A new Test captain, a new wicketkeeper, a new administration, and whole new set of challenges. Indian cricket’s latest chapter begins now

Alagappan Muthu09-Jun-2015A new Test captain, who makes it difficult to decide whether his pull shot or his press conferences are stronger. A new BCCI regime, systematically dulling the influence of its predecessor. Four wise men trooping back into service to help connect the present to the future. And a new season that is almost like a video game, demanding the team to level up with every tour and winding up with a World T20. There is a lot afoot in Indian cricket. The game itself will join in tomorrow.When 0-8 happened in 2011-12, there were no immediate consequences. MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher held on. The N Srinivasan administration bided their time as well. Now, Dalmiya and Thakur are making a lot of moves, Dhoni has retired from Tests, Virat Kohli has stepped in as the leader, and Wriddhiman Saha has taken up the gloves.Test cricket has changed as well. The people’s cry for an attacking brand of play is louder. The onus on the captain to provide as much is starker. Kohli appears to be in tune with that. He wants India to dominate the world.”Over the years I have matured in my mind,” he said. “The people around me in BCCI and my team-mates thought that I was the right guy for the job. I am pretty grateful for that. I have some vision in my mind which I have discussed with the team. We are all on the same page. It is pretty exciting for me to start as full-time Test captain and hopefully it is a positive start.”The Bangladesh tour is a good curtain raiser. The hosts have topped a World Cup quarter-final appearance with a whitewash of Pakistan in three ODIs, and a world record second-innings opening partnership in Tests. They have reason to be confident and might even get a kick out of forcing Kohli into second thoughts. How would he deal with the ebb and flow of a Test? Does he let it drift? Does he pull back too soon? Can he sustain pressure on the opposition? Can he then find a way to create opportunities?The Bangladesh batsmen have showed an improved capacity for occupying the crease. Last month, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes chomped off a 296-run deficit with a 312-run partnership for the first wicket. Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim form a rather hardy batting line-up, while the emergence of Soumya Sarkar lends lower-order firepower.So India’s bowlers need to find some threat. Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav have impressed no less a cricket mind than Glenn McGrath. A lot of that perhaps has to do with the potential they represent – both young and eager to bowl quick. A phalanx of left-handers for Bangladesh also persuaded the selectors to recall Harbhajan Singh. He might well end a two-year hiatus from Test cricket in Fatullah and, in between helping Kohli push for a win, initiate a challenge for R Ashwin’s role as the team’s lead offspinner.Lord’s has been India’s only victory over the last 23 overseas Tests. There will be great expectation to ensure the tally is upped to two, and then more when they visit Sri Lanka, before the attention turns to safeguarding home dominance, against South Africa.Saha could only dream of a calendar as full as that until now. He has played four Tests in five years despite the reputation of being the best wicketkeeper in India.Captains and wicketkeepers share close working relationships. From ascertaining if the ball is swinging, to helping out with DRS calls, to marking fielding positions and working out a batsman’s inadequacies, the vantage point from behind the stumps can be rather useful. Saha has had to wait a long time to enjoy the view. Now, with Dhoni sticking to limited-overs cricket, his Test career restarts at 30.”I think now is the time for Saha,” Kohli said. “He is a super fit guy. His keeping skills and reach are unbelievable. He is a gutsy batsman, confident, technique very good. He has everything to become a very good Test player for India. For next five to six years I can assure you will be exciting time for him. I am happy for him that he got this regular chance now.”Saha’s batting has the skill to last, as a first-class best of 178 not out suggests. He can even up his tempo, as Australia found out for the briefest of moments in Adelaide. India were 87 short of an improbable 364 target when he strode out to bat, tonked a six and a four off Nathan Lyon to tease the visitors’ hopes. He was dismissed the next ball, but that innings is a neat little example of Saha’s utility and Kohli’s methods. Later, the India captain would say he wouldn’t have settled for a draw and neither did he want his team to.One of MS Dhoni’s final addresses to the team was that he thought he was standing with the players who would form India’s core for a better part of the next decade. It starts now.

Is cricket all about records and glory or is it about the dream of being given a chance to be the best one can be?

Ninad Sakhadev15-May-2015Cricket is about big runs. Cricket is about records. Cricket is about glory. Cricket is about becoming Sachin Tendulkar.Everyday there is a kid in India who picks up a cricket bat or a ball in the quest to become the best cricketer on the planet. Everyday there is a star born in dusty lanes, crowded grounds and in unfavourable conditions.Everyday there is someone falling out of love with the game simply because the game isn’t loving back. Everyday there is someone heartbroken because cricket is not enough to make ends meet. Everyday someone is giving up cricket knowing fully well that their time may never come.Cricket can throw up a lot of inspiring stories but there also exists another side to cricket that is depressing, demoralising and maybe even devastating. For every inspirational story, there are hundreds of others that make you think twice about taking up the game.And so for all the Rohit Sharmas, Virat Kohlis and Suresh Rainas, Indian cricket needed a Pravin Tambe.Rajasthan Royals have had their fair share of legal trouble. For all that, they still represent a platform – a chance for a number of fringe players to showcase their talent and as in the case of Tambe, a last chance to make a name in cricket. It is the place you want to be as an aspiring cricketer. It is a place where opportunity is given to someone considered worthy of it. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that Royals handed a cap to a 41-year-old who hadn’t played a first-class match.Bowling legspin is an art and a legspinner is an artist. This form of art is defined by the grip of your fingers, the flexibility of your wrists and the limits of your imagination. You can be made to look stupid if you get your line or length fractionally wrong, even though you have not been bad. Like all artists, Tambe too was just waiting for a stage to perform in front of a big audience and be recognised for it. Age is just a number. Age is whatever you think it is. Life begins at 40. I had heard it all before and now I saw what it meant.He doesn’t have the advantage of bounce or trajectory that Anil Kumble or Shane Warne enjoyed but a low bending action means he always gives the ball a lot of air. His action, which must have been refined over years of playing club cricket, easily allows him to bowl faster if he needs to without compromising line or length. Smaller grounds and unhelpful pitches in club cricket have also helped him develop the attitude of a legspinner: giving each ball more flight, especially when batsmen are attempting big shots.His golden period was most definitely the Champions League T20 in 2013. He got plenty of wickets without going for many runs. He flummoxed batsmen with flight, spin and cunning variations. Some of the overseas batsmen had no answer. The big question was always how would he fare against the big hitters and international superstars in the IPL. In IPL 2014, he proved that he was good enough there too. He had plenty of variations to make the batsmen unsure of his next delivery. He had the presence of mind to read batsmen’s movements and change his deliveries accordingly. He even got a hat-trick against Kolkata Knight Riders. He broke the back of the cruising Knight Riders with the wickets of quality top-order batsmen. I have never seen Gautam Gambhir more upset than that day.This year he has been bowling as beautifully and skillfully as ever. The way he dismissed Brendon McCullum was particularly heart-warming. In the previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, McCullum had smashed a morale-destroying century. It took Tambe two balls to get him out. The first one was flighted. McCullum mishit it but the ball fell short of the fielder. The next one, just a tad fuller and a tad faster, was simply too quick for him to go back and pull. He holed out at mid-on. When a bowler gets a batsman like this, you know he has defeated him in his own game. You know he has played with his ego and has got the better of him.However, this year he hasn’t been as successful as 2014. He has been taken for runs on a few occasions. In a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli got stuck into him. It was just too much for Tambe. You feared this all along. You knew this was coming. But like all good dreams, you wished that it lasted just a little bit longer, that you see the flight and dip once more, that you see the man weave a web of spin one more time.This might be his last IPL. At his age there are no guarantees. And if he is done, we can all cherish a run that may not have shattered records but won many hearts with effort, passion and dedication.Perhaps cricket is about effort and not runs. Perhaps cricket is about passion and not records. Perhaps cricket is about love and not glory. Perhaps cricket is about becoming the best cricketer you can be and not about becoming Sachin Tendulkar.

Sri Lanka give off the sense that they don’t have a pre-ordained idea of what kind of cricket to play. They are simply batting, bowling and fielding with no deference to an overarching philosophy

Andrew Fidel Fernando at P Sara Oval21-Aug-20152:20

‘Getting out at the end a big loss’ – Silva

Transition is a funny thing in cricket. Teams playing badly sometimes pretend they are rebuilding, in order to manufacture some good will. Other times, players who are tipped to lead the side into a bold new age wither at the top level and unsuspected others bloom.Sri Lanka are presently grappling with this whole process. Their XI contains a clump of cricketers who have sparkled in patches, without truly taking grip of their destiny. This transition has also created uncertainty on another front.Sri Lanka players speak of being “positive and aggressive”, because clearly, in the modern game, players are summarily executed if they don’t use either of those words for a day. Sometimes they even play that way – as they did in the back end of the Galle Test.But other times, as at the P Sara Oval on day two, Sri Lanka are anything but positive. They are aggressively running away from being aggressive. India have committed to a manifesto of attack – maybe they had even overcommitted to it, given they have slightly backtracked through their selection of Stuart Binny. Sri Lanka give off the sense that they don’t have a pre-ordained idea of what kind of cricket to play. They are simply batting, bowling and fielding with no deference to an overarching philosophy. Some situations demand belligerence so they reverse-wallop spinners against the turn on a dry tack. Today they felt watching and waiting was the route forward.They waited first on Friday for the lower-order wickets to come. Later in the day, Virat Kohli would pack the slip cordon with bodies even for Binny’s bowling, but Sri Lanka’s plan had been to squeeze instead. They denied Wriddhiman Saha quick runs, put the bait on the hook, and just awaited the mistake. They were unlucky not to have Amit Mishra for 0 when a thin edge went undetected by the umpire. Though that stand would eventually swell to 46, Sri Lanka maintained composure.”We just thought of being patient in the morning session,” Kaushal Silva said of their approach. “We had to restrict runs. They had bowlers to come, but we didn’t take them lightly. Amit Mishra batted well. Saha batted well, too. I thought we restricted them to a good total.”In the next two sessions it was Sri Lanka’s turn to frustrate. They were comically slow at times, and each of the top-four batsmen seemed almost painfully out of touch. Some have remarked that the P Sara crowd has been sparse given the occasion, but maybe the Colombo public is just judicious. Why put yourself through the heat and humidity for this two-session replay of the forward defense? Even the runs Sri Lanka scored were sometimes unintentional. Silva ducked a short ball from Ishant Sharma, but the ball collected bat anyway, and flew to the fence behind the keeper. Next over he wanted to push Umesh Yadav into the off side, but got another boundary to fine leg.Sometimes, unable to thwart India with skill, Sri Lanka could only impede them in more prosaic ways. When a cluster of firecrackers went off during the first over of Kumar Sangakkara’s innings, he backed away from the crease and waited for them to stop exploding. Many overs later, at the non-striker’s end, he dropped his bat in front of the stumps just as Binny was about to enter his delivery stride, forcing the bowler to abort the delivery and trudge back to his mark.Then there were the chances. Silva was caught behind off Binny for 14, but reprieved when the bowler was shown to have overstepped. Sangakkara having made the kind of jerky start typical of his early years, was dropped on 24. He eventually fell to the same bowler-fielder combination, though. Having perished in exactly the same way all through this series, Sangakkara has seemed more irrigation channel than all-time great batsman – his main purpose in life to redirect R Ashwin deliveries towards Ajinkya Rahane at slip.It was telling that Silva – who does an important job for Sri Lanka, but is basically a sleeping pill attached to a bat – emerged from his partnerships with Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne with the superior strike rate. The 107 balls that Silva and Thirimanne faced together yielded only two fours. When edges kept being beaten, and lbw shouts continued to be raised, it sometimes seemed like India had the Sri Lanka batsmen nailed to the cross, only they somehow continued to draw laboured breath.Though Sri Lanka played this way today, tomorrow may be completely different. That is the thing about this Sri Lanka transition, you never know what you will get. Often they have kept in touch with opposition sides on dreary days like this, then hurtled into control on the back of a rollicking knock or a sublime spell.Fans will probably turn up in greater numbers for the last three days. They will hope, of course, for runs from Sangakkara, because his staggering career deserves better than a limp finish. For their sake, maybe their team’s more entertaining avatar will turn up as well.

In the name of rotation, they left out far too many players than was perhaps needed, and without a calming influence, the team lacked proper direction

Firdose Moonda15-Jul-20153:40

‘We were outplayed in all departments’ – Duminy

Now, the questions will start to pour South Africa’s way. How did they lose an ODI series to Bangladesh when that has never happened before? Is this a World Cup hangover? Did they underestimate their opposition? Was the idea of experimentation taken too far? Did they just not care enough?None of the above, according to the stand-in captain: “We misread conditions. We were rusty and we haven’t played good cricket.”All of the above, according to the evidence.Anyone who watched South Africa’s best players on their knees at Eden Park in March knew that their one-day cricket would not quite be the same again. Something shifted that day, and perhaps South Africa themselves are still not quite sure what it was. The immediate aftermath of the World Cup suggested a fresh start was coming. Changes were made to the support staff, the selectors and some parts of the domestic structures. Then, an experimental squad, especially in the fifty-over format, was sent to Bangladesh. Why? Because South Africa could.It made sense to send a mix of players, from the incumbents to the up-and-comers, to play ODI cricket because one World Cup had ended and another was still four years away. But maybe South Africa took it too far.They left their premier pace pack at home entirely for the T20Is, and brought back only a third of it, in the form of Morne Morkel, for the ODIs. Then, they only played Morkel in one match, the decider. His return was the most expensive, but had he been in action all along, that might have been different. Morkel was South Africa’s best bowler at the World Cup and if there needed to be a changing of the guard, he should have been there to oversee it.They also left out their best batsman. When it emerged AB de Villiers would be banned for the first ODI following an over-rate violation at the World Cup, and with the knowledge he would miss the Test series because of paternity leave anyway, South Africa agreed to send him home early, but decided not to call up a reserve batsman. “The selectors backed those seven batters to do the job,” JP Duminy said.In other words, they did not expect South Africa to be exposed as over-reliant on de Villiers, but they were. Not so much as individuals, but as participants in a partnership. In the two matches South Africa lost, they had just one stand over fifty. In complete contrast, Bangladesh had two century stands. South Africa’s batsmen lacked the staying power against shrewd seam-bowling and spin.South Africa were hoping not to be exposed as over-reliant on AB de Villiers, but the Bangladesh series did just that•AFP”Our batting wasn’t good enough in this ODI series,” Duminy said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do in these conditions, in having game plans that are going to be successful in these conditions. We didn’t build partnerships and that’s been our strength.”South Africa can continue to question whether they need de Villiers to remind them of the importance of the team game, which is essentially the building of partnerships, but they cannot wonder why their batting failed them. There were not enough partnerships, so maybe they should not have rested the person who is the master of creating them.The concept of resting players will crop up now, especially because most of South Africa’s players had time off after the IPL. A handful – Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell, Eddie Leie – were playing on the county circuit or at the CPL. Was there really, as Paul Harris, former Test spinner, asked during his television analysis, a need to “rest playing even after they have been rested?”With the season ahead, which stretches to next March and includes home series against New Zealand, England and Australia, a full tour of India and a World T20, perhaps rest is indeed required, but rotation was what South Africa were going for. If a player pool is deep, it pays off, but this does not always happen.South Africa’s rotation policy shone the light on Kagiso Rabada’s international ability, but asked whether Abbott is as effective in conditions which challenge him as he is on those which assist him. The problem is that the rotation asked more questions than it answered.Apart from Abbott, it raised the issue of when a designated allrounder should be appointed and whether he should he be given a sustained run in the team. It further asked if that person should be Wayne Parnell, Ryan McLaren, Chris Morris, David Wiese or someone else entirely. It asked whether Quinton de Kock needs some TLC in the domestic game or an A tour to get back to his best, and whether another spinner should be given game time to avoid the over-dependance on Imran Tahir.What it did not do was take away the obvious: that South Africa simply ran into an in-form team on the up. Perhaps the real truth is that nobody expected that team to be Bangladesh.

The hugely talented Kagiso Rabada is enjoying life as an international fast bowler, and wants more and more of it

Nicholas Sadleir22-Oct-2015″I couldn’t have dreamt of a better start,” Kagiso Rabada says. The 20-year old fast bowler with barely a season of domestic cricket under his belt is is the name on everyone’s lips. He’s on his fourth international tour with the South African team and has started in every match of South Africa’s ongoing tour of India.”I feel like I have worked hard for it,” he says. “I don’t think I would wake up from the dream if I pinched myself.”Depending on who you listen to, Rabada could be anything from a new Michael Holding to the next Dale Steyn, but one theme holds consistent – South Africa have unearthed a fast bowler of perhaps unprecedented potential.Despite everyone from his former bowling coach Allan Donald to his ODI captain AB de Villiers urging caution, saying that Rabada needs to be managed carefully, he appears to have an old head on his young shoulders and has mentally and physically mastered the deep end every time he has been thrown into it.He only began to make a real name for himself at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup, which he helped South Africa win, after which he was offered a franchise contract for the Lions.”If I hadn’t got a contract then I would probably be studying law and playing amateur cricket. The academic side is still not out of it – I am keen to study further,” says Rabada, who first picked up a bat and ball in earnest only ten years ago, after his grandmother, who was a huge cricket fan, “installed the game in my mind”.No Kagiso for batsmen: Rabada has shown a lot of maturity during high-pressure ODI chases•AFP”Ever since I was young I wanted to play for the Proteas, and it is amazing to be playing with the guys who were my heroes as a kid. It’s so cool to be with them – even if I’m not in the starting XI. I’m just being myself. I don’t want to be like anybody else. One matures quickly on tours because you spend a lot of time alone in a foreign environment and have an opportunity to find yourself. Of course I’m learning from guys like Dale Steyn but mostly I’m just being me.”I feel I have fitted well into every team I’ve joined,” says Rabada. “At the Lions it feels good and for the Proteas it’s even better. I love this job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”Rabada regularly hits 150kph and his economy rates on flat tracks in India prove he has plenty of control to harness the raw pace. He might get even quicker as he bulks up a little. “Hopefully I can even inch towards the 160kph mark,” he says. “My body should be okay with my action if I stay in the gym.”Among those who are vastly impressed with Rabada’s skills is South African allrounder Albie Morkel. “I have never seen a bowler like that at his age. I saw Steyn come through the ranks but Rabada is something else, something very special. He has serious height and bounce and is a very unique natural talent – you can’t coach what he has got.”Rabada’s run-up looks effortless and his action smooth, and while his delivery technique has been tweaked by Lions bowling coach Gordon Parsons, Rabada says no one taught him how to bowl. “I was just told to keep my arm straight and I was like, ‘Okay.'””Kagiso” may mean peace in Rabada’s Sotho language but he doesn’t shy away from using aggression on the field, where his hostile short ball rises extremely quickly and is highly effective. “After the game there will be peace but during the contest there is only one winner,” he says with a wry smile.Rabada is already threatening Vernon Philander’s place in the Test side•Getty ImagesHis batting shows promise too, and there is hope that with more coaching and effort he might be able to call himself a genuine allrounder, although his only ever hundred came at primary school level.”I don’t want to be a bowler only. Whatever I do on the field I want to do better. I take my batting seriously – I averaged 40 or so at school and batted in the middle order.”Rabada’s temperament, ability and success in the current ODI series, a step up from Bangladesh, whom he tore apart a few months ago, indicate that he could be a natural pick in the first Test in Mohali. But many feel he shouldn’t be rushed into it.”I’m sure Rabada wouldn’t disgrace himself if he plays [in the Tests in India], but why not wait till we are at home and he has a perfect launch pad?” says Shaun Pollock.Rabada doesn’t mind waiting, but he’s keeping himself ready. “I want to play in all formats right through my career, and I guess they want to manage my bowling workload, but I don’t know, it’s a Catch-22: when am I ready to play or not ready to play? I’m doing my best in the nets to be ready for a Test cap.”South Africa are likely to play three seamers in India, and of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, the only one without a high level of job security is Philander, whose bowling average of 17 in his first two years of Test cricket has ballooned to 38 in the last two years.Indian surfaces don’t give a lot of assistance to quicks but Rabada seems to thrive on a challenge. He was asked to bowl the final over against MS Dhoni in Kanpur with India needing 11 to win. He took two wickets, including Dhoni’s, and conceded only five. “As I walk back to my mark I am thinking all the time, ‘Where am I going to bowl? Should I change my field? How is the wicket? How am I going to get him out?'”After the Kanpur chase, Hashim Amla, South Africa’s Test captain, praised Rabada’s maturity. “After Bangladesh, people said, don’t rush the youngster, but he just proves himself every time he is given a chance at the next level. He is just going to keep doing his thing and hopefully you are going to see a great bowler. He is calm under pressure.”De Villiers has shown great faith in Rabada on this tour but is cautious to not overdo it. “He definitely needs to be managed well as he is such a valuable asset for the team looking forward. I have pushed him in very difficult situations because I have faith in his ability. He is one of those extremely rare talents like Quinton de Kock that makes a captain feel comfortable and he puts in immense effort and that makes me want to trust him.”South Africa’s captains are overjoyed at the thought of having an express fast bowler at their disposal•AFPUnlike teams such as Pakistan, South Africa don’t not usually hurry to blood young talent, but de Kock was 20 himself when he earned his first T20 cap. He’s not yet 23 and has already played 50 ODIs and six Tests despite having been in and out of the set-up a few times.South Africa’s caution not to rush Rabada into the full rigours of an international schedule comes from bitter past experiences with similar young talents. Rabada’s case feels different but so did it feel with Mfuneko Ngam, whose exciting Test career was ended by injury when he was barely 22.While others worry about his international exposure, Rabada remains relaxed about the other aspects of a touring cricketer’s life: fame and a bigger lifestyle. “It is easy to get carried away but my parents help me a lot with staying on the right path. I don’t see the need to do those clichéd things.”In his free time he likes doing anything to do with any sport, but his other major passion is music. He is into rap, hip-hop and more besides. “I’m making music but it’s not easy,” he says, playing down his lyrical talents. His father has helped him to produce some tracks, and the songs I’ve heard are catchy synthesised melodies with lyrics like, “I keep holding on, staying strong… don’t let go of who you are.”Rabada will have to make some big choices about what to do in the off season and he will no doubt be guided by Cricket South Africa and his parents, a lawyer and a doctor, but for the moment he has not made any concrete plans.”I’ve been asking around about what’s the best thing to do and I’m interested in either a county or an IPL season, but I haven’t had any formal approaches yet.”As a black cricketer in a largely white sport in South Africa, Rabada offers the chance to be a huge role model for younger generations, and he wants to play and play. Whatever the South African selectors decide, it is a fortunate dilemma in which they find themselves.

Has David Warner missed a celebratory jump after scoring an international hundred? On his 31st birthday, we revisited those moments

05-Nov-2015TestsTwenty. The number of Test centuries scored by David Warner. Also, the number of leaps celebrating a hundred (including a double) for him. But there’s one hundred for which he didn’t jump with joy (going by the photographic evidence).ODIsWarner had only four ODI hundreds before 2016, but he’s scored ten in 36 innings since then. Do you remember if he leapt for his last one in Bengaluru?

After England’s spin options were ruthlessly exposed in the UAE, we take a look at six young hopefuls vying to become stars of the future

David Hopps05-Nov-2015County cricket is not producing spin bowlers of Test potential because of issues over pitches and scheduling, leading to too many Championship games fought out on greentops. Neither is the ECB’s development programme entirely free from blame – the spin bowling group heading to Dubai for tuition from Daniel Vettori this month carries a strong limited-overs bias.From this discouraging situation, England desperately need a young specialist Test spinner to emerge, overcoming the obvious difficulties through burning ambition and natural talent. It won’t happen overnight. It is no coincidence, perhaps, that Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar both developed on turning Northampton pitches and that took years, not months.Here are six young hopefuls, all of them under 25, a couple barely starting out, who have a chance to make an impact:Zafar Ansari (Surrey)
Style: Slow left-arm

First-class record: 100 wickets at 35.13PA PhotosZafar Ansari is an adaptable bowler for the modern age, a top-order batsman who can ply his left-arm spin effectively in red- and white-ball cricket. If he had not suffered a serious thumb dislocation in Surrey’s last Championship game of the season, hours after his selection, he would have gone to UAE instead of Samit Patel, but he was only ever chosen as the third-choice spinner, proof that his development is far from complete. Shrewd and intelligent, he is favoured by the intellectual set and his Surrey captain, Gareth Batty, regards him as the best young spinner in the country. Surrey’s Championship promotion can only help him. He has one England cap to date – an ODI against Ireland in Malahide in May, in which he did not bat or bowl.Attention grabbing: Ansari and Tom Curran both returned career-best figures as Surrey thrashed Gloucestershire by an innings at a sun-baked Kia Oval in June.
Danny Briggs (Sussex)
Style: Slow left-arm

First-class record: 191 wickets at 32.14Getty ImagesDanny Briggs’ departure from Hampshire to join their south-coast rivals Sussex has been one of the surprises of the season, and as much as Hampshire deserved sympathy – no county is more committed to producing young spin bowlers of merit – it was good to see Briggs refuse to settle for a reputation as a talented limited-overs specialist. Instead he has sought to bring impetus to his long-form career by negotiating a release from his contract. This serene, self-effacing slow left-armer has been a principal player in Hampshire’s one-day success, and has one England T20 and seven ODIs to his name – matches in which he took a bit of a battering. Sussex’s captain Luke Wright has hailed him as the best one-day spinner in the country, but if he is to advance his Championship game he needs to spin the ball more and learn how to winkle out batsmen on good surfaces. Hove’s small boundaries will not make his task easy.Attention grabbing: Briggs claimed career-best first-class figures of 6 for 45 as England Lions thrashed Windward Islands by 258 runs in Dominica. In the same match, Adil Rashid took four cheap wickets.Matthew Carter (Nottinghamshire)
Style: Offspin

First-class record: 10 wickets at 19.50Getty ImagesWhen an unknown spin bowler, not yet 20, takes 10 wickets in his maiden first-class appearance – and in Division One of the Championship too – then it is time to sit up and take notice. Matthew Carter achieved just that for Nottinghamshire against Somerset at Taunton last season. Sound judges observed this tall and slender offspinner and praised good control from a classically high action, loop and turn (although he was unable to spin his side to victory in a thrilling finish). He did not play another Championship game all season – the next time he took seven wickets it was for the Minor County, Lincolnshire – as Notts returned to the seam-bowling haven of Trent Bridge. At least he got a two-year contract at the end of the season.Attention grabbing: Carter’s seven wickets in the first innings at Taunton returned the best figures by a spin bowler on Championship debut since Leicestershire’s Jack Walsh claimed 7 for 46 against Northamptonshire in 1938.Ravi Patel (Middlesex)

Style: Slow left-arm

First-class record: 56 wickets at 34.67Getty ImagesAngus Fraser is an England selector so he has especially good reason to be desperate for a Test-quality spin bowler to announce himself, but as Middlesex’s director of cricket, he only found cause to select Ravi Patel for one Championship match in 2015. Patel’s much-praised effectiveness in T20 cricket faltered markedly, too, as he conceded nearly 10 an over and failed to take wicket in five matches. Spin bowlers mature later, but even allowing for that, it suggests a career in danger of going astray. Patel is a big tweaker of the ball – in Loughborough tests a few years ago he came behind only Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, established England internationals at the time, and he has had England Lions honours. He will be at England’s spin bowling camp in Dubai – but officially only as a “net bowler” rather than one of the gilded group sitting at Dan Vettori’s knee. Fraser has said he has the potential to be a fine bowler. He will be 25 at the start of next season and needs to make progress.Attention grabbing: Brought back from a loan spell with Essex in 2015 (one wicket, one match), Patel bowled extremely well to take 4 for 42, his best Championship figures, against Sussex at Lord’s.Mason Crane (Hampshire)

Style: Legspin

First-class record: 10 wickets at 33.60Getty ImagesWith a name that suggests he should have been an American private investigator, perhaps Mason Crane can solve the problem of England spin bowling. As an eight-year-old, he was transfixed by the sight of Shane Warne bowling in the 2005 Ashes and set out to become a legspinner. He suffered a setback when he was left out of the Sussex Under-14 squad because his batting and fielding were regarded as strikingly weak, but like so many young cricketers who make the grade in England, he had a private schooling and the support of Raj Maru, his cricket master at Lancing College, who arranged an opportunity at Hampshire, was critical. Coaching now seeks to provide what limited match opportunities can not. After his eye-catching entrance into county cricket (see below), Mark Butcher, on ESPNcricinfo’s Switch Hit, floated the idea of Crane as the third spinner for England’s squad to tour the UAE. But Hampshire soon dropped him and the selectors demurred. Instead, along with his Hampshire team-mate Brad Taylor, Durham’s Adam Hickey and Max Holden of Middlesex he will soon be heading to Colombo for an U-19 tri-series against Sri Lanka and India.Attention grabbing: Warwickshire were bamboozled as Crane, at 18 years 171 days, became the youngest Hampshire player to take five wickets in a Championship innings. In his second first-class match, he counted Varun Chopra, Jonathan Trott and Sam Hain among his victims.Adam Riley (Kent)

Style: Offspin

First-class record: 115 wickets at 35.09Getty ImagesAdam Riley thinks he is a wizard, but before English cricket lovers become over-excited, it is just that his ginger hair brings suggestions that he resembles Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter movies. His offspin received more scrutiny than most when Graeme Swann abruptly retired near the end of the 2013-14 Ashes series. In James Tredwell’s England absences, he had advanced his Kent career with two decent seasons, Swann gave him some one-to-one tuition and there was heady talk of immediate elevation to the Test side. Nick Cook was one former England spinner to tip him as a medium-term solution, but only after saying: “The cupboard is bloody bare”. But it was premature and in 2015 his form faltered with only eight Championship wickets as many matches. Tredwell, back from a loan period at Sussex, was understandably preferred. In 2016, he has to begin again.Attention grabbing: Riley bowled with courage and intelligence during a 21-over spell during the afternoon and evening sessions to dislodge a young Surrey middle order including Jason Roy and Ansari.

Put forward as a potential Test opener, Alex Hales has endured a miserable run before the squad is anounced. But will the selectors look beyond his limited-overs form?

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford 13-Sep-2015

Alex Hales managed just 56 runs in six innings against Australia•Associated Press

Alex Hales was one of the players who had most to gain from this one-day series. A strong return would have strengthened his case to be called into the Test squad for the Pakistan series next month.That call may still come – the squad will be named on Tuesday – but his poor series against Australia, where he tallied 53 runs in five innings, has come at an unhelpful time for him despite England’s increasing desire to view the Test and one-day games completely separately.”What will happen is that some people will come into one-day cricket and do really well and might get themselves into the Test side. But we’re not using one-day cricket as a vehicle for Test cricket,” Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, said after the series-levelling win at Headingley.So Hales can take solace from the possibility that the selectors will view his first-class returns for this season – an impressive 1015 runs at 53.42 – as more important than his one-day output. And, really, why wouldn’t they when they are picking a Test squad? In some ways this series should have done more damage to Hales’ one-day prospects than any chance of earning a first Test cap alongside Alastair Cook in Abu Dhabi.Take a look at his Championship season. His two standout innings have come against the strongest attacks in the country: 236 against Yorkshire (Bresnan, Brooks, although no Sidebottom) and 189 against Warwickshire (Wright, Rankin, Clarke and Barker). If Championship cricket is to mean anything, that has to be worth something.But, still, timing – and perception – can mean even more. This series was the chance to reinforce that Hales is able to take the step up, especially when facing the sort of pace that is not seen in domestic cricket. There is the contrast with James Taylor who scored a maiden hundred at No. 3 and, although not competing with Hales for the same position, has a good chance of going to the UAE.There has been an uncomfortable manner to Hales’ dismissals in the limited-overs matches. Twice he was beaten for pace by full deliveries from Pat Cummins, in the T20 and at Headingley. In the deciding one-dayer at Old Trafford he nibbled at the lesser speed of John Hastings having barely middled a shot.England’s decision on who will open during the winter is made trickier by the nature of the two series: Pakistan in UAE and South Africa on their home turf. They are shaping as two contrasting challenges for those at the top of the order. They could go horse-for-courses, for example the Moeen Ali route, but that would be mean more chopping and changing.Facing the new ball may be place to bat in the UAE. It is not that Pakistan are without high-quality pacemen – far from it, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan can all pose problems, especially if the Wahab from Adelaide in the World Cup, when he worked over Shane Watson, shows up – but the ball coming on to the bat could be preferable to when the spinners get into action.After that, however, comes Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel on their patch. That will not be for a faint heart, or a dodgy technique. If the signs from Hales facing Cummins in this series are to be taken as an indicator, Steyn could be a step too far.It might sound harsh to judge on a single one-day series, but you can take Hales’ ODI career to date and see it is underwhelming. He has been harshly treated at times, yet an average of 21.47 from 19 innings is not a sample size to be completely ignored.When the India seamers began finding the gap between his bat and pad last summer the selectors became nervous and he only featured at the back-end of the World Cup when others had failed. He returned against New Zealand and was more comfortable against their pace attack, but has looked progressively worse with each innings against Australia.England’s attempt to find an opening partner for Cook has taken in a variety of options: the county pro who churned out the runs (Nick Compton and Michael Carberry), the younger model who has shone (Sam Robson), the experienced international (Jonathan Trott) and the more attacking route (Adam Lyth).Hales would come into another category – the player who firstly made a name for himself in limited-overs cricket before knuckling down at the red-ball game. So there would be a certain irony if poor one-day returns proved a deciding factor.Ultimately, it could come down to a gut feeling. Those who have watched Hales’ vast Championship innings have often spoken of a player who ‘looks’ ready for Test cricket. If James Whitaker, Mick Newell and Angus Fraser – England’s selection panel – feel the same way they should go that route. Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan had considerably lower first-class averages when they were first selected.One interesting dynamic, though, will be what Trevor Bayliss’ thoughts are. He will not have seen Hales in red-ball cricket. He will need to be guided by the selectors which is, of course, their job. If Hales is the man to get the nod, it will be further evidence of how England are divorcing the formats but it will also be a test of nerve. For all concerned.

A behind-the-scenes look at one of the more controversial DRS calls of recent times underlines the need for umpires to work closely with the providers of the technology involved

Daniel Brettig04-Dec-2015Specialist third umpires, better representation for technology operators and a DRS funded and run by the game’s governing body were just a few issues to be raised by Nathan Lyon’s errant reprieve in Adelaide.Day two of the Adelaide Test and Australia are in trouble. The No. 10, Nathan Lyon, is batting ahead of the injured Mitchell Starc and trying to sweep everything twirled down at him by Mitchell Santner.Lyon’s first attempt results in a bottom edge that scuttles away on the leg side. Unperturbed, he tries again next ball, this time to a Santner offering that is higher, shorter and further outside off stump. Lyon is not to the pitch, and his bat swishes ineffectually at a delivery that then thuds into his shoulder and loops to Kane Williamson at slip.New Zealand appeal in unison, and Lyon looks decidedly guilty. Unconvinced about an edge he did not hear, the umpire, S Ravi, says not out, and is soon signalling for technological support as Brendon McCullum asks nearly instantly for a review. Lyon, wandering down the pitch towards his partner, Peter Nevill, felt some sort of contact on the way through, and then the dull sting of the ball striking his body.It is only when he looks down at his bat that he sees it: a pink cherry stain, clear as day, at the join between the edge and the back of his bat. “I’m gone,” he thinks.

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Up in the third umpire’s room, Nigel Llong has had a straightforward match so far. It is his first stint in the chair for seven months, and his 19th overall. As the Nine telecast picks up his voice, he is calmly going through a process well established. He is engrossed by the pictures being beamed to him and the world, and in dialogue with the producers.[] “Front foot… yeah, okay, I’m happy with the front foot, let’s move to front-on, thank you.”[] “Okay, I’m going to need to come back and if you can get me as close as you can, that would be great, thank you.”[] “Right, can you slow that down at all for me?”[] “Okay, have you got a Hot Spot on that, we can have a look and see if there’s a little top edge or a glove? Thank you. Front-on Hot Spot, I think, is going to be the one.”[] “Take me back for that slightly, there’s a little mark as it goes round…”

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At the moment of the first Hot Spot replay, a mark is visible on Lyon’s bat, standing out as clearly as the pink cherry the Australian offspinner can see. Plenty in the crowd can see it, and an audible cheer goes up around Adelaide Oval.Downstairs, in the bowels of the Riverbank Stand, the technology operators of Hot Spot, Snicko and the Eagle Eye ball-tracker give each other a look of recognition: this is out.Out in the middle, Lyon decides the world has now seen what he has known since he looked at his bat, and starts to walk off the field. Llong, staring hard at his television screen, is not made aware of Lyon’s movement.

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The crowd are still reacting, both to the Hot Spot and Lyon’s pre-emptive departure, as Llong asks for another shot.

Umpires are seldom seen downstairs among the television trucks, monitors, control rooms and technology operators. They are seldom seen when those operators are setting up the day before a match

“Can we go have a look at leg side Hot Spot, I think? As he turns the bat over we might be able to get a better angle.”[] “Just take that back slightly, I’m just out of frame on the bat, let’s go to RTS and see what that brings up for me, if we can have a split screen on RTS, that would be great.”On its introduction in 2013, Real Time Snicko was described as an insurance policy for Hot Spot, picking up edges with sound that the heat-seeking cameras cannot always discern. It is generally excellent for snicks procured by pace bowlers, and also by spinners when a batsman is playing back.But a slow, turning ball met down the pitch and softly brushing the bat may not always be picked up by the highly directional stump microphones – especially if the batsman’s body is blocking the path of the sound, as Lyon was. There is no spike when the ball passes his bat, but likewise there is none when it thuds into his shoulder.[] “Just come back, just come back. Okay, I’ve got nothing on RTS, have you got that split screen?”[] “There’s a mark there. Can I have a split screen on RTS, just to see, please? Just to see when the ball passes the bat and if the [RTS] spikes.”

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All three Hot Spot angles have now shown a mark on the bat when the ball passes it, but still more replays are sought. There is evidence of disquiet as Llong asks for the split-screen RTS, which does not appear. A request for a slowed-down run-through of the camera pointing towards leg slip is only acceded to after another replay is shown. The men operating the technology were by this stage two and a half minutes into the referral, wondering why they were still producing replays for a dismissal they thought was clear.If umpires had greater knowledge of how the technology crews work, that would help their decision-making•Getty Images”We’d already seen the mark on the back of the bat,” says one member of the technology team. “So downstairs in that room, everyone was convinced that it had run across the back of the bat. They were just waiting for him to see it and recognise it. When he said ‘I haven’t seen enough’, everyone was caught by surprise.”Lyon, still hovering at the boundary’s edge, is starting to think about wandering back to the middle.

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There is a concern, well established among the contractors hired by broadcasters such as Channel Nine, that they do not have the best possible relationship with the umpires. Most of them are cricket lovers, but they come to the game through the lens of highly trained and skilled technical operators. They have a deep understanding of the devices they use to enhance the broadcast, and by extension, help the match officials make decisions.Simon Taufel, the former umpire and now ICC umpire training manager, has always said that the relationship between the decision-makers and those who provide their pictures is absolutely critical. “Now that we have got DRS, it has opened up a new challenge to the role of the third umpire and how the on-field umpire deals with it,” he said in 2012. “It is almost becoming a different skill in itself.”Some would also argue that being a third umpire in a DRS environment is almost the most important umpiring role. So to be able to interpret, communicate and work with [TV] directors to get those decisions right is super-challenging. Part of what I am looking at doing is developing accreditation material to help umpires prepare and develop their skills to be able to work within an environment that involves the cooperation of broadcasters, that involves the cooperation of the providers of technology.”Yet umpires are seldom seen downstairs among the television trucks, monitors, control rooms and technology operators. They are also seldom seen when those operators are doing the critical task of setting up their cameras and microphones on the day before a match, attempting to calibrate their devices in order to get accurate decisions. Few, if any, technology operators feel they are permitted to put their gadgetry in its optimal positions for results.As such, those responsible for Hot Spot, Snicko and Eagle Eye or Hawk-Eye are often left debating the positions of their cameras with the ground staff, who have no official requirement to cooperate with them. A third umpire who works more closely in this set-up process would spend time with the technology operators and establish better relationships, leading to greater understanding.He would also be able to speak more authoritatively to the ground staff, who must work with umpires on playing conditions and accede to requests about boundary ropes, sightscreens and crease lines, among other things. There has been talk, as well, about the creation of a DRS team accreditation course that all umpires and operators alike must take, so every person involved with a DRS judgement has undergone the same training.

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Llong, his voice rising slightly, is settling on the view that he cannot make a decision.[] “I’m going to go back on field. I can’t definitely say he’s hit this. I’ve got no convincing evidence he’s hit this ball. I want to check for ball-tracking and make sure this ball’s not going to go onto the stumps for lbw, because he hasn’t hit it. Then we can give the decision.”It is now about four minutes into the referral and the crowd has started to boo. Llong’s mention of ball-tracking is the first time he has raised the possibility of an lbw, and he has done so within a sentence of saying “I can’t say he’s definitely hit this.”Downstairs, expectation of a prompt decision had been replaced by raised eyebrows at the extra requests for replays. Now the call for ball-tracking catches everyone on the hop. It is a delivery that no one expected to be referred to ball-tracking. It commonly takes between 15 and 20 seconds to cue up a delivery for tracking. But these circumstances are like being jolted awake with the terrible realisation of having slept through an alarm. Nobody has even thought to set it up, and now it is being demanded immediately.Fifteen seconds after Llong mentions ball-tracking, the Eagle Eye picture appears. Santner is bowling and Lyon is sweeping, but the ball scuttles off the bottom edge to the leg side. It is the wrong ball. Llong, by now sounding a little flustered, does not appear to notice. “Okay, so it’s definitely not lbw.”Lyon, seeing the wrong ball on the big screen, saunters back to the middle. “What are you doing?” Nevill asks. “They’re not going to give this out,” Lyon tells his partner.

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One step along from the question of appointing specialist third umpires is the matter of who controls and pays for the technology used by the DRS.

The call for ball-tracking catches everyone on the hop. It is a delivery that no one expected to be referred to ball-tracking. These circumstances are like being jolted awake with the terrible realisation of having slept through an alarm

The makers of Virtual Eye, Animation Research, are familiar with recent events surrounding sailing’s most prestigious event, the America’s Cup. For the 2013 edition of the event, the organisers bankrolled the building of a US$9 million adjudication system that tracks the yachts and allows all decisions to be made off water, rather than by the traditional method of spotter boats.This technology is thus used by the race officials but is at the same time available to the broadcasters. The whole exercise was overseen by a director of technology, Stan Honey. He was helped by the Cup’s unique funding model, whereby the defending champion is also responsible for hosting the event. In a 2013 article, Honey explained why this made the “big data” adjudication of the race possible.Naturally enough, the greatest obstacle to DRS technology being taken on by the ICC or members boards is cost.

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After taking one final look at Hot Spot, Llong hands the decision back to Ravi, who has waited implacably these past five minutes. Lyon has returned to join Nevill, while New Zealand’s players have long since become bemused. They have not been able to hear the dialogue accessible to television viewers – a major breakthrough in the development of the DRS, which made umpiring decisions more transparent.”Ravi, are you there? Ravi, I’ve got no conclusive evidence about this. I’ve looked at everything I’ve got, I can’t find anything to say he’s definitely hit this, no RTS. There’s a mark on the bat but it could come from anywhere, from a flash, so give it not out, stay with your not out.”The most telling face at the ground in this moment is that of McCullum, who wears the most forced of wry smiles while shaking his head. There were similar expressions down among the operators of Hot Spot, Snicko and Eagle Eye, who wondered, not for the first time, how the umpires might be brought closer to their wavelength.

After storming through the qualifiers, Afghanistan may well fancy themselves to spring an upset or two in the Super 10s

Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Mar-2016Hamid Hassan swerves one through Kumar Sangakkara’s defences. He does a cartwheel of sorts. Chasing 233, an anxious, wobbly Sri Lanka line-up is 18 for 3 against a fired-up Afghanistan pace attack.A year and a month on from that scare in Dunedin, another potentially anxious and wobbly Sri Lanka line-up will take on Afghanistan at another world event. This time, they will not have Sangakkara. They will not even have Mahela Jayawardene, whose 120-ball 100 dragged the team to an eventual four-wicket win on that tumultuous day.Sri Lanka will have a new T20 captain, who has admitted he was not mentally prepared to take on the role, but could not say no to his board. His board approached him because their regular T20 captain and pace spearhead is battling a troublesome left knee that has kept him out of a number of games recently, and could keep him out of their World T20 clash against Afghanistan.Sri Lanka have a newly – and hastily – appointed selection committee, and a squad that underwent two last-minute changes: two experienced players replaced two players who made their T20I debuts in the last eight months. Despite that, their squad still contains four players who made their international debuts, in any format, only last year.Sri Lanka have won only one of their last six T20I matches. That win came against UAE, after a less-than-convincing performance.Afghanistan will look at all this and tell themselves they can take down Sri Lanka. Not just scare them, but actually go ahead and beat them.Afghanistan have reached the Super 10s with three wins in three first-round matches. They have a 16-3 T20I record since January 2015, but have not faced a Full Member apart from Zimbabwe in that period. Here, now, is their chance. They will believe they can beat Sri Lanka, and will not count themselves out against South Africa, England and West Indies either.”I think they will beat one or two teams, definitely,” Hamilton Masakadza said, after Afghanistan knocked his side out of the tournament. “They are a little bit better suited to Asian conditions than the other guys, and on their day they can really pull out a good game. So I think, just looking at the rest of the tournament, they could pull out a surprise or two.”By Asian conditions, Masakadza probably meant conditions akin to the slow, low pitches that Afghanistan played all their matches on during their first round in Nagpur. In those three matches, their four main spinners – Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi and Amir Hamza – picked up 14 wickets at an average of 14.93, while conceding only 5.81 runs per over.Despite the presence of Hamid and Dawlat Zadran in their line-up, Afghanistan’s modus operandi was rather different to their pace-centric approach during last year’s ODI World Cup, but one that was perfectly tailored to the conditions they encountered. Despite the superior opposition they will face in the Super 10s, similar pitches could allow Afghanistan to keep competing hard.Afghanistan’s Super 10 meetings will pit them against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, South Africa in Mumbai, England in Delhi and West Indies back in Nagpur, where conditions are unlikely to change drastically between now and March 27.Given that the other three venues have only hosted one T20I each before this tournament, it makes sense to dip into their ODI records to get an idea of the conditions they could provide. Among Indian grounds that have hosted five or more ODIs since the start of this decade, Eden Gardens and the Feroz Shah Kotla are the only two where spinners collectively average under 30, have strike rates below 40, and economy rates below five an over. Afghanistan should travel to Kolkata and Delhi with a certain sense of anticipation. The Wankhede, which generally offers more pace and bounce, will probably provide Afghanistan’s batsmen their only real test of technique, against a pacy South African attack.Even otherwise, batting is Afghanistan’s weaker suit – potentially explosive but also prone to collapses. They have tried to counter this by packing their side with batsmen, and as a result Shenwari, a batting allrounder, and Najibullah Zadran, a specialist batsman, have batted only once each in their three first-round matches. Having that insurance down the order has meant weakening the bowling attack: the left-arm quick Shapoor Zadran is yet to play a game and the left-arm spinner Hamza has featured only once.It is a compromise, but it has paid off till now. The batting depth allowed Afghanistan a degree of breathing room even when they slipped to 63 for 4 against Zimbabwe. Their captain Asghar Stanikzai said he knew there were batsmen to come even if Nabi or Shenwari – who put on a match-winning stand of 98 – had been dismissed cheaply. “No, [I wasn’t worried],” he said. “We played nine batsmen.”It may not work nearly as well against stronger teams, who will look to put pressure on the likes of Nabi, Shenwari and the medium-pacer Gulbadin Naib, who floats somewhere between the categories of part-timer and genuine allrounder. They will also come a lot harder at the top order than Scotland, Hong Kong or Zimbabwe did.But Afghanistan know all this and will be prepared. The pressure of getting through a qualifier is off them, and they might play with even more freedom than they normally do, if that’s even possible. They will have nothing to lose.