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A win guarantees a place in the playoffs for Perth Scorchers, but it may not for Sydney Thunder or Hobart Hurricanes

Shiva Jayaraman25-Jan-2020Brisbane Heat have come back strongly into the reckoning for the playoffs on the back of a 37-ball 71 from AB de Villiers to climb up to No. 5 on the ladder. The 71-run win over the Melbourne Stars also improved their net run rate (NRR) from -0.58 to -0.23. It might come in handy should qualification come down to NRR. A tie on points is still possible in the event of a no-result in one of the remaining matches and a favourable result in the other. Heat will qualify for the playoffs irrespective of other results if they win against Renegades on Monday.While Heat will know exactly what they need to do when they take on Renegades on Monday, here’s a look at what Sunday’s matches mean for the four teams involved.

Sydney Thunder v Perth Scorchers

Sydney Thunder, Points 11Thunder’s best chance to qualify is by winning this match, and winning it by as big a margin as possible. That will ensure they move ahead of the Hobart Hurricanes on NRR. If Heat beat the Renegades on Monday and the Hurricanes win their match against the Adelaide Strikers, it will come down to NRR between Thunder and the Hurricanes.Here’s an illustration of what Thunder would need to do to push their NRR above the Hurricanes’.If Thunder and the Hurricanes score 180 batting first in their respective games, then Thunder have to beat the Scorchers by at least 14 runs to stand a chance of qualifying ahead of Hurricanes if the latter win by the narrowest of margins.If Thunder and the Hurricanes concede 180 bowling first in their respective matches, then Thunder have to beat the Scorchers with at least 10 balls to spare to get ahead of the Hurricanes if the latter win off the last ball of the match against the Strikers (this will change based on the Hurricanes’ final score).If Thunder beat the Scorchers, but not by a margin that’s big enough to take them ahead of the Hurricanes on NRR (and if the Hurricanes beat the Strikers), the Thunder can still qualify on points if Heat lose to the Renegades in the final match of the league stage.If Thunder beat the Scorchers and one of either Hurricanes or Heat lose their respective matches, then Thunder will qualify on points.Josh Inglis goes hard on the leg side•Getty Images If the Scorchers win, they qualify. If they lose, they have to make sure their NRR doesn’t suffer by much. To qualify on 12 points, they will need both the Hurricanes and Heat to lose their respective matches. They will also require Heat to lose by a margin that is big enough to keep the Brisbane team below them on NRR.If the Scorchers lose to Thunder, the Hurricanes-Strikers match is washed out, and the Renegades beat Heat on Monday, it will be a three-way tie on 12 points among the Scorchers, the Hurricanes and Heat. The fifth place will then be decided on NRR.

Adelaide Strikers v Hobart Hurricanes

Hobart Hurricanes, Points 11They are in the same boat as Thunder. Their best chance to qualify is to beat the Strikers by a margin that is big enough for them to stay ahead of Thunder should it come down to NRR. Hurricanes will have the benefit of knowing exactly what to do to stay ahead of Thunder since they play the second match on Sunday.If Thunder lose to the Scorchers and the Hurricanes beat the Strikers, then it will boil down to the result in Monday’s match between Heat and the Renegades. If Heat lose, Hurricanes will make the playoffs. They won’t if Heat win.Adelaide Strikers, Points 17They have to win their final match to finish in second place. They will tie with the Sydney Sixers on points but will be comfortably ahead of the Sydney team on NRR.

Adelaide under lights looms not only as a historic moment in the saga of Australia-England encounters, but also a shift in the balance of home and away that has prevailed over the previous two series

Daniel Brettig27-Oct-2017A pink ball and a grassy pitch might just have built Jerusalem on Adelaide’s green and pleasant oval. On a day when Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins returned to the Sheffield Shield by way of Ashes preparation, it was the lower velocity offerings of Trent Copeland, Chadd Sayers and Daniel Worrall that opened up a fascinating poser for Australia ahead of England’s arrival to defend the urn.The pitch prepared by curator Damian Hough for the meeting between South Australia and New South Wales is effectively a rehearsal for the surface on which the second Test of the series will be played, complete with the same amount of grass left on the surface to help aid the longevity of the pink Kookaburra ball. In front of a vocal Friday afternoon crowd, Copeland made the very most of it, before Sayers and Worrall also enjoyed themselves.In both the day-night Tests played so far in Adelaide, there has been plenty of assistance for the seam bowlers, capitalised upon most ably by Josh Hazlewood on both occasions. While the strip prepared for the dead rubber between Australia and South Africa last year was less verdant than that used in the first pink-ball Test between Australia and New Zealand in 2015, it still offered the prospect of the seam gripping in grass oft-described as “thatchy” by competing players.This was certainly the case for the delivery Cummins summoned to claim the first wicket of the Shield match, a sharp nip-backer that proved much too good for John Dalton. Australia’s captain Steven Smith will hope that Cummins can find similar deviation during the corresponding Test match, but he will also be given pause by the way Copeland was subsequently able to make the ball talk when putting together a spell that routed the Redbacks.When lined up against the likely Ashes bowlers, Copeland is much closer to the fashion of a Chris Woakes or James Anderson than Cummins or Starc, and they will note with some interest the way he was able to exploit seam movement well before the Adelaide Oval’s lights needed to be switched on.One-Test man Callum Ferguson was tempted to play at a ball nipping away towards a fifth stump and edged to third slip. Jake Lehmann was pinned lbw by a break-back delivered from around the wicket. Tom Cooper found himself bowled first ball by a delivery that held its line after pitching to flick the outside of the off stump. Travis Head was taken at mid-on from a ball that held up after the seam held momentarily in the aforementioned grass, and a couple of tail-end wafts gave Copeland figures of 6 for 24. An innings lasting a mere 33.3 overs afforded Alex Carey, the last man out, precious little chance to press his Test claims.The pitches produced for Australia’s 5-0 Ashes sweep in 2013-14 – especially those for the decisive first three matches in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth – shared in common a hardness and bounce that played into the hands of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle without offering too much in the way of sideways deviation for Anderson and Stuart Broad. But when Michael Clarke’s heavily favoured team toured England in 2015, it was the green seamers of Birmingham and Nottingham, both explicitly requested by England’s coach Trevor Bayliss after a lop-sided Australian win on a drier Lord’s pitch, that exposed many Antipodean weaknesses against a moving ball.England, of course, are much the poorer in terms of experience against the pink ball, having played only one day-night Test against West Indies earlier this year as opposed to Australia’s three, not to mention a plethora of floodlit Shield matches over the past five seasons. But the sight of a ball darting around off the seam – of any colour – is something Englishmen are habitually more comfortable with than Australians, and the lead taken by Cricket Australia in pushing the pink ball has offered Joe Root’s tourists an opportunity that they would not previously have expected in Adelaide, of all places.The failure of South Australia’s batsmen to cope with Copeland, plus the concurrent, rapid fall of Queensland and Victoria wickets on a grassy-early season pitch at the Gabba, provided a reminder that the moving ball blind spot still exists Down Under. Once New South Wales took their earlier-than-expected chance to bat, Worrall and Sayers were likewise able to deceive Nic Maddinson and Smith, who was artfully squared up by a trio of away seamers before falling lbw to another angled in.So it is that Adelaide under lights looms not only as a historic moment in the saga of Australia-England encounters, but also a shift in the balance of home and away that has prevailed over the previous two series.

The ICC’s plans to bring meaningful context to the format and to expand its horizons have been rejected before, but this time things are looking up

Tim Wigmore13-Jun-2016Since it was first played in 1877, Test cricket has been a byword for conservatism. This image of a game impervious to shifting sands conceals how much has actually been altered: Tests have been scheduled over three, four, five, six or unlimited days, on uncovered or covered pitches; overs have been six or eight balls long, delivered by cricketers bowling underarm or overarm; the number of teams has risen from two to ten; and in recent years, the DRS and day-night games have been introduced. Evolution has been constant.Yet perhaps none of these changes are as significant as the ones that could be ratified at the end of June. The introduction of two divisions – seven teams in Division One, and five, including two new Test nations, in Division Two, playing under a league system to determine promotion and relegation every two years – would give Test cricket a context and structure that it has always lacked.Meritocracy would no longer be anathema to Test cricket. Any of the ICC’s 105 members would have the opportunity to reach the pinnacle, based on their performances. Order would be created out of Test cricket’s chaotic, disjointed and sometimes downright irrational scheduling. It would be the most radical move in the history of the Test game, and it is envisaged it will lead to Tests generating more interest and cash, safeguarding the longest format’s future.”Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” Mark Twain once bemoaned. The same has long been true about “protecting the primacy of Test cricket”: much talked about by administrators but seldom acted upon. Day-night Tests are welcome but don’t address how to give Tests greater relevance. The idea of points across formats in a series, introduced by England this summer, is an attempt to create more context, but how is a series super if it does not count towards anything?This time no one can accuse the ICC of modest tweaking while being oblivious to the fundamental issues Tests face, the administrative equivalent of debating the colour of the curtains while the house is burning down. Led by David Richardson, the ICC has come up with a plan that it believes can save Test cricket, and ensure it can peacefully coexist with T20.Each team in Division One would play every other side home or away over a two-year cycle. Most of these would be three-match series – so nine Tests at home and nine away every two years, 18 in total. Each match and each series would be apportioned a certain number of points. It could be as simple as three points for a win in a match, and one for a draw, though the details are still being thrashed out. These points determine the overall standings. At the end of each two-year cycle – the first would begin after the 2019 World Cup and end in early 2021 – there would be a winner of Division One, effectively a winner of the World Test League, and the bottom side that would be relegated.Unlike now, when the Test rankings have little integrity, and are fiendishly complicated, such a structure would be simple and easily understood, and build towards producing a clearly identifiable winner. Never again would we have a new No. 1 for bureaucratic reasons, as often happens when old results are discounted from the rankings every April and the Test mace changes hands.

Moving the World T20 back to every two years will raise $400-500 million in extra profit every eight-year cycle. These funds would be more than enough to bankroll the two Test divisions

Division Two would be structured similarly to Division One, but it would only include five teams, with each playing the other home or away, perhaps in two-Test series, amounting to eight Tests each every two years. The winner would automatically be promoted, while the side finishing second might have a playoff, against the team finishing sixth in Division One, to determine who would be in Division One for the next cycle.The bottom team in Division Two would face a playoff with the top team in the Intercontinental Cup, which would remain a first-class competition. The I-Cup would be played by six countries – playing two matches at home every two years and two away, with the final round played out concurrently in the UAE – and the bottom side would also face relegation, probably after a playoff with the leading team in the World Cricket League structure below the I-Cup.Aspects of this plan might sound familiar, and in many ways they are. Something similar was proposed by Rohan Sajdeh of the Boston Consulting Group in 2008 (which had been commissioned by Cricket Australia) but was rejected, partly because teams did not get enough freedom in the schedule to stage the most lucrative series. Two years ago Australia, England and India tried to introduce promotion and relegation, with eight teams playing Test cricket and the rest in the I-Cup. The only snag? The Big Three would be exempt from relegation.That would not be the case this time. “If we end up in Division Two, it is our own fault, simple as that,” ECB chairman Colin Graves recently said.The attitude shift is not only explained by the change in personnel among the Big Three. It also owes to the essential pragmatism of what is being proposed. The structure would only occupy about five months a year, deliberately leaving gaps in the schedule for teams to organise extra matches, including against teams from different divisions.The Ashes could remain a five-Test series played on its current cycle no matter what. If Australia and England were in the same division, then only three Tests would count towards the league standings. Or, less simply, each Test would be weighted to give the series the same overall points as a three-match series.The freedom to organise extra matches means that relegation to Division Two need not be catastrophic, especially as the mandatory schedule in Division Two would be light. If India were in Division Two, they would only be compelled to play four home Tests every two years – a minuscule obligation set against the 13 Tests planned for their next home summer – which would leave them ample time to organise more attractive Tests.Other countries in Division Two might also be able to arrange extra matches against Division One sides. If Bangladesh were in Division Two, teams could play a Test there as preparation for touring other countries in the subcontinent, just as they could play Ireland before touring England, or Zimbabwe before touring South Africa.With the prospect of teams like Ireland being invited to play Tests, cricket looks set to finally shed its insular image•Getty ImagesThe pragmatism of the envisaged reforms reflects the realities of world cricket; the ICC’s need is not to devise a utopian structure but simply a good structure that will secure enough votes to be made a reality. It is no coincidence that seven countries would be in Division One, and the proposals would need the vote of seven of the ten Full Member representatives in the ICC board to get through.Yet even teams in Division Two could have something to gain, especially if they negotiated deals with Division One countries guaranteeing some matches outside of the structure – an obvious sweetener to the three Full Members who would initially be in Division Two.Bangladesh and Zimbabwe play so few matches against the top nations now – Zimbabwe have been temporarily removed from the rankings as a result – that the chance to lift themselves up to Division One, and receive regular guaranteed matches, might appeal.The gravest concerns are for West Indies. Their place in Division Two would be a sobering reminder of how far they have fallen, and they have no geographical neighbours in Division One, perhaps making it harder for them to entice Division One sides to play there. Yet the WICB might view the chance to establish the side in Division One as something more appealing than them continuing to bumble along near the bottom of the Test rankings. The aspiration could also be a unifying force in the Caribbean.The ICC’s challenge is not merely to get a new structure passed but to work out how to pay for it. One favoured option is to introduce competition grants for each country playing Test cricket, covering the costs of each team’s matches within the structure, and then leaving it up to the nations to fund any extra cricket they arrange. Some of the money needed to fund the new structure could come from redirecting the Test Cricket Fund. The rest could be found by resolving the ICC’s imminent dilemma about what to do with all its extra cash.Moving the World T20 back to every two years will raise US$400-500 million in extra profit every eight-year cycle. These funds would be more than enough to bankroll the two Test divisions. Effectively, T20 would be subsidising Test matches, just as some TV stations use soaps to subsidise documentaries.More ambitiously, the ICC has tentatively discussed selling all Test matches within the structure collectively, although this would require many more months of negotiation even if two divisions are voted through.

If India were in Division Two they would only be compelled to play four home Tests every two years, which would leave them ample time to organise more attractive Tests

In the English Premier League and beyond, it is the norm for teams to sell rights collectively, which generates more money than them doing so individually. After it had given out the relevant competition grants, the ICC would then distribute surplus funds to members according to an agreed formula. India would still receive far more than any other country, but the hope is that everyone could be better off.Either way, a funding mechanism needs to be devised, so that sides do not lose out if their series with India in Division One happens to be away, depriving them of the proceeds of home TV rights.Even if the TV rights are not sold collectively, the proposed new structure would boost the economic value of Tests, believes Simon Chadwick, a sports business expert from the University of Salford. In sports the world over, fans have shown they are more likely to watch matches with consequences – those that are part of a competition rather than merely bilateral contests.The popularity of Rugby sevens has rocketed since the World Rugby Sevens Series was introduced in 1999. Hockey has just agreed to a new structure giving matches greater context. In cricket the soaring value of ICC events contrasts with the stagnating value for bilateral fixtures, including ODIs and T20Is.The reforms would also mean that supporters in one country had a stake in the results of other matches, as they could impact their prospects of winning the league or being relegated – and if even a tiny percentage of English or Indian fans had a new reason to watch New Zealand play Sri Lanka, say, the economics of the series could be transformed.If Full Member boards can be convinced of this financial argument, it bodes well for the ICC’s plans. Nothing drives votes quite like self-interest. Richardson has tried to introduce divisions in Tests since 2004. He and the rest of the ICC’s management have been frustrated more than they would care to remember. This time could just be different.

Banding together, discussing strategy and knowing their roles have helped India’s quicks to become one of the better attacks of the World Cup

Sharda Ugra in Hamilton09-Mar-2015The last time India and MS Dhoni were in Hamilton, there came a declaration from Mount Doom. After failing to defend 278 in the fourth ODI, and handing the ODI series to New Zealand, Dhoni said India were not sure about their fast-bowling combination, with less than a year to go for the World Cup. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron and Stuart Binny were the seamers at the time. Woe was India then, but now they find themselves in a place, to quote U2, that has to be believed to be seen.One mystery from this World Cup – other than what the words of its tune really mean – is the manner in which India’s strike bowlers have found their groove, after many miserable weeks traipsing around Australia in Tests and the tri-series merely absorbing punches rather than dishing them out.The quick bowlers have gone from a beat-up, second-hand hatchback to a smoothly purring first-rate sedan. The time to go all Rolls Royce has not yet arrived just yet, but the their accuracy and control have given India the sharpness it needed in this competition and confidence going into the white-knuckled knockout end.With two group matches left and a top spot likely, Mohit Sharma tried to keep the down, saying the bowlers were aware they have not really been under pressure. Particularly the kind of end-overs, madcap-runrates, death-bowling brain-scrambler that the Indians were known to melt under going into the tournament. India have had to defend totals of 300 and 307 in the first two matches and have restricted the far-from-formidable batting line-ups of the UAE and West Indies to 102 and 182. And they have bowled out every team.”There’s a lot more good work to be done, we must concentrate on what are our strengths, and try to do as well as we can.” Mohit said. That is professional realism more than anodyne sound bite.It is said Dhoni does not usually turn up at bowlers’ meetings, but asks for them come to him with a plan A and its back-up for every game day. Should neither work out during a game, it is up to him as captain to offer solutions and handle crises. In the World Cup, plans A & B have usually produced the promised results.Mohit, who had joined the squad for the tri-series and then was a replacement for Ishant Sharma, talked of the bowlers banding together during their bruising – it is what bowlers tend to do – and the two weeks of the tri-series became a template for the bowling plans that were being lined up for the World Cup.”We used to live together, four-five of us, we bowlers spent a lot of time with each other,” Mohit said. “We could share experiences and talk through a lot of issues. This has helped our game a lot.”Mohit Sharma has kept things tight coming in as first-change bowler in unfamiliar conditions•Associated PressAs Ishant waited for the injury to heal, which it never did, Mohit used the chance to learn about Australian conditions from his senior colleague. “When I came here, Ishant helped me a lot during practice – what would be the length at any particular venue for the new ball and the old ball. He’s been here several times and it helped hugely.”As the first or second-change, picking up from early work by Shami and Umesh Yadav, Mohit’s job was bowling tight, attacking the stumps and drying up the runs. “So that Ashwin and Jadeja can take advantage. It helps me hugely when Shami and Umesh are bowling well with the new ball because the batsmen are already under pressure and I have to bowl to my strength,” Mohit said. “Which is what I have done for the last ten 12 years I have to keep doing that – line and length and bowl according to the wicket.”Yet what is this gradual but almost instant magic that gets a bowling unit whose reputation had been driven into the dirt to step up and hit their rhythm and direction all at the same time?A similar spell had taken hold of India’s bowling unit in 2003 World Cup as Javagal Srinath, then the senior of the three bowlers, said. There was an acceptance of specific roles and a mutual trust that brought an honesty about individual strengths and weaknesses. “We had an overall plan, it was our collective plan, it was something we had arrived at together, that’s the most crucial part of this,” Srinath said.Early in his international career, as a non-striker Srinath had often heard Imran Khan giving his tyros Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis ball-by-ball coaching from mid-on, wise advice with free fruity epithets. In 2003, almost a decade more experienced than Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, it was Srinath who was often coached by Nehra from mid-on or mid-off. “He usually had 25 options for every ball. I listened. We had a great tournament.”The 2015 tournament has gone well too and Dhoni’s ODI captaincy has played its part. “He is absolutely practical when it comes to an individual’s own situation and his own situtation,” Srinath said. “He won’t go after a bowler for having a bad over, but get the man off and make the bowling changes when it is required, instead of wasting his energy beating the guy down. You don’t have to do that.”During their long tour of Australia, the Indians had reached, “a time of distress when the team is under pressure,” according to Srinath. It can lead to the formation of a core group of about four or five players who then take the lead. The pressure, in this case, came from the impending onset of the World Cup. It is a time when a player must “really dig deeper to know what you have and what could be realised. That’s what World Cup does to you. To my mind, as an Indian player, you are under maximum stress during the World Cup,” Srinath said.Srinath called the spell from Shami and Umesh in Perth as “one of the finest bowling I have seen by an Indian pair. The way was ball was carrying was fantastic, speed, accuracy, with no time for anyone to play, the West Indians didn’t look like they could handle it.”When their former bowling coach Joe Dawes had described India’s bowlers as a “wolf pack” during a dire Test series in England, many jokes were made about sheep and lambs. At the World Cup, India’s bowlers have bared their teeth.

The Ireland captain’s tour diary during the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE

William Porterfield30-Nov-2013After four days without a game it was really nice to get back into action against UAE. We had two days off at the beginning of the week to refresh and recharge the batteries before getting back into training before the semi-final. The two days off were very welcome as this hasn’t always been a luxury that has been there in other qualifying tournaments.Last year, we had to play 11 games in 12 days to win the tournament. This was largely down to us narrowly losing the first game of the tournament and missing out on first place in our group. Although I think that this may have worked in our favour last year, as we gained momentum through the three play-offs we had to play to make the final, I think that the days off to recharge are better for us. The tournament has not been as hectic for us this year.It is safe to say that our experience on one of our days off was a first for most, if not all, on tour. A film company called Biz-Events came in and gave us the challenge of producing a short commercial for two of the sponsors of Cricket Ireland, which had to be in the theme of a pre-selected film. The film that we had was . It is safe to say that when you have Max Sorensen in your team, with his body of doom, there is only one contender to play Maximus Decimus Meridius!For our production, we did pick up an Oscar at the team awards night, which we where pleased about. However, Team Tuggeries cleaned up with the individual awards with more than one of them slotting into their roles in the film a little too easily for my liking – Brendan Connor, our strength and conditioning coach, to name one! The fact that their production had to be edited for the awards night, as there were ladies present, can paint you a picture as to the explicit route they went down. Let’s just say we had a good laugh at the next team meeting.Back to the cricket though and I thought that we put in a solid performance against UAE, without being at our best. It was disappointing to come out of the first six overs having lost three wickets but, on a positive note for us, that did give our lower-middle order some time in the middle, which could prove vital in the final. The most positive thing to come out of last night is that I thought that our bowling performance was the best we have put together in the tournament so far. It is left to us now to put both together as we have been playing well with the bat throughout the tournament.We have developed a very healthy rivalry with our opponents, Afghanistan. This is the third time we have met in in the final of this competition and they have been very closely contested affairs and I expect tonight to be more of the same.

Madhya Pradesh’s last pair was at the crease when the Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer pushed back seven fielders to the deep. It set the tone for a day when Mumbai just refused to take charge.

Abhishek Purohit at the Holkar Cricket Stadium02-Jan-2012You have the opposition on 171 for 9 in a knockout game at their home
ground after having decided to bowl first. It is no exaggeration to say
that you are completely on top. Ideally you will want to get the last
wicket as soon as possible. Ideally that will reflect in your field
settings against the remaining batsmen, No. 8 and No. 11. Ideally you will
not have seven men in the deep against No. 8. Yes, Mumbai captain Wasim
Jaffer had deep fielders for TP Sudhindra, who has a
first-class batting average of 16.05.Third man, deep point, long-off, long-on, deep midwicket, deep square leg
and fine leg made for quite a sight as Mumbai repeatedly tried short
deliveries against Sudhindra, as if the only way to get him was to bounce
him out. The last wicket partnership consumed 40 minutes and added a
crucial 21 runs in what is turning out to be a low-scoring game. Such
astonishing defensiveness characterized Mumbai’s approach on a day they
should have thoroughly dominated after Madhya Pradesh’s batting failed.It wasn’t only against the last pair that Mumbai refused to take charge of
the game. After having got a wicket in the first over of the match when
Zafar Ali was trapped leg-before by Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaffer took men out
of the slip cordon as soon as Mohnish Mishra started to attack. That did
not stop Mishra from driving at anything pitched up. It instead allowed
the surprisingly defensive but in-form Naman Ojha to score a few runs
through where third slip would have been.Mumbai then ran into a batsman who was prepared to treat their attack for
what it was – not exactly threatening. Dhawal Kulkarni kept dropping it
short and Udit Birla kept pulling and cutting for boundaries. MP were
still in trouble at lunch on 115 for 5 but the way Mumbai began the second
session further revealed their state of mind. Deep point was in place not
only for Birla but also for new batsman Murtaza Ali.No wonder the same safety-first attitude characterized Mumbai’s batting.
They had the opportunity to shut MP out of the match by stumps. An
uncertain opening partnership of 26 in 14 overs led to the pressure
building up on Mumbai instead. No doubt, MP’s new-ball attack was disciplined, but it
was clear from the manner in which the openers played that their mandate
was to bat out time.It is only for so long that modern batsmen can play the waiting game, though. After having left deliveries for an eternity outside the off stump, Onkar Gurav fell after getting too far across to work a delivery on the leg side. Even Jaffer, of all batsmen, went chasing a rare wide delivery without moving his feet.After all this, Mumbai still had time left for one more defensive move.
With more than 20 minutes left for stumps after the dismissal of
Suryakumar Yadav, they sent in a nightwatchman. That he lasted only one
delivery is a different matter.The point is that even by the conservative standards of Mumbai captains of
the past, Jaffer’s approach bordered on the extreme. It cost them the
chance to take control of the quarter-final. It may or may not cost them a
place in the semi-final. And for the record, Sudhindra was finally out
caught. Not in the deep, but in the slip cordon.

For two days the batsmen have made a pitch that has been testing look like a disaster area by playing, missing, edging and complaining

Peter English at the Gabba21-Nov-2008

Modern batsmen have forgotten how to play on lively surfaces. Perhaps this
generation never learned, or lost the ability during years of pampering on
flat surfaces that inflated their averages and belief. At least it gives
them something to blame for the failures in this fascinating Test.For two days they have made a pitch that has been testing look like a
disaster area by playing, missing, edging and complaining. Twenty-six
wickets have fallen in two days, including 16 on the second day, the most
in a Gabba Test since the Ashes Test of 1950-51. There is no desperation to call for the
pitch inspector for this is a strip that has coped well with a wet
preparation and made an entertaining contest.If the finance requirements and television stations didn’t prefer that
matches always entered a fifth day, there would be more cause to create
pitches that challenged the game’s most protected species. Australia and
New Zealand have returned from series in India and Bangladesh over the
past month and finally – but briefly – the bowlers have been allowed to
upset the game’s order by embarrassing the batsmen instead of the other
way around. It’s a shame it can’t last, but the final Test of the series
is in Adelaide next week.New Zealand’s inexperienced batsmen mirrored the rashness of Australia’s
by flaying to 156, and by stumps the home side had a lead of 189.
Throughout the second day there were big drives that resulted in bowleds
(Jamie How and Grant Elliott), nibbles that went to the slips (Aaron
Redmond and Matthew Hayden), a shuffle that ended in a lbw (Ross Taylor)
and a horribly misjudged pull from Ricky Ponting, who glared at the pitch
before he left. Straight bats are much better in these circumstances than
horizontal ones, something Andrew Symonds didn’t remember 28 minutes
before stumps when he edged a swipe off Chris Martin.On a day of carelessness the most worrying moment came with the casual
run-out of Michael Clarke, who didn’t bother to reach for the crease and
was beaten by a smart throw from Redmond at backward square leg. It was a
small moment, but it summed up the mood of both line-ups. With the going
tough, the batsmen appeared to give up. Stupid pitch. Great match.Daniel Flynn, the No. 6, looks like the kind of batsman who would be happy
to defend through to Christmas, which was exactly what New Zealand needed.
Unfortunately for Flynn, he was unbeaten on 39 when his team-mates were
dismissed in 240 minutes.Only four batsmen reached double figures before Australia tried their best
to match the effort, reaching 6 for 131 at stumps. The opener Simon Katich
lifted himself above the damage with an unbeaten 67 that was the brightest
and most composed innings of the match. He will be vital to Australia’s
target setting on Saturday.While the rest of the batsmen grumbled at their perceived misfortune – and
ignored the need for grit to replace glitz – the supporters at the Gabba
were cheering. After sitting in the stands at times during the first two
days it quickly becomes clear what the fans want from the players:
boundaries, bouncers and wickets. The people who pay to watch are capable
judges of excitement and seeing them in a hurry to stand when an umpire
raises his finger is moving, literally and emotionally.These types of wickets are good for everybody but the batsmen. In the
commentary boxes there is a gentle debate about whether this pitch should
be called a greentop. To anyone who has played club cricket, or Tests
before the 1990s, it looks like a wicket that would test your technique
but is far from impossible. To modern batsmen, the ones who have to go to
work on it, the strip carries more demons than an episode of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer. For the rest of the summer they will have the advantage,
so it is fun watching them struggle for a few days.

Daniel Hughes’ 11 List A century and Moises Henriques’ 73 not out guided NSW home in a rain-affected chase as Victoria missed the final despite Tom Rogers’ epic 196

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2024A brilliant century from Daniel Hughes and 73 not out from Moises Henriques helped ensure New South Wales will host Western Australia in the Marsh Cup final after a rain-affected seven-wicket win over competition pacesetters Victoria who were vanquished to third spot on the table.Despite 196 from opener Tom Rogers – the sixth-highest score in Australian domestic one-day history – Victoria’s 311 was not enough on Wednesday at the small North Sydney Oval.After a half-hour rain delay late in the home side’s innings, they cruised to 256 for 3 off 40.5 overs, meaning NSW won with seven balls to spare on their revised target.While Rogers was the player of the match, Hughes paced NSW’s innings to perfection with his 119 alongside Henriques. The pair shared a 129-run stand to control the chase.Victoria went into Wednesday’s last round of games on top of the Marsh Cup ladder with only one loss. But the outstanding NSW win, coupled with WA beating Tasmania in Hobart, knocked Victoria out of the February 25 final. It will be played in Sydney at a venue yet to be confirmed with the SCG unavailable.The loss took the gloss off Rogers’ outstanding innings, which surpassed Aaron Finch’s 188 not out as the highest one-day domestic knock by a Victorian.Tom Rogers made 196 off 142 balls•Getty ImagesRogers took full toll of the short North Sydney boundaries to hammer 15 fours and 15 sixes. It’s the second-most sixes in a domestic one-day game, behind D’Arcy Short’s 23 in his competition record 257.While Rogers ran amuck, he was the only Victorian batter to savage the NSW bowlers and that proved crucial. Apart from Peter Handscomb’s 52, no other Victorian scored more than 20.Ben Dwarshuis and Will Salzmann were on hat-tricks and Dwarshuis finished with 4 for 40 from nine overs.NSW lost an early wicket when opener Jack Edwards fell for six, but Blake McDonald (42) settled in with Hughes for a 110-run stand and then Henriques continued the chase.By the time Hughes was dismissed in the 39th over, the match was effectively over. It was Hughes’ 11th List A century from only 46 games to go with 11 fifties, at a stunning average of 59.88.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor says two keys stars will remain absent when the defending champions start their WSL campaign against Manchester City.

Ramirez and James remain injuredChelsea boss issues update on return of starsChampions Chelsea begin campaign against Man CityFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Blues boss has revealed two keys stars – Mayra Ramirez and Lauren James – will be absent for the season curtain-raiser against Manchester City. Ramirez was the big-money signing in January 2024 following the ACL injury to Sam Kerr, but underwent hamstring surgery after picking up an injury in pre-season. And James was injured during England Lionesses' semi-final with Sweden, but was hooked before half-time in the final against Spain during the victorious Euro 2025 campaign.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

For James, her recovery period is being measured in weeks, but the forecast is not so rosy for Ramirez. After hamstring surgery, the Colombia striker will not feature for the Blues again this year and is expected to return in January 2026. 

WHAT BOMPASTOR SAID

Bompastor said about Ramirez: "It's sad for everyone, first of all for her. She had successful surgery, which is something positive, but it's sad for Mayra, it's sad for us because she was a really important player for us in the squad. You never want to be in that situation but, again, it happens. For me now, it's making sure as a staff that we just give her a speedy recovery. It's a big loss for us."

"And on James, she said: "LJ is doing fine. Again, it's difficult to put a timeframe on her because everyone is different. Her rehab is going in the right direction. I'm not expecting to see Lauren for the next few weeks, but hopefully soon because, again, she's an important player and we need her on the pitch."

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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR JAMES AND RAMIREZ?

Boss Bompastor has a number of headaches heading into the new season. James is likely to miss key clashes against Man City, Aston Villa, Leicester and West Ham. While Ramirez will be focusing on the long slog back to fitness. And Lucy Bronze is absent, too. Plenty to ponder for the defending champions. 

MatériaMais Notícias

Atacante ou lateral? Usa o nome ‘Paulista’ em um time… de São Paulo? As principais dúvidas sobre Caio, oitavo reforço do Tricolor para a temporada, puderam ser solucionadas nesta quarta-feira (1), quando o jogador, que chega por empréstimo de um ano do Fluminense, foi apresentado oficialmente no CT da Barra Funda.

A começar pela ‘nova posição’. Caio é atacante de origem, mas foi improvisado no ano passado pelo técnico Fernando Diniz na lateral.

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O jogador explicou que pela facilidade de recomposição, ou seja, de voltar para ajudar na defesa, acabou sendo o escolhido por Diniz para ocupar um espaço que estava vago.

– Teve um dia que o Diniz me perguntou se eu me sentia confortável em fazer a lateral, eu disse que onde me escalasse eu iria jogar, estou aqui para ajudar. Ele foi me explicando, como ocupar os espaços, tive ajuda dos companheiros. Não vou dizer que foi um início fácil, mas hoje me sinto mais confortável.

Diniz, aliás, é alvo de palavras muito carinhosas e de agradecimento do novo são-paulino.

– O Diniz trabalha bastante com a gente, sempre faz o jogador evoluir. Antes eu era um jogador mais velocista. E ele me ajudou a pensar mais o jogo, a ter outras funções dentro de campo. Eu creio que evolui bastante e chego aqui para evoluir ainda mais.

E o ex-atacante, agora um lateral, foi atrás de aprender a atuar na nova função que nunca experimentou antes. Segundo ele, um dos pontos que lhe ajudou foi buscar referências. E dois nomes se tornaram seus exemplos.

– Eu vejo bastante vídeos do Marcelo, atuando no Real Madrid, vídeo do Alaba, observo como eles fecham defensivamente, como apoiam e me ajudaram bastante a entender as coisas.

Sobre o nome, Caio disse que também é uma preocupação. Paulistano de nascimento, o jogador enfim tem a chance de defender um grande da cidade. Por isso, não faz mais muito sentido usar o ‘Paulista’, alcunha ganha nos tempos de Avaí e que manteve no Fluminense.

Dúvidas respondidas, Caio então falou sobre a sua estreia. Sim, o novo reforço já entrou em campo na derrota por 2 a 0 para o Corinthians, no domingo (29/1), em pleno Morumbi. E admitiu que sentiu um ‘frio na barriga’.

– No começo, quando eu estava para entrar senti um frio na barriga, um pouco de ansiedade, que é normal. Mas dentro de campo os companheiros me deixaram bem confortáveis.

> Confira jogos, classificação e simule os resultados do Paulistão-23