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Mason Crane was a source of endless fascination in spite of a tough first outing in Test cricket, but he bore the attention well

Jarrod Kimber at Sydney06-Jan-2018Mason Crane is bowling to an assistant coach. On the makeshift surface, he gets excellent purchase. After he’s bowled a handful of balls, Ian Chappell walks over and stands as if he’s the umpire. Crane doesn’t react; he just continues to bowl. If Crane knew who Chappell was, he didn’t react to him. He just prepared as Chappell looked on eagerly.A week earlier Tom Curran was bowling warm-ups before his own Test debut; the commentators barely paid him any attention. Curran’s a fast-medium bowler, that’s a fine noble tradition. Crane is a legspinner, that’s an object of lust and desire. When Chappell was asked why he went to watch Crane bowl, he said it was for his own edification.We all get excited about legspin, cricket’s dark art, the back-of-the-hand merchant. You throw in a young one who’s played for NSW and Hampshire before most people have had their heart broken and the intrigue levels go up. And we know intellectually that young leggies struggle; that cricket’s largest graveyard is devoted to all the brave souls who tried and failed to bowl it.But we don’t care; we want to be edified, entertained and enraptured by it. It could be magical; it could be fantastical, it could all end terribly. Sometimes all in the space of one ball.***Crane is about to come on, you can sense it. Leggiemongers grab their binoculars from their bags; people lean forward, there is a different kind of noise – as if something, whatever that may be, is about to happen. As if someone has pressed the silent legspin alarm.The first ball Crane delivered in Test cricket got stuck in his hand; he was lucky Warner didn’t knock it out of the park. The next ball Crane aborted as he reached his run-up because the field wasn’t set. Then he slid a ball down the leg side, When his third ball was on line, he was given ironic cheers. He finished the over with another rank short ball.The next over had a full toss, another rubbish ball down the leg side, and another half-tracker. He bowled more balls down the leg side following this, had he been bowling to a right-hander, he would have been bowling well. In all his first few overs include five half-trackers, four down leg and four full tosses, but Australia hasn’t hit him out of the attack, and Crane settles.When he does, it becomes about what he is bowling. Is that a wrong’un? I mean Warner adjusted his hands weird; it didn’t spin, much, maybe it went straight on. Is his grip okay? That run-up is a bit long. Every detail is occasionally expertly, and often amateurishly, overanalysed.As the day goes on, Crane starts to move his field around, often not even consulting Joe Root. He lands the ball more and more in the right area. He’s not an accurate bowler, he might never be, his grouping is scattered more like a fast bowler than a spinner. But Australia don’t go after him; they also don’t milk him that much.There aren’t many chances, or even half-chances. Some balls hit the pads, and Crane optimistically enquires on his own, there’s an inside-edge that pops close enough to short leg, another edge short of slip, and then a big edge from Usman Khajawa that bissects Bairstow and Root perfectly. On the first day, this is as close as Crane gets to a wicket.***Mason Crane celebrates his maiden Test wicket•AFPIn the last over before lunch, the ball looped up off the pad, maybe the bat, or the glove, depending on who you spoke to.During the last T20 season in England, Crane spent a bit of time bowling with no midwicket, and so every time the ball was hit out there he would have to sprint to try to save the second run. Crane moves pretty well.This time he’s not trying to save a T20 run, he’s trying to take a catch, and he’s flinging himself at the ball desperately, hoping. He was never that close, it was always out of reach. And it’s possible Khawaja didn’t hit it.Two balls later, Khawaja leaves the ball; Crane puts in a full-blooded appeal, it goes on far longer than it needs to, as he gets desperate. But it’s not out. England review, and instantly his front foot looks so close to a no-ball. If you willed yourself to see something behind the line, you might be able to do so, but it would be hard for an umpire to agree with you. It’s given as a no-ball, Crane remonstrates with Kumar Dharmensena, he and Broad point to the crease, but there’s nothing that can be done.Crane is finishing his over when the ball-tracking comes up on screen. It’s pretty clear that Khawaja left the ball, so even though it hits him outside off stump, it can still be out as long as it’s going on to hit the stumps. And, it was. Crane, like Tom Curran at Melbourne, has lost his first Test wicket because his foot couldn’t stay behind the line.The last ball before lunch Crane drags another ball short, it’s a poor ball in what is probably his best over, and Khawaja smashes it into Mark Stoneman at short leg.***Steve Smith’s foot doesn’t go towards the ball; it opens up a little, his back foot actually backs away. It allows Smith to punch a straight full delivery through the covers. Earlier there had been a deep cover, but Smith was picking up singles so nonchalantly they tried to block the gap, but Smith just changes how he stands and finds the gap with ease.In his first 30.4 overs, Crane bowled to mostly left-handers, are who typically better at playing legspin, and one right-hander. That was Steve Smith.When Mitch Marsh came out to face him, he missed three of the first four balls Crane bowled.If you’re young, have a poor first-class record, are making your debut in an Ashes Test, and bowling to left-handers and the world’s best batsman for most of that time, those are terrible circumstances in which to start your career.

Every detail of Crane’s technique is occasionally expertly, and often amateurishly, overanalysed

Crane was not terrible, and nor was he amazing. Considering he’s not a very accurate bowler, he actually bowled reasonably tightly. If anything, he seemed to lack the killer balls that tormented grade cricketers in Sydney, or the ones that have made him a real handful in the fourth innings for Hampshire. His best balls were often polite regulated legspin, the vicious turn he hinted at in his warm-ups never materialised. His wrong’un was mostly picked and always handled. It was a debut that didn’t match the hype (which is hardly his fault) but was probably better than you’d expect from a 20-year-old. He went for less than four runs an over and stayed in the attack for some long spells.He was adequate, not rubbish, Which might not sound inspiring, or exciting, but that’s a hell of an achievement in itself.***There’s a heated exchange, maybe animated is the best word for it. Joe Root and Mason Crane disagree on something. It seems like the field; Root clearly has one idea, Crane another. They gesture widely at each other. Despite only being young and new, and talking to one of the best batsmen in the world, Crane doesn’t back down, and seems to get his way.Two balls later, Khawaja runs down the wicket; it seems as though Crane sees him coming. While his pitch map from CricViz is a bit all over the place, this delivery does seem to be near perfectly short and wide to ensure the charging batsman misses it. Khawaja is stretched out across the pitch, his back foot well outside leg, his bat almost off the pitch on the offside. It spins too, enough to beat the inside edge, and with Khawaja’s bat drawn a long way from his body, Bairstow gets a nice early look at the ball, and he takes the bails off.Crane is screaming “come on, come on”, and he looks nervous, taking deep breaths like he’s not sure how he should react to his 184th ball in Tests taking him a wicket. Had he taken this yesterday, or with the game still in England’s favour, you could see how he might explode, but the score is 375 for 4. There’s also a quick look-up at the big screen, not to enjoy the highlight, but to hope there isn’t going to be another surprise no-ball. Crane wipes sweat off his face as his foot is shown to be legal.Despite bowling some good deliveries, growing in confidence, showing he might have what it takes to belong, and being the centre of attention for most of the day, this will be the only wicket Crane takes.***At the end of day one Crane was walking across the outfield until he got to where BT Sport were filming to make one of his media appearances. The producer took him aside and showed him where he had to go. The desk was already full; Mike Hussey was on the end, Graeme Swann next to him, then Geoffrey Boycott and the host Matt Smith. It was next to Smith that Crane was supposed to stand. When he stood there, Boycott put his arm around him.Mason Crane had bowled 17 overs for 58 runs; there was no reason for him to be on BT, there was no crowning achievement or moment of glory. But Crane isn’t a cricketer; he’s a legspinner. Cricket’s fetish item.While official stats on this are hard to come by, his approximately 16 aborted deliveries are thought to be a record in the first innings at the SCG. The crowd jeered him every time he didn’t deliver. He was the most exciting guy on the ground even when he didn’t bowl. That’s legspin. It’s incredible, captivating, even when it doesn’t deliver.

Mushtaq Ahmed was the previous legpsinner to get on the Lord’s honours board so it was fitting he could watch Yasir Shah join him

Andrew Miller at Lord's15-Jul-2016In the past 20 years, only two legspinners have worked their way onto the famous honours boards at Lord’s, and both of them have been on duty for Pakistan in this Test match. While Yasir Shah’s exemplary blend of threat and control proved too much for England’s middle order on a gripping second day of the first Test, there’s no doubting the influence that his forebear had on the strategies that have, so far, proved so fruitful.Mushtaq Ahmed, after all, was sitting on the other side of the pavilion not so long ago, passing on his wisdom to the likes of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar during his stint as England’s spin-bowling coach. But, with Adil Rashid still a work in progress back then, and Scott Borthwick making a quiz-question of a debut in the last match of that association (at Sydney in January 2014), Mushy had all too few of his true ilk to get his teeth into during his six years with the ECB.Yasir, on the other hand, is a chip off a familiar block. Not so much in terms of technique, maybe – his action has always had more shades of Shane Warne, while his execution today brought to mind Anil Kumble’s command of length and bounce. But in terms of the strategies and the wiles that Yasir brought to his day’s work, you could hear Mushy’s cogs whirring on the balcony on his behalf as, for the second day running, a first-time visitor to Lord’s produced a pitch-perfect performance to etch his name into the ground’s history.”We were focusing on what the fast bowlers would do,” said Yasir at the close. “But luckily, I got the five wickets – and I’m glad for the team.”My role, from the coaches, was very clear – to give support to the fast bowlers. I was concentrating on repeating my action again and again – and my natural variation helped me get the five wickets.”That is, after all, the benefit of the preparations that Pakistan have been able and willing to put into this Test match. Yasir’s grasp of English is no match for his grasp of the conditions, and so it was left to his coach to provide a running translation of his thoughts. However, thanks to that training camp in Lahore and that extra week of acclimatization down in Hampshire, nothing was lost in translation from the hot, arid conditions of the UAE in November, where Yasir picked up 15 wickets at 21.53 in the home campaign against England.”He was very excited when we arrived here in the UK,” said Mushtaq. “There was lots of talk about how successful he had been in the UAE, but he was very focused. The camp we had for 10-15 days before the tour started really helped because the Dukes ball is not easy to hold, we really worked hard on gripping the ball and he was just concentrating on his line and length.”It was a simple message, exemplarily delivered. For Mushtaq’s experience of Lord’s isn’t simply limited to his role in two famous Pakistan wins, in 1992 and 1996. With his illustrious career with Sussex adding to his knowledge, he hoovered up the grand total of 42 wickets at 19.88 from nearly 2000 deliveries at the ground, and so was perfectly placed to impart the subtleties that might have otherwise have eluded Yasir.”We’ve been talking about the ends, and the angles,” Mushtaq said. “How, in the first innings, you want to bowl from the Pavilion End because you get lots of drift [down the slope], so you can get lots of lbws and bowleds. But sometimes you’ve got to give credit to the bowler, because he’s bowled that spell brilliantly. “‘I was concentrating on repeating my action again and again – and my natural variation helped me get the five wickets,’ said Yasir•AFPOf that there is no doubt. The tone of England’s innings certainly had a traditional feel where contests against Pakistan are concerned. First came a solid second-wicket stand of 110 between Alastair Cook and Joe Root that established visions of healthy leads and second-innings pressure; then came an injudicious stroke as Root sized up his fifty with a mow over the leg side, top-edged to midwicket and triggered a tumble of 6 for 114.Yasir’s contribution to that calamity was the small matter 5 for 51 in his first 20.2 overs in a Test outside of Asia. “I am giving all the credit to Yasir Shah,” said Mushtaq. “Joe Root is one of the best players, and plays spin very well, Cookie has one of the best records in Asia so he plays spin really well. Yasir got the wickets because he created better pressure than other people.””All credit to him, but I think we’ll be a little bit disappointed with a couple of the dismissals,” admitted Chris Woakes, whose own maiden entry on the honours boards had been somewhat overshadowed by the close. “Cooky and Rooty played very well to get us into a good position but unfortunately Rooty wouldn’t have been too happy with the manner of his dismissal. We probably gave him one or two [wickets], but all in all, he bowled pretty well too.”There was, however, a large dollop of naivety in England’s approach that doesn’t augur well for their prospects as the contest progresses. Root can be pardoned for his aggression because England have been given licence to back their abilities – “If he had hit that for six or a one-bounce four to the midwicket boundary we’d have all been clapping on the balcony,” said Woakes – but, as Wahab Riaz intimated in the build-up to the series, the frailties of the middle order didn’t look like resolving themselves in a desperate hurry.James Vince had arguably betrayed his anxieties with his body language in the slip cordon on the first day as he once again departed without convincing, and if Moeen Ali could count himself as the victim of a “bold” piece of umpiring, the ease with which Yasir slid a quicker ball through a flaccid cut from Jonny Bairstow, England’s form player of the Test summer to date, was mildly troubling. After all, it was two decades ago that Alec Stewart famously encountered Warne’s flipper at the WACA. You’d have thought forewarned would be forearmed by now.”He’s got a couple to turn and a couple to slide, which is the tricky one, do you play for the turn or the one that goes straight on?” said Woakes. “We’ll have to go back to the drawing board. We are a very honest group, we’ll sit down and talk about how to go forward, and obviously how to play him not only tomorrow but also the rest of the Test series too.””It was very simple,” added Yasir. “If you can look after your basics right, and put lots of revs on the ball, sometimes those give you the variation. If one ball hits the seam, like with Gary Ballance, it will spin, so that gave me the confidence to do it again and again. I knew that lots of good overs would give me a wicket.””In UAE you have to bowl quicker because off the pitch batsmen can read you and they can play a good ball on the back foot. Here in England, because the pitches have some pace, obviously I am going to vary my pace. I was just concentrating on line. And I was trying to spin the ball as much as I can.”Talking of Warne – who, of course, never quite managed a five-for at Lord’s despite several near-misses in his four visits – there was an amusing diversion from the onfield action shortly after Yasir had claimed his place in the annals. Bashing his keys on Twitter, in a slightly cack-handed attempts to praise a fellow craftsman, Warne attempted on two occasions to claim that a mystery conversation had been the key to Yasir’s success, but deleted both drafts before settling for a more prosaic: “Congrats Yasir Shah on your 5 wicket haul, it’s great to see you bowl so well & deliver your skills!”And that begged the question, if it takes even Warne three attempts to find the correct response to a successful spell of legspin, what hope do England have when it comes to the fourth innings?Woakes, however, has shown – in his top-and-tailing of the day, first with the ball and then with a doughty and vital 31 not out in partnership with Stuart Broad – that resistance is far from futile.”We are still in a decent position in the Test match, we are by no means out of it,” he said. “Me and Broady have an important job in the morning, to get close to Pakistan and maybe past them. If we do get a lead, the pressure’s right back on them, and then it’s up to us to bowl well and try to skittle them out.”

Three heavy defeats, a non-threatening bowling attack, the retirement of two legends, and an early exit spelled a vastly disappointing campaign from Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Mar-2015How their tournament panned outSri Lanka’s campaign spluttered at its beginning, with a warm-up loss to Zimbabwe and a walloping by New Zealand in the tournament opener. It appeared to find a middling gear through the group stage, as four consecutive scores over 300 were amassed. Then, just as they promised they would be speeding up, they drove off a cliff.Hopes for World Cup victory had been substantially tempered at home, when the team lost 0-5 to India, then 2-4 to New Zealand. Still, few had expected the batting to be so limp against South Africa. Here was a team that had built up a fearsome knockouts reputation in the past eight years over two versions of the game. Yet, against perennial underachievers, they were falling to pieces. The result was traumatic for the fans at the ground. Fans at home have mourned on social media since, though many have also moved on.It was a strange run from Sri Lanka, because although their XI from most games read like a quality outfit, the attack’s form, through injury or loss of rhythm, had declined alarmingly. Lasith Malinga had his yorkers humming by the end of the tournament, but where in the past he would have been taking wickets, he was merely economical against the top teams. Nuwan Kulasekara didn’t achieve the inswing nor the accuracy that makes him dangerous. Sachithra Senanayake and Seekkuge Prasanna were poor replacements for Rangana Herath, whose control had held the bowling together before he was injured.Without Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, a difficult rebuilding phase now awaits Sri Lanka. They will at least be pleased that Lahiru Thirimanne continues to make runs atop the order, and that Dinesh Chandimal appears to finally have shed the mental baggage that has weighed down his talent. Quick Dushmantha Chameera is an exciting prospect too, though he has not yet learned how to convert pace into wickets.High pointA chase of 310 against England was made to seem a cinch by the Sri Lanka top three, who took the team hurtling to the finish in 47.2 overs. That innings was particularly poignant for Thirimanne, who overcame a weakness against James Anderson during his innings of 139 not out. He also became Sri Lanka’s youngest World Cup centurion in the process.And the lowWhat else but the quarter final? Fans were left with so many questions. Why was Kusal Perera suddenly promoted to open when the Thirimanne-Tillakaratne Dilshan combination had been the most fruitful opening pairing for Sri Lanka in recent years? Why didn’t Sangakkara and Jayawardene reverse pressure as they have done so many times before? How could they lose seven wickets to South Africa’s spin?Top of the classOne of the hundreds may have been against an Associate side, but Sangakkara’s four-in-a-row had never been done before, and at the end of the quarter-final stage, he remains the tournament’s top scorer, with 541 runs at an average of 108.20. Sangakkara was always bent on retiring while he was near his best, and he will take satisfaction in leaving the cricket world pining for him.What we learned about Sri LankaWith Malinga, Herath and Dilshan unlikely to play another World Cup, in addition to Jayawardene and Sangakkara’s retirements, Angelo Mathews has a tough road to 2019. Dilshan and Herath will remain with the side for some time, while new players are weaned around them, but because Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket is in such bad shape, even talented players often take years to find their feet at the top level. Mathews has the beginnings of a top order and an attack to build a side around, but with administrative chaos also afoot, he will know that he has one of the most daunting jobs in cricket.What they learned from this World CupODI cricket is in a new age. Two new balls and four men out of the circle has not made the format more appealing, but it has made it formulaic in a novel way. In this tournament, Sri Lanka’s approach to its attack, in particular, appeared outdated. Four frontline bowlers are a must now, and perhaps so are seven reliable batsmen. Stacking sides with allrounders who can’t be relied on to deliver 10 overs, and are only occasionally effective with the bat, may not yield dividends outside home conditions.

Mohammad Irfan’s temporary exit from the field illuminated the issue of not having a third seaming option, with captain Misbah-ul-Haq having Saeed Ajmal operate at one end in order to rotate his depleted attack

Firdose Moonda in Abu Dhabi14-Oct-2013When Mohammad Irfan left the field two balls into his fourth spell, Pakistan were already playing with limited bowling options. With only a pair of specialist seamers and spinners each, without him, Pakistan were down to three bowlers, and when he walked off, it seemed that could cause some problems.Hashim Amla and JP Duminy were playing fluently, and with barely any turn on a deck that was flattening out, Pakistan seemed to be in for the long haul. They had already shown their reluctance to use Younis Khan’s medium-pace when Zulfiqur Babar was brought on as first-change in the 10th over. The left-arm spinner’s first spell was placid, as he tossed it up generously and offered some relief from one end.Despite that, they managed to put the world’s top-ranked team in a precarious position using only four bowlers, thanks largely to the efforts of Junaid Khan upfront, and the spinners later on. Junaid opened with a four-over spell and obtained significant movement to make Graeme Smith’s stay at the crease uncomfortable. After a four-over break, he returned for another, beating Hashim Amla’s bat on occasion, and getting the crucial wicket of Jacques Kallis with what was probably his delivery of the day – one which bent back in and took the inside edge.But with the older ball, the South Africans found him easier to play, and that may have been where Pakistan missed a third seam-bowling option. Their lack of a pace-bowling all-rounder seems to offset the balance of their team and they will have to rely heavily on the spinners to make up for that.The early signs suggest they can. Saeed Ajmal’s stamina meant he could easily operate from one end all day once he was brought on, and it seemed that would be the case when he came on before lunch. He bowled non-stop from the 22nd over till tea, making it 17 overs on the trot.Although he was fairly unthreatening in that time, the South Africans treated him with the respect his reputation has earned, and having him as a constant allowed Misbah-ul-Haq to rotate the rest of the bowlers from the other end. That may be the way Ajmal is used in the early exchanges between these two sides, as a slow poison of sorts to create frustration and allow things to happen at the other end before striking himself.An example of that came when the man stationed in an unconventional position behind square leg for JP Duminy’s sweep shot gave Babar his first Test wicket. And then things started to turn for the spinners, with Babar and Ajmal taking advantage. With South Africa at 222 for 8, they could have finished them off for under 250, but it was perhaps the lack of an additional bowler which made it difficult for them to achieve that.Misbah will probably have to call on Younis at some stage, but will be relieved that Irfan was able to get back on to take the second new ball. The tall man later confirmed it was nothing more than a case of cramp, exacerbated by slight dehydration, and that he felt better after increasing his water intake. He confirmed he would be able to play a part in the rest of the match but predicted he may not be the danger man.”At the end of the day, the spinners dominated,” Irfan said. “Although it is not turning that much, our spinners are still getting something out of it, and will hopefully have more in the second innings.”Pakistan would have thought they were in a similar position of advantage after they bowled South Africa out for 253 in their first innings at the Wanderers in February. That was the first, and only time, in the home summer that South Africa were challenged, and that too in conditions tailor-made for their pace attack. All Pakistan could muster in response was 49 all out, thanks to a Dale Steyn special of 6 for 8 in 8.1 overs.Nothing as emphatic should be expected tomorrow, given the conditions, but Duminy hinted the seamers are already smarting on behalf of their batsmen and will want to make up for a day which they “definitely” felt they ended “behind” on. “Having the bowling line-up that we do, you’ve got to back us to do a great job,” Duminy said.

Equally significant for Bangladesh as Elias Sunny’s debut showing, was another landmark: Mushfiqur Rahim’s declarations in consecutive innings

Mohammad Isam25-Oct-2011The headlines from Chittagong are likely to be dominated by the performance of the debutant Elias Sunny, whose seven wickets, including a five-for, added drama to a match doomed by rain. Equally significant, though, was another landmark: Mushfiqur Rahim’s declarations in consecutive innings, on the fourth and fifth days, the second of which threw the match tantalisingly open.Fact is, declaring isn’t something that comes naturally to Bangladesh captains – they are a breed more used to looking towards the opposition dressing-room for the signal, which perhaps can excuse the timing of both declarations in the match. What made Mushfiqur’s decisions all the more notable was that this was his first Test as captain – and he became only the fourth captain to declare twice on debut, after Waqar Younis, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook..Declarations against Bangladesh have occurred a staggering 38 times in the 70 Test matches they have played so far. On only two of those 38 occasions have Bangladesh found a favourable result, a draw, but even those were due to inclement weather. Mushfiqur has been out in the field on 12 such instances, first as a 16-year-old at Lord’s and on the last occasion in Harare, where Brendan Taylor’s century forced Bangladesh out of the one-off Test match in August. Only two previous Bangladesh captains, Habibul Bashar (2004 and 2005) and Mohammad Ashraful (2008), have had the luxury of declaring an innings, though in the latter’s case it was due to the game being affected by rain rather than any solidity from the team.Bangladesh’s 350-9 in the first innings of the Chittagong Test was deemed enough for a bowling attack that included two debutants and a man who was returning to international cricket after more than a year. Sunny was well supported by Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur’s trump card, while Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain provided a degree of discipline from the other end. West Indies went on to improve their overnight score (144-5) by a hundred runs, before Shakib wrapped up the tail with three wickets in the span of 14 balls. Bangladesh’s opening pair, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, though, struggled on the sluggish pitch, which lost the crust of its topsoil after just three days of use. With the track being difficult, only Shahriar Nafees managed a half-century. With two and a half hours left to play, and Bangladesh ahead by 225, Mushfiqur declared a second time.The lack of experience in such circumstances aside, Mushfiqur had to weigh his bowling options before being bold. On Monday, the last 45 minutes of the Bangladesh innings seemed needless, as Naeem Islam and Shahadat Hossain meandered along quietly after Nasir Hossain was dismissed. The second innings too was, at 42 overs, a bit too lengthy as none of the batsmen hit their stride on a track that had begun to turn more with every delivery. It prompted talk of negativity, but the lead was only 225 runs and it isn’t every day that they get to set up a fourth innings chase.Only a Bangladesh captain – Khaled Mashud and Khaled Mahmud spring to mind – can understand how elusive a declaration could be. Mashud and Mahmud led before Bashar and their stints were regarded as the dark days of Bangladesh cricket, inundated with huge innings defeats, three-day losses and an overdependence on Mohammad Rafique.Mushfiqur was right in pointing out that West Indies will be under more pressure in Dhaka to win the series than his team. Now, without dwelling too much on the achievements from the rain-curtailed Chittagong Test, Mushfiqur must plan for the next Test and five more days of consistency from his bowlers and batsmen.

India’s one-day and Twenty20 captain looks back at six momentuous months in charge

Interview by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and Nagraj Gollapudi24-Mar-2008″If your dressing-room atmosphere is great then most of the time you’ll get a favourable result”•AFPWhen you were appointed Twenty20 captain last year, you had said, “It’s not about captaining but playing.” Do you still believe that?

I still believe in that. One of my theories is to be captain on the field and off the field you need to totally enjoy each other’s company. I don’t like discussing cricket off the field.As captain you’ll take vital decisions and your thinking or decisions can have a big impact on the game, but a lot depends on the individuals you give jobs to. That’s why I’ve always said the captain is the guy who accumulates all the pressure and then channels it to different individuals – bowlers or allrounders or batsmen. Basically he’s a selfish guy who picks guys to do the job for him. It’s very important for him to motivate others who’ll do loads of jobs for him.For me, fielding and running between the wickets are two things that are very important. For that you need to motivate the guys about how much of an effect it will have on the game. I was very glad to see the team field and run the way they did throughout the CB Series. Even when they got out for a low score, the fielding and running was great. The emphasis was there. They reacted in a great way – that’s what I wanted: it was not about winning all the games. It was not like if you lose you get demoralised.One of the best achievements from the victory was the dressing-room atmosphere. It was very calm and cool throughout – even when we lost the Twenty20 game … right till the last game. It’s very important to get that balance because you are playing a game in which you can’t control everything. If your dressing-room atmosphere is great then most of the time you’ll get a favourable result. That was very important and I was actually marking it. Of course, a bit of disappointment will be there [when you lose], a bit of excitement will be there when you win. But if it’s calm and cool it’s great, and there are more chances of being successful. Especially guys who’ve not played at the international level – when they see a relaxed dressing room that’s what stays in their mind.You speak like an experienced campaigner in terms of captaincy. You seem to have a real pulse of what’s going on. Have you captained at any level before?
At a bigger level, I don’t think I’ve captained anywhere.At school I used to score regularly but I think they were quite afraid of my temperament. I was very aggressive with the guys who were not really 100% on the field. Once, in a senior district tournament game, we were playing a comparatively weak side on a matting wicket. There were some guys who dropped catches and were laughing around and all that stuff. I said, “Okay, I’m bowling.” I told those three or four guys: “You stand at midwicket and do all the talking. I’ll manage with the six others.”I believe in giving more than 100% on the field and I don’t really worry about the result if there’s great commitment on the field. That’s victory for me.After that I don’t think I captained much … got selected for the first-class team and started playing for the Ranji, Duleep and Deodhar Trophy teams for my state. Twenty20 was my first opportunity.Instinctively, have you thought like a captain even before you became one?
Not really. It came to me quite late. Till class 10 or 11 I wouldn’t really go up front and say things. I would wait and watch. As the wicketkeeper, you always are in a position where the captain comes up to you and asks different things. In a way it goes on in the subconscious. Being a wicketkeeper really helped me more than anything. Whatever was in my mind I used to speak. I never used to just go through the motions and follow whatever the skipper said. Whatever I felt, I used to say, but if I was not sure I wouldn’t really answer. I didn’t believe in confusing the captain more. I was pretty clear in my thoughts and it came to me gradually, watching the game from behind the stumps – how it progresses, how it is played in different parts of the world.

In India you have to make quite a few bowling changes, because at times when a partnership is going and the wicket is flat and you are playing with four bowlers, it gets tough for the skipper. That’s the time you step in – being the keeper you read the wicket well. That really helped me more than anything else.Strange you say that, because in the history of cricket there haven’t been that many successful wicketkeeper-captains. I can think of only Alec Stewart recently, who did the job for a while. Mark Taylor said it is tough for a wicketkeeper to captain because keeping is a laborious process where one needs to focus constantly. But you seem to have turned it to your advantage.
More than being a successful captain I’ve got a successful team who want go out there, who want to enjoy cricket, who want to give more than 100%. They take everything as a challenge, whether it’s fielding, bowling, batting, off-the-field activities or anything. It’s not about the captain, because once in a while you take a big decision that has a big impact. It’s more about the individual – how they respond to you and what kind of relationship you have with your team.Whatever responsibility I’ve given to any individual, they have responded in a great way. That’s what helped me. Whether it was Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, PK [Praveen Kumar] or any of the other guys, each one performed. That’s what you want: you know if you give responsibility to any of the guys they’ll come up and they’ll perform.Then there were individuals in the side who never got a chance – in ten matches there was hardly any rotation of the batsmen. It is very important that the guys who are not playing take it in a good way and don’t start thinking negative things, because ultimately they’ll get a chance to play. I believe in giving a guy a consistent period to perform, not make him think, “If I’m not performing in this game or a few games, I won’t be part of the team”. I like taking all the guys into a comfort zone and creating the best atmosphere where they can perform. Till now I’ve been successful.Was that one of the first priorities when you became captain – the loyalty aspect? One of early statements you made was: “I want a team that can stand before a truck.” That really brought out the fact that you wanted people to be able to give anything to you. You thrust responsibility onto people at big moments – Yusuf Pathan [opening the batting in the World Twenty20 final], Joginder Sharma [bowling the last over in the same game], and Praveen Kumar [opening the bowling in the CB Series finals]?
That’s one of my priorities, of course. The Twenty20 was a big stage and the best part was, nobody expected us to win as we had just played one game before that, so nobody was really counting on us. There were guys who wanted to perform, who wanted to get into the side, wanted their team to win. That’s what happened – there was some guy or the other who stood up to the task with the ball or with the bat or on the field.After that we started enjoying each other’s success. If I score a hundred, of course I will enjoy it. But if your team-mates start enjoying your hundred that’s when you know you are moving in the right direction.In the Twenty20 World Cup we were thirsty. We tasted victory and we knew how it feels to be victorious. That really worked for us. After that, though we lost against Australia at home, we still set standards. The aggression was there and everything went off well and if we’d batted better in Nagpur then things would have looked different. The World Twenty20 win was the starting point – not from the victory point of view but the way we performed, the way we enjoyed each other’s success. Even some of the senior guys who’d missed out, their involvement was great. Everybody was coming up with ideas, everybody wanted to win each and every game. That was the turning point. That’s what is needed.

In the South Africa game in the World Twenty20, you sent Rohit Sharma up the order when he thought you were going in to bat instead. Where do you get the confidence to take such a decision?
I always had faith in Rohit … and it’s not like I don’t have faith in anybody else. In the one-dayers I follow overs, in the sense that I want to bat after the 20th over. In the same way in Twenty20 one of the theories for me is to bat after the eighth over so I can play a few overs and stay till the end when the bowler is under same kind of pressure. And when you have a batsman who is a strokeplayer, who without taking too many risks can easily score more than a run a ball in that format of the game, then you’ll always push him up. It worked for me and Rohit also gained very valuable experience out of that.That’s the way it’s going to happen, whether in India or abroad. At times you’ll see me or Yuvraj [Singh] going up the order if there’s a nice performance or if there’s a nice partnership of 20-25 overs. If you have guys who can really bat at any number, it’s great. That’s what happened with us when we did those 17 consecutive run-chases where we had Yuvraj, me and various other batsmen who were willing to bat, and performed, at different positions. So rather than having a fixed batting order, we had guys who could bat anywhere. At times you want to keep a left-right combination on the field, which means that Yuvraj might have to bat at five instead of four. All these things make an impact on the game. But one of the main things is how the guy who has been demoted takes it. If he takes it in a positive way, he can only get better.So how do you explain it to him?
I keep it very simple: “This is the thing I want and that’s the way it’ll go.” So instead of going there and explaining too many things and confusing yourself and confusing him, it’s important to make it very simple. At the international level you have guys who’ve played a lot – either at the domestic or at the international level – so I don’t really believe in telling them too many things or making everything clear – they are clever enough to know what is happening and what are the demands of the game. That’s one of my theories. I think it’s working.People talk about leading by example. You have increasingly been tempering your batting. Have you felt the need to change your game as a captain?
If you see, I’ve always done that. I made 183 against Sri Lanka and immediately after, in the next game, in Pune, I completely changed my game.If we are close to 10 or 12 runs needed per over – that is the time I go after the bowler. One of my beliefs is to play according to the situation and what the situation demands. If you need 30-odd runs to win and if you have 45 or 70 balls, you don’t really have to play big shots – especially when you are playing at 5, 6 or 7, when you know how much batting is behind you and that if you play a rash shot the guy who comes in is under pressure. I realised that when we were playing in the 2006 Champions Trophy against England in Jaipur, where I went for a big shot, got out and immediately, after one ball, Suresh Raina played one onto the stumps. Then Bhajji [Harbhajan] and Yuvraj were batting. That’s when I realised how tough it can get. That’s when I said that unless it gets real close I’m not going for my shots. If you are open-minded and if you are learning from each and every game, that really helps you.A famous Australian selector said that country cricketers, people who come from smaller places, have always been fine captains. Do you also think they come with extra hunger, extra smartness? In a way, you are India’s first small-town captain. Has that worked to your advantage?
In a way, I believe in that, because if you are from a smaller place where the cricket infrastructure is not good, you have to struggle a lot. You don’t get good practice facilities, you don’t play too many games on turf wickets, and even to get into your home side you have to struggle a lot. All of these things do have an impact on the guy’s playing style or the way he thinks of cricket. He is very clear about one thing: if he performs, only then is he going to stay there. It’s not like the guys from the metros or big cities are not good enough or mentally tough: the guys from smaller states or smaller cities, they struggle a bit more.You’ve broken the theory that cricketers only come from the bigger cities. Was it a challenge to come through to the first-class level to the level you’ve risen to now?
To me, even to get into my Ranji Trophy side was a big thing. Fortunately we had a selector who believed in youngsters. We qualified for the Under-19 that year and made it to the finals, so there was a big change and all of a sudden we saw five youngsters getting into the Bihar Ranji squad. That was a start. Bihar was considered a small state and for you to be a part of the zonal team, specially to be in the XI, it is tough. You have to perform consistently for that. So every stage, wherever you are playing, it gets a bit tough. You have to be very consistent.

For me, being a wicketkeeper really helped. The only guys you compete with are other wicketkeepers. So in your zone you actually compete with four other guys.I believed in perfomance. I never picked up the newspapers to see if I was picked for the Duleep Trophy or Deodhar Trophy matches for East Zone. For me, it was more about playing cricket, enjoying cricket. I knew if I’m good enough I’ll get a chance, and for that I have to be consistent. In my mind I was very clear that if they don’t give me a chance for Duleep or Deodhar Trophy, it doesn’t really matter – I’m happy playing for my state. If I can play consistently well for my state that’s good enough for me because I love playing cricket more than anything else. We heard a story of you turning out for Railways and keeping for three balls and being rejected.
I don’t really know the exact year when the trials were held at the Karnail Singh Stadium [Railways’ home ground, in Delhi]. Before that, I think, Railways had done really well. I was part of the trials, I played a few balls, I kept wicket, and I was turned down. It never really bothered me. Later, when I got selected for the Duleep Trophy, I got a call from Railways asking me to play for them. I said, “No, no, I’m not coming.” That’s what happened. Perhaps I was rude or whatever, but it had a big impact on me as well.That incident really pushed me to do better. I was neglected in a big way at that trial. I got more determined to be at a level where you are performing consistently and you are recognised by everyone.All your experiences – did they bring home to you the fact that players have to be given a extended chance? That you can’t keep chopping and changing, you need a settled side? In the CB Series you said that irrespective of what happened, Yuvraj would play every game. Is that partly because of your experiences?
In one game you really can’t decide whether a guy is good or bad. If he scores well, you cannot say he is excellent or he is not really good. Most of the guys in the past have proved that wrong – in the sense that they have come back. They struggled but came back and performed. So you cannot judge from one game or one series whether he is good or bad.This [giving players an extended run] is one thing that will go on. It gets really tough because of the amount of cricket we play and the amount of competition that is around, but I think at the same time a fair chance must be given to the individual.

How intense a student of the game are you?
I’m not really a keen watcher of cricket. Even in the last World Cup, in South Africa, I just watched Sachin [Tendulkar] bat. The last game we played, we lost to Australia, and I only watched Sachin bat. I cannot sit in a chair and watch. I don’t study cricket too much. Whatever I have learned or experienced is through cricket I’ve played on the field, and whatever little I have watched. And statistics, I know nothing. If you ask me “Who is the first player to do this or that?” you won’t get anywhere close to a correct answer from me.Do you look at matches played at venues previously?
Of course. My video analyst supplies all the facts to me … but everything changes, you know. In Australia the wickets were very different. To start with, I had great difficulty reading the wickets but by the end I was quite good. You keep in mind what happened in those conditions before, but normally you look at the wicket and decide what will happen or what may happen. We played with a couple of spinners on more than one occasion and some people thought that those were not wickets where spinners would get any sort of help, but they ended up helping them.So would you say it is through experience that you interpret the conditions and opposition?
I don’t really sit in front of a laptop and analyse everything. I attend the bowlers’ meetings and all and most things get into my head. I don’t have to push anything into my head. Reading and getting anything into the mind is tough for me. If I visualise something or if I see something, it gets more quickly into my head. Instead of wasting four hours reading something, I would rather see something in clips and get output out of it.Why do you think that is? Is it impatience or restlessness?

It doesn’t attract me. It’s not restlessness, because I get glued to video games for three or four hours.Cricket – I could never sit down for three and a half hours to watch a whole innings. When I started understanding cricket, back then it was mostly the first 15 overs, depending on start. If Sachin and Sourav are batting and they don’t get out for five overs then you know that till the 15th over the match will be interesting. If either of them carried on – they were aggressive and used to go after the bowlers – I used to watch till the game was interesting. After that I would wait for the 40th or 42nd over. I have never watched a game from the first over to the 50th over.But you keep wicket, where focus is so important.
Yes, but that involves me. Your interest is there, you know what you’re doing. Sitting and watching the game is not an attraction for me. When you’re behind the stumps in the game, you are involved. You want to give more than 100 per cent. If you have not scored, you have to help others with the gloves, in the fielding department, stopping runs.You don’t seem to communicate too much on the field but one of the bowlers said recently, “If the plans are fine he is okay, but if the plans change, he will immediately come up and talk.”
I give first preference to the bowler. I ask them for their fields and they say, “Okay, this is the field I want.” And if it’s a first-change bowler, for example, then I will tell him, “Look, this is what is happening.” Maybe Irfan or Praveen Kumar … I will tell Irfan, “Very little chances of you bringing the ball in, maybe the ball will slide away. So you can think of this field.” Whatever I can suggest. The initial balls he will bowl according to his field – according to what he thinks will happen. Then if he’s not successful with his field, that’s the time I step in and say, “Okay, this is it, now you have to bowl according to my field. Because your plan is not working. So this is the plan that’s been given to you and you should be bowling to it.” He may be happy about it or not.

At times even if the bowlers are going for runs, if the batsmen are clearing the in-field and there are no catching opportunities, I would rather have one slip and a floater instead of having a catcher at midwicket or a catching cover. Because ultimately the batsmen are trying to go over the top, hitting sixes and one-bounce fours. It’s a bit different, but that’s what I do. Some of the guys come up to me and say, “Remove the slip” but I say, “What’s the need? Even if I remove the slip, the batsmen are hitting sixes. You can have as many fielders but if they’re going for a six it will still be a six.”You seem to call a spade a spade. When you compared Sreesanth and Munaf Patel recently [Dhoni said that he gave Munaf a chance in one of the CB Series games because, unlike Sreesanth, he would bowl to his field] it wasn’t taken that seriously. But if the team was under pressure, would you consider doing that? It could be construed as too cocky.
If you see, in India things depend on the result. Most things are commented upon after you see the result. Most of my statements are based on what goes on in the field. So if you’re seeing the game, you know whatever I am saying is mostly what happens on the field. Not point camouflaging things or defending anyone because whatever is happening or has happened, everyone has seen it. Of course, you need to support your players. That I will always do, whatever happens.So you say those things with the confidence that the player you are talking about won’t mind.
Of course. That’s the kind of response you should get from your side. After all, he also knows that if I’m batting badly I know what’s happening. So he shouldn’t be really upset about it if anybody says anything about him. Of course, as I have said, I will defend my players till the end.You are seen as composed and calm. There are a few members of the side who some people say go over the top. Are you someone who believes in limits?
I just tell them, “Look, the ICC is there. They have guidelines. You are not dumb or stupid not to know the limitations. If you overstep that, everybody feels you have crossed the boundary.” And the guy who oversteps also knows that.I’m not the guy who will go up to the match referee and beg and say, “No, no, it’s his first time.” If you have done it knowing everything, then whatever punishment is there, you should get it. Everybody realises, everywhere in the world, that there are certain guidelines that need to be followed.And being a professional cricketer, playing at the highest level – you are earning most amount of money over here – you have to be at your best. People may provoke you to do something but if you do something, one thing is sure: if you cross the boundary you will get punished. Personally, I believe if you get punished a few times, you know what’s happening and what your boundaries are. There are times with young bloods, they don’t know much about it. You need to be careful and you have to say things to them. Most of the guys know. If you’ve played ten or 15 games you know each and every thing about international rules and regulations.Do the public, or some people who are criticising the players for going over the top, need to realise that this is the way it is – that there’s so much hard work, so much tension involved, that things tend to spill over some times?
We play according to the opposition as well. In the CB Series you hardly saw any conflict between the Indian side and the Sri Lanka side. It’s the way the game goes on. There will be a bit of a verbal fight even if it’s Sri Lanka or any other side. But you know …

Was it a premeditated strategy, to give back as good as you got?
We had set the standards back in India. Back in India when we played against Australia, we had set the standards of aggression – what we really wanted to do on the field. If we were not up to the mark in Australia, people would have said, “Fake aggression, just for when they were playing at home”. But we went with the same set of standards even when we played Australia in Australia. It was not fake aggression. That’s what the team can do and that’s how we should be playing our cricket.Enjoying the successes, celebrating the successes, is very important. If you get a wicket, you express yourself – of course, being within the boundaries is important again. But that’s the way you’ve got to enjoy cricket. And that was one of the points I made during the World Twenty20.You talked about playing according to the opposition. Do you think the Indians have learned from the Aussies and beaten them at their own game?
I’ve always felt that if you’re playing against an aggressive side you have to play an aggressive game. Especially against Australia. You can’t just look to play and win – it’s batting, bowling, fielding, aggression, everything. Fortunately, this side has got a few players who can speak and do well at the same time and won’t get disturbed by it. And there are others who don’t speak that much. You need to identify those who can be pepped up and do well while they’re speaking. In a way I’m fortunate to have those players in the side, rather than having to ask those who are not comfortable doing it to do so. If you have a guy who is able to do it and who should do it, I make it a point that he does it.You seemed very calm at the end of the CB Series. You seemed to go into a zone.
It was good to see the reaction of the other players. Of course, I could have reacted in the same way but seeing others gave me more pleasure. I had back pain as well – whenever I tried to do anything it was paining a bit.It was great to see each and every one enjoy the success, enjoy the victory. Not only the guys who were playing, even the outsiders, support staff, the 17-member squad.Your team seems to believe in expressing themselves and enjoying themselves. Has this been a conscious strategy?
Not really a conscious effort but it’s really about being yourself. This is the highest level and different people have different natures. They speak different languages but one thing is sure: everybody wants to have fun. That’s where you don’t want restrictions. On the field you have restrictions, but off the field it’s very important to enjoy. And after all, it’s a sport and this is the life you’ve got. If you’re not enjoying it, then when there are few a series where you’re playing under pressure, you won’t enjoy it at all. And that would be the point cricket will start getting into your head. So it’s very important to enjoy. To be yourself.There are a few jokers in the side – those who have a better sense of humour compared to the others. So they are the guys who make the dressing room great or the practice arena great. Got to enjoy whether you’re batting, bowling, fielding. You can keep the intensity level high with all the talk and fun that goes around.

You seem to be pretty keen on your players going to watch movies
Movies are a big part of our Indian culture. Everybody wants to go and watch a movie in a theatre – especially with the types of theatres we’ve got right now. You don’t want to watch it in on television, you want to go out there and enjoy. It can be a bit of a hassle. You can get mobbed. But we inform the mall owners or theatre owners that we are coming.Anil Kumble leads as much by example and presence. Has he been an influence on your captaincy?
He’s a great guy, leads from the front. He’s the sort of guy, if he’s on the field, he’s always there to win a game. Even if the opposition needs one run to win and they have 55 balls, if he’s bowling, he will look to get the batsman out. He’s like, “Till they win, I’m not losing.” His communication is a lot better than mine. It’s one of the things I’m learning and should learn. The rest I think we’re the same. I think communication-wise he’s a lot better than me.There’s talk that you are keen on players that you want. Was that one of the reasons why there was not enough of a fight when it came to retaining the senior players?
I was pretty clear about the players that I wanted in the side. That’s what I said to the selectors as well. You can see the kind of team that I got. I can’t really say much more than this but …Was there an extra effort when you reached the finals – an extra incentive to show that this team could do it?
The process was criticised, when the one-day team was selected, and the timing of the selection … At times it is important to send the message across. At times people neglect the answer. They had asked the question, but when they got the answer, they didn’t really put anything on the question they asked … In a way I made it clear: these were the questions that were asked and now that we have performed, why aren’t people asking those questions?If the result wasn’t in our favour, what would have happened then? Would people have really been behind this side? You questioned this side and now that this side has performed, you should back them; you should say good things about them as well. We all knew what would have happened if the side didn’t win in Australia. It would have been, “Oh, we all knew this side wouldn’t win”. But now that it has done well, why don’t you appreciate this side?Of course, we had one of the worst flops in the Twenty20, and one of the best wins in the one-day series – beating Australia. You can have a good day and you can beat them but beating them in two consecutive finals in three days, that’s a significant achievement. Of course, you can’t really live off that. You need to keep performing, raising your standards – you have to keep doing that.

Conway and Ravindra lifted New Zealand to an imposing 215, but the bowlers failed to defend in Wellington

Tristan Lavalette21-Feb-20241:34

Finch: Australia need to bed down their World Cup XI

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh produced a powerful all-round performance before Tim David batted superbly at the death to complete a last-ball win over New Zealand in a high-scoring series opener in Wellington.Chasing 216 after Devon Conway emerged from a form slump with a half-century, Australia appeared on the brink of defeat despite Marsh’s effort. But David took over with 31 off 10 balls punctuated by a boundary through the leg-side off Tim Southee to seal Australia’s remarkable heist.Australia drew first blood in the fight for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, which had previously only been awarded to the winner of bilateral ODI series between the teams. With the T20 World Cup just over three months away, the three-match series is vital preparation for both teams.Marsh, David star in huge chaseThere was no room for Steven Smith in Australia’s batting order, with Travis Head returning after missing the West Indies series. He opened alongside David Warner for the first time in T20Is. But neither could capitalise on starts. Warner was booed off the ground by the partisan crowd and responded by giving them a wave.Mitchell Marsh’s 44-ball unbeaten 72 held the Australia chase together•Getty Images

It was left to Marsh, who obliged with typically belligerent batting. Anything in his hitting zone was handled with disdain as he motored to his half-century off 29 balls. But Marsh lacked support as Australia fell away and needed a seemingly improbable 32 runs off nine balls to win. But David took over with a boundary off Adam Milne before launching consecutive sixes to reduce Australia’s target to 16 runs off the final over.Southee bowled well at the start of the final over by bowling a few yorkers, but David again showed his prowess at finishing with a six over the leg-side off the full-tossed fourth delivery of the 20th over. Two balls later, his swat through wide long on with two fielders converging went for four, and underlined a remarkable chase that showcased their firepower. It also illustrated that there may not be room for Smith at the T20 World Cup.Ferguson sizzles, sloppy fielding proves costlyMilne and Lockie Ferguson were only playing their 10th T20I together. They menaced with prodigious swing at rapid pace with Ferguson reaching speeds of 150 kmph.Milne claimed the much-needed first wicket after a flier from Head, while Ferguson chimed in by getting through Glenn Maxwell to halt Australia’s momentum.Ferguson was superb throughout and bowled accurate yorkers under pressure in a brilliant 18th over that appeared to put New Zealand in the box seat. But New Zealand ultimately rued sloppy fielding, most notably Glenn Phillips missing a chance on the boundary when Marsh was on 36.Mitchell Starc celebrates the wicket of Finn Allen•Getty Images

Australia’s frontline quicks return, Marsh impresses with ballMitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who had both rested for the past three weeks since the Test summer ended, played their first T20I since the 2022 T20 World Cup as Australia unveiled a full-strength attack.Starc was on the money immediately as he angled a delivery past Finn Allen on the first delivery of an excellent first over. He returned in the sixth over to pick up Allen having not let him have any width to hit.Starc was the pick of the bowlers until he was thrashed for 16 runs in the penultimate over of the innings. Cummins had also mostly defied the onslaught with his canny array of slower deliveries before being dispatched for 15 runs in the last over.After recording the worst-ever figures by an Australian bowler in T20Is in their last match against West Indies, legspinner Adam Zampa copped another flogging with 0 for 42 from three overs. Australia, who sloppily conceded 15 extras, became the first team ever to concede four straight 200-plus totals in T20I cricket.In better news for Australia, Marsh utilised slower deliveries effectively and claimed the wicket of Conway to finish with 1 for 21 off three. Marsh didn’t use himself against West Indies but stepped up here with Marcus Stoinis missing from the series.Conway returns to form, Ravindra impressesConway entered the series finding himself in his career’s first prolonged form slump. Conway got out of it by perhaps channelling the last time he batted against Australia in a T20 match when he made an unbeaten 92 to launch the 2022 T20 World Cup.It was deja vu with Conway and Allen again monstering a half-century inside four overs just like they did at the SCG. Conway relished a surface that was fast with a consistent bounce to notch his first international half-century since last year’s ODI World Cup. His knock was marked by superb back-foot play as he continually whacked shorter deliveries in a confidence-boosting innings.After Allen fell just before the end of the powerplay, Conway combined with Rachin Ravindra, who was sluggish early and was halted initially by Cummins’ nagging line and length. But Ravindra eventually found his groove and pummelled Zampa for a trio of sixes in the 15th over.Ravindra raced to his second T20I half-century off just 29 balls to make the most of his opportunity with skipper Kane Williamson not playing due to the birth of his third child. The top-order batting, plus the finishing touches by Phillips and Mark Chapman, meant big-hitting debutant Josh Clarkson was not required.

MLS academies face a constant battle between winning and ensuring that their players develop in the right way

For the Philadelphia Union, it’s an exact science, at this point. 

Every Wednesday, a vital quartet have the same meeting. Head coach Bradley Carnell is there. So, too is Sporting Director Ernst Tanner. Union 2 manager Ryan Richter has a seat at the table. Academy Director Jon Scheer rounds it off. They pour over their rosters at every age group, and make decisions as to exactly how many minutes each player in each side should get. 

Carnell leads the way, outlining his first team plans, pointing out which MLS Next Pro kids he values, or which academy products might get a look. They go top down, team by team. 

The day after, Scheer takes the information to his academy sides – who then split the remaining players, and assign them exact fixtures for the upcoming slate of games. It’s a meticulous process, and one that drives the Union week in, week out, at every single level. 

But it’s also a problem that most MLS clubs face. The first team, to be sure, is set up to win. Below that is something of a clash. So much of modern football is about player development, and creating the right profile for the club. But that principle can often contradict the core principles of winning soccer games. And MLS clubs are fighting that battle, figuring out in real time how to stay competitive at a youth level – while also molding the right archetype of footballer for their first team. 

“Winning matters a lot in the sense that you need to build professionals; they have to be competitive. And it does matter, and it should matter,” Scheer said.

IMAGN'Ultimate goal is to develop first team players'

From the outside perspective, in the eyes of eager fans, all that matters is that their club brings out the best, brightest and most promising talents. It’s why Cavan Sullivan, now 15, was so hyped when he came out of the Union Academy. He was destined for first team soccer, and a level raiser. 

Most footballers aren’t good at age. So, putting the right players at the right age groups to simultaneously develop them and win soccer matches is a tricky world to navigate. 

It’s a universal issue. Every MLS academy confronts the same pressures from its players, parents and coaches alike. They want competitors who will give their all. But they also need to be put in the right place, at the right time, to become the best version of themselves when they are ready to move into the first team.

“The ultimate goal isn't for the U15s to be national champions,” Scheer said. “That might happen in the process. But our ultimate goal is to develop first team players.”

AdvertisementImagn'Intensity or competitive drive'

The Union’s approach is highly technical. Dollar for dollar, they are comfortably the academy most rife with talent in Major League Soccer. Sullivan is, of course, the standout, but they have brought countless big names through the ranks over the years – and either made them first team regulars or flipped them for a tidy profit. 

They take it game by game, focusing on the minutiae. Carnell is uncompromising in his system and principles of play. Everyone else has to learn them and be ready to plug and play at each level. Sometimes, that means a U15 playing up, but just for 30 minutes. Others, that might mean someone playing at their usual age group for all 90. 

And then, as Sullivan showed by leading the Union to a Generation Adidas Cup victory in 2024, you just need to win. Balancing that isn’t easy. But Scheer insists that the Union do enough psychological training – and rely on good coaching at all levels – to ensure that the right mindset is instilled. Academy pedigree takes care of the rest, especially when it comes to recruitment. 

“If we just roll the balls out and we don't care about winning, and it's only focused on, ‘Hey, let's develop, develop, develop with no intensity or no competitive drive,’ you're not going to develop winners,” Scheer said.

IMAGN'If you didn't win, your kids were going somewhere else'

“It was the wild west,” John Gall, now head coach of North Texas SC, told GOAL. 

The Welshman arrived in the Dallas youth soccer scene in 2001, and walked into a chaotic, unpredictable place. It was fiercely competitive, dedicated hopelessly, often dangerously to winning, with Gall recalling “parents fighting on the touch lines.” 

That proved to be a hard graft in learning what the space is about. There was no margin for failure. The teams that won had the best players. And those clubs would look for the best players to continue to build – never mind that these were teenagers still honing their craft. 

“If you didn't win, your kids were going somewhere else, because the other coach would be poaching them, and they would be nicking the players,” Gall said.

That forced a certain mentality that has carried through to the FC Dallas academy, helping them develop a battle-hardened sort of player. It is often a cliche associated with the USMNT that the spine of some of their great sides had a certain Texan toughness. But Gall, who saw the fiestiness first hand, can vouch for it. 

“I learned really quickly that winning is a part of this development process,” he said. 

And it has helped FC Dallas become a dominant force in the youth scene. 

It all starts with training, he said. Gall’s approach, first at various academy levels and then with MLS Next Pro winners North Texas SC, was to gameify everything – from the most basic of training drills to scrimmages in practice. In possession drills, his team get points for winning the ball in certain parts of the field, or for passing at the right time. He has found that the result is an ultra competitive squad. 

That cocktail, he insists, is what makes Dallas so effective. 

“I’m not talking about lifting a trophy. I'm not talking about getting a medal, I'm not talking about finishing first,” he said. “This mindset is crucial, and if you don't have that, you're going to develop players who, No. 1, don't know how to win. Then No. 2, don't know how to lose. And No. 3, the first team manager is looking at you like, ‘What are you sending me?”

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Getty'Benefits you on both sides of the coin'

But some academies require a different approach. St. Louis SC is relatively young on the MLS scene. They have played just two full seasons at the professional level, and are still fleshing out their youth academy. But they do have one crucial advantage: talent. 

Many teams like to claim that they are the “soccer capital of the United States.” St. Louis, which has a rich tradition with the game, can back up that assertion more authentically than most. It also means that they don’t have to reach too far beyond their local digs. 

“That's a big difference in what we see with some of the other academies in the country,” academy director Dale Schilly said. “We strive, and we think we can be successful, to have a high percentage of our kids from the St Louis market. Currently, 94 percent of our players are from the St Louis market, six percent are from outside the market.” 

And to develop them, that means going heavy on the training, rely on the baseline of talent they have, and trust that winning will come as part of the process.

“Training to develop players and training to help make the individual better, hopefully benefit you on both sides of that coin… the side of developing players and affect whether you’re winning games, just based on the training environment,” Schilly said. 

Part of their appeal, he claims, is their ability and willingness to move players up. They don’t quite have the pull of the best out there, Schilly said. But he hopes that once the rest of the scene sees the quality of player they can produce – mixed with a winning culture – they will be able to pull from outside of the immediate area. 

“We’re not quite there yet, just being so young,” he said. “But when you look at the top academies in the country, the Philly Unions, Red Bulls, FC Dallas, RSL, you start talking about those programs, their successes on the field help attract better players from across the country.”