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There were the makings of a full Broad ‘streak’ before rain brought an early tea, but this was the quick bowler at his menacing best

Andrew Miller at Lord's12-Aug-2018Four slips, leg slip, leg gully. Short leg. Silly mid-on. Silly mid-off. Two wickets in the over already, including a hat-trick of referred appeals. Virat Kohli back in the hutch and an intermittently soggy Lord’s now crackling like a heath fire. This was the Stuart Broad Effect. This is what it means to bend a Test-match innings to your will.Nobody in contemporary world cricket gets on a roll quite as remarkably as Broad. The signs that he is about to soar are as exhaustive as a final cabin check before take-off. Knees pumping: Check. Nostrils flared: Check. A mild sense of grievance after an excruciatingly near-miss: Check. And most importantly of all, a Test series that is begging to be seized: Checkmate.On seven occasions in his Test career to date, Broad has claimed five wickets or more in a single stunning spell, and had it not been for a merciful flurry of rain that allowed India to scarper for an early tea, that would surely have been eight today. Without exception, those previous interventions had come with the series still in the balance – most notably in three home Ashes deciders in a row from 2009 to 2015. Today’s break may have broken Broad’s rhythm (or more accurately his trance), but by then – and for the first time since the Johannesburg Test in 2016 – the contest had been snapped like a piece of kindling.”As a powerful performance, it was right up there,” said Broad. “We know we got the best of the conditions, but when we got them, there was a lot of skill in the side. When you get the ball swinging you can chase the game.”I was actually gutted when that rain arrived,” he added. “At Lord’s when you get those clouds it can zip quite late and it was really doing that, but when we came back after the tea break the clouds had lifted slightly, so that was a real shame because I was feeling in a great rhythm.”For Joe Root, England’s captain, all he had to do was harness that whiff of cordite, and keep it wafting underneath his bowler’s nose. “You have to make sure you don’t over-attack and get too giddy,” said Root. “But ultimately when someone is in that frame of mind, in that zone, it doesn’t really matter where you put the fielders. You know they’re going to ask the right questions, make it very difficult … it’s a lovely feeling to have as captain.”Broad’s fires had been ignited from the moment he returned for his second spell. Cheteshwar Pujara immediately aimed a loose swipe outside off, before Ajinkya Rahane inside-edged past his stumps two balls later. It was all the encouragement he needed to pick those knees up a touch higher and keep pounding that same sixpence of turf, just outside the right-hander’s off stump. In his very next over, Rahane’s resolve was splintered by consecutive deliveries that scuttled then kicked from the same awkward length. A fence to Keaton Jennings’ right at second slip, and Broad had been cleared for blast-off.”It was great,” said Root. “In his second over, he came up to me and said ‘I feel in really good rhythm today, and I’m looking forward to a long spell’ – which is exactly what you want to hear from one of your senior bowlers.””He didn’t disappoint – he bowled exceptionally well in those conditions, and it must have been very difficult to come up against that.”Stuart Broad’s spell before tea on the fourth day at Lord’s•ESPNcricinfo LtdThat is putting it mildly. Broad, like England’s other outstanding bowler of the week, Chris Woakes, endured a rough Ashes series – a loss of snap in his wrist exacerbated by nagging worries over his long-term heel injury – and he went into the New Zealand leg of England’s winter with his role as James Anderson’s new-ball partner under scrutiny, if not his overall place in the side.But in spite of a relative paucity of wickets in the first three innings of the series, the threat that went missing in Australia has been handsomely restored in the off-season – most notably thanks to some long and solitary hours of technical fine-tuning in the Trent Bridge indoor school ahead of the New Zealand Tests. According to Cricviz, Broad’s average speed this year has been a sharp 84.3mph, the fastest he’s clocked since 2011, and at an average length of 7.1m, he’s been bowling roughly a foot fuller than at any stage in those preceding seven years too.The upshot was a detonation of India’s resolve – once again epitomised by the extraction of their captain Kohli. Struggling with a back strain that all of India will hope is as much a metaphor as an ailment, Kohli survived one referral for a leg-side strangle, but not the next, as another Broad lifter flicked off the glove and into Ollie Pope’s outstretched hands at short leg.That wicket of Kohli meant, of course, that for the fourth innings in a row, the most prized scalp of the series had eluded the one bowler who hankers after it more than any other. But with overall match figures of 9 for 43 in 25.2 overs, as well as his 550th Test wicket, his 100th at Lord’s, and his 99th in Anglo-Indian contests, more than any other bowler in Test history, James Anderson won’t exactly be heading to Trent Bridge feeling short-changed.”He’s a special, special commodity, isn’t he?” said Root. “He’s something that doesn’t come along very often and we’ve got to enjoy him while he’s around. There’s been chat about his longevity but, at the minute, he’s bowling better than he ever has before. Even though the conditions suited him, you’ve still got to put the ball in the right area and ask the right questions of the batters. Throughout the whole game he did just that, he set the tone well with Stu, and as a whole bowling group we were really, really good.”For all that Broad has had his ups and downs in recent times, there was never an outright suggestion that he’s past his prime at the age of 32 – while Anderson, at 36, has arguably entered a period of zen-like mastery that will surely, finally, quieten those doubters who claim that his lack of equivalent impact in non-swinging conditions is a reason to disqualify him from the ranks of the all-time greats.Broad’s admirable indifference to what anyone other than his team-mates think of him means that any such debate about his status is irrelevant. And yet, as he slipped past Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock into the all-time top ten of Test wicket-takers, it was another reminder of how fortunate England are to have two such titans in their ranks, and how crucial it will be to ensure they remain at the top of their game for as long as their bodies will allow.”I think that’s something we will have to manage, and will have to take into account the workloads over the next three games,” said Root. “But when they’re performing as they are, and making the game shorter, it makes it a lot easier for them to be fit and be ready to play in the next game. If there are, it’s a great position to be in.”

Plays of the day from the first ODI between Bangladesh and England

Mohammad Isam at Mirpur07-Oct-2016The early breakSoumya Sarkar was marking his position at deep square-leg in the first over despite the fact some 30 minutes earlier at the toss, Mashrafe had confirmed that Soumya had been dropped for the first time in his international career, making way for Imrul Kayes. The confusion ended when it was noticed that Taskin Ahmed was missing among the fielders. He had apparently taken a comfort break, which meant that he missed the first two overs of the innings. There was no problem in making up time as he only came to bowl in the 25th over.The cheekBen Duckett lived up to his billing with his 60 in his debut innings, although Ben Stokes’ strokeplay at times made you forget that another bright left-hander was at the other end. But Duckett did have his moments during their 153-run fifth wicket stand, and one of them came in the 27th over when he shimmied towards off stump to lift the fast bowler Taskin Ahmed over the wicketkeeper’s head for a boundary. The newcomer’s presence of mind was laudable.The first dropWhen Stokes slammed one towards mid-on in the 31st over, here was Bangladesh’s chance for a major breakthrough. Stokes and Duckett had added 108 runs to that point and a wicket could had stopped Bangladesh’s sliding fortunes. Instead, Mahmudullah dropped a straightforward chance off the Stokes bunt and the home side’s fielding disintegrated. The ball was struck hard but it was right into Mahmudullah’s lap after he made a little ground to his right. Unfortunately, his fall to complete the catch resulted in the ball getting out of his control.The last strawThe Bangladesh bowlers didn’t offer much more than a scowl after Mahmudullah and Mosharraf Hossain managed to drop three chances between them, and catches fell between fielders twice. But Taskin had had enough when Tamim Iqbal and Mosaddek Hossain made a royal mess of a skier in the 49th over. Miscommunication was to be blamed as Mosaddek, who had the catch within his reach, didn’t go for it. Taskin screamed in anger, as his bowling stint ended wicketless.The hole in oneImrul’s intent was shown straight away when he deposited Chris Woakes into the stands at deep square leg. It was so well struck, that the ball got lodged into an advertising hoarding on the second level of the grandstand. A volunteer needed to climb up and fetch the ball, which took some finding. He took delight in doing so, while Woakes waited for the retrieval.The (other) captain’s approvalAs David Willey was sizing up a fiercely struck pull from Sabbir Rahman at deep midwicket, England’s Test captain Alastair Cook was standing nearby over the boundary rope. Willey completed the juggling act brilliantly, converting the half-chance into a timely breakthrough and removing Sabbir. Cook, meanwhile, was still standing in his spot but now he was celebrating with a clenched fist and a grin in his face.The freebieImrul batted splendidly until he had reached 98 off 104 balls, at which point Willey literally gifted him the hundred with four overthrows that, while close to effecting a run-out as he struck the stumps, could have been avoided. Willey undid a bit of his good work on the boundary to get rid of Sabbir. Imrul meanwhile was relieved to reach the landmark, his first in ODIs after six years.The missed sitterImrul’s first life, as such, was in the 40th over when the England captain and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dropped a sitter off his top edge. Imrul was getting tired at this stage and when Jake Ball had bounced him, the attempted pull was a weak attempt. But what was even weaker was Buttler’s attempted grab, as he dropped the ball while trying to appeal for the caught behind.

ICC chief executive David Richardson speaks about the need for context in bilateral cricket, the creation of qualifying leagues, and ongoing research on technologies in the DRS

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi30-Jul-2015Can you shine some light on the research being carried out at MIT on the various technologies used in the DRS?
Engineers from the field intelligence unit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] have been commissioned to independently assess the performance of the technologies used as part of the DRS system. The technologies can be classified in two categories – ball-tracking and edge-detection. The engineers are in the process of building an apparatus to assess the performance of each type of technology at the moment and the results so far look promising. It is likely that the edge-detection apparatus will go through its final tests shortly, and the ball-tracking apparatus is more likely to be ready later in the year.Why are you doing this? Assuming the technologies are shown to be accurate, do you think this will persuade those against DRS to accept it?
Television, ball-tracking and edge-detection technologies have developed and improved significantly since the DRS was first introduced. New technologies are being developed all the time. One concern about DRS, particularly from the players’ and umpires’ perspectives, is that the various technologies used for DRS in different series are not standardised. Our long-term aim is to have one officiating system used across all international matches.In the short term, our aim is to get the DRS working as effectively as possible. The process to achieve this is firstly to test the technology, and secondly, once the results of the testing are known, review the procedures and protocols to ensure they are appropriate. At the end of this process, we should have identified the best officiating system using technology to suit the needs of cricket, and we would hope that all members would want to use it.Are the people who are opposed to the use of DRS just the BCCI or are there others?
The significant majority are in favour of using technology in the decision-making process in international cricket. BCCI is the only Full Member who is currently opposed to the use of DRS in international cricket. The BCCI’s opposition is mainly because they believe the technology is still not fool-proof and that decision-making should be left to the umpires, not the players. There are some other members who choose not to use DRS for their home series, but these are for cost reasons.What is your timeline?
We are hoping to have the testing apparatus finished in the next few months, and then to schedule testing with the technology providers towards the end of this year. Part of the testing will also involve at-match assessments of the technologies, and there are discussions with one technology provider about the first of these assessments taking place next month. We are hoping to be able to provide a full report to the next ICC Cricket Committee meeting in May next year, at which the Committee can review and determine the optimum process and protocols for the DRS going forward.After the ICC annual conference you had said that one of the key issues to be discussed at the October round of the ICC board meetings would be the subject of bilateral series. What were you concerned about?
This is actually something the ICC has wrestled with ever since I joined the organisation back in 2002 – looking at ways in which additional context can be created around the Future Tours Programme [FTP]. Bearing in mind that all members have different scheduling priorities, it has proven challenging to get consensus. The FTP is determined by bilateral agreements entered into between the Members. The results of matches in each series count towards the ICC Test, ODI and T20I rankings, which provide some context, both in themselves and in relation to qualification for the ICC events.However, the international cricket landscape has changed over the years and even more significantly in recent times with the advent and success of domestic T20 leagues such as the IPL, the Big Bash and the CPL. These events are attracting widespread support from fans and hence the interest of broadcasters, sponsors and other commercial partners. Similarly the interest in and value of ICC events such as the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and World T20 has grown significantly over the last eight years or so. The increase in interest in ICC events and domestic T20 leagues effectively provides competition for the interest in bilateral international cricket series [FTP series].Apart from series such as the Ashes – which has an iconic, traditional status – and series between India and the top Full Members, many bilateral series are perceived as having little relevance. Attendances in most series, especially for Test cricket, have fallen and the revenues generated from these series are not growing.Discussions are ongoing as to how this issue can be effectively addressed. How can we grow interest in bilateral series – bigger crowds, more people watching on television, following the series on their phones, tablets and computers? For this to happen, bilateral series need greater context, a clear narrative, improved marketing and a more certain and coordinated schedule. What’s the use of scheduling a series in the monsoon season, or how can you expect to grow the fan base or attract attendances if series are scheduled or changed at the last minute? Australia has the Boxing Day Test, South Africa (more often than not) a New Year’s Test in Cape Town, everyone knows when the Lord’s Test will take place. But elsewhere? India should have a Diwali Test, Barbados maybe an Easter Test, and so on.

“What’s the use of scheduling a series in the monsoon season? How can you expect to grow the fan base or attract attendances if series are scheduled or changed at the last minute?”

How do you make bilateral series more relevant?
Ideas and concepts such as “less is more”, scheduling of more tri-series, creating a brand around the FTP and around individual series, creating a fresh brand for the ODI format itself (World Cup cricket, for example, as Wally Edwards is proposing), creation of Test or ODI World Cup qualifying leagues. These are all ideas that need to be considered and discussed.They have been mooted before, but now with the involvement of Mr Srinivasan as chairman, the BCCI, ECB, CA and the other members, these issues are being seriously looked at.Can you expand on the idea of creating leagues?
Not at this stage, we are just in discussions at the moment. Michael Holding has spoken about a Test league of two divisions. Others have previously suggested a “six and four” teams format. But first the principles and then the detail needs to be debated and agreed.So would leagues replace the rankings?
The debate on leagues is still in the drawing-board phase, but even if leagues were introduced, the rankings would still co-exist. The ICC rankings will always be there. Take international football, for example. They have qualifying leagues for the FIFA World Cup and continental tournaments, separate to the world rankings.Concerning the ODI rankings, recently there was a raging debate on Bangladesh’s qualification for the 2017 Champions Trophy despite them recording handsome wins against stronger opponents Pakistan, India and South Africa. Why does the qualification deadline need to be in September, nearly two years before the tournament?
If we are using rankings as the qualification criterion for an event, it will obviously make sense to make the cut-off date as close as possible to the start of the event itself so as to create more relevance to those matches leading up to the event. However, various operational requirements, such as the determination of venues and ticket sales, do require that the participants and the match schedule of the event are determined a reasonable time out from the start of the tournament. Going forward we will make an effort to determine cut-off dates as close as possible to the start of the event.The MCC recently recommended a 12-team World Cup. Yet the ICC remains reluctant about expanding the number of teams in the World Cup. Why?
The main reason behind the decision to move to a ten-team ICC Cricket World Cup was because it was felt that it would provide the best event – the pinnacle, showcase event for the 50-over format. The 10 best ODI teams with all matches providing the highest-quality competitive cricket. It is essentially the same format as the 1992 Cricket World cup, which many say was the best ever World Cup format.The format will generate the optimum level of revenues for the benefit of all members, and importantly, it gives added profile, value and relevance to the World Cup qualifying pathway i.e. the ODI rankings and the CWC qualifier tournament.It should also not be forgotten that below the CWC qualifier tournament the ICC funds and stages a World Cricket League, which goes down to six divisions, and various regional qualifying events which provide a clear pathway for Associate and Affiliate Members to qualify for the CWC.”The BCCI’s opposition is mainly because they believe the technology is still not fool-proof and that decision-making should be left to the umpires, not the players”•Getty ImagesBut in a way doesn’t that – limiting to ten teams – counter the comment made by the ICC chairman, N Srinivasan, after the annual conference, where he spoke about broadening the game’s reach?
No. The decision on the ICC Cricket World Cup format was made for the reasons mentioned. But it should be viewed in the context of a number of other decisions aimed at growing and developing the game: the decision to increase the number of teams in the ICC WT20 event from 12 to 16 teams; the decision to promote the top two ranked Associate Member teams (Ireland and Afghanistan) to the ODI FTP; the decision to make qualification for the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the World T20 events based solely on merit, rather than membership status – for example, both Ireland and Afghanistan could qualify directly for the 2019 World Cup by being in the top eight ranked ODI teams at the relevant cut-off date, or if they don’t they still have the chance of qualifying through the qualifying event to be held in 2018. The decision to break the glass ceiling of Test cricket by allowing Associate Members the opportunity to qualify to play Test cricket; the decision to target the better performing Associate Members by providing greater financial and other resources.In 2000 there were 52 Members of ICC. There are now 105. In 2000 there were less than 155,000 participants in the countries outside of the Full Members. There are now more than 1.4 million. The game needs to continue to grow both in Full Member countries and non-Full Member countries.The ICC’s objective over the next four years is to increase the number and quality of teams capable of playing at the highest levels in all three formats of the game.So what is happening to the top Associates like Ireland or Afghanistan, who have been promoted to the ODI FTP? Are they securing fixtures against the Full Members?
Ireland have actually made quite good progress in securing fixtures for themselves. ICC is doing what it can to facilitate the scheduling of these matches and this issue will form part of the ongoing discussions on bilateral cricket.Another talking point is absence of international cricket in Pakistan. Recently Zimbabwe played an ODI series in Pakistan without the ICC match officials and security apparatus. How concerned is the ICC on this subject?
The ICC is concerned that one of its prominent members has not been able to play home series due to reasons beyond its control. But this is a security problem, not a cricket one. The ICC, and indeed those members wishing to send officials or teams to Pakistan, have a duty of care to such persons. This involves assessing the security risk in an objective fashion and then making a decision. If independent security experts advise against sending such teams or officials then it is very difficult for the ICC or members to ignore that advice.I understand that the security situation has improved in recent times, and certainly for the Zimbabwe tour, it was clear that the PCB and the security authorities went to extreme lengths to ensure the safety of all concerned. But, as I have said, it is the security experts that need to be convinced that the security situation is under control before members will be persuaded to send their teams. In the meantime, ICC will continue to support the PCB in whatever way it can.

Plays of the Day from the second ODI between New Zealand and India, in Hamilton

Abhishek Purohit in Hamilton22-Jan-2014The triple whammy
For a few overs, during the onslaught by Corey Anderson and Ross Taylor, India just forgot their lengths. The usually reliable Bhuvneshwar Kumar was no exception. He began the 37th over with figures of 5-1-20-0, but his numbers were to soon take a turn for the worse. That was because he hurled down four successive full tosses. Corey Anderson faced the first one, but could only get a single to long-on. Bhuvneshwar wasn’t going to be as lucky with the next three. Taylor came on strike and swung the second full toss to the wide long-on boundary. The third one was paddled past short fine-leg. The fourth one was thick-edged to the fine third-man rope, and also gave Taylor his fifty.The quick reaction
After Taylor was done with Bhuvneshwar, it was Anderson’s turn against R Ashwin. Seeing the batsmen were looking to slog-sweep him, Ashwin tried to cramp Anderson for room by firing a quick one into the batsman. Anderson had hardly any room to swing his arms, but even as the ball was almost onto him, he burst into a slog-sweep that sent the ball soaring into the stand beyond the deep-midwicket boundary. When you have power and such sharp reflexes, why bother about anything else?The emphatic response
Virat Kohli likes to stretch right forward to defend but in the 14th over, his feet did not travel in accordance with the arc of the bat. The ball bounced, took the inside edge, hit the pad and popped up. The bowler Tim Southee tried desperately to reach it before it fell short. The batsman’s response was outrageous. Next ball, a determined Kohli stepped down the track and slammed Southee over extra cover for six.The long hop
There is plenty of sting in Kohli’s batting but there is none in his bowling. A quirky action is probably the only eye-catching aspect of the latter. The same action can lead to the most innocuous of deliveries coming out of his hand. In the 17th over, he bowled one that was so short it took an age to reach Martin Guptill on the slow Seddon Park pitch. When it did, even the recently out-of-sorts Guptill was more than ready to play dispatcher, and heaved it high over midwicket.

The weather is changeable but South Africa are steadfast, wrapping up the tour with three series wins out of three

Firdose Moonda28-Mar-2012March 14
Sunshine. Graeme Smith says what we have all been thinking: Hamilton’s weather is much more hospitable now. It should not change moods as much as it does, but it does. Remember hearing that people who live in countries where gloomy skies are more common than blue ones tend to feel less upbeat. Can understand why.Walk into the Grant Bradburn sports shop, looking for the man himself. Cricket and hockey equipment decorates the walls. Bradburn started in the retail business when he was in partnership with Billy Bowden, but went out on his own. He also coaches Northern Districts, which has produced national players in abundance over the last two seasons. He tells me how he hopes to sort out Tim Southee’s form dip and that Brent Arnel will make the starting XI in the second Test.March 15
Arnel and Mark Gillespie both make their comebacks but have to wait to actually take the field because the first session is washed out. Even though there is very little actual rain around, the outfield is too wet to play. They have to wait even longer because South Africa choose to bowl on the green “bride”, as groundsman Karl Johnson calls it. There’s not as much in the surface as anyone expected and New Zealand set up for a solid first-innings score. South Africa engineer a dramatic collapse and take five wickets without conceding a run to turn the day on its head. Brendon McCullum is a sorry sight at the post-day press conference and says the team had been scolded by John Wright. Makes me wonder about the temperament of the New Zealand line-up. They can see off pressure in pockets but then something gives way. What is it?March 16
The bride turns into Bridezilla as 12 more wickets fall. Lack of application is costing most batsmen. Gillespie takes five on his return and is presented to the media for the first time most New Zealand journalists can remember. He is an abrasive personality and his words come out like knives. He says he “doesn’t really care” who he gets out as long as he takes wickets. He makes a reference to a back injury that almost ended his career two years ago and says he still bowls through pain every day. He mentions an idol who said that all fast bowlers learn to push through the pain barrier but won’t say who it is.March 17
The colour of the day is still green but not because of the pitch, although the television crew play a heated match on it after the Test is over. It’s St Patrick’s Day. Lots of New Zealanders have some Irish heritage in them, so it promises to be a big night. The locals are headed to the Quadrant bar and we join them. The South African team is also there, celebrating victory. Smith has a small green hat perched on his head. He looks more relaxed than I have seen him in a long time. Don’t see any of the New Zealand team but then remember that they have dispersed for two days off.March 18
Have booked a bus trip to Auckland. It’s the only opportunity to see the big city on this trip, with no Test at Eden Park. It’s a comfortable two-hour ride from Hamilton, which starts off through the suburbs. Notice that very few houses are made of brick walls; most are timber weatherboards.Eight hours is not nearly enough to take in everything Auckland has to offer. First stop is Devonport, a pleasant seaside town with cafés and bookstores, a 12-minute ferry ride from the harbor. From the grass banks that border the seafront, the Auckland skyline is in full glory. The Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, is its defining feature. The sea is a major attraction on the day because it is the start of the fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. The Devonport vantage points are not crowded and provide a perfect view of the loop the six yachts travel on before setting off for Brazil.Back in the city, architecture is the attraction of choice. Auckland is home to a variety of building styles, most of them concentrated on Queen Street. The most striking of them is the Civic Theatre, a brown building in rococo style. After a quick meet-up with a friend from high school, it’s back on the bus to Hamilton.March 19
Just as well the Test did not need five days. Rain pours down into Hamilton, unrelenting. Most of the South African squad are not around to see it – they’ve been given two days off to look around New Zealand. Dale Steyn, Jacques Rudolph and a few others go to Raglan beach and Lake Taupo.With no sign of the wet weather abating, three of us decide to take umbrellas on a visit to Hamilton Gardens, built as part of a public works project. Despite having to trundle through soggy grass, it is quite romantic to wander around. The Italian and Indian gardens are the most ostentatious, the Japanese, American and English quite minimalist, and the Chinese the most thoughtful. We end with hot chocolate at a local café to warm up.March 20
Having travelled by plane, bus, car and ferry, the only thing left to do was train. Hamilton to Wellington on the Overlander is it. Supposed to be one of the most scenic rail journeys in the world. The train travels over hundreds of kilometres of volcanic land, through the Tongariro National Park and across many viaducts, including the famous Hapuawhenua one, which is 414 metres long. The real feat is the climb up the Raurimu spiral, an engineering marvel designed in 1898 that spirals up a steep slope, impossible to ascend if not for this unique design. There’s no point on the spiral from which one can see the entire thing; once you’ve reached the top, you can see the horseshoe bend far below.There’s something quite civilised and old-school about taking a train. Even though there is no dining carriage and the lounge is a small section at the back of one of the carriages rather than an actual lounge, we all enjoy it. There is a practical benefit too. We are told taking the train was probably the best way to travel to Wellington that day because strong winds caused those on flights to experience landings of a far more exciting nature than they are used to.March 21
More rain. And wind. Training at the Basin cancelled and moved to the Wellington School of Cricket at Westpac Stadium. Walk there in the rain and wind. Arrive too late for New Zealand’s presser but in time to hear Gillespie practising Hindi. ” Mark ,” he repeats, at least three times. IPL calling? He confirms that Allan Donald is the idol he made reference to during the Hamilton game. Donald flew home the day before, to get some time off in what CSA call “a busy year”.Vertigo alert: the Sky Tower in Auckland•Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfo LtdMarch 22
The weather conspires against New Zealand. Rain in the morning, brief bursts of sunshine in the afternoon. New Zealand train indoors, South Africa at the Basin. First sight of the ground. Just lovely. The South African squad enjoy a run around outdoors. Everyone in high spirits except Jacques Kallis, who strains a muscle in his neck in training.March 23
South Africa’s team sheet has to be shuffled frantically as Kallis is ruled out. Reminded of his massive worth as he is replaced by two players, one to bat, one to bowl. The one to bat, JP Duminy, shows signs of being deserving of a Test recall.March 24
Rain has become a familiar sight. More of it in the morning. Use the time to stroll around an empty Basin. Look at each of the historical reminders – the William Wakefield Monument, the plaques – and spend at least two hours in the museum. Reminders of years gone by are everywhere, including in the Norwood Room, where a reunion of the 11 members of the 15-man squad that travelled to South Africa in the summer of 1961 is being hosted. Don Neely organises the get-together. John R Reid, who enjoyed a fruitful visit of South Africa, delivers a speech about the four players and the team manager who have since died.March 25
Wellington looks a different place. The sun shines, the wind does not blow, the air even has a little bit of warmth in it. Glorious. South Africa make good use of the conditions. Alviro Petersen and JP Duminy score hundreds. New Zealand put on their best opening stand of the series. Batsmen are in the game once again.March 26
South Africa make sure the only results possible are a win for them or a draw. It sets up a tense final day. How much time will they give themselves to bowl New Zealand out? Will the New Zealand batsmen have the temperament to survive? The journalists ponder it in one of the many cafés in the city centre. Have not had much time to see Wellington but the little I have seen has confirmed it as the food-and-drink capital of the country.March 27
South Africa win their third series of the tour, ticking every box. Every member of the team has performed. The smiles are wide. All-round. Jacques Rudolph and Kruger van Wyk share a drink in the change room afterwards. It hasn’t been a marquee series but it has been competitive. Pity it had to end so soon. Maybe a pop-in at the famous Te Papa Museum tomorrow and then the start of the 11-time zone travel back to South Africa. Thank you, New Zealand. We made some good memories.

The seven-match one-day international series between India and Australia, with its sellout crowds and high TRPs, has made the talk of ‘the death of ODIs’ sound premature

Judhajit Basu and Sidharth Monga15-Nov-2009The seven-match one-day international series between India and Australia, with its sellout crowds and high TRPs, has made the talk of ‘the death of ODIs” sound premature. Over the last three weeks, the world’s biggest cricket market accepted the format with glee: All six matches played were sold out, and TV ratings in India suggested it got more eyeballs than the three big events that preceded it: the World Twenty20, Champions Trophy and Champions League Twenty20.The whole talk of the irrelevance of the ODI format reached its peak in England in August and September when Australia were beating England 6-1 in a lacklustre series. Curiously, healthy crowds came in to watch those matches but the one-sided contests and consequent lack of meaning in the later games did raise doubts. But the recent series in India seems to suggest it is the scheduling, and not the format, that is at fault.The Indian ratings (TRPs) compiled by TV audience measurement agency Audience Map (aMap) for the two ICC premier events this year – the World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy – go in favour of the shortest format of the game, but not by much.While the average TRP for the 27 games of the World Twenty20 was 2.11, the figure was 3.98 when India’s games were taken into consideration. In comparison, the average TRP for all matches in the Champions Trophy in South Africa that soon followed plummeted to 1.1 as India fell at the first stage, though their three matches fetched an average of 3.16. In fact, India’s matches drew 88 million viewers on the government-run channel Doordarshan 1 (DD1).The ratings, expressed as a percentage, took into account 15-years-plus viewers across all-India cable and satellite households (CS+15), with the top six metros in India under survey.The Indian audiences, however, didn’t quite warm up to the Champions League – a new tournament and a relatively untested domain where clubs from across the globe jostled for supremacy – according to data from another TV audience measurement agency, TAM Peoplemeter System. Among the target group of CS+4, the tournament delivered an abysmally low TRP of 0.74, even though the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils promised much.

The return to form of ODIs was signalled by the India-Australia series, aired in India on Doordarshan 1 and Neo Cricket, which had an average TRP of 5.52 – five times that of the Champions League

The return to form of ODIs was signalled by the India-Australia series, aired in India on Doordarshan 1 and Neo Cricket, which had an average TAM TRP of 5.52 – five times that of the Champions League. The highest figure was recorded for the fifth ODI in Hyderabad at 7.1.The 50-over format also seemed to enjoy favour from players on both sides in the series. After that heady Hyderabad match, MS Dhoni said: “Whenever there are ODIs played in India, we see lots of people for them. I don’t think it will die. It’s an art to bat in one-day cricket. [It’s] Still interesting. Games like this make it more interesting.”Dhoni was the second-highest run-getter in the series, and the leading scorer, Michael Hussey, also spoke about the art of one-day cricket that made the format interesting. “I think 50-over cricket has a huge future in the game,” he said before the series. “It caters to a wide range of players, you can have your very aggressive batsmen, you can have the good runners between the wickets, it calls for tactics, you can have good spinners in the middle. Fifty-overs cricket has a big role to play still.”The marketing man seems to agree. “I always believed the talk about the death of ODIs was premature,” said the head of a media-buying agency. “For me the World Cup will always be a 50-over affair. Eventually cricket is not so much about entertainment, it’s all about the quality of the games. And one-dayers, which will continue to be a powerful property, have eventually demonstrated that it is good cricket.”

Inglis and Smith also made fifties as Australia chased down West Indies’ 231 with ease

Alex Malcolm02-Feb-2024A stunning debut spell from Xavier Bartlett and a classy all-round display from Cameron Green guided Australia to a comfortable eight-wicket win in the opening ODI at the MCG.Bartlett tore through West Indies’ top order on his ODI debut to finish with 4 for 17, the second-best figures on ODI debut for Australia behind current selector Tony Dodemaide, while Green claimed 2 for 40 and then made 77 not out in his first innings at No. 3 in ODI cricket to showcase his immense all-round talent.Related

• Bartlett makes a massive impact on 'almost not real' Australia debut

Josh Inglis also made a blistering 43-ball 65 while Steven Smith made an unassuming unbeaten run-a-ball 79 as Australia mowed down West Indies’ under-par total of 231, which was underpinned by a career-best 88 from Keacy Carty and 59 from Roston Chase.It was Bartlett’s spell that set up the win. The 25-year-old Queenslander and Lance Morris became the first debutants for Australia to open the bowling together in an ODI since 2016, and just the third pair since 1975. Bartlett claimed a wicket with his third ball in ODI cricket, clipping the top of Justin Greaves’ off stump with a magical outswinger. He should have had a second three balls later as he hooped an inswinger into Alick Athanaze’s front pad but the umpire thought it was shaping down and Smith opted not to review it. The ball-tracking projection suggested the ball was smashing the top of leg stump.Keacy Carty was steady despite wickets falling at the other end•Associated Press

It did not cost Bartlett though, as he showcased the new-ball skills he displayed in the BBL, swerving one the other way across Athanaze to scratch his outside edge. Later, in his six-over spell with the new ball, he shaped another outswinger away from the right-handed Shai Hope to catch a thick edge, which was well-pouched by Matt Short at slip.He had figures of 3 for 10 with a maiden after his opening spell. He later returned to pick up his fourth wicket with the first ball of the 48th over but could not grab a fifth as Sean Abbott finished the innings in the 49th over.After Bartlett’s burst, West Indies slumped to 59 for 4 when Green picked up the first of his two wickets. But Carty and Chase steadied the ship with an impressive century stand.Carty deserved a century of his own. Having passed his highest ODI score after losing Chase, he was 12 runs shy when Hayden Walsh Jr called him through for a kamikaze single to cover and Abbott produced a direct hit with Carty miles short of his ground.It was a cruel end for Carty after playing so well. Walsh squatted low at the other end hoping for the ground to swallow him up, knowing fully well he had barbequed Carty trying to get off strike.Carty took a particular shining to the extra pace of Morris, producing two jaw-dropping flicks for six over backward square. He was also savage when Australia’s new firebrand overpitched, thumping several of his 140kph-plus offerings back down the ground.Morris’ debut was far less eye-catching than Bartlett’s as he conceded 59 from his 10 overs without claiming a wicket.Josh Inglis gave Australia a blazing start•Getty Images

While Carty took on the pace, Chase attacked the spin striking four of his seven boundaries off Adam Zampa. He bravely swept and pulled off the stumps, and profited as a result. But it would later bring about his downfall at a critical moment. He was bowled around his legs trying to sweep Zampa off middle stump, having gone across too far and completely misjudged the length.Australia could have wrapped the innings up a little sooner but some sloppy errors allowed West Indies to drag on. Travis Head dropped a sitter in the deep to deny Green a third wicket before Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne both fluffed easy run outs.Australia’s chase got off to a horror start with Head falling in Matthew Forde’s opening over for just 4, after bagging a pair in the second Test in Brisbane.But any hope West Indies might have had of reproducing their Gabba heroics evaporated in less than ten overs as Inglis smashed a 28-ball half-century to whisk the game away. Opening for just the second time in ODIs, having also tested positive for Covid on Thursday, Inglis smoked ten fours and a six in a statement innings. Anything fractionally short from Forde and Oshane Thomas was hammered, including a huge six over square leg. He also produced some stunning drives down the ground. He fell trying to reverse-sweep Gudakesh Motie.But his whirlwind knock allowed Green all the time in the world to settle, and after a sluggish start, he got flowing with two massive sixes off Motie and Romario Shepherd.Green benefitted from Smith’s calm influence at the other end. On another day, he might have felt more pressure to up the ante with higher-risk strokeplay, but the stand-in skipper was happy to cruise to the total without any unnecessary acceleration. They picked off the spinners in a calm century stand to guide Australia home with 11.3 overs to spare.

Gary Ballance is set to play Test cricket for the first time since 2017 after being named in Zimbabwe’s squad to face West Indies in next month’s two-match series.Sean Williams will miss the Tests in Bulawayo as he recovers from a fractured finger, with Craig Ervine, playing his first Test in three years, captaining the side in Williams’ absence.Zimbabwe will also be without allrounders Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl due to franchise commitments overseas, while fast bowlers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani are both out injured.There are a host of uncapped players in the 16-man squad, with Tafadzwa Tsiga, Joylord Gumbie, Kudzai Maunze and Tanunurwa Makoni rewarded for their domestic form in the Logan Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Innocent Kaia, Bradley Evans and Tanaka Chivanga, who have all played limited-overs internationals, could be in line for Test debuts. Chamu Chibhabha has been recalled six years after his last Test appearance, while experienced allrounder Donald Tiripano has also been included.Ballance played 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017, scoring four hundreds and averaging 37.45. He returned to Zimbabwe, the country of his birth, after being released by Yorkshire last year and made his ODI debut against Ireland earlier this month.The series, which begins at Queens Sports Club on Saturday, will mark Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket after an 18-month gap.Zimbabwe Test squad to play West Indies: Gary Ballance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (capt), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masakadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Tafadzwa Tsiga

Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll has disputed Hannah Hampton’s claim that she threw her water bottle – containing penalty notes – into the crowd during the Euro 2025 final. The England shot-stopper recently told the story in an interview, but Coll has now responded on social media, telling the Lionesses hero to 'calm down' as she questioned the truth of the incident.

• Coll disputes Hampton’s claim about bottle in Euro final
• England keeper said she removed Spain rival’s penalty notes
• Social media response adds spice to England-Spain football rivalry

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  After England’s Euro 2025 final win over Spain, Hampton revealed she spotted penalty-taking notes on Coll’s bottle before the shootout. She claimed to have replaced it with her own blank one and thrown Coll’s into the crowd. While Coll still saved two penalties, Chloe Kelly’s winning spot-kick sealed the Lionesses’ second consecutive European title.

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  WHAT COLL SAID

  Coll took to X to respond to Hampton’s interview, writing: “Okay, okay, calm down, calm down. At least if it were true…”. The Spanish goalkeeper’s post suggests she disputes Hampton’s version of events. She did not provide further detail but appeared to downplay the story entirely.

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The exchange has added an extra twist to England and Spain’s growing rivalry in women’s football. Hampton’s comments came just as she was named among five Lionesses shortlisted for the Women’s Ballon d’Or. Coll, meanwhile, remains one of Spain’s top players despite her team’s defeat in the final.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR HAMPTON AND COLL?

  Both players are expected to feature for England and Spain for the next few years, and the light-hearted back-and-forth could add extra spice to their next encounter. For now, Hampton is focusing on club football while Coll continues her exploits with Spain and Barcelona.

Hardik and Chawla took three wickets each to help restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 173 before Suryakumar and Tilak sealed the chase

Ashish Pant06-May-20242:14

Review: Will lack of spin options hurt SRH going forward?

A sensational unbeaten 102 off 51 balls from Suryakumar Yadav on the back of Piyush Chawla and Hardik Pandya’s three-wicket hauls helped Mumbai Indians (MI) to their fourth win of the season as they got the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by seven wickets in Mumbai. The win also lifted MI out of the bottom of the table to ninth.A run fest was promised at Wankhede Stadium with SRH visiting. Who would have doubted this considering the last time SRH and MI clashed, record books were rewritten. Instead, the MI bowlers came to the fore as SRH were restricted to 173 for 8. In reply, the SRH bowlers also got the new ball to move around and got three powerplay wickets.But Suryakumar decided to do Suryakumar things as he launched an attack on the SRH bowlers, Marco Jansen in particular, to get things back on track. Tilak Varma played the perfect foil with 37 not out off 32 adding 143 off 79 balls with Suryakumar to help MI seal the win in 17.2 overs.1:14

‘Hardik’s bowling today a positive sign for India with the World Cup coming’

A T20 or a Test?First nine balls: 26 for 0.Next 19 balls: 6 for 3.Chasing 174 at a venue where scores in excess of 180 have been breached in six out of ten innings this season coming into this game did not feel like a daunting ask, but the SRH bowlers made life extremely tough for the batters. There was a lot of swing and seam available and, initially, the bowlers even struggled to control the swing. They bowled 18 extras in the first three overs, but once they found their lengths, batting started to feel arduous. The ball zipped off the surface, the batters were beaten multiple times, and wickets started to fall.It was the Test-match length that got the SRH quicks the wickets. Jansen first struck with a seaming delivery that Ishan Kishan could only edge to first slip. And when it’s Test-match length we are talking about, how can Pat Cummins not come into the picture? Cummins bowled a sensational first over, a wicket-maiden in which Rohit Sharma was dismissed off a big top edge. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then got Naman Dhir for a nine-ball duck, dismissed flashing to first slip.Not a single run was scored off the bat between overs 1.3 and 4.4 with MI all over the place.1:23

Moody: Surya consistently does things very few can

SKY does a SKYAfter three overs in which nine runs were scored, Suryakumar decided enough was enough. He first took on Cummins before reserving special treatment for Jansen. He went 4, 4, 6 in the seventh over before swatting Jansen over fine leg for a flat six as overs six and seven yielded a combined 38 runs. From 4 off 7, Suryakumar moved to 32 off 14 in no time and all the initial momentum that SRH had gained was lost.Tilak played the role of the second fiddle to perfection even as Suryakumar kept on going. In all, Suryakumar walloped Jansen for 32 runs off nine balls, which included four fours and two sixes, and he reached his fifty off 30 balls.Hardik Pandya and Piyush Chawla took three wickets apiece•AFP/Getty Images

There were a few concerned faces in the MI dugout – and no doubt among people interested in India’s fortunes at the T20 World Cup next month – when Suryakumar was seen limping for a bit, but the big hits didn’t cease. A Bhuvneshwar slower ball was mowed over long-on before Shahbaz Ahmed was swept twice in two balls. Suryakumar then raced from 82 to 96 in three balls going 4, 4, 6 in the 17th over. And then, with six needed to win and four for his century, he backed away and went inside out over the covers off T Natarajan to finish the job.This was Suryakumar’s second IPL hundred, and sixth in T20 cricket.Head rides his luck earlyIt was a strange sort of powerplay with the ball for MI. They didn’t bowl badly but hardly found any luck going their way. Travis Head got going with an inside-edged four past leg stump in the first over off Nuwan Thushara and then one more in the second over off debutant Anshul Kamboj. Kamboj should have had his maiden IPL wicket in the next over when he had Head’s off stump splat on the ground, but he had over-stepped. Head ended up taking him for 19 in the over, and SRH were away.Jasprit Bumrah took out Abhishek Sharma, caught behind for 11 off 16, but SRH still managed to reach 56 for 1 in the powerplay. MI would have been miffed because they drew 18 false shots in the first six overs, but only got one wicket to show for their effort.1:54

Moody: Chawla would have really enjoyed the Klaasen dismissal

Chawla and Hardik turn the tideKamboj had another chance to send back Head, but Thushara failed to hang on to a relatively simple chance at deep third in the eighth over. The 23-year-old Kamboj finally had luck going his way when a bail-trimmer sent Mayank Agarwal packing. Thereon it was the Chawla and Hardik show.At 88 for 2 after ten, SRH were placed comfortably, but Chawla changed things by picking up Head for a 30-ball 48. A slog sweep was smashed straight to deep backward square leg before Hardik took out Nitish Reddy with a short-length ball that was spooned straight up. Chawla then had Heinrich Klassen playing on as SRH slipped from 90 for 2 to 96 for 5 in 11 balls.Jansen and Shahbaz Ahmed resisted for a bit, but Hardik had them back in the 16th over with SRH at 125 for 7 and soon 136 for 8 with Chawla snaring Abdul Samad. That SRH even breached the 170-run mark was down to Cummins’ unbeaten 17-ball 35.Eventually, it wasn’t enough.