David Willey hopes for dew rewards after England damp-ball practice

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Slippy conditions may encourage seam-dominant attack versus West Indies

Matt Roller21-Oct-2021″I actually think we’ve played really well there, we’ve probably had the wrong side of the toss. The dew, from about the eighth over [of the chase] was extremely challenging. I can’t fault anybody’s efforts.”Eoin Morgan’s reflections after a defeat in the 2020 edition of the IPL went against a fundamental sporting idea: if you play better than the opposition, you tend to win. But in floodlit games in the UAE, particularly in October and November, there is another factor to consider: dew.Generally setting in either side of the innings break in a game starting at 6pm local time, it has the effect of making the ball harder to grip for the defending team’s bowlers and fielders. That bias towards the chasing team has been apparent in the IPL: out of the 25 night games played after its mid-season resumption in the UAE, chasing teams won 17.The challenge of coping with the dew is heightened for teams who rarely have to worry about dew when playing at home, so it comes as no surprise to learn that England have been focusing on how to cope with it in their build-up to the tournament ahead of their first game – under lights – against West Indies on Saturday.Their first warm-up match against India highlighted the issue. Batting first, England had posted 188 against India at the ICC Academy in Dubai, but their attack as a collective struggled for control in the run chase. Chris Jordan bowled the 19th over with 20 runs still required, but a series of attempted yorkers ended up as full tosses after the ball slipped out of his hand; his six balls cost an eye-watering 23.”The amount of dew and sweat is something we’ve had to manage very quickly,” David Willey said on Thursday. “We’ve got to think about how we’re going to keep our hands dry, keep our arms dry, dry the ball, and also be able to bowl with a wet ball.”England’s players have employed some unusual methods in training: “dunking balls in buckets and catching, fielding and bowling with those wet balls,” Willey explained. “We’ll probably get some more towels on the way to change them every over for the lads that are heavy sweaters, and sweatbands and things. It’s never going to be perfect but it’s certainly worth putting things in place to make it manageable.”Related

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Temperatures have been in the mid-30s degrees celsius in the UAE in recent weeks – they will cool down slightly as the tournament wears on, which could mean dew forms earlier and evens conditions up – but the stifling humidity has meant that ‘feels like’ temperatures are above 40. “You start sweating and you just can’t stop,” Willey said. “Just saturated from head to toe.”England’s fixture list for the tournament, which sees them play four group games out of five under lights, exacerbates the importance of managing the dew – and may also justify their decision to pick a single specialist spinner in their squad in Adil Rashid, with Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone generally used as part-timers by Morgan over the last 18 months.While England’s spin stocks are not exactly deep, there was some level of surprise to see Liam Dawson named only as a reserve and Matt Parkinson miss out on the squad entirely while spinners were enjoying success in the IPL, but England may well feel that their seamers will be more effective, particularly if dew is in play in both innings during the knockout stages.”There’s no denying that for spinners, if they’re trying to grip the ball, it’s going to be a challenge if it’s soaking wet,” Willey said, while Rashid added on Wednesday: “You’ve got to find a way, you can’t hide behind it, whether you’re a seamer or a spinner.”Willey himself is unlikely to be bowling at the death for England – though he has been working on a new slower ball – but is instead relishing the opportunity to face West Indies on Saturday. He is not a guaranteed starter but has been successful against them in the past – he took 3 for 20 in the 2016 final, and 4 for 7 in the sides’ most recent T20I – and the make-up of their batting line-up should play in his favour: West Indies may field as many as four left-handers in their top five, and Willey has a better economy rate (7.25 vs 8.09) and strike rate (15.9 vs 22.1) against left-handers than right-handers in all T20s since the last World Cup.”The ball swinging away from the left-handers in all formats can be dangerous, and in the white-ball game, when they’re looking to be aggressive, hopefully that goes in my favour,” he said. “I’ve been told I’ve got a decent record [against left-handers] and that might swing in my favour for getting the nod in that first game.”And having been left out of the 50-over World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament two years ago, Willey suggested that he has learned a lot from the experience. “It’s definitely made me a better person. To be part of it for four years and miss out was obviously disappointing but the personal growth from me thereon… has been massive. I’m playing every game as if it’s my last and really savouring the moment of pulling on that England shirt.”

Roll out the cold turkey, England's Christmas is cancelled

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Another batting collapse at the MCG was proof that England have chosen the path of least resistance

Andrew Miller26-Dec-2021First the good news. Of all of the 50 ducks that England’s batters have now compiled in 12 months of bottom-feeding batting, their milestone dismissal was quite possibly the least-worst of the lot.For each of his first eight deliveries at the MCG, Haseeb Hameed left the ball with poise and purpose. His feet were as grounded as he had chosen for them not to be during some ridicule-inducing one-legged drills in the nets prior to Christmas, and when Mitchell Starc completed his first over by whistling a brace of heatseekers over the top of his off stump, Hameed’s unruffled raises of the bat spoke of a desire to be durable, to prove that “lessons had been learnt”, as Joe Root had demanded at the end of England’s abject Adelaide display.Related

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But the illusion was not designed to last. It took the returning Pat Cummins all of three balls to find Hameed’s edge with an outstanding seaming delivery that straightened on off stump to find the slenderest of nicks. And from that moment onwards, barely five minutes into England’s final chance to keep the Ashes alive, the sound of Christmas being cancelled filled the UK airwaves. It’s over, folks. Roll out the cold turkey.If you were to quibble (as well you might on another day of festive humbug), you might argue that Hameed’s stodgy footwork had been culpable in his early downfall. But then it’s an open secret that his earnest approach is not ideally suited to the sort of thunderous combat encountered on Australian pitches. At the very least, as he traipsed off for his second 0 in as many innings, Hameed departed with the sense that his temperament remained intact, even as his technique continues to get ripped limb from limb.Zak Crawley, England’s second wicket of the opening half-hour’s play, deserves a similar caveat – if only to acknowledge that his game, like Hameed’s, has been eviscerated in the all-too-recent past. Here, at least, his innings of 12 improved his Test average for 2021 by 0.06 runs – but his year’s grand total of 168 runs at 11.20 in 15 innings remains an equivalently awful return to the 170 first-class runs at 9.44 that Hameed racked up for Lancashire in 2018.Given such weighty recent baggage, it was always wishful to think that either man could be remotely ready to front up on an Ashes tour, of all the destinations. But to pitch both of them into a must-win contest at the grandest colosseum in the game is a damning indictment of England’s selection, England’s resources and, moreover, England’s desperation. Not since a palpably unready Mark Lathwell was burned alive in the spotlight of the 1993 Ashes has English cricket shown such self-immolating disregard for such promising young openers.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnd so at 13 for 2, after 7.2 overs of unequal struggle, England found themselves clean out of excuses. Cummins bowled with majesty as he restated his pre-eminence in an attack that fared perfectly well without him in Adelaide, but Mitchell Starc was off-colour in his opening gambit and Scott Boland on debut was enthusiastic without truly threatening. There was still reason to believe that the less callow men in England’s middle order could find the fight that had eluded their new-ball fall-guys, but what transpired was little short of a dereliction.Dawid Malan at least had the excuse of being extracted by Test cricket’s No.1 bowler, even if the timing of his snick to slip – right on the stroke of lunch – was crushing for a team that had fleetingly hoped to deny Australia the outright session honours, for arguably only the fourth time this series.The rest, however, had nothing to fall back on, not even the put-upon Joe Root, whose eighth half-century in as many Tests in Australia ended with the most flaccid stroke of his otherwise hard-bitten campaign – a weak-willed dab outside off stump to Starc, as he found himself once again unable to wean himself off that favourite deflection down through the cordon. It’s a shot that has kept his career tally ticking towards 10,000 runs but it comes with added jeopardy on Australia’s springier surfaces. No matter how many fourth-stump drills he performs in the nets beforehand, there must come a point – as he now braces for a likely 12th defeat in 13 Tests in Australia – that he accepts that the risks of the shot in these conditions, notwithstanding the likelihood of being becalmed without it, have long since outweighed the rewards.Talking of becalmed, that is where Ben Stokes’ game now is, in a campaign in which he is now ticking along at a funereal strike-rate of 29.50, and has yet to reach 100 runs in the course of five innings. Stokes has more excuse than most for taking his time to adjust – he’s still making up for lost time after six months in which he was unable to grip a bat without pain – but he’s now faced more than 50 overs’ worth of balls in the series, so really ought to be starting to make some worthier decisions.Jos Buttler trudges off after his dismissal•Getty ImagesThis innings showed a few abortive attempts at proactivity, as he charged the quicks seemingly at random, and got cramped by the change of length on more than a few occasions. But the floppy uppercut with which he handed Cameron Green his latest prime scalp was unworthy of the man, and the match situation. England have spent long enough in the field this winter to realise that donations are few and far between when Australia’s turn comes to bat. It beggars belief that such senior dressing-room figures are unable to set an example to match their angry rhetoric.It’s debatable, however, whether Jos Buttler still qualifies as a senior Test player after his latest brainfade. Not since David Gower stepped across his stumps at Adelaide in 1990-91 to launch Craig McDermott straight into the most transparent of leg traps has an Ashes dismissal on the stroke of an interval been accompanied by quite so much face-palming.The re-introduction of Nathan Lyon, with minutes to go until tea, was a transparent act of carrot-dangling from Cummins – who sensed Buttler might seek to assert himself against a bowler who had England’s number at Adelaide, but also realised a quick over of spin might burgle him one final over of seam before the clock ticked over. As it turned out, Lyon needed just two balls before Buttler rewarded him with a hapless hoick to the leg-side sweeper – another example of how scrambled his game-brain can get in Test cricket when presented with a choice between sticking and twisting. Buttler chose both and neither. England as a collective chose the path of least resistance, and sure enough, that resistance is all but over.

Chastening day casts doubts on Jack Leach's further participation in the series

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It would be no surprise if England field an all-seam attack for the rest of this series, relying only on Root’s part-time spin

Matt Roller09-Dec-2021It was a red rag to The Bull. David Warner rode his luck against England’s seamers during his innings of 94 on the second day of the Gabba Test but as soon as Jack Leach came into the attack 25 minutes before lunch, he set about trying to take him down.Warner had never batted long enough to face Leach during his torturous Ashes series in 2019, but his intent off the first ball of spin in his innings revealed Australia’s plan to hit him out of the attack. He hit a half-volley straight back to the bowler on the bounce but with such power that Leach fumbled, smiling wryly after seeing Warner’s aggression.Related

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There were not many more smiles across the course of the day though. Leach conceded only a single from his first over but Warner hit two straight sixes off the first three balls of his second, using his feet to turn both balls into half-volleys and comfortably clearing the long-on boundary. Warner averages 60.40 against left-arm orthodox spin in Test cricket with a strike rate of 76.55, and batted like he had against Imad Wasim and Mitchell Santner in the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup, taking down a favourable match-up with the ball spinning into his hitting arc.Marnus Labuschagne was just as positive, giving himself room outside his leg stump and trusting his hand-eye coordination to flay him through the off side. He fell after lunch, mistiming a cut the ball after lofting him for a straight six, but Australia remained ultra-aggressive and threw him off his plans completely. He reverted to bowling flat at the pads with a packed leg-side field, yet Warner and Travis Head were still able to slog-sweep boundaries. By stumps, Leach had 1 for 95 in 11 overs.”We spoke about being positive against the spin,” Head said. “With it being hot, we wanted the [seam] bowlers to come back as much as possible. The guys had batted extremely well and earned the right to – in the right moments – take him on, and the tempo and the balance and the nature that they did that in was just fantastic. Marnus got out doing it – I know he was disappointed – but I felt like it set the tone for the series.”The result was that Joe Root had to revert to his seamers, even bowling a half-fit Ben Stokes ahead of Leach as the second new ball approached. Leach was described by Jon Lewis, England’s bowling coach, as a “resilient fella” – and has even responded from similar onslaughts in the past – but it is hard to see him playing any further part in this series barring a miraculous recovery.

Leach’s struggles reflected two wider trends in his bowling: he has consistently struggled against left-handers – he averages 60.81 and concedes 4.16 runs an over against them, compared to 24.59 and 2.72 respectively against right-handers – and has been significantly less effective in England’s first bowling innings of any given match than in their second.In that light, Leach always looked like a strange pick for this series: Australia have four left-handers in their top seven, and two of the right-handers, Labuschagne and Steven Smith, average above 90 against spin in home Tests. It is not a coincidence that there is a sustained pattern of failure for left-arm fingerspinners in Australia, with the miserly Ravindra Jadeja the only recent exception to the rule.But while Australia were clinical in pulling off their game plan, Leach’s Test career in the last two years has been a masterclass in mismanagement. In the most recent Ashes Test at The Oval in 2019, he took 4 for 49 in the fourth innings to bowl England to a series-levelling victory but since then has been an option of last resort.He struggled on a flat pitch at Mount Maunganui in the first Test of Chris Silverwood’s reign as head coach, taking 2 for 153 in 47 overs across both innings, and since then has only been used in Tests in Asia. He was England’s leading bowler across the tours to Sri Lanka and India earlier this year but did not play a game in the home summer, and has fallen victim to an ingrained mistrust of spin within the English game.Leach has spent two home seasons in a row running the drinks for England and looked short of rhythm. He struggled to find his length, dropping short and overpitching regularly, and was punished: he bowled 23 full balls which cost 51 runs. After he was taken down by Rishabh Pant in Chennai earlier this year – all five of Pant’s sixes in an innings of 91 came against Leach – he suggested he would benefit from playing more one-day cricket to aid his defensive skills, but he spent the vast majority of the Royal London Cup as an unused member of the Test squad instead.England spinners have been marmalised in Australia on their last two tours: Graeme Swann retired three Tests into the 2013-14 series with seven wickets at 80.00 to his name, while Moeen Ali’s five wickets cost 115.00 apiece in 2017-18. There are no obvious back-up options, either: Dom Bess took 4 for 80 against Australia A on Wednesday but conceded 3.48 runs an over, while England’s attitude towards spin was epitomised by Matt Parkinson’s omission from the Lions team for that game.Having fielded all-seam attacks in six Tests during the Silverwood era, it would be no surprise if England do so again throughout the rest of this series, relying only on Root’s part-time spin after Leach’s chastening day. And so, after two years of planning and repeated insistence that winning in Australia was the Test side’s only priority, England will find themselves relying on a battery of right-arm fast-medium seamers once again.

Australia's dominance in women's cricket is no fluke

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The way the women’s game has developed in the country is a lesson for the rest of the world

Ian Chappell09-Apr-2022The highly successful Australian women’s cricket team has rightly joined an elite group of winning sides. In recent times that group includes the Australian men’s team from around 1999 to the mid-2000s and the West Indies side of the eighties through to the mid-nineties. Both those teams achieved lengthy success and dominated their sport.The Australia women’s team, brilliantly led by Meg Lanning, has put together an incredible run of 40 victories in 42 ODIs since dramatically losing the 2017 World Cup semi-final to India.Australia capped their skilful performance in this year’s tournament by clinching a spectacular 71-run victory in the final. They set England an enormous chase by scoring 356 batting first. This exceptional tally – almost equalling the men who made 359 in the 2003 World Cup final – was anchored by Alyssa Healy’s scintillating knock of 170.Related

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Healy is a famous Australian cricket name but she is only one of a number of star players. The team’s ongoing success has been built around Lanning’s strong leadership, bolstered by the individual brilliance of many.Healy’s slickness with the gloves is not surprising because she has inherited the keeping skills of her uncle Ian. However, when she bats, it’s a different story. Where Ian was highly competitive but slightly unorthodox with the bat, Alyssa is a fleet-footed stroke-maker. She uses her feet to get into position and then guides the shot in her preferred direction with subtle use of the wrists. When I chatted with Healy and her father, Greg, over a beer, I realised she also has inherited the cheeky Healy character.She scored a record-breaking 170 in the final and she also provided a substantial platform for Australia’s semi-final win, with a century. Producing big scores in crucial games is a sure way to underline your importance in the team.Lanning is a high-achieving leader who maintains her standing with continual success.The thing that strikes you about her batting is her technique. Not only is it built on traditional lines, it also provides her with ample time to play her chosen shot. Her technique is as good as most.The other aspect is her ability to produce match-defining scores at crucial times. This was again highlighted during the World Cup, with her 135 not out after Australia lost an early wicket in the vital round game against South Africa.Lanning now has ten centuries in winning ODI chases. That kind of successful consistency will help cement any leader’s position.In addition to her batting ability, she has been a good and studious leader. Her captaincy has evolved and she handles a capable but varied attack and injury setbacks comfortably.The improved depth and quality of the squad will be pleasing to her. Australia’s dominance is no fluke. The demanding nature of the competitions Australia play, from inter-state series to the highly competitive WBBL, and the way salary escalation has been implemented, are lessons to all concerned.The improvement in women’s cricket is obvious from the enormous increase in team totals. While the rapid improvement is visible in Australia’s dominance, the increase in scoring rates – improved by nearly two runs per over in three decades – has been apparent throughout the women’s game.The other area where rapid development has been made is fielding. Not only is the ground work much improved but the standard of catching and throwing has risen quickly. The BCCI is now recognising the value of developing the women’s game and intends to hold an expanded IPL competition soon.Along with these rapid improvements has come increased prize money and greater attendance, as indicated by the near capacity crowd at the MCG for the 2020 women’s standalone T20 final.Other teams now need to raise their standard to meet the demanding challenge set by Australia. This will be a tough assignment, especially while the strong-minded Lanning is in charge.

Tabraiz Shamsi: 'I've always wanted to get the best guy in the opposition out'

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The South Africa spinner talks about relishing the chance to go up against England, his prolific 2021, and finding his feet in the national side

Interview by Matt Roller14-Jul-2022
Tabraiz Shamsi has become South Africa’s premier white-ball spinner in the last three years and one of the world’s most prolific bowlers in T20Is: only Wanindu Hasaranga took as many wickets in the format in 2021. Shamsi speaks about his ambitions for the white-ball series against England, his use of analysis, and his trademark celebrations.Did you get the chance to spend some time at home after the tour to India?
It’s nice to be here in England – the weather’s good for a change! We had about ten days at home after the India series. I feel refreshed – about as much as you can, as much as is possible. You always want more time at home, but at least we got something – other guys don’t even get that much. The way the calendar has changed nowadays, you finish a series and the same night you’re off to the airport. That’s what happened for us when we played India. It’s quite refreshing to get to a country and have two warm-up games – that’s unheard of.Related

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You’ve played England a few times before and they’ve come hard at you. Are you looking forward to the challenge?
Just for the record, it’s not only against me: they come hard against everyone! I enjoy that because it gives me opportunities to try and pick up more wickets, compared to someone that’s trying to be conservative. There’ll be some days where you’re going to go home sad, but others where you go home very happy. That plays into the way I like to bowl. As a player who believes in himself and a team who believes in themselves, you want to play against the stronger teams; you want to test yourself against a team like England.England will pick a full-strength batting line-up. What goes through your mind when you see the names on their team sheet before a game?
From a young age, that’s something that’s always excited me. Whether it was schools cricket or provincial and first-class cricket, I’ve always wanted to get the best guy out on the opposition team. England is blessed with many good guys, so that’s really exciting for me. It’s something I’m proud of when I play: it’s a great opportunity to be bowling against very good players and having an opportunity to get them out.

“Skill-wise, some guys are slightly better than others, but I don’t think the difference is as big as it is mentally. That’s what makes great players great: their mental approach to the game “

You took 36 T20I wickets last year, the joint most in the world along with Wanindu Hasaranga. Was it the best year of your international career?
I had always been in and out. Obviously Immy [Imran Tahir] was around and he was the man in charge – rightfully so – but I basically feel that my international career started after 2019. Before that, I would play one game, then another one three months later, then another one after two months. You can’t get any rhythm. Now, you play on Wednesday and if you make a mistake, you can try and correct that on Friday. You see what works, what doesn’t, and then you play again on Sunday. That’s the only way I think a player can improve: if he’s backed and he’s given enough opportunity. I always believed in my abilities but to be able to get that run to actually show the world, “Okay, cool, you know what, this is what this guy can do” – that was quite satisfying for me.Left-arm wristspinners are still relatively unusual in the world game. Do you feel like there’s still a novelty factor that can work in your favour?
I suppose so, but then again, the game has changed so much. Guys are batting left-handed when they’re supposed to be a right-handed batsman, and reverse-whooping fast bowlers. That might previously have been the case when India came through with Kuldeep Yadav, but I think guys have adapted. That’s the game: bowlers come up with something and then batsmen innovate. At the end of the day, you have to put the ball in the right area with the right variations, no matter whether you’re bowling with the right arm or the left arm. That’s the key.Do you put extra focus on the first spell of a match or a tour with that in mind – knowing that batters won’t have faced much left-arm wristspin in the nets?
I don’t think you get any freebies in international cricket, especially against the stronger teams. My basics don’t change whether I’m playing against the guy for the first time or he’s played against me a lot. It’s more of your prep as a player that gives you confidence. If he’s on the field with you playing international cricket, he’s a pretty good player.”At the end of the day, you have to put the ball in the right area with the right variations, whether you’re bowling with the right arm or the left”•Pankaj Nangia/Gallo Images/Getty ImagesWhen it comes to preparation, how much use do you make of analysis of the opposition?
It’s either for you or it’s not for you. You get some guys that are mavericks that just want to go out there on feel, but I feel that definitely, for me personally, it gives me an edge in my prep. I am a free-spirited person – you see that with my celebrations and the way I go about life – but if that [analytics] can give you a slight indication of what a batsman might be doing, why not take that opportunity?You can be a maverick on the field but you can be better if you have prior knowledge – something that can maybe prepare you or make you aware of what the batsman might be trying to do. That’s why I dive quite a lot into the analysis. And then I like to prepare according to how I feel I should be bowling against a specific batsman.What would you be looking at the night before a game when you’re speaking with South Africa analyst Rivash Gobind?
It will be footage, stats, wagon wheels – all that stuff is pretty standard in international cricket now. But it’s about how you interpret the information. The information can be there and each guy will take whatever works for them. I’m the same: I won’t use every piece of information, but I take what I think is relevant for my bowling.Reece Topley said last week that learning about the mental side of international cricket is just as important, if not more, than skills for white-ball bowlers in 2022. Do you agree?
Hundred percent. When you’re playing international cricket, there can’t be a 70% difference between my skill versus your skill. We’re all good players, that’s why we’ve made it that far. It’s more of a mental thing. I know I’m a good bowler, you know you’re a good batsman. It’s about how we tackle each other mentally and who has more faith in their ability and execution. Skill-wise, we’re all on a specific level. Yes, some guys are slightly better than others, but I don’t think the difference is as big as it is mentally. That’s what makes great players great: their mental approach to the game and their belief in their ability.

“Earlier I would play one game, then another three months later. Now you play on Wednesday and if you make a mistake, you can correct that on Friday. That’s the only way a player can improve: if he’s backed and he’s given enough opportunity”

South Africa won four games out of five at the T20 World Cup last year but couldn’t reach the knockout stages. Do you feel like you can get to the semi-finals and beyond in Australia this year?
As a squad we’re in a good place. There’s always things that you’re working on and the World Cup is definitely something that’s at the back of every team’s mind. Funnily enough, now it’s easier for people to see that South Africa may have one of the better bowling attacks in the world. I’ve been saying that for the past 18 months because I’m part of the team. When I look around and see the guy to my left and the guy to my right, I see the composition of the bowling attack and I see a lot of guys that can take wickets. Every single guy in our attack is capable of taking wickets. I can only speak for the bowling group but I feel like we have all our bases covered.You’ve become renowned for your celebrations. Do you have anything specific planned for this tour – and did you see your compatriot Rilee Rossouw’s celebration last week?
I did! I feel like I’ve toned them down quite a lot since I became a dad. My philosophy of my celebrations is that you’re playing against the best players in the world and it’s become our job to be doing it professionally, so that’s my way of enjoying myself. All of us started doing this thing because we enjoyed it, then we got good at it because we were having fun, then we got higher and higher and now it becomes more intense because your performances are being scrutinised. Every move you make is being assessed and you’re playing because it’s your job.I don’t want to lose that fun factor and celebrating helps to take the pressure off. Once I’ve taken a wicket, I’m enjoying myself because, flip, I’ve worked hard to be where I am and I’m well aware that it’s not going to last forever – that’s just how bodies work. I want to enjoy cricket while I’m playing and make memories that I’ll have once I’m done, for my kids, for my family. Just because I’m earning money from the game and my job is dependent on my performances, I don’t want to just be all serious or not be myself. I want to have fun.

Who is a genuine allrounder? Do Kallis, Hadlee and Jadeja fit the bill?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Looking at it on the basis of players’ batting and bowling contributions per match throws up some interesting lists

Kartikeya Date04-Jul-2022In his book , Trevor Bailey wrote that an allrounder is a player who commands a place in the XI either as a batter or as a bowler. Another common definition accepts any player as an allrounder if their batting average exceeds their bowling average. Among the 399 Test players who have at least 50 wickets in men’s Test cricket to their name at the time of writing, 46 satisfy this condition. Take away bowlers who bowl fewer than 20 overs per Test match on average and 31 satisfy it. The newest addition to this list at the time of writing is Kyle Jamieson, who has 372 runs at 19.6 and 72 wickets at 19.5.Jamieson’s example points to the difficulties presented by Bailey’s definition for the statistical standard. The next three players on this list of 31, arranged by increasing batting averages, are Vernon Philander (24.0), Alan Davidson (24.6) and R Ashwin (26.9). While these three are not tailenders, they would not command a place in their respective Test teams for their batting alone. The allrounder remains difficult to define.The “genuine allrounder”, remains even more controversial. Is Jacques Kallis a genuine allrounder? Was Richard Hadlee one?Considering batters and bowlers by position, the average runs, wickets and balls bowled per match in each position are in the table below. Readers should note that a team has used an eighth bowler in only 244 out of 2466 Tests, while a tenth has only been used in 18 of those matches. By contrast, a team has used a sixth bowler in 2012 out of 2466 Tests. The figures suggest that a Test XI includes up to eight players who can be considered capable of batting (either as specialists or as capable lower-order bats), and up to six who can be considered capable of bowling (part-time or otherwise)

This enables a couple of tentative definitions. A “genuine allrounder” is one who averages at least 49.3 runs per match with bat and takes at least two wickets per Test with the ball – i.e. their contribution with the bat is equivalent to that of a player batting in the top seven, and with the ball, equivalent to that of a bowler in the top five bowling positions.The 54,287 Test caps won by players at the time of writing have been plotted in the chart below. They are arranged according to the two measures considered here – wickets per match and runs per match. As an example, Dale Steyn’s Test caps are highlighted in the chart (outlined circles with no fills).All caps in Test history, plotted by runs scored and wickets taken per match. Dale Steyn’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateEach point on the chart represents one Test cap. A Test cap is a selection to a Test XI earned by a player. Over his career, Sachin Tendulkar earned 200 Test caps.The caps in blue represent the genuine allrounders. There are 943 such caps, or 1.7% of all Test caps in the history of the format.The caps in red represent players whose contributions are equivalent to those of a top-eight batter and a top-six bowler, but not those of a top-seven batter and top-five bowler. There are 3345 such caps, or 6.2% of all caps.The caps in grey represent specialist batters or specialist bowlers (like Steyn).There is a relatively small number of caps in the bottom left corner of the chart; players who don’t contribute with either bat or ball tend to be dropped. The vast majority of caps won by players with zero wickets per Test and fewer than 40 runs per Test have been won by wicketkeepers.This is illustrated in the chart below, which shows all Test caps earned by players who have played at least 20 Tests; numbers from their first 20 caps are excluded.All caps in Test history by players who have played at least 20 Tests, plotted by runs scored and wickets taken per match after the 20th match. Dale Steyn’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateAny player who played less than 20 Tests overall does not feature in the chart above. As readers will note, the bottom left-hand corner is emptied out, and the chart only features the specialist bowlers (the grey cluster between two and six wickets per Test and fewer than 37 runs per Test), specialist batters (fewer than one wicket per Test and at least 37 runs per Test), and the two categories of allrounders.The ruthless meritocracy of Test cricket is illustrated in these two charts. Only 479 out of the 25,261 Test caps won by players who have played at least 20 Tests (or 1.9%) have been won by genuine allrounders. By his 20th Test, Dale Steyn’s record had stabilised and his caps since then all hover around his eventual career record mark. Eagle-eyed readers will see some caps around the 130-140 runs per Test mark in the chart. These belong to Don Bradman.Five categories of players can be readily identified based on their average contribution per match (not per dismissal) at the end of each match:1. Genuine allrounders, who contribute on average at least 49.3 runs per Test and 2.00 or more wickets per Test2. Bowling allrounders, who contribute on average between 37.0 and 49.3 runs per Test and at least 2.00 wickets per Test3. Batting allrounders, who contribute on average at least 49.3 runs per Test and between 1.03 and 2.00 wickets per Test.4. Specialist batters, who contribute at least 49.3 runs per Test and less than 1.03 wickets per Test.5. Specialist bowlers, who contribute at least 2.00 wickets per Test and fewer than 37.0 runs per Test.We now have a systematic account of player contributions. Here, let’s introduce an admittedly arbitrary, though hopefully reasonable, threshold. Let’s say that to qualify as a successful Test player, a candidate must earn at least 20 Test caps. If the thresholds above are applied to all such players, then there have been 13 genuine allrounders in the history of Test cricket, 17 bowling allrounders, and 15 batting allrounders.

The figures in the tables above contain some categorisations that might seem surprising to cricket fans. There were certainly phases in the careers of a few players who are not in the first table during which they would qualify as genuine allrounders.Imran Khan’s categorisation as a bowling allrounder seems noteworthy. As his Test career developed, his batting advanced, and towards the end, his bowling declined. His last 15 Tests (out of a total of 88) brought him 947 runs (out of a career total of 3807) and only 28 Test wickets (out of a career total of 362). Taken as a whole, his career, the record suggests, is more similar to that of a bowling allrounder (perhaps the foremost in this category) than it is to a genuine allrounder. It goes without saying (as Imran’s chart below shows) that he was among the very greatest bowlers to ever play Test cricket.All caps in Test history by players who have played at least 20 Tests, graphing runs scored and wickets taken per match after the 20th match. Imran Khan’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateThe batting allrounders list shows Kallis as being more similar to Frank Worrell, Ted Dexter and Wally Hammond, than he is to Garry Sobers or Keith Miller.There are a few notable omissions in these lists. Four of these players are listed below.All caps in Test history by players who have played at least 20 Tests, graphing runs scored and wickets taken per match after the 20th match. Ravindra Jadeja’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateThe method of categorising Test players demonstrated in this essay involves giving greater emphasis to contributions than to ability. In Ravindra Jadeja’s case, his recent Test matches have featured several eye-catching batting performances, and much like Imran’s, the trajectory of his career indicates that he is transitioning from being a top specialist bowler to a top bowling allrounder.All caps in Test history by players who have played at least 20 Tests, graphing runs scored and wickets taken per match after the 20th match. Shaun Pollock’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateFew would doubt that Shaun Pollock had the ability to be a genuine allrounder, let alone a bowling allrounder. But his record shows that his batting was a scarcely utilised luxury.All caps in Test history by players who have played at least 20 Tests, graphing runs scored and wickets taken per match after the 20th match. Andrew Flintoff’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateAndrew Flintoff’s career represents both the stress and the triumph of the all-round contribution. His was a career with a pronounced peak following a long apprenticeship. It is extremely difficult to sustain all-round efforts with bat and ball of the kind Flintoff produced for about three years, over the length of a career.All caps in Test history by players who have played at least 20 Tests, graphing runs scored and wickets taken per match after the 20th match. Richard Hadlee’s caps highlighted (outlined circles with no fill)•Kartikeya DateWhat the record really shows is that allrounders in Test cricket are born as much out of necessity as from ability. Teams use players in roles and positions that are most advantageous to the side, even if this means keeping some of a player’s capabilities on the shelf. England, for example, use Ben Stokes as a shock weapon when their specialist bowlers have been used up. Stokes is an attacking bowler who hits the pitch hard, is capable of being seriously quick from time to time, and is prepared to concede runs in the pursuit of wickets. England’s circumstances have turned him into a genuine all-round contributor.Some of these categorisations may come as a surprise to readers. But while there have unquestionably been notable Test allrounders who dominated Test cricket at their peak, there have also been others who were consistent all-round contributors throughout their careers. Admittedly, this was as much due to their ability as to the circumstances which provided opportunities for them.Tony Greig for instance, was a freak player, who, quite apart from being a terrific middle-order bat, could also bowl seam and spin (much like the great Sobers). This ability, and England’s need to field an allrounder once Ray Illingworth retired, gave Greig the opportunities to match his capabilities. His extraordinary record is the result. Would Jadeja have had a Test record similar to Shakib Al Hasan’s if he played in a Test team that could accommodate him in the middle order? Very likely, yes. It just so happens that Jadeja has played in a very strong Indian Test XI, where his spin bowling has been far more valuable than his batting.

In an alternative universe, Pollock, Jadeja, Kallis and Hadlee would all play for teams that would desperately require every last bit of their considerable all-round talents. In this universe, the list of the most prolific Test allrounders would look very different.

'Why not come to Holland for ten days before they travel to England?'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Paul van Meekeren suggests Dutch warm-ups for other teams in bid to get more international cricket for Netherlands

Andrew McGlashan27-Oct-20221:13

Paul van Meekeren: ‘We’ve got guys who pay to go to their own training’

Netherlands pace bowler Paul van Meekeren has called on the major cricketing nations to use Netherlands as a stopping-off point on their way to England tours, as a way of helping boost the amount of international cricket available to them.The volume of bilateral cricket Netherlands will play against the leading teams in the coming years is uncertain with the discontinuation of the ODI Super League, which has guaranteed them 24 matches in the current cycle. They have played 15 in 2022, their most for a calendar year, including home series against West Indies, England and Pakistan.Related

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While all the games this year have been lost they came close to beating Pakistan, and captain Scott Edwards previously talked about the importance of the Super League in helping develop depth in Netherlands cricket. Van Meekeren believes their competitiveness on the field and the facilities available would make it an ideal lead-in to an England series rather than playing county sides.”There’s no reason why Test teams can’t come to Holland instead of playing the counties,” he said, speaking after the match against India at the SCG. “We’ve got the facilities. I think this year hopefully we showed how good the wickets are in Holland. I think the practice wickets were outstanding back home, and we played some competitive games.”We can be as competitive as playing the warm-up game against other counties. Why not come to Holland for ten days before they travel to England?”Paul van Meekeren had KL Rahul lbw on Netherlands’ big day•Getty ImagesOn the field in Sydney, the result went the expected way, with India coming out winners by 56 runs in the first T20I between the teams, and just the third international meeting overall, but with the ball Netherlands made them work hard.India were kept to 32 for 1 in the powerplay – van Meekeren removed KL Rahul lbw, although replays showed it was missing – and it should have been two wickets in the first six but Tim Pringle shelled Rohit Sharma. After 10 overs it was 67 for 1, and that many only because the 10th over cost 14 runs. Predictably with wickets in hand India accelerated, but they were kept to 26 fewer than South Africa had been by Bangladesh on the same surface although van Meekeren had mixed emotions.”If we’re being honest to ourselves, [we would have liked] probably a little bit less, especially after the first 10 overs,” he said. “Obviously, we didn’t take the wickets that we wanted to, which gives them the freedom to play as they did at the back [end].”Yeah, we’re being hard on ourselves. I guess you can’t miss by a centimetre…you’re in trouble. Bowling against the best players in the world, even if you miss a little bit, you just go.”I personally did it three times, and I’m sure some of the other bowlers might feel the same about their own bowling. But I think, firstly, I’m very proud about how we went about it. Them being one down [at the halfway stage], it could have been a lot more.”We could have panicked and lost our heads, but I think all the bowlers stayed very clear on what they wanted to do. Sometimes you get it wrong and you’re in trouble, and sometimes you execute and it’s only a dot ball no matter how good they are.”On the overall experience of playing India in front of 36,000 spectators, van Meekeren said it would take a little time to process.”I said this would be a day I’d tell my grandkids about, and it is playing against India, but at the end of the day you are playing against 11 other men, they aren’t gods or anything. You just compete men to men and that’s what we tried to do today.”You try to block the noise out. You watch it on TV about 100 times and just to be there is very special. I think in the moment I probably didn’t realise it as much, and it will probably sink in in the next 24 hours.”

How Robin Uthappa struggled to find himself and succeeded

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The India and Karnataka batter, who retired from international cricket recently, spoke about his long-running battles with mental-health issues off the field

Sidharth Monga03-Oct-2022Robin Uthappa has on his right forearm a tattoo that says “I am.”It is a commemoration, he says, of finding himself, of recovery. It is what he pointed to when I asked him to introduce himself on the podcast.I didn’t want to introduce him because over three days of extended conversations, I knew cricket was an important part of his life, part of his oldest memory even, but it is not what he should be defined by. He spoke a lot about the role of spirituality in recovery. He knew who he was. He was at peace with who he was. It was best he told people who he was.We recorded on the last day of Suicide Prevention Week, which was nothing but a coincidence. The only instrument we had was a phone. We were not in a studio but in my hotel room, a few doors down from his. At 9am sharp he knocked on my door in the oversized co-ords that he loves to wear and changes into the moment he goes off air. He carried two pouches of instant coffee in his hand.He was fascinated that I found peace in my belief that everything in life is random: good fortune and bad fortune exist but they are random. We debated that before we started recording. I told him I was not going to prod him; he could share however much he wanted to share. I told him about a Jeff Finlin book on recovery that I was reading.Finlin is possibly the greatest modern Western singer-songwriter without a Wikipedia page. He had a traumatic childhood, battled alcoholism and PTSD, and his work has never made it popularly. JR Moehringer, the Pulitzer-winning writer who, among other things, co-wrote Andre Agassi’s autobiography, called Finlin “an undiscovered Bob Dylan”. Listen to him. You will find it is no exaggeration.

Listen to the podcastIn his book , Finlin writes of the five or sheaths that make up a human body according to “yogic lore”. The first four sheaths are a physical accumulation of human experiences, of reactions to trauma, of addiction centres. For sufferers of addiction, trauma and codependency, Finlin says it is important to access the self beyond these four sheaths.That is when one really finds themselves, and ceases being just an accumulation of experience and hardwiring. When those in recovery identify themselves through the fifth, spiritual, sheath, they identify as “I am”.”That is what we are trying to recover,” Finlin writes.

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As a boy, Uthappa was a prodigy. At 14 he scored a triple-century in the final of an Under-16 zonal selection tournament. When he came back to Karnataka, his home state, he was told he was not being selected because other children and their parents complained he was too “aggressive”. They used to think he was over-age. You sit in a room with him and you realise how big he is without being imposing or intimidating. The steroidal medication he took for epilepsy made him grow a little disproportionately. He was a big boy but didn’t get as tall as he ought to have been for the size of his limbs.Related

The son of a gifted hockey player who couldn’t realise his potential because of what Uthappa describes as bureaucracy in team sport in India, he quit cricket and went to Coorg with his family, only to be coaxed back by Makarand Waingankar of the newly formed Karnataka Cricket Academy.Three years later, at 17, Uthappa made his first-class debut and scored 40 off 32 batting at No. 3 on the first morning.Uthappa has retired from all forms of cricket in India with no international century or Test cap to his name. His most important innings, though, carries on.

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Uthappa was a child trapped in his parents’ bad marriage. He was a prodigy who somehow believed – we make weird correlations when we are kids – the only way to keep his parents from imploding was to keep playing cricket well. He played what should have been the best years of his cricket with the responsibility of his family on his mind, the fear their dysfunction would spill out into the open. He envied those with more stable families. and bore the guilt that comes with not wanting to be seen as the child of your parents.Clinically depressed, given to suicidal thoughts, Uthappa spent his twenties clutching on to dear life. He knew little else. He told me on the podcast of how he eventually had to cut his family off, which took a lot of courage. In his mid-20s he would change his phone number every few months.Uthappa at the 2004 Under-19 World Cup, where he made 237 runs from seven games to be India’s third-highest top scorer, struggling with the weight of off-field problems•Farjana K Godhuly/AFP/Getty ImagesThe number I had for him was from around 2012. Life was just a haze for him back then. He played in it but doesn’t remember anything from the 2011 IPL. I felt bad I hadn’t contacted him other than outside nets and on cricket grounds in ten years. I don’t like to bother cricketers unnecessarily. I imagine them to be strong, with support systems in place for when they are not strong. Nor am I under any illusion that I am capable of helping.It is all wrong. Uthappa is a reminder to us that cricketers suffer much the same as others, perhaps even more because of the hyper-competitive environment they find themselves in – which can be at odds with the ethos of a team sport. Not everyone has a support system; thankfully Uthappa had his counsellor in addition to his partner, Sheethal, to help him recover. He is an inspiration to cricketers who are not feeling well, telling them that it is okay to be vulnerable, that help is available and that they don’t need to hide their anguish. He is an inspiration to everyone, and not just cricketers, that family dysfunction and mental disorder are not things to be ashamed of; you are better off acknowledging and addressing them.To cricketers, Uthappa’s advice is that they have a professional team: a personal cricket-skills coach and a mental-skills coach. Apart from the cricket-skills coaches, teams should have a psychologist, even if only to be called on in an emergency when cricketers are on tour. The BCCI needs to set up systems to look after the mental health of every cricketer under its ambit, and not let the sheer volume of talent available in the country breed contempt and neglect. That’s something Uthappa would love to help set up.

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Knowing what you know, it is impossible to look at Uthappa the cricketer independent of Uthappa the person, but the scorebooks don’t make that allowance. They will tell you he averaged around 25 in internationals and around 41 in first-class cricket – meagre returns for a prodigious talent.Uthappa with his wife, former tennis player Sheethal Goutham, whose support has been instrumental in his battles against mental illness•Getty ImagesAt 13 he was already part of the Karnataka U-19 camp, smacking future India and Karnataka bowlers – a good five-six years older – for sixes. When those expecting some respect for days cricket confronted him, he said it was not his fault but that of bowlers who bowled in his zone. Those watching the camp expected him to be an India cricketer in five years. Waingankar, who convinced him to come back at 14 and remained a mentor to him, used to call him Viv.Uthappa was a new-age batter with scant regard for survival over run-scoring, but he also held the Test cap in high regard. In pursuit of it he hired a personal coach, Praveen Amre, dismantled his game completely and built it from the bottom up. It showed results in two seasons when he averaged over 50, 2014-15 and 2015-16. In the first of those seasons Karnataka successfully defended their triple of Ranji, Vijay Hazare and Irani titles.The Test cap was not meant to be. In limited-overs cricket Uthappa was forever doomed: the top four was jampacked with Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid, and the three middle-order batters had to be MS Dhoni and two batters who could also bowl. When slots opened up and Rohit Sharma got room to move up the order, Uthappa wasn’t mentally there. In hindsight he empathises with the calls leaders had to make, but he would have liked better communication because the cricketer is a human and not a commodity.Uthappa wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. He himself will tell you he was a difficult, unpredictable colleague. And a mischievous one. That was perhaps a manifestation of the angst and turmoil he experienced at home.With Sourav Ganguly in 2007. Uthappa has spoken about that having been a year where he feared his parents’ rocky relationship would damage his own life•AFPHe spent the two 2007 World Cups and tours of England and Bangladesh in constant fear of his parents’ issues spilling out into the open. All the time he fought fires remotely. When he was dropped from the international side in July 2008, he decided to spend the time before the start of the domestic season actively helping his parents mend their relationship, as opposed to just playing, in the belief that that was what kept them happy. It didn’t work. Finances had always been a problem, so he spent his IPL money. As expected, that too didn’t help. He gave them time and presence, but that didn’t work either. Before he knew, what he thought would be a quick off-season job consumed all of him and half his cricketing life was over.It was only in the second half of his career that Uthappa found himself. Keeping wicket rejuvenated him on the field. He enjoyed this period, though there was little international cricket available to him. He retires knowing he is a T20 World Cup champion and a two-time IPL winner. He still loves cricket. More leagues outside India hopefully await.Uthappa knows the pitfalls of mental health never disappear, but he is confident he can stay vigilant. Most importantly he knows: “I am.” It is a state of bliss that doesn’t need scorebooks.If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide or self-harm, know that there is help available. Please call one of these helpline numbers (India)

Labuschagne, Head lead strong batting display to tune out off-field noise

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Warner’s words on his captaincy ban dominated conversations but, out in the middle, a depleted West Indies attack meant it was business as usual for Australia

Andrew McGlashan08-Dec-2022One of Australia’s greatest batters sent shockwaves through the game in Adelaide. There were gasps of amazement at the events unfolding. What would it mean for him, and the match?Steven Smith had been dismissed against West Indies. Something that had not happened since December 10, 2015. And it was for a duck. A lot has gone on in Australia cricket since then.Playing slightly early at a drive, he offered a low return catch to Jason Holder who stooped to take it by his ankles. Smith threw his head back in frustration – or maybe disgust – because this was not a day to be missing out.Related

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At 131 for 3, West Indies, almost out of nowhere, given their threadbare resources, had a glimmer of putting some pressure on Australia. But, as a final tally of 330 for 3 would attest, with the familiar sight of the newly-minted No. 1 Test batter Marnus Labuschagne making another century and a hometown hundred for Travis Head, that was as good as it got.It was just the sort of dominant batting display that Australia needed to avoid the off-field noise following them into the middle even if, in reality, given the support for David Warner inside the team, it was unlikely to transpire that way.Inevitably, though, the events of the previous evening when Warner dropped his 793-word statement dominated much of the conversation around the day, particularly when his manager did an incendiary radio interview.David Warner’s innings was cut short at 21•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesFor a little while it was possible to imagine Warner’s response to his off-field anger could translate into something spectacular in the middle. He drove the first ball of the match through the covers for three. Alzarri Joseph gave him some uncomfortable moments, but when he struck three crisp boundaries in the ninth over, it looked like it could be about to cut loose.However, two balls later he went after a wide delivery and edged a big drive through to the keeper. Warner groaned. He could no longer distract himself – and others – from the middle.Still, for the next three hours it was possible to ponder whether Australia would lose another wicket. Roston Chase was bowling in the 10th over and soon had a deep point; Marquino Mindley’s Test debut lasted two overs before he tweaked a hamstring (he had an almost impossible ask made of him after a 36-hour journey from Jamaica just two days before the match); captain Kraigg Brathwaite was floating up his straight-breaks before the dinner break; and to cap it off they had a substitute fielder, Omar Phillips, plucked out of Melbourne grade cricket.To West Indies’ credit they did not let the run-rate get away from them, although when Devon Thomas was summoned to the bowling crease it did not immediately bode well. Yet, almost out of nowhere he had Usman Khawaja lbw with a ball just shaving leg stump from round the wicket.Holder then reduced Smith’s average against West Indies from 239 to 179 but he and Joseph couldn’t keep going. With Mindley off for a scan, options were limited and the half hour leading into the tea break saw Chase and Brathwaite operate in tandem. With the dynamics of a day-night Test, and the desire to have fresh quicks for the final session, there was some logic to it, but it did not impress Ricky Ponting.”It’s just rubbish bowling,” he said on Channel 7. “They’ve just given away 30 runs. They built the pressure up. Jason Holder will be absolutely spewing. Bent his back, did everything right, disciplined, executed really well, only for this to happen.”West Indies head coach Phil Simmons was more measured and praised Brathwaite of juggling his depleted attack. The quicks returned after the interval with Anderson Phillip putting in a good shift to support Holder and Joseph but it didn’t bring any reward. Head was not always secure, beaten on occasions outside off as he looked to drive, which is part of the trade-off for his positive approach, but Labuschagne barely put a foot wrong although he later said he felt this was a grinding effort.The pitch did not really have the pace to test him with the short ball as Joseph had done in Perth, although it may still have been underdone. Just four of the 59 balls he bowled to Labuschagne were logged as short albeit they cost 10 runs.When he sliced Thomas through backward point he made it centuries in three consecutive innings for the second time of a career that is only 30 matches old. For now, his average also ticked above Smith’s. There should be tougher challenges ahead against South Africa, but he is on for a gargantuan season.As the clock ticked over to 10pm he worked the final ball of the day to midwicket. An Australia batter who will likely be remembered as a great, if he hasn’t already done enough to be regarded in that category, strode off with thoughts, no doubt, of another double tomorrow. It was normal service for Australia. On the field, at least.

Jamieson-like Henry Shipley ready for the big stage

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

His towering frame and ability to generate steep bounce could give NZ’s attack a point of difference in Pakistan and India

Deivarayan Muthu08-Jan-2023Henry Shipley often imagined himself as Shane Bond during Christmas Day clashes with his cousins when he was a kid. Having earned his maiden New Zealand call-up, Shipley, now 26, is on the verge of becoming a Black Cap himself.While Shipley can generate sharp pace, he is more of a bowler in the mould of Kyle Jamieson than Bond. His towering frame (1.96 metres) and ability to produce steep bounce often draws comparisons with Jamieson. It’s something that even selector Gavin Larsen has acknowledged.”Bounce is the key for him, given his height, but equally the reason he gets given the new ball at times for Canterbury is he has the ability to move the ball in the air,” Larsen had said after selecting Shipley in the New Zealand squads for the tours of Pakistan and India. “Anyone that can bowl à la Kyle Jamieson with that sort of a height, swinging in and getting bounce, the potential is there that he will be a handful.”In the absence of Jamieson, who is still recovering from a back injury, Shipley is expected to provide New Zealand’s attack with a potent point of difference on what could be flat tracks in Pakistan and India. Bowling to the likes of Babar Azam and Virat Kohli could unnerve a rookie, but Shipley plans to shut out the outside noise and just do his job.Related

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Injured Matt Henry out of ODIs in Pakistan, India

Southee: New Zealand were 'one ball away from series victory'

“I think it will just be cool to say [post-tour that] I’ve been over there, and not be too worried about what happens I guess,” Shipley said. “We want to come away with some wins and hopefully win both series, but it’s [about] just getting over there, getting your feet on the ground and doing your job that’s at hand.”Shipley’s national call-up is reward for his remarkable consistency with the ball on the easy-paced hit-through-the-line one-day pitches and small grounds in New Zealand in domestic cricket. In November, he took career-best List A figures of 6 for 40, including a hat-trick in the Ford Trophy opener for Canterbury against Wellington. It was the first hat-trick for Canterbury and only fourth overall in 52 years of the tournament.Shipley continued his rich form in the Ford Trophy and is currently the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 12 strikes in five games at an economy rate of 4.20. Earlier in last season’s 20-over Super Smash, he had emerged as the top wicket-taker, with 18 scalps in 11 games at an economy rate of 7.25 in Canterbury’s run to the final, where they lost to Northern Districts.Shipley’s Canterbury coach Peter Fulton has had a hand in his progress. “Fulty is a pretty straight up character,” Shipley said. “He tells you what you need to do to get better and he can be pretty black and white. When you don’t have that clarity, it can be quite hard to understand what it is that’s going to get you to the next level. He simplified it from the very beginning and kind of took my thoughts away from it and let me do my work at the domestic level.”Working with international players like Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell at Canterbury has also helped Shipley. He has now reunited with them in Pakistan.”I don’t know [on what has clicked for him recently]. I think there can be some individual success but on the back of a team performance as well,” Shipley said. “I’ve been quite lucky with Canterbury, and we’ve had a lot of success in all three formats and the guys around you pave the way for the individual side of things.”Shipley hails from a strong cricketing background. His uncle Mark Priest was a stalwart for Canterbury and even played 21 international games for New Zealand while his father James is a “cricket tragic”.”My old man is a bit of a cricket tragic, and my uncle played a bit of cricket for New Zealand and Canterbury,” Shipley said. “So that [cricket] was always around me growing up and I’ve always been involved with Canterbury Country, Greendale and Darefield [clubs]. I guess it was something not I didn’t have a choice, but it was put in front of me from an early age and I kind of just took it from there.”However, the path to the top hasn’t been smooth. Shipley has been on New Zealand’s radar for a while, but multiple injuries have derailed his career. The injuries bothered him so much that at one point he stopped enjoying his cricket. Shipley has now learnt to embrace setbacks and just wants to cherish every moment on the field.Henry Shipley has been at the forefront of Canterbury’s recent success•Getty Images”I guess I’m never really looking to play safe,” Shipley said. “I think injuries are just a part of it and I guess they’re frustrating whenever they pop up and I’m sure they’re going to pop up in the future. It’s one of those things where you try and get on the park and stay there and enjoy it as long as you can.”For a while there, I was probably so conscious of that side of the game that I never really just enjoyed playing and perhaps something in the last 24 months has changed and the attitude has been to just enjoy being out there each game.”Shipley can also give it a good whack with the bat, as his T20 strike rate of 137 indicates. Larsen backs Shipley to become a genuine allrounder.”He’s a player who has been on our radar for a few years now – probably five-six years,” Larsen said. “He has performed really well over the past couple of years. I consider him to be a genuine allrounder. He’s tall and he’s a power-hitter. So, he offers a really good all-round skillset. Genuine allrounders are like gold dust in cricket and we would like to think he will develop his skills on this tour and push hard for us.”Trent Boult, Jimmy Neesham and Martin Guptill have all turned down their New Zealand contracts to become T20 freelancers, but the domestic system is still robust enough to feed promising talents like Shipley to the national side. A strong early impression in Pakistan and India could potentially propel Shipley into New Zealand’s World Cup plans.

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