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Netherlands folded for 118 in their chase of 202 as SL’s varied attack proved too tough to handle

Madushka Balasuriya17-Jun-2024
Sri Lanka ended their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign in a resounding fashion with a dominant 83-run win over Netherlands in Gros Islet. It meant they ended on three points and third place in Group D behind South Africa and Bangladesh, who had confirmed their place in the Super Eight after beating Nepal in Kingstown.Sri Lanka’s victory set up by their batters and finished off clinically by the bowlers. Nuwan Thushara was the pick of the bunch with figures of 3 for 24, but each of Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka and Matheesha Pathirana also got in on the act as Netherlands were knocked out and bowled out 118 in chase of 202.Charith Asalanka had led the way for Sri Lanka with a blistering 46 off 21, which itself followed solid efforts from Kusal Mendis (46 off 29) and Dhananjaya de Silva (34 off 26). Jet fuel was then poured on proceedings by Angelo Mathews (30 off 15) and Hasaranga (20 off six), as Sri Lanka became just the second team to breach 200 this tournament.Netherlands briefly flirted with an improbable chase when Michael Levitt was going strong in the powerplay, but once the first wicket fell the rest offered up little resistance as Sri Lanka’s varied attack proved too tough to handle.

Sri Lanka keep things ticking

Losing Pathum Nissanka second ball put paid to any notion that Sri Lanka might come out all guns blazing, but a steady rotation of strike in the powerplay mitigated the lack of early boundary striking – the powerplay saw four fours and a solitary six, but they managed to score 45 runs despite losing two wickets.By the end of the tenth over Sri Lanka’s boundary count remained in single digits, but the continued consistent running between the wickets ensured that they maintained a healthy run rate. Between overs seven and ten only two boundaries were struck, but Sri Lanka nevertheless found themselves at a healthy 74 for 2 at the halfway stage of their innings.A shift in gears was however necessary on a ground in which 181 was chased down just a day prior, and this occurred swiftly and suddenly in the 13th over, as Dhananjaya pounded Paul van Meekeren for three consecutive boundaries – using the strong cross breeze to great effect.Nuwan Thushara stepped up with the ball for Sri Lanka•ICC/Getty Images

SL batters arrive…belatedly

Sri Lanka’s batting had been under heavy scrutiny coming into this game, particularly their middle order, which had been guilty of not showing enough intent and purpose. Here though they fired on all cylinders.From the 13th to the 20th over only one of those went without a six being scored, as Sri Lanka plundered 77 runs off the final five overs. Asalanka, Mathews and Hasaranga all had impressive showings, feasting on the Dutch bowlers’ inability to nail their lengths with most deliveries proving either too full or too short.The result was a score that was always likely to be a stretch too far against this Sri Lanka bowling attack.

Leave it to Levitt

He might have had only 12 T20Is to his name, but 20-year-old Michael Levitt had already made quite the impression, having made his debut earlier this year. Leading up to this game, in just 12 T20Is he had already racked up 368 runs at an average of 33.45 and strike rate of 150.20, including two fifties and a century.Regardless of opposition those are impressive numbers, and here against a challenging Sri Lankan attack, he (briefly) lived up to the hype. He took on both Thushara and Theekshana in his 23-ball 31, the highlight of which was a sumptuous back-foot lofted-cover drive off the latter for six.His inexperience showed when he charged and was stumped off Theekshana, but the future certainly does seem to be bright for the youngster.

SL bowlers take over

Levitt ‘s wicket towards the end of the powerplay followed Max O’Dowd’s an over prior. It meant two new batters were at the crease, but the required run-rate remained as steep as ever. What followed was a crash course in intent without execution.Vikramjit Singh fell pulling as Kamindu Mendis completed a very unique bobbling, juggling catch, while Sybrand Engelbrecht – having managed a sweet straight six off Hasaranga – would fall a short while later trying the same off Matheesha Pathirana Pathirana.A double-strike an over later from Hasaranga then suddenly left Netherlands reeling on 71 for 6. Scott Edwards hung around for a stubborn 31 off 24, but wickets kept falling around him as Netherlands were eventually bundled out in the 17th over.

Paul Collingwood to work with London Spirit, Richard Dawson at Welsh Fire, Carl Hopkinson at Superchargers

Matt Roller29-Jun-2023Several England men’s assistant coaches have lined up jobs in the Hundred in August, which takes place between the end of the Ashes and the start of the white-ball team’s run-in to the 50-over World Cup.ESPNcricinfo understands that Richard Dawson is set to work alongside Michael Hussey at Welsh Fire, while Carl Hopkinson is due to link up with James Foster’s Northern Superchargers. The pair both act as assistants to Matthew Mott in England’s white-ball set-up.Paul Collingwood, who is an assistant coach to Brendon McCullum in the Test side, is also due to work in the competition. He will work at London Spirit, who are coached by the former England coach Trevor Bayliss.England’s white-ball team have not played since March and their next fixture is the first of four T20Is against New Zealand on August 30, leaving their coaching staff relatively short on work for the majority of the home summer.Mott encouraged Dawson and Hopkinson to apply for roles in the Hundred, and said that their roles would benefit the England team. “They’ve both been around the county scene for a long time, and I think they’ll do well at it in the Hundred,” Mott told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a good opportunity for them.”It’s great that we’ve got eyes and ears in those camps, too – even just around some of the international players that are coming in. It’s almost like having a couple of scouts out there, extra eyes and ears. There’s only positives to come out of that.”Mott himself was due to coach Welsh Fire Women in the inaugural season of the Hundred but pulled out due to Covid-related travel restrictions, and said that it “wouldn’t sit right” to be involved in the competition while working as England’s head coach.But he is open to working in franchise cricket at some stage during his tenure, most notably in the IPL – where he acted as Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach during the competition’s early years. “I’d be open to it, but it’d have to fit into my schedule,” he said.The 2024 edition is off the table due to its proximity to the T20 World Cup but there is a window in England’s white-ball schedule the following season, after the Champions Trophy. Mott added: “It’s definitely a goal to get back there at some point, but I’m not in a rush at the moment.”

The two most dominant batting line-ups will take aim at each other at Brabourne stadium

S Sudarshanan25-Mar-20232:58

Will Harmanpreet get past Lanning this time?

Big picture: A WPL final befitting the hype

Long before the Women’s Premier League opener got underway, there were winding queues outside the DY Patil Stadium in Nerul, Navi Mumbai. Many in the crowd wore the Mumbai Indians’ blue jerseys from the past years.Few teams in franchise cricket command crowd support like Mumbai. And quite aptly, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led has made it to the title-clash, even if they had to take the scenic route. Mumbai began the WPL on a high with five wins in five games before losing two matches on the trot. That blip was enough to rob them of direct entry to the final.Mumbai’s charge with the bat has been led by Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews. When surfaces have been flat, Matthews has cashed in; and even when they have taken turn, she has looked in little trouble thanks to playing on similar surfaces at home back in West Indies. She has also chipped in regularly with her offspin and has 13 wickets to show. Consistency from Harmanpreet has only helped matters.Related

• The individual struggles that fuelled Delhi Capitals' collective rise

• WPL opens a whole new world for women's cricket in India

Mumbai have used a set top four – in Matthews, Yastika Bhatia, Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet – which is the least number of players used by any team for these spots. The 984 runs they’ve scored is comfortably the highest out of all teams in this WPL with Delhi Capitals’ top four a distant second with 838.Any team with Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues and Marizanne Kapp poses serious threat. But having gained a direct entry to the final, Capitals have had a longish break heading into Sunday. All that said, the inaugural WPL couldn’t have hoped for a better final. It will feature two teams known for their batting might but who fight every inch with the ball. Expect another run-fest at Brabourne.

Form guide

Delhi Capitals WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WWLLW

In the spotlight: Meg Lanning and Amelia Kerr

Meg Lanning has not just led Capitals with aplomb but in the process, also ensured that runs continue to flow from her bat at the top of the order. She began the WPL with a couple of half-centuries and has not looked back. That she has had a strike rate in excess of 140 despite not really going hammer and tongs has stood out. Lanning is no stranger to big finals and will be key on Sunday.0:50

Ponting: Performance of Lanning’s Delhi Capitals will motivate our side too

Allrounder Amelia Kerr has fit into the overseas puzzle quite seamlessly for Mumbai. She has owned the No. 5 spot and has had a couple of match-winning performances with the bat – a 45 not out in the opener and 29 off just 19 in the Eliminator. With the ball, Kerr has had a telling effect and has been wicketless in only three of her nine games.

Team news

Capitals did not use Poonam Yadav at all despite playing her in their last league game. They might consider leaving her out for USA’s Tara Norris (teams can play five overseas players if one of them is from an Associate nation), Minnu Mani or Jasia Akhter.Delhi Capitals: 1 Meg Lanning (capt), 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Marizanne Kapp, 5 Alice Capsey, 6 Jess Jonassen, 7 Arundhati Reddy, 8 Shikha Pandey, 9 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 10 Radha Yadav, 11 Poonam Yadav/Minnu ManiHarmanpreet seldom likes to change a side, especially when they are winning.Mumbai Indians 1 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 Pooja Vastrakar, 7 Issy Wong, 8 Amanjot Kaur, 9 Humaira Kazi, 10 Jintimani Kalita, 11 Saika Ishaque

Pitch and conditions: Brabourne favours batters

The lowest score by a team batting first at Brabourne stadium is 138. Ten games have already been played here and the final will be the 11th. It is true that the pitches have tired up a touch – the overall economy rate of the bowlers has come down from 9.09 in the first five games (till March 12) at the venue to 8.07 for the last five (since March 14). But the batters have hit 42 sixes in the second half as compared to 34 in the first. The pace of run-scoring at Brabourne has tended to be a tad quicker than at DY Patil stadium.

Stats and trivia

• Mumbai and Capitals have only ever faced each other at DY Patil stadium. In fact, both teams have only played three matches at Brabourne this entire season.
• Capitals have posted the highest total at Brabourne in the WPL – 223 for 2 against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Quotes

“Batting with her has been great fun. She has got a unique style which works for her. She takes the game on and turns it in our favour. Hopefully she comes in with a clear mind and is ready to take the game on and I can watch from the other end.”
“We have a lot of experience from overseas players, who have led their teams and have done well. Our local players have enough experience of domestic cricket. The team combination allows you to express yourself than thinking about too many things.”

Pakistani opener scores 201* from 271 balls, shares unbroken third-wicket stand of 236 with Wayne Madsen

ECB Reporters Network14-Apr-2022A career-best unbeaten double century from Derbyshire’s Shan Masood dominated the opening day of the LV=Insurance County Championship Division Two match against Sussex at Derby.The Pakistani opener scored a brilliant 201 from 271 balls and shared a third-wicket stand of 236 with Wayne Madsen, who was 88 not out at the close.An injury-weakened Sussex attack failed to take a wicket after lunch as Derbyshire closed on an imposing 327 for 2.Masood had already impressed with two half centuries in the opening match at Lord’s last week when he narrowly missed out on a hundred in the first innings.He made no mistake this time against a largely inexperienced attack after Derbyshire won the toss and batted first on what looks to be a benign pitch.Related

• Shan Masood to reunite with Mickey Arthur at Derbyshire

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With the exception of Steve Finn, the bowling lacked the consistency to apply any sustained pressure and Mahmood took advantage to reach 50 from only 60 balls.Sussex stuck to their task but the only wickets to fall in the first two sessions were down to batting errors with Billy Godleman tickling a leg-glance to Mohammad Rizwan and Brooke Guest bottom-edging a pull.But the wicket Sussex dearly wanted was Masood and, a couple of false strokes against the left-arm spin of James Coles apart, he gave them little encouragement.At lunch he was 74 from 88 balls and after the interval he moved to his century with a succession of imperious, at times dismissive, strokes on both sides of the wicket.Sussex probably realised it was not going to be their day when Tom Haines struck Masood on the back pad but his impassioned appeal left umpire Paul Baldwin unmoved.There were few other alarms as Masood and Madsen cruised to a 100 stand in 28 overs and by tea Derbyshire had scored at a quicker rate than any other team in the country.Madsen has now shared century stands with 29 different batsmen, breaking the Derbyshire record of 28 held by Kim Barnett, and he reached another milestone when he completed his 100th first-class score of 50 or more.Although he was content to play the supporting role, he was also largely untroubled apart from when a throw struck him a painful blow on the back of the right knee.Sussex switched Finn to the Racecourse End at the start of the final session but the runs kept flowing with Masood reaching 150 from 191 balls.The elegant left-hander will face more challenging attacks in the weeks to come but even at this early stage, head of cricket Mickey Arthur looks to have completed a very shrewd piece of business in bringing him to the club.The visitors at least applied the brake towards the close of a long, hard day in the field but could not prevent Masood and Madsen passing Derbyshire’s previous highest third-wicket stand against Sussex of 215 set by Les Townsend and Albert Alderman at Eastbourne in 1938.

Her one-time coach Muslim Uddin passed away soon after the team had arrived in Australia

Annesha Ghosh in Melbourne29-Feb-2020Tears streamed down Bangladesh medium-pacer Ritu Moni’s face at the Junction Oval’s press conference room as she took her mind back to where her journey began – Bogra – and to Muslim Uddin, the man who helped her live her dream.It is in Bogra, a northwestern city in Bangladesh, that the dreams of many of the team’s current women’s cricketers started taking shape under local coach Muslim. As Moni, one of Muslim’s students, reflected on the career-best 4 for 18 – also the best so far at the ongoing T20 World Cup – she picked up against New Zealand on Saturday, memories of a personal loss – Muslim’s death on February 10 – left her sobbing inconsolably.ALSO READ: The toilet leading a women’s cricket revo-loo-tion“I started training under him and I am here today because of him,” Moni said after Bangladesh’s 17-run loss. “He passed away soon after we arrived in Australia for the World Cup. It is a big loss for all of us, considering how he helped so many of us to realise our dream of playing for Bangladesh. He was a great person, and has played a big part in my life.”We were to play a practice match a few days after his death, and it was quite difficult for me to get over the shock. But I told myself, ‘Muslim sir showed a lot of confidence in me. I must try to do my best in the tournament because it would be the best I can do for him.’ If he were alive today, he would have been able to see this day in my life.”In an international career spanning nearly eight years, Moni, now 27, has made 45 international appearances, scoring 292 runs and taking 17 wickets across the white-ball formats. The defining moment of her career, though, arrived on Sunday, her maiden four-for orchestrating New Zealand’s biggest collapse in T20Is – 8 for 25 – from the fall of the third wicket.By the innings break, Moni’s exploits, complemented brilliantly by captain Salma Khatun’s 3 for 7, had begun inspiring hopes of an unlikely upset in Group A as New Zealand set Bangladesh a modest target of 92.New Zealand’s slide began with the dismissal of Suzie Bates, their leading run-scorer in the format. Hurled at a gentle pace hovering just above 90kph, Moni’s inswinger on off had enough benignity to lure Bates to aim towards midwicket, only for her to lose her middle stump. Bates’ wicket in the 13th over was followed by Katey Matin’s in the next as she holed out to point, in a bid to force some pace on a slow, sun-baked Junction Oval track. It wasn’t long before Moni’s control and slowness through the air earned her two wickets in her fourth – and the innings’ 19th – over, with Fargana Hoque taking a stunning catch diving forward and Fahima Khatun gobbling up Amelia Kerr’s square drive with ease.”I didn’t do much, to be honest; just maintained my line and length,” Moni said, praising the role played by head coach Anju Jain and assistant coach Devika Palshikar, both former India players, in her growth as a medium-pacer. “Devika ma’am has been of incredible help. She makes sure that at the nets I am focused on my line and length. She asks me to bowl in, say, one area over after over.”And Anju ma’am says the same thing about bowling in my block, you know, to not try anything fancy. Sometimes simple and uncomplicated bowling can get you wickets, break partnerships, so that has been one instruction from our coaches I have tried to respect.”And Javed Omar [the former Bangladesh men’s Test cricketer, who was appointed manager of the women’s team last year] has also encouraged me to believe in myself. I hope that the confidence I have got from today’s performance takes me ahead in the future.”

Several leagues ran simultaneously at the start of 2024, and the ICC Champions Trophy is expected to further complicate the picture in February 2025

Matt Roller08-May-2024The Caribbean Premier League (CPL)’s chief executive has described overlaps between franchise leagues as “a nonsense”, and has called for regular meetings among their owners and administrators in an attempt to solve cricket’s global scheduling crisis. The CPL has overlapped with the Hundred in recent years but will avoid a clash this season after holding talks with the ECB earlier this year.And Pete Russell, one of CPL’s co-founders and the league’s CEO since 2021, believes that such collaboration should be commonplace to minimise the frequent clashes between the T20 leagues.”[The ECB] have a defined window that they have to play in, and it happened that we could move everything out to ensure that we didn’t clash [with the Hundred],” Russell told ESPNcricinfo. “It makes absolutely zero sense if you’ve got [Sunil] Narine and [Andre] Russell having to fly back the day before the final of the Hundred. That’s in no one’s interests, and certainly not the Hundred’s.Related

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“I hope that [collaboration] continues. It’s not rocket science; it’s what should happen with all leagues. It’s just a nonsense that we’ve got all this overlap when it just needs to be worked through. Scheduling is a challenge, I know, but it can’t be that you have two leagues going at each other at the same time. To my mind, it doesn’t make any sense.”There is a precedent for leagues negotiating to manage potential clashes as shown by the PSL and ILT20.Several different leagues ran simultaneously at the start of 2024. Australia’s BBL and New Zealand’s Super Smash finished in mid-January; South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE’s ILT20 started in January and ran into February; the Bangladesh Premier League started in January and finished in March; and the Pakistan Super League ran from mid-February to mid-March.The ICC Champions Trophy is expected to further complicate the picture when it returns in February 2025. The ILT20 is expected to confirm its dates for 2025 in the coming days following recent discussions with franchises, while the PCB has stated its intention to stage the PSL alongside the IPL in April-May 2025.There is broad support among players worldwide for global scheduling windows for franchise leagues and international cricket, thus minimising overlap between the two. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) player survey will be published soon, and as confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by Tom Moffat, FICA’s CEO, will show that 84% of the 330 respondents support introducing windows.The MLC this year is set for a six-day clash with the Hundred•Sportzpics

“Unless the game can come together to find a system in which the domestic leagues and international cricket can co-exist, we will end up with two separate calendars running in parallel,” Moffat told ESPNcricinfo.”That will split the player employment-market, given most of the leagues rely on the inclusion of international players to be successful commercially. We currently don’t think that’s the right thing for the whole sport given it – and most professional players’ employment – is still largely funded by international cricket.”While representatives of national governing bodies meet regularly at ICC level – most of whom control their own leagues – there is no specific forum for the owners and administrators of franchise leagues to discuss scheduling.”It’s the logical way to go – because we’re all maturing, and we’re all getting to a point where we are sustainable,” Russell said. “They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played. I think it is a case of, ‘OK, let’s have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone?'”I think it’s workable. Others might think it’s not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there’s no clash].”Moffat said: “With the exception of CPL and a couple of others, the controlling stake in most of the major leagues is generally owned by the same national governing bodies who schedule international cricket. That means co-ordinating scheduling between the leagues and international cricket to avoid scheduling overlap is possible – if there is a will to come together and do that.”Russell used the recent release of Major League Cricket (MLC)’s 2024 fixture list – two months before the tournament starts – as evidence of a shortage of “joined-up thinking” among administrators. MLC begins on July 5, and is thus set for a six-day clash with the Hundred.”They’ve only just come out with their schedule,” he said. “Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out.”Russell also encouraged administrators to find a solution to the perverse incentives that emerged for players earlier this year.”It can’t be right: I saw the other day that where leagues were overlapping, a player who got knocked out before the semi-finals or finals could actually make more money by going to another league. That shouldn’t be a thing.”

“The request I made was for him to consider playing all formats,” says Puneet Bali

Shashank Kishore14-Aug-2020Puneet Bali, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) secretary, has requested Yuvraj Singh to come out of retirement and play for the state again in the upcoming domestic season. Bali is awaiting a response from the former India allrounder.It is understood Yuvraj has not committed to the PCA, and will need the BCCI permission in case he decides to take up the offer.Punjab has lost a number of key players to other states in recent years. Among them are Manan Vohra and Barinder Sran, who qualified to play for Chandigarh two seasons ago as locals, while Jiwanjot Singh and Taruwar Kohli moved to Chhattisgarh and Meghalaya respectively. Bali hopes a young team which is trying to rebuild will benefit from Yuvraj’s experience and mentoring.However, coming back from retirement may not be so straightforward. BCCI considers players to have officially retired to provide NOCs for overseas leagues. And Yuvraj has featured in two such tournaments in the past year – the Global T20 Canada and Abu Dhabi T10 League.Last month, Yuvraj spent time overseeing closed-door training sessions of Shubman Gill, Prabhsimran Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Harpreet Brar, all of whom are set to feature in IPL 2020, at PCA’s upcoming international stadium in Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.”These boys were all undergoing sessions with our physios and trainers to prepare [for the season],” Bali told ESPNcricinfo. “Yuvraj initiated sessions with these boys while he was in Chandigarh. Over the last couple of seasons, we’ve lost players to other states, many of our players to Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal. So we felt a player of Yuvraj’s experience and calibre could lend a lot of value and inspire the youngsters.”The request I made was for him to consider playing all formats. But if he comes back to and says, he’s available only for limited-overs cricket, for some reason, that will be fine too. I’m looking forward to hear from him soon. But as such, he’s been working hard with the boys.”In another key development, the PCA is also set to offer state contracts to their players. Bali confirmed the contracts list has been drawn up and will likely come into force from October 1, 2020. The contracts for this season will go upto April 30, 2021.The men’s category will have three grades – A, B and C. Grade A will come with a retainer of INR 8 lakh, B with a retainer of INR 6 lakh, and those in C – mostly for Under-19s and promising age-group talent – will get a retainer of INR 10,000 rupees a month. There will be 10 players in each of the contract grades.Players for Grades A and B will be considered based on seniority. Those in A should’ve played for Punjab in the previous Ranji Trophy season. However, exceptions will be made for those who have either represented India, India A or India Under-19 in the same period. “Essentially, we want to reward those who’ve performed in the Ranji Trophy, so that is first criteria,” Bali explained.The contract fee will be borne by the state association and comes outside the BCCI’s purview. The move is significant because at present, domestic cricketers earn a match fee of INR 35,000 per match day (for days’ cricket), and share among themselves 10.40% of the BCCI’s annual media rights income. An average player who plays all matches across formats in a season stands to roughly earn INR 15-20 lakh. This revenue pales in comparison to the amounts that players can earn from the IPL, with a minimum base price of INR 20 lakhs.”This will motivate players, especially those who don’t have IPL contracts,” Punjab captain Mandeep Singh said. “This is a welcome step, it will provide a lot of players financial stability.”The women’s contracts too will be divided into three, and will be valued similarly to the men’s. However, the number of players offered contracts will vary, with Groups A and B having three members each, while four players will be awarded Group C contracts.”We had a discussion in November last year, and then February, and then things came to a standstill due to the pandemic, but we’ve more or less formalised it now,” Bali said. “The men’s list has been drawn up. We’re waiting for our women’s squads to be picked before finalising the contracts in that category.”

Lancashire openers take command but ECB ruling gives table-toppers hope

Paul Edwards08-Sep-2020
Barring a second epic run-chase in six weeks and a change of mind by the ECB, Derbyshire will not win the Bob Willis Trophy, but the next know-nowt pundit who patronisingly groups them among the “smaller” counties should be put in the stocks at Buxton and pelted with pies.Rather more usefully, perhaps, he or she could be made to watch the four-day cricket played by Billy Godleman’s side this season. That would include a memorable run-chase at Trent Bridge, a fine victory at Grace Road and two enterprising displays in rain-affected draws at Headingley and The Riverside.It would also feature the marvellously determined attempt to earn a batting bonus point on this third day at Aigburth, a venture that only ended when Dustin Melton’s swipe at a straight ball from Danny Lamb failed to connect and the Derbyshire’s last man had his middle stump knocked back with his team five runs short of its goal.That dismissal mattered, so we thought, because it effectively ended the visitors’ hopes of reaching the final at Lord’s. But late on Tuesday evening the ECB announced that its technical committee would adjudicate as to which teams would play in that game once the final round of matches had been completed.The governing body had left itself this option to take account of a Covid-19 outbreak and it was just such an event that caused the abandonment of Sunday’s game between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire at Bristol. Logic and natural justice would suggest that Essex will still be in the final against Somerset or Worcestershire – Tom Westley’s players celebrated their success at Chelmsford when Melton was castled – but if Derbyshire chase down well over 300 tomorrow there remains a possibility that the criteria for qualification will change from most wins to run-rate.This idea was being mooted just after tea at Liverpool. These are strange times and nothing is being ruled out, certainly not Godleman’s batsmen chasing down a tall target against an inexperienced Lancashire attack.But the cricket that was played at Aigburth mattered too and it would be a pity if the resilience of Derbyshire’s middle and lower order batsmen went unnoticed amid all the announcements and possible rethinks. Not the least admirable factor about Derbyshire’s cricket this season is that their players have been virtually peripatetic – the County Ground has been used by Pakistan and by women’s teams – but their fightbacks are now more expected than surprising.This one began on Monday evening when the visitors had slumped to 61 for 7 in reply to Lancashire’s 219 and Harvey Hosein was joined by Mattie McKiernan. That pair continued their resistance on a heavy-clouded bowlers’ morning at Liverpool with Hosein in particular looking to get down the pitch to Lamb and George Balderson in an attempt to negate movement and maximise the opportunities to drive the ball.The hundred partnership came up and Derbyshire were only 37 runs short of that crucial point when McKiernan played across a straight ball from George Burrows and was leg before wicket for 31, his runs being scored in seven minutes over three hours of concentrated effort.Fifteen runs later Hosein went too and his dismissal was a line of poetry. Six young players have made their first-class Lancashire debuts in the Bob Willis, two more than Sussex, the next most enterprising county. Against Derbyshire, Lancashire picked Jack Morley, a 19-year-old left-arm spinner from Rochdale, and his classical delivery brought Hosein forward but not quite to the pitch of the turning ball. George Lavelle, a 20-year-old who plays for Ormskirk in the Liverpool Competition, took the catch.And so we had this:
Hosein c Lavelle b Morley 84
Both the innings and the dismissal will warm the winter.Derbyshire now needed 22 runs and one way of getting them was to whack the ball as hard and far as possible. When Lamb pitched the ball up Melton borrowed a shot from Ashford-in-the-Water’s Sunday XI and thrashed it over midwicket. About five minutes before lunch he tried it again…But let us return to our one-eyed critic who believes that the number of first-class counties should be reduced. We will give him the initials CG. He might ignore the cricket played by Derbyshire for most of this season and point only to the afternoon session when Godleman’s dispirited bowlers conceded 126 runs to Keaton Jennings and Alex Davies. Lancashire’s fifty came up in the 13th over, their hundred in the 20th. Davies pulled and cut with the ferocity of a bantamweight cheated out of his prize money. After tea he lifted one of McKiernan’s leg spinners into the car park to the right of the bowling green and looked set for a century when he drove Matt Critchley, Derbyshire’s second leggie, straight to Anuj Dal at short extra cover.That dismissal began a fine evening for Derbyshire who claimed five further wickets before the close. (Perhaps they were reinvigorated by the news from St John’s Wood.) Critchley took four of them, including that of Jennings for 81 when the Lancashire opener toe-ended a reverse sweep to Godleman at cover. However, the leg-spinner’s 26 overs cost 126 runs, figures which give some idea of the enterprise shown by Lancashire’s batsmen.An even clearer idea of that approach was given by Balderson, who reached his maiden first-class fifty in the final over of the evening session and hit the last ball of the day for a straight six. One hopes that ends Lancashire’s batting in this game. A target of 336 would be very fair and Vilas will learn a lot about his young attack if he declares overnight and trusts them with the task of winning the game.

“With this group of players, the sky’s the limit but we could probably go further than that”

Alan Gardner14-Jun-20226:35

#PoliteEnquiries: CARNAGE!

Ben Stokes has seen and done some incredible things during his international career, but England’s Test captain said that they had all been “blown away” by the experience of leading his side to victory on day five at Trent Bridge, as England completed a pursuit of 299 in a scarcely believable 50 overs, in so doing achieving the fifth-highest successful run chase in their Test history.Stokes hit the winning runs, carving Trent Boult through the covers for a four that evoked the dramatic denouement at Headingley three summers ago, to finish unbeaten on 75 from 70 balls. But on this occasion his was the support act, after Jonny Bairstow had demolished New Zealand’s hopes of escape during the final session with a thunderous 136 from 92.It completed a remarkable Test, the eighth-highest scoring of all time, as England found a way to win despite seeing New Zealand rack up 553 after being asked to bat. Although they conceded a narrow first-innings lead, the rate at which England’s runs came ensured that all results remained possible going into the final day, with New Zealand 238 runs ahead and seven wickets down.”I’m struggling to find words for what we witnessed out there today, it was just phenomenal,” Stokes said, after England’s second rousing win in as many Tests to mark the start of his partnership with new coach, Brendon McCullum.”That blows away Headingley, it blows away Lord’s and the World Cup final. Just emotionally and the enjoyment of every minute I had on that field, it was incredible. In the field, it sounds stupid after 150 overs in the dirt but how everybody was just trying to come up with different plans how we were going to change the course of this game to put it back in our hands was just so enjoyable. It was it was just amazing. The whole vibe this week has been awesome. And then to come out and perform the way that we did today…”I just can’t quite wrap my head around how we’ve chased 299 with 20 overs left on day five of the Test match when we had to bowl 15 overs this morning. That’s never going to happen again. But if it does, it is probably us who are going to do it.”Related

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• Jonny Bairstow on stunning England run-chase: 'It was do or die, so you've got to do'

Having bowled out New Zealand just over an hour into the final morning, England were left needing 299 in a minimum of 72 overs. Alex Lees struck the first two balls of the chase for four, but their hopes took a dive with the dismissal of Joe Root – who scored 176 in the first innings – to leave them 59 for 3.Their momentum was further checked when Lees fell for a spirited 44. But rather than dig in, England continued to attack, Stokes hitting his tenth ball for six and then twice reverse-sweeping Michael Bracewell’s offspin for four. England were 139 for 4 at tea, needing 160 from 38 overs, before Bairstow launched his extraordinary assault.”Something we say in the dressing-room – he had his ‘Jonny eyes’ on today and when he gets those eyes on you know you’re on to something,” Stokes said. “We were hardly speaking out there to be honest. That was one of the best things I’ve ever seen, to do it in the fourth innings, chasing a big total, game in the balance, to play the way he did once he got past fifty was just mind-blowing. Phenomenal to watch.”Bairstow and Stokes added 179 in 20.1 overs, as New Zealand’s faint hopes of forcing a win disintegrated. Had they managed to break the stand earlier, England’s plan was to just keep swinging to the end, Stokes said.”The message just was run into the fear of what the game was rather than stand still or back away from it. I’ll say it quite simply, we were either winning this game or losing it. That was the mentality that we wanted all the batters coming in to have. It’s obviously paid off. When you have the backing of the coach and myself saying what I say about how we want to go about things, it obviously rubs off on the players in a very, very positive way. So you’re not fearing failure, if anything you’re just going out and doing what you want to do.”This Test match will probably all be about today but you don’t win Test matches in the last session of day five without all the hard work you put in on day four. The way we bounced back with the bat after being in the field for a long time, them getting 560 or 570, the way we went about it with the bat, the rate that we scored, really allowed us to be in this position on day five. Even bowling them out for 270 on a very flat wicket was a serious effort and I couldn’t be any more proud of the way that everybody stuck at it.”Ben Stokes scored a 55-ball half-century and added 179 with Jonny Bairstow•Getty Images

England’s victory was witnessed by packed stands, after Nottinghamshire provided free entry on the final day, and the enterprising approach chimed with McCullum’s stated intentions on taking up the Test coaching job of wanting to help revive the format.”It’ll be hard for people not to enjoy what they’ve witnessed today, and everything over the last five days,” Stokes said. “A lot of credit has to go to Notts for what they did today, allowing free tickets and for people who had already bought tickets getting their money back. Having a full house here at Trent Bridge really does help the atmosphere.”You can really feel the home crowd and it’ll make the opposition feel the whole world’s on top of them. If we had a half-full stadium today, it wouldn’t have felt how it did out there. It’ll be nice if some other counties take a leaf out of what they did here today, it was really cool to be a player with a full crowd.”On the startling turnaround in fortunes, with England having won just one of their previous 17 Tests before the New Zealand series, Stokes suggested that there remained room for improvement and reiterated the commitment to aggression that has seemingly been key to unlocking the talent within a largely unchanged group of players.”Things like this do not happen overnight,” he said. “But this couldn’t have been a better start in terms of the new way we want to go forward. We know we’re still working towards a lot of things. We’re never going to be happy with where we are. There is going to be some bad days. We’re yet to really see the bad side of the game at the moment because obviously we’ve had two results go our way, but there will be days that affect us and we’ll probably lose a game with this mindset.”That’s probably going to be the biggest challenge for us, how we respond to adversity, how we respond to things not going our way. Now we go to Headingley 2-0 up, won the series, but with World Test Championship points to play for. We’re going to be even more positive as I said after Lord’s. I don’t know how we can be more positive than this week but we will probably try.”With this group of players, the sky’s the limit but we could probably go further than that.”

Australia find themselves in a familiar position: 1-0 up for the fourth home Ashes series in a row

Andrew Miller03-Dec-20252:29

Miller: England must back their approach to win second Test

Big picture: A big day three beckons for the Ashes

From two days of Ashes insanity, to two weeks of Ashes inanity. Rarely has the dead time between Tests felt so rich in promise, yet filled with pointlessness, as in this past fortnight. From that hyperactive 19-wicket opening gambit in Perth and the shock and awe of Travis Head’s romp to victory, we’ve since been pitched headlong into a waffle-filled void, fuelled by an Ashes hype-machine that had been in overdrive from the start of November, but has since been in desperate need of red-hot takes to slake its thirst for narrative.In the absence of actual action, we’ve had talk of beer matches and food mountains from the peeved executives at the Optus; we’ve had pontification about the value of pink-ball practice matches from a cast of ex-Ashes combatants (whom Ben Stokes is now adamant are not “has-beens” after all). And in Brisbane this week, we’ve even had talk of potential fines for England’s scooter-based traffic violations. Thursday’s resumption of hostilities under the Gabba floodlights will surely be sweet release for two sets of players who have heard enough yakking, and will now be ready to get back to some hard yakka.What have we learned in this impatient lull? Not a whole lot, if truth be told. In spite of the speed of their meltdown, England still competed more gamely in Perth than in any Test in Australia since their victorious tour in 2010-11. If they get the better of the conditions in what Stuart Broad has described as a pink-ball “lottery”, they could yet restore the optimism with which they launched this campaign. If they do not, or if they bat as frivolously as they did in that crucial post-lunch passage of play on day two, a third 5-0 whitewash in six tours could already be loading. Choose your path, there’ll be plenty opportunities to retro-fit your narrative come the end of the Sydney Test.Related

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For the time being, it’s a chastened (if not reformed) England that has regrouped at the Gabba. This Ashes tour has been front and centre of their planning for three-and-a-half years, right from the inception of the so-called Bazball project, and they’ll know – notwithstanding their fightback from 2-0 down in 2023 – that they cannot afford another false start. There was nervous energy in spades in Perth, and while that translated wonderfully well into a kinetic frenzy with the ball in the first innings, even the most pigheaded advocate of England’s no-consequences mindset would acknowledge that the loss of 20 wickets in less than 70 overs was a dereliction of batting duty.As for Australia, they were scarcely any less shocked by what they witnessed in Perth – although the sight of Head launching Jofra Archer for a back-foot six over long-on might have been a key contributor to that. Amid the chaos caused by Usman Khawaja’s back spasm, and the unsatisfactory compromise that forced Marnus Labuschagne to open in the first innings, Head’s subsequent promotion proved a masterstroke. It met England’s go-getting attack head-on, and challenged them in the same manner that Yashasvi Jaiswal had done in his own six-laden onslaughts in India two years ago. If Bazball is all in the mind, then Head was in England’s heads by the end of that innings, rather than vice versa.England’s chosen route back to parity has already taken an interesting turn. Mark Wood reported soreness in his knee after a wicketless display in Perth and is out of the reckoning – who knows for how long, although his fitness for flatter decks to come (particularly in Adelaide) could yet be as much of a priority as the here-and-now. But into his place comes not another seamer, nor the primary spinner Shoaib Bashir (who had been England’s designated 12th man in the first Test), but the each-way-bet option of Will Jacks, a selection that smacks, ever so slightly, of a team second-guessing themselves.Travis Head hit 123 off 83 in the second innings of the first Test•Getty Images

It’s an interesting predicament that leans into the vacuousness of the discourse since Perth. So much of England’s mindset-led approach has been about blocking out the noise and doubling down on positive reaffirmation from within the dressing-room walls – the logic being that, if you believe that the team has your back no matter what, then you already own your half of the mental battle.But never before has this England team encountered noise quite like this – a 24/7 media bombardment that will surely have seeped into their subconscious decision-making, even if they are overtly still as bold as brass. Batting more sensibly at key moments, for instance, may be a pre-requisite for this Ashes fightback, but if that comes at the expense of bravery, then what will that do for their over-arching ethos? Scott Boland’s decisive burst in the second innings at Perth was arguably a case in point, after he’d been taken at more than six an over in the first, while Stokes has already admitted his captaincy was found wanting when Head started teeing off in the run-chase. It’s hard to imagine, for instance, that he’ll dare to declare after 60 overs to get bowling in the twilight, as was the case when England won their most recent pink-ball Test in Mount Maunganui two years ago.Australia, meanwhile, are in a happy and familiar position in this series: 1-0 up, for the fourth home Ashes in a row, and heading into a format in which their record is unparalleled, both in terms of volume of matches and victories secured. But, thanks in no small part to England tripping over their own feet when well set, they know they were spared a deeply uncomfortable denouement in that first Test. The onus is on the visitors to finish the inquisition they started, before it’s too late for beg for third chances.

Form guide

Australia: WWWWL
England: LLDWL

In the spotlight: Mitchell Starc and Joe Root

The story hasn’t changed for Mitchell Starc, but the expectations have been ramped up an extra notch. At Perth, he was the last man standing of the greatest pace trio of the modern era, and he responded supremely, with a career-best 7 for 58 and ten wickets in the match. Now, he’s been asked to do so again, in a form of the game in which he is simply without equal. His 81 wickets in day-night Tests include a startling haul of 6 for 9 in his most recent outing, as West Indies were routed for 27 in Kingston in July. If he makes the pink ball talk as loudly as it can do under the Gabba floodlights, there’ll be plenty more where that came from. Starc has a chance to put the Ashes beyond realistic reach, before Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have even bowled a ball in anger.Mitchell Starc dismissed Joe Root in both innings in Perth•Getty Images

There’s no ducking the issue for Joe Root any more. If his team are to turn their fortunes around in this series, then England’s greatest run-scorer desperately needs to come to the party. Notwithstanding Zak Crawley’s pair, Root’s performance in Perth was arguably the most culpable among many failures in that first Test, in particular his skittish second-innings drive that capped England’s post-lunch collapse. His scores of 0 and 8 did little to dial down the pre-series chat about his modest record in Australia, and were perhaps an indication of the very real nerves he felt coming into a legacy-defining campaign. Now, however, he needs his vast experience to steer his team’s agenda. Of all the ways that England might have envisaged losing in Australia, Root going missing was not among them.

Team news: Jacks in, Khawaja out

Usman Khawaja’s failure to recover from a back spasm has arguably spared Australia an awkward decision, seeing as his inability to open at Perth was what enabled Travis Head to stride up to the top of the order and turn the first Test on its head. Head now seems likely to retain his role alongside Jake Weatherald, with Josh Inglis looking set to slot into the gap in the middle order: his prowess against short-pitched bowling might be the clincher, with Beau Webster again unlucky to miss out. There’s still no absolute clarity on Pat Cummins, who remains with Australia’s squad and even batted in the nets on Tuesday, but he is not officially part of their squad for this Test as he continues his return from a back injury.Australia (probable): 1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Lyon, 10 Scott Boland, 11 Brendan Doggett.Will Jacks is back in England’s Test team after three years away•AFP/Getty Images

With Wood ruled out due to a knee issue, Jacks is the surprise inclusion in England’s XI. He comes into the side as England’s frontline spin option, ahead of Bashir, whose consistent selection over the past two years had seemingly been with a view to him playing a central role in this Ashes campaign. Instead, England have opted for the insurance that Jacks’ significantly better batting provides at No. 8, while hoping that his offspin can front up for England as it did on debut at Rawalpindi, three years ago to the week, when his six first-innings wickets proved crucial to a famous win over Pakistan. In part, it is a reflection of the “lottery” of the pink-ball Test – and given Jacks’ ongoing rebirth as a No. 7 in the ODI team, he could yet play some hybrid “finisher” role in a typically fast-paced innings – but it is a rare case of England hedging their bets in the Bazball era, rather than going all-in on a preferred strategy.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Will Jacks, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Gus Atkinson, 11 Jofra Archer.

Pitch and conditions

Curator Dave Sandurski said on Tuesday that he would leave 3mm of grass on the pitch, and the familiar green tinge may fade away under the Queensland sun. Despite some spicy practice pitches in the Gabba nets, there is a suggestion this track could be on the slow side, and with the current batch of Kookaburra balls reportedly going soft quickly, that could spell hard times for fielding sides if either team can keep wickets in hand heading into 50-60 overs. That said, England couldn’t bat beyond 35 on either occasion at Perth. New-ball swing, under the floodlights, is sure to be a feature at some stage of the contest.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have won 13 and lost one of their 14 pink-ball Tests to date.
• All but one of these (their most recent, against West Indies in July) came on home soil, including each of their three wins against England in the Ashes, at Adelaide (in 2017-18 and 2021-22) and Hobart (2021-22).
• However, their solitary defeat in a day/night Test came at the Gabba, against West Indies in January 2024.
• England, by contrast, have lost five of their seven pink-ball Tests to date, although they did win their most recent, against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui in February 2023.
• Starc, with 81 wickets at 17.08 in 14 Tests, has almost twice as many pink-ball wickets as the next most prolific bowlers, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon (both 43 at 17.34 and 25.62 respectively), and nine times as many as the most experienced bowlers in England’s squad, Mark Wood and Joe Root (nine each).
• Starc needs three more wickets to overtake Wasim Akram as the most prolific left-arm fast bowler in Test history.

Quotes

“They’ve said for a while they’re not going to really change the way they go about their business. I don’t expect too much different.”
“Many teams have gone to the Gabba and lost to Australia, but this is a brand new outfit. Lots of guys are on their first Ashes tours, so this is going to be a new experience for them… It doesn’t hold too much fear.”