Azhar and Shafiq answer the call, and yet…

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

This should have been a redemptive day for Pakistan’s two senior batsmen, and it very nearly was, until… well, you know what happened next

Osman Samiuddin in Abu Dhabi05-Dec-2018It’s impossible to avoid beginning at the end, the end in this case that of the first Test of this series. Two thoughts lingered after that.The first, that a previously unthinkable question had become thinkable. Could Asad Shafiq be dropped? At that point, he was Pakistan’s top-scorer in Tests this year (he’s second now). But his dismissal that day, in the last over before lunch, was when the panic crept back into Pakistan’s doomed chase.It was such a Shafiq innings too. So easy on the eye so as to go almost unnoticed and ultimately of little value. The demise was very Shafiq, an indeterminate, lazy poke at a plan that was so clear it hadn’t just been telegraphed, it was the headline in the morning papers.That was his 59th consecutive Test, a record for Pakistan, and since he was dropped for a Test in September 2011, he had never been under threat of the axe. Usually, and especially in Pakistan, that kind of stability is a good thing, but here?

Since the MisYou farewells and up to the day before this Test, he’d been averaging 39.33, which wasn’t disastrous, but neither was it the elevated level Pakistan needed him at. Individuals rarely win Tests but could you see him seeing Pakistan through any chase at all then? Like last year against Sri Lanka, this was the ideal opportunity for it and yet here we were. And to be honest, even that record number of hundreds at No. 6 was beginning to feel like a damning indictment of his inability to be anything other than a number six.He was floating and now sink or swim seemed the only choices.The other thought was about the limitations of being Azhar Ali. When Azhar is out of form, holding the bat the right way round is a minor victory and this year he had mostly looked out of form (he was averaging less than 22 at that point).The thing about Azhar, though, is that grinding a way through a bad session, or against a great spell, or through a low career trough, is pretty much his default. There was that pristine stretch from 2015 to 2017, of course, but it was the exception.Unlike Shafiq, though, he fought his way right through to the bitter end in Abu Dhabi (as he has done through his career) and it was kind of admirable. But the admiration was tinged with a little sadness because the basic limitations of his game were painfully exposed in that last stretch of batting. He never looked like he would be the guy to drag that game home.He didn’t have the game to attempt one big hit when one big hit was what was needed; he didn’t have the range of strokes to try and find twos in a well-guarded but large outfield; his wonky knees had turned him from an eager and committed runner into a struggling one; most painful were the three failed attempts at improvisation, a reverse sweep, an upper-cut and a scoop, all of which fetched a total of two singles.And yet, despite all this, it’s worth repeating that he was last man out, trying in whatever way he could, to make up for the direness that surrounded him. And that with these limitations, he had built a pretty substantial and successful career. A miracle? Maybe.Asad Shafiq punches down the ground•AFPThe eternal struggle of one, the unending reverie of the other; this, it would seem, is what Pakistan must resign themselves to.With Azhar one shot can often tell you what kind of form he is in. His first scoring shot here was a tiny hint that batting might not be so painful: timed nicely off his pads through square leg off Tim Southee for three. On other days he would push such a ball straight to the midwicket fielder, or not connect at all.Much later came a bigger sign, when he straight-drove Colin de Grandhomme straight of mid-on. When Azhar is driving straight is when Azhar is most batsmanly. And this morning when he then drove Trent Boult even straighter, just past Shafiq in fact, you knew he was on.Shafiq, of course, never looks out of form. Shafiq, of course, is never actually out of form. He just gets out. At the worst possible moments. For scores lower than he should be making. Shafiq makes 15 or 137, it is a good-lookin’, easy-feelin’, high-rollin’ 15 or 137.There is no one shot that signals to you that he’s on. Every shot does. A dandy skip and pick-up off a spinner, sometimes straight, sometimes – dexterously – against the spin through midwicket; the short batsman’s cut, more authoritative always than the taller man’s; a more delicate and later cut, leaning back; the drives on bended knee – this could go on, but yes, 15 or 137, you can cut a highlights reel out of it. Even the way he defended his second ball yesterday from Boult, up in to his armpit, killing it almost at his toes – imagine Azhar playing it, flailing, ducking, a mess at the crease.Form being temporary is usually used in the context of careers. In Azhar’s case it applies to innings. As in, he can drop in and out of form within 10 balls, looking on ball 70 like a proper one-down and on ball 80 like a legspinner who’s lucky to be batting 11.

And admit it – at some stage during their 201-run stand you thought to yourself, this – THIS – is the moment that marks the handing over from those guys to these guys, the one moment Pakistan has so long cried out for.

This morning, he pinged three early boundaries racing to his hundred. Once he got there, he didn’t just take fresh guard as the commandment for batting big dictates, he looked like he was walking out to a new innings, Pakistan one down for nothing all over again. On 103 for instance, he was beaten by Colin de Grandhomme like he was on 0 and de Grandhomme was James Anderson and this was Lord’s, not offering a shot as much as a meek apology that look, batting’s not really my thing. Test cricket is played over five days but that in one single ball resides the entire life of a batsman rings truest when Azhar is at the crease.Shafiq plays the ball naturally later than Azhar, but sometimes when Azhar is in this mode, he only gets his bat down in time for a defensive shot, feet all over the place, hands and elbows wonky, squared up and falling over at the same time. It’s not pretty.Shafiq, meanwhile, is – and was here – as Shafiq does, which is to say that he is still the Shafiq in his 61st Test as he was in his first. When the second new ball arrived today, so did the one vulnerability that has always hounded him, the ball that comes into him at pace, the one that he brings that infernal angled bat down to, stuck in half-step, and either gets bowled or trapped leg-before.We live in a time where the most elite athletes are working harder than ever before to iron out the tiniest glitches in their game, a time in which athletes have greater support than ever before in that pursuit. Everywhere you look there’s a story about how this batsman or that bowler sat down, resolved to improve himself, sought out the right help, and now stands transformed. No player is ever without flaw. Different ones crop at up different times, but like whack-a-mole, a player tries to kill each one when it rears up. It’s called self-improvement.Not so with Shafiq, for whom this one has lingered. Nearly eight years ago, in only his second Test innings, he fell to Tim Southee when beautifully set on 83, leg-before to one angling in that he was trying to work away. That sentence can reliably be cut and pasted, adjusted for minor details but used endlessly: leg-before or bowled to pace account for close to a quarter of his Test dismissals.It goes to the discredit of the coaching staff certainly, but largely, you have to conclude, it’s on Shafiq.Azhar Ali goes for the reverse sweep•Getty ImagesToday should’ve been a good day for them. A first century partnership between them since the 2016 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, when both looked so beautifully primed to take over from Misbah and Younis. This was the first hundred for Azhar since May 2017 and the first for Shafiq since October last year. And admit it – at some stage during their 201-run stand you thought to yourself, this – THIS – is the moment that marks the handing over from those guys to these guys, the one moment Pakistan has so long cried out for.Pakistan were struggling. They needed their seniors to take charge and these two did. They were doing it when it was most needed, with a series on the line. They were doing it when the barbs – particularly at Shafiq – had been at their sharpest and had hurt them. They were doing it not long after being involved in one of the all-time great comic run-outs. Yes, this should’ve been a good redemptive day for them.And yet, here we are, the game not done.Indeed, it was all kinds of fitting that they nearly killed the Test but didn’t. It was entirely fitting that the dismissal of one sparked a collapse as inexplicably as the dismissal of the other was a part of it. It was fitting that, having entered a phase of some comfort, Azhar suddenly found that one ball that he bats in permanent fear of. And that Shafiq, having reached his hundred, celebrated it – with a little touch of vindication, was it? – walloped a commanding boundary next ball, as if to tell us the Boss is now in the house, and then fell next ball to a nothing delivery when no danger was present. Out for 104, a 12th Test hundred but a small one when a bigger one was the need; it may seem a contrived stat, but that his highest score of 137 is the lowest among all Test batsmen with at least 10 hundreds is an apt one.It may yet turn out okay. Pakistan might still win this and the pair’s numbers will stand enhanced. But between them it wasn’t quite enough was it? Which some might say could make for a fitting epitaph.

Australia set for uncertain homecoming after tours of tumult

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Will the Australian public take to a team that has been through tremendous upheaval since the last time they played at home?

Andrew McGlashan03-Nov-2018The last time Australia played at home David Warner was captain because Steven Smith was given a break from the T20 side. This week, they were both playing the second day of the latest round of grade matches in Sydney.Even that, however, only scratches the surface of the turmoil in Australian cricket since the 2017-18 season came to a close. There was a sense of problems – on-field aggression had already become a significant talking point and the ODI team was struggling – but what followed was nothing short of a gutting of the leadership. In summary: Steven Smith – sacked as captain, serving a one-year ban David Warner – sacked as vice-captain, serving a one-year ban Darren Lehmann – quit as coach James Sutherland – stood down as Cricket Australia CEOTim Paine – replaced as ODI captain after one series, having filled the void post the ball-tampering scandal, and dropped from the team David Peever – forced to resign as CA chairman Pat Howard – has indicated he will leave high performance role next yearThe cultural and team reviews, which stemmed from events in South Africa and led to much of the above, have been dissected in detail over the last week. Now the focus moves back to the game as South Africa visit for three ODIs and a T20I to launch Australia’s home international summer. The mouth-watering prospect of India follows before Sri Lanka round out the season. Then it’s the final lead-in to the World Cup followed by the Ashes in England. It is a bumper slate of action, but the game has rarely felt such uncertainty in Australia.Sometimes in sport it is possible to divorce behind-the-scenes dramas and what happens on the field. The show goes on, and all that. There is rarely a cricket board around the world that isn’t grappling with the politics or economics (or worse) of the game.The current issues in Australian cricket, however, cut across the entire set-up. And not only is there a crisis at board level, it feels as though the men’s team are still falling over themselves trying to put things right and show the right things to the public.The last few days have revealed a 38-word Players’ Pact (in case you missed it: “We recognise how lucky we are to play this great game. We respect the game and its traditions. We want to make all Australians proud. Compete with us. Smile with us. Fight on with us. Dream with us”) and, courtesy of a photograph of Australia’s changing room at the Perth Stadium, the phrase “elite honesty”. It’s tempting to say those are the sorts of things social media was made for.The lengths being gone to in attempting to show a new era highlights the depth to which things had fallen.”We can put as many words as we like out there, but it’s the way we play,” Australia coach Justin Langer said. “It’s the way we are on and off the cricket field. And our actions will speak a lot louder than any words we write down.” Now, at least, there will be some action.Australia have played plenty of cricket since that South Africa tour, but quite how it has registered in the consciousness of followers and fans is questionable. There was a winless limited-overs tour of England with a threadbare squad, a T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe – a record 172 from Aaron Finch, but defeat in the final against Pakistan – and the recent trip to the UAE where the Test team lost 1-0 and the T20 side was whitewashed.Only now will we see what the reception is like at home. Has the fallout, from the public’s point of view, been overstated or is there a real risk of more permanent damage? Is it something a winning home summer would fix? Winning nicely, of course, and not at all costs.Australia’s ODI side has barely been able to win in any style for a while. There are a host of challenges to overcome, but trying to forge a team capable of defending their World Cup title is high on the list under new captain Finch. Then they will need to work out a way of stopping Virat Kohli, because if India can put enough runs on the board – and learn from their mistakes in England – they have the pace-bowling attack to trouble Australia’s uncertain Test batting.Whether this past week was the last major dose of drama remains to be seen (the ACA have lodged their submission to have the bans of the Cape Town three to be overturned) but for all the corporate-speak and overt attempts at on-message branding, the cricket now begins. It would be a brave person, however, to predict how things will look – on and off the field – when the summer is finished.

Ashwin 'ain't winning any spirit of cricket awards'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

A mankading dismissal always brings out strong reactions, and it was no different when R Ashwin ran out Jos Buttler

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2019Shane Warne, who’s held various roles with Rajasthan Royals over the years, was extremely critical of Ashwin’s action. He even came up with another scenario.

Ben Stokes was quick to clarify that he would never ever ever do it.

Obviously, the spirit of cricket question came up.

Some were fine with a mankad dismissal, as long as the batsman had been warned.

If you are on Twitter, it’s unlikely you wouldn’t have come across a debate on the topic (or a gif).

And when you’re Ashwin’s wife…

And not to forget the mistaken identities.

Misfiring middle order nullifies Warner-Bairstow impact

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The launching pads that the openers provided often went in vain, and the team also lacked a finishing kick

Saurabh Somani09-May-20196:49

What went wrong for Sunrisers in IPL 2019?

Where did they finish?Fourth, equal on points (12) with Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, but made it through to the Eliminator by virtue of a higher net run-rate. They lost that match against Delhi Capitals in a last-over finish.What went right?The David Warner-Jonny Bairstow opening partnership was irresistible. They played together in ten matches, putting on a whopping 791 runs. They put on four century stands and three other fifty-plus stands, meaning that they got Sunrisers Hyderabad off to great starts 70% of the time. They also scored their runs at a rapid clip, 9.84 an over.It’s no coincidence that of the six matches Sunrisers won this season, five came when Warner and Bairstow were opening the batting. Individually too, both had outstanding seasons. Warner made 692 runs in 12 matches at an average of 69.20 and a strike rate of 143.86. Bairtsow made 445 in 10 games, at 55.62 and 157.24. That no other Sunrisers batsman came within 100 runs of Bairstow spoke of how dominant the openers were. Warner and Bairstow scored 48% of Sunrisers’ total runs.Jonny Bairstow and David Warner run between the wickets•BCCIWhat went wrong?The middle order never turned up for Sunrisers. Manish Pandey had some bright moments that kept them afloat in the post Warner-Bairstow phase, but that apart, Sunrisers struggled once teams got a wicket or two. Neither Kane Williamson nor Vijay Shankar had any semblance of sustained success. The launching pads that the openers provided often went in vain, and Sunrisers also lacked a finishing kick. They showed faith in Yusuf Pathan, but it wasn’t rewarded, with Yusuf ending the season with a strike rate of just 88.88 – his lowest by far in all IPL seasons, and the first time he has ended one at less than a run a ball. Yusuf made just 40 runs across the season, below par by any standards.Key numbers

  • Sunrisers’ middle-order basmen (Nos. 4-7) averaged just 16.02, the worst among all teams. Their strike rate was 120.96, higher only than Chennai Super Kings. With numbers like those, it’s not surprising they were among the least effective in the second half of the innings while batting.
  • Rashid Khan picked up 17 wickets at an average of 22.17 and an economy rate of 6.28. He was outstanding, and the numbers stack up similarly to what he achieved in the last two years when Sunrisers were more successful as a team. What made the difference was the support cast. Sunrisers’ bowling attack had been touted as the best among all eight teams, but the seam bowlers couldn’t provide breakthroughs as regularly as they had done over the past few seasons, which meant that even though Rashid proved as difficult to read, or score off, as ever, his squeeze didn’t have the same effect, because there were more release balls from the other end.

Vijay Shankar had a rare unproductive day with the bat•BCCIStar performersThe Warner-Bairstow partnership was of course the highlight, as were their individual performances, but another player who enjoyed an excellent season was Mohammad Nabi. Team combinations meant he played only eight games, but in those, he took eight wickets and conceded just 6.65 per over, mostly bowling out his full quota. He was also useful with the bat for cameos lower down the order, striking at 151.31. Coming in as he did after a sluggish middle order, his quick runs stood out even more.What needs an immediate fix?The bowling still has pedigree, and there’s no reason to panic and make wholesale changes. It’s the batting that let Sunrisers down this season, with even part of the bowlers’ sub-par show explained by having less than adequate runs to defend. They need to find some reliable middle-order batsmen in the next auction, and ideally Indian middle-order batsmen. The likes of Yusuf, Deepak Hooda and Ricky Bhui weren’t able to provide runs or thrust, and Sunrisers should aim to plug that gap.

How the West Indies became a fast-bowling paradise again

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Trusting the Duke’s ball and preparing green pitches to suit the likes of Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach has helped the team become a force in Test cricket

Sidharth Monga21-Aug-2019Just after the World Cup, there was speculation India might rest Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah for the tour of the West Indies, but the idea didn’t have much basis in reality. Not only is every Test of every series important now on account of the World Test Championship, India will need their best batsman in what has been the most difficult conditions to bat in in recent times.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe first decade of this century was a frustrating time to watch Test cricket played in the West Indies. With their legendary fast bowlers bowing out, West Indies played most of their matches on slow, low surfaces, making for boring contests. As a result, two in every five Tests were drawn, the highest ratio in world cricket. While the batting averages were not the highest in the world, the scoring rate was the lowest, which meant these were pitches where it was difficult to both score runs and get wickets, the only two currencies of the game. A region known for pace in its bowling and flair in its batting was discouraging both. Not that there was spin on offer either.Ottis Gibson is a man now known for shaking up the pitches made in South Africa. You can argue that there was probably no need for such a drastic change, but when the West Indies needed that change, Gibson facilitated a pretty significant one. In the year 2011, his first as coach of the regional team, Gibson insisted that they use Duke’s balls for home Tests. The draw percentage since the change has fallen from 40 to 18.91, almost on par with England and India, and a better rate than New Zealand and the UAE.This was a time when West Indies couldn’t afford to look away from the demand for more exciting Test cricket the world over, but while others were bringing it about with subtle changes to their pitches, West Indies needed something more drastic.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn 2017, though, West Indies consciously changed the nature of their pitches too. In Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach, with support from Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph, they had a pace attack that could make use of these harder, bouncier, seamer-friendly tracks. They went against the advice of the outgoing coaches Stuart Law and Nic Pothas when they stuck with Duke’s balls and green pitches for the series against England last year.The argument was that England were used to facing Duke’s balls, and they had a seam attack that hoped the Duke’s balls would, in the words of their coach Trevor Bayliss, play into their hands. To their credit, the current administrators didn’t want to risk boring cricket by going for the safety of the Kookaburra. Moreover, Duke’s had by now started manufacturing customised balls to suit the conditions in the Caribbean. If anything, the hosts dialled up the green on the pitches further. The results have been emphatic.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe change is deeper than just the wickets for fast bowlers: overall difficulty level in batting has risen more in the West Indies than elsewhere over the last decade.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt does help that West Indies have found a pace attack that has been fit enough and penetrative enough to do well in these conditions to keep them competitive. It means that their lack of batting riches gets neutralised to an extent.ESPNcricinfo LtdESPNcricinfo Ltd

England attack put best feet forward despite Stuart Broad's no-ball frustrations

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Players must take ultimate responsibility after Broad’s overstep denies him van der Dussen’s wicket

George Dobell at Newlands04-Jan-2020It looked, for a moment, as if Stuart Broad had his third wicket and it looked, for a moment, as if South Africa had subsided to 86 for 4.The delivery, a brute of a ball, had climbed on Rassie van der Dussen and taken his glove. England celebrated. It appeared Broad, revelling in the uneven bounce available to him from the Wynberg End, may be on the brink of one of spells.But then came the replays. And after that the realisation that Broad had become the latest bowler to see a wicket squandered after the umpire belatedly signalled a no-ball. Van der Dussen, who had been on 16 at the time and given quite the send-off by James Anderson, made his way back to the wicket, went on to make 68 and, with Dean Elgar, add 117 for the fourth-wicket. It could still prove to be a pivotal moment in this Test.ALSO READ: England receive Archer, Wood fitness boostsThe initial reaction to such moments is probably frustration with the bowler. And, ultimately, they probably do have to take responsibility.But maybe they are also due some sympathy. For in recent times, on-field umpires in international cricket have all but abandoned calling no-balls. Modern bowling is so fast, modern batting so powerful that umpires often stand well behind the stumps – Paul Reiffel was every bit of six feet behind them when Broad was bowling – with their eyes trained on where the ball is pitching and hitting. As a result, modern thinking suggests they shouldn’t worry too much about no-balls. It’s probably understandable but there were fast bowlers and powerful batsmen in the past. Umpires have still managed to check for those no-balls.Anyway, while this may seem, at first glance, like a piece of fortune for the bowler, it is probably exactly the opposite. For if the on-field umpire stops calling no-balls, the bowler can be lulled into a false sense of security about where their foot is landing. Instead of taking the chance to correct themselves before it costs them a wicket, they might repeat the error numerous times.Certainly that’s how it seemed here. The delivery before the van der Dussen incident should also have been called as a no-ball – replays showed Broad had overstepped – and a short while later, Ben Stokes bowled three or four no-balls in an over. None of them were spotted by the on-field umpire.Shaun Pollock raised an interesting idea on TV commentary. He suggested the square leg umpire could relocate to be square at the non-striker’s end and therefore be the individual responsible for monitoring no-balls. Historically the square-leg umpire might have adjudicated for stumpings and run-outs but, in the days of TV replays, that isn’t so relevant. At international level, at least, Pollock’s idea would seem to have plenty of merit. Equally, however, you would think the TV umpire might be able to check the front foot every delivery.Ultimately, though, the players – and the coaching team – have to take responsibility. And while England’s ODI squad have proved they can all but eradicate overstepping – they famously went more than 10,000 deliveries without conceding a front-foot no-ball in ODI cricket – in Test cricket it continues to hurt them. Consider, for example, Jack Leach’s ‘dismissal’ of Steve Smith on 118 at Old Trafford – Smith went on to make 211 after replay showed Leach had overstepped – or the fact that Mason Crane, Ben Stokes, Tom Curran and Mark Wood all thought they had taken their first Test wickets only to have them withdrawn after replays showed they had bowled no-balls.Perhaps there has to be more rigour involved in training sessions, too. It is, at present, routine to see England’s bowlers overstepping in the nets. Instead of getting into good habits, grooving their run-up so it eradicates such faults, they invariably bowl several inches over the line. With such a large touring party, there is no reason England could not have unofficial umpires involved in net sessions calling the bowlers for no-balls as required. Equally, the fielders at mid-on and mid-off might keep an eye on their bowlers’ front feet and let them know if they are in danger of overstepping.Stuart Broad was left to rue his no-ball•Getty ImagesEqually, England do not currently have a full-time specialist bowling coach with them following Chris Silverwood’s promotion from that position to the head coach role. There are rumours that Jon Lewis, the former Gloucestershire seamer who is now coach of the England Under-19 side could get such a job – he has a strong relationship with Jofra Archer, which is probably helpful – but for now it remains vacant.James Anderson has shown what can be achieved. He has bowled 40 no-balls in his entire Test career – which is pretty impressive given he’s bowled more deliveries than any other seamer in history but, since the Adelaide Test of 2013 – more than 2,000 overs ago – has bowled only four. If he can do it, so can the others.Despite the no-ball episode, England could feel well satisfied with their day’s work. Broad enjoyed the bounce, Anderson struck twice with the second new ball and Sam Curran claimed two big wickets with the old ball. The dismissal of Quinton de Kock, fooled by a slower ball, would have been particularly pleasing.And while the figures may look underwhelming, Dom Bess enjoyed a really good day. His job, in these circumstances, was simply to bowl dry at the end offering bowlers little assistance and allow his captain to rotate the seamers from the other end, which offered some variable bounce. He did it well, too, conceding around two-an-over for most of the day and gaining the bonus wicket of Dean Elgar when he tried to disrupt England’s plans. For a 22-year-old called up at short notice, it was a performance that spoke volumes for his character as much as his skill.In no small part thanks to him, England have their noses in front in this match. On a pitch already offering a bit of variable bounce, batting last might be prove tricky and South Africa would have hoped for a sizeable first innings lead. Had Broad not overstepped, however, England’s advantage would be significantly greater.

From 'poor' ICC rating to match abandoned: timeline of a troubled MCG pitch

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

A difficult two years for the MCG pitch has continued with a Sheffield Shield match abandoned

Andrew McGlashan08-Dec-20195:18

What’s the fuss about Drop-In pitches?

December 2017The Ashes Test turned into a bore draw on a pitch that started without much life and got even more lifeless. Alastair Cook enjoyed it with 244 not out, but few others gained much from spectacle. The ICC rated the pitched “poor”, the first time an international surface in Australia had been given that mark, which effectively put the ground on notice over its future pitches. The pitch had been overseen at a time when the MCG was between head groundsman with Matt Page, who had been announced as David Sandurski’s replacement, yet to begin his role. The 2017-18 season would finish without a single outright result in a first-class match at the MCG.October 2018Under Page’s watch, attempts were made to bring life back to the MCG’s drop-in pitches. In the first part of the domestic season there was an innings win for Victoria (during which Marnus Harris scored 250) and draws with South Australia (which would have been a positive result but for a final-day washout) and Western Australia with a good spread of totals from 159 to 445.ALSO READ: ‘Unplayable’ MCG pitch was a ‘genuine’ risk to playersDecember 2018Details emerged of the long-term planning being put in place by Page to try and rejuvenate the pitch, updating the old-school drop-in pitch technology used at the ground to match those used at the Adelaide Oval – which had managed to produce entertaining drop-in surfaces – and the new Perth Stadium.”It may take us three to five years to get there, in terms of projects we want to knock off, but the Melbourne Cricket Club management have been really supportive of that and have been prepared to do whatever it takes to get to that overall goal,” Page said. “What emerged was these are the sorts of wickets we want to be renowned for in terms of giving everyone a chance. How do we go about doing that? As a part of that, it was seen that we need to look at what’s sitting under the wickets in the middle, how can we improve our wicket nursery, and then how do we start measuring pitch performance.”The pitch which forced the Sheffield Shield match to be called off•Getty ImagesDecember 2018A year on from the Ashes, the Test against India produced a result – a handsome 137-run victory for the visitors – but the pitch did not pass with flying colours. It was more the excellence of Jasprit Bumrah, with a great spell on the third day, that hastened the game forward after India had ground out 7 for 443 at 2.61 runs per over. The ICC rated the surface “average”, so not at the alarming level of 12 months previous but an indication there was still work to be done.November 2019After extensive work leading into the 2019-2020 season, the surface for the first Sheffield Shield match of the season received positive reviews for the pace and carry on offer for the quicks while legspinner Mitchell Swepson had a big say in Queensland’s victory. The match against New South Wales fizzled out into a draw because of rain over the last two days although Victoria captain Peter Handscomb believed more still needed to be done.”[The] MCG pitch hasn’t deteriorated for 10 years,” he told the . “So I think we need to start making the game accelerate at the start of it, maybe make it a bit greener like it is in Hobart where the game accelerates at the start and then becomes a good batting wicket after that. But that’s up to the groundsman and see how they go.”December 2019The opening day of the match against Western Australia was suspended in the 40th over after batsmen repeatedly took blows on the body with deliveries rearing from a good length and the match subsequently abandoned. The issue was understood to stem from how soft the surface was when play began; the fast bowlers created divots with their deliveries which then led to uneven bounce as they hardened. This was not the pitch due to be used for the Test against New Zealand.

Commitment from BCCI, players has kept Test cricket on top in India – Kohli

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The Indian captain pointed at the incentivised contracts for Test-only players, and how well they in turn had responded

Varun Shetty in Kolkata21-Nov-20193:02

Kohli weighs in on the future of Test cricket

A day ahead of India’s first day-night Test, India captain Virat Kohli has acknowledged the growing on-field disparity in Test cricket between boards that can afford to prioritise Tests and those that cannot. India’s first pink-ball Test approaches amid continuing debates about the stature and appeal of Test cricket, and Kohli took the opportunity to point out that the main reason India are the No. 1 Test team is because of the “commitment” shown towards the longest format by BCCI and players.”You could say that,” Kohli said on Thursday at the Eden Gardens when asked if one half of cricket was getting stronger and the other weaker. “I can’t speak for another team or another board on how they look at Test cricket and how they want to manage it. But from our point of view, and the BCCI point of view, the only discussion we’ve had over the last two-three years is how we can keep Test cricket right up there, and that takes the commitment of the board, firstly. And secondly the total commitment of the players wanting to do everything that’s required to keep the standards of Test cricket high.”In the current ICC FTP (Future Tours Programme) from 2018-2023 India play 51 Tests and only England (59) play more. By comparison, Australia play 47 Tests, New Zealand 38 and Ireland 13 Tests in that same period.But a big challenge many boards are facing is to make domestic cricket lucrative for their players. West Indies were among the first to feel the pinch, and have only recently made small strides towards fixing the issue. More recently, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been on the receiving end of an alarming rate of player exits to pursue Kolpak deals in English county cricket, and has struggled to scale its flagship T20 tournament, the Mzansi Super League, into a premium product. And players in Pakistan have been unhappy with reduced salaries in their domestic system.Newly-elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said within days of taking office last month that he would prioritise the financial health of first-class cricketers in India, and announced that a contract system would be put in place. Kohli pointed out that this sort of support was vital.According to Kohli, the BCCI incentivising Test-only players with healthy contracts had played a pivotal role in India’s success in the longest format. “If you look at how exciting as a team we’ve been over the last two-three years it tells you in the way people come and watch us play as well. It is a partnership of the board and the players moving in one direction. If you look at our contracts system as well, a lot of importance has been given to Test cricketers. I think all things have to coincide and I think every cricket nation that has done that are invariably the ones that are playing strong Test cricket.”Their hearts and minds are totally in sync with keeping Test cricket on top. Everything has to be taken into account. You can’t tell the players you have to be committed to playing Test cricket but contractually we won’t do anything for you. Because we’re professional players, we earn a living as well. As long as Test cricket is displayed or said to be the most important format, everything around that has to happen in the same manner.”Virat Kohli leads the Indian team off the field•BCCIIn 2018, the Indian national team’s annual retainers were significantly boosted, and a new top-tier added for players who play in all formats. That category, A+, was worth at least thrice the previous highest retainer price. Valued at INR 7 crore (approx. US$ 1 million), it also meant significant boosts for the grades below. Grade A, at INR 5 crore (approx. US$ 770,000) currently consists of Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, and Ajinkya Rahane, alongwith other multi-format players. The raise also lifted the lowest grade contract, Grade C, to INR 1 crore (approx. US$ 140,000), which is what Wriddhiman Saha and Hanuma Vihari make.The BCCI took the decision when it was being governed by the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators. The CoA approval came on the back of negotiations with senior players including Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and the senior coaching staff including former India head coach Anil Kumble.In 2017, captains of Australia (Steven Smith then), England (Joe Root), and India (Kohli) made at least US$ 1 million in salaries. But the disparity was abundantly clear in the fact that the fourth-highest paid captain, Faf du Plessis, made about 40% of those figures at worst, with a US$ 440,000 contract. In the same year, Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer stood to earn US$ 86,000.”Speaking from our team’s point of view, that was our main goal – how can we tell the Test players you guys are the most important,” Kohli said. “Because the other formats are taking care of themselves anyway. You have so many people coming up and playing white-ball cricket but Test specialists are very difficult to find. Only someone who has gone through the grind for five-six years in first-class cricket, and are still continuing to do so, are the ones that eventually make it.”So yeah, the players need to be taken care of but at the same time the players need to respond in a manner that they’re giving 120 percent every Test match. I think as long as teams are willing to do that, and cricket boards are willing to do that, Test cricket will always be on top.”On the field itself, the game has looked to innovate, such as with day-night Test cricket. But Kohli is wary – as are Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar – of the fact that pink-ball cricket is but a small step.”Yes it is great to create a buzz around Test cricket, the first three-four days here [Eden Gardens] are sold out, which is amazing, ” Kohli said. “But I think Rahul mentioned this recently that if we have a Test calendar, where the series and the Tests are fixed, then obviously it’ll bring a lot more system and a lot more sync into people planning their calendars as well.”It can’t be random, saying you never know when a Test is going to arrive. If you have centres marked and you have Test calendars marked then obviously people will have a better system as to how they are getting to those Tests – people are not going to leave work and come to a Test match if they don’t know what’s going on. They can plan in advance, like you plan for anything in life.”

A brief history of pink-ball cricket

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

While talks of day-night Test cricket began in the late 2000s, a decade on, only Australia has fully embraced the concept

Dustin Silgardo20-Nov-2019The beginning
In the late 2000s, amid growing concern over dwindling viewership for Test matches, the idea to have day-night Tests began to gain popularity since scheduling ODIs and T20s in the evenings seemed to bring people through the turnstiles and also attract a larger TV audience.ESPNcricinfo LtdDay-night Tests would allow part of the game to be aired at primetime and also allow people to attend the evening session, which is usually after work.The mechanics
Research began on how to make day-night Tests work. The ball would need to be changed as red might be harder to spot under floodlights. There were experiments with yellow, orange and pink balls, and there was even a suggestion to play with an improved white ball that could last 80 overs with the players wearing coloured kits.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe roadblocks
As expected, there was push-back from the traditionalists, who believed that with ODIs and T20s already in existence, the longest form of the game should be left untouched.The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the Lord’s Test against Bangladesh in 2010 would be played under lights with a pink ball in use, but their plans were scuppered when the two counties they requested to trial the pink ball in a four-day match, Durham and Worcestershire, refused to do so. “I was not keen. It was a first-class match and I thought we should retain the game’s integrity,” Durham coach Geoff Cook had said.Pink-ball firsts around the world•ESPNcricinfo LtdThe first breakthroughs
As is often the case, women’s cricket got the jump on the men’s game, with the pink ball being trialed in an England v Australia women’s one-day match in 2009. Soon after, in January 2010, a first-class match between Guyana and Trinidad &Tobago in Antigua began in the afternoon and was played with a pink ball.ALSO READ: Pink-ball firsts around the worldThe ECB finally got their trials, with the 2010 Champion County match between previous season’s champions, Durham, and the MCC being played under lights in Abu Dhabi and then Canterbury hosting a pink-ball Division Two County Championship match in 2011. The Pakistan board trialed an orange ball in the 2010-11 final of their premier first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and switched to a pink one in the 2011-12 final. South Africa and Bangladesh both experimented with pink balls in 2012 and 2013, and in 2014 an entire round of Sheffield Shield matches in Australia were played with a pink Kookaburra ball.Getty ImagesThe first pink-ball Test
The first-ever day-night, pink-ball Test was played in Adelaide in November 2015. It turned out to be a low-scoring thriller, with Australia beating New Zealand by just three wickets on day three. With extra grass left on the surface to minimise damage to the pink ball, pace bowlers thrived, particularly at twilight, when the ball swung prodigiously. Cricket Australia declared the event a success and laid out their plans to host more pink-ball Tests. A survey of Australian fans revealed 81% of them would like to see every Test at Adelaide have an afternoon start. The Test also set an attendance record for a non-Ashes Test at the ground.ESPNcricinfo LtdPink ball becomes fixture in the Australian calendar while others experiment
Since the first pink-ball Test, there have been ten more, with four in Australia alone. Adelaide now exclusively hosts day-night Tests, with the only exception being the 2018 match against India. The Indian team had refused to play with the pink ball citing lack of experience with it. The Gabba has hosted two, and Perth has one scheduled for 2020.Dubai, where crowds for Tests are usually sparse, has hosted two day-night Tests, in 2016 and 2017; and there has been one each in England (England v West Indies, Edgbaston, 2017), South Africa (South Africa v Zimbabwe, Port Elizabeth, 2017), New Zealand (New Zealand v England, Auckland, 2018) and the Caribbean (West Indies v Sri Lanka, Bridgetown, 2018).Getty ImagesIndia arrive late to the party
Worries about the evening dew, what an SG pink ball might behave like, a lack of reverse-swing and the visibility of the ball were among the main reasons the BCCI was reluctant to jump aboard the day-night Test wagon until recently. A pink ball was trialed during the 2016 Duleep Trophy and received mixed reviews from the players. While the selectors and several former India cricketers, among them Sourav Ganguly, encouraged India to have further trials with the pink ball and plan to host Tests with it, the board disagreed. India refused not only to host day-night Tests but also to play them away.ALSO READ: FAQs: What’s the big deal with pink-ball Tests?The BCCI had a dramatic turnaround in their stance on pink-ball Tests after Ganguly was elected president in 2019 and made it one of his first items of business. A pink-ball Test between India and Bangladesh was scheduled for November 21 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.The potential of pink
Every pink-ball Test so far has had a result. The ball, which is said to swing a bit more, the greener pitches required for pink-ball Tests, and the twilight period that tends to claim several wickets – possibly due to the batsmen having to adapt from natural light to the floodlights – have all played a role.Initial fears that the pink ball may tip the scale too far in favour of the bowlers have been somewhat quelled. While pink-ball games in Australia still tend to be low-scoring, those in Dubai, England and New Zealand have all seen 400-plus totals.Getty ImagesAre day-night Tests here to stay?
So have day-night Tests fulfilled their chief purpose – to increase viewership? Australia, the only country to fully adopt the pink ball, report excellent viewership numbers for day-night Tests and their board has been encouraging other countries to try them. There has been reluctance, though: England have not hosted a day-night Test since 2017, insisting they get healthy crowds for Tests anyway; Pakistan decided not to schedule a day-night Test in the UAE in 2018, believing day Tests to be better for their spinners in the conditions; and South Africa and Bangladesh have both stated they will not be hosting pink-ball games, mainly due to concerns over the ball.The results of India’s pink-ball experiment could have significant consequences on all teams. Should India make day-night Tests a regular feature of their home season, other touring countries may follow suit or risk not having enough experience with the pink ball.

Kyle Jamieson hits the high notes to bring India down

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Tall fast bowlers tend to struggle with pitching the ball up, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for NZ’s debutant

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Wellington21-Feb-20202:17

Last couple of weeks have been surreal – Jamieson 

It helps to be six feet and eight inches tall. It can be the first step to a promising basketball career, and Kyle Jamieson could have gotten pretty far playing that sport – though he says his “jump height is not the greatest”. Having to choose between two sports in high school, when juggling them “just became quite full-on”, he chose cricket.Jamieson was more of a batsman growing up – his father Michael says batting outweighed bowling 60-40 in those days – and he’s already shown glimpses of his potential as a lower-order contributor, clattering 101 against an English attack that included James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood in a tour game, and putting on an unbroken 76 with Ross Taylor for the ninth wicket, on his ODI debut.But he’s now a bowler first, a six-feet-eight-inches fast bowler. There are things a six-eight fast bowler can do that others cannot, and on Friday at the Basin Reserve, he did those things often. There were two balls, for instance, that climbed almost vertically at Ajinkya Rahane, lifting him off his feet. Rahane was batting on 10 when he got the first of them, and he rode the bounce as best as he could, played the ball as close to his body as he could, with the softest hands he could summon up, and kept the ball down despite only managing to meet it with his handle.The second came when Rahane was on 24. He’d already faced 71 balls by then, and had negotiated difficult conditions – it was green underfoot, grey overhead, and the wind blowing across the ground was frequently causing the trees lining the grass banks to judder violently – with utmost serenity. But this ball from Jamieson, springing up towards his neck, shook him out of his sure-footed ways, causing him to twist awkwardly in midair, with eyes off the ball and hands rising instinctively to protect his face.

“I think as a tall guy, naturally your length is further back, but over time you get used to trying to bring it a little bit fuller.”Kyle Jamieson

The ball hit his glove, or arm guard, or both, and ballooned over a desperately backtracking wicketkeeper and ran away for four.There was plenty of bounce to be extracted from this surface, and Jamieson was extracting every little drop. It was effortless bounce, reminiscent of Morne Morkel at his scariest, even if Jamieson isn’t nearly as quick.”I guess it just comes from a steeper angle,” Jamieson said at the end of the day’s play. “I guess not as quick as what some of the other guys are around the world, but I think still my short ball is a weapon, from the height that I can bowl it.”The ability to extract this sort of bounce had been Jamieson’s ticket to play this game. Neil Wagner, New Zealand’s one-of-a-kind short-ball specialist, was unavailable, and the team management could have picked either Jamieson or the more experienced Matt Henry in his stead. Henry, though, is a swing bowler much like Tim Southee and Trent Boult, and New Zealand wanted a third seamer with a point of difference.So here Jamieson was, providing that point of difference. Except that wasn’t all he did.Kyle Jamieson is pumped up after getting rid of Virat Kohli•Getty ImagesAt Test level, tall quicks who turn the pitch into a trampoline can often struggle for wickets despite routinely making batsmen look uncomfortable. They’re often told to try and pitch the ball fuller, so that they can threaten the stumps, or kiss the edges that they so often zip past, but to go away from your natural length, and to do it without losing your pace and venom, is difficult. Just ask Ishant Sharma. Or the aforementioned Morkel.On Test debut, Jamieson shifted his length forward and back effortlessly, without floating the ball up or losing his line, and he made it sound just as simple as he made it look.”Yeah, look, I guess with my height, I can afford to go a fraction fuller, especially out here as well, with the extra bounce,” he said. “I was trying to, I guess, make guys commit to play off the front foot. I think in my second spell, the first half of it, there was a lot of balls left on length, so it was just how do you commit them on the front foot, especially if it does swing or seam, then you’re a chance of bringing the edge in.”I think as a tall guy, naturally your length is further back, but over time you get used to trying to bring it a little bit fuller.”It was just one day’s work, of course, in near-perfect fast-bowling conditions, and that day was curtailed by rain. We can only really judge Jamieson the Test bowler when he’s built up a proper body of work, but as far as first impressions go, this was most encouraging.The best length a fast bowler – any bowler, really – can bowl is the shortest one that still draws the batsman forward. Jamieson hit that length time and again at the Basin, bowling from fairly wide on the crease, angling the ball into the right-hander, and every now and then getting it to straighten off the pitch.One such delivery in his first over beat both Cheteshwar Pujara’s outside edge and the top of off stump by what seemed like millimeters. Pujara did everything right while defending it, playing the angle, protecting his stumps, playing close to his body and not letting his hands get drawn towards the movement. He had to do everything right to survive it.Kyle Jamieson bowls on Test debut•AFPIn his third over, he bowled a similar delivery, only slightly fuller, and Pujara nicked it despite once again doing most things right.Not a bad first Test wicket, and the second was of a reasonably good player too. It was one of those Virat Kohli dismissals that leave you scratching your head, the thick edge while driving away from his body at a ball that’s nowhere near full enough, but it’s also the kind of dismissal that makes you wonder about all the times he middles drives just as far from his body and off just those lengths.It wasn’t the shot for the circumstances – 40 for 2, first day of a Test series in difficult conditions – but the ball also straightened off the seam, and had Jamieson’s extra bounce. Also consider what happened off the previous ball, a short one that made Kohli spring onto his toes to defend it.Push him back, then bring him forward, knowing there’s a chance he may not come as far forward as he should.There was a similar sequence of deliveries later on to Hanuma Vihari, and an edged drive fell just short of gully. Then, in his next over, Jamieson bowled one a fraction too full, and Vihari drove it back past him, holding his pose. Jamieson corrected his length beautifully next ball, pitching it on a fullish but not easily driveable length, and shifting his line outside off stump.Vihari’s set-up at the crease is built for driving down the ground and through midwicket, but not so much for the front-foot cover drive, because his head doesn’t really get over the ball when he plays the shot. He went for it anyway, perhaps still feeling the rush of the shot he’d played off the previous ball, and missed.Vihari survived through to drinks, but not the first ball after the mini-break. It was much like the ball that had dismissed Pujara, angling into the batsman, drawing him forward, straightening just enough. If Jamieson keeps bowling that length and that line, over after over and match after match, and gets a little bit of help every now and then from the conditions, he could have quite a career.

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