Sri Lanka’s failure to compete with a well-drilled India reinforces the urgent need for Test cricket’s growing imbalances to be addressed

Sidharth Monga in Galle31-Jul-2017Opposite the main gates of Galle International Stadium is the Galle bus station. The buses almost all have Sri Lankan names, with “speed racing” or “super express” or similar terms added on. Wickremasinghe Speed Racing, for example. Tharindu Speed Racing. Dilshani. Chaminda. Although Vaas himself might disagree with words such as “super express” next to his name.Almost all Sri Lanka cricketers’ names are covered. These buses are not exactly dilapidated but you can bet on the glass in the windows rattling in the frames if they go over 40kph. This is a busy roundabout anyway, so there is no way they can speed. So they honk at each other mercilessly, creating a racket that can be heard inside the ground, perhaps even by batsmen in the middle of Test innings. Or at least in this Test they would have, because SLC in its infinite wisdom chose to block the view of passers by, who used to watch through the fence and create some noise.Watching these buses as they try to manoeuvre their way through the roads, to overtake and try to deliver on the promise of speed, was far more engrossing than watching the Test match that took place inside the stadium last week. At least in this contest, if a new road is ready and satisfies all safety norms, you don’t have to wait till October 1 to use it. Or if one bus breaks down, its passengers are allowed to travel in a substitute bus.

So unbalanced and full of the myopic self-interest of member boards is Test cricket that by the end of this year India’s last 30 Tests will have come either at home or against West Indies or Sri Lanka. Or both

Most of what happened during the last week is a reminder – in case it was needed – of how broken bilateral international cricket is. The cricket could not have been any more hopelessly one-sided if it tried, and the two boards have already agreed to hold another series later this year. Entirely unrelated, no doubt, SLC was the only board to stand with the BCCI in their recent battles at the ICC table. On the field, Upul Tharanga grounded his bat inside the crease, only for it to bounce up upon impact, and was given out run-out even though everybody – including the MCC – has agreed that this sort of thing should not be out. Just that the ICC will wait till October 1 to adopt the change of rule. Asela Gunaratne injured himself on the first morning, and for the next four days an already weak Sri Lanka side was reduced to ten men.Surely cricket needs to look at allowing like-for-like substitutions in the case of genuine external-impact injuries that result in fractures? The ICC has discussed concussion substitutes but is nowhere close to implementing such a move. Test cricket is a singular sport, yes, but its followers cannot be expected to stick through all kinds of hardships, especially those that are self-inflicted. Cricket’s debilitating idiosyncrasies become so significant because it is already so delicately balanced that it can’t stand any further blows.This was not merely a bad week at the office for Sri Lanka; it has been a long time coming. Over the last few years it has taken some magical, once-in-a-lifetime performances to keep them from absolute misery in Test cricket. Dinesh Chandimal played a sensational – and lucky – knock against India to give them respectability in 2015. Kusal Mendis did something similar last year – though with far less luck involved – against Australia, and Rangana Herath – himself an example of how broken Sri Lankan Test cricket is, in how he is getting an opportunity to make such a late mark on Test cricket – sealed the series. They have lost a home Test to Bangladesh. They needed to stretch every sinew and benefit from a crucial umpiring error and some nervous fielding to beat Zimbabwe earlier this month. The problem with once-in-a-lifetime turnarounds is that they happen, well, once in a lifetime.Test cricket cannot afford Sri Lanka going the way of West Indies and Zimbabwe•AFPWinning Test matches in Sri Lanka was never this easy. Even as recently as 2010, India had to contend with high-quality batting and Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga. In the last 20 years or so, cricket has lost West Indies and Zimbabwe as competitive Test teams, and it now seems as if Sri Lanka might join them. It has gained Bangladesh over that period, but has steadfastly refused even to let other teams try to join the ranks. Outside the big three, South Africa and New Zealand continue to be formidable opposition, but those countries struggle to sustain Test cricket as a gainfully employable sport.So unbalanced and full of the myopic self-interest of member boards is Test cricket that by the end of this year India’s last 30 Tests will have come either at home or against West Indies or Sri Lanka. Or both. It is no fault of the players but it does devalue some of the runs and the wickets they have accumulated. This is more than half the careers of most of the current India squad.The ICC has been doing its bit to try to introduce more context and balance to Test schedules, including trying to save Test cricket from its own excesses, but many of its attempts have been blocked by the member boards. Next up is an attempt that sounds like a covert army project: Option C.Under Option C, teams will not be able to play more than three home series over two years as part of a rolling league. This is, of course, subject to member boards agreeing to it. If all decision-makers are invited and made to sit through the next five India-Sri Lanka Tests, they might just ratify Option C immediately. After all, not every ground has buses racing madly outside it to distract the spectator from the one-sided contest within.

Dean Elgar has steadily worked himself into form in an early-season stint at Somerset, and he is itching to extend South Africa’s record in Test series in England

Firdose Moonda28-Jun-2017Never mind the bilateral white-ball series that no-one will even remember took place; never mind another major tournament failure that no-one will forget, the real stuff in South Africa’s tour to England starts now. At least if you ask Dean Elgar.”What’s happened throughout the summer with the one-dayers and the Champions Trophy and the T20s is in the past,” Elgar said in Worcester, where he will lead South Africa against England Lions in a three-day tour match ahead of the four-Test series next month. “It’s time to crack on with the proper format of Test cricket now.”Many will agree. Given South Africa’s record in multi-team tournaments compared to their reputation in whites, Test cricket is where they have built their reputation in the recent past. Since beating England in 2008, South Africa have gone on to win in Australia three times, in New Zealand twice, in West Indies, Sri Lanka and the UAE and, though they were blitzed 3-0 in India at the end of 2015, they rose five places on the Test rankings last summer to sit at No.2.The last time they came to England in 2012, they were in the same position. Though they cannot claim the Test mace with a series win on this occasion, this tour could set the tone for a showdown against India in the home summer, and Elgar expects the squad to be up for it. “It’s a different energy that’s within the Test side. Irrespective of how things have gone in the past, the energy is always in a good place for Test cricket,” he said.Mood is going to be an important factor for South Africa because they have seemed to be in a bad one since arriving in the UK a month ago. Amid uncertainty over AB de Villiers’ future, angst over Faf du Plessis’ availability for the first Test as he awaits the birth of his child, and an emergency in Russell Domingo’s family which will result in the tour match, and perhaps even the start of the Test series, taking place without the presence of their coach, South Africa have been unsettled. Add to that the hefty defeats the A team suffered in two of three four-day games and England might think they hold the advantage. Elgar, however, sees an opportunity to exploit some recent movements in the opposition’s set-up, not least the appointment of Joe Root as Alastair Cook’s successor.”England also seem to be a team that is going through a bit of a change with a new captain. I’m sure he has got his own things he wants to implement and I’m sure they are not 100% sure of their final XI,” Elgar said.The identity of Cook’s opening partner is still being debated, and a decision will only be made at the weekend. Some of their Lions’ players have returned to their counties for a round of pink-ball matches – a format Elgar of which seems far from convinced after calling himself an “old-school traditionalist” who believes Tests are played “with a red ball and white clothes” – others are pre-occupied with the one-day cup final between Nottinghamshire and Surrey, and the rest are facing South Africa in the practice match so there’s a lot for the selectors to think about.South Africa, on the other hand, have made their pick. Heino Kuhn will accompany Elgar at the top after Stephen Cook was axed. Elgar is pleased with his new partner, who is also a domestic team-mate. “Heino is a highly experienced player back home,” Elgar said. “He has played a lot of seasons of cricket and he is quite familiar with his game-plans at the moment. It’s great to see him finally get an opportunity.”Heino and I are best of mates. We’ve been that for many years back home and we open the batting together back home. He is not unfamiliar to me. I’m sure our chemistry will go out onto the field.”Other new names include another opening batsman in Aiden Markram, who is the squad as cover in case du Plessis is not back in time, and allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo, but more of the focus will be on the absentees. Local media asked Elgar how the South Africans will cope without AB de Villiers – on a sabbatical from the longest format – and Dale Steyn – who is recovering from a shoulder injury. His answer? “We’ve missed AB and Steyn for the last two series and we’ve had guys who’ve put up their hands and put in massive performances. Having them the side is great but in my opinion we’ve got guys who have come in now and are really trying to make the position their own. In terms of selection now, they have definitely earned their right within the team. The game carries on which is quite important.”Even without their two heavyweights, South Africa have beaten Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, while their Test unit has solidified. Those results will give them confidence, especially if they have to start the series minus du Plessis. If that happens, Elgar will take over the leadership and he will have a practice run at it over the next three days. Elgar’s captaincy experience includes six matches at first-class level and the Under-19 World Cup in 2006, and he has a strategy in place for the role at this level. “You’ve got to put your pride away and think of yourself as someone that can influence an environment,” he said. “The leadership qualities that you possess have to come out.”As someone with a forthright personality and an obvious fighting spirit, Elgar can also be expected to lead by example, with form on his side. In six County Championship matches for Somerset, Elgar scored 517 runs at 47.00 including two centuries and is nicely familiarised with English conditions and players. He knows what South Africa will come up against and he knows they need to treat everything, including the warm-up in Worcester, as the real thing.”We’ve got to hit the ground running. The series starts tomorrow and it’s going to be vitally important for us to have some prep,” he said. “We’ve got to compete against a very good England Lions side. To get that competitive edge is a big thing for us. Naturally the guys will have that instinct in them. It’s a very big three days of cricket we have ahead.”

A look at the six numbers that stood out from the IPL media rights sale

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2017$2.55 billion The winning bid from Star, which is a 158% increase in the per year media rights value for IPL broadcasting from the previous cycle. This figure, over five years, makes it cricket’s biggest TV and digital rights deal of all time.$0.08 billion The difference between Star’s combined bid for global TV and digital rights and the sum of the highest bids in each of the individual categories, which included Sony (India – TV), Facebook (India – Digital), Supersport and BeIN Sport (Rest of the World – TV).$1.72 billion The highest single TV rights bid, by Sony for the Indian market. While this was $0.78 billion more than Star’s bid, Star won by virtue of being the highest overall bidder across categories and markets.$0.61 billion Facebook’s bid for digital rights in the Indian market, the highest in the field. It comfortably surpassed the second highest, from Airtel, which bid $0.51 billion ESPNcricinfo Ltd$8.47 million () What the BCCI will earn per IPL game from the sale of media rights, over the next five years. This is more than a third higher than the estimated per game earnings from India’s home internationals, and puts the tournament in elite company, among some of the biggest leagues across sports.$0.61 billion () Facebook’s digital rights bid for the Indian subcontinent was the highest in the field, an increase by 665% on a per year basis, compared to the price paid by Hotstar for the period between 2015-17.*

England’s inability to compete in the Ashes would once have been a matter of national shame. But the ECB’s priorities lie elsewhere

George Dobell in Sydney05-Jan-2018Having carried the drinks for most of the Ashes tour, Gary Ballance now looks set to carry the can for it.Ballance, despite not having played a first-class game on the tour, is one of the few involved in this campaign who appears to find his place in jeopardy ahead of the two-Test series in New Zealand in March. A couple of others – notably Jake Ball and James Vince – might be waiting nervously for a tap on the shoulder, too.But most of the main protagonists in the series – the batsmen who have averaged in the 20s, the bowlers who have averaged over 100 – look set to keep their places. And most of those behind the scenes – the administrators who make the policies that have held England back, as well as the development coaches who have failed to develop a player for years – appear to be immune from consequence.Nobody is advocating a return to the days when England used 29 players in a series (as they did in the 1989 Ashes). And nobody is advocating an adoption of the culture prevalent in football where managers – well, managers anywhere but in north London – are never more than a bad fortnight away from the sack.But there has to be a balance. And the problem England – and the ECB – have at present is that they are in danger of breeding and encouraging mediocrity. And, while what appears to be a cosy life goes on for many of those involved, nobody is taking any responsibility.The ECB have, you know, a pace bowling programme. It is designed to identify the most talented young bowlers and provide them with the best coaching and support to ensure they avoid injury as much as possible. It is designed to optimise their ability and ensure England get the best out of them.Sounds great, doesn’t it?But let’s look at the results: their first change in this Test is a medium-fast bowler who was born in South Africa and invited to England as a 17-year-old. And hard though Tom Curran has worked – and his efforts have been faultless – he has not looked likely to take a wicket. Meanwhile the fast bowlers who have developed in county cricket – the likes of Jamie Overton, Olly Stone, Mark Wood, Atif Sheikh, George Garton, Stuart Meaker and Zak Chappell – are either injured or not deemed consistent enough for selection.The poverty of the programme has, to some extent, been masked by the enduring excellence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. That’s the same Anderson who went through the Loughborough experience, sustained a stress fracture, lost his ability to swing the ball and reverted to bowling how he did originally. Take them out of this attack – and time will eventually defeat even the apparently indefatigable Anderson – and you have real trouble for England. You have an attack that will struggle to keep them in the top six of the Test rankings.Mason Crane saw a chance fall between him and short leg•Getty ImagesThe ECB have a spin bowling programme, too. A programme that has delivered so little that, here in Sydney, they have taken a punt on a talented kid who, in a more sympathetic domestic system, would be learning his trade bowling over after over for his county. But, as it is, with the Championship squeezed into the margins of the season, Mason Crane (who did fine here after a nervous start; Shane Warne took 1 for 150 on Test debut, remember) has struggled to warrant selection for Hampshire (he played half their Championship games in 2017 and claimed 16 wickets). Other promising young spinners – the likes of Ravi Patel and Josh Poysden – could tell a similar tale.Meanwhile Adam Riley, who not so long ago was viewed as the most talented young spinner in England – some well-known pundits recommended him for Test selection – didn’t play a Championship game for his county, Kent, last season having previously been identified for inclusion in the ECB’s spin programme. Does that sound like a success story?It is not just those at Loughborough to blame. The county system is ever more marginalised by those who set the policies in English cricket – the likes of Tom Harrison and Andrew Strauss – so the development of Test quality cricketers has been arrested. The struggle to develop red-ball players will only be accentuated by the decision to have a window for white-ball cricket in the middle of the season. With so many games played either before the end of May or after the start of September (when the start time is brought forward to 10.30am), the need for quality spin and pace has been diminished. Why bother to invest in the time and effort of developing such players or fast bowler when the likes of Darren Stevens can hit the seam at 65 mph, nibble the ball about, and prove highly effective?But will anyone be held accountable for this Ashes defeat? Will the director of England cricket take responsibility? Will the development coaches? Will the executives who prioritise T20 over the success of the Test side? Judging by recent events – Harrison telling us that, actually, England cricket has had a fine year, that the pace bowling programme is delivering “excellent results” (he namechecked Mark Footitt as an example of its success) and that changes to the governance of the sport somehow represent an “exciting moment” – the answer is a resounding no.In the longer term, there is talk around the camp of the creation of a new position. A manager might be appointed – particularly on tours – who would be responsible for discipline within the squad and act as a sort of big brother for players who may be struggling. It would be no surprise if that new appointment – no doubt a recently retired player with experience of such tours – was in place by the time England depart for Sri Lanka in October.There’s probably some sense in such an idea. But it does grate a little that England’s response to this latest series loss abroad is the appointment of another layer of middle management.It’s not as if they don’t have a fair few figures on tour already. There’s already a coach, an assistant coach, a batting coach and, in normal circumstances, a bowling coach. That’s before we even consider the doctor, physio, masseuse, selector, strength & conditioning coach, topiarist and women who makes balloon animals. OK, those last two were made up, but you get the point. Does another manager on tour really answer the questions England are facing? Or does such an appointment further obfuscate who takes responsibility when things go wrong?The fact is this: England have lost eight out of their last 10 away Tests and won none of them. The only away series they have won since the end of 2012 was the one in South Africa in 2015. Despite being awash with money (relatively speaking), England are about to slip to fifth in the Test rankings.They really shouldn’t be satisfied with that.Ashes defeats used to hurt. They should hurt. If the ECB have in any way become inured to such pain, if they are in any way content with that away record and anything other than entirely focused on improving it, they are not just accepting mediocrity, they are bathing and swilling in it.

There was not too much wrong with what India’s bowlers did, but Sri Lanka finished with the clear edge as the sun came out and holes emerged in the field – repeatedly – on day three

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata18-Nov-2017It happened for the first time in the 17th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Mohammed Shami, landing the ball in the fourth-stump channel and, as he almost always does, hitting the seam, squared up Angelo Mathews and found his outside edge. The ball flew into the gap between second slip and gully.The ball bisected those two fielders once again in the 21st over, and then, when Shami returned for another spell after tea, in the 36th over. If there was some doubt over whether the first two edges would have carried to a hypothetical third slip, there was none with the third: it went at chest height.It was that kind of day for Shami. It was that kind of day for India.For most of India’s innings, Sri Lanka’s quicks had bowled to a field that included at least three, and often four, slips, and sometimes up to two gullies. India, however, couldn’t always respond in kind.Sri Lanka’s fields had a lot to do with India losing half their side by the time they had put 50 on the board. There were no top-order partnerships to force Sri Lanka even marginally onto the defensive. They also had something to do with the conditions on days one and two: a green, damp pitch, and an uninterrupted expanse of grey cloud overhead. The ball swung and seamed all the time.It was different now. The sun had broken through some ten minutes into the third morning, bathing Eden Gardens in an unearthly glow and causing spectators to shield their eyes from the dazzle of the players’ whites. While the ball continued to seam around, it did not swing as much without the cloud cover.India, moreover, were protecting a total of 172, and Sri Lanka had got off to a quick start, thanks to Sadeera Samarawickrama’s aggression and marginal errors in line and length from a pace attack that strove perhaps a touch too hard for early wickets. When Mathews edged between second slip and gully for the first time, Sri Lanka were 65 for 2 and going at nearly four an over.India had to control the scoring as well as push for wickets, and that meant one fielder in the covers and usually one at square leg or midwicket. The presence of an extra leg-side fielder may have even helped India bowl closer to off stump than Sri Lanka did. They certainly made the batsmen play time after time.On this day, they kept playing and missing, and Wriddhiman Saha kept making shoulder-high collections behind the wicket. At some points, particularly when Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne were putting on a battling and not-always-convincing 99 for the third wicket, it felt as if Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar could have bowled slightly fuller to try and convert some of those plays-and-misses into edges, but there wasn’t a whole lot wrong with their lengths in the first place. It was simply a day of fine margins.When the ball did kiss the edge, it proceeded to sneak into gaps. Once, when Thirimanne was batting on 27, he nicked Umesh to first slip, where Shikhar Dhawan shelled a straightforward chance.It was that kind of day for India.Finally, in the 37th over, their pent-up frustrations found a moment of release, when Virat Kohli dived low to his left from second slip to send back Thirimanne for 51. He held on to the catch, got up on his feet, and speared the ball into the turf next to him, very nearly endangering Saha’s toes.The crowd at Eden Gardens, which had grown from modest beginnings to around 10,000 by the start of this final session, roared. They would not let up until bad light brought an early end to the day’s play. By then, the clouds had returned, and Shami, in particular, looked like taking a wicket every ball, seldom wavering from that boa-constrictor fourth-stump line and zipping past both edges of the bat.It was Umesh, however, who dismissed Thirimanne and then Mathews, who, failing to get to the pitch of a drivable ball, scooped a catch to cover.It was that kind of day for Shami.It ended prematurely, five balls into his 14th over, when he trudged slowly off the field, clutching his thigh. He had struggled with the humidity of his home ground even during his first spell with the new ball, and it seemed like cramp rather than anything more serious.The team’s media manager confirmed this after the day’s play, and said Shami was expected to be back on the field on Sunday.India will definitely need him. Their lead is now down to seven runs, and they still have six wickets left to take to try and minimise Sri Lanka’s lead. For this they will need all their bowlers fit and firing on what could be a pivotal fourth day.

He’s made 233 runs in three innings in the Quadrangular series, without being dismissed once. With the Asia Cup not far away, he couldn’t have timed this run of form any better

Shashank Kishore in Alur27-Aug-2018Chants of “Rahul Dravid (may victory be with Rahul Dravid)” echoed around Alur for every lap the India A (in this case India B coach) walked around the ground, for over 90 minutes after the match began. The 300-odd fans implored Dravid to wave in their direction, and when he did, it felt like victory to them. Once Dravid was done, the focus shifted to Manish Pandey, another Bengaluru boy. It remained that way for most parts of India B’s innings, and he didn’t disappoint them.With Pandey, the crowd took a little more liberty, often giving him instructions when he erred. They told him not to take risky singles when he tried to steal ones under the fielders’ nose at short cover, asked him to focus when he played the occasional loose shot, and begged him hit sixes towards the end of the innings. For the rest of the day, he was their hero.Pandey ignored all the chatter, not once looking in the crowd’s direction while he carefully reconstructed India B’s innings. But as he turned for the second run to bring up his seventh List A century, he immediately turned left, and waved his bat towards the fans, broke into a grin, raised both his arms, giving everyone enough time to snap away with their cameraphones. Pandey was happy, the fans were happy, and it was business as usual.On Monday, he picked up 56 singles and hit seven fours and three sixes. There were only two occasions when he faced more than three dot balls in a row. Two of his sixes sailed over deep midwicket, but the one that stood out was an inside-out hit over extra-cover off Mitchell Swepson, the legspinner. He brought up his century off just 97 deliveries, and then carried on to finish unbeaten on 117. This, in addition to unbeaten scores of 95 and 21, took his tournament tally to 233 runs without being dismissed. With India’s next ODI assignment – the Asia Cup – slated for September, Pandey couldn’t have timed his surge any better.It has also come at a time when his rivals for middle-order berths in India’s ODI squad are dealing with issues of form or fitness.Suresh Raina had a poor tour of England. Dinesh Karthik has battled poor form, albeit in the Tests. Kedar Jadhav is coming back from a four-month layoff spent recovering from a hamstring injury, and hasn’t hit form yet. Jadhav’s round-arm offspin gives him an extra dimension, but he hasn’t bowled an over yet in two Quadrangular games, possibly because he isn’t fully ready yet. Shreyas Iyer, who’s also playing the Quadrangular, has made scores of 4, 20 and 7 so far.All this could work to the advantage of the in-form Pandey.”Personally, I just think about batting. I’m looking at the middle order at the moment, trying to seal that position,” Pandey said. “This series was a proving ground to get some runs and get looked at for the Asia Cup. I want to enjoy myself, there is competition, but I want to focus on what I do best.”Pandey didn’t feature in the limited-overs series in England. Two T20Is in Ireland was the only cricket he played for three weeks on that tour. Pandey admits to have fallen into a rut of sorts during the time. “I wasn’t feeling good, so I took a three-week break after the UK tour,” he said. “I wanted to switch off, took time off the game, and then used the time to focus on a couple of niggles and get myself mentally fresh. That seems to have helped.”Before that, Pandey had endured a difficult IPL, moving from Kolkata Knight Riders to Sunrisers Hyderabad, for whom he scored 284 runs at a strike rate of 115.44. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, contextual numbers that take match situations and phases into account, his Smart Strike Rate of 100.71 was the second-worst this season among all batsmen who had faced a minimum of 120 balls.Pandey put this down to trying a little too hard at times, when he may have been better off batting with an uncluttered mind.”I think it’s never easy batting lower down the order with few overs remaining in T20s,” he said. “But you have to be ready for the chances because you wait for so long. The more games I play in that situation, it will help me prepare for tough situations. There are always learnings you try and take out of such situations. That’s what I also did.”In the IPL, I struggled, yes. I wasn’t reacting to situations like I normally do, maybe that’s also because I was batting lower down. At KKR, I had a set role in the top three. Batting elsewhere made it tougher for me, but I can’t offer excuses. I have to accept the reality as it is and try and work my game around these tough situations.”In limited-overs cricket, Pandey’s innings often follow a pattern – he can start slowly at times, but once set he’s as dangerous and unorthodox as they come, capable of flat-batting bowlers tennis-style, playing his trademark short-arm jabs off the front foot and glides behind point. Batting at No. 4 – as he has done for India A – suits him well, since it gives him time to settle in before needing to play the big shots.He had time to settle in when he made his maiden ODI ton in Sydney in 2016, but he’s not always had that luxury in the India side. He’s moved up and down the order, oscillating anywhere between No. 4 and No. 7 from one match to another. But that’s not entirely within his control. He’s just happy to be in form and in a good place mentally.”I’m in a better frame of mind now, sometimes a break does that to you,” Pandey said. “Runs made for India A count, and getting big runs here is a boost for me ahead of a big season. I have done it in the past as well, so there’s definitely no doubting my own ability. It’s about being in a good head-space and I think that’s what I’ve worked on doing.”When there is a lot of competition, every opportunity counts. I have worked out my game well, and I’m looking forward to continuing this form.”

Ambidextrous bowling might sound like a novelty – but Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis is one among a group of young players experimenting with the skill

Alan Gardner26-Oct-2018So, he bowls with his left arm his right?
Yes, that’s correct. Mendis, 20, bowls offbreaks in addition to slow left-arm – the latter being marginally his stronger suit. He caught the eye when playing for the Sri Lanka Board XI against England during a warm-up match earlier this month, sending down his offspin against Eoin Morgan, a left-hand batsman, and then switching to orthodox left-arm against right-hander Joe Root. He had previously showcased his abilities during the 2016 U-19 World Cup.That’s mad… He must be unique?
Surprisingly not. In India, Akshay Karnewar has had some success at senior level bowling fingerspin with both hands, while a talent hunt in Pakistan unearthed ambidextrous fast bowler Yasir Jan, who was promptly given a 10-year development contract by Lahore Qalanders. In the women’s game, Jemma Barsby has alternated between offspin and slow left-arm playing for Brisbane Heat in the WBBL, while Bangladesh’s Shaila Sharmin took up bowling spin with her left arm after finding herself at the back of the queue as a right-arm bowler.Sounds like this is a new phenomenon?
There have been examples in the past: Pakistan batsman Hanif Mohammad, in the 1950s, was believed to be the first to bowl with both arms in a Test, former England captain Graham Gooch was capable of it, and Sri Lanka’s Hashan Tillakaratne (who was also a wicketkeeper) rolled out the trick during the closing stages of a big win over Kenya at the 1996 World Cup. But some, such as former Australia coach John Buchanan, believe now is the time to encourage potentially ambidextrous players from a young age.Ambidextrous bowler Yasir Jan bowling for Lahore Qalandars in a practice session•AFP/Getty ImagesWhat are the advantages?
Chiefly, the ability to change the bowler’s angle of attack according to the situation. Spinning the ball away from a batsman is a preferred tactic, while it might be possible to make better use of the rough by switching bowling style. The mere element of surprise, by delivering the ball with the other arm, could be enough to gain an advantage – which can be all-important in the fast-paced environment of T20.So can the bowler just run up and bowl using whichever arm he likes?
It’s not quite as simple as that, thanks to the Laws of the game, which stipulate the bowler must inform the umpire – who in turn tells the batsman – whether he or she wishes to bowl over or round the wicket, and with which arm, before they deliver the ball. They can switch as often as they like during an over, as long as the umpire is told each time. The MCC deliberated last year about whether to drop the requirement, but decided player safety dictated the batsman should know from where (and which hand) the ball is coming. Just don’t mention the fact that batsmen are not restricted in the same way.Kamindu Mendis could be one to watch, then…
Yes, although it might not necessarily be for his bowling. Mendis, a former Sri Lanka U-19s captain, considers himself a batting allrounder and made 61 from 72 balls coming in at No. 6 in the aforementioned tour game against England. Mendis bats left-handed… but his proficiency at the switch hit is currently unknown.

Australia batted more balls in this Test match than India, a simple but clear indicator that they really did try their very hardest in the face of big challenges

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide10-Dec-20181:06

Laxman: Both bowling units fantastic, the batting will decide series

For an optimistic half an hour, clapped on eagerly by Adelaide Oval’s final day faithful, it looked as though Nathan Lyon was going to be able to live up to his fourth evening talk of heroes.Aided by Josh Hazlewood, he guided Australia to within 32 runs of the most improbable result, before Lyon instead joined another offspinner, Tim May, in being at the non-striker’s end for a narrow defeat in an Adelaide Test. Twenty-five years ago, May and Craig McDermott took Australia within two runs of West Indies; this time around the margin was wider, but the result equally momentous.For decades, Australia’s home-ground advantage has never been more acute than against India. Never before had an Indian touring team won the opening match of a series down under, and only twice since 1988 against anyone have Australia lost. The fact that both these defeats, in Perth and Adelaide, have taken place away from the traditional opening fixture at the Gabba will be the source of a debate about cricket economics versus Australian team performance, but you also have to factor in this line-up’s loss of Steven Smith and David Warner.In addition to the numbness of defeat, the Australians had to cope with a more piercing feeling in the shape of a blow to the captain Tim Paine, resurrecting years of trouble with his right index finger. Paine’s insistence that the finger is “fine” rather resembled the “fit to play” insistence of a battered AFL player in the September finals, but it was also in keeping with the level of determination and “fight” expected of the team by Paine himself and the coach Justin Langer. These qualities were very much on display as the chase crept closer to a target that always seemed to be narrowly out of reach, as India’s unflagging bowlers conjured just enough false shots or wicket-taking balls.For Paine, the performance of the lower order in particular, putting on stands of 31, 41, 31 and 32 for the final four wickets, provided the whole team with sizeable evidence of what can be achieved by an even effort. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc also contributed significantly, the former keeping out 168 balls across the match, third-most among the whole Australian XI after Travis Head and Shaun Marsh. “Our whole bowling attack, you see those four together, you can see how much playing for Australia means to them,” Paine said. “Whether they’ve got the bat, ball, in the field, you can’t question those four guys’ commitment. They have a red hot crack for every single ball.

“If you want to be a good team you’ve got to be hard to beat and today we were hard to beat, I think we made India work harder than they thought they were going to have to work.”Australia captain Tim Paine

“That’s what we’re building to. That’s the style of cricket we want to play. They’re some of our more experienced players, I think the more they do that, the more it will rub off on the rest of this group. Couldn’t question any of those guys. I don’t think many people thought we’d get as close as we did today and certainly didn’t think we’d win but we have a lot of faith particularly in our lower order we bat pretty deep and Lyno [Nathan Lyon] is getting better all the time and those four or five have a crack when they in the middle.”It showed that anything is possible if you are prepared to stick it out and face a lot of balls it can change quickly, but we couldn’t quite get there. If you want to be a good team you have got to be hard to beat and today we were hard to beat, I think we made India work harder than they thought they were going to have to work, but sitting back now it is a huge opportunity because we didn’t cash in in the first innings and didn’t have batters out there today when they were tiring. Had we have had either of those we would have won this Test match so it’s pretty hard to take.”Frustrated as he was by the result, Paine maintained his views about how he and Langer were trying to adjust the way the Australian team played. There were moments of tension and hostility throughout the match, not least Ishant Sharma’s steepling bouncer and in-the-face celebration to defeat Travis Head on the final morning – Curtly Ambrose and Merv Hughes rolled into one. But the home side were composed throughout, with their worst moments of excess limited to a handful of extravagant or unwise shot choices.ALSO READ: Kohli reveals how the no-balls ‘pissed off’ Ishant”I thought it was fine. I thought it was played in good spirits. I don’t know about them. We didn’t pay any attention to them and we won’t be for the whole series. We can only concentrate on the brand and style of cricket we want to play,” Paine said. “From a cricket point of view we’ve got some things we need to tighten up and some areas we know we can. I thought today was a nice snapshot of the way we want to go about it. I thought we fought really hard, never gave in, you don’t have to talk rubbish and carry on like a pork chop to prove that.”That snapshot, of course, will be part of a wider picture, and in this sense there was one element of the Adelaide Test that did finish in an Australian victory. In terms of total balls faced, the Australians finished with 216.3 overs batted as against India’s 198.5 – a tally based largely on the obduracy of Cheteshwar Pujara, comfortably the highest scorer in the match. There were issues in terms of Australian shot selection, and also finding the right balance between defence and attack, demonstrated by the range of ways in which they attempted to deal with R Ashwin. But the overall impression was of a team trying, despite obvious limitations, to play a wider game.”We expect this series to be really tight,” Paine said. “So I think days like today when you make their fast bowlers come back two, three, four more times than they thought they probably had to. That can have a really telling impact on the back end of a big series, when it’s four Tests.”There’s a lot of cricket to be played and I thought you could see signs of their attack wearying this afternoon. So it’s a really key element for us, to get lots of overs into them. And I’m sure India are the same with us, they want to see our fast bowlers bowl a hell of a lot of overs. It’s going to be good to get to Perth and see who backs up better.”Over the entire history of Test matches, 54.43% of series have been won by the team facing more balls. It’s the sort of marginal gain that will be critical to this series, and to Australia’s fortunes until Smith and Warner return. In that sense, at least, Lyon and Hazlewood’s ultimately failed effort on the final afternoon may prove more useful to the final outcome than they think right now.

England have announced their first Test squad in the post-Alastair Cook era, and there are a number of permutations for how they will line up in Galle

Alan Gardner22-Sep-20182:09

Burns’ consistency across seasons merited Test elevation – Ed Smith

Who will open the batting?England’s first Test squad in more than 12 years not to include AN Cook has left a hefty hole to fill at the top of the order. Surrey’s Rory Burns, who has passed 1000 Championship runs in each of the last five seasons and is a substance-over-style practitioner in Cook’s mould, looks set to be given his chance, most likely alongside Keaton Jennings, despite an underwhelming return to Test cricket this summer. Ed Smith, the national selector, suggested Jennings “was in our best squad to beat Sri Lanka” – where England have not played a Test in six-and-a-half years – and would be able to draw on his maiden hundred in Mumbai two years ago, given the likelihood of similar spin-friendly conditions, but further failures could open the door for Joe Denly. Speaking of whom…Moeen or Denly at No. 3?Denly, the Kent batsman who, at 32, is also enjoying a late-career renaissance as a back-up legspinner, won a recall eight years after playing the last of his 14 limited-overs internationals for England. Having begun his career as an opener, he has alternated between batting at No. 3 and 4 for Kent this season, and clearly provides Trevor Bayliss and Joe Root with much-needed options at the top of the order. Moeen Ali, of course, finished the Test series against India at No. 3, making a watchful half-century at The Oval, and Smith suggested he would be likely to retain the role in slow, low Sri Lankan conditions. But Denly, who has averaged 49.77 in first-class cricket over the last two years, may emerge as a more viable long-term option.Joe Denly drives during his hundred•Getty ImagesHow to balance the middle orderWith Root back at No. 4, England will likely return to their favoured combo in the engine room: Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes. Bairstow reclaimed the gloves in the fifth Test against India, having made his preferences clear when an injured finger led to him playing as a specialist batsman at the Ageas Bowl. Jos Buttler may seem a luxury down at No. 7 (and it is interesting to note his maiden Test hundred came at No. 6) but he enjoyed himself in the role after Smith summoned him from the IPL for an unexpected comeback, and showed a knack for batting with the tail. With Sam Curran or Chris Woakes, most likely, to come in at No. 8, England will retain their formidable capacity to bat deep.Should Broad or Anderson be rested?Both senior pace bowlers (with 997 Test wickets between them) were included, despite some suggestions that Stuart Broad, in particular, was ripe for resting. James Anderson, fresh from passing Glenn McGrath to become the most prolific quick in Test history, has a slightly better record than Broad in Asian conditions, as well as being more adept at finding reverse swing, and could find himself playing alongside Curran Woakes in a three-man seam attack, supplemented by Stokes. The other, more tantalising, option would be to unleash Olly Stone at some stage, giving England a genuine 90mph option. His county coach, Ashley Giles, however, has warned Stone needs to be handled with care on pitches that are unlikely to do him many favours.Adil Rashid celebrates dismissing KL Rahul•Getty ImagesWho is the No. 1 spinner?The reaction to Adil Rashid’s selection for the Tests against India, having opted for a white-ball only contract with Yorkshire at the start of the year, was in some quarters on a par with a political scandal. He then proceeded to play the role of ‘stalking horse’, involved only on the periphery, before Moeen roared back into the Test side with 9 for 134 at the Ageas Bowl. But Moeen has often preferred to operate as the back-up spinner, while Rashid cannot expect to average fewer than 10 overs per innings, as he did in the India series, even in return for the odd magic ball. Will England contemplate playing three spinners, as Sri Lanka often do at home, with Jack Leach supporting Moeen and Rashid? That is another question for Root and Bayliss to weigh up before the series starts on November 6.

Worcestershire’s appearance at their first Finals Day is a success for quintessential rural England at a time of great change

David Hopps12-Sep-2018No county better represents the England of the imagination than Worcestershire. So said Matthew Engel in , an elegiac tour around the historic counties; a journey into the half-lost, often forgotten, rural England that is part of the psyche of the cricketing nation.What could be more timely therefore than Worcestershire’s appearance on Saturday at their first Twenty20 Finals Day – only Derbyshire now needed to complete the full set – at a time when trial matches are underway for The Hundred, which is not so much a competition as a deliberately superficial marketing exercise which seeks to reject cricket’s traditions and reinvent it as a clamorous, simple game of the big city?Worcester was The Faithful City in the English Civil War, loyal to King Charles I to the end and suffering the consequences, and nearly 400 years later the cricket club is as compliant as any when promised £1.3m a year from England’s impending short-form competition, buying the view that a collapse in the numbers of recreational cricketers has arisen from the faltering popularity of the game rather than an absence from free-to-air TV and a change in cultural habits which is affecting all team sport.County cricket has long been held to be dying, bringing to mind Engel’s description of Malvern, a pretty Worcestershire town, which he suggests feels as “far removed from surrounding reality” as any in the land. An old schoolmaster tells the author: “People come to Malvern to die and then they don’t.” But Worcestershire, come here for winter training, too and, far from dying, they are committing their future to youth.Worcestershire might not be the biggest county cricket club in the land, and their faith that the ground is still one of the most beautiful in the world does not bear scrutiny – the view to the cathedral is best observed through blinkers so as not to catch sight of the ugly modern architecture that now scars the ground – but the desire have the most reputable academy in English cricket is a sizeable and noble ambition.A fast-maturing young side can now parade its worth on Finals Day. The maturing of Joe Clarke can one day delight England, Ben Cox’s wicketkeeping skills would have attracted greater attention in a different era, Ed Barnard is an athletic all-rounder and Josh Tongue and Dillon Pennington – the latter who has made his breakthrough this season – are two of the most talented young pace bowlers in the country. Not to forget Pat Brown, who came from nowhere this season to be the leading wicket-taker in the competition.Disturbingly for Worcestershire, though, Callum Ferguson, the Australian who has underpinned their season, is now back with South Australia. Moeen Ali is expected to return from England duties to skipper the side but without Ferguson in the top three his task will be much more difficult.Moeen Ali in deliberations with Wayne Parnell during Worcestershire’s win in the Vitality Blast quarter-finals•Getty ImagesAnd disturbingly for Worcestershire, too, they must prepare for Finals Day with a home Championship match against the champions-elect Surrey when they lie in bottom place in Division One, 17 points from safety, with three matches remaining. It is difficult to imagine a more challenging scenario – although at least Edgbaston, venue for Finals Day, is only an hour up the road.Worcestershire’s progress to Finals Day has been overseen by two players with strong county links. Alex Gidman is a former all-rounder at the county, and if you believe his Twitter feed bread-maker extraordinaire; his white cob loaf seemed to rise OK last week so perhaps Worcestershire can do the same. Alongside him, Alan Richardson enjoyed a wonderful late career at New Road, even becoming one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year at 37. Richardson’s involvement with Brown’s debut season has been crucial.Underpinning it all, however, is Kevin Sharp, the head coach, who is the first to recognise their contribution – ” it was a no-brainer for me to hand a lot of the responsibility to them for the white-ball cricket: they pretty much run the show” – but who also deserves enormous credit for the way he has protected the quintessence of the county following the enforced departure of Steve Rhodes after a power struggle within the club’s hierarchy.Rhodes’ reclamation has come as Bangladesh coach, leaving Sharp, who he first appointed on a temporary contract five years earlier, and who is five years his senior at 59, to assume command.Sharp and Rhodes have links as Yorkshire players during the civil war over the contentious figure of Geoffrey Boycott. For both, the damage they did not just observe, but had to withstand, as players, has translated more than 30 years later into their desire to build harmonious dressing rooms and to create trusting atmospheres in which young players can perform.”I don’t think there’s any doubt that my experiences at Yorkshire have stood me in good stead as a coach,” Sharp agrees. “It was quite a ruthless environment if you felt lacking in confidence and belief.”There weren’t too many shoulders to lean on or people to talk to. It was very much a sink or swim environment. There were times when I probably needed some psychological support but it wasn’t the done thing in those days: even in the Yorkshire club now there will be guys to do that. I feel as though one of my greatest strengths is that relationship building and trust. It takes time to build that.”Sharp was one of several victims of a wholesale clearout of Yorkshire’s coaching staff in 2011 – some heavy-handed grandstanding by the then Yorkshire chairman, Colin Graves, now in the same role at the ECB – which meant that he was unable to enjoy the fruits of his labours as 2nd X1 coach.”When I left Yorkshire six years ago it was tough because I had lads like Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, , Gary Ballance, Adam Lyth, highly talented young men who were just about to knock the door down at the next level and I had to leave and that hurt and it was difficult. The bond is still there. That’s good and that’s healthy and that tells you that you had some good relationships. But I’ve moved on. Steve Rhodes gave me the opportunity to help out initially and that developed into a fulltime job.”A view of the County Ground in Worcester•PA Images via Getty ImagesNow he gazes down from his office onto the backdrop of Worcester cathedral on a ground where he once made an unbeaten 260 against the West Indies U19: the predicted international career never arrived. Duncan Fearnley, a former Worcestershire chairman and bat maker, became his first bat sponsor at 15. His wife was born in the county. Sacked by Yorkshire, he wrote down his list of favourite counties: Worcestershire were No 1.Sharp is a natural healer. “I feel I’ve been very fortunate to experience two very different clubs,” he said. “I had my issues when I was younger, lost confidence at times. That’s probably just growing up really and finding out about life. But I’ve come here to Worcestershire and it’s a very different club with a different feel. We generally get on well with each other and the lads are quite close. It’s been nice to sample two different environments.”He faces a tough week. While Worcestershire strive to save their Division One status, in the face of the Surrey strut, he admits: “When a few of our batsmen are not involved in the contest they will be slipping off to the nets to practice some white-ball stuff. It’s not easy, but it’s county cricket and you just have to get on with it.”