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Even though the South Africa bowlers were not creating magic when the Sri Lanka batsmen were scoring, Faf du Plessis maybe knew they would win the patience game. And he was right

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth29-Dec-2016Faf du Plessis fell in step with Vernon Philander as he walked back to his mark. Du Plessis did most of the talking, Philander did what seemed to be some explaining. From mid-on, Kyle Abbott was shining the ball. Whether he had a mint in his mouth at the same time was not visible. From mid-off, Keshav Maharaj wore the same overwrought expression he had since just after he dismissed Rangana Herath in the first innings. Actually, it may have got a bit worse after the failed review against Angelo Mathews.

Keshav Maharaj on…

The conditions: The pitch has got better and obviously the ball got softer. That made it a little bit more difficult to bowl with. But that’s what we call investing. With that older ball we try to invest, invest, invest, and hopefully with this new ball we can open up an avenue in the morning. It’s nice to bowl with the wind blowing from left to right as a left-arm spinner, it sort of gets the ball to drift. It’s not the easiest wind to control in terms of bowling, but sometimes it’s nice to have. Especially with the ball not spinning much. So you’ve got the drift to play with.
The declaration: Our declaration came at the right time. If they do chase that it’s going to be a record score and it’s unheard of. We expected partnerships but you’ve got to keep investing and there’ll also be opportunities that arise. We took our opportunities and we got two or three wickets back to back.
The prospect of a long last day: We’re not counting our chickens before they hatch. We’re willing to win in the last session on the final day. If it comes before that, that’s a bonus for us.

Everyone else was rooted to their fielding positions, with a distant gaze in their eyes that could probably mean they were either thinking really hard or wishing they were somewhere else.Maybe, just maybe, with Sri Lanka on 183 for 3, motoring at a rate of over three runs per over and 25 overs still left in the day, they were wondering whether their declaration had come too soon. Maybe, just maybe, whatever comes just before panic was starting to cross their minds.There was no movement on offer even though the easterly was gusting in at almost 40kph and the pitch had not deteriorated enough, except for the footmarks outside the left-hander’s off stump, to really bring Maharaj into play. Kagiso Rabada was down on pace and unusually inconsistent and the captain did not see a reason to turn the match into a science laboratory and himself into a nutty professor. At that stage, he had not called on JP Duminy’s offspin, even though it has been spoken off in respectable allrounder’s terms in the recent past, or Temba Bavuma’s seamers, which were being practised with some precision before the match.Du Plessis demanded more of the same from his frontline bowlers because even though they were not making magic, they were not doing anything too badly either. He trusted that in the patience game, they would probably win out. And he was right.Three overs after the scene of consternation, Rabada was brought back on and banged in a bouncer to Kusal Mendis, who tried to ramp it over the slips but got an edge to de Kock. Mendis’ choice of shot, especially with him having fought his way to 58, is something his great grandchildren will still be searching for the answers too. They may have to join forces with Kusal Perera’s and Dinesh Chandimal’s after they also threw it away.Perera’s came just after Sri Lanka’s best opening stand in South Africa was broken and may end up costing him the No. 3 role but Chandimal’s could cost Sri Lanka a chance at a greater fight. At 225 for 4, with the second new ball less than three overs away, the close of play only half an hour and the memory of being dropped charging down the pitch, fresh in his mind, he danced down and handed Rabada a catch at mid-off.Maharaj deserved the wicket as a reward for what he called the “investment” the attack had decided to put in. Essentially, South Africa knew all they could do was keep bowling, try a few of the standard things – Rabada’s short-ball strategy, a close-in field for the spinner –  and wait for a mistake. It’s not the most attractive kind of cricket to watch unless you find your attraction in watching somebody add a page to their stamp collection, but it is the kind of cricket that pays off and Sri Lanka proved it. Despite not being tied down to any great degree, they made five mistakes too many and played into South Africa’s plans.The hosts’ return almost paid out a bonus when Bruce Oxenford gave Dhananjaya de Silva lbw off Abbott’s first delivery with the second new ball. South Africa were so busy celebrating, they did not even see de Silva call for the review and even then, finished their round of high-fives before turning to look at the big screen. What they saw initially confirmed their suspicions, that the ball had pitched on off and angled back in, but then they watched as the ball-tracking showed the ball missing leg stump.The players remained in their viewing spot long after the graphic had plotted the ball’s path. Abbott had a hand to his mouth, the rest had hands on hips in disbelief. Eventually, they began to move away. Du Plessis was the last to leave, and he did so reluctantly. He did not give himself enough time to fall in step with Abbott, who was on his way back to his mark. Instead, it was Duminy who walked the bowler back. Stephen Cook was shining the ball, nothing visible in this mouth. Maharaj still looked anxious.There are unlikely to be any doubts about whether South Africa scored enough runs or gave themselves enough time. But it is likely they will have to work just as hard to finish the job and they have already proved they are willing to do that.

The New Zealand allrounder wants to find a more permanent spot in the Test and limited-overs squads

Mohammad Isam15-Jan-2017Colin de Grandhomme is a player easy to like and root for – at 30, the moustachioed medium-paced allrounder, originally from Zimbabwe, unexpectedly broke into the New Zealand Test side and took a six-for on debut, against Pakistan.He can also hit big sixes – a popular skill to have these days – and is known to be a player who lets his actions speak for him, a quality New Zealanders appreciate.After taking nine wickets in two Tests against Pakistan, de Grandhomme had a quiet time in the Chappell-Hadlee series – taking only one wicket in three matches – and was dropped for the ODIs against Bangladesh. When he was picked for the T20Is, he responded with an unbeaten 22-ball 41 (three fours and three sixes) in the first game in Napier. He bowled steadily too and always offered safety as a fielder.De Grandhomme says his role doesn’t really change through the formats, especially with the bat.”I think I am a better batter than I am shown probably,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “So hopefully I get better and it gives me a better chance of playing most of the time. I still play my same game, just watch the ball as well as I can.”So far however, it has been the Test team in which de Grandhomme has looked most comfortable. He said that in his performance on debut in Christchurch he simply took the opportunities presented to him in a bowling attack that includes Trent Boult and Tim Southee.”I was just trying to put in the right areas. When you are bowling with people like Trent Boult and Tim Southee, you’re not the one expected to get the wickets. You expect them and you just hold one end up.”[The first wicket was an] awesome feeling, to see the stump coming out of the ground obviously made it look a lot better. And against a good player [Azhar Ali]. Completing the [five-for] was awesome, unreal.”[Boult and Southee] make it easy for me. They are just really consistent at what they do so that makes it easy. They can swing the ball and bowl heavy with good pace.”But that place behind the two premier quicks is being chased by a number of allrounders similar to de Grandhomme, who was a surprise pick in the Test side as he was seen as someone past his prime, having made his international debut in 2012. He is now competing with the likes of Corey Anderson, Jimmy Neesham and Colin Munro, which means he can’t let up on delivering good performances with the bat and ball.De Grandhomme’s Test debut came on the back of strong performances for Auckland, which included a match-winning 144 not out off 147 balls against Otago. He was still thought to be Neesham’s back-up but quickly grabbed the No. 6 spot. Then last month, de Grandhomme hit a 35-ball 71 in the T20 win over Canterbury in Auckland.After representing Zimbabwe in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup and playing six first-class games in 2005, de Grandhomme came to New Zealand to play some club cricket in 2007, and soon found himself in the Auckland side – for the State T20 final – when overseas player Mal Loye was injured. Auckland won the match, though de Grandhomme didn’t bat or bowl.”I came here after school to play club cricket for a bit, and see how it goes. I think Mal Loye got injured and I got an opportunity. I was [a foreign player] at that time.”De Grandhomme supports the idea of switching to playing for another country if the opportunity arises. “Playing at the top level is No. 1 [priority]. Also choosing a country that benefits you.”Like Neil Wagner, another fast bowler who moved to New Zealand from southern Africa, de Grandhomme will be hoping he can establish himself in the New Zealand set-up through his hard work and determination.

In both Ranchi and Dharamsala, Australia fell short of posting truly daunting first-innings totals despite hundreds from Steven Smith. It was the lack of big scores from their openers that made it tougher for the middle and lower order

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Dharamsala28-Mar-2017In his press conference on day three of the Dharamsala Test, Ravindra Jadeja said something that’s rare to hear from an international cricketer – an admission that luck had played some part in his team getting on top of the opposition.Australia had just slumped to 137 all out in their second innings, and India’s fast bowlers, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, had played key roles in causing that to happen, combining to take four for 56 in 17 overs.Someone asked Jadeja what the difference had been between their bowling and that of Australia’s quicks on the same surface.”There wasn’t much of a difference,” Jadeja said. “Their fast bowlers, like us, were bowling in good areas, but sometimes good deliveries miss the edge of the bat and at times straight deliveries get you the edge. Today with [David] Warner it was a straight ball that got his edge. That was the breakthrough.”India’s quicks, Umesh in particular, had bowled brilliantly with the new ball, but there was some substance to Jadeja’s statement. Sometimes, it takes a bit of luck to find the edge. Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins had bowled splendidly in India’s first innings, and had taken four wickets too, but had to bowl 55 backbreaking – and often heartbreaking, given how much they tested India’s batsmen – overs between them.Had Cummins and Hazlewood heard and understood Jadeja’s statement – he spoke in Hindi – they might have hugged him and wept in gratitude.But you need more than luck to keep finding the edges. You need a bit of help from batsmen. Both of Australia’s openers gave Umesh that help. Warner jabbed at him with hard hands while not moving his feet. Matt Renshaw, squared up by a short ball, followed it with his hands, away from his body, uncertainly, playing neither an attacking nor defensive stroke.Those are the kind of mistakes Australia’s openers kept making through the series. Warner had a torrid time through the tour, his defence shaky against both seam and spin. In all, he made 193 runs in four Tests at an average of 24.12. Even when he did make runs, he did not look secure at the crease; in the first innings in Dharamsala, for instance, he kept trying to cut Kuldeep Yadav when given neither the length nor the width to play the shot safely and was eventually dismissed playing that shot.Renshaw, meanwhile, began his first tour of India with scores of 68, 31 and 60, on two of the most challenging pitches he must have encountered in his young career. After that, his scores tailed away, his last five innings bringing him only 73 runs at an average of 14.60.Before the tour, Australia’s selectors and team management may have feared such a turn of events for their young opener – a bright start, followed by India’s spinners working him out and working him over. Except it wasn’t the spinners who worked Renshaw out; it was the seamers. Renshaw was out to spin in each of his first three innings of the tour, and out to either Umesh or Ishant Sharma in his last five innings.On all five occasions, he was out either playing indecisively in the corridor, away from his body, or stuck in the crease when he should have been on the front foot.David Warner ended the series with 193 runs•AFPIn both innings in Dharamsala, Umesh peppered him with short balls. In the first innings, he followed a series of short balls with a full one that swung in through the gate as Renshaw played a leaden-footed drive. In the second, the short ball itself proved the wicket-taker.There was a pattern to these dismissals, a sense that India had worked out a way to induce uncertainty in Renshaw’s mind and feet. In that process, he ended up being far less of a force on the two best batting pitches of the series, in Ranchi and Dharamsala, than in the two heavily bowler-friendly pitches in Pune and Bengaluru.In contrast, when they came across conditions where bowlers would need to work a little harder to take their wickets, India’s openers – and top order, in general – ensured they made the bowlers work that little bit harder. M Vijay got himself out in Ranchi, but only after 183 balls of intense focus and tight defensive technique against an Australian attack that never let up in intensity. KL Rahul got himself out in the first innings in Dharamsala, finally succumbing to Cummins’ relentlessly fast and accurate short bowling, but only after he had been at the crease for more than 40 overs.At no point in either Test did either Vijay or Rahul play the kind of hard-hands jab, away from the body, that cost Warner and Renshaw their wickets in the second innings in Dharamsala. Hazlewood and Cummins beat them on numerous occasions, but they kept their hands close to their body and didn’t follow the ball as it seamed or swung away from them.When they edged the ball, they were still usually playing close to their body, with soft hands. Not long before Hazlewood dismissed him in the first innings in Dharamsala, Vijay had edged another one but had ensured the ball fell well short of the keeper. In the same Test, Warner was dropped in the slips in both innings, both times playing away from his body, but continued to play in the same vein regardless.KL Rahul stayed unbeaten in the second innings in Dharamsala to hit the winning runs•Associated PressMoreover, Vijay and Rahul, unlike Renshaw in particular, did not lose their composure when peppered with short balls. They may have been discomfited by Cummins and Hazlewood’s bouncers, but if the next ball was full, they generally got on the front foot, playing it with no aftereffects of what had come before.In all, it took India a combined 94.4 overs to dismiss both Renshaw and Warner in the four Australian innings in Ranchi and Dharamsala. It took Australia a combined 111 overs to dismiss both Vijay and Rahul in India’s two first innings in those two Tests – they did not play a second innings in Ranchi – and a further 23.5 overs in India’s second innings in Dharamsala to dismiss Vijay but not Rahul.Getting opening batsmen out early can have all kinds of knock-on effects on the rest of the innings. It exposes the middle order to a newer ball, allows first- and second-change bowlers to begin their spells against newer, less certain batsmen, and increases the possibility of exposing the batting side’s lower order to the second new ball.A big opening partnership, or even one opener staying in the middle for a long time, changes everything. It ensures an easier introduction to the crease for the batsmen to follow, with a healthier-looking scoreboard, against bowlers who have expended more energy, and against more defensive fields. As has been the case right through the season for India, the ripple effect of the top order’s crease occupation can be felt far later, with the lower order facing tiring bowlers in situations where they can bat with freedom.Both teams’ No. 3s made more than 400 runs in the season and were among the runs in the last two Tests. In both Ranchi and Dharamsala, Australia fell short of posting truly daunting first-innings totals despite brilliant hundreds from Steven Smith. In both Tests, India gained the first-innings advantage thanks not only to Cheteshwar Pujara, but also to the work of the batsmen around him, particularly the two above him in the batting order.

From leading Trinity to a rare triple crown in schools cricket to being touted as a future Sri Lanka captain, the wicketkeeper-batsman is now set for his first international in his home of the hill country

Sidharth Monga in Pallekele10-Aug-2017Despite all the hype around mystery cricketers, Sri Lankan cricket would not have risen without a more prosaic, solid supply line from the schools. Arjuna Ranatunga’s one big lament has been the decline of schools cricket, otherwise “the best system in the world”. Schools cricket in Sri Lanka has been stuff of legend. There are about 30 Big Matches, traditional annual matches played between two certain schools. The Royal-Thomian is the biggest Big Match, a phenomenon in itself with a festival-like atmosphere over the three days of the match and on days leading up to it. Up in the hill country, the Big Match of Kandy, the battle of the blues, between St Anthony and Trinity, was a one-sided affair when Sampath Perera took over in September 2008.Trinity at that time cared only for rugby. The cricket team, which gave the world Kumar Sangakkara, was in division two. Eight years ago, the whole team had been suspended by the school’s principal for lack of discipline. Now, Perera was brought in on the insistence of old boy Sangakkara. In the first week with the team, Perera realised only one of the 21 boys given to him could play the forward-defensive properly.Niroshan Dickwella has a variety of sweeps in his repertoire•AFPSo, Perera didn’t go after technique. He looked for temperament instead. And he picked the Under-15 wicketkeeper for the Under-19 side. Then he fast-tracked him into the main side. There were three more senior wicketkeepers in the squad; their parents obviously complained. There were petitions. Perera, though, stuck with this wicketkeeper, who went on to become the most successful captain at Trinity. Not only did Trinity win the Big Match under him for the first time in 26 years, he also led them to the triple crown of two-day league, one-day knockouts and T20 championship, which no school has ever managed to achieve.”He is a very positive guy,” Perera now says of his big selection at Trinity. “He is a very cunning fellow. He was the fourth in line so there were a lot of petitions against me. ‘What is this?’ ‘This coach is bullshit.’ But I knew. He just needed some time. I thought one day he would play for Sri Lanka.”Niroshan Dickwella has not just played for Sri Lanka, some even talk of him as the future Sri Lanka captain. That has not got to do with the runs he has scored. His numbers, in fact, are not going to grab your attention. An average of 30 in nine Tests, and two ODI centuries in 19 matches are not stats that guarantee you a secure position in these fickle times in Sri Lankan cricket, leave alone a leadership role. It is his attitude that has impressed observers.Perera noticed that when Dickwella led Trinity to a double crown in 2011 and the triple crown the next year, Dickwella had older players to lead. “He built good relations with other players,” Perera says. “His communication skills are very sharp. He is a good motivator. He might shout at his players, but very next second he goes and speaks to them.”Captaincy at school can be a headache for a player, which is why a lot of it is done by the coach. When you meet a good captain, though, if you teach him everything, game tactics, bowling changes, how to handle a situation, you don’t need to talk. Niroshan was the same thing. He did everything. Bowling changes, fielding setting, trapping other batters, analysing the batters. He will never give up. If he thinks ‘I want to do this’, definitely he will do it.”At Trinity, Niroshan Dickwella and others would play at least 250 sweep shots a week•AFPDickwella mostly led by his runs, though, which come mainly through the sweep against spinners. After his half-century at the SSC against India, Dickwella was asked at a press conference who pushed for sweep in the team management. Dickwella’s reply probably went back years ago to school cricket. It was almost as if he was singing, “To everything, sweep, sweep, sweep.”Perera says 80% of the bowling you face at lower levels in Sri Lanka is spin. The pitches are treacherous. You can’t just use your feet the way the Indian batsmen do. You just, as Perera says, “Mark the off stump and do the sweep.””We use the sweep as a threat for the bowlers,” he says. “If they don’t sweep, we are shouting from outside, ‘Sweep the bowler’.”At Trinity, Dickwella and others would play at least 250 sweep shots a week. Schools cricket is an age when a player’s technique is being moulded. It is important that it be taught the right way. “Identify the guard, align your outer eye with the off stump,” Perera says. “Anything outside that eye is outside the line so that is not out. Second thing is control the ball. Bat should come from high to low. Slog sweep and paddle sweep are different, but first you need to learn to keep it along the ground. First thing is, before the ball is pitched, you should base your back leg on the ground and get into position with the high back lift.”By his reckoning, Dickwella swept 80% of the deliveries he faced from India spinners. He was happy with that stat. He had done so against Zimbabwe, too, as he and Asela Gunaratne rescued them from what would have been a huge upset at home. “The positive thing is, he never changes his game,” Perera says. “Any situation, he applies his game. One or two days, I scolded him, called him donkey. One day he told me, ‘If it goes for four, you will only clap.’ So I knew. I shut my mouth. Next game he scored 200.”Perera loves using the word donkey. Ask him about the shot Dickwella played to get out to Shami, trying to ramp him first ball of a new spell and getting bowled, and Perera says, “It is a donkey shot. Difficult thing is batting against spin. He did that and then this.” This shot even has a name: the Dickscoop, which he used to hit Kagiso Rabada for a six once.Ask Perera how Dickwella was at studies: “not a donkey, not a professor”. Dickwella knew how to score marks. Nobody had to worry he might fail an exam.Shades of Sangakkara? Niroshan Dickwella appeals like his idol•AFPPerera says that as a coach you have to be like a father, an enemy, a brother, a friend to the players. He has hit Dickwella on two occasions when he got into mischief he doesn’t want written about. He was like a father when the financial manager of Trinity, Perera’s family friend, told him of the arrears against the star player’s name. Perera asked him what was up. His father, a diabetic patient, had some pension issues and couldn’t afford to pay the fees, which was about LKR 30,000 a term. Perera immediately spoke to an old boy and arranged for a scholarship that ran up to Rs 300,000.Perera insists Dickwella is not the most talented cricketer he coached at Trinity, but such is the Colombo-centred nature of cricket in Sri Lanka that many an outstation gem gets lost in the transition. For Dickwella, he arranged for a contract at Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC). In his case, there was support both from SLC and NCC to help him move to Colombo. With Dinesh Chandimal away on national duty, Dickwella kept getting chances for NCC, and kept piling on the runs.Once Dickwella had played for Sri Lanka, Perera called him up and asked him to move out of the SLC accommodation and rent a house on his own. “You are not a beggar, neh?” he told Dickwella. “And vacate it for someone else who might be in need as you were.”If not for Sampath Perera there will be no Niroshan Dickwella as he is the one who guided me, made me understand my priorities and moulded me to the player I am today,” Dickwella told .That is, perhaps, the most serious sentence you could get Dickwella to speak. He doesn’t have the articulation of Sangakkara, but already in a short career, Dickwella has become known for the impishness that was a Sangakkara trademark. At one stage, Perera created a fake Facebook account to follow what his wards were up to. “You can see the ‘last seen’ stamp, neh?” He found that Dickwella was the most active.”He is a funny character,” Perera says. “If he gets free time, when he was playing in school, he will do the dance, drama or whatever. So many dry jokes. He is not keeping his mouth shut. Always (like scissors). Even when keeping.”Once Dickwella senior called up Perera and told him about stickers of stars on the ceiling of Niroshan’s roof. When Perera asked him about the stars, he said, “When I go to bed, I like to see stars.” He had posters of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Sangakkara in his room. He wanted to be like Sangakkara, which is natural.The Dickscoop, as demonstrated by its inventor Niroshan Dickwella•Getty ImagesDickwella even appeals like Sangakkara. However, he needs to learn the finesse of the “old dog Sangers” as Danny Morrison once called him. Already, he has been reported to the match referee for waiting for Zimbabwe’s Solomon Mire to lift his foot so he can stump him. He has earned demerit points for physical contact on the field with Kagiso Rabada. He has been punished for showing dissent.”The thing is, he wants to win anyhow,” Perera says. “In my side, he didn’t get any complaints. The rule is, if the umpire complains, next match you are out.” However, Perera also acknowledges that outside internationals, it is difficult to police all the gamesmanship, and that is where Dickwella has honed his game. He will continue to be street-smart.Perera doesn’t coach at Trinity now. He has applied twice for the Sri Lanka Under-19 job, but has on both occasions been left disheartened. Instead, he has found himself a new challenge: to bring back to first division a team in whose decline he played a part, St Anthony. He keeps in touch with Dickwella. Recently he noticed Dickwella’s shoulder was dropping when he played his shots, which meant he was becoming an exclusively midwicket player. Immediately he got on the phone and asked him to keep his chin and shoulder together. He tells him often to not go on hitting every ball he faces because international cricket is tougher.On Saturday, Dickwella will play his first international match in his home of the hill country. If he tries to go back to his school, chances are he might be sent back because exams are on and discipline must be maintained. The exams that he had no trouble clearing even if he didn’t study. In the bigger examination of cricket, he might need someone in his ear. “If he doesn’t lose his discipline, there is no limit on how far he might go,” Perera says. “If he is not… he is a bit of a funny character.”

While there have been suggestions from officials that winning at home is more important than overseas results for Bangladesh as this stage, the players themselves have plenty to prove in South Africa

Mohammad Isam26-Sep-2017Twice in the last four weeks, members of BCB’s power base said that winning at home was more important for the Bangladesh team.First it was chief selector Minhajul Abedin who, in offering reasons for Mominul Haque’s axing in the first Test against Australia, said that the batsman will be picked for South Africa – there’s more pressure on players while playing at home, he said.At the end of the second Test, BCB chief Nazmul Hassan said something on the same lines: they don’t mind taking risks with players abroad but are unlikely to go down that route at home where they are more likely to win.Perhaps, in a strange way, Abedin and Hassan were trying to minimise expectations on Bangladesh ahead of a tough tour. While Bangladesh have started to win more regularly at home since 2013 – and regularly have to play under the pressure of being expected to win at home these days – their away record continues to be substandard. They have lost 85% of all Tests abroad and in South Africa, all four losses have been innings-defeats.These numbers perhaps shed light on those comments of the top-brass and, given the influence Hassan has on the team’s selection policy and their overall strategy, also perhaps point towards a new direction from BCB’s hierarchy. They also add context to the timing of Shakib Al Hasan’s request for a break. To be fair, he had wanted to skip Tests for six months which would have included the Sri Lanka Tests at home too, but the BCB decided that he could just miss the South Africa Tests.Does all this mean that the Bangladesh cricketers will lack motivation in South Africa, then?Far from it.From the start of their mid-summer training camp, Bangladesh’s senior players have said repeatedly that doing well in South Africa is a major priority. Batsmen like Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal take a lot of pride in scoring runs away from home and this thinking also feeds into the mindset of younger batsmen like Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Mominul Haque.Bangladesh’s pace attack often wait for years to bowl in helpful conditions and the current lot will certainly relish bowling on pitches that will be predictably harder than those at home.As for coach Chandika Hathurusingha, while talking about the Australia series last month, he had curiously made reference to the South Africa tour a few times; some observed that perhaps the upcoming tour was taking up more of his time than the series at hand at the time.Hathurusingha is known for his meticulous planning and has taken the team to training camps abroad ahead of tours to Australia, New Zealand and England. It wasn’t possible this time because Bangladesh were scheduled to finish the Australia series only on September 8 but, still, they arrived in South Africa 11 days before the first Test, and have already completed a three-day practice match that has posed new questions and provided some assurances.Bangladesh can forget about their horrid previous record in South Africa and what the board is saying too; instead, the focus should be on how they have done outside Asia in the last two years. Even in New Zealand this year, when they lost every game, they showed that they can push back against a strong pace attack in scoring close to 600 in the first innings of the Test series. In the Champions Trophy in England and Wales, some of their batsmen tackled England and New Zealand adeptly and showed that they can look past previously held demons on pacy pitches.At the individual level, too, there are plenty of players who have a lot to prove and play for. Apart from Tamim and Mushfiqur, the rest of the batting line-up isn’t settled. Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes have their own battle after doing poorly against Australia. Mahmudullah has a chance to prove his Test worth after being axed during the Australia series.Among the younger lot, Mominul has to score runs to disprove doubters in the team management while Sabbir Rahman also doesn’t have a fixed spot in the batting line-up. Liton Das, Mushfiqur’s understudy, would feel that even if not as a wicketkeeper, he should make an impact as a batsman.Without Shakib, a lot of pressure will also be on spinners Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam to provide breakthroughs, while the pace attack must bowl well together because – unlike any home series – here they will be expected to spearhead the attack.That said, the players would do well to remember that South Africa is a country where subcontinent teams have struggled regularly. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have totalled just five wins in South Africa and there hasn’t been one such victory since 2011. So, while the determination levels will be high, they should not feel overly undone by supposedly unfavourable results. Winning might not be the best goal in this case, instead, they should fiercely focus on bettering their performance from the last two occasions; if they were to lose as badly as they did then, it would surely be seen as a backward step. Winning at home is great, yes, but there is no doubt that there is plenty to strive for and look forward to on this tour as well.

A look at some of the pertinent questions around the PSL draft scheduled to take place on Sunday in Lahore

Umar Farooq11-Nov-2017When is the PSL draft scheduled to take place and where?The PSL draft is set to take place on November 12 at 3pm local time at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.Who gets the first draft pick?That would be Lahore Qalandars because according to the draft rule, the team that finished last in the previous tournament gets the first pick each round. The side that finished second last gets the second pick, and so on.Then why is the new franchise, Multan Sultans, getting the last pick in every round?Playing their first season, Multan Sultans had no players to retain or release, and instead chose nine players from the expansion draft. In other words, they chose nine players from the list of players that other franchises opted to release. That itself was an opportunity to draft up a team of sorts.According to the rules, five teams from the previous season were given a deadline to retain nine players from their existing contracted players, releasing all others from their roster. Then, Multan were allowed to select players from the list of all released players without any constraint.Therefore, it was ruled that Multan would get the last pick having enjoyed this advantage, with Peshawar Zalmi getting the second last pick, owing to them having finished top last season.How will the entry of the sixth team, Multan Sultans, affect the format?In a sense, the entry of Multan Sultans makes no difference to the format, with the only change being the increase in the number of group games played per side – from eight to 10. The number of overall games before the next round increases from 20 to 30 as a result, with the tournament being played over a few extra days. The number of matches in the playoffs will remain the same, with three games to be played before the finalists are decided.Why do Peshawar Zalmi get the third pick of the first Gold and both Silver rounds, even though they should get the fifth pick?That is because Peshawar Zalmi traded Shahid Afridi to Karachi Kings. Instead, they swapped picks in the first Gold and Silver rounds, meaning Peshawar Zalmi get the third pick in both rounds.In that case, how do Karachi Kings have the first pick of the first round of the Gold category? It was meant for Lahore Qalandars.Lahore Qalandars traded in Sohail Khan from Karachi Kings in exchange for their first pick quota in the Gold round, in addition to Mohammad Rizwan. And since Karachi had already exchanged their Gold round pick with Peshawar, Lahore had to swap their first pick with pick five in the Gold category.How many matches will be played in Pakistan? How many in Lahore, how many in Karachi?The PCB has not released the schedule for the third edition of the tournament yet but had promised that a few matches would be played in Pakistan. The league stage, as yet, is scheduled to be played in the UAE. Lahore is a potential venue for the final and the playoff matches while the National Stadium in Karachi is presently undergoing extensive renovation work, and is reportedly behind schedule with respect to preparedness in time for next year’s PSL. Even so, the PCB is bullish about the prospect of some matches taking place in Karachi.How many players are in the draft?A massive 501, with 308 foreign players listed. However, the vast majority will go unselected, obviously. Some of the star attractions include Chris Lynn, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Johnson and Mustafizur Rahman. Each team will have a salary cap of $1.2 million for a squad of 20 players.

Bangladesh bounced back from a poor Test series with a 2-1 ODI win, but they will need to plug a few holes over the course of 10 packed months leading up to the 2019 World Cup

Mohammad Isam29-Jul-2018Who will open with Tamim Iqbal?Anamul Haque hasn’t done himself any favour with his 88 runs in seven ODIs this year. Mashrafe Mortaza’s desire to pick him throughout this ODI series should have given Anamul enough confidence but he finished with only 33 runs in the three innings. The selectors had picked Anamul earlier this year after Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das failed to grab the position firmly in 2016 and 2017. Mohammad Mithun was tried once, but he failed too.The selectors could go back to Soumya or Liton, depending on their performance in the upcoming T20I series against West Indies. There is an outside chance that they may consider Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who sat out the entire ODI series, if he does well for Bangladesh A in Ireland.Who will play the finisher’s role?Mahmudullah continues to thrive in the role of finisher, especially in the last five overs; his strike rate in that phase during this ODI series was 214.29. He has shown that getting off the blocks quickly in ODIs and T20Is suits his style, after he went through a transformation under previous coach Chandika Hathurusingha in January 2016.In this series, Bangladesh batted Sabbir Rahman and Mosaddek Hossain behind Mahmudullah, without any success. Sabbir is out of form, and hasn’t made a significant score in his last 14 innings, while Mosaddek is a traditional middle-order batsman who is yet to figure out how to approach the slog overs. Matters came to a head in the third ODI when Mashrafe promoted himself to start the slog early in the 39th over.Mosaddek could play up the order to move Mahmudullah back down to his favoured role in the last 6-8 overs, while Sabbir clearly needs a break. Ariful Haque, a batsman who can go big in the last five overs, could get three chances in the T20I series so the team management know where they stand ahead of the bigger challenges that Bangladesh are to confront.Mustafizur Rahman and Mehidy Hasan celebrate a wicket•Associated PressIs there a dearth in bowlers capable of handling slog overs?In the last three years, Mustafizur Rahman has been the world’s second-most economical bowler (minimum 100 balls) in the last five overs of ODI innings. Rashid Khan concedes 6.00 per over while Mustafizur is just a shade behind, at 6.08. He is a major asset to Bangladesh, especially at the death, but Bangladesh are over-reliant on his skills.Rubel Hossain conceded 10.40 runs an over in the last five overs in this ODI series (and 7.89 in the last two years), a huge contrast from Mustafizur’s 4.66 per over. Mashrafe and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s most experienced bowlers, only bowled two overs between them in this phase in the three matches.The missing link here is Taskin Ahmed, who had been a wicket-taker in the slog overs until he lost form in South Africa last year. Shakib definitely remains an option while it may be too much to ask of Mashrafe, who already handles the new ball and has to bowl after the 30th over on most days.Is Mehidy the long-term new-ball bowler?Despite not taking enough wickets, Mehidy Hasan emerged as Bangladesh’s best bowler in the ODI series. He constantly attacked the stumps with his changes of pace and subtle length variations, conceding only 3.73 per over in the first Powerplay. He is likely to continue in this role in the Asia Cup and in the home ODI series against Zimbabwe and West Indies. So by the time Bangladesh encounter seamer-friendly conditions in New Zealand in February, they will have only two new-ball options in Mashrafe (a constant since 2016) and Mehidy, as they close in on the 2019 World Cup match-ups.Mustafizur’s main work coming in the last 10 overs means Mashrafe is often reluctant to use him up front, so he is left with very few pace-bowling options with the new ball. During the first Powerplay, Rubel, Taskin and Shafiul Islam have also been sub-par in the last two years.What is Bangladesh’s bench strength?Bangladesh have plenty of cricket in the next 10 months, building up to the 2019 World Cup. Along the way, they will want to develop in a few areas: a better pace attack in Tests, an ODI opener, and at least two aggressive middle-order batsmen. Shanto wasn’t tested in any of the Tests or ODIs, and he will now join the Bangladesh A team in Ireland. Soumya, Liton and Ariful are batting options in the T20s against West Indies while Mominul Haque has been given a limited-overs lifeline in Ireland.Mizanur Rahman, Saif Hassan, Al Amin and Afif Hossain are some of the Bangladesh A batsmen who have a chance to stake a claim, while Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin and rookie fast bowler Shariful Islam could get opportunities in Tests and T20Is.

Mushfiqur Rahim, meanwhile, made the second-highest score in Asia Cup history

Bharath Seervi16-Sep-2018137- Margin of victory for Bangladesh – their biggest, by runs in ODIs away from home. The previous best was by 121 runs against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2013. Overall, this is their sixth-biggest victory margin and second-biggest against Sri Lanka. They had beaten Sri Lanka by 163 runs in Dhaka at the beginning of this year, which is their biggest ever win by runs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd0- Bigger defeats for Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup. Their biggest loss before this was in 1986 against Pakistan by 81 runs. This is also the biggest defeat for any of the three major Asian teams – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in the Asia Cup. India’s defeat by 100 runs against Sri Lanka in 2008 was the previous biggest among these three teams.0- Smaller totals for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh than their 124 in this match. The lowest total for which Bangladesh had dismissed Sri Lanka before this was 147 in Dhaka in 2009.ESPNcricinfo Ltd55.17- Percentage of runs contributed by Mushfiqur Rahim to his team’s total, the highest ever by a Bangladesh player. Previously, Tamim Iqbal had scored 54.82% of their runs – 125 out of 228 – against England in Dhaka in 2010.1- Bigger individual scores in the Asia Cup than Mushfiqur’s 144. Virat Kohli’s 183 against Pakistan in 2012 is the highest, while Younis Khan also made 144 against Hong Kong in 2004. It was the fifth Asia Cup century by a Bangladesh batsman and the second for Mushfiqur.2- Mushfiqur’s 144 was the second-highest score by a Bangladesh batsman in ODIs. Tamim Iqbal’s 154 against Zimbabwe in 2009 is the highest. The previous highest score for Mushfiqur in ODIs was 117 against India in the 2014 Asia Cup.32- Partnership between Mushfiqur and Tamim Iqbal for the tenth wicket, from 16 balls. Mushfiqur faced 15 balls in that partnership, hitting all the 32 runs and letting an injured Tamim face just one ball. Those quick runs boosted Bangladesh’s score to 261; they had been struggling at 203 for 8 in the 43rd over.

He is by no means the finished product but has shown what New Zealand can expect should they keep the faith

Alagappan Muthu14-Dec-2018The young Henry Nicholls was a savvy little lad. He knew the way to have fun in cricket was with a bat in hand. Though he was the youngest of three brothers – the perfect circumstances for the birth a bowler – he wouldn’t budge to peer pressure. He wanted to whack the ball, and nothing could stop him. Not even if it meant breaking character; he was Stephen Fleming whenever they played backyard cricket and his version didn’t nudge and nurdle.”I always liked to think I could hit it like Nathan Astle and some of those right-handers,” Nicholls told ESPNcricinfo. “But yeah, it was pretty special pretending to be those guys, pretending to play for New Zealand in a Test match against Australia and I guess that was the conception of me as a cricketer. Those formative years and it’s pretty cool.”There’s been a drastic change since those carefree days as he began playing on bigger grounds and against kids who wouldn’t be sitting across the table at dinner. The Henry Nicholls of now – a full-grown Blackcap – is rather more appreciative of the struggle.”It’s okay at times to go through a period where you’re not hitting it as well as you can but knowing that the longer you’re out there it’ll happen the other way where you pick up a certain amount of runs in however many overs.”Obviously, you want to feel perfect all the time. But I think my game, especially over the last year or so, is probably about developing a feeling that its okay that bowlers might be bowling very well and beating the bat or whatever, but knowing that I need to do all I can to just be there. To keep control of all I can, in terms of my routine and my mindset and just bat.”Nicholls has done that quite well in 2018: with a 400-run cut-off, there’s only one man averaging more than his 63.57.Getty ImagesThis bit includes a hundred in the first day-night Test in New Zealand, after the entire England side had been bowled out for 58, and another to pave the way for his team’s first series win over Pakistan, away from home, in nearly half a century.ALSO WATCH – The Blackcaps Brothers, a video with Henry and Willy Nicholls from his debut series in 2016The 27-year old left-hander has – per usual – taken his time climbing to the top. Back in 2016, Nicholls fronted up for nine Tests but could only make 315 runs at an average of 24. That wasn’t really good enough for a specialist batsman, least of all one expected to fill the shoes of Brendon McCullum. Only, instead of buckling under the pressure, he concentrated on the one thing in his control: going out to the middle and collecting all the experience he could.”We played a Test against South Africa in Dunedin and I think I only got 15 or 16 or something. But I just felt really good after that knock,” he said. “I think that was a big point for me in terms of moving from four-day to five-day cricket. I didn’t probably get the runs and everyone else would see the scorecard and say, ‘oh you got 15, you failed’ but for me I really thought that if I could play that way for longer, for three, four, five sessions and that would result in a performance that the team needed.”Nicholls struck his maiden Test century in the very next innings, coming in at 21 for 3 and repelling the combined fury of Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. That was only the first step of the journey. One that is still in its initial stages. Thirteen of his 21 Tests have come in the comfort of home. He’s not toured England yet, or even hopped across the ditch to Australia. Those are challenges that make or break a batsman. UAE loomed in much the same manner. Hot weather. Skillful opposition. Slow and low pitches. And a rookie still finding his way.”I’ve always thought of myself as a good player of spin bowling,” Nicholls said. “But the thing is when you face spin in New Zealand, you only have one guy out. So if you block a few balls you can always come out and hit one over the top because it’s not spinning that much. Whereas in the UAE, you face a guy like Yasir Shah, the quickest ever in Test history to 200 wickets and he’s got two or three guys back so you can’t just block-bash.”Nicholls came away from that series averaging 64 against spin, which was possible because he was ready to spend time at the crease. To suffer as balls beat the edge and close-in fielders snarled in anticipation. He faced 717 deliveries across those three Tests against Pakistan – the third-highest behind Kane Williamson and Azhar Ali – 510 of them were from spinners – no one topped that.By virtue of all that effort, he was able to pick Yasir’s flight a little better, coming right forward when it was tossed up, shifting all the way back when it was pushed through, and defending with all his might. The only liberty he gave himself was the use of the sweep shot – he played 44 of them, four times as many as the next man.Nicholls knew batting like that wouldn’t be easy. And it excited him.”It’s not enough to score runs when things are easy and you’re feeling really great but actually to get them when the bowlers are on top and they’re bowling really well and there’s assistance from the wicket. So I guess it’s just being comfortable with whatever those challenges are because what the bowler does and what the wicket does is out of my control. Out of the batsman’s control. So you just put yourself in the best frame of mind and give yourself the best chance to play the next ball.”This willingness to do the difficult things is why Nicholls is important to New Zealand. He is by no means the finished product and he is acutely aware that he has to keep this run going; that he has to contribute to the collective – also known as plan A, stuck to the New Zealand drawing board. Their victories are often the result of little performances coming together. Their bowling attack is the finest example of three people working in perfect harmony. However, their batting seems rather precariously centered around the No. 3 spot.Williamson has carried the burden so beautifully – he has 19 Test centuries in his career, only two have resulted in losses – world-beating teams usually have a few more men backing up their superstar. And if Nicholls can become one of them – alongside Ross Taylor and that indomitable little nugget BJ Watling – there could be a few kids pretending to be him when they’re playing out in the backyard.

As they prepare to take on Sri Lanka, only three Australia batsmen – Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, and Travis Head – have their places locked in. Kurtis Patterson’s late call-up puts him above those in the run for the other places

Andrew McGlashan21-Jan-2019ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Joe Burns

ForA seasoned opening batsman who has made consistent runs at Sheffield Shield level, Burns was parachuted into the side in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal when Australia had a patched-up eleven in Johannesburg. The batting has continued to look like that since and it’s hard to know why Burns hasn’t featured. Not to mention he has three Test centuries to his name – of all the batting options available, only Usman Khawaja has moreAgainstMissed his chance to make an irrefutable claim to open alongside Marcus Harris with two poor shots against the Sri Lankans in Hobart. He appeared very eager to play with aggression, slashing into the slip cordon in both innings, which did not look like a method for long-term success.Getty Images

Matt Renshaw

ForAfter seven Tests he was averaging 48.91 and looked the real deal. He could bat time, which is something Australia need right now. Last year playing for Somerset he appeared to find a new side to his game, dominating attacks with strokeplay and not just occupation. Then he was concussed when certain to play in the UAE and he has been sidelined since which has felt harsh. Despite his more recent struggles, Renshaw is a 22-year-old worth investing in.AgainstLike Burns, he missed his chance in Hobart and probably looked the most out-of-touch of all the CA XI batsmen, edging to slip in the first innings having survived a big caught behind appeal and then playing round a straight one in the second. Unlike Burns he does not have a productive domestic season behind him, either, averaging just 19.90 in the Shield.Getty Images

Marnus Labuschagne

ForAn incumbent in the Test side, he was good enough three weeks ago (and to bat at No. 3) so surely he should still be good enough now. He made a neat half-century in the second innings against the Sri Lankans and got a decent look at their bowlers and the pink ball. He is also a very flexible cricketer and could easily shift back to the middle order. Then there’s his legspin. While far from world-beating, he is the only one of the top-order options to offer bowling that is passable as a fifth option.AgainstIt would seem harsh for him to miss out, but there was a strong school of thought that he shouldn’t have been brought back in the first place with a middling first-class record this season. Neither should a Test match top six be selected on the basis of someone being able to bowl a few part-time overs. Either they are one of the best six batsmen or they aren’t.Getty Images

Will Pucovski

ForAustralian cricket needs a new hero and there is plenty of hope that 20-year-old Pucovski will be it. Get him in the side to bring a feeling of renewal. He is clearly hugely talented as the 243 against Western Australia showed and he has since spoken impressively about the personal challenges he has faced with his mental health. Shaped up well in Hobart with two neat innings to suggest he wouldn’t be overawed by the Sri Lanka attackAgainstHowever, a concern reared its head in the first innings of the tour match when he was out hooking. There has already been considerable discussion over his ability against the short ball following blows to the head, and nothing goes unnoticed these days. Also, after just eight first-class does he really know his game? Test cricket is a tough place to learn.Getty Images

Kurtis Patterson

ForHis form is not in doubt after scores of 157* and 102* against the Sri Lankans, certainly in the first innings of that match he looked a class apart from the rest of the top order. While he has been in the Sydney Thunder squad and training for T20 he hasn’t played a BBL match which has probably work in his favour when it comes to slipping back to long-form mode. At 25, with seven seasons behind, he is also a player who now knows his game. The selectors have been criticised for ignoring form, so this would be a good move.AgainstYet what does it say about the selectors that they’ve had to call him up in this way? And what about the other batsmen in the squad who would be leapfrogged by a guy who wasn’t in contention a week ago? There has been some disgruntlement this season about selection messages and a debut for Patterson could leave one or two others wondering where they stand.