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There will be not just a new look but a new approach from England’s ODI team in the series against New Zealand, according to their interim coach, Paul Farbrace

George Dobell03-Jun-2015There will be not just a new look but a new approach from England’s ODI team in the series against New Zealand, according to their interim coach, Paul Farbrace.Farbrace has promised that, with bat and ball, England will play a far more aggressive style of cricket than they have demonstrated over the last few years.The talk has been heard before. Ahead of the World Cup there was talk that England would play a more aggressive brand of cricket but, under pressure, they struggled to turn the words into actions. England were the monochrome team in the age of high definition colour. Truly, you are never far from a new era in England cricket.But there is a freshness to this side. There is a sense, this time, that the talk is genuine and that the change is real. And, even if some of the names are not new, it seems likely that Ben Stokes, for example, will be given the freedom to bat in the top six and play his naturally aggressive game.What the players will not be expected to do is change. So the likes of Jason Roy and Alex Hales, young men who have made their name with explosive innings at county level, will be asked to relax and play in exactly the same manner for the national side.”The message will be, you’ve been selected because of the way you play at county level,” Farbrace said. “You have to go and do exactly the same at international level. The players who have the guts to do that will be the ones who make a success of it. I want them to go and enjoy playing international cricket and express their skills.

Farbrace on…

Trevor Bayliss

“We’ve chatted a lot. He’s had an influence in this one-day side. We chatted prior to selection and he’s had quite an input. He’s relayed some thoughts as to how he would like to see us working even though he will not be here. He’s watching and keeping a close eye. He knows a few of the players pretty well. He’s had an influence from afar.”

Defeat at Headingley

“The basics of the game we didn’t do well. We didn’t hold our line and lengths particularly well and we didn’t catch very well. You can’t afford to have to create 13 or 14 chances an innings to bowl a team out. We have to do the basics better.”

Senior players

“I couldn’t ask for any more from Broad and Anderson. There have been times when I’ve said, ‘we really need you to run in this session’ and they’ve done it. They have been excellent. And that’s what you need, your senior players giving you everything in the dressing room and supporting the young, less experienced players and making sure they are learning all the time.”

Slip catching

“Last summer, we missed a few chances in Leeds against Sri Lanka. So halfway through the India series, we put Ian Bell back in at second slip and started catching brilliantly. But we haven’t caught well in these games, so if we have to look at that – and the personnel involved – we will do so. I think it’s a confidence thing.”

Gary Ballance

“He has had a really good time at No. 3. Yes, he’s had a period where he hasn’t scored runs but he has played very well at No. 3 in the past so moving him down the order isn’t something we’ve discussed at the moment.”

“We need to move our one-day game forward. We need to look at other players. You only have to look at the last few months we’ve had in one-day cricket. There are people who need a really good go in this series. If you look at the way one-day cricket is evolving, we need powerful strikers right the way through the side and we need a left-arm seamer.”That left-arm seamer is David Willey. While Willey is not as quick as Harry Gurney, who seems to have been jettisoned for good, he does offer variation that England lacked at the World Cup and some powerful hitting in the middle-order.An obvious weakness of England’s World Cup campaign was the lack of potency with the ball. It was shown throughout the tournament that, if batting sides had wickets in hand going into the last 10 overs, they could cause havoc and add in excess of 100 runs. So Farbrace hopes that this squad will prove to have more bite and, in the absence of James Tredwell (injured) and Moeen Ali, who has been released to find red-ball form, has given another opportunity to legspinner Adil Rashid.”In one-day cricket we need to be taking wickets all the way through the opposition innings,” Farbrace said. “That’s why Adil Rashid is in there. We want wicket-taking bowlers to keep the opposition under pressure. If you don’t and teams have wickets in hand, then 100 to 150 is quite possible in the last 10 overs. And that takes games away from you.”While the batsmen in the squad are likely to be available for all five games, some of the bowlers – especially Mark Wood – might be rotated to ensure they are fresh for the Ashes.”We have to be careful with Woody,” Farbrace said. “He will probably play only two or three of the ODIs. We want him to be available for that first Test. We need to look after him. Liam Plunkett could easily play his role. We want some pace in there.”The basics of one-day cricket don’t change that much. But it is moving towards a power game. A strength game. And you have to have bowlers who can take wickets.”Reflecting on the Test series, Farbrace admitted England remained a developing team and that some patience would be required before results reflect any improvement.”We have a lot to do before we can be a consistent side that are winning games and series on a regular basis,” he said. “It takes a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of patience. But there’s no lack of hard work in this group. They give everything.”But you can’t just keep patting people on the back and say ‘keep going’ There are times when you have to say ‘that’s not quite good enough’ and look at ways to improve.”Meanwhile, the ECB have confirmed the availability of England players for the next few weeks of domestic action. Moeen, Gary Ballance, Adam Lyth, Stuart Broad and Ian Bell are all available for the next couple of rounds of Championship cricket, while all players – with the exception of Anderson and Wood – will be available for domestic NatWest T20 Blast action this weekend.That means Joe Root and Jos Buttler will face each other in the Roses match, while Broad, Taylor and Hales will all be available for Nottinghamshire’s match against Leicestershire on Friday. Taylor and Hales have also given permission to play on Sunday before joining up with the England squad 24-hours later than their colleagues.Alastair Cook will play for Essex in their Championship fixture against Derbyshire starting on June 14, which means a chance for Mark Footitt, the left-arm fast bowler who continues to flourish in country cricket, to impress against him.

Lancashire may not have achieved promotion in the style they would have liked, but the hour-long wait to confirm their success completes a remarkable turnaround of fortunes

Myles Hodgson at Old Trafford14-Sep-2013
ScorecardBen Raine made his best first-class score as Leicestershire battled gamely to a draw•Getty Images

Lancashire may not have achieved promotion in the style they would have liked, but the hour-long wait to confirm their success completes a remarkable turnaround of fortunes. Relegated as reigning champions just a year ago, their return to Division One was confirmed after third-placed Essex were unable to secure victory against Kent at Canterbury.By the time news filtered through, there were precious few people left at Old Trafford to mark the event, after Lancashire’s final home match meandered to a draw on the final day. The players, of course, enjoyed their own celebration in the dressing room but the rest of the refurbished ground was empty other than a few members of the media writing up in the press box and the odd construction worker disassembling the temporary stands used for the Ashes Test and recent one-day international.Resuming the final morning trailing by 393 runs on 60 for 3, Leicestershire comfortably batted out the day and avoided a seventh successive defeat mainly thanks to a 69-run seventh-wicket stand between Ben Raine, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, and Tom Wells. Raine top-scored with a career-best 72, while Wells also made his best first-class score of 43, and both sides shook hands on a draw after Leicestershire were dismissed for 329.It was a low-key end to Lancashire’s season at Old Trafford and, although they may finish the summer with silverware – Lancashire need only 12 points from their final two matches to secure the Division Two title – thoughts will inevitably turn to next year and whether the team can adapt to Division One cricket better than 12 months ago?They certainly have a bigger playing pool, with youngsters like Luis Reece and Andrea Agathangelou breaking through this summer to keep Steven Croft and Karl Brown, the two players at the crease when Lancashire claimed the championship at Taunton in 2011, out of the Championship side. They will also be able to call upon the experience of Ashwell Prince, the former South Africa Test batsman, who fulfils the final year of his two-year deal as a Kolpak player next summer.Reece’s emergence as an opening partner for Paul Horton has provided the foundation for much of Lancashire’s success this summer. In six innings opening together, they have recorded three century partnerships – in stark contrast to last summer when Lancashire had to wait until the final game of the summer for their first century opening stand – and should provide greater stability going into next season.Lancashire would also like to add Simon Katich, the 38-year-old former Australia batsman, to their squad for next season as an overseas player, after he contributed 1,097 Championship runs to their promotion push, including four hundreds and six half-centuries, at an average of 73.13. He will play no further part in their season as he is due to fly out to India this weekend to captain Perth Scorchers in the Champions League and discussions about next summer are expected to begin after the end of that tournament.Should Katich decide against another gruelling six months in county cricket, Lancashire have confirmed they would look to recruit another quality overseas batsman having already made the exciting signing of Kyle Jarvis, the 24-year-old former Zimbabwe Test bowler, on a three-year contract as a Kolpak player to strengthen their bowling resources. Jarvis claimed 30 wickets in eight Tests and has certainly looked the part during lunch-time bowling sessions at Old Trafford, bowling at a good pace and accuracy, but has yet to be tested in a first-team fixture.Jarvis’ pace will certainly add something to Lancashire’s attack, which has lacked a quick bowler for some years, and will ease the workload on Glen Chapple, their 39-year-old captain. They are well stocked in the spin department, with Simon Kerrigan having already proven himself in Division One. Stephen Parry, another left-arm spinner, should strengthen that department, having missed most of this season with a broken arm, while Arron Lilley, a 22-year-old offspinner, also made his Championship debut this summer.Do Lancashire have enough strength in depth to challenge for the title, as Yorkshire have done, in the season after going up? Much will depend on Lancashire’s recruitment policies during the winter. Their Roses rivals secures Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks a year ago, which has helped them mount a title challenge.Certainly Katich is confident. “Having played Yorkshire last year [with Hampshire], they’ve brought in Plunkett and Brooks and, apart from that, their team is pretty similar,” he said. “The batting line-up is almost the same, apart from one or two young kids. They played some good cricket last year, Jason Gillespie is a good coach and they’ve probably built on that confidence and had another good year, so there’s no reason why that couldn’t also happen here.”

Sri Lanka overcame resistance from Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo to move to the top of the table in the tri-series but fell just short of earning a bonus point

The Report by Abhishek Purohit08-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKumar Sangakkara made West Indies pay for erratic bowling•Associated Press

Sri Lanka’s batsmen, led by Kumar Sangakkara, battled rain interruptions that stretched their innings of 41 overs over two days. Their bowlers seemed to have the match under control when they ran in to a red-hot Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo. That was when rain decided to even things out. A drizzle started, West Indies panicked, went for the D/L par score and lost Simmons. The drizzle stopped, the clouds disappeared and all life drained out of the West Indies chase as Sri Lanka slowed the game down.The chase had seemed to have already lost steam at 31 for 4 when West Indies’ batsmen carried on from where their bowlers had left, showing the same lack of discipline. Simmons , playing his first ODI since December, then took 16 deliveries to get off the mark, struggling against the offspin of Sachithra Senanayake. Even as the asking-rate galloped, though, the momentum suddenly shifted. Out of nowhere, Simmons began to smoke sixes and fours on the up. With Bravo starting to attack as well, West Indies were scoring at ten an over now.They were still slightly behind on the par score, though, and the drizzle and the dark skies made Simmons go after every ball. You could not blame Simmons for worrying about rain in an ODI that had stretched to two days because of it. With three balls left in the 32nd over and West Indies 14 runs behind, Simmons hit successive fours before an attempt to clear the field ended in deep point’s hands.Kieron Pollard walked into rain for the second time in less than a month. This time, he lasted just four balls, edging Lasith Malinga behind to register his third duck of the series in four innings. Darren Sammy was the final hope for West Indies but it was not easy to come in and start hitting on this pitch, even though it had eased out from the at times unplayable brute it was on day one. Sammy and Bravo holed out in successive overs but the last-wicket pair of Kemar Roach and Tino Best – which had taken West Indies to a tense victory over India in Jamaica – held their nerve again to deny Sri Lanka the bonus point that would have carried the visitors into the final.If only the West Indies top order had shown similar application. Instead, Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles and Marlon Samuels went after shortish deliveries early in their innings and paid the price. Sri Lanka’s bowlers got more out of the pitch than the home attack, some extra swing, seam and bounce making strokeplay difficult with the new balls.Patience was not something the West Indies top order was willing to show, despite knowing that Sri Lanka had been rendered a bowler short early in the chase. Nuwan Kulasekara’s spell lasted 11 deliveries when a Gayle push hit a finger on his left hand. A bleeding Kulasekara left the field. Two overs later, Gayle followed him. In the next over, Charles and Samuels followed.Patience was something Kumar Sangakkara had in plenty on day one, and on the reserve day, he capitalised on some wayward bowling to carry Sri Lanka to a challenging total. The pitch, bouncy and uneven on day one, eased out despite overnight and morning rain. Sangakkara prospered as Sri Lanka took 105 off the last ten overs. Sangakkara’s innings showed the way to deal with changing conditions. West Indies’ bowling, barring Sammy and Roach, was exactly the opposite.Having seen that the surface lacked the bite it had a day ago, they bowled short and wide to be taken apart at the death. Sangakkara was in a positive mood right from the start. He hadn’t hit a boundary in 33 deliveries on day one; the morning after, he was moving across in his crease, he was walking down the pitch, disturbing lengths and dispatching width.Angelo Mathews’ quick 30 gave the innings more momentum. Roach appeared to have brought West Indies back when he dismissed Mathews and Jeevan Mendis in the 35th over, but Sangakkara hit harder now, and West Indies wilted. Jason Holder, who had looked so threatening with his bounce a day ago, lost his line. The wayward Best, who had found little semblance of line, length or rhythm on both days, served up short ball after short ball, and was punished. West Indies’ wide count was as much as 24 in 41 overs, Tino Best responsible for more than half of those runs.It didn’t help that they had a part-time wicketkeeper, Charles, in the firing line of Best’s misdirected missiles. Thrice, Charles let a wide delivery fly to the boundary when a better keeper might have stopped it. The extra batsman in Simmons gave West Indies a chance, but would he have needed to take so much risk in the absence of all those extras?

Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford has defended his side’s poor use of the DRS on day two in Sydney

Andrew Fernando at the SCG04-Jan-2013Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford has defended his side’s poor use of the DRS on day two in Sydney, after they burnt a review in Rangana Herath’s first over, but did not refer an lbw shout that would have been turned in their favour a few overs later.Sri Lanka could have had Michael Clarke out first ball when Herath struck him on the pad with one that pitched outside off stump and straightened, but were unsure if Clarke had inside edged a ball onto his pad. The unsuccessful review had been another lbw chance off David Warner, where the ball was not projected to hit enough of the stumps to overturn the original decision. Clarke went on to make 50.”It was tough for Mahela [Jayawardene],” Ford said. “I think he wanted reviews intact. Having blown one he was reluctant to blow another one unless he was absolutely sure that it was out. I think the captain tries to get as much information as possible from close fielders, like what the height was, and he has to follow his gut feeling.”It all happens quickly and standing in the slips, it’s very hard for Mahela. If they had reviewed that and maybe if one or two chances stuck today, and a couple of things had gone our way, we would have been in a better position. Although we are still in the game, we could have been in a powerful position.”Australia finished 48 runs ahead of Sri Lanka at stumps, with four first-innings wickets still in hand. However the SCG pitch has already shown signs of dryness on day two. With Australia having to bat last, Ford was hopeful a strong second-innings performance might take the visitors close to a maiden win in Australia.”We know we are in the game. We have fought hard and deserve to be in the game, because of the spirit and the fight we’ve shown. We’re well aware that it’s going to be tough from here on, but we certainly haven’t been blown away and we are sitting in a much better position than at the MCG. We will take heart from that. A number of young players have come in and shown that they have the guts and desire to play at this level.”Ford also praised Jayawardene’s knock on day one, which helped set a positive tone for Sri Lanka’s first innings, as their captain collected 72 from 110 balls, hitting 12 fours and a six. Jayawardene had struggled in the first two Tests, in which he made 12, 19, 3 and 0.”It was fantastic to see him go out and play so well. It shows what a fantastic leader he is. He was up for the challenge and went up the order and batted at three. He played superbly and I was hopeful he would get a hundred as this is his last Test match as captain, but I am sure he will have a bigger role to play in the second innings.”

Namibia bowled well but two crucial partnerships allowed Canada to end the day at 264 for 9 in Windhoek

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-2012
Scorecard
Canada’s lower order put up a stiff resistance after Sarel Burger had rocked them with four wickets. Namibia chose to field and created immediate impact with the ball as Canada lost their first two wickets for 18. Canada lost a further two wickets to Burger and were reduced to 46 for 4. But a useful 112-run partnership between Zeeshan Siddiqi, who scored 87, and Tyson Gordon, who scored 42, pulled Canada out of trouble. However, Canada scoring more than 200 was largely due to a 55-run eighth-wicket partnership between captain Rizwan Cheema and Junaid Siddiqui.Both teams are lingering at the bottom of the points table and this game presents an opportunity to score a win and catch up with the other sides.

Ben Hilfenhaus, the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s Test series victory over India, has been recalled to the national ODI squad to replace the injured Brett Lee

Daniel Brettig06-Feb-2012Ben Hilfenhaus, the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s Test series victory over India, has been recalled to the national ODI squad to replace the injured Brett Lee – his first limited overs duty in more than two years.The national selector John Inverarity and his panel chose an experienced name to cover for Lee rather than picking another youthful pace bowler, affording Hilfenhaus the chance to play his first 50-over internationals since a tour of India in late 2009.On that tour Hilfenhaus suffered from knee tendinitis that would subsequently keep him out of international cricket for most of the 2009-10 season, and had been employed exclusively in Test matches since.While naming Hilfenhaus, Inverarity suggested the XI for the Perth match against Sri Lanka on Friday was likely to be unchanged from the one that defeated India in Melbourne on Sunday. However Hilfenhaus may play in the third match, against India in Adelaide on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.”The NSP has named Ben Hilfenhaus in the squad for the game against Sri Lanka in Perth on Friday,” Inverarity said. “Ben will replace the injured Brett Lee. The bowling attack for Perth is likely to be the same as the one that did so well in Melbourne and Ben will be in Perth to provide cover.”Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle have been resting in reserve since the completion of the Test series, which reaped 27 wickets at 17.22 for the Tasmanian after he was recalled for the Boxing Day Test.Siddle (23 wickets at 18.65) is likely to come into contention for the second half of the ODI series, his exertions in nine consecutive Test matches deemed worthy of a longer break than Hilfenhaus’ four.As previously flagged by the selectors, Mitchell Marsh will join the ODI squad after the completion of the Sheffield Shield fixture between Queensland and Western Australia at the Gabba. Two of the other mooted contenders for Lee’s spot, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Alister McDermott, are also taking part in the match.

As a batting duo Clarke and Ponting bounce off one another perfectly, playing in styles that contrast in ways that split the field

Daniel Brettig at Adelaide Oval25-Jan-2012Michael Clarke still needs Ricky Ponting. If not always as a tactical adviser on the field then certainly as a wise head in the dressing room and a similarly ravenous batsman in the middle. Between them they can construct the most authoritative partnerships of any two batsmen in this Australian side, and in Sydney and Adelaide their unions have sapped India.The SCG stand was made to look fleeting by comparison with the 386 runs piled up at Adelaide Oval, but both demonstrated Ponting’s best value to Clarke. As a batting duo they bounce off one another perfectly, playing in styles that contrast in ways that split the field. All the while they are coaching and encouraging each other, spotting faults in their partner’s technique or lauding strengths.As Clarke hinted when he spoke in the aftermath of their dual double centuries, his resolve with Ponting to stay together at the crease has been strengthened enormously by the pain of last summer’s Ashes defeat. Innings by innings each long occupation begins to atone for those not achieved against Andrew Strauss’ Englishmen.”It’s always nice to see us both scoring runs when we bat together,” Clarke said. “We’ve known each other for a long time, played a lot of cricket together. It’s nice to spend some time in the middle. Both of us were disappointed with our series last summer and we’ve worked hard on our games to improve … it’s nice to be scoring some [runs] this summer.”We know each other’s games quite well so we can certainly communicate to what we’re seeing, if we feel like we can help. We speak a lot when we bat about what the other person has seen, to get help and advice and to keep both of us going and this innings was no different.”Clarke’s effort elevated him to the rare club of batsmen to score a double century and a triple in the same series. Its other members are Don Bradman and Walter Hammond, neither of whom managed it when they were leading their team. On an Adelaide pitch of the most friendly characteristics, Clarke’s mind was less on records than the scoreboard.”I didn’t know that but it’s very nice to have scored some more runs,” Clarke said. “That wicket’s very flat out there to bat on. Ricky and I spoke early in our innings, once we got in again today, it was about going on and making big ones. The positive is it’s nice to score some more runs and to have 600 runs on the board. The other side of that though is that it’s going to take a hell of a lot of work to take 20 wickets on that wicket.”It’s very special, there’s no doubt about it. One thing I’ve never really been too bothered about is statistics and records. It’s about playing the game. It’s about trying to do whatever you can to help your team win. If records come along like that, it’s very special.”Following a 2011 of introspection and change, Clarke is enjoying the best of times in his career so far. He is gaining respect and admiration with each innings, but has not forgotten that there may be more meagre days ahead. The plight of India and their suspended captain MS Dhoni is proof enough of that.”I don’t think it matters if you’re captain or not. It’s a tough game. It’s the toughest game in the world,” Clarke said. “For Ricky and I to have individual performances and team performances like this, it’s why you train so hard. It’s very satisfying. It’s about enjoying the good times and when you’re not doing so well it’s continue to work hard and have the confidence in your own ability that things are going to turn around for you.”Turn has not been in much evidence across this series, and has again been absent so far in Adelaide. However Clarke preferred to hope for deterioration, offering spin for Nathan Lyon and variable bounce for the fast men. Umesh Yadav was one visiting bowler to gain some sharp reverse swing at times, something the Australians may be able to utilise against the heavier legs of India’s batsmen.”Hopefully we’ll see some deterioration especially in the back half of day four and day five – tomorrow it’s going to be pretty nice to bat on,” Clarke said. “A couple of balls stayed a little bit low, but it’s as good a batting wicket as you’re going to get. The bowlers are going to have to bowl well and we’re going to have to hang onto every chance in the field.”The man standing in Australia’s path is Sachin Tendulkar, he of 99 international centuries. Clarke was asked somewhat flippantly if he would show Tendulkar any sympathy. Given the pitch, and the rewards of a relentless approach with the bat, Clarke’s response was no surprise.”No I certainly won’t be showing him any sympathy,” he said. “We’re there to win the game. He’s a wonderful player, and he’s going to be really tough to get out on that wicket. Somehow we’re going to have to find a way to do it twice.”

After seeing their world-beating game-plan improved on by England,
Australia are now looking to their Ashes dominators to provide a way out
this mess

Peter English at the SCG07-Jan-2011After seeing their world-beating game-plan improved on by England,
Australia are now looking to their Ashes dominators to provide a way out
this mess. For more than a decade Australia were the leaders in planning
and innovation, but over the past couple of years they have gone into
freefall.England’s 3-1 Ashes victory, their first Down Under since 1986-87, has
provided Australia with another fierce reality check after a batch of them
in 2010. “I think 100% we have to learn from what England did this
series,” Clarke said. “Their performance, not only with bat and ball, but
in the field, was outstanding for a five-Test series. There’s a great
starting point to be able to turn up every day for five Tests, to perform
as well as they did.”Clarke was in the unfortunate position of being in charge when the trophy
was handed over, having replaced the injured Ricky Ponting for the final
Test. He may have the job full-time if the selectors decide Ponting’s time
is up before the next tour of Sri Lanka in August, although Clarke loyally
pledged his support to the official leader.If Clarke takes over at least he knows what his side needs to do to
succeed against the best teams. “It takes a lot of discipline, a lot of
planning before the series,” he said. “The [England] bowlers have executed
their plans outstandingly against our batters and their batters have
cashed in when we haven’t bowled in the right areas. We do need to look at
how England have played in this series and take a lot of notes from that.”The overall campaign was a poor one for Clarke, who performed so strongly
in the 2006-07 and 2009 Ashes campaigns. Clarke, who managed only 193 runs
at 21.44, said it felt like the lowest point of his career.”Unfortunately I’ve lost a few Ashes series now and they’re all pretty
bad,” he said. “But being the vice-captain of the Australian team, and
having such a disappointing series with the bat, it probably is [the
worst].”Clarke, 29, has retired from Twenty20s to focus on improving his impact in
the longer forms of the game, but he was asked whether he should hold his
five-day spot for the Sri Lanka trip. “I would like to, I really hope so,”
he said. “Throughout this series I’ve played well in a couple of innings,
but I couldn’t go out and make a big score.”If he had the series over again he would have practised more against tall,
fast bowlers before the first Test in Brisbane. He spent the early stages
of the series being targeted by short-pitched deliveries when he was
overcoming a back injury, and was unable to find any fluency.Australia’s lead-up included one-day games against Sri Lanka and a couple
of domestic fixtures, while England were fine-tuning from the moment their
home summer ended. They were better in all disciplines except
wicketkeeping, where Brad Haddin and Matt Prior were evenly matched.James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, dismissed any
criticism of the schedule having an influence on the result. “To point the
finger at the preparation and suggest that was responsible for us losing
the series 3-1 is rubbish,” he said. “We actually played more Test cricket
than England did in the two or three months leading into the Ashes
series.”Clarke was hurt by the standard of the side’s fielding and said the
bowlers needed more patience and discipline. “That’s what England have
done throughout this series,” he said, before offering his attack some
sympathy.”I feel a bit for the bowlers, because I know they’ve copped a lot of
criticism throughout this series, but I think we as batters have to take a
lot of responsibility as well,” he said. “If you can put 400 runs on the
board, as England have shown, your bowlers generally bowl a lot better
than what we have. Putting 100, 200, 250 on the board and expecting the
bowlers to get them out for that sort of target, I think we’re asking a
hell of a lot.”

Potts has retained his place, while Billings has been dropped following Foakes’ recovery after a bout of Covid-19

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Aug-2022England have handed a recall to Ollie Robinson for the upcoming home Test series with South Africa.Robinson, the right-arm seamer whose last Test appearance was against Australia in Hobart in January this year, has made the squad of 14 for the first two matches of the three-match series after a battle with an array of ailments that kept him out of action for almost two months. After coming through problems with his back, Covid-19, and dental issues, he will be in line to add to his nine caps so far.Related

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Robinson, 28, has had a mixed start to his Test cricketer, despite exemplary overall figures of 39 dismissals at an average of 21.28. His debut at Lord’s at the start of last summer was marred by the emergence of historic offensive tweets, before he put that behind him to emerge as England’s standout bowler of 2021 and earning a spot as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. However, he was publicly admonished for his fitness during the 4-0 Ashes defeat, something which came in for further scrutiny when he was unable to play a part in England’s tour of the Caribbean in March.He began the 2022 summer looking to put that problem behind him only for back spasms and other niggles to restrict him to just four first-class appearances by the middle of May. But 4 for 44 and 5 for 66 in his return to County Championship action for Sussex against Nottinghamshire last week, getting through 36.1 overs, showed Robinson was back on the right path. He will continue to prove his game-readiness by turning out for the England Lions in their four-day match against the South Africans at Canterbury, which begins on August 9. ESPNcricinfo understands batter Harry Brook, also a member of the 14-man squad, will play in this match too.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The finishing touches on the squad were made by the selection committee on Monday, with Brendon McCullum dialling in from New Zealand. He is due to be back in England by the start of next week.Robinson was expected to be part of the Lions squad, which is expected to be named on Friday. But an injury to Surrey quick Jamie Overton, who made his debut in the final Test against New Zealand at Headingley, saw them pick Robinson in the main group. Robinson was due to represent Manchester Originals in the Hundred, which starts on Wednesday, but opted to continue at Sussex and play in their Royal London Cup matches instead.Durham’s Matthew Potts, one of the beneficiaries of Robinson’s absence, retained his place in the squad after 18 dismissals from his four Tests this summer. Wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings has dropped out now that Ben Foakes has recovered from his bout of Covid-19, which led to him being replaced during the Headingley Test.

“I haven’t even looked that far,” Morris said when asked about playing for South Africa in the future

Deivarayan Muthu30-Mar-20212:31

Chris Morris – ‘Stokes and I could be an interesting duo to come up against’

Chris Morris had played all of one international – a T20I against New Zealand in Durban – when he earned his maiden IPL deal in 2013, with the Chennai Super Kings shelling out US$ 625,000 for him. Eight years later, Morris’ South Africa future is uncertain, but he continues to be a sought-after player in the IPL.In the most recent auction, he became the most expensive player ever in the IPL, with the Rajasthan Royals outbidding the Royal Challengers Bangalore to sign him for INR 16.25 crore (USD 2.2 million approx.).Morris recalled the fierce bidding war for him at the auction earlier in February, saying his “breath was taken away”.Related

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“Look, I’ll be the first person to say that my breath was taken away,” Morris said during a virtual-media interaction on Tuesday. “I didn’t expect to first of all be bought for that much and second of all for so many teams to want to employ my services. It’s definitely a humbling feeling…and like I said it took my breath away for that to happen and for teams to keep going for me like that blew my mind.”Between the end of IPL 2020, when Morris was injured, and the IPL 2021 auction, Morris hadn’t played a single competitive game, but the Royals still broke the bank for his big hitting and death bowling. Those dual skills have made him a T20 globetrotter – he has had stints in the BBL, IPL, and T20 Blast in England. This will be Morris’ eighth IPL season and he will return to the Royals, a franchise he represented in 2015, when they made the playoffs. Morris, now 33, said that initially he didn’t see himself playing as many seasons in the league.”I never in my wildest dreams thought I’ll be in my ninth IPL or eighth – math has never been my strong suit – but I never thought I’ll be playing this many IPLs,” he said. “For me to still be needed for my services and be valued is very cool and humbled. We need to put the performances in; it’s as simple as that. When you do contribute to the team and have a bit of fun…amazing things happen when you have fun on the cricket field.”Morris also looked back at the IPL as a “life-changing” event, cherishing the experience of playing with and against top international players in the world.”You want to use the word life-changing, but every single time you come to the IPL, your life changes whether it’s personal or cricket or anything else,” he said. “It’s a life-changing experience to be part of the IPL. It’s been an absolute blast of a journey so far and hopefully there’s a new story to be written over the next nine weeks.”Morris, though, refused to view the IPL as a dry run for the 2021 T20 World Cup, which will also be held in India, insisting that his focus is entirely on performing for the Royals.”Whether there’s a World Cup or not, it’s going to be a very important [IPL] season all the way,” he said. “Like I said, World Cup or no World Cup, [I] still want to win the IPL doesn’t matter what’s coming up after. Your main focus is to win the IPL – the second-biggest trophy, if not the biggest trophy to win in a year without the World Cup. It’s the biggest trophy to win as a cricketer playing domestic cricket. The whole world is watching you, the eyes are on you. It’s the one. It’s the big one to win as a player especially when you’re playing in it for a quite a number of years. You don’t want to use the word tick the box, but definitely something you want to do to have an opportunity to win the IPL.”Other guys will hopefully be focusing on the World Cup and that takes their focus away from the IPL and we can jump onto that. Personally, I’m not worried about the World Cup, I’m here to do the job to win matches and hopefully push for winning the trophy in the IPL.”Earlier this year, when asked about his South Africa future, Morris didn’t provide a firm answer. This time as well, he maintained his stance on the matter, having last played international cricket in the 2019 50-over World Cup.”I haven’t even looked that far,” Morris said. “I’ve just focused on playing for Rajasthan Royals – that’s my immediate focus and port of call right now. We will cross that bridge if we get there – if it ever arrives – but no focus on that and all my focus is here.”Playing for the Royals will invite price-tag pressure – and there will be greater pressure if the injured Jofra Archer is sidelined from the entire tournament – but Morris wasn’t too fussed about it, having dealt with it in the past.”It’s natural to have a little bit of added pressure when something like that has happened [at the auction],” he said. I would be lying if I said there wasn’t any pressure. But, fortunately enough, in the past I have come in [to the tournament] with quite a big price tag on my head, so at the end of the day, you got to perform on the field, no matter what your price tag is. So, there is a little bit of added pressure, but the pressure that you get from a price tag doesn’t affect you on a cricket field at the end of the day.”Morris disagrees with Steyn about too much money talk in IPL
During his PSL stint with the Quetta Gladiators, Dale Steyn, speaking to , reckoned that the IPL was less rewarding than some of the other T20 leagues, with more “emphasis on the amount of money”. Morris, however, disagreed with his former team-mate at South Africa and the Royal Challengers.”No, I don’t feel the same (laughs). Dale’s a free spirit, Dale’s one of the legends of the game, Dale’s one of my favourite people in the world,” Morris said. “Dale’s got his opinions, he will be outspoken about his opinions, but that’s Dale’s character.”I’m not going to delve into it too much and it was just the case of Dale feeling at that time what Dale was feeling – what he was feeling emotionally or physically or mentally. Whatever he feels that’s what he feels, and I’m happy to have a conversation with him about it. But, we’re all different animals, we’re all different people and we have different opinions and that’s what makes the world go around.”