The Australian bowlers did not do a whole lot wrong. But the truth of the matter is that they should have been defending a far bigger lead, if they were even bowling at all on day three

Daniel Brettig in Pallekele28-Jul-20161:32

‘We missed our half-chances’ – Lyon

“Kill the other guy before he kills you” was a line beloved of Jack Dempsey, the world heavyweight boxing champion of the early 1920s. Dempsey’s phrase is known to plenty of sportsmen, and Allan Border once used it to describe how Australia squandered the advantage of hosting the 1992 World Cup. Border is present in Kandy to watch this match, and was unimpressed by the visitors’ batting effort on day two, which happened also to be his 61st birthday.No-one knows better than Border that Test cricket can often require a similar level of ruthlessness to that espoused by Dempsey: the ability to slam the door shut on the opposition before they can take the chance to regroup and respond later on in a match. Having rolled Sri Lanka cheaply on the first day, Australia’s batsmen had the chance to do the slamming, a role they have generally enjoyed. Through some poor shot selection and diligent Sri Lankan bowling, they did not, and the consequence was to watch Kusal Mendis charge into the resultant breach.It was a somewhat ironic turn of events, given that over the past 33 years it has invariably been the Sri Lankans squandering strong positions over Australia. Border led his 1992 touring team to a most unlikely victory in Colombo after surrendering a first-innings advantage of 291. A more confident and accomplished Australian side thrice bailed out Ricky Ponting on his first tour as captain in 2004, when in each Test the tourists surrendered a first innings lead. Most dramatic of the turnarounds came in Kandy, where Australia were bowled out for 120 on day one, but managed to limit Sri Lanka to a first innings lead of 91.Those figures were oddly reminiscent of proceedings at Pallekele the past few days: the rush of wickets on day one, the failure to take advantage on day two, the strong riposte on day three. The major difference of course was the reversal of roles, and the dominant innings being played not by a promoted Adam Gilchrist but the ebullient Mendis. At length he showcased an arsenal of strokes to be widely admired, and a level of determination to put some of the Australians’ less savoury day two shots to considerable shame.His combination of positivity and organisation contrasted with Steven Smith’s stumping, even if there was some good fortune along the way. For most of the morning Steve O’Keefe looked a decent chance to get Mendis lbw with a ball sliding into the stumps from around the wicket, and the left-arm spinner’s withdrawal from the attack due to a hamstring complaint was a grievous blow to Smith. O’Keefe’s eagerness to chase lbw verdicts also had the impact of costing Australia their two DRS referrals before lunch arrived, an eventuality that, like their first innings batting, would sting later.Otherwise the Australian bowlers did not do a whole lot wrong: Mitchell Starc got the new ball swinging for a couple of early wickets, Josh Hazlewood retained a disciplined line without the same seam movement he had found on day one, and Nathan Lyon delivered spells that were never less than presentable and often dangerous. But the truth of the matter is that they should have been defending a far bigger lead, if they were even bowling at all on day three.Batting conditions in this match have been somewhat tricky, but never impossible. Greater application was required when Australia had the chance, for they will now be facing a testy fourth innings chase and the prospect of facing up to Rangana Herath and Lakshan Sandakan with scoreboard pressure on their side. Most troubling for the coach Darren Lehmann will be the fact that Australia’s mediocre first innings took place without the worry of a mighty first innings total hanging over his batsmen: the impediment widely attributed to their failures in the UAE in 2014.Instead, they were simply confounded by the muddle of their own minds and techniques, with failings gleefully exploited by the aforementioned spin duo. That will be maddening for each batsman to ruminate upon, as evidenced by the sullen faces and gestures of frustration that cropped up increasingly across day three. When Smith offered a Border-style teapot pose it wasn’t hard to recall his stumping; when Mitchell Marsh kicked the dust in mid-pitch after another stout Sri Lankan forward defensive, it was as much about the Sandakan googly he missed as the ball that had just been hit.Even the momentous occasion of Lyon’s 200th Test wicket was reduced to something of a sidelight by the match scenario. Five years ago Lyon had made his debut with a five-for against Sri Lanka in Galle, his first-ball victim Kumar Sangakkara. The smiles and celebrations were more reserved, even fatigued this time around, after Dhananjaya de Silva bunted a catch to mid-off. More runs in the bank and Lyon may not only have been chasing wicket 200 but the buzz of an innings victory.Mentally speaking, the Australians now have a sizeable hurdle to get over, just as Sri Lanka have done over the years. But where Sri Lanka’s issue often seemed to be about overcoming Australia in a Test match, Australia’s issue is with finding a way to win in Asian conditions. In recent times they have been able to console themselves with the thought that encounters with India and Pakistan were won by the more accomplished team in the conditions. But an unfancied Sri Lankan side with an abominable recent record is another matter entirely.The coaching staff and team psychologist Michael Lloyd will have a power of work ahead of them should a defeat unfold here. A sub-par result in Sri Lanka would likely require a substantial rethink abut the way some of Australia’s set-up has operated under Lehmann, with the emphasis on providing plenty of net bowling and throw-down volume for batsmen while leaving them free to find their own methods to succeed. Lehmann is fond of saying mistakes are fine so long as they are not repeated: he must now hope for plenty of remedial work in the fourth innings.There have been times leading into this match when it was easy to wonder where Sri Lanka’s runs would come from, given the retirement of the “big three” and the repeated failure of their replacements in subsequent Tests. A sturdy Australian first innings and this sequence may well have continued, under the weight of runs and the crush of pressure. Smith’s team contrived to leave the game open, however, and now find themselves staggering towards the latter rounds of this contest behind on points.

Jason Roy produced a special innings on his home ground to power England to a 2-0 series win

Alan Gardner29-Jun-2016Sri Lanka finally gave themselves a score to defend but it still wasn’t enough for their first win over England of the tour. Jason Roy made sure everyone knew they were on his manor with his second century of the series, and the second-highest score by an England batsman in ODIs, as the hosts cruised home with room to spare. These are strange times in what we must still refer to as the United Kingdom and England’s limited-overs revolution is also taking some getting used to.England players like to talk about confidence in terms of “having your tyres pumped” and Roy in this sort of form looks like a monster truck. Without his regular opening partner, Alex Hales, who was suffering from a back problem and did not bat, Roy marauded around the Kia Oval just like he has done on so many floodlit nights for Surrey. Memories of his slim returns in South Africa, where he scored 96 runs in five innings, have been subsumed by the avalanche against Sri Lanka, helping England to seal the ODIs 2-0 with one match to play.He is currently averaging 141.00 for the series, a figure which speaks for itself in stentorian tones. In one innings, his career average rose from 33.90 to a fat, round 40.00. Roy’s qualities had already been reaffirmed with his role in England’s rambunctious run to the World T20 final and, at the start of the tournament, he spoke of trying not to put himself under too much pressure to “go out and whack it from ball one”.England’s new ethos almost seems to demand as much from Roy, particularly as Hales often likes to take a bit more time to find his stride. But there is aggression, and there is aggression. Here, Roy was happy to putter along at a run a ball until the point at which he had made 24 off 25, then casually sauntered forwards and dumped Farveez Maharoof over long-on for the first of his three sixes. He had his moment of luck in Maharoof’s next over, when a thin inside-edge missed leg stump by a whisker and flew away for four, and was soon into his pomp.England, aside from their sloppy performance at Trent Bridge, have located gears that Sri Lanka currently cannot find and Roy drove them towards a target that initially seemed likely to be testing as if it were a summery Sunday afternoon, rather than a cold, damp night in south London. The crowd drank in each of Roy’s milestones as happily as another beer from the bar but, just as he seemed set to eclipse Robin Smith’s 167 – made during a 55-over game back in 1993 – he was dismissed aiming a tired swipe at Nuwan Pradeep’s slower ball. His evident frustration at not finishing off the job bodes well for England.Roy’s hundred, the fastest of his three in ODIs, came off just 74 balls and a couple of years ago that would have been second only to Kevin Pietersen – a player Roy has been compared to (not least because of his Durban birthplace). It is a mark of how England’s game has moved at light speed that it now sits joint-ninth in the list.”I’m pretty happy with where I’ve got to,” he said. “A lot of hard work has gone into it and to see the rewards is incredibly special, at my home ground, in a big game, to win a series… I’m pretty stoked.”England have kept faith in Surrey’s punkish young opener and he has begun to play like a king. Sri Lanka have a prince of their own in the ranks and on another night there would have been much heralding of Kusal Mendis. England’s rapid pursuit of their target made previous feats appear less dizzying but could not fully erase the impression of Mendis buckling his swash to fight the odds and the drizzle and give Sri Lankans something to smile about.Mendis is on the dinky side but he packs a punch. Were he from South America, he would doubtless be called “la Pulga Atomica” – the Atomic Flea, as Leo Messi is sometimes known. He struck seven fours in his first 18 balls, wresting back any early initiative England thought they had won from achieving a run-out in the second over, and setting the platform for their highest total of the series.At the start of the tour, Kumar Sangakkara had mentioned the former Schoolboy Cricket of the Year as a future star and Mendis will return home with a report card to make his family proud. His maiden Test half-century was the sole bright spot during Sri Lanka’s hammering at Headingley and he added a fifty on ODI debut in Dublin a few weeks later, before following up with another against England in Bristol.This was the first time he had pushed his score on. In his sixth ODI, it was Mendis’ highest knock in any form of white-ball cricket, so he could be forgiven for not quite knowing the route to a century. But he gave the Sri Lanka innings its impetus, dragging Danuska Gunathilaka along to a first fifty of the series in his wake and allowing Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews to start shovelling coal in the engine room.It is worth recording what a thoroughly miserable day this was on which to watch or play cricket. A sold-out Kia Oval shivered in the drizzle through the first half of Sri Lanka’s innings but returned from cover when the rain finally relented in the late afternoon. This was set to the be the highest attendance for a match at the ground in modern times, after the expansion of the Peter May stand, and in more clement conditions it would almost certainly have challenged the match between England and New Zealand here last year, which aggregated 763 runs – the most for an ODI in this country.Grey clouds scudded above the ground throughout, as the “right little, tight little island” of Thomas Dibdin’s imagination lay swaddled in murky weather and the fear of treachery. Above the pavilion, a union flag fluttered above a smaller St George’s cross. After Roy’s feat, the rain soon returned but this “snug little island” perhaps – strangely – felt just a little more secure.

The left-arm spinner, through inspiring power of will, overcame a hit on the box to single-handedly whittle down a potential three-figure lead for Australia

Andrew Fidel Fernando at SSC15-Aug-2016There was a hole at the SSC.This is not the foot-hole in the bowling crease, which Australia bowlers had reported to be so deep, that by now, Mitchell Starc should able to travel through it to Rio, to watch brother Brandon compete in the high-jump.This hole was merely figurative. (Though, again, this is not a jibe at Sri Lanka Cricket administrators’ travel-and-expenses account.)No, this was the kind of hole that Sri Lanka have routinely found themselves in Tests over the past year; the kind of hole from which they have not often lately recovered. The kind of hole from which, on this occasion, only their best player could haul them out.Australia were skipping along gaily, at 267 for 1, only 88 runs behind. Soon they had lost a wicket, but were nevertheless still skipping – a triple-figure first-innings lead in their sight.Then along came Rangana Herath. Think of him here as a fireman – probably in an oversized kit and a hat that falls off – sending a rope ladder down to teammates wallowing in the pit. With six for 81 in this innings, the rescue was almost single-handed. With the last four wickets falling for 26 runs, the salvage operation took surprisingly little time.This 25th five-for of Herath’s career is all the more remarkable, for his having been hit on the box on day two. This is the kind of injury that Sri Lankan men of his age would take several weeks off work for. It is the kind of complaint that would see them sullenly recovering in front of the TV, a drink in hand and ice-pack at the crotch; making whimpering grunts when rising from the settee; forming pathetic, pained faces when wives came in with bowls of soup.Herath though – a hobble now added to his usual waddle – was seen warming up again in the outfield only an hour after the blow had been received. He was bowling at Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh before day’s end.In the morning, on day three, he was pivoting very gingerly at the crease, but got through his overs cheaply, even if his balls did not quite have their usual shape. By the evening though, when perhaps the pain had eased a little, the flight and subtlety returned, as did the dip and bite. All through this innings, Herath’s willpower triumphed over his groin, and as folks as diverse as Tiger Woods and Bill Clinton may reflect, there is no more heroic victory for a man than that.”Rangana’s got some pain in the groin as a result of the blow, and it’s quite a challenge for the physio at the moment,” coach Graham Ford said after play. “But I can’t say enough about the bloke. I was joking in the dressing room and saying he’s my all-time sporting hero. He’s gone ahead of Roger Federer.”This may seem like hyperbole, but let us consider the facts. Federer may have had to do battle with Rafael Nadal for his titles, and lately Novak Djokovic. But has Federer ever had to contend with Sri Lanka’s selectors, whose first response to any uncertainty, for a while, was to drop Herath from the team? Usain Bolt may be part of the reigning Olympic relay team, but has he ever had to race with teammates as useless at holding batons, as Herath’s teammates often are with catches?”He’s injured and he’s bowling on one leg,” Ford said. “He’s just got so much guts and fight. For an older guy to do that it – ignites the fight within the younger group. After his nasty incident batting, he makes some brilliant diving stops in the dirt off his own bowling. If you’ve got the old man throwing himself around like that, the youngsters have no excuse.”Australia finished only 24 runs ahead in the first innings, and Sri Lanka now find themselves only two runs behind. They will set themselves up nicely for a whitewash with 250 more. But if the top order fails again, Herath may find himself needing to rescue Sri Lanka from another hole, with bat and ball.It is possible Josh Hazlewood feels guilty for Herath’s injury, but he shouldn’t bother. It is Herath’s teammates that kick the old man in the gonads most of all.

Tamim Iqbal extended his remarkable record against England with his eighth Test century, but Bangladesh’s batsman collapsed to undermine his efforts

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur28-Oct-2016″The way the wickets fell today, my century seems to have suddenly become quite special.”Tamim Iqbal couldn’t stifle a grin when saying this, but to be fair, he was allowed at least a smile after his standout 104. He thrived on good form, clarity of thinking and batting skills that made his innings special even before the other batsmen (barring Mominul Haque) put together a miserable scorecard.This was Tamim’s eighth fifty-plus score in eleven innings against England, taking his average against them to 63.27. Among batsmen to have played at least ten innings against England in the last six years, Tamim’s batting average is second only to Hashim Amla’s 86.54.Despite an indifferent start, in which he took 20 deliveries to get off the mark, Tamim racked up seven boundaries between the ninth and the 13th over and took just 60 balls for his half-century. Mominul wasn’t exactly his calm self all the time at the other end, so Tamim had to ensure the scoring didn’t taper off while keeping his shape whenever playing a forceful shot. The 170-run second wicket stand came at a fair clip – 4.37 per over for 38.5 overs.”I batted with intent, and it is the way I usually like to bat, which means that I would rate it quite highly,” Tamim said of his innings. “I took 19 balls to get off the mark so I thought I handled that period well to go on and score a century. It is always special to get a century so I am happy in that regard.”But was it really fair for Tamim to attend an end-of-day press conference in which most of the questions were about his team’s batting collapse?Tamim had indeed been the first of those nine wickets to fall but, at 171 for 2 an hour after lunch, the expectation had been that Bangladesh’s middle order would build up their team-mate’s strong groundwork. Batting collapses aren’t exactly new to the line-up, but 9 for 49 in 22.5 overs stands out as an extreme example of giving away a good start to a Test match.It was evident that there was much pillow-passing going around, with none of those involved in the collapse ready to take the responsibility of rebuilding the innings after such a superb second-wicket partnership. Shirking away from such duties can happen when you put nine batsmen in a line-up. There will be debate about whether Shuvagata Hom and Mehedi Hasan belong in that category, but both have made themselves into viable batting options at domestic and age-group levels respectively.Mahmudullah’s initial response to Tamim’s dismissal had been to hit a six off Adil Rashid had had hit a six in the over and, even when Mominul fell for 70 two overs later, the pitch still didn’t look uncomfortable for the batsmen. But while Mushfiqur Rahim was unlucky to fall to a superb catch at leg slip, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Shuvagata, Mehedi and Shakib Al Hasan all got out playing poor shots.Tamim Iqbal got going with a series of boundaries after a slow start•Associated PressProds outside off stump are commonplace when a pace attack is relentlessly plugging away but what Mahmudullah offered was catching practice. Sabbir and Shuvagata showed crass judgment with deliveries pitched well outside the line, while Mehedi chose both the wrong line and length to sweep when Moeen trapped him lbw with a full and straight one. Shakib saw all this and then tried to reach a wide delivery, which took the fateful edge.Moeen was bowling with accuracy while Ben Stokes generated some reverse swing, though not as prodigiously as in the first innings at Chittagong. Bangladesh know that such skills should have been handled better.Tamim, thankfully, didn’t offer an explanation for the collapse but admitted that even just another 100 runs would have made a huge difference.”I didn’t come here to defend the collapse in any way. Batting in the first ten overs was difficult, then it eased out for the next 20-25 overs which could be due to our attacking intent, and we also got a number of boundary balls. When you are scoring runs, any wicket would seem easy to bat on.”I can’t give an explanation to this collapse. We played some wrong shots while some were good deliveries. But if we had scored 100 more runs from what we got, the game would have been in our favour. The ball started to spin after 45 overs, but this can happen,” he said.Tamim admitted that he should have offered a shot to the Moeen delivery that led to his dismissal in the 42nd over, but that the team should have responded better when wickets were falling quickly.”It was the third ball I had left like that. I wasn’t doing it on purpose. On the Chittagong wicket, the ball was turning from that spot so maybe I was thinking about it. I made the mistake. I should have offered a shot. If you look at Mominul’s dismissal, so one came in and one turned. But we should have handled those deliveries better.”There weren’t any panic attacks but people do tend to get puzzled when a couple of wickets fall. They bowled really well but we could have handled it better,” said Tamim.But he remained hopeful, particularly having seen how much the Dhaka wicket was offering for Bangladesh’s spinners. It resulted in England losing three wickets quickly before rain brought an early end to the day’s play.”I think it will get a little difficult every day of this game. This is why I am repeating that we should have got 100 more runs. A score around 350 would have made it hard for the team batting second, and they will also be batting last in the game.”If we can take early wickets and bowl them out quickly, things can change quickly. We made mistakes as a batting unit but we can’t just sit on it. We have to fight with 220 runs,” he said.

The fans – Indian and West Indian – who came to watch the first T20 international in Florida were treated to an amazing game, and they enjoyed it together

Aishwarya Kumar in Florida28-Aug-2016One ball, two runs to win. One to tie. A few seconds pass in silence. Hands are clasped together; the pressure palpable. And then red flags erupted as West Indian supporters came running down the stands of Central Broward Regional Park.A one-run victory for West Indies. The fans could have asked for little more.After the initial shock of loss wore off, the Indian fans applauded, realising what an unprecedented game of cricket they had witnessed. More than 30 sixes and fours; 489 runs separated by one.”You can’t get a better finish than this to conclude the first Indian match in the US.,” a West Indian fan called out to a group of Indian fans. They hugged and shook hands. They had got their money’s worth, and some of the tickets were not cheap.The game was an example of why cricket goes beyond who wins and loses. It goes beyond who takes the Man-of-the-Match award home. It was all about enjoying the thrill and the uncertainty of sport. With eight runs needed to win in the last over, the Indian fans looked confident, pumping fists and waving flags. But they wouldn’t be heartbroken if India didn’t make it. To witness the game was all that mattered to them.They wanted a spectacle and they got one.KL Rahul and Evin Lewis kept the crowd entertained in both innings, their cover drives and midwicket sixes elicited wild cheers from the crowd. Both got standing ovations when they reached their centuries.” India,” screamed a fan and the rest followed suit. Sometimes a West Indian fan joined in.When Rahul cruised to his century with a six, the crowd chanted “Rahul, Rahul.” When Dwayne Bravo pulled off the near impossible – denying India eight in the final over – the crowd chanted “DJ, DJ.”It was not about who would win. It was about how.”If there is one person who could do it, it is DJ,” said West Indian fan Geta Whitehall, waving her flag and jumping in excitement. Despite the overwhelming Indian fan base, the West Indian fans remained confident throughout. “We’re closer to home, you know,” said Chris Whitehall.Midway through the first innings, a dance broke out in the stands next to the press box. A West Indian fan and an Indian were battling it out. The crowd chanted words of encouragement. Bhangra on one side. West Indian jive on the other. The fans bonded like never before.”Most people have never witnessed India playing here before. The passion and happiness is more intense here because of how rare cricket is played here,” said Gourabh Arora, an Indian fan who flew down with his nine-year-old daughter from Virginia.After the game, MS Dhoni said Indian fans follow the team wherever they go and it was a pleasure to play in front of the crowd. “Even if we’re playing in the Bermuda Triangle, they’ll be there,” he said. Dhoni also joked about how the closest people came to witnessing sixes here were home runs in baseball and not many of those are scored in a game.At the tail end of the chase, the big screen read: “Fan of the day – Cherry.” And the stand next to the press box broke into loud cheers. Cherry Patel, an Indian fan from Tampa, was going to get a chance to get a photo with Virat Kohli. She stood up on the chair and screamed, the painting of the word “Virat” visible on her legs. The crowd cheered “Cherry, Cherry.”The crowd stayed back for the presentation ceremony as Ravi Shastri’s booming voice rang around the stadium. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I won’t forget this,” said Raja Selvaraj, an engineer from Atlanta.Fans walked out, flags and posters safely tucked away in their bags.”We are coming back tomorrow,” they said.

Haseeb Hameed’s impressive Test debut has fired England’s optimism that this time they have found an opener to be reckoned with

George Dobell in Rajkot12-Nov-20161:37

Compton: Hameed’s style is similar to Root’s

They have kissed some frogs along the way, but it looks as if England may have found their prince.It wasn’t just Haseeb Hameed’s runs that impressed. And it wasn’t just the uncomplicated technique. It was, most of all, the composure of a 19-year-old dealing with the pressure of playing his first Test against the No. 1 rated side in their own country. If he had any nerves, he didn’t show them.The basic facts are these: Hameed has become the first England opener to make a half-century on debut since Alastair Cook in 2006. He has become the third youngest man (after Jack Crawford and Denis Compton) to make a half-century in Test cricket for England (and the second youngest opener, after Crawford) and, if he makes 38 more runs on the final day, he will be the first England opener to make a century on debut since Cook and the youngest England Test centurion of all time.While the scorecard hardly suggests it, his runs were made under some pressure. With England starting their second innings just 49 runs ahead of India and the pitch starting to show signs of modest deterioration, any early wickets could have resulted in a serious case of jitters in the England dressing room. Offering a little more turn and a little more uneven bounce, this is no longer the genial-natured pitch on which five men have recorded centuries this match. These were not soft runs.So while Cook (who is said by the England camp to be in robust good health despite a couple of spells off the field, an uncharacteristic drop at slip and another scratchy display with the bat) prodded and poked as if batting on the most treacherous of surfaces, Hameed was able to drive boundaries through the covers off front and back foot, late cut anything even slightly short and, when Ravi Jadeja gave the ball just a little flight, skip down the pitch and drive him over long-off for six.Hameed is ‘great talent’ – Rashid

Adil Rashid credited a new sense of self-belief for arguably his best display of Test bowing to date.
Rashid has previously been urged to bowl with more pace if he is to prove a success in Test cricket, but he claimed four wickets in Rajkot by sticking to the slightly slower pace with which he was comfortable in the belief it enabled him to gain more turn.
“The pace is key,” Rashid said. “It’s the pace I’m comfortable with and where I spin the ball most. It’s crucial I believe in that and that I’m confident in doing the skills out in the middle.”
Rashid also had warm praise for Haseeb Hameed who he first saw in the Roses game in which Hameed scored a century in each innings.
‘He played seam exceptionally well and spin very well,’ Rashid said. “So I wasn’t surprised at all how he came out and played here. He’s got a good head, he’s a clever and solid boy, works hard in the nets and he’s a great talent. He’s a very calm, organised cricketer.”

His footwork was crisp and unhurried. His judgment over which balls to leave and which he could nudge off his legs was astute. He already uses the crease against the spinners better than all but one member of the England team. He could not be bullied by the seamers or befuddled by the spinners. This has been England’s most assured debut since Joe Root.But for a twist of fate, Hameed could have ended up playing for India. His father, Ismail, who looked understandably emotional in the stands as his son reached his half-century with a delicious late cut for four off the world’s No.1 rated Test bowler, tells a tale of the invitations extended their way after one of Haseeb’s trips back to the land of his parents to work on his game on turning tracks.Would he be interested in playing club cricket in Mumbai? Might he like to think of the Mumbai side in the Ranji Trophy as his target? Might he think of joining his heroes, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, as an Indian player?It was never going to happen. By then, Haseeb was impressing in the Lancashire age-group teams. Their Academy Director, John Stanworth, a man not prone to hyperbole, told that Hameed was “probably as good a player as we’ve had for a generation” two years before he graduated to the Championship side, and made comparisons with Mike Atherton and John Crawley. He captained England U-17 and U-19 and although there have been setbacks – he was especially stung to be left out of the England team for the U-19 World Cup – he has long carried great expectations.The records followed. He became the youngest Lancashire player to make 1,000 runs in a Championship season, the first Lancashire player to make centuries in both innings of a Roses match (Tim Bresnan told him he had played “a seriously special knock” after the second innings century) and, despite it all, possessed a demeanour busting with a desire to learn but graced by humility. Even if Haseeb Hameed was hopeless at cricket, his parents would have reason to be immensely proud of him.Haseeb Hameed became the third youngest England player to make a Test fifty•Associated PressHis first memories are of cricket: batting with a mini bat and punching his father’s friendly lobs in the living-room of their Bolton home. Later Ismail resolved to teach his son the defensive technique of Geoff Boycott which, whatever the changes in the modern game, remains a decent foundation. He hasn’t played a first team game of white ball cricket for Lancashire yet, but there’s no reason why he cannot make a success of that. He’s not a blocker with a limited game; he’s a class act with an array of elegant strokes and the sense to play within himself. He looks as if he was born to bat.There are still questions to answer, of course. Most of all, there was talk on the county circuit of the day he was worked over by a sharp Surrey attack containing Stuart Meaker and Mark Footitt. You can be quite sure that Australia, in particular, will explore any potential vulnerability against the short ball.The signs in this match are promising, though. While others have paid the price for taking their eye off the ball in this game and taken short balls on the head or upper body, Hameed reacted to the first ball of his Test career – a well-directed short-ball from Mohammed Shami – with a composure you suspect is going to become mightily familiar. He kept his eye on the ball and dropped his hands expertly. There haven’t been any obvious chinks in the armour.Other England openers have enjoyed good days, of course, only to be discarded a short while later. Sam Robson and Adam Lyth both made centuries in their second Tests and Nick Compton made two in New Zealand. But have any of them – and Hameed is Cook’s 10th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012 – looked this assured and unflappable? Have any of them looked to have such a well-rounded game?Ben Duckett made a half-century as opener in the previous match, but it always seemed a little frenetic and little as if it was a punt that was coming off. Hameed offered something approaching certainty. His journey is just beginning and there will, no doubt, be some stony terrain on the way. But if you could buy shares in people, you would put your shirt on Haseeb Hameed.Hameed’s runs have helped put England in an almost impregnable position. While there will be talk of a declaration sometime in mid-afternoon – you cannot give a side containing the best limited-overs chaser in history a hint of a chance in a run-chase – there might also be a thought to keep India in the field for another full day. With only three days between Tests, those extra overs could be telling in Visakhapatnam. Besides, any psychological edge India thought they had before this game could be further eroded. It was a tactic that served England well in Brisbane in 2010.The counter argument suggests that opportunities to win may be few and far between in this series and that England, with a slim chance, should do all they can to take it. In the end, it may depend on how much the pitch has deteriorated by lunch. It is breaking up, certainly, but whether it is doing it fast enough to force a result is doubtful.Hameed need not worry about that. He just needs to bat. And, for the first time in several years, England may well not need to worry about finding a new opening partner for Cook. It’s premature to reach conclusions, of course, but it really does seem as if the search is over.

Current stats and match numbers struggle to provide insights into the actual value a player brings to his side, underlining the need for the nature of information to evolve

Jarrod Kimber20-Dec-2016At 6 for 86, Pat Cummins came in to bat. Andre Russell, the Sydney Thunder’s expensive T20 master, had just played an innings where his last three balls were a series of shots he was not in control of. The Thunder were falling apart, and Russell’s wicket was followed by another one, meaning that Cummins had to bat in the 12th over.Unlike Russell, Cummins supported the in-form Ryan Gibson, who had been starved of the strike by wickets at the other end. The two started to rebuild an innings that had very nearly lost the plot, and then, when they were back on solid ground, hit out. Cummins’ batting choices were better than Russell’s too: instead of trying to hit every ball for six, no matter where the ball was, he waited for deliveries that were in his strike zones.When a slower ball entered his slot, he knocked it into the crowd. He cleared his front leg well to slog sweep for another six. One last one in the slot disappeared over midwicket. And when he was finally out, his original 8 off nine balls had ballooned to 30 off 20. Clint McKay got a couple away in his short innings as well, an accidental four and a muscled six.So what you have is your No. 8 playing the role of your No 6, and your No. 9 playing the role of your No. 8. They totaled 44 from their 31 balls and were the difference between no score and a decent score for the Thunder.The Sixers’ chase was almost taken over by Jason Roy, on a one-man mission to see how far he could hit the ball. But when he was out, to a beautiful bit of deception from a Russell slower ball, Moises Henriques came to the crease for the last few deliveries of the Powerplay. Russell decided, even with the fine-leg up, that he was going to bowl very fast right at him straight away. He did, and Henriques was late on the hook and got only an edge, which ballooned very slowly towards leg slip.McKay was the man on the end of it. He made superb ground to the ball, but when he got there, it was as if he wasn’t sure how to complete the catch. The ball trickled away. Russell got a consolation high five from a fielder for producing the error. The game went on and so did the partnership.Both batsmen were still together in the 13th over when McKay was bowling to Henriques. McKay went short at Henriques again, almost like it was a plan, and Henriques tried a big pull but just skied it towards the circle. Two fielders attacked the ball: Cummins from midwicket and Russell from long-on. The ball was in the air a long time; it always looked like Russell’s catch, but it was Cummins who tried to take it by running back and looking over his shoulder. It was Cummins who didn’t catch it.It was Henriques who should have been out first ball, caught McKay, bowled Russell. It was Henriques who should have been out 25th ball for 28, caught Russell, bowled McKay. It was Henriques who was not out 76 off 41, hitting the winning runs for the Sixers.You have four guys. Henriques makes a big score quickly and, in key overs where he attacks, he takes it from a potentially tricky chase to a stroll with controlled quality hitting. But he should have been out twice, both times a clear plan and a weakness showed up.Then you have Cummins, who saved the innings with sensible batting and hit out well to pump the score up to something he and his bowlers could bowl at. His first over was quality, in his second Roy got after him as can happen in a Powerplay, and then his third over Henriques faced five balls and took him for 20.Now with McKay, you have someone not expecting to bat facing far more balls than usual, batting with the No. 10 for the last over, and getting away two boundaries. His first over is taken for ten, but he starts his second over with the ball that should have dismissed Henriques. Instead he ends the over getting smashed for two more fours and not bowling again.Finally we have Russell, who in his last three balls was crazy. One was an edge that was safe; one was a mis-hit that was safe and then one was an edge that was out. With the ball it was Russell who dismissed Roy, it was Russell who should have taken Henriques’ wicket first ball and then his catch later on. Instead, he ended up with 1/27 off his four overs and the second-best economy rate of the night.So here is the problem, I watched the game, I watched some highlights, and I read the scorecard, but I have no way of accurately saying with numbers how well any of these guys actually played. How much impact they made, positively or negatively for their side.If you look at Cummins, he more than doubled his highest score, hit three sixes. Before today he had made 79 runs from 87 balls. So he is a weak No. 8, and he more than did his job and his runs were at least 25 more than you would expect from him. He went at 12.6 an over when he bowled, and the match average was 8.4. So that is 13 runs more than the average bowler. He also didn’t take a wicket, or even produce a chance, so for a strike bowler, that is a negative of at least ten runs. But most importantly to the result of the match he dropped the catch, which officially cost 48 runs, and so his net total to the game is -46.The problem with subtracting the amount of runs from a drop is that you can drop a player on nought with the most simple drop ever and if he still makes nought, you aren’t penalised. If you drop Chris Gayle on nought from a tough chance, and he makes 288* from 49 balls, suddenly you are -288 before going out to bat. And if that was all we didn’t know from the stats we have from this match, that would be one thing, but we have an ocean of unknowns, and very few of us who watch cricket all the time have tried to answer them.And the problem with all my other numbers is I’ve just tried to use them to get an answer on how much impact each player made. If we are ever going to know a player’s worth to a cricket side, the current stats and the way we think about cricket is simply not good enough. We need to evolve, think differently, open up data and move the game forward.But for now, the best I can do from today is: Cummins was good and bad, McKay was good and bad, Russell was bad and good, Henriques was bad, bad and Man of the Match.

ESPNcricinfo’s picks for the best performers at the inaugural edition of the tournament in the UAE

Peter Della Penna22-Jan-20171. Mohammad Shahzad (wk) – 207 runs @ 51.75
Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman stuck another feather in his cap by becoming
the first player to score two T20I fifties on the same day: he produced the highest
score of the tournament with 80 in the semi-final win over Oman, before an unbeaten 52 in Afghanistan’s title-clinching ten-wicket romp over Ireland. Shahzad had the most
wicket-keeping dismissals (nine) and finished as the leading scorer at the Desert T20. His finals-day tally alone would have put him in the top five. He also provided a perfect foil for Nawroz Mangal in the former captain’s farewell series, with the pair producing three half-century opening stands.2. Zeeshan Maqsood – 99 runs at 24.75; 2 wickets @ 33.50, Econ 4.18
His opening partners in this tournament made 14 runs in four innings and, as a result, he had to rein in his aggressiveness. Despite that, Maqsood was effective at the top of the order. He top-scored with 34 against Netherlands and 33 in the semi-final against Afghanistan before being run-out by his partner at a key phase of the knock-out match. Maqsood brought as much value with the ball, constantly building pressure through tight
spells of left-arm spin, and had the second best economy rate, after Rashid Khan, among bowlers who had played more than one match.3. Calum MacLeod – 117 runs @ 39.00
The right-hander swept and reverse-swept Scotland to an unbeaten run in Group B. He made 60 and teamed with Richie Berrington to add 127 for the third wicket against Hong Kong in the opening match of the tournament, a Scotland T20I record for any wicket and the highest partnership at the event. He also took four catches in the field, tied for second most of a fielder, behind George Dockrell, and completed one run-out as well.Gary Wilson regularly crafted Ireland’s final-overs surges in the tournament•Peter Della Penna4. Richie Berrington – 108 runs @ 54.00
Though his highest score was an unbeaten 60 in the win over Hong Kong, he had a greater impact in Scotland’s dramatic seven-run win over Netherlands. Entering at 13 for 3 after Paul van Meekeren wrecked the top order inside the Powerplay, he made a pivotal 38 to top-score in a total of 148 for 7. Berrington made sure the target would hold up as he charged in from long-on to run out Ahsan Malik and Paul van Meekeren on consecutive balls at the start of the 20th over to end the match. For good measure he added one more run-out two days later against Oman.5. Gary Wilson – 155 runs @ 51.66
The second-highest scorer behind Shahzad, Wilson’s strike rate of 156.56 was the highest among the top ten batsmen and he seamlessly transitioned Ireland’s middle-overs accumulations into final-overs surges. He struck 38 not out off 28 balls against Namibia to seal victory with two balls to spare and then smoked out Scotland in the semi-final with an unbeaten 65 off 29 balls through basically orthodox shots.6. Mohammad Nabi – 50 runs @ 25.00; 7 wickets, Econ 5.69
Nabi was named Man of the Tournament, earned basically through demolitions of Ireland on the opening night in Abu Dhabi and again in the final in Dubai. In the first instance, he took two wickets to help restrict Ireland to 125 for 6 before clipping an unbeaten 26 off 17 balls in a five-wicket win. In the final, he ravaged their batting order with 4 for 10 to trigger Afghanistan’s first ever ten-wicket win in T20Is and Ireland’s first ever defeat by the same margin in the format.Arguably the standout player of the tournament, Rashid Khan bowled with the confidence and experience of someone twice his age•Peter Della Penna7. Najibullah Zadran – 25 runs @ 25.00Because he’s “Half Man, Half Amazing”. And because he helped seal two chases in the two games where Afghanistan faced moderate challenges. He was with Nabi at the end in the opening match against Ireland, making 11 not out to seal a win with eight balls to spare. Afghanistan did it with seven balls to spare against UAE, though they were made to sweat a little bit more until Najibullah arrived at the crease with 33 off 20 required to win. Needing 20 in the final two overs, he then bamboozled UAE medium pacer Mohammad Shahzad with the shot of the tournament.8. Rashid Khan – 9 wickets @ 6.55, Econ 3.61
Definitely the standout bowler and arguably the standout player in the tournament. His best statistical performance of 3 for 4 wiping out the Namibia tail was easily his least impressive. On three occasions – against Ireland and UAE in the group stage, and Oman in the semi-final – the mood in the stadium palpably shifted when Rashid came on to bowl as he disrupted middle-overs batting plans, taking two wickets on each occasion. The 18-year-old bowls with the intelligence, confidence and experience of someone twice his age.9. Boyd Rankin – 4 wickets @ 18.25, Econ 6.63
He struggled to get anything out of the pitch on the opening night in Abu Dhabi against Afghanistan and then sat out the next match against Namibia dealing with back trouble. Coming back into the XI against UAE in a match to decide the second semi-finalist from Group A, Rankin flattened their opening pair and finished with 3 for 16.In the semi-final against Ireland, Scotland came out guns blazing in the Powerplay in pursuit of a target of 212, reaching 66 for 1 after six. That sequence included two Rankin overs in which he conceded a total of three runs and removed Matthew Cross. Scotland may well have reprised Netherlands’ Sylhet stunner without Rankin’s contribution.Jacob Mulder’s performance in the tournament may have cemented his status as Ireland’s No. 1 spin option heading into the spring and summer•Peter Della Penna10 Jacob Mulder – 10 wickets @10.20, Econ 5.66
The Australia-born legspinner made an immediate impact in his first overseas tour with the Ireland squad and finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. He helped Ireland save face in the opener when the side were on the verge of a colossal defeat. Against Namibia he decimated the middle order and neutralized the damage done by a blistering opening stand. Then, he claimed two more wickets against UAE before taking 4 for 16 against Scotland in the semi-final to hasten their collapse. In the process he may have cemented his status as Ireland’s number-one spin option heading into the spring and summer, ahead of George Dockrell and Andy McBrine.11. Bilal Khan – 7 wickets @ 16.71, Econ 8.45
The left-arm quick has had trouble getting into the Oman starting line-up due to restrictions on the number of four-year qualified residents being allowed in the XI at ICC tournaments. That restriction didn’t apply at this event and, given a chance to spearhead the pace attack in the absence of Munis Ansari, Bilal flourished. He was on a hat-trick in the first over of Netherlands’ chase, then sparked Hong Kong’s 87-all out implosion in their next match by reeling in the aggressive Nizakat Khan and Babar Hayat to finish with 3 for 18. That Man-of-the-Match performance against Hong played a major role in Oman reaching the semis.12th Man. Con de Lange – 6 wickets @ 16.50, Econ 6.18
The architect of Scotland’s bowling success in their unbeaten run during the league stages, de Lange has been an outstanding find for the national team. Josh Davey may have been named Man of the Match in the dramatic win over Netherlands, for taking four wickets, but it was really de Lange’s spell that changed the course of the second innings as he built pressure before dislodging the well-set Michael Rippon. He was effective in the other two group games and gave Scotland brief hope in the semi-final by removing both Irish openers.

Qualification scenarios for the last spot in the top four in PSL 2017

S Rajesh and Gaurav Sundararaman26-Feb-2017With only one league game left in the PSL, two teams – Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars – are battling for the last spot. Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United have qualified for the playoffs.Lahore have already played their eight games, finishing with six points and a net run-rate of -0.223. Whether they qualify or not depends on the result of the last match of the league stage, between Karachi – also on six points with an NRR of -0.150 – and Islamabad (eight points, NRR -0.113).Islamabad will move to ten points and top the group if they beat Karachi, while Karachi will qualify if they win. (In that case, these two teams will again play each other in the second playoff on Wednesday.)However, with Karachi having an NRR of -0.150 to Lahore’s -0.223, there is a possibility of Karachi qualifying even if they lose to Islamabad, as long as their NRR stays above -0.223. Here are a few scenarios that indicate how Karachi can qualify even if they lose to Islamabad on Sunday.If Karachi bat first…The table below lists the minimum overs Karachi must bowl, if they bat first and lose the game. For instance, if Karachi score 160 and lose, then they must ensure that Islamabad take 18.3 overs or more to chase down the target. If Islamabad chase it down in fewer overs, then Karachi’s NRR will drop below that of Lahore, who will qualify instead. (However, the over cut-offs will change slightly if Islamabad level the scores and then win with a boundary. For instance, if Karachi score 160, and Islamabad level the scores and then win with a four (total 164), then Karachi will have to drag the game till at least 18.5 overs.)

Min overs for Islamabad’s chase to ensure Karachi qualify

Karachi’s score (20 overs) Min overs to chase120 18.2140 18.3160 18.3180 18.4200 18.4If Karachi bat second…Similarly, if Karachi bat second and lose, they need to come close enough to the target to ensure their NRR doesn’t drop below -0.223. For instance, if Islamabad make 160, Karachi will need to make at least 147 to keep their NRR above that of Lahore.

Min scores for Karachi chasing to ensure they qualify

Islamabad’s score Karachi’s min total120 106140 126160 147180 167200 188In case of a washout, both teams will qualify as they will get a point each. Islamabad will finish third and Karachi fourth, which means they will play each other again in the second playoff on Wednesday.

Much of South Africa’s annoyance on the third day stemmed from one man’s display of resolve and skill, a performance that showed why he sits among the modern-day greats

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton27-Mar-2017The only thing that stood between South Africa and the back of Kane Williamson was their 58-over old ball. Or so they thought.It was a ball which South Africa started preparing, yesterday, before Williamson was even on their minds. With one side as shiny as a family’s prized silver and the other scuffed up by strategic throws from the outfielders, that ball had started to reverse and would soon do the damage that South Africa wanted.So you can imagine the visitors’ annoyance when, two balls into the 59th over, the players were told by the umpires that the ball had gone out of shape and that it needed replacement. While the ball was being checked with the aid of the hoop that the umpires keep handy, Faf du Plessis was having a word, doubtless to try and convince them that said-ball was still in good working order. South Africa, though, had to accept a replacement ball – and not their ball – to try and dislodge Williamson.The replacement ball would be in the same age-bracket but not nearly as carefully cared for; the Harrison Ford to a Keith Richards. Williamson’s first dealing with it was to punch it through midwicket off Keshav Maharaj to reach a half-century. On the other end, Vernon Philander had not quite accepted that he can’t always get what he wants and five overs later he complained, asking for the old ball back. His request was denied and, for good measure, Williamson smacked him for six as if to say, “I like this ball just fine, thanks.” Philander saved his response for when he was taken off and the new (and despised) ball dared to come near him. Instead of throwing it, he rolled it back in protest.Call it petulance, call it wounded pride but Philander was not the only one feeling the frustration in the post-lunch session. It was the only time in the series South Africa had gone wicket-less and the only time all their attempts to make something happen were blunted. The ball was one reason, but Williamson was the bigger one.The class and calm he brings to the crease can be summed up in one shot: the straight six off Maharaj, when he shimmied down the pitch, picked the ball up, as though holding a baby bird and then letting it fly, over the sightscreen. In that shot was all of Williamson, from timing and technique to calculated risk and delicate aggression. And that was before South Africa lost their precious ball before they decided that they needed to hatch some special plan to rid themselves of another problem-player in Jeet Raval, who was greeted after lunch with three slips, two gullies and a snarling Morne Morkel.South Africa already had some idea of Raval’s staying power because he had been simmering all series. He was tight outside off, showed patience and valued his wicket. His 80 in Wellington was already the highest score by a New Zealand opening batsman against South Africa this century. They didn’t want Raval to become the first New Zealand Test opener to score a hundred against them since 1953 and so they laid a trap and asked Morkel to bait him by bowling outside off stump.Williamson and Raval frustrated the visitors, especially captain Faf du Plessis•AFPIt worked almost immediately when Raval followed a fuller delivery but the edge fell short of the fielder at second gully. Morkel moved in closer, getting the ball to angle in and Raval left one that went close enough to off stump to leave him wondering if he should have played. He went after the next tester, angled across him, and again fell in the region of the close-in fielders. For 40 minutes in the middle session, Raval had to navigate the combination of a fired up Morkel and a feisty cordon but he survived and reached fifty in the process.What followed was a battle against Maharaj, with balls spitting out the rough, and when Raval came through that, a maiden hundred seemed just reward. Nobody wanted Raval to get there more than Williamson, who managed to craft his own century while simultaneously outscoring his partner, and coaxed the young batsman.The captain performed the ultimate multitask, making Raval feel “like a clown on one end with a master batting at the other”.Williamson’s run-making off an increasingly impatient South African attack caused them to default back to a short-ball approach which simply wasn’t threatening enough on this surface. He sensed that the bowlers were tiring and began to apply pressure. In doing that, he ensured the total never stagnated, even while Raval did. As the second new ball arrived and Raval entered the 80s, he spent 24 balls stuck on 83 and began to look more fidgety than he has all series.At the other end, Williamson was playing a different game, which is why South Africa placed a higher price on his wicket before this series even began. They knew he was capable of something like this.The century Williamson struck in Dunedin was quickly spoken about as one of the best of his career because it came in a tough situation – Ross Taylor was out injured – but this one confirms him as a modern great. At 26, Williamson is already one of only six New Zealand players to have 5,000 Test runs to his name, has equalled Martin Crowe’s record for the most number of Test centuries for his country – 17 – and has hundreds against every other Test playing nation. And he is doing it at a time when New Zealand’s line-up is fragile.Though they may have found an opening pair in Tom Latham and Raval, their middle-order, in Taylor’s absence, only has Williamson to really add gravitas. That’s a lot of responsibility for a man who also has to lead the team on the field but, so far, he is handling it well. Even after South Africa caused a wobble when they took 3 for 20, Williamson put New Zealand in the lead for the second time in the series. And the ball – both the new and the old one – was not what stood between South Africa and the back of the home captain. It was Williamson’s resolve and runs that did.