We assess the Division One contenders in our County Championship preview

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2024.DurhamLast season: 1st in Division Two
Director of cricket: Marcus North
Head coach: Ryan Campbell
Captain: Scott Borthwick
Overseas: David Bedingham, Scott Boland
Ins: Colin Ackermann, Callum Parkinson (both Leicestershire)
Outs: Liam Trevaskis (Leicestershire), Harry Crawshaw, Luke Doneathy, Ross Whitfield (all released), Tom Mackintosh (retired)The home county of Ben Stokes were, appropriately enough, the most Bazballingest across both divisions of the County Championship – scoring their runs at a rate of 4.39 an over and storming to seven wins out of 14 to secure Durham their longed-for return to the top tier after a seven-year absence. As with Stokes’ England, their resurrection was overseen by an affable Antipodean, Ryan Campbell enjoying immediate success with his manifesto of attacking cricket and living your best life.Durham narrowly lost to Sussex in the opening round but went unbeaten through the rest of the season to finish 66 points clear of their nearest challengers, Worcestershire. Alex Lees, an original Bazballer, topped the Division Two run charts with 1347 at 70.89, while Ben Raine and Matthew Potts were out on their own as the two most-prolific bowlers. David Bedingham passed 1000 runs, Ollie Robinson proved an inspired signing, but perhaps the greatest testament to Campbell’s impact was Graham Clark, previously pigeon-holed as a white-ball batter, who played every game and averaged 58.42.With Callum Parkinson and Colin Ackermann arriving to add to the spin stocks and middle-order batting respectively, as well as Australia seamer Scott Boland joining for the first half of the season, they look well equipped to shake up Division One.One to watch: Top-order batter Ben McKinney made a handful of first-team appearances last year and will be pushing for further opportunities. England’s captain and top-scorer at the Under-19 World Cup over the winter, McKinney has been in the Durham system since the age of 10. Impressed on the pre-season tour of Zimbabwe, scoring his maiden first-class fifty. Alan GardnerRelated

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Bet365: 12/1EssexLast season: 2nd in Division One
Head coach: Anthony McGrath
Captain: Tom Westley
Overseas: Simon Harmer, Dean Elgar
Ins: Jordan Cox (Kent)
Outs: Alastair Cook (retired), Dan Lawrence (Surrey), Aron Nijjar, Josh Rymell, Eshun Kalley, Will Buttleman (all released)It’s been several seasons now since Essex were indisputably the best red-ball team in the country, but they continued to punch above their perceived weight in running Surrey close in 2023. It remains to be seen whether Tom Westley’s men can remain quite so competitive in the wake of two seismic departures, and yet – on paper – they seem to have landed a pair of incredibly worthy stand-ins for Alastair Cook and Dan Lawrence.Dean Elgar, the former South Africa captain, is about as close to a Cook clone as exists in the world game, while the young thruster Jordan Cox regards the ambition around Chelmsford to be a step-up from the stagnation he had been feeling down at Canterbury.On the bowling front, Essex’s title challenge will once again be spearheaded by their holy trinity of Sam Cook, Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer, the prolific South African spinner who played a pivotal role in Elgar’s recruitment. Such a streetwise attack is the main reason they are the bookies’ likeliest challengers to Surrey, who they kept pace with until the penultimate round last year.One to watch: It’s been said so often before, but this could be a crucial summer for Sam Cook, Essex’s new vice-captain and a man with complete command of his brief as a stump-threatening fast-medium seamer – as shown by a first-class record of 265 wickets at 19.94, including 48 at 19.60 in the 2023 campaign. At the age of 26, time is still on Cook’s side if he’s to make his Test debut – especially if England are thinking seriously about succession-planning. Andrew MillerBet365: 5/1 Dean Elgar will be aiming to fill an Alastair Cook-shaped hole at Chelmsford•Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesHampshireLast season: 3rd in Division One
Director of cricket: Giles White
Head coach: Adrian Birrell
Captain: James Vince
Overseas: Kyle Abbott, Mohammad Abbas, Michael Neser
Ins: Ali Orr (Sussex)
Outs: Aneurin Donald (Derbyshire), Ross Whiteley (Derbyshire), Mason Crane (Glamorgan, loan), Scott Currie (Leicestershire, loan), Jack Campbell, Harry Petrie (both released)Hampshire have been thereabouts for three years now with a hat-trick of third-place finishes. They matched the eight wins of champions Surrey and defeated them in the last game of the season in 2023, having also beaten second-placed Essex in the penultimate match. But by that time it was too late with a mixed bag of earlier results proving costly. That said, they won one more match than Essex and finished just four points behind them, backing up their credentials.They have a vastly experienced team including proven wicket-takers Kyle Abbott, Keith Barker and Mohammad Abbas, as well as captain James Vince and Liam Dawson, the latter having shelved all England ambitions to pursue silverware with Hampshire and franchise opportunities. Add in the prospect of young right-arm quick John Turner, who has already caught the eye of England selectors, with five wickets from his two Championship games last year including a best of 3 for 23 against Essex in July, plus the recruitment of a highly rated young opener from south-coast rivals Sussex (see below), and Hampshire appear to have the ingredients for success. They just need to put it all together.One to watch: Ali Orr was a revelation at Sussex after making his debut in 2021. An injury-hampered 2023 season and departure to a new club will no doubt leave him keen to make an impact once more, which could be very exciting for Hampshire fans yearning for a boost at the top of the order. Valkerie BaynesBet365: 10/1KentLast season: 8th in Division One
Director of cricket: Simon Cook
Head coach: Matt Walker
Captain: Daniel Bell-Drummond
Overseas: Wes Agar, Beyers Swanepoel
Ins: Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), George Garrett (Warwickshire), Michael Cohen (Derbyshire)
Outs: Jordan Cox (Essex), Michael Hogan (retired), Alex Blake, James Logan (both released)Kent will want to stay up in much more convincing style than last season, where a nail-biting wait of more than an hour on the result of Nottinghamshire versus Middlesex to learn their fate left nerves shredded. Having lost the enterprising Cox to Essex and not recruited voraciously they may come to rely on the usual suspects for runs in the reliable Ben Compton and exciting allrounder Joey Evison, along with captain Daniel Bell-Drummond and Zak Crawley (when available). If Jack Leaning can improve on his 563 runs at 25.59 last season, it’s a plus.Bowling-wise, they’ve signed ex-England legspinner Matt Parkinson from Lancashire looking for “a new challenge and environment” after a successful loan spell in the 2023 One-Day Cup and he brings a wealth of experience and match-winning ability with him. The relatively inexperienced George Garrett and South African-born Michael Cohen boost Kent’s seam-bowling stocks, while Wes Agar is back from Australia for a good chunk of the season and he showed what he could do last year with 21 Championship wickets, including a best of 5 for 63 against Northamptonshire. But they will need all departments firing if they are to go from holding on by their fingernails to serious contenders.One to watch: Jaydn Denly, the 18-year-old nephew of Kent stalwart Joe, made his debut in last year’s One-Day Cup and went on to tour India with England’s U19s and play in the U19 World Cup in South Africa. A first-class debut this year would be another significant step in his development and Kent’s future planning. VBBet365: 22/1Josh Bohannon was the leading run-scorer in Division One last season•Getty ImagesLancashireLast season: 5th in Division One
Director of cricket: Mark Chilton
Head coach: Dale Benkenstein
Captain: Keaton Jennings
Overseas: Nathan Lyon, Tom BruceIns: Mitchell Stanley (Worcestershire)
Outs: Matt Parkinson (Kent), Danny Lamb (Sussex), Rob Jones (Worcestershire), Richard Gleeson (Warwickshire), Jack Morley (Derbyshire, loan), Dane Vilas (retired)Lancashire managed 55 points fewer than champions Surrey last season, drawing five games out of five at Emirates Old Trafford, and their disappointing mid-table finish prompted an overhaul over the winter. Glen Chapple’s long association with the club has come to an end, with Dale Benkenstein an intriguing choice as his successor after overseeing Gloucestershire’s winless Championship season in 2023. With several homegrown players leaving over the winter, they look like a team in transition.The most eye-catching arrival is Nathan Lyon, whose signing prompted plenty of column inches before he has even played after Tom Hartley’s breakthrough on England’s tour to India. Brendon McCullum is among those hoping that Lyon will not block Hartley’s opportunities – though Cricket Australia’s decision to limit Lyon to seven games should play in England’s favour.Tom Bruce, the journeyman New Zealand batter, has also signed across formats and will effectively replace Dane Vilas, who left the club at the end of last season. Phil Salt made a couple of hundreds last summer but will be unavailable for most of the Championship campaign due to England and IPL commitments.One to watch: George Bell’s young face belies a tough competitor and a true allrounder: he took a Championship wicket with his offbreaks last summer but will compete with Matthew Hurst for the wicketkeeping gloves in Salt’s absence. Bell was part of the England team that reached the Under-19 World Cup final two years ago and spent his winter playing grade cricket for Bankstown in Sydney – this could be his breakthrough season for Lancashire. Matt RollerBet365: 8/1NottinghamshireLast season: 6th in Division One
Director of cricket: Mick Newell
Head coach: Peter Moores
Captain: Haseeb Hameed
Overseas: Dane Paterson, Will Young
Ins: Jack Haynes (Worcestershire), Josh Tongue (Worcestershire), Dillon Pennington (Worcestershire)
Outs: Stuart Broad (retired), Samit Patel (Derbyshire), Jake Ball (Somerset)Another season of transition at Trent Bridge, with the exit of a core of seasoned campaigners, including the captain Steven Mullaney, who is the new player/coach of the second XI. Despite his own modest campaign in 2023, Haseeb Hameed takes over as red-ball skipper, while Joe Clarke’s T20 captaincy is his first taste of leadership since the infamous WhatsApps scandal that has cast a pall over his career.Notts’ new blood comes in the form of a trio of Worcestershire imports in Josh Tongue, Dillon Pennington and Jack Haynes, all of whom have international aspirations having played key roles in their former club’s promotion. Tongue is already firmly on England’s radar, perhaps all the more so since Stuart Broad’s retirement, but with no Test cricket until July, his desire to make a strong impression could make him a shrewd investment. On the batting front, Ben Duckett will doubtless offer a taste of early season Bazball, while New Zealand’s Will Young provides a stamp of overseas class for the first block of Championship matches.One to watch: Of all the attributes that earned Peter Moores two shots at the England head coach role, it was his ability to work with young batters that really stood out. In Haynes, he has at his disposal a richly promising strokemaker whose first three first-class hundreds came in consecutive matches at the start of the 2022 season. Despite a tougher campaign last time out, he still bookended his season with two further centuries. At the age of 23, time is very much on his side to take the next step up. AMBet365: 9/1 Josh Tongue is one of three former Worcestershire players to have joined Notts this year•Getty ImagesSomersetLast season: 7th in Division One
Director of cricket: Andy Hurry
Head coach: Jason Kerr
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Overseas: Matt Renshaw
Ins: Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire)
Outs: George Bartlett (Northamptonshire), Steven Davies, Jack Brooks (both retired), Cameron Bancroft (Gloucestershire)It was a familiar story for Somerset in the Championship last season, with their batting line-up’s inconsistency resulting in a third consecutive mid-table finish. James Rew, who turned 20 in January, was the third-highest run-scorer in Division One but found limited support, and the early-season absence of Tom Kohler-Cadmore – who is running the drinks for Rajasthan Royals – will put further pressure on the rest of Somerset’s batters to fire.Tom Abell has resigned the captaincy in order to focus on his own form, with Lewis Gregory taking over after spearheading their T20 Blast triumph last summer. Matt Renshaw, the spare batter in Australia’s Test team, will return for the first couple of months of the season to cover for Kohler-Cadmore’s absence, with George Bartlett and Steven Davies both moving on over the winter.England will be watching the progress of Somerset’s spinners closely. Jack Leach underwent surgery after sustaining a knee injury during their victory in Hyderabad and his likely absence in the early stages should open up Shoaib Bashir’s opportunities in the early summer. If not, head coach Jason Kerr has signalled that he is open to loaning Bashir out in order to ensure he gets regular gametime.One to watch: Tom Lammonby was 20 years old when he hit centuries in three consecutive Bob Willis Trophy fixtures in 2020, including the final against Essex, but has only managed three more since then and is yet to average above 30 in a full County Championship season. A stylish left-hander, he is brilliant to watch when in top form; Somerset will hope that he can reach those levels more consistently this year. MRBet365: 11/1SurreyLast season: 1st in Division One
Director of cricket: Alec Stewart
Head coach: Gareth Batty
Captains: Rory Burns
Overseas:Kemar Roach, Sean Abbott
Ins: Dan Lawrence (Essex)
Outs: Dan Moriarty (Yorkshire)The news that Alec Stewart will leave his post at the end of the summer gives extra motivation to a side who have had plenty over the last few years. A tilt at a third consecutive County Championship title – something no county has achieved since Yorkshire in the 1960s – will come with even more feeling in 2024, which should alarm the rest, who have collectively managed just three wins against Surrey in the last two campaigns.The return of Sean Abbott and Kemar Roach bolsters homegrown expertise, characterised by Jordan Clark, whose 48 wickets – joint-top for the club with Dan Worrall – and 427 runs were the backbone for 2023’s triumph. Along with Jamie Overton, who is eyeing up a spot in England’s T20 World Cup squad, they are not lacking for high-calibre bowling allrounders.Dan Lawrence’s arrival from Essex, the most high-profile county transfer in recent times, allows Surrey to boast a front six of Test experience even with Will Jacks at the IPL. Jacks’ absence will also allow Lawrence to ramp up his bowling, but it is with the bat he will seek to make the most noise as he continues a two-year-long knocking at the door of Ben Stokes’ Test side. Such is the talent within the squad that allrounder Aaron Hardie’s withdrawal from a two-month stint at the behest of Cricket Australia was met with a shrug.One to watch: The wicketkeeping berth is the one clear Test spot up for grabs after England’s 4-1 defeat in India, with Jamie Smith already attracting attention. An engaging stroke-maker, even against the red ball, last season’s 736 runs came at a strike rate of 65.30. The one stumbling block is that England incumbent Ben Foakes is Surrey’s designated keeper, but noteworthy scores from Smith can more than cover for that. Vithushan EhantharajahBet365: 13/8Surrey will be hoping to give Alec Stewart a winning send-off•Surrey CCC/Getty ImagesWarwickshireLast season: 4th in Division One
Performance director: Gavin Larsen
Head coach:Mark Robinson
Captain: Alex Davies
Overseas: Hasan Ali
Ins: George Garton (Sussex), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire)
Outs: Ethan Brookes (Worcestershire), Henry Brookes (Middlesex), George Garrett (Kent), Manraj Johal (released)Warwickshire’s ability to sustain a title push for as long as they did last season owed plenty to the wise old men of their attack. Chris Rushworth (37) and Oliver Hannon-Dalby (34) bagged 107 dismissals between them. With neither showing any signs of tailing off and the reliable Ed Barnard likely to pick up where he left off following 29 wickets in 2023, the bowling should take care of itself, especially if they are able to squeeze a combined 10 games out of Chris Woakes and Hasan Ali around their international obligations.The batting, however, remains a live issue given the club did not seek reinforcements in the offseason despite managing the third-fewest bonus points in the division (18). Sam Hain made it beyond 700 runs (just) and Will Rhodes was the only other batter to pass 600. The former was responsible for three of the county’s seven centuries, and the former eventually decided to relinquish the captaincy after averaging a lowly 30.90. Alex Davies picks up the armband, but he, along with the likes of Rob Yates and Dan Mousley, must pick up the slack if Warwickshire are to avoid a less flattering position come September.One to watch: Part of the Edgbaston set-up since 2021, Durham University graduate Michael Booth hails from Zimbabwe and was a former age-group cricketer at KwaZulu-Natal Inland in South Africa. A fast bowler with good pace and skills, as well as being a handy lower-order batter, Booth made his county debut last summer in the One-Day Cup. VEBet365: 7/1WorcestershireLast season: 2nd in Division Two
Director of cricket: Ashley Giles
Head coach: Alan Richardson
Captain: Brett D’Oliveira
Overseas: Jason Holder, Nathan Smith
Ins: Josh Cobb (Northamptonshire), Rob Jones (Lancashire), Tom Taylor (Northamptonshire), Ethan Brookes (Warwickshire), Yadvinder Singh (SACA)
Outs: Jack Haynes (Nottinghamshire), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Dillon Pennington (Nottinghamshire), Pat Brown (Derbyshire), Mitchell Stanley (Lancashire), Taylor Cornall (released)Worcestershire enjoyed a smooth path in returning to Division One for the first time since 2018, securing the two points needed on a weather-hit second day of their final fixture of 2023, against Yorkshire. The next challenge will be to stay there after their previous stint in the top-flight was short lived. Losing three key players to Nottinghamshire, including England bowler Tongue, could raise concerns but Rob Jones’ arrival from Lancashire will bolster the batting line-up. Allrounder Tom Taylor adds to their seam-bowling options after joining from Northamptonshire, although he was being monitored for shoulder and knee problems after a friendly fire collision with team-mate Ben Gibbon while taking a return catch in a Seconds Championship match earlier this week. Gibbon suffered a concussion in the incident.In Jake Libby Worcestershire had the third-highest run-scorer of Division Two last year, with 1153 runs at 57.65 and a highest score of 198, while Joe Leach was the joint-third wicket-taker. Winter flooding means Worcestershire are not expecting to play at New Road until May 24, when they host Nottinghamshire, with their first two home games to be played at Kidderminster.One to watch: Former West Indies captain Jason Holder has arrived for the first five games of the season on a quest to win back his Test place through domestic red-ball cricket so he’ll have plenty to prove ahead of his return home for the T20 World Cup. He’s at Worcestershire for a good time, not a long one, so it will be intriguing to see if he can make the most of it. VBBet365: 28/1

The India quick is like a lifeline, and has to be used when really needed, but it looked like he may have been left too late in the final

Sidharth Monga29-Jun-20241:23

Flower: ‘Fascinating game of cat and mouse from Rohit’

About 20 minutes before the toss, as he finishes measuring his run-up and bends low to mark it with white paint, Jasprit Bumrah feels a pat on his back. He turns back to see it is his wife, Sanjana Ganesan, a media professional herself, who minutes ago was shadow-boxing with Crystal Arnold, a TV anchor from South Africa, for the camera.She perhaps wishes Bumrah luck, who puts the bucket of paint down and hugs her, followed by a quick peck on the cheek. The final kiss of luck needed for the perfect fast bowler, still awaiting a world title despite three finals and a semi-final all formats put together? This is his fourth. With the skill, the discipline and the brain he has, Bumrah hardly needs any luck, but perhaps his team does. Just that little bit in a crucial moment. The rest they can leave to Bumrah.They have made the knockouts of five out of the last six World Cups, but are called chokers for not winning any. This is the sixth of seven. They are playing against another team that is called chokers.Related

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****

The last ball of the eighth over, bowled by Kuldeep Yadav, has been deposited in the stands by Quinton de Kock. India have got what can be called a strictly par total only because of Kuldeep and Bumrah. Otherwise it is insufficient. After a World Cup full of brave cricket, they have suddenly dropped that method in the final. There have been just three boundary attempts from overs 6 to 13, none of them from Virat Kohli.South Africa look in control, the last five overs have gone for 48 and no threat to the wicket, the momentum is with them, the pitch is not gripping, and the volunteers are now looking for the ball that de Kock seems to have lost for them. The cameras don’t catch it, but Bumrah goes to Kuldeep, probably tells him it’s okay, one day or one over doesn’t make you a bad bowler, and gives him a high five. Kuldeep has previously shown he can be down on himself perhaps too readily. You have got us here. Let’s hang in. Perhaps leave the rest to me?

****

De Kock has played his favourite pick-up pull shot off Arshdeep Singh because there is no fine leg. Next ball he tries it again but there is a fine leg there now. It is Kuldeep. Takes a safe enough catch. All the attention goes to Arshdeep standing on the pitch with arms aloft. Bumrah, though, runs towards Rishabh Pant pointing with his finger. It’s an “I told you so.” Pant acknowledges him.Even without the ball in hand, Bumrah is cooking.

****

Jasprit Bumrah’s final over changed the game•Getty ImagesWith the ball in hand, Bumrah has to be used judiciously. He is like the lifelines at a game show. After the powerplay, you use his overs only when you can’t do without it. Like against England, you don’t even use them all. Sometimes you keep them just to make the target look 10 runs bigger. When Marco Jansen is the opposition’s No. 7, it is possible you can hold him back till too late.From the fifth to the 14th over, South Africa have hit at least one boundary every over. The ball is coming on nicely, and Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller are looking good. Rohit Sharma still doesn’t go to his lifeline with just nine an over required over the last six overs with six wickets in hand. Probably because he knows he can use Bumrah to barge through once a wicket falls.Klaasen, though, gets stuck into Axar Patel’s last over. Axar has been an inspired selection because India had one left-arm spinner allrounder already. During this World Cup, Axar has been Rohit’s go-to man: promoted when wickets fall early, often the first spinner to bowl, often inside the powerplay. Even in the final, his 47 off 31 has allowed Kohli to bat the way he did. His closing, though, hasn’t been good: dozily run-out and now 24 runs off his last over.At 30 off 30 now, it seems it is too late for even Bumrah to do something. Is it ever?First ball: an inside edge mighty close to taking a wicket. On the second ball, Klaasen takes a couple to bring up the fastest fifty a World Cup final, off just 23 balls. Then Bumrah gets some tail into the pads. Then the yorker. Rohit says it is reverse. Bumrah with reverse. A lifeline with a lifeline. South Africa, though, need just 30 off five overs.The captain and his man of the World Cup – Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah share a moment together•ICC/Getty ImagesWhen Hardik Pandya gets an outside edge on a wide slower ball to send Klaasen back, and the way Jansen bats that over out, Miller becomes the massive wicket. Bumrah starts the 18th over around the wicket, the seam is up, the ball angles in and then leaves Miller so late he can’t do anything. Everybody thinks he is bowled, but that expectant flashing bail doesn’t appear. He has missed by a whisker. Miller has survived.Against Afghanistan, right here, Bumrah began his day with a slower ball at the start of the second over to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Here he is hardly bowling slower balls. He just knows what to do. Except that he doesn’t have the luck to take the wicket that can settle it here and now. He continues, though, and bursts through Jansen with the possible reverse. Just three from the over, he leaves others 19 to defend in two overs. From 30 off 30 when he came back earlier than usual. Is it ever too late for Bumrah?

****

It’s all done. Criminally, Bumrah is not the Player of the Match. India, though, have a World Cup trophy. Finally. For the first time since 2011. A stamp on the quality they have always known exists in their team. You can’t deny Bumrah the other award, though. With 15 wickets at 8.26 apiece and just 4.17 per over, Bumrah is the Player of the Tournament. While many are celebrating and being interviewed, Bumrah quietly stands with his wife and baby for a quick moment before she has to rush off.Sanjana still has work to do. Jasprit’s is done.For now.

With no red-ball domestic cricket before the home series against England, players have nowhere to go to regain form and confidence

Danyal Rasool04-Sep-2024Sarfaraz Ahmed took his place behind the stumps as Abrar Ahmed came around the wicket to Shakib Al Hasan, and watched as the left-hander slapped it over cover to hit the winning runs. Pakistan had plumbed new depths, losing 2-0 to a Bangladesh side who had just achieved their greatest series win. It was Pakistan’s fifth Test defeat on the bounce, and they had extended their winless run at home to 10 Test matches.Less than 24 hours later, Sarfaraz was in Lahore. He hadn’t been called up for any kind of emergency meeting to discuss how to address that defeat. The PCB had, instead, sent for him because he was the only one of the five mentors – recently appointed at great expense – who hadn’t yet talked up the current board’s latest vanity project: the Champions Cup.So in case you wondered how seriously the PCB are taking their worst home run in Test cricket, here was Pakistan’s most experienced Test player being asked to perform pre-competition vapidities for a white-ball tournament sandwiched between Pakistan’s two home Test series this year. There will be no extended training camp before England arrive because this one-day cup finishes on September 29, eight days before the first Test starts. It is the essence of what Test captain Shan Masood called “studying science in preparation for a maths exam”.Related

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It might have been useful for Pakistan’s struggling batters – of whom there were plenty during the Bangladesh series – to drop down to domestic red-ball cricket ahead of England’s visit, but they won’t have that option. The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is not scheduled to begin until the third week of October, coinciding directly with England’s visit. While September isn’t the ideal month for four-day cricket in most of Pakistan, the QeA did begin on September 10 in 2023, a timeline that, replicated this year, would have provided for the option of competitive red-ball cricket before England arrived.But QeA seasons are like snowflakes; no two are the same. And even though the Champions Cup will perhaps be the highest quality domestic one-day competition in Pakistan, with resources being poured into and every fit Pakistan player available to play, it’s still not red-ball cricket. No matter how meticulously you study science, there’s only so much good it’ll do you in a maths examination room.Anyone who hasn’t studied maths ahead of an exam will know that sinking feeling of the numbers not adding up. Many of Pakistan’s batters were reacquainted with it over the past fortnight; five of the top seven are arguably short of form. Ahead of the biggest red-ball season for Pakistan this century, three did not play a single red-ball game. Saim Ayub managed just one, Salman Ali Agha two, Saud Shakeel three. Masood’s County Championship contract meant he was the only player with red-ball experience before this season.For all the concerns about the chasm between the calibre of Pakistani domestic and international cricket, it is notable that Pakistan’s Test middle order has been a world-leading source for runs; numbers 5-7 average 43.68 in Tests in this WTC cycle, better than batters in those positions in any other side. Two of the men in these positions – Agha and Shakeel – have the closest proximity to first-class cricket in this Pakistan side. Pakistan batters since the start of 2021 have faced a collective 12,642 domestic red balls; Agha and Shakeel alone are responsible for over a third of them (4670). Red-ball cricket – any red-ball cricket, it would appear – matters.If Shan Masood is sacked as captain, his successor will begin his tenure with two extremely challenging assignments•AFP/Getty ImagesIt should hardly surprise, then, that Pakistan’s approach of treating form like a carrier pigeon, whose return bearing good news can only be patiently awaited rather than manifested, was heavily punished by Bangladesh.The visitors, too, played no first-class cricket in the build-up months, though they are a side at a different stage in their evolution, full of experience in the batting order. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib are the two longest-serving active Test cricketers in the world, Mominul Haque has played more Tests than any member of the Pakistan side, and only Babar Azam can beat Litton Das’ and Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s Test tallies. The repository of first-class cricket to fall back on simply isn’t there for most of Pakistan’s batters.The PCB is famous for frenetic, slapdash changes to personnel, and there may yet be more before the first ball of that England series is bowled. What will not change, though, is the number of balls Pakistan’s players face or bowl in red-ball cricket. This year’s schedule has not provided for the first-class tournament to begin until after the conclusion of the season’s fourth Test, with the only cricket to tide them over a jazzed-up domestic one-day tournament.Masood may lose his job before the England series begins, but that would make the incomer odds-on favourite to reprise Masood’s 0-5 record, with series against England at home and away in South Africa next in the schedule. Masood may linger on and end up 0-10, or close to it, but without the support for players to work on their games away from the cauldron of Test-match cricket, there is no way to stem the onrushing tidal wave.Pakistan cricket is now little more than a release valve for the dopamine hits sackings and hirings provide, which makes it the kind of crisis Pakistan cricket is least equipped to handle: one for which there is no , no workaround, no silver bullet. Pakistan’s domestic structure may be creaking, but refusing to lubricate it has been a conscious choice no recent administrator can exculpate themselves from.An official involved with the Pakistan team admitted red-ball cricket ahead of a Test series was preferable, but also that scheduling was hard work. Which it is. Not quite as hard, though, as consistently short-changing Test cricket and continuing to expect results.

Smith made a big play for the role last season but it remains uncertain if he’ll do it against India

Alex Malcolm17-Sep-20242:39

‘I’ll bat anywhere the team wants me to’ – Steven Smith

It’s the major debate in Australian cricket: will Steven Smith be Usman Khawaja’s opening partner for the Border-Gavaskar Test series against India in two months?Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup in the Super Eight phase did not gain much traction back home, nor has there been a fervent following of the current white-ball tour of the UK for insights on the future direction of the T20I side or hints on how the ODI World Cup-winning side will look without the retired David Warner ahead of the Champions Trophy next year. There is still eight ODIs and three T20Is before Australia play Test cricket again.Related

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Australia sweat on Green as selection for India becomes complicated

Cameron Green out of remainder of England ODIs with back injury

But such is the nature of how Australians follow the men’s team, the long-term replacement for Warner in the Test side is of significant interest. Smith’s four-match run as an opener has been roundly picked apart. Team-mates, former players, commentators, columnists and fans have, with the exception of the odd voice, said he should be moved back to No. 4 despite Smith being the one who requested to open in the first place.Smith’s move allowed Cameron Green to return to the side at No. 4 and he responded with a match-winning 174 not out against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in March. Smith, however, endured a difficult tour of New Zealand as an opener. Having made 91 not out in his fourth innings in the role against the West Indies in January, proof in his own words that he could succeed in the role, he returned scores of 31, 0, 11 and 9 in Wellington and Christchurch on pitches that were very helpful for new-ball bowlers.Steven Smith made 91 against West Indies but had a lean time in New Zealand•Getty ImagesHis comments on the opening position since have been noteworthy. Back in January, he spoke about a desire to open to give himself a fresh challenge late in his career and suggested that he was in for the long haul. Since then, he hasn’t explicitly backtracked, but he did publicly note Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne’s comments about their preference for him to return to No. 4. Khawaja was particularly pointed this week in doing Smith’s bidding.”He’ll just probably never say it, so I’ll say it for him,” Khawaja told . “Opening is a very important spot … I still think we have the best Test player of my era in the side, in Steve Smith, and his best spot has been No. 4. I feel like the best balance for our team is Labuschagne three, Smith four.”It puts Australia’s selectors in a bind. Coach Andrew McDonald said on last week that no decision had been made and discussions were ongoing, although he reinforced that, barring injury, the incumbent top six from the New Zealand series would remain as the top six for the first Test against India. There will likely be an indication of the plans when the multi-format players are available for Shield cricket next month.So, if it’s not Smith who opens alongside Khawaja, which it still could be, then who is it?Marnus Labuschagne’s moving up one spot could be an option•Getty ImagesMarnus LabuschagneThis represents the simplest and least disruptive option to the current status quo, although it doesn’t get Smith back to No. 4. Labuschagne and Smith could simply swap positions in the order. Labuschagne has opened 15 times in first-class cricket including as recently as May this year when he made 111 for Glamorgan against Middlesex. He has as much experience opening in first-class cricket as Smith, Green, Travis Head, and Mitchell Marsh combined, with Green and Marsh having never done it.Labuschagne only averages 34.86 opening in first-class cricket but he has scored two centuries, including one at the WACA back in 2016 when he was still trying to establish himself as a first-class player. He’s also walked out to bat eight times in Test cricket with his team yet to score and countless other times in the opening overs.Smith has eight Test centuries batting at No. 3 and averages 67.07 in that spot, higher than his 61.50 at No. 4, but he has not batted there since 2017. Part of Smith’s desire to open was driven by the fact he had become frustrated by waiting too long to bat at No. 4 and first drop could be a comfortable halfway house for him. It would also mean that Green, Head and Marsh stay in their preferred spots at Nos. 4, 5 and 6.But moving Labuschagne up from No. 3, where he has 11 Test centuries and averages 51.78, to open only to get Smith back to No. 3 might not appease the masses let alone Smith, Labuschagne and Khawaja.Giving Cameron Green a chance to settle in the middle order would appear the preferred outcome•Getty ImagesCameron GreenThere was a brief period prior to Warner’s retirement when there was a very real possibility that Green could open the batting. Green was preparing for it, spending time with batting coach Michael Di Venuto facing the new ball during Warner’s final Test in Sydney when the allrounder was running the drinks. The selectors were seriously weighing up the option in their desire to pick their best six batters and add a sixth bowling option. Green was only spared the monumental task when Smith put his hand up.Moving him to open just two Tests after he made a career-defining 174 not out at No. 4 in Wellington seems an undesirable option. Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson said earlier this year that Green had the skill to do it, with Watson having done it successfully as an allrounder. But captain Pat Cummins is already bracing for his two allrounders in Green and Marsh to have heavier bowling workloads in an intense and condensed five-match series against India.Asking Green to add the opening role to his heavy portfolio would limit his bowling availability. Green is also on record stating that No. 4 is his preferred position, having dominated in that role for Western Australia, saying he feels a lot more comfortable there than he does at No. 6.Could Travis Head carry is blazing strokeplay to the top of the order?•Getty ImagesTravis HeadKhawaja has nominated Head as the best option to partner him and allow Smith to move back to No. 4. It is a theory that is gaining legs publicly, particularly given Head’s white-ball wizardry at the top of the order and that he has opened the batting in Test cricket in India. But Australia’s selectors made it very clear at the time that it was a horses for courses move to allow Head to try and get his side off to a rollicking start in conditions where the new ball rarely shifts sideways and there is very little extra bounce.Head’s mediocre record starting against spin in the subcontinent was also a factor. He was shifted back to No. 5 the moment Australia left India and immediately pounded 163 in the World Test Championship final against the same opposition. Head could well open the batting in Sri Lanka later in the summer, but the selectors clearly prefer his counterattacking brilliance at No. 5 in home conditions.Head was asked last summer about potentially opening ahead of Warner’s farewell and said his preference was to remain at No. 5 in Australian conditions, although it is unknown whether his stance has shifted.It is understandable how Head has become a viable candidate in many people’s eyes given his dominance at the top of the order in limited-overs cricket over the last 12 months. But it needs to be remembered that’s Warner’s ability to translate a devastating limited-overs opening record into becoming Australia’s most prolific Test opener in history made him a unicorn in Australian cricket. Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist were outstanding ODI openers but remained counterattacking middle-order players in Test cricket for good reason.There is one global example that could give Australia’s selectors pause to consider Head as a full-time opener. India’s Rohit Sharma started his first-class and Test career as a middle-order player while being a powerhouse at the top in white-ball cricket. Now he has carved out an excellent Test record as an opener in all conditions. Moving Head would allow Smith to move back to No. 4 and Green can slot in at No. 5 where he also has an outstanding first-class record.Mitchell Marsh’s counterattacking has been key at No. 6•AFP/Getty ImagesMitchell MarshThe case against both Green and Head also applies to Marsh. The West Australian has also made it very clear he would not be comfortable moving to the top of the order after taking so long to find his happy place at No. 6. He was Australia’s most consistent Test batter last summer and rescued the side time and again with bold counterattacking innings coming in at four-down.He has also been explicit in saying that his technique is not suited to batting any higher in the order, let alone against the opposition’s best fast bowlers with a brand-new ball in seaming and bouncing conditions. Marsh’s record in Shield cricket is testament to that where he remarkably averages just 29.98 for WA across 95 innings and has never batted higher than No. 5.Like Green his bowling will be important across the summer, but his body is more fragile than Green’s and will need even more management and rest. It is for that reason he could potentially not bowl a ball on Australia’s 11-game white-ball tour of the UK.Like Head, Marsh’s form against the new ball in white-ball cricket has led to calls to use him at the top of order in Test cricket to accommodate Smith moving back down. Marsh would do anything for the team and would give it his best shot if he was asked to do it, but it is unlikely the selectors would put him in that position given they are getting career-best form out of him.

How both teams deal with the conditions on Monday will be pivotal in a game that could be key to deciding how Group B finishes

Firdose Moonda06-Oct-2024Lack of pace is expected to be the biggest challenge facing both England and South Africa in their key Group B clash in Sharjah on Monday. Both teams are one from one so far and the game could be key to deciding how the pool finishes but, on the evidence of the opening week in Sharjah, it could be heavy going.In four matches played at the venue, no team has crossed 120 and the average first innings score is 111.50. Run-scoring has been made particularly difficult by the slowness of the surface and the size of the outfield. With square boundaries of 63 and 57 metres on Saturday (which will vary slightly on Monday, depending on which pitch is being played on), finding the boundary has proven tough too and the numbers prove it. So far, in four matches, there have been 56 fours and five sixes hit in Sharjah across four matches, compared to 79 in Dubai so far.Sri Lanka have played both their matches in Sharjah, failed to cross 100 on both occasions and without being overly critical of the surface their captain Chamari Athapaththu explained her concerns. “I feel our batters need some good pace and bounce. Then, they perform really well. Because they don’t have big muscle power, they time the ball and in these conditions, it’s a bit hard to do that,” Athapaththu said after Sri Lanka’s second loss on Saturday. “The outfield is too slow and this is a big ground, so too hard to score sixes and boundaries.”Related

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Athapaththu pointed out that it wasn’t plain-sailing for their opposition either, especially Australia, who hit 10 fours in their chase of 94 but no sixes. “Even Australia, I saw them struggle. They have good power-hitters, but even they struggled because of the bounce,” Athapaththu said. “It’s a low-bounce track, so it’s hard to clear the rope. We have to rotate the strike, that is the most important thing. [About] 120-130 is a good score on these tracks.”But running between the wickets has also been difficult, with the heat making it difficult for players to keep their intensity up, but they’ve tried. Sharjah has seen 87 twos, in contrast to Dubai’s 69, and that comes with some risk. There have been four run-outs in Sharjah and two in Dubai. England already know run-scoring is going to be a slog.The other thing both England and South Africa will want to think about is how many seamers to include in their XI. England have already shown their hand by playing all four frontline spinners in the squad in their opener against Bangladesh and using them to their full capacity. They each bowled their full quota of four overs and that meant they only had one seamer in operation in Nat Sciver-Brunt.South Africa could learn from that, especially as they already have two seam-bowling allrounders who could be picked as batters. Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk bat at No. 3 and 6 or 7 respectively and will provide the pace options so they may consider sacrificing the accuracy of Ayabonga Khaka for an extra spin in legspinner Seshnie Naidu.Or maybe not, if they listen to Australia’s Megan Schutt, whose haul of 3 for 12 against Sri Lanka was the most economical among seam bowlers at the venue so far. “There was actually a little bit more bounce and carry in my first over than what I thought there was going to be, so that was a nice surprise to have a slip in there early. But taking the pace off, I think we always knew it was going to be effective over here. And as the game progressed, it did get lower and slower,” Schutt said. “It’ll be really interesting to see the spinners take hold a little bit more, but I think pace still has a big important role to play, and being able to move the ball early is still what I’m going to try and do, and it’s just about adapting to conditions if that doesn’t happen.”

” We don’t want to leave it for the last game. We want to make sure we win all our games and guarantee that spot in the semi-final.”South Africa’s Tazmin Brits

Either way, as Heather Knight said in the post-match presentations, after England’s victory over Bangladesh, play as a whole may be a bit of a slog. “It is not going to be beautiful or sexy in these conditions,” as Knight put it.South Africa may argue that a lot of their cricket in the lead-up to this tournament has not been sexy. After reaching last year’s final, they only won one out of seven series in the lead-up to this World Cup and that one was on a last-minute trip to Pakistan before this tournament. Contrastingly, England have been all about attractive cricket, with victories in five of their seven series between the end of the last World Cup and the start of this one. But as South Africa scarred them at Newlands last February, they know they have to be wary – especially after the way South Africa opened this tournament with a ten-wicket win over West Indies. “South Africa had a convincing game. They are competitive and bring fire and passion,” Knight said.Being a team that comes from the country often called the best never to have won a World Cup, South Africa, for their part, just want to keep being convincing. “We’ve got a big game against England and as everyone knows, that’s always a tough one,” Tazmin Brits said. “But we don’t want to leave it for the last game. We want to make sure we win all our games and guarantee that spot in the semi-final.”

And have two Tests ever played out simultaneously in the same country?

Steven Lynch06-Aug-2024For a while last week there were two Test matches going on at the same time in the United Kingdom. Is there any previous instance of two men’s Tests in the same country at the same time? asked Russ King from England
You’re right that the one-off Test between Ireland and Zimbabwe in Belfast and England’s third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston were being played at the same time. Unlike Dublin, where Ireland played their inaugural Test in 2018, Belfast is in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, so two Tests were thus being played in the same country at the same time. This has never happened before, although there was a near-miss in India in 2019: India played Bangladesh in Kolkata from November 22-24, then Afghanistan took on West Indies at Lucknow on November 27.It’s not quite the same question, but there have been two occasions when England were playing Test matches at the same time in two different countries: in 1929-30, two of the four Tests of both England’s tours of New Zealand and the West Indies were played on some of the same dates. There was also a near-miss early in 1892, when an England side took on South Africa in Cape Town from March 19 to 22, and another team in Australia started the third and final Test against Australia in Adelaide on March 24.Zimbabwe’s new wicketkeeper Clive Madande conceded 42 byes in the first innings against Ireland recently. Was this the worst on debut? asked Blake Forrester from Australia
The unfortunate Clive Madande had a largely forgettable Test debut against Ireland in Belfast last month. First he bagged a golden duck when he batted on the first day, then conceded 42 byes in Ireland’s modest total of 250.That’s not just the most conceded by a wicketkeeper on debut, it’s the most by a keeper in any Test innings. The previous record was 37, conceded by England’s Frank Woolley in an Australian total of 327 at The Oval in 1934. Woolley did have an excuse: he was 47, and not a regular wicketkeeper – he’d been pressed into service after Les Ames injured his back.There are also two cases of a wicketkeeper allowing 35 byes in a Test innings: Dinesh Karthik for India in Pakistan’s 537 in Bengaluru in 2007-08, and England’s Matt Prior against West Indies (544) in Port-of-Spain in 2008-09.The previous highest on Test debut was 28, by Hanif Mohammad in Pakistan’s inaugural Test against India in Delhi in 1952-53. Perhaps taking the hint, Hanif soon gave up keeping and concentrated on his batting.I noticed that during Ireland’s Test win over Zimbabwe recently, all their players took a catch during the match. How often has this happened in a Test? asked Michael Bradbury from Ireland
You’re right that all 11 of Ireland’s players made a contribution in the field to their exciting win over Zimbabwe in Belfast last month. There’s only one other Test in which all 11 players on one side took a catch, by New Zealand in Wellington in 2022-23. Actually New Zealand went one better, as 12 men – including substitute Will Young – held on to a catch over both Sri Lanka’s innings. There are 19 instances of ten players taking a catch in a match, but no other 11s.Rashid Khan and Paul Stirling both took six-fors in the same ODI in Greater Noida in 2017•AP Photo/Tsering TopgyalAre there any one-day or T20Is in which two bowlers took six wickets? asked Graham McAllister from England
There’s a grand total of one white-ball international that fits the bill here. In an ODI in Greater Noida in India in March 2017, Rashid Khan took 6 for 43 as Afghanistan (who had earlier made 338) restricted Ireland to 304. You might expect Rashid to do this sort of thing, but the identity of the Irishman who did well with the ball earlier in the day might surprise you: it was Paul Stirling, whose offbreaks brought him 6 for 55. He’s taken 37 wickets in 160 other ODIs. There have been no such instances yet in T20Is, or in women’s white-ball matches.There also remains a solitary ODI in which two bowlers from the same side took five wickets apiece, and again the gentlemen concerned were hardly known as demon bowlers. For Australia against England at Edgbaston in June 1977, shortly before that summer’s Ashes series started, Greg Chappell took 5 for 20, and his fellow medium-pacer Gary Cosier 5 for 18. “We both, at our lower pace, made the ball bend in the air and seam off the pitch,” said Chappell, “and with the help of some undistinguished batting from the England batsmen, whose footwork often left a lot to be desired, we finished off the innings for 171.” Unfortunately for Australia’s captain, his own side’s batting was even more undistinguished, as they collapsed to 70 all out. “A humiliating scoreline – and I regretted bitterly that England’s bowlers had had this ego boost so early in the summer.”I noticed that Riyan Parag’s first three international wickets were all bowled. Was this a record? And what’s the longest such streak at any point in a bowler’s career? Bowled is after all a special form of dismissal! asked Rahul Vats from the United States
It’s true that the Indian legspinner Riyan Parag’s first three wickets in internationals – in his fourth T20 match, against Sri Lanka in Pallekele late last month – were all out bowled. But Parag has a fair way to go to break the record: the Pakistan seamer Khan Mohammad (in Tests in the 1950s) and Luxembourg’s Ankush Nanda (in T20s against Turkey and the Czech Republic in 2019) both started by bowling their first seven victims. The England left-arm seamer Frank Foster (in the 1911-12 Ashes) and Bhutan’s Tenzin Wangchuk (in T20s between 2022 and 2024) both began with six.The most consecutive bowled dismissals by a bowler at any stage of their international career is ten, by England’s George Lohmann, all in the same Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) in 1895-96. Four men managed nine: Johnny Briggs of England (also in a Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth, in 1888-89), South Africa’s Sandy Bell (in Tests against England in 1929 and 1930-31), Dinesh Nakrani of Uganda (T20s in October 2021) and Malaysia’s Syazrul Idrus in T20s in July 2023, including all his victims against China in Kuala Lumpur. His 7 for 8 that day remain the best figures in T20Is.And there’s an Irish-themed update to one of last week’s questions, from Dave C from Ireland
“Just to point out, you missed one in your list of two-country players who also appeared against their former countries: one of Boyd Rankin’s Tests for Ireland was against England.” You’re right – Rankin won his only England cap in Sydney in 2013-14, then played in Ireland’s inaugural match against Pakistan in 2018, and against England at Lord’s the following year. That means ten of the 17 two-country players played Tests against their first team. Apologies to all for the slip – especially Boyd Rankin!Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Durbar Rajshahi, meanwhile, became the first team to not field an overseas players after they boycotted a game over non-payment issues

Mohammad Isam02-Feb-2025Chittagong Kings’ second-place finish in the BPL points table was the biggest surprise at the end of the tournament’s league phase. They had to win at least two out of their last three games this week, and they ended up winning all three: against Rangpur Riders, Sylhet Strikers and Fortune Barishal.They set up the first qualifier with Barishal, who topped the table with 18 points. Khulna Tigers meanwhile won the race to qualify as the fourth team, after beating Rangpur and Dhaka Capitals in their last two league matches. They were equal on 12 points with Durbar Rajshahi, but Khulna had the superior net run rate.In the eliminator match, Khulna will take on Rangpur who lost their way after making an impressive start to the season. Rangpur lost their last four matches after winning eight in a row. Rajshahi, Dhaka and Sylhet are out.

Best batter: Mohammad Naim

Mohammad Naim had the most impact as a batter after his century guided Khulna to a crucial win against Rangpur. Naim pummeled an unbeaten 111 off 62 balls, including seven fours and eight sixes.Dawid Malan was also in great form for Barishal, hitting a couple of sixties this week and an unbeaten 16-ball 37.What would be most encouraging for the Champions Trophy-bound Bangladesh team, is the form of Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain Emon. They played some destructive knocks this week, with Tanzid hammering seven sixes in his 58 off 37 balls against Khulna. He finished the tournament with 485 runs at a 141.39 strike-rate, and hit 36 sixes – the most by a Bangladeshi batter in the BPL. He also finished the league stage as the tournament’s leading run-scorer.Parvez’s 75 off 41 balls against Barishal included a four and eight sixes, which helped Chittagong to a score of 206.Khaled Ahmed returned a four-wicket haul against Sylhet Strikers•Chittagong Kings

Best bowler: Faheem Ashraf

Faheem Ashraf’s resurgence, including figures of 5 for 7 against Sylhet, played a huge role in his Pakistan return to the Champions Trophy side. He now has 20 wickets for Barishal, second only to Taskin Ahmed who finished the competition with 25 wickets at an average of 12.04.Chittagong got the full service of their local pacers when Shoriful Islam and Khaled Ahmed both took four-wicket hauls against Sylhet. Left-arm quick Mrittunjoy Chowdhury took four wickets against Rangpur, while offspinner SM Meherob also registered a crucial four-wicket haul against Sylhet.

Unusual plays

Rajshahi became the first team to play without overseas players, breaking the BPL’s rule in the process. Their overseas players refused to appear against Rangpur on January 26, after the team owners missed several pay deadlines.Barishal bowled out Dhaka for just 73 runs, the lowest total in this edition, beating Rajshahi’s 80 all out against Chittagong.Chittagong meanwhile were at the other end of the batting scales, becoming the first team to get four 200-plus scores in the league phase. They also struck 17 sixes in their last game against Barishal, breaking their own franchise record in the season.Akif Javed has taken 19 wickets at an average of 14•Rangpur Riders

Starlets who caught the eye

Akif Javed, the uncapped Pakistani left-arm fast bowler, was the most impressive young player during the league stage. He has taken 19 wickets averaging 14, with an economy rate below seven.Mahidul Islam Ankon and Shamim Hossain were impressive young big-hitters, with high strike-rates having scored more than 200 runs lower down the order. Tanzid had already caught the eye with his big scoring in the top order while fast bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib was Sylhet’s only shining light.

The CSK allrounder talks about the reception he has received in the league, and his ambitions to play the Ashes and the T20 World Cup

Matt Roller24-Apr-2025Jamie Overton tends to spend April in leafy Kennington, keeping a low profile in the early weeks of the County Championship season. This year, even a 500-yard walk down the road from a hotel to a café is enough to prompt countless requests for selfies.”I don’t really get noticed in London,” Overton says from Mumbai, midway through his first IPL season with Chennai Super Kings. “Everyone just goes about their business. But cricket is just so big over here that everyone recognises who you are… You can’t go out too much without 30 or 40 people coming up to you, asking for pictures. It’s a different world.”For Chennai, doubly so. After eight group games, they sit dead last with only two wins, but their “Yellow Army” has been as visible as ever, dominating the stands even at away fixtures in Guwahati, Mullanpur and Lucknow. MS Dhoni, who has resumed the captaincy with Ruturaj Gaikwad injured, still attracts a unique following at the age of 43.Related

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“I messaged my dad and my agent after the first home game. I was like, ‘You have to come out and experience MS walking out to the middle,'” Overton says. “[Ravindra] Jadeja got run-out… and you had a home crowd cheering for someone to get run-out. I’ve watched Premier League games, plenty of other sports events, and there’s nothing else like that noise.”Until this year, Overton’s only experience of India was an England Lions tour in early 2019. But after also touring with England’s white-ball team early this year, he is growing accustomed to travelling between huge cities and spending most of his time in hotels. With games and training sessions under floodlights, he is “still on English time” despite the 4.5-hour difference.Overton has played three games to date in an unfamiliar role: a hard-hitting finisher and hard-length fast bowler elsewhere on the T20 circuit, he has only faced seven balls to date and has bowled four of his six overs in the powerplay. “I’m trying to find a way to do it,” he says. “The last three years, I’ve not bowled in the powerplay at all… It’s been a bit different.”But he is determined to make use of the opportunity to train in Indian conditions, after struggling against spin in an England shirt earlier this year. He has worked closely with Rajiv Kumar, CSK’s “batting guru”, adjusting his technique to counter the lower bounce, and has been watching Dhoni from close quarters.

“I messaged my dad and my agent after the first home game. I was like, ‘You have to come out and experience MS [Dhoni] walking out to the middle'”

“He holds the bat quite low with his hands, whereas I’m more an English or Australian version, with quite high hands,” Overton explains. “The spinners don’t get as much bounce [in India] so I’m trying to be a bit lower, with my hands a bit more relaxed, so I can keep my head really close to the ball… I feel like I’m in a good place with my batting.”Those improvements may come in particularly useful early next year, when Overton will hope to be part of England’s squad for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. It was about 12 months ago that a stress fracture of the back denied him a place at the 2024 edition, prompting a spell on the sidelines.”I’m in a better place now for being injured,” he reflects. “It actually gave me time to reassess what I need to do with my health.” He had struggled to manage his diet during a winter on the franchise circuit and sought advice from Surrey’s nutritionist Ollie Whiteman; six months later, he had shed 10kg.It is a change that Overton believes could help him extend his career. “When I’m bowling, I put seven or eight times my body weight through my knees and my back every ball. Taking 10kg off… If you’re playing a four-day game and bowling 30 overs, that is a hell of a lot of difference in the strain you’re putting on your body.”The mention of four-day cricket underlines that Overton retains ambitions across formats – for now, at least. He turned 31 this month and concedes that he may be having “some different conversations” in two years’ time but hopes to return to red-ball cricket at some stage this year and believes he could thrive on Australian pitches if selected for the Ashes this winter.In six white-ball games for England in India earlier this year, Overton took nine wickets at an economy of 8.27•Getty Images”Ashes cricket is probably the pinnacle for English players, and I feel like I’ve got a decent record on Australian pitches,” he says. “It probably suits my game more than wickets back in England – but I’m not expecting anything. I need to play red-ball cricket to give myself a chance of being there, so we’ll just see where we get to when I’m back home.”His home season is likely to start with T20Is and ODIs against West Indies and will be dominated by white-ball cricket – including the Hundred, where he was the top pick at March’s draft. “There’s not many bowlers that play all three formats now. I’ve obviously had issues with my body, so the first thing is to make sure that’s in the right spot before going into anything.”I bowled ten overs in the Afghanistan game [at the Champions Trophy], but I’ve not bowled more than that in a day since last April. It’s going to take a lot to get the body back to those bowling workloads, and we’ll just see where we go and play it by ear. It’s a short career, so you’ve got to maximise it while keeping your body in a good place.”But those conversations will come down the line, with Overton soaking in his first IPL experience in the here and now. “Any person’s dream is to travel the world doing what they love doing and I’m fulfilling that at the moment. I’m grateful for whatever I’m doing. Hopefully, it goes on for a lot longer.”

Which one do you pick: the Ben Stokes epic at Headingley against Australia, or the time New Zealand overturned a follow-on to trump Bazballin’ England?

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2025Update: This poll has ended. The ENG-AUS 2019 Leeds Test moves into the quarter-finals.The Stokes show at Headingley, 2019A Test that might not have otherwise stayed for too long in the memory, it was the unbroken 76-run stand for the last wicket between Ben Stokes and Jack Leach that lifted it to where the greatest Test matches in history are clubbed together.And, of course, the fact that in those 76 runs, one batter scored 74 (in 45 balls) and the other 1 (in 17 balls)! Not to forget that the winners had scored 67 in their first innings and then hit 362 for 9 in a Test where 246 was the next-best total.Australia won the first Test and the second was drawn, so England wanted to win this one at Headingley to stay in the Ashes contest. But after Australia were bowled out for 179 in the first innings, all England could put up was 67, with Joe Denly top-scoring with 12. Back to Australia, and this time they put up 246.Was the pitch getting better for batting? It didn’t seem so when England were 15 for 2 in their chase of 359, and then 159 for 4 with Joe Root gone, and then 286 for 9. Stokes, the No. 5, was on 61 at the time. Off 174 balls.But with last-man Leach for company, Stokes switched something on. He hit four fours and seven sixes from that point, keeping Leach away from the strike as much as possible, before finishing it off with a flay through the covers off Pat Cummins. Done and dusted!New Zealand go from follow-on to victory – Wellington, 2023New Zealand became only the fourth team in Test history to win after being asked to follow-on when they beat England by one run in Wellington.With Harry Brook and Joe Root scoring hundreds, England Bazballed their way to 435 for 8 declared. In response, New Zealand slipped to 103 for 7 before folding for 209, and were asked to follow on.The second innings was completely different. Led by Kane Williamson’s 132, Tom Blundell’s 90 and Tom Latham’s 83, they set England 258 to win.With more than a day left, England would have still fancied their chances. But they collapsed to 80 for 5 within 22 overs. Ben Stokes decided to drop the anchor, while Root did the bulk of the scoring. They took England past 200 but fell soon after.It came down to the last pair with seven to get. Jack Leach got off the mark with a single, as he had during the famous Headingley Test of the 2019 Ashes. But this time it was James Anderson, and not Stokes, at the other end. Anderson did smash a four but then edged Neil Wagner down the leg side for Blundell to complete a diving catch and the win.

India have the batting to get into strong positions at Edgbaston, and their bowling is not much behind England in terms of quality and experience

Sidharth Monga26-Jun-20259:44

Batters, bowlers or fielders: Who cost India the Leeds Test?

Headingley was a weird Test. India dominated large chunks of it with bat and ball, but still lost. Despite the somewhat-deserved flak the Indian bowlers are getting, they consistently created more chances than England’s bowlers did. India lost ten wickets to just 108 false shots in the first innings and 92 in the second; England lost ten and five wickets in 137 and 113 false shots.Often such losses can be attributed to luck, but India weren’t unlucky either. At least not unlucky in the way their false shots went to hand at an inordinate rate as it did during the 36 all out in Adelaide.Headingley wasn’t a typical Bazball Test. The Bazball philosophy is to play more shots against good balls, trusting a combination of their batters’ attacking qualities and the new flat pitches in England that don’t deteriorate. The surfaces at Headingley just keep getting better for batting. Other teams bat conventionally and play fewer shots to good balls. England’s taller bowlers have tended to bash the good lengths and draw more out of the pitches than the opposition.Related

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During the Bazball era, England’s batting average and strike rate on false shots have usually been better than their opponents in that match. That wasn’t the case at Headingley, where India averaged more and scored quicker on false shots in the first innings. The difference would have been bigger if India had held even half of their catches.This is not to decry dropped catches, but to suggest India had England. They dragged England out of familiar territory largely because their attack lacked pace and experience. England’s bowlers were unable to, in Stuart Broad’s succinct words, hold length or bowl in disconcerting areas. In the first innings, their fast bowlers bowled just 197 balls in the 6-8m band in 86 overs; India put 203 balls there in 77.4 overs. India drew more average seam from good length than England, although at around 0.6 degrees it didn’t consistently trouble the batters.The England seamers did have better average and strike rate from these good-length balls, but it is not attributable to them getting more out of the pitch from there. The numbers are also influenced by the lopsided dropping of catches, which is not likely to repeat itself.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}}))}();