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It’s fair to say that even though Everton found themselves in a difficult situation in November with caretaker boss David Unsworth struggling after Ronald Koeman had been sacked the previous month, there weren’t too many Toffees supporters that would have been keen on the idea of Sam Allardyce taking charge.

The Merseyside outfit looked to be in serious danger of suffering relegation from the Premier League for the first time since the inauguration of the division in 1992, and the 63-year-old is renowned with never suffering demotion to the Championship despite managing the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United and Newcastle United during his career.

Unfortunately for the former England boss, he is also regularly tarnished with the brush of playing unattractive, long ball football, and that is something that would have influenced Everton fans when it was announced that Allardyce was going to take the reins just prior to their clash against fellow strugglers West Ham United at Goodison Park on November 29.

The Toffees came into the clash on the back of a successive 5-1 and 4-1 defeats against Atalanta and Southampton, and they were lying just two points above the relegation zone and with just 12 points from their 13 top flight fixtures.

They also had the second worst goal difference in the division of minus 15 at the time and Allardyce would have been tasked with not only turning results around, but also to stop the side leaking goals.

Unsworth oversaw a brilliant 4-0 success against the Irons, before the 63-year-old took the helm for the first time when they hosted Huddersfield Town just three days later.

A 2-0 victory against the Terriers certainly got him off to a positive start, and he quickly tightened up the defence and started getting the points on the board that the Merseyside outfit desperately needed.

Allardyce and Everton took 12 points from his first six Premier League matches in charge, and it was needed to keep the Goodison Park faithful on side.

However, things started to go sour – and the Toffees fans certainly didn’t need any excuse to turn on the 63-year-old – at the end of 2017 when they were beaten 2-1 by Bournemouth.

Three successive defeats followed – including a 4-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley – and Allardyce suggested that they needed to be “more boring” after the huge reverse in the capital.

That remark outraged Everton fans given that their side had only had one shot on target in their opening three games of 2018, and while they took seven points from their next three home games they were also beaten 5-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

They currently lie in ninth position and eight points above the relegation zone, but it would be hard to argue that the Merseyside outfit have made significant progress under Allardyce in overall terms.

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The January addition of Cenk Tosun hasn’t paid off so far with the player struggling with the pace of the Premier League and the English weather, he failed to sign a left-back when it looked as though it should have been their January priority, while Ademola Lookman left on loan after struggling to get first-team starts and summer arrival Davy Klaassen has failed to get a look in.

That said, Everton are just two points adrift of seventh-place Burnley and if results go their way in the final 11 top flight fixtures of the campaign, they remain on course to secure the position as the best of the rest outside of the top six clubs.

If Allardyce does that it would certainly be an impressive achievement given the disastrous start the club made to the season, and the 63-year-old would deserve a full summer to sign his own players and work with the team during pre-season in preparation of making an ambitious tilt for the top six positions next term.

It would be a controversial choice for the supporters, but Allardyce must get the opportunity to try and take the club forward if he leads Everton to the highest possible finish it looks as though they can secure in remaining 11 fixtures – seventh.

A lot of bad press is given to Wayne Rooney, sometimes unfairly and the player has a lot of people saying he is over rated and does not deserve to be England captain.

The player had shown a lot of early promise in his career after making a big impact for his boyhood team Everton as a sixteen year old. He was playing some outstanding football from the word go and scored a lot of important goals for the Merseyside club, including a whopper of a goal against Arsenal for which I think he went down in history for. After only two season at Everton, scoring fifteen goals in sixty seven appearances, he was signed by Manchester United for a £25.6million transfer fee.

He had a promising start to his career at Manchester United and justified the move becoming United’s top scorer that season with eleven goals. He started to get a bit of a reputation for the wrong reasons however, with his bad temper and poor discipline becoming a regular feature in the newspapers and a and attitude was clearly visible at times like when he was needlessly sent off in September 2005 against Villareal in a game which ended goalless, when he was booked he sarcastically applauded the referee and bagged himself a second yellow. It seemed the youngster, for all the talent and promise he had, it was over shadowed by his silly behaviour and bad attitude, coming across as a bit of a wild child who was in serious need of piping down and being tamed by the mighty Sir Alex Ferguson.

His international career followed suit in similar fashion, with some promising goals and good play from the forward being marred by a shoddy disciplinary record and more bad press in the papers.

The most famous scandal was of course about his apparent taste for ;mature’ women with a story breaking that he had sexual relations with an elderly prostitute. He sadly became a bit of a laughing stock and people started to lose patience with the player who would continue to get himself in trouble on and off the pitch. What followed  was a goalless period in the 2006/2007 season where he went ten games without scoring, until hitting the back of the net three times against Bolton to earn himself a two year contract extension.

For me, I think that a combination of bad press (some of it justified) and his previously poor attitude has earned the new England captain a bad name, more attention is focused on him as a person than as a player. But not only that, he has failed to perform for his country in recent years as a goal scorer and he hasn’t really been that great for his club either. But I think that he is most definitely NOT over rated. The guy has a bag full of talent; that much was obvious from the word go when he was at Everton and scoring top drawer goals, providing vital assists for his team mates, and he has continued to play like that throughout his career with some truly memorable goals being bagged in the process.

The general consensus is that Rooney is used in the wrong way as a player. He is consistently played in the number ten role behind a striker, and at times by Fergie he would be used on the wing. Both England and United are missing out on the best of Wayne because he isn’t used in the way he should be used, which is as natural number nine. He played in that role for Everton and he would hassle and bully defenders, win headers and get himself on the scoresheet regularly.

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He is one of the best strikers in the game in that role and I would go as far as comparing him to Alan Shearer, who played that role superbly throughout his entire career as a player. Rooney is not utilised in that way these days and, despite glimpses of his genius, we do not see him living up to his full potential . As a result, he is classed as over rated by many and continues to get a lot of stick by fans and pundits alike.

Rooney will lead England out tonight against Switzerland in the Euro 2016 qualifier. Let’s hope Hodgson has read this and plays him as a number nine tonight.

Former Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires insists that Wenger needs to find a balance within his team, and start to make cup success a top priority.

The Frenchman spent six years in North London where winning trophies was synonymous with the club as he played his part in two Premier League titles and three FA Cup wins.

Pires was keen to point out that Wenger was the focal point of the football club and that Arsenal need to trust that he will be keep delivering.

“Arsenal goes with Wenger like Wenger goes with Arsenal – you can’t have one without the other,” the 39-year-old told talkSPORT.

“That said, the results this season have simply not been good enough.

“But you can’t forget Arsenal have high expectations because of Arsene Wenger. He has done such a good job over all these years. You cannot forget what he has done for the club and neither should the chairman.

“It’s unfair to compare what we did between 2000 and 2006 – we had a great team, a great mix of English, Spanish, Brazilian and French players. But now a lot has changed. The club’s philosophy seems different.”

Wenger has publicly stated that he believes the importance of achieving Champions League qualification is an essential commodity and one which is underrated by supporters.

However, Pires insists the fans needs to see a palpable return for their support.

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“The most important thing for fans and players is winning titles, be it the FA Cup, the League Cup or the Champions League,” he added.

“It’s been years without a trophy and I know that is very frustrating for Wenger. That should be the number one priority this year.”

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Bist and Hasabnis’ fifties for India A go in vain as visitors collapse from 176 for 3 to 218 all out

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2024Maddy Darke’s unbeaten 106 along with Katie Mack’s 68 set up Australia A’s eight-wicket victory over India A in the second one-dayer in Mackay. The openers added 131 as Australia A chased down India A’s 219 with ease to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Having been put into bat, Raghvi Bist and Tejal Hasabnis hit fifties helping India A fight back with a 124-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Charli Knott and Grace Parsons triggered a collapse as the visitors slumped from 176 for 3 to 218 all out.The game started with Tayla Vlaeminck’s superb opening spell of 4-3-3-1 where she had Priya Punia caught behind. Nicola Hancock replaced Vlaeminck and dismissed Shweta Sehrawat in her first over before Knott sent back Shubha Satheesh for a 38-ball 24.Bist and Hasabnis started slowly before picking boundaries in overs from Parsons and Kate Peterson. They focused on rotating the strike in the middle overs and eased past fifties. But India’s acceleration was cut short by Parsons having Hasabnis caught and bowled and Knott having Minnu Mani caught behind in successive overs.Shipra Giri got going with a couple of fours but with Bist getting run out in the 45th over, India slipped to 203 for 6. Maitlan Brown cleaned up the tail in a triple-wicket maiden over, which included a run out, as India were bowled out in 48 overs.Mack and Darke were aided by wides and a couple of threes from Soppadhandi Yashasri and Sayali Satghare’s opening spells as Australia A coasted past fifty in the 11th over. Between overs eight and 16, every single one went for at least five as Mack reached fifty in the 16th over. Darke reached hers in the 21st over with Australia A on 121 for 0.Satghare trapped Mack lbw in the 23rd over but Darke carried on. Her 38-run stand with Knott included just one boundary but brought the asking rate well under three. Tahlia McGrath hitting four boundaries in her first 15 balls quashed the little chances for a visitors’ comeback and allowed Darke to complete a century in the 37th over. The duo stayed unbeaten to take Australia A home with 58 balls to spare.Australia A had swept the T20I series 3-0 and have the chance to repeat the feat in the ODIs at the Gold Coast on Monday.

From equal pay for the women’s game to the ditching of Eton-Harrow fixtures at Lord’s

Osman Samiuddin26-Jun-2023The report ends with 44 recommendations to “transform the game’s culture and, in some cases, to redesign the systems that govern and operate cricket.” ESPNcricinfo picks through 10 of the more significant ones below.

A public apology

The very first recommendation the ICEC makes is for the ECB to issue an “unqualified public apology for its own failings and those of the game it governs.” The apology, it says, must “acknowledge that racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have existed, and still exist, in the game, and recognise the impact on victims of discrimination.”In particular, the report says, there needs to be a direct apology for the “ECB’s and the wider game’s historic failures in relation to women’s and girls’ cricket and its failure to adequately support Black cricket in England and Wales.”In response, the ECB issued an immediate and “unreserved” apology for anyone who has faced discrimination in the game.

Equal pay for the women’s game

Gross disparities in opportunity and reward between genders represents an important focus of the report. It recommends a “fundamental overhaul” of the pay structure for professional women cricketers, calling for equal pay (on average) at domestic level by 2029 and international level by 2030.It calls for international match fees between the England men’s and women’s teams to be made equal with immediate effect, commercial earnings for promotional appearances to be equal on average to the men’s team by 2028, as well as for the ECB to top up prize money wins at ICC events so they are in line with men’s winnings (until, the report says, the ICC makes these equal).At domestic level, the report wants women’s regional teams to be fully professionalised by the start of the 2025 season (as well as have rookie contracts in place a season earlier). The reports wants average pay and prize money to be equal to the men’s domestically by 2029, but across a gradated scale (50% by 2025, 75% by 2027 and 100% by 2029). They want women’s salaries in The Hundred to be equal to the men’s by 2025.

Overhauling school cricket and talent pathways

The report devotes considerable attention to a relatively narrow pathway that has, historically, struggled to tap into as broad a base of talent as possible outside of private, fee-paying schools. The report recommends overhauling the entire talent pathway to “make it more meritocratic, inclusive, accountable, transparent and consistent”.It specifically suggests that the ECB should, within the next year, put in place an action plan for state schools, calling for a re-allocation of ECB money at U14 level “with the aim of ‘levelling the playing field’… to ensure that there exists an equal pathway into professional cricket for the very large majority of the England and Wales population that attend only a state school”.The subsequent recommendation calls for counties to forego any direct costs they charge for participation in talent pathways for 2024-25, in a bid to reduce barriers to access for children from lower socio- economic and state school backgrounds. It also calls for financial assistance for other costs, such as that of travel and cost of equipment to this demographic.

A national T20 competition for state school teams

By the start of the 2025 season, the report wants the ECB to organise county and national-level T20 competitions for boys’ and girls’ (U14 and U15) teams from state schools. Wins at county level (U14s) would see schools progress to a national competition the following year (for U15s). This, the report says, should replace…

Ditch Eton-Harrow at Lord’s

… the annual Eton-Harrow games at Lord’s. The school game, between two of the country’s most elite private schools, has come to somewhat symbolise the exclusivity of the Home of Cricket in recent years. Last year, MCC had decided to remove the Eton-Harrow and Oxford-Cambridge university games from their annual schedule, only to U-turn after a group of members protested. For now, the fixtures remain on the annual calendar till at least 2027.”These two events should be replaced by national finals’ days for state school U15 competitions for boys and girls,” the report says, “and a national finals’ day for competitions for men’s and women’s university teams.”

A new, independent regulatory body

One of the report’s most radical recommendations is the creation of a separate regulatory body for cricket, completely independent of the ECB, within the next year. “The new regulatory body, not the ECB, should be responsible for investigating alleged regulatory breaches and for making decisions about whether to bring charges,” the report says, adding in a subsequent recommendation that such breaches should include anti-discrimination and safeguarding rules.Despite some progress, the report found there to be a lack of clarity and independence in the ECB’s “formal regulatory system”. In its dual roles as promoter and regulator of the game, it concluded the ECB’s potential for conflicts of interest was “irreconcilable” between its commercial considerations and reputation-preservation, against the need at times to take effective regulatory action. It was this conflict that stood out through the Azeem Rafiq racism case.

Cricket’s class barriers

“One of our big reflections over the last 18 months or so is that our understanding of lower socio-economic groups is not good enough,” the ECB acknowledges within the report. One of the bigger – but unsurprising – findings in the report is how little attention has been paid by the ECB to this inequity and inaccessibility, based on class, schooling and/or socioeconomic backgrounds. None of the various initiatives the ECB has undertaken over the years, the report concludes, have specifically targeted barriers to participation and progress on pathways based on class.As such, they recommend that “within the next 12 months, the ECB undertakes an in-depth examination of the class barriers that exist in cricket and develops a game-wide strategy to remove them”.

ECB should appoint a chief EDI officer

The report’s assessment is that greater EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) competence and expertise is needed with the ECB board and executive. It is essential, the report says, that there is an ongoing and mandatory programme of training and development of these competencies for the board and executive.”We recommend that, within the next six months, the ECB establishes an Executive-level Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer role with a singular focus on EDI and puts in place sufficient resources to support EDI delivery.”We recommend that the Chief EDI Officer sits on the ECB Board for the short to medium-term and/or until there is improved performance across EDI outcomes.”

Put EDI front and centre of allocation decisions

In November 2021, the ECB suspended Yorkshire from hosting international cricket, as it came to terms with the full impact of Azeem Rafiq’s experiences of racism at the county. Three months later, following a change in leadership and swift internal reform, the suspension was revoked and the county staged two internationals last summer.That is used by the report as an example in which putting EDI at the forefront of an allocation decision “is a powerful tool to encourage and enforce compliance with EDI”. It thus recommends that the “ECB revises and clarifies its processes and criteria for allocating, suspending, cancelling and reinstating high profile matches to place greater emphasis on EDI. There is clear evidence that being allocated such matches, or having the right to host them withdrawn, is a powerful tool to encourage compliance with EDI”.

An open and transparent complaints policy

The report is unequivocal in its conclusion that the systems and processes cricket has in place for handling allegations of discrimination are unfit for purpose. The report found a difference in perception between those in power who generally believed the systems they operate were effective and complainants, who found those systems to be inadequate.The ECB, the commission found, did not appreciate the role of complaints within the broader context of the fight against discrimination and that the system is not “sufficiently victim-centred”.”We recommend that the ECB reports clearly, publicly and annually on complaints in the professional and recreational game, including numbers, overall outcomes and actions taken to address existing and emerging patterns of concern.”

Allrounder played key part in run to U19 World Cup final in February

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2022Rehan Ahmed, the legspinning allrounder who played an integral role in England’s run to the final of this year’s Under-19 World Cup, has signed a long-term contract extension that will keep him at Leicestershire until the end of 2026.Ahmed, a product of the Leicestershire academy, made his first appearances for the senior team as a 16-year-old in last summer’s Royal London Cup, when he made his debut against Yorkshire, and went on to average 44.50 with the bat and take five wickets in a seven-game stint.However, Ahmed made his first big impression as an 11-year-old in 2016, when he was invited to bowl in the nets at Lord’s as part of England’s preparations for the Test series against Pakistan, and ended up claiming the wicket of Ben Stokes.His development took a further step in September, with his call-up for England’s Under-19 series against West Indies, after which he was included in their World Cup plans for this winter’s tournament in the Caribbean. He claimed 12 wickets in four innings, including his match-defining spell in the semi-final against Afghanistan, in which he turned the tide of the match with three wickets in an over. England went on to lose the final by four wickets to India.Related

• James Bracey, Haseeb Hameed in County Select XI to face India

• Tom Prest's 154* powers England into quarter-finals, Pakistan advance too

• U-19 WC: Bethell's 88, Ahmed's four-for lift England to semi-finals

• 'I'm always ready' – Rehan Ahmed is on the move, and has a World Cup trophy in his sights

• The Hundred draft: How the men's squads stack up

“I am delighted to extend my contract at the club and can’t wait to represent the Running Foxes again during the summer,” Ahmed said. “The past year has been incredible for me. From making my Leicestershire to debut to playing in a World Cup final, I have learned so much and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me on my journey so far.”Leicestershire CCC Director of Cricket, Claude Henderson, said: “It is exciting to have Rehan onboard to help achieve our long-term ambitions. We want to give him the best opportunity to develop his game and contribute to winning games for Leicestershire. He has shown a first-class attitude, along with the level of skill and hunger we want to be associated with.”Ahmed’s Leicestershire career began at Under-15 level, once producing match-winning 134 not out alongside four wickets in 10 overs against Derbyshire’s U18s. Last summer he also named in the County Select squad which played against India at Chester-le-Street in July.In addition to his contract extension, Ahmed was picked up by the reigning Hundred champions Southern Brave in this year’s draft.

Hockley also said India’s tour during the pandemic was one of “great importance” to CA

Himanshu Agrawal24-Nov-2020Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley believes that the absence of Virat Kohli from the major part of India’s Test series in Australia will not have any financial implications for the board even considering how much attention India’s captain attracts. Kohli is set to miss three of the four Tests in order to fly back home to attend the birth of his first child, and Hockley said he respected that decision.”I think the first thing is that we’re delighted for Virat and Anushka [Sharma, his wife] for the imminent birth of their child,” Hockley said in an interaction with the Indian media. “We respect Virat’s decision and the BCCI to grant him leave. We’re just delighted he’ll be here to captain the side for the ODIs and the T20Is and the first Test. He’ll bring competitive leadership that we’ve seen before and have become accustomed to watching. I don’t think his absence will have a financial bearing.”With international cricket finally resuming in Australia after all the months of inaction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hockley termed India’s tour as one of “great importance” to CA. There were multiple staff cuts in the lead-up to the home summer, with apprehensions of massive financial losses, with Afghanistan having to lose out on an opportunity to play a Test match in Australia.”This series is of great importance to world cricket and Australian cricket,” Hockley said. “One of the features of the pandemic has been how the international cricket community has supported each other. Even we had travelled to England in September, and we are extremely grateful to the BCCI to make this tour happen.”This is a testament to all countries that we’ve got international cricket back up and running. Australia have been extremely fortunate that we’ve managed the Covid-19 situation very well, and I’m excited that the [India] series will be played in front of crowds.”Playing while managing life in a bubble for a lengthy period of time poses its own challenges, and numerous international cricketers – including the Australia opener David Warner – have expressed concern over the long-term feasibility of playing cricket in these circumstances. And so far as its financial implications are concerned, Hockley revealed that the board has had to spend millions to maintain a biosecure bubble that contains a large contingent of players and staff.”We’re taking precautions and using charter planes,” he said. “We had an endeavour of movement of the returning IPL players from the UAE. But precautions and measures have run into several million dollars.”ALSO READ: Marcus Stoinis expects Virat Kohli to be ‘extra motivated’ in abridged tourBut Hockley also accepted how difficult it has been for players to sustain lives in isolation. Some of Australia’s players travelled to England for a two-week tour that involved quarantine before it began, and then flew directly to the UAE to remain in another bubble for nearly two months during the IPL. The series against India, and more life in bubbles, came immediately after.”We’re extremely fortunate with limited cases [of Covid-19] and negligible community transmission,” Hockley said of the current state of the pandemic in the country. “We’ve worked hard to put the best possible conditions. There is an outdoor gym for India and the returning Australian IPL players. The safety of all participants is our number one priority. We’re working closely with the BCCI and working hard to provide the best possible conditions.”Despite all the arrangements and the facilities across Australia, there remains the possibility of an unprecedented outbreak taking place while the India series is on. But Hockley said CA had adequate cover “to ensure there are rescues in case of outbreaks”.”There has been a negligible community transmission in Australia, and more cases have been attached to the return of visitors from other countries,” he said. “We’re confident the work of our medical experts will mitigate that risk.”Hockley sounded positive about the pandemic’s situation in Australia and was confident of the arrangements that CA has made to host India smoothly.”Depending on the situation in each city, what I can say is that from our initial risk ratings, it’s very low,” Hockley said when asked about the protocols and the arrangements for all the players and staff. “[There’s] no or negligible community transmission; Melbourne now has 28 days of zero community transmission. The protocols are clear – [maintain] social distancing – and we’re making sure we have secure, separate areas.”The tour begins with the first of three ODIs in Sydney on November 27. The ODIs will be followed by three T20Is and four Tests.

The Australia coach has opened up on how the pressure got to him earlier this year and recounts an old story regarding James Anderson

Daniel Brettig28-Jul-2019At the lowest moment of a tumultuous first six months, mentoring a weakened Australian team through the troubled waters that followed the Newlands scandal, Justin Langer’s wife Sue broke down in tears at the toll the job was taking on their family.Over breakfast at the team hotel in Sydney, the Langer family was about to be separated again as the coach went to travel to the SCG for another day of being ground down by Virat Kohli’s relentless Indian touring team, and Sue and their four daughters travelled home to Perth after being together for Christmas and New Year.Still wrestling with the scrutiny of the job, a world away from what he experienced as coach of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers for the preceding six years, Langer was confronted by a sight he could not recall in 23 years of marriage.”We got to day three or day four of the last Test in Sydney and my family had been over for Boxing Day and for the SCG Test match,” Langer told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve known my wife since I was 14 years old, so she knows everything about me, and they were leaving. I had to get in the team car to go to the ground at 8.15am. They were leaving that day, and we were at breakfast at 8 o’clock and my wife started crying at the breakfast table in front of my daughters.”I said what’s going on, I had never see my wife cry – we know everything about each other. She said ‘I just don’t like what’s happening here, I don’t like what it’s doing to you, I don’t like what it’s doing to us, people are so mean, what people are saying about you and the team and Australian cricket’. That was a real eye opener for me, that it was affecting my family.”A few days later, ahead of the ODI series that began Australia’s run to the World Cup, Langer was confronted by some awkward questions about how Glenn Maxwell had been wrongly led to believe he would be playing long-from cricket for Australia the year before. The press conference exchange did not play well on camera, emphasising to Langer much of what Sue had told him. He now regards the period to be as critical to his coaching career as being dropped from the Test team in 1993 and 2001 was for his playing days.”I got, I’d say two out of 10 grumpy with the journalist in Sydney, and I was also amazed at the backlash of that as well,” Langer said. “I apologised straight after the event, that’s me, but I realised then and the way people said ‘he’s getting angry, he’s losing it’. I didn’t feel that but my wife was getting upset, that was a real moment. I’ve said privately and publicly a few times if I look back to my career, 1993 when I got dropped for the first time, really tough time, but pivotal in my life.The presence of former players such as Steve Waugh has helped share the burden on Justin Langer•Getty Images

“I got dropped in 2001, a really, really tough time, but pivotal in my life. I look to January 2019 in Sydney, really tough time, but I’ve got no doubt it’ll be a massive part of my evolution as a coach. I got a really nice email from Malcolm Conn [former journalist and now New South Wales communications manager], just after that press conference. He’d obviously watched me grow from a young player to a player who retired however many years later and he gave me some really good advice. He knows what it was, but when I’m getting that sort of feedback from my wife, that sort of feedback from the team, I knew I had to find ways to get better and hopefully I’ve done that.”Langer has subsequently been steadily surrounded with more and more trusted allies to help him in the job while also balancing him personally. Ricky Ponting was recruited as an assistant coach for the World Cup, Steve Waugh as a mentor for the early part of the Ashes series, and Ben Oliver has been formally installed as the new head of national teams – a similar role to the one he performed successfully alongside Langer with WA.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo to mark 10 years of coaching, Langer also reflected on the infamous 2009 “dossier” leak in which his frankest thoughts about English cricket and players such as James Anderson were splashed across the pages of the , an episode that happened a matter of months before he moved from playing retirement to an assistant role with the Australian team.Recalling what he had written about Anderson in what was originally intended as a personal email of advice to the then national team coach Tim Nielsen, Langer said that the evolution of the Englishman from youth to maturity and greatness mirrored how he had grown and changed so much, first as a cricketer and now a coach.”If we get specific, I said in that email, which caused great headlines, that James Anderson was a pussy,” Langer said. “Now that’s my way of just talking about his body language. When we played against James Anderson as a young man, we felt that if we got on top of him, hit anything loose he bowled, because his body language would drop a little bit. I’d take back the word I used, that wouldn’t be my style now, that’s for sure, but it was two Aussie blokes talking to each other about someone’s body language.”Do I think that now about James Anderson? Absolutely not, and I hope you write this in the article, James Anderson has turned into a brilliant, great English fast bowler. He will be the person we talk about most when we go through our plans for winning this Ashes. He’s a brilliant player. When he was a young man he was different than he is now, and that happens with most. When I was a young batsman, I was dour, I couldn’t hit the ball off the square, I probably didn’t smile much, and people would’ve said that about me when I was younger, to where I finished up playing.”That was my interpretation of him, having played against him, I didn’t know him at all, it’s not personal. Would I say that now? No way in the world, he is a great bowler and we respect him enormously, I personally respect him for his longevity, for his skill. The greatest compliment we can give James Anderson now, the same person who wrote that 10 years ago, me as young and naive, wasn’t expecting it to get into public hands, certainly wouldn’t say that about him now.”

The South African spinner described the Sri Lankan’s consistency as “phenomenal” and said he wanted to incorporate how the older man could turn and slide the ball at will

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jul-2018When Keshav Maharaj first saw Rangana Herath at close quarters, Herath was unable to impose himself on the series. Although in the lead up to Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa in 2016-17, Maharaj had identified Herath as one of his leading spin-bowling influences, he wound up with better returns than the senior man across the three Tests – taking seven wickets at an average of 30.28, to Herath’s six at 48.South Africa had gone out of their way to neutralise Herath on that tour, stating publicly that they had asked for pitches that would not crumble, which partly explain Herath’s modest performances. But now, in Sri Lanka, where tracks are designed to have the opposite effect – to exacerbate Herath’s threat, Maharaj has a chance to watch the master left-arm spinner in his natural habitat, and perhaps pick up a few tricks.”I think Herath’s consistency in phenomenal,” Maharaj said. “Left-arm spinners are known to control the game, but he does something special – he turns the ball at will and slides the ball on at will. It’s something that I’d love to learn in my trade and get some knowledge from him. I did speak to him in South Africa, and he did give me some insight, but I’d like to pick his brain more about playing in subcontinent conditions, because he’s the best in the world at what he does.”What Herath does on Sri Lankan pitches, Maharaj felt, was consistently put balls in good areas. Maharaj had been modest in the first innings in Galle, going wicketless in 17 overs, but seemed to gain some confidence in the second innings, in which he took 4 for 58, dismissing four of Sri Lanka’s top five. “I think on these wickets, as long as you’re putting the ball in the right area with energy on the ball, what happens on the wicket you have no control over,” Maharaj said. “We don’t know when the ball is going to spin excessively or not. You’ve basically got to put the right ingredients into the wicket and whatever happens from there is in God’s hands.”Wherever you play in the world, you want to be consistent in your lengths and cause the batter to be uncomfortable when you’re bowling at him. That’s something I had to pick up after the first innings. Obviously I didn’t have a bit of rhythm, but then I found it in the second innings, and I put the ball in much better areas than I did.”Now that Maharaj’s spin partner Tabraiz Shamsi has returned to the squad, after attending to a family matter at home at the start of the week, South Africa have the option of fielding the same five bowlers at SSC. The five-bowler combination does put a little more pressure on the lower order, however, who will be expected to score runs. At Galle, Sri Lanka’s tailenders had batted well alongside a senior partner to change the complexion of the match, the last two wicket stands adding 111 to the team score.”I put more pressure on myself than anyone else does to score runs,” Maharaj said. “I need to contribute in the lower order. We saw the partnership of Suranga Lakmal and Lakshan Sandakan towards the end – they put on a 100-run partnership and it makes a difference in the Test match. In terms of game plans I’m just trying to keep it simple. I like attacking spinners, but I’ve got to back my defence against them at the same time.”

Against the third-best best attack of this IPL, David Warner scored a sensational 126 off 59 balls as Sunrisers Hyderabad served notice to the two table toppers with a dominating win

The Report by Sidharth Monga30-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
David Warner didn’t spare any bowlers•BCCI

Against the third-best best attack of this IPL, David Warner scored a sensational 126 off 59 balls as Sunrisers Hyderabad served notice to the two table-toppers with a dominating win. Kolkata Knight Riders, Warner’s victims on the night, and Mumbai Indians still remained at the top of the table with 14 points, but Sunrisers were now breathing down their necks, just one point behind.Some of the best batsmen in the world watched and tweeted in awe as Warner took the Knight Riders attack through the shredders. It didn’t make as much noise as Chris Gayle’s 175, but at one stage Warner threatened a double hundred. This was the fifth-fastest IPL century, but the amount of strike Warner took made the big difference. He reached his century in the 11th over, having faced 43 balls by then already. His share of strike reduced in the following deliveries – 16 out of 32 – and he eventually perished playing yet another big shot.Despite an underwhelming – relatively speaking – second half, Sunrisers managed their highest total and the highest by any team against Knight Riders. And they have only ever failed to defend scores of over 175 on three occasions. Given the depth in their bowling, there was no addition being made to the list on this night, not in Hyderabad where they have now five straight matches.Warner steps outThere was something about Warner from the moment he walked out. To the first ball of the innings, he charged down the track and tried to hit Nathan Coulter-Nile out of the ground. This was a bowler whom Knight Riders used as a strike weapon: in four matches, he had taken 11 wickets, with at least two in every match. Warner wanted to eliminate his threat. He managed only six off that over, but got stuck into Umesh Yadav and Chris Woakes, taking Sunrisers to 35 in three overs.That forced Gautam Gambhir to call upon Yusuf Pathan for only the third time this IPL – he had previously started overs against Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch, and Warner and Shikhar Dhawan – with reasonable success. This time, though, Warner hit him for four, four and six. Sunrisers 52 for 0 in four overs.Knight Riders were not holding back. Now came Sunil Narine. Immediately Warner went down on a knee and switch-hit the first ball for a six over point. Knight Riders had tried every thing, but Warner was unstoppable. Sunrisers 67 for 0 after five.The luckWarner faced 59 balls and hit 18 boundaries. That is one boundary every third ball. And you have to attempt them more often to have this boundary-per-ball rate. It’s quite feasible Warner attempted to hit a boundary every second ball, and if you do that you need some luck to last 59 balls. It arrived when Warner skied a pull off an Umesh slower ball in the second over. Woakes misjudged it, back-pedalling instead of turning around and running. Had he done so, he might have made that catch and possibly sent Warner back for 13.The next time Warner was dropped, by Woakes again, he was moving from 86 to 92, having peppered all boundaries with all kinds of shots.The late controlKnight Riders did well to pull Sunrisers back from 123 for 0 in 10 overs. Dhawan struggled for fluency, scoring 29 off 30, but the duo must have done something right because Warner had faced 46 balls by then, a ratio that had been much higher earlier. Umesh made a good comeback with pace variations, Woakes finally got Warner out, but the classy Kane Williamson’s 25-ball 40 still made sure Sunrisers crossed 200.Uthappa on the burning deckOkay, burning deck is a little too dramatic, especially when it did rain for 45 minutes in the middle of the chase, but once Knight Riders lost Narine and Gambhir early they were always up against it. Robin Uthappa, though, had other ideas, hitting four sixes and four fours in the 28 balls that he faced, and that after having to stabilise the innings a little. The highlight was playing Rashid Khan like an offspinner and slogging him for two enormous sixes.However, once local boy Mohammed Siraj got Uthappa with a slower ball in the 13th over, for a 28-ball 53, the 101 required in 45 balls was always going to be too much against the second-best attack in the competition.