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A play about the life and untimely death of Colin Milburn conveys the highs and the lows of a unique cricketer

David Hopps11-Nov-2016Colin Milburn was about as far removed from the identikit picture of the perfect international cricketer as it was possible to be. So overweight that he could have starred in – Morgan Spurlock’s exposé of the fast-food industry. Dishevelled, disorganised and gradually drinking himself to death, it was astonishing even in the 1960s that England ever turned to him. These days, even at county level, he would not get a look in.But that was much of Milburn’s charm. For all his 18 stone (“and the rest” according to some of those who tried to change his ways at Northamptonshire), he was light on his feet, possessed of rapid reflexes and destructive of shot. The ball could disappear many a mile off a Milburn bat. Add his perpetual image of cheery bonhomie, his love for a joke and a night out, and he was an extraordinary antidote to the seriousness that pervaded English cricket half-a-century ago. For all the notion of the Swinging Sixties, in English cricket only the fat man was swinging.An average of 46.71 in nine Tests tells of Milburn’s talent. But the barbs were already out about his fitness when he lost an eye, and damaged the other, in a car crash in 1968. Northants had just beaten the West Indies tourists and Milburn was in celebratory mood. He lost control of the car, heading back to the Abington pub by the Northants ground for some more beers, and crashed through the windscreen. The Road Safety bill had been introduced in 1966, the breathalyser a year later; seat belts became compulsory in 1983. It was a tragedy of its time, not carrying the mantle of shame that it would today.Milburn’s gloriously unlikely career, and the extent of the mental-health issues that welled up after his accident, are explored in , a one-man play written by Dougie Blaxland (aka James Graham-Brown, the former Kent cricketer), which is about halfway through its tour of the county grounds. It has been produced in association with the Professional Cricketers’ Association to promote mental health and well-being. In a desperately unhappy turn of fate, Alan Hodgson, Milburn’s former county team-mate, flatmate for a decade, and a primary source for much of the material, died a few days before the premiere.The strong implication is that Milburn’s seeds of self-destruction were sown even before his car accident, and the fact that this is a one-man performance adds to his sense of isolation. “The more you are hurt, the more you smile,” was actually the cricketing advice of his father, Jack Milburn, a Durham local-league slugger, about how to take a blow from a fast bowler, but it neatly widens out into Milburn’s message for life as he learns from childhood to tell a succession of fat jokes against himself.

Remaining dates

• November 11 – Durham (Riverside Emirates)

• 12 – Burnopfield CC

• 14 – Essex (County Ground, Chelmsford)

• 15 – Kent (Spitfire Ground, Canterbury)

• 16 – Sussex (1st Central County Ground, Hove)

• 17 – Surrey (Kia Oval)

• 18 – Middlesex (Lord’s)

• 19 – Teddington CC

• 21 – Hampshire (Ageas Bowl)

• 22 – Leicestershire (Fischer County Ground, Leicester)

• 23 – Nottinghamshire (Trent Bridge Inn, Nottingham)

• 24 – Northamptonshire (County Ground, Northampton)

• 25 – West Hallam CC

Only cricket sustains him. A long-standing engagement eventually falters because he prefers to be out with the lads. He cannot hold down a job in the off season. Whenever he seems down, his mates do what men did – still do – and take him to the pub to cheer him up.Milburn’s accident hastened a decline that perhaps was inevitable, although his mother, Bertha, felt that effectively his life was ended on that night. With his left eye lost – his leading eye, unlike in the case of the Nawab of Pataudi, whose example Milburn hoped he could emulate – and his right eye badly scarred, his prospects of a comeback were minimal, but his bedside manner was so defiant the hospital report that year suggested that it was he who was lifting the nurses.Ill-advisedly, Northants allowed him one last heave in 1974 – their version, perhaps, of caring for his welfare – and predictably he did not succeed, save for an hour at Guildford against Surrey in light so bright that “the sun lit up the sky like a meteor”, one of the most moving passages of the play. But then the clouds rolled in and they never departed.”I tell them every fat joke I know… I am ‘Comedy Ollie’, the joker, but it never occurs to you that one day you might run out of jokes.”The play is set in the bar of the North Briton pub in Newton Aycliffe on the last night of his life. It is one last performance for “Comedy Ollie”, a traipse through the highs and lows, the tales, the songs and the bonhomie that characterised his life. Feedback from those former Northants team-mates who have seen it has been highly positive: it connects with the Ollie they knew well. Even now, there is a reluctance to accept that there was too much unhappiness, and to some degree the play respects this. Nevertheless, as Milburn reminisces, there is little sense in Dan Gaisford’s performance of the alcoholic exhaustion that had set in. His moment of death is delicately skipped around: not so much as a sound effect.Inevitably this is theatre at its most rudimentary. There is no set, apart from a table, chair and a large glass of gin and coke. Milburn’s girth is symbolised by a bit of extra padding around Gaisford’s middle, and he is not an overweight man. But by no stretch of the imagination is this austere theatre: there is much laughter to be had. I don’t know if the baby balloon joke was Milburn’s, but it should have been.When I was eight, I would pretend to be Ollie Milburn in a knockaround cricket match on a patch of village green. Overweight at the time as I was, it doubtless had its psychological benefits. The role duly chosen, the intent was to try to hit the ball many a mile, a feat occasionally achieved alongside the tumble of many wickets. “Can you be Boycott instead,” my mate Bob pleaded one day. “We’ve only got one tennis ball left.”Late in his life, in the mid-1980s, I joined Milburn as an emergency fill-in for an hour’s county cricket commentary at Scarborough on a premium telephone service. He was hungover, shambolic and had little to say. This being Scarborough, I was probably hungover too, and had even less to offer. People were expected to phone in and pay about 30p a minute. There was surely nobody on the line. It was probably his last job and it paid his bar bill. His decline was all too apparent. succeeds in capturing Milburn’s uniqueness – not an overused word in this case – conveying something of his life at his highest and lowest moments. It left me hankering for something even more ambitious; in its exploration of the sadness behind the famous sporting figure there were reminders of . Being about football and Brian Clough, that had a successful theatre run. Cricket, by contrast, must take what it can get but all involved in this production, the PCA included, have delivered not only an entertaining night’s theatre but a story that needed to be told.When The Eye Has Gone is part of the PCA’s commitment to mental-health and well-being issues, notably the Mind Matters series, which warns about addictive behaviour through alcohol, substances or gambling and educates about the warning signs of anxiety and depression.

Four runs when the ball hits the stumps, and a toe-crusher that actually hurt the bowler feature in the plays of the day for the second ODI between England and India in Cuttack

Alagappan Muthu19-Jan-2017Rocking the traditional
How do you get rid of Virat Kohli? Perhaps you can stick a black cat in his path. Maybe carry around a mentalist to every India series. After all, cricket is extremely accommodating to superstition. For now though, as England showed, there is still merit in exploring traditional tactics. Chris Woakes was smacked down the ground a couple of times for going to the trouble of pitching the ball up. But he didn’t waver. He actually went even fuller, and Kohli, aiming to jam the bat down in line with the ball, ended up slicing a thick outside edge through to Ben Stokes at second slip. No need to reinvent the wheel. Yet.The nostalgia
The fans in Cuttack thronged to the stadium, eager for their share of outrageous batting from India’s next generation. KL Rahul fell for 5. Virat Kohli for 8 and just as they might have been feeling hard done by, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni wound the clock back and redirected their frenzy. The loudest roars were reserved for sixes and fours, obviously, but a streaky little glide to third man in the 17th over was equally important. That single brought up the first half-century partnership between Yuvraj and Dhoni since the 2011 World Cup final. In all, they amassed 256 runs together, the second-highest stand for the fourth wicket in history.The eye in the sky
It was perhaps the most awful ball of the match. A full toss from Woakes Down the leg side. Waist high. Hit me burnt into the leather. Dhoni opened up his stance, wound up that big bat of his and muscled a pull towards the backward square leg boundary – which was about 60 yards from the batsman. The odds were excellent for India to record another six… until the ball clanged into the Spidercam and came back down to earth with a splat. The umpire signalled dead ball and most of the players were exchanging smiles. Only Alex Hales, the man in the deep, kicked the dirt. Clearly he thought he was robbed of a catch. He might have done some more farming a few seconds later considering Dhoni walloped a six to long-on to bring up the 200th of his career.The stumps don’t matter
Liam Plunkett was brought in to play his first game of the series, but he had a forgettable time, conceding 91 runs in his 10 overs. On a flat pitch, with batsmen exploiting the small ground and fast outfield, there were very few places to hide as a bowler. Plunkett found it out in the hardest way possible in the 44th over. He had overstepped the previous ball, meaning he was running in for the free hit delivery. It was a lovely ball, fast, aimed at the top of off stump and Dhoni swung all around it – knowing fully well the only way he could be dismissed off it was by a run-out. The batsman was bowled neck and crop, then the ball ran away to the boundary and India were gifted four byes.The return of favour
As if to level the scales, Jasprit Bumrah suffered the same misfortune. His front foot finished a bit too far a mere three balls into the over and the ensuing yorker – whose sole purpose was to refuse the batsman any leverage – actually nailed Hales on the pads, forced him off his feet and into an ungainly fall. But while all of that looked lovely for a bowler, the ball itself was hurtling away to the fine-leg fence.The extra that works
In the 32nd over of the chase came the first instance of the bowler benefiting from straying into the wrong. R Ashwin saw Jos Buttler coming down the track. He darted a flatter delivery down the leg side and past the batsman’s reach. It was wide for all money but that didn’t matter. Dhoni collected it behind the stumps. The ball had caught in the webbing of his left glove and, perhaps aware that it could pop out as a result of the speed of his hands moving in the opposite direction, he got hold of it better and then whipped the bails off with Buttler still halfway down the pitch.Oops and ouch
Ben Stokes was hanging in the air. He was perhaps the only man in the ground who thought the vicious pull from Hardik Pandya was an opportunity for a wicket. He moved to his right from deep square leg, timed his jump as well as he could, but the ball still cleared him and at pace too. Stokes was just about picking himself up off his dive and turning around to try and retrieve the ball when it came and hit him square on the mouth. It seemed one of the ball boys had been a little overenthusiastic with his job and for that he earned himself a long, withering stare from the England allrounder, his face was as red as his hairThe umpiring mishap
Confusion like this is hard to come by. As with all remarkable things in cricket, it all began with a full delivery outside off stump. Liam Plunkett moved across the line to try and muscle the ball through midwicket but was struck on the pads. Jasprit Bumrah, the bowler, appealed instantly and umpire Anil Chaudhary gave his approval. It was a rather odd decision considering how far the batsman had moved away from his stumps and when DRS was taken that fact was confirmed. Plunkett was struck outside off while playing a shot, which Kumar Dharmasena ascertained clearly but while relaying that information through to his on-field colleague, he asked Chaudhary to stay with his original decision, which had been out.Chaudhary, caught in the glare of the cameras in a match that had gone down to the wire, followed the instructions to the letter put his finger back up a second time at which point Morgan and Plunkett rounded on him and raised argument. Eventually the right call was made. But the drama wasn’t done. Chaudhary also signalled leg-byes because the batsman had taken a run but that’s when Virat Kohli at mid-on came into the picture, suggesting it should be a dead ball since the batsmen completed the single after Chaudhary had ruled Plunkett out lbw and as such anything that happened after that did not count.

Pick your two seamers for our all-time IPL XI and help put the team together with our panel of experts

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2017The public voting phase of the compilation of ESPNcricinfo’s all-time IPL XI is almost over. All that remains is for readers to vote on which six seamers our panel of experts will choose from. After more than 10,000 votes, Sunil Narine, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Yuvendra Chahal, Harbhajan Singh and Shane Warne made it to the shortlist of spinners, while Muttiah Muralitharan narrowly missed out.There are 11 seamers on our long list, from which you can vote for two or three, depending on what you want the balance of your side to be. Your votes will then be used to create a shortlist from which our jury, which includes four former Test players (Sanjay Bangar, Aakash Chopra, Brad Hogg and Ajit Agarkar) and members of our staff, will pick the final XI. In keeping with the IPL’s rules, the number of overseas players in the XI will be restricted to four. The best comments will be part of discussions on the all-time XI during our live shows and video analysis. Keep visiting our all-time IPL XI page for updates on the team selection.Voting on this poll is now closed. The six bowlers selected are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lasith Malinga, Dale Steyn, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
All the player stats are as of 19:30 IST, May 2, 2017.

Few batsmen are hitting a cricket ball better than Colin Ingram at the moment as his destructive performances for Glamorgan attract global attention

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Aug-2017″It just felt like I was meant to be playing out here,” says Colin Ingram, as rain hammers away on the roof of the pavilion at the SSE Swalec Stadium in Cardiff. It’s not long before the deluge ends what might have been a Friday night blockbuster with Surrey, without a ball bowled. Not for the first time in this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast, a Glamorgan home fixture was sodden by the Welsh weather. Ingram has a peek outside, shrugs and smiles.There are not many people hitting a white ball better than Ingram at the moment. The numbers say it all: with three hundreds and two fifties, he made the most runs in this year’s Royal London Cup – 564 – followed by two T20 hundreds in six Blast innings so far. That builds on his 2016 tournament of 502 runs and 29 sixes (equal top with Chris Gayle).It is in the game’s shortest form that Ingram’s work is truly distinctive. Of the 10 players, at the time of writing, who have scored more than 1000 T20 runs in English domestic cricket since the start of 2015, Ingram (1162 – third most) has the highest strike rate – 165.05. As a No. 3 batsman, in that same period, he has developed a near-complete game for the various scenarios packed into 20-over cricket – striking at 151 in the Powerplay, 145 in the middle before shifting up a couple of gears to 210 in the final five overs.Glamorgan worked quickly to secure his services for two more years, solely for limited-overs cricket. The rest of the world are starting to pay attention too: he is currently in talks with the Adelaide Strikes ahead of their Big Bash League season. If there are not many bludgeoning better than Ingram, at 32, it could be because there aren’t many as comfortable in their own skin. For that, Ingram credits his move to county cricket.”It felt like starting a new chapter,” he says of the decision he took in 2015 to draw a line under part of his career and sign for Glamorgan on a Kolpak contract.

Unfortunately I ran into a few really good bowlers when I ended up opening, which wasn’t my preferred position

Although there was anger at the spate and quality of South African players going Kolpak this summer, there was understanding and sympathy for Ingram two years ago. Here was a player with 31 ODIs and nine T20Is spaced out between 2010 and 2013, who batted in every position across the top seven. There are regrets, but none that keep him awake at night.”I definitely feel I held my own at international level and put in performances,” he says. “Unfortunately I ran into a few really good bowlers when I ended up opening, which wasn’t my preferred position. But when you get a chance to play international cricket, you don’t turn it down. It was an unsettling period because I did move around, I was in and out of the side and I didn’t feel backed. But that’s top-end sport. If you’re in the top 15 players in the country, you take whatever you can get. I tried to make the most of it. I’m a positive sort of guy.”A switch of Bays, from Nelson Mandela to Cardiff – at least for six months of the year – has proved cathartic, allowing Ingram to renew his free-wheeling younger years in Port Elizabeth where he learned his trade on slower pitches similar to those in modern county cricket.Failure had changed Ingram, curbing an intent that he has finally rediscovered. “I started off quite fluent and then became a bit of a blocker. As most players do, you wiggle your way through and find a way. Then, in the last couple of years of my career in South Africa, I became quite tight and nervous under pressure all the time. Coming out here, I wanted to let myself loose and rediscover my game.” And how: this season he has hit 28.3% of balls faced for boundaries.”After playing international cricket, when you have a lot riding on each performance, you can get quite tight. So I’ve come out here and really enjoyed my game and rediscovered a lot. The freedom has come with that and it has been great.”Colin Ingram pummels another boundary•Getty ImagesSouth Africa’s limited-overs sides are in a constant state of flux, but no one from Cricket South Africa has asked Ingram to reconsider his position, apart from a moment last year when a national selector shouted across a packed room to tell him he had proved his point and that it was time to come home. A heckle taken with a heavy pinch of salt.Ingram’s affinity for the UK goes beyond his stint as Somerset’s overseas player in 2014. He’d long been wise to the rhythm of county cricket through a childhood of anecdotes from a schoolfriend’s father, Ken McEwan – a stylish batsmen who played for Essex between 1974 and 1985, and who himself was introduced to county cricket by Tony Greig. “I grew up listening to stories from Kenny and, from then, it was something I always wanted to do.”After making his first-class debut for Free State in 2004, before representing Eastern Province, Ingram had his first taste of cricket in England two years later with a stint for Spondon in Derbyshire. “I was only 20-years-old when I came to do that. I needed a job in the winter. I wasn’t really making much money playing cricket at that stage. I was taken in by families and made some great friends.”He returned in 2007 but in a far more precarious state, having lost his domestic contract. In search of the best-paid gig, Ingram spent 2008 north of the border, playing for Dunfermline.

“Those pay cheques are what paid my rent at home and kept me playing first-class cricket. It was an incredible experience at a young age to come out and pro at a club.”

“Yeah, that was… interesting. I didn’t play much cricket. It rained a lot. It wasn’t a particularly great standard but I had lost my contract so I was unemployed. I was just looking for a good deal.”Luckily, he had a supportive girlfriend, who upped sticks in the middle of her university studies to back his attempts to stay in the game and tour Scotland on the side. Ingram can’t help but laugh about aspects of this period – “from being stuck on the tip of Africa to Dunfermline!” – but appreciates the debt he owes to both cricket clubs for the platform they provided him.”Those pay cheques at Dunfermline are what paid my rent at home and kept me playing first-class cricket. It was an incredible experience at a young age to come out and ‘pro’ at a club and have that responsibility. I encourage our guys at home to get out as well; you learn a lot from it.”In 2013, Ingram opened South Africa’s batting during the Champions Trophy and the following year signed for Somerset as cover for his compatriot Alviro Petersen. It was this period at Taunton, with a shrinking window to get his place back in the national side and an enduring desire to experience county cricket to its fullest, that convinced him to go Kolpak. Unfortunately for Ingram, a change of focus at Somerset eventually saw the county reject him.At that point that Glamorgan captain and former South Africa international Jacques Rudolph came to Ingram’s aid. The pair were not particularly close – they’d brushed shoulders on a national camp before, recalls Ingram, but not much more – but their paths did cross in 2014. They bonded over a love of the outdoors.A month or so after his Somerset deal fell through, with every week pushing Ingram out of his eligibility window for a Kolpak deal, he got a defining call from Rudolph. “He just walked out of a wedding in South Africa,” remembers Ingram. “He asked me, ‘Are you keen to come back to England?’ I asked him ‘who do I need chat to.'”A day later, Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris called, gave him the sell. That was that. The next conversation would be his hardest. That girlfriend who selflessly moved to Dunfermline was now Ingram’s wife, with a different Celtic adventure put to her. “If that’s what we’ve got to do, it’s what we’ve got to do,” came her reply. So, Ingram, his wife and their daughter made the move. “I’ve been fortunate to have her support.”Ingram’s duty of care extends beyond those within the walls of his Cardiff apartment. Even at his team in South Africa, the Warriors – a “passionate, hard-working” domestic franchise, one of the smallest in the system, “growing with a lot of young guys” – his focus is skewed towards pushing those around him.Hugh Morris has stressed Ingram’s developmental role•Glamorgan CCCPart of Morris’ initial chat with Ingram was to underline that as much as he’d be needed out in the middle, his work behind the scenes would be just as important as Glamorgan bring more Welsh players through.Criticism of a lack of local players in their system has been widespread. Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes is one figure who took aim at the likes of Ingram and a Glamorgan squad packed full of imports.Ingram bit back: “I know what’s going on under my roof. Maybe for people from the outside it’s easy to look in and make a comment without knowing the full facts. But I know my role here is to work with the young Welsh players and bring them through.”One of those is Aneurin Donald, one of the brightest prospects on the circuit. “We talk a lot about the game,” Ingram says of the prodigy. “I’ve encouraged him to have separate accounts: your white ball account and a separate red ball account. If you structure it up in that way it makes it a lot more clear-cut and you don’t wander between the three formats. When you’re working on your red ball, you’re working on your red ball.”Ingram’s next focus is broadening his horizons on the international T20 circuit. The finer details are due to be ironed out with Jason Gillespie and the Strikers – he has everything crossed after a gig with Sydney Sixers fell through last season – but with this and another two years at Glamorgan, he has a solid base of work lined up.”A lot of the opportunities that have come from playing out here,” he acknowledges. “I’m really grateful for that.” He hopes, too, that he will be able to earn a spot in South Africa’s new Global T20 League this November.Pakistan celebrate dismissing Ingram for a duck•AFPAs for the IPL, that is a little more complicated because of the need for “No Objection Certificates” from Cricket South Africa and, in essence, from Glamorgan: Kolpak players are required to prioritise their county.”It gets quite confusing,” says Ingram. “I play six months back home and I play six months here so both sides feel they have some sort of right to me. But I think I’m moving towards a stage where I’d like to get out to international tournaments in the next two years. That’s my plan. Being 32, I know I’ve got loads of cricket in me. Without international cricket on the table, that’s the next challenge.”Prior to sitting down with ESPNcricinfo, as the rain begins, he is in deep conversation with Surrey’s Kumar Sangakkara, picking his brain about what options might be open to him in the off-season. In fact, Ingram breaks off his chat for this interview.”I’ve not seen Sanga in a while. I’m fortunate that I’ve played against and chatted to these really high, marquee players. So it’s great to touch base with him and throw out a few ideas and see what he thinks. Often in life it’s who you know and not what you know.”Ingram is right. Luckily for him, he is now one they’ll want to know, too.

He has become adept at rescue acts but Temba Bavuma is still looking to solidify his place in South Africa’s Test side

Firdose Moonda29-Jul-20171:13

Bavuma unfazed by batting rescue acts

I’m Temba Bavuma. I’m short. I’ve been short my whole life – well except for that time in primary school when we were all about the same height and then everyone else grew – so I’ve kind of got used to it.I’m black. I’ve been black my whole life, and how different that life could have been. I was born a year before South Africa were readmitted to international cricket, at a time when society was starting to integrate. By the time I started school, I was able to attend two of the best – SACS, where Peter Kirsten used to go, and St David’s. When I was 11, the school magazine asked us to write a paragraph on where we saw ourselves in 15 years’ time. I wrote, “I see myself in fifteen years in my suit and shaking [then-president Thabo] Mbeki’s hand congratulating me for making the South African side.” I got there two years earlier than planned. I was 24 when I made my Test debut.I was not supposed to play in that match, against West Indies in Port Elizabeth, but Quinton de Kock rolled his ankle in the first Test and they needed someone to bat at No. 7. I scored 10. In the next Test, I scored 15. I didn’t know how soon it would be before I played again but I was taken on the next tour to Bangladesh, in June 2015, because AB de Villiers was on paternity leave. It rained so much that nobody even remembers that series but I do, because I scored my first fifty there. I knew it didn’t matter that much though, AB was back for the next series against India so I went back to being the reserve.I didn’t do much besides be glad I wasn’t playing in that series. The pitches were tough, the ball was turning and India were all over us. All our batsmen struggled so for the last Test, the selectors decided to give Stiaan van Zyl a break and asked me to open the batting. I am not an opening batsman.I was so nervous when I walked out with Dean Elgar at the Feroz Shah Kotla but I knew I had to try. I clipped my fifth ball through midwicket and, although I struggled a bit with my footwork, I even managed to find my drive. I was doing okay, even when they brought the spinners on, even when Dean nicked off, even when Hashim Amla was dropped. After tea, I had to face Ravi Jadeja and he found even more turn than the others. I couldn’t get forward and he beat my inside edge. I was bowled. I faced 55 balls in that innings and made 22.Some people were talking about it as though it was the best I’d played until the second knock when I spent almost two-and-half hours in the middle and faced 117 balls to make 34. I admitted that was the toughest innings of my life. It went against all my natural impulses because it wasn’t about scoring runs, it was about batting time and blocking things out – the ball and the banter. I didn’t know that the next 18 months would be just as tough, hell, maybe even tougher.

In these situations, I can’t think of myself. I have to consider what the team needs and how I can help get them there. I can’t play expansive strokes. I can’t take risks

I got to keep a place in the team for home series against England, which was extra special because it was played over the festive season. I was part of a Boxing Day Test in Durban and a New Year’s Test at my home ground, Newlands. I grew up less than 10km away from the stadium, in the township of Langa. It was basically a different world. In that match it seemed as though the two worlds became one.I scored a hundred. To date, my only hundred. My dad was in the stands when I did it. He had dreamed of this moment as much as me. The whole of Newlands was there, a Newlands crowd with people from Langa in it. They all clapped when I reached the milestone and many of them cried too. I knew I had done something special. I had given millions of people, black African people, hope. Afterwards Hashim, a man of so few words, explained the difficulties players of colour face because we continue to be doubted. Apartheid ended shortly after I was born; its legacy will take much longer to face.I got the sense people thought I belonged after that innings. I suppose a Test hundred will do that for you. I also knew I needed the runs because there was soon to be a selection struggle in the line-up. Over the course of the England series, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis were both dropped. JP was brought back and I was sure Faf would be too.I had a break until August when we played New Zealand at home. Just before the series, we had a culture camp and were asked to rethink our goals, as individuals and as a team. Getting our Test ranking back up was one of the most important things on our agenda. We had slipped to No. 7. When we beat New Zealand, we moved up to No. 5. Then we headed to Australia.It was my first time there. The Australian media were very interested in my height. A few days before the Perth Test, I was up for a media day and all the questions were about how I had adapted my game because I’m short. They also asked me if I liked facing bouncers. I didn’t want to say too much, especially because the first Test was in Perth. I just told them the Wanderers, where I play my domestic cricket, is a lot like the WACA.When it was my turn to bat, we were 81 for 5. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were raising steam from the Perth pitch. I scored 51. Quinton de Kock was with me. He bats much more freely and scores quicker. He made 84. Together, we dragged the team to 242. It wasn’t a great score but we trusted our attack, even after Dale Steyn went down. Australia scored 244 and then we batted them out of the game. We won and I played a small part in it.In Hobart, we bowled Australia out for 85 in some of the scariest conditions for batsmen. The ball was swinging and seaming and when it was my turn to bat, we were 76 for 4. Hashim was with me for a bit, then Quinny was with me and we rebuilt. I scored 74. I thought I was going to get a hundred that day but after four-and-a-half hours, I holed out to point. I was disappointed but we won the match and the series.I knew when I got home that I would have to concentrate on converting my starts and the Sri Lanka series should have been the one to do that. We were told it wouldn’t be easy, because we were going to prepare green tops, but I didn’t expect it to be that hard. I only got into double-figures once in five innings and my series ended with two ducks. Throughout that series, the talk was about who would be replaced by AB, who was coming back after his injury, and I suspected it would be me. At a function in late January, I told some journalists I would understand if I was dropped. But then AB decided to sit out of the New Zealand and England series and I had another chance.Temba Bavuma showed his impressive temperament•AFPIt was my first time in New Zealand. Dunedin was like Hobart weather-wise. We drew. When we got to Wellington, we made it look like the WACA, or the Wanderers. When it was my turn to bat, we were 94 for 6. Quinny was with me. We put on 160 runs together but neither of us scored a hundred. We won the match.Now, I am here, in England for the first time. There is a lot of expectation on our side. After winning three series in a row in Australia since readmission, we could win three in a row in England too. But we are underdogs. At Lord’s, we concede 458 and when it is my turn to bat we are 104 for 4. Theunis de Bruyn is with me. We fight hard, I make 59 and we finish on 361. We lose the match. It’s not a great feeling. But I know this team well enough to know they won’t take this lying down.We come back at Trent Bridge. We square the series. We get to The Oval. We concede 353 and when it is my turn to bat, we are 47 for 4. Quinny has been moved up to No. 4 and he has already been dismissed. Soon we are 61 for 7. Vernon Philander is in hospital and won’t be back today. Will we even get to 100?In these situations, I can’t think of myself. I have to consider what the team needs and how I can help get them there. I can’t play expansive strokes. I can’t take risks. I have to keep my defence tight. I can’t drive or pull as often as I want to. Sometimes I get a ball that just begs to be hit, like the one Ben Stokes pitched up, but mostly, I try to go with soft hands, to guide the ball into gaps. I ran one to third man, deliberately, but I can’t do that too often.I need to look after the tail, I need to stay with them. I have to refuse some runs. I can’t do what I did when I was on 40 and slashed at a Stuart Broad ball and was nearly caught. We might not have avoided the follow-on if Stokes had held on. I can only reach for those when they’re a bit wider like the one Jimmy Anderson bowled to me a little later. I was on 48 then and Morne Morkel got out. I almost didn’t get to fifty at all. But I did and that’ll do for now.I’m Temba Bavuma and I just need a little more time in the middle.

Mitchell Marsh could be in line to play the third Ashes Test in Perth, and says that he is in a good place now after being dropped from the Australian squad

Daniel Brettig07-Dec-2017In the aftermath of two announcements about allrounders returning to the playing set-ups of Australia and England, it was difficult to conclude who had made the more unlikely return – Ben Stokes, or Mitchell Marsh.While the former’s absence has been more high-profile, Marsh’s time away from the national team was a confluence of both physical infirmity and underperformance, such that other players, namely his Western Australian team-mate Marcus Stoinis, had seemingly slipped ahead of the Warriors captain in the selectors’ order of preference. But a return to the bowling crease after a shoulder surgery, in addition to a healthy run of domestic scores, has flipped things once more.In assessing options for what is likely to be a hot week in Perth on a baked dry WACA Ground pitch, Trevor Hohns’ panel elected to go back to the same player who had been among the quintet culled at the end of a fifth consecutive Test match loss in Hobart a little more than a year ago. Marsh is now in line to replace the struggling Peter Handscomb and, if so, would slot into the same No. 6 position where he has so far averaged a measly 21.74 from 21 matches.”I probably didn’t think it was going to happen this soon, but in saying that I feel like I’m in really good form at the moment, and it’s nice to be back playing as an allrounder,” Marsh said in Melbourne. “I’m no guarantee to play in Perth, it’ll depend on how the bowlers pull up; they’ve got eight days off now. Hopefully they pull up well but we’ll have to wait and see.”It had been Marsh’s bowling that kept him in the frame for Australia despite the aforementioned struggles as a batsman, related largely to confusion. Marsh was caught between a method based upon bludgeoning the ball with rare power, and a more considered approach that did not allow for the reality that his defensive technique could not effectively counter quality bowling for long periods. Questions remain about whether Marsh can do that job, particularly given how he was sorted out swiftly in two innings by Josh Hazlewood at Hurstville Oval earlier in the season, but he is certainly a more confident man now.”That was a great learning experience for me, I certainly lost a bit of confidence,” Marsh said of his difficulties in the Test side. “But that’s all a part of playing cricket at the highest level, you go through troughs and right now I’m feeling really confident in my game and scoring runs for WA.”From my experiences last year I wasn’t performing at my best, and in the game of cricket you can get pretty down on yourself and I’ve just come to realise it’s a game. I’m here to play, to do my best for the team and as long as I prepare well and do everything I can I know I’ll be able to do a job for Australia.”I’ve had eight or nine months to change a few things with my batting and I think that’s working. Probably more [change] on the mental side, being able to deal with the pressures of batting for long periods of time is something I really wanted to work on and I feel like my game is in a really good place right now.”A good place, as well, to bat alongside his brother Shaun, who has provided a major contribution to Australia’s Ashes cause so far with a useful innings in Brisbane than a pivotal one in Adelaide.”It’s always special playing for Australia with Shaun,” Mitchell Marsh said. “Playing together in the last Ashes Test match at the WACA would be pretty special as well, and with the position we’re in it’s a great opportunity to hopefully come in to the side and perform for the team. One thing I learned from Shaun is he’s solely focused on his own game now. When you play for Australia there are a lot of distractions outside the inner sanctum but he’s just really concentrating hard now and it’s great to see.”By his own admission, Marsh is not in a space where he can bowl vast numbers of overs, meaning he will be looking for a combination of economy and impact with the ball if selected. “As an allrounder in the Australian team, [and] with our bowling attack, I’m not going to be bowling 30-40 overs a game,” he said. “But I’ve worked hard over the past eight months to get my body in good position, so I’m now playing again as an allrounder, so that’s really exciting.”[Ashes selection] wasn’t in my thinking behind, it was more the game scenario against Queensland, but I’ve felt ready for a while. The shoulder took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take, as an athlete you always want to get back as soon as you can, it took a while, but now it’s feeling great.”There was empathy too, for Handscomb, currently in the sort of trough Marsh experienced a little more than a year ago. “We’ve got a great relationship, Petey’s a great bloke, still averaging 50 in Test match cricket, so in these situations you are always going to come under scrutiny if you don’t get runs, but he’s a very good player,” Marsh said. “I’m sure if he gets another opportunity in the next Test match, he’ll make runs.”I certainly have been there. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is the distractions outside, the media and the scrutiny, that’s what happens when you play for Australia but it’s all about making sure you focus on what you want and need to do to play well, and that’s all that matters. There’s always pressure for spots when you’re playing for Australia, there’ only 11 spots to fill. I’m feeling really confident in my game at the moment so it’s a great feeling.”

The Bangladesh women vice-captain hoped that their first win over India in international cricket would give them confidence against other top-ranked teams

Annesha Ghosh06-Jun-2018″The dream has always been to come close to beating a team like India. That we’ve beaten them is a reality.”These words from Bangladesh women’s T20I vice-captain Rumana Ahmed best encapsulates the team’s sentiments. Rumana followed figures of 3 for 21 and a run-out with an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls to lead Bangladesh to their first win over India in international cricket. Bangladesh handed India their first defeat in the Asia Cup a day after upsetting Pakistan.”When we arrived at the team hotel, the Pakistan players congratulated us in the lobby,” Rumana told ESPNcricinfo from Kuala Lumpur. “We beat them the other day, and today they were congratulating us for beating India.”For Rumana, this was “easily the most memorable day” in her career, and “perhaps in Bangladesh women’s history.” Understandably so as she starred with the bat, ball and in the field and was part of Bangladesh’s highest stand in T20Is with Fargana Hoque.”It hurts when you have to wait for your chances because you’re the ninth-ranked team,” Rumana said.”Teams like India, Pakistan – they’re in the top eight and play [ICC Women’s Championship] matches all around the year. It’s like you’re made to feel you’re not good enough, but I hope this goes some way towards changing that perception.”Rumana’s individual brilliance aside, Bangladesh’s tactical acumen and their discipline in the field would give them confidence against top-ranked teams.”If you see Harmanpreet [Kaur]’s records, she’s scored 60-70 against us every other game,” Rumana said. “I remember telling a journalist the other day that I’ve not played against too many sensible female cricketers like Harman. Most of our bowlers struggle against her because it’s difficult to contend with the power in her arms or the way she pierces the gaps. But we made sure we kept rotating our bowlers despite the terrible heat and humidity.”Having hit six fours, Harmanpreet was on course for a half-century, but a legbreak from Rumana at the end of the 16th over had the India captain miscuing a sweep to short square leg and triggered a late collapse: from 120 for 3 India went to 134 for 7. Foxing Harmanpreet: check. Fulfilling dream: check.Rumana then dismissed Deepti Sharma and Anuja Patil, but she picked out Anuja’s return catch as the best she’s taken.”During the A-team matches, I took note of her ability to play all round the wicket. So, as a wristspinner, my target was to make her play straight. I pitched up as much as possible, and there it was: she hit one straight back.”The success of chase, Rumana said, was down to the foundation laid by opener Shamima Sultana’s 33 off 23 balls. The pressure then got to Hoque and her when the asking rate jumped to nine, but they found a way keep in touch with it.”That was probably the only time I started second-guessing myself, and thought it might be a little too much for us,” Rumana told.”But when the equation came down to, 32 off 24, Fargana and I told each other that we got this. Let’s just keep calm and get this done. Just like we did the other day.”Looking back on the margin of the wins over Pakistan and India – by seven wickets each – Rumana acknowledged the contribution of former head coach David Capel, whose last assignment with the team was the South Africa tour in May. Bangladesh were blanked 5-0 and 3-0 in the ODIs and T20Is respectively, after which former India wicketkeeper Anju Jain replaced Capel.”I think 60-70 % credit of these two wins goes to him,” Rumana said. “Many of the strategies I used while bowling today were based on David’s theories. In the past 18 months, he taught us to envisage a day like today, to believe we can beat big teams. Wherever he is now, I hope he’s proud of what we achieved today.”Rumana welcomed Jain’s commitment to “giving the team time get used to her approach” and also credited the efforts of the other two Indian backroom staff assistant coach Devika Palshikar and physio Anuja Dalvi Pandit.”After the game, we asked her [Jain] jokingly about us beating India on her first assignment,” Rumana said. “Obviously, she laughed a little.””Yes, my familiarity with the Indian team helped, but the win was more about them [the Bangladesh players] executing our plans well, and us getting to chase despite losing the toss on a superb batting track,” Jain said in response.”The nature of T20 cricket is unpredictable, and we want to make it to the final. Whatever is to come, I know for a fact this team is not going to be complacent. With a victory like this, their self-belief has shot up and so will their hunger to win..”

Suffering from stomach cramps, the India captain gave the first standalone Women’s World T20 what it needed in its very first match

Melinda Farrell in Guyana10-Nov-2018It was a pleasant summer Saturday evening at North Sydney Oval and a decent crowd had filtered in to watch the Sydney Thunder host the Melbourne Stars in the Women’s Big Bash League. In its second season, the tournament was fast gaining traction.Set 148 for victory, the Thunder had lost their first two wickets for 60 runs. Making her debut in the WBBL – the first Indian to play in an overseas T20 league – Harmanpreet Kaur walked to the crease. Only serious fans of women’s cricket in Australia knew who she was. The WBBL was raising the profile of female players but Harmanpreet wasn’t even the most famous Indian player – Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were surely more recognisable.Still, It was Harmanpreet walking out to the middle and taking guard. And it was Harmanpreet who produced the shot that stunned the world. With impeccable timing and strength that belied her slender frame, she gracefully met a Gemma Triscari ball on one knee and launched a lofted drive over the deep extra cover boundary. Triscari burst into incredulous laughter. Commentators flew into raptures. Anyone who followed women’s cricket was agog. Sure, sixes were becoming more common in the women’s game, but were more often the result of a slog sweep in region of deep midwicket. Women just didn’t hit sixes like that.Harmanpreet scored an unbeaten 28-ball 47. It wasn’t quite enough. The Thunder fell short by six runs. The Stars’ Emma Inglis won the Player-of-the-Match award. None of those things are particularly memorable. But those who saw that shot don’t forget it.

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In the sweltering Georgetown heat, Lea Tahuhu was bowling fast. Really fast. She had sent both of India’s openers back to the dugout: Taniya Bhatia beaten by pace and seam, deflecting the ball off her pads onto the stumps and Smriti Mandhana flat-batting a pull that looked sure to be six but was snaffled brilliantly by Hayley Jenson at the midwicket boundary. New Zealand were jubilant, even more so when Dayalan Hemalatha was caught off after making a brief but sparky debut.India wobbling at 40 for 3. That was as good as it got for New Zealand.Harmanpreet Kaur eyes the leg side•International Cricket Council

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Harmanpreet has many hashtagable nicknames: the #Harmonster, the #Harmanator #HarmanpreetPhwoar #KaurBlimey. All convey in their own way the open-mouthed joy that comes with watching her at her unfettered best. Some call her Harman for short, but her team-mates call her Harry. Perhaps it should be preceded by ‘Dirty’; it would be fitting if she muttered to hapless bowlers, “You’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” before firing balls at targets in the stands.But here in Georgetown her pistols were holstered by nerves early on. They weren’t helped by the fact that she hadn’t quite felt right on the morning before the match. The first 13 balls she faced netted just five runs. On the 14th, she jettisoned the jitters and charged down the pitch to Jess Watkin, belting the ball into the stand beyond midwicket. On the last delivery of the over she attacked again, but didn’t quite middle it. Not that it mattered; another six, this time over long-off.After running two in the following over, Harmanpreet turned and dropped to the ground. As she lay on her back holding her mid-riff while the physio ran on to the ground and Jemimah Rodrigues looked on with concern, the concerned muttering flittered around the stadium. Harmanpreet didn’t train the day before the match and there was talk of possible back problems.But the not-quite-right feeling had developed into stomach cramps which could hardly be helped by the hot and sticky humidity. Harmanpreet realised that running twos was not helping, so she did what only the best and most confident players can do. She told Rodrigues to give her the strike whenever possible and she would make sure she didn’t have to run between the wickets so often.What followed was a monstrous display of timing and power hitting. There were delicate dabs, too, and canny finesse as she carved through the New Zealand field with all the accuracy of a teppanyaki chef dicing tuna.New Zealand had chosen a bowling attack they thought suited a Providence pitch that was expected to be low and slow, but actually offered decent pace and bounce. Harmanpreet treated both pace and spin with disdain. According to Cricviz, she averaged a lazy 9.75 runs per over against pace and a crushing 13.20 against spin.Helping her was the fact that Rodrigues was holding up her end of the bargain by finding the boundary regularly and saving her captain’s legs or, rather, stomach. When her fine innings ended on a 45-ball 59 with a stumping, Harmanpreet had the ball on a string. The slog-sweeps, the pulls and, of course, those rockets over extra cover where women were never supposed to be so strong. It was an innings that called to mind her demolishing of Australia – a breathtaking unbeaten 171 that propelled India into the World Cup final last year.When she brought up her century in the final over she barely celebrated, a quick hug of Veda Krishnamurthy, a briefly raised bat to the dressing room and the crowd, many of them schoolchildren who will undoubtedly remember this day.And two balls later it was over, an edge behind leaving her total to stand at 103 off 51 balls. The New Zealand players, knowing they had an Everest to climb, offered up applause as Harmanpreet walked off, greeted by a standing ovation from her team-mates.This is the first standalone Women’s World T20. The tournament needed a marquee moment and it got one in the opening game, thanks to pistol-packing Harry.As the other Harry might say: “Did she fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself.”

A change of captain brought a change of fortunes for the Lions, while the Cobras secured a nervy four-wicket win over the Knights

Liam Brickhill04-Oct-2018Results summaryThe Lions have both a new coach and a new captain this season, and the change in personnel has brought immediate success as they opened their season with a nine-wicket win over Warriors in Port Elizabeth.In 2017-18, the Gauteng-based Lions had finished the four-day tournament at the bottom of the table, with just a single win. But in the off season Temba Bavuma took over the captaincy from Stephen Cook, and in May, Enoch Nkwe signed a three-year coaching contract, with Geoffrey Toyana moving into the position of High Performance manager.Freed from the captaincy, Cook was instrumental to their opening win over the Warriors, his 188 giving them a first-innings lead of 125 after the rain had washed out much of the second day’s play. Medium pacer Malusi Siboto’s 5 for 54 kept the Warriors to just 182 in the second dig, and Lions completed an easy 58-run chase.The Knights also have a new captain in Pite van Biljon, who replaced Theunis de Bruyn at the helm after the latter returned to the Titans. On his first day in charge, Van Biljon started strongly with a century against Cape Cobras at Newlands.Cobras rode on Pieter Malan’s 129 to take a big first-innings lead, and though van Biljon added a second-innings fifty and Grant Mokoena added a ton of his own, the Cobras were left chasing just 194 to win. They stumbled along the way, but fifties from Zubayr Hamza and Kyle Verreynne – as well as the broad bat of Rory Kleinveldt – secured a nervy four-wicket win.In Centurion, the Titans and the Dolphins played out a tense draw. Keshav Maharaj’s 4 for 71 brought some excitement to the final afternoon as he battled against Chris Morris, who threatened to take the game away with 46 before getting caught in the deep.Alfred Mothoa’s 5 for 55 had kept Dolphins to 269 after they had decided to bat first, and Farhaan Behardian then top-scored with 68 to give the Titans a slim first-innings lead of 39. The Dolphins’ middle order was a little more firm second time around, and fifties from Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Calvin Savage gave the Titans a target of 277. They raced to 124 for 1, but then collapsed to 140 for 5 before Morris’ hitting once again gave them hope. But once he fell aiming for a third six, the tailenders shut the shop down to cling on for a draw, stumps being called with Titans on 244 for 8.On the national radarMorris got through 30 overs in the match in Centurion, chipping in with five wickets and scores of 30 and 46. It’s the sort of sustained, injury-free performance that he is hoping will not escape the attention of South Africa coach Ottis Gibson, who spoke recently about his desire for Morris to prove he could consistently stay “on the park” for his franchise.Chris Morris tries to clean the soiled spikes undernearth his shoes•BCCILike Morris, Bavuma is not part of South Africa’s immediate ODI plans but remains part of their thinking as they build towards the World Cup next year. Bavuma is also more of a fixture in South Africa’s Test squad, and though he contributed just 35 runs to the Lions’ win, four-day success with his franchise can only help to cement his position in the national side.Maharaj got closer to South Africa’s ODI squad against Zimbabwe than either of the above, being named in the original group before he was excused from national duty to captain the Dolphins in their opening match of the competition. But like Bavuma, it’s in whites that he generally features for South Africa.Elsewhere, Gihahn Cloete and Dane Paterson – both named in South Africa’s T20I squad – are showing reassuring form in the longer format. Cloete, who had an excellent 2017-18, opened his season with 81 against Lions, while Paterson nipped out the top three in Knights’ first innings, chipped in with 41 down the order, and then added 4 for 68 to help set up the Cobras’ victory.Top performersThe first round saw five hundreds and two five-wicket hauls (not to mention five four-fors), but the standout must be Cook’s ton on a fresh, early-season pitch. His 188 was, remarkably, his 45th first-class hundred.Special mention should also go to the pitches being played on. Last season’s Sunfoil series went 12 successive games without a result, such was the blandness of the tracks, and the pitches used in the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe in Kimberley and, in particular, Bloemfontein have brought fresh scrutiny upon South Africa’s groundsmen.But if the first round results are anything to go by, the early-season surfaces everywhere else are behaving a little better, with two results and, generally, a good battle between bat and ball.

Tim Southee has had a tough struggle in ODIs since the highs of the 2015 World Cup. It’s swing he is known for, it’s the swing that has been missing and it’s the swing New Zealand hope he can regain soon

Alagappan Muthu30-Jan-2019Tim Southee is on the sidelines because he has been bowling straight lines.Technically, it appears he is out of the New Zealand XI because they are trying to get a look at as many players as possible before the World Cup begins in May. And while it makes sense that an experienced player makes way – the team knows what to expect from him and he can be trusted to raise his game come the big day – the fact that Southee had to do so while the series against India was alive was odd.After all, that meant New Zealand were happy to face one of the best ODI teams on the planet without one of their premier quicks. Except he has been averaging 45.29 over the last four years.Simon Doull, a former fast bowler himself, and one of the sharpest commentators going around, called it even before Southee’s name was missing from the second ODI against India, pointing out that he has not been able to swing the white ball as well as he used to. And there is data to back that up. According to Cricviz, Southee, who swung the ball 1.12 degrees through the 2015 World Cup, has seen that figure fall to 0.83 degrees of movement since.It’s a shortcoming that is affecting several bowlers in limited-overs cricket. Mitchell Starc, who was monumentally vicious four years ago, is now struggling to make any kind of ball – white, red, pink, rolled-up socks – swing. But he has pace. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who once couldn’t get through a wicketless first spell if he tried, is paying a steep 40 runs per wicket in the first 10 overs. But Bhuvneshwar has fashioned himself into a world-class menace in the death overs, alongside Jasprit Bumrah. Everyone – even the very best ODI bowlers – has had to find new ways to be threatening, with swing – both conventional and reverse – fading out of the game.Of course, Southee doesn’t lack for variations. There’s that deceptive bouncer; it may not have scary pace but it has a nasty habit of coming at your nose. Cross-seamers, which he’s rather fond of, since they have the potential to stop on the pitch or bounce awkwardly. The wide-of-the-crease delivery. The offcutters. The legrollers. But it is swing that he’s known for, that the batsmen are wary of. Swing that makes a batsman slow to move his feet, that scrambles his mind. Swing that led Sir Richard Hadlee to label him and Boult as New Zealand’s best-ever new-ball combo. Without it, he’s a bit like Superman without super speed. The bad guys know if they take care and keep their distance they should be able to get away with it.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnd the stats bear that out. Southee has picked up only 48 wickets in 44 innings since that fairytale run to the MCG. By comparison, Boult has 93 in 49, including an unmatched 36 during the first 10 overs of an ODI.It is not prudent to compare the returns of a left-arm seamer, whose angle alone is often enough to trouble an opponent, with a right-armer. But it does illustrate the point that the old faithful firm is not as it once was. To their credit, New Zealand identified the problem and, as has been the case in the past – whether as recently as the tour of the UAE or their unbeaten run into the semi-final of the 2016 World T20 – sentiment was kept aside and a senior player was left out. The team management placed its trust in the express pace of Lockie Ferguson, the wristspin of Ish Sodhi and the allrounders Doug Bracewell and Mitchell Santner. India beat them anyway.”3-0 is a tough pill to swallow,” Ross Taylor said on Tuesday. “We just weren’t able to capitalise when we were in a semi-dominant position. With bat and ball, we haven’t been able to penetrate.”There was a time when a batsman could cover all three stumps and Southee would still find a way right through him. It was the defining feature of the last instance when he took five or more wickets in ODIs, sealed when Chris Woakes was beaten by an outswinger and he knew he should just walk off to the dressing room and not even dare looking back. It was the most visceral kind of magic and for New Zealand, it’d be great if Southee can do it all over again. Preferably sometime soon.