In the small window he had before Quinton de Kock’s arrival, he did everything he could to make it extremely hard for Lucknow Super Giants to drop him

Deivarayan Muthu06-Apr-20231:30

Mayers: I didn’t play last year but learnt a lot from players and coaches

Of the 671 cricketers who have played in the IPL across 16 seasons, only one has scored half-centuries in his first two innings in the league – Kyle Mayers.After his match-winning 73 off 38 balls on debut for Lucknow Super Giants against Delhi Capitals, Mayers said he had “always dreamed” of playing in the IPL.He’s had to wait to realise that dream. In 2021, Mayers had joined Rajasthan Royals as a reserve player and did the week-long hard quarantine mandated by the league’s Covid-19 protocols, only for that season to be interrupted midway by the pandemic. When the season resumed months later in the UAE, Mayers was not called upon again by Royals. In 2022, he was signed by Lucknow Super Giants at his base price of INR 50 lakh, but watched the entire season from the bench.In October that year, Mayers played an incredible shot while opening against Australia in a T20I – a lofted back-foot drive off Cameron Green that sailed 105 metres to clear the cover boundary. That astonishing display of power and balance took place in a largely empty stadium in Carrara, but Super Giants’ mentor Gautam Gambhir saw it and was gobsmacked.

You are not allowed to do this! @kyle_mayers pic.twitter.com/StFx5N2Wb3

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) October 5, 2022

Over the last 12 months, Australia have secured victories in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in a commendable show of depth

Andrew McGlashan03-Mar-20232:19

Chappell: Getting India out cheaply in the first innings was key

India don’t do losing at home. When Marnus Labuschagne lofted R Ashwin over midwicket a little more than an hour into the third day in Indore and lifted his arms in triumph, it was just India’s third defeat on their own soil in ten years.They particularly don’t do losing when they have a team seemingly down and out as Australia were after shipping 8 for 28 in the second innings in Delhi. Their previous two defeats had come at the start of a series – against England in Chennai in 2021, and Australia in Pune in 2017 – when the visiting side stole an early march only to be cut back down to size.This series had gone from Australia after their implosion in the last game, but that does not take anything away from this victory. In fact, it makes it even more remarkable. In the ten days since, they had seen their captain fly home for tragic personal circumstances and David Warner leave the tour injured. Josh Hazlewood was also ruled out and Ashton Agar allowed to head home after basically becoming unselectable.Related

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As is so often the case when things go wrong, everything was being called into question from the team’s preparation to whether they are playing hard enough – whatever that means. When everything around them appeared to be falling apart, Australia took a step back and caught their breath. Then they didn’t let their heads drop when India won the toss, instead skittling the home side out in less than 34 overs.”The break came at a good time for us,” stand-in captain Steven Smith said. “We were obviously disappointed with the way things ended… and knowing after that second Test we can’t actually win the series, which has always been on the bucket list for a few of us.”For the guys to be able to regroup, trust themselves with what they are trying to do and just try to do it for longer, it’s something we’ve spoken about, and the way we did it this week was really pleasing. It’s about taking the result out of play, having faith in our methods for long enough. We are good enough players to get the results we are after more often than not.”In a game dominated by the ball on a spiteful surface – which takes nothing away from the performance of Australia’s spinners – that mindset was perhaps best shown by the superbly-constructed stand of 96 between Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja in the first innings which, with a little helping hand from Ravindra Jadeja’s no-ball, ensured that India could not immediately bowl themselves back into the match.The way Labuschagne and Travis Head then flicked the switch from caution to balanced attack on the third morning to kill the game also showed a clarity of thought that had been missing earlier in the series.Steven Smith on captaining in India: “It’s a game of chess, every ball means something”•Getty ImagesA few key aspects fell into place more by accident than by design, but it’s a credit to those players that they have had success. Matthew Kuhnemann wasn’t originally on the tour but took five wickets in the first innings, and claimed Virat Kohli in the second. Had Agar’s form and confidence not deserted him, Todd Murphy may not have started the series – but he has bowled like a veteran, claiming Kohli three times – and Kuhnemann would not have been called up.Head (somehow) wasn’t in the team in Nagpur but halfway through Delhi was promoted to open after Warner’s concussion, and has responded with a brace of confident 40s. And while the enforced change in captaincy has come about through awful circumstances, Smith had an outstanding match on the field. Since 1969, Australia have won only six Tests in India, and Smith has led them in two of those.”India is a part of the world I love captaining [in],” he said, while reaffirming this was Cummins’ team. “It’s a game of chess, every ball means something. It’s good to just move people and try to make the batter do something different and just play games with them. It’s probably my favourite place in the world to captain [in].”You think back home in Australia and generally you’re playing with a third slip, or putting a third slip to cover, or [move] your square leg up or back, or something like that. There’s not too much that sort of goes on with it. Sort of just stick to the same game plan and try to trust what you’re trying to do there.”But [in] this part of the world you have to be really proactive. Every ball is an event and therefore can dictate what happens after, which is something that I really love; and you’ve got to be ahead of the game. So I thought I did it well this week and it was good fun.”Over the last 12 months, Australia have secured victories in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India. Though they have had some bad days along the way, for a team that had not toured the subcontinent for Test cricket between 2017 and 2022, that is a commendable show of depth and adaptability. Winning away from home is a massively tough ask.It also means they have locked in their spot in the World Test Championship final, and now it is India who have to sweat on joining them at The Oval. Quite what that means for the pitch that will be prepared in Ahmedabad remains to be seen – you would think it unlikely that the green seamer will now transpire – but Australia have shown that they can beat India at their own game.While levelling the series would not be mission accomplished, it would go down as one of Australia’s finest achievements.

By the end of this mesmerising spell, both England’s top order and the match were broken open

Andrew McGlashan18-Jun-2023It’s shortly after lunch on the third day of the first Ashes Test. England have taken a seven-run first-innings lead. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley build on it calmly, comfortably knocking the ball into gaps against Australia’s defensive fields. It is the first time this opening pair face the opening four overs and do not hit a boundary. Then the rain comes.

****

The mop-up has been swift. The players are back in the middle, but there is a massively dark cloud approaching Edgbaston. Pat Cummins sends down the final ball of his incomplete over.

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Nathan Lyon had bowled his first over before the rain delay, just the sixth of the innings. But on resumption he’s withdrawn. The ball is handed to Scott Boland. Slow pitch or not, this is a time for pace not spin.Related

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The field remains reasonably defensive. Duckett angles one out to point. Crawley is then beaten. It feels as though there’s more zip under the leaden skies, whether it’s real or perceived. Scientists have never really been able to explain why clouds in England make such a difference.Crawley defends one, then is taken high on the back pad. There’s an appeal. Australia ponder a review but decline.Next ball Crawley shoulders arms and is taken on the pads. The shout is bigger this time. Another chat about a review. This takes a bit longer. Again they don’t take it.Final ball, Crawley leaves it alone.

****

Cummins is round the wicket to Duckett, who is beaten by one that nips past the edge. There has been very little movement all match. But things are starting to happen. Meanwhile, it looks like the end of the world is approaching from over the South Stand and Hollies, who remain in strong voice especially to their new friend Travis Head.Duckett defends. This is hard work. Any second now the players could go off. If ever there isn’t a time for Bazball, it’s probably now. Cummins strengthens the cordon, so it’s two slips and Cameron Green at gully. Duckett defends to mid-on.The groundstaff are almost running on as the wind whips up. Duckett looks in their direction. The umpires stay put. Darth Vader was earlier escorted out of the ground, the skies suggest he has made a return.Cameron Green and his team-mates are pumped up after his low catch at gully to send back Ben Duckett•AFP/Getty ImagesIt’s a length delivery outside off, Duckett can’t help playing at it. He doesn’t do leaving. It takes a thick edge and flies low to Green’s left. Surely not again. But Green gets down to it, fingers under the ball and keeps full control. It’s a screamer.Duckett waits and walks down to Crawley. The umpires converge. They go upstairs. Remember, no soft signal these days. This one is much easier than Richard Kettleborough’s call last week at The Oval. One replay makes it clear Green has held this. Duckett starts to walk off. Australia celebrate for a second time. “Out” comes up on the big screen.Ollie Pope skips out to the middle. Cummins’ first ball to him is full and fast, but just slips past the pads although not far from leg stump. There is tension everywhere. Pope defends the final ball of the over.

****

It’s back-of-a-length from Boland, angling in at off stump then straightening. The sort of thing that has helped him average 16 in Test cricket. Crawley plays and gets a thin edge to Alex Carey. The Australians roar in celebration. Crawley stands his ground. But the edge is clear. Marias Erasmus raises his finger to confirm it. It’s dark and Crawley does not look impressed.It’s a slow walk off, Joe Root has almost made it to the middle in the same amount of time. Root always gets to the crease quickly, but if there’s ever a time to slow things down, it’s now.

It doesn’t matter what the run rate has been over the last 13 Tests, a dank afternoon in England with the ball moving around is tough for any batter.

Australia are swarming. They were happy to accept England’s aggressive approach in the first innings, even defer to it. But there’s no deep point anymore. It doesn’t matter what the run rate has been over the last 13 Tests, a dank afternoon in England with the ball moving around is tough for any batter. There’s three slips and a gully. Boland is zipping it like the MCG.His first ball to Root nips back sharply at Root, does too much for the lbw. The next one is much closer, slamming into the front pad as Root does all he can to counter the movement. There is a huge appeal. The Australians confer. Marnus Labuschagne is very excited (when isn’t he?). He may or may not have been told to not get involved. In the end, there’s no review. Erasmus then has a word with Cummins and Labuschagne.Root defends with that trademark open face to backward point. Next ball he’s shuffling out of the crease. The last delivery takes the pad into the leg side for a scampered extra. It took Australia 37 overs to bowl a maiden in the first innings. Now they have two in a row. The rain can only be minutes away.

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Cummins again. Root defends into the covers.It was a high-intensity short session of play from Australia between two rain breaks•Getty ImagesThe next one is fuller and outside off, it brings Root forward for a drive. It skims past the bat and there’s a big appeal, although more from behind the stumps than from Cummins. However, this time the captain is talked into a review. Root is one of big wickets. Replays show daylight between bat and ball.The sky is going to dump on the ground any moment.Root leaves alone outside off. The Australians want every ball they can get. For the first time in the match it really feels like they have control.They are off. The rain starts to fall, then starts to pelt down. The groundstaff race to get the covers on. One of them is left underneath trying to attach a drainage hose. The players scurry into the dressing rooms.

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It’s been 22 balls. England scored two runs. Australia took two wickets. The rain thunders down. The players don’t get back on. The game is on a knife-edge. The significance of those 20 minutes will be known in the next two days.

A year after a pulsating finish at the Asia Cup, the same protagonists delivered another blockbuster climax

Danyal Rasool25-Aug-2023It’s often said that all current mainstream cinema is the same superhero storyline with a superficially rehashed script. If cricket classifies as theatre, the second Afghanistan-Pakistan ODI stretched that concept to an almost parodic degree.Hostility between the sides had nearly spilled over into physical aggression during their dramatic T20 fixture at last year’s Asia Cup, before Naseem Shah pulled off a victory a scriptwriter would have dismissed as too corny. With one wicket remaining and 11 still needed, Pakistan’s golden boy swung hard twice against Fazalhaq Farooqi, and struck gold both times. Throwing down his gloves and helmet, he set off on an in-your-face victory lap as exhilarating as it was provocative.Related

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In the time since, Naseem has made little effort and shown little desire to get himself out of the way of Afghanistan’s firing line. Earlier this month at the Lankan Premier League, he directed an especially boisterous send-off the way of Rahmanullah Gurbaz; any half-decent Pashtun lipreader would have told you what he said wasn’t family-friendly.On Tuesday, after Afghanistan were bowled out for 59 – the lowest total anyone has scored against Pakistan in an ODI – Naseem was interviewed by the PCB’s in-house media unit. His team-mate Mohammad Haris was the interviewer, with Naseem flanked by Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. It was supposed to be gentle, wholesome content. Until that game, Naseem had scored just three ODI runs; on the day, he’d managed an unbeaten 18. When asked what he put his improved batting down to, Naseem went for a mischievous jab. “The Afghan bowlers,” he couldn’t resist saying, before breaking into peals of laughter.In the year since the Asia Cup drama, Afghanistan had landed a blow of their own, beating Pakistan 2-1 in a T20I series in March. Gulbadin Naib at the time remarked that his side had specifically targeted Naseem. But Naseem is a unique phenomenon, a boy who still possesses the charmed optimism of youth as well as a man with the grit and raw ability to bring those dreams to fruition.Last year’s Asia Cup was the setting for the first iteration of Naseem vs Farooqi•AFP/Getty ImagesAnd as this year’s sequel plays out, Naseem is the first to realise he’s seen this movie before.Afghanistan have worked themselves into a position of dominance, but if you know your Afghanistan-Pakistan history, that really doesn’t mean much until the final ball is bowled. Shadab Khan may bleed Islamabad United red but he knows when to shelve blanket all-out attack in favour of taking the game deep. The conditions are slow, and Afghanistan take pace off the ball. So instead of galloping, Shadab inches.”When you’re a senior player, you go through these stages again and again,” he says. “Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed. I try to be as calm as possible. Their team has world-class spinners so I wanted to see their overs off and accelerate against their fast bowlers. The boundaries are long so there are easy twos, so when Shaheen and Naseem came our plans were to go for twos.”Shadab wants to run at every possible opportunity, and he doesn’t care who knows. And with fate conspiring to have Farooqi bowling the final over of a humdinger to Naseem once again, Afghanistan know. There’s a team huddle before the start of an over Shadab desperately wants to be on strike for, and he sneaks out furtively with Farooqi enters his delivery stride, which begins well behind the wicket.Farooqi has his eyes on Shadab, and has no qualms about whipping off the bails. There’s little love lost between the two sides; Afghanistan don’t need to think twice about effecting that dismissal, and Shadab doesn’t even look back to know there will be no reprieve. When Naseem’s penultimate partner Asif Ali was dismissed in the Asia Cup, the contretemps that followed nearly overshadowed the game. There’s no such drama here.Naseem followed his career-best 18* in the first ODI with a provocative line about Afghanistan’s bowling•AFP/Getty ImagesThis should, really, be a no-contest between a young man who has trained to bowl fast all his life against an even younger man whose approach to batting constitutes little more than casual fun. The numbers would write off last year as an aberration, and the odds would favour a reversion to the mean.But there’s a certain state of mind a few sportspersons are able to call up, when the mere desire to win allows them to see a way against bookmakers’ odds or conventional wisdom. Ben Stokes famously possesses it, but at least he knows how to bat. Naseem? He just doesn’t want to lose, especially not against Afghanistan, and especially not against Fazalhaq Farooqi.A remarkable inside out-drive brings him four first ball after Shadab’s exit. As Afghan nerves fray, confusion on the boundary allows Pakistan a third run that brings him back on strike for the denouement, with three needed off two balls. Naseem has a slog that reminds everyone he’s really not a batter, but no legendary sporting tale develops without fortune. There’s an outside edge, a desperate look back. The man at short third has no chance, and from there, it’s clear green grass all the way to the rope.Naseem reprises the frenzied tossing of the helmet and gloves, but this time he doesn’t get far before his team-mates are all over him. It’s almost like they expect him, the youngest man in the side, to lead them out of trouble each time. The context of the win from last year, the acrimony that followed, and the spice that tinges each encounter between these sides only makes this win sweeter.The targeting of Naseem will invariably become even more laser-focused. And Naseem will simply spread his chest out and walk towards it every time. Perhaps there is a reason, after all, that superhero films continue to be box-office.

India want a bowler who can bat at No. 8 at the World Cup, so Mohali didn’t really change anything

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Sep-20231:23

Chawla: Shami’s seam position ideal for these kind of pitches

If you’re the sort of cricket fan who believes in picking your best bowlers from Nos. 8 to 11, never mind their batting ability, Friday’s India-Australia ODI in Mohali was made for you.Mohammed Shami, who’s definitely one of India’s four best ODI bowlers, picked up 5 for 51, his best figures in the format. Along the way he got Mitchell Marsh caught at slip with a gorgeous first-over outswinger and cleaned up a set Steven Smith with a big inducker out of nowhere. On a pitch that offered grip when the sun was out, he stayed in tune with the conditions in textbook manner, hitting the full side of a good length with the swinging new ball and the shorter side of a good length later on, with the vertical seam gradually giving way to the scrambled-seam offcutter as his stock option.Shardul Thakur, who isn’t one of India’s four best bowlers, went at seven an over or above for the 14th time in 42 ODI innings – that’s once every three innings. His first over, the ninth of Australia’s innings, could have been his career, or the popular narrative of it, in miniature. David Warner dispatched a half-volley and a long-hop for fours, and survived a dropped chance when he snatched too eagerly at a drive and spooned the ball to mid-off.This was an uncharacteristic moment of misfortune for Thakur, but you could also see it as an entirely characteristic slice of fortune: his detractors would suggest he has made a career out of taking flukey wickets with non-threatening deliveries.On a day when India picked only five bowlers, Thakur went for 78 in 10 wicketless overs. None of his colleagues went at over a run a ball.Australia were bowled out for 276. India chased it down with five wickets and eight balls remaining. Australia put them under pressure at times, but the top seven did the job by themselves. Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 weren’t required to bat.If you belong in the camp that’s against the idea of the Thakur-style utility player, this match wrote your arguments for you.Shami got his chance on Friday because India rested Mohammed Siraj, who had picked up a five-for in their last game, the Asia Cup final. It ended up being the perfect like-for-like swap.If you’re in the just-pick-your-best-bowlers camp, the idea that India have to choose between Siraj and Shami is a travesty. Why not play Siraj Shami Jasprit Bumrah? Kuldeep Yadav?India, however, have been clear in the lead-up to the World Cup that they won’t pick all four of their best bowlers at the same time. When they’ve been at or near full strength, they’ve almost always picked only three of them, plus two genuine allrounders in Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, and one other allrounder at No. 8. Depending on conditions, this third allrounder is either Thakur or a third spinner.1:11

Can India do without Shardul Thakur in World Cup XI?

Thakur has been integral to India’s World Cup plans. He has played as many ODIs (28) as Siraj since the start of 2022; no India bowler has featured in more games.Mohali may have convinced you that Shami had won the argument with Thakur, but the reality is that there’s no such argument. They aren’t fighting for the same spot.This might seem like a frustrating reality after games like Mohali, but not all ODIs are like Mohali. Some ODIs, instead, are like Birmingham 2019, the match that convinced India that batting depth is non-negotiable.India picked their four best bowlers in that game: Bumrah, Shami, Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal. The Kul-Cha era was in full swing when India began that World Cup, and Kul-Cha had contributed handsomely to India starting the tournament with five successive wins and a washout.India’s best four bowlers, though, couldn’t prevent England from running away to 337 on a flat Edgbaston surface. And they became a liability when the chase commenced. Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 didn’t bat at all, but they had an outsize influence on India’s approach. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli put on 138, but went at less than a run a ball. With India lacking depth, they put all their eggs in one basket: preserving wickets to turn this into something like a T20 chase.India got to the last 20 overs needing 186 with eight wickets in hand. Cameos from Rishabh Pant and Hardik kept them in it, but India effectively shut shop after they were dismissed. You probably remember feeling puzzled and frustrated when MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav pushed the ball around for singles during an unbroken stand of 39 with no intention of going for the target. You might not remember that there was virtually no batting to come, and India were resigned to playing for net run rate.India jettisoned Kul-Cha after that game, and went back to one wristspinner plus Jadeja. What can a No. 8 do if your top seven doesn’t score runs? Jadeja answered that question more than adequately nine days later, almost winning India a semi-final they’d all but lost.If anything, India have strengthened their bowling since that World Cup. Jadhav, a part-timer, was their sixth bowler in that tournament. Hardik and Jadeja have both moved up a place in the batting order since then, allowing India to play a genuine sixth bowler in either Thakur or a spinner such as Axar Patel, R Ashwin or Washington Sundar.Jasprit Bumrah are Mohammed Shami offer a lot with the ball but not with the bat•BCCIAnd while Thakur is no one’s idea of the perfect fast bowler, he’s built a weirdly compelling body of work. Only 27 bowlers in ODI history have picked up 50 wickets at a strike rate of below 30 (that’s effectively more than two wickets per 10-over quota): Shami, Siraj and Thakur are among them, though it won’t surprise you that Thakur has the worst economy rate of all 27.This speaks to his very method. Thakur may take a lot of wickets with seemingly innocuous deliveries, but there’s definitely skill involved if you keep doing it over 42 innings. He’s capable of swinging even the semi-new white ball, and he finds ways to get the ball to behave in odd ways by bowling cutters or cross-seam deliveries into the surface. And over time, it’s also become fairly clear that India have given him license to gamble with attacking lines and lengths. The dropped chance of Warner on Friday, for instance, came off a classic Thakur delivery, a full ball that wasn’t quite full enough to drive safely. Similarly, he may have overdone the short ball and taken stick for it on the day, but on another day, he may have had a couple of wickets from miscued hooks.It’s not how you’re supposed to bowl in ODIs, if such a rulebook exists, but it’s probably how India think they can get the best out of a player with unusual gifts.Thakur isn’t the ideal No. 8 either, but India aren’t blessed with the likes of Sam Curran or Wanindu Hasaranga, who average in the 20s and strike at close to or above a run a ball. While batting at No. 8 or below, Thakur averages 15.50 and strikes at 114.28 – of the India players to have occupied those slots at least 10 times since his debut, only Bhuvneshwar Kumar (18.13) has a better average, but his runs have come at a strike rate of below 80. Kuldeep, Bumrah, Chahal, Siraj and Shami have the batting records of No. 10s at best.Thakur might not have played the number of games he has for India, across formats, if even one of their other regular fast bowlers had his ability with the bat. None of them do, however, and India have found in Thakur an imperfect solution to a thorny problem.It’s something India fans might just have to get used to as the World Cup looms into view. Love him or hate him, Shardul Thakur isn’t going anywhere.

Winning Tests in England isn’t easy. Australia won three and lost two out of six. But if “Ashes tend to define eras or legacies”, Cummins’ team fell short

Andrew McGlashan01-Aug-2023Less than two months apart, Australia’s two presentation ceremonies at The Oval were distinctly different. From the celebrations with the World Test Championship mace and players grinning from ear to ear, to a much more muted holding of a replica Ashes urn behind the “Series Drawn” banner as had been the case in 2019, some smiles looking a little less natural.The first thing to say about Australia’s two months in the UK is that it certainly hasn’t been a failure. Winning Tests in England is a mighty tough ask. Pat Cummins’ team managed three in a row. The first against India gave them the global crown and rubberstamped them as the best Test team in the world, the next two put them 2-0 up in the Ashes.It would prove a vital cushion and not one to be brushed aside because of how events transpired. England did all they could to win three in a row, but Australia had put them in that win-or-bust position by taking the key moments at Lord’s.

Lyon’s vital hand, then huge absence

In Birmingham, the match was so nip-and-tuck that the final twist did not come until Nathan Lyon was dropped by Ben Stokes with 37 needed in the match-winning partnership with Cummins.In the second Test, they were much the better team for large periods, finding a way to win without Lyon by luring England into the trap against the short ball and then holding their nerve against Stokes’ onslaught following the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow.Related

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But then the mood started to change. Over an extended period of three Tests, the injury to Lyon always shaped as a telling factor. Meanwhile, a shoulder injury to Ollie Pope, and Stokes’ admission that he couldn’t bowl, forced England into rebalancing the team. If those two events had not happened, would Chris Woakes have played at Headingley?Either way, after Mitchell Marsh’s stunning comeback century revived Australia in Leeds, they then had England 142 for 7 at lunch – still 121 behind. Mark Wood, having bowled rockets with the ball, smashed 24 off eight balls and Stokes got England just about level. Later that same day, Moeen Ali was handed the wickets of Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.Australia were dealt a rough hand batting during a tough third-evening session after rain and were duly nipped out by England’s quicks. They fought gallantly to defend 251 but there was too much resting on Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Although not quite as tight as Edgbaston, it was another match of narrow margins.However, there was nothing tight about Old Trafford. Australia fluffed their lines with the bat in the first innings – something that would be a theme for the latter part of the series – with five of the top six making between 32 and 51. They were then obliterated by England’s batting in a manner rarely seen of an Australian side. Then it rained for the best part of two days, although Labuschagne made an excellent century. That meant Australia couldn’t lose the series.”It’s a bit of a strange one,” Cummins had said. “As a group [we’re] proud that we’ve retained the Ashes but it’s off the back of not our greatest week. It feels like it’s good to retain the Ashes, but we know we’ve got a fair bit of work to do for next week… we want to win it to make sure we win it outright.”Nathan Lyon’s injury always shaped up as a telling factor in the Ashes•AFP/Getty Images

Dropped catches cost Australia

And so to The Oval. For the first time on the tour, the coin fell in Cummins’ favour and he inserted England on an overcast day. Then Australia dropped five catches. Most crucially was Alex Carey’s off Harry Brook when he was on five. England reached 283 which, overall, left both sides reasonably happy. But Australia could only manage 12 more as the pattern of unconverted starts haunted them again. By the end of the series, five England batters averaged over 40 compared to just two (Usman Khawaja and Marsh) for Australia. Although Smith and Labuschagne managed a century apiece, England’s overall success against them was significant.England were back in the lead after one over of their second innings. Australia showed spirit to ensure it didn’t entirely run away from them, but Bairstow and Joe Root built a big advantage. In the end, the target was 384. Then David Warner and Khawaja added 135 before the rain came. Warner’s final Ashes innings ended against a new nemesis – Woakes from over the wicket for the fourth innings in a row – but even after Khawaja and Labuschagne had also fallen, Smith and Travis Head brought the requirement down to 120 with seven wickets in hand.However, Moeen lured Head into a drive, Woakes kept finding the outside edge and, finally, Stuart Broad (from around the wicket, of course, to the left-handers) closed out the series and his career.

Away Ashes proves elusive again

It all means that there will be a generation of Australian cricketers added to those who won’t have won an Ashes series in England. There is no shame in that, but this time it was there for the taking.We know for certain that Warner won’t be back. You can all but certainly add Smith and Khawaja to that, along with Starc (who was named Australia’s Player of the Series, four years on from playing just once). Lyon has spoken about trying to keep going for another four years but it will be a big ask. Josh Hazlewood feels like an unlikely candidate at 32. Even at 30, Cummins could be a borderline case. They are all outstanding cricketers with plenty on their CVs, but an Ashes series win in England would have been an added gold star.Four years is obviously a long time for any team. England are also entering a new era, not least in a bowling attack where the youngest in the last two matches has been 33. For Australia, their more immediate decisions will need to come later this year. They will start firm favourites in their home season against Pakistan and West Indies – although it is to be hoped that the makes it to Perth, Melbourne and Sydney – but a transitional phase will begin, and how it’s managed will be vital.Warner’s desired end date of January at the SCG is known. He is clinging on and may have done enough to get those three more Tests, although there is time for that to change by December. Regardless, Australia will hope that Khawaja has a couple more years in him to manage the changeover in opening batters.Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green will be expected to play key roles when Australia transition•Getty ImagesWhile no one else has signalled imminent plans to retire (Smith, again, shut down rumours during the Oval Test) there will need to be an eye to the future. One aspect to consider is whether they can introduce a younger member to the pace attack, at least occasionally, to ensure there is some experience when a permanent gap appears. The other interesting dynamic that has now appeared is between Marsh and Cameron Green; the former could start the home summer ahead in the pecking order. They will hope to have Lyon back but will need to keep nurturing Todd Murphy.

Australia just short of their legacy

Australia began 2023 with a trifecta of huge Test challenges ahead of them: an away tour in India, the World Test Championship final, and this Ashes. India slipped away after a dramatic collapse in Delhi, but a few months later they were toppled for the mace. Heading into the England series, Cummins had reluctantly acknowledged “whether we like or not, Ashes tend to define eras or legacies”.In their last two away Ashes series, Australia have won four Test matches. That’s as many as they had achieved in the previous four tours from 2005 to 2015. England rarely lose series on home soil, but Australia have now held the Ashes since late 2017.As Cummins and Stokes came together at the end of an epic series – perhaps one of the greatest ever – the consensus was that 2-2 was the fair result. But there was also the feeling as the presentations went on, that one captain stood on The Oval outfield, at least in that moment, felt a little more ebullient than the other. And it wasn’t the one holding the urn.

South Africa expect to see solid benefits from their T20 league in the not-too-distant future

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2024The success of a T20 league relies on a strong contingent of active local international players, Faf du Plessis, a veteran of the circuit who will lead Jo’burg Super Kings for the second season of the SA20, believes.”The secret always lies in the national players being available,” du Plessis, former South Africa captain, told a select group of journalists during captains’ day in Cape Town two days out from the start of the tournament. “I’ve played in some competitions where you get the national players for only half the competition or a third of the competition, and then the standard really drops.”And therein lies the conundrum that has caught fire over the last week, since the extent of South Africa’s understrength Test squad that will play in New Zealand became clear. They will be captained by Neil Brand, who has yet to play a Test, and half the traveling group of 14 players are uncapped. The other half have just 50 Tests between them and only two – Keegan Petersen and David Bedingham – have played Test cricket in the last year. The composition of the squad was necessitated by the fact that the first-choice players are required to play the SA20, for exactly the reason du Plessis outlined.Related

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But read his rationale again – you need high-profile international players to maintain the quality of a domestic league – and you may conclude that it sounds a bit chicken-and-egg. In order to produce high-profile international players, a country needs to play high-profile international cricket. But South Africa have had to cut down on its internationals to accommodate the SA20. At some point, doesn’t that mean it will run out of high-quality internationals for the league?Graeme Smith, the former South Africa captain who is now the commissioner of the SA20, doesn’t think so. In fact, he is hopeful that the SA20 can soon begin to add to the production line of South African cricket. “It’s domestic cricket, but the platform and the competition here make it a bridge closer to international cricket,” he said. “Hopefully in year two, three or four years, we will start to see the benefits.”He may have a point. South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter indicated that because of the scarcity of T20Is – South Africa played three against India last month and will not play any more before the announcement of their World Cup squad – he will have to rely on the SA20 and the IPL when selecting his squad for the event in June 2024.That means players like du Plessis, who has not played international cricket since February 2021 but has dominated run-charts in various T20 leagues, could find himself in contention for the national side, although he played down his own chances.

“You want to play Test cricket as a cricketer, that’s for sure. It’s still my most favourite format of the game. [But] ultimately, the cards have been dealt and we are unfortunately going to miss that series in New Zealand”Aiden Markram

“That team would have been selected already, probably in terms of 90% of the squad,” du Plessis said. “You can look at tournaments and pick one or two guys that are carrying some good form but if you ask the coach, he would have 90% of his team in his mind already.”It also means that a rookie who has an outstanding season could force his way into the national side, as was the case with Gerald Coetzee. He finished as the third-highest wicket-taker in last season’s SA20, debuted across all formats later in the year, and is now one of South Africa’s most promising prospects.Perhaps it’s possible that South Africa’s next generation of Test players will emerge from T20 leagues, though it won’t happen overnight and, in the immediate term, the future of the Test side will remain a concern.South Africa will only play two-Test series through the 2023-25 World Championship cycle, and won’t play any home Tests between January 2025 and September 2026. Ask around, and many current and former players want to find ways to fit more Test cricket into the calendar but don’t know how that could work.For his part, du Plessis – who calls himself a “purist who wants to see Test cricket still played in 50 or 100 years’ time” – has a suggestion: “Maybe it’s considering playing four-day Test matches so you have an extra day in the calendar to play maybe a third Test match,” he said. “I am not a big fan of two Test matches [in a series]. Everyone walks away from the series thinking there should have been one more or what if? I was joking with Aiden [Markram] earlier and said after losing the Newlands Test [to India] in one-and-a-half days, why didn’t the two captains get together and say let’s play another Test match tomorrow?”The Cape Town Test ended in just over four sessions•Gallo ImagesWe won’t know whether Markram or Rohit Sharma seriously thought about that but Markram, who is among those who will miss the New Zealand Tests, also spoke about the primacy of Test cricket. “You want to play Test cricket as a cricketer, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s still my most favourite format of the game. [But] ultimately, the cards have been dealt and we are unfortunately going to miss that series in New Zealand.”Markram’s even-toned answer reflects much of the mood in the country. While much of the cricketing world continues to view the message South Africa are sending with the make-up of their squad to New Zealand as an indictment on the game, there is acceptance at home. Test coach Shukri Conrad said the national team has to “find a way to co-exist” with the SA20, and Smith agreed. “The SA20 is a four-week tournament in a whole year. We can co-exist,” he said. “There has been an intent from CSA to say this product [the SA20] is important for us and we need to give it the best chance to succeed, and for that we need to have our best players available.”And, in many ways, South Africa could be setting a few precedents for how countries outside of the Big Three [Australia, England and India] will operate. “It’s still quite new in the world at the moment and hopefully over this next year we can carve a new way forward,” Markram said.He wouldn’t be the only one looking at that timeframe as cricket’s landscape changes and national boards walk the tightrope between league cricket and bilateral arrangements.