And how many men made their highest score in their last Test?

Steven Lynch09-Mar-2021After his first series, Axar Patel’s bowling average was just over 10. Has anyone got a lower one than this? asked Siddharth Menon from India
In his first three Tests, India’s slow left-armer Axar Patel took 27 wickets – as we noted last week, only Narendra Hirwani of India (31) and Australia’s Charles Turner (29) had more after three matches. But Patel’s average of 10.59 is unmatched: among those that took at least 15 wickets in Tests, the next-lowest average is 10.75, by the 19th-century England seamer George Lohmann. He sustained that average over 18 Tests, in which he took 112 wickets, so Axar has a lot to live up to. Of those who took at least 15 wickets, Turner (8.55) and two other Australians, Ernie Toshack (9.27) and Jack Iverson (10.50), did have better averages than Patel after three matches.There’s another current bowler high on this list: the tall New Zealand seamer Kyle Jamieson who has an average of 13.27 after six matches, in which he took 36 wickets.Abdul Malik of Afghanistan, who was making his debut, was dismissed by the very first ball of their recent Test against Zimbabwe. Has anyone else suffered this fate? asked David Campbell from England
The unfortunate Adbul Malik, who was bowled by Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani in Abu Dhabi last week, was actually the third man to be dismissed by the opening delivery of his Test debut. He followed South Africa’s Jimmy Cook, against India in Durban in 1992-93, and the West Indian Leon Garrick, against South Africa in Kingston in 2000-01 (Garrick never played another Test). For the full list of those dismissed by the first ball of a Test, click here.How many men made their highest score in what turned out to be their last Test match? asked Mike Johnston from England
You have to impose some sort of qualification here, otherwise everyone who played only one Test – and quite a few people who played only a few – would swamp the list. But if we look at players who appeared in at least ten Tests, only ten finished their careers with a score of 100 or more in their final match.Top of the list is England’s Andy Sandham, with 325 against West Indies in Kingston in 1929-30. The Australian opener Bill Ponsford made a career-best 266 in his final Test, against England at The Oval in 1934, while the West Indian Seymour Nurse signed off with 258 against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1968-69. The others are Jason Gillespie of Australia (201 not out in 2005-06), Maurice Leyland (187 in England’s 903 for 7 at The Oval in 1938), India’s Vijay Merchant (154 in 1951-52), Reggie Duff of Australia (146 in 1905), Jack Russell (the Essex batsman not the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper; 140 in 1922-23) and England’s Raman Subba Row (137 in 1961).The next name on the list is a famous one, even though he just missed a century: Harold Larwood, in as a nightwatchman, made his highest score of 98 in his final Test, against Australia in Sydney at the end of the 1932-33 Bodyline series.England’s Andy Sandham made 325 in what was his final Test, against West Indies in Kingston in 1930•Getty ImagesHad Zimbabwe ever won a Test by ten wickets before? asked Mike Makwana from England
That two-day victory over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi was only Zimbabwe’s 13th victory, in their 111th Test (they have lost 70, and drawn 28). They had never won a Test by ten wickets before, but they have won two by an innings – against Pakistan in Harare in 1994-95, their first Test victory (by an innings and 64 runs), and by an innings and 32 over Bangladesh in Bulawayo in 2000-01. Zimbabwe also beat Bangladesh by 335 runs in Harare in 2012-13.What unique Test record is held by Bert Vogler? asked Azweer from India
Bert Vogler was perhaps the best of the phalanx of South Africa wristspinners who caused problems early in the 1900s after the googly was developed. Vogler took 64 wickets in his 15 Tests, with a best return of 7 for 94 to bowl his side to a narrow 19-run victory over England in Johannesburg in 1909-10.A little more than two years before that, Vogler had claimed 7 for 128 against England at Lord’s in July 1907. He was the first to take two seven-fors for South Africa, and their first bowler to do it at Lord’s. But I think the unique record you’re referring to dates from Vogler’s Test debut, also against England in Johannesburg, in January 1906. First, Vogler took a wicket (Surrey’s Ernie Hayes) with the first ball he bowled in Test cricket. Then, when South Africa batted, Vogler fell to the first delivery from another debutant, Jack Crawford, another Surrey player. For the list of bowlers who struck with their first ball in Test cricket, click here.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Cook and Westley back young batsman to build on impressive Test debut campaign

Andrew Miller31-Mar-2021After the challenge of withstanding R Ashwin and Axar Patel on an Ahmedabad dustbowl, it will be back to a trial by seam and swing for Dan Lawrence next week, as Essex begin their defence of both the County Championship and the Bob Willis Trophy with a season-opening encounter against Worcestershire at Chelmsford.But while Lawrence’s profile may have gone up several notches during a tough debut tour of Sri Lanka and India, the man himself says his appetite has merely been whetted by his experiences this winter.And, having bookended the trip with hard-fought fifties in his first and last outings at Galle and Ahmedabad respectively, Lawrence believes he’s proved to himself, first and foremost, that he belongs at the highest level, and is hungry to get another bite of the action as soon as possible.”It’s hard to know for sure, because it feels different when you are batting yourself to when you actually watch it back,” Lawrence said. “But I did actually [feel like I belonged]. I really enjoyed it. It’s something I always wanted to do, and I really relished the challenge all winter.His debut came in the first Test of England’s winter, against Sri Lanka at Galle, where he was presented with his cap by his former Essex captain, James Foster, and immediately showed his mettle with a gritty innings of 73 in support of his England captain and double-centurion, Joe Root. Lawrence then held his nerve in the second innings, to seal an anxious run-chase in partnership with Jonny Bairstow, to complete a hugely composed first outing for England.”It’s quite a big one for me, to get the monkey off the back and actually play a Test match is something I’ve always wanted to achieve,” he said. “I’ve had a little taste of it and hopefully I can carry on playing.”It’s obviously completely different conditions, coming back from playing in Asia all winter, with the ball nibbling at Chelmsford in mid-April. But I’m really hoping I can get loads of runs on the board at the start of the year, help Essex win some more trophies, and push my case to play the first Test this summer.”In the final analysis, Lawrence’s figures from his maiden England winter don’t especially stand out – 248 runs at 27.55 in five Tests and ten innings show promise rather than fulfilment. But, having been shunted around the order – as high as No.3 and as low as No.7 – to fit with England’s evolving plans on an arduous tour, he now knows, without much doubt, that there aren’t many harder places than Asia for a young English batsman to succeed.”If I’m selected for England, I’ll bat anywhere, and I’ve said that before,” he said. “But I’ve accepted that I don’t think cricket can get more challenging than what I experienced in those Test matches in India and Sri Lanka.”Playing in England, you don’t face a lot of quality spin, because it’s not really needed. So it’s lovely to be challenged against that and to be able to deal with the pressure, just knowing that if things do get really tough, that I’ve actually got a plan, and the sort of tempo and a mindset that hopefully can work at Test level.”Dan Lawrence is still only 23, but very much a senior player within Essex’s ranks•Getty ImagesThe next step for any young England player is often the hardest – second-season syndrome has afflicted many rising stars in the past. But after a two-week break at the end of the India tour, Lawrence was back in the nets at Chelmsford last week, and has thrown himself into Essex’s pre-season with a vigour that has reassured the senior batsmen around him that a big follow-up to his winter exploits is on the cards.One man who knows better than anyone about such heightened expectations is Sir Alastair Cook, whose own breakthrough winter came in India in 2005-06, with a century on debut in Nagpur aged 21.”He’s in a quite a hard spot because he’s so desperate to play for England, you can worry about all kinds of stuff which are totally out of your control,” Cook said. “Ultimately, he needs to make sure his focus is on the next ball. If he does that, which I’m sure he will, everything else will take care of itself.”He’s in a good space with his game, coming back from India, and mentally he seems in a good spot too,” Cook added. “He’s hit probably the most balls out of any batsman coming back, and he’s been doing extra sessions too, all the hard graft which will only bode well for him.”Just because he’s played for England, that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to score runs, it’s not as easy as that. There are some very good bowlers in county cricket that know what they’re doing, and he knows that too. But he looks in a good space, and that can only be a good thing for Essex. We’ve got a guy who’s desperate for higher honours, and knows that he needs to score runs to get there.”The one thing that Lawrence can be sure of is that further success for Essex will earn the recognition he craves, given that the club is the pre-eminent force in county cricket at the moment – thanks to two County Championship titles in 2017 and 2019, and last season’s success in “The Bob” when Covid-19 forced a rejig of the season.Related

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And Lawrence knows, from the manner in which the club has nurtured its young players in the past, that he’ll be given all the support he needs to take his next steps, both in his England development and in graduating to a more senior status within the county as well.”We’ve got really good things going on at the club at the moment, with a brilliant mix of younger and older players, and a really good management and support staff,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got a formula that’s proven, and we know how to win a lot of games of cricket, so I’m really excited to get stuck in with the boys.”It’s not only with me, but a lot of the older guys do try their utmost to help out any young players coming through,” he added. “With the atmosphere that we have at this club, and being a really close knit group, and a really honest group, it really allows young players to develop quicker than they would at other counties. They know where they stand with us and we really try our best to get around them.”So if any young batter or bowler needs any help, it wouldn’t only be me, but I think everyone would be queuing up to help them, and I think that’s a big part of why we are so successful.”Tom Westley, Lawrence’s captain and de facto house-mate, now that the pair are living in the same bubble, shares Cook’s belief in the progress of their young team-mate.”He knows his game, he’s mature,” Westley said. “Even though he’s young, he has been around for a while. But he’s a stand-up guy and he’s an outstanding professional cricketer.”It has been very refreshing, with him coming back. He’s not a guy who’s going to be complacent, he injects energy and positivity into the squad, and wants to get better himself – even if it’s a warm-up game, he wants to score hundreds. He wants to go to the indoor school to work on his own game, he’s a role model for younger cricketers on how they should go about their cricket, and I think he will slot in like normal.”With Dan, I’ve always said it’s more a matter of when he’ll play for England, and when he will be successful, rather than if.”He’s had a taste. And I hope, and think, he will be successful for England for a number of years. And if he is, that’s going to be good for Essex. He’s very level-headed, he knows how hard it can be, and that there will be ups and downs, but the one thing he has got is complete confidence in his ability.”And already it seems that Lawrence’s game brain is in gear for the new season. He captained the side during their pre-season outing against Lancashire last week, and with a pair of exploratory visits to the middle he feels sufficiently grooved to take what’s coming in an extended run of early-season Championship fixtures.”I got myself in trouble [in the past] with thinking too far ahead,” he said. “So now I’m really focused on taking it game by game and helping Essex win games of cricket. Whether that’s batting a long time or whether it’s the team needing me to score quick runs, it’s about making sure my process and training is right before each game and see where it leads me.”

His first eight deliveries did not promise much but he quickly turned that around with smart variations

Saurabh Somani21-Apr-20211:16

Ajit Agarkar: Amit Mishra is so calm under pressure

Since the start of IPL 2020, Amit Mishra had played only four games in the tournament before he took the field for Delhi Capitals against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. He had not completed his quota of four overs in half of those games, and overall, had picked up three wickets at 33.00 and given up runs at 7.62 per over. Not particularly terrible. But not particularly great either.And, given the Capitals’ bowling resources, ‘not particularly great’ wasn’t going to cut it. They already had Kagiso Rabada, a bowler who’s expected to be among the best in the world for a decade more. R Ashwin had always been an outstanding T20 bowler. Axar Patel was that too, plus he could biff a few over the top. Injury played a big role in Mishra being absent for a large part of the previous IPL, but even if he was fit, he would have been the third-choice spinner behind Ashwin and Patel.In IPL 2021, it was Patel who was unfortunately laid low, but it meant a window of opportunity for Mishra. Realistically, he would have known that if he didn’t grab the window this tournament offered, his future in the IPL would be uncertain. In IPL 2022, would any franchise be interested in a 39-year-old leggie who hadn’t done well the previous year?Related

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It was against that background that he ran in to bowl against Mumbai, and promptly saw his first eight balls yielding 16 runs and three fours, all a combination of superb ball-striking and bowling lines going awry.Mishra had to find a way to come back. What he did, was find control. Of the ball, possibly of any emotion that was superfluous to the game at hand.In a nice symmetry of his first eight balls yielding 16 runs, his next 16 balls went for just eight runs. And netted him four humongous wickets. A free-flowing Rohit Sharma. Hardik Pandya off the first ball. Kieron Pollard completely undone by a googly for single digits. And then Ishan Kishan when he was the last recognised batter left, and 15 balls remained in the innings.This was not a four-wicket haul bought in the bargain-basement of tailenders and/or batters flailing in the death overs. Each of Mishra’s wickets materially affected the shape of the match. His Smart Wickets tally, which gives a more real value of wickets taken by accounting for the batters dismissed and the match situation, was 5.59. A tally much higher than the wickets he took reflected the importance of his strikes. It is the second-highest Smart Wickets tally achieved in this tournament so far, behind Rahul Chahar’s 4 for 27 against Kolkata Knight Riders, which was worth 6.34 Smart Wickets.Amit Mishra nabbed two wickets in one over to hurt the Mumbai Indians•BCCI/IPLThe dismissal of Sharma should have given an indication that Mishra had got the ball coming out of his hand exactly the way he wanted to. Sharma had shown several times earlier, and recently in the Tests against England, that he could shred oppositions even on big turners. He was looking like he would do that to the Capitals, having zoomed to 44 off 29, after having scored only 7 runs in his first 10 balls. He looked, in short, in the type of mood where on another day, this piece might have been about his sublime timing.”I always try to bowl away from his zone and deny him pace. I try to beat him in flight, make him play a shot to me that is not his strength,” Mishra said of bowling to Sharma on after the game.It’s something he has managed to do pretty well through the IPL, having removed Sharma seven times – the joint most that a bowler has dismissed a batter in the tournament. He did the same thing on Tuesday, spotting Sharma advancing down the track, and giving the ball a bit more of a rip. That not only took the ball away from Sharma, but also ensured that it turned on pitching, which meant even a batter of Sharma’s ability to hit cleanly couldn’t get more than the end of the bat on ball.Two balls later, Mishra benefitted from the batter trying to hit a good ball. The loop was working well, which meant he got the delivery to dip on Pandya, who had decided to go through with an attempted loft over long-on. The Pollard dismissal might have given him most joy, a viciously turning googly that the batter completely mis-read catching him plumb in front.”I didn’t even realise a wicket had fallen. I had just bowled a run-saving ball, so you can call it a lucky wicket,” Mishra said of his fourth scalp, Kishan, yorked outside off and dragging the ball back on.Mishra had started IPL 2021 with 160 wickets, in second place on the all-time list behind Lasith Malinga’s 170. Before the tournament, 10 wickets might have seemed a tough ask, because he couldn’t even be sure of a spot in the starting XI. One game later, he’s moved to within six wickets of Malinga, and that spot in the starting XI seems a lot more secure.

All the key numbers from the first day of the England vs India Test at Trent Bridge

Sampath Bandarupalli04-Aug-2021183 England’s total at Trent Bridge, the second-lowest by them in the first innings of a home Test series since 1950. Their lowest in this period came when they began the five-match Test series against West Indies in 2000 with 179 all out at Edgbaston.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 Instances of England getting bowled out for 183 or lower after electing to bat first at home since 2000. They posted 85 all out against Ireland at Lord’s in 2019 and 102 all out against Australia at Headingley in 2009.1 England registered their lowest first-innings total in a home Test against India. Their previous lowest total was 198 all out, which was also in Trent Bridge, in 2007.7 All out totals under 200 for England against India in 2021. Only twice have they managed to cross the 200-run mark across nine innings against India this year. India has not dismissed any other opponent more often below 200 in a calendar year.4 Instances of Indian pacers picking up ten wickets in a Test innings in England, including the latest effort. Three of those four occasions came at Trent Bridge, all since 2014.45 Runs added by England after the fall of the fourth wicket on Wednesday. These are the second-fewest runs England have scored for their last six wickets in a home Test innings against India. Their lowest was 43 runs in the first innings of the Lord’s Test in 2007.4 Ducks in England’s first innings, the joint-most for them in a Test innings against India. Four England batters also got dismissed without scoring a run in the Ahmedabad Test earlier this year.

All the statistical highlights from South Africa’s innings-and-63-run win in the first Test

Sampath Bandarupalli13-Jun-20219 Consecutive Test losses for South Africa while playing away from home before defeating West Indies in St Lucia. South Africa’s last away Test win came against England back in 2017 at Trent Bridge.259 Runs aggregated by West Indies in this Test match, their second-lowest in a home Test where they got bowled out twice. Their worst effort at home came in 1999 against Australia, scoring only 218 runs at Port of Spain. The 259 runs are also the lowest West Indies made in a Test match anywhere in the 21st century while being bowled out twice.200 Matches lost by West Indies in Test cricket. Only England (308) and Australia (226) have suffered more defeats than West Indies in this format, but the two teams won twice the number of Tests than the remaining sides.6 Innings defeats for West Indies out of 253 Test matches they played at home, including the latest loss to South Africa. Their previous innings defeat at home came against India in 2016 at North Sound.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 Total lower than 322 for South Africa that resulted in an innings win. They defeated Zimbabwe by an innings and 120 runs at Port Elizabeth in 2017 after declaring their first innings on 309 for nine.2 Players with more than 3000 runs in Test cricket as a wicketkeeper for South Africa. Quinton de Kock joined Mark Boucher in this club during his career-best 141 not-out, in what was his 50th Test as a wicketkeeper.
In terms of innings, only Adam Gilchrist (63 innings), Andy Flower (78 innings) and Kumar Sangakkara (78 innings) got to the milestone of 3000 Test runs as keeper quicker than de Kock (83 innings).Related

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10 Five wickets or more in a Test innings for Kagiso Rabada. The latest one against West Indies is his first five-for since the Port Elizabeth Test in March 2018 against Australia, where he took 11 wickets with two five-plus wicket hauls.13 Captains to have won a Test match before Dean Elgar without contributing any runs, wickets or catches towards the result. Elgar bagged a five-ball duck and did not bowl in any of the innings. He is also the second South African on this list, with Hansie Cronje against England in 2000 being the first.

The bottom-placed club for the last two seasons have a strong pace attack for this campaign under new coach David Saker

Alex Malcolm03-Dec-2021The only way is up. That’s the approach new Melbourne Renegades coach David Saker wants his team to take heading into a new era.In the last three seasons, Renegades have lived the Ricky Bobby mantra from the film Talladega Nights.If you’re not first, you’re last.From winning the title in extraordinary circumstances in 2018-19 under coach Andrew McDonald, they had two disastrous seasons under Michael Klinger winning just seven of 28 games to finish last on the table two years running. Last season they lost seven games in a row after winning their season opener.Klinger resigned to take up a role at Cricket New South Wales as head of male cricket, opening the door for Saker to return to the club he coached in 2015-16, and return to coaching full stop after some time away following a long stint as Australia’s bowling coach.Related

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But he’s aware of the challenge he faces with such a young batting group. Sam Harper, Mackenzie Harvey and Jake Fraser-McGurk are set to fill the top three spots early in the tournament, with new captain Nic Maddinson and Marcus Harris away on national duty, while Australia T20I skipper Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh are injured.”The good thing about it and I’ve talked a lot to the players about it, right at the moment we’re on top of the ladder,” Saker told ESPNcricinfo. “So a lot of times they came in last year and after one and six starts or two and seven starts, the pressure is even bigger on them.”They know that when you go out to play any game of cricket, you’re under pressure. But at least they know now, we’re going to have three or four games, we’re going to be the ones to win the game. So we’re not going to be relying on Shaun Marsh and Nic Maddinson, we might have Finchy but it’s touch and go. So we’re preparing pretty much for if he doesn’t play but if he does, that’s a bonus. And it’s just giving the confidence to them. They’ve trained really well. I think their game plans are pretty close to where you want them to be. And we’re sort of making sure we give the specific roles for certain players.”

So we know we’ve got to get some runs and we know if we do we can become a little bit like the Perth Scorchers did when they were strong. They just had such a great defensive game, they’re so hard to score off, they fielded well, had great options with the ballDavid Saker on Melbourne Renegades’ gameplan

Klinger spent hours working with Harvey and Fraser-McGurk last season trying to upskill the pair on T20 batting. Neither of them needed to learn anything from a pure ball-striking perspective, but the art of constructing an innings in T20 cricket is not something that can be developed overnight. Victoria coach Chris Rogers has spoken to Fraser-McGurk about “taking the stairs” rather than “the elevator” in his journey to becoming a top-class cricketer. But in T20 franchise cricket, development and winning don’t go hand in hand. Saker is aware of the predicament, just as Klinger was.”Frase is the most exciting cricketer I’ve seen in a long time,” Saker said. “He’s like a young Glenn Maxwell, a young Steven Smith. But he hasn’t got anything to back that up yet. So he needs runs, but we’ve got to give him a bit of freedom. Mackenzie Harvey has played a bit. He’s the one that’s got to play a little bit like an older statesman, [and] he’s only 21.”But he’s got to play like…the best T20 players, generally the more experienced players. If you look at Kohli, Dhoni, if you look at Brad Hodge, the way they just construct their innings to take the game right down to the 18th over and then they make a decision whether they go or whether they don’t go, but they’re never ever losing the game until late, where sometimes kids pull the trigger in the 11th or 12th over. You’ve got more time than you think.”Saker laughed at the notion that you can’t buy experience off the shelf and agrees with Dan Christian’s principle that “old blokes win stuff.”Having James Pattinson available all season will be a huge boost•Getty ImagesBut what he does have at his disposal is a phenomenal attack thanks to some targeted recruiting. England left-arm seamer Reece Topley joins Kane Richardson and James Pattinson in a formidable pace trio that looks every bit as good as the attack that won Renegades the title three years ago. Mohammad Nabi returns as does legspinner Cameron Boyce after missing all of last season. Left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan comes across from Melbourne Stars to balance the spin options nicely while Will Sutherland is set for a role as a power-hitting all-rounder.”That’s really exciting with that dynamic,” Saker said. “I think we’ve got the best bowling attack in the league.”But your bowling options are pretty useless if you’re defending 100 every week. So we know we’ve got to get some runs and we know if we do we can become a little bit like the Perth Scorchers did when they were strong. They just had such a great defensive game, they’re so hard to score off, they fielded well, had great options with the ball. Their 150 just seemed like a bigger score all the time. So that’s what we’re going to be aiming to do. If we can snag a few wins with the young kids in the team, you never know, we could get on a roll quite easily.”That blueprint worked at Marvel Stadium in 2018-19, when Renegades won the title with their batters scoring just three individual half-centuries for the season.Saker isn’t sure what a pass mark is for his team given the youth of his squad. But he isn’t going to put a ceiling on it.”That’s a good question because the pass mark could look different for where we end up on the ladder,” Saker said. “But there’s no doubt our expectation is to make finals.”It’s not unrealistic to finish fifth and by the time that part of the season gets there you will hope some of the younger players have really stood up or our older players come back and put us in a position and, you know, once you get to finals, you’re three good games away from the title.”You could probably ask me that question at the end of the season and if we finish third, but we didn’t do some things that we could have done better I would say it’s a fail. But if [we get] the development into the players I want, it’ll be a big pass. We want to make finals and we expect to make finals.”

It isn’t just a question of the next century, the man is now sparring with administrators, unthinkable two years ago

Osman Samiuddin25-Dec-2021Welcome back to the planet, Virat. It’s been a while. It’s not in the best shape it’s ever been right now, but it’ll have to do, because it is where we all eventually end up.Although, for a while, it did genuinely look like earth might never be big enough for Virat Kohli, that Kohli had become so big he wasn’t supranational, it was possible to think of him eclipsing multiverses and not traversing them: think Sachin Tendulkar, add MS Dhoni, times the sum by Bollywood, all to the power West Delhi.Kohli was the barometer through which the health of a game – even the health of a nation – could be measured. If Kohli said he loved Test cricket, then Test cricket was still breathing. If Kohli shook hands with Shahid Afridi, it was possible to imagine harmony between the two countries. If Kohli didn’t play in a series, that country’s cricket economy was doomed. With Kohli, broadcasters happily ripped off the façade that cricket is a team game, training their cameras on him. A Kohli net session became a must-watch event.Related

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For a while, on the field, Kohli was infallible, indefatigable, unquenchable, and above all, inevitable. All the biggest and the greatest go through this one period, and perhaps the only difference ends up being of degrees. We wonder, not only when this greatness will ever stop, but how it can possibly ever stop? With each one of them, we think this one – – will surely be the greatest of them all.And then, without paying it any more attention than what you would to a temporary run of un-great scores, a lean run turns into lean days turns into lean months turns into a lean year turns into the start of the regression back to great, rather than greatest turns into the start of the end. Because – and this is a lesson we happily forget every time – gravity gets us all (the Don excepted) in the end.Massive caveat: this is Kohli, who is 33, and has been the gold standard when it comes to fitness. In a time when more athletes are being great deeper into their 30s, it’s entirely plausible to see a whole new coda to Kohli’s career over the next five, six years. He is Kohli after all, who will never be done with proving somebody, anybody, wrong.But when you burn as intensely as Kohli has done, there’s always the risk that burnout happens quicker. In which light, this phase of Kohli, ticking over two years now, is beginning to feel a little bit more loaded than just a phase. A phase is what a teenager passes through; for adults, it may need a more serious diagnosis.

Kohli is now sparring with administrators. Two years ago, this was unthinkable. He was untouchable. Nobody could have picked a fight with him. They all let him be so that the idea that he would one day have to take to a press conference to fight back against a BCCI press release seemed comically beneath him

Two years without a hundred of any kind, two years in which his Test average has fallen five runs. If he bats every innings this series, is dismissed each time and scores less than 198 runs, his Test average will fall under 50. Meaning that by his 100th Test, Kohli’s Test average could be under 50. Little says batting mortality like an average under 50, in any era.Kind of like age, though, the average can sometimes also just be a number; it’s not always indicative of how one feels, especially when it is flitting around high-end landmark numbers. Still, it is strange to think of Kohli as a sub-50 Test batter; the last time he was that was August 2017, when he’d spent nearly a year hovering around that 50 mark. Two of India’s greatest batters before him, Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, were, by their 100th Tests, both averaging 57.As with everything, though, Covid-19 has warped the texture of this Kohli run. It feels both like it has gone on for a while but also that it hasn’t; two years is plenty of time, but he’s played 13 Tests in that time, whereas he played nearly twice as many – 24 Tests – in the two-year period before that.If it was only a question of his batting, though, it would be simpler because it’s not as if he has looked like some struggling, out-of-sorts batter. His last 11 Test innings include scores of 44, 42, 20, 55, 50, 44 and 36. This is not out of form.But Kohli is now sparring with administrators. Two years ago, this was unthinkable. He was untouchable. Nobody could have picked a fight with him. The Committee of Administrators let him be. The coach let him be. The players let him be. They all let him be so that the idea that he would one day have to take to a press conference to fight back against a BCCI press release seemed comically beneath him.4:52

Kohli: ‘Nothing can derail me from being motivated to play for India’

He’s no longer captain of all formats. And because he’s been pushed out in one, it allows the germ of another previously unthinkable thought to slip in – that there may even come a time soon when he is no longer a part of at least one white-ball side. Hell, if the BCCI wants to get vindictive, he may no longer be part of the other. Far-fetched still, but then this is now a regular, worldly situation, a scrap between a board and star player. This has happened before. To other stars. Kohli was going to be the one who transcended all this and now he’s just another star.It says something about his impact that he’s still likely to achieve something no Asian captain has if India win in South Africa and he then avoids defeat next summer in the re-scheduled Test against England – if he’s still captain, no longer perishing that thought. He’ll become the first Asian captain to have won Test series in England, Australia, and South Africa.But the sharpness, the bristle, can’t help but be somewhat blunted now. In a happier way, from the other end of the spectrum of life experiences to a workplace scrap, parenthood cannot help but have done the same. Few things can cause a razor-sharp, myopic focus to be diffused as a child can.This is Kohli’s new world, one in which it’s possible to see him no longer as the essential figure or as clearly defined against the background. For more or less three decades, Indian cricket, and by extension world cricket, has had one global star. Through Tendulkar, then Dhoni and then Kohli, the game has tried to explain itself to the outside world. Through each it has sought to measure itself against the outside world, to sell itself to the outside world, to find its place in the outside world. Each one has been more burdened than the last. Maybe, the time is coming to start thinking about the next in that line.All of which, of course, is exactly what Kohli needs, to think that he’s being written off, to think that he has enemies to slay. No better time than now, in this new world, to find that old motivation.

Shaheen Afridi will lead Qalandars in his first stint as captain, while Zalmi will be banking on Haider to come good

Umar Farooq26-Jan-2022

Lahore Qalandars

Captain: Shaheen Shah Afridi
Coach: Aaqib Javed
Full squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, David Wiese, Abdullah Shafique, Ben Dunk, Mathew Potts, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Danyal, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun, Imran Randhawa, Akif Javed.Last season: Fifth
Last season, Qalandars won five out of their first six games. They had to win just one more game to make the playoffs, but ended up losing the last four, finishing with the second-poorest net run-rate. They are the only team in the league in the last six years not to win the title. Qalandars’ best finish came in the fifth edition, when they reached the final, losing to Karachi Kings. But other than that season, they have generally finished near the bottom despite having a competitive roster.What’s changed for the season?
Qalandars have managed to keep their core intact, with Rashid Khan returning as their key overseas signing, and Shaheen Shah Afridi given a new role as captain. They will be concerned about the form of Mohammad Hafeez, though, because he has struggled to get going after getting among the runs in 2020. Qalandars have also picked up Yorkshire batter Harry Brook to strengthen the middle order, but he will miss the first three games, allowing a chance for Durham fast bowler Mathew Potts to chip in.Meanwhile, Otago allrounder Dean Foxcroft, who missed two successive domestic seasons in New Zealand because of Covid-enforced border restrictions, will be hoping to revive his career. Foxcroft’s last competitive game was in March 2020.Player to watch
Afridi the fast bowler won the ICC’s prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and was recognised as the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for 2021. He took 78 wickets in 36 internationals at an average of 22.20 last year. His best performances came in the T20 World Cup, where he picked up seven wickets in six matches, including those of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in the group-stage fixture against India, helping steer Pakistan to the semi-finals. He will don a new hat this PSL season when he comes out leading Qalandars, captaining a team at the senior level for the very first time.”This captaincy is going to help me grow as a player,” Afridi said. “There is no pressure right now but anything that comes my way will work as a learning experience. I am the main bowler for Pakistan and often get high-pressure situations. So, being a captain here in PSL, I will definitely be tested and going to find myself in tougher situations, but this eventually makes me stronger. This learning phase will help me in the Pakistan team.” Key stats Since the start of 2021, Rashid has bagged 85 wickets in the 57 T20s he has played, 24 wickets more than anyone else. Rashid’s recent surge at taking wickets came after picking up only 121 wickets in 101 T20s he played across 2019 and 2020, where he struck every 19.1 balls compared to once in 15.2 balls since 2021. However, his economy in both periods remains similar – 6.62 (2019-2020) and 6.6 (since 2021).Kamran Akmal had said he was “humiliated” when not picked by Zalmi in the highest category at the PSL auction•Pakistan Super League

Peshawar Zalmi

Captain: Wahab Riaz
Coach: James Foster
Full squad: Wahab Riaz (capt), Hazratullah Zazai, Matt Parkinson, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Usman Qadir, Pat Brown, Hussain Talat, Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal, Sameen Gul, Kamran Akmal, Tom Kohler Cadmore, Sirajuddin, Arish Ali Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Haris, Muhammad Umer, Sohail Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Ammad ButtLast season: Runners-up

Zalmi were on reboot mode last season after losing their ace, Hasan Ali, but still produced a strong performance as they went on to play their fourth PSL final, the most by any team. Zalmi won five out ten games, edging past Qalandars and Kings on net run-rate to finish third in the group stage. In the playoffs, they eliminated Kings and Islamabad United to storm into the final, only to falter in the last stage against Multan Sultans, falling well short in a chase of 207.Overall, Zalmi are the second-most successful team in the PSL, with 38 wins from 70 matches, behind United. They have the best score-per-wicket average of 25.42. Last season, Zalmi were involved in the highest-scoring game in PSL history, against United, where they conceded 247 for 2 and made 232 for 6 in reply.What’s changed for the season?
There have been some differences between the franchise and experienced batter Kamran Akmal, who has been having a lean patch lately. The 40-year-old Akmal had initially refused to play for Zalmi, stating that he was “humiliated” at not being picked in the highest category at the auction. Zalmi eventually cleared the air with him and confirmed that Akmal was a part of their plans, as is wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris. However, Akmal is likely to miss the initial stage of the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19. Zalmi have roped in Imam-ul-Haq as his replacement.There was an attempt made to bring back Hasan, but it didn’t materialise. However, Zalmi thrived without him, as they built from scratch last season. Their top order is largely unchanged with Hazratullah Zazai in red-hot form and a lot expected from the ever-improving Haider Ali. The middle order last year was largely anchored by Shoaib Malik, with the steady hand of Hussain Talat there too. However, Zalmi will miss the services of Saqib Mahmood and Liam Livingstone, as the duo became unavailable for the start of the PSL because of their international commitments. Zalmi got legspinner Matt Parkinson and fast bowler Pat Brown as partial replacements.Player to watch
Haider Ali was unleashed as an emerging player in the fifth edition of the PSL in 2020 and he became the youngest to score a fifty in the league for Zalmi. He had a blistering start to his international career as well, making a fifty on his T20I debut against England. However, Haider has had his share of disappointments after that initial success. He has a T20 strike rate of 139.04, and Zalmi will be banking on him as a fully developed batter this season. Key stats Wahab Riaz has 145 wickets in T20s under his belt since 2019 – only behind Rashid (206) and Imran Tahir (159). However, 48 of those wickets came in the middle overs (7-16), the second-most for any pacer in this phase. Wahab picked up 46 wickets across the last three PSL seasons, joint-most alongside Hasan Ali. He has consistently provided the breakthroughs in middle overs, where he took 22 wickets, only behind Shadab Khan’s tally of 27.

Surrey coach on his “progressive” outlook, improving county standards and why Will Jacks could be the next Moeen Ali

Alan Gardner20-Apr-2022″I’m very confident in my skills as a coach, I really am – far much more than I ever was as a player. I always had doubts as a player, and I suppose that was the thing that sort of drove me, it was fear of failure – which is probably why I was pretty bang average. But from a coaching perspective, I’m relatively confident…”It doesn’t seem long since Gareth Batty was scrapping for every inch in a Surrey shirt – mainly because it isn’t. Last summer, the former England offspinner was still leading Surrey’s T20 side, at 43 one of the oldest players on the circuit. Now he is suddenly one of the younger head coaches going, having moved swiftly on to the Oval backroom staff – initially as an assistant coach, then as Vikram Solanki’s successor (albeit in an interim capacity).He has hit the ground running, with Surrey collecting 35 points from their opening two fixtures to sit top of Division One; victory by an innings over Hampshire, who had begun their season with an equally emphatic win against Somerset, was particularly impressive. Not that Batty will be getting too up or down about results at this stage. “When we win like we did the other day, it’s all down to the players,” he says. “When we lose it’s down to me for getting it wrong.”A healthy dose of self-deprecation sums up Batty’s approach to most things, including overseeing the fortunes of a club he served with distinction for 16 seasons – either side of a spell at Worcestershire – during a career that also encompassed representing England in all three formats. Having retired towards the end of 2021, he joined the coaching set-up with an expectation of working with Surrey’s spinners and strengthening ties with the academy, before Solanki’s departure to IPL franchise Gujarat Titans opened up further opportunities.”Being offered interim at Surrey was not something particularly that I wanted, or was aspiring to, I was genuinely happy with the second team work I would have been doing,” Batty says. “It was the vocational part of it: okay this is going to be some graft, it’s not the prettier side of things. A title [that of head coach] is a title, it’s very pleasant, but with titles come responsibility. I still very much see that it’s about the players, about whatever I can possibly do to make it about them. They’re the ones that do the work on the field.”Related

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But he has been busy off it, throwing himself into the role, and ready to seek an advantage wherever he can – discussing philosophies with those working in other sports, including rugby, golf and football. Sean Dyche, until recently the longest-serving manager in the Premier League with Burnley, “gave me some wonderful information,” Batty says. “I’ve definitely taken a few things and popped them down and tried to transfer it into cricket.”Surrey were County Champions as recently as 2018, but have not always managed to convert their strong playing resources into a consistent challenge for silverware. In recent times, that has arguably been as much down to England call-ups – and Batty is pushing for a “progressive” focus on how the entire squad can contribute, rather than relying on the old-fashioned notion of a best XI. That was in evidence at The Oval last week, as Jamie Overton came into the side, having sat out for “tactical” reasons at Edgbaston, and proceeded to take a career-best eight-for as Surrey won inside three days.”We have to be progressive, we have to be thinking balance of teams,” Batty says. “If we’re saying back in the day, people used to bowl 500 overs, but they can only bowl 360 because of the other workloads, and other expectations, do we need to have more allrounders in the team to get more bowling options, so we’re not going to deplete our best bowlers by bowling them into the ground? We need to look at everything.”We have to have our eyes open, the world has changed, the world is changing, we need to be on the front edge of that – not copying somebody that is No.1 now. If we’re just doing what they’re doing, they’re going to keep moving forward, we’re not going to get to that level. We have to be doing more. And this isn’t trying to change the wheel, most of it is really simple stuff, but sometimes in cricket we get a bit stuck in our ways and talk like it’s always been talked. Well, if we talk how it’s always been talked, we aren’t going to get much better. We have to keep pushing the boundaries.”That pragmatic approach has manifested itself in a slightly unexpected area: in their opening two Championship fixtures, Surrey have lined up without a frontline spinner, Will Jacks taking on slow-bowling duties while stiffening the batting at No. 7, in preference to playing Amar Virdi, who toured India and Sri Lanka as an England reserve in 2020-21, or Dan Moriarty. Jacks has taken seven first-class wickets at 69.57, from 32 matches, but helped break Hampshire’s first innings open on a green-tinged surface by bowling Ben Brown through the gate, then having Felix Organ caught off an inside edge.

“If we are saying that we want Will to emulate Moeen Ali, then we are asking a lot of him. Moeen is a wonderful cricketer, there aren’t many who can do what he can do. So we’re asking a lot”Gareth Batty on Will Jacks

Batty raises the subject himself when discussing the need for better pitches to help improve England’s Test standards.”There needs to be a reset, and hopefully we’re making that in county cricket, which will bring spin back into it. And I know damn well people will look and go, hang on a minute, you’re not playing Virdi and Moriarty, your out-and-out spinners. [But] I genuinely think that Will Jacks is a genuine allrounder. Anybody that doubts that, just get them to look on a livestream, or on Twitter, and get them to look at the wickets [against Hampshire]. It was only two wickets, but it was a pitch with grass on it, and there was real quality in those balls. There is a real skill, and until people play, we’re not going to know how good they possibly could be.”So while Virdi has been challenged to win selection on performances with the 2nd XI – “Knock on the office door and go look, I should have been picked, because I played my first game and got wickets” – Batty says Jacks currently has the spot on merit. “At the moment it is balance of team, but Jacko has bowled beautifully in pre-season, he really has. He bowls wicket-taking balls. I don’t think we’re being diluted in the spin department on that front.”He also suggests that Jacks could offer Surrey the sort of multidisciplinary impact afforded by Moeen Ali with Worcestershire, England and, currently, Chennai Super Kings at the IPL.”Skillsets and development, there are parallels there, there really are,” he says. “Moeen, I knew from back at Worcester. You could see for all that he was a very talented batter, wow, did he bowl a beautiful stock spin ball. His offspinner had lovely shape. The good and the bad of being such a good batter, is sometimes you bowl a bit like a batter, and you don’t bowl like that frontline spinner. Moeen grew into, pretty quickly, the frontline spinner that could also get you a hundred. Tell me a team that doesn’t want that asset.”I don’t say this lightly. If we are saying that we want Will to emulate Moeen Ali, then we are asking a lot of him. Moeen is a wonderful cricketer, worldwide there aren’t many who can do what he can do. So we’re asking a lot of him [Jacks], which possibly shows where I’m coming from with the perception that he’s our lead spinner right now.”Surfaces at The Oval mean there is every chance Jacks and Virdi will end up in the same team as the season wears on; and that ties into Batty’s view on how the Championship can better help to produce England Test players (though he declines to comment on the clatter of wickets that accompanied Essex’s win at Taunton in the second round).Batty hung up his playing boots last year, at the age of 43•Getty Images”I think the biggest fix for English cricket is we get rid of these two-and-a-half day finishes, six-session finishes – it’s a nonsense. The odd time, it’s fine. I understand it, and we will be part of one this year. But it can’t be a consistent thing, because we’re saying that 40 wickets in six-to-seven sessions, that isn’t promoting an equal field for both bat and ball. It’s loaded somewhere.”I think we need games getting either into day four, or ideally – like Warwickshire winning it [Division One] last year, they won a lot of games with a session to go, the last session of the game. That is what is going to promote better international cricket. There’s no quick fix from players, they have to work hard, they put their bodies on the line and they have to have a skillset that’s enduring, which is four-day cricket.”Having spent time in the commentary box with talkSPORT as part of his transition from playing, Batty has a more rounded view on the game than most – and despite the doom and gloom around the national set-up, with Joe Root’s resignation last week adding to the list of vacancies at the top of the men’s game, he insists there is plenty to be positive about.”I truly believe we have a wonderful product,” he says. “I can’t think of any other sport that has three facets to it. We have Test cricket/first-class cricket, a 50-over game and a 20-over game. And now even a 10 and a Hundred. No other game can flick between the different formats and touch different levels of people that want to support it. We should be able to touch everybody, but we have to champion everything. What I saw this week, 4500 people in at The Oval on a beautiful day, enjoying cricket. Yes, they’re enjoying the social as well, and having some fun with their friends, but fundamentally it’s at a cricket ground, and their kids are playing on the outfield. I don’t see there’s a better message.”His own coaching ambitions, for now, extend no further than Surrey and “trying to repay the faith that Alec Stewart and the club have put in me”. Thoughts of whether England might one day want to draw on his nous can wait – as can the question of whether he might want to follow Solanki to the IPL.”I like the graft,” he say, deliberately. “I’m not bothered about the razzamatazz. I’m all about the graft.”

Every multi-sport showcase turns up magnetic characters and the Australian is an early contender for fan favourite

Valkerie Baynes29-Jul-2022Every big multi-sport showcase turns up wonderful, magnetic characters that have always been around in their chosen event but who finally get a chance to shine on a bigger stage.At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, it took just a few hours for women’s cricket – a newcomer to this forum – to give us Grace Harris.Her simple philosophy for winning T20 matches might appeal more to the cricket community while her perfectly executed public speaking – open stance, hands spread wide in explanation, clear voice – will appeal to all. Throw in a pair of bright yellow ankle socks bearing pictures of dalmatians pulled high but “boring” by her standards, and her ambition to become an international shooter because “you can eat a tub of ice-cream before your event” and we have our star.Related

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And that was after she had shared a 51-run partnership off just 34 balls with Ashleigh Gardner to rescue Australia from 49 for 5 and help win their opening match against India by three wickets with an over to spare.Playing her 17th T20I but batting in one for the first time since 2016, Harris came in at No. 7 and played the aggressor in that union, smashing 37 from 20 balls as Gardner contributed 14 off as many deliveries. Once Harris was well caught by Harmanpreet Kaur, running to her left from the mid-off region off the bowling of Meghna Singh, Gardner resumed the lead role to finish with an unbeaten 52 off 35 to see her side to victory.

It’s more how you play the game… or how happy you are with how you get outGrace Harris understands that in T20 cricket you have to take risks no matter what

That they had found themselves in such a hole – thanks largely to Renuka Singh’s 4 for 18, which accounted for Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning and Tahlia McGrath – didn’t worry Harris.”I’m not concerned whatsoever,” she said. “India are a great team. They’ve always been challenging. Their opening bowler was moving it off the wicket and in the air. She bowled well, and you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due.”I’m happy for the top order to face the swinging ball. I’ll take any opportunity I get to bat at the moment, because at No. 7, I don’t often get to spend that amount of time in the middle. I’m disappointed with how I got out – it was probably the one shot all game that I didn’t make the best contact.”Harris explained that for her, T20 cricket was all about the manner in which she plays.”We basically just back our depth in the batting line-up and if you’re going to win T20 cricket, it’s not ideal to lose wickets, I will say that, but… runs on the board always matter, wickets not so much given you’ve only got 120 balls to face.Grace Harris said Australia encourage their players to take calculated risks•Getty Images”It’s more how you play the game… or how happy you are with how you get out. Essentially it’s risk-versus-reward cricket.”In T20 cricket that’s basically how I look at it as a player and I guess we’re encouraged at the Australian cricket team to really not so much take unnecessary risks but take risks and make them kind of calculated or educated in the scenario that you’re in.”As the more experienced batter, you might expect Gardner to have coaxed Harris through her innings but, a few minutes speaking with Harris and it becomes clear what Gardner meant when she said Harris had done “most of the talking” through their partnership.”She was really confident when she came out and that’s the best thing about her,” Gardner said. “We know what she’s capable of doing and we’ve seen her in domestic cricket for so long doing exactly that and it’s awesome to see her doing that in Aussie colours as well.”People probably had written us off at 5 for 50 but I knew what Grace was capable of doing when she came out and she really put the pressure back on the bowlers.”Harris scored the first century of the WBBL in its inaugural season in 2015 and, in 2018, she smashed a 42-ball ton. In last year’s edition, she scored 420 runs for Brisbane Heat at an average of 32.30 and with a strike rate of 123.16, showing good consistency with four fifties in 14 innings.And she was clearly revelling in being part of a wider sporting event where she could rub shoulders with the likes of the swimmers, who enjoy a higher profile among sportspeople in Australia than they do in most other countries.Asked which sport she would like to compete in if she had to choose another, her answer was simple: “It would be shooting. I read at an Olympics one year that [one athlete] ate a whole tub of ice cream before she went out and I thought, ‘if you can do that before your sport, that’s the sport for me’.So, now to those socks: “I always wear funky socks. I’ve got a dalmatian dog, Dorrie, so I went with Dorrie today, I went with the yellow background. I think these go best with the kit.”I’ve got some red socks [with] burgers and fries. I don’t know if I’ll whip them out, it could be a bit too much colour, a bit too full-on. I might get the confidence up enough to wear them for the next game but today I just kept it boring for me really.”There is one thing Grace Harris is not, and that’s boring.