This is far from a golden era of slip catching, but there are still some players who make a habit of taking stunners in the cordon

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2021Steven Smith

There are few better sights in cricket than a packed slip cordon – well, maybe it’s just me. But does this feel like a golden era of slip catching? I’m not going to delve into the percentage of dropped catches right here, but the gut feeling is no. A recent social media poll by our digital gurus posed the question of the dream cordon: Darren Gough’s was Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff. It’s an all-timer, for sure.The best of the current players? I’ve gone for Smith, who snaffles them pretty safely, and sometimes spectacularly, either against the quicks or the spinners (when he isn’t standing too deep and getting Shane Warne riled up). One of the more recent ones to stick in the memory is a full-stretch dive to remove Kane Williamson – should there be extra marks for the quality of the batter? – in Perth two seasons ago. Williamson edged Mitchell Starc in a day-night Test with the lights taking hold, and Smith was horizontal at second slip when he took it almost behind him. Would he make an all-time cordon? I might check the replies to that social post.#OhmyBroad: Ben Stokes’ grab at Trent Bridge in 2015, is an unforgettable Ashes moment•Getty ImagesBen Stokes

There’s probably a distinction to be made between great slip catchers and takers of great slip catches. Some of those vying for the all-time cordon pouched almost everything that came their way with soft-handed surety, but may have been less likely to fling themselves bodily for the one-percenters. And if there are fewer in the never-drop-a-chance category these days, perhaps it’s because the modern cricketer is more likely to get close to ones that would have zipped straight through in the past.Related

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Anyway, while Stokes does put down more than the odd one, there’s no doubting his ability to pluck ’em from thin air – and it’s spectacular snags that do it for me. Exhibit A is, of course, the Aussie-scuppering, #OhMyBroad-inspiring, claw-assisted snatch of Adam Voges’ outside edge from fifth slip at Trent Bridge in 2015 – aerial, horizontal, behind him. But we’ve subsequently discovered this is just what Stokes does. See four grabs in a day in Cape Town (three of them full length, one an absolute screamer), or a regulation flying one-hander to dismiss Jasprit Bumrah in Chennai that he barely celebrates.My other candidate was Faf du Plessis, who might edge Stokes on reliability and could also pull off a worldie but was deemed ineligible having retired from Tests.Big ticket: Rakheem Cornwall can make the long journey down to take some outstanding low catches•AFP/Getty ImagesRahkeem Cornwall

It’s obviously no hindrance to be a natural athlete, but you don’t have to be one to be a good slip fielder. Think Mark Taylor.Several large men have fielded there – Warwick Armstrong and Inzamam-ul-Haq, to name two – so it’s perfectly natural for Rahkeem Cornwall to do so, blessed as he is with bucket hands and the meditative temperament of one who will always let the ball come to him rather than go snatching at it. It’s no surprise when he pulls off nonchalant catches like this one, when Rory Burns top-edged a full-blooded square cut his way at Old Trafford, but his unlikely party trick is the low catch, by his bootlaces – surely the most difficult feat for a man of his size to pull off. Have a look at this effort to send back Rashid Khan in Lucknow (at the 17-second mark here), or the famous low tumble to his right to end Mehidy Hasan’s resistance and complete West Indies’ 2-0 Test series triumph in Bangladesh. Is Cornwall the best slip catcher in world cricket? Who knows? Is he the most fun to watch? Most definitely.Ajinkya Rahane makes the tough catches look simple because of his soft hands•AFPAjinkya Rahane

I wonder if there’s a happy coincidence between being a good slip fielder and wearing either a cool floppy hat or a worn-out cap that has absorbed buckets of sweat over the years. Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh come to mind in the 1990s. In the 2000s, it’s hard to look beyond Mahela Jayawardene and Rahul Dravid.My pick from the current era is Ajinkya Rahane. Hat aside, I’ve picked Rahane because when he stands at slip to the spinner, he makes difficult catches look easy. Look at the ones he took to dismiss Steven Smith in the 2017 Dharamsala Test or Adelaide 2020. Whether Rahane is dealing with the turn of the subcontinent that needs him to stay low or the bounce of Australia and England, which calls for positioning further back, his anticipation, the ability to stay light on his feet to allow him to move either way, and his sound judgment of where he should stand means he takes most chances.

His ambitions might seem lofty but he’s been putting in the hard yards to achieve them – for Delhi Capitals in the IPL to start with

Alex Malcolm20-Sep-2021Hotel quarantine allows a lot of time to think. And Marcus Stoinis has been doing some thinking in Dubai, as he prepares for the return of the IPL with Delhi Capitals, his first cricket assignment in four and a half months (he opted out of Australia’s limited-overs tours of West Indies and Bangladesh).The rare downtime has given the 32-year-old a chance to reset some personal goals.”My next phase, the way I see it, over the next three years I want to be not only the best finisher in Australia, I want to be the best finisher in the world,” Stoinis says.Related

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“So that’s what I’ve spent my time thinking about and preparing myself for. It doesn’t mean that I’m going to be able to do it for the Melbourne Stars as well. It might mean the role is going to change. But I’ve got a great opportunity to do it with Delhi under Punter [coach Ricky Ponting], and a great opportunity in this World Cup. Whether it’s in this World Cup or the next World Cup, that’s up to me.”Stoinis is no shrinking violet, and some may scoff at his ambition, particularly as he plays almost exclusively as an opener in the BBL for Melbourne Stars – with great success. But his numbers batting in positions five through seven for Australia in T20 internationals and Capitals in the IPL, suggest he’s already a lot closer to his goal than many might realise. In fact, until last month, neither Stoinis nor Australia’s selectors or coaching staff were aware of how highly he ranks among global T20 finishers over the past three years.In T20I cricket, only Kieron Pollard and Mohammad Nabi have scored more runs with a better strike rate and boundary percentage over a three-year period in the lower middle order, putting Stoinis on par with India’s Hardik Pandya (257 runs, 8.91 runs per over, 5.41 balls per boundary), and ahead of South Africa’s David Miller and West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran. In the IPL, Stoinis is squarely in the middle of the top ten on those two parameters.ESPNcricinfo LtdYet he is no guarantee to be inked in at No. 5 or 6 in Australia’s opening T20 World Cup match against South Africa on October 23. He has been named in the 15-man squad but was deemed to have taken a selection risk by opting out of Australia’s recent tours citing bubble fatigue after the postponement of the IPL and the subsequent difficulty that Australian players had in returning home.Stoinis remained in Perth to train and spend time with family and friends, but it did not take long for him to realise how much he missed playing. “That was a big decision at the time,” he says. “I wasn’t used to watching the team play and not being involved, knowing that’s what I want to do. And the first couple of weeks you’re also second-guessing yourself as to whether you should have gone on the tour.”It took me a good two months to just really chill out. But it became more and more clear that that was the right thing to do for me. I’m feeling good now, feeling ready to go. I didn’t take much time off training. Because that’s another thing you realise when you take a break – that you love the cricket. I love cricket, I love training.”While fun, fashion and frivolity can appear top priorities for Stoinis, the truth is, there is hardly anyone in Australian cricket who trains more meticulously or diligently. He spent his time off working with three different batting coaches, his long-time personal mentor Neil Holder; and Western Australia’s head coach, Adam Voges, and their batting coach, Beau Casson.Aside from the mechanics of his game, Stoinis is trying to go to the next level with his mental preparation and overall mindset. He works with two mental-performance coaches, Dave Diggle, who currently works with the Australia Rugby Union team, and David Reid, who is the mental performance coach for Essendon in the Australian Football League.Hotel quarantine has provided the perfect sanctuary in which to re-engage with his mental processes. “It’s been a good chance for me to sink my teeth into that mental side of my game,” Stoinis says.”Outside of your technique, the No. 1 thing is dedicating and controlling your mind towards visualisation and preparation, and staying away from [thinking about] the outcome as much as you can”•Ron Gaunt/BCCI”You’d actually probably laugh. I shouldn’t tell you this, because Zamps [Adam Zampa] will give me s**t. But I’ve got my pads, I’ve got everything out here [in the hotel room], because I do my visualisation with all the gear on.”I think when I look back, I perform my best when I’ve sunk my teeth into my preparation and my visualisation.”He is also learning to detach himself from results. “Outside of your technique, I think that’s the No. 1 thing, dedicating and controlling your mind towards that process and staying away from the outcome as much as you can,” he says.”But like everything, it’s a lifetime’s work, you never feel like you master it. It’s super humbling because you find out pretty quickly when you’ve gone away from it because you’re walking off and you’re out.”Even the other day I was thinking about it, and I was talking to myself about fear. We’ve all got a bit of fear in us. I feel like a fear of failure for me is hopefully starting to diminish – in that, to me, I’m only going to fail when I give up.”Fearlessness is one of the key traits of the best finishers in T20 cricket. Pollard hit his first two balls for sixes for Trinbago Knight Riders in a recent CPL game, on his way to a match-winning 51 from 22 balls.This is one area Stoinis knows he needs to improve in if he is to achieve his lofty goal. Fearlessness will help him produce faster starts. On the list of cricketers who have made over 1000 T20 runs for the three years starting April 2018, Stoinis ranks 29th in terms of his strike rate in the first ten balls of innings – 137.07. The elite finishers are above 160 on this metric.In T20I cricket, Stoinis has been among the top three batters in the world on strike rate and balls per boundary over the last three years•Getty ImagesFor Stoinis, it comes down to communication with his coaches and team-mates, to be able to have complete trust in himself in the middle. “You make your plan beforehand,” he says. “You understand which bowlers you’re going to target.”On another day, Kieron Pollard might get out going for a second six. But he understands, and I’m sure the coach or whoever understands that, so then you’re all on one page. And I think that helps to get rid of any sort of distraction and fear of failure. Because you’ve committed to the plan yourself. You committed to that with the team.” It is part of the reason Stoinis has gelled so well with Ponting, who has made sure his communication is clear and concise.”The more I got to know him, he’s a very deep thinker, so I was then not wanting to feed him too much [information],” Ponting told SEN recently. “I’d feed him little bits but then wait for him to think about it and process it and come back to me and ask questions about what he needs to do next, or how he needs to get better.”I’ve tried to make it pretty clear to him where I see him slotting in with the Delhi Capitals outfit and given him a certain role that he’s going to play for us.”He is a hard worker. There’s no doubt about that. He likes to bat and bowl as much as anyone we’ve had at Delhi, so as long as I give some clear direction and he understands what he’s doing and what his role is, then I just let him go about getting himself prepared.””Ricky is a bloody genius,” Stoinis says. “And a lot of his genius isn’t always about the cricket. It’s about how he communicates with people. He understands me quite well. So, he knows how to push my buttons. He knows when to challenge me. He knows when to pump me up.”When it comes to game time, we’ve got a good relationship in that I’m sitting in the dugout, I’m asking him what he’s thinking. I’m telling him what bowler I want to target, when to send me out, he’s telling me to sort of sit down and relax.”Usually we end up talking at the time-out about just the plan of attack for the last whatever it is – eight overs, nine overs, seven overs. And it’s pretty clear, we both understand what we want to do and how we want the game to pan out from there.””Ricky is a bloody genius. And a lot of his genius isn’t always about the cricket. It’s about how he communicates with people”•Saikat Das/BCCIStoinis is also keen to play his part with the ball in the UAE. He has suffered some niggles in recent years and tweaked his back just prior to arriving in Dubai. But he says he has done more bowling in the last three months than he has in three years.”Usually when the shoe is on the other foot and I’m bowling, I’m pretty aware that the batting team is going to look to target me,” he said. “My skill is in understanding the game as a batsman, what the batsmen are trying to do.”I think you’ve got to realise that you’re only just trying to cause half a mistake. You don’t need to always completely deceive the batsman.”For me, it’s just come with experience. It’s come with talking to a lot of different guys, a lot of different bowling coaches and players, most of them actually through the IPL. And most of that stuff is subtle changes in your grip, in how hard you are gripping the ball.”Stoinis’ immediate task is to help Capitals claim the title that eluded them in the UAE last year but then the focus will shift to playing an important part in Australia’s tilt to win a maiden T20 World Cup.”The key for us is going to this tournament having each other’s back, looking to play like we’ve got nothing to lose because at the end of the day, we don’t have anything to lose,” he says.”I think if we play with that freedom and that excitement, we’re going to do something special. I think that’s the way we’ve got to attack that. There’s enough talent. There’s so many good players in our team that there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.”

Debutant has left team management with difficult decisions to make

Sidharth Monga28-Nov-20211:30

Jaffer: Iyer backs his game, whatever the situation

You don’t usually look at the strike-rate of a batter making his Test debut, but when he is the only man since strike-rate records have been maintained to have scored 4000 first-class runs at a strike-rate of over 80 while maintaining an average of over 50, strike-rate is the first thing you talk about.Such a high strike-rate tells you a few things. The obvious one is that Shreyas Iyer is a good batter, a dominating batter, but you also wonder if he has bullied some ordinary bowling or filled up his boots on flat decks. You also wonder if he can play the restrained game when a situation or opposition demands it.That last bit has been answered amply as Iyer has become the first India batter to have scored a century and a half-century on his Test debut. Both the innings came in strife in a line-up that two experienced batters are lacking runs and others lacking experience. Despite all the restraint, he ended up with strike-rates of 61.4 and 52 in a Test that runs have been scored at 43.17. That speaks to the free-flowing nature of his batting.

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Iyer’s limited-overs internationals and IPL career offer more clues. He can bully spin bowling all right, and good spin bowling at that. So those first-class runs are not to be scoffed at. In fact his main role when he was a lock in the T20I side was to be a spin power-hitter. It showed in how he pounced on the spinners the moment Tim Southee went off with injury, forcing Kyle Jamieson to come back for a spell.Iyer has had issues against seam bowling even in ODIs, but he is not the only one. It is not the absence of issues but how you overcome them that makes a batter. That’s a question that will be properly asked of him at a later date in Test cricket, but on his debut, Iyer has done well against a side whose seamers have taken 14 of the 17 Indian wickets.The most impressive part of both of Iyer’s innings has been his awareness of when to attack. Apart from the first aerial shot that he tried, you can’t really say the bowlers forced him to play an attacking shot when he would rather not. That shows the value of first-class experience even though it has been three years since he last played the longer format. It also perhaps shows the lack of accuracy of New Zealand’s spin bowlers, who couldn’t create enough pressure after the seam bowlers had to be taken off.Shreyas Iyer followed up his century with a vital second-innings fifty•BCCI”I have been in these situations before as well,” Iyer told at the end of the day’s play. “Not in the Indian team but during my Ranji days, I remember I used to walk in in similar situations. So my mindset was to just play the session and play as many balls as possible. I wasn’t thinking way ahead, I was just trying to be in the present and play one ball at a time.”Iyer does average better and strikes slower in the third innings in Ranji Trophy, but more often than not the third innings in Ranji Trophy carry much less pressure. In five-day cricket, third innings can make or break Tests. When asked about batting with restraint here, Iyer said: “It was really tough because Rahul sir [Dravid, the India coach] had told me we need to play as much as possible. To stay till the end, only then we can get to a good total. I decided I will play as many balls as possible and see to it that we get to a good total. I felt that 250-odd runs including the lead would be really good. Fortunately, we got more than that.”Related

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When it comes to listening to Dravid, the story is now famous how the first time Dravid saw Iyer was when he hit a six in the last over of a day’s play in a four-day match. Some eyebrows would have been similarly raised when you see Iyer in a Test match giving up all his stumps and late-cutting with and against the turn and well before having seen the team out of danger.Then again, you don’t strike at 82 over 4000 runs without taking a risk or two. Risks are subjective, though, and batting is all about managing risk. Apart from that first miscue, you wouldn’t really say Iyer’s intent involved significant risk. Dravid and Iyer will be talking all about that when they review the Test, but for now Dravid and Virat Kohli have some talking to do: how do you not retain Iyer after this debut, and if you do, who makes way for Kohli?

CSK form feeds into star turn with ball as miserly four-over spell sets up crushing victory

Matt Roller23-Oct-2021No Stokes, no Archer, no Curran, no problem for England. “The absence of the allrounders who aren’t here does hurt us,” Eoin Morgan admitted at the toss ahead of their opening Men’s T20 World Cup match against West Indies, “but hopefully we can make it work.”With three of their key all-round players missing, England had a tough choice to make heading into the game: should they play an extra bowler and compromise their batting depth, or pick an extra batter and risk running out of bowling options? They opted for the latter, meaning they would have to bowl eight overs of spin; crucially, they won the toss, avoiding the possibility of dew affecting them.Watch the T20 World Cup on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the US. Match highlights of England vs West Indies is available here in English, and here in Hindi (US only).

Morgan had talked up Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali’s credentials as “genuine allrounders” in his pre-match press conference but had rarely used them as such. Livingstone had bowled 10 overs in his T20I career and Moeen only 13.5 in his previous 10 appearances. In England’s two warm-up games, they bowled seven overs between them which cost 67 runs.Still, it was no surprise to see Moeen thrown the new ball, with West Indies opening the batting with Evin Lewis, a destructive left-hander with a vulnerability against offspin, and Lendl Simmons, a right-hander but a cautious starter. The first over was a score draw. Moeen dug the ball into the pitch on a good length and was looking to hit the top of the stumps but when his last ball was overpitched, Lewis shimmied down and slammed it back over his head for six.But Morgan gambled after Chris Woakes had removed Lewis – a slower ball which he mistimed to Moeen, backpedalling at mid-off from the edge of the circle to take a superb catch over his head – by giving Moeen a second over, even with Simmons on strike.He struck with its second ball. Simmons was hitting towards the big side – one boundary was 10 metres longer than the other – and picked out Livingstone at deep midwicket. “Brainless batting,” Nasser Hussain said on commentary, bringing to mind Daren Sammy’s famous riposte to a Mark Nicholas column after their 2016 title. But Moeen was rewarded for bowling straight, playing on Simmons’ ego by daring him to try and clear the boundary-rider.ESPNcricinfo LtdWith Shimron Hetmyer, another left-hander, in his sights, Moeen was able to rattle through four more dots to complete his first-ever maiden in T20 internationals, and after Hetmyer hit the first two balls of his third over for four – a loft over midwicket and a chip inside-out over extra cover – he struck again: a fast, flat offbreak rushed him on the pull, which he plinked straight to Morgan at mid-on.By the time Moeen had completed his fourth over – four dots and two singles, to end with his cheapest-ever T20I figures when bowling a full allocation – West Indies were 33 for 4, giving England a 76% chance of winning according to ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster. Crucially, the fifth bowler’s allocation – a pressing concern only half an hour before – had been fulfilled at the earliest possible opportunity.It was telling that Adil Rashid, who returned remarkable figures of 4 for 2 in 2.2 overs, was overlooked for the match award – with ESPNcricinfo’s impact tool also rating Moeen as the MVP on account of the fact he struck twice in the Powerplay, when wickets are most valuable. “When you bowl the first over you’re obviously trying to keep it tight,” Rashid said. “That’s the aim and if wickets come, wickets come. They may just have a look but you’ve still got to bowl well and I thought Mo bowled exceptionally well there, especially bowling four overs in a row. He kept it tight and picked up wickets as well, so that really set the tone.”Related

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England have severely underused Moeen in T20 cricket over the last 12 months. He went ten consecutive games without being picked across their tours of South Africa and India last winter and home fixtures against Sri Lanka in the summer, and when he has played, he has had a bit-part role with both bat and ball, often bowling a solitary over and hidden as low as No. 7 with the bat.But he has been embraced by Chennai Super Kings, who made him a senior player in their title-winning season after shelling out INR 7 crore (USD 930,000 approx) for him at the IPL auction, and his success appeared to remind England of his talents. “That role in the team is really good for me: I feel like I’m really involved with the bat and ball and in the field,” he said afterwards.”It obviously helped with so many left-handers in their team but I’ve been bowling all right: I’ve been bowling well in the nets so I’ve got quite confident, and I think because I’ve been playing cricket, I wasn’t as nervous as probably some of the other guys. I was actually glad to get the first ball.”Morgan said: “He summed up conditions beautifully, hit his lengths really well and took chances when his match-ups were right. The reason he hasn’t featured as much as we would have liked is down to conditions… [but] to come in and take his opportunity like he has – he’s full of confidence after his success at the IPL and he’s going to be a huge contributor throughout this campaign hopefully for us.”

After missing out on a T20 World Cup berth, he is again underlining his importance in an era of quick legspin

Shashank Kishore07-Feb-2022In the team meeting prior to Sunday’s first ODI, India’s captain Rohit Sharma revealed to Yuzvendra Chahal that he had noticed something from afar that may have been missed. The googly seemed to have gone missing from Chahal’s repertoire in South Africa, and the importance of bringing it back, because he usually executes with great success, was underlined again.When Kieron Pollard walked out to the middle three balls into Chahal’s first over, Virat Kohli quickly ran in to say something to the bowler. There was a slip, leg slip, short midwicket, mid-on and mid-off stationed. Was Kohli reminding Chahal of a plan? Perhaps. But what followed next wasn’t utterly unpredictable.Chahal landed a perfect wrong ‘un on fourth stump. Pollard attempted a biff into the leg side but was far from the pitch of the delivery. The ball dipped on him and beat his swing to crash into the stumps. It was ODI wicket No. 101 for Chahal. Only a ball earlier, he had Nicholas Pooran misjudging the length to be given lbw to a full delivery. He had bowled a straighter line – the legbreak coming out of the front of his hand – with more sidespin.Related

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“If I missed my length, there was an 80% chance of Pollard hitting me for six with that one,” Chahal told Rohit in a post-game chat on . “As you pointed out, I also realised [that] the more I mix it up, [and] the more I googlies I bowl, the better my legspin is.”The ball that followed Pollard’s dismissal was another wrong ‘un. A short leg was specifically placed for the lob. When new man Jason Holder stabbed at it without any conviction, the ball took the thick inside edge only to fall short of the fielder. Chahal was now in his element. Using the crease well, varying his trajectory and angles. The wrong ‘un was coming out of the hand superbly.Across 29 overs in South Africa, Chahal had bowled just 22 wrong ‘uns for one wicket. The South Africans had taken him for 6.27 to the over with the googlies, much higher than his overall economy of 4.42, variations included, since July 2018. It wasn’t as if the higher economy was made up for with more wickets; he managed just two in three games. But on Sunday, inside one just over, he had bowled two rippers and created two chances – one resulted in a wicket, the other missing narrowly.Legspinners the world over speak of their craft as being a confidence game. Sure, it may be true of every other facet of the game too, but legspin bowlers in particular need that much more going their way because their margin of error is at the bare minimum on surfaces largely tailored for batters. This margin for error reduces further when dew kicks in. This confidence only comes from having executed repeatedly, and with a great degree of success.After only four wickets at an economy of 8.26 in the first half of IPL 2021, Chahal bounced back to take 14 at 6.13 in the second leg•BCCI/IPLWhen Chahal was left out of the T20 World Cup squad, it appeared from the outside that the selectors had lost faith in his modus operandi of bowling loopy legbreaks mixed with his wrong ‘uns. Suddenly, “more pace on the ball” became the buzzword. In giving a rare peek into selection, Chetan Sharma, the chief selector, said they “needed a spinner who can find grip off the surface and deliver with slightly more speed”, while explaining the Rahul Chahar-vs-Chahal debate.When the World Cup started, Chahar found himself on the bench. It wasn’t long after that India were knocked out of semi-final contention and Chahar eventually got a look-in. Four wicketless overs for 30, and off he went. He went with the India A squad on the shadow tour to South Africa and finished his only four-day outing with figures of 1 for 125 across 28.3 overs. And Chahal, who appeared to have fallen off the radar, was back again for the home T20Is against New Zealand.Between his axe and recall, the selectors had a first-hand view of Chahal during the second leg of last year’s IPL. When the IPL came to a grinding halt in May due to Covid-19, Chahal had four wickets in seven games at an economy of 8.26. But when the league restarted in September, he was bowling at another level, finishing the season by picking another 14 wickets in eight games at an economy of 6.13 while in the UAE. It is perhaps these numbers and his performances at large that dictated his selection, even though his numbers in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s that followed were far from impressive: one wicket in five games at an economy of 8.47.The one thing Rohit has stressed on repeatedly has been the need to give role clarity to players and give them a long rope to ensure they don’t feel the axe hangs over them. This is perhaps why they went with Chahal’s experience in Ahmedabad, considering they also had two spinners – Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav – coming back from injuries.There would have been the temptation to play the rather quicker legspinner in Ravi Bishnoi, but in giving Chahal the first go, it seemed a clear sign of Chahal continuing to be a key member of the squad. And his Player-of-the-Match 4 for 49 was merely another reiteration that in an era of quick wristspin, bowlers like him who bowl slower through the air can equally make a massive impact.Rohit’s words to Chahal at the end of the same interview were particularly revealing. “You’re a very important player for us. I want you to play with the same mindset. There will be ups and downs but it’s important to have the right mindset.”As an experienced bowler who is rediscovering some of the lost mojo, this is all you want to hear from your captain.

“It was never easy to just beat us in a Test, and we proved that again” – Rabada on the series-squaring win

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2022They are a long way from the team that went nine years unbeaten on the road between 2006 and 2015, but South Africa’s victory in the second Test in Christchurch served up a reminder of their ability away from home. Not only did they beat New Zealand, the defending Test world champions, but they also did it at a venue they had never played at before this tour, and where conditions are considered to be heavily stacked in favour of the home side.Related

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New Zealand had only lost one out of ten Test matches at Hagley Oval before this Test, and of their eight wins, three had come by an innings. On a seamer-friendly surface, they are known to bowl the opposition out cheaply and then bat as though they are operating on a completely different pitch. The first Test was a case in point.Despite all of that, Dean Elgar went against the grain by choosing to bat first and including Keshav Maharaj, the only specialist spinner in the XI, in anticipation of pitch deterioration. History suggested Elgar was making a mistake, but the last five days proved him right.And Kagiso Rabada explained the decision was made on evidence, not the ground’s reputation.”This wicket was a lot drier [than in the first Test], from looking at it with the naked eye and had a lot less grass on it,” he said after South Africa squared the series. “When you walked on it, the spikes almost sunk in. That tells you it’s going to be a bit slow. We knew when the Test moved forward, it would get drier and the footmarks would be created for Keshav to exploit. That was the thinking. In the end, it was the right decision.”

“If you have a look at previous teams, the word that always fits us best is resilience. It was never easy to just beat us in a Test, and we proved that again”Kagiso Rabada

South Africa scored their first total of over 300 batting first since April 2018, and after that, Maharaj took four wickets – including three in the second innings – to justify all of Elgar’s decisions and underline South Africa’s capacity to come back after a heavy defeat in the first Test. After that defeat, no one – not coach Mark Boucher or Elgar himself or any of the players who were put up for the media – could explain why the team was so low on energy, and neither did they make it a priority to find out.”There was no use harping on about how badly we played,” Rabada said. “As much as we needed to recognise the faults we made, we still needed to put game plans in place to make sure we adapt as quickly as possible. It was about understanding where we went wrong and coming up with game plans and tactics, and also mentally coming back and winning the second test. It was about waking up and rocking up, and executing game plans.”One of the main things South Africa needed was a better start with the bat, and a 111-run opening stand between Elgar and Sarel Erwee in the first innings gave them that. They also needed players to score centuries, and Erwee and Kyle Verreynne ticked that box too. Their batting showed depth and fortitude, which allowed the bowling attack to operate with a degree of freedom and natural aggression.Put together, it was among the most complete performances South Africa have delivered in recent times, not least because it came on the back of their second-biggest defeat ever.South Africa needed big innings, and Sarel Erwee (as well as Kyle Verreynne) did it for them•AFP via Getty Images”If you have a look at previous teams, the word that always fits us best is resilience,” he said. “It was never easy to just beat us in a Test, and we proved that again.”Ultimately, New Zealand were also unable to beat South Africa because of the momentum Rabada himself seized with a 34-ball 47 with the bat as well as two wickets in his opening spell in the second innings, which set the visitors up for a series-equalling win. Together with Marco Jansen, Rabada is the joint-leading wicket-taker in Tests this year so far, but he cautioned against over-hyping his current form.”It’s very seldom that you feel at your best,” he said. “It’s all about adapting and trusting your strengths, and trying to do all you can. You try and create your own luck with hard work and tactical thinking, and let the rest just happen. It’s about trying to stick to the process and keep refining.”That is what South Africa as a unit have been saying for more than two years, as they have rebuilt, stumbled and rebuilt again under Boucher. Their record is not what it used to be, but there are “good signs for the future,” as Rabada put it.And good signs from the past too. Since March 2017, New Zealand have lost only three out of 23 Tests at home, two of those to South Africa. Since the start of 2021, only Pakistan (five) and India (four) have won more Tests away from home than South Africa, with both teams having played more Tests in the same period.In an era where winning on the road is becoming increasingly difficult, South Africa are showing that they are among the teams that can do it, still, which only bodes well for their next overseas assignment – in England this winter.

They were rarely challenged by a woeful England side, but a number of new and younger players stood tall

Andrew McGlashan17-Jan-2022Warner’s opening partnerMarcus Harris was the player given the chance at the start of the series but he did not complete the five Tests, although that was as much to do with Usman Khawaja’s stunning return as his own failures. Harris did not grasp the opportunity with both hands, but his 76 in Melbourne was vital and in what was a tough series for openers – the lowest overall average for an Ashes in Australia since 1887-88 – he did not look out of place. Whether Khawaja, who had the misfortune of being asked to open in spicy Hobart conditions, will stay alongside David Warner remains to be seen. It might be the only spot available to him. Warner himself faded as the series went on, rounded off by his second pair in the Ashes in what may yet have been a final duel with Stuart Broad, but his two 90s in Brisbane and Adelaide, while owing something to luck, were agenda-setting. It’s largely up to him if he wants to make the 2023 Ashes.Related

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Head start (and finish)If you had been asked to pick a Player of the Series before a ball was bowled, it’s fair to say Travis Head’s name would not have been high up the list. It was a close call whether he or Khawaja would take the No. 5 position. However, he produced what should be a breakout performance, a fulfillment of talent and stroke play that many have recognised before but have waited to come to fruition. A thrilling century-in-a-session at the Gabba ensured there was no way back for England and, having missed the SCG Test due to Covid, he outdid himself in Hobart having walked in at 12 for 3 with the ball moving everywhere. His batting will often be a high wire act, and a few questions remain against the short ball, but he can be a gamechanger.Cameron Green found his batting form late in the series•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesGreen giantThe allrounder position was never a question of personnel coming into the series, but it was always going to be fascinating to watch Cameron Green’s development. And what a statement he made. Firstly it was with the ball as he claimed key wickets – including Joe Root twice in the first two Tests – with his bowling returning to something close to what it was before his back injuries. Then confidence was restored with the bat through hard work in the nets after England’s quicks had challenged his off-stump defence. He broke free in the second innings in Sydney and then played his best Test innings to date to turn the opening day in Hobart around. He was the first Australian player to score more than 200 runs and take at least 10 wickets in a men’s Ashes since Shane Warne in 2005 and before that it was Steve Waugh in 1986. There will inevitably be bumps along the road but the cricketing world is at Green’s feet.Carey for keeps?Elevated into the side only a week before the series after Tim Paine’s resignation and decision to step away from the game, the final day in Hobart was a timely confidence boost for Alex Carey. He rode his luck to make useful runs then grabbed a couple of superb catches – the one off Chris Woakes was a blinder – diving to his right where he had missed a few in earlier matches. It was not a debut series that said, without doubt, that he is the long-term option but it would be a huge surprise if he did not keep his place for the Pakistan tour. Carey is also admired for the leadership qualities and calmness he brings to the side.Scott Boland: the story of the series•Getty ImagesBeyond the big threeA lot of the pre-series talk had been about how Australia would use their quick bowlers. Through injury and Covid they were forced to delve into their much-vaunted depth and it stood up spectacularly. The story of the series was the performance of Scott Boland who took himself from a fringe candidate to someone who is difficult to leave out. Josh Hazlewood’s absence after Brisbane with a side strain was barely noticed while Pat Cummins’ late withdrawal in Adelaide due to being a close contact was handled with ease. Jhye Richardson came in and took a five-wicket haul, then did not play again in the series as he picked up a niggle and Boland stormed into the side. Mitchell Starc was the only frontline quick on either side to play all five Tests and was outstanding in the first three matches. Meanwhile, Cummins finished as the top wicket-taker to lead from the front in every sense.Captain CumminsAnd on that final point, it is a credit to Cummins (although also a reflection on the feeble opposition provided by England) how seamless the transition to his leadership has been. The new structure with Steven Smith worked well and was immediately called into action in Adelaide. If Cummins did make any missteps they came in Sydney and were fairly minor in the grander scheme of things. The fact England were blown away for under 200 in six of their 10 innings (and under 150 three times) meant there weren’t many long days in the field and those will come at some point. However, with a five-strong attack at his disposal there will always be a fresh bowler to call on. As Australia finally return to Test cricket overseas after more than two years, how he and his team evolve will be worth watching.

The India batter smashed 89 off 56 while Sri Lanka’s youngsters had more sedate returns

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Feb-20222:14

Ishan Kishan: Our approach is to attack the bowlers rather than wait for a bad ball

Seven balls into his innings, Ishan Kishan gets a full toss outside his off stump. In a blink, it has scorched its way to the cover boundary. The next ball from Chamika Karunaratne is a shorter, slower delivery. The shoulders swing into action. The elbows are a blur. This ball blazes and takes an even quicker route to the rope. Straight of cover this time.In the late 1990s, when Sanath Jayasuriya reigned over India versus Sri Lanka fixtures, word on the streets in India was that Jayasuriya had springs hidden in his bat. How else did he get the ball to boing off over the infield when the likes of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad bowled at him?Related

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Kishan’s bat functions more like rocket launcher than trampoline. That he is no conventional “timer of the ball” is clear, because he throws every milligram of his body weight into some of his shots. But this is not the same thing as saying he does not have timing. On evenings like these, the force that goes up from his toes, through his hips, chest, shoulders, arms, wrists, seems to be matched by the energy that his bat, of its own accord, is producing. It’s big-effort batting mixed with glorious-timing results. The best of both worlds. It took seven years at the international level for Jayasuriya to mesh his explosive power with batting’s more refined virtues. Kishan is in his ninth T20I.But we know where the refinement came for Kishan, right? He’s hit 1452 runs in the IPL, and commanded a pay packet of more than US$2 million in the most-recent auction. He’s played 56 innings in that competition, and 108 T20 innings overall, and in that time, batted in a host of match situations and positions. On Thursday evening, he had to face two 140kph-plus bowlers up front, and a legspinner and a left-arm spinner, none of whom seriously troubled him. He batted, as on his debut against England last year, and in several internationals since, as if pounding bowlers of every description was a birthright.When Sri Lanka came out to make their response to Kishan’s 89 off 56 and India’s 199 for 2, they had some promising young batters too. Pathum Nissanka, a first-class star who had sort of made the switch to being a decent T20 batter, having top-scored in the recent series in Australia, was opening the innings. Charith Asalanka, who was excellent in last year’s T20 World Cup, was batting lower down.Through the course of this tour, you might notice their better shots. Like Asalanka’s ramp off Jasprit Bumrah at the end of the fourth over. Or his flat, hard, reverse sweep through point off Ravindra Jadeja in the 14th.But you might also notice this. Young India players are largely doing things they’ve done before, going into their memory banks, calling up moments from their past in which they’ve triumphed in similar situations, against oppositions of perhaps somewhat worse but not-dissimilar quality. Sri Lanka’s young players are always reaching. The next level. That big step. This vast chasm they have to somehow bridge.Occasionally, they manage it. But often, they don’t. You see their talent warring with their inexperience when Kamil Mishara, who has all of 15 T20s (of any description) on his ledger, punches the second ball he’s ever faced from Bumrah to the cover fence on the up, before failing to connect with the next three deliveries, as Bumrah mixes it up. You see it in Janith Liyanage’s pained 11 off 17, or even in Nissanka’s fatal first ball, where he failed to account for the low bounce in the Lucknow pitch. Even Asalanka, the Sri Lanka batter who has best transitioned to T20Is in the last few years, was dropped twice on his way to his half-century.We will not tread over SLC’s many sins here, because they have been lavishly documented in these pages. But even if their officials were competent, Sri Lanka will never have the likes of this Indian cricketing machine, of which Kishan is a proud product. There are some harsh judgements on the Sri Lankan system, but also some bald economics. For much of Kishan’s IPL career, he was coached by one of Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketing minds.Sri Lanka have two more T20s, and two Tests, in a country where they have done exceedingly poorly in both those formats. If they are to make something of this tour, they will have to reach for the kinds of performances they have never produced before.India, like Kishan, ferocious at home in any case, need only to do what they’ve been doing.

When he came to the crease, NZ needed 181 off 130 balls; Bracewell ended with 127* off 82, with the lower order for company

Deivarayan Muthu11-Jul-2022Michael Bracewell is known as “The Beast” to his New Zealand and Wellington Firebirds team-mates. On the recent Test tour to England, he had been beasted with the ball, and questions were raised over his selection ahead of left-arm fingerspinner Ajaz Patel.On Sunday, in the ODI series opener against Ireland in Malahide, similar questions were raised over his selection, although Mitchell Santner wasn’t available to play after having a bout of Covid-19. Bracewell struggled for control with the ball against the right-hand pair of Harry Tector and Curtis Campher, but turned up with the bat under immense pressure to show what is truly capable of in New Zealand’s white-ball side.When Bracewell came to the crease, the game seemed all but over for New Zealand, who at that stage needed another 181 off 130 balls in a chase of 301, with only the lower order for company for Bracewell. Some of the Irish fans were already celebrating in the stands, but Bracewell hushed them and powered New Zealand to an incredible victory with a calculated assault in only his fourth ODI, thus ending unbeaten on 127 off just 82 balls.Related

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Campher gleaned seam movement off the deck and swing in the air. Bracewell was particularly cautious against him and offspinner Simi Singh, who was matched up with the left-hander Bracewell. It was Ish Sodhi who took greater risks in a 61-run seventh-wicket partnership with Bracewell.Bracewell then seamlessly shifted through the gears and took the chase deep. It ultimately came down to one man vs the other. Bracewell vs Craig Young. New Zealand needed 20 off the last over, with just one wicket in hand. Young’s plan was to bowl wide yorkers away from the swinging arc of Bracewell and deny him the access to the shorter leg-side boundary.Bracewell proactively veered across off stump and scooped the first two balls for fours, with both square leg and fine leg in. His smarts and power dismantled Ireland’s best-laid plans as he then jumped across off and walloped the next two balls for four and six, both over midwicket. He added another four and six to the sequence to cap a sensational turnaround.Bracewell is used to dealing with pressure. He has been around the domestic scene for over a decade, and captains Firebirds. His Malahide miracle is somewhat comparable to the rescue act in New Plymouth in the Super Smash in January earlier this year. Firebirds were 24 for 4 against Central Stags in pursuit of an imposing 229, but despite wickets tumbling around him, Bracewell turned on the beast mode in cracking an unbeaten 141 off 65 balls. Coincidentally, he had also finished that match with a No.11 for company, with one ball to spare.Michael Bracewell on his first hundred: “Pretty proud moment walking off the field and seeing all the boys’ faces”•Sportsfile/Getty Images”Those experiences… you always learn from and learn what you’ve done well, and probably what you can do better next time,” Bracewell told NZC after scripting New Zealand’s come-from-behind win against Ireland. “I think that’s the benefit of playing plenty of domestic cricket and putting yourself in those pressure situations; you sort of learn how to get through them, and [are] fortunate enough to come on the right side in a couple of times now.”Bracewell said that the win didn’t sink in until he walked off to a rousing reception from his team-mates and family, who were among the sell-out crowd in Malahide.”That was pretty special. That was when it sunk in that I just got a hundred for my country and it was a pretty proud moment walking off the field and seeing all the boys’ faces,” he said. “Yeah, something that I will cherish for a very long time.”[I] had mum and dad come over a couple of days ago and my wife Lauren and little baby Lennox. Yeah, it has been special; Lennox and Lauren have been here for a while now. Nice for them to see a win on the tour. And for mum and dad, I’m pretty proud to put on the performance for them in the crowd.”Bracewell’s big-hitting and left-handedness in the middle order could be an attractive option to have, especially in a T20 World Cup year. And if Bracewell can tighten up his offspin, New Zealand could have a variety of spinners to choose from in white-ball cricket: Sodhi (legspin), Santner (left-arm fingerspin), and Michael Rippon (left-arm wristspin) being the other options.It is this depth on various fronts that has transformed New Zealand into a force to reckon with in white-ball cricket – with or without their seniors. Bracewell’s emergence is the latest embodiment of it.

Failure to seize on big moments in England suggests Kane Williamson and company have lost their spark

Matt Roller27-Jun-2022At Lord’s, New Zealand had England 69 for 4 in pursuit of 277; in Nottingham, they made 553 after being asked to bat first; in Leeds, they had England 55 for 6, still 274 behind their first-innings total. On each occasion, the game has drifted away from them, ending in England knocking off 270+ targets with at least five wickets in hand.It has been a gruelling tour, one marred by a Covid-19 outbreak and injuries to key players in Kyle Jamieson and Colin de Grandhomme, which has taken their run without a series win beyond a year. Since last year’s World Test Championship final, they have won two of their last nine Tests and slipped to fourth in the ICC’s rankings.The biggest question for that champion team was how to replace the retiring Ross Taylor and BJ Watling, but their effective replacements – Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell respectively – have been New Zealand’s best two players in this series, putting on four hundred partnerships and thriving against the old ball.NZC have spent years making succession plans, investing heavily in the A-team programme and looking to widen the pool of players available to them. But there has been an ingrained conservatism in their selection: Rachin Ravindra, the talented 22-year-old batter who bowls solid left-arm spin, scored 217 for Durham two weeks ago but New Zealand handed a debut to the 31-year-old Michael Bracewell instead, who averaged 24 with the bat and went at 5.97 an over with the ball.And there has been an unmistakable sense of drift among the more established players. The inaugural WTC gave New Zealand’s fixture list context, something to aim towards and aspire to be, but on this tour they have seemed directionless, losing all of the series’ key moments. None of the top five in the Headingley Test averaged more than 25.16 on the tour while Trent Boult was the only bowler to come out of the series with his reputation enhanced.For Kane Williamson, their captain, it has been another difficult tour: he made his Test comeback after missing the entire home summer with an elbow injury but missed the second Test with Covid-19 and picked a bizarre team in the third, with Bracewell, a bits-and-pieces allrounder, playing as the frontline spinner ahead of Ajaz Patel on a pitch where Jack Leach bowled more than 70 overs and took 10 wickets.Tom Blundell and Daryl Mitchell were New Zealand’s best performers on tour•Getty ImagesPerhaps it was Neil Wagner who personified the tour. New Zealand supporters were crying out for his inclusion in the first two Tests but he was noticeably down on pace in Leeds and on the final morning, he was the bowler of last resort, brought on when England needed 10 to win with seven wickets in hand. He finished with match analysis of 20-3-108-2; at 36, it may be time to move on.”Professional sport is very competitive: you win and you lose,” Williamson said. “For us, it is frustrating that we haven’t quite had some of the results go our way but… we [need to] still understand that we’re not that far away. If we look at each match closely, there were moments – and large moments – throughout it where we were right in the match or even ahead of the game.”To win those moments and take the game further into stronger winning positions is something we want to be doing and something we were doing really well a year ago. The margins are small so it’s [about] not overreacting, making sure that we’re aware of those things and keep looking to move forward as a side.”But that move forward will not be immediate. “There’s a long gap before the next one [Test series] and it will be quite different conditions as well,” Williamson said. They are due to tour Pakistan at the end of the year while their fixture list for the 2022-23 home summer is due to be announced on Tuesday. ESPNcricinfo understands that they will play England in February, then Sri Lanka straight after.The nature of their schedule, with sporadic short series across widely different conditions, means it is hard to assess performance: Will Young has played every Test in the last 12 months but has batted only 16 times across three different countries and against four different opponents.Williamson’s own future as captain is unclear. He insisted that he intends to carry on in the role: “I certainly love this group and love being a leader within the environment,” he said. “It’s been an interesting period of time, getting back to fitness and things, but it’s great to be out here, playing along these guys and against a strong England team. Certainly the appetite is still there.”But his elbow has been a constant, nagging issue over the last 18 months and with a young family and six years of service in the bank, this feels like the perfect time to hand over to Tom Latham and focus on his batting. His legacy as a great New Zealand captain is already secure: continuing in the role might feel like the safe option but if anything, it is the riskier one.