It is easy to bowl 90 overs in a day when the batters are letting you bowl to a plan unchallenged. Batting is more attacking than even before, and asks the bowling team to think on their feet and make more fielding changes to counter it. It is no surprise that all the recent instances of teams being docked World Test Championship (WTC) points for over-rate offences have either come in high-scoring games, or Tests involving a lot of fast bowling, or both. Before Lord’s, Pakistan were the last team to be penalised: they went for 615 in Cape Town, where they had only one spinner in a five-man attack. Before that, both England and New Zealand were penalised in Christchurch: again lots of runs and lots of fast bowling.Another argument does hold some merit: there is competitive advantage to be gained by bowling too slowly, either as gamesmanship or by way of hiding a lack of fitness and conditioning. This is perhaps a more salient cause for concern and more relevant in limited-overs cricket – as is the general over-rates problem – but we can trust the match officials for that. They are consistent with the allowances they make. They don’t want the spotlight on them, so they push teams less conspicuously than by waving their arms and sending back drinks on live TV.The Lord’s Test showed us that even time-wasting can make for breathtaking theatre•Getty ImagesThere remain concerns to be addressed. The penalties for slow over-rates seem to be disproportionately harsh given the otherwise empathetic attitude of match officials. England’s over rate cost them a sixth of the WTC points they earned for winning the Lord’s Test. Then again, you can argue that teams should pay dearly if they are still slow after all the allowances they get, and after the introduction of stop clocks.The over rates at Lord’s were fairly similar in the first innings, but India used more spin in the second innings – not to make up time but because their spinners became threatening – and went past 15 overs per hour and improved their overall over rate for the match.While England, too, bowled India out in less than 80 overs in the second innings, they couldn’t go past 15 per hour with an injured spinner in their ranks. So their second-innings over rate had no impact on the overall calculations.Teams playing more often in conditions that call for predominantly quick bowling find themselves under more pressure on over rates. The ICC is not unaware of this. Perhaps a solution will be worked out by the next WTC cycle. Until then, if we take a moment to appreciate how much Test cricket has changed and how over rates are really calculated, we will be less angry about overs lost.

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