The Champions Trophy has been there for nearly 20 years, in its various incarnations, and it’s taken some blows along the way. Maybe now, as it reaches maturity, it’s time to give the tournament the love that it deserves

Andrew Miller31-May-20175:30

Fleming: Short, sharp tournament bodes well for ODI cricket

It seems strange to suggest that the Champions Trophy might finally be coming of age. But, just as the most troubled of teenagers tend to find their place in life eventually, so the ICC’s least-loved bauble is somehow approaching its 20th year with a grizzled maturity and, if not outright contentment, then at least a sense of self-worth far removed from its gawky adolescence.It was way back in October 1998 that the ICC Knock-Out Trophy, or Wills International Cup as it was then known, spluttered into life at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. A nine-team, one-destination fundraiser in the then-pre-Test-status Bangladesh, designed to swell the ICC’s coffers amid the earliest stirrings of the board’s 21st century corporate identity, and spread the gospel of the game beyond the confines of its nine traditional markets.In 2000, however, almost before the poor tournament had learned to walk, it suffered a crushing blow to its self-esteem. The ICC’s groundbreaking deal for the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, struck with Global Cricket Corporation for a cool $550 million, rendered as chicken-feed any income derived from these so-called mini-World Cups. At the same time, it tempered their ambition too, so as not to undermine the sanctity of the quadrennial main event.The impact was near-instant ennui. In 2002, the newly-rebranded Champions Trophy failed even to produce an actual champion due to its feckless scheduling in the midst of Sri Lanka’s monsoon season. And though the 2004 edition was enlivened by West Indies’ twilight heist in the final against England at The Oval, that match alone couldn’t redeem the reputation of a tournament, banished to the autumnal depths of late September, that Wisden described as “veering between being the second most important in world cricket and a ludicrous waste of time”.Thereafter, the indignities just kept on stacking up. In 2007, like a spoilt, cuter little brother, the World T20 burst onto the scene to bend the Champions Trophy’s nose even further out of joint, while the ICC’s near-constant flirtation with a World Test Championship epitomised that mid-2000s sense that 50-over cricket had had its day. India’s victory over England in the most recent final, at Edgbaston in 2013 – aptly reduced to a 20-over sprint due to a day-long downpour – should by rights have been the final kiss goodnight.43:55

Switch Hit: Does 20 for 6 change anything?

And yet, in spite of everything, there was something in the staging of that seventh and farewell event that encouraged all relevant parties to give it another hearing. Maybe it was the multicultural tide of fans filling the streets of three of the UK’s major cities that reawakened the tournament’s missionary zeal; perhaps it was its enlightened ticketing policy – a fiver for kids, £10 for under-23s, leading to 83% take-up across all venues (a figure that is already projected to be nearer 90% this time round).Or perhaps there was just something inherently satisfying about a tournament designed to produce a hectic sprint for the title. The eight best teams in the world, engaged crowds, a maximum of five matches each … one false move and you’re as good as out. It’s the exact same formula, in fact, that the ATP uses for its hugely successful end-of-season World Tour Finals, and in an era when the World Cup – for all the money it generates – has found itself locked into a cumbersome six-week schedule that drains the goodwill of even its most ardent supporters, such a simple nod to top-notch entertainment is a valuable PR exercise, apart from anything else.And so, four years on from its stay of execution, as we head into an eighth edition of the Champions Trophy that is, to all intents and purposes, a carbon-copy of its predecessor – same venues, same length, same time of the English season – the message seems unexpectedly clear. This has suddenly become a competition to savour, in spite of its prickly past and, quite possibly, it is one that the international game should be looking to nurture more than ever.For let’s not be coy about the excellence that we expect in the coming 18 days. After what was, quite frankly, a dismal decade for the 50-over game, ODI cricket has come roaring back to relevance in recent years – arguably as a response to Test cricket’s seepage of standards. The very best batsmen now take the T20 template and extrapolate it across a full 50-over innings; the very best bowlers and captains retort with Test-match fields and wicket-taking attitudes that make it nigh on impossible to relax for an instant, as a player or spectator.To be clear, all of these were themes that shot to prominence at the 2015 World Cup, even if the lumpen nature of its itinerary diluted their impact somewhat. Now, however, by dint of its sudden familiarity in the calendar, the Champions Trophy is on hand to provide a short, sharp epilogue to that tournament – a chance to gather the clans, expand on a few themes, appraise the state of the game and tie up a few plotlines. Can England’s stunning transformation really be for real? Will New Zealand pull their punches without Brendon McCullum to drive their agenda? Can South Africa exorcise the demons of that semi-final exit at Auckland? How will Virat Kohli front up in his first global tournament as India’s captain?Above all, the tournament is a welcome opportunity to apply some much-needed “context” to the state of international cricket, to use the buzzword currently favoured by Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket. For the ECB in particular, the Champions Trophy is a first staging post in what has become an urgent national conversation – encompassing everything from TV rights to participation to T20 leagues to global trophy hunting, on which front their ultimate goal is the 2019 World Cup. However, in Strauss’s astute opinion, every facet of that conversation needs to contribute to a wider narrative. Because without drawing all the threads together, what exactly are you asking people to buy into?”250 is still defendable in England right?”•International Cricket CouncilCricket being cricket, it’s nigh on impossible to go into a major tournament without embracing some degree of existential dread. Two years ago, the plight of the Associate nations dominated the early weeks of the World Cup; this time around, the absence of the once-mighty West Indies – the reigning World T20 champions, against all odds – brings into sharp focus an issue that has been smouldering almost from the moment that the sport’s finances were weaponised at the start of the millennium.There are myriad reasons to regret West Indies’ absence, of course. But, leaving sentiment to one side for a moment, there are reasons too to rejoice in the long-overdue arrival of Bangladesh as a genuine force, not to mention the unadulterated jolt of incentive such a high-profile absentee has given to the international game as a whole.Take the recent ODI series between West Indies and the No. 8-ranked Pakistan, for instance – a match-up that could prove critical to both team’s prospects of automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup. Pakistan lost a high-scoring thriller in the opening match before bouncing back to win 2-1. And what about England’s masochistic insistence on risking Ben Stokes’ knee for last week’s series win over the No. 1-ranked side in the world, South Africa? It’s hard not to conclude that these matches are being seen to matter more now that there’s a bigger picture at stake.In spite of what ought to prove, in the coming days, to be a format in rude health, there’s no room for complacency where the standards and standing of international cricket are concerned. As ESPNcricinfo reported back in April, the burgeoning growth of domestic T20 leagues are pushing the international calendar ever closer to saturation point, while Australia’s ongoing contracts dispute is prima facie evidence that even the oldest of cricket’s orders cannot assume loyalty in the current climate.”Welcome to our world” was Darren Sammy’s wry tweet last week, in response to David Warner’s warning that there might not be a team for the Ashes unless Cricket Australia backs down, while Jos Buttler’s scantily-clad joy at watching Mumbai Indians’ triumph in the IPL final was another subtle reminder of the strong allegiances that can exist outside of the sport’s traditional confines.And if the world inhabited by Sammy and his fellow West Indians does become the norm, then the sort of short and sharp calls to arms offered by lightweight tournaments such as the Champions Trophy will have an even more vital role to play in upholding the sport’s traditions.It’s been there, in its various incarnations, from the very start of the revolution, and it’s taken some blows along the way. Maybe now, as it reaches maturity, it’s time to give the tournament the love that it deserves.

Australia’s bowlers were pleased, and India’s batsmen not so much, when they discovered that the Dharamsala surface played a lot like one in Australia

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Dharamsala26-Mar-20171:08

Chappell: Dharamsala pitch has given bowlers a chance

There’s a photograph at the WACA museum of Geoff Marsh standing next to his bat, which happens to be perfectly vertical with, at first glance, nothing to support it. Then you see that it’s stuck in a ridiculously wide crack on the pitch.Cracks on pitches aren’t just a Perth thing. They often turn up at other Australian venues too. Remember Sydney, January 2009? Remember Mitchell Johnson hitting one crack on day two and breaking Graeme Smith’s hand, and hitting another on day five and bowling, through the gate, the very same Smith, now batting one-handed at No. 11 in a desperate attempt to save the match?Indian pitches develop cracks too – the ones that are composed of black rather than red soil – but their effect, given the slowness of most of the surfaces, is dissimilar. Balls tend to hit them and keep low rather than rear up or jag sideways. The combination of fast pitches and cracks is almost uniquely Australian.On Sunday, the second day of the Dharamsala Test, Josh Hazlewood hit a crack on the pitch. It didn’t keep low. It veered away from M Vijay like a legcutter, beat his outside edge, and carried through to Matthew Wade at chest height.Through the course of the day, Wade kept collecting balls from Hazlewood and Pat Cummins at chest, shoulder and head height. A small percentage of them hit the cracks – which weren’t yet anything as wide as those on a classic WACA pitch – and the others pitched on unmarked areas of the pitch and carried through just as high. This wasn’t one or two balls taking off. It was true bounce – another Australian characteristic.This was the fourth and deciding Test of an Australian tour to India. By dint of exacting preparations on dusty turners and superlative execution of their plans on three very different but very Indian pitches, Australia had arrived in Dharamsala with the series 1-1. They were now in an entirely different setting in many ways, but one perhaps unexpected difference was how much like home it must have seemed.This was Australia touring India, but it was a lot like India touring Australia.In the first session of day one, India’s fast bowlers, excited by the bounce and carry and swing, had been more erratic than at any previous point in the series. Then their two fingerspinners – ranked No. 1 and 2 in the world in Tests – had struggled to break through Australia’s top order, and it had been left to their wristspinner to take four wickets and drag them back into the game. It’s hard to come up with a more stereotypically Australian set of events.Now here were two tall Australian quicks testing India’s top order, not with reverse-swing or cutters on a stump-to-stump line but with bounce and movement in the corridor and the occasional bouncer. Bounce and movement in the corridor from Hazlewood eventually accounted for Vijay, a thin edge carrying through to the keeper.Josh Hazlewood continually troubled India’s openers with bounce and movement in his opening spell•Associated PressWhen Cummins bowled, the bouncer wasn’t just occasional – it was relentless and accurate, and KL Rahul, every five minutes or so, was swaying away from one in his elegant manner, eyes locked on the ball, or fending one past short leg in a far less assured way.It was exhilarating to watch, and Rahul later spoke of enjoying the contest.”Had to leave the balls outside off-stump, leave the bouncers – yeah, I was enjoying it,” he said. “I haven’t been challenged with swing and bounce [in this series]. It was good facing Josh and Cummins when they were bowling with a lot of heart.”It was eventually steep bounce that undid Rahul, who, on 60, tried to pull Cummins from over his right shoulder and toe-ended a catch to mid-off.At tea, India were 153 for 2, and it seemed as if Australia may have erred in sticking to a combination of two seamers and two spinners rather than go for a 3-1 attack more in keeping with the conditions. The two spinners, Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe, had done an excellent job in keeping India quiet – they had bowled 31 overs between them by then, conceding only 67 runs – but hadn’t taken a wicket yet and didn’t look like they were about to soon. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had added 45 by then.Six balls after tea, Lyon struck, and did so with flight, dip and bounce rather than exaggerated turn or natural variation off the surface. Pujara, pressing forward to defend, inside-edged onto pad, and into the hands of the diving short leg fielder.Lyon, continuing to torment India with his Australian weapons of overspin, dip, and bounce, took three more wickets by stumps. Two were again the result of bounce and zip off the track, which gave the batsman no time to adjust – Karun Nair caught off a bat-pad sequence, Rahane caught at slip.Then, at his end-of-day press conference, Lyon spoke about how much at home he had felt.”After bowling a couple of overs on it before lunch, I sat down and thought about what [this pitch] is similar to, and it was closer to a home wicket where I can try and generate bounce, because bounce is my biggest weapon, where I am getting guys caught at bat-pad and slips.”I went back to knowing how I bowl which is probably the best way I should bowl – just backing my skill and enjoying the challenge of playing the best side in the world in their home conditions.”In their home conditions? Not quite. This was India touring Australia within an Australian tour of India.

Australia are becoming synonymous with batting collapses, a trend that leaves their middle order in doubt in the run-up to the home Ashes and also hints at a mindset problem

Daniel Brettig27-Sep-20172:15

WATCH – A look at Australia’s batting failures in recent times

, Emma John’s engaging account of growing up with a fairly ordinary England cricket team, includes the following passage from Phil Tufnell, describing the dressing room scene as Michael Atherton’s team are shot out for 46 by Curtly Ambrose at Trinidad in 1994:”Everyone’s scrambling, it’s the first time I’ve seen five England batsmen all padded up, their helmets on, chest pads on, all in line, like parachutists waiting to get out the f***ing aeroplane… ‘C’mon, next one, go!’ … Chaos … chaos … chaos …”There was a time when Australia’s cricketers were the chief architects of many similar England collapses, ending innings swiftly but also quite often ceding any chance of victory in matches where up to that point the honours were even at the very least. A couple of decades later, however, it is Australia who have become synonymous with batting slides of a ruinous nature.Their emergence has coincided with a slide down the ICC rankings, meaning they will enter the Ashes series positioned fifth among Test nations, while their former pre-eminence in ODI cricket has been stripped away by series losses to New Zealand and India either side of a rapid elimination from the Champions Trophy.So consistently have the Australians found ways to give up clumps of wickets that ESPNcricinfo has identified no fewer than 25 instances in Tests and 19 instances in ODIs of major collapses – defined as, at least, four wickets (apart from wickets seven to 10) going down for fewer than 20 runs each. These sequences have all taken place since the start of the 2015 Ashes series, which was Michael Clarke’s last assignment in charge before he was replaced by Steven Smith.As captain, Smith has consistently noted the damaging trend, most recently after the second ODI against India in Kolkata last week, but there has been little notable improvement. In Tests, there has been at least one major collapse in all but two series over the period – those against West Indies (at home) and New Zealand (away) in 2015-16. Things got particularly dire in the second half of 2016, as series against Sri Lanka (six innings out of six) and South Africa (four out of six) were beset by rushes of wickets.Neither Peter Handscomb nor Glenn Maxwell has been able to achieve consistent performances despite promising starts•AFPIf some improvement was discernible at home, against Pakistan, the patterns returned in Bangladesh and India, meaning two otherwise meritorious series efforts – particularly against India – were distorted by an inability to hold firm at times that would likely have turned a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 defeat into a pair of victories. During this period, a major characteristic of Australia’s struggles has been evident in the middle order, beyond the bright batting lights of Smith and his deputy, David Warner.Nos. 5, 6 and 7 have become decidedly problematic, starting largely with the eclipse of Adam Voges, following a record-setting start to his late-arriving Test career. Voges was initially followed in the order by Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill, who found themselves caught in a spiral that ultimately sucked both out of the Test team. Marsh, unsure of whether to hit out or settle in for a long innings, commonly did neither, while Nevill, an organised batsman but far from a late-order aggressor in the mould of Adam Gilchrist, Brad Haddin or even Ian Healy, could not change momentum running fast against him.More recently the No. 5 berth has been occupied by Peter Handscomb, who is still trying to find ways to go on from promising starts more often. Behind him, in India and Bangladesh, was Glenn Maxwell, who, after an exemplary start in Ranchi, making the hundred his talent always suggested was possible with a little more self-control, has lapsed into his former inconsistencies. Behind them has come Matthew Wade, who ostensibly replaced Nevill by dint of the fact he had made a pair of excellent Test hundreds, in 2012-13, while keeping Haddin out of the Test XI.Save for his voluble presence behind the stumps and improving glovework, Wade has been utterly unable to replicate those sorts of innings, seemingly caught in the kind of batting deterioration cycle that affects some wicketkeepers the longer their careers progress. Replacing him with Handscomb, not Victoria’s first choice behind the stumps, was discussed in Bangladesh and has now happened in India, meaning the identity of the Ashes wicketkeeper is now shrouded in doubts.Former Australia opener Justin Langer believes the string of collapses indicate that all is not well with the mindset of Australia’s batsmen.•Cricket AustraliaWhoever it is, he will be entering a middle order where plenty of keen observers, both within the team and without, are questioning whether the cycle of collapses are a matter of circumstances, technique, or something more troubling – character. Back in Australia, where the national team coach Darren Lehmann is preparing for the Ashes while letting Haddin and David Saker deputise in India, the former opener and sometime Australian batting coach Justin Langer believes a string of collapses indicate that all is not well with the mindsets of Australia’s batsmen.”The thing about cricket is that it’s such an individual game,” Langer told ESPNcricinfo. “The best way to eradicate batting collapses is to make sure that every player’s in good shape personally. We talk about momentum in games, but if every player – when they walk out to bat – feels good about their game, it doesn’t matter what the score is, whether you’ve lost a few quick wickets or whether you’re flying.”When you walk out to bat you have to have a great mindset that you’re ready to perform. When you bat in the top six especially you’ve got to be prepared to make a hundred every time you walk out to bat. To me it’s about their mindset, their preparation and being ready to score a hundred for the team every time they go out to bat, and that’s in all forms of the game.”In Twenty20 or 50-over cricket, it’s usually the top four who get the best opportunity, but certainly in Test or first-class cricket, the top six have to have the mindset of being prepared and ready to score a hundred.”Langer agrees there is, perhaps, evidence of T20 thinking in how often Australia’s batting order has seemed less than eager to scrap when things are difficult, whether it be on a seaming surface in Hobart, an uneven strip in Dhaka or in the tumultuous surrounds of a packed ODI crowd at Eden Gardens. While a pressurised game, Langer argues that the shortest form does not afford players the best opportunity to spend long periods of time using the very skills they base their careers on – batting and bowling.”There’s a lot of discussion about Test cricket, whether it’s dying, and first-class cricket with Twenty20 being the way of the future,” he said. “The thing about being a cricketer is that while T20 is a real pressure game, you don’t get to play much actual cricket. As a batsman you don’t get to bat much and as a bowler you only get to bowl four overs.”Whereas, in Test cricket, you’re being tested and you get those opportunities to come in when momentum’s going against you, and you get a chance to bat for a long period of time, a chance to bat in different conditions, the subcontinent, the Gabba, the WACA, you get a chance to be really tested. That’s why I’ll never turn my back on Test or first-class cricket. As time goes on, players are going to realise they love those games because they actually get a chance to do what they love doing: bat and bowl and be tested, for long periods.”For the moment, however, the question is very much open as to whether Australia’s cricketers truly want to be out there in the crucible, making calm and strong decisions that recognise “big moments” and respond accordingly. For a long time it was a hallmark of an Australian cricketer to be driven to make a difference, not thinking “someone else will do it today” and seizing the chance.Most worrying, in the months before a home Ashes series, is the fact that the pattern Smith’s teams have developed mirror those of the side led by Ricky Ponting in the two years before the 2010-11 summer, which ended, of course, in misery for all those clad in the baggy green. Before that Ashes summer, Ponting, too, found himself in India, where he oversaw a Test series defeat marked by some admirable displays but also those familiar, crippling collapses.”I don’t think there are too many gaping holes in our team,” Ponting said at the time. “We just have to take opportunities that come our way and not let big opportunities slip. There’s been some good stuff there, but not when it mattered most.”A power of work remains to be done, both between the ears and between the wickets, if the Australians are to avoid what Emma John called the “look of Kurtzian horror” in Tufnell’s eye.

Stats highlights from the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Colombo, where the hosts chased down 388

Shiva Jayaraman18-Jul-20170:43

By the Numbers: SL’s highest successful chase in Tests

4 Number of higher targets successfully chased in Tests. The 388 that Sri Lanka chased down in this match is the highest any team has successfully chased in Asia. The previous highest in Asia was India’s chase of 387 against England in Chennai in 2008. The previous highest in Sri Lanka was Pakistan’s chase of 377 against the hosts in Pallekele in 2015.352 The highest target successfully chased by Sri Lanka in Tests before this one. It had come against South Africa at the P Sara Oval in 2006. Overall, this is only the third instance of them chasing down a target in excess of 300 runs. The other instance had come against Zimbabwe at the SSC in January 1998.188 Runs added by Sri Lanka for their last five wickets in the fourth innings – the second highest by them in any Test match. This was also the second highest added by the last five wickets in a successful chase and only the third time Sri Lanka had added more than 100 runs.1 Number of fourth-innings totals in Tests in Sri Lanka higher than the home team’s 391 for 6 in this match. New Zealand had made 397 in a losing cause at the SSC in 2009. This is also Sri Lanka’s second-highest fourth-innings total in Tests.653 Balls from spinners played out by Sri Lanka in the fourth innings – the third highest played out by any team in the fourth innings of a Test in Asia. This is also the second-highest number of balls a team has faced from spinners in a successful chase in Asia.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 Number of individual scores higher than Niroshan Dickwella’s 81 in successful chases for Sri Lanka. Aravinda de Silva had made an unbeaten 143 against Zimbabwe at the SSC in 1997-98, which is the highest. Mahela Jayawardene’s 123 against South Africa at the P Sara Oval in 2006 is the only other hundred in successful chases for Sri Lanka in Tests. Asela Gunaratne’s unbeaten 80 slots in at No.5 in this list.5 Number of times before this, teams had won scoring the highest total of the match in the fourth innings of a Test in Asia. The previous such instance too had come in Sri Lanka, in Pallekele in 2015, when Pakistan had made 382 – the highest total in the fourth innings chasing 377.9/275 Match figures by Graeme Cremer – the best by a Zimbabwe captain in Tests. Overall, Cremer’s effort ranks seventh in the list of best match figures by a Zimbabwe bowler in Tests.87.3 Overs sent down by Cremer in this match – the most by any Zimbabwe bowler in Tests. The previous most were the 79 overs bowled by Ray Price in the Bulawayo Test against South Africa in 2001. Overall, Zimbabwe’s spinners bowled 190.2 overs in this Test – the most they have bowled in any match.317 The highest target successfully chased down without an individual hundred in the fourth innings before this match. New Zealand had achieved it against Bangladesh in a Test in Chittagong in 2008. Sri Lanka’s highest individual score in the fourth innings chasing a target of 388 in this match was Dickwella’s 81. Overall, Sri Lanka’s 391 is the fourth-highest score in the fourth innings of a Test without an individual hundred. India’s 445 in the Adelaide Test in 1977-78 is the highest such score.

The Ashes captains’ journeys have been similar: each having spent some of his formative years in the other’s country

Daniel Brettig21-Nov-20172:19

‘How the captains perform will be key’

Of all the observations to choose from in the usual pre-Ashes talkfest, one looked more widely at the looming series than most. That it came from Shane Warne was at once surprising and telling, for he has shared his time more evenly between Australia and England than just about anyone else to be signed up to the airwaves this summer.”The biggest shift over the last few years is, they don’t fear Australia anymore,” Warne said. “England no longer fear Australia and haven’t for a long time and hence that’s why they can beat Australia.”Warne, of course, was a lead actor in the series that shattered that fear – the epochal 2005 encounter. The central figures in this forthcoming bout are the captains, Steven Smith and Joe Root, who have each grown up amid this new reality. Root has admitted to skiving off school in order to watch the last day of that series at home. Smith, meanwhile, was also glued to the television in his parents’ Sutherland Shire home, coming to terms with the fact that Australia’s previous dominance was at an end.Both, therefore, have learned their games amid this changed landscape, and experienced its resultant fluctuations. Smith’s first experience of Ashes cricket was a comprehensive Australian defeat in 2010-11, Root’s a solid English victory in 2013. Their roles were then reversed in 2013-14, the summer the hosts this week have gone out of their way to talk about, while the tourists riposte by questioning its relevance. Either way, Smith and Root were shaped by the way that series played out, and will take those learnings into this contest.For a Yorkshireman, many of Root’s influences are remarkably Australian. This arguably stems from the fact that Darren Lehmann added a good deal of Antipodean attitude to Yorkshire during his long and prolific stint as their overseas player. By the time Root was emerging as a player of note, having scooped up armfuls of junior trophies, the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in Adelaide was seen as a sound pathway for players wanting to polish their games while un-varnishing their on-field vocabularies.

Root and Smith also share some commonalities as batsmen. Their favoured scoring areas are midwicket and cover, and both are most likely to be dismissed in the arc between the wicketkeeper and the slips

In 2010-11, Root played for Prospect in Adelaide grade competition, making 262 runs at a modest 29.11 but learning plenty about the game. He shared a dressing room with a young Nathan Lyon, who was in the process of being fast-tracked from Prospect to South Australia to the Test team in a matter of months. Root came home from that season on a similar steep trajectory, making his Yorkshire debut in 2011 and then gaining a first England cap in late 2012.Smith also learned plenty of his game on the opposite side of the globe. In fact, he may actually have played for England had he so chosen – with dual citizenship, he is currently as ineligible for Australia’s Federal Parliament as Barnaby Joyce. During an influential 2007 season in Kent, a teenaged Smith deflected attempts by Surrey to sign him as a local player. Even after he joined the Australian team for the first time in 2009-10, English influences remained: the nickname “Smudge” was bestowed by Michael Hussey, who had picked it up as a common sobriquet for a Smith or two during his time with Northamptonshire.Apart from the nickname, Smith also learned much about the hard side of international cricket during his early stint. He was sledged relentlessly by a triumphant England during the 2010-11 series, while at the same time having his technique pulled apart by James Anderson in particular. He also observed the training and lifestyle habits of Ricky Ponting, among others, and resolved to improve his diet and exercise regimen to shed the “puppy fat” he then carried. At the same time, he started to think in terms of captaincy, aided by a swift elevation to leadership of Sydney Sixers in the inaugural Big Bash League in 2011-12.By the time Smith and Root first crossed paths during the 2013 Ashes in England, Root was already a firm member of the home XI, elevated from the middle order to open alongside Alastair Cook. As the recipient of a David Warner punch in a Birmingham nightclub during the Champions Trophy that preceded the Ashes, Root unwittingly played a key role in the appointment of Lehmann to coach Australia.Smith, meanwhile, was a late inclusion in the touring party, then thrust into the XI at No. 6. Both he and Root wrestled with their respective commissions but also produced one big innings apiece – Root’s second-innings “daddy” hundred at Lord’s sealed a decisive 2-0 lead for England, then Smith’s freewheeling first Test century, at The Oval, helped raise optimism for the Australians to carry home despite their defeat.Root c Smith b Johnson for 2 at the Gabba in 2013-14•Getty ImagesAs a pair of young players, both Root and Smith were carried with that prevailing tide. Smith had little impact on either of the first two Tests, but feasted on short bowling by an increasingly frustrated England at the WACA Ground and then carved out another hundred at the SCG in what was more 5-0 victory party than Test match for Michael Clarke’s team. Root, by contrast, fell amid the shuddering England collapse on day two at the Gabba and never really recovered, being dropped from the team before the series concluded. Notably he was troubled less by Mitchell Johnson than Ryan Harris, Shane Watson and Nathan Lyon.Equally, the barbs of Australian crowds and players caused Root’s stiff upper lip to quiver ineffectually at the WACA Ground, when at the start of the second innings he followed Ian Bell and Matt Prior into a slanging match with David Warner. Throughout the series, whether through Harris’ skill, Johnson’s pace or the generally hostile environment, England were often goaded into abandoning their usual methodical ways. As though trying to follow the stoicism of Cook and the coach Andy Flower, Root retreated into himself while soaking up 577 balls for a mere 192 runs. Smith’s own contribution was far from swift (327 runs at 40.87, strike rate 51.25) but demonstrated a balance between attack and defence that England lacked.In the following 18 months, Smith established himself in the team while rising steadily up the batting order, and at the same time becoming a serious subject in conversations about future leadership. Root, too, was growing into a player of seniority, though the pair’s experiences of first-class captaincy could not have been more different. With a double of 75 and 103 not out in the final, Smith led New South Wales to the Sheffield Shield at the end of March. Little more than a month later, Root and his bowlers were unable to defend a fourth-innings target of 472 against Middlesex on an improving Lord’s pitch against a clinical Chris Rogers: 241 not out for the Australian, and the dressing-room bestowal of a new nickname, “craptain”, for Root.

Smith’s first experience of Ashes cricket was a comprehensive Australian defeat in 2010-11, Root’s a solid English victory in 2013. Their roles were then reversed in 2013-14

Nevertheless, his growth as a batsman, reconnecting with freer-scoring ways, made Root the single most positive element of the Peter Moores era, afflicted as it was by the underperformance of others and the seemingly endless Kevin Pietersen saga. By May of 2015, Moores was gone, soon to be replaced by Trevor Bayliss, but Root was England’s player of the year – the result of burnishing his strengths rather than fussing over any weaknesses. “I think when I came back from Australia I realised that a lot of the time out there I was trying to work on things I wasn’t too good at, and putting all my energy into that, rather than spending more time strengthening the stuff I am good at,” he said at the time. “I think I was so desperate to do well that I ended up hindering myself.”Smith had already captained Australia after Clarke was injured during 2014-15. It was an emotionally draining summer, forever to be associated with the death of Phillip Hughes but also punctuated by a home World Cup triumph in which Smith struck the winning runs at the MCG. Confidence from that tournament, plus a canter to victory in the West Indies, had a hubristic Australia arriving in England for the Ashes. For all the work he had done to make smart decisions as a batsman, Smith got caught up in it too.”I can’t wait to get over there and play another Ashes against England in their conditions after beating them so convincingly in Australia,” he said before the tour. “It’s going to be nice to go in their backyard. If we continue to play the way we have been playing over the last 12-18 months, I don’t think that they’ll come close to us, to be honest.”The scoreboards show that this was a foolhardy claim, as the Australians failed badly to adapt to seaming conditions whether in terms of technique or selection, while Smith’s series oscillated wildly from big scores at Lord’s and The Oval to fidgety ineffectiveness in the pivotal Birmingham and Nottingham Tests. Newly anointed vice-captain to Cook, Root reaped fewer runs but far greater influence, whether it was a commanding century – having been dropped early by Brad Haddin – in Cardiff or a foot-on-the-throat 130 after Australia had been razed for 60 at Trent Bridge.Root ended the series in a fit of giggles, thanks to an accidental double entendre from Cook, at a post-match press conference after Australia’s consolation win in the final Test. But he was there as England’s Man of the Series, and captain-in-waiting. For Smith the formalities of the office had actually been bestowed in the sleepy surrounds of Northampton between the fourth and fifth Tests, following Clarke’s decision to retire from the game. So it was that the pair was set on a collision course for the Gabba this week.In the 2015 Ashes, Root scored 460 runs to Smith’s 508, but stamped his authority on England’s 3-2 win•Getty ImagesApart from their similar ages and faces devoid of hair, Root and Smith also share some commonalities as batsmen. According to CricViz analysis, their favoured scoring areas are midwicket (20% for Root, 19.5% for Smith) and cover (20% and 19%), while both are most likely to be dismissed in the arc between the wicketkeeper and the slips (48% and 40%). In terms of the correct length to bowl to them, fuller offerings are far more likely to bring an error: Root averaging 51.67 on the front foot and 60.83 on the back, while Smith’s split is 59.24 and 67.92.Greater contrast can be found in how they move at the crease – Smith across his stumps, Root more classically forward or back. Then there is the approach to the spinners: a dancing Smith has ventured out of his crease to 8% of all deliveries faced, whereas Root has done so just a mere 2% of the time. In recent Asian Tests, Smith has tempered his tendency to jump out at the spinners, but he is more likely to do so in Australia, where pace and bounce are more consistent.As intense devourers of the game, Root and Smith have also tried to find ways to seek reward or escape from its pressures. For several years Root has travelled with a ukulele in tow, on which he can commonly be found strumming tunes by Oasis or the Arctic Monkeys. In a nod to his earlier days of occasionally eating a packet of M&Ms for dinner, Smith now rewards himself for each international century by eating a block of chocolate, a tip picked up from the former Sydney Swans AFL player Adam Goodes.As leaders, Smith is the more experienced both before and during international captaincy, but Root can tend towards the more adventurous in terms of tactics and ideas. Both can expect to be tested for patience and mental reserves when batting, after the fashion of contemporary Test match tactics. Heavy, too, will be the weight of their own expectation, for a poor series with the bat for either captain would more or less ensure defeat for his team.In the words of the former Hampshire captain Mark Nicholas: “They’re both top-class players and the first thing they’ve got to do is make runs. It’s very hard as a captain if you’re not making runs, I don’t care how gifted you are, how comfortable you are in your own skin. Tactically they’re both learning. Root is more inclined to the unorthodox than Smith, who is more inclined to resort to the obvious in a practical way – and I don’t mean that as a criticism. Captaincy’s changed at the international level now, because of the way guys bat they are more likely to deny attacking players and force an error than they are to attack a player.”Given Australia’s recent history of batting collapses, Root has a pair of perceptive and vastly experienced fast bowlers in Anderson and Stuart Broad to test the hosts’ patience. He may also be reinforced by Ben Stokes at some point in the series. However, he lacks the sheer speed and shock value open to Smith, via Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in particular. Equally, Josh Hazlewood has the combination of bounce, pace and seam movement to discomfort Root’s own methods. Ian Chappell sees the contrast in bowling resources as the key.”I think Steve Smith holds the advantage with the two genuine quick bowlers in Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc,” he said. “In Australia, if you are struggling for wickets you can always resort to a bit of short-pitched stuff, and that is more easily done with genuine pace. England have a good attack but I am just not sure how they will go if the Kookaburra isn’t doing much. That will be a real challenge for them and Joe Root.”Smith, then, has the pace-bowling weaponry and the home ground advantage, but Root has none of the old fear Warne spoke about. Theirs is an Ashes script about to be written.

The beauty of James Vince’s batting masks a consistent failure to convert starts into finishes, a flaw that would not be tolerated in a less attractive player

Jarrod Kimber at Sydney04-Jan-2018’He looks so good’, ‘look how much time he has’, “he’s pretty’, ‘he looks the part’, “he has the game for this level’, ‘that shot is gorgeous’, ‘just sublime”. They don’t just say this about James Vince; they coo orgasmically. Nothing makes cricket fans happier than a pretty batsman with time. Vince has all the time in the world and is more beautiful than a summer field.What Vince doesn’t have is Test Match runs. Not many of them anyway, he’s produced more middle-aged groans than runs. It took Vince 12 Test innings to pass fifty. In 19 innings, he’s only passed that mark twice. He’s never reached 100.He’s averaging 22 in his career and 28 in this Ashes, despite scoring his two fifties. Dan Weston, owner of Sports Analytics Advantage, had him down for a predicted average of 24. Weston also said on Twitter: “Is there a better example of biased ‘eye tests’ from selectors -> horror selection decision in any sport around the world than James Vince?”The reason for Weston’s tweet is that there is almost nothing in Vince’s numbers that suggest he deserves another go in Tests, especially on a tour, especially on a hard tour, especially on a hard tour batting at No.3.Last season, playing for Hampshire, he averaged 35 with the bat. The only two seasons in his career in which he averaged over 40 (2013 & 2014) were in Division Two. He’s also never made more than two hundreds in a Championship season in Division One. Vince averages 31 in the top flight, where he makes a hundred once every 16 innings, and 50 in the second tier.If he crabbed across the crease like Simon Katich or had a homespun technique like James Taylor, he wouldn’t have been picked for his country on these numbers. He’d be a grizzled pro hiking out a few runs before moving into another career. But factor in Vince’s grace, and you somehow end up with a Test player.Vince is in his ninth year as a professional; he’s 26, this is his second spell in the Test team, he’s played ODIs and T20Is for his country, and also been an overseas pro in the BBL and PSL. He’s not some ingenue who’s drifted into Tests too soon. He’s a professional athlete who is still picked on aesthetics not statistics.This morning he was discussed on almost every commentary service available. At first, it was his poor record this series, then it was how good he had looked. As Mike Selvey said on Twitter: “Truly, I’ve heard enough about Vince’s pretty cover drive. It’s a Test match not effing Canterbury week.”James Vince walks off after edging Pat Cummins behind•Getty Images***A few years back David Gower gave an interview to ESPNcricinfo. Few batsmen have ever looked better when they were in than he, and yet that meant he was cursed every time he got out. “When people came to me and said, “You are not trying”, I said, “Honestly, I am”.” He also went on to point out, “The first man who is disappointed when you get out for none is you. The man just after that, who is equally disappointed, is the bloke who has paid to come and watch.”There’s no doubt that batsmen who look pretty and get out receive a higher level of criticism than a battling batsman. We believe that a batsman who looks like he is struggling must be, and one who isn’t rushed, isn’t. But VVS Laxman didn’t average more than Steve Waugh.When judging batsmen, we often go to how pretty they are. Victor Trumper wouldn’t be remembered if he batted like Andrew Jones – his skill for changing the game and batting on sticky wickets was important, but the thing that really stood for people with his grace. We are human; we like pretty things.The job of a batsman is not to be pretty; it’s to score runs. While having the ability to have more time (which has been scientifically tested) and the skill to play pretty shots is important, it’s not all about batting. They are just the two most obvious traits. Concentration, hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes, footwork, patience, bravery, fitness, technique, composure, training habits, desire, discipline and game awareness. No one batsmen is great at all of them, they all rely on different skills to get their job done. Some play ugly like they aren’t in, and end up with high averages. Others walk in like they own the pitch, ground and everyone in it, and never make a run.It would be irresponsible to judge a player purely on numbers; those numbers need context, history and research to ensure you get to the right answer. But you win Tests with runs, so to pick a player almost entirely on appearances, while choosing to ignore years of evidence that he doesn’t make many runs, is an incredible gamble. And England have made it twice with Vince.None of this is Vince’s fault; he’s trying hard, figuring it out, trying to survive. When he nicks off to second slip over and over again, it is Vince who first feels frustrated. The game isn’t as easy for him as he makes it look. If it were, he’d make more runs.***He’s upright, stylish, loves to drive, seems to enjoy faster bowling more than dibbly dobbers, and doesn’t at all look out of place in Test Cricket. That’s how Michael Vaughan was described at the start of his career. And when he was picked to play for England he was averaging 33.91 in first-class cricket.When people talk about James Vince, they often compare him to Vaughan.In US sports this is known as anchoring, it’s a behavioural heuristic that allows our brains to make a quick comparison. In cricket, you see it all the time, the tall skinny white bowlers who are compared to Glenn McGrath even when their skill set is entirely different. Our brain makes all those shortcuts, and that makes it easier for us to explain them. The problem comes from how often we are wrong, because as with most short cuts, they tend to end up in a hedge. There are no new McGraths.James Vince is not the new Michael Vaughan.Vaughan was picked with a dire record because England were trying to find batsmen to help them while they were in arguably their worst ever period. In the end, for all his success in Tests, Vaughan only averaged five more in that format than in all first-class cricket. Like many players, Vaughan’s best period with the bat came between the ages of 27 and 33, a period of time in which his overall first-class average was 44.7. When he was older and younger it was 33.To think that because Vince is also upright, graceful and has a bad first-class average, he will also come good in Tests is optimistic. Batsmen don’t usually make more runs in Tests than in first-class cricket; some young batsmen do, as they are picked on potential, some older players do, as they are picked when they are in career-best form. But on average, your first-class career gives a pretty good indication of what you will do in Tests.Vince’s career consists of him not making a lot of runs and struggling when he steps up in class. Seeing as he has not yet hit the golden part of his batting age just yet, it is possible that he will come good. Instead of elegant failures, we’ll see a pro run-scorer come to the fore. It’s also possible that, if he keeps getting chances, he’ll make a breathless hundred. But based on what he has done in his career so far, the chances of him being a consistent run-scorer in Tests is kinda low. For now there will be more pretty starts and brainfarts.James Vince plays one of his trademark drives•Getty Images***Wherever you stand on the Mitchell Starc “ball of the century” debate, it’s an unplayable ball, and Vince’s role was never going to be more than slain victim. But that is not the kind of ball that Vince has struggled with at Test level. The kind of ball that gets Vince out is the kind of ball that most players smash for four.”Vince was right to attack the ball which dismissed him. Against seamer deliveries within 10cm of the one which got Vince, batsmen in our database average 72.40, scoring at 5.43rpo.” This is what CricViz tweeted about the ball that dismissed Vince today. It was short and wide, a Test player would expect to smash it away for four. Many other times, Vince has been dismissed from full and wide balls; again, the kind Test players feast on.Perhaps Vince chases the four balls more viciously than other players, since his debut no one has scored more than 350 runs in Tests with a higher percentage of boundaries. In all, a third of his runs are from boundaries. Vince isn’t even a quick scorer, so he’s either not scoring, or trying to hit a boundary. That gives Test bowlers a long time to look at you. And makes it a riskier shot when you do go for broke.There is also a thought that Vince gets himself out. Perhaps today he did, perhaps he did in the first Test at the Gabba, when he looked set for his first Test ton only to run himself out for 83. But mostly, it seems teams have good plans for him.Vince is only in his third series, but to judge by the data available so far, it is clear that bowling attacks during his debut home summer in 2016 hung the ball out wide and waited for him to nick off. Here in Australia, the bowlers have kept the ball just outside off stump, back of a length, and waited for him to nick off. The real problem for Vince is the conscience; teams work him out, then they get him out. Teams have worked out he doesn’t have patience or concentration, and over time they can work on those flaws, knowing that he’ll eventually make a mistake.All of this makes him pretty, but dull, if you’re an English fan. An unfortunate pretty hate machine.***At The Oval this year, Vince made his way out to the middle when Hampshire lost their first two wickets for 71. It was a flat wicket, and Surrey had both Currans and Mark Footitt bowling. From the start, Vince looked as if he was batting on rails. As if each boundary was part of a movie script, with a storyboard, special effects, choreographer, and make-up team to make it look perfect.Vince had time, he looked pretty, and runs gushed from his bat all day. The Oval crowd made all the sorts of noises you hear when Vince is making runs. As he does in this mood, he had the illusion of permanence, like watching a Jaguar at 100 miles an hour and forgetting about all the times you’ve seen it broken down. He cruised towards a century in a shade over two hours.Just after his hundred, Tom Curran bowled one outside off stump and Vince nicked off*. It was only Vince’s seventh hundred in Division One cricket, it should have been a moment of success, but instead it looked like a continuation of his habitual flaw; he doesn’t fail to start, he fails to go on. Three other players would score more runs in the match, and you could argue he was more naturally talented than all of them.But that would be a useless argument, based on perception and subjective theories. The aim of the game is not to be the most naturally talented, to be the most effortless, or have the most time; the aim of the game is to make the most runs. Vince hasn’t done that in first-class cricket. He isn’t doing it in Tests.***Today James Vince hit, even for him, one of the most beautiful cover drives you’ll see in cricket. The shot made everyone who saw it make weird uncomfortable sounds; it stayed with you for overs, like a kiss from a lover, you automatically sigh when it enters your memory, which it does a lot. It was one of those shots you want tattooed on your arm, to play just once, one that you can’t even master in that surreal over-the-top dream. Oh, it was quite a shot.Today James Vince made 25.*2300 GMT – This paragraph was updated to correct Vince’s mode of dismissal

Who should the six existing IPL franchises pick ahead of the big auction for the 2018 edition? Take your pick

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2017You can keep a maximum of five players, through a combination of pre-auction retention and Right to Match (RTM) during the auction.This should include a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players and two uncapped Indian players.Mumbai Indians
Position in IPL 2017: Winners
Kolkata Knight Riders
Position in IPL 2017: 3rd
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Position in IPL 2017: 4th
Kings XI Punjab
Position in IPL 2017: 5thDelhi Daredevils
Position in IPL 2017: 6th
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Position in IPL 2017: Last

The former India captain’s average may be below 30, but his daredevil batting and his quaint mannerisms made him a cult favourite in his hometown

Samarth Shah21-Dec-2017I grew up in Chennai in the 1980s. It was better known as Madras back then. Then, as now, the phrase “super star” automatically meant only one person in the city: Rajinikanth. Ordinary stars were popular, but I cannot even begin to describe the crazed adulation reserved for the venerated super star. Yet, there was a phase in Madras when another man, in a totally different field, actually approached super stardom. That man was Krishnamachari Srikkanth.Srikkanth was by no means the first top-flight cricketer from Madras. Indeed, his fellow Madras Iyengar, fellow College of Engineering, Guindy, graduate, and fellow tongue-twisting name bearer, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, took over 150 Test wickets. Including 35 wickets – more than anyone else in the world – in 1971, that most momentous year in Indian cricket.But Venkat was a tidy off-spinner in an era before television became commonplace in India. In his book “Idols”, Sunil Gavaskar used the adjective “patient” to describe Venkat. He was a highly respected figure in Madras cricket circles, and played club cricket in the city well into the 1990s, when not on ICC umpiring duty. But Venkat was no super star. He lacked the impetuosity, the eccentricity, the glamour, and the charisma.In general, a batsman has a better chance of becoming a heart-throb in India. An attacking batsman who charged the likes of Marshall, Ambrose, Imran, Akram, and Hadlee, while being watched live by millions on the small screen, had little choice but to become a heart-throb.He also had little choice but to fail more often than succeed, when employing such daredevilry against all-time great skill. Hence, the rest of India and the world saw Srikkanth as another in a long line of mediocre batsmen opening the innings with the great Sunil Gavaskar. Neither his Test nor his ODI average reached 30. But measuring Srikkanth’s batting with an average is like measuring Rajinikanth’s acting by number of Academy Awards.What Madras saw, and what little kids in Madras tried to emulate, was the twirling of the blade, the sniffling of the nose, the recitation of Sanskrit slokas between deliveries, and the completely unique batting stance with feet spreadeagled 40 inches apart. Just like in Rajinikanth’s movies, the plot was secondary. The twirling of his sunglasses, the brushing back of his mane, the lighting of his cigarette mid-air, was what people came to watch. Perhaps to the outside world, Srikkanth was the Little Master’s understudy. But, to Madras, Srikkanth was taking the fight to the opponents, while Gavaskar was taking lessons.In Madras in the 1980s, they spoke with broad grins of Srikkanth top-scoring at Lord’s in the World Cup final of 1983 against Clive Lloyd’s mighty West Indies, and of his Man of the Final innings at the MCG in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket versus Pakistan.But they also spoke amid giggles of the utterly quaint things he did in his career. From being run-out while fidgeting about outside his crease on Test debut at Bombay in 1981, to nonchalantly replacing the bails after being hit-wicket (nobody appealed!), to forgetting his Sanskrit slokas for a minute as a streaker invaded the pitch at Lord’s in 1986.They marvelled at what a cricketing maverick he was, even while not batting. He took two five-wicket hauls in the same ODI series versus New Zealand in 1988, despite only taking 25 wickets in total in his ODI career. As captain, he sent Chetan Sharma in at No. 4 in the midst of a steep 250+ chase versus England at Kanpur in 1989. And in his final Test, versus Australia at Perth in 1992, he equalled the world record for the most catches by an outfielder in an innings. If Rajinikanth was adept at song, dance, romance, as well as martial art, then Srikkanth’s versatility wasn’t far behind.Srikkanth was actually the most successful batsman in India’s first two decades of limited-overs cricket. He was the first Indian to 4000 ODI runs, won more Man of the Match awards than any other Indian ODI cricketer of his time, and his four ODI hundreds were the most by any Indian, for a period of time. Navjot Sidhu eventually surpassed him when he scored his fifth hundred in 1994.Srikkanth’s Madras fanbase didn’t care about any of that. A rousing square-drive off Andy Roberts, or a hooked six off Malcolm Marshall, could sustain the Madras cricket fan for a decade. Rajinikanth, after all, is not known as much for garrulous oratory, as he is for a quip here or a joke there.The gossip magazines in Madras had more important things to talk about than run aggregates and hundreds. They needed to discuss Srikkanth’s addition of an extra ‘k’ to his name, so he could make it 9 letters long, for numerological reasons. They felt the need to weigh in on his decision to marry an Iyer lady, across caste lines.It is impossible for a matinee idol or a cricket star in India to leave home without being mobbed by fanatical followers. And so it was with Srikkanth in Madras. He was my grandfather’s favorite cricketer of the era. My grandfather was thrilled to see him in the flesh at a Rotary Club charity event at the Chola Sheraton hotel, just before the Indian team left for Australia in late 1991. Despite the event lasting several hours, my grandfather didn’t get a chance to talk to his favorite player. Undaunted, at the conclusion of the event, he followed Srikkanth into the men’s room, where he then advised India’s opening batsman to eschew the reverse sweep. Apart from that, his technique and shot-selection were immaculate, apparently.

What did we learn from the new-look Australian team’s first outing since losing their best players to controversy?

Melinda Farrell at The Oval14-Jun-20180:56

Don’t win too many ODIs without top five firing – Paine

It started as soon as you stepped out into the sunlight at Vauxhall Station.”Ball-tampering sandpaper, anyone?”At regular intervals on the crowded walk from the station to The Oval, employees of one opportunistic company handed out squares of sandpaper, printed with 4s and 6s. Those arriving from Oval station were offered, courtesy of a tabloid newspaper, small posters showing a crying Steven Smith under the phrase, “We’re only here for the tears.”It was predictable, of course, and undoubtedly raised a few chuckles. Ultimately though, if these were exercises in stirring up the crowd into a prop-waving frenzy, it was a bit of a waste; all such ambush marketing is banned at grounds and, apart from those that were well concealed, were confiscated at the gates.After all the talk of a rowdy Oval crowd ready to get stuck into the Australians, it was rather a jovial atmosphere. There was noticeable jeering and the appearance of a few smuggled squares of the rough yellow stuff when Tim Paine dropped a top edge from Jos Buttler. The chirps were perhaps a little louder and a little more gleeful than they would have been for Sarfraz Ahmed or Quinton de Kock. And towards the end of the match, the odd voice could be heard shouting, “Aussie, aussie, aussie! Cheat, cheat, cheat!” But if that’s the worst Australia have to deal with at the start of their redemption tour, they should probably be grateful.”I’m pretty lucky I’m out in the middle so I don’t really hear anything,” Paine said after the match. “There wasn’t any talk of copping too much stick out there which was nice of the English fans. Maybe if we win a few games they might.”Indeed, on the pitch it was all business. Once the goodwill handshakes were dutifully performed, there was no snarling and no obvious chatter. The only antagonism came from the other side of the world, where Darren Lehmann tweeted his displeasure towards at least one journalist reporting on the marketing material outside the ground. At a time when his former charges are attempting to reforge their reputation and regain respect it was, perhaps, an intemperate move.Not all the sandpaper from outside The Oval was confiscated•Getty ImagesDid we learn much about this transitional Australian team on its first outing? Certainly, their bowling attack is less intimidating without Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. But it would be churlish to judge any attack too harshly when the bowlers are tasked with defending 214 on a pitch where the par score was probably more like 314.Befitting his considerable height and sharp pace, Billy Stanlake provided an awkward challenge – particularly with the new ball – and was rewarded with a brace of wickets. The first came with his second delivery of the match, a 90mph beaut that nipped back in and shaved the inside edge of Jason Roy’s bat before shattering the stumps.Andrew Tye’s variations – Paine said after the match Tye believes he has “22 at last count” – were also rewarded here. His slower delivery was deceptive enough to fox Buttler, who was through his shot too quickly and spooned the ball to mid-on, and will undoubtedly claim more victims.While England made the chase more interesting than it should probably have been with some rash shots, the rest of Australia’s attack did a decent job in such circumstances. Kane Richardson appeared to struggle a little with his rhythm before settling and debutant Michael Neser left little in the tank. Overall it is difficult to surmise too much; this series may be a useful opportunity for Justin Langer to audition extra seamers but it is hard to ignore the assumption that Australia’s big three will automatically return to the one-day side whenever they are fully fit.But in conditions where Australia’s spinners went wicketless, England’s had a field day and this will be of greater long-term concern. As Paine noted, it is difficult for any team to win a match when the top five batsmen fail to score significant runs. When four of those fall to spin, it suggests a collective weakness and it was one well-exploited by Eoin Morgan. He introduced Moeen Ali in the ninth over and soon after drafted Adil Rashid and Joe Root to bowl 18 consecutive overs of spin.”Today it was [a weakness], there’s no doubt about that,” Paine said. “It’s something the whole group’s been working on and it’s something that we speak about a lot, trying to improve going into a World Cup year.”It’s certainly a work in progress, we know we haven’t been fantastic at it but we’re training really hard at it and I think if we can get some set batters in at the start it’ll make a big difference.”This was Australia’s second-lowest total batting first since the 2015 World Cup and the potential return of Smith and David Warner depends on a range of uncertainties, both of form and political factors. And if Langer decides to shuffle the available batsmen, move Aaron Finch down the order, bring in D’Arcy Short, elevate Glenn Maxwell – whose half-century was a welcome and positive sign that a big score may not be far away – or any of the other options available to him, they will still have to deal with England’s spinners in Cardiff and beyond.

Could it be Chanders?

Steven Lynch14-Aug-2018Four West Indians all took five wickets each in the first Test against Bangladesh. Has this ever happened before? asked Jeremy Day from England
The match you’re talking about was in Antigua last month: Miguel Cummins, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Kemar Roach all took five wickets as West Indies bowled Bangladesh out twice to win by an innings and 219 runs. And it’s a good spot, since that was the first time in Test history that four bowlers from the same side had all claimed five. Philip Bailey, the Wisden statistician, tells me there have been six occasions when six bowlers from both sides have done it, the most recent instance coming at Trent Bridge in 2011, when Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and James Anderson all took five or more for England, and Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth did likewise for India.Virat Kohli scored 200 runs in the first Test in England, but India still lost. Was this anywhere near a record? asked Krishna Kailash from India
It’s not very close to a record, no: Virat Kohli’s rearguard at Edgbaston was actually the 76th occasion that a batsman had scored 200 or more runs in a Test but finished on the losing side. Kohli does, in fact, sit in eighth place on this list, after scoring 256 runs (115 and 141) in India’s defeat by Australia in Adelaide in 2014-15, in his first Test as captain.Brian Lara managed the feat on no fewer than eight occasions (Andy Flower and Ricky Ponting come next, with three), including the highest entry on the list: he scored 351 runs (221 and 130) in Colombo in 2001-02, but even that wasn’t enough to stop Sri Lanka winning by ten wickets.I worked out that Shiv Chanderpaul played under 12 different captains in Tests. Was this a record? asked Kyle Menzies from Trinidad
Shivnarine Chanderpaul did indeed serve under 12 different captains during his long career, starting with Richie Richardson in 1993-94 and finishing with Denesh Ramdin in 2014-15. Chanderpaul played in 164 Tests in all (he captained himself in 14 of them), and rather surprisingly, has to give best in this particular list to someone who played 100 fewer matches. The graceful Kent left-hander Frank Woolley won 64 caps for England in a long career that stretched from 1909, when he made his debut under Archie MacLaren, to 1934, when he was 47 and Bob Wyatt was in charge. In between, Woolley served under a dozen other England captains, making a record 14 in all. His near contemporary Jack Hobbs also served under 12 different captains, as, in a later era, did Pakistan’s Mushtaq Ahmed. Hobbs played 61 Tests and Mushtaq 52.In one-day internationals, the Pakistan pair of Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi each played under 14 different captains, while Chris Gayle, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik had 13. Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera has so far served under ten different captains in T20Is, two more than anyone else.Ashan Priyanjan holds the record for the highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman on debut•AFP/Getty ImagesWho dismissed AB de Villiers most often in international cricket? asked Viswaraj Chandran from India
AB de Villiers was dismissed ten times in Tests by Stuart Broad, who claimed his wicket 12 times in all in international cricket; Mitchell Johnson is next, with eight. Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Ravindra Jadeja all removed de Villiers seven times in all; Ajmal leads the way in ODIs, with six, with Afridi on five. R Ashwin and Adil Rashid both dismissed him three times in T20Is.I noticed that no Sri Lankan has ever scored a century in his first ODI. Who has got the closest? asked Taimur Mirza from Australia
The best score on one-day international debut for Sri Lanka is 74, by Ashan Priyanjan against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Christmas Day in 2013.There have been only three other debut half-centuries for Sri Lanka: Chamara Silva made 55 against Australia in Colombo in 1999, Sunil Wettimuny retired hurt for 53 against Australia at The Oval during the first World Cup in 1975, and Kusal Mendis hit 51 against Ireland at Malahide in 2016. Looking at the Test-playing countries, no one from Bangladesh, Afghanistan or Ireland has yet scored a century on ODI debut either.And there’s an update to the recent question about the youngest scorers in a Test, from Scott Sinclair in New Zealand
“That was an interesting story. I knew Mark Kerly well as a fellow cricket scorer… I too was 16 when I made my Test debut as scorer, in the match between New Zealand and West Indies in Dunedin in February 1980 – but it seems Mark was eight days younger when he made his debut in 1977-78. Like Mark I had to get time off school – and ironically the New Zealand wicketkeeper in that game, Warren Lees, was a teacher at my school. In the mid-’80s I moved to Auckland for work, and scored many club games and a few first-class matches with Mark.”It seems they start them young in New Zealand! It was a good game to begin with, too – New Zealand beat then-mighty West Indies by one wicket.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions