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Geoff Allardice talks about the future of the ICC’s big events: the WTC, the World Cups and the Champions Trophy

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi 18-Jun-20213:44

Geoff Allardice: ‘Our preference would be to have a T20 World Cup with crowds’

When he took charge as the ICC chairman last year, Greg Barclay said the World Test Championship might go back to the drawing board. You must be happy the ICC board recently agreed to retain the WTC as is for the next eight-year cycle?
Yes, we are. The finish to the World Test Championship, not just [from] a fan interest point of view, but even the players were engaged, [wondering] are we not qualifying or what do we have to do to qualify. That’s the sort of result we were after when the World Test Championship was created.In terms of the future, in our preliminary discussions with the Full Members around the Future Tours Programme [FTP] beyond 2023, there was universal acceptance that the World Test Championship should continue. The same assumptions around a two-year cycle and a final at the end of it have been supported by the Full Members. That’s been really positive.I know that midway through the cycle, with Covid rampant in so many countries, there was a lot of uncertainty around the cricket schedule and the future of the Test Championship. But we have seen the fruits of why it was created in the last few months. And, certainly, the [thinking] among the members is that it should continue.Related

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Will it continue in the same format – top nine Test teams playing six series each on a home-and-away basis?
This [second WTC] cycle [2021-23] is locked in and it’s the same format – nine teams and six series [each, over that period]. The fixtures were finalised in 2018. We are now looking at the cricket calendar beyond 2023 and the structure of the World Test Championship. We’ve got other Test-playing countries who are keen to be involved, but on the other hand, the number of series you can fit in a two-year period is probably not going to increase.The calendar is congested and some countries have introduced new T20 leagues, which takes their national team out of action for a period of time. Realistically, six series is going to be the number a team will play. How many teams in the competition is still being considered amongst the members.Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe will be hungry to prove their mettle. Is revisiting the two-tier model an option?
We had that discussion back in in 2016 or 2017. And it [the two-tier model] didn’t have support then. The most important thing is that we provide a pathway for all the Test teams. There’s nine in the Test Championship at the moment, and there’s three more who want their Test matches to have context. How that translates into competition structures is something we’re still working through.

“In our preliminary discussions with the Full Members about the FTP beyond 2023, there was universal acceptance that the World Test Championship should continue”

How do you help these three countries who want to play more Test cricket?
There’s a couple of issues. One is that the volume of Test matches per year that’s needed to be part of the World Test Championship in its current structure is six Test matches [per year], home or away. Up until now none of those three countries are playing that volume of Test cricket. So how do you get them up to a point where they are playing that volume and [have] the potential to be involved in a league in the future? They are obviously playing among themselves: Zimbabwe and Afghanistan played two Test matches recently in Abu Dhabi. You’ve got Zimbabwe having just played Pakistan [at home] as well. They have also got finite resources.They have an opportunity to qualify for World Cups and there’s expanded tournaments in the next cycle, too. They have to decide which formats they prioritise as well. Whether they play the volume of Test cricket needed to be part of the championship is one of the things we’ll be keeping an eye on over this [2021-23] cycle.Are there plans to bring back the Intercontinental Cup?
The recent decisions to expand the ODI and T20 World Cups for men and women is likely to see the focus being on developing more competitive Associate member teams in those two formats rather than the four-day format.R Ashwin suggested that to provide more context to the WTC, the series within it could perhaps be played at neutral venues. What is the primary challenge there?
The beauty of bilateral cricket is that it’s designed to satisfy the desires of cricket fans in each country. Generally, they want to watch their national team playing. Probably all of us are seduced by cricket when you are watching your heroes play, and your heroes are generally your national team players. That would be missing if you were to play the World Test Championship at neutral venues. That’s why having the same number of series home and way is important. I don’t think that the opportunity to play in front of home crowds is something the members would consider giving up.Geoff Allardice: “The only reason the Champions Trophy was discontinued between 2019 and 2023 was to create the opportunity for a T20 World Cup every two years”•Christiaan Kotze/Getty ImagesAnother factor that plays a role in bilateral series is the type of the ball used. In the WTC there are three types of balls being used across regions. Some people ask, why not have one ball, for a level-playing field.
One of the things we have always looked at over the years is, we don’t try to standardise pitches in each country, and we don’t dictate which balls members use for their conditions. When we were considering the arrangements for the final, the decision was that we would use the ball used for Test cricket in the country hosting the final. Once the final was in the UK, it was going to be a Dukes ball regardless of who was playing.Can you expand on the percentage points system that will be used to rank teams going forward in the next cycle of the WTC?
The next cycle of the WTC, starting with England vs India in August, will see a change to the points system. Instead of each series being worth the same number of points, 120, irrespective of whether the series is played over two Tests or five Tests, the next cycle will see each match being worth the same number of points – a maximum of 12 per match. Teams will be ranked on the percentage of available points they won from the matches they have played. The aim was to try and simplify the points system and to allow teams to be meaningfully compared on the table at any point, though they may have played differing numbers of matches and series.Recently the ICC board decided to expand the men’s ODI World Cup back to 14 teams and to increase the T20 World Cup to 20 teams. How are you looking to balance expansion and commercial interests? A high number of mismatches was among the reasons why the ICC decided it limit the ODI World Cup to ten teams after the 2015 edition.
That’s been one of the discussions over the last few months. Do you structure the events to grow the sport and provide opportunity for your member countries to compete in the flagship tournaments? Or are they primarily an opportunity to drive finances? They are always going to be both, but the view of our members – and it was quite a strong view across both the Chief Executives Committee and the [ICC] board – was that we were looking to expand our ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup as well.Over the last couple of years, the changes around the structure for T20 cricket have been quite significant: in terms of giving all the countries T20I status for the men’s and women’s national teams; to have a global ranking system for men’s and women’s T20I teams; to have a T20 World Cup every two years for all of our members to aspire to; and to have a qualification pathway that makes participation in the major events achievable.

“Realistically, six series is going to be the number a team will play over the two-year WTC cycle”

So in the future, it might be only two steps, at worse three, for any country to get into a T20 World Cup. Those changes around expanding are very much looking to the future of the game and trying to create incentives in the pathway that drives competition.The board also decided to bring back the Champions Trophy, which was stopped after the 2017 edition. Former ICC CEO Dave Richardson said in 2018 that the tournament would clash with the 13-team ODI Super League. In the past, too, Full Member boards like the BCCI had said they did not want a Champions Trophy because it would hurt their bilateral revenues. So what made the ICC board bring back the tournament?
It provides a high-quality event in the ODI format at a time when there’s a lot of T20 cricket. The only reason it was discontinued between 2019 and 2023 was to create the opportunity for a T20 World Cup every two years. We had a very successful Champions Trophy in 2017 from all measures – whether it was on-field, attendance, ratings.It was a question of whether that event in the calendar added to the ODI pathway, which we felt it did. Again, it’s the same format: eight teams, two groups of four – so a short, sharp, high-quality ODI event. It provides a focal point for that format between World Cups.So what happens to the ODI Super League now?
Like the Test championship, the ODI Super League is one of those points of discussion with the members around the next FTP. The ODI Super League was about to start pretty much at the time that Covid struck and it’s been significantly disrupted. As we push towards the [2023] ODI World Cup and series start happening on a more frequent basis, the context around those matches will be important. Eight teams out of 13 are qualifying for a ten-team World Cup in India in 2023. What it looks like qualifying for a 14-team World Cup in 2027 still needs to be decided.Can you talk about the removal of the bidding process to determine the hosts for global events? It appeared as if the ICC had made a u-turn on what had been originally agreed in October 2019?
The hosts’ [selection] process is now underway. The most important part was finalising the calendar of events and the time of year in which those events would be played. What we have asked for is a preliminary technical submission. Which events is a particular member interested in hosting? Do they plan on hosting it on their own? Are they planning on hosting it in combination with another member country? Which venues are they proposing to use?On playing WTC matches at neutral venues: “I don’t think that the opportunity to play in front of home crowds is something the members would consider giving up”•Getty ImagesThe reason that finalising the calendar was important was because the number of matches and the length of the tournament has a knock-on effect on the number of venues used. The number of matches in the ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup are quite high – 54 and 55 matches respectively. That’s going to take hosts with a fair degree of venue infrastructure to deliver those tournaments. With more teams, that also means training facilities and everything else. So there are going to be other events better suited to countries with a small number of venues.The Champions Trophy is potentially where venues are much more manageable, from the point of view of a host. We will get these preliminary submissions, look at the time of year, and how suitable playing cricket is at that time of year for each of the countries. Then we will invite a small number to put together a detailed submission, including all the necessary commitments a host needs to make to the ICC. Then the board will make a decision in September.This process is for men’s events?
Yeah. The process has started for the eight senior men’s events. For women’s events, Under-19s, Test championship finals, the process will kick off later in the year.So there will be no bidding process for the men’s events?
Each interested country will be invited to put in a submission. In terms of bidding, if you’re saying, putting together the best proposal or the best submission, then yes, absolutely [there is bidding]. If you’re implying it’s just whoever gives the most money, that will not be the case. That’s not dissimilar to what happened in 2006, when potential hosts for the cycle from 2007 to 2015 needed to put in submissions.

Confused strategy and selection hampers team that is currently less than the sum of its parts

Matt Roller31-Oct-20212:47

Gambhir: India have all the skills but not the mental toughness

One week and three hours after their T20 World Cup started, India have hit six sixes in 40 overs, taken two wickets, and are below Namibia in the points table of Group 2 of the Super 12s. Dubai International Stadium is two-thirds empty and scores are level with 34 balls left in New Zealand’s run chase but India have left three fielders out on the boundary, allowing Kane Williamson to knock an effortless single into a gap.It is a minor detail but one which encapsulates a disastrous week for this India side, laying bare a fatigued, confused performance in which a side brimming with talent and verve has played within itself to leave them on the brink of elimination. “There’s only one way to play in T20 cricket: you have to be optimistic, you have to be positive,” Virat Kohli said after the game but his side have been timid, hesitant and – most pertinently – exhausted.Related

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India are still mathematically alive in this tournament but even three crushing wins against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia would not guarantee qualification for the semi-finals. A month in the UAE during the IPL should have provided ideal preparation for local conditions; instead, India’s batters have struggled to adapt to slowish pitches and their bowlers have lacked any potency once dew has taken hold.Many will point to the fact that India have lost both tosses in a tournament where chasing sides have dominated but that alone is an insufficient explanation. They have constructed a batting order featuring several ‘anchors’, which intends to keep wickets in hand, but have made 36 for 3 and 35 for 2 in their two powerplays, then nudged their way to par and below-par scores despite knowing dew will make it harder to defend.Damningly, this is nothing new. India have been an excellent chasing team since the last World Cup five-and-a-half years ago, winning 23 games out of 32 when batting second. But they have consistently struggled to defend totals, doing so successfully 22 times out of 41 (24 including Super Over wins), speaking to their conservatism when batting first.Watch cricket live on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch all the action from the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the USA. Match highlights of India vs New Zealand is available here in English, and here in Hindi (US only).

The build-up to this tournament has been defined by muddled thinking and inconsistency in batting roles, epitomised by their reshuffle after Suryakumar Yadav’s injury ruled him out of this game. In March, Kohli said that he would open in the IPL for RCB in preparation for the World Cup and that he would “definitely like to partner Rohit [Sharma] at the top”. Two weeks ago, he said it was a “no-brainer” that KL Rahul would open, moving him down to No. 3. After the Pakistan defeat, he mocked a journalist who suggested that Ishan Kishan – who had been told by Kohli during the IPL that he was seen as an opener – could have played ahead of Rohit. Against New Zealand, Kishan opened with Rahul, with Rohit at No. 3 and Kohli shuffling down to No. 4.The result has been a batting line-up that has been paralysed by indecision, struggling to find the desired balance between attacking intent and stability. Despite losing two wickets in the powerplay, India’s slow scoring meant that they had to keep attacking through the middle overs if they had any chance of compiling a defendable score.”We realised that once you lose the toss, the wicket changes in the second innings,” Jasprit Bumrah said. “It was a discussion that we wanted to give the cushion to the bowlers. In doing that, we played a lot of attacking shots that didn’t come off today.”How, then, to defend Kohli’s innings, nudging his way to 9 off 16 balls before slog-sweeping Ish Sodhi straight to long-on? It set the tone for a dismal middle phase of the innings: India failed to score a single boundary between the powerplay and the end of the 16th over for only the third time in T20Is.Rishabh Pant’s innings, a dour 12 off 19, encapsulated their struggle. Indian cricket has constantly demanded “responsibility” from its most effervescent young talent in the four-and-a-half years since his international debut and this was the result: a natural six-hitter weighed down by the burden of a buzzword. He struggled for timing throughout while attempting to rotate the strike and when he finally freed his arms, he was bowled by a 90mph/144kph nip-backer by Adam Milne. Never before had he scored as slowly in an innings of more than 10 balls.Virat Kohli walks back after being dismissed by Ish Sodhi•ICC via Getty”Every time we felt like we wanted to take a chance, we lost a wicket,” Kohli said. “That happens in T20 cricket but that’s a result of hesitation when you think should you go for a shot or not.” The toil of more than a year spent travelling between biosecure bubbles surely played a part in that self-doubt but India are hardly the only team to have suffered that fate. Their multi-format players have been on the go since the World Test Championship final in June and must be sick of the sight of New Zealand: they are due to play them in a T20I series nine days after their final Super 12s fixture as the treadmill keeps on spinning.With the ball, Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy made bright starts, but the rest of their attack struggled with their lengths and were duly punished. Two of their five main bowlers – Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur – had been selected in part because of the extra batting depth they provided, but India’s sluggish scoring through the middle and the eventual use of the half-fit Hardik Pandya’s medium pace displayed a lack of trust in them, both with bat and ball. Their selection has highlighted a team taking the safe option in a format that rewards risk.India may yet qualify for the semi-finals of this World Cup but it may serve them better in the long term if they do not. Their defeat to West Indies in the 2016 tournament, in which their obsession with running twos and keeping wickets in hand was shown up by a team of power-hitters, did not lead to any obvious change in their T20 strategy; perhaps a humbling exit in Kohli’s final act as captain will signal a culture shift.It would be complacent not to credit New Zealand for a disciplined, clinical performance in which they barely gave India a sniff, two dropped catches apart. Their bowlers were immaculate in their lines throughout, offering very little width, and their batters targeted the weak links in India’s attack to great effect.It was telling that their two match-winners against a who’s who of IPL stars could hardly be further from playing in the league: Daryl Mitchell’s only overseas T20 experience was half a season at Middlesex, while Ish Sodhi was hired by Rajasthan Royals as a liaison officer earlier this year. New Zealand are a team greater than the sum of their parts; the contrast with their opposition could not have been clearer.

Also, which record will be broken at the World Cup? And which young player is one to watch? ESPNcricinfo staff make their picks

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2022Who are the dark horses to challenge Australia for the title?
Valkerie Baynes: New Zealand. The hosts are peaking at the right time with Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates hitting top form with the bat. A nine-wicket warm-up win over the Aussies will boost the hosts’ confidence no end.Annesha Ghosh: New Zealand, India, and South Africa. They are all on an equal footing heading into the tournament and are likely to push defending champions England for a knockouts spot.Andrew McGlashan: New Zealand. The hosts are coming off an impressive 4-1 series win over India and made quite the statement by chasing down 322 against Australia in their last warm-up. A top order of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite is very strong.Firdose Moonda: South Africa S Sudarshanan: New Zealand or South Africa. I think England lack the consistency and firepower, while I am not entirely convinced about India this time.Related

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Who do you think will be player of the tournament?
Baynes: You could pick a swathe of Australian players to be fair, but Meg Lanning is just so tough – and reliable with the bat – that you’d back her to withstand the pressure an “overwhelming favourites” tag carries and to marshal her side to do the same.Ghosh: India’s Deepti Sharma or New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr. Both spin-bowling allrounders are critical to the chances of their sides and come into the tournament in form.McGlashan: Meg Lanning. This is a defining tournament for her team and her legacy. After the semi-final exit in 2017 she won’t want another to slip away.Moonda: Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa’s in-form opener.Sudarshanan: Beth Mooney has been quite a run-machine, so I would pick her, given Australia are the favourites. If I had to go left-field, I would go with Pakistan’s young seamer Fatima Sana.Which young star are you most looking forward to watching?
Baynes: India’s Richa Ghosh. This 18-year-old, who only made her ODI debut in September against Australia, provides plenty of scoring power in the middle order. A run-a-ball 65 and rapid-fire 52 off 29 – India’s fastest fifty in the format – against hosts New Zealand last month showed she’s in fine touch.Ghosh: Fatima Sana, the 2021 ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year. In pace-friendly New Zealand conditions, Sana, 20, could test the top orders of all teams.McGlashan: She has been around for a considerable time, but Amelia Kerr is still only 21 and looks to have taken her batting to another level this year.Moonda: Fatima SanaSudarshanan: Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Fatima SanaWhich group-stage match is a must watch?
Baynes: England vs India on March 16 – a replay of the 2017 final. The sides were quite well matched as recently as the 2021 English summer when the hosts won their series 2-1 with India squeezing the contest after a heavy defeat in the first match.Ghosh: New Zealand vs Australia on March 13. New Zealand bossed the most successful ODI side in their warm-up on March 1, with captain Sophie Devine leading their successful 322 chase with a fiery 161 not out. Australia are not invincible, and New Zealand look the most likely side to expose their frailties.McGlashan: Australia-England early in the competition (March 5). The first match for both sides. It was all Australia during the recent ODIs in the Ashes but can the defending champions make an early mark?Moonda: South Africa-West Indies on March 24 (they’ve had two Super Overs in their history!)Sudarshanan: India vs Pakistan, on March 6, could be interesting, given they hardly play each other.Which record do you think may be broken at this World Cup?
Baynes: Highest successful women’s ODI chase. Australia posted 289 for 6 to defeat New Zealand in Sydney back in 2012, and the White Ferns moved to second on the list with their 280 for 7 to beat India in Queenstown a fortnight ago, while Auckland and Mount Maunganui also feature in the top-five.Ghosh: Five of the top 10 highest successful chases in women’s ODIs have been recorded during the past 12 months, so chances are the record will be broken more than once at this edition.McGlashan: The record for sixes was smashed in 2017 with 111 and it could well go again this time.Moonda: Best economy rate in an ODI.Sudarshanan: Given the stage women’s ODIs are at, I think the record of the highest successful chase definitely will be broken.

ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent tries to make sense of the latest mismatch between these two teams

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Mar-2022A scene from a principal’s office, somewhere in IndiaAh yes, you. Come. Come. Sit down, please.You know why you’re here, no?, please. Of course, we both know why we’re here.It is fine for you to be good at cricket. Something to be proud of even. That we can understand and allow. But why must you always take it to this extent? Why can you not sense when enough is enough?What do I mean? WHAT DO I MEAN? Thrashing that poor Sri Lanka team is what I mean. This is not the first time. Or the second time. Don’t think we have not noticed.Related

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Look here. Nagpur 2017 – an innings and 239 runs. Pallekele 2017 – an innings and 171 runs. Galle 2017 – ah, there you won only by 304 runs. Verrry kind. Do I have to go on? Ah, you want me to check the ODI file?You know what Sri Lanka has to deal with, don’t you? This, you should know by now. Their home circumstances…Lowers voice. Listen, they haven’t kept a coach for more than two years. It’s a very pathetic situation. More than ten coaches in ten years. Like a revolving door only…Let’s not even talk about their board. In this match, you hit 574 runs in the first innings. Between all of their top-level officials, they can’t even muster that many brain… I feel so unkind to even say these things. But you get the picture.And your Ravindra Jadeja. My god. By himself, he is scoring 175 not out. You’re not letting them score even that much for the whole team in the first innings. As if that wasn’t enough he takes nine wickets. NINE. Can you imagine? In more than 129 overs, all of Sri Lanka took eight, . Can you possibly explain this behaviour? These people are your neighbours. Some dignity they must have, no?Scoring all these runs even after they obviously chose the wrong attack for this pitch, and their fast bowler Lahiru Kumara broke down on the first day. Three times in the last three years he has injured himself in the middle of a Test. For years we know they’ve had these problems, no? Did you know they have banned bum-pats in their team because they are worried they will do a career-ending injury?What are India going to do after this? Throw rocks at puppies? Please stop•BCCIHey. Do not laugh. Do NOT laugh. This is not funny.We have also got news today from our sister school that the women’s team has also thumped a neighbour today. Niiiice little operation you have got going between the two of you, no? Well done.Look, just have some mercy, no? Even your No. 8 has five Test centuries. Their No. 7 – this Dickwella fellow – has collected four more ICC demerit points than centuries.Look at your attack, also . You have R Ashwin who is the best offspinner India have produced. You have this crazy Jadeja fellow. Then if that’s not enough this wicked Bumrah character who will bowl full overs full of yorkers, and send some nasty bouncers, and if that wasn’t enough, bowl his vicious little cutters and slower balls. What a twisted mind this fellow must have. And fast-bowling uncle Shami to skid balls into the pads also. You saw, no? How he bowled one at off stump and got the Sri Lankan captain – their best batter – into such a tangle he edged it to the keeper?What will you do after this match? Go and throw some rocks at some puppies? Get together and poke fun at chubby children? Please stop. Please, please know when to stop.What?You’re doing what in the next week?You’re going to play them in a pink-ball Test?!With your attack? Against their top order? Get out. I can’t bear the sight of you. Get out of my room immediately.

Fast bowler impresses in game of more than 400 runs by keeping a clear mind amid chaos

Matt Roller10-Jul-2022Few venues in world cricket have as intimidating a reputation for T20 bowlers as Trent Bridge. The pitches are flat, the outfield is scorched and the boundaries are unforgiving: there is one relatively long pocket, where sixes require a 75-metre hit, but the square boundaries barely measure 65 metres.In that context, England’s decision to pick an extra batter in this game – they dropped Sam Curran for Phil Salt – was a gamble, one which was vindicated by their 17-run win. The combination of Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali’s spin, sharing the fifth bowler’s allocation, was hammered, taken for 67 runs in their four overs, but Reece Topley’s spell of 3 for 22 proved decisive.Topley was the only bowler on either side to finish with an economy rate below 7.5 and was rewarded with the player-of-the-match award. ESPNcricinfo’s impact algorithm suggested that Suryakumar Yadav was the best performer by a considerable distance, but also that Topley’s wickets – he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer – were worth considerably more than the scorecard showed.Topley’s method was simple, hitting hard lengths and looking to cramp India’s batters for room. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, only two of his 24 balls were fuller than a good length, with the vast majority bowled into the pitch while varying his speeds. “The batters came off and said that changes of pace into the middle of the wicket were the hardest to face,” he explained.He struck twice in the powerplay, including with his first ball when Pant inside-edged a length ball into his pad and through to Jos Buttler, then with the last ball of his second over as Sharma failed to pick his slower ball and dragged a pull straight down deep midwicket’s throat. At the Ageas Bowl he had bowled three overs in the powerplay but Buttler saved his third for the 12th, when he conceded only five singles.When he returned for his final over, India needed 66 runs off the last 30 balls to seal a series sweep. Yadav was flying, dominating a partnership worth 119 in 10.1 overs with Shreyas. Buttler needed a wicket, and Topley delivered: Shreyas scurried outside leg but Topley followed him with a short ball, cramping him for room and inducing a feather through to Buttler.The rest of his over was just as cagey: he conceded just a single from four balls to Dinesh Karthik, repeatedly foxing him with his hard lengths, and while Suryakumar dabbed his last ball away for four, he had pushed the required rate up past 15 an over, which would prove insurmountable.Some cricketers spend every waking hour thinking about the game but Topley, by his own admission, is not like that. He admitted himself that he is “not a massive cricket-watcher” and was taken aback by Suryakumar’s innings, full of “some amazing shots – shots I haven’t seen before”, but he stuck to his clear plan, seemingly helped by his ability to switch off and “isolate every ball”.Related

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“Bowling these days is a bit of a thankless task but you’ve just got to put your hand up and be brave,” he said. “One day it doesn’t go your way and you’re the villain and you have to get yourself up for the next game to try and be the hero. Bowlers nowadays have almost got more to learn mentally about T20 cricket – perhaps more than the skills.”There’s other games where things don’t fall your way and you get 1 for 40, or whatever. You’ve got to ride the high when things fall your way because the game is pretty fickle and there’s a lot of days where it doesn’t.”Topley did not feature for England at last year’s T20 World Cup but has taken the opportunities that have come his way this year: first in Barbados against West Indies and now against India: he has seven wickets in six T20Is this year, with an excellent economy rate of exactly seven an over.He is part of the squad that will play next week’s ODIs against India and is now certain to win further chances against South Africa. He bowls in the mid-80s mph (130s kph) and generates steep bounce thanks to his height, which could be an asset in all phases of an innings in Australia come this year’s World Cup.”Since the start of this year, I think I’ve taken all the opportunities that have come my way,” he said. “But [with a] new coach and a new captain, there’s new people to try and impress. In my head, it’s back to square one – try to impress the right people. But ultimately it’s about getting wins as a team and trying, with every game, to work out how we’re getting one step closer to trying to win the World Cup in October.”

And which bowler has taken the last wicket most often to win a Test or an ODI?

Steven Lynch20-Sep-2022I was wondering about the biggest difference between player numbers in the same Test team. I wondered about Jimmy Anderson, then remembered Brian Close! Is he the record-holder? asked Brian King from England
In the final Test against South Africa at The Oval last week, Jimmy Anderson (who was cap No. 613 in 2003) played alongside debutant Harry Brook, England’s No. 707. That’s a difference of 94 (including the special cap No. 696 given to Glamorgan’s Alan Jones, 50 years on from his appearance against the Rest of the World in 1970).I was surprised to discover that there are actually 73 combinations from all countries that equal or beat 94, including a difference of 122 between Brian Close (England’s No. 344 in 1949) and Mike Selvey (466 in 1976). But top of the list is the Yorkshire and England allrounder Wilfred Rhodes, who was cap No. 121 when he made his Test debut in 1899. During his final series, in the West Indies in 1929-30, the 52-year-old Rhodes played alongside Leslie Townsend (No. 254), a difference of 133. He also played with Bill Voce (253), Freddie Calthorpe (252) and Les Ames (244), so occupies the first four places on this particular table.The record for a side other than England is a difference of 98, between Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies cap No. 204) and Shai Hope (302), against Englandin Bridgetown in May 2015. It was Hope’s first Test, and Chanderpaul’s 164th and last.How many Test matches have been shorter, in terms of balls bowled, than the one that’s just finished at The Oval? asked Michael Templeton, and many others
The third Test between England and South Africa at The Oval last week was over in just 909 balls, the shortest Test with a positive result anywhere since February 2021, when India needed only 842 deliveries to polish England off in Ahmedabad.It was the shortest completed Test in England since 1912, when the match against South Africa at The Oval lasted only 815 deliveries. The shortest anywhere was the match between Australia and South Africa on a rain-affected pitch in Melbourne in 1931-32, which was done and dusted in 656 balls.For the full list, which also includes drawn Tests (look down the fifth column to see when there was a winner), click here.Which bowler has taken the last wicket most often to win a Test, or an ODI? asked Ahson Atif from India
There’s a tie at the top of this list for Tests, as two bowlers have taken the match-winning (final) wicket on 22 occasions: R Ashwin for India, and Australia’s Shane Warne. Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker Muthiah Muralidaran comes next with 18, ahead of his compatriot Rangana Herath with 14, and Waqar Younis on 13.Things are more clear-cut in one-day internationals: Wasim Akram took the last wicket to win a match no fewer than 27 times, well clear of Murali and Glenn McGrath (21). Waqar, Lasith Malinga and Shahid Afridi all did it on 20 occasions.Arthur Milton (left) had one international cap in football and Mike Smith (right) played one rugby union international for England•S&G/PA Photos/Getty ImagesWhen was England’s batting in a Test opened by a football and a rugby international? asked George Clarke from England
This unusual double happened in the third Test against New Zealand at Headingley in 1958, when Mike Smith faced the new ball with Arthur Milton, who went on to score a century on his debut.Even though he wore spectacles, Smith had played one rugby union international for England, against Wales (who won 8-3) at Twickenham in 1956. “I played as an outside centre during my final year at Oxford,” he said. “But I had a poor game and was not selected again.” Milton – a nippy winger for Arsenal, and later Bristol City – won one England football cap, in a 2-2 draw against Austria at Wembley in 1951. “The attack was spoiled by the relative failure of Milton on the right,” concluded the Times. “The occasion and the tension generally were too much for him.”I noticed that Yuzi Chahal batted only once in his first 13 T20Is. Has anyone batted less often? asked Arun Nissar from India
You’re right that the Indian legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal batted only once in his first 13 T20 internationals – but there is someone who didn’t bat at all in his first 13: the Afghanistan seamer Fareed Ahmad, who didn’t bat until his 14th such match, in which he made 24 not out. Despite that promising start, he’s batted only once more in six further matches.Chahal has now played 66 T20Is, and got to the crease only four times. That’s easily the fewest innings by anyone who played so often – next comes another legspinner, New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi, who batted 12 times in his first 66 T20Is. At the other end of the scale, David Warner has played 91 T20Is so far, and batted in all of them.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Clouded and untrusting of his methods, Warner now has the lowest average of any opener to have batted at least 15 times in India

Alex Malcolm17-Feb-20232:35

Chappell: Khawaja was proactive, and frightened the Indians a little bit

David Warner sat in the rooms in the fading light at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The heavy Delhi smog surrounding the ground was perhaps matching some fog in his mind. He didn’t field during the nine overs the India batted, feeling unwell after copping several nasty blows while batting.Warner was peppered by Mohammed Siraj, hit once on the elbow and once on the helmet. Oddly, he received more medical attention on the elbow than the head. He looked like a shadow of the man who had taken on Anrich Nortje’s 150kph thunderbolts six weeks back at the MCG on his way to a knock of 200.He looked tired, slow, and late on the ball. The typical Warner sharpness, the intent to score was not there. He laboured again as he had done in the second innings in Nagpur. He took 21 balls to get off the mark, and when he did, that came via an outside edge. He made just 15 off 44, with two of his three boundaries coming while fending at the ball.Related

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Warner had fallen in similar fashion to the first innings in Nagpur: Mohammed Shami angled one in from around the wicket, and Warner was caught on the crease. Except this time he played inside the line and edged behind, having played outside the line and lost his off stump last week.It is interesting comparing Usman Khawaja and Warner’s batting methods and mindsets. Two men of the same age – 36 – who grew up together in Sydney playing in the same junior teams. One looks calm, content and clear with his plans and his process, and is playing accordingly. The other looks clouded, uncertain and untrusting of his methods.Khawaja top-scored with 81 in Australia’s seemingly under-par total of 263, and showcased the clearest example in the series so far of the proactivity and bravery Australia’s batters have been seeking. The visitors have talked a lot – both publicly and privately – about each batter owning an individual method and mindset in India, in terms of both training on it and then implementing it in the Tests.Khawaja is very rarely the last player in the nets at training, but he was on Wednesday at Australia’s main session. Right at the end of the session, he asked coach Andrew McDonald to throw a spinning ball at him in such a way so he could work on skipping down and hitting inside out over wide mid-off. He then did that to R Ashwin in the first hour in Delhi, charging out of his crease and lofting him gloriously into the stands for six.Usman Khawaja showcased the proactivity and bravery Australia’s batters have been seeking•Getty ImagesHe also unfurled a stack of sweeps and reverse sweeps to find the rope as he scored with freedom against both the quicks and the spinners. Khawaja did have some luck: he was dropped at short leg, where the ball was dipping on Shreyas Iyer, and had numerous inside edges miss the stumps. But his luck ran out when he fell to a stunning catch from KL Rahul. However, his positivity and proactivity was rewarded with more loose balls than what his opening partner Warner was offered. Khawaja spoke after play about the clarity of mind that he has right now.”I just play by feel,” he said. “I play by what I think is right for the wicket. I don’t go out there thinking I want to play a certain way. I just feel how the bowlers are trying to bowl to me and then I read the game from there. So it’s as simple as that. And that’s pretty much what I did today.”Warner, on the other hand, spent all of the Nagpur centre-wicket practice on Monday shoring up his defence to spin. He was working on getting a bigger stride in to smother the turn. But unlike in the lead-up to Nagpur, he hit very few balls ahead of the second Test. He had a short hit on Wednesday and did not train Thursday, having hit for longer than any Australian on the last training day before the first Test. Warner has been anything but consistent in his preparation on this tour, as he continues to search for answers for his Test malaise in India.Warner now has the lowest average of any opener to have batted at least 15 times in India. He tried to trust his defence for 44 balls on Friday. But Warner hasn’t made his name on his defence. His defence has always gone hand in glove when he has been positive with his footwork, strokeplay and mindset. He has 25 Test hundreds, and has been one of the best Test openers of his generation by being positive and proactive.

“Three innings is not enough. There’s still a long way to go in this Test series. I’m looking forward to what may happen.”Usman Khawaja is backing David Warner to hit back on the India tour

And Khawaja disagreed that Warner had gone into his shell on this tour.”He hit two fours of Ashwin last game before he got out lbw, so he was showing some aggression,” Khawaja said. “It’s never easy out there, especially starting out, even if you’re opening. So I was lucky today. I got a couple to get me going. Sometimes you don’t get that, and it can be very hard.”Three innings is not enough for me. I think there’s still a long way to go in this Test series. I’m looking forward to what may happen. Dave has been such a terrific player for such a long time. Every time his back is against the wall, he produces something. So we’ll see.”And there is no word yet on Warner’s health following his stint off the ground.”I think the medical staff will have to assess tomorrow,” Khawaja said. “He is a little bit weary at the moment. He obviously got a knock to the arm and then to the head, and the head has made him a little bit weary at the moment and hence why he didn’t come out to field. I think the medical staff will have to figure out what happens from here on in.”The last time Warner was weary in a Test was when he walked off the MCG with full-body cramps after a back-to-the-wall double-century. He is weary in body and mind right now in the Delhi gloom too, but with only 26 runs in three innings on the India tour.

They were slow, they were steady, they refused to take any risk and they might still end up winning the game

Danyal Rasool29-Dec-2022There’s only one thing to do when Pakistan lay out pitches as flat as these. Attack with the bat, attack with the ball, attack with the field, and attack with the declarations. Be prepared to lose the game if you really want to win it. Send the Nighthawks in, be unpredictable with the bowling changes, surprising with the selections, funky with the fields. Attack the danger, go faster through the smog.It sounds crazy, at times a shade arrogant. It can chafe. But, as Brendon McCullum walked away with the first ever 3-0 clean sweep by a visiting side in Pakistan, the series trophy stowed away in England’s luggage was vindication of that strategy’s success. A plan that works, after all, will always win out, no matter how ornate, intricate and sophisticated Plans B, C, and D look on paper.Related

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Kane Williamson, the man who succeeded McCullum as New Zealand’s Test captain, though, has a sharp enough mind to see that his side – or Tim Southee’s side as it’s now become – doesn’t have the personnel to play in the same frenetic, slapdash manner as England. He might also have noticed that Pakistan don’t really know how to win Test matches at home right now. Their batting line-up is in transition, the bulk of their premier fast bowlers are injured and who keeps wicket has become part of a culture war that has very little to do with cricket.The last week at the PCB has seen one administration swept aside midway through its term and an older one rushed back in. They’re busy taking part in a tedious slanging match of accusations and rebuttals, counter-rebuttals and fresh accusations. In short, there is more than one way to beat Pakistan at the moment, and New Zealand need not rip up the Test guidebook to threaten a fifth straight home defeat on their beleaguered hosts.The third day was moving day, with New Zealand merely intent on ensuring they finished it having overtaken Pakistan’s first innings score. On the fourth, with Williamson well into three-figures and batting with the tail, there was a chance of morning fireworks as New Zealand pressed home their advantage and gave themselves as much time as possible to bowl out Pakistan once more. It was, England had repeatedly told us and showed us, the way to win here.Except, it would take 18 balls for the first run to be scored, and 50 for the first boundary. Williamson, and New Zealand, had no intention of offering up risk for theatre’s sake, and felt no obligation to play to anyone’s instant gratification. New Zealand have, after all, won just 15 Tests in Asia in 67 years. Twenty percent of those came under Williamson’s stewardship. He might never have played here before, but at this point, he has Karachi bending to his will, and he wants to ensure there is as much daylight as possible between his side and Pakistan before a final assault can begin.Kane Williamson remained defiant on the fourth morning as New Zealand’s lead swelled•Associated PressThe 17 overs in the first hour see just 29 runs scored; there are just 79 scored by lunch. Boundaries are as scarce as fully fit Pakistan fast bowlers at the moment, but, and this is the point, wickets are scarcer still. Ish Sodhi – equally disciplined – plays the innings of his life; the 180 balls he faces represent over 21% of his career count. Of the 193 balls in the first session, the pair defend or leave alone 136 – over 70%. In front of largely empty stands on a weekday, it’s not absorbing cricket, but then again, well played Test cricket can often be a difficult watch, particularly on turgid surfaces. These surfaces are especially turgid, and New Zealand are playing Test cricket especially well here.”Any time you go out to bat, you want to prepare as well as you can and try and commit your plans,” Williamson said. “That was the focus here in this match. It was nice to spend a lot of time out there with a number of other guys that made really valuable contributions. Coming into today, we knew we wanted to bat longer and get a few more on the board and the contribution from Ish Sodhi with the bat was really important. It was a nice first innings total and for us it’s lot of work to do and we know we got to take a few wickets tomorrow.”It’s hard to judge really, but for me it was nice to be out there, being a part of a number of partnerships that were really valuable for us getting a competitive total. It has put us in a reasonable position, but we know there’s a lot of hard work to do. In terms of a first innings total as a batting unit, we are pleased with the efforts, but we know that day five of any Test, so many things can unfold and we’re looking forward to that.”It wasn’t until tea that New Zealand finally declared, moments after Williamson had lofted Abrar Ahmed inside out with an exquisite shot that took him to 199, before a nudge to deep square took him to his fifth double-hundred. He is past McCullum now, and also, the first non-Asian batter to register three-figure scores in each of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE.”It’s always a challenge to bat in Asia,” Williamson said, “Slightly different as well. All the countries and opposition are different. I wouldn’t put them all in the same group, but as a team we’re always trying to adjust to the conditions to put a good performance on the board. These were a good few days, but Test cricket going into day five, there’s a lot left in the match, so we’re very much focused on that.”It didn’t always feel like that when Williamson was out there batting. Even as New Zealand’s innings was drawing to a close and he was running out of partners, there was little urgency to get to the personal milestone, or finally get off the square and put Pakistan in for the 10 wickets they needed to take. The umpires even extended the middle session with New Zealand nine down, and yet Williamson was content to pad up to Nauman Ali’s legside drifters, and even played out a maiden against Abrar, exposing Ajaz Patel for a full over. It was all time that was being drained out of the game on a clock Pakistan were only too happy to watch run down.”We’ll have to see if we declared late,” he said. “We wanted to get a few more runs and see the way the pitch is deteriorating a little bit and getting a bit of assistance with the spin. It’s definitely deteriorated a bit, there’s a lot more rough as we saw towards the back end of our innings. There were a few more things to negotiate as a batter, a little bit of variable bounce. We’ll need a lot of hard work and some patience going into tomorrow to try and utilise the assistance off the surface as well as we can.”It’s all very far removed from the last visitors that showed up on these shores. New Zealand, though, don’t seem too bothered about running after the latest fad; indeed, they didn’t seem especially bothered by chasing after a victory here. And yet, with Williamson the master whisperer in that characteristically understated way, they might still end up wooing that victory to come to them.

Looking at pitching lines and lengths for offspinners against right-hand batters tells a story

Kartikeya Date13-Apr-2023Australia toured India for four Tests each in 2017 and 2023 and lost 1-2 both times. On its website, the BCCI publishes scorecards and ball-tracking records for each ball of these series (and others). Readers can look up any ball in a recent Test, ODI, T20I or IPL match played in India, one at a time.Related

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These records make available the pitching point (line and length of the delivery), interception point (the point at which the ball hit the bat, pad or a part of the batter’s body, if at all), and the beehive point (the point at which the ball would have crossed, or did cross, the plane of the stumps). Additionally, the ball-tracking record provides measures of turn, seam movement and speed, among others. This is a treasure trove of information made available by the BCCI.ESPNcricinfo records a control measurement for each delivery. This is an answer (either yes or no) to the question “Did the ball end up where the batter intended?” This article uses these two types of records – ball-tracking and control – to describe the contest between offspinners and right-hand batters in the 2017 and 2023 series.Kartikeya DatePitch maps showing the pitching points and interception points for balls bowled by offspinners to right-hand batters in the two series are in the graphs above and below.Kartikeya DateFirst impressions suggest that the line of attack was straighter in 2023, mostly because the offspinners bowled around the wicket to right-handers most of the time. These distinctions are also shown in the table below. (This table includes all deliveries by offspinners to right-hand batters in these two series for which complete ball-tracking records (pitching, interception, beehive) are available. Records are not complete for 103 balls in the 2017 series and 36 balls in the 2023 series; 15 false shots and one dismissal in 2017 and six false shots and 0 dismissals in 2023 are consequently missed in this record.)