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The allrounder’s rejuvenated seam-bowling skills have made up for the enforced absence of a key new-ball operator

Raf Nicholson18-Nov-2018It was fairly obvious ahead of this World T20 that Natalie Sciver would play a key role for England with the bat. In the 2017 50-over World Cup she was the only player to hit two centuries; she went viral during that tournament with her distinctive through-the-legs shot, the “Natmeg”. In T20 she bats at No. 4 and is one of England’s big power hitters; in the 2018 Kia Super League she punched out an unbeaten 95 in just 57 balls.What no one quite expected was that Sciver, known for her military-medium pace, would produce a spell of bowling that consistently topped 70 mph, finishing with remarkable figures of 4-1-4-3 in England’s must-win group game against South Africa.Even Sciver herself wasn’t quite expecting it to come out quite so perfectly.”I don’t know if that’s right!” she laughs when I mention the speed she clocked during the South Africa match. “But I’m really pleased. I spent a bit of time before we came here working on my bowling action, so I’m really happy that it’s paid off in a game which we had to win.”The tweaking of her action has produced more immediate and more effective results than anyone anticipated. It was only two months ago, back in September, that she sat down with her coaches in the wake of the Kia Super League and made the decision to, as she terms it, “tinker” with her approach.”After we came back from the Super League, all the players sat down with the coaches to talk through what we could work on. We decided my action couldn’t get any worse, so we might as well try – it could get better. Luckily it’s paid off!”What exactly has she changed?”Before, my bowling arm used to do a lot work behind the rest of my body. I’ve tried to make sure that it doesn’t go too far behind, so that all the momentum’s going forward. So my follow-through’s become a bit longer, because I’ve got more momentum through the crease, and it’s allowed me to be more accurate because all things are going towards the target.”I definitely feel like it’s coming out quicker. That wasn’t really the aim, it was more to be more consistent, but because all things are going towards the target that helps speed-wise.”In England’s first completed group match, against Bangladesh, Sciver utilised the swinging ball to great effect, finishing with 1-7. Against South Africa, in a devastating bowling performance that saw the Proteas bowled out for 85, her scalps included the key wicket of Lizelle Lee, Sciver’s KSL teammate at Surrey Stars and someone she knows first-hand to be a dangerous player.”Through the KSL, in the nets she used to smash everyone around. So it was very nice to get her wicket and restrict South Africa to the total that we did.”Natalie Sciver sweeps through the leg side•Getty ImagesIn both of England’s games Sciver has been coach Mark Robinson’s choice to open the bowling, alongside regular new-ball seamer Anya Shrubsole. That opportunity came in the wake of a belated injury to Katherine Brunt, putting her out of the tournament just days before England’s first group match. Robinson, casting around for someone who could bowl what he terms the “dirty overs”, fixed his eyes on Sciver. “Once he saw how it was coming out a few weeks out from the tournament, he mentioned that I’d be bowling in the first 6,” she says.For Sciver, who made her England debut back in 2013 as a bowling allrounder, stepping up to play a leading role with the new ball has brought her career full circle.She was initially thought of as an exciting new pace prospect, an impression that was confirmed by her becoming the first ever English player to take a T20I hat-trick (against New Zealand in November 2013). But between the last World T20 in 2016 and the start of this one she bowled her full allocation of overs just twice.”Over the last two years I’ve focused more on my batting,” Sciver says. “The bulk of the work that Robbo [Robinson] and I did was with the bat at the start, and I guess I haven’t been as consistent as I wanted with the ball over the last year or so. I needed to change a little something with my action and make sure it allowed me to be more consistent.”It was predominantly stepping up to open the bowling for Surrey Stars on a regular basis that helped her continue to develop both sides of her game. “Having that responsibility has been good for me and good for my performances,” she says. “I had a good KSL and I think that responsibility is something that agrees with me and something that I enjoy having – and the stats would show it helps me out!”They certainly do. In 2017 she finished as leading wicket-taker in the competition, with 12 to her name; in 2018 she took 10 wickets at 28.00. With her new action in play, one feels the sky is the limit.For now, Sciver says she is excited about a reversion to her original role for England, and is looking forward to playing a crucial role as they head to the World T20 semi-finals in Antigua. “I want to be a genuine allrounder for England, and put in performances with both bat and ball. As long as I’m a consistent option for Heather [Knight] and she has faith in me to be consistent with the ball when I do come on, I’m happy with that.”

As Australia put together their most composed innings of the series, South Africa needed hard work and a bit of luck to keep hopes of a whitewash alive

Firdose Moonda at Adelaide Oval25-Nov-2016After dominating seven straight days of Test cricket against Australia, South Africa needed reminding that the game is also about days (and nights) like this. Days when you start well and have some reward but not as much as you deserve, when your chance comes but you let it go, when you need some luck and then you make some.Pressure was built, then squandered, then regained, then given away and finally transferred through passages of play and moments that made day two in Adelaide come alive.

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Kyle Abbott plays so infrequently – nine Tests in three years since debut, only two of them (Hobart and here) consecutively – that he could be excused if consistency wasn’t his closest friend. But they proved bosom buddies and with every ball of his opening spell he looked likely to make good on his captain calling time on their innings on the first day.Faf du Plessis’ earlier-than-expected declaration may not have deprived South Africa of many runs – they were nine down after all – but was a signal of intent from a skipper who had already won the series. No breakthroughs were forthcoming under lights but it was a licence for his pacemen to pounce on the second afternoon, when anticipation over Australia’s new-look line-up could have led to their undoing.Abbott took it on himself to feed the anxiety. He made the ball wobble like water in a glass on an airplane tray, when the flight finds itself momentarily traveling through turbulence. It ripples, a stray drop may leap up and plop back down, there could be a tiny wave but unless you’re in a really bad spot, nothing actually spills.Matt Renshaw, with only 12 first-class games to this name, is unlikely to have faced such high-quality late seam movement before. He was beaten, twice, and then forced to play. The edge died on Dean Elgar at second slip but Renshaw was given out. If that ball hadn’t got him, another one would have. The same could be said of David Warner, who does not have the patience to put up with someone like Abbott’s nagging.Abbott’s figures of 7-3-7-2 were a testament to his ability and his endurance. In the T20 age, spells of longer than five overs in Test cricket are lauded; those of seven overs are considered marathons. Abbott has already run three of them, having delivered a nine-over second spell in Hobart, followed by a seven-over one. He created pressure but South Africa needed to sustain it.

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Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith challenged South Africa’s attack as their partnership built. Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada had not been able to support Abbott as well as they would have wanted to. Tabraiz Shamsi, picked because he was supposed to be difficult to read, had not worked any magic. JP Duminy was given the ball, perhaps to buy time, but he almost proved a trump card.Duminy offered some flight and Smith went on the drive but only got a thick outside edge. Hashim Amla seemed surprised when the ball came his way and parried it almost over his head, then turned and tried to catch it as he tumbled but fluffed that too.It was Amla’s third drop of the series after he put down Khawaja in the first innings in Perth and Hazlewood in the second. All of them have been with Amla at slip, all of them have required a fairly quick reaction time and all of them have left Amla looking startled. Add to that his contribution with the bat this series – 53 runs in four innings – and his average of 14.46 in South Africa’s last four away trips and you can’t help but wonder if the “Mighty Hash”, as he known at home, is turning meek.His aggression has come from his verbal exchanges, to the media at the MCG and on Twitter after the Adelaide airport event, and they have seemed out of character for a usually reserved man. Amla appears to be under pressure and dropping Smith would only have added to it.

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Kyle Abbott took key wickets but Usman Khawaja made South Africa work to stay in the game•Getty ImagesIt took Temba Bavuma’s run-out of Warner in Perth to spark South Africa and it was going to take something similar to lift them in Adelaide. It came from an unlikely source, though. Philander does not have Bavuma’s athleticism but he didn’t need it. A mix-up between Smith and Khawaja gave Philander enough time to get a throw in to Quinton de Kock, who had helped cause some of the confusion.Smith played the ball to point, called “yes” and begun to run; de Kock, from behind the stumps, also called “yes”, presumably to prompt Philander to get the ball in but maybe to put Smith off because Khawaja seemed to have said “no”. By the time Smith saw Khawaja wasn’t coming and started to run back for his ground, the bails had been dislodged and Khawaja was left to marshal the middle-order debutants. With a habit for implosion, it was up to Australia to stay strong.

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Peter Handscomb had scored 41 assured runs before he leaned into a cover-drive off Philander, who had taken the second new ball an over before. He looked like a man who has played 61 first-class games and has an average of over 40. He did not necessarily look like a man who would play that shot again off the next ball. He definitely did not look like a man who would unleash a pull shot the ball after that to bring up a maiden Test fifty and put Australia in the lead.That trio of boundaries and the situation Australia were in meant that even if they had fallen apart immediately afterwards, they had already produced their best top-order batting performance of the series. So the onus had shifted back on to South Africa to search out the whitewash they said they so desperately wanted.Enter Abbott. The man who set things up in the beginning, finished off at the end in the same fashion. He seamed one in and found his way through the bat-pad gap Handscomb had been leaving open through his innings. He took out middle stump and transferred the pressure back on Australia.As night fell, South Africa were just about able to keep it there. Rabada took a wicket, Philander took a wicket and even though the lead crept up, Shamsi found some turn. The series is gone but this game is on.

A government warning about a threat to Australian interests could not be ignored

Brydon Coverdale01-Oct-2015Sadly, it had to be this way. From the moment on Friday that Cricket Australia was warned by the government of a threat to Australian interests in Bangladesh, the cancellation of the tour seemed likely. From the moment on Monday that an Italian charity worker was shot dead in Dhaka and Islamic State reportedly claimed responsibility, it was certain. CA had no option but to abandon their tour.It is sad for Bangladesh cricket, for the players and the fans. This should have been a big series for Bangladesh, their first Tests against Australia in nine years. Their one-day form this year is strong, and in their home conditions this looked set to be a competitive series against a raw, regenerating Australian side. It should have been an entertaining contest.It is sad for Australian cricket. A young squad was to have its first taste of cricket in Asia under new captain Steven Smith. New faces like Cameron Bancroft and Andrew Fekete now do not get that opportunity. The challenge of playing a Bangladesh team on the rise, of testing themselves in unfamiliar conditions – that is gone for now.Most of all it is sad for the sport itself that once again factors outside of cricket could force a tour to be abandoned. Bangladesh has not previously been viewed as seriously unsafe; nobody wants it to become the new Pakistan. Nobody to bow to the threat of violence. But a government’s security agencies do not publish these travel warnings on a whim.

Put yourself in the position of Cricket Australia. Is there a bigger, more visible “Australian interest” in Bangladesh than a touring cricket team?

To the citizens of Bangladesh, this may well feel like an insult. That is natural, and completely understandable. The past few months in Bangladesh have been peaceful, certainly more so than in 2013-14, when political violence surrounding the country’s general election caused concerns in the lead-up to the World T20, an event that ultimately went off without a hitch.But this is not about domestic political violence. It is not about the feeling of safety and security that Bangladeshis feel in their own country. This is about the Australian government warning its citizens of “reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh”. Not just “western interests” generally, but “Australian interests” specifically.That is why it is irrelevant that other teams such as South Africa, India and Pakistan have toured Bangladesh this year without incident. The warning was published on the Australian government’s Smartraveller website only on Friday. That is why it is irrelevant that Australia have toured Bangladesh safely in the past, including for last year’s World T20. This warning is new.That is also why this cannot be compared to touring India after terrorist attacks in 2008, or touring England after the 2005 London bombings. Those were not attacks directed specifically at Australians. The wording of this latest warning – “Australian interests in Bangladesh” – is worryingly unambiguous. No such advice exists for other countries in south Asia.None of us outside the intelligence community can know how or why the government came upon this information, which it calls “reliable”. We are not privy to that background, and for that reason we have no option but to take the advice seriously. Cricket Australia had no option but to do so either in spite of the high level of security offered by Bangladesh’s government and cricket board.Bangladesh fans will naturally be upset by the cancellation, especially after the successful hosting of the World T20, but intelligence reports cannot be taken lightly•AFPPut yourself in the position of Cricket Australia. Your government contacted you directly on Friday to warn you that its travel advice was about to change, that it believed militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh. Your team was due to fly there on Monday. Is there a bigger, more visible “Australian interest” in Bangladesh than a touring cricket team?That is not to say there was any specific threat to the Australian squad. But could Cricket Australia take that chance? After the tragedy of the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan in 2009, could Cricket Australia take such a risk in the face of such recent, specific advice from its own government? Sadly, it could not. It had no option but to abandon the tour, for no security is truly foolproof.The death of the Italian man in Dhaka on Monday led to further security warnings, including the Australian government advising its staff in Bangladesh to travel only by vehicle. Also on Monday, the US State Department stated that there was “reliable new information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh.”What this means for Bangladesh in the longer term is unclear. Naturally, it is to be hoped that future tours there can go ahead, but that will depend on the security advice at the time. For now, the security advice is clear. That is why Cricket Australia’s decision to abandon their tour was sad but inevitable. And sensible.

Also, keepers scoring hundreds in the same ODI, beating Chennai Super Kings, and most ducks in an innings

Steven Lynch10-Jun-2014With the first Test approaching, I was wondering whether Mahela Jayawardene stood a chance of becoming the leading Test run scorer at Lord’s among visiting players? asked Neville Karunaratne from Sri Lanka
To do that, Mahela Jayawardene will probably need to score a double-century: he currently has 375 Test runs at Lord’s, exactly 200 behind the leader, Australia’s Warren Bardsley. Garry Sobers scored 571 Test runs at Lord’s, and Don Bradman 551, then come Shivnarine Chanderpaul (512), Dilip Vengsarkar (508) and Allan Border (503). Vengsarkar is the only visiting batsman so far to score three Test centuries at Lord’s – Jayawardene is currently one of ten tourists to have made two.How often have both wicketkeepers scored a century in the same one-day international, as happened at Lord’s recently? asked Ramon Perera from England
That game at Lord’s on May 31 – when Kumar Sangakkara made 112 for Sri Lanka and Jos Buttler replied with 121 for England – provided the fifth instance of both wicketkeepers scoring hundreds in the same one-day international. Sangakkara was involved in two of those as well: against India in Jaipur in October 2005, he made 138 not out and MS Dhoni 183 not out, then against South Africa in Johannesburg in January 2012 Sanga scored 102 and AB de Villiers 125 not out. In Harare in August 2007 de Villiers made 107 for South Africa and Tatenda Taibu 107 not out for Zimbabwe, then earlier this year in a World Cup qualifier in Lincoln in New Zealand Wesley Barresi of the Netherlands smacked 137 not out and Irfan Karim 108 for Kenya.How many wicketkeepers had scored one-day international centuries for England before Jos Buttler? I can’t remember any! asked David Norman from England
You’re right to think that one-day centuries by England wicketkeepers are rare: Jos Buttler, with his rampaging 121 at Lord’s on May 31, was actually only the second man to score one. The only other England keeper to reach three figures in an ODI was Alec Stewart, who did it four times – including twice in three days in 2000, against Zimbabwe at Edgbaston and West Indies at Trent Bridge. The other hundreds came against Pakistan at The Oval in 1992, and India in Sharjah in 1997. Stewart averaged 33.47 in 138 ODIs when keeping wicket, and only 23.57 in 32 matches when not the designated stumper, in which his highest score was just 64. Buttler’s century took him only 61 balls, the fastest for England in ODIs, beating Kevin Pietersen’s 69-ball hundred against South Africa in East London in February 2005.Chennai Super Kings are the most consistent team across all seven IPL seasons. But which team has had most success against them? asked Manish Thaduri from Singapore
You’re right to say that Chennai Super Kings have been the most consistent team overall in the IPL. As this table shows, their overall success rate is 60.96% (69 wins and 44 defeats). Mumbai Indians come next with 57.27%. And it’s Mumbai who have the best record against CSK: their 18 meetings have been shared 9-9. Royal Challengers Bangalore have beaten Chennai seven times, Kings XI Punjab six, and Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals five each. CSK have beaten Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals ten times – from only 14 meetings in Delhi’s case.What is the record for ducks in a Test innings? asked Manish Patel from India
There have been three Test innings that included six ducks. The first was in Karachi in 1980-81, when six Pakistanis were out for 0 as their side slid to 128 all out on the first day against West Indies. Colin Croft and Sylvester Clarke dismissed two each for ducks while the other two were inflicted by Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner. The record was equalled in Ahmedabad in 1996-97, when six South Africans fell for ducks as they slid to defeat against India. Javagal Srinath was responsible for four of them on his way to figures of 6 for 21, and Anil Kumble claimed the other two. The third instance was in 2002-03, as Bangladesh collapsed from 80 for 3 to 87 all out against West Indies in Dhaka. Five of those ducks were inflicted by Jermaine Lawson, who finished with the remarkable figures of 6 for 3.In how many Tests has a player from each side scored a pair of centuries? asked Siddhartha from India
There have been only two occasions when opposing players scored twin centuries in the same Test. The first was in the 1946-47 Ashes series, when Arthur Morris made 122 and 124 not out for Australia, and Denis Compton 147 and 103 not out for England in Adelaide. It didn’t happen again until 1990-91, when Andrew Jones made 122 and 100 not out for New Zealand and Asanka Gurusinha replied with 119 and 102 for Sri Lanka in Hamilton. The only other Test to feature two sets of twin centuries was also in New Zealand, in 1973-74, when Greg Chappell made 247 not out and 133, and his brother Ian 145 and 121 for Australia. For the full list of players scoring two centuries in the same Test, click here.

Harsha Bhogle, Ian Chappell and David Hopps on the championship so far, the exits of three major teams, trends and strategies, and the upcoming knockouts

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2012
How big a disappointment was the performance of the weaker teams in the first round? (2.23 – 4.35)
Ian Chappell: There are many problems with cricket and this is one of them. You’re just not seeing any progress from the Associate nations. Bangladesh [a Full Member], you wouldn’t say they are any closer to winning a World Cup now than when they started. The problem with a lot of the other countries, like Canada, is that so many of their team are expat Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, with perhaps the odd Englishman or Australian thrown in. Until you’re going to get the bulk of the team made up of locals, I’m not sure you can think you’re making a hell of a lot of progress. I believe the only way to globalise the game is through T20, but I’d like to see a bit more progress.David Hopps: Afghanistan were the most exciting of the sides that didn’t qualify. Bangladesh, they are so frustrating. You could understand if they missed out because they didn’t have big, strapping fast bowlers, but part of the reason they missed out was because their fielding was absolutely incompetent at times. There was no excuse for that with the amount of years they’ve been playing at the top level and still to be fielding so poorly in the match in which I saw them. Ireland, every time they find a world-class player, England steals them. There’s no future for Ireland if that keeps happening.Where did India fall short? (4.36 – 8.05)
IC: Against Australia, their bowling was disgraceful. Selection has been a problem for Indian cricket, not just in T20s but overall. The panel that’s now gone has been poor, really poor. I don’t think they’ve had any vision, guts. A classic example is when they came to Australia – their side was losing badly and they did nothing to revitalise things. India can only hope the new panel has got some guts and some vision.DH: India’s lack of bowling has been an issue for them and it’s one of the reasons why they’ve gone out, and I also think the balance of the side was wrong. Last night they’d seen the Pakistan spinners bowl well, they knew they’d have to dismiss South Africa cheaply, and then, in the middle of the innings, you’ve got two part-time spinners bowling crucial overs, where if they didn’t get three wickets for 20, they were out of the game. Where’s Harbhajan Singh? I just don’t understand the selection.What are the reasons for England’s exit from the Super Eights? (8.06 – 11.52)
DH: There are many. They didn’t have Kevin Pietersen, for a start. It’s a very deep issue and it was an issue of team ethics that had to be resolved, and it was important that England resolved it. It certainly weakened England as a team and we certainly shouldn’t be blind to that. England had a slightly different attitude; they seemed to be emphasising a more careful start in the first six overs, so if you’re going to play like that, why is Ian Bell not there?All the young guys didn’t particularly play well, the Buttlers, the Bairstows, the Kieswetters. They’ve been to the subcontinent before, England brought them last year to give them some preparation. None of them did particularly well. You don’t learn as an English batsman to bat in Sri Lanka in five minutes, no matter how good you are.IC: This is a problem not just with England. I think some teams have got carried away picking guys who are specialists in a format of the game, but where they’ve done well is basically at a lower level, i.e. at the domestic level, in that form of the game. Any day of the week, give me the guy who can make runs or get wickets at international level, as an international player. If he is any good, he is going to adapt to whatever length of time the administrators give him to play the game.South Africa were a classic case. To me, [Richard] Levi is a classic example of a player they’ve picked because he’s succeeded at domestic level in that form of the game. If a fellow has proved he can make runs in the 50-over international game, why the hell can’t he make runs in a 20-over game?How have the pitches behaved so far? (11.53 – 14.20)
IC: It doesn’t matter what format of the game you’re playing, your bowlers are going to win you the matches. The batsmen might set them up, but the bowlers will win them for you. The further you go in the tournament, the more likely that’s going to be the case. I feel sorry for the curators. When you are using the same three or four pitches, rolling them, the grass has got to die. Therefore, you know that as the tournament goes along the scores are going to get lower, which surely sends you the message that the bowlers are going to be pretty important. The pitches in Colombo [with more turn] were far from unplayableDH: I thought the Pallekele pitches held up marvelously well. I’ve not seen a ground as good as Pallekele in Sri Lanka before, and I’ve not seen pitches as good. They were ideal for this tournament. Sri Lanka Cricket has really kicked forward in what they produced at Pallekele. They brought in agricultural experts to discuss soil composition, the square of the pitches, and they’ve gained the rewards they deserve.Have teams picked sides according to the conditions, and what about some questionable tweaks in the batting order? (14.21 – 16.47)
IC: Isn’t that the idea of selecting a cricket team? Everybody talks about a well-balanced bowling attack, which you’ve got to have, but you also need a balanced batting line-up. Surely, the success of Sri Lanka and Australia in particular has got to tell you that you put your best three batsmen at the top for the simple reason that you give them the longest opportunity to score runs. Sending some guy in to whack a quick 15 or 20, to me is a total waste of time.

“You’d have to say, [in terms of] the natural cricketers who have come through in the last 15 to 20 years, Pakistan is way ahead of every other country”Ian Chappell

DH: The top three for Australia and Sri Lanka have been wonderful. And yet, even Ian would admit that if Australia go 10 for 2, they could easily be in trouble.T20 has changed in that the preservation of wickets matters much more now, as teams believe they can go hard with wickets in hand in the last few overs. (16.48 – 18.38)
DH: You give a game to professional cricketers surrounded by coaches and analysts and they’ll make the game professional. The years are gone where it was clown’s hats and red noses. Cricketers are now trained to play this game as a proper professional cricket match and every year it becomes more and more intelligent.IC: And it’ll also vary with the conditions. You give them flat pitches, and they’ll go and belt the first six overs. But if you give them a pitch where the bowler’s got a bit of a chance, no international batsman likes to throw his wicket away. and if he thinks the odds are bid in favour of the bowler, he’ll play with a bit of caution, don’t worry.Shane Watson has been impressive, but there are concerns over Australia’s middle order (21.15 – 24.40)
IC: No doubt about that. At the Champions Trophy, the semi-final and the final, he does have a history of rising to the occasion – that was as a batsman. The fact that he’s become the go-to man for Australia, if they need to get a breakthrough… and he’s now a senior player. You get some guys that are buoyed by the responsibility, there are others who are weighed down by it, and he certainly appears to be the type of player who is buoyed by it.Could it be Sri Lanka’s turn this time?•ICC/GettyAustralia’s original mistake was picking a captain first and picking the other ten players around him. In all the years that I have followed cricket, Australia have picked a team and then found somebody from that XI who can captain the side. If you’re going to tell me you can’t do that now, I’m going to say, “You’re talking rubbish.” If you play Bailey, two things happen: Either one of [Glenn] Maxwell, [Cameron] White or David Hussey has got to go out, and it’s been David Hussey in this tournament. That’s a mistake because Hussey is a dynamic player, all three are more dynamic than Bailey. The second problem is, he comes in at a time when all of those three batsmen should really be coming in.DH: You could argue the same about West Indies. Darren Sammy is a big-hearted, affable, very popular skipper, but if you look at his role in the side, he doesn’t bowl well enough, doesn’t bat well enough, and he affects the balance at No. 8.Saeed Ajmal has been the bowler of the tournament so far. (25.18 – 31.06)
IC:: He’s got a couple of things going for him, in that he’s pretty confident and he’s very smart. He’s got a hell of a lot of confidence in himself, which is a natural trait, but the more success you have, the more confident you become.DH: The romantic story, though, is Akila Dananjaya. In England, it is almost impossible to comprehend that a 19-year-old lad can be pulled out of the nets and suddenly appear in World Twenty20. To be hit in the face after failing to take a catch, having a slightly fractured cheekbone and still to be bouncing back two days later says a lot about his bottle. It’s a great story.IC: I’ve come to the conclusion that you either have very good coaching when you’re young or you’re better off to have none and just play a hell of a lot of cricket. I think the Pakistan system, when you’re playing in the streets or wherever you can get a game, you just play a hell of a lot of cricket… it helps you know your game. Greg [Chappell] has said this to me many times, that what a young player gets today is a structured nets session or he’s playing in a match. Look at how Sachin Tendulkar developed his game, with his coach taking him from one game to the other on the maidans. It’s not a bad way to develop. I’ve heard Imran [Khan] say about the lack of structure in the first-class system in Pakistan, and that’s probably true. For actually producing cricketers, you’d have to say, [in terms of] the natural cricketers who have come through in the last 15 to 20 years, Pakistan is way ahead of every other country.Which team has impressed you the most? (32.05 – 34.06)
DH: I didn’t tip them at the start of the competition because I thought there was too much pressure on Sri Lanka from the people in Sri Lanka. They’d done so well to get to so many finals, and I thought the expectation level was too high. I’ve been in Pallekele, I’ve seen the way they’re responding to the crowd, the bits and pieces of their game seem to be coming together. The top order is in good form. I fancy Sri Lanka.IC: Pakistan don’t surprise, they’re so inconsistent, and that’s what makes Pakistan cricket more interesting to watch. You go along to the ground and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. That’s why you watch sport. If West Indies get their bowling together, they’re going to take some beating. That batting line-up is seriously dangerous.Numbers Game question (34.11 – 37.54)
In the 2012 World Twenty20, the lowest scoring rate is in the first over. In which over is the scoring the second lowest?

Australia’s fingerspinners have learned to adapt to Asian pitches that offer turn or inconsistent bounce. On flat tracks like Dubai’s, however, they lack the cutting edge that a specialist wristspinner can bring

Daniel Brettig in Dubai08-Oct-2018When Australia’s thinkers assessed a desperately poor showing in Sri Lanka two years ago, much of the spotlight was shone upon the spin bowlers needing to be more consistent to impose pressure. Nathan Lyon went away and worked on his “bowl ugly” mindset, centered around changes of pace and trapping batsmen in the crease, while Steve O’Keefe returned to fitness to reclaim the spot he gave up to Jon Holland.In subsequent series in India and Bangladesh, Australia’s spin bowling division performed far more strongly, Lyon in particular, while O’Keefe and Ashton Agar played useful supporting roles. Holland, in the meantime, worked his way back into contention. All based on the concept of nagging accuracy, targeting the stumps and letting the pitch do the work.Ah yes, the pitch. In all three of the Sri Lanka Tests, three of the four India Tests (Ranchi excepted) and both the Bangladesh Tests, the surfaces prepared offered help for spin bowlers – whether sharp turn, inconsistent bounce, or both – virtually from the first day. Fingerspinners prosper in such climes, provided they deny batsmen loose balls with which to find the boundary. Put simply, there is enough natural assistance to lend an element of mystery and danger to these tamer members of the spin brotherhood.But in the sorts of conditions presented in Dubai on the first two days of Australia’s first Test against Pakistan, the need for a quality wristspinner’s extra snap, bounce and variation was as clear as the folly of scheduling a long-form match from Sunday to Thursday in the UAE when the weekend is set for Friday and Saturday. It was clear even before the debutant batsman and part-time wristspinner Marnus Labuschagne entered Australia’s attack and quickly found the sort of grip and bounce that neither Lyon nor Holland could conjure this early in the match.This is not to say Lyon bowled badly, tying down an end for long periods while conceding barely two runs per over. What he lacked was the sort of help in the pitch that would enable him to hit gloves, pads or stumps with regularity, something he may be able to find later in the match should Australia’s batsmen grant him the opportunity. For Holland life was more of a struggle, as he found the combination of the quicker pace demanded by the conditions and the high-arm action of his natural style did not agree with one another. So looping deliveries on a good length in Australia became flatter half-volleys in Dubai – CricViz stats had him landing 46% of his deliveries in the slot fuller than desired, whereas Lyon’s figure was a more tantalising 35%. Holland, for all his gifts, has some work to do.Largely due to the freakish nature of Shane Warne’s physical and tactical gifts as a spin bowler, Australia may never again have a talent of his like again. But this is not to say that the nation’s cricket system is unable to nurture wristspinners capable of doing the job where and when required – it needed only a glance towards one of the few populated areas of the Dubai International Stadium to glimpse Australia’s selection chairman Trevor Hohns, a more than serviceable legspinner and contributor to the successful 1989 Ashes tour. His reluctance to go to the West Indies in 1991 led indirectly to Warne’s fast-tracking and the mesmerising tale to follow.Based in Queensland, Hohns has seen numerous legspinners come and go during his time in and around the selection panels of Australia and the Bulls, including Daniel Doran, Cameron Boyce, and more recently Mitchell Swepson, who toured India alongside Labuschagne. Figures of 1 for 121 in his only match for Australia A on that tour probably ruled Swepson out of contention for this series, while at the same time the chances created by Labuschagne helped contribute to his own bolter’s case.Marnus Labuschagne celebrates his maiden Test wicket•Getty ImagesBefore this match, the captain Tim Paine had spoken of Labuschagne’s legbreaks as a useful value-add to his studious batting and alertness in the field: “We think Marnus brings a lot to the group, he’s a really good player of spin and we think as well his legspin will be something we can throw at the Pakistanis. They might not expect him, and they’ve really improved in the last 12 months.” But his emergence midway through a previously barren second day for the Australians highlighted the possibilities that might be offered by a more regular wristspin presence.From Labuschagne’s right hand the ball bounced and spun with enough pace to force false strokes, coaxing an edge from the bat of Asad Shafiq that was well caught by Paine, and another that eluded the grasp of Aaron Finch. At the same time Labuschagne’s high arm and topspin had the ball disturbing a previously benign surface for some of the first occasions in the match, regardless of whether it had landed in the rough or the middle of the pitch. Leggies do, for the most part, find that little bit extra.”I’ve been working on my bowling for a long time but the last three months specifically, just getting a bit faster through the air and making sure I’m bowling the right length,” Labuschagne said. “Been working really hard with Sri [Sridharan Sriram] and John Davison back home, making sure we get that length right. So it was pleasing to see it come off today, I was able to come on and not go for too many runs and also lucky enough to get a wicket as well.”It was a change-up, a change in momentum, a change in the rhythm of the batsmen and just making them think a little bit differently about how they want to play shots and stuff like that. That’s probably the key, trying to get them to think a little bit differently with someone who bowls a bit of legspin.”Of course with that extra reward comes extra risk, and in an increasingly metricised and quantified Australian cricket environment, the art of the legspinner may be seen as too much of an extravagance. Except, that is, when taken up as an extra string by a batsman, as is the case with Labuschagne, or before him the suspended Steven Smith and David Warner. An assessment of Australia’s current stocks in wristspin certainly carries that sense, given the fringe status of Swepson, Boyce, Adam Zampa, Fawad Ahmed and the teenager who swapped places with Fawad in Victoria’s domestic limited-overs campaign, Tom O’Connell.Among those compelled to deliver the ball by flinging it over the wrist towards batsmen kept guessing by its spin, drift, drop, and turn, perhaps the most intriguing prospect in Australia right now is another Pakistani, Usman Qadir. Chosen by Western Australia in Agar’s absence, he claimed six wickets in four matches of the same tournament where O’Connell made his debut, and appears to be in the state’s plans for the Sheffield Shield, having already stated his desire to qualify for Australia. Should he win a distinguished talent visa through his performances, such a pathway may well open up within the space of two years.In the closing overs of day two, as Finch began his first Test innings in the company of Usman Khawaja, the primary threat of Yasir Shah’s legbreaks was parried with a few nervous moments along the way. Yasir’s skills, so outsize as to have been celebrated by none other than Warne himself, are of an exceptionally rare kind, combining the consistency of Lyon with the spin, bounce and variation hinted at by Labuschagne. For now, at least, Australia must look on at his wiles with a combination of aspiration and envy.

Plays from the first ODI between Sri Lanka and Australia at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo21-Aug-2016The off-pace trickeryMitchell Starc breathed fire to take 24 wickets in the Test series, but it was guile that brought him his 100th ODI wicket, which came in fewer games for him than for any other bowler. Pitching full and wide, Starc drew Dhananjaya de Silva into one of his languid cover drives, but de Silva was through with his shot by the time the ball came. In the end, the inside half of the bat was taken, and the ball floated up towards short midwicket, where a fine catch was taken.The omenAustralia’s Adam Zampa had not extracted outrageous spin during his seven overs, but the Khettarama revealed itself to be a raging turner fairly early in the chase. Debutant Amila Aponso pitched one on a length just outside off stump and it leapt dramatically away from Steven Smith’s bat. The turn was too drastic even for wicketkeeper Kusal Perera to handle, and the ball finished in Angelo Mathews’ hands at slip. All through the chase, Australia would have to negotiate raging turn.The cool catThe ‘Dilscoop’ led to his dismissal and his bowling was bashed around, but Tillakaratne Dilshan still managed a few acts of effortless brilliance in the field, despite being the oldest man on it. His most impressive moment came in the 25th over, when Mathew Wade nailed a slog sweep off Lakshan Sandakan, though Wade perhaps didn’t loft the shot as much as he would have liked. Standing at short mid-wicket, Dilshan reached up, plucked the ball from the air, and casually threw it over his shoulder.The dropKusal Mendis had several close calls during his half-century, but none luckier than during the first ten overs, when he was dropped on 14. He swept James Faulkner high towards deep square leg and, though Aaron Finch appeared at first to be lining up the catch nicely, he wound up misjudging it, falling over backwards, and palming the ball onto the rope. When he rose up, he signaled that he’d lost the ball in the sun.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2015Jadhav raced to his maiden ODI ton and with Stuart Binny flayed the Zimbabwe bowlers for 50 runs off the final 19 balls, helping India finish strongly on 276 for 5•Associated PressMohit Sharma broke Zimbabwe’s opening partnership in the sixth over when he trapped Hamilton Masakadza for 7•Associated PressZimbabwe had only one other meaningful partnership – 50 for the fourth wicket between Richmond Mutumbami and Chibhabha – after which their innings collapsed. India bowled them out for 193 to romp to a 83-run victory and sweep the series 3-0•Associated Press

Accustomed to dealing with disturbances, Sri Lanka’s siege mentality and desire to win has grown stronger with each English antagonism

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Jun-2014Who is Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketing rival? There was once a clear winner but the now the answer lies in shifting sands. Australia had been cast as arch-villain in Sri Lanka’s cricket adolescence and there are still many fans who savour wins over Australia most, if only for their enduring scarcity.In recent years, matches against India have evoked the strongest emotions. Once the island’s older brother, India has been re-imagined as a bully by some. But, at this present minute, neither India nor Australia are Sri Lanka’s most coveted target. Following months of skirmishing in board rooms, on the field and in the media, the Tests against England have become a quest for justice.Sri Lanka have the limited-overs series in the bag but, with the ODIs having built to a fever pitch, a victory at Lord’s or Headingley would by some distance be the sweetest of the tour. For a side that does not often engage in on-field aggression, and whose tempers run steadier than most, this is about as heated as it gets.Sri Lanka’s quarrels with England are many. There was Sri Lanka’s abstention as tensions ran high over the ‘Big Three’ plan for the ICC in Singapore in February, but of more immediate consequence to the players has been Paul Farbrace’s move to England. The players have refused to blame Farbrace, who was a popular and effective coach in his short time in charge, but resentment still lingers at the timing of his departure.”I understand the choice Farby made,” Kumar Sangakkara had said ahead of the ODIs. “Whether it was fair of the ECB to put him in that situation when he was still with us is a different question. It wasn’t pleasant.”There were hints of insider knowledge in England’s mode of attack in the ODI series, particularly in the manner they targeted Sri Lanka’s young batsmen, even if the team came through that scrape okay.Sri Lanka are less secure in the Test arena and it is here Farbrace has most scope to confer an advantage. Just months ago, he was in meetings about the aspects of Sri Lanka’s cricket they must aim to sharpen up. He has seen techniques and temperaments at an intimate distance. He knows which loose strings to tug on to make the whole fabric unravel.The questions raised over Sachithra Senanayake’s bowling action have also irked the side. When they learned of his being reported by the match officials, the team wondered again about the timing. Senanayake has played international cricket without issue for two years. These kinds of things happen in “certain parts of the world”, captain Angelo Mathews said on the subject.

More accustomed to staving off homegrown disturbances, the team has long learned to thrive within a siege mentality. They are more desperate for success now than they were a week ago

Whether or not Senanayake’s action is legal remains to be seen but there has almost certainly been more scrutiny and suspicion in England than he had previously had on any other tour. Mahela Jayawardene later revealed how the team had closed ranks around Senanayake, setting up a team dinner in his honour. “It was definitely a big motivating factor,” he said.The sides also remain at odds over Senanayake’s Mankading of Jos Buttler at Edgbaston. Days later, some England players maintained Sri Lanka had played unsporting cricket, while Sri Lanka’s players have shown no sympathy for Buttler, or remorse. More accustomed to staving off homegrown disturbances, the team has long learned to thrive within a siege mentality. They are more desperate for success now than they were a week ago.But desire alone will not bring success when so much inexperience abounds. The likely openers have fewer than 20 Tests between them and not one pace bowler in the squad has more than 20 matches to his name. Dimuth Karunaratne will face a stern test of his technique, if he gets to play, while Shaminda Eranga has the opportunity to crystallise the promise his sharp seam bowling has so far suggested.Mathews is also leading the Test side outside Asia for the first time. His handling of the limited-overs sides has been astute, but there have been damaging moments of conservatism in the long format. Mistakes are perhaps inevitable for a captain so young. A heartening scoreline in this series would see Mathews quell doubts and entrench himself fully as Sri Lanka’s long-term leader.He had been in fine rhythm with both bat and ball in the ODIs and his batting, in particular, may prove crucial if England get the green tracks they have reportedly requested, and the top order is laid low early. In Tests against Pakistan this year, Mathews had unveiled both an appetite for circumspect rebuilding and for large scores.Sangakkara and Jayawardene, though, have been through it all before. They have been in sides that have triumphed in foreign conditions, and others that have been blanked. They know how the team can draw from collective frustration, and they know at which point such feelings become destructive.The pair arrive now at their final opportunity to redress mediocre Test records in England. A Test series win here has eluded both men as well. They will hope to leave the country with more than just a litany of grievances.

Somerset’s Nick Compton is an an old-school scrapper whose timeless virtues are paying dividends

Interview by George Dobell30-Apr-2012It is not, perhaps, so much the Compton name that should be capturing the imagination, but the Compton style. The emergence – or the re-emergence – of Nick Compton is relevant not because it evokes memories of his grandfather Denis but because it has shown the value of a style of play that was becoming endangered in the domestic game. In an age of disposable cricket, Nick Compton was built to last. In an age of bashers and dashers, Compton offers reliability. As Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, put it: “The way Compton plays forward-defensive and backward-defensive is as good as I have seen.” Bearing in mind Rose opened the batting for England with Geoff Boycott and captained Viv Richards at Somerset, that is high praise indeed.Compton’s qualities may sound prosaic, but they are as timeless as they are priceless. His judgement about which balls to leave outside off stump is excellent, his defence – off front and back foot – could keep out the rain, and his powers of concentration would shame a security camera. Whereas many contemporary batsmen look for the shortcut to success by trying to hit their way out of trouble – the get-rich-quick version of batting – Compton is content to wear the bowlers down, see the shine off the ball and wait.Those qualities, unfashionable though they may have become, remain as valuable as ever. At a time when the techniques of a generation of England batsmen have been exposed – both on the spin-friendly surfaces of Asia and the seam-friendly surfaces of England – Compton provides a timely reminder that there is another way. Bowler-friendly conditions tend to separate the wheat from the chaff, and while the majority have flashed and snicked, Compton has followed his 1000 runs last year – he was one of the first to the milestone – with over 700 already this year. If it wasn’t for his name, the comparisons would all be with Jonathan Trott and Jacques Kallis.The Kallis comparison pleases Compton. He refers to the South African as “the biggest influence of my life” and admits to spending hours in front of the mirror emulating Kallis. For all the self-deprecating talk, though, Compton has a pleasing drive and cuts and pulls unusually well. He is not, by Test standards, particularly strong off his legs, but so keen is his desire to play straight and avoid leg-before dismissals – a weakness in the past – that a few sacrifices have had to be made.Compton also has one significant advantage over most of his rivals for a Test spot: he can bat anywhere from one to six. He is currently batting No. 3 for Somerset, but has spent much of his career opening. He is pressing as much for Andrew Strauss’ position as Ravi Bopara’s.His mantra is simple. “I keep saying to myself, ‘Give these bowlers nothing,'” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Even after I reach my hundred, I say to myself, ‘Give these bowlers nothing.’ I don’t care what I look like, I just want to give them nothing.”That is not to say Compton cannot improvise. He scooped Brett Lee for six during the Champions League last year, and as he accelerated towards Somerset’s declaration at Trent Bridge, demonstrated a surprisingly large range of strokes and an ability change gears: his first century took 241 deliveries; his second just 81. But just because you have 50 shirts in the cupboard, doesn’t mean you have to wear them all at once, does it? For the majority of the time, Compton plays the percentages. He adores batting. He is greedy for runs. He puts a high price on his wicket. Those are good qualities for a Test batsman.There is, Compton says, “an unsung hero” in his story. Neil Burns, who kept wicket for Somerset among others, has been a mentor since 2005. The pair have spent many, many hours in the nets and talking about building “a package” that would turn Compton into a player of international class.”I was disillusioned when he got hold of me,” Compton said. “I had played a bit of first-team cricket and I was impatient for more. I remember him saying to me, ‘What have you actually done?’ It brought me back down to earth when I realised I hadn’t actually done anything. So we spent six months just working on my defence. It was the most uncomfortable six months of my life, but we built a new package, really, all based on the understanding that it doesn’t matter how good your cover drive or your pull is if you can’t stay out there. I wanted to play the one ball I faced with as much quality as I could to make sure I could play another ball. I scored 1300 runs that season.”I lost track of that a bit. Kevin Pietersen came on the scene and everyone wanted to bat like him. I tried to dominate, but that wasn’t my strength. My strength is to bat for long periods of time.”Compton’s call-up to the Lions squad is, as he put it, “a stop on the journey”. It is not the destination. “I have unfinished business for the rest of the year,” he said. “I’m on a journey and it is far from finished.”He has been here before. After six centuries in the 2006 season, he won selection on that winter’s A tour. He performed well, too, but with the realisation that an England place was tantalisingly close, he lost focus. Not helped by some clumsy handling by Middlesex, the next two seasons brought no centuries and just three scores over 50. Dropped from the first Middlesex side – what he calls a “crushing, devastating” experience – he ended up playing club cricket. It seemed his chance had gone.

“I’d love to play for England. I’d bite your arm off. But it’s also a distraction. The disappointment I experienced in the past was devastating and I don’t want to feel like that again”

“I put a huge amount of pressure on myself after coming back from a successful Lions tour and I really wanted to kick on,” he said. “Looking back, though, I was far too intense. I was trying to attain perfection, and I’m not sure that exists in cricket. I got into a downward spiral. I wanted it all too badly.”I’m not 21 now. I’ve played a bit. I’m focused on the immediacy of my career. I’m focused on fulfilling my role for Somerset as well as I can. You learn.”I’m a calmer person now and I’ve settled on a formula that works for me. If I get caught up in aesthetics it takes me down the wrong path.”I know this might very well be my last chance. Neil said, ‘You’ll get one chance at this.’ And of course I’m excited. I’d love to play for England. I’d bite your arm off. But it’s also a distraction. The disappointment I experienced in the past was devastating and I don’t want to feel like that again. Captaincy is something I’d like to do in the future. And winning the Championship is a huge aim for everyone at Somerset. But I need to focus on the next ball. Anything else is a distraction.”Leaving London and Lord’s – a ground where the Compton name appears on a stand and where he had a year remaining on his contract – at the end of 2009 was a brave move. But, as Compton said, “the ambitions of Middlesex didn’t match mine”. He was coaxed to Taunton first by Justin Langer, who liked the fight in him, and then by Rose, who saw in him a man who would complement Somerset’s array of strokemakers. He wanted Compton to occupy the crease and concentrate on batting for long periods of time. It is working, too: Compton has faced 1407 balls in first-class cricket this summer: no one else has faced more than 716. “I was a bit surprised by Mark Ramprakash’s comments about pitches,” Compton said. “He seemed to be saying that it makes batsmen want to have a go at the ball, but I’ve gone the other way with it. It’s made me more aware of technique and defence and doing the basics right.”I smile sometimes when I see people practise. They tend to practise attacking the ball. They practise in perfect conditions and they like to express their talent and hit the ball. But how much help is that when you play on a pitch where the ball nips around? And how many players in county cricket can bat for a day or a day and a half? There’s Cook, there’s Trott, but there aren’t many others. I enjoy taking on the responsibility to bat through the innings and provide the foundations for the rest of the team.”There are so many strokemakers down here. Brian Rose wanted me to provide the foundations for them to bat around and I’ve grown into it. I believe in foundations. I know that if I spend a lot of time at the crease, the runs will come. I feel I’m a strokemaker too, but that isn’t the role the team need me to fill.”Compton knows he will never emulate the success of his grandfather. But, if he completes 1000 runs before the end of May – thereby becoming the first man to achieve the feat since Graeme Hick in 1988 – he will have achieved something that Denis never managed.