The left-field appointment of Rob Andrew as chief executive, after a decade at the RFU, gives Sussex an opportunity to remain relevant in a changing game

Andrew Miller24-Nov-2016Forty minutes into Rob Andrew’s first press conference as Sussex’s surprise new chief executive, after a bruising decade in the boardrooms of the Rugby Football Union, and it is abundantly clear (as if there had been any doubt) that he is not about to pull up a deckchair and settle for a sinecure among the seagulls and seasoned cricket fans at Hove.”I thought people came to the south coast to take it easy!” he jokes, as the questions from the floor turn from the prosaic to the political, with Sussex’s adversarial stance in the ECB’s brave new world of city-based cricket right at the forefront of the topics.Sussex, after all, were one of three counties – Surrey and Kent being the other two – who, back in September, stood firm in voting against the ECB’s move towards a solitary option for the future structure of England’s revamped T20 competition. And for that reason, and regardless of the initiatives that the club themselves might prefer to showcase – most particularly their county-wide commitment to the grassroots game – no one’s in any doubt about the issue that will dominate Andrew’s tenure.”We are not Luddites,” insists Jim May, Sussex’s chairman, waving an arm towards the pavilion window to emphasise his point. “We were the first county ground to install floodlights: fact. We were the first county ground to have a dedicated academy; this year we were the first county to have a dedicated women’s academy. We are not looking in the rear-view mirror all the time. But we do have doubts about the city competition.”Sitting alongside him, Andrew is understandably diplomatic in fielding enquiries about a role that he will not officially be taking up until January 3. But if, in the course of his RFU career, he gave off the impression of being the ultimate insider – seemingly above reproach as five England coaches passed below him through the corridors at Twickenham – he’ll be discovering soon enough how the land lies now that he’s on the slippier side of a club v country divide.”I knew, right from the start, that this was going to be full-on,” he says. “But the one thing I have been very close to in the last 20 years is politics in sport. Sport is big business now and I’ve seen how people try to manage that mix. I’ve seen it when it goes quite well, I’ve also seen it when it goes badly. Understanding those issues, and trying to pick your way through and get to a solution, is really challenging but very rewarding.”According to May, it was Andrew’s range of “transferable skills” from rugby to cricket that propelled him to the top of a list of 50 applicants for the job – and he transferred plenty of those back in his playing days as well, representing Cambridge University and Yorkshire 2nd XI in the mid-1980s before the demands of his rugby career took over from his passion for leather and willow. But it is Andrew’s status as an unequivocal household name that is surely every bit as valuable to Sussex in cricket’s uncertain current climate.In his 12-year England career, Andrew amassed 71 caps at fly-half and featured in three World Cup campaigns and as many Grand Slams. And, as a man who has been immersed in administration ever since, with seven years as director of rugby at Newcastle prior to his time at the RFU, his views can be expected to resonate beyond the sometimes cloistered walls of English domestic cricket. By extension, they will tackle at source that thorny issue of relevance that stalks the sport in general but the smaller clubs in particular.”Rugby and cricket are at similar levels in the public consciousness,” Andrew says. “The funding from the ECB into the counties is very similar to that from the RFU to the clubs. And the question of how do you get players through the system to produce a successful England team is very similar too. When Hugh Morris [former director of England Cricket] was at the ECB and I was at the RFU, we shared a lot of thoughts.”Rob Andrew is unveiled as Sussex’s new chief executive•ESPNcricinfo LtdSo, when Andrew points out – as he does – that one of the greatest strengths of English cricket is the fact that its 18 first-class counties are spread from the tip to the toe of the country, or states that there are “kids all over Sussex who are dreaming of being the next Haseeb Hameed, and it’s our job to make that possible”, his words are “music to the ears”, not only of his chairman sitting alongside him, but to the representatives of the other non-Test grounds who may at last have hit upon their spokesman for the disenfranchised.”Against a complex backcloth, and with people taking positions, it will be extraordinarily helpful having Rob,” May says. “He will provide a safe environment for the cricket management, but not an unchallenging one, and his profile will undoubtedly help us in the commercial world.”Much of that commerce will inevitably depend on the ECB’s vision for the future of its domestic T20 competition. As an upshot of September’s meeting, the plan as it stands is to replicate the compact schedule and structure of Australia’s Big Bash League, even if the current travails of Australia’s Test team serve as a timely reminder of the dangers of becoming over-reliant on short-form gains.Though the details differ, the somewhat shrill tone of the T20 debate is one to which Andrew believes he can relate, given that his focus for the past two years has been the new long-term agreement between the RFU and England’s leading clubs over the release and funding of the elite player squad. The original deal, which he was instrumental in brokering back in 2008, had been a similarly watershed moment for English rugby, given the bad blood and suspicion that had coloured so much of the landscape since the dawn of the professional era.”In rugby we found an English solution to an English problem,” says Andrew. “I think the same has to apply to cricket. I don’t want to point fingers elsewhere but has Australian cricket gone too far in one direction and impacted the long-form side of the game?”May, for his part, isn’t so concerned about holding back, warning (with perhaps more mental imagery than he had intended) of a Hinkley Point-style meltdown if the ECB insists on driving through changes to the domestic structure when, in his opinion, there is insufficient evidence that they are either necessary or suitable.”There are at least three big differences between here and Australia,” he says. “Number one, nearly all the population of Australia is in a few cities by the coast. Number two is that the weather’s guaranteed, which it isn’t here. And the third thing is, it’s a very different media landscape in Australia. All their major sports are on free-to-view TV.”Our anxiety is that if we go down that route, would non-host counties like Sussex be marginalised in the long-run? It’s a really difficult trade-off, because we’re trading off what’s best for English cricket, whatever that is, against what’s best for us.”And to Sussex’s credit, notwithstanding their relegation in 2015, the club has been one of the genuine powerhouses of the two-division era precisely because it has known how to make the best of its relatively straitened circumstances. Last year’s departure of coach Mark Robinson may have severed the final link to the side that won three County Championships in five seasons, including their maiden triumph in 2003, but in May’s opinion, the seeds of regeneration have already been sown.It is with justifiable pride that May points out that the club has no external debt, unlike several of the Test-match grounds – most notoriously Durham, but the likes of Yorkshire and Warwickshire too. Much of that is a legacy of the work put in place by Andrew’s predecessor, Zac Toumazi, who announced his intention to step down last month after four years in charge, but equally it stems from a trenchant recognition that top-down business models lack sustainability in a crowded market.Looking around Hove, with its rows of well-appointed flats peering over the boundary from the neighbouring streets, it is clear that England’s oldest county never had an option but to cut its cloth accordingly. Not for them the notion of “build it and they will come”, as advocated by the old ECB hierarchy. Besides, as May freely admits, there’s a degree of wealth in the ever-expanding conurbation of Brighton and Hove that makes looking after existing markets more relevant than might be the case the further north you travel of London.But if there is one tenet of the board’s new regime with which the Sussex hierarchy wholeheartedly concur, then it is their new “Cricket Unleashed” strategy, launched this summer with a view to driving participation in the recreational game. On Toumazi’s watch last November, Sussex’s professional club and its cricket board, which represents 245 clubs throughout the county, were merged to create a new centralised body. It is a change that Andrew plans on embracing.”Sussex is probably the first county to put whole of their cricket under one umbrella, and that is really important to me,” he says. “All sports have to build from the bottom up, because eventually that’s how you get the right group together for long enough with the right talent. I first saw Jonny Wilkinson when he was 11 years old. George Ford and Owen Farrell were once seven-year-olds dreaming of playing for England. That’s what sport is about for me.”Teams take time to build, it will take a bit of time for this new Sussex team, after a successful period, to grow. But there’s nothing better than watching young players grow and fulfil their potential.”

Ten instances of gambling in cricket

Ben Gardner and Phil Walker21-Feb-2017All betts are on
Gambling and cricket have been together forever. According to the , the first recorded cricket match, in 1646 at Coxheath in Kent, had betting involved, and in the 18th century, gambling-inspired violence was standard at cricket matches. Play even had to be suspended during a 1756 fixture at the Artillery Ground between Surrey and Dartford, and it wasn’t long before a section entitled ‘Betts’ was written into the official rules of the game to try, in vain, to limit the rampant practice.IPHell
Fast forward a few centuries to the gambler’s dream that is the IPL. Thrills, spills bellyaches, a million markets running at once and an incessant schedule to forlornly chase those ravaging losses. And hell, if you’re on a particularly poor run, why not stump up your own wife on a match? In 2016, Ravinder Singh of Kanpur, in the midst of a bad trot – house, car, heirlooms etc, nothing he couldn’t manage – came over all Mayor of Casterbridge to stake his missus, Jasmeet, on a game. When the result went against him, Ravi legged it, and according to the is still at large. Jasmeet, meanwhile, went to the police. Which on balance seems entirely reasonable.Zero tolerance
OK, we all know that some cricketers aren’t entirely scrupulous when it comes to cricket matches and money, and that rules are necessarily in place to keep the blighters in check. But it’s hard not to feel a tad sorry for some of those lesser mortals who feel the full strength of the law for minor indiscretions, such as the WBBL players Hayley Jensen and Corinne Hall, who both received six-month bans in 2016 for betting on the results of an Australia-New Zealand Test match and the men’s one-day competition. “We take a proactive, zero-tolerance approach to maintaining the integrity of our sport and this includes any form of betting on cricket globally,” Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity Iain Roy intoned. That a governing body needs a ‘Head of Integrity’ says it all.Lord Tennyson (second from left): backs his team even when they concede a 208-run lead•Getty ImagesTennyson’s tenner
This one’s for the ages. Hampshire, led by noted jowly sophisto Lord Tennyson, had mustered 15 in reply to Warwickshire’s 223 in their 1922 Championship fixture. Warwickshire skipper The Hon. Freddie Calthorpe – a title was a pre-requisite for any county captain back then – predicted a two-day finish, and cheekily suggested the third be set aside for golf. Tennyson took umbrage at the insult, laid down £10 at huge odds on a Hampshire win, and watched his team pile up 521 before claiming a 155-run victory on the final day.Lump on Lumpy
The Glenn McGrath of his day, Lumpy Stevens was as accurate as they come. Indeed, it is because of him that we have a middle stump, installed after he ‘bowled’ the great Hambledon batsman John Small three times through the then-gaping gap between off and leg stumps in a single-wicket game in 1775. Lumpy, generally considered to be cricket’s first great bowler, later put his accuracy to profitable use, winning £100 for his employer Lord Tankerville – upon whose estate in Walton-on-Thames Lumpy worked as a gardener – by landing the ball on a feather placed on the pitch.A Shaw bet
Considering the fact that England were following on in their 1800 fixture against Victoria, that no team had ever followed on and won, and that some of England’s players, led by George Ulyett and John Selby, were deliberately dropping catches for their own monetary gains, the odds of 30/1 offered to England captain Alfred Shaw seemed remarkably short. But he kept faith in his team, laid a pound on England winning, and managed to lead his side to victory. He was even aided by one hapless player who managed to lodge the ball in his sleeve in attempting to miss a catch.Herbie Collins (batting): could bet you what you had for breakfast today if you let him•PA Photos500/1
“I have never had any qualms over the matter and I have never lost a moment’s sleep because of it.” Dennis Lillee there, in a column for the how, with his marriage collapsed and his wife and daughters back in Germany, on one such night he lost £288,400 in a single bet: “I bought Australia for £2,800 at 340 runs. That meant for every run [they score] over 340, you win £2,800, but for every run under, you lose the same amount. Every wicket felt like a stab in the heart. By the end of the night I felt like I had been scalped. The next day when I looked at the mess that was me in the mirror I said, ‘Didi, things have got to change.'” Thankfully, they did, and Hamann is now clean.The horseshoe
Herbie ‘Horseshoe’ Collins was a scrawny titan of Australian cricket between the wars. He made four centuries in 19 Tests from 1920-1926, and as captain, developed a reputation not just for never losing the toss, but rarely losing at the racetrack. A ferociously prolific gambler, there was nothing, according to his New South Wales teammate Hal Hooker, that Horseshoe wouldn’t bet on: “Waiting on a railway line he would bet on how many trains would pass through the opposite platform. How many carriages would be on the next one, how many carriage windows would be open.” Naturally he became a bookmaker; in Roland Perry’s , Perry writes that Horseshoe won and lost two fortunes on the track and at one stage required the assistance of the New South Wales Cricketers Fund to support him and his invalid mother. But for all his legendary gambling instincts, and his tendency to play poker all night before turning up, sleepless, to a match the next morning, there is no suggestion that Herb ever put any money down on a game of cricket for which he was involved. There are limits.All Out Cricket

Cricket South Africa have been asked by Test captain Faf du Plessis to be more vigilant about their players’ concerns to prevent more Kolpak departures. ESPNcricinfo lists some of the players who may be most tempted to join the talent drain

Firdose Moonda at Newlands06-Jan-20173:03

Explainer: What is a Kolpak deal?

Morne Morkel

Even if he recovers from his back injury, Morkel’s career is on the wane at the age of 32, and he may consider the tour of England to be his last hurrah. Morkel has not played for South Africa since June and lost ground to Abbott in that time, although he should find himself in contention for a Test spot when fit, especially after du Plessis stressed the importance of experience in the longest format. But the same may not apply in other formats. Morkel played just one of the six ODIs in the Caribbean triangular in June and was not included in the World T20 squad, which suggests South Africa are starting to move on.

Marchant de Lange

A tale that is almost Abbott-like in that de Lange made a stunning first impression when he took 7 for 81 against Sri Lanka on debut in 2011, but has struggled for opportunities since. However, the fact that he lacks Abbott’s consistency heightens the sense that he may be tempted to look elsewhere. He has played just two Tests and 10 limited-overs matches since bursting onto the scene and the frustration could be creeping up on him. A stress fracture and remodelled action stalled some of his progress and he has struggled to maintain a regular place at the Titans’ franchise as well as internationally. He relocated to Bloemfontein ahead of this summer and, at the halfway stage of this season’s first-class competition, was fourth on the wicket-taker’s list and bowling with pace once again.

David Miller

David Miller’s IPL contract could dissuade him from leaving South Africa•AFPA Test cap is probably not in Miller’s future, which may prompt him to look elsewhere if he is not satisfied with his lot as a white-ball specialists. He went 16 innings without a half-century in 2015 and was left out of the touring party for the triangular series in the Caribbean last winter, but recalled to play against Australia in October. What may encourage him to stay is that he is part of South Africa’s Champions Trophy plans, and very much in the running for the 2019 World Cup as well. Plus, he has a massive IPL contract that is said to be in the range of R25 million (US$1.82 million). CSA have also been willing to release him to other tournaments such as the CPL.

Chris Morris

Another nearly-man, Morris played two Tests for South Africa against England early in 2016 but has since fallen off the long-format radar and is not a certain pick in white-ball cricket either. He went to the World T20 and last played ODI cricket in June 2016, before suffering a knee injury in September which sidelined him almost four months. He missed the ODIs against Australia as a result. The niggle could not have come at a worse time because Morris was establishing himself as South Africa’s lower-order finisher and will now have to fight to get that place back. He was due to make a comeback for the Titans in a first-class fixture against the Knights this week, but that match has yet to get underway because of rain.

Dane Vilas

Dane Vilas has struggled for opportunities since the Test tour of India•Getty ImagesPicked as the first-choice wicketkeeper for South Africa’s Test tour to India in last 2015, Vilas became one of the casualties of what was a disastrous visit. South Africa lost 3-0 and their batsmen were outspun on turning tracks. Vilas only made 60 runs in seven innings and was promptly replaced by Quinton de Kock on the team’s return. He travelled to Australia as a reserve gloveman but has admitted his chances of a recall are slim. He is a strong candidate for a Kolpak option, taking into consideration his age (31) and his career prospects. Vilas is a senior player at the Cobras’ franchise but does not play in any T20 leagues. A county deal may suit him best.

Dwaine Pretorius

Pretorius has only played three ODIs to date but, with Abbott no longer on the scene, he has a chance to add to his caps quickly. Players need to have appeared in at least 15 white-ball internationals in the past two years to be considered for a Kolpak deal. South Africa have four T20s and ten ODIs in their schedule before the end of March. He will compete for a place as one of two allrounders with Andile Phehlukwayo and Wayne Parnell and so may find it difficult to get a regular run. Pretorius travelled a long road to become an international cricketer and it may be too early in his international career to think of a Kolpak deal, which makes it even more important that CSA ensure he is given enough opportunity to succeed.

And a couple more worth keeping tabs on

Neither Theunis de Bruyn nor Duanne Olivier have played any international cricket yet but they are both on the cusp. De Bruyn is in the current squad for the Sri Lanka Tests as a reserve batsman and Olivier was added to replace Abbott for the third Test at the Wanderers. With the batting line-up settled, Olivier is the likelier of the two to debut there, but South Africa will think hard about whether they want to cap him just yet, given that they are unsure if he will get a long run.Coach Russell Domingo expressed reservation over handing out new caps if there is the chance of the player using it as a ticket to the UK. “So if Kagiso Rabada breaks a finger tomorrow and I ask Duanne Olivier to come and play a Test match, but bear in mind that Kagiso is coming back straight afterwards because he’s one of the best bowlers in the world, Duanne might say, ‘Well stuff that, when am I going to play again? I’m going to go and sign a Kolpak,” Domingo said.De Bruyn and Olivier, and later players like Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder, could prove key tests of how South Africa handles the current exodus. They have already lost five recent Test caps to Kolpak deals, robbing them of options for the national side and depth in domestic cricket. The plans they put in place to keep these players will be crucial to South Africa’s cricketing future.

Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy have been rather underwhelming on the tour of New Zealand

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton22-Mar-20170:53

The search for form in South Africa’s top order

If batting problems are the subject under discussion in this series, New Zealand are the side worse off. They have a misfiring opener in Tom Latham and are without their most experienced player, Ross Taylor. But South Africa are not without issues. Despite the coming of age of Dean Elgar, the nuggety approach of Temba Bavuma and the sensation that is Quinton de Kock, they have three senior players – Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy – who desperately need runs.”All batting units at international level will have one player struggling for form but that’s okay because you can’t just be relying on that one player,” South Africa coach Russell Domingo said. “That’s why it’s a batting unit and that’s why it’s a team – the team has got to try and help that player get out of those slumps. We’ve got maybe two or three players who are feeling that pressure at the moment. That’s a little bit of a concern. It’s always easier to just have one but when you’ve got two or three who are maybe searching for a bit of form, a bit of runs, it does become more challenging.”

Stephen Cook

Scores on this tour (Tests only): 3, 0, 3, 11
Innings since last hundred: 7
Hundreds this season: 2Stephen Cook’s judgment around the off stump has been suspect•AFPThere is no getting around the fact that Stephen Cook does not score pretty runs, but now he has added ugly dismissals to his CV as well. He has been the first man out on all four occasions in this series and to the same kind of delivery – the outswinger. He has both left the wrong ball (first innings in Dunedin) and gone fishing after it (both innings in Wellington). And though he would have survived had he reviewed the caught behind in the second innings of the first Test, one can’t help but wonder for how long?Cook looks increasingly edgy at the crease, perhaps even worse than he did in Australia, where his first four innings yielded 75 runs. He could be banking on the knowledge that he came through that rough patch and scored a century in the second innings of the day-night Test in Adelaide and topped that up with another at home against Sri Lanka. Judging by how he hit the nets on Wednesday, when only fielding drills were compulsory, Cook seemed to know he couldn’t rely on those statistics for too long.”He hits more balls than anyone else in the world so he is going to be here even if no-one is allowed to be here,” Domingo said.Cook might not lose his spot just yet considering the only reserve batsman in the squad is Theunis de Bruyn, who usually plays in the middle order. Quinton de Kock moving up seems unlikely as well, given his responsibility as wicketkeeper. And as far as future prospects go, Aiden Markram, the 22-year-old opener with an average of 41.38 from 28 first-class matches, may need a little more time to mature.Hashim AmlaScores on this tour (Tests only): 1, 24, 21, 38*
Innings since last hundred: 4
Hundreds this season: 1Hashim Amla has looked better as the tour has gone on, but he doesn’t have that big score yet•Getty ImagesIt might be sacrilege to even suggest Hashim Amla is losing his touch but an unusually lean season says something needs addressing. He has struggled with footwork (first innings in Dunedin, when he was bowled through a bat-pad gap) and concentration (soft dismissals in the second innings in Dunedin and first in Wellington) issues, which could be the consequence of limited-overs cricket affecting his Test match play.Amla gave up captaincy last January, in the same match that he scored a double-ton. Another century two games later hinted that he had been freed up, but a lean tour of Australia and struggles against Sri Lanka – broken briefly by a hundred in his 100th Test – brought the doubts back. Amla has looked better as the New Zealand series has gone on, and given his sterling record in England, where South Africa play next, they will not even consider going without him.JP DuminyScores on this tour (only Tests): 1, 39, 16, 15*
Innings since last hundred: 4
Hundreds this season: 2JP Duminy has been getting out to both the short and the full balls•AFPJP Duminy began as a Test player with immense promise but somewhere along, he has turned into one that frustrates the fans. After 44 matches, he still averages under 35 and his six hundreds are spaced out through significant periods of under-performance.Duminy has had a poor tour of New Zealand, across formats. In the Tests, he was bounced out on the pull (first innings Dunedin), pinned in front playing all around an inswinger (second innings Dunedin), caught off a half-volley (second innings Wellington) and he has no excuses.Since AB de Villiers’ absence, Duminy has been promoted to No. 4 and he had early success, scoring a cathartic century against Australia in Perth. He revealed he had considered retirement last summer but was persuaded to stay on by then-selector Ashwell Prince, and Faf du Plessis has not stopped praising his game since. Duminy went on to score a century against Sri Lanka too but has not been unable to build on those innings. Although, his bowling adds to his value, it will not be enough to keep him in the side if his low scores continue. If de Bruyn is to come into the XI, Duminy is the likeliest man to make way.Two days ago, Duminy opted out of the IPL so he could have a little more time to work on his game, a sign of commitment to the national cause”He has made that decision based purely on freshening up from the mental aspect side of things but also family commitments. I suppose in the long run it is in the best interests of JP Duminy and also South African cricket,” Domingo said.Unless the results start to show soon, Duminy may end his career as a nearly-man and South Africa will have to look elsewhere.

He does not look the bowler he once was, but post-comeback, he has often thrived when few thought he would

Danyal Rasool13-Jun-2017We have made a litany of excuses, mostly to ourselves, for why Mohammad Amir hasn’t come back and taken a wicket with every delivery he has bowled. Excuses for why his pace has been down, why he doesn’t bowl six yorkers an over, and why he doesn’t swing the ball into and away from batsmen at will. Past memories don’t help play down expectations either. After all, banana-swinging balls ripping through Australia and England aren’t entirely representative of Amir’s oeuvre pre-2010, but that is all that sticks in the mind.Initially, we thought we needed to wait for him to play Test cricket. That would mark his real comeback, as even he himself called it ahead of the four-match Test series against England last year. After that tour, we believed he had either been unlucky or the problem was the lack of support on the field: too many catches – 12, to be precise – had been dropped off his bowling. Then came the tour of New Zealand, where the pitches are so green that they were barely distinguishable from the outfield. Perfect for Amir, we decided.Seven wickets in four innings and a whitewash of Pakistan later, we quickly moved on to Australia. The bounce here would be ideal for an express fast bowler like Amir. Watch that ball rear off the surface at the Gabba, wait for the superstar to silence cricket’s biggest crowd on Boxing Day, Amir can match up to anything Mitchell Starc can do, and so on…Amir went wicketless at the MCG and the SCG. Starc took 14 wickets in the series. So, clearly, there wasn’t a conspiracy against quality left-arm fast bowlers either. Pakistan were whitewashed, again. We still had moments to cling to, and this vague idea that if those magical moments could happen every ball, every spell and every match, Amir would be the sort of bowler on the field as he was in our fantasies. Remember the first over against India in an Asia Cup T20 game, when he bowled so majestically we believed, however fleetingly, he could defend 83 against arguably the best batting line-up in the world?Amir’s most flamboyant performances have come when we least expected them. The series against West Indies was supposed to be one dominated by spin, on surfaces that had long ceased to be conducive to fast bowling. But Amir seemed to find some sort of inspiration there too, as if the legends of Michael Holding and Joel Garner had inspired him to revive a craft that the Caribbean had long ago given up on.”I have always believed you need luck in cricket,” Amir said after the win against Sri Lanka•Getty ImagesSo this Champions Trophy came at a good time for Amir. Or so went the theory. It nearly turned out that way at the very start, too, when he bowled another superb first over to Rohit Sharma that revived memories of how he had toyed with the Indian batsmen in Dhaka a year earlier. But flirting with the outside edge and the off stump can only ever be appetisers, and are always frustrating without the main course. He went wicketless in that match, and the one after that – though again, he was superb in the slog overs against South Africa – and his most memorable contribution against Sri Lanka was his role in a streaky lower-order partnership that helped his side to the semi-final.So perhaps the only thing that can be derived from Amir’s career, especially post-comeback, is that making predictions about him is futile. We tune in to a game in Cardiff hoping to see a glimpse of Amir bowling under overcast skies, and may end up wondering if he can get a few streaky runs under watery sunshine to see his side over the line. It hardly makes sense, and Amir knows that better than anyone.”I have always believed you need luck in cricket,” he said after the win against Sri Lanka. “Thankfully, we had that luck today, and Sarfraz told me after he was dropped that he believed God was on our side, and so I must not make a silly mistake.”Amir recognises he has been unlucky not to get more wickets than he has in this tournament. “I was very frustrated at the start. When you bowl well and don’t take wickets, it frustrates you, particularly if you’re playing as a senior bowler. But today I bowled well and took two wickets, and that has given me a lot of confidence.”He even had time to fire off a couple of passive-aggressive shots at England. When asked how Pakistan were preparing for a game against the hosts and tournament favourites, he played down any possibility that they were daunted by the challenge. “They’re a good side but, then again, teams that reach the semi-finals are all good teams. And when you win a game under pressure, like we have done, it’s a huge boost for you.”A week ago, most would have believed that a match against Pakistan wouldn’t be England’s biggest concern at any stage of the tournament. It might be fair to maintain that even now. After all, England have played far better cricket than Pakistan, who have never won a Champions Trophy semi-final anyway – and there’s no sign that might change tomorrow either.However, Amir knows well that his career may eventually end up being defined by England. It is the place where he found success as a teenager, tearing though oppositions all those years ago, the place where he fell as far as a cricketer could fall, and the place he made his comeback over half a decade later. It may yet be the place where he sucker-punches the hosts just as they look like they are entering a period when they might have the world at their feet.

On pitches changing with every venue, India’s players adapted nicely to fight back from 0-1 for a series win. ESPNcricinfo rates them out of 10

Karthik Krishnaswamy29-Mar-20171:08

Manjrekar: Rahane gets his team to focus on the game

9

Ravindra Jadeja (four matches, 25 wickets at 18.56, 127 runs at 25.40)Is he the first name on India’s team sheet? He should be. Tireless, relentless, and simply magnificent with the ball, Jadeja took more wickets than anyone else on either side while being more economical – he conceded only 2.17 per over – than every other regular bowler. Contrary to stereotype, he was India’s first-innings go-to man, even when pitches did not give him much help. If his 6 for 63 in Bengaluru was vital, his 5 for 124 on a flat Ranchi pitch was even better, keeping Australia down to a first-innings total that fell just short of daunting. He scored two fifties too, his 63 in Dharamsala coming exactly when his team needed a score from him, and was superlative on the field, as always; his no-look run-out of Josh Hazlewood in Ranchi was one of the most eye-catching moments of the series.

8

Cheteshwar Pujara (four matches, 405 runs at 57.85)Give him a tent, and he will sleep on the pitch, hugging his bat tight, and wake up when it’s time to resume his overnight innings. No one in the world bats time like Pujara. He played two of India’s most crucial innings of the series, overcoming his troubles against Nathan Lyon to score a second-innings 92 that turned the course of the Bengaluru Test, and then making a monumental 202 in Ranchi that enabled India to pass 600 against an Australian attack that almost never lost its discipline and intensity. In all, he faced 1049 balls across the four Tests, and ensured Australia’s bowlers left India at least three times more tired than they may have been otherwise.KL Rahul (four matches, 393 runs at 65.50)Rahul didn’t make a single hundred, but still ended the series only 12 runs short of Pujara’s tally. He batted seven times, and scored six half-centuries, ensuring India got off to starts in all kinds of conditions. He took on the spinners on a Pune dustbowl, curbed those instincts while scoring twin fifties on a tricky, up-and-down Bengaluru surface, and battled hard against Pat Cummins’ short-ball attack to score three more fifties in Ranchi and Dharamsala. Fittingly, he scored the winning runs in the final Test, his celebrations at the end a moment of emotional release for a batsman who desperately wanted to be at the crease at that moment.Umesh Yadav (four matches, 17 wickets at 23.41)Given that India were playing the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Tests of their home season, and given that Umesh Yadav had played all but one of their Tests before this series, the most remarkable thing about his performance wasn’t his pace or accuracy or swing or reverse-swing or bounce but the fact that he did all those things while looking better and better as the series wore on. Having taken four wickets on the first day of the series, in Pune, Umesh continued to find different ways to get wickets – using cutters to exploit the low bounce in Bengaluru, finding reverse-swing to defy a flat pitch in Ranchi, and harrying Australia’s top order with pace, bounce and swing on the quickest pitch of the series, in Dharamsala. If Matt Renshaw began the series as a thorn in India’s flesh, he ended it as Umesh’s bunny – one of the many small strands that added up to India’s eventual triumph.4:40

Manjrekar: More depth to this Indian team

7

R Ashwin (four matches, 21 wickets at 27.38, 53 runs at 8.83)He bowled more overs (225.2) than anyone else in the series, took the second-most wickets, did so at an average below 28, and took a six-wicket haul to help India defend a target of 188 in Bengaluru. He did all of this while looking a little below his best, while perhaps still feeling the aftereffects of the sports hernia that he had suffered towards the end of the series against England. The delicious loop and drift that has been a feature of India’s 2016-17 season weren’t always on view, and the ball did not often hit the splice of the bat when batsmen defended him. But he still plugged away, from over and around the wicket, never making it easy for the batsmen, and, after a largely thankless Test in Ranchi, got back to wicket-taking ways in Dharamsala, where he used the bounce adroitly, dismissing Steven Smith in the first innings and grabbing three in the second innings. His batting, for a man who had begun the season at No. 6, was largely below-par, before he showed signs of a return to form while scoring an important 30 in Dharamsala.Wriddhiman Saha (four matches, 174 runs at 34.80, 13 catches and 1 stumping)Is there a better wicketkeeper in the world at this moment? For a man whose best work often goes unnoticed because his footwork precludes the need to dive unnecessarily, he had a few truly spectacular moments behind the stumps – the flying one-hander to catch Steve O’Keefe in Pune, the leg-side stumping of Matt Renshaw and the dive into the vacant short-leg region to pouch Matthew Wade in Bengaluru, the trampoline leap to pluck an Umesh bouncer out of Dharamsala’s genuinely thin air and save four byes. In front of the stumps, he finished with the third-best average among India’s batsmen, frustrating Australia with vital lower-order contributions in Bengaluru and Dharamsala either side of a classy, accomplished, thou-shalt-not-dismiss-me century in Ranchi.2:03

Chappell: Rahane was aggressive in his own quiet way

5

Ajinkya Rahane (four matches, 198 runs at 33.00)Not the greatest series for India’s No. 5 at first glance, but he showed glimpses right through it of why he is such a valuable player. His second-innings 52, which came during the course of a century stand with Pujara in Bengaluru, was full of determination and smarts, his sweep perhaps doing more than any other shot to put Nathan Lyon off his favoured line and length. Then, captaining the side in Dharamsala, he made two small but vital contributions: 46 in the first innings when Lyon was at his most threatening, and an unbeaten 27-ball 38 full of audacious strokes that defused the tension of two quick wickets and hurried India to their target. His catching at slip to the spinners, as always, was breathtaking. It’s a mystery why he doesn’t field there against the quicks, given how many chances India’s other fielders shell in that region.M Vijay (three matches, 113 runs at 22.60)As has been the case right through his career, Vijay made one big contribution to the series – a patient, pressure-absorbing 82 in his 50th Test, which laid the platform for India’s mammoth reply to Australia’s 451 in Ranchi – and did little else besides, while never looking out of form. Having missed the Bengaluru Test, Vijay returned to beef up the solidity of India’s top three, and always made the bowlers work hard even if he didn’t have the numbers to show for it – he was a little unlucky to get out to two excellent deliveries – one from Hazlewood and one from Cummins – in Dharamsala.Ishant Sharma (three matches, 3 wickets at 69.66)Another series, another puzzling set of numbers next to Ishant Sharma’s name. He played the first three Tests, bowled some excellent spells – notably on the second morning in Bengaluru and the fifth morning in Ranchi – but never seemed to get the wickets to show for it. Those two spells coincided with Ishant getting a little worked up by some needle on the field, perhaps a clue that he may be at his best when he’s angry and intimidating – his eight match-winning wickets at the SSC in 2015 also coincided with face-pulling and headbanging – rather than when he is trying to bowl “good areas”.

3

Virat Kohli (three matches, 46 runs at 9.20)Judging by how much time the broadcasters spent showing the world his reactions to absolutely everything and by how much he had to say throughout, this may have seemed like Virat Kohli’s series. It wasn’t. He missed the last Test with a shoulder injury after having an exceedingly quiet time with the bat in the first three Tests. He didn’t look out of form, as such, but endured one of those series full of frustrating dismissals that every batsman goes through at some point – out nicking forceful drives on two occasions, leaving the ball on two other occasions, and getting one 50-50 lbw decision. Kohli’s press-conference utterances kept fanning the flames of controversy that flickered throughout the series. While the media themselves were much to blame for shifting their focus away from the brilliant cricket on display, some of it could have been avoided had India’s captain been a little more statesmanlike and magnanimous.Karun Nair (54 runs at 13.50)Having come into the series with a triple-hundred in his last innings, Nair started it promisingly, looking more comfortable at the crease than any other batsman during India’s first innings in Bengaluru, but fell away drastically thereafter. He was bowled by a couple of very good deliveries – from Mitchell Starc in the second innings in Bengaluru and from Hazlewood in Ranchi – but he did himself no favours by playing away from his body on both occasions. He will need to tighten up his defence early in his innings, and will definitely need to work on his catching in the slips.Kuldeep Yadav had one of the most exciting debuts by an India spinner in a long time•Associated Press

One Test

Jayant Yadav (2 wickets at 50.50, 7 runs at 3.50)Came into the series after a spectacular debut series with bat and ball against England, and had to sit out after one below-par Test in Pune, where his bowling didn’t make an impact in extremely helpful conditions. His batting – like the rest of India’s lower order – was swept away by Australia’s rampant spinners.Abhinav Mukund (16 runs at 8.00)With his Tamil Nadu team-mate Vijay injured, Abhinav came into the side in Bengaluru with a mountain of Ranji Trophy runs behind him. It was his first Test match in nearly six years, and on a difficult pitch he was out cheaply twice. It can happen to anyone, but perhaps he will feel a little cross at himself for missing a Mitchell Starc full-toss in the first innings.Kuldeep Yadav (4 wickets at 22.75)With Kohli injured, India took a punt on Kuldeep’s left-arm wristspin in Dharamsala, and it paid off handsomely with his 4 for 68 primarily responsible for Australia’s slump from 144 for 1 to 300 all out. He deceived batsmen both in the air and off the pitch, and showed, with his press-conference demeanour and cheeky batting, that he didn’t lack in confidence. Though he only bowled five overs in Australia’s second innings, it remained one of the most exciting debuts by an India spinner in a long time.Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2 wickets at 34.00)India’s seaming-conditions specialist all through the season, Bhuvneshwar swung the new ball, slipped in a surprisingly ferocious bouncer or two, and could have had more wickets but for Karun Nair’s slippery fingers in the slips. He did a reasonable job otherwise – and got the fortuitous but key wicket of Smith in the second innings – but every now and then sent down a rank bad ball that suggested he may have been slightly rusty given his lack of regular playing time.

Being consistently attuned to a bigger picture of the world beyond the cricket field has led Andy Flower to putting together a diverse and robust World XI squad to tour Pakistan in September

Osman Samiuddin25-Aug-20172:25

Maharoof: Cricket’s return to Pakistan fantastic news

Until recently, Andy Flower would not have been expected to figure prominently across the radar of most Pakistani fans. Sure they will know of him: former England coach, brother to Pakistan’s batting coach, a legend from a different time, nuggety and determined enough as an opponent to force his way into Wasim Akram’s all-time XI.By the end of next month, by the end of this year, in five years hopefully, in a decade perhaps, if all goes well, they might come to remember him indelibly as the man who led big-time international cricket back to Pakistan.As coach of the World XI side that will face Pakistan in Lahore in three T20Is in September, Flower is not the only one responsible for bringing the highest-profile international games to the country in over eight years. The ECB president Giles Clarke, as head of the ICC’s Pakistan Task Team (PTT), the PCB itself – Shaharyar Khan has gone but left this behind – and the ICC have come together for this.But it was Flower who got a diverse and robust 14-man squad together, with enough established names to make this more than just an invitational XI. Clarke had first mentioned the prospect of such a series to Flower last year, though it only became a more tangible project before the start of this English summer.”Inititally I had to look at who was busy during this period of the year,” Flower told ESPNcricinfo. “And initially we didn’t settle on the dates specifically so it was a little difficult working out exactly who was going to be physically available. Then I started having some phone conversations with players and agents.”Security was a “robust” part of these conversations, according to Flower. But the presence of two experienced and trusted security firms, veteran security officials such as Reg Dickason, as well as a more or less incident-free PSL final in Lahore earlier this year meant players were “comfortable and trusting of the expertise on offer from these companies that will be working closely in conjunction with Pakistanis security experts.””In general the response was very positive. Obviously these are professional cricketers we are dealing with and this is part of their profession but there’s a deeper meaning to this tour and the players will really embrace the spirit with which the Independence Cup will be played. And I also believe they will be surprised and pleased by the reception they get from the Pakistani people.”Flower had no hesitation in wanting to get involved. Part of it stems from being consistently attuned to a bigger picture of the world beyond the cricket field. But it is also because Pakistan and Pakistanis figure prominently through a rich career. He toured Pakistan as a player three times in five years, as well as the 1996 World Cup; in all he’s played across nine venues in the country, “fascinating” experiences as he remembers them.Playing and working with Pakistanis has provided further insight, as well as a stint with Peshawar Zalmi in the first season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). And, of course, there is his brother Grant, batting coach of Pakistan now for three years, and uniquely placed to provide an outsider’s insider perspective.Andy Flower: “I think everybody involved in the Independence Cup will realise there are bigger issues at stake than winning at cricket.”•Getty Images”I speak regularly with him of course. But I’ve also got some other strong connections. I coached England with Mushtaq Ahmed for a few years. And we became strong friends. And I also played cricket with Mohammad Akram and coached with him at Peshawar Zalmi. So I had very fond memories of Pakistan and some really good relationships with people from the country.”What has driven Flower on as much is that same understanding of the wider world in which cricket operates which led to his famous political protest alongside Henry Olonga at the 2003 World Cup, in which they bemoaned the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe.Before that, in the late 90s, he had surprised many in Zimbabwe by moving, as the country’s finest white batsman and captain, across a creeping racial divide, to a black club. It was a seminal moment for the game there.Bringing international cricket back to a country pining for it is part of that tapestry. “I think we are all responsible for doing our best for the game,” Flower said.”And if we are lucky enough to be given opportunities where we can make a positive contribution to – it could be your club, school, a representative team, your national team or if you’re really lucky you might be given opportunities to positively affect the world game in some way. We all have our little parts to play. So I’m thankful for the opportunity to come to Pakistan with this team.”Among his players, Flower will have to balance the sense of being part of a bigger-than-usual occasion with the seriousness of competitive cricket. These are international matches after all and Pakistan’s first assignment as winners of the Champions Trophy. Do not expect knockabouts.”I think everybody involved in the Independence Cup will realise there are bigger issues at stake than winning at cricket,” Flower said. “However, I think when these excellent players get together as a team, their competitive juices will undoubtedly flow and they will come together and be doing everything in their power to win those games, I’m pretty certain about that.”But I think it will actually be a lovely experience to be part of something that will be bigger than just winning cricket matches. So yes they will be competitive. The people that come will be richly entertained and that is really important. But it is nice to be part of something bigger than this.”

South Africa’s new head coach’s long-term aim might be the World Cup in 2019, but the Test squad demands more immediate attention, with holes that need plugging

Firdose Moonda18-Sep-2017Ottis Gibson touches down in South Africa on Monday morning, ten days before his first assignment begins, with plenty to do.South Africa host Bangladesh for two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is, seemingly a gentle warm-up to their busiest summer to date. But they won’t be fooled. The last time South Africa faced Bangladesh, they were beaten in the ODIs, while the Tests were rained out, starting off a downward spiral that saw them slip to No. 7 on the rankings. They have since climbed back to No. 2, but as Gibson’s predecessor, Russell Domingo said on his departure, they are “far from the complete article” as a Test side. Though Gibson’s main focus is the 2019 World Cup, he will also have to try finding the missing pieces of the Test puzzle, and that task starts immediately.The opening round of first-class fixtures begins on Tuesday, and at Gibson’s request, all available national players will be in action. Gibson is expected to attend at least one of the matches, though he could get to two or even all three.He has confirmed an appearance at SuperSport Park – where Titans play Dolphins – which will allow him to see captain Faf du Plessis as well as most of the current Test squad, including Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo and Keshav Maharaj. Heino Kuhn will not be in action as he is out injured. Down the road at Wanderers, Lions play Warriors, and if Gibson pops in there, he will be able to cast his eye over Stephen Cook, Kagiso Rabada and Dwaine Pretorius. Theoretically, it will also be possible for Gibson to drive out to Bloemfontein, where Knights face Cobras, and watch Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Dane Piedt, Theunis de Bruyn, David Miller and Duanne Olivier.The Test squad is set to be named during the week, but there are still some key areas for Gibson to focus on.The opening pair Despite Elgar’s emergence as one their most reliable performers, South Africa have been unable to find consistency with their openers. Kuhn has a knee injury that will likely force him out of contention. The other candidates are Cook, who surged back to form against India A last month, and Aiden Markram, who will captain a CSA invitation XI in a warm-up match against Bangladesh in Benoni. Gibson may not get to see Markram, but blooding the youngster seems an obvious route, because sterner tests await South Africa this summer.Batsmen of colour South Africa’s transformation requirement is a topic of discussion, especially in light of JP Duminy’s Test retirement. South Africa are now left with only two regular batsmen of colour: Hashim Amla and Temba Bavuma, and Gibson will be hard-pressed to find another soon. Cobras’ Jason Smith and Dolphins’ Khaya Zondo are candidates, but neither have the weight of runs that will knock down doors. That opens up an opportunity for someone else to make a mark, especially in the first half of the summer. Lions’ Reeza Hendricks and Omphile Ramela are two others on the radar, and Gibson will want one of them to perform before the transformation numbers become an issue.Balancing the attack Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander would be automatic picks, but neither are available for the first-class matches this week. Steyn’s recovery could only come with the T20 Global League in November, and though Philander is expected to recover sooner, his battle with fitness does not bode well. Morne Morkel has emerged as the most dependable of the quicks, so he will have to lead the attack with Rabada. Gibson will likely look for the more consistent bowler between Morris and Olivier, but Phehlukwayo may be able to force his way in. Over the season, South Africa will want greater resources in this department, be it a tried and tested one like Wayne Parnell, or youngsters like Lungi Ngidi and Junior Dala.Support Staff The quick turnaround between Gibson’s arrival and the Bangladesh series means that Domingo’s support staff will work for Gibson at first. Assistant coach Adrian Birrell, bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, batting coach Neil McKenzie and spin consultant Claude Henderson will be at Gibson’s disposal, but it will be up to him how long they stay. There is strong suggestion that Birrell will not remain assistant, with Lions coach Geoffrey Toyana and Warriors coach Malibongwe Maketa in the running to become the new second-in-command. Langeveldt, McKenzie and Henderson may consider themselves on trial as things stand, especially as Gibson begins to establish his coaching style in the South African set-up.

After a chastening tour of South Africa, everyone who matters in Bangladesh cricket is worried about the state of the country’s fast bowlers. Just what has gone wrong, and can anything be done about it?

Mohammad Isam31-Oct-2017Four weeks of poor performances in South Africa and everyone in Bangladesh cricket is worried about the pace bowlers. The seven matches in that tour, across formats, revealed some home truths about their technique, skills and attitude. Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza and Subashis Roy jointly took 19 wickets in seven matches, averaging 83.21 and taking a wicket every 15.1 overs.Among those who really matter in Bangladesh cricket – senior cricketers, coaches and board officials – there is already an urgency to find out what went wrong. Although the BPL will begin within three days of the team’s return home, it is not a topic that is easily going away.It was one disaster after another in South Africa, starting from the Test series. Mushfiqur Rahim threw the pace bowlers a challenge to eke out advantages from what he perceived to be the first-day freshness of pitches in Potchefstroom and Bloemfontein. But they ended up bowling all over the place, giving South African batsmen at least two bad balls every over.The twin failures drew the wrath of Mushfiqur, who himself was not spared for deciding to bowl first on batting-friendly pitches. That ultimately led to the sapping of any confidence in the ODIs, a format in which many of these pace bowlers have done well over the past three years.South Africa followed a 10-wicket win in the first ODI with two 350-plus scores, and continued their dominance through the T20Is, where they batted first in both matches and posted totals of 195 and 224.The focus of most observations in the last week or so has been that Bangladesh’s pace bowlers are not bowling enough during training. Some have said it has become a “bad habit”, that the bowlers should simply be putting in more hours at the nets. Instead, the belief is that they spend a lot more time working on their fitness, either running and sprint work or in the gym.The bowlers themselves, at least privately, also feel they should be bowling more and that the focus as of now is more on their fitness.”If we are to bowl 10 overs in a session, we cannot be bowling four overs in training every day,” one pace bowler told ESPNcricinfo. “It is not a difficult thing to understand that by bowling more in the nets, we will improve. But it doesn’t happen like that in the Bangladesh team.”He also spoke of the generally unsettled existence of a Bangladesh fast bowler: they hardly play in home Tests where spinners dominate, sometimes not bowling a single over in long sessions of only fielding in the deep. At the same time they spend months training in the senior team’s camps, which keeps them away from bowling in first-class cricket.That leads into another frustration. Those who have worked closely with the pace bowlers point out that while they work hard, they are not as self-sufficient as the team would like them to be. They stick to doing what they are told, and hardly ever contribute to team meetings. Worse, they don’t set their own fields.Mushfiqur’s criticism did not go down well with the BCB president Nazmul Hassan, but many of the points he made were the result of pent-up frustration. He also acknowledged that he couldn’t perhaps communicate well with the pace bowlers, which, by many accounts, is accurate.ESPNcricinfo LtdEven though Bangladesh slightly misread the pitch in the first Test, Mushfiqur had hoped of at least a wicket or two in that first session. In that first Test, however, Taskin, Mustafizur and Shafiul conceded 58 runs off 67 balls marked as “short” or “full” by the ESPNcricinfo scoring team, which represented approximately 10% of all the balls they bowled in the Test. Against these two lengths, South Africa struck nine fours, one roughly every seven balls.The three quicks only bowled two yorkers in 108 overs.Nearly 70 per cent of their 648 deliveries were on a traditional good length, from which they picked up three wickets and conceded 452 runs at 3.05 per over. It showed that while they regained some consistency and control over their length in the second innings, they couldn’t use the new or old ball well enough.By contrast, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Dane Olivier and Andile Phehlukwayo profited much more from that good length; They pitched 234 out of 492 balls on that length, taking eight of their 13 wickets there. That’s roughly a wicket every 29 good-length balls. Compare that to Bangladesh’s one in 150.Since bowling short wasn’t really an option on a pitch that didn’t offer much bounce, the South African pacers refrained from overdoing it. They only delivered 49 short balls, picking up one wicket. Bangladesh bowled 25 short balls, getting one wicket.Things grew worse for Bangladesh in Bloemfontein, where there was a bit more bounce but not much lateral movement. Mustafizur, Rubel and Subhashis ended up giving away 179 runs off the 165 short and full deliveries in the Test: which was more than a third of their total 456 deliveries.The South African batsmen hit 31 fours off those short and full lengths, or nearly one four every five balls. But they were far quieter when the pace bowlers bowled a good length: 180 balls, 131 (or nearly 73%) dots. When they bowled a good length, Bangladesh’s quicks only gave away 2.56 per over.Here lies another problem that hasn’t gone unnoticed: some of the pace bowlers strive too much for those magic wicket-taking balls. They don’t aim to build pressure by bowling a succession of dot balls. Without much lateral movement, those wicket-taking attempts flip into bad balls.In Bloemfontein, South Africa’s pacers showed that, unlike their Bangladesh counterparts, they could use the short ball as a weapon: they pounded the batsmen with 157 short balls, taking five wickets while conceding 3.78 per over. On many occasions they got wickets with good-length and full balls while slipping them in amidst their short-ball barrage.In Potchefstroom the Bangladesh pacers didn’t show enough skills to use good-length balls to slow down the batsmen, while in Bloemfontein their short balls were too easy to handle.Bangladesh also couldn’t keep any of the South African batsmen on strike for a significant period of time. The starkest difference between the sides in the Test series lay in the singles conceded metric. The Bangladesh pacers conceded singles off nearly 20% of the totals balls bowled, while the figure for the South Africa pacers was just 8%. All other parameters (twos, threes and boundaries) were virtually the same for both sides.ESPNcricinfo LtdOnce they had done this poorly in the Tests, the prediction was that the problem would persist in the limited overs games. The steady progress of Bangladesh’s quicks in the shorter formats since 2015 provided some hope that they would do better, but that quickly diminished when Mustafizur was ruled out of the ODIs with an ankle injury.Nothing worked against Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. What stood out instead was the lack of yorkers, which bowlers like Rubel Hossain and Taskin have been more inclined to bowl and better at bowling in the past. They bowled only three each in the first two ODIs and eight in the third game.In all this, the role of Courtney Walsh comes to the fore. Over the last 13 months, most have found him to be a diligent and helpful bowling coach. He puts forth all plans and constantly offers the bowlers tips. He has gone out of his way to make the pace bowlers feel comfortable around him, often by bonding with them socially.Some of the pace bowlers were not vocal enough when they were struggling, an observation that was especially true in New Zealand earlier this year. At the time it was seen as a minor and inevitable issue because Walsh was new, but while Walsh has since tried to overcome that, the bowlers haven’t responded properly.Walsh will, however, continue to have a greater role in their holistic improvement. Champaka Ramanayake, working currently for the BCB’s High Performance Unit, will also have a role to play, especially because of his history with bowlers like Rubel and Shafiul. But the pair may have to enforce a tougher regime on the bowlers, starting with greater focus on bowling longer spells in the nets and taking it to first-class matches.Will the BCB enable this? The answer is not quite straightforward.As soon as they return from South Africa, the bowlers will become busy with the BPL. And tired bodies will be reluctant to play any first-class matches after December 12, when they are available to do so.Sri Lanka arrive in mid-January, four weeks after the BPL. That is not really enough time to implement a cultural shift in how Bangladesh’s pace bowlers develop, or even make necessary technical tweaks.While there is a lot of dread flying around the Shere Bangla National Stadium, the good news is that everyone is worried, and thinking hard about how to improve things. This is a positive step and as a senior figure mentioned. “The South Africa tour was a disaster but it is good that it happened,” he said. “If we forget about the South Africa series, it will be a disaster for Bangladesh cricket.”

With a strike rate that’s up there with the very best in ODI history, the left-arm quick brings cutting edge to a New Zealand attack that otherwise relies on building pressure through dot balls. How India negotiate his spells could prove key to the way th

Sidharth Monga28-Oct-2017India’s series-levelling win in Pune was set up by their bowlers who restricted the New Zealand batting to 230, but in chasing the total down without incident, India checked a small psychological box. For only the ninth time in his 53-ODI career, Trent Boult was denied a wicket. New Zealand have won only two of those nine matches.Three days earlier, Boult had been critical to keeping India down to 280. He removed the openers with the new ball, and took out MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya in his later spells. With New Zealand’s prime enforcer Mitchell McClenaghan all but lost to international cricket, Boult becomes the most important bowler in their attack. The others are steady and disciplined, but Boult brings that bit of magic.Boult takes a wicket every 30 balls, which is inside the top 20 strike rates of all time, among bowlers who have taken at least 50 wickets. The top 20 is an interesting list, largely made up of bowlers currently active, but also with bowlers such as Mohammed Shami and Matt Henry, who have not featured in this series so far. Boult was one such bowler not long ago – he has played nearly as many Tests as he has ODIs – but once New Zealand adopted the “hit hard, hit early” policy in ODI cricket, Boult was back in as an integral part.If there is swing or seam to be had with the new ball, Boult will find it. If there is reverse on offer later, he will extract it. He can change his angles dexterously. He is quick to find the wicket-taking length and bowl it. The six times he has bowled to Rohit Sharma in ODIs, Boult has taken him out three times – with a bouncer, with late swing, and with seam – while only conceding 27 off 50 balls.With McClenaghan out and with Adam Milne playing ahead of Henry, this is perhaps a thinner-than-usual New Zealand attack when it comes to the ability to manufacture wickets. New Zealand are now forced to skin the cat another way. Shane Jurgensen, their bowling coach, said two days before the decider that it was important his bowlers didn’t go searching for wickets, and that they focused on building dots. There is arguably only one man in that attack that can chase wickets. If India can play him out, they are looking at a steady and disciplined attack but not an overly threatening one, an attack that will rely on batsmen’s mistakes for wickets.Virat Kohli, with his impressive record against Boult – 94 runs off 82 balls faced, no dismissals – has shown it can be done without batting too differently to how you do. What India did in Mumbai was completely different. Both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit went in looking to dominate Boult, perhaps to nip in the bud the one big threat in the opposition attack. If Boult does take an early wicket, Kohli becomes the key man to deny him further inroads. He did this with a century in Mumbai, but a faltering middle order forced him to play with restraint and settle for a middling total.A big play in the decider of this short series will be Boult’s first spell. If it is in the second innings, New Zealand will want to give him considerably more than 230 to defend. They will also want Tim Southee to help him out by creating pressure from the other end. In his first spell, Boult will want to bowl to at least one batsman lower than Kohli in that batting order. It won’t be as hot in Kanpur as it was in Mumbai so he will come back even fresher for his later spells.India will want to score around Boult. The series decider might not be the best time to try to start dominating him. Batsmen will have watched all the videos on their laptops by now. Plans will be in place. Boult will make sure he is fresh and ready – in “peak fitness”, as Jurgensen remarked. Bring on that first spell. And the later ones.