To revive their season, the Sunrisers will need more than just their overseas personnel to perform

Annesha Ghosh27-Apr-2021

Big picture

The IPL caravan moves to Delhi, one of the worst-hit regions in the throes of a resurgent Covid-19 wave raging through India. The teams kicking off the eight-match leg in the city – the Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad – have set up camp for four games apiece and, like the other six sides, will be subject to tighter biosecurity restrictions, the onus, as per the BCCI, as much on winning as on catering to “something much more important…humanity.”Conditions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium have historically favoured both the Super Kings and the Sunrisers, each winning six out of their eight outings at the venue. On recent evidence, though, the Super Kings, on a four-match winning run, hold the edge as the Sunrisers suffered their fourth defeat in five games in a one-over shootout against the Delhi Capitals two nights ago.Pivotal to their turnaround since a seven-wicket loss in their season opener, vital contributions have come in fairly evenly from across disciplines in the Super Kings set-up. Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round tour de force at the Wankhede on Sunday that snapped the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s undefeated streak lent them a derring-do reminiscent of their title-winning campaigns of old.Related

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To stall a team high on confidence and revive their own season, the Sunrisers will need more than just their in-form overseas personnel in Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson and Rashid Khan to muster a fight. That their Indian bowling personnel have blown hot and cold remains as much a concern as their captain David Warner’s want of form and fluency at the top.

Team news

Manish Pandey could slot back into the line-up as the Sunrisers’ middle-order troubles continue, after Warner described his omission in the fixture against the Capitals as a “harsh” call by the team’s “selectors”. Pandey’s replacement, 23-year-old Virat Singh, who labored to a 14-ball 4, could be on his way out.The Super Kings had opted to “err on the side of safety,” according to Robin Uthappa, by resting Moeen Ali in the last game because of a tight hamstring. The England allrounder is expected to recover in time for the face-off against the Sunrisers, who missed the services of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in their last match owing to a thigh strain he suffered on April 21.

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu/K Gowtham, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Moeen Ali/Dwayne Bravo, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Deepak ChaharSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Virat Singh/Manish Pandey, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 J Suchith, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Sandeep Sharma/Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Siddarth Kaul

Strategy punt

• Warner strikes at over 150 against both Jadeja and Tahir in T20s and at 150 against Ali but struggles to put away the likes of Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo, against whom his strike rate hovers between 76 and 112. He scored only 6 in the last match and has just one fifty in five innings in this edition, so the Super Kings may be tempted to feed him pace early on. If he is able to counter that ploy, though, his sixth straight 50-plus score against the Super Kings in India and the distinction of the first batter to 50 IPL half-centuries could be there for the taking.
• Since the start of IPL 2020, the Super Kings have scored 43 runs on an average in the powerplay. In instances where they scored better in that phase, they ended close to 180, with a success rate of 80% in those matches. In contrast, a score of under 43 in the first six overs have translated to scores of 150 runs or fewer, the success rate dropping to a mere 25%. Powerplay specialist Sandeep Sharma, who has the most wickets in the first six overs in IPL history, with an economy rate of 6.7 since last season to boot, may be the Sunrisers’ best bet to keep a check on the Super Kings’ run flow in that phase.

Stats that matter

• If Pandey returns to the XI, Wednesday’s match will mark his 150th appearance in the IPL.
• Teams winning the toss have opted to chase 42 times in 74 outings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
• Jadeja is two hits shy of a ton of sixes in T20s.
• Bairstow needs 71 to become the fifth player with 1000 runs in the tournament as a wicketkeeper.

Mithali Raj adds “it’s nice to go in without the baggage” as India Women seek exposure in tour of England

Annesha Ghosh01-Jun-20211:43

Powar: ‘Opportunity for Mithali and I to take team to the next level’

Ten out of the 18-member Test squad haven’t played a Test before. India play two Tests away this year. Could blooding first-timers in the longest format away from home be a challenge?
Raj: It’s good to have Tests, whether it’s at home or away. If there’s continuity, it’s great because it helps the player as well. Sometimes it’s nice to go in without the baggage; you just go and play it, enjoy the atmosphere and it’s good to have girls who have played for the first time and girls who’ve played in the past share their experiences of how it was way back in 2014. But I guess having two back-to-back Test matches, I mean to say touring England and Australia, can give a lot of exposure to the current lot. And If that can be carried forward in the coming years, it will be great for the sport.Powar: I think it’s a great start. As head coach, obviously, I want more Test games all over the world. We have to look at it in a different way. It’s just a start; let’s take it step by step. Don’t push the girls into a zone where you’re demanding too many things in Test cricket. It’s a new format [for them] that has not been played consistently over the last ten years, so let’s wait and watch how they react. We might get surprises. They will perform better [if] given the opportunity.India have only played one full series – at home against South Africa in March – since the T20 World Cup last year. How will quarantines in Mumbai [before departure] and Southampton [upon arrival] affect the team’s pre-series preparations?
Powar: It’s not ideal, worldwide, right now. We are trying to look at the bright side. If you look at it, women’s cricketers are getting opportunities – Test cricket, ODIs and, T20Is. It’s a good, long tour of 45 days, and I think, we as a team are thankful to the BCCI for putting up such a tour. It’s not easy.It’s not physically possible, yes, [to prepare oneself adequately], but mental make-up will make a huge difference and I think in my last assignment we’ve tried that, and it paid dividends. I have done it with the Mumbai [men’s] team, and we had just six sessions, and we managed to react positively to the tournament we played.Ramesh Powar speaks to the India Women players•ICC via Getty

Powar on the key to adapting quickly to English conditions
Powar: There will be balls seaming around for batters as well as bowlers. I think in every part of England the conditions will be different, so we will try and adjust to that. Batsmen will, obviously, play close to the body, they will show more patience. When the sun is out, they will enjoy their batting, when the sun is down, they’ll put in hard work to get over that period.Bowlers also – if there’s a lot of help, they will have to control their swing also. There are a lot of things. We’ll go there and assess and we’ll build on it. We can’t go there with a fixed mind. The sun might be out and you may get flat tracks too. You never know.Related

• Ramesh Powar wants to widen India Women's fast-bowling pool ahead of 2022 World Cup

• Mithali Raj bats for Ashes-style three-format series in women's cricket

• 'We may not have much practice, but mentally we're prepared' – Harmanpreet Kaur

• Stats – India in sight of most consecutive wins in women's Tests

• Early-season form poses tricky Test selection task – Heather Knight

How important is workload management of 38-year-old Jhulan Goswami, the senior-most member of the Indian attack?
Raj: It’s important that she gets games because even she needs game-time in the middle but, at the same time, being the senior-most it’s also important to keep her in the thick of things. If she needs rest, it’s up to her completely. Knowing Jhulan, I know for a fact she wants to play every game. As a captain also I would like to have her on the field so that the young fast bowlers in the side will get a lot of help if they have her around.Thoughts on Shafali Verma, the 17-year-old batter, who is making heads turn
Powar: It [guidance she needs in longer formats] depends on the way she handles practice sessions because we’ve done something great with Prithvi Shaw when we played the Vijay Hazare Trophy, so you can wait and watch. You might see a different Shafali when she [takes] the field after one and a half months.

The Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings will run till July 23, with 58 submissions to be heard

Firdose Moonda05-Jul-2021Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings on racial discrimination in the game began on Monday and will run until July 23, with 58 submissions set to be heard. In his opening address, SJN ombudsman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza confirmed he had received 11 submissions from what he termed “scene-setters,” including administrators and officials, 23 from players past and present, and 24 from cricket unions and other interested parties. Ntsebeza will submit a report to CSA before September 30 with recommendations to prevent future instances of prejudice.Related

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The hearings were initially due to be held in May but were postponed after concerns about the process were raised by, among others, David Becker, who acts as counsel for CSA’s director of cricket Graeme Smith and anti-corruption chief Louis Cole, and because Ntzebeza was otherwise engaged at the African Human Rights Court in Tanzania. The SJN Project was initiated by CSA’s former board, who resigned in October last year, but has been picked up by the new board which was appointed last month, and hope to use the SJN as a springboard for introspection and change.”CSA fully supports the SJN initiative. We regard it as one of the most important and significant projects to be undertaken in the 30 years of our existence as a unified cricket body,” Lawson Naidoo, CSA board chair, said in his address at the opening of the hearings on Tuesday morning. “The start of these hearing provides a key reset moment for CSA and cricket in general, an opportunity to address the past failures.”Ntsebeza acknowledged that his task is to guide the process of “truth and truth-telling, healing and reconciliation in cricket,” and quoted James Baldwin in explaining the pressing need for South Africa, a country governed by legalised racial segregation until 1994, to address the social issues of the past. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it’s faced,” Ntsebeza said. “This is a quote from James Baldwin, which speaks to the purpose the SJN Project.”The hearings will include testimonies from those who have suffered racial discrimination, either by written statement on affidavit or oral statement under oath and any implicated person or party will be given notice and afforded an opportunity to respond. The terms of reference of the SJN allow for Ntsebeza to ask for cross-examination at his own discretion and do not require him to resolve any disputes of fact. “The SJN proceedings are not a criminal enquiry and as a result, I will use the civil standard of proof in making my findings. I will make findings based on a balance of probabilities, provided that where a factual dispute cannot be resolved without cross-examination, I may either allow cross-examination, limited cross-examination, or record the factual dispute without resolving it,” Ntzebeza said.CSA will not be involved at any stage of the proceedings, apart from providing administrative and technical assistance.”Our role as the board is to be good listeners, with an open mind and without preconceived ideas. We have much to learn from this, which will inform our future strategy and interventions,” Naidoo said. “It is not the intention of the board of CSA to comment publicly during the ongoing process of these hearings, on the evidence that will emerge. Instead, we will allow the process to take its course without our comment and then consider the ombudsman’s report when it is provided to the board at the end of September. This approach will protect the independence, autonomy and integrity of this project.”No former players are scheduled to appear this week but cricket historian and former Western Province CEO Andre Odendaal, former sports minister Ngconde Balfour and researcher Dr Mary Ann Dove, who completed doctoral work into socio-ecological factors in talent development, are all on the list to testify. All hearings will be available to the public, via a YouTube channel.

Dan Douthwaite and James Weighell strike maiden Blast fifties to lift visitors from 76 for 6

ECB Reporters' Network27-Jun-2021Stephen Eskinazi maintained his rich vein of form with an unbeaten 91 from 56 balls as Middlesex halted their four-match Vitality Blast losing streak with a seven-wicket victory over Glamorgan at Radlett.Eskinazi, who had scored 102 not out and 64 in his two previous innings, dominated the Glamorgan bowling to steer the Seaxes to their target of 171 with 14 balls to spare. His efforts outshone a Glamorgan record seventh-wicket stand of 88 from 47 balls between Dan Douthwaite and James Weighell, who both recorded maiden Blast half-centuries to lift their side to 170 for 8.Glamorgan were hampered by the loss of their two leading run-scorers in the tournament – Nick Selman, who tested positive for Covid-19 and Marnus Labuschagne, isolating after being in contact with the opener.Despite that, the visitors opted to bat, but spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, back at Middlesex for the remainder of the Blast, made an immediate impact – bowling three tight Powerplay overs and removing the dangerous Colin Ingram for a duck to finish with 1 for 23.Glamorgan’s reshuffled top order floundered, with only David Lloyd, who hit 29 from 25 balls, threatening to gain momentum before he fell to Steven Finn’s sharply-taken return catch. But, having slumped to 76 for 6, the visitors were revived by the partnership between Douthwaite and Weighell – the latter in particular striking his shots cleanly but also with power and accuracy.The pair took 23 from Finn’s final over, including two sixes from Douthwaite, who was then dropped by Eskinazi off a skier and took advantage to bring up his half-century with another maximum off Daryl Mitchell. Douthwaite holed out next delivery for 53, with Eskinazi taking the catch this time, and Weighell reached 51 before following suit from the final ball of the innings as Mitchell ended with figures of 3 for 37.Eskinazi immediately settled into his groove when Middlesex began their reply, dominating an opening stand of 55 with Joe Cracknell as he struck both Weighell and Prem Sisodiya for successive boundaries. Douthwaite made the breakthrough at the end of the fifth over, having Cracknell caught behind off a thick edge, but Nick Gubbins proved to be an equally capable foil for Eskinazi as the duo added 68 from 52 balls.Gubbins eventually swept Sisodiya to deep square leg, but Mitchell bludgeoned 32 from just 13 balls before John Simpson sealed a rare Middlesex success, clipping his first delivery from Douthwaite for six.

With the result of the series sealed, the final T20I will give both sides an opportunity to fine tune their ideal XI for the upcoming T20 World Cup

Firdose Moonda23-Jul-2021

Big Picture

It’s South Africa’s last dance at the end of two months away from home and they will want to end on a high. They’ve already won the T20I series, albeit that their batting, in particular, has not been as convincing as they may have liked it to be and their combination remains uncertain. After this series, they will only have three matches against Sri Lanka to pin down a strategy for the T20 World Cup.Ireland also have limited opportunity to firm up their game plan. Their series against Zimbabwe, which was due to start on August 11 will be rescheduled to later in August and September after changes in the regulations over who can enter Northern Ireland.But Ireland have other reasons to put in a big performance in the finale. This is only their third T20I against South Africa and although the results show that they have lost both previous matches convincingly, the margin of the defeat in the second T20I belies how much pressure they were able to exert on South Africa. The Irish attack had South Africa 58 for 5 at the halfway stage of their innings and were in control of the first quarter of the match. They will want to be able to be in control for longer periods of time to pull off an upset.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Ireland LLTLLSouth Africa WWWLW

In the spotlight

Temba Bavuma has had a lean run on this winter tour, with a top score of 46 in the second T20I in the West Indies and 103 runs in nine innings across ODIs and T20s. Form aside, Bavuma has looked comfortable in the leadership role and has handled his bowlers and field placements relatively well, he has presented a measured and even reflective image in his media engagements but will want to sign off with runs as South Africa head into a break before their major tournament assignment.Paul Stirling is three wickets away from entering the top 10 Irish wicket-takers’ list in T20Is and is likely to be used in a bowling capacity more frequently as the team prepare for the T20 World Cup. Stirling has bowled in the format 11 times, taken five wickets and has an economy rate of 5.62, compared with an economy of 7.54 overall, so the signs are there that Ireland are using him well. They’ll want a little more from his batting, after no scores above 30 in the three ODIs and two T20Is so far.

Team news

It may be too early for Ireland to consider benching Kevin O’Brien – who has earned a duck in each of his last three internationals – but their patience with his lack of runs could be wearing thin. Mark Adair had a promising outing in the second T20I and will likely be retained.Ireland: (possible) 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Kevin O’Brien, 3 Andy Balbirnie (capt), 4 Harry Tector, 5 George Dockrell, 6 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 7 Shane Getkate, 8 Simi Singh, 9 Mark Adair, 10 Josh Little, 11 Craig YoungSouth Africa may want to reconsider the composition of their batting line-up, which includes four openers in the top four, move Rassie van der Dussen up and include one of Kyle Verreynne or Heinrich Klaasen in the XI. They may also bring in the spin-bowling allrounder George Linde and one of Kagiso Rabada or Anrich Nortje for a last hurrah of this tour.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Janneman Malan, 4 Aiden Markram 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Bjorn Fortuin/George Linde 9 Beuran Hendricks, 10 Kagiso Rabada/Anrich Nortje/Lungi Ngidi 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch and conditions

The home captain Andy Balbirnie judged the surface as a little slower than Ireland expected but acknowledged that it holds runs for those willing to apply themselves. Temperatures in Belfast are starting to cool off with Saturday’s high forecast at 23 degrees and no rain until next week.

Stats and trivia

• Tabraiz Shamsi is six wickets ahead of his nearest rival, Obed McCoy, in T20Is in 2021.
• Kevin O’Brien has the most ducks in T20I cricket – 12, including two in this series.

Quotes

“Stirling gives us a different option up top. He is someone who probably hasn’t bowled as much for Ireland as maybe he wanted to. We are going to try a couple of things in the coming weeks, with the World T20 in mind.”

Netherlands allrounder to stay at Taunton for at least two more seasons after contract extension

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2021Roelof van der Merwe, Somerset’s South Africa-born, Netherlands allrounder, will remain with the club at least until the end of the 2023 season after signing a one-year contract extension.Van der Merwe, 36, joined the club in 2011 on a short-term contract before returning in 2016, and has since established himself as an important member of the Somerset squad across all three formats, with his left-arm spin complemented by his hard-hitting lower-order batting.He was awarded with his County Cap after playing a key part in Somerset’s Royal London Cup triumph in 2019, and he also holds the record for the highest score by a Somerset player in a 50-over match, after making a match-winning 165 not out against Surrey at Taunton in 2017. He also featured in the inaugural season of the Hundred, after being signed by London Spirit.”I’m really pleased to have extended my time at Somerset,” van der Merwe said. “We have a great group of guys here and I genuinely feel that we are on the verge of something exceptional.”The club holds a very special place in my heart, and I will be doing everything that I can to make sure that we win games of cricket and claim the silverware that the players and our brilliant Members deserve.”Van der Merwe was recently on national duty with the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, having qualified in 2015. Prior to that, he played 13 ODIs and 13 T20Is for South Africa in 2009-10, including the 2009 T20 World Cup in England.SCCC Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry, added: “Roelof is a quality performer across the three formats of the game. His drive, determination and will to succeed are second to none and he is a genuine team man. He is exceptional both on the field and in the dressing room, and all his domestic and international experience make him an outstanding role model for our aspirational players to learn from.”His passion for the game is infectious and his contributions with the bat, the ball and in the field are of the highest standard. I can confirm that we are once again able to register Roelof as a local player.”

Pair recruited by former team-mate Darren Gough, who recently took over as the club’s managing director

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2022Steve Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom, the former England fast bowlers, have joined Yorkshire’s coaching staff on an interim basis.Recruited by former team-mate Darren Gough, who recently took over as managing director in the wake of the club’s racism scandal, the pair will support Tim Boon, the former England assistant coach who will lead training during pre-season preparations.Fielding specialist Cookie Patel, Thunder head coach Paul Shaw, former Durham and Sussex wicketkeeper-batter Martin Speight and Northern Diamonds performance coach Richard Waite will provide additional coaching support.”I am delighted that we have been able to secure interim support of the highest quality, all of whom have many years of experience between them, and our players will hugely benefit from their vast knowledge and expertise,” Gough said.Related

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A Yorkshire club statement added that “all the individuals offering support are not applicants for any of the permanent coaching vacancies currently being recruited”. The application deadline for the head coach role has now closed with the club set to review applications in the coming days.Yorkshire appointed Gough last month, filling the role vacated by Martyn Moxon, one of 16 members of the back-room staff axed following the allegations of institutional racism made against the club by Azeem Rafiq. Gough’s initial appointment is set to run to the end of the 2022 season, overseeing strategy, planning, recruitment and development.It is Harmison’s first foray into coaching with a county side since he retired as a player in 2013, having managed Ashington football club and worked in the media, including on BT Sport’s Ashes coverage and with Gough on talkSPORT radio. He spent a brief stint on loan at Yorkshire from Durham during his playing days.Ryan Sidebottom has experience as a bowling coach•PA Images via Getty Images

Sidebottom ended his playing career at Yorkshire, where he won three County Championship titles. He retired in 2017 and spent a year as a bowling coach with Surrey.Boon was part of Duncan Fletcher’s staff when England won the 2005 Ashes and also coached Leicestershire before becoming an an ECB cricket liaison officer and match referee.

The pair patched up a top-order collapse before Siraj and Prasidh dominated West Indies

Sidharth Monga11-Feb-20221:24

Chopra: Rohit’s tactics as a captain as good as Dhoni, if not better

India completed a clean sweep of the ODI series with yet another win from early strife of a top-order collapse. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer pulled India up from 42 for 3, Washington Sundar and Deepak Chahar provided late runs, and then the bowlers ran through West Indies to deny them a single score of 200 in the series.This was yet another satisfying win for the team management from a team-building point of view: apart from yet another middle-order comeback, they welcomed back Kuldeep Yadav, who bowled with zip and took two wickets in his first international since last July, when he was part of a second-string squad sent to Sri Lanka.All three pitches in the series have been challenging ones. The extra bounce and dual pace off this surface kept the tall West Indies bowlers in the game. Not only did India make a host of changes to their XI, they also chose to bat first to test themselves in possible dewy conditions in the evening.Once Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach found their lengths after the first two overs, they proved to be a difficult proposition for the batters. The wickets themselves were not off magic deliveries. Rohit Sharma played a loose drive to chop on, Virat Kohli tickled a ball down the leg side to get out for a duck in the same Joseph over, and Shikhar Dhawan top-edged a cut to slip. However, it was the dot balls in between because of the tackiness and extra bounce that created the pressure.On this pitch, back from his opening duties in the second ODI, Pant looked the most comfortable even as Iyer scratched around early on. Without playing a shot in anger – an upper-cut here, a targeting of left-arm spin there – Pant scored 56 at better than a-run-a-ball. Iyer found himself stuck on the other end, faced 84 balls in 20.3-over partnership and needed some early luck to survive.Pant, though, perished to the late-cut to a flatter trajectory from legspinner Hayden Walsh jnr, a shot that had brought him runs. This allowed West Indies a way back in as India kept trying to press on. Suryakumar Yadav ended up slicing an aerial cover drive, and Iyer found long-off just before the 40th over, which is when an extra fielder goes back. Iyer scored 55 off the last 51 balls he faced.Deepak Chahar made a strong comeback•BCCI

Washington and Chahar then provided another recovery with a 53-run seventh-wicket stand in just 8.3 overs. Chahar in particular looked threatening with four fours and two sixes in his run-a-ball 38, but Holder intervened with a slower bouncer to dismiss him. Kuldeep met the same fate. Washington, though, batted into the last over for 33 off 34. It was, again, Holder, who restricted the damage he might have caused in the end.Kuldeep was not the only bowler making a comeback. Deepak Chahar, who nearly won India the last ODI he played, has been kept out for more hit-the-deck bowlers. For this match, he replaced Shardul Thakur, the bowler who most closely resembles his style. Chahar, though, gets more swing than Thakur and relies on fuller lengths. They accounted for Brandon King and Shamarh Brooks in the same over, the fifth of the innings. Both of them failed to catch up with the away movement.Even before that, Mohammed Siraj had accounted for Shai Hope with the wobble-seam nipbacker for the second time this series, making it the first time since October 2018 that India had taken more than two powerplay wickets. Again it was not just the wicket-taking deliveries. They regularly hit the higher part of the bat with the extra bounce in the pitch.If these two were troubling the batters with extra bounce, Prasidh Krishna was going to be a handful. Darren Bravo and Holder will testify, getting the higher parts of their outside edges for catches to slips.It was a good time for Kuldeep to ease his way back in. He consistently made the ball drop shorter than the batters’ expectations, getting sharp turn and bounce. Fabian Allen was done in by a wrong’un, playing for the turn back in on the big drive, but getting a faint outside edge. Nicholas Pooran fell to the orthodox delivery, done in again by the dip, edging to first slip.Odean Smith presented a nice little challenge from 82 for 7, hitting Kuldeep for three sixes in his 18-ball 36. This is the kind of pressure you want to see Kuldeep under and see how he holds up. However, it was Siraj, who came back and ended the fun with his hard lengths, drawing a catch to cover an over after Smith was dropped at mid-off.Joseph and Walsh jnr frustrated India even as the dew set in, but they were never going to challenge the target. Siraj and Prasidh came back to end the proceedings with hostile short bowling.

After injury-plagued career, fast bowler’s chance to be involved over-rides any fear of failure

Aadam Patel24-Jan-20221:15

How injury setbacks help Topley perform for England

For Reece Topley, an exceptional return to T20 international cricket demonstrated exactly why England gave the tall left-armer a debut in 2015, aged just 21, and exactly why Eoin Morgan sees Topley as a crucial asset to England’s hopes – not just for this series against West Indies, but also at the T20 World Cup later this year.That he has only represented England 20 times since his debut speaks of a career filled with undoubted talent, yet one that has been damaged by career-threatening injuries. In 2018, Topley was phoned and told that he’d be a part of the England ODI squad against India that summer, only to be told the same day that he would need back surgery.His terrific new-ball spell at Kensington Oval on Sunday evening set England up to level the series in a thriller in Barbados and marked the completion of a remarkable comeback into the England T20 side, almost six years since he last played the shortest format of the game at international level.It was enough to indicate that maybe, there is a new phase ahead for Topley and England. For a man whose journey has required incredible patience, through continuous injuries and a period of depression and falling out of love with the game, Topley insisted that his career trajectory perhaps enabled him to see the game in a different light and not get too carried away with the highs and the lows of sport.”I’ve probably had it slightly differently than other people that play international cricket, in terms of the journey that I’ve had,” Topley said. “I think my perspective is quite unique and last night, I just embraced all the emotion after the game, and all the messages that came through.”Speaking the morning after the second T20I, he added: “I embraced it all, but then I’m very good at parking it. This morning, it’s a new day and it’s all about recovering and focusing on the third T20 [on Wednesday]. I don’t really get too caught up in it. I’m lucky to be playing and I really enjoyed it at the end of the day. Almost having this second opportunity just makes me value it all a lot more.”Related

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On his first appearance in a T20I since playing for England at the 2016 T20 World Cup, Topley was the pick of the pace bowlers, trapping Brandon King for a duck with a full inswinger, before pulling off a spectacular run-out off his own bowling to remove Shai Hope after a devastating yorker. Ironically, replays showed that had England reviewed, Topley would have had one more in the wickets column.He was denied another scalp when Nicholas Pooran was dropped by Liam Dawson but figures of 1 for 18 in his four overs – including 1 for 10 from three overs in the powerplay – summed up a thoroughly impressive and winning return to the England side.Topley insisted that those experiences throughout those years ravaged by injury helped him to deal with difficult match scenarios, as it allowed him to see things from a different perspective.”Even when I’ve been injured so much, you’d almost bite someone’s hand off to play in a T20 and bowl four overs for 40-something,” he said. “It’s almost like, at least I’m out there. So then those bad days it’s like, it won’t be the last bad day I have. It’s not like I haven’t got this competitive instinct, it’s just that I’m very realistic about things now, and very level-headed.”I think that has boded well for me since coming back and playing, because those pressure scenarios, I just embrace them. I almost feel like it’s normal to be nervous and it’s exciting because it’s a game on the line for your country. Who wouldn’t be nervous? It’s almost like it’s normal, and I accept it. So, I think that’s the perspective that I’m pretty lucky to have stumbled upon really.”Topley pulled off an athletic run-out of Shai Hope•Getty Images

Topley was a late addition to the England squad at the recent T20 World Cup as a replacement for the injured Tymal Mills and despite not playing in the UAE, he believed that the experience of being back within the T20 setup was invaluable.”I’ve been around the squads so that made it pretty easy for me to fit back into things,” Topley said. “I’ve been around the guys and training pretty well, so it was just more of the same, taking it out into the middle and a credit to everyone for helping with such a seamless transition. The white-ball squads are pretty similar in ODIs and T20s so being around that for the last few years has definitely helped.”After the World Cup, Topley joined the Melbourne Renegades – a team and a city close to his heart – after spending two summers in Melbourne during his prolonged rehabilitation from injury. It was where he rediscovered his love for the game.Making his debut at the Big Bash was a decision also made with the intention of getting himself back within England’s first-choice squad ahead of next winter’s World Cup in Australia. Topley impressed taking nine wickets in seven matches, including 3 for 27 in the local derby against the Melbourne Stars.On the pace-friendly wickets down under, England will certainly need quality options and given their recent problems with death bowling in the format, his display in Barbados stood out from the rest. While Chris Jordan went for 23 runs in the 18th and Saqib Mahmood went for 28 runs in the last, Topley followed up his wicket-taking new-ball spell with a penultimate over that was executed brilliantly, going for just eight.”As a bowler, my currency is wickets,” Topley said. “If you ask me I’d say that I can take wickets at any stage and in any format at the end of the day. It’s what I get up in the morning for – to try and get batsmen out essentially. It’s why I fell in love with cricket.”If Topley can carry on doing what he loves and closing games at the death, then there is every chance that he will be an integral part of England’s ambitions of holding both the 50-over and the 20-over World Cups simultaneously, when they head to Australia in October.

Coach praises team spirit after battling for the upper hand in Antigua and Barbados

Cameron Ponsonby21-Mar-2022Ollie Robinson and Craig Overton will be available for the third and final Test against West Indies in Grenada, as England look to force a 1-0 victory against a side that has held on for a draw in the opening two matches of the series.Robinson missed the first Test after suffering a back spasm in the warm-up fixture and despite bowling regularly and at full intensity leading up to the second match was not risked. Overton was due to play in Barbados, but was withdrawn from the team on the morning of the match through illness.The availability of the two could lead to a rejigged starting XI as England ponder the make-up of an attack which has toiled on two flat and lifeless surfaces in the Caribbean over the past two weeks.The most likely option appears to be Robinson and Overton returning to the starting XI in place of Chris Woakes, who has struggled in the opening two Tests, and Matt Fisher, who impressed on debut but was playing only as Overton’s late replacement.The more radical option, and one that England may contemplate given the nature of the surfaces that they have so far encountered in the Caribbean, is to play two spinners and give a long-awaited debut to wrist spinner Matt Parkinson.”We’ll have to gauge it over the next couple of days”, Paul Collingwood, the interim head coach, said. “Ollie Robinson has not played in the first two Tests but looks as though he is ready and available and Overton has overcome illness. We will look at the wicket in Grenada
and see what make-up of the team is suited to take 20 wickets.”Ollie Robinson missed the first two Tests after suffering a back spasm•Getty Images

Parkinson has been a regular in England’s squads over the past two years, including last year’s tours of Sri Lanka and India, in which he did not play a single competitive fixture. He was part of the Lions squad in Australia before Christmas, but flew home before he could be drafted into the main Ashes squad, having been overlooked for the unofficial Test against Australia A in Brisbane – a match that featured four of the team that took the field in Barbados, in Fisher, Mahmood, Alex Lees and Ben Foakes.”[Parkinson] is as ready as he can be,” Collingwood said. “The simple fact is, in Covid times, you don’t get matches between. They are back to back, it is putting a lot of stress on the players and the downside is we don’t have matches in between to have preparation time for guys who are not playing. We’ve just got to make sure they get time on their feet, get their steps in fitness-wise and the overs under their belt.”In all, Collingwood was full of praise for his England side after they finished a second successive Test match on the front foot as West Indies batted 65 overs on day five for the loss of just five wickets to hold out for a draw. While it was not a win for the touring side, it was another sign of progress for a team that has won just one of their last 16 Test matches.Related

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“I think the way we’ve gone about it the first two Tests has been very impressive. We are getting closer,” Collingwood said. “We gave ourselves a little chance today. Going into the fifth day people were expecting a high-scoring draw and I thought the way we went about it in that morning session proves what sort of mindset we’ve got. We want to go and win the game.”It is hard work, three back-to-back Test matches takes a lot out of you as players, but you can’t fault the attitude they’ve shown in both matches. I think this has been more impressive, to back up last week’s performance with some high-class individual performances and as a team we never gave up.”Collingwood reserved praise in particular for Ben Stokes, whose 11th Test century was an impressive innings of 120 off 128 balls, with strokeplay reminiscent of his career-best 258 at Cape Town in 2016.The innings was played out in front of more than one set of TV cameras, as Stokes is currently the subject of a TV documentary with a film crew out in the Caribbean filming his movements. It’s a detail that Collingwood isn’t convinced is helpful for the Durham all-rounder, although he can’t deny Stokes’ suitability for playing the starring role.”He’s box office. Everyone was watching. You didn’t want to miss a ball he was facing. In many ways it shows where we are as a team that guys can go out and express themselves. They want to put on a show, get a win under their belts, and we have a great attitude at the moment.”You can tell he wants to make a difference in the dressing room as a leader,” Collingwood added. “When he’s preparing himself like he is at the moment, he certainly leads. He wants to go out in the middle and put in big performances. He wants the ball in hand and to score the runs. He’s doing just that at the moment. It’s amazing when he’s got this kind of attitude, as we all know he’s one of the best. Long may it continue.”