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Captain’s brilliant second-innings hundred helps carry England into a position of authority on the third day

Andrew Miller16-Nov-2018Joe Root said that he had batted like a “reverse swan” – visibly frantic but internally calm – after his brilliant second-innings hundred had helped carry England into a position of authority on the third day at Pallekele.Root made 124 from 146 balls, with ten fours and two sixes, as England reached 324 for 9 before rain brought about an early finish. It was his 15th Test century, and one of his best yet, as it helped to build a lead of 278 – a priceless advantage going into the fourth innings on a spinning deck.”To start I felt a bit all over the place, a bit hectic,” Root told Sky Sports. “I was like a reverse swan – I felt quite calm underneath but the legs were flapping on the outside.”It was just about trying to get the bowlers to bowl in the areas you want to, take a few risks early, and get used to how the surface is playing.

Root disappointed by dissent charge

Joe Root believes he was harshly treated in being charged with dissent following his reaction to a not-out appeal on the second day, but accepts that the umpires have a “duty of care” towards the game.
“We talked it through afterwards,” he said. “You don’t want to take emotion completely out of the game but you have to make sure that the respect for the game is there, definitely.
“I was accused of showing dissent. I was more frustrated that things weren’t going in our favour. I understand that it’s more of how it’s perceived and how it looks.
“I made it very clear that that wasn’t the case towards the umpire. But I understand there are certain things in place. They’re trying to do a duty of care to look after Test cricket and make sure it is seen to be played in the right manner. I definitely didn’t do that and they understand that and respect that.”

“Once I’d got to about 20-odd, and got a few boundaries away, I felt I was picking the lengths in terms of sweeping. It made things a lot easier, and I was able to start working out a really good method on that surface.”Root’s methods were a continuation of England’s unconventional approach to Asian conditions – having been guilty of dying wondering on their more recent visits to the subcontinent, most notably during their 4-0 defeat in India two years ago, they have resolved on this trip to keep the runs coming instead of waiting for the unplayable ball to send them on the way.”Those are the guys’ natural games,” he said. “You’ve got to play to your advantage, and we’ve certainly done that throughout this tour with the bat.””The guys have not been shy of experimenting. They’ve been trying to develop themselves and with that it gives the team a better opportunity to score on a wide range of circumstances. Even when we lost wickets in a cluster, we still managed to score at 4.5/5 an over at times. It felt at no point were we under real big amounts of pressure, we were exerting it back on to them.”Root admitted that calculated risks had been one aspect of England’s play, but said that there had been moments when run-scoring was a obvious option that stone-walled defence.”You try to play it on the line,” he said. “a left-arm spinner bowling outside off stump, you might want to sweep. It’s free shot, it’s not going to hit the stumps or get you lbw, so it might be a better option than playing from the straight.”Similarly for the offspinners, you want to mess around with the lines and which areas are best for them to bowl at. You play little individual games, you and your partner at the other end, and the best thing about it was that we kept the board going at a really good rate, which was credit to the guys to come out and play that way.”We’re not going to get it right all the time but we’ve given ourselves a chance in this game,” he said. “And if we bowl well on this surface we’ll hopefully create at least ten chances.”Root paid particular tribute to Rory Burns, who made his first Test half-century at the top of the order, and set the tone for England’s approach in spite of the early loss of the nightwatchman, Jack Leach.”Losing Leach early, we had a bit of a deficit so there was the temptation to go into our shells, but the guys played with freedom, good courage, but with respect to some good balls out there as well.”Burns came out to bat with calmness, in control of what he’s trying to do, he was unflappable if you like. When you watch him bat, he has everything there to go on and have a really good Test career.”The overnight rain threatens to add an extra layer of intrigue to Sri Lanka’s run-chase, as and when it gets underway at the fall of England’s final wicket.”It’ll be interesting to see how the pitch plays with this amount of rain tonight,” said Root. “If it tacks it up and makes it spin a bit more, or holds it together a bit better. The most important thing is that we recognise what it’s going to be like and adapt very quickly.”We may have over-attacked with some of the fields in the first innings, we saw it spin and got a bit giddy, myself in particular, but it might just be that we have to hold a bit longer, be a bit more patient and hit the stumps more often.”

Pakistan’s coach has struck up a bullish note upon his team’s arrival in South Africa for three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is

Liam Brickhill15-Dec-2018Born in Johannesburg, schooled at Westville Boys’ High, and fluent in Afrikaans, Mickey Arthur is as South African as they come. But Arthur hasn’t been here for five years, having last visited for a family funeral, and his intentions for this homecoming are clear: “I’ll make no secret of it, I’d love to come back here with a Pakistan team that is very talented, and win,” Arthur said after Pakistan arrived for three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is.Arthur’s first Christmas in the country of his birth for half a decade won’t involve much of the usual festive celebrations, and he insisted he “does not do” holidays. “Cricket is 24/7 for me,” Arthur added . “This is hard work. In fact, I’m working even harder here. But it is great to come back into an environment that I’m so familiar with.”Arthur has brought a Test squad that is rebuilding around the experienced core of captain Sarfraz Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah, and Arthur reckons they have a “good chance” of securing a first ever Test series win in the country.”We’ve come here with a very exciting young team. It’s a team that’s starting to gel well together. We’ve played unbelievable white-ball cricket. Our 50-over team is on the up, our T20 team has been exceptional, but we sit trying to build up a Test team. It’s a young Test team at the moment, but a very exciting Test team. We really think we have a good chance out here.”The last time Pakistan toured, playing three Tests in 2013, AB de Villiers scored two hundreds and was Player of the Series. There is a very different look to South Africa’s current squad, and Arthur suggested that while South Africa’s batting is still good without de Villiers, Pakistan’s bowling is better than it was five years ago.”They’re a good batting line-up, they are, but we’re a very good bowling line-up. So we do feel we can make some inroads there, for sure. Our bowling attack is incredibly skillful in all conditions. The one thing we do know is that we’ve got a bowling attack that can take 20 wickets comfortably. Our challenge is getting ourselves to 350, 400. If we can get runs on the board, we know that we can get 20 wickets and we can bowl in all conditions.”The visiting batsmen will be aiming to move ahead of the inconsistencies that saw them twice score more than 300 and twice being rolled for under 200 in the recent 2-1 loss to New Zealand. “I hate that word ‘inconsistency’ because we’re trying everything to try and make us more and more consistent,” said Arthur.Azhar Ali ducks under a bouncer•Getty Images

Indeed, the Pakistan coach is realistic about the challenge facing his batsmen, but also laid out a statement of intent for the current batting crop. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that the South African bowling attack is exceptionally good. We know that that’s going to be a real challenge.”I’ll make a statement now, that our young batting group now bat better outside the UAE than they do in the UAE. There’s some very talented young batsmen there. They don’t stand on leg stump anymore. Our batsmen get to off stump, they cover the bounce, they cover the pace and they cover the swing. And they play very well in these conditions.”As for the lower order, which folded so spectacularly to hand New Zealand a win and the early advantage in the series in the first Test in Abu Dhabi, Arthur joked: “They’re going to get a lot of hard nets.”For Sarfraz, the key ingredient for his batsmen to prosper on South African tracks will be to play “positive cricket”, a mantra that he broke down thus: “You have to show intent. Positive is not just to play your shots all around the world, just like Fakhar Zaman. Only Fakhar Zaman can play like Fakhar Zaman, and we tell him to play his own game. But the other players also have to show intent and play positive cricket. You have to, to win series outside your country.”After a warm-up against an Invitation XI, Pakistan’s tour will start with a historic Boxing Day Test match at Centurion – the first time that the annual fixture has moved inland from the coast since readmission. It’s a ground Arthur knows well, having played 17 times there during his domestic career with Griqualand West and Free State teams, but the character of the Centurion pitch has changed dramatically since his playing days.”It’s changed totally,” Arthur agreed . “I was watching the Test match last year, and it looked like you were playing in the UAE. The surface was completely bare. I’m not sure what’s going on over there. If it does turn, then happy days. I’m not sure it will, but I watched the [Mzansi Super League] T20 game the other night, and the square did look a lot better. We just hope for good wickets. If there’s a bit of grass, then happy days as well, because we’ve got the bowlers to expose that.”Before the first ball is bowled at Centurion, Arthur will no doubt catch up with friends and family in South Africa, and for him, South Africa is a ” (a great place to come and play),” but he doubled down on his intentions here. There will be, he says, “no holiday. I’ll enjoy only if we win.”

Manish Pandey and Shreyas Gopal lead Karnataka fightback after early losses against Saurashtra

The Report by Saurabh Somani24-Jan-2019
ScorecardUmesh took seven wickets in 12 overs to run through Kerala, scuttling them for 106 all out in 28.4 overs. Faiz Fazal then steered Vidarbha’s reply with 75, taking them to 171 for 5 in 45 overs, with the lead standing at 65 runs.Kerala’s position was ameliorated by late strikes, when Sandeep Warrier accounted for Fazal and Atharva Taide, while Basil Thampi ensured nightwatchman Rajneesh Gurbani’s stay lasted only six balls. Vidarbha were in command at 170 for 2, but lost three wickets in 2.2 overs, including Taide off the last ball before stumps.Fazal had won the toss and put Kerala in on a spicy pitch at Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad. This was the same venue where Kerala had beaten Gujarat in the quarter-finals, with no team scoring more than 185 and seamers accounting for 34 of the 38 wickets that fell to bowlers.Jaffer had come into the game with 969 runs, and though he was out for 34 to a good catch at slip by KB Arun Karthik, it was enough to take him past 1,000 runs in the season. It was exactly ten years after he had made 1260 runs for Mumbai in 2008-09, and even at almost 41 years old, Jaffer showed that he was well up with modern memes in acing the #10YearChallenge.On the day though, Vidarbha’s batting was held together by the other veteran in the team. Fazal’s strokeplay on a pitch that offered something to seamers was compact and assured. His wicket did precipitate a mini-collapse, but Vidarbha’s lead in what is potentially a low-scoring game is already significant, and they have the assurance of unleashing Umesh in the second innings.Kerala’s batsmen had failed to handle Umesh’s pace and hostility in the first innings, and among the top order, only captain Sachin Baby (22) reached double figures. Vishnu Vinod, batting at No. 7, hit out to score 37 not out, adding 25 runs for the last wicket with MD Nidheesh while farming the strike. That stand took Kerala into three figures, but they couldn’t go much beyond that.Umesh’s latest performance came on the heels of his nine-wicket match haul ” target=”_blank”>against Uttarakhand in the quarter-finals, for which he was named the man of the match. He hadn’t been available for Vidarbha in the league stages as he was on national duty.Rajneesh Gurbani, who shared the new ball with Umesh, took the other three wickets, doubling his tally for what has been a sub-par season so far. Vidarbha didn’t need to give their spinners any overs, despite the pair of Aditya Sarwate (44) and Akshay Wakhare (27) being their leading wicket-takers this season.
ScorecardShreyas Gopal raises his bat•PTI

Karnataka were left to rue two bad periods of batting that bookended the day. They had been reduced to 30 for 4 after Jaydev Unadkat’s first spell of 7-3-19-3. Their middle order fashioned a recovery, but from 232 for 5, they collapsed again to end the day on 264 for 9.Unadkat made light of losing the toss at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, tearing through a star-studded Karnataka top order. His victims were R Samarth, lbw to the third ball of the match, KV Siddharth, Karnataka’s highest run-getter this season, and Mayank Agarwal, India’s newly minted Test opener.Fellow left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya, the 20-year-old who had made his debut this season, was rewarded for his tight lines and subtle movement with Karun Nair’s wicket.However, captain Manish Pandey came out with positive intent and combined with vice-captain Shreyas Gopal to stabilise Karnataka. Pandey had spent the previous two days polishing his attacking game in the nets, and he brought his full repertoire to the middle, driving and flicking with élan. He got to a half-century at quicker than a run-a-ball, and forced Unadkat to pull back from all-out attack to slightly more in-and-out fields.At the other end, Shreyas was more patient, and showed his batting chops. Pandey looked like he would play the defining knock of the innings, but Unadkat came back after lunch and bent his back to bowl with a bit more pace, getting him to be late on the ball before it thudded into the stumps.The fifth-wicket pair had put on a century stand but at 136 for 5, Karnataka were not yet safe. However, wicketkeeper-batsman S Sharath, playing only his fourth first-class match, showed great composure to string together another substantial stand with Shreyas. While Pandey had chosen to counterattack, both Sharath and Shreyas were more cautious, and built steadily.However, they seemed to have decided that among the Saurashtra bowlers, Kamlesh Makvana’s gentle offspin was the one to target, and that eventually led to Karnataka’s undoing. Makvana had leaked runs at a higher rate than Saurashtra might have liked, but when Shreyas had a lapse in concentration on 87, he missed a ball that went with the angle from around the stumps and bowled him.Karnataka’s lower order seemed intent on following Pandey’s method, but without the accompanying skill to execute it. K Gowtham was out to a casual waft three balls after being reprieved when Unadkat dropped a catch, while both Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun were dismissed slogging across the line.Sharath remained unbeaten on 74, but he now has only No.11 Ronit More for company.

Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and India’s KL Rahul among the top 10 batsmen in the latest ICC rankings update

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2019Hazratullah Zazai, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi have not only been helping Afghanistan win T20Is left and right, they’ve also now ensured the team’s representation among the world’s top 10 batsmen, bowlers and allrounders.The latest ICC rankings update had Rashid as the No. 1 bowler in T20Is. He consolidated his place at the top by picking up four wickets in four balls during the final game against Ireland on Sunday. In the previous game, Hazratullah had smashed 162 not out, the second-highest score in T20I history. That innings helped him rise 31 places up the batsmen’s rankings to occupy seventh place. Nabi also had a good time against the Irish, scoring 147 runs at a strike rate of 181 while also picking up two wickets at an economy rate of 7.3. He keeps his No. 3 spot on the allrounders’ table.ALSO READ: Hazratullah Zazai, the Afghanistan Chris GayleGlenn Maxwell’s run-spree this week has enabled him to climb to third place on the batsmen’s rankings. The Australia allrounder struck 56 and 113 to help his side win the two-match T20I series against India.There were some gains for the Indians as well with opener KL Rahul returning to form with 97 runs in two innings. He moved into sixth place while his captain Virat Kohli occupies 17th. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah, who nearly rewrote the script during the first T20I when he picked up two wickets in the 19th over of the chase, shot up 12 places to stand No. 15 among the world’s best T20I bowlers.

In a match of twists, turns and subplots the experience of Dan Christian proved the decisive factor amid tension and umpiring controversy

Report by Daniel Brettig15-Feb-2019An uncharacteristic pitch at Docklands Stadium reaped an uncharacteristic result for the Big Bash League. The higher ranked team won a semi-final, meaning the Melbourne Renegades reached their first tournament final in eight years with a successful chase for the highest total at the venue this tournament, underlining the much-improved surface prepared for the game.They did so largely through the late innings excellence of Dan Christian in the company of Cameron Boyce, who had earlier helped generate a Renegades recovery with the ball after Josh Philippe and Daniel Hughes had threatened to vault the Sixers to an unreachable total. Christian and Boyce put on 41 in 3.3 overs following the loss of the captain Aaron Finch, who had seemed intent on batting through the innings until he was undone in the midst of another excellent spell from Steve O’Keefe. Sam Harper and Cameron White, recalled to replace Mohammed Nabi following his recovery from a hamstring strain, also played useful aggressor roles with the bat.In a tense atmosphere, this was a contest full of notable moments: Harper bizarrely no-balled for being judged to have his gloves in front of the stumps, a collision between Harper and Ben Dwarshuis when the left-armer dismissed the Renegades gloveman, and then a vehement caught behind appeal by the Sixers captain against Tom Cooper denied by the helmeted umpire Gerald Abood. The two contentious decisions tilted the balance a little either way, leaving plenty of imponderables for both the Sixers and the Renegades – not that the winners will have too much time to ponder ahead of their Melbourne Derby final against the Stars on Sunday.Philippe power(play)s aheadWhen Finch won the toss, sent the Sixers in and handed the new ball to Tom Cooper’s occasional offbreaks for the concession of a miserly four runs in the opening over, a familiar Docklands tale appeared set to play out. But in the hands of Kane Richardson, the ball came nicely onto the bats of Hughes and Philippe, heralding a tally of 15 from the second six balls of the night. Philippe, currently subject of plenty of speculation about his future direction having been poached from Perth Scorchers by the Sixers this season, showcased his cover drive to die for – both its orthodox and lofted versions.Hughes, while not so flashy, was nonetheless effective, as the Sixers careered away to a Powerplay worth 58. The entry of Boyce to the home side’s attack reaped more boundaries initially, and a pair of damaging moments for the Renegades when Harper first missed a stumping off Hughes when beaten in flight, then was adjudged to have edged his gloves in front of the stumps before the same batsman had completed his shot – reaping a no-ball and a free hit. Replays suggested this was a call that was both incorrect as well as overly technical, though Boyce was at least able to break the stand in the same over when he adjusted his line to cramp Philippe’s cover drives and earned a miscued catch in the deep.Sixers break new groundPhilippe’s exit had Hughes and James Vince taking over more or less seamlessly on the attack, as the second six overs of the innings reaped even more runs than the first. Hughes rolled to his half century from only one more delivery than Philippe, leaving Finch and the Renegades staring down a target in excess of 200 to chase. However, Boyce was to return to the bowling crease intent on correcting an initial spell that cost 24, and by tossing the ball wide of Hughes’ eyeline he coaxed a catchable drive well pouched by Cooper.From there the incoming batsmen found it far harder to get their timing right, exemplified by the workout Moises Henriques gave the toe and front edge of his blade while scrounging 28 from 27 balls. Boyce. Meanwhile. finished with the excellent figures of 2 for 33, helping to ensure that while the Sixers put together what was comfortably the biggest first innings at Docklands during the BBL, their final eight overs only returned 59 runs for the visitors, six of them carved over midwicket by Jordan Silk from the final ball.Harper rogers Sixers earlyIn pursuit of 36 more runs than any team had managed in the first innings of a BBL game at Docklands this season, the Renegades needed early acceleration. Marcus Harris managed one crisp boundary before lifting his head and being bowled while trying to hit O’Keefe out of the Melbourne metropolitan area, leaving the dasher’s responsibility to Harper. Coming off a frustrating innings with the gloves, he was able to demonstrate the doughty hitting that had served the Renegades well on numerous occasions, raising the 50 inside five overs before edging Dwarshuis behind.Dwarshuis’ celebration was redolent of those by Kagiso Rabada at Port Elizabeth in 2018 – so fired up he seemed oblivious to Harper walking past, causing contact between the two – but firmer contact of bat on ball was to be made by White in an innings that appeared to be setting up the Renegades while Finch played the anchor role at the other end. At 2 for 101 with one ball of the 11th over to go, the hosts looked set fair in their pursuit, before Sean Abbott enticed White to drag onto the stumps while trying to eke out a strike-keeping single. The Sixers now found the opportunity to tighten things up.O’Keefe turns the screw before Christian comes throughIn an outstanding tournament, O’Keefe has consistently harried batsmen into error through subtle changes of pace while sticking to a rigorously disciplined line of attack on the stumps. After Harris had been the 20th victim of this approach in the first over, O’Keefe returned at the very moment that Finch was straining to break free after biding his time. Finch had noted before the game how Glenn Maxwell had done a similar thing for the Stars to the Sixers attack at the MCG in the final qualifying game, but against O’Keefe he was unable to maintain his usual shot shapes – trying a highly optimistic switch-hit (his first-ever in the BBL, according to CricViz) as O’Keefe once again hit middle stump.The Renegades, though, had plenty of depth in their line-up. Both Christian and Boyce had contributed vital runs at earlier junctures, and they proceeded to put together a stand that showed experience and composure in significant measure. The required rate ballooned well beyond 11 per over when they were together, but again the memories of Maxwell must have helped – the Sixers bowlers aside from O’Keefe had not always nailed their yorkers. No fewer than 18, including a pair of telling Christian sixes over long-on and cover, were ransacked from Sean Abbott’s penultimate over. This meant that even after Boyce trod on his stumps first ball of the 20th, Christian and Richardson scrambled to victory – and a home final on Sunday afternoon.

A four-wicket win for Islamabad United saw them chasing down Karachi’s 161 with three balls to spare

The Report by Danyal Rasool14-Mar-2019

How the game played out

Karachi Kings may be one of the less prolific sides in this competition’s brief history, but they are the only side to have knocked Islamabad United out of any PSL tournament. That victory came in an Eliminator two years ago. But today, Islamabad United avenged that loss in a scrappy, entertaining game where both sides chugged along like an antique car on a dodgy engine, hurtling along seemingly without control before grinding to a halt at various stages of their innings. The upshot was a four-wicket win for Islamabad, who chased down Karachi’s 161 with three balls to spare.Despite the loss, the most memorable part of the game was arguably the first six overs. Karachi had courageously won the toss and chosen to bat first in a tournament where that decision is close to sacrilege, and blistered to 50 in just 20 balls as Colin Munro finally began to make good on the talent based on which he was signed. When he feathered an edge to Mohammad Musa, he had smashed 32 runs in a mere 11 balls, and Karachi were motoring along at 17 an over. They would go on to add an eye-watering 78 in the first six, as the boundaries flew like confetti.Islamabad came back to choke them after the Powerplay ended, and somehow maintained that stranglehold right throughout the innings, with Karachi only just managing to double their Powerplay total, in the end limping to 161 for nine. Most of Islamabad’s bowlers had recovered their figures, and the one who was most expensive – Muhammad Musa – was the highest wicket-taker, having removed Munro, Ingram and Iftikhar Ahmed.Islamabad’s chase always looked tight, not helped by a slow start and Ronchi’s early departure. Alex Hales and Cameron Delport saw them through the Powerplay, but the nerves wouldn’t have been eased as the asking rate continued to rise in the face of a stellar bowling attack and a world-class spell from Umer Khan. Towards the end, it came down to Islamabad’s own local talent in Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali and Hussain Talat to manage the asking rate. Mohammad Amir missed his lines once too often, Babar Azam dropped a catch once too frequently and Karachi were simply a few too short in the final overs. It all amounted to Islamabad getting to the finish line just in time, dashing Karachi’s hopes of a title on home soil.

Turning point

• Karachi began to struggle as soon as that whirlwind of a Powerplay came to a close, but the final three overs were especially ruinous to their chances. Positioned at 150 for six with three overs to go, they still had the opportunity to pose a stiff challenge with a brisk finish. Instead, the last three overs saw a mere 11 runs scored.

Star of the day

Pakistan have swooned over the fast bowling gems they may have unearthed this tournament, and bemoaned the lack of exciting local batsmen. But the find of the competition may be 19-year old Umer Khan, perhaps the most promising spinner to come out of the PSL since Shadab Khan. Having impressed ever since he got AB de Villiers out weeks ago, Umer has found a way to get the biggest names of the planet out just when Karachi have required him to. His spell today was one of the spells of the tournament, with the teenager the only bowler to find genuine drift and turn on a flat wicket. He wasn’t afraid of flighting the ball, and found due rewards, finding the outside edges of Delport and Chadwick Walton within three deliveries of each other. He ended up with 4-0-16-2, and if ever a performance deserved not to end up in the losing side, it was his.

The big miss

Ronchi has the highest strike rate in the world off the first 10 balls, but the New Zealand opener was strangely subdued over that period today. Valued around the world because he doesn’t need so much as a warm-up ball to begin attacking the bowlers, Ronchi played out nine deliveries today, unable to get one to the boundary rope. Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Aamer Yamin all executed their plans perfectly, pitching the ball short of a length. It deprived Ronchi of the ability to strike the ball through the line. The change-up came off his ninth ball, with Yamin sending down a wide yorker that Ronchi could only mishit to mid-on. 5 off 9 is an unlikely innings breakdown for the Islamabad talisman, and in a game of exceptionally fine margins, they almost ended up paying for it.

Big picture

Karachi bow out with today’s defeat, with Islamabad through to the playoff with Peshawar tomorrow. The winner of that contest plays Quetta Gladiators in the final.

Governing body admits protocol has ‘failed its stress test’ as it seeks to balance player safeguarding and public disclosure

Andrew Miller01-May-2019The ECB is set to review the balance between player safeguarding and public disclosure in its policy regarding the use of recreational drugs, after conceding that the existing protocol has “failed its stress test” amid the fall-out from Alex Hales’ banishment from the England World Cup squad.On Monday, Hales’ management team accused the ECB of placing player welfare “low on their list of priorities”, after the board allegedly reneged on a commitment to uphold his selection in England’s preliminary squad for the World Cup, in spite of the news breaking that he was serving a 21-day ban for a second failed drugs test.Privately, however, the ECB has come to the conclusion that their existing policy, formulated in conjunction with the Professional Cricketers’ Association, in fact puts too much emphasis on welfare, and leaves too little room for manoeuvre when the sport is confronted with the sort of high-profile case that is currently dominating the news agenda.At the nub of the issue is the policy’s existing focus on player confidentiality, a well-meaning attempt – in the wake of the death of Tom Maynard in 2012 – to protect the vulnerabilities of those who may be struggling with addiction, rather than risk exacerbating their problems through public exposure.However, the provisions of this protocol have left the ECB exposed to accusations of a cover-up, given that Hales’ situation would not have been made public at all but for the story emerging on The Guardian and ESPNcricinfo on Friday afternoon.In fact, at the point of his second failed test, and the imposition of the 21-day ban, only Tom Harrison, the chief executive, and Ashley Giles, the managing director, were allowed to be made aware – the levels of secrecy surrounding his case were such that even England’s head coach, Trevor Bayliss, had to learn of the situation through the media. ​A PCA spokesman told ESPNcricinfo that the provisions of the policy were constantly under review, and that they had been amended twice since their adoption in 2013, most recently in March this year, to allow PCA welfare officers to become involved in any given case at the point of the first failed test.However, the embarrassment for the ECB was heightened on Tuesday when their official website was found to be stating that a player’s name could be made public after a second failed test. That has since been put down to human error, and amended, but not before adding to the perception of a governing body that is struggling to stay in control of the story.Either way, sympathy for Hales – both at board level and among his team-mates – is in short supply, after a weekend training camp in Cardiff at which Hales reportedly missed his opportunity to apologise to the wider squad for actions which have undermined their preparations leading into England’s most significant campaign in recent memory.To date, his only public comments on the matter have been made through his management company, and the consensus within the camp would appear to be that Hales has exhausted the England squad’s patience.He is still serving a four-match suspended ban for his part in the brawl outside the Bristol nightclub in September 2017 that led to the arrest and subsequent trial of Ben Stokes – but unlike Stokes, who has attracted rave reviews from Bayliss for his commitment to training since being acquitted of affray in August last year, Hales’ latest misjudgement seems to reveal a player with little inclination to learn from his mistakes.It is understood that Hales’ ban will elapse ahead of Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup clash with Durham at Grantham on Friday, the same day that his team-mates play Ireland in the first ODI of the summer in Dublin. An assessment of his mental readiness is expected to be taken by Notts’ head coach, Peter Moores, after the player himself was said to be left “devastated” by his England axing.

The hosts began their World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, with four half-centuries, an astonishing boundary catch, and the birth of a new superstar

The Report by Alagappan Muthu30-May-2019
As it happenedAmbles in like Bambi. Hunts wickets like a zombie. Jofra Archer is #BambiZombie. And the opening match of the 2019 World Cup was all the richer for it.By the end of the game – which England won by 104 runs – the mood at The Oval was well beyond festive. They’d found a match-winner. Across formats. For years to come. they’d seen their firestarter up to his old tricks.Ben Stokes was the top scorer of the day. But that wasn’t his most eye-catching contribution. Scroll down the scorecard to Andile Phehlukwayo’s dismissal. Doesn’t say much, does it? Caught Stokes bowled Rashid. Yawn.Now trawl through the internet – go into its darkest corners if necessary – and watch as the allrounder tracks a brutally hit slog-sweep on the midwicket boundary. Marvel as he never takes his eyes off it. And gasp as he times his jump perfectly. Then brace yourself for about half an hour’s disbelief as he sticks his right hand up over his head, and behind him, to come away with a catch that will be talked about for ages. Just like the #OhMyBroad one.South Africa, at that point, were 180 for 7. They’d given the chase of 312 a proper go, with Quinton de Kock announcing his claim to be part of the next generation’s Fab Four with a half-century that was highlighted by his maturity in respecting the bowling when it was difficult and punishing it when it gave him the slightest chance. A lofted cover drive for six off Liam Plunkett was a particularly ringing endorsement of his monster talent.But even he had to be shoved into the background as Archer burst onto the stage and demanded everyone’s attention. Especially the other eight oppositions’.As England’s batting revolution was waving bye-bye to uncharted territory and bounding into the never-before-imagined, there has been fear that the bowling wouldn’t keep up. Their seam attack felt samey. It needed something different; something radical. Archer is exactly that.He generates pace out of nowhere; 90 mph of it. A bouncer in the fourth over of the chase hit Hashim Amla flush on the grille. It was too quick for him. Too quick for an all-time legend. And made him retire hurt. Then Archer sprung the same trap on the South African captain. A short ball surprised Faf du Plessis and had him caught at long leg. After decades of being decimated by raw pace – Allan Donald, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Holding – England now have their own bonafide speed demon.Ben Stokes punches one into the leg side•Getty Images

Archer finished with 3 for 27 in seven overs, including a maiden.Now, the other match-winner’s work didn’t particularly come to light until everything had ended. In fact, while Stokes was at the crease, it seemed like South Africa were on top. Having won the toss and decided to bowl, they went nearly 30 overs before realising that taking the pace off was the way to go.Sure, they surprised England, opening the innings with Imran Tahir. At 10.30 am. In early summer. On a green pitch. In England. And they got Jonny Bairstow out. That’s genius. That’s maximum lolz. That’s the bear you don’t notice in that Youtube video.But their fast bowlers took ages to realise that hitting the deck with offcutters was messing with the batsman’s timing. Stokes spent much of the innings dinking the ball around the field. Fifty-three of his 89 runs came in ones and twos. At the time, it seemed like he was being stifled, that his power game had been taken out by South Africa’s tactics.And while that was true, it almost escaped notice that Stokes was getting into rhythm.He got to his half-century with an audacious reverse-scoop off the bowling of Dwaine Pretorius, almost entirely because the wicketkeeper and third man had come up. There was a gap in the field and he exploited it. Batting 101. Four of England’s batsmen made fifties on one of the biggest days of the 50-over cricket calendar: Jason Roy (a punchy 54), Joe Root (a smooth 51) and Eoin Morgan (a ridiculously fluent 57 in his 200th ODI) were the others. But Stokes was the only one able to push on. And that was essentially because he’d understood the pitch was offering a bit of grip to the slower balls. In those situations, you can aim lower. You can defend 300. South Africa were bowled out for 207.England were billed as pre-tournament favourites because of their unrelenting batting line-up and that reputation should now grow because they have shown they can adapt to conditions when they aren’t 500-ish.

England captain urges team to play final in the bold style that got them there

George Dobell at Edgbaston11-Jul-2019Eoin Morgan has admitted the prospect of playing in a World Cup final seemed laughable by the time England were knocked out of the 2015 World Cup.England endured a miserable campaign in New Zealand and Australia four-years ago sustaining a series of crushing defeats and failing to make it to the quarter-finals.But a resounding victory over Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday means England will play their first World Cup final since 1992 at Lord’s on Sunday. All of which left Morgan, the England captain, reflecting on a remarkable improvement in his side’s ODI cricket during the last four years.”If you had offered us the position to play in a final the day after we were knocked out of the 2015 Cup, I would have laughed at you,” Morgan said. “Looking back where we were in 2015 to where we will be on Sunday, it is a dramatic improvement in the style of play and the level of expectation which we’ve created.”In 2015 we were way off the mark. We struggled against the top teams – and the teams below that level – so there was quite a drastic change in the way we played and the way we looked at playing our 50-over cricket. The last four years have been a process.”Chris Woakes was named Player of the Match for his return of 3 for 20, but Morgan was equally full of praise for Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, who recorded their fourth century partnership in succession.”Chris is a cool customer,” he said. “He goes about his business, day in and day out, exceptionally. Today was his day. He and Jofra Archer were outstanding. It was one of our bowlers’ standout performances in the last four years.”Jason and Jonny are in the form of their lives. They are imposing when they get in. And they set the tone for the whole group.”While Morgan accepts Sunday’s final will be a high-profile affair, he is urging his team to embrace the occasion and continue to play the bold style of cricket that earned them victory on Thursday.”Sunday’s not a day to shy away from,” Morgan said. “It’s a day to look forward to. We have created the opportunity to play in a World Cup final. It will be a matter of trying to produce everything that we can performance-wise, but enjoy the day.”It’s an opportunity for us on Sunday. A huge one. Making the most of the opportunity of getting to the final would be fantastic, but just getting there is awesome.”Everybody out there on the field and in the changing room loved every ball that was bowled [against Australia]. There was no lack of commitment, application and we had a bit of a day out. It’s cool when it happens like that, particularly when the bowlers bowl like that. It is awesome.”Morgan is particularly pleased that Sunday’s final will be broadcast free-to-air on Channel 4 or, while the British Grand Prix is in progress, on More 4. He says his own experiences of watching cricket on free to air television helped inspire his love for the game and hopes more people will now have the same opportunity.”It’s very cool,” he said. “Particularly given that the 2005 Ashes [which was the last series broadcast free-to-air in the UK] was, for me, sort of the day cricket became cool. Throughout the whole summer, the game was on the front and back page of every newspaper and everyone was talking about it. That is really good for the game and it’s the game I love, so it’s great news that it’s on free-to-air.”

The changes come after Afghanistan lost all their World Cup 2019 matches under Gulbadin Naib, who had taken charge just before the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2019Rashid Khan will lead Afghanistan across all formats, while former captain Asghar Afghan has been appointed his deputy.The change comes after Afghanistan lost all their matches at the World Cup under Gulbadin Naib, with his decisions on the field during a thriller against Pakistan, in particular, coming under the scanner.Rashid, currently No. 1 in T20I bowling rankings and No. 8 in ODI rankings, had a forgettable World Cup too. In eight innings, the legspinner manage to pick up just six wickets at an average of 69.33 and a strike rate of 71.8. Against England at Manchester, he went for 110 from his nine overs – the joint second-most runs conceded by a bowler in an ODI.ALSO READ: The Cricket Monthly’s profile of Rashid Khan, Afghan, nomad, superstarRashid, 20, had led Afghanistan during the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe last year – they lost three of those four games – when Asghar was unavailable. He has also led Band-e-Amir Dragons and Kabul Zwanan 16 times in T20 cricket, with ten wins and six defeats.In an interview after Afghanistan’s World Cup ended, Naib told that Rashid was offered the ODI captaincy before the World Cup as well, but had declined the offer*. He was then named vice-captain to Naib in the ODI side and captain of the T20I side. Rahmat Shah was supposed to take over the Test team but he will relinquish the post without captaining a single game.Rashid and Mohammad Nabi, two of Afghanistan’s biggest players, publicly criticised Asghar’s removal prior to the World Cup, saying that it had the potential to disrupt the team’s performance.Apart from their dismal showing on the field, Afghanistan have also had to deal with the controversy surrounding Mohammad Shahzad, who was sent home by the ACB for being unfit, only for Shahzad to hit back saying that was not true.Then, the ACB removed Dawlat Ahmadzai from the senior selection committee and named him as head of the junior selection panel. In his place, Andy Moles, who was Afghanistan’s coach at the 2015 World Cup, was appointed to the senior selection panel along with Mujahid Zadran, who has worked as a coach with Afghanistan A.There also seemed to be a fallout between head coach Phil Simmons and Ahmadzai, leading Simmons to tweet: “I am in the middle of a World Cup and trying to get our team to perform to the level we expect but at the end of the World Cup I will tell the Afghanistan people about the part that Mr Dawlat Ahmadzai had to play in our preparation and his part in the dismissal of #AsgharAfghan.”Later fast bowler Aftab Alam was withdrawn from the squad following allegations of serious misbehaviour with a female guest at the team hotel in Southampton and was subsequently handed one-year suspension.*12.30amGMT, July 13: The story was updated to reflect Naib had spoken to BBC Pashto