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David Warner and Usman Khawaja will both miss next week’s Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand

Brydon Coverdale22-Jan-2017David Warner will be rested for the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand, while Usman Khawaja will also not be part of the squad as he heads to Dubai early for a training camp ahead of the Test tour of India. Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh have both been called in to a 14-man squad for the the three games in New Zealand, and are likely to form the opening combination.

‘Got my mental approach wrong’ – Finch

Following his recall to the ODI side, Australia opener Aaron Finch – who had been dropped for the Pakistan series – had said he has worked on getting his mental approach to batting right.
“I’ve had my most success in the shortest two formats of the game,” Finch said. “I was coming off playing in England where I was ultra-aggressive and tried to dominate the game. I took that too far into the last couple of series internationally.
“When you’re batting with Warner at one end, and Steven Smith at No. 3, it puts pressure on you mentally. You think you have to keep up with these guys, and instead of giving yourself 10-20 balls to take your first risk, I was doing it after four-five balls. I got my mental approach slightly wrong. It’s a roller-coaster to get dropped, you see your career going down the drain. You think your career is over. But you can’t kick cans over it.”

They are the only changes from the current squad taking on Pakistan in an ODI series that concludes at Adelaide Oval on January 26. Allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who was brought into the squad to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh but has not yet played a game against Pakistan, has been retained, along with the young fast bowler Billy Stanlake.Warner has not missed a match for Australia in any format since the second half of the one-day tri-series in the West Indies in June, when he flew home with a fractured finger. From the start of the Test tour of Sri Lanka in July until now, Warner has played all 29 matches that Australia have played across all formats, and is the only man to have done so during that period.”David has had a very big summer and will benefit from a break in cricket, both mentally and physically,” the interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said. “He will travel to Dubai in the second group of departures to coincide with those players arriving from the one-day series in New Zealand.”This gives Aaron an opportunity to return to the side. His form in the Big Bash League has been very good and he has earnt his recall. With Usman heading to Dubai in the first group of players this provides Shaun with a chance to get back into international cricket following his injury earlier in the summer.”Khawaja’s early departure for the training camp in Dubai comes as Australia seek a way to turn around his form in Asia: in four Tests in Asia (all in Sri Lanka) he has 115 runs at 19.16, while across all nine first-class games he has played in Asia he has 389 runs at 32.41. Matt Renshaw, Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird will join Khawaja in the early departure.That group will depart for Dubai on January 30, with the remainder of the Test squad to leave on February 5, after the conclusion of the Chappell-Hadlee Series. The first ODI in Auckland takes place on Monday next week – four days after the last ODI against Pakistan in Adelaide – and the series then moves on to Napier and Hamilton.Squad: Steven Smith (capt), Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Billy Stanlake
In: Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh
Out: David Warner, Usman Khawaja

Steve Patterson and Duanne Olivier share four wickets as Sussex are pegged back

Alan Gardner23-Apr-2021 Yorkshire 150 and 163 for 5 (Lyth 66, Ballance 36*, Carson 3-35) lead Sussex 221 (Haines 86, Patterson 4-26) by 92 runsYorkshire and Sussex were grappling for the ascendancy as their match threatened to dissolve into a three-day dogfight at Hove. Yorkshire’s lead was approaching three figures, with the reassuringly solid figure of Gary Ballance booking in for an overnight stay, but Jack Carson, Sussex’s 20-year-old offspinner, snapped up three second-innings wickets – including that of England captain Joe Root – to keep tails wagging in the home dressing room.Yorkshire’s fightback began with the ball, Duanne Olivier and Steve Patterson collecting contrasting four-fors as Sussex lost their last seven wicket for 53. Adam Lyth then made his third half-century of the season, to go with two centuries, as Yorkshire overturned a 71-run deficit. But, having carved out a slender advantage through another solid opening stand, a middle-order wobble during the evening session, which included the much-prized wicket of Root, left the game in the balance… and the Ballance.With Sean Hunt unable to bowl after sustaining a side strain, an even greater weight fell on the shoulders of Ollie Robinson, Sussex’s attack leader and a man with the bit between his teeth in pursuit of higher honours. Robinson sent back Lyth during a searching spell but that was his sole success, while George Garton could not find his first-innings spark despite claiming the wicket of Harry Brook.Garton let slip on the first evening that Robinson had gone into this match declaring his intention of bagging Root twice, as a means of pushing his case to win a Test debut this summer. In the end, he only managed to bowl a total of four balls at the England captain, before Carson had an appeal upheld for caught behind – not that Root appeared to agree with Paul Pollard’s decision.Carson wasn’t hanging around, taking off on a dash across the square – “I went for the old Alan Shearer wheel-away, I couldn’t really contain my excitement” – and he celebrated each of his wickets with abandon. “Bowling to someone of that calibre, a little bit of nerves can creep in, but the off stump’s still the off stump, doesn’t matter who it is,” he said. “It’s just about trying to land it in there as much as I can and let the wicket do the rest.”Born in Northern Ireland but on Sussex’s books from the age of 11, Carson has impressed with his flight and control in only his seventh first-class match. Tom Kohler-Cadmore was deceived into walking past one to be stumped and Jonny Tattersall edged to slip late in the day; Carson also saw Lyth dropped at deep square leg off a drag-down. With increasing purchase for spin, his success could point to a pivotal role for Dom Bess in the fourth innings.For the second day running, it seemed as if Lyth would be the story. At the age of 33, the left-hander may be unlikely to add to his seven Test appearances, but in passing 50 for the fifth time in six innings he continued a fine start to the season. He began this round of the Championship as the competition’s leading run-scorer and, although David Bedingham’s double-hundred at Chester-le-Street has relegated him to second spot, he was within sight of 500 for the campaign when Robinson speared one into his front pad.Related

• Daniel Bell-Drummond hundred drives Kent's fight for survival

• George Garton finds the fire as England's bigwigs head for the seaside

• Olly Stone's pace rocks Essex to send Ashes signal

• Mohammad Abbas targets Pakistan recall after taking County Championship by storm

• Centurions Danny Lamb, Luke Wood put Lancashire in command with record partnership

No one has scored 1000 first-class runs before the end of May since Graeme Hick in 1988 – although Nick Compton came close nine years ago, when rain at Worcester delayed him from reaching four figures until June 1. But with five more rounds of the Championship to be played after this one, and runs flowing around the country, there could be several challengers to join a select group, which includes WG Grace, Wally Hammond, Don Bradman and Glenn Turner, as well as Hick.Although Lyth managed a tally of 108 runs in this match, and Tom Haines held Sussex’s first innings together with 86, wickets have fallen in rat-a-tat salvoes throughout, with pace on offer for the seamers and just a smidge of turn.The day began calmly enough, as Sussex programmed their TomTom to steer them into a first-innings lead. Tom Clark was the more fluent, clipping back-to-back fours off David Willey and swatting away Olivier’s short stuff, while Haines set about grinding towards what would have been a third first-class hundred in seven innings. But, having gone past Yorkshire’s first-innings 150 three down, the contest suddenly came to life during the second hour.First Olivier found some inward movement from round the wicket to pluck Clark’s off stump though the gate. In the subsequent over, from the Sea End, Bess finally gained reward for his early-season toil as the left-handed Haines was bowled attempting to cut a delivery that drifted in and cramped him for room. It was Bess’ first wicket since joining Yorkshire permanently, in his 84th over, and brought a roar of relief – possibly followed by a wince of discomfort, due to a rib problem sustained on the first day.Bess made light of the issue to send down 25 overs, taking 1 for 55 – modest figures but useful enough in the first innings and indicative of the control he gave Yorkshire as they attempted to parlay a way back into the game. They might have been more impressive still, had Ben Brown, the Sussex captain, not taken him for five fours in 17 balls, including a trio of reverse-biffs to the short boundary.Olivier picked up his fourth of the innings when Delray Rawlins spooned a drive into the covers, where Root threw himself for a diving catch, but Sussex rallied through Brown, only to then lose their last four wickets for the addition of nine runs. Patterson, the “Beverley Flyer”, chugged in from the Cromwell Road End and found a troublesome spot on a length to have Brown lbw and Robinson castled first ball, before coming back after lunch to round up the rest for spick-and-span figures of 4 for 26.

Shiv Thakor and Tom Taylor achieved personal milestones to put Derbyshire in a strong position on a rain-shortened second day of the Division Two match with Kent at Derby

ECB Reporters Network23-May-2016
ScorecardShiv Thakor’s century lifted Derbyshire (file photo)•Getty Images

Shiv Thakor and Tom Taylor achieved personal milestones to put Derbyshire in a strong position on a rain-shortened second day of the Division Two match with Kent at Derby.Thakor’s 130 was his first century for Derbyshire and his highest score in the Championship while Taylor made a career-best 80 as the pair added 150 in 31 overs to set a new club record for the seventh wicket against Kent.Matt Coles was the pick of the Kent bowlers, finishing with 5 for 116 from 34.5 overs and, in reply to Derbyshire’s 492, the visitors were 79 for 1 when a downpour wiped out most of the final session.Kent’s hopes of quickly polishing off the Derbyshire innings soon faded as Thakor and Taylor continued to play with freedom on a pitch which offered little encouragement for the bowlers.Thakor survived a confident appeal for a catch behind down the leg-side off Calum Haggett on 92 but there were few alarms as the pair batted through the first 20 overs of the morning. Taylor again looked the part with the bat, cutting Haggett for four to reach his maiden first-class 50 and take Derbyshire to maximum bonus batting points for the first time this season.But all the attention was on Thakor, who this season has started to show the quality that marked him out as such an exciting prospect at Leicestershire, and his celebrations when he square cut Haggett for the four to go to three figures showed just how much it meant to him.It was his second Championship century against Kent and he was only four short of his highest first-class score when he gave James Tredwell the charge and was stumped by Adam Rouse.”It was nice to get that hundred but more importantly a very good first innings total,” Thakor said. “We’ve got 19 wickets to take now and that’s the most important thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely feeling but it will mean a lot more if we get those wickets over the next two days and get a win.”Taylor had gone five overs earlier, chipping Adam Ball to cover, but their partnership had swung the game in Derbyshire’s favour and left Kent with a lot of batting ahead of them to stay in the game.Although the pitch had flattened out, the new ball was always going to be a test for the Kent openers and Derbyshire were rewarded for sustained accuracy when Ben Cotton removed Daniel Bell-Drummond in the 10th over. He was squared up by a ball that bounced and left him but it still needed brilliant reactions and agility from Tom Poynton who changed direction to take the catch diving across in front of first slip.Another wicket then would have left Kent on the ropes but Sean Dickson and Joe Denly showed sound judgement and application to bat through the rest of the afternoon. Dickson pulled a loose ball from legspinner Matt Critchley for six but Derbyshire’s bowling was disciplined and the second wicket pair scored only 61 in 24 overs and when the rain arrived shortly after tea, Kent were still 412 runs adrift.Tredwell said: “They played really well, perhaps we didn’t bowl as well as we would have liked, and they started pretty well and made it hard for us to score so the morning session becomes crucial tomorrow. If we can get through that first hour and then start to build a good score then we’ll see how the game pans out after that.”

Karnataka coach J Arunkumar believes taking “tough selection calls on seniors” and decision back youngsters despite the match-by-match scrutiny has transformed Karnataka from an ‘almost there’ side to a team that won successive Ranji Trophy titles

Shashank Kishore in Kolkata23-Oct-2016Fourteen years ago, Robin Uthappa, a teenage batsman who came with the reputation of being Karnataka’s batting future, replaced J Arunkumar in the state side before the start of the domestic season. Arunkumar, a senior player and part of Ranji Trophy-winning sides in 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99, was aggrieved and turned professional, playing for Assam and Goa before retiring in 2008. Four years later, when he took on a coaching role with Karnataka, Arunkumar found himself in the same position as the selectors were in 2002-03, having to take the “brave call” of dropping seniors.This decision, Arunkumar believes, has led to the renaissance of Karnataka cricket, taking them from an ‘almost there’ side to back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. It is a process he is prepared to stick to as Karnataka look to reclaim the title they lost in 2015-16. They have begun promisingly this season, with a win and a draw from two matches.”It was tough, but [there were] very conscious decisions to replace senior players like KB Pawan, Ganesh Satish and a few others,” Arunkumar, who is now head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “That call was a must then because the team management was mindful of the bigger picture. By that I mean, by 26-27 if a cricketer wasn’t playing for India A at least, chances of the national cap were remote. We didn’t want a situation where a player is just happy playing state cricket and then going away. It was a bold decision we took when asked to present a roadmap for the state team, one that has worked wonderfully so far.”Arunkumar said the decision to part with senior players put tremendous pressure on the youngsters, with some of them scrutinised on a match-by-match basis. When Arunkumar took over as batting coach before the 2012-13 season, KL Rahul was not a regular in the side. Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Gopal had not made their first-class debuts. Manish Pandey was far from national reckoning and Uthappa was struggling with form and fitness after being left out of the India team.Rahul, for example, made his first-class debut in 2010, but was dropped after three matches. It took him two more years to re-establish himself. Nair, too, failed in his first two matches. “There was pressure not to give more chances, but as coach, you have to go by instinct, and I went with my heart,” Arunkumar said. “Even someone like Karun Nair did well in only his third game.”A lot of times I have seen, and I say it from experience, that some players are slow starters. As a coach you have to give them the confidence. You need to be transparent and straightforward, you can’t be manipulative and get away; you will be sorted otherwise. We were in fact extremely lucky to have a core group in such quick time that the two championship wins brought many of them in national focus.”The national focus brought with it new challenges. The price Karnataka have paid for being so successful over the past couple of seasons is that they have lost players to the national or India A teams at various stages. While it is a matter of pride, Arunkumar said the challenge lay in handling fame and remaining grounded.”Luckily we’re in a good position where those who have played for India realise the need to not take things lightly when they return,” Arunkumar said. “That is the challenge for us as coaches to bring out the best in them. There is an inclination to not give 100% sometimes, but we have given everybody ownership and authority to take their decisions, else coaches will be made to look like prison wardens. That’s what we were taught in 1995-96 when we won the Ranji Trophy.”In 2015-16, Karnataka suffered from the after-effects of another aspect of national-team ambitions. Senior players Uthappa and CM Gautam had a “small misunderstanding” over their roles in the side because of the split wicket-keeping policy that stemmed from Uthappa’s desire to press his case as a keeper-batsman for India, a role he had fulfilled with Kolkata Knight Riders.”CM probably missed out on an IPL contract because of that, but all that is in the past now,” Arunkumar insisted. “CM lost a bit of credibility because no one saw him as a wicketkeeper, but he did it for the team. Robin himself realised it was affecting team chemistry. So this season we decided to let specialists handle their own jobs.”With the team set to remain on the road for the next three months, Arunkumar believes bonding between the players will be vital when wins are elusive. “They’re all mostly friends even outside the cricket ground,” he said. “They plan bike rides, movies, treks and outings during the off season. We all regularly meet for dinners during the season too. We’re even allowed to have a couple of beers from time to time to celebrate victories. As a coach, you can’t be imposing and set team rules and curfews. The boys understand where to draw the line, so it’s fine.”

Dale Steyn’s absence from the Hobart Test will mean an inclusion for either Kyle Abbott or Morne Morkel, with Abbott seemingly the more likely candidate

Firdose Moonda08-Nov-2016Kyle Abbott looks set to step into Dale Steyn’s shoes in the second Test in Hobart, ahead of Morne Morkel and new call-up Dwaine Pretorius. With Morkel yet to be declared fully match fit following two months on the sidelines with a back injury and, Pretorius only due to jet in once he receives confirmation of a visa, without saying it in so many words, coach Russell Domingo indicated Abbott could complete the three-man pace pack.”We’ve got two options at the moment. Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel,” Domingo said. “Morne is coming off a back injury. We’ll assess him two days before the Test and make the call on whether he is 100% fit. Kyle Abbott is a consistent solid performer and has been every time he has come in.”We need to weigh up what type of bowler we want to use under the conditions in Hobart, because I think they are different to what they are here. It’s a fascinating series because all three venues have totally different conditions. I’ve never been to Hobart, I’ve heard its cold and the wickets are a little New Zealand-like, a little slower.”At the WACA pace and bounce provided what Kagiso Rabada called a “bowler’s paradise,” but, as Domingo said, cold, wet weather in Tasmania is unlikely to assist in the preparation of anything similar in the second Test. That may mean the pacemen have to play more defensive roles which could mean bowling longer spells. Morkel was initially left out because of concerns he would not be up for that and even though he is making progress, Abbott is regarded as more of a workhorse.South Africa are unlikely to change from their usual combination of three seamers and a spinner, Keshav Maharaj. After a debut Test in which Maharaj had to do more than he may have bargained for in a three-man attack and did it well, and performed impressively with the bat, Tabraiz Shamsi will wait for his turn.”Keshav Maharaj’s performance has been nothing short of phenomenal considering it was his first Test,” Domingo said. “He allowed seamers to have breaks when they needed to and I see him playing a massive role for this side going forward”Still, without Morkel, South Africa’s attack can be seen to lack a certain superstar status; after all Morkel and Steyn were long regarded as the golden pair. Philander proved he deserves the respect he earned when he first came in, with the way he stepped after up after Steyn went down, and Kagiso Rabada is quickly establishing himself as the leader of the attack, a label he prefers to distance himself from. But names like Abbott, Maharaj and Pretorius mean South Africa’s bench is stacked with so-called unknowns and their ability to step up to the biggest stage is what has pleased Domingo.”We’ve won some games of late without some of the best players in the world. We don’t have AB de Villiers and we’ve put in some wonderful performances. At the end of the day, they are all wonderful players,” Domingo said. “We’ve got some really good young players coming into the system and some really good young players back home. We are trying to focus on the group we have at the moment and trying to get the best out of them at the moment.”Domingo, like du Plessis had done pre-series, played down suggestions that de Villiers would make a surprise return for Adelaide after the captain told a radio station he hoped to fast-track his recovery from elbow surgery. “He has been caddying for a mate at a golf tournament,” Domingo said. “I don’t think he is going to be fit for Adelaide.. I am not a doctor but I can’t see AB being being there.”That means the batting line-up will continue to demand more from Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock, who have made up for inexperience with impressive temperament. De Kock has already been compared with Adam Gilchrist and if Stephen Cook’s misfiring goes on for much longer, he may be moved to the top temporarily.South Africa also have Rilee Rossouw in hand should they want to experiment, and Pretorius’ batting ability to add depth lower-down if they are unsure about the length of the tail. Pretorius has scored four half-centuries in five innings in the domestic first-class competition which put him ahead of candidates like Duanne Olivier, Marchant de Lange and Hardus Viljoen to head Down Under.

Both sides will be led by captains who are new to the role in Mitchell Santner and Shadab Khan

Danyal Rasool17-Dec-2020

Big Picture

Pakistan haven’t played much cricket in the month since they set off for New Zealand, but that doesn’t mean this tour hasn’t been among the headlines. After three weeks of acrimonious quarantine that included positive Covid test, isolation breaches, threats from New Zealand that Pakistan were on their final warning and counter-threats of Pakistan returning home anyway – the series getting off the ground at all is something of a relief. Which is nice, because in these somewhat cricket-starved times, few boards can bear an expensive cancellation – just ask Cricket South Africa. More importantly, the cricket promises to be really, really good.Of course, Kane Williamson will be missed in the first T20I by New Zealand, still absent following the birth of his first child. In fact, there are several high-profile absentees for the hosts, with Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and the injured Lockie Ferguson all absent from a notably inexperienced 13-man squad. That might allow Pakistan to look upon the game as an opportunity to start the tour well, though the red-hot Glenn Phillips and experienced hands of Martin Guptill and James Neesham ensure the batting line-up is not entirely wet behind the ears.

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Mitchell Santner will hope for his first complete international as captain after the third T20I against the West Indies was ruined by rain. But it’s the other spinner in the squad, Ish Sodhi, whose contribution may prove of greater consequence. The hosts are fresh off a clutch 2-0 T20I series win against a West Indies side that on paper appears to pack a greater threat than Pakistan, and Sodhi was pivotal to the second win. Varying his flight and pace expertly, he conceded just 26 in his four overs in a game where Southee, Santner and Neesham each went at over 12, and New Zealand themselves managed 238. One such spell in a high-scoring T20I could well turn the game around once more.Perhaps all those absences put together don’t quite make up for the extent to which Pakistan will miss Babar Azam, ruled out of all three T20Is in a huge blow for an already unfancied visiting side. Their squad has its own quota of young players, but doesn’t necessarily correlate with inexperience in their case. Shaheen Afridi is an all-format world-leading bowler despite his tender years, while 22-year old stand-in captain Shadab Khan has morphed into an exciting all-rounder.Mohammad Hasnain and Wahab Riaz should enjoy the pace and bounce Eden Park offers. Mohammad Hafeez appears to have reinvented himself more times than you might care to keep track of, and his form could be a crucial barometer for Pakistan’s showing in the series. And in Haider Ali and Khushdil Shah, Pakistan possess the sort of insouciant power-hitters each elite side needs to have to be competitive at the top in the modern game.

Form guide

New Zealand WWLT(L Super Over) T (L Super Over) (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWWL

In the spotlight

After comments by Haider Ali that he’d been told to somewhat rein in his attacking instincts, you can feel sure the closest thing to his counterpart in the New Zealand side, Glenn Phillips, will absolutely not be doing any such thing. Having decimated the West Indies with the fastest T20 hundred by a New Zealand batsman (46 balls), Phillips spoke about the joy of “producing freedom in my performance”. That is the philosophy that has allowed Phillips to emerge as perhaps the most lethal attacker in New Zealand’s batting line-up. Having followed up those exploits with a first-class hundred for the A side, Phillips is not going to have a shortage of confidence.With Babar Azam forced out, Shadab Khan finds himself thrust suddenly under the microscope as his stand-in. Having shaken off a niggle of his own, he will be fit to lead the international side out for the first time in his career. That may bring about its own pressure on a tour where there’s enough of it already, but the 22-year old has led Islamabad United for a couple of years now, and has that experience to draw on. It goes without saying his stint with the ball will be pivotal, but perhaps the more interesting question surrounds what position he may come out to bat after enjoying a power-hitting role in the top four with Islamabad this season. He was immensely successful at it, and should he back himself to reprise that role on Friday, watch out for an absorbing tactical battle.

Team news

With most of New Zealand’s absences in the bowling department, how they line up on that front should be interesting. There could be a debut for 26-year old Otago quick Jacob Duffy, with Scott Kuggeleijn and Blair Tickner partnering.New Zealand (possible): 1 Martin Guptill 2 Tim Seifert 3 Devon Conway 4 Glenn Phillips 5 Mark Chapman 6 James Neesham 7 Mitchell Santner (capt) 8 Todd Astle 9 Ish Sodhi 10 Scott Kuggeleijn 11 Blair Tickner/Jacob DuffyPakistan’s biggest decision is the way they go about replacing Azam at the top of the order. Hafeez may be promoted, but with young opener Abdullah Shafique in the squad, Haider and Shafique could make for a fresh pair at the top.Pakistan (possible):: 1 Haider Ali 2 Abdullah Shafique 3Shadab Khan (capt) 4 Mohammad Hafeez 5 Iftikhar Ahmed/Faheem Ashraf 6 Khushdil Shah 7 Mohammad Rizwan 8 Imad Wasim 9 Wahab Riaz 10 Haris Rauf 11 Shaheen Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Eden Park has one of the shortest boundaries in world cricket, as well as one of the flatter surfaces for T20 cricket. Expect a run-fest, with no chance of rain playing spoilsport.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won on the two most recent occasions these sides have played at Eden Park, with New Zealand’s only win coming 10 years ago in 2010.
• Hafeez needs 41 more runs to overtake Shoaib Malik as the highest run-getter for Pakistan in T20Is.
• Santner and Sodhi have each played the same number of T20Is (47) and taken the same number of wickets (54).

England’s fixtures for the 2017 home season have today been confirmed, with South Africa and West Indies lined up for full tours in a busy summer that will also feature the ECB’s hosting of the Champions Trophy in early to mid-June

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2016England’s home season in 2017 has been confirmed as the longest in their international history, after the ECB announced a glut of fixtures spanning 148 days and featuring both the earliest start date, May 5, and the latest finish, September 29.South Africa and West Indies are lined up for full tours in an unprecedented summer that will also feature the ECB’s hosting of the Champions Trophy in early to mid-June, and the women’s World Cup between June 26 and July 23..The previous earliest start to an English summer was May 6, when England and West Indies embarked on that summer’s first Test at Lord’s. The latest finish also involved West Indies, when they beat England in the final of the Champions Trophy on September 25, 2004.England men’s summer will be launched by a two-match ODI series against Ireland, at Bristol and Lord’s on May 5 and 7, before the arrival of South Africa’s ODI squad for three matches – at Headingley, Ageas Bowl and Lord’s – on May 24, 27 and 29, which will serve as warm-up fixtures for the Champions Trophy, which opens with England’s match against Bangladesh at the Kia Oval on June 1.

England’s 2017 schedule

• May 5, 1st ODI v Ireland, Bristol
  May 7, 2nd ODI v Ireland, Lord’s
  May 24, 1st ODI v SA, Headingley
  May 27, 2nd ODI v SA, Ageas Bowl
  May 29, 3rd ODI v SA, Lord’s
  Jun 1-18, Champions Trophy
  Jun 21 v SA, 1st T20, Ageas Bowl
  Jun 23 v SA, 2nd T20, Taunton
  Jun 25, 3rd T20 v SA, Cardiff
  Jul 6-10, 1st Test v SA, Lord’s
  Jul 14-18, 2nd Test v SA, Trent Bridge
  Jul 27-31, 3rd Test v SA, The Oval
  Aug 4-8, 4th Test v SA, Old Trafford
  Aug 17-21, 1st Test v WI, Edgbaston
  Aug 25-29, 2nd Test v WI, Headingley
  Sep 7-11, 3rd Test v WI, Lord’s
  Sep 16, Only T20 v WI, Durham
  Sep 19, 1st ODI v WI, Old Trafford
  Sep 21, 2nd ODI v WI, Trent Bridge
  Sep 24, 3rd ODI v WI, Bristol
  Sep 27, 4th ODI v WI, The Oval
  Sep 29, 5th ODI v WI, Ageas Bowl
  

After the tournament, which concludes with a final at The Oval on June 18, England and South Africa play three T20Is – including their first international fixture at Taunton since 1983 – before attention switches to seven Test matches in the space of 67 days.South Africa are lined up for four matches, starting at Lord’s on July 6 then proceeding to Trent Bridge, The Oval and Old Trafford, before West Indies commence a three-Test series on August 17.That opening fixture, at Edgbaston, has been mooted as England’s first home day/night fixture, although the ECB as yet has not clarified its status. Further matches are scheduled for Headingley and Lord’s, before a one-off T20I followed by five ODIs, with the home summer set to finish at the Ageas Bowl on September 29.”With three different international teams coming here next summer and this country playing host to two major ICC global events – the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup – there will be a feast of international cricket to excite us in England and Wales,” said Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive.”Both the international and the domestic schedule will have a different shape to previous years. And the early season block for the Royal London One-Day Cup – with a new mid-season date for its Lord’s final – will support both England’s ICC Champions Trophy preparations and our longer term planning for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019. It will also allow players to focus skills on the white ball game and help more people to understand the structure of the season.”It promises to be a memorable summer of cricket for all our international grounds and a particularly special one for Somerset CCC which will host its first England men’s fixture for more than thirty years; a great opportunity for the county to further capitalise on its strong support for England women’s cricket in recent years.”Edgbaston will once again host NatWest T20 Blast Finals day while the Royal London One-Day Cup Final has been brought forward from its traditional mid-September date to a new mid-summer slot in early July.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann’s contract has been extended until October 2019, with succession planning to be a key part of his role over the next three years

Daniel Brettig01-Aug-2016Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann will mentor the national team until the 2019 Ashes series in England before making his exit, with succession planning to be a key part of his role over the next three years.Lehmann’s contract has been extended until October 2019 by Cricket Australia, having previously been elongated until next year. Since his appointment on the eve of the 2013 Ashes series, Lehmann has guided Australia to home Test victories over England, India, New Zealand and West Indies, away defeats of South Africa and New Zealand, plus lifting the 2015 World Cup, also at home.However, a heavy away loss in the UAE to Pakistan, the surrender of the Ashes in England last year and a surprising defeat to an unfancied Sri Lanka in Pallekele last week make it patently clear that Lehmann still has plenty of work ahead of him to advance Australia’s claim to the title of the world’s undisputed best team. In addition to the multiple retirements that followed last year’s Ashes, Lehmann’s support staff have changed considerably in the past six months, offering him fresh faces with which to work towards those goals.”The board have actually seen that we are doing okay as such, barring the result in the Test [at Pallekele], but looking forward to the next few years in charge and hopefully getting some wins in the sub-continent, first and foremost on the agenda, but developing the side as we are,” Lehmann said. “We have a different coaching group now coming in and the players are refreshed and I am looking forward to the challenge.””I suppose the big one on everyone’s lips is the sub-continent – we certainly have to improve there. Ashes is a big home and away and, obviously, the World Cup. They are the big ones for us, as everyone knows, but you have got to try and win every games you play. For us, we just have to get better playing in all conditions.”Probably the spinning ball on the sub-continent [is our biggest challenge] you would think. Swinging ball – a lot has been made of the England swinging ball and we won a couple of Test matches this time, albeit we lost the Ashes and the wickets they produced were very seam friendly. End of the day, that is the way cricket goes. For us, it is probably more the sub-continent conditions at the moment, getting prepared for that obviously with the next two Test matches here and then India at the back end.”With typical frankness, Lehmann replied “I would think it would be, yeah” when asked whether the extended tenure would mark the completion of his time as coach. Between now and then, Australia face a tour of India, a Champions Trophy, another home and away Ashes contest and a World Cup in England. The newly-appointed assistant coach David Saker, recent interim coach Justin Langer and Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie will be among the candidates to eventually replace Lehmann.”We’ll give those guys opportunities along the way. As I’ve always said, it’s the best job in the world. I love the job. But it’s a job you can’t do forever either,” Lehmann said. “So whatever opportunities we can give to the guys along the way we certainly will do. And then it’s up to the board what they do from there and the high performance department.”I think you’re judged on results most of the time all around the world not just on the subcontinent. I think you’ve got to play well and win a lot of games of cricket basically as a coach. That’s what players have to do, that’s what coaches have to do in any sport. You’ve got to hopefully keep getting the results that makes it a lot easier.”The rapid improvement of the national team’s results under Lehmann when first appointed three years ago arguably saved the jobs of more senior CA figures including the team performance manager Pat Howard and the chief executive James Sutherland. They have not yet forgotten this fact, allowing Lehmann the rare privilege of extending his role and also planning well in advance for life afterwards.This is a world away from the attitude the board once held, that Lehmann was too much of a maverick to be entrusted with a coaching job. Howard emphasised Lehmann’s standing as a popular figure in Australian cricket and an influencer of the global game, in explaining the decision.”We wanted certainty and stability for the playing group with both the coach and assistant coach contracted as we build towards the Ashes series and the 2019 World Cup,” Howard said. “Darren has had great success in the role and he and the National Selection Panel deserve a huge amount of credit for taking a relatively young side to number one in the world in two of the three formats.”What often goes unseen is how big of a supporter Darren has been of the wider cricket system in Australia and that is crucial to the long term sustainability of Australian cricket. The commitment he shows to the role goes far broader that of the Australian men’s team and extends into the global support of the game through his work on the ICC Cricket Committee.”

A relaxed mindset, and the help of senior pros Rohit, Pujara and Ashwin, were keys to India’s come-from-behind victory

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2021Ajinkya Rahane has credited the collective leadership that he shared with vice-captain Rohit Sharma and senior players Cheteshwar Pujara and R Ashwin for India being able to come back from behind in the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli and take the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-1 series win in Australia. All four players, Rahane says, took greater responsibility upon themselves to instill belief and confidence in an inexperienced India team.Rahane took over the captaincy when Kohli went home on paternity leave following India’s defeat in the first Test in Adelaide, where they were bowled out for 36 in the second innings. Rahane’s first message to the dressing room was clear: the Adelaide defeat was a closed chapter.”I told them that topic should not be discussed at all,” Rahane told , a leading Marathi daily. “The fact that we got all out for 36 is not any mistake. We should just accept it and move on. No point going in depth and thinking about it because the [next Test] match was immediately starting in three days. My only message was: it happened in one hour. They [Australia] played good cricket. Such things happen once in a century. The faster we accept this happened and move on, that is good for us.”Related

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Rahane also told his players that it made no difference to him if people outside were writing India off, and that it shouldn’t bother the other players either, going into the second Test in Melbourne. “It is a good opportunity for us to stay and play as one. Whatever the result, especially after the Melbourne Test or at the end of the Test series, does not matter. Outcome is the last thing. What I wanted was we should come together and play as one, that was my priority.”Sharma, who played the last two Tests, Pujara and Ashwin were Rahane’s three key sounding boards. All four players are close friends on and off the field having begun their international careers at roughly the same time. Their closeness allowed them to talk openly and help each other.Success with the ball helped R Ashwin gain confidence with the bat as well•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

How Rahane gave confidence to Ashwin and PujaraWhile Kohli brings the team together with his intensity and energy, Rahane prefers doing it with a quiet word shared with his team-mates. In the Indians’ first warm-up match against Australia A, Ashwin made 8 and 5. According to Rahane, the bowling allrounder was worried about his batting – he had come into the tour with just two 30-plus scores in his last 19 Test innings.”Our discussion started from the [first] practice match itself,” Rahane said. “Ashwin got out early and was sitting alone. I told Ashwin, please do not take tension about your batting. There are times when you think too much about your batting. His record as a batsman is pretty good. When things are not going well, obviously you start brooding about your batting not going well. I told him, you just focus on your bowling.”With your bowling you can win us matches. He bowled well and I feel that reflected in his batting [later in the series]. My responsibility was to get his focus on his bowling. He bowled well and that confidence showed in his batting.”Rahane said he explained to Ashwin that the more “desperate” he was to do well with the bat, the more disappointed he would get if he failed. “Desperation does not work. I told him to play 40-50 balls while batting without thinking about it. And that is what happened. I did not say much to him. All credit should go to Ashwin. I told him, too: your bowling is going so good and consequently, mentally, you are very relaxed and that is why you are batting well [now]. And where we wanted him, he did perform [with the bat] in Sydney.”Batting with a bad back, Ashwin helped India save the Sydney Test with an unbeaten 39 off 128 balls.Pujara was another key match-winner who received a quiet word of support from Rahane when voices in the media including former players and captains were questioning his scoring rate. Pujara faced 928 balls across the series, wearing Australia’s bowlers down cumulatively, and his final-day half-centuries proved crucial to India saving the Sydney Test and winning in Brisbane.”I told Pujara, you play your game,” Rahane said. “You don’t change your game (at all). Others will play around you.”Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara were two of Ajinkya Rahane’s key sounding boards•AFP via Getty Images

‘Take responsibility but enjoy it without pressure’As a captain Rahane is yet to lose a Test match. He is a calm character at most times, and during the Australia series he made sure to remind himself to continue enjoying the game when he took over the captaincy, and not let himself get bogged down by the pressure of the responsibility. “I told them we are two or three seniors in the team. That does not mean we have to take the pressure. Let’s enjoy our cricket, enjoy our batting. And then we will take the others along with us. Many times what happens is when you say there is responsibility then you put pressure on yourself. In my mind I knew we had to take the responsibility: but enjoy it while you take it, not with pressure.”That joy and freedom is what Rahane said enabled him to bat himself into a “zone” during his 112 in India’s first innings in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, which allowed the visitors to take vital lead and eventually win the Test. “That innings in Melbourne I was enjoying as a batsman. I was enjoying the pressure situation. I have walked in to bat many times in the past when India were 20 for 3 or 40 for 3, but the situation in Melbourne was totally different. I told myself while batting: ” (go on), you enjoy every ball. Enjoy each situation. Enjoy every run. What has to happen will happen.” Because of that I went into the zone while batting.”According to Rahane, by the time India entered 2021 with the series level, he felt more confident also because he found support from his deputy, Sharma, who had missed the first two Tests while completing rehab on a hamstring injury picked up during the IPL. Having been team-mates since the age-group days in Mumbai cricket, Rahane and Sharma had complete trust in each other. Rahane admitted that Sharma played a big hand in sharing leadership duties. “The big advantage is Rohit’s experience. My job became easier, since if I could not pay attention to every player, I would ask Rohit to deal with that.”Having played together so much cricket, if we felt any of the players in the Indian dressing room was down, we thought how we could make that person stand up and perform. Hence we could easily discuss such things.”‘We talk about cricketing gods – it is there somewhere’Over the course of the series, India lost a number of key players to injury. By the time India landed in Brisbane, their options had dwindled to nearly zero, and they eventually picked a five-man bowling attack whose most experienced member was playing his third Test match. After the series victory, Ravi Shastri, India’s had coach, had praised Rahane for remaining calm while handling such an inexperienced line-up. How did he do it?”I felt that there is an opportunity somewhere in all this,” Rahane said. “As a player we always aspire to play for the country. So I told them that you cannot get any bigger opportunity than this. If we do good here as a team, what will happen in the future we cannot even imagine. All those who got the opportunity, all of them did well. And, importantly, they did well because there was no pressure on them. They could play freely.”As a captain I was feeling bad that some players had missed out [due to injury], but I also thought whoever comes in, it was a big opportunity for them. Whatever the resources were available, how we could give them confidence and make them help the team do well was my main aim. Again, the result was not the motive: win or loss was not in my mind. The only thing in my mind was play good cricket and give them [Australia] a fight on the ground. Because of that only the result has come. There is some supreme power somewhere. We gave respect to cricket. We talk about cricketing gods – it is there somewhere. It was surreal and a fairytale ending.”

Pakistan Test opener will continue to stay in Karachi as he has been advised against travelling as a precautionary measure for two weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2021Pakistan Test opener Abid Ali has begun his rehabilitation after undergoing two angioplasty procedures last week.He has been discharged from the hospital and since shifted to a hotel where he has begun his post-surgery rehabilitation. He will continue to stay in Karachi, away from his home in Lahore, as he has been advised against travelling as a precautionary measure for two weeks.Abid, 34, was withdrawn from a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match abruptly after he complained of chest pain while batting on 61 against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last week and was taken to hospital. He was diagnosed with a case of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and underwent a stenting procedure in his artery.Related

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On Monday he tweeted a video that showed him walking on a treadmill. “Alhumdulilah, getting back in the momentum as per the doctor’s instructions,” he wrote. “A big thank you for the immense love and support shown by my family, friends and followers. I will recover soon. Keep praying.”The PCB medical team is liaising with an interventional cardiologist in Karachi to follow up on Abid’s treatment as he is a centrally contracted player and one of the key fixtures in the Pakistan Test line-up. He recently had a successful outing in Bangladesh, where he was Player of the Series after scoring 263 runs at 87.66.In Karachi, he was playing for Central Punjab in his sixth first-class game this season and had scored 778 runs at an average of 86.44 with three hundreds. On the last day of a game at UBL Complex in Karachi, he had crossed a half-century when he had shown discomfort around his shoulder and chest area before he was rushed to the hospital.Abid has been the highest run-getter in Tests for Pakistan since his debut in 2019, and in 2021 he is fifth in the world with a tally of 695 from nine matches, including a double-hundred against Zimbabwe in Harare. He made his debut in Rawalpindi in 2019 after spending 12 years in domestic cricket for 7116 runs in 106 first-class games. He made his Test debut at the age of 31 and began with a century, and also became the only player in history to reach three figures on both Test and ODI debuts.Neither the PCB nor Abid has made any comment yet about his future in the game. The PCB refused to divulge the exact nature of his medical condition but previously James Taylor, the former England batter, was forced to retire from cricket immediately after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition called ARVC (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy).