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The allrounder said Australia don’t want to peak too early ahead of the T20 World Cup

Daniel Brettig in Melbourne11-Feb-2020Ellyse Perry has admitted that not all has been smooth-sailing for Australia in the lead-up to their upcoming face-off against India in the triangular series final on Wednesday, as the hosts lost two games out of four (one of them in a Super Over against England) in the competition – the same as the other two teams in the fray. The final, to be played at Junction Oval, will be a key signpost on Australia’s road towards the T20 World Cup final at the MCG on March 8, the showpiece event a major chance for the women’s game to build on its already spectacular growth in terms of broadcast audiences and attendances.Perry, who was awarded the Belinda Clark Medal for 2019 on Monday, however, is confident that the team’s long-term plans, namely that which places her in the middle-order beneath Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner and captain Meg Lanning, are the right ones to tackle a global tournament.Losses to England and India meant that the Australians needed to beat England in their final qualifying match on Sunday to ensure they reached the final, something they did off the back of their powerful pace-bowling contingent, of which Perry is undoubtedly the spearhead. They will be hoping to repeat that performance against India, who had boldly chased down a target of 174 on Saturday with a starburst of shots that left Lanning’s team looking occasionally bereft of answers.”I think it’s been mixed actually. This series has been really important for us in terms of our preparation and ironing out a few kinks,” Perry said. “I think we’ve played a lot of cricket over the last 12 months, more so than we ever have, and it’s something that the boys have dealt with for a long, long period of time but it’s something we’re still coming to grips with and trying to understand.”Initially, when we came back together it’s almost been a little bit rusty, but certainly as the series has gone on and the more time we’ve spent together we’ve been a lot more clinical in the way that we’ve played. So, I think it’s been perfect that we’ve had such a competitive series against two of the other nations in the world that are the best at the moment.”Wednesday will be a great challenge against India given that the last game they chased down a pretty imposing total with relative ease, but you don’t want to be peaking too early, and the fact that we’ve improved as we’ve gone on in this series sets us up really nicely leading into the World Cup. In saying that I think it’s going to be a huge challenge and this series has really highlighted that as well.”A portentous phase of the previous India match arrived when Perry and Rachael Haynes were unable to build on the rapid scoring of Gardner and Lanning earlier in the innings, as they cobbled 22 from 3.1 overs after the duo, part of the top four, had piled up 79 in 7.1 overs together. That deceleration was critical to India being handed a chase that was steep but still gettable. Perry acknowledged it was vital to get the middle-order functioning effectively, in line with Australia’s plans first set down by Lanning and coach Matthew Mott ahead of the previous T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in 2018.”Our eight batters all open for their BBL clubs, so it’s probably not unique to me; it’s relevant across the whole group,” Perry said. “Something we did about 18 months ago leading into the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies was really nail down specific roles within our batting line-up. It’s lovely to have as much depth as we have in our batting line-up but with that comes having some clarity around how each of us should be playing and the strengths of each player.Ellyse Perry, winner of the Belinda Clark medal poses with David Warner, winner of the Allan Border medal•Getty Images

“Particularly in that middle-order there’s a really clear understanding of what each of us needs to do and how we play those roles, so we really enjoy that challenge. When you walk out to open, it’s always the same situation, you face the first over, the first ball, it’s always the same, whereas in the middle-order you can come in early or could be coming in at the end and try to elevate the runs you’ve scored.”It’s been a really nice challenge and something that all of us in the middle-order are quite flexible and adaptable with, and as a formula it’s worked for us in the last 18 months we’ve done it, too.”Thinking keenly about the bigger picture is a part of what has made Perry such a formidable athlete and leader for the game in Australia, as befits a cricketer whose autobiography was titled “Perspective”. She said that the looming home World Cup would be key to her ultimate goal for women’s cricket, that it becomes a self-sustaining and profitable business – in terms of ticket sales and broadcast rights – for generations to come.”The opportunities are massive. There’s a real appetite within the group to continue to grow the women’s game, on Australian shores but also abroad. So, this women’s World Cup is the first of those incredible opportunities and knowing that there’s a goal to fill the MCG for the final the team wants to be there, very much so, and that’s the challenge in front of us,” she said. “But going further forward it’s about continuing to develop things and to me the WBBL is the showpiece of women’s cricket in this country.”I’d love to see it get to the point down the track that it’s elite, it supports itself, so the revenue we generate through ticket sales and broadcast deals and those kinds of things means it’s really standing on its own feet. That in my mind is really the Mecca of women’s cricket.”There’s so much to work on, there’s plenty of opportunity there and, importantly, all the girls see that and really want to be a part of contributing to that, and whether that happens in the generation I play in or generations to come, it doesn’t really matter because I’ve contributed at some point or another. That’s been a true highlight and something I’ll always savour.”

The tourists are yet to win on tour but the shortest format could bridge the gap between the sides

Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2020

Big picture

Bangladesh’s good batting form could be their way out of the rut in T20Is. Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das blew away Zimbabwe with two centuries each in the ODIs, also registering a record opening stand for Bangladesh – 292 in the third ODI.In the same match, Liton broke Tamim’s record for the highest individual score by a Bangladesh batsman slamming 176.But Bangladesh will have plenty of support for the in-form openers in the T20Is. Captain Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim will take care of the middle-order, their experience an ideal foil for the young Mohammad Naim and Afif Hossain. Allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin’s inclusion automatically adds balance to the line-up. They also have the option of continuing with legspinner Aminul Islam, as he can contribute with the bat.All of this will worry Zimbabwe, who were thrashed by an innings in the one-off Test before suffering a three-nil sweep in the ODIs. Their collective failure apart, there have been very few individual performances to celebrate, except Sikandar Raza’s two fifties, and the odd contribution from Wesley Madhevere and Donald Tiripano. They will count on the experience of Sean Williams, Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor with the bat, and hope that newcomers like Charlton Tshuma and Carl Mumba fire with the ball. The nature of the shortest version should also help bridge the gap between the sides.

Form guide

Bangladesh LLLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe WWLWW

In the spotlight

Tamim Iqbal blasted consecutive centuries in the last two ODIs so he will be confident to take on Zimbabwe again. Bangladesh will expect a rollicking start from him, ironically not too long after his strike-rate was called into question against Pakistan.Sikandar Raza was among the runs in the ODIs, scoring two fifties. He remains a key figure in the middle-order, although there could be a case for Zimbabwe to promote him up the order to give him the best chance to win them matches.

Team news

Mushfiqur Rahim will bolster the middle-order after missing Bangladesh’s last T20I series against Pakistan in January. Among the three spinners in the side, it could be a toss-up between legspinner Aminul Islam and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, with Mehidy Hasan a near certainty.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das (wk), 3 Mohammad Naim 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Mohammad Saifuddin, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Aminul Islam/Nasum Ahmed, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Mustafizur RahmanZimbabwe will have a completely different look from the last time they played a T20I, but they are unlikely to make many changes from the side that played the third ODI against Bangladesh. Doubt over captain Chamu Chibhabha’s fitness remains but Craig Ervine has recovered.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 2 Regis Chakabva, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Brendan Taylor (wk), 5 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Wesley Madhevere 7 Richmond Mutumbami, 8 Tinotenda Mutombodzi, 9 Donald Tiripano, 10 Charlton Tshuma, 11 Carl Mumba

Pitch and conditions

The Shere Bangla National Stadium offers a decent T20 pitch these days. Clear weather is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh have a 7-4 win/loss record against Zimbabwe in T20Is.
• Al-Amin Hossain needs two wickets to become Bangladesh’s second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is among pace bowlers.
• In Zimbabwe’s current squad, Sean Williams’ 821 runs is the highest in T20Is

Quotes

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Smith has indicated that South Africa could make the appointment from left field and take a chance on someone with potential

Firdose Moonda17-Apr-2020Quinton de Kock will not be named South Africa’s Test captain even though there is no clear candidate for the position yet. That was confirmed by Graeme Smith, South Africa’s director of cricket, on Friday, who said the risk of overburdening de Kock has resulted in ruling him out of leadership role in all three formats.De Kock was appointed as the country’s white-ball captain in January and succeeded Faf du Plessis, who had been in charge since 2017. Du Plessis also stood down from the Test captaincy but remains available as a player. With South Africa not scheduled to play any Tests before a tour to West Indies in July-August, they have some time before deciding who will lead them in whites but are certain it will not be de Kock.”The one thing I can confirm is that Quinton will be our white-ball captain and he won’t be the Test captain going forward,” Smith said. “We want to keep Quinton fresh and playing well. I’ve always believed, having been in the job myself, that captaining all three formats is challenging. We’ve seen a number of nations trying to figure out what’s best and I think across three formats, it probably doesn’t work.”Among teams competing in the World Test Championship, only India and New Zealand have the same captain across all three formats and although South Africa had the same until this summer, they have also tried multiple captains. When Smith gave up the white-ball captaincy after the 2011 World Cup, AB de Villiers was appointed and during de Villiers’ tenure, he handed first the T20, then the Test and then the ODI reigns to du Plessis. In between, Johan Botha and Hashim Amla had stints as T20 and Test captain, respectively. When du Plessis took over across all formats, consistency was cited as the main reason – not to mention his obvious leadership qualities – but now both the calendar and their own circumstances have forced a change.While the Future Tours Programme has become fluid as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa were set for a fairly busy schedule over the next few months with a white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in June, a tour to West Indies as mentioned, possible white-ball games in Pakistan and a home-series against them, the T20 World Cup and a summer featuring Sri Lanka and Australia in 2020-21. Given that de Kock is also their premier wicket-keeper and has stated his desire to keep the gloves, and that he opens the batting in white-ball cricket, adding the Test captaincy to his load was decided as being too much.ALSO READ: Graeme Smith appointed South Africa’s director of cricket till March 2022“From a workload and mental capacity, we felt that to burden him with all three formats wouldn’t be beneficial for us. And with the style of personality and player that he is, we want to keep him as expressive as possible,” Smith said.But if not de Kock, then who?That’s the question Smith can’t answer just yet with South Africa’s current transition phase meaning that there is no obvious choice. “I can’t tell you who it is going to be. We are in a debate over it,” Smith said. “There’s no one person that you could pinpoint right now and say that’s the guy. There’s still a lot of players that are vying for selection and I think it is the challenge we sit with at the moment. There’s a lot of players on a similar level.”With the retirements of Vernon Philander, Hashim Amla, de Villiers, Dale Steyn (from red-ball cricket), Imran Tahir (from ODIs but not T20s) and JP Duminy in the last year, South Africa have lost a significant part of their senior core. The 2019-20 summer saw them field a total of 33 players across formats and hand out nine new Test caps. Of those, stand-out performers included Rassie van der Dussen and Anrich Nortje, with the former being mentioned as a potential Test captain given his ability to deal with pressure and a relatively consistent run. He was South Africa’s second-highest run-scorer at the 2019 World Cup, behind du Plessis, and fourth-highest in the Test summer after de Kock, Dean Elgar and du Plessis, and has stood out, which is what Smith is looking for. “The challenge for when we do play some cricket is to see who escalates themselves into really consistent performances and who steps up,” he said.But Smith also indicated South Africa could make the appointment from left field and take a chance on someone with potential. “We’ve got to understand the personalities, look at the people and maybe take a risk on someone potentially and back them,” he said. “Coming from a person who a risk was taken on, it is something we would consider.”Smith had played just eight Tests and was 22-years old when he took over from Shaun Pollock and went on to captain for 109 Tests for over 11 years. His own success could prompt South Africa to look for someone who is less secure of his spot in the team than a potential captain might be, which could put Temba Bavuma or Aiden Markram into the frame. Bavuma has experienced captaining the Lions franchise – who have won the first-class title for the past two seasons – but was dropped from the Test side this summer and then recalled after a career-best score of 180 and has massive public support. Markram, on the other hand, led the South Africa under-19 side to the 2014 age-group World Cup title and had been touted as the future senior men’s skipper. He spent most of the summer on the sidelines with a fractured finger, but scored two hundreds in six domestic limited-overs matches on his return and is likely to get his Test spot back.Cricket South Africa have not put a timeline on when they will announce the new Test captain. But with the country on lockdown until the end of April and cricket unlikely to resume for several months, they are in no hurry to hand out the captaincy armband.

The India pace-bowling allrounder says no need to make “superfluous” changes, instead have patience with the evolving women’s players

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2020India pace-bowling allrounder Shikha Pandey has become the latest in a long line of cricketers to offer views on whether women’s cricket needs any tweaks – like smaller balls or shorter pitches – to help it further flourish and attract more fans. In a series of tweets, Pandey on Saturday said “most of the suggestions” to alter the women’s game were “superfluous”.”Please, don’t compare women’s sport, women’s cricket in this case, with men’s sport. We need to see it as a different sport altogether… A sport that 86,174 spectators turned up to watch on March 8, 2020 and several million watched live on their television sets,” she tweeted, referring to the record crowd at the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup between Australia and India at the MCG in March. A mainstay of the Indian attack that finished runners-up both at the 2017 ODI World Cup and the recent T20 World Cup, Pandey wrote, “Reducing the size of the ball is fine, but as Ian Smith suggested, it only works if the weight remains the same. This will allow for bowlers to grip the ball better – more revs for the spinners – and hits will also travel further (not be the case if it is light).”As for reducing the length of the pitch from 22 yards, Pandey said: “An Olympic 100m female sprinter doesn’t run 80m to win First place medal and clock the same timing as her male counterpart,” she wrote. “So the whole ‘decreasing the length of the pitch’ for whatever reasons seems dubious. Also, it almost definitely takes the double-headers [with the men’s teams] out of question.”Instead of “tinkering with rules or the very fabric of the game to attract an audience”, Pandey said, “Growth can be achieved by marketing the sport well.”She also advocated more technology in the women’s game. “Why not have DRS, Snicko, Hotspot, all of the technical acumen and live broadcast for every game that we play anywhere in the world.” Potential changes to the women’s game, such as using a shorter pitch and a smaller ball, were suggested by New Zealand captain Sophie Devine and India batter Jemimah Rodrigues in a recent webinar conducted by the ICC. Then, in a series of interviews by ESPNcricinfo last week, the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Rachael Haynes, Lea Tahuhu, Kate Cross and Nida Dar had also laid out their views on the debate.”If it [the act of proposing tweaks] is about bringing it [women’s cricket] aesthetically closer to the men’s game, I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. The women’s game is a good product that’s continuing to evolve & make its own mark,” Haynes said.ALSO READ: Should the women’s game use a shorter pitch and a smaller ball?Tahuhu pointed out that “if you’re having to prepare two-sized pitches, then you lose out the opportunity to host double-headers with men, while Mandhana added: “Although I feel women’s cricket is exciting as it is… reducing the length might make it interesting from the viewer’s perspective.”Cross and Dar emphasised that better infrastructural and monetary investment and more publicity on the part of the media is the ideal way to the take the women’s game forward. “Having the WBBL, the KSL, the Hundred or a women’s IPL – that’s the kind of change the women’s game needs,” said Cross, while Dar wondered, “How about publicising the matches rigorously on social media and mainstream media? … Give players more incentive to raise the standard of the game and things will get more entertaining.”

Battling sixth-wicket stand takes visitors into slender lead ahead of final day

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2020Northamptonshire 142 (Stone 4-39) and 317 for 6 (Thurston 96, Rossington 60*, Curran 58) lead Warwickshire 369 for 8 (Bresnan 105, Yates 88, Thomson) by 90 runs Northamptonshire fought back hard to stall Warwickshire’s victory push on the third day of a compelling Bob Willis Trophy tussle at Edgbaston. Trailing by 227 on first innings, the visitors closed the third day on 317 for 6, for a lead of 90. Quick wickets on the final morning would still leave the home side strongly placed for victory but Northamptonshire have put themselves right back in the game.When, shortly after lunch, they declined to 148 for 5, still 79 behind, defeat beckoned inside three days. But Charlie Thurston, who made 96 off 168, and Adam Rossington added 159 in 48 overs, a Northamptonshire sixth-wicket record against Warwickshire, to set up an interesting last day.For the Bears, there was frustration after their domination of the first two days. They were hampered by the absence of England paceman Olly Stone who took the field at start of play but did not bowl before leaving as a precaution after feeling some discomfort in his side. The problem does not appear serious, as he took the drinks out to his team-mates a short time later, but no risks will be taken with a player who is firmly in England’s reckoning.Without Stone, as the day wore on, Warwickshire’s attack looked much less potent than in the first innings, though they made strong progress at first. After Northamptonshire resumed on 19 without loss, they soon lost Emilio Gay who edged Olly Hannon-Dalby to Tim Bresnan at first slip.The impressive Hannon-Dalby had both Ben Curran and Ricardo Vasconcelos dropped in the cordon and the pair took advantage of their reprieves to add 79 in 19 overs. Curran batted fluently for 58 from 88 balls, his fifth first-class half-century, which arrived during a flurry of four fours in an over from Ryan Sidebottom. The 24-year-old’s hopes of advancing to a maiden century were ended in the next over when he fell lbw to Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes.Northamptonshire looked solid at 135 for 2 at lunch but lost three wickets in the first eight overs of the afternoon session. Vasconcelos departed in careless fashion when he lifted Alex Thomson to short extra cover and Rob Keogh chipped Tim Bresnan loosely to point but Saif Zaib was blameless, nicking an away-swinger from Bresnan to complete a pair.Northamptonshire looked to be hurtling towards defeat but Thurston and Rossington shored up the innings with intelligent, compact batting. Thurston reached his half-century from 92 balls with Rossington following to his from 117 in two-and-a-half hours’ worth of true captain’s innings.They were separated late in the day when Warwickshire had eight overs with the new ball. In the second of them, Bresnan continued his excellent debut by trapping Thurston lbw but the resolute Rossington remained to take the fight into the final day.

Buttler left England camp on Sunday but is expected to return for Australia ODIs

Matt Roller07-Sep-2020Jos Buttler will miss England’s final T20I of the summer for family reasons. Buttler, who hit a match-winning 77 not out in the second game of England’s series against Australia on Sunday, left the biosecure bubble at the Ageas Bowl following the game.Subject to Covid-19 testing, Buttler will be return to the England camp when they move up to Manchester, and will be available for the first ODI against Australia on Friday.Buttler’s absence may mean an opportunity at the top of the order for Tom Banton, who has been used in an unfamiliar No. 4 role so far in the series and has made 10 runs in two innings.There are also concerns over the availability of Eoin Morgan, who hurt the ring finger on his right hand in the field in Sunday’s win.Morgan went off with his finger – the same one he had fractured playing for Middlesex in 2018 – pointing the wrong way, but returned to the field with it strapped up at the end of the over and was fit to bat. With the series won, England may take the view that it is not worth risking him. If he is unavailable, Moeen Ali – vice-captain during the ODI series against Ireland earlier this summer – would be the likely stand-in.

Mark Wood also handed white-ball contract only after limited Test appearances in 2020

Andrew Miller30-Sep-2020Ashley Giles, England’s director of men’s cricket, believes that Jonny Bairstow still has the hunger to regain his Test place, despite his exclusion from the ECB’s list of red-ball contracts for 2020-21.Bairstow, who turned 31 this week, has played just one Test match in the past 12 months, making scores of 1 and 9 against South Africa at Centurion after being called into the team as a late replacement for Ollie Pope, one of the men who has now taken his place on that contracts list.Bairstow had previously been omitted from England’s Test squad to tour New Zealand last November, after averaging 23.77 in a low-key Ashes series – a far cry from his form in the 2016 calendar year, when he amassed 1470 runs at 58.80 in 17 Tests.ALSO READ: Pope, Crawley, Sibley earn maiden Test contractsHe has instead been awarded a white-ball contract, having reaffirmed his status as one of the world’s premier limited-overs batsmen with a series of commanding displays this summer against Ireland, Pakistan and Australia, against whom he scored his tenth ODI hundred in the final match of the season at the Ageas Bowl.With Jos Buttler tightening his grip on the Test wicketkeeper’s role against Pakistan, and with a trio of young batsmen – Pope, Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley – earning their first Test contracts following their recent breakthrough performances, Bairstow’s route back to the Test side is not an easy one, but Giles backed him to fight for his place nonetheless.”He’s taken it as well as you could expect, because it’s hard news to hear, but I hope it leaves him very hungry to continue, and have a really important part to play in the future of English Test cricket,” Giles said. “It’s a knock for him I’m sure. Johnny’s played one Test match in the year, and we only have so many contracts that we can award.”It’s a tough call to make because Jonny has been very good servant for the team, but he remains a really important part of what we do. He’s a white-ball centrally contracted player and one of our most dangerous players in that format, and that hasn’t changed, but we’ll do everything we can to support him getting back into that Test team.Another notable absentee on the Test list is Mark Wood, who appeared to have confirmed his arrival in red-ball cricket when he was named player of the match twice in the space of three overseas Tests last year, following a pair of searingly quick displays in St Lucia and Johannesburg.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Despite his ability to bowl well in excess of 90mph – a trait which makes him one of their most precious assets in the lead-up to next winter’s Ashes tour – Wood featured in just three Tests all told in the past 12 months, including a solitary outing in England’s defeat against West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in July.And, given the financial constraints being imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic – ones which may yet require England’s players to take a pay cut this year – Giles admitted that there were others ahead of Wood in the pecking order for a contract right now.”He’d certainly be my plans and I’m sure he’s in the selectors’ plans,” Giles said. “The impact Mark Wood has is huge when he’s on the field, but in terms of that pecking order, Sam Curran for example, may be seen as someone who’s in and out of the team, but he’s played eight Test matches, and has also impacted every match when he takes the field.”Wood, like Bairstow, has been handed a white-ball contract, and as Giles noted, that will still enable the ECB to keep a close eye on his form and, most pertinently, his fitness, given the frequency of the injuries that have pockmarked his career.”He plays across formats, he’s still under our umbrella,” Giles said. “He’s a fully white-ball contracted player, so we look after him. And we understand his shock ability. When he’s on form and when he’s on the field we need to look after that, and having him available for an Ashes series is really important to us.”England’s winter itinerary remains up in the air, with no confirmation as yet of any plans for their tours of South Africa, Sri Lanka and India. But with Australia’s Big Bash set to take place in December and January, Giles said that Wood may well be free to play a part in that tournament, in spite of the injury risks.”We’ll treat every case as an individual,” he said. “Ultimately we are his employer and paymasters, but it will be a discussion and collaboration. We want to do what’s best for Mark Wood. It doesn’t make any sense him just sitting on the sidelines all the time when he’s fit, but we need to get that balance and workload right.”One continued area of concern for England is the absence of a contracted Test spinner, especially with tours of the subcontinent looming for England. Despite his recent dip in form, Moeen Ali has retained his white-ball contract, but there’s no place on either list for Jack Leach or Dom Bess, who who have been awarded incremental contracts instead.”It is an area that we still need to work on,” Giles said “Jack and Dom have played important roles for us, and Dom made really good progress this summer, but again there are only so many awards to be made. I hope we see one of those guys develop over this next 12 months again, because I’d love to be offering a full contract to one of our spinners, definitely.”England’s outstanding spinner of the past 12 months, albeit in white-ball cricket only, has been Adil Rashid, who appeared to be fully recovered from the shoulder injury that hampered his impact at the World Cup. He has not played Test cricket for England since the first Test in Barbados in January 2019, which was also his most recent first-class appearance, but Giles admitted England had not ruled out considering him for the challenge of beating India overseas.”Those conversations are always ongoing with the coach and selectors,” he said. “We need to give ourselves options. The challenge of winning in India is a big one – I don’t think anyone’s underestimating that – but the more variation we can have in our attack, the better.”We’re lucky with the impact Adil’s had on white-ball cricket particularly, but I hope he still has the desire, and I’m sure he still has the ability, to have an impact in red-ball cricket as well.”

Kalpana Venkatachar, Arati Vaidya, Mithu Mukherjee and Renu Margrate the others in the panel

Annesha Ghosh26-Sep-2020Neetu David, the former India left-arm spinner, has been appointed as the chairperson of the new women’s national selection panel, with former cricketers V Kalpana, Arati Vaidya, Mithu Mukherjee and Renu Margrate the others in the panel.ESPNcricinfo understands that no clear tenure has been defined for the new selectors yet, but their first assignment would likely be to select the squads for the upcoming three-team Women’s T20 Challenge, slated to be held from November 1-10 in the UAE alongside the IPL 2020 playoffs.The BCCI had put out an advertisement on their website inviting applications in January. In it, while the criteria were listed – the age limit was 60, international playing experience was mandatory, and the candidates should have been retired for at least five years – no details of the tenure of the new appointments were provided, and there was no update in the board statement issued on Saturday.It, however, remains unclear as to who selected the new selectors.According to the board’s constitution, the Apex Council is required to direct the BCCI to choose the selectors, and then the panel is “to be appointed by the BCCI at the Annual General Meeting [AGM], on such terms and conditions as may be decided by the Apex Council from time to time”. In the case of the latest appointments, it’s worth noting that the BCCI had postponed its September 30 AGM indefinitely because of the Covid-19 pandemic.In late July, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had told ESPNcricinfo that the board “will start making the appointments [in due course of time]” because there was no cricket on, and the lockdown had meant no proper meetings at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.”It is going to take some time because this needs following of protocol as interviews will need to be taken by a committee as per the BCCI’s new constitution, and this will have to be cleared by them, and it’s very difficult to do it without a face-to-face meeting,” he had said. “Since there is no women’s cricket at the moment till October, I think we will get it done before that.”Central zone’s David was appointed the chief of the panel on account of her seniority over Kalpana (south), Vaidya (west), Mukherjee (east) and Margrate (north), the usual rule with such appointments.David, arguably the best female spinner to have played for India, took 182 wickets in her international career, 41 in ten Tests and 141 in 97 ODIs, between 1995 and 2008. She continues to hold the world record for the best innings figures in women’s Test history, her 8 for 53 against England in Jamshedpur in November 1995 still the only instance of a woman picking up eight wickets in a Test innings.The previous selection panel, led by Hemlata Kala, was handed an extension in October last year and officially finished its term on January 22, after the final of the quadrangular series featuring India A, India B, Thailand and Bangladesh in Patna. Members of the panel, though, were in Australia for the T20 World Cup in February-March.

“I have been very fortunate I haven’t been smacked around yet, but that’s going to come unfortunately”

Shashank Kishore24-Oct-20207:36

Has Chris Morris fixed RCB’s death bowling issues?

Six weeks into IPL 2020, Chris Morris has been hailed as the change Royal Challengers Bangalore needed. He provides spark with the new ball, cleans up lower orders at the death, gives them an imposing presence on the field with his rocket arm, and brings with him the potential to be a finisher. To understand why he has been such a key part of the jigsaw, let us rewind to December 2019.It is the build-up to the mini-auction in Kolkata. The Royal Challengers want Morris at any cost. At each of their mock auctions, the price for him has shot through the roof. However, Mike Hesson, the director of cricket, keeps going. It isn’t out of desperation, but because of their innate belief on an X-factor player.Forget about having someone of the skillsets Morris has – 140kph plus, can turn up at the death and nail yorkers, besides hitting big from the outset. The Royal Challengers have struggled to just have a consistent allrounder in their set up. In 2016 and 2017, they had Shane Watson. Then in 2018 and 2019, they had Marcus Stoinis. Neither thrived, for a variety of factors – not least being the chop-and-change policy they’ve since shelved for consistency. Kolkata Knight Riders have Andre Russell. Mumbai Indians have Kieron Pollard. Chennai Super Kings have Dwayne Bravo. There’s a reason the Royal Challengers want him.On auction day, the Royal Challengers enter the bidding at INR 1.7 crore, and go right through to the end. They even discuss among themselves the prospect of placing a next bid after raising the paddle at INR 10 crore. Mumbai Indians back out, Hesson and Katich quietly celebrate. They’ve got their man.Fast-forward to September 2020. Royal Challengers have just finished their mandatory quarantine, and are training at the ICC Academy in Dubai. Morris is among the last to turn out to bat, after an exciting first net session with the ball. As Morris swings hard, he feels a pull in his stomach and immediately knows something is off. A precautionary scan reveals a strain to the stomach muscle. It’s just week one, and while there’s three weeks to go for the tournament to begin, Morris isn’t part of much of the build-up. But because he’s such an integral member of the squad, they’re giving every opportunity to put himself back on the field.Chris Morris celebrates a wicket with Isuru Udana•BCCI

Sending him home after spending tons and tons of hours of time and energy at the mock auction, real auction, over numerous zoom sessions Hesson and Katich conducted in preparation for the season – both in March and August – individually to ensure all their players are up for it mentally, wasn’t even an option. It’s this sentiment of being made to feel wanted that seals Morris’ bond with his new franchise, his fourth in the IPL after the Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils.”Give me somebody who doesn’t like the feeling of being wanted – whether in sport, in a relationship or just in life in general,” Morris asks. “It’s just nice to feel important. The medical staff were incredible. For them to get me back on the park was really good. I’ve never had that type of injury before. It was a new thing for me.”The Royal Challengers’ physio office in their hotel wing is open at 7am every day. Players zoom in and out for their sessions, and Morris is regular. Six weeks of exercises, rehabilitation, rest – where he doesn’t try to risk himself to the extent of having a swing on the golf simulator – is all worth it. Morris is fit, and the Royal Challengers are readying themselves to bring him into the competition five games in. It may seem all good now in hindsight that they waited on him, but Morris himself was full of apprehension as he raced against time to be fit.”I didn’t know what to expect or how long it was going to take,” he says. “We worked really hard. It was a tough four and half weeks for myself and the medical team. We grafted in the gym, we grafted on treatment tables. It was day-in, day-out. I had the machine in my room treating myself throughout the night. Literally, I would wake up every two hours and ice myself throughout the night. It was a hard graft and here we are. We are happy to be playing. As a medical team, they were all happy I can get back on the field and start playing.”Morris immediately impressed in his first outing, against his former team Super Kings, by opening with 3 for 19 off his four overs. Since then, he has delivered one telling performance after another. So far, he has nine wickets in six outings. More than 50% of his 120 deliveries so far have been dot balls. His powerplay economy is an outstanding 4.5, with his death-overs economy pegged at 6.38.Chris Morris has been a valuable addition to RCB•BCCI

His Smart Economy of 3.67 is second-best to team-mate Washington Sundar. This component factors in the match economy, the phase of the game where he bowled and the pressure on his team after he bowled his overs. All of this points to something having worked for him lately. For Morris, this isn’t about the technical adjustments he has made. It’s mental. And it revolves around the philosophy that the next ball is the most important ball he’ll bowl.”Ah, I think I’m in a blessed position, to be honest,” he says. “So, there are high pressure points that you want to be in as a cricketer. That’s where you want to get tested as a cricketer. You get to bowl fast, bowl yorkers and smash sixes (laughs). What more do you want? I have been very fortunate. I haven’t been really smacked (around in IPL) yet, but that’s going to come unfortunately. That’s the nature of the beast — the IPL.”I just have to keep my clarity. The moment you lose clarity of what you want to do, that’s when everything gets side-tracked. The bounce-back ability needs to be good. As a new-ball and death bowler, you are going to get hit for six, you will get inside-edges for fours. It is about how you fix the next ball. If the next ball gets hit for a six, then just bowl the next, keep repeating, give your best. You have to continue to get better. Like I said, I’ve been very lucky, I have got wickets, I haven’t been hit for runs. I hope it continues, if it doesn’t it is about how you limit it. It is a tough game, but I enjoy doing it.”Morris agrees all the change in thought process has taken a while coming. A forced break due to Covid-19 somewhat hampered his plans. At 33, he’s more than past the halfway stage of his career, but Morris isn’t on the lookout to make up for lost time. Having been injured at various times in his career, experience, he says, has taught him to look at every opportunity as a blessing and how not playing with the fear of injuries and with a clear thought process of what he wants to execute in every game helps him balance out the good days with the bad.Chris Morris dives forward for a brilliant catch•BCCI

“I haven’t had muddled messages coming around,” he says. “It’s like ‘this is what I want to do’, ‘this is how I want to do’, and then you execute. If something goes wrong, you then go on to Plan B, because we have a Plan B. Or else, Plan C. What has worked for me is a lot of clarity and what the execution needs to be. We do a lot of homework. Everything that happens behind the scenes, we work so hard that by the time we get to the game, we know what we want and then it’s up to us to execute. Our plans are very clear.”Once you’re clear about what you need to do, it’s a lot more easier for Virat (Kohli) to worry about field placements and stuff because most of us know what to do by the time we get to the top of our mark. Playing under Virat is very good. The biggest thing for me is he expects excellence, he expects you to put the work in because he puts the work in. Like I said, behind the scene we’re putting all the work in. We’re thinking about the game even before we get into the game. So it’s been really good to play under him. He just exudes that energy that he wants to win all the time, like just want to get into the game. That’s what his attribute to the team is apart from performance. “Clear plans, hard work and fitness aside, Morris is soaking in the experience of mentoring young Indian fast bowlers. In an age where ‘mentorship’ is loosely thrown around every senior player, the Royal Challengers have walked the extra mile in ensuring senior members of their squad spend time with their paired-up juniors. It doesn’t necessarily revolve around just skillsets or fitness. It can be life lessons too, chats about what makes them tick, what doesn’t. How their life is back home outside of cricket. Incidentally, these were the lessons Morris says he learnt from “legend” Dale Steyn, who he now can call a friend. Morris couldn’t have imagined, when he was growing up in the diamond town of Kimberley, wanting to bowl fast, that he could even have a conversation with Steyn. Today, he has shared dressing rooms with him at South Africa and now at the Royal Challengers.Chris Morris had a big impact in his comeback match•BCCI

“Dale is a legend. Why I have been lucky is because he is not just a mentor, he is actually one of my friends,” he says. “I pinch myself every now and then and say, Dale is my friend. We love to spend time and do things together. We are also very similar in our interests of sport. We also have similar music tastes. So, we click very well and we speak a lot of rubbish together. I’m very lucky not just to have him in the change room but also as my mate. His inputs have been so important and valuable. For me, more important for me with Dale is not the stuff that we talk on the field but more the stuff the stuff we talk about off the field, in life in general. For a guy who’s been playing since he was 20 and to almost being 47 now, I’m joking. For him to be 38 and still do what he does is incredible. The stuff that we talk about and the stuff he brings to the team is invaluable.”What about life in a bubble? Surely that would’ve been challenging in the midst of a demanding tournament?”It’s been different, at the beginning I honestly thought it’ll be a lot worse, I will get bored and lose my mind, but luckily we’ve got a good bunch of guys,” he says. “The RCB management have been unbelievable by putting together that team room. That has been amazing. We’ve got a pool to ourselves, we’ve got a private beach. We had a barbeque [last week], all of us outside. It was awesome with cricket on the big screen. We’ve got a golf simulator, so we have got everything that we want. We’re lucky with the way RCB has spoilt us players, and all the effort they have put in to keep us happy and comfortable has been incredible. So for us, the bio-bubble has been really cool, a lot of fun and hopefully if we get to spend an extra week, hopefully we do, it’ll be quite nice.”

Suggests possibility of split-captaincy, with Kohli continuing to lead in Tests.

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2020Gautam Gambhir, the former India batsman, believes it will be a “shame” and “Indian cricket’s misfortune” if Rohit Sharma isn’t considered for the full-time white-ball captaincy going forward.Gambhir was speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out soon after Sharma led Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL crown, by beating the Delhi Capitals by five wickets in Dubai. Apart from leaving his mark as a captain on the field, Sharma killed off the chase by scoring a quickfire 68 to set up an easy win.”If Rohit Sharma doesn’t become India’s captain, it’s their loss, not Rohit’s,” Gambhir said. “Yes, a captain is only as good as his team and I completely agree with that, but what are the parameters to judge a captain on who is good and who isn’t? The parameters and benchmark should be the same. Rohit has led his team to five IPL titles.”Gambhir had earlier in the tournament spoken of the need for Virat Kohli, India’s current captain across formats, to be accountable for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are yet to win an IPL title in 13 seasons – Kohli has been captain for eight of those. The franchise have made the playoffs only three times under Kohli’s captaincy – this year, they crashed out in the Eliminator to finish the tournament with five consecutive losses.”We keep saying MS Dhoni is India’s most successful captain. Why? Because he has won two World Cups and three IPLs,” Gambhir said. “Rohit has won five IPL titles, he is the most successful captain in the history of the tournament. Going forward, it’ll be a shame if he doesn’t get India’s white-ball or just T20 captaincy. Because he can’t do much more than this. He can only help the team he captains to victories. So if he doesn’t become India’s regular white-ball captain, it will be their loss.”Rohit Sharma sports a pensive look•BCCI

Gambhir also clarified this was by no means a suggestion that Kohli’s captaincy was “poor”, but merely an observation of who is more suited to the job, given they both started captaining their IPL franchise around the same time, in 2013. Kohli took over the captaincy mid-season that year from Daniel Vettori, while Ricky Ponting stepped down to hand over the reins to Sharma after a poor start.Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles – in 2012 and 2014 – even suggested India could consider a split-captaincy model going forward, with Kohli continuing to lead in Test cricket and Sharma taking over the white-ball captaincy.”They can also consider split-captaincy,” he said. “No one is poor. Rohit has shown in white-ball cricket how big the difference is between his and Virat’s captaincy. One player had led his team to five titles, the other hasn’t won yet. I’m not saying this because Kohli is a poor captain. But he has received the same platform that Rohit has, so you have to judge both of them on the same parameters. Both have been captains in the IPL for the same length of time. I feel Rohit stands out as a leader.”