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Joe Root’s conversion rate of fifties into hundreds remains in the spotlight after his early dismissal on the final day in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-20171:02

Swann: The batting monkey is growing on Root’s back

Graeme Swann believes it would have been better for English cricket if Joe Root had not been handed the England captaincy and instead allowed to focus on being purely a batsman.Root continued his problem of not converting half-centuries into three-figures when he fell for 67 early on the final day in Adelaide – having played brilliantly to see out the fourth evening under lights – to all but end England’s hopes of chasing down 354 to level the Ashes series.In the second innings of the first Test, he was lbw the ball after reaching his half-century when England were trying to form a lead to challenge Australia in what ultimately became a 10-wicket defeat.”It’s a monkey on his back and it will continue to grow with so many fifties not being hundreds,” Swann told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m still convinced it’s because he’s had the captaincy put on him. I wish they hadn’t, I wish he didn’t have the burden and could just be our best-ever batsman but that decision has been made and this tour will be tough on him because that pressure will build and build.”Since becoming captain, Root has passed fifty in nine of his 16 innings but has converted just two into centuries – 190 at Lord’s in his first knock as captain and 136 against West Indies at Edgbaston.However, his poor conversion rate – which is significantly lower than the likes of Steven Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli – has not just become an issue with the leadership. At the end of 2014, Root had five centuries and eight fifties but since then has made 27 fifties and only eight centuries.”In big series your senior players have to step up and lead from the front,” Root said after the defeat in Adelaide. “I tried to do that on the fourth evening. Unfortunately, I could not carry that on and that is really disappointing. I’ve been concerned about not converting my fifties into hundreds for a long time now. It hurts me personally a lot.”However, Root is not the only batsman England need more from. In four innings during this series their top score is James Vince’s 83 and there have been just five half-centuries. Australia, meanwhile, have had two match-defining centuries by Smith and Shaun Marsh.”The top six just aren’t churning out the scores you need to win Test cricket,” Swann said. “Vince got a brilliant 80 in Brisbane but since then hasn’t performed, Mark Stoneman is looking good but not converting the starts and the big guns Cook and Root just aren’t scoring hundreds. There are problems. The scoreboard has to read 400-450 if you want to win here.”Further down the middle order there are vulnerabilities as well with Moeen Ali’s promotion to No. 6 to replace the absent Ben Stokes yet to bring significant returns. Moeen has also struggled for impact with the ball, comfortably being outbowled by Nathan Lyon, but it is so far a small blip in a very successful year for Moeen and Swann wants him to believe in his own ability.”One person I wouldn’t drop despite very ordinary performances is Moeen Ali. You need to still play a spinner at Perth and it would be a very big call to bring in Mason Crane at probably the least spin-friendly ground in world cricket. But Moeen has to start believing in himself as a bowler. If he’s injured he has a week to get over that and he has to bat with conviction and flair. When he’s on fire he’s a dangerous prospect but at the moment he’s 50% Moeen.”

In a fresh attempt to convince the BCCI, ICC general manager Geoff Allardice will travel to India next week to carry out a presentation on the Decision Review System

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Oct-20161:27

Will look to introduce DRS in future – Kohli

In a fresh attempt to convince the BCCI, ICC general manager Geoff Allardice will travel to India next week to carry out a presentation on the Decision Review System (DRS). India are the only team to have not subscribed to the DRS after being the first to experiment with it, in 2008.The BCCI’s reluctance is well known and recent board presidents – from N Srinivasan to Shashank Manohar to Anurag Thakur now – have expressed the same reservation on the referral system: that unless technology is 100% perfect, India will not use the DRS.The ICC has consistently called for a uniform referral system to be used by all teams. In July, ICC chief executive David Richardson had revealed that its cricket committee and chief executives’ committee wanted the ICC to take “more control” of the DRS.Incidentally, the ICC cricket committee’s head is Anil Kumble, also the current India coach. Kumble and Allardice have witnessed the research carried out by a team of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who were last year asked by the ICC to independently assess the performance of the technologies that are part of the DRS: ball tracking and edge detection. The MIT team gave a detailed presentation to the ICC cricket committee during the annual conference in June.Allardice is likely to highlight the MIT research during his presentation, which is likely to be attended by the top brass as well as key officials of the BCCI. The key point that Allardice will drive home is how the DRS and its various components have become more reliable since the system’s inception in 2008.It is understood that the ICC wanted to do this presentation earlier, but a convenient time could not be worked out. “They wanted to showcase improvements that have been made after the MIT research,” a BCCI official said. “This is something they have been wanting to share for quite some time. We need to wait and see what are the improvements exactly, considering DRS is made up of two to three elements.”India’s upcoming home Test series comprise five matches against England followed by a one-off Test against Bangladesh, before ending the season with a four-Test series against Australia. It is understood both BCCI and ECB have not worked on the MoU for the series so far and hence it is too premature, officials pointed out, to speculate whether the DRS would be used or not.The BCCI official was not sure whether senior Indian team members like MS Dhoni and Test captain Virat Kohli, along with Kumble, will attend the meeting considering they were busy with the ODI series against New Zealand.During his reign Dhoni never categorically expressed his opinion on the DRS. In contrast, Kohli has consistently said he is open to the referral system.

S Aravind and J Suchith picked up four apiece to give Karnataka first-innings points, despite S Badrinath’s vigil for Vidarbha

The Report by Arun Venugopal in Bangalore17-Oct-2015 by 133 runs
ScorecardFile photo – S Aravind displayed Karnataka’s fighting spirit•AFP

Karnataka have in the last two years as Ranji Trophy champions amply displayed the that has been the defining feature of Mumbai’s 40 title conquests. You could see that again in this game, in the fielders hurling themselves at the ball even when the going was tough, in the fast bowlers repeatedly flinging themselves at the crease despite little assistance from the surface.Take for example left-arm seamer S Aravind’s opening spell on the third morning. Accompanied by some hustling fielding, it was quite a demonstration of Karnataka’s version of cricket with flair and abundant mongrel. Aravind’s burst yielded figures of 5-4-1-3 which, despite Vidarbha captain S Badrinath’s (92 off 216 balls) stubborn resistance for five hours, set the tone for Karnataka’s 40-run first-innings advantage.Left-arm spinner J Suchith, in only his fourth first-class game, finished with a four-for, making two crucial strikes – including that of Badrinath – in an over to derail Vidarbha’s innings. Karnataka’s second innings seemed to serve as good batting practice for KL Rahul ahead of the South Africa series, as a drab draw appears inevitable save for a dramatic collapse.In the morning, Aravind took only two deliveries to dislodge a batsman Karnataka couldn’t remove for over five hours on Friday. Ganesh Satish, a member of the title-winning Karnataka side in 2013-14, poked at one that straightened after pitching. Four balls later, Aditya Shanware, who had made a century on debut two games ago, edged one behind where CM Gautam, who was taking blinders at practice before the start of play, dived low to his right and emerged with the ball.Six overs later, the Aravind-Gautam combine was in business again, after another delivery held its line and Gautam put in another dive to his right to send back Shalabh Shrivastava. This was looking way too easy; Aravind would just run in from round the stumps – his preferred angle of operation for the major part of the innings – and alternate between the one that cut back in sharply with the angle and the one that held its line.Badrinath, however, seemed to have worked out a way to quell Aravind’s threat. He decisively strode forward and across, away from the off stump, and stayed low to counter the movement either way. Runs were gathered from the other end, as neither Abhimanyu Mithun nor Vinay Kumar was as effective as Aravind. Badrinath also had good company from Jitesh Sharma, who, cast in the spunky wicketkeeper-batsman mould, attacked fearlessly. In fact, after the new ball was taken, Mithun was taken for 23 runs in his four overs.Their partnership had yielded 61 runs in quick time, and looked good for more when Jitesh’s back-foot punch off Suchith flew quickly to first slip, where Vinay took a fine reflex catch. Vinay was in action again just before lunch, as he made a one-handed grab to dismiss Shrikant Wagh after he edged legspinner Shreyas Gopal.Vidarbha, resuming after lunch still 82 runs in arrears, were still in the fight as Badrinath found another doughty ally in Akshay Wakhare. While Badrinath was bringing out some wristy drives and clever dabs, Wakhare managed to put the bad balls away, and a 40-run stand ensued. An hour after lunch, at 310 for 7 with Badrinath still there, Vidarbha looked threatening.However, Suchith had Badrinath caught behind, and four balls later trapped Swapnil Bandiwar in front before Aravind came back to induce an edge off Wakhare to give Gautam his fifth catch of the innings.

Allan Donald knows his main job as head coach is to turn Pune Warriors’ fortunes around after two poor seasons

Firdose Moonda27-Mar-2013While Gary Kirsten and Russell Domingo will spend the next two months playing with their kids, the other member of South Africa’s coaching staff, Allan Donald, has adopted what looks like a set of problem children. Donald will spend time as head coach of the Pune Warriors squad, who he meets on Thursday, and has been tasked with changing their fortunes.Pune finished IPL5 at the bottom of the table and won only four of their 16 matches. The best they’ve performed in a season is in second-last spot after their maiden run in 2011. Since then, instead of positive results, they have racked up controversies.Their first campaign was nearly aborted because of sponsorship disputes. When it was decided they would play, Sourav Ganguly was picked as their captain and his relationship with the franchise appeared to deteriorate steadily. He was appointed their mentor for the second season.In their playing group was Jesse Ryder, who was going through a personal crisis and travelled with a personal psychologist, and Wayne Parnell and Rahul Sharma, who were involved in a drug raid at a party. In an effort to change things, they bought Michael Clarke to captain them this season but before it could begin, he was ruled out of the tournament with a back problem.Donald admits things have not been easy and knows his main job is to turn that around. “We’ve had two tired years so this season is about finding some confidence,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “In a tournament like the IPL, it’s a difficult thing to understand. How do you gain confidence and momentum?”Last year, we started pretty well and then things backfired massively. It was quite a nightmare. But we’ve looked at a bit of restructuring and I think this is still a great stage to take on a team.” Ganguly is no longer involved and Donald is taking South Africa’s conditioning coach Rob Walter, who was with Delhi Daredevils, with him to try and bring in some of the culture that has made the national team so successful.”We’ve got a good blend of younger players to mix with the leadership group but now we’ve got to get it together,” Donald said. “There’s been a bit of reworking and we seem to have good systems in place so I am looking forward to a better season.”For Donald, the way the team performs is a direct reflection on his ability as a coach, something he wants to develop over the next two months with a view to future endeavours. “Every time challenges get thrown at you, you should take them and this is a massive challenge. It doesn’t get any bigger than the IPL. Ultimately I want to become a head coach and I think this will be step in that direction.”Donald has served as bowling coach to England, New Zealand and South Africa but he has never been the head coach. Bangladesh were interested in him for the main job shortly after he joined Kirsten’s ranks and he turned them down. With Kirsten having made it clear he does not intend to stay involved indefinitely, Donald may be eyeing taking over if the opportunity comes up in the future.He will be one of two South African head coaches at this year’s tournament. The other is Ray Jennings who has been in charge of Royal Challengers Bangalore since the second season. Shaun Pollock, Jonty Rhodes, and Doug Watson worked at the Mumbai Indians in the past and Kepler Wessels was with Chennai Super Kings in the first season. On face value, Donald has a tougher task than any of his compatriots, especially because he has not had a break.Donald will depart just four days between the end of the South African series against Pakistan and the start of his new job. He could be in India until May 26, should Pune reach the final. Five days after that, South Africa will play Holland in a warm-up match for the Champions Trophy. Even if his stay with the IPL ends with the franchise’s last match on May 18, Donald will only have little more than a week before he has to resume his national duties.His travels will be made easier because his family is accompanying him for a longer period for the first time. His wife and two children will be at the IPL and it will be his daughter’s first visit to India which he said she is very excited about. But before he can make time to show her the sights, he wants to concentrate on mentoring Pune’s young bowlers.Donald identified recent Test debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar as one he would like to mould. “He is not express pace but he is very skilfull. There is a lot to work with there,” Donald said. Others who will hope to benefit from Donald’s experience are Ashok Dinda, Mitchell Marsh, Kane Richardson and someone who has worked with him before, Parnell. “I always enjoy working with talented bowlers and I hope to make able to make some sort of impact.”

Derbyshire seam bowler Tony Palladino has a fighting chance of being fit for the start of the county season after flying back from a pre-season tour to Barbados with a broken jaw

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2012Derbyshire seam bowler Tony Palladino has a fighting chance of being fit for the start of the county season after returning from a pre-season tour to Barbados with a broken jaw. After flying into Manchester airport, he was driven to London to see a specialist and had an operation in which a plate was screwed into the jawbone.Derbyshire’s head coach, Karl Krikken, has said that Palladino, who had only recently recovered from a hernia operation, will be able to bowl again in a week. Had the jaw been wired, his recovery would have been much slower. “That is great news for us and for Tony because he has a chance of being ready for the start of the season now,” Krikken said.

Shafiul Islam and Imrul Kayes have been the the two standout performers in Bangladesh’s last two matches, and their captain recognises their importance

Sidharth Monga in Chittagong14-Mar-2011The most pleasing aspect of Monday’s win for Bangladesh will be that they did what was expected of them. That can’t be said of the first four games, but on Monday they came out against a lower-ranked team and professionally and solidly fashioned a facile win that keeps them alive in the tournament. Bangladesh might have lost to Netherlands in their only international before this, but at home, on a slow and low pitch, they were strong favourites, and demonstrated just why. However, even on this track, the best fast bowler on display was wearing green and red, and that was impressive too.Two men, though, stood out more than the others in what was a good team effort. Again it will please Bangladesh that they are the two same men that were a notch above the others in their win against England. Imrul Kayes again came up with a level-headed fifty to anchor the chase, and Shafiul Islam, on a slow pitch, produced a performance that yielded no wickets, but might have got him a four-for some other day.Despite the lack of wickets, Shafiul’s contribution was not lost on either of the captains. What made his first spell of 6-3-7-0, more than the number of edges he missed out on, was that the batsmen were targeting him while the ball was hard and coming on. Yet they probably felt lucky they didn’t lose any wickets to him.”In his first spell, he got nice away swing,” Peter Borren, Netherlands’ captain, said of him. “He didn’t bowl a bad ball pretty much the whole day. He was pretty consistent. We were looking to kind of attack the seamers at the start because we thought that might be our opportunity to score a little bit, in the Powerplay against the hard ball with some pace on the ball, but to be honest he didn’t allow us to do that. He bowled really nicely today, and credit to him for giving nothing away. He didn’t go for many runs, and he probably deserved more wickets than he got.”Imrul Kayes got his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award•Getty Images

Shakib Al Hasan was full of praise too. “The first two matches we won were both due to massive contributions from Shafiul,” he said. “He delivered at crucial moments. Today also he did very well with the new ball, and even later in the innings. I think he has learnt a lot from the India match, which he is being able to apply now. And that is giving him the confidence that he can be a world-class bowler.”Shafiul’s good work was followed up on by the trio of left-arm spinners, and then after Tamim Iqbal’s dismissal in the first over, Kayes played the kind of innings that soothes nerves in the dressing room. No loose shots, no hurry to get to the target. When he won the Man-of-the-Match award for a pretty similar effort against England, he pointed out that it was his first match award. Three days later he has now emulated Manjural Islam Rana as the only Bangladesh player with consecutive match awards in ODIs.Last time, Kayes also pointed out that Shafiul actually deserved the award, but today he was there at the end, unbeaten, and there was no doubt as to who the Man of the Match should be. “The last match Man-of-the-Match award was given to me but I did not deserve it. It was Shafiul who should have got it,” he said. “But this match I played well and was unbeaten. I had not won a Man-of-the-Match award before these two, so getting this today makes me very happy.”I think the wicket was not good to bat on. When Tamim got out I was constantly talking to Junaid [Siddique]. The main thing was when Junaid hit a good ball, I thought if I stayed at the wicket I would be successful.”Shakib said of Kayes’ innings: “Last match he batted really well, but in this match he had to struggle a bit because of the wicket, which was not allowing us to play shots. He stuck around and did the right thing.”This was the best Bangladesh could have done in terms of the result from this game, for the net run-rate situation is beyond their control. They are so far behind West Indies and Ireland, the teams they can end up tied with, that it is near impossible to beat their run-rates. A lot now depends on the result of the match between England and West Indies, but Shakib continues to remain positive. “It is in our hands too,” he said. “If we win the next match [against South Africa] we will get to the quarter-finals. It is as simple as that.”

Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s incoming coach, has expressed “shock” at the clean-up operation in Pakistan which saw the PCB ban and fine seven leading players

Osman Samiuddin10-Mar-2010Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s incoming coach, has expressed “shock” at the clean-up operation in Pakistan which saw the PCB ban and fine seven leading players. Waqar is due to arrive next week in Lahore from Sydney to take over from Intikhab Alam and prepare Pakistan’s defense of the World Twenty20 title in the Caribbean in April-May.He will arrive now preparing to deal with the repercussions of the board’s decision to hand out year-long bans to Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik and open-ended ones to Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.Of immediate concern will be the unavailability of Rana and Malik from the World Twenty20 squad; both have been key performers in the format in the past and Malik was in charge of the side that finished runners-up in the 2007 World Twenty20.In the longer-term Waqar may well have to do without Younis and Yousuf in the Test side, a worrying prospect for a batting side that has failed to cross 350 more than twice in their last 16 innings, often with both of them present.”It’s a huge shock for me definitely,” Waqar told Cricinfo. “I want to speak to the board about it to get more details on it before saying more, but it is definitely a big step.”Waqar was part of the touring set-up in Australia, appointed as a bowling and fielding coach for the series. That was his second stint in a coaching position with the Pakistan side, after spending nearly a year with the team and Bob Woolmer in 2006 as a bowling coach.Though he has spoken to the chairman since about the tour, he wasn’t called to the inquiry committee sittings. According to the PCB’s release, he did submit a report which the inquiry took into account.”It is a big step the board has taken and I hope they have solid evidence for taking the actions that they have taken,” Waqar said. “All evidence must be there and they must have spoken to a lot of people for this. Once a player is banned it is a label you have put on him so it is a big thing.”

Batter rewarded for impressive form for Oval Invincibles, en route to their third Men’s Hundred title

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2025Jordan Cox has been rewarded for his Player-of-the-Tournament display in the Men’s Hundred with a belated call-up to England’s T20I squad to face Ireland later this month.Cox, 24, topped the Hundred averages with 367 runs at 61.16, and a strike-rate of 173.93, as Oval Invincibles lifted the trophy for the third consecutive season with an emphatic 26-run victory over Trent Rockets in the final at Lord’s on Sunday.Cox himself made 40 from 28 balls in the final, after which he said he would continue to “bang the England door down”, after a series of luckless near-misses in recent months, including a broken thumb sustained on the eve of his designated Test debut in New Zealand, and a side strain sustained while making a century for Essex earlier this summer.He has previously played two T20Is, making scores of 17 and 0 against Australia in September 2024, as well as three ODIs on the subsequent tour of West Indies in October and November.His recall comes as part of a second-string England squad, captained by Jacob Bethell, that is due to play three T20Is in Dublin on September 17, 19 and 21. The original 14-man squad had been notably light on specialist batting, with the likelihood that a bowling allrounder – Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed or Jamie Overton – would be carded to come in at No.6.The news comes just 24 hours after England’s 50-over squad were bowled out for 131 in 24.3 overs at Headingley, to slump to a humiliating seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the first ODI.

Australia recovered from 80 for 5 to hunt down a challenging run chase in Christchurch

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-20241:29

Cummins: We always found a way to win

Pat Cummins has praised the ability of different players in the Australia side to stand up when the team needed it after they conjured a remarkable run chase in New Zealand to take the series 2-0.Australia were in huge trouble on the third evening at 34 for 4 chasing 279 and then at 80 for 5 early on the fourth morning when Travis Head departed. However, Mitchell Marsh – who had been given a life the ball before Head’s wicket – and the under-pressure Alex Carey put together a match-changing stand of 140 in 29 overs.Related

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Carey, whose position in the side was coming under increased scrutiny after a run of poor strokes, remained unbeaten to the end with 98 after Ben Sears had again rattled the chase with two wickets in two balls.”Think the story of this series was in key moments one guy stood up, we didn’t necessarily play the complete game, but in those pivotal moments someone stood up and made themselves a matchwinner,” Cummins, who struck a vital 32 not out, said. “[We] keep finding ways to win, it’s a pretty awesome squad.”He added that the tempo Marsh and Carey were able to bat at was vital in putting the pressure back on New Zealand’s bowlers. It also meant the second new ball wouldn’t be a factor.”We’ve been on the other side of it plenty of times and if the scoreboard’s not moving you feel in the game, but if they are chipping away it seems like it’s all happening pretty quickly,” he said. “That was goal today, be busy, keep the run rate ticking over and bit by bit getting closer.””[It was] pretty tense,” he added. “Pretty nervous watching for the last couple of hours, everyone trying to keep themselves busy then looking up at the board. Amazing win.”The victory meant Australia finished with six Test wins and one defeat in the season having beaten Pakistan 3-0 and drawn 1-1 with West Indies. They now have a long break from Test cricket before facing India at home in November.New Zealand captain Tim Southee was proud of the way his team fought but was left regretting seeing a golden chance of a first win at home against Australia in 31 years slip away.”The partnership with Mitch Marsh and Alex Carey sort of broke the back of our attack, but then a great little exciting end to the day,” he said. “When you are playing the No. 1 side in the world you need to go that little bit further. But a great Test match…ebbed and flowed throughout the whole match.”

Tim Southee to take up captaincy duties; Mark Chapman called up as replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2022New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the third T20I against India in Napier because of a pre-arranged medical appointment. He is expected to rejoin the team ahead of the three-ODI series that begins on Friday.Head coach Gary Stead said Tim Southee would lead New Zealand in the third T20I in Williamson’s absence, while Mark Chapman had been called into the squad as cover.Related

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“Kane’s been trying to get this booked in for a while now, but unfortunately it hasn’t been able to fit into our schedule.” Stead said. “The health and well-being of our players and staff is paramount, and we look forward to seeing him in Auckland.”Stead said Williamson’s medical appointment had nothing to do with his elbow, a pre-existing injury the New Zealand captain has been coping with over the last year. He had missed games for New Zealand and in the IPL because of it.Williamson’s form in the T20 format has come under some scrutiny in recent times. While New Zealand made the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Williamson scored only 178 runs at a strike rate of 116.33. Last week, he was released by his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad after he scored only 216 runs at a strike rate of 93.51 in their eighth-place finish in the 2022 season.After the first T20I in Wellington was washed out, India won the second match in Mount Maunganui by 65 runs, on the back of Suryakumar Yadav century. Though Williamson top-scored for New Zealand in the chase with 61 off 52 balls, he was unable to challenge the target of 192The third and final T20I will take place on Tuesday in Napier, before the teams head to Auckland for the first ODI on November 25. The second and third ODIs are in Hamilton and Christchurch on November 27 and 30.