Haseeb Hameed showed an abundance of patience in his first three Tests for England in Indias last winter and after a difficult county season he has finally rediscovered a measured tread

Paul Edwards08-Aug-2017Many years ago the Warwickshire and England opener, John Jameson, was playing in a county second team match with a young batsman who was thinking he might make a career from the professional game. Jameson was famed for his ability to take the attack to new-ball bowlers but the apprentice was still astonished to see him clatter three straight boundaries in the first over of the match. As the field changed over Jameson sauntered down the wicket and murmured to his partner in the plummiest of tones: “Don’t follow me”.There was no danger whatever that Haseeb Hameed would attempt to follow Alex Davies when Davies launched his assault on Hampshire’s bowlers on Monday afternoon. In its way, though, the brutal Sehwagesque batting of his opening partner was so far removed from Hameed’s own style that it freed the England batsman to concentrate on his own search for form. In the context of the match it was important that Lancashire’s first-wicket pair put on 127 runs but it did not matter in the slightest that Hameed contributed only 17 of them. What counted was that he was not out.And you can be sure that his progress was noticed at Emirates Old Trafford. Even in the aftermath of a series victory over South Africa, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace will have seen that Hameed was finally building an innings and reaching a half-century for the first time in eight months and 21 first-class attempts. In the press box journalists will also have noted the innings and it will have helped sharpen their questions to Joe Root as he reflected on his success.Is it unfair that so much expectation and attention is placed on these slight shoulders? It probably is; or rather, it would be had not Hameed declared his intention to play for England even when he was negotiating his first Lancashire contract. Being watched when he is playing well is something he craves; being watched when he finds it tough to reach double figures is part of the deal. As Michael Corleone says to Vincent Mancini in “It is the sacrifice you make for the life you have chosen.”What was particularly noticeable about Hameed’s batting at the Ageas Bowl, especially when compared to his early-season innings, was what it did not contain. There were no fripperies or flourishes, none of the airy slashes with which he seemed so taken in April and May and which almost always ended in sombre walks back to the pavilion.Haseeb Hameed made his limited-overs debut for Lancashire this season•Getty ImagesIt is unclear why Hameed felt the need to introduce such strokes into one of the purest techniques in the game, one that had held him in good stead in his first three Tests in India last winter. Then came a broken finger and a more prolonged interruption to his Test career than he might have imagined. He is on record as saying he wants to play all three formats, so maybe he felt expanding his range of shots and scoring rate would accelerate this process; the experiment may also have been the consequence of coaching, either from Lancashire or England. Either way, it rarely ended well in red-ball cricket.Instead of such comparative indiscipline there was a return to stock in trade shots yesterday: the forward defensive, the safe, soft-handed thick edge through the slips, the tuck to backward square leg, the immaculate leave. All these were played, and then played again to imaginary deliveries. It took Hameed 20 balls to get off the mark; that didn’t matter a damn.Eventually there were attacking strokes: straight drives off the spinners, Mason Crane and Liam Dawson, a cover drive off Fidel Edwards and a lift over midwicket off Dawson. But the right to play them had to be earned by occupation of the crease, not brutally asserted in Davies’ manner. Only ten balls of the 219 Hameed received were hit for four, ten boundaries in 310 minutes’ batting, at the end of which the Great Wall of Bolton had 77 runs against his name.

The selectors are entitled to ask that he produce a little more evidence that he has recovered the gloriously tranquil rhythm and tempo which are the hallmarks of his batting

There was no opportunity for Hameed to reach his century on the third day of the game against Hampshire. Play was abandoned at just after 3.30, leaving him hoping for an opportunity to score another 23 runs on the final morning of the match. Should he achieve it, a case will be made for his recall for the Test series against the West Indies. It should be resisted, at least for the floodlit Test at Edgbaston. Even if Hameed makes 100 not out, his first-class aggregate for the season will be 314 and his average will be 28.5.The selectors are entitled to ask that he produce a little more evidence that he has recovered the gloriously tranquil rhythm and tempo which are the hallmarks of his batting. There would still be time for him to play Test cricket this season and no reason why he should not be named in the party to tour Australia and New Zealand.It is early August and sand martins are gathering at the Ageas Bowl. Before long they will migrate to Africa and will travel the routes they know well. Haseeb Hameed also wants to spend the English winter under austral skies. To achieve this objective he must prove that he has securely rediscovered the wonderfully compact technique which has already served him so well. If he can do that, some 15 years of Test cricket may lie before him.

It’s been a month in which Kohli gained an elder buddy, Mithali’s reading matter flattered to deceive, and England declared a new era (again)

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Jul-2017The coach-captain bond
Following the deterioration of Virat Kohli’s relationship with Anil Kumble, India went looking for a new head coach. After a weeks-long search, they finally appointed a coach with the boldness, courage and audacity to agree with everything that Kohli says.The team is currently on tour in Sri Lanka, and there are excellent signs that new appointment Ravi Shastri is getting on famously with the captain. Early reports from the team hotel suggest Shastri not only now loves exercising, drinking kale smoothies, eating Japanese food, and making viral videos of himself doing the weightlifting “snatch”, but has also grown a stylish beard and has taken to telling new people how he was born to a Punjabi family in Delhi in 1988.The job description
All this after an official BCCI statement laid out exactly what India were looking for from a new head coach. They were after someone who is “a mentor […] a friend, and an elder buddy,” the statement said. Duties would include a focus on harmony, and also “motivating and guiding”. The same qualities, it turns out, that are sought after by parents when deciding suitable sleepover partners for their children.The happy accident
While it may now seem difficult to imagine a time before Australia’s cricketers were involved in a pay dispute with their board, the standoff has apparently only been going for a few months. And there does finally appear to be a resolution in the works. However, this may arrive only after a lengthy arbitration process, which in turn means there is a good chance Australia will miss the tour to Bangladesh that is scheduled to begin on August 18.”There’s nothing we’d love more than to tour Bangladesh. Honest!”•Associated PressNow, let’s not be cynical. I think we can be sure that Australia’s cricketers are dying to play in Bangladesh – not having been there for Tests since 2005. They will take their commitment to the game in all parts of the globe incredibly seriously. The fact that they have a horrendous recent Test record in Asia probably has zero bearing on the pace of their pay-dispute proceedings. The fact this dispute may nix a tour on which they could lose a Test to Bangladesh for the first time ever has to be a complete, unqualified coincidence.The one-friend wonder
Not content with having had a long-standing blood feud with the BCCI, the PCB has lately taken to blitzing its relationship with their other Full-Member neighbours, to the extent that they now have only a single remaining ally in South Asia. In recent months, the PCB has been petulant at the BCB for justifiably refusing to tour Pakistan because of security concerns. It is telling, too, by the way, that Pakistan have only invited Bangladesh to their own country, and not to the UAE, where they have hosted each of the other top nine Test sides.This month, the détente that had existed between the PCB and the Afghanistan Cricket Board was also set afire. The ACB cancelled the T20 friendlies that were scheduled to be played in each country in the wake of a horrific Kabul bomb blast, and later said that no agreement could be “valid in a country where terrorists are housed and provided a safe haven”. The PCB has since demanded an apology for that statement, which does not appear to be forthcoming.Thankfully for the PCB, their only friendship in the region has deep roots. SLC has been close with the PCB ever since Pakistan’s public and cricket establishment overwhelmingly favoured Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup final in Lahore. And it is a relationship that has withstood much calamity, such as the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team, and Ahmed Shehzad’s religious sermons.The moment when Mithali Raj raised our hopes•ICCThe betrayal
No side had as much effect on cricketing fandom this month as India’s women, who, in a sensational run to the final, woke a nation up to women’s cricket. Although Mithali Raj led her side with courage and vision, she did, nevertheless, produce one of July’s major letdowns. Early in the tournament she endeared herself to the cricket world’s book nerds by reading a copy of as she waited to bat. Wonderful. What would she read next? The , perhaps? Tagore’s ? Or maybe, given the setting, William Blake’s ? But then later in the tournament, she was seen carrying a copy of a book written by Nasser Hussain, and the love affair turned to crap.The new new name
No team does buzzwords and relaunches like England. Just in this decade, we have had “daddy hundreds”, “bowling dry”, “new England”, “McCullumisation”, and “no-fear cricket”. For the distant observer, it is difficult to keep track of which term is in current usage, and which goes with which coach, captain or managing director. England, at times, seem like the big buffalo whose ownership is impossible to discern, because every farmer in the village has branded it.Now, with the installation of a new captain, a fresh catchphrase has taken grip. “The Root Era”, they call it. Teams like Pakistan used to change captains at the same rate most people did their underwear. When the England team gets a new leader, it is like some great dictator has been overthrown, statues have been brought down, and people have flooded the streets holding candles and weeping for joy.The birds of a feather
“Maybe they can give us some advice,” said Faf du Plessis of South Africa women, who had gained entry to the World Cup semi-final. It was not to be. Having perhaps been the standout bowler of the tournament, legspinner and captain Dane van Niekerk went wicketless in the semi-final (though she did produce an excellent run-out), and her team fell short in a thriller.AFPEngland had been in control during large parts of the match, so this was only a minor choke from South Africa’s women, really. With the right investment and development, perhaps future generations of South African women may one day be able to dream of choking as hard and as often as the men.The horror show
Sri Lankan cricket has basically been a large public-display bonfire this month, the team having lost an ODI series to Zimbabwe, then almost losing a Test to the same opposition, before the mega-hiding in Galle at the hands of India. There has also been a captaincy resignation, several administrative blunders (though this is true of every month), a case of pneumonia, a shattered thumb, and in Hambantota, ground staff were stripped of the trousers they were wearing.Amid all this, the nation’s greatest Test batsman and best ever captain have been trading public blows. Arjuna Ranatunga suggested on national television that the 2011 World Cup final was suspicious, and perhaps a match-fixing inquiry should be launched. In response, Kumar Sangakkara – who had captained that side – said the decision to send Sri Lanka’s team on the ill-fated Pakistan tour in 2009 should also be probed (Ranatunga was head of SLC at the time).The best line in the saga went to current SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala (who is also publicly at war with Ranatunga, but that is a whole other fiasco), who despite the month his board had had, said with a straight face, that former Sri Lanka captains should stop “tarnishing Sri Lanka Cricket’s good name”.

And have four bowlers taken more than 20 wickets each in a Test series before this Ashes?

Steven Lynch16-Jan-2018Was Jason Roy’s 180 the highest score in a one-day international against Australia at home? asked Steve Rafferty from Japan
Jason Roy’s 180 for England against Australia in Melbourne at the weekend smashed several records. It was England’s highest in ODIs, previously his team-mate Alex Hales’ 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2016, and was indeed the highest score against Australia in a home ODI, beating Rohit Sharma’s 171 not out for India in Perth in January 2016.The previous best at the MCG was Mark Waugh’s 173 for Australia v West Indies in February 2001.The only higher score in a one-day international in Australia is Chris Gayle’s 215 for West Indies against Zimbabwe in Canberra during the 2015 World Cup.Was England’s 308 the other day the highest successful run chase at the MCG? asked Bob Heath from Australia
Rather surprisingly perhaps, England’s 308 for 5 on Sunday was the first time any team had successfully chased a target of over 300 at the MCG. The previous highest was Australia’s 297 for 4 to beat England in January 2011, while the best by a visiting team in Melbourne was previously West Indies’ 273 for 6 to beat Australia in February 1985.Which Indian player has scored the most Test hundreds in South Africa? asked Nayim Yadav from India
This list is a bit of a one-man show: Sachin Tendulkar scored five Test hundreds in South Africa, and – prior to the current series, anyway – no one else had made more than one. Tendulkar, who played 15 Tests in South Africa, hit 111 as a 19-year-old in Johannesburg in 1992-93, and added 169 (still India’s highest in South Africa) in Cape Town in 1996-97, 155 in Bloemfontein in 2001-02, and 111 not out in Centurion and 146 in Cape Town in 2010-11.At the time of writing, Virat Kohli had made two hundreds in South Africa, and seven other Indian batsmen had scored one each: Pravin Amre, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Kapil Dev, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virender Sehwag.Sachin Tendulkar scored hundreds in four of his five series in South Africa•Getty ImagesWas Rishabh Pant’s hundred the other day the fastest in T20 matches? asked Dennis Morgan from Finland
Rishabh Pant’s century from just 32 balls, for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match in Delhi at the weekend, was actually the second-fastest in all T20 matches. The name on top of the list is hardly a surprise: Chris Gayle reached his hundred for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in Bangalore during the 2013 IPL in just 30 deliveries. Gayle finished with 175 not out – still the highest score in any senior T20 match from 66 balls, with 17 sixes and 13 fours.Four Australian bowlers took more than 20 wickets in the recent Ashes series. Has this ever happened before? asked Gerry Donaldson from England
There has only been one previous five-Test series in which four bowlers from the same side finished with 20 or more wickets: in the 2006-07 Ashes, Stuart Clark took 26, Shane Warne 23, Glenn McGrath 21 and Brett Lee 20 for Australia. In 1995 in England, Ian Bishop took 27 wickets, Courtney Walsh 26, Kenny Benjamin 23 and Curtly Ambrose 21 for West Indies – but that was a six-Test rubber.This time, as Englishmen will hardly need reminding, Pat Cummins took 23 wickets, Mitchell Starc 22, and Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon both 21. No other Australian bowler claimed a wicket – a record for any five-Test series.Leave your questions in the comments

His comeback innings promised something special on one hand. On the other, it left several big questions unanswered for South Africa, especially around team combination

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth26-Dec-2017It was the short, slower delivery AB de Villiers picked off Kyle Jarvis, the one he swivelled to get under and slapped over deep square leg, the ball he sent into the stands; it was ball that has the story to tell. And it’s a long story. Twenty-three months long.That’s how long we have waited to see him in Test whites. That’s how long we have wondered if we would ever see him play a Test again. That’s how long the South African team has had to deal with the uncertainty surrounding its superstar’s future, and how long it has tried to find new heroes. How difficult that has been.Let’s be honest, although Dean Elgar will end the year among the three top run-scorers in Test cricket and has built a sturdy reputation for being reliable, although Hashim Amla is a modern great, although Faf du Plessis is an astute and likeable captain, although Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock are the players people will talk about in the future, none of them are AB de Villiers. None of them command the same awe, not even Amla, who has more Test runs and more Test centuries than de Villiers.None of them are worshipped, and that word is used deliberately, because that is the league de Villiers is in. The IPL is mostly responsible for taking him there, but his own records and his massive range of strokes do help. Whatever the reason, de Villiers is revered and so, when he decided to take a sabbatical from the longest format following an injury, he was, by and large, more missed than criticised by the public. Some voices (this one included) questioned his decision to pick and choose, and worried about how the team would adapt to de Villiers’ whims of when he wanted to play and when he didn’t. But most people only cared that he did want to play again, whenever, wherever, against whoever.So maybe it’s fitting that de Villiers made his Test comeback in front of less than 5,000 people, at a festive St George’s Park, against an opposition who are more preoccupied with how privileged they consider themselves to be playing against him than plotting his downfall. It’s even fitting that de Villiers made the comeback in the unusual role of stand-in Test captain, the same job he had when he walked away in January 2016. It’s sort of like he has completed a circle. And ball finished the circle.De Villiers played some aggressive strokes before that shot – a nifty whip past midwicket, a gorgeous drive down the ground, and a pull and a slice off the short ball from Blessing Muzarabani – but it was six that said he had really settled. And that Zimbabwe had missed a trick.Early on his innings, de Villiers was obviously uncomfortable against the handful of balls he faced from Graeme Cremer. The legspinning Zimbabwe captain beat de Villiers’ outside edge with the fourth delivery he bowled, having lured de Villiers far enough down the crease to almost create a stumping chance. With his next ball, Cremer beat de Villiers on the drive. De Villiers only faced two more balls from Cremer before the tea interval and, curiously, Cremer did not bring himself back on after the break. Had Cremer continued and been able to create more sustained pressure on de Villiers, Zimbabwe’s chances of a breakthrough would have been higher. But the seamers were brought on and de Villiers had time to find his rhythm, and Zimbabwe paid the price.With six, it was as though de Villiers was telling them, “Your only chance of dismissing me now is when I get bored of your mediocrity.” Because that’s what it was. Not only are Zimbabwe not exactly a threatening side, they are also not consistent and the gap between them and South Africa is obviously widening.Luckily for them, the batsmen they dismissed before dinner – possibly barring Aiden Markram, who was out to one on a testing line – all got bored. De Villiers did too, 28 balls and 19 runs later. Even more luckily for them, it was just at the point where de Villiers was really starting to accelerate. He was beginning to play more flamboyantly when he popped a return catch to Chris Mpofu and ended his comeback innings teasingly. There were glimpses of the de Villiers of old, and then it was over. It promised something, but did not deliver it all. It suggested there was more to come.And the more came as early as 40 minutes before the scheduled close of play. In a perfect storm, de Villiers was also required to keep wicket when Quinton de Kock suffered what appeared to be a hamstring tweak while batting. Squatting behind the stumps for hours on end is exactly what aggravated de Villiers’ back problems all those months ago and talk of his workload issues became most prominent when he was forced to keep in the first Test against England in December 2015. Then, Dane Vilas had been dropped after a disastrous tour of India and de Kock had yet to be recalled. That week, reports surfaced that de Villiers was considering early retirement. The following week, de Kock was recalled and de Villiers relieved of keeping duties. The week after that, he was made stand-in captain. He hinted it was all too much but, now, on comeback, he had to do it all again.De Villiers is a Test cricketer again and, theoretically, that should mean a better, more-watchable South African Test team. Practically, it has left a lot of unanswered questions. De Villiers return was going to cause a selection headache because South Africa’s current team balance accommodates only six batsmen, an allrounder, three seamers and a spinner, but when du Plessis became unavailable, de Villiers was a straight swap into the starting XI. Why de Villiers was also installed as captain is a matter of some controversy, and, ESPNcricinfo has learned, not everybody in the set-up supported the appointment.What will those people say when, next week, if du Plessis is fully fit for the first Test against India, there needs to be a decision made about which batsman misses out? South Africa still have a get-out clause because they could bench the allrounder and revert to the seven-batsmen strategy, which would accommodate for both de Villiers and du Plessis, but they will then need to be absolutely sure the three seamers they select are 100% fit. Their performance later in this match will provide an indication but, with Dale Steyn out with a viral infection, at least one of the quicks will go into the India series untested in recent international action.That South Africa did not grapple with these conundrums in what is effectively a warm-up Test before the main events (India and Australia) has only delayed the inevitable. They will have to make some decisions, around players of the calibre of de Villiers and Steyn – who have reputation but not match-fitness on their sides. The issues around Steyn may end up being easier because, across seven Tests, chances are high that South Africa will need at least four quicks.The issues around de Villiers are a little more complicated. It may sound as though they are only around transformation – because the batsman most likely to have to make way is Temba Bavuma, who is black African – but they are also about team balance and de Villiers’ own workload. Just two days before this match, the man himself admitted his back remains a concern from time to time. For now, de Villiers being back, rather than his actual back, is a cause of celebration. But this is not the end of the story. Just ask ball.

Eoin Morgan will play his 200th ODI when England face New Zealand in Christchurch. His first came for Ireland in 2006, but even then his future path was clear

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Mar-20181:11

Irish wunderkind to England captain: the Eoin Morgan story

On a summer evening in 2004, Brian O’Rourke was tidying up, preparing to leave Oakham School in Leicestershire where his Ireland Under-17 side had just wiped the floor with England Under-15. As he began accounting for each member of his squad, he noticed one, Eoin Morgan, out near the middle, talking to the opposition coach – Paul Farbrace. O’Rourke stopped and fixed his gaze.”I thought, you know, those two aren’t chatting about the weather,” O’Rourke remembers. “There was something going on. The penny dropped at that stage.”Depending on who you ask, it was this conversation that set everything in motion: a move away from home, begin his qualification period, get settled with a county – Middlesex’s 2nd XI coach had made overtures the year before Farbrace, now England’s assistant coach, had his chat – and, eventually, play for the national team. But the truth is, those aware of Morgan’s intentions for his career in the game – none more so than O’Rourke – knew only English cricket could match his ambitions. On Saturday, Morgan will walk out at Hagley Oval for his 200th ODI.It will be his 177th for England since making the switch official in 2009, and 78th as captain. But the journey that started with 23 ODIs for the Boys in Green began at Ayr, in a European Championship Division One match against Scotland in August 2006. It was a debut in all but name for Morgan, who by then, aged 19, was an established force.He was always the kid playing a few age-groups above his own, losing nothing but maybe a few inches in height with every level he stepped up. Even his coaches would joke that he was something of a know-it-all: the school-kid who relished taking a teacher down an avenue where he could show them up. Only Morgan was not doing it to flex his muscles, he genuinely believed, even as a 14-year-old, that he had parts of the game sussed.On a trip to Denmark, he ran O’Rourke – his youth team coach at Ireland and Leinster – through his plans for playing spin. “You should have heard it. He had a simple philosophy that one of the first six balls from a spinner was going back over his head. I said, ‘Geez Eoin, now, would you not just see what the wicket’s like?'”He looked at me and said: ‘No, Brian – it’s definitely happening. I don’t know which one it’s going to be, but it’s going over long on.’ Invariably, it went.”The above highlights traits that haven’t changed in Morgan over the years: unwavering belief in his processes, stubborn as hell. He’s loyal, too. His former team-mate and childhood friend Gary Wilson describes their friendship as one that could go months without a phone call yet, at the first sign of turmoil, Morgan would drop everything and jump on a plane. A characteristic he and others say has been forged in a home environment that offered him unwavering support wherever he went. “It definitely comes from his family,” says Wilson. “They’re very loyal people.”

Moggy was a state. I’m pretty sure if he reacted that way today, he’d probably get the boot!William Porterfield on how Eoin Morgan reacted to being run out for 99 on ODI debut

During an Ireland age-group tour to the Netherlands, the Morgan family – father, mother and siblings – piled into a camper van and drove to watch Eoin, who was captaining the side. “It was brilliant,” remembers Wilson. “They would make him food at lunch in the camper van. So he wouldn’t eat the food at the ground, he’d go and get a fry up from his parents in the camper van. No one else could get away with that! Brian tried to pull him up on it but he was like, ‘well, I want this food so I’m going to have this food.’ He didn’t see a problem with it and, to be fair, neither did we. Not when he’d come out and lash a hundred.”One was lashed during the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, too, as Morgan scored 338 runs – the second highest, after India’s Cheteshwar Pujara – at an average of 67.60 just to ensure the rest of the international game knew who he was. He bowled a bit too back then, especially during the 2003-04 Under-19 World Cup, sending down 47 overs with a batch of white balls that swung around corners. “No one could control them,” recalls William Porterfield, who led that side. “So after a couple of games, Morgs took the new ball and was bowling away-swingers to a seven-two field.””He was pretty effective. In fact, I remember one of the games, he had a go at me. He’d bowled eight overs in a row and I was going to take him off to save a couple of later. He was like, ‘Nah, I’m staying on to bowl ten through!'”Porterfield’s ODI debut also came in that match in Ayr, though his nerves were far greater than Morgan, who had already represented the full Ireland side in 27 matches spread across three first-class, 15 List A and nine games that fall within the margins, such is the inexcusable triviality of “status” in the international game. Not only was this Morgan’s debut, it was only Ireland’s second official one-day international. “The ODI status was a huge deal,” says Porterfield. “Not just for us, as players, but it was huge for the team.”Eoin Morgan at the crease during his first ODI for England•Getty ImagesMemories from the game are hazy, but the scorecard paints a vivid picture. Scotland won the toss and elected to field first and, having come in at No. 3, Morgan held the Irish innings together with a 99 that, with the help of Kyle McCallan’s unbeaten 43, dragged Ireland to 240 for 8. The pitch – “a dog’s dinner” by this point – saw Scotland skittled for 155 to hand Ireland a debut win by 85 runs. The clearest image from the day, to many, was the aftermath of Morgan’s dismissal: run out for the eighth wicket.”He’ll probably tell you it was Kyle’s fault,” quips Porterfield. “Moggy was a state. I’m pretty sure if he reacted that way today, he’d probably get the boot!”Morgan was in tears as he walked off, hurling out a few expletives as he crossed the boundary before items of his kit went flying as he approached the changing room. The opportunity to score Ireland’s first ODI hundred was taken away from him.The honour would eventually fall to Jeremy Bray, against Scotland in January 2007. Morgan eventually became the fourth, notching a century against Canada in Nairobi a month later.That would be his lot for Ireland, with 10 centuries for England wiping away whatever residual dismay that 99 might have festered. While Morgan walked off thinking he’d missed a chance at a ODI hundred, no one else – team-mates, coaches, the opposition – saw it as an opportunity spurned. “The hundred for him would have been good personally, but it’d be good for Irish cricket, too,” says O’Rourke. “He set the standard for Irish cricket.”Irish cricket is striving to be in a better position, with Test status, that we won’t lose a player like Morgan again. But for someone from Ireland to have had the career that he has had, it doesn’t half fill you with pride”

Our snippets from the Vitality Blast includes relief at Trent Bridge, Joe Denly’s treasured England wicket and why Yorkshire will no longer go head-to-head against England’s World Cup semi-final

David Hopps and Arjun Bhardwaj08-Jul-2018When Dwayne Bravo finally calls time on his roving career as a Twenty20 specialist he can always open a cricket shirt museum. ESPNcricinfo recorded in April that he had played for 18 different T20 sides and since then he has added Winnipeg Hawks and Middlesex to stretch the list to 20.Maybe somebody needs to explain to him that T20 refers to the number of overs, not the number of teams.At one point it appeared that Bravo might be trying to pull off the impossible feat of representing two teams at the same time, appearing alongside his half-brother Darren for Winnipeg in the inaugural match in the Canada T20 league before flying to England to don the Middlesex kit only two days later.Bravo’s death bowling skills were much in evidence when Middlesex (his fourth English county) beat Surrey in the Lord’s opener, but he had less success when Essex beat Middlesex with a ball to spare at Chelmsford, conceding 53 in a spell which was largely bowled at the end of the innings.Bravo is sticking around for six games in all before heading home for the Caribbean Premier League.

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ESPNcricinfoDan Christian’s 37-ball century meant that the Vitality Blast enjoyed an eye-catching opening night. The second-fastest hundred in T20 in England – for Notts Outlaws against Northants – was only three balls slower than Andrew Symonds’ astounding effort for Kent in only the second season of the format in 2004.Symonds, a fellow Australian, did not delay his entrance at six but opened the batting and he made such light work of a weak Middlesex attack that the match was all over by the 14th over with Symonds scoring 112 of the 147 runs off the bat.As the graphic above relates, Christian also set new standards for a batsman coming in four wickets down in a T20. Back for a third season, and entrusted with the captaincy, he gives Notts what so few counties manage in T20 these days: a regular, integrated overseas player.Christian’s exploits overshadowed an encouraging return for Paul Coughlin, who dislocated a shoulder in the field on the England Lions tour of the West Indies in March and who belatedly made his Notts debut after moving from Durham.Notts are convinced that Coughlin is England class and, although he won’t bowl yet, two catches including a good sliding catch in the deep were a heartening sight.Paul Coughlin was injured playing for England Lions•Getty Images

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Talking of records, Joe Denly’s unique feat of a century and a hat-trick in the same game continued a remarkable story of how his leg spin has flowered late in his career. Not so long ago he would not have been named among the legspinners who are expected to be used by 16 of the 18 counties, but now he is an increasingly valuable component of Kent’s attack. A new lease of life at 32.But what has so far faded from the memory is that Denly took a T20 wicket with his first ball in international cricket, in Johannesburg nine years ago, as the South Africa captain, Graeme Smith, slapped him to long on.Even with that notable scalp, bowling did not become a habit. Before Denly brought Surrey to their knees, he had bowled in only 13 of his 178 T20 matches – a sum total of 138 balls which had brought him seven wickets. Rob Key, a former Kent captain, has light-heartedly referenced on TV commentary this season how he would just laugh whenever Denly asked for a bowl, just regarding it as a batsman who was bored in the field. A stand-in captain for Sam Billings for the early part of the season, he has taken the chance to do what countless batting skippers have done over the years: brought himself on.So far this season, to add his five hundreds across all formats, he has 23 wickets. His return to Kent for a second time for the start of the 2015 season has brought one of the most enriching periods of his career.

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The inclusion of 17-year-old Jamie Smith, a Surrey Academy wicketkeeper, in Surrey’s starting XI for their first two matches, has added to the exciting group of young players the county is nurturing.The average age of Surrey’s top six against Kent, their opponents on Friday night, was just 24. Their opponents, in comparison, were on average five years older.It has not gone according to plan, however. As Surrey find themselves with two losses from two matches, their new T20 captain Jade Dernbach will no doubt be looking forward to the influx of experienced players in matches to come, not least the England opener Jason Roy.

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Ben Stokes swings into the leg side•Getty ImagesSometimes coaches see what they want to see. The opening week saw Ben Stokes made an unbeaten 90 for Durham on his return from a hamstring injury, but Yorkshire’s coach Andrew Gale was all contentment after Yorkshire’s 44-run win.”We starved him of the strike,” proclaimed Gale, a fact not immediately evident from the statistics which revealed that Stokes, who batted through the innings, faced 68 balls while the rest of Durham’s side managed 52 between them.And that despite the fact that Stokes, wary of aggravating his hamstring ahead of his planned return for England in Bristol three days later was clearly reluctant to risk too many quick singles,

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Yorkshire have abandoned plans to stick to their Wednesday evening start time for the Vitality Blast contest against Derbyshire despite a clash with England’s World Cup semi-final against Croatia in Moscow.Andy Dawson, Yorkshire’s commercial director, initially told : “We’re obviously a cricket club, first and foremost, and we need to think about our members who are not necessarily caught up in the football euphoria.”A video of wild celebrations in the bars on Otley Road, close to the ground, as England beat Sweden 2-0 persuaded Yorkshire – and the club’s members’ committee – that this time discretion might be the better form of valour. The game has been rescheduled for July 30.Gloucestershire’s televised match against Kent on Wednesday has been brought forward to 3pm. As yet there are no reports of members’ uprisings in Bristol. And, if there are, it’s always easier to blame TV requirements.

In a batting line-up without Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, and being 1-0 down to Zimbabwe, Bangladesh needed their big batsman to bat big. And he made it the team’s biggest

Mohammad Isam in Dhaka12-Nov-2018Mushfiqur Rahim had heard from the Zimbabwe players that they would bowl spinners at both ends after tea. So he walked out to bat with his tatty old Bangladesh cap, adding a bit of old world charm as he burst past several milestones in the space of 20 minutes.With his unbeaten 219, he became the first wicketkeeper, and the first Bangladeshi, to score two double-centuries in Test cricket. It was also the first double-ton of the year and by the time the declaration came, he had made more runs in a single innings than any other Bangladesh batsman.Mushfiqur had already been at the summit, having made 200 against Sri Lanka in 2013, but Shakib Al Hasan overtook him in 2017. Now, with this mammoth effort against Zimbabwe, he became only the sixth man in Test cricket to break the record for a country’s highest individual score (200s or more) twice. Mushfiqur, who has a Masters in history, might enjoy going down in history like that. Not least because he has joined a list that includes Don Bradman, George Headley, Vinoo Mankad, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag.

I am the kind of person who does not want to sit in the dressing room doing nothing; I want to stay as much as possible on the field and contribute, feel like I am doing something for the team and my country

One of the most eye-catching segments of play on the second day was how carefully Mushfiqur batted in the first session. He took minimum risk as he moved from an overnight 111 to 135 and though he took 76 balls to score those 24 runs, it ensured his team did not give up the advantage they had worked so hard to secure. On a side note, batting with such great care helped Mushfiqur record the longest innings by a Bangladesh batsman in Test cricket.”Tamim and Shakib have also scored double hundreds so now we know that there’s a way for us to score big,” he said. “I definitely wanted to go back to where I was, it was in the back of my mind. It is a healthy competition, which is beneficial for the team. During this innings, I never took undue risk which was significant for me. I had a big innings without playing some of my favorite shots. It has given me more belief.”Coincidentally, Mushfiqur’s first double-hundred also came when Tamim and Shakib were out with injuries. And this one took Bangladesh from 26 for 3 to 522 for 7.”We lost three early wickets so the responsibility was on the rest of the batsmen,” he said. “We needed to take the team to a safe position. I think Imrul, Mominul, myself and Mahmudullah have special responsibility, to make sure one of us get a big innings.”We cannot win a game by getting thirties or fifties. We are starting a good trend of getting big hundreds. You saw it in the ODIs. It is a good sign. Being a senior member of the side, it is always my target to contribute as much as possible.”Mushfiqur Rahim exults after racking up a double-century•Raton Gomes/BCBPart of that contribution is also keeping wicket, and while it has often cropped up as a thorny subject (particularly when his form dips in either discipline), Mushfiqur feels strongly about being Bangladesh’s first choice behind the stumps.”As I have said repeatedly, keeping wicket helps me a lot. While it doesn’t mean that I will score centuries or double-centuries in every match where I keep, it is my process and I am a big believer in process and preparation. It really helps me.”I have to do in a way the team management decides. It sometimes happens that there is a bit of a problem managing the workload of the two roles, but I think it is a challenge and one which I always enjoy.”I am the kind of person who does not want to sit in the dressing room doing nothing; I want to stay as much as possible on the field and contribute, feel like I am doing something for the team and my country. If I continue to be given this responsibility I believe I will be able to do it.”Mushfiqur has always been known to be overly intense. He could have easily let Liton Das or Mohammad Mithun, two full-time wicketkeepers, take the gloves in Dhaka after he had batted for nearly 10 hours. But as he said, that’s not his style.For seven years now, Mushfiqur has been one of Bangladesh’s most dependable batsmen. There was one short dip in form in 2016, but otherwise he has never dropped off for too long. In a line-up without Shakib and Tamim, at a time when they were 1-0 down, Bangladesh needed their big batsman to bat big. And he made it Bangladesh’s biggest.

Four players who are likely to attract the highest bids in December’s IPL mini-auction

Gaurav Sundararaman and Deivarayan Muthu16-Dec-20183:03

346 players to go under the hammer at IPL auction

Varun Chakravarthy
Mystery spinners are generally hard to find worldwide, and even more so in India. Look back and you can only think of KC Cariappa from the category, an expensive pick for Kolkata Knight Riders who failed to deliver.Tamil Nadu’s Varun Chakravarthy is the next big emerging talent among mystery spinners. He has seven different variations and had a very good TNPL and Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the TNPL, he bowled 40 overs (240 balls), of which 125 balls were dots. His economy rate of 4.7 was the best among bowlers who had bowled at least 15 oversHe also made an impact in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, finishing as the top wicket-taker in the group stage, with 22 wickets in nine matches at an economy of 4.23. Historically, Indian spinners are expected to do much better than overseas spinners. Time will tell if it is worth it for a franchise to bet on an inexperienced, albeit rare talent. Varun has already been a nets bowler for Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, besides attending a trial with Mumbai Indians. It will not be a surprise if he goes for a big price, considering his skillset, and the fact that his name features early during the auction.ALSO READ: Five TNPL players who could be on the IPL radarShimron Hetmyer
It always helps to play in a series in India in the lead-up to the auction. When West Indies toured India in October, Shimron Hetmyer attracted attention with his heavy-hitting. His ability to play spin and clear the boundary with ease makes him a very tempting option.Hetmyer had finished the ODI series with 259 runs at an average of 51.80 at a strike rate of 140. Before the India tour, he also had a very good season in Caribbean Premier League, scoring 440 runs from 12 innings at 148.14. Hetmyer is available throughout the season and is in form. That’s a lot of boxes ticked in an IPL auction: Hetmyer is likely to attract a bidding war.Oshane ThomasAn important attribute that scouts and analysts look at is bowling speed. Although the numbers for bowlers who clock more than 140 kph aren’t remarkable, speed is a key skill that every team wants to have. Billy Stanlake started well last season while the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Joffra Archer have had their moments. With every franchise looking for such quicks, one cricketer who has improved his chances is Oshane Thomas. His pace and bounce troubled the Indian batsmen during the recently concluded ODI series. The 21-year-old has taken 26 wickets from 17 T20 matches at a strike rate of 14.3 and an economy rate of 8.27. With a possibility of the IPL being held in South Africa and many franchises, looking for overseas fast bowlers that are available, the odds for a bidding war look good.ALSO READ: Wanted, an allrounder for RCB and a partner for BumrahShivam DubeIndian allrounders are so few in supply that they invariably go for a lot of money. We saw that with Krunal Pandya and Vijay Shankar earlier this year.The latest domestic allrounder to make waves is Mumbai’s Shivam Dube. He came to the fore when he hit five sixes in an over against Pravin Tambe in a Mumbai T20 league game. Over the season, Dube has also shown that he is more than a slogger: he scored a quick 110 from 128 deliveries against Gujarat in the first innings and then followed it up with a patient 55 from 155 balls in the second to be Man of the Match in a game Mumbai lost. With the ball, his 7 for 53 against Karnataka caught a lot of attention. His ability to score quickly and bowl four overs in a T20 game makes him an asset.Other players who could surprise: England allrounder Joe Denly, Mumbai seamer Tushar Deshpande, Baroda allrounder Atit Sheth, England batsman Jonny Bairstow, and New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Glenn Phillips.

Old-fashioned Test innings from inexperienced duo Ben Foakes and Sam Curran provided an antidote for England’s top-order failings

George Dobell in Galle06-Nov-2018It took a couple of new boys to show the old ones how to do it.After a morning session in which England’s batsmen had squandered first use of a surface on which run-scoring is likely to become harder, it took Ben Foakes – on debut – and Sam Curran – aged 20 – to provide the calm heads and common sense required to drag England back into this contest.Foakes, in particular, showed his top-order colleagues how it should be done with an innings that spoke of wonderful composure and assurance. While those above him fell attempting to force the pace of the game, Foakes was content to bide his time and wait for the loose ball. So while three of the top four had strikes rates of 75 or more, Foakes was happy to take 40 balls to score his first seven runs. And while England’s top order thrashed 10 fours in the game’s first 10 overs, Foakes was happy to register just six in his 68 overs at the crease.All tour, England have spoken of the need to play with “courage” and take “risks”. But as Joe Root skipped down the pitch and yorked himself, Keaton Jennings missed a cut that was far too close to him and Ben Stokes was bowled round his legs attempting a delicate lap-sweep, it was hard to wish there wasn’t just a little more talk of “patience” and “discipline” and rather less of the bravado.For we are hardly in uncharted territory here. This England team has lived and, very often, died by the sword in recent years. And, despite the mountain of evidence that suggests it is a ploy that will meet with limited success at Test level, they show little sign of changing.This is, after all, the team that has lost ten wickets in a session three times in the last two years (something that never happened between 1936 and 2016) and here saw four of their top five bowled in the first-innings of a Test for the first time this century. They attacked 30% of the deliveries they faced before lunch – a record, according to CricViz, for England in Tests in Asia since such data started being compiled in 2006 – with Root responding to his team’s predicament (they were two down after 75 minutes) by advancing and attempting to hit Rangana Herath over the top. Courageous? Maybe. Sensible? Not really.

Rain removed spinners’ advantage – Dliruwan

As is often the case on this new generation of Sri Lankan tracks, the new ball is spinning more than the old one, said Dilruwan Perera, who took 4 for 70 on day one.
“The wicket was covered for two days before the match because of the rain, and I think that took away the usual advantage the spinners have here,” he said. “The wicket spun when the ball was new, but when it got older, it just became slower.”
He also was of the view that the pitch for this Test is better for batting than the surfaces generally encountered at Galle. He believed it is unlike the pitch on which the most-recent Test at this venue, was played – that game, against South Africa, lasted only two-and-a-half days.
“I get the feeling that this Galle Test last four or five days. It is a good wicket and I don’t think it will deteriorate that much.”

In Foakes we saw the antidote. He played straight, he played each delivery on its merits and he didn’t go searching for the ‘four’ ball. He trusted his defence – you wonder if some of those top-order colleagues do so – and talked, instead of “courage,” of “grinding” and “nurdling”. He fought off a sustained attack of cramp towards stumps and resumes, on day two, within 13 runs of becoming just the second England wicketkeeper to make a century on Test debut. Matt Prior was the other.Is it relevant that Foakes was on debut? You would hope not. But you do wonder if all the talk of “courage” and “risk” and “aggression” seeps into the mindset of this squad over time and through exposure. Foakes is untainted by such complications – he actually declined the offer of a Lions tour this winter in the belief that an extended break would do him more good; he had just returned from a “lads’ trip” to Lisbon when he was called-up – and played good, old-fashioned cricket without the testosterone that seems to govern so much of England’s batting in all formats.That’s not the say the England system hasn’t contributed to Foakes’ success. He has been part of the “pathway” for a decade and this is, in one way or another, his sixth trip to Sri Lanka to play cricket, including various Lions tours and a placement with Colts, a club in Colombo. Trevor Bayliss has wanted him involved – here, in particular – for some time and he came into the match with a first-class average of 40.64. This is not, despite Foakes’ late call-up, a complete shock.”It definitely helped me,” he said of his experience in Sri Lanka. “I got to learn a little bit about Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya [who also played for Colts]. And the thing you can’t really prepare for is the heat, unless you’ve done it. I think playing in this sort of heat a few times really helped.”Bruce French deserves praise, too. While there is limited evidence of much improvement among batsmen and bowlers in the England environment, the improvement in keepers – think of Prior or Jonny Bairstow – is marked. French, England’s long-term wicketkeeping coach, struggled to hold back the tears when he awarded Foakes his Test cap and deserves recognition for his part in his development.Ben Foakes brought up his maiden Test fifty•Getty ImagesFoakes has though, given the England management quite a headache ahead of the Kandy Test. With Bairstow expected to be fit to play, they will be forced to make a tricky selection. Foakes, like Bairstow and Jos Buttler and Stokes and Moeen Ali, all look at their best in the middle-order, but something – or somebody – really has to give.That somebody here was, as ever, Moeen. Having been told he definitely wouldn’t be batting at No. 3 little more than a week ago, he came into this game after one warm-up innings when he batted at No. 7. There’s no defending his failure to keep out a pretty regulation delivery that was angled in from around the stumps, but England sure do mess him around.Bayliss said, earlier in the week, that both Moeen and Stokes were in the side for their batting, with their bowling considered a bonus. But Moeen now averages 31.87 with the bat in Test cricket and Stokes 33.56: they are not stats that would be considered sufficient for specialist batsmen.Foakes defended England’s approach after play. Arguing that, in the first session, the ball gripped on a slightly tacky surface, he suggested that, had they allowed the bowlers to settle into a length, they could have been rendered both strokeless and defenceless.”In that first session the amount the ball stuck and turned, if we hadn’t been aggressive, we could have been 30 for four or five.” Foakes said. “The guys went about it really well. The way Keaton Jennings played especially, taking the game to them and throwing them off their lengths, worked quite well.”Maybe. But England were again bailed out by the depth of their batting. Curran, patient between poor balls but merciless when they arrived, again contributed well but will be disappointed with the attempted heave that ended his innings. Adil Rashid also swung merrily for a while but, as a No. 9, has more licence to do so. The top-order have to take more responsibility. Test batting is about more than aggression. It has to encompass patience and restraint, too.

He became only the second Pakistan fast bowler in the last 28 years to take a 10-wicket haul against Australia

Bharath Seervi19-Oct-20180:50

Mohammad Abbas, Pakistan’s second-fastest to 50 Test wickets

373 – Pakistan’s margin of victory, their biggest ever in Tests in terms of runs. This eclipsed their 356-run win against Australia four years ago in Abu Dhabi.3 – Only three other Test defeats for Australia have been heavier than the 373-run drubbing in Abu Dhabi. Two of their four biggest have come in 2018, post the Smith-Warner bans. They were beaten by 492 runs by South Africa at Wanderers in March.2006 – The last time a Pakistan fast bowler took a ten-for in a Test (Mohammad Asif against Sri Lanka in Kandy). The top-five match figures by Pakistan fast bowlers in the last ten years have all been by either Abbas or Asif.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – Mohammad Abbas became the first fast bowler to take a ten-wicket haul in a in UAE Test. Junaid Khan’s 8 for 151 versus Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi in December 2013 was the previous best.6 – Number of consecutive series Australia have played in Asia now without a win. The last time they won in the subcontinent was on the tour of Sri Lanka in 2011. In this period, they have lost 13 of the 17 Tests played.10.58 – Abbas’ average in the series for his 17 wickets – the best for any Pakistan bowler in a series with 15 or more wickets. The previous best was Asif’s 10.76 in Sri Lanka in 2006. Abbas’ average is also the best by any fast bowler in a series versus Australia in the last 100 years. The career average of Abbas is just 15.64, the best for any bower with 50-plus wickets in the last 100 years and fourth-best overall.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 – Number of Pakistan fast bowlers to take a ten-wicket haul in Tests against Australia. However, Abbas is the first since Wasim Akram’s 11 for 160 at MCG in 1990. Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz are the others to have achieved this. Abbas’ 10 for 95 is the cheapest ten-for by any fast bowler against Australia since Fred Trueman’s 11 for 88 at Headingley in Ashes 1961.2 – Instances of two Australia batsmen in the top-six averaging less than eight in the same series in the last 100 years (minimum of four innings). The Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell have averaged just 3.50 and 7.50 in the four innings this series. The only such instance in the last 100 years when two Australia batsmen averaged less than eight was in the Ashes 1972, where Doug Walters and Graeme Watson averaged 7.71 and 5.25 respectively. The averages of both the Marsh brothers rank the worst among Australia batsmen in the top-six in any series against Pakistan.