A flashback to some of the best moments between Australia and South Africa in the last eight years

Firdose Moonda02-Nov-20164:17

‘Told Rhino either you bowl, or I bowl’ – Clarke

It might not quite be the Ashes or India-Pakistan, but a series between Australia and South Africa has its own appeal. The two sides are competitive, intense, evenly matched, and bring the best and worst out of each other.Over the last eight years, Australia-South Africa contests have been especially epic: both teams have overcome the other’s home advantage, legendary captains have retired, and records have been made and broken.Here’s a quick recap.2008: South Africa successfully chased 414 in Perth and won again in Melbourne – their first series victory in Australia.2011: Australia were bowled out for 47 in Cape Town, before sneaking to a two-wicket win in Johannesburg to draw the two-Test series.The 2008 series was particularly special for JP Duminy, who was making his debut•PA Photos2012: A stonewalling in Adelaide that has become the stuff of legend.On the day, it was a show of defiance. In the context of the series, it shifted the momentum. For the players involved, it was defining. It was where Faf du Plessis showed the character that led to him becoming a stand-in captain. It was where Peter Siddle learned to lead an attack. It was where Nathan Lyon played his first real Test.”I realised I was playing Test match cricket and teams don’t just roll over,” Lyon told ESPNcricinfo.Far from it. Usman Khawaja, who was not playing in that Adelaide Test, admitted what a lot of people would have been thinking. “I was expecting Australia to win.”South Africa finished day four on 77 for 4 in their chase of 430. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla were out. Jacques Kallis was injured. Du Plessis was on debut. Even though Australia also had a casualty in James Pattinson, they thought themselves halfway home.”When you’ve got debutants coming in, you know they might perform well because the reason they are getting an opportunity is because they are skillful,” Siddle said. “You think he might bat for a little while but then you might get him out. He’s nervous, it’s his first test, it won’t last.”But it did. And partly because of who du Plessis had at the other end. His childhood friend, AB de Villiers; the inventor of some of the most ingenious strokes in the modern game was not interested in anything other than the block. De Villiers scored 33 off 220 balls at a strike rate of 15 – a run every seven balls he faced – and did not breach the boundary once. It was an incredible show of restraint from a player who is known for scoring quickly.Australia bowled 148 overs without breaking through in the Adelaide Test•Getty ImagesWhen Lyon called their partnership “unbelievable,” he was not saying so in the way the word is casually used. He really meant it.Australia “tried everything under the sun,” as Siddle remembers it. Michael Clarke bowled first change and went on to deliver 18 overs. Du Plessis was given out twice off him, both times lbw, both times overturned on review.Rob Quiney bowled, Ricky Ponting bowled, David Warner bowled. Nathan Lyon bowled more than anyone else, but in the absence of Pattinson, the responsibility fell chiefly on Siddle. He bore it bravely, even when it became difficult and even as he knew he was probably bowling himself out of contention for the final game.”The first thing I learned was that I hope none of your fast bowling buddies go down injured again,” Siddle joked. “But personally, the biggest thing is putting yourself through that and knowing you can do it. Even though it cost me in the end. I didn’t end up playing in Perth.”Four years and a few injuries later, Siddle can see beyond the exhaustion of that day and reflects fondly on what the match did for Test cricket. “People always talk about Test cricket dying and all those types of things, but that was exciting. They are the challenges you love about Test cricket. You don’t get to see stuff like that in other forms of the game.”That’s the great thing about Test cricket. The different challenges, the tactics, how it goes up and down from one side to the other. You don’t mind if teams have to play defensively sometimes, that’s also what Test cricket is about. It’s not about trying to win every match. I am a traditionalist. I have always loved the longer form.”Siddle: ‘The biggest thing is putting yourself through that and knowing you can do it’•Getty ImagesLike Siddle, Lyon also appreciates the experience, although he certainty does not want to relive it.”It helped me grow as a person and it helped our bowling group grow as well,” he said. “I have much better memories of 2014 though.”2014: That year, Australia traveled to South Africa with revenge on the agenda. Mitchell Johnson was, in Khawaja’s words, “terrorising everyone in world cricket at the time.”South Africa had stayed No.1 all through that period, information that didn’t mean much to Johnson. He tore through them at SuperSport Park, a venue where South Africa have been more successful at than any other, before Steyn returned the favour in Port Elizabeth.The series went down to a decider in Cape Town, where Smith announced his retirement mid-match and South Africa threatened another blockathon to save the game.Ryan Harris was the man with ball in hand then, and in the final hour on the final day, he removed a stubborn Morne Morkel to maintain Australia’s record of never losing a Test series in South Africa post-readmission. South Africa suffered their first defeat since being crowned No. 1.Ryan Harris didn’t allow an Adelaide repeat in 2014•Getty Images”In a way it’s weird. You don’t usually lose on your home soil, and then go over there and win,” Siddle said.But that’s exactly how South Africa and Australia have played it for the last eight years. South Africa have won in Australia, Australia have won in South Africa, and all the meetings have been intriguing.At a time when world cricket needs introspection over the questions of scheduling, possible expansion, and the place of T20 leagues, to have a rivalry this rich is a reminder of how unique international, long-form cricket is. If the 2016 edition of Australia versus South Africa is anything like the previous ones, there’s nothing else you’d want to be watching. Nathan Lyon agrees.”To have two good teams going at it is exceptional for world cricket and it shows how good Test match cricket is.”

Brydon Coverdale28-Oct-20162:12

Brettig: Hard to completely justify Bird’s exclusion

Shaun Marsh deserves this Test selection. Those are words that have not always been true. At his lowest, at home to India in 2011-12, Marsh was to Test batting what Eric Moussambani was to Olympic swimming. Yet chances kept coming, and now, at 33, Marsh is repaying that faith. When he replaced the injured Usman Khawaja last summer, he made 182 in Hobart. His next Test innings was 130 when recalled in Colombo. Then came a Sheffield Shield ton this week.So yes, Marsh has earned his opportunity this time. He is David Warner’s incumbent Test opening partner, and has given the selectors no reason to drop him. At the WACA next week, Marsh will face South Africa in what will be his first Test at his home ground since that miserable 2011-12 summer.And when he does, spare a thought for Joe Burns.In Australia’s last Test before the tour of Sri Lanka, Burns was Man of the Match, his 170 and 65 in Christchurch having helped secure Australia a series win over New Zealand and the No.1 Test ranking. And he was coming off a home season in which he scored two Test hundreds and averaged 45.70, a very encouraging return in his first summer as a Test opener.But on a selection whim, Burns was axed in Sri Lanka, one of two men – along with Khawaja – who paid the price for Australia’s collective poor batting in the first two Tests. They were, in Khawaja’s words, “scapegoats”.At this point, let’s revisit the comments made by chairman of selectors Rod Marsh after Sri Lanka’s win in the first Test in Pallekele. “What else can we do really?” Marsh said. “We send them off to India, we send them to other parts of the world where the ball turns, we played Australia A series in India last year and they batted well against good spin bowling.”That statement is worth dissecting.Who is the “they” of whom Marsh is speaking? Indeed there was an Australia A tour of India last year, during which two “Tests” were played. Burns and Khawaja were the only two batsmen from that series who also played in the Tests against Sri Lanka. So they must be the “they”. Did “they” indeed bat well against good spin bowling? Khawaja batted four times with a high score of 41*. Burns played just one game and batted only once in it, for 8. He barely had a chance.Perhaps Marsh was referring to the one-day portion of that tour, in which both men scored more freely. But since when has 50-over white-ball cricket been relevant to picking a Test side? It is a game of different tempo, different fields, different attacks. Completely different.In any case, consider the one-day game in which both Burns and Khawaja scored hundreds in Chennai. ESPNcricinfo’s Alagappan Muthu was at the match, and described the situation thus: “An India A bowling attack which relied on medium pace and non-turning spinners proved incredibly appetising, and the two batsmen were ravenous”. Hardly valuable preparation for a Test series against Rangana Herath and co.It is true that there were Australia A batsmen who performed strongly in the “Tests” against India A. Cameron Bancroft scored Australia’s only century, a fine innings of 150, and was one of five men to also post fifties: Callum Ferguson, Marcus Stoinis, Travis Head and Peter Handscomb were the others. But none of those batsmen were in the Test squad in Sri Lanka. If they were the “they” of whom Marsh spoke, then “they” were irrelevant.A Sheffield Shield century this week was not enough for Joe Burns to be named in the Test squad•Getty ImagesIn fact, Burns embarked on the Sri Lankan tour with just a single first-class match in Asia to his name: the game against India A in which he scored 8 in the first innings and did not bat in the second. Before he was a scapegoat, he was a lamb to the slaughter. Still, he warmed up for the Test series with 72 against a Sri Lanka XI in Colombo, and then made 29 in the second innings of the first Test in Pallekele, which earned praise from Rod Marsh.”I thought Joe Burns played really well in that second innings after perhaps not looking too sound in the first innings,” Marsh said after the first Test. “He went to plan B and he looked really good until he didn’t hit one.” But in Galle, Burns fell in the first over of both innings – first against pace, then against spin – and was dumped. Could his second-innings method of dismissal – driving Herath in the air to cover – have cost him his place?That would seem especially harsh given the batsmen were told by captain Steven Smith and coach Darren Lehmann not to waste time in their chase of 413. “On a Galle wicket that was spinning quite a bit, the skipper and the coach asked the batting group to be a lot more proactive with the way we went about things,” Adam Voges recently said of that innings. With those words ringing in his ears, Burns went hard from the first over.In the same innings Khawaja shouldered arms first ball and was bowled, failing to pick a Dilruwan Perera arm ball. Khawaja has now been given quite a few chances in first-class cricket in Asia, including two Tests in Sri Lanka in 2011, yet has passed 50 just once from 15 innings. Burns has just the one fifty, too, but from only six innings. And four of those were in the recent Sri Lankan Tests.But on very scant evidence, Burns was viewed as expendable in Asian conditions. And thanks to Shaun Marsh’s Colombo century, he remains expendable at home. Like Marsh, Burns made a Shield century this week. Unlike Marsh, he will be playing a Shield game again next week. And probably for most of the summer. Khawaja, meanwhile, is back in the Test team.Yes, spare a thought for Joe Burns, the real scapegoat.

06-Sep-2016Warner biffed 28 off 16 balls before perishing to offspinner Sachithra Senanayake, bringing an end to the 57-run opening stand•AFPMaxwell carried on in great fashion after the breakthrough and made sure the tempo of the innings was maintained•AFPHe was supported well by Usman Khawaja who struck 36 off 22 balls•AFPChamara Kapugedera had a tough chance in the deep to dismiss Maxwell for 76, but he stepped on the boundary cushions and conceded a six instead•Associated PressThat meant more punishment for the home team as Maxwell raised his maiden T20I century in 49 balls. He remained unbeaten on 145•Associated PressTravis Head joined in the fun, slamming 45 off 18 balls as the total swelled to 263 for 3•Associated PressSri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the very first over of the chase as he swung across the line and chopped on to the stumps•AFPThe veteran batsman walked off the Pallekele ground for the final time in his career and soaked in a warm applause•Associated PressSri Lanka never recovered from the early blow and lost wickets at regular intervals•Associated PressKusal Mendis briefly entertained with a 13-ball 22 before holing out to deep midwicket to leave Sri Lanka at 76 for 4•Associated PressDinesh Chandimal fought with a brisk half-century, but the slide continued at the other end•AFPAfter Chandimal’s dismissal, Kapugedera gave the crowds something to cheer about with a 25-ball 43•Associated PressMitchell Starc removed Kapugedara and Suranga Lakmal late in the innings•AFPStarc and Scott Boland returned identical figures of 3 for 26 as Australia kept Sri Lanka to 178 for 9 for an 85-run win•Associated Press

With cricket thin on the ground, our correspondent goes looking for seafood and strange fruit

Karthik Krishnaswamy25-Aug-2016August 6
My first evening in St Lucia is neatly divided between two neighbouring but very different parts of the island. First, dinner at Rodney Bay, a strip of restaurants, bars and hotels catering almost exclusively to tourists. The mahi-mahi is as fresh as it can be and perfectly grilled with a herbaceous marinade, and by the side are strips of grilled plantain that are possibly even better. I could be in any tourist spot in the world. Except perhaps India, since it’s possible to spot Indian cricketers strolling around happily with no one seeming to recognise them.The next stop, Gros Islet, isn’t exactly off the map, and the “jump-ups” every Friday night turn the streets into a pulsing party zone. But this is Saturday night, and there is an ageless, lamplit stillness to the streets. There is a bar on nearly every corner, and most are one- or two-storey wood-frame structures that look like the post office that Walker Evans photographed in Sprott, Alabama, in 1936, except for the hand-painted signs, which advertise Piton or Chairman’s Reserve rather than Coca-Cola. The karaoke bar we are at occupies the ground floor of an ageing art-deco-ish structure with a curved façade.The boundaries between the various bars, and the bars and the street, are amorphous, and everyone seems to know everyone else. Apart from the two Indian cricket journalists standing around, shuffling their feet, reluctant to reveal their singing prowess, or lack thereof.August 7
The apartment I’m staying in is part of a complex that includes a walled-off swimming pool. I rise early, walk to the pool, and realise its gate is shut. I return to the apartment, fetch a keyring with about 37,219 keys in it, and walk back to the pool. I try each of the keys, and none works. I try again, and fail again. The wall is topped with spikes, and I debate inwardly before deciding not to risk clearing it.August 8
There is a Darren Sammy statue in front of the main gate of the Darren Sammy Stadium, and as far as statues of cricketers go, it is not winning any contests. It isn’t really a statue in the first place; it’s more accurately described as a cutout, and if you happen to view it from the wrong side, as I do the first time I see it, you will wonder why its maker chose to portray Sammy batting left-handed.Inside, one of the stands is named after Johnson Charles, who has played 42 ODIs, 29 T20Is, and zero Test matches. Easier to have a stand named after you if you’re from St Lucia rather than Mumbai or Bangalore or Chennai, I suppose.On the way back from the stadium, I’m reminded of two other West Indies batsmen when I see a store named Sherwin-Williams. I google it and realise it’s an American Fortune 500 company (whatever that means) in the building-materials industry, but I’d like to think whoever founded it named it after the ’90s opening pair of Sherwin Campbell and Stuart Williams.August 9


Day one of the third Test, and the TVs at the press box haven’t quite caught up. They only start to show the cricket from around lunchtime. Until then, a force-of-habit glance in their direction brings you, in lieu of replays, scenes from .When in Gros Islet, sing along•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdSometimes asking a taxi driver to suggest a nice place to eat isn’t a good way to find down-home local food. Tonight a fellow journalist and I end up at a Rodney Bay steakhouse with sensational food at even more sensational prices. We realise the latter only after sitting down and perusing the menu, and decide to go ahead and eat rather than stage a slightly embarrassing walkout. We are reassured by a picture on the wall, a 19th century advertisement for Colman’s Mustard featuring WG Grace walking out to bat.Soon a trio of 21st century top-order batsmen walks into the same restaurant. M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul. One of them has forced one of the others out of the team for this Test match, and the third has also missed out on a place in the XI, but we detect no tensions bubbling underneath the surface bonhomie.August 10


Below the stand that houses the press box, I spot a group of kids playing cricket and ask if I can bat for a few balls. Someone reluctantly hands me what looks like a cross between a cricket bat and a baseball bat. It is a cricket bat that has had its shoulders shaved off. I shape to play a textbook forward-defensive into the covers and the ball trickles towards midwicket. Someone, probably sarcastically, says, “Well played.” After I hand the bat back, I watch one of the kids batting, and his method is better suited to the hybrid baseball-cricket bat. He leans back, clears his front leg and swats the ball beyond the stadium gate.August 11
It rains all morning and afternoon, and play is called off early. The skies look like clearing up, and I look up various St Lucian spots I could check out with the free time I now have, but before I can settle on one, it starts pouring again. Back to the apartment, therefore, for an evening spent watching the final of the women’s individual all-around gymnastics at the Olympics and adding to Simone Biles’ burgeoning fan base.August 12
Friday night and it’s street-party time in Gros Islet. We get there around 11.30, after finishing our writing for the day. I am tired, I am sleepy, and I have never really enjoyed large crowds and loud music and dancing. But there is food to be eaten, and I join the longer of the two queues at a seafood spot by the beach. The two others I’m with line up at the shorter queue, and are almost done with their food by the time I join them at their table. My grilled conch is slightly disappointing because it’s rubbery, and pales in comparison with the conch water I ate in Antigua. The others are eating tuna, and they have saved a piece for me. It’s the greatest piece of tuna I’ve ever eaten, and it makes me question every choice I have ever made in my life. Darren Sammy shows up too, and joins the tuna queue.Also on tonight’s menu is sea moss, a drink that is sometimes made with rum, and sometimes with milk and various flavourings, and always contains Irish sea moss. Mine tastes like a peanut-butter milkshake, with the sea moss lending texture but no real flavour. It’s a vague echo of the seaweed-containing desserts and drinks available back home, such as the pan-Indian , and Madurai’s magnificently named .August 13
Last evening in St Lucia, and the Test match ends early, allowing a visit to Reduit Beach. I feel like I’m at the edge of the planet as I wade in neck-deep water and watch the sun merge into its reflection. I never want to leave, ever. That’s until the seawater begins to sting my eyes and cheeks, sending me rushing for land.Reduit Beach grabs a hold of you, until it doesn’t•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdAugust 14
Jane Doe has a middle name. Kim. That’s what I discover on a sample immigration form pasted near the security checkpoint at the George FL Charles Airport in St Lucia.The cab ride from Trinidad’s Piarco airport to my guest house in Port-of-Spain is long and scenic, with the sunset stretching across the field of vision. The radio plays Hindi film songs from the 1970s, but these are cover versions by artistes from Trinidad and Tobago. As fourth- or fifth-generation Trinbagonians, their Hindi sounds a little South Indian, a little challenged by the hard-edged consonants like “chha” and “gha” and “dha”. I sing along happily with but a couple of other songs, reaching into the maudlin-saccharine end of the Bollywood spectrum, dampen the mood a little. Just as we pass a corrugated tin wall with “LOVE” spray-painted over it, the radio wails, ” [Life is little else but the story of you and me].August 15
It’s Independence Day back in India. A crude engraving on a paving stone stops me as I hunt for a brunch spot. “Kalonji is here,” it says. I look all around and fail to spot any Nigella seeds aka Kalonji, an essential component of , the Bengali spice mixture.I find a sno-cone stall, and buy a coconut-flavoured shaved-ice concoction. It is extremely sugary, and when I walk into a roti shop with three-fourths of the cone still remaining, the TV is playing a talk show involving a health specialist talking about the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.I’m not in the greatest frame of mind as I sit down with my sno-cone and my order of and beef with vegetables (there’s a mashed-potato and dal and pumpkin and beans and spinach), but 11am programming gives way to 11.30am programming, and the host of this cooking show says she is going to make roast asparagus with prosciutto and hollandaise sauce. The universe is immediately a better place.August 16
I’m staying within walking distance of Queen’s Park Savannah, which is on my shortlist for greatest places on earth and beyond. This green, 260-acre open space contains sports fields of all descriptions, trees all around its perimeter, and plenty of food stalls in the evenings. On my first evening here I sampled pig-foot souse, a tangy, pickled concoction that is delicious but extremely fiddly to eat with plastic forks. Tonight I try the corn and cow-heel soup. It comes with chickpeas and pieces of dasheen as well, and it tastes like a styrofoam cup of soup should: utterly comforting, with just the right amount of stickiness from the gelatin-rich bones.The juice stall contains a bewildering list of names: there’s Mauby, a bitter, refreshing flavouring obtained from some sort of tree bark; and all manner of unfamiliar fruit: portugal, barbadine, mammy apple. I try the barbadine punch, and it turns out to be a milkshakey thing with ground almonds and a vaguely passion-fruit taste.August 17
Apologies in advance, because today the tour diary will journey into my guest-house bathroom. Among its fixtures is a bidet, and above it is a handwritten sign that says “This is not a urinal.” It is a piece of postmodern art that effortlessly references both Marcel Duchamp’s and Rene Magritte’s pipe, which, of course, is not a pipe.Belmont by moonlight•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdAugust 18
Day one of the fourth Test, and I watch the last bits of cricket that I will watch on this tour. Only 22 overs are possible as rain arrives shortly before lunch and rules out any further play. As the rain abates, I walk down to a bookstore on Tragarete Road. By the time I’m done shopping, it grows overcast again. I run out of prepaid credit on my phone and a member of the bookstore staff calls a cab for me. She tells the cab driver what to expect. “The gentleman has a full head of hair,” she says, “and is wearing a dark blue T-shirt.” I am colour-blind but I can safely vouch that I’m wearing a grey T-shirt. Really.August 19
It’s a full-moon night, and I walk around Belmont, the neighbourhood I’m staying in. I pass a spot where I had taken a photograph of some graffiti the previous afternoon – a toothy man with a thin moustache, tongue sticking out of open mouth, wearing a cap that says “Sandra” – and the wall is now a pile of rubble, with a bulldozer rumbling away next to it. In case you’re reading this, whoever painted it, I have a picture that I’m happy to email you.August 20
I walk to the Savannah again, and pick up a cup of Guinness ice cream. I keep walking, westwards I think, into downtown Port-of-Spain, and everything is desolate until I reach City Hall, which is all lit up, with a stage in front of it, chairs for an audience of 80-odd, and bellydancers and stilt-walkers everywhere. It’s National Patriotism Month, organised by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts.August 21
The outfield at Queen’s Park Oval simply refuses to dry up. No can do. It is a situation that calls for a miracle, and I am given a bit of hope on my way back to the guest house. According to the radio in the taxi, a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Bolivian church has wept red tears, and a local hospital is performing tests on samples of the liquid to ascertain if it is blood.August 22
I’m at a sports bar in Belmont, alone, reading Zadie Smith on my phone, when an elderly man, clearly drunk, shows up and challenges me to a game of pool. He is in terrible form and pots the cue ball every second turn. He beats me narrowly, twice. Then he warns me against dark rum, or, as it seems to be known in these parts, red rum. “My mother always told me,” he tells me, “red rum is mad rum. Mad rum.”August 23
My tour is nearly over, and there is time for just one more lunch, one more styrofoam box of Creole food. Today there is fried salmon – a fish that is treated like a rare delicacy in most parts of the world, but just another fish here, battered, fried, and beautiful – red beans, my millionth and last serving of them on this tour, and “provisions”, or a mix of steamed tubers – plantain, dasheen, sweet potato. Simple, everyday things, full of the soul of the Caribbean, and a dash of hot sauce on the side.

They have a mountain to climb on the final day but England’s chances of survival were aided by another unflappable display from Haseeb Hameed

George Dobell in Visakhapatnam20-Nov-20162:17

Compton: Hameed’s style is perfectly set up for Tests

Just for little while, it seemed the almost impossible was becoming the merely unlikely.As Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed resisted for 50 overs, it seemed England really might be able to defy India in the sort of conditions English players grow up to fear. The last 10 overs – and most of all, that last ball – were a harsh way to wake from the dream.This has been an odd game. Whatever happens on the final day – and victory for India remains highly likely – England will leave Visakhapatnam encouraged by their performance. There seems every chance that this will turn out to be that most British of things: a heartening defeat. Really, it might be the most heartening defeat for years.Why? Because they’ve proved (to themselves as much as any of us watching) that they can compete in such conditions. They’ve shown that they have the character and skill to cope with losing the toss and playing against good bowlers in turning conditions. And, just as importantly, they’ve shown they can claw their way back into games from unpromising situations. You could make a strong argument that they have had the best of days three and four. It’s just the damage inflicted on days one and two was too deep.They have learned several useful lessons, too. They have learned, or been reminded, they cannot afford even half a bad session in such circumstances. So the loss of their first five first-innings wicket before the end of the second evening – a couple of them to somewhat soft strokes – was a setback from which they have never been allowed to recover. The footwork has to be more certain; the techniques more solid. They cannot afford a bad hour here.And, while there are no easy answers to dealing with Virat Kohli – he has looked magnificent in this series – England will reflect on the chance he offered when on 56 in the first innings and know that, had they been better organised and had a better fielder than Adil Rashid in position for the hook trap, the whole complexion of this game might have been different. It was a fleeing moment, certainly, but that may well prove to be as good an opportunity as England find in this series. If they are going to win, they have to seize such moments.They may rue the tenth-wicket stand of 42 they conceded on Sunday, too. A target of 363 in 160 overs would, perhaps, have been scarcely less daunting in practical terms. But in terms of morale? Final-wicket stands drain and dispirit like little else. While England hardly bowled a poor delivery in the first 100 minutes or so of the day, when they took six for 64, they may reflect that, just for a few minutes, they then allowed their concentration to drift and were punished for it.Generally, though, since Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes resumed on the third morning, there has been much to admire about this England performance. Stuart Broad has never bowled better in India, Rashid has never bowled better in Test cricket and, for all the praise lavished upon India’s spinners, Rashid and Moeen Ali have better bowling averages and strike rates than R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at this stage in the series.But perhaps it was the performance of Hameed that provided most cause for encouragement. For the second Test in succession, Hameed demonstrated a calm temperament in an unhurried display that belied his 19-years. It took an almost impossible ball, one that kept horribly low, to dismiss him.These were desperately tough circumstances for Hameed. On a pitch offering turn and, most pertinently, variable bounce, he was tested in just about every way a batsman can be tested. India’s seamers examined his discomfort against the short ball and India’s spinners examined his ability to play the turning ball.His struggles against short-pitched bowlingt will have had fast bowlers around the world taking note. Whatever he achieves in the next few weeks, it is inevitable now that Hameed will be on the receiving end of many bouncers when he comes up against West Indies, South Africa and Australia. And they will almost always be directed at him on quicker, livelier tracks than this.Haseeb Hameed faced down his first barrage of short balls in international cricket•Associated PressThere was talk of this potential weakness before he arrived in India. He was troubled by Surrey’s fast bowlers (Stuart Meaker and Mark Footitt) in the English summer and by Taskin Ahmed in Bangladesh.Here he was struck on the hand by the first delivery he faced – he later received treatment on his little finger, but the England camp played down any serious damage – after taking his eye off a fine, head-high bouncer from Mohammed Shami and took two more deliveries in the rib area. He wore a chest guard in this innings, but he may have a bruise or two for the rest of this week.But, whether he had been hit or not, he was right back in line for the next delivery. And whether hit or not, he was right forward to the next delivery as required. There’s no question of courage with Hameed, he is just learning to deal with that line of attack. The challenge confronting him might be compared to that confronting Ben Stokes and spin. Stokes overcame that challenge; how Hameed manages may well define how far he progresses in international cricket.There were, in all, nine deliveries that might reasonably be described as bouncers directed at Hameed. While his inclination seems to be to sway out of the way, he also ducked once and played the ball from in front of his face straight into the ground on other occasions. Short-leg was never in business and the two men out for the hook seemed utterly redundant. It was painful, but he survived.The manner in which he dealt with spin was even more impressive. Having been dismissed in Rajkot by Ashwin bowling around the wicket, he has resolved to watch the ball harder and be even more precise in his foot movement. He leaves the ball well outside off stump and gets further forward than most to smother the spin.While other batsmen – and not just young batsmen – might have become uncomfortable with the slow rate of scoring, Hameed looked supremely unworried. And while other batsmen might have allowed the match situation to play on their mind, Hameed seemed to enjoy the prospect of five sessions of crease occupation. Where else would he rather be?Every day, in every way (it was Hameed who was most insistent that England should utilise their review which resulted in KL Rahul being given out) he seems to be growing more comfortable with this level and the environment of the England team. This was a terrifically tough day and he came through it bruised but unbowed. It was another step forward in his development.It is for such reasons that, whatever happens on Monday, England will leave Visakhapatnam with spirits and heads high. They are learning and improving all the time.

On the first morning in Hobart, Vernon Philander had just enough help from the conditions and the batsmen to decimate Australia in his inimitable, no-frills style

Firdose Moonda in Hobart12-Nov-2016The sky was wrapped in a blanket of cloud, the air was laced with a light drizzle and the temperature hovered a few degrees too close to uncomfortable – so it is hardly surprising Vernon Philander woke up in a UK state of mind. Lord’s was the last place Philander took five wickets away from home, more than four years ago, and he may have had a feeling today was the day to change that. It just seemed right.There was enough grass on the surface, enough moisture in the air, enough fortune at the coin toss, and enough of Australia’s batsmen made themselves available for exploitation. They were also in a UK state of mind, just at a different venue. Their performance dredged up the bones of Trent Bridge when they were shot out for 60 and buried in 18.3 overs. Philander needed a little longer than Stuart Broad did, perhaps only because he spent half the first session recovering from a collision from Steven Smith.

SA morale ‘great’ – Philander

Not only is Vernon Philander beginning to feel more like his old self, but he can see South Africa doing the same as they turn the corner after last summer’s disappointments.
“There’s a real camaraderie among us, everyone gets on with everyone,” he said. “The work ethic and way we push each other is phenomenal. We have a great group of young guys coming through and there’s great morale. Hopefully we can take the team to greater heights.
On a seamer-friendly day in Hobart, Philander led the charge and admitted that while conditions suited his side “to a tee”, he has also regained confidence in his own ability after torn ankle ligaments kept him out of most of last season. “I am starting to hit my straps and starting to feel more confident landing on the ankle and putting effort on it.”
He avoided another injury when he had a mid-pitch collision with Steven Smith but played down the incident. “I was busy appealing,” he said. “I didn’t have my eyes focused on him. He was ball watching as well. I felt pain straight away but.these things happen. I’m glad I can still be in the game.”

By then, physicality was the only kind of aggression Australia had left after Philander followed through on his warning that things would get ugly. Australia would not have expected 4-for-8 ugly, but they have their best batsman to blame for how it started. David Warner played a shot for which only an ugly cry can be consolation, especially considering when it came.Philander used the opening over to get a measure of the movement and soon saw there was more than enough on offer. He sent one swinging down Warner’s leg side and then tried to correct his line to complete the over but went wayward on the opposite side. Warner chased a delivery he should have left and Australia were opened up.It did not take Philander long to gain control from there and he began to boss proceedings as he had done in Cape Town in 2011, when he led the rout of Australia for 47. He landed the ball in the channel outside off stump and moved it just enough to sow uncertainty in batsmen’s minds. Usman Khawaja and Adam Voges were done by successive balls that seamed away, forced them to play and took the edge. Callum Ferguson was squared up by the hat-trick ball, prompting a cautious prod which could have brought point into play.Philander did to Australia’s top order what he had done to England at Lord’s in 2012, when he cleared the path to the Test mace. The only way to stop Philander when he has found that kind of rhythm is by absorbing pressure and although Steve Smith strived for that, he got more immediate relief in a different way. Smith would not have meant to, but he collided heavily with Philander when the bowler turned to appeal for an lbw after the Australian captain played across the line, was struck on the pads and went for a run. So heavy was the collision that Philander was sent rolling onto the floor, curled up and clutching his left side.Faf du Plessis had to ignore the memories of Dale Steyn going down – in a far less dramatic way, but with far greater consequences – the previous week. He reviewed, but the ball was going down leg and Philander off the field. Philander spent the rest of the session having his shoulder iced, but was able to return after lunch to finish the job.After a collision with Steven Smith sent him off the field for treatment, Vernon Philander returned to finish the job he had started•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesAgain, the he used his first over to feel his way back in, tried to hold the length back and even went short, but quickly reverted to his default style. Philander’s most emphatic wicket came when he burst through Joe Mennie’s gate and made the off stump reel, but nothing else about his performance was theatrical. That’s just not how he does it.He left it to Kyle Abbott to pull the ‘Oh my Broad’ expressions and to Dane Vilas, JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock to claim the front-page photographs with their efforts in the field. Even if Philander does not get all the plaudits, there is no doubt that Philander is back and maybe even better than what we thought was his best, precisely because so many thought he was past it.Philander’s last five-for was in February 2013, against Pakistan at home. After that series, Philander lost some of his shine. At that point, he had played 16 Tests, taken 89 wickets at 17.13. After that, although he still managed to become the fastest cricketer in over a century to 100 wickets, he broke through less frequently. In 18 matches after that, he took 41 wickets at an average that had ballooned to 32.85, in a period interrupted by torn ankle ligaments which kept him out of six of the eight Tests last summer. And then came this series.Circumstances have conspired to ask Philander to spearhead the attack and he has responded. Even though Kagiso Rabada has been crowned the successor to Steyn, it must be remembered that it was Philander who ensured Australia’s lead was negligible. As the senior seamer, Philander has stepped up and leads the wicket charts for series so far.His 10 scalps have come at 13.20 and defied the pre-series expectations of the battle of the bowlers. The talk was about Steyn and Starc; speed and swing. There was not much focus on skill, which is what Philander has built his career on. This innings is one of the finest examples of it. Philander’s wickets all came off deliveries that clocked in at under 130kph. Four of them came off balls that landed on a good or full length, on or outside off stump. The magic is not in how much he does, but how little.For Australia’s batsmen, that means they could not approach him with the UK state of mind that they had at Trent Bridge. For Philander, it was exactly the thinking he always needs to have.

As another largely fruitless day in the field away from home developed, Sri Lanka needed someone to shake them into life

Andrew Fidel Fernando at the Wanderers12-Jan-2017Nuwan Pradeep has a face and frame made for sulking. He sulks mid-pitch when a batsman hits him for four. He sulks at long leg when no balls have come his way. By the end of some fielding days, his shoulders are basically being dragged along the ground.Mahela Jayawardene – in his final, feistiest years – routinely used to watch Pradeep from slip and fire verbal mortars in his direction. It’s not that Pradeep was doing anything wrong exactly; it’s more that he just wasn’t doing anything.Even when he is taking wickets and winning matches, Pradeep’s default setting is to sulk. Not everyone will be a bolt of lightning on the field, I suppose, and this just happens to be one of those players who needs his team-mates to fire him up. Today, though, the opposite happened. Sri Lanka’s entire effort seemed to take cues from their least demonstrative man.It was disheartening. To watch this in the field in the third session was like watching soldiers in a foreign land, bone-tired, fighting a battle they don’t think they can win, losing face with their public, worried that their girlfriends have found someone new at home.There was intensive milling around, and non-stop conventional cricket.The Wanderers is one of the bounciest pitches in the world, and Sri Lanka have two bowlers – Pradeep and Lahiru Kumara – who can bowl at more than 140kph, yet it did not occur to them to stack the leg side and at least try a sustained short-ball offensive. Nor did they think to take a page from Pakistan’s book and have bowlers send balls wide of off stump – to starve the batsmen out. Instead there was the fifth-stump line all day long, waiting for the pitch to give them something; the regiment that keeps on charging with their bayonets, while the opposition call their mothers hamsters from the ramparts of a castle.At times in the day, it seemed like Sri Lanka were not even active participants in the game. The cricket was happening to them. Endlessly besieged, resplendently short of ideas, they were mopey, dopey, hands-on-hips victims, waiting to be airlifted out.Of the catch dropped at gully by Dhananjaya de Silva – Hashim Amla had been on 5 – a team-mate would later launch the most tired defence. “We all know Dhananjaya is one of the best fielders in the team,” said Kaushal Silva after play. “It was costly, but those things happen in cricket. We need to move on.”Sri Lanka are not a team that will publicly undermine each other – nor should they be – but a little ire on the field at the time would not have gone unappreciated. Yes, these things happen in cricket, but on away tours, they seem to happen to Sri Lanka more than most.Along with Kumara, of the few fielders who refused to spend the entire day languishing, was Rangana Herath, who stamped around at mid-off, threw himself around for the cause, and yet, has become grumpier by the day on this tour. Who could blame him? South Africa have explicitly made it the groundstaff’s mission to hurt him with pitches that fail to wear. He is Sri Lanka’s ace battle tank on turning tracks, but in this series, South Africa are not fighting a land war – they have moved the conflict out to sea. All Herath can do, really, is traipse back and forth on the beach firing doleful shots in the general direction of the battle, which is happening hundreds of kilometres across the waves.This has been the relentless tone of their work over the past four tours out of Asia. Eight of the nine most-recent away Tests (excluding the tour to Zimbabwe) have been lost. This one, it would seem, would take a fightback on the scale of Kusal Mendis’ 176, or Dinesh Chandimal’s 162, to make something out of.It is a pity they play such insipid cricket away, because in Galle, or Colombo, they are a team that melts stony hearts, and regularly have grizzled men weeping. There are wrist-spinning delights, mischievous counterpunching, and roaring defences of their home bases.But in this series, could it be they have now already checked out? After a day like this, the time seems to be right. Maybe they are ready. Bring the boys back home.

Who holds the record for hitting the most sixes in a Test innings?

Steven Lynch12-Jun-2017To go alongside last week’s question about birthday batting, what are the best ODI bowling figures by someone on his birthday? asked Karthik Sunderesan from India

No one has yet taken five wickets in a one-day international on their birthday – the best figures are 4 for 12, by South Africa’s Vernon Philander, against Ireland in Belfast in 2007. It was quite a day for Philander, as it was his debut as well as his 22nd birthday. The only other man to take an anniversary four-for is Stuart Broad, with 4 for 44 against Australia in Cardiff, on his 24th birthday, in June 2010.There have been ten instances of a bowler taking three wickets in an ODI on his birthday. The unheralded Sri Lankan seamer Pramodya Wickramasinghe actually did it twice: 3 for 54 against India in Moratuwa on August 14, 1993, when he was 22, and 3 for 20 v South Africa at Trent Bridge in 1998, when he turned 27.The best birthday bowling analysis in a T20I was also for South Africa: Imran Tahir claimed 4 for 21 against Netherlands during the World T20 in Chittagong on March 27, 2014, his 35th birthday. Second is Yuvraj Singh’s 3 for 23 for India against Sri Lanka in Mohali in December 2009, in the match in which he made 60 not out – the highest birthday score in a T20I.Were Rashid Khan’s 7 for 18 the best figures by an Associate bowler in an ODI? asked Cameron Mitchell from Australia

The short answer is yes: the Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan’s 7 for 18 against West Indies in St Lucia last week were the best figures in ODIs by a bowler from a non-Test nation, beating Josh Davey’s 6 for 28 for Scotland against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi in January 2015. The previous best by an Associate team against a Test-playing one was Collins Obuya’s 5 for 24 in Kenya’s World Cup win over Sri Lanka in Nairobi in February 2003.Rashid’s figures put him fourth on the all-time list, which is headed by Chaminda Vaas’ 8 for 19 for Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe in Colombo in December 2001.Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim added 178 for the third wicket in Mirpur against Pakistan in 2015•AFPHave Bangladesh ever managed two tons in the same one-day international before – and how often has it happened overall? asked Ishtaq Mohammad from Bangladesh

After that superb partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah in Cardiff, there have now been 148 one-day international innings to feature two or more individual centuries – but Bangladesh had managed it only once before, against Pakistan in Mirpur in April 2015, when Tamim Iqbal hit 132 and Mushfiqur Rahim 106.It was the fourth such instance in the Champions Trophy; the previous three were all against England: by India (Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly) in Colombo in September 2002, West Indies (Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo) in Ahmedabad in October 2006, and Australia (Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting) in Centurion in October 2009.That total of 148 includes two innings that contained three individual centuries, both by South Africa in 2015: against West Indies in Johannesburg in January, when their 439 for 2 included 153 not out from Hashim Amla, 128 by Rilee Rossouw, and an undefeated 149 from just 44 balls by AB de Villiers; and against India in Mumbai in October (Quinton de Kock 109, Faf du Plessis 133, de Villiers 119).I noticed Tim Southee hit nine sixes in an innings in 2007-08. What’s the record for the most sixes in a Test innings? asked Abdul Haq Samoon from Afghanistan

Tim Southee’s feat, for New Zealand against England in Napier in 2007-08, was also notable as it was his Test debut. He was 19 at the time, and hasn’t improved on that score of 77 not out in 56 matches since, although he remains keen on sixes (he now has 61). There have been only seven Test innings containing more sixes – two of them by Brendon McCullum – the list being headed by Wasim Akram, who cleared the ropes a dozen times during his 257 not out for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura in 1996-97.Before the international panel was set up, which umpire stood in the most Test matches? asked Brian Curtis from England

The first matches to feature an independently appointed umpire were Zimbabwe’s inaugural Tests, late in 1992 – Dickie Bird from England stood alongside local officials. The first one – against India in Harare – was Bird’s 48th Test in charge, which equalled the record set by Frank Chester, who stood in 48 between 1924 and 1955, all in England. Chester had been a promising batsman for Worcestershire but turned to umpiring after losing an arm during the First World War. He made his Test debut in the white coat at the young age of 29.The ICC’s international panel was formally set up in 1993, and from 1994 to 2001, one third-country official stood with a home umpire in almost all Test matches. In 2002 the ICC established the current elite panel, and since then Test matches have usually been overseen by two independent officials from this list, meaning it is now very rare for an umpire to stand in a Test in his home country.Bird eventually umpired 66 Tests, 54 of them in England, but now lies tenth on the overall list, which is headed by the Jamaican Steve Bucknor: he stood in 128 Test matches, only 26 of them in the West Indies. The leading current umpire is Pakistan’s Aleem Dar, who has stood in 111 Tests to date. Rudi Koertzen oversaw 108 Tests.Leave your questions in the comments below

Your one stop for all the happenings in and around the Champions Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2017Stokes and the ‘bloody genius’
June 16Ben Stokes endured a frustrating Champions Trophy semi-final against Pakistan, first making a boundary-less 64-ball 34 and then giving away 38 in 3.1 overs. A snarky tweet from a fan who was at Cardiff for the game did nothing to improve his mood.

Nearly as intelligent as you replacing the A in your name with a 4…you're a bloody genius https://t.co/qrMMEE0Nnt

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) 15 June 2017

“A world of hurt”
June 15Last month, Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly had a bet about who would win the England-Australia game at the Champions Trophy. When Ganguly backed England to win, Warne promised to wear the England jersey for a day if they beat Australia, and asked the former India captain to wear Australian colours if his prediction ended up being wrong. England won, and we got to see a sight we never thought we would.

I'm in a world of hurt wearing this shirt right now, but a bets a bet so on with the England shirt ! #CT17

A post shared by Shane Warne (@shanewarne23) on Jun 15, 2017 at 3:32am PDT

Trick of the mind
June 14Here we were thinking Yuvraj Singh had worked incredibly hard and shown immense dedication to get back into the Indian team. But it’s all a farce. The truth, revealed by Yuvraj on his Instagram account, is that he can control objects with his mind. Now which bowler can counter that?

When u think u have super powers video courtesy @virat.kohli

A post shared by Yuvraj Singh (@yuvisofficial) on Jun 13, 2017 at 10:00am PDT

Yuvraj and Zaheer – who is copying whom?
June 13Now that Zaheer Khan is a television pundit, he has decided to tweet updates and analysis on international cricket matches. During the Champions Trophy, there have been a few posts such as this:

India taking strong hold on this game at 34 over mark …need to finish the inning strong 260-270 will be good total to chase #INDvSA #CT17

— zaheer khan (@ImZaheer) June 11, 2017

Yuvraj Singh found it quite funny that Zaheer was being so serious about his new role as an analyst and sent him a tweet that roughly translates to “Oh, you are tweeting a lot these days, huh, what’s up?” What Yuvraj, perhaps, did not expect was for Zaheer to completely shed his pundit’s diplomacy and deliver a biting analysis of Yuvraj’s fielding.

Oh tu bade tweet kar reha aj kal ki gal ?

— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) June 12, 2017

I am tweeting like you @YUVSTRONG12 but why are you fielding like me ??? Hahaha https://t.co/FaPx75Kn8Q

— zaheer khan (@ImZaheer) June 12, 2017

Another hundred, another family-related celebration
June 13After hitting Bangladesh’s first ever match-winning World Cup hundred, against England in 2015, Mahmudullah blew kisses in the direction of the team hotel, where his wife and son were staying. Now, after an unbeaten 102 against New Zealand put his side in contention for a Champions Trophy semi-final spot, he pointed to the back of his bat repeatedly.Turns out his son Raeid, all of six years old, had signed an autograph for his father when he left for the tournament. “Before leaving for the UK when I was packing my kit my son scribbled something on one of my bats. When I asked him what it was he said he was signing the bat for me.” Mahmudullah told the ICC. With three ODI hundreds in ICC events, Mahmudullah certainly has plenty to write home about.Prince takes a veiled dig at de Villiers
June 12Ashwell Prince has never backed off from speaking up, be it as a player asking coach Mickey Arthur to get AB de Villiers to open the innings, or in his role as a chief selector expressing disappointment at some of de Villiers’ comments in the past. His latest comment, in the aftermath of one of South Africa’s most humbling runs in a major tournament, was a veiled one from his yet-to-be verified Twitter account, targeting the South African captain’s decision to pick and choose the series and formats he represents South Africa in.

Perhaps it’s time that @OfficialCSA dictates to players when they may have the honor of representing this country instead of other way round

— Ashwell Prince (@ashyp_5) June 11, 2017

ICC trolls du Plessis on Twitter
June 11Two run-outs. For the first one, Faf du Plessis was headed to the other end as AB de Villiers failed to make his ground. The next one was comical. Both du Plessis, who was facing the ball, and David Miller ended up at the same end.Social media can be cruel in such situations. Unfortunately for du Plessis, he was not able to make up with a big score, having dragged one from Hardik Pandya on to the stumps on 36. While he was the subject of many jokes on Twitter, one would not have expected this to show up on the timelines of cricket fans across the world.

#INDvSA #CT17 pic.twitter.com/pflZ66zApA

— ICC (@ICC) June 11, 2017

With an account having 5.28 million followers tweeting it, that is some burn.Taking time off, giving it back to the game
June 10For all the talk about this being a short, snappy tournament, there is enough time between games for players to squeeze in off-field commitments. While some are introspecting at roadside cafes, others have been indulging in a spot of tourism with their spouses.Morne Morkel and Farhaan Behardien have been out contributing to ICC’s Cricket for Good program, a community outreach effort aimed at impacting lives of children around the world. Joining them for this one was Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka legend and the latest inductee into ICC’s Hall of Fame.

South Africa's @mornemorkel65 and @fudgie11 got involved in a #CricketForGood training session today alongside Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan! #CT17 #cricket #selfie #SpiritofCricket

A post shared by ICC (@icc) on Jun 9, 2017 at 9:27am PDT

Sangakkara contributes to yet another Sri Lankan win
June 9One day before Sri Lanka’s clash against India, Angelo Mathews half-joked about reaching out to Kumar Sangakkara to join the squad, after Upul Tharanga’s two-match ban and Chamara Kapugedara’s injury. In the build up to the game, when Sangakkara was asked on live TV about it, he dismissed those suggestions, pointing to his greying hair and age. When Sanjay Manjrekar pointed to the fact that he was referring to Sri Lanka as “we”, a rarity among commentators, the former Sri Lankan captain agreed, talking about how “you can’t take the Sri Lankan out of the Sri Lankan”.After Sri Lanka pulled off a remarkable chase, Mathews revealed Sangakkara’s contribution in the days before the game, and how the team, and Kusal Mendis in particular, had benefitted from his insights. “He [Mendis] met Kumar Sangakkara to get a few batting tips, and he’s the king, and we all look up to him. We all get advice from him, all the batters. He taught us a lot of good things on how to play on these tracks.”Significantly, the match was played at The Oval, Sangakkara’s home ground in the County Championship, where he has been in prolific form for Surrey this season, recently being named the PCA’s Player of the Month for May. Less than 24 hours later, he padded up for Surrey against Essex at Guildford, where their latest four-day fixture is underway.

@PCA player of the month @KumarSanga2 looking as good as ever in the nets here at Guildford this morning. More of the same please sir pic.twitter.com/QIz2zsQQy5

— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) June 9, 2017

South Africa wear their away strip
June 7IDI Home-and-away kits are a common phenomenon across sports, most notably football, and sides pay great attention to ensure team colours do not clash on the field. Nearly two decades since coloured clothes became the norm in limited-overs cricket, we still see similar shades of blue and green kits clash on a cricket field, across internationals and franchise T20 leagues.Therefore, it was a refreshing contrast, in more ways than one, when South Africa turned up in their yellow “away” strip, normally reserved for their T20 internationals, to take on Pakistan in their second league game. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the other international sides to have an away kit for the tournament.Spotted : The Brexit bus
June 7Remember the Brexit bus? The one which displayed the claim (since disproved) about Britain’s NHS gaining an extra £350m a week?Some prying eyes have caught the iconic bus number at… of all places, outside Edgbaston this afternoon, as Pakistan arrived for their game against South Africa. Pakistan’s fans would hope the connection ends just there, and this isn’t an omen for their exit from the tournament.

As reported by @Cricket_Ali, Pakistan's team bus was formerly the infamous £350m NHS Brexit bus #CT17 pic.twitter.com/T5g8472R7t

— Charlie Reynolds (@cwjreynolds) June 7, 2017

Commentary’s not an easy job
June 5Being a commentator might be the dream job for most cricket fans, but it’s not a cushy one. A tweet from Virender Sehwag illustrates why.

The future is shaped by one's dreams. These legends still don't waste time in following their dreams. Sone ka Maza@SGanguly99 @ShaneWarne pic.twitter.com/2zgZEC4KWa

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 5, 2017

Two bails are better than one
June 4The morning after the UEFA Champions League final, and two full days before the first Champions Trophy match in Cardiff, it was ICC’s turn to crack a pun, referencing one of the city’s most recognisable names, who turned out for Real Madrid on home turf. Sophia Gardens, the venue for England’s clash against New Zealand on Tuesday, has barely one-fifth the capacity of the Millennium Stadium, and cricket would do well to fill the stadium, given the sport is some way off being Wales’ most popular. If online ticket sales are any indication, the 15,600-seater is set to be packed for its first game of the tournament.

So now Cardiff can focus in the proper sport! #CT17 pic.twitter.com/a055TjNe0h

— Claire Furlong (@ClaireFurlong14) June 3, 2017

Fido Dido : cricket edition
June 4Adam Zampa, whose timeline on Instagram is a curious mix of pop culture, photoshopped gags on fellow cricketers and the occasional experiment with his locks, unveiled his latest look, drawing praise from his state and national team-mate Peter Nevill. There was the odd Justin Bieber comparison, but we think it’s more a noodle-haired than the Canadian pop star.

I @zamps63 haircut.

— Peter Nevill (@pmnevill) June 3, 2017

A post shared by adam zampa Ⓥ (@zampstagram) on Jun 3, 2017 at 11:44pm PDT

The retro-football duo
June 2The last time we saw a shirtless Jos Buttler celebrating a win on Instagram, he lost his towel, yelling out loud after a tense finish on TV. This time, he joined hands with team-mate Moeen Ali to pull off hairdos that harked back to English football teams of the late ’70s and early ’80s. In line with the tournament’s norms, he was duly holding a pint of the official lager partner’s wares.

Terry Mac and Chrissy Waddle enjoyed the win… hope you did too!! @englandcricket #CT17

A post shared by Mark Wood (@mawood33) on Jun 1, 2017 at 11:35am PDT

How many hundreds can you rack up?
June 1If you, like millions of others on the internet, have done your spot of Googling for the day, you are unlikely to have missed (and spent more than a few minutes of your day on) their addictive doodle to commemorate the start of the Champions Trophy. Cricketing doodles are not a new thing, and the latest installment is an interactive game of crickets batting against a team of snails, to symbolise how the game works on the slowest of networks across the globe. To their credit, the crickets are incredibly quick between the wickets, comfortably running twos and threes for the slightest of nudges through the leg side.

My life's work is complete. pic.twitter.com/CdnrOEQHh2

— Osman Samiuddin (@OsmanSamiuddin) June 1, 2017

Interestingly enough, apart from being available on all of Google’s regional sites for the eight countries in the tournament, it is also available in the West Indies, whose team is missing the tournament for the first time since its inception in 1998. Go on then, find out how many hundreds you can smash by the end of the day.Adblockers installed at The Oval
May 31Still a day left for the action to begin at the Champions Trophy, but the organisers have pulled off a switch-hit of their own.The tournament sees the ICC having exclusive partnerships for every imaginable category and sub-category, from cider and lager to luxury watches. One of the primary sponsors has business interests in the automobile space, directly in competition with the naming sponsors of the Kennington Oval, Kia.As a result, a blackout has ensued, leaving odd-looking blank spaces all over the ground. In fact, on match day, the levels of exclusivity have reached a point where even the media WiFi has been renamed to take out the Kia brand name. Just like last time (and many times before) then.

A reminder of @JasonRoy20's enduring class. And of the @ICC's enduring pettiness! Fill the blank … #KIAvNissan pic.twitter.com/vnINLQkJXM

— Andrew Miller (@miller_cricket) May 31, 2017

Highlight of the Champions Trophy so far: media wifi being changed to take out 'Kia'

— Tim (@timwig) June 1, 2017

The Test summer could hardly have started better for England, but there are still several questions England must answer before their departure for the Ashes

George Dobell at Trent Bridge13-Jul-2017No. 3

The decision to recall his old friend, colleague and housemate Gary Ballance may well be the first major call of Root’s spell as captain. While Ballance is only one game into his recall, it feels as if he is already under pressure with the selection panel understood to have been split on his suitability. It certainly seemed an unlikely scenario at the end of the India tour, where Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed had emerged as strong candidates for top three positions and Ballance had slipped back into the pack after a poor tour of Bangladesh.He performed respectably at Lord’s – Root reckoned his second innings of 34, made on a deteriorating surface, was worth double in normal conditions – but until he makes a couple of significant scores, the pressure is unlikely to disperse. It is, after all, nine Test innings since he last made a half-century and he has made only two in his last 23. The criticism of Ballance tends to focus on his slightly unusual technique and his decision not to change it after his most recent spell in the Test side. But all four of Ballance’s Test centuries have been made from the No. 3 position – which was vacated when Root decided he wanted to return to No. 4 – and his record in county cricket this season, where he is averaging almost 100, rendered him a more than reasonable choice.Cook’s opening partner

With a century and half-century from his first three Tests, Keaton Jennings has earned the sort of extended run in the side that the likes of Adam Lyth, Sam Robson and Alex Hales enjoyed. He has made a sound enough start, too, and looks to have the game to succeed in Australian conditions. We’re not there yet, though. England have failed to find a long-term replacement for Andrew Strauss, who retired at the end of the 2012 English season, with many candidates tried and discarded before Jennings. Indeed, he is the 11th opening partner Cook has had since Strauss.His skills are unrivalled but James Anderson’s fitness has been an issue for some time•Getty ImagesThe top 3

Even if Ballance and Jennings settle, there will be those who feel England’s top three is too defensive-minded for their own good. Trevor Bayliss, the head coach, memorably once said he would prefer two of the top three to be relatively quick-scoring players. But with England’s top-order notoriously brittle in recent times – in the last three years and 65 innings, they have lost their third wicket for 55 or fewer 23 times – they may well prioritise stability over style or aggression. Batting Root at No. 3 might have helped, but he feels he will be more productive at No. 4 which gives the current top three an unfashionably stolid feel. It might be considered a price worth paying if they can prevent those top-order collapses, though.First-choice spinner

The choice of Liam Dawson as No. 1 spinner took most by surprise. Few would claim he is the best spinner in the country – he has not always been considered the best at his county, Hampshire – and he has a relatively modest first-class record. But there is some logic in it: as a man who is more adept than most at tying up an end and bowling economically, Dawson is seen as the sort of bowler who can give Root control in the field and ensure the pressure exerted by the seamers is not released. He can also, perhaps, take a bit of the pressure of expectation off Moeen Ali which, on the basis of Lord’s, has some merit. It is also clear the England management like his spirit and character. He made a quietly efficient start to his Test career in India, conceding three an over while Adil Rashid conceded more than five, but looked a little nervous at Lord’s and, after a half-century in his first Test innings, has now suffered three successive ducks. With Moeen looking more secure in the side than ever, England may have to decide whether they require another spin-bowling allrounder or whether they might be better served with a specialist at some stage.The seamers

While James Anderson’s record renders him an automatic pick for Australia, there are mounting concerns over his long-term fitness. The window between injuries – and there have been an array of those in recent times – appears to be shrinking and there has been some loss of pace. The skills and the control remain, however, and it is worth remembering that, in first innings at least, Anderson was effective on the 2013-14 tour. But Australian pitches are unforgiving for ageing seamers and any drop of pace could leave him vulnerable. More importantly, England have to see how he gets through this summer: back-to-back Tests are a tough proposition for a bowler with as many miles in his legs as Anderson and it has been noticeable how little he has bowled in training over the last couple of days. The other issue with England’s seam attack is the lack of variation: nearly all contenders are right-arm, fast-medium, with Mark Wood and Chris Woakes just a little quicker than the others. They would love one of the quicker bowlers – the likes of Jamie Overton – to come through before the Ashes, but for now it seems England will be heavily reliant upon Anderson’s experience and hoping it doesn’t prove a tour too far.