Although rain took the sting out of what was shaping up to be a sensational day of Test cricket, for 59 minutes South Africa remembered what it felt like to have their best bowlers in business

Firdose Moonda in Durban20-Aug-2016It took just 59 minutes for South African to realise what they missed for eight Tests last summer. Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.It took just four balls for South Africa to remember what Steyn could do. Pitch it up. Nip it back. Make Martin Guptill look like he was new to Test cricket.It took four more for Philander to do the same. Tempt outside the off stump. Move the ball off the seam. Draw a false stroke.It should have taken only six more for Philander to be rewarded. He had Tom Latham driving, got a thick outside edge but Dean Elgar spilled the chance at second slip.As much as Steyn impressed on his comeback – and he did – Philander wasn’t far behind. There were shades of Newlands in 2011 and there was even Cape-style winter conditions to match.

Steyn keen to play on – Langeveldt

Charl Langeveldt, South Africa’s bowling coach, rubbished rumours of Dale Steyn considering retirement from the international game.
“Dale is fully fit and he keen to play Test cricket. You are always excited after a long break to come and bowl when it’s going away. He is enjoying his cricket, he is enjoying his bowling, that’s always important,” Langeveldt said.
Steyn bowled six overs at Kingsmead on his comeback to the South African team and picked up two wickets. Langeveldt expected he would only improve as the match continued.
“His first spell is never his quickest. He tries to be controlled with the new ball so he bowled a lot within himself. You will see in his second and third and third spell, he will get quicker.”
With conditions set to remain tricky for batsmen on Sunday and South Africa’s returning pacemen pumped up, Langeveldt believed South Africa’s 263 could prove a handy first-innings score. “The outfield is not like a Highveld outfield. The ball stops so you can add 40 or 50 runs in boundaries when thinking about our total.”

Overcast skies and dampness in the air meant what should have been the best batting conditions on day two turned into the best bowling conditions. South Africa’s attack, unlike their batsmen on day one, seized the advantage.As he had promised, Steyn did not start at 200 kph. He didn’t even start at 140. He kept his pace in the mid-130s and managed to prey on Guptill’s uncertainty, which remains despite the form he found in Zimbabwe.At Kingsmead, Guptill had a handle on which balls to play and leave outside the off stump but struggled against the ones that moved back in. He was rapped on the pads in the first over and survived a marginal call, then again in the ninth, when he did not.Steyn has now dismissed Guptill five times in Tests – the same number as Pragyan Ojha and more than anyone else. Philander has dismissed him three times. If Guptill keeps falling to new-ball bowlers, it may reopen the debate over his ability as an opener in seaming conditions.Guptill’s wicket was not celebrated with as much gusto as the one before: Latham’s. It was Steyn’s first Test wicket in 2016 and it was a classic: late swing, too close to leave, a thick outside edge, caught at slip. The man was back and he was gaining on Shaun Pollock for the title of South Africa’s leading wicket-taker.Philander’s focus was elsewhere. For him, it is about getting back the form that saw him because the fastest South African to 100 Test wickets and silencing critics who believe his best is behind him. There were signs of his former glory, particularly as the lunch break approached. Philander beat Ross Taylor twice with deliveries that darted away from him like a pickpocket, silently sinister, nifty and nimble. Philander has not moved the ball off the seam as much as that since his career began.South Africa had seen New Zealand swing the ball on the first day and it would have been easy for them to become wayward looking for the same. “When they started bowling we said.. ooof…” Langeveldt said. He didn’t need to explain that “ooof” was a shorter way of saying, “Imagine what we can do on this.”Steyn and Philander produced the finest period of play by South Africa’s Test side all year. Although rain took the sting out of what was shaping up to be a sensational day of Test cricket, for 59 minutes South Africa remembered what it felt like to have their best bowlers back in business.

Ben Stokes has been the difference between England and Bangladesh in conditions where he has not always prospered

George Dobell22-Oct-2016England’s problem child has grown up.The kid who was sent home from a Lions tour, the kid who missed a World T20 after smashing his hand on a locker has matured – or, at least, is well on the way to maturing – into the player his talent promised he might be. In Ben Stokes, England have a gem.There will be those who look at the scorecard of this match, shrug and say: “But it was only Bangladesh.”And it is true that there were moments – such as during their first innings collapse – when Bangladesh’s lack of experience in Test cricket was obvious. England’s record against them – they have, to date, won all eight of the Tests they have played against one another – hardly reflects the narrowing gap between these two sides.But in these conditions, the margin is not very big at all. And in this game, it has been defined by Stokes. Having produced an outstanding spell of bowling to help take Bangladesh’s last six wickets for the addition of just 27 runs, he then contributed perhaps the most mature innings of his Test career to date.True, he didn’t turn it into a century. And true, it wasn’t as eye-catching or awe-inspiring as his centuries at Perth, Lord’s or Cape Town.But while all those surfaces offered, to greater or lesser degree, the pace and bounce on which Stokes naturally feasts, this innings was compiled in conditions in which he has often struggled.

We knew Stokes had talent: we knew he was strong; that he could thrash sixes and bowl bouncers. But he hasn’t always looked an intelligent, adaptable cricketer

Slow, low and offering help to the spinners, it was the sort of surface on which Stokes has often thrashed like a drowning man and given it away in infuriating fashion. Remember the dismissals in Grenada and Abu Dhabi: caught on the mid-wicket fence. Or the dismissals in Antigua or Abu Dhabi: charging down the pitch in desperation and missing.Bangladesh tried to entice him into similar mistakes here. But where once he would have tried to thrash his way to a decent score, here he played like a Test batsman. Where once he had no confidence in his defensive technique, here he gave himself a chance to succeed by playing himself in, defending when necessary, rotating the strike and still putting away the poor ball with that brutal power that has become customary.There were three sixes in this innings, but he no longer has boundary options alone; he has the ability, the technique and temperament to build an innings. Not satisfied with being a middle-order biffer – the sort of role that some, like Shahid Afridi, settled into a little too readily – he has combined his talent with an impressive determination to work hard and keep improving. He is well on his way to being England’s best all-rounder since Ian Botham.There will be those who point to his averages – the batting average is under 35; the bowling average over – and wonder what all the fuss is about. But if you judge everything on averages, you make some very average judgments.Stokes is a cricketer who, with bat, ball and in the field, is capable of altering games in circumstances where few can. Each one of his Test centuries might reasonably be described as “great;” he has taken some catches – remember Trent Bridge, 2015 – that few could and his bowling here defied a slow pitch to change the course of this game.In brutal conditions in which other seamers operated in three (or even one) over spells, Stokes started the day with a six-over spell of sustained skill and hostility. On a surface on which other seamers struggled to get the ball above hip height, he had batsmen jumping and sparring. And in an environment in which other seamers had to be content with cutters and slower balls, he swung the ball sharply.With his strength, his skill and his determination, he has developed into a huge asset to England as a bowler. If he couldn’t bat to save his life, Stokes may still be an international cricketer.Some aspects of this will be of no surprise. We knew Stokes had talent: we knew he was strong; that he could thrash sixes and bowl bouncers. But he hasn’t always looked an intelligent, adaptable cricketer. He hasn’t always had the subtlety to complement his raw ability. But now that he has the skill to harness the reverse swing and now that he is learning to adapt to the slow surfaces on which he will probably have to play half his career, he is developing into something quite special.Ben Stokes followed his wickets with a mature innings•AFPEngland missed him when he was injured. It wasn’t just his on-field influence, either. The team management felt the dressing-room environment at The Oval, when Pakistan defeated them to level the Test series, was a little too quiet; a little too passive. Stokes’ belief, energy and determination play a huge part in driving this team forward.As Paul Farbrace said a couple of weeks ago: “Stokes is a leader, wherever he goes, people want to go with him. He’s loved being vice-captain on this tour. But vice-captain or not, he is a leader, and people follow him and want to know where he is going, whether he’s going out for dinner, when he’s practising.”The England management deserve some credit here. For many months now, they have done everything they can to make Stokes feel valued and appreciated.It would have been perfectly reasonable to demote him to No. 7 in the order here or to leave him out of the limited-overs sides. Instead they given him responsibility – he was vice-captain of the ODI side on this tour – and security in his roles. Knowing his value and seeing his potential, they have invested heavily in him. Aged 25, he should be able to repay them for several years.Don’t discount that New Zealand influence, either. His father, Ged Stokes, was a rugby league player and coach who famously had a finger amputated when he couldn’t wait for it to recover from a bad break. The son has inherited the father’s determination and spirit.There’s more than a little Brendon McCullum about the way he lifts this England team: he might have made a decent All Black had he stayed in New Zealand.None of this disguises the fact that England’s top-order failed again. Again and again over the last couple of years, England’s middle-order has rescued them after poor starts. While their sixth-wicket averages 83 in 2016, their next-best partnership is 53 for the seventh-wicket. That is fine, up to a point. But if England are to beat they best, if they are to win in Australia or in India, they will need the top-order to contribute far more often.This game isn’t won yet, either. What we have learned so far in this match is that, after the first 30 overs or so, the ball becomes quite soft and the slow pace of the wicket partially negates the turn on offer. Bangladesh scored 331 in the fourth innings here against England in 2010 and lost, while New Zealand scored 317 for 7 to win in the fourth innings here in 2008.As a result, spinners are more dangerous with the new ball, when some deliveries turn sharply and others skid on, and seamers come into their own only if they can find some reverse. In that regard, England are well-served with Stokes. He has enjoyed an outstanding 24 hours or so, but his work is not yet done.

For a generation of cricketers who grew up not knowing where they would ply their wares, due to a 16-year battle against the system, the time is now

Shashank Kishore04-Oct-2016If you were to ask someone even remotely connected to one of several cricket academies that have sprung up across Raipur about Vishal Kushwaha, it’s unlikely you will come back without hearing stories of how he has destroyed several bowling attacks during inter-district matches in Chhattisgarh over the last five years.Local journalists, who have covered Kushwaha during his Under-25 days, remember him nonchalantly flicking Umesh Yadav for sixes at the old VCA ground in Nagpur on several occasions. During one such knock, against Vidarbha XI in 2012, he was identified by talent scouts from Kings XI Punjab. “I thought there was some hope,” Kushwaha recollects. “But I was shocked by what I saw at the trials.”Kings Cup, a tournament organised by the franchise, consisted of four teams made up of shortlisted players. Kushwaha batted a handful of deliveries in a rain-affected game. He didn’t bowl or field. Three days later, he was asked to head home. The reason: he didn’t come from a “state that played cricket”.”They asked me how many first-class and List A matches I’ve played. I told them Chhattisgarh still doesn’t have affiliation, so I haven’t played any. I was immediately asked to leave and come back when I had played ‘recognised cricket’. Was it my fault? No. They picked me for the trials, they called me, and they sent me back.”That wasn’t it. Kushwaha was in for similar treatment from Delhi Daredevils. “Shortlisted, but again they asked me the same questions,” he says. “It made me wonder if talent scouting is about ability or which association you play for. That is when the gravity of the situation hit me. I contemplated giving up the game at 25.”It was only after employment with the Account General’s office as an accountant in Raipur – he completed his commerce degree in a bid to forge a parallel path – did he rethink his decision to quit cricket. For now, it’s a decision he’s happy with and hopes to play for “seven or eight” seasons.In many ways, Kushwaha’s frustration at being overlooked because of the system reflected the mood around the game in Chhattisgarh.

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Between 2000 and 2008, upcoming cricketers would hit a dead end by the time they were 15 or 16. With little help from the association, which was grappling with several issues – lack of funding, affiliation woes – players were left to fend for themselves.Jalaj Saxena, who learnt his early cricket in Bhilai where his father was employed, moved to Indore along with his brother Jatin for better prospects. He has since established himself as a reliable allrounder in domestic cricket. Harpreet Singh, member of India’s Under-19 team at the 2010 World Cup now plays for Madhya Pradesh, having moved from Durg.Sahil Gupta shifted to Baroda to pursue the game. It was only after the confirmation of Chhattisgarh’s status as full member that he returned. Sumit Ruikar, employed by the Accountant General’s office in Chhattisgarh during the off-season, played his cricket in Nagpur. They were part of a fortunate group who were able to play elsewhere.Now with the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS) receiving full membership from the BCCI, three years after their five-year qualification period ended, cricketers looking to take up the game perhaps may not suffer the frustration that threatened to derail careers of those who couldn’t afford to shift outside the state.

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A crisscross of Raipur talking cricket is met with philosophical undertones when asked about Chhattisgarh’s Ranji Trophy debut this season.”,” [This is the reward for hardwork] Rajesh Dave, secretary of the CSCS, says of their elevation, which has arrived after a battle that lasted 16 years.”It’s not like just those who travel with their kit bags in crowded trains from Kandivali and Thane to Churchgate to play cricket struggle. Ours has been a big struggle too,” says a local cricketer, trying to fit in to the system despite being branded an “outsider” by the very state that once nurtured his talent.”,” [Cricket has made us cry. Going forward, it will just be the passion that will drive us] Kushwaha says. He was regarded as the face of Chhattisgarh cricket, until Amandeep Khare rose through the age-group structure to become the first cricketer from the state to represent the country – at the Under-19 level.Chhattisgarh players in a buoyant mood at training•Shashank Kishore/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

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The ” (the fruit of labour) Dave, a former Madhya Pradesh player, refers to is the fight for affiliation from the BCCI since 2000, when Chhattisgarh was separated from MP. Two factions fighting for control led to Chhattisgarh cricket being in a state of flux.It was only in 2005, when Baldev Singh Bhatia, the current president, and Dave came together following reconciliation, that the seeds of recognition were sown. Sanjay Jagdale, the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association secretary, was a key member in the negotiations, according to Dave. Three years later, Chhattisgarh were granted associate status on account of “stability.” It meant they could participate in the age-group tournaments conducted for affiliates and associates.The first signs of promise came in 2009-10, when Chhattisgarh’s Under-19 side emerged champions of the Associates and Affiliate tournament. Then they repeated that feat in 2011-12 to earn a promotion to the plate league of the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy. In 2013-14, the Under-19 side finished third in their group. They narrowly missed qualification for semi-finals, but voices from within the board hinted at full membership in the “not-too-distant future.””The actual churn started around then,” Dave recalls. The association’s subsidy was increased from Rs 50 lakh to 75 lakh. With the team having already spent close to four years as an associate, there was a buzz that they could possibly become a full member in 2013. “Cricketers who were lost to the game started to return, while many other youngsters came forward,” Dave says.As heartening as it was to see the pool of cricketers widen, the CSCS was now faced with the challenge of having to build turf wickets across the districts, outside of Bhilai, the most established center in the state. From having only three turf wickets outside the steel city, they built 20 surfaces. The biggest challenge, however, was the absence of qualified coaches and trainers.Realising the need to put together a system, the association managed to rope in support staff for their functional academies in Raipur, Bhilai and Bilaspur. The funding came via grants from the state government and local industries.But the challenges continued. Trials would often be disrupted by violence – Chhattisgarh’s deep interior is still gripped with trouble from the Naxals – leading to the association’s inability to streamline talent. Camps would come to an abrupt halt, leaving academies teeming with aspirants being denied opportunities.”We had our own share of trouble, but it didn’t stop us from conducting inter-district tournaments to bring the best players to Raipur and train them,” Dave says. “A lot of them left out too, but we weren’t in a position to do much. We also had a financial crunch, but were fortunate to have received the patronage of the state government and the industries in this region for having helped us at a difficult time.”The Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium in Chhattisgarh’s proposed administrative capital Naya Raipur is a state-of-the-art facility•Rachna Shetty/ESPNcricinfo LtdA key step towards Chhattisgarh’s realisation of being a full member was taken when the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium was slotted to host IPL matches in 2013. Completely funded by the state government, the stadium, for which work started in 2001, was inaugurated with Delhi Daredevils hosting Pune Warriors. A capacity of 55,000, which made it the second-biggest in India in terms of seating, a large outfield with 10 turf wickets, and state-of-the-art facilities meant the association could finally call something their own. Hosting the IPL and the now defunct Champions League T20 also brought in funds.A final seal of approval awaited them, but it proved a false dawn. The implications of the IPL spot fixing scandal of 2013 – with N Srinivasan being asked to step down as BCCI president – led to the issue being put on the backburner. Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death while in office in 2015 led to the issue being sidetracked again. In February 2016, CSCS finally received the “good news.”It brings a financial package that will be at par with all the other full members – Rs 20 crores annually – which the association wants to use to build residential academies in Raipur, Bhilai and Bilaspur, apart from developing a separate women’s wing.

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Till affiliation was received, players largely relied on government jobs through sports quota to continue playing the game in uncertain times. The less-fortunate cricketers were beneficiaries of industrial development in Chhattisgarh, known for its mineral wealth, steel plants and hydro-electric projects.One of them is Abhishek Darekar, a fast bowler, who impressed Dennis Lillee at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in 2011. After playing league cricket in Chennai for a few seasons, he faded away. The joke among local cricketing circles is, if you don’t find cricketers on the field, chances are that they would be in the industries and factories near Raipur.For today’s generation, however, things are looking up, as epitomised by Khare’s rise. The 19-year-old batsman, who didn’t get a game during India’s Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, could have either been a revolutionary or a footnote. He considered moving states, along with the prospect of enrolling into an undergraduate science course from Delhi University on sports quota. Today, he is happy to have waited on the decision.”I was ready with my application, but in the same week, we got news of the affiliation,” Khare says. “My parents were supportive, but after the Under-19 World Cup, they were worried I’d hit a dead end like many other cricketers from this region. Fortunately now, that won’t be the case and they are much more relieved than I am.”Realising the need to fast-track their development ahead of their Ranji Trophy debut, CSCS appointed Sulakshan Kulkarni, the former Mumbai wicketkeeper, as the head coach for a three-year term. Kulkarni, who has been a part of six Ranji Trophy winning teams as a player and four as coach, the last of which came in 2012-13 under Ajit Agarkar’s captaincy for Mumbai, was returning to the domestic set-up for the first time since 2013-14.”Developing sides have nothing to lose,” Kulkarni says. “If you take one person to the next level, there’s a big lift within the group. So that’s why I wanted to work here. The background of Chhattisgarh was impressive. They have shown big improvement in in junior cricket, which is the heart of any association. Ranji Trophy is merely the face.”The face of this team will be Mohammad Kaif, the former India batsman who has moved from Andhra, and is the only professional cricketer within the set-up. At 35, the end may be closer, but Kaif knows a thing or two about captaincy, having led India to the Under-19 World Cup win in 2000, and then Uttar Pradesh to their only Ranji title till date, in 2005-06.Kulkarni, meanwhile, already has a road map in place. He says the passion he has seen among the local administrators is unparalleled. The need to give back to the game, as he calls it, has taken a completely different meaning.

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The drive from Raipur to the international stadium, 25km away, in Naya Raipur is a unique one. Congested main roads and narrow bylines dangling with wires on either side with movement of cows and cattle apart from a colony of rickshaws and street hawkers suddenly open up into an eight-lane expressway that has malls and scores of cranes coming up.Then after a stretch of nothingness emerges a majestic modern-day marvel out of nowhere. It somewhat mirrors the growth of cricket in Chhattisgarh – a steady rise, but not without its fair share of upheavals. For a generation of cricketers who grew up not knowing where they would ply their wares, the time is now.

With a recently relaid outfield and a forecast for rain for the first Test, could the management have done more to be better prepared to host a Test match?

Firdose Moonda in Durban22-Aug-2016Kingsmead has come under intense scrutiny after eight of nine sessions in South Africa’s ongoing Test against New Zealand were lost over three days, making the chance of a result, other than a draw, implausible. No play took place on days three and four, despite there being no rain since early on the third morning because soft patches on the recently relaid outfield were deemed unsafe for play.Both days saw a similar sequence of events: inspections at mid-day and 2pm and an abandonment by 2:20pm. The groundstaff were instructed not to use any artificial means of drying the outfield and no one was allowed on the surface at any time on both days. To an observer, it would seem little effort was being made to make conditions suitable for play.

Unseasonal rain to blame – CSA

CSA, who oversaw the relaying of the outfields at both Kingsmead and SuperSport Park, blamed the unseasonal rain for the inability of the Kingsmead outfield to recover adequately but provided an assurance the second Test will not be similarly affected.
“Following our first experience during August last year and the feedback received from both teams, we have relaid the outfield to make it more suitable for Test match cricket.
“However, the unseasonal rain at this time of year had impacted our preparations of the newly laid outfield. The flood conditions more than a month ago had affected the de-compacting process. SuperSport Park, on the other hand, was relaid by “overseeding” it with a winter grass and the results have been impressive,” CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat said.
“It is most unfortunate and certainly beyond our control that the heavy unseasonal rains in Durban had impacted our plans. We are sympathetic to the efforts of all the ground staff who have tried their level best to ensure match readiness despite the adverse weather conditions leading into this Test match.”

On Sunday morning – the third day of the Test – after the ground had taken 65mm of rain, the super-sopper was made to stop operating for fear it would do further damage to the soft patches. The umpires chose to leave the drying process to natural elements. Bright sunshine on Sunday and heavy winds of up to 70kph, albeit under overcast skies on Monday, were considered sufficient to firm up the patches. Conditions improved with each inspection, but not enough for play to take place.Several other methods were also unused. The outfield was not roped or mopped and dryers or blowers were not used because the outfield was soft underfoot, not wet. Even using sawdust any earlier would prevent the natural elements from hardening the patches.The Durban outfield has not historically been a problem but the recent scarifying process, a result of last year’s complaints by both the South African and New Zealand sides during the limited-overs series, left it under-prepared for this fixture. Work at Kingsmead began mid-June and was completed by the beginning of July, leaving just seven weeks for it to settle, during which Durban was also hit by unseasonal rain.Flash flooding was reported throughout July and rain was also forecast for the second day of the match. Considering these factors, Kingsmead could have made efforts to procure more covers than the ones they currently have which protect the square. Buying enough covers for the entire outfield would cost an estimated R400,000 (US$30,000), an amount franchises struggle to raise, but covers could have been borrowed from clubs in the area.The fall-out from this match means that Kingsmead will continue to struggle to maintain its reputation as one of South Africa’s premier grounds. Poor crowd attendances saw the Boxing Day Test moved in 2014 and again this year to St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. Numbers during the ongoing match would not have done boosted that perception. An average of 2500 people were in attendance on days one and two, with numbers dwindling for the rest of the match. Sundays’s crowd seemed promising, with some fans even walking through the gates when play was called off. They were allowed to use their tickets for Monday and Tuesday but only a few school children were at the ground in the morning and by the time play was called off, there was not a supporter in sight.The players were also among the lesser spotted at the ground. The ACSU regulations stipulate that once they arrive at the ground they cannot leave until play is called off. For that reason, South Africa did not arrive at the ground on Sunday, but New Zealand turned up later in the day for a net session. Both teams were at the ground on Monday. Like the groundstaff, they were not allowed on the outfield. Faf du Plessis and Russell Domingo wandered over briefly before being instructed off.The match referee Andy Pycroft declined to comment on the state of the ground but will rate the outfield at the end of the match, at which time the ICC may issue a statement. Until then, Durban remains on tenterhooks as it fights for its place among the country’s elite venues.

The 2016-17 Women’s Big Bash League will be a consolidation chapter after the success of the inaugural tournament last year

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins08-Dec-20166:11

‘Bigger, better Women’s Big Bash League season on the cards’

The principal drawback of success is that people then expect you to have more of it. Right now, the summer of 2016-17 is the ‘difficult second album’ stage for the Women’s Big Bash League. The inaugural edition a year ago was deemed to have exceeded expectations, but that’s not so difficult when no one knew what their expectations were. It drew good crowds, surprisingly strong television numbers, and provided a stage for some excellent young talent. Second time around, we might insist it’s a minimum requirement to have a legspinner ripping the ball a yard and a half in front of ten thousand at the ground and half a million on TV.In truth though this season is a consolidation chapter, all part of Cricket Australia’s long-term strategy to increase cricket’s inclusiveness for women and girls, raise the standard of the women’s game for spectators, and help that game support itself with revenue.Nonetheless, WBBL|02 is positioned to do well. Channel Ten has expanded its commitment to screen 12 games, including a prime-time evening match amongst four to be broadcast on the standalone opening weekend. That first carnival round will feature all eight teams across three days in Sydney, taking the spotlight a week before the men’s counterpart competition gets underway.The opening round aside, the WBBL schedule won’t be as crowded this year. Gone are the absurd rosters that saw some teams play twice in a day, though some games have moved to further-flung grounds to make the competition more accessible. Rooty Hill, Glenelg, Cranbourne or Albury might not be mentioned in the same breath as the WACA, Etihad Stadium or the SCG, but this season’s locales will range from the most illustrious to the most modest. And with free entry for all but the BBL double-headers, it couldn’t be much easier.Harmanpreet Kaur is new to the Thunder line-up•Getty ImagesSydney ThunderThe champs of WBBL|01 will defend their title in rude health, losing none of the firepower that won them the competition while adding Indian middle-order dynamo Harmanpreet Kaur. No player does more all-round damage in the women’s T20 game than West Indian Stafanie Taylor, returning to the Thunder after topping the runs and most wickets in England’s domestic competition mid-year, after holding aloft the World T20 trophy in April.Led by the always-calm Southern Stars mainstay Alex Blackwell, international experience is present via Rene Farrell’s seam and Erin Osborne’s spin. On top of that, the Thunder boast two youngsters who made it to the highest level after big tournaments last year, left-arm quick Lauren Cheatle and picket-clearing Naomi Stalenberg. With emerging talent like spinner Maisy Gibson also on their books, they have the matchwinners and depth to make winning a habit.Dane van Niekerk has joined the Sixers•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesSydney SixersThe pink side of Sydney flipped from competition duds to darlings last season. Facing the earliest possible elimination after losing six games, they went all Mighty Ducks to make the final after winning eight in a row to qualify for the semis. Luckily for the superstitious they’ve re-signed New Zealand international Sara McGlashan, the star of several of those wins, whose nerveless 79 not out took them into the finals from the last ball of the regular season.The bowling version of Ebenezer Scrooge also returns in South African opener Marizanne Kapp, and her national skipper Dane van Niekerk has been poached from the Renegades to bolster the middle order. A reasonably handy type you may have heard of named Ellyse Perry is floating about, along with spinner Lisa Sthalekar who continues her Warne-like practice of staving off retirement with occasional T20 appearances.Anya Shrubsole has signed with the Scorchers•Getty ImagesPerth ScorchersAnother side that has promised much more than delivered, the Scorchers immediately look weaker for losing England champion Charlotte Edwards and West Indies bludgeoner Deandra Dottin. But in adding Anya Shrubsole to her England opening partner Katherine Brunt, the best new-ball pair in international cricket now also lines up for Perth.Shrubsole’s arrival will be delayed due to injury, with England left-arm tweaker Rebecca ‘Reg’ Grundy taking her place for the opening four games. Batting responsibility falls on the shoulders of experienced trio Suzie Bates, Nicole Bolton and Elyse Villani. Bates is at the peak of her powers as New Zealand skipper – player of the match in the Super League final in England – while the latter pair are vastly experienced Australian openers. Like the Stars, and like last year, the Scorchers look great – on paper.Charlotte Edwards has moved to the Strikers this season•ICC/GettyAdelaide StrikersThe strain of elite women’s cricket can be seen in Adelaide’s ranks, with last year’s star England international Sarah Taylor on a break to deal with anxiety, and opening bowler Sarah Coyte recently opening up about her struggles with an eating disorder. Difficult as their experiences are, by speaking about them these women are providing help and reassurance for girls with similar issues.Another former England player, Charlotte Edwards, has switched from Perth in a swap for Lauren Ebsary, and will combine for batting stability with fellow recruit Sarah Elliott, the Test centurion arriving from the Renegades. Two young Strikers – leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington and all-rounder Tahlia McGrath – just made their ODI debuts for Australia, while swing bowler Megan Schutt is a national fixture. English import Tammy Beaumont is one of the biggest hitters in the game, and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine can match her for power. On balance, this might be the most exciting squad in the comp.Meg Lanning remains key for the Stars•Getty ImagesMelbourne StarsThere wasn’t a side in WBBL|01 that promised more but delivered less. A side led by the best player in the world in Meg Lanning, it made sense the Stars would waltz through the regular season and beyond. They didn’t. Foreign recruits underperformed, domestic players didn’t make the leap – especially with the bat. But they still have Lanning, and returning international Natalie Sciver is a cricketer reborn since last on these shores, evolving into a batsman capable of taking down attacks in a matter of overs in the revitalised England set up.Her national team-mate Danielle Hazell joins the squad as a temporary replacement while Australian first-choice leggie Kristen Beams recovers from a finger injury. Kiwi bowler Morna Nielsen was dominant last year, and powerful Australian bat Jess Cameron is making a comeback after a year away from the game. In short: the Stars have no excuses.The Renegades have lured Grace Harris from the Heat•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesMelbourne RenegadesThe team in red had a poor first season, scraping four wins in some scrappy affairs, though they did roll the Stars in their New Year’s game on live TV. Light on for batting, they’ve lured Australia’s biggest hitter in Grace Harris from Brisbane. But one batsman can’t carry a team, with diminutive placement player Danielle Wyatt and Kiwi wicketkeeper Rachel Priest the only noted willow-handlers alongside. Hiring the CEO’s daughter can’t hurt a club in the longer term, but we can’t expect 15-year-old Annabel Sutherland to generate more headlines than CA boss James.Molly Strano and Sophie Molineux, also known as Molly & Molly, could act as a mood enhancer if they land the pill right, but it’s been a major comedown losing South African tearaway Shabnim Ismail to a disciplinary suspension from her home board. If they keep their young team together, the Renegades can become something in seasons ahead, but this time around will likely be another struggle.Smriti Mandhana is on the Heat roster this year•Getty ImagesBrisbane HeatIn Brisbane last year they got hot fast, but cooled quicker, falling away badly when it mattered most. While the Heat have lost matchwinner Grace Harris in the off-season, stylish Indian bat Smriti Mandhana can replace her at the top of the list, while West Indian Deandra Dottin can clatter bowlers just as far.Beth Mooney’s consistency with the bat earned her a national call-up last summer, and she carried that on with a big century for Queensland in the WNCL. She’s a player they can and must build a batting line up around. With the ball, Holly Ferling’s burgeoning seniority in Australian ranks suggests she is ready to take a step up here, while Southern Stars all-rounder Jess Jonassen has the best straight drive in women’s cricket. On their day they’re formidable, they just have to ensure that day comes around more often.Corinne Hall provided some brilliance in the field for the Hurricanes last season•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesHobart HurricanesThe Moneyball side of the WBBL, the Hurricanes have no frills, no mystique and no Southern Stars. It’s indicative of domestic cricket’s power disparity that not a single national representative has chosen to represent Tasmania. But none of that stopped Hobart putting together an even outfit that most often got the job done, topping the table for much of last year and making the semi-finals.This was built on consistent contributions from low-wattage players like Erin Burns, Brooke Hepburn, and Corinne Hall, though the latter provided some brilliance in the field. That squad is almost unchanged, with wicketkeeper Georgia Redmayne the lone inclusion. The team’s few international stars are England’s Heather Knight, who was top ten in the runs and wickets last year; Hayley Matthews, the West Indies teenager who destroyed Australia’s bowling to win the World T20; and Amy Satterthwaite, who starred for New Zealand with two ODI centuries less than a month ago.

Australia and Pakistan have both slipped from the top Test spot this year. Now both teams are coming after series losses and will have lots to do under lights at the Gabba

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane14-Dec-2016Against South Africa in Adelaide, Australia made five changes and named three debutants in one of the most comprehensive overhauls of the national side since World Series Cricket. They won, but a dead rubber only, and now face the expectation of winning a series against Pakistan. But Steven Smith’s men have much schooling ahead of them in international cricket, with many lessons to learn. And if Mickey Arthur has taught the Pakistanis anything, they will punish Australia if they haven’t done their homework. So, here are six subjects that Australia’s new-look squad might (or might not) benefit from studying.Ancient historyOne of the most enduring records in Australian cricket is the team’s unbeaten run at the Brisbane Cricket Ground – nicknamed the Gabbatoir for their slaying of opposition dreams at the venue. Last time Australia lost a Gabba Test was in 1988. Smith wasn’t even born then, and nor were half of his team. Not to mention this will be the first Gabba Test played with a pink ball under lights, and the first Gabba Test full-stop for up to five of Australia’s XI. And so, like most students, Australia’s cricketers will view this ancient history as irrelevant. We might as well be discussing who won the Punic Wars.”We’ve got a great record here and hopefully we can keep that up, but it’s a little bit different this year – the pink ball compared to the red ball,” Smith said. “I’m not really paying much attention to that, it’s about going out here and making sure we’ve got our processes right and we’re playing good cricket. And if we’re doing that then hopefully the result will take care of itself.”Modern historyAustralia and Pakistan have both been ranked No.1 in Tests this year, but have fallen to No.3 and 4 respectively after losing campaigns. Australia lost away to Sri Lanka and at home to South Africa, and Pakistan lost on the green seaming pitches in New Zealand. It is also worth noting that only four in Australia’s side – Smith, David Warner, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc – have played Tests against Pakistan. By comparison, 10 of Pakistan’s squad have played Australia. One of those is fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who skittled Australia for 88 at Headingley in 2010. That Test marked the beginning of an era in which Australia’s batsmen often suffered humiliating collapses against swing – an era that remains ongoing. Under lights with the pink ball, Amir could be a serious threat.”I remember watching out in Australia in 2010 he bowled with really good pace,” said Smith, the only current Australia player to have faced Amir in Tests. “I think he was hitting 145-150 and in England he slowed it down and got his wrists right and swung the ball, so it’s great to have those sort of gears and those skills. No doubt he could potentially be a handful if it’s swinging around. Guys are just going to have to identify those difficult periods and adapt and show some resilience and things will get easier from there.”GeographyIn 2014, Australia learnt a lesson about deserts. On the dry pitches of the UAE, Pakistan’s batsmen handled Australia’s fast men with ease, and their spinners with contempt. Pakistan’s slow bowlers were dominant, including legspinner Yasir Shah. On debut in that series, he claimed 12 wickets at 17.25 across the two Tests, more wickets than all of Australia’s spinners combined. But in Australia, where the pitches will offer far more bounce and pace, Smith hopes that the threat of Yasir will be diminished.”I guess the Gabba, you’ll get a bit of extra bounce as a spin bowler,” Smith said. “I guess that can play in your favour, and can also play against you. Your length has to be spot on. Generally there isn’t too much turn – it’s more bounce, so length is crucial. And if you’re slightly off your length, you can really cash in down the wicket and square of the wicket as well. So he’s going to have to be pretty accurate.”Steven Smith is the only current Australia player to have faced Mohammad Amir in Tests•Getty ImagesPhysical educationAustralia’s new-look side boasts some fine fielders – Peter Handscomb pulled off a super catch at gully in Adelaide – but some aspects of working together require improvement. Australia will, for example, hope that wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and first slip Matt Renshaw have no further disagreements over who should go for a catch. Still, Australia will likely have the edge over Pakistan in the catching department. Pakistan’s batsmen might also find themselves up against some bouncer barrages as Australia’s fast men try to exploit the pace and bounce in the pitches, although the likes of Wahab Riaz are more than capable of returning the favour.”We’ve watched a little bit of the New Zealand series, just recently, and I think traditionally sub-continent sides that come over to Australia don’t handle the pace and bounce, or aren’t as comfortable with the pace and bounce of our wickets,” Smith said. “You need to try and find ways to exploit that as much as possible and at times I’m sure we’re going to see some short-pitched bowling to mess with their feet and be possible ways to get them out as well. We watched New Zealand pretty closely and they obviously did a good job, so hopefully our bowlers can replicate that.”MathsCalculations are always important for a captain, whether setting targets or juggling bowling spells. But in day-night Test cricket an extra dimension is added, with the knowledge that batting can become harder as the floodlights kick in. In Adelaide, Faf du Plessis even declared South Africa’s first innings before the close of the first day, such was his desire to test Australia under the lights.”I think if you look at all the pink-ball stats that have come out, most wickets have been lost in that final session so I guess it adds another dimension to the game,” Smith said. “Captains have to be switched on and possibly figure out different times to have a crack. If we get the opportunity and it might be about going out and trying to score a little bit quicker to get 10 overs with the new ball under lights, because we’ve seen it can do quite a lot. It throws some different strategies into the game.”ScienceThis is where the lessons get complicated. At about 5pm on match eve, the Australians gathered around the 22-yard strip in the middle of the Gabba and tried to work out how it would perform. At Adelaide Oval, the curator had left six millimetres of grass on the surface to help protect the pink ball; at the Gabba, only two millimetres will be left on. Perhaps only in cricket do agriculture and sport combine to hold the attention of so many. The Gabba curator, Kevin Mitchell jnr, believes the pitch will perform like a typical Gabba Test surface. Whatever the case, Australia’s uncertainty was such that Smith was unable to confirm whether spinner Nathan Lyon would play.

The greater power and depth of batting units has made chasing a distinct advantage in T20s. And that makes the toss ever more significant

Tim Wigmore27-Jan-2017When Perth Scorchers meet Sydney Sixers in the final of this year’s Big Bash League, it is a safe assumption that, unless the wicket looks unusually bowler-friendly, both teams will want to chase. That has been the trend all summer long in the BBL. Twenty-seven of the 34 teams that have won the toss have opted to bowl. The seven who have decided to bat have all regretted it: they have lost every time.Ian Chappell’s aphorism – when you win the toss, you bat first nine times out of ten; the tenth time you think about it and bat first anyway – has been inverted. Yet it held true in Australian T20 cricket for many years. In the first season of the BBL, in 2011-12, just three times out of 31 did teams who won the toss opt to chase, a similar figure to the pre-BBL days in Australia. But ever since, chasing has becoming increasingly popular. Just over half of all teams opted to chase in the previous two BBL seasons; 79% have done so this year.The penchant for chasing in Australia is a manifestation of a much larger trend. Until the end of 2013, 59% of teams chose to bat first, according to a database from cricket statistician Ric Finlay. Yet in recent years there has been a distinct shift towards chasing: from 2014 until the end of 2016, just 39% of teams who won the toss opted to bat first in matches. Chasing teams get a small but significant advantage: in the 2014-16 period, they won 5% more matches than those batting first.

Batting second has become increasingly favourable as conditions have become more batsman-friendly. “When aren’t they set up for batsmen? Small boundaries, flat tracks… yeah, it’s just how it is nowadays,” Tymal Mills lamented before the England-India T20I series.Average scores in T20 cricket have nudged up in recent years – from 152 in the 2011-13 period to 159 in 2014-16, according to Finlay – making it harder for teams batting first to gauge what a match-winning total is.

That has been Eoin Morgan’s experience for Sydney Thunder this BBL, and indeed, around the world. “The level of skills batsmen have shown, the improvement dealing with levels of risk and finding boundaries means batting units or teams in general are quite comfortable knowing what their target is. The unease of posting a score, or knowing what a good score is, is becoming more and more difficult,” he said. “Probably over the last three years, having a look at previous results or scores at the ground hasn’t been as reliable as in the past. That’s made it difficult.”So as batting has improved, precedent at a ground no longer provides a useful guide to what is a match-winning score. There is no real method, other than gut, for determining what is, say, a 175 ground and what is a 190 one. Teams batting first are at risk of undershooting, as when India made 192 for 2 in the World T20 semi-final, with Ajinkya Rahane performing his role – only, it turned out, it was a superfluous role – to perfection in making 40 from 35 balls. Increasingly they are also at risk of doing the opposite, and being so used to aiming for 200 that they fail to recognise when 150 is a match-winning score, and misjudge their plans.Teams also now have greater batting depth. Bowlers increasingly recognise how they can make themselves more useful – and more likely to win lucrative contracts – by adding lower-order six-hitting to their games. Ben Hilfenhaus, who spent most of his professional career batting at No. 10 or 11, recently blitzed 32 not out to win a BBL match that appeared lost.Sunil Narine, in action for Melbourne Renegades. As bowlers have sought to develop their big-hitting skills, batting line-ups have run deeper•Getty Images”Bowlers can’t afford not to bat in modern T20. They need to be able to slog a few,” says Alex Wakely, the captain of Northamptonshire, the reigning T20 champions in England. “We prefer chasing because we bat so deep.” Such depth allows teams to calibrate their run chases more effectively, and the greater proficiency of lower-order players can also liberate a side’s top-order batsmen to attack more at the start of a chase.Batting second also makes it easier for a side’s bowlers. “The opportunity to bowl first also means you can usually stick to your bowling plans,” says Charlie Burke, director of cricket for Cricket Hong Kong. For instance, having a spin bowler bowl two early overs and then return in the 14th and 16th overs, or ensuring that the final over is entrusted to a particularly skilful bowler. But when a side is bowling second, their plans have to adapt depending on the circumstances of the match – there is no sense in leaving the final over to the best bowler if the match looks to be on its way to being lost. When bowling second, bowlers are more likely to be forced to bowl at a time that does not ideally suit them.There are some exceptions to this new bat-first preference. In the recent Desert T20, the T20 competition for Associates, ten out of 15 teams who won the toss opted to bat first – though nine of the 15 games were still won by the chasing team. Associates are less inclined to chase because teams tend to have less depth in hitting all the way down the order, believes Burke, though that could change as emerging nations gain experience.And when wickets occasionally revert to favouring bowlers, it becomes much trickier to chase. During last year’s World T20, the ground at Nagpur notably offered more assistance to bowlers than other venues; six of the nine matches there were won by the team batting first. But on the batting-friendly pitches that are increasingly the norm, batting second is a boon. So far in this year’s Big Bash League, 61.8% of matches (21 out of 34) have been won by the side batting second.

“Probably over the last three years, having a look at previous results or scores at the ground hasn’t been as reliable as in the past. That’s made it difficult to set a target”Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain

There are areas in which bowlers can fight back, which might yet make captains more inclined to bat first after winning the toss. Innovators like the Bangladesh left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who has an astounding variety of deliveries, and Yasir Jan, an ambidextrous fast bowler from Pakistan, could shift the balance of T20s a little more in favour of bowlers. And a recent tweak to the laws of the game restricting the size of bats, which will be in force from October, could also make a modest difference.Yet it seems more likely that the preference for batting second will increase further. “Teams are so heavily packed with power all the way through a batting line-up that chasing will become the norm,” Wakely believes; pitches in T20 cricket are also likely to continue to improve. Since the start of 2016, chasing teams have won 11% more T20s than those batting first, suggesting the advantage is becoming greater. Should the proportion of matches won by the side batting second continue to increase, that would make the toss ever more important in T20.The shortest format thrives on unpredictability; too much onus on the toss, as in this year’s BBL, risks stripping T20 of a little of its excitement. If the trend in favour of batting second indeed continues, perhaps cricket’s authorities could even become amenable to radical suggestions – for instance, sealed bids, with captains bidding a certain number of runs for the right to bat or bowl first – to reduce the importance of the toss. In the meantime, rarely in the history of T20 has winning the toss, and the right to bat second, been as coveted as it will be when Adam Voges and Moises Henriques walk out with the coin in Perth on Saturday.

Which players will fetch the big bids and which ones will get snubbed?

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2017

Stats highlights from Bangladesh’s convincing 90-run win against Sri Lanka in Dambulla

S Rajesh25-Mar-20175 Wins for Bangladesh in 39 ODIs against Sri Lanka – they have lost 33 while one was washed out. However, this is their first win when batting first; their previous four victories had all come in chases. This is also their second win against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, after the three-wicket triumph in Pallekele in 2013.324/5 Bangladesh’s total, their third-highest in ODIs, and their best away from home. Their two higher totals – 329 and 326 – have both come against Pakistan in Mirpur. This is their tenth 300-plus total, but their first in an away game against a higher-ranked team.90 The margin of victory, in terms of runs. Only once have they beaten one of the top eight teams by a larger margin, when they beat West Indies by 160 runs in Khulna in 2012.127 Tamim Iqbal’s score, the seventh-highest in ODIs for Bangladesh. Tamim features five times in the top eight ODI scores for Bangladesh.144 The partnership between Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan, which is Bangladesh’s fourth-best for the fourth wicket in all ODIs, and their best for any wicket against Sri Lanka. In fact, this is only their second century stand in ODIs against Sri Lanka: the previous one came almost 13 years ago in Colombo, when Manjural Islam Rana and Mohammad Ashraful added exactly 100 for the fifth wicket.14/8 Bangladesh’s win-loss record in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup, with five wins in seven series. Among teams which have played at least 20 ODIs during this period, only South Africa and England have a better win-loss ratio.9.25 Lahiru Kumara’s economy rate – he leaked 74 in eight overs. It is the worst economy rate for any bowler who has bowled eight or more overs in an ODI against Bangladesh. The previous worst was 8.50, by Mitchell McClenaghan, who went for 68 in eight.

Returning to the scene of his record-breaking 311 not out, Hashim Amla had some advice for England’s under-fire batsmen

Firdose Moonda25-Jul-2017If England want some advice on how to approach an innings, they can get it from Hashim Amla. South Africa’s No. 3 spends, on average, 127 minutes at the crease every time he bats (only 15 men in history have more staying power), in a career in which he has spent 380 hours and 34 minutes in the middle. More than 13 of those were occupied batting at The Oval in 2012, when he reached the highest Test score by a South African, and Amla got there by knowing how to balance attack and defence.”Test cricket has an element of grind in it,” Amla said, back at the scene of his 311 not out, ahead of the third Test this time around. “But you can’t be attacking all the time and you can’t grind all the time: it’s finding the right balance.”Amla has first-hand experience of the search for that equilibrium. As his career has progressed, scoring rates in the longest format have quickened and Amla has had to adapt accordingly. He has gone from strike rates below 40 when he first began to almost touching 70 in the series against New Zealand last August and has evolved from purely an anchor to an accelerator, admitting team dynamics dictate which approach he takes.”It takes many years as a team to find the right balance,” he said. “Over the last 10 years I’ve played, we have gone through phases where we haven’t found the balance and then we’ve found it and been successful as a batting unit. Then you lose it and then you find it. It happens. You go through ups and downs as a batting unit.”Since the retirements of Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen, South Africa have struggled to settle on an opening pair and the constant search has caused a structural weakness. Often, they are one down early, leaving it to Amla to do a repair job which typically involves being tentative. But last summer, starting with the Australia series, Amla switched gears and seemed in a hurry in almost every innings. He was unusually rash in his shot selection and went through a slump, especially by his standards.As Amla’s temperament came into focus, it was thought that the influence of shorter formats was affecting his batting but it may actually have been the make-up of the XI. Amla’s lean patch came at a time when South Africa were without AB de Villiers and when inconsistency crept into the line-up, so the responsibility on Amla would have been greater. With that at the back of his mind, his haste was understandable but at Trent Bridge, where South Africa levelled the series against a profligate England, glimpses of the Amla of old peeped out.He showed more patience than in some of his recent stays at the crease and it is probably not a coincidence that the change came after South Africa made a major change to the line-up. Not only did they drop the underperforming JP Duminy but they installed the most in-form batsmen of the last year, Quinton de Kock, in his place at No.4. That seemed to bring the best out of Amla.In the first innings, he shared in a 113-run third-wicket stand with de Kock which changed the tempo of a South Africa innings that started slowly in tough batting conditions. Though de Kock did not come off in the second innings, having him higher up appeared to help Amla find his rhythm. “When Quinton de Kock comes to the crease for us, he plays really freely and gets the scoreboard ticking,” Amla. “That’s what we love and we have no qualms if he nicks off playing an attacking shot because more often than not he comes off and is successful.”Hashim Amla conquered England’s bowlers in 2012•Getty ImagesEngland have players of a similar style in Joe Root and Ben Stokes, who accumulate runs quickly, but in the second Test they lacked staying power, prompting a barrage of criticism from former players. Amla’s advice is not to read too much into it. After all, South Africa were bundled out for 119 at Lord’s and also suffered an embarrassing margin of defeat. “You can’t look too much into it. We lost the first Test and the same questions you are posing to me you probably posed to Alastair Cook – sorry to Joe Root,” Amla said, reminding himself who the England captain actually was.Those questions are about the ability of batting line-ups to build innings, rather than blast their way to a total, and Amla has already proved he has some answers. Especially at The Oval, where he became his country’s only triple-centurion. His unbeaten 311 spanned 790 minutes – the sixth longest in Test history – and he did not change his gloves once in that time. It was an innings that spoke as much to South Africa’s resilience as to his own resoluteness and it ultimately set South Africa up for a series win.That day, Amla’s attitude was simple. “I remember just trying to bat as long as I can and thankfully I did,” he said.So how much will that innings be in Amla’s mind when he walks out to bat in this match? “I think we passed that five years ago,” he said. “A lot of cricket has happened in between. I don’t think there will be any thoughts of that. I find that with things that happened in the past, generally, if you linger on it too long it becomes more of a distraction.”But he habours some hope he can do it again. “I’ve got the same name, I’ve trained as tough as I can train so for me it’s about continuing that.”